A half hour and a change to casual later, Rhea was in the kitchen, (She had been here before with Adam on the rare time she or both of them needed a break from Earth. Thus some clothes of her's were left here). She and Emily decided to make something to eat while they wait for Adam. When he'll be back they wished they knew. It was Rhea's idea to cook as a distraction from complete worry.
"Any idea what we should make?" Emily asked as Rhea looked in the fridge.
Inside she mentally reminded herself not to worry, forget about the fact Adam was having a showdown with a crazy guy. Adam will come back safe and sound then things will be relatively normal after that. Yeah take a deep breath Emily, he'll be alright. Nothing bad will happen. Hopefully. Even if her logical side knew Adam hadn't had much experience with this.
She felt her heart beat faster at the thought of that crazy guy harming him. She wouldn't know what to do if Adam was mortally hurt or, that would mean she and Rhea would be stuck here for the rest of their lives! Or what if that guy somehow sucked his powers and became more powerful? Crud she wasn't doing a good job at this not worrying thing.
And it only added more to the increased anxiety she felt that she was in love with him.
Rhea sighed unsatisfied and closed the door. Truth be told she was already having second thoughts about this, she too was just as worried as Emily was. Though to the third party observer, one would think they were the definition of calm under pressure.
"Making taking a walk outside or….something will do us good better than cooking," She suggested softly as she turned out to face Emily, "I can't focus enough."
Emily had her arms across her waist, she nodded. There was a mutual agreement and they stood there silently unsure of what to do. Rhea had her hands on her hips as silence passed between them.
Emily quietly admitted with a soft resigned breath, "Ditto."
She didn't feel real hungry right now anyways. So with that, she followed Rhea out the door and into the warm sunshine. And there was a calming effect that was emitted from the whole area so that was nice too.
They meandered in a random direction for several minutes before either one of them spoke.
"I wish I was wherever Adam is to help him," Emily confessed softly as she looked ahead on the ground.
"Yeah so do I. I still want to beat the crap out of Cupun," Rhea candidly said as she paused to put her feelings into words.
She found it smart for Adam to send them to safety, but on the other hand what chances does Adam has? All his life he had to figure out on his own how to work the magic. He had no one to train him. Granted she doesn't know for sure, but it seemed like Cupun might've had some training. Plus he was immortal apparently, he had a hell of a long time to master the art compared to her older brother.
What chances does her nerdy, nonconfrontational brother have against him in a fight with those kinda stats so to speak?
She felt better this time around knowing Adam is more proficient at it than during his high school years.
Still.
"I'm torn between "oh Adam gonna defeat the guy' and 'Adam probably not gonna have a snowball chance in hell'."
"Well we still have to be positive about this," Emily did not wish to entertain the slightest possibility of the second option.
Instead, she just did her best to keep the optimism up front and center. And even then, she wasn't sure how good of a job she was doing. He just had to make it through, he just had too.
"Yeah but….you do realize what it means if he doesn't right?" Rhea stopped in front of Emily with a mild agonized expression on her face.
"We'll be permanently stuck here! And there is not that much in the fridge for both of us and sure there is tv and video games and...shit but there'll be literally nothing else to do besides those things! No jobs, no other friends for us to hang out with, nobody is not gonna mourn our disappearance cause of the whole never fucking existed shit!"
Rhea continued to ramble out in a bit of a panic mode, "And sure we can both figure out how to make our way here, but how long will we both last completely isolated!?"
Seemed liked ruining things was the Conover family tradition Emily thought with slight sarcasm. She quickly felt that was kinda rude to think, but in a way, Rhea's mini vent did make her feel she was about to be on an episode of Rhea Ruins Everything.
Emily gently gripped her shoulders, "Those are some...very painfully good points, but Rhea, it won't do us both any good if we dwelled on the worst case scenario."
Emily looked up at her with a reassuring look and Rhea's shoulders visibly got more relaxed. Emily wasn't sure if she was saying that more for Rhea or for her.
Emily closed her eyes for a moment and let out a mild annoyed sigh, "I feel like I'm the wrongest person to give that advice right about now…."
"You are right though Em. It's just that it is a very real possibility we're facing."
