Just a small filler chapter the will lead to the Arctic Cruise DLC! Enough with the drama, for now, It's time to attempt recovery! Sorry for not posting sooner on here, I had to go pick my mother up from the hospital, I'm super tired and drained. But I'm feeling okay now after a nap.

(Chapter Thirteen: Mail from the Mafia)

Two days have passed, two whole days since Zephyr came and attacked Gabriele and Julia. Two days since Julia had healed and spoken to the doctor. What he had said to her, hurt Julia very much, but the kids were making it hard for her to feel bad in front of them.

Melody had reunited with Lynn, and the two, plus Bonnie, Kero, and a few Subcon minions started following her around. They were 'house seeing' around the forest. While MoonJumper and Snatcher tried to think of a place to keep that locked chest that Zephyr's parts were in.

"Come on, Julia!" Lynn was pulling on her pant leg "you promised you'd give me a ride! Let's ride!" Pointing to her stationary motorbike. "It'll be a lot faster!"

"Sorry, kid." Julia softly smiled at her "I'm running low on fuel, and I'm not sure if I'll ever get more.." scratching the back of her head. Kero was holding onto her other hand and she looked ahead to see Bonnie and Melody playing tag along the way.

The little minions kept pointing out areas, broken buildings, anything that Julia could take. None look any good so far, it was either too much work to fix, or too inconvenient.

Bonnie was just a little ball of fire as she swatted away the large spiders that attempted to drop down on anyone. She's got more bravery then Melody, Julia wonders if she ever protected the hatted child in the past before?

The tall girl smiled at the two friends, it was cute how they matched in away. Both used umbrellas as a kind of weapon, and Bonnie could probably use the same hats as her too. Speaking of hats, she missed being able to use them, the hats were fun.

What did happen to the hats she was carrying? Maybe they were left behind like her umbrella.

"Mama! Mama!" Julia looked down at her son, he was pointing in a direction. The group seemed to have made their way back around to the swamp, there Kero pointed to a tree. In that tree, was a broken, roofless, treehouse with a campfire inside.

"Well, that's a fire hazard.." Julia mumbled, putting her hand to her chin.

"It's next to the swamp, mama!" Kero smiled with glee, still pulling on her sleeve "We could live next to the swamp! Can we!?"

Julia snickered at the child, he very much wanted to live next to the swamp.. probably reminds the boy of how he used to live. If it makes him happy, then she'll just have to deal with a major overhaul. Besides, living in a tree might be fun...

What about the necessary living equipment for her though? Electricity, Bathrooms, Warm water... Washing machine, Refrigerator. All that good stuff. Julia took her hat off and swept back her hair, thinking about these things made her want to go live in the nice sunny Mafia Town; but she'd much prefer the quietness of this forest.

The area was also not too far from Snatcher's place too. She could see his Mushroom tree over from where they stood. They could be neighbors. She scoffed at that thought.

"Fine, little buddy. But.." Julia trailed off, "It's a lot of work to build a house from nothing, especially in a tree.." she looked down at him, adding in "we're also currently broke..-"

Melody perked her head up at this "Well.. technically we still have our jobs as Movie stars!" She pointed out and also added "you can also stay on the ship for as long as you like! Or until you can get enough money!"

This was true! At some point, she'll need to drop by dead-bird studios. Julia still needs to say 'hey' to Grooves.

"Hey, Kiddos!" Snatcher popped out of the ground starling literally every child and Julia, beside Melody, and one minion. He laughed at their expressions "Hah! That never gets old. Anyways!" He held out a little bag full of folded letters, some stolen and one was actually for Julia.

"You got mail, pumpkin head!" He held it out to her as she swiped it away with an annoyed face.

Gabriele was still lingering around the forest, he couldn't bring himself to leave. Neither he nor Julia spoke about what happened in the dreamscape to anyone, probably for the best. Though, it still eats away at him. He's unable to bring himself to apologize to her in fear she might lash out.

Maybe this was it? Maybe this is where they part ways...

