TUoC: Chapter 5

Double D could once again see himself in dark surroundings. He could tell he was having another dream, "Oh dear, not again…"

His surroundings started to change into a scene. He could once again see his younger self, he still had messy, light blond hair and did not have his beanie yet to cover the scar on his forehead. He was also wearing a pair of long gloves. He was hanging around with two kids who were the same age as him, but several months younger; the red-haired twins were playing with some toys near him while he read a book in his hands, sitting on the only bed in the room. The room they were in looked very barren and gray; it was the same room from the last dream he could remember.

Double D widened his eyes, he quickly realized who the other kids were, "T-That's…"

"Hey, big brother!"

"Hmm?" the blond-haired boy hummed as he looked up from the book in his hands to see the red-haired twins beside him.

"What big book are you reading today?" the red-haired boy asked.

"Oh, I'm reading a book about space!" the blond-haired boy explained with a gaped smile to them, "It's really neat!"

"Whoa, a book about space?!" the red-haired girl gasped with excitement, "Are there any pictures in it?!"

"Yes, there's a lot of pictures!" the blond-haired boy replied as the twins sat next to him on both sides to see the images in the book. They all sat there, looking, and reading the book in his hands.

"H-How… How this this possible?!" Double D asked himself out loud in disbelief as he watched the scene unfold with the three children, "That's Serena and Matthew!"

"Ooo, this image with the full moon and all the stars is really pretty!" the girl awed in amazement, "There's so many stars in the sky!"

"… I wish we could see them, along with everything else on the outside," the red-haired boy stated with a sad sigh, "Books are cool, but I wanna see these things for real!"

"So do I," the blond-haired boy stated, "Maybe when we become older, we can finally leave…"

"B-But… Would mother and father even allow that?" the red-haired boy asked in fright, "Won't they get angry?"

"They have to let us leave at some point, Matt!" the girl replied with a bit of anger, "We've been working non-stop on mastering these powers they've been giving us! Then this pain will finally be over once we can leave!"

The blond-haired boy remained silent at what they said, glancing at his right hand with his gloves over it.

"O-Oh… Sorry Edward," stated Matt in sadness, "We forgot that they called you a failure because of…"

"I-It's okay," Edward replied with a sigh, "They did say they would keep me around so I can take care of you two… I'm not completely useless."

"B-But you're our big brother!" the girl started to say as she hugged him around his waist, making sure to not touch his skin, "You're not useless to us!"

Edward smiled at her, "I know, Rini."

The three kids then could hear the locked door to the room open, revealing the two scientists Double D saw the other day in his dream; it was then that he realized something shocking. The twins looked a lot like the scientists; they were their mother and father.

"Alright kids, playtime is over for now," the father stated to the kids.

"Aww… But I wanted to read more of this space book!" Rini whined a bit as she and Matt got up from where they sat on the bed.

"You can always come back and read it later," the father stated to the two kids, "We need to do your weekly checkups now; to make sure your powers are still active."

Matt trembled a little at that, "B-But I don't like those needles you use…"

"It'll be okay, Matt!" Rini chimed in with a smile as the two of them and their father walked away and out of the room, "The pain doesn't last that long anyway."

The mother turned to Edward with a small glare as he sat down the book he held, "I assume they've been behaving like good children, right Edward?"

"Y-Yes Mrs. Bishop," Edward stuttered as he lowered his head, gripping onto the side of his bed in fear for a moment.

"Good," she replied, "You know, the ONLY reason we kept you around was for you to help raise our children, even when your powers never developed correctly," the mother then turned around to leave the room, "You should always be grateful to us for taking you in, you little failure."

She then closed the door and locked it behind her, leaving Edward behind in the room. He could feel himself starting to tear up, lying down on the bed he was sitting on and taking off his gloves to look at his hands.

"Why… Why did I have to be the failure?" Edward stated to himself in sadness, sobbing a bit more as he did.

Double D tried to reach out to his past self from where he stood but could feel himself starting to wake up from the dream.


Double D screamed as he woke up in a panic, covering his mouth with his right hand in shock as he did. His heart was beating out of his chest from the dream he had.

