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atmilliways · 5 years

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((fic)) Hello, How Are You

One devastating turn deserves another, so this fic is brought to you by @calliopinot‘s Noon On A Tuesday (which you have to read in order for this to make the right amount of sense), plus these headcanons and also this one (thanks @spaceviking), and Hello by Adele but with a nicer ending.

Oh, and an all day wine and food event with 40 participating wineries. Don’t worry, I only made it to 8. That’s not even my record, and I actually remember the end of the day. That’s a serious accomplishment in Zinfandel country.

Anyway, the end of this fic is sappy as hell and I’m not sorry at all about that.

Hello, How Are You

It had taken him years to come here because, really, he wasn’t a dumb kid anymore. With time and therapy, he’d outgrown the idea that his love and existence was so flawed that it destroyed anyone he cared for.

Ironically, he now stood on the doorstep of the man who had first made him believe that, simply by being the first to be left standing.

Toki checked the paper in his hand for probably the tenth time, wondering if he had misread Pickles’ messy scrawl — the house was just so ordinary. He had lived this way himself for decades now, of course, but somehow hadn’t expected it in connection with today, with the man he was hoping to see. It was only one story and modestly sized, with a bay window looking into a sparse but cozy living room. The yard was filled with ornamental grasses instead of a classic lawn and had a winding stone path through blooming roses and perennials. Real colors, when he tended to remember the place’s owner exclusively in grayscale and blond, as so much of their life had been back then. A part of him regretted ringing the doorbell as soon as he did it, but the sound of guitar arpeggios echoing through the house made the corner of his mouth twitch.

Little touches, like that and the miniature wolf statue peering watchfully out from amidst the bushes by the door, assured him yes, Skwisgaar did live here.

As Toki waited for someone to come to the door, absently twisting the wedding band he still wore, he heard the thumps and whines of various dogs jostling around inside. A muffled voice scolded them briefly and then the door swung open to reveal the same Skwisgaar that he remembered, black shirt and faded jeans and all, except for the silver at his temples and the lines that had crept into his face around the eyes.

“Oh. Uh,” Skwisgaar said, staring.

That was as far as he got before three huskies swarmed out from behind his legs. They milled around Toki’s legs, nosing at his hands and crotch inquisitively — so unruly compared to the golden lab mixes Abby’d had over the years, but those had all been well-trained service dogs. At least no one was trying to jump up and lick his face.

“Nej, gets back heres you dumb goofballs...” Skwisgaar shooed the dogs back inside before shooting him a look that was both sheepish and curious. “Sorry. They gets, uh, pretty exciteds when people comes by. Don’t gets a lot of visitors here, you knows.”

“Yeah, it was kind of hard to find.” His mouth felt so dry. Why was his mouth so dry? He also felt unaccountably stupid showing up in a button down shirt and khakis like this was some sort of job interview or something. Toki rubbed the back of his neck and looked away, wondering if this was how Skwisgaar had felt during that one visit years ago, so... thrown, by memories versus reality.

They stood in awkward silence for a moment until Skwisgaar cleared his throat, still trying to hold back the tide of dogs. “So, you wants to come ins or something? I could meet you arounds on the back porch if you don’ts want to deals with these dildoes.”

“Oh, it’s fines,” Toki said, then felt his face redden at the slip. All those years of Leah helping him with his English, the kids playfully teasing and correcting him on the occasional misplaced a plural or mispronunciation, apparently didn’t hold up to facing this fragment of his past. “I mean, I don’t mind dogs, as long as they don’t try to hump my leg or anything.”

“That... Well.” Skwisgaar shuffled backwards, grabbing onto the collar of one of the huskies. “I just puts him in the music room for yous. The others am okays, come on ins.”

Toki followed him inside, pulling the door shut behind himself and looking around. The entryway was fairly bare, just white walls and dark wood floors, about what he would have expected. “So you still play? I wasn’t sure, after you stopped doing that masterclass thing.”

“Oh, you watched that?” Skwisgaar called back distractedly from deeper inside the house.

“Luke did, when he was learning guitar.” Toki couldn’t help smiling a little, with no one there to see. “He got into metal for a while after he saw some pictures of me from the old days. I think it was the long hair. He never did want to cut his short.”

There was the sound of a door slamming, and then the lanky blond reappeared with the remaining two dogs crowding at his heels. “Wasn’ts all you had was girls, last time I heards?”

“Oh... Sorry, I forgot you wouldn’t know.” Toki shrugged. “He changed his name from Leah Jr. to Luke before college. It’s not a big deal. The hormone therapy is going really well, he’s starting to grow a beard now. It’s coming in the way mine did though, remember that time I tried growing it out? And it came in all patchy? I told him he might be better off with just a mustache, but who knows if he’ll listen to me, I’m just his dad or whatevers.”

It occurred to him that he was rambling and that Skwisgaar was giving him a weird look — not one of the looks that meant Toki would have to punch him in the face in defense of his son, just one that wanted to point out they hadn’t spoken in almost fifteen years but, like, didn’t at the same time. It was an unexpectedly hopeful look, shuttered away after an instant as though it hadn’t been meant to be seen, and the implications tugged unpleasantly on Toki's insides. His mouth snapped shut and he followed the other man down the hall into a spacious and, again, mostly white living room. He could see a river winding past through the sliding glass door on the other side of the room. It was nice.

“Have a seats, huuueeeeuuugghhhh, anywheres,” Skwisgaar said into the awkward silence, gesturing to the white couch. Or, the mostly white couch with a liberal dusting of husky hair on it, even in places where Toki wouldn’t have thought a dog that size could or would climb. It was probably also the reason there weren’t any of the plush fur throw rugs Toki remembered him preferring. “You want some coffee or anythings?”

“No, I’m fine thanks.”

“Okay. Uhhhhh... Anyways, ja, I plays,” he continued while Toki made himself comfortable. “Don’t really does much with its now, but sometimes Nathan wants a thing written for ones of those shows he ams working ons, he gives me a calls, Charles sends the checks in the mails, all thats. But it ams, you knows. A goods hobby.” Once his guest sat down in a tall but well-padded easy chair, he took the couch and immediately had two dogs happily vying for control of his lap. “What abouts you?”

Toki looked down at his hands. “I still play sometimes. More since the kids all left home, but less than... since Leah.”

Skwisgaar sighed. “I heards about that. Thoughts about going to pays my respects, but...” He gave a pained grimace that was, maybe, intended to be an apologetic smile. “Didn’ts really knows her, and Pickle tolds me it was probablies not the best ideas.”

“Oh,” Toki said blankly. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Pickles had never mentioned Skwisgaar wanting to come to the funeral. But would he have remembered if he had? That had been, to put it mildly, a bad time. Juggling all the funeral arrangements, hospital bills, and suddenly being a single parent to a teenager and two preteens — it had been a lot. He’d barely kept it together for the first few years, and still felt bad that Juliette had taken it upon herself to help look after her siblings and grown up so much so quickly.

“...You lets your hair grows out somes,” Skwisgaar blurted out.

“I did,” Toki agreed, grateful for the change of subject. He swished his fingers through it, a fall of brown that came down to around his chin, just like when they’d first met. “Two girls and a gender fluid kid in the house, we used to have some wild hairdo parties, let me tell you.” He laughed. Kind of forced, but close enough to real. “And it worked out. Juliette is doing really well in cosmetology school.”

“That’s greats, Toki.”

The smile on Toki’s face was a brittle one. He was proud of his kids — hell, proud of himself for producing three non-fucked up human beings, considering his own bleak childhood, homeless adolescence, and raucous early adulthood. Things really had turned out for the best.

Mostly. Because while he’d had a loving, supportive partner to help lay the groundwork for his wonderfully normal new life, it hadn’t turned anything like what he’d imagined. She’d died and he’d found out that there were even worse things than having his heart broken, like having to decide whether to keep all of her old things around as a constant, heart-stabbing reminder or carrying overflowing boxes out to the curb past his crying children, pleading to hold onto the memories of their mother. Impossible choices.

The conversation had hit another lull, both of them just looking at each other over a canyon of decades.

“So,” Skwisgaar said awkwardly, “why... ams you decided to visit todays? Nots that I minds the companies,” he added quickly, unwilling to drop the strained pretense of gracious host. Clearly he didn’t want to be as blunt as Toki had been when he’d visited, all those years ago. No attempt had been made to flaunt his carefree, unattached lifestyle out here in the countryside, with no neighbors for miles and no real obligations to speak of save for occasional songwriting favors. He hadn’t gone for the jugular with, to name an example completely at random, a #1 Guitarist mug.

Toki’s smile cracked. On the couch, the two dogs raised their heads and looked at him inquisitively, approximately one second before he sucked in a breath like a man afraid of drowning and sank his face into both hands. For a long time he’d been able to keep his old life and live locked up tight, separate from his newly constructed family. He’d stopped discussing it in therapy years ago, long enough that his therapist never thought to bring it up anymore. Long enough that he hadn’t realized the parallels for a long time.

And it all came pouring out a torrent of word vomit that tasted all the more bitter for how long he’d been holding it in. A family of five? The way Leah had died, carving a chunk of his life big enough to leave him broken — what was he supposed to do, let it? And then the kids moving out. Little Abby had been the first to go and the last he had expected to lose so soon, a blow out of nowhere just like Murderface lapsing without warning into a coma. Luke had developed new interests, decided on a far more ambitious musical ambitions than his old man, and gone off to school at a fabulous conservatory half way across the globe, echoing Nathan’s departure for new and interestingly brutal pursuits. Juliette, like Pickles, had stuck around the longest, but now she was finally getting into cosmetology full time and living with her girlfriend, fostering an endless stream of troubled kids that the system had failed because her heart was just that goddamned big. There were visits, and phone calls, and occasionally even meeting up for lunches or dinners, but they had their own separate lives to get back to. Toki had... nothing. Just like after Dethklok.

Nothing but this ghost from his past who, before he realized what was happening, was kneeling in front of his chair and pulling him into a rough hug. Toki let himself be pulled. The dogs crowded around him and licked helpfully at the tears and snot boiling out of him before it could land on Skwisgaar’s shirt, though it caught its fair share of slobber and stray fur instead. Thumps and distressed dog noises from elsewhere in the house suggested that the third had some idea of what he was missing out on and resented being excluded from it, but oh well. Special persons invite club cry-a-thon, no leg humpers allowed.

Because Skwisgaar was crying too. First it registered as a growing dampness on his shoulder. Then Toki realized that the other man’s hands were gripped onto his shirt in big handfuls, and what had seemed like a comforting rocking motion was the Swede shaking with the effort of keeping his own tears silent and unobtrusive.

“Skwisgaar, what’s…” More alarmed than he would have expected given his own simmering breakdown, Toki managed to disentangle himself enough to pull back and get a look at his face. There was no hope of passing it off as ‘just gettings high’ today — not that it had ever been very effective ruse, Skwisgaar was an ugly crier and always had been. “What’s wrong?”

“Because,” came the choked up reply. “You saids you was happy. I s-stayed aways because you was happy. You didn'ts…” Skwisgaar was squeezing his eyes shut in an effort to not totally lose it, but his grip was clearly slipping. “You didn’ts deserve for it to all falls so much to shits that you comes to see me."

“Oh…” Toki slid to the floor as though his bones had been removed and replaced with cooked spaghetti, because that was exactly it. Skwisgaar had dumped him and it had been devastating, but he’d reinvented himself, met a girl, made a new life for himself without him.

It had taken so long to decide to come here precisely because he had been happy. Ecstatically so, and in the new life he’d made, even after Leah, there had been no room for Skwisgaar in it. But to see that Skwisgaar had known that — hell, actually respected that enough to leave him be for all these years — made him realize.

“Skwisgaar,” Toki said, sniffling and reaching to smooth some of the other man’s tears away. Skwisgaar startled at the touch, blue eyes flying open.

“Whats?”

“I don’t regrets anything about my family,” Toki told him earnestly, “but it was always supposed to be you.” And kissed him.

They were both still crying so it was wet and clumsy and messy, but their lips fit together just as perfectly as Toki remembered. Sure, he’d repressed that memory for a long time, but he’d had to.

For so long they’d been spun around in a dance of wanting different things, never on the same page, perfectly compatible but just off somehow. Then there had been Leah and it had felt impossible to reconcile those dual loves, so Toki had always told himself that his first choice had never been right or good for him. And maybe that instinct had been spot on, maybe Skwisgaar back then had been all wrong, a pentagonal peg that Toki had desperately fit into a round hole — but things had changed. So much was different now, about both of them. Here in this modest house, sitting on the floor with dogs trying their best to cheer up two idiot humans with even more slobbery kisses than the one they were currently sharing with amazed enthusiasm, they fit together in ways that was far more than just physical. It finally felt like they were on the same page, older and wiser but still head over fucking heels for each other.

A third furry body crashed into them and Skwisgaar broke away with a cry of, “Fucksdammit Morderface, if you brokes another door you ams sleeping outskied tonights I swear to fucking Odin!”

Toki laughed and rubbed his face on his sleeve and stood, despite the (pudgier, more blunt-nosed) husky immediately going for his leg as he did so, offering Skwisgaar a hand up that he accepted without hesitation. “You named him Murderface?”

“Ja,” Skwisgaar said sheepishly. He didn’t let go of Toki’s hand once he was up, instead threading their fingers together. “Uh, ands the other two ams Nathan and Pickles. Makes me feel less, eughhh, lonely out heres, you knows.”

“Huh.” Toki looked down at their entwined fingers. Smiled. Squeezed. “Just those three?”

“There ams only one Toki Wartooth,” Skwisgaar told him seriously, then pulled him into another kiss that lasted much, much longer.

#metalocalypse #my fanfic #my fanfiction #skwisgaar skwigelf #toki wartooth #postklok #idiots in midlife crisis love #skwistok

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mrsjaxtellerfan · 5 years

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Coming Home (Jax x OC)

Chapter one. So sorry for the wait y'all it has been a crazy weekend. I got a lot of writing done with @lookprettyliveclassyplaydirtyyt whom I am writing this series with! On a side note, this is a slow burn!

WARNINGS: None really, bit of cussing

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1:

“Mommy, are we almost there?” My baby girl asks from the backseat. We have been driving for hours and she isn’t handling it well.

“Yes, baby. We will be there before you know it.” I replied, glancing in the rear view mirror at her.

“Okay Mommy.” She smiled a loving smile at me, and I smiled back. I begin to say a quiet prayer hoping we make it before sundown with my car having started acting up in Arizona. I looked back in my mirror and saw that Sophia was asleep. I pulled over and looked at my phone, four percent batter, I risked it and looked up tow shops, there has to be one, right? The only one that was listed as open, Teller-Morrow Automotive. I dialed the number and held my breath, an all to familiar voice answered the phone. I hung up as quick as I could, and then let out the breath I was holding. I called back, knowing I would need a tow.

“Teller-Morrow Automotive.”

“Hi, I’m just outside Charming, county road 13, and I need a tow. My car has been rattling since Arizona, and you guys seem to be the only place open.”

“I’ll have someone right out there, can I get a description of your car for the driver?”

“Uhm…. It’s silver, I’m the only one here, if it’ll help, I’ll wait outside.”

“Okay, yeah, someone will be there in about 15 minutes.”

“Alright, thanks Gemma.” I hung up before she could say anything else about my little slip and unbuckled Sophia from her booster seat.

“Mommy, what’s happening? Are we there?” Sophia asks, rubbing her little blue eyes that match her fathers.

“No, baby, don’t worry, just go back to sleep.” I reply.

After about 10 minutes headlights shone in my direction, I was holding my daughter with one hand, and the other was resting on the butt of the gun I had tucked into the waistband of my shorts. I watched as the driver unbuckled his seatbelt, got all the paperwork he needed to fill out, and then opened the door to begin the short walk to my car.

“You call for a tow?” He asked.

“You see anyone else here?” I replied back, sarcastically.

He looked around, “nope just you, and your cute little daughter. My name is Herman Kozik, I work at Teller Morrow Automotive and if you would like to wait in the truck while I finish up here, you can.” He replies with a smile.

He’s kind of cute, no, don’t do this to yourself, he works with Jax, and that makes him a conflict of interest.

“No, I think it’s best I wait here, once you get it all hooked up I’ll get in, but I gotta make sure you’re not a murderer first, ya know?” I reply with a slight laugh.

“I get it. I promise you, I’m not a murderer.”

“Oh, no?”

“Nope, pop the hood. I want to see if I can locate the problem before we get back to T-M, maybe shave a few dollars off your bill.”

“It’s not locked.” I state, glancing down toward my daughter still peacefully sleeping in my arms. He opened the door, got down, pulled the lever, and it popped up, smoke coming out.

“Well, it’s a good thing you pulled over when you did. You guys might have been burnt to a crisp out here. I can’t tell what the problem is right now. We should let it air out a little bit. You should also probably lock your doors” Kozik states working to hook the car up. I sigh, leaning against the beat up old car, that I traded my mercedes in for.

“Alright, all ready to go, just need you to sign this and show proof of ownership.” Kozik states, coming around to hand me the papers.

“Um, I don’t have the proof of ownership.” I state, nervously glancing at my feet.

“Oh, well, why don’t we go back to T-M and you can speak to Gemma about this. I don’t know much about the paperwork side of things.” Kozik replies, shooting me a megawatt smile. I smile in response. He helps me get Sophia’s booster seat into the truck and we are on our way to the one place I was scared to go.

“Alright, the office is over there and I am sure Gemma wouldn’t mind if you laid this sweet girl down in there. Do you need help?” Kozik asks, glancing at me from the driver seat.

“No, I know where I’m going. Thanks.” I reply, pushing open the door. I reach around waking Sophia.

“Soph, baby, wake up.” I state, gently waking the sleeping girl.

“Mommy, where are we?” She asks, looking around

“We’re home, baby, we’re home.” I state, glancing around at the place I once called home.

“I’m hungry, mommy.” Sophia states, pouting slightly, just like Jax does when he wants something.

