The Grimm Family Dynamics

Le Author’s Note: This isn’t a chapter. But the Grimms’ are a staple of the family anyway so I decided to give them their own little piece. Genesis and his family will forever be my favorite along with the Xavier’s.

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No One’s POV:

Genesis was a happy person. He always was, nothing deterred him. Except when the situation called for seriousness… and that time he was stuck in an alternate world he didn’t quite belong to. Genesis was also a strange person. He had a very strange life. Multiple strange lives. Some would get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of times Genesis has gone through a reincarnation phase, but not him. He took it all with a smile. Well, this Genesis did.

This Genesis was the lucky one. The one that survives everything. When he fused with his past/future self he gained some strange knowledge that he kept close to heart, helping him make decisions in this life. How to keep Sephora for one. Keeping his family safe and intact for the other; extended as well.

You see, as many times as Genesis was re-birthed there are only a select few of him that he has actually acquired the knowledge of. His 1st life, the one where he had a mother, father, and 4 other brothers, was where he always started. Funnily enough, his father was a vampire and his mother human. His four brothers were vampires, and he, the only human. Also funnily enough, he technically remembered none of them. Names anyway. Sometimes his parents faces floated up in dreams, along with long forgotten (but still living surprisingly) cousins.

A mother, loving but distant. A father… could one even call him that? Bah… memories. Genesis would prefer to not remember the actual beginning of his life. It wasn’t fun. So normal. Sure he had 3 surviving cousins, one, a werewolf, one, a weird kid who was a delinquent related to said werewolf, and the one in a secret part of France working as a type of lawyer you don’t want to run into. Never lost a case. He can’t remember which side of the family they belong to. But he does remember vividly, and fondly, his nephew. How could he forget? Chester was the one in the family who had a demon.

That demon, which Genesis so valiantly exorcised from him while he was imprisoned in a mental facility. Genesis wondered how he was doing lately. He was living with Sephora when Genesis came back to Strangetown and while Genesis put that weird place back on the map, they caught up but… it’s been a few years since then. Hazel is already a young woman getting ready to move out and get married to…

“No affection in my house.”

“Daaaaaad!”

“Hello Mr. Grimm.”

“How many times do I have to tell you to just call me Genesis, Alex?”

“Sorry… habit.”

He didn’t have anything against vampires. He had a thing against his father, and Alex slightly reminded him of his father. But he made Hazel over the moon happy and as Genesis was a father himself (who knew how to actually be one) he didn’t stand in the way of their happiness. Matter of fact, he was happy for them too. He secretly wished for grandchildren every single time he saw them together. That and the fact that Alex had actually asked him for his daughter’s hand… well you can’t hate the guy at all. Also, Hazel was the only avenue for him to have grandkids because gods know Liam wasn’t getting a girlfriend anytime soon.

Liam was too, a strange one. He wasn’t biologically born. He was… engineered. While Hazel was away at college, Sephora had a heavy want for another child. Although Genesis was satisfied with their daughter, he did wonder what having a son would be like. So off they went. Sephora picked basically every trait, though he grew into something uniquely him. Liam is, unfortunate for him, perpetually 19. Though engineered as a teenager, he did know of his father’s origins and everything about his newly acquired family. He viewed it as just a perk. He’s insanely adept in mechanical sciences, computers, and… video games. Something he is very proud of, secretly.

Genesis is simply worried because Liam is, well, exactly like him. Just socially awkward… and a dork.

“What are you doing?”

“Relaxing for once…”

“Fancy, when are you going to, you know, get a–”

“Father, can I ask you a question?”

“Of course Liam.”

“Can I just… be me?”

That question caught Genesis off guard. His son was being himself… wasn’t he?

“I mean, I would very much enjoy it if I could take time to find a… mate… on my own time and not be rushed into anything.”

“I’m not rushing you Liam, I’m just teasing you.”

“Oh… why?”