"I take my leave for a few days.." Gabriele shot his head up and turned it to the side "only to find my friend mopping behind a tree.." The badge seller waved, expression unidentifiable.

Of all the time to appear again, the Badge seller decided now. When everything was over. "Where have you been, if I may ask." Gabriele tried to hold the annoyance in his tone.

"Restocking." Was the twitching man's simple reply "if you hadn't noticed.. there are two children from space now."

"Yes.." Gabriele mumbled, "I did notice, and like the first one, she tried to knock my head off." He held his head thinking it was going to fall off any minute, taking a seat against the tree "except, the bow child fully intended to."

The badge seller chuckled "quite the rambunctious species.." there was then a moment of silence, neither spoke until the man in red and purple decided to bring up a topic Gabriele was trying to work on "and what of Julia? Why are you not with her?"

The doctor just groaned out in frustration, it seems so very complicated to him; Juggling emotions was something he thought he was done with. "I messed up." Was all he said.

"Oh?" The Badge seller looked down "what exactly did you do?"

"Zephyr attacked.. things got complicated I assumed.." Gabriele informed, watching his old friend stiffen up "I'm not entirely sure myself, because I was out cold and living a nightmare.. from a blade he used.." The plague doctor sighed once more, remembering the face Julia had made at him. "In short, Julia found my dreamscape.. she witnessed something I never planed would happen.. and I just.."

"You lost yourself, and threw your emotions at her." The man finished, humming "you cannot blame her for having similar traits as the woman you once knew.." he scratched his masked chin "it is not her fault for being that way."

"I know.." Gabriele held his head in shame

"Well, will you try and make up?" The Badge seller asked, wait for a response.

"I'm... working up the courage," the doctor looked up at the dark sky. It always seemed to be night here, it was odd "I'm too scared of what she might do, she is 'his' daughter now, after all.."

The badge seller hummed again, aimlessly tapping his cane against the tree "Maybe this will put your mind at ease.." he said grabbing his friend's attention "if I know Julia, and I am pretty sure I do.." he trailed for a moment "She's the kind of person who is always willing to give others a second chance. Most of her actions prove that." No matter what anyone has done, that what that girl has tried to do.

Gabriele just looked at him, he should have known this. He's pretty sure he knew this. What was his mystery friend getting at with this?

"You seem lost, let me say something else.." the badge seller clacked his cane down on the ground, leaning on it "I've gotten word from Mafia Town that the boss has sent a cruise invention to their only mafia girl.." he looked down at him, his only eye seemed to shine bright. "If you do not get up now, this guilt will be another thing eating away at you." Last time the badge seller checked, she was reading the message now.

The twitching man enjoy watching these two interact with each other, it could be quite comical at times, and he'd rather not see a falling out. When Gabriele still didn't attempt to get up, the Badge seller smacked him on the arm with his cane.

"Get up you fool!" He was starting to show a little more emotions towards him "you were so happy to find out she wasn't dead, you scouted her out in a futuristic world alone." He took one last look at the downed doctor before the man decided to walk away "Do not let your past destroy your future. Get up."

Then he just vanished behind a tree.

As harsh as that may have sounded, Gabriele slowly got up. Unsure still, but he started to find his way with every short step. Badge seller was right, this was Julia they were talking about.. if he could just attempt- prove that he means his apology.. maybe things will be okay again?

Though, Gabriele found himself stopping again. Thoughts of doubt clogging his head. This was still hard, he was nervous. The doctor remembered what happened with her soul.. what if she isn't the same as before..?

Gabriele sighed, "I'll never know if I don't find out.."

"Dear, Julia (last name here)" Julia readout, realizing she'd never given out her last name to anyone besides MoonJumper. She laughed at the fact they forgot to remove the wording bracketed from the letter. "You are invited to celebrate your return via cruise" Wonderful, she's invited to her own party. The children who gathered around her while she was reading were confused but also intrigued.

Julia silently read the rest to make sure she was reading it correctly. In the envelope, there were two tickets for guests and one for her. Snatcher was long gone but Moon had made an appearance now, box in hand and still looking for a good spot to put the chained box.