“We will find you something, but first I have to go talk to someone about the car.” I reply, picking her up and heading into the office.

“Just a minute!” I hear Gemma shout from somewhere in the garage.

“Mommy, can I go play on the swings?”

“No, baby, stay with me. We can see about that here in a bit.” Sophia huffs, rolling her eyes like Jax has done a million times.

“Wow.” Gemma states, returning to the room a look of shock gracing her face.

“Hey, Gem. How ya been?” I state, smiling at the woman I thought of as Mom.

“Ari. You’re back? Who is this little beauty?” Gemma questions, giving me and Sophia a once over.

“I’m Sophia.” Sophia states, giving Gemma her megawatt smile.

“Hi, Miss Sophia. I’m Gemma.” Gemma states, getting a better look at Sophia before sending a questioning glance toward me. I pray she doesn’t figure out who the father is.

“Mommy, I’m still hungry.” Sophia, glances up at me.

“I think Chucky has some food in the kitchen. Why don’t I have him come get you some food.” Gemma replies, yelling for this Chucky character.

“Gemma, you don’t have to do that, we aren’t gonna be here too much longer, hopefully.”

“Oh, baby. You and I have some things we need to discuss.” Gemma states, glancing down at Sophia.

“Gemma, we were going to stay with a friend of mine in Stockton, we really were just passing through. What are you gonna do, hold us hostage?”

“If I have to, to get the answers I need, then yes.”

“Alright, Soph go with Chadwick he will get you some food.” I sigh giving in.

“Hello, Gemma you called, and I came.” The person I am assuming is Chucky said, coming to stand next to me.

“Take this little doll to get some food while me and her mama have a nice chat.” Gemma gestures to Soph.

“My pleasure.” Chucky states.

“What’s wrong with his hands?” I ask Gemma after he walks away, Sophia following behind him.

“He couldn’t keep ‘em outta his pants.”

“Ew, who did that? The Oakies? Don’t pretend I don’t know what SAMCRO does.”

“I don’t care about Chucky and his hands at the moment. You owe me some answers, Missy. Where did you go? I was going to ask why you left but I think I know the answer to that one.”

“Gemma, I don’t really know, I was kind of everywhere. Wilmington, Delaware, Canada, New York, I never could stay anywhere for too long. I guess I got that from my mom.”

“Why did you leave?” Gemma asks, reaching a hand out for me.

“I was pregnant, Gemma. I wasn’t sure if the truth would have been good. Ja- I mean the dad and I weren’t together at the time, and there wasn’t a shortage of pussy, he never really wanted anything to do with me and it was a one time thing. I couldn’t ruin his life over a one night stand. He was too hung up on screwing anything that moved because his ex fucked him up and I couldn’t raise a baby with a person like that. I couldn’t handle if he rejected me and Soph either, so I did what I had to. And honestly, Gemma, it worked out so well for me. I own my own business now and it’s doing really well. I can provide for my baby and give her what I didn’t have growing up.”

“Baby, you know I would have been here for you…. Wait, Jax!?” Gemma exclaims, eyes widening at the realization.

“It’s about Sophia’s DAD being there for her, not you. She has never seen a good guy, Gemma, this place, being here, it’s the last thing she needs. Yes, I admit, I probably should have told you and Jax but I couldn’t, not if I wanted to get her out of Charming.”

“Ari, Jax needs to know about his child.”

“I know. But you can’t tell him. Not yet, I need some time to figure things out. Sophia doesn’t know about him and I am not ready for the questions about why he wasn’t there. Plus we both know Jax wasn’t and probably isn’t ready to have a child.” “Well, actually, Jax is having a baby.”

“Great, now I really can’t tell him, he can barely feed himself, and now he has not one but TWO kids. Who’s the mother?”

“Why? Ya jealous?”

“Jealous, Gemma? I want to warn her!” I replied jokingly.

“She’s some drug addict whore my son decided to marry so he wouldn’t be lonely.”

“Jax is married? With another kid?” I ask, glancing down at my feet. “Does he not know how to use a condom?”

“Baby, y’all are grown now. Having kids is normal.”

“Gemma, we are grown now, maybe, but we weren’t then. Look what happened. Anyway, I don’t have proof of ownership on my car, is there anything I can do? We really need to get to Stockton tonight. I really don’t want my friend sending out a search party, and my phone is dead.” I said looking down at my dark screen.

“Nonsense, you can stay with Clay and I for the night.” Gemma says, waving me off.

“No Gemma, I really can’t. I told her we would be there tonight, and Sophia has never even been to your house. If I remember right, you have birds, and she is TERRIFIED of birds, I’m sure you wouldn’t want your granddaughter to be uncomfortable, would you?”I replied, with my serious face.

“Wait a minute. Why don’t you have proof of ownership? Did you steal this car?” Gemma asks, glancing at the paperwork.

“No, I bought it, and I was in a hurry to get out of Hershey, it must’ve slipped my mind. Gemma I’m not like you were at my age, I don’t steal things.”

“Why were you in a hurry? Are you in some kind of trouble?” Gemma questions.

“It’s nothing you need to worry about, Gemma. Sophia and I are safe here, that’s what is most important.”

“Babydoll, if you are in trouble, you know the guys can help. I can talk to Jax and Clay. They can do something and whoever you are running from can be taken care of.” Gemma states, watching for my reaction.

I sigh leaning towards her, “Do you really want to know why I left Hershey?” before I get the chance to tell her Jax pops in.

“Hey, Ma, do you know where the keys to the ‘stang are?” Jax asks, popping his head

through the door.

“I am going to go check on Sophia. See how she’s doing with, Charles.”

“Ari, you back for good? Wait, who is Sophia? You swinging for the other team now?”

Jax asks, blocking my way out of the room.

“No Jax, just passing through, now if you’ll excuse me, I really need to check on my

daughter, and it doesn’t matter what team I swing for.”

“Daughter?” Jax questions, raising his brows at me. “How old is she? I didn’t know

you had a kid, although you kind of bailed and never spoke to any of us after you left so I guess we wouldn’t know about you having a kid, would we?” Jax sneers, allowing me to push him out of my way.

“Gemma knows, Gemma knows everything, Jax.” I say, stepping around him and

leaving the office. I find Sophia giggling at an attractive man with a mohawk and tribal tattoos.

“Mommy! This is Juicy, he taught me how to spit out sunflower seeds, see watch!” Sophia squeals with utter excitement.

“Sunflower seeds, huh? Hi, I’m Ariana, this little monster’s mother.” I state, reaching my hand out to shake his.

“Juan Carlos Ortiz but everyone calls me Juice.” He replies, shaking my hand, with a smile that makes my knees weak. I have to remind myself that he is in the club and presumably friends with Jax.

“Wait, where’s Charles? Did she eat something?”

“Juice let me eat his sandwich, mommy! It was my favorite. Peanut butter and jelly.” Sophia exclaims throwing her arms around Juices neck.

“That’s great baby, but Juice needs to eat too, he has to work, you get to watch cartoons and play on swings.”

“It’s all good, honestly.” Juice states, hugging Sophia back.

“Well, thanks for watching her. We should get going.” I state, pulling Sophia’s hand.

“Mommy we can’t go, the car is broken, remember?” Sophia replies, giggling.

“Fuck.” “Mommy said a bad word!” Sophia giggles, whispering to Juice.

“She did, didn’t she?” Juice replies with a laugh.

“I did, but you can’t repeat it, Sophia.”

“Ariana!” Jax yells, anger pouring off of him, pushing his way through the room.

“Alright, we really have to go. Juice is there a grocery store around here somewhere, or a phone I can use? Anything? I am begging you.” I ask, holding Sophie in my arms.

“You can use mine.” A tall man says stepping forward, putting himself between myself and Jax.

“Opie, I need to talk to her. Move.” Jax gruffs, pushing Opie from behind.

“You can talk to her when you calm down.” Opie replies gruffly. I sigh in relief knowing my best friend won’t allow Jax to confront me.

“Come on Ari, you can use my phone, it’s in my dorm.”

“Thanks, Ope.” I reply, making my way toward the dorm, Opie and Jax trailing behind.

“Ariana, you owe me an explanation. You aren’t leaving here until I get one.” Jax yells, grabbing my arm and turning me toward him, scaring Sophia in the process.

“I DON’T OWE YOU ANYTHING JAX!!” I yell, getting in his face after hand Sophia to Opie. I didn’t want to scare her.

“Mommy, is he going to hurt us?” Sophia whispers, tears beginning to form in her eyes. My anger vanishes, leaving worry in its place.

“No baby, Jax is leaving, and Opie won’t hurt you either, he’s mommy’s friend.” I say looking in her eyes and wiping her tears, knowing I am gonna hear about this later, and when Gemma finds out, there’s gonna be a shitstorm because ‘no one hurts her baby girl.’

“Ari...” Jax sighs, running his hands through his hair, feeling guilty at his outburst and how much he scared his daughter.

“Not now, Jax. We will talk about everything later. Right now I need to get Sophia home and into bed.” I state, entering the room Opie went in with Sophia.

“Hey Ope, is it cool if I shower? I smell like, REALLY bad.” I remembered that my suitcase full of our clothes is in my car. “Fuck, okay, nevermind that.” I trail off glancing at the giant holding my baby girl.

“How about you guys stay at my house tonight and tomorrow we can figure out what’s wrong with your car.” Opie states, glancing down at the almost asleep Sophia.

“Okay, that would be great, Ope, really.” I sigh, smiling at my best friend.

“Good, now that is settled. Let’s get some of your stuff out of your car and get going. You can shower at mine.” Opie replies, making his way toward the door, Sophia still in his arms.

“You want me to take her?” I ask, reaching out for her.

“No, I got her.” Opie replies with a smile.

“Harry, how’s your dad doing? Piney was it? Does he still hate when I call him Piermont?” I ask, giggling.

“Yes, he still very much hates it. I’ll see if he wants to come by tomorrow, maybe say hi to this little monster.” He says gesturing to the sleeping girl in his arms.

“How’s Donna?” I ask, glancing up at him as we make our way out of the clubhouse.

“Oh, we got divorced. She’s good though. So are the kids.” Opie replies, rubbing at the back of his neck with his free hand.

“How old are they now, close to Sophia’s age if I’m remembering right.”

“Yeah, Ellie is 7, and Kenny is 6.” Opie replies, leading me to a truck in the parking lot.

“Wow, no bike? I’m shook.” I grin, Opie lets out a small laugh bumping his hip into mine, well into my waist because he is so much taller than me.

“I had to drop the kids off with Donna this morning.” Opie replies, opening the door.

“Oh, shit. I left her booster in the truck. I’ll go grab it.” I reply, making my way toward the garage to find Kozik.

“Hey, her booster is in here.” Jax states, gesturing toward the office. I sigh following him in. “I’m sorry for snapping at you and scaring Sophia. I just… I don’t... why didn’t you tell me?”

“Jax, it wasn’t a good time for either of us. You were still hung up on Tara and I was a mess, can you believe I actually thought I was in love with you? I was so crushed when you tossed me aside after it all happened, and I couldn’t go back and tell you after it was all said and done, I would have looked like some pathetic croweater. So I left, and honestly, I’m glad I did.”

“I didn’t mean to make you feel bad but can you seriously stand here and tell me that I was better off not knowing I had a daughter in this world? Can you seriously stand there and tell me that I didn’t deserve to know because you were mad at me? I can’t believe you’d be so selfish. I mean, yeah, we shouldn’t have slept together but we did. You should have told me about her the minute you found out. You shouldn’t have ran from it. You robbed me of 5 years with my daughter. How can you even live with yourself?” Jax asks, turning away from me.

“Jax.” I cry, trying to get him to turn around and talk to me, the love I feel for him still present.

“No, I can’t do this right now. I need to go check on Wendy.” He murmurs, leaving me standing there, tears running down my face. Gemma joins me in the office with a look of pity.

“Gem, what did I do?” I cry, throwing myself at her.

“Oh, baby, he will come around.” Gemma soothes, rubbing my hair like she used to when I was a child.

“What if he doesn’t? I never meant to hurt him.”

“Baby, he’s fine, he just needs time to come around.”

“Hey.” Opie said walking over to me, booster seat in hand. “You ready to get her home?”

I sniffle and wipe at my eyes. “Yeah, I am ready.”

We walked to his truck, in a comfortable silence. I buckled Sophia into her booster seat, and he helped me up into my seat.

Let me know if you want to be added to the series tag list!

Tag list: @spnhollis @gemini0410 @lookprettyliveclassyplaydirtyyt @melissataggart87 @jaxteller87

#Jax Teller #jax x oc #juice ortiz #kozik #soa chibs #opie winston #opie x oc #sons of anarchy #clay morrow #gemma teller #wendy soa #happy soa #soa gemma #bobby soa #violence

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sakuya123draws · 5 years

Note

for the end of year meme: 1, 8, 10, 14, 20 !! Please and thank you!

OH MAH GOD IT’S LATE!!! (I am so sorry @nalufever I finally got around to answering asks and I’m starting with the most recent ones!! It’s appropriate as they are for the “End of the year” meme I reblogged!)

Anyways, without further ado, let’s answer these lovely questions~! >w

1. First things first, did you have a good year?

A: Well, I guess that is the first thing to ask when jumping from one year to the other! ^_^ If I’m being honest the year started out really bad. Lots of family problems, stress from college and my horrible relationship was weighing me down and draining me of my energy. I never want to blame anything on anyone, but I was in a dysfunctional relationship with someone and I finally got out of it around April. It’s a long story, but I don’t feel like dwelling on that stuff. I’m stronger now! (I mean I “hope” so ^ ^;) I was happy that I got in the honours roll for my first year which gave me entry to showing my artwork to judges at the college I got to! It was an amazing experience and I made some cool friends along the way! It’s a small class, but we’re like a family. :D As for my actual family, I lost my grandma…She was an inspiration to me and even today I will always show my appreciation for my grandparents! Other than that, my family had gotten better and we can finally understand each other a bit more when it comes to communication which is always a plus!! :3 Even on here with Tumblr being who it is, I still have lots of friends that didn’t leave and I’m happy to see they are better from last year! In short, (cause you can see THIS is a paragraph xD) I think the year was wishy-washy! It was all over the place, but it made up for it at the end to be called “good”. ^v^

8. Which fashion trends did you hate?

(I thought of him when I thought of the word fashion xD Don’t kill me, I LOVE Max

A: Even though my mom is a lady who lives by fashion, I can’t say I know the styles of 2018! ;w; I looked up a source (well you know Vogue and all that jazz :/) to base my opinion on. I only think this would be easier if I could say what I “loved”, but it’s a hate one so gotta be mean xD lol. I mean I never “hate” anything, so I’m gonna give it a shot.

One thing I don’t like about fashion trends if I’m being frank is that it’s usually clothes on the runway. Many styles I see based on Vogue’s source are styles I can’t see the everyday person wearing. Personally, I wouldn’t wear half of those designs outside. That’s just me. My sense of style is a hybrid of my mom’s fashion she wears/sells, 80′s-90′s fashions and cutesy outfits. (that I think I’d look bad in ;w;) I’m gonna give a small bullet point list. (I know I always say small xD)

Arty Impressions - This was the first one on the article I read. From what I can gather it’s fashion with famous works printed on it. (Artworks, for example, Andy Warhol’s, screenprints) I mean I can see the connection, but for me wearing something with a reproduced art piece is hard for me to personally wear. LIke it has to be done like how T-shirts have a design in the middle or small embellishments on it to make me wear it. The example I saw is fun and creative, but for me, I couldn’t see myself liking/wearing those pieces. It depends. 5/10? I guess xD

Plastic/see-through material - This honestly has been a reoccurring style that I have seen. It’s become more prominent now according to last year’s trends. I can’t stand the “see-through” look. I don’t know what it is, but it’s just too awkward to wear outside. LIke people will defend that you can wear what you want, but for ME and ME Only, I can’t wear those kinds of stuff. I would feel very scared/concerned with how I look. (Even to myself) If you don’t know what I am referring to, I mean like that umbrella looking material. (I’ve added the source in the paragraph above for this question! ^_^)

Geometric/Flannel Print - I can never see myself liking the flannel scene. For pyjamas, no problem! To wear outside, I can’t bring myself to do that. You can see me in an old sweater, but flannel I don’t think any of my friends have seen me in that xD I just can’t say it’s aesthetically pleasing to me. I have a problem liking this style. Maybe I will when I get older, but as I’m young and creative I see myself wearing clothes for the young generation! :P (my mom says that anyways xD lol) The clothes that make you feel like partying, even though you don’t go outside like me xD lol

As much as I love talking about fashion, I think I would bore everyone with my opinions. xD (You’re definitely not here for these are you? xD If so, thank you)

10. What song sums up this year for you?

A: I don’t have a definite answer, but I went through a lot of things. Many times I wanted to be in a dream world…Like to escape everything. All the pain and depression. I still feel that way, but in 2018 it was WAY worse. This song I originally heard in Silent Hill: Downpour (A GAME I LOVE ;w;) was a song I thought of when I see this question. I think it’s a great song! sad, but I’d recommend it. The singer’s voice is lovely. It invokes so many emotions in me ;w; (I’ll give a youtube link)

Ed Harcourt - From Every Sphere

14. Favorite new TV show?

(I HAD to make it this guy >w

WARNING: HUGE ANSWER BELOW!

