Dear Ashling,

Penny stared at the heading, knowing something wasn't right but not sure what. She always tripped up on the heading.

You haven’t written back yet.

It was redundant. Aisling would know she hadn’t written; she would know months have passed since they saw each other. She had written so many unanswered letters at this point that she didn’t know what to put into one. Her complaints about her foster family and foster siblings were exhausted. It no longer felt safe to write about it, and definitely didn’t feel safe to mention the gnomes in the neighbor’s garden or the giant bird she saw during the last storm with lightning on its wings.

The paper was snatched from before her, jerking her from her wandering thoughts. She leapt up and spun around the chair, grabbing fruitlessly at the page as a taller girl with beaded cornrows waved it overhead.

“Give it back, Aaliyah!”

“Ooo, Ashling! Who's that? Aw, she never writes back? Aww.”

“Give it back!”

Aaliyah crumpled the paper and threw it over Penny’s head. Penny dived for it.

“She doesn't write because she doesn't care, stupid. They're paid to pretend. All case workers are.”

Penny smoothed the paper the best she could, mostly to avoid Aaliyah's hard gaze. “She’s my aunt….”

There was a pause before Aaliyah cackled nastily. She put on a show, doubling over and wiping tears from her eyes.

“That’s worse! She's family and ignoring you!” She huffed for breath. “She doesn't want you, Penny. Stop trying. It's sad.”

Aisling couldn't take her without giving up her vows. She wasn’t sure how it would even work if she did give up her vows. Aisling had no money due to the vow of poverty. Her skills were limited to religious service, outside of magic which she hid. There was no telling what her support was like now that her mother had died. Friends had come to fetch her, but as far as Penny was aware, Aisling and Keena were still strained.

Keena gave her up for a reason, and even now had not tried to reconcile with her.

Penny wandered outside to avoid Aaliyah and change scenery. The trees were still green, but the breeze was decidedly chilly to signal fall coming. She crawled into a gap in the hedge that sat on the property line, flopping on her stomach to watch the neighbor’s garden.

“What are you doing?”

She shimmied out of the bushes, popping up before she was clear. The twigs ripped at her hair and left leaves strewn about. She blinked at the girl standing on the other side of the hedge.

This girl was skinny with lank bangs. She wore a baggy short sleeved shirt over a long sleeved one, and held her elbow as she shifted her weight from foot to foot. They seemed to be about the same age.

“I was hiding from Aaliyah,” Penny said, climbing fully to her feet and plucking leaves from her dark brown hair. “She’s my foster sister.”

“I know her. …She’s mean.” She nodded over her shoulder. “I’m a foster too. With them.”

“Really? Huh. That’s kind of weird the neighbors have a foster kid too.”

“This whole cul-de-sac has them. I think they all went into it together for extra support or something. Or….” She stared down at her toes. “I’m Brooke, by the way.”

“Penny.”

“I know,” Brooke said, kicking at the ground. “I’ve been watching you. Not in a creepy way! I… I wanted to make sure you weren’t like Aaliyah before talking to you.”

She studied this shy, semi-awkward girl in front of her. Her clothes were clearly worn hand-me-downs just like hers. She had this forlorn air to her than had Penny giving her a sympathetic smile. She had benefited from having Aisling in her corner, having shelter at St. Brigid’s. Brooke was probably bounced around far more than she was.

“Want to start eating lunch together at school,” Penny asked. “People avoid me. Maybe because I’m still too new. Or because Aaliyah.”

“Sure,” Brooke said. A smile fought onto her gaunt face. “Want to… hang out now?”

---

Gaining a friend her age helped Penny not ruminate over Aisling’s lack of communication. Having one person turned into having a small group; the kids that were seen as weird or outsiders, but all were just creative in some way.

Penny shuffled through the slush with Brooke at her side. They mentioned annoying things that teachers did at school that day. They shared no classes so the teacher stories were always something new while also being the same.

They were almost to their houses when Aaliyah knocked hard into Penny. She skidded and fell into the slush. Brooke shrunk away, offering no help. Penny went to snap at her, but she already stormed off into the house.

“She looked upset,” Brooke said meekly.

“Probably picked on someone she shouldn’t’ve,” Penny growled. She shook slush from her backpack. “I better go change before the Lamberts see. Catch you tomorrow.”

She managed to get upstairs without being spotted. She was just pulling on a pair of large, worn sweats when her door opened with no warning. She yanked her pants up as she stood, heart pounding, facing a middle-aged woman with long, fake nails and an elaborate perm.