"Hey, dad!" Julia lightly shouted as she saw the ghost from the corner of her eye. "I just got invited to a cruise!" She wasn't sure how to react properly, this was going to be her first trip ever on one of those large boats. Those kids seemed excited, she might as well be.

"That's probably the same one Cc is going to be on!" Lynn said, pointing out "She invited me as her plus one."

Melody and Bonnie gave each other a knowing look. Before they had landed, they had to make sure were some of the locations were when they found faint traces of older timepieces on this planet. A few were definitely near an arctic location, Some seemed to be underground. Since Julia was invited on this 'cruise' they might as well tag along to see if there were timepieces!

However, they could always jump to and from the ship anytime, so needing a ticket was useless to them.

"I'm sorry, did you say.. a cruise?" Julia's father puts down the box for a moment to look at her, the child handed him the paper as she pocketed the tickets for later. "Well! What an odd surprise." He smiled, handing back the paper. "Will you be going?"

Julia scratched the back of her head, softly nodding. Maybe this was what she needed? Just to get away for a bit. Hopefully, she could relax and take a moment to breathe. "Do you know who you're going to take?" MoonJumper asked, looking at her. "I personally won't need a ticket; you know me." The puppeteer could go invisible, being detected was not a problem for him. Lynn was already invited, so that left Kero and...

Julia just... froze for a moment. Looking at the paper.

"Hey.. do you guys mind if I am along for a while?" Julia asked, looking at everyone. The looked at each other confused for a second but nodded. Before anyone could leave though, Julia added "Hey, buddy. You want to talk about the house idea with gramps here?" She smiled, pointing at Moon.

The man smiled at his grandson, "House idea? You found a spot?" Kero was going ballistic about how he wanted to live next to the swamp. MoonJumper laughed at the child heartily leading the kids away for a while.

Julia was now alone.

She hated being alone, but she needed to think for a moment without stressing about making the kids worry about her. Folding up the paper, she rubbed her face with her hand. She shortly found herself sitting in a broken wall, near the back of the treehouse she planned on taking as her home.

There was a small little shack behind the place and probably what she could see was an overturned picnic table. Or maybe that was just a log...

But that wasn't the most important thing she was seeing.

What was grabbing her attention was a.. was a moving bush. The nice green was out of proportion to Subcon's dead and purple, the things didn't blend in too well.

"Julia!" The girl turned her head for a moment and looked back to see the odd moving bush was gone, was she just... imagining it? The girl then fixed her sights on the doctor, who slowly made his stop just a few feet away from her. Probably five feet. The man was nervous, she'd never seen him like that before.

When she had first met this man, he was calm, collected, he knew what he was going to say and how he was going to say it. Now he just seemed to fiddle in place, thinking of his next thing to say besides her name.

Julia turned her gaze away once again. What happened two days ago still hurt her, but not as much as the initial shock. "What..?" She asked, waiting for him.

His shoulders shrunk down a bit, but the girl wasn't paying attention to that "I.." Gabriele tried to start a sentence, but it just died in his no longer exciting mouth. "I'm sorry!" He announced a little too loud while taking off his hat and making a small bow.

This caught Julia off guard, She wasn't expecting this at all. At least, not so animated.

Gabriele decided to get to the point and just say it "I'm sorry, Julia." He said again, not looking up at her until he finally got her attention "what happened back.. in the dreamscape.." he looked to his hat and fiddled with the rim "I.. didn't mean to say those things at you.."

Julia let him continue, she figured if she started talking it would be harder for him.

"What happened to me.. in the past.. you see.." Gabriele was starting to lose his train of thought, he started to fumble with his words "That woman was my.. fiancée.." it was hard losing your other half, it left several wounds on Gabriele's heart.

He was scared that if he attempted to move on, he'd forget why he kept going all this time. That anger towards MoonJumper. What that demon had done to him. But now? He was face to face with that demon's daughter.

And she was no demon.