'I-I don't believe it…' he thought, 'Are… A-Are these dreams I've been having the memories I forgot about for ALL these years?!'

Double D gripped his chest with his left hand, trying to calm himself down. He looked at the clock on his nightstand; it was now 6:25 a.m.

"I-I have to tell Mr. Layton about this!" Double D gasped as he rushed out of his bed and downstairs to his house phone.

He picked up his phone and dialed Layton's cell phone number, hoping that he was awake this early in the morning. It only took a few seconds for him to answer, "Good morning, Eddward," Layton started to say, it seemed like he was already fully awake, "Is there some—"

"M-Mr. Layton! I-I think I remembered something important!" Double D said to him in a bit of a hushed tone.

He then started to explain the dream he had last night, as well as the dream he had had the other day about his parents.

"I didn't know what to make of the first dream, but now I'm positive these dreams are some of my memories that I've forgotten about!"

Layton was silent for a second on the other end before replying, "It could be very possible that your dreams are indeed memories."

"Do you think I can text you more about it on Jennifer's cell phone?" Double D asked, "Having it written out could be more helpful than my comments over the phone. I'll be meeting up with my friends soon, so I can do it then."

"That's a wonderful idea, thank you," Layton stated to him, "I also need to come over tomorrow to give you all the devices that could help us track down the missing teenagers, but the devices haven't arrived yet."

"Really? What are these devices?"

"They are tracking devices for all ten of you that are disguised as lapel pins," Layton explained, "While we do not want anything bad to happen to any of you; if any of you do go missing, we can track you down when you have the pins on you."

"I see," Double D stated, "Also, I'm sorry I called you so early in the morning… I-I was in a panic."

"It's not a problem, my boy," Layton replied, "I will contact you or Jennifer later, alright?"

"O-Okay, thank you so much, Mr. Layton," Double D stated as they both hung up their phones.

Double D could feel himself start to tremble a little, "I need to get to Jennifer's house soon to text Mr. Layton what he needs to know…" he stated to himself before taking a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.


Meanwhile, in an unknown location, we could see two adults in a gray room of some kind; a cell that only had one bed in it. Both adults looked like they were in a lot of physical pain; cuts and bruises could be seen all over them and the clothes they were wearing. They were both lying down on the bed until they heard the door of their room being opened from the other side. The two scientists from before came into the room.

"Well, well, well. Seems like you two are still hanging on," stated the red-haired man, "You FBI agents really are made of some tougher stuff."

The two adults could only glare at the scientists, saying nothing to them.

"I can also see you're still too stubborn to talk about where our children ran away to," the man continued to say before turning to the red-haired woman next to him, "Maybe we should break the news to them."

"Oh, I'm sure they would love this," the woman stated before making a sinister smirk at the two adults, "Last week, we found the test subject you stole from us all those years ago. He lives here in this town."

The two agents widened their eyes at what she said, "You're bluffing," growled the brown-haired man with glasses.

"Why would we lie about that?" the red-haired woman grinned, "It's only a matter of time before we locate both him and our children again. We reworked the drug we gave him in the past to be more stable, so all we need is to get him back here to test if it works, then he will finally be useful…"

"D-Don't you DARE hurt our son!" the black-haired woman yelled to the two scientists as she tried to get up to approach them, but collapsed to the floor before she could; she was physically too weak to even walk.

The two scientists only laughed at her, "Your son, you say? His REAL mother died giving birth to that failure!" the red-haired woman stated with a bit of bitterness, "Erica was such a great assistant to us; it's a shame she died."

The brown-haired man went over to his wife to help her back up on the bed, "Is that all you've come here to do? To taunt us?" he asked.

"Not at all," the red-haired man replied, "We came to see if you two had died yet from being in this cell. This used to be Edward's room, you know. We thought it would be fitting for you to die in the room you met him in. Either way, he'll be needing his room again once he arrives back here."

The two scientists then walked out of the room and closed the door behind them, locking it as they did. The black-haired woman started to sob, "Aiden… Eddward and the twins will be okay, right?" she asked.

