Once he was sure Annette's schedule was too booked for her to be able to meet him for some Ice Cream that evening, Matthew Kingston returned home to fulfill his obligation to his mother to keep an eye on his little sister. Kayleigh was naturally over the moon about spending so much time with her big brother, but there was so little he had to do with her. His mother had given her dinner and her bath early. All he had to do was simply read her as many bedtime stories as she wanted. He went through a long list of books she had given him, reading every single fairy tale his mother used to read to him and Ryan when they were her age. It didn't take much to convince him to read all of them, though. The more time he spent reading, the more he escaped all that was troubling his mind.
Maybe I should read to Kayleigh more often, he thought to himself as he came up to what had to have been the ninth story he'd read so far. Anything beats the hell out of having to deal with that Sartori guy again. Or anyone else from my past who wants to mess with me. He came across the story that was always his favorite: Little Starlight, a fairy tale about Jirachi the Wish Granter. When he was younger, he used to dream of the day he could wish to become the strongest Pokémon Trainer of them all. A far cry from the wish he would actually get to ask Jirachi to grant for him. But given how much he saw power showed about him, he would take that secondary result a thousand times over. At least he got something good from that.
"So, we're up to Little Starlight, I guess" Matthew spoke softly, looking down at the toddler on his lap. But Kayleigh was passed out, her body leaning one way and her head on the center of his chest. "Well, I guess we can read you that one tomorrow." He lowered the book onto the side of his sister's nightstand and gently carried her over to her bed, tucking her into her blankets and letting the toddler slumber the night away. He gently put his thumb to the side of her cheek, wiping away a crumb of some kind before kissing her forehead. He then shut off the lights and exited her bedroom. He now had the house to himself and an entire evening to do with as he would. But with all that had transpired for him today, from the tutorials with Giselle to the confrontation with Mr. Sartori, he simply had no inclination to do much more than to go to bed and hope the next day would be better.
He made it to his own bedroom and chose not to turn the lights on, blindly making his way over towards the bed and landing on the mattress. He only had enough energy to go online with his Poke Gear for a brief moment to see what was going on in the world. Apparently, through many posts online, Addison would get her chance to go to Paldea after all, with Tommy and Morgan accompanying her as students at some kind of prestigious school. Jocelyn and Garret were taking their own pictures from the Bistro in Titanio City as if they had been a couple for years instead of a few weeks. His mother was strangely posting nothing of where she was, which made Matthew slightly suspicious, but only for a brief moment. After admiring a picture of Annette with the ArcNet Team after their interview, he paused at one update that showed his friends had arrived in Kalos for the Kalos Queen Contests. He did not envy Jeremy having to deal with Holly in the middle of a heated competition. He would have chalked it to that, had he not gotten a good look at Jasmine's own post.
[Kalos, please give me my own happily ever after. :(]
He had not spoken directly to Jasmine in several weeks, not since he and Annette had officially become a couple in the eyes of everyone near the beginning of the Master Cup Tournament. But clearly, she was going through some kind of rough patch. He felt responsible in some way for what she was enduring, especially after being reminded multiple times in the day that his past will not leave him for a long time.
He contemplated messaging her to ensure she was okay but stopped himself. She has Holly. She has Jeremy. And I know she and Morgan will talk all the time, even if Morgan ends up going to this school with Addy. She doesn't need me. Besides, he had Annette. Why would he need to reach out to her when she would be taken care of by others and he had other obligations?
And yet, as he tried to let sleep take over for the night, he could not help but remember their last true conversation at Kingston Castle. Where she had announced her intentions to compete in contests abroad and floated the idea of him going with her. Where she revealed that despite all of the things he had done, she still cared strongly for him. Jasmine had been unwittingly caught in between two separate parts of Matthew's life. She had been used as a tool to make Addison jealous back in when his heart was full of anger and hate. And then they came back together as Matthew was blown away by his own equivalent to what his brother had gone through with Addison in Annette. Did a part of him still care about her? Obviously, but to what extent? And what would this mean for his relationship with Annette?
He looked at Jasmine's picture and nodded. "I hope you get your happily ever after, Jasmine. Find that guy who can treat you like the Queen you deserve to be treated as." He then turned his screen off and prepared to drift off to sleep.
