Chapter two, incoming! a little explanation near the end of how Julia is going to work; She has a few options with her now that she knows how to use magic to a point, but she also carries another weapon that I'll introduce later on!

(Chapter two: The Choice)

Beep, beep

The annoying phone started up again; Julia had forgotten to turn her phone's alarm off. Stirring in the bed she faced up looking at the ceiling; the Saturday that was always her off day became a little more active. She groaned;

"It wasn't a dream.."

Slowly making her way off the bed she looked at herself in the mirror; eye patch misplaced on her head. Adjusting herself, Julia got ready for the day. Making her way out of her small bedroom, Julia was caught off guard.

"A lovely place you have here-"

Julia screamed

Not only did Julia have the hell scared out of herself by her oh so favorite doc, but the badge seller as well; The two casually sitting down in her living room. It was unnerving, but Julia also realized that she screamed in a semi-public area; taking quick action, Julia chucked a sandal that was nearby at a wall.

With that situation ending in her next-door neighbor to come knocking at her residence; Turning down the hall that isolated itself away from the living room, she opened the door without fear of anyone seeing the doll plague doctor and the mangled twitching man sitting down.

"Hey, everything alright?" Her neighbor, a nice man who she knew by the name of Gerald wore a concerned face; Julia replied-

"Yeah! Totally! Just another roach on the wall, aha-" She scratched her head "No matter how clean you keep a place, they're always around!" Laughing nervously, the man took it as a sign she was still shaken from the encounter- he personally understood this because Gerald has entomophobia. Without another question, he smiled and returned to whatever work he was doing before the loud bang at an ungodly hour.

Julia will agree it was very inconsiderate to those who are trying to sleep, but she had to cover her scream somehow. "No more surprises please.." she mutters, closing the door. Making her way back into the living room, Julia talked in a quiet voice.

"What the heck are you guys doing here?!" She looked at the two, who were looking in her direction when she came back "How the hell did you get into my house?!"

"To be quite frank, I'm not even sure how I got here," Gabriele said, turning his head to look at the badge seller, it was so... strange to see him in this world; Gabriele thought not of it because he'd been with this man for so long- but he was here, in this normal, nonanimated world he was so used to seeing.

He was technical.. home as well now.

"You did an excellent job in giving us your location, Julia," the badge seller said, of course ignoring all questions thrown at him. "Rest assured, I'll be able to assist you in your return."

"Missed you too, ya twitching lunatic.." Julia gave a side smirk.

All you could hear from him was a low chuckle as he stood up. "Say your goodbyes quickly; this will be a one-way trip this time."

"Well, that's nice to know-" Julia scoffed "like it would have been nice to know that I wasn't actually dying when I was literally becoming particles of light."

"That's what happens to things that don't belong, didn't you know?" The twitching man had said this in a way that sounded rude but held no ill intent towards her, but whatever signals he was sending, she didn't receive, ending in her giving him a rather sour face.

"By morning tomorrow, the rift that we had come through will be closed;" He tapped his cane down to grab her attention further "grab what you need, for this ride will be.. very unstable."

"I've ridden through the unstable dimensional rift before with Moon; I can handle it," Julia replied. With a hum, and a quick blink of the eye, he was gone; as usual. But Gabriele was still present "Yeah- sure. Don't tell me where I need to go; that's totally fine."

"Julia; are you still planning on leaving without a word?" Gabriele quietly asked "You should at least say something to your cousins..-" he turned his head to look out the still covered window "they care very much about you."

"I know.."

It was a nice calm day; quiet, like nature, knew what was going to happen. A departure of a loved one was always a sad moment; Julia sat waiting in the old park she and her cousins used to play in when they were younger. It's long since forgotten, and flora had taken back some of the man-made structure.

"It's cold today" Julia mumbled, moving back and forth on a swing slowly. Taking a long-needed breath, she looked up at the everlasting light blue with a tint of orange.

"You still have that old hoodie?" The girl heard off in the distance, she didn't even hear the car pull up. Her three cousins leisurely strolled up to her, warm drinks in hand; Travis handed her one as well.

"Yeah- it was one of a good few things I had.." Julia mumbled, taking a nice sip of her drink, Matcha hot drinks from Starbucks was always good even if she always burnt her tongue. "Sorry to call you guys out here during our free day."

