Gen 4 Chap 4 – The Popstar And The Sad Man

Le Author’s Note: Welcome back to another chapter. If the images look a little different, it’s because I now use ReShade. Not much to say, enjoy. I also fixed Chapter 1, it was cut-off at the bottom for some reason.

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5 AM In Fall

“YES! WOO!”

Exhilaration from running. Why did it take him so long to do this? It gave him… energy. Like magical energy, energy he has needed for quite some time. He felt charged and that wasn’t from the runner’s high.

Ezreal felt the wind swirl around him. That wasn’t naturally occurring, he was doing it himself. He was manipulating the weather once again but only in this small area where his father loved to fish.

“Dad was right,” he puffed out. “Running gives me more power. This is AMAZING!” Yelling that last part because he knew no one was around. Ezreal had been hanging around his father more and more these days to help him get over his ‘issue’, as he calls it, and Ezra suggested running (after waking up at 4 AM to fish with him didn’t really work out) on one sunny afternoon. Ezreal took him up on that and it has been an eye-opener. Ezra also tried to help his son by getting Genesis involved, although Genesis had his own life to deal with, that’s a different story for a different time.

Ezreal was a powerful witch and he was always looking for ways to improve. Not because he was looking for a fight or anything, much too lazy, but, because he simply wanted that power. He wanted to be able to say he can and be able to prove it. His father didn’t have anything to object to about it, as long as he doesn’t cause any more trouble.

“Alright dad, I don’t even use this power like that. Unless you count all the spells I’m perfecting.” Ezreal said to himself. Relishing in the crisp autumn air. What will he need them for? Even he doesn’t know that yet. It’s been a good few weeks since the meeting of the random girl and her bodyguard? Why did she have a bodyguard again? That doesn’t matter, what matters now is the fact that he found an outlet, an outlet he can use to get better at his emotional control, better at his magic, and get a better mental state. He ruffled his own hair, smiling for one of those rare moments that are becoming more frequent. “Ok me, let’s run back home. I’ve been up since 4 AM and it’ll take an hour to get back… Man I need a nap.” He says to himself and gets ready for the run home.

***********************Somewhere On The Other Side Of Town***********************

In a small house where a pop star searching for answers and, a werewolf who would have preferred to be back in Starlight Shores at their penthouse, Aricelli was trying to gently wake Malen up. After all, he promised they would go searching for more information in town today and it was already 11 o’clock. But she was losing her patience. He always does this when he doesn’t want to do something.

“Malen~? Malen… come on, you promised.” She whispered while slowly reaching for his neck. Malen let out a low growl, shifting his body slightly.

“MALEN!” Aricelli yells and he lazily opened his eyes. “Why are you yelling this early in the morning?” He was fully aware of what time it was, but he wanted to push her buttons as she’s been doing to him the last few weeks. “Malen, it’s 11, you promised me we would go and–” He unexpectedly shoots up into an upright position almost headbutting her in the process.

“Ari, this is getting old and I want to go back to my cozy penthouse.”

“Oh but when you wanted to get Thai food that you know is bad for you, you demanded I let you eat it. But when I ask nicely for help…” Aricelli trails off, staring at the front door of this tiny home that she still didn’t quite understand how Malen got it, considering they were just in a hotel room a few days ago.

“Are you doing that face?” He asks her sensing a familiar feeling he would get whenever she was a little mad. “What face? I’m just looking outside.” She says talking out the side of her mouth.

“The face you make when you’re mad but not really. You look like a little pissed mouse.” “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Malen glances up at her with tired, lazy eyes. As long as they’ve known each other, it came effortlessly for him to know her emotions, facial expressions, and almost every little detail about her. They have always been together since they were kids. He just never thought she would turn into what she was today, as he never thought he would be a guard dog.

He made a tsk-tsk sound with his mouth. “Ari, I know you. And I know you’re doing that face. Fine, where do you want to go?” He asks and gets up.

“Well since you asked, I was thinking we could go out for brunch at this cute little café I saw when we were out last time.” “Ugh, no, can we go to the library where there are no people?” “Then how will I find the dirt I need?” She asks calmly.

“Fine. Ok, this is for you. I’ll be seen in a cute, boxcar style, café for you.” He says but perhaps he was secretly happy on the inside. After all, he does enjoy tasting some of her weird drink choices. Most of them are too sweet though. Plus, the only reason why he’s still here is because he puts her happiness over his. Unhealthy? Maybe, but he might figure that out one day. “Just so you know, you’ll be doing the talking and asking the questions.”

“I believe I have already been doing that Malen. Come on, I want some Boba.” Aricelli says and practically bounces out the door. She had a feeling she would get a little closer to the truth today, even without the help of the sad man from Fairytale Finders.

***********************At A Boxcar Café***********************

“Ok, what do we have so far?” Aricelli asks aloud. Malen, eyeing her bubble tea, quite dubiously, answered absent mindedly. ” You have a strawberry too sweet something tea thing, and I have a normal caramel–”

“I mean about my situation.” She lets out a huff of air. “This isn’t a joke Malen.” Aricelli’s frustration simmered beneath her voice as she fixated her eyes on Malen, who suddenly snapped out of his bubble tea trance. “Sorry,” he mumbled, setting down his drink. “Your situation… let’s see.” He furrowed his brow, pretending to contemplate the pieces of the puzzle they’d been dissecting for hours. “You could, just quit?”

Aricelli rolled her eyes. “Sometimes, you drive me mad. Completely and utterly mad.” “I’m just trying to lighten the mood; you treat this as it’s life or death you know. For a famous popstar, you sure do like to stick your nose into things where it doesn’t belong…” Malen mumbled the last part only loud enough for him to hear.

“Maybe we should go back to the sad man at Fairytale Finders…” She trails off. Before Malen could spout out another snarky remark, he was interrupted by the nervous interjector of someone.

“E-excuse me, did you say Fairytale Finders? Perhaps I could be of some help?”

Malen’s eyes snapped to the voice, he almost lowered his guard but he could still smell some magical trace of witch on the person who just walked in on their ‘conversation’.

“Who are you?” He growled. “The owner and operator of this café you enjoy to complain about. Excuse the intrusion, my name is Irelia Xavier and I believe I could prove to be of some use.

Aricelli’s eyes lit up as Irelia spoke. She could feel herself getting one step closer to the truth. “Well, spill it! Don’t keep me in suspense!” Aricelli spouted. Irelia squinted her eyes ever so slightly. She could’ve sworn she’s seen her face somewhere before… like the news? Maybe, it doesn’t matter. What matters now is that they met her recluse of a brother and maybe they can help her, help them, help him.

“That was my brother you met. The only person uhm, working at Fairytale? I don’t even know if what he’s doing is considered work. Either way, I’m somewhat of an alchemist and I have a potion I’ve been meaning to try out. The only thing is, I can’t get my brother to drink it for me.”

“What does that have to do with us? Why should we care if your weirdo of an annoyance –” “Malen, don’t interrupt! Go on Irelia, we’re listening.” “You mean you’re listening.” Malen says under his breath and sips his drink, obviously not interested in anything else Irelia had to say. “Basically, I need my brother to go back to the way he was before… his thing happened. I miss the old him.” “Too bad toots, people change. We’re not going to help you change your brother’s personality. He’s an asshole for a reason.”

“He would help you then. If what I heard was correct, you’re trying to figure out if your parents are Storybrook’s right? Ezreal was basically obsessed with them when we were younger and I’m sure he really wants to get back into it, he just needs a bigger push.” Irelia says almost absent-mindedly. “His name is Ezreal…? I like that.” Aricelli muses to herself then regains her happy disposition, “Well, that settles it, we’ll help!” Mayhaps a little too enthusiastic there.

“No, WE won’t.” Malen states. He finished his drink and crossed his arms. “We won’t be doing anything concerning an ass of a witch or his annoying witch of a sister.”

“I’ll let you guys have unlimited drinks while you’re here. And I’m not a witch, I don’t have any powers.” Irelia says. Aricelli leans forward, trying to coax Malen with her eyes. It normally works and this time was no different, although he did try to put up a fight. “Come on Malen, the quicker we can get some answers, the quicker you can go back to the penthouse.” That sealed it, he let out a heavy sigh, shrugged and mumbled a ‘yeah, ok’. Irelia smiled a confused smile. Did that woman say penthouse?

Aricelli shot Malen a grateful glance before turning back to Irelia with a charming smile. “Thank you so much, Irelia. We really appreciate your generosity. Shall we go to your home now?” “Sure, Ezreal is bound to be out as he normally is these days.” Irelia states and turns to get the last customer out before she hung up a ‘Back in a Bit’ sign. Soon they were piled into Malen’s car and head to the Xavier’s home.

***********************The Xavier’s House***********************

“Did you have to follow me into my lab?” Irelia asks the werewolf, eyes following her every movement. Malen had many dealings with alchemists before, none of the encounters ending up friendly except say, two or three. So his natural distrust only grew when Irelia the witch wanted to make the potion away from prying eyes.

“Yes, considering it’s really sketchy that you wanted to make it alone, out of sight. My job as Ari’s bodyguard is to do just that, guard. Guard against anything that poses as a threat to her.” He says in a flat tone. Twinbrook has been rubbing his fur the wrong way ever since he and Aricelli arrived. Unhelpful witches, manipulative vampires, and now this woman who was the sibling of the unhelpful witch. A self-proclaimed alchemist since she couldn’t even tap into her own powers.

“Forgive me for being forward but, Ari… she’s a popstar right? My niece is basically obsessed with her music–” “Stop. If you tell anyone that she’s here, I’ll make it my second job to put you in your own personal hell.” Malen sneered. Irelia shrugged, she could figure out they were here under a not so great cover. She heard on the news a while ago the international sensation Ari stepped away from the spotlight to do some ‘soul searching’. Sasha threw an entire fit of her little preteen heart when she heard that. Imagine what she would do if she knew her idol was sitting in their living-room right now. Luckily she was at school and Kotetsu was out getting some groceries for tonight’s dinner. Irelia read a few pages of her book then turned to her cabinet to gather the ingredients.

“Mermaid tears and Eternal Spring Water, straight from the Himalayas.” Irelia said mainly to herself but the heightened senses of a werewolf allowed Malen to hear it as well. “You went to the Himalayas? Wait what even are those ingredients? I haven’t seen a mermaid in years.” He says, eyeing Irelia’s back dubiously. “It’s called next day delivery. Maybe you’ve heard of that.” Irelia states. She was getting slightly annoyed by Malen now. Even though he was a werewolf, and Irelia had the softest spot for his kind, she hated it when people where in her alchemy space. Unwanted hairs, dead skin cells, who knows what else could float into a potion.

Malen snickered. A little spunk coming from the meek witch? That’s interesting but he wasn’t interested in playing with her more. “Where’d you get the rocks?” “Gems. And I found them, well Spark helped.” “Spark?” “My dog. Surely you smelled their scents…” Ah, so that’s the dog’s name. Malen took a mental note of that. If he ever needed any dirt on Irelia or the people she hangs around (Shack witch), he could always ask her pooch. But then again, dogs are loyal…

“So Malen, I know you don’t really like strangers nor trust them at all–” “Correct, get to the point.” “I just want my brother back. His old self, and I can’t do it alone. I have family that have been helping but I want a more ‘now’ result. This potion is harmless, just allowing him to remember his virtues, values…” Irelia sighed. She could tell Malen didn’t care about her nor her brother, of course not, they were strangers. “Just, imagine what would happen if the person you cared about the most had a life altering experience and they were never the same as you once knew them.” She says and goes to mix the potion. Malen did think about that, what the path would’ve have been if the roles were reversed. If Aricelli wasn’t how she was so lucky to be. Hopeful, optimistic, bubbly… Everything he was not. He couldn’t imagine what Irelia was going through, didn’t care to analyze it fully. He just knew that Aricelli was his top priority, his self just second, his car, third. As long as those three things were intact, nothing else really mattered to Malen. He couldn’t afford to be dragged into other people’s petty squabbles, not anymore. Except, Ari pulled him into this with her. Malen shook his head, clearing the thought. As Irelia mixed the ingredients together, Malen watched her carefully. A palpable silence filling the room for a moment.

“The potion is done.” Irelia says, turning towards him, handing him the potion as well. “Don’t break the vial, please. This… this is important.” Malen glances at the colorless and semi odorless concoction. He shrugs and gingerly takes the vial.

“This will be in Aricelli’s hands. I’m just the messenger.” He says and he walks out of Irelia’s little lab back to where he was comfortable, back to Ari. Irelia lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. At ;east this might work in her favor, Ezreal tends to be severely skeptical of anything she makes for him and the magic he wields makes it nigh impossible for her to try out potions. But this one, she did a lot of research on it, how to make it colorless, odorless. Undetectable… to a witch. She hoped to the gods this would work.

***********************A t Night, Across Town***********************

Ezreal was taking an new routine night walk to clear his head again when he heard someone call out to him. He stopped and looked to the sound of the voice where his heart stopped for a fraction of a second.

“Alright this time I know you heard me. How’s it going?” The woman asks him. Ezreal was still having a fight or flight moment and didn’t answer he right away. “Hey, you ok? I know I probably spooked you but you don’t have to be afraid of me, I just wanted to hel–”

“You caused me to not have dreams. How’d you do that?” Ezreal blurts out. That wasn’t the smoothest thing to say, nor was it the thing he actually wanted to say. He wanted to curse her out even if she did help his sleep schedule. He wanted to run very far away from her. He wanted to be left alone and not be tempted this night.

“How about we start with names first? I at least deserve to know your name after carrying you home from the club that night. And for not peeking into your drawers.” She smiled at him.

“W-what!?” Ezreal’s brows furrowed. Did she just say…?

“I’m joking, but I do want to know your name. I see you around a lot.”

“Ezreal. And your name is Bea.”

“Bea to friends, Beatrice to everyone else and the way I see it Ezreal, you’re not a friend… yet.” She flutters over to him. “So tell me why you expertly avoid me any time you see me.”

“I’d rather not.” Ezreal adverts her gaze. He hasn’t gotten to the part where he gained his confidence back yet. Those are some demons he still needs to fight. Beatrice lets out a huff of air and resigns herself to withhold the big questions for now. At this moment, she’ll keep it simple.

“Ok, I’ll start small and tell you two things about myself. Is that alright?” “You can do whatever you want, I don’t care.” Ezreal says out the side of his mouth. How did he end up in a situation like this again so soon? Is this… a curse?? No, can’t be, can it? He was about to revisit a memory when he heard Beatrice say she lived for over 300 years.

“I’m sorry, what? No way.” “Ah so that got your attention. But it’s half true, I have been around for a while, 150 to be exact.” Ezreal furrowed his brow, a thought just came to him.

“What do you want from me?” That came out more like a knife than a question in all honesty. And to be fair, he had a right to be highly suspicious of this fairy. She was beautiful, seemed to have it all together, but there was an aura of mystery about her that made him uneasy.

“I want nothing from you. But your energy seems so… tormented. I figured you could simply use a friend.” Beatrice tells him, trying to sound as authentic without coming off as shallow soul with ulterior motives because the fact of the matter is, she doesn’t have any. She just sees Ezreal as someone who could use someone to talk to. Not a lot of people understand why Beatrice operates out of her heart majority of the time but she does, and that’s all that matters. She thought back to the night where she first met the man, him on the floor of a club he didn’t belong in, silently losing himself without him even realizing it. She saw into his dreams as well when she took him home. It was like looking into an abyss of fear and guilt. She just simply wanted to help him not feel that. If there was a trophy for most empathetic, Beatrice would win it, hands down.

