Episode 3: The Beauty and the Bullies

***Alastair***

After Graham left, Alastair spent his hours drawing. He had drawn the boy waving from memory. He liked drawing the people he met. It made them feel closer.

He winced as his stomach grumbled again. He had already eaten all of the snacks he'd packed. Sadly, he had no money to buy any. Nor did he know where to get some. He sighed. When would his G.K. appear?

***

[Yesterday]

Alastair cradled his pillow in his arms as he went into his brothers' room. Noh had insisted on having a family sleepover in his and En's room since he was leaving tomorrow. This would be their last night together for who knew how long. He was happy to cuddle with the teddy bear, but not En. While Noh was a teddy, Enji was like snuggling a grumpy cat. And normally, Alastair loved cats.

Alastair furrowed his brow as he found his big brother going over his backpack.

Alastair snatched it away from him. "Hannah and I already packed this morning!"

"I just wanted to make sure you have everything." En grabbed a nearby pair of gloves off his dresser. "Did you pack spare gloves?"

He grumbled. "Do you think I'm dumb? Of course I did!"

That was when a pair of swarthy raven-haired twin sisters walked in. They each wore their nightgowns. Blue for Len, the younger twin, and green for Ivy, the older twin.

"Wouldn't Hannah make sure Star did that?" Ivy asked.

Alastair nodded.

"I'm sure she did." En closed Alastair's backpack and went to stroke the top of Ivy's head. "But it's always good to double check."

"What about triple check?" Ivy asked.

"Yeah, better safe than sorry. It might be cold where Atty's going. Plus, sometimes it's better to keep our birthmarks hidden."

Len raised her eyebrows. "Cuz we're not supposed to talk about being KKs?"

"And some people like to ask about the birthmarks." En looked away. "It's not something we always wanna talk about."

Ivy furrowed her eyebrows. "That's why Star wears gloves even when it's hot out?"

"Yep."

"Here I thought he was like a certain mouse."

Alastair chuckled. Seemed Ivy was still in her Disney phase.

"Heard from Randy that you're going to have a sleepover. Mind if we join in?" Ivy asked.

"I don't think we can all fit in here," En said.

"Oh…"

He ruffled her hair. "We could set up in the living room instead. We'll all fit out there."

Alastair smiled and signed to En, 'Let's have s'mores!'

En nodded. 'I'm sure the kids would love that. We should ask everyone else, too.'

"Wow." Len glared at them. "You two hate speaking English."

Ivy glared at her twin. "Eleanor…"

Noah grabbed Len by the hand. "You'll like this."

When they all went into the hallway, Del was in front of his and Alastair's room. "Hey guys, where are all of you going? Hope that your big bro here is invited to the party too!"

Alastair grinned from ear to ear. "S'mores!"

"Why didn't you say so?" he almost shouted.

En looked at Del with narrowed eyes. Atty's big brother hated it whenever someone was too loud. Most of the time, Del would be at the receiving end of his fury.

Betty giggled. "Why don't I make some hot chocolate too?"

Alastair put his fingers to his lips and moved his hand down and forward to say thank you like Hannah taught him when she first brought him and his brothers home.

"Atty said thank you!" Noah said.

Len looked at Noah sideways. "How do you do that?"

He shrugged. "I've basically been signing since I was a baby."

The twin sisters exchanged glances. Alastair wasn't sure if Noh meant it literally or not. Then again, he wasn't always the best at telling sarcasm.

Del ruffled Len's hair. "Why don't we get set up outside while Betty makes the hot chocolate?"

Len swatted his hand away. "Hey, I just fixed my hair!"

"S-sorry. My bad. If it makes you feel any better, it looked nice."

Len grumbled. "'Looked' being the keyword!"

Alastair ran toward the kitchen.

"I thought Noah was the little brother," Alastair overheard Len mumble as she and the others followed after him.

Ivy took Len by the wrist and pulled her away.

