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[mar04isdead]

Eight Years You Left Us

Day 3: Christopher

Micha barges into the room once they are sure their brother is off the phone, they stare intensely at Christopher as he glares back at them. 

"Michi, what the absolute fuck are you doing?" Christopher shouts at his sibling and throws a pillow at them.

Micha simply steps to the side to avoid the pillow, "I am here to bother you, also I heard you crying."

Christopher shakes his head and puts his phone away, "Really, what do you want?"

"Who were you on the phone with?" Micha sits on the bed and crosses their legs, "You started crying so it must be someone important."

Christopher sits next to Micha and leans his head on Micha's shoulder, "You remember Haylee Grace?"

Micha's eyes widen in realization, "No fucking way!" They grab their brother by the shoulders and shake him. "You two are dating?" They harshly whisper.

Christopher grabs Micha's hands to stop them from shaking him, "No, we're not dating." He grins when his sibling frowns. "We're engaged."

Micha starts to jump on the bed and laughs like a kid, they grab Christopher's hands and have him jump with them.

"Dude, I've been waiting for you to say that for as long as you two have known each other!" They jump off the bed with a large, bright smile, "Watching you guys talk and flirt through the fence for years was killing me."

"There's a catch to all this." Christopher jumps down and holds Micha's hands, "The family doesn't know, at all. They don't know we were even dating in the first place, so imagine when I suddenly bring up that I'm engaged to her." He sits on the bed, "She wants to come over for Christmas, I told her no because I don't know how the family will react, we got into a fight."

Micha kneels in front of their brother, "Do you remember what I used to do when you were a kid, to cheer you up?"

Christopher giggles and squeezes Micha's hand, "You'd make me churros?"

Micha stands and starts to lead him to the door, "C'mon, time to cheer up."

.

.

Christopher leaves his desk when he hears a knock on his door, he pushes off of his desk to get up and walks towards the door. He shakes his head when he hears a soft giggle coming from his closet, he hides his smile as he opens the door. He's met with green eyes filled with worry and a somewhat unfamiliar face.

"Hey, sorry to bother, Micha said I might find our kid here." Avery shifts from foot to foot as they talk to their brother in-law.

Christopher nods, "She barged in and ran into my closet, she's just been chilling there for the past few minutes." He shrugs and steps aside to let Avery in.

"Thanks, sorry if she caused any problems for you." They walk over to the closet and open it, "And what do you think you're doing?"

Harley laughs as she tries to hide further into the closet, Avery laughs and pulls Harley out. They throw her in the air lightly before catching her and spinning her in their arms, the beads in her hair clanking together.

"You thought you could hide from me!" Avery sets her down and laughs as she runs out of the room. "Here's a tip, don't feed your kid sugar at nine in the morning." Avery turns to follow Harley before Christopher stops them.

"Actually, can I talk to you for a bit?" Christopher fiddles with his hands.

Avery nods, "Sure, what do you want to talk about?"

"I need relationship advice, I'm kinda going through an issue right now." Christopher closes the door and sighs, "So I'm engaged, I'm not sure how to tell the family. My fiancée wants to come so she can meet everyone for Christmas, I told her no, that led to us having a fight."

Avery shrugs, "Have you tried asking Micha, I mean they brought me along, their spouse. No one even knew I was gonna be here, you should have seen yalls faces when we told you we're married."

"For me personally it was the shock that Michi of all people was married." Christopher starts to panic when he sees the face Avery  pulls, "By that I mean that, well, growing up Michi made it clear that they didn't want a relationship." 

"Well your parents did push traditionalist Hispanic boys on them." Avery sits on the bed and crosses their arms, "If you hadn't noticed, I'm a trans, modernist, white person."

"And I'm getting married to a black, modernist, female." Christopher leans against the door, "I'm scared about how everyone will react."

Avery smiles, "Before we left to get here, Micha told me to not be surprised if I get asked questions, to not be surprised if I get looked at funny. They love me and they want their family to know that, they want their family to know just how special I am to them." They get up and walk up to Christopher, "Does it really matter what your family thinks if you love her, if she makes you a better person, if she makes you happy, if she's the reason you want to be yourself? Does it really matter what your family thinks?"

Christopher shrugs, "I guess not, thanks."

"Everyone has different sides to them, different people bring out those sides, I'd like to think I bring out one of the best sides of Micha." Avery gestures to themselves with a smug smile.

"Yeah, you do. I've never seen them like this before, so thanks for that." Christopher opens the door to let Avery out, "Sorry if I kept you from your kid."

"Tell her to come over, I want to see what side of you she brings out, and then I'll forgive you cuñado." Avery grins as they leave the room, shooting Christopher a pair of finger guns.

.

.

"I don't know what you expect me to do, he still hates me from when we were kids." Leo curls himself into a ball on the couch. "He doesn't want to talk to me much, only when he has to."

Micha groans, rubbing the bridge of their nose from under their glasses, "You need to talk to him, we both do. We said some shit as kids and he has to know we're sorry."

Leo rolls off the bed and pops up on the other side, "I tried, we just ended up fighting."

"Do I still have to fix everything between you guys?" Micha walks around the bed to drag their brother onto his feet. "Nothing has changed, so you and me are going to change things."

"Can't you go talk to him?" Leo hangs on to the bedpost to keep Micha from taking him outside of the room.

Micha shakes their head, "He needs us both right now, so get your ass out this door right now."

"Fine, let's see if he actually wants to talk with us." Leo lets go of the bedpost and allows himself to be dragged out of his room.

Micha lets go of Leo's arm and starts down the stairs, "Yeah but we don't want anyone else over hearing so-"

"Over hearing what?" The new voice causes both siblings to stop in their tracks.

"Hey Leo, do you know who’s behind us?" Micha wonders.

"I'm not willing to look back so you tell me." Leo whispers back.

"I'm not looking, you look." Micha starts to slowly go back down the stairs.

Leo starts to rush after them, "Don't leave me alone with her."

"Stop you two." Namora commands her cousins from the top of the stairs, "Explain what you're planning."

Micha grabs Leo by the arm and starts running, "We are grown ass adults, we don't answer to you!" They pause to yell at Namora before they keep running.

"She's gonna kill us when she catches us!" Leo shouts at his sibling as they skid into the kitchen.

Micha looks at him and laughs, "If she catches us!" They run into the dinning room, and surely find their other brother, "You, you're coming with us!" 

Leo and Micha both grab a protesting Christopher and leave the house through the back door. The two older siblings laugh like maniacs as they pull their younger brother behind them through the yard, dodging their nieces and nephews, and running into the forest.  

Christopher stumbles as he tries to keep up, "What the fuck are you two idiots doing?" 

Leo stops, causing Micha to almost fall on their face, "I actually have no idea, Micha care to explain?" He raises an eyebrow at his younger sibling.

Micha regains their balance and smirks at their brothers, "What, no love for the middle child? How rude of you two." Micha turns on their heel and starts walking deeper into the forest, "We're just going to the treehouse. Probably the only place where Namora won't follow us."

Christopher frowns, "Hold up, you're taking me to the place you two constantly bullied me about that I couldn't go to because I wasn't like the two of you?" Christopher turns around and walks in the opposite direction, "Yeah, I'm out." He looks around before turning back and sticking with his siblings, "On second thought I don't know where the fuck I'm going."

Leo laughs and follows his younger siblings, "Why are we like this?"

.

.

Christopher looks around the treehouse, not as impressive as he believed it to be when he was younger. They got up using a climbing rope, which both his siblings were shocked was still working. The inside isn't really much, bean bag chairs in the corners, dusty walls and floors, the wood has yet to start rotting away, miraculously the whole thing has yet to creak under the weight of the three of them. The walls and floors have what look like scorch marks and he can only imagine how they got there. 

"It's not much, surprising you two tried to keep me from it." Christopher sits on one of the bean bags, "To think you two were spoiled this whole time."

Leo shrugs, "You think we were spoiled? No, we were just lucky to get the slightest bit of attention, you were the spoiled one."

Christopher glares at his brother, "Seriously? Me, spoiled? Please, mom and dad praised you both for being 'special'." He uses finger quotes to emphasize the word. "And what about me, I was constantly compared to the two of you, I couldn't do a single thing right in their eyes!"

"I was constantly compared to Namora and Daria, we were all compared to the cousins older than us." Leo points accusingly at his brother, "If anything we were being compared to you. Mom and dad constantly praised you, even if you did something wrong. '¿Por qué no fueron así como niños?' Mom constantly said that about me and Micha."

"Oh we clearly must not have the same mother than!" Christopher stands up to seem taller than his brother, "After what happened with Michi, she degraded me, she and dad barely even looked at me!" 

"They've been degrading us before what happened with Micha!" Leo stands up, looking down on his brother, "You literally have nothing to complain about, you've had it easy for years."

Micha groans and steps in between their brothers, "Both of you sit down, this way we can see it from both sides." 

Micha pushes their brothers into bean bags on opposite sides of the treehouse. They drag a beanbag into the middle for themselves.

"Alright, here's how this is gonna work," They gesture at Leo, "You're gonna start, I'll add clarification seeing as we grew up pretty much the same." They turn to look at their other brother, "Then you'll go and we'll all talk about our perspectives."

Leo sighs, "Okay, so, I remember that since he was the youngest, mom and dad had all their attention on him. We were a second thought for so many years, we both buried ourselves in perfecting our gift and perfecting everything else they wanted."

"You were told that you had to be as good as, if not better than Namora and Daria. Mom and dad weren't the only ones who would give you shit for it either, tia's y tio's would have something to say about it too." Micha adds, taking off their glasses to clean them, "It  would just get worse for those who were younger, hell by the time you get to me I had so many people I was being compared to." They look over at their younger brother and shrug, "I was compared to Namora, Daria, Leo, and Morally. Then there's the thought that Ramon, Lora, Jesus, Nina, Nicolas, you, and Chris all had to be compared to me. I did everything I could to take everything off of you guys."

Christopher starts to mess with the strings of his hoodie, "I was only ever compared to you two, I think it's because I was the only one born without the gift." He looks at both of his older siblings, "I know they took it easy on me in some cases. But there were so many times, especially recently, they would say I would never be as special as either of you."

Leo shakes his head, "No, mom and dad constantly saw everything you did as the next wonder to save the world!" He displays jazz hands to prove his point, "We were always asked why we were never like you as kids. Why we always caused trouble, hell I think at one point the police were called over because we forgot to hide our bruises. You never had to go through that."

Micha holds a hand up, "Actually yes he did, it was about a week before I left." They look over at Christopher and raise an eyebrow, "That cut that tia gave you, the one on your forearm."

Christopher rolls up his sleeve and reveals a ragged faded scar climbing up his forearm, "Yeah, I was called into the counselors office. He told me that it was practically a tradition for a Sierra-Gonzalez to get called into his office, that we lie about our injuries and he hoped for me to break it and tell the truth." 

Micha nods, "And when you did lie, I was called in. I was at your school at the time for my internship, so they asked me instead of bothering anyone else." They run a hand through their hair and groan, "Sometimes I wish consolers would mind their own business."

Christopher chuckles, "Yup, dad got a call, he told mom, mom told our aunts who told our uncles, and it all went downhill from there." He leans forwards and holds a finger up, "But I will say, things did ease up after you left." He looks at Micha with sad eyes, "Yeah, me and the others missed you, but none of us were abused after you left. Our parents just ignored us." He punctuates the sentence with a shrug.

"Okay, so this is how I'm going to explain things, please pay attention." Micha points at both their brothers and smiles, "We've all been compared to someone, we've all been degraded, we've all had to deal with shit at school which made living here even worse, and we've all had to cover for the adults." 

Leo sinks deeper into his beanbag, "That sums it up."

"We really had an amazing time growing up." Christopher shakes his head, "But, they raised us, they cared for us, they did everything for us."

Micha stands up and walks over to Christopher, "Do you still like to cook and bake?" They sit down next to him on the beanbag , "I remember you always sneaking into the kitchen to see what we were doing, you wanted to learn but they never let you." They touch the scar tracing Christopher's jawline. "Do you still like to cook and bake?"

Christopher nods, "Don't tell mom or dad, but I never had criminal justice as my major or even a minor. I'm taking culinary, Haylee Grace uses her hacking and coding to make it look like I'm majoring in criminal justice."

Leo grins, seeing an opportunity, "How is Haylee Grace, you haven't talked about her in a hot minute." He raises an eyebrow, "Aren't you two roommates?"

Christopher blushes and Micha laughs, Leo chuckles and goes to sit with his siblings. The three of them fight over space in the bean bag, laughing and bullying each other like when they were kids.

.

.

"I'm betting ten he does." Micha puts a ten dollar bill on the table in front of them.

Leo glares at his sibling, "Well I bet twenty he doesn't." Putting a twenty dollar bill on top of Micha's ten.

"Could you not bet on my love life? Thanks." Christopher doesn't take his eye off his phone, "I shouldn't do this. It's a bad idea. Besides, Namora and the others are gonna say things about her. I don't want her to go through that."

Micha shakes their head, "No, you need to talk to her. It's not about the money, it's about you being happy." They take their money off of the table, nudging Leo into doing the same. "There, now call her."

Christopher starts to scroll through his contacts until his thumb is hovering over Haylee Grace's name, "I'm putting her on speaker." He presses the call button, causing his siblings to respond with shock.

"Dude she's your fiancée, don't get us involved." Leo harshly whispers as the phone rings.

Micha nods, "Don't drag us into this." The phone rings again.

"We should leave." Rings.

"Yeah, you're on your own bro." Rings.

Before either Micha or Leo can leave the room, someone picks up the phone with a click. 

"Look who's calling now." A female voice giggles as it picks up the phone.

Christopher tries to hide his smile, "Hello to you too, love." 

Micha and Leo stifle their laughs as they point at their little brother and make faces at him. Christopher flips them both off and goes back to the phone.

"I wanted to talk about this morning." Christopher rubs the back of his neck, "How have you been?" 

Haylee Grace sighs, "Taking care of your minions, by the way they want to talk to you." 

Shuffling is heard before two small voices shriek, "Daddy!"

Micha and Leo are falling all over each other and trying to keep the other from screaming. They look at each other with shocked faces and keep pointing at their younger brother. They silently ask each other if they just heard the same thing.

Christopher smirks, "Hola, como estan mis bebes?" He turns away from his siblings who keep trying not to laugh.

"Baby, you know they can barely understand Spanish, you wanted to talk to me about this morning?" Haylee Grace wonders, some attitude in her voice.

Christopher frowns, "I'm sorry, I was just scared. You know how my family is, I just didn't want you or the kids to have to go through all that crap."

Haylee Grace sighs, "No offense, but your family's opinion can go to hell. Love, I don't care. As long as I have you and the kids, I'm happy."

"Awwww!" Leo and Micha coo in unison, causing Christopher to hide his face more.

"Babe, is your brother there with you?" Haylee Grace interrogates.

Christopher bites his lip, "Leo and Michi, yeah, both my siblings."

"Wait, both? But... but I thought-" Haylee Grace starts to question.

Christopher cuts her off, "Yeah, it's a lot to explain. So, please just come over. Bring the twins, I want you guys to meet my family, formally." 

Haylee Grace laughs, "Really, what made you change your mind?"

"A certain in-law." Christopher looks Micha in the eye and winks, "So, you and the twins wanna come over tonight?"

Haylee Grace hums in thought, "Kids, do we want to see daddy's family?"

"Yes!" Comes another shout of two high pitched voices. 

"You have your answer, I'm gonna start packing then." Haylee Grace giggles and more shuffling is heard on her side, "I'll see you in a few hours. I love you."

"I love you too, see you soon." Christopher hangs up the phone with a smile before glaring at his siblings. "Are you both done judging me?"

Micha rapidly drums on Leo's back, "Answer our questions and then we'll stop judging you."

"Five questions, max." Christopher clarifies by holding up a hand, "You two know your rules, you made them."

Leo nods, "He's right Michi, we can't break our own rules." 

"Fine, number one, since when do you have kids?" Micha leans over Leo to poke Christopher in between the eyes.

Said brother slaps Micha's hand away, "We were eighteen. It was hell to explain to her parents but I promised to take full responsibility."

The oldest hums and scratches his chin, "Number two, does anyone else know about this?" He shakes Micha off of him.

Christopher looks back to the door, blankets tapped and stuffed into the cracks, locked, and for extra precaution the dresser moved in front of it. 

"No, just us and her family." The youngest swings his legs back and forth from his spot on the bed.

"Number three," Micha hangs themself upside down on the bed, "What are their names?"

"You're gonna kill me for this!" Christopher swiftly turns around and falls face first on his bed, he talks but it's very muffled.

Leo smirks, "I'm sorry baby brother, could you repeat that?"

Christopher barely raises his head, "We named them after Kaden and Mitchell." He drops his head back after he's done talking.

Leo leans over the bed to look down at the middle child. Micha simply shrugs with a deadpan expression, showing that they don't really have an opinion on the matter. Leo nods and lays down on the bed with his siblings.

"Number four, any regrets?" Leo starts to fiddle with his necklace.

"None." Christopher responds immediately as he rolls over to look at the ceiling. "None at all."

 "Number five, last one." Micha pulls themself up so that they are sitting, "Are you happy?"

Christopher sighs happily, "Never been happier."

"Can you remember when you were happy like this, not being judged? Just happy?" Leo raises an eyebrow at his brother.

Christopher frowns, "No, not really. Not until I had my kids." He wipes a tear from his eye, "Not until I had to care for someone the way no one cared for me." 

Micha and Leo frown, they both drag their brother between them and lay on him. Christopher starts to cry when he feels the comforting weight of both his siblings on him and they both hug him tighter the more he cries.

.

.

Christopher smiles as he watches his sibling and niece dance, Micha and Harley's feet glide across the stone with grace and their skirts sway and trail with their legs as they move. 

"They're both amazing aren't they?" Avery asks from beside him. 

Christopher nods, "Yeah, it's been a while since I've seen Michi dance. I've forgotten how amazing it is to watch." 

"I just find it ironic how there is a stone stage just here." Avery gestures to where their spouse and daughter are dancing. "Was it here when you guys moved or what?"

Christopher scratches his head, "It was here before I was born so I don't know the whole story. All I remember being told is that since our mothers wanted their daughters to dance, our fathers made the stage for them. It mainly all started with Namora I think, but by the time Namora was in high school she stopped dancing and the others followed behind her not long after. Michi never stopped though." 

Avery shrugs, "We have a stage like this back home, me and Micha made it when we moved because they said they wanted to keep dancing." They frown as they recall events from the past, "They have this thing where if they can't sleep they might as well make art. Usually they'll play on their bass or compose something for their kids. Very rarely do they go out and dance, they don't like to dance alone."

"Let me guess, you've woken up a lot of times only to find Michi dancing?" Christopher leans forward on his chair and rests his elbows on his knees.

Avery chuckles half-heartedly, "More than I would like. You sound familiar with the occurrence though." They point at Christopher while arching an eyebrow.

"I remember once, I was maybe ten, I came down for some water but the back light was on. I thought maybe someone left it on and forgot so I went to turn it off. I get to the door and I just see Michi, dancing." His eyes cloud as he keeps staring at his sibling and niece, "No music, it was raining, the wind was blowing very hard, and most of the yard was flooded, but Michi was dancing. Like Michi was just using the sounds of the environment as music." He rubs his eyes and shrugs, "I know, it sounds like I was dreaming. Michi denied it when I asked and even everyone else believed that Michi wouldn't dance alone."

"They hate dancing alone, but I believe you." Avery shoots Christopher a wink, "I've seen them do it, dancing in the worst conditions and using nature as music. Thunderstorms are their favorite." 

Christopher doesn't miss the look in Avery's eye, utter love and admiration. Avery's eyes follow Micha and Harley's every move as if they float on the stone. Their smile grows as Micha and Harley laugh as they dance in complete unison. Christopher knows Michi can move better than that, but seeing as Harley is copying, the simplicity makes sense. Just the two dancing as the sun sets and the air get's just a tad bit colder, dancing keeping them warm.

"Hey baby brother," Leo pops his head from out the back door and smiles at his younger brother, "You have visitors, they're waiting in your room."

Avery shrieks as Christopher practically flies out of the chair he's in and rushes inside the house. The shriek causes Micha and Harley to stop dancing and go to where Avery is.

"What happened?" Harley wonders as she moves to sit where her uncle once was.

Micha shrugs and reaches behind their back to untie their skirt, "You're uncle's crazy like that, love." They smile as the knot comes undone and the skirt falls to the ground, they step out of it and stretch their back. "He's been crazy for years."

Avery raises an eyebrow, "Really, he's crazy when he has visitors?"

"Wait, visitors?" Micha straightens their body and looks at their spouse with confusion.

The sound of someone knocking on glass rings through the yard, the family tries looking around for the source. Micha walks backwards a few paces to see the bedroom windows and finds the source of the sound. Christopher knocking on his bedroom window while holding a child in his arms. He grins like a mad man once he has Micha's attention and opens the window.

"Michi, come meet my kids!" Christopher shouts out the window while gesturing at the child in his hands.

Micha purses their lips and looks at their spouse, "Honey, please don't call child protective services. Let's not be teachers for once." 

Avery frowns as Micha heads into the house, "Babe what do you mean by that?" When not receiving an answer, Avery picks up Micha's skirt and takes Harley's hand and leads her inside. "Babe, what do you mean?"

.

.

Micha raises an eyebrow at their brother and his current situation, "Namora is going to kill you."

Christopher is laying on the ground, both his kids laying on his stomach. The two children have their mother's hair and skin and their father's eyes and freckles. They both have their hair in buns, and are wearing identical outfits.

Christopher frowns, "Look at these faces," He gestures at the children laying on him. "How could anyone be mad about this?"

Micha kneels down at waves at the toddlers, "They remind me of Harley when she was this age."

"Where is she? She's gonna want to meet them." Christopher slowly sits up. 

Micha shrugs, "I think she's downstairs with Avery." They chuckle as one of the twins reaches up for their glasses. "Yeah, they are like Harley."

"You summoned our daughter?" Avery appears in the doorway with Harley on their shoulders.

Micha stares at Avery, "Not what I expected but yeah. She's gonna be glad to meet these two." They gesture for Harley to climb off Avery and walk over to them.

"They look just like me!" Harley gently pat's the twins' hair and giggles, "They're just like me!" 

Christopher nods, "Yep, half Mexican and half African-American. Michi, you feel like teaching me to braid?"

"I told you to learn before I got here!" A voice shouts from the closet, out emerges Haylee Grace whose eyes widen once they see the new people in the room. "Mx. Gonzalez, oh my gosh!" 

"Holy crap it's you!" Avery grins as they run up to Haylee Grace.

The two hug each other and look like they're squeezing the life out of each other. They both pull away and look at each other.

"Look at you, you've changed so much!" Avery pulls away and scans Haylee Grace up and down, "You're not pregnant anymore."

Haylee Grace nods, "Yeah, sorry I couldn't finish the season."

"It's fine, we missed you but I hope you noticed I did write to that school for you." Avery grins, "Small world, also marrying into this family?"

Micha holds their arms up in a time-out gesture, "Hang on, is this the kid you told me about back then?" They give Haylee Grace a good look over, "It was her this whole time?"

"This is her, she had to get out towards the end of the marching season to give birth and she didn't come back. She finished all her classes online and graduated though." Avery looks down and glares at their brother-in-law. "This was the jerk that did it?"

Haylee Grace shrugs, "I warned him, but his dumbass said it'd be fine. But if you look at our situation, I guess it's okay."

Micha gets off the ground with a groan and pops their back, "I feel like I'm getting too old for this shit. Anyways!" They clap their hands together and look down at their brother, "I can't wait to see the look on Namora's face when you explain this all to her."

.

.

Namora's face is a mixture of emotions, not really settling on one. She looks like a fish gasping for air, then she looks like a computer that is rebooting itself, slowly shifting into horror before settling in a calm straight face.

"Whoa! Namora you good? You look horrified, like you witnessed the birth of God." Micha waves a hand in front of their cousin's face.

Lora frowns from where she is in the kitchen, "Shouldn't that be a beautiful moment?" 

Micha shakes their head, "Oh cousin dearest, there is nothing beautiful about childbirth. It is not all it's cracked up to be."

Namora clears her throat, "Change of topic please!" She sternly looks at all her cousins, forcing a smile when she looks at Christopher, "Why keep this from us?"

Everyone in the dining room and kitchen keeps their eyes on Christopher. Leo and Micha stand behind their brother as a show of support and the rest of the family stands behind Namora. 

"You never asked." Christopher smirks as he adjusts his hold on both his children in his arms. "Besides, your reaction right now is hilarious."

Namora sighs and rubs the bridge of her nose, "Do our parents know about this?"

Christopher glares at Namora, "No, and they're not gonna know. They haven't bothered to check up on me in two years." 

"But they are your parents, they deserve to know! You had kids out of wedlock," She looks around and lowers her voice, "And with her of all people."

"Oh, so you wanna talk shit now?" Christopher hands one kid to Leo and the other to Micha who both back away from the arguing relatives. "I'm not the only one who had kids out of wedlock, you started that. I'm not the only one who's in a romantic relationship with a non Hispanic, you started that." He leans forward to be at eye level with his cousin, "I'm just following you."

Christopher takes his kids from Micha and Leo and exits the dining room, shooting a look at Namora as he does. Micha and Leo glance at each other and follow behind their younger brother. 

.

.

"So you just went off on her, took you long enough." Micha grins at their younger brother.

The three siblings decided to let their kids bond by having them all stay in one room. They set one of the guest rooms up with a large mattress they found in the attic and cleaned. They brought pillows and blankets and stuffed animals for the kids to sleep. The four kids are already asleep, while the siblings talk.

Christopher shrugs, "Well after what she said about Haylee Grace I had to."

"Everyone in this family is a hypocrite," Leo crosses his arms, "We're all either dating, interested in, engaged, or married to someone who isn't Hispanic. Well, everyone but Lora."

Micha sighs, "Namora is just jealous that we're all doing somewhat better than her." They look over at their daughter, "I'm kinda glad I didn't learn from her mistakes."

"How did you do it to raise a kid while you were in college? I'm still struggling to raise mine." Christopher stands up from the mattress.

"To be honest me and Avery got into so many fights, divorce seemed like a better option than staying together." Micha fixes Harley's bonnet. "They said we weren't ready, I said I wanted to take care of her and that we owed it to her mother. For months all we did was fight."

Leo looks up from his son to look his younger sibling in the eye, "But you two seem fine now, Avery seems to be head over heels for Harley."

Micha shrugs, "I honestly don't know. One night after I put Harley to bed, they seemed to have cheered up. Harley had them wrapped around her little pinky." They giggle thinking of the memories, "At one point I had to force them to go to classes because they refused to leave Harley with one of our friends. I think if it weren't for me forcing them to focus on anything other than Harley, they wouldn't have graduated."

"So no idea what changed their mind?" Christopher raises an eyebrow in curiosity.

Micha shakes their head, "Nope, just that I appreciate the change."

 "Well," Leo stretches his arms over his head and yawns, "I'm off to bed before my wife starts wondering where I am. G'night you delinquents." Leo leaves the room while flipping off his siblings.

Micha rolls their eyes before standing up to leave too, "Alright, I'll take my leave too."

"Hey Micha," Christopher rubs the back of his neck and looks down at his feet. "I'm sorry about being a jerk this morning. I was just upset about my argument with Haylee Grace and I took it out on you guys."

Micha smiles at their brother, "You know what you did, you're acknowledging that it was wrong, you're apologizing." They open the door and start to slowly slip through, "I'd say you're learning and getting better. Nighty night little brother." They wink and close the door.

.

.

"Our daughter is asleep and we get the whole bed to ourselves!" Avery cheers as they flop face first onto the bed. 

Micha signs and sits on the edge of the bed, "Now we can do our thing without being bothered."

Avery's head shoots up in excitement, "Hell yeah, please!" They sit up and wrap their arms around Micha's waist. "Please!"

Micha raises an eyebrow at their spouse, "I don't know what you're talking about. But I mean sleeping without having a kid constantly kicking me. Sorry if I want to enjoy it while I can."

"Okay but, we haven't had alone time since she was born." They squeeze Micha's waist tighter. "Am I to be denied my well deserved alone time? I consider this domestic abuse."

Micha rolls their eyes and lays on the bed with their back facing Avery, "Not sorry, now let me sleep."

Avery shakes their head against Micha's neck, "No, please  just five minutes!" They plead with a giggle.

Micha sighs and looks back at Avery with a glare, "Five minutes?" When Avery nods Micha groans and turns to face them completely. "Fine, five minutes and then I sleep."

"Yes! Thank you, I love you!" Avery rolls on their back and brings Micha on top of them, they caress Micha's cheek and smile, "I really do love you."

Micha frowns and sits up, straddling Avery as they do, "I've been meaning to ask you something."

"What is it?" Avery sits up in concern at Micha's question.

Micha laces their hands together as they think of how to phrase the question, "What made you change your mind about having Harley?"

Avery frowns and raises an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"When she was born you wanted nothing to do with her, I took care of her for most of the time." Micha holds Avery's face in their hands to keep them from looking away, "But after a few months you just loved her so much. I had to physically drag you away from the crib at night because you got so attached."

Avery smirks, "Was it really that bad?"

Micha rolls their eyes, "What changed? Why suddenly love her out of the blue?"

Avery stares at Micha, looking them in the eyes with not much emotion, "I'm...not sure how to actually answer that."

"Well you don't actually have to, I was just wondering 'cause it's been bothering me for years." They start to slowly roll off of Avery only for Avery to hold them in place by putting their hands on Micha's waist.

"You love her that's why." Avery smiles as they rub circles on Micha's waist with their thumb. "The love in your eyes when you look at her is so different and unique, you just love her so much." They sniffle and shake their head, "But that's why I acted out too."

"Honey, what do you mean by that?" Micha wipes Avery's tears and kisses their forehead.

"I know my main argument was that we weren't ready, but that's not really it." Avery pulls Micha's hands away and look to the side, "I was scared that you wouldn't love me anymore."

Micha scoffs and holds Avery's face again, "Why the hell would you think that? Of course I loved you, I love you!"

"It's just the way you looked at her!" Avery blurts and cries, "The way you told her you loved her! It sounded so fucking genuine, so real, something you hadn't told me in a while back then! I was insecure I'll admit, I was jealous." They mumble the last bit and bury their face into Micha's neck.

Micha kisses the back of Avery's ear, "You had no reason to be jealous, I married you, I promised to love you forever and more after that." They press their forehead to Avery's and smile, "I'm sorry for everything that happened when we took her in, I'm sorry for the things that I said."

"You sang her our favorite song." Avery smiles and chuckles, "The one we danced to at our wedding, our engagement party, our proms, homecomings, the song that means so much to us. Just seeing you share something like that with her, you trust her even if she is a baby. That made me love her, just the fact that you loved her so much."

Micha kisses Avery with a smile, "Thank you, I love you."

"I love you too." Avery wraps their arms tightly around Micha and sighs, "It's getting late and aren't we going out with your family in the morning?"

Micha groans, "Yeah, it's bedtime. Let's sleep while we still can." 

The couple lays back down and keeps their arms wrapped around each other. They whisper and silently laugh at their jokes and memories as they fall asleep.

<Previous Next>

[mar04isdead]

The Collector's behavior as seen by a preschool and elementary special needs teacher

The first thing to stand out to me when we were introduced to the collector for the first time was his behavior. To me it just didn't line up right for someone who has been isolated for so many years. Then the more we saw of them the more like a child they acted. And I have actually had students who have shown similar behavioral patterns and they're all rooted at one main source, isolation.

First allow me to introduce the concept of time-out to you. As we all know time out is used as a punishment, calling a kid out for their bad behavior and separating them from their friends and peers having fun. But as a preschool teacher, I learned the phycological impact of it. Time-out chairs or areas are usually placed far from other children so the child receiving the punishment doesn't interact with others, they believe that their friends and peers and avoiding them and that makes them guilty about what they did so they'll behave and not repeat their mistake. And of course their peers are avoiding them, but only because they don't want to get in trouble by being around the trouble maker. When kids are allowed out of time out, their first instinct is to find a friend to be around.

Isolation affects people differently, it drives some people crazy or some become very emotional, or for kids, it makes them want to be around people. It makes kids always want to be around people, they want to be surrounded by people, and the longer they're isolated the more they want to be around people. The collector also wants to be around people, and considering how long they've been isolated, of course they'd act the way they are. Them being trapped was a basically a very long time-out, and the first thing they did was look for a friend.

Kids are carefree, they want to have fun, they want to play, they want to make friends, and they want to do what they want. Being isolated for so long made those wants stronger for the collector, and there might not be a way to calm them down from them.

[mar04isdead]

Eight Years You Left Us

Day 2: Leo

The house is quiet, like it always is early in the morning. Leo walks around, having woken up not able to believe what is happening. His family is back home, no major issues have happened, and everyone seems somewhat happy to see each other. He's just more than happy to have Micha back, even if he was unsure of how the others would react.

As he wanders through the halls, he finds that the attic ladder is down. He makes his way to close it, but seeing flashes of light makes him go up the ladder. He peers around the room and finds Micha sitting by the window, playing with an object in their hands.

"Oh, I thought you were practicing." Leo pulls himself into the attic and points at the flash light in Micha's hands.

Micha nods, "I was, but then I remembered this may not be the best place to practice."

Leo settles next to his sibling, "Yeah, makes sense why mom had us use the forest."

Micha rubs their right arm, they smile and look at their brother. "Do you remember how we were after we both got our rings?"

"Yeah, we were so excited, a lot of good came from that." Leo looks out the window, refusing to look Micha in the eye.

Micha sighs, "I noticed you don't wear yours anymore."

Leo takes a gold chain from around his neck out from under his sweatshirt, hanging from it is a small golden ring with a red jewel at its center. 

"Right here, I just haven't practiced in a while." He fiddles with the ring, "Haven't really practiced since you left. Where's your ring?"

Micha smiles as they show their left hand to their brother, a ring identical to his on their ring finger, "It's my engagement ring, Avery had an outrageous way of fixing it up for me."

Leo laughs, "You gonna tell me that story later?"

Micha shakes their head, "You know, Harley can do it too. She's really good at it, I just found out about it in the weirdest way possible."

Leo grins, "Finn can too, I also found out in a very weird way. Guess weirdness runs in the family?" He wonders.

"Do you remember how mom found out you could do it?" Micha giggles when Leo blushes.

"I remember when mom found out you could do it." Leo retaliates and nudges at Micha's leg, "I also remember how excited we both were by the time we both got our rings."

Micha sighs, "Always asking to spend every free second outside in the forest, trying everything we were taught, not wanting to come inside until we perfected things."

"Even after what happened you still wanted me to try and teach you." Leo puts his ring and chain back under his sweatshirt and frowns, "I still can't do that trick."

"I still can't do the trick either," Micha holds Leo's hand, "I don't blame you, I never blamed you."

"Those scars say otherwise," Leo gestures to where Micha was rubbing their arm, "It was my fault, I wasn't thinking and you paid the price for it."

"You never did see the scars did you?" Micha rubs Leo's knuckles with their thumb, "It wasn't even that bad, I got a tattoo to cover them a few years ago."

Leo pulls his hand away from Micha, "Of course you covered them up."

Micha rolls their eyes, they start to roll up the sleeve of their sweater, exposing their tattoo going down their right arm. A lighting storm, different shades of black making the clouds and the rain, but the vibrant blue stands out as lightning. 

"Why... why a lightning storm?" Leo wonders after examining the tattoo. "I mean, I get it, but at the same time I don't."

"Well, a lightning storm because it's the thing we both have in common, our love of lightning storms. Also it relates to how I got the scar in the first place." Micha drags their finger along the lightning bolt, "That's where the scar is, it was painful to get it done but totally worth it."

Leo smiles at his sibling, wiping his eyes, "I'm still really sorry, I never meant for that to happen."

Micha wraps their arms around Leo's neck and pulls him into a hug, "I never blamed you, you have nothing to be sorry about."

The two of them spend the rest of the morning in the attic, holding each other and reassuring themselves that they still care about each other. 

.

.

"You need help?" A voice behind Emily asks.

Emily turns around to see her sibling-in-law, Micha, leaning against the entrance of the kitchen. Their hands are in the pockets of their jeans, green woven sweater sleeves rolled up to their elbows.

"Yes, I don't know what I'm doing." Emily wipes the sweat off her eyebrow as she glares at the stove. "Namora just told me to make embarradas for lunch, I don't even know what that is."

Micha walks over to the fridge and starts to look through it to take inventory, "Well, we need tortillas, pasta or mole, and queso or queso. You don't have any of that so we're gonna have to make it later. Do you have a comal?"

Emily shrugs, "I honestly have no idea, most of the cooking stuff your family left behind. Half the stuff I don't know what it is."

Micha nods, "Don't worry, I'll help. You don't have tortillas in the fridge so we're gonna have to make them by hand."

"I don't know how." Emily follows Micha around as they look through the kitchen.

"But I do, I'll walk you through it, don't worry." Micha digs through the pantry and pulls out a weird slab of metal. "Get me a stool would you?"

Emily runs to get a stool from the dining room and brings it back to Micha. Micha places the slab of metal on the stool, looking around the kitchen for something else. They pull a plastic bowl out from under the cupboards and put some filtered water in it. They look through the pantry again and this time pull out a bag of corn flour for tortillas. They pour a generous amount into the bowl and hand it to Emily.

"Mix it, get it to a dough consistency. Add more water if you feel the need to." Micha smiles at Emily who looks back confused.

"Mix with what, a whisk?" Emily places the bowl in the sink.

Micha shakes their head, "Nope, with your hands." Micha returns to the pantry and grabs two plastic grocery bags. "Do you have scissors here?"

Emily nods, rolling up her sleeves, "Yeah, that drawer on the left of the stove." She cringes as she puts her hands in the bowl and starts to mix the flour and water. "This feels so weird, you used to do this growing up?"

Micha nods, "We all did it growing up, and by that I mean if you were able to move your hands in it you could do it." They start to cut circles out of the bags, "Me and the girls just did it more often, so I'm kinda doing things on muscle memory."

"Thanks for helping me, Namora just told everyone not to help me." Emily starts to mix the flour and water more violently, "I don't know what her problem is with me and the others. She's hard and those of us who married into the family, like we don't deserve it."

Micha takes the bowl away from Emily, "That's good, also yeah, she's like that." 

Emily watches as Micha opens the slab of metal, recognizing it now as a tortillera. Two squares of heavy metal joined by a hinge, a lever used to press them together, squishing whatever is between them. Micha places the cut out circles on each square, they gesture for Emily to walk to them after she washes her hands.

"If you want to take your anger out on something, try this." They tap the tortillera before walking to the oven. "Keep talking, I'm listening."

Micha starts to roll the masa into balls and places one in between the squares. They signal for Emily to press down on the lever, only for her to struggle at how hard it is.

Emily sighs and keeps adding more strength on the lever, "Why is this so hard?"

"Try putting all your body weight on it, and talk about how much my cousin makes you mad." Micha pulls a black circular object out of the oven, "The more weight you put on it the better, also maybe if we get you mad enough it'll be easier."

Emily nods, "Are we gonna start making the food?"

Micha shakes their head, "Embarradas are one of those things were everyone has to decide what they want on it. For now we just make the tortillas and at lunch everyone will just have to make their own."

Emily smiles, "Well, that sounds good. To think you were never so far, and the fact that me and Avery teach at the same school."

"Hard to believe all of that." Micha turns on the stove and places the object they took out of the oven on top of it. "This might sound weird, but did my brother ever tell you about an accident when we were younger?"

Emily steps back from the tortillera, "Actually yeah, and if your asking if I know about the whole," She makes a pair of jazz hands and laughs, "Yeah I know about all of it."

Micha nods, they open the tortillera and take the plastic off the now flat circle, "Well if your reaction was anything like Avery's, I can take you threatened a divorce?"

"Yeah I did, but it was just a joke." Emily laughs, "I'm confident that my husband knows what he's doing."

Micha smiles, "Just making sure. We've always been told to keep things a secret."

Micha places the raw tortilla on their hand and takes off the other piece of plastic. They place it on the now hot comal and start to roll another ball of masa.

"But you told Avery, how come?" Emily wonders.

Micha places the ball of masa in the tortillera, "Harley can do it too, they're the one who found out about it. Now if my parents ever find out you or Avery knows... I don't even want to think about it."

Emily frowns, "You know Namora isn't the only one who doesn't like those who married into the family." She grunts as the forces the lever down on the metal, "Your parents are so harsh on all of us, except maybe Nino, mainly cause none of us are Hispanic or as successful as our spouses. "

Micha shrugs as they flip the tortilla with their hand, "If by successful you mean everyone being identical to Namora and having nothing to themselves, then yeah, everyone is successful."

"How's everyone like Namora?" Emily questions still pressing on the lever.

Micha flips the tortilla again, "Valedictorian of their class, either a doctor, lawyer, or some sort of law enforcement, married someone parents don't approve of,  and kids who know nothing of their culture." They toss the tortilla in a woven basket near the stove, "They all are, or are somewhat, a carbon copy of Namora. She likes to brag that she is the superior person in the family, even though everyone else turned out just like her."

"Yeah, I can understand why you left." Emily lifts the lever again, "My family loves Leo, I guess I just feel weird knowing his family doesn't like me."

Micha smiles, "Avery's family likes me, we've only been here nearly two days and I can already tell my family just doesn't like them."

Emily starts to make a ball of masa while Micha put's the new tortilla on the comal, "I have to go to the farmers market later, I have to get the ingredients for tamales. I just don't know what to get, I barely know what goes in them."

Micha shakes their head, "I have to do Harley's hair. Avery can go with you, they know what to get."

"Okay, and thanks again, you're probably my only in-law who cares." Emily smiles at Micha.

"Of course, I wasn't gonna let you do things cluelessly, also a good way to piss off Namora." Micha winks at Emily with a smug smile.

The both of them laugh as they continue to work, Emily getting the hang of things quickly.

.

.

Leo knocks on Micha's door expecting his sibling to answer it, only for  Avery to open it.

"Hey, I was looking for Micha." Leo scratches the back of his neck.

Avery nods, "Yeah, they're helping Emily with something. I'm here with Harley sorting her beads." They step aside so Leo can see Harley.

Harley is sitting on the bed with a pile of beads beside her and several plastic containers. Each container has beads of their own shapes and colors and she places them accordingly with a smile.

"Hola tio!" Harley waves at her uncle and gestures for him to come inside the room.

Leo laughs, smiling as Avery lets him enter the room. He kneels next to the bed, not wanting to mess up Harley's beads by sitting on the bed. Harley hands him some beads and he helps her in sorting them.

"These are all so pretty, do these go in your hair?" Leo finishes sorting the beads in his hands before getting more.

Harley nods, "Aunty Jade puts them in my hair. Dida can too, but they're still learning. They're better at braiding than putting the beads on." 

"I know, I used to watch them braid everyone's hair every morning before school." Leo taps Harley on the nose, causing her to giggle. "I want to talk with your deda, Finn is in his room if you want to go play with him."

Harley nods and slowly makes her way off of the bed, she wraps her arms around Avery's legs before leaving to find her cousin.

Avery puts all the containers on the desk and collects all the other beads into a container. They sit on the bed and gesture for Leo to do the same.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Avery wonders.

Leo shrugs, "There's a lot for us to talk about, I mean we're in-laws and I still know barely anything about you."

Avery shrugs, "I know some things about you from what Micha has told me, I work in the same school as your wife so she should have said something about me, and our kids go to the same preschool." Avery lists things and smiles as Leo's eyes widen.

"Gosh, I really don't know anything do I?" Leo rakes a hand through his hair and groans, "Can I at least ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead." Avery grins and pats their knees. 

"Micha's ring, how did you manage that?" Leo fidgets with his necklace, which he doesn't know when he started to hold it.

Avery holds their hands out in defense, "I know I shouldn't have done it without asking. I was stupid about that and Micha was a total mess while I had it sent out." They slap their forehead a few times, "I thought it was a good idea at the time but in the end I just made Micha very worried and scared."

"They still said yes didn't they, they're still with you, they still married you. If anything you did them a favor." Leo lets his necklace drop back on his chest, "I can't blame them for their reaction, hell I would have reacted the same, but I do know they have been meaning to resize the ring they just never found the right time."

"Yeah well, I wasn't going to make them go all the way to Mexico without papers." Avery smiles, "They told me how important the ring is to them, I guess that's why I wanted to do it,"

Leo smiles, "I also wanted to thank you, for being there for them when the rest of us weren't. If anything I think Micha did things better than any of us, a job they love, an amazing family, and being able to do what they love." He frowns and starts to fidget again, "None of us can stand up to our parents, even after years we can't do it."

Avery leans back on the bed, propping up on their elbows, "I think Micha being here will be good for you guys then, learn from them to stand up to your parents."

"That's the thing," Leo leans forward and holds his head, "It's our parents, they never really did anything bad. I mean sure some things..." He scratches his head in through, "Some things weren't the best. But they're still our parents, we owe them the benefit of the doubt."

Avery frowns, seeing how Leo wants to believe his parents were good, not being able to see all the bad things through the little good things. Avery spent months with Kaliyah back in freshman year of high school trying to make Micha see what they're parents were doing was wrong. And even after that running away was all their idea later on.

"Thanks for inviting us, Micha needed this even if they won't admit it." Avery sits back up, "It'll be good for Harley too, not to be the only mixed kid. Micha will be glad not to be the only one married to a white person."

"Oh believe me, none of us intended for that, guess that's what made our parents the angriest." Leo flops down on the bed, letting his feet hang. "Guess we're all disappointments like that, well all but Lora."

"None of you are disappointments, you couldn't help who you fell in love with. You're just people who didn't give up their chance at happiness, not disappointments." Avery grins at their brother-in-law.

Leo laughs, "If only someone could have told us that earlier."

.

.

"Thanks for coming along, if it's not obvious I desperately need help." Emily looks around the farmers market as Avery pushes the shopping cart next to her.

Avery smiles, "Sure, I mean imagine how clueless I was when Micha sent me here." They hand Emily the list in their hands, "Here's everything, we're gonna make it a scavenger hunt."

Emily giggles, "Can you not be a teacher for once?"

Avery blows a raspberry in her direction, "You asked for this, sister. You asked for it when you married into the family."

"Yeah but at the time I didn't know you beat me to the punch." Emily takes the list from Avery and reads over it. "Is all that stuff here?"

Avery nods, "Yeah we just have to look for it. Have you never been here?"

"No, just the local supermarket. I've never had to make Mexican food before." Emily returns to looking around the market. "So what are we gonna need?"

Avery shrugs and starts to walk through the aisles, "When in doubt start in the Hispanic food aisle."

"Ah yes, the thing we signed up for when we married Mexicans." Emily hangs on to the cart to keep up with Avery, "So Micha taught you all this stuff?"

Avery nods, "Yep, I wanted to learn and they taught me." They look at a bag of herbs and spices and throw it in the basket. "I guess I only have that one advantage of how they were raised, you know like the other girls in the family." They grab three more bags of the same spices and throw them in too.

Emily grabs a large can of chipotle peppers from a shelf, "We need this for sure," She places it in the basket with a smug grin, "And yeah, I know what you mean. Leo basically told me how they were raised differently.  He learned a few things, but only from what he could watch."

"Explains why his churros tasted like absolute shit." Avery laughs as Emily playfully slaps their arm.

She smiles at them, "Hey, that's my husband you're talking about." She hums before shrugging. "But you're not wrong."

Avery looks at all the bottom shelf before leaning down for something. Off the shelf they get a large six pound bag of maize, they throw it on the bottom of the cart. Then they scan towards the end of the aisle and grabs three bags that looked stuffed with something 

"Well, now we go to produce to get the main stuff." Avery turns the cart in the other direction, "We're gonna get a lot of stuff so bare with me."

Emily nods as she follows, "Yeah, what kind of stuff?"

"Mainly peppers, tomatoes, and other such things. You can look at the list, I have it memorized." Avery hands Emily the list as they start to drum on the cart handle. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, shot." Emily looks up from the list with a smile.

"Is there like a secret club you and the others have where you meet up to complain about Namora or am I overreacting?" They wonder with an idiotic grin.

Emily shrugs, "You wanna join, we met every afternoon before lunch."

"Actually?" Avery stops in their tracks and laughs.

Emily nods, "Yeah, we have a membership thing and everything. You join when you marry into the family."

"I've barely even talk to her, but I ran into her this morning in the hall." Avery grabs a produce bag and hands it to Emily. "I just waved at her and all she did was glare at me."

"She glares at everyone, she likes no one." Emily starts to put tomatoes into the bag,  "She barely tolerates our kids, she's a huge hypocrite in every sense of the life. Hell, I think she's extremely jealous of Laura for doing the one thing she couldn't."

Avery grabs another produce bag and starts to get some guajillo peppers, "Yeah I heard about that, I kinda don't blame Namora for how she is."

"Why is that?" Emily raises an eyebrow.

Avery sighs, "Well, everyone blames the victim right? We blame the child for what their parents taught them." They throw the bag of peppers in the cart. "What I'm saying is we're blaming her for thoughts and ideas that were never her's. They were her parents, uncle's, and aunt's ideas and thoughts, never her's."

 "We actually have the generation before her to blame for raising her like that, she's just the one who had to fall into line so the other's didn't really have to." Emily weighs the bag of tomatoes and starts to add more for it to be the right weight. "But in the end they did have to, Micha told me how everyone became a carbon copy, or is on the path of being a carbon copy, of Namora. Micha is the only one who is nothing like her."

Avery nods, "Because they left before it got bad, they chose before anyone could do it for them. I mean sure they share some things in common with everyone else, but they did those things for them, not for their parents, but for them."

Emily frowns, "I see what you mean, it not only affected her but the others. Micha was smart, Micha left when they had the chance."

"Hopefully they can help everyone else, and hopefully get some help themselves and reconnect with everyone." Avery pushes the cart slower, getting distracted by the conversation.

"How about we hurry this up so we can get back, I know you don't want to leave the two of them alone in that house." Emily grabs Avery by the arm and starts to pull them along. 

.

.

Micha sits on the ground, their back against the couch, brushes and hair ties at their side, and Harley sits between their legs with her hair already out of its previous braids.

Micha leans over to look Harley in the eye, "Alright little lady, are you ready?"

Harley nods as she shakes her head, causing her hair to fly around her like a cloud of plush curls, "Yup, bring the pain."

Micha puts down the brush they're holding, "You have got to stop saying that each time I do your hair." 

Micha starts to section off parts of Harley's hair and tie them up when Namora walks into the living room. Both cousins glare at each other for no more than a second before Micha puts all their attention back on their daughter. 

"Hola tía. ¿Cómo estás?" Harley smiles widely at her aunt.

Namora simply smiles and sits down in front of Harley, "Hello, who taught you Español?" She wonders.

Harley, somehow, smiles even bigger, "Mis papas."

Namora nods before looking at Micha, "So, Mitchell?"

"Not my name," Micha cuts Namora off, "You've got the wrong person prima. I'm Micha, you can call me Michi if that makes things easier but I am not Mitchell."