“I don’t trust you, at all. You know that right?” Ezreal says, trying and actually failing to read whether she was genuine or not. Has he gotten that bad at this? He used to be a master manipulator. Wait, that’s not a good thing. An inkling in the back of his mind was telling him he could trust her though. But he didn’t know if he could trust that.

“Then we can start small, like I said before. I can swing by your office tomorrow after work. We can talk then.” “You know I have an office?” “Your dreams told me a lot, plus sometimes I see you walk to it. Perks of being a fairy, I can turn small.” Ezreal was still on the offense about allowing anyone new into his life. Although he never heard of a fae that could see into other’s dreams. Beatrice seemed friendly but she seemed to be hiding something or that could be in his imagination. Maybe he should give this a chance. Maybe he could have another friend. Besides Ezra has told Ezreal many times that a big support system isn’t a bad thing. He shifted on his feet.

“Please don’t be a weirdo, I’ve had enough of those in my life.” He says before turning away to continue his walk. “Don’t worry about, I’m the most normal fairy you’ll ever meet. See you later!” Beatrice says with a wave of her hand before flying off. She sure was fast. Ezreal wondered again what he did to deserve this. Besides his devious acts back in college, and that incident. He thought he was doing good in life, taking care of his kid, not completely skimping out on her life, hell he was even teaching her little magic spells. That’s good karma right? Was meeting Beatrice also good karma? As he pondered his past actions and their repercussions, Ezreal couldn’t shake the feeling that fate had a twisted sense of humor, intertwining his life with Beatrice’s in ways he couldn’t yet comprehend. Maybe he was cursed like that one girl said she would do to him. At this point, her couldn’t even remember their names so why should he believe he was cursed? One bad thing happened to him. One bad thing that turned him into a sad man. A sad man, who might have just a little luck left.

Gen 4 Chap 3 – A Little Bit About Sasha

Sasha was, in short terms, a happy child. At least, that’s what she thought and no one has told her differently. She had a dad… well, she had a father and a really fun uncle who seemed like more of a dad than her father actually did most days. But she couldn’t complain about that. Her aunt was pretty cool too. She taught Sasha how to tell different plants and metals apart, and how to mix them to get different potions and concoctions. The only thing she was slightly unsure of, maybe, was her father’s view of her. Did he not really like her? He seemed to avoid her growing up or was that her imagination? I mean, from the few memories she had…

He was there, glancing at her slightly with a look of… what could she call that? Fear? Dislike? A bigger word she didn’t know the meaning of yet? But, he  was there. Even when she was spending time with Ko-Ko, Ezreal was never far away. Always hidden just out of sight or sometimes completely. But she could tell he was there. He had a very energized presence… aura really. That’s the word her father taught her. He was a witch, her aunt too he told her one day but she didn’t believe she was, so she wasn’t? Sasha didn’t quite get that yet. And concerning her? Well, she might be one, might not. Her father never mentioned her mother, he completely shuts down all communication whenever she asked. Her other family members have told her that it’s a very hard thing for her father to talk about, to ANYONE really. He had a very bad experience, they would tell her. After a while, she just stopped asking. Maybe she could try to get closer to her dad and then he would tell her? There was an idea but before she could delve more into that, she was roughly brought back to the present.

“Earth to Sasha! You’re orbiting again.” Her cousin says. “Sorry Chris.” She says sheepishly, she knows she has a tendency to let her mind wander, and when it wanders, she doesn’t always reel it back in immediately. She likes to see where it takes her, it’s always interesting and sometimes scary, to see where it goes.

“Don’t apologize. Where you thinking about your dad again?”

“Yup.”

“Did you want some help trying to talk to him?”

“Nope.”

“But if you don’t ask for help, you’ll be stuck in this stupid circle.”

“She said she didn’t want any Christopher! Just forget it and try to beat THIS!” Shawn yelled, expertly getting a pebble all the way to 10 and her hopping to match.

“I hate when you use my full name Shawn.” “That wasn’t your full name, your full name is Christopher Alexander Grimm.” “Even worse. Kinda weird for my dad to name me after him isn’t it?” Chris says to his only and absolute favorite cousin. Sasha simply looked at her other friend playing hopscotch virtually by herself. She shrugged in response to Chris’ question and Chris shrugged back. After all, she wasn’t going to actually ask for help. She could do this alone, right?

“Chris, hop!” Shawn yelled. She is the loudest one of the group… sometimes it gives Sasha a headache but she wouldn’t tell Shawn that. Chris let out a groan and hopped, not as well as Shawn though, he messed up on 6.

That caused Shawn to burst out in a mass of giggles and laughter and Chris somehow blushed furiously. Sasha knew vampires didn’t have blood so that sight was a little comical. She even laughed a little herself. Putting her big, complicated thoughts behind her, she decided to fully immerse herself in her friend’s game. And they played all through the day and partially evening until Chris sulkily had to go back home to his parents and Shawn inviting herself over to Sasha’s house once again. That seems to be something Shawn loves to do, Sasha noticed. Not going back home, preferring to sleepover at her friend’s house almost every day. Shawn said her dad was never home and her mom left a while before they moved to Twinbrook. In a way, that comforted Sasha, to know she wasn’t the only one with a weird family dynamic.

Later in the night, when the girls were officially done playing with Sasha’s toys and dolls, Sasha scooted back and wrapped her arms around herself before letting out a sob like sigh.

“Shawn, do you think my dad hates me?” Shawn turned around to look at her friend, her very first friend she ever made in Twinbrook. She cocked her head to the side as if she was perplexed by the question then grinned.

“If your dad hated you, he wouldn’t be here. My mom hates me so that’s why I never see her anymore, after all, a train ticket is cheap. I think your dad, by my deductions, is… uhm, well maybe he doesn’t know how to talk to you? Or maybe he’s just dumb?”

Sasha didn’t think her dad was dumb… but she did believe he didn’t know how to talk to her. At least to some degree. Whenever she would ask him a question her would only look at her for a brief moment before quickly focusing on something entirely on the opposite side of the room. He sometimes asked her about her day at school but only if he was busy doing something like, casting a spell.

“I think he’s afraid of me.” Sasha said quietly. Shawn got a strange look on her face then it smoothed out after she thought about it for a while. She nodded in agreement with her friend then outstretched her hand to Sasha. Sasha took it and they both stood up.

“Look Sash, I’ll always be here for you. If you ever need any help, that you don’t ask for, I’ll be glad to help. I promise.” Shawn said as she wrapped her pinky around Sasha’s. That made Sasha smile and asked very softly if she could help her talk to her dad.

“Just ask him to take you to the park Friday, Chris and I will be there.” She said and Sasha nodded. After that little moment the girls both got washed up for bed and had a calm and peaceful sleep.

***Friday***

As promised, Sasha asked her father to take her to the park which he surprisingly readily agreed to. Sasha was taken aback but overjoyed anyway. She didn’t think about why her father actually wanted to spend time with her but when they arrived at the park, Ezreal simply sat on a nearby bench and watched them play. At least he watched for maybe an hour then nodded off.

Sasha thought her father looked… peaceful for once in her entire life. Which wasn’t that long, she was only 9, almost 10, but she did notice a change in her father’s aura. Ever so slightly, he seemed more relaxed. Was it because of Grandpa coming over more? She thought so and she was very grateful something was changing him for the better. It would be a few years until Sasha would actually know and understand why her father was the way he was but she didn’t think about that. She only thought with him being happier, maybe, perhaps even hopefully, he would be more involved in her life.

As Sasha played with her friends, she enjoyed herself to the fullest, even when Shawn sometimes cheated during tag. Or the times where Chris complained it was too hot to run around like maniacs and wanted to just sit and do nothing. It was a good time for all the kids. Twinbrook’s school system didn’t really believe in summer vacation, at least, the public school didn’t. But sometimes they got a week off of school just for a mental break from all the learning they had to do. When that happened, the kids all hung out together, being almost inseparable from each other. People looking on always thought how great it was for them to have each other. All three kids thought the same. But really, everyone knows that.

***

“Here we go again. Vampires, werewolves, and the sky pouring down rain.” Shawn says mostly to herself. Sasha was busy digging in the sand, quite proud of herself for getting this cloaking spell down. Normally it would take a few years to master but her dad showed her a quicker way: Find something to mentally hold onto, and just envision yourself cloaked in something you would need, like a blanket. For her and her friends, she chose something waterproof, on account of the rain today. Actually, she kind of made their whole play area waterproof and that caused this whole kerfuffle going on now.

“Say that again you wolf!” Young vampire Christopher was spouting angry slurs through gritted teeth at his most hated enemies currently. The Rockwell’s. A pair of werewolf sisters always accompanied by their older brother whom of which, Sasha had maybe a slight crush. Ok, a major crush. That’s why she was pretending to be busy looking for treasure buried in this treasure-less sand pit.

“I said where are you FANGS leech?”

“Uh-oh, that’ll really set him off.” Shawn mumbled, personally enjoying the spectacle playing out before her.

Mirabel and Elisabeth Rockwell were one of the few kids who actually enjoyed causing chaos in the school, though they never really got in trouble for it. The Rockwell’s were one of the more influential families in Twinbrook with their parents being in the politics of the city. Either way, Christopher didn’t have a positive view of them. And it is NOT because they were werewolves and he was a vampire. That was so last century.

Jack Rockwell didn’t care about his younger sisters causing mischief, after all, Jack was 14. Obviously more mature since he was older. He also didn’t care about the little vampire boy calling his sisters wolves… they were, in a sense. To Jack he was simply tasked to keep his sisters safe from harm and danger and from his observations, the little lilac haired kid only had the balls to spout insults from a distance away. Every interaction seemed to be that between them. He was very uninterested in that. He did wonder how he wasn’t getting wet though. That was impressive, he had a little respect for whoever could pull this off. If Sasha knew that, she’d be as red as a tomato.

“You and your little entourage of weirdos don’t scare us Chris. The loud one and the silent one can’t even do anything worth mentioning to daddy.” Elisabeth spat and her sister let out an annoying sound in agreement.

“Yeah all three of you are useless, let’s go Jack.” Maribel huffed and turned away with her sister following. Jack got out of his head and followed behind his sisters. They seemed to have forgotten it was raining and as soon as they stepped out of Sasha’s range, they were drenched. Jack simply put his hood up with Maribel and Elisabeth screaming about their hair being ruined. That put a smile of Chris’ face.

“Serves them right.” He said and after awhile, Sasha’s grew tired from a constant use of her limited magic and the spell broke. By then, the rain had let up a considerable amount and the trio dispersed for the day. Sasha was the only one to stay at the park, thinking about what the girls had said about her.

“Sasha. Hey, Sasha? Kiddo!”

“Huh?”

“You just going to stand out here and get wet all day?”

A nice surprise on a very wet day. Her father came to her honestly, much needed rescuing. If he didn’t show, Sasha would have probably been out here thinking for the next hour or so.

“You’re in your head again aren’t you? And you completely drained your magic… What in the god’s name were you doing?” Ezreal asked his daughter. She looked to his eyes and saw none of his normal disgust, malice, or distrust. What she saw would, for Ezreal at least, be called ‘concern’.

“I… was…” she started out very slowly. It was always hard for her to talk to her father but right now, it seemed extremely impossible. He was bound to judge her and go back to his old self. “I…”

“You were in your head again. Where did you get that from? Did someone say something to you? You have a tendency to over analyze, you know.” Ezreal did a little trick he learned from reading in his office. He stared into her eyes, something he trained himself to do, and he saw a slight blur and it got brighter. “Oh.” Was all that he said and waited for her to tell him.

“There are these girls… and their uh, well these girls called Shawn, Chris, and I useless and I guess I just…” She trailed off.

“You’re… not useless, you’re just different. And you’re learning how to control your magic.”

“Yeah but–”

“You overthink, you’re an introvert, you’re a funny kid who doesn’t know how to ask for help. I think you get that from me. You have an entire family that loves you and sometimes you might get overwhelmed trying to fit in. Sasha, you nor your friends are useless. You just haven’t found your purpose yet. Those Rockwell’s are all the same, thinking they’re better than everyone simply because they have money. Don’t let them get to you.” Ezreal for once, maybe thrice, actually sounded wise in his life. That made his daughter feel a little better.

“How did you know about the Rockwell’s?” “I have a few tricks I could teach you one day. But come on, let’s go home. I’m tired of the rain.”

***

During the end of summer, the Xavier’s decided to actually come together and have some fun. Of course they invited Sasha’s two best friends and enjoyed the weather and festivities. It was a good life for Sasha, one where she couldn’t complain. Everything was starting to look up for the shy and quiet girl who was slowly opening up. And this summer was just one for the books in her mind. Hopefully, she would grow up to be a normal member of society, even with her father being the way he is, and her family being slightly, weirdly different. Who knows what the future might hold.

Gen 4 Chap 2 – I’ll Never Fall In Love Again, That’s A Promise

Le Author’s Note: Welcome back to another chapter! Language warning. It should be stated that the language warning will be constant as long as Ezreal is around. It’s been some time as well. Though I never forget about my favorite sim family ever, I do have bouts of… being uninspired, I suppose you would call it. I do wish I had the resolve of some other sim writers out there.

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Ezreal’s POV:

I woke up with a throbbing head once again. Same nightmare this week, different animal though. This time it was a pink hellcat coming at me full speed, and me narrowly surviving the attack. I jolted up breathing heavy, eyes wide, and desperately searching my room for any signs of the phantom feline. Of course, there were none. There’s never anything, in these last five years, I’ve been waking up from the one fear that my subconscious has just pushed down constantly, deeper, causing the nightmare to be more vivid. And in these last five years, I have shared a room with my daughter. Sometimes scaring her awake as well.

I look across to where she slept, checking to make sure that wasn’t the case this morning… but, one thing to note, I’ve picked up a knack for knowing most of her quirks, tricks, and oddities from watching every move she makes, such as the times she pretends to be sleeping.

I could tell she was pretending this time. The rise and fall of the covers were in time with ‘awake’ breathing patterns. She was nervous, as most children would be on a day like today; the first day of school. Considering preschool was a breeze, 1st grade and beyond is much more… intimidating. Probably didn’t get much sleep either, now that I think about it.

“Sasha…” I say quietly and she flinched, ever so slightly. She stirred and opened her eyes fully, focusing on me. “You have to get up now, get ready for school.”

She sat up, hanging her head in the process. Oh, do I feel a lie in the making coming on? I wait for it, getting out of bed and stretching my legs and back. When she didn’t say anything for a few moments I glanced in her direction.

“Do you want to go to school?” She shook her head, letting out a cough. Ah, the ‘I’m sick’ one. To be honest, Sasha doesn’t actually verbalize her words most of the time. She relies on signals and facial expressions to get her point across, at least for me. I had to learn them as they come and although the system works, I wish she would use actual words though. Maybe then her little fibs would actually work sometime. But I humored her for a moment.

“Let’s see… no fever. Eyes normal. No runny nose. I’d say you’re quite well to head to school. It won’t be that bad.” I say smirking a little at her furrowed brows. Foiled again. She starts to pout and I stand up, not feeling like playing her game this morning anymore.

“Sasha, school. Kotetsu can walk you.” Her eyes sparkled. Of course they would, they always do with a mention of ‘Koko’s’ name… I’m not jealous. I’m just… you know what, never mind.

I got her up and ready for school, Kotetsu made pancakes for breakfast (as he does almost every week), and soon they were off. I went to the living room as my daily schedule has been for over 4 years as per the order of avoidance but there was something different going on today apparently.

