Mr. and Mrs. Holstein were a happily married couple. They had met at a little town diner, not unlike Mel's, and Marty had made a complete fool out of himself. For him, it was love at first sight. Cynthia, though, had needed convincing, but he had done a fair job of winning her heart. In they end, they were married at the age of 27.

Marty was a strapping young man; broad shouldered, barrel chested, 100% muscle. He was actively enrolled in the military, and on assignment in Demaitre when he met hometown girl, Cindy. She was a full figured woman, and, much like Codi, attractive in an old world fashion. If she had lived in the times of the ancient Greeks, she would have been every man's dream. But, growing up in this society, thin was in and she was out. She was a depressive youth, and, for much of her life she fit the stereotypical suicide role, except for one detail. She never cut herself.

When they were married, they decided it best to wait on kids. As if God ruled in the favour, they broke up their contact for three years as Marty was sent overseas to Vietnam. Cindy bought a small apartment and lived alone during these years, clinging onto the hope that he'd be returned to her alive. In 1965, he came home, honourably discharged and wounded. He had been shot in the right arm, and since this accident, never had the best movement with it. They waited to have kids till it was almost too late in their lives to produce healthy offspring, Cindy at the age of 47, and Marty, 48.

They were lucky, but there were complications with the birth. Those complications, though, had no effect on the children what so ever.

Now their kids were grown, raised, and both dead, though one a more animated dead than the other. Colton had stopped by their house that late afternoon with a little girl. He had to be the one to tell them about Codi's secret double life, tell them about little Celeste, and tell them how he was going to take care of his niece, which was why he had found no time to visit in the past. He made up a little story, that was partially true, that he had been working at the casino to make enough money to keep him going on his studies, and had gotten promoted to an evening shift manager, and how he was financially stable to take Celeste. He also had to explain that he was dropping out of college in order to do this.

His parents were proud of how grown up he was, but crushed at the same time. He had been going places. Straight A's, hard classes, brilliant minded in two subjects, and fair in the others. They were so upset to see him throw it all away for the bastard child of his sister and a management position in a job he probably hated.

The offered to take Celeste for a while, and, you know. Get to know their grand daughter.

Celeste had never felt like more of a queen than with Nana and Papa. They spoiled her the minute she entered the house, on her overnight, and all the next day. They went to the toy store, the clothes store, and even the pet store so she could play with puppies. Her grandparents had spoiled her so thoroughly she had not expected something like going out to dinner.

It was past nightfall by a while, and they went out and ordered dinner at the local Mel's diner. Celeste got flapjacks with whipped cream and strawberries, as well as enough maple syrup to drown in. Nana and Papa shared some dish with green and clear things in it. Ewww. Vegetables.

After dinner, Celeste led the way as they took a walk around town. Marty had his arm around the withered frame of his beloved Cindy, her leaning against him slightly, both smiling and sighing, talking about how she was so much like Codi. Marty posed the question of when Colton might be back to collect little Celeste. They both had no idea when. The night was young. He could come at any time.


((Para Naffie!))

Despite what anyone may say, Nyx knew very well what people thought of her. Not only that, she strived to maintain the image that the world had of her. After all, if one was the biggest, scariest bad ass, who would mess with you? Not anyone smart, that’s for sure. That being said, she, more than anyone, was aware at how utterly idiotic the majority of the population was, and while she did get insane amounts of pleasure at causing destruction, toying with people, and having sex, there was still another part of Nyx that was unfulfilled.

This part of her had once been called Anwen, or, more accurately, this part used to dominate her, and that used to be her name. It was a sappy name, that brought flowers and bunnies and beautiful tree sprites and whatever the hell else to mind, and in that context, was almost the exact opposite of Nyx, the name she had adopted after her last little run in with her sire. Or… you know, close enough. Whatever, this part, no matter how small, still surfaced every once in a while. Without it, Nyx herself would have had absolutely no compassion whatsoever.

