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luverofralts · 21 days

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Arkhelios Adventures

The Bellamy household was tense. The atmosphere hadn't been this dark and dire since Roman's affair with Ulyssa. Two days had passed since the incident at Theo's school, and a decision had been made by the Pleasantview coven regarding Theo's academic future. Evren was scheduled to arrive with the verdict any second now and the Bellamys were trying not to panic. Too was taking this opportunity to destroy their kitchen cupboards, and no one had the mental ability to stop her. Evren was going to be there any minute, what did it matter what the cat did?

There had been no contact from Adam since the accident and Theo was inconsolable, thinking that his boyfriend was ending things with him by simply ghosting him. All of Theo's texts were unable to be delivered. One minute, he'd been intertwined with Adam and the next, Adam was just...gone.

Evren had dutifully brought up this silence at one of the many coven meetings he attended, and was able to confirm that Edana had taken her son's phone from him and disconnected the number. This at least gave Theo some hope that maybe Adam wasn't breaking up with him. His mother didn't want them to speak to each other, so she'd taken away that connection to protect her son. Theo had tried some small magical spells used to communicate between magic users, but those also failed. Edana had the benefit of years of experience in a coven that liked to play dirty when it came to magic. Despite his raw power, Theo couldn't compete with a witch that experienced.

"Evren's here!" Saturnia announced.

The moment she spoke, everyone over the age of fourteen hurried in the kitchen to hear Evren's news. This meeting was for adults only. Adult decisions had to be made, and Theo was too fragile to hear the discussion for himself. He hadn't left his room for the past two days anyway. Whenever someone checked up on him, he was either crying into his pillow or writing woefully in his journal.

"What was the coven's decision?" Roman asked breathlessly, pulling up a chair beside Adrian and Abe. "Are they expelling him? Do we get to keep him here?"

It was the option Roman liked best. Everything would be okay if he could just hold onto Theo and hug him until all this madness went away. He was Theo's father, and it was his duty to protect him, not some snobby school.

"No, they don't feel that he belongs in Arkhelios," Evren said gently. "He swore an oath to be an apprentice of the coven and they plan to hold him to that. Like we discussed earlier, that option was extremely unlikely."

"Doesn't belong in Arkhelios?" Roman erupted, slamming a fist on the table. "He's my son! You're telling me that I'm going broke to pay for some witches to kidnap my son from me? Abe? Tell him that we're keeping our son!"

"He's beyond our help, Ro," Abe replied quietly, putting a reassuring hand over his husband's clenched fist. "We talked about this. He's growing up and we can't teach him what he needs to know. I hate this just as much as you do, but it's not just him that's in danger. He's hurting other people now too."

"I'm a hybrid!" Roman growled. "I'll teach him. We'll learn together. It's my mother's fault that he's like this, so I have to be the one to fix it. I can fix this."

"Roman, I appreciate your openness to trying new ways to train Theo, but you can't just homeschool your son in the magic he needs to survive. No offense, but your own abilities probably couldn't get past the second chapter of his textbook. For all my experience, I don't have the skills to teach him either."

"What did the coven decide then?" Adrian asked. "Is he allowed to stay at the academy? If he is, is Edana going to be a problem? Is he being reassigned a different room away from Adam?"

"He's not going to attend classes at the academy for the rest of the semester," Evren announced. "Theo will be reassigned to a sister school for the duration of the academic year, possibly for longer depending on his progress."

"What?!"

All three of Theo's parents recoiled at the verdict, utterly baffled by the choice.

"I'm not paying to send him somewhere else! What 'sister school'? Where is it? They can't do this!"

"This is discrimination against demons! If Edana thinks that she can get away with this, I'll sue!"

"I'm calling Lucy. She'll fight this. They can't go against the Sovereign!"

"The Sovereign already agreed to the change," Evren informed them, watching their faces fall with the news. "She was at the final two meetings and she consented to the change of schools. She suggested the replacement school herself."

"Abe, do you remember giving custody of our son to the Sovereign?" Roman asked sarcastically. "She can't just send him wherever she feels like. We have custody of him. He's our child. Why is the Sovereign under the understanding that she can make decisions about our son without our knowledge?"

"I'm sure Lucy had some input," Abe said, his voice wavering slightly as he spoke. "Lucy would never let anyone hurt Theo, she's his godmother. If her wife is making decisions, I'm sure Lucy had a say."

"Where is this school? What's the campus like? When are visiting hours? Can we schedule a tour? Does the tuition change?" Adrian asked, typing notes on his phone. "Do they have a website or brochure?"

"I don't know anything about it," Evren admitted. "I've never heard of it myself or even that the academy had a sister school. I don't know everything about this universe, but even some of the other witches looked confused. There are no tours, no pamphlets, no visitations. Theo will be assigned a support team who will help him adjust to the change and provide you with notes on his progress."

"So they are charging him with something!" Roman accused. "They're jailing him for crimes he didn't commit! He's innocent! It was an accident!"

"I'm calling Lucy. This is outrageous. She'll know how to fight this."

"My love, maybe we could talk about this in private? I might be able to ask Maura for a favour."

"This isn't jail, it's a highly praised school that will help Theo learn to control his abilities. He'll recieve one on one instruction from older demons who have practical experience with blood magic. It's not so much a magic school that teaches demons, but a demon school that teaches magic. Theo will be taught by staff who know what puberty is like for demons and can help him manage the changes to his body and abilities."

"That sounds an awful lot like the military school my parents sent me to," Adrian said quietly. "I promised myself that I would never send one of my own children to a school like that, no matter what. Theo's not going. I'll pull my portion of his tuition if I need to. I'm not paying to cause suffering to a child."

Evren sighed, staring at the determined faces of Theo's other parents. All of them looked like they were about to grab a torch and go burn the Pleasantview Academy to the ground.

"I really don't think that you're describing this accurately. They seem to think that they have a choice in this matter."

Without warning, a woman descended from a shower of sparkles right in the middle of the Bellamy kitchen. While Abe and Adrian looked baffled, Roman stared at the woman, unable to place where he knew her from.

"Adriel, you're not going to help matters," Evren groaned, rubbing his temples to ward off the migraine he could feel developing.

"Adriel! You went to school with me!" Roman exclaimed. "That's where I know you from. Your mother sent you to try to force us into accepting this?"

Abe stared, vaguely remembering this woman from when she was a teen and helped them fight off Dorhack. He hadn't really gotten to know her well, but then again, it wasn't like she was trying to get to know him either. She had stuck close to her mother, the Sovereign, and had said very little to anyone else.

"Are you here to collect Theo?" Evren demanded. "I was assured that he would have several days to recover before he left."

"Are you kidding? Babysitting teenagers is nowhere near my rank. Mother sent me to reassure the parents and nothing else."

"Evren, we're not going to be intimidated into sending Theo away. Tell the coven that we're not complying, no matter who they send to steal my son."

"Are you done?" Adriel demanded. "I should have known that the kid causing so much trouble was yours, Roman. It looks like your mother's trashiness is genetic after all."

For the first time in years, Roman felt the ghost of his younger self awaken within him at the reminder of his own boarding school experience. All the games, all of the politics and mind games came rushing back to him at once. He'd been afraid of Adriel once, long before he realized that he had power too.

"All of that rank and you're still your mother's messenger, doing all the unimportant work that she finds too boring to do herself? It must kill you to have to serve your mother's human wife."

While the rest of the adults braved themselves for a demonic fight, Adriel just laughed.

"Fair enough, Dorhack spawn," she teased. "Despite his relation to you, your son is admittedly very interesting. He would have to be exceptional to be sent where he's going and despite his parentage, he is."

"Where is this school?" Roman replied, his voice surprisingly casual now that he and Adriel had gotten verbal sparring out of the way. "I want to visit him and make sure that he's well cared for. If your own mother is any example of demonic care for children, then I don't trust anywhere she would send him."

Adriel made a sarcastic grunt in response to this.

"She would never have sent her own kids there," she complained. "We were never good enough. Instead, I had to go to the same school as you." Adriel gestured towards Roman dismissively. "I think she only went there herself for a semester when her mother got sick of having her around."

"So, Theo might just be there for a semester then?" Roman asked hopefully. "If it's so hard to get into?"

Adriel shrugged dispassionately.

"It could be longer, depending on his needs, but yes. The school also doesn't offer a summer curriculum and is highly motivated to return him to his regular school before the next school year. Something about taxes and student enrollment numbers."

"Well, that's not that bad, I guess," Adrian said cautiously. "If they really don't want to have a lot of students stay and if even the Sovereign's daughter wasn't allowed admittance...maybe this could be a good thing. Like private tutoring, right?"

"Somewhat," the demon answered, losing interest in this conversation quickly. "They won't release him until he can safely control his...episodes. How long that takes is up to the child."

Silence fell over the room as each adult tried to rationalize this decision. They were all still against sending Theo away at all, but if the coven was going to enforce this ruling, there were some upsides at least.

"Let's talk in my office, Adriel," Roman said, standing up from the table dramatically. "I want to talk to you, demon to demon."

Adriel tried to repress the shudder she felt at the idea that she and Roman were anything alike. How Theo had come from this family with his abilities, Adriel couldn't understand.

"Fine."

The first thing Adriel did when entering Roman's office was poke around the room, snooping as she did.

"Oh, look. Baby Roman," she laughed, staring at a photo of teenage Roman with his grandparents. "You were different then from what I remember. You used to be better than this."

"Uh, thanks?" Roman replied, crossing his arms defensively. "My life's kinda been turned upside down a few times now. All that trauma will change a person, especially a teenager. You...well, you're pretty much how I remember you actually."

"Look, live your sad life, I don't really care," the demon said. "This is the best thing for your son, according to people who actually know what they're talking about. Theo's hurting other kids because he can't control his abilities. If he keeps this up as he gets older, the consequences may become even harsher. Everyone feels sorry for a kid. An adult incapable of handling magic? Much less sympathy. That is if he can even survive his episodes to make it to adulthood. There were no demons around to save your son from himself. He was extremely lucky that there were quick thinking warlocks near him, otherwise you might not be getting your son back at all."

"I know. I really do know how bad it was. How bad it is. Adam is a good kid and he didn't deserve to get hurt by all of this. I don't want Theo to lose his boyfriend or friends because people are afraid of him. I'm just afraid to lose my son for months because a bunch of witches and warlocks said so. I won't abandon him when he needs me. Let me go study with him. I could use a refresher on demonic magic. My tutor in college said I wasn't a complete failure at it."

Adriel let out a loud, unrestrained laugh at Roman's idea that Roman knew was genuine. No one could fake a sarcastic, belittling laugh like that.

"What? I'm half-demon. Probably anyway, no one's really drawn up a family tree for me. Theo's only a quarter demon genetically. I could do the work."

"It's cute that you want to try demonic magic," Adriel conceded, a smirk still on her face. "It doesn't matter about genetics when it comes to demons or even witches really. It's all about potential and power and how certain genes are awoken in people. Sometimes demon genes are dormant in a family for generations. Sometimes demon genes get passed along the generations that grow in power with every generation. Your mother had power. Your son has power. You do not. There's no way you'd be accepted to even audit a class at this school. And besides, what do you think Theo's going to learn with his father hovering around him, trying to baby him while he tries to achieve control over powers you couldn't even understand?"

"Can we at least call him at night after class?" Roman begged, desperate for a compromise. "When he's done his work and we won't be bothering him? Or see him on a weekend? For an afternoon?"

"Look, I'll mention it to the coven and the contact for the school. I can't guarantee anything though. There were no public phones at our school and this place is ancient compared to that. They're very strict about parents too. I'll see what I can do, but Roman, you should see this as a gift and not a sentence. These people will make sure that Theo can fix his episodes himself. There won't be any more worrying about him hurting people or having qualified people around him to save him from himself. The Pleasantview Academy can teach him magic, but only our people can teach him to be an adult demon safely."

"Is there at least a book I can read about what he'll be studying? Or one about how to help adolescent demons as they grow up? I do have many other kids with the same genetics as Theo. Who's to say that one of my girls won't need help with this as well?"

"I'm not a library," Adriel replied, rolling her eyes. "Try one of those, though I really don't think you have to worry about the rest of your kids. Dorhack's lineage really isn't anything to care about, aside from being a Great Demon. Like I said, your family tree is trash. None of your other children really have a chance of turning out like Theo."

"Dad, the Devil's here!"

Fiolett's voice rang out across the house, alerting the family to their visitor. Abe immediately bolted from the table, eager to confront the Sovereign about making choices for his son. To his disappointment, it wasn't the Sovereign in his living room, but her wife.

"Fi honey, that's Aunt Lucy, not the devil," he corrected quickly. "And really, devil's not the proper word either."

"But that's what Daddy calls her," the child replied.

Abe could hear Evren scolding his partner from the living room, something Lucy probably enjoyed.

"You call her what in front of the children?!"

"It's good to see you," Abe said, hugging his sister. "It's been a wild couple of days. I assume you're here to guilt me into handing my son over to some place I'm not allowed to visit? It's a little unnecessary. I mean, the Sovereign already forced her daughter to come get us on board."

"Ah, my lovely stepdaughter," Lucy replied. "Yes, if I had my way, that bitch would be the one heading out of the country. I'm Theo's godmother, I should be the one here yelling at you, not her."