Another strange question. Genesis should be used to these by now but none of his other lives prepared him for it. Mostly people accepted what he did without question but his son, being the ever curious kid that he was, always questioned his motives. He enjoyed it, the change of pace. Kept him on his toes. After he got done explaining why he teases his son constantly for his social ineptitude, (it’s because he never had that problem growing up and doesn’t understand why someone could have that issue) he went downstairs to find his wife.

In the kitchen, preparing dinner. He stared at her back before slowly making his way toward her, tiptoeing.

“You know I know where you are Genesis.”

He let out a soft chuckle. He stood behind her for a moment before she let out a sigh, sensing he wasn’t going away anytime soon. He never does anyway. She turned towards him and he took her hand.

“What do you want now? I’m trying to cook.”

“What I always want.”

They do that, all the time. Every time, every time she was in his life. She would ask a question that didn’t warrant an actual answer since she knew the answer. Genesis’ answer was always a variant of ‘I want what I want’, which roughly translates to a simple ‘you’. It made her heart flutter, every time. When she was younger she worked in an alchemy shop and Genesis visited every single day. That was when they were in the first stages of their relationship. Her playing the unfazed girl, terrified of falling in love. Him the stubborn fool who wouldn’t quit. She worried everyday when he disappeared without a word. She didn’t know what to do, having been so used to him being just… there. She did have his nephew to keep her company but Chester was no Genesis. She mostly focused her worry onto him. She supposed it paid off, after a few years without him, having him pop up unannounced and out of the blue was like walking straight into heaven.  Just seeing his face again… Sephora made a promise to herself, to never leave him. What would be the point? He would keep coming back.

And in the end she got two kids out of this. Though, she wondered how cruel fate could be. She was a simple human, yes her lineage has nothing but witches every other generation, but she was mortal. And mortals succumbed to the rules of fate. She saw her husband stay the same physically throughout the years while she aged. Genesis had offered to do the ritual of his weird immortal self but she declined. It wasn’t natural. Although she didn’t mind that her kids, well, Liam, went through with it. Hazel said she wanted to age as Alex did which was, very slowly. Sephora just wanted to see the birth of her grandchildren that she knew she was getting if Hazel and Alex kept it up. She smiled inwardly and turned back around to continue cooking.

“Genesis, will you remarry when I go?”

“Do you have to talk about this?”

“It’s inevitable.”

“I know, I just… The answer is no.”

“Will you be alright?”

“Not for a long time.”

Genesis wondered what his kids would be doing by that time but ultimately resigned himself from the thought. He hated when Sephora talked about her mortality. It made him feel like… he was wrong for being… him. In some ways at least. Or at least wrong in pursuing her, and only her, throughout his lives. He couldn’t help that, no matter what he tried, all roads led back to her. He didn’t mind, but he did wonder if she did.

He wandered away from Sephora after bombarding her with kisses and her brandishing the knife she was holding at him. He recounted his lives as he wandered.

A normal guy in one who had a best friend with hair that resembled a bee’s coloring.

A prince in another who died prematurely.

A time-traveling, world-hopping trillionaire, part time demon killer in some other.

Genesis had a slight curiosity in the other lives he led but those were the main three. He supposed in some ways, those lives are one. But maybe not. In this life, he has a family. And an extended family. Henry was his second best friend but that didn’t matter. Henry was like his brother, a brother he always wanted. Henry always had his back and Genesis did the same. Plus their kids got along great.

Genesis couldn’t ask for anymore. And it made him happy.

Very Happy.

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 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…

—————————————————————————————————————

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 13 – A Town Called Strange

“Whose house is this?”

“Ours.”

“How did you afford this?”

“I didn’t.”

“You stole someone’s house?”

“No, I just… well… I suppose that’s a yes? No one lived here in the ’40’s.”

“There’s a car here. Someone has to live here now.”

“Actually… no. I uh, took it off the market.”

“How?”

“Look the technicalities about how I acquire certain things aren’t important right now.”

“…thief.”

“Am not!”

“…Is Sephora here?”

“She’s in town, yes. This is her hometown… also yours, technically speaking.” Henry says as he paces the front yard, staring at his orb.