A: Well, as you may know, I don’t watch many shows anymore. I mostly play video games, but for the sake of this amazing question, I’ll say what anime(s) I did enjoy last year! I don’t think I’ve ever loved an anime as much as I love Gintama. It’s really funny because I originally “disliked” Gintama. It was a naive thing for the young me to have said at the time. I judged the show so harshly after seeing anime (IMO) being shat on with the usual themes and scenes I ALWAYS see. I began to give up on anime as a whole. My story starts when I was pissed at my brother telling me, “Gintama is amazing Tash, trust me you’ll regret hating it.” I answered with my normal response of, “ sure Ja, you ALWAYS say that. How will this be any different?” Maybe I shouldn’t have said that…Well, it’s too late now for present-day me. My brother showed me all the “humorous” parts first. (I honestly felt like he tricked me, but the show really starts that way xD) Anyways, we eventually watched a few episodes and I told him I didn’t understand the humour. (it’s honestly hard to get into if you’re not open-minded or don’t understand the comedy Sorachi uses) Until he decided to hit me with his ace, “The Shinsengumi Crisis Arc”. All I can say is, a different side of me was born. I started to see what a show could truly offer if it was done right, the way I wanted to see it. It’s hard to explain, but without Gintama’s sad/inspirational/happy/stupid/clever story writing/arcs I don’t think I would have ever gotten through 2018. I haven’t finished the episodes as of its recent update, but I really learned a lot from the show. I want to give a HUGE shoutout to Sorachi for writing this masterpiece and I would 10000% recommend it to ANYONE! It’s a show that changed my views on people’s situations and lives. I think all the arcs are amazingly written and so far I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of it! It really got me in the feels. I can honestly say that if you can’t feel after seeing an arc in Gintama, you haven’t felt. It’s that amazing! (Then AGAIN, it’s an opinion not everyone will sadly share xD) Also, I am really enjoying Bleach! I’m sad at how it ended in terms of what things happened and I honestly hope Kubo will be ok. I loved his episodes and the earliest ones really touched my heart like Gintama. He’s also really great at making me cry every episode! :P

(GOD SORRY FOR THE ESSAY AND STUPID STORY LINES xD I’m sorry I can’t add a RM for this b/c then everything under can’t be seen like the other answers ;w;)

20. Did you develop a new obsession?

Well…YES! Many obsessions!! The real question is which is the one that I obsess over the most? Well I’ll put some bullet points to hopefully make it smaller xD

First of all, I don’t want to say it but I’ve taken a “liking” (what an understatement lol) to Gin Ichimaru from Bleach~! >////

I think everyone knows, but I have an obsession with cute/pink/pretty stuff. (Can it be called that?) I just LOVE pastel colours or pinks/blues/purples. Those kinds of soft colours you see in Hello Kitty toys or Fairy Kei/Kawaii merch (if I’m correct xD) I just have a HUGE soft spot for childhood stuff! I literally still act like a kid xD lol I don’t think I’ll be growing up anytime soon haha xD lol I just love to collect them! :)

Vaporwave I guess has become a new obsession and old art styles of the past! I just can’t stop being in awe at those marble statues! The curvature and bodies are so magnificent! >w

So many different art styles that are brought to this world! :D This is the truth! I absolutely love most styles I see on here and whenever I encounter them! >w

Other than that, I don’t think I have any other obsessions I know about :P Sorry, I’m super boring xD That’s the art student life lol (only me guys xD dw)

THANK YOU SO SO MUCH FOR MESSAGING ME AND SENDING THIS AMAZING ASK YOU AWESOME PERSON!!! @nalufever I am so happy to have gotten something from you and I hope you’ve had a great Christmas and Happy New Year, friend!! I hope you stay happy and healthy this year!! All the best to you! Thank so much once again for taking the time :)

If anyone else is interested, you can send me something as well~!

Take care from me and Happy New Years everyone!!!

Saku~!

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lepapillonbrise · 7 years

Text

Brand New World

Summary: Squeal to “Something Missing.” Klavier woke up to realize he’s somewhere different. Somewhere new to him. It’s a brand new world, yet at the same time, familiar. The only difference is: someone he’s never met before can only exist in this reality he’s in.

Klapollo, AU/OoC, Klavier’s PoV.

Warning(s): Yaoi ( boyXboy ) for those Yaoi haters. I guess that is it.

Pairing(s): Klapollo ( Klavier Gavin / Apollo Justice ).

Note(s): Please be as harsh as you could.

I’m sorry if I got any spelling wrong. The only spelling corrections I have are google. So, if I made any mistakes, tell me.

Criticism is welcome.

Enjoy! xD x3

X-X-X-X Klavier’s PoV

“Hey, Prosecutor Gavin?”

Was?

“Hey, you awake? I’m here.”

Where am I?

I sat up, only to realize what had happened. Grunting, I look over to see…

Who is this guy?

I swear, these dreams. Though, I guess that’s probably what happens. Still, am I having a lucid dream right now? I eye’d the boy, only to realize he’s probably someone I never met before.

I stretch, as he waved a hand in front of me. I look over to see a concerned look.

Schweigen.

What the hell is he wearing?

It almost looks like a bright brown. Yet, it’s not. I can’t seem to put my finger on it, because that sure is something I’ve never seen before.

What ever it is, it must be normal where he lives, because the boy just seemed concerned.

“Prosecutor Gavin?” He asked, “What’s wrong? You’ve been spacing out for a while now.”

Ach, was I really?

“Ja, of course.” I smiled, “How… Did you get here?”

“Through bike, of course.” The boy frowned though, “Mr. Edgeworth called me to come over. You were late coming to work this morning, so he had me come visit.”

“Herr Edgeworth. Of course.” I blinked, “Um, I guess I’ll get ready, ja?”

I might as well pretend.

I’m definitely not home anymore.

Where am I?

X-X-X-X

He followed me every where.

Even to my office, and stopping by Herr Edgeworth’s office. He kept a serious look upon his face, and he seems to be keeping an eye on me.

He’s not a fan, since he didn’t like the music I played in the car. Yet he knows me, very well, since he knew how I like my coffee.

I don’t think I told anyone. So, is he just a colleague, that I’m working with? Whoever he is, he’s someone that is close.

Herr Edgeworth was even wearing the same strange… Color. What is going on here? Where am I?

I got some information I needed when someone decided to call him. That was a very pretty ringtone. I could tell it was remixed, so what was the original like? Where was the singer?

“Hello?” He paused, before giving that same concerned look, “No. No, just send Trucy. I’m… Spending time in the Prosecutor’s office today. I’ll text you… Why… Please, just Trucy, it seems like… No, no, it’s not like that…”

I realize I like the sound of his voice. He’s been trying to talk to me all day, maybe I should respond more.

“I… Fine, I’ll text Athena.” He continued, before glancing at me, “Just… Just send Trucy over, okay? Thanks, Mr. Wright.”

Schweigen.

Herr… Herr Wright?

With that, he hung up, before uncomfortably sitting down across from me.

“I see you’d like to be left alone.” He said, quietly, “Usually you’re more… Talkitive by now, Prosecutor Gavin.”

“Was?” I lean on the table, “Nien, I am just… My mind just isn’t at the right place.”

“Oh?” He gripped at a golden bracelet, around his wrist, “Is that so? Um… May I ask you how you are feeling? You must be very sick. You feeling okay, Prosecutor Gavin?”

Nien. Not at all.

“Ja.” I lie, hands on the desk, “Since this morning, I’ve just been… Out of it?”

“You might be coming down with something.” He kept an intense stare. “Though, I can’t really say, unless I get symptoms, Prosecutor Gavin.”

“Ach, of course.” I thought about it, “Slight… Headache. My stomach is a little queasy. I do feel tired. A little.”

Schweigen.

“Prosecutor Gavin… Alright. I guess I could give you some medicine when you get home.” He reached into his pocket to take out a phone to start texting, “I’ll come over later today, with medicine. Okay?”

“Ach, you don’t need to do that.” I tried a smile, “I’m sure it’s just minor… Fatigue. I did stay up pretty late last night, ja?”

“What for?”

“Music.” I answer. If anything, they’d at least know I still write music, “For the Gavinners, ja?”

His eyes widen, before looking down. Frowning.

Mehr stille.

Did I say something wrong? He seems displeased.

“Well, I figured that, Prosecutor Gavin.” He stood up, before glancing at the time, “Trucy might be here any minute, so I don’t have a whole lot of questions to ask you. I have a lot more.”

“Well, you don’t need to ask them all at once.” I kept my smile, trying to keep friendly, “Maybe one question for now, ja?”

“Since when did you decide to bring the Gavinners back together?”

Was!?

“You disbanded your band after your… B-Brother was put away, remember?” He suddenly seemed hurt, “Plus, minus one guitarist, I’m sure it would’ve been hard to keep it together, Prosecutor Gavin.”

Suddenly, I was frozen with fear. Not knowing what to say.

What happened? What happened!?

He stared at me for a bit before crossing his arms.

“Who are you?” He slammed his hands on my desk. I jumped, startled. “You’re not the Prosecutor Gavin I know! Let alone a fan of his!”

“Wait, wait! Listen to me!” I waved my hands up defensively, “You’re right, but I am indeed Klavier Gavin!”

“You’re obviously not! Please be honest with me!” He seems tensed up, “I can tell if you’re lying or not.”

“Okay, okay! I-I’ll tell the truth.”

“That’s better.”

He calmed down, though he still kept that intense stare. Holding his wrist.

Schweigen.

“You… You gotta trust me on this.” I calmly said, grabbing his hand, “Promise me you’ll believe me?”

“No promises.” He frowned, pulling away now, “Just tell the truth.”

I gulped, before looking down to both my hands. Not sure how I’d bring this up.

“… I really am Klavier Gavin.” I answered, “I know so, because… I-I know what I presented when Herr Wright lost his badge.”

Mehr stille.

“You do?” He relaxed a bit more, before giving a concerned look, “But why bring your band back together? I thought you disbanded because of your brother, Prosecutor Gavin.”

“T-That… That information is…” I paused as he reached for that strange bracelet. I sighed. “I… Woke up this morning. I-I don’t even know where I am, nor who you are. I-I… Where I come from, that color you’re wearing doesn’t exist.”

“W-What…?” His… Bangs? His bangs drooped as he gave the most annoyed look, “You gotta be kidding me.”

“I’m not joking!” I waved my hands up defensively. “I-It’s been like this since I woke up. Believe me, I-I’m confused too! I don’t understand how you know I’m lying, but I’m speaking the honest truth right now!”

Mein Gott, this is ridiculous. I should’ve brushed him off by now, but he just refuses to leave. Not that I mind, just, I didn’t know he’d be a thorn to my side. I began to sigh as he kept an eye on me.

Though, he relaxed after a while.

“… Y-You’re… N-Not our… Prosecutor Gavin.” He whispered, after a while. He backed up, eyes wide, “You’re… Y-You’re… From an entirely… Different reality.”

“… Y-You believe me. J-Just like that?”

“I-It’s the only logical explaination.” He suddenly seemed heartbroken, “You’re not lying. Let alone the type to… Make this up.”

“You seem to be the type to… Not take this kinda shit seriously.” I began to catch my breath, after holding it for so long, “Why… Why believe me?”

Mehr stille.

“I know you’re not the type of person to lie to me, Prosecutor Gavin.” He finally answers, “You were always honest, and never once told a lie, until now. L-Leave it to you for you to make this up, and m-make me believe every word you’d say.”

“Was?”

“Well, nonetheless, I-If you happen to have some questions about our… World. Let me know.” His bangs remained drooped throughout his monologue, “I’ll answer them the best I can.”

Ach, I get it.

He isn’t a fan, yet he…

We must’ve spent a lot of time together, huh? Does my other self feel the same with him?

“Do you happen to know… Why he disbanded?” I lean on the desk as he messed with his bracelet. I couldn’t help but notice how he kept messing with it, “Was it… Really ‘cause of my… His brother?”

“Um. Yeah. He really wanted to focus on law.” He replied, pressing a finger upon his forehead, “I don’t get why, though. I just know that music was what he really loved.”

“I… I think he still does.” I looked around the office, “Consider his office as evidence.”

“Why would he give up making it?” He specified, frowning now, “I’d imagine he’d still love making it, but why not share it? I may not like it, that doesn’t mean he can stop, just for me.”

He sighed, as he checked his phone. He rose an eyebrow. Before walking up to check on the door. Pausing, as if listening to something. He than walked to me, with the most annoyed look.

“Trucy should’ve been here by now.” He answered my next question, “She’s… In your reality, right?”

“Ja, of course.” I decided to look down. “She lives with Herr Wright, and everything.”

“And?” He rose an eyebrow, “Anyone else?”

He seems to understand me pretty well.

“N-Nien.” I shake my head, “Just Fräulein Magician and Herr Wright.”

Schweigen.

“Oh, I guess there wouldn’t be any more reason to lie.” He looked down, “So, Zak still ran away from Mr. Wright, and left his daughter behind.”

He sounded angry.

“Calm down.” I walk up to him, as he looked up to me. He’s really short. I hesitantly reached for something to hold, before just holding them behind my back. “No matter what, I’m sure Fräulein Magician is still alright. She’s just been… Playing tricks.”

He seemed displeased at first, before relaxing. He sighed, again.

“You’re right.” He pressed a finger to his forehead. Frowning. “She’s brave enough to handle herself. So, I guess you’re right.”

“Of course.” I smile now, “So, I got one more question.”

“Yeah?”

“How ‘bout I help you… With the other me?”

“Wh-What!?”

Ach, he’s cute. I can see why my other self decided to only focus on law.

If only he existed in the same reality as me.

X-X-X-X

Fräulein Magician decided to show up when I brought out a piece of paper.

She kept a bright smile upon her face as she came to visit, and I needed help as to how I act around her. He gave such helpful hints, and I was finally ready.

Sort of.

She came back in, with the brightest smile she could give me.

She’s acting waaaaaaaaay different than how she usually acts. Waaaaaaaaay different.

In fact, it’s a surprise she has emotion in the first place!

“Guten tag, Fräulein!” I smile back, as she bounced on the balls of her feet. I leaned on the desk, “Forgive me, I’ve been feeling sick since this morning. I may act a little… Out of it, ja?”

“I know! Polly told me!” She gave a polite bow, “That’s why, I decided to come and cheer you up!”

“Cheer me up?” Polly? That’s cute. “That’s sweet of you, Fräulein!”

“This is one of my best tricks, so watch and be amazed!” She pulled out a pair of… Bloomers? Than decided to snap to a beat, “One, two, three, and… Tah dah!”

She took out a phone of some sort.

Wait, wasn’t that… His phone?

He gave that annoyed look as she held it up with the brightest of smiles.

“Whoa! How did you do that?” I gasp, as I realized what just happened, “That’s impressive as always, Fräulein!”

“Thanks!” She tipped her hat, giving the most smug look, “Told ya you’d be amazed!”

’Polly’ decided to step in, before grabbing my wrist. He seems through with this. He snatched the phone out of Fräulein Magician’s hand, before giving her a strange look.

She suddenly seemed concerned.

’Polly’ just decided to gesture to the paper in my hand, before I realize what he was getting at.

Right. I owe him an explaination on how to do this.

“Ach, right.” I smile, “You take the Fräulein home, and you can come over later to finish this paperwork, ja? Won’t be too much of a hassle.”

“Will you be home?”

Ahh, the double meaning.

“Of course.” I chuckle, “Though, I don’t know how long I’m gonna stay, ja? I may go out later.”

Schweigen.

He nods after a while, before I decided to finish paperwork. He leaves, albeit, a bit hesitantly. Was he really afraid I’ll be gone? I’d still be basically the same person either way, ja?

Still, I’m glad to have met him during my lifetime.

X-X-X-X

I headed home, only to write down some instructions, and a note.

I decided to pick up the phone, to call Fräulein Detective.

“What do you want, fop?”

Ach, she sounds angrier than usual.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll pick up the papers from your office. I plan on stopping by anyways for an upcoming case.”

It’s a surprise has emotion at all, like Fräulein Magician.

“Mr. Edgeworth has the details of the case ready, and he expects you to find the truth. It’s a pretty open and shut case for you, though, so you shouldn’t worry.”

Really? Usually Herr Edgeworth calls to make sure I lose the case, which yeah. I don’t mind losing, but he expects this case to be an open and shut case? That’s something new for me. Did my counterpart win often?

“… You’re more… Quiet then usual, fop. Message me what’s wrong. I can bet it’s Apollo again.”

Apollo?

“Okay, now I know you’re messing with me. You quit your music career for this guy, damn. Look, I can tell you’re spacing out, so I’ll take it easy for today. Don’t expect me to lighten up the next time we meet.”

With that, she hung up, and I couldn’t help but feel… Something. It felt good, and almost comforting, in a strange way.

Fräulein Detective is nice for once, I guess this new feeling is associated with that. I guess she was a good friend.

I decided to give another person a call.

“Hello?”

A new woman answered the phone.

I only called Herr Wright.

“Oh, Prosecutor Gavin, you must’ve called for Apollo. Hold on, he’s not home yet. I’ll have to see if he calls back. Merci.”

Was she French?

“It seems like everyone is okay! Estoy Bien!”

Now she’s Spanish?

“Beeile dich, you seem to be hesitating on me!”

Now, German? Don’t tell me she’s just throwing in some random languages to spice up her speech.

Mein Gott, like I’m the one to talk.

“That’s sweet of you to check up on us, Prosecutor Gavin.”

Actually, I just wanted to make sure ’Apollo’ was home. Though, since he’s working with them, I guess I’d better agree.

“You seemed to have hesitated there, Prosecutor Gavin. Well, Apollo did warn us you were feeling sick. I can hear why. You sound completely off.”

How? I’m sure I sounded no different.

“Anyways, Apollo is on his way, my phone just let me know… Good to know he’s taking care of you, well.”

In return, I help him out with his version of my counterpart.

“You’re lucky, Prosecutor Gavin. He seems like a great guy. I wish you two luck.“

Schweigen.

”Anyways, ugh, I gotta clean the toilet again. Apollo is too busy with Trucy’s magic shows, and I know Boss won’t do it. So, I’ll talk to ya later, ja?“

This could be good-bye. I don’t know if she exists in my world.

”Tschüss.“

With that, she hung up. I plotted down onto the couch.

I just met her, and I suddenly feel like I lost her, already. As a close friend.

This new feeling, than the sudden realization that I’d never meet them again just doesn’t sit right. The same people may exist in my world, but…

Not him.

It’s not right. Why did this switch happen if it’s temporary? If it isn’t, why make my counterpart suffer at the loss of a…

Dear… Dear… Friend?

