So! I saved this chapter until I was done with the next one. The reason behind this is because from here on out things might or definitely will get dark from here. I will put up a warning when the time comes, but this will be an early one for slight blood in this chapter. If you are uncomfortable with blood and the likes, I would suggest not going any further unless you are completely alright and or curious about how this story will end.

After these two chapters are posted, it will be metro time.

(Chapter Thirty: Safe and Sound)

Julia, Melody, and Bonnie sat down in the kitchen, hot drinks, and a conversation about why exactly the woman had let Zephyr free. Meanwhile, the said person was messing around with various objects in the kitchen.

The man had only seen sand, guns, trains, and other things of the sort. A microwave and a refrigerator confused him very much. Especially the refrigerator and it's light.

"So he's just... a victim like Gabriele?" Melody whispered, sneaking a glance over at the jester who kept opening and closing the door.

"Yeah, he's... just a little mess up right now." Julia looked into her drink, bot wanting to tell the child his full story. "I want to help him, give him some sort of closure? Let him know he doesn't have to fight or kill anymore."

The hatted child hummed, "Don't bite off more then you can handle Julia..." the melody wondered "how did you even find us anyways? How did you know we were in the studio's basement?"

The woman took a sip of her drink and shrugged, "we... made our way back into the studio and found the runes both Conductor and DJ drew everywhere..." she explained, "Zephyr said they were locator related."

Which meant the directors accidentally lead Doppler right to them. The monster just... took a different way around.

Bonnie got up and from the table to see if she could get Zephyr to stop opening the refrigerator door while the two talked.

"Hey- stop that." The girl grabbed the end of his shirt, making the jester look down at her "there's a switch that controls the light when the door closes- it's not magic."

Hearing this, he tilted his head then looked back at the open fridge before closing it again. "Zephyr is fascinated..."

"Well, if you think that's cool, wit till you see a tv..." the bow child said, grabbing his hand and taking him to the main hub of the ship.

Before the child had vanished behind the door with Zephyr, she turned around to give a thumbs-up as if saying 'your welcome', Julia chuckled at this.

"If Zephyr ends up breaking your tv, I'm so sorry..." rubbing her forehead, Julia weakly smiled.

Melody took notice and gave her a worried look. The only time when she smiled like this was when she was sad, or holding onto something she didn't want her to know. Being curious, the hatted child was about to ask when a scream and some commotion started grabbing their attention.

Julia was the first to shoot out of her chair knocking it over in her hurry. The woman was prepared for something to happen, but she didn't expect this soon. She hasn't recovered fully yet. But then again... maybe she shouldn't.

Heading through the push doors of the kitchen, Julia froze at what she saw before her. Zephyr held on rather tightly to Bonnie while... both MoonJumper and Gabriele stared him down, ready for a fight.

"Zephyr but her down!" Julia shouted, angry that he was attempting to use Bonnie as a hostage.

"The demon will not harm us if we hold her!" Zephyr shouted back in a panic, looking at her. "He does not want to harm the child."

She then realized that Bonnie wasn't actually in pain, or cringing, more surprised than anything. Good... he hadn't harmed her. Yet.

Julia slowly approached him, "Hey, it's alright, just put her down and we can all talk."

"Julia get away from him!" MoonJumper shouted at her, shooting a string out to pull her away.

The woman's reflexes were getting more spot-on as she threw up a barrier to prevent getting grabbed, everyone turned to her as she incased both herself and Zephyr, who was still holding Bonnie, in a green box to protect themselves from all angles. Mostly to protect Zephyr, however.

"Julia! What are you doing!?" MoonJumper came forth and banged on the walls... he... he couldn't go through them. He stopped when Julia gave him a look he hadn't seen in a while. A long while.

It was hate.

Well, to him he saw hate, Julia herself was just angry and upset. She knew it wasn't his fault for being scared, but it was his fault for making Zephyr the way he was now. Julia was just tired of all the problems that had followed her father's wake, she felt like she was the only one who could fix them.

Honestly, she probably was the only one who can fix them.

"Julia, lower your barrier now!" MoonJumper pleaded, scared that she might get hurt.

"I will not." She calmly said, looking at him. "Not until everyone calms down. Hear me out."

"How can I calm down when Zephyr has broken free?!" He pointed at the crazy jester, making Zephyr slink back slightly. "He has escaped a seal that no one should have been able to open!"

"He didn't escape! I set him free!" She gritted her teeth. Julia was planning that her father would, without a doubt, be furious. "Because I am sick and tired of you just hiding your problems away like they never happened" she looked at him dead in the eyes "not even thinking that maybe hiding away those problems will create more problems until nothing can hold then back!"

Zephyr looked at Julia, grip loosened on Bonnie; A problem was he? But... he kept listening to Julia's rant.