"Hey! Ivy!"

Ivy kept looking forward. "Noah might be the baby, but he's acting more like a grown-up than you are."

Noah tapped En on the shoulder. 'Who's older again?'

'Ivy is the older twin.'

'Oh… Okay. Good.'

When Alastair laughed and went to open the sliding glass door, En signed, 'Coat.'

Oh, right…

After Alastair got his coat, he and Noah sat together on one of the two hammocks outside. Enji sat on his own hammock.

Del brought out the sticks and the marshmallows.

Star jumped out of the hammock and grabbed one of the sticks.

En gave his twin a look. "Wait for Betty and the twins."

Betty came out with the hot chocolates. "Where are Len and Ivy?"

"They should be out in a minute," Del said. "I think Ivy wanted to have a 'stern conversation' with Len, as Vi used to say."

Alastair gave En the puppy dog eyes. He really wanted s'mores before bed.

Betty giggled. "Think you can start now." The twins came out as she set the hot chocolates down.

Len's cheeks were all red as she sat down, which made Ivy rub her sister's shoulder.

En made a small flame and used it to light the fire pit Del made with his earth powers. Del was great with stones.

Del passed sticks to Noah and the twins.

Noah had the biggest smile on his face as he put the marshmallow stick in the fire.

En opened the chocolate bag and graham crackers.

Len slowly sipped her hot chocolate. A sigh escaped her lips as she put her flower mug down.

Betty leaned against Del's shoulder. "It's such a nice night."

"Yeah." Del put his arm around her. "It is."

"Did you want s'mores for any special reason?" Len asked.

Alastair shrugged.

Del ran his fingers through Betty's hair. "There's nothing wrong with cuddling up with people you love to have a few s'mores."

Ivy hugged her twin.

Len looked like her cheeks were on fire. "I-I have a question."

"What's that, kiddo? You know you can ask me anything," Betty said, giving her a gentle smile.

The blue-dress twin fidgeted. "I know that we're all Key Keepers, but what do Key Keepers even do?"

Del put a marshmallow on a graham cracker before he shrugged. "It depends, really."

"What does that mean?" Ivy asked, blinking.

"The worlds are different." Betty sipped her hot chocolate. "Some are more old-fashioned. There might be a couple that are very similar to modern Earth, and I'm sure there are worlds with tech we can't even dream of yet."

Len threw her hands up. "But what do Key Keepers do in those worlds?"

"Sometimes, it's a conflict with nature being out of whack." Del bit into his s'more. "Other times, the Key Keepers are in conflict with people. There might be as many conflicts and issues out in the cosmos as there are Key Keepers."

Ivy looked a little stiff. "Do you know what Star's supposed to do?"

Betty leaned to the side and squeezed the girl's shoulders. "We're not too sure. Hannah's friend didn't really say."

Len folded her arms. "So, Hannah's friend is going to be Star's protector, right? What exactly do Gatekeepers do other than watch over Key Keepers?"

"They support Key Keepers while they're working," Del replied. "They protect you from yourself, too."

"Protect you from yourself?" Ivy tilted her head. "What does that mean?"

Betty sat upright. "If you try to work when you need to be in bed, your Gatekeeper won't let you."

"Sounds like a babysitter," Len said, furrowing her brow. She laughed. "Good thing too as I think the cat will need one."

Alastair huffed. Was she calling him a kid?

"What about Hannah?" Ivy asked. "Is she a Gatekeeper too? She does watch over all of us."

Betty shook her head. "Hannah is a person called a Keychain."

"Keychains work more with K.K.s who aren't working," Del said. "Like how Hannah made sure we had a home and belonged to a family."

Alastair made another s'more. He was getting a chance to be like Vi, Chan, Betty, and Del. No way was he going to pass that up. Not when he got to be like the rest of his family.

Although he didn't like the way his twin was looking at him. Enji's eyes gave off a worried vibe.