"Yelling at me for what? What side are you on?"

"The side of common sense," Lucy stated. "Abe, Theo's at the age where this sort of behavior isn't cute anymore. He's going to end up killing himself and taking his boyfriend with him next time."

"It's never been cute, what-"

"My wife and the coven can see what's happening here. You don't really travel in the same circles that I do, so you wouldn't know, but this needs to be stopped before Theo grows up. He's trying new magic and only getting stronger every day. If he has an overload of power as an adult, it may take three adult demons to ground him instead of one. How are you going to guarantee that he's always near someone who can help him? How are you going to guarantee that he doesn't hurt someone in the future like this? What if he's holding your grandchild when he goes off? This needs to be addressed now."

"I know, Luce. I do know, it's just hard. This is my baby and I'm supposed to entrust him to demons alone for at least several months?"

"I'll keep him safe, Abe. I promised you I would when he was born. This is for the best, no matter how hard it is now. He'll be welcome back at the academy whenever he's cleared to return, so at least he's not being expelled like his father."

"How is Adam?" Abe asked, ignoring his sister's quip about Roman. "Is he going to be okay? Evren said the last time he saw something like this, someone died. If Theo goes back to that school, is there going to be trouble? Should I keep encouraging Theo to try to get in touch with him or should we just leave the family alone and hope they don't try to get Theo expelled later?"

"He's had some...complications," Lucy answered slowly. "I'm legally not allowed to discuss them with you, but I can say that he's going to live. I'd give him some space personally, if only to avoid his mother. She argued for Theo's expulsion pretty heavily and it took Master Maricourt begging the king of Strangetown to make up some bullshit mission for her to get her to leave the school. From what I gather, she took Adam for a day, but returned him to the school with his father for now. If Theo can make use of this information somehow, great, but I wouldn't hold my breath for Edana to let him see Adam anywhere else."

"Lucy! I'm so glad you're here. Adriel and I were just catching up," Roman called out. Beside him, Adriel's mood instantly soured upon seeing Lucy.

"Hello, Mother," she sneered. "It seems like you're everywhere I go lately. Always sticking your human nose where it doesn't belong."

"Just making sure that you didn't fuck up the only thing your mother asked you to do lately," Lucy replied sweetly. "She can't count on you for much else."

"She'll get tired of you one day, just like her last wife or cheat on you like she did with my mother. I wouldn't count on growing old with her, hell, I don't even give you ten years."

Lucy gave Adriel a pitying look.

"Honey, no one gets tired of me, I get tired of them. Trust me, I'm going to be your stepmom for awhile."

"Maybe you should come say hi to Theo, and give him the news yourself," Abe suggested, physically steering his sister towards the stairs and away from an angry demon. "I'm sure you can explain it to him in a way he understands."

#arkhelios #roman bellamy #abe chun #lucy chun #arkhelios adventures #adriel diablo #sim: adrian siew #adrian siew #evren thorne #saturnia bellamy #fiolett thorne

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luverofralts · 2 months

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Arkhelios Adventures

"Ro. Ro, come on. You gotta wake up. Adrian's gonna be here in an hour. Come on, Saturnia's not going to take herself to school."

Roman grumbled something against Abe's shoulder that sounded like a protest and Abe had to laugh. After actually getting Abe Jr to bed at a decent time, the evening had taken an amorous turn, ultimately resulting in his husband snoring loudly into Abe's ear in the morning.

"No, Adrian can take her; I'm staying here. We're not moving today, I'm comfy," Roman whined. He nuzzled himself even further into Abe's neck, illiciting more laughter.

"Get up," Abe laughed, pushing his husband towards his side of the bed. "You're going to be late. Adrian can't cook to save his life, if you don't go, he's going to burn down the restaurant."

"That's what we have insurance for," Roman teased. "We'll be fine."

He tried distracting Abe with another kiss, earning himself a few more seconds in their warm and inviting bed, but Abe persisted.

"You're not burning the place down for the insurance money on my watch, Bellamy. You're worse than Theo, and he at least has the excuse of being a teenager. Come on, get up."

"I finished my muffin, Daddy. How are the omelets?"

"Getting there. Thanks for helping chop up the peppers. You did a great job."

Saturnia beamed with pride, happily taking her freshly baked breakfast to the table. She did do a decent job of cutting things up for her age, and Roman just knew that when she was Theo's age, she'd be eagerly helping at the restaurant without having to be begged like her brother.

"Breakfast smells good. My favourite bakers have been busy."

"We're out of pancake mix, so it's omelets this morning," Roman announced, sliding a plate to his husband. He slid a smaller portion towards his daughter, who loved baking, but didn't love eating eggs. "Try this much, Saturnia. It'll taste better because you helped make it yourself."

Saturnia wrinkled her nose at the plate, but began carefully poking the omelet obediently. Out of all of their children, Saturnia was easily the most reasonable. She was always willing to try things and was open to new ideas, unlike most of their children. The day Theo or Luci took their father's advice would be the day Roman died of shock.

"Hey, Bellamys! It smells good in here."

"Grab a plate, Adrian, I'm running late," Roman replied, his mouth full of food. "There's plenty there."

Adrian didn't have to be told twice. He'd already eaten breakfast, but he wasn't about to miss Roman's cooking. One of the greatest benefits of being married to Roman had been having access to his cooking all day, breakfast to dinner. The man had a gift.

"So, uh, hey, while I'm here, what were you thinking for your birthday this year?" Adrian asked. "Thirty is a big number. I mean, Abe and I are already old men, having earlier birthdays and all. Maybe for yours we should host a get together and celebrate all of ours at the same time."

"My mom won't come to a party or host it," Abe immediately replied. "I'm sure I could get the rest of my family to come to a free dinner though. Would, uh, your family attend, Adrian? Hypothetically of course."

"I'm sure Trent and Cindra will want to come," Adrian answered politely. They all knew the question hadn't been directed at his entire family, just the cousin currently wearing a crown. "I'm sure Her Majesty is far too busy to attend a birthday party for someone of my rank."

"I could make something for the party!" Saturnia exclaimed, cutting through the adults' tense conversation. "I can help make the cake too, like we did for Theo's birthday!"

"It sounds like a good plan, if we can pull it off in time," Roman said. "Thirty is a big milestone and a party would be fun. You do only turn thirty once. What do you think, Abe?"

"I'm all for it. Just let me know what needs to be done, and I can make some calls during Abe's nap."

"Then it's settled. Our three in one thirtieth birthday party will be the next big social event in Arkhelios. Don't tell Wanda, or she'll try to step in and plan it for us."

Abe scoffed at the thought.

"You mean, she'll have her assistant plan it and host it at her giant mansion without asking us if that's even what we want," he said.

"That place is huge, she'd get my vote to host," Roman countered. "No need to clean up our place and lock the valuables away from your siblings. We just arrive, party and leave."

"It's a thought," Adrian conceded before Abe could protest Wanda's involvement. "Roman, we need to leave in the next ten minutes. There's a delivery of shellfish arriving this morning. There will be plenty of time to plan our shindig later."

"Have a good day with the baby," Roman said, catching Abe in another kiss before heading to the door. "I'll miss you."

Adrian raised his eyebrow at Abe as he walked by with a knowing smirk.

"Someone's in a good mood today," he snickered. "Come on, Saturnia, let's get ready to teleport while your dads say goodbye. I have a feeling that our presence here isn't going to speed things up."

Abe grabbed his husband again, pulling Roman in for another passionate kiss as Adrian walked down the stairs.

"If you make it back on time, I'll have dinner ready," Abe whispered into Roman's ear. "I can leave the kids with my mom for a few hours once they're fed and we can pick up where we left off this morning."

Despite his best efforts, Roman blushed at the idea, something Adrian would probably tease him about if he saw.

"I'd like that," he replied sincerely. "I don't say this often enough, but you make me happy, Abe. Really happy. Remember when we first found out about Theo and we had all those dreams about our future together?"

"The ones where you were going to make pancakes for me every day while Theo was the perfect, quiet baby?" Abe laughed. "We were so stupid back then, I can't even imagine what my mother really thought about our ideas."

"Nothing good, I know that much. Probably what we would think if Theo was pregnant. But seriously, Abe. My therapist keeps telling me to share my feelings with you, so you feel secure that nothing...adulterous will happen again. You're everything to me. I mean that."

"Ah, well, I'm not perfect either, you have to remember that," Abe replied. "Stop beating yourself up about the past. College was pretty rough for me, and I hurt you too. The important thing is that we found our way back to each other. That and all the mandated therapy Maura ordered after the, uh, fallout. I'm sure she had an agenda with it, but it probably saved our marriage."

"Yeah, uh, about our marriage, I had something that I wanted to ask you about. Maybe we could talk after our alone time tonight?"

"Well, that's ominous. You can't just leave me with that all day. 'I love you Abe' and 'let's talk about our marriage'?

"Well, yeah, when you put it that way. I just...it's embarrassing."

"Too embarrassing to talk to me about? You can tell me anything, Ro."

Roman took a deep breath and just blurted what was on his mind.

"Ithinkweshouldgetremarriedbydemons."

"What?"

"I think we should get remarried by demons," Roman repeated, more confident in his words now that they'd been uttered and Abe didn't suddenly run away like he feared. "I miss feeling connected to you. What we had before was special, and even when we were being forced to get demonically married by the Sovereign, I was kinda excited for it. I know it always freaked you out though, but I've been thinking about it for awhile now and I think it's what I want."

"Demonic marriage?" Abe repeated. "Theo was just a kid when we last discussed it. He's certainly improved with his magic since then, if you still wanted him to perform the ceremony."

Roman's face lit up with excitement when Abe didn't immediately shut him down.

"Really? You think it's a good idea?"

"Honestly, I'm surprised that you never pushed back against the Sovereign when she said it wasn't necessary," Abe replied. "I mean, I was a little relieved that our six year old wouldn't be performing complex blood magic on us, but the idea was nice. To feel what you feel again, knowing how much you loved me, it was a little overwhelming at first, but after everything we've been through, and all the issues that we've dealt with, I think I'd like to experience that level of connection with you. We could even have our own ceremony the way we want it, not like the one that the Twikkii Island royal family dictated."

"I could make a proper cake this time!" Roman said eagerly. "Well, if you have time today, contact your sister and see what we need to get started, and we can talk to Theo when he's home this weekend."

"Roman! Time's wasting! We have to go!"

Roman dragged his husband out to the front porch to meet up with Adrian and Saturnia.

"I'm so happy that you're open to this," Roman exclaimed, kissing Abe once more while Adrian tapped his watch in the yard. "We can start over with a clean slate."

Abe smiled.

"Yeah, I really think that-"

Abe paused, unable to take his eyes off the two men walking past their house.

"Ah, Zane, buddy, you've got to let that sandwich go. You can't eat that much cheese all at once, it's not natural."

Roman momentarily peeled himself away from his husband to stare at the men walking by.

"That man looks so much like Zane Hydes. It's uncanny."

"If he was thirty when he died. He's way too old, Zane was just a teenager. It's weird, though. Really weird. Maybe he's Zane's biological brother or cousin. Wanda always says that their family tree is a mystery that she doesn't want to solve."

"I can't imagine why, with her mother."

"Look, why don't we try that fancy grocery store downtown? They have all kinds of cheese there. Just try to stick to the budget, you know how much funding we get here."

"Like a nice Brie?"

"Ha, keep dreaming. Maybe for Winterfest."

Roman and Abe stared as the two men made their way down the street.

"Do you think we should follow up on this?" Abe asked wearily.

"Nope. Not a chance in hell. If you want to tell Wanda her dead brother's doppelganger is walking around town, that's your own problem."

"Yeah, no. I'm just going to pretend this never happened."

#sims 2 #arkhelios #roman bellamy #abe chun #arkhelios adventures #zane hydes #sim: adrian siew #adrian siew #saturnia bellamy #sim: saturnia bellamy #sim spice

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luverofralts · 2 months

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Arkhelios Adventures

"Sorry I had to pull you away from your afternoon off. I've never received a royal summons before. You're the only one I could think of calling."

Roman eyed the imposing castle and tried to imagine any reason Claudia would have for summoning him. She'd texted him and shown up unannounced over the years without serving him a royal summons before. What could possibly be so important?

"No problem at all," Adrian assured his ex-husband. "It's what I spent my whole life studying. Who needs an afternoon to themself anyway?"

"Well, we can reschedule. I feel bad for always taking so much of your time. You were the only person I could think of aside from...never mind."

Ulyssa's name died on his lips before he could finish his thought. He was well practiced at catching himself before he spoke about her. Most days it wasn't hard. On a day like today, when he needed her political insight, Roman found himself missing their friendship.

"This is weird, right? I'm not just worrying for nothing? She's never done this before. Did Theo do something at school? I haven't been to Pleasantview outside of the kids' schools in ages."

"Given your past, it does seem a bit weird," Adrian agreed. "Maybe she wants to talk about franchising our business. That's all I can think of. Aside from...Princess Georgiana."

Adrian lowered his eyes, unwilling to see the stab of pain on Roman's face whenever his daughter was mentioned. Ever since Roman had met his daughter, the pain had lessened, but it would always be there. Along with the shame he felt for having an affair and nearly destroying his marriage.

