RFY - Chapter 2 - Corrupted
Arriving home later that day, Amelia was greeted by her dog, Hercule. Despite what the name would suggest, he was a small pocket beagle who wouldn't even hurt a fly. She reached down and pet him as his tail wagged furiously from side to side. They had adopted him a little over a year ago.
He wouldn't be joining them on their time traveling adventure today though. Arthur had joked about putting him through a lot of time traveling to make him immortal. Nancy quickly shot down the idea, saying that they take him on a few just for fun later.
Amelia put her school bag down and walked into the kitchen to grab some food. There were some pop tarts out, so she grabbed a packet and began eating. She got on her phone to burn a little time as her parents picked up Johnny. Both kids usually just took the bus, but their parents decided that they would explain some of the things about time travel on the way back home. It would save Amelia a lot of listening to stuff she'd already heard before.
She thought back on the school day that had just transpired. Images of Gura's adorable face filled her head. A small blush began to form on her cheeks. Amelia had been attracted to other girls before, but this was something else. She came to the conclusion that she was very bisexual. Oh boy, Ina was going to mess with her.
The thought to show Gura her time traveling in order to impress her occurred to her. Shaking her head, Amelia dismissed that idea. Her parents had made it very apparent that time travel was a tool, not a toy. The fun trips they went on were learning experiences more than anything. The fun came second, always.
Gura wouldn't even believe her. She hadn't even bothered to tell Ina about it because of the same reason. And that was the best case scenario. Worst case scenario, Gura never talks to her again and Ina thinks she's weird. Well, Ina did think she was weird, with her staying up so late playing games, but that was playful. She didn't want to think about that anymore.
Thankfully, Amelia heard the garage door grind open. Her parents were home and that meant that it was nearly time to go on another time traveling adventure. Her thoughts drifted to where they would go and what they would do. It would most likely be fun and relaxing since it was Johnny's first time…
The garage door opened with a slam and Johnny shot into the living room. He found Amelia standing in the kitchen and was in her face in a flash. This startled her out of her deep thoughts with a slight yelp.
"Amelia, do you know what day it is?" he asked with so much excitement it spread to Amelia, too.
"Yes, we've been looking forward to it for nearly three years," Amelia's smile grew slightly.
"Today is the day!" Johnny began to jump around the room and eventually made his way out into the living room again. Amelia couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm. It wasn't unfounded, though, today was a very exciting and important day.
Arthur and Nancy came in shortly after.
"It seems like he was able to absorb the information better than I was," Amelia said over to them. Her parents looked over at the parading Johnny and sighed.
"Or he completely ignored it. We hoped it's the first one," Nancy said, hanging up her coat. Arthur nodded his agreement. Amelia laughed nervously.
"Amelia come with me, I gotta get a few things," Arthur asked. Amelia followed her dad upstairs.
"We're going to Venice this time," he said to her as he reached into a dresser drawer. He pulled out a bag of coins. They usually took this with them when they went to someplace in Europe around the time of the Roman Empire.
"So we're going back pretty far I assume," Amelia questioned slightly.
"Yes, we're gonna see a nearly total eclipse there," he answered excitedly. Amelia's eyes widened.
"Really?! That sounds so cool!"
"Me and your mom have gone to this place before. We watched it and it's probably the most beautiful scene you could imagine. Also don't tell your brother, it's a surprise for him," her dad held a finger to his lips with a slight smile.
"Sure, your secret is safe with me."
The two of them made their way back downstairs and were greeted by Johnny.
"Are we leaving yet?!" Arthur looked over at his wife and she nodded.
"Looks like we are," he said, bracing himself slightly.
"YAY!" Maybe they shouldn't have told him so far in advance. He really hyped himself up for this. The family of time travelers all gathered in the middle of their living room, holding each other's hands.
"Ready?" Nancy asked for one last time. Johnny nodded furiously and Arthur gave a thumbs up.
"Nice of you to give him a warning on his first trip," Amelia pouted slightly.
"You're still upset about that?" she asked before laughing and hitting the button.
The world melted into a blur and was replaced with the rustic walls and canals of Venice. Johnny immediately ran over to the water's edge and looked down at his reflection.
"This is amazing!" he yelled back to his family.
"One of us needs to be with him at all times," Nancy poked Arthur in the side with her elbow.
