"I'm so looking forward to a nightmare free sleep," Storm grinned as he brushed his fangs.
January squeaked in agreement as she laid on the bed.
Storm spit out his toothpaste and wiped his lips with a nearby towel,
"You could say that again, no tiny clones of me running around or angry voices in my head,"
He crawled into bed and gave January a peck on her head,
"Goodnight Janny, I love you,"
January yawned, snuggled into his right arm, and chirped.
Storm smiled weakly and right away he fell asleep, for the first time in forever he finally felt at peace, or was he? When he opened his eyes, he found himself in the same place where he found the door that led him to his past.
He groaned, "Seriously what now!?"
He felt the ground shake like before and the door appeared, but instead the words on it changed. It said, 'Let your past guide you to your future.'
He sighs in defeat, "Here goes nothing."
Storm found himself in the darkness again only to have it form into his nursery, and everything was where he left it.
"Okay, now what?"
The sound of a crying baby caught his attention, he turned to find his baby self in the crib tiny fists bawled up and cheeks wet with tears. He approached her and gently picked her up.
"Hey, hey it's okay baby me," He soothed.
The baby stopped and looked up at him with glassy eyes and rosy cheeks,
"I'm here, everything's going to be okay,"
The baby only smiled and rested her head on his chest, but then something unexpected happened. The baby turned into snow flurries!
Storm was speechless, "What the fuck?!"
The snow flurries then faded into him, it was weird, but it gave him a positive feeling. He didn't know what to say, or what to do, he could only give a small smile.
"Wow,"
Before he knew it, he found himself in the same living room where his parents berated him for getting rejected from that high IQ school, and where they ripped up his favorite toy. He could feel the hurt already.
He bit his lip nervously, "Okay, where's six-year-old me?"
The sound of crying from upstairs answered his question. He followed it until it led to the door of his nursery, now childhood room. His little self was dressed in the same pink pajamas from before, curled up on the bed hugging the broken stuffed puppy sobbing. He carefully approached the bed and bent down to get a closer look.
He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Hey there, it's okay, it's only a test."
His mini me looked up at him with the same tear-stained face just like his baby self,
"No, it's not! Mommy and Daddy are angry, I let them down!" She sobbed.
Storm felt a large lump form in his throat, and felt frozen tears form, but none less he pushed forward.
"No, you didn't, you did your best and that's all you can do,"
She pulled her head from the pillow and wiped her tears,
"Really?"
He nodded, "Of course."
She leaned over and gave him a hug,
"Thank you."
"Anytime."
Just like that, with a smile, Storm's six-year-old self dissolved into snow flurries and absorbed into him. Storm sighed in relief with a few tears on his face. He finally realized what his final mission was, he took a deep breath and rubbed the frozen tears off his cheeks.
"We've got a long way to go,"
Throughout his mission, Storm traveled through his memories where he met his past selves, ranging from childhood to teen hood to his recent events. He approached his past selves and comforted them, whether it being kind words or a simple hug it put his wombs at ease. When his past selves were happy, they turned to snow flurries and absorbed into him. This continued until he came across something he didn't recognize. He found himself on a red bridge in the snow, on the other side two familiar figures waited for him. It was the little girl in the pink hanbok and his frozen dead self. He felt his stomach knot up with dread, what did they want?
"Hey man, you made it," His frozen self grinned.
"We're glad to see you Storm," The little girl smiled.
He was confused, "Okay, now what?"
"Your final step is crossing this bridge thus accepting your greatest tragedy." She spoke.
Storm felt his heart sink, "So this would mean?"
His frozen self interjected, "Accepting that we're dead and living in Hell."
Storm bit his lip hesitantly, "I don't know,"
"We know it's scary, but to truly be at peace is to fully accept our truth," The little girl said.
"It's not easy but sometimes the truth is never an easy thing to accept, will you really be happy pretending that everything and everyone in Pentagram City is all a part of a coma induced dream?"
He's right, Storm can't keep running from who he truly is, it'll come back to bite him in the frozen ass later, like it hasn't been doing that already.