"I don't think that Maura would let Claudia know about Georgiana," Roman said quietly. "That would mean admitting that it happened."

"There's very little the queen of Pleasantview doesn't know, Roman. My parents always said to treat that monarch like they knew your darkest secrets, because odds were that they already did. There are levels of secrecy and orders of deviant devotees under the Pleasantview throne. Don't underestimate Claudia because of your past. She is the most powerful person in the world, no contest."

"She's a nice person with the world's most sickeningly in love parents," Roman said, waving his hand dismissively. "It's not in her character. Maybe her ancestors were dangerous, but I know Claudia. She's not like that."

"That remains to be seen," Adrian murmured to himself. Roman was already halfway up the stairs when he spoke. There would be no way to convince him to be on his guard.

"Good morning, Your Majesty."

Both Roman and Adrian bowed deeply in front of the queen. Her throne room was impressive, filled with imposing statues and gold trim. This room alone must have cost a small fortune. None of it reflected the woman Roman thought he knew.

"Duke Siew, Mr. Bellamy. We've been expecting you." Claudia's voice was cold and distant, something that Roman hadn't been expecting. Those intense gold eyes of hers drilled into his mind layer by layer until he felt nothing but exposed. Whoever this woman was on the throne, Roman had never met her before.

"Though I only recall summoning Mr. Bellamy," the queen continued. "I suppose he is entitled to counsel. History has proven that he does not make good choices while on his own."

Roman balked at Claudia's words while Adrian kept a straight face. Roman clearly thought that he knew Claudia Goldman, but they weren't speaking to Claudia Goldman. This was the queen of Pleasantview before them, and like every noble raised in Twikkii Island, Adrian was on the defensive, desperate not to imperil his country and family by getting in the monarch of Pleasantview's way.

"Thank you for allowing me here," Adrian said quickly, before Roman could open his mouth. "It is an honour to meet with you."

Roman looked like he was about to object, but caught the glare Adrian was giving him and thought better of it.

"It is. I'm glad to extend that honour to you, Duke Siew. You may need to remind your companion of that fact. He seems to not know his place here."

"My place?"

The words slipped out before Roman could stop himself, earning a withering glare from the queen.

"I'm sorry, was there any confusion about who is in charge here? You are a guest here, Mr. Bellamy because I will it so. There is a matter that I need to discuss with you."

Adrian nodded solemnly and beside him, Roman did the same.

"Yes, Your Majesty. We'd be honoured to discuss whatever you wish," Adrian replied. Roman nodded.

"Now, the matter at hand is somewhat...personal," Claudia continued. Her confident stare wavered for a brief moment as she chose her next words. "It involves Mr. Bellamy and my's prior relationship...or rather our brief experiment."

For the first time, Claudia faltered. Her eyes fell, unable to look at Roman while she tried to downplay their previous connection. Adrian made sure to note this stumble so he had an advantage if he needed to make a quick retreat from the castle. The queen did look like she had an attachment to Roman when her guard was down, which would come in handy if he and Adrian had to make a quick retreat back home.

"I always thought that we would be having this conversation years from now," the queen continued. "When more time had passed at least. When the crown princess was older and possessed a more mature overlook. But no matter, we're here now."

Another pause lingered in the room. Beside the queen, her fiancée cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Your Majesty, perhaps it's better just to rip the bandaid off," Miruna suggested. "It would save us all time. We do have that appointment in an hour that cannot be missed."

Miruna's words were a lie meant to leave their visitors feeling small and unimportant. It was just one strategy that had been proposed to crush any ideas Roman might have about approaching Victoriana in the future. The queen's secretive demonic councilors had several suggestions to break Roman's spirit enough to drive him away from Pleasantview, though most of them were also intrigued by the thought of pushing him too far. A low level demon hybrid launching an attack on the queen out of rage was not only entertaining, it would also gauge Claudia's ability to defend her throne. The ruler of Pleasantview could never lower their guard after all.

Claudia looked at Roman's anxious face and was immediately pulled back into their short lived romance, if they could even call it that. They'd held each other on the Twikkii Island beach and dreamed together about the future what seemed like an eternity ago. He'd sobbed against her shoulder about being cheated on and left with an infant to raise; she poured out her many concerns and fears about ascending to the throne.

It really wasn't the romance Claudia had implied to her daughter. Nothing she'd felt for Roman matched any of the feelings she felt for Miruna. They had simply been there for each other during a stressful period of their lives, giving each other physical comfort. The lie was important to maintain for her daughter. No child wanted to hear that her parents had conceived her while her mother listened endlessly to her father's sobs over Abe Helios while trying to cram thousands of years of Pleasantview history into her brain. Had she dialed Roman's number once the pregnancy test was positive? Of course. She'd never completed the call though. She never would. He didn't love her and she didn't love him. None of the joy and passion and warmth her parents had for each other seemed possible with Roman. His heart would always belong to Abe and hers she had sworn to Pleasantview.

"My father always said that you had the right to know all these years, and maybe it was a good thing that he never ruled Pleasantview," Claudia said quietly, her strong facade fading for the briefest of moments. "My mother adored her grandmother, the former queen of Strangetown, and inherited her keen political instincts. There was too much uncertainty, too much death in Arkhelios. The reapers there told horror stories about...."

The queen trailed off before catching herself. Beside her, Miruna nodded her head slightly in a show of solidarity. This was going off course quickly. Too much of Claudia was seeping out and not enough of Pleasantview's monarch. Just say the words and this uncomfortable situation can end.

"Roman Bellamy, the crown princess is your genetic offspring. Your genetic donation will shape the future of Pleasantview, and our nation thanks you for it. The princess has been informed of this and politely requests that your contact be limited in the future. Your demonic heritage will help her rule our people fairly."

"Thank you for arriving on time and have a pleasant trip back to Arkhelios," Miruna said cheerfully, looking proudly at her fiancée. "Our office is always available for inquiries, just speak with reception. You are dismissed."

A silence fell over the room as the two men processed the revealed information. Roman looked like he was about to throw up, while Adrian's brain struggled to sort this news into anything recognizable.

"The crown princess is Roman's daughter?" he said finally, looking for any sign that this was just a cruel prank.

"He's her genetic donor," Claudia replied. "She is my daughter and the future of this nation. Mr. Bellamy does not have a role in her life. He is merely a citizen of a foreign land with no legal rights in my nation."

Roman remained eerily silent beside his ex-husband. Adrian had never seen him this quiet before in all their time together. For his own part, Adrian had been blindsided by this revelation; he could only imagine what Roman must be feeling.

"Roman? Are you okay?" Adrian whispered, stroking Roman's back worriedly. "Say something. Say anything."

Roman's eyes raised slightly, daring to look at the mother of his child for mere seconds before turning away. He still remained silent.

"Mr. Bellamy, Duke Siew, thank you for coming today," Claudia announced, gesturing for her guards to be at the ready to remove her guests. "I look forward to our next meeting. Have a safe journey home."

The two men rose to their feet and Adrian was fairly certain that he'd bowed and followed the protocol that had been drilled into him from birth. It certainly wasn't anything he could perform consciously at this moment.

He grabbed Roman's hand and escorted him out of the throne room; he remembered that much at least. Roman had shuffled beside him wordlessly. Adrian's head was swimming with questions and reeling from shock, but he couldn't voice any of that while Roman was in this state. Needless to say, his conversation with Evren was going to be interesting tonight.

Roman made it down the last steps into the hallway before collapsing on the floor, still wordlessly staring at empty space. His shoulders shook as he wept, but still no sound emerged.

"Roman? Roman do you need help? Are you feeling okay? Talk to me, let me help."

Adrian's words did nothing to comfort Roman or inspire him to move. He still sat there on the floor, silently weeping outside the entrance to the throne room.

"Hey, hey. It'll be okay, we'll get through this," Adrian said, holding his ex-husband in his arms as he sobbed.

Adrian had suspected that something big was going to be revealed with this summons, but never anything like this. It was unprecedented in Pleasantview history as far as Adrian remembered. Maybe during the civil war where Princess Georgiana's paternity changed the succession of the Pleasantview throne, but even then, both of her parents knew the truth. One of them never tried to hide her paternity from the other. King Mordred hid the paternity of his youngest daughter after his husband's affair, but she had been so far down the line of succession, her paternity had only been revealed a century later by a routine maintenance of the genetic library of Crystal Cove. For a monarch to hide her heir's paternity from both her subjects and the heir's father, well, Adrian couldn't think of a historical example.

"At least she told us. We could have spent our whole lives not knowing," Adrian continued, which only made Roman sob harder. "We can try to work with this. Maybe she wants to meet with you and you could have a relationship with her. It's certainly possible."

"If that were true, Claudia wouldn't have told us like this. She wasn't even there. If she wanted to see me, she would have been there. Adrian, it's happening again. The Crown is taking away my daughter, just like with Georgiana. I'll never have a relationship with either of them."

"This isn't the same as Georgiana," Adrian said soothingly, despite doubting his own words. "This wasn't an affair, you both were single at the time. Hell, it was before you even met me. You were both young and on different paths. It sounds like her parents told her to do this, seconded by whatever sinister shadows whisper to the throne. She didn't do this to hurt you; she's not Maura."

"H-how many more kids do I have that I have no knowledge of? How many more lies have I been told?"

"Well, how many other people have you slept with? Especially rich or royal people?" Adrian asked. His words only made the tears flow harder.

"You're really going to slut shame me now?" Roman sobbed. "I was young, I don't know. Abe cheated on me and dumped me, and I was angry. No other royals- aside from you anyway. I had a kid to take care of, my college experience was rather unconventional."

"Hey, I was in college too, I get it. You weren't my first either, and there were a few others that I 'dated'. I only wanted to be sure that this was the last surprise to pop up in your life. We've made progress with Georgiana, we can make progress with Victoriana. This isn't the end. Plus, you have a beautiful, intelligent daughter that you would otherwise know nothing about. This is a hard thing to hear now, but it won't always be. Who knows how the future will go?"

"Why didn't she just tell me?" Roman groaned, leaning further into Adrian's arms for comfort. "We were friends. She could have told me. Her parents couldn't stop her from telling me, she's the queen of the largest country in the damn world!"

"She slipped up, remember?"

"No, nothing I've heard today makes sense. Everything has been a lie."

"She mentioned the reaper team in Arkhelios scaring her parents about something in Arkhelios," Adrian said softly. "What was happening in your life when you were with Claudia? I'd bet anything that they were talking about Theo almost dying after he was born and-"

"And my mother. Of course, is there any part of my life that she hasn't ruined?" Roman groaned, pulling away from Adrian to massage his now throbbing temples. "If Theo was pregnant with the child of a half demon who was using their shared bloodline to gain power, I'd hide him too."

"I would do the same," Adrian replied gently. "Any parent would. It sounds like the Goldmans were scared of losing their daughter and granddaughter, just like you almost lost me and the girls to your mother. We can work with this, this is good news. They didn't hide Victoriana because they hated you, they wanted to protect her. Now that your mother's gone, we can appeal to them. From what I hear, her parents are incredibly family oriented, just like Claudia is. We can use that. We won't win any custody battles, but maybe we can get some visitation rights. Maybe we could set up a call schedule or email correspondence to start out. This isn't Maura we're fighting. We'll figure this out."

"Do you think my mother could sense her in the end?" Roman asked, an all too familiar horror enveloping his thoughts. "She wanted Theo, but she still damaged Luci and Saturnia somehow. Neither of them have any supernatural abilities because of her. If I had been able to kill her, they might be as powerful as Theo or Rien. She took from them something precious. Did she hurt Victoriana too? Am I to blame for putting her in danger without even knowing it?"

"Hey, hey, don't even think about it," Adrian said. "Your mom's not coming back, and Victoriana looks healthy. We don't have to worry about her. Maybe she just didn't inherit as much from your family as Theo or Rien did. If we just let things settle down for a while, I know we can negotiate with Claudia. Things will work out."

"Adrian?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you call Abe? I...I want him here, but I don't... I don't want to tell him what happened. I...I can't. W-what if he's triggered by this into reliving the affair? I don't think he sees his therapist anymore like I do, but...what if...."

Roman trailed off, unable to even complete his thought. In an instant, Adrian's arms were wrapped around him, holding him tightly.

"Of course I can get him and of course he'll understand. You don't need to feel guilty about this, Roman. It happened when you were single, a long time ago. Abe loves you, he'll understand."

In an instant, Adrian disappeared, leaving Roman alone outside the palace doors. There was no way that Roman wanted to go home to the place he and Abe had fought over his infidelity. Not with news like this. No matter what Adrian said, Roman couldn't shake the deep feeling of self-loathing he felt for himself. He had been too wild as a teen. He'd been too careless about birth control. His family had scared away any chance of a connection to his daughter. He would have gotten Claudia killed just as easily as he had Adrian. There was something wrong, something unlovable about him that his parents had seen. They hadn't loved him because he didn't deserve it. Victoriana was probably better off without him in her life.

"Roman! I'm here! Adrian told me everything. I'm right here for you."

"Abe? You're not mad?"

Abe shook his head incredulously and took Roman into his arms.

"Of course I'm not mad," he said. "Why would I be mad? You were just as blindsided by this as I was. I love you, Roman. We'll get through this together. Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

"Who's watching the kids?"