“I am not setting foot into a stolen house.”

“Suck it up Jas, this is important.” Genesis says looking around. I could tell that nothing was jogging his memories.

So, once again I find myself stuck in a more than awkward situation with the ones who I now refer to as “The Gang”. “The Gang” as I call it, consists of Genesis, Jasmine, Henry, and me; Ezra Xavier.  “The Gang” or “The Squad” as Genesis likes to call it, has gotten into quite a few mishaps before coming here. Like appearing in the 1920’s right in the middle of traffic which caused police questioning, or causing a stir in a pirate town. Like really, you don’t just steal a pirates gold Genesis. Either way, we had some adventures before coming here and some closer relationship boundaries for Jasmine and I. Still don’t know if we’re a ‘thing’ yet but who’s to say what could happen here? And where is here?

A desert called Strangetown. Like really, this place is deserted… and huge. How are we going to find one girl in all of this?

“I found her. But… it’s not pretty.” Henry says. Well that was easy… Genesis’ eyes dart to him and he visibly tenses. “Her home… it’s not pretty, she’s fine but this town is practically dead on it’s feet.

“I need to see her. Now.” Genesis says and to that my father nods. It’s not like we have a distinct choice, after all, we are searching for Genesis’ past. With a little bit of direction and a brand spanking new car, we were on our way to what we’d hope would be a good reunion.

***

Well, I may have been wrong about a good reunion. From what I’m seeing, this house is… quite frankly, not even suitable to be called that. The door is falling off of it’s hinges, broken windows, dead trees. All that sitting in a type of crater with what seems like little cesspools of water. This can’t be where this girl lives, can it?

“I… feel horrible.” Genesis says softly staring out of the window. “My leaving couldn’t have done this…”

“It may as well could have. Although, the town should’ve helped…” Henry says parking the car. He gets out and Jasmine and I follow, staring at the house that should’ve been pretty. The house that Genesis was so nervous on approaching.

“Hey, Genesis, come on. It can’t be that bad. She has to–” “What if she doesn’t remember me? What if she does and hates me for leaving?” “You couldn’t have stopped that. Come.”

Balancing on the thin strip of land, we all walked up to the broken front door. Genesis just stood and stared into the house before Henry called inside asking if anyone was home. A few moments later a gi– no, woman. She’s a woman much older by her eyes but youthful in her looks. This woman came down the stairs and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the broken man before her. The man who was so hell bent on finding her, who had some quirks to him but all around a great guy now stood facing a past he hardly remembers. I can’t even imagine how that feels.

“Genesis…” She says with her mouth covered. She doesn’t cry but it looks as though she’s in a great deal of pain. Genesis turns his face away and simply says “I’m sorry.”

It didn’t feel right leaving those two but it’s what my father said we had to do. ‘They’ll reconcile.’ Were his words, still it actually hurt me to see Genesis so… empty. But still, we had to leave them, in that tiny, dirty, broken house.

 ***

“Do you think they’re ok? It’s been a while.” Jasmine says breaking the silence that fell over us while we sat and waited for some type of news.

“I’m sure they’re fine, why don’t you two go out and see what’s around town?” My father suggested, he’s been way more quieter than usual and it sort of concerned me to the extent that I actually asked him was he bothered by what Genesis was doing. After all, he didn’t have a problem with finding Sephora nor driving to where she was. He only said one word and that was a no so I honestly can’t figure out what else might be bugging him.

“That’s actually a great idea, come on Jas.” I say getting up and heading out the door. I needed time to get away from that small house. Smaller still with Phoenix and Kona running in and out through the back door. I debated for a moment about bringing them but decided against it, they were having their own sort of fun.

We arrived at a very lonely park in this very lonely town and sat on the swings. I was mostly contemplating on what I could do to find out more information on Genesis since he is from this place. Must be some sort of archives around right?

“You’re in deep thoughts aren’t you?” “Huh? Oh, I guess, I dunno.” “I do, you always scrunch together your eyebrows when you deep think.” Jasmine says with a smirk. I never realized I did that and it was interesting to know she noticed that about me… Makes me wonder what else she notices about me.

