Chapter Twenty Eight: The Bystander

Penny looked on, in shock at the words the man spoke to her. " My grandfather...? " Based on his appearance, Penny assumed this be her dad's father though why he would be here right now, was completely confusing.

" How...how did...I'm sorry. How did you know I was here? " Penny questioned, trying to calm herself down and focus for a little. She was excited to meet him, though she was also terrified. The presence he had was something that Penny felt many would never get to behold the sight of.

" I have come to help you by showing you the things you must see, and must endure" The man assured her, as he extended out his hand for Penny to take though she remained hesitant. " Where are you going to take me? " Penny asked, as the Man continued to extend his hand out to her. " I am going to take you to my home. In Outworld, I can assure you that you will be safe. You are my granddaughter and I wish only to aid you" He spoke calmly as Penny slowly approached him. " My father has not been born yet, has he? " Penny sighed, knowing that even if she was taken to his home, she would not be able to meet him yet. " Do not worry about that for right now. When the time comes, you will meet with him. But for now, you must come with me" He answered as Penny finally took his hand and much to her surprise, felt a warm, and graceful grip, welcoming her to be by his side. " To understand the things that you must do, first you must be armed with the knowledge of all things" Before Penny could even finish a blink, they had teleported to little Aurora's room, seeing her sitting on the bed but noticing the two Watching her from a distance.

" This is Aurora" Her grandfather explained which Penny nodded " I've already met her. She is very sweet and Princess of the Witches" Penny watched on as Aurora raised up her hand, making one of her toys from the bed float up to her so they could meet eye to eye.

" Yes and she is destined to be the Queen of witches someday. She is the mother of Kara, who was in love with Gabriel, your guardians Nephew" Her grandfather explained, almost in a sad tone. He seemed to be upset with the knowledge that he possessed, burdened by its great weight upon him.

" Aurora is the mad Queen, and is destined to attempt to lead the Underworld to war. Her selfishness and Greed shall only grow with time, constructed and fortified by her parents own ignorance" he explained.

" But I've met the King and Queen and they seem very nice. They don't seem like bad people to me" Penny explained. Though, now that he had mentioned it, Lysette had explained very little of the atrocities that Aurora had committed and Penny could remember always questioning how someone could turn so rotten.

" Right now, the alliance between the Kingdoms is shaken. They do not trust one another even if some have allied. I am only going to show you the truth, not the opinions" he spoke as Aurora lifted up her finger, popping off one of the head of her toys with her magic which Penny shivered at.

" Right now, she is not tainted but she will be. This is one of the things that cannot be changed. She will fall in love and she will betray. She will, cause the events that will lead the Underworld into chaos" He explained as again, they teleported though this time, to a completely different place that Penny had not been too before. It was a giant room, coated in some type of silver. Purple banners hung down from the walls with no markings and at the end of the room, sat an Elderly Woman and Man. The man, wore a cloak of some type of fur whilst the woman, wore a black dress, with a silver chest plate above it. They both looked to be sad for some reason.

" This is the grandfather and Grandmother of Gabriel, The Lycan King and Queen. They have for far too long, lost many of their people to the conquest of the vampires whilst the Witches have done nothing to aid them. In the beginning, they had received help but as the numbers piled up, they lost too many and the Witches deemed the fight far exceeding their own resources. And so they stopped, and the Lycans lost almost everything. Now, their people have a hard time getting by but they still do their best, for it is not the Lycan way to complain" Her grandfather explained. Penny could see in the streets as they existed the castle that many Lycans were starving. They had tried growing crops but it had never managed to suffice for the needs of the Kingdom.

" And Noone else will help them? " Penny shrieked as she watched these poor creatures whom she could not help.

" The King and Queen have a plan" he comforted Penny whose eyes were filling with tears at the sheer pain the people had been going through. Carts of dead bodies were being carried through the tone so that they could be disposed of.

" They will from this day, now declare independence. They will no longer aid in conflicts and they will no longer help the witches who have betrayed their trust"

Penny agreed with their plan, because the actions of the witches was absolutely shameful to her. She could not comprehend that her own people, people who seemed kind and nurturing would allow for such a travesty to continue.

" This plan will not last for long as their Son, will take on a new order and will align with the witches after some time though his trust will also be shaken in this growing conflict. The Lycans have been scorned and will continue to suffer greatly as long as they align with the Witches" he knew all too well the sufferings within the Underworld. He had been watching from the very beginning and could see every decision that was made, every mistake, every selfish thought that was ever conceived by the Underworld. And this is why he chose to speak with Penny.

" But this also cannot be changed " He added which confused Penny. " Well if it can't be changed, then why show me? How would I be able to help when everything seems so set in stone" Penny tried her best to understand the reasonings as to why so many things had to happen in such a negative way. There had to be some major reason for it, was everyone from the Underworld corrupt in some aspects? Or was the suffering so great that it made the people desperate.

