Chapter 2: Decisions, Decisions
Kim arrives in Middleton with Ron in her arms. Ever since she had picked up Ron after calling Wade, she had not let him out of her arms. The pilot who picked her up had offered to help carry Ron but Kim had refused politely and told the pilot that Ron was her responsibility.
Kim even strapped Ron to her before she dived out of the aircraft and during her freefall, she thought about how Atheus held Ron's soul in his little orb. She was angry beyond words at the memory of what that bastard did to Ron and she silently promised that she'd get her friend's soul back no matter what it took.
When Kim lands on the ground, she removes the straps from Ron's limp but breathing form and gently catches him before his body can fall to the ground. She didn't want anything to happen to Ron's body, not after what Atheus had done to harm it and then restore it back to life. She thought that Ron deserved better than to be trapped for all eternity to such a mean godling like Atheus.
Kim walks towards her house where she'd landed and walks through the kitchen door where her parents were just starting breakfast. Kim guessed that she was quite the sight with Ron hanging limply in her arms with the way her face looked with dried tears and her hair a mess.
Kim's mother cries out at the sight of her daughter holding her best friend like that and says, "KIM! What happened! Is Ron…?" finding herself unable to say the end of her sentence. She had really liked Ron, having found him to be such a sweet guy and even hoped that one day Kim would marry him.
Kim's father had just been about to sip his coffee when he saw his daughter carrying what LOOKED like Ron's body into their kitchen. While Ron might have been simply unconscious, the way she looked and the red, teary eyes with that… expression of loss made him think otherwise. He stops his hand with the liquid spilling out of the tilted cup. So, when its hot liquid lands on his lap, causing him to yell in pain and jump out of his seat towards Kim that is when he is stunned by something he hadn't noticed before. There was a look in Kim's eyes that said she was angry… no, if he had to put a word to it, the word would have been furious. He immediately stopped trying to save his lap from the hot liquid as if he'd been admonished for doing so. Even as the hot liquid cooled off in his lap, he couldn't believe that the redhead in front of him was his daughter because she had never looked like that, even when she was mad at the twins for some stupid prank.
Kim's mother takes a few steps towards Kim and says, "Kim… what happened?" with her right hand near her mouth as if she was afraid of the answer.
Kim looks at her parents for a long time before she closes her eyes and when she opens them, she lets out a breath before she says, "Ron…" her voice catching for a moment as she fights back tears which she blinks back before she continues, "Ron was… killed by a godling… we met on a mountain… he did it to save me."
The last sentence was obviously the hardest for Kim to say. She looks at her parents again as her eyes were blinking back more tears that threatened to spill from her.
Kim's father says, "I always knew that boy had your best interests in his heart… I'm sorry Kimberly… he was… a good friend."
Kim's mother says as she tries to guide Kim towards the table, "Why don't you sit down and tell us all the details…" She notices that Kim cradles Ron's body in her arms protectively when Kim sits down and blinks as she thinks she just noticed a breath.
Kim's father says as he reaches out, "Why don't I take Ron and lay him on the couch for you, he can't be light…" The moment his hands touch Ron, Kim yells, "Don't touch him!" and pulls him closer to her. He jumps back at the ferocity of the yell from Kim and it takes him a few moments to realize that trying to take Ron from Kim would be a very bad idea.
Kim looks down at Ron and her long, red hair covers her face before she says in a soft voice, "This is all I have left of Ron… until I can… get back his soul from Atheus."
Both of Kim's parents look at each other with puzzlement on their faces. Kim's mother says, "Who is Atheus honey?"
Kim looks up and tears were on her cheeks as she says, "Atheus is the bastard godling that we met on the mountain. He tried to destroy me for refusing to become his subservient wife and Ron jumped in front of the lightning bolt to save me…"
Kim lowers her head to touch Ron's and a few drops land on his face before she looks up again and continues, "He… captured Ron's soul into a crystal orb of some kind at the moment Ron passed away in my arms…sniff and then… he brought Ron's body back to life but without a soul… he'll remain like this forever…" She looks down at Ron who looked like he was sleeping. She then says, "And if I don't return with a decision to become his wife… Ron will stay with him for all eternity…s-subject to anything he wants to do to him…"
Kim's parents reach out and take each other's hands as they look at Kim, coming to an understanding what their daughter was going through. They both wanted to do something, anything to ease her pain but what could they do? Inside though, they were both very angry and very sad. Angry at Atheus for putting Kim through all of that and definitely agree that he was a bastard. Sad for Kim, because they couldn't help her or Ron.
