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.

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“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.

Gen 3 Chap 15 – Twinbrook

Le Author’s Note: Welcome to ARC 3!! Honestly, it’s not that grand, but it does build up characters… plus I’m going to try out a certain type of genre in some chapter (i.e. Horror/Gore). It’s a later chapter so don’t bee too excited (no one’s excited I know T-T). Anyway~ I’m going to miss Henry and Genesis… they were fun to play around with but I can’t hold on to them forever (*puts Genesis in a totally different save file*). I actually just noticed Henry looks really good without his glasses. No wonder Ezra’s a cutie. Enough babble, on to the next episode!

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Welcome home, as my father would have undoubtedly said when we were beamed here.

‘It’s a little brown house, perfect for you and Jasmine… big yard space for the dogs…’ ‘So how did you afford it?’ 

He never told me. Always say the way he acquire things isn’t important since it happened in the “past”. Not fully furnished, we have to do that ourselves, but furnished enough to live in.

The first floor is an open kitchen/dining/living room type deal. Laundry room, garage with a car.

‘That car is yours Ezra, I assume you would need it. Can’t walk around all your life. Don’t wreck it, Genesis worked hard getting you that.’ 

Second floor had two bedrooms, a master and a smaller one.

‘Grandkids from you two I imagine; one day, for now the dogs can sleep in there.’

One bathroom. Maybe with the extra space I could set something up…

“This house is amazing! Tell Henry and Genesis I said thank you!!” Jasmine says going through the house. I pull out the orb that my father gave to me. ‘Shiro shouldn’t come back for this… but if he does, I need to explain it to you, how to protect you and Jasmine. But mostly, what’s really important is that you never let it out of your site…’

“Amazing thing… like a cell phone but not really. Just a two way device that lets me talk to Henry.” And Genesis if I wanted to be honest, he constantly talks to me about how I’m liking it here so far and there’s honestly not much to say. We just got here. Phoenix and Kona love the yard so I guess that’s a plus.

“By the way, upstairs has absolutely no wallpaper in the rooms. And, there’s no decorations… We’re going to have to go shopping!” Jasmine laughs. I could tell she was overly excited for some reason that even she couldn’t tell me about. I guess, a new town would be good for a memory jog… Speaking of new town, we’re in Twinbrook. A slightly swampy place but good for living. Apparently nothing out of the ordinary happens here.

I place the orb on a pedestal my dad also installed in the house. ‘Carrying it around all the time gets tiring, when  you’re home you can leave it on the little table upstairs.’ He practically thought of everything and I was extremely grateful for that. It stayed small at first but then morphed into a bigger shape to fill the holder. I activated the orb and waited for a few minutes before Genesis’ face began to form in it.

“Well hey Ezra, how ya doing?”

“Uh, good I guess… is my dad around?” I ask him and he narrows his eyes at me. “It’s nothing bad Uncle Genesis, I just need to ask him something.” He leans back away from the orb and yells for Henry. Soon my father appeared.

“Ezra.” “Hey dad, can I ask you something?” “Shoot.” My father looked extremely tired and rundown but I suppose that is a side effect when working with Genesis. “So I noticed that technically, I only have about, 800 bucks to my name… can I borrow some money….? Please?” I ask and Henry’s eyes actually light up and he smiles.

“Oh Ezra, Ezra, Ezra… You should know the answer to that.” He says and I stare blankly. He sighs and shakes his head and when he looks back at me his eyes hold a mischievous glint of amusement. “You went to college Ezra, you hold a degree in Fine Arts and Communications.” “So…?” He laughs. Literally, but when he composed himself he stared at me hard before yelling; “GET A JOB.” then deactivating his orb. Well…. damn.

I walk out of the room to find Jasmine smiling at me. “Well, I heard that. A job it is then. But what type of job?” She wonders and I shrug. I did have two degrees but I don’t want to do anything with them in their fields… music? Yeah I play the guitar, out of hobby, not a money maker. And Jasmine… well…

“I could… maybe, sing? Or… be self-employed?” She thinks and her being self-employed stuck out to me. She’s a witch. She could brew potions or something and I told her this. She beamed at me a immediately wanted to do it so we made a trip to Twinbrook City Hall to register her. Me? Well, I just got a job at a car dealership… It’ll last until something else comes along.

***

Jasmine’s POV:

I was excited. I don’t know why, I just have a really good feeling. Like, something amazing is going to happen. Self employed alchemist, me? Oh yes, score. I’m not entirely sure on how this town views supernaturals but I wasn’t about to flash my powers around anyway. I asked Ezra to go on home because I wanted to start my career right away. I already had a few potions on me (just in case) so I immediately went to the consignment shop in town to sell them.

When I walked through the door a deep, booming voice greeted me and when I looked up I was met by a really buff guy behind the counter.

