ToL: Chapter 11

It was dusk time in Radiant Garden, and everyone was now back at the newly built inn that was located around one of the housing districts. Ed immediately rushed to the room he was assigned to as soon as he got to it, much to the worry of everyone else. The group of teens and King Mickey then went to the rest area that was inside the inn.

Mickey made a sigh to them, "Please, you gotta tell me what happened."

Double D and Eddy glanced at each other for a split moment, "How do we even start to explain this freaking mess?" Eddy groaned.

"I-I guess I'll start…" Double D said before making an exasperated sigh, "About three and a half years ago, there were these three sisters that moved in near our neighborhood; they were May, Marie, and Lee Kanker. They were the kind of girls who would always go after and mess with others just for fun, especially the three of us."

"It was beyond annoying," Eddy grumbled a little, crossing his arms in frustration at the memories, "They would NEVER leave us alone, no matter what we did."

"They continued to pursue us for a very long time; that is until two years ago," Double D continued to explain, "It had just finished raining that afternoon, so the ground was still soaked. Ed was around the junkyard at that time when May found him. Of course, he started to run from her, and she would make chase, like always."

He lowered his head at what he was going to say next, "Unfortunately, they both did not realize they were near a cliff that had recently formed in the junkyard; the cliff itself was not a very high one, but high enough for anyone to get hurt if they fell off it. The ground near the top of the cliff started to collapse because of the rain that happened earlier, which made Ed fall to the ground below. As he was falling, Ed cut his right arm very badly when it hit a sharp rock; he still has a scar where he got hurt, and it's always covered up by the jacket he always wears."

Everyone widened their eyes at that, especially Ebony.

"May went to call for help because of what happened, but the damage was already done. All three sisters stayed away from us after that," Double D finished off the story with a sad sigh, "I assume they felt guilty for what happened, even though it was clearly an accident; at least, that's what May was feeling, according to Mar – uh, someone that told me for her."

Eddy made a small glare at Double D for a short moment before masking it away with a sigh, which was immediately noticed by Shayla; it was very clear that he was going to say that Marie told Double D about how her sister felt guilty for what happened.

"They moved away shortly after that, and we haven't seen them at all until today," Double D said, "I can only assume that seeing May again made Ed remember what happened… It seemed he forgot about that part of the accident."

"… They all mentioned Belindra's name, didn't they?" Katrina stated as they turned to her, "He must have found out about the sisters and did something to have control over them."

"Or they could be willingly working alongside him," Eddy growled, "I wouldn't be surprised."

"B-But their eyes were glossed over, Eddy! They were clearly… not themselves…" Double D started to say before Eddy made another harsh glare at him, which immediately made Double D trail off his sentence. Shayla started to make an upset face at what she concluded to herself.

"I-I think I should go check on him now," Ebony stated as she got up from where she sat. She walked off to the room that Ed was staying in.

Shayla also got up from where she sat, "I… I think I-I'll step away f-for a moment too, I'm s-sorry," she stuttered as she quickly ran away.

Double D widened his eyes as she ran, realizing why she left, "Oh dear…" he muttered before he got up to go talk to her.

"Umm, I'm sorry you almost got hurt because of Lee," Eddy started to say to Katrina, "I won't let it happen again, okay?"

"Eddy, it's okay," Katrina stated with a smile before making a determined look, "I know you can't always be there; I just need to do better and work even harder! No more being the damsel in distress!"

King Mickey made a loud sigh about all of this, 'I see now, Belindra must be controlling those sisters through their jealousy.'

Iris was quiet the whole time while everyone talked, she was very confused about all these conflicting emotions she could sense from everyone. It was very overwhelming for her.

Author's Note: The next two scenes take place around the same time… Even if one scene lasts longer than the other one. Oops.

Ebony started to approach Ed's room, knocking on his door before she entered, "… Ed?" she called out to him.

She could see Ed lying down on his bed, facing away from the door with his back turned. Ebony could see that he was holding his right arm as well, around the area where Double D said he had hurt it in the past.

