-

Phoenix examined the silver bracelet. It was perfectly worked, and gleamed in the sunlight. She brushed a stray lock of silver-blue hair out of her eyes and slipped the bracelet onto her wrist, where it fit in almost perfectly with the silverish stripes. She sighed. it had been a parting gift from her friend Cappie, who had been a visitor to her Albia. It had been Phoenix who had first agreed to let her come - in fact, it was Phoenix that Cappie had asked in the first place. Phoenix scanned her mental index of memories, moving first from Cappie's appearance, to the strange white sky, to the long, long stasis, to Alyssa appearing, and then she browsed back to Methka speaking through her, telling the story of Albia. Then she closed her memory encyclopedia and opened her book of musing. What were these powers that Alyssa had told her about? When would they develop?

In frustration she grabbed her amethyst pendant and held it up to her face, staring into the heart of the violet crystal. Methka had said that a spark of Shee wisdom and magic lived in the jewel, and Phoenix often asked it for help these days.

"Amethyst," she said, "what are my powers? When will I develop them?"

A crystalline voice sidled gently into her head, purring its response. "Soon, little Phoenix," it said. "Soon."

"But what *are* they?"

"You will know when they come."

The crystalline voice left. Phoenix swore mildly, and gazed out over the garden. A breeze stirred her silvery hair, which she had let down as usual. Unlike most PMNs (or at least, females with PMN heads), she disliked having her hair in a ponytail.

Phoenix sighed and leaned against the railing and looked again at the silver bracelet. She had to smile. She and Kerra both wore jewelry now (if you counted Kerra's amethyst as jewelry), and the New Generation norns had quickly adopted the concept, making jewelry out of anything that would work. She glanced back over the garden, and her smile grew a little bigger. Life was good these days, what use was it brooding over everything? She closed her eyes, lay against one wall of the treehouse, and just enjoyed the day.

-

"Damn it!"

Kerra growled at the hunk of machinery in front of her. She had *thought* everything was in place. Apparently, it wasn't.

"Need some help with that, Kerra?" the cool voice of Hand spoke from behind her. Kerra wiped some sweat off her brow - it was hot here in the kitchen, and she had been working hard.

"No," she said. Actually, she *did* need help - but she wanted to be able to make a machine by herself, without Hand helping. She glanced at the floating appendage, and sighed.

"Okay, fine, I need help. Just tell me what I'm doing wrong here."

"Well, what are you tying to make?"

"A mover," she replied.

"A mover?" Hand echoed. "How long have you been trying to make things, Kerra?"

"Couple of days."

"Then you might want to work on something a little more simple, like a toy or..."

Kerra didn't listen. She was staring at the machine before her. Something was clicking in place in her mind, like an adjusting gear. She reached for her screwdriver and unscrewed one of the plates to get to the wiring inside. Once the wires were exposed, she carefully crawled into the mover to make the adjustments. There was a crackle of electricity and a not-so-mild curse, and then Kerra backed out of the machine, her white hair singed at the ends and sticking out every which way, and her face somewhat blackened. Hand couldn't help it - she laughed.

"Laugh all you want now," Kerra growled. "But I think I've got it."

She replaced the plate and stepped into the smallish, cup-shaped mover. Cautiously, she pushed one button.

With a creak of unoiled wheels and the hum of electricity traveling along wires, the mover rolled in the direction Kerra had indicated. If Hand had a mouth, it would have dropped straight open. Kerra hit the 'stop' button, jumped out of the mover, and grabbed a cotton cloth from the table near the door. She wiped the soot off her face, and flicked one end of the rag in Hand's fa--body.

"*Told* you!" she said gleefully.

-

"You look different," Eliot commented, looking over at Sassy. It was still something of a shock, knowing that Sassy was Sassy in her new body. With the arms and head of a Fox norn, and the legs and tail of a PMN, Sassy didn't much resemble her old self.

"Different how?" Sassy murmured from among the sunflowers. As was mentioned, she didn't look a whole lot like her old self.

"Um..." Eliot paused. "You look different than you've looked since you were reincarnated," he managed, somewhat clumsily. Sassy sat up out of the sunflowers.