Suddenly, I’d probably be happy with just… Meeting him.

I’d be happy to know I’ve met him in my life. I’d be happy to know he exists. Funny. Love across different universes. That seems like fiction, but here I am.

Happy to have met him… I’d settle with that, no matter how heart wrenching it is.

Knock knock. He’s here. He came in, with a small smile upon his face.

“So, um, hiya.” His hair was drooped, despite his smile, “Prosecutor Gavin?”

“Ach, hello.” I wave, as he sat down. “I’m still here. I think I go away when I eventually pass out.”

“Really? Well, considering you woke up, I guess going to sleep would send you back.” He pressed a finger to his forehead, “So, what do I need to do when… He comes back? If that happens?”

“I wrote down some introductions.” I smile, as I handed him a piece of paper, “I have… Well, he has, a collection of… Envelopes. Sorry, but you’ll see what I mean when you open the drawer, over there. No worries, I checked.”

He nodded as he walked over to see what I was talking about, before his eyes widen.

“They… Belonged to Fräulein Misham.” I began to feel nervous, “I… ’Borrowed’ a few, just for this occasion. With my world, this… Color doesn’t exist, so seeing this envelope that color would make him happy… P-Plus reading what you wrote would make him happy too.”

“P-Prosecutor Gavin.” He whispered. Taking some envelopes out, before giving a small smile, “Thank you. Very much for your help.”

“No problem.” I softly smile as he walked up to hug me. I sigh, “I… I’m glad to have met you.”

“Um… You can call me… M-Mr. Forehead, i-if you want.” He seems hesitant with the nickname choice, “That’s what… Our Prosecutor Gavin called me.”

“Herr… Forehead?”

Mehr stille.

“I… I called out a witness on the angle of a shot.” He started, pressing a finger to his forehead, “It was a direct contradiction, and it did involve the forehead. That’s pretty much where the nickname started.”

Oh, I must’ve gotten annoyed or amused by the contradiction.

Weird, but I guess it sort of grew into an affectionate nickname over time.

“Ach, nah, I’d rather not get too close, just in case.” I smile, though I felt bad when he winced back in hurt, “Your full name would like to be known before I call you anything, ja?”

“Oh, um.” He paused for a moment, before crossing his arms, smiling, “I’m Apollo Justice, and I’m fine.”

We stared at each other before he started to… Giggle?

He laughed for a little while, before shaking his head.

“Y-Yes. Well, m-my name is Apollo Justice.” He answered, finally, calming down, “Th-That last part is out of habit.”

He laughed for a little bit more, and the next thing I knew, I was laughing too. We both laughed together, for I don’t know how long. However, I don’t mind, nor care. He is so cute. This is gonna hurt when I wake up tomorrow.

After a while, we both calmed down, before he decided to hug me. Sighing.

“I’ll glad to have met you too. Both of you.” He smiles up at me, “I’ll make sure to send the letter first thing in the morning. I usually wake up early anyways. It’ll pass right through the mail slot. I’ll miss you, and if possible, remember the you that exists right now. Please don’t feel sad. You’ll be fine. No matter what.”

I began to tear up as he pulled away, holding my hand.

“You’re Klavier Gavin, and you’re fine!” He yells out, his eyes bright with the brightest smile he can give me ( reminds me of Fräulein Magician ), “Just remember that, and you’ll be fine. I say that every day, to pump myself up. I’m sure remembering that would help you out too.”

I wiped a tear that was rolling down my cheek.

I’ll remember that.

More tears rolled down, though. Seeing this, he just softly smiled. He pressed his forehead against mine.

“This isn’t good-bye. For I’m sure we’ll speak to each other again. Someday.” He softly whispered, “I don’t know how, but I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”

I nod, as I let it all out.

Hand in hand, we cuddled up to each other, as I suddenly felt so tired.

“Talk to ya later.” He whispers, “And I’ll deliver the letter first thing in the morning. I’m sure my Prosecutor Gavin would be so happy.”

I let myself drift off.

X-X-X-X

I shot up when I got a call.

I don’t… See anything.

No such thing as that color.

I checked the mail slot, only to realize…

Our theory was true. I am back in my own world. I decided to answer the call.

“Oh, I was worried for a second.”

I breathed to catch my breath. Heaving very hard, before I answered.

“Um, one question. What does Red mean?”

R-Red?

“Oh. Well, I can see that you’re… Our Prosecutor Gavin.”

I paused, before plotting back on the bed.

“Well, we discovered the opposite of Cold, which means Warm. Suppose to mean friendly, but it also means the opposite of temperature as well.”

Really? Is that so? It seems like he did switch places with me after all.

“Though, there is a lot to learn as well. Care to join us to discover more of what we learned last night?”

I thought about it, before deciding my answer.

“Thank you, Prosecutor Gavin. Come right over! My daughter and I will have snacks ready, just in case! Say, did you meet… Say, another kid of mine during your visit?”

Another kid? Oh, did he adopt another kid? Was it… Him? Maybe it was the girl as well.

“Wh-What!? I adopted two more kids!? Wow- how was the… Um. Guy, like?”

I sigh, as I explained. I began to connect why he was so special, in SO many ways. I certainly began to feel empty, but remembering those last moments… Really made it special.

“Um.. You’re welcome to our family, if you’d like. You sound… Heartbroken.”

… I definitely am, am I?

“Well, you’re welcome to our family, either way. We’ll try and… I guess fill in that void, s-so to speak. I don’t quite understand your pain, but I’d expect it to be heart breaking… So, I guess we’ll try to be there, the best we can.”

I smile at this. Danke, Herr Wright. Danke.

“N-No problem. Now, come over. Tell us what your experience was like? Ema is curious too.”

Fräulein Detective? Wow, even she changed. I nod, as I grabbed my favorite coat.

“Alright, talk to ya later.”

With that, he hung up, and I went out the door.

I’ll miss him, but…

I’ll be fine.

That’s what he says, right?

I’ll be fine.

X-X-X-X The End.

#ace attorney #gyakutin saiban #apollo justice #klavier gavin #odoroki housuke #kyouya garyuu #alternate universe - redless #fanfic #fanfiction #klapollo #kyodoroki

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fanbun · 7 years

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(previous part - 21)

[HERE IS THE BORING PART WHERE WE TELL YOU HOW IT ALL HAPPENED AND THANK EVERYONE AND STUFF]

We started this project quite a long time ago, around the beginning of the year 2000 with me, Sibot, and Felix Laband before the whole max normal thing got started, but then i had to fight with Roach and Fletcher (which was kind of like my fault) and i said i didn’t want to speak to them again. Then I got bored with the max normal project because it didn’t accomodate my need to make new songs all the time, plus i had just met Markus Wormstorm who is the only person who makes music as fast as me. Then I phoned Fletcher and said sorry for being a dick and he said it’s ok, then i asked him if he still wanted to work with me and he said ...mmm, ok... so we started recording again (i had said sorry to Felix a little while before that.) Me and Si were a little scared to leave our comfort zone, but we were both really happy to be living in Cape Town and working on a skill-oriented album, so we didn’t really mind being poor for a year and starting from scratch again. Me and Markus went into Tim Parrs studio and finished recording all the vocals in three days because of our incredible pre-production ability. Then Markus deleted the whole album on the last day by mistake... well, he said he did it on purpose because he thought I could do better, but nobody really believed him. So we re-recorded the album but then we went into this whole lengthy, unexpected process (capetown is wierd like that) which involved meeting a whole bunch of new artists who shared similar visions to us, working harder than any of us have worked in our whole lives, and kind of like stepping back and letting go a bit as this constructus thing started growing into its own creature. Anica the Snufling came to join us on vocals as well as Rick Flare, Darrel, Michelle, Johnny Stokes, Mr Rockadopolis, and Shabang. Then i met a truly strange character called Nikhil Singh who moved in with me and drew the beautiful comic which follows this. Nik also played the guitar on ‘hot-water’ as well as with my head which was in need of a little tampering at the time. Risk hit us with the idea for our constructus icon (the robot throwing up the ball)... Jan taught me these cool excercizes you can do on a jungle-gym, Devin helped me invent the BLOOD-NOSE PUSSY-BOY story (and might even help me out with it more, if i’m lucky)... Berlin East stole my underpants and wore them ontop of his pants to this one party, Si got a final scratch which he is very happy with, and we all started working on our live show because we didn’t rehearse properly for our first shows and our performances were pretty kak... but we’ve been working real hard and we like really, really good now. I also made this other song which I love more than anything with my friend Dan Roberts called ‘Scum Deluxe’ which is actually a present for my other friend Lux Janssen, but some of the lads from our camp were a little nervous of putting a country song on the album so i’m going to put it out with Alien on Chameleon Records (on ‘MY FAVORITE SONGS AT THE MOMENT’ project). Also we couldn’t fit the entire saga on one cd so we decided to put them on our web-sight so that people can download them for free and make their own double cd. You can also download our wonderful little motivational movie called: HOW TO BECOME A BETTER PERSON THE MUSICAL for free off our site plus a whole lot of other nifty this’ and thats’. Inca has been building a visual library of our constructus imagery that she edits live behind us when we perform so that the show expands into an entirely infinite virtual realm. Also all the music videos and movies we making are intricately laced to the plot so that, in about a year or so from now, you’ll be able to watch them all together like one of those cool, old-fashioned musicals. If anyone asks you what kind of music we make you must say that it’s called BOOM BAM, cos it’s new and we don’t really like hip-hop anymore cos it’s dumb. We feel that the spirit the art movement we represent needs a name that represents it properly, so there you have it: BOOM BAM. If anyone asks you what BOOM BAM is you can say that it’s computer game music. BOOM BAM artists (or programmers) create their own original alternate reality’s complete with their own characters and sound-tracks. The programmers assume a more background role while their characters become the celebrities. Daniel Levi introduced me to Random Boy and Kidtronic a long time ago (as well as inventing Kidtronic’s handwriting and being a huge inspiration to this whole project.) He’s going to be doing a whole lot of stuff with us which i’m really happy about cos Daniel is really clever and is also one of the illest directors alive on Earth as well as one of my favorite people ever. Magdeline and Timon played violin on the track he’s going to be making a video for soon called V. Marc Lottering has been looking after me the whole year, being my friend and also making sure i’m not hungry... dankie dankie dankie maneer, you have been the shark-net in my paddling pool... ...the fuel in my flame-thrower, the mushy stuff in my tinkie. William Shatner also helped me out beautifully using her advanced therapeutic techniques and so i’d like to say thankyou honey, you the shit xxx. African Dope Records are the coolest label i could have ever possibly dreamed to work with, plus they pretend not to notice when i steal fruit and veggies from their entrance hall. Roach is my daddy, i love him more than he knows. Heather looks after us so so nicely and Ian says wierd, clever stuff the whole time that i sometimes don’t always understand right away, which i dig. Also we thank Bell Roberts for recognizing what we doing and backing our shit... Maude, Johan, Cedwax and Benwar for looking after us so nicely in France and sparking our little international expansion... and Fletcher, Inca and Si thanks for the best time in the world ever. Maria, thankyou for being such a darling and for activating Metatron One. Also to my man Fungus the mutated lung for taking me out, giving birth to Johnny Stokes and for being so fuckin ill and Ginny Grindith for being so fuck you (the space between words is very beautiful man) Anwar, Jo#an, Turbeou Jones, the lovely lady Rosalux and everyone else who worked on HOW TO BECOME A BETTER PERSON - episode one... thankyou so much, we got lots of stuff to do now ...Jill for being written in our future Kriek for your entirely harmonic vibrational frequency. Brendan and Stephan from Session magazine for keeping this whole independent thing strong... and Clint, you can use any of my music for anything, whenever... you the motherfuckin man homie. Godessa and Squatter Comp for bringing it like you do. Anica says I have to say thankyou to her three times, so thankyou Anica for gracing us with your existence... all hail the voodoo-boogie shake-down queen.. thankyou so much for being such a brat, and thankyou for buying me this notepad i’m writing all this stuff in <3 ...Duncan, hello... thanks for making sure we always have vegetarian food on the planes, and for organizing our shit and for being able to handle me, here we go sir. Also we would like to thank The Venerable Emperor Of The Known Universe for establishing our communicative link with The Jellyfish. And to Si and Dunc’s mom and dad for being so nice to us and believing in us. And Markus and Anri’s parents, Rosa, Piet, Ben and Elna for raising their kids so well. And to Andrew and Goody for telling us we so ill. Mama, Boo, Dyl, and the Debsta, love you, love you, love you, love you for ever and ever and ever and ever, amen. And to other Andrew who won’t let me start an informative lifestyle magazine with his face on the cover called Andrew... punk, thanks for breathing life into our jellyfish. And Mark and Sean for all the good times and for all the music we made together and to Al my pal for turbo-charging my career... i’m glad we friends again. Ay rob, sick mix of ‘Body-snatchers’ (comming out soon) ta mister. Also Felix Laband, Sibot, and Markus Wormstorm are my favorite artists in the whole world, and Anica is my favorite vocalist ever and i know them. The Lensta’s not so bad himself but if he dyes my poodle pink one more time i’m going to tell his mom about the incedent with the old blind guy. Yo petru, thanks for being so cool... Yo Si, thanks for lending me that g and for having my back. Alien, you better quit with the late night pervert calls. My friend Bernie gave me the idea for The Ambrosial Hours. Markus Wormstorm let me stay at his house for the last month of this project which was very nice of him. He also engineered and mixed most of this album (even the songs he didn’t make, much to his dissaproval) so he’s gonna get a real nice birthday present from me for his 21st in december. (sorry, i have to interrupt myself here, i just finished the nicest song ever with Len called Touch The Sky... Cher says we excellent...) Anyway, Fletcher’s been the illest, most intuitive cat to work with. He did a whole lot of gorgeous soundscaping on this album, as well as final mixing and mastering. Sibot is Jimmy Hendrix on the decks... he has advanced beyond all competition as usual. Inca is often the invisible pulse that holds this whole sucker together and has been an absolute sweetheart through and through in everything she does. She has also rented her flat out to me for a very reasonable price. Oh ja, also... we did 90% of this album in our bedrooms and we could have done it all in our bedrooms but Tim’s got such nice, old analogue equipment to do vocal stuff and final touches through, plus he’s the nicest person in the world, so we couldn’t help but work with him. We also want to point out the fact that there has been no corporate assistance whatsoever on this project and that anyone can do this with low-fi pc equipment, some pirate software and a little love. Obviously we now going to go through some corporate channels to hit as many humans as possible, but we have complete creative control and they do what we say. We would like everyone who is interested in creating art for a living to follow our example. There is no excuse for not being able to make it because of the system and everything. The system is eating it’s own tail... we just helping to stuff it further down it’s throat, while dancing around jubilously with it’s entrails around our necks (Markus made me put that last bit in.) Love is entirely unpalatable to these parasites that govern this realm and they feed off your fear, so please would everybody be so kind as to remove their food supply and act like you know so we can exterminate these poor lost fucks.

metatron one_out.

(p.s. i got the name Snufflegruff and the Bazooka-Nuker concept from Alan Moore’s D.R. and Quinch, who Random Boy is kind of obsessed with and i read the Magic Ear story in this children’s book while walking through a shopping mall one day... my version is just an adoption. Markus Wormstorm wrote most parts of this story which involve Kidtronic, which he says are the most important parts in the whole saga. Also Julia Clark is the loveliest girl ever. we got big stuff comming. My little brother Lee told me ‘the two giraffes in a bar joke’ and Markus made up ‘the Boys 2 Men thing’ that happened while Kidtronic was interacting with an old-fashioned, alternate reality. But other than that me, Sibot, Markus and Anica invented this whole thing all on our own and we are very proud of ourselves because of it.)