In his dreams, he found himself walking down the road that he believed would lead to Pocus Town. But instead, the road diverged in two different paths. One path was looked ravaged and damaged considerably, as if it would lead to where the ruined Crag Hills now laid. The other led towards an open field of green grasses and warm, sun-drenched flowers. While the choice seemed obvious to the naked eye, Matthew could not help but wonder what the catch was. Why was he seeing this? What did this dream mean?
"It's only natural he doubts himself" a voice cackled from nearby. "Who hasn't he aligned himself with?!"
Matthew spun around, intent on sucker punching Courtney before she got another word in, but she wasn't there. No one was. He knew he heard someone say something about him. But when he turned back towards his forked path dilemma, the scene had changed. He was now seeing a sight he wished he could have erased from his mind. He saw himself on Mt. Heatmor, taking the oath to serve Elezar, kneeling before them to ensure he would become a full-fledged member of the Syndicate. Shadowy specters of his old comrades Cassius and Elezar floated around him, repeating his sworn oath to him.
"I had such high hopes for you, Matt" another voice echoed around him.
Matthew shook his head. "Michael's not there. It's just-"
"Do you know what you've done to me?"
Now, he had to look. While Cassius and Elezar continued to speak to his younger self, he saw Michael and Addison staring at him from the skies above, looking on in shame and disappointment.
"How much you hurt me? How I still wake up with night terrors remembering what you and Cassius put me through?!"
Matthew squeezed his eyes shut as if to reject this dream's words, despite their undeniable truth. "I'm not that guy anymore, Addy. You know that!"
"It's a ceaseless cycle" yet another voice chimed in. He knew that person all too well. His brother's killer. "When you kill, you continue doing it until you're killed yourself. It'll be the proudest day of my life when you're sent to the darkest depths of hell alongside me."
Though he wished those memories of his past would stop flowing in, they wouldn't. Of course, Simon Seissuon had to rear his ugly mug and say his own piece. The words that had struck a chord with him in Titanio Park. The words that rang clearly in his head for weeks on end. "How does it feel? To know that you're considered so worthless to everyone in Arcana that you got sidelined for Kingston fodder for your brother's girlfriend? To know that no one in this region ever missed you and the one being you could have been useful to, you betrayed. And for what? More scorn and derision?"
Matthew put his hands to his ears, refusing to listen to the words anymore, until he heard Mr. Sartori's words. His threats against Annette and those with which he loved. "I will hurt you for this. A day will come, when you're at your most vulnerable. And I will make sure you live to regret the hurt you've inflicted on so many others."
Upon hearing that warning reach its conclusion, Matthew thought he could hear screaming. Coming from multiple directions. He could hear Annette crying for him in one area and in the other he could hear a shrieking sound coming from his sister. He tried to suppress it, reminding himself it was all a dream. But the cries kept getting louder and louder. Matthew finally opened his eyes and realized the crying wasn't a dream.
He leaped out of bed and rushed out of his room and into his sister's. Kayleigh was screaming for their mother. Matthew looked at the clock and was confused as to why it was so late and his mother was either not responding to her daughter or not even home yet. It was almost midnight. With no other recourse, he plucked his sister into his arms and began to soothe her.
"Shhhhhh" he shushed. "It's okay, sweetie. I'm here. Matty's here."
Kayleigh seemed to calm at this and latched herself onto his chest like a leech. "Matty! Matty! Make mean bird go away!"
"Mean bird?"
She was shaking in his arms as she recounted whatever nightmare she had endured. "Mean bird took me and Net Net away. Don't let it happen, Matty! Please!"
Matthew smiled down at the little girl in his arms. "Kayleigh, it was just a bad dream. We both had bad dreams."
"Mean bird go away!" she demanded. "Mean bird is scary!"
"I promise I won't let that happen" he assured his little sister. But with his own mind muddled by events beyond his control, he could not help but wonder if these bad dreams they shared were not a harbinger of things to come. Things had been a bit too easy recently. And whenever things got easy, the hard part always slithered it's way in. But he would keep his own worries on the backburner for the moment. Now, Kayleigh needed him. He simply stood with her crying into his shirt, cradling her like the good brother he hoped he could be.
"Matty save me!" she whispered. "I love my brother!"
Matthew chuckled at this. "And I love my little sister." He propped his sister up in his arms to ensure she didn't drop. "Hey, do you know what Dad used to do for Ryan and me whenever we had bad dreams?"
The little bundle of tears shook her head. "No."