Answering Abe's question was the last thing Roman wanted to do. How did he feel? He didn't. There was a gaping hole in his chest that was burning him from the inside out and he could hardly breathe. Crafting that feeling into words didn't seem possible.

"Adrian's with them. He teleported me here and then went back. When you're ready to teleport us back, he'll be waiting, probably with Evren. We'll all sort this out at whatever pace you want."

"Abe, I was never serious about Claudia, I promise. I was just trying to get back at you and you don't have to worry about me running back to her or anything, I never want to be with anyone else and-"

Abe silenced his husband with a gentle kiss.

"Ro, I know you're not about to run off with the queen of Pleasantview. We've rebuilt a lot of trust these past few years and I know you. You're having a meltdown and hating yourself, not trying to hide a love affair with a woman you see maybe once every few years in passing. I love you."

"I love you too."

"Then let's go home and make you some tea. I'm sure Evren has one of his concoctions that will help calm you down. Having a warlock in the family certainly helps sometimes. Theo may have him beat for pure power, but damn does that man know how to brew a potion."

Roman smiled slightly, until he thought about Abe's words.

"What are we going to tell Theo?" he groaned, his despair catching up to him once more. "He's going to hate me. How do I tell any of the kids? Theo might run into Victoriana at a school event. What if they hate each other? What if-"

"Magic tea now, worrying about the kids after," Abe insisted. "I'm sure Evren or Adrian will have an idea. Hell, even Lucy might have an idea or two. In the very unlikely event that Theo or the girls are angry, Aunt Lucy can set them straight. She knows a thing or two about hiding parentage from her kids and she doesn't worry about it."

"Your sister is a sociopath," Roman replied, the hint of a smile starting. Abe smiled back at him.

"A sociopath who cares about you. Give her an afternoon, she'll have Claudia's monarchy in ruins."

"Thanks, Abe. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"And you'll never have to know. I'm not going anywhere. Let's go home."

#Arkhelios #arkhelios adventures #roman bellamy #sim: adrian siew #adrian siew #claudia goldman #miruna maricourt

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luverofralts · 5 months

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Arkhelios Adventures

Duke Adrian Siew stared at the wall before him. The estate that he'd inherited had needed repairs over the years, some of which had been done by his ex-husband, Roman, while Adrian was trapped in the demonic void. The house that he'd come home to six years ago was still the same in many ways as the house he'd grown up in, though it had also changed noticeably.

Some things had been moved around, and others thrown out entirely. An old vase that was his mother's favourite had been broken when Theo was playing tag with his twin sisters and the cup that his father used religiously for tea had gone missing. What Adrian wouldn't give to find that mug and wrap his fingers around the handle like he'd done when he was small. On long, cold island nights, Duke Luke Siew had made his son hot chocolate in his own favourite mug so they would have something to keep them warm as they gazed at the stars on the beach. Adrian never thought that he could miss such a small, ordinary object as much as he did. It was just one small piece of the family that could never return to him.

The wall he had spent the last twenty minutes staring at was ordinary too. Just some white paint, an old desk and a bookcase that Evren swore each day was going to fall on either them or the children. It was Adrian's job to maintain the estate and put his own mark on it as he did so. The room was long past needing an update, but it was the last thing Adrian had left of his parents' legacy. They had set up the space, and chosen the colours. He could remember his father sitting at the small desk, filling out reports for the queen as his son watched television.

The twins were turning eleven in a few short weeks. Eleven years had passed since Adrian had last seen his parents alive. They had been thrilled to become grandparents, especially since Adrian was an only child. His mother especially had been excited to have two grandchildren to spoil, even if the marriage that had created them was falling apart. One of his few regrets about his marriage to Roman was that they had been too busy fighting to discuss baby names properly. Luciana had been named with Luke Siew in mind, but Roman had overlooked Eliza Siew when choosing names. This was something that Adrian had fixed when Fiolett Eliza Thorne Siew was born. He couldn't bear to not have a piece of his mother represented in his family tree. Adrienne had inherited Eliza's freckled spots, just as her father had, a fact that delighted Adrian. She wasn’t the only child who had inherited them either. Adrienne heavily favoured Roman's side of the family otherwise, but Luciana, Fiolett and the boys also carried a strong resemblance to the Siew family. His parents were gone, but he could still see tiny glimpses of them in his children.

The house was filled with the laughter of those children, something that Adrian cherished. Roman and Abe's house was always busy and Adrian's own home was similar. The house in Arkhelios was busier than the estate in Twikkii Island by a small margin, as security was tighter in the more expensive lot, but with the twins and Fiolett bringing in friends from school recently, it wasn't too far off from the Bellamys'.

Fiolett especially brought home children to play with. Her parents knew most of her class by name, having hosted them several times.

It was good to see Fiolett making friends so easily. Luciana was the same way, just like Theo. It was Adrienne that Adrian worried about. That girl was secretive and quiet and usually had her tarot cards out instead of her homework. She was a Bellamy through and through, a fact that neither of her parents knew how to address. Adrian could remember the many nights he and Roman had laid awake at night when they were married, trying to piece together the messy Bellamy family tree. Even the non-demonic family members seemed intimidating just looking at their pictures.

Theo had had special needs from the moment of his birth, which were well documented and all of his parents had trained for. If Theo collapsed in his presence, Adrian had multiple phone numbers to call, as well as Evren on call if magic was required. Deep down though, Adrian worried about his daughter. She had gifts just like her brother, but the world she seemed to thrive in was a dangerous place. Theo at least had proven that he could take care of himself, or if he couldn't, that he had help nearby. What support system did Adrienne need if a spirit became dangerous or some evil force tried to overpower her? It was a thought that kept her fathers up at night. It wasn't like Adrian could talk about his fear without triggering a breakdown of some kind in his ex-husband. Roman couldn't think rationally about his children, even when they needed him to. If they discussed Adrienne's safety, the next conversation Adrian would be having would be with his daughter as Roman tried to wrap her in bubble wrap and seal the door.

Luckily, Evren had confidence in his ability to protect their family. Though he wasn't a master warlock, Evren knew how to defend himself and his family from magical attack. Evren wouldn't break down because Fiolett scraped her knee, but Roman would. If anything were to happen to Adrienne, Adrian knew that Evren would be right behind her, doing what he could do to help. He was a good, reliable man that Adrian could depend on. He should really propose to him one day and make their family official, but every time Adrian thought about marriage, his mind revisited his first disastrous marriage. Evren was nothing like Roman, but still Adrian hesitated. Luciana was born legitimate and would inherit her father’s estate one day, and that was the only thing that mattered. A second wedding would be a lonely affair now that his parents were long dead and Maura had turned bitter from holding the crown. No, there was no need to rush into anything. He loved Evren and that would have to be enough for now.

"Honey, how good is your memory on magical history?"

Adrian popped into his office to find Evren, Everard and a pile of old photos on his desk.

"Magical history? Uh, vague? I helped Theo with a history paper a while ago, but I was only proofreading it. Why, what have you found?"

Evren shrugged while their son squirmed in his arms.

"I've been looking for Maricourts who either tried or specialized in blood magic," he replied. "I feel like I'm missing some, but I'm only remembering my own universe. There could be a million Maricourts here that I'm missing. I don't want Theo to go to his meeting unprepared. I need to know who appeared to him."

"I know. If this goes badly, I'm really worried about what Roman might do. He's taking this pretty hard and it's starting to impact the kids. He forgot Luci's game yesterday and broke down sobbing when I called him. The kids are worried."

Adrian almost continued his thought, but reconsidered. Evren was focused on magic and helping Theo. He didn't need to get distracted. While he still had his share of parenting mishaps, Adrian prided himself on knowing his children and their fears, wants and hopes. Being the best father that he could was his first priority and all of his paternal instincts were shouting at him to keep an eye on Adrienne. She had been even quieter lately, and he'd seen first hand the way that she watched Roman. It was almost as if she were the parent, and he was her small, naive child in need of protection. She knew something important, Adrian would put money on it, and somehow Theo was also involved. Those two were guarding something related to their father, he could just feel it. Once Theo's upcoming meeting was done and Roman calmed down slightly, Adrian fully intended to have a conversation with those two.

"Well, here are my top contenders," Evren sighed. "Old, powerful warlocks who dealt with blood magic. I'm not sure which of them had a daughter though, I'm still searching the records. It would be a lot easier if Theo had just got the kid's name. Any famous Maricourts from Twikkii Island that I'm missing?"

Adrian laughed, but picked up a picture from the desk just to be sure.

"No, luckily those assholes seem to be allergic to anywhere with a tropical beach. They're all over Pleasantview and Strangetown and even Crystal Cove a little, but not here. They're usually Pleasantview's problem, not ours."

"Yeah, same in my universe," Evren replied. "Though they weren't as deadly in my Strangetown as they are here. That Adam kid has quite the family."

"The Darktides or the Maricourts?" Adrian asked curiously. "I mean, we shouldn't tell Roman anything about either of them, but you and I should know as much as we can in case something happens."

"Both sides of the family have their issues, but my vote is for the Darktides for sure. Bullying, human sacrifice, probable murder and some really dark shit magically. They're pretty fond of demons too."

"Well, maybe Theo's demonic skills will earn some points with them," Adrian commented dryly. "But seriously? Human sacrifice, what the hell? Adam is far too quiet a kid to be involved in all that. He's not the type."

"No, he doesn't seem to be," Evren agreed quickly. "But historically, his ancestors were and we need to be prepared. The first rule of magic is to never disregard information that might be relevant to a future spell or problem. It all gets filed away in case you need it, and we just might need it."

"Do you know any of these warlocks? From your own universe that is. I can't imagine how hard it must be to be away from everyone you once knew, even though I'm incredibly grateful that you ended up here with me. Some of them must overlap with your old coven. That can't be easy."

Evren smiled wistfully and picked up the closest photo.

"Yeah, Blue Hair over here was my coven leader, Reogus. He looks just like I remember...well, I'm pretty sure his hair was brown back home, but still. He was my friend, and he always knew just what to say when things weren't easy. I miss him terribly. Even if Ewan is a competent leader here, I think Reogus was a better one. He had gifts that...that I think might make him Theo's mystery Maricourt."

"Really? Does he have a daughter?"

"Two, just in my universe anyway," Evren remarked. "I'm double checking the archives this afternoon to be sure. But more importantly, he had the ability to interfere with time. For his thesis in college, he successfully brought back the ancestral home of the Maricourts after it had been destroyed. The council couldn't believe it was possible, but there it was. He was working on freezing time, but it wasn't very promising."

Adrian paused for a moment, trying to think of a delicate way to phrase his concern.

"If he was experimenting with time when you somehow got lost in another time and universe, do you think that he might be responsible for sending you here? What if your timeline was what he was experimenting on?"

"It could be," Evren acknowledged. "The more I think about it, the more it starts to make sense. Why else would I be sent here? Why else would Theo be able to see and speak with someone in control of time? Maybe it wasn't an accident that I was sent here. Maybe it was all part of some elaborate plan."

Adrian ignored the rest of the warlock portraits on his desk, unable to process this possibility. What if it hadn't been an accident that Evren arrived in this time and place? If he was a test subject, would this time warlock send for Evren to return someday?

Adrian stared at the photo in his hand, which had rested on his desk since his own miraculous return. His father and aunt's images stared back at him, reminding him that nothing was truly eternal. Both of them were alive a mere eleven years ago. His father had once been in this very house, promising to be there for him, to help him raise his children.

Now most of his family was gone. Without Evren and Roman and Abe and all of their combined children, what did he have left in life? All of the love he felt for Roman was nothing compared to the deep feelings he had for Evren. If some strange warlock suddenly appeared to take Evren away from him, how would he survive that?

"He can't have you back," Adrian swore softly. "I won't let him have you back. You're mine and we have children and a future together. This warlock will die before he takes you from me."

Evren raised a concerned eyebrow at this declaration.

"I'm not going anywhere, my love. There won't be any need for violence. This man is interested in Theo only, it seems, even if he was the one to send me here. As much as I miss my old home, I've grieved and made my peace with being sent here. You and the kids are my home now, and no warlock or spell can ever change that."

"Damn right," Adrian agreed, pulling Evren into a firm embrace. Maybe it was premature for him to write off a second marriage so soon. Doing so would give him a legal claim to Evren should any warlock march through the door and demand him back. It was something to consider at least.

#arkhelios #arkhelios adventures #sim: adrian siew #adrian siew #evren thorne #everard thorne #sim: reogus maricourt #reogus maricourt

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luverofralts · 6 months

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Arkhelios Adventures

"Okay, don't admit to anything. Don't say anything and for the love of god, no magic. We don't want this to be any worse than it has to be."

Roman stood, watching the door with anxiety. Once the drama surrounding Theo's magical collapse had dissipated, word had come from Pleasantview that a magical review would be taking place. The magical academy that educated Theo was sending a representative to satisfy the Maricourt family. Apparently, Theo and Adam's experiment with blood magic had caused alarm to both the Darktides and Maricourts in Pleasantview and the school needed to investigate the situation to placate their fears.