Kim's father frowned after a few moments and said, "Kimmie-cup, how do know that this Atheus will keep his word and release Ron's soul if you do agree to marry him?"
Kim's voice was soft as she says, "I don't know, but it is all I have right now. I won't leave Ron in the hands of that bastard godling for all eternity." She says the last part with such determination that the parents had no doubt that if it took it, she would marry Atheus to save him.
Suddenly the Kimmunicator chirps its familiar tune and Kim somehow cradles Ron in her lap while pulling out the small blue device with her other hand. She pushes the button and Wade's face appears on it and he didn't look too happy.
Wade didn't have good news but when he saw Kim's face, he paused and thought, "Wow, I've never seen Kim look like this. This must be really hitting Kim very hard." With that thought, he became angry anyone, godling or no, would hurt Kim this badly. He says, "Kim, I've got some information but it is kind of a mixed bag."
Kim looks at the screen with her bloodshot eyes and says, "What is it Wade? What did you find out?" Her parents come close enough so that Wade can see them and Wade says, "Hello Mr. And Mrs. Possible."
Kim's mother says, "Hello Wade, I hope you've got something that will help Kim." With her father adding, "That's right! We can't let this scoundrel get away with this!" Silently Wade agreed with them and only wished he had better information but he hoped that Kim would somehow find a way to turn what he had into something useful.
Wade says, "Well, like I said, this is going to be a bit of a mixed bag. I found some information about her but it is very, very old and only recently translated by an archeologist. The archeologist's name is "Jerri Rastic" and because no one had even heard of the godlings she discovered, she has been rebuked by the archeology community as a quack."
Kim says, "Do you think this Jerri will have more information about Atheus than you were able to dig up?"
Wade shrugs his shoulders, "It could be possible. When she left, she took a lot of her information about her discovery with her. The only stuff I could find about Atheus is her original submitted paper about her discovery. I don't think you'll find it very useful though but I'll transmit it to your Kimmunicator for you to read or print out."
Kim nods and says, "Please and Thank you." Before Kim's mother says, "Wade, why did the community turn down her discovery so hard?"
Wade sighs and says, "Mostly because it doesn't fit anywhere into known mythology for that region or time period. She argued that was because it was part of their punishment to become lost in the obscurity of history and because Zeus didn't really want anyone to know about the twins."
Kim says, "Wait, back up Wade… did you say twins?" As far as she knew, twins in any kind of god mythology was not a common thing and she didn't know of any from Zeus's storyline.
Wade nods, "Yes I did, you see Kim. According to the paper, she submitted that Atheus and Zathera were two sides of a coin. Atheus was a bastard godling, meaning Zeus and the other gods didn't officially recognize him, yet he still kept all his powers. As for Zathera, she wasn't recognized but she was better liked because unlike Atheus, she was his every opposite in personality."
Kim's father says, "So, if this Atheus was as mean as Kim described…" Wade nods and says as he finishes the train of thought, "That's right, she would be every bit as nice. But unfortunately, I couldn't dig up much more information about them beyond that."
Kim says, "Then I think it is time to visit Jerri and see if I can dig up some more information about these godlings. Wade, how soon can you get me a ride?"
Wade says, "Well, I've run into a little bit of a snag there Kim. I don't know where Jerri is right now. It is almost as if when she left, she disappeared off the face of the planet. But don't worry, I promise I'll find her and set you up with a ride to go out to her immediately."
Kim's face falls a little at this information and Wade notices. Wade says apologetically, "I'm sorry Kim… that's what I meant by a kind of mixed bag, otherwise I would have set you up with a ride to go visit Jerri"
Kim nods and weakly smiles, "I know you would have Wade. Thank you for all your help, you rock Wade." Wade nods and says, "I'll contact you when I have more information… and Kim? We'll get Ron back, I know it." That last part seemed to touch Kim from the way a touched smile crept onto her face and she says, "Thank you Wade… I know we will, I promise we will get Ron away from Atheus."
After that, she turns the screen off and turns to look at her parents who look back at Kim with sympathic faces and Kim's mother says, "Don't you worry Kim. I'm sure you'll get Ron back and then everything can go back to the way it used to be."
Kim looks down at Ron and wonders silently, "Can it go back to the way it used to be?" while in her heart, she prayed that at least for one thing to return back to the way it was and that was for Ron to be by her side once more the way he was.
It hurt Kim to see Ron and know that it was just an empty shell, one without the very spirit that made it so very special to her, the one who made her laugh, cry, frustrated, and the very person who had always been there, never letting her down when she really needed him. At that moment, Kim would have given almost anything to just see Ron open his eyes and let her know that he was all right.