Ebony walked over to him to sit on his bed, "The others told me about the accident that happened between you and that other girl," she said to him.

Ed flinched a little, "I don't know how I forgot that it happened," he replied, "She scared me when she showed up, a-and I didn't know what to do."

Ebony sighed a little as she turned to face him where he lay down, "The others noticed that all their eyes were glossed over; they were being possessed. She's acting like this against her will because of Belindra…"

"I-I get that!" Ed stated with nervousness as he sat up on his bed, "But I don't know if I—"

He suddenly felt Ebony hug him. Ed widened his eyes as he started to blush at her actions.

"Listen, I-I know it's tough, but you need to be brave. We gotta help them!" Ebony started to say, "I want to help and save everyone; including her, and especially you and all of my friends…" She hugged him tighter, a blush also formed on her face, "Because I love you."

Ed could feel a few tears starting to form in his eyes at what she said before hugging her back, he was a bit speechless, not knowing what to say back. They stayed in their hug for a moment before separating.

"I, um… I hope you feel better soon," Ebony said to him with a smile before she got up off his bed, "Please don't be sad, okay?"

Ed remained silent as she walked away to leave his room, his heart was beating faster and his face was still blushing at what happened, "S-She… actually loves me?" He questioned to himself in shock as he placed his right hand over his cheek, "I never thought anyone would ever… Like-like me in that way."

He smiled to himself, thinking about Ebony and how sweet she was about all of this to help cheer him up, "Thanks, Ebony."

Double D went straight to Shayla's room, he had a feeling she went there after she walked away from everyone. He knocked on her door to make sure she was there, "S-Shayla…?"

Shayla said nothing in response, but he knew she was in her room. Double D opened her door to look inside, only to see her sitting on her bed with her back turned away from him. He could see that she had stopped crying a moment ago.

"… Shayla," Double D started to say as he entered the room, closing the door behind him as he did. He sat next to her on her bed, "I-I know what this looks like to you, and I'm sorry you felt this way because of it…"

Shayla stayed silent to him, still looking at the floor in sadness, "… I really am pathetic, aren't I?"

"Huh?"

Shayla wiped away the tears from her eyes as she looked back at him, "I ran away from you before you could explain your side of the story. I'm so sorry."

Double D made a small smile, "It's alright… I don't really blame you."

The two teens sat there for a moment before one of them finally spoke, "Who is Marie? What is she to you?" Shayla asked, "I won't get mad when you tell me, I promise."

Double D sighed a little at her question, "As I said before, the Kanker sisters were the kind of girls who messed with everyone around them, including myself," he started to explain, "A few months before Ed's accident happened, I was desperately trying to find a way to make them stop messing with us, but then I started to wonder why all three of them even cared to mess with us in the first place."

"So, one day, I approached Marie on my own without anyone else knowing. She tried to chase me down, like usual, but I decided not to run away this time. She noticed this and became confused about what I was doing," he continued to explain, "I then asked her why she kept doing this to me, even when this was something I never wanted. Marie told me that she liked me and always wanted to be with me… Of course, her response didn't exactly surprise me."

"I told her I did not feel the same way and forcefully told her to stop… I guess that's when it clicked to her that what she was doing wasn't right. She ran away from me after that…" Double D sighed a little and scratched the back of his head before continuing, "At first, I was happy that she started to leave me alone, but then I started to feel bad when I saw how sad she looked at school one day. So… I decided to talk to Marie again, telling her that I could try to be a genuine friend to her instead of her boyfriend. That way, we could hang out and understand each other, even if it was not in the way she wanted. We became friends at that point, but nothing more than that."

"So… you basically friend-zoned her."

"If that's how you want to put it, yes," Double D replied, "Obviously, Eddy wasn't fond of the idea at all, and Ed was very confused about it; I honestly don't blame them. I'm unsure of what her sisters thought, I never did ask…"

Double D took in a deep breath, "During the times we decided to hang out, I learned a little more about her. Marie was a lot smarter than I thought her to be, especially when it came to machines. She was very skilled at fixing things that were broken; I even saw and helped her fix an abandoned car that she found in the junkyard. It came to life and everything, even when the car didn't have any tires for it to move around on. She told me she wanted to be a mechanic when she graduated high school, so working on cars like that would be good practice for her."