"Oh I'm being volunteered?" he said sarcastically as he walked over to Johnny. Amelia laughed a bit.
"So what are we doing mom?" she asked.
"Well, I assume your father told you the surprise," her mom said, slightly hushed since the boys were still nearby.
"Yeah he did, when is that?" The two of them began to walk away from the other two.
"It is in around an hour. The partial eclipse should've started already, but I don't think it's visible yet," Nancy looked and squinted slightly at the sun.
"You're not supposed to do that," Amelia commented.
"I know, but I can't help it. I did bring some eclipse glasses for when it gets closer, though."
"Heh, surprised you managed to remember that," Amelia teased.
"I'm not forgetful, Amelia H. Watson," her mom jokingly chastised. They both laughed and continued to walk in a random direction.
The sky began turning dark a half an hour later, however Johnny didn't notice for another ten minutes. When he did he grabbed his dad and yelled about how there was a solar eclipse. His father smiled at him.
"Happy 14th birthday, Johnny."
The general public around them wasn't as excited. They were mostly startled or down right scared. Most began praying and headed inside. The time travelers laughed at their actions and ignorance.
Nancy and Amelia reconvened with Arthur and Johnny a little while later. The two parents had designated a spot for them to meet up at. It was only a few minutes till the max totality of the eclipse.
"Put these on," Arthur pulled out the set of eclipse glasses he had, handing one to Johnny. He put them on excitedly and looked at the sun. It was a tiny sliver of orange on a black backdrop. They couldn't see anything besides that. Not that they'd want to. Amelia and Nancy put their pairs on, too.
Amelia looked down at her shadow. It had become incredibly sharp over the course of the eclipse. It was kind of freaky how detailed it was. Putting her glasses back on she continued to watch in amazement at the solar phenomenon in the sky.
Until the small sliver of a sun fully disappeared.
"Huh, I thought it was only a partial eclipse," Amelia commented. He took a peak past his glasses and found the cause of the total eclipse.
There was a large purple tentacle raised out of the water. It started to fall onto them.
"EVERYONE RUN!" she screamed in warning. She grabbed Johnny and launched himself and his son to the side. Nancy and Arthur ripped off her glasses and jumped to the side as well. The tentacle narrowly missed them, however they were divided by it.
"What the fuck is that?!" Arthur cursed out loud. It twitched before pushing downwards. The ground cracked under the stress. Suddenly, more tentacles began to pop out of the water.
"Holy shit!" Amelia yelled, trying to move out of the way of them all. She couldn't see her parent's anymore. Johnny stood next to her with a thousand yard stare in his eyes. He was in shock.
"Amelia what's happening?" he asked so quietly.
"I don't know, just *hic* stay behind me."
Something else raised out of the water, but it wasn't a tentacle. It almost looked like a person. The tentacles were all sprouting from behind her back. They pulled themselves into the air and surveyed the area around them. Amelia got a better look at them.
It was a woman or something in the shape of a woman. She wore a purple dress and appeared to have a small pair of wings, although she didn't seem to use them. A gold crown and halo finished her appearance as Amelia could see it right now. The woman suddenly turned and looked at Amelia. The two locked eyes. They were a deep purple, but the whites were black with massive red veins on the edges. A sickly smile crept onto her face.
"We need to leave," Amelia said and began to drag her brother behind her. They both began to run in the opposite direction of whatever the hell that thing was. It scared the shit out of Amelia and it hadn't even done that much.
A purple haze formed in front of the two kids. They both stopped, almost losing their balances in the process. The woman walked out of the haze and it disappeared behind her. The sickly smile was still plastered on her inhuman face.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Amelia asked shakily. She didn't even bother trying to put up a tough front. She knew that would only make her die faster. The woman didn't answer. A tentacle shot out from behind her back and grabbed at them. It was too fast for them to dodge.
It was deflected by somebody who jumped in its path. Arthur rolled along the ground and stopped by his kid's feet. He let out a pained groan.
"Where's your mother?" he asked in a pained voice. Most of his ribs were cracked or broken by that hit. Amelia shook her head. It was all she could do as her voice was stuck in her throat. No words would come out no matter how hard she tried.
"Ooooofff course the paaaaaarents come out to defend theeeeeiiiiiir child," the woman spoke, shattering the silence between them. Arthur stood up and stared a hole through her. Amelia felt her body come back into her control.