“Why are you changing,” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Aali—I fell,” Penny said. “Slipped.”

“And now I have extra laundry to do.” Mrs. Lambert glowered. “Dinner in forty. Be downstairs to set the table in thirty.”

She flinched as the door slammed shut. She took a few breaths before sinking back onto her bed. She pulled out a sheet of paper and pen from her damp back pack.

Dear Aisling,

I learned how to spell your name. My friend Brooke told me. I told you about Brooke in my last letter, just in case you forgot.

She stared at the page. Her eyes stung.

You still haven't written back, so I don’t know if you even know I made a friend. I have a couple. It helps a little. My foster family is

She wiped her eyes with the heel of her palm. She crumpled the paper and left the room.

Dinner was one of the casseroles from a box that Mrs. Lambert resorted to every other night. The biological family—Mr. And Mrs. Lambert and their fifteen-year-old daughter, Emily—all rattled away at each other while Penny and Aaliyah sat in silence, picking at their food.

“Oh, Aaliyah, remind me to lend you that new sweater for the Christmas potluck,” Emily said. “It’ll be cute over that dress.”

“How thoughtful,” Mrs. Lambert said through gritted teeth.

“Is the Catholic church nearby,” Penny asked. She looked away from the others as they met her with various glares and confused looks. “I was thinking… maybe I’d go for Christmas Eve….”

“I’m not a taxi,” Mrs. Lambert said. “You go to our church when under our roof.”

Penny wanted to burst out about how they didn’t like their church; they constantly complained and gossiped about others in the congregation. They made a show of dragging all of them to service on Sunday, elbowing them to sing loudly. They made loud comments of their contributions and charity whenever someone from the congregation was within earshot. That was all it was: show.

She nodded subservantly, eyes fixed on her plate.

“We do the potluck at our church,” Emily said. “It’s our tradition.” She turned to Aaliyah. “It’s crazy to think this is your second one. The fifteenth marks a whole year since you came.”

Aaliyah’s jaw tightened. She gave a small nod and forced food into her mouth to avoid answering Emily’s perplexed stare.

“Oh, before I forget again; that Ms. Beaucourt called my office,” Mr. Lambert said, shooting Penny an accusatory glare.

“Of course she did,” Mrs. Lambert said, rolling her eyes. “She’s been pestering me to get this one–” pointing her fork at Penny “–a phone. I told her I’d look into it, and I’ve been dodging her calls since.”

“I thought they were supposed to have a phone,” Emily said. “Aaliyah has a phone. An iPhone, right?”

“Yep,” Aaliyah mumbled sulkily.

“Aaliyah had hers when she arrived,” Mrs. Lambert said. “And, she’s older than Penny. I just think smaller children with phones is ridiculous.”

“Isn’t it so they can call their case worker whenever they want,” Emily asked.

“The house phone works for that,” Mrs. Lambert said. “Those smartphones are rife with unsavory types trying to take advantage.” She stabbed her food. “Don’t you think it’s enough I worry about you with one?” She quickly added as Emily opened her mouth, “And Aaliyah? No. You girls are older. You have better understanding. And I still worry.”

“Don’t fluster your mother,” Mr. Lambert said. “I’ll talk to Ms. Beaucourt tomorrow. Tell her the fears more firmly.” He scoffed. “Besides, how are we supposed to afford that?”

“They are expensive…,” Emily trailed off.

The stipend the Lamberts received each month would have more than covered it. Penny was already wearing Goodwill clothes, or Emily’s hand-me-downs she was handed from the source herself before Mrs. Lambert could donate them away. All her school supplies had come from Dollar Tree, and Mrs. Lambert spent hardly anything on snacks. Penny wasn’t sure the exact amount a foster parent received each month, but with Aaliyah receiving the same treatment, she suspected there was a great deal of money left each month. She also suspected the new TV was paid for by that stipend.

She readied for bed after dinner, and found herself at her desk with the unfinished letter. She recrumpled it and dropped it in the wire wastebasket. She flopped onto her bed and stared up at the darkening ceiling.

Murmurs from Aaliyah’s room indicated Emily and she were talking. They spoke a bit almost every night, usually peppered with giggles, but this had an extra hushness to it. She heard something about pictures and a boy sharing them, but not enough to put the pieces together.

She wondered if Aisling had any pictures of her family, specifically of her mother. She never thought to ask before, and now with nearly six months of silence it seemed impossible she would get the chance to ask her.

She jumped out of bed, ripped a page from her spiral notebook, and sat at her desk.

