Alright, here's the next chapter of Atychiphobia. In this chapter, we'll see a little bit of Lynn's past, so brace yourselves, everybody! We're not going to go from birth to current point, but we'll see just enough story to give you an idea of what happened.

Also, thanks to the unnamed guest who suggested to add a little extra something to the chapter, so I wouldn't have to rewrite the entire dang story.

Anyway, let's get on with the chapter.


Back where we left off, Lynn had just revealed she was adopted, to the rest of her siblings. She now sat on the couch, drinking some tea while her siblings surrounded her with worried looks.

"Okay, that tea should help you calm your nerves and, like, ease your tension," Leni remarked. "You really scared us for a moment there, Lilo."

"Yeah, you? Being adopted? That was a good one!" Luan added with a nervous smile.

"What I said just now is the truth," Lynn sternly stated. "I'm adopted, I'm not a biological Loud."

"Sure you're not," Lucy chuckled, then whispered to Leni, "Get some more tea, her delusions are growing stronger!"

"I can hear you, Lucy!" Lynn snapped, making the goth flinch. "And listen, if you're really so willing to help me, all of you, then you should be willing to consider the possibility that you'll have to learn some harsh truths."

"Well, yeah, but where even is your proof, huh?" Lisa said nervously. "Just because you say you're adopted doesn't mean you're not a Loud!"

"Cue the president!" Luan quipped, chuckling before asking, "Get it?"

"Lisa's got a point," Lincoln remarked. "I mean, if you were really adopted, some of us would be old enough to know you were there, right? We would remember you first coming to the house, right?

"Of course you would," Lynn threw a stern look at Lisa. "That's why I asked Lisa to block those memories, as well as implant false memories to make you think I was born a Loud."

Everybody gasped and looked at Lisa, specially Lucy, who got a stern look next.

"And I also asked Lucy to hide the adoption papers as well as she could."

Everybody gasped once more and turned to look at Lucy, and Lincoln was next in line for a stern look.

"And Lincoln... I didn't really ask anything out of you, but you did prompt me to reveal this information, so I wanted to put some focus on you anyway."

Everybody turned to look at Lincoln with confused looks, with the only one "gasping" being Lucy. And even then, her "gasp" sounded like an unsure one, rather than a blatant one. And then Lynn Sr. and Rita walked in, with former helping the latter stay balanced as she rubbed her forehead.

"I'm afraid Lynn's saying the whole truth," Lynn Sr. remarked. "She's adopted, and once we found out Lisa was a genius and that Lucy could hide things very well, we suggested Lynn to ask them to hide the evidence as best as they could."

"W-Wait a minute, if that was the case, then wouldn't I remember where I put it, or that I even did that?" Lucy pointed out. "I mean, I'm trying my hardest to think about it, but I'm constantly drawing blank."

"Lynn asked you to hide the adoption papers before I wiped everybody's mind clean," Lisa somberly explained. "I could put those memories back again, but I'm not sure if my "Memory Restorer" is going to work."

And then Lincoln turned to the athlete. "Lynn, why would you ask Lisa and Lucy to hide all evidence of your adoption?"

"Because, knowing you and your curiosity, you would've wanted me to tell you everything about my time before I was a Loud," Lynn sighed. "And the only thing I can remember about that time without freaking out or collapsing... is the time when Mom and Dad adopted me."

The siblings shared concerned looks, then asked in unison, "Could you tell us about that?"

Lynn flinched at her siblings showing this much interest over her past, and as they sat down alongside Rita and Lynn Sr., the man gave Lynn a reassuring look, and nodded, telling her it wouldn't hurt to tell the truth to her siblings. Lynn nodded and smiled back before beginning:

"I was on the orphanage, trying to calm myself down..."

A long time ago...

A younger Lynn sat on her bed, looking against the wall as she clutched her chest and took several deep breaths. The younger athlete shivered and held back tears, before rubbing her shoulder as she let out some whimpers, which echoed across the empty bedroom.

Where were her roommates? Lynn didn't know, and the mere thought of a family seeing a living failure like her walking around the building kept her grounded in her little prison.

And then somebody entered. The owner of the orphanage: Mrs. Grouse.

"Evelyn, are you here?" the slightly-younger-but-also-old-man asked, taking a look at his surroundings. "A couple has come to see you. I need you to come with me so you can see them in person."

Lynn, or more accurately Evelyn, immediately hid under her bed sheet, or at least she tried, only for some pain to suddenly act up and make her loudly wince. Upon hearing this, Mr. Grouse walked up to her and checked the place the girl felt the pain: Her shoulder.

"Evelyn, did you play dodgeball with the other orphans again?!" Mr. Grouse asked, earning a hesitant nod from the girl. "Why did you do it?! You know how badly your shoulder injuries will act up if anything hits it!"