Aiden stayed silent to her for a moment, "Wendy, I could tell he wasn't bluffing, he was telling the truth," He stated with sadness as he hugged his wife to comfort her, "But… I have hope that the twins found the police and gave that letter to them. That's all we can do for now is to sit and wait; and be hopeful."


About an hour passed by in the Cul-De-Sac. We could see Double D leaving his house and locking his door behind him; he had to get to Jennifer's house as soon as he could before everyone else. He started to run towards her house, also hoping he would not attract any attention from anyone else.

Unfortunately, he was spotted, but not by any of his neighbors. The small drone he saw last week was hovering over the neighborhood; its sights set on him…

Before he got to Jennifer's front lawn, Double D pulled out the cleaning gloves he wore yesterday and put them on. Double D went up to her front door to ring the doorbell.

It only took a moment for Jennifer to answer her door, "Eddward?" Jennifer questioned in surprise, "W-Why are you here so early in the morning?"

"Umm, I-I need to use your cell phone to text Mr. Layton some very important information," Double D started to say as he walked into her living room, "I can explain why later, I promise."

Jennifer looked at him with confusion before nodding her head, "O-Okay."

Jennifer took her cell phone out of her pocket and handed it to Double D as he went to sit down on her couch. He started to text Layton as Jennifer decided to sit next to him, she could see that something serious was going on by how much Double D's hands were trembling while he was texting his message. She also noticed he was still wearing the gloves from yesterday.

It took him quite a while to finish typing all his messages to Layton. Double D made a sigh after he sent them, 'I hope this will be useful,' he thought.

Double D handed Jennifer's cell phone back to her, "Sorry about the early visit and sudden request," he started to say, "The messages I sent him could help out the police in finding everyone that's gone missing."

Jennifer widened her eyes in surprise, "Really?" she gasped, "What did you find out that could be helpful to them?"

Double D stayed a bit silent to her question before replying, "I-I'm still a bit unsure about all the details, but… I think I used to live in the same place that Serena and Matthew escaped from. I was there with them for a very long time."

He then started to explain to Jennifer about the two dreams he had, telling her that these could be memories that he had forgotten about over time. Jennifer was shocked to hear what he was saying to her.

"I still don't know what most of this means, honestly," Double D stated with a sad sigh, glancing down at his right hand, "But, judging by what I could remember, those two scientists must have done something to all three of us."

"… Does that include giving you your ice powers?"

Double D widened his eyes as he turned to Jennifer, "H-How did—"

"Serena told me she healed Ed yesterday, and that Matthew has some sort of firepower he could do," Jennifer explained, "They also have those scars on their hands, and… Those scars look like the one you have covered up," she turned towards him a little, "And I could see the rain was starting to freeze on your skin yesterday during the storm. So… I just assumed."

The two teens sat there for a short moment, not really knowing what to do or say.

"I don't know how or why this unstable power came back to me after all these years," Double D stated to Jennifer, "It terrifies me that I could hurt someone by accident if I physically touch them; even my younger self was wearing gloves…"

Jennifer looked at him in sadness, "I wish there was something I could do, but I don't know if I can do anything to help you…"

"I-It's alright, Jennifer," Double D replied to her with a reassuring smile, "Just being near you is enough to help me feel better."

Jennifer stared at him for a short moment before realizing how fast her heart was beating in her chest, "U-Uh, umm… umm…"

"Hmm?"

"I-I need to go upstairs for a second!" Jennifer blurted out suddenly as she got up from where she sat, "I'm sorry, Double D."

Jennifer went up the stairs to her room, leaving behind Double D in her living room, who seemed a little baffled at how she was acting.

"That was very weird…" Double D stated aloud before realizing something, "S-She didn't call me Eddward this time."

Double D could feel himself starting to blush a little at what he was thinking before making a sigh, 'You need to let those feelings for her go,' he thought to himself, shaking his head from side to side before making a bit of a sad face, 'She didn't understand what happened last time… So, you should just keep being her friend. Nothing more than that.'

Meanwhile, Jennifer had to dash to her room for a moment, closing the door behind her as she did. She was trying to calm herself down, her heart was beating faster and faster.

"What's happening to me?" Jennifer questioned herself in a panic. She cupped her right hand to her face, only to feel how warm her cheeks were; she was blushing. That's when she finally started to realize, "Do I have f-feelings for him?"