Dear Aisling,

I want to see family pictures. I know that’s allowed, so you wouldn’t have thrown them out. I don’t think you would throw them out even if you really, really hated my mom. Does writing any of this matter? You haven’t written back. The Lamberts are mean. You and Mother Mary Clare said I had a home there. Doesn’t seem like it.

Penny, your niece

P.S. The garden next door has a gnome. I forgot what they eat so I just watch it sometimes.

Penny squinted at the letter in the weak light. She dropped it back on the desk and climbed back into bed. It felt like she only just shut her eyes when the daily hammering on her door jerked her upright.

“Breakfast,” Mrs. Lambert yelled through the door.

She was sure to dress before going down or else invoke an extra dose of wrath for not being prepared. Aaliyah was in a better mood, which meant she took more cereal than she could eat to deprive Penny of a full bowl.

School was wired with it being a Friday and a week before the winter holidays. No one had any amount of concentration, and the teachers were a mixed bag of aggravated and apathetic at the fractured attention. Penny stared at the clocks most lessons, with only diverting to staring out the widows in the few classes she sat next to one. Her green eyes tracked a small, blue-white ball of light bobbing near the woods bordering the school grounds.

She waited outside the school for Brooke. The throngs of kids thinned; Aaliyah stalked by with a toss of her beaded braids as a jeer of “ooh la la” followed from a group of boys. Penny leaned to stare down the long, main corridor to check for her friend.

Brooke was hovering by her locker near the end of the hall. She was chatting animatedly, smiling up at a young man she’d previously pointed out as her English teacher. Penny tightened her grips on her backpack straps as she watched his hand clap Brooke’s shoulder, run down her arm, and back up before he departed. She straightened and pretended not to have seen anything, smiling as Brooke joined her outside.

“Sorry,” Brooke said. “Mr. McBride wanted to talk about my poem.”

“Good news,” Penny asked.

“An A with a revision,” Brooke said proudly.

Penny hummed, her eyes now watching the treeline as they passed. There was no sign of the will o’ the wisp. She felt a twinge of disappointment.

“Something up?”

“Not really… Just thinking.” She turned her gaze to her worn, slush-dampened shoes. “This is totally random, but… do you believe in magic?”

“Of course not,” Brooke said with a slightly disgusted snort. She looked at Penny from under her limp bangs. “Wait, do you?” Penny shrugged. “Isn’t that kind of babyish?”

“I guess,” Penny murmured. “Maybe I want to believe…? Like, maybe it’d just be more interesting if will o’ the wisps, or gnomes, or unicorns lived in the woods too. You know?”

“The monsters would have to exist too, and a big no thanks to that,” Brooke said.

“Well, a dragon would be a lot cooler than bad foster parents,” Penny joked. Brooke’s mouth twitched but a smile failed to form. “Nevermind. I was just daydreaming while I was waiting.” She bounced towards her house, stopping and spinning back to Brooke. “One more week and then no school! Catch you tomorrow, Brooke!”

She rushed off with her fake enthusiasm, but didn’t fail to catch that Brooke hung around outside looking forlorn and lank. Penny watched her shuffle off through the wavy glass of the front door.

“You!” Penny jumped as Mrs. Lambert stormed towards her with a crumpled paper in her hand. “Mean! I’m mean! You ungrateful brat! Upstairs. No dinner. Now!”

She dodged around the furious woman, racing up the stairs. She stopped outside her door, spinning to address the stare she felt.

Aaliyah stood in her own doorway, shaking her head and looking at Penny as if she was a particularly stupid creature. Penny narrowed her eyes and slammed her door shut.

-------------------------------

For the other kids' names, I go check what was popular in that area or for that demographic in approximate birth year range. I'm not sure I have much else to add, lol. I've been really tired so my brain isn't functioning right. This one took longer than the others because I was trying to figure out the pacing. Penny's with the Lamberts for a bit, so I was torn on everything in this one and it's just really long, or split in into two or three chapters. Right now, it's the two or three.

In this edition of fun things from the physical archives - Echoes of Aravast and related sketches!

"Forgotten" Gemini Initial Sketch, unknown

This was early on when I got the idea of a "survivor Gemini" that may actually escape the Gemini Archives. She already has her sonic blade, her dog tag (back when that was an idea) and a surprisingly similar outfit (The two-toned hair was me trying on a wig over my existing hair and thinking it looked awesome lol).

Protection, 2013/4?

