One World: Many Souls

Chapter 67: To Move On

Angel's Point of View:

"Great job today Ari!"

"You too, Pac. E." I couldn't help but let out a tired sigh past the smile I showed them. "Quite the busy day, huh?"

"Well, it's only been a few weeks since we opened." Impact made sure to bring me a glass of water and a snack to eat while I stayed at the front podium. Eras stood leaning against the wall beside me while I sat. "The people of this area seem to like us pretty well. We've been getting popular reviews and things have been going really well. But you're still doing okay, right?"

Impact couldn't help but look to the belly I had, showing my seven-month pregnancy. My little one, my little girl, was growing well. She was my only living reminder of Lexi. I was beyond excited to meet her as time passed.

"I'm still fine, just a little tired here and there, but you guys have been very accommodating for me."

And they had. Eras and Impact wanted to make sure I could get by. While Mom and Dad would have been more than happy to pay for everything I needed. I was not okay with that. I'd been independent for years, and I wasn't about to stop then simply because of what happened. I lost Lexi, my wife that I never got to spend my life with. That did crush me... but I wasn't about to let it stop me. Lexi was there still, attached to me. We talked at night while I slept. Or in my emotional moments she'd comfort me from the back of my mind. She soothed my soul. It wasn't going to be easy, but I would do what I could.

I had to be strong for my little one.

But in response to that, Eras and Impact gave me a job. It was nothing overly complicated. And I was getting fairly compensated for what I did. I did some light cleaning, talking to customers at the front, taking care of take out orders on the occasion, or leading customers to their tables. It was a lot to keep track of, and some of it was quite the mental challenge. I kept organized. Eras and Impact liked that, and it kept me going. Especially since I was medically discharged from the army.

That was the part that sucked the most. I wasn't sure if it was due to my skeleton-like hand and foot then that was exposed, but that and the mental wounds I had from losing my best friend and wife, that might have been all they needed to let me go... and I'd only been in for six years...

But the job I had then wasn't bad, Eras and Impact at least kept me from losing my damn mind. And I had Connie at home who knew a little bit of what I was going through, so that helped.

"I'm glad to hear you're okay."

"Well, it's not like you don't check in with me each day." I sighed, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. "You guys can head home. Dad will be by soon to get me and I can lock up and stay inside."

Eras frowned at that. "You sure."

"Don't you dare keep Hannah waiting, Eras." I flicked at his arm. "She's pregnant and I'm sure needs you. I have Dad and Mom along with our other four siblings at home. Don't you dare worry about me."

"Okay." Impact made sure to interject before anything negative could be said. "Let's make sure everything is locked up properly together and then we'll go home, does that sound fair? That will also give you some quiet time before Uncle Sans and Aunt Angel are all over you."

"That I'm okay with."

Knowing that my parents may do just that, I prepared for what was to come. With the help of Eras and Impact, we made sure all doors were locked as the other staff went home already and it was only the three of us.

The second restaurant of Uncle Papy, the Underground Italiano, was doing so well. It was possible it would be a chain eventually, depending on those who ran it and the passion with them. Right now Uncle Papy and Aunt Lilly ran the first store closer to home. Eras, Impact and Hannah have since moved closer to the second restaurant to have easier commutes and to make the opening move smoothly. It was something they'd been working on for the last few years. And once all the people that hated our family were dead, finally were we able to take the next steps forward to begin without that horrible threat over our shoulders.

I knew that Pristi was going to be opening a business of hers once she got through school and learned more. She was still in high school which made that hard. Joker was almost out, and planned to travel with Connie and Cali once they went about again to learn and to become the greatest comedian he could be. He was Dad's living legend in funniness. Of course, Eras was set on his path and Hannah was working with a few colleges of hers to open a school in a few years after her baby was born.

I was the only one hovering around. Even Connie knew she was going back out there once things had settled and she had a good set up for her baby. Granted, they would stay in Terians lands until her kid got older so they would have time together. It made me a bit... worried, but I knew I'd figure out something.