Namora rolls her eyes, "Alright, Michi, what exactly are you doing?"

Micha shrugs as they grab a section of hair and start to brush, "What does it look like, braiding my daughter's hair."

Namora smirks, "And how exactly do you deal with all...this?" She gestures at Harley's hair.

"Yeah her hair texture is different and taking care of it is different," Micha starts to separate the hair in sections again to start braiding, "But the concept is somewhat the same. I was willing to relearn so I could do it myself."

"It's kinda weird," Namora mumbles.

Namora reaches to touch Harley's hair, Harley just climbs quickly into Micha's arms and covers her head. Namora glares at the little girl only to frown when she sees Micha's face.

"I would appreciate it if you would not call her hair weird. And we would both appreciate it if you didn't touch her hair." Micha pushes away Namora's still outstretched hand.

Namora scoffs, "It's just hair, nothing special." 

"Your hair may be nothing special, but her's is special. It has not been nice talking to you, please leave." Micha points at the door.

Namora shakes her head and walks towards the door, "Fine, just remember your place Mitchell."

Micha sighs and places Harley back on the ground, they pick up the brush again and start to braid again. Harley starts to play with some beads and hands hair ties to Micha in silence.

"Dida, who's Mitchell?" Harley questions, "Why don't you want to talk about her?"

Micha stops braiding, "Well, you know how me and deda used to tell you we were different people when we were younger?" Harley nods so Micha continues, "Mitchell is who I used to be, but then I became me."

"What happened?" Harley plays with a finished braid.

"Well, I loved Mitchell, I just didn't love the way people saw her." They tie the braid in their hand before starting on a new one, "So when I became Micha, Mitchell decided she wanted to leave. But she left happy, and she's happy where she is now."

"Is Mitchell coming back?" Harley wonders.

Micha shrugs, "Sometimes she does, when I'm dancing, when I'm braiding your hair, those are the times she decides to come back." They smile as they finish the last braid. "Done, hope you like it." 

Micha stands up and helps Harley stand up, they pick her up and place her on their hip. They walk over to a mirror towards the back of the living room and let Harley look at her reflection.

"I love it!" Harley runs her hands through the braids and moves her head side to side for the braids to flow. "Can we put some beads on?"

Micha frowns, "I don't know sweetie, I'm not exactly the best at it." Micha moves back to the couch and opens the bead case, "I can do the big ones, is that okay?" Harley nods and sits back down between Micha's legs. 

"Where could you possibly be going at this hour?" Avery questions Micha, "You literally have no reason to be out of bed."

Micha rolls their eyes, "I'm hungry since I didn't eat much, so if you let me go I could go and get some food." They start to squirm out of Avery's reach while trying not to wake up Harley.

.

.

Avery groans while having a tight grip on Micha's hand, "You're gonna wake up the whole house, love. Just stay in bed with me and Harley." 

"I won't wake anyone up, I've been doing this for years." Micha kisses Avery's hand before slipping out of the room. 

Micha walks down the hall normally, just taking bigger steps in certain places and avoiding some spots. Once they get on the carpeted stairs they mentally curse themselves, they hop on the railing and slowly slide down. They land softly thanks to their thick socks, and they slowly keep walking until they reach the kitchen. 

"You stole my fucking idea." Micha mumbles and giggles at the sight in front of them. 

Their older brother hunched over the sink with a bowl of cereal in his hand, spoon mere inches from his mouth. He slowly turns around to face Micha only to turn back around at light speed, nearly spilling his cereal.

"Goddammit Micha put a shirt on, cover up." Leo harshly whispers over his shoulder at his sibling. 

Micha rolls their eyes and looks down at their chest, "Well last I checked I don't have anything to cover. Nothing but scars and tattoos, you're not wearing a shirt either."

Leo places his bowl by the sink and wipes his mouth, "I'm gonna turn around, and I better not see anything I don't want to see." He slowly turns to face Micha and sighs in relief. "Okay, so I'm not being a pervert towards my little sibling."

Micha laughs and walks towards the fridge, pulling out a gallon of milk looking at the label carefully, "I thank you for having the lactose free kind." They walk over and get a bowl from the cupboard, "You still stole my idea."

Leo laughs as Micha starts to pour milk in their bowl, "Not that I stole it, I just acted on it first. You shoulda known this 'bout now." 

"Ha ha, hermano." Micha puts the bowl in the microwave and steps back to stand by Leo when it starts. "Honestly I haven't done this in years."

"When did...that happen?" Leo vaguely gestures at Micha's torso.

Micha shrugs, "Which part, the tattoos or the fact that I'm flat?"

"The tattoos I want to assume are after, I'm more concerned at the fact that two massive pieces of you are now gone." Leo keeps glancing at the scars, marking another difference between him and Micha.

Micha smiles, "Yeah the tattoos were after, but I got top surgery when I was nineteen, Avery did too." They drag their left ring finger along the scars that line under where their breast used to be. "We finally had enough money between us for us both to get surgery, yeah we were in pain for a few months after. For the first time though, I felt like myself, like I was finally who I'm supposed to be."

The microwave beeps and Micha walks to get their bowl. They grab a spoon from a drawer and point at the cereal box by Leo who hands it over with a smile. Micha pours their cereal in the bowl and points their spoon at their brother, Leo shakes his head and clanks his spoon against Micha's. Leo takes the box himself and starts to pour another bowl, all while staying quiet.

"I'm sorry." Leo sighs as he sets his bowl down again. "Sorry for not being there for you, and for all the stupid shit I said as kids."

Micha shrugs, "I don't blame you, blame the people who raised you and fed you those things." They take a bite out of their cereal.

Leo shakes his head, "Mom and dad had nothing to do with it, they did their best! My fault for saying that stuff!"

"I need you to shut up and listen!" Micha slams their bowl down and jabs their brother in the chest. "I don't hate them, I really don't! I just hate what they made us think and do! Your career, your grades, your extracurriculars! The only choice you made was your wife, and we both know they were mad as hell at that." 

"I don't blame you, I don't blame you for anything. You were just doing what you were taught since birth, what you thought was right. But you changed," Micha smiles and wipes their eyes, "You changed, you reached out, you cared, and you just got better."

Leo chuckles, "I just can't blame our parents for anything, they raised us, we owe them the benefit of the doubt." He crosses his arms and shrugs.

"That doesn't excuse them from the other stuff, the times we were called to counselor more than any other kids in the school." Micha steps back from their brother, "We both know you falling off the roof was no accident, yet that's what we claimed." They look down at their brother's left leg, remembering what happened.

Leo grips his forearms, "Mom said she was sorry, and I know she didn't mean it." His voice starts to fade with each word. "I can't hate them." Leo's voice is barely even a whisper. 

Micha pulls Leo into a tight hug, "I can't either, but I know what they did to me and us all those years was not good." They pull away to look their brother in the eye, "Can you remember a time, when you wanted to do something and you weren't afraid of what the adults would say? Can you remember a time like that?"

Leo's eye go cloudy, he goes lost in thought and avoids eye contact with his sibling. Micha sighs and reaches for their bowl, they finish what's in the bowl while waiting for Leo to process his thoughts.

"I was never safe." Leo mumbles after a few minutes, "I never felt safe around them, like I was always judged or if I stepped out of line..." His voice trembles as he slides down the sink cabinet and wraps his arms around his knees. "I could have died when mom pushed me." His whispers turn to sobs and the sound of his tears echo through the empty kitchen.

Micha sits next to their brother, warping an arm around him as his breathing turns shallow. Leo leans on Micha and starts to cry harder, his tears falling faster and his breathing becoming shorter.

"Alright bro, I know you need to cry shit out, but there are kids in this house who will be out for blood if we wake them up." Micha stands up and drags Leo up by his arms. "Take a minute to calm down, and then finish your cereal. It's soggy just the way you like it."

Leo smiles as he wipes his eyes, "The only way to eat cereal." He takes the bowl from Micha as his breathing starts to steady.

Micha chuckles, "Amen to that brother."

.

.

Micha slowly closes the door behind them as they enter the room, shuffling to their side of the bed quietly to now wake up Harley or Avery. They crawl into the bed and smile at the sight of their spouse and daughter holding each other while they sleep.

"I love you guys." Micha kisses Avery's head and Harley's cheek before pulling the blanket up to their chin. "One down, ten more traumatized relatives."

<Start Next>

[mar04isdead]

Eight Years You Left Us

Micha left their family after a bad fight, they didn't think of who they were hurting when they left. They missed years of getting to know new family members and helping their relatives heal. They have three weeks to make up for lost time, all while not trying to kill someone.

This book is dedicated to my cousins, we were always there for each other as kids and supported each other. Some events in this story are based off what has happened in our family. I love them and hope that as time goes on things get better.

Day 1: Arrival

Avery sighs as the silence grows stronger, the only sounds in the car are coming from the radio or the soft patter of the rain against the windshield. Their daughter Harley is asleep, due to it being too early in the morning for her. Their spouse, Micha, is resting against the passenger window. Their face in the palm of their hand, pushing their glasses into their face in a painful looking way. Avery constantly glances at Micha, worrying about what could be going through their spouse's head.

The car ride feels longer than thirty minutes, only having to drive to the other side of town from where they live. When they got the invitation last month from Micha's brother to visit, Avery was surprised Micha even had a brother let alone a whole family they had never met. It wasn't that Micha kept it a secret, more so they never liked talking about it. Avery knew bits and pieces but never the whole story, and most times they weren't sure they wanted to know.

"Y'know, I'm kinda having second thoughts about all this." Micha finally speaks, bringing Avery's attention to them.

Avery stops at a red light and turns to Micha, "Why, you seemed excited about this."

Micha nods and sits up, "Yeah but I was excited for Harley, the only family she knows is yours. Her only aunts, uncles, and piblings are friends from marching band or specific cousins of mine. I just want her to get a better hang of her Mexican heritage." They sigh and go back to looking out the window, "Then I remembered why I left." They glance out the front, "Light's green." They point out.

Avery faces the front again and starts driving again, "Funny how they didn't know we lived on the other side of town."

Micha giggles, "Well all my nieces and nephews are in elementary school, so no way we would be able to teach them. I think the oldest starts middle school next year, so I might see her around."

Avery glances at their phone where they have the GPS on, "Five minutes, you nervous?"

"What's with all the questions?" Micha retaliates with an annoyed tone.

Avery takes their left hand off the wheel to wave it around, "Just asking my spouse some questions, like if they plan on killing any of their family members."

Micha hides a laugh with their hand, "Now that you mention it, I have some ideas." They start poking at Avery's side.

"Me and Harley never witnessed anything, heck we don't even know you." They laugh as they lace their hand with Micha's to stop them from poking them. "But seriously, me and Harley are gonna be at your side no matter what."

Micha leans back in their seat, squeezing Avery's hand, "I know, but promise me that if things get too out of control we leave."

Avery brings Micha's hand up to their lips to kiss it, "I promise."

"Good, and we're here!" Micha points at the windshield.

"Holy shit I forgot your family's rich." Avery mutters in shock.

.

.

Micha and Avery stand on the porch of the three story house on the hill, Micha notices not much has changed since they left. The same porch swing, the same pristine white color of the house, the same curtains on the windows, and the same sign on the door. Micha knocks on the door while Avery adjusts their hold on their sleeping daughter. Footsteps can be heard and soft talking before the black door opens revealing Micha's older brother in faded blue jeans, black socks, and a college sweatshirt.

Micha and Leo have many similarities, same eyes, same hair, same dark skin and freckles, what makes them stand apart is Micha's need for glasses and height. Micha being surprisingly an inch or so taller than their brother than how it was during childhood, Micha owes that to the testosterone.

"Micha, Avery, hey. Come in, I'll help with the bags." Leo opens the door wider to let the family in.

Avery steps in first with Harley, Leo and Micah following with the luggage. Avery takes a look at the house, it's almost as big as the outside. A large stairway leading upstairs, an open living room off to the left, and a hall leading to the kitchen and dining room on the right.

Micha starts to take off their coat and looks around too, "Yeah, not much has changed." They slip their shoes off and put them on the shoe rack by the door. "Pass me Harley, take your jacket and shoes off." Micha informs their spouse.

Careful as to not wake up their daughter, Avery passes Harley off to their spouse so that they can quickly take off their jacket and shoes. Micha hands Avery their coat so that they can hang it in the coat closet by the hall.

"So I'm guessing Harley wasn't up for a trip early in the morning?" Leo looks at his niece with bright eyes.

Micha chuckles, "Nope, we got her dressed and put her in the car. She stayed asleep the whole time."

Avery moves to remove their daughter's coat and shoes, "She can sleep through pretty much anything, she was a breeze as a baby."

Leo laughs "I'll bet," Leo points up the stairs, "Micha, you know where your room is. You guys will be staying there while you visit."

Micha nods and starts to walk up the stairs with Harley in their arms, being extra careful with a certain step rounding the corner. They walk down the left hallway and stop at the second door on the left. Leo and Avery follow them with the luggage, Micha opens the door to reveal their old room. They turn on the light switch, and instead of a bright light the fairy lights hanging from the ceiling light up the room in a soft yellow glow.

Micha smiles, "Yep, everything is right where I left it. Little dusty but nothing's changed." They sit on the bed and wince as it creeks, having not been used in years.

Leo grins at his sibling, "None of us wanted to come in here after you left, mom and dad kept it under lock and key while they were still here. I cleaned in here yesterday, the bathroom too."

"Mom and dad moved out?" Micah raises an eyebrow at their brother as they lay Harley on the bed.

Leo nods, "Yeah, everyone did. Not at the same time though, it was after you left. I was the only one that stayed, so they left the house to me. Me and Emily never really use all the space, since it's just us and Finn." Leo shrugs, "We keep most of the rooms the same because the family likes to visit here a lot."

Micha snaps their fingers and points at their brother, "Speaking of family, I have a few questions for you." They stand up from the bed and look at Avery, "Can you start unpacking while I talk with my brother?"

"Sure, just please don't kill anyone." Avery grins at their spouse.

Micha shakes their head and chuckles, "No promises." They pull their brother out of the room with them and start to walk down the hall.

.

.

Micha smiles as they look at the pictures plastered on the wall, all taken throughout the years they grew up in this house. When they first moved to America, everyone's parents wanted to keep perfect track of their kids. Each time they took a picture they would put it on the wall in the hall leading to the kitchen. Due to the fact that Micha lived in the house with eleven other kids, the walls got filled up pretty quickly. Around the time Micha was ten, the pictures started to take over the living room and kitchen too.

"We kept adding to them." Leo walks up beside his sibling with two mugs. "We had to start in the basement too after we started to have kids of our own." He hands a mug to Micha.

"Thanks," Micha takes a sip of the drink only to pull it away from their mouth. "Gods, I forgot you like to freeze your teeth when you drink ponche."

Leo frowns, "Sorry, I forgot, sensory issues." He reaches to take the mug from Micha only for Micah to shake their head. "You sure? I can get you something else." He offers.

Micha smiles, "Está bien, hermano. I can handle it."

Leo nods, "Okay, do you want to sit in the living room?"

Micha raises an eyebrow, "Is that dreaded trophy case still there? Along with those horrible pictures?"

"I moved them to the basement, you shouldn't have to worry about it." Leo leads his sibling into the living room, taking a seat on the couch. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Micha sits next to him and blows at their drink, "Exactly, who is gonna be here?"

Leo puts his drink in his lap while raking a hand through his hair, "Just us, cousins, and their families. But they won't be here until tomorrow."

"Just that, no parents?" Micha doesn't look up from their drink.

"No parents, they don't even know you're alive." Leo comforts his sibling.

Micha's head shoots up to look at their brother, "What do you mean alive?"

Leo's eyes widen in shock, "I... I wasn't supposed to say that."

Micha shakes their head at their brother, "No, you needed to say that. Start explaining." They put their mug on the coffee table and glare at their brother.

"I don't really know where to start, mainly because it doesn't make any sense." Leo takes a long sip from his drink, not daring to look his sibling in the eye.

Micha groans and leans back into the couch, bringing their knees in and hugging them to their chest, "I want to fix things, I really do. But I can't if I don't know what the problem is." They rub their arm, tracing their tattoo that covers a familiar scar, "There are a lot of things that I left unsaid. A lot of problems I left without solutions, I want to fix it."

Leo nods, "I know, and everyone has their own opinions and thoughts about you leaving."

"But you said that they thought I was dead, how come?" Micha looks at their brother with pleading eyes.

Leo opens his mouth to answer, but before a sound comes out there is a knock at the door.

"Weird, no one should be here until tomorrow." He mumbles as he gets up to check the door.

Micha waits in the living room, only getting up when Leo slides in. He frantically gestures at Micha and then up at the stairs, Micha remembering this from childhood, nods and rushes upstairs to their room where their family is waiting for them. Micha rushes into the room, careful not to wake up their daughter and locks the door behind them.

Avery rushes to Micha's side when they see the horror in their spouses eyes, "Hey, love what happened?"

Micha's eyes bolt around the room, as if searching for something that doesn't exist, "They're here."

.

.

"Primo, how do you not have anything ready?" Namora pokes her cousin in the chest while interrogating him.

Leo rolls his eyes at his older cousin, "Namora, I told you, all of you, that you were supposed to arrive tomorrow. Me, Emily, and Finn were gonna get the house ready later tonight."

Namora smiles, "Well now you have your whole family to help you." She gestures to their cousins in the living room and heading up the stairs to go to their rooms.

Leo sighs in frustration, "Fine, just be quiet. I'll go wake up Emily and Finn, get your kids to the rooms and have them wait while breakfast is made."

"Fine, me and the women will start on breakfast, you and our husbands get our kids to the rooms." Namora starts to gather her female relatives in the kitchen so that they can start making breakfast.

Leo rolls his eyes, he goes to gather is male cousins and in-laws so he can show them to their rooms. As Ramon walks down the left hallway with his newborn daughter, he sees light coming from one of the rooms, Mitchell's. Thinking Leo left it on he turns the doorknob only to find it locked. Confused, he softly knocks on the door and hears whispers and shuffling from inside. He decides to ignore so that he can put his daughter to bed, looking back over his shoulder at the door.

Ramon enters his childhood room and makes his way to the bed, softly laying his daughter in the middle. He boxes her in with a few pillows to keep her from rolling off, making a mental note to get the bassinet out of the attic as soon as possible for her. He quickly sets up his baby monitor and turns on the lamp on his desk. He leaves his daughter in the room before and goes downstairs to look for his cousin.

He finds Leo in the kitchen showing their female cousins and in-laws where to find things. He gestures for Leo to meet him on the back porch because he needs to talk to him.

"What's up, you found your room, right?" Leo asks as he leans against the wall.

Ramon nods, sighing as he runs a hand through his hair, "That's not what I wanted to talk about."

"Oh," Leo pushes himself off the wall, "Then what is it?"

Ramon glares at his cousin, "Who's in Mitchell's room?"

Leo is taken aback by the question, "What, why would there be someone there?" He questions.

"I'm not dumb Leo, I know what I heard. Someone is in that room, no one should be in that room." Ramon gestures to the kitchen, "What do you think they'll say? It's been eight years but we haven't forgotten."

Leo sighs and puts a hand on his cousin's shoulder, "I know you miss her, I do too. It was probably just the grief, you might just be tired too."

Ramon grunts and shrugs Leo's hand off of him, "If I do find out someone is in Mitchells room, so help me." He pushes past Leo and storms inside the house.

"Ay, primo. I wish I could tell you." Leo mumbles to himself, taking a deep breath before entering the house too.

.

.

Micha is near tears, hearing someone at the door had them curl into a ball near their desk. Avery has been comforting them the best they can while Harley sleeps. Once Micha finally calms down, they decide to do the unthinkable.

Avery's hold on Micha tightens, "Are you sure, you nearly had a panic attack just now."

Micha smiles, "I'm sure, it's been a long time and I want to at least explain things to them."

"Well, I think they are getting breakfast ready. Should I wake up Harley?" Avery asks, kissing Micha's cheek.

Micha nods, "Yeah, she'll be hungry so might as well."

Avery goes over to the bed and lightly shakes their daughter, tickling her cheeks and shifting her head to the side a bit to help her wake up. They smile as Harley opens her brown eyes and yawns, stretching her arms above her head and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She sits up with some help from Avery, she looks around and frowns.

"This isn't my room?" She wonders, gripping Avery's hand.

Micha sits next to her on the bed, "It's my old room, remember, this is the house I grew up in. We're here to visit our family." Micha explains, helping Harley out of bed.

"Oh, okay." Harley skips around the room looking at everything, getting her bearings.

"We're gonna go downstairs for breakfast, so you need to brush your teeth." Micha goes over to their suitcase and pulls out a small hand purse and pulls out Harley's toothbrush and toothpaste. "Just go through the green door, the bathroom is right there."

"That's what that is, I thought it was some random room." Avery laughs.

Micha shakes their head, "Believe it or not, I have the smallest room. Namora got the biggest one."

Avery arches an eyebrow, "Because she was the oldest?"

"Nah, it was because she was the favorite." Micha stands up and goes to check on Harley in the bathroom.

"Isn't Namora the one you don't like?" Avery questions their spouse.

Micha pokes their head out of the bathroom, "You'll know who she is, she gives a certain annoying aura off of her that makes you want to stab yourself in the eye." They point at the purse laying on their suitcase, "Pass me our toothbrushes, we have to brush our teeth too."

Avery laughs and enters the bathroom with the purse, "Namora can't be that bad, can she?" They take their toothbrush out and hand Micha theirs.

"Oh, she can." Micha pats Harley's head as they start to brush their teeth.

Avery shrugs and joins their family in the bathroom, "So, will there be a murder?"

Micha looks down at their daughter and gives her a questioning look, Harley smiles up at Micha and nods. Micha smiles back before grinning at Avery with their toothbrush in their mouth.

Avery sighs, knowing they have their answer.

.

.

Ramon sees things around the house, things that keep reminding him of his cousin. When he went to hang up his jacket, he saw something similar to Mitchell's signature leather jacket. As he was putting his shoes on the rack, he saw combat boots like the one's Mitchell always wore. He knows there's something going on, but he doesn't want to point it out to his cousins because they'll only think he's insane.

He finally decides to come out of his room for breakfast, but not before swaddling his daughter in a blanket and carrying her out with him. As he exits his room, a door a few doors down opens. He looks at the people leaving, two adults and a little girl, and gasps, bringing their attention to him.

"Dida, a baby!" The little girl tugs on the sleeve of the person wearing glasses.

The person nods, "Yeah, that's your cousin."

The little girl runs up to Ramon and points at his daughter, "May I see her please?"

Ramon stares at the little girl, she looks nothing like the rest of them. The rest of them with darkened tan skin and dark freckles, she has soft brown skin and her black hair in two pigtails each with rainbow beads adorning the ends. The only similarity to him is her eyes, they are the same mocha brown as his. She looks around preschool age, and is wearing blue leggings with a pastel green sweater along with some fuzzy green socks.

"Um... sure." Ramon kneels down and adjusts his hold on his daughter to let the little girl see. "Please be careful, she's only a little over a month."

The girl nods as her eyes shine in delight once she sees the baby, she coos and giggles at the little baby. Ramon can't help but smile, remembering he was the same when he met his daughter.

The little girl looks at him with wonder, "What's her name?"

Ramon chuckles, "This is Iris, she's sleepy right now but she'll slowly wake up."

"So, you actually had a kid?" Micha giggles as they approach their favorite cousin.

Ramon looks up and almost starts to sob, it’s Mitchell. His only thought in the moment is to stand up and suffocate her in a hug, being careful with his daughter he embraces his cousin who softly pats him on the back.

"I missed you too, primo." Micha kisses his cheek before pulling away and looking him in the eyes, "You grew up, I'm sorry I missed seeing that."

Ramon sniffles, adjusting his hold on Iris, "I swear Michi, this better not be a fucking dream."

Micha laughs, "No, I'm actually here. My name isn't Mitchell anymore, it's Micha. You can still call me Michi."

Ramon nods, wiping his eyes, "Where were you? If you aren't dead, where were you?"

Micha sighs, "I'll explain all of that later, right now I just want to be able to be with my family. Breakfast?" Micha juts a thumb over their shoulder pointing downstairs.

"Yeah, I want to eat before this one doesn't let me." Ramon laughs as he gestures to his daughter.

.

.

"¿Cuántos quieren café y cuántos quieren leche?" Nina shouts over her shoulder from where she is at the stove.

Everyone is doing separate things, children are helping to set the table, the women making coffee, chocolate milk, eggs, bacon, and pancakes, and husbands running around to help in any way they can.

"Has anyone seen Ramon, he should have been here to help us." Namora places her hands on her hips as she wipes her hands on a dishrag.

Moraly rolls her eyes, "Leave my brother alone, he's having a hard time right now as it is and he doesn't need you constantly breathing down his neck." She takes some pancakes out of the pan, placing them on a plate, and hands it off to her youngest to put on the table.

Namora glares at her cousin, "Sorry for trying to keep whatever is left of this family together."

"Is little miss perfect complaining again?" Jesus grabs a roll of napkins from the pantry and walks to the table to place it, "Anymore complaining and we'll use you to make mole prima!"

Namora groans, "Just count who wants what so we can serve the mugs."

Chris goes around and asks what his family wants, taking note in his head before going to the cupboards to take out the mugs.

"Nine chocolate and fifteen coffee. I know Ramon is gonna want coffee." Chris sets the mugs out by their respective pots.

Ramon enters the kitchen with Micha and their family behind him, "Make that ten chocolate and seventeen coffee."

The loud kitchen quickly quiets as they all turn to look at the five that just entered. Reactions are different, some start to cry, some keep staring, others look around in confusion. Chris is the first person to react, running up to Micha and suffocating them in a hug. Micha starts to cry when they hear their cousin sobbing, soon all of Micha's cousins and brothers join in the hug, Ramon having passed his daughter to Avery.

"Is this a dream?" Nina asks when they all pull away from the hug, wiping her eyes with her sleeves.

Micha giggles, "No, trust me prima, I'm really here." Micha holds her hand to prove it's them.

"Pero Michi, pensamos que morestes." Daria explains, having a tight grip on her cousin's arm.

"Larga historia prima, por ahora solo hagamos lo que siempre hacemos. En la noche hablaremos sobre todo." Micha gestures back to the dining table. "C'mon I know your kids are hungry."

Micha pushes their cousins back over to the dining table, to where their partners and children are. For a few moments, no one thinks about the last few years, they are all just happy to see Micha back with them again. Micha is introduced to their nieces and nephews as Michi, they help to set the table while Avery watches over Harley.

"Okay, everyone sit down, time to eat." Leo calls his family all over to the table, having them all sit until Namora stops them.

"First, we say grace, who's turn is it?" Namora smiles as she looks around the table , no one making eye contact with her. "Really, none of you?"

Moraly shrugs, "We haven't said grace in eight years, none of us are even religious now. It's only you."

Namora glares at Moraly, "Well you better start praying to someone."

"Okay, everyone calm down." Daria gestures for her cousins to sit down, "We aren't going to have this argument, let's just enjoy being a family again."

Namora sighs and sits down, "Esta bien, everyone dig in."

Plates are passed around and parents place food onto their children's plates. People talk, some of the women take turns holding Iris so that Ramon can eat. Toddlers babbling to one another and fighting their parents trying to feed them. Laughter and conversations fill the dining room, smiles and chuckles that haven't been heard in years.

"So how long have you two been together?" Jesus questions his cousin.

Micha looks up from wiping Harley's mouth, "Um... we started dating when we were fifteen?" They turn to Avery for confirmation.

Avery nods, "Yeah, then we got married at eighteen, we're twenty four now, so nine years." They count on their fingers for reassurance.

Lora's eyes go wide, "Eighteen, so you've been married six years?"

Micha nods, "Yeah, we got together before... well the whole situation. Got married in a rather short time span but it was worth it."

Nicolas points at Harley, "What about her, is she your biological daughter?"

Micha frowns, Avery purses their lips as they both share a glance. They look at Harley and then at each other, not knowing how to answer.

"Well, she's half Mexican half African American, and while she's not biologically ours we have raised her since she was born." Micha explains, stroking Harley's hair out of instinct.

Namora raises an eyebrow, "So you adopted her?"

Avery shakes their head, "Well yes and no, it's a long story really."

"So does she even have the family name?" Namora presses.

Micha glares at Namora, "Yeah, actually she does. What, is that a requirement all of a sudden?"

Namora smiles, "No just wondering." Namora gestures between Micha and Avery with her fork, "So how did you two get together?"

Micha blushes and Avery grins evilly. Micha groans and hides their face in their hands, Avery laughs and rubs their back in reassurance.

"I don't know why Micha is so embarrassed, it wasn't that bad." Avery shrugs, Micha looking to glare at them.

"Funny from your perspective, bad from mine. The director beat me about it for weeks after." Micha crosses their arms and leans back in their chair.

"It was funny." Harley smiles as she eats some of her eggs.

Micha scoffs, "Betrayed by my own daughter, how dare you?" They nudge Harley softly with their elbow, a smile bright on their face.

.

.

Once breakfast is over, they all split up into groups in order to decorate the house. The children plus Chris are in charge of decorating the tree in the living room, the women and Avery decorate the inside of the house, and Micha would be helping the men decorate the outside.

Everyone heads to the attic to get what they need, some stay downstairs to catch everything while others head up to get what is needed. A large plank is placed over the attic ladder, making it into a ramp so that they can slide things down.

Boxes and bags are taken off the shelves and slid down the ramp to those downstairs.

"You need help there?" Micha asks Daria, who has tried and failed to climb the shelves to reach a box.

Daria shakes her head, jumping off to breathe, "Nope, I've got it. Besides, you're no taller than me."

Micha raises an eyebrow with a smug grin, they reach over Daria with ease and get the box off the shelf and hand it to her.

Daria stares at Micha wide eyed, mouth ajar, "Since when are you taller then me?" She glares at Micha.

Micha burst out laughing, holding their stomach from pain, "I'm actually the tallest now! I'm taller than Leo!"

"No, there is literally no way! Leo is taller than our husbands, he's the tallest!" Daria pulls Micha by the arm to where Leo has been helping Nina. "Leo, back to back with Michi!" Daria forces the siblings to stand with their backs to each other.

Leo chuckles, "Trust me Daria, Micha's taller than me now."

All of their cousins surround them to see if it's true, gasping and laughing when they see it is. Christopher keeps rubbing his eyes, making sure his brother didn't shrink or something.

"How, you stopped growing in your freshman year!" Christopher pokes at Micha interrogating them.

Micha laughs, "Hey, I went through the horrors of second puberty, I deserve the extra height." They look down at their little brother, "Got to say, I didn't exactly expect to grow this much."

Christopher shakes his head, "Yeah, but how? You got your height from mom, not dad."

"T shots, about six years of them. I hit a major growth spurt back in freshman year of college." They rake a hand through their hair, "Pretty sure I stopped growing after junior year of college."

"Your voice is different too. How are we just now noticing this?" Namora groans and pushes a box down the ramp in annoyance.

Lora puts a hand on her sister's shoulder to calm her down, "Everyone changes, most times for the better. We all changed." She frowns, noticing that Namora doesn't change her expression, "We'll all talk about it tonight."

"Get everything down the ramp, we need to finish decorating by tonight." Namora shoves another box down the ramp.

The cousins all look at each other, frowning and finish pushing all the boxes down in silence. Micha starts to randomly go through some of the boxes after reading what is written on them. They open a box titled 'Faldas de byle' and with a grin Micha opens the box and starts to look through it to find what they're looking for.

"Hey, who remembers these?" Micha holds up a skirt.

A purple bell skirt, adorned with ribbons and colorful embroidery. Small ruffles coming out of the skits and it is crisp and pelted. While looking small, they all know when the person wearing it spins, the skirt will spread to several feet of beautiful fabric.

"It's purple so it's mine!" Nina runs up to Micha and takes the skirt, "Damn I had a small waist." She puts the skirt up to her waist, comparing it to how she is now.

Micha giggles, "I think all yalls skirts are all in here."

The women all run up to the box, including Namora, to look through and find their skirts. They separate the skirts by color in order for the owner to identify them. Nina has all her purple skirts, Namora with her pink ones, Lora green, Daria orange, and Moraly yellow. Nina frowns when she can't find any red skirts.

"I can't find Michi's." Nina whines, "You don't think when our parents cleared things up here, that they threw away Michi's skirts?" They wonder with concern for their cousins.

Namora smiles, "I'd assume so, I mean can you blame them? They wanted all of their memories of Mitchell gone."

Micha shakes their head, "There's a lot to talk about, so we'll talk tonight." They make their way off to a shelf to grab a box, "Let's get this done so that we can talk later."

.

.

By dinner, most of the outside and inside of the house have been decorated. The kids couldn't figure out how they wanted the tree so that has yet to be done. After dinner all the kids are sent to bed, and along with adults who married into the family. This leaves the cousins all sitting around the living room, cups of ponche in their hands, everyone but Ramon who is holding his daughter. No one says a word, much like when they were kids and held meet ups like this.

Namora sighs and looks around, "Alright, so what exactly do we want to talk about?"

Micha glares at her, "How's about you guys do me a favor and explain something, like what the hell gave you the idea that I was dead?"

Moraly glances down at her cup and then at Micha, "Well, all the evidence pointed to it. Trust me when I say we didn't want to believe it."

"Okay, that kinda makes sense, but I need context." Micha looks at their cousins, silently asking them to further explain things.

"Basically, it all went down the day of your confirmation. All our parents told us was that before you walked down the aisle to the altar, you went to get something you left in the reception house." Leo gestures for someone else to continue the story.

Moraly picks it up, "When it was your turn and you didn't show up, one of the coordinators went to look for you. The house was on fire, but it was just the kitchen. When the fire department was able to put it out, they found some of your stuff in ashes." She sighs, wiping her eyes. "They found a scrap of your dress, some DNA too. It was enough for them to claim you died in the fire."

"We were at the event hall across town, we were getting a surprise party ready for you, so no one was in the house." Daria holds Moraly's hand and lets her rest her head on her shoulder. "We got the news, and there were no good reactions. When we came back home, almost all your stuff, some of your things in the attic were cleared, it was sort of like you were never there."

Lora nods, "After the funeral, your parents locked your room. They wouldn't let anyone near it, then we all just started to slowly leave. Leo didn't want to leave, so the house is his now."

"Yeah, I just couldn't bear to deal with losing the only connection to you." Leo frowns while sipping his drink. "They actually wanted to wall up your room, I begged them not to. Years go by, then I find you again in the most awkward way possible." He chuckles and looks down at the ground, "Kinda glad I found you though."

Ramon slowly rocks his daughter and looks at Micha across from him, "How did Leo find you anyways?"

Micha giggles and sips their ponche, "Long story primo, very long story."

"Then at least tell us your side of this whole story." Namora sets her mug on the coffee table to sit back and cross her legs. "We deserve to know why you deceived us for so long."

"Gosh, where do I even start?" Micha groans and lightly slaps their forehead. "I guess it mainly all started when I was ten. I was learning how to skate behind our parent's backs, I dropped softball for band, and the abuse just got too much for me. I made a friend, and she showed me a world that if I had never been pulled into it, I probably wouldn't be alive right now." Micha smiles to themselves at the memories. "I joined marching band, man I loved it there, it's actually where I met Avery. I dumped my crummy ex before dating Avery, no regrets there. I was also making money on the side, but it wasn't something you guys would expect." Micha waves their hand through the air, pushing away their family's questions. "I actually planned to leave the day of my confirmation, because it was either that or risking whatever our parents wanted for me. They found out I dropped softball, they found out about my ex and Avery, I just couldn't take it or the abuse anymore."

"The plan was simple, while you guys were out I gave some friends the keys to the house and had them gather a list of things . Then they met me outside the church, while another friend went to get my name changed. Then they took me to my apartment in Atlanta, and I was supposed to hide out there for a week while we waited for my name to be changed in all the systems. When my name was changed, I went back to school, the same school more than half of you were in, mind you. I made money doing the same thing since I was ten, and I just kept it up until I graduated. Me and Avery got married a few months before graduation, so that just secured people not recognizing my name. Then, Harley came into our lives, and let me tell you we were never so scared about anything in our whole lives." Micha laughs as tears start to stream out of their eyes, "We were on our last year of college, we had an apartment on the bad side of town, we both worked jobs, and then you add Harley to the equation and you get several mental breakdowns." They wipe their tears and face their family. "But we managed, we graduated, we got enough money for a proper house for us to raise Harley."

"The complicated thing was, leaving hurt me, I happily left but it hurt to leave you all behind. I didn't know about the fire, I had no idea. I just couldn't stay, it hurt me so much to stay, and it hurt so much to leave." Micha glances down at the mug in their hands and sighs. "I want to fix things, I want to somehow make up for what I did."

Namora stands from the couch and smooths her clothes down, "You have a lot to be sorry for. You can start by apologizing to our parents."

Micha stands up and looks down at their cousin, "Yeah, I'm not apologizing to them. They don't deserve an apology."

"Then I don't know what you're doing here, if it's not to apologize to our parents, you're useless." Namora jabs Micha in the chest, causing them to back away.

Micha groans and rolls their eyes, "I'm here to make up for what happened, and I'm here for my daughter to meet her family. This isn't about me, and it sure as hell ain't about you anymore."

"Do you even know what you missed over the years, the people we lost and you weren't there. If you were alive, where were you when abuela Julia died two years ago? We were all here for our parents but where were you?" Namora glares at Micha, tears forming in her eyes.

Micha scoffs, "I was in Mexico arranging the funeral. I was there to comfort our grandfather, I was there to manage the legal ends. I was by her side when she died, at least she met my daughter. Where were any of you?" Micha turns to her younger cousins and frowns at them. "All of you were born after me, meaning you were born here. You have citizenship by birth, you had no excuse to not go to Mexico." They turn back to Namora. "If anything you are the useless ones."

.

.

Micha storms off and lightly jogs up the stairs, raking their hands through their hair as they rush to their room. They pry the door open and slam it behind them once they're in the room, they slide down the door and cry. They cover their mouth so quiet themselves when they see Harley sleeping, they stand and start to pace around the room attempting to calm down. They stop their pacing when Avery comes out of the bathroom, hair still wet from the shower and wearing a pair of sweatpants, no shirt leaving their scars visible.

"Micha what happened?" Avery rushes over to Micha to hold them, "Micha, what happened down there?"

Micha shakes their head, instead choosing to hide in Avery's neck and cry some more, "We fought again." Micha mumbles as they cry.

Avery runs a hand through Micha's hair, "I'm here, do you want to talk about it?"

Micha shakes their head, "We mainly talked about what happened after I left, then Namora had to remind me why I left."

"It sounds like you're not in the mood to talk about it, it's been a long day so best you get some rest." Avery wraps their arms around Micha as they both stand, "Take a shower, get ready for bed so we can sleep, things will be a bit better in the morning after everyone has had time to rest and think through things."

Micha nods and heads to the bathroom, leaving Avery to sit on the bed next to Harley and wait.

Avery smiles to themselves as they hear Harley's soft snores, "Hopefully this will be worth it."

Next>

[mar04isdead]

Micha left their family after a bad fight, they didn't think of who they were hurting when they left. They missed years of getting to know new family members and helping their relatives heal. They have three weeks to make up for lost time, all while not trying to kill someone.

Coming soon...

[mar04isdead]

Freaks But Family

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14: We lost one to gain two

Final Chapter

There was a side of the story that we never had the chance to hear about. It is time we find out what exactly Favion has not been telling us. This will also be where our story ends, time to see how their fates play out.

The room is completely dark, no light and no way out. Maria lights her left hand on fire, gesturing at Favion to do the same. They both wander around the room, trying to find any clues as to what is about to happen.

Favion sighs, "So from what I have gathered, you're gonna die. Now, I'm taking it as my job to stop you from doing that."

Maria shakes her head, "As much as I love Rose, as much as I want to be there for my family, I've made my choice, and you're not gonna stop me from making it."

"Why didn't you come back? I never really got that answer, you had the chances but you didn't." Favion wonders.

Maria stands where she is, "I know, it wasn't the best thing, but it was the logical and smart thing."

Favions frowns, "Really, how could you tell?"

"I saw the future, I know that doesn't make much sense, but it's what happened." She looks at the fire in her hands, "I saw timelines, visions where I stayed or came back. But they never ended well, none of us lived. I was so scared because that was all I would see for a few weeks, then I saw the timeline we are on now."

"And what did you see?" Favion asks.

"Everything that has happened, only this time you all live. I couldn't let Melissa die because that would have destroyed the timeline." Maria smiles at her old friend, "Dude I would have gone back, I wanted to go back. But I would rather risk my own life than for all of you to suffer."

Favion nods, "It's weird, I never believed you to be the person to not take a risk. You never let anyone say shit to you, you never took anything lying down, you were mean and strong." He looks Maria in the eye, "So hearing you say that you are playing it safe does not make sense to me."

Maria grins, "Says the one who slept with nearly every girl at our school."

Favion laughs and softly shoves Maria, "Low blow!"

"I bet they showed you low blows too!" Maria laughs with Favion.

"Why the fuck did I know you were going to say that?" Favion ruffles Maria's hair, almost making her lose control of the fire.

Maria shrugs, "Dude, we grew up together for ten years, of course you know me."

"That is true, you know each other very well. Do you also trust each other, that is the real question." The voice returns as the room glows dark red. "Can you trust your best friend enough for him to let you live?"

Maria frowns and she covers her fire with her other hand, doing the same for Favion. She looks him in the eyes, and for once in his life, Favion see's Maria with hopelessness in her eyes.

"I won't make you do anything, I'm not even going to make you watch." She takes her ring off of her back. "I'm gonna give you a portal, and you're gonna leave. Let me take care of this, and please tell them all, especially Rose, that I love them and I'm sorry."

Maria makes a large circle in the air with her arms and makes a portal just big enough for Favion to fit through. She smiles at him gesturing to the portal, she makes her ring into a staff with blades. Favion's eyes widen, watching how close she is to impaling herself. Without thinking, Favion runs forward and tries to pry the staff away from Maria, the portal closes and Maria struggles to take the staff back.

"Don't do this, please don't!" Favion begs her, rolling to the ground to try and get the staff away from her.

Maria grunts and follows his every move, "I have to, you guys just get to the end of the temple!"

Favion manages to pull the staff away and pushes the button again to return it into a ring, "We'll find another way, please we were always there for each other as kids! Why should it be any different now?"

Maria lunges to get her ring, "We're not kids anymore! Why can't you see that?" She sweeps a leg under him, tripping him.

"We made a promise! That if anything were to happen we would be there for each other, you promised!" Favion stands up and blocks one of Maria's punches.

Maria makes another attempt to kick him again, "Just cause I rescued you doesn't mean I need you to rescue me!"

"You promised, yes we were kids but keep that promise!" Favion dodges her too keep the ring away.

"I grew up, you need to do the same!" Maria makes another attempt for the ring.

"But that means losing you!" Favion holds the ring tightly to himself. "I don't want to lose you, your family will miss you, your friends, your people!" He wipes his tears, "Rose will miss you!"

"I know she will, but I need to do this!" Maria takes the ring back, tears in her eyes. "I don't want to die, I don't want to leave you guys, but you know that I have to do this."

Favions shakes his head, taking hold of the ring again, fighting to take it away from Maria, "We'll find another way, please, stay!"

Maria gains a tight hold on the ring and pushes one of the buttons, making it into a staff and causing them both to jump back. She looks down at her stomach where the staff is only a mere inch away, like it is on Favion's side. The only other buttons on the staff release the blades, and if that happens both of them suffer.

Favion sees her predicament, "You have no choice, you know you don't . You can push that button and kill us both, or we can figure another way out."

Maria shakes her head at her old friend, "Only way out is if you kill me."

"And you know I'm not gonna do that." Favion simply smiles at her. "Please, stay. We always handled everything together, please."

Maria smiles, her eyes bloodshot, "Hey man, I love you guys." She puts her hand over Favion's and presses his thumb against one of the buttons, making the blades jump out, but she also jerks the staff so that the blade only narrowly avoids his side, but it goes through her, "But no fucking way." She mumbles as her last breath and the world turns black.

"Fuck!" Maria shouts as she sits up.

She looks around frantically, trying to know where she is. She touches her face and doesn't feel her glasses, and she doesn't need them. She takes in her surroundings, she's in a hut, like the ones that were made in the ancient times. She tries to stand up, only to feel a sharp jab of pain in her stomach. She looks down and sees cloth bandages wrapped around her stomach, tinted in spots of red blood.

Maria wraps her arms around her stomach, "What, the hell happened? I died, I know I died."

She tries to stand up again, she manages to do so with some struggle. She hugs her stomach while leaning forward a bit, but continues to walk. She walks out of the hut, and covers her eyes from the bright sunlight. She squints as she tries to look at everything, it's not what she imagined growing up. A large open space with several temples and huts, grass and trees, rivers and lakes, but something makes the beautiful place seem grim. Statues lined up in rows, statues of the ancient Aztec people, as if they are all frozen in time.

"Who did this to you?" Maria asks, she walks up to the statue of a child and pats their head.

Off to the side she can hear the rustling of leaves, she looks over to see a small shadow run away from her from a bush. She tries calling to the person, but they just keep running, so she goes after them.

"Hey, who are you?" She shouts, she struggles to keep up but pushes through the pain to keep running.

She follows the person, weaving between the huts and statues. Maria's bare feet pounding against the stone and earth as she tries to run faster.

"I'm talking to you! Who the heck are you?" Maria keeps shouting, eventually she has the person cornered, and notices it's just a kid.

It's a young boy, dark skin like hers and dark brown eyes. Long curly black hair that reaches his shoulders, he's only wearing a cloth tunic that reaches his knees. Golden bracelets decorate his wrist and his body is painted with ancient words.

"Oh, okay, were you the one that healed me?" She asks the young boy, when the boy doesn't respond she asks in another language. "Tu me sanaste?" Again, the boy doesn't answer. Maria lightly slaps her forehead in realization, "What am I thinking, you more than likely speak Aztec. Were you the one that healed me?"

The boy nods, "Yes, it was me, what are you doing here?" he asks.

Maria sighs, "I do not know. I woke up after I thought I died."

The boy tilts his head to the side, "You are just like the last one, she did not know why she was here either."

"There was someone here, do you remember her name?" She asks urgently.

"No, she never said her name. She only told me she was here to free our people." He shrugs.

Maria nods, "Well, what is your name then?"

"My calendar name is Xlomal, I do not know my personal name." Xlomal looks down at the ground while frowning. "What is your name?"

Maria giggles, "My personal name is Maria, I do not know my calendar name." She gives Xlomal a kind smile, "Perhaps we can help each other with that later. For now I need you to tell me who was the woman before me."

Xlomal grins, "I can show you."

Maria follows Xlomal to the largest temple that is in the center of the village. There are no stairs, just a large platform at the top where Maria assumes allows a view of the whole kingdom. Xlomal points at Maria and then the ground, Maria nods in understanding and stomps her foot on the ground and a large rock comes out of the ground and raises them up. Once they enter the temple, Maria wills the rock to go back down.

"This is incredible, I did not know this was all here." Maria states in awe as she looks around the temple.

Xlomal stops them and points to the center of the room, there in the center of the room, is a throne with a withered skeleton barely able to sit in it. The large feathered headdress is leaning over the skeletons face, their clothes dangling off the bones, and a scroll in its hands. Beside the throne, is another statue.

"That was the one before you, she used every form of magic she knew, and yet she could not free our people." Xlomal moves aside so Maria can see the statue better.

Maria walks up to the statue, the person is on their knees sitting on their heels, their hands in their lap, looking down keeping their face hidden. She slowly, as to not hurt herself, kneels down to be leveled with the statue's face. She cups the statues cheeks in her hands, and she starts to cry when she sees the face.

"This is where she has been, she was killed eleven years ago. She has been here all along, we mourned for no reason!" Maria shouts as she glares at the statue.

Xlomal puts a hand on Maria's shoulder, "She was trying to get to that scroll, she could never get it out of his hands." He points to the scroll in the skeleton's hands.

Maria stands up and walks over to the skeleton, "So he was the chief before me and my great-grandmother?"

"Yes, that is his scroll of spells. He was the one that casted the spell on our people that turned them to stone." Xlomal looks back at Lucia, "She already knew the spell, she did this to herself. And before he died, my father told me that the spell to help our people is in his scroll."

Maria turns back to Xlomal, "The chief was your father?"

"He was, he did not tell me why he turned our people to stone. But his final spell was making me young, forever, or until our people are free." Xlomal looks at the skeleton with a frown. "He made me young so I would be here to explain what happened, or to be forever alone with no chance of being free."

Maria nods, "Alright, let us see what he has been hiding."

She makes her way to the scroll and slowly takes it out of the skeleton's hands. Once she frees the scroll, a blinding light embraces the room and she and Xlomal black out.

Maria wakes up to Xlomal staring down at her, and gesturing at what was once a skeleton. What she sees is unbelievable, somehow the old chief looks alive again. His clothes and headdress seem to fit once again, he looks like an older version of Xlomal. His hair reaches his mid back and is tied by a piece of ribbon.

He is transparent, like a ghost or projection. He has no eyes, just an empty void of black. His skin is painted in red and black markings, his arms are also decorated in golden bracelets and silver rings on his fingers. He starts to slowly stand up from his throne, and walk towards Maria.

"You are the new chieftess?" He asks, raising an eyebrow.

Maria nods, "What is your name?"

"Chlsolo, that is my calendar name. You may call me by my personal name, Leopard." The chief bows his head towards Maria. "Follow me, we have many things to discuss."

Maria glances at Xlomal, who shakes his head and gestures for her to follow. So Maria follows Leopard to the entrance of the temple where he summons a bridge of stones to take them back down.

"I do believe that you have many questions for me?" Leopard looks at Maria as they walk across the bridge.

Maria nods, "Yes, why did you do all of this?" She gestures down at all the statues.

"It was to protect our people. Do you recall any mentions of my daughter?" He steps off the bridge and extends a hand to help Maria.

Maria takes his hand, raising an eyebrow when she can actually feel him, "Your daughter, she managed to gain a hold of a forbidden form of magic. I still do not know how exactly she acquired it, I was hoping you could answer that."

"The true reason I casted this spell on our people, was to protect them from my daughter." Leopard sighs as he looks at the rows and rows of his people standing still, frozen in time. "She wanted to become chieftess, after me. I explained to her that she could not obtain it through simply being born my daughter, she had to be chosen."

Maria nods, "She was not chosen, so I assume she wanted to claim what she believed was hers."

"Exactly," Leopard laughs, "She promised me she would return, she would return to destroy everything I have sworn to protect."

"So why turn them all into statues?" Maria wonders.

Leopard walks up to a family of statues, two women holding a baby between them. "She wanted them all dead. I always knew she was a normal, I always knew what normals could do, I did not expect my daughter to take that path." He walks up to another family and frowns, "She swore that she would return when my people were nothing but corpses, and that she would add them to her collection."

"You do not have to take precautions for her any more, we destroyed her." Maria offers the scroll back to Leopard, "She is dead, she is gone, you can fix all of this."

