Reviews :
Burgie : He is! He does very well academically in Arcadia, though, it's not exactly what he needs unfortunately.
Snake557 : Yeah! I figured adding that in creates more depth, due to connections to Tron and the internet.
Song Listened To :
Far Less Alone by Ben Prunty
*Chapter 47*
Blistering winds, beaming white sunshine, Gideon narrowed his gaze and felt it odd that it had begun to rain. A now confusing seascape of forgotten purpose, Gideon stood a hundred feet from the dreaded lighthouse he was now beginning to loathe and crave, all in one emotion. With clenched fists, Gideon glared down the gorgeous little lighthouse, all properly sat in its overgrown sea shrubbery and flaking side shingles and paint. The light inside of the housing was off, though Gideon felt it strange that the huge, magnificent bulb inside was very slowly turning, as if this could potentially be a working light house, one day. Gideon stiffened, clenched fists, he furrowed his thicker brow and felt agitation course him. How desperately he wanted to rush the lighthouse and see if he could get inside, he knew moving fast expedited the whole sleep paralysis drama. Now more annoyed of the event, as opposed to being scared, he huffed a hot breath through his nose and clenched his jaw as his fiery eyes smoldered with potential to light fire to whatever was gazed upon.
Gideon flinched as little kisses of rain drops began to speckle his hot skin, though strangely the breeze about him was ice cold. Relief came upon him, due to the cold rain, though somehow it made his joints stiffer. This once beautiful sea scape was now a haunting mess of confusing weather. Still surrounded in a dome of black clouds, the high noon sunshine still managed to beam down through the gape of said hugged clouds, straight onto Gideon and the lighthouse, thus making the blinding sand now white hot. Nerve endings that did whatever they could to get a grip at whatever type of reality this was, Gideon allowed his mind to disassociate from physical feeling. The only thing whirring in his mind was questions of just how to dive into the lighthouse; surely, if it were this difficult, there had to be gold on the other side of that door. Repeating his father's words in his head, he wondered if he could somehow will the lighthouse to him, if that would even change this outcome.
Just as Gideon grit his teeth and clenched his fists harder, he immediately took note of Finch's presence tight to his left. Unwavering attention, Gideon took a mental note of Finch's presence and continued on with his task, though in his peripheral, he further noted that Finch looked to be a black void. Usually crowed with gorgeous brown and gold fur, Finch stood hunched, vibrating, as if on a leash alongside Gideon. Fueled by this strange kiss of darkened power, Gideon felt the fire rage, and as he finally bared his teeth and strained to the point of his jugular and neck tendons showing prominence, he finally gasped in defeat and felt his imagination bounce around the inside of his skull, as if it were trapped. With said sag and loss of concentration, Gideon finally tossed his eyes down to Finch and opened his mouth to speak to his friend.
"Finch, y'okay?" Gideon staggered, he snapped his mouth shut in hot surprise over the sheer fact that Gideon's voice now had come out of Finch, simply as if Finch was now a vessel for Gideon's being.
Gideon wildly furrowed his eyebrows and took note that Finch was simply just a black mass in the shape of his fox self, he had piercing golden orbs for eyes that trailed embers of fire. He stood agitated, taut on his paws, his hackles raised, he looked just as irritated as Gideon felt, and with the sudden hug of camaraderie, Gideon dart his eyes back to the lighthouse and wondered if he had help, somehow. With Finch still tight by his side, Gideon inhaled a deep breath and returned to his state of glaring down the lighthouse, though after a moment of glaring, he noticed a dark figure appear in the glass of the lighthouse, the same figure that would only appear if said night terror was upon Gideon's coding. Gideon felt a wave of rage and frustration course through him, the fact that this nameless nobody had this much power over his soul finally poked a breaking point, causing Gideon to throw his hands down by his side in a physical show of frustration.
"C'mon, you asshole, come and get me!" Gideon suddenly bellowed, to which Finch's mouth moved in matched time with Gideon's words, though before Gideon could feel big, the sky began to vibrate with black chaos.
