The Princess and the space cowboy Chapter 89: Family (part 1), a loud house fanfic

Chapter 89: Family (Part 1).

Into the story:

"The climb down the steep volcano was not an easy task, even after achieving the gift of patience, the duke and the witch were still being brought down by the haunting creatures of fire from time to time, but with the combined efforts of magic and strength, the pair was ultimately able to escape the treacherous area.

Now, a bigger task awaited, as the long path towards the city of Aesir, their home, had begun, now without any help from the royal ruler's servants. Triton looked at his morphed companion, and a simple nod from DeLola gave the signal to walk their way back home.

The road was long, aided by only a few spiritual voices acquired through the witch's channeling abilities and willing to help only in account of the duke's funds, the couple was virtually alone, going through dry deserts, cold waves of icy winds, vast and deep oceans, thorny forests, dark caves and wavy infernos, the pair's determination was being put at test, for not only their physical fortitude was reaching it's limits, but also their mental strength.

DeLola kept focusing on their road ahead, with her sixth sense guiding their way towards the aura of the trusted people that live in the city, but without finding the presence of the last diamond, likewise, the radar in Triton's equipment had proven useless, their path was uncertain, enemies were not unheard to roam freely in their destination, potentially forcing their separation, and allies were scarce, as the duke had turned ruthless and his power was contested.

But even then, they knew of only one way to fix the shine and luster of the corrupted stones they carried, which would be required to complete their quest, Triton had spoken to them in the past, but the figures were still of ambiguous alliance, 11 caped sages drenched in dark and mystery were known to reside in the most ancient building located at the epicenter of the city; these figures were known from ancient times, countless of myths of legends foretelling of their unmatched ability to purify even the most corrupted of souls.

Perhaps the key to purify the diamonds resided on them alone.

- Triton, we're about to reach the city - DeLola, exhausted and hungry, announced to her companion, as the mist from the valley of death that they had just crossed was starting to dissipate.

- Indeed, my dear sorceress, I can feel it too, we have to be careful - Triton solemnly responded, energized by the revelation.

- Very well, my love, then we shall do as promised - The ex-princess stated, as she shifted her attention towards the ex-knight.

- Understood, if we are to enter the city again, we shall do it as a couple of equals, no longer shall I act for your protection alone, as my safety is necessary as well, you have grown to be a very strong woman, DeLola, and it's a mutual duty to take care of each other's backs - Triton followed seriously, as he pondered the extent of said oath, not without wincing at the inherent conflict it brings when contrasted to his own nature as a protective warrior.

Regardless, all doubts are out of the window, as the witch and the duke held each other's hands, morphed into commoners to hide their identities, and re-entered the city.

Now, as they roamed through the wide alleys, brimming with commerce and familiar people, their first decision as part of the new oath took place, and without a lead to begin their search, the pair broke the handholding, and split to different directions to look for clues.

Not soon after, the duke was met with a suspicious looking figure with a black cape, a very tall, apparently muscular being with a visible set of green antennae at the top of it's presumed head, according to the previous description of the ancient sages that he had managed to recollect in his extensive library of myths, the figure matched the presentation of the sought after beings of wisdom, he quickly made a rush to take a hold of the creature, but the creature reacted faster than he thought, as it quickly dissipated on thin air.

The duke failed to find it again, but he was certain he had encountered one of the sages.

Having given up on his search, the ex-cowboy continued walking aimlessly through the city, until he crossed roads with someone he had long ago dismissed as lost, as looking for groceries in one of the stands, he was able to witness the withdrawn and eroded armor that could only belong to someone with a similar rank as his.

He quickly caught up and stood face to face with lost sergeant Cloud McStrife.

- My lost companion, it is truly a blessing to have finally found you - Triton said with relief.

- Likewise, renegade convict from the space federation, I, as the new captain in charge of the mission, should probably have you detained for treason, but I will have mercy - McStrife said with seriousness.

- And I will assume my responsibility when the time comes, but for now, it would be a honor to have your assistance one last time - Triton said with equal rigor.

- What is it that you would require my assistance for, Triton? - The new captain said with heavy suspicion.

- In my possession I have, the most powerful treasure of this planet, capable of granting one's most profound wish, but it is corrupted and incomplete, I am looking to meet the sages of legend, capable of restoring the legendary Chaos Diamonds - Triton replied with haste.

- Then a clue to fix them I have not, but rest assured, I may have a lead to find the people you are looking for - McStrife said with confidence, as the two embarked on a new direction, to the center of the city.

Meanwhile, the witch, on a similar scavenge, was faced with a creature in similar dressing to the one the duke had found, but this one was smaller, and whenever it walked, it did so by jumping, DeLola decided to quietly follow it, as it continued it's way to the center of the city.

A few minutes passed, and the witch had successfully tracked the end location that the hidden creature was looking for:

A well, located right in the middle of the main plaza, at clear sight for everybody, a most obvious looking place, yet nobody seemed to approach it, for it appeared to be a very old looking well that had been dried up due to time, and, as if hidden through the sheer indifference to the people around it, the capped creature simply jumped to the bottom of it.

