"No," muttered Sarah, closing the yellowed book and placing it upon the ground. Whereas her child simply turned to her with perked ears and dilated pupils that flittered between her and the book.

"Mama?" he mewed softly, leaping to the ground and pawing at that which held the story he was enjoying. For although he was much too innocent, he was already exposed to the Darkness of the world. This was so, as his father had often shown him various "activities" which caused the young one to become curious. Even if the screams were quite bone chilling.

"No, Nox," sighed the Goddess, who lifted the child up in order to cradles his body within her arms. This led her to stand and walk away from the story, one that caused her to question various events. Such as the fact that the Ageless's past self performed such atrocities to those not of Human origin, and to those children...

She shivered as the event was recalled, which the young hybrid picked up on, and patted her left cheek with a smile. "It's okay, Mama." However, she interpreted it as the ending of the story, and not him comforting her. Of which she would regret on a later date.

In any case, the pair left the garden in order to venture inward and towards the dining room. Where a large platter of foods awaited the pair, along with Nox's friends and their guardians. Of whom waved at the child being carried into the room, and leapt from his mother's embrace in order to scamper over to them.

Two of these friends were twin female Kitsunes named Maya and Mia. Both of them are the same age as the hybrid, and hold three tails upon their backsides, whereas their fur was tan with blotches of light pinks and blues all about their bodies. No. These are not stains, but their actual fur.

Maya was the older of the two, and was far more adventurous than her twin. In that she would receive more trouble due to her antics, whilst the other would assume a more submissive role in order to not receive as much. This one's eyes, by the by, were distinguishable to those who have been around her the longest. For her left eye was a crystal blue, whilst the right contained a soft pink, whereas the other had the colours, but were swapped.

Mia, on the other hand, was far more quiet than anything else, and was considered to be more of a follower than anything else. However, this was only considered around her sister, as she tended to follow Nox more often than not. Of which caused the other twin to follow him as well too, and looked upon him as her older brother whilst the younger twin considered him to be more than a friend or brother, even if she didn't understand those feelings at that time.

Now, the remaining friend was Anasi, who was an Arachne hybrid. In that he was half Elf, half spider. Of which meant from abdomen to his head he was a dark skinned elf, whilst the lower half was of a carapaced spider. This one simply regards the others as friends, and nothing more, even if they do drag his person into more trouble than "fun" activities. Which also means he's supposed to be their moral compass, but always falls victim to their combined "Puppy-Dog Gaze". Of which he had come to call it the "Doom Gaze".

The little twins wore simple, but stained, dresses of linen, whereas the Arachne wore an ocean blue vest. This was due to him having his lower half as a spider than anything else, and caused him to become quite self-conscious. For in his own mind he was bare and naked to the world. However, all others did not seem to care, despite his nakedness.

"Nox," cried out Maya and Mia, whose tails wiggled as they leapt from their chairs and onto the floor in order to scamper to the hybrid. Whereupon they did tackle and wrestle with his person as Anasi excused himself in order to scurry over to the fluff pile. There he was almost dragged into it, but managed to leap away. For even though he would not be harmed due to the protections given by the Pantheon's System, Command, he was still quite adamant to be left out of such roughhousing.

Whilst this was occurring, Sarah had pulled up a chair across from a small female Vampire of approximately one hundred and fifty-four centimetres in height. Of whom was drinking from a crystalline glass which contained a viscous, red fluid that stained the upper portion a dull brown due to not being within the rest of the liquid. This one's outerwear was of a simple, but tight crimson dress which matched the colour of her hair and eyes, revealing far too much due to her lack of undergarments.

Unfortunately for her, she did not have much in the way of "assets". In other words, she was quite flat on both sides, and sometimes reverted to illusions and trickery when confronting those who did not wish to associate themselves with another that looked more like a pale child. Of which could, and did, create problems for herself and anyone else within her sights.

This one, by the by, was one of Anasi's caretakers. More than that, she was his older sister by a one hundred cycle difference, and had been tasked with his well being.

There was another caretaker within the dining room, but had vanished almost as soon as the Goddess stepped through the door. Of which was considered to be a "Ninja" by their standards, and was in charge of the twins until they came in contact with Nox. Afterwards, the unknown babysitter was to leave until called to retrieve the children to give back to their mother.

"Ah, Sarah," grinned the Vampire who nodded towards her brother as he excused himself from the table, "so good to see you once again."

"Acleranna," sighed the Goddess as she sat upon her chair, whilst the Elven Chefs from within the kitchen rushed out with a bottle of Ambrosia and a glass of crystal to be poured into. Of which she received with a silent thank you upon her lips, and slowly guzzled the wine as though she thirsted for water.

"My, my, Goddess," chortled the other, as one of the chefs appeared by the Wolfwoman's side, and simply placed the same bottle down within arm's reach before leaving, "What's got your panties in a bunch that you would down a whole glass in moments?"

"The Ageless, and he had me read from one of his past life books."

"Oh," her voice, melodic in nature, stretched out the single syllable for far longer than necessary. Whereas the other took another swig of the wine, not from the glass, but from the bottle itself. "So? What was it about?" Her small frame leaned over the table, her ears primed for listening for any sort of new gossip that would be spread by her lips.

Unfortunately, she would be eternally disappointed, as Sarah points out, "You know I cannot reveal his past like that, right? You'd have to gain the approval of the council within Necropolis for that, and have to submit to their scrutiny for the duration of your reading."

"Poo, you're no fun," pouted the Vampire, who slouched back in her seat. Where she did take another sip of the liquid within her glass. "Anything you can tell me about it?"

"No, Acleranna," replied the Goddess who shook her head slowly, "Only that it should not be spoken of to children."

"Speaking of children," the other pointed towards the door to the room, where the four friends were now dancing around a white robed, four-armed metallic Skeleton.

"Story, Uncle Brutus," chimed Nox, who tugged on the Lich King's robes and pointed down the hallway. This was then picked up by the twins, who parroted the word "Story" repeatedly, whereas the Arachne sighed whilst shaking his head.

"Well," his right, primary clawed hand reached behind his head in order to rub it slowly, then nodded several times, "alright, Nox. My job can wait, I guess."

"Yay," crowed the children, who scampered after the hybrid whilst the other followed slowly.

Of which led into Sarah's garden, and towards a yellowed and old book that the hybrid was sitting upon whilst his tails wiggled in every direction. "This one, Uncle Brutus," his voice squeaked somewhat as his right paw slapped the cover.

"Well, I need to see what it's about before we hop right into it."

"Okay," Nox beamed a smile up at the ever grinning skull of Brutus, as he leapt off the book and slowly pushed it towards himself. Whereupon he did lift the old book and, after brushing away the stone dust and dirt, opened its contents to peruse through for a time whilst the children waited patiently.

"Ah," he sighed slowly, turning towards the child of the Ageless, "You do know what's in it, yes?"

"Yes, Uncle Brutus."

"Very well, let's offer a recap for your friends before continuing onwards with the story."

"Yay!"