AN: And here my dear readers is the end of this story. I considered it for a while to go beyond this point but after time and work on this, I felt it to be a genuinely decent stopping point and experience has taught me best stop while I'm ahead. I thank all of you who have read this story and I look forward to providing more of my work in future. I want to also thank Dragon Tiger Sword who encouraged me through both portions of this story as without that steadfast encouragement, I'm not sure even my first story would have gotten to where it stands today.

I hope to see you all in my next story. God Bless and I'll see you soon.

Pagliacci-11.

Chapter 78

The sun had just barely risen and by the scent of the pastries that were wafting upward into the upper reaches of the house. Odd knew that the dreaded day had come. He knew his parents' usual way to talk about exceedingly difficult topics and in this case, it was the making of his favorite pastry, raspberry crème strudel. A smell he would have ordinarily reveled in made him sick to his stomach and his knees began to quake. No one knew just how badly this horrid secret had loomed over him but now they were truly going to hear all that had transpired and even though Odd knew he wasn't in the wrong, it didn't make this morning any easier.

Gently, extremely gently he eased his way down the steps step by step and as he approached the dimly lit kitchen, his heart and his throat grew tighter and he could barely breath. Every step felt as if his feet were made of fifty pounds of lead. He dreaded this, oh, how he dreaded this as he came into view of the kitchen. His father was standing at the head of the table and he looked at Odd who came into view. Immediately his father made his way over to him and he embraced him tightly.

"Son, I know what happened." He looked at Odd after releasing him from the embrace, "Come, take a walk with me."

They headed out into the forested trail that they used to walk when Odd was younger. It was a trail that Odd knew well in his mind as the trail of confession and revelation where all secrets of the family were often laid bare one by one. After they'd gotten about half a mile from the house, his father led him to a bench which overlooked a large lake that in the summertime would teem with fish. He sat down and Odd sat with him.

"Odd," his father said after a moment, "why didn't you tell us?"

"A couple of reasons." Odd replied, "I didn't think you'd believe me for one, and two how could I possibly admit to something that was so—how could I admit to it? I couldn't. But every day, every month, every year that this happened—" he struggled to find the words but he found that his father said nothing but stared stoically at the lake before them, "I couldn't Dad. I just couldn't." Odd finally said.

His father was silent for a while and after about five minutes he asked, "How long has this been going on?"

"Since I was eight." Odd replied, "It first started when you and mom went on that trip to Bangladesh. Do you remember?"

His father nodded, "So, since then." He sighed and he took out a cigarette and lit it with a zippo. He smoked a drag or two and then he said, "Is the baby yours? She was always cagey about that, is it yours?"

"Yes."

"I see. Alright. Well, the family has been under two major shocks in the last bit here. What we're going to do is send you to live with your aunt and uncle in Brunswick until we have a better handle on this situation." He sighed, "My God, My God."

"I'm sorry, Dad, I—"

"Don't—" his father spoke loudly and then remembered himself, "Don't apologize for something that wasn't your direct doing. I'm just sorry this ever was allowed to happen. So, my granddaughter—" he grimaced horribly and shook his head, "We're going to send you to Brunswick next week. You will be looked after by your aunt and uncle until such time as this is all sorted and your sisters—will be reported to the authorities."

"What about my education, dad? What about my friends?"

"Make your friends aware of what is happening. However, you need to be ready to go soon." He sighed, "What about the others? Did they do anything to you?"

"No, it was just them. But they did it most often when you and mom were gone on your trips out of the country when you were on tour with the company."

His father leaned back against the seat and said, "I'm glad you told us after all this time. Now we have to deal with the fallout."

"What will happen to them, Dad?"

"They will be prosecuted for their crimes to the fullest extent of the law. Your cousin Randolph will see to that. You are to continue your education in the meantime and we want you to go into counseling at the very least." Odd noticed his fathered voice changed, "I'm sorry this happened to you my dear boy." His voice began shaking terribly, "I'm sorry you were made to endure this—" he began to sob, "I'm sorry for everything!"

Odd gently touched his father's shoulder and he put his smaller hands in his, "Dad, it's not your fault or mom's. You can't blame yourselves for what they did." His father continued to cry however and Odd said, "Daddy, don't cry, I can't stand to see you cry!"

Odd couldn't help but feel as if some horrid sledgehammer had belted his father directly in his temple. He screamed internally as to why he'd even brought this up but at the same time, if he hadn't brought it up, then when would he have? Would he have let the horrid act persist and the children continue to be born out of such debase origins?

As he pondered this in his mind, Louis's voice came through his thoughts, "This is regrettable but he equally knows his blame. Despite your words, he knows how he contributed to making the monster that is this entire situation. So, while your sentimentality is appreciated, he knows very well just the level of his culpability in all of this as does your mother."

"What would you have me do?" Odd replied, "I can't comfort him?"

"Of course, you can. I'm just telling you the nuances of the situation in case you're unaware."