“How are you today?” She starts. I didn’t answer her right away. This is a new thing to process, I figured she was just fine staying mad at me for the rest of eternity but…

“Look, I… Ok, Ezreal. You’re my brother and I said some very harsh things to you in the past but I want to say that, I’m sorry.” I glanced at her. Was this some sort of trap?

“Why?”

“What? What do you mean–“

“It’s been a few years so… why now?”

She sighed and started twiddling her thumbs, searching for a way to explain her apology.

“To tell you the truth, I forgave you a while ago after you tried to cook dinner that one night, I saw you were trying… desperately. But I finally decided to apologize to you after Dad kept spamming my texts, calling me all the time, and showing up at my bakery to get me to apologize but–“

“I thought it was a café”

“The important thing to note is that I apologized. And that I am genuinely sorry and ashamed of the way I have been acting. That wasn’t me and it was very unbecoming.”

“No shit Sherlock. But, I do accept your apology. I’m tired of arguing with you over the stupidest things, avoiding you at all costs, staying in the livi– actually I’m fine lounging around here.” I say that last part mainly to myself but Irelia had something to add.

“That’s… the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. You weren’t always a hermit. What happened to Fairytale Finders? Did you quit that?”

“No… I just… avoided requests? I mean, I had one in the last week but that’s about it.”

“I’m sorry I was never very active in that.”

“It’s alright. Turns out I didn’t really need anyone since it was mostly little things. Lost dog, weird messages being left around client’s homes that live alone, stalkers with a hidden motive. You know, usual, boring stuff after Beauty and the Beast.”

“I see.” She says trailing off into her thoughts. “I think… I think you should get out more. Hang with Liam and Kotetsu, maybe make some new friends.” Before I could say anything, she took her leave. I assume she was headed to her bakery, er, café? Whatever she wants to call it now. After a few moments I decided to shower and get dressed. For what? I don’t know, something I suspect. Maybe I’ll take Irelia’s advice.

***

So, I went out… to my favorite, well it used to be my favorite, old place. Fairytale Finders! When I first started out it looked so… new? Sparkly? Like ‘anything I set my mind to would just fall right into place no matter what’ type feeling. But now it just looks like hell. Why did I come here? I trudged up the steps and slowly opened the door to the place I once loved.

I was assaulted by a smell, at first, I didn’t know what and then it hit me. I haven’t been inside of this place for years… MY FISH! There he was… a floating, blackish, bacteria ridden form of mass. Poor Raffi, guess I’ll put on a biohazard suit to get rid of him but first, let me just take in my old space.

All of my books and papers were still here, of course they would be. The place wasn’t vandalized, just forgotten. Or at least, I tried to forget it… the bad part of it. I looked at the stacks and stacks of scripts. All of the fairytales and stories that I memorized and held dear as a child, all the papers and documents from clients. They were all covered in a thin layer of dust.

“I’ll start cleaning this in a few days…” I say to myself and looked for a small bag to dump my lost friend in, afterwards heading back home. What I’m getting ready to do here is going to require all of my magical attention.

***

One day, before I could really dive deep into organizing my old office, Kotetsu cornered me when I came out the kitchen from grabbing a light snack.

“Ezreal! Just the guy I wanted to see.”

“I feel that is a lie.” I say sarcastically. He rolled his eyes and continued on.

“We should hang out. You, me, and your socially awkward cousin Liam. A guy’s night out!”

“What on earth possessed you to think I had the urge to have a “Guys Nigh Out” type day today? What if I wanted to be left alone, like every other day since–“

“Now that’s a lie. Come on dude, it’ll be fun. For once we can all hang out again and chill. We don’t even have to stay cooped up in the house all day. Irelia promised to babysit Sasha too.” he says, trying to bribe me.

“No. I don’t feel like hanging ou–” “Yeah you do.” “No, I really don–” “For free booze?”

“I don’t even drink like that! Kotetsu, look I really– you know what. You’re just going to keep bugging me about it aren’t you?” He smirks. “Fine! You win, we can hang out tonight. But! It better not be lame.” I say feeling defeated. Kotetsu’s smirk turned into a grin at that.

“Oh, it won’t be. I can promise you that.” he says and glides away. I slump on the couch slightly curious but more so dreading the idea of tonight.

It was almost evening when I got fed up with waiting around.

“Kotetsu, you said this wasn’t going to be lame… and also we weren’t going to be cooped up in the house all day. Your words.” I state. Liam let out a slight chuckle while staring at his phone. In the years I’ve known my odd cousin, I’ve come to the conclusion that he’s good people, after all he’s the one who wanted to stick around me when I was shutting everyone out, along with Kotetsu. I admit when I heard the news Uncle Genesis had another kid I thought the worst but, Liam does make our days brighter when Hazel is constantly busy with– HAZEL! That’s right, Liam is an uncle as well. I almost forgot about Hazel and Alex’s son. Mainly because they brought him over when I was in my depression funk which lasted a long while. Even my dad could hardly get me to eat something sometimes… Those were dark times.

The little tyke was quite adorable back then from what I remembered through the haze. And he took after his father mostly, which means his manners were out of this world. He also loved Sasha to death. I can’t really complain about that. They were really good friends, and I was glad she had a better social life than I did when I was a kid… Well, a more normal social life.

“We are going. As soon as the girls get back. As long as they’re home, I don’t have to worry about them.” He says and I felt my eyes roll ever so slightly. Leave it to him to always show me up in the caretaker department.

“So this night was planned based on Irelia? That’s great.”

“No, I don’t want the worst possible outcome to happen. So if they’re both at home, then I have nothing to worry about. You should feel that too.” “I do but I also don’t? Does that make sense?” “Sometimes, I just want to punch you man.”

“How about we don’t punch anyone and just wait for them? They shouldn’t be long, it’s already 4.” Liam says softly. And as soon as he finished that sentence, I heard car doors slam and little feet running up the stairs. Hm, did they say they were bringing Christopher over?

“Hi genie man!” I heard an unfamiliar voice say. I glanced behind me to where an unfamiliar little girl was waving frantically at Kotetsu and Sasha ducking her head when she caught my gaze.

“Shawn, I told you not to say that!” Sasha said in a sharp whisper. “But he waved back. Hey–!” That was all I heard before she was pulled away up the stairs by my daughter. Sasha, the one who never uses her words. Interesting, things were beginning to change… Worrying.

“So, I see we’re going to have new faces around a lot.” I say right before my twin walks in.

“I kind of promised them cookies…” She says looking embarrassed. “Well that’s nice of you. Who was the other one?” I ask her. “Shawn Dubois, Sasha’s new best friend. As stated by Shawn herself.” I nod and Kotetsu announced that we were about to leave. Finally.

***

A dive bar. They took me to a dive bar. I thought this night was going to be fun, exciting, thrilling! But no, I’m stuck here watching these two play foosball without a care in the world. After a few more minutes of watching them kick a little ball back and forth, I let out a loud groan.

“Want a round Ezreal? You’ve been pacing for a while now.” Kotetsu says without taking his eyes off of the game.

“No, I want to have fun. Like you said this night was gonna be.”

“This is fun, if you would actually join in and be a part of our conversations.” “I don’t care about foosball. Well, not right now. It’s not exciting.” “You could use your magic?”

“Wait, no. Please don’t mess up this very normal, very logical game table.” Liam cuts in. There are very few things in life which Liam adores as much as electronics but tabletop games seem to have made their way into his heart. He always lights up when Kotetsu invites him to play a few rounds of anything nontechnical.

“Ha, ok scratch that magic idea. You know what, we’re going to Akura. Maybe that’ll stop your whining.”

“Akura…? That new bar that just opened up?” “Not just a bar, it’s a club Ezreal. A really nice club.” Kotetsu says, scoring the last goal of their game. “One you have to get dressed up to even be let inside.”

“I am literally in my street clothes dude, and we are not going back–” “You’re a witch, conjure up something.” “What about Liam?” “Don’t worry about it. Let’s go, no excuses.” And just like that, we were on our way to the second venue of the night. I had a slightly bad feeling about this.

Akura… not that nice in my opinion but that’s me, I’m hard to impress. Well, Liam doesn’t look too impressed either. Not impressive enough to dress up for anyway.

“Three of your finest please.” Kotetsu says to the bartendress.

“Sure thing, handsome.” I roll my eyes. For as long as I’ve known him, any interaction he’s had with someone of the opposite gender, they always say something along those lines. ‘Handsome’, ‘cutie’, ‘stud’, and more recently; ‘daddy’. That last one creeps me out, why is that a thing? I mean the girls tend to not know he’s over a few hundred years old, but still.

I stare at the drink being made, not feeling anything except slight uncomfortableness. Soon enough though, Liam, Kotetsu, and I each had a drink with glitter swirling around in it. This is their finest? I think Kotetsu could see it on my face too.

“Ez, seriously?” “What?” “You know what. That’s your unimpressed face. Your, ‘is this all ya got’ face.” I shrug. I mean, is this all they–

“Upper floor. Let’s go, Liam look alive.” “What is on the upper floor?” Liam asks. You could faintly hear music bumping the ceiling.

“I’m guessing it’s where the party actually is.” Kotetsu says and once again where were both following behind him to someplace new.

“Is this better for you Ezreal?” “WHAT?” I yell over the music. He yelled his question back.

“This is inherently worse! The smoke is nauseating and those flashing lights–“

“Liam, this is what a club is!” Ok, the yelling is quite annoying.

“I’m going to get a drink.” I mumbled and Kotetsu almost shouted again but I put my hand up to stop him. I trudged to the bar.

“—And he said he wasn’t ready for commitment.” “So, then what?”

“Uh, excuse me, could I get a Violet Sunsettia?” I interrupt their conversation since I was seated for about 30 minutes. “Sure hun, coming right up. Bea you’ve got to tell me the ending.”

The bartendress up here was a chatty one I see, at least with the girl named Bea. Just what I needed… Maybe this was a bad idea, maybe I shouldn’t have ever come out. Maybe I should’ve just ki–

“Violet Sun for ya.” The drink was practically shoved in my face. I mumbled thanks, and noticed the laughter of my friends behind me. Seemed like they were actually bonding over the blasting music. I sighed and gulped down my drink. Then another, and another. Time passed and I almost didn’t notice. After my… 8th? drink, I got up. Or I thought I did, the ground suddenly looked way closer.

“Whoa there sweetheart, forgot how to hold your liquor? You have to be careful.” Huh… the music’s quieter, and she has wings and a very attractive face. I think this might end badly.

“I do-don’t usually drink?” I was slurring, oh great. Why is it that my inner voice is stable but my actual conscious mind is not?

“Yeah, I can see that. You were drinking kind of heavily, downing your drinks in one go? Yeesh.” She cups my chin in her hands and tilts my head up. “Hm, your eyes aren’t swimming that much. Where’s your friends you came in with?”

“Uh…” I managed to spout. From the corner of my eye, I saw a shimmer. It didn’t take me long to realize that no, I wasn’t seeing things. Yes, this woman with the green skin and navy wings, was actually a fairy. She’s my type, and I’m really buzzed. I need to exit this encounter NOW.

“Friends? They’re over–” I glanced, or at least tried to, behind her and I couldn’t see Kotetsu’s long silvery hair or Liam’s natty sweater he was wearing. As a matter of fact, the club looked quite empty. The music was low as well… Where did everyone go? Was I that in my fucking head?

“Seems, like they’re missing. Need a ride home?” “No. I’m fine, I can– can… home.” “I think you need a little help, let me do a little magic chan–” “That won’t work.” “Pray tell, why not?” “Magic doesn’t work on me, I made sure of that when–“

“You’ve never had Bea’s Magic.” She smiles, a type of smile that caught me off guard. My gods that was beautiful. I didn’t realize when she opened her mouth again, she actually spoke something very softly.

***

…

…

……

…………..

Wait… This isn’t right. Sleep… when did I get home? And no dreams? Dreams of… it?

I woke up confused. What exactly happened last night? What time is it? Why didn’t I dream? Or did I and just couldn’t remember the contents? When did I change into my pajamas? I should have guilt tearing away at every ounce of sensibility I have left. Where did that fairy go? Why was she so nice to me? Will I ever see her again? Why am I thinking about THAT!? And another thing…

“Why am I on the floor!?”

I walked downstairs to see Kotetsu still in his pajamas looking down. When he heard my footsteps he turned around and stared at me lazily.

I stared back at him and felt my elemental energy rising. A cackle of electricity went through the air.

“Where the hell were you?” I growled at him. “I’ve been at this table all morning, much to my disliking. Your sis–” “Last night. At the club. Where were you? Where was Liam?”

“Uh, well we were there, then we kind of… left?” “You guys left me, alone, at the bar–” “You seemed like you wanted to be left alone in your sorrows. That of which, I honestly don’t think you have any, anymore.” “Did you see that fairy?” I changed the subject. Not wanting to get into an argument I knew I was bound to lose. “Fairy…? Oh the one with the dark wings, green skin, dazzling smile?” “Dazzling… sure. Do you know her? Did you send her to interfere with my sleep? What in the gods name were you thinking just leaving me there!?”

Kotetsu sighed. Tilting his head back and placing a hand over his face he mumbled;

“Ez, it’s too early for this. No, no, and I did it out of spite honestly. I wanted to see if you would come to your senses after drinking yourself black and waking up on the side of the road or something. I’m tired of–” “I’ll be at Fairy Tale. I have stuff to do.” “What about your daughter? You’re just going to abandon her again?” “It’s not abandonment–” “Oh I’m sorry, although you treat her like a burden Ezreal. One can only assume you enjoy the feeling of abandoning her.”

I sometimes, very rarely, see this side of him. My sister probably sees it more than me but right now I wasn’t in the mood for his bullshit, or anyone’s for that matter. I didn’t give him the satisfaction of an answer and instead turned and went back upstairs to get ready for my day of cleaning my almost forgotten business.

I first stopped at city hall to see if I could still operate my business and when I arrived, I saw the glitter of some very familiar wings. I glanced to my left and sure enough, there she was, looking right at me.

Before she could even raise her hand and wave, I was already making a mad dash up the stairs. Not dealing with this today either. Just need to get to my office, just need to avoid people… and fairies. I could feel her eyes on me still when I reached the front door.

***

After a while, a car came to rest in the parking lot of Fairytale Finders LLC. It had been driving for a very long while, 16 hours to be exact, though that’s nothing for this model of vehicle. The engine shut off after idling for a moment and the inhabitants of the vehicle let out a breath of relief.

“Well, it wasn’t that bad. The drive I mean.” a melodic voice tried to lighten the mood.

“You slept for most of it.” The male said. He sniffed the air after letting down a window. “You sure you want to go through with this? Smells abandoned.”

“I’ll never know if I don’t try.” She opened the door.

Not long after, the male followed, begrudgingly getting out of the car, stretching his limbs. He let out a muffled yawn and cracked his neck.

“Do you always have to put on a show when you don’t need to?” She asks slightly serious.

“Do you?” He shot back. Silence fell between them and by the time they reach the doorstep and knocked, you could almost feel the anxiety from her and the animosity from him in the air.

Two minutes passed, then five…. 30.

“No one’s here, can we actually go now?” “No no, I’m sure I heard some movement. Let me try knocking again” “You knocked 45 times Ari, we’re losing light and–” “Let me try again.” And she did, with a different result.