"I cannot," He pushes the scroll back towards Maria, "I am dead, I no longer have any magic or abilities."

Maria shakes her head, "I am dead as well, I had to kill myself to get here. You still have magic, you were able to project yourself from the dead, you still have magic!" She shouts.

"This was a spell that took my life. It is the reason I am dead." Leopard smiles as Maria pushes the scroll at him again, and it only goes through him. "It was a spell centuries old, I no longer have control over it. The answer is in the scroll, your scroll. All the knowledge of the chiefs before you is in that scroll, you have to find the spell to help our people."

"I no longer know how my abilities work, please, tell me what to do! I am dead, I know nothing!" Maria grips her hair in frustration.

"You are not dead, you are still alive. My son can explain that to you." Leopard smiles at Maria one last time. "Rescue them, they need you."

He disappears, as if he was never there. Maria holds her stomach, feeling the bandages and the pain of having stabbed herself, reminding herself of what she had to do to get there. She sighs and starts to walk back to the temple to find Xlomal to help her with the book.

Maria holds her hand over the cauldron, chanting a spell while the ingredients boil and the fire roars. She reads from the scroll, while Xlomoal gathers ingredients from around the room. They are in one of the older temples, inside is a room full of everything needed to make potions, cures, and spells. Maria and Xlomal have tried almost everything in the book to no avail.

"What am I missing?" Maria shouts as she slams a hand on the scroll and glares at the cauldron. "We have just about used all of our resources. Anymore and we won't have anything else to make." Maria scans the shelves to see what they have left. "This magic was meant to be forgotten long ago. It is honestly a great surprise to see that most of the ingredients have preserved themselves after all of these years."

"Time has stopped here, so things no longer grow. We should stop soon so we still have something to continue working with when the rest of your family arrives." Xlomal looks at the notes Maria has written on the stone table.

Maria sighs, "I need to rest, this injury is making this harder than it should be."

"That would be smart, I have to fix those bandages as well. It is going to take time for that wound to heal." Xlomal helps her walk out of the temple.

They walk together to the healing hut she woke up in, making small conversation as they walk. Xlomal explains how life was before everyone became a statue, they even try to come up with a personal name for him. They are also trying to figure out what Maria's calendar name is.

They arrive at the hut and start to redress Maria's wounds. Just as Xlomal is starting to wrap them again, they hear voices.

"Someone has arrived in the kingdom." Xlomal hands the cloth to Maria. "I am going to see who has arrived, you wrap your wound and then try to go back to the temple."

Maria nods and allows Xlomal to exit the hut, she begins to wrap her wounds but hears voices approaching. She ties the cloth tightly to keep it in place before making a portal and jumping through it. She stumbles into the temple and closes the portal, but not before getting a weird feeling in her gut. She steadies herself against the wall before continuing to walk inside the temple. She sighs in relief when she sees nothing wrong, she walks over to the stone table and starts to read the scroll again. She begins to mutter to herself about what she could be missing and the things she needs in order to make a working potion.

"Hello? Who's there?" A familiar voice calls out to the temple.

Maria looks around frantically, hiding in a corner and weaving the shadows into a blanket to cover herself. She stays in the corner as she hears footsteps coming down the stairs, she does her best to peek through the shadows. She slowly steps out of the shadows to be surprised at who she sees.

She gasps in surprise, "Rose?" She wonders.

Rose turns around, and screams in what seems like anger and pain. She falls to her knees and covers her mouth to keep any more screams from coming out. She points at the bandages around Maria's stomach and how they are red and blood is visible, some of the blood even leaking around the bandages.

Maria starts to walk up to Rose, "Hey, it's me don't worry." She holds her hands out in defense.

Rose's eyes are wide, in an emotion Maria isn't sure about. If it's out of fear, anger, sadness, surprise, worry, Maria can't tell.

"You died, you died!" Rose sits on the ground and starts to back away from Maria. "How the hell are you alive?" She shouts at the girl in front of her.

Maris shakes her head, "I don't know what to tell you, because even I don't know." Maria gestures to the room, "As you can see I've been trying to figure that out. So far I haven't found anything."

Rose starts laughing and rubbing her eyes, "I have to be dreaming! There is no way this is possible." She looks at Maria again before shaking her head in disbelief, "This can't be happening."

Maria presses her lips into a thin line, "Is me being back so bad?"

"No!" Rose shakes her head, "I just... I can't process all of this."

Maria laughs, "Yeah, this is a lot to take in."

"I'm sorry, but I just need some time." Rose smiles and stands up.

"Is...Is anyone else here?" Maria looks around.

Rose laughs and walks up to Maria, "I have your glasses, I assume you still need them." She digs the glasses out of her pocket and hands them to Maria.

Maria takes the glasses and laughs, "I don't need them anymore, I can actually see perfectly fine now."

Rose shakes her head, "No, how's that possible?" She takes Maria's face in her hands and examines it, trying to see what could have possibly fixed her vision.

Maria shrugs, "No clue, I'm guessing Xlomal fixed my eyes too."

"Who's Xlomal?" Rose wonders.

Maria giggles and takes Rose by the hand, "I have so much to tell you." She leads Rose out of the temple and through the kingdom.

Esme glares at the kid in front of her, "So this little boy has been the one driving Melissa half insane sending her a cry for help even though he is perfectly fine?"

Melissa shrugs, "I wouldn't say he was driving me half insane..."

"Kid was still running around causing problems." Liam points a finger at the kid. "What exactly have you been doing all these years?"

"I have been helping those who seek to free are people. Although it has only been two, they have both made large success." Xlomal smiles at the family.

"Two people, who are they?" Sam questions the boy.

Melissa suddenly stands and points to one of the temples, "Rose is in there, also with someone else." She takes off running, Max right behind her.

"No offense, but for a blind girl you run fast as shit!" Max shouts after their cousin.

"Little offense but thanks!" Melissa shouts back over her shoulder. "Can't you sense her?"

Max struggles to breathe, "Sense who?"

Melissa stops right outside one of the temples as Rose is dragged out by someone who gives Melissa a familiar feeling.

"Maria!" Melissa throws herself at her cousin and starts to sob, Max doing the same.

Maria laughs as her cousins have her pinned to the ground, both holding on and crying. Rose steps back and lets the cousins have their moment, her smile growing even wider when she sees the rest of the family heading in their direction.

"What are you guys doing here?" Maria asks her family while being smothered in their arms.

Nico jumps up from the cuddle pile to reply, "Looking for a way to save our people."

"We saw the statues, it's creepy here." Imelda looks around.

"The better question is how are you alive?" Favion questions his friend, "Maria I watched you die there is no way you survived what you did."

Maria nods as she struggles to stand, "Yeah, I'm trying to figure that out." They turn to the magic users of the family, "I actually need to show you guys something, follow me. The rest of you stay with Xlomal, try to help him figure out a way to undo all of this." She gestures to a group of statues before walking in the direction of the main temple, the magic users behind her.

Once they arrive at the feet of the temple, Maria stomps on the ground to raise the earth. They start to float to the top on a piece of the ground, and look down at the beautiful sight of the kingdom. As they all enter the temple, they take in the room. The carvings, the scrolls filling the holes in the walls, the gold accents on the tiles, but what takes the wonder out of the room is the statue kneeling next to an empty throne. The only thing on the throne is a headdress, the chief's crown.

Francisco approaches the statue, "Who is this, was it the chief's wife?"

Maria walks next to him, "Actually, she's your wife." Maria rubs the back of her neck, waiting for her great-grandfather's reaction.

Max is the first to react, "What the fuck do you mean by that?"

They slide on their knees in front of the statue and lean their head at an angle to see the statue's face. They gasp and fall on their back, catching themselves with their elbows. They kick and push themselves away from the statue, tears falling from their eyes.

"No... no. No!" Max stands up and runs to the entrance of the temple.

Micha runs after them, "Max, wait!"

Micha manages to rope Max back with some lighting before they accidentally run off the edge of the temple.

"Max, what's wrong?" Micha brings Max away from the edge and let's the lightning go.

"She...she died, I saw it!" Max holds their hands over their head and paces in a circle.

Micha sighs, "You didn't react like this when we found Maria alive."

"Maria didn't make me believe she was dead for eleven years!" The younger of the two reasons.

"This isn't about her being dead is it? Max I know you, what is it about?" Micha puts a hand on their cousin's shoulder to calm them down.

Max wipes their eyes before looking at Micha in the eyes, "If we're going to free her and our people from being statues, what will she think of me?"

"What do you mean?" Micha raises an eyebrow.

"She won't recognize me, to her I'm still a scared little girl. I'm still the perfect great-granddaughter with blonde hair and blue eyes, I'm still a little girl named Gosalyn, I'm still a little girl to her." Max turns away from their cousin and sits on the edge of the temple.

Micha kneels down next to Max, "Look, if it's about her accepting you after your transition, don't worry. I was able to come out to her and she accepted me, heck when you came out to bisabuelo he accepted you and you know how close minded he is."

Max shakes their head, "It's not all about coming out to her, I know she'll accept me. It's about what I changed about myself." They roll up their sleeves and look at their arms, "I was born as white as you could imagine, my eyes were bright blue, and my hair was golden blonde. I hated that about myself for the longest time, but bisabuela actually made me feel like me being different from the rest of you was good. And after she died, there was no one there to tell me that. Even if my skin got darker over time I got tanned during band camp, I use colored contacts when I can, and I dye my hair." They gesture with their head back into the temple, "What would she think of me, all those things she made me love I hate now."

Micha nods in understanding, "Then we started making those fucking jokes." They rub their face under their glasses and groan, "You never said anything, but we should have known."

"I don't blame you guys, I kinda blame my own reaction. Papa tried to tell me, since Juan is just a year younger than me, that I had someone just like me, but even that didn't make me feel better." Max brings their knees up to their chest and hides their face, "Instead of talking, I just bottled it up. Dad asked me once why I keep dying my hair. I couldn't give him an answer, he asked why I was so determined to get a tan and I couldn't answer. On top of that, I'm the result of a mistake. Not only was I conceived and born out of wedlock, my parents were fifteen and drunk. I was a huge mistake." Their sobs and drowned in their knees. "I'm jealous of my own baby sister, dark skin and eyes and hair. What kind of a sibling am I?"

Micha wraps an arm around their cousin, "I'll tell you what I told my daughter, you looking any different than us doesn't mean you're not family. You are something unique to us, and you help make our family even more special." They nudge Max's head a bit until their eyes meet, "And from what your parents tell me, you are the best thing to have ever happened to them. The reason they fell in love was you, not because they felt like they had to, but you were the perfect in between that they never knew existed."

Max takes off their glasses and cries harder, Micha pulls them into a hug and let's Max cry into their chest. Micha doesn't even say anything when they feel their shirt being soaked by the tears, they just let Max cry because they need it, after sixteen years of hiding how they feel, they need it.

Mariposa looks over Micha's shoulder to read the scroll, "Simple solution, we're all thinking it right?" She looks at all the magic users who nod and agree with her.

Maria gestures to the scroll in her cousin's hands, "Please explain exactly what it is."

Francisco shakes his head, "There is a potion that can be made, but we will each have to sacrifice our most precious thing, our token gems."

Maria's eyes grow to the size of dinner plates, "No way, if you don't have your gems you won't be as powerful."

Micha winces, "The gems concentrate our magic and make it stronger. That's true. But when we receive them at age five, well it's called a binding ceremony for a reason. We bond our magic to our gems, if we're not wearing them we'll be weak."

Maria nods, "Yeah I understand that, but what happens when you destroy them?"

Francisco shrugs, "Our magic is destroyed as well, we lose our magic."

Maria shakes her head and takes the scroll back from her cousin, "No, I am not letting you guys do that."

"We're not letting you risk our people over us, if we want to do it we will." Micha retaliates, "Don't even try to order us, if we don't do this who knows what will happen."

Maria looks at Melissa pleadingly, "Melissa help me out here, I can't let you guys do that! You use your magic to see, you can't tell me you're on board with this."

Melissa sighs, "I don't exactly need my magic, besides there is a healer who knows how to heal this." Melissa gestures to her clouded eyes, "Plus, my mom did always say that a leader needs and wants come after their people's. Our people need to be free, they want to be free, so let's free them."

"Are you sure, what even happens if you lose your magic?" Maria keeps pressing for answers.

Max shakes their head, "Don't worry about it, just trust us on this, that's all we ask."

Maria sighs and nods, "Fine, we'll do what you guys say, let's free our people."

Melissa drags her hand over the statues as she walks, leaving a trail of vines and roots to cover them, Mariposa and Micha use their magic to summon a rainstorm, Max is heating up the cauldron for the potion, Francisco is separating everyone's gem form their jewelry, and Maria gathers all of the ingredients that they need.

"The spell doesn't specify how many magic uses or what kind of magic we have to have, just ask for our gems. Hopefully five is enough, hopefully." Max reads over the scroll again, holding tightly to the dog tags around their neck.

Maria puts all the ingredients on the stone table, "So I have water from the nearby lake, herbs and flowers from the sorcerer's garden that Melissa will have to look at. I dug up some precious stones for the two of you to melt down, Mariposa and Micha said they'll summon what they need." She arranges everything on the table as Max and Francisco start to examine the stones.

"We can work with this." Max picks up a ruby and holds it up to the light.

Melissa runs into the hut out of breath, "Everyone is covered, bisabuela too, Rose and you are gonna have to sense them because I won't be able to."

Micha and Mariposa walk in, both looking tired and drained. Micha explains that it's because summoning a storm such as the one they just did takes so much of their energy.

"Are we all ready to begin?" Francisco asks his decedent's as he walks to the cauldron.

The cousins all look at each other and nod. Each magic user gathers their ingredients or summons them, get their gems from their great-grandfather, and they all surround the cauldron as Maria starts to chant.

"Pieces of life being used to bring back what is stone, giving a new purpose to lost souls. May the sacrifice of few bring back the lives of many."

Maria runs her hand around the rim of the cauldron as her family takes turns adding their ingredients and saying their own chants. The water starts to boil and shift colors as the family's chanting becomes louder. Maria takes a step back and allows for the magic users to put their gems in the potion one at a time.

Once their gems are destroyed, each magic user backs away and allows Maria to finish the potion herself. The potions starts to float out of the cauldron as Maria's chanting grows louder and the storm outside becomes stronger. Maria twirls her fingers through the air so that the potion flows out of the hut and into the village. She smiles and raises her hands, the potion rising into the clouds as droplets and fuses with the clouds, sending a separate stream into the main temple. Once all the potion is in the clouds, she claps her hands for the rain to fall.

"Everyone, come out here and see this!" Maria shouts to her family.

Everyone comes out of the huts and temples and laughs as the rain touches their skin. The droplets shift colors and paint the stones, the rain tickles the family's faces as it hits their skin. The children laugh and play in the rain, the older ones laugh as they watch the children run around. The laughter stops when Melissa makes everyone quiet.

"I can hear them all." Melissa reaches her hand out and walks to the nearest statue and places her hand on its cheek. "They're waking up!"

Max shakes their head, "How the hell can you tell?"

Melissa shakes her head, her smile growing wider, "I don't know! But just look around!"

Melissa gestures to the other statues, the gray stone becoming pink toned skin, the vines and roots falling off of them as they return to how they used to be. The smaller statues become children faster than the adults, the family going to them to assist them. None know what is happening, they only recognize Xlomal and begin to ask him what is happening.

Micha puts a hand on Maria's shoulder, "We have to check on bisabuela, I think they can handle things here."

Maria nods in agreement and pulls Esme to the side, "Me and the others are gonna check on bisabuela, hopefully she's okay. Do you think you guys can watch over them and explain what's happened in the last few thousand years?"

"Yeah, Xlomal knows who they are so he'll be a good help." Esme lightly punches her cousin's shoulder, "Don't worry about what happens, we'll get by just fine."

Maria smiles at her cousin and drags the former magic users in the direction of the main temple, "Let's go visit an old family member."

As they all enter the main temple, they notice as Max stays by the entrance and hides from the statue.

"I'm not sure how she'll react, best I stay here." They reason while shuffling from foot to foot.

Micha smiles and ruffles Max's hair, "When you're ready we'll have your back."

Everyone kneels in a circle around the statue, watching and waiting for something to happen. The cheers, laughter, and talking of the cured is heard from outside, but they still don't know why she doesn't return to normal.

Mariposa decides to break the silence, "I'm gonna ask something that really needs to be answered. Melissa was able to feel that the statues were waking up, how could she if her magic is gone?"

Micha shrugs, "I don't know, we destroyed our gems so we shouldn't have anymore magic." They look at their great-grandfather who hasn't spoken a word since they made the potion, "Explain, you know more about magic than the rest of us. Why was Melissa still able to use magic?"

Melissa places her hand on the ground, her eyebrows raise in surprise and to everyone's disbelief she turns her head to perfectly face their great-grandfather.

"It wasn't our gems we destroyed. You still have them, we only destroyed yours." She places her hands in her lap and turns her head the other way.

Max glares at Francisco, then push themselves off the wall they were leaning on and march up to their great-grandfather. "You tried playing hero, is that it?"

Francisco stands up so that he sees Max in the eyes, "I did it to keep you all safe, you know what happens once a magic user destroys their gem."

Max takes a step closer, having them both face to face, "Exactly, we know." They gesture to their cousins, "So we were ready to make that sacrifice. And because of you trying to stop us, bisabuela may never stop being stone!"

"Forgive me for not wanting my descendants to die!" Francisco shouts back at Max causing Max's hands to catch fire.

"No one asked you to!" They grab Francisco by the collar and drags him away from the statue. "You messed up again! Just like you did eleven years ago when she died! You had a choice, and you wasted your life!"

"Max that's enough!" Maria gets in between her cousin and great-grandfather. "This is not helping the situation, you both need to stop fighting. There's a reason why it was the two of you being chosen for the levels, you can't agree, after eleven years, that you are both at fault." Maria holds Max's hands, making the fire die out, "I know why she's still a statue, but you both need to listen and cooperate." She leads them both back to the statue.

Maria kneels in front of the statue, Max and Francisco on either side of it. She places their hands over the ones of the statue. She places her own hands on the statue's head and yellow light weaves out of her fingers into the statue's head. Once the light fades Maria smiles at them both.

"Her spell was special, she can only return to normal when her one desire is completed." She explains to her family.

Mariposa nods, "That seems logical, so what does she desire?"

"Oh that's easy!" Melissa giggles as she does her best to gesture to Max and Francisco, "She wants them to see each other's side of the story, for them to apologize and forgive each other."

Max frowns, "Wait... what if she was the voice speaking this whole time? After she became stone her soul somehow became one with the temple? When we first got here I knew something was so familiar, it's hers!"

Maria nods, "If we want her back, you two need to talk things out. We'll step outside and let you guys talk, if anything happens let us know."

Maria leads her family out of the temple, letting the two fire sorcerers to settle years of their fighting.

Max and Francisco don't bother to talk, not because they don't want to, it's because they don't know what to say.

Francisco looks at the statue of his wife with longing eyes, wishing for her to be beside him breathing, she always knew what to say to Max. Max doesn't take their eyes off of the ground, not wanting to make eye contact with her great-grandmother, statue or not.

"I am sorry." They both mumble in unison after the deafening silence gets to them. They look at each other and laugh.

Max shakes their head, "You can go first."

"I apologize for what I said those eleven years ago, it was not right of me to say any of that to you." He looks back at his wife, tears welling in his eyes, "What would she think of me now? I did not do what she asked of me, I pushed away the child she cared for."

Max lets out a painful chuckle, "I sometimes wonder what she would think of me. You know I never used to be like this, I used to be really proud of my ethnicity. But now," They look down at the back of their hands and shrug with a fake smile, "Now look at me, I'm not who I used to be, the person she said I was already good as. I'm sorry that I didn't try. I didn't try to make you listen, and that I simply let my anger get the best of me."

Francisco takes hold of Max's hand, "I do not blame you for anything, you had every right to be mad at me. I could have chosen to listen but I did not."

"I don't blame you for how you reacted, you lost your wife. You were shocked. I know you were." Max sighs and stands up offering a hand to their great-grandfather, helping him up. "What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry."

Francisco stands and smiles at Max, "I forgive you, I am sorry as well."

Max nods, "I forgive you." They do something neither of them have expected, they pull Francisco in for a hug.

Francisco starts to cry, hugging Max tightly like he did when he first met them. "I never stopped loving you, I never stopped caring for my great-grandchild."

Max starts to cry too, "I love you too, bisabuelo." For the first time in eleven years, Max is happy to be near their great-grandfather.

They both stand there crying, hugging each other tightly. They make fun of each other for crying but they know the other doesn't mean it. After a few moments, they hear a gasp that makes them turn back to where the statue once kneeled.

"Everyone get in here!" Max shouts to the entrance.

Both Francisco and Max fall to their knees to catch Lucia before she falls to the ground.

They all surround Lucia, who is trying to get her bearings and understand what is happening. She can only recognize five of them, the other is someone she has never seen. They all help her get untangled from the vines and roots that are wrapped around her. Once her mind stops racing, she looks at her husband.

"Francisco, lo siento tanto." She tries to stand again only for her knees to wobble.

Francisco and the stranger catch her, "Estabas bajo ese hechizo por años, te va tomar tiempo a ajustarse a caminar otra vez." The stranger explains to her.

Lucia nods and holds her husband's hand tighter, "How long was I like that?"

Francisco smiles at her, "Eleven years, but it is over now my love,"

The stranger and Francisco help her to stand, they guide her to the chief's throne for her to sit. The stranger hands her off to Micha so that they can take the crown off of the seat. Micha and Francisco settle her down, as she sits she looks at who her family has become.

"Micha, my how you have grown!" Lucia holds Micha's hands and caresses their knuckles with her thumbs, and stops when she feels a bump, "And you are married! I hope you found someone who truly loves you."

Micha smiles, small tears coming out of their eyes, "I did, I have a daughter to. Her name's Harley, you'd love her."

Lucia nods, "I know I would."

Micha steps to the side to let Mariposa step up and shyly wave to Lucia. Lucia waves back at her as Mariposa kneels in front of her and lays her head in her lap.

"Te extrane mucho." Mariposa mumbles into her great-grandmother's skirt.

Lucia smiles and strokes Mariposa hair, and lightly taps Mariposa's lip rings, "You have changed so much, you are much calmer than I remember you being. You hated it when I sat you in my lap, now you willing lay your head down."

Mariposa giggles, "Pere, he helped me calm down. Of course after what happened with Sebastian and my mother, I fell back into my old ways." She smiles, "But I had people that helped me out."

"And I am proud of you for it." Lucia smiles back at her great-granddaughter.

Mariposa stands up and walks to Melissa, who was having a tight hold on the stranger's arm, helping to lead her to their great-grandmother.

Lucia gasps when she sees Melissa's eyes, "Mija, que te paso?"

Melissa shrugs, "My eyes finally gave up, my aniridia couldn't be delayed anymore, I'm blind now."

Lucia pulls Melissa down for a tight hug, "There is a healer that can help you, if that is what you want."

"I don't hate being blind, I just miss somethings about being able to see. I haven't seen my fiancé's face in months, my mom, my brother and his son, my siblings. I'm scared I'll forget, I've already forgotten what you look like."

"But you will never forget who you love, I hope you have learned that many times over the years." Lucia kisses Melissa's cheek.

Mariposa leads Melissa back while Maria approaches Lucia.

"The new chieftess." Lucia bows her head towards her great-granddaughter.

Maria shakes her head, "I'm not chieftess yet, I still have somethings to learn."

"Yet you did what I could not, you saved our people." Lucia softly and over Maria's bandages and scales. "Having two markings must have made it difficult."

Maria nervously laughs, "It did, but I managed. Your notes helped a lot."

"I was hoping they would." Lucia hugs Maria, sighing in relief, "Thank you for what you did."

Maria steps back, letting Francisco approach his wife, tears in his eyes and tears starting to fall from Lucia's.

"Francisco my love, I am so sorry for the pain I caused. I never meant for any of it to happen." Lucia's tears start to flow down her face.

Francisco wipes his wife's eyes, "It is all over now, our people are safe, you are safe, you are back with your family." He rest his forehead on hers, "Everything is going to be alright, mi amor."

Lucia looks at her family, her eyes lighting up with wonder, "Where is my Gosalyn?"

Max covers their mouth, shutting their eyes tightly to stop the tears as they hide behind the throne.

Lucia's face grows stern, "Francisco, the only reason I should be like this now, is because you and her finally understand each other. Where is Gosalyn? The poor girl must be terrified, she saw me die. I know this must be hard on her, but please let me know if she is alright."

Her eyes tear into her husband's soul, begging for any information about the youngest magic user. The one who saw her fall to the ground, the one who faced such horror at a young age.

"Gosalyn... how do I say this?" Micha asks themselves rubbing their forehead, "Gosalyn changed, quite a bit actually." On seeing the confusion on their great-grandmother's face Micha starts to elaborate, "Basically Max took the same path as me."

Max peeks from behind the throne, their blue eyes lined with red from crying. They wipe their tears from under their glasses and mouth to Micha, 'I don't know if I can.'

Lucia sighs from the throne, "Max, I am a mind reader, I know you are there. Please come out, let me see you."

Max slowly rises to their feet and comes out from behind the throne. They walk around the throne and stop at the front, facing their great-grandmother. They shove their hands in their pockets, then start to cry as Lucia stares at them with wide eyes.

"Por favor de algo, se que estas enojada con migo." Max looks down at their feet and does their best to hide their face.

Lucia frowns and motions for Max to walk up to her, Max carefully steps forward and falls on their knees in front of their great-grandmother. They start to sob, they hide their face in her skirt as the tears pour like an endless waterfall. Lucia soothes Max by combing a hand through their hair, and cups their face in her hands so that they are looking at her. She tilts their head to the side so that she can see it from every angle.

"What happened to the person who wasn't afraid to be themselves?" Lucia wipes Max's tears away, "The child who's bright blue eyes made the sky jealous." She brushes Max's hair out of their face, "Who's hair was more desirable than gold. What happened to that person?"

Max gently pulls Lucia's hand away from their face, "Gosalyn wanted to fit in, she didn't feel like she was a part of the family after you were gone. I guess she taught Max how to feel that way too."

"You never should have felt that way, because you are special. You were something new to this family, something that was needed." Lucia kisses Max's forehead, "Te extrañe mucho mijo."

Max smiles, "También te extrañe."

Lucia pulls away and gestures to the holsters on Max's sides, "Those are my guns." She laughs recognizing what was once hers.

Max laughs, "Yeah, my grandma and my dads taught me to shoot. I'm not as good as you but I'm getting there."

"You are too much like me." Lucia smiles and she brings Max in for a tighter hug.

A week goes by, a week of planning and explaining. Maria told her people the story of how her and her family traveled to save them. How they used their abilities and magic to save them, and with help from Xlomal the people accept Maria as their chieftess. Francisco returned his great-grandchildren's token gem's to them, and he taught Max how to forge them and attach them to jewelry. Maria saw this as something odd until Lucia explained why Francisco was teaching Max.

"During the bonding ceremony, not only does their magic bond to the gem but so does their life. In destroying his gem, he destroyed a part of his life. We don't know how long he will have, so best he teaches Max while he can. Forging gems can only be passed from fire user to fire user, Max is the only option." Lucia's eyes weaved with sadness yet joy at the same time.

Melissa was taken to the healer, who worked a full day to help Melissa regain her sight. When Melissa came out of the healer's hut that night, she had herbal leaves over her eyes that were being kept in place by bandages. The healer instructed for her to keep them on for a week, then they would take them off to see if they had helped.

The planning they did was for Maria's coronation, Lucia and Esme looked over the traditional information, Micha read scrolls about royal duties to Melissa so that she could help Maria. The Alebrije-Gonzalez cousins helped to rebuild the community, they also served as teachers to the people in the village, seeing as some of them forgot to use their magic, shifting, or abilities.

The day of the coronation arrived, leaving Maria a ball of stress. She was brought clothes for the ceremony made by the women in the village, a huīpīlli blouse, long cuēitl skirt, cactli sandals and a long red silk cape draped on her shoulders. Melissa offered to do her hair, saying she had a special surprise.

"You're wearing glasses again!" Maria cheers in excitement as she sees her cousin.

Melissa nods in happiness and shows Maria what she carries in her arms, "Normally your hair would be loose, but seeing this is a special occasion braids with ribbons is the way to go."

Maria sit's down and takes off her glasses, Melissa starts to comb through her hair with a wooden comb and separates it to braid it.

"Nervous?" Melissa asks her cousin.

Maria tries her best not to nod, "Very, though I bet this is nothing compared to what you felt, you were ten. How did you do it? You know, your coronation. "

Melissa sighs, picking up a red ribbon to weave into her cousin's hair, "A lot of bottled up emotions. But I also had my mom and brother there, so it didn't feel like much of a burden." Melissa leans over to see Maria's face, which is twisted with worry, "Don't worry, you'll have me and the others to guide you through it all."

Maria smiles, "Thanks, for everything. Teaching me what it takes to be a ruler and how exactly to do it. Thanks."

Melissa's hands leave her hair, she kisses her cousin's cheek before leaving, "That's what family's for."

The voices and cheering is heard from inside the main temple, Maria pacing back and forth as her great-grandmother addresses the crowd, the royal headdress next to her on a stand. Once she hears her name called, she sees Lucia gesturing for her to show who she is to her people. Maria nods, shifting for the first time in weeks. Her long spider legs coming out through her back and her legs fusing into a long tail. Two new pairs of eyes grow on her face and her fangs grow longer and sharper. She slowly slithers out of the temple's shadow and into the light in front of her people. She curls her tail under her so that it looks like she is kneeling, at the edge of the temple she can see everyone in the village.

"Today a new ruler ascends to the throne, new blood being added to this mighty Aztec empire." Lucia takes the headdress off of it's stand, giving Maria a small look. 'Are you ready?' She mouths.

Maria nods as she closes her eyes and feels the headdress be placed on her head.

"People of the Alibrije clan, I present your new chieftess, Zicholnmia!" Lucia announces to the crowd.

Cheers explode through the sky as they all bow and kneel to their new ruler. Maria uncurls her tail, rising to her full height. Her nerves are still there but they've faded. She may not be entirely ready to rule, but as long as she has her family she'll be ready to try.

So... our story ends here. Maria becomes chieftess, her family helps her to rule, becomes one of the most powerful rulers the Aztec empire has ever had. It has been over a thousand years since Maria's rule, and even though she is long dead, her influence still remains.

"Valor! I know you did not just say that your mother is dead!"

"That must be my mom... great. Okay, time I come clean about who I am. My personal name is Valor, but my calendar name is Xlomal. That's right folks, I am the little boy my mother found in the temple." A young boy of age seventeen steps out of the shadows, revealing himself to clearly be Xlomal but older.

"And my reign has not ended, it's only been going on for ten years mijo." Maria steps out of the shadows as well, nudging her son's shoulders. "When I gave you permission to tell my story I did not expect this."

"Sorry mother, couldn't help myself." Valor smiles sweetly at his mother.

Maria has grown, her hair longer, her vitiligo and scales have spread more over her body. Now at age twenty-six, she has gained much wisdom.

"Don't apologize to me, apologize to your mom. Come here my love." Maria calls behind her.

Rose steps out of the shadows as well, holding Maria by her waist.

"Want to finish telling your story, mijo?" Rose asks Valor.

Valor raises an eyebrow at her, "Are you and Mother going to interrupt me again?"

Maria shakes her head, "Go ahead."

Valor rolls his eyes before continuing.

So basically all that happened after the coronation, my moms adopted me, my mother made up with uncle Favion, my aunts and uncles now live with us and they are teachers when it comes to abilities and shifting. Micha, Max, Maria, Mariposa, Favion, Kayla, Immanuel, and Alyssa all had to go back to their families but they visit when they can. Mother brainwashed everyone in town so none of them remember anything that happened. Francisco died a few weeks after the coronation, Lucia not long after. But we still remembered them, mother lets us visit them in the land of the dead. Bottom line things changed, and I don't think they'll ever stop changing. I can only hope they keep changing for the better.

Valor looks at his mothers, "How was that?"

Rose and Maria smile at their son and bring him in for a hug, "Perfect mijo, perfect."

[mar04isdead]

Freaks But Family

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14: We lost one to gain two

Final Chapter

There was a side of the story that we never had the chance to hear about. It is time we find out what exactly Favion has not been telling us. This will also be where our story ends, time to see how their fates play out.

The room is completely dark, no light and no way out. Maria lights her left hand on fire, gesturing at Favion to do the same. They both wander around the room, trying to find any clues as to what is about to happen.

Favion sighs, "So from what I have gathered, you're gonna die. Now, I'm taking it as my job to stop you from doing that."

Maria shakes her head, "As much as I love Rose, as much as I want to be there for my family, I've made my choice, and you're not gonna stop me from making it."

"Why didn't you come back? I never really got that answer, you had the chances but you didn't." Favion wonders.

Maria stands where she is, "I know, it wasn't the best thing, but it was the logical and smart thing."

Favions frowns, "Really, how could you tell?"

"I saw the future, I know that doesn't make much sense, but it's what happened." She looks at the fire in her hands, "I saw timelines, visions where I stayed or came back. But they never ended well, none of us lived. I was so scared because that was all I would see for a few weeks, then I saw the timeline we are on now."

"And what did you see?" Favion asks.

"Everything that has happened, only this time you all live. I couldn't let Melissa die because that would have destroyed the timeline." Maria smiles at her old friend, "Dude I would have gone back, I wanted to go back. But I would rather risk my own life than for all of you to suffer."

Favion nods, "It's weird, I never believed you to be the person to not take a risk. You never let anyone say shit to you, you never took anything lying down, you were mean and strong." He looks Maria in the eye, "So hearing you say that you are playing it safe does not make sense to me."

Maria grins, "Says the one who slept with nearly every girl at our school."

Favion laughs and softly shoves Maria, "Low blow!"

"I bet they showed you low blows too!" Maria laughs with Favion.

"Why the fuck did I know you were going to say that?" Favion ruffles Maria's hair, almost making her lose control of the fire.

Maria shrugs, "Dude, we grew up together for ten years, of course you know me."

"That is true, you know each other very well. Do you also trust each other, that is the real question." The voice returns as the room glows dark red. "Can you trust your best friend enough for him to let you live?"

Maria frowns and she covers her fire with her other hand, doing the same for Favion. She looks him in the eyes, and for once in his life, Favion see's Maria with hopelessness in her eyes.

"I won't make you do anything, I'm not even going to make you watch." She takes her ring off of her back. "I'm gonna give you a portal, and you're gonna leave. Let me take care of this, and please tell them all, especially Rose, that I love them and I'm sorry."

Maria makes a large circle in the air with her arms and makes a portal just big enough for Favion to fit through. She smiles at him gesturing to the portal, she makes her ring into a staff with blades. Favion's eyes widen, watching how close she is to impaling herself. Without thinking, Favion runs forward and tries to pry the staff away from Maria, the portal closes and Maria struggles to take the staff back.

"Don't do this, please don't!" Favion begs her, rolling to the ground to try and get the staff away from her.

Maria grunts and follows his every move, "I have to, you guys just get to the end of the temple!"

Favion manages to pull the staff away and pushes the button again to return it into a ring, "We'll find another way, please we were always there for each other as kids! Why should it be any different now?"

Maria lunges to get her ring, "We're not kids anymore! Why can't you see that?" She sweeps a leg under him, tripping him.

"We made a promise! That if anything were to happen we would be there for each other, you promised!" Favion stands up and blocks one of Maria's punches.

Maria makes another attempt to kick him again, "Just cause I rescued you doesn't mean I need you to rescue me!"

"You promised, yes we were kids but keep that promise!" Favion dodges her too keep the ring away.

"I grew up, you need to do the same!" Maria makes another attempt for the ring.

"But that means losing you!" Favion holds the ring tightly to himself. "I don't want to lose you, your family will miss you, your friends, your people!" He wipes his tears, "Rose will miss you!"

"I know she will, but I need to do this!" Maria takes the ring back, tears in her eyes. "I don't want to die, I don't want to leave you guys, but you know that I have to do this."

Favions shakes his head, taking hold of the ring again, fighting to take it away from Maria, "We'll find another way, please, stay!"

Maria gains a tight hold on the ring and pushes one of the buttons, making it into a staff and causing them both to jump back. She looks down at her stomach where the staff is only a mere inch away, like it is on Favion's side. The only other buttons on the staff release the blades, and if that happens both of them suffer.

Favion sees her predicament, "You have no choice, you know you don't . You can push that button and kill us both, or we can figure another way out."

Maria shakes her head at her old friend, "Only way out is if you kill me."

"And you know I'm not gonna do that." Favion simply smiles at her. "Please, stay. We always handled everything together, please."

Maria smiles, her eyes bloodshot, "Hey man, I love you guys." She puts her hand over Favion's and presses his thumb against one of the buttons, making the blades jump out, but she also jerks the staff so that the blade only narrowly avoids his side, but it goes through her, "But no fucking way." She mumbles as her last breath and the world turns black.

"Fuck!" Maria shouts as she sits up.

She looks around frantically, trying to know where she is. She touches her face and doesn't feel her glasses, and she doesn't need them. She takes in her surroundings, she's in a hut, like the ones that were made in the ancient times. She tries to stand up, only to feel a sharp jab of pain in her stomach. She looks down and sees cloth bandages wrapped around her stomach, tinted in spots of red blood.

Maria wraps her arms around her stomach, "What, the hell happened? I died, I know I died."

She tries to stand up again, she manages to do so with some struggle. She hugs her stomach while leaning forward a bit, but continues to walk. She walks out of the hut, and covers her eyes from the bright sunlight. She squints as she tries to look at everything, it's not what she imagined growing up. A large open space with several temples and huts, grass and trees, rivers and lakes, but something makes the beautiful place seem grim. Statues lined up in rows, statues of the ancient Aztec people, as if they are all frozen in time.

"Who did this to you?" Maria asks, she walks up to the statue of a child and pats their head.

Off to the side she can hear the rustling of leaves, she looks over to see a small shadow run away from her from a bush. She tries calling to the person, but they just keep running, so she goes after them.

"Hey, who are you?" She shouts, she struggles to keep up but pushes through the pain to keep running.

She follows the person, weaving between the huts and statues. Maria's bare feet pounding against the stone and earth as she tries to run faster.

"I'm talking to you! Who the heck are you?" Maria keeps shouting, eventually she has the person cornered, and notices it's just a kid.

It's a young boy, dark skin like hers and dark brown eyes. Long curly black hair that reaches his shoulders, he's only wearing a cloth tunic that reaches his knees. Golden bracelets decorate his wrist and his body is painted with ancient words.

"Oh, okay, were you the one that healed me?" She asks the young boy, when the boy doesn't respond she asks in another language. "Tu me sanaste?" Again, the boy doesn't answer. Maria lightly slaps her forehead in realization, "What am I thinking, you more than likely speak Aztec. Were you the one that healed me?"

The boy nods, "Yes, it was me, what are you doing here?" he asks.

Maria sighs, "I do not know. I woke up after I thought I died."

The boy tilts his head to the side, "You are just like the last one, she did not know why she was here either."

"There was someone here, do you remember her name?" She asks urgently.

"No, she never said her name. She only told me she was here to free our people." He shrugs.

Maria nods, "Well, what is your name then?"

"My calendar name is Xlomal, I do not know my personal name." Xlomal looks down at the ground while frowning. "What is your name?"

Maria giggles, "My personal name is Maria, I do not know my calendar name." She gives Xlomal a kind smile, "Perhaps we can help each other with that later. For now I need you to tell me who was the woman before me."

Xlomal grins, "I can show you."

Maria follows Xlomal to the largest temple that is in the center of the village. There are no stairs, just a large platform at the top where Maria assumes allows a view of the whole kingdom. Xlomal points at Maria and then the ground, Maria nods in understanding and stomps her foot on the ground and a large rock comes out of the ground and raises them up. Once they enter the temple, Maria wills the rock to go back down.

"This is incredible, I did not know this was all here." Maria states in awe as she looks around the temple.

Xlomal stops them and points to the center of the room, there in the center of the room, is a throne with a withered skeleton barely able to sit in it. The large feathered headdress is leaning over the skeletons face, their clothes dangling off the bones, and a scroll in its hands. Beside the throne, is another statue.

"That was the one before you, she used every form of magic she knew, and yet she could not free our people." Xlomal moves aside so Maria can see the statue better.

Maria walks up to the statue, the person is on their knees sitting on their heels, their hands in their lap, looking down keeping their face hidden. She slowly, as to not hurt herself, kneels down to be leveled with the statue's face. She cups the statues cheeks in her hands, and she starts to cry when she sees the face.

"This is where she has been, she was killed eleven years ago. She has been here all along, we mourned for no reason!" Maria shouts as she glares at the statue.

Xlomal puts a hand on Maria's shoulder, "She was trying to get to that scroll, she could never get it out of his hands." He points to the scroll in the skeleton's hands.

Maria stands up and walks over to the skeleton, "So he was the chief before me and my great-grandmother?"

"Yes, that is his scroll of spells. He was the one that casted the spell on our people that turned them to stone." Xlomal looks back at Lucia, "She already knew the spell, she did this to herself. And before he died, my father told me that the spell to help our people is in his scroll."

Maria turns back to Xlomal, "The chief was your father?"

"He was, he did not tell me why he turned our people to stone. But his final spell was making me young, forever, or until our people are free." Xlomal looks at the skeleton with a frown. "He made me young so I would be here to explain what happened, or to be forever alone with no chance of being free."

Maria nods, "Alright, let us see what he has been hiding."

She makes her way to the scroll and slowly takes it out of the skeleton's hands. Once she frees the scroll, a blinding light embraces the room and she and Xlomal black out.

Maria wakes up to Xlomal staring down at her, and gesturing at what was once a skeleton. What she sees is unbelievable, somehow the old chief looks alive again. His clothes and headdress seem to fit once again, he looks like an older version of Xlomal. His hair reaches his mid back and is tied by a piece of ribbon.

He is transparent, like a ghost or projection. He has no eyes, just an empty void of black. His skin is painted in red and black markings, his arms are also decorated in golden bracelets and silver rings on his fingers. He starts to slowly stand up from his throne, and walk towards Maria.

"You are the new chieftess?" He asks, raising an eyebrow.

Maria nods, "What is your name?"

"Chlsolo, that is my calendar name. You may call me by my personal name, Leopard." The chief bows his head towards Maria. "Follow me, we have many things to discuss."

Maria glances at Xlomal, who shakes his head and gestures for her to follow. So Maria follows Leopard to the entrance of the temple where he summons a bridge of stones to take them back down.

"I do believe that you have many questions for me?" Leopard looks at Maria as they walk across the bridge.

Maria nods, "Yes, why did you do all of this?" She gestures down at all the statues.

"It was to protect our people. Do you recall any mentions of my daughter?" He steps off the bridge and extends a hand to help Maria.

Maria takes his hand, raising an eyebrow when she can actually feel him, "Your daughter, she managed to gain a hold of a forbidden form of magic. I still do not know how exactly she acquired it, I was hoping you could answer that."

"The true reason I casted this spell on our people, was to protect them from my daughter." Leopard sighs as he looks at the rows and rows of his people standing still, frozen in time. "She wanted to become chieftess, after me. I explained to her that she could not obtain it through simply being born my daughter, she had to be chosen."

Maria nods, "She was not chosen, so I assume she wanted to claim what she believed was hers."

"Exactly," Leopard laughs, "She promised me she would return, she would return to destroy everything I have sworn to protect."

"So why turn them all into statues?" Maria wonders.

Leopard walks up to a family of statues, two women holding a baby between them. "She wanted them all dead. I always knew she was a normal, I always knew what normals could do, I did not expect my daughter to take that path." He walks up to another family and frowns, "She swore that she would return when my people were nothing but corpses, and that she would add them to her collection."

"You do not have to take precautions for her any more, we destroyed her." Maria offers the scroll back to Leopard, "She is dead, she is gone, you can fix all of this."

"I cannot," He pushes the scroll back towards Maria, "I am dead, I no longer have any magic or abilities."

Maria shakes her head, "I am dead as well, I had to kill myself to get here. You still have magic, you were able to project yourself from the dead, you still have magic!" She shouts.

"This was a spell that took my life. It is the reason I am dead." Leopard smiles as Maria pushes the scroll at him again, and it only goes through him. "It was a spell centuries old, I no longer have control over it. The answer is in the scroll, your scroll. All the knowledge of the chiefs before you is in that scroll, you have to find the spell to help our people."

"I no longer know how my abilities work, please, tell me what to do! I am dead, I know nothing!" Maria grips her hair in frustration.

"You are not dead, you are still alive. My son can explain that to you." Leopard smiles at Maria one last time. "Rescue them, they need you."

He disappears, as if he was never there. Maria holds her stomach, feeling the bandages and the pain of having stabbed herself, reminding herself of what she had to do to get there. She sighs and starts to walk back to the temple to find Xlomal to help her with the book.

Maria holds her hand over the cauldron, chanting a spell while the ingredients boil and the fire roars. She reads from the scroll, while Xlomoal gathers ingredients from around the room. They are in one of the older temples, inside is a room full of everything needed to make potions, cures, and spells. Maria and Xlomal have tried almost everything in the book to no avail.

"What am I missing?" Maria shouts as she slams a hand on the scroll and glares at the cauldron. "We have just about used all of our resources. Anymore and we won't have anything else to make." Maria scans the shelves to see what they have left. "This magic was meant to be forgotten long ago. It is honestly a great surprise to see that most of the ingredients have preserved themselves after all of these years."

"Time has stopped here, so things no longer grow. We should stop soon so we still have something to continue working with when the rest of your family arrives." Xlomal looks at the notes Maria has written on the stone table.

Maria sighs, "I need to rest, this injury is making this harder than it should be."

"That would be smart, I have to fix those bandages as well. It is going to take time for that wound to heal." Xlomal helps her walk out of the temple.

They walk together to the healing hut she woke up in, making small conversation as they walk. Xlomal explains how life was before everyone became a statue, they even try to come up with a personal name for him. They are also trying to figure out what Maria's calendar name is.

They arrive at the hut and start to redress Maria's wounds. Just as Xlomal is starting to wrap them again, they hear voices.

"Someone has arrived in the kingdom." Xlomal hands the cloth to Maria. "I am going to see who has arrived, you wrap your wound and then try to go back to the temple."

Maria nods and allows Xlomal to exit the hut, she begins to wrap her wounds but hears voices approaching. She ties the cloth tightly to keep it in place before making a portal and jumping through it. She stumbles into the temple and closes the portal, but not before getting a weird feeling in her gut. She steadies herself against the wall before continuing to walk inside the temple. She sighs in relief when she sees nothing wrong, she walks over to the stone table and starts to read the scroll again. She begins to mutter to herself about what she could be missing and the things she needs in order to make a working potion.

"Hello? Who's there?" A familiar voice calls out to the temple.

Maria looks around frantically, hiding in a corner and weaving the shadows into a blanket to cover herself. She stays in the corner as she hears footsteps coming down the stairs, she does her best to peek through the shadows. She slowly steps out of the shadows to be surprised at who she sees.

She gasps in surprise, "Rose?" She wonders.

Rose turns around, and screams in what seems like anger and pain. She falls to her knees and covers her mouth to keep any more screams from coming out. She points at the bandages around Maria's stomach and how they are red and blood is visible, some of the blood even leaking around the bandages.

Maria starts to walk up to Rose, "Hey, it's me don't worry." She holds her hands out in defense.

Rose's eyes are wide, in an emotion Maria isn't sure about. If it's out of fear, anger, sadness, surprise, worry, Maria can't tell.

"You died, you died!" Rose sits on the ground and starts to back away from Maria. "How the hell are you alive?" She shouts at the girl in front of her.

Maris shakes her head, "I don't know what to tell you, because even I don't know." Maria gestures to the room, "As you can see I've been trying to figure that out. So far I haven't found anything."

Rose starts laughing and rubbing her eyes, "I have to be dreaming! There is no way this is possible." She looks at Maria again before shaking her head in disbelief, "This can't be happening."

Maria presses her lips into a thin line, "Is me being back so bad?"

"No!" Rose shakes her head, "I just... I can't process all of this."

Maria laughs, "Yeah, this is a lot to take in."

"I'm sorry, but I just need some time." Rose smiles and stands up.

"Is...Is anyone else here?" Maria looks around.

Rose laughs and walks up to Maria, "I have your glasses, I assume you still need them." She digs the glasses out of her pocket and hands them to Maria.

Maria takes the glasses and laughs, "I don't need them anymore, I can actually see perfectly fine now."

Rose shakes her head, "No, how's that possible?" She takes Maria's face in her hands and examines it, trying to see what could have possibly fixed her vision.

Maria shrugs, "No clue, I'm guessing Xlomal fixed my eyes too."

"Who's Xlomal?" Rose wonders.

Maria giggles and takes Rose by the hand, "I have so much to tell you." She leads Rose out of the temple and through the kingdom.

Esme glares at the kid in front of her, "So this little boy has been the one driving Melissa half insane sending her a cry for help even though he is perfectly fine?"

Melissa shrugs, "I wouldn't say he was driving me half insane..."

"Kid was still running around causing problems." Liam points a finger at the kid. "What exactly have you been doing all these years?"

"I have been helping those who seek to free are people. Although it has only been two, they have both made large success." Xlomal smiles at the family.

"Two people, who are they?" Sam questions the boy.

Melissa suddenly stands and points to one of the temples, "Rose is in there, also with someone else." She takes off running, Max right behind her.

"No offense, but for a blind girl you run fast as shit!" Max shouts after their cousin.

"Little offense but thanks!" Melissa shouts back over her shoulder. "Can't you sense her?"

Max struggles to breathe, "Sense who?"

Melissa stops right outside one of the temples as Rose is dragged out by someone who gives Melissa a familiar feeling.

"Maria!" Melissa throws herself at her cousin and starts to sob, Max doing the same.

Maria laughs as her cousins have her pinned to the ground, both holding on and crying. Rose steps back and lets the cousins have their moment, her smile growing even wider when she sees the rest of the family heading in their direction.

"What are you guys doing here?" Maria asks her family while being smothered in their arms.

Nico jumps up from the cuddle pile to reply, "Looking for a way to save our people."

"We saw the statues, it's creepy here." Imelda looks around.

"The better question is how are you alive?" Favion questions his friend, "Maria I watched you die there is no way you survived what you did."

Maria nods as she struggles to stand, "Yeah, I'm trying to figure that out." They turn to the magic users of the family, "I actually need to show you guys something, follow me. The rest of you stay with Xlomal, try to help him figure out a way to undo all of this." She gestures to a group of statues before walking in the direction of the main temple, the magic users behind her.

Once they arrive at the feet of the temple, Maria stomps on the ground to raise the earth. They start to float to the top on a piece of the ground, and look down at the beautiful sight of the kingdom. As they all enter the temple, they take in the room. The carvings, the scrolls filling the holes in the walls, the gold accents on the tiles, but what takes the wonder out of the room is the statue kneeling next to an empty throne. The only thing on the throne is a headdress, the chief's crown.