Roman wasn't sure what the consequences could be, but there was no way that he was letting Theo get expelled from school because he made Adam's parents uncomfortable. He had fed and driven and tolerated his son's boyfriend, and if Adam's parents were going to judge Theo, Roman would put an end to all of that. The Maricourts may be rich and powerful, but he was still the Bellamy heir, and the son of a powerful demon lineage. He had his own thoughts about the situation and wouldn't hesitate to share them with the Maricourt family.

Abe felt similarly. They weren't as rich as the Maricourts, but he was still Elaine's son, and Lucy's brother. Both women would burn down Pleasantview before Theo could be hurt. Just let the Maricourts try their luck with the Helios family, the Helioses could hold their own.

"I hope Adrian is getting through to them," Roman murmured. "I mean, he's related to the Maricourt bloodline somehow, which has to count for something. And you're sure that Adam's mother lives in Twikkii Island? I've seen the gossip magazines place her in Strangetown, and more specifically with the Strangetown royal family. Do we have any way of dealing with the Strangetown royals? Did Lucy find any dirt on them?"

"Adam's mom isn't going to come after us," Theo grumbled. "Adam loves me, and I helped him produce the Maricourt Staff. They should be thanking me."

"Theo, you're too young and idealistic to understand the complexities of rich families," Roman snapped. "Given the school you attend, I don't know why that is, but you're being naive. You performed binding magic on the son of Pleasantview's magical leader! I don't even know what his mother does because no one seems to think that I have the clearance to know! These people are dangerous, Theo. My grandfather was a master manipulator, and just keeping me in their fancy school was too much for him. Everyone is playing their own game, and their plans may cost you your life."

Theo scowled, still unconvinced about his father's view of Adam's family.

"His mom works for the government. One of the governments anyway. She does a lot of paperwork."

"Mmm. That's not exactly reassuring."

A shower of sparkles glimmered in the front yard, revealing three figures.

"Adam!"

"Theo!"

"Evren? Where's the academy's representative?"

Adrian beamed proudly.

"I managed to get Evren nominated for the role," he boasted. "He's a more neutral candidate, given that he's from an alternate world in the past, and practices alternate approaches to magical energy."

"He's also Theo's stepfather more or less," Abe pointed out. "They were okay with that?"

"Of course," Adrian scoffed, looking offended. "I'm a master negotiator. Some of us actually graduated boarding school, you know." He smiled teasingly at Roman. "You know how persuasive I can be."

"Gross." Theo wrinkled his nose in disgust. Adam looked like he was doing the same, which only made Theo love him more. They were always so in sync with each other.

"What did the academy say? Are they involving the council? The Strangetown monarchy?" Abe demanded, ignoring his son's revulsion with parental flirting. "Do I need to call my sister?"

Evren and Adrian shared a tired look.

"Let's go inside."

"So, no one thinks that the spell was cast maliciously," Evren began.

He tried to continue his sentence, but Roman was incensed. Evren had expected this reaction eventually, but he'd hoped he would have more time before Roman exploded with raw parental concern.

"Maliciously? Why? Why would anyone assume that my son would have sinister intentions for the kid he's been obsessed with for years? Is it because he's a demon? Is this bigotry the official stance of the school that the leader of all demons supports? Do I need to call Lucy?"

Abe placed a steadying hand on his husband's shoulder.

"Ro, why don't you let Evren talk? I'm sure we can sort this all out without involving lawyers and the Sovereign. Plus, I'm pretty sure that the kids can hear you in the other room. It's probably best that we keep this adults only for now. You know how Theo tends to get riled up whenever we even mention Adam. He's a lot like his father."

"No, seriously. Why do they think Theo's ruined their precious family?" Roman demanded. "If anything, Adam's tempted away the Bellamy heir from his future duties and role. All Theo talks about now is magic and the Maricourts and how he's going to grow up to be anywhere other than Arkhelios. I think they should apologize to us."

"Roman, I was apprenticed under Roegus Maricourt for years," Evren interrupted, giving Adrian a pointed look. "He may have been the Roegus of an alternate time and universe, but there is truth to the Maricourt family's power. They command magic no one else can and can bend the laws of magic to their will. You don't want to piss them off, trust me. The Strangetown coven has links to demigods and rulers of time and the Pleasantview coven...it's best not to speculate on their abilities."

"Rien and I can read cards just fine," Roman pouted, causing Abe to sigh beside him. "We have advantages too, you know. Theo's no Maricourt and look what he can do."

"It's not a contest," Abe groaned. "And that's just what they're afraid of. It sounds like they're afraid of Theo tapping into their power and toppling their balance of power over the world."

"Hmph."

While Roman sulked, Abe focused his gaze on Evren.

"They should be afraid of him," Abe said with confidence. "They've been ruling this world for centuries and one little demon hybrid is making them worry. Our son is exceptional and they know it."

Adam stood frozen in place, afraid to move lest Theo's little sisters pounce on him. They were as ruthless as attack dogs, sensing vulnerability in their big brother's relationship with his boyfriend. Theo was in trouble at school and with Adam's family and suddenly here was his boyfriend standing in their living room, looking suspicious and holding something behind him. Something was about to happen and both Rien and Fiolett weren't about to miss the drama.

"I think he's going to propose," Rien said excitedly. "Their love is forbidden and they're going to run away together, just like in the stories."

"Nothing is forbidden," Adam stammered, trying his best to ignore the giggling girls behind him. "It's just a misunderstanding. No one is running away."

"They're pregnant then," Fiolett concluded. "That's why our parents are all talking together. They're trying to decide what to do about it. Probably planning a wedding."

Adam's face flushed with embarrassment, while Theo cringed beside him.

"Would you two go away?" he shouted, flailing his arms for emphasis. "You don't know what you're talking about! My life isn't like one of your stupid gossip magazines. Leave us alone!"

Theo's anger only made the girls snicker harder. Clearly, he couldn't have a private moment with his boyfriend as long as they were following him around. He smirked, thinking about the different methods he could use to get some privacy. Rien was older than Fiolett and gifted with some intuitive understanding of magic. Fiolett had a magical father and likely some abilities of her own, but she lacked the foundation to use those abilities.

With a quick snap of his fingers, Theo opened a portal beneath his sisters and watched as they fell helplessly through it. They'd fall safely onto their beds upstairs where the door was now locked, giving their brother a brief moment alone with Adam.

"Thank god they're gone," Theo laughed, imagining the frustrated looks on his sisters' faces. "Now we can talk alone...or at least until my parents make their decisions. You don't really think that they'll make us break up, do you? I mean, I won't let them break us up, but they can make me change schools or something like that. I don't want to change schools."

"We're not breaking up," Adam promised, gripping the small box in his hand tightly. "My parents could never make that happen. Besides, they have Remy to worry about and a royal wedding to plan for Miruna and Elowen's bad grades. I'm the well-behaved kid, so I get less parental interference."

"It must be nice," Theo grumbled to himself. "I have a million siblings, but my parents are determined to plan out my life for me."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere," Adam replied, flushing a little while planning out his next words. "I...I got you something that might help remind you of that fact."

Theo's eyes locked onto the mysterious box in Adam's hand, suddenly obsessed with unlocking its secrets. He took the box from his boyfriend gingerly, not wanting to ruin the moment by dropping it.

It was light, and it didn't rattle around when he shook the box slightly. It was thrilling to guess what it could be. Theo wanted this moment to last forever.

Theo gasped when the lid lifted and revealed his gift. A small, clear crystal was mounted on a ring, shining in the sun.

"A ring? You're giving me a ring? I can't believe it!"

"It's not expensive," Adam quickly pointed out. "I didn't have a lot of money to work with, but I grew the crystal myself. The Crystal Cove witches helped me with it. You know the necklace you were always wearing when we met? The one that would help you focus your abilities that you mastered in an afternoon?"

Theo nodded eagerly. That necklace had been made to block his powers as a child and force him to train his powers responsibly. As Adam said, it hadn't taken Theo long to break through its binding at all. He still had it in his drawer at home, though he hardly ever wore it. He hadn't needed training wheels for his abilities in years.

He closed his eyes for an instant, trying to mentally poke the object before him. For an instant, Theo had a frightening thought that Adam was reacting to the incident between them by trying to squash his abilities. He didn't think that Adam was like that, as he had always encouraged Theo to be himself in all the years that they'd known each other, but it was still a worry that felt like it had some merit. Nothing seemed to be amiss with the crystal before him though, so Theo tried to push the thought from his mind.

"This should help you better than that necklace did," Adam explained, worried about Theo's hesitation. "It doesn't block out your abilities at all, but it filters things a bit. The light inside of it is supposed to protect you from shadows and spirits and curses. I talked with Master Toyonaga, and he said it should help you with what's left of your curse. It can't get rid of it completely, but it's supposed to help keep it from interfering with your magic. Maybe."

"You made this? You made this for me?"

Theo was suddenly immensely relieved that his nosey sisters were nowhere near him. He wasn't sure, but he thought his heart might be dangerously swelling in his chest to the point of exploding. Adam had made him a crystal to help him, to show him how much he cared about him.

"I love it!" Theo exclaimed, grabbing Adam's hand excitedly and engulfing him in a kiss. "It's amazing! How long did it take you to make this?"

Adam shrugged modestly, leaning into Theo's embrace.

"A couple days. Not that long, really. It took a few hours for it to set, and then Master Toyonaga double-checked it for me. It really does glow sometimes; I had one made when I was a kid and was afraid of monsters. Miruna taught me how."

"It's incredible, I'm never going to take it off," Theo promised. A thought suddenly occurred to him. "You have a million crystals and now you've grown this one for me. Do...do you think that you want to switch covens when we're older? You seem to really like the Crystal Cove coven."

Adam flinched just thinking of his parents' reaction to that idea.

"I don't think that's possible," he replied carefully. "My choice is between Dad's Pleasantview coven and Mom's Strangetown coven and that's about it. The Crystal Cove coven is an international joke and my mom has bad blood with several of the leaders. I'm too important to throw my life away, apparently. I don't feel all that important, but it's out of my hands. It's just like you and the Demon Sovereign. Do you think that she's going to let you choose your path in life after everything she's invested in your education?"

Theo was quiet for a moment. It was hard not to agree with Adam, especially now that their parents were speaking to council representatives over the spell they had chosen to cast together. What did it matter if Adam wanted to choose a coven that was "below his rank"? Why should Theo be asking the Maricourts for permission to do magic with their son? The whole thing wasn't fair.

"Theo! Evren needs to talk to you. Come in here and bring Adam."

Theo grabbed his boyfriend's hand, while still admiring the new ring on his finger.

"Come on, let's go hear what they have to say," he groaned. "I bet that I'm at least grounded at this point, possibly suspended at school. You'll probably do okay though. I'm just a bad influence on you."

Adam smiled.

"Trust me, I'd much rather report to your parents instead of mine. Being grounded is nothing compared to mandatory coven responsibilities."

"Theo! We don't have all day here!"

Theo rolled his eyes and squeezed Adam's hand.

"We're coming, geez. Don't have a fit."

#sims 2 #arkhelios #roman bellamy #abe chun #sim: theo bellamy #theo bellamy #adam darktide #arkhelios adventures #evren thorne #sim: adrian siew #adrian siew

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luverofralts · 5 months

Text

Arkhelios Adventures

"What's the problem? Have you guys decided how I've ruined things now?"

Theo stared at his parents with hostility, while Adam grimaced. Theo was able to talk back to whoever he wanted and he usually got away with it. If Adam tried to be snarky, he'd be cleaning out the kindergarten potions cauldrons for a month.

"Hello Mr. Bellamy, Mr. Helios-Bellamy, Mr. Thorne and Your Grace, Duke Siew," Adam recited politely. Theo rolled his eyes at this, but Adam remained polite and quiet, waiting for the adults to speak.

"Can I eat one of these cupcakes?" Theo began to reach towards the delicious looking cupcakes on the table, but Roman swatted his hand away quickly.

"No, you can't have a cupcake, especially when you have an attitude like that, mister. Those are for your sisters' party tomorrow and even if they weren’t, I don't appreciate your tone."

Theo glared at his father, but Roman glared right back. Roman had perfected the infamous Bellamy glare; there was no way he was going to be swayed by it.

"At least Adam is polite," Roman continued. "Evren and Adrian are here in an official capacity and you need to show them respect."

"Well, Theo, I think we've made some progress with your parents," Adrian interrupted before Roman and his son started brawling at the table.

"Progress is a strong word," Roman added quickly, earning a tired look from his ex-husband. "We've discussed what we're willing to talk to you about. I'm not about to be pushed around by a coven of narcissists."

"Roman, please," Adrian sighed, looking to Abe for support. Abe shrugged helplessly in reply. "If you think dealing with Maura is bad, these people are ten times worse. There's a lot more of them and they're all in powerful positions."

"Claudia is part of that bloodline," Roman replied. "We go way back; she'll take my side. I know she'll see reason here. She runs Pleasantview; just about everyone else submits to her."

Theo frowned at these words, unsure of what to say, if he should even say anything at all. Of course Claudia would be sympathetic to his father, she had a child with him. If he came to her for help, would she tell him the truth about Victoriana, or continue to lie to him by omission? Could Theo truly be safe if the queen of Pleasantview were to defend him? He wasn't entirely sure just how far her reach extended.

"The queen can't protect you. You're one of us now."

Theo was startled from his thoughts by a raspy voice. It was hard to tell which direction it was coming from.