He then lowered his head to look at the floor, "But then Ed's accident happened with May. Marie told me that May felt very guilty about what happened; she also apologized to me as well that all of this happened in the first place, even though we both knew that it was an accident. A few weeks later, Marie suddenly decided to meet up with me after school to tell me that she and her sisters were moving to another town and that the move was happening the next day. I could tell she was upset about the move, so I decided to hang out with her for the rest of that afternoon, trying to cheer her up. I told her I would still be her friend, even when she moved away to another town…"

Double D shook his head a little, "And now, we see each other for the first time in years, but it was not a friendly encounter. It took me by surprise that she was acting like her old self, before the time we decided to become friends… I know it's probably Belindra's doing, but still."

The two teens sat there for a moment in silence, "I'm sorry that I didn't say anything about her to you," Double D stated as he turned to Shayla, "I didn't think it would be that important to bring up because Marie moved away so long ago, along with her sisters… I thought I would never see her again."

She made a small sigh of relief, "I see now…" Shayla muttered a little before making a warm smile to Double D, "You really are too kind for your own good," she reached out for his left hand with her right to hold it tightly, "And I would not have it any other way, so… Thank you for being honest with me."

Double D smiled at her before pulling her into a hug, which she accepted back.

Author's Note: And now the two scenes converge… Even though there's an hour time skip between the last scene and the next scene. Oops again.

It was now an hour later in Radiant Garden, with it being fully nighttime. The stars in the sky twinkled very brightly for everyone in the town to see. At the inn, we could see that there was a place on the rooftop with benches, chairs, and a few tables for people to relax and hang out. It was here that we could see Iris sitting on one of the benches, looking up at the night sky above her.

"The stars at night are still so pretty, even in a different world…" Iris stated to herself with a small smile on her face.

Iris then starts humming a song to herself, a song that her mother used to sing to her all the time. She remembered that the song had lyrics, but she did not want to attract any unwanted attention by singing it aloud, especially at night when people were trying to sleep. Iris soon heard the door that leads to the rooftop open nearby, revealing the Eds and the girls coming outside. All of them started to walk over to her.

"Hey there Iris," Eddy stated, "We were looking all over for you until the king told us you were up here."

Iris blinked at them, "Oh, sorry," she started to say in a quiet voice, "Everyone seemed so tense earlier, so I, umm, came up here to relax…"

"Aww, it's okay!" Ed replied with a toothy smile, "Everything is better now."

"… Really?"

"Yes," Shayla nodded her head, "We're really sorry if we stressed you out."

Iris looked down to the floor, twiddling her thumbs a little in nervousness, "I see…"

Iris felt a hand on her right shoulder, Katrina was trying to comfort her; she sat down next to her right while Eddy sat to her left. Eddy then took something out of his new magic satchel the king gave him; the plastic bag that had the jawbreakers he brought with him from Peach Creek.

"Oh, are we finally going to eat those?" Ebony asked.

"Yeah!" Eddy nodded his head, "I did bring them with me to celebrate arriving at this place, remember?"

"Yes, I remember," Double D chuckled. The other teens came over to Eddy to grab a jawbreaker from him, leaving only three behind.

Eddy handed one of the jawbreakers to Katrina, "Here you go!"

Katrina smiled at him, "Thank you."

He then took the last two jawbreakers out of the bag before handing one of them over to Iris, "I also got one for you too! I didn't want to leave you out of the celebration either."

"H-Huh? Umm…" Iris muttered a little as she held onto the jawbreaker he gave her, "What do I do with it?"

"Uh, well… it's a piece of candy!" Eddy started to explain as he took the jawbreaker he had and put it in his mouth inside his right cheek, "You jush gotta keep schuckin on it like thish! It'll melth on it'sh own lather! Shee?"