"It would have been nice if Hannah could've helped Star prepare a little more, but there's no use crying over spilled milk," Betty said.

"What milk?" Alastair asked.

Betty smiled. "It's just an expression."

***

Alastair laughed to himself. Maybe his G.K. hadn't shown up as she determined Alastair needed no babysitting.

His eyes lit up as he recalled getting snacks for free whenever he went to the supermarket. Hopefully, the food they had to offer was good, if they did samples at all. The cookie Graham gave him was normal, but who was to say the rest of this world's food wasn't alien? Although, that would be cool too! He giggled at the thought of strange food. Unlike his big brother, he wasn't too picky. As long as it tasted good, he would eat it!

He ran over to a red-haired girl walking by. "Uh, where's the supermarket?" he asked, before it hit him that maybe this world didn't have any. Even on Earth, not all places had them.

"The super? It's a bit further ahead. It's across from the mall."

He smiled. "The one where they sell these coats?" He brought out the one the brown-haired girl had bought him earlier.

The girl chuckled. "Yeah. Say, you're not from here, are you?"

Alastair shook his head. "Nope. I'm from Earth." He cringed. Ah! Why had he said that?

"Earth? Never heard of that place. Is it nice?"

The boy glanced at the park. "Well, this world is nicer. It doesn't stink. But, Earth is better, it has my family!"

The girl giggled. "Aren't you adorable?"

His cheeks flushed. Why was she talking to him as if he were a kid? "I-I'm gonna to get samples!" he yelled, rushing off.

He pondered what his task could be as he walked in the direction of the mall. He wished it were to go on an adventure. Who knew what kind of people he would meet. They would all get the chance to meet him too! The Great Star! He laughed at the thought of showing them his artwork. Good thing he could still use his art tablet in this world.

He smiled as he reached the edge of the supermarket's parking lot.

Three strangers came over when they heard Alastair's stomach growl.

"We just went shopping. Would you like to have this food?" A lady with a tan asked. She reached into her white plastic bag and took out a sandwich. "You can have this."

Food sounded good, but was there a catch?

She pushed it into his hands when his stomach growled again. "We insist, sweetie."

He smiled. "Okay, if you insist!" he said, taking. Alastair bit down on the food with gusto, but his stomach only got more upset than before. He threw it up after a couple bites. "Ew! Nasty sandwich!"

The lady frowned. "How rude!"

"But it's true! It tasted like old socks!"

Her bigger friend scowled at him as he grabbed him by the wrist. "You ungrateful little brat! Are you calling our taste in food bad?"

Alastair winced as the guy applied pressure to his wrist. Ugh, this guy wasn't normal. His strength was beyond human. His metal powers made it hard to hurt him, yet this guy was breaking his wrist. Were the people of this world that much stronger than back home?

"Let go!" he screamed. Liquid metal flew out of his back and covered him. The oaf unhanded him, avoiding the wave of metal.

"So, the boss was right. This guy isn't human," the girl said in a low voice. "Boys, prepare to engage!"

Her friend in a tie shouted, "Hmph, Key Keepers sure are a rude bunch."

Huh? H-how did they know about Key Keepers? Wait, could they have done something to his G.K.? W-was that why she hadn't shown up?

Alastair grumbled as the two boys hit his metal cocoon from the left and right sides.

"Ugh, he's strong for a kid!" the big guy said.

"Looks can be deceiving," Alastair said, grinning despite the pain in his wrist. He took several deep breaths to calm himself down. Del told him a K.K. had to have a calm mind. He couldn't let himself meltdown in this situation. They would beat him up or worse.

The lady yelled at Alastair as she delivered a kick to his silver cocoon. "Your kind really is more than a nuisance!"

They kicked the cocoon in an attempt to break it.

Next thing Alastair knew, he was rolling around inside it. Before he could undo the cocoon, he got very dizzy and threw up. He fell on his knees. How in the world would he get out of this?