“Uh…” “I asked, could I help you, ma’am?” The clerk asks one more time and I shake to clear my head. “I’m sorry, yes. I would like to sell my elixirs please.” I say and he stares at me for a moment.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t accept magical artifacts. Too much controversy.” he says completely stonefaced. “But… I thought that… I mean, why? Aren’t you an elf? How could you not?” “Twinbrook is a quiet town. A plain town, I’m assuming you just got here since you so blatantly point out the magic in others. I’d appreciate it if you never said shit about my elfism again. People have gotten used to me which in turn has allowed me to own this shop and sell things I deem safe. How would I even know if your potions are safe to sell to the public?”

“I would never do anything to hurt anyone so carelessly.” I say looking at my shoes. I felt ashamed that I didn’t think that through. What would I do if I could find no one to sell my wares to… or for me?

“But you have done it?” he asks and I didn’t speak. I would say no but how can I when I can’t remember a lick of who I was before? I could have been a completely different person than I am now. “I don’t know. I don’t think so.” I say honestly and the man looks surprise at my answer.

“My name is Sora. I am an elf as you are a witch. I have lied to you. I do sell magical artifacts but not to commoners. Only other supernaturals, I have a facade to keep up. I needed to test your genuine, Miss…?” “Jasmine… how did you know I was a witch?” “You give off a powerful aura. I sensed it before you even came through my door… Jasmine.”

“Yes?” “I will sell your elixirs, but if I were you I would be way more careful.” Sora says as he takes my small bag of elixirs from me. “What do you mean more careful?” I ask him and he looks at me as though I was completely incompetent.

“You have an extremely powerful aura. If I felt that 10 feet from my shop who knows who else could’ve felt it. Keep that in check. Out my shop now, you’re tainting it.” He says coming around the counter and shooing me out of his shop before I had a chance to protest. When I was out the door he immediately put up a ‘Closed’ sign and simply stared at me until I walked away and couldn’t see him or his shop anymore.

A voice comes from the backroom of Sora’s shop…

“Was that… really Jasmine?” it asks. “Yes. She seemed to have no recollection of me. I suppose that’s good.” “But also no recollection of her past in general. That’s strange, no?” “Perhaps… amnesia… she did disappear for a while. Again.” Sora says rummaging through the vials, organizing them, and pricing them.

“Sorakota, she’s going to have to come back… either by her will or against it. We have to make sure of that.” The voice sighs. “I didn’t want to have to do that again, she seems to like it here.” “Business is business cotton candy.” Sora says and the voice huffs. “That’s not my name!”

***

Ezra’s POV:

When Jasmine got back it was starting to get dark. She walked through the door but didn’t say a word to me nor the dogs even though they greeted her with their normal enthusiasm. She just went straight to the fridge, which was now fully stocked thanks to me, and started preparing something. Looked like my favorite. She kept sighing while she was cooking too which concerned me even more.

“Jasmine?” I venture while she gobbled down the spaghetti she just prepared.

“Yes?” She asks between bites of food. “Are you alright? Did something happen while you were out?” “No. Well, yes? Maybe? I don’t know. I was going to sell my elixirs at the consignment shop and the guy there, his name is Sora, he called me out on pointing out his supernatural-ness because he said basically everyone knew about supernaturals here they just don’t like them and he said I have a powerful aura which gave myself away as a supernatural but I didn’t even know I was suppose to be hiding it so–” “Ok, calm down. Slow down, this guy basically offended you right?” “Well, no, complimented really. Right before I left he said I had a powerful aura but I should be careful with it. It might alert some anti-supernaturalists I guess. I offended him actually.”

“So, did what he say bother you? Do you remember anything from your past? You’re quiet…” I ask her and she shakes her head. “Still a blank but for some reason what he said did strike something within me. I just don’t know what. I wish I could remember something…” She mopes and I put my hand over hers. “For now, let’s just finish dinner and rest. It’s been a slightly long day and I start work early tomorrow morning.” “Right… congratulations by the way. I’m happy for you.” Jasmine says and picks at her food. I mumble a thanks and dig in to my plate. She’ll feel better in the morning.

***

Before she drifted off to sleep I sat besides her on the bed, trying to make her feel better and after a while it worked. It doesn’t take much to cheer her up with she’s normally an optimistic person. It just seems like her past is haunting her in ways she doesn’t understand. I’ll try my best to help her with that.

“Ezra, do you… really like me? Like, even if I turn out to be someone different, will you still like me?” she asks me before I moved to my side of the bed. I smile down at her worry. “Of course I will. Nothing can change the way I feel about you.” “Not even that slight crush you have for Melanie?” “That’s… honestly, that’s just a crush that’s being crushed further down every moment I spend with you.” I say and that put a smile of her face. “If you say so… sometimes it feels as though we’re just… friends I guess.” “I’m sorry for making you feel that way.” I say leaning down to kiss her. Then I kissed her again, and again. We got lost in each other and I hoped I showed her my feelings were true to her, and only her.

From that night, every night we slept together we cuddled. It’s almost as if she was afraid of me to let her go throughout the night. Not that I minded it, it simply felt as though there was a deeper meaning to it. For me at least.

