Disclaimer: I only own my ideas not anything else.

Bloody Kitsune: I wanted to get this chapter out before Christmas. Of course, I was planning to make it a bit more Christmas-like, but that didn't happen.

Reviews:

Jostanos: Yeah Clothes shopping isn't a lot of fun.

FANactic Writer: Glad to hear it

Preparation for some fun

Calla ducked underneath Vivian's lung and swung around to kick the other halflings back sending her falling to the floor. Vivian managed to roll out of the way before Calla's drop kick landed, but didn't manage to block the follow up punch when she got to her feet. Candy Cane stopped them before Calla could follow up with another kick, "Enough."

Calla lowered her leg as Candy Cane walked over to Vivian when the less experienced halfling spat out blood and a tooth. Calla immediately gained a regretful expression as she joined Candy Cane when the succubus began checking over Vivian's face to see the extent of the damage that the red haired witch had done, "Sorry, Viv."

Vivian waved Calla off which was pretty much the only thing she could do at the moment since Candy Cane was currently checking over the damage done to her mouth. Candy Cane finished her examination, "Well it looks like you knocked out the last of Vivian's baby teeth, Kitten. Other than that, she's going to need to use a potion to heal the cracks and chips in her teeth. I'm going to give you a potion to ease the swelling in your jaw, but you're going to have a pretty spectacular bruise for awhile."

"I'm really sorry, Vivian," Calla apologized to the other girl again, "I really didn't mean to do that,"

Vivian waved Calla off again while rubbing at her swelling jaw. Candy Cane got the materials to heal the damage and set to work after having the brat sit down a nearby bench. They were currently in one of the basement training rooms since the succubus had wanted to see where both girls stood in their training and how far they'd backslid even with Jane watching over them. The door opened to admit Clockwork, "How's it going in here?"

"I accidentally knocked out Vivian's last baby tooth among other things," Calla answered with a sulky expression.

Clockwork blinked a bit before shrugging, "It happens when you fight. At the very least, we can take care of these injuries pretty easily thanks to those potions and stuff."

"True, but I still feel bad," Calla was pouting slightly.

Dear god, Clockwork really wanted to hug the stuffing out of the red haired brat because of how cute she was. Granted, she usually was adorable, but there was something about that sulky expression that really made the killer want to squeal about how cute it was. Mentally shaking her head, Clockwork settled for patting Calla on the head, "Just make it up to her by making her favorite desserts."

Calla perked up at that suggestion and looked at Vivian who gave a small nodded when Candy Cane pulled away to grab a diffrent potion, "Alright, I'll do that," She looked at Clockwork with a beaming grin, "Thanks, Clocky."

"No problem," Clockwork grinned at her before looking at Candy Cane, "So hows it going?"

"Calla's speed is picking up, but she needs to work on her flexibility more," Candy Cane answered making Calla pale a bit not that Clockwork could blame the kid since some of the stretches that Candy Cane had her doing weren't fun at all, "Vivian is doing a lot better, but we're going to have to switch up her fighting style. She needs something that involves more attacks than evasion and redirection like what Calla's main fighting style will involve,"

"So she'll definitely benefit from Jane teaching her," Clockwork commented with a small laugh, "Or Hoodie,"

"Other than that, they didn't backslide as much as I thought they would which is good," Candy Cane smiled as Calla puffed up a bit at the praise, "How did you manage that though?"

"Parkour," Calla answered with a bright grin, "Hogwarts is like a parkour master's playground,"

Vivian spoke when Candy Cane pulled away again, "You're a fucking monkey, Cal."

Calla's grin brightened further and she looked more than a little smug making Clockwork wonder what the story behind that was. She would definitely need to ask later when there weren't some important matters to discuss, "So anyone want to tell me what this fashion show idea is all about?"

It said a lot about the various inhabitants of the mansion when they all spent just a single moment wondering why a shiver of incoming doom/mischief ran down their spines before deciding it probably didn't include them.

Calla walked into her father's workshop hearing the screams of his latest victim and knocked on the door when to that area, "Papa! Can I come in?"

