Chapter 12 Part 1

(Narrator) Nothing much happened for the next few days, but Heather and Haider return from their latest mission with Relov on the 22nd. I need to say the day for my own sake at this point. The days are starting to blur together. It's like when Christopher was living his mundane life before the attempted kidnapping. But luckily the twins have arrived to save us all!

"Oh my god the mission this time was to eliminate a group of bandits held up in a cave, and Relov's Tychomancy wasn't completely useless for once. He got a legendary weapon that spits metal and makes a loud noise. It was so cool. And, it's called a gun. Which is so shit, should've been called the metal spitter or something." Haider rambles.

"Will you slow down! You're being too hyperactive for me right now. Chill. Mellow out a bit." Christopher says.

"Leave him alone, He's just excited to be talking to you again. As am I. It's been torturous not having you with us." Heather says, picking up a cookie and taking a bite. "Ugh, it feels like forever since I've had sweets."

"Quite a lot of stuff happened while you two were away, as you can see." Christopher says.

"I was just about to ask about that actually, how did your dimension transform into this so fast? It felt weird walking through that door. I felt like I was teleported to the middle of nowhere or something." Haider says.

"So the door was me. I figured out how to allow other people to open my realm from far away places. Dime takes care of the dimension now. Handling anything they have the power to do." Christopher says.

"Right, the thing talking to us at the door. But what about the look of the dimension? I didn't know you could make it look like this." Heather asks.

(Dime) I can answer this. So yes, the looks of the dimension can be changed but only visually within reasonable resource consumption. But with this realm, you are able to dig into the ground for about a mile, and when I expand it. The new areas are automatically generated. This is the work of the void, or Nebulon.

"Yeah, the reality breaking entity that exists outside the universe. Why is he helping you?" Haider asks.

"I don't fucking know. Anything he says or does just confuses me." Christopher says, taking a sip of water.

"Oh, Engilram's doing good. He decided to hire an investigator for the Nebulon roleplaying person because his back gave out." Heather says, handing his letter to Christopher.

"I knew that would happen. He's too old for that now, he shouldn't be doing that stuff anymore." Christopher says.

"You could be nicer when you talk about him, you know." Heather says.

Christopher shrugs her off and she sighs, taking another cookie.

"How are you feeling anyway? Have you needed to bring those recipes out?" Haider asks.

"Actually, really well. I feel way happier than I've ever been. I think it was a great idea to focus on myself for a while. And for the record it's not the recipes I cherish, it's the box itself. I still meditate twice a day. But, I haven't mourned her for a few weeks. I might actually be getting better." Christopher says, filled with hope and determination.

"Amazing. Have there been any 'accidents'?" Heather asks.

"No, but I feel the pull of the, thing inside me when I'm negative. I've also learned that nightmares feed my anger, my pain, my malice. I wake up in cold sweats from them sometimes, on especially bad nights I've been tearing the dimension to bits."

"How is it still here?" Haider says, as the last word left his mouth he realised the answer to his own question. "Nebulon?" Christopher nods.

"That man, he's like your guardian angel or something. Why else would he be helping you this much?" Heather says.

"I don't know Heather. But I feel at ease when they visit. Like I've always known them. But I can't figure out why." Christopher says.

"Wait, do you think he knew your parents? Like, he gave you your mother's locket. That has to mean something. Right?" Haider says, spitting out the crumbs of a whole cookie he rammed in his mouth.

"Your lucky Dime can clean that up or I'd hit you right now. Again, I don't know. I doubt I'll ever know the truth. And I don't want to. That stuff doesn't matter to me." Christopher says.

"Let's change the subject. What's it like living with Beluf?" Heather asks.

"It's surprisingly nice. He's become like a second father to me. He's considerate and kind. He guides me like father does. Supports me without question too. He and father are perfect for one another. Which I hope they'll both see and get married one day." Christopher says sweetly. Gently swiping the glass in his hands with his thumb.

"It almost sounds like you want to be with him." Heather says, snickering.

"What?! No! He's too old." Christopher says, blushing a light pink.

Heather leans in and whispers in Haider's ear. "We should find him a Wolfman boyfriend. Sounds like he's into that." Haider snickers and nods.