A few months later we found out that Kona was pregnant, Jasmine was over the moon to have puppies. She kept gushing about how cute the were going to be. I suppose I expected it after all the late night adventures Phoenix and Kona got up to.  After a while she gave birth to two puppies; Spark…

…and Sadie. I could tell already Phoenix’s favorite was his daughter. She took after her mother on the energy level. It seems as though her sleeping is the rarest thing to see. Spark takes after his mother on the curiosity level. There’s not one thing he has licked, sniffed, knocked over, or just simply got into. Well, Sadie too, so I guess all there is to say is that these puppies are handfuls, but they’re a welcome distraction from life.

***

Jasmine has been going to the consignment shop every time some of her elixirs sell to pick up her check, and to sell more. One day she told me that there was a different person there that wasn’t Sora. He was friendly, nice, sort of like a child. She told me his name, as weird as it may sound, was Panda-Bear. For some reason, that sounded familiar to me. He was also an elf, like Sora. I suppose they became friends after a while.

***

We’ve been in Twinbrook for a few months now and Jasmine was, once again, acting strange. She got up in the middle of the night on multiple occasions to run to the bathroom and throw up. When I found out I asked her to go to the doctor but she refused, saying it was something she ate. I know Jasmine’s cooking, she doesn’t get sick from her own stuff.

My suspicions were confirmed when I came home from work one day and found her quietly crying in the bathroom.

“I’m sorry Ezra…” “Why? What’s wrong?” “I’m pregnant. I’m so sorry.” I didn’t understand why she would be sorry so I just held her and told her it would be ok, she should be happy, I wanted kids… at least, with her. She came to accept the fact after a while. We were going to be parents. I was going to be a dad… I was… I don’t know a thing about raising kids.

The months flew by with maximum help from my dad and Genesis considering he already had a kid. At least some things from the future were happening already. Jasmine was due any day now and I was a nervous wreck. Hovering over her, hovering over the puppies, reading book after book of parenting guides and how-to’s. I’m pretty sure I was getting on everyone’s nerves because even Phoenix didn’t hang around inside the house too much anymore. Outside was ultimately more peaceful for him. I couldn’t help myself, what if something went wrong? What if I’m not a good dad… what if… I’m just not good enough for anything?

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Le Author’s Note 2: Yeah… rushed this chapter because I really want to get into the Arc already and it only really starts after Jasmine has a child. Get ready to see more of Panda-Bear and Sorakota though, they play a semi-important role in this. I’m so freaking happy with how the puppies turned out, they’re like perfect mixes of Phoenix and Kona. I love them so much <3<3<3<3 Ezra doesn’t really know how to convey his feelings towards Jasmine, poor baby, he’ll learn soon enough.

Gen 3 Chap 14 – Surprise!

Le Author’s Note: I don’t think I put a note in the last chapter… which means I forgot to mention mister Errol is NOT my sim. He was made by umbramuse, author of The Bedlamisbi. If you haven’t read it, go check it out, it’s really funny and I love the characters. Um, this chapter… I guess I should a put a warning about language; Fun Uncles Can’t Keep Secrets, Sugar Honey Iced Teas, and a few Dogs Are Man’s Numbness. Lots of confusing time travel mumbo jumbo. Blame Genesis. Awkward relationship things. Blame… uh… Henry, he doesn’t get blamed for anything so yeah.

Let’s scruffufle!

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It was the next day when Genesis came back, moping. He’d found out all about his past and everything from Sephora and now here he was, laying on the couch sighing every other moment. It didn’t take long for something to distract him though. A knock came on the door and he got up to answer it.

“Can I help you?”

“Whoa! Look who looks like shit! How ya doin’ buddy? Bad? I bet, been there before.” Genesis stared at the newcomer… for a very long time before it registered.

“Hi me.”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!” Door slam. “HEEEEEENNNNNRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” “WHAT!?” Thomping of feet. “LOOK!”

“…..Uh…..” “EXPLAIN THIS SHIT!” Genesis yells staring at himself. and Henry rubs his neck. “I can’t.” “WHAT THE FUCK!??”

“You know, if you let me in, I can explain Gen Rummy.” The other Genesis says from outside. “Do NOT CALL ME THAT!” By this time, Jasmine and I were up. “Let him in.” “WHY!? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?” “You’re freaking out…” “HELL YEAH I’M FREAKING OUT GODDAMMIT THAT’S ME!!! HOW THE FUCK DOES THAT HAPPEN???”

“Inside voice guys! But seriously, this is urgent. Pretty please let me in with cheese on top?” And they stared but Henry pushed past Genesis and let the other Genesis in.

“So, start explaining.” Genesis says to himself and the other Genesis smiled brightly. “Take a seat first before I begin my tale of woe.” So we did.

“So, you all know who I am. I’m that handsome devil right there.” He points to Genesis and Genesis in turn scoffs. “I’m you, basically, from the past future.”

“What? What even is that?”

“It’s like the point of existence where the past and future collide. Right now I’m in the past, so I’m future you but not that far into the future. Time-Hopper that I am, I need my past self’s help.”

“Why me?” “I just need you, specifically. I fucked up, like I do in every plain of existence in any time period. But this time I can fix my mistake.”

