Chapter 3: Back To The Past

"Location: Licorice Island, December 25th 1995"

The first thing that greeted Licortwist was the distant roar of waves, carried by the wind and seagull cries. He found himself looking out over a frozen shore, and unlike Sugar Rush, the sun was visible in the sky, which would mean that it was midday. He recognized this place. He was on Licorice Island, and the large body of water that he was looking at was the water that separated Licorice Island from Sugar Rush's mainland.

"What the..." Licortwist started to say.

Shouts and laughter approached his location and he instinctively hid behind a tree when a group of children came into view. Viridi walked up beside him.

"There is no need for that. They can't see us anyway." Viridi explained.

Licortwist questioned the girl's claim, but after the children ran past them without the slightest sign of noticing the red and purple clad girl, he gave her a questioning look.

"We aren't existing in this sequence of time. Actually, you could say that we right now, we don't even exist in either time and space." Viridi explained.

The look on Licortwist's face was the complete opposite of the girl's amused one. He did not like the sound of that the very least. Outside of time? He was starting to get an inkling of the type of power that the girl was wielding. It spelled trouble.

"Do you recognize where we are?" Viridi asked.

"Recognize? I was born and raised here." Licortwist replied.

Licortwist got on top of the licorice pieces and took off through the forest of licorice trees, heading in the direction of Twizzler Town. Viridi floated in the air, and she flew after Licortwist.

"And yet, you seem to have forgotten it for so many years." Viridi said when she caught up to him.

Licortwist chose to ignore her and keep moving forward on top of the licorice pieces. The two children finally stopped when they had reached the palace, which looked like it did in his backstory memories, as opposed to how it did after Licorice Island appeared during the upgrade in 2108.

"The palace looks different." Licortwist said.

"You are referring to how it looked like in your memories. I told you that we were outside of time." Viridi explained calmly. She then gestured to the palace and said "This is your past.".

"My past, you say?" Licortwist asked in confusion.

Viridi nodded and pointed her staff up to a window of a room on the second floor of the South Wing.

"Yes, and I recall that there was a boy that used to live here." Viridi replied.

Licortwist's frown deepened. Viridi grabbed the boy's hand, and, surprisingly for Licortwist, they phased through the wall of the room.

"How did you did that? And how I did that?" Licortwist asked.

"I told you, we exist outside of time, so you can walk through anything and anybody. Everything is merely shadows of things that have already happened." Viridi replied.

Licortwist frowned and looked away. He found himself inside his old bedroom that he had in his backstory memories. A few Christmas decorations typical to the era were placed around the room, and the TV was on, supplying background noise for the lone occupant in there. Curled up on the bed sat a slightly younger version of Licortwist. His nose was buried in a book, and he was surrounded by stacks of other books and paper sheets covered in scribbles.

The younger version's head shot up from his book, and for a split second, Licortwist thought that his younger self had detected their presence. But instead, there was the faint sound of the jingling of keys and the sound of a door opening. The boy shot up to his feet and ran down the South Wing to the palace's front doors, where Cindy and Gary were standing.

"Mom! Dad!" Younger Licortwist said excitedly.

Cindy and Gary smiled as they saw Younger Licortwist.

"Surprise, son! We managed to get home early." Gary said.

"I thought you weren't going to be back until two days from now." Licortwist said.

Cindy stroked her son's hair and pulled him against her in a hug.

"We couldn't let our baby spend Christmas all alone." Cindy said.

She smiled tenderly and kissed Younger Licortwist's forehead.

"Moooom!" Younger Licortwist objected.

Younger Licortwist rubbed his forehead with the sleeve of his jacket. His parents laughed.

"So what have you been up to?" Gary asked as he walked further into the palace.

"Studying." Younger Licortwist replied.

"All day? It's been lovely outside. You need fresh air too." Cindy said.

Younger Licortwist only shrugged at that and Cindy sighed disapprovingly. They made their way into Licortwist's room in the South Room.

"Son, would you clear up this mess and put away your books? We brought you a present." Gary asked.

Younger Licortwist collected all of his royal study material in a hurry and ran off to put them away. While he was gone, Cindy produced a small book from her hand bag, and she held it out to him when he came back.

"Merry Christmas, Licortwist. We thought that you would like this. You've always been so fascinated with ghost stories." Cindy said.

Younger Licortwist took the book and read the cover, and he learned that the book was 'The Canterville Ghost'. The boy's face split into a wide grin and he hugged his parents again. They would spend the rest of the day together, watching the Christmas specials and reading the new book.

This would also be one of his last holidays with his parents before the both of them died.

"Location: Licorice Island, February 12th 1997"

The scenery shifted before Licortwist and Viridi's eyes, and they found themselves in Licortwist's old bedroom again. The boy had grown taller and was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling above him. Outside, the murmurs of voices could be heard of people that had come to the castle to express their sympathies. The Younger Licortwist held a small book to his chest. It was the same novel book that he had received as a gift years earlier from his, now late, parents. The door opened and Lemon entered. She sat down by the bed and sighed before her gaze fell on the boy, whom had ignored her entrance and had kept staring at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry, kiddo." Lemon said softly.

Younger Licorwist finally turned his head to look at the island's majordomo.

"Why did they have to die?" Younger Licortwist asked.

Lemon sighed.

"I'm not sure. But your parents were wonderful people and I regret how things turned out." Lemon replied softly.

Younger Licortwist didn't reply to that. Lemon sighed again and got up from the bed. She cast one glance back at her now-ruler.

"Don't worry. They're at a better place now. I'll leave you be. You can join us whenever you feel ready." Lemon said.

The door shut with a soft click behind her. Silence befell the room again and the boy raised the book in front of him and stroked it's cover. His face scrunched up in a grimace and he flung the book into the opposite wall with a loud bang before he turned onto his stomach and screamed into his pillow.

The two spectral onlookers hadn't uttered a word since they had entered the palace. Licortwist inhaled through his nose and let out a long shaky breath. He rubbed his face and eyes, trying to control his breathing and fighting hard not to cry, but his breath kept hitching and his eyes stung. He glared at Viridi.

"I hate you. You've had your fun. I hope your happy now." Licortwist said angrily.

Licortwist felt like he had been run over by a truck that had then reversed and backed over him, just for good measure.

"They were remarkable people in the backstory and now, weren't they?" Viridi asked sympathetically.

Licortwist hissed and bared his teeth.

"Don't you even dare! You can take your pity and shove it. I hope that your satisfied with whatever you tried to accomplish by taking me back here!" Licortwist replied angrily.

"Oh, but we are far from done, Hothead." Viridi said calmly.

"Don't call me that." Licortwist ordered angrily.

"As you wish. But we need to be going because there is still much to be seen." Viridi said.

Licortwist gritted his teeth, wanting nothing more then to blast the accursed girl out of existence and punish her for making him relive these feelings again.

"Bring it." Licortwist ordered angrily.

Viridi nodded, and a blinding burst of light swallowed up the room.