"Theodosius Geoneesis, I've been watching you for some time now. You show much promise."

He couldn't place the voice to any one direction. It was almost as if it was being spoken directly into his mind.

With a sudden jolt of awareness, Theo could clearly see a man bound by strange markings appear before him.

"W-who are you?" he stammered, looking for Adam's reassuring hand. It was no use; his arms were frozen to his sides somehow.

"Tell Adam that he's of interest to the family as well," the man instructed. "We are quite pleased with his progress."

Theo tried repeating the same glare that he'd given his father, but this stranger didn't seem to be moved by it. Even if the mysterious man didn't back down, at least Theo would die in defiance of mysterious forces and not shrinking away in fear.

"Tell him yourself!"

The man paused, watching Theo with renewed interest. Theo was about as frightening to him as a hissing, scared little kitten, but his bravery was still remarkable.

"You remind me of my daughter," the man said, with true fondness in his voice. "She too never knew fear, even when it was justified. Child, I am not your enemy. It was you who chose to bind yourself to our blood; I am simply acknowledging this change. You'll feel pulled to our Adam regardless. I merely wished to speak with you on the subject. You are very young."

Theo pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to focus. His mind was spinning, and he was questioning what exactly was real in this moment. Could this sudden appearance of a foreboding warlock be happening to him? Surely it could just be some kind of stress migraine and nothing else.

"I'm not of your time," the man said gently, seeing the confusion in the angry teen. "I'm of no one's time anymore. Those days are past and can never return. The Ocean has granted me another role to play and I serve Him faithfully. I am a guardian of time and my blood enchantments sweep across the centuries throughout eternity. The laws of time are mine, and they will obey me."

Theo frowned, trying to absorb what he could from this strange man.

"So you time travel then?" he asked, looking skeptical. "I don't get it. Why are you talking to me? Do I need to time travel to stop something horrible?"

The man laughed, startling the teen.

"No, time travel is not permitted outside of guardians of time," he replied quickly. "That is not your path. It is the path of only a handful of people over the ages. It is my path and I pray it will never becomes yours."

He paused for a moment.

"I, too, used to practice blood magic in my lifetime. It cost me dearly."

Theo recoiled as strongly as if he'd been struck.

"Well, it's what I'm good at and I'm not giving it up!" he snapped. "I'm learning all about it in school and Adam's helping me. I don't care what you think. You haven't even told me your name; you don't get to lecture me about what I should do."

"Then I have nothing to say," the man laughed, clearly teasing the confused teen. "I will see you around, young Theodosius. I'll be watching your path with interest now that our blood is connected. Until we meet again."

Within the blink of an eye, the man disappeared from Theo's sight. With great relief, Theo could feel his arms relax and his ability to move return.

"What the hell was that?"

"Theo! Language!"

Roman's sharp words jolted his son back to reality. Things were back to normal: his father was yelling at him, Adrian was trying to hold back a laugh, and Adam was watching him with an anxious look.

"Did none of you see that?" Theo demanded. He looked at the adults around him, hoping for answers. "That guy with the weird markings? The time traveling, blood magic user? He said he had a daughter? Did absolutely no one else see him?"

Abe sighed deeply, sharing a concerned look with Roman. Of course they had no idea of what their son was talking about; that seemed to be the story of their lives.

"What did he look like?" Abe asked. At this point, he had given up on the idea of a quiet, normal life. His goal now was to make sure the kids made it safely to adulthood and weren't hauled off kicking and screaming by some kind of monster. "Have you seen him before? Did he threaten you?"

"A man with weird markings who practiced blood magic," Evren repeated, lost in thought. "And lost to time as well? Did he give you a name? There are many blood magic practicing warlocks across time. Just because they've died out now, it doesn't mean the ones in the past are gone, especially if they're messing with time."

"Could he be from your time?" Abe asked. "Maybe someone who followed you here across dimensions and time? Are they sending a search party for you finally?"

"He's not leaving even if people do come looking for him," Adrian said curtly. "His place is here with me and the kids. I'm not sending him back even if it was possible."

Evren gently took Adrian's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm not going anywhere, my love," he vowed. "I wasn't even the target of the message. Clearly, the man wanted to speak with Theo."

"And Adam. He wanted me to tell Adam that the family was pleased with him and watching him and me."

Every adult in the room groaned, thinking about the implications of a mysterious figure watching Adam's actions. They were already trying to placate the Maricourts, and now, yet another obstacle was standing in their way.

"This stays between us," Adrian said finally, weighing his choices. "No one is letting the Maricourts know that a lost faction of their family is watching Adam because of Theo."

"Agreed." Roman stared at his son, hoping to drill the importance of this secret into his flippant, teenage brain. "You're not to mention this to anyone, Theo. Adam, I can't make you keep silent about this, but I'd consider it a great personal favour if you did. You may not be allowed to see Theo if you tell your parents. They're already demanding this pointless review as it is and I know they'd only put more pressure on us if this got out."

Adam nodded solemnly.

"I understand," he said quietly. It wasn't like he told his parents everything about his life anyway. Both he and Remy were highly motivated to keep their personal lives private from their parents. "You're probably right. My dad might not care, but my mom definitely will. There hasn't been a witch or warlock capable of controlling time in centuries, and even then, we mostly assume the ones who could were somewhat mythical. After everything my uncle did to try to control the powers of the Grim Reaper, my mom would probably spontaneously combust to hear I was being watched by someone who can mess with time."

"He wants me more," Theo pointed out. "Your mom doesn't have to worry, this guy's just watching you. The guy came to me in a vision and called me something weird, I don't think you have much to worry about, Adam. I can handle this."

Evren flinched as Roman and Abe reacted as strongly as he'd expected. The two looked like they were about to correct Theo about the boundaries of what he could handle, but Evren stepped in quickly. The last thing they needed was for Roman and Theo to start fighting again.

"Now Theo, you aren't equipped to handle this threat on your own," he said gently. "I'm not equipped to handle it and I've studied for years in magical theory. This is a situation that requires many people to solve. Are you strong enough to defeat Adam's parents in a duel?"

Roman once again looked irate at the question, but Evren held up his hand to silence him.

"If you can't defeat his parents, then what hope do you have of defeating someone even they can not defeat? And by yourself at that? You're an excellent student and truly gifted, but this is something beyond your skill level. We will all help together."

"I guess," Theo sighed, slouching miserably in his chair. "But Adam and I are stronger together and we could use blood magic again and-"

"What part of no more blood magic with your boyfriend do you not understand?" Roman shouted, his patience finally at an end. "You're only in this situation because of blood magic! Evren is older and more experienced, and you refuse to listen to him! Why do you have a death wish, Theo? Are you trying to kill your father and I with worry every time you leave the house?"

Theo's glare was his only reply. He moved his hand to make an obscene gesture but was interrupted by his father's sudden gasp of horror.

"Is that a ring? Where did you get that? Are you engaged now, too?" He paused, his mind reeling with disastrous scenarios. "I'm going to be a grandfather before I'm thirty and with in-laws who hate my son! They'll get custody for sure, and I'll never see my grandchild, and Jorah will look at me with pity even more than he does now."

"Ro, you're spiralling again," Abe interrupted, rubbing his husband's back reassuringly. "Theo's not pregnant and we're dealing with the Maricourts. And who cares about Jorah?"

"I do," Roman snapped. "He printed out Winterfest cards with his perfect little family and has been handing them out. My kids are Winterfest babies and I can't even get Theo home to take a picture with his family or the twins to brush their hair or put their phones down! I'm the Bellamy family leader and I'm being shown up by the Durants! What will everyone say when Theo has a shotgun wedding in Pleasantview and never comes home?"

"Theo, tell your father that you're not engaged," Abe said with a resigned sigh. When his son only glared back at him, Abe turned to Adam, who appeared to be cowering in his seat from the sudden accusation.

"It was just a gift to help him with his spells, sir," Adam replied cautiously. "We're not engaged."

"Well, we should be then," Theo snapped. "Dad never trusts me! Just because he was a dick as a teenager doesn't mean I am. I might as well do all the things that you accuse me of, since you're convinced that I'm actually doing them! Why aren't you on Rien for talking to dead spirits? That sounds dangerous. Or what if Saturnia burns the house down cooking? Maybe Luci is taking steroids to do better in a competition! Who knows? What kind of asshole sees a gift from Adam and thinks, 'clearly this is something terrible and I need to have an insane opinion about it'? Even Aunt Lucy is a better parent than you are."

Silence filled the room as Theo continued to glower at his father. Roman was uncharacteristically quiet, reflecting on his son's words. Abe frowned.

"He's not wrong, Ro. I mean, maybe we-"

"Lucy doesn't have to deal with this! But fine. I'm too strict. My restaurant is failing, the Durant family is perfect, Ulyssa's back in town and my son hates me when I'm just trying to protect him. I wish that just once someone in my family had tried to protect me at his age, but no, I'm terrible."

"Roman." Adrian's voice was soft as he reached for his ex-husband's hand. "Projecting your own trauma onto your son isn't going to help him. You lived a different life than he is now. You were sexually active at a young age because of your own insecurities and expectations, and you've given Theo a life where he doesn't need physical intimacy to offset family drama."

Roman frowned, but remained silent. Abe reached for Roman's free hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

"It's nice that Adam cares about our son," he said slowly. "A crystal might be the perfect solution for our problem, and if it isn't, then it's still a nice gesture. Thank you, Adam."

Theo looked at his father with gratitude. It may have taken a long time to happen, but finally one half of his parents saw reason.

"We still need to decide what to do about this rogue warlock and the Maricourts," Evren said quickly, using Roman's silence to change the subject. "We can't ignore this. What if this warlock is also appearing to the Maricourts or one of the covens? Theo, if I pulled up a selection of portraits from historical coven records, do you think that you could identify the man you saw?"

Theo nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, his markings were really cool. I wonder how he got them."

A worried look crossed Abe's face, but he pushed past the worry in the spirit of trusting his son. Yelling at Theo to not follow up on that curiosity would be pointless and would probably just set Roman off again. Roman currently looked like his world was about to end, so Abe decided to give him his space now and comfort him later. Too much had been weighing Roman down for a while now. Abe hadn't even realized that the Winterfest card they'd received from the Durants had troubled his husband, though he could see why in hindsight. Everything with the Durants was difficult now.

"He likely won't have the markings in his photo," Evren continued. "That detail is odd and will probably help us narrow the search. Maybe this would be a good extra credit assignment for you to research. The markings are undoubtedly connected to blood magic and may give you some perspective."

"He called me Geoneesis, which was weird," Theo replied. "Maybe it's his daughter's name since he said I reminded him of her."

Evren froze in place, a look of terror on his face.

"I'm sorry, did you just say Geoneesis? Forget that name immediately. Never let it leave your lips again, and do not let anyone else know that you know it."

Theo scowled while Adam froze in his seat, his anxiety clearly getting the better of him.

"Why? What's the big deal? Is it a curse? Is it a spell?"

Theo waited eagerly for Evren's response while Abe began rubbing Roman's back as a preventative measure.

"It's just as deadly as any curse," Evren said darkly. "Your knowledge of blood magic added to your knowledge of that name would make you an instant target of the Maricourts."

Roman couldn't hide the groan that escaped him at this, instantly conjuring a million different dark scenarios in his mind.

"Why? I don't get it," Adam asked quietly. "I've never even heard of that before. If it was important, wouldn't my parents tell me about it?"

"There is much that you will learn as you progress in your studies," Evren replied. "You're still a student and an apprentice. This is knowledge that is passed on only when you graduate as a full warlock and swear several oaths to the coven. That word, which you are going to forget, would give you dangerous power against any Maricourt were you to cast a blood magic spell on them."

Adam immediately perked up at this, finally realizing the threat before him.

"Oh my god," he whispered, staring at his boyfriend in shock. "It's my dad's name! It's all of their names! That name is what the G stands for! With that knowledge, you could successfully cast blood magic at a strength that could threaten any Maricourt who has taken that name for themselves!"

"Cool," Theo said with a mischievous grin. "Maybe I do have an edge over your parents after all."

"Oh god. This is a nightmare. What could possibly be next? It's always something."

Adrian reached over and grabbed his ex-husband's hand once more while Abe continued to rub Roman's back. The gesture seemed to comfort Roman somewhat, de-escalating the conversation. Abe and Adrian shared a worried look across the table. Roman's anxieties and dejected self-loathing was becoming a problem too big to ignore. Now matter how hard they tried to support him, Roman always seemed to be beyond their help, repeating his failures like a mantra. Drastic steps had to be taken before Roman truly snapped or Theo's relationship with his father was damaged beyond repair.

"This isn't a big deal," Evren lied. "We'll go to their meeting at the coven and put any hostility to rest, while having this knowledge in our pocket if we need it. Things will work out. Maybe Theo's visitor came to give him an edge against the coven."

"Maybe. I'll see what I can learn from Maura," Adrian replied. "She is going to be meeting with Duke Goldman under the pretense of a review of his properties later today. She promised to fish for any relevant information about Duchess Edana and her plans."

"Good luck," Adam scoffed, crossing his arms. "She doesn't tell Ewan anything important. Elowen says they fight all the time about how vague she can be about her job."

"Well, it's a start," Adrian sighed. "I'm sure that we can resolve this situation quickly and diplomatically. We're all reasonable people after all and all of the Maricourts have to answer to some sort of authority in their lives."

