ToL: Chapter 18

[Reassuring Words]

Shortly after Ebony recovered, we focused back on Adam and Alexander in Peach Creek. We could see the men walking over to Eddy's house; Eddy's parents were finally home from work. Adam approached the house to ring the doorbell; it only took a few seconds for Eddy's dad to answer.

"Oh, hello Mr. Eragon," Luis greeted with a small smile, "What brings you over here today?"

"I wanted to give you and Daisy an update on Eddy's progress, since I got a chance to talk to him last night," Adam said before making a pause, "I also wanted to apologize for entering your house without permission earlier today. I needed to grab some spare clothes here so I could help someone buy new clothes in town… None of my spare clothes would fit."

Adam turned to Alexander, who was holding Luis's clothes, which were folded neatly. Luis's face turned from calm to shocked in a matter of seconds as Alexander walked up to give him his clothes back, "Wh…"

"Here's your clothes back, sir," Alexander said before noticing how silent the man was, "… Sir?"

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!"

Both Adam and Alexander recoiled from Luis's startling yell before Adam regained his composure, "Mr. McGee, please don't freak out! This isn't Eddy or Evan!" Adam tried to explain.

"THAT MAKES IT EVEN WORSE! HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO NOT FREAK OUT?!" Luis continued to shout before turning his head, forcefully looking away to try and calm down, "Y-You better have a damn good explanation for this!"

Luis stepped out of the way so the two men could enter the house, "Get in. Now."

"Luis?" called out a voice from upstairs as they could see Eddy's mom walking down the stairs, "I thought I heard…?!"

Daisy came to a sudden halt once she stepped off the last stair, her eyes locked onto Alexander and his appearance. Her face began to grow pale.

"Umm… hello," Alexander greeted with a small hand wave, not completely understanding why everyone was acting like this.

Luis dashed over to Daisy when he noticed she was about to collapse, "Daisy!" he yelped as she landed on her knees. She did not pass out but was still in shock at Alexander's appearance.

"Mr. Eragon, w-who is this?!" Daisy asked Adam in a stunned tone.

"Don't worry, I can explain as much as I know to you two," Adam said as he gestured to Alexander to sit down in the living room, "It's going to be a hard pill to swallow, but I can confirm that he is neither Eddy nor Evan."

Luis and Daisy stared at Adam before they went to go sit down in the living room.

"Sorry, I really didn't mean for him to scare you two like that," Adam stated as he cleared his throat a little, "Do you two remember when I mentioned that your son Eddy had a past life 3000 years ago?" he gestured to the man sitting next to him, "Well, this is… Uh, it's half of him. This is Alexander."

That was when Adam began to explain more to them about Alexander and what King Mickey told him, saying that he is now some sort of shell of who he used to be.

"And that's as much as we know right now," Adam finished explaining, "We still don't know how he got here or why he is here in the first place; not even he knows."

Eddy's parents were still silent about what they learned from Adam, trying to process the fact that the person sitting next to Mr. Eragon was connected to their youngest son.

"A-Anyway, I came over here to return the clothes I borrowed for him," Adam said, "He'll be leaving soon to go meet up with Eddy and the others, but I wanted to help him get ready for the trip…"

"… How old is Alex right now? Can he remember his age?"

Everyone turned to Daisy when she asked that question, "I believe he's in his late 30s, Mrs. McGee," Adam replied.

Daisy was silent for a moment before a few tears began to form in her eyes, "I see," she started to say before making a happy smile, "Life can be very cruel. You never know when it will be the last time you see or talk to someone, or having to say goodbye to the people you love and care about, so suddenly," she began to wipe the tears from her eyes, "But now I'm very fortunate to see what my youngest son will look like after we pass on. It fills me with joy knowing he will become a strong and handsome man."

"Oh, Daisy…" Luis muttered as he placed his hand on his wife's shoulder to comfort her.

"S-Sorry, I don't know what came over me," Daisy replied before regaining her composure, "I didn't mean to say such strange things. It was only a silly thought that crossed my mind."

"It's okay Mrs. McGee, I get it," Adam said, "Neither me nor Olivia are parents yet, but the due date for our child is in April. We would feel the same way as you two when that time comes."

Alexander could only sit beside Adam as he continued to talk to the two other adults. He began to feel confused once more, not really understanding the concepts of friends, family, or loved ones; at least not yet.

"Either way, I think we should head back for now," Adam began to say as he and Alexander stood up from where they sat, "I'll keep an eye on Alex and Eddy's situation. Feel free to drop by if you need to ask anything, okay?"

"Will do, Mr. Eragon," Luis replied as he and his wife walked with them to their front door.

Before Alexander could leave, he could feel himself being hugged by both Luis and Daisy, much to Adam's surprise, "Please be careful out there, Alex," Daisy said to Alexander.

"Whenever you do meet Eddy and Evan… tell our sons that we miss them," Luis continued to say, "Please try and keep them safe, along with everyone else."

Alexander stood there in their hug before slowly hugging them back, mimicking what they were doing, "O-Okay, I will."


Author's Note (September 30th, 2024): UUUUUUUUUUUUUGH. Everything has been so frustrating for me lately. I'm not gonna go into any details here, just... Sigh.

This chapter is shorter than I wanted it to be because I'm not feeling 100% right now. Apologies for that.