Katrina stared a little at Eddy, "I'm pretty sure she didn't understand a word of that because I sure didn't," she held up her jawbreaker to show Iris, "Basically, you put the jawbreaker in your mouth and let it sit in your cheek for a while. It'll melt over time until it's gone… I'm not sure how often we can have a jawbreaker like this, so please savor it, okay?"

Iris glanced down at the piece of candy in her hand for a short moment before putting the jawbreaker in her mouth. She widened her eyes a little at the taste, 'Wow, this candy breaker thing tastes so much different from fish!' she thought as she let the candy rest on her right cheek.

Katrina could see the pure joy and smile on Iris's face as she was eating the piece of candy, 'I'm glad she likes the jawbreaker a lot,' she thought as she put the jawbreaker she had in her mouth, 'Eddy was right when he said she would like it, even if it's just a giant ball of sugar,' she closed her eyes, 'I guess it's just a natural thing for all kids to like candy, even if they've never had it before like Iris.'

Everyone sat around for a while on the rooftop, eating their jawbreakers together until they were all gone. All seven of them continued to sit there for a while, looking up at the stars until Ed made a very loud yawn, "I'm getting sleepy…"

"We should probably go rest for the night," Double D stated to everyone, "Tomorrow will be a busy day."

Four of the seven teens got up from where they sat before noticing that Eddy, Katrina, and Iris did not follow them, "You guys go on ahead," Eddy stated to them, "We, uh, have something to talk about with Iris."

The others looked at each other with a bit of confusion before nodding their heads, and going back inside the inn as they did. Eddy pulled out the letter both he and Katrina wrote to Iris, reading their parts of it to her. Iris looked very happy as they read it, giving them a hug afterward. A few seconds passed by after Iris's hug before Eddy widened his eyes.

"Uh, Katrina?"

"Yes?"

"We never did tell Adam or Olivia about Iris, did we?"

There was an awkward pause between the three of them.

"Shoot, you're right!" Katrina gasped a little, "We kept this a secret to ourselves until we got here, so they don't know!"

"Huh? Who's Adam and Olivia?" Iris asked with a small tilt of her head.

"Oh, they're a couple who helped us out when the other girls and I were taken by Belindra back in our world," Katrina started to explain before glancing down towards the floor of the roof, "Honestly, if it wasn't for them explaining things and for helping the Eds save us, I-I think all of us would be dead."

"… You're right," Eddy sighed in sadness at the statement she made, "We owe them a lot for helping us get this far."

Katrina pulls out her gummi phone to call Adam, "Ooo, what's that thing?" Iris asked as she looked at the phone.

"This is a device that can let us talk to other people that are not near us," Katrina stated with a chuckle, "In this case, this cell phone can help us talk to people in other worlds. They also need to have the same device as well."

Iris blinked a little in confusion before making a smile, "Oh, okay! I think I get it. Maybe?"

Katrina then starts to call Adam, only for him to pick up a few seconds later; his face is seen on the screen along with Olivia, "Oh, hello Katrina!" Adam greeted her with a smile.

"Hey Adam, hey Olivia," Katrina stated, "I realized we never did call you when we arrived earlier this afternoon, sorry about that! How are you two doing?"

"We're doing fine so far," Adam replied, "I've been helping the town by trying to fight any stray Heartless that appear. I also have the help of some policemen as well; you know, after explaining things to them, which was a bit of a pain to do."

Olivia noticed Iris peeking over Katrina's shoulder to look at the gummi phone screen, "Who's your new friend there?" she asked.

Eddy and Katrina stayed silent for a second before saying anything back to them, "Uh… You two might wanna sit down at what we say," Eddy stated.

The two teens start to explain the other part of Eddy's flashback that he kept secret, as well as the feeling they both had when they heard Iris's name; they both knew she was Alex and Irene's daughter. Iris even mistook Eddy as Alex at first when they arrived before being told he was not her actual father. They then explained how Iris got here, according to what Merlin said and Iris's own account of what happened.