"Are all you people just obnoxious pricks?!" Odd screamed mentally.

"Odd, this is a very difficult situation you are in with more than its share of nuances. Now you can argue with me or you can accept the simple truth of what I'm telling you." Louis replied, "It's also why I'm here in the first place."

Odd sighed and said, "Come on, Dad. Let's go home."

Sylvia looked at her command console with its list of executable commands. The high council had given their irrevocable judgement and as such Sylvia knew that she was more ore less compelled to obey their edict. She sighed and leaned back in her chair and as she listened to the gentle of her nearby desk fan, she contemplated all that she'd done and all that had transpired in the last year.

After about five minutes, she typed the following into her console, "Director's Log: Primary Enemy has been reset in accordance with the Interplay. North-Gate trans-dimensional integration deemed inefficient for the native inhabitants both as lifeforms and lifestyle for the time being. Any adjustments would be too drastic even through the spoon-feeding approach of informational integration. All forces excluding Section Sixty-Three are recalled to the home-office for reallocation back into the civilian and military sectors."

Sylvia sent out the message and looked out over the colony and thought, "I guess it wasn't meant to be this go-around. Ah well, we have what we need in place for what really matters. Just because I can't build our empire here and extend its shoots abroad, it doesn't mean we can't be silent partners in the goings on of your world."

Nicolette received the command in the signals station and immediately she called Brynja. After a few rings, she got through to her office machine and said, "The war's over. We're going home."

Jeremy and Aelita were outside preparing for a snowball fight in the backyard of Jeremy's house when suddenly they became aware of a massive gust of wind and then when the wind had settled, they saw a tall young woman standing before them. They were surprised at first as the woman was unlike any they had ever seen before her skin was a very pale whitish grey and her eyes a bright almost spring green. She was tall about six-foot and she looked the two over very carefully.

Aelita spoke first, "Did Sylvia send you?"

The entity looked at her, its green eyes seeming to burrow deep into her and she bowed slightly once. She then spoke, her voice both deep and yet harmonized in the realm of A=flat, "The war is over. Your time of service is at an end. Look for us no more but look so you may remember what has passed between us." She waved her hand and the skin morphed back revealing a pure white face that shined like pearl in the sun. A green light came from the entity's eyes and passed over the two children and afterward, the skin morphed back fitting perfectly over the faceplate. A biting wind surged before the children and when they recovered from it, the entity was gone.

"A flair for the dramatic, huh?" Aelita asked.

"To say the least." Jeremy replied, "So, I guess we tell the others then?"

"Why waste time?" Aelita asked.

Yumi was the first to receive the call and as she listened, she felt a great deal of relief. The war they'd fought for two years was finally over for good. For the first time she felt as if she could truly lie down and sleep without the world threatening to cave in and perhaps for the first time in a long time, get some quality sleep. Ulrich was the next to receive the call and as he listened, he was a bit more skeptical of the news. When Jeremy questioned him why he wasn't more enthusiastic, Ulrich hesitated in his answer at first but then he came out with it.

"Because honestly, Einstein. Something has been going on ever since the massacre at Menagerie Park. Now I don't know what kind of sick game is being played or who's playing it, but there's someone out there with a hankering for killing the scum of the world. Add to that, because I don't think Sylvia ever trusted Odd to act independently, that she has some kind of soldier out there doing the job that Odd himself wanted to do. Until we have an answer from her regarding just what that is, I'm not going to be able to truly rest."

Jeremy replied, "Ulrich, even if she did have one of her agents lingering around, so long as they're not hurting the people overall, what does it matter? If there's someone out there hunting scum of the earth, I'd call it a benefit."

"But, Jeremy, you're not thinking about this clearly. What if these scum are just target practice for her to warm herself up to bigger and stronger targets? I'm sorry, but until we get an answer about what's going on, I'm not going to be tempted to rest just yet. I mean how long was Natasha doing her think when we thought she'd gone back to her world?"

Jeremy sighed, "I'll see if I can get into contact with her. But I take your point. But what makes you think this is Sylvia or Natasha?"

"Because according to my uncle who works the cases, these weapons have never been encountered before. We don't even know if they're using bullets, Jeremy and yet you have countless kids who are showing up in the city morgue looking more akin to soup than people! Something's going on and it's not of this world!"

Jeremy was silent a moment and then he said, "I will try and talk to her. Keep me updated with all of this."

Jeremy looked at Aelita, "Something's up. Remember the massacre we saw before break on the news?"

Aelita nodded and Jeremy continued, "Ulrich thinks it's either Natasha or Sylvia because of the raw amount of carnage that is his words is otherworldly. Is there a way we can get in contact with Sylvia before she's gone?"

Aelita shrugged, "I don't know. I don't think so. I can try and contact Natasha but I don't know what I'd get."

Jeremy sighed, "Alright. Let me call Odd and let him know what's going on."