"And this will be the final door." Standing in the entrance was Impact and Eras before we locked the last door, only a light in the entrance way. "Uncle Sans knows you're off, right?"

"Yeah, he'll get me when he's ready. If it's too long, I'll message Mom. She'll get him moving."

"Okay." Eras nodded to me before he slowly pulled the door closed. "We'll see you on Wednesday. Enjoy your day off."

"Thanks E, Pac. See you then."

They closed then and through the glass I saw them locking the door with me inside. They waved to me one final time and I took to hiding in the back so no one knew we were open. Dad would come eventually to get me and teleport me home. I wasn't worried about that.

"Welp, looks like yer ready ta go." I didn't even get a chance to sit down before my father came around the corner. "Ya ready ta go, baby bone?"

"Figures you were here, already." I shook my head, chuckling. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Eh... since ya guys started lockin' up. Ya tellin' Eras ta hurry home ta his pregnant fiancée."

"Yeah, he should be. He should be focusing on her." Walking over to my dad's side, I could see the light bits of worry in his skull, especially since he was being a little too bright that day. "Let's go home. I could use some rest."

My father held out his hand for me to take. "Ya got plans for tomorrow, Ari?"

"Hm... not yet." I paused, thinking about that once I had a hold of him. "Everything is planned and set for the nursery at the house. Connie is set too... so... I don't know. I might see if Zac might be free for a bit. It's been a while since I've seen him. Or maybe Aunt Frisk? I'm not sure... I think tomorrow is their light day..."

"That sounds like fun, Ari." Within a flash, we were home and my father made sure to hold onto me tightly so I wouldn't fall. Once he made sure I was still standing strong, he pulled back carefully. "Welp, I know yer tired, so I won't bother ya too much. Have a good nice, baby bone."

"Dad..." I struggled not to roll my eyes at him. "Are you ever going to stop calling me baby bone? I'm twenty five and about to have a kid of my own."

I could hear the chuckle come from the back of his throat. "Arial... that's never gonna happen. Ya always gonna be m'baby bone. Just like yer siblin's. N' yer baby bone? They always gonna be yer baby bone. Never changes, no matter what age. Ye'll see, one day."

And just like that, my father teleported himself away. Like the blink of an eye, he was gone in a flash. Blue magic left behind for only a moment before it faded and I'm sure he reappeared with my mother upon the third level. I sighed. At least he put me in the kitchen area so I could get a midnight snack.

I was always hungry. Pregnancy made it worse... I swore... My kid wanted me shoving down food at all hours of the day.

Was that what it was like for my mother with me? Probably...

"Ari?"

I blinked, pausing in my reach for the fridge door when I turned around to see Connie behind me. Her belly was starting to protrude as well. She was only a few weeks behind me in her own pregnancy. Our due dates weren't far apart. She seemed surprised to see me, though I thought that to be strange since she knew I came home at the same time every day I worked.

"Hey Connie." Opening the fridge wide, I looked inside at the many snacks that I'm sure our mother had prepared earlier in the day or had someone get for us. "My kid is screaming at me to eat, you wanna share?"

"Is there any more mocha ice cream left?" I could see her approaching to check the freezer side. "I could really use the chocolate and coffee. It puts me right out... and makes them settle down."

Pausing in my search to help her look, I couldn't see any ice cream in the fridge, but there was a lovely looking cake with a note on it. I took a second to read it over before chuckling softly. "While there doesn't appear to be your favorite ice cream, I do see Mom made us a dark chocolate cake with coffee and a peanut butter frosting. Looks like she knew we'd both be needing an insane amount of sugar."

"I need all the sugar and caffeine in that thing possible... the baby bone is talking."

"You too, huh?" Pulling out the cake, I set it out on the table. I walked to the silverware drawer to grab ourselves two large spoons and passed one to her. "Shall we?"

"Yeah." Connie gave a rare smile to me while we took the food into the living room space to conquer together. We put on some anime in the background to listen to slightly while we ate, that being the biggest factor we were working on at the time.

