"Hey, Red?"
Alit looked up. "Yeah Prince? What's up?"
"Will you play catch with me and my sister?" the little boy asked, holding up a baseball.
"Sure! Just as long as we're careful. I don't want either of you to break, okay?" Alit asked.
"Okay!" the boy agreed, "I just want to play a little bit. It's been so long..."
Alit 'frowned' and felt tears prick at his eyes. Poor kiddo... kiddos would be more accurate, though. "Hey Princess!"
"Yes?" the little girl looked up from her game.
"Wanna play catch?"
"YES!" she dropped her game and jumped up before running over to him. "Let's play! Let's play! Let's play!"
"Okay, both of you follow me! Let's go out in the courtyard, there's a lot more room there," Alit suggested. Both of the dolls nodded and followed close behind Alit as he led them into a large courtyard. The boy's eyes went wide as he looked around. His sister was not as surprised, as she had been out in the courtyard many times before and knew what to expect.
"WOW! Is all of this Barian World like this?!" the boy cried.
"Well, yes. I mean, in the way you're thinking, of course," Alit explained, "Come on, let's play!"
The boy grinned then ran to the far end of courtyard and tossed the ball to Alit. Alit had to run to catch it, then tossed it lightly to the girl, who caught it and tossed it back to her brother. The boy-doll laughed as he caught the ball before throwing it back to Alit. "This is fun!"
"Haven't done this in a while, huh?" Alit asked.
He shook his head. "Nope, that jerk wouldn't let me play at all! It was all sitting still and getting beaten."
Alit almost missed the ball when the girl tossed it too him. "I can't believe he did all that to you two..."
"Don't worry, Red!" the boy piped up, "We're all safe now!"
"Well..." his sister winced, "Not really. Mommy's still missing/dead/imprisoned, Daddy's still a book, and we're still dolls."
Alit sighed, "Yeah... and still no progress on any of those problems."
The boy caught the ball then ran to Alit and hugged him. "It's okay, Red. Really! Eventually we'll be human again."
"See, I don't like that word: eventually," Alit said sadly, "I don't want you two to be dolls for much longer and I definitely don't want your dad to be a book any more."
The girl hurried over to him and hugged him as well. "It's okay, Red. You're doing your best."
Alit sat down and sighed, "Still..." he felt tears prick at his eyes again before he sniffled and pulled out the book. "Hey, how about we talk to your dad?"
"Okay! I'll read out loud for my brother!" the girl chirped. Alit pulled out a pencil and wrote,
Hey! How are things going?
Pretty well. I don't have to deal with the psychological trauma of dealing with the knowledge I'm still with that bastard.
Um, is now a bad time to tell you that your daughter is reading this out loud to your son?
...oops. Sweetie, don't say that word out loud if I say it again, okay?
She looked at Alit. "Why doesn't he want me to say it? That jerk said it and a bunch of other words I hadn't heard before a lot- oh."
Alit winced then wrote,
Bad news, she already knew it via that jerk.
Oh that son of a- nope. Not finishing that. And sweetie, if you know the full saying, don't you finish it either.
She's not, don't worry. Although I am not sure if she does know it or not, hoping not.
Oh thank God. So how have things been going?
Well, we were playing catch and your son knows how to read a little. Not much, though.
Have you made any progress with getting them human again?
...no. None at all...
Don't feel bad. Also, that... jerk said something about making it impossible to turn us all back. I don't believe it, but it might make things harder.
Dang it...
Alit sighed and closed his eyes, trying to quell his tears of frustration while the two children looked at each other hopelessly. "Red-nii? We will be human again one day, right?"
Alit looked down at the two of them, then sighed, "At this point, I hate to say it, but in order to make you human again, that jerk may have to do it. And I'm not sure how he would agree to do that... Damn it," he hissed, "I mean, this would be so much simpler if we were trying to make you barians! We could do that in-" Alit suddenly shut up and stopped moving as an idea started to form in his head.
"Red?" the dolls asked in unison.
"Okay, crazy idea but bear with me," Alit said, putting his hands out in a placating gesture, "Are you really sure you want to be human again?"
"WHAT?!"
Alit winced, "Okay, that was a bad way to propose my idea. Let me start over. Is is okay if we make you barians instead of humans? Because we could get something set up in a few hours to turn you into barians. And barians have human forms on earth so-"
"YES!" both of them cheered in unison, looking excited.
"Then we could be like you!" the boy cried.
"And he couldn't hurt us or turn into dolls again!" the girl added.
"I still need to ask your dad," Alit warned as he wrote,
Hey, so I was thinking and I've already run this by your kids and they liked it-
What are you talking about?
Well, if we make them barians instead of humans, we could turn them back in a few hours as soon as we set things up because Dumon definitely can make it happen really quickly.
And you want my permission to do this?
Yep! So? What do you think? Can we make them barians instead?
On one condition.
What is it?
You make me a barian as well instead of a human. I don't want to be a different species than my kids. Also, I kinda want to get out of here sooner.
There is a chance of complications, although there would be if we turned them into humans as well.
That's a chance all of my family will willingly take to become flesh and blood again. If my kids want to do this, then I support them fully and will follow in their footsteps.
Okay! I'll tell Dumon!
Alit promptly summoned over a crystal to call Dumon on while the two kids grinned at each other. "Hey Dumon!"
"What is it? I am very busy," Dumon's voice complained from the crystal.
"Well, I had an idea and long story short, the dolls and the book decided to become barians instead. So can you set something up?" Alit asked.
Dumon was silent, then, "There is a chance of something going wrong."
"There's that chance if they become human as well," Alit reminded him.
"Very true. Alright, give me about three hours."
"Thanks Dumon!" Alit 'grinned'.
"So... that's it, then?" the little girl asked, "We're not going to be dolls anymore?"