“Oh! You opened the door, I didn’t think that would actually work…” She spurted out. The bored male who was growing more agitated by the minute shifted ever so slightly and cast a sharp look to the one on the other side of the door. He was unimpressed and could already tell he wasn’t in the mood for guests… unannounced guests at least. He could also smell a faint scent of… was that magic?

“Uh, hello. I’m Ari and this is Malen, my uh, well, he’s my bodyguard. We came here to, no, uhm, I came here to see if you or your organization could help me. Malen drove. Anyway, my parents are apparently Storybook natives and I’ve been researching, searching, studying, anything I can that might take me closer to the truth. One day I came across an old flyer with Fairytale Finders advertise so when I had the chance, after all of my previous obligations would actually let me, I insisted we come out here to find this because… you would… uh…help? Are you ok?”

After she finally stopped talking, registering the look of the mans face before her, the resident witch sighed heavily and blinked once.

He stared at the woman for a few moments, you could almost hear the gears turning in his head. He cast a quick glance at her companion then back to her. He finally noticed her hair and that unfortunately made his decision for him. 

“No.” Was the only word he uttered. Then he stepped back and shut the door, without using any of his limbs mind you. He didn’t have the energy for physical work today, at least, that’s what he told himself earlier.

That left the two unexpected disturbances outside with the quickly diminishing daylight. They stood there for a moment in bewilderment, then the one she called Malen grabbed her wrist and led her back to the car.

“Did I say something wrong? Wait, was I talking too fast? Maybe he didn’t understand, why was he staring like that? Perhaps I should go back and–” “Aricelli, stop. He gave us his answer.” “What if he’s not the only one that works there?” “You and I both know he is. This place was practically abandoned. I’m actually surprised someone opened the door… and also surprised he didn’t just leave out the back door.” Malen said that last part under his breath.

“Look, we’ll find a hotel or something, sleep there for the night and figure out what the next steps are in the morning. I can tell you’re tired, your mood is dropping faster than the daylight is leaving.” His eyes gleamed. “Let’s find something to eat first, I’m as hungry as a wolf.” 

She chuckled, she always did whenever he joked about his affliction. He felt his inner tail wag and quickly shut down that feeling. He opened her side of the car door and closed it for her when she was settled. After he got in, he drove away with the girl called Aricelli softly crying silently to herself.

Back in Fairytale Finders, Ezreal was having a slight mental dilemma. 

“Why is it when I see pink hair, I want to die?” He thinks to himself. “I knew she fucked me up but I didn’t think just the sight of that color would cause me to react like that. I couldn’t even move… Huh, maybe I need Dad’s help more than I thought. Well, one thing is for sure, because of that conniving woman Briar, no, that’s not her name… ugh SHE has me convinced that I will never fall in love again. That’s a promise.”

 

***Note*** Malen is not my sim. I forgot where I downloaded him from but if you ask, I can search for him.

Gen 4 Chap 1 – Shut-Ins & Altercations

Le Author’s Note: Hello and welcome to the start of Generation 4! I have a few things planned and hopefully everything will actually work out how I want it. Well, let’s get right into our blunt, new heir shall we? Here we go! Minimal pictures (because I hate the toddler stage) and language warning but that’s about it.

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Ezreal’s POV:

Ok, I know what you’re thinking. Bad dad alert. Well… that’s not entirely the case. Close but, I’m trying ok? She was out of my sight for a second! That’s not an excuse, really. It’s only been a few months since… that incident and I’ve been having a time learning about children… my child. She’s not at all what I expected.

Alright, I don’t know what I expected but it wasn’t this. She’s not bad or anything, just… curious. So very curious. I hate it. I just want her to sit in one place where I can watch her and not worry about what she’s getting in to. Why can’t she do that for once? My dad says it’s good. I say it’s troubling. And this house is way too small for an extra person.

I stay in one area of the house since my sister stares at me with hell daggers in her eyes whenever she sees me. Kotetsu isn’t far behind when she does leave for the day to go to her bakery and he knows we’ll cross paths, but, he stays behind since she wishes to be alone. He can’t keep his hands off of the kid, and I don’t mind it one bit as long as they stay in my sights. Kotetsu says it feels like I’m smothering her with my watchful gaze. I feel differently. I don’t really trust her all that much if I’m being honest.

She sleeps in my room. My incredibly tiny room, which was fine with just me but now with her…

“We’re going to have to find a new place, soon.” I mumbled to myself. And that would come soon enough after I talked to Kotetsu about it.

***

Another few months past and it occurred to me I didn’t know the child’s birthday. She was growing day by day, incredibly fast, it was unhinging me… and really, even though I say I ‘watch’ her. I don’t actually look at her, ever. She looks too much like her mother. And my hatred for her mother hasn’t dissipated even an ounce. I just keep her around me 24/7 so I can make sure she doesn’t do anything.

Like today. It was an early spring morning, 6 am to be precise. I found that the only safe place besides my room in the new house was the living room so I spent my mornings there until Irelia left. And then I still stayed there with the kid unless Kotetsu decides to come in and take her to play or something.

Speak of the devil…

“We’re going to go learn some music notes.” He says scooping her up in one swift motion.

“Maji ka? I was just getting comfortable.”

“Ezreal, it’s 8 am. Has Muffin even ate?”

“That’s not her name and… no.”

“Ok, so you’re going to feed her like a good father and then we’re going to learn music.” He says putting emphasis on what he wants done. Normally I would have something to say about it but as a recent argument we had brought something to light (“You’re a lazy effing father” his words exactly, and my father’s unsteady agreement) I decided to let it go. Actually, the more Kotetsu shows me up on taking care of her, the more resentment I have. My emotions were all over the place. I have hatred and jealousy intermingling every single second of the day where melancholy sometimes steps in and takes one’s place… but I never feel love. I got up to follow them out of the living room to the kitchen so I could feed the child.

She’s looking at me with those eyes, I can feel it.

“Will you please stop looking so d– ugh. So disgusted when you’re around her? It makes her feel… well her aura gives off confusion. It’s bad enough you never look at her. But do you have to have that look on your face as well?” He has this thing, where you don’t curse around kids. I find it amusing, I mean she’s going to learn the words anyway one way or another right?

“Sorry?” What else could I say to that? It’s involuntary for me to look like that apparently. I don’t try to, it just happens. I heard Kotetsu sigh and mumble something about getting changed for the day so I was left alone with the kid for a few moments. I took a chance to glance down to see how far she had to go before being done eating and those green eyes caught mine. I immediately averted my gaze away. I can’t take this…

“I think she’s had enough.” Kotetsu reappears scooping her up once again, in one swift motion. How is he so good at that?

“This new house is still small…” I mumble mostly to myself. But like he’s known to do, Kotetsu doesn’t miss a beat.

“True, but at least there’s a little more room. 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. Irelia is really happy I don’t float around her room anymore and it gives you enough room for Muffin here… for now. She’ll need her own room soon enough.”

“I know. Not like I can move out currently. Housing market is–”

“Personally and logically, I wouldn’t feel comfortable with you moving out in these times. You have too much bad mojo for Muffin. She needs a little normalcy.”

“That’s not her name. And why don’t you trust me, what about this isn’t normal?”

“This note Muffin.” He points to a blue key while staring at me from the corner of his eyes. “You. I don’t trust you because of you. You have a tract record of making bad decisions with her and about yourself. You have turned into a shut-in and keep her with you 24/7. She needs sunlight, to live like a normal toddler. She has to grow Ezreal. And I simply believe you’ll make a fatal mistake in the end.”

“….what mistake?” I eventually asked. It took him a long time to actually open his mouth and say something. He was watching the kid hit different notes.

“I’m afraid that…” He starts but stops letting out an audible sigh even the kid stops hitting the xylophone looking at him. “Sorry Muffin. We really shouldn’t be talking about this in front of you, huh?”

“Her name isn’t Muffin Ko–”

“Then say her name Ezreal. Stop saying that and say her name instead.”

Instead of doing that, I asked; “…why do you like children so much?”

“I told you, I just have. They’re like little rays of pure, innocent, sunshine.”

“So you’re planning on having kids with my sister then?”

“Can we not talk about that? Why don’t you try bonding with your daughter for once. It’ll probably do you some good instead of worrying about what I’m doing.” He gets up and stretches. I knew I hit a nerve right there. After all this time Kotetsu still has a very bad crush on my sister and though they spend time together, gotten closer in fact, I have yet to see the fruits of anything resembling a relationship between them. I smirked as he walked past me. If he can get away with parental jabs at me, I could get away with relationship jabs at him. Eye for an eye and all that, though… it hardly makes me feel better in the end.

“Sigh, ok kid. Let’s go back to the living room. It’s too early to do anything anyway.” I say and pick up my daughter. I keep thinking about what Kotetsu didn’t say earlier. I have an inkling but my altercation quota was filled for the day so instead of finding him and confronting him about it, I plopped right back down on the couch with the kid on the floor by me. Lazy father of the year I suppose.

***

The next few months actually flew by. I tried to be… better. In regards to being a dad. My own dad gave me a lot of pointers and advice and I realized that I was almost like him when my mother died. Well, that’s what he said anyway and that was exactly what he wanted to avoid. We had many times where it would be just him, the kid, and I. In those situations he would make me look at her for a few moments. Torturous at first, but after a while I got used to those eyes on her face. He told me I needed to teach her basic skills; talking, walking, potty training, colors, shapes… an entire encyclopedia of things that she needed to learn. I started with what seemed easiest: Talking.

Only one thing though. She refused to talk. I could tell she understood me but she just never repeated anything I said. I was almost at the end of my patience one day when Kotetsu walked by and she perked up immediately and said one word.

“Koko!”

I stared flabbergasted at her, then him. He just smiled and waved at her, continuing to do what he was on his way to do… I felt jealousy rear it’s head then.

Another day I actually succeeded in teaching her to walk on my own. I saw her smile with pride in learning that important life skill and I… I smiled too. I felt pride. Perhaps I wasn’t such a fuck up. But I noticed Kotetsu around at the end and was immediately assaulted with disappointment in myself. I also saw Irelia looking on, face unreadable as usual. I can’t tell what she’s thinking anymore. I stopped trying a while ago. I’m told I need to apologize but I did that many times, the sincerest apologies I could muster. Everything thing I did wrong, I apologized for. It’s not enough for her. At least, that’s what I thought. The day I taught my daughter how to walk she said something that could’ve been directed toward me? Or just ambiguous, in the air, because Kotetsu was in the same room.

“Hazel and Alex’s son is growing healthy by the way.”

I haven’t spoken to my cousin in a very long time since she got married a while ago, then moved across town for her career. I knew Haze was pregnant but I also have my own issues to deal with that I wasn’t keeping tabs on my favorite cousin much these days. I made a mental note to call her sometime. Actually, I should call both of them, Hazel and Liam. Besides Kotetsu, Liam is my only other friend honestly.

Later on down the line I started to take my daughter outside… to more than the backyard for an hour. It took a lot of encouragement from my father and repetition from Kotetsu but I managed to play with her at the park for maybe 3 hours? I’m getting somewhere. I briefly remembered that not so long ago, I refused to look at the kid. I still didn’t trust her but I suppose everyone is right for telling me that she’s innocent. At least, for now.

When I got home Kotetsu took her to feed and just spend time with her. I noticed Irelia was hanging around downstairs as well. As much as I wanted to be in the general vicinity of my daughter, I wanted to avoid another altercation with my twin a little bit more.

“Don’t worry Ezreal, Muffin will be fine, I’ll make sure of it.” Kotetsu says with the smile he always wears when he sees her.

“That’s not her name Kotetsu.”

“You say that but never her actual name. It’s been a very long time since you brought her here. Why is that Ezreal?”

I shrug and he took it upon himself to just say ‘muffin’ over and over and over. I knew why he was doing it. I knew I shouldn’t have let it get to me but I don’t really think with my head when my emotions flair up suddenly and without warning.

“HER NAME IS SASHA DAMMIT!”

Kotetsu stopped repeating ‘muffin’ and laughed.

“Finally man. I was waiting for that wall to have a crack in it.”

I just stormed up to my room and didn’t come out for the rest of the day. I was livid his tactic actually worked. Were my personal defenses actually that weak or is this because I’m being told to actually care about that little girl over and over? I couldn’t tell which so I just locked my door and face-planted my bed. I also cast a spell on my door for extra security. I just wanted to mope for a while, no interruptions. I hate these emotions. I think I hate them a little more than that little girl downstairs… I think they can all tell.

Gen 3 Chap 28 (Finale) – The Boy and The Lie

Le Author’s Note: Generation finale. Wow. never thought I’d write out 28 chapters of 1 gen. I tended to keep them short. And looking back, I understand why I loved each heir so far. So! After this chapter (which I cried a little through… I really don’t know why.) it will be an heir vote. A few warnings: Time skipping in no particular order except to keep a slight time frame… Language, there’s a gif, and… blood. Long chapter.

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Winter, a year and a few months later from Ezreal’s disappearance

No One’s POV:

Irelia was once again, over her father’s house. Pacing, lamenting and ranting about her missing brother. It has been a long time since anyone has heard anything from Ezreal, not a letter or a call. A bewitching message or messenger animal. Nothing. Zip. Nada… It was still making Irelia furious beyond all belief.

“–and he just ups and disappears without a trace! And cloaking spell! CLOAKING! Jeez, are you sure we can’t contact the police or something!?”

Ezra has learned that although his daughter has been meek in many aspects in her life, when it comes to her twin she is the most outspoken person he has ever met. Though he is worried to death about his son, he has also learned of the ways of the world in his solitude after the kids moved out. They do live in a supernatural friendly-ish town but that didn’t necessarily mean the police were eager to jump on a case as… transparent, as this. And that was putting it lightly.

Ezra once again, explained this to his daughter (the level headed one he used to think) who was pacing quicker.

“The police won’t help with this. Especially if Ezreal has this strong of a spell going on. The most they’ll do is chalk it up to a runaway with a girl.”

“With our other dog?? Daaad.”

Well… he tried.

“What am I supposed to do? The same thing over and over? Just work at my cafe? In my garden? Make potions? Pretend everything is ok!?”

“I thought it was a bakery…”

“Kotetsu convinced me to change it.”

“Kotet– who is–”

“I just don’t understand how he can even FATHOM a justified reason to disappear off the face of the earth! And Sadie! He took Sadie! Spark is a totally different dog now! It’s like he had a personality change or something!! Why isn’t Uncle Genesis helping or Grandpa Henry with his–”

“Hey, take a breather ‘Relia. Now. I’m going to make a late breakfast. And I have a few things to tell you. Most important, your grandfather…” Ezra says after he got tired enough of her raving. He briefly wondered if she got that from her mother. Jasmine… huh, now there’s a name he hasn’t spoken out loud in years. But his mind was always filled with her smile. It’s the main reason he never dated or remarried for that matter.

“Fiiine. I’m getting tired anyway. Also, what about grandpa?”

“Why don’t you stay over for the night? This… isn’t pleasant.”

***

A few months before Irelia’s meltdown, Some where in Midnight Hollow

Ezreal’s POV:

This place is a fucking dump. I don’t plan to stay here for long though. I just needed a shelter of some sort… so I broke into this abandoned house. No one was really around in this town since it mainly came alive at night. And they didn’t particularly care who did what as long as it never came back to them.

I took out the huge book I brought from home about fairytales and read the same story again. My 18th time this year. Most of that was done on the road with Sadie… Doesn’t matter now, I’ll just bide my time until nightfall.