“The time period from where I’m from is a little… how do I put this, STRICT. I’m breaking a few major laws by just being here so I really, really, really need to be quick…” He glances to where Jasmine and I are seated. “You two, oh man your kids are awesome in my time.” We both blush. “I wasn’t supposed to say that, you’re technically still in that ‘odd platonic just friends but want to never be separate from each other’ state. Cute. Hey, how’s Sephora, Gen Rummy?”

“Why don’t you know?” Genesis asks himself and for a moment the other Genesis’s smile falters but he recomposes himself. “Oh I know, she’s fine. Just peachy. Marvelous and all that, I need to see her.” “Oh hell no.” “I knew I’d  be difficult.” And the other Genesis continues on with his story of a future that’s in complete disarray. Destroying everything, a big worldwide company taking over the world at an insanely fast pace. He even mentioned the past Strangetown, when Genesis bought the town.

“Seriously, that’s fascinating and all but what does that have to do with me? Right now?” Genesis interjects once again and his other self stops talking for a long while.

“She’s dead. They killed her because of my mistake.” He says and Genesis actually punches him. It was quick but brutal. Henry jumped up and held him back.

“YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE! HOW DARE YOU–” “I CAN”T STOP IT! Every moment I go back to, every chance I get it’s the same! Sephora dies because we reconnected. Without her we couldn’t have regained our memories so we need to meet her. Hazel needs her mother so–” “Who’s Hazel?” “My daughter.” “Our daughter.” “Yes, ours. But only if you do not do the same things I did.”

“Why this Genesis though? You could’ve went to any other time period and picked a different Genesis.” Jasmine asks and I agreed.

“Because this Genesis is the only one to not fuck up. I cannot mess with the time space continuum anymore than I have already so therefore I cannot undo my mistakes.” “What about when I disappeared from here for 10 years?” “I didn’t know where I went– no, I knew I just, that place is like a totally different world. Under-Esterdale has no longitudinal nor latitudinal coordinates I could lock onto to pop into that time stream. It’s like a dream, it’s there but isn’t. I need to protect this Sephora, the 10 years of me absent Sephora, for Hazel.”

“UGGH. Let’s get this over with.” “You mean to do this? I would have thought otherwise.” Henry asks and Genesis shrugs. “I have a daughter, sometime in the near future. If Sephora does accept my proposal then we’ll be parents… I don’t want to risk that any more than me forgetting her again.”

“You proposed? When?” Jasmine perks up. I didn’t know Genesis even had a ring on him. “Yesterday, after we were done talking. I asked her to marry me and she said to wait. If what past future me is saying is in fact true, then I assume she says yes. Now how am I gonna help you?”

“Mmm… fusion.” We all stared. What? “You and I, my past self, have to become one in the same.” “Won’t that fuck up the time space continuum?” “I’d rather not live in a world where Sephora does not exist. Tried that for three days, built a time machine and came here after I went everywhere else. So.. fusion. If I live… no we live, in this time period as one, you’ll know what NOT to do to ensure our one and only’s safety because I know what I did. Perks of being a Time-Hopper.” “You left your daughter. And I built a time machine?”

“I did what I had to and yes sir. Plus, I’ll get to experience it again, but for the first time too.”

“Fine, let’s do this.” Genesis says and fist-bumps his self. Honestly this just confuses the hell out of me but whatever. Go with the flow… except I can’t, when Jasmine and I are supposed to have kids. I’m not even sure how this girl feels about me.

“So how does this fusion thing work?” I ask them and they both looked to Henry. “Oh no, no, no, no. Me? Really?” “Yeah Henry, nice to see you healthy again by the way man. Need your Orb O’ Wonders.” My father stared at the two until he just sighed and shook his head. “Let’s get this over with. I already knew this was bound to happen anyway.” “Wait, you did? Come on Henry, you got to tell me these things.” Genesis pouts and the other one just laughs. “So, this process should be sort, but complicated… no distractions, no audience. That means you two need to go.” Future Genesis points to Jasmine and I. Well, I was interested in how the process takes place but if I can’t… I wasn’t going to push it.

“You wanna take the dogs for a walk?” I ask Jasmine and she nods. Good that she agreed because we have some things to talk about… like our future for one, how she even feels about me for two.

We walked to the only diner in town; Phoenix and Kona in tow, surprisingly there were workers there. 1 cook, 1 waitress. We ordered something and sat in silence even after our food arrived and left. Not even small talk happened except for the ‘What are you having?’ ‘Ah, I- I don’t know… a burger I guess.’. That’s it, no ‘we might be parents, how do you think Genesis is doing, is this relationship even real, how do you feel about–‘

“This is weird now…” She interrupts my rambling thoughts and for a moment I didn’t know what she was even referring to but then it dawned on me.

“Oh… yeah. I was just thinking about it.” “I know. Do you think what Future Genesis said is true? Do we really have kids?” I stared at her for a moment then dropped my gaze. No one could say for sure because well, that was a different time frame. Just by him telling us that changed the future and since we know that…

“I wouldn’t mind it though. A family, with you.” She gets up and leaves before I could register it what she said. What she— WHAT!? “Jasmine..”