"How dare you take advantage of Allen, how dare you hide Zephyr away and treated him like you did! He was basically your son! You created him!" Julia shouted back, started to breathe heavily. "Things would have been different if you treated him like a person!"

Zephyr was still too scared to yell at MoonJumper for what he's done, Julia was going to take it upon herself since she was so used to arguing and yelling at him now.

Something stirred within doll hearing someone... worry about him though. To care about him. These emotions... It was strange; completely alien to Zephyr.

"I... I saw what you did." Julia said in a low voice. It was like the room grew cold as MoonJumper stopped moving.

Moon floated there, hands slowly sliding down the green see-through wall, thinking and remembering that name, remembering what he had done "Allen... how did- who..." MoonJumper was trying to ask, but eventually said "Allen is gone, Julia."

"No dad, he's alive, he's still here." She pointed out, almost pleaded quietly. "He's still here..."

MoonJumper looked over at Zephyr, who had long since let go of Bonnie, the child curiously looked up at him as the man seemed to contemplate what to do. Eventually, Zephyr let go of his body for while.

Shortly after, a different voice greeted everyone "So... What Julia said was true. You have changed." Allen finally called out.

The different voice made MoonJumper back away from the barrier slightly, it made Gabriele intrigued that there was a voice behind the madness and a smile from Julia who finally had some proof.

"Though you have changed, you still can't make proper decisions it seems." Allen pointed out "always quick to smash something down when a bad situation arises. Though, I don't fully blame you for how we have been." Sighing, Allen looked over at Julia "maybe you and I both should take a page, or a few, from your daughter. She seems to want to listen before leaping."

Arms folded behind his back, he continued, noticing that the woman was starting to falter with her barrier slightly "We can both agree that our action was... not the best. But that's that. There's no going back." He said regretfully. "I know my mistakes, and I've come to terms with them for some time now. It was all I could do, almost to the point that I've given up feeling anything."

He placed a hand on Julia and looked at MoonJumper with a face that was not his any longer, "I, and I mean myself... had called out for help and Julia is graciously giving us a second chance... despite Zephyr's torment towards her."

"As she does," Gabriele chuckled, walking over to the barrier now, placing a hand where she is "...must you always do crazy things, my love?"

Julia just smiled, than taking notice that Button was peaceful sleeping in his other arm. Eyes drooping slightly, Julia lowered the barrier, unable to keep it up.

"I'll take responsibility for them, I want to help them," Julia whispered to Gabriele as she placed her head on his shoulder. "He's done a lot, and I'm still upset with it, but he also suffered as well."

"I understand." Gabriele softly said, "even if I may not like it at first, I will stand beside your decisions, they always seem to work in the end someway or another..."

"...thank you..." Julia smiled at him even though he couldn't see it "...and welcome home."

"It's... good to be back," he said, feeling rather giddy to have someone say that. To have a home to go back too.

As the two held each other for a moment, both MoonJumper and Allen watched them. Allen felt a ping of sadness from the way she and the doctor interacted, he... still misses Delilah, but as he said... he's come to terms with it.

"Your daughter has us under her watch, and I'll do my best to... keep Zephyr's murderous intentions down..." Allen said, turning to the puppeteer "take note, I am no longer under your power, have some faith that Julia can help us... we can be helped."

"You... really are alive..." MoonJumper muttered, still in shock that Allen had been alive all this time, just barely. With a sigh, MoonJumper looked back to Julia who seems to be going in and out of consciousness.

He doesn't need to fight now, not when he's finally back with Julia. He doesn't need her yelling at him when she was worried sick about him and Gabriele. "I guess I shouldn't put up an argument, it's not the first time she has tried to fix something I've caused..." MoonJumper said, looking at him "I will have faith; I always have faith in Julia. I just worry about her..."

"You should know, she's stronger then you think. After all, she disintegrated a spell of yours by accident." Allen quietly said, looking at Moon's still surprised face. "Let her rest now, though. Everyone here has been through much today."

Gabriele steadied Julia and helped her stand straight, looking over at the group "what of Doppler? Aren't they still roaming the studio?"

"Already taken care of..." Bonnie pipped up, looking at him "Zephyr fought him off and Julia sealed them away... and she accidentally dropped them into a multiverses portal...?"

"There are a few things we need to inform you guys about..." Melody also let herself known over by the railing. "But... I do think you guys should rest first..."

After everything had finally calmed down, Gabriele and Allen both assisted Julia into the attic where she and Gabriele had been staying. Allen and Zephyr were still amazed that they were in space, let alone the contraptions that filled this place. It was... too overwhelming.

"So, you're the man behind the crazy mind?" Gabriele said, gently placing Julia on the pile of pillows. She almost looked ill, and that worried him. "Never thought there was someone sane still in there."

Allen chuckled "yes, it is rather hard to believe... I'm surprised I hadn't waisted away sooner." He said, looking down at the woman. "I have her to thank for that... honestly, she makes me want to try again. To fight for something greater. Zephyr is still conflicted, however."