DeLola, amused at the sight, simply approached the old looking well, and looked down to the dark abyss, but no apparent sight of anything was catching her attention.

Then, as if it was a play by destiny, she saw how Triton, along side long-lost sergeant Cloud McStrife, approached the well.

- My beautiful enchantress, it seems we had the same clue, pray to tell how did you get here? - Triton said.

- My love, I followed one of the sages, and it led me here - The witch stated plainly.

- How curious, I had also tracked one, but mine escaped - Triton admired with shame.

- It matters not, for we are now in front of the right place - DeLola comforted him, while holding his hand again.

And with a quick farewell to the new captain in command of the space federation, DeLola and Triton jumped to the abyss"

Back in the real world.

- So… this is what you have been doing behind our backs all this time? - Lori, the last sister to read the book, questioned with a raised eyebrow.

- Yes, this is our secret - Lola stated with no retaliation whatsoever, as she was sitting in front of the chimney of their old home, while holding the hand of her boyfriend, Lincoln Loud, who was sitting adjacent to her in another seat.

The remaining members of the family, as well as Clyde, were all arranged to the side of Lori in orderly fashion, with her sitting to the far right, close to the entrance door, and Lily, the youngest, sitting to the far left, close to the stairs; a few scattered balloons and ribbons could be seen on the corners of the living room, as per the intended arrangement an initial celebration to the twins's return, Lola, however, was all too keen to ask them to move the furniture to the side in order to set a few chairs, parallel to each other, as she dealt with dismissal to the elephant of the room, regarding Lana's pregancy, and awaited for the entrance of the "unexpected guests", bracing for the worst.

Now, it was all about the current predicament, the pieces had been arranged, and mostly everyone was here. To Lori's left, was Leni, which was quietly shaking at the intensity of the situation, placing a look of fear in her brother, who tried his hardest to ignore it, then was Luna, who had apparently allowed her hair to grow longer again while dressing in hard punk inspired clothing with chains and spikes, and couldn't avoid glaring at the "couple" in front of her with her arms folded, then Luan, who had been silent through the whole encounter, dressing in black and white, like a mime.

At the very center, was Rita, apparently entering obesity, with an entangled hair and heavy eye bags, she had a serious look, but didn't seem to focus her sight on anything.

Then to the left, was Lucy, then Lana and Clyde, who was apparently sitting by her side while holding her hand and avoiding the harsh stares that the others would throw every once in a while, as well as Lana's own discomfort to the situation.

Finally, at the end, was Lisa, stoic as always, casually drinking a Flippee, with Todd by her side, holding Lola's recently used taser gun while scanning the environment with red LEDs for eyes, then Lily, who played with her feet awkwardly while hugging "Lil' Bun Bun", as she had renamed the plushie, intensely.

The scientist began the speech.

- Very well family, in light of the re-introductory incident that just occurred, I will once again make a clear warning for everyone involved, sudden acts of violence will not be tolerated, Todd has been reprogrammed to fire the taser gun at anyone attempting to inflict physical aggression towards our siblings, is that part of the explanation abundantly clear? Luna? Lori? - Lisa re-adjusted her glasses while glaring at the rocker and the lawyer, the former of which still had some smoke coming out of her hair.

- Yeah dude, point taken - Luna admitted begrudgingly while looking to the side.

- In that case, I will now allow the introductory speech to our brother and sister, you may speak now - Lisa announced with a stoic expression.

- Thanks Lisa, and thanks Todd, but I don't want to see Luna being hurt like that again, let's calm down guys - Lincoln spoke next, trying to chill the environment.

- Negative brother, I calculated the appropriate amount of electricity to provide a strong incentive to avoid unnecessary violence - Lisa answered, not backing down - It was after all, following Lola's contingency plan, which I fully agree with.

- Go Lincoln! Go Lincoln! - Todd attempted to cheer up the situation on his own accord.

- Ugh, not now Todd - Lincoln and Lisa spoke simultaneously, making the confused robot stop it's cheering attempts.

- Anyway - Lincoln took a deep breath as he initiated the difficult task - Mom, everyone, I'm… back - He took another breath to gather the courage - and I… missed you guys, a lot, I want nothing more than to move on from all of this and be there for you as a good brother and son - He admitted, before taking an even longer breath - …but, let's leave a few things clear, yes, Lola and I are together, we love each other romantically, she's my girlfriend, and if it was up to me, we would be more than that, she's the life of my eyes, and I'm honestly screwed trying to find a woman that I'll love half as much - He stated with a serious look - I know that sounded gross to most of you, and some of you may not care for anything I have to say, we've been through a lot, and I can't in full honesty defend the things we have done in the past, we've been the main witnesses to how everything went sour after we decided to act on those feelings, we, more than anyone else, know how this type of relationship is wrong and unacceptable, and in all honesty, I wish Luna had actually been able to hit me, I deserved that and way more - the albino lowered his eyes with shame - it's not been a happy road for us, and it's even worse knowing the things that have happened to all you guys because of this, but I just hope some of you can actually understand how… irrational, love can be - He centered his eyes, specifically on Lori and Luna - And I'm not just talking about romantic love, by the way - the man continued, now with a small grin - Mom, girls, I'm sorry, I know I came in uninvited, but I promise there are no more tricks, I'm going to be present here to the bitter end, I will not try to dissuade anyone here to change their minds, for once, this isn't about the "master of convincing" trying to get everyone on his side, I have no arguments to defend my relationship with Lola, nor am I looking to make you "understand" why we're together, but… - Lincoln swallowed some spit, then turned to his partner - Sunshine, your turn -