"Bingo!" Alit laughed.
"We won't be dolls anymore! Take that, you jerk!" the boy cheered, leaping into Alit's arms(Alit got the cast off the day before). Alit picked him up and bounced him up and down with a 'grin' on his face. Finally! They were going to go back to normal! Or, well, not exactly, but still! Being a barian was a billion times better than being a doll!
... (^0^) ...
Dumon led the little girl over to a crystal table. "Alright, little one. Now I need you to lie down on the table and let me align your energy signature with the crystal I'll be setting you in for the transformation."
"...okay," she nodded. She was still nervous around other people sometimes, although this was a time to be nervous. There was a fair chance things could go very, very wrong. As in, fatally wrong.
"It'll be okay, Princess, trust me," Alit assured her, "You'll be fine."
She wrapped her arms around Alit. "Red-nii..."
"Hey, I'll be there when you wake up, okay?" Alit promised, "I'll stay with you until you wake up."
"You may wish to bring her to earth since human form will be easier for her to deal with at first than a barian form," Dumon suggested.
"Aye, aye, sir!" Alit saluted him with a 'grin'.
The girl buried her face in Alit's shoulder, "Red... you promise to be there when I wake up?"
"Of course, Princess!" Alit swore.
"Promise?"
"Promise," Alit pried her off and laid her down on the table before stepping back and nodding to Dumon. The grey barian stepped up and typed in some numbers onto a nearby crystal, kind of like typing on a tablet. The crystal the girl was lying on started glowing red and by association, her.
"Sis?" the little boy clutched Alit's cloak and stared at his older sister with sad eyes.
She smiled sadly at him. "I'm okay, don't worry."
"Why did you have to go first?" he whimpered.
"Just in case something goes wrong," she soothed.
"Exactly! That's why I don't want you to go first!" he whined.
Alit put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. "It will be alright, Prince. She will be okay, I promise."
The boy captured Alit in a hug, but kept staring at his sister. "Sh- she will be alright, right?"
"Definitely. She's strong enough to get through this! She'll be a barian in a few hours and then take human form on earth. And she won't be a doll anymore!" Alit told him cheerily.
"Like he said!" she echoed happily, "I won't be a doll anymore!"
Her brother smiled happily and simply held Alit's cloak tighter. Alit 'smiled' down at him then summoned over his chair and jumped up on it, pulling the boy with him and setting him on his lap. They sat together in silence while they watched Dumon prepare the little girl for the transformation, for no words really needed to be said between them. Finally, Dumon was prepared.
"Come on," Dumon coaxed as he summoned a crystal over, "Get inside and I'll begin the procedure. It will be fine."
She nodded and crawled inside the cavity inside the large crystal. "I know. I'm ready."
Red crystal crept across the opening and sealed her inside and the entire crystal started glowing. She shut her eyes as the glow intensified. When it faded, there was a small barian with brown hair, light orange skin, and a mask-like face that resembled Alit's except for a few alterations and it was black. Dumon allowed the crystal to release her and Alit ran forward to pick her up, with the little boy hurrying to stay at his side.
"Sis?! SIS?! Are you okay?! Red-nii, she's not answering!" the boy cried, panicked.
"She is asleep. I forgot to mention that she would be exhausted after the transformation, but she will be back to her normal energy level with a little rest," Dumon assured him.
Alit knelt down so the boy could see his sister better. He promptly hugged her tightly and sniffled. "She feels alive again. Not like how she was, and I still am," he whispered.
"Not for much longer though," Alit replied, "You'll be a barian in a few hours, too, Prince."
"I know," the doll sighed as if savoring the knowledge that he would be free from his current state in a mere couple of hours. He scrutinized his sister for a minute carefully before finally looking back up at Alit. "You know, Red, she actually looks awesome as a barian! Come to it, she could easily pass as your biological sister instead of just adopted. I hope I look like you too when I become a barian!"
Alit took another look at the sleeping female barian and had to admit the boy had a point. "Yeah, I guess she does!" he 'smiled' fondly. Being around these two significantly eased the ever present pain of losing his siblings and family, even though he knew the loss would still be a constant pain in his heart forever. But they were so similar to Maple and Bryan that it hurt in its own way. Sometimes Alit had to stop himself from calling Princess Maple and calling Prince Bryan. He really needed to learn their names one of these days, if only to make it easier to distinguish them from his biological siblings.
Alit stood up, cradling her in his arms. "Dumon? If she isn't awake by the time you've turned Prince into a barian, please bring him to earth for me."
"I will. Do not worry, he will be fine," Dumon promised.
The boy latched onto Alit and buried his head into Alit's cloak. "You'll be there when I wake up too, right?" he whimpered.
Alit mussed up his hair and hugged him. "Of course I will, Prince. Don't worry, okay? It'll all be over soon then all we need to worry about is waiting for Dumon to figure out how to turn your dad back, getting your mom back then turning her back if he messed with her, then killing that jerk or capturing him and handing him over to Vector to be tortured. Although it may not be necessarily in that order."
The boy hugged him tighter, then reluctantly pulled away. "...bye, Red. I'll see you soon, when I'm not a doll anymore."
Alit ruffled his hair, then opened an overlay network to earth. "I can't wait to see you in both human and barian form," Alit 'smiled' back at the doll before dissolving into the overlay network.
He stepped out into a guest bedroom in the BARian, which was going to be the two siblings' room on earth for a while. He felt the little girl stir unconsciously in his arms and curl up closer to him. Alit smiled and set her down on the bed. He pulled away slightly and started to brush her hair out of her face as he had gotten into the habit of doing over the course of the past almost-month, then froze solid. He stared at her in a mixture of shock, joy, and horror.
'N- no, it can't be, can it?' Alit thought frantically.