"It is, but I refuse to believe it," Emily stubbornly said in defiance of her logical side in the matter.
Emily and Rhea were on their way back to the house, they walked for what felt like an hour or so at the most. They could've taken their phones with them, but they figured there would be no point in a secluded place like this. Plus Adam would just poof here when he has finished anyway. That is if he wasn't defeated.
They were close to the front door when they noticed a sudden streak of blue light. They stopped, ready to fight back if it was Cupun. It could be Adam, but nothing wrong with being cautious. Shit, they should've taken some kind of hard object to use as a weapon just in case.
But thankfully it was Adam and the girls felt a huge rush of relief. Emily immediately rushed up to give him a hug with a big smile on her face.
"Adam!"
Oh, it felt so good to be in his arms again. Rhea meanwhile smiled as she walked up and gave him a hug as well. It was so nice to see her brother in one piece. Finally a well needed break from all the worrying the fight with Cupun gave her and Emily.
Adam was damn happy to see both of them as much as they were to see him. He had a big, boyish like grin. Like if he hadn't just come back from what must've been an intense fight. He embraced them in a big hug and the three reveled in the moment. Nothing else mattered but the confirmation that everyone was safe.
"I'm so happy this is all over and you two are safe," Adam exclaimed before he looked over at Rhea the only way a concerned brother would, "He didn't do anything else to you? You're alright?"
"I'm fine. Probably don't want to see a doll of for a while for now but I'm fine," Rhea chuckled weakly then paused as she felt only the slightest unsure about it, "It just felt...weird. I could see and hear everything but couldn't move."
"Don't hesitate to tell me about any side effects, I can help fix it," Adam's voice was soft and warm.
She gave him a grateful smile in response as Adam let go of the hug. It was then that she noticed the crystal looking ball Adam held in one hand. It looked like it contained a universe, she can see what looked like space inside, dotted with numerous stars and galaxies.
"Is that how you somehow defeated him?" Rhea guessed as she gestured to the ball.
Emily was interested as well. It looked like if a whole universe was contained inside. Which it had to be, it looked too realistic to have been faked. Adam beamed proudly of himself as he held it in front of them.
"Oh yeah! I gave what he wanted in a manner of speaking," He began in the same cheerful, but bombastic tone as if he was ruining a common misconception, "I trapped Cupun inside a replica of Earth inside one of those tiny galaxies. He thinks he finally took over Earth, but here's the thing. It's all an illusion, the stars, galaxies, the people, everything. He just thinks it's all real."
"Whoa…" Rhea softly exclaimed, clearly impressed. It was a damn clever trap if she ever saw one.
Granted the other times she knows were 'catching a dumb criminal in the act' stories she would hear recanted in court. Those seemed positively mundane compared to this.
Emily was still a little unsure, "Won't he figure it out and go back after you?"
"I imagine so, but it'll be a long while. I made sure the illusion was as realistic as possible."
Emily and Rhea took another closer look before Adam put the glass in a pocket inside his jacket. He continued.
"Which brings me to the next topic I want to talk about before I fix everything," Adam announced as he put his hands in his pockets.
"I did some thinking for about 10 minutes before I came over here," He admitted as he began to explain. His voice was steady and calm, "I don't want anyone else to go through the same ordeal I did and having to deal with a crazy guy like him so um..."
Adam paused, he suddenly felt a little hesitant now when before he felt confident enough to bring up the decision to elongate his life. He felt it would be the best in order to protect any potential Guardian (and the world) from him. He also realized he would be more lonely in the long on so he wanted to ask Emily and Rhea as well if they wanted to join him in eternal life.
"I'm gonna become immortal in order to keep him in check once he gets out. And I want to ask you two if you wanted to um….become the same with me?" He finished with a genuine question.
Emily and Rhea looked at each other then back at Adam after he proposed the big question. It was one of those things where they had to think about it for a bit, one where you can't just blurt out an answer as quick as you can.
"You obviously don't have to take the offer, I don't want to force anything. I just figured I'd ask cause you two are the closest people I know and I'll pretty lonely otherwise."