As if previously treading sleep paralysis and only now stepping into the heart of a proper nightmare, the black figure in the glass suddenly began to teleport in rapid, shaky flits of chaos in Gideon's direction. With no time to think, run, fight, anything, Gideon gasped a tight noise and immediately felt out of his element. Due to covering his head and just simply, and now fearfully, accepting the sleep paralysis aided night terror, the black being teleported mere feet from Gideon before Finch's little black mass erupted like ash out of a volcano. With sand spewed in all directions, a haze that blocked out the sun, Gideon fell to his rear and began to scoot away in a spike of boyish panic. His eyes trailed up to the sight before him; what was now a very worried stance of said aggressive shadow figure was dwarfed by Finch, who had somehow grown so huge in size, his black silhouette could easily be mistaken for Chester, Balba or Marble. With core-shaking bass, Finch erupted with a roar of the century towards said shadow figure, black venom dripped from his fangs, his powerful legs stood strong and proud before Gideon, though before Gideon could even begin to understand an outcome of this incredibly sudden battle, he flinched in core-stiffening surprise and felt his coding come swiftly back to his body, his eyes snapped open in a discombobulated roll from the back of his skull.
"I know our conversation is boring, but it can't be THAT boring," Tessa mumbled cutely; her, Ralph, Vanellope and Gideon were all properly stationed in the kitchen, the morning of Gideon's very first day.
"I-I... Sorry, I didn't sleep well last night," Gideon's crackly voice sweetly ushered out of pure exhaustion, he surprised himself with how good he was getting at making a forced smile seem absolutely genuine, lies everyone was being happily spoon fed. Gideon sat up straight at the island, tossed his dad a weak smile as he pat Gideon's upper back and revisited his gaze down to his half-eaten breakfast, "Too excited."
"I'll bet, y'get to meet Mr. Favor? That's wild," Vanellope mumbled, she eyed Tessa with a nod and shrugged, "Isn't that man your like... Boss's boss?"
"Yeah, chairman of the board," Tessa grit her teeth and blurt a chuckle as her and Vanellope returned to their conversing, "He's incredibly kind, though. Figured it'd be a good ice breaker to have Gideon meet the top dog, as well as the guidance counselor that will be shadowing him for this next month. Just to get him comfortable, y'know?"
Gideon nodded and smiled to show attentiveness, though he picked up his fork and tried not to return to the thoughts of his nightmare, the night prior; the confusion of simply wanting the light house to come to him turned into an all-out war between Finch and the scary shadow man that had been taunting him. Gideon's tired eyes nervously glossed the tiles to his left; he felt it strange that he couldn't seem to conjure Finch. He had done Gideon a kindness the night prior, and though Gideon knew he had hundreds of opportunities to thank Finch, he felt it weird that Finch was absent and not under Gideon's control any longer. With the hundreds of questions that buzzed about his head, he began to feel sad that he couldn't get Finch to come around, to get clarity before he dove head first into Pre-Academy. As excited as Gideon was, he felt weird that one of his best friends wouldn't be around to see him off. Cold confusion clouded him as the conversing came to a lull of silence, once more, cueing Gideon to believe that they had potentially asked him a question and he wasn't paying attention.
"Gid?" Tessa prod tenderly, she blurt a giggle and crossed her arms; dressed in a professional blouse, her outfit was sleek and all black, a style of which Gideon admired, one of which reminded him of all those badass women in the tv shows he had seen.
"S-sorry, I'm... What was the question?" Gideon staggered nervously, he heaved a shaky breath and now apprehensively glanced to his father, as he was eyeing Gideon in sneaking suspicion.
"We asked if you were excited to meet Mr. Favor?" Vanellope repeated, she nervously glanced in Ralph's direction.
"Not just any student, in all of Arcadia Academy, just gets an invitation to see Mr. Favor in his office, like such," Tessa mumbled humbly; although this was all her doing and she was happy to provide such services for Gideon, she hoped he'd have a level of understanding as to just how rare the combination of all of this was, and how it wasn't to be taken lightly.
"I don't think you know just how special this is, dude," Ralph eased with warmth, he bobbed a nod and lulled his eyes closed, "Though, I imagine the nerves are getting the better of you."
"You'll be totally fine, dude, you'll have me," Tessa bobbed a nod and furrowed her brow in smiling nonchalance, "He's really cool, you'll see. He'll probably want to show you to your class and make sure you're given a warm welcome."