I clipped Phoenix’s leash back on him and started to jog to catch up with her. It started drizzling while we were in the diner but it’s letting up now. Does she really…?

“Jasmine!”

Walking.

“Jasmine, I know you can hear me, did you mean that?”

Still walking.

“Jas–”

“I don’t know if I can! What if I have another life like Genesis? He was a trillionaire, what could I be? What if I have someone waiting for me and I feed into my feelings for you and, and, and–”

I couldn’t help it. I kissed her and I have been waiting so long for that. It was… magical, to say the least. To say the most, it felt like I was kissing a goddess. A shocked goddess, but still, finally.

I released her and she stared at me, mouth wide, out of breath. I stared back, out of breath with a look of determination on my face. She had two options, reject or accept. If she slaps me so be it… but if she accepts…

“I’ve waited for a long time to kiss you Ezra. I didn’t want to seem pushy.” she says softly, catching her breath. “I figured I might as well get it over with. I have feelings for you and I figured you had feelings for me even though you tried to hide them… constantly.” I say to her and she rubs her shoulder sheepishly. “I know, Henry told me not to a while ago and I always feel like he judges me for not obeying him.” “I don’t think my dad is in a position of where he could tell someone who they can or can’t date… let’s go back, it’s getting dark.” Jasmine nods and follows me back to our house where I’d hope Kona and Phoenix were, they bolted off together a little bit earlier and there’s no telling what they would do.

When we got back it was silent. Except for the racket coming from the kitchen but when I turned to look all I saw was Genesis… not sure which one, he had on some new clothes and when he looked up from his scour of the fridge he smiled brilliantly at us.

“You two! Did it happen yet?” he asks us and Jasmine and I exchange a look. “Oh yeah, it happened. Righteous. Well if you two are curious the fusion went well. I’m new and improved and old school at the same time! More chipper buuuut you don’t mind right? Better to have a happy Gen then a gloomy grumpy Gen. I’m making food. Want any?”

“Uh, we ate while we were out… where’s–” I start but didn’t finish because my questioned was answered. My father came out of the bathroom looking more tired than usual but generally the same. No glasses though…

“Ah, you’re back later than planned… Fusion went good, made me sick but I’m ok… Genesis is cooking… Um…” “Dad, are you sure you’re ok?” I ask him because he was slightly swaying on his feet. “I”m fine… I will be. I need to lay down.” He walks off to the bedroom he shared with Genesis, assumingly to lay down.

“He’ll be fine… the combination of two Time-Hoppers took a tole on him and that orb he used. Speaking of which, here.” Genesis hands me an orb, my father’s? “That’s Shiro’s orb. Not your dear old dad’s. Makes no sense for him to have two and he only uses one so he wants you to have this one. Pretty sure Shiro can’t do nothing about it.”

“Pretty sure?” “99.99999 percent sure kid. You can use it to world hop, like your dad, if you want.” I thought about it. I mean, world hopping is fascinating in itself. Plus who knows what might happen while doing that. I did want to do it with one other person though and if she doesn’t want to…

“That’s amazing then! Imagine all the places we could go Ezra.” She says smiling. Fear for nothing.

“So… how does this work?” “I think you should ask Henry about that. I’m more of a time guy… he’s the world guy. Plus I won’t be staying here for long. Got to get back to Sephora and what not. I did promise to fix her house after all… need to bring citizens back, regenerate the town etcetera etcetera.” He says between bites of food.

“Does Henry know?” “Henry’s staying too, it’ll be just you Jas, and the dogs. Plus by Henry staying I get to visit my old friends down in U.E. Win, win. Didn’t Melanie tell you something about that?” I thought back and yeah, Melanie did say something about Henry staying with Genesis in whatever time period he’s in. So that leaves me to my own adventure… with Jasmine. “What happened to Henry in the future?” I ask and Genesis’ red eyes flicked to me darkening and dancing playfully. “It didn’t happen yet, won’t happen actually, what does it matter?” “Curious I guess.” “Don’t be too curious Ezra, it’ll kill you. ”

He gets up to wash his plate and leaves me sitting and wondering. I suppose all I really have to do is talk to my dad. I can make my own adventures. I spin the orb around in my palms. My own adventures…

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Le Author’s Note 2: Short arc eh? This is the end of Arc 2 which in turn could be named Genesis’ Arc since it was mostly about my baby. But hey, EzraxJasmine progress! That’s what Arc 3 is all about anyway. Love and tragedy… MUAHAHAHAHA! *ahem*  Maybe I should just write Genesis’ own story one day. Maybe…

Gen 3 Chap 3 – The Pool of Confusion

Le Author’s Note: Welcome back to another chapter of TLOTX’s! In this note I just want to thank you all for reading this. I honestly sometimes think I should just scrap this but I’m having too much fun writing it. Plus, I promised myself I wouldn’t quit on it even when I didn’t know where it was going. Luckily I have a vague idea and write my other vague ideas down so I don’t forget. So without further ado, onto the show!