Adam hoped that didn't come off as guilt trippy as it could've been. His worry was unfounded as Rhea and Emily could very well see that. They knew him well enough that when it came down to it, outside of the family, Emily was his only friend.
After an anxious minute or two, Rhea spoke up. Even while she is still not entirely sure it is in her best interest, but on the other hand she didn't want him to go through bone-crushing loneliness living in the future without any sort of family around.
Rhea sighed casually and confidently smiled.
"Sign me up. I know you and I think you would feel better in 500 years with a family member around."
"Count me in too," Emily replied then she looked at Rhea awkwardly as she realized a mini new found problem.
She realized she had yet to tell her that she is in love with Adam. If she wanted to explain her reasoning then Rhea would have to know that for context. Plus that would need to go hand in hand with the request she had in mind to circumvent the whole married to Murph problem.
"Umm, I think me and Adam should tell you something else before he...make shit right with the world."
Adam looked at her momentarily confused before it dawned on him. They were too busy with defeating the bad guy to worry about the love aspect before. He turned a shade of red as he faced his younger sister. Rhea should definitely know about this.
"Oh right yeah-" He chuckled a little nervously.
Not that Rhea would be against it for some strange reason, but let's be honest, it is something she wouldn't seen coming. Adam put his arm around Emily's shoulder and gently pulled her closer into his embrace.
"We're in love with each other. We even accidentally kissed earlier."
"Accident on his part but I kissed back," Emily admitted.
Rhea stood there a little befuddled, "...What?!"
Emily continued her explanation with a light smile, "Yeah that's um...one of the reasons I'm taking up on the offer. I'm wholly in love with Adam."
It did do them both good to hear that Rhea didn't seem to object to it, just merely surprised and understandably confused. She faced Emily with a look of realization.
"Wait Em aren't you…" However, her voice trailed off as she remembers a crucial fact in all this.
They were erased from Earth's history so technically Emily was never married. Right.
"I was gonna ask about the marriage thing but never mind."
Perhaps what Cupun did was somewhat a blessing in disguise in a way. She didn't have to worry about the prospect of divorce, and she doesn't feel like she is breaking the one major rule of a relationship. How can one cheat on someone if they were never married in the first place?
Rhea let out a semi-related frustrated sigh, "I still kinda wish I got another punch in on Cupun for erasing me and Emily from Earth."
"Oh don't worry Rhea, you have my utmost word he got what he deserved," Adam grinned satisfactorily.
"Which speaking of, Adam I was thinking, um..." Emily started clearly and paused for a second as he looked at her.
Damn his pretty blue eyes and his cute stubble of a beard on his cute nerd face. She was sure Adam noticed her cheek suddenly blush up a bit.
"...do you think when you reset everything that you leave Melinda and Murph married? That would solve the whole marriage issue."
Adam was all too happy to make that request and with a snap, everything fell into place. Emily and Rhea were put back on the map so to speak, careers back and everything. They didn't feel too different with the whole immortality thing, but Rhea did bring up that they may all have to move to a different place after several decades as to not raise any suspicions.
The only difference that was noticeable right off the bat, was a house that Emily and Adam now lived in together. They both had decided to start slow with dating instead of reality warping themselves married. They both felt that might be too rushed, plus they wanted to see if this would really work.
If it does then they decided Adam would simply work his magic. Why waste money with a grand expensive showcase of their love when a trip to the courthouse would suffice. Who the hell even needs the courthouse when magic was involved.
The two laid under the covers all snuggled together. Adam had one arm around Emily and in his other hand was a book he was reading. One of those humorous factual books Adam loved reading. Emily, meanwhile, rested her head on his shoulder. She felt the dull, but warm tingle of magical energy that danced on her back from his hand. Helped too that he slowly rubbed the area on her back in small circles.
It felt good, a nice and calm sensation that about lulled her to sleep.
"I got a question, what did you do with the glass ball? I haven't seen it around in the last couple of days."
"Oh I poofed it to another world for better security," Adam explained as he glanced over at her.
He looked back at the book, he turned the page and quickly got all excited after a few seconds.
"Oh boy...this article is wrong! Would you like me to tell you why?"
Emily laughed lightly at his passionate, yet boyish smile.
"How about tomorrow?"