"They challenged me to play... I couldn't turn it down... a failure would've turned the challenge down..." Lynn shed a single tear and sniffed. "I thought... I thought I could win this time... but I was wrong..."

And then she whimpered again before crying, "I'm always wrong!"

"Now, there, calm down Evelyn, it's not your fault you reacted the way you did," Mr. Grouse wiped off the girls' crocodile tears. "Listen, come with me, we'll meet the couple, and you'll act as optimistic as you can to try and convince them to adopt you, alright?"

"They won't adopt me, no matter how hard we try," Lynn sniffed. "Nobody ever adopts failures like me."

Mr. Grouse rolled his eyes. "Yeah, basically, don't act like that. Understood?"

Lynn nodded, and moments later, she sat on a chair nearby as Mr. Grouse sat on his desk with the younger couple known as Lynn Sr., or just Lynn at the time, and Rita, in front of him. They looked at Lynn from their seats for a moment, and immediately diverted their attention as soon as they heard the girl whimper.

"I'm sorry if Evelyn seems much more delicate than you expected her to be," Mr. Grouse remarked, twiddling his fingers. "She comes from a very harsh background that made her easily scared and anxious."

"Well, we do have quite a few daughters that are rather... jumpy and energetic," Rita remarked, scratching her chin as she thought about it. "However, they can try to contain themselves if they see how anxious their new sister's like..."

The woman turned to her husband. "Are you sure it's such a good idea to adopt her, Lynn? I mean, she's cute and everything, and our sisters have been pestering us for a sister, but... she doesn't seem like she'd last long enough in our house, specially with-"

"Sir?"

The adults turned around, and saw Lynn looking at them, before facing to see Lynn Sr. with a confused look.

"Why do you want to adopt me... Sir?"

Mr. Grouse sighed and rubbed his forehead. "This is what I was worried about, Eveyn has a bad habit of being a bit of a downer, again, thanks to her upbringing."

"Okay, so, from what I can see, Evelyn doesn't seem like the type that would like being in a noisy house," Rita turned to face Lynn Sr. worriedly. "I mean, we already have four daughters living with us, Lynn, even if they were quieter and calmer than they are already, wouldn't she feel intimidated about having four older sisters?"

"Listen, I know it may sound like a bad idea to adopt this girl, but be honest with me," Lynn Sr. got up and walked to Lynn's side, who flinched as the man put a hand on her shoulder. "Just look at this girl! She's been through some stuff, as you can clearly see, and she needs a loving household to live in, with a loving and caring mother. And I don't know anybody who's more loving and caring than you, Rita."

The orphan girl looked at Rita for a moment, before frowning and glancing away, as if to say "d-don't mind me" in a meek tone. And of course, the woman couldn't help but find this adorable.

"Well, she definitely needs a good home, and I'm certain that, with some instructions, we can accomodate to make her feel comfortable," Rita sighed. "Still, are you sure this a good idea, Lynn?"

"Well, let's ask the girl herself," Lynn Sr. crouched down and met Lynn eye-to-eye. "Do you wanna go live with us, Evelyn? Do you wanna go live in a house where you'll be appreciated and cared for?"

The girl remained silent for a moment as the intact eye contact she held with the man made her feel... warm, and secure, on the inside. And she remained silent until the feeling of security was enough to let her take a deep breath, and answer with a confident tone:

"Yes."

Back in the present...

"And everything after that moment, it's rather obvious what happened: I was adopted, and I started living my life as a Loud," Lynn finished, taking a long deep breath before adding, "After a certain time had passed, I had Lucy hide any and all evidence that I was adopted somewhere around the house, and then I asked Lisa to wipe her memory for good measure, alongside the memory of every single one of our "sisters" as well."

Lynn looked at her siblings, most of which were completely stunned at the revelation. "And now that you know about me, Evelyn, all I ask from you is that, you give the whole topic a rest and just calm down."

"B-But-"

"You want to help, I know, but some things are better left forgotten. And my past... who I used to be... is one of those things."

Lynn walked back to her bedroom upstairs, and everybody separated and went their own ways, except for three siblings: Lucy, Lincoln, and Lisa, the former two giving worried looks at the latter.

"L-Listen, I'll understand if you're mad that I did what I did, specially after what we just did to Mom in order to find out the truth," Lisa replied. "B-But, you have to understand, the issue is something really personal for Lynn. She even brought Mom and Dad into the discussion, and they all agreed that it was for the best!"

"That I understand, Lisa," Lincoln remarked, brushing the toddler's hair as he added, "After all, if there's anybody we can trust to help us forget horrible stuff, I'm sure you'd be the first person to come to mind as well."