"Of course," Jason called out.

Calla opened the door and walked inside feeling a part of herself ease at the scent of fresh blood hit her nose. She ignored the girl that her father was currently turning into a doll due to her own stupidity. She walked up to her father and hugged him lightly earning a warm smile from the blood splattered toy maker, "Papa, do you want a hand? Cane let me go early since Vivian needed a break after I knocked out her last baby tooth."

"Hand me my peeling knife," Jason told her and Calla picked the knife off of the tray, "Is Vivian alright?"

"She needs some potions to heal the damage I did, but she'll be just fine within the next few days," Calla handed over the knife and walked towards the girl's head where she reached out to touch the rather stringy looking blonde hair, "Papa, I think we'll need to replace her hair with something a bit less stringy,"

Jason hummed lightly, "Maybe a darker blonde, it might suit her better," Calla let go of the pieces of hair she was looking over and moved towards the closet where Jason the wigs he used to replace hair that didn't suit his newest dolls, "What did Cane say about how you're both doing?"

"We didn't back-slide as much as she thought we might though Vivian is going to have to change up her fighting style," Calla began looking through the wigs carefully trying to find one that suited the brat currently screaming as her father began to peeling away skin to ready the brat for the coming transformation she was to go through, "Cane's increasing my flexibility exercises,"

"That isn't going to be fun," Jason said over the screams, "But it's better to go through it now than later,"

"I know," Calla found one that looked like it might fit the brat and showed her father, "How does this one look?"

Jason looked at it for a moment before nodding, "That should work nicely especially if I lighten her skin tone just a shade, I might have to replace the eyes though. Maybe a soft blue rather than the dark brown?"

Calla shook her head, "Bluish gray would be better."

Jason hummed lightly as he considered that thought before nodding, "That would actually suit her especially if I darkened her lip color and maybe added a dash of freckles."

"Papa would you have time to come to the mansion tomorrow for an hour or two? I really want to show you what I've been working on with Vivian and the others," Calla asked as she returned to the table and set the wig down on the stand set up nearby.

"Of course," Jason looked up to smile at her, "It'll be nice to spend some time with you,"

Calla grinned at him before asking, "Anything else I can do to help?"

Laughing Jack chuckled when Candy Cane asked him if he'd like to assist, "I was wondering why I got that delightful shiver down my spine. I assume our little gumdrop is ensuring Jay will be joining us tomorrow?"

"Yes and she'll be doing the same with Pop later on," Candy Cane answered as she lit her scarcely used pipe.

"You're retaking up that habit again?" Laughing Jack asked as he turned back to the candy canes he was making.

"With all the bullshit we're going to go through just to get Siri back not to mention having to deal with the dementors when I go check on him, yes," Candy Cane breathed in the sweet tasting herb she'd chosen to smoke, "I'll stop once we get everything done,"

"You really do care about that guy," Laughing Jack commented as he coated one set of candy canes with poison of some type which would be distributed to certain victims.

Candy Cane nodded as she leaned back against the counter that the monochrome clown wasn't currently using, "It's hard not to. With his Black heritage and his ability to turn into a grim, he managed to accept us far more easily than some. Especially when he willingly blood adopted Lily as his sister even knowing who her true family members and the man she truly loves were, I couldn't help, but find myself caring about him," She took a deep drag from her pipe and began sighing at the feeling of the smoke entering her lungs after so long, "It also helps that he's one of the few humans that I actually enjoyed sleeping with for more than the extra energy him being a magical brought me."

"You actually slept with him?" Laughing Jack asked with a wide eyed expression, "Seriously?"

Candy Cane snickered at his expression, "Yes, I slept with him. I couldn't really say no to a free meal especially when Siri was offering it up. He was good enough that I had no problem going back. If it weren't for the fact I know he isn't my mate, I would've done the same thing as Lily and Jay."

Laughing Jack shook his head, "I honestly can't imagine you of all people having a steady relationship."