"You think that'd draw too much attention?" Ralph wondered quietly, though Tessa furrowed her brow harder and shrugged in defiance.
"I doubt it, had I been placed into Pre-Academy, let alone a whole month early, I'd kill for THE top dog of Academy to tour me and take me to my class," Tessa rattled with a small smile, "Y'know how cool that is? He's like a celebrity, at Arcadia. Everyone greatly looks up to him."
"You all are in really good hands, seemingly," Vanellope stated in smiling airiness, she turned around and began to clean off a few dishes that were in the sink, "Sometimes I wish I could attend Academy. That's for the better beings, though."
"Better beings," Ralph grumbled knowingly, he shot his two children a kindred smile, "Self-programmed beings. Better all around."
"It's not like you guys keep the whole cabinet plugged in, or anything," Tessa cutely argued as she began to put on her sleek blazer, proving to Gideon that it was nearly time to head out.
"Yeah, but how hard is that, really?" Ralph grumbled as he began to get to his feet; Gideon nervously began to take a few more bites of his eggs, to somehow prove to everyone around him that stomaching food was doable, even though his nerves and sleep deprivation made it so he was due to wanting to yak.
"Why don't you ask Oliver Trey?" Tessa sneered, Ralph rolled his eyes and flagged his huge hand in Tessa's direction, in which the two continued to bicker.
In the calm moments Gideon had whilst his parents cleaned the kitchen and Tessa prepared to walk out the door alongside everyone, Gideon got down from his stool, at the island, and now nervously began to scan his eyes about his own home. Desperate to manifest Finch's figure, like he always could, he felt the cogs in his brain grind to a rusty halt, as if Finch somehow had turned an off switch, and visiting hours were over. Gideon held his breath and felt a cry brim in the back of his throat, worry that he had lost his friend forever after such a heroic act, in Gideon's favor. He bit his lip and felt his stomach messily turn his freshly eaten food; wrought with nerves, he again forced a smile and was the first one out the door as all four beings piled out. In preparation to say their goodbyes in Sugar Rush's outlet, Gideon was grateful he was being so diligently taken under Tessa's wing, though the thought of last night, and now Finch's absence, was something he was sure was due to haunting him for the rest of the day.
Although the time had come and this miniature departure was important, Gideon felt a hard swallow crawl down his throat as his eyes nervously glossed down Sugar Rush's dim outlet station in search for Finch, one last time. Seeing a handful of gamers come and go, the morning hustle was due to getting under way, he flinched in surprise the second Vanellope suddenly lugged Gideon into a big grapple of a hug about his thickening neck. Gideon choked a small chuckle, snapped out of his silent searching and warmly cupped his bigger arms and hands about his mother's figure, both of which stood at the same height. Vanellope meeped a cute noise of bittersweet sorrow and gingerly swayed her beloved last born, to which Ralph scoffed an equally as sweet noise and rubbed her back in a notion of silent understanding.
"My Gideon," Vanellope whimpered cutely as tears welled in her eyes.
"Mom," Gideon mumbled, and though the lilt in his tone was of very mild annoyance, it was still heavily laced with loving understanding; Vanellope inhaled a stiff breath, pulled away and desperately collected herself as she ran her eyes all over Gideon's figure, motherly palms that cutely began ironing out the wrinkles in his adorable, cream colored button up shirt with the faint red pin stripes. Gideon heaved a gentle sigh and shook his head as she persisted trying to get a wrinkle out of the shirt on Gideon's becoming-broad chest, "Mom, I-I'll be fine. I don't think my teacher will care about the wrinkle."
"You're meeting Mr. Favor," Vanellope hissed in defeat as she inhaled a thick sniffle and shook her head, her beautiful hazel eyes caught with Gideon's in a snatch of unbridled wild fire, she which she grinned at his adorably handsome features, "You're gunna do great, my love."
"You'll tell us everything after school, yeah?" Ralph wondered warmly with a nod; all four beings stood in the gape of Sugar Rush's outlet, which extended into Arcadia's glowing white tiles.
"Yeah, if I don't nap first," Gideon eased with a smile as he glanced in his big sister's direction, even if the direction was downward, due to his climbing height.