"I was under a lot of stress, we all were.. and I.." Gabriele tried to finish off his message which he felt wasn't going anywhere "I had gotten word that.. you were invited to a cruise. I'm not honestly sure what a cruise is.." he trailed off again but sighed.

"If you'd allow me to accompany you, I can try to make things up to you personally!" He suggested, looking at her hopefully. The thought of being left alone with his mind bothers him, the badge seller was right.. he wouldn't last a moment alone with his guilt.

Julia wasn't quick to talk, she folded her leg over the other, and leaned back the best she could on top of the wall. Thinking to herself, Gabriele tried taking his mind off things by playing with his hat again.

Julia sighed, looking at him. Gabriele was trying. He was. The doctor had all rights to be mad if MoonJumper had caused all that pain she had seen, no wonder why he would carry that much hate with him.

She didn't mind taking the brunt of the anger if it meant keeping Moon safe, but it was something else that was gutting her. Julia, for the life of her, couldn't understand what it was. Every time she looked at him, she felt this.. pain and for now, she just wants it to go away.

Julia suddenly jumped off the wall, grabbing Gabriele's attention. Grabbing one of the tickets out of her pocket, she held it out to him. The doctor looked confused until he read what was written on it. She was inviting him!

"Look.." Julia spoke for the first time in a while to him "I'm still trying to sort things out in my head." She looked away from him, giving more thought on her words "You know I'm sorry for what my dad did to you.. and I'm sorry you had to go through all of that.. losing the one you love leaves a bad mark" the girl wouldn't know anything about romantic love, be she knew the loss of losing someone you cared for all too well.

Gabriele carefully took the ticket from her as he placed his hat back on. He watched her talk, that hurt expression still on her face. Julia kept talking "but.. until the time arrives for the cruise.. give me some space.." The plague doctor deflated a bit, hoping that maybe he could spend a little time with her.

Though, at least he was allowed to come with her on this cruise.

He watched the girl walk away, but he had to call out "I promise you, I will make this up to you, Julia!" The girl just waved without looking back.

Gabriele sighed, he was happy to know that Julia wouldn't attack him, but he still felt something off about her.

Pmoneygreen (For Chapter 12): I'm going to be doing the DLC's in release order, though there will be occasional filler chapter because of how little the first DLC was. Metro is for last because it was pretty long! Also, yes, the Choice to incapacitate Zephyr was intentional, because, boy, oh boy! You guys haven't seen the last of him!

Mad King C (For Chapter 11): Yes, originally the two last chapters were one but I felt it was too long. So you guys had gotten a split bomb, and I am thinking about your teleportation idea. However, I'm tweaking it down for a later chapter. Rift travel is already a thing MoonJumper and Zephyr can do, and the Badge seller can only pinpoint brakes in reality. How else does that twitching lunatic travel so fast?

Mr. Mega1432 (For Chapter 12): Thank you for the compliment! But I wouldn't say my series is that good- There are still more stories better written than mine out there.

OPFan37 (For Chapter 10): Sorry to hear your laptop broke, But I am glad to know you enjoyed Chapter Ten! I just really wanted to have just a face to face interaction with your character, and maybe someday they could have an adventure together in a spinoff story! (I may have a stupid plan, but I'm not too sure of it yet.)

Mad King C (For Chapter 12): Hah!

OPFan37 (for Chapter 11): Yeah, Bonnie, I had long plans of her being named that. Despite the way she dresses, I wanted her to be like this protective ball of fire to keep her captain safe. She's a tough cookie in a skirt who would die for cats. Also, I appreciate this Gabriele joke, thank you for making it. I have a friend who really likes the way I write Zephyr, I slightly bassed him off of two characters. One was from a Character Tournament from Deviantart and another from a Video game.

OPFan37 (For Chapter 12): I'm good at hurting my own characters... It's honestly the only thing I have confidence in. I consider that not a very good thing. As for a major antagonist, that is uncertain for now. I guess the main problem is feelings! Things will start to go up and down like a roller coaster. (Sorry if this seems a little strange, there's a huge gap from when I was typing responses)