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The next morning, I woke up bright and early to get Genesis to help me find Phoenix. What surprised me is that Jasmine was there too. I must admit, it was nice to find her smiling face this morning instead of Genesis’ normally scowling one. I ventured over to where they were talking and just listened in.

“Jasmine darling, Hare is responsible; not me.” Genesis glances over to me. “Well good morning sunshine. I’d imagine you would have been up earlier to find your precious canine.”

“What? A dog was here with you Ezra? Oh, um, good morning too.” Jasmine says.

“Morning and yes. As a matter of fact Genesis is going to help me. Right now.” I state staring at him. He just laughed which confused me.

“Kid, you may be Henry’s son but I refuse to take orders from you. Besides, the only thing that can find a canine is another canine.” he says to me.

“You promised. You may not like dogs but Phoenix is my best friend… he’s my dog, my responsibility.” I say softly.

“Ezra, don’t be sad. When Genesis promises something he always follows through.” she bends over to look at me.

“Also he really loves dogs. He just puts up facades.” she says seriously.

“No one asked you Jas.” Genesis says sharply causing Jasmine to laugh.

“Oh please, you know you want to help Ezra. I can see it in your eye.”

“Alright well if you can see that, tell me this; how am I going to help? I don’t have canine senses and there isn’t another canine around–”

“Have you forgotten Kona?” she interjects. Genesis stood quietly for a moment then he sighed.

“The idiot’s dog… you really think she can do something?” he asked. “Well yeah! Kona can do practically anything you know.” Jasmine laughs then she looks at me. “We’ll have to wait until the twins get here so let me go get them. Although they might not be up yet. Later Genesis!” she says and hastily leaves. That just left me and Genesis for a while. I took this opportunity to ask him some more questions to hopefully clear up the murky waters of my confusion pool.

“So, this Queen, she’ll kill me if she finds me?” I ask him. He nodded slightly.

“Her name is Arabelle, she has a daughter named Lily who was supposed to marry Henry but that ship didn’t sail anywhere. She also has a servant that acts as her little guard dog; Knitemair, which I told you about. If he finds you then there really is no chance of you surviving which is why you should be glad I found you first.”

I ignored his last statement although I did keep it in the back of my mind to be thankful I’m still alive. “So how many people live here?”

“Currently? Not a lot. Only 12 actually and you met 3 already. Soon you’ll meet two more but I count them as one since they essential are.” Genesis says going into the kitchen. “Would you care for some tea kid?” he asks me and I say no. I wasn’t really in a tea drinking mood. Even though both my father and Genesis told me that this place is no where near being similar to Wonderland I couldn’t help but compare the two. They both had Hatters, Hares, Twins, and Queens… wait Queens, plural…

“Isn’t there another Queen?” I ask and hear Genesis drop something. He poked his head out around the kitchen.

“Yes.” That was all that he said before going back to whatever he was doing. It honestly didn’t sound like he was making tea but I didn’t pry anymore. I was more lost in my thoughts about how I’m getting home, if Phoenix was safe and alive, and where Henry could be, doing who knows what, and why he isn’t here right now.

***

Later came when the twins finally showed up and it was getting dark. They literally were the same person practically but they did have their subtle differences. One dressed in red while the other in purple. Also the one in red who’s name is Techno seemed to be the leader while the purple, named Logic, sometimes followed.

“You want Kona to do what?” Techno asks leaning to the side, whether his brother was aware he was doing the exact same thing was unknown to me. It was actually pretty comical.

“Find this kid’s dog. She can do it, you know she can.” Genesis says. “I’ll be coming along, so will Jasmine. You two, why, you get to watch my house. But I swear if I come home and find it a mess, I won’t hesitate to put you on the chopping block.”

“Sweet!” They both exclaimed. “Okay Kona, follow Genesis’ orders and find Mister Ezra’s dog. Also don’t worry so much Hatter!” They darted inside leaving Kona staring at us. I would say she was a strange looking dog but with me knowing Demi and Phoenix, I would be called a hypocrite.

“Alright Kona, sniff this kid so you can find his weird canine.” Genesis says boredly and Kona obediently sniffed me. Then she barked and took off running.

“Hope you’re a marathon runner kid.” Genesis says and takes off after her. Who knew he could be so nimble. I stood in awe for a moment until Jasmine spoke up.

“Come on Ezra, before we lose her.” Jasmine says grabbing my hand and pulling me after them.

Kona led us to… she led us to a junkyard. 30 minutes of running (with breaks, thank God.) and she led us to a junkyard. I was about to object, saying that Phoenix would never be in a junkyard when I spotted a familiar fur pattern in the distance.

“Phoenix!” I exclaim and run over to him. He actually didn’t look grungy at all. He just stank to high heaven. I didn’t care, I found my dog and I was over the moon happy.

I hugged him for a while and I noticed Kona had followed me. She stared at Phoenix in curiosity for a few seconds then began to lick her paw. I got up, motioned her to check Phoenix out, and watched them get acquainted.

They made circles around each other and then sniffed. Kona barked happily and trotted around Phoenix and I. Then Genesis and Jasmine came over.