"It takes a special person," Candy Cane retorted not at all offended since she was a succubus, "Siri isn't the first person I've been in a steady relationship with. He's just the most recent of the few that have managed to catch my eye since snapping,"

"So are you doing this because you have feelings for him or because of the gumdrop?" Laughing Jack looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

Candy Cane shrugged as she puffed on her pipe, "A mix of both though mostly for the kitten. She needs Siri both because he is a wizard of noble birth and because he'll hopefully help keep her from snapping before she's ready."

"So what exactly do you need me to make in order to help with this endeavor?" Laughing Jack asked as he finished coating candy canes in poison and switched to coating another batch in some kind of flavoring.

"Nothing for the fashion show, but as much chocolate as you can to help counter the effect of the Dementors for both those going to check on Sirius and for Siri," Candy Cane answered as she took the pipe out of her mouth, "Nothing poisoned,"

Laughing Jack released a gusty sigh, "That's no fun, Cane, but I suppose I'll hold in my murderous impulses for the gumdrop."

Candy Cane rolled her eyes, "Please do, we need Siri around as much as Remy."

"I still don't really like that were," Laughing Jack commented with a small snort, "He's a bit too submissive for my taste,"

"He's a submissive werewolf, LJ," Candy Cane informed the monochrome clown, "The potion he takes wouldn't be half as effective if he weren't. Naturally cored alpha werewolves can only make submissive werewolves. Only those born of their bloodline can be alphas,"

"Basically they're biting people to make a harem?" Laughing Jack commented with an innocent expression, "Kinky,"

Candy Cane choked on her smoke and about coughed up a lung at that comment. When she managed to regain her breath, she wheezed out, "Dear creator Jack! Don't say shit like that."

"Doesn't make it any less correct," Laughing Jack grinned at her.

Candy Cane rolled her eyes, but had to admit it would make a lot of sense.

"Hey, Little One," Candy Pop greeted Calla as she entered his room with a towel turban on her head, "Helped Jay with his newest doll?"

"Yup," Calla pulled herself onto his bed next to him, "Whatcha doin?"

"Reading this," Candy Pop showed her the page he was reading, "It's one of the few fully intact books about the age of Heroes. Specifically, the ones that haven't been tampered with to keep the mortals from being stupid or finding out things that they really shouldn't know,"

"Really?" Calla looked at the words and frowned, "That language looks like the bastardized son of ancient Sumerian and Norse who ended up stealing from ancient Greek only to get fucked over by Ancient Aramaic,"

Candy Pop snorted as Night Terrors chuckled out, "The Little Doll isn't wrong, Idiot."

Mentally flipping off his inner demon, Candy Pop said, "It's one of the demonic languages. I forget the name, but I do know it's from the sixth circle of hell."

"So from the mentally deficient demons?" Calla asked making Candy Pop burst out laughing.

Night Terrors was roaring with laughter, "I love our little mate, Idiot. I fucking love her!"

Candy Pop slowly calmed down and hugged Calla to his side, "Little one, never change though try not to mention that little comment about the sixth circle around certain demons, okay?"

Calla nodded as she cuddled into him, "Alright, Poppy."

"Now," Candy Pop gestured to the book, "Want me to read to you?"

"Which story are you reading?" Calla asked as she peered down at the book curiously.

"Gilgamesh," Candy Pop answered as he turned to the first page of that story, "It's more detailed than the poem,"

"Yes, please," Calla looked at the book eagerly.

Candy Pop wasn't surprised since she really enjoyed books like this especially when they involved creeps. He vaguely remembered that one of the Brothers was featured in this story, but he wasn't sure which one. He felt her tap his shoulder as he began reading the story to her, "Yes, Little One?"

"Can you come to the mansion tomorrow for an hour or two? I want to show you and Papa something," Calla asked him curiously.

Candy Pop thought about it carefully before nodding, "Sure, I don't have much to do tomorrow. Do you want to go shopping for gifts later on?"

"Mhmm," Calla nodded with a bright grin, "I still need to find a gift for Draco,"