Chapter 3: Shattered Facade

Nick stood there, dumbfounded. He had never seen anything like this before but, he was sure about one thing... this creature in front of him wasn't a mammal.

"What are you?" Nick dared to ask. "and what do you want from me?"

Aldwyn rested his wings. "Now... now... there's no need to make a fuss... I'm not going to hurt you..."

"Somehow, I don't believe you." Nick exclaimed glaring.

Aldwyn sighed. "Listen... I brought you here because it's the only place I can talk to you in private." he explained. "I don't want any unwanted eyes to see me like this."

Nick relaxed a bit. "OK, i'll bite... but, first things first, would you mind telling me what you are? from what I know... mammals... let alone foxes don't normally sprout wings..."

"I'm what's called an Archfiend... or in simpler terms, a demon..." Aldwyn answered.

Nick tensed up again. "That's no where near what I was expecting..." he admitted nervously. "Moving on, how do you know I'm not from here? do you have anything to do with it?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." Aldwyn replied. "I'm part of the reason why you're here."

Nick stared. "Why would you...?"

Aldwyn composed himself. "Allow me to start from the beginning... we originally met roughly five years ago... during my first visit to Zootopia... when I was looking for someone I lost..." he started. "Our initial interaction was when I mistook Judy for... said someone..."

Nick put two and two together remembering the yellow bunny who was with him. "Julia... I see... you mistook Judy for Julia."

"Yes, I did and it was messy to say the least but, in the end, we grew to become good friends." Aldwyn reminisced as a smile formed on his face. "It didn't take long before you and Judy decided to pitch in and help me... sure enough, thanks to both of your efforts, I was able to be reunited with my angel."

Nick crossed his arms. "That's nice and all but, I don't see where this is going?"

"You will soon." Aldwyn assured as he continued his story. "You see... I made a fatal mistake when I showed my true form to you and Judy... and it complicated things... placed both your lives in danger... So, Julia and I had decided to wipe all your memories of us and leave entirely... but, not before giving both of you a little parting gift as a sign of our gratitude for everything you've both done for us."

"A parting gift?" Nick asked in confusion. "What parting gift?"

Aldwyn grinned. "We gave both of you the ability to bear children together."

Upon hearing Aldwyn's words, Nick's eyes widen. "The ability to... so, that's why Judy and I was able to..."

"Indeed, we thought it was the perfect gift we could possibly bestow upon both of you..." Aldwyn's smile faded into a frown. "But, what we didn't considered was the chance that..."

Nick caught on to what he was saying. "The chance that Judy would reject bearing the child... It never occur to any of you that she'd fear having such a gift..."

"Yes, and when we finally found out what had happened between you two... it was already to late for us to do anything to stop it..." Aldwyn angrily said. "We felt responsible for all pain and suffering we've caused both of you... So, Julia and I did the only option left available to us..."

Nick listened intently.

"Sacrificing half of our powers in exchange for a chance to reach back in time to try to prevent the catalyst that would eventually break your relationship apart."

Nick took deep breath and frowned. "Your talking about the outcome of our argument... if I stayed with her or not..."

Aldwyn nodded his head.

"Let me guess... you used your powers to force my past self to stay, didn't you?" Nick asked with a slight anger in his voice.

"What... no, our powers doesn't work that way... we can only suggest or nudge someone to do something... the decision is and always will be up to the individual." Aldwyn swore.

Nick was not having it. He knew everything was too good to be true from the very start but now, with this new information... that his life was altered by some all-powerful beings... he felt used like a puppet on a string with no will of its own...

"Like hell, I'd believe you..." Nick growled.

Aldwyn gaped. "Nick... I'm not lying..." he argued. "I would never manipulate you to do anything against your will."

"Do I know that?" Nick pretended to think. "No... no, I don't! heck, I don't even know if you actually did changed my past since I can still remember every single painful memory of my break up with her!"

"Nick..." was all Aldwyn could utter before Nick pushed him aside and ran passed him.

Aldwyn watched as the fleeing fox left his line of sight deciding it's best not to follow him for the time being.

Nick ran all the way back to his and Judy's apartment. He burst through the door getting the attention of both Judy and Julia, who was chatting in the living room.

"You're back early..." Judy greeted but Nick just ignored her and continued to ran towards their bedroom locking the door behind him.

Judy glanced at Julia, who had the same shocked expression as she did. "What was that all about?" the yellow bunny said worrying.

Judy stood up and walked in front of the bedroom door and knocked. "Nick... dear... are you alright?"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Nick shouted from the inside.

Judy froze at Nick's aggression before feeling a paw on her shoulder. "Judy... just leave him alone for while..." Julia comfortingly said. "He'll come around eventually."

"I... I hope you're right..." Judy said on the verge of tears.