Francisco approaches the statue, "Who is this, was it the chief's wife?"

Maria walks next to him, "Actually, she's your wife." Maria rubs the back of her neck, waiting for her great-grandfather's reaction.

Max is the first to react, "What the fuck do you mean by that?"

They slide on their knees in front of the statue and lean their head at an angle to see the statue's face. They gasp and fall on their back, catching themselves with their elbows. They kick and push themselves away from the statue, tears falling from their eyes.

"No... no. No!" Max stands up and runs to the entrance of the temple.

Micha runs after them, "Max, wait!"

Micha manages to rope Max back with some lighting before they accidentally run off the edge of the temple.

"Max, what's wrong?" Micha brings Max away from the edge and let's the lightning go.

"She...she died, I saw it!" Max holds their hands over their head and paces in a circle.

Micha sighs, "You didn't react like this when we found Maria alive."

"Maria didn't make me believe she was dead for eleven years!" The younger of the two reasons.

"This isn't about her being dead is it? Max I know you, what is it about?" Micha puts a hand on their cousin's shoulder to calm them down.

Max wipes their eyes before looking at Micha in the eyes, "If we're going to free her and our people from being statues, what will she think of me?"

"What do you mean?" Micha raises an eyebrow.

"She won't recognize me, to her I'm still a scared little girl. I'm still the perfect great-granddaughter with blonde hair and blue eyes, I'm still a little girl named Gosalyn, I'm still a little girl to her." Max turns away from their cousin and sits on the edge of the temple.

Micha kneels down next to Max, "Look, if it's about her accepting you after your transition, don't worry. I was able to come out to her and she accepted me, heck when you came out to bisabuelo he accepted you and you know how close minded he is."

Max shakes their head, "It's not all about coming out to her, I know she'll accept me. It's about what I changed about myself." They roll up their sleeves and look at their arms, "I was born as white as you could imagine, my eyes were bright blue, and my hair was golden blonde. I hated that about myself for the longest time, but bisabuela actually made me feel like me being different from the rest of you was good. And after she died, there was no one there to tell me that. Even if my skin got darker over time I got tanned during band camp, I use colored contacts when I can, and I dye my hair." They gesture with their head back into the temple, "What would she think of me, all those things she made me love I hate now."

Micha nods in understanding, "Then we started making those fucking jokes." They rub their face under their glasses and groan, "You never said anything, but we should have known."

"I don't blame you guys, I kinda blame my own reaction. Papa tried to tell me, since Juan is just a year younger than me, that I had someone just like me, but even that didn't make me feel better." Max brings their knees up to their chest and hides their face, "Instead of talking, I just bottled it up. Dad asked me once why I keep dying my hair. I couldn't give him an answer, he asked why I was so determined to get a tan and I couldn't answer. On top of that, I'm the result of a mistake. Not only was I conceived and born out of wedlock, my parents were fifteen and drunk. I was a huge mistake." Their sobs and drowned in their knees. "I'm jealous of my own baby sister, dark skin and eyes and hair. What kind of a sibling am I?"

Micha wraps an arm around their cousin, "I'll tell you what I told my daughter, you looking any different than us doesn't mean you're not family. You are something unique to us, and you help make our family even more special." They nudge Max's head a bit until their eyes meet, "And from what your parents tell me, you are the best thing to have ever happened to them. The reason they fell in love was you, not because they felt like they had to, but you were the perfect in between that they never knew existed."

Max takes off their glasses and cries harder, Micha pulls them into a hug and let's Max cry into their chest. Micha doesn't even say anything when they feel their shirt being soaked by the tears, they just let Max cry because they need it, after sixteen years of hiding how they feel, they need it.

Mariposa looks over Micha's shoulder to read the scroll, "Simple solution, we're all thinking it right?" She looks at all the magic users who nod and agree with her.

Maria gestures to the scroll in her cousin's hands, "Please explain exactly what it is."

Francisco shakes his head, "There is a potion that can be made, but we will each have to sacrifice our most precious thing, our token gems."

Maria's eyes grow to the size of dinner plates, "No way, if you don't have your gems you won't be as powerful."

Micha winces, "The gems concentrate our magic and make it stronger. That's true. But when we receive them at age five, well it's called a binding ceremony for a reason. We bond our magic to our gems, if we're not wearing them we'll be weak."

Maria nods, "Yeah I understand that, but what happens when you destroy them?"

Francisco shrugs, "Our magic is destroyed as well, we lose our magic."

Maria shakes her head and takes the scroll back from her cousin, "No, I am not letting you guys do that."

"We're not letting you risk our people over us, if we want to do it we will." Micha retaliates, "Don't even try to order us, if we don't do this who knows what will happen."

Maria looks at Melissa pleadingly, "Melissa help me out here, I can't let you guys do that! You use your magic to see, you can't tell me you're on board with this."

Melissa sighs, "I don't exactly need my magic, besides there is a healer who knows how to heal this." Melissa gestures to her clouded eyes, "Plus, my mom did always say that a leader needs and wants come after their people's. Our people need to be free, they want to be free, so let's free them."

"Are you sure, what even happens if you lose your magic?" Maria keeps pressing for answers.

Max shakes their head, "Don't worry about it, just trust us on this, that's all we ask."

Maria sighs and nods, "Fine, we'll do what you guys say, let's free our people."

Melissa drags her hand over the statues as she walks, leaving a trail of vines and roots to cover them, Mariposa and Micha use their magic to summon a rainstorm, Max is heating up the cauldron for the potion, Francisco is separating everyone's gem form their jewelry, and Maria gathers all of the ingredients that they need.

"The spell doesn't specify how many magic uses or what kind of magic we have to have, just ask for our gems. Hopefully five is enough, hopefully." Max reads over the scroll again, holding tightly to the dog tags around their neck.

Maria puts all the ingredients on the stone table, "So I have water from the nearby lake, herbs and flowers from the sorcerer's garden that Melissa will have to look at. I dug up some precious stones for the two of you to melt down, Mariposa and Micha said they'll summon what they need." She arranges everything on the table as Max and Francisco start to examine the stones.

"We can work with this." Max picks up a ruby and holds it up to the light.

Melissa runs into the hut out of breath, "Everyone is covered, bisabuela too, Rose and you are gonna have to sense them because I won't be able to."

Micha and Mariposa walk in, both looking tired and drained. Micha explains that it's because summoning a storm such as the one they just did takes so much of their energy.

"Are we all ready to begin?" Francisco asks his decedent's as he walks to the cauldron.

The cousins all look at each other and nod. Each magic user gathers their ingredients or summons them, get their gems from their great-grandfather, and they all surround the cauldron as Maria starts to chant.

"Pieces of life being used to bring back what is stone, giving a new purpose to lost souls. May the sacrifice of few bring back the lives of many."

Maria runs her hand around the rim of the cauldron as her family takes turns adding their ingredients and saying their own chants. The water starts to boil and shift colors as the family's chanting becomes louder. Maria takes a step back and allows for the magic users to put their gems in the potion one at a time.

Once their gems are destroyed, each magic user backs away and allows Maria to finish the potion herself. The potions starts to float out of the cauldron as Maria's chanting grows louder and the storm outside becomes stronger. Maria twirls her fingers through the air so that the potion flows out of the hut and into the village. She smiles and raises her hands, the potion rising into the clouds as droplets and fuses with the clouds, sending a separate stream into the main temple. Once all the potion is in the clouds, she claps her hands for the rain to fall.

"Everyone, come out here and see this!" Maria shouts to her family.

Everyone comes out of the huts and temples and laughs as the rain touches their skin. The droplets shift colors and paint the stones, the rain tickles the family's faces as it hits their skin. The children laugh and play in the rain, the older ones laugh as they watch the children run around. The laughter stops when Melissa makes everyone quiet.

"I can hear them all." Melissa reaches her hand out and walks to the nearest statue and places her hand on its cheek. "They're waking up!"

Max shakes their head, "How the hell can you tell?"

Melissa shakes her head, her smile growing wider, "I don't know! But just look around!"

Melissa gestures to the other statues, the gray stone becoming pink toned skin, the vines and roots falling off of them as they return to how they used to be. The smaller statues become children faster than the adults, the family going to them to assist them. None know what is happening, they only recognize Xlomal and begin to ask him what is happening.

Micha puts a hand on Maria's shoulder, "We have to check on bisabuela, I think they can handle things here."

Maria nods in agreement and pulls Esme to the side, "Me and the others are gonna check on bisabuela, hopefully she's okay. Do you think you guys can watch over them and explain what's happened in the last few thousand years?"

"Yeah, Xlomal knows who they are so he'll be a good help." Esme lightly punches her cousin's shoulder, "Don't worry about what happens, we'll get by just fine."

Maria smiles at her cousin and drags the former magic users in the direction of the main temple, "Let's go visit an old family member."

As they all enter the main temple, they notice as Max stays by the entrance and hides from the statue.

"I'm not sure how she'll react, best I stay here." They reason while shuffling from foot to foot.

Micha smiles and ruffles Max's hair, "When you're ready we'll have your back."

Everyone kneels in a circle around the statue, watching and waiting for something to happen. The cheers, laughter, and talking of the cured is heard from outside, but they still don't know why she doesn't return to normal.

Mariposa decides to break the silence, "I'm gonna ask something that really needs to be answered. Melissa was able to feel that the statues were waking up, how could she if her magic is gone?"

Micha shrugs, "I don't know, we destroyed our gems so we shouldn't have anymore magic." They look at their great-grandfather who hasn't spoken a word since they made the potion, "Explain, you know more about magic than the rest of us. Why was Melissa still able to use magic?"

Melissa places her hand on the ground, her eyebrows raise in surprise and to everyone's disbelief she turns her head to perfectly face their great-grandfather.

"It wasn't our gems we destroyed. You still have them, we only destroyed yours." She places her hands in her lap and turns her head the other way.

Max glares at Francisco, then push themselves off the wall they were leaning on and march up to their great-grandfather. "You tried playing hero, is that it?"

Francisco stands up so that he sees Max in the eyes, "I did it to keep you all safe, you know what happens once a magic user destroys their gem."

Max takes a step closer, having them both face to face, "Exactly, we know." They gesture to their cousins, "So we were ready to make that sacrifice. And because of you trying to stop us, bisabuela may never stop being stone!"

"Forgive me for not wanting my descendants to die!" Francisco shouts back at Max causing Max's hands to catch fire.

"No one asked you to!" They grab Francisco by the collar and drags him away from the statue. "You messed up again! Just like you did eleven years ago when she died! You had a choice, and you wasted your life!"

"Max that's enough!" Maria gets in between her cousin and great-grandfather. "This is not helping the situation, you both need to stop fighting. There's a reason why it was the two of you being chosen for the levels, you can't agree, after eleven years, that you are both at fault." Maria holds Max's hands, making the fire die out, "I know why she's still a statue, but you both need to listen and cooperate." She leads them both back to the statue.

Maria kneels in front of the statue, Max and Francisco on either side of it. She places their hands over the ones of the statue. She places her own hands on the statue's head and yellow light weaves out of her fingers into the statue's head. Once the light fades Maria smiles at them both.

"Her spell was special, she can only return to normal when her one desire is completed." She explains to her family.

Mariposa nods, "That seems logical, so what does she desire?"

"Oh that's easy!" Melissa giggles as she does her best to gesture to Max and Francisco, "She wants them to see each other's side of the story, for them to apologize and forgive each other."

Max frowns, "Wait... what if she was the voice speaking this whole time? After she became stone her soul somehow became one with the temple? When we first got here I knew something was so familiar, it's hers!"

Maria nods, "If we want her back, you two need to talk things out. We'll step outside and let you guys talk, if anything happens let us know."

Maria leads her family out of the temple, letting the two fire sorcerers to settle years of their fighting.

Max and Francisco don't bother to talk, not because they don't want to, it's because they don't know what to say.

Francisco looks at the statue of his wife with longing eyes, wishing for her to be beside him breathing, she always knew what to say to Max. Max doesn't take their eyes off of the ground, not wanting to make eye contact with her great-grandmother, statue or not.

"I am sorry." They both mumble in unison after the deafening silence gets to them. They look at each other and laugh.

Max shakes their head, "You can go first."

"I apologize for what I said those eleven years ago, it was not right of me to say any of that to you." He looks back at his wife, tears welling in his eyes, "What would she think of me now? I did not do what she asked of me, I pushed away the child she cared for."

Max lets out a painful chuckle, "I sometimes wonder what she would think of me. You know I never used to be like this, I used to be really proud of my ethnicity. But now," They look down at the back of their hands and shrug with a fake smile, "Now look at me, I'm not who I used to be, the person she said I was already good as. I'm sorry that I didn't try. I didn't try to make you listen, and that I simply let my anger get the best of me."

Francisco takes hold of Max's hand, "I do not blame you for anything, you had every right to be mad at me. I could have chosen to listen but I did not."

"I don't blame you for how you reacted, you lost your wife. You were shocked. I know you were." Max sighs and stands up offering a hand to their great-grandfather, helping him up. "What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry."

Francisco stands and smiles at Max, "I forgive you, I am sorry as well."

Max nods, "I forgive you." They do something neither of them have expected, they pull Francisco in for a hug.

Francisco starts to cry, hugging Max tightly like he did when he first met them. "I never stopped loving you, I never stopped caring for my great-grandchild."

Max starts to cry too, "I love you too, bisabuelo." For the first time in eleven years, Max is happy to be near their great-grandfather.

They both stand there crying, hugging each other tightly. They make fun of each other for crying but they know the other doesn't mean it. After a few moments, they hear a gasp that makes them turn back to where the statue once kneeled.

"Everyone get in here!" Max shouts to the entrance.

Both Francisco and Max fall to their knees to catch Lucia before she falls to the ground.

They all surround Lucia, who is trying to get her bearings and understand what is happening. She can only recognize five of them, the other is someone she has never seen. They all help her get untangled from the vines and roots that are wrapped around her. Once her mind stops racing, she looks at her husband.

"Francisco, lo siento tanto." She tries to stand again only for her knees to wobble.

Francisco and the stranger catch her, "Estabas bajo ese hechizo por años, te va tomar tiempo a ajustarse a caminar otra vez." The stranger explains to her.

Lucia nods and holds her husband's hand tighter, "How long was I like that?"

Francisco smiles at her, "Eleven years, but it is over now my love,"

The stranger and Francisco help her to stand, they guide her to the chief's throne for her to sit. The stranger hands her off to Micha so that they can take the crown off of the seat. Micha and Francisco settle her down, as she sits she looks at who her family has become.

"Micha, my how you have grown!" Lucia holds Micha's hands and caresses their knuckles with her thumbs, and stops when she feels a bump, "And you are married! I hope you found someone who truly loves you."

Micha smiles, small tears coming out of their eyes, "I did, I have a daughter to. Her name's Harley, you'd love her."

Lucia nods, "I know I would."

Micha steps to the side to let Mariposa step up and shyly wave to Lucia. Lucia waves back at her as Mariposa kneels in front of her and lays her head in her lap.

"Te extrane mucho." Mariposa mumbles into her great-grandmother's skirt.

Lucia smiles and strokes Mariposa hair, and lightly taps Mariposa's lip rings, "You have changed so much, you are much calmer than I remember you being. You hated it when I sat you in my lap, now you willing lay your head down."

Mariposa giggles, "Pere, he helped me calm down. Of course after what happened with Sebastian and my mother, I fell back into my old ways." She smiles, "But I had people that helped me out."

"And I am proud of you for it." Lucia smiles back at her great-granddaughter.

Mariposa stands up and walks to Melissa, who was having a tight hold on the stranger's arm, helping to lead her to their great-grandmother.

Lucia gasps when she sees Melissa's eyes, "Mija, que te paso?"

Melissa shrugs, "My eyes finally gave up, my aniridia couldn't be delayed anymore, I'm blind now."

Lucia pulls Melissa down for a tight hug, "There is a healer that can help you, if that is what you want."

"I don't hate being blind, I just miss somethings about being able to see. I haven't seen my fiancé's face in months, my mom, my brother and his son, my siblings. I'm scared I'll forget, I've already forgotten what you look like."

"But you will never forget who you love, I hope you have learned that many times over the years." Lucia kisses Melissa's cheek.

Mariposa leads Melissa back while Maria approaches Lucia.

"The new chieftess." Lucia bows her head towards her great-granddaughter.

Maria shakes her head, "I'm not chieftess yet, I still have somethings to learn."

"Yet you did what I could not, you saved our people." Lucia softly and over Maria's bandages and scales. "Having two markings must have made it difficult."

Maria nervously laughs, "It did, but I managed. Your notes helped a lot."

"I was hoping they would." Lucia hugs Maria, sighing in relief, "Thank you for what you did."

Maria steps back, letting Francisco approach his wife, tears in his eyes and tears starting to fall from Lucia's.

"Francisco my love, I am so sorry for the pain I caused. I never meant for any of it to happen." Lucia's tears start to flow down her face.

Francisco wipes his wife's eyes, "It is all over now, our people are safe, you are safe, you are back with your family." He rest his forehead on hers, "Everything is going to be alright, mi amor."

Lucia looks at her family, her eyes lighting up with wonder, "Where is my Gosalyn?"

Max covers their mouth, shutting their eyes tightly to stop the tears as they hide behind the throne.

Lucia's face grows stern, "Francisco, the only reason I should be like this now, is because you and her finally understand each other. Where is Gosalyn? The poor girl must be terrified, she saw me die. I know this must be hard on her, but please let me know if she is alright."

Her eyes tear into her husband's soul, begging for any information about the youngest magic user. The one who saw her fall to the ground, the one who faced such horror at a young age.

"Gosalyn... how do I say this?" Micha asks themselves rubbing their forehead, "Gosalyn changed, quite a bit actually." On seeing the confusion on their great-grandmother's face Micha starts to elaborate, "Basically Max took the same path as me."

Max peeks from behind the throne, their blue eyes lined with red from crying. They wipe their tears from under their glasses and mouth to Micha, 'I don't know if I can.'

Lucia sighs from the throne, "Max, I am a mind reader, I know you are there. Please come out, let me see you."

Max slowly rises to their feet and comes out from behind the throne. They walk around the throne and stop at the front, facing their great-grandmother. They shove their hands in their pockets, then start to cry as Lucia stares at them with wide eyes.

"Por favor de algo, se que estas enojada con migo." Max looks down at their feet and does their best to hide their face.

Lucia frowns and motions for Max to walk up to her, Max carefully steps forward and falls on their knees in front of their great-grandmother. They start to sob, they hide their face in her skirt as the tears pour like an endless waterfall. Lucia soothes Max by combing a hand through their hair, and cups their face in her hands so that they are looking at her. She tilts their head to the side so that she can see it from every angle.

"What happened to the person who wasn't afraid to be themselves?" Lucia wipes Max's tears away, "The child who's bright blue eyes made the sky jealous." She brushes Max's hair out of their face, "Who's hair was more desirable than gold. What happened to that person?"

Max gently pulls Lucia's hand away from their face, "Gosalyn wanted to fit in, she didn't feel like she was a part of the family after you were gone. I guess she taught Max how to feel that way too."

"You never should have felt that way, because you are special. You were something new to this family, something that was needed." Lucia kisses Max's forehead, "Te extrañe mucho mijo."

Max smiles, "También te extrañe."

Lucia pulls away and gestures to the holsters on Max's sides, "Those are my guns." She laughs recognizing what was once hers.

Max laughs, "Yeah, my grandma and my dads taught me to shoot. I'm not as good as you but I'm getting there."

"You are too much like me." Lucia smiles and she brings Max in for a tighter hug.

A week goes by, a week of planning and explaining. Maria told her people the story of how her and her family traveled to save them. How they used their abilities and magic to save them, and with help from Xlomal the people accept Maria as their chieftess. Francisco returned his great-grandchildren's token gem's to them, and he taught Max how to forge them and attach them to jewelry. Maria saw this as something odd until Lucia explained why Francisco was teaching Max.

"During the bonding ceremony, not only does their magic bond to the gem but so does their life. In destroying his gem, he destroyed a part of his life. We don't know how long he will have, so best he teaches Max while he can. Forging gems can only be passed from fire user to fire user, Max is the only option." Lucia's eyes weaved with sadness yet joy at the same time.

Melissa was taken to the healer, who worked a full day to help Melissa regain her sight. When Melissa came out of the healer's hut that night, she had herbal leaves over her eyes that were being kept in place by bandages. The healer instructed for her to keep them on for a week, then they would take them off to see if they had helped.

The planning they did was for Maria's coronation, Lucia and Esme looked over the traditional information, Micha read scrolls about royal duties to Melissa so that she could help Maria. The Alebrije-Gonzalez cousins helped to rebuild the community, they also served as teachers to the people in the village, seeing as some of them forgot to use their magic, shifting, or abilities.

The day of the coronation arrived, leaving Maria a ball of stress. She was brought clothes for the ceremony made by the women in the village, a huīpīlli blouse, long cuēitl skirt, cactli sandals and a long red silk cape draped on her shoulders. Melissa offered to do her hair, saying she had a special surprise.

"You're wearing glasses again!" Maria cheers in excitement as she sees her cousin.

Melissa nods in happiness and shows Maria what she carries in her arms, "Normally your hair would be loose, but seeing this is a special occasion braids with ribbons is the way to go."

Maria sit's down and takes off her glasses, Melissa starts to comb through her hair with a wooden comb and separates it to braid it.

"Nervous?" Melissa asks her cousin.

Maria tries her best not to nod, "Very, though I bet this is nothing compared to what you felt, you were ten. How did you do it? You know, your coronation. "

Melissa sighs, picking up a red ribbon to weave into her cousin's hair, "A lot of bottled up emotions. But I also had my mom and brother there, so it didn't feel like much of a burden." Melissa leans over to see Maria's face, which is twisted with worry, "Don't worry, you'll have me and the others to guide you through it all."

Maria smiles, "Thanks, for everything. Teaching me what it takes to be a ruler and how exactly to do it. Thanks."

Melissa's hands leave her hair, she kisses her cousin's cheek before leaving, "That's what family's for."

The voices and cheering is heard from inside the main temple, Maria pacing back and forth as her great-grandmother addresses the crowd, the royal headdress next to her on a stand. Once she hears her name called, she sees Lucia gesturing for her to show who she is to her people. Maria nods, shifting for the first time in weeks. Her long spider legs coming out through her back and her legs fusing into a long tail. Two new pairs of eyes grow on her face and her fangs grow longer and sharper. She slowly slithers out of the temple's shadow and into the light in front of her people. She curls her tail under her so that it looks like she is kneeling, at the edge of the temple she can see everyone in the village.

"Today a new ruler ascends to the throne, new blood being added to this mighty Aztec empire." Lucia takes the headdress off of it's stand, giving Maria a small look. 'Are you ready?' She mouths.

Maria nods as she closes her eyes and feels the headdress be placed on her head.

"People of the Alibrije clan, I present your new chieftess, Zicholnmia!" Lucia announces to the crowd.

Cheers explode through the sky as they all bow and kneel to their new ruler. Maria uncurls her tail, rising to her full height. Her nerves are still there but they've faded. She may not be entirely ready to rule, but as long as she has her family she'll be ready to try.

So... our story ends here. Maria becomes chieftess, her family helps her to rule, becomes one of the most powerful rulers the Aztec empire has ever had. It has been over a thousand years since Maria's rule, and even though she is long dead, her influence still remains.

"Valor! I know you did not just say that your mother is dead!"

"That must be my mom... great. Okay, time I come clean about who I am. My personal name is Valor, but my calendar name is Xlomal. That's right folks, I am the little boy my mother found in the temple." A young boy of age seventeen steps out of the shadows, revealing himself to clearly be Xlomal but older.

"And my reign has not ended, it's only been going on for ten years mijo." Maria steps out of the shadows as well, nudging her son's shoulders. "When I gave you permission to tell my story I did not expect this."

"Sorry mother, couldn't help myself." Valor smiles sweetly at his mother.

Maria has grown, her hair longer, her vitiligo and scales have spread more over her body. Now at age twenty-six, she has gained much wisdom.

"Don't apologize to me, apologize to your mom. Come here my love." Maria calls behind her.

Rose steps out of the shadows as well, holding Maria by her waist.

"Want to finish telling your story, mijo?" Rose asks Valor.

Valor raises an eyebrow at her, "Are you and Mother going to interrupt me again?"

Maria shakes her head, "Go ahead."

Valor rolls his eyes before continuing.

So basically all that happened after the coronation, my moms adopted me, my mother made up with uncle Favion, my aunts and uncles now live with us and they are teachers when it comes to abilities and shifting. Micha, Max, Maria, Mariposa, Favion, Kayla, Immanuel, and Alyssa all had to go back to their families but they visit when they can. Mother brainwashed everyone in town so none of them remember anything that happened. Francisco died a few weeks after the coronation, Lucia not long after. But we still remembered them, mother lets us visit them in the land of the dead. Bottom line things changed, and I don't think they'll ever stop changing. I can only hope they keep changing for the better.

Valor looks at his mothers, "How was that?"

Rose and Maria smile at their son and bring him in for a hug, "Perfect mijo, perfect."

[mar04isdead]

Freaks But Family

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13: T is for Trauma part II

This is the last stretch of the journey, but there's a lot that we need to talk about here. So someone is about to die, I hope you didn't get attached to any of them. Also you thought the last part was full of trauma, were not even halfway done. Now buckle up cause it's gonna be a hell of a ride!

Everyone starts to look around the room, reading the markings and trying to find out who the temple is going to kill. Micha calls Maria over to the one they are looking at.

"This one, I think this is the one." Micha points to it while frowning.

Maria looks at the writing and reads it aloud, " 'A chieftess and a queen, only one can live and lead.' That really doesn't sound good."

Max walks over to them and looks at the writing too, "Let's just break it down. A chieftess, clearly that's Maria."

"Yeah," Micha agrees, "But who's the queen?"

Mariposa joins them in looking at the writing, "In case you all have forgotten, Melissa is a queen."

"And in case you are forgetting, she has a kingdom that needs her to return to them." Max adds.

Micha nods, "But there is also a forgotten civilization that needs their chieftess, they need Maria."

"So, who's it gonna be?" Maria asks.

Mariposa shakes her head, "Maybe there's another way, but until we can figure it out this is all we have."

Micha looks around, "Where is Melissa?"

Maria looks on the other side of the room, "Over there, what is she looking at?"

Micha frowns, "She's blind."

"Okay, then what exactly is she doing over there?" Maria corrects herself.

Melissa turns to face them, taking off her blindfold so that they can see that she's mad, "I'm blind not deaf, I can hear you guys perfectly." She puts a hand on the wall, "I'm just trying to know what the writing says, but apparently you guys already know."

Maria nods, "We have to make a choice, who's gonna die and who's gonna live."

"We don't have to make that choice though, we can try and find another way." Max explains.

Melissa tilts her head to the side, "And if we can't find another way?"

Micha shakes their head, "Let's just hope that doesn't have to happen."

Maria looks to the center of the room, she steps into the circle to inspect it more. She walks around the perimeter, looking at the markings trying to decipher what they mean.

"Melissa, I need you here." Maria carefully takes Melissa by the hand and leads her to the middle of the circle. "We're just gonna have to listen to what the voice says, and hope we can make it out of this." Winds start to fill the room and the voice returns.

"A queen and a chieftess, both in charge of two powerful civilizations. Yet only one of you is needed alive, so you both need to make a decision. Who will leave this temple alive, and who will mourn the other's death. Choose before a choice is made for you."

Maria starts to slowly let go of Melissa, "You're gonna make it out, you have a kingdom that needs you. Your whole life is still ahead of you and I'm not letting you throw it away." She looks down at the ground to try and hide her face.

Melissa shakes her head, she tilts Maria's head up so she's looking her in her clouded eyes, "But it's our people that are about to be forgotten, and they need their chieftess. This is your destiny." She slowly starts to push Maria out of the circle. "I was just lucky, I was lucky to have been found in that alley, I was lucky enough to be adopted by a royal family. And I was very lucky that dad trusted me enough to make me queen."

"No, Melissa, don't say that." Maria begs.

Melissa smiles, "You're needed more than I am, my mom can take care of things, Tyler can too." She has Maria fully out of the circle, "We won't have another chieftess for gods know how long, we can't risk you."

Maria wipes her eyes and starts to slowly push her way back into the circle, "No, you have a kingdom and people who love you. I know you don't want to die."

"But I don't want you to die either." Melissa stands her ground tightening her grip on Maria. "I'm doing my duty as a queen, and putting the wants and needs of others before my own needs and wants."

Maria sighs, "Then it's time I do the same, I'm gonna make the hard choice here." Maria stomps her foot, the circle rises up and tilts softly sliding Melissa off of it and into Micha's arms. "As your chieftess I order you to let me make the sacrifice. I'm gonna do this, and none of you are to stop me."

Melissa nods, "Who am I to defy my chieftess?"

The circle slides back into place, a dome is formed and it starts to sink under ground. Rose rushes to pull Maria out only for the barrier to push her back.

"Babe, please don't do this, we can find another way please!" Rose shouts, slamming her fist on the dome.

Everyone joins Rose in trying to convince Maria of something else, to find another way. The magic users stay to the side, knowing that Maria is doing what she has to do. Favion slams his hands on the dome, only to fall through it and land on the circle next to Maria.

Maria extends a hand out to him to help him up, "Hey, guess we're gonna have to face this together again."

Favion nods, "Yeah, guess we will."

Maria looks up at Rose, "Don't worry about me, but just in case, remember to do what I told you."

"Favion, take care of her. Please." Rose ask.

Favion nods, and he and Maria are taken completely underground, the hole above them sealing shut. That's the last time Rose Alray sees her girlfriend Maria Alebrije-Gonzalez.

Melissa hugs her knees close to her chest, "Should we tell them, I can feel them all worried." She drags her hand across the ground.

Micha sighs, "You felt it though, right? I can't be the only one who did?" They look down at their hands. "It was weird too, like a part of me just died as well."

Mariposa shrugs, "Yeah, well we're all connected in some way."

Max smiles, "It explains a lot about us." They look at their pacing family, "But I stopped feeling our connection with Maria nearly an hour ago. I don't know what that means, but I have an idea."

"I still can't believe that we're gonna get to see the temple, our tios always made it seem like it would never happen." Micha looks up at the ceiling, noticing how stars and constellations are carved into it.

Max points to the constellation in the center, "That one, that was bisabuela's marking."

The constellation is of a spider with its legs pointed upwards like an arrow. Max smiles, remembering how seeing that mark was always something that meant good things.

Just as everyone is about to look for Maria and Favion themselves, the sound of stone grinding on stone starts to echo off of the walks. Rose is the first person to make it to the circle as it's rising, only to start crying. Favion is carrying Maria in his arms, her body limp, and her blood leaving her.

"What the hell did you do?" Rose shouts, Sam and Liam hold her back from punching Favion.

Favion backs away, "I'm sorry, I tried, I really did. She just was so stubborn," He looks down at his dead friend. "I tried stopping her, she just fought back, you know how she was."

Rose manages to get out of Liam and Sam's hold, "I'm really not appreciating your use of the past tense." She looks down at Maria, frowning. "She's gone, she's actually gone." She mumbles.

Favion sighs, he gestures to Maria with his head, and extends her out to Rose who takes her in her arms. Rose sinks down to her knees when Maria is safely in her hold, she caresses Maria's face. She takes Maria's glasses off and puts them in her pocket, she sweeps her hair out of her face to see her dull, empty eyes.

"You promised me you wouldn't leave me, why did you lie?" Rose cries as she hides her face in Maria's neck, kissing her cold skin. "She can't be gone, she said she wouldn't. Please wake up, Maria, wake up!" Rose softly squeezes Maria's cold, limp hand to no avail.

Melissa pushes through her family that's crowding Rose, she kneels next to Rose and puts a hand on her shoulder. "Rose, she's gone. I know you don't want to accept it, but it's true." Melissa smiles at Rose, "It's hard, but you have to accept that it happened."

"She's gone, she's gone and she's not coming back." Rose's tears fall onto Maria's face.

Micha kneels in front of Rose and Melissa, "I know you don't want to let her go, but you need to." Micha points up at the ceiling, "Each of those constellations, those were the markings that belonged to the chiefs before Maria."

Mariposa kneels by Maria's head, "She told you something before she died. She's in the stars, her mark will become a constellation and every night you will see her in the sky."

"There was a way we used to honor our dead, you just might not like it." Max sits down on the other side of Rose.

"What is it?" Rose holds Maria closer to her chest.

Max sighs, "Cremation, it's a way of sending a part of her, her love, her memories, up to the stars where she will be remembered."

Rose lays Maria down on the ground, "Okay, okay, I say let's do it." She stands up but keeps her eyes on her. "I'm gonna miss her, but I have to let her go sooner or later."

Micha nods, "Okay, best we do it now while we still have the chance. Melissa, you know how to start it."

Melissa nods, she goes to the center of the room and raises her hands up. From the ground rises a bed made of vines, daisies, violets, and dandelions. Micha rubs their hands together, small sparks fly from them, and then they place them at the feet of the bed charging it with electricity. Esme and the others levitate Maria's body into the air, and softly place her on the bed. Max and Francisco stand on either side of the bed, they raise their hands up, and fire starts to weave into a blanket that they slowly place it over Maria.

They all watch as the bed and Maria start to burn, the younger kids don't look and are being held by the older ones. As the smoke starts to gather, Mariposa steps close to the burning bed, makes a circle with her arms, and the smoke starts to rise up to the ceiling. Once it touches the ceiling, it starts to glow, Mariposa blows the rest of the smoke and ashes up, and all that is left is on the ceiling, a symbol of a snake and a spider intertwined. It is all that they have left of Maria.

Micha looks around the room, "So what do we do next, is there even a way out of here?"

Rose hasn't moved from her spot in the center of the room, "We did as the voice said, so we should be allowed out, but we're not."

Micha walks up to Rose and puts a hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay, you didn't really have time to grieve so I want to make sure you're doing fine." They whisper.

"I'm still... processing." Rose covers her face with her hands, "Okay, I'm not sure how I have to feel. I know she's gone, I know I have to be sad, she was my girlfriend, but... I don't know."

Micha sits down and pats the ground next to them, "C'mon, tell me how you're feeling."

Rose sits down next to Micha, "I'm mad, I think I'm a bit happy too. It's because it's what she wanted, but I don't agree with it." Rose leans her head on Micha's shoulder, Micha smiles and wraps an arm around her. "She was her own person, and it was a choice that she had to make."

"She put her duty before herself, and it wasn't easy for her. She loved you and all of us too, so it was a hard choice." Micha looks up at the ceiling, "There are many things that we don't know about our culture, our people were wiped out before we could gain much information." They look back at Rose and frown, "The thing is that she knew that this would happen, she saw it happen, she could have avoided it, and she chose to let it happen."

Rose nods, "That's the thing, she chose to do it. She knew she would die, that's what makes me happy, proud even. She risked it all for the people she loved, that's what made her amazing."

"She loved you, believe me or not she loved you so much." Micha nudges Rose with their shoulder. "I've seen the way she looked at you, I've seen the way you looked at her. That was pure love."

Rose wipes her eyes, "I'm gonna miss her, I don't know when I'm gonna stop feeling like this." She looks at Micha with eyes filled with tears, "How do you just forget about the person you loved so much and promised to love you too?"

Micha frowns, tears forming in their own eyes, "I can say this from experience, you can't, at least not yet. You need time, you need the right people, and you can't just erase them from your memory, especially when they made a large impact on your life." Micha brushes Rose's hair out of her face, "For you it might be different, seeing as Maria never lied about loving you."

"Has it happened to you?" Rose wonders.

Micha smiles, "Yeah, but it's in the past. Sure she hurt me, but I had people that helped me. Maria would never hurt you, she never meant to hurt you, and she didn't tell you because you would have tried to stop her, and that would have hurt more than not knowing."

Liam scoffs, listening to the conversation, "Speaking of not knowing anything, let's talk about the fact that none of us knew that Esme was to blame."

"Liam, I didn't know this would happen. I didn't know that they would do this to us." Esme frowns at her cousin.

Sam butts in, "But you knew that they would send you away, you knew it would happen to you."

"I was stupid, I made a mistake and I would take it back in a second if I could. I would take a lot of things back if I could." Esme strokes her sleeping sister's hair, "I always knew what I did was wrong, I tried to make up for it all by teaching you."

Clarisse laughs, "What have we learned from you?"

Cameron responds, "She's helped us control our shifting and abilities. She decided to take care of us after we were all abandoned by our parents. If anything we owe it to her to forgive her."

Joseph nods, "Call it twin intuition, but I agree with my brother. What if we ended up in the same place as Maria, then we'd all be in trouble."

Yallesia shrugs, "There is only one person who could tell us for sure, and we can't ask her anymore."

"Do you think she would answer? Because this was Maria we are talking about, she clearly knew what she was doing." Kayla finishes fixing Alyssa's braids. "If she knew that one choice would throw everything off, would she have told any of us?"

Favion stands up from his spot in a corner, moving for the first time in hours, "She has a point, Maria was like that and we all know it." He starts to move around the room. "She told me that of all the time lines, she picked the one we are on. Because if she didn't, we would all be dead."

Esme shakes her head, "But she didn't gain that ability until she was thirteen. How could she have known so early on?"

"Secrets, secrets, so many things that have been kept hidden. Time for one final test, how well do you truly know your family." The voice starts to whisper again, and the room is consumed in darkness.

Just like the last rooms, the room is empty and glowing, this time it is glowing a bloody red. Everyone is on guard, they have either shifted or have their magic and weapons at the ready.

"Restless souls that no longer have a purpose in life, they have no mind or consciousness. Let us see what someone in your family is hiding." The voice whispers.

Micha looks at their family, "Okay, the easiest way out of this is for us to take them out with one move. And only one person is fully capable of doing that." The room starts to glow a dark red as everyone turns to Mariposa.

"I won't be able to control it, plus I have nothing to be angry about." Mariposa shrugs and nervously laughs, "I don't know how you expect me to become suddenly mad."

The lights change to a dark blue as the walls start to slowly rise, moans and groans are heard from the other side of the walls.

"Remember when we were kids and you almost broke my neck helping me with that back bend, I still blame you." Max shouts at Mariposa.

Mariposa winces, "I said I was sorry!"

Micha starts to laugh, "What about when Anjelica tried to ask you out but we all bullied her out of it?"

"Okay, that was y'all's fault, she didn't talk to me for days." Mariposa mumbles, her fist clenching.

"Hey, Mariposa, what's your ethnicity?" Melissa wonders.

Mariposa glares at her, "I know you did not just ask me that?"

"Also remember the fact that your mom killed your brother." Melissa smirks.

"Say one more thing I dare you!" Mariposa shouts as her eyes start to glow white.

Max starts to grin, "You're just like your mother!"

Mariposa screams in frustration, the walls fully rise and the people on the other side are revealed. None of them are Aztec, they are all fallen soldiers of old enemies of the Aztecs. The air around Mariposa starts to get cold and forms a cyclone, Melissa stomps on the ground and roots wrap around everyone so that they don't go flying away.

"You want to see me angry?" Mariposa shouts as she starts to be lifted into the air, her eyes glow behind her glasses. "Here you have it!"

The dead soldiers are flown into the air, Mariposa holds her head in her hands as she screams and the wind throws bodies against the walls, ceiling, and floor. Favion makes a barrier to keep anything from hitting them and the older ones shield the children's eyes. All they can hear is the sounds of screaming, cracking and snapping of bones, bodies being thrown across the room, and the wind howling like it's crying in pain.

Micha opens their eyes and sees that Mariposa has finished the job, but she doesn't stop her magic. "Mariposa, it's done! You don't have to do this anymore!" They shout at their cousin.

Mariposa just ignores them, raising her hands up as the winds become stronger, and Rose adds her own vines to keep everyone grounded. Micha uses their lightning bolts to burn off their vines and struggles against the winds to reach Mariposa.

"You're not angry anymore! It's okay!" Micha shouts, grabbing hold of Mariposa's leg.

Mariposa snaps her neck to look at her cousin, "You don't get to tell me how I feel! I am angry at everything! I haven't had an outlet since my brother died! I am furious!"

She turns back and keeps the winds blowing, bricks and parts of the wall are getting ripped out and flying around the room. Favion struggles to keep the barrier up, Micha wipes tears from their eyes. They pull Mariposa down and hold her from behind, wrapping their arms around her waist and resting their chin on her shoulder.

"This isn't anger, it's sadness. You're sad, it's okay to be sad." Micha whispers to Mariposa. "You want to be mad, because that's easier than being sad. But sometimes you have to do the hard things."

The winds start to die down, the bricks and rubble are softly placed on the ground. Mariposa starts to sniffle as both her feet touch the ground. Micha keeps holding Mariposa as she cries, her cries echo off the walls and they make it seem like the room is shaking.

Mariposa takes a deep breath, "I never... I never wanted to be like her. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it." Her voice is barely a whisper and the tears flow.

Max walks up to Micha and Mariposa, they hug them both, "We meant none of it, you know we didn't. I'm sorry prima."

The family decides to wait until the voice tells them how they can get out. And if not then they'll make a way out.

Liam looks up at the ceiling, "Is it just more, or do you guys also see the fact that the sun is out?"

Max bolts up from where they are lying down, "If there's an opening in the ceiling, that means there is also a way out of here."

"Question is, does it lead to the temple, or back out?" Micha stands up and makes their way to where they are under the hole in the ceiling.

Sam sighs and shifts her wings out of her back, "Let me take a look."

She flies up to the ceiling slowly, checking to make sure there isn't anything in her way. She reaches out only for something to stop her at the opening. While frowning, Sam quickly goes back down and lets her wings go back into her body.

"There is some sort of barrier, can't get through. The sun was too bright, couldn't see anything." Sam rubs her eyes.

"Now begins the next test, two people have agreed to listen to each other, but can they trust each other?" The voice laughs as it fades away and everyone looks at Max and Francisco.

Max and Francisco are both trapped in bubbles, small bubbles that limit the amount of air they have. They both instinctively try to use their magic to release themselves from the bubbles, only to tire themselves out very quickly.

"Can't breathe, what the hell?" Max wraps their arms around themselves in fear.

Francisco lightly taps his bubble to get Max's attention, "If we use our magic we will run out of air. Our only option is to use the sun."

Max shakes their head, "I've already told you, I can't do it."

"Yes you can, it is simple, control your emotions." Francisco tells them.

"You yelled about my emotions I don’t know how fucking long ago, how do I know you aren't trying to get me killed?" Max glares at him.

Francisco sighs, "You cannot, however you must trust me."

Max looks down at their family, watching as they all argue and try to find a way to free them. Max sighs before slamming their hands to the top of the bubble, their eyes start to glow red as light starts to trail down through the bubble to their hands. It starts to turn to fire and it fills the bubble. The bubble pops, causing Max to fall to the ground on their back.

Max struggles to get up before deciding to lay back down. "Ow, okay, I'm gonna pass out now." Max groans as they close their eyes.

Francisco laughs from his bubble, he uses his magic to get out as well and lands on the floor on his feet. He dust himself off before looking around the room. He looks at one of the walls before walking towards it and placing his hand on it.

"No time to waste, there is something else coming this way." Francisco backs away from the wall as it breaks down to rubble and the room goes pitch black.

"Holy crap, this is so weird." Max lights their hand on fire and scans the room.

Vines are growing alongside the walls and ceiling, roots protruding out of the floor in all sorts of angles. And they are caged in by large trees and thick roots,

"Okay, this should be easy." Micha uses their own magic to light up the room. "Rose and Melissa just have to clear this room and we should all be okay."

Mariposa gasps, her head wiping in different directions. "Where is Melissa?"

"Over here!" Melissa shouts, waving her arms so that they can all see her. "Someone tell me what's going on."

"Sight is what many value, but not everyone can see. There is a difference between being blind, and not being able to see." The voice fades again, leaving the family to wonder what has happened.

Max puts their hand on the cage, nothing burns. "Rose, think you can take all this down. We need to keep Melissa safe."

Rose nods, she lays her hands flat on the ground and closes her eyes in concentration. After a struggle she opens her eyes, "I'm sorry, but I have no idea why I can't control them."

"Those are ancient trees and roots, they are the result of an experiment gone wrong when plant sorcerers were trying to make plants for healing." Melissa kneels down and touches the roots, "You can't control them, only influence them. Much like parasitic plants."

Rose shakes her head, "The thing is I barely have any control over parasitic plants. The most I can control is kudzu because there was so much of it in Georgia."

Melissa nods, "Okay, I'll try to free you guys then."

"You can't see, how are you going to get to us?" Liam wonders.

Esme nods, "Yeah, you need us to help you. Rose will free us, you stay put."

"Here's the thing, I don't even know if I can get through these plants." Rose argues.

"Well, figure it out because it's not safe for her out there!" Liam points at his cousin outside the cage.

"I'd like to see one of you do this!"

"Maybe if you could do things right we wouldn't be in this situation!"

Due to all of the arguing, no one notices Melissa covering her ears in the brink of tears, whispering to herself not to cry and to keep it together. She can hear them screaming, distracting her from being able to hear the other voices. She puts her hands on the ground to level herself, the roots start to caringly wrap around her fingers. Like how a newborn would with their parent.

"You...you're just like babies." Melissa realizes and laughs, "You're just like babies!"

She stands up and raises her hands above her head, the roots reach for her and softly wrap around her arms. Her eyes glow a bright green as she starts walking forward, and the roots move out of the way for her, some grab on to her but they do so gently.

"Let's play a game, I run and you chase me!" Melissa starts to run around the room and laughs as the roots and vines start to follow her. The room clears itself as the plants make their way towards Melissa.

The family watches as Melissa is able to pass though, not having to need help and being able to control the roots and vines. Melissa reaches the cage and smiles at her family, she laughs even more as the little roots start to break the cage down, letting her family go.

"That was crazy, why did you do that?" Liam questions his cousin.

Melissa frowns, "What? I can't free my family from a cage?"

"You could have been hurt, we can't risk anyone else getting hurt." Liam reasons.

Melissa growls, "So me getting you guys out when I did is a good thing?"

"No, you should have stayed where you were safe, it's too dangerous for you to be wandering this temple!" Liam retaliates.

"Why, why can't you just trust me?" Melissa shouts.

"You're blind! You can't see so you need us to help you!" Liam slaps his hand over his mouth, regretting the words as soon as they come out of his mouth. "I..I, Melissa- I didn't mean it."

Melissa puts a hand up to quiet her cousin, "Funny, I'm the blind one but it's clearly the rest of you who can't see."

"What else could this temple want from us?" Mariposa questions.

Max shakes their head, "I don't know, if it throws another thing at us I'm blowing this place up."

Liam chuckles, "How about we don't blow up the sacred temple of our people?"

"The temple said something about secrets," Micha rubs their eyes trying to remember what the voice said. "Anyone have something they need to say, that way we can get out of here."

Mariposa shakes her head, "I doubt it wants any normal secrets."

Max sighs, "We wait, like we have been doing for the last... I don't know! Days maybe, it's hard to tell down here."

Micha rakes a hand through Mike's hair, combing it out of his face, "It's kind of weird. It feels like this place is alive, I know it reads our minds but there's something else. Like a soul is trapped."

"Keep talking like that and you'll eventually turn into bisabuela." Max jokes.

The floor starts rumbling, cracking and crumbling. Everyone quickly stands up and gathers into a circle, Liam gathers Melissa in his arms. Walls start rising in odd angles and different heights, caging the family in a box.

"Only one way out, but no way to leave. A form of magic that almost got one of you killed, a scar now covered in ink, time to use that magic again." The voice's shrill laughter fades in and out of the room as everyone looks at Micha.

Micha hides Mike's face in their shoulder, "No, I don't know what it's talking about."

"It almost got you killed, how?" Kayla wonders.

Micha shakes their head, "It could be any of us! I'm not the only one with tattoos!"

"You have more than the rest of us!" Melissa replies.

Micha wipes their eyes, "Okay, I almost died but it wasn't his fault! We were just kids, he was just learning to control his magic too!"

Francisco reaches a hand out to Micha, smiling softly at them, "Tell me your story."

Micha nods, "He was five I was three, he just got his token gem. You remember my brother, he was always your favorite. There was no one to teach us, just Mariposa's dad, he tried the hardest thing, teleporting."

Mike takes their head out of Micha's shoulder, they look at Micha's right arm, and trace along their tattoo of a lightning storm.

Micha smiles at their cousin, "He didn't mean it, I know he didn't. When I saw him for Christmas, we talked about it. We both did things when we were younger that we are mad about now." They hold Mike's hand and show him a tattoo on their left arm, two bright stars. "I love my brother, after everything that we have both been through, and what we did to each other, I still love him."

Francisco frowns, "I am sorry I pushed you when I did." He looks at his great-grandchildren with tears welling in his eyes, "I am sorry I never tried to understand how your magic affects each of you."

Micha nods, "Well, you did teach us some new things." They hand Mike over to their great-grandfather before standing up. "I say it's time I do what my brother could never do."

Micha rubs their hands together to charge them, they find a crack in the floor and shoot a lightning bolt through a crack in the floor. Once they are sure it has made it through, they make everyone loop arms, they recharge their hands before slamming them to their chest. Electricity flies through everyone and the next thing they know they are falling from the sky.

"What the fuck is happening?" Melissa shouts as she holds on to the closest person to her.

Yallesia, Sam, and Imelda shift their wings out of their bodies and hold on to their family. They can only slow the fall, they all keep screaming as they are still falling. Mariposa uses her magic to keep them all floating in the air, stopping the fall as she did when they entered the temple.

"Hey," Max nudges at Melissa, "It's okay, we're not falling anymore."

Melissa simply holds Max tighter, "I... I didn't expect to fall again, why does that keep happening?"

Mariposa has them all settle safely on the ground, "I'm sorry Melissa, I know how much you hate that."

Melissa shakes her head, "It's okay, I'll be fine. But where are we?"

Esme looks around, "It's still part of the temple, but not one with obstacles."

Liam walks up to a statue, and backs away when he sees how detailed it is. "This was a person." He mumbles.

Sam walks up next to him, "What do you mean, it's just a statue."

Liam looks at Melissa, "Hey, Melissa, do you think you can sense something from these statues? They give me a weird feeling."

Melissa nods, spreading her hands on the ground and closing her eyes. The roots under the ground glow and leave trails, stretching to all the other statues. Melissa gasps and takes her hands away from the ground.

"They are all still alive, and it's the voices I've been hearing!" She stands up and frantically moves her head, looking for something, "None of them are him!"

Liam puts a hand on her shoulder, "Who, who are you talking about?"

Melissa won't stop trying to look, "There's a little boy, he's the only one left who is not a statue! We have to find him, his name is Xlomal. He was the son of the last chief, he knows what happened to our people, he knows how to fix all of this!"

Francisco glares at his great-granddaughter, "How do you know all of this?"

"Each time I used my magic, I could feel him and hear his thoughts. He was asking for help, but he only stopped asking after Maria died." Melissa takes Liam's hand off of her. "Now that we're here I can hear him again, and he still needs help."