"What the fuck did you just whisper to him?" Christopher asks

"I ain't telling." Heather says, smirking at him.

Christopher looks down onto the table and see's Dime's words.

(Dime) I could tell you if you want, Sir.

"Dont you fucking dare!" Heather yells, slamming her palm into the polished wooden dining table.

"As much as I want to know, it is an invasion of privacy. Unless it could cause harm, keep it to yourself." Christopher says.

(Dime) As you wish, sir.

"Have you thought about giving Dime a physical body to inhabit? I'm sure that ring is restrictive for him." Haider says. "Maybe something like a Soulust."

"That's an interesting idea, however Dime doesn't have a soul like the Soulust do." Christopher says.

"Then how about a golem like body?" Heather says.

(Dime) There is a way that could work. However I would advise against giving myself a body.

"Why is that? Don't you want more free will?" Heather asks.

(Dime) I am content serving Christopher as I am. If that changes, I will let you all know.

"But what if you can't reach us?" Haider asks.

(Dime) Sir Christopher always planned on giving you both a ring. Not only will that allow you to see him whenever you want, I will also be able to answer you from the door.

Both Haider and Heather look at one another, coming to the same conclusion. "We're going to have to refuse that offer. But thank you just the same. I feel that's counter intuitive if we can just instantly have safety." Heather says.

Christopher giggles as Dime's words change.

(Dime) I admire both of your restraint but it doesn't work that way. You cannot enter the dimension and exit somewhere else. That's like opening a tear in space and not closing it. It's just not possible. It would also cause a massive explosion.

"I've told you that. That's a fundamental rule of dimensional magic." Christopher says.

"Even so. We can't allow ourselves to intrude whenever we want." Heather says again.

(Dime) I can make it so that you have to knock to gain access, or I can refuse you access if my lord is busy or already occupied with someone. I already relay to him everyone who approaches the door.

Heather lowers her head in defeat. "You have his stubbornness. *Sigh* Fine! But make sure we are barred from entering for 2 weeks after each visit."

"That works for me. At least I won't be smothered all the time this way." Christopher says. "You two know me too well."

(Dime) We can sort all that out when you're ready to leave. That stuff can be handled easily. Also Heddwyn and Beluf are approaching the house.

"Let them in please, Dime." Christopher says.

The front door swings open and Heddwyn and Beluf fall into the room, Beluf laying atop Heddwyn.

"Were you seriously making out on his porch?! Can you keep your hands to yourselves? At least keep it in Beluf's house." Heather scolds.

"We weren't expecting the door to just swing open! Plus Christopher doesnt care." Beluf says, climbing off Heddwyn and picking him up.

"I thought it was funny." Christopher comments.

"See." Beluf says, holding Heddwyn by the waist.

"Sure. But now I need to rub soap into my eyes." Heather says.

"Don't be so dramatic." Heddwyn says, taking Beluf's arm off of him.

Heather stands up in a huff, Haider lagging behind her. Christopher grabs Heather's arm, brow furrowed. "What happened between you two?"

"Nothing." she replies bitterly, trying to pull out of his grip.

"Heather so god help me if you don't tell me, I'll start plucking Willow's leaves." Christopher says.

"He almost killed me when he decided it would be totally riveting to attack us while we were fending off an army of bandits. He distracted me by alerting me to his presence and the big boss guy took advantage of that. If Relov wasn't there to fend him off, I would likely be a rotting, decaying corpse right now. I would be joining Hilda in Hel because my soul decided to nope after being crushed to death!" Heather turns to Heddwyn, pointing her finger angrily at him. "You haven't even bothered to apologise to me. Do you know how scary that was?"

"Look, you two need to talk this out privately. No running away until I see everything is ok. And I WILL be asking Dime if you're lying. This is one time I will NOT be allowing our family to tear apart. Not after all the progress I've made with my trauma. Dime, close the exit and make sure they work things out for me." Christopher says, taking command of the situation.

(Dime) It will be done, Sir.

Haider shoves Heather and Heddwyn out the door, closing it behind them. Out of the front window, it can be seen that Heather has taken a seat on the gravel and Heddwyn sits next to her, but she scoots away.

"Let's give them some privacy for now, ok?" Beluf asks, watching Haider spy on them through the glass window.