He chuckled, "I guess I can't argue with that logic."
His frozen self grinned, "Well duh we're the same person."
"Come on, let's face this together," The girl said lending out her hand.
"As one," His frozen self agreed holding out his hand.
As they crossed the red bridge, Storm felt all his doubts and worries melt away. He was ready to embrace his final step. Once on the other side, they all knew what to do next.
"I think we know where this is going," His frozen self said.
The girl nodded, "Indeed."
"Wait, before I turn you guys into snow flurries, what are you? I saw you at Valentino's club and the picture in the album, but you never showed up again until now."
She smiled, "I'm the spirit of what you used to be before you transitioned into who you are now. My pink hanbok is a reminder of your previous femininity and how our parents never wanted to accept us as we are."
"That makes a lot of sense, mom and dad never wanted to accept they had a son." Storm said.
Frozen Storm took his hand, "Who needs them anyway, we have a new family at the Happy Hotel."
The girl took Storm's other hand, "That's right as long as we're there everything will be okay."
Storm smiled, "Okay I think I'm ready now."
"Just breathe," His frozen self said.
Storm closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and relaxed his shoulders. Pretty soon Storm's dead self and his little girl self turned into flurries and absorbed into him. It was the most peaceful thing he'd ever experienced; everything came together in a giant snowball of acceptance and relief. When he opened his eyes, he was greeted by January kneading his left side.
He gave a weak smile, "Good morning to you to."
January chirped happily,
"What time is it?"
He rolled over to the clock that sat on the small drawer, the time red, '9:45am'. He gently sat up and rubbed his silver eyes.
"Guess you're hungry, me too, come on let's get some breakfast."
Storm sluggishly tossed his blankets to the side and headed downstairs while January happily trotted beside him. When he reached the kitchen, everyone was up and waiting for whatever Alastor was cooking.
"Morning snowflake," Angel grinned as he sat on the couch with a relaxed Fat Nuggets on his lap.
"Morning," He greeted.
"How did you sleep?" Charlie asks.
Storm gave a sleepy smile, "Better than ever."
"Aww were you dreaming about me?" Angel joked.
He blushed, "Not exactly, but I did find myself."
"Found yourself?" Husk asks taking a swing of his Irish coffee.
"Why don't we talk about your entertaining problem over a hearty breakfast!?" Alastor suggested.
"Sounds good, what do you think sweetie?" Storm asks.
January responded with a loud chirp, saying she's hungry.
Storm chuckled, "I think that's a yes."
As the snow demon prepared the fur baby's bottle, she gave everyone an ear full about how if she doesn't get her milkies soon, she'll fall over from starvation. Everyone except for Husk and Alastor found it cute.
Husk groaned, "Does that fur ball have an off switch?!"
Alastor grimaced through his smile while he plated the food, "I've eaten demons that didn't complain this much."
Storm picked up his hungry kitty,
"January honey, I've got your milkies,"
Once she heard those words, she stopped crying and gripped the bottle with her paws. A chorus of 'awww's' filled the kitchen.
"Thank Lucifer, now who's ready for a delicious breakfast?" Alastor asks.
"It's not cannibalized shit, is it?" Angel asked.
He laughed, "My dear I wouldn't waste delicious flesh and bones on these peasants."
"Thanks, I think," Angel said.
"Enough talk, let's eat!" Nifty says with a hungry eye.
The breakfast was a cast iron skillet eggs with potatoes, it was filled with peppers and turkey sausage. If that didn't give you a protein boost, what would? As everyone enjoyed their breakfast Storm told them how he 'discovered himself'. He told them how he met his past selves, his dead self, and the little girl in pink and how he embraced all of them. They were intrigued and were happy to know he's no longer a mute zombie, but there's something that doesn't make sense.
"When you talk about this little girl in pink, who is she?" Vaggie asks.
"Is she your sister?" Nifty asks.
Storm felt his throat dry, how was he going to explain this without giving away his trans identity?