Kim's mother says, "Kim, why don't you go lay down and get some rest? It looks like you could use some after this adventure." Her father says, "I have to agree with your mother on this one, you go lay down so you can be all rested and rarin' to go when Wade calls back about your ride to go wherever this Jerri person went."
Kim looks up at her parents and nods slowly, as she was pretty tired from her adventure. She had not allowed herself to sleep on the flight home, on the off chance that everything had happened had been a dream and that Ron was simply asleep, waiting for her to wake him up. Her eyes felt heavy from all the crying she'd done over the past hours and she felt very drained. She knew her parents were right and she slowly stands up, still carrying Ron in her arms and not a single word is said by either one of them as she walked out of the kitchen with Ron.
Kim walks to her room and lays Ron down in her bed, as there was easily enough space in her queen-sized bed. She pulls the covers over his Ron's body so that it wouldn't catch a cold and with only kicking her shoes off, she lays down beside him but she is so tired that she didn't even have the energy to pull the sheets over herself before she falls asleep with her head resting against Ron's back since she had laid him on his side, just like she knew he liked to sleep in that position.
Later, Kim's parents come up to check on Kim and find that she was sleeping next to him and while her father didn't like the way it looked, he knew that Kim wasn't about to let Ron out of her sight, at least not quite yet. He had to admire that in Kim, she was a loyal one and figured that was how she could inspire people so much.
Kim's mother walks up and pulls the covers over Kim and then leans to kiss her on the cheek, catching a small sleep-whisper from Kim where she says, "No Ron... don't leave me... not like that... not...like that..." and for a moment a tear starts to slowly run from the corner of her eye until her mother catches it with a finger and wipes it before it can wake her up.
Kim's mother whispers, "Ron's not going anywhere..." which causes Kim's tense, sleeping body to relax some. She then turns and guides her husband out of the room, where once she's closed the door she whispers softly to him, "Honey, Kim is really upset about what happened to Ron. I don't think she has told us everything yet."
Kim's father whispers back, "What do you think she's not telling us?" He looks at the door and considers waking her up to find out, but then he remembers how tired and upset she was and deletes that thought.
Kim's mother says, "I don't know, but maybe it has something to do with how Atheus took Kim. I certainly wouldn't know what to do with myself if someone not only took you from me by killing you, but also stole your soul and kept you, keeping you from passing on." She pulls him away from the door towards the stairs and says, "On one hand, I would be upset at Atheus for keeping you from reaching your final destination... on the other hand, I would be relieved that I got a chance to get you back, but would feel a little guilty without knowing if you wanted to go to your final rewards or come back to me though I would hope you'd choose me." Tears well up at her eyes moments before she feels his arms wrap comfortingly around her and he says, "Don't you worry, it would be a no brainer for me, as I'd choose you any day. My heaven is here with you, not someplace else, no matter what may be waiting for me as my final reward."
Kim's mother leans to kiss her husband for his sweet and comforting words and then she says, "Do you think Ron would feel the same way as you?" She casts a wondering glance at Kim's door before she looks back and sees her husband staring at his door in deep thought before he says in a tone of voice that didn't waver in any uncertainty, "Yes, I do. In fact, I'm certain that Ron would rather stay by Kim than to leave her like this."
Kim's mother hugs her husband as his words make her feel better not only about Ron and her own husband, but gave her something that she'd been wanting since Kim showed up at the door, hope.
AN: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. What do you all think will happen next? As for the name of the archeologist, I know it sounds like Jurassic, which was on purpose but I really couldn't think of any other name puns for one. Oh, and yes, I got the idea for the name from another show on CN. A gold star if you can guess which one. I am currently working on the next KP in Animology Mates chapter but I might work on my other stories as well so keep an eye out for more stuff from me.
Jerry Unipeg: Thanks for the review! I hope you liked this chapter as well.
The Incredible Werekitty: Thanks, I tried. Truthfully, I was holding back on how much of a bastard to make him.
jasminevr: Marry Ron huh? I don't think Atheus would like that very much. Ron taps on his glass orb: Hello! Anyone going to let me out of here?
K-R-4-E-V-A: Finding his weakness won't be easy with the only archeologist that actually knows anything is missing! I agree though, Ron didn't deserve what happened. I think though that you'll like what I've got planned for Atheus in the end.
R: Somehow, I think Ron and Kim would object to that.
Nina-KikuMaru: If the last chapter made you cry, I hope you had a big box of tissue for this chapter. As for if Ron gets his soul back in his body, you'll just have to wait and see! Oh, and thanks for the review!