14 years;

I'm... me again. Feels weird after spending an entire week apart.

[pen taps] Piper, how are you doi

[writing cuts off suddenly and Chris switches to dictation] Piper? Piper, where are you? I can't...

[orbing sounds and then silence...]

[nearly ten minutes later, the orbing noises return and Chris's handwriting is now very shaky]

If anyone knew her, Piper Halliwell's gone back home now.

[stifled little sobbing noise and a few drops of wetness make it onto the page right before the journal is slammed shut]

(ooc: Loss over! Chris is now whole again. And now that he's whole, he can sense people. And... sensed that Piper is no longer here. D: He didn't even get to say goodbye to his mommy and he doesn't know when it was. So yeah, a bit of angst from him and also a temporary immunity from the Christmas Cheer until tomorrow. That is all~)

Comments

...I take it she was important to you? I'm sorry to hear that.

[yuan;]

[the sounds of the journal opening up some long time later. written;]

She was

I



She's my mom.

[chris;]

...I see.

If you want to talk...

[yuan;]

I just

I don't even know when she left.

[chris;]

Because you weren't yourself at the time. That must be difficult.

[yuan;]

It really You have no


Who won the snowball fight?

[chris;]

I'm not sure a winner was ever really declared. Everyone seemed to end up equally wet, cold, and covered in snow.

[yuan;]

I'm glad I he

[pen taps]

I didn't really take you for the type to participate in snowball fights.

[chris;]

I'm not, usually. It's actually strange, I'm not feeling as irritable as this season normally makes me.

[yuan;]

... Frankly, that sounds suspicious.

[a shaky sigh is recorded]

Did anything else happen with Mithos since we last spoke?

[chris;]

Might be the castle, I suppose. One of the kinder things it's done, if it is.

...Yes, actually...he came to my door in a Katz costume, intending to annoy me by trying to cheer me up, and the costume proceeded to take over his mind, turning him into a cat-person.

[yuan;]

Just you, though?





That's not quite what I meant...

[chris;]

How should I know? Have you been feeling more cheerful than usual since the castle started redecorating?

You asked. He hasn't done anything suspicious since the time I spent as a child...

[yuan;]

No.

Well... as Christopher, maybe a little but I think it was more just the rest of the cheeriness being contagious than Castle-induced.

I kind of wish I didn't now. That's a good thing, right?

[chris;]

You remember what both of you did? ...That must be confusing.

As far as I can tell, it's a good thing. I still don't know what to think about him.

[yuan;]

Yeah. It gives me a headache to think about it, honestly.

Maybe he just realized his error and now he's being more careful.

[chris;]

I can imagine it would.

...It's possible. Or it's possible that he really is a fourteen year old boy. It's been so long since he was that young, I'm not sure I remember clearly what he was like back then.

[yuan;]

... you know, if you don't mind, let's try not talking about last week too much.

It's possible, yeah, but... I probably don't need to tell you to not let your guard down yet.

[chris;]

Of course not; I'm not a complete fool.

[yuan;]

I know that. I just

Fine.

[chris;]

...I don't mean to snap, it's just...stressful. ...Sorry.

[yuan;]

Must be pretty stressed if the Castle really is doing something to you. [a small sigh, again not sounding quite completely collected] ... It's fine.

[chris;]

I meant with Mithos, actually...other than that, I'm feeling almost cheerful, which would itself be cause for some concern if I weren't in such a good mood.

...Must be the castle.

[yuan;]

That's what I meant. If the Castle's making you cheery for whatever reason, you must be really stressed for you to snap like that.

You sure nothing else is off?

[chris;]

Mithos is enough explanation for that, actually...

[yuan;]

That sounds familiar.

[chris;]

Does it?

[yuan;]

Yeah. I say something similar about Wy

[the writing stops before a "Dammit!" is transcribed. he does not return to finish]

[chris;]

...Chris?

[yuan, dictated;]

[somewhat quiet and strained] I just realized something.

I... had something I really should have asker her. Dammit...

[chris;]

Questions about events in your world?

[yuan, dictated;]

Yeah, pretty much...

[chris;]

...I was more fortunate, I've had the chance to ask. You might have found the knowledge unsettling, though, if you had.

[yuan, dictated;]

I'd rather know, even if that was the case.

[chris;]

Heh. We're alike in that, it seems.

[yuan, dictated;]

Are we?

[chris;]

At least, that's my general sentiment about what I've learned regarding my world's future. It's always better to know.

[yuan;]

Oh. Yeah. I just wish I'd thought to ask her, before...

[chris;]

...Don't give up hope. In this place, anything can happen.

[yuan;]

... thanks.

So it's just you now.

[written carefully so as to not show the shakiness]

What of it?

Take care of yourself.

[pause]

You bet.