User blog:GamerNerd i/Valentine's Thing for the Heck of It

//This is part foreshadowing and part sappy Valentine's story. It also doesn't really have any good titles, because of how rushed it is compared to other things. Enjoy!

Siblings

A girl sits at a a computer alone in her temporary room. She’d just moved in, but the area was already fully furnished. She scrolls the web page, gawking at its content and sometimes tracing her finger over the screen.

Her door slowly opens. “Hey, Azura,” the boy starts. The girl jumps and quickly closes her browser window. “Do you know where- Hey, hold on, what the heck were you doing?”

“Research on the art styles of this period,” the girl answers hurriedly.

The boy walks to the computer and reopens the last window. He too gawks at its contents. “What the heck is this? What are you- Why?”

“Frey, calm down. It’s research, like I said.” Azura shows Frey a sketchbook with various strokes, lines, and shading methods. “See? I’m looking at the technique—NOT the content.” Her face goes red. “If I could, I’d use other images, but these artists.. It’s all they ever seem to draw.”

Frey gives her a skeptical look. “Sure... I guess you get... Anatomy out of it too. Anyway, I didn’t come to ask you about... That. Do you know where mom and dad are?”

Azura turns off the computer, making sure to delete her search history first. “Father said that the two of them needed to be alone for a few hours. Didn’t say why.”

“Huh. Come on, let’s go look for them then. They wouldn’t leave us alone without telling us, even if they’re...”

“Inexperienced?” Azura completes the sentence as the two enter the hallway.

“That’s one way to put it.”

The massive hallway shimmers. Doors appear to shift in and out of existence. Both knew that only their appearance changed. The doors themselves were actually portals to different worlds, each functioning as a different utility for the massive castle.

Camelot Base Alpha was a new place to them. It was massive and confusing. Their parents had spent almost a year in it now and they had said that they were still discovering new functionalities-—and they had been the ones to create it.

“This castle is so weird... It’s like the entire place is an illusion,” Frey muses.

Azura checks a doorway, only to find a hyper-futuristic lab on the other side. “Technically, it is, sort of. What did father call it? A figment of our imagination?”

“Which implies that none of this is real,” Frey mutters, “but I guess other than that it’s an accurate description.”

Mentors

The two approach a closed door, behind which a lot of commotion is taking place. Pressing their ears to the door, the siblings could make out the conversation.

“You still don’t understand?” their father was saying. “Okay, how can I put it... You remember Awakening? It’s like that. Kinda.”

“We swear, we didn’t do anything to incite this,” their mother adds, “Unless you think that we’ve been hiding kids from you, which doesn’t even make sense because then we’d have had to been... What, two years old?”

“The implications of that are disgusting.”

“Exactly.”

Azura looks at her brother. “What are they talking about?” she mouths.

Frey shrugs in response. “Better question: Who are they talking with?”

Another voice—neither of their parents—rings out with raucous laughter. “Oh, man, that’s a good one. Awakening? You can’t be serious. What’s next, Genealogy of the Holy War?”

“I’m not joking, Pix. I wish I was,” their father says sternly.

As the laughter continues, another more feminine and sincere voice speaks. “I’m sorry, I’m still not sure if I believe you. This kind of thing... It gets incredibly complicated very fast.”

“You know I don’t like time-hopping, Lex. I’d never do this on my own will.” Their mother sounded apologetic—a tone that the siblings didn’t often hear from her.

“Time-hopping?” Frey whispers.

“I think it’s us,” Azura responds. “But that still doesn’t tell us who the others are.”

“What do we do?”

“I don’t know, you’re the one who usually has a plan!”

“We’re eavesdropping on our parents, Azura, the only objective here is not to get caught!”

“Then what, we go back to the room and act like nothing happened?”

The boy shrugs. “I guess.”

The two were so engrossed in their conversation, that they didn’t hear their father approach the door from the other side. “Hold on, let me go check on them...”

The door opens and the two children leaning on it fall forward. There’s a momentary silence of surprise as they recompose themselves.

The same laughter they had heard earlier rang out again. “Wow, Aidan, you weren’t kidding about it being Awakening,” A man says. Frey immediately thought of Ferris Bueller. Although I think Fates probably fits this situation better.”

A woman beside the man sizes up the two. “Interesting.. You were right about the resemblances, Nadia.” Azura is reminded of the Mona Lisa. “But where are my manners? What are your names, children?”

The siblings give each other a sideways glance. “I am Azura,” the sister says, “This is Frey.”