"Come on and let me show you" he responded, carrying her out of her bedroom and down the stairs towards the kitchen. The low lights in the kitchen indicated that neither Jocelyn nor his mother had returned yet. Jocelyn he suspected may "accidentally" end up at Annette and Garret's home in Magenta Grove for an evening of pleasure. But his mother not being home was what concerned him. She knew she had a toddler, right?
Then again, his mother would be quite cross with him if she knew what he had in store for Kayleigh. He placed his still sniffling sister on the counter while he did as his father always did. Robert Kingston would often check in on his boys during the night and would take both with him to the kitchen while their mother slept. And when they go there, he always had the surefire trick to soothe their nerves after bad dreams. He gathered all the necessary ingredients: two of his mother's coffee mugs, a bottle of Moo Moo Milk, some vanilla and sugar, and two of his mother's specially baked Chocolate Chip Cookies.
"Dad used to do this with me and Ryan all the time" Matthew recalled.
"Ry Ry?" Kayleigh inquired.
"Yup. Whenever one of us had a bad dream, Dad would make sure we both got a treat so it could be fair." He poured out the milk into the mugs and added the proper amounts of vanilla and sugar before placing both on his mother's personal coffee warming station. As the mugs began to warm the milk, he then took the cookies and placed them in the microwave to warm them. As their special evening treats were slowly being made ready, he turned to Kayleigh. "And I'm going to continue that tradition with you. In memory of Dad...and Ryan."
"Ry Ry coming back?"
Matthew lowered his eyes away from his sisters. "I wish I knew. Sometimes I have hope. Other times, I'm not sure." He shook his head away from the thoughts of his brother potentially returning into their lives and patted his sister's little hands. "But until we know for sure, it's gonna be you and me against the world, like it's always been. Maybe Annette every now and then."
Kayleigh giggled at this. "Net Net!"
"You ever gonna call her by her real name?"
She defiantly shook her head. "Nope! Net Net is Net Net!"
He rolled his eyes. "I imagine you'll call her that until the very end." He then turned his attention back to their treats. The microwave was finished warming up the cookies and the coffee mug warmers were just about done as well. He took the plate of cookies out of the microwave and plucked the warm milk off of the warming station. He used a spoon to stir both drinks and then brought both to their kitchen table. He then returned to his sister's side. "Your evening snack is prepared, milady."
He gently lowered Kayleigh to the floor and led her over to the table. The two sat down as Kayleigh took a short sip of her warm milk. Once she made her sound of delight, Matthew knew he had done his brotherly duties again once more. He ripped a piece of his cookie off and dunked it in the warm milk to eat. Kayleigh tried the same, but her chunk was too big, prompting her to giggle.
"Thank you, Matty" Kayleigh remarked. "You the best Big Brother ever!"
Matthew grinned, a part of himself pleased he had won at least one contest from his twin brother. "Well, I try." He glanced out the window and noticed a Corviknight Cab approaching their home. He went over to the window and spied his mother exiting the cab and speaking to someone inside. He could not tell what sort of pleasantries were expressed, but he knew his mother was at least happy with whatever she was doing. At least I won't get in too much trouble, then.
Within moments of arriving in the house, Alison Kingston went through a hurricane of emotions. Delight, confusion, hesitation, frustration and simple exhaustion. She eyed her two children in the kitchen and simply let out a noise of acceptance. "I don't want to know what is going on. I just want us to forget about all of this in the morning."
"Where were you?" Matthew asked. "You were supposed to be home an hour ago."
"That need not concern you, Matthew" his mother replied. "Just get yourselves to bed. You both I suspect will be up early."
Matthew chuckled to himself. "Did you at least enjoy your date?"
His mother froze on the stairs before turning towards her son and letting out a wry smile. "It's a good thing you're cute. Now goodnight. We'll talk about this never." She thus left the two siblings to their warm milk and cookies.
{}
Addison sat up in the middle of the night, tossing and turning in a vain attempt to find slumber despite her deepest desires finally coming to pass. With the decision to allow her to go to Paldea under the pretense of being enrolled in a prestigious Pokémon Academy, she would be able to experience the dream she had been craving since being separated from Ryan in the Realm of Dreams several months earlier. Now, her sleeplessness was not due to a lack of answers, but instead to her excitement. Even if the chance was not an exact guarantee, she could feel somewhere in her heart that Galatea had been absolutely correct in her assertion that this was indeed their time.