“So this is Phoenix? He’s cute.” she says smiling. “I hope they become really good friends. Their puppies would be adorable.”

“Wh-what? They aren’t going to have any puppies.” I say averting my gaze although what surprised me the most was that Phoenix didn’t growl at either of them. Genesis snickers and walks away to a junk pile. “What are you doing?”

“Why, digging through trash of course. I need more scraps for my inventing. I’m making a robot you know.” he says not taking his eyes away from the pile. “You two can head back. I’ll be here for a while.”

“Well come on you three. I’ll take you back.” Jasmine says. I clip on Phoenix’s leash and start to walk back to Genesis’ house. Jasmine walked along beside me with Kona running up ahead, then back, then around us in circles.

“She’s very hyper isn’t she?” I ask. “Hyper and happy there’s another dog around to play with. It’s been so long since she seen one. Me too actually. Hemersine isn’t very good company sometimes.” Jasmine says. “Hemersine? Who’s that?” I question.

“He’s my pet.” she says simply. “Oh, what kind of pet?” “I dunno. Sometimes he’s a dog, sometimes he’s a cat. Sometimes he flies and sometimes he swims. He’s very fickle.” I stare at her in wonder. She just laughs and says that I’ll meet him one day. I have to in order to understand but I doubt that since I don’t plan on staying here very long. After all Genesis says there is a way for me to get back and I’m eager to try it. I just have to wait until Henry gets here. I wonder why that is and why Genesis can’t just send me back home himself. I’ll have to ask him when he gets back.

For the rest of the long walk Kona stayed near Phoenix, I guess because he wasn’t chasing her around. I don’t think she understands leashes actually. Well at least Phoenix seems happy when she’s around, I just have to remind myself to watch him. I don’t want puppies right now, right now I just want to get home.

***

It was early morning when I was awoken by the sounds of footsteps coming up the stairs. I thought it would be Henry or Genesis but to my surprise, it was Jasmine. She poked her head in to check to see if I was awake or not and when she confirmed I was indeed, not sleeping anymore, just sitting in a chair, she breath a sigh of relief.

“Oh good. I was afraid I might wake you. I just checked on Phoenix and he’s fine. Sorry about Genesis’ little rule about animals in his house.” she smiled shyly.

“Don’t worry about it but thanks…” I mumbled and went back to staring out the window.

“So um, do you remember how you got here yet? I know I keep asking you that but I’m just reeeeeally curious.” she says plopping down on the bed.

“Not yet, all I really know is that I don’t belong here and I want to go home.” I say and glance over at her and notice she looks almost saddened by my response. “Uh, what’s wrong?”

“Oh nothing. I was just… never mind.” she says. We sat in silence for a moment until it became too unbearable and awkward for me.

“So why are you here? In this realm, I mean.” I ask breaking the deafening silence and she went quiet. For a moment I thought she wasn’t going to answer me, she just sat staring down at her hands, but she let out a chuckle and said;

“You know, I don’t remember. I can’t remember… why do you think I don’t belong here?”

“Because you don’t fit in… um, the story of Alice, you know.” I say dumbly feeling like I just insulted her.

“Hehe, didn’t Genesis tell you not to compare the two?” Jasmine asks with a smile. It amazes me how she can be so cheery all day.

“I can’t help it. They’re just so similar–” My sentence was cut off by a muffled thump of a door closing. Jasmine and I both jumped like we’ve been caught doing something wrong even though we weren’t. We both got up and went downstairs to see who came in. I’m pretty sure I was in more shock than her when we saw who was here.

“Dad!?”

“Henry! You’re back!”

“Oh, hey yeah I- Ezra…” He stopped talking for a moment.

“What? What is it?” I ask frantically. He had a sheepish look on his face but it soon turned into a grin.

“It’s nothing, I’m just glad Genesis didn’t turn you in to the Queen… or Jasmine here. Your mother, and family in general, have been very worried about you.” Henry says eyeing me above his glasses. “Also, Phoenix is missing…”

“Oh don’t worry about that, he’s here with me. Genesis helped me find him, and Jasmine.” I say and his face went surprised. “Genesis and Jasmine did what now?” He asks, turning towards Jasmine.

“We helped him find his dog… because he’s your s-s-son… Man that’s still weird to me.” Jasmine says softly. Henry didn’t say anything to that, instead he walked towards me and pulled me away into the kitchen.

“Did you drink the tea?” He whispered and I shook my head. I actually didn’t drink anything at all except a cup of water last night now that I think about it. “Good. Genesis has a thing about drugging people… it’s weird, to say the least. Speaking of which, where is he?”

“The last we saw of him was at the junkyard, where Phoenix was.” Jasmine says out of the blue.

“He must be working on his little project then… But anyway, Ezra; I need to get you and Phoenix home. Follow me.” Henry says and just as he turned to walk out the door, Genesis comes in.

“Man you wouldn’t believe half of the things I had to– Henry! You’re back, finally. Boy do you have paperwork to fill out!” Genesis smiles.