Mariposa frowns, "Do you think you can find him now?"

"I don't know, I can try." Melissa does what she's been doing for a while, sensing life through the roots. "I feel two things, I just can't pinpoint where they are coming from." She stands up and moves around a bit more. "Everyone go off in different directions, bisabuelo watch the kids, make sure that they stay safe. We have no clue what we might find here. Those two voices are here somewhere. We have to find them, one of them is the boy but I don't know what the other one may be. "

"Do you need one of us to go with you?" Esme asks Melissa.

Liam shakes his head, "She'll be fine, just because she's blind doesn't mean she can't see."

Melissa nods, "Thanks, now everyone try and find those voices. Send a signal when you find them."

Everyone goes off in different directions, Rose heading to one of the old looking temples. She ducks under the archway and walks down the stairs. She follows them underground where she hears mumbling, someone muttering about things missing and things going wrong.

"Hello? Who's there?" Rose calls out.

The underground room is lit by candles, a cauldron in the center, the walls filled with scrolls and vials filled with liquids. An open scroll is laid out on a table of stone, empty vials scattered on the table as well, small notes carved into the stone. Rose walks up to the table and examines it, certain things gain her attention. The handwriting on the stone looking familiar.

There is a gasp behind her, "Rose?"

Rose turns around and cries out in pain.

What did Rose see, what happened to her? We know they are looking for a little boy, but what is the other voice are they looking for? You'll have to wait and find out.

[mar04isdead]

Freaks But Family

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12: People know us, therapist fear us

In each normal family, there is that one person that has enough trauma for everyone. But as we've already learned this family is anything but normal, no my friend they are the exact opposite. They all have so much trauma that they can make a business off of selling their trauma to people and get good money from it. Anyways, time to see what's inside that temple.

Mariposa rubs her eyes and fixes her glasses on her face, "What the fuck is wrong with those bells?"

Max pulls over their hoodie before putting George on their head, "It's Sunday, we are in a chatholic village, everyone is heading to church right now." They look out one of the nearby windows and watch people walking by. "So the village will be empty, everyone's gonna be in the church for the next hour or so."

Melissa grins, "Then we can take this as the time to go to the temple, after all with the village center empty we can get to the temple."

Micha frowns at their cousin, "Why do we need to get to the center of the village?"

"The temple is under the village." Melissa calmly explains, "Can someone tell me what exactly Micha's face is?"

Max looks over at Micha, "Confusion mixed with a hint of idiotism."

Melissa chuckles, "Yeah that's what it sounds like. But yeah, I kinda found that out when I was using the root systems."

Maria groans from her spot on the couch, "Well how the fuck are we supposed to get underground to get to the temple?"

Melissa shrugs, "I actually don't know, all I know is that it's under the village."

They all look at each other before shouting throughout the house, "Bisabuelo!"

Francisco comes to them running from the back of the house, "What happened?" He looks around the room, frowning when his great-grandchildren laugh at him. "Aver, que hicieron?"

Melissa points downward, "The temple, how do we get there?"

"The fountain in the center of the village, it serves as the entrance to the temple. There is an incantation to open it, but I do not know what it is." Francisco shrugs.

Max groans, "Dude, you had one job! Everyone is in the church right now, so I say we head there now. Cause we are not waiting a whole other week for this chance."

Maria raises her hand, "Can't me or Mike just stop time?"

Micha shakes their head, "Incantations can do a lot of things, but they don't work unless time works. It's weird, but that's just how it works. If time is frozen, no magic will be able to work."

Maria nods, "Okay, then I'll get everyone else. You guys try to find the incantation to open that fountain, we'll meet you there."

Francisco sighs, he looks at his other great-grandchildren and smiles. "It is time, get everything you may need and follow me."

The sorcerers and sorceresses look at each other before gathering their weapons and leaving the house with their great-grandfather. Before leaving the house, Francisco grabs a machete from the side of the house. As they walk through the village to get to the center, it looks like a ghost town. The houses and streets are empty, shops are closed, and the only sound is singing and talking from the church. Once they all reach the fountain, they start to look around it to try and find any clues as to which spells to use.

Max calls Francisco over, "There's writing here on the bottom, under all the water."

Micha looks at one of the sides, "There's some here too, it says, 'The hatred of two reveals what benefits others.' So, that means two people that hate each other have to work together." Micha looks at Francisco and Max, "Teamwork time for the both of you."

"I'd rather die." Max folds their arms across their chest.

George takes this as his chance to jump out of Max's pocket and run around the fountain. Max reaches forward to get him, only for George to jump onto Francisco and climb into his hair.

"Fucking traitor." Max flips off George only for George to do the same. Max rolls their eyes and ignites their hands, "You too, c'mon, I'm trusting the rat with this." Max puts their hands into the water and watches as the water starts to steam.

Francisco sighs and does as Max does, "This best work."

After a few minutes, the fountain is dry, and the air is clouded in a thick mist. Max hops into the fountain and looks at the carved writing.

"'People trapped from ages passed, now seek to be freed from the one of two marks.' " Once Max finishes reading, the fountain starts to break and crack. Max tries to get out of the fountain, but the fountain crumbles and falls into the earth, Max along with it.

A large hole is left where the fountain was, Micha and Mariposa carefully lean over the hole to try and find where Max could be. George decides to take action by jumping into the hole, Francisco tries to catch him, but George squirms away.

"What the heck happened?" Maria runs up to the hole with her cousins and friends behind her and stares down, "Where's Max?"

Micha points down the hole, "Down there, and the rat jumped in after them."

Esme walks over to the whole and looks down at herself, "It's pretty deep, best we go in after them. We have no idea what's down there."

Maria shrugs, she grabs her friend's hands, pulling them all with her as she jumps down the hole. Esme sighs and holds tightly onto Mike before jumping, the twins hold hands before following. Each of the older cousins hold onto one of the younger ones before going in too. Mariposa grabs hold of Melissa's hand and they both jump in, leaving Micha and Francisco.

"Are you coming?" Micha extends their hand to their great-grandfather.

Francisco glances at Micha's hand, "We do not know what is down there."

Micha smiles, "And, that's why we're all going. There is no way we are letting anyone do this alone, and don't you want some closure? This is the best way to find out what happened to her."

Francisco nods, he takes Micha's hand, and they both jump in after their family.

Max turns around to face their family, "About time you guys show up, this is the first level apparently." Max points to the door behind them, George squeaks from the top of Max's head.

Once everyone is near the door, the room starts to glow blue. Markings and carvings light up on the walls, all in Aztec but saying similar things.

"So basically the door opens when we've all faced our fears." Micha reads off of one of the walls.

A circle lights up in the center of the room, and smaller circles glow under Francisco and Max. Then a female voice starts to whisper, "You both have the same fear, it is time for you both to prove who can face it."

Something drags both Francisco and Max to the circle, George jumps off of Max and onto Favion. The circle starts to crack at the edges and an invisible dome forms around them both, and two separate sceneries start to form in the dome, for Francisco his living room, and for Max nighttime in the village.

Max immediately takes their guns out, "Let's get this over with." They start to walk towards the alley, but stop when they hear a familiar voice.

"Mija, despacio. Ya casi llegamos a la casa." It's Lucia, she's chasing after a kid. "Gosalyn, you must be patient."

Francisco looks around the living room taking in what is around him, a little girl bursts through the door, covered in blood and her eyes bloodshot from crying. Francisco reaches to her but a younger version of him beats him to it.

"They can't see or hear us." He realizes.

"It's just a memory." Max kneels down and looks at the little girl.

The little girl turns around and stamps her foot on the ground, "But I want my token gem now!"

Max puts their guns away, and watches as Lucia picks Gosalyn up into her arms and kisses her cheek.

"And you will, your great-grandfather is getting it ready for you. I know you will do amazing things with your magic." Lucia puts Gosalyn back on the ground and holds her hand. "Now let us walk."

Max follows them until they get to the alley, then they hear what sound like a woman crying and asking for help. Lucia hides Gosalyn by some boxes in front of someone's house and tells her to wait. Lucia gets one of her guns out and starts to approach the alley, Max tries to get in her way, to hold her back, but they keep going through her. After a sudden gunshot, Lucia drops dead to the ground, a bullet wound in her head. Max just balls their fist tightly and refuses to look down.

"I tried chasing the person, really I did." Max watches as the little girl screams and runs into the alley. "I couldn't find them, so I went back to her, and just cried for help."

The little girl comes back out of the alley, she kneels down next to the body of Lucia and cradles her head in her arms. The little girl keeps screaming, eventually a couple of the villagers come to help her, some have to pry her away from the body. The little girl is kicking and screaming to get back to Lucia's body.

Meanwhile for Francisco, he watches as his younger self asks the little girl questions.

The younger Francisco holds the girl tightly, "Gosalyn, you need to breathe. Tell me what has happened?"

"She-she, someone... shot her!" Gosalyn shouts and buries her head in her hands. "I saw it, I was there but-"

"You didn't try to help her?" Young Francisco lightly pushes Gosalyn away.

Gosalyn wipes her eyes, "I couldn't, she had to hide me!"

Young Francisco takes something out of his pocket and hands it to Gosalyn, "Take this and leave, you could have helped her! But you didn't, you could not do one thing right!"

Gosalyn pushes young Francisco away before running out of the house and not looking back. The illusion shifts to something else, about three days before what Francisco saw.

"I have the feeling something will happen, and I need you to make me a promise." Lucia pulls Francisco away from his work.

Francisco sighs, "What is it darling, I have to complete this token gem for Gosalyn."

"If the worst thing happens to me, promise to never abandon our family, especially Gosalyn. She is needed for something special, you have to be by her side for it." Lucia caresses Francisco's cheek.

Francisco kisses Lucia's forehead, "Lo prometo."

Max wipes their tears, unaware of what Francisco saw, "I kept trying to get to her, but they wouldn't let me. That's what I'm afraid of! Are you happy?" Max shouts into the void. "I'm afraid of having to relive all of this!" Max gestures around them, then they turn around and glare at Francisco, "Don't tell me that's what you're scared of too! You weren't even there, you didn't see what I saw!"

Francisco wipes his own eyes, also not knowing what Max saw, "But I know how it felt, I lost my wife. I am afraid of having to relive that day and those emotions."

The dome goes away, and the two are met with their family again, all standing and watching them in shock. Max quickly walks out of the circle and takes George back from Favion, they glare at their family before sitting on the ground and cuddling up to George.

The voice of the lady speaks again, "The fear of losing a loved one is a tragic feeling, but the fear of losing everyone you love is something that so many of you have in common."

Circles start to glow under the Alebrije-Gonzalez cousins, and they are dragged to the circle themselves and are spread out so they each have a part of the circle. The dome forms again, and suddenly there are multiple versions of everyone, all appearing differently, but mostly dead and looking like corpses.

Rose looks at the dome with sad eyes, because she can see how scared all of them look. The little kids start to scream, the twins are each cradling the dead body of the other. Esme is curled up and sobbing, refusing to look up. The others just look around in horror, constantly harshly closing their eyes and opening them again, as if hoping the vision will go away. Maria is just standing there, it's obvious she's crying but she's trying her hardest not to react.

"We've been together through everything, and Esme is the one who has risked so much for all of us. Of course we're all afraid of losing each other, we're all we have left!" Maria looks around, "As you can see that is what we are all afraid of, it's something we never want to go through."

The visions go away, and so does the dome. Once everyone is sure that it's over, all siblings hug each other, Maria and hers taking Mike with them, before all of the cousins meet in the middle for a large group hug. Hugging each other and crying, but for once they're happy tears. After a while they all get out of the circle, and as soon as they're all out of the circle, Micha gets dragged into it.

"You have faced so many of your fears, but there is still one you can not help but let it eat away at you." The voice laughs as the dome reforms around Micha, the scenery being their childhood home with all their uncles, aunts, and their parents in front of their younger self.

Micha groans, "Not this crap again."

Everyone is screaming and yelling at the younger Micha, Micha just shakes their head and mimics them. Young Micha just shouts back at them, countering everything they have to say.

Eventually Micha's mom slaps them, "You will do as you are told, after your confirmation, if you do not change your ways, you are out of this house."

Young Micha just pushes their mom away before running out of the house, and Micha looks back at their family, anger in their eyes.

"You know what, I'm really not so scared of this anymore, cause I had to go through it again! So I'm going to repeat what I said to those close minded assholes!" Micha takes their bat off of their back and takes a swing to their mom's head. "They choose religion over culture, culture is something our people made, religion was forced upon us. Those who choose to die than accept religion, they were loyal to who they are, those who didn't were cowards. My parents were cowards, I chose to keep my culture alive, I refuse to listen to a person who has been used as a weapon."

The dome and the illusion fall once again, Micha just simply walks out of the circle without saying a word. Kayla, Alyssa, and Immanuel are the next ones to be taken into the circle, they hold each other as to not get separated.

"Young love comes in many forms and it can go through many things, but what happens when you have no one left?"

A new illusion forms, and as it does the partners are forced apart, and forced to see different things. Kayla sees Immanuel and Alyssa leaving her, Immanuel sees his girlfriend's dead, and Alyssa sees Kayla and Immanuel being taken away.

Kayla shakes her head and turns around, facing away from the vision, "This isn't real, I know it isn't. We made a promise, we made a promise to never do that to one another." She looks around trying to find her partners, but can't, "I know that yes, this is a possibility, but we promised. We promised and I've known these two since I was a baby, I have loved them ever since I can remember, so I know none of this is real."

At this point, Alyssa and Immanuel are able to break out of their illusions and find Kayla. They all hang on tightly to each other as the illusions fade and they are allowed out of the circle.

"This next one, is a challenge." The lady whispers, causing everyone to wonder who is next. "While this one can not see her fears, she can hear them and she can feel them. And I will say, that makes this more fun."

Everyone instantly knows that Melissa is next, Melissa takes off her blindfold and hands it to Mariposa before willingly entering the circle, "Do your worst."

There is no dome this time, only harsh winds and whispers. The whispers fill the room, and immediately Melissa has her guard up.

"You let them die."

"They risked it all for you."

"You abandoned them."

"Our council has been destroyed."

"The crown is now tainted."

"It's your fault I died."

The winds whisper in Melissa's ear, she keeps trying to cover her ears to keep the whispers out. She moves her head around trying to figure out where the the winds are coming from, but with them echoing off of the walls it makes it nearly impossible for her. She gasps and holds her head, blood seems to be coming out of her forehead. Melissa eventually slams her hands on the ground, causing vines to go through the ground and travel to where she wants them.

"You know what, about time I ask dad first hand what he has to say to me." Melissa's eyes glow green instead of their pale white and vines start to climb the walls of the room and the blood disappears from her head.

Strands of green light start to flow into the room, and Melissa starts to levitate in the air. Instead of whispers, the light releases a loud happy voice.

"You tried and that's okay."

"I know you've been trying your hardest with your mom."

"You were able to do things I never could."

"People stay because you made them happy."

"The crown was given to you because I trusted you."

"Thank you for taking care of those I left behind."

Melissa slowly floats back to the ground as the lights and vines fade away, "My dad may be gone, but I can still talk to him." She walks out of the circle, "I really don't have anything to be afraid of, I was only afraid of talking to him after all these years."

"So much death, so many loved ones lost. But one of you has lost someone very recently, and you have your mother to thank for it."

Mariposa is taken into the circle next, what alarms everyone is how she is put on a platform and raised several feet. Another platform is raised across from her, and a familiar face appears, someone who should not be alive.

"Sebastian, what are you doing here?" Mariposa backs away from the edge of the platform.

Sebastian smiles, "Can't I say hello to my little sister?"

Mariposa shakes her head, "No, you're dead, I saw it, I held your body, this isn't real."

"Little sister, you know that's a lie. I died because you let me fall." Sebastian starts to walk towards Mariposa, walking on the air.

"No, you fell because of what my mom did to the rigging of the ropes and the net. It was her fault and not mine." Mariposa starts to walk up to her brother and meets him in the middle. "I'm afraid of my brother hating me, but when that happens I just remember what he told me before that night." Mariposa reaches out to her brother and holds his hands in hers, " 'No matter what happens the sky is ours, even when we're on the ground, even if one of us is gone, we will always be together in the sky. Flying and reaching for what we desire.' When I'm in the sky I think of my brother, and the fifteen years we spent being siblings. We may not have been related by blood, but we were raised by the same people, and we loved each other very much."

As the illusion fades, Mariposa slowly floats down back to the ground. "There are two of you left, and you both have the same fear as well. But how will this affect how your friend sees you?"

Favion and Rose being the last ones, are the last ones to be dragged into the circle. The dome forms and they end up seeing different things, Favion sees Maria leaving him again, Rose sees Maria abandoning her in the center when they were kids.

Rose covers her eyes, "No, she wouldn't, it was her idea for us both to leave. We were just ten, we didn't choose to be treated like that, but we chose to escape it."

"At least she cared enough about you to tell you where she was going," Favion mumbles, "She left me without saying anything, just that she had to go."

"Well can you blame her?" Rose asks.

Favion shakes his head, "You don't know what it was like back then. You didn't grow up the way I did."

Rose sneers at him, "Oh really, with a loving family and everything you ever wanted? Stop acting like you've had it so hard."

Favion scoffs, "I begged her to stay, I begged her! I just got her back, I'm not ready for my best friend to leave again."

Rose glares at him, "Yeah well she didn't have a choice, you know that."

"Well, we're both scared of her leaving. The thing is that's it's happened to me before, how are you so sure it won't happen to you?" Favion wonders.

Rose smiles as the dome goes away, "I trust her, which is something you clearly forgot how to do."

As they both walk out of the dome, Maria runs to Rose and hugs her. She hides her face in Rose's neck as she starts to cry. Rose smiles as she rubs Maria's back to comfort her.

"I'd never leave you, I promise you that." Maria wipes her eyes from under her glasses and presses kiss all over Rose's face.

Rose nods, "I know, it's just a stupid fear I had when we were kids. I thought I got over it, apparently not."

Maria caresses Rose's cheek, "I promise that I'm not leaving you any time soon, or ever for that reason."

Max taps Maria on the shoulder, "If you love birds are done, the doors about to open, we're heading to the next level."

Right on que, the large doors start to slowly open. They all look at each other before entering the next room, once they're all through the doors slam shut and the room they're in lights up green.

Maria runs her hand along the wall, "The guilt level, we have to wait for the temple to decide who it's gonna choose."

"So sit back and relax y'all, we're here for a bit." Max let's George roam around the room while they look at the walls.

Melissa rubs the back of her neck, "Any guesses on who it's gonna be?"

Clarisse shrugs, "I don't think any of us want to admit to what they're guilty of."

"The next level too, we're all just too stubborn." Liam rocks Mike in his arm to put him to sleep.

The circle in the middle of the room lights up, putting everyone on guard. A draft flows into the room and the voice from the last level speaks.

"A secret that has been hidden for sixteen years, it is time for it to be brought into the light."

Esme gets separated from everyone else, dragged to the middle of the room and trapped in a bubble of green light. She starts banging on it with her fist and trying to use her ability to expand it so it doesn't suffocate her, only for it to get tighter.

"We have to get her out of there!" Liam starts to try and expand the bubble too by pulling his hands apart in a gesture of tearing something open.

The others copy him only to no avail, Maria uses all of her different abilities and the sorcerers and sorceresses all try to help as well.

"Stop, it'll just get worse. There's only one way out," Maria forces everyone to stop, "Esme, what are you guilty of?"

Esme shakes her head, "No, I can't do that! I promised them I wouldn't!" She keeps trying to break the bubble but it keeps getting tighter on her.

Yallesia screams in frustration, "You're my sister and I don't want you dead, Imelda doesn't either! Better you tell us now than never!"

Esme looks at all her cousins before sighing, "I'm the reason we were all taken away." The bubble slowly expands as Esme is taken back down to the ground, once she's on the ground the bubble pops and lets her out.

Liam glares at his cousin, "What do you mean by that?"

"I was a rebellious teenager, our parents warned me. If I didn't stay in line with my ability and my shifting they would send me away, I was dumb and told them to try their worst." Esme looks up at everyone, "I didn't expect them to do the same to all of you, when they sent me Sam I tried to stop them from sending the rest of you. What good that did."

Clarisse frowns, "You're the whole reason our parents abused us and sent us away."

Esme wipes her tears, "I'm sorry, I really am! I swear I didn’t mean for all of this! I didn't think, I didn't know that they would drag you guys into it!"

"Maria, what do you have to say about this?" Sam asks her cousin.

Maria is too busy looking around the room, "I'll answer that question later." The whole room starts to slowly shift. "Right now we have bigger problems."

Next thing they all know, the ground from under them slips away and they all fall. It's like a drop at a fair, you don't expect it and it leaves you screaming. Since they weren't expecting it and they weren't holding onto something, they end up floating in the air as they fall. Mariposa makes a large circle with her arms, next thing that happens is everyone remains floating where they are. Mariposa slowly puts her arms down, having them all slowly float down all landing safely in a new room that glows red.

Micha is holding Melissa who is shaking and crying, "She couldn't see what was happening, so she's a bit shocked." They kiss Melissa's head and smooth down her hair. "You guys look around, we're gonna stay here a bit."

Everyone starts to look around, not finding anything on the walls or floors. Yallesia decides to shift to see what she can find on the ceiling, and she finds carvings and writing.

"This is the forgiveness level, so again we have to wait." Yallesia flies back down before shifting back to normal.

Just as Yallesia stops talking, circles light up under Francisco and Max and the walls in the room start to slowly move.

Max raises an eyebrow at Yallesia, "We gotta wait, huh."

Yallesia shrugs, "At least it's obvious who has to apologize and forgive."

There's laughter throughout the room, and they all realize it's the same voice from the last two rooms, "Eleven years of an endless fight, I say it is time for both sides of the story to be seen. A broken promise that needs to apologize, and a petty grudge that has to be forgiven."

Maria looks at her great-grandfather, "Okay, I know you both hate each other, but for the sake of all our lives, say sorry and forgive each other!"

Max shakes their head, "I have nothing to say sorry for and I won't forgive him for anything!"

The walls start to move faster, making the room smaller and the chance of them getting crushed larger. The ceiling starts to come down too, meaning they have no escape now.

"Please, please just say sorry and forgive each other." Melissa starts to make roots come out of the ground and lodge themselves in the cracks under the walls acting like door stoppers, but the walls keep moving just slower.

"I have nothing to say sorry for!" Max screams.

Maria grabs both Max and Francisco by the arms and forces them to stand back to back. She puts a hand on each of their heads, her eyes glow gold as illusions start to flow through the room. The same illusions that were in the fear level, this time Francisco can see what Max saw and Max can see what Francisco saw.

"Now you have something to say sorry for, now you have something to forgive each other for. So please, before we die, please say sorry and forgive each other!" Maria begs her cousin and great-grandfather.

Francisco sighs, "I broke the promise I made to my wife, I told her that I would always be there for our family, yet I distanced myself. I am sorry."

Max turns to Francisco with tears in their eyes, "I forgive you."

The ceiling and walls stop and slowly return to where they were, one of the walls slides up and reveals a hallway.

Micha chuckles, "Eleven years, our lives being threatened, and listening to both sides of the story, that's all it took."

Max nods, taking off their glasses and wiping their eyes, "Yeah, I didn't expect that either." They follow their family as they walk through the door, heading to the next room.

As they all enter the room, it lights up white, and a circle appears under Max again. Max groans as they help their family read the markings that are scattered on the floor.

"The revenge level, the only place where getting back at someone will not be frowned upon." Micha looks at their family, "The hell does that mean?"

Melissa sighs, "Max you better not kill someone."

Max raises their hands in defense, "I don't even know what this thing means by revenge. I say we just wait until the lady talks again."

They all sit in a circle around a small fire that Favion has started, and they heat up some of the food that they brought.

"Sorry, tamales was all we had left." Liam hands Max a tamal de mole.

Max shrugs, "I'm not strictly kosher, I only break it when I have to. Which in this case I do, I've broken before my dad's okay with it."

"Why can't you eat tamales?" Immanuel wonders.

Max unwraps their tamal, "Manteca is in the masa and the mole. Manteca is basically pig fat, and being kosher means I can't eat anything relating to pigs or pork."

While everyone eats, Melissa stays in a corner, Micha offers to help her but she refuses. She keeps a hand on the ground and her head twitches a few times. After a while she stands up and walks over to the other side of the room, she puts her hand on the wall.

"Melissa, are you okay?" Maria asks, she walks up to her cousin and puts a hand on her shoulder.

Melissa takes Maria's hand and puts it on the wall, "Can you feel that? It's been there since we've entered this level."

Maria nods, "Do you think it's because we're so close to the final level?"

"This pain, it's so much greater." Melissa runs her hand along the wall as she walks around the room.

Maria frowns, "What do you think it is?"

Melissa shakes her head, "The only thing I'm thinking of can't be possible cause any magic user will tell you it's forbidden." She steps back from the wall and decides to join her family.

Everything is okay for a long time, everyone keeps asking Max what their revenge could be. Max keeps brushing it off by claiming they don't know. After a while, the ground starts to shake. They all stand up and get ready to fight if they have to, but Melissa motions for them all to back off.

"Magic users only, this isn't something abilities can take care of." Melissa gestures for Francisco, Micha, Mariposa, and Max to stand next to her and they walk to the wall she was inspecting earlier.

Max sets their hands on fire, "You guys sense it too, right?"

Mariposa nods, "The thing is we shouldn't, so who is doing this?"

From the cracks in the walls, a red goop starts to ooze through, bubbling and forming into an odd puddle.

The sorcerers and sorceresses start to back slowly away, "This... this is not supposed to be happening! It is forbidden!" Francisco shouts as the puddle starts to move.

The puddle starts to rise and forms what appears like a person, just that this person is made of the tortured corpses of the dead.

"Restriction spells!" Micha instructs.

Each magic user casts a different incantation, and a large cage forms from their magic and keeps the monster trapped. But they all keep their hold on the spell so that it doesn't let the abomination break free.

"Maria, we need you to undo the abomination. None of us have death magic, but you are chieftess and you have control over the dead so it's gonna listen to you." Max explains to Maria.

Maria steps forward and looks at the abomination, "What exactly is an abomination?"

Micha groans, "Just tell it to rest, we'll explain it later."

Maria walks up to the cage, the abomination is squirming and throwing itself at the cage to escape. Maria puts a hand up and looks the abomination in the eye.

"I know you're in pain, I know you didn't choose this, none of you did. Rest, you deserve it after all of this." She smiles as the abomination slowly starts to melt and flow through the cracks in the ground.

Once the abomination is fully gone, there is a lump laying on the floor where it was. Maria motions for the magic users to take the cage down, and once it's down Maria steps closer to look at the lump. Once she's close enough she's able to see that it's a body, and it's Dr. Gomez.

Maria wraps a vine around Gomez to restrain her, "Okay, until this bitch wakes up, care to explain what just happened?"

Mariposa nods, "Abominations are forbidden magic, the only form of forbidden magic. There's a reason why," She looks around to her other cousins. "And the reason's aren't good."

Melissa sighs, "To create an abomination two important things are needed, you have to be a normal and you need a shit ton of dead people. Only normals can do this kind of magic, which we still don't know how or why, but we understand why it's forbidden. Basically there is a potion, again we don't know what it is, but you pour it over as many dead as you can. The potion makes the bones and flesh dissolve into a sort of mush." She winces at the thought, she looks like she's going to be sick.

Micha rubs Melissa's back, "Once that part is done, whoever used the potion can control the abomination. Abominations can do anything, they can become anything. They are powerful, they can be restricted like we did but they can't be stopped. The only way for them to be stopped is by someone with magic or power over the dead to tell them to rest, to tell the dead that are making it to rest."

Maria frowns, "So I'm guessing as sorcerers and sorceresses you have to learn this young."

"Very young," Micha agrees, "Harley is turning five in like a week but she already knows this stuff, she would not stop crying when I was teaching her all of this. It's really not a pleasant thing."

Mariposa points at Gomez who is still unconscious, "Question, who is she and what are we gonna do with her?"

Maria shrugs, "She's the one that experimented on me and Rose, as for what to do with her, I have no idea." She lightly nudges Gomez with her foot, "I guess we'll wait until she wakes up, then we can start questioning her."

Melissa moves her head like she's looking around the room, "The lady isn't talking yet, and the light under Max doesn't feel like it's going away anytime soon."

Max gestures to Gomez, "Crazy lady is waking up."

"Rose, Esme, get over here!" Maria calls the girls over just as Gomez opens her eyes.

"Great, it's all of you again." Gomez complains as Liam and Francisco sit her up.

Maria nods, "Yeah it's us again, mind telling us how you got into the temple?"

Gomez shakes her head, "Not really, you, the one with the blue eyes, you look familiar."

Max shakes their head, "Yeah, well I've never met you in my life."

"Oh, now I remember, you were just a kid!" Gomez laughs, "Oh gosh you do look very different."

Melissa tilts her head to the side, "Sounds like another tia saying how glad they are to see you even though you've never met her."

"Yes, well, we've never formally met but I know well who you are. All of you actually, it’s funny how messed up you all are." Gomez smiles widely.

Micha frowns, "Really?"

Gomez nods, "I've done my research, you for example," She looks Micha in the eye, "Parents and other family were abusive in countless ways, kicked out, got married young, adopted a kid young, a teacher, but you're on this trip. Bet Harley is missing her dida." She turns to Mariposa, "Parents are divorced, older brother dead thanks to your mom, went to public school for the first time and it was an experience." She smiles at Melissa, "By the way, I'm looking at the one who's blind." She laughs when Melissa flips her off, "Parents got rid of your siblings, were adopted by a royal gang, dad died so you took the responsibility of queen at the age of ten, you're engaged to a boy who had to go through trials for your hand in marriage. So basically you were a prize." She frowns at Max, "You, you are a mess. Result of a teenage pregnancy, made fun of for being a mixed kid, boyfriend made fun of the sport you're a part of, parents are busy at work even though your baby sister was just born."

Max rolls their eyes and starts to walk away, "Yep, I've heard it all."

Gomez laughs, "Oh, to top it all off, you witnessed me murder your great-grandmother!"

The whole room goes silent, Max stops in their tracks, but their body starts to smoke.

"What, did you just say?" Max growls.

"Max, calm down." Micha goes a hand on Max's shoulder only to take their hand away in pain. "Max, you're overheating, you're hot enough to burn someone."

Max pushes past Micha and walks straight to Gomez, "I only care about what she said!" Max takes one of their guns and points it at Gomez, "Say it again, I fucking dare you!"

Gomez smiles, "I was the one who murdered your great-grandmother, I expected a challenge but it was quite easy. I still remember the little girl that cried while holding her body."

Max puts the gun up to Gomez's head, they look at Maria with fury and rage in their eyes, "I won't kill her unless you tell me to, you're chieftess so you make the call."

Maria frowns, "What do you mean?"

Melissa speaks up, "As chieftess, it is your duty to punish those who commit crimes. That's your job, and Gomez is still a member of the clan, so she is still under your reign which means you have to punish her for her crimes."

"But... what exactly is her crime?" Maria wonders.

Melissa sighs, "Treason, high treason, she killed a chieftess. In my gang the punishment is exile, Esme what's the punishment for high treason in our clan?"

Esme nods, "Death, an execution however the chief or chieftess sees fit."

Maria looks down at Max's feet, where the circle is glowing brighter and blinding. Then she looks at Max, who has a straight face. Their eyes say enough, they are mad, they are traumatized, they are crushed on the inside, and they want revenge.

"Max, as your chieftess I order you to carry out the execution of the traitor. Do it in any manner you wish." Maria looks Max in the eye before turning her back to them and hiding in Rose's arms.

Max nods, "Alright, everyone look away cause blood is going everywhere."

Maria nods, "I'll give you a barrier."

Gomez starts to squirm and attempts to get out of the vines holding her down, "No, I need my revenge! My father will pay for what he put me through!"

Maria takes a step back, raises her hands, and a barrier forms around Max and Gomez. Maria makes it one of her thicker barriers so that they can't hear or barely see what is going on inside the dome. After hearing two muffled gunshots, and what looks like a burst of fire, Maria takes the barrier down, Max steps out looking calmer and there is no body left.

Mariposa points to where Gomez used to be, "What happened to her?"

Max shrugs, "Fastest way to get rid of her." They put the safety on their gun before putting it back in their holster. "That felt good, I really needed that, I'm happy now!"

Melissa shivers, "Well I can tell you she isn't happy about that. Urg, Maria you can feel the death too right? Anyways can we leave?"

Clarisse tightens her grip on the twins, "Just so we're clear, we are all aware of what the next level is, right?"

Maria nods, "Yeah, one of us won't make it out."

The walls start to move again, Micha instantly goes to hold Melissa. Instead of the walls moving to crush them, the floor is going down slowly like an elevator. The family descends into the darkness where one of them is fated to die.

Dun, dun, dun! So now that we know a bit more of the truth, the past, and some foreshadowing of the future, the next level is going to be a lot. Well at least this death doesn't matter, cause it's someone who really isn't that important in the long run. This person was just a replacement for someone else, I bet you don't even care who it is. Oh well, byeeeeeeeeee!

[mar04isdead]

Freaks But Family

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11: This family has issues

Okay, so all families have that one person that likes to cause issues. And considering the fact that Francisco has not been a social butterfly in these last eleven years, he has somethings to say to his great-grandkids.

They all sit in the living room, Francisco is somewhere in the kitchen, stumbling around Maria who keeps trying to talk to him.

Maria dodges him while he tries to lean over the sink, "Listen, we need help. Don't even try to avoid us. We are your family, you need us as much as we need you."

"I do not need anything, just leave." Francisco's words are slurred and jumbled together

"Oh my gods! Please just listen!" Maria puts her hands on Francisco's shoulder to stop him. "We need to get to the temple, you're the only person that has the last of bisabuela's records. You know where the temple is, we need you to tell us."

Francisco smiles while opening a new bottle, "Perhaps when I am sober, so you will be here a while."

Maria seethes, she puts her hands on the sides of her great-grandfather's head. She forces him to look her in the eye, his eyes flash blue before she lets him go. Francisco looks around in shock, he puts the bottle down before glaring at Maria.

"I am sober, did you make me sober?" He shouts at her.

"Por fin! El tiene una mente! Now come on, you have a lot to explain to all of us." Maria drags him to the living room where everyone else is. "He's sober, so let's start asking questions."

Rose laughs, "You made him sober, how?"

Esme laughs, "Mind control, you can do some weird things with it. Okay, bisabuelo, we really need your help."

"Even if I did help you get to the temple, you could never make it through." He rubs his eyes, sighing, "There are six levels to the temple, each one is a trial that you need to pass. Fear, guilt, forgiveness, revenge, death, and revival."

Favion winces, "Second to last one, that did not sound good."

Francisco shrugs, "If you want to get past the trials you are all going to need training. And I am not going to help you all with that."

Max scoffs, "Of course, typical of you."

"Gosalyn do not start-" Francisco is interrupted by Max's glare.

"My name changed, you would know if you didn't isolate yourself." Max points accusingly at Francisco.

"You are speaking as the child who watched my wife die." Francisco shoots back.

Maria stands between them when she sees Max go for their guns, "Aright, both of you shut up. You're gonna train us bisabuelo, cause we have a bit of a time limit here."

Francisco sighs, "Alright, simply on one condition. One of you has to beat me at something that you are evenly matched at with me."

Micha groans, "Not magic, he has more years of experience than us. Plus he makes the token gems so he knows more than us."

"Drinking is off the table, none of us drink and we are not starting now." Liam gestures to all the bottles on shelves.

Esme lightly slaps herself, "As good as I am with tech, he has the experience of the ancients, more than me."

Max shoulders their way past Maria to get closer to their great-grandfather, "One on one, you and me. We're settling this and now." They take off their dog tags and hand them to Mariposa. “I don’t care how much experience you have, I don’t care what you’ve done with your life, we’re going to see who really is the more powerful fire sorcerer.”

Francisco laughs, "I have been looking forward to this day for years." He takes off his ring and gives it to Micha. "May the best sorcerer win."

They all head outside, Max and Francisco have their backs turned to each other, each taking ten steps forward before turning to the other.

Micha rolls their eyes before stepping in between them, "By the rules of magic, you each have five moves. Once you use them you are done, the last one standing wins. But this is not to the death, emphasis on the not!" As soon as Micha steps back, Francisco and Max charge at each other

Neither of them use their magic because they have a limited amount of times they can use them, so they end up wrestling each other to the ground. Francisco makes the first move by throwing two fireballs at Max, who catches them and absorbs them.

"That's two for both of you!" Mariposa warns them.

Max and Francisco start to circle around each other, both having their hands ablaze. At one point they stop, staring at each other. A strand of fire leaves each of Francisco's palms and he throws another fireball at Max. Max manages to dodge the fire while shooting a fireball at Francisco themselves.

"Bisabuelo, that's five! You're done, Max wins." Micha announces.

"Not until I can pin him down." Max narrowly avoids a punch.

Just as Francisco is about to kick them in the face, Max catches his leg and twists it, throwing him on the ground. Max then grabs onto one of his arms and pins it behind his back, then they set one knee on Francisco's back keeping him down.

Max leans down and growls into Francisco's ear, "Give up, you know there's no getting out of this one. I'm better and we both know it."

Francisco groans and slams his hand on the ground, letting everyone know he's given up. Max lets him go and stands up. They get their dog tags back from Mariposa while smiling.

"Didn't really expect you to give up so easily, or to use your magic up." Micha hands Francisco his ring.

Francisco rubs his arm while standing up, "Yes well, I did not expect this one to be strong enough to hold me to the ground. You will all start to train tomorrow, so it is best you eat and rest."

Esme chuckles, "Here's the thing, you don't have any food in the house. And Max eats kosher so there is only so much that they can eat."

"There's a food stall towards the center of the village, the lady that runs it has tons of stuff. I can eat most of it so you might want to head down there to see what she has." Max gestures around with their hands.

Micha nods, "Okay, seeing as you know this place you're coming along. You, me, and Liam, the rest of you stay and make sure nothing happens." They look over at Francisco, "Please try not to kill any of them, we need all of them."

Once Micha and the other two leave, everyone else stays outside so that Melissa and Francisco can keep getting fresh air. Esme goes through the kitchen trying to find anything that could possibly work for them. Favion finds some things he could use and offers to make some bread, the family takes him up on that offer.

"I have never used a mud oven, someone please help me." Favion points to the large mud oven that is his only way to bake the bread.

Francisco walks up to Favion and laughs, "Well first you have to light a fire."

Favion smiles, "Great, how do I do that? Do you have any matches or wood around here."

Francisco laughs, "I have magic boy, I do not need to keep all of that around." Francisco draws a circle in the air, and a fire starts in the oven.

"Holy crap, how did you do that?" Favion wonders.

"You inform me young man, you have fire abilities, am I correct?" Francisco questions.

Maria giggles, "He does, he's not really covered much on how to use them. I've been training him for a while and he's doing... decent."

Francisco winces, "Then while we wait for the bread, you finish training him."

"But... my bread." Favion points to the oven only for Maria to drag him away.

"Better for you to train, let's get this over with." Maria pushes him to the middle of the backyard, and starts to explain things.

"Dinner's ready, you can keep trying to kill him later." Immanuel shouts to Maria from the house.

Maria groans, "Just one last icicle, please?"

Immanuel shakes his head, "Food's gonna get cold, so best you both get over here."

Maria groans, she let's Favion go from where she is holding him down with some rocks. She helps him get up before heading to eat something.

Dinner is very quiet, but it's Kayla that breaks the silence by asking an edgy question, "So, why exactly didn't you guys talk with your great-grandfather?"

Max glares at Francisco, Micha sighs, Mariposa winces, Melissa smiles, Maria and the others shake their heads. Everyone turns to Francisco, who is glaring back at Max.

"Touchy subject." Max stabs at their enchiladas.

Micha puts a hand on Max's arm, "We all have our own reasons, I had some shit with my side of the family back when I was sixteen."

"I'm always traveling with the circus so I'm never really in one place for so long." Mariposa feeds Mike a piece of tortilla.

"We've been isolated from everyone against our will." Maria gestures to herself and the people she's been living with.

Melissa shrugs, "I've been too busy with my kingdom."

"There was a fight." Max keeps stabbing at their food.

"And there was a funeral." Francisco picks at his own food.

Maria sighs, "It's actually a long story, these two can't get over it though."

Esme raises her hand, "Maria, some of us left before that happened so we never knew. So if those two could be so kind, tell us the story."

Max looks at Francisco, "Tu les vas a decir o yo lo hago?"

"Tu deles, yo quiero ver como tu lo recuerdas todo esto pasó." Francisco crosses his arms and leans back in his chair.

Max takes off their glasses to rub their eyes, "I was five, me and my family, my dad's side, were visiting here. Bisabuela died in an accident one night, I was there in the hospital when they announced her death and I kinda had a mental breakdown. I really don't want to talk about it." They point to Francisco, "That's the one thing we both agree on, not to talk about what happened that day."

Francisco starts to fiddle with his wedding ring, "She got the funeral of a ruler, her soul is now with the gods."

Max laughs nervously, "Okay, I know this will sound very weird. But believe me I didn't know until today either. Bisabuela is not dead, she's still alive, we just don't know where." Max slips their glasses back on to see Francisco's reaction.

Francisco's jaw is on the floor, he looks around at everyone, wondering if what Max said is real. "You are lying, you were there and you saw what happened."

Maria shakes her head, "We can talk about this tomorrow, let's all just finish dinner and then go to bed. Bisabuelo, I'll explain it all tomorrow I promise."

Francisco stands up and walks away, "You best explain everything to me in the morning."

Francisco woke them all early, gave them each an egg for breakfast before taking them on a field trip. He owns property towards the outskirts of the village that are near a forest, he decides that it is the best place for the kids to train without being disturbed.

"I will be training you all from strongest to weakest, so those with magic first. If you have abilities you will have to wait." Francisco separates his great-grandchildren into groups.

Rose and Favion are put in their own group since their abilities are artificial. Immanuel, Alyssa, and Kayla have agreed to help Francisco in training his great-grandchildren.

Francisco has everyone sit so he can explain things, "Fear, guilt, forgiveness, revenge, death, and revival. In that order, those are the trials you will be facing. I cannot assist you with fear, all I know is you will face your greatest fear. That is something you must be able to face on your own." They all look at each other questioningly. "For guilt, the temple will choose. It will go through your mind and see who has something they are very guilty for."

Sam raises her hand, "The temple will read our minds? Is that how it's gonna know our fears?"

"Precisely, then forgiveness explains itself. One of you has to forgive the one thing you promised you would never forgive." Francisco looks at all of them, "And if you inherited anything from me, you are all stubborn."

Nico laughs, "Verdad!"

Micha grins, "I want to say that someone's gonna find the next level entertaining."

Francisco shrugs, "Depends, revenge comes in many forms. I also hope that death and revival explain themselves."

The twins sigh, "So who's dying?"

Max whacks their heads, "We'll get to that part when we get to it. But in all seriousness, who's willing to die?" George jumps off of Max's head, rolling on the ground once he lands, "No! George you little shit it's not your time yet!"

Francisco sighs, "How are any of you the children of my grandchildren?"

"Pretty sure Melissa and me have somehow just thrown ourselves off the family tree." Mariposa chuckles.

Melissa nods, "Do I even have parents at this point, I wonder."

"Well with that attitude, you are going to start training first Melissa. You think you know everything about your magic, I am going to teach you something new." Francisco pulls Melissa up by her arm and places her in the middle of the field. "You are blind, correct."

Melissa puts a hand to her chest and gasps dramatically, "Lo soy? No lo sabea! I've just been walking around with a blindfold over my eyes as if I can't see! Thank you for enlightening me!" She smiles widely while flipping him off.

"That is nice of you, but you use the roots underneath you to see and detect what is around you." Francisco makes Melissa put her hand down. "But everything is connected through the Earth, which means you can detect every living and dead thing."

Melissa sighs, "Okay, here's the thing with that, I can do it. But I've never been able to fully do it. I can just only stay conscious enough to make a quick scan for emotions, I can't detect anything else without feeling like passing out."

Francisco kneels down to the ground and pulls Melissa down, "It is because you are not doing it right." He spreads her hands so that they are flat on the ground, "Follow the roots, and tell just exactly what your cousins are doing."

Melissa finds a root and follows it to where her cousins are, but she passes them. Instead she goes to the village, which is five miles away. She can hear the people talking, children playing, mother's cooking, men working in their shops. She even feels what they feel, moms mad at their kids, happiness of the children playing, and the boredom of the men working in the shops. She goes past that, and she can hear people asking for help. Asking for someone to save them, she can feel their pain and their anger, then she hears a little kid. She tries to listen closer to the kid, but instead the root she is on takes her somewhere else. She's back home, and she can hear her dad, she can feel that he's sad and feels that he is in pain.

Melissa jumps up and covers her ears, "I'm done, I don't want to listen to anything else! I don't want to feel any of it!"

Francisco put's a hand on her shoulder, "What did you hear?"

"Okay, I didn't hear them, cause I went past them. I could hear and feel the village, and then I was somewhere else. I could hear people asking for help, asking for someone to save them, it was thousands of people. They were in pain and mad at someone, and there was this kid, I tried to listen closer but instead I went home." Melissa explains everything that happened.

"Why did you want to stop listening, you could have seen if your people were safe." Francisco wonders.

Melissa gets away from Francisco, "I heard my dad, the former king." She takes off her blindfold to dry her tears, "I'm not ready to hear everything he has to say to me, cause I felt that he was sad, I felt his pain, and I don't want to know what he thinks about me. Cause I know I did something wrong."

"Max, we share the same magic, yet you are not as skilled as I am." Francisco circles around Max.

Max puts a hand on their hip, "I already mastered teleportation, you couldn't do that till your twenties."

Francisco nods, "While it is true you are advanced, but you still don't know how to amplify your magic."

"My token gem isn't enough?" Max asks.

"While your father has water magic, you learned magic the way he did." Francisco gestures around with his hand.

Max laughs, "Okay in his defense, that's the only magic he can do, just like every other sorcerer or sorceress he only has one form of magic."

Francisco shakes his head, "Let us just focus on how to make your magic stronger, we are going to be using the sun."

"And I've heard everything! There is no way that that is possible, that's light magic territory." Max points up to the sun.

Francisco just sighs and raises his hand up, light trails down to his fingertips, and fire starts to form from the light.

"Holy shit!" Max runs a hand through the fire, "How the hell?"

"The sun is just fire and gas, that's something you can easily manipulate." Francisco extinguishes the fire. "You can also store it in your body, since you need oxygen to make your fire it's best to have it just in case."

Max jumps up and down, "Alright, sounds easy enough. Sorry George, you gotta go in the bag." Max takes George out of their pocket and puts him on the ground. "Go before you get burned." George runs off to where Micha is.

"This is just like any other magic you have, use your connection to it to make it do what you want." Francisco has Max copy his hands, "Of course the more power the source has the more difficult it will be to concentrate on it and keep it under control."

"Makes sense, also considering that the sun is the most powerful thing we know of." Max raises their arms the way Francisco is.

They both lower their arms at their wrist while crossing them like winding stairs, their arms go parallel in front of their faces before snapping them back up and the light slowly turns into fire.

"The best way to keep it all under control is to stay void of emotions." Francisco puts his hands down, letting Max take full control over the fire.

"Whoa, okay mind taking this back now?" The fire starts o do odd things and act like crazy.

Francisco slowly backs away, "Keep any emotions you have away, you cannot feel anything if you want this to work!"

"Kinda hard when you're yelling at me!" Max glares at Francisco.

"I would not have to if you only do things as you are told!" Francisco is shouting at Max.

Max screams in frustration, breaking their focus and letting the fire go. "Just stop, I'll get it eventually but you need to learn to have patience with us."

"Okay, look, I know lighting teleportation is a thing, and yes I know how to do it. The thing is I have been very busy so I've never bothered trying it." Micha shrugs and crosses their arms.

Francisco sighs, "What exactly have you been busy doing?"

Micha hums, "Well, I don't know, teaching, taking care of my kid, teaching my kid magic, and helping to run an underground illegal roller skating center. So yeah, nothing much."

"Is sarcasm all any of you know how to speak?" Francisco raises an eyebrow at Micha.

"Keep up the attitude and you'll find out." Micha snaps back.

Francisco just shakes his head, "Please try your teleportation, I need to see what you can do."

Micha rolls their eyes, they shoot a lighting bolt to the other side of the field. They then charge their hands with electricity before hitting both hands on their chest. They disappear leaving a patch of burnt grass, and in a flash of lightning they appear on the other side of the field.

Micha groans on the ground while holding onto their head, "Okay, so I was not expecting to do that." Micha sits up and cradles their head, "Shit it hurts, fuck."

"Then you did something wrong, it shouldn't hurt." Francisco jogs over to Micha and helps them up. "Try it again and this time focus on what you want your magic to do."

Micha grunts as they stand up, "Have you considered, that maybe it could be that that was my first time ever using my magic that way." Micha shakes their head a bit, "Each magic works in a different way, and each person has a different way of handling their magic."

"That does not matter, these are simple things that you should be able to do with ease." Francisco points to where they first started the lesson, "Now please let us start the lesson again."

Micha rubs their eyes, "Dude, I'm too tired for this shit." They repeat the same process as before, appearing back where they started the lesson. "Yeah, shit this is hurting my head."

"Why do you curse so much?" Francisco appears next to Micha from fire.

Micha looks at their great-grandfather with offense, "I have a four-year-old that repeats everything she hears, and I know not to curse around my daughter. So therefore when I am away from her I take it as time to let it all out of my system so that way when I get back home she doesn't learn anything."

"Just please focus on your magic." Francisco softly nudges Micha.

Micha raises an eyebrow, "What about teleporting through things? Lighting bolts are how I travel and if I need to get past something what am I supposed to do?"

Francisco runs a hand through his hair, "You are a smart person, you can find a way to do it."

"I can do a lot of impossible things, make it rain in a closed room, disown my transphobic homophobic parents, leave an abusive ex, managed to take care of myself at age sixteen, but believe me I cannot make lightning appear in another room." Micha counts things off on their fingers.

"Then it is time for you to learn how." Francisco motions for Micha to try again.

Micha sighs, "Look, I get that you haven't been around any of us long enough to know how our magics work." Micah points to where their family is playing and laughing. "Mine is focused on vision, I need to be able to see in order to know what I have to do. If I can't see it I can't do it, I know that's a horrible mind set but you can thank those dickwads I called parents for that." Micha waves at Francisco before walking away, "I'll figure it out on my own, thanks!"

Mariposa smiles at her great-grandfather, "The thing with my magic is that there isn't much I can do with it. It can be really powerful under the right conditions."

"Those right conditions are your anger issues!" Max shouts at Mariposa.

Mariposa glares at Max and flips them off, "Okay, we are not going to be doing that."

Francisco frowns at Mariposa, "How does your anger affect your magic?"

Micha grins, "Hers runs off of emotions, just like Max's. Due to her anger issues and mommy issues, anger is her strongest emotion." Micha pat's Mariposa's head.