"Your brain is gunna be so full of information by the end of this, trust me, you'll sleep well tonight," Tessa eased knowingly as she bugged her eyes and looked off.
"You'll do great," Ralph assured as he gripped Gideon's strong shoulder, and though he started said grip with just a jostle, he eventually wrangled Gideon into a hug as well. Gideon sagged into his father's much larger embrace and blurt a chuckle as Ralph ruffled Gideon's already crazy auburn hair, "Go on, git. You got Tessa to get you started, you're in very good hands."
"I'll set you up," Tessa nodded and gave her parents a look of sweet confidence, though as the two began to part from Ralph and Vanellope, Vanellope's face crumpled further as she sagged into Ralph's side. Ralph and Tessa innocently laughed at her expense as the gap began to broaden, "Mom, it's just Pre-A, the real tears should start when he's off to actual Academy!"
"I know, I know..." Vanellope grunted with a smile as she flagged her hand and shook her head, "We love you, kids, be good Gideon."
"Knock 'em dead, son," Ralph called, to which Gideon easily gave them a nervous smile of gratitude, a shy wave and finally turned on his heels with Tessa tight by his side.
Gideon heaved a shaky sigh and looked forward with anticipation. Although he was stoked to finally be immersed with kids his own age, his eyes trailed to the end of Arcadia's sunny station with a sudden pit of terrified dread; the new jump into a brand new scenario, one of which he had never experienced before, had his head swimming. Although grateful to have Tessa for this first flight out into the real world, he began to feel panic as to just what he'd do without her, once class began, once the newness settled. He bit his lip as him and Tessa cutely walked in step, though he flinched and stumbled a little the second Tessa purposefully walked into Gideon's stride and nudged his lower arm in a sisterly fashion.
"Alright, dude, what's the REAL reason you're too tired to function?" Tessa mumbled, she shook her head and eyed Gideon in pure knowing; he sheepishly looked off.
"I'm excited," Gideon muttered, Tessa largely rolled her eyes and eventually looked ahead, to Academy.
"He said with such joy in his voice, a pep in his step, he nearly FROLICKED into Arcadia Academy's doors," Tessa dramatized, she stretched her arms and hands out and was grateful to get a blurt of a genuine, manly chuckle out of Gideon's taller, bigger figure, "C'mon, dude. I'm not an idiot. You're my brother, I know something's wrong."
"I-I had a horrible nightmare last night, and... I don't know, I feel like I'm losing touch with myself," Gideon warily admitted, Tessa could see the wall finally begin to come down; he heaved a shaky sigh and bashfully glanced to his big sister, "I-I... I'm not having an easy time manifesting the imagery of my imaginary friend, Finch."
"You can't see him any longer?" Tessa worried; Gideon peered to her in further vulnerability, eternally thrilled he could expose himself to her and feel safe from judgement.
"No, it's weird. My horrible nightmare included him, and now I just feel weird," Gideon staggered with a lump in his throat; the two confidently passed outlet after outlet, Arcadia Academy rapidly approaching in all of its sunny glory.
"Well, you're about to step into a different chapter of life, bud, I'm sure this is normal," Tessa nodded as she, too, peered forward, though she eventually gave Gideon a glance of smiling apology, "Hate to break it to you babe, but... You're getting older. You're about to make real friends. I think imaginary friends might be off the table, shortly."
"I like Finch," Gideon mumbled, and though he was certain Finch was strictly an imaginary friend, he recalled his nightmare, how connected the two actually were, he furrowed his brow and felt his tired mind desperately try to map and connect dots, though he shooed it all away in exhaustion and briefly lulled his eyes closed, "You're probably right... I'm just very nervous."
"Well, don't be," Tessa concluded in a snippy tone with an equally as sassy little smile, she warmly linked arms with her brother and was glad he reciprocated, "You're in good hands. You're gunna love your teacher, your new guidance counselor, Mr. Favor... I can even come check up on you, if you'd like."
"I'd like that," Gideon's deep voice trembled, although he was sure he had absolutely no clue what to expect out of this day, he leaned tighter into Tessa's care and was grateful she was keeping him to the planet.