"Dad, what *hic* is that thing?" she tried asking.
"That is a Priestess and it wants our time watch," he growled in a low voice.
"Mom has that, doesn't she?"
"She won't leave us and that thing knows it. It's going to try and use us to lure her out."
"I kneeeeeeew I recogniiiiiiized you. You've evaaaaaaaaded me a feeeeeeew times now haven't youuuuuu?" the Priestess asked. Her voice was dripping with darkness. It sounded like she had two voices, one normal and the other way too low for a normal human.
"I see you've got a new Priestess again, Ancient Ones," Arthur stood between her and his kids defensively.
"Youuuuuuu won't be able to uuuuuuuuse those phasing triiiiiiiicks with those kids behiiiiiiind you." Arthur scowled. She was right. They needed to find Nancy and get the fuck out of here.
"NANCY, IF YOU CAN HEAR ME GO TO WHERE WE LAST WATCHED THIS ECLIPSE!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. The Priestess smiled again. "Let's go kids." Amelia, Johnny and Arthur began to run through the streets of Venice with the Priestess on their tail.
"Where is that dad?" Johnny asked.
"You'll see it when we get to it. Just keep running," his dad commanded.
Tentacles and weird purple lightning flew past the three of them as they kept running. Amelia would have collapsed out of exhaustion a while ago if it wasn't for all of the adrenaline in her system. She wasn't the most athletic, but she made a mental vow with herself during that chase to get in shape when this was over.
Arthur turned down one last street when Nancy phased in through a wall in front of them. She was a couple dozen feet ahead. Neither parent slowed down to speak, they kept running towards each other. The Priestess turned the corner, too, and saw the fourth and final member of the family had arrived.
"Nooooow then…" she spoke before firing another bolt of purple lightning straight at Johnny, the furthest back in the line. He felt his back light up with pain and he immediately collapsed to the ground and began to convulse violently.
"Johnny!" Nancy screamed. Amelia stopped in her tracks along with her father.
"Doooon't worryyyyy, that prooooobably waaaaaasn't peeeeeermanent," the priestess said, "buuuuut this wiiiiiiiill be!" A tentacle dropped from above Johnny aimed at his chest.
Amelia watched in terror as the tentacle fell with immense force at her brother. He was going to die. Arthur phased through her and dove for his son. He shoved him out of the way, but was sent skidding into the path of the tentacle by his own momentum.
He was impaled through the right side of his chest.
"Ooooooh myyyyyyy, self-saaaaaacrificial today aaaaare we?"
Nancy passed Amelia in a mad dash, "I'm getting your brother and father." Amelia was helpless to watch as her mom ran towards the danger.
Johnny stopped convulsing, but remained unconscious on the ground. Arthur tried to phase through the tentacle, but wasn't able to focus hard enough to do it. He clawed at the tentacle impaling him.
Nancy ran up to the two of them, phasing through a tentacle in the process and grabbed Johnny. She threw him towards Amelia. Johnny slid along the ground and Amelia dove on top of him, protectively.
Arthur finally successfully phased through the tentacle impaling him and began to crawl towards his kids. Nancy grabbed him and began to drag him. Unless all four of them were touching, they couldn't leave together. The Priestess laughed at them.
"Ahahaha, youuuuuuu think you're geeeeeeeetting awayyyyyy? All you diiiiiiiiid was maaaaaake a niccceeeee target for meeeeee." A bolt of purple lightning flew at the two kids.
Nancy dropped Arthur and leapt into the air with all her strength, successfully intercepting the bolt. It caused her to seize up for a moment and she fell to the ground in a heap. She quickly regained control of her muscles and threw the time watch to Amelia.
Amelia caught the watch and stared at her mom and dying dad. "No…" she said pitifully.
"Leave," her mom told her in a small voice, "we'll find a way out." A tentacle flew at the two kids as the Priestess cackled maniacally.
As the sun reached its dimmest in the sky, Amelia Watson returned back to her present.
"He's lucky to be alive," the doctor, Dr. Park said. Amelia had immediately gotten her brother to the nearest hospital. She had ridden in the ambulance with him for twenty minutes to get here. Her eyes were dry from staring at his pain-contorted face.
"Will he *hic* be ok?" she quietly asked the doctor, taking her eyes away from her brother for one of the few times. The doctor sighed and clamped his hands together tightly.
