Lupia the Lupe walked home in the rain, her sodden black and white fur dripping as she went. It was a cold, wet day - her LEAST favorite weather. She hoped the roof of the garage hadn�t started leaking again. The LAST thing she wanted was water in her inventing lab. (As her family had no need for a garage, she had taken it over.) Lupia didn�t make the kind of machines that are intended to take over the world or anything like that. When her sister, Lupari, asked, she replied, "I make PRACTICAL machines." "Practical machines" in Lupia�s point of view were any machines that were useful for playing pranks. She didn�t want her most recent contraption, a remote-control cookie stealer, to be destroyed by water. It was almost done, but if it rusted...

Lupia stepped into the garage and checked the roof. Good - the patching she had put up there was holding. Satisfied, she ran to the doorstep of her house and inside before she could get more wet, slamming the door behind her. She was in a room with tiled walls and floor, as well as a drain and a showerhead - it had been specifically designed for wet/muddy Lupes. It was handy to be able to clean up before entering the house. Lupia shook herself vigorously before stepping into the living room, where she grabbed a towel from the hook on the inside of the closet door and rubbed herself over one more time. Her Mom, known by some as Maria or thegreatlupelover, came in from the next room, looking frazzled. "Honestly. I�ve been trying to get Lupina to organize her books, but no, she just leaves them lying on the floor!" She stormed into the kitchen, single braid swinging. Lupia hid a grin as she ran up the stairs three at a time and peered into the room that Lupina and Lupari shared. Lupina was stretched out on her springy bamboo bed, reading Lupe Digest. When Lupia entered, she looked up.

Setting the book down, she sat up. "Do you know what? Mom�s been on a rampage for me to clean up my books and put them in order! They�re FINE as they are!" Lupia raised one eyebrow (a skill that she and Lupina shared, and was envied by the rest of the family, including Mom). "Wha�d she do?" "Well, I was just lying and reading, when she comes in and starts going like, �I�ve devised a system for organizing your books, Lupina! See, this one is labeled 1-7.3 so it goes here with this one and that one...�" Lupia chortled. Lupina�s imitation of Mom�s voice was perfect. "So wha�d you say?" "Well, I go like, �Mom? If you love me, go away.� And that shut her up, all right. She slammed the door so hard that it bounced back open." Lupina finished the story. "Honestly, with the mood she�s likely to be in now, I wouldn�t be surprised if she went straight up to Antorcha herself and challenged her to a battle." Lupina was the brainy one, but she also loved the battledome. She was the only fighter in the family. The combination of these aspects made her very knowledgeable about Battledome masters. Antorcha, along with Hynfaerie, was one of the best fighters there was. Lupari was the adventurer and explorer (the best of them at NeoQuest) and Lupyan loved theater (often, an evil villain or a sweet Poogle would appear at the table for dinner - Lupyan was a master with costumes and disguise.)

"Well, thanks for telling me," Lupia said. "I�ll go see what Lupyan�s up to." Lupina rolled her eyes upward. "Faeries, no. She�s been practicing her opera singing." She gave a screeching rendition of Lupyan�s opera. Lupia grinned. "I think I can brave it." She left and walked down the hall to the room that she and Lupyan shared. She threw open the door just in time to see Lupyan sweep an elegant curtsy, her lavender ballroom dress whispering as she moved. Grinning, Lupia ran over to the controls and cranked the curtains shut, then hit a button that started playing pop music. Lupyan swept aside the curtains and glared at Lupina. She swept down from the stage that Lupia had constructed in their room and pressed the button to turn off the music.

At Lupyan�s insistence, the family put on plays occasionally, with Lupyan at the leading role, and Lupina and Lupari with other parts. Lupia always worked backstage to manage all the props, lighting, music, etceteras, single-handedly. Sometimes, friends would help by playing more minor roles. During rehearsals, Lupia particularly enjoyed flashing the lights and playing rock music right in the middle of a romantic scene. She did, however, refrain from such pranks during performances. Or at least, most of the time. Lupyan sighed. "Must you indulge to ruin the most dramatic moments every time?" Lupia considered. "No, just most of the time." Lupyan sighed and flopped on the bed. "Begone, ye vile beast, with your audacious and dissentious pranks, o ye treacherous fiend! Out of my sight, for thou dost infect my eyes."

Lupia raised an eyebrow. "Shakespeare?" "Not exactly," Lupyan replied, blushing. "I changed the words around a bit - after looking them up." "I see," Lupia replied, nodding wisely. Glancing out the window, she saw that the rain had let up. "I�m going out into my lab." "That foul place of hideous contraptions, dreamed up by thy twisted mind!" Lupyan exclaimed. "More Shakespeare?" Lupia asked. "No, actually," Lupyan replied. "I made it up." It was then that Lupina poked her head in. "What�s going on? I�ve been hearing a lot of Shakespearean-sounding language down here." "Lupyan�s been insulting me and my lab," Lupia explained. "Ah. I see." Lupyan reddened. "There�s two of you; the devil make a third!" "That I recognize," Lupina said. "Henry VI, Part 1?" Lupyan was now a bright crimson. "Out, you green-sickness carrion! Out, you baggage! You tallow face!" As they left, Lupia called back, "And that�s from Hamlet!"

To be continued...