“Hello to you too Genesis… I’m appreciative you didn’t off my son while I was absent.” Henry says, “I’m afraid I don’t have much time to talk as I’m trying to get him back home.” “Oh please, he can stay awhile… Not like he can get home today anyway.” Genesis says twirling his cane slightly.

“Wait, what? You said I can go home when Henry gets here.” I say looking from Genesis to Henry and back again.

“I say a lot of things when I’m buzzed off my rocker kid. Besides, it’s honestly is all up to Henry now. You aren’t my problem anymore.” He says and sits down on his couch. Henry sighs, “Come on Ezra, let’s try to get you back…”

Henry led me outside, to the little shack on the side of the house, where I left Phoenix for the night. He greeted us both with a happy bark and I noticed Kona wasn’t anywhere to be found.

“I didn’t know there were two levels to this shed. You stay down here?” I ask when we reached our destination.

“Yes. It’s the only place I can come to where Genesis won’t bother me… relax, this shouldn’t take long but one never knows.” Henry says scanning a book on a podium in the corner. I took the time to gather in all the books he had down here. It must be hundreds or thousands, books lined a whole wall, some were even piled next to his bed. I vaguely wondered if I get my solitary urges from him. He liked to be alone, I liked to be alone… it would make sense.

***

Hours went by. Phoenix got bored at one point and begged me to take him outside. I was reluctant but complied. Maybe if I got some fresh air I wouldn’t feel so antsy watching Henry. It didn’t work. As a matter of fact it made my anxiety worse. The more I looked at the strange empty town, the more I wanted to go back to mine. Not full to say the least but at least someone would walk down my street every now and again. Here, well… you can here a pin drop from 10 miles away here. It’s so silent it’s creepy. No cars, no computers, no gadgets of any kind that we take for granted. I sighed and went back into the shed to see if my father made any sort of advancement.

“Fuck.” I heard him curse under his breath.

“What is it?” I ask from the staircase.

“Oh Ezra, I didn’t hear you come back in… it’s nothing really, I just can’t seem to find the spell that’ll send you back… Tell me, do you remember how you got here?” he asks not looking up from the tome.

“Jasmine asks me that and every time I tell her no, so, no.” I say, walking down the stairs. “Isn’t there something that says ‘Send An Outsider Back To Where They Came From or something?”

“Under-Esterdale is a strange place. Esterdale is also but it’s more like to what you’re used to. It takes a lot to send someone not from here back… and vice versa. It would be a lot of help if you remembered.” I racked my brain trying to think of something about how I got here but the more I thought about it, the less clear things got. I couldn’t remember the moment right before coming here… but something gleamed in my mind.

“I remember a guy… he wore all white.”

“Anything else?”

“Just that… sorry.” I say glumly. Henry let out a barely audible sigh which made me feel like I failed at something. I tried to think of something else that stood about the individual. “Also, uh I think, he wore a red hat.” Henry stiffened at that though still looking through the book, although slightly slower now.

“Did that red hat have white fur around the rim?” “Uh, maybe, I’m not quite–” “Think Ezra. This could be dire.” Henry says cutting me off. “Wait, why could it be–” “Think, yes or no, did it have fur?” “Y-yeah, it did.” I say shakily and Henry stopped flipping the pages of the book.

“Oh no, no, no. How did he even find me there? Well… I know that but why did he drag you here?” Henry rambles. I got a little freaked out seeing him so distraught.

“What? What is it?”

“Shiro Lapin, that’s what. The most trouble for anyone, ever. He’s under the Queen’s orders so if he brought you here, she already knows. I… I can’t send you home Ezra. I’m sorry.”

“You… you’re lying. Wh-why can you go back and forth and–“

“Let me explain. I can’t send you back because Shiro used the Ester-orb and Ester-orbs only do the bidding of the one they are bound to. Meaning, if his orb got you here, only his orb can send you back.”

“I thought you had the only one.” I say staring at him. He finally turns around to face me. “I never said that. In fact, I never said how many orbs there are. Two, by the way, but what is important is that we find Shiro… and dress you like you belong here because you will be staying for a while, whether you like it or not.” he says and I could tell he wasn’t happy. Neither was I but if Henry, the man second…?, third…? in command of this place says that’s it then what choice do I have but to go along with it?

“Wait, I’m going to have to dress they way you’re dressed? With a strange rabbit eared top hat and scarf?” I ask. Henry smiled slightly. “No, this is just what I wear. They do call me the March Hare you know. I’ll tell Genesis to make you something. Don’t worry, clothes is one thing you can trust him with… I wonder if Jasmine cooked tonight. I am quite famished.” He states and walks to the stair case. “Come along Ezra, I can see it in your eyes that you want to go find him but it’s not safe for you to be wondering around at night… or any of us really, let’s go eat.” Henry says and I comply, if only because of the night dangers.

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Le Author’s Note 2: Phew, done with this chapter. I meant to get this out weeks ago but I had a slight case of  ‘I Don’t Want To Write In My Legacy’ syndrome because this was a difficult chapter for me but I did it! Plus, this is a really long chapter. Sorry about that. ^-^’