Ian was a new character in the Gemini Archives, and he quickly decided he was coming over to the new story with Gemini. I liked the initial story/plot I had going for Echoes of Aravast, but I was struggling to write it. All it took was changing Gemini's power and throwing her into one more Gemini Archive to spark the Westfall thread...

Ian ended up staying pretty similar to his current Aravasti variant - he was a Lux who could create light shields - only in Echoes of Aravast, he was born on Barea with Aravasti genetics and discovered his power by accident - like Ace would later. Actually, The Outlier takes the basic plot of Echoes, so I still got to have it to some extent :)

The Panic in Me, 2014

I have a digital drawing on this one, but since it's from a storyline that didn't make it, I removed it from my website 🤷 These 2 were going to have a very slow burn relationship that only showed where it ended up in a flash forward at the very end. At least their devotion to each other still made the final cut ;) The title/mood is from a song from The Road to El Dorado by Elton John. Great song.

Ian Sticky Note Art, 2015?

I found a couple of these colorful sticky note drawings! Not bad for pen on a 3"x3" sticky note!

Sparrow Sticky Note Art, 2015?

Sparrow and Gabriel were actually going to be in Echoe of Aravast... but alas, they just get to stay my token dancers :)

Cinder Sketch, 2015

So... yeah.

One of the ideas for Echoes was Ian accidentally getting sent in to Barea's past where he's in this weird feudal variant where humans and creatures work codependently (Narnia? lol). Ian ends up paired with Cinder the pied crow and they both serve a knight as his armor bearer and squire. Gemini eventually figures out how to get to where she sent him, and he's years older and embittered, but also stronger because of his experience. Cinder was kind of a comic relief, wise-cracking bird... but he was the first to be cut along with the rest of the rest of the talking animals.

The Outlier Awakens, 2020

A neat drawing of Ace when his Aravasti powers awaken underwater. The body proportions are kinda wonky, but those hands 👌 This would be a nice one to redo one day!

As Christopher breaks above the surface and takes in a breath of air, Sapphyre peeks out of the water with him. 

Chris: These gills are still here, even now. Perhaps they won’t go away?

Phyre: I don’t know. I’ve never used this power before; I’ve heard it was used long ago to rescue humans from drowning, but when humans began to look for and exploit merkind… we are not supposed to.

Chris: Well, that’s all right. That just means I can live in the kelp forest with you forever! Nothing to worry about–no cares… only you…

He looks at her when she doesn’t reply, and he notices her gazing almost longingly into the sky as a seagull flies overhead.

Song: "Flight"

At once, Sapphyre finds herself reaching upward, kicking her tail to rise and fall, almost dancing through the water. She leaps above, breaching like a while. All the while Christopher watches in awe.

When at last Sapphyre's dance concludes, he smiles wide. 

Chris: Wow... If I didn't know any better, I'd say you feel the most at home up here.

Phyre: ...So what if I do.

Chris: So… why do you? I have a feeling you're the only mermaid who does... that no others understand your connection.

Phyre: (eyes flash up) Connection?

Chris: (confused) ...What? 

Sapphyre darts under water.

Chris: (struggles to follow) Wait–what did I say??

–
This is the song that linked itself to Sapphyre and probably started this whole thing. It was at a ballet I was recording at my last job and I was floored watching little dancers swirl around to this gorgeous music, and being in my Sapphyre phase, the rest was history. And yes… I will continue the weird shallow dialog haha.

Song: "Love Dance"

Phyre: (remains turned away) I... I was not always a mermaid.

Chris: What do you mean?

Phyre: (looks over her shoulder) I was a human once. But I was captured. I was made to become who I am now. I woke up in a strange facility with no memory of who I was before–only that I was created... and that I was their prisoner.

Chris: Oh, Phyre–how? Why? Who would do such a thing?

Phyre: I don't know...

Chris: Then... how did you come to be here?

Phyre: (gazes to the surface) One of the men in the facility... he was kind to me. He helped me escape one night. I don't know what became of him, but I owe him my life... this life. Lady Aria found me hiding at the edge of the kelp forest. She took me in, brought me to the Enclave, and I learned how to become a mermaid. I tried to fit in... I tried to make friends and find a home...

Chris: But you were made to be on the surface, so it calls to you.

He draws close to her, turning her body to face his. 

Chris: And, perhaps, I was made to be here with you.

Phyre: ...Underwater?

Chris: Wherever you are...

They kiss, gently, then grow passionate. Sapphyre's tail curls around his legs, swirling them in the water between the tall strands of kelp and the surface of the water.

Phyre: I want to be wherever you are. Wherever you go–whatever you do...