Taking those first few bites, the cake was delicious. We could taste all parts that our mother wanted us to know as in there. Coffee, because we were required to cut back on it. Chocolate, so long as there wasn't too much sugar, so it was dark chocolate. And peanut butter, since that was a high source of protein when we were having a bad day.

How many of these cakes had the two of us eaten since we started living with Mom and Dad again? I honestly couldn't remember.

"I think this is fifteen."

Connie's voice was soft when she spoke. I turned to look at her when she was taking another bite. In only a few minutes, we managed to get through at least a fourth of the cake together, and we were just getting started.

"Fifteen?"

"Fifteen cakes... that Mom's made for us." Connie supplemented for me. Suckling on some frosting on her spoon, she quieted down. "You asked me last time... and I didn't remember, so I asked Mom today... I figured you were thinking that question again...?"

"Man, you're like a psychic." I laughed lightly at that. "Yeah, I was thinking that. Wow... that's a lot of cake in the last few months, isn't it?"

"I guess... but I know Mom saves it for when we need it."

That caused me to look at my sibling and see the downcast look to her face. It's something we'd been dealing with for a while. Connie was still so disheartened that the man she'd fallen for wanted nothing to do with her once she got pregnant and left her. It took Mom suing him to get him to pay child support and help prepare for their arrival. Connie was unable to work because of being pregnant, it was too much strain on her body with what she would do daily.

In some ways, she and I were in the same boat. It made me happy she reached out to me, but I felt bad. I wasn't in the exact same situation. Her partner didn't care. Mine was dead with their soul attached to me. Same end result, but different paths brought us there.

I knew it bothered her daily, especially since so many things got put on hold for her. Because of this accident, she had to cancel the tour she was on, Cali couldn't do it without her, and without either of them, the band of theirs couldn't do anything either. So everyone had to cut the tour short and go home, working on themselves and hopefully can do some gigs once Connie has her baby and has recovered enough.

But that's the hard part. The waiting game.

"Rough day?" I asked her softly while taking another bite of the cake. It really was a delicious cake. Mom really knew her sweets.

"Yeah... a lot of people... they know why I left and that I'm coming back as soon as I can... but some of our fans don't feel the same. They've turned aggressive and they attacked us online..."

"What happened was a mistake, yes, but so what?" I gave her shoulder a little bump as we sat together. "Don't pay attention to those assholes. There's always going to be them out there."

"I know I shouldn't... but it's hard to let go..."

"We all get them. No one is going to entirely agree with us..." Leaning my head on her shoulder, I blinked at her when she stared at me. "You know they attack me too, right?"

"T-they do?" She actually blinked at me in surprise at that.

"Yep." I normally would have given a comment that was perhaps a bit more condescending in a joking manner. Granted, I knew that Connie couldn't handle it then and there. Holding back my more cruel tone, I nodded to her. "I get comments all the time about how I couldn't save some people, that I didn't do enough, or that because I didn't act sooner, a lot of people suffered for too long. In some ways, they're right, but in other ways, what could I do? Some of these people were kidnapped before I even joined the army. And they were hidden really well. It wasn't going to be so simple to find them. Some are really pissed that I retired so early, or was forced to I should say. And that one makes me really mad. What could I have done differently? I think about that every night when I lost Lexi, and almost lost my kid."

"Ari...?"

"So yeah, they hurt. They're gonna continue to attack you for the rest of your life. And it sucks. They don't know you." I shrugged at her. "But that's the nature of it. I'll probably still have issues with some judgmental people about these issues when I'm old and gray. Oh well. Because I have to focus on something else."

And I carefully patted my stomach to show her.
"I kept her. She's more important than anything. And he is too."

I let my hand fall onto her abdomen. She watched my hand carefully as I set it over her. Her baby boy I could feel kick up hard at that. Mine did as well, both of the babies we carried were strong. I bet they would be strong willed. And they'd be the first of our parent's grandkids. Maybe GG would be able to see them before she got much older? It would be her great-great-grandchildren.

