Reviews :
Lyssdoodle : You'll find out :D I know, I'm doing my best not to be way too heavy with the foreshadowing but it's literally killing me.
Burgie : You're on to something! :)
ThoreLB : Thank you so much! I appreciate all of your support :D
Firesong-Writes : Thank you so so so much! Eh, in my family case, which this story is based on, not so much. Both of my sisters are a lot older than me, so I didn't get to be so lucky. For the story's sake, I'm treating Tessa as if she were my higher self, and Gideon is my inner child. Tessa is a point of safety and understanding that I eternally yearned for as a child, but never had. In this case, mild spoilers, Gideon takes it for granted. But, that's my take on it. Although my oldest sister and I are on good terms, we in no way got along the best. She's a decade older than me, so I honestly never saw much of her growing up. But surely in closer age gap dynamics, then maybe. My situation sucked.
Song Listened To :
The Calling by The Fat Rat ft. Laura Brehm (plus the instrumental version)
*Chapter 41*
Gideon inhaled a tight breath, stiffened a little and grappled Novus's pillowy, beautiful mane. Through a huff of an excited chuckle, his eager eyes scanned the gorgeous, dark Sugar Rush landscape about them. Novus's wings hurriedly flapped, uneducated guesses of just when to properly attempt to stay afloat, his posture read promised strength. Held aloft in a gentle soar, Lickity made sure not to fly away too quickly, with Tessa aboard. Both Gideon and Novus held tight behind Lickity's gorgeous, much bigger tail sails and wings. Gideon's excited though near-terrified eyes peered tight to the back of his sister's head, her gorgeous, long auburn hair flicked about in the tight lower ponytail it was in. She held herself with such grace, such strength that radiated total confidence aboard Lickity's spine, a true master in her own right, Gideon stiffened his posture a bit to properly mock Tessa's.
"Alright, Gid, you know a bit about banking and turning. Same for you, Novus," Tessa called as Lickity opened her wings a bit more, slowed down and was now properly flying directly above Gideon and Novus. Tessa leaned over Lickity's shoulder a bit and called down to both boys so they could properly hear her, "Lean into whichever direction you want to bank into, Gideon. Lean tighter to Novus's spine to speed up, sit up straighter to slow down."
"If you want to sharply turn right, Novus, you'd tuck your right wing tighter to your body with your lean," Lickity added quickly, to which Gideon clearly bobbed a nod and readied his posture.
With the ease of Tessa's explanation, Gideon bit his lip and felt bravery soak his fiery circuits. Although not something he properly communicated to Novus, he shakily inhaled a tight breath, held it and leaned deeper into Novus's spine, all whilst leaning deeper into Novus's right shoulder blade. Like clockwork, Novus easily tucked his wing took a minor nosedive and rapidly picked up speed alongside his right-flight bank. Tessa raised her eyebrows in a slope of impressed delight and quickly followed suit, so to suddenly keep up with Novus and Gideon. Lickity equally showed stun with the way she firmly flapped and dove in the direction of the planet, so to quickly chase after Novus. Gideon and Novus eventually leveled, though now flying in the opposite direction of the palace, Lickity swooped down underneath Novus and guided him to fly a little higher.
"Good job, you guys! You guys catch on quick," Tessa called up to the two in a tone of kind impress, to which Gideon leaned over Novus's shoulder and flashed Tessa a cute grin.
"I think we got banking down, can we try... Speeding up? Or maybe, certain air tricks?" Gideon pleaded cutely, to which Tessa looked off in sneaky contemplation.
"Sure, let's... Let's maybe gain some altitude," Tessa called up to him, she properly gripped Lickity's mane, adjusted her footing on her light saddle and gave Gideon one last cute look of challenge, "Follow my lead."
"Okay," Gideon called excitedly, though both him and Novus wildly flinched the second Lickity suddenly cut upwards, causing Novus to furiously flap with hot, discombobulated confusion.