She’d been trying for the better part of a thousand and a half years to get rid of it, but to no avail. It was quite a conundrum for her. Things would just be so much easier if she didn’t get spontaneous bursts of a conscious.

Was this why she was out in what she deemed the ‘family’ part of town? In a word, yes. At one party she’d come into contact with one little girl, and that little girl had brought forth this other side of her, and since then, the fucking thing just didn’t want to leave. Well, Nyx would get the girl, have her way with her, and get rid of the damned Anwen. The hell she was going to let that other side of her take over. She’d worked too long and too hard to bury it.

Besides, that side of her was weak. It was Anwen who’d been captured by the Romans, it was she who had worked in that god damned brother, and it was her who had endured the fucking of the shit hole she had to call her sire. Nyx had saved her. Without Nyx, she’d still be a fucking sex slave. At least now, she got to pick her partners, and by God, that was certainly a hell of a lot better.

Her high-heeled shoes clicked on the cold pavement of the ground. They were boots, with just a zipper on the side, nothing fancy. Her pants were a pale cream with black lace over that, and matched so perfectly with the tone of her skin that she gave the illusion of simply wearing lace pants. Her vinyl peacoat covered the only part of her body that might hint that it was not so, the front swooping down low and showing just enough to give anyone looking a good idea of what was below.

Strangely enough, she had put her hair up today. It was nothing exciting, just a messy bun with hair falling around her face. Perhaps most strange of all was the fact that she was wearing glasses. Did she need them? Not a single bit, but she wore them for the plan that she had already devised in her mind. They were Cat Eye classes, with silver frames that left the bottom of the lens uncovered. They suited her, or anyone would think so if they didn’t know her. All in all, she looked like a student out for a night on the town, which was exactly what she was going for.

Turning a corner, she caught sight of the ones she was looking for. They were walking in the opposite direction across the street. With a deep breath, more to get into character than anything, Nyx turned the corner and jogged across the street. Coming up behind them, she tapped the man on the shoulder – Mr. Holstein, she corrected herself. If she wanted to pull this off, she’d have to do it right.

“Mr and Mrs Holstein?” she inquired, her tone friendlier than she could remember it being in a very long time. There was a smile etched on her face, fangs hidden with years of practice. “Hi! I’m Anne! I’m sorry if I frightened you, but Colton told me to come and so I came because he was busy doing whatever he was doing… He makes a point of leaving that out when I talk to him sometimes, which I just find so annoying, but what can you do? I mean, I don’t want to be mean, because, you know and jeez, I’m so sorry, I’m babbling.” Inside, Nyx was smirking, but outside was her carefully maintained façade.

Rocking back and forth on her heels, she stood on her tiptoes to look over their shoulders. “So, where’s Celeste? Colton wants her home for her bed time.” She waited for the blank looks to come, before letting her own face fall, the bounciness leaving her body. “He… He didn’t tell you I was coming?” Her voice sounded pathetically weak and sad. She willed tears to come to her eyes, and gave a small sniffle for effect. “Did he even tell you about me? Oh God, this is so embarrassing! I mean, it would be one thing to meet you on my own if you knew who I was, but you don’t so this puts a whole new spin on embarrassment! I mean, meeting your boyfriend’s parents with them thinking your some kind of nut job who just walked up to them? God!”

Reaching into her pocket, she took out a Kleenex and dabbed at her eyes, making them water even more as she continued to lather it on. “Now what am I supposed to do? I don’t want him to get mad at me, I hate it when he gets mad, or disappointed, but I can’t expect you two to hand her over to me. What a mess.”

And the award for best actress goes to…?

Celeste had decided that today, she was a fairy. She was picking the dandelions from the sidewalk and handing them to her nana, and sticking them in the little hair she had, and in her dress pockets and shoes and... It went on and on. At least she matched, wearing her pastel yellow dress, trimmed with soft ruffled lace, and her big sunhat that had a large fake sunflower on it. She had never gotten the concept of catch a cold or dressing appropriately for weather or anything like that, as her sandals proclaimed, and the fact that her little navy sweater-coat was draped over her grandfather's arm. Nope. She was just a toddler. The world still made no sense, and she liked it that way.