"She's a guardian angel who helped me wake up and accept who I am,"
To be fair it wasn't entirely a lie, in a way she was trying to help him, so it wasn't too far off from a guardian angel. He hoped they bought it, and sure enough they did.
"That's great Storm, now that you have your memories back, how do you feel?" Charlie asks.
"As good as I can be, it'll be nice to know I won't be seeing ghosts of my past selves running around trolling me," he says as he cuddles January over his shoulder getting her to burp.
"For some sinners who've just died it's common for them not to remember who they are and seeing their past selves appear to them is a way for their subconscious to wake up and accept their fate," Alastor says.
"Did it happen to you?" Storm asks.
Alastor laughed, "No, no, no, my boy, by the time I arrived I ripped the skin off any demon that dared crossed my path. It was just as fun as the 'Spanish Flu' of 1918, so many cots, so little time!"
Before anyone could respond to Al's grotesque answer, January let out a loud burp to counter it. Everyone turned their heads in slight shock.
"Was that January?" Angel laughed.
"Yep, she loves her milk, just as much as Alastor loves eating flesh," Storm joked.
They laughed, maybe this place isn't so bad after all. Maybe this is a second chance for a better life, a life he never got to have while he was alive. Two weeks later, Storm's settled into the Happy Hotel quite nicely. His groundskeeper job isn't perfect, but the pay is great and having a free place to live and free food to eat is a bargain. He's put some money aside for his top surgery removal, so hopefully he won't have to wear uncomfortable binders for too much longer. As he suspected, he's no longer seeing his past selves show up, which has brought him some much-needed peace. However, he's most grateful for not hearing his parents' voices screaming at him for looking at nudity for a brief second. It was 5'o clock when he was done for the day, he switched the lawn mower off and placed it back in the shed. He sluggishly walked back to the lobby to fill out his timecard that was held in a white and pink binder on the receptionist table.
"That was a lot of grass," He sighed as he plopped down on the couch.
Frozen sweat covered him from head to toe along with some freshly cut grass, he swears he smells like a 'Home Depot'. He should probably take a shower and he will as soon as his arms and legs stop feeling like mush. He flipped through random TV channels until he found a Spanish Imp soap opera.
"Why won't you love me, Alejandro!?" An Imp named Gabriella cried.
"That's a mood," Storm chuckled cuddling Fat Nuggets and January on his sides.
Fat Nuggets oinked as he tapped Storm's wrist,
"I know isn't that a mood?"
January nuzzled her nose into his arm only for her to make a face resembling the flehmen response that animals make when they smell something weird.
He laughed, "You think I smell; am I a stinky boy!?"
He stood up and stretched, "I guess I should clean up, huh?"
They chirped/oinked in response like they were saying 'yes!'
"Your right, I do look gross,"
After a quick shower and a change into a pair of pajamas, he went back to the lobby only to find Angel sitting on the couch petting the piglet and snow leopard cub. He turned to greet him with one of his signature grins.
"Hey snowflake did ya just get out of the shower?"
"Yeah, mowing the lawn made me feel nasty and these guys told me to clean up," He joked taking a seat next to them.
Fat Nuggets and January gave a look like they've been busted.
"Yeah, I'm telling on you," He joked.
Angel giggled, "Did you cuties tell Stormy he stank?"
Fat Nuggets and January gave them sad sorry eyes.
"Aww see they didn't mean it,"
Storm scratched their heads, "It's okay I forgive you."
The spider seductively ran his fingers over the couch edge,
"You know, if you want, I have a big private shower in my room. If you need a little extra help getting clean, I'd be happy to offer my services. I have lots of body washes that could make your skin feel like silk."
Storm once again only responded with a mousy squeak which made the spider laugh,
"Your fun to tease Stormy,"
"Get a room," Husk groaned while cleaning his glasses.
"Gladly," Angel smirked.
Storm laughed, maybe one day he'll find the courage to ask Angel out on a date and just maybe, they won't feel so different from each other after all.
THE END: it's done! After 2 years it's finally done! I really hope you enjoyed Storm's journey as I did writing it, thank you so much for sticking with me and have a wonderful day wherever you are.