***

It took a while, but I found it. The place where this girl has been hiding. Hiding from me. Hiding from me with my orb she stole from me. Sadie helped tremendously with it. She refused to leave my side during this entire journey. Honestly, she’s the one who found out where the rat was hiding. In fucking dreary ass Midnight Hollow…

 

Briar.

 

I hate her. I thought it was love but I supposed it twisted into hate when I figured out she stole. The absolutely only person I told about the orb. ‘I keep it in my office.’ ‘Why?’ ‘To keep it safe.’ ‘Oh.’ Why did I trust her? Why did those eyes make me want to give her the world? Why now that every time I think about it, I want to… hurt. Hurt her.

 

Briar, Briar.

 

That pink hair.

 

Briar, Briar.

 

Those big eyes.

 

Briar, Briar.

 

The way she said my name when we–

I stopped right before the door. I probably look like hell but that doesn’t really matter now does it? She’s in here. I can feel it. I can sense… her long, pretty, soft legs. I can sense everything from her. Everything but what she planned. I looked at the door, stared at it for longer than I had to. Normal door, no magic surrounding it. No magic surrounding the area honestly. So why did it take me forever to find this little shack in a creepy town? Doesn’t matter now, I found her. After walking and traveling across the country… I found her.

Briar Fucking Rose.

I kicked the door down. I didn’t know what to expect, maybe projectiles coming at me? But I really didn’t expect to see her so calm. Just, looking, at me. Calmly… I hated it. I despised it.

“You could’ve just knocked and I would’ve let you in Ezreal.” That voice. That sweet, sweet voice. Siren call? Maybe.

“Where is it?” I question, not wanting to get into pleasantries or remember what she smelled like. Berries.

“Oh come on ‘Zreal, why not catch up? It’s been almost a full year.” I didn’t answer. That nickname she gave me… the way it broke me, I hated it. The power it held. The way it made me melt into her. I felt a little anger radiating off of her.

“My… orb.” I manage to say through gritted teeth. She smiled. She knew the power she was holding over me.

“You know, I never loved you, my heart belonged to another. You were very quick to fall for me though. It was cute.” “Why did you steal from me?” “Oh ‘Z, you adorable soul. I can tell you the tale of how I came to your sweet, little, filthy, town.” She said with a smirk. I shifted on my feet. Didn’t say anything, glanced around, eyes snapped back to her. She sighed and continued talking.

“I knew your family way before you even knew about me. That night you saw me walking? And you thought I was just a poor, lonely, lost girl… Almost romantic, but I wasn’t there by coincidence. I was looking for your family and what luck! You came out of your dad’s house, saw me, and took me in. Memory loss? Oh dear, you poor, poor boy. You fell for it. It was so easy. Memory loss, for taking away my bunny from me. I was going to go after your father but you seemed so much more gullible.”

I swallowed a lump that formed in my throat. She played me like a fiddle and I… let her. I knew that but I let her. But just because my uncle killed my mother and Genesis killed him before he could take away both of my parents? Why was it so easy to do that to me?

“You were so blinded by love. You didn’t even think about what was really going on. In your office, that’s it. The orb was in your office so I looked. And I found it, then I left and you never heard from me again.” She stopped talking, picking up a little doll, playing with it, putting it back down. A little blonde doll with a blue dress. Perfectly in tact. Like she thinks she will be in a few moments…

“Briar where’s–” “You don’t even know my name. I’m not Briar Rose.” She interrupts me. That almost surprised me except I read about it during my journey here. I was just so used to calling her Briar… “Briar Rose’s story is complete as you must know. She died, while still being in Happily Ever After. No, see, my name, is Zella. Zelladine to close family, Zella to friends… Briar to anyone I can manipulate. Nice to meet you!” She says cheerfully. “Who are you…? No story has you in it.” I say slowly, racking my brain to figure out where she belongs.

“I’m her sister, the never mentioned sister. And I killed her. I wanted what she had so I removed her from the world.” She says it almost triumphantly, with a smile, staring at me. She walked around her table and pulled out something from behind the counter. My orb. “I wanted to bring him back, so I could have my own Happily Ever After but… I could never get this to work. Is it some kind of magical—”

I was on her then. Holding her down with so much force from my anger that she could hardly fight back. I grabbed the orb away from her and jumped back up, moving back fast as she got up and ran towards me. There was going to be a fight and only one of us would be walking out of here alive. I’ve been practicing my conjuring skills just for this moment, this moment of life and death. I knew she wasn’t going to let this thing go gently. While we were grappling at one another I managed to pull back and call my bat. Although it caught her attention she didn’t stop her assault and charged at me again, this time shrieking. I took a swing and she fell. Maybe I did want to hurt her but I didn’t want to kill her. But before I could turn and leave she jumped up again, biting at my legs. Resilience, I’ll give her that. A thought came to me then. If I died here, no one would know. Another swing, and another, another, another.

***

She stopped moving awhile ago. I stopped hitting a while ago. Now I was just here catching my breath. Hunched over her body… Well that image will never be erased from my mind. Great. There’s blood and brains everywhere and I can’t sit… That’s ok, I’m getting out of here anyway. Gods, it soaked through the rug….

“Fucking… bitch.” I curse under my breath. Taking care not to step in any blood, I made my way to the door. I was almost there when I heard a sound. I stopped dead in my tracks and listened. The sound came again, louder. It sounded like… whimpering? Now crying. A… baby? Oh shit. The fear that gripped me when I turned around was nothing like the fear I had when I saw what lay behind that closed door.

An infant… Time frame was right. Almost a year… And we did… It had her hair. Or did it have mine? It was dark. I looked around the room, searching for something to carry… the infant. I couldn’t leave it here, unfortunately. That wouldn’t be right and would be on my conscious. Not to mention what dad would– Dad. Well, this is a fine pickle you’ve gotten yourself into this time Ezreal Xavier.

I found something to wrap the kid in, made a makeshift napsack to carry them on my back. Again I took to the front door, equally focusing on the crying infant and my steps to avoid blood. I tried to quiet the child before leaving, only succeeding when I started humming a lullaby. I’m sorry kid, I didn’t know you existed. If I did, I would’ve tried a little harder not to take your mom away. I would’ve tried a little harder to be a better human. I started making my way back to where I was being holed up, where Sadie was, so we could get a move on back home.

***

The early morning a day after Irelia stayed with their dad

Kotetsu’s POV:

I wake up in the middle of the night because… I just do. I’m not a light sleeper or anything, more of a night owl. I sleep all day and this morning, that was still basically night (It was 3am), I was thirsty. So walking… er gliding, I prefer not to wake the dog who would then wake Irelia with his growling, I spotted a very familiar color pattern. Navy, yellow, and teal. How the hell did he get in here without– witch. Right. Spells and whatever. Wait… Is that a baby next to– I’m just going to silently glide back up the stairs.

It wasn’t long before he actually got up. I was basically floating in Irelia’s room for about 3 more hours listening to the outside of the door. I knew that if she found out he was here before I had a chance to soften the blow, the entire house would come crashing down. A year alone with Irelia and you start to notice her little… habits. Her temper has gotten extremely worse though, so I try my best to relax her… It’s how I got the privilege of floating in her room instead of chilling in my super comfy, full of genie dust, no room to really stretch out, lamp… I hate that thing.

I slipped out quietly right as Ezreal was about to go back down the stairs.

“Shit… is my spell waning?” He asks himself in a hushed tone.

“Damn is that how you greet your best friend after a year? But nah, I just happen to have been up at 3 and went downstairs for a drink of… something, and I saw you. Came back up and waited.”

He didn’t say anything for a while, just stared, I was starting to think he zoned out until he asked:

“You banging my sister now?”

I broke out into a laugh which he expertly cover with another spell.

“Come on man, my magic can only be spent for so long. I need to recharge.”

“When did you get so good at magic? Control for one, an eternal cloaking spell for two.”

He didn’t answer and started to go downstairs.

“Who’s the kid Ezreal?”

A dead stop. But no answer. I sighed and turned around to go back into the room, but not before telling him to wash his face.

***

Around 10 I made them breakfast, my famous strawberry rhubarb pancakes, which I know they both actually love buuuuut you could cut the tension between the two with a meat cleaver if you tried hard enough.

“They’re delicious right?” I ask trying to lighten the mood a little. All I got were grunts from both. I sigh slightly. Perhaps I would need a higher power to help with this.

Irelia downed her pancakes, probably not wanting to be in the same room as her brother for longer than what was absolutely necessary. Yeah that was probably a good idea.

“You eat like you have somewhere to be.” Ezreal says after his twin gets up. The look she gave him would scare Death himself if he ever saw it. Ezreal didn’t drop his icy stare back though.

“I’ll be… in the living room.” Irelia states through gritted teeth and walks hastily away. I hear Ezreal do an audible sigh.

“I’ll clean up. Just go talk to her but be extremely cautious. She’s like a minefield now-a-days.”

“Oh. Great. Dammit.”

“This had better be good Ezreal. You don’t know how much I hate looking at you right now.”

“Hey, don’t act all high and mighty ok? Just let me explain. It’s… it’s long.”

“Then it looks like you better get to explaining.”

“Look, the girl… I dated… for a… *sigh* ok. Zelladine Rose was the girl you met about a year ago yeah?  Told you I met her coming out of dad’s house on my way back home and whatnot. We were dating, at least I thought we were. Turns out she was using me to get to the orb dad gave me which she stole–”

“Zella…dine? I thought her name was Briar.”

“Yeah me too. Turns out she killed her. They were sisters. Anyway she stole the orb from me, that grandpa had, gave to dad, then to me. I didn’t know she stole it until one day I was actually looking for it to test out some shit. When I found out she, and I knew only she could because she was the only one I told about it, stole it, I tracked her down. It took about a year, it’s why I left so suddenly, and why I didn’t want anyone finding me. I’ve been practicing that cloaking spell for ages and I finally got it down. The thing is, I used it nonstop for an entire year and I think I’m at my limits… Long story short, I got back what I lost so I came back.”

I listened in on the tale… I feel that Ezreal was hiding more than that huge secret he got upstairs but he has to be ready to tell. I also hear a very subtle, but audible ‘what the fuck’ from Irelia.

“You ran after a girl because she stole some stupid orb from you!? You completely cut off all contact from your family so could find her!? YOU HAD SADIE WITH YOU THIS WHOLE TIME AND YOU DIDN’T THINK TO CONTACT ME!?”

“You don’t know what the fuck I’ve been through Irelia, don’t judge me based on–”

“I can judge you because you’re my brother. My twin, Ezreal. What you did was stupid, beyond stupid! You almost drove me insane with this little stunt! YOU LIED!!”

“Hey, guys, maybe, calm down before you both say something that–”

“Shut up Kotetsu!” They both yell. I cringe a little, thinking of the sleeping baby upstairs. I really hope she’s a heavy sleeper, but I doubt it.

“Hazel couldn’t even find you! The strongest witch in the family! Spark was going crazy without his sister! He hardly leaves my side now! You are such an idiot! I should have dad disown you for this! You don’t even know grandpa passed!”

“Seriously!? You don’t know half the shit I had to go through! This orb is extremely important, my life– our lives were in danger because it was out of my hands! I was the one responsible for it! And don’t give me that shit about Hazel being the most powerful if she couldn’t even pinpoint my location. And what were you doing? Playing in your little bakery!? You know what, this is stupid. Talking to you is pointless!”

Somewhere upstairs I heard a pipe burst. I looked to Irelia who I could tell was about to go off the rails. I grabbed her and pulled her away.

“You need to call you father.”

“I’m not going to–”

“Irelia, shut up and listen to me, for once. Call your father before you destroy your already fragile relationship with your brother.” I stared into her eyes and saw them soften ever so slightly. At least I got one shred logic into her, she pulled out her phone.

***

Within a few minutes, their father was there mediating. Too soon I would say, I hope he didn’t speed. But even if he did, he arrived safely. I went upstairs to check on the pipes and Ezreal’s child.

When I peeked downstairs some time later, floating, I could hear the last remnants of their conversation. It wasn’t spying per say, I just wanted to know. Although what I saw broke my heart and I sat at the top of the stairs, just taking in information.

“Dad… dad… daddy…” Ezreal choked out. His tears were like a river and every time he tried to talked his breath hitched. “I… I didn’t…”

“Ezreal, you’re ok now, you’re home. I’m here. Just tell me.”

“I…. killed her dad. I had to. She was going to kill me if I… I didn’t want…”

“Oh, Ezreal… it’s ok. You’re safe.”

“I didn’t mean to take her mom away. I just wanted to get back here.”

“……her?”

“I…. have…. a daughter.”

Ah, so there it is. The other secret he was hiding. I could tell it was eating him up. I have a feeling it still will in the long run. I secretly wished for Irelia to wish for her brother not to suffer but she actually never wishes for anything. I just feel bad that I can’t really do anything right now. But patience is my strong suit.

It was a few hours until Mr. Xavier got ready to leave. I was in Ezreal’s room keeping the little one company since she woke up after the yelling and fighting. She’s pretty dang cute in my opinion, but I have a soft spot for kids. Always did. Ezreal came up to get her but when he saw me he asked if I could take her down to his dad. I noticed Ezreal has some reservations when it comes to even looking at his daughter. I took her down with him following behind and after a very awkward greeting to their dad, I handed her over and went to find Irelia.

“She has your mother’s hair which, subsequently, is also yours…. hm, her mother’s eyes?”

“Yeah.”

“They’re nice.” No response. “Ezreal, you need to take care of her.”

“I really… don’t want her.”

“You will not abandon her. You took away her mother and you have to take responsibility for that.”

“I don’t… want– why? No, I know that but I can’t be a… father. I can’t even look at her without–”

“What her name anyway?”

“I… I don’t know. I found her after…”

“…then start with that son. Find her a name. I made a huge mistake with you and your sister. I was depressed and missed the best years of your lives while wallowing in that. I refuse to let you do the same to her.”

“I’m so scared.”

“I was too. But the good thing I had was my father… and the good thing for you is that you have me. I’m not perfect, but I can help you. You also have a sister and… whatever Kotetsu is to you guys. Genesis, Sephora, Hazel… you even have an entire side of family you never met. You have support Ezreal.” He hands the little one to Ezreal who looks like she would rip his head off given the chance.

“You are not alone. I promise you that… I’ll see you later. And Ezreal?”

“Yeah dad?”

“I’m glad you’re back. Don’t do that again.”

“I won’t.”

Maybe if Ezreal remembers that, he could get back on track with his life. He’ll always have the support he needs, whether he utilizes it or not, is completely up to him though.

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Le Author’s Note 2: Yes, Henry died… and yes there is a reason. I should do a lore of this world as my mind understands and makes it… On paper first! The heir vote will be updated shortly. Thanks for reading!

Gen 3 Chap 22 – The School For Shenanigans and Hijinks

Le Author’s Note: Hi! Welcome back to The Legacy Of The Xavier’s. Last time we had a glimpse into our child hero’s for the remainder of Ezra’s generation. Yeah that’s right, Ezra’s taking the back seat for a while until the kids grow up a little but it’s still his gen. I’ll just be focusing on Ezreal and Irelia more. Anyway, let’s dive in!

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Ezra’s POV:

“You bought a school? Why?”

“Ezra, I already told you. Hazel’s a witch, Irelia, and Ezreal too. Plus many more children have supernatural blood in them and they need to learn how to–” “No, Sephora, I get that part. I don’t get why you want to do it… you aren’t… you know.”