"You have both daddy and mommy issues, that's worse." Mariposa slaps Micha's hand away from her.

Melissa laughs, "The thing is if you make her mad enough, she goes into blind rage and she can do some... gorey things with her magic."

"I can dismember five people in under a minute." Mariposa explains with her sweet high pitched voice and puts on a wider smile.

Francisco nods, "What do we have to do for you to be able to do any of that?"

Mariposa rubs the back of her neck and laughs nervously, "The thing is, it is hard to get me angry nowadays, it was easier when I was a kid but my pére has helped me to keep my anger in check."

"Knife throwing! It's always helped me, and you owe me a competition." Melissa wraps an arm around Mariposa's shoulders.

Max frowns, "Also not a good idea to make her angry, it gets out of control real fast. We really don't know how to calm her down so let's not risk it. Just know that it does work and the blood bath during it is worth it." Max pokes Mariposa's cheeks.

"I know it's a powerful thing, I just don't like what it does to me. So only for emergencies." Mariposa pokes Max back.

"Esmerelda, I will say, you have done a good job with your cousins." Francisco looks at his great-grandchildren that are in line.

Esme smiles, "Thanks, kinda had to in order to keep them safe."

"How so?" Francisco wonders.

"Well, their markings tell us about their health. Their abilities are strong depending on the person, it's kinda complicated at that point. But we can all sense each other through power waves, which is also complicated to explain." Esme take's Mike's hand out of his mouth.

Francisco looks at all their markings, "You raised all of them?"

"She was the first one to be taken away, she watched over us when no one else could." Sam smiles at her older cousin.

"She has journals for each one of us about everything that has happened to us after we arrived at the house." Liam fixes his hold on Mike.

Francisco nods, "Now I know that for a few of you, sifting is near impossible when you have no source of water. That is where Maria comes to help you."

Maria steps out of the line, faces her family, and reaches her hands out, "Nico and my brothers, come on."

The three boys walk up to Maria, Liam handing Mike off to Clarisse, and watch as Maria makes a circle above her head with her arms, and water droplets start to gather together out of the air to make a huge bubble.

"You guys step inside, you guys can all breathe in water so it'll be fine for you." Maria lowers her hands and as she does the bubble follows. "Don't worry, I'm gonna keep the bubble stable.

The three boys look at each other before slowly stepping into the bubble, they all start to breathe and smile when they find out they are unharmed.

"Now try shifting, it should be fine." Maria reassures her family.

Each boy starts to shift, all three grow skin between their fingers, Angle and Liam grow tails where their legs should be, gills, and back fins, Angle grows shiny scales on his tail and his sides, while Nico grows a hard shell on his back. Liam's fangs start to grow in and he and the other two start to swim around.

"We haven't been able to swim in forever! This feels great!" Liam looks at his sister through the bubble and smiles at her, "We should have taken you on this offer years ago."

Francisco smiles at the boys, "She has offered to do this before?"

Maria smiles, she claps three times, that splits the bubble into three, one for each boy. "I have, but they've never wanted to risk it."

Nico laughs from where he is inside of his shell, "Well it is worth it now."

"This is a small test, seeing as both of you have artificial abilities." Alyssa plants the ability blockers on both Rose and Favion's necks. "Just cause it works on Maria does not mean it'll work on you guys. And if that's the case then we might have a shot at beating these things."

Favion rubs the back of his neck, "Are we sure these are safe for the human body?" He wonders.

"Well, let's just say Maria is not something to go off of because she was practically born for this stuff." Immanuel slaps Favion's hand away, "Don't mess with it unless you want to hurt yourself."

Rose smiles, "Okay, so how do we take them off?"

Kayla shrugs, "The same way we've taken them off of Maria, small electroshock."

Favion nods, "Okay, but will it hurt?"

"Maria's the one giving you guys the shock." Immanuel informs him.

"So it will hurt just me, gotcha." Favion gives his friend a thumbs up.

Kalya nods, "Yeah so let's just start this simple. Favion just do some levitating, move that chair over there."

Favion looks at the chair, he slowly lifts his hand up and the chair follows with some difficulty.

Immanuel hums, "I can't tell if it's cause of the blocker or because you're not very used to your abilities." Immanuel looks at the blocker on Favion's, "Just do like one simple thing for each ability so we can determine things."

Favion makes a small fire with his palm, then he freezes it with his other hand. He draws a line from the sun to the frozen ball in his hand, the ball of ice acts as a prism dividing the light into colors. He throws the ice in the air making it shatter, he draws an arc in the air and before the shards land on him they bounce off of an invisible force.

Immanuel smiles, "Yeah, that should be good. Rose your turn. Since you're more advanced you can do whatever you want."

Rose grins, she spreads her hands above the ground and raises her arms. The ground starts to shake as a tree sprouts from the earth, an apple tree. The white flowers slowly start to form into fruit and fall off of the tree.

"It felt weird but I was able to manage." Rose walks over to where the apples are and picks one up from the ground. "So can we take these things off now?"

Alyssa smiles, "Yeah, I'll get Maria over so that she can take care of that." She walks over to where Maria is letting her brothers and cousins play in their water bubbles.

Alyssa talks to Maria for a minute before Maria slowly has her family get out of the bubbles before breaking them. She and Alyssa walk back over to them, Maria rubbing her hands together a bit.

"Okay, Rose first." Maria has Rose lean down a bit so that she can reach her neck, she puts her index finger on the blocker and has a shock leave her finger. "Here ya go." Maria takes the blocker off of Rose's neck and hands it to her.

"Thanks babe, Favion you're next." Rose kisses Maria's cheek before letting her go to take the blocker off of Favion.

Favion backs away a bit, "This won't hurt will it?"

Maria, rolls her eyes, she shoots her lighting from where she is and watches as Favion jumps when the shock hits him. "Of course now it hurts cause you didn't want to cooperate with me. I was gonna do it the nice way but you made me do it the mean way."

Kayla laughs, "Okay well the blockers don't work on you two at all, so that's good. I guess it doesn't recognize your abilities as real, that may come in handy."

Maria smiles, "Okay, well I have to get going, Melissa said she wanted to teach me another lesson as a ruler."

Micha, Mariposa, Max, and Melissa are standing together, forming a box with Maria in the middle. Max burns a large circle into the grass, per Melissa's request.

"Maria, this is a test of strength. Your task is very simple, make all of us leave this circle." Melissa gestures to the others in the circle with her.

Maria smiles, "That's easy enough."

Melissa shakes her head, "Did I forget to mention, you have to make us all leave the circle at once!"

Max throws a fireball at Maria who dodges it, and while she isn't looking Micha teleports behind her and manages to kick her down. Maria slams her hand on the ground causing a small twister to pull Micha into the air. Melissa throws one of her knives at Maria, it brushes across Maria's arm before ending embedded in the ground. Micha teleports back down while Mariposa makes a twister of her own encasing Maria. Maria's eyes glow back as shadows start to take life and start to hold the sorcerers and sorceresses down. Melissa manages to make a fist with her hand, and has the knife that was in the ground fly up and cut Maria on the arm before flying back into her hand.

"Urgg, why are you all making this so hard?" Maria shouts as her shadows break.

Melissa has thorns and vines encase Maria in a cocoon, "It won't be easy being chieftess, learn to adapt. But remember you main goal here is to get us all out of the circle at once."

"But that's impossible, you are all too stubborn." Maria sets the vines and thorns on fire in order to break out.

Melissa smiles, "If you say it's impossible then it's impossible." Melissa throws another knife at Maria.

"C'mon you can do it!" Mariposa wraps her garrote loosely around Maria's neck from behind her.

Maria wraps a leg with Mariposa's and pulls her leg forward causing them both to fall. Maria quickly stands up and throws icicles at her other cousins, Max melts them by intercepting them with fireballs.

"Think this through, test of strength." Micha uses their bat to trip Maria.

Maria stands up and freezes the ground, "Try getting around this now guys."

Micha grins, they click the heels of their boots together twice and wheels come out of the bottom of their boots. "You forgot I never leave home without these, and you just made it easier for me." Micha starts to skate circles around Maria before striking her with a lightning bolt, cracking the ice in the process. They click their boots again, the wheels going back into the soles.

Max gets up and throws another fireball at Maria, "C'mon Maria, you're the chieftess start acting like it."

All four of them back off a bit, giving Maria time to catch her breath and get a hold of her bearings.

Maria smiles and she looks around at her cousins, "I'm chieftess, I'm the ruler of our entire clan. Which means you all have to listen to anything I say. And as your chieftess I order all four of you to step out of the circle, at the same time."

The four cousins smile before walking out of the circle together, Melissa regrows the grass from where Max burned the circle. Melissa walks up to Maria and hugs her tightly.

"You passed, nice job. My mom had to do that exact same test on me when I was a kid, it took me a while to understand it too." Melissa lightly pats Maria's head.

Maria giggles, "What was the lesson, what kind of test of strength was that?"

Melissa nods, "Your biggest strength is as a leader, you know that saying that a kingdom is only as strong as its leader. It applies to you too, you have to be strong for your people, it's how you earn their trust."

Micha chuckles, "But don't think that that makes you so much better than all of us. We may all be from the Aztec tribe, we may all be from the Alebrije clan, and we may all come from house Gonzalez." They swing an arm around Melissa and the other around Maria, "Before us being your subjects, we are your family."

"Just look into history, the amount of countries and kingdoms that have fallen because of their leaders." Mariposa adds.

"Just cause their leaders were strong doesn't mean they acknowledged their people." Max agrees.

"A kingdom is as strong as its leader, that is very true. But what about those who were overthrown by their own people, the leaders were strong, they just never bothered to listen." Melissa takes off her blindfold and makes Maria look at her, "Subjects are individuals, they have voices that need to be heard too. My mom taught me that, that's how your people respect you, you have to show that you respect them first."

"I'm hungry!" Maria complains, she's lying on the ground holding her stomach.

Rose sits down next to Maria, "Babe, you just ate. How are you still hungry?"

Maria scrunches her face, "Not hungry for food, hungry for blood!"

"Oh," Rose looks around, "There might be something in that forest for you to hunt."

Maria quickly sits up "You're right, I'll be back." She kisses Rose's cheek before running off into the forest.

Rose nods, "I believe I made a mistake. Esme, Maria went out to hunt something!"

"If she's not back in ten minutes you're going in after her, and take Max with you!" Esme shouts back from the other side of the field.

Max groans, "Why me?" They question.

Esme raises an eyebrow, "You go hunting with your grandmother, don't you? And she was a sniper in the military, correct?"

Max smiles, "Shit you're right. I guess you could say shooting runs in the family." They walk over to where Rose is and sit down next to her. "Don't worry, she knows how to hold her own."

Rose shakes her head, "That's not what I'm worried about." She looks into the forest with sad eyes, "Back when we first met, all she drank was goat blood, and that did something bad to her. It messed with her mentally, that's why we found the replacement."

"Have you heard the legend of the Chupacabra?" Max wonders and grins when Rose shakes her head, "It was our chiefs and chieftesses that are behind that legend. Spiders and snakes in our culture are known for being blood drainers, basically vampires. And back then the most available animals were goats, we never sacrificed them to the gods, thats what people were for." Max chuckles when they see Rose's reaction, "Back then there were chinampas full of goats that were just for the chief. And since all they drank was goat blood, they began to call their chiefs Chupacabra's. Now the legend is just something to scare kids into doing their farm work." Max waves their hand.

Rose chuckles, "So there is this entire urban legend surrounding my girlfriend that is now used to scare kids?"

Max nods, "It's never affected her, she knows her origins, she knows the truth behind the stories. Of course there's a lot that her and us don't know." Max watches as Maria comes back out of the forest, dragging something behind her, "But as long as we're willing to learn that just means we're willing to try for our people."

"I got a deer, who wants to help me skin it?" Maria shouts to her family, and the girls all run to her offering their help.

Max stands up, "I'm gonna help, just to keep the younger ones from doing something wrong." They run off to join their family, laughing as Nico almost throws up at the sight of the dead animal.

So we have some more information on what happened between Max and their great-grandfather. I can smell the family drama from where I am, and shit's just getting good! Stick around next time to see some family trauma!

[mar04isdead]

Freaks But Family

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10: This family just keeps getting bigger and bigger

Welcome back, today we get to learn some things about this family's past! This will go down to shit so buckle up cause this is gonna be one hell of a ride!

It's only been two days on the road, and things seem to be doing fine, nothing really bad has happened. Esme and Micah have been talking about random things, Mariposa is playing Uno with Alyssa, Kayla, and Immanuel. Max is watching reruns of Darkwing Duck with Yallesia, the twins, and Maria, George is chilling on Max's head. Melissa and Rose are comparing what they can do with plants using a small potted daisy, and everyone else is asleep. Maria is feeling sick constantly, so Esme decided that it was best for her to have blood every day if she wants to keep her strength up. Esme was hoping this wouldn't happen because Maria has to ration the blood she drinks, but they decided that it wouldn't matter if Maria couldn't do anything.

"We are entering Louisiana!" Micha announces to their family.

The people that are awake cheer softly as to not wake up those that are asleep, some do shuffle in their sleep but they're tired enough that it doesn't really bother them. Melissa keeps a hand outside of a window to try and find a secluded forest for them to hide and park for the night. Micha is having a lot of energy drinks to stay awake, Esme offers them coffee and Micha reminds Esme about their ADHD and how the coffee will just slow them down.

Esme smiles, "Are you sure, you don't want me to drive?"

Micah laughs, "I don't want to get pulled over by cops. I'm just tired in general." They rub their eyes but keep one hand on the wheel.

"How much do you sleep, like I know you have a kid but since it's summer now and you don't have to teach, how much did you sleep before?" Esme wonders.

Micha shrugs, "Well when she was a baby, we were both about to graduate so, barely any!" They chuckle. "But as she got older, a bit more. We both had to keep a steady schedule because she had preschool at the high school Avery teaches at. I teach at the middle school down the road which means I have to wake up earlier because the school day there starts two hours before the high school." They gesture around with one hand. "So I have to go to sleep earlier too, but I just don't because I have to find music for my kids. So by the time Avery and Harley are awake, I'm already gone and starting classes."

Esme nods, "What time did preschool start for Harley?"

Micha whistles, "Umm, it started at eight-thirty, and she got out at one-thirty. And Avery doesn't get off of work until three-thirty. So someone would drop Harley off at Avery's classroom and then when I got off of work I would go pick her up. Then we would make dinner until Avery got home." Micha smiles, "Life was kinda chaotic but it was great."

"My question is, how did she have magic?" Esme questions, "I wanted to say she got it from you, but after meeting her, I'm not sure."

Micha sighs, "Biologically, she isn't ours. She's from an old friend of mine, she died after childbirth. We took her in when her biological family didn't want her, and our life has been amazing ever since." They give a small smile, "We don't know who her dad is, Kaliyah died without telling us. People say we weren't smart for taking in a kid at twenty, but in true honesty, she's the best thing to happen to us."

"And didn't y'all get married young too?" Esme asks.

Micha giggles, "Yep," They take a sip from their energy drink. "Eighteen, and it was a great wedding considering we planned it in three months, we included a lot of Mexican traditions so it was fun. And in our defense we wanted to get married before my parents tried to do anything against us. Also they proposed in the cheesiest way possible, so I couldn't say no."

Esme smiles, "Really, how so?"

Micha groans, "Okay, so it was our last football game. We won, which was a miracle on it's own, and by marching band tradition we play 'Hey baby'. Apparently, Avery held a meeting without me with the whole band, so I had no idea. They changed the lyrics from 'Will you be my girl?' to 'Will you marry me?'. When I heard it I was so confused, I had no idea what was going on, but the people in my section were shouting at me and pointing at the drum major podium." Micha lets out a small sigh, "And up there on one knee was Avery, holding this ring." They show Esme their left hand, their engagement ring is their token gem, something everyone knows they stopped wearing when they were ten, a gold band with a red gem in the middle, on the sides the gold has the words strength and power carved in Aztec. "Avery went out of their way to ask bisabuelo to resize it so that they could use it to ask me to marry them."

"I was wondering about the ring." Esme mentions, "Cause last I saw you, you only wore it on a necklace cause it didn't fit anymore."

Micha nods, "I was able to start wearing it again when I said yes, now I have to get a token gem for Harley. We want her to have something she can always wear, so we want her to have a necklace."

"Good choice!" Melissa says from nowhere, coming up from behind Micha.

Micha shouts in surprise, hitting the breaks, lurching the RV forward. "What the heck, Melissa?" Once they recover they quickly start driving again.

"Sorry," Melissa smiles sheepishly. "Anyways, I just came to tell you to take the next exit. Then there will be a hidden path five hundred feet to your right, I'll tell you when, we keep heading down there for about five miles to get to a secluded clearing. Take this exit!" Melissa leans over Micha's seat to point forward.

"I'm going!" Micha shouts back, turning on their blinker before taking the exit. "Okay, now tell me where the clearing is."

Melissa nods, "Abouuuuut... umm... hold on. Right, about, now! Turn right!"

Micha does as told, it's a bumpy turn but they manage. They keep going straight, noticing how Rose and Melissa are having the plants that are in the way move so that they don't get run over. This goes on until Melissa tells them to stop, and they end up in a clearing.

"Okay, so we make camp here for the night, and some dinner cause I can tell many of you are hungry." Esme takes her seatbelt off and goes to wake up everyone else.

Max raises their hand, "Just make sure it's kosher and you'll have no problems with me."

"White rice, eggs, black beans, and tortilla! Eat up, yes I used kosher salt, it's safe, Max." Esme has bowls float out to everyone.

They are all sitting around a small fire, using some tree stumps that Melissa and Rose found in the forest to use as seats. They all just sit around, trying to plan the next move.

Alyssa shrugs, "I say we leave in the morning, best way to hide our tracks is if we're always on the move."

Maria nods, "Yeah, that would probably be the best idea. I think it's gonna be harder to get through Texas, I mean a ton of Mexicans, and a small handful of African-Americans, plus a red headed white girl, pass through in a large group through white people town." Maria picks at her rice, "Not sure how that's gonna happen."

Rose sighs, "There aren't even that many forests there, me and Melissa tried to check and we found nothing."

"Well, how the heck are we gonna find a place to stop there. We're gonna need to stop to fuel up the RV sooner or later." Liam tears a tortilla up for Angel. "I doubt that we can last long there."

Max silently laughs, "I'm gonna pretend like y'all just believe me to be full Mexican." They take a bite out of their rice and watch as their family's faces turn to utter shock.

Micha slams their tortilla down on their lap, "I fucking forgot that you're white!"

"Half white!" Max shouts in retaliation.

Mariposa laughs, "You have an uncle in Texas don't you?"

Max nods, "He owns a large ranch, family ranch actually. I grew up there during the summers, trust me it's a good place for us to hide."

Maria frowns, "Okay, that's good to hear but is it safe for us to be outside of that ranch?"

"Yeah, it's actually a town with a majorly Hispanic population." Max hands a tortilla to Mariposa, "And my uncle's wife is Mexican, so my cousins are half white half Mexican too. So you can't make fun of just me!"

Esme laughs, "How long is it gonna take for us to get there?"

Max winces, "I'm just doing the math in my head." They start to draw random things in the air. "About a day, and don't worry my uncle knows a place where we can fuel up the Rv."

Micha laughs, "So after this off to the white washed state, amazing!"

"You want to know what's funny?" Max finishes their beans. "My uncle wears these cowboy hats, but they have beading on the front. Aztec beading, and I never want to tell him what they mean. Most of them are the beading we give people before we sacrifice them, marking them as a sacrifice!" Everyone starts to laugh, some start to choke on their food. "I never want to tell him, so one of you please do it!"

"He's your uncle," Favion clears his throat, "That makes it your problem!"

"Also, why are all the white jokes on me?" Max points to Favion and Rose. "He's half white too and she's fully white!"

Maria flips off her cousin before wrapping her arms around Rose, "She's been around us enough to not be considered white anymore." She waves randomly at Favion, "I don't know about him, he's Immanuel's problem."

Immanuel throws a tortilla at Maria, only for Esme to scold him about wasting valuable tortillas.

"Maria needs to learn how to break through blocks, that Gomez lady that captured us had something that could block our abilities." Esme takes the small black dot from a case she has and places it on Maria's neck.

Maria rubs her neck, "Okay, so how exactly am I going to break through the block?"

"Emotions, sounds like some cheesy movie, but emotions over power it." Favion explains, "But it takes the right emotion, I don't know what emotion exactly but we have to figure out."

Esme nods, "So what better way than to use someone who knows how to push someone's buttons, Melissa."

Melissa steps forward, grinning at her cousin, "I'm about to make you so mad. You said you wanted to be a good chieftess, now is the best time to learn."

Maria laughs, "No offense, but you're blind!"

"But I can use the roots in the ground to feel, plus you can't use any of your abilities, and you’re not allowed to use shadows and death." Melissa reaches behind her neck and takes her necklace off. "I won't even be using my full magic, so it's even." Melissa throws the necklace behind her, Mariposa catches it and holds it tight in her hands.

Maria sighs, "Okay, give me your best."

"I can not be held up to what I'm going to say," Melissa smiles, "You're scared, you're scared about what's gonna happen. You're also guilty, all of this is your fault once you think about it."

"No, it's not my fault." Maria throws a punch only for Melissa to dodge.

"You blame people for things you did, you ran out on your friends! You left them!" Melissa sweeps her leg under Maria's feet bringing her down.

"I didn't do it willingly!" Maria gets back up and manages to land a kick on Melissa's stomach. "I was forced!"

Melissa laughs, "You only told the one person you now hate that you were leaving! Then you come back and practically break his heart!" She has some small vines come out of the ground and lightly hold Maria down.

Maria easily breaks out of the vines, "He had it coming!

"If you can't even break through this block you can't even help your own people!" Melissa blocks another one of Maria's kicks.

"I don't know what I'm doing, okay? I have no idea what to do!" Maria's fingers start to twitch and the shadows start to slowly move.

Melissa wraps more vines around Maria to stop her, "You're so weak you can't even beat me when I don't have my full magic! How can you keep your people and family safe if you can't beat me?"

Maria screams, her body bursting into flames, burning the vines keeping her down. "Shut up!" She stomps on the ground, and a pillar of rock rises up and shoots Melissa into the sky.

Everyone gasps, Maria falls to her knees crying. Everyone tries to find Melissa, worried about where she could be. From Mariposa's hands, Melissa's necklace flies up into the sky. Mere seconds later a large flower grows from the ground and catches something in its petals. As it slowly comes down, they can see Melissa on the flower laughing.

Maria runs up to Melissa once she is safely on the ground, "I could have killed you! What were you thinking?"

Melissa simply smiles, "Your abilities broke through, you got mad when you thought you couldn't keep your family safe." Melissa ruffles Maria's hair, "A good ruler always keeps in mind that they can protect their people. That's step number one."

Maria nods, "Okay, but it's gonna take more than that to break through those blocks."

"I know," Melissa leans her forehead on Maria's, "But you're trying to learn and that's what matters."

"Max, Max, Max, Max, Max, Max, Max, Max, Max, Max, Max, Max! Max!" Mike shouts while poking his cousin.

Max screams in frustration, "Someone grab this child before he is thrown out the window!"

Melissa rushes to behind the driver's seat, and get's Mike to calm down and leave Max alone.

"I hate you for teaching him my name." They keep a hand on the wheel, looking into the rearview mirror, and flipping off Melissa.

Melissa nods, "I can't see what you're doing but I'll assume you're flipping me off."

"Damn right I am!" Max shouts.

"Hey, watching your language!" Mariposa shouts at Max.

Max raises an eyebrow and quickly glances behind them to where Mariposa is, "We all know you curse like a sailor, don't even try to deny it." Max then proceeds to laugh, "And those anger issues, bitch please!"

"You know what it does to my magic, I get that it's useful but I'm not going to let it happen." Mariposa finishes braiding Imelda's hair, tying it with a ribbon to keep it in place.

Liam sits down in the passenger seat next to Max, "How much longer until we get to your uncle's place?"

Max shakes their head to wake themselves up, "Like two more hours, can you get me some saltines, they're in my bag. In the pocket where George is sleeping."

Liam frowns, "Wait, your rat sleeps in your bag?"

Max nods, "Yeah, but if he already got into the crackers, bring the whole bag cause he knows he shouldn't be doing that."

Liam walks over to where Max left their bookbag, they look inside and see George the rat, with his head in a box of Saltines. Liam sighs, he brings the bag over to Max, and points inside. Max nods, reaches into the bag, and when they pull their hand out George is struggling to hang onto the box.

"Let go, you know that's bad for you!" Max lightly shakes George to make him let go of the box. George then looks at Max and flips them off, "Bastard, you're supposed to be helping me with my anxiety, not make it worse!" They place George on their head before eating a saltine themselves.

Liam smirks, "Love the dynamic you have with the rat."

Max grins, "Should have named him Splinter while I had the chance."

"You should have, that would have made all of this funnier." Liam sits down and eats a cracker himself.

"What's weird is how much my cousins like George, they depend on him emotionally more than me." Max pats George's head. "And even though he's extremely annoying, I kinda do rely on him."

"When did you get George, how old is he?" Liam wonders.

"Umm... I got him when high school started, he was just a baby. So he's almost three years old." Max smiles, "Rat's don't really have that long of a lifespan, only four years, five if they're lucky enough. So by the time I graduate, he might not be here anymore." They frown but quickly hide it with a smile, "But I'll just focus on these few years with him, while I still can."

"Okay, my uncle does not know that we are here. I forgot to call him before we left so now we have to hope he doesn't shoot us!" Max grabs their gun holsters and puts them on, they then load their guns, put the safety on, and then put them in their holsters. "Come along children!"

Everyone looks around before deciding that following Max is their best option. They all get out of the RV, following Max through the yard, towards the front of the house. It looks like a typical ranch, a large pasture full of cows that is surrounded by a barbed wire fence. A barn in the back that's blue with white accents, from a glance one can see stables. There is a garage that is separate to the house, it's open and inside is a tractor and a few plowing machines. The house itself is two stories, red brick, a white porch with a few steps, and there's furniture on the porch that gives a welcoming feeling.

Clarisse looks around questioningly, "It's sunset, is it safe for us to be here?"

"Yeah, if my uncle knows what's good for him he won't bring out his shotgun." Max walks up the steps, signaling for their family to wait.

Max knocks on the door and steps back, waiting for someone to answer, they wait a minute before ringing the doorbell.

"Is anyone even home?" Sam ask.

Melissa nods, "I can feel people moving around inside, five people. So yeah people are home."

Max groans, "My gods," They knock again, harder. "Uncle, it's your favorite, nobi!" They say in a sing-song voice.

This time the door opens, a man about a foot or two taller than Max, strong build, bond hair and Max's eyes. He looks like Max's dad, if Max's dad was older and chose to workout. The stereotypical Texas dad look, plaid shirt tucked into blue jeans with a white under shirt, black belt with a silver buckle, and brown cowboy boots.

"Max, how've you been kiddo?" The man takes Max into a headlock and ruffles their hair, and in the light of the sunset there is the glint of a golden ring on his left ring finger. He has a thick southern accent, more than what any of them have.

Max lightly slaps the man's arm, "Doin' great uncle Jer! How are you and the demons?" Max wonders, getting out of their uncle's hold.

"You're aunt won't let me get rid of them, sadly enough. But hey, what's up with all these versions of you?" He points to the family behind Max.

Max sighs, "Family on my pa's side."

Max's uncle nods, "Explains the freckles and the tattoos."

"Yeah, actually, we need somewhere to stay the night." Max laughs nervously while shifting from foot to foot. "We got into some trouble."

The man whistles, "Dang, there are what, twenty of y'all?" He looks at everyone, "Give me a minute, I'm gonna get your aunt." He pat's Max's shoulder before walking into the house.

Favion laughs, "That was your uncle?"

Max looks back at him and smiles, "Yeah, he's my dad's older brother. That's kinda why he looks so much like my dad. But he's older than my dad by like ten years."

Footsteps are heard from behind Max, and at the door is Max's uncle with a woman. She's shorter than Max, which is saying much. Long black hair braided to her left side, a dark olive complexion, dark hazel eyes. A light blue frilly apron atop of a red flower sundress, blue flats, and a golden band on her finger matching her husbands.

"Max, como estas no te he visto en mucho tiempo!" She exclaims as she smothers Max in a hug.

Max laughs, "Hola, tia Maria. Estoy bien, pero tengo noticias."

"Well, then come on in. You and your family are welcomed, and I assume some dinner will do you all good." Maria smiles.

Max laughs again, "Do you have enough to feed all of us?" They ask their aunt.

Max's aunt nods, "You know me, always ready for family. Are they okay with kosher food?" She gestures to the whole family.

"Give me the damn rat, Juan!" Max is on their cousin's back, hanging on by his hair while he's running around with George in his hands.

Juan tries to get Max off, "No, he's cute and I want him!"

Jameson groans at his younger brother, "Dude, give them the rat. Mom and dad will kill you for it, heck I'm pretty sure that uncle Jim will be pissed."

"Marcus, help me out here!" Max now has Juan pinned on the ground while waving over their other cousin.

Marcus winces from his spot on the couch, "Do I have to?"

Max glares at him, "You want to wake up with your tongue in your mouth? Help me!"

"Sorry Juan, but I have to listen to Max." Marcus helps to pry George out of his brother's hold.

Juan whines on the floor, "Betrayed by my own flesh and blood! How could you?" He sneers at his younger brother.

The three brothers are triplets, though they don't look like it. Marcus looks like a carbon copy of his dad, while Jameson looks just like his mom. Juan looks more like Max, blond hair and blue eyes with a dark skin tone. They're only a year younger than Max, but they're not Max's youngest cousins on their dad's side.

Max's uncle enters the living room with Micha, "Alright, y'all are all fueled up to leave in the morning. Your aunt is getting y'all set up in the barn, and boys off the floor!"

"Max started it!" Juan pushes Max off of him.

Max blows a raspberry, "I was going after what is mine, you gotta learn to leave my rat alone."

"Again with the rat, Juan?" Juan's dad rubs his eyes.

Jameson laughs, "You have to do something about his obsession with rats, dad."

Max's aunt Maria walks in in a huff, "No, I will not allow rats in this house. George is the only exception because he can behave himself."

Micha laughs, "He eats saltine crackers and goldfish like his life depends on it."

"Plus he likes to flip me off, like the little shit he is." Max puts George in their head before standing up. "Anyways, is it time for us to sleep now?"

Aunt Maria nods, "I left the barn doors open, you know how hot it gets down here. Why did you all pick summer of all times to visit?"

Max shrugs, "Not like winter or fall would be any better."

Maria, Max's cousin, frowns, "How hot does it get here exactly?"

Marcus shrugs, "Nears the hundreds during the day, but it cools down a lot during the night. It might be like sixty something if you're lucky."

Rose looks concerned, "Umm... will that affect your cold bloodedness?"

Maria shakes her head, "Nah, I should be fine. Again, thank you both so much for letting us spend the night."

Max's uncle grins, "Don't sweat it, we owed Max anyways."

Max chuckles, "Right uncle Jeremy, now we're even. That is until the next time I save your butt."

They left again early in the morning, aunt Maria gave them some food for the road that would be enough until they could cross the border. Favion insisted on not sleeping, wanting to practice his abilities more. That meant Maria had to stay up with him, teaching him the safest ways to use his abilities. Max did too to help with his fire abilities so that Maria wouldn't drain herself, also because they had to dye their hair. Favion learned a lot but not enough that he can do big things with his abilities yet.

It's a five hour drive to the border, Maria is sleeping so that she can use as much strength to portal them all across. Rose sits by her to make sure no one bothers her, she even threatens to stab anyone if they try to wake Maria up. Maria is now completely out of blood, breaking through that block took so much out of her.

Mariposa sighs, traffic to cross isn't much but it's enough to give someone a headache. Since none of them have their passports with them, they have to cross the wall with one of Maria's portals. It's a lot harder to get there especially with such a large vehicle.

"How the heck did our parents manage to do this?" Mariposa asks as she manages to take an exit to avoid any police.

Max leans back while eating a chocolate bar, "I have no idea, Micha was just a baby back then though, they might have an idea."

Mariposa nods, "So," She says awkwardly, "Are you ready to see bisabuelo again?"

"No, I'm really not." Max crosses their arms. "He's a drunk, things changed after bisabuela died."

"Well, can you blame him?" Mariposa asks.

Max chuckles, "Yeah, I can! He could have asked us for help but instead he wasted all his time and money on booze."

"He lost his wife, Max." Mariposa defends, "I'm not happy about his reaction to it either, but you should at least try to understand how he feels."

Max sits up, tears starting to fill their eyes, "I'm the one who had to see her die. I was just five, try to understand how I feel."

Melissa decides to join the conversation, "You're not the only one who saw a loved one die. My dad died the same way, a bullet through the head." She pokes at Max's sides, "I became scared of guns after that, but you embraced them and started using her guns."

Max growls, "Well, he could have at least told us something, anything! He acts as if it only affected him, it hurt us all too!"

"Congrats, you woke Maria up." Micha says from the bunk beds, watching Rose help Maria get out of bed. They jump down from the top bunk and help Maria walk over to the others.

Maria rubs her eyes while stretching, "What are we arguing about this time?"

Max scowls, "They want me to forgive the drunk."

Mariposa nods, "I understand that Max went through just as much when bisabuela died, but they need to see things from bisabuelo's perspective."

Maria frowns, "What do you mean, bisabuela isn't dead."

"What?" The sorcerers and sorceresses shout in unison, Mariposa almost drives off the road, nearly crashing them into a bunch of trees.

Max glares at Maria, "I know what I saw, there is no way she is alive!"

Maria shrugs, "I know what I was told, I went to the land of the dead."

"Really, and you didn't tell us this, why?" Melissa questions, getting up from where she is.

"Well," Maria slaps herself lightly, "It's a long story, I can tell y'all later."

"Mariposa, how much time till we get to the border?" Micha asks their cousin.

Mariposa hums, "I say about two hours now."

Micha smiles wickedly, "You have time."

Mariposa sighs, "Okay, where do I even start."

"We've arrived, time to undo what our parents and Micha did!" Mariposa parks the RV, getting out of the driver seat and joining everyone else in the back.

Maria shakes her hands, trying to get rid of her nerves, "Okay, I'm gonna stop time so that way we don't get caught by any cops. Then a portal, who's driving?"

Micah starts to walk over to the driver's seat, "I'm doing it, just try not to die."

Maria nods, she makes her hands into fist in front of her while closing her eyes tightly. She takes a deep breath and slowly opens her hand while holding her breath. Once her hands are open, she opens her eyes, everything is still and no one is moving. Maria slowly checks her watch, fifteen minutes to make a portal and cross the border. She walks up to the front of the RV, and she lightly tugs on Micha's arm to take them out of frozen time.

"Whoa, okay, I feel like I'm gonna be sick." Micha holds their stomach while leaning forward a bit.

"Well, you can't." Maria holds her hands out palms down, and slowly makes a circle in the air with her arms, slowly turning her palms upward. "Just drive us through there, and in case you're wondering, yes it will work." Maria points to the portal.

Micha nods, "Alright, may the gods let us live." Micha starts the RV, surprised something is even able to happen, they take the RV off of park, and slowly start to drive them through the portal. "Where does this portal even lead?"

Maria smiles, "Right into Celaya."

Micha frowns, "Wait, where exactly are we going to hide this RV?"

"I'll start time again and get Rose and Melissa to help me cover it in plants. We're gonna have to walk to bisabuelo's house." Maria watches as they fully pass through the portal and end up in a familiar place.

Micha laughs, "Let's just hope we don't get killed on the way there." They park the RV, they get out of the driver's seat. "So go ahead and do your thing."

Maria snaps her fingers, and time starts up again, some of her family in the back stumbles around when they regain their sense of movement.

Maria walks up to them, "Okay, time for you guys to get your stuff together. We're gonna have to get to bisabuelo's house by foot, which means walking past the village. So everyone get your weapons, Rose and Melissa you are helping me hide the Rv.

Everyone starts to move around to gather what they need, Micha pulls something from their bag, handing it to every girl.

Alyssa examines the scarves given to her and Kayla, "What exactly is this?"

Max smiles from where they are helping Melissa, "A rebozo women wear them, they're not necessary in other villages, but here it's better safe than sorry because women being in the open without one of these is kinda rare. Plus believe it or not they help to stay cool during the summers."

"I wear one because I'm betrothed, it also hides my eyes enough so people don't question them." Melissa adjusts the rebozo so that she can have it like a hood to cover her head. "Better safe than sorry in these parts." She ties her belt full of knives around her waist and then puts on the gloves Esme gave her.

Max nods, "That's why I dyed my hair, people here don't take kindly to outsiders." They put the safety on their guns before putting them in their holsters. "When I came here when I was younger, people didn't really like the fact that I was blond like my dad and grandparents. That’s why I dyed my hair, for safety reasons."

Immanuel looks at Max and Micha, "Why don't you two wear them?"

Micha shrugs, "Top surgery and testosterone, we both look male enough so that it shouldn't matter. Okay, everyone has everything, correct?" Micha slings their bat on over their back before finishing tying their boots.

Mariposa fixes her rebozo, "Yeah," She connects her garrote to her belt loops, "If any of you still believe in a lord above, get on your hands and knees and pray for us."

They all start to pile out of the RV, Maria, Melissa, and Rose quickly have all sorts of large plants grow to cover it. Once that is done, they start to walk down the street towards the house of the only person that can help them.

"This place is..." Alyssa watches as some children run in the streets chasing each other with sticks, "Nice."

Micha laughs, "Yup, this place is home. I was just a newborn when I left here, just like the others."

"Only me, Max, and Mariposa were born in the states." Melissa agrees while holding onto Max who is guiding her. "Good thing you got your papers in though."

"Yeah, after being rejected a few times." Micha mumbles the last part.

Immanuel grimaces, "Was immigrating really that hard?"

Micha nods, "Yep, at home I was told that I could only speak Spanish and I would get punished for speaking English. Then at school it was the opposite, I got punished for speaking my native tongue." They look at the women holding their children, running errands, and chatting. "But I'm kinda glad we didn't stick around here."

Favion frowns, "Why do you say that?" He wonders.

"If our parents had stayed, our lives would be totally different." Micha replies. "I wouldn't be married and have had a kid, I would have been killed in my teens by my own parents."

"I wouldn't be a queen and would have died in the streets as a kid." Melissa adds.

"We wouldn't have been born." Max and Mariposa explain.

"And we would have been with our people a long time ago." Maria smiles at her old friend, "And I wouldn't have met any of you."

Rose intertwines her pinky with Maria's, "So let's just be thankful that you guy's did make it."

Micha scoffs, “Not like living in the U.S is any better, I waited years for my papers to come in. I got rejected once, and of course you can’t get scholarships without papers.”

Max points down the street, "We just take a left and keep going, with luck we won't run into much trouble."

"Does he even still live there? I mean in his grief he could have moved." Melissa points out.

Micah rolls their eyes, looking around before waving and stopping a woman who is holding her child's hand. "Disculpa, soy el bisnieto de Franciso Alebrije-Gonzalez. Estoy de visita pero no me dio dirección, usted sabe por donde vive?"

The woman looks at them with fright, standing in front of her kid like a blockade, "Si, solo sigue esta calle, tomas el camino a la escerda, luego lo sigues hasta el final. Va estar una casa con un carro rojo, allí vive su bisabuelo."

"Gracias, buen dia!" Micah waves to her before joining their family. "So Max was right, he still lives there."

Mariposa scoffs, "And what exactly are we going to tell him?"

"More like hope he isn't drunk." Max mumbles.

Mariposa lightly hits Max on the head, "We talked about this, when will you let it go?"

Max glares at his cousin, "When he apologizes for what he did, that's when I will too."

"Less talk more walk, we're almost there." Micah points to where they have to take a left.

The street is shadier than what they thought, not many people live on it because of status. Their great-grandmother was the daughter of the man who ruled over this village. And when she married their great-grandfather, they became two of the most powerful people in the village.

"Max, knock, you're the last person to ever see him." Micha lightly pushes Max to the door.

Max laughs nervously, "Here's the thing, I haven't seen him since I was five. And we all know what happened after I was five."

Mariposa snaps her fingers, "To him you're still Gosalyn."

"Exactly, so let's hope for the best." Max knocks on the door, stepping back when they hear the sound of broken glass.

Melissa winces, "And... he's drunk."

The door opens, to reveal a man with a bottle in his hand. His black hair has streaks of white, his white mustache curls at the ends, and it's covered in what looks like water droplets. His flannel is unbuttoned revealing a white shirt, his khaki pants have rips and bunch up at his feet. He's wearing tan work boots, his olive skin makes his bloodshot eyes stand out.

He glares at all of them, "Great, you are all back. Get in, we have a lot to talk about." He finishes the bottle while stepping aside for everyone to step inside.

So we finally meet the great-grandfather, he's not that impressive right now. Just give him time and soon he and Max will be at each other's throats, literally. Well, goodbye friend. See you next time you want to continue the story.

[mar04isdead]

Freaks But Family

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9: Well, didn't expect that from a two year old

Okay, so I know I threw a lot at you in the last part of this story, but in my defense you really feel like you need to know more. So I won't drag this on more than I have to, so let the shit show start!

Once the smoke clears, the family finds themselves surrounded by people in all black, body armor, and holding all kinds of weapons. In the front leading them is Dr. Gomez.

"Well, Maria, Rose, long time no see." She smiles when she sees Maria and Rose standing in front of their family. "Thank you Favion, I always knew you'd lead me to the people I've been missing."

Maria steps forward, "Kinda always knew you were gonna use the weak minded one. So," Maria stomps on the ground and a large portal opens, it's wobbly and not holding its shape. "I thought ahead." They all fall into the portal and land in a pile in the basement.

"Warning next time babe!" Rose quickly gets up from the pile and runs to lock all the doors in the basement.

Everyone is running around, trying to find a safe way out without having to stress Maria's abilities much. Esme is making sure everyone is with them and no one is missing.

"Wait, where's Mike?" Alyssa asks while looking around the room.

Everyone stops in their tracks when they hear crying outside of the main door, Maria runs to it and bangs on it.

"Give him back, you bitch!" Maria keeps banging on the door.

Dr. Gomez laughs, "I will, just let us in and you can get this young baby back."

Maria looks back at her family, all of them shaking their heads telling her not to. Maria doesn't listen, hits a button by the door, and takes a step back as the door opens. As soon as she sees Dr. Gomez she holds her fist up, and they're on fire.

"Take one wrong step and you're done, slowly take three steps forward. Sam, Imelda, Yallesia, in the sky just in case." Maria gives her family orders, and both Imelda, Yallesia, and Sam shift their wings out and fly up to cover all possible angles.

"You're thinking things through I see, alright, boys stay back." Gomez orders her people to stay back while she takes three steps forward while holding a crying and squirming Mike in her hands.

Maria takes one step forward while extending her right hand out for Mike, "Just give me my cousin and no one get's hurt."

Gomez smiles as she carefully transfers Mike from her arms into Maria's, Maria takes several steps back once she has Mike in her arms. Gomez keeps walking, letting the family get the chance to surround her. Favion let's himself stay to the side, giving Gomez the opening she was hoping for. Gomez grins as she snaps her fingers, and instantly the ceiling starts to fall down and from it comes down Gomez's team.

Gomez grins, "Okay, I came here for one thing. I just need you, Maria, you're the only one left that is in line for the Aztec throne. Even though it is rightfully mine, you have one of two choices." She points to the dome behind the family. "You get in there, all of you." She points to Kayla, Alyssa, and Immanuel. "And let us finally reveal to the public who has been terrorizing their city. Or you can hand over the crown to me, therefore I become chieftess and you lose all power you have over your people."

Maria takes the ring off of her back, pushes the button, and points the blades of her staff at Gomez, "Or option three, you die and none of this has ever happened."

An all out war breaks out in the basement, the family versus Gomez's team. Maria tries her hardest to keep barriers around her family to keep them safe, all the while trying to keep as many people down as possible. Mike is with Esme and the whole family is practically passing him around when they can't really protect him. Favion is lost in the chaos and is trying to get to the dome, and when he gets there no one but Gomez notices what he's doing with the dome. Gomez and her team keep trying to get the family into the dome and keep them in there, and eventually that's what happens. Favion hits a button on the controls, locking the family in the dome.

Maria meets Favion through the glass, "I hope you're happy, thanks for getting me and my family killed." She tells him.

"I didn't mean for this, look she's just gonna help you. Take you're abilities away for a bit so she can run the experiments to help you." Favion puts his hand on the glass only for Maria to glare at him.

Gomez steps up to the dome, "While I wish I could take your abilities away for good, I still have to find out how to do that. But I found a way to temporarily remove them while we transport you."

"Transport us where?" Esme questions, holding Mike on her hip.

Gomez laughs, "Why to city hall of course! Right where everyone can see you for the freaks you are."

"We're not freaks!" Liam shouts while punching the glass.

Gomez smiles, "Really, look at yourselves." She gestures to all of them. "One of you has spider legs and half of a snake's body, a lot of you have wings, some have claws and fangs." She laughs again, "Your family is the definition of freaks."

"And you're the definition of insane." Imelda mutters, only her family can hear her.

While everyone starts to shift back to normal, a dark blue gas starts to fill up the dome. The younger kids are instantly choking on it, the older ones have to go over to make sure they're okay. It doesn't affect Kayla, Alyssa, or Immanuel at all but they're trying to help the family. Slowly as the gas gets into their systems, they all start to pass out, the gas becoming too thick to see anything.

"What the hell is this?" Maria asks while coughing and banging on the glass.

Favion looks at her with worry, "It won't hurt you, just take your abilities away for a bit. So don't worry."

Maria's vision starts to fade to black but before she passes out and the gas fills the whole dome she tells Favion one last thing, "I regret ever knowing you."

It's really bright when Maria wakes up, bright as in no matter where she turns there is a light shining in her face. There is a large tarp covering the dome keeping it dark so that the light is brighter than what it should be. Everyone else is already up, and they're all using their shifting to try and break through the dome. Rose is the first person to see that she's awake.

"Hey, I tried to tell them that they won't be able to find a way out but they didn't listen." Rose helps Maria to get on her feet.

Maria walks over to her family, "Guys!" She calls to them, they ignore her and keep throwing themselves at the dome. "Hey, can we not-" They keep trying, "Please let's just-" they keep trying. "We-" No one listens to her, and Maria snaps. "Okay listen up!" Maria juts her hands out, and from her fingertips her webbing gathers her family together.

"Hey, what gives?" Esme cuts away at the webbing. "We're trying to get out of this cage!"

"A cage that was made for me!" Maria webs Esme up again, "You helped to finish building this, you better than anyone should know how this works." Maria let's everyone go, "I've been locked up in here enough times to know that there is no getting out. It's up to date, none of my abilities or shifting can break it. So what makes you all think you can?"

Maria sits in the middle of the dome, she looks around. "You see those burns up there, I tried burning this thing down once." She laughs while looking at the burns, "It obviously didn't work, I'm obviously still trapped in this cage."

Esme looks at Maria with sad eyes, "I did it to help you, you knew you couldn't get it under control. You know what you're like when you haven't had blood, I did it to keep us all safe."

"I know, I know that." Maria smiles up at her cousin, "But there were just times where I felt like this was all it was supposed to be, a cage to keep me locked up and away."

Esme kneels down in front of Maria and hugs her, "I'm sorry, I didn't know. You should have told me, I would have found a place that was safe, or had done something to make it less of a cage." She pulls away and brushes some of Maria's hair out of her face, "You're my little cousin, it's my job to keep you all safe. I know sometimes I am not the best at it, but that's why you have to tell me things."

"I know, sorry I didn't." Maria leans into Esme's touch.

Liam smiles, "So, is there a way out?"

"Only from the outside, someone from the outside has to manually open the doors with the remote. Other than that we have no way out." Maria stands up and walks over to the glass.

Imelda raises her hand, she's standing behind Immanuel's legs, "Are anyone else's abilities not working?"

Alyssa leans down to Imelda's level, "What do you mean by that?"

"I know what I want it to do," Imelda forms a fist towards one of her cousins, "But I can't see it happening."

Everyone else tries to use their abilities, all of them grunting with the effort and how hard they are trying to see if their abilities work. They all try to no avail, Maria looks around the dome to all the lights.

"The gas they gave us was to take our abilities away for a bit, so we have to wait it out." Maria shoots a web up to the ceiling and starts climbing, "I don't know why the lights are here, when my abilities come back I can just manipulate them."

Rose looks up at Maria while nodding, "Yeah and you've never used your shadow and death abilities. So I don't think she knows you have those."

Maria gasps, grins, and jumps down, "Babe you're a genius!" Maria runs up to Rose and kisses her. "She doesn't know about my shadow and death abilities! Esme and the others have never been able to crack that last formula! It's the only ability this dome isn't up to date on!"

Esme laughs with excitement, "Yes! When your abilities come back, you can drain the light, and then use the shadows to break us out."

"The thing is, I have to wait." Maria points out, she looks around the dome. "And instead of draining all the light, why not get rid of it? The more shadows I have the better, and we already know combining both lights and shadows is not good for me."

Esme nods, "When we break out, best to stop time if possible. That way we can get back home, finish getting our things together, and leave. I'll drive because I know a place where we can get help."

Liam nods, "Sounds like a plan, now we have to wait."

It's around mid day when they're abilities come back, but the dome is carted away. When the tarp is taken away, they find themselves in front of city hall, where they can be seen from a large crowd. People are screaming and throwing things at the dome, having the family back up and try to hide. The people quiet down when Dr. Gomez, the mayor, and Favion, who is in his Liberator costume, come up on the stage.

Dr. Gomez steps forward, "Now I know what you are all wondering, what is happening with these kids in this dome? Well, what if I told you that two of them are the villain's that have been terrorizing your town?" People gasp and look at the family in the dome. "And it was Liberator, who caught them and now has brought them to you." She gestures to Favion.

Favion steps forward, he waves and smiles at the crowd while Maria and Rose glare at him through the glass.

Esme puts her hand on Maria's shoulder, "Think we should use our plan now?"

Maria smiles at Esme, "And embarrass them in front of all of these people, fuck yeah." Maria smiles at her family, and they start their plan.

Sam, Imelda, and Yallesia shift their wings out and fly up to the ceiling, they break all the light bulbs on the top of the dome. Esme, Cameron, and Joseph use their claws to take out the ones on the walls, Alyssa, Kayla, Immanuel, and Liam break the ones on the ground. Once all the lightbulbs are out, they all stand in a circle around Maria, Sam, Yallesia, and Imelda stay in the air and cover the circle with their wings.

"I'm gonna get us a small distraction, take the attention off of us." Maria smiles as she slams her fist on the ground, the earth shakes.

Screams are heard from the distance, the good thing about city hall is that it was built over a cemetery. Maria squeezes her eyes shut as the skeletons break free through the concrete and grab at the legs of the crowd. This pulls away the attention of the guards, they head to the crowd to stop the skeletons, giving Maria the window she needs. She raises her arms, and out of the air weaves the shadows, as her family backs away the shadows get bigger. The shadows eventually combine to form two large claws, Maria shoots her arms out in front of her, causing the shadows to hit the glass of the dome and break it. Maria uses a pulling motion, the claws copying and shattering the glass, creating a large doorway.