Theo stared at the grim faces of his parental figures while Adam wrung his hands beside him. Judging by everyone's worried faces, Adrian's prediction might be a lot harder than he made it sound.

#arkhelios #roman bellamy #abe chun #sim: theo bellamy #theo bellamy #evren thorne #sim: adrian siew #adrian siew #sim: reogus maricourt #adam darktide #arkhelios adventures

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luverofralts · 1 year

Text

Arkhelios University

“So what brings you by?” Adrian asked casually as Roman sat beside him. “I don’t really get visitors here.”

Roman frowned a little at just how casually Adrian spoke about his presumed death, but if anyone got to comment on being dead, he supposed Adrian had earned it.

“I don’t know,” Roman answered honestly. “I think I’m dead. I mean, I must be to be talking to you, but I don’t know how I got here. My mom was draining energy from me and Abe and then suddenly, I was stuck in the past and some kind of ward or sigil opened up and brought me here. Is there like a map or something that they give you here to know where you are? Why isn’t Abe here too? Is he still alive or is he not demon enough to end up here if he died?”

“I’m not sure,” Adrian replied honestly, leaning closer to his ex-husband. “I never got any informational pamphlets or anything when I got here. I’ve never even seen my parents or grandparents here, even though I assume they’re dead too.”

Roman nodded sadly and Adrian let out a weary sigh.

“Ah, that sucks. I mean, I figured as much, but that’s rough. I wanted the girls to know their grandparents and where they came from but now Grandma and Grandpa are just going to be portraits on the wall.”

“You know about the twins?” Roman asked curiously. “I mean, we knew that you were pregnant with twin girls, but you know that they survived?They were born after you...passed. If you haven’t seen your parents, how do you know they weren’t dead too?”

Adrian shot Roman a playful smile that would have melted Roman’s resistance and made him weak in the knees if he wasn’t dead.

“Well, I did say that I don’t often get visitors here,” Adrian laughed, his eyes sparkling with secret knowledge. “Honey, come say hi to Daddy.”

“What?”

Roman looked behind him, only to see his young daughter, Adrienne, standing on the sand behind him, looking sheepish. He immediately reached for her, trying to see where she’d been injured in order to be dead like her parents.

“Addy! Oh my god, what happened? How are you- I need to fix this! Tell me how to fix this!”

While Roman started hyperventilating, Adrian reached out to massage his shoulder in support.

“Hey, she’s fine. Our daughter is just fine,” he reassured Roman. “She comes to see me pretty regularly and you’ve never seen her die before. She’s got a gift. I always thought that Theo was going to be the child we would have to worry about when he became a teenager, but it turns out that his sister is just as trouble prone as he is.”

“You have no idea,” Roman muttered, still worriedly scanning his daughter for injury. “That kid is going to be the death of me someday.”

He paused, thinking about his choice of words.

“Oh, I guess not if I’m already dead.” He groaned, suddenly too aware of his mortality and his lack of planning. “Oh god, who’s going to raise the kids now that I’m dead and I assume Abe is too. Lucy? Elaine? My mother? There’s no one to stop my mother from kidnapping the kids and using some twisted blood magic on them. Or the sovereign! She probably has Theo and Luci now and is planning some kind of scheme with them. I can’t be dead, the kids need me too badly! How do I protect them from here?”

Instead of acknowledging Roman’s breakdown, Adrian shared a knowing look with his daughter.

“I can see that your dad hasn’t changed,” he joked, earning a smile from his daughter. “He spends too much time worrying about controlling all the variables of his future, only to realize that he can’t control them all. He’s already forgotten that you visit here often and return to the living plane just fine. You can pass on a message to anyone your dad needs to talk to.”

“And how is that exactly?” Roman demanded, still fighting against a rising panic attack. “I’m new to this whole being dead thing. Why is my toddler walking across planes of existence? That doesn’t seem safe. How am I supposed to raise a son who teleports wherever he wants to in the middle of the night and a daughter who apparently visits the dead on a whim? I mean, how was I supposed to, now that I’m apparently dead too!”

“Yeah, it takes some getting used to,” Adrian remarked dryly, watching his daughter splash around in the waves at their feet. “Look, I’m sure that we can figure something out. Maybe Abe’s not dead. We can see if Adrienne can find him. To tell the truth, I just assumed that your grandmother was a fraud, but if our daughter’s talents truly come from your family, we shouldn’t underestimate her.”

“Oh, my grandmother was many things,” Roman sighed. “A fraud isn’t one of them. I don’t know how or why Addy has these gifts, Grandma always said I was mediocre at best at everything spiritual. Is this some kind of astral projection? An out of body experience for her?”

“How did this happen?” he asked, dreading the answer. “Why is a dead human this far in the Void? How did a toddler project herself here? Does the sovereign know about this?”

“This is my problem. Well, I guess it’s technically both of our problem. My intuition is never wrong about demons.”

The Grim Reaper grimaced at the scene before him. One dead man, one dying man and a living toddler projecting herself in a realm that none of them should be in. Gee's step-parent certainly made sure that his job was interesting

“She might,” Lukas replied honestly. “I have no idea of what she’s been scheming. This does seem rather dull for one of her schemes though, I’m tempted to attribute this to a lesser demon. The man’s mother maybe. I recently dealt with her.”

“Don’t tell me anymore,” Gee pleaded. He could feel the start of a headache coming on. “I need plausible deniability if Dad asks.”

“Well, you said that I was to prevent any unauthorized deaths when resolving this situation, and I’m trying my best. Look at your tablet for Mr. Bellamy. I don’t know what yours says, but my records have him destined to live past this week. How much longer do you think he’s going to last this deep in the Void? I’d say another day, max. And the deceased husband? Murdered by exposure to the Void. Their two daughters? Exposed in utero. They barely survived and their father has been trapped here, completely isolated. He wasn’t properly processed and introduced to the afterlife, causing considerable suffering for him. Your father won’t be pleased to hear about this slip up.”

“Demons. It’s always the demons and their god damn god complexes,” Gee muttered to himself. “I’ve never had this problem with vampires or plantsims. Demons just love to make my life miserable. Well? What’s your scheme to fix this? I know you have at least one you’re dying to try.”

Lukas smiled and snapped their fingers, producing an ancient book that radiated powerful energy.

“I’m glad you asked. Mr. Bellamy’s body is still alive, waiting for the return of his soul. I send it back so his mind/body connection remains intact and he doesn’t die before his time. The daughter will keep coming back to the Void as long as her father is here, so we release him from this trap and that solves that problem.”

“And? I feel like you’re leading to something far more complicated than escorting two lost souls home. What’s your scheme now?”

“Making things right,” they replied, gesturing at the impressive book. “Duke Adrian Siew wasn’t supposed to die for decades, it’s right there in the log. Upon his wrongful death, he was trapped away from his loved ones in the Void, a place that nearly cost his children their lives and stripped one of them of their genetic abilities. This family has suffered for our failures and I intend to fix it.”

“Stripped them of what powers? What have you done?”

“I’m really not dead? You can save me? What about Abe?”

“Uh....”

Gee waved sheepishly at the pair of mortals now staring awkwardly at the supernatural pair. Lukas tried to look startled at the intrusion, but didn’t quite hide their satisfaction in time. This was a trap designed to tug at the heart strings of the Grim Reaper. His father may not feel moved by the plight of a young family, but Gee was soft at heart. Reuniting broken families was a cause he firmly believed in.

“Oops, I guess we were too loud,” Lukas said coyly. “Though I suppose that it’s only fair that you know the truth about your own lives. None of you are supposed to be here. Duke Siew is supposed to be living, or at the very least in the proper afterlife. Mr. Bellamy should be at home, praising a certain deity for disassembling his mother piece by piece and both of your daughters should be happily embraced by the famous Bellamy family for their remarkable gifts.”

“I don’t understand, what’s wrong with my daughters?”

“My mother is what? What the hell does disassembled mean?”

Both Adrian and Roman stared in shock at the two deities, each unable to comprehend what was being said.

“Yes, I’d like an explanation about the disassembling too please,” Gee sighed, rubbing his temples. “You said no unauthorized-”

“She’s not dead,” Lukas scoffed, rolling their eyes. “She’s very much alive, just...in several places at once. The sky has a whole new constellation, so your mother will always be there watching over you. That’ll be about all she can do. Ever again.”

“As for your daughters, they weren’t supposed to be exposed to the Void. Their demonic heritage protected them somewhat, but look at her. She’s thriving between planes of existence, visiting places she has no business being. Someone had to have shielded her in utero from the worst of the Void. For one twin to be so gifted and the other so unremarkable, I have my suspicions about what caused that.”

“Luci!” Adrienne supplied, looking excited to be included in the conversation.

“Probably,” Lukas replied, ignoring the look their step son was giving them. “Well, anyway, I should probably send the people still supposed to be living back to the proper realm. Unless there’s any objections? I’ve never seen any paperwork filed on Duke Siew’s death and reviving his physical body is well within my ability. Gee?”

The Grim Reaper paused to consider his options. This entire mess was going to mean a lot of paperwork, but he couldn’t deny the warm feeling in his chest when he watched Adrian hold onto his daughter. He was a family sim; the decision had already been made the instant he learned it was a possibility.

“Take them home,” he ordered, beaming with satisfaction. “If Dad asks, I’ll defend it. Children need their fathers, something he would know if he’d bothered to be around for me. I don’t see any paperwork here that says they have to stick around here. They’re free to go home.”

Lukas waved their hand and the two young men and their daughter vanished from sight, presumably reappearing in their home country unharmed. They would need to follow up on how the young family was doing in the coming days, but Lukas felt confident that with both Life and Death’s approval, none of the demons would be bold enough to challenge the decision.

“For the record, I did lead the Bellamy boy here myself,” Lukas confessed to their stepson. Gee didn’t look surprised to hear this information.

“I figured as much. Maybe next time, give me a little warning before you rush to sweeping judgements, okay? I’m not thrilled to hear that people are slipping through the cracks of the system, but I can’t interfere in every demon screw-up. We should be making the sovereign clean up her people’s messes and if she won’t, we need to find a candidate who will.”

“Oh, trust me, I have some thoughts about that.”

#sims 2 #arkhelios university #arkhelios #Roman Bellamy #adrian siew #sim: adrian siew #Adrienne Bellamy #sim: Adrienne Bellamy #sims 2 pictures #lukas lane

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luverofralts · 3 months

Text

Arkhelios Adventures

"Gentlemen. How's the water?"

Victoriana cringed as she sank into the hot water. That had sounded lame even to her.

"It's fine," Travis replied, his voice clearly making his disinterest known. "It's just like any other hot tub: boring and filled with the skin cells of everyone in it."

"Gross, Travis. Shove over."

Bronwen pushed her way into the hot tub, over the protests of the boy she was shoving.

"Hey, Claudia. Hey, Theo. What's up? Anything interesting happening?"

"Not since I got in like thirty seconds ago," Victoriana snapped, irritated by her friend's arrival. How was she supposed to talk to Theo with her snooping around? Travis didn't want to be there and thus wouldn't get in her way, while Bronwen very clearly would.

"Hey, Bron, maybe you should stay inside for a bit. Your vampire skin will burn if you stay out too long."

"I'm only half vampire and can stay out for hours. You've seen me do it all the time, Your Highness. I don't want to wait in the stupid house when the excitement is happening put here."

"What excitement?" Travis grumbled, looking enviously at the house.

Victoriana frowned at the negative energy coming at her, so she playfully splashed Theo, trying to get his attention in a positive way.

Across from her, Bronwen fumed, her pale skin turning dark red. Theo didn't like to be splashed, at least not by anyone other than Adam. She'd tried it herself once and he'd glared at her, but to her astonishment, he merely smiled at the princess.

It has to be because she's rich and going to inherit Pleasantview one day. It has to be as simple as that.

"So, you see Rien, you want your brushstrokes to be confident and bold. Make a statement with your art. Fuel your creation with your emotions."

Anna examined her progress on her painting, then looked at Rien's canvas beside her. It wasn't too bad for a beginner.

Adrian had begged the reaper to help his daughter find a passion for something other than tarot card reading, and Anna had been more than willing to help. As a dead soul in the afterlife, she'd tried her hand at many things to pass the time. Everything there became tedious after a number of years. Painting wouldn't fulfill her desire for a family of her own or give her the ability to make choices and see the world change because of them, but it had been a decent distraction. Working for the grim reaper was an incredible escape from the monotony of the afterlife. All of her many hobbies did come in handy as a mother though. She was great at distracting and soothing kids with a craft or sudden game of basketball.

"I know how to paint," Adrienne replied. "We do have art class in school, remember? I'm only here to make Daddy happy so that I can get my cards back."

"Fair enough," Anna said casually.

Adrienne had been hoping for a scandalized gasp or stern disapproval, but Anna offered her nothing but indifference. Adults were supposed to be easy to manipulate, but Anna didn't even flinch. To the child, it seemed that reapers were magical creatures with nerves of steel, when really, Anna was a mom to three very strong-willed children. There was very little that she hadn't seen.

"What are you going to do if he doesn't?" she asked. "You could be waiting a very long time. It might be more fun if you tried a bunch of stuff while you wait. Make him see how little you're affected by him taking them, so he gives then back to you."