Julia smiled at one part of that, opening her eyes slightly. She was making a difference again and it made her happy. Made her feel useful. She liked helping people. She suddenly started coughing roughly into her hand and it didn't sound very good.

"Julia are you..." Gabriele froze, looking at her hand. There was blood on it. She was bleeding.

He didn't cry out, but his panic was clear when his normally still hands started shaking. Button had long since awoken and was exploring the ship with Bonnie's supervision thankfully. This was something children shouldn't see.

"What is the matter? Why have..?" He looked at her, she could feel pleading eyes needing an answer.

"I... I wasn't planning on telling you so soon..." Julia whimpered, feeling guilty for still holding in knowledge. She just wasn't ready yet, but Gabriele deserved to know. He waited patiently for her to continue. "I might have figured out why I'm such a nervous wreck lately... It has something to do with my magic. Doppler just made it more... apparent."

He sat there with Allen hovering over them, he waited for her to talk... and if she couldn't, the wizard will do his best to assist her.

Sighing, she got to the point like ripping off a bandage "I'm... I'm slowly dying, Gabe. Not now-" she held up her other hand to stop him before the panic started "I think I just used to much magic today- surprisingly, my eye wasn't hurting though..." however, the two guys have noticed it was glowing for while now underneath the eye patch.

"Is... is there a way to help..?" He quietly asked he was trying to be hopeful. He wondered if she was in any pain, just in case, he readied his healing badge to put her at ease. Gabriele also wondered if he could help internal wounds that weren't deep. By the looks of it, it wasn't much blood that came up.

"None that I know of, her magic will consume her over time, and I have no recollection if it can be stopped," Allen said, placing a hand on Gabriele's shoulder.

"Then... I won't stop until I find it." Gabriele then grabbed an old cloth to clean Julia's hand for the moment "If there's anything I've learned, it's to have hope. And if there's hope, there's a chance."

"You're... handling this a lot better then I thought you would," Julia mumbled, slightly confused.

The doctor hushed her and placed her hand down, "if it were me years previously, then yes, I would have been freaking out completely over this..." he swept her hair out of her eye "but, I'm a different me; I have you and I've learned that making a fuss won't solve everything."

"I'll help as well when I can," Allen said, nodding at them both. "Hopefully Zephyr will allow me to take control more often..."

"I appreciate that, thank you." Gabriele said towards the man, then down towards Julia "and you, you must rest now. No more moving unless you're turning in your sleep."

But Julia was already asleep.

"Good." He whispered, getting up slowly, then once more turning to Allen "then I guess... welcome to the family. We aren't perfect, be we care about each other. Do keep that in mind, if you can."

Allen watched Gabriele walk off to be briefed about what happened when he was gone, leaving the wizard alone with Julia. A moment passed before he sat down and just... rested. On his own. No one telling him what to do.

It felt nice.

Stealthee125: Happy to hear you enjoyed the last chapter! I try to aim for the unexpected and put a small flair of humor in it- And if it wasn't really funny, don't mind me just giggling to myself like a dork. I do that a lot.

(For chapter 28) OPFan37: That's alright, don't worry about being late- I will keep saying this: Review when you want to review! Take your time and don't force yourself, okay? Julia's true purpose for being in the cave was just so that she could eat food and not be seen by anyone, She wasn't taking into account that Lynn would stop by for a little reminiscing about how she used to live. It was a way for Lynn to see how lucky she was to have a change of heart but for folks to realize she does still hate the Mafia- She'll keep secrets just out of spite and admiration for Julia.

As for the two directors, I do see them maybe allying in the future again someday, I mean, they could have a compromise for a single movie together. Space westerns are a thing after all! Though, they'll bicker and fight like the true rivels they are.

And lastly, that joking between Julia and Zephyr was mostly Julia making fun/insulting him for being in pieces. A passive-aggressive way to hide her fears for the moment. Gotta get some shots in before the guy pulls himself together, ya know? Also, I fear I might not be able to write a proper redemption for him later down the line, at least not one I originally planned for. As always though, I'll sure as hell try.

(For chapter 29) OPfan37: You have no idea how long I've been working on this bombshell, I even had a point in time where I was carefully considering if I should go through with it. But a coin was flipped and a lot of things that were already in the story started clicking. If you pay close attention to a few art pieces I've done in the past, you'll probably get an understanding of what might happen! But then again, where would the surprise be if you started hunting down the clues? All I'm saying is, don't worry too much about it.

Also, yeah- that's why I was making fun of myself in the chapter. It leads up to what would be an interesting boss fight only for him to get dropped kicked out a metaphorical window. Sorry about that by the way.

Mr. Mega1423: Some of the things in your review can be explained with OPFan's answer; I wouldn't worry too much about the situation. Yet. And again, I apologize for the short and disappointing fight with Doppler.