"And that's how you break out of an unbreakable dome!" Maria then proceeds to pass out and fall to the ground.

Clarisse looks down at her cousins before looking at the guards who are ready to attack, "Well, at least we have our abilities back."

It was at this moment that Mike decides to let out the loudest cry possible for a two year old, and he surprises himself that when he opens his eyes, he's the only person in the world that can move.

Mike slowly squirms his way out of Esme's arms, he climbs down her leg to stand on the ground. When he's on the ground, he toddles over to Maria and he pulls her arm. He pulls her out of frozen time, he slaps her face, waking her up.

"Crap!" Maria sits up while holding her sides, she looks around in confusion. "I didn't do this." She looks at Mike in shock, "Mike, was this you?"

Mike nods, he points to the other, "Get them out." He says while toddling over to Esme.

Maria gets up and shakes her head, "That's the thing, only the person that stopped time can pull them out. So you," She pats Mike's head, "You have to pull them out. Don't worry, I'll help."

Maria picks up Mike, she has him wrap his small arms around Esme's Maria takes a few steps back making Mike pull on Esme's arm just enough to pull her out of time. They keep repeating the process with everyone else, even Favion.

"Okay, we have fifteen minutes before time starts up again, this wasn't me it was Mike." Maria hands Mike back to Esme, before glaring at Favion, "You have to come with us, we can't leave that many witnesses. And don't worry," Maria reassures her family. "I have a potion that can check him over."

Esme smiles, "Okay, give us a portal, and let's get the fuck out of here."

Maria draws a circle in the air, a wobbly portal forms and one by one they all go through it. They arrive in the living room of their house and immediately start to load the van. Maria runs upstairs to grab her potion, when she gets back she throws the potion at Favion. Once the smoke settles over Favion, a few red dots appear on him so Maria throws a second potion causing the dots to go away.

"What the heck was that?" Favion asks running after Maria as she heads to the kitchen.

Maria waves him off, "Don't worry about it. How much blood do I have?" She asks Esme.

Esme sighs as she packs a small red cooler, "Just five, and we're bumping you up to one bag every two days. We can't take the things to pump blood with us, so I don't know how you're going to last."

Maria takes the cooler to the garage, "I'll just hunt like I used to, just hope I haven't forgotten how to." She puts the cooler in the van before checking her watch, "Ten minutes! Best we leave now, everyone in the van!"

Everyone finishes putting their things in the van before cramming themselves in. Maria stays behind with Favion and tells her family where she will meet them.

"Don't worry about us, Esme knows what we're going to do so she'll fill y'all in." Maria waves to her family as they leave the garage and as the van weaves between cars in order to try and leave town.

Favion looks at Maria in confusion, "What exactly do we have to do?"

Maria wipes her eyes, "Get rid of all the evidence of us, we have to burn the house down."

"Wait, what?" He screams at her in shock, "How will we even do that? Time is frozen!"

Maria already has her hands on fire, "It'll work, it just won't start until time does. So we might as well start so we can catch up with the others." She drags her hand across the wall, leaving a trail of fire in its wake.

Favion nods and lights his own hands on fire, the goal is to cover as much of the house as they can. They both have to take care of the basement, lighting almost everything on fire to get rid of as much as possible. Maria checks her watch one last time, leaving them with two minutes, so she lights on fire the generator that provides power to the whole house.

"Won't that blow up?" Favion questions while she makes a portal.

Maria nods, "Yeah, that's the whole point. Now we have to go."

They jump through the portal and they end up on a hill somewhere near the edge of town. And Maria is watching her watch as time starts to slowly start, and once time is back, there is an explosion across town, right where Maria's family home is.

Maria sighs, "Let's go, we have to go to the others."

They both walk down the hill where the family is, waiting for them so that they can find a safer place to hide.

The place they are heading to is only thirty minutes away, and they really don't get noticed by any cars. Everyone is quiet, the only sound is the radio of the car and Mike's random babbling.

Kayla gasps as if she just remembered something, "Esme you don't have a license!"

Esme swerves to avoid hitting a car and gets honked at, "I know, Kayla. I know." She takes a deep breath as she takes back control of the van.

Favion frowns, "How do you not have a license? Aren't you thirty?" He questions earning a groan from everyone in the car, and a facepalm from Mike.

"Say it with me now guys!" Esme shouts to her family. "Three, two, one."

"We're immigrants!" The family shouts while laughing.

Favion smiles a bit, "Right, forgot about that part. Anyways how much longer do we have?"

Esme stops the van at a wall in an alley, "We're actually already here, just have to talk to some people." Esme turns off the engine and gets out of the van, "Maria, come with me we don't really know these people."

Maria climbs over her cousins in order to get out of the van and go with Esme, and the whole time Rose and Favion feel like they've been here before. Maria knocks on the wall and everyone is surprised when a slot opens in the wall, Esme talks to the person on the other side and Maria shows them the tattoo she has on her arm that no one has noticed until now. After a minute or so, Maria and Esme come back into the van.

Esme starts the van, "We wait, it may take a while but we have to wait."

They wait for about five minutes before the wall starts to move to the side, and standing on the other side is a very familiar looking girl with a blindfold over her eyes.

Once the van stops Maria runs out and tackles the girl in a hug, "Melissa! It's been so long, sorry we dropped by like this but we really need your help." Everyone else takes that as a sign to get out of the van.

Melissa pulls away, "It's okay, we'll help you however we can don't worry about it. You all must be really tired and it's getting really late. Did all that stuff happen today, it didn't make the news."

Esme steps up to talk to Melissa "Yeah, we barely got out. We know where we need to go but we need help to get there. Is it okay if we call the others to come here?"

"Of course, for now let's get you all something to eat and then you can rest. We can get things sorted in the morning." Melissa then turns to the boy standing behind her. "They are our guests, they're my family and really need help. I'll explain more when we get back home."

People stare at them and look their way as Melissa and her fiancé, Tyler, lead them into the mansion and downstairs to what they call their training room. It's huge and off to the walls are all sorts of weapons, which is a bit concerning but Melissa reassures them that they'll be fine. Melissa has a few people set up a sleeping arrangement for her family and has others have some food made for them. Maria sits down with Melissa and Tyler to catch Tyler up on what the family has been up to, and by his reactions, Melissa hasn't told him any of this information.

"So, how long do you have to get to Mexico?" Tyler asks once he is all caught up on the situation.

Esme responds, "Hard to say, depends on the help we get."

Maria nods, "That's why we are holding what we like to call a council of the cousins. A representative from each Gonzalez family will be here and help us decide on what to do. I'll be speaking for the Alebrije-Gonzalez family, and I assume that Melissa will speak for the Di Glori-Gonzalez family?"

Melissa smiles, "Yup, Max will be here of course, Mariposa, and Micha. They'll be here tomorrow morning and we have to decide something before the afternoon."

"The plan is to leave by tomorrow's nightfall, that way we don't drag any unwanted attention to your people." Esme adds.

"Food's here!" Someone announces from the doorway as he and a few others bring in food.

"Awesome, I'm starving." Maria says as she stands up and helps her cousins get their food.

Melissa tells Tyler to head on upstairs to be with the gang while she stays with her cousins, Tyler agrees and leaves the family to catch up.

Maria eats some of her pozole, "So, when did that happen?" She points to the door that Tyler left from.

Melissa thinks for a moment, "Umm, way back in August I think. We got betrothed in November."

"Hey, Melissa, are you sure us being here is okay? Did your king or queen approve?" Liam asks.

Melissa laughs, "You're talking to the queen right now!"

Clarisse shakes her head, "What, since when? Last I checked you were the princess."

Melissa nods, "I was crowned queen when I was ten, it was a few days after dad died."

Esme frowns, "Your dad, like your birth dad?"

Melissa shakes her head, "Oh, no, I wish! No, my adoptive dad. He and Killie, my mom, were the king and queen before me and Tyler. They took me in when I needed a family, and I've been happy here ever since." She smiles at her memories of her family. "I'll take you upstairs to see the portrait of our family later, maybe even let you guys see my garden."

Rose jumps up with a smile, "Aha! That's where I know you from, you're that girl that gave us the flower!"

Melissa giggles, "Now she gets it, hi Rose, didn't expect y'all to bring Favion with you. He's really bad at his abilities." Melissa tries to hide her laughter, "It's also nice to meet Kayla, Immanuel, and Alyssa, and in case you're wondering, no one will have a problem with you guys here. Relationships like that are actually common here."

Kayla smiles, "Really, how so?"

"Here, differences make you special. Makes the world a whole lot colorful, another reason why I like it here. Granted I can't see they're smiling faces anymore, but thanks to my magic I can feel when my people are happy."

Maria gasps, "You rule over your own kingdom! Think you can help me?"

"Help you with what?" Melissa wonders.

Maria shrugs, "Ruling over an ancient civilization, I don't know the first thing about being chieftess."

Melissa nods, "Sure, I'll teach you what I know. Just keep in mind what works for me might not work for you."

"Yeah, okay, I'm just not sure what exactly I have to do." Maria looks down at her food sadly.

Melissa puts her hand under Maria's chin to make her look at her, "It's okay, we'll just learn as we go."

Melissa makes sure that the conference room is free so that the council of the cousins can talk about what is happening. Max is the first to arrive, laughing at Maria when she points out the blond hair. Micha is next, looking extremely tired which they assure their cousins is what happens when you have a kid. Mariposa is last, very happy to see everyone that she gives them kisses on their cheeks that they all brush it off as the French side of her upbringing.

Maria sits at the head of the table, "So I guess you're all asking what I brought you here for?"

Micha shrugs, "Kind of, I mean we don't hear from you in six years and the next thing we know you are being hunted down by the government and need to leave the country."

Maria smiles sheepishly and rubs the back of her neck, "Yeah, sorry about that. But has anything happened with you guys, anything I need to know?"

Max raises their hand, "One question for all of you."

"Alright," Maria nods, "Shoot."

"Okay, did anyone else almost have a young relative kidnapped or was that just me?" Max looks around the room questioning their cousins.

"Oh thank the gods, it wasn't just me!" Mariposa raises her hands to the ceiling.

Max smiles but there is a hint of anger in it, "Great, cause some weird dudes break into my house in the middle of the night trying to kidnap my newborn sister!"

"Yeah, that happened here too! They almost kidnapped my nephew!" Melissa shouts in frustration.

Micha scoffs, "They tried to take my daughter away, like what the fuck?"

"They went after my little brothers." Mariposa nods calmly, though everyone can tell she's mad by her tone of voice.

Maria nods, "Okay, I can tell you are all mad about this. I'm sorry this happened, but I need your help getting out of the country and to our ancestral temple. And the thing about the way it is built is that I need magic to make it through."

Micha tilts their head to the side, "And you need our magic to get through."

"Yes, I would have tio Anto and Miguel to do this but that's just two, and I need four." Maria explains. "Esme helped me plan the journey, it's at most four days with at least three stops. Once in Louisiana, Texas, and then in Celaya."

Melissa holds her hand up, "Celaya, the most violent village in our home country? Are you joking?"

"No, I'm not. We have one person that can help us and he lives there." Maria defends.

Max groans, "The drunk, no way. I'm already not on good terms with that village, let alone him." Max sneers with venom in their voice.

Mariposa nods, "I have to agree with Max, I know he is the only one that can help. But, after what happened years ago, it's not the best idea to go to him."

Maria looks at Micha pleadingly, "Micha, as the adult, what do you have to say?"

"As the chieftess what do you want me to say?" Micha crosses their arms and gives Maria a questioning look.

"I, I honestly don't know. All I know is that I need to get to that temple, and I need all the help I can possibly get. I want to free my people, bisabuela already tried and I want to finish what she started." Maria frowns, "So Micha, I'm not asking you as your chieftess, I ask you as your cousin, will you support my decision?"

Micha sighs, "In defense of him, he lost his wife who was his best friend. Imagen how all of you would feel, if the person you loved most and vowed to always be by your side, was taken away from you like that, what would you do?"

Everyone frowns, Melissa starts to fiddle with her ring, Max puts their hands in the pockets of their hoodie, and Mariposa looks down at the table.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. He is our best shot, so Maria, you have my support." Micha smiles at their younger cousin.

Maria smiles back before looking around at everyone else, they all hesitate before nodding in agreement.

"Alright, that's decided then, that's the plan. I only have enough in me to stop time twice and portal us once. We're saving that for when we have to cross the border." Maria counts on her fingers.

"Funny, generation before us tried to cross the border to come here, now we have to cross the border to go there." Melissa chuckles.

Micha, "Yeah, the irony. So, transportation, cause trust me best we travel with one vehicle so we don't attract too much attention."

"Okay yeah, but where do we get a car big enough for twenty of us?" Melissa asks.

Max smiles while looking at Mariposa, "That large trailer your dad has that I fixed last week, think he'll let us borrow it?"

Mariposa nods, "Yeah, it can fit twenty five people. Has a bathroom, two sets of bunk beds, a small kitchen, and a pullout couch. It can fit us all."

Max points at Mariposa, "Rat friendly?"

Mariposa laughs, "Yeah, George is free to come. And he's in your pocket now, isn't he?"

"He likes to travel in comfort." Max takes their hand out of their pocket bringing out the rat in their palm.

Micha clears their throat, "Alright, the rat aside, weapons. We're gonna have to fight because of all the traps and obstacles in the temple."

Maria smiles, "Esme has that part covered, but what she needs to know is if anyone here knows how to use a gun."

Everyone turns their heads to look, or in Melissa's case gives the feeling of looking at Max who is just sitting back while petting their rat.

"Why are you all looking at me?" Everyone quirks an eyebrow, "Is it cause I'm white?"

"No."

"Yes."

Micha and Mariposa say simultaneously.

Micha groans, "You are literally wearing your holsters. I can see the guns." The point at Max's sides.

Max groans, taking their guns out and putting them on the table, "Safety is on and they're not loaded." They reassure everyone.

Maria nods, "Good enough, so Esme is gonna give you something for those later. Melissa, you're so good with knives we have something for you. A better baseball bat for Micha, and Mariposa a sharper garrote."

Micha smiles, "Okay, that works. So, I'm guessing it's best if we leave tonight. It's just like two in the afternoon right now so best we all get ready. Mariposa, are you guys on tour right now?"

Mariposa frowns, "Yeah, we leave the state in two days, why you ask?"

"It'll be harder to track us if we meet somewhere that is always on the move." Micha stands up. "So I say we all go to our homes, get our stuff, and meet at Mariposa's circus before sundown. Cause we have to leave, the sooner the better."

"Yeah, that makes sense. Oh, it's gonna be Mike's birthday at sundown. Mariposa, do you guys have elephants?" Maria asks her cousin.

"Is it his turn to shift? Yay, yeah we have elephants. I haven't seen a shifting ceremony yet, can't wait." Mariposa jumps up and down in excitement.

"Alright," Maria smiles. "Meeting adjourned."

Melissa has to leave the mansion with her family so she has to say her goodbye's earlier, but she brings some people to meet Maria.

"Maria, you remember my siblings?" Next to Melissa is a girl that looks exactly like her but instead she has green streaks in her hair and is wearing glasses. And a boy that looks very similar to them both.

"Yeah, haven't seen them in a while though. And you guy's know magic too, right?" Maria wonders.

Melanie nods, "Yeah, but we're not as caught up as we should be. We have our token gems but we don't have as much experience as we should. We have the same magic as Melissa though."

"Only one of our tios can teach us our magic. Melissa has been trying to catch us up, we would go but we have to make sure our gang stays in line." Melardo explains. "While we did unite our gangs, not everyone is happy with the change."

"We just know that we haven't been able to be as close to our culture as we should have, and we're hoping that as chieftess you can do us the favor of reminding them that we still want to learn?" Melanie asks.

Maria smiles, "Of course, you deserve to learn all your magic. Hopefully when we come back, Melissa will have more to show you."

Melissa nods, "Now if you'll excuse me I have to reassure Tyler that I'll be fine. Sick of people babying me cause I'm blind."

When they get to the circus location everyone else is already there. Since an elephant was one of the calmer options for Mike, they got lucky that the circus had a baby. The baby's bite wasn't as painful as that of an adult so Mike wasn't as bothered, so the ceremony wasn't as exciting as the rest of them. They all head outside to say their goodbyes to their families, promising to come back as soon as possible.

"It's okay, I'll be back soon, honey. I would never leave you for real and you know that, Harley." Micha kisses their daughter's cheeks while wiping away her tears. "I'm also gonna come back with your token gem, isn't that exciting? You'll get your full magic from it, I'll be able to teach you more of the big spells."

"But I don't want you to leave!" Harley only cries harder.

Avery frowns, "Honey," They lean down to be next to Micha and to Harley's level. "Dida has to help your tias y tios. They'll be back, and when they get back we can eat all the ice cream we want."

Micha laughs before agreeing, "Alright, yeah, it's summer she deserves it before she starts kindergarten."

"But you're coming back?" Harley wonders again.

"Yes, I promise. I'm coming back, I'd never leave you." Micha kisses her forehead again. "I promise that. Go play with the other kids, it's a circus, have fun." Harley nods before running off to play with the other kids her age.

Avery puts an arm around Micha, "You're gonna miss her a lot right?"

Micha nods, "Yeah, I'm gonna miss you too." Micah puts their arms around Avery before kissing them on the lips.

"Wow, we never do that." Avery says when they pull away.

Micah kisses Avery's cheek, "And when we do it's a promise, and I'm promising that I'm coming back and I'm gonna miss you every day."

Mariposa is saying goodbye to her dad's, brothers, and girlfriend. Her older brother keeps asking her if she has everything, her younger brothers won't let go of her legs, her dads are trying to get her brothers off of her, and her girlfriend is watching the chaos from a distance. Once her brothers leave her alone, she promises them all to come back home safe. She hugs her family, kisses her girlfriend before joining her cousins.

Max's dad's are making sure that they have enough food for George, that Max's guns work, and that they remember their uncle's address.

"I know where uncle Jeremy lives, dad, and yes I know I can't eat pork. Pa brags about it most of the time." Max squirms out of their dad's hold.

"You choose to go kosher, and you'll need this." Max's pa hands them a box.

Max reads the box, "Hair dye?"

Anto nods while shifting Gabi in his arms, "I know my birth village, you remember what it's like when they saw your dad. Might be best to blend in." He shrugs. "Also try to avoid that alley, you know how you get."

Max nods, "I know pa, I'm gonna miss you guys."

"We're gonna miss you too kiddo, just be back before band camp." Jim reminds Max.

Once everyone has said their goodbyes, they all settle into the Rv. They've decided they wouldn't risk getting pulled over so Micha is driving, also because they're the better night driver. The little kids and some of the older kids sleep while the others stay awake. It's a full night to get out of the state, and they're hoping to get out of there in time.

Sooooo, things are starting to get interesting. Why doesn't Max like this village, what happened? Well, we'll find out in due time. And you'll also find out who I am soon, that is if I don't die, or am not already dead. I don't remember, my memories are foggy. Oh well, see you next time!

[mar04isdead]

Freaks But Family

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8: I'll add kidnapping to my resume

Today, now that we are back in the present, we're gonna visit some family. Will Favion die along the way, will someone end up making a mistake, are people willing to escape from what is going to happen? Let's find out together. And I know that this sounds like it's a funny story, but trust me it was pain and torture for the people involved.

Dr. Gomez looks at the videos from Favion's body cam, she knew he snuck out somewhere, she just didn't know where. But what she sees pleases her, there are four people that she can use to get what she needs. But she knows that they are old enough to not trust her, so she'll have to do what has always worked, use young minds.

"Here are the addresses, as far as I know only one of them has a child." Gomez talks to her team and Favion. "I need those kids."

While people leave the room to do their assignments, Favion stays behind to talk to Gomez, "Why, why do you need kids?"

Gomez glares at him, "I need to find out how these people have those powers, and to do so I need people that know them. And only one of them has a child, and that child also has powers."

"If I knew you kept that body cam on me I wouldn't have gone at all!" Favion points an accusing finger at Gomez, "What do you even need these kids for anyways?"

Gomez grabs Favion by the collar of his jacket and looks him in the eyes, "Listen here, Thorn and Madness are destroying everything I have worked for! These kids can give me the secret to beating them, now you either cooperate or you can leave!"

Favion calmly has her let go of him, "I want to stop them too, but I don't want to be involved in this. I'll stay here and help you monitor and lead the teams, but I won't go out there and hurt those kids."

Gomez hesitates with his compromise before smiling, "That's what I like to hear. Now, you've met them, you know what they can do, give the teams a heads up."

Favion sighs, "Fine, just promise that if we do get the kids, nothing bad will happen to them. cause those people are capable of anything."

Gomez nods, "I promise, I kept Madness and Thorn safe, I will do the same for these kids."

It's the middle of the night, ever since she's gone blind, Melissa has had a hard time falling asleep. Tyler is staying with his family for the month so she's alone in her room, laying in bed trying to fall asleep. After a while she gives up, she sits up and grabs one of her fiancés hoodies at the foot of her bed, pulls it over her Front Bottoms shirt, takes the blindfold out of the pocket of her sweat pants and ties it around her eyes. She takes her combat boots out from under her bed and puts them on over her fuzzy socks.

She stands up and stretches her arms over her head, she sighs before slowly walking to her door and out of her room. She's the only one awake, she knows that for sure, she heads for the stairs of the mansion and heads down to the second level. She's about to go all the way downstairs when she feels something, like someone isn't supposed to be in the few rooms away from her. Melissa slowly starts walking towards the door, the nursery. She hears one of the children start to cry, she quickly runs to the door, rips it open, only to nearly miss someone throwing a punch.

Melissa's instant reaction is to punch back, she feels her fist hit a nose and hears a sickening crack. She reaches down and feels a knife on the person's thigh, she removes it and uses it to stab them in the stomach. She then proceeds to lash her leg out in a high kick hitting the person in the side of the face and she hears as their body hits the floor. From her left she hears someone else opening a window and a crying baby. She rushes to the window and reaches out, only for the person to jump out of the window beforehand.

Melissa runs out of the room, goes to her room and grabs her belt with her knives off of her desk. She opens her window and reaches her hands to the ground, and feels as a large sunflower rises from the ground, she jumps on and wills it to go back into the ground. She fixes the belt around her hips as she runs, she runs until she can feel the person and the baby near, in the tunnel. Just before the person can leave the tunnel, she raises her hands and vines and thorns cover the exit.

"Shit, okay I'll just turn back." The baby thief starts to slowly turn around, only to be faced with Melissa on the other side.

Melissa takes a knife from her belt and points it at the thief, "You have one of my family members, and I would love it if you would return them to me."

The person takes a gun from their own belt, "Fat chance, queeny." And they take their shot.

Melissa rolls to the side to dodge the bullet, and she throws her knife, hitting the person in the arm. The person screams, Melissa slams her hand on the ground, more vines rising from the ground and taking the baby from the weakened thief. Once the baby is far enough, Melissa hits both fists on the ground, this time poison ivy starts to encase the person and drag them underground.

Melissa takes a few deep breaths, she quickly and carefully takes the baby into her arms as all the other vines retreat back into the ground. Melissa sits there on the ground, holding the baby to her chest while rocking from side to side. She starts to feel around on the blanket the baby is wrapped in, trying to find the child's embroidered name.

"Oh, Ernesto. What the heck did I drag you into?" Melissa cries are drowned in the evening air, as she holds her nephew tight, scared of letting him go. And that's where her brother and mom find her in the morning, wide awake and a tight hold on her nephew.

Max is sitting on the couch watching a movie, their baby sister sleeping soundly in her bassinet in their parent's room. Max's parents decided to have a date night so they left Max with their baby sister, Gabi. Max turns off the movie once they get bored, and decides to check on their sister before going to bed. They head to the stairs and quietly get up the stairs, they slowly open the door to their parents room, they see a shadow looming over their sister.

They silently take their gun from their side holster, check that the magazine is loaded, carefully take off the safety, and watch the person for a bit longer. Once Max sees the person reach into the bassinet, they kick the door open, aim, and hit the trigger. The kick makes them take a small step back, but they quickly recover when they see the person lying on the floor.

Max runs over to the bassinet, checks the person's pulse making sure they are dead, and checks on their sister. They sigh in relief when they see their sister still sleeping, they put the safety back on their gun, put it back into their holster, and carefully pick their sister out of the bassinet. They rock her a bit to make sure she stays asleep.

"Okay, so someone just tried to kidnap my baby sister." Max looks down and kicks the person in the face. "They had it coming, and now I'm gonna get you a protection stone from the garage. But you're coming with me." Max holds Gabi close and starts to walk to the door, only to stop when they hear people downstairs.

"What do you mean he didn't come back? This is a two month old baby! It shouldn't be that hard!" A guy yelling at someone.

"Well sorry, but I lost connection like three minutes ago." A girl shouts back.

"That's why we all wear trackers then." The guy mumbles.

Max backs away from the door, "Okay, so I have no way of going out the normal way. I could go out through the window, but I am carrying you." Max glares at their sister.

As they hear people trying to make it up the stairs, Max goes back to the bassinet and places Gabi back in it. They put the bassinet in the middle of the room, and from their pockets they pull out four coal chunks. They cover them with both hands, close their eyes, and heat them up. Once they are red from the heat Max places them on the ground, boxing in the bassinet. Max takes a step back, draws a square with their index fingers connecting the coals with fire, they make a cage with their fingers, and pull their hands away. From the coals rises a cage of fire, encasing the bassinet, Max smiles at the results.

"You're lucky this fire won't hurt you." Max reaches through the cage and pets their sister's head.

The door starts to open and Max leaps behind their parent's bed, out of view from the people coming in. From around the bed, Max can see the people going up to the bassinet.

"Okay, please explain to me how we are going to get this kid out of here." The girl asks the guy.

"Well sacrifices have to be made" The guy says.

Max watches as the guy pushes the girl towards the cage, she touches it her skin instantly burns. As she falls to the ground, covered in burns, Max comes out from behind the bed, hands ablaze.

"Step away from my baby sister." Max glares at the guy. "You are not breaking through that spell, not over my dead body."

The guy laughs, "Listen kid, I'm not leaving without the baby. So you step away before you get hurt." He pulls a gun out from behind him.

Max laughs, "A gun, how cute!"

The guy shoots, only for Max to catch the bullet in a fist. They drop the bullet to the ground, melted and misshaped. Max smiles before blasting the guy with fire, he falls to the ground burned and dead.

"Okay, so that happened." Max runs over to the bassinet, taking down the cage and picking their sister out of the bassinet. "You little trouble maker, what am I going to do with you?" They smile as their sister wakes up. "Now you wake up, you little twerp."

Max calmly goes back downstairs and heads to the kitchen. They start to prepare a bottle for their sister, and while it's heating up they call a friend. "Hey, Gabriel. You know how your dad is a homicide detective? You know how to hide a body well, right? Yeah, and my pa is a forensics expert. I'm gonna need you to come here in like ten minutes. I just kinda sorta killed the people. I am currently in my kitchen, holding my sister while making her bottle. I am only wearing knee high frog patterned socks, denim shorts, and one of my dad's old band shirts. Try me, that's what I thought. See you soon."

Gabi let's out a small squeak when their bottle is ready, Max smiles down at her and puts a nipple on the bottle. They head to the couch while feeding their sister. Max sighs as they lean back on the couch, their sister starting to fall back asleep. By the time Max's parents come home, they find both their kids on the couch. Just that Max is very sleepy but forcing themselves to stay awake, and refusing to let their sister out of their arms.

"Honey, it's time for bed!" Micha walks into the living room where their partner and daughter are sitting watching TV.

Avery looks up to Micha, "Me or the kid?" They ask hesitantly.

"Both of you, cause you're both children." Micah leans over the couch to get Harley off of Avery's lap. "You go brush your teeth, and hurry before deda is done with the dishes." Micha sets Harley down who rushes to the bathroom.

Avery whines, "Why do I have to do the dishes?" They look at Micah with their best puppy eyes. "Please don't make me do them, I promise I'll do them in the morning." They plead.

Micha shakes their head and ruffles Avery's hair, "Sorry, but since I made dinner you wash the dishes. It's just ten dishes, you can do it." Micha smiles before walking off to the bathroom.

"This is betrayal!" Avery shouts after them.

Micha flips them off before checking on Harley, "How you doin, squirt?"

"Almost done!" Harley smiles as she rinses her mouth to get rid of the toothpaste.

"Well, you're doing better than deda." Micha smiles at Harley. "You're going to sleep late, you're lucky it's a weekend." Micha kisses the back of Harley's head. "You want auntie Jade to do your hair again, you mentioned you wanted braids this time."

Harley nods, "I want beads too, like the really colorful ones. But I want them small." Harley does a pinching motion with her fingers and puts it up to her eye.

Micah laughs at their daughter's antics, "Yeah, I'll ask auntie Jade to come by next week. Now, off to bed with you."

Harley rushes out of the bathroom and to the back of the cottage where Avery and Micha's room is, she climbs the ladder leading up to the loft that is her room. Micah climbs up after her, Harley is already kicking her blankets with her feet trying to get under it. Micha helps Harley by pulling the blanket up to her shoulders. They then crawl over to the other side of the loft and close the curtains, and they get on their knees in order to turn on the fairy lights that are hanging from the ceiling.

Micah crawls back over to Harley and kisses her head, "Go sleep honey, see you in the morning. Te amo."

Harley smiles and leans up to kiss Micha's cheek, "Te amo, dida."

Micha backs away and heads down the ladder, where Avery already is. "She's asleep, now excuse me while I eat the ice cream in the fridge."

"Let me have some and she'll never know." Avery follows behind their partner as they both head to the kitchen.

This leads to both tired parents sitting on the kitchen floor, a large carton of cookies and cream ice cream between them. They're both so close to falling asleep, but that's thrown out the window when they hear their daughter scream. Avery is the first one up the ladder, only to see someone jump out the window with Harley kicking and screaming in their arms.

"Outside, someone took Harley!" Avery jumps down the ladder. "They took her!"

Micah put's their hands on Avery's shoulder, "I'll get her back, don't worry I'll get her back." Micha kisses Avery's forehead before running out the front door, but not before grabbing the baseball bat they have by the door.

Micha runs through the forest barefoot, trying to keep up with the person that has their daughter. They can hear Harley screaming, and when they get a clear view of the person, they throw the bat. It hits the person on the back of the head hard enough that they fall to the ground, Harley manages to pry herself from the person's grip and runs up to Micha.

"Dida!" Harley cry's into Micha's shoulder.

Micha plants kisses on Harley's head, "No honey, I'm here, you're okay. Nothing's gonna happen. I'm here, I'm not leaving." Micha holds Harley as tightly as they can.

Harley cries harder, "I want to go home!"

"And we will c'mon, we're going home." Micha picks up Harley and she wraps her legs around their waist. "We're going home, don't worry, we're going home."

Micha starts walking back to their cottage, paranoid of what is going on around them, Harley holding onto their shirt tight and soaking it with tears. Micha keeps patting their daughter's head and reassuring her that things are going to be alright. Before they can get near the house, people jump out of the trees and surround the parent and daughter.

"Honey, back to back." Micha sets Harley down and has her stand back to back with them.

Harley looks scared, "What are we doing dida?"

"I know you've only done it a few times but I know you're ready to do it for real. Shock wave, I know you can do it." Micha squeezes Harley's hand a bit. Harley nods, "Okay so you know the drill, hands flat and up." They both raise their palms up to the sky, "Twist twice then bring them down." They both twist their hands, and clouds start to gather, and as they bring their hands down the clouds start to turn a dark grey. "Clap your palms together and bring your fist into a circle." During this part, the people start to surround them more and make the circle smaller, but at the same time they start to back away as lightning gathers at Micha's and Marley's fingertips. "Now, hit the ground!"

Both Harley and Micha hit their palms on the ground, and the lighting from the clouds strikes the ground around them, hitting the people around them too. Micha and Harley get hit by the lightning too but it doesn't affect them. All the people around them drop to the ground, their bodies smoking and scarred.

"Let's go home, deda is really worried." Micha picks Harley up again and this time runs back to their home.

As soon as Micha opens the door, Avery is already running to them. "My baby!" Avery takes Harley from Micha and Micha let's them. "Oh, honey are you okay? You weren't hurt? Did you beat them up, please say you did."

"I shocked them! All of them!" Harley laughs.

Avery smiles and smothers their daughter in kisses, "I'm glad, how about we go to bed. Do you want to sleep with me and dida tonight?"

Harley nods, and with that the family goes to bed. Avery and Micha can't help but keep Harley between them, and hold her so tight they're scared they might suffocate her. They take turns kissing her head and cheeks and constantly looking down to make sure she's still there. They don't get much sleep, just worrying if when they wake up if their daughter is still going to be there.

Mariposa is jumping on the new trapeze net with her brothers, they got it a few weeks ago and now they have to break it in. Ever since what happened with Mariposa's mom, her older brother and younger half brother, they really had nowhere to go. So Mariposa's dads took them in, and are now raising them in the circus too. It's been rough on her older brother, but he's found his own way of making this work.

"How do you do this almost everyday?" Jose asks his younger sister.

Mariposa lands a flip with a smile, "I've been doing this for thirteen years, I guess I'm just used to it."

Jose nods, "Okay, well it's time for them to go to bed. I'll put them to sleep, you finish putting this net up." He helps his brothers down from the net and leads them out of the big top to their trailer.

Mariposa gets off of the net and goes to the end of the net, where they have a tension system. There she starts to loosen the tension on that end of the net, that way the net starts to lay on the ground instead of hanging in midair. She then goes to the other side and does the same with that side. Once the net is flat on the ground she, she goes to the back of the tent where the light and sound systems are. She turns off all of the lights and gets ready to leave the big top, but she can hear someone running towards the big top. She can also hear shouting and the screaming of two kids. The tent flaps open and three people come rolling in, carrying her brothers, guns at their heads.

"Let them go!" Mariposa shouts at the men.

"Listen kid, we just want the kids. That's it. We don't want to have to hurt them but we will if we need to." The men move forward more. "So move aside before someone gets hurt."

"I said, let them go!" Mariposa raises her hands, causing the three people to rise into the air.

Mariposa sets her brothers down, and keeps the other three in the air. She has her brothers stand behind her as she drops the men with force. One of them manages to break through her magic, so in retaliation Mariposa twirls her finger around, which encases his head with an air vacuum. The man's hands go straight for his throat, trying and struggling to breath. Mariposa then pulls her hands towards her in a snapping motion, and all the air in his lungs leave, his ability to breath gone.

"Whoa," Mariposa looks at her hands with a large smile. "Legend of Korra was not lying, that works!"

The other two charge at her, only for Mariposa to get them back into the air. She slams them on the ground again before picking up her brothers and running for the platform ladder. She shouts at them to climb and stay on the platform, and while her brothers climb she starts to climb one of the silks. Once she's at the top she starts to swing back and forth, just as the men try to climb the silk themselves. Once she has enough momentum, she starts to move in circles, and they get bigger as she uses more force.

Eventually she is travelling in circles around the bog top, starting to form a vacuum. Mariposa jumps off the silk, ending up floating in the middle of the air vacuum. She snaps her arms towards herself, and pulls the men into the vacuum. The big top starts to lift off of the ground and rise into the air, but thankfully it is still attached to the ground. The two men are tossed around the tent, they hit the roof, platforms, ground, the beams, and just all around getting tossed around like ragdolls. Once Mariposa lets herself get back on the ground, the men's bodies drop straight to the ground.

Mariposa looks up from where they fell, "Yeah, trust me falling from there is not good."

She nudges one with her foot before twirling her finger in the air a bit and has her brothers float down to her. She looks them over, fussing over them and asking if they're hurt or not. She smothers them both in hugs before picking them both up in her arms and walks out of the big top. She takes them to her trailer and that's where they spend the night. She didn't sleep, she just stood outside the trailer watching for everything going on around.

"So we all agree that this is not good, right? Like this should not be a good thing?" Liam asks his cousins.

Sam nods, "Yeah, this is not good, not good at all."

"C'mon, it really hasn't been that long. She'll be back before we know it." Clarisse reassures everyone.

Cameron and Joseph look at their sister, "Four months!" They shout at her. "She has been gone for four months!"

Esme shrugs, "She knows that place well enough, right?"

Rose groans at the family, "The spell never worked until four months ago! She left in January, it's May now! School let out yesterday!"

Yallesia sighs and rubs her eyes from under her glasses, "Look, we really can't do anything now. She has powers over the dead, she has that as her advantage." She walks over to the shelves and pulls out a book, "This is literally a map of the place if you know how to read it properly." She shows everyone the book, "She's been staying up for nights on end for years memorizing this book, so I'm sure she'll be fine down there."

"And what if the book isn't enough?" Rose wonders aloud. "Things change, places change, what makes you think that world is any different?" Rose pulls at her hair, "And what if she can't find who she's looking for?"

"That's impossible." Esme takes the book from Yallesia. "There are only two possible places for her to be, the land of the remembered and the land of the forgotten." She flips the pages trying to find something, "She can always talk to the gods of death for help."

"But what if they can't help?" Liam questions, "What if bisabuela isn't there?"

Clarisse shakes her head, "She has to be, she didn't believe in any other after life that we know of."

Liam shrugs, "Wasn't Gosalyn there when she died, so Gosalyn would know, right?"

"It's actually Max now." Clarisse corrects her cousin.

"Okay, sorry." Liam hits his head. "Max was there when she died, so Max would know, right?"

Clarisse nods, "Yeah, they were closer with her than any of us. So, they might know something we don't."

Nico comes down the stairs carrying Mike, "There's a light in the shed! Does that mean she's back?"

They all look at each other before running up the stairs, Sam picking her brother and cousin up in the process. They race to get to the back yard, and by the time they get there, Maria is already standing there. She's wearing a traditional Mexican purple skirt and white flower embroidered blouse, her hair is a bit longer, only up to her shoulders now. Ribbons and flowers are woven into her hair, her mismatched eyes full of fear now and her discolored patches of skin have spread more. She also has ankle boots that have a small heel, and with skulls printed on them.

She looks at her family with a shocked face, "I... I looked-looked everywhere! I asked everyone! Nothing, she was nowhere!" She falls on her knees crying and hugging herself.

Esme kneels down in front of Maria, "wait, what do you mean she was nowhere?"

Maria looks up to her family, "I looked, I asked, no one even knew where she was. But we know she died, but according to the gods she's still alive."

Liam laughs while shaking his head, "No, Maria, that can't be possible. We can even ask Max, Max was there when it happened."

"And I'm pretty sure that experience gave them trauma." Yallesia mumbles.

"Okay, Maria head inside and rest." Rose helps Maria get up and get inside. "We can talk about this later on, okay, I missed you a lot but you really look like you need to get some rest." Rose holds Maria's hand as they head inside of the house.

Maria sleeps through the whole day before being able to explain what happened. She's changed into her regular jeans, band tee, and blue flannel. She has a large mug in her hands, it's full of blood considering she hasn't had any while she was in the land of the dead.

"It was just like the stories said,'' Maria starts with a small smile, "Vivid colors, people happy, festivities of all kinds. Things we could never imagine seeing in our actual lives, people from different times in our history." She frowns before drinking from the mug. "I saw some old family down there. I asked them if they knew where I could find great-grandmother. They all gave me the same answer, she wasn't dead yet."

"I know that sounds crazy, but that's what they all said. I thought they were just lying to me and not telling me anything, so I went to ask around. People knew her while they were alive but she just wasn't there, so I went to the land of the forgotten ones, she still wasn't there. Again, people that knew her when they were alive just didn't know if she was dead."

Esme sighs, taking it all in, "So, you're telling me that our great-grandmother may not be in the land of the dead, because she may still be alive?"

"Yup," Maria takes a large swing of more blood. "Took me a while to try and fit in with the locals, I also asked around for some people in our clan. I found some, they even had their own civilization down there. Introduced myself as the new chieftess, and they explained a lot of crap to me."

"Hold the fucking phone," Clarisse says, holding her hand up for Maria to pause. "Did you find them in the land of the remembered ones or the forgotten ones?"

"The remembered ones." Maria finishes the blood in her mug. "And in case you’re wondering, yes that means our people are still alive and remember them. The ones from way back when, the people that first made the clan, they are still alive." She leaves the living room to leave her mug in the kitchen, her cousins shocked don't know what to say.

Rose breaks the silence, "Okay, so there are still some people from your clan? They are still out there and alive, so there's a chance for that chief to still be alive. But there is also the fact that your great-grandmother, someone who was also eligible to be chieftess, is still alive. So what exactly does that make you, are you even the chieftess."

Maria comes back from the kitchen, "I will worry about that when I know my people are safe. Now seeing as I have missed a crap ton of school, no use going back. So this summer, we are finding our people and helping them." She waves her hand through the air and an image forms in weaving light, a temple under ancient ruins. "And I know just where we have to go."

Favion and the rest of the people at headquarters wait in the locker room for Dr. Gomez to calm down. After the mission to kidnap the children failed miserably, she got really pissed and everyone just decided to let her do her thing. Her thing is to destroy most of the main part of headquarters. Once everything is quiet, they all peek out of the locker room to see if it is safe for them to leave. Dr. Gomez is just standing in the middle of a completely destroyed room, like a tornado, earthquake, and hurricane hit it all at once.

"Forgive me, I lost my temper." Gomez fixes her hair and straightens her shirt. "You may all go home, Favion you stay here for a bit, I need to talk to you."

Everyone leaves, and Favion stays. He looks around the rooms, exposed wires, crushed monitors, broken desk, and somehow a whole chair is stuck inside of a closet door.

Favion nods at the chaos that is the room, "So, I guess you're mad."

"I raised Thorn for ten years after her parents died, and this is how I am repaid." Gomez rubs her face with her hands. "You want to know what happened to those two, why they make me so mad?"

"Sure, I mean it looks like you need to tell someone." Favion motions for her to continue.

"Her parents needed money, I gave them money they just needed to do something for me. They allowed me to do experiments, nothing happened to them but something happened to their kid. They never told me her name, so she was always subject three for us. She was three when she started to control plants, I thought I had it. And then she refused to work with us, and then as if by miracle, subject four, Madness showed up at our doorstep. We only had her for a few months but I got so much information from her."

"Did you know the Aztecs are still alive, they need a ruler too. I'm going to be that ruler, it's my birthright! My mother was a mistress to an Aztec chief, but I couldn't inherit the crown! They said you had to be chosen, that since I was a normal I couldn't get the crown! I had to be chosen by a stupid spider or snake to have the crown, Madness has both those animals! That makes her the chieftess, but it's my birthright!" Gomez picks up a chair and throws it across the room.

Favion nods, "So those kids, you wanted to know what made them have magic and not you. You wanted that magic, that was what all those experiments were for too."

Gomez grins wickedly, "Now you get it, I'm just trying to get what was promised to me when I was born."

"So kidnapping kids, experimenting on adults, and trying to kill teenagers with federal and government money was the best way to do that?" Favion questions her.

Gomez shrugs, "We all have to make sacrifices. Go home kid, we start early tomorrow."

Favion nods and leaves, deciding to make a choice that just may hurt a lot of people.

"Dude it's like the middle of the night and it's storming real bad. What the heck are you doing here?" Alyssa asks her old friend. He called her to open the window of the fire escape for him to get inside.

"Sorry Alyssa, but it's an emergency." He softly closes the window and accepts the towel she gives him to dry off. "You remember that scientist you worked for back last year?"

Alyssa raises an eyebrow, "The insane one, yeah how could I forget that psychopath."

"Okay, well she's really out to kill now. I can't trust her for tech anymore, so that leaves you, Kayla, and Immanuel to help me. Also maybe Maria," Favion pauses to think for a moment. "Can she read, write, speak, and understand ancient Aztec?"

Alyssa sighs, grabs a hoodie from her closet, puts on a pair of sneakers and heads to the window, "Let's go get Kayla and Immanuel, then we're going to Maria's house."

It doesn't take much of Alyssa to convince her partners to join them. Once they're all on the way to Maria's family's house, Favion catches everyone up on what exactly Dr. Gomez is trying to do. None of them really want to explain what they know to him, they just feel like they have to get him to Maria's family. When he asks them what they want to do about things, they just say it's better if they get Maria's family in on it. Favion doesn't really know how a whole family like Maria's might help but he's willing to take any help at this point.

The person to open the door is Esme, she looks them all over before sighing and letting them in. She leads them into the living room and has them sit down, she waves her hand in the air and five mugs and a teapot float onto the coffee table.

"Okay, so fill me in on what is going on." Esme leans back on the couch across from the teenagers. She pours them all coffee and has their mugs float to them, "I'm guessing this one is new to the whole 'We have abilities' thing." Esme does small jazz hands while drinking her coffee.

Favion nods while Alyssa sighs, "Y'all might have to leave sooner that you thought."

"Why do you say that?" Esme yawns.

They all explain what is going on with Dr. Gomez, and really nothing of it catches Esme's attention. She reacts when they tell her Gomez's plan about taking over the Aztec empire. Esme jumps up, downs all her coffee, and runs off to the stairs. Yelling is heard, shouting, and people running. Esme runs back down the stairs, changed out of her oversized shirt and shorts into jeans, converse, black shirt and denim jacket.

"We are leaving like now, all of you call your parents and tell them you are going on a road trip. You're coming with us cause we need all the help we can get, Maria will be down to help you get your things." Esme runs to the kitchen and starts to rummage through the fridge.

Maria comes running down the stairs, black jeans, knee high converse and her shirt in her hands. Favion stares at his friend's torso, shocked at what he's seeing, Maria simply flips him off while putting her shirt on.

"Yeah, in case you're wondering, you're the last one to know." Maria draws four circles in the air. "Alyssa there, Kayla there, Immanuel here, and Favion here. One duffle bag, only the essentials." Maria throws them into the portals that formed each leading to their own homes.

After five minutes they all jump back through the portals back into Maria's house. Maria has them wait in the living room while she helps her family get the rest of what they need. Once everything is set, they all start to load the large van in their garage when Maria doesn't get a good feeling.

Maria stares at Favion for a good minute, "You came here straight from your headquarters, and Dr. Gomez knows where you live. So she has a way to follow you no matter what happens, right?"

No one gets any time to answer before the front door of the house explodes.

I have nothing to say about what just happened, we can explain more later. I bet none of you expected Gomez to say any of that, oh well it's just gonna get worse as we go. And don't ask about the dead bodies, just leave them there, someone will take care of them.

[mar04isdead]

Freaks But Family

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7: Villain's Never Tell Their Stories

So I know you want to know where Maria's field trip led her, but we need to talk about a side of this story that people refuse to believe. People refuse to believe that Maria and Rose were actually trying to help, this is the story on how they had to convince Maria's old friends they really were the good guys in this story. So let's rewind a year to get this one good story.

They were all having lunch when they got news about Thorn and Madness kidnapping some kids. Of course the only photo the news has of the two is them holding Liberator down with vines around his throat. It's not their favorite picture but it's the only one anyone has ever gotten of them.

Immanuel puts his phone away after reading the headline, "Honestly, what are they doing with all these kids? They just take them from their parents and we never hear from the kids again."

Alyssa claps her hands together, surprising everyone, "Aren't they doing that live news thing tonight? They're gonna be answering questions in front of city hall."

"How's that supposed to happen?" Maria asks, not looking up from her sandwich.

Kayla starts to explain, "Basically there will be a ton of police and Liberator will be there of course." She starts to gesture with her hands. "Since we don't really know what they're doing we just want answers. Anyone can ask them any question, and they have to answer."

Rose clears her throat, "Are we sure it isn't a trap, cause the cops have been trying to catch them for years."

"Yeah it does sound like a trap," Maria finally looks up from her lunch. "With all those cops it does sound like they're gonna try and capture the two."

"Well, we're going because we want to ask some questions. What about you two?" Immanuel points at Maria and Rose.

Rose shakes her head, "Maria has to cut the boy's hair, so we're going to be staying inside for the night. We want to go but we have to stay home."

"You guys just be careful. "Maria warns her friends. "You never know who might make a move."

The whole town shows up, not really surprising. The number of police is worrying because it seems like all officers in their town and guarding the event. Some from the FBI are spotted every now and then, and Liberator. News channels, all there for interviews and pictures.

Before they go to answer questions, Liberator talks to them. "Surprised you two showed up, didn't really think you'd come."

"If this is a way of trapping us, believe me you'll be sorry." Thorn steps forward to him but Madness puts a hand up, stopping her.

"Babe, even if it is a trap I'll get us out." Madness turns around and holds Thorn's face in her hands. "Plus they might just be smart enough to leave us alone this time." She glares before dragging Thorn to where they are supposed to be.

They walk to the front of city hall with the mayor, they are instantly blinded by the flashing lights of people taking pictures. They could also hear people shouting questions rapidly one after another, it's so loud it's deafening.

The mayor walks to her podium and speaks into the microphone, "I understand you all have questions, and they will be answered. But we must keep in mind that these two are like any other teenager in this town and are risking a lot by being here. Now the police will keep the lines moving and only one question per person."

There are two lines, a microphone at each. Thorn and Madness answer by sharing the microphone at the mayor's podium. The lines are very long, and they are worried about just what people might ask.

The first question hits hard, "How exactly do you manage to kidnap those kids?"

Madness answers first, "Okay, who here thinks we kidnap kids, raise your hand right now." More than half of the people in the lines raise their hands. "I'm just gonna get this out of the way for all of us, we don't kidnap kids. All the kids, they lived in abusive households." Some people start to ask more questions.

"Shut it!" Thorn shouts at all of them. "We don't have to answer your questions, we can leave right now!" That shuts people up.

Madness glares at everyone, "You all live in this town, and yet you don't know the people that live here." She gestures wildly with her hands. "Reports of child abuse have skyrocketed in this town since we showed up, same for the number of children being relocated with family, foster homes, or being adopted. Check your facts before accusing us of this stuff, heck you can track down all those kids and they'll tell you what happened." She steps back from the microphone to keep herself from saying something she might regret.

Someone else shyly steps up to ask a question, "Why abused kids, you could be helping the city in itself."

Thorn decides to answer, "It hits close to home for us, plus your adults learn to help yourselves."

They keep answering questions, some repeat every now and then and some they refuse to answer. One guy asked about their relationship and they said they wanted to keep it private, but other people kept asking. Eventually they just threaten to leave again.

Surprisingly, Alyssa comes up with a question, "How exactly did you get these powers of yours?"

"They're artificial and it's all tech, next." Thorn quickly answers the question.

"Who makes the tech?" Immanuel asks next.

Madness leans to the microphone, "That's confidential, who's next?"

Kayla asks the last question of the night, "What are your plans to beat Liberator?"

Madness and Thorn share a look, they nod before disappearing into thin air. Police go straight into action and start to send people away from city hall and back to their homes. Liberator goes right into checking the city to find the two girls.

"Sit still will you?" Maria taps the back of Angel's neck. "I almost cut you so sit still, okay?" She goes back to cutting the ends of her brother's hair.

