(Okay, yet another short chapter... but there are actually people in this one, so it's all good.

There's probably going to be a couple short chapters in this story... but I can promise you all at least one long, deep and meaningful chapter. Everybody loves long, deep, meaningful chapters!

Unless you don't.

In which case, you'll be stuck with a long, deep, meaningful chapter.

Let's begin.

Tyler, Leslie, Victor © Nintendo

Erika, Sidney's daughter © Me)

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Days of the Phoenix

Chapter Two- Semblance of Normalcy

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A young blonde girl was running down the street, her light backpack bouncing against her back. She burst through the front door of a small house, making sure that she closed and locked the door behind her.

"Mom, Dad! I'm home!"

Leslie Chase stuck her head out from the kitchen doorway.

"Hey, Erika... how was your day?"

The girl shed her backpack, dropping it on the floor as she rushed into the kitchen to give her mother a hug.

"The teacher was talking about how those Sinners that disappeared are a threat to everyone, and how Sinners are bad people in general... Mom, we're not bad, are we? We're good, right?"

"Of course, honey," Leslie smiled, her amber eyes reflecting a sense of weariness as she embraced her daughter...

For fourteen years, they had been hiding, finding the people who supported their cause... and raising a ten-year-old daughter amidst the chaos had not exactly made things easier. But they never regretted it, even for an instant.

Leslie heard a crash coming from the basement, followed by a loud curse in a foreign language.

"What's Uncle Victor working on now, Mom?" Erika asked.

"I'm not sure... why don't you go ask him, and tell your dad to get up here?" Leslie suggested. "I need to speak to him about something."

Erika rushed off towards the basement, her rapid footsteps echoing throughout the house.

"Daaaad, Mom said she needs to talk to you!"

As she entered the basement, Erika saw Tyler Chase and Victor Niguel picking up shards of broken glass from the cold cement floor. Tyler looked over to his daughter, his brown eyes reflecting his curiosity.

"She did? What about?"

"I dunno," Erika shrugged. "But she told me to get you."

Tyler sighed, throwing a handful of broken glass into a large plastic garbage bin.

"Alright... help your uncle clean up this mess."

Erika quickly bounced over to Victor, who was muttering dark words as Tyler went back upstairs.

"Hi, Uncle Victor!" she chirped happily as she began picking up small pieces of glass. Victor glanced up, his cool, dark eyes peering through his ragged black hair.

"Hey, Erika..." he muttered, his voice slightly sullen. "How are you today? What did you do in school?"

So he had acknowledged her existence asked how she was doing today... despite the broken object, he must have been in a good mood.

"I'm okay..." Erika replied. "The teacher was telling us about how Sinners and the Damned are bad people..."

"Your teacher's--"

"Full of crap, I know."

"Good girl."

Erika beamed as they finished cleaning the broken glass... getting Victor to compliment someone was a difficult feat.

"Victor! Erika! Both of you need to come up here, now! We're meeting!"

Victor cursed in his native tongue.

"Don't tell me we have to..."

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"We need to move again."

Those four words elicited a whine of protest from Erika, a nervous glance out of Leslie, a sigh of frustration from Tyler, and a very loud Romanian curse from Victor.

"When did you plan on giving us time to pack our shit, damnit?!" Victor growled, ignoring the dirty look Leslie shot him as he scowled angrily at the woman who had spoken.

Her long, dark brown hair fell to the middle of her back, falling around and framing her pale face. She was still young, and her face was free of lines, free of signs of old age or weariness; but her piercing hazel eyes reflected maturity beyond her years as she glared back at dark-haired researcher across the kitchen table.

"Dr. Stannis only called and warned us about twenty minutes ago, Victor. Be thankful that he was actually able to warn us this time-- last time, his call had almost come too late."

Yes, she bore a striking resemblance to her mother; but her bright hazel eyes and no-nonsense choice of words betrayed her as the child of a Kasal.

"He said the Police would be here at eleven; that gives us about six hours to gather our stuff and go," she continued. "We should probably get started now, so we're not rushing to get out."

"Yes... that sounds like a good idea," Leslie nodded, lightly brushing her short green bangs out of her tired face.

"Erika, you help your Uncle Victor pack his research equipment," Tyler instructed as everyone rose to their feet. "Your mom and I will get your stuff."

"Alright, Dad."

Erika and Victor descended to the basement as Leslie and Tyler went to their room.

The young woman gently fingered her cross before leaving the room to go pack her things.

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(End chapter two.

So, amidst all this death and chaos, Leslie and Tyler were able to get hitched and have a kid... some sense of happiness managed to creep out after all!

Also, I kinda made her seem a little Mary-Sue with the "wise beyond her years" bit... but wouldn't you be wise beyond your years if you were growing up with that kind of shit since you were eight?

Chapter three will be "started-in-progress" soon... please review!)