Gen 8 Ch 1

Topaz sighed as she plucked another of her mother's amazing drinks off the tray on the bar. She was already having second thoughts about chopping off all of her hair. What had possessed her to do that, anyway? The annoying smacking sounds coming from the direction of Agate and Jojo reminded her.

She needed a fresh start, no more pining after Eva. She would concentrate on her career, and hopefully someday get to visit some of the far off places her Great-aunt Jade had been to. And like her Great-aunt Jade had always told her when she was a little girl, there's plenty of fish in the sea. And on the practical side, she was tired of trying to wash paint out of her braid.

The morning after her birthday, she filled out the paperwork down at city hall to register as an independent artist. Some of her high school pieces had already caught the eye of the art community in Bridgeport, and the consignment shop down the street from home was willing to display her work. Every time one of her pieces sold, she socked the money away in her special savings account marked 'travel'.

She eagerly watched the balance creep up, until finally the moment arrived.

"I'm off to Egypt! I can't wait to see all the places Aunt Jade talked about!"

"If I remember correctly, Jade didn't like Egypt much. All she ever did was complain about the bugs."

"Pfft. What's a few bugs, in comparison to the fantastic sights?"

"You will be back in time for Agate's birthday, won't you?"

"Of course, mom, I wouldn't miss it for the world."

First stop, the market in Al Simhara, and a taste of the local cuisine. The felefel was delicious! She would have to see if she could find the recipe for her mom.

Topaz stopped a moment as she hiked over the top of the sand dune. There it was - a real pyramid - and she held the key. She had answered an ad on the board at her base camp, and now found herself embroiled in an international smuggling scheme. How exciting! She could hardly believe that her Aunt Jade had hated it here.

The first step was to enter the Pyramid of Burning Sands. The ultimate goal would be to procure three famous relics and save them from the evil Murcocorp agents.

Hmmm.. a dead end. The only was forward was down the dive well. Ah well, at least the water was a relief from the intense heat inside the pyramid.

Now what? Another dead end?

Maybe there was a way through behind the rock piles. Topaz grinned to herself as she labored. This trip was all she had hoped it would be.

Success! Nestled in the ancient chest were the documents that would lead her to the first relic. Now, she needed a bribe. Someone within Murcocorp was willing to give up the location in return for a few chunks of mummitomium.

Her time in Egypt was almost up, but she use her last evening to head out into the desert to search for the elusive rocks. Much to her surprise, someone else was out there as well. At first she thought the girl was a tourist like herself; locals never ventured out of the town at night. But her heavily accented, almost musical voice identified her as local, immediately, as soon as she spoke.

"You are searching." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes, excuse me, have you seen the mummitomium deposits that are supposed to be in this area?"

"You will not find it here." The girl held her gaze for a few moments, with an intensity that had Topaz mesmerized. 

Suddenly, as quickly as she had appeared, the strange girl was gone.

"Wait!" Topaz called after her. "Are you sure? The map...is the map wrong then?"

But she found herself calling only into darkness.

"And this one here is the Sigil of the Burning Sands."

Topaz was giving her mom and dad a quick overview of her adventures, before Agate's birthday party, and Coal and Raven were fascinated.

"..and one time when I stuck my hand in a hole, looking for a hidden switch, there was a swarm of bugs! I just brushed them of, of course."

"Uh.. that's great dear." Her dad's smile looked forced.".. isn't it Raven."

Raven shuddered just a little. Topaz could see that maybe bugs weren't her mom's favorite subject.

"So, mom, how soon do we get to dig into that birthday cake?"

Jojo was first to join the ranks of the adults, and appeared barely tolerant of the whole situation. Topaz was pretty sure Jojo would have been perfectly happy staying a kid forever.

Agate seemed so shocked at growing up, Topaz felt a little sorry for him.

A short while later, though, she smiled when she overheard their conversation as she cleaned up.

"Oh, Aggie. Let's get married right away."

"Let's do it tonight! If we want five kids we need to get started!"

"Hehe. I'm so glad you thought having five kids was a good idea."

"Hehe. I always like your ideas, Jojo."

They had a small hastily assembled private wedding that evening. Agate insisted on wearing his new dinosaur shirt. Raven cried, and Coal just looked solemn.

Topaz watched with a faraway look in her eyes. She had only just arrived home, and she was restless already. She could hardly wait to start filling up her savings account again for another trip.

She gave up her room to Agate and Jojo for their wedding night...

...and she assumed they began their baby-making quest in earnest.

She fell asleep in Jojo's old bed that night, dreaming of Egypt and mysterious dark-haired girl.

Gen 7 Ch 5

Coal's community garden was coming along nicely. He was only required at the science facility a few days a week now, and the kids were both in school, so he he spent most days working on his favorite project - providing perfect plantings of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables for the residents of Bridgeport to enjoy.  The familiar tasks involved took his mind off his dad, who had passed away shortly after his Aunt Jade. They had laid him to rest next to his beloved Emerald in family plot at the Bridgeport graveyard.

Raven's bar was doing a booming business.

Customers flocked in to try her latest custom drinks, blended of course with the succulent fruits harvested from Coal's garden.

"Great job, sweetheart! I knew you could do it!"

Raven would just smile deprecatingly. She was not one to brag.