Of course, both Adam and Olivia were stunned to hear this after the two teens finished explaining everything, "T-That's… very weird."

"Yeah? Tell us something we DON'T know," Eddy grumbled to Adam with a sigh.

"… I think the big question here is what you three are going to do now?" Olivia asked.

"We both promised we would protect her," Katrina said to them glancing away a little from the phone, "And… A-And once we find everyone AND defeat Belindra, I was thinking of asking the orphanage if she could be my adopted sister in some way."

Iris widened her eyes at what Katrina said, even Eddy was surprised, "Wait, are you serious about that?!"

"Yes," Katrina replied to Eddy, "I'm pretty sure no one is going to believe us when we say she's from 3000 years in the past, so…" she closed her eyes, "So I think it would be best to say she's my little sister instead; she also looks more like me than she does to you, so I think it would work out well for fooling most people."

Adam and Olivia remained a bit silent on the other line for a moment, "… If that's what you want, we can tell them about Iris when we go meet with them tomorrow."

Katrina's face slowly started to become baffled as she opened her eyes back to look at them, "Huh…? Why are you meeting up with the orphanage?"

The two young adults look at each other before replying, "We were planning to visit them tomorrow to do some paperwork, as well as call you about our visit there…" Adam stated before making a smile, "To get your permission to adopt you."

That statement made Katrina drop the gummi phone into her lap, her eyes widened in a stunned realization as she could feel herself starting to tear up, "Y-You gotta be j-joking…" she stuttered, putting her mouth over her hands in shock.

"We're not joking, Katrina," Olivia replied to her, "We also found a house that is very close to Eddy's neighborhood that was just built. We plan to buy it soon and move into it."

Adam chuckled a little, "It was going to have an office for us to do some work in, but I guess that will be Iris's room now."

Eddy could see that Katrina started to tremble at the breaking news; he could tell she was overwhelmed by it. Iris was just confused about all of this; she did not really understand what was going on.

"Katrina, this is awesome!" Eddy said to her with a big smile, "That means you and I can visit each other more often when we go back to Peach Creek!"

Suddenly, Katrina began to hug both Iris and Eddy while crying over Eddy's left shoulder, "I-I can't believe this! I finally have a family…!" she sobbed.

The three sat there for a short moment while Iris and Eddy gave Katrina a hug back. Olivia smiled at them over the gummi phone, "I take it that this is a 'yes' from you, Katrina?"

"Y-Yes!" Katrina replied as she let go of Iris and Eddy to pick the gummi phone back up, wiping away the tears from her eyes as she did.

"That's great to hear," Adam stated before looking at Eddy, "Eddy, please protect our daughters, okay?"

Eddy made a big smile, "Of course I will! I've been doing that the entire time! How did you not notice?!"

"Don't worry, we've noticed," Adam laughed a little to him, "Just continue protecting them and bring everyone else home, including yourselves."

"We will!"

Both Adam and Olivia smiled at them, "Good. You should all go to bed soon, it's late. Goodnight!"

"Night!" Katrina stated with a small wave to them before hanging up the gummi phone.

"… U-Umm…" Eddy and Katrina turned to Iris, "What does adopt mean?" she asked.

They both sighed a little, "We can tell you more about that in the morning," Katrina said to Iris, "We should all tuck in for the night."

Iris nodded her head, "Okay."

Katrina and Iris started to walk towards the door that led to the staircase of the inn with Eddy close behind them. He could only smile at them, 'Huh, who would've thought having a kid like Iris around would make me feel this happy? Then again, maybe that's what Alex is feeling. I wouldn't be surprised.'

He took a deep breath before he went inside the inn with the others.

Author's Note (September 15th, 2023): ... GUYS. GUYS! PAPER MARIO: THE THOUSAND-YEAR DOOR REAMKE IS REAL OH MY FREAKING GOD!

... Anyway, a new chapter is done now! Gotta get back to work on the next one, or another chapter for another story; whichever comes first.