After Odd had been told what was happening, Odd replied, "Well, I can see reason for Ulrich's skepticism. That said, I don't know what such a thing would mean in the long run. Besides, Einstein, we frankly aren't in much of a position to make Sylvia do anything. If she has said she's going remove her forces, we'd have to trust her to perform that function. However, if she leaves a detachment, we'll keep an ear to the ground and if these attacks keep showing up, we can access her dimension and ask her just what the deal is."

"I'm not too worried about it," Jeremy replied, "but yeah, I see Ulrich's point. If she's going to have some experiment running in the background it would be best to know just what to look out for. That's why we're trying to establish contact with her."

"Let me give it a try, alright?" Odd asked, "I have something of an in—if you can call it that. Maybe I'll get a more direct answer."

Odd clicked his mobile shut and concentrated on trying to get through to Louis, "Louis, I need to speak with Sylvia."

"I know what you're going to ask her so I'll send it along. But from now on, you are going to be treating me with a bit more respect. Here I am slated to help guide you through a tumultuous element of your life and how do you treat me? You yell at me and berate me when I try to explain situations that I feel aren't exactly apparent to you."

Odd remembered and he said, "I'm sorry it's just sometimes a by-the-numbers rundown of a delicate situation is not what's always required, you know? I'm sorry I lost my temper it's just I was dealing with a lot at the time."

"Very well." Louis replied, "I'll send the message along. Stand by for transmission."

Odd lay down on his bed and after a jolt his body drifted into sleep. Soon, he was back in the black room but this time with a sapphire floor with Sylvia standing before him.

"You wish to know what is going on with select actions in your quadrant?" she asked.

"I do. Ulrich has some major concerns about what is going on and we want to be sure if these are your people or possibly your sister's."

Sylvia nodded, "There are nuances at play. We've had people amongst you for quite some time. Since we're uprooting them, that transition takes time. We can't just up and say, 'Oh, come home.' It's not nearly as simple as all that. Teachers have to leave their positions; doctors find replacements for their patients…"

"Are you hunting down youthful criminals, yes or no." Odd replied, "I have a life to get back to, I want to spend as little time here as possible."

Sylvia looked at him with such a gaze that for the first time since he was a child, Odd was truly afraid, frozen in place. "Excuse me?" Sylvia asked, "Did you say you have a life to get back to?"

Odd stammered, "I'm s-s-sorry, l-let me re-re-re. What's h-happening?!"

Sylvia's stoic but terrifying gaze him, "No, Odd, you don't have a life to get back to. You have a life that I gave back to you, you feckless welp!"

Odd, tried speaking but he found he couldn't. The stutter that he thought he'd gotten rid of years ago now was back worse than ever. Sylvia, however, pressed her advantage. She went over to him and she seized him by the neck lifting him to her head height a full four feet off the ground.

"I saved you." She growled, her voice becoming lower by the second, "I saved you and your friends' worthless lives and this is how you talk to me? I show you mercy, AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?!" Her voice was now booming and snarling with every syllable.

Odd was shaking with urine trailing down his leg and gently sprinkling on her feet. Sylvia looked at his display of fear and she looked at him, "Look into my eyes, boy." She said, her voice now very soft.

Odd opened his eyes and to his horror the ice-blue eyes he knew were gone and in their place were pure lavender irises accented with white energy that gave the appearance of burning like fire, "My people will stay until I tell them to come home. What they do is not your concern and in time you will thank me for what I do for you and your people. Now, get out of my sight."

She threw him backward and Odd shot awake, his bed soaked with urine.

An hour later, Jeremy received a call from Odd and to his surprise the call was much shorter than he ever would have anticipated. Once he got off the line, Jeremy turned to Aelita, "Well, she's moving her troops out gradually. Apparently, she's had a lot of people here and to have them come home is an endeavor."

Aelita looked at him, "Odd used those words?"

"Well, he said 'there's a lot involved and Sylvia's not that big on talking right now.'"

Aelita smirked, "Well that's a first. So, how does this tie into what Ulrich has seen?"

"Sylvia said that doesn't concern us and she's tying up some loose ends and that we'll thank her later." Jeremy replied.

"Part of me wonders just how true that is." Aelita replied, "But if that's what she says and she's not keen on talking it's best we do not press the issue. So, what happens now?"

Jeremy sighed, "We return to our lives I suppose. I mean, I don't know what else to say. Do you want to get together with everyone after Yumi comes back? It won't be everyone I guess because Odd's going to Brunswick for a bit but it'll be pretty close."

Aelita nodded, "After Christmas, I think that'll be best."

Jeremy nodded and he sat down on the couch beside her, "It's nice to relax."

Aelita looked at him with slight apprehension and she said, "Jeremy, there's something I've wanted to tell you for a bit but I never found the time."

He looked at her, "What is it?"

She took a small plastic tube from her pocket and pressed it in his hands. Jeremy's heart sank like a stone as he looked at the two small lines.