Though she had tried to converse with Galatea about the matter earlier that evening, she could tell her dearest Pokémon friend was in a different place. And she could not blame her for being out of sorts. They were about to go and attempt something that had never happened before. On top of that, it seemed all too likely that Ryan and Achilles, her mate and the father of their child Helena, were not going to be together when or if they should find them. Galatea did not have to admit it to her, but Addison could tell she longed for Achilles. The two had been closer than Addison remembered any two Pokémon being. The Gallade and Gardevoir had essentially become extensions of their own trainers. To have both Ryan and Achilles so callously ripped from them and then the weight of the world flung onto their shoulders was taxing on all levels. They had longed for, craved the ability to see their loved ones one last time. But the only bit of Achilles that seemed to remain was thrust into Ryan when he was made to be Mewtwo's Black Knight to counter the White Mage. Galatea did not get her chance to even let Achilles know they shared a daughter who was out in the world.
Addison had left her friend to herself, as she was even more withdrawn since the discovery of their departure to Paldea. But this left Addison's mind to jump to all sorts of conclusions. What if White Island was just a myth? What if it was even more forbidden than Paldea itself was? What if Mewtwo or something worse was guarding the way to White Island? What if she never returned from Paldea? What if White Island wasn't in Paldea?
The lack of immediate answers to any of these questions was the primary thing keeping her from falling asleep. The tossing and turning were not slowing down her mind or relaxing her nerves either. In a fit of frustration, she flung her blankets off of her and slipped onto the ground. Knowing her mother needed as much rest as she could get with a baby on the way, Addison did not mean to wake her up by stomping around in frustration. She quietly made her way out her bedroom door and tiptoed her way to the bottom floor.
Maybe some warm milk will get me some sleep, she told herself. When she was younger, her mother used to often make her a glass of warm milk on nights she had particularly bad dreams. But with her mother in dire need of rest, she had to make it herself. Once she made it into the kitchen, she paused when she saw the light was already on. Was her father already getting ready for work? She peeked around the corner and noticed her mother leaning up against the kitchen counter, scarfing down a slice of pizza as if it were the last in all of the world.
"Mom?" she chirped.
Deidre Tenton looked ashamed to be caught in this state, but only for just a moment. Once she was sure she had been caught by her daughter and not her husband or anyone else, she resumed eating her pizza. "Your baby brother is a hungry boy, I'll let you know."
"How can you be sure it's a boy?" Addison inquired, walking her way into the kitchen.
"The way this baby wants me to eat" her mother joked, "it had better be a boy."
"I'm just here for some warm milk." She walked over to the cupboard and plucked out one of her father's coffee mugs to make her drink.
Deidre smiled at this, but the smile seemed sad and almost reflective. "I remember making that for you."
"You stopped so many nightmares in their tracks, Mom. And the warm milk helped me get some of my best dreams."
"When you were just born, there were a lot of nights when it was just you and me. Your father had to work so much just to be able to get this life for us. Double, sometimes triple shifts. Neither of our families were the happiest we got together when we did." She lowered the crust of the pizza onto the counter beside her. "Your paternal grandparents both thought I wasn't the best woman for their son. And we both know what my mother was like. So dead set on her daughter becoming the next Bonnie Kingston that she failed to realize that option closed once all the bad things started to happen."
"You don't need to explain to me" Addison assured her mother as she collected her ingredients. "You were the best mom a girl could ever ask for."
"I hope it's going to be easier the second time around." She very gently rubbed her belly where the newest Tenton was coming along. "Judging from how hungry I am, though, one can never truly know until he comes."
"Well for one thing you'll have more help this time. I'll be as helpful as I can be and Daddy can take as much time as he needs off if you want now."
Her mother strained against the counter, prompting Addison to help her mother to sit down at the kitchen table. "I'll just have to hope your brother isn't born while you're away in Paldea."
Once she was sure her mother was at least able to rest her legs, Addison resumed making her glass of warm milk. "Did you know all along?"
Deidre nodded sadly. "We had an idea. But your father and I didn't want to get your hopes up. Tommy Queensbury was originally the only one who was going." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Honey, I want you to understand something. If it should come to pass that there is no...no way to fix this, I want you to know that life will go on. And so will you. You have people here who love you and adore you. Friends, family and loads of others who would be distressed if anything happened to you."