Jennifer clutched her chest at the thought, slowly realizing that she had felt this way the entire time, "How did I not notice this?! It's so obvious! A-And yet…"

She took in a deep breath before her heart finally started to calm down, "What should I do? Should I tell him? Or do I keep this to myself? I don't know…"

Jennifer looked towards the wooden flower that was on her desk, the one Double D made for her birthday. She began to understand when she started to feel this way; when she learned he was the one who made the wooden replica of the Elpis Bloom for her.

"Maybe I should ask Zoey or Marie about what to do. I'm so clueless…" she sighed.


About thirty minutes passed by before everyone else came over to Jennifer's house for the day, even Kevin and Nazz decided to hang out. Everyone was mostly hanging out in the living room, with Ed and Serena already playing a game on the Nintendo Switch.

Jennifer was still upstairs in her room for the time being, which made everyone else confused, "Is Jenna feeling sick?" Eddy asked.

"I'm not sure…" was Double D's reply, "She seemed okay when I arrived here earlier."

Nazz stared at Double D, noticing that he sounded a bit saddened; he was hiding something.

"… Maybe some of us should check on her," Nazz stated as she turned to Zoey and Marie, "Can you come with me to talk to her?"

Both Zoey and Marie blinked a little before nodding their heads, following Nazz upstairs to Jennifer's room. The others in the living room were a bit confused by that.

The three girls went up to Jennifer's room to knock on her door, "Jennifer?"

It took a few seconds for Jennifer to open her door. She did not say anything to them, only sighing at them a little.

"Is there something wrong?" Marie asked.

"I-I…" Jennifer started to mutter in a very low voice, twiddling her thumbs a little, "I don't know."

"Well, maybe talking about it will help," Zoey stated as Jennifer let the girls into her room, closing the door behind them as they did.

The three girls noticed she had set the wooden flower on her bed, it looked like she was holding it for a while until they arrived.

Nazz looked back to Jennifer, who went to sit down on her bed, "Did something happen between you and Double D?"

"N-No, not really…" Jennifer started to say as she grabbed the wooden flower to look at it again, "I wanted some time alone, s-so I could think about something that I just realized…" She then looked back at them as a blush started to form across her face, "I don't know what to do about this. Do I really like him… l-like that?"

Nazz made a small sigh, "That's what I thought," she stated before sitting down next to Jennifer on her bed, "Listen, Double D also feels the same way to you."

"H-Huh…?" Jennifer questioned nervously, "He does?"

"Yeah," Nazz replied, "He's mentioned it to us a few times. He was also uncertain about what to do or how to tell you about it."

Jennifer stayed silent about what she said.

"You know, his birthday is actually coming up in a few days," Marie stated with a sly smirk, "We should try to plan something for you two to do! Then you can tell him!"

Jennifer widened her eyes, "B-But—"

"No buts about it!" Marie interjected, "We can all help you out!"

"Um… okay?" Jennifer nodded her head with a nervous smile, "Maybe we could."

"That's the spirit!" Zoey cheered with a smile to her, "Let's make it a big surprise for him, okay?"

Jennifer got up from her bed to put the wooden flower back on her desk, "I'm sorry about that. Let's go see everyone downstairs."

The four girls left Jennifer's room to go back downstairs. As Zoey went down the final steps of the staircase, she started to hold her right hand to her ear, trying to cover it; she could hear a very loud and annoying high-pitched sound coming from outside before it quickly went away. The sound she heard hurt her head a lot, almost giving her an instant headache.

'T-The hell was that noise?' Zoey thought to herself, shaking her head from side to side. She also noticed that no one else seemed to hear the noise she heard, judging by how everyone was currently acting, 'That was weird…'

Zoey made a small sigh before going over to the others to hang out for the day.


Author's Notes (September 17th, 2023): Oh hey! A new chapter for this is done! I'll continue to work hard on this story in particular before the other two stories. Mainly because "Triad of Light" is going to be a very long story, and the Sailor Moon crossover might also be long, but I'm not sure yet.

Chapter 5's Song Title: "Close in the Distance" - Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker