Alright folks, I am in a crappy mood right now so if this chapter sounds real negative, it's my fault.

Here we go.

The only thing that travels faster then light is gossip. And by the time Sal had gotten home, the word had spread: Opal had a daughter, and a half-breed at that.

News channels galore began to spread the amazing word, as men, women, and children were all shown the undeniable proof that Opal had had an affair in college and her daughter was visiting her in prison. Many people heard of this astounding news and were amazed. And four people in particular, were more interested than others.

The first was Holly Short.

She was in the middle of the a nice, relaxing weekend, the first in a long time. She had been working very hard lately, and it was beginning to get to her. Thankfully, Commander Kelp had noticed this, and he ordered Holly to take the weekend off. Holly protested, claiming that she had more to do than take time off, however, the commander had ordered to cool off and take a break. Holly thought that it would be a boring, pointless hell.

Now, she knew how wrong she was: a break was just what she needed.

For the first time, in a long time, she felt relaxed. She was wasting valuable time, just sitting there like a lump, but she felt great. It had been so long since she could kick back, eat some cereal, watch some soaps, and just be herself.

She had been watching a few reruns of I Married A Goblin, a popular soap, a news report came up, with the words, "urgent."

Holly barely paid attention. She was too busy shoving cereal in her mouth. She would have ignored the whole broadcast, but two words caught her ear: "Opal," and "child."

Holly stopped eating, a mouthful of cereal still in her throat.

An anchorman, wearing a cheesy smile, was on the air. His voice was annoying, but Holly listened to his words: "Today, it was discovered by an anonymous source that Opal Koboi, the deranged pixie, had a hybrid daughter."

Holly, suprised, spat out her cereal. They went right through the holo-screen. She wiped her mouth and listened intently.

The man continued: "A young creature, believed at first to be a centaur, visited Opal Koboi in prison, claiming to be her daughter, and asking for money to fund an invention. Before Opal could answer, the guard informed them that visiting hours were over. Opal, who had not moved in some time, then spent the evening showering and evventually played chess. To report on the situation, we have Wendy Weeds, live at Howler's Peak. Wendy?"

The screen changed to the image of a young, back haired elf woman, who was outside of the prison, amongst a multitude of reporters and newsmen. She looked rather frazzled, and she was standing with a tall, strict looking sprite woman, who had an emotionless face. "Hi, Biff. I am here at Howler's Peak, where a multitude of reporters are trying to se Opal and ask if she is really a mother. With me, is Ursula Winds, Opal Koboi's lawyer. Mrs. Ursula, would you please tell us if the girl was indeed Opal's daughter?"

Ursula looked into the camera. "It had been confirmed. Opal indeed had an experience in college that produced a child." The woman's voice, like her face, remained emotionless.

"Can you tell us who the father is?" Wendy held the microphone to the woman.

Ursula raised an eyebrow and gave Wendy a look that made her lower the mic. "No. Comment," she said irritably.

Wendy smiled weakly. "And there you have it," she said to the camera. "Back to you, Biff."

The camera went back to Biff, who smiled his cheesy grin again. "Well, it seems that Opal has a little baby girl, folks. Though the father remains unknown to the general public, I have a theroy myself. The LEP tech expert Foaly is a centaur, and he went to college with Opal. I thin those two had a little something going on with each other back in the old days. Until we know for sure, this is Biff Pines, for channel 17 news."

Holly turned off the holographic television, and sat in the chair, thinking about what she had heard. After five minutes, she stood up, changed, and placed on her wings. Her eyes filled with fiery anger. She was going to find Foaly and see what he knew of this.

And then she was going to wring his neck.

The second person was Foaly himself. He stared at the screen, his eyes not registering what he was seeing. Opal Kobi's daughter...his daughter... was here. In the Haven. On the news, the show that everyone watched. He almost felt his heart stop. He had the strangest feeling he was going to get fired, or worse: his wife would divorce him.

The phone began to beep. Absent-mindedly, he reached for it and put the speaker to his mouth. "Hello?"

"Guess who?" asked a female voice from the other side.

Foaly straightened his back. "Opal. What do you want? How are you calling me!?" he raged.

"I never used my one phone call," the pixie answered.

Foaly didn't hold in his anger. "You little... witch! Do you have any idea how much trouble you've probably caused me?! If my wife sees that news story, my life is finished!"

"Oh, I know," answered Opal casually. "In fact, I plan on personally sending a letter to her. I still cannot believe that you never told her about me? And how you abondened you GODS-FORSAKEN DAUGHTER!"

Foaly sighed, sinking to his knees. "Why?" he whispered, as if he didn't already know the answer.

On the other line, Opal's voice chuckled. "Consider it payback for all of the dreadful things you have done to me. Including getting me preagnet. Oh, but don't worry: now that dear Sal is seeing me, I can be the parent you were to big of an idiot to be. Ciao!"

The line went dead, and Foaly placed his hands on the floor, and screamed.