Gaining his bearings, Novus urgently peered upwards and noticed Lickity flying near-vertical, to get higher in the sky. As if on a cue, both boys grit their teeth in a rile of competition, and as Gideon urgently tucked to Novus's spine and leaned into the lurch of Novus's powerful body, his strong wings did everything they could to get him to begin soaring upwards in chase of Lickity's stiff, closed tail-sails. Gideon narrowed his gaze through the whip of wind, though the second he could feel Novus fall into Lickity's tail stream, he choked a noise and felt a rush of coding surge over his body. His golden eyes urgently scanned the top of Novus's head, his large bat ears just barely perked, both boys so eagerly attached on to each other's cues, Gideon held his breath and felt the urgent, rapid back and forth of Novus's powerful, huge wings beg him to add that umph of coding to their rocket to the moon. Gideon lulled his eyes closed, held tight concentration and urgently flood Novus's coding with his own, and with their joined exterior swap, Gideon choked a noise of startled, riled surprise and felt Novus's chest cavity urgently rumble a roar of excitement.
In an intelligent swipe of added information to their coding, Gideon now quickly communicated with Novus between their joined coding, a vivid kiss of electric blue that soaked Novus's beautiful, cosmic-colored ventral, Gideon tucked tighter to Novus's spine as his powerful wingspan tucked tight to his body and aileron rolled to successfully join Lickity in their upward spiral to the stars. Gideon choked a panting noise of hot surprise as he could feel reality slipping from him, with the incredible rush of this dangerous and exciting activity he had been only dreaming of, he shut his eyes tight and felt goosebumps plague his body as the world about him bevelled with distortion. With a pop of power that was desperate to get out of his body, he flinched in hot surprise as both him and Tessa popped out of the lower, cotton candy cloud layer, and what would've been into a clear view of a starry night sky, above the clouds, was now eagerly punched with a strange beam of powerful sunlight that soaked their dreamy surroundings.
Feeling as if her pixels were suddenly clamped together by the Arcade's largest magnets, Tessa urgently hunkered to Lickity's spine and proverbially ushered Lickity an autopilot strictly due to not understanding what was going on, though as she kept her face scrunched tight in a spike of nervousness, she could see the backs of her eyelids glean pink. With the sudden envelope of warm, noon sunshine down on the two, Tessa opened her eyes and felt her whole entire coding wiggle in a sea of terrified confusion. Lickity and Novus eagerly sagged to an easy loft of breezy, carefree joy, though as Tessa sat up a little bit and got a solid look about their now strangely sunny surroundings, she double-took on Novus's positioning and froze in unadulterated shock. What would be a normal sight of Novus's still-growing body and uneducated flapping to do what he could to stay in a mature, easy glide, was now the very antithesis of such; pure beauty, flying mastery, Novus's huge, powerful figure strangely soared as if he had been doing this for years.
"Gideon," Tessa urgently called, though as Lickity flapped a few times to catch up to the two and gain their a bit higher altitude, Tessa raised her eyebrows in a sting of hot shock that continued to crawl over her. As Novus and Lickity's beautiful wings became level in the sky, Tessa locked eyes with a version of Gideon she was unsure was even real. A fully grown image of the two peering back at her, in broad daylight, Tessa felt her mind run to goo as she staggered on a few shaky words of confusion, "H-How are... Gideon, wh-why are we..."
"Wow, I can't believe I did it!" Gideon's adorable, husky and much deeper voice called over the wind; Tessa was shellshocked as she peered back to her littler brother, though this strange version of him was much bigger.
"Took you long enough," Novus's equally much deeper voice rumbled, he was an incredible looking beast of depth and power, a similar blueprint to Boss.
"H-how are... You guys are older!" Tessa called with a shaky laugh of hot surprise, to which Gideon pressed his much bigger hands to his broad, muscular chest and looked down at himself, "And, it's sunny? What the hell is happening?!"
"Isn't it great? I can come here whenever I want!" Gideon called, he bobbed a nod and gestured out to the sea of glowing, gorgeous white, golden and pink clouds before them, "I can bring others with me. Wanna see something cool?"
"It's a little too late for that, bud," Tessa called, to which Gideon's bigger figure hunkered to Novus's gorgeous, gradient pelt and spine.
"C'mon," Gideon sneakily quipped as he flashed Tessa a mature, handsome, mischievous little grin, though like a bolt of lightning, they were off.
Lickity choked a noise, and due to attempting to coming to grips with everything, as well, she urgently did what she could to keep up with her now much larger son. Tessa gasped in surprise and let Lickity have control as she sat upright and looked about in awestruck, speechless shock. Novus's gorgeous wings flapped a few times with strength and vigor, bleeding from the color of his wings was a proper show of incredible stardust. Such stardust kissed the clouds below and melted into runs of turquoise rivers, and as Tessa looked down to watch it all unfold, she scoffed a surprise noise, largely flinched and leaned back into Lickity's spine as a sudden beam of metal whizzed by her face. With a whip of her hair, she urgently peered forward, once more, to see that Gideon had somehow manifested the image of an upside down, pearly white city in the clouds that went on for infinity. Woven tightly about the hanging of upside-down skyscrapers that looked as if to be crawling from the depths of heaven, Tessa winced in still-terrified surprise as Lickity and Novus easily bobbed and weaved about the beautiful mess of mirrors and clouds.
The sheer amount of colors that continued to bleed from Novus's beautiful wings and tail-sails, the part of golden clouds that eagerly collected every last beam of bright sunshine that kissed the two with welcome, Tessa sat back and felt tears sting her eyes. She shook her head and eyed the back of Gideon's head. His strong back rolled as his longer, lightly muscular now-adult arms spread out with an easy gesture of proven freedom, clouds whizzed by the two and dribbled through his fingers like honey, the two soaked in and out of a misty reality that was easily joined by the flit of golden mantas that flew alongside them. Tessa huffed a shaky, outward giggle and easily mocked Gideon's posture, a gesture of welcomed defeat, of embraced freedom, she lulled her eyes closed and felt as if there wasn't even one single little worry in her existence to even be thought of, as if simply nothing could touch them. A true kiss of freedom, she sagged her hands to Lickity's velvety mane and was sure she could stay here forever, a place of pure bliss, of pure happiness, Tessa's teary eyes gently eased open as she once again caught with the back of Gideon's head.
Now sat comfortably upon Novus's spine, both boys continue to loft through the daydreaming mess, though Tessa could feel her heart sink. As realization set in harder and harder, she bit her lip and very rapidly realized that this gorgeous place was Gideon's escape from reality, something he likely didn't totally understand he was partaking in. A comfortable place of beauty, where adversity didn't exist, Tessa felt her soul begin to grow heavy with bittersweet sorrow. The reasoning why Gideon chose to dream up another reality, like such, one that was so much greater, brighter and freer than anything they had ever experienced, she bit her lip and wondered just how deep into Gideon's head she could get. With an insatiable urge to protect the fragile feelings her little brother harbored, she cleared her throat and cued for Lickity to get closer to Novus and Gideon. Upon doing so, she cutely called out to Gideon.
"Alright bud, wanna head back to the palace?" Tessa sweetly urged, now understanding they were likely leagues away from it, though with the flash of Gideon's handsome eyes, he blurt a chuckle and bobbed a nod.
"Sure! We're right over it," Gideon stated in cute certainty, though just as Tessa opened her mouth to cutely deny that fact, Gideon saddled himself tighter to Novus's spine, to which Tessa watched the two so smoothly melt into a nose-dive to the planet, and out of the pop of golden clouds.