"We don't know. Right now he's in some kind of coma trying to fight that purple virus," he pointed at the darkening veins on her brother's back and neck. It was where the lightning had hit him. "But Ms. Watson, I must ask this again, where are your parents?"
"I told you already, *hic* they're dead." Amelia felt tears begin to well up in her eyes again. It was amazing that she even had enough tears left to cry at this point. Her eyes were both dry and wet at the same time.
"Well, we'll put out a missing persons report for your parents," Dr. Park said as he got up from his chair, "The police will be here to talk to you in a bit. I recommend cooperating with them as much as possible." He left the room and closed the door gently.
Now Amelia was left alone here with her thoughts and unconscious brother. She knew that the purple virus they were talking about was some kind of corruption that the Priestess had planted in him.
'Doooon't worryyyyy, that prooooobably waaaaaasn't peeeeeermanent,' Amelia remembered those words. Hopefully they were true and not some fucked up lie. Then again, everything about this situation was fucked up. She started to dig around in her pocket.
The time watch sat in her palm. It was a little more banged up than usual. It also had a weird purple glow to it, instead of the normal blue. It was probably corrupted, too. Amelia had no idea what that meant, but she probably couldn't use it now.
Tears fell onto the glass watch face and slid off onto the floor. Even if this thing worked, she wouldn't be able to change what had just happened. All she would do is create a new timeline and end up back here. Sure, she could live in that new reality, but that wasn't right. Living a life in a timeline that wasn't yours. Some kind of messed up isekai anime.
The police eventually asked her to come with them to make a statement. She had to lie to appear sane, saying that she came home to her parents missing and brother in the state he was in now. They couldn't really refute her claims, so she was free to leave after that. She couldn't go home, though. Since her parent's and brother had been taken/injured there it wasn't deemed a safe place for Amelia to rest.
An officer offered to take her to any place she wanted, but she just wanted to go back to the hospital. Her night would be spent next to her unconscious brother. She arrived and collapsed into a chair next to the bed. Sleep began to take hold as her vision became blurry. Horrible, nightmarish dreams were soon to come.
Just as her eyelids fell closed, an unexpected, but welcome visitor walked into the room. Amelia looked up from her hands and tried to see through her blurred vision. The person walked up to her and crouched down in front of her. She could now see the person's face more clearly.
It was Ina. Amelia's eyes instantly opened in surprise. Ina noticed this reaction and backed up a little.
"Hey Ame," she said with care. Everything about this situation was delicate and fragile.
"Hey Ina," the tired girl replied. She checked her watch, "It's nearly eleven at night, shouldn't you go to sleep soon?"
"I heard that something bad happened. I needed to see you." Amelia shifted around slightly, getting a little more comfortable now that she was in conversation. She only now realized that she had completely forgotten her phone.
"They're dead. Both my parents *hic* are dead and Johnny is going to join *hic* them soon." Ina immediately grabbed around Amelia and embraced her in a hug. Amelia hugged back pathetically.
"We're gonna find them. Your brother is going to live," she tried to reassure her friend. Her ignorance only served to heighten Amelia's sadness. "You are here because you need to find them."
"Ina, we can't find them-"
"Not like this you can't." Her retort was quick, as if she already knew what her friend was going to say. "I'm always going to be here for you. Anything you need, just ask." She had pulled away and was staring into Amelia's eyes intently.
Something inside Amelia snapped. She realized that she would never see her parents again. She realized that she would probably never hear her brother again. She realized that her life would never be the same again.
She realized that she needed to change with her world or she would be swallowed up by her emotions.
"I-I don't want to *hic* be here anymore…"
"Then you're coming home with me."
Author's Note: Slight change of plan on the upload schedule. Since I have so much of this written out (50k words) I have decided to just upload them whenever I feel like it. It will most likely be faster than once a week, probably closer to two or three times, so it is a net positive. I want this to catch up to where it is on AO3 and to give anyone who enjoys this something to look forward to.
I couldn't really tag this properly, since the later chapters will be adventurous and "fun", but this is not going to be very happy for a bit. The angst and hurt will be very real for a few chapters. I promise, though, it will be worth it in the end. Can't go up without going down first.
Next Chapter: Amelia's Recovery
Any feedback/criticism is appreciated!