(END)

#the ziggurat #the constructus corporation #watkin tudor jones #waddy jones #Die Antwoord

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sourwolfs-blog · 7 years

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Sweden x Japan Part 1

Japan was on his way to Sweden. He was told by Germany to go travel and see some places. But to be honest, he knew Germany just wanted some time alone with Italy. He did get tired of feeling like a third wheel in the group, so maybe getting to travel an take some pictures would do him some good. Sweden decided to go out and visit some other cities. It was cool out, but still nice and he needed to get his mind off a few things. He was enjoying the scenery of Stockholm when he saw Japan at a cafe. He sauntered over to say hello, smiling and waving. "Hej Hej, Japan. I didn't know you were in Stockholm."Japan heard his name being called, he turned around an saw Sweden. "Konichiwa, Sweden-San. Yes, I decided to do some sightseeing. I also wanted to take some more pictures. How are you, I haven't gotten to talk to you in a while." Japan said while bowing. Sweden gave a half-bow sort of nod and shook hands with Japan. "Ja, it's been a while. How long are you in town? I could show you around if you like." He was feeling a little more talkative than usual, but oh well. It felt great to see someone who wasn't Scandinavian for a change. Japan shook his head yes. "I'm going to be staying for 2 weeks. I would enjoy it if you showed me around." Japan could tell that Sweden was more talkative then normal. But he didn't mind, maybe he could get to know him a little more now. They got something from the cafe and Sweden chatted about this and that, asking if Japan had a place to stay and talking about some old castles. It was pleasant, and the only surprising thing was a suspicious lack of Finland in their conversation. Japan was enjoying chatting about this and that. When Sweden asked if he had a place to stay, he said no. Then he asked if Sweden could show him some of his favorite sights around Stockholm. Sweden smiled again, which did wonders to soften his usually serious look. "You're welcome to stay with me, if you'd like." He offered. "As far as sights, we have an open air historical museum, some boat tours, or whatever else might entertain you. We even have a museum dedicated to ABBA." Japan smiled back at Sweden. "Thank you so much for letting me stay with you while I'm here. I really appreciate it. If you don't mind, maybe you can take me to one of the museums."Sweden nods and looks for the closest one. "There's an island nearby with good scenery and a couple museums, let's start there." He states, gesturing in their general direction."Ok, that sounds good." As they walked to the island, they were talking more. Japan could tell that Sweden was starting to open up to him. He was happy about that, because he has started to develop some feelings for the quiet Swedish man. Without either of them realizing it, they were walking closer than they normally would have. Things were going well. Sweden noticed himself opening up more, which was great. He pointed out a few buildings, and threw some fun facts in to the conversation as they walked towards the bridge. He didn't notice how close the two of them had gotten until their hands brushed against each other. Seeing as swedes typically like their space, the fact that they were walking that close probably meant something. And although he tried to play it off, Sweden could feel his face getting warmer with a blush. Japan was having a lot of fun learning about the different Swedish things. But he hadn't noticed how close they were walking, until their hands brushed together. When that happened, he could feel his face becoming very warm. He tried to look away from Sweden, so that he wouldn't notice how red his face was. And instead of jerking his hand away, he let it stay where it was. Which is very unlike Japan, considering he likes his personal space. Sweden spared a quick glance at Japan, but it only made things worse now that he was noticing how attractive Japan was. His blush deepened as he let his hand brush over the other's again. Japan could feel Sweden look at him, which make him blush more. After he looked away, Japan couldn't help but glance over at him. Which was a bad idea, now he knows one of the things that made him fall for the Swedish man. He then noticed their hands brushing together again. This time he wasn't so surprised, he actually enjoyed it. So he let his hand brush against the others while letting his hand linger close by. When he knew he could get away with it, Sweden moved his hand slightly to take hold of the other's. He was nervous now, but all this spur-of-the-moment stuff was exciting. He braves another look in Japan's direction and hopes he won't mess up such a nice moment. Japan a little surprised, but more happy than anything. He tightened his grip on Sweden's hand, so the other would know it was ok. At this point, he decided to look at him. He was embarrassed but happy when he caught Sweden looking at him too. He smiled sweetly at him and gave his hand a light squeeze. Sweden smiled some more, almost looking like Denmark at this point. And before they knew it they had made it over one of the many bridges in the city (there's around 14 islands in the Stockholm area). From here they could see a large building with what looked like ship masts sticking out over the top to one side, and a cluster of small and old looking villages to the other. "So, which way should we head now?" Sweden inquires, giving the hand in his a light squeeze. Japan smiled again at Sweden. "Lets go see the villages, I would like to take some pictures." As they walked towards the villages, Japan walked closer to Sweden. Almost pressing himself into Sweden's side. Sweden chuckled a bit to himself, it was odd and amusing to see Japan of all people this cute and cuddly. As they reached the gates of the museum it was like stepping back in time to a whole other world. Sweden sighed fondly, embracing a wave of memories and subconsciously pulling Japan closer. They were walking around looking and taking pictures. Sweden was telling him some good memories that he had. By the time they had gotten to the end of the museum, it was a lot later. Japan was getting hungry. "I'm getting a little hungry, do you want to get something to eat? Maybe you can take us to one of your favorite restaurants." By this point, Sweden had his arm around Japan's shoulders and Japan had his arm around Sweden's waist. Sweden thought for a minute, running through a list of Nordic cuisine places in his head. This chance meeting had escalated into a date, a date he desperately needed, and there was no way in hell he was about to mess this up. "I assume you'd like to sample the local cuisine," he hummed thoughtfully "so, modern or traditional?" "I would like to try the traditional food. I've never had it before." Japan said. Now that Japan thought about it, this had turned into a date. Not that he minded, he was actually happy. Plus, he didn't think something like this would happen when he came to here. Sweden noded and smiled, he knew just the place. Leading them away from the scenery of the museum, he turned a few corners and took them to an old building that had been converted into a restaurant. It was pricey, but good and authentic. "They offer a number of old Scandinavian favorites here." He said as they were sat down "The best way the sample them will be the smorgasbord." He smiles, and orders them a bottle of wine. Japan smiled back at him. As they started to sip the wine, Sweden ordered some food to them. They tried many things until they were full. By the time they were done eating, they were halfway through the bottle of wine, and it was dark outside. "Thank you for showing me around today, I really enjoyed myself. Maybe we can do this again tomorrow." Japan smiled at Sweden across the table. Sweden smiles some more and laughs softly. "Not a problem. How about we get some rest now, Ja?" He replies, paying for dinner and taking them to his flat. Back across the bridge and past the cafe where they had encountered each other. With the sun gone, the day had gone from cool to chilly. He kept an arm around his date, keeping him warm as they trekked the whole way back. On the walk to Sweden's flat, Japan was thinking of what has happened today. He had to say, this one of the most amazing days he has had in a while. He would have to thank Germany when he gets back. He hadn't even noticed that they were at Sweden's flat already, he must have been deep I thought. As they sent inside, Japan was happy to be inside where it was warm. As he took his jacket off, he could tell he was getting tired from the days activities. Plus, the jet-lag was finally kicking in. Sweden made sure Japan was comfortable in the main room before going to set up the guest bedroom. Everything seemed in place so he went back to sit beside the other, resting an arm on the back of the couch. While Japan waited for Sweden to get back he was having a hard time staying awake. When he felt Sweden sit down next to him, he leaned over and put his head on Sweden's shoulder. He ended up falling asleep almost immediately after his head landed on his shoulder. Sweden smiled, pulling Japan into his lap to hold him. He stayed there, holding him until he heard the soft snoring that meant the other was asleep enough to move. Carefully, he stood up and carried Japan into the guest bedroom, doing his best to lay him down gently. He brought the blankets up, tucking him in, and took only a few moments to study the soft features of Japan's sleeping face before turning to leave the room. Japan sleep the whole night, it was a peaceful nights rest. As he sat up he rubbed his eyes while yawning. It was still early in the morning, so he decided to go see if Sweden was awake. He got out of bed an walked to the door, once he got to the door he could here sounds coming from the kitchen. He followed the sound, coming across Sweden cooking.

#hetalia #kiku honda #berwald oxenstierna #yaoi #sweden #japan #cute #fluffy

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gregoriusism-blog · 4 years

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Stuck in the holms short story