Tessa inhaled a sharp gasp, leaned deep into Lickity's spine, as well, and cued for Lickity follow suit. With no complaints, both beings eagerly rocketed after Gideon's figure. With the color that continued to bleed off of Novus's wings, it all began to turn into a vibrant show of fire, sparks that laid off of hot metal, Tessa was shocked that the only thing she could feel was the cold air whipping about them. Like a bolt of lightning, the four eagerly popped out of Gideon's daydream and came to a lovely glide above palace grounds, just like Gideon had promised. Tessa gasped a sharp breath and felt release from her lungs, her eyes urgently now scanned their dark and normal surroundings, a wash of brand new coding and information that flood her system had her understanding that she had now likely years of research ahead of her. Feeling certain she knew everything there was to coding, she long-blinked in full humility, the promise of the coding's psyche, and what that even looked like for brain coding chemistry, had her head spinning. As her nervous, teary hazel eyes stabbed to Gideon's location in the once again dark sky, against Sugar Rush's gorgeous crescent moon, she took note of Novus's cute, littler body sagging in uneducated little flaps, Gideon's quick turn of his head to source his big sister, his adolescent smile of glee that hung tight to his figure proved to Tessa that his little mind held quite literally a world of information he didn't even know he had.
"That was SO COOL," Novus's cute, boyish voice barked as he carefully landed near Tessa's abode, atop the palace's walls. Him and Gideon bounced about in a hyperactive show of pure excitement, they wobbled into each other and grinned the widest smiles.
"I can't believe that worked so well!" Gideon cheered as he clenched his fists and peered deep into Novus's eyes, "This changes EVERYTHING."
"That upside-down city thing worked really well, how hard did you have to think about it?" Novus wondered as both boys settled, though their eager gazes held infinitely locked to one another.
"Not too hard, actually," Gideon pressed with a certain nod, he firmly rolled up his jacket sleeves and proved to be hot with continued excitement, "Once it was all there, it was like... WHOOSH."
"Gideon," Tessa huffed with a look of apprehension, though she did what she could to hold a smile. Lickity landed, and upon doing so, Tessa quickly dismounted Lickity and eased into Gideon's insatiable presence. He peered up to Tessa with his excited, fiery gaze, his adorable, toothy smile, Tessa shook her head and gingerly gripped Gideon's upper arms, "Bud, you... You HAVE to tell me how the hell you did all that."
"What, imagined everything?" Gideon gestured to his head in nonchalance, Tessa narrowed her gaze.
"Well, yeah, I mean... Imagining is one thing," Tessa hissed quietly, she shook her head in continued disbelief, "Manifesting, on the other hand..."
"Manifesting?" Gideon questioned, he glanced to Novus for an answer, to which he shrugged and softened his excitable gaze. Both boys eagerly peered into Tessa's eyes.
"Gideon, can you... Can you take me back to that realm?" Tessa asked cautiously, she shook her head and blurt a soft giggle, "Y-You were an adult... You both were. You realize this, right?"
"I was?" Gideon lilted in seriousness.
"Well, YEAH, your voice was much deeper, you were much bigger," Tessa glanced to Novus, as did Lickity, "You BOTH were."
"Weird, I... I didn't notice," Gideon's gentle voice cued, though as Tessa carefully sagged her hands into Gideon's, he flared his glitching powers with ease and was successful in dragging Tessa into the pull of his imagination, once more. Tessa firmly shut her eyes, scrunched her shoulders, endured the magnetic pull and eventually reopened her gaze, to which was met directly with Gideon's now broader lower chest. His gentle, husky deep voice ushered her a curious notion with care, sunlight glinted down on the four, once more, "Y-you mean like this?"
"Yeah," Tessa hissed quietly as she stood in Gideon's matured presence.
She froze and assessed him, his now much bigger, stronger hands were so tenderly gripped in hers, his handsome, manly facial features were prominent with maturity, the stubble on his jawline trailed to his sideburns, the messy splay of shortened hair atop his head sculpted his scalp perfectly. He inhaled a steady breath as he peered down into Tessa's eyes, haunting golden eyes that nearly screamed that they held way too much knowledge, had seen likely too much, intuition beyond anyone's wildest dreams, it was here did Tessa feel an aggressive shiver go down her spine, as if she was simply peering back into the eyes of a nightmare cloaked as a daydream. Like concealed wildfire, a simple rainstorm that had the ability to turn into a destructive typhoon within the blink of an eye, Gideon's aura nearly vibrated. Tessa shook her head just barely and staggered to continue on.