"Hey, no biggy!" Tucker said, sitting down on the swing next to her "besides, been wanting to see this place for a while now; the park hadn't aged that well-"

"What was it you need to talk about anyway, Juli?" Tanner asked, question in his eyes, "was it about that.. strange guy yesterday..?"

Julia chuckled, in a sense, it kind of was.. but not entirely. She kicked back and forth slowly once more wondering how to start things off. "Well, yes- but no." She sighed "you see, I can't tell you the full story; you'd probably not believe me." She looked ahead for a while, catching a glimpse of a few turkeys walking.

"But I guess it doesn't matter though, because I know it's real.." She looked back to her cousins, who are now all looked at her. "I've.. connected with a few people; we were like.. an actual family... A father, a mother.. even a little sister.."

They looked on, wanting her to continue, where was she going with this?

"I was... I was really happy being with them when suddenly I had to leave." Julia pulled her hoodie up kicked her legs again "I had made a promise that I'd come back to them.."

"So.. you plan on leaving? Where too?" Travis asked

"Who are these people? They sound nice!" Tucker asked

"...Will you be coming back..?" Tanner asked his question, looking at her face; He knew something was up.

The last question made everyone quiet again. They waited for her to talk again, and as Julia looked up at all three of her older cousins she said without hesitation,

"No, I won't be coming back."

This was something she wanted to do for a long time, to return to everyone back in that cartoony world where reality made no sense to her. The adventure, the journey, everything.

"Is that strange man making you say these things? Because that's nuts!" Tucker said, looking at her like she grew another head. "You're just gonna run off?"

"Tucker, calm down.." Travis said, looking at his brother "at least she's telling us; she could have just said nothing."

"These people really mean that much to you, huh?" Tanner said, never breaking eye contact with Julia.

She nodded, taking a breath "that's why I called you guys; the only ones who still actually care about me here." She stood up, and turned to all of them "I want you guys to know, I love you all so, very much." She choked on her words but cleared her throat "but, me leaving is something I need to do.."

Without a second thought the group pulled together; a tight hug. Tears stung her eyes, but she didn't cry; it still hurt to leave but she's made up her mind. This warmth that was around her subsided as they all pulled away, Julia looked up at all of them one more time.

"I wish we could go out and have a few more shenanigans, but it seems this is it," Julia said, a small sad smile on her face.

"Hey, you're old enough to make your own decisions now; don't stay because of us." Tucker said, placing a hand on her head "just... please be careful with that weird guy, and any other strange characters you meet, okay?"

"If you ever do find your way back to us, our doors are always open to you, Juli.," Travis said, following a lead with his brother.

Tanner joined in as well, placing his hand on Julia's head "Don't take shit from no one, yeah?" Making her laugh a little. "And if this is really it, I want you to have something I've held onto.."

Around Tanner's neck, he pulled a locket; hidden from everyone's view until now. Even his two brothers never knew he wore it. He handed it to his little cousin, enclosing her hands around it. "Do me a favor, don't open it until you're long gone, okay?" He winked "It'll have more meaning then."

Julia held tightly to it, nodding her head as she felt like something was watching; turning around slightly she caught a glimpse of Gabriele standing off to the side. Looking up, the girl noticed just how dark it had gotten, but she wasn't the only one who noticed the doctor standing a few ways back.

"That's him..-" Tucker quietly pointed

"Whoa- guys you weren't joking about his looks.." Travis said in awe.

"Hey!" Tanner yelled, grabbed the Doctor's attention "Whatever the hell you are, you better keep our baby cousin safe!" After a short moment the other two chimes in with a few 'yeahs'

From across the field, the could hear, "you have my word." As he slightly bowed his head in acknowledgment.

Travis was at loss for words, as the two other brothers nodded back. One last look at Julia, they all parted ways, but just before they all disappeared behind the car doors, Tanner took one look back;

and smiled.

Julia smiled back, and once the car was cleared from sight, she started walking over to the doctor as he was waiting for her. "I'm assuming it went well?"

"As well as goodbyes can be," Julia answered

Gabriele nodded, turning around to walk away, "come now, I've gotten new from Benjamin; he said to meet him at a place called Star-view Point."

Julia stopped and gasped "I knew where that is!"

Julia had been riding on her motorbike with Gabriele holding on tight to her. This vehicle was a lot faster then the child's he'd seen, seems in the time of Julia's absence, she was learning how to drive this mechanical contraption. It almost scared him to be on it.