As Topaz grew older, her parents were relieved to see that her obsession with her imaginary friend was fading. She began to show interest in a wide variety of activities, but her absolute favorite was the old easel that hadn't been touched since Opal was alive.

When she wasn't painting, she was either reading stories of fantastic far away adventures, or acting them out. Her treehouse became in turn a ship sailing the seven seas, a pirate hideaway laden with hidden treasure, or sometimes a base camp in an exotic distant land.

On the day she became a teenager, she decided she was much too grown up to play with toys any longer, and Beebee was delegated to a spot on the top shelf in the back of the toy closet, along with her old teddy bear, and other mementos from her childhood. She decided she needed her own room now, and moved into Jade's old room. The heart-filled decor matched her new flirty personality, and she decided to leave it just as it was.

Agate, on the other hand, seemed to retreat more and more into his own private fantasy world as the years passed. His obsession with his imaginary friend seemed to accentuate his already shy nature. No amount of coaxing could convince him to spend time with any other children besides his 'Jojo'.

Coal and Raven had hoped that as he grew into a teenager, he would put away his toys and fantasies, just as Topaz had done. But instead, he became even more attached to them, if that was possible. After school he'd race right upstairs to the toybox still occupying the corner of his room. He had been so upset when Raven had suggesting they pack the box and put it in storage, that she hadn't mentioned it again.

When he wasn't playing with his old toys, he was whispering and giggling with 'Jojo'. So everyone in the household was shocked when he announced that he had a date for the prom.

"Hey everyone! This is Jojo! She's going to the prom with me!"

He claimed that his new friend was his 'Jojo', come to life, and no amount of reasoning would make him back down. She had indeed appeared from nowhere, and they both insisted she had nowhere else to go, so Coal and Raven agreed that she could use the spare bed in Agate's room.

Coal rented a limo for the prom, and tasked Topaz with keeping an eye on her younger brother and his friend. She had been a little miffed that her reclusive little brother had a date for the prom while she did not, but her best friend Eva was planning to arrive dateless as well, so it wouldn't be all bad.

Agate and Jojo were attached at the hip all evening, and lingered out in the yard after they all arrived back home.

"Go on in, Sis, we'll be there in a few."

It was actually looking like it would be quite a bit more than a 'few', but Topaz complied readily. After what happened to her at prom, the last thing she wanted was to continue to chaperone the happy couple.

"Aww, Topaz sweetheart, what happened at prom? You look like you've lost your last friend."

"Oh, mom. I thought Eva liked me. Like really liked me. But she only danced with me once. Then she ignored me the rest of the night."

"Aww, sweetheart, I'm so sorry. But have you told her how you feel about her?"

*sniffle* "No....I thought she knew.."

"Maybe she doesn't know. Maybe you should tell her."

*sniffle* "Maybe you're right, mom."

"I hope so, sweetheart. Now come give me a hug. And I want to see that crown! My little girl, prom queen!"

Topaz took her mom's advice, and invited Eva over the following weekend. Things had never been better between them, and Topaz decided it was now or never. She would tell Eva of the feelings she had for her.

"Eva, we've been best friends for a long time, and well... I just wanted to say...I just wondered if.. um...what I mean is.. I really like you, I mean more that just a friend..and..I was hoping you feel the same way about me?"

The look of utter rejection she received in return was devastating. She blinked away the stinging at the corners of her eyes, and practically flew into the house and up the stairs to her room, flinging herself onto the bed before she let the cascade of hot tears escape.

The next weeks were utter misery for Topaz. To make matters worse, everywhere she turned, it seemed, there were Agate and Jojo. One morning it would be in the study, Agate still in his dinosaur underwear, and Jojo in her pajama top, locked at the lips...

The next day it might be cuddling in the hot tub, or gazing love-struck into each other's eyes.

Topaz was a little concerned when she walked in on them in the shower one day.

"Please, please don't tell mom and dad," Agate begged, as he and Jojo quickly wrapped towels around themselves. "We were just taking a shower, that's all. I swear."

Topaz rolled her eyes at the obvious fabrication.  "I won't tell this time. I just hope you're being careful."

"Uh, careful?"

"Duh, I mean you're using protection, right? So there's no little surprises created?" 

"Oh.. uh... sure.. careful.."

The day she walked into her own room and found them making out on her bed was the last straw.

"I am so telling mom and dad." She seethed. "And get out of me room right now!"

"But... my bed isn't big enough, and we're being careful! Please don't tell!"

At least something Topaz had said had sunk in, at least. But it was her room, her bed. They had no right. She was going to give them up this time.

The reaction from her mom and dad was not what she expected.

'Oh, Topaz, I'm sure you're exaggerating. Last time I checked on them, they were upstairs playing with the doll house. They're still just kids. I'm sure that all that's going on is a few harmless kisses."

After that, Topaz threw herself into her art. She spent every spare moment in Opal's old studio, churning out painting after painting, dreaming of the day she would graduate and move away to some far off exotic land with the girl of her dreams.

Her birthday could not arrive to soon for her. She was absolutely thrilled.

She glanced around the room, hoping beyond hope that Eva had changed her mind and would be there, but only her Aunt Tiffanie and her Uncle Orin had come, along with one of her grandpa William's shoe-string relatives.

She was more than ready to start her life - a life filled with art, and travel, and yes, maybe a few romantic interludes. Nothing permanent, mind you.