Addison nodded but did her best to ignore where her mother truly intended to go with this conversation. "I know that. You, Daddy, my baby brother or sister, Holly, Jeremy, Matt, Annette. I'll have plenty to get focused on."
"When I lost my first love" her mother recalled, "I thought life was going to end then as well. That if I couldn't have him, I might as well not love anyone again. But the world had other plans for me. I found your father and he took me away from a path I would deeply regret walking down if I had kept on it. And I will forever be indebted to that wonderful man for the rest of my life. Because he gave me a reason to live. He gave me you."
Addison took a moment to mix her drink together before placing it on the coffee warming station. "Mom, I don't think that future is for me if he's not there by my side."
"You don't know that" her mother spoke softly. "I didn't see your father the way I do now when I lost-"
"But you didn't lose Michael. He was always there. It was all of Arcana who lost him and Julia who picked up the pieces." She clenched her fists. "I lost Ryan. And this might be my only chance to get him back. If I don't take that chance-"
"No one's telling you not to take it. Addy, I don't want to see you as broken as you were when Ryan and Robert died. Just know that there are a million reasons to keep going beyond this. You already outshined me by your age. And you have a bright future in front of you." She sniffled sadly. "No matter how much this baby does for our family, you are still the meaning of my life, Addy. And seeing you in pain makes me feel that same pain. It makes me feel as though I've failed as a mother."
"You didn't fail me" Addison assured her mother. "Mom, you're the best and only Mom I would ever ask for." She walked over to her mother's side. "And I would be half the person I am now if you weren't my mother." She smiled to herself as her mother tried to fight off the tears she was welling up with. "Those pregnancy hormones really got to you, didn't they?"
"I did fail you" Deidre whispered.
Addison fell to her knees and hugged her mother. "You have not and never will fail me, Mom. As long as you keep being the same Mom you've always been to me, you can never even come close to letting me down. There isn't a woman in the world I'd want as my Mom more than you. Not Julia, not Piper, not Bridgette. Not anyone. You are my Mom."
"And nothing will ever come between you and me" Deidre spoke softly. "I promise you that, honey." Mother and daughter sat locked in an embrace for several long moments, a moment neither wanted to end. But as Addison began to sniff that her warm milk might be burning, the two broke out into a ridiculous laughter as Addison hurried to salvage what she could of her drink. "When you're done, sweetie, since you aren't going to bed anytime soon, I want to snuggle with my baby girl on the couch. So as we don't disturb your father anymore than we might have already."
Addison smiled back at her mom. "Of course."
"And bring that pizza too" Deidre giggled. "Your brother is very hungry."
{}
Knowing he would likely not have as much time to edit his videos once they set forth for Paldea, Justin decided to take the next few days before they were set to depart to edit in bulk. He didn't know how much free time he would have if he was expected to not only be a student, but an ambassador of sorts for the King and Queen, so he felt compelled to edit as much as possible. Give himself enough videos to live off of until he would have some more time to record while abroad.
Ordinarily, editing in bulk was not an issue for him. There was one day where he managed to successfully edit ten separate twenty-minute videos for his channel talking about his favorite anime. And he took great pride in his editing skills after taking all of those online classes his mother paid for. He had even been nominated for an online award a year prior thanks to his editing skills, having been called upon to edit a colleague's series of videos as he explored the Galar Region. Perhaps I should make my own video series documenting our time in Paldea? I'll have to be sure I'm allowed to. The last thing I want to do is trouble the King. After all the trouble his wicked old Uncle Claude had caused, he needed to be his best while representing the King, even if he wasn't sure what it even meant to represent.
But now, he found himself stuck on editing a video about the upcoming movie adaptation of Nakia, Warrior Princess. Sometimes, he'd simply grow tired and take a break, able to return later that day to finish his work. This was an entirely different kind of stuck. Justin had not been this stuck since his mother had first informed him of his duty to return to Arcana and set right what his evil uncle had done. He stared blankly at the screen, wondering what he could do with his video to make it stand out more in an ever-increasing online algorithm. He would generally come up with an idea about how to fit in something that would draw in more crowds, as his Vlog was one of the more popular online.
But not today. Today, his head was in a different place.