“Hey, since we’re in a desert, aren’t you hot with that on?” I ask her and she stops swaying for a moment, thinking. “Surprisingly… no. I don’t know why, just feel normal.” She answers and I decide that that’s a good enough answer but another arises in my mind. “So, what are we?”

“What do you mean?” “Are we, friends… a couple…?” I trail off and watch her blank expression. Maybe that wasn’t a good idea. I still was a little iffy on how she felt about me and most days it was flip-flopping. “Hey, you wanna see if their computers still work at the library?” She offers completely and effectively ignoring my gentle prob of information. “I uh, sure, yeah, let’s do that.” “Great!” She hops up bouncing back through the plot of land that makes a park and across the deserted street into an old brown building. I don’t think I’ll be asking her any relationship type questions for a while.

Surprise, their computers still had juice to them. Juice and internet capabilities (score). Jasmine and I browsed around after I showed her how to work the computer properly and soon she was searching up everything from flowers to missing persons. It was on the subject of the latter that she found something that we might find useful.

“Ezra… look…”

A newspaper clipping. One with a certain guys face right on the front. But this guy on the page looked so much calmer than the one I know. He looks self assured and nonchalant. Like he knows something we don’t… But he was still Genesis. Different time, same guy. That smirk is something I’ll never forget.

“He’s a trillionaire? Whoa…” Jasmine speaks softly staring at the screen. I read the strange format of this town’s newspaper and studied it some more.

“Why does it have two different years? And why didn’t they put out a search party?” I questioned. “Because by that time he was already gone, to Under-Esterdale.” Jasmine answers and I sat silently for a moment. I found the author of the article, his name written on the side, like literally written, in pen or pencil. “Errol M.? I wonder if he’s still around.” “Strangetown sure has some odd customs. If this newspaper is from 1943 did they just remaster it and put it in their archives in 2006 or…?” “I’m not sure Jas, but we can find out. Let’s tell Henry–” “Or we could just figure out if Errol is still around and get all the information we need.” “How are we going to find him?” “Did you forget that I’m a witch? I have a homing spell you know. Although it might be tricky since I don’t know what this guy looks like.”

Well… try it.” And she did, most of the time I actually do forget Jasmine’s a witch because she never… well, hardly ever, uses her powers. Only when she’s in a bind, like, if I had magic I’d be using it for everything! Cooking, cleaning, making something… the works. But she just uses it when she needs it.

Her spell conjured up some bubbles… bubbles that showed little pictures and most of them were empty. All but one.

“Look! The bubble close to the floor has a picture of someone in it.” I say and she nods. “Must be Errol. Let’s find out where he is exactly.” Jasmine says and the one bubble with the picture started to enlarge. We could see the guy’s face clearly now and Jasmine made the bubble pop, once again casting the spell but this time with more certainty.

“51, Division 47. Let’s go Ezra.” She pulls me out along the road to an apparent destination only she knows and about an 30 minutes later, we find ourselves in front of a house, seemingly normal and huge.

“So what if he’s not home? Or dead?” Like the rest of this town seems to be. I thought to myself looking around. Buildings, but no people.

“He won’t be dead, if he was, my spell wouldn’t have worked. And if he’s not here we can wait right?” “Yeah but, it’s hot.” “You’ll be fine Ezra.” I have only once seen Jasmine like this; so determined for something, and that was when we found a little lost girl when we were lost. She stopped at nothing to find that girl’s parents and only when we returned to where she belong did Jasmine rest. I vaguely remember thinking that maybe that girl reminded her of herself somehow and asked if she had any recollection of her memories but she just shrugged it off when I asked. Jasmine also told me that maybe she’ll have a trigger word like Genesis, something that might jog her memory.

“Can I help you?” The door opens and a man’s deep voice comes out. When I turned towards the voice I don’t know why I expected some old guy limping on a cane but that was not what I was met with. Instead of old tired eyes we were being studied by a pair of icy blue eyes on a sunken, tired face. They looked cold, and uninviting.