That was incredible to think about. Especially as the woman was the ripe age of ninety five.

She struggled to get around in the last few years, old age finally catching up to her once she left her work almost ten years ago. A lot of her staff finally retired once she gave up her position as head of houses. Younger staff took care of her, but she still wanted to be involved in as much as she could before she passed away.

Knowing our luck, she might make it past one hundred...

"Right..."

Connie's hands went back to her stomach to feel over herself as she grew. She wasn't as pronounced as me yet, but we were both feeling it as the nights got more difficult.

And yet, she still smiled.

"I can't wait to know his name..." It was a few minutes of us eating quietly together before I heard her say that. "It's going to be a weird name, isn't it? Like ours?"

"Probably." I laughed at that. "Our names weren't exactly normal by any means. And Lexi and I weren't normal, and never will be. So I know our girl is gonna be crazy. I wish I could see their font early..."

"Yeah." Connie reached over a gentle hand to touch my abdomen as well as hers. "I wish I could too..."

"Oh well, no reasons to dwell on it. They'll be here before we know it." Reaching back for my spoon, I went for another bite. "We're gonna finish this entire cake in one go, aren't we?"

Connie didn't respond, only grabbing her spoon and eating more.

"Yeah... we're eating this entire cake." I could only take another bite as we relaxed together in silence.

Witch's Note:

Well, everyone… it's been a long week, hasn't it folks?

A long week to recover. To rest. To take out any remaining enemy members still nearby. And to bring our base back to normal. Some of it was rather time consuming, tiring, and by the end of the week… we all knew we needed a break.

And what better way to do so then a celebration?

As much as I would have loved to have cooked for everyone, I was too tired to do so. Take out was our best friend from the nearby town as we fed our army, spoke some amazing words to them prior, before having a more private party for those of us of the higher ups. How wonderful isn't it?

So many drinks and food were set about. I was never much for drinking, but I was ready to down a bottle of my favorite whiskey in response to the end of the war.

Crown Royal is beautiful if you like a good smooth drink with soda and juice folks.

But here we are, and let me make a toast to you all. To the friends who stayed with us during this fight.

First, to my wonderful sister. Mystic Girl, I'm glad you and I had each other's back. Thanks for being there with me during this entire mess. And let's make sure it doesn't happen again in the future.

Mystic Girl: Duh. It won't happen again, but I'm glad we were able to get through this together too, Sis.

Halloween Witch: Now, onto Chaos. You were fantastic as a destructive power to reduce the numbers and stop supply chains before the war took place. I'm ever so thankful for your help, and if you need assistance with building your new base on Earth. Trust me, you'll need it, as much more will be taking place.

Second, Shadow. You were imperative in your help during the research phases of our operation, finding missing members and helping with communication. And of course, helping keep me safe during our final battle as we entered the fortress. Thank you for all your assistance.

Dasansi, you and your men, and your nanobots were an incredibly helpful as we stormed the castle. Trust me, loosing the lights that were placed to hinder us, my goodness was it wonderful to have all those bright artificial lights gone. I hope things get better for you as you attempt to reach back out to those you lost contact with.

Mystic Boy, while originally, I was upset at you for betraying us, I'm thankful you didn't die, and were able to help in the end with getting back our home. I don't know how you survived what you went through, but I'm glad none the less. Please come to us if you need help again, and continue being our friend.

And for the rest of you? River, Shady, while the two of you spent more of your time resting during these events due to the sheer volume of what had happened, we still thankful to you all. For surviving, for aiding in anyway you could. Do keep on your recovery as we make it into the final stages.

As I noted earlier on in a hidden note to you all during the fighting, this story is almost over. To be honest, we only have three chapters left. Time is coming to a close soon, so I wanted to remind you all once more that if you have comments, questions and the like to discuss during our final talk in a few weeks, it would be now that you'd want to let us know.

Because… my rampant mind is not ready for this series to end… oh no… we have far too much more that is going to happen.

So be prepared.

Love you all and see you next week!

Halloween Witch and Mystic Girl