“A witch myself? Pfft. I know, I’ve known my entire life. My mother was one, her mother was not. Hazel is so obviously it skips every other generation. Sucky, but I live with it. I’m investing in actual witches who know what they’re doing and who can pass along that knowledge to our new generation. I’ll be teaching the alchemy part since I know that like the back of my hand.” Sephora explains. I glance at Genesis and he gives me his signature grin and shrug. Well he obviously has no say in this.

“Ok but–”

“Ezra, do you think we won’t teach them all the necessary responsibilities and focal points of growing up like the normal schools do? Trust me, we’ll do it ten times better.” “It’s not that Sephora, there’s only a handful of kids who have that supernatural blood. Seven if I’m counting our three. Will your school even get funding to teach just seven kids?”

“Already taken care of. I made sure of that.” Genesis chimes in. Of course he did. He basically has infinite money. How? I quit asking that question long ago when the only answer he would give me was a long-winded explanation of the joys of World-Hopping and Time Travel. I put my arms on my shoulders and sighed. I saw no real issue with her opening up her own school. As a matter of fact, I thought it would help the kids immensely. I just worry. Constantly now. What if they get shut down? What if it doesn’t help the kids in the long run? What if–

“Stop worrying, sit in on one of the classes Ezra. You’ll see.” Genesis says and just like that, it was settled. I was going to pull Ezreal and Irelia out of the Twinbrook normal school system and give them a chance to utilize what their mother passed down. I just hope it doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass.

***

 

It has been a few weeks since the beginning of the kids new school life. I haven’t heard any complaining or any of the usual things I would normally hear with the Twinbrook Community School. No bullying, rumors, or hidden crying after school. As a matter of fact, I’d say Ezreal and Irelia are doing ten times better… that’s good, right?

“… and that, children, is one way that a witch, or warlock, can channel their magic abilities.”

“But miss–” The bell rings.

“Unfortunately that’s all for today. Sorry Herbert but your question will have to wait. Don’t forget to find an object you can channel to!” her voice rang out as kids piled out of the classroom. All except three.

“Miss Melanie? Why did we have to stay after today?” Hazel asks and Ezreal agrees. “Yeah, I’m missing prime candy eating time by still being here.”

“You’ll see, follow me.” she says and walks to the next room over.

You could almost hear the collective groan between them when Melanie stood next to a table with 3 objects on it. 3, seemingly random objects.

“I hope you all know what you’re going to be doing. If not, I’ll gladly explain.”

“Um, an explanation would more than likely be greatly appreciated, m’am.” Irelia says softly.

“Alright! You’re going to figure out what your powers are. And we’re going to do that by seeing which of these things attracts you. Irelia, you’re up first.” Melanie states.

“I um… I’m not sure if I understand what I need to be doing.” Irelia says after taking a small step forward.

“I think you just need to feel what you are most drawn to. Like me, I’m drawn to–”

“Hush Hazel. That was a good explanation but she must concentrate now.” “This is stupid.” Ezreal mumbles and Melanie casts him a sharp glance. “This will help you in the long run. Both of you, pick something too.”

“Irelia, the pitcher and butterfly. Signifying a free flowing element that also has restraints.”

“Ezreal, the dog and the bird. Signifying an element of high energy, free, taking no commands; unless someone knows how to harness the power.”

“And Hazel.”

“I just… want to set this on fire. It’s too fluffy.”

“Exactly. Your element is, honestly, a little bit complicated. A unicorn signify’s magical mystery. One has never been seen and they are normally said to be hidden in the darkness. Darkness and your odd want of burning it. Your power is called Pyro-Umbrakinesis, Hazel.” Melanie says and turns to the other two. “Irelia, your’s is water; Hydrokinesis. Ezreal, Aero-Electrokinesis; air, and lightning.”

“Wait, if my power is darkness and fire, couldn’t you find a burning crow or something? And how do I even control that?” Hazel pipes up.

“Well… honestly, since I only know how to control my element of water, I can’t help you there. Except of course for the basic things you can do.”

“I don’t have any powers anyway. Romeo got all of that…” Irelia says halfheartedly. “And how the heck do I control electricity!?” Ezreal yells.

“Uh, I guess I’ll have to talk to your parents.”

***

“I’m sorry about your losses Ezra. Death is never easy nor a welcomed guest.” Melanie– whom I honestly didn’t know was my kids teacher– states while giving Kona a sad look. I did lose Phoenix a few months after Jasmine and that didn’t help my depression much at all. But now the girl, scratch that, woman I’ve had a slight crush on since before Jasmine was sitting in my living room telling me about my kid’s powers. They’re witches, I know that, but Irelia seems to think differently.

“Thanks, but Ezreal and Irelia…?” I try to steer the conversation away from that topic again. Genesis thankfully took the kids, along with Henry and Sephora, out to eat. Although that could make this a little bit more awkward. “Ah, sorry, old memories. Vivek has been a real downer lately, which is why I agreed to teach at Sephora’s school. Through that teaching I’ve found that your children, and Hazel too, have very high potential to be powerful witches.” “What about the others?” “I’ve sense some… others… but I mean, I don’t have a history with their parents. I have a history with you.” When she said that I felt myself blush despite the mantra I’ve been chanting in my head ever since she appeared on my doorstep. ‘DO NOT TOUCH, TAKEN TAKEN TAKEN’

“I just can’t fathom them using those abilities. I mean, Jasmine didn’t even–” My breath hitched. I haven’t even realized I’ve been pacing. Saying her name was still a painful experience. I suspect it would always be.

“Ezra, I must say, as children they will need an immense amount of discipline to control their magic.”

“Who’s going to teach them? Their mother can’t. I know Sephora can’t. There are no other witches in this town except for one and she despises my children so who–”

“I will. Stop crying. I’ll move in with you when Henry officially moves out.” “Are you fu–” “Language.” “INSANE!? You live in Under-Esterdale, ruling a kingdom. Have you forgot about that? Plus there’s no space for you to stay.” “Well, Vivek is taking care of the kingdom while I’m away. We’re looking for residents still so there’s not much to do. Where was Henry sleeping?”

“Doesn’t matter, you won’t stay here.” “Why not?” “I don’t want you to.” “But the kids need a mentor.” “I don’t care, you can’t live with me. I-it wouldn’t be right.” “Because you still have a major crush on me?” “I-I- wh- what?”

Melanie hops up and gets extremely close to my face.

“You. Still. Like. Me. It’s very obvious, the way you avoid my eyes and the way you try to look anywhere but at me. That’s ok though, I know how to control myself, you’re an adult, you should be able to too.” She says and something completely random occurred to me just then. “Why have you not aged?” “…what?” “You haven’t aged, neither has Genesis but I know why he doesn’t. You, not so much.”

“Under-Esterdale works differently with time. Also, I use a spell. Now about this move in situation.” “No. Y-you can’t. It would be… odd.” “Your crush is odd.” Just then the door opens and everyone piles in. The kids immediately go up to their room, not sparing a glance in this direction, Henry goes straight to the kitchen, and Genesis… well he stopped.

“Mel, you’re still here. And very close to Ezra. What have you two been talking about, hm?” He interjects and never in my life have I been so grateful for a distraction. I silently send a ‘thank you’ to him and release a breath I didn’t know I was holding. My thoughts wandered to the kids.

“So, fire, water, and electricity. Odd combination for us but we’ll make it work.” Hazel says trying to cheer up Irelia. Ever since she learned that her element was water, she has never been so confused before. How can a kid who’d never shown any potential of being any type of magical being be… a witch?

“What’s the point anyway? I never even knew I was a witch.” “Mom was a witch Juliet.” Ezreal says, typing away. He was trying to find even more information on his powers. His and his family.

“Just because mom was doesn’t mean we get her powers too. She wasn’t even experienced, she was murdered by a psycho! If she was even remotely–” Irelia shot up only to be cut off by her brother.

“Don’t talk about her like that! We never even got a chance to know her so how can you even say that!?”

“Because I’m not a witch. I don’t feel anything flowing through me like Miss Melanie says. I just feel normal. A stupid, boring girl who never even knew her mom.” Irelia deflates again. They never really talked about their deceased mother. Just that dad was in love with her but never got the chance to actually show her before she…

“You’re a witch. You have to be because you’re my sister. Us Xavier’s stick together. We’re resilient and nothing can stop us. Right Hazel?”

“Well, I’m not one to judge, especially when you just repeat what our dads say. But I can agree. We stick together and help each other out. No matter what.” Hazels says poking Irelia in the knee. That made her giggle and seem slightly better. “Besides, we’ll have to now that we moved here. Way better than Strangetown and I don’t know anyone here.”

“Yeah, you know, Maybe this whole elemental thing would help us out in the future. Make money by doing stuff.” Ezreal says popping a piece of gum in his mouth. “So let’s make a pact, we’ll learn everything we can from the school of shenaigans and hijinks!” “I’m in! Irelia?” “I… Yeah, me too. Let’s do this.”

“And no Sanaa.” Hazel adds with a smirk. “Not fair, Sanaa is also our friend, kind of.” “She’s annoying. She doesn’t even go to the same school now. No annoying girls… excluding you two.” Ezreal says and just like that it was settled amongst the three of them.

Become the best they could be, no distractions.

Gen 3 Chap 21 – Romeo & Juliet Take A Dive

Le Author’s Note: Welcome back, happy super belated Holiday Wishes. This isn’t a Holiday Special, just another chapter.  Actually, I don’t think I ever did a holiday special on here… hmm. As some of you may know, I lost my dog last year but my fiancee got me another one. A Siberian husky. He’s ok… but I don’t think he’ll be replacing Amber anytime soon… My heart still belongs to her I also got the internetz back! Obviously since I’m posting something lol, I also posted something before this chapter and some of you gave input that unfortunately didn’t help my ordeal. I also posted on the official forums and well… a new pc is in order again. That sucks because who has new pc money right now? Not me. And these next couple parts of the legacy requires the twins to be in a school setting which I cannot place a non-rabbit hole building without the game freezing because my laptop goes ‘whoop, guess I better say F to you and your legacy now. Do something else.’ The woes of playing this game… well anyway read on and enjoy. I rambled enough.

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No One’s POV:

This little girl shall prove to be a downfall to one member of the Xavier household. Who could it be? Well, we’ll have to find that out now, won’t we? Although it should be blatantly obvious.

Sanaa Nichols: Supernatural. 12 years old. Best friends to Irelia Xavier. Major crush on Ezreal Xavier. Hated by Hazel Grimm.

Why is she here on a maybe sunny, maybe gloomy day? Well, it’s Saturday… and summer vacation, the end of it actually. No school means hanging out with the Xavier twins one final time; the pair of children (also including their cousin so it should really be called a trio) known to all of Twinbrook as The Troublesomes. Of course, everyday is the same but Saturdays are the worst. They won’t allow Sanaa to join their little group; cool witches only of course.

“Again? Really? Man you’re a sucker for pain aren’t you?” “Sanaa, are you sure you want to? We could always find something else to do.” “Nah, I bet all the jolly ranchers in my pocket she fails again. Let’s do this!” “Romeo! Stop being so mean to her!” “Hey, not my fault. She’s asking for it.”

Ezreal Romeo Xavier: Supernatural, 12 years old. Addicted to candy. Gets a kick out of ruining Sanaa’s life. Great fashion sense.

Irelia Juliet Xavier: …supernatural? (Her family thinks so anyway but her powers have yet to manifest), 12 years old. The ‘rational’ one of the group of kids. Mostly in charge of keeping Ezreal in good graces with their dad.

Sanaa simply looked at the ground, unbeknownst to her Hazel making kissy faces behind her back. Everyone knew about her crush on Ezreal but only Hazel made it a point to embarrass her about it.

Hazel Grimm: 13 and a half years old. The only child to Genesis Grimm. Only a witch because of her mother’s side of the family (skips every generation). Favorite place on earth is by far the twin’s house (it has grass here).

“I really just want to hang out with you guys all the time… not just on Saturdays. I’ll do anything. Please?” Sanaa begs them.

“Anything eh? Well now I must conjure up a dare for you fair lady. I and my trusty pawns.” “Hey! I’m not a pawn Romeo, and neither is Hazel.” “Nah, but if you really want to hang out with us more Sanaa, you have to do what we say. No ifs, ands, nor buts about it.”

“Ok… what are you gonna make me do…?”

“I dunno… somethin’.” Ezreal answered honestly, popping a jolly rancher in his mouth. Blue raspberry, his second favorite.

“If you let me hang out with you more, I’ll get you more candy.” Sanaa says the magic words: more candy.

“Of course, candy. Best way to a man’s heart Sanaa, well at least this kid here.” Hazel says from behind her and Sanaa let’s out a huff. She just really wish Hazel would quit making fun of her for her crush. It’s not that weird for a girl to like a boy with great fashion sense… is it?

“I can never say no to candy. Let’s go to the park, I got something for you to do to prove your worth.” Ezreal says with a grin on his face. He doesn’t really have a plan, he also doesn’t have to let her hang out with them more, he just wants that candy. After all, when Sanaa says she’ll do something, she won’t stop until it gets done. Never a broken promise from that one.

***

“Did you have to leave her back there? You knew she couldn’t keep up.” Irelia asked her twin who was having the time of his life being mean to the young witch.

“Well, I said the park. She’ll catch up.” Ezreal says. “Ugh, sometimes I don’t know how you’re my twin.” “Admit it, it’s fun picking on Sanaa, she’s so innocent.” Ezreal smirks and although she tried hard to be nice to people, Irelia had to admit, her brother’s antics brightened her day on multiple occasions.

“Orphan tears.” Hazel states matter of fact-ly. “What? What are you talking about now? Sanaa isn’t an orphan.” Ezreal says earning him a glare from his firey older cousin. “The sky, idiot. See how it’s sunny but raining too? That’s called orphan tears. Or so my dad said.” “Yeah but your dad is weird.” “Uncle Genesis is also fun. He gives you candy when dad isn’t watching.” Irelia says making her way through the park.

“Yup, my dad is weirdly cool. Too bad we gotta go back home today. Summers never last.”

“Don’t you miss your mom?” “Yeah but I miss you guys more when I’m not here… and the grass. I don’t want to get soaking wet, let’s go inside.” “To the museum then.” Irelia says and the other two agree.

It was hours before Sanaa finally found them in the empty museum but unfortunately fore her, by that time Ezra called the kids home. When Ezreal got off the phone he had a devilish spark in his eyes.

“Sorry Sanaa, gotta go. Looks like you’re too late so that means only Saturdays still.” Ezreal smirks and Sanaa lets out a huff like growl. “That’s not fair Ezreal! You know I’m slower than you guys, I don’t know all the shortcuts! Irelia please help me.” Sanaa turns to her only friend and Irelia sighs.

“Why don’t you ever convince him to let me play with you guys?” “Sanaa, it was hard enough to get him to agree to the Saturdays. Don’t you think that you’re asking for too much now?” “I’m the only one who even wants to be friends with you guys! Doesn’t that make a difference?”

“You’re only friends with us because you have a crush on my brother.” Irelia says under her breath but it was loud enough for the other witch to hear. “That’s… not true.” Irelia simply shook her head and walked away, she knew it was true. It was painfully obvious.

“Move Sanaa. You’re making us late.” “You can’t tell me what to do! You-you meanie!” Sanaa yells and although it takes a lot for Ezreal to get angry (candy taken away or someone knocking off his hat), he was not in the mood for Sanaa’s tantrum at the moment.

“Give up. You’re not hanging out with us more. I don’t want you to. I don’t even like you. Just leave me alone.” He says and pushes her back. After her initial shock, Sanaa eyes started to water. “Oh no, nope. Juliet, Hazel, let’s go. NOW!” Ezreal yells.