She really was looking different. Her unruly white hair seemed a little tamer, with a slight yellowish tint. Her brown eyes seemed to be acquiring a greenish sheen, and her fur on the body and arms was taking on a deep brown color. Eliot could swear that her tail was growing longer, too.

Sassy looked down at herself.

"Oh, that," she said. "Yeah, I noticed." She grinned at Eliot. "I think I'm reverting."

"Going back to your old form?"

"Yup." Sassy lay back down in the sunflowers. Eliot grinned, and lay down with her.

"Wonder what Phoenix's powers are gonna be."

At that moment, a young-sounding, uncertain voice found its way into the heads of Eliot and Sassy. 'Mom? Dad? Can you hear me?'

Sassy and Eliot sat up instantly, and started looking around for who had spoken. She was nowhere to be seen.

"Phoenix?" Sassy gasped. "Phoenix, where are you?"

There was a pause. Phoenix's voice spoke again, this time happy and eager. 'You can hear me! Ohmigosh, this is great!'

"Phoenix, where are you talking to us from?" Eliot asked, shaking his head. He was forever trying to keep up with his prodigious daughter, it seemed.

'The treehouse,' Phoenix said, trying to slow down to explain to her parents. 'I'm talking to you with my mind! You know, like how Methka told me how to save Albia that one time, when the newcomers...'

"We know," Sassy said. "Phoenix, how did you do that?"

There was a pause, as Phoenix contemplated this question. 'I don't know. I just kind of thought about you, and thought the words I wanted to tell you.'

Sassy glanced at Eliot. Their daughter seemed, at times, super-nornish.

"Well, it worked," Eliot said.

'I gathered that,' Phoenix replied. 'Since you can hear me and all. Hey, I think I'll see what else I can do with this!'

"Don't blow anything up," Eliot chuckled. He lay back down in the sunflowers, and was soon joined by Sassy. Taking Sassy's hand in his, he reflected that everything did seem to be going well these days.

-

Phoenix was sweeping Albia with her newfound telepathy, trying to reach every mind. She soon discovered that her range wasn't limited, as she had been afraid it would be. Giggling to herself, she continued investigating Albia.

The grin on her face disappeared. She had suddenly touched a mind that was in despair, and fear. In the Shee city. Concentrating a bit, she homed in. The creature was *in the ground*, under the beehives. Frowning, she attempted to speak to it.

'Hello?' she asked gently. 'Can you hear me?'

'Who are you?' the creature thought. 'What do you want?'

'I want to help you,' Phoenix soothed. 'Don't be afraid.'

The other paused. 'You can help me?'

'One of my friends can, I'm sure. Wait a minute, while I get someone to help.'

'Well, I'm in the--'

'I already know where you are. Help will be coming soon.'

Worried for the mysterious creature, Phoenix clambered down the tree, jumped onto the covered bridge, and from there back onto the ground. She ran into the kitchen.

"Hand! Kerra! There's a trapped creature who needs help!"

Kerra looked up from her work on the top, which had somehow been broken. The Hand also turned, from surveying Kerra's tinkering.

"Where?" Hand asked.

"In the ground, under the beehives. Kerra, get that drill-thing you were working on the other day - we'll need it."

Kerra nodded and pulled the drill out from under the table. She and Phoenix then ran to the bridge, where they climbed up the tree again (with help from the hand), and then went across in the cable car to the Shee City. Pretty well exhausted by that time, Kerra sat down for a moment's rest. Phoenix, with seemingly boundless energy, tapped her foot impatiently, ignoring the bees swarming around her.

"Come *on*, Kerra, we have got to save him," she said.

Kerra grumbled and got to her feet, going over to Phoenix. She kneeled on the ground where Phoenix indicated, and began drilling. She had drilled about a foot down when suddenly she hit a small cavity. A pair of fearful eyes peered up.

"We found him!" Phoenix shrieked. Kerra, just as psyched, worked on making the hole big enough to pull the creature out.