“Actually yes, we are looking for an Errol?” Jasmine ventures and the man’s eyes flicked with recognition. “We wanted to ask him about an article he wrote.”

“I wrote many articles. I was a journalist for this town.” The man says crossing his arms. So he’s Errol. Interesting to know.

“Great, so you remember the piece you wrote about the missing trillionaire?” “Genesis Grimm… who are you people?” “May we come in? We have a few questions for you.” Jasmine flutters her eyelids and Errol grunts but moves aside for us to be allowed in his home.

“So, what can you tell us about the article you wrote?” I question and he sighs. “Everything, I wrote it because it was headline news, I was the journalist on duty to figure out what happened but every bit of info I had lead me nowhere.” “Why? No one saw anything?” Jasmine asks fiddling with her rings. “No, not a thing. I even ask his so called girlfriend and she didn’t even know what happened. All she knew was that he left to go into town earlier that day and never came back.”

So the gist of the story is that Sephora, the woman we partially met only knew that Genesis was heading into town for something. No one saw him going in or coming out of any stores so that’s where the trail went cold.

“How did you know he was a trillionaire? Did he flash money around?” “No, I simply know that he must’ve been rich because before he came to our strange little town it was desolate, like now. After he came he bought out every building, in cash, to own. We didn’t really question it because hey, someone is trying to help this place and we were helped. We were actually known to other cities for a while. We did actual trading, had internet access, tourists! It was amazing, he was a savior to us. He was everyone’s friend, everyone knew his face and then one day; gone. Just vanished into thin air…”

“Well what did you guys do? Surely you could have kept up the trading and things?” Jasmine inquires but Errol shakes his head.

“It was Genesis’s money that he got from somewhere. We, ourselves, we don’t know how to make commerce, we didn’t even know what to show tourists when they came. We simply followed him. The few of us left, we’re still trying to find him. Especially his girl and nephew but its been 10 years. No other city has seen him, no state, no country…” “10 years? Why does the article say 1943 then?” “I… sometimes get confused of what year we live in. The newspaper company chalked it up to the radiation waves in the air plus the science research facility actually got word that people in 1943 actually read the Strangetown News, current edition.” He explains and Jasmine and I exchange a look. “Strangetown, is a very, very, strange town.”

We thanked him for his time and said our goodbyes. Walking out of that man’s home made me more confused that before we even got there. We slowly made our way back to our house with the information we collected. We we got there Henry was sleeping and Genesis still wasn’t back. Jasmine went off to cook something so that just left me. I decided to play with Phoenix until the food was done and after that we all simply sat around. Again. Henry toyed with the information we gave him but there was nothing we could do until Genesis got back. After a while we all went to bed, even my father again and that worried me. Hopefully, tomorrow could shed some light on this situation.

***

No One’s POV:

In the very early morning, where everyone was deep into their dreams, one soul was up; staring at the town he’d just arrived in.  Thinking.

“Wowza, place hasn’t changed a bit, but I bet I have.”

He makes his way down to the house Ezra and the rest resides in humming an eerily familiar tune only one other person knows.

Gen 3 Chap 12 – Another Adventure?

Le Author’s Note: Hello all, welcome back to yet another installment in TLOTX’s. This chapter officially marks Arc 2 of Ezra’s story. I never thought he would have arcs but he does. Who knows how many but I’ll keep writing his story as long as I still have ideas for him. I must warn you the beginning of this Arc does have a lot to do with Genesis. He is my second favorite character after all but mostly because I want to get some of his story out too. Plus he is a Time-Hopper and that was explained last chapter ;). Without Genesis, Ezra’s life would’ve been very boring.

—————————————————————————————————————

Ezra’s POV:

I might have, only might have, ran down the street to my sister’s house to see her, Dallas, and my other niece and nephew. Remember, might.

“Holy– EZRA!? No FREAKING WAY!!” Dallas yells as I step into their home and the little girl on his shoulders giggles.