Stuck in the holms Erik opened his eyes. He stood up and looked around him. He was on a tropical beach he’d never seen before. “How did I end up here?” he whispered disquieted. He tried to recall recent events. His mind was blank. “Think, think!” he squeezed his mind harder. He remembered being in Stockholms’ metro train on 24th February 2016. The train headed towards Rinkeby, the area he lived. He could also remember himself checking the internet with his android. He wanted to attend a party in the city center. “And then what?” he asked himself. He recalled that he had found out that the party would take place in a club near Sergels Torg. After that, no memory, nothing. A cold chill ran down his spine. “An amnesia?” his loud voice grated like a false note. His words momentarily disrupted the harmonious sound of the sea waves that splashed to the shore. The overwhelming continuity of the whistling wind sent their remembrance swiftly to oblivion. A calmness replaced his unsettlement. “Okay Erik,” he talked to himself, “there has to be a reasonable explanation for this.” Squatting, he gathered his thoughts. “First goal, establish identity. Who am I?” Working as a bank clerk with a passion for collecting empty butter bean cans instead of recycling them, Erik was an otherwise normal guy. Relatively tall, average built, blue eyes, late 20s. A lower middle class person. “Ja, det är jag.” he confirmed in his mother language, Swedish. Then, he observed his clothing; a brown leather jacket, a blue shirt and military green pants. The same clothes he wore the night the stream of his memory stopped. Nevertheless, grey salty stains tainted these now weathered garments, signifying their exposure to sea and time. “What's the date?” he glanced at his wrapped around his wrist watch. A watch that told the time right only for 1 second a day. Water must have seeped in. “50 meters underwater resistance! 1 – year guarantee!” Erik spat angrily on the ground and instantly regretted it; a survivor must always retain liquids, until he finds a sustainable way to replenish them. “Sjit!” he cursed and habitually spat again which made him even more angry and about to spit again. “Jävla idiot!” he barked and held his chin with his hands to prevent himself from wasting saliva. And then, the answer came to him like the sensation of a fluffy towel covering his cheeks. “About 3 inches,” Erik fiddled his newly discovered beard. “I’ve left a beard in the past and remember it grew about an inch per month.” He further calculated: “So, at least three months must have passed since that day. This means we must be nearing the end of May.” He noticed he was already sweating. “Was I involved in a plane or a ship tragedy?” Erik wondered as he took off his jacket. The removal of the jacket made him feel open and vulnerable. He searched his body for recent wounds, especially around the head. No wounds, nothing. His hair appeared longer though, which made his hypothesis of the 3 month time lapse even more plausible. He looked around him. The left and right hand sides of the beach curved in the distance. Tropical trees covered the entrance to the beach. Erik was standing on fine sand. “Moreover,” he inquired, “am I standing on an island or on mainland? I have to find out." He made a mental note of his starting point and began to walk counterclockwise. If he was on an island, he would meet at the same point where he started. “Plus,” he added, “if I find plane or ship debris, I will know for sure that I was travelling in it and that some tragedy happened.” He prayed he was in the mainland. That would increase his chances of being found. If on the contrary he was on an island, he at least hoped he could find a means to survive and a means to call for help or to escape. The beach line continued to curve leftwards. If at some point the line turned to the right, it would increase the probability of him being in the mainland. On his right hand side, heat induced steam blurred the horizon, making it impossible to see far into the distance. In front of him, several piled up boulders formed a wall of nature and hid what lay behind them. Erik approached the wall and walked parallel to it. He stepped into the water and the sensation of wetness felt unpleasant. Sea urchins decorated the rocky seabed. With waddling movements, Erik avoided stepping on them. After reaching the right hand side of the boulder pile, he leaped. His feet rose above the water surface and dived in again like infant dolphins, the buoyancy of the sea slightly slowing their descent, as if they landed on the moon. No quaint scenery as that of the moon behind the rocks, though. Just the place he started. "An island it is then," Erik calmly said. Strangely, he expected this to happen. It took him only 2 hours to reach his starting point, which signified a small island. He didn't notice any signs of ship or plane remnants around the perimeter of the island. “No survivors to be found or supplies from debris," he concluded. "Possibly nobody lives here. So, what follows is: can someone survive here?” The word survive resurfaced long withheld and cast aside sensations: hunger and thirst. “When did I eat for the last time?” he asked himself. “Did I have anything within the last 8 hours?” After several brash attempts of swallowing air and squeezing his stomach with his abs to burp, he ended up with a bland: “ErrrrP!” “My stomach is empty. I haven’t had food for at least a day.” His dread came back stronger “Mat!! Vatten!!!” A buzzing sound headed towards his left ear. The Doppler Effect in effect. The effect that the Doppler Effect in effect had on Erik, was to make him jump to the side. He looked towards the source of the buzz. A giant wasp near the size of his fist did its afternoon aerobatics! Some people are terrified when they see bugs. But not Erik. Erik stood his ground. He wouldn't let something that was bugging him get away so easily. He duck carefully and dug a lump of sand with his palm. “Eat this!” he said and threw the sand towards his perceived annoyance. The sand particles scattered like a double barreled shotgun shot and showered on the abnormally big insect. The wasp fled and entered the forest. “There you go,” Erik triumphantly said. “I’m not done yet!” Erik felt the last remnants of his panic fade away. His hunger and thirst reduced in intensity. He still breathed and would not give up so easily! There had to be a way out of the island and there had to be food and water around. How did that huge insect grow so big anyway? “So, two things need to be found: location and food. Which one goes first?” The periphery of his eagle eyed vision caught something interesting: towards the center of the island, beyond the forest, a mountain protruded from the ground. It appeared to be roughly 100m tall. “Jättebra!” he exclaimed in Swedish. “I’ll see if I can make it to the top. That will give me a clear view of the surrounding area. And since I haven’t been to the forest, I might find nutritional resources.” An eerie and mysterious aura came from the forest. “Danger,” Erik thought, “any type of protection nearby?” The border of the forest was populated with fallen tree branches. He searched for a piece of wood that could classify as a crude version of a quarter staff. A relatively thick and straight piece of wood that matched the above description lay in front of him. Erik picked up the branch. Hoping not to have to use his newly acquired weapon, Erik took a deep breath and delved deep into the forest. *** Three small islands surrounded the island Erik inhabited. The first formed a triangle, the second a square and the third a pentagon. The one he stood on was a perfect circle! “Am I dreaming?” Erik said and pinched himself on the hand. The pain felt real and it didn't wake him up. "This cannot happen in nature." he said. Baffled, he began to descend. You might now wonder, what happened before Erik climbed up. Some unidentified non – fruit bearing trees came his way. He also spotted some mysterious tropical bugs, none of which looked as grotesque as the enormous wasp he saw before. Thankfully, at the base of the mountain, a pond with drinkable water resided along with some fruit bearing banana trees; a spectacle that made Erik yell disgusted “Attans bananer!” a Swedish expression that means “dammit!” Yes, Erik hated bananas and now he had to eat them to survive. But, just as he had come to terms with the idea of eating this fruit for sustainance and just as he was finishing his descent, he noticed a change in the scenery. No more pond, and no more banana trees. "Attans bananer!" Erik yelled again, this time with longing instead of disgust. His disgust instantly turned to surprise, as he realised he wasn't alone. A 4 feet tall, female greenish faerie looking creature with large pointy ears and earthly brown curly hair stared at him with a smirk on her face. “Hello human!” the creature greeted with an almost helium balloon ingested voice. “You are right, as you said, this cannot happen in nature! Only aliens can do this!” *** Erik’s jaw dropped. “Al… iens?” he stuttered. "How is this possible?" “It's possible," the creature replied, "because aliens do exist." Erik did not reply and stared dazzled. The female figure carried on with the introductions: "I’m ix2,” she said, “and I belong to the Pako race.” “How did you know what I considered?" Erik snapped out of his mental paralysis. "Are you telepathic?" "Telepathy doesn’t work as you think it does. But even if it did, I wouldn’t need to use any; you were thinking out loud.” “I guess I did.” Erik realized and then inquired, slightly annoyed: “Were you spying on me?” “You are our guest,” the female faerie looking alien replied. "It’s only natural we would be interested in observing a guest.” Erik remembered his amnesia. “Why have I forgotten how I got here?” he demanded. ix2 coldly worded: “Because it is part of the process." "What process?" "Well, in technical terms, we have abducted you.” “Vad?!?” Erik barked. “How dare you kidnap me! Set me free now or I’ll beat the hell out of you!” Erik lifted his arm and waved it like a vibrating from an earthquake pylon. ix2 yawned. “The intricacies of human languages. You are not a kid and you’re not taking a nap.” Then she turned her head towards Erik: “You are not a threat to us human. Relax and I’ll explain.” “Okay,” Erik agreed and put his anger aside. “I’m listening.” “You are part of an experiment, we are studying your species. And the test subject, happens to be you.” “What happened to my memories?” “Your memories will be withheld from you until the end of the experiment. You must not remember, otherwise this experiment will lose its purpose.” Erik sat on the ground, his head tilting downwards. “I... I... what am I supposed to do here?” he stammered desperately. “Oh... humans,” the she-alien said, “always their emotions getting the best out of them.” ix2 waved an arch with her hands above her head. “You are free to explore these islands, human,” she encouraged him, “there are many interesting things you can discover. In time, you might even begin to like our secret hideout.” “What?!?” Erik bellowed and got up performing an unreal movement, as if someone filmed his falling before and played it in reverse. “Me, like this place? Never!” “You’ll see, you can satisfy all your desires here.” ix2 winked. “The only thing you can’t do is leaveee.” That last v sounded prolonged and had a subtle giggle in it. Erik grimaced, his facial features blending between indignation and disgust. "But I have to leave," ix2 disregarded Erik's anger. Her body began to fade away. “I’ve raised paths that can take you from one island to the next," she announced. Just before she completely disappeared, ix2 said with a singing voice: “And who knows who you'll meet there?” *** Erik, on the other hand had no desire to meet anybody. “I've got to get out of here!" he spluttered and spit got out of his mouth. "But how?” he immediately thought afterwards. “This place is like a prison, cut out from the world.” “I’ve heard that aliens usually collaborate with governments to make their experiments.” Erik thought. “So what if there’s a federal craft lying around?” He scanned the island in search for a means of escape. He noticed that many of the fruitless trees now bore edible fruit. Many artificial ponds were formed out of nowhere. Erik tested the water and confirmed he could drink it. Spending most of the day searching the circular island, he found no abandoned vessels nor other life forms. He did locate the pathways ix2 mentioned. “I’m too exhausted,” Erik thought. “I’ll continue my search tomorrow.” He found an opening in the forest that looked safe enough and dropped flat on the ground. Just before falling asleep, Erik momentarily thought about his previous life in Stockholm. A cold climate yet shelter that provided physical comfort. Nothing like here. He swiftly drifted into the realm of Morpheus. *** Erik woke up tired. The physical exhaustion from his unused muscles started to show up. “The amnesia is artificial caused by aliens,” Erik thought, “so it might not be possible to undo it.” The remembrance of his encounter with ix2 before reignited his indignation. “Jävla sjit!” he grunted. He got up and fetched his staff. “I am going to escape!” he declared determined. He decided to first visit the triangular island, then the square and lastly the pentagonal one. Then, he came up with a terrible realization. “The aliens are telepathic and can read my thoughts!” he realised and felt a cold chill running through his spine like a slithering defrosted snake. “If that is so, there is nothing I can do. It's as if I’m an average chess player competing with the most powerful chess engine on the planet! Is it even possible to win?” "Telepathy doesn’t work as you imagine," Erik remembered ix2’s words. He didn't understand what the alien meant, but if telepathy didn't work as he thought it did, maybe the aliens were not able to read his thoughts after all. It gave him some hope. He didn't have anything to lose by trying to find a way out. Pointing with the edge of his staff towards the triangular island, he exclaimed: “Let’s do it!” and began walking. The bridge lay ahead. Erik noticed it was formed out of sand, as if the bottom of the ocean had lifted itself to make for a safe passage between the isles. Erik crossed the bridge and explored the triangular isle thoroughly. Apart from the edges of the triangle looking severely acute, nothing stood out, nothing that indicated the island hid any means of escape. Crossing the next connecting bridge, he proceeded to the square isle. Nothing out of the ordinary in that island. Only some different type of vegetation. “My last hope,” he muttered, “the pentagonal one. Come on!” His search there revealed nothing again. Frustrated, Erik returned to the circular island and ate some bananas, while at the same time he mumbled, “Jävla potatisar!” and not attans bananer. He longed for potatoes, you see. “Suo, whapt nown?” he said chewing and threw the last banana leaf on the sand. “It seamz therez now wey aut” he gulped. “Or, if there is, it is very well hidden! The clues have to be more subtle.” He strained his mind to remember for signs, and noticed that as he strode through the islands before, he focused too much on the external environment and his mood swings went under the radar. More specifically, on the triangular island, he couldn’t help but think about the opposite sex. On the square isle he constantly thought about his friends and family and finally on the pentagonal isle, he felt the need to delve deep into philosophical conversations. Could that have been a coincidence? The sun directly above Erik’s head signified the start of midday. “Guess I still have time to look into this today. I’ll go for another island tour.” Even though he had apparently secured his daily food and water supply and could possibly survive for months, Erik felt he had to make haste. Making it look like a tour frenzy in an exotic island family, Erik did notice that his mood indeed changed when he entered each specific island; thoughts about women on the triangle, family and relatives on the square and philosophical topics on the pentagon. But, nothing more than that. “That’s too deliberate to be a coincidence,” Erik thought. “Is this what ix2 meant before – something about satisfying my desires?” “I haven’t had a girlfriend for some time now, I don’t visit my family often, and the discussions I have with my friends are not deep enough. So, ix2 and her kin seem to know my true desires.” A feeling of powerlessness overwhelmed him. “They know me, but I don’t know them! What can I do against such an opponent? Really, nothing!” Erik fell on his knees and covered his face with his palms. It felt like game over. Stuck in these mysterious holms, no way out, he would be a witless pawn until the end. Then, as he opened his eyes, his peripheral vision caught a figure in the sea. It looked like a man with a beard. Erik’s head began to turn to the left. The figure began moving. Erik’s head turned more, rotating at 45 degrees. Figure still not still and blurry. A giant fish maybe diving into the ocean? Fish scales glittering from the sunlight. His eyes finally locked on the target. The image became clear; the end of a fishes’ tail sinking into the ocean and water splashing upwards. “Hey!” Erik shouted and like a metal spring detached from its metal hook, he stood up. “Vänta! Wait!” He ran to the shore, a distance nearly 50 meters from where he saw that… thing? The aquatic life form had vanished. “Where did it go?” Erik asked both excited and terrified. Excited due to his renewed hopes of escape and terrified because, what on the seven seas was that? His mind automatically assembled the puzzle pieces and he got the final picture: a male mermaid. Erik wondered: “Could this be another alien race that participates in the experiment as well?” "No time for that," he muttered as he returned to the present moment. “Where did the creature go?” Circular waves propagated from where the mysterious life form sank. Inside the water, a myriad undulating lines began from the diving point and lead towards... “There!” Erik grunted and fixed his gaze at the end of the line trajectory. The creature had cautiously resurfaced from the water, to breathe or to see if Erik had lost it. “Got you now!” Erik shouted and sprinted towards it. His arms opened as if he held a fishing net, ready to throw it at his amphibian spy. The mermaid, surprised, dove again into the water and tried to escape. However, its motion kept disturbing the water, making it easy for Erik to keep track of its location. The chase continued for a couple of minutes. Who would tire first, Erik or his prey? Erik believed that the mermaid would and could, swim into the deep ocean. However, for some strange reason, the creature didn’t. “Could this be a setup as well?” Erik slowed down suspicious. At that instant, the amphibian halted. Erik immediately stopped. “If the creature was exhausted it would gradually slow down before stopping. Not like this. Smells fishy.” The creature then rose from the water. From the waist up a middle aged man with a yellowish rough skin looked at Erik with calm eyes. He carried a white long beard. From the waist down, a fish's tail took the place of where normally feet would grow. A mermaid. Erik examined the masculine figure further. A pendant hang across his neck. An elliptical stone was attached on the pendant. “Who are you?” Erik asked cautiously. “Why were you spying on me?” “I wasn’t spying,” the mermaid replied with a naturally deep voice. “I was just curious.” “Curious of what?!?” Erik continued interrogating. “Of what a human is doing alone in these islands.” “You mean you don’t know? You’re not part of the experiment?” "The experiment?” the he – mermaid asked. “What are you talking about?" “I mean the experiment! ” Erik shot back angrily. "THE EXPERIMENT! JÄVLA!” The last words came pouring out of his mouth like hot magma and it also physically felt like it, as a stream of stomach acid regurgitated and burned his tongue. It all sounded too convenient. A mermaid, who by coincidence could speak English. Who was he trying to fool? “How is it that you speak English?” Erik blew hot steam out of his lips. “Speaking?” the humanoid asked. "You do not hear my voice right now, I'm transmitting my thoughts to you.” The creature was telling the truth. Erik felt so dazzled about the situation that he didn't notice the mermaid's mouth being constantly shut. “My language,” the mermaid man continued, “is not comprehensible by humans, because humans can’t hear high pitched sounds. I can only send you my thoughts and your brain translates them to your language.” Erik stood silent, listening. “So, about the experiment,” the mermaid insisted, “care to tell me about it?” Erik didn’t know the true intentions of the humanoid, but he let go of his resistance and told him about his loss of memory, about his encounter with ix2, the Pakos and the experiment. “Peculiar,” the creature finally broke its silence, “this place drew me because of the energy irregularities around the area. Little did I know.” Erik interrupted: “Are you really a mermaid?” “Yes, we have an underground civilization that many of your species suspect exist.” “What’s your name?” “Tetr’ton.” “I’m Erik.” “Pleased to meet you Erik.” Erik remembered ix2's words: Telepathy doesn't work as you imagine. By saying that, she implied that it was not possible to read thoughts with telepathy. Yet this new entity, suggested otherwise. Erik planned to shed light into the topic. “ix2 said that it is not possible to talk to each other by thought. Yet here you are, disproving him. Did he lie to me?” “That could be,” Tetr’ton replied, “and it is also possible that ix2s’ kind has a different form of telepathy, a less evolved one.” “What does a less evolved form of telepathy look like?” Erik curiously asked. “I would suspect, according to how the history of how our species evolved, that the alien race of ix2 can read emotions. They can feel how another person feels. We mermaids can feel what others feel and read their thoughts.” “I see,” Erik said, satisfied by Tetr’tons’ explanation. “Where are we anyway?” “We are in what you humans call the Pacific Ocean.” “The Pacific?” Erik shouted. “How on Earth did I end up here?” Then Erik remembered his alien induced amnesia. His desire to leave his prison became stronger. Looking around for a means to escape, his eyes locked on Tetr’ton. “Could you transfer me back on a continent please?” “No, unfortunately,” Tetr’ton replied. “I cannot swim such a long distance.” “Can anybody from your home help me?” “I don’t think they would be willing to meet you. Mermaids are very suspicious of outsiders.” The he – mermaid then looked to be thinking of something. When he finally spoke, if one could assign a smell on his words, that would have been the scent of roses. “I explored the islands as you did,” Tetr’ton said, “and realized that each island can grant true some of your desires.” Erik connected the dots. “So it wasn’t just my idea when I had different impulses on each island. However, these were just fantasies. Nothing of what I imagined came true.” “That's because you didn’t stay very long in each island,” the mermaid man said, “it takes time to materialise a thought, even with the aid of alien technology.” “I see,” Erik nodded, “so this is what the aliens want me to do, study me when I act on my desires.” “That doesn't sound so bad!” Tetr’ton exclaimed. “Is he trying to manipulate me?” Erik thought and inquired: “When I chased you earlier, why did you stop? And why haven’t the aliens caught you yet?” “I didn't sense any hostility in you,” Tetr’ton replied. “You were not trying to harm me, so I halted. The aliens cannot detect me because I stay hidden in a different vibrational frequency universe.” Erik knew that he should have taken what Tetr’ton said with a pinch of salt, wrong, two pinches of salt. However, he felt he had no choice. “Have you searched what’s beneath the surface?” Erik demanded. “Is there any underwater passage you have noticed?” “No.” Tetr'ton flatly stated. “Jävla,” Erik thought and exhaled with a snarl. “if what this creature says is true, I’m stuck here.” The feeling of powerlessness came back. Erik sat on the sand. “What am I going to do now?” “I don’t know,” Tetr’ton said, “if I were you, I would have gone with the flow; let them take their results and hope to return home in the future, if they allowed me to.” “Can you call for help?” Erik asked desperate. “It will take a long time to contact the nearest human authorities. I have duties to attend to and cannot abandon them. Also, not me nor any of my people would risk revealing themselves to humans.” It seemed there was nothing else that Erik could do. Maybe the way out was in. And then again, who knew what the aliens really had in store for him? It might have been something good. If he attempted to escape, with his limited survival knowledge he would have probably drowned in the ocean. “Alright,” he decided, “I'll just have to see the end of this!” *** Erik began from the pentagonal isle. The idea of meeting a woman made him nervous. “Go with the easy ones, first. Plus, I find philosophical topics intriguing.” He walked to the island and, as before, his desire to discuss about philosophical topics became stronger. “What's going to happen if I stay longer than before?” Erik wondered. "Time to see!” Sitting on the sand, Erik observed the environment; the sun and the small waves that splashed on his feet. "They all look beautiful," he thought, "but are they real?" What Erik had in mind was the limited perception of the senses. Humans can only see colors in the red – violet spectrum and hear sounds with frequency between 20 to 20000 hertz. Erik cast a stone that splashed against the deceitfully beautiful waves and sank into the seabed. He whispered indignated: “What’s really out there is not what I see!” “Both correct and incorrect,” a gentle female voice intervened. “Vad? Who’s