“You will regret this Ezreal. I’ll see to that.” “I highly doubt it.” He sneered back. Sanaa ran out of the museum in the night, back home. “Great, now I have a headache.” Ezreal said to no one in particular. The walk home was a short one; for The Troublesomes anyway. Shortcuts come in handy, although maybe Ezreal’s luck was turning sour already. It would explain the tear he acquired in his favorite shirt. It was the only one that could pull off a bowtie and still look cool.

Ezra’s POV:

It is entirely, utterly, and absolutely too early for this. Can’t she read? I mean my shirt does say ‘go away’. Maybe not in the most conventional way but doesn’t it get the point across anyway? Obviously not since she’s still yapping.

“Mr. Xavier, I trust you are hearing me right? Your son bullies my daughter.” Unlikely, more like she loves him and he’s not even thinking about girls that way, thank god.

Sanaa’s mother was once again on my property, ruining my painting time, berating my parenting skills, saying that I’m inadequate to raise kids, Ezreal is a menace, yada yada yada. God she talks a lot.

“Look, Mrs.—“ “Miss. I’m not married anymore Mr. Xavier.” “Ms. Nichols, I know my kids can be a little rowdy at times but I can assure you Ezreal does not bully anyone. I made sure of that, his grandfather made sure of that, also his uncle. They are straight A students and I never had a call from any other parents about either’s behavior so in all honesty, I have to assume your daughter is making up lies.” I say and oh, that was a big no no for her.

“Are you calling my daughter a LIAR!? How dare you! Sanaa is the most well behaved child in this town and I will not stand for this! Where is their mother!?” She had a very pronounced frown on her face now. Would hate to see that twist into something else so I answered her.

“Dead. Since they were… 7? 9? I don’t know, it’s been a very long time that I chose not to remember.” I say and she gasped. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” “Of course not, I don’t go blaring my personal info to everyone. Now, if talking my ear off is all that you came to do, well… you did it. You can get off my property now.” I state and she closes her hung open mouth and backs away, not before giving me a look of pity. She turns and briskly walks away, probably stewing up some more things to bother me about. ‘Mr. Xavier, your flowers are wilting. The dogs aren’t leashed. You haven’t mowed your lawn this week.’  Woe is the now annoying life of me. At least I still like my family, and they me. Speaking of, I should probably wake them up now; school and whatnot.

“Hey guys. I see you both are already awake.” I say as I survey their bedroom. It’s very plain for a couple of children and I should really look into getting them their own rooms.

“Dad, do we have to go? I mean, what’s the point? They’re just going to teach us the same thing over and over again. It’s boring!” Ezreal says. He looks exasperated, an expression I’ve come to realize only pops up when he has to learn something he finds boring. Irelia on the other hand simply sighed.

“Ezreal, school is important and they do not teach you the same things. It may feel like it, but trust me, it’ll evolve into something much more. Like math, you need to learn how to add before you can multiply.” “I think Romeo just doesn’t want to deal with the same teachers. We have one who is super mean. Her name is Mrs. Cantenitti, history.”

“Cante– alright, that’s understandable too. But I want you two to do me a favor.” I say bracing myself for the minor issue of this morning. They both looked at me waiting for what I was about to ask them. “You both are always in the same class, and I know you have your… daredevil side. But please stay out of trouble in school.”

“We always do daddy. Never had detention, suspension, or stayed after class. Don’t you know that?” Irelia questioned me. I assured them I do then brought up the real issue.

“SHE DID WHAT!? I never even so much as touched her ever!!” “I’m not saying you did nor will Ezreal. I’m saying that her mother thinks she’s being bullied by you, teasing or otherwise, so it’ll be in your best interest to stay away from Sanaa. Well, as much as you can.” I state trying to calm him down. Ezreal does not have a quick temper but he can get angry. Angrier than Hazel on some occasions.

“Fine, I can stay away from her, that’s not the problem. The problem is her staying away from me.” I chuckled at this, it brought up some old memories from college with a girl I almost ruined my life with. I realize my son was having the same issues and I would do my best to save him from what I had to go through.

“If she doesn’t Ez, tell me. Your grandpa and I can pull a few strings.” I say and he gave me a smile and nod in return. Irelia also gave her form of agreement with a simple wave with two fingers. I left them to continue getting dressed and wondered how their life was going to go. Would I still be around to see them became functional members of society? Or would something happen that would prevent me from doing that? …Those are silly fears aren’t they? But then again, maybe not.

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Le Author’s Note 2: This chapter took ages to come out because 1; game issues that are now fixed. 2; I had a car accident and wasn’t feeling up to writing, only getting a new car which has just happened. 3; WORK. Like, I’ve been overloaded with work, money’s good, but standing all the time and walking back and forth is taking a toll on my knee… which I think is only affecting me because of my car accident. But whatever, you guys don’t care about that, if you’re still reading this that is. Whew, I missed these guys, and you guys! Thanks for reading still!

xoxo – Iomai

Gen 3 Chap 19 – Depression… Progression

Le Author’s Note: I don’t think I say this enough but thank you everyone who reads, likes, comments, and provides feedback on this legacy. I know I’m not an exceptional writer but I do like doing it. Thank you all!

Warning: Language.

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“Baby,

can you be a little bit stronger?

Baby, cause I need a little longer.

You’re an earthly comfort
Yet so divine, yet so divine.

I never see you anymore.”

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“Hiya Mister Ezra’s dad! Can the twins come out and play today?” Hazel’s cheery voice rang out and Henry had to shush her quickly.

“Hey, Henry. Hazel, be quieter. Inside voices dear.” Genesis says softly. He glances around quickly, noticing two figures superbly absent from this early morning scene.

“Actually Genesis, there’s something I need you to do for me.” Henry says slowly. Genesis can see the wear and tear of time on his best friend’s features now a days. Taking on the responsibility of raising Ezra’s kids was taking its toll.

“Yeah sure what?” Genesis asks and Henry’s eyes got a slight spark in them. “I need you to take the kids to the park today. I need help with Ezra, he’s wasting away so I called in some reinforcements.”

“Reinforcements? Hm, wonder who… but yeah I’ll take the kids. Hazel and I will take great care of them, won’t we babydoll?” “Yes sir papa!” Hazel agrees then covers her mouth giggling. “Sorry Mister Ezra’s dad.” “It’s ok Hazel, the twins are in the backyard actually.” Henry says and Genesis nods, leading Hazel out the backdoor, stepping over dog toys in the process. Henry notices this and shakes his head. He really needed Ezra to get off his ass and stop wallowing in self pity.

Henry had thought his younger brother would have no doubt tried to take his orb back (deactivated when Ezra spiraled into this… shell he’s in) and use it for his seemingly endless nefarious plots against him. But so far… nothing has happened on that front. He sees Genesis hop in his car with the kids and goes upstairs to try and get Ezra out of bed… once again.

“Get up.” Henry storms into Ezra’s room. The truth is, he’s tired. Mentally and physically.

“Do you knock anymore?” “I don’t give a damn about knocking or not. Get your ass up Ezra, now. I’m tired of you being holed up in this room like you’re some type of hermit. You need to get out, socialize, be with your kids. They’re growing up fast.”

“They remind me of her.” Ezra chokes out, stifling a sob before it could escape. He didn’t look at his father, he didn’t want to. Just like he didn’t want to know where his children were right now, although he heard some little girl downstairs earlier. It was early… too early to be up. He just wanted to sleep. Henry wasn’t having it.

“I will be damned if I sit around here doing your job of raising your kids. Up, now.” Ezra simply rolled on his side away from his father’s voice. Henry was losing it.

“You will get you ass out of this bed. You will see your children grow up. You will be a father. With or without Jasmine around.” A cringe, then retaliation. “I didn’t see you at all in my childhood, only in dreams. Why are you getting on me about this!? I told you I couldn’t do this alone!” “You aren’t doing ANYTHING!! Don’t bullshit me on not being there when you were growing up, that was the biggest damn mistake of my entire life and if I could go back I would’ve let that entire world burn to the ground! Just to see you and your sister grow up!” Henry yells. He shouldn’t have, he should’ve kept his composure but he didn’t. He suffered a subconjunctival hemorrhage, followed by hyphema. Henry covers his left eye with his hand and sighs deeply.

“Get dressed, go downstairs.” He says to his suddenly stubborn son. “I don’t really want to.” Was a reply back. “I wasn’t asking. Don’t make me hurt you Ezra.” Henry states and walk to the bathroom across the hall. He needs to check out his eye, blood is still in his line of sight and that’s not good.

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Ezra’s POV:

I put on my clothes and headed downstairs, like my father ordered me to. I wasn’t feeling to good about our argument we just had. I knew I put in some low blows but to hear my father regret saving his homeworld for the sacrifice of my childhood made me feel even more shitty. I seen that bright crimson appear in his left eye too, that’s not a good sign.

Before I made it even a third of the way down I seen some incredibly familiar shoes and it dawned on me; my parents came here. I stopped at the base of the stairs and stood staring, unbelievably at the scene before me. My eyes watered and tears spilled.

“Mom…? Dad…?” I choked out. They each gave me a sympathetic smile but my mom spoke first. “We heard you were… sad.” “We also heard that little exchange.” My dad said frowning slightly.

I ran to hug them but my mom held on the longest.

“Why didn’t you call us Ezra? We’re always here for you.” “I don’t know…” I sad simply and that was the truth. I should’ve called them sooner. Henry came down the stairs soon after and my mom immediately turned on him.

“Henry! What happened to your eyes? They aren’t blue anymore, and why are you covering one of them? What’s with the ears too? You look older, I though you didn’t age.” My father chuckled slightly, his hand covering his eye was trembling, ever so slightly.

“If you really must know, I gave some of my life energy to Genesis when he did his future fusing. That sent my eye color back to their usual boring brown. Strange how that worked really. I uh… I need to get my eyes checked out soon but hey, I can tell you two all about me later. Ezra is the issue right now.” I looked down, wanting to avoid this confrontation as much as possible. It was like an intervention. Not like I was on drugs or anything, I just… can’t find my drive.

“Yes, Ezra is the issue. Tell us what happened, son. Your mother and I are extremely curious as to why you left us out of your life so much” “Anubis!” “No, he’s right mom, I’m sorry.” I say and lead them to the kitchen table where we all sat and talked about the current issue of… me.

“One more thing, you look like hell boy.” Anubis said and I nodded weakly. “I know dad.” We began our talk.

***

It was later in the day when Genesis came back with the twins. They looked like they had fun and when they saw me downstairs in God knows how long, they couldn’t hide their excitement. I called them over to meet their grandparents and looked to the floor. Every time I see them my eyes start watering. Could I really be a father?

“So, who are they daddy?” Irelia asked while her brother hung onto her. “We’re your grandparents sweetie. Lyra and Anubis.” “I thought grandpa Henry was our only grandparent.” Ezreal says nonchalantly casting a quick glance around to make sure Henry wasn’t in the near vicinity.

“They’re also your grandparents. Henry is my father and Lyra is my mom.” I try to explain, Irelia connected it first; “Ah so grandpa Anubis is your step daddy, daddy. I get it.” “I don’t but it’s cool. As long as I can get some candy.” My son says.

“By the way Juliet, do you think they have candy right now?” “Can’t say for sure Romeo but you can always ask. Grammy looks more inviting than grammpy.” They whispered amongst themselves. I smile in spite of myself. I heard about Ezreal’s little candy addiction (thanks to Genesis) from my father, who was currently keeping Genesis and Hazel occupied. I loved my kids, I really do, I just wish constantly that Jasmine was here to see this.

After my parents got to know my little duo a bit better, they left to their hotel. I still couldn’t believe they traveled all the way from Aurora Skies to here. Which reminds me, I’ll have to ask for pictures of Eihime’s and Jay’s kids. Well, updates on all the family really.

“Hey dad, can you read us a bedtime story? Pleeeeease?” Ezreal begged. I was about to decline when Genesis stepped in.

“Actually, I have a story that I promised to tell Ezra a while back, wanna hear it?” He asks me and it takes me a longer time to decide than anticipated. Irelia declined for me. Second time in one day that I felt like shit. I apologize to them before disappearing upstairs into my room again. I hate this feeling.

I got undressed and sat on my bed, contemplating what my father had said earlier. He was right, I couldn’t just stay holed up in my room all the time. I needed to go out and do something. Help in the search of finding Jasmine. It seems as though the twins are getting along fine without her but I am worried about them growing up with just me. Would that affect them negatively? I really needed to find her soon… starting tomorrow. Tonight, I’ll sleep once more, then tomorrow I’ll go to those elves.

***

 The next day yielded no leads on Jasmine’s whereabouts. People in town say they never even saw her. How was that possible when apparently her aura was off the charts? Someone must’ve noticed her and if not her then the elves. But even my father said that little consignment shop was abandoned. He watched it practically every day, switching shifts with Genesis.

Most weeks I spent working out. I needed something to do when the kids were at school because when they were home, I spent practically every moment with them. I was immensely glad when they didn’t reject me because I was out of their life for a while. Matter of fact, they welcomed me with open arms, literally. Although my father and I had our second argument it never changed how much he wanted to help me. His way of making up for him not being in my childhood I guess.

I was also grateful for Genesis keeping Hazel around, the twins loved their “cousin” and I couldn’t help but wonder what Sephora thought about her daughter switching around so much. Genesis says he has it under control but I’ve seen him being grumpy a few times after he got off the phone with his wife.

Either way, I’m getting better about her missing. No doubt those elves had something to do with it and when I find them, someone is going to pay. I promise that.

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***Lyrics: ‘You Suck Charlie’

Gen 3 Chap 18 – The Disappearance of Jasmine Xavier (Ezra’s Tragedy)

Le Author’s Note: Sympathy needed for Ezra.

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6:03 AM

That morning when she walked out the door. Where was she going? How did she become so quiet? Why didn’t she let me in?

‘Try harder.’

Was it because I wasn’t there enough? Did I make her feel like I didn’t care?

‘Not working.’

Was she really the type of person to just leave like that?

Could anyone atone for her? Insanity? Memories? Maybe she hated me. Those little spots of red on her cheeks were false. Her laughter was false. Her eyes… no. She loved me, but something was pulling her.

‘I really want some strawberries.’

***

Ezra’s POV:

8:48 AM

I blinked slowly.

How did I get here again?

Oh right. I called them… well… contacted them through the orb. When did my dad and Genesis become the go-to of who I call first? Why wasn’t it my mother or…Anubis?

Because they can’t teleport. I needed someone immediately and they came. But… when was that?

“Strawberries? Really Genesis?” “What? Hazel wants ’em too, don’tcha baby girl?”

“Strawberries, yes!” Hazel enthused and the twins repeated what she said.

Earlier this morning I suppose, when I found out she left.

“Gone…” I whisper. “Oh, Ezra, are you alright? You passed out again.” My father inquires coming over to me. He was holding the orb in his hands, twisting it slightly around I glance briefly at him before my attention falls on the playpen that housed my twins. God they look like their mother. A sob escaped my lips before I could stop it and Genesis sighs.

“Listen, Ezra, she only left like, what, a few hours ago? Who’s to say she won’t come back?” Genesis says and although I could tell he was trying to be uplifting, it wasn’t working. I could feel that something was immensely wrong when I woke up this morning. The house was too still and when I looked out back she wasn’t there at her alchemy station. No breakfast smells either. She was just… gone.