“Feekin!” she imitates and Dallas takes her down and covers her mouth. “No, Amber, bad word. Sorry princess, daddy shouldn’t have said that.”

I couldn’t help but grin when I saw her, she looked just like my sister which coincidentally happens to look exactly like me. “Teaching my niece to curse so early Dallas? Bad.” I say and he just shakes his head. “Eihime?” I question.

“Oh snap, right she’s in the nursery over here.” Dallas point to the door next to him and I slide past him to go in.

“Oh my god…” she breathes.

“Mom was right. You’re back. You damned idiot.” Eihime says to me and we both laugh. I missed my sister so much even if the most fondest memories I had were her being rebellious. “This is Hayden and judging by the yelling I heard, you met Amber. I didn’t believe it was you at first. I missed you.”

“I missed you too Ei, now before I leave again, I’m going to spend time with you four.” I say and she sets Hayden down to play with some toys.

“You have got to be kidding me, you just got back, where could you possibly be leaving to now?” she questions me and I shrug. I honestly didn’t know where we were headed, I just know that Henry said he and Genesis would have to leave soon and I asked if I could tag along. After the initial surprise they agreed, with Jasmine too.

“Henry… that man who’s supposedly our father, who kind of kidnapped my twin, who broke our mother’s heart?” Eihime says skeptically and I decided now would be a good time to explain everything to them, like I did with mom, dad, Jay, and the rest. All in all, Eihime wasn’t pleased but she was happy I was back safe. She still didn’t want to meet our father but I didn’t push the fact all that much. She was still torn up about it.

***

When I got back home I went straight up to my computer with Jasmine following and I told her to make herself comfortable.

“How’d it go with your sister?” “Good I’d say. She hardly believed me but accepted it in the end. After all, where else could I have been for almost 2 years?” I say then thought of many places I could have actually been; Bridgeport, Twinbrook, some island off the coast of nowhere, dead… etc. But I wasn’t, I was back home… at least for the rest of today.

“Henry told me we’re going to have to go shopping for Genesis since he doesn’t have any clothes here.” Jasmine says with a chuckle.

“Well, neither do you two so it’ll be a shopping excursion for all three of you.” I say browsing the web for nothing in particular. I just missed technology, plus my cell phone practically blew up with missed texts and calls when I got back in a range with a cell phone tower. I didn’t mind it one bit.

“Yeah, new clothes… sounds fun.” Jasmine says a little downhearted. I look to her with hopefully what reads as a ‘what’s wrong’ on my face.

She just smiles and shakes her head then gets up to head downstairs. “I like your parents, I’m going to talk to them more.” And with that she leaves. I wonder what was bothering her?

I didn’t have much time to ask her because soon after, Henry whisked us away to the only salon in town to get… normal. At least, that was what he said. ‘No one wants to talk to a guy with blood on their clothes Genesis.’ Well, who could argue with that? I didn’t get anything new because all of my clothes were already here so I just carried another purple hoodie I had around… I have more than one purple hoodie, don’t judge.

“Well, what do you think guys?” Jasmine asks once we were all gathered. She was the last one out because of her hair. Females… it was practically dark when she finally emerged looking, dare I say it, even more beautiful. I never thought that was possible.

“I feel naked. I need a hat.” Genesis states for the hundredth time since he came out. I must admit, he cleans up pretty well for a former madman. Well, he still was partly mad, just not increasingly lately. He’s more thoughtful, maybe because his memories are coming back? If they are he isn’t letting any of us know.

My father opted for just a haircut. I couldn’t stop snickering whenever I looked at him. I was so used to his shaggy hair that seeing him cleaned up changed my whole view of him. I suppose everyone is entitled to a look they want.

“Well, you two do look more… normal. Genesis especially.”

“Hat.”

“We’ll get you a hat later, it’s not important right now, what’s important now is your memories, anything new?” Henry asks impatiently and Genesis shakes his head.