All the other boys have had their haircuts, buzzcuts, not something that they really want but when it grows out it varies from each of them how their hair will end up. In the end all of them have similar hair types, thick curly hair that gets really puffy when exposed to heat.

Maria puts the scissors down and steps back to look at her work, "You're all good, you're all free to go. Just don't go about messing them up, I'm looking at you Liam." Maria points an accusing finger at her other brother.

"It was one time, you left the sides too long." Liam defends himself.

"Sure I did," Maria mumbles as she puts her things away. "Next week, girls, you're getting hair cuts."

Clarisse checks her twin brothers' hair, "Cosmetology is really doing you some favors."

Maria smiles, "Yeah, just have to stick with it until senior year for the seal on my diploma."

"Be glad you don't have to do a foreign language." Rose mumbles while flopping on the couch, pulling her girlfriend to sit on her lap.

"None of us had to do it, or ever will do it." Esme tries to calm down a crying Adam. "He's fine, he's just scared of the machine you used."

Maria groans, "I told I shouldn't have cut his hair yet." Maria gets up from where she is with Rose and looks over her youngest cousin. "He's not hurt because you're real lucky I was careful."

Sam looks at Maria from where she is on the stairs, "How did the whole news thing go for you?"

Rose groans, crawls off of the couch, and lays on the ground, "It was something that's for sure. Liberator was a," She looks around the room. "Excuse my language, a shithead."

Maria sighs at her girlfriend's antics, "That and people were starting to hit the mark on their questions." She bounces on the balls of her feet, "They were trying real hard to see what's under the mask."

"Just two teenagers that have been through some shit trying to make sure kids don't go through the same thing?" Liam gestures around with his hands.

Rose throws her hands in the air, "Thank you, now try getting that through the thick skulls of the people in this town."

"Either way," Maria says, stretching her arms over her head. "We have a bank to rob tomorrow so, Rose, bedtime."

Rose puts her hands down before standing up. She rubs her face and walks to Maria, Maria backing away when she realizes what's about to happen. Rose scoops Maria up and slings her over her right shoulder. Maria just lets herself be carried away up the stairs and back to the room she shares with the girls.

Clarisse scratches her head, "I will never understand how she can just do that so casually."

Alyssa watches as Rose copies her biology homework, "I feel sad for the day you start taking chemistry."

"Please take AP chem, I can't stand her doing this." Maria looks up from her own homework.

Alyssa shrugs, "Well I have to take AP for the job I want, think your brother can help me a bit?"

"Esme is already helping Kayla and Immanuel with engineering, so come by anytime with them." Maris eats some cookies while writing something on her diagram. "Speaking of, where are your partners?"

Alyssa's lips go into a thin line, "Kayla is sick at home and Immanuel is tutoring someone."

Maria, knowing her friends, knows it's not true. "That's not what's happening, c'mon, what's really going on."

Alyssa just chuckles, "You know me so well." She lays her head down on the table. "They got into a fight, now they're making me pick a side."

"What was the fight about?" Rose asks, handing Alyssa back her homework.

Alyssa shakes her head, "I can't say, just know that we're gonna talk about it tonight."

"Okay, well just know if you need us, we'll literally make it into a debate if we have to." Maria puts her homework away.

"Thanks, even if they don't listen to me I have other ways." Alyssa giggles.

"Alyssa, you're one of my best friends, I love you with all my heart, but I don't want to know what you three do behind close doors." Maria reaches over and pats her friend's hand.

Alyssa looks at Maria stone faced, "You're literally straddling your girlfriend."

"Immanuel, please remind me how we ended up in this situation." Kayla kicks her boyfriend from where she is tied up by him.

Immanuel tries to turn his head to glare at her, "I don't know, ask the one who couldn't make up her mind."

"Both of you shut up!" Alyssa shouts at her partners. "You both decided that you would fight over this, you caught me in the middle! So let's be the responsible people we are, and you two suck up your pride!" Alyssa takes in a deep breath before continuing. "Now, before we die, Immanuel, is there something you would like to say to our girlfriend?"

Immanuel shakes his head before sighing, "I'm sorry for being a jackass, I should have listened."

"Kayla, is there something you would like to say to our boyfriend?" Alyssa shoves at her girlfriend's feet.

"I'm sorry, you had good points too, and I shouldn't have yelled." Kayla ducks her head.

Alyssa smiles, "Now, is there something both of you want to say to your girlfriend who was caught in the crossfire?"

Both Kayla and Immanuel look at each other before talking, "We're sorry and we love you."

Alysa nods, "I love you both too, but now we wait to see what the hell Gomez is going to do to us."

The lights in the room they are in are turned off, the red emergency lights turn on along with sirens. They can hear shouting and people running, before being consumed into darkness. Alyssa tenses a bit, but feels that the ropes tying her down are gone. Someone is grabbing her hand, and they're running, the sound of their footsteps bouncing off of walls.

"Kayla, Alyssa, are you okay?" Immanuel can be heard shouting.

Before either one can answer, the person pulls Alyssa does, "They're both fine! Just keep moving!"

Alyssa really can't tell for how long they have been running, it feels like forever that they've been running. At one point they stop and they step out of the darkness, entering into a tunnel of light.

"Okay, let's see what business you three have." The person running with Alyssa takes her into the middle of the room they are in, and soon Immanuel and Kayla join her.

It's Madness and Thorn, Madness holds her left hand up like a claw while she has her other arm around Thorn's shoulders. Immanuel tries to run at them, only to run into something invisible and falling backwards. Alyssa and Kayla rush to help him, Alyssa kicks at where her boyfriend fell only to kick something that isn't there.

"Invisible barrier, how did you manage that?" Alyssa taps on the glass.

Thorn shrugs, "It's a gift apparently."

"Back to the question, what exactly were you doing?" Madness glares at them. "How do you know Gomez?"

Kayla sighs, "We just work for her, make her tech, solve formulas, and all that stuff."

"Me and Alyssa make the tech, Kayla handles the math stuff." Immanuel gestures around with his hands. "But we were going to leave anyway, after knowing what she was going to do with our stuff."

Thorn raises an eyebrow, "What exactly is she doing with the tech?"

The partners look at each other before shrugging, meaning they don't know. Madness puts her hand down and groans, she waves her other hand and objects start to fly around the room.

"We're gonna go somewhere, keep your reactions to yourself." Madness takes the ring off of their back, and throws it onto the ground. "Jump in."

"I am very confused at the moment, how and why is this all possible?" Alyssa shouts as she stares at her childhood friend.

Maria simply shrugs as she helps her cousin's down from the roof of the house, by folding some metal together to make a slide for them. "It was never tech, just something I was born with." She makes a circle in the air with her index finger and watches as a line of fire circles around her friends.

Immanuel looks more confused than his girlfriend, "What do you mean you were born with it, there is no way that is biologically possible."

"Actually it is!" Esme intervenes into the conversation, "Join me to my lab children!" And she rushes into the house.

Maria takes her girlfriend's hand and then Kayla's, who grabs her partners, and they all follow Maria's oldest cousin. Through the house, down the stairs, to the basement, and Maria goes into the dome. Kayla and her partners are already running around the lab looking at all the tech, books, and monitors full of information. The three of them run around asking questions about what they're looking at.

Maria laughs at her childhood friends, "Hands off, Esme knows she's doing." She closes the door of the dome and everyone watches as the door shuts Maria inside the dome.

Immanuel knocks on the dome a bit, "How does this work exactly, is it made of a special glass, what are the formulas to make this? How exactly does this help you with your powers?"

"Do you know how to stop asking questions?" Maria replies, earning a laugh from everyone in the room. "Look, we really don't know. We don't know much on our heritage, the Aztecs were a lost civilization, we're all that remains."

Esme pulls Immanuel away from the dome, "The dome was built when I got here. I just added some things to adjust to each of Maria's abilities. By the way we don't call them powers, they're called abilities." She shows Immanuel the monitors, "These are the formulas that we use to keep track of all our abilities."

Alyssa gasps, "All of you have abilities? That's amazing! What else can y'all do?"

Esme grins, "A little something called shifting." She types into the monitor and pulls up a 3D model of each of her cousins. "At the age of three we have to be bitten by an animal, we get the DNA of that animal and are able to gain some of its features. And only Maria was bitten by two animals at the same time so she has the features of two animals. "

Kayla starts to look through the 3D models, "Amazing, what exactly does that do to your bodies?"

Maria shrugs from where she is, "Varies from person to person, we all have different animal features. And now if you'll take a step back," Her hands burst into flames. "You don't want to die by flames do you?"

"And these are the list, we add families everyday while also removing some. All depends on how they're doing after our help." Rose shows Maria's friends around the sewer.

Kayla frowns at the list, "That is a lot of families, and you guys have been doing this for almost five years now?"

Rose glumly nods, "Yeah, says a lot about our government."

Immanuel looks at another monitor, "You weren't kidding when you said abuse rates went up." He looks closer at the dates, "That's from this week?" He shouts, eyes wide, and voice shaking.

"It's only going to keep going up since Maria is out there right now." Rose points out with a smile.

"And Liberator is just trying to stop you guys." Alyssa mumbles, letting Immanuel and Kayla wrap their arms around her.

Maria comes up from behind them, "And we're trying to stop him." Her sudden appearance causing her friends to jump in fright.

"Where did you come from?" Immanuel asks from behind his girlfriends.

Maria smiles, "Your shadows, another ability of mine."

"How many abilities do you have?" Kayla wonders.

At that Maria lets out an exasperated sigh, "I honestly lost count after I was eight. I just kept getting new ones each year and they wouldn't stop piling up."

"You've had them since we were eight?" The partners shout at Maria.

Maria simply laughs, "No, more like since I was born." She has her hand flat while moving it from side to side.

"Is... is that why you left us?" Alyssa asks, her voice shaking.

Maria's eyes widen at her friend's words, "No, dude, it wasn't like that at all!" She smiles at them, "I had no choice, my parents wanted me gone, just like they did with my cousins. But they sent me somewhere different, but from that place I met Rose." She lovingly turns to her girlfriend. "I mean yeah I hated that place, but I fell in love with the best person there."

"C'mere you sap," Rose wraps her arms from behind Maria and kisses the back of her neck.

"Stop! It tickles!" Maria struggles to get away from Rose.

"Nope, you're gonna be my prisoner forever and ever!" Rose chuckles, picks Maria off the ground, and throws her over her shoulder.

Maria looks at her friends from over Rose's shoulder with a large smile, "Do you see the abuse that I have to go through?"

Immanuel laughs, "You seem to be doing perfectly fine."

"I'm not!" Maria swings left leg around Rose's neck, and then hooks it with her right ankle, and turns her body fully, knocking Rose to the ground.

"Too tight!" Rose's hands go to where Maria has her legs.

Maria reluctantly let's go after a few seconds, helping Rose up onto her feet. Rose glares at her, only for Maria to giggle, kiss her cheek, and apologize.

"You have your legs around her often, Maria?" Alyssa wonders, earning a scolding from everyone in the room.

Immanuel steps back from almost getting a third degree burn, "That's amazing, and you're immune to it!" He admires how Maria is not hurt from the fire that has left her body.

"Only when I concentrate, so I actually have to be careful with this one." A small flame dances on Maria's fingertips, "But it's connected right to me, drown it out, take away what fuels it," She makes her hand into a fist and covers it with the other. "It's dead and gone, so once I'm gone so is this. All of it." She looks down at her hands sadly.

Immanuel notices, "Do you ever wonder what life would be like without your abilities?"

Maria shakes her head, "I don't need to wonder when I have already seen it." She giggles at his confusion, "My fortune telling ability, also allows me to see someone's past, I can also see all futures. I know all the possibilities of every choice someone makes in life."

"So, you just saw one of thousands of possible outcomes? And how exactly did you get the exact outcome you wanted?" Immanuel wonders.

Maria shrugs, "I guess I just looked at the options I needed to and decided to follow them." She scratches the back of her neck, "It's a lot more complicated than I would like to believe. How have things been with that lady?"

Immanuel shakes his head with a small smile, "We got away, but we're just not sure for how long."

"Hey," Maria lightly punches his shoulder. "I get to have you guys help make some tech for me. Y'all are good at what you do, Alyssa is amazing at chem, you and Kayla are the best at math and tech." Maria shows him her boots, "You made these for my spider powers and they are the best thing ever. No one can do the things you guys do."

"Well the lady didn't seem to think so, she only had us doing one thing. Trying to find out what kind of tech you used and how to stop it." Immanuel sighs, "We never really got the chance to show what we could do."

Maria jumps up and hugs her friend, "Now you do! You get to show the world what you can do." She smiles at him, "You guys are good at what you do, no one should have been stopping you guys from showing the world what you can do."

Immanuel punches her shoulder lightly, "And people need to see what you do, you and Rose are doing a lot of good. Sure, it may not be the first way people would think, but it's still more effective than people could ever imagine." They both take a seat on the floor, "Why didn't you do what other people would normally do?"

Maria looks up at the ceiling, "Because we knew what those kids had to go through. You know what my parents were like, a lot of kids had parents like that." She looks down at her hands, "I hurt real bad, I didn't want that for all those kids. You don't know what I've seen, kids deprived of their basic needs." She wipes away her tears, "Some parents told me they did their best, but I told them their best wasn't enough."

"Those child abuse rates were for just the city right? Not the county, not the district, not the state, but just the city?" Immanuel ponders.

Maria nods, "Scary right, it's high for such a small city, real scary."

"Catch up Rose! We know you can do it!" Alyssa shouts at Rose, who is currently trying to outrace Maria in an obstacle course in the backyard.

Rose gets up from the ground in pain after her fall, "Well excuse me, but I didn't do gymnastics for ten years!"

"It's actually fifteen now, so my whole life!" Maria shouts from where she is hanging upside down some monkey bars.

"Babe, how do you not break any bones, do you even have bones?" Rose shouts when she sees how contorted Maria is.

Maria stands up straight, the sickening sound of her bones echoing through the yard. "I don't even know at this point."

Rose just shrugs, "Can we stop today, I'm tired. Plus Maria has to drink blood."

"Oh yeah," Maria jumps off of the balance beam. "They restocked my blood supply, so I have a lot more." She quickly runs inside of the house.

Alyssa shivers, "Sometimes I forget that she relies on that stuff. I will never get over it, just, ew."

"It's not that bad after a while, what's worse is kissing her right after." Rose cringes at her memories.

Maria shouts from inside the house, "You do that to yourself!"

"How many bags are you eating?" Rose asks, and receives no answer.

Alyssa raises an eyebrow, "Should we check on her?"

"Yes, we should." Rose runs inside of the house.

When they can't find her in the kitchen they decide to split up to try and find her. Alyssa checks the basement and Rose checks upstairs. Rose roams the rooms, and finds Maria hanging upside down from the ceiling of one of the hallways.

Rose leans on the wall, "And here I thought you would be in the basement."

Maria does what looks like shrugging, "Sorry, but I needed the blood to get to my head. I was feeling a bit dizzy out there." She carefully drinks blood from the bag in her hands. "I don't know why but drinking upside down just hits different."

Rose smiles, "Well get down from there before you choke on the blood." She grabs Maria's waist to hold her steady while she flips down from the ceiling.

"Thanks, want some?" Maria offers the blood bag to Rose.

Rose scrunches her nose, "Yeah no, I would rather jump off of a cliff." She holds Marias free hand, "Let's get you some real food, you look like you need it."

Maria decides to climb onto Rose's back, "What's for lunch?"

Rose laughs at her girlfriends antics, "The most childish thing ever since the older kids aren't here and it's just us and the younger ones, dino nuggets and curly fries."

Maria cheers, "Yes, is apple juice included?" Rose nods, "I love you!" Maria leans down to kiss Rose's cheek. "To the kitchen, because I did not get full of just the butterfly blood!" Maria wraps an arm around Rose's neck and uses the other to point to the stairs.

Rose rolls her eyes and carefully starts walking, "You could just shadow jump us or teleport. Not sounding judgmental or anything but c'mon do I really have to carry you?"

"Yes you do, you signed up for this." Maria pat's Rose's head.

Rose shakes her head while heading down the stairs, "No, because when I asked you out, you said and I quote 'Are you only asking me out for the privileges?' That is what you said and don't even argue with me."

Maria softly hit's Rose's head, "I apologized for a week, will you ever let me live it down?" She also starts to plant several kisses on Rose’s cheek as an extra precaution.

"Eventually, but I'll still use it to make you feel guilty." Rose puts Maria down when they reach the bottom of the stairs.

Maria frowns and whines, "But I said I'm sorry! I'm stealing your fries for this." She runs off to the kitchen with a frantic Rose behind her.

“No, you leave my fries alone or you’re the one sleeping on the couch!” Rose runs after her.

"Thanks for helping with this, it's gonna come in handy when he's three." Maria pats Mike's head while he's waddling around.

Kayla nods, taking the tech away from Mike, "No problem, I've just been wondering how exactly shifting will affect him. So he's gonna be able to do what you guys can do soon, right?"

Maria nods, and carefully picks Mike up into her arms, "He just needs to be three, that's how old the rest of us were. I was just given left options because of me being chieftess. And that was more enforced after I got two animals." She sets her cousin on her hip and holds him close. "We don't really get to choose which animal shifts us or how many," She looks at Mike with a smile and moves his hair out of his face. "We just choose what we do with what we are given."

Kayla frowns, "You didn't choose?"

"I was three, locked up and away. I never really had a choice, none of us really had a choice, sometimes I wish I were born a sorceress." Maria pokes at Mike's cheeks.

"Sorceress, that's new, what else is there from the Aztecs?" Kayla looks at the cousins with interest.

Maria laughs and she sits down in the nearest chair, Mike in her lap, "Well there are three things someone can be when they are born. A shift, like me and my cousins, a sorcerer or sorceress like some other cousins of mine, or as a normal." Maria wraps one arm around Mike's waist while the other rises into the air and starts to weave the light. And from it images and symbols start forming.

"Shifters, we are born with a special gene. We can absorb the DNA of an animal at the age of three, that way we can shift our bodies into features of that animal. And due to certain animals meaning different things in Aztec culture, spiders and snakes have a high meaning. That's how our chief or chieftess is chosen, but it's usually only one animal that they can shift from. And they have more abilities than just levitation. There are only fifteen possible abilities and I have them all now." The light forms the marking of everyone in the family and how old they were when the first found out their ability.

"Sorcerers and sorceresses are born with magic in their blood. This magic can only be passed from generation to generation, but they have to learn it through the years. And to achieve full magic they need token gems, and they can only be passed at the age of five from a sorcerer or sorceress of an opposing magic or from a magical relative. Token gems are normally forged into some sort of jewelry, that way it's discrete and no one can really steal them. There is a specific gem that they have to be made from, and only my great-grandfather knows how to forge the jewelry properly." Now the light shows four kids, each with their arms raised above their heads, eyes closed, and with something shining in their hands.

"And the most confusing ones, normal's. They were so rare, it was nearly impossible to find a normal. But after our people were wiped out, only normal's remained and they just grew in numbers. Now we are the rare ones, we're lucky we haven't all been wiped out. Mostly normal's were known for being evil, they were always trying to find ways to get rid of us all. In a way the generation before us sort of kept that going, and actually only two of them were born with magic in their blood. No one knows why normal's were born with no magic, no one knows why they were born unable to shift. All we know is that they would stop at nothing to get rid of the rest of us." From the light emerges scenes of the past, people running in fear from others, and children being killed.

"What makes things worse, I have no idea how or why my people were wiped out. I just know that it's up to me to make everything back to the way it was." Maria cuts off the light and the scenes stop. "We only know these things from our books and scrolls. Unless we can manage to talk to someone from back then, we won't know what really happened to our people."

Kayla frowns, "So you really didn't have a choice. But what does that make Rose, like you said she has no Aztec blood and I know you checked. So what does that make her?"

Maria sets Mike on the ground and lets him crawl around, "I honestly don't know, I've asked her about what happened to her before I arrived at the center but she has those memories shut off. She won't let me look into them." A little ball of snow appears on the ground for Mike to start playing with it, in other words putting it in his mouth.

Kayla points to Mike who is eating the snowball, "Is that safe, please tell me it is."

Maria nods, "Yeah, I just pull the water out of the air. You know, since the air has moisture, I can also use it for my water manipulation." To demonstrate Maria drags a finger through the air and water particles start to form at her finger tip, "Then I just freeze this and I have snow."

Kayla shakes her head ,smiling, "I still can't believe you were able to keep all of this hidden from us. Did you even use your abilities while we were growing up?"

"Yeah, I did actually." Maria laughs, "I used them more than you might think. How do you think I always beat Favion when it came to presents?"

Kayla starts to slow clap, "I admire the hustle, honestly. I would have never thought, just though you always got lucky."

“Believe me, I wish I had such luck.” Maria gives her friend a painful smile.

Esme steps back from the table and looks at the watch on her wrist, she waits for a few minutes before grinning.

"Breakfast is ready! First come first serve!" She shouts and screaming, curses, and people running can be heard through the house.

Everyone comes running down the stairs, pushing each other, yelling, jumping over one another, and just causing all around chaos. They all have one goal in mind, making it to the dinning table to get their food. They all have it down to a science, there is only enough pan dulce for five of them, coffee varies on how generous Esme is feeling, only six of them like to eat eggs in the morning but there is only enough for three. There is enough bacon for everyone to get two pieces, but of course they all want more than that. Then the pancakes, they refuse to eat waffles, they each only eat about three, but there is only enough for them all to get one, so like everything else they have to fight for it.

Plates and mugs are floating around the room, the occasional fork as well. Esme just sits on the counter watching her relatives fight. She has learned over the fifteen years raising them, to not interfere when it comes to breakfast. And still through all the chaos, she found it to be her favorite time of day, especially on school mornings. Just like this one.

"Just give me the coffee, I have a final!" Yallesia argues with Liam.

Liam glares at her while keeping the coffee away from her, "I am in college! I need this more than you!"

Cameron and Joseph are using a ruler to split a piece of bacon. "You're giving yourself more!" Joseph tries to take the knife from his brother. Both twins end up on the ground wrestling, letting Imelda snatch the bacon.

Maria and Sam are arm wrestling for pan dulce, Mike is lightly slapping Rose's hand while she tries to take away a pancake from him. Clarisse and Nico are holding forks at each other while trying to take an egg from one another.

Esme looks back at her watch, smiling at the time, "Five minutes before heading to school!"

Everyone stops, looks at Esme, looks at each other, drop what they're doing, and all run up the stairs. People fighting to get to the bathroom, asking where their shoes are, who stole what clothes. Meanwhile Esme waves her hand and things start to clean up, Mike is taken out of his chair and has his face cleaned, and the lunches get ready. Once everyone is lined up to leave, Esme floats their lunches to them and sends them out the door.

Once they are all gone Esme sighs in relief, "C'mon Mike, let's try to figure out that time ability of yours."

So there it is, they were trying to help. And it may have taken a while but Kayla, Alyssa, and Immanuel now understand where they are coming from. I think you weren't expecting Mike to have an ability other than levitation, but you should already know that this family is full of surprises. Maybe the next time you come back, we might find out where Maria is, we might also visit some family.

[mar04isdead]

Happy birthday you weird beautiful trashman!

@thatsthat24

[mar04isdead]

Freaks But Family

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5

Chapter 6: Those baby making catholics

Was this title necessary, yes, yes it was. Today I'll be talking about some people, some people you may already know and some you might not know. That's to be determined here, now let's begin the shit show!

Liberator looks at the wall, not really impressed at what's in front of him. A normal alley towards the edge of Snellville, with a normal brick wall. He really doesn't believe that they're supposed to be here, but it's where the light has led them so there has to be something here.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?" Liberator looks at Thorn with utter confusion.

Thorn holds up a finger signaling him to be quiet, she points to under the wall. Liberator just glares at her, Thorn holds her hands up in defense.

"I'm not doing this, trust me." Thorn steps back from the vines as they approach both of them.

Liberator chuckles, "Sure you're not."

"I'm serious, it's kudzu. Kudzu is a parasite and I can't grow parasitic plants." Thorn reaches out with her hands, trying to stop the vines. "I can't even control it."

The vines wrap around their feet, both of them start to worry. The more they struggle, the tighter and faster the vines grow. Before they know it, they are encased in the vines and thrown around. After a while the vines start to let them go, and they fall out of the vines onto grass. They both look up, groaning in pain, to see someone who looks very similar to Maria standing in front of a gate.

The girl has black hair in a pixie cut, a red fade at the tips, the same glasses as Maria too. In the light they can also see she has an eyebrow and lip piercings. Olive skin with dark freckles dotting her skin, and two weird black and red tattoos, one on her bicep and the other on her forearm, both on her right arm.

"So, you're the ones who sent the light?" The girl walks around them, sizing them up. "I'll admit, you don't look like much." She crouches down in front of them and looks them in the eye. "You're not even Aztec, so who are you?"

Favion sits up and looks the girl up and down, "How did you even do that? Do you have abilities?"

Thorn hits him on the side of the head, "No, she's a sorceress. Unlike me, who was born with abilities, she had to learn so she has magic."

The girl stands up and grins, "Correct, very impressive Thorn. As for you Liberator," She gives a sour face. "You have much to learn." She waves her hand, and the vines help them both up. "Follow me, you need to work for what you need."

Thorn and Liberator share a look before following the girl through the gate and into a maze. The flowers and bushes start to reach out, the girl just hovers her hand over them to calm them down. Some flowers on the ground start to bloom, letting out some fireflies that were in them.

Thorn looks at a rose bush, "Is this your garden?" She asks while stroking a rose.

The girl looks back and nods, "Yes, it was a gift from my dad though. My mom and older brother have kept it hidden from me. It was supposed to be a wedding gift but I'm glad they gave it to me early."

"Looks straight out of a fairy tale." Liberator giggles as a tulip brushes up against his leg.

The girl laughs, "This isn't a fairy tale." They stop at a wall of bushes, the girl raises her arms and the bushes move aside. "This is real life."

They follow her through the bushes, mesmerized. They enter a circular clearing, in the center is a bird fountain with flowers and dandelions surrounding it at the base. The girl walks up to the fountain, looking at Thorn.

"So, what flower do you need?" She asks, leaning down and picking up a large ceramic vase of water.

Thorn walks up to her, "The blood rose flower."

The girl's eyes widen, "You sure, is her condition that bad?"

Thorn nods, the girl smiles in understanding. She pours the water in the vase into the fountain and sets the vase down. Then she makes flowers appear out of thin air, hydrangeas, forget-me-nots, violets, and oddly enough a very small corpse flower. She raises them above her head and then makes her hands into fist, making the flowers start to wither, dry, and crush themselves. Once they are all a fine dust, she sprinkles them into the fountain.

She looks at Thorn with a smile, "Be a dear and help me for this part." She puts her hands in the water.

Thorn puts her hands in the water too, "What do I need to do?"

"This chant is in Aztec, I'll help you through it." The girl nods to reassure Thorn.

"Rose that smell sweet, and crimson red blood. They join together, and they waste away." The girl chants. "Now follow my lead."

Thorn sucks in a deep breath before following the girl with the chant, "Rose that smell sweet, and crimson red blood. They join together and they waste away."

They repeat it over and over as the fountain starts to glow a dark red, Liberator steps back as the flowers around the fountain start to hide. Both girls' eyes start to glow yellow, they both lift their hands up to the sky and out of the water floats an odd red flower. It's petals curled outwards, the middle of the petals with black markings that look like weeping faces. The black and red stem has thorns and the green leaves are all jagged and spikey.

"There it is." The girl's eyes go back to normal and Thorn plucks the flower from midair.

Liberator looks at the flower with amazement, "Why are you helping us?"

The girl shakes her head with a snicker, "Because I'm related to the person that this flower is for, can't just let my family die now can I?"

"She did mention she has a lot of cousins, but I thought I already met all of them." Thorn carefully wraps the flower in a cloth before putting it in the bag she carries.

"Oh no, there are hundreds more of us." The girl calmly brushes off, when seeing the look on their faces she laughs. "The generation before us were Catholic."

Liberator nods, "Those baby making Catholics."

"I know, right?" The girl pulls a match from her jeans pocket. "You best be going to get everything else you need. Give me the staff."

She reaches a hand out to Thorn, and Thorn hands her Madness' staff. She lights the match against the fountain before throwing it and the staff in the air.

"There's your next location, just follow the light." She waves her hand and the kudzu starts to encase Thorn and Liberator again. "Please tell her, Melissa misses her." She closes them in before the kudzu starts to toss and throw them around again.

The land outside of the brick wall where they started, they look at each other, and then up at the sky to see a red light. They nod before following the light to their next ingredient.

"How much you wanna bet they're stereotypical white people?" Thorn asks Liberator while they both hide behind a bush.

Liberator grins at her, "I'm not gonna make that bet because it's probably true. And you do know I'm half white, right?"

"I'm white too, but this screams people that will kill us if we try anything." Thorn looks over the bush.

"What are we saying about white people?" Someone behind them asks.

They both turn around and scream, only for someone to scream back. The next thing they know, they're engulfed in flames.

"Shit how are we not dead?" Thorn yells.

"I don't fucking know!" Liberator yells back.

"Why are we yelling?" The third person whispers.

Once Liberator and Thorn calm down, they look at the person in front of them and their first thought is, "You're a kid!"

The person looks at them with offense, their blue eyes gleaming, "Excuse you, but I'm older than both of you."

They both take a moment to look at the person closer, blond hair, pale blue eyes, olive skin and dark freckles. Same glasses as Maria and Melissa, and the same tattoo on the right bicep. The right side of their head is shaved, the other goes down to their chin.

"The name is Max, related to the last person you went to and the person you are trying to save." They step back from the two and gesture to what is around them

"Are... are we in a mechanic's garage?" Thorn asks looking around.

Max nods, "Yep, my granddad built me this little place when I was just a kid. I studied my magic here."

It's really not much, large open space, tall shelves to the sides filled with tools and boxes. In the center are two cars, one with the hood popped open and the other dangling from the ceiling, looking like it's being rebuilt.

"So," Liberator looks at the sharp objects hanging off the wall worriedly. "What is your magic?"

"Fire!" Max raises their arms and they burst into flames.

Both Thorn and Liberator back away in fright. Max notices and extinguishes the flames.

"Sorry, anyways what is it you need from me?" Max pulls a lever from behind the shelves, and up rises a cauldron.

Thorn looks at the paper she brought, "Lava from the hellfire."

Max starts laughing, after a while they look up to see Thorn's face. "Wait, you're serious? Lava from the hellfire!" They shout.

Thorn nods, Max groans. They go to the shelves, scan them from up to down, and grab a box, they bring it into the cauldron and open it. Inside are precious gems, diamonds, rubies, pearls, emeralds, quartz, and other gems. They pour all of the gems into the cauldron, and throw the box to the side. They put their hands into the cauldron, their hands start to glow, and the gems start to melt.

Max looks up at Liberator, "Pretty boy, get your ass over here."

Liberator walks up to the cauldron and puts his hands in and they start to glow too. They follow as Max brings their hands out of the molten metal, and they move their hands in circles.

"Just repeat this Aztec chant after me and this will be fine." Max smiles to reassure him.

"Liquid fire from a place of pain, become whole again. Pain and fire unite to cause chaos." Max nods to Liberator. "Now just repeat after me three times."

"Liquid fire from a place of pain, become whole again. Pain and fire unite to cause chaos." They repeat the chant three times, their eyes glow red, and the cauldron starts to bubble. They pick their hands out of the cauldron and move them side to side.

"Hold it." Max instructs.

They run off to a shelf and come back with a ceramic jar. They open the jar and set it on the floor, they position their fingers like finger guns. They have Liberator step back before motioning the lava to flow out of the cauldron and into the jar. Max pics it up, makes a small blue flame with their index finger, and welds the top shut before handing it to Thorn.

"Thanks, now that I think about it you're a Mexican mechanic with fire magic." Thorn smiles.

Max smiles, "What about it?"

"Literally reminded me of Leo Valdez." She puts the jar in her bag.

Max gasps and smiles, "Finally a person with taste!"

Liberator looks at Max questioningly, "You're Mexican, but you're blond."

Max puts their arms around Thorn and Liberator's shoulders. "I'm half white, white on my dad's side and Mexican on my papa's side."

"But how, how's that possible?" Liberator becomes more confused.

"Now I need to get you two out of here." They are all surrounded in flames again. "And one more thing."

Max takes the staff from Thorn and walks to the side of the house. They quickly come back with a lightbulb, they set it on fire and throw it along with the staff in the air.

"Follow the blue light, I recommend you don't leave any metal exposed." Max winks before disappearing in fire.

The middle of the woods, they really thought they were going to get kidnapped. They had no idea what on Earth could possibly make this safe, they took the hint from Max that this person has electricity magic. Just looking at the cottage made both Liberator and Thorn a bit paranoid, not knowing if it's abandoned or not.

"You knock on the door." Liberator lightly pushes Thorn towards the cottage.

Thorn glares at him, "Such a gentleman, I can see why that Maria girl doesn't like you."

Liberator glares back, "How'd you know about her?"

"Madness, she's an excellent mind reader." Thorn smirks.

Liberator is about to say something witty as a response when a tree blows up next to him, he screams and rushes to Thorn. Both he and Thorn get in defensive positions, only to see a little girl walk out from behind where the tree was. Dark skin like chocolate, dark mocha eyes, two little braids that fall down her shoulders, the most adorable blue dress and pink flats.

"Dida, I missed." The little girl turns around and complains into the shadows.

Someone comes out from the shadows and scoops the girl into their arms, "Don't worry hun, you'll get it next time."

The person is just like the rest, black short hair, olive skin, covered in freckles, brown eyes, glasses, and a tattoo on the right bicep. Only difference is that they are actually pretty tall, and they have more tattoos.

"Speaking of, what are you two doing here? When Harley told me there was someone in the woods I just thought she was tired and seeing things. Then she blasted and we heard you scream, so explain yourselves." The person holding Harley glares at the two teenagers.

Thorn digs through her bag, pulling out the paper and handing it to the person. The person looks at the paper suspiciously, sighs before reaching for the paper, unfolding it, and reading it.

"Really, the life of the sky is what you need?" The person hands the paper back, and adjusts Harley on their hip.

Thorn nods, "We hope it's not much of a bother, but we need it. We've been gathering the other ingredients all night, and after here is one last stop."

"They need help, dida." Harley messes with the person's hair.

The person nods, "I know darling, let's just be glad deda isn't here so you can use your magic." The person puts Harley down before turning to the teens. "I'm Micha, follow me."

They follow Micha and Harley to the cottage, they go around to the back to where there is a giant greenhouse. They enter the greenhouse, filled with plants and herbs, there is no roof so the sky is open and clear to see.

Micha turns to their daughter, "Harley, get the book and I'll get the jar." Micha points to a corner.

Harley smiles and goes to get the book in one of the corners and brings it over to Micha, while Micha grabs a jar hidden in the plants. They both meet in the middle of the greenhouse and they sit down. Harley takes the jar and Micha opens the book, they set both objects between them.

"If you two have any metal, piercing's, braces, anything like that, step out while you still can." Micha and Harley raise their hands to the sky.

"The spirit of the ancient heavens, a sign of the gods. It brings destruction and life to those it may touch." They both chant over and over, and above them storm clouds start to gather. Lighting can be seen starting to form in the clouds, it stretches across the sky like a spiderweb. Harley seems to struggle with keeping her hands up but Micha smiles at her to let her know things will be okay. Both of them have their eyes start to glow blue and they bring their hands down across their chest.

"You guy's may want to step out for this." Micha motions for Thorn and Liberator to step out of the greenhouse.

Liberator and Thorn decide to take Micha's advice and head out of the greenhouse. They turn away, knowing what lightning can do to them. They hear a loud bang, and wait a few seconds before turning back around. They see Micha and Harley closing the jar, Micha standing up, leaving the jar on the ground, and scooping Harley into their arms. Micha motions for them to come back into the greenhouse.

"Mind holding her?" Micha extends a sleeping Harley to Liberator.

Liberator takes Harley, Micha picks up the jar and hands it to Thorn. Micha takes the staff from Thorn, twirls it in their hand for a minute before throwing it up in the air. A white light spreads through the sky, leading them not far. Micha smiles up at the sky before taking Harley back from Liberator.

Micha smiles down at their daughter, "She's not used to doing big magic, she was only doing simple stuff until today. Took a lot of convincing for her other parent to let me teach her magic." Micha kisses Harley's forehead.

Thorn smirks, "You're married?"

Micha nods, "Yeah, they're a teacher like me. Their concert band is out of state for competition." They nod towards Harley in their arms. "This one still has preschool and I still have to teach." Micha looks back at the sky, "Speaking of school, it's the weekend so if you want to get sleep for whatever punishment your teachers have, get the last ingredient and make that potion."

Liberator and Thorn both thank Micha before leaving for the last ingredient.

"Why does this night keep getting creepier and creepier?" Liberator hits his head on the closest empty cage.

"Keep doing that, you'll be doing the world a favor." Thorn points to the cage.

They both are now standing in front of a circus big top, trailers, cages, and RVs parked around it and only one large light coming out from the flaps. It smells like popcorn and cotton candy. Some posters for acts are on the outside of the tent, promoting all sorts of odd things.

"Is anyone even inside?" Thorn steps closer to the tent.

Liberator shakes his head, "It's three in the morning, I don't think anyone's in here."

Slowly and weirdly, the tent flaps open, and they hear music coming from inside the tent. There is a small voice, inviting them inside. They look at each other, silently arguing who's going first. Then there is a gust of wind, pushing them forward to the tent. It's much bigger on the inside, circles of chairs surrounding the center ring, large thick metal poles that are keeping the tent up, wires, ropes, and silks hanging from the ceiling, a large net just a few feet above the ground, two large platforms near the top of the poles, and large lights that all shine on someone in the center of the ring.

"Evening, or should I say early morning? Welcome to the LaRue-Gonzalez Circus of Wonders!" The girl in the center announces with a booming voice, as if it's something she has done her whole life. "I am the Mariposa LaRue-Gonzalez, daughter of the ring leaders, knife thrower, contortionist, aerialist, and dancer! But tonight I am your sorceress, how may I help you?" Mariposa extends a hand out gracefully.

Circus performer definitely explains her look, dull red leotard with long sleeves, tiny golden rhinestones at the ruffled cuffs, a short red tutu, bright red eyeshadow and lipstick, golden snake bites and septum ring and odd golden lace up boots with no heel or toe. Her hair in a long braid with golden flowers decorating it, and from the translucent sleeves, one can see a tattoo on her right bicep.

Liberator is the first to break the silence, "You definitely look like you belong in a circus." Earning him a glare and punch on the shoulder from Thorn.

"I apologize for my associate." Mariposa raises an eyebrow at Thorn. "He doesn't have much experience talking to women." Thorn hits Liberator in the head for good measure.

Mariposa laughs, "I can tell, now I assume you are looking for an ingredient from me?" She twirls her index finger in the air, causing the paper in Thorn's bag to fly to her.

Liberator tilts his head to the side, "Is telekinesis your magic?" He wonders.

Mariposa shakes her head, "Air, damn this feels like some Avatar shit. Each one of us has a magic, and Madness controls all of them and more! This is some Avatar shit!" Mariposa jumps up and down with happiness.

Thorn smiles, "Okay that aside, we need the breath of the spirits."

At that Mariposa stands still, "At that I wish I had fallen too." Mariposa stands straight, arms at her side, and as she closes her eyes she slowly starts to rise and rise until she reaches one of the platforms. "Come up here, just be real careful if you're scared of heights."

Thorn merely shrugs and stomps her foot on the ground, the ground shakes before a giant sunflower sprouts beneath them and helps them rise up to the platform. Liberator holds on to some of the petals, Thorn simply stands with her arms crossed.

Mariposa just laughs at their antics, "Now contrary to what you may think, I don't need to summon the dead for this." She has some long silk in her hands that reaches the ground from the ceiling. "There's a jar right where you two are, be careful with it I'm gonna need it."

Mariposa wraps the silk around her legs several times, before taking a few steps back on the platform, running forward, and jumping off the platform. She holds onto the silk with her hands too as she starts to swing in large circles, picking up the pace with each time she passes Liberator and Thorn. Soon she's just a blur of red and gold, Thorn and Liberator and feel something pulling them towards the edge of the platform.

A sort of tornado forms from where Mariposa keeps spinning, until she slows down and unwraps herself fully from the silk. She falls straight down onto the net, the jar coming down with her. She lifts the jar up and Thorn and Liberator watch as it fills with the air she spun, she closes the jar before making herself rise back up to her platform. She sits down with an arm out and the jar resting on her palm, closing her eyes as the jar floats away from her and rests in the space in between her and the other platform.

"What is used to live, what is used to breath. What flows around us, what causes change." Just like everyone else, Mariposa repeats her chant until her eyes glow white. The jar glows too and starts to shake a bit, one can see the winds in it start to swirl and move. Once her eyes stop glowing, she has the jar float over to Thorn and Liberator.

"I know it's not exactly what you were thinking, but my magic hasn't been what it used to be." Mariposa shrugs awkwardly.

Thorn looks confused, "What happened?"

Mariposa looks straight down to the net, "I almost fell from up here, lost someone, been kind of scared of heights since." She looks back up, "Today was actually my first time back up here doing my act in four months." She smiles.

"You're getting over it, and that's good. Keep doing what you're doing and soon your fear will be a thing of the past." Liberator flashes Mariposa a smile.

"Yeah, that's what my dads have been saying." Mariposa stands up and starts to twirl her hand around causing both Thorn and Liberator to slowly rise into the air. "Have fun making that potion, tell my cousin I say hi." She twitches her hand upwards, and Thorn and liberator fly through the sky back to where they started.

"I've been waiting, and is this the idiot who is supposed to help us save Madness." Esme asks, she's wearing all black and a mask that covers the lower half of her face.

Thorn rubs the back of her neck, "Yeah, sorry it took us so long, Emory." Thorn knows better than to use Esme's real name in front of Liberator.

Emory shakes her head, "I have the book and the other materials. Give him the ingredients and we can get this over with. And we need to hurry because we have a situation with Madness' abilities."

Thorn drags Liberator over to the cauldron full of water, she gives Liberator the bag of ingredients, "Just listen to everything Emory tells you and this will be fine."

Emory opens the book and sticks her hand out like a claw, all the things in the bag float out and take positions around Liberator. "Open the jar of spirit's breath upside down so it goes into the water." She instructs.

Liberator plucks the jar out of the air and turns it upside down, he takes the lid off and jumps a bit when it almost falls out of his hands. He keeps it steady as the wind in it rushes out into the water, turning the water a pale white. When the jar is empty, he can hear voices whispering something.

"Don't worry, it happens." Emory looks back at the book. "The blood rose flower must be burned and it's ashes dusted in." She points to the flower.

Liberator takes the flower and crumbles it in his hands, he closes his eyes as he wills his hands to burst into flames. He struggles a bit to keep the fire to just his hands, but he manages and once he has the ashes, he puts them into the mix.

Emory looks at the white water with specks of black, "Okay, now you have to freeze it solid, but there's a specific way to do it." She puts one finger on the rim of the cauldron and drags her finger around it in a circle. "Just this, simple."

He nods and steadies his shaking hands, and places his finger on the rim of the cauldron. He circles the rim again and again until the mix is fully frozen. Once it's frozen the mix is now black, it looks weird but Emory assures him that it's supposed to be this way.

"Now, the lava from the hell fire, but it has to be an 'X' in the middle." Emory makes an 'X' in the air with her finger, "I know it's weird but it's what's in the book."

Liberator just shrugs and opens the hot jar of lava. He slowly tilts the jar on it's side and the liquid fire pours out he makes the lines cross to form the 'X' in the middle. He puts the empty jar aside and watches as the lava burns through the ice.

Emory reads more from the book, "Now, just add the life of the sky and this will be done."

Liberator takes the jar of electricity with shaking hands, watching as the electricity spreads like webs as it touches the glass. He opens the jar, only for the electricity to fly out and up into the sky. Just as he loses hope that he might not be able to get the electricity back, it comes running back down and strikes the cauldron.

"Wow, that was something." Emory and Thorn join Liberator in looking at the potion, now a bright blue with swirls of red.

"Looks like ice cream." Thorn tries to poke at the potion but Emory slaps her hand.

Emory glares at Thorn, "No, unless you want your insides to burn."

At that Thorn backs away, "Okay, then let's get it to Madness then."

Emory nods, closing the book and sticking her hand out, lifting Liberator into the air. "Sorry kid, but the rest of this is a secret. You tell Dr. Gomez what happened here tonight, you're dead." She snaps her fingers, and Liberator wakes up as Favion, in his room by morning.

yEsme watches Maria as she plays around with her cousins, acting as if nothing has happened. Sure she now has bandages around her abdomen, shifting really did a number on her, but she acts as if it's all okay. She's refused to use her abilities too, no one can talk to her about it and it’s been a month.

"You think she'll ever come back from this, I mean she was practically dying." Rose remembers how shadows were practically consuming everything around them. "I mean I keep trying to trick her to use her abilities, but she sees right through it."

Esme shrugs, "I don't know what we're going to do but we have to find a solution. She is the only one that can help Mike and his ability so she has to use hers eventually."

"Okay speaking of Maria, where is she?" Rose points to where Maria used to be, playing in the grass with Imelda but now she's gone.

Esme looks around, "Can you check inside, I'll ask the kids if they saw where she went."

Rose heads inside and searches the whole house, and eventually she finds Maria in the attic, playing with the spider plush she got on Christmas. "Hey, is everything okay?"

Maria just looks at her, "Not really, when I was asleep just saw some memories. Memories I really want to get rid of." She buries her face in the toy.

Rose sits down next to Maria, "Talk to me about it, I've seen that memory, but you never want to explain it." Rose tries to put an arm around Maria only for Maria to move away.

"Not really in the mood to talk about it." Maria turns away from Rose.

Rose groans, "Okay, baby I'm getting tired of this. I know you hate it, I hate talking about my memories too, but I do talk about them." She wraps her arms around herself. "Sometimes I wonder if you're just hiding crap."

At that Maria reacts, "I'm not hiding anything, I just don't want to talk about it." She scoots away further, "Just drop it, and I never exactly asked you to share your memories."

"But I let you see them, I even talked about them when you asked. I felt a lot better afterwards, so why don't you tell me," Rose pulls at her hair a bit. "For once tell me what is bothering you?"

"Nothing!" Maria shouts, objects around her flying around violently.

She starts sobbing and screaming into her plush. She keeps shaking harshly and keeps moving, Rose just sighs and starts to rake her hand through Maria's hair. Maria flinches at the touch, but slowly eases up. She lets herself lean into Rose's touch and keeps crying, she lets go of the plush to let herself be held by Rose.

"They... they just prayed that it would change." Maria shakes and gasps for breath. "I begged, I begged all they had to say about it was talking to some idiot man who doesn't even exist!" She stands up in a rush and paces the floor. "They believed in a book that is filled with lie after lie over their own kid!" She looks at Rose with her eyes red and tears running down her cheeks. "They choose to believe someone where there was no more proof existed, over the only proof left of our ancestors!" She hugs herself tightly, "They choose to forget me, to forget us."

Maria finishes her rant by dropping on her knees to the floor, the objects around her doing the same. Rose quickly walks over to Maria, and Maria throws herself into her girlfriend's arms. Rose just holds Maria tightly, and watches as around them some flowers start to bloom, purple hyacinth.

"At least you can't remember what happened to you." Maria mumbles, into Rose's neck where she's hiding her face.

Rose kisses Maria's hair, "I know you want to forget, but all I can do is help you through it."

"It wasn't just my heritage they prayed to change!" The flowers grow faster. "There was this girl, and I liked her a lot. They yelled at me when they thought she was the reason I was turning against them. Then they sent me away." She wipes her tears away before continuing. "I guess they thought that center was for conversion therapy, they were talking about it before sending me away. Would explain why they didn't send me straight here."

The flowers stop blooming and Maria's breath starts to even out. Rose just keeps running her hand through her hair to keep her calm. She places her other hand on Maria's waist where the bandages are, and rubs small circles with her thumb.

"Does this hurt?" Rose asks while softly rubbing at the bandages.

Maria nods, "A bit, no one will tell me what the hell happened." She wipes her eyes again.

"You used two opposite abilities and I guess since they don't go together they refused to work in your body." Rose places more kisses on Maria's head. "You passed out and we had to make a potion to wake you up."

Maria pulls away from Rose in confusion, "Wait a potion?" Rose nods. "I'm the only one who can make the potions. I mean yeah, the sorceresses can too, but certain ones no. What potion was it?" She questions, thoughts racing through her head.

Rose taps her head trying to remember, "Ancient revival, we had to get Favion for it."

Maria stands up and runs out of the attic, Rose quickly follows her. Yet again Rose finds Maria in the basement, but arguing with Esme, Clarisse, Liam, and Sam. Pointing at the old book in Sam's hands, and at the monitor, which has the formulas about mixing Maria's blood with someone else's.

"Maria, the abilities would be artificial." Esme turns her back to Maria. "And since they are artificial they are temporary." She starts to walk away.

Maria groans in frustration, “Two months, what do you have to say about two months?" She growls, her fangs starting to grow through her gums.

Esme stops in her tracks, "Now, that, is where I should worry." She turns back to Maria. "It should only be a week, less even."

"Yeah, now you want to start thinking about that?" Maria watches as Esme and the others start to work.

Sam looks from where she is scanning scrolls, "That's not possible, yes a chief or chieftess can give someone abilities with their blood. But in what we have recorded it has never lasted more than a week." She keeps pulling scrolls off of the book shelves and reads them all.

Rose decides to intervene, "Keep in mind you guys have never had a chieftess, or a leader with snake and spider shifting." She puts an arm around her girlfriend's waist. "This stuff has never been seen before, so of course how can you guys be prepared for that?"

"Great-grandmother's book is all we have though." Liam says from his spot in front of the monitor. "She was the only one with any recent recordings of our history, we would be able to get something from that."

Maria scratches at one of her discolored patches of skin, "Yeah but most are in code, so the only things we have are the things in Aztec. She was one smart lady." She removes Rose's hand from her waist, and walks away.

Rose notices how all the shadows leave the room and follow her, so she follows too. Following Maria and the shadows, Rose sees them end up in front of the shed in the backyard. Maria is already inside, spray painting something on the floor, lighting candles, and reading out of a book.

Rose avoids the flying candles as she steps into the shed, "What exactly are you planning here?"

"If I can't get the information from the books, then I'll get them from the source." Maria closes the book before sitting in the middle of the skull she drew.

Rose's eyes go wide, "No, babe don't do it. You know what happened last time."

Maria just laughs, the candles setting down and the flames start to go crazy. Maria's patches of vitiligo start to glow, she winks before disappearing in flames and light.

Rose looks at where her girlfriend used to be, "How do I explain this to the others?"

So, yet again with the chaos. Where is Mara going, who knows! All we can do is hope she doesn't die where she's going, It's a possibility. Oh well, come back next time to see what happens. Don't be late!

[mar04isdead]

I know this is late but it took a while finding it in my files. Happy birthday to this beautiful man!