Chris: Phyre... Sapphyre... I will go nowhere without you. 

Their foreheads touch. 

Chris: ...I love you.

Phyre's eyes open wide, only to drop closed as she holds him tighter.

Phyre: I love you too. 

Song: "Battlefield"

Voice: There!!

In Christopher's arms, Phyre gazes across the top of the kelp forest to find Lady Aria and a host of merkind approaching. They are dressed in crude armor and have weapons and shields, ready for battle.

Looking the opposite way, Christopher sees the Shark King and his army taking their place behind him. They also carry weapons and are covered in armor.

They at once pull apart to glance between the two groups, who approach until their lines are mere feet from each other–with Sapphyre and Christopher in between.

King: So! It IS true! You have been planning war!

Aria: And it is true that you have taken one of our own!

King: I have taken no one–YOU have sent your spy!

Keiki: And you have joined forces with the humans to attack us!

Aria: We have sent no spies! We have no allegiance with humans!

King: Then, who is this??

Chris: (boldly) I am Christopher–I am not a spy, and neither is Sapphyre! She saved me from drowning, and we have taken protection among the Kelp-Dwellers so that I may learn her ways!

Aria: Sapphyre–is this true? We thought you had been taken!

Phyre: It is true–I am sorry, Lady Aria. I did not realize I had caused so much concern…

Aria: You are one of us, my dear Phyre!

Kalli: Please–please come back home!

Sapphyre: (moved to tears) And… and Christopher?

Aria: He is welcome, too, if he wishes to remain here.

Sapphyre and Christopher look at each other and smile gratefully.

King: (incredulously) All of this has been… a misunderstanding??

Iolana: (nervously to Otieno) What are we to do now?? The King will have us beheaded!!

Otieno: (panicking, yells above the crowd) I–I don’t believe them! Why would they show up in full armor? Why would they be ready to fight??

Others chime in similarly.

Phyre: (Turning to the sharks) Please, we mean no harm to you or your kind!

Keiki: Lies!!

King: Keiki!!

But it is too late. In his youthful haste, Keiki throws a spear at Sapphyre. When she dodges, the spear instead strikes a merman in the army behind her.

Aria & King: No!!

Other merkind rush forward in retaliation as other sharks do the same. The chaos of battle at once erupts in the waters between the surface and the kelp forest.

During the battle, Christopher wields a spear and tries to fight, but without fins, he’s slow in the water and not much use. Iolana targets him, disarms him, and reels back to stab him with her own spear–only for Sapphyre to rush in his place. She is stabbed (the part where the song drops to just choir for a moment–chills, I tell you), but then struggles to continue fighting, wounding Iolana and driving her away.

As Sapphyre loses strength from her bleeding side, Christopher begins to lose his gills and struggles to get to the surface. They reach each other moments before the battle envelopes them. It rages on until shouts break the chaos.

King: No!!

Aria: Stop!!

At once, the two lines draw back to find Keiki has fallen. Filled with sorrow, the Shark King collects his son in his arms and cries with grief. Aria calls out for Sapphyre, but none can find her. When all realize what has happened and see what has been done–fallen bodies floating lifelessly as the wounded cower in the kelp among the kelp-dwellers–all slowly back away.

Sapphyre and Christopher are nowhere to be seen.

Song: “Aftermath”

As a mournful song fills the scene, Shael, his arm bandaged, and Kalli slowly drift near the kelp forest. A few merpeople are huddled on the outskirts, mending wounds and mourning losses.

Shael’s eyes find something on the ground. With horrified sorrow, he finds Sapphyre and Christopher lifeless at the sea floor. Christopher’s gills are gone, and Sapphyre’s body is torn, but they lie together, holding each other in their final moments.

Shael bows sorrowfully as Kalli joins his side and mourns, but when he looks up, he almost believes he sees Sapphyre and Christopher smiling at him from the edge of the kelp-forest. When he blinks again, he sees them no more.

Slowly, they turn and swim away.

–

………It’s a SAD ENDING. But the music is SAD! I didn’t know what to do with it! I think that contributed to why I stopped writing this one (also it’s really not a very complex plot or story or dialog or anythingggg…)

Ironically, I have since seen KA in Vegas, and the real story only has slightly more depth (it’s all pantomime and acrobatics)–but there’s also twice as many songs, AND it ends happily for the main characters. The evil village’s son gets killed in the battle and that ends the war, so I apparently got that part right. But the soundtrack doesn’t have the finale song, so here we are.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed that random trip down my memory lane!