“Nope, I want a hat and it’s cold. What about Jasmine eh? She needs her memories too.” Genesis says seemingly trying to warm himself up by slouching more. Open neck probably wasn’t the best idea this time of year. It was nearly winter.

“I haven’t remembered anything either… I thought this would jog something but…” She trails off and then it hit me why she sounded sad earlier. How could I forget that she doesn’t have any memories yet? I immediately feel bad for not thinking of that sooner but I have been distracted, reconnecting with family and all.

“Well we can’t go running aimlessly around. I suppose we’ll just have to stay with your parents a little longer Ezra. Let’s go, it is getting cold.” Henry sighs and turns on his heels and Jasmine promptly follows.

“What are you waiting for Genesis?” I ask when I notice him not moving.

“Nothing kid. Simply thinking.” he replies, shakes himself out of his trance, and begins to walk forward. “You know, if you’re going to call me ‘kid’ so much, I might as well call you my uncle.” I say to him and he halts to a stop.

“What?” “What? You don’t like that? Sorry…” I apologize but he shakes his head. “No, I… say it again.” “…uncle?” I hesitate and his eyes grew huge. “That’s it. You aren’t the only person I called kid, there’s another but… I can’t remember his face or name. Or why I think I’m remembering him.” Genesis says wildly looking around for something else to jog his memory. “Damn…” he lets out a defeated sigh after a while and I notice Henry and Jasmine looking back at us.

“Come on Genesis, maybe we can try again when we get back.” I nudged him on and he follows, almost reluctantly.

When we got back home Genesis was in more of a downed mood so I decided to take it upon myself to maybe help him jog his memory.

“So, me saying uncle doesn’t help much does it?” I ask thinking of possible ways to help.

“It sort of does…” “How about if I say nephew? I have a niece and nephew, maybe you do too?” I probe and Genesis stays silent this time. I was hoping by me saying related words to ‘uncle’ it would help a better deal than just random phrases. After all, the way he reacted when I said ‘uncle’ made me think he might have been one.

“I think… a nephew.” He says finally and that actually made me get hopeful.

“Ok so, you call me kid and I call you uncle. Or Uncle Genesis since that fits a little better than just uncle. You maybe, more than likely have a nephew or two.” I say piecing together information.

“Uncle Genesis…” He mumbles. “Uncle… Genesis? Chester used to say– OH MY GOD!” “What? You remembered something?” “Yes. I am an uncle. I have a nephew. His name is Chester… that’s one of the faces that keeps floating around in my head… the other is a girl.”

“A girl? Melanie said something about a Sephora and that– Genesis!?”

Genesis’s POV:

This– this isn’t. It can’t be. Se–Sephora!? I know that name. I know Chester too. Chester is my nephew. He was possessed at one point in his life but I– no, Sephora and I saved his life. When? When was this?? Why can’t I remember her clearly?? She’s important, I know she is. She has to be or else I wouldn’t be feeling like I just got sucker punched.

“Genesis!”

That’s the kid. Not my nephew, who I always called kid. Chester… my nephew, Sephora my… what? What is she to me? It’s not the kid’s fault but he’s freaking out. It’s that name. Sephora.

I can’t– these memories. I can’t get them to come to light. Not the ones about her. Chester yes. Nephew. Still alive. Saved his life. Where? Where did I live before?

“–strange! Henry, do something!”

“…no. Let him remember. Don’t wake your parents Ezra. He’s alright.”

Strange? I’m not strange– or maybe… they’re talking about a place? A place that’s strange? Weird. Odd. Out of the ordinary. Maybe normal on some days. But still, it’s her. Lilac hair, beautiful eyes, smooth skin. I loved her. I think… did I? 

“What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s remembering, Jasmine. His life Above–er, here.”

Jasmine? She’s a witch… yes, and she studied alchemy. Why is that in my head? Alchemy… I remember that. 

‘What are you doing?’ ‘Alchemy, so leave Genesis.’

Sephora studied alchemy. Self taught. She was always there for me. That’s how we saved Chester, her alchemy. Leave Genesis… she always told me that because I… annoyed her? Yeah, annoyed her. But I still loved her… I still…

“Love her.”