It was an odd creature, vaguely resembling a Grendel, but with a somewhat Nornish body. It had the same mohawk as a Grendel did, and its tail was as long and serpentine as a Grendel's. However, the rest of him was Nornish, except instead of fur he had Grendelish scales. His eyes were a stormy blue-gray. He looked at the two Norns that had saved him, and suddenly a huge smile spread over his face, revealing a mouthful of small, sharp teeth. He leapt forward and hugged Phoenix, who gave a start.

"Thank you! Thank you so much! Do you know how long I was trapped in there?"

Phoenix wriggled out of his grasp. "No, I don't. And what are you?"

The creature suddenly realized he had startled Phoenix, and backed off, respecting her personal space. "I don't know what I am. A long time ago, when there were still a lot of Grendels, I was born out of one of the mother creatures. The Grendels instantly realized I wasn't like them, and put me in there when the Shee weren't looking. I've been stuck there ever since."

Kerra's heart went out to the creature, and she laid one hand on his scaled shoulder. "Hey - don't worry," she said. "I know a few Norns in this world who can tell you what it's like to be unlike others. For example, my father Karr. He was once a grenorn, and he was alone in this world. Then he found my mother Karen, and they...well, they mated." She grinned. "I'm the charming result."

"Don't be too modest there, Kerra," Phoenix said sarcastically. Kerra lightly thwapped her, eliciting a giggle from the young mystic. The strange creature grinned.

"Well, thanks again," he said. "I've gotta find somewhere where I can live the rest of my life." He turned and started to leave, but stopped with a squawk as Kerra grabbed his tail.

"Wait. Stop. Hold. You're one of us now. Nobody I know won't accept you in this world. You can live with us. What's your name?"

Retrieving his tail, the creature turned back to the two Norns. "My name's Fahr," he said. "What are your names?"

"Phoenix here," Phoenix said, with a bow.

"I'm Kerra," Kerra said. "I'm the resident mechanic. Phoenix there is kind of a mystic."

"Nice to meet you both," Fahr said. Phoenix silently marveled - this creature had been locked away, without any Nornish or Grendelish contact for years, and still had good manners.

"Well, c'mon, let's introduce you to everyone," Kerra said, taking Fahr's hand and leading him to the cable car. Phoenix followed.

-

Karen nibbled a small, sweet mushroom as she admired her egg. It was white, with purplish spots. Karr put his arm around her.

"Wonder how this one's gonna turn out," he mused.

"I don't know about you, but I'm hoping for a son," Karen said. "Kerra's got me all daughtered out."

Karr laughed. "Yeah, I know what you mean," he said.

Suddenly, Kerra burst in. "Mom! Dad! Guess what me and Phoe--" she stopped at the sight of the tiny egg on the floor. Mouth open in shock, she looked at Karen. "You laid an egg!"

"Sure did," Karen said with a smile.

"I didn't know you were pregnant, Mom!" Kerra said.

"You were hardly around us during the whole pregnancy," Karr chuckled. "We never got a chance to tell you."

"Well, Hand could've told me, or something," Kerra muttered. Then she remembered something. "Oh, yeah! Guess what me and Phoenix found?" "What?" Karen asked.

"Come on in, Fahr!" Kerra called. Karen and Karr gasped as the strange creature entered the kitchen.

"Phoenix found him with her mindpowerthings, and I helped get him out with my drill-thing that I made, and then we took him back here so he could meet everyone!" Kerra explained eagerly. Karr rose with a warm smile and shook Fahr's hand.

"Greetings, Fahr. My name's Karr," he introduced himself.

"Pleased to meet you, Karr," Fahr responded. "Heh - our names rhyme."

Karr chuckled. "They do, don't they?" He peered at Fahr suddenly, and a look of realization spread across his face. "You're a grenorn!"

"Is that a bad thing?"

Karr laughed. "If your Grendel half doesn't try to get the better of you, it's not," he said.

"Karr used to be a grenorn - a particularly aggressive one, to boot."

"Well, I guess I won't be any threat," Fahr said. "The primary reason the Grendels banished me so long ago is because I was so Nornish."

"Huh. The only Grendel that lives in this world is Ira, and he's the most civilized Grendel you'll ever see."

Kerra smiled as the conversation went on. Didn't look like Fahr was going to have any trouble.