there?” Erik barked and turned his head towards the source of the voice. A tall, young woman stood in front of him. She had long brown hair that glittered in the sun and wore a white dress. Her oval shaped head was adorned with attractive Mediterranean features: dark eyebrows, light brown eyes and naturally fleshy lips. Despite her physical beauty though, there was a non – sexual quality about her. Even though Erik couldn't recollect ever seeing her, he felt comfortable in her presence, as if he already knew her. “Your observation is correct,” the woman agreed, “your physical senses perceive only a part of the universe. However, the universe is made from self – repetitions, similarity under different scales.” “Fractals?” Erik suggested. “The theory of chaos?” “Yes,” the woman agreed. “You see a limited part of the universe, yet, within that limited part, the whole of the universe is contained. So, in a sense you are the universe, and thus, you are limitless.” “Oh, I’ve never thought of that,” Erik said surprised. “Where have you heard that, did you think it by yourself? And who are you anyway?” “I’m Eravia,” the woman said, “and I’m here to assist you in this experiment.” “You really want to assist me?” Erik demanded. “Then show me the way out!” The woman smiled. “You think it’s all about you? You don’t think about contributing to the greater good?” “I like to be asked before participating in something. I don't like being forced to do things!” “The experiment requires that you have no choice!” the woman explained. “I see,” Erik gravely nodded. “In response to your previous question though, I do like to contribute to the greater good. It’s not all about me, I’m not selfish!” “That’s fine,” Eravia smiled, “it’s good that you like to help the whole. However, you’re mistaken; it is all about you.” “Hurså?” Erik asked. “The world you see around you, is filtered through your senses, your beliefs and your emotions. You see that mountain over there and you think it is lonely. You see the color grey and you associate it with dullness and mundanity. You do that.” “Are you saying that…” “Yes,” the woman agreed, “everything is neutral in the cosmos and you give it a value, good or bad. The world you perceive, is a reflection of you. Nothing really exists, but you.” “That’s nonsense,” Erik said, “other people and other life forms exist as well.” “They do,” the woman replied, “but what they reflect to you is a part of yourself.” “That is difficult to digest,” Erik stated, even though he could grasp what Eravia meant. Eriks’ thoughts of escaping returned. “So, what is the point of this discussion, apart that it’s interesting?” “The only point is that you satisfy your desires. If by having a mentally stimulating dialogue this can be achieved, then so be it.” “I see,” Erik nodded, “I think I need some time now to process this. Can I stay by myself?” “Of course you can,” the woman said and vanished like hot steam. Erik thought this through. His desires. Here he had a chance to fulfill them. Back in Stockholm, it was very difficult to find people with common interests. He had a very small circle of friends and didn't even have a girlfriend. Maybe, this experiment benefitted him as well. “I’ve always tried to satisfy the needs of others,” he reflected, “never my own. In this place I could finally do that.” Realising what this implied, he snapped out of it and angrily kicked the sand. The sand particles scattered in the air before becoming absorbed by the waves. “I shouldn't think like that,” he reconsidered, “my goal is to find a way out. I'll stick to that.” “Should I proceed now to the square island?” he wondered. The sun was close to set but it was still day, so he had time for one more visit. As he crossed the bridge to the square isle, he cogitated upon his earlier conversation with Eravia. That… woman? “A Youniverse,” he thought, “however, no matter where I look, I can’t see my face!” And then, realizing he hadn’t looked at his face ever since he set foot on these islands, he searched for a natural mirror. He stood over the edge of the sand bridge and studied his reflection on the water. The beard on his face made him look rough and tired. But something on the top of his head woke him up. “Why is my hair so short?” Erik wondered as he checked his scalp. The hair did not exceed 1 inch in length. “I would never cut my hair military style,” Erik thought, “I prefer it longer, around 5 – inches.” Him having shorter hair could only mean one thing for him: The aliens cut his hair. “A very sloppy job, with a lack of taste, I must say," he continued as he rubbed his palm on his scalp to soothe his irritation. He then said: “Is it possible for a haircut to be a trigger for past events? What if I try to remember?” Erik sat and began straining his mind to recall the past. Nothing came up. “Oh, shoot,” he gave up, “I think I’ll just get going.” Erik did not set foot on the square island until late afternoon. Maybe an hour or two before sunset. “Let’s see now what I’ll manifest…” Erik said, then sat near a palm tree and laid his back on it. He closed his eyes but accidentally fell asleep. But not for too long. The sound of drums woke him up. Opening his eyes, Erik realised that the sun had set. Tangent sunrays from the horizon made seeing difficult, but not impossible. He followed the source of the sound. In the forest, an artificial source of light could be seen in the distance. Catching his breath, Erik began to approach the illuminated place. As he closed in, he noticed the pacing of the drum; not festive but not sad either. Rather ceremonial. He approached to the point he could see. A group of people sat around a fire. Above the burning flames, a cauldron boiled… something? The people looked like africans dressed in native american clothes. A drummer in the side played... a drum. A woman sat on the opposite side of the circle and appeared to lead this ceremony. Erik accidentally stepped over a fallen tree branch. The branch snapped and made a creaking sound. “Jävla,” Erik grunted sotto voce and quickly hid behind a tree. The woman stood up. Around 1.8m in height, she differed from the rest of the group not only by being a woman but also by being white. The drummer halted. “You can come out Erik,” the woman urged him. Realizing that running or hiding wouldn’t serve him in any way, shape or form, Erik sidestepped and revealed himself. “What are you doing here?” he bluntly asked. “We are calling the great spirit,” the tall woman said. “Would you like to take part in it?” “Well, I don’t have any other choice,” Erik exhaled indifferently. “So, what am I, I mean are we, supposed to do?” “Just take your place in the circle.” Erik joined the ceremony. He felt a bit queasy about it, but also a bit curious. The drumming resumed. Erik observed the other members of that tribe. Even though he could swear he'd never seen them before, they all looked familiar. “Did I meet them during the amnesia period?” a fleeting thought passed through his mind. “But when?” Once more, he attempted to recall past events. Even the tiniest fragment of a memory, a shadow, a face, an image, anything could do. Nope. Nothing. Nada. His mind gave null output. “Herregud,” he mumbled with a screwed up face, “it seems my memories can only be recovered if the aliens allow it. And that pisses me off. Förbövulen!” Suddenly, the woman raised her hand. The drumming stopped. “It is time,” she articulated slowly and clearly, “for all of us to contact the great spirit!” Approaching the flames, she clutched a metal bowl and sank it inside the cauldron, filling it with the boiling brew. Next, she passed the bowl to the drummer who had a sip. Each of the tribe members drunk, until at last came Erik's turn. Erik held the bowl up close. Thick green vapour steamed from the bowl, obscuring its content. Erik didn't even want to imagine what was in that bowl. He just took a small sip and quickly passed it to the next spiritual seeker. It tasted quite good actually, like watered sugary oats. “Let's hope the experience is not bitter,” he muttered. While waiting for the effect of the drug to take place, Erik's thoughts revolved around the purpose of the square island. “It's supposed to be about friendship and social connections. However, when I think about having fun and going out with friends, that’s not what I have in mind." His anger boiled hotter than the steaming cauldron. "Are the aliens implying they know better? To hell with them!” The woman sat next to Erik. “So, how do you feel?” she asked with a soft voice. Erik turned and faced her. “I don’t feel anyth…” he started talking but then realized the woman looked very familiar as well. “Where have I seen her?” he wondered. His thoughts went fuzzy and couldn't concentrate anymore. “My sister said you paid her a visit,” the woman said and smiled. “She is the sister of Eravia,” Erik concluded, "that's what makes her familiar." He replied: “Yes I did. We had a meaningful conversation.” “That’s good,” Eravias’ sister nodded, “you’ll find though, that you don’t have to converse to communicate.” “How?” Erik laughed. The woman blinked. "The feeling of being connected is important here. Connection is communication and this potion you drunk, augments that feeling. Only then can you reach the state to see the great spirit.” “And what happens then?” Erik asked. “No more talking,” the woman said, “no more talking in or out. Just observe.” She returned to her place. “Observe what?!?” Erik asked himself. "There's nothing going on other than the sound of bong-bong!" And at that very moment, it happened. The color in the surrounding environment began to change rapidly. His hearing lost its acuity, as if someone shoved earplugs halfway through. And then he saw it: small mist clouds that travelled around the other participants. One cloud hovered above Erik's head. Erik knew that he saw all of this without using his physical eyes, which, in his altered state, seemed to be a very natural thing to do. An innate ability of the human race, residing latent inside the psyche and triggered only with the right circumstances. The mist started to change form until it molded itself into a wheel. “I’m the great spirit of these islands," a melodic voice announced. "What is it that you seek?” Sadly, by that time Erik had forgotten all his plans of escape. Partially because of the drugs and partially because at that moment, he felt better than in Stockholm. He also felt safer while in the presence of this… spirit? “Can I call you…” he uttered. “Bob?” the voice asked jokingly. “No, Margaret.” Erik replied without giving it too much thought. “Margaret it is then,” the spirit agreed. “What is it that you seek?” “I wanted to call you Margaret, that’s all.” The spirit sounded slightly annoyed. “You have the opportunity to speak with infinite wisdom and the only thing you want to know is if you can call it Margaret?” “Yesss.” Erik hissed and smiled sardonically. Suddenly, Erik could hear voices inside his head. Grunting, snarling and bellowing from his left ear and giggling, chuckling and laughter from his right one. Erik tried to understand what was going on, but couldn't. “Who cares anyway?” he whispered and at that moment, a flash blinded him. Yet he had a brief but clear vision: He saw his reflection on a mirror. He looked different. His hair reached around 5 - inches and he had no beard. His clothing stroke as peculiar, it reminded him of an astronaut suit made into a jacket. Cream and golden stripes started from the shoulders of the suit and connected to his diaphragm area. Behind the mirror he could see other people looking at their own mirrors. Their hair was becoming longer and shorter and it changed style, just by giving verbal commands to a computer device installed on the wall beneath the mirrors. Erik fixed his gaze at the strange device in front of him. “1 - inch hair please,” he requested. His hair immediately started to shorten up, until it reached the desired length. The vision faded away and Erik's eyesight returned. “What was that?!” Erik snarled, the bits and pieces of his mind reassembling in realization of what this could have been. “A memory?" he trembled. "I must get back to Stockholm, I must…” There was a sudden pain in the back of his skull and he lost consciousness. *** Erik could hear faint whispers just a few meters away. He couldn't move and when he tried to open his eyes, only blackness surrounded him. “Who hit my head?” he wondered and realized that the aliens most probably did. “This must have been a fragment of the last 3 – month period.” “I have to get out of this place,” he said, meaning both the blackness he fell in and the islands. He attempted to move his limbs, but could not. “My limbs,” he panicked, “I can’t feel my limbs!” “What have you done to me?” he tried to verbalize, but his mouth did not exist anymore. “You bastards!” he cursed before his awareness shattered into a pile of rubble. *** Upon waking up, Erik opened his eyes instantly. The sun was up and his body was at the same place, still intact. The ceremony had ended, and everyone was gone. Or maybe ceased to exist? He attempted to get up from the ground and felt relief that his limbs responded to his commands. “Vad i helvet… (what in hell)” he sweared but then, when he stood straight, a familiar gnomish figure was revealed. ix2 hid behind the cauldron and constantly observed Erik, her gaze penetrating through the thick fabric of the cauldron and following him steadily as he rose from the ground. “Speak of the devil,” Erik uttered disdainfully. "What are you up to now? Have you become a test subject in your own experiment? How humans behave in front of superior intelligence – heh, you’re about to find out.” ix2 replied cooly, however as she spoke, her eyebrows rose in contempt: “Diverting your acrimonious commentary, I’m here to inform you that last night you saw something you shouldn’t have.” “Should have,” Erik defiantly stated, “a part of my memory came back and you don’t like that!” “That wasn’t a memory,” ix2 said with icy cold words, “your own imagination was cast into a vision. You’re so obsessed with leaving this experiment that your brain manifested it.” “I'm not buying this,” Erik laughed and stared ix2 directly in the eyes. “I'm starting to remember and you’re trying to mislead me!” “Tell me,” ix2 persisted, “how can it be that people have their hair cut the way you saw it?” “First of all,” Erik aggressively shot back, “those people did not have their hair cut and secondly, how do you know what I saw?” ix2 smiled haughtily: “We know because we can scan your visual cortex and see what you see.” Erik felt stunned and numb. That, he couldn't have foreseen. They could even monitor his vision, that was bad. ix2 sombrely announced: "The experiment is going ahead as planned. I came here to let you know." “Your experiment is incomplete!” Erik grew even more indignated. “I’m able to fulfill some of my desires, but not my greatest: to be free.” “That’s not you want,” ix2 disagreed, “you're just escaping from life!” “Don’t assume to know what I want, you parasite,” Erik bellowed with steadily increasing intensity. “You’re not my counsellor and I didn’t ask for your advice. Go fuck yourself!” “Oh yes, I can be that as well,” ix2 said abrasively. “We study your behavior and that allows us to psychoanalyze you.” “That’s shit,” Erik spat again, “you have no idea about counselling.” “Okay then, how about this:” ix2 uttered, “you want to quit the experiment, not because you truly want to leave, but because…” “Because of what you space monkey?” “Because you fear to satisfy your desires.” “Raaghh!” Erik charged with his fist targeting ix2's face. His punch sunk deep into the sand. ix2 had vanished on time. “Damn you and your species,” Erik cursed as he started to wind down. It did give him some pleasure to lash out on the alien, plus it felt safe to do so; he didn't have the means to physically hurt them and he knew the Pakos needed him for the experiment in one piece, so they wouldn't harm him in return. There was however, something dark and mysterious in the way he attacked the alien. He didn't hesitate to charge forward and momentarily, he had the sensation he played the role of somebody else. Someone vile, who wouldn't think it twice to harm others if it suited his goals. But that sensation was quickly forgotten, as he found himself adopting tactics of psychological warfare. “What if I threaten them with suicide?” Erik wondered off the top of his head. "Me out of the equation might mess up their plans.” “Hey ix2,” Erik shouted out loud, “if you don’t let me go, I'll end my life! That will be the end of your experiment!” ix2's voice could be heard but she was nowhere to be seen. “You’re not going to kill yourself, human. We can read your intent. And your fear.” ix2 giggled on the “ar,” taunting Erik. ix2 went on: “Plus, even if you did commit suicide, it would still be a valid outcome of the experiment.” “Damn,” Erik sweared. “I wish you could read my thoughts: bitch - bitch - bitch!" A scornful silence from ix2's side signified the end of their conversation. Erik calmed down, eventually. He contemplated: “ix2 was also angry, therefore I must have struck a nerve by uncovering part of my memories. No matter how small the vision I had, it means that the mental block they've used is not unbreakable. And that gives me hope.” He reflected on his reclaimed memory fragment: “There is no human technology that I know of that can make hair grow and ungrow like that. This can only be… “Alien technology! What if I did meet with these beings and consented to do this experiment beforehand, whether willingly or by the use of force." The latter filled him with contempt and fueled his urge to run away. "The sooner I leave this place, the better." “But then again,” he reconsidered, “what was that about me being scared to satisfy my desires? I've already satisfied two of three.” Erik realized that the need to delve into deep conversations and to be in a community, he wasn’t afraid to satisfy. However, the idea of being with a woman terrified him. Not because he never had sex in his life, but because he hadn't reached deep intimacy with any of his previous partners. That had left him unfulfilled. “You're absolutely right,” Tetr’ton said. “Both of you.” Erik turned his head to the left and saw the head of the mermaid – man, half protruding from the surface of the sea. “Spying on me again?” Erik said as he padded his way near his mermaid acquaintance. He did feel thankful though to have found someone who was outside all of this. Tetr'ton rose from the water and the pendant he wore with the elliptical stone glittered in the sun. “I've been eavesdropping all the time you and your friend were chatting," he playfully said, "if this classifies as spying, then so be it.” “She's not my friend," Erik pretended to sound offended but swiftly dropped the acting. He instead asked curious: "Did you notice anything unusual while you were… eavesdropping?" Tetr'ton explained: “After the alien left, and you began thinking, your reasoning aligned with your emotions. At these moments, you were in touch with your own truth.” “So, things are that way,” Erik said. "I really fear to be intimate with women." “Yes," Tetr'ton confirmed, "however, I said I could read you both.” Erik's gaze became fixed on Tetr’ton. “And?” he impatiently asked. “ix2 is worried about you.” “Excuse me?!?” Eriks eyes opened wide. “She's worried about me?” “Yes, she did sound worried. Worried that you might harm yourself.” “They don't really care if I die, death is just another outcome of their experiment. What you say makes no sense!” “It is our species ability to read the thoughts and emotions of other beings. This is what ix2 felt and thought.” Erik brooded. “Erik,” Tetr’ton said, “you might not remember this…” “No, I don’t!” Erik shouted. “…but you have agreed to this experiment.” Erik’s jaw dropped: "What!" Tetr’ton went on: “Yes, you have signed a contract to participate in all this, before you lost your memories.” "So I suspected right!" Erik said. “There was something else," Tetr'ton added, "I couldn’t hold on to much detail, but what you’re participating in will have an impact on humanity.” “I prefer my actions to impact me!” “Believe it or not, whatever you choose to do, this experiment will save humanity and the broader family of intergalactic species!” “I have no idea what you're talking about,” Erik furrowed his eyebrows, “but if it’s to save the world, I guess I have no choice. It is a Youniverse after all. If I save the world, I'll also save myself.” Erik added with improved mood: “And maybe it will do me good to see to my needs?” “It will,” Tetr'ton confirmed. “So then, time to head towards the island I haven't yet visited: the triangular one.” “Alright Erik, I’ll see you later.” “See you later, my friend.” Erik took the path towards the triangular island. On the way there, he realized that the career he chose had as an ultimate goal to help him find a partner. The majority of men seek high social status and success in order to be a point of attraction for women. During the period of this experiment, he would get what many men don't get in their entire lifetime. “How is my life going to change after this is all over?” he wondered. Upon entering the triangular island, he immediately tuned to the vibe of the area, his wish of physical intimacy coming even stronger than before. Then he saw them, both Eravia and her sister, dressed in transparent white dresses and waiting for him. While previously Erik didn’t feel any attraction for any of the two females, this time, his heart started to race faster. Both Eravia and her sister beamed with desire. “Welcome,” Eravia said, “me and my sister Ykaria are glad that you decided to visit us.” “Are you even human?” Erik asked with trembling voice. “We are only partially human,” Ykaria explained. “We are holographic life forms, alive but not really alive. Yet, do not let this deceive you human, we are on the physical plane as human as any of the humans you can meet on your planet.” “And even more,” Erik smiled. “So, is this what we’re gonna do?” he asked. “Engage in the physical?” “Yes, that is exactly what we’ll do!” Eravia said. “Let’s see what we’ll see then…” Erik decided and moved towards the attractive females. *** A month passed. During that time, Erik visited Eravia on the pentagonal island, joined Ykaria's group on the square island, and spent time with them on the triangular island. He felt a deep satisfaction, more than ever in his life. He didn't bother about his quest for freedom anymore and the idea of returning to icy Stockholm seemed like a forgotten dream. ix2 was nowhere to be found, but Erik didn’t care about that either. "Let them do their experiments, and let me do mine!" He did meet with Tetr’ton occasionally, who shared his species’ knowledge with him. Everything appeared to go well. Then one day, as Erik was taking a small nap beneath a palm tree on the circular island, Tetr’ton visited him. “Erik,” Tetr’ton alerted with his voice, “come with me, quick!” “What?” Erik immediately woke. "Why?" “No time for that,” the mermaid – man replied and began swimming, "just follow me. There's something you have to see!" Erik sprinted on the sand following Tetr’ton who swam on deeper waters. It reminded him of the first time they met, only this time, he chased him out of curiosity and not out of suspicion. “What could Tetr’ton have to show me?” Erik wondered without leaving Tetr’ton from his sight. “Is he going to introduce me to someone of his kin, maybe?” Suddenly, Tetr’ton halted. Erik halted too. The horizon was clear and in the distance, the triangular islet could be seen. Tetr’ton approached Erik near the shore. He rolled his eyes downwards and kept silent. “What is it Tetr’ton? You’re giving me the creeps. Jävla!” “Deep in the sea!” “What’s deep in the sea!?” “I believe it is yet another island.” “Another island?” Erik’s eyes opened wide. “How?” “I was heading to the place where I usually meet you, and then in the bottom of the ocean, I noticed the outline of a geometrical shape.” “What shape?” “That, you’ll have to see for yourself.” “What do you mean? I cannot breathe underwater!” “Erik, that’s not a problem, just hop on my back.” “I've just told you, I can't breathe underwat…” Erik repeated. “Just do it!” “Fint(Okay)...” Erik lay on Tetr’ton’s back and held himself from the space between the mermaid’s shoulder and neck. The mermaid – man sank into the water taking Erik with him in the depths of the ocean. Strangely, neither Erik nor Tetr’ton became wet. A sphere of air was formed around Erik and helped him breathe. Mysteriously though, it didn’t hinder Tetr’ton's diving, giving the impression that they were flying. They went so deep underwater, that everything gradually became pitch black. “Can’t see a thing!” Erik stretched his eyes wide. Suddenly, Tetr'ton's body started to radiate a green glow, bright enough to illuminate the surrounding area. And then, it could be seen. In a distance of around a kilometer, in the bottom of the ocean, a white line formed a geometrical shape. “An ellipse?” Erik said astonished. “That’s unexpected!” As they moved closer and closer to the mysterious shape, Erik made sense of it all. A circle consists of 1 line-segment. A triangle has three 3 line-segments, a square 4 and a pentagon 5. All the above form closed areas. An ellipse also forms a closed area. It can also be considered that it consists of 2 identical segments, its 2 arches. With that reasoning, it made some sense. They landed on the ellipse and Erik removed his grip from Tetr’ton. The air bubble still engulfed Erik and Tetr’ton continued to shine with his green aura. “So, what is the main topic of this island?” Erik asked. “What desire can I satisfy here?” But he intuitively knew the answer. These islands were personalized for his desires, and only one of his desires remained to be fulfilled. Freedom! Initially, he felt a feeling of lightness. As time passed, Erik felt freer and freer until eventually, like an avalanche, he