I cried. I cried long and hard. I missed her. I missed her so much it hurt. Years went by without me seeing her, hearing her, remembering her; and that hurt. That hurt me to my core. Chester too, almost the only family I had and I forgot them. I felt horrible and that made me cry even more.

At some point I felt Henry’s presence closer to where I sat on the floor. I heard him tell Ezra and Jasmine to ‘give me some space’ but I didn’t register it. Not until he spoke.

“I’m here if you need to talk.” He said and I wanted to. I really did, I wanted to tell him let’s go. Let’s find Sephora, please. Because if I go one more day without her I’d die. I’d die a slow, lonely and painful death because my heart is broken and without her it’ll never be mended. My entire existence is meaningless without Sephora, nothing matters if she’s not here.

I wanted to tell him that but all that came out was a half sob that almost sounded like ‘It hurts.’ but I couldn’t be too sure.

“I know it hurts. I can locate her if you want… we can go find her. It’s what we came back to do for you.” Henry says quietly and my head immediately shot up.

“Yes.” It was all I could manage to say. That one simple word. I needed this. Henry nodded and got up. “We’ll head out tomorrow. I’ll let you know when we’re ready.” He says and heads upstairs.

I sat on the floor a little while longer but ultimately decided to lay on the couch; and soon, I was out like a light; dreaming of things I once remembered.

***

Ezra’s POV:

“You’re leaving? Already? You just got here though!” My mom says once I told her the news. Same reaction as Eihime actually, sort of comical. I was happy about leaving from home so soon but I won’t lie, I did want to see the world and when my father came to me last night and said we’re about to head out on another ‘adventure’ soon, I couldn’t help but feel excitement.

“We’re going to try and find Genesis’ home. He’s starting to remember stuff now.” I say to try and calm her.

“You’re going off to find a random girl for a random man who doesn’t even remember what he ate last??” “No mom, he does remember what he ate last.” My failed attempt at a joke made her huff and look over my should to where Genesis sat.

“He just seems… weird. And ultimately untrustworthy.”

“I can hear you, you know. And actually, I’m not entirely random to you Lyra. Strangers yes, you probably don’t even remember me coming to that party… I knew your father and mother. Simply in passing but I was a talent scout… years ago.” Genesis says staring at the pic collage of my grandfather and aunt Adilyss.

“Years? You don’t look a day over 30.” Mom says to him.

“I know.” And before my mom had any time to reply Henry came down with Jasmine behind him.

“Ezra, honey, are you sure you want to leave? What about Phoenix?” Mom tries again.

“Oh, he’s coming with. ” “Your stuff?” “I’ll send for it if I need it.” “Your… your…”

“Lyra. He’s in good hands. I brought him back didn’t I?” Henry says and my mom looks defeated.

Genesis got up and announced he’d be waiting outside with the dogs and Jasmine decided to follow. After a brief hesitation so did I, but not without giving my mom one final hug goodbye.

No One’s POV:

“Henry, promise to keep my boy safe.” “Of course, I have yet to fail to do that.” “Anubis will kill you if you don’t. I’ll kill you again too.” “Lyra, I promise. Nothing horrible will become of Ezra. He’s fine, he’s level-headed, he’s–“

“Just like you. Alright, I get it. At least this time I got to say goodbye… You’re still breaking my heart Henry.” Lyra says softly. “I would say something to that but that would be wrong.” He responds and drops her hand. “I’m sorry I–” “No, it’s ok, really. I’m grateful actually… thank you for giving me two, although one hates me.”

Lyra laughs at that. “She’ll come around eventually. She always does.” She says and they stood in the foyer for a moment just looking at each other until Henry spoke up again.

“Would you do it again?” He asks and Lyra thought for a moment, knowing exactly what he asked. After a while she gave him her answer.

“A thousand times over.”

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Le Author’s Note 2: That couch. So many memories happened on that couch. *wipes tear*