Chapter 53.4

Once inside the bathroom, Jason sighed and leaned on the counter, staring at himself in the mirror.

This is getting complicated, Jason thought. What am I supposed to say to Emily and Melanie? Clearly, I'll need to handle Melanie before she decides to kill Elizabeth but she'll be easy to handle, whereas Emily is just a normal girl. Wha - how do - what do I do? Nevermind the fact that she thinks the real me is a psycho killer . . . Should I just end it with her?

The thought of possibly losing Emily stung his heart and he found himself trying to shrug it away instead of confronting it.

Nevermind, I'll deal with it later, he thought as he turned to the sink and washed his face, unaware that his reflection had stopped following his movements and instead gazed at him silently.

The reflection smirked, his violet eyes gazing at Jason with both amusement and annoyance. Jason took a towel and dried his face before looking up at the mirror again; the ominous reflection was gone. Taking a deep breath, Jason exited the washroom while the violet-eyed reflection returned once more in the empty bathroom's mirror.

'He's making the same mistake,' the violet-eyed reflection said silently.

Another reflection appeared, this time with blazing red irises full of violence. 'Hpmh. You only care about his mistakes over dealing with women. His biggest mistake is not dealing with his enemies immediately! Instead, he allows them to grow stronger, leaving his back exposed.'

'Enough,' a third reflection appeared in another mirror. This reflection had gray-blue eyes that were brimming with aged wisdom. 'We've agreed on not interfering.'

'He could learn from our mistakes,' the violet-eyed reflection argued. 'Besides, it'd be a waste to let such wonderful flowers wither, especially when they adore him. And we all know where that would lead him.'

'Learn from our mistakes? Hmph,' a fourth voice snorted, though no reflection appeared. 'Tell me, did any of us learn from our predecessors? Isn't it obvious that we failed, regardless of what we tried? You can't win a game when the cards are stacked against you.'

'Ah, as pessimistic as ever, Envy.' the wise reflection sighed.

'But I'm right,' Envy argued. 'We're cursed to fail from the beginning.'

'No,' the crimson eyed reflection stated strongly. 'If we believe that, then we let the Pantheons win. No, it is our decision that ultimately leads us to ruin. We must fight, fight, and fight!'

Silence descended on all four before the aged reflection sighed once more.

'What do you suggest then?' he asked the other three.

'Let us talk to him,' the violet-eyed reflection suggested. 'If we go overboard then you can just take over the reins again.'

'As loathe as I am to admit it, Lust is right," the crimson eyed warrior's reflection said.

'Ungh, I never thought the day would come when War sides with me,' Lust shuddered visibly which resulted in War snorting.

The sagely reflection considered for a moment before nodding at the violet reflection. 'Very well, you can go first tonight.'

'Perfect.'

Jason, unaware of his incarnations' plans, returned to the table and noticed that everyone was almost finished other than Elizabeth. She played with her ice cream using her spoon but it was clear that it was unappealing to her. Of course, this didn't escape Alice's attention.

"I could go for some more ice cream!" Alice exclaimed with a stretch. She noticed that Elizabeth didn't reply and repeated herself. "I could go for some more ice cream!"

This time Elizabeth smiled and turned to Alice's direction. "Sorry, girlie. You can't have this ice cream, you're still too young."

Indeed, the ice cream Elizabeth picked had actual rum, making it a big no-no for children.

"Besides, haven't you've had enough from your dad's?" Elizabeth added. She might be blind, but she was able to tell that Alice had sneakily taken a few spoonfuls of Jason's ice cream.

Alice, who was unaware that Jason was behind her, quickly placed his spoon back into his bowl.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Alice replied innocently and Jason used the back of his hand to rub the smile off his face. Emily, knowing that Alice was clever to catch her reactions, pretended to be oblivious to her surroundings and instead fed Maple the rest of her own ice cream. Alice watched the two enviously before settling her eyes on the remains of Jason's ice cream.

"One more bite wouldn't hurt, would it?" She muttered as she slowly reached for his ice cream. Jason also slowly reached out, moving his hands to Alice before grabbing her from behind.

"Gotcha!"

"Ah!"

Alice shrieked in surprise as Jason grabbed and lifted her into the air. He spun her around so she was facing him and laughed.

"One more bite of what now, kid?" Jason asked with mirth.

"Uhh . . . you've heard wrong, daddy," Alice said quickly. "I whispered, 'I can't wait for daddy to come back'!"

"Oh, yes, I'm sure," Jason laughed.

He then sat down and placed Alice in his lap before picking his ice cream and feeding it to her. "It is a little too much for me. Ahh."

"Ahh," Alice opened her mouth as she smiled blissfully, her eyes narrowed into crescent moons as her round cheeks moved upwards.

Jason and Emily looked at each other and smiled as they each fed a child before the former looked at Elizabeth with a slight frown.

"Lizzy, you ok?" Jason asked with concern when he noticed that she barely ate anything. He recalled that she had thrown up earlier and was certain that she didn't eat anything afterwards, so her not eating her ice cream was disconcerting.

"Yeah, baby, I'm fine," Elizabeth replied with a small smile. "Just didn't realize that raisin rum was a little too sweet for my taste."

"And she's too old to share," Alice muttered under her breath but loud enough that everyone heard her.

"Hey, she's right," Jason admonished Alice. "You can't eat that, kid. Not till you're an adult."

"Why not?"

"It has alcohol in it which is only for adults," Jason explained.

"But didn't you add wine to the steak before daddy?" Alice asked.

"That's different sweetie," Jason explained. "Red wine was just flavour added to the meat then cooked, but this is rum. It's much stronger."

Alice pouted, upset that her attempts to gain more ice cream was thwarted once more, but she shrugged her shoulders and complacently settled with just finishing Jason's ice cream. Once everyone was finished, they decided to leave, with Jason offering to drop off Emily first. This was due to Jason noticing that, despite smiling and talking, Emily seemed distracted, distraught even.

Something must've happened between the two, Jason concluded with a slight grimace as he drove the car. It was a mistake letting them stay alone for so long, but I had no choice. Needed to look after the kids and all.