#fenixtj

"Miss Selkie?" She asks the little girl quietly. "I do not wish to sound rude. But, your skin, you have it? Si?"

She starts to cry

"Oh, oh no. Do not cry... I am sorry, los siento, honest..."

"Father, can you reach Sir Jack?"

"I have his number yes, he's probably still assembling the patrol"

"Contact him, please. I'd like a team to go to the school and search for a selkie skin, as well as a lookout to keep an eye on the place."

A cough and a whisper from the boy sluagh "You'll find it blocking one of the outside drains from the roof. I.. I hid it.. at his sugggestion" A glance to the nearly comatose sidhe boy

The selkie girl who was crying in Salma's shoulder, looks up at that, hope in her eyes

"Get it back here, please, Father."

"With all haste, Jessica. Donn' worry" he whispers softer to Jessica, "The children are now here by your fire. They're safe now "

"The selkie won't be safe and whole until she has her skin back." Jessica whispers back. "But thank you, Father."

The Father nods and heads out to see to it himself

The nocker says "We're pretty furked up, aren't we? Will.. will we ever be ..who we are supposed to be again?"

Jessica gets up and gets a cup of coffee before returning to her seat to answer.

"I don't know." she offers no false promises "Maybe it would help, not to think of what you might-maybe were 'supposed' to be, but what you will make of yourselves as you become who you WILL be."

the sidhe boy says one word, he does not whisper it, but he doesn't shout it either "Believe."

The troll Countess nods. "Believe. Yes."

Some nods all around

"And, until you have a better handle on yourselves and your plans, you're welcome to stay here."

the sluagh coughs "I'm Adler.. the selkie is Eternia...the nocker is Itzel..."

"It's MAYAN" The nocker clarifies not wantinng crap about her name

"And the sidhe is Onyx" he whispers

"Onyx" The sidhe repeats

"It is good to meet you, although I wish it had been under different circumstances."

Adler nods "yes."

She nods. "Alright. What do you need from me? How can I help?"

"Skin. Fire. Food. Sleep" Onyx says. clipped, but at least it's more than just one word

"Those, you have or shall have."

"Ice cream?" Itzel inquires

Jessica smiles. "We have ice cream for you, yes."

She beams

And the other kids smile too.

******

"It won't be a quick recovery to be sure" Dame Ash says talkin with Jessica later as the four new children are encouraged to play, "House Liam has a really amazing gift for helping hold back banality, and frankly if it weren' for Father V and Jack I'd dare say it would take months, but with their help we may narrow i down to weeks. Onyx appears to be near autistic."

"He has time. They all do."

"I understand. How long do I have before I have to pack my things?" Dame Ash asks "And will you allow the dignity of a cover story for Ellie?"

"Dame... come, sit." Jessica does. "Tell me how it happened?"

"I don't know" She says and sits down "I missed the clues. She had nightmares, I tended to them, tried to make sense of them, but I never thought she was actually going to up and leave without warning me in the middle of the night. I thought perhaps they were just reflections of her own trauma. "

"That is a fair assumption, Dame."

"Still, she went out on my watch. " A sigh "And I missed it. We certainly can't blame Ellie, so .. how long do I have to pack before you send me out? And can I make some excuse??" She seems to think she's fired!

"I have not decided, Dame. On anything. That's the truth. Because if you failed on your watch, I failed on mine."

The older woman looks at the younger "You did put me in charge of mentoring her, you know that right? I'm here so you could actually focus on other matters"

A soft cough, a whisper "pardon"

Jessica looks.

Mr. Viggo says "Big pardon, but neither of you are to blame. I told the girl of the location when she used me for information. I did not know, until she described it, that it held other children. I warned her it was banal. However, I did tell her where it was. I had hoped she would get adult help, and I think I suggested it. She's an amazing young girl, and her motely is steadfast"

The sluagh gives an almost apologetic bow

"I have not decided." Jessica repeats.

"Mister Viggo," Ash's eyes narrow "May we step out side so I can punch you in the mouth? Why didn't you TELL one of us yourself?"

"Ah, no, and alas, certain protocals among my kith, the exchange of information is a sacred thing. However, if it suits, I can repay this hold for any trouble. You see. I'm a teacher. I came here for the balefire true, but also to evaluate my potential student. I'm.. trained in guiding dyslexic children" Mr Viggo says

"Wait, you're the applicant?" Ash's ire dims.