felt truly free, more than ever in his life. In Stockholm he did have his freedom as an individual, but that was different, it felt stronger. “This is amazing,” Erik whispered and then turned to Tetr’ton who seemed to have a similar experience. “Why did the aliens create an elliptic island?” Erik asked “I don’t understand the concept.” “I don’t know Erik,” the mermaid – man said and then theorized: “Probably this is another parameter of the experiment, they might be trying to check the resolve of human spirit. At what depths can a man dive into, in order to regain his freedom?” “Well, it wasn't me who found this island. I had given up my freedom and chose to satisfy my other needs.” “It doesn’t matter if you made it with help,” Tetr’ton said, “It is in the nature of your species to help each other.” “Well, you don’t belong to my species,” Erik smiled, “but thanks anyway.” “So,” Erik wondered, “is Eravia or Ykaria going to give me lectures about freedom? Or not?” “No, Erik,” Tetr’ton announced, “there’s no Eravia or Ykaria here, just me.” “What?!?” “Yes, I hid from you the truth,” Tetr’ton said, “I am also part of the experiment.” “Well, nothing surprises me anymore,” Erik said, “it’s only a pity you're not alive. However, you are part holographic and part human, so I can guess that your human part wanted to help me.” “I’m not human, nor am I holographic, I’m a real mermaid. Mermaids exist, you know.” “If you say so, I believe you…” The mermaid man removed his necklace with the elliptical shaped stone and gave it to Erik. Erik examined the stone. Blue in color and smooth in touch, it radiated with a cyan aura. "Why did you give me this?" “I’m not allowed to do this, but if you use this stone, it can help you exit the experiment.” “How?” “There is no time to explain,” Tetr’ton said, “you will have to find that yourself." “But…” “Your bubble will soon run out of air," Tetr'ton warned, "you have to go now.” Unwillingly, Erik began to resurface. After a few minutes, and feeling dizzy from the low oxygen levels, his head popped out from the sea and he took a deep breath. He swam to the circular island and began to walk outside the sea. His head was tilted downwards, walking carefully to avoid stepping on spiky sea urchins. Finally, when his feet stepped on dry sand, he looked up. ix2 stood up front. She held a frustrated radiant gaze. “Oh, long time no see,” Erik said, “was wondering when you might show up.” “This wasn’t supposed to happen,” the alien replied, her tone confirming her frustration. “But it did!” Erik chuckled with pretended innocence. “How did you find the elliptical island? You were meant to find it in the final stages of the experiment!” “Guess I found it earlier than you anticipated! Tetr'ton ignored your instructions and acted on his own volition!” "Who is Tetr'ton?" ix2 asked baffled. "Your mermaid colleague." “Our mermaid colleague?!?” ix2 asked confused even more. “What are you talking about? We have no mermaid colleagues, mermaids don't exist!” “Well, they dooo,” Erik giggled on the “do.” “And now, it's high time for me to exit this mockery.” “Wait!” ix2 urged him. “If you stay until the end, the results of this experiment can help better many lives. But if you leave now, all this will have been in vain!” “You want me to stay?” Erik asked. “Then give me the details of this experiment. What happened on the time period I don't remember? I want to know everything!" “You can’t have this,” ix2 disagreed. “You’ve been told already – it is part of the process for you not to remember. You've agreed to this.” “I know you're worried about me,” Erik said, “Tetr’ton told me the truth, he read your mind." “What?! That creature can read our thoughts? This is not possible!” “Mermaids can read thoughts and emotions, unlike your species that can only read the latter.” The alien said nothing, only continued to stare perplexed. Erik demanded: “Why are you worried about me?” There was a long silence. Erik had the impression that the alien had turned her attention elsewhere, possibly receiving consultation from her superiors. Finally, ix2 spoke: “Erik, I have to tell you the truth, I'm afraid.” “I'm not,” Erik briskly said. "Carry on." “You are inside a virtual reality simulation, nothing of what you experience here is real.” “Nonsense!” “You are not living in the year 2016, but in 2123. You agreed to undertake this experiment, and we implanted to you temporary memories, so as to play your part as our candidate.” “This is ludicrous, do you consider me to be that naïve?” Erik spat. “To what lengths are you willing to make up stories to confuse me?” ix2 signed. “You wanted to know the truth? Then listen!" Erik kept silent. The alien went on: "Just think about it Erik, think about the vision you had the other day with the “tribe” people. Was it not strange to find yourself in a “futuristic” place?” Erik halted. He indeed felt that the vision was a bit too bizarre, and at the same time, a bit too realistic to be just a product of his mind. “Are you saying that the vision was indeed a memory?” “Yes,” the alien replied. “So, what else happened in the 3 month time lapse?” “Erik,” the alien tried to explain. “I’m not really an alien. I’m human like you, appearing to be an extraterrestrial. Outside of this virtual reality simulation, we know each other well.” “We know each other well?” Erik laughed. “This is becoming more and more amusing! What are you then really? A man or a woman?” “I’m a woman, Erik.” ix2 continued, “my real name is Izabel Xenophon and we have worked in similar projects the last few months.” “Your name doesn’t ring a bell,” Erik's voice made an indifferent whistle. “That is because we’ve blocked your real memories and sent them in a secure area in your mind.” ix2 said. “That area is the time period you so persistently try to access.” “So, are you suggesting that the time period I don’t remember is where the real me is located?” “Yes.” “I want that part of my personality back then, please.” “We cannot do that, at this point, if you regain your true memories, you might end up with a split personality.” “I don't care,” Erik replied in a dismissive tone, “I want to leave this place.” “I’m sorry Erik, I cannot do that.” ix2 said and there appeared to be a genuine sadness in her voice. This feeling of sadness felt familiar to Erik somehow. The name Izabel Xenophon might have meant nothing to him, however, the way she worded her last sentence made him feel that that being actually displayed human emotions, cleverly hidden. “And what if I believe you?” Erik asked. “What then?” “Well, what we’ll have to do is to block this recent discovery you made, so that you continue the experiment until it’s over.” “How much time has there passed in the real world?” “Around 2 days.” “And how much time is there remaining?” “Another 2 days. If we stop now it will be in the middle of it.” So, all he had to do was agree to have his memories blocked, for the second time. But did he really want that? He remembered the good times he had in these exotic islands. Discussing, belonging and feeling intimacy. But he never felt free. Not until the truth was revealed to him by an unexpected ally. He held the instrument of his promised returned on his left palm. He would know what he had to do, according to Tetr’ton. He would know how to escape. However, if he escaped now, the experiment would stop before its completion. And if what ix2 said was true, the result of the experiment would have had a positive impact on humanity. “Well, let’s see this to the end,” Erik thought. Then he opened his palm and showed the elliptic stone to the supposed human acquaintance of his. “Here, you can have this,” he said. ix2’s eyes opened wide. “Oh no!” her voice raised in intensity. “You must not show this to m…” The scenery began to faze and blur in front of Erik’s eyes. Slowly, it all began to fade, become transparent and disappear. “Maybe I did the right thing,” Erik contemplated as the simulation collapsed, “or maybe I didn’t.” *** A feeling like surfacing from deep waters overwhelmed him. During the whole process, he didn’t lose consciousness. When he got his physical senses back, he slowly opened his eyes. He was sitting in a chair, tilted around 30 degrees backwards. He scanned the area around, cautiously. He was in a room with walls painted white, that gave a lab feeling to it. A metal door sealed the exit. “So, where is everyone?” he wondered. The door opened with a rustling sound. A short woman with curly black hair and a cute face entered, followed by a tall, grey haired man in his 40s’. They both wore lab clothes, and held a concerned look on their faces. “Frantz,” the woman said to the man, “he’s come around.” “Do you think he’s okay?” Frantz asked the woman. Erik felt alright, however, what really troubled him was that he could still not remember his true identity. “Who are you people?” he asked with a drowsy voice. “I am Izabel,” the woman replied, “and this is Frantz. We are colleagues.” So that was Izabel Xenophon, the woman that impersonated ix2. Erik could still not remember their faces, even now that it was over. “And what is our relationship?” Erik inquired. “I don’t believe we’ve ever met.” “That is,” Frantz entered, “because we’ve not yet unblocked your real memories.” “Why haven’t you done so, yet?” Erik demanded. “Erik,” Izabel said, “there’s a protocol we have to follow before we can restore your original memories.” “And what is that?” Erik asked irritated. “To torture me with more of your babbling? I want my memories back – now!” Izabel turned to Frantz, as if asking for consultation or approval. Frantz studied Erik with his gaze. After assessing empirically his condition, his eyes crossed with Izabel’s and nodded in approval. Izabel looked Erik in the eyes and said with a soft voice: “You have to understand Erik that who you are in reality is someone completely different than the person you're now. Your current memories about your life in Stockholm, are all implanted.” Erik’s eyes opened wide. “That can’t be!” he protested. “I know who I am! I remember my childhood, my teenage years and all my adolescence, in detail.” “Indeed,” Izabel replied and suddenly, her face became frozen and emotionless as well as her tone, “however, who you think you are is different from who you truly are.” “Then, who am I?” “You will know, correction, remember, soon.” Izabel reassured him as her tone returned to its previous melodic tune. “As I mentioned earlier, your real life memories are stored in the 3 months that you so persistently seek to uncover. We had to create this symbolic time period for your mind to be able to access it.” “Only the access is denied.” Erik laughed. “Erik,” Izabel said still on the same tone, “you might not remember this, but we’ve done this experiment before.” “Of course I don’t.” Erik raised his tone. “The previous simulations we made were successful, however…” “However what?” “The artificial personalities you incorporated in your psyche were very similar to your previous self, which made it easy for you to transition to your original identity, when the tests were completed.” “Seriously?” Erik thought. “And how is this simulation different from the previous ones?” “I’ll tell you,” Izabel said, “in this simulation, you were a far better person than the one you originally are.” “What?!?” Erik shouted and attempted to stand up. Shackles around his wrists and ankles prevented him from doing so. “Why have you tied me up?” Erik grunted and felt deep inside him an indescribable rage. “Untie me immediately!” He bellowed and violently attempted to break free. “Muscle memory,” Frantz observed, “his mind does not remember, but his body does.” “You want to know the truth?” Izabel asked with the same cold voice. “You are a murderer and you've agreed to take part in this new experimental rehabilitation programme. If this programme succeeds, it can lead to the efficient rehabilitation of many criminals like you!” “I don’t believe this!” Erik yelled and twisted and turned his wrists to break his straps, to no avail. “I’m Erik and I’ve lived in Stockholm all my life!” “You are Swedish, right?” Izabel asked. “Ja, jag kommer från Sverige.” Erik replied. “The language you think you speak as a native,” Izabel declared, “is also an implant. In fact, the level of Swedish you’re speaking does not even reach the basic level.” “Prove it.” “Just try to say: I’ve been to the North Pole, I saw some amazing polar bears but bear with me, I didn’t feel cold when the climate change hit me, I swear.” Izabel sung and crossed her arms. No matter how much Erik tried to formulate words in Swedish, he couldn’t do the translation. “See?” Izabel announced triumphantly and urged Erik to reason: “Just think about it, we are living in 2123. The setting of Stockholm you remember is a recreation of the early 21st century.” Erik took a moment to process this. Could they have been lying to him about the era he lived in? He examined the area around him. The room contained some futuristic technology he didn't notice before. It appeared to come out of a science fiction story and matched with what they said. “I want to see the news,” Erik demanded. Frantz fetched out of his lab coat pocket a mysterious sphere and held it in his palm. A holographic video streamed upwards, in a cone like form. A female broadcaster told the news. Her hair consistently changed to all perceivable colors. A screen behind her played a video that showed scenes from a scientific conference that took place in Denmark. People were gathered around an amphitheatre. They wore peculiar formal clothes and spoke in English. Robots served them drinks and carried out the practicals. It looked convincing. “Do you believe us now?” Izabel confronted Erik. “We are trying to help you.” Erik accepted the fact that Izabel and Frantz most probably told him the truth. “And why did you make me a far better person in this simulation?” Erik demanded to know. “I will explain how this experiment works.” Izabel spoke. “I’m all ears.” “Each simulation has the purpose to improve the subjects' behavior slightly. This is done by allowing the individual to have a fulfilling experience by satisfying implanted or not, desires. Desires that we assume will help the subject grow and mature as a human being.” Izabel went on: “Then, once the simulation is over, the subject integrates the new memories to the original personality. The simulation is perceived as a real experience, so the person discovers things true about itself, and thus becomes a better person.” "And why has someone to forget who he is?" "If you remember who you truly are," Frantz explained, "the simulation won't be effective. You have to forget that all this is artificial, so that you become emotionally involved and grow from the experience." “I see,” Erik nodded thoughtfully and then asked. “So, why are you so hesitant with me this time? What's keeping you from restoring my original identity?" Izabel carefully worded: “You were making progress, Erik, however the progress was very slow. It would have taken years and years of repeating the simulations before you could be set free!” She went on: “The previous personalities you adopted were better versions of yourself, yet, still, murderers. What we tried to do in this last simulation, was to make you adopt the persona of a normal citizen. “And that’s where the danger lies; members of the lab team argued that the new role you would play deviated too much from who you were. We are concerned that the reintegration is incompatible and thus will drive you to develop split personalities.” Izabel sounded stressed, catching her breath on her last words. “She seems to be saying the truth,” Erik realized as he picked up on her emotional state. “Can I go on living with the memory block?” he inquired. “I’m afraid not,” Frantz stated, “the block usually lasts for several weeks. It wears off eventually and you regain your memories.” “Talk about wanting to forget your past,” Erik laughed, “you can’t even do that!” “And what if I am a murderer?” Erik then argued. “I have to have my memories back. It is who I truly am.” Izabel signed. “Shall we continue with the process?” she asked Frantz. “I think there is no other way out,” Frantz said. “Let’s finish what we started.” Izabel removed from her pocket what seemed to be a remote tablet. “Alright Erik, I want you to close your eyes and try to relax.” Erik closed his eyes. “This might feel a bit… unsettling.” Izabel warned him. “I hope you’re not planning to send me back to the simulation.” Erik tried to joke about it. Deep inside he felt terrified though. “No, we’re not.” Izabel reassured. The soft touch of a finger pressing on a flat surface was heard. Gentle as a cat’s paw stepping on grass. Suddenly, a not so gentle electric current streamed through Erik’s body and reached his brain. The pain felt surreal and his physical senses became dull. Erik could see old memories blooming inside him like poisoned ivies wrapping around his mind. His real name was the same as before: Erik. His upbringing was fundamentally different, though. His father was a drunkard. His mother, a helpless creature being beaten every day. He learned from a young age that in life there are victims and there are victimizers. He adopted the latter approach. He grew up to be an antisocial bully that everyone feared, not by force of physical, but by force of emotional abuse. And then he got married twice! The faces of his wives! Eravia and Ykaria! Their real names being Elizabeth and Penelope, he killed them both. Elizabeth, his first wife, he murdered with a knife, a very carefully coordinated plan to dispose of her body, in pieces. His acting skills, perfect, nobody ever suspected him. The reason he took her life, plain jealousy, because she was far kinder than him. Why did she end up with him anyway? In life only hunters exist and their prey! His second wife, Penelope, he also felt jealous for, because she had achieved in life what he could not. She lived a life he only wished for, studying in the best universities of the world while he was borderline illiterate! He also killed his second wife, death by poison. He thought his plan was perfect, but became sloppy this time, overconfident in his ability to evade punishment. But punishment he got, when the authorities proved his guilt and took him in. He stayed in prison for several years, becoming an even more violent person, this time to defend himself from other criminals. So then, he was offered a chance to participate in a scientific experiment. He accepted, as that would transfer him at least for a while to a secure environment. But, there is no worse enemy than one’s self. The first simulations were a complete failure out of his denial to see the truth. Only after several attempts, did he start to feel that maybe there was a way out of his torture. He continued so. Several moderately successful simulations and from a non – repentant killer, he began to get into the shoes of his victims. He started to feel remorse for his actions. He could feel he was changing, slowly. However, the scientific team appeared restless; they wanted results sooner rather than later. So, they took a risk, they prepared for him the role of a normal person. And here he was now, in his mind a huge battle going on. Was he Erik the murderer, or Erik the citizen? Erik appeared to be in agony, shaking and his face making grimaces of pain. “Oh no!!” Izabel shouted, “he's not going to make it!” Erik's head tilted upwards and jerked violently. He stopped moving. Frantz approached him and checked him. "Still breathing," he said. "But is he gone?" “I am okay,” Erik said with a whisper and slowly opened his eyes. “No need to worry.” “Who are you?” Frantz probed Erik. “I’m Erik,” he smiled. “Do you still have the same feelings for your ex – wives?” Izabel asked concerned. “I do, yes… ” Erik confirmed. “We failed,” Frantz commented, “he should have stayed in longer.” “...however,” Erik added, “I'm not feeling I want to kill anybody anymore.” “Oh, is that true?” Izabel asked with eyes opened wide. “Are you sure about that?” “Yes,” Erik confirmed and then opened his mouth to speak but hesitated. “What is it?” Frantz asked. “I still feel intense rage and jealousy for both of my wives. If they were alive, I would want to harm them, but not kill them.” Izabel removed a device from her lab pocket. It was a remote control that had a palm sized tv like antenna. She turned it on and scanned him head to toes. “He seems to be telling the truth,” Izabel said. “So now, what shall we do? Shall we inform the others?” “Yes,” Frantz agreed, “time to announce the success of the experiment!” They both turned to leave the room. “Hey!” Erik complained. “Are you not going to untie me?” “Oh yes!” Izabel said. “You’re right!” She pressed a button on the computer screen near the door entrance. The shackles of Erik were automatically untied. “You can walk around the facility if you wish,” Izabel informed him, “however you are not allowed to leave. ” “Of course I won’t,” Erik rolled his eyes upwards, “you've told me a million times already!” The two scientists left the room. Erik got up from his chair and left the room. He went outside to the garden of the facility and sat on a bench. He observed the trees, the grass and the electric fence that blocked his way out. He was still a prisoner. “This time I might be a bit closer to becoming free,” he realized and then remembered the experience he had with Tetr’ton. In all the other sessions he went through, he never ever encountered such a mysterious creature before. How did that happen? “I have to find out!” he thought and got up. He knew where the lab team did their debriefings; in the room near the south east corner of the facility. He was never curious to learn what they were talking about, but this time, he couldn’t help it. He felt urged, compelled even, not to linger around but to go and hear what the scientists had to say. He approached the room from the outside and noticed that the window was open. He placed himself towards the wall. The lab members were talking, loud enough for someone to hear. “See?” Frantz asked. “I told you that it was possible to make progress faster, I was right in the end!” “That remains to be seen,” an emotionless and authoritative voice argued. “It’s too early to come to conclusions. We have to observe the subject’s behavior over time. It will take additional simulations and further analysis before we can set any criminal free. And on top of that, there’s always a chance of regression to past behaviors. We must take caution.” “Bah,” Frantz protested, “you’re all too afraid to take bold steps, and that’s what’s holding humanity back!” “We just take precautions,” another voice replied, one colored with anger. “Don’t feed us with your humanitarian crap, Frantz! We know that if it weren’t for the government pressing for results, you would have followed protocol! Plus, what about this mermaid… thing his consciousness conjured in? Apart from ix2’s model that we designed, the other characters are projections of the characters’ psyche. We have never ever seen something like that in any simulation and with any subject!” Erik’s body jolted. He never had the time to reflect on what happened during the last moments of the experiment. Tetr’ton. Erik always assumed him to be part of the experiment, however even the scientists didn’t know about his existence, not until the very last moment. “There has to be an explanation to this phenomenon,” Izabel intervened, “a bug perhaps on the code, that gives mermaid – like features to an otherwise human projection?” “We don’t know that at all,” the emotionless voice suggested, “we’ll find the cause of it soon, before the next simulation takes place.” “Yes, we’ll do that,” Frantz complied. “So, what will the next steps be?” “We’ll monitor the subject’s behavior and see if the changes made in his personality are permanent. Then, we will do more simulations. In time, it may be safe to release him to society under surveillance. To all the members of the lab team, keep up the good work. This meeting is over. You can return to your duties.” And thus the meeting ended and everyone returned to their posts. Erik meandered around the facility building, thinking this through. The lab team could only observe his behavior externally, they did not experience what he had experienced. Therefore they could only speculate how much he'd changed. But Erik knew the changes were permanent, he could feel it. “So," he thought changing topic, "even the intellectual authorities cannot explain my meeting with Tetr'ton. Interesting." He went on: “Was Tetr'ton really a bug in the code, then? Or was he something else, like a part of my consciousness? It's strange, because I was never a mermaid fan.” Then it clicked inside him. “What if he was another life form, helping me?” The scientists were concerned that the change in Erik’s personality would be too great. Erik stayed in the simulation only for half the intended duration. If he stayed any longer, then he might not have been able to integrate his new self to his original one and could have ended up with split personalities. What if that entity, Tetr'ton, knew this and freed him before it was too late? And who was that entity, really? Did intelligent life forms, more advanced than humans exist in the cosmos? He didn’t know. All he knew was that he wasn’t ready yet to be released. He was just a bit too violent. But he did become a better person. A couple of more experiments and he would be ready to get back to society. He couldn’t predict exactly when, but it would happen sometime in the future. And then, something caught his peripheral vision. He turned around and looked at the sky. No clouds in the distance. Just 2 round objects that levitated a few kilometers away. Erik tried to focus on the objects. One of them disappeared and reappeared, as if it was an eye blinking. Then they both vanished. “Thank you my friend,” Erik said. “I’ll see you around.” Grigorios Galiatsatos

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