Marty, or, Mr. Holstein as he was announced, turned around abruptly. His first thoughts were similar to what his wife's first thoughts were: Oh my Lord. His were toned down some, but Cindy found the woman's outfit to be horrid. A slut, by no less words. She was no good at hiding her expression. He, however, was stern faced, yet calm and listening to the woman.

"Colton's girlfriend? Oh no, child! Our Coltie wouldn't date the likes of you! I know my son!" Cindy, though still young in age, had lost most of her youthful sanity after the death of her only daughter. She had not been able to cope well, and because of that, she had seemed to lose all her understanding of how people normally don't like to be treated in such a manner. "He's a good Christian boy. He knows women like you aren't for marriage!" Colton, however, had never believed all the religious bohunk. And, if she was referring to his virginity? Nope. He was no good catholic boy.

Marty was still sane. Hard of hearing, perhaps, but still sane. "Cynthia, hush now! Colton's a good kid. He can make his own choices!" He offered her a worn hand in welcome. Strong, firm, but friendly was how you could describe his handshakes. He was still very youthful underneath his wrinkles and balding head. "Anna, did you say it was?" Anne, but they couldn't tell the difference. He was deaf and she was crazy. "It's nice to meet you, Anna!" Cindy still would not halt her horrid looks in Nyx's direction. She did, however, silence herself at her husband's request.

Marty heard her out, and left tisking Cindy out of the conversation by speaking for her. "No, we haven't heard anything about you young'ns. Colt hasn't stopped by in months. This was a little surprise, you know, finding out about Codi and Celeste and him and all." Cindy couldn't remain quite for long. Wide eyed, she asked a tentative question. "Colton isn't lying to me, is he? This isn't his baby, is it? Is it YOUR baby? Have you two had sex? Did he at least use protection?" Marty turned to her, and they had a rash, brief conversation, as if no one else was listening. "That is no way to treat her, Cynthia." "She's a whore, Marty! She has no pants on! You can almost see her ninnies!" "You aren't giving her a chance! You were a whore too, if I can remember." "I was never! How dare you call me such!" "Stop chastising the poor girl! She's probably scared of you by now!" "I'm going to go find Colton and give him a piece of my mind!" "You can't afford that, you old croon!" "I can too! Just watch me!"

It went on like that for a minute, and, lucky for Nyx, Celeste had been attracted back to the bicker old fools long enough to spot... Jasmine! "JASMINE!" The little girl was so gleeful it was almost to believe she wasn't floating in her happiness. "JASMINE, GUESS WHAT! I got you a flower!" She reached Nyx's feet and handed her a small, slightly droopy dandelion. "I picked it all by my self!" She swelled with the pride of such an enormous achievement.

Cindy and Marty stopped with the sight of this. "You know her, Celeste?" The little girl nodded enthusiastically, and then looked at them with an expression mimicking shock, or as close to shock as a three year old can pull off. "You don't know who she is? She's a princess! She has crowns and pretty dresses and necklaces and she's a princess!" Celeste looked up to Nyx with nothing short of absolute love in her eyes. The Holsteins remained quiet for a moment. Marty was the one who spoke first. "Well, by all means, Anna, do come home with us and collect Celeste's things." Cindy interjected quite quickly, the heat of their argument carrying over. "And when you get back home, have Colton know I want to speak with him immediately!"

Now look what she started.

At the – well, to her, young – woman’s statement about good ol’ Colton Holstein not dating her, Nyx didn’t know whether to be insulted or agree completely. The leader of the Nephim seemed to be a stick in the mud to her. It was quite unlikely that he’d come anywhere near her, no matter how damned sexy she knew she was. Mind you, he was young, very young. He hadn’t had time to learn better. Whatever.