- I will not be as apologetic as Lincoln - Lola stated with full confidence - I love him, I just do, I'm tired of hiding it, I know what I like, too bad it had to be my brother, but I will rather die alone than to go with some hot male supermodel or whatever and pretend to be his trophy-wife till I grow to be a nasty old hag - She spoke with pride - I've had quite enough time for self-pity, thank you, ask my therapist if you want more information, you're welcome to approach her - She dismissed with slight anger - But… it's a real damn shame, that I also love my family - She admitted with slight sorrow - And I can't ignore that both sides in me will forever be at war until I do something about it -the blonde continued with a narrow look - So here's the deal, your turn Lisa - She directed her attention to the genius child.

- Appreciated Lola, happy birthday, by the way, I'll handle it from here - Lisa spoke calmly, getting a few weird looks from the other sisters - This here - she said while suddenly pulling a device from her lab coat - Is a device specifically created to register a simple binary imput, which we'll interpret as a "Yes" or "No" command, as you may all perceive, it's quite the simple algorithm, the green button on the top of this controller simply means "Yes", while the red one at the bottom means "No" - She said while pointing at the buttons of the simple controller - Now, If you may please redirect your attention at the TV, you'll see that there's currently a screen with two counters currently set at "0", the left one will register the positive responses, while the right one will register the negative responses - she explained with unnecessary amount of detail.

- Thanks Lis - Lola replied warmly, silencing the technical sister - so, yeah, it's time to vote guys, democracy seems to be used for the most important decisions, we figured that for something like this, it's the only way to allow everyone to speak their minds fairly - she said with slight trembling.

- so… what do we vote for? - Lori made the obvious question for the people in the meeting.

- Let's start with a question: Should we stay together? - Lincoln clarified for the people In the room - If "Yes", wins, then we'll be back, we'll make our biggest effort to be good siblings, we'll do everything in our power to make things right with you guys, no more lies, no more fights, no more indifference, in an as long as you can understand that Lola and I stay together - He said while gripping his lover's hand harder and looking at her lovingly, making the teenager blush wildly - But - He returned to a more somber demeanor - If "No" wins, I'll leave, I'll find another way of living somewhere in Europe, and I'll try to make an effort to find another woman for myself, if that Is the case, maybe, if you're fine with it, I'll try to come back and be a better brother to everyone, but I make no promises, I hope you understand that I just can't bring myself to see Lola everyday and pretend that these feelings do not exist, knowing that I can't be with her - He said with a lower mood - Of course, Lola will live here again, and she'll try her best to be there for you guys, we promise no more romantic references, and we'll burn the notebook to ashes -

- And who gets to vote? - Luna commented with curiosity.

- Ideally, all of us, except for Lincoln and Lola, obviously - Lisa responded calmly.

- Wait, even Clyde? How is that fair? - Lori complained next.

- Sorry, don't mind me, it is a family decision, I'm just here to give support to my… girlfriend Lana here, hehe - Clyde clarified while awkwardly holding Lana's hand -

- I knew that weirdo had a thing for girls outside his age range - Lori commented while glaring at the ebony man -

- I'm perceiving hostility, Lisa, shall I give Lori a shock? - Todd commented as per its programming.

- It's okay Todd, enter standby mode - Lisa commanded - Now, to not derail this further, I shall explain the protocol, first off, I will pass this controller to Lori, where she will be given a timeframe to speak, nobody shall interrupt her speech, after she's done, she'll press one of the two options, subsequently, she will pass the controller to Leni, which will logically repeat the steps specified earlier, we'll continue this order from eldest to youngest, with the final vote belonging to our dear mother - She stated calmly - Is there any additional questions before we commence? - She adjusted her glasses again while passing quick judgement to the people around her.

The silence was enough confirmation, she commanded Todd to bring the controller to the eldest.

And now, with the option to revert this cycle in her hands, Lori looked seriously at Lincoln and Lola.

And began her speech.

Author's Notes: We're here, at last, this confrontation had to happen at some point right? But Lincoln and Lola's plan is a little bit... risky, so what do you think is going to happen? how do you think the voting is going to end? Remember, there are 9 votes in total, so it cannot be a tie!

boygenius2020: Thank you so much! My first reviewer, It's been a while since you last dropped a comment so I honestly thought you had dropped the story, I'm glad that you're still following it.

tylerdunkley82: Wow, really? Then that means we're still in your birthday month so happy birthday to you too! hope yours is, at the very least, better than Lola and Lana's, hehe.