Once they arrived at their destination, the sun had long set, and the city lights had started to spark on; each area of the town came to life as they walked to the edge to get a better look. It had been so long since Julia had been here, she was incredibly happy to have found out this place had, even more, meaning when she and her grandfather had come here.

When she and Moon have come here.

She held tightly to the locket around her neck, almost wanting to open it, but not yet- she hadn't left yet. "Seems like we've arrived earlier than Benjamin expected.." Gabriele hummed out "he's already been here by now.."

"That's fine," Julia whispered, "if it means I get to see this place one last time, I wouldn't mind."

"Such a marvelous view.." Gabriele noted, he was happy to see how the world fared after the event of the plague- but then again; by the accents and look of the residents, this was located in America, not England or France. "Such.. development.."

Julia hummed, she was in her own world as she looked off. He turned his head to hers and was finally able to ask something that was bothering him. "Julia, May I ask something of you?"

The girl snapped out of her thoughts as she looked back at him; Face looking directly at him. "It's that.. eye patch. Are you okay?" He approached, grabbing hold of her cheek again. "How did you get hurt?"

Things were getting uncomfortable, but she answered as soon as she broke from his hand "well, it's not entirely from being hurt, it more of a way of hiding something I don't was to show." But for him, she'll make an exception, he's a doctor after all.

Moving her eye patch to the side, Gabriele nearly sputtered out; almost sounded like a choke. "What happened to your eye!?"

"It's uh... I think it happened when I started using my magic too much..?" Julia scratched her head, "it hurt for a while, but now I don't feel pain anymore.."

He grabbed her face, clearly frustrated "That's because you've exerted yourself way too far!" Letting go, he backed off "that's what happens when you use magic you're not used to! It's dangerous, and it damages your physical appearance!"

"Oh.." Julia blinked a couple of times, registering what he was saying "that makes sense actually.."

"Honestly, it would have looked a lot worse if you hadn't used your charm." Gabriele sighed. "On the bright side, you are now capable of using magic items to extend your own power."

"As..?" Julia wanted him to continue, this was sounding more interesting.

"Like that locket for instance.." he pointed "you can fuse it with your own magic to assist you.."

"Like Melody's hats!" Julia smiled

"Precisely!" He confirmed, "each charm has their intended use, your hair tie gave you the ability to use barriers, shields.."

"I can also make strings..-" Gabriele nearly froze as he heard this. He knew this, he had taken the brunt of that attack when she went berserk. The doctor was honestly hoping that she wouldn't find out about it. "Hey.. you okay..?"

"Ah, yes.." Gabriele shook his head "that would be your raw energy; What you are capable of using without charms.. but as stated, is dangerous." He looked at her, serious air surrounding him as he talked "be mindful of how you use it, it could not only damage the user but others as well."

In the distance, he could see his old friend stumbling across to them, Gabriele waved "well then, we can talk more about this matter later.." the badge seller had approached the two, looking at them.

"Apology for the wait, I had not realized that this place was familiar to you." The Badge Seller said, taking another look at Julia as she placed her eye patch back on "Ah- that however looks familiar to me.."

It then clicked with the girl, an explanation of why the badge seller looked like he did! Magic exertion! He must have used a lot of magic to get away from Moon.. to hide him and Gabriele at the same time. Which would also explain why Gabriele knew so much about this topic-

"So, you're not taking anything with you?" The twitching man looked around, Julia snapped her finger

"No- I am!" She quickly added "I just need to bring my motorbike over; I have at least one bag strapped to it..-" with this Julia hurried to grab her belongings.

The badge seller looked at Gabriele knowingly "She knows now, doesn't she?"

"The fact that She is now able to magic to a point is interesting now.." Gabriele folded his hands behind his back "however, she had damaged her left eye greatly.. yet she can still see through it."

"I wonder; what other magic charms will she unlock on this new journey..?" The badge seller questioned, "how will she acquire them?"

"As long as she keeps her emotions and raw energy in check, I would like to witness this first hand.." Gabriele mumbled as Julia slowly started coming back.

"You'll be joining her?" The badge seller asked

"For now.." was the doctor's reply.

Julia had returned next to the two, a smile on her face, looking back and forth and then to the city below. This was happening, she was going to return back to the world she searched so hard for.

"So, where's the portal?" She asked.

"We jump for it." The badge seller turned to her.