The man laughs again. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry...” He says. “I just can’t get enough of this. What’d I just say about Fates? Aidan, man, future you must be amazing.” He takes off his sunglasses and looks directly at Azura. “Although I guess I can’t blame you. Those eyes... Crazy how similar they are.”

The woman sighs in exasperation. “Pardon my colleague, Pix. He’s... Not as serious as he should be. My name is Lexa.” Lexa draws near to shake the kids’ hands. “We are your parents’ mentors.” She turns her attention to Frey. “Frey, is it? I assume that Nadia named you. It’s rather fitting. You look rather like the god of summer himself.”

“I... Thank you, ma’am. I think,” Frey stutters.

Nadia and Aidan both look embarrassed.

“Hey, dad and mom, why don’t you guys go take a break?” Pix suggests to the Recreators. “I think Lex and I want to have a little chat with your offspring.”

“Alright, fine,” Aidan says, going out the door. “Just don’t scare them. They’ve... They’ve seen some things already.”

Nadia stands up to follow reluctantly. She puts her hand on Azura’s shoulder. “Don’t be afraid of them. They’ll be nice,” she whispers. Then she goes, closing the door behind her.

Compassion

“You okay, N?” Aidan asks as they walk away from the room.

“I don’t really know,” Nadia responds. “This day... It’s been mind-boggling.”

Aidan sighs. “I’m not sure how I feel, either.” His hands fidget with a small, explosive potion. He doesn’t seem concerned about dropping it. “I mean… How long has it been that we’ve been working together? Less than a year?”

“Little over than a year, I think.” Nadia touches the pendant on her neck thoughtfully. “And to think that now…”

“Heck, it’s even Valentine’s Day, isn’t it?” Aidan realizes. “Fate’s got an acute sense of humor.”

The two go through a portal and end up on an isolated cliff. Sounds of combat ring in the distance, intermingled with the white noise of a forest at night. Neither seem to notice the bright full moon shining over the varied landscape as they take a seat side by side at the edge of the cliff. A contemplative silence follows.

“It’s really amazing what a collection of imaginations can do, isn’t it?” Aidan says. “To think that all this came from words—a story told over a few years, with not even a single visual element to its name. Well, there are a few character sketches, but still… I still can’t believe that we discovered this world.”

Nadia glances sideways at him. “You do realize that what you just said basically describes everything that I take my power from, right?”

“Well, that’s different,” Aidan insists. “Those books, your stories… They’re all complete. They have been written. What is on the paper will be on the paper for the rest of eternity. The authors took care in writing them, going through tons of drafts and versions and…” He gestures to the sweeping scape in front of him. “Well, this isn’t like that. This world was created by several people. There was no planning, there was never a first draft, and there never will be a final draft. This world is building itself as we speak.” He looks Nadia in the face. “And now… With that boy, we have our own part to play in its development.”

Nadia rolls her eyes. “Don’t remind me. I get the feeling that ‘adopting’ him was some kind of… Preparation… For this. The kid’s reckless. He means well, but he can’t protect anyone if he can’t keep himself alive.” She looks up into the night. “Still… You make a good point. For what it has been constructed from, it’s on the more beautiful side.” Her eyes go wide as she notices the full moon. “Aidan! The moon! It’s-“

“I know,” Aidan responds, his voice slightly gruff. “I’m fine. My control has gotten a lot better. I don’t berserk often anymore unless I want to.” He too looks up at the moon—something that, as a Worgen, he had feared for a long time. “It’s because of you, too, actually. Your presence… It’s soothing.”

Nadia examined Aidan. Thankfully, he hadn’t transformed into a wolf completely. He was still human, but he had traits of his wolf form. The hair on his arms bushed, becoming more like fur. His eyes flashed between the brown calm of his humanity and the blood-red rage of the beast within. His fingers had become tipped with claws. Even his voice had sounded vaguely like a snarl. Nadia’s fears crept into her, but she trusted that Aidan was in full control.

“In all honesty… Just being here with you does wonders for my fear,” she says quietly. “Even if you are half wolf right now. It’s nice to have someone who understands it—who cares about it.”

Hesitantly, Aidan puts his arm around Nadia.

“I’m glad we met, N,” he whispers, “Even if we have to deal with insanity.”

Nadia nods. “I can’t believe I’m saying this… But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

For the first time in their lives, the two share a mutual embrace under the moonlight, oblivious the eyes of their future children and current mentors watching them from the portal.