" I am showing you these things because I love you. And I do not want you to waste your time with the things that you cannot change. I only wish to provide you with clarifications so that you may better make decisions. If you wish to know what you can contribute and what you can change, I can show you that" he offered and Penny nodded, and was teleported to a large room, with black walls, and a black floor. The material's use to make these were nothing like Penny had ever quite seen before, somehow being able to have a shine to them and yet swallow the light all at once.

" Where am I now? " Penny questioned.

" You are at my home, in Outworld. Home of your father" her grandfather explained.

" Here, I am the king and I rule beside my wife, your grandmother. And here, Blaze the most important part to the story. Your story" he answers as he walks over to his throne at the end of the hall, sitting down and looking back to Penny who now stood in front of him.

" I know that you have heard stories about what we are and what we do. The stories of your father's abilities, the stories of what Outworld contributes to the rest of exisistance. However, you only know part of the truth" The man raises his hand up, slightly moving forward which sends Penny into a deep and dark form of meditation. Her mind has been cleared now all she can see is what her Grandfather wishes her to see.

" Since the beginning of time, we have seen everything that could should or will happen. We know every decision before it is made and we are suppose to keep the world within balance. Your father, was suppose to take action directly and to stop the Underworld from resetting" he explained as Penny began to see Shawn, her father, standing in front of a man who looked as though he had been beaten and tortured, surrounded by a group of cloaked beings.

" He was suppose to kill him. The man. And he could not do so because of his love for this man" Penny watched, as her father, whom she was laying her eyes on for the first time, turn away from the man.

" If he had done this, if he had collected his soul properly, then things would not be the way they are now" he explained as Penny continued staring into her father's eyes, seeing that he looked very much like her, which was not what she had been expecting at all. He was beautiful, and he was more than she could have ever hoped he would be. But her grandfather's words echoed in her head.

" If he could not kill the man, then he had to have a good reason. And if love, is the reason the Underworld collapses, then perhaps it should stay gone" Penny thought out loud, which seemed to anger her grandfather slightly as his voice began to raise.

" Penelope, it is not that easy. The world continues to reset every single time. Love, is a beautiful thing to fight for. But if it risks people being stuck on a loop of destruction, people who are inoccent even if the royalty is not, is it worth all of that? " He explained, this was the same conversation he had taken with her father previously and she seemed to be following in his footsteps. Something that he could not allow.

" I do not know. I am not sure who the other man is, but what I do know, is that if the man living or dying is what affects the world, then that is not fair. Why does it matter whether he should live or die? Why must it come to that? Would there not be a way to speak to him and have him change his ways so that it does not have to resort in his death? " Penny pleaded, standing firm on her belief at this time.

" Its not about his actions, it is about what happens because of it. The man, does die. But he comes back from death. He achieves this because of the determination his death put onto others. Which ended up bringing him back to life. However, if he had been erased, there would be nothing to bring back. Even if the man, had made the correct decisions, it would have still lead to the world's destruction. The only thing that can prevent it, is his erasure from this world completely. That way, he could not be brought back, and that way the following mistakes would never be made. His friends would attempt to bring him back but it would not matter. And thus, it would have changed history. It would have fixed everything. But the world has reset now, and you have the chance to make things right. You have to erase this man, and if you do this, you will save the Underworld" he explains, as Penny tries to take in all of her Grandfather's words though finding herself still not completely agreeing with him.

" Your guardian, is wise. But she, despite having the knowledge of the things I've told you, has still tried to find a way around the fate. Just as my son, your father has done. And every single time, the same thing happens. When is enough..enough?When do we say that we are tired of the cycle and finally accept the reality that is before us. If you follow your guardian, she will lead you down a road that will change some things but never make a real difference. That is what I'm trying to get across to you my child. This is not, nor has it ever been a situation where finding a loophole would allow for things to be okay. It's not and it has never been" he continues to explain.

" Penelope, I am not trying to put too much onto you because unfortunately, you've had so much on you already. But this has to be done. This has to be done and it's not going to be easy. But it will fix things, I promise you that it will. No..I guarantee that it will. But you have to trust me. I am not evil. I am not trying to mislead you and use you just so that I can accomplish some underhanded goal. I have nothing to gain from this other than the fact that I do care and I want to see the world succeed. Believe it or not, I don't like this any more than you do. And if I could, I would choose love" he adds which catches Penny off guard.

" If you were in this position..you would really choose love? " She asked.

" Of course I would. But that has been proven to never work. I can not stress this enough but when the time comes, you have to erase him. Because if you don't, we will repeat this cycle" he now has pleaded with Penny, with a sense of desperation in his voice. And as Penny thought about the words of her grandfather, she could see his point. She would choose love if there was a way too. But this had all been done before and it had always been for nothing. The one thing that had not been tried however, was quite possibly the solution and Penny's part to play in the salvation of the world. After thinking deeply on this, Penny was left with only one single question.

" What is his name? " Penny asked and very Grandfather, now having seen some sense of reason in his granddaughters eyes, answered with a calm tone " Gabriel, King Of The Lycans"