He wasn't nervous. He wasn't concerned. He was simply unfocused. He had been unable to truly focus since he had unintentionally startled Bridgette Duon in Titanio Park a few days earlier. The way he had acted was certainly not becoming of what a gentleman was supposed to be. But what had alarmed him the most was how oddly she had acted. From being so transfixed by him to trying to distance herself from him, to pretending nothing had occurred. He was more confused about this than he was why Lizzie acted so hostile towards him whenever Bridgette was brought into the conversations they would have, which still baffled him to no end.
He couldn't help but bring Bridgette into the conversation. She was quite an outstanding woman, accomplishing so much at her age without even feeling the needs other women had in forming families. Surfing around the world, helping the King to overthrow a tyrannical dictator (not that he thought Giselle Odelia was still that villainous, she just scared him somewhat), leading Titanio City's gym and now returning to the helm once more. Not only that, but she was such a kind and considerate person. Always there to help perk up a bad situation. And while he wasn't exactly sure how he felt about it, he could not deny that Bridgette was quite a lovely woman as well. Perhaps the loveliest he'd ever met in person besides perhaps his favorite actress Katrina Jackson.
Was that why Lizzie did not want to hear about Bridgette anymore? Was he bringing her up because of how she looked? Surely he could not be the only person who thought Bridgette Duon was good looking. Didn't someone say she had an astronaut for a boyfriend some time ago? He couldn't remember all of the facts about everyone he was introduced to. He had a hard time trying to figure out the difference between Piper Pines being the Contest Queen of Arcana and Julia Pines being the actual Queen of Arcana.
Perhaps his problem could also be his solution? What if he and Bridgette collaborated on a few videos showing off what Paldean Culture is like? After all, she was the only person to ever set foot in Paldea outside of locals. And he was certain they could make quite the team, what with his skills shooting content and her...well, everything about her. Imagine him actually being able to bring home an award for his video series. Being able to have his mother remark on how proud she was of him. To help bridge a friendship between Arcana and Paldea. To be able to have done so with one of the most wonderful, charming, lovely...
Ugh! No more time wasting! I need to get these videos finished! He did his best to suppress any thoughts that were not about his work and pressed into his editing. Shortening clips to make them move more quickly, trying to avoid using too much video content so as not to draw the wrath of the Wolfgang Delney Corporation and ensuring he had no commentary snafus was vital to his success as a commentator.
But he could not even get into his work for longer than a few seconds as he soon received a notification. A message from an unknown person. Normally he would toss them into the spam folder and be done with it, but this one wasn't an advertisement or an offer for something explicit. Instead, it was a message written out specifically to him. Not his online persona. Him.
[To Justin Jacques,
I hope you are doing well in your endeavors. I have seen your latest videos in your online persona and believe you are indeed a capable young man. I message you now to warn you of an impending danger that will unfold for you upon your arrival in Paldea. All is not as it seems in this region and I urge you to remain on your guard at all times. There are forces at work in this region that could lead to immediate danger for you and your friends. Forces that have the capability of ripping the fabric of space and time asunder.
Your allies that accompany you, unfortunately, it is too late for them. You and I have been fated to meet for some time, Justin. The world has taken things from us and I expect we can help one another reclaim what has been lost, or at least to get the compensation we deserve. When you arrive in Paldea, there will be people around you who act friendly and jovial, perhaps even acting as if they are interested in you. You must beware them. They are only interested in causing strife and chaos in our world. I am the only person you can truly count on, though I may not be in Paldea when you arrive, due to certain efforts I must take care of abroad. The villains that seek to harm us will not rest until we are both removed from the equation. But when I do arrive in Paldea, I shall do everything in my power to bring you to a safe haven where none of these false friends can cause you any trouble.
I know you may not trust me at this time, but I might be the only person here looking out for you. I cannot fully reveal my identity to you, out of fear that the wrong eyes might read this message. But I can assure you that you and I are on the same side and must cooperate if we are to achieve our goals in life. I will send you another message when I am prepared to meet you in person, so that we may properly meet and assist one another.
We will speak again soon, gallant one. After all, our paths are intertwined.]
As his eyes flittered over the bizarre message, he was not surprised to find that the person did not leave their name or even a handle with which he could refer to. On top of that, the address of who had sent it appeared to be a bunch of jumbled letters, numbers and symbols. He had no way of tracing this information and knew no one online who was truly capable of doing so. He simply closed the message and went back to editing.
Our paths are intertwined? Who is this person?