"This has to be your higher self, or something," Tessa nearly whispered.
Standing nearly at Ace's height, Gideon was built officially like a proper wrecker. Although not nearly as bulked as Oliver or Ace, Gideon still had the stature of a beast, the steady rise and fall of his pecks, the sheer show of strength he exuded by simply just standing here, Tessa nervously glossed her eyes about Gideon's figure and gripped his hands, almost in a pleading way, as if she was well aware he was built to wreck, built to destroy, and this was somehow her chance to plead for her life. The heightened amount of coding rushing about the two made her feel as if literally anything could happen right now, as if Gideon was in charge of their destiny in this moment. Being sat right at the heart of someone else's daydreams was a wiggle of lack of control that Tessa was not interested in having, though somehow she couldn't escape it.
"I didn't notice, I just... Come here to feel happy," Gideon's deep voice nearly whispered, as if it were a secret, "I only really have Novus to share this all with."
"Y-You're not happy, bud?" Tessa worried quietly, the two lovingly kept their hands tightly held.
"I am, I am," Gideon mumbled cutely, his handsome smirk volleyed down and to the side, almost as if to feel sheepish of exposing his emotions, like such. He shrugged his big shoulders and sank his smoldering, lovely eye contact tight to Tessa's, "It's just lonely, I guess. I have Novus... Even better now that you've taught us to fly."
"You enjoy these powers of yours?" Tessa delicately questioned, she hoped to get as much information out of him as possible.
"I do... I can create new paint colors, too," Gideon's eyes lit up in boyish delight, the way he worded his sentences assured Tessa that his mind was still sagged in his immature state; although this being before her was his physical peak, she squeezed his bigger hands and was thrilled she was at least still mentally with the current state of her little brother, "I only told mom, but... Changes things, I think. I've been wanting to paint everything on my mind."
"Would you like a place on the palace lot to paint?" Tessa ushered, wanting to give Gideon the space to positively expand, so not to feel isolated or lonely. She smiled into his eyes, hoping to make clear that no matter what, he'd always have her, "I can dedicate one of the slats of the palace walls for you, y'know? A place where you can unleash. Surely mom's basement isn't big enough."
"You'd do that for me?" Gideon hissed in quiet, sweet disbelief, to which Tessa narrowed her gaze in pleading assurance.
"Gideon, you're my baby brother, of COURSE I'd do that for you," Tessa whispered lovingly, "This is an awesome power you have... You want to make sure you exercise this power in a positive way. Like with any gamer on the lot, you'll want to make sure you're putting goodness out, y'know?"
"Thanks, Tessa," Gideon mumbled warmly, though without hesitation, despite the now odd amount of height difference between the two, Tessa firmly stepped forward and gripped her arms about Gideon's thick upper mid-section. He blurt a deep, adorable chuckle and grappled his arms about Tessa's littler upper shoulders. With a squeeze and a small sway, Gideon furrowed his bushy eyebrows and dart his eyes about their sunny, isolated palace lot, "Now that you say something, I'm strangely aware of just how short you are, here."
"Dude... LET me have this, while you're young," Tessa barked into Gideon's chest, "You're NOT allowed to deploy short jokes on me until you turn one, okay? YOU'RE the one that's short. Don't rob me of my fun, dude."
"You're right, sorry," Gideon's deep voice croaked amidst stifled laughter as he squeezed Tessa a little deeper into his embrace.
"You're not gunna be little forever," Tessa sighed into Gideon's strong, thick collar bone as she lulled her eyes closed and relaxed in his powerful, bear-hug embrace.
"Y'never know," Gideon's voice lilted in teasing suspicion, he grinned and just barely swayed his big sister in his grip, "I heard growing up is a trap, anyhow."
"It's only a trap if you ditch your inner child," Tessa retort as the two lovingly pulled apart.
"...Noted," Gideon quipped with a cute little nod, and with a simple flicker of light, the illusion faded, leaving the two standing in the reversal of their height difference in the dark.