"But we can't just leave the issue here and forget about it!" Lucy exclaimed, getting her siblings' attention, mostly because she actually raised her voice for once. "I know better than anybody else that an issue that's not resolved when possible can only grow worse and worse, until it becomes impossible to solve! I don't know how long it's been since Lynn's had this issue, but if it's still in a stage where we can fix it, we need to do it!"

Lisa and Lucy turned to Lincoln, and the goth asked, "What do we do, Lincoln?"

The boy scratched his chin and thought about it for a moment, before coming to a conclusion, "Lucy, if you can, go upstairs and see if Lynn's willing to tell us a bit more about her phobia. If she isn't... well, there's nothing we can do right now, then."

Lucy nodded, and the trio walked upstairs up until they were outside Lucy and Lynn's bedroom. Once there, Lincoln and Lisa remained behind, while Lucy opened the door and went inside, only to suddenly hear:

"I miss you too, sis."

Lucy froze in place and remained as quiet as she could as she caught a glimpse of a shocking sight: Lynn speaking to someone on the phone, with the goth listening intently as Lynn continued:

"Yeah, I told them about the adoption, but only up until "Dad" asked me if I wanted to come with him, my mouth was sealed shut afterwards... yeah, I'm happy we got to meet again... so, is Mom over there?... she isn't?! Where is she?!... o-oh, she went to the gym, again?... gigures, Mom hasn't changed at all, has she?"

Lucy raised an eyebrow, the mention of a Mother quickly making her curiosity rise. And then Lynn continued:

"She'll be out at the Gym all day tomorrow, huh? Who's going to babysit you?... Of course you still need a babysitter, sis, you're still just a preteen!... that guy again, huh? He's a nice guy... wait, what?... you, want to come over?"

Lucy mentally gasped and covered her mouth, just in case she gasped in real life.

"I don't know, sis, you know I'm still too scared to come back ever since Mom made her mind very clear when she put me on adoption... yes, I know you said she'd be at the Gym all day tomorrow, but... oh come on, don't pull that trick on me! You know I can't say no to you when you act so cute!... huh, you really sound cute like that, you know? Fine, I'll see you tomorrow there, sis."

Lynn hung up, and as soon as she turned around, Lucy blurted:

"You have an actual, biological sister? And a Mother as well?!"

Caught off-guard, the athlete clutched her chest and took several deep breaths before thinking about what to do now. After all, she did just tell Lucy, alongside her other "siblings" about her past. But on the other hand, she did trust Lucy more than the rest, and besides, who else was she gonna tell it to? After the bomb shell she dropped today, it probably would take a whole day before anybody was willing to touch the subject again.

So, when Lynn inevitably nodded in response, she further asked, "W-Who are they?!"

"You're crazy if you think I'm gonna tell you such sensitive information to any of you, specially after telling you a bit about my past! I know you all too well enough to know you'd try to further help me, and wind up being a thorn in my butt instead," Lynn got off the seat and said as she walked upstairs. "However, I will give you a hint: My sister came earlier today to pay me a visit."

Lucy wrote that down, and then sheepishly asked, "Can you give me another hint? That one's a bit vague."

Lynn rolled her eyes and rested on her bed. "I'll take a nap now, bye Lucy."

"Bye Lynn" was all Lucy said as she walked away and left the room, leaving her older sister to rest in peace. Once she was outside, she met Lincoln and Lisa, who were leaning against the wall nearby.

"Don't worry, you don't have to explain anything, we heard it all," Lisa gently tapped the wall. "The house's thin walls weren't a detriment for us this time."

"That gives us a clue... and an entirely new perspective on Lynn," Lincoln remarked, before narrowing his eyes in determination. "And it also gives us a clue as to what might be going on."

"Why's that?" Lucy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You heard Lynn, she had a family before she was adopted, a Mother and a sister," Lincoln folded his arms. "If our Mother isn't the source of the phobia, then her former mother has to be the source!"

"I see the logic behind your point, Lincoln, but how are we gonna find her?" Lisa shrugged. "Lynn obviously won't just spill those beans, whether from her mouth or her butt. She'll be sealed shut."

"Well, there's only one thing left to do, then," Lincoln stretched a bit. "Lucy, do you know who came to visit Lynn just recently, besides you and Lisa?"

"A redhead, one of Lynn's roller derby teammates, and her date for you for the Sadie Hawkins dance, all girls, I think their names were Penelope, Margo, and Polly Pain respectively," Lucy deadpanly explained. "Why do you ask?"

Lincoln put his hands on his hips, "We're gonna pay them a visit."

The trio shook hands and immediately went to do the work... while Lynn leaned against the other end of the wall, arms folded and with a stern smile on her face.

"I'm flattered that you three want to help me out, really, I am," Lynn thought, before taking out her phone. "But if you're seriously going to pester my biological family to do it, then I simply have to get involved as well."