But no, she had to act like ‘Anne’ would act in this situation and that only meant one thing. More tears.

Biting her bottom lip, she accepted Mr Holstein’s handshake. He had a firm handshake, and that was something she liked. He was friendly enough towards her, even if his wife was a whack job. In fact, if the woman didn’t watch out, Nyx might make Cynthia Holstein her whack job. The sadistic thought of how much the woman would bleed suddenly popped into her head and nagged at her like curiosity always does. Keeping those thoughts deep within his psyche, she smiled wetly at him. “It’s nice to meet you too Mr Holstein.”

With a raised eyebrow that she just couldn’t help, along with a hand on the hip that just seemed to go there so naturally, Nyx watched the couple bicker. Did all old couples do this? Of course, by this, she meant couples that had been together for a long time. These two people, however disgustingly wrinkly they were getting, were not old when compared to her. If being in a relationship meant that, Nyx was glad that she was polyandrous… in a non-marital way. She couldn’t imagine being like that. Of course, if that ever happened to her, she might just kill whoever the hell her partner was.

Hearing the cries of the little girl, Nyx squatted down and took the flower from Celeste, the smile on her face not completely forced. “Wow, thank you Princess Celeste! I’m very proud of you!” Taking Celeste’s hand in hers, she smirked internally again, silently thanking whatever powers there were that the little girl remembered her. Standing up, she smiled again. “Alright.” She looked at Cynthia Holstein, and answered with a small voice. “I’ll be sure to tell him.”

It wasn't that Colton thought she was ugly, gracious no! They had met once, at her nice little... Umm... Club, would you call it? He was just afraid of ever saying anything to her. His head was much more important to him than her flattery.

Cynthia nodded curtly. She had better tell him. Colton hadn't ever been so kind as to invite his own parents over to his little apartment. Technically, that was Codi's fault, as her mother, though not so crazy then, had always managed to scare away whetever company Codi had been keeping. She rather liked the fact of keeping Mom away. Marty spoke first, still friendly and warm. "We live just up the street some. It won't be a long walk." In fact, you could see their home from here.

Celeste was shocked to be called 'Princess Celeste'. She was so shocked, that she grinned and started to babble, as she was so used to doing. "Imma princess? I've never been a princess before! Mommy always said I was a princess but I never had a crown or a throne or sevents or anything. Do you have servents? Do you live in a palace with Aladdin? Can I pet Abu?" The trick was going to be getting Celeste to play the part of a three year old who knew the difference between Anne and Nyx, also known as Jasmine. If Nyx could convince the little girl of her Anne-ness without crushing all Celeste's awe of her, then everyone has since underestimated the power of Nyx.

Cindy and Marty led the way, Cindy acting like an annoying fly buzzing around Marty, glancing back at 'Anna' every few seconds, as if making sure she didn't disappear. She kept whispering things to Marty, who was growin more and more annoyed with her, until suddenly: "CINDY, SHE IS NOT A WHORE, COLTON IS NOT MAKING BAD CHOICES IN LIFE, AND YOU ARE GETTING ON MY NERVES!" That settled that.

The rest of the walk home was silent on their part, save for Celeste's slight humming that was a way off key and mostly monotone version of 'A Whole New World'. Oh boy.

They arrived at the little house shortly after rounding a corner from the main street onto a more suburban area. It was a nice house, really, though the yardwork was a little lacking, due to the age of the two house owners. Celeste pulled Nyx up to the house, telling her about the clothes she had brought. Everything was sitting in a nice pile inside the door. Mart grabbed it, and haned it to Nyx. "Her stuff. If we find any toys or anything left behind, we'll call you and Colton. Cindy stormed away, upstairs, most likely to the bedroom, and slammed the door.

Marty saw them off. Celeste clung tightly to Nyx's hand, and pulled her back to the street. Now. How to get to wherever they were going.