“She’s not coming back. I can feel it.” I groan, I didn’t care if they thought I was pathetic either. I just wanted this feeling to go away. Was it because of what those elves said? Did they do something to her to make her leave?

“This is troubling… He’s around here.” Henry states and huffs.

“He? Oh don’t tell me bunny boy is here too. How?” Genesis asked picking up Hazel. She didn’t want to be and put up a fight that didn’t go anywhere.

“That’s what I want to know… Ezra, can I ask you a favor?” “…What?” “Get up and get yourself together, watch the kids. Genesis and I are going to find Shiro and maybe Jasmine too if he had anything to do with it.” Henry states and stares at me. I suppose watching Hazel would be a welcoming distraction; she liked to enchant toys to come alive and play when she got bored enough. That should keep me on my toes at least.

“Yeah, I can do that.” I say, slowly getting up. “Good, see you later. Don’t let my little girl hurt herself.” Genesis says following Henry out the door. As soon as the door was shut I slumped my shoulders. I hope they would find her.

***

How did it come to this? My murderous uncle was in my house, with my kids, UNCHAINED. I knew them finding Jasmine was slim but not this slim. God I hate him staring at me. And he looked… different.

“Where is she Shiro?” “Where’s who? Why was I dragged here? Who’s brats are those?” Shiro fired back with his own questions and I shook my head.

“What are you doing here in Twinbrook anyway? Stalking my son and his family?” Henry asks and a look of realization came over Shiro’s face.

“Family…? Well I can see only two of them are his so the other one must be yours Genesis. Where’s Jasmine, Ezra? Off getting screwed by someone not you?” He laughs and I clench my fists. “Shut it. Tell us where she is and there won’t be a problem.” I say he simply stares at me. I stare right back noticing little things that changed about him. His hair, for one… the ears for two… and three, his shoes where black instead of blindingly white.

“Ohhh, I get it, you think I’m responsible for her disappearance yes? Well, I’m not. I didn’t even know you two where in town. I just know there was a powerful aura of magic that I don’t feel anymore. Was that your Jazz baby? Could be dead.” His eyes never left mine and I randomly sputter, “What happened to you?” “I don’t have my orb. I don’t particularly search for trouble anymore. Why?” “You look… completely different.” I say and Henry scoffs. “I was actually curious about that too.” Genesis comments and Shiro rolls his eyes.

“I simply moved the hair out of my face. Is that so dramatic?” “Ears?” “It’s a headband. I’m still attached to who I used to be.” “Who you still are… Shoes. Where’s your hat?” Henry interjects. “Oh those… I threw those away. Too bloody you know.” He grinned and laughed. That’s when I snapped. I got up and attacked him.

“YOU BASTARD! YOU KILLED HER!!” “THE HELL EZRA!?” “YOU AND THOSE DAMNED ELVES!” “E-Elves?”

The kids were crying, I was still trying to kill my uncle but somehow he hardly had a scratch on him. When I came to my senses I could hear Hazel wailing to her dad and Shiro in a low voice asking is that the kind of example I wanted to set for my kids. I wanted to punch him again.

“Lay one hand on him and you’re dead Shiro.” Henry threatens. As a result, Shiro lost the fire that was just in his eyes.

“Ok Ezra. I can let this slide. For now. Never knew you had a temper. Always seemed like a weak link to me. Whatever, I don’t know where she is. Maybe, instead of taking your loss out on me you should talk to those elves your were screaming at me about. Henry, I will personally castrate you if you come near me again. Hazel will find herself without a father too Genesis.” Shiro says and leaves out the house, pushing Henry out the way in the process.

“It’s ok Princess, daddy’s got you.” I looked to where my kids were to find them still staring at me with wide eyes. I groan inwardly and stalk off upstairs. I can’t take this. Henry watched me go, I assumed he would take care of the twins… I feel so broken.

“Come on kiddos, it’s getting late. How would you like a sleepover with your cousin Hazel?” I heard my father say before I made it all the way upstairs to my room. When I crossed the threshold I shut the door and lay on my bed, still fully clothed. I couldn’t do this… I need her back.

***

“So, Little Miss Witch is missing… Ezra made a huge mistake with this. I’ll find her, and slit her throat. It’s only fair… an eye for an eye.” Shiro let out a high pitched giggle that only he could hear. He was going to make that boy’s life a living hell. Starting with the girl he fell in love with.

“Would be fun if he watched too.” He says to himself. Now all he needed was his orb back and he could go back to being the mischief maker he was. This nomadic lifestyle was good enough, after he kills Jasmine, he’ll flee and take up residence in some other town. Why not? He only gets to live forever.

---

Le Author’s Note 2: On a completely unrelated note….. Shiro is actually kinda hot bloodied.

Or maybe I just like seeing him suffer. His face is as perfect as a porcelain doll… maybe someone will break it. Also the rabbit ears, the honest to god truth why Henry and Shiro have them is because they stay true to their roots. The Hare and White Rabbit. Mainly Henry has them for Hazel, makes him seem less stoic and scary to her. Shiro has them because no matter how much he hates being called Bunny Boy, he can’t throw away his past so instead of the red hat he once wore, it is now bunny ears, symbolizing innocence to get people to trust him. Of course, I still would never trust him but I can’t say the same for other people. Why didn’t he just go with no accessories? Weird little man…

Gen 3 Chap 16 – Stranger Things Have Happened

Le Author’s Note: Well, sad news on my end; my dog ran away about 3 weeks ago and I still can’t find her so with her missing, that brought on a bout of semi depression but I did manage to snap pictures for this chapter. If my writing isn’t up to snuff, I’m sorry but losing a dog you’ve had for years is like losing a child.

---

“Beauty comes in many ways. For us, it’s these two.”

“Way to be philosophical after passing out in the delivery room. You should’ve seen you’re face when the doctor said ‘twins’.”

“I wasn’t expecting two… one yes but twins? How are we going to manage to pull this off?”

“Together. Besides, don’t multiples run in your family anyway?”

She was right. Multiples did run in the family, lucky me.

***

No One’s POV:

“Not again…” Jasmine sighs when she heard the squeal of laughter coming from their living room. Having to raise twins was hard, not as hard as some made it out to be but hard all the same. With Ezreal and Irelia, they were strangely in sync with one another. If one got hungry so did the other one. Sleepy, bathroom breaks, playtime, anything. It didn’t matter because it always seems as though they were conjoined at the hip… or mind.

Rounding the corner she sees her children running after each other and making silly faces, trying to outdo one another. She shakes her head but her heart is happy. She couldn’t have asked for more. These two were like angels, well…

“Ezreal Romeo Xavier! Put your sister down this instant!” She yelled when her son put her daughter on his small shoulders. Fearing the worst she rushed to them and scooped Irelia into her arms before they could fall.

Of course, no matter how angelic they are at some point, they’re both tomboys and getting them to be safe is the most complicated job for the parents. Ezra works most days, all day so it’s just Jasmine, the twins, and the dogs. When Ezra is home he makes it a ritual to spend practically every second with the twins. Although she doesn’t mind, she does wish for Ezra to be home more. Then maybe that way she could sell more of her elixirs. Speaking of… she has yet to see a paycheck from her current elixirs. Perhaps they didn’t sell?

“Ok you two, eat up. Then after you can play in the playpen. Just don’t spill it like last time, Ezreal…” Jasmine says eyeing her son and he simple gave her the sweetest smile that could melt even the hardest of hearts. “Sigh… you both are amazing.” She says before there was a knock on the door. “Who could be visiting at this early hour?”

“S-Sora?” A surprise to say the least. She was just thinking about the shop. “Hello Jasmine, you must be very surprised but I came to give you something.” He says and Jasmine notices a slip of paper in his hands. But more important than that… “How did you know where I live?” “Hm? Oh, uh, Cotton Candy over there saw you walking home one day and… you know, you haven’t been to the shop lately so… here’s your check.” He hands it out to her and she hesitates. “…Or I could just keep the money? That’s fine too…” “It’s not that I don’t want the money, I just find it odd why you waited so long to bring me it, or you could have mailed it.” “Long? I’m sorry but I am a busy individual. I also don’t trust Panda-Bear with my work as much as one might think. Plus, you could’ve came to the shop to pick it up.” He points out glancing again at the brightly colored elf that accompanied him on this journey, he of which was now staring at the plants, trying not to listen in on their conversation. So far, it was working. Panda-Bear can be very oblivious at times.

“Uh… Why do you call him that?” Jasmine asks and Sora scoffs. “I mostly variate what names I call him by what he do–” He was cut off by a crash from behind Jasmine.

“Damn, hang on Sora.” She says and dashes back in the house. Ezreal wasted his food… again. Perhaps he wouldn’t have this problem if she knew the exact way to handle this. Saying ‘no’ wasn’t helping. He still seems to think that the dogs need to be fed extra food.

“Need help? I’m good with kids.” A slightly high male voice says from the doorway. Jasmine looks around the corner to see Panda-Bear peeking in. Although she wants to readily agree she can’t help but keep her guard up around these two.

“Um, I’m good, thanks. I’m used to this, Ezreal is just a little more rowdy than Irelia.” She says wiping Ezreal down. Such a mess, perhaps he gets it from her? She can’t say, she doesn’t remember her childhood, let alone anything that’s her past from before Under-Esterdale. Before she could register what was happening the puppies came bounding in straight towards the spilled food. She was too late to even stop them from that. Maybe extra help could work. She’ll have to ask Ezra first. Either way she invited the two individuals in as soon as the mess was cleared and the twins were safely placed in their playpen.

“So, you’re good with kids Panda-Bear?” Jasmine asks tiredly. “Oh very! The little angels are the light of my life. If I could I would have some of my own.” He says and both Jasmine and Sora look at him with confusion.

“I uh… don’t particularly like any gender… I’m asexual.”

Both Jasmine and Sora looked surprised. Of course in this day and age it wasn’t really strange just… well for Jasmine, she thought he was beyond question, undoubtedly g–

“That’s a damn lie Cotton Candy. You should be ashamed of telling it.” Sora states while Jasmine shoots him a glare. “Oh, right, kids. Sorry, hard to control when you do it so often.” he shrugs. “I just don’t want the first word out of my children’s mouths to be a curse word… Anyway, I’ll gladly take it up with my boyfriend about your offer Panda-Bear. Ezra and I could use all the help we can get with these two.” She says glancing back and seeing her children playing peacefully, for now. “Now, I’ve been a terrible hostess, would either of you like something to drink?” She offers and Sora stands up abruptly.

“Actually, no you’re fine. We have business to take care of elsewhere. Thanks for the offer though, come on Panda.” Panda shoots Jasmine an apologetic look which wasn’t really necessary, she would have to get used to Sora’s brashness sooner or later. As the two individuals left the house she turned to her twins. A devilish smile appeared on her lips before she scooped them both up and placed them next to her on the ground.

“Alright, talk. This is how we’ll spend today.” Unfortunately for her a long, arduous journey lay ahead.

***

“Come on Jules, say ‘mommy’. Or ‘daddy’, I don’t really care which as long as you say one of them.”

“Arf!” “No, Spark, not you little guy. Irelia here needs to learn how to talk.”

“Sweep.” Irelia said surprising Jasmine. “Yes!! Your first word! You’re catching up with your brother.” She says immensely proud of her children. If only Ezra were here to witness it… well, too bad, he’ll just have to teach these two to walk. She picks up Irelia and Ezreal taking them upstairs for a nap but something that surprised her even more was that Ezreal wasn’t tired like his sister. Strange, she’ll have to look that up later. For now her little Romeo would be fine just playing with their toys.

Ezra’s POV:

“So Romeo and Juliet said their first words today and since I missed it I have to teach them to walk?” I ask Jasmine and she nods. In all honesty I hated leaving her alone all day with twins and dogs. Because of my job I missed a milestone in my kid’s lives and I will forever feel bad about that, but I couldn’t just up and quit my job… well… maybe I can?

“I had a visit today from the elves. Panda-Bear offered to babysit sometimes.” She says softly. “Wow, great I was just thinking about quitting my job actually. I don’t like leaving you here alone all day… but why were they here in the first place? Missed your elixirs?” “Well, that and to drop off my most recent check.” She states. I could feel she wanted to say more so I pressed her for information. “…and?”

“It feels as though they want something from me but I can’t pinpoint what. I don’t know how to approach the subject either.” “We can invite them over, try and see what’s up.” I offer and Jasmine looks hopeful. “That would help immensely Ezra.” “I know it would Jas, now how about I put Ezreal to sleep and we can have some time for ourselves?” “Sounds perfect.” She smiles and kisses me before heading up the stairs. I pick up Ezreal and do the same, making a mental note to schedule a doctor’s appointment for the twins. For some reason, them being out of sync worries me.

***

“Explain this to me again. You guys have been searching for her for how long and now that you found her, you want to bring her back?”

“For over 10 years. I’m assuming her memory loss is because of that other worldly shit.” Sora states clearly getting annoyed. “I don’t know how else to clearly explain this. Jasmine is our guardian and we need her back to protect the portal.”

“…forgive me but, I’m still not buying it.” I say simply. When we invited the two elves over the next morning (by Jasmine going to the shop) I wasn’t expecting this wild of a tale. Apparently elves aren’t even supposed to be in this world but these two are (along with some of Sora’s kids) just hanging around. Well, these two had a reason… a far-fetched reason but…

“Ok, think of it like Jasmine being the chosen one for something.” Panda-Bear starts out.

“Was this Guardian stuff decided when I was born or something?” Jasmine intercepts. “We.. aren’t sure, we just know that you were there at the portal ever since we were there. Then one day you just, disappeared, then, just as suddenly you pop up but with a memory loss.” Panda-Bear looks sad for a moment, but it was quickly replaced by a smile. “You know, it weird how you were chosen for this instead of a member from our clan.” He says distractedly, glancing at Sora.

“Either way, I’m not doing it. I have a family, there’s no way in hell my children are going to grow up without a mother.” Jasmine says and I wholeheartedly agree.

That’s when Sora got angry. “God dammit, this isn’t your choice. Neither of you have a choice in the matter, she needs to come back one way or another and I’ll be damned if you having a ‘family’ would stop this. She has a duty to fulfill and memory loss is not going to keep this shit on hold.” “You have no right to say that Sora, after all, you let your sons live here.” Panda-Bear says.

“You leave my sons out of this. My family is safe and fine. Your family is not Ezra. If she stays, the forces that want her back will take her back. Your consent or not, she does not belong here.” “And what right do you have to say that? She was doing just fine until you two came along–” “She was doing just fine because she wasn’t in this plane of existence! You idiot boy… her presence is disrupting the whole flow of–“

“Both of you. Out of my house now.” Jasmine says sternly. “I refused to be talked about as though I am not here and about a matter that shouldn’t even involve me. OUT.”

Panda looked half scared for his life scrambling to get out of the chair with Sora huffing out an angry sigh. “Although I am angry I must warn you, if you want your children to survive, rethink your decision. Let’s go Pixie Stick.” Sora walks out of our home with an apologizing Panda following.

“Sorry about him, perhaps we can talk this over again but uh… good bye for now.” He says and dips out of the house, leaving Jasmine and I alone.

“Can we take a walk Ezra?” “Dogs and kids?” “Yeah…” Let me tell you, four dogs, two toddlers, and two parents aren’t a perfect combo for a walk. But if it made Jasmine feel better that’s all that matters. I just hope that those elves don’t bother us again. One can never be too sure, though, stranger things have happened. Being married to an elf guardian would just be something else to tack up on the wall of oddities in my head.