"He'll die if he doesn't. He makes the lady mad and I need to see what she's planning to help them."

This comment did cause Anna to pause. It didn't seem vengeful or angry, just a simple statement of fact.

"Your parents aren't going to die soon. I'd know about it if they were," she replied, looking at the child strangely. Again, nothing malicious was coming from her. It was like she was just reading the paper, bored by the printed facts. "What lady wants to hurt your daddy? Do you know her?"

"You only know when someone's death is written in stone," the child stated, as if it was obvious. "You'll only know when it can't be changed. I can help them if I had my cards."

"Finally! Time to finish my book," Travis exclaimed, reclining on a chair by the pool. "Everyone pretend I'm not here."

"Already done," Bronwen said, rolling her eyes as she sat beside him.

"That's looking really good so far," Anna commented. She held her brush up to the canvas and feigned a painting motion.

What on earth was this kid talking about? There were well established cases of people prophesying the future through dreams, or while under the spell of Life, but this seemed different. Part of their onboarding as reapers had been learning about the various ways a possible vision of a future could be spelled out, but this child was a mystery. She claimed to need to use her tarot deck to access the supernatural, but Anna had her doubts. The girl has demon blood and was ripped out of her father at birth as his spirit fell deep into the demonic void. What kind of impact would that have on a child? As far as she knew, the topic had never been brought up once in their reaper briefings.

"What lady wants to hurt your father?" Anna prompted again, hoping for a better response than before. "If she's dangerous, I may be able to protect your parents."

Adrienne shrugged, wiping her brush clean.

"I don't know for sure, but I keep getting the words 'red queen" when I read my cards," she replied. "She has dark hair, I think. I can almost picture her, but I need my cards."

"Dark hair, pasty skin, way too much lipstick?"

Anna held her breath as Adrienne nodded.

"Yeah, I think that's her. Why do you know her?"

"Uh, yeah, you could say that. Rien, you don't have to worry about her, she died a long time ago. Claudia took the throne from her daughter. The Red Queen is long dead."

"I just keep getting those words in my readings," Adrienne replied, her expression extremely patronizing. "I never said that she was alive or anything. You can't take everything literally when reading cards."

"Oh, well, if you see anyone who wants to hurt your dad, you can tell me or any of the adults here," Anna sighed, trying to hide her frustration from the child. "We can help."

"So, uh, Victoriana. Hi. Do you want to swim, or hang out here? We could talk if you want. I wanted to get to know you better, if that's okay."

Theo flushed, trying not to come across as dull or like he only cared about her money. Despite his best efforts, it felt like he was failing.

"I'd like to get to know you," the princess replied shyly. "I wanted to talk about demons if that's okay. How did you know you had a dark form? Does it hurt to change? How dangerous do you think your family really is these days?"

"Uh...I'm not sure," Theo answered awkwardly. He wasn't sure why the crown princess of Pleasantview was interested in his family and demons in the first place. Of course, Theo knew they were related and shared a demonic family, but Victoriana asking about it seemed odd. "It doesn't hurt, really. It kind of itches. My dad says he has our family under control, but it's nothing you have to worry about, being a princess and whatever. I can tell you about it if you want though."

"I would like that," Victoriana said cautiously. No need to seem as desperate for answers as she truly was. "I'd really like that. Your dad sounds like an interesting person."

"He is, I guess."

"Yeah. I guess."

The two teens stared awkwardly at the ground, unable to think of a way of progressing their conversation without revealing their shared paternity or coming across as some kind of weirdo.

"She knows already, Theo," Adrienne sang, as she skipped by the teens. "You both know the same secret, so stopping being weird."

"You know about me?" both teens said at once, watching their shared sister skip away. "Oh, thank god."

"I didn't know you knew," Theo said. "Here I was trying to be subtle about it and you already knew! I never thought you'd believe me!"

"My mom told me," the princess confessed. "I made her tell me and now she's mad at me, but I finally know! I've been going insane just thinking about it. Who told you?"

"I saw your connection after a spell," Theo confided. "I thought you'd think I was after your money or something if I came out and told you. I still can't believe it."

"We have a lot to talk about," Victoriana said eagerly. "Maybe you could tell me more about Roman Bellamy. I'd like to know all about him. For political analysis of course." An unwavering look passed between the half-siblings, promising that they would keep their true connection a secret from the rest of the teens at the pool. The last thing Victoriana needed was a scandal breaking out while her mother was already mad at her.

"Let's go inside and get some of that lemonade I saw Anna pouring," Theo suggested, gesturing towards the house. Victoriana nodded eagerly.

"Awsome!"

"So Adrienne has a vivid imagination," Anna began, trying to phrase her words gently. Her nephew's shoulders slumped before she could continue her sentence.

"You're telling me," Adrian groaned. "The damn thing is, she's almost always proven right when she 'imagines' things. Even Roman can't read cards like she can."

"So she says. I know you worry about her, Adrian. She seems like a very bright child. Lonely though."

"That's my main concern. Her sister has enough charisma for the both of them. Luci is in every sports team at her school and has tons of friends. Rien keeps to herself and acts like she's already thirty. I don't know what to do, Anna. I've never experienced anything like this before. I used to think that we had an interesting family, but Roman's is something else. Do I put her with other demon hybrids? Should I register her in Crystal Cove to learn about crystals and tarot readings? There has to be somewhere she can shine, but I'm at a loss for where. All I want is for her to have the happy childhood I dreamed of for her, but nothing seems to make her happy."

"We all find our paths eventually, Adrian. I know it's frustrating now, but Rien will find her way. When I was born, I was destined to be the queen of Strangetown and Twikkii Island. What my actual destiny turned out to be was quite different. And Claudia was no different. I would have never chosen the path she's walking for her, but it's where she belongs. It sounds like your daughter is beginning to figure out her future, you just need to wait and be patient."

"You've raised two teens who have turned out to be incredible adults, I'll try my best to follow your example," Adrian said, bowing his head as he spoke.

"You're way too uptight for someone of your rank," Anna teased. "With the succession guaranteed, Maura’s heirs have bumped you even further from the throne. You might as well relax and enjoy your estate like Edana's husband. Luci will need to know how to conduct herself at court, but very little else."

"That's not how my parents saw it," Adrian replied stiffly. "I have a duty to uphold to the crown. Should the unthinkable happen and the royal family is lost once more, Luci is still in the line of succession. If she didn't assume the throne herself, then she needs to defend the monarch. She should just be thankful that I'm not sending her to the military academy I was sent to. My father went there, so of course I had to as well."

She paused for a moment.

"Try growing up in Strangetown," Anna laughed. "From what I'm told, it's intense. I spent an eternity with my grandmother in the afterlife, learning about our family and traditions and a million other superstitions. I love it all, but to live it everyday? I don't envy my cousin."

"Do you think that maybe you spend too much time thinking about what your parents would do or think? They're lovely people, but you're not them."

"They weren’t perfect, that's for sure. I just miss them. I wonder what they'd say about my kids or trying to run a business with Roman. Would they like Evren? How would they help Rien? I wish I knew."

"You'll see them again someday and I know they'll be proud of you no matter what path you choose in life. Try relaxing a bit. Your kids have a long path before them, you just need to trust them."

"Relaxing? Sure, maybe when I'm dead," Adrian scoffed. "Roman needs me to manage our business and Evren needs me to keep him from murdering Wanda Bellamy and the kids need me for everything else. Maura is still pissed at me for sticking with Roman after everything and I don't know how I'm going to pay to send Fiolett to school next year, which Evren has also been extremely cagey about. Should I marry Evren? Does he even want that? If I do, will it change everything for us? If I-"

"Again, maybe you should try practicing relaxation before you take on the entire world," Anna interrupted. "Why don't you take a day just to yourself this week? Maybe even an afternoon if that's too hard. When you quiet your mind, you may find the answers you're struggling with."

"An afternoon," Adrian repeated slowly. "I guess it couldn't hurt. Abe could watch the boys while Fiolett is in school. I don't see the harm in trying."

#arkhelios #arkhelios adventures #adrian siew #sim: adrian siew #anneken toyonaga #sim: theo bellamy #theo bellamy #Victoriana Goldman #Adrienne Bellamy #luciana bellamy #travis maricourt #bronwen traver #sim: bronwen traver

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luverofralts · 1 year

Text

Arkhelios University

The agony in Roman’s head was proof enough that he was alive. Anything as painful as this had to be real.

“Abe?”

He tried calling out for his husband, hoping to hear Abe’s reassuring, familiar voice, but no one answered him.

“Adrian?” he called out hesitantly. Had he simply imagined being reunited with his first husband or was whatever strange dream he’d been having actually true?

“Roman?”

To Roman’s amazement, the once very dead Adrian, Duke Siew answered his call. He tried sitting up off the ground, feeling the cold concrete beneath him.

“Daddy?”

Luciana toddled over to the glowing blond man who’d appeared out of nowhere. She had never been given the chance to meet him, but Roman had shown her enough pictures for her to recognize him on sight.

“You did it!”

Theo hugged his sister, amazed to see his step-father again. He’d had every confidence that his sister could pull off whatever plan she had in mind that night, but the results were still astonishing.

“Adrian! Oh my god, you’re here!”

Roman wrapped his arms around his ex, pulling him into a crushing embrace.

Adrian felt warm and real and safe. Roman buried his face into Adrian's neck, inhaling the same salty scent of a man who loved to be by the ocean. Memories of sleepy mornings drinking coffee with their feet in the ocean flooded his mind. Quiet afternoons on soft sheets looking through baby books. Swimming naked in the waves. Kissing in the rain in the lush gardens of the palace.

"I missed you," Adrian murmured against his ex-husband's ear, making Roman blush despite the circumstances they found themselves in.

"Daddy!"

Roman and Adrian's reunion was cut short by the gleeful call of Theo. Adrian let go of Roman, only to be swarmed by toddlers. Roman swept his son into his arms while Adrian struggled to lift both twins at once.

"My girls!" he exclaimed, holding them both close. "I can't believe you're here!"

"Where's your father?" Roman demanded, only to have Theo point to a limp form on the ground. "Go inside and call for help. Tell Grandma to call a doctor."

Roman rushed to his husband's side, desperate not to trade one dead husband for another that night. To his relief, he could feel the gentle rise and fall of Abe's chest against his hand. Blood spotted the ground beside his body, filling Roman's mind with horrific potential scenarios that he fought hard to squash.

Abe was breathing. Adrian was miraculously alive. Kamalani was nowhere to be found. He had a lot of positive things to focus on instead.

Lucy didn’t even blink when Roman’s dead husband walked through the door, carrying two excited toddlers in his arms. Roman waited outside watching Abe, making sure that he remained stable until the ambulance arrived.

“I’ll be back for you when I know how Dad’s doing, okay? Stay with Grandma for now; she’ll take care of you.”

Roman hugged Theo in a crushing embrace, grateful to have escaped his near death experience to return to his kids.

“Take your zombie with you,” Elaine insisted, pouring herself a large drink. She gestured towards Adrian, who looked offended at the term.

“Excuse me? I’m not a zombie and I am usually referred to as ‘your Grace’,” Adrian replied irritably, crossing his arms defensively.

“My ex-husband and mother are walking corpses. You were a corpse and you’re currently shambling across my living room. I’ll call you what I want, Your Grace.”

Roman cleared his throat, hoping to diffuse the tension in the room. He’d never seen Adrian remind someone of his rank, but then again, he’d never seen Adrian escape the grave in his husband’s mother in law’s house either.

“She’s not wrong, Adrian. You should see a doctor just to make sure that everything is working right. I don’t want you to drop dead in a couple of hours without warning.”

“And just what happened to revive him in the first place?” Lucy asked, noting that Roman’s face looked quite flushed when staring at his ex-husband. “Don’t tell me that you made a deal with the sovereign. You can’t be that stupid. Not for some booty call with your ex anyway. You’re usually smarter than that.”

Roman shot her a dirty look but didn’t engage with her bait. Abe and their baby were possibly in danger; he didn’t have the luxury of entertaining Lucy.

“There are things that even the sovereign is afraid of, Lucy,” he replied, staring out at the night sky, trying to process everything that just happened in the last twenty-four hours.

“Some things are better off unexplained. I have a feeling that even she would agree with that.”

#sims 2 #arkhelios #arkhelios university #Roman Bellamy #lucy chun #elaine helios #lukas lane #adrian siew #sim: adrian siew #sim: theo bellamy #theo bellamy #sim: Adrienne Bellamy #Adrienne Bellamy #sim: Luciana Bellamy #Luciana Bellamy

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luverofralts · 3 months

Text

Arkhelios Adventures

"You've got this. You're going to head out there and be completely normal. Theo's more powerful than me, he can probably smell fear with his demonic senses. Just be friendly and pretend it's one of mom's conferences. No one will suspect a thing."

Victoriana nodded at her reflection in the mirror. The past week had been confusing, now that she knew who her father was. Half the time she wanted to teleport to Arkhelios and run into his arms, and the other half, she just wanted to forget that he existed.

Things were weird between her and her mom now. Claudia had all but banished her from her sight and didn't text her back. Victoriana had spent the past two weekends at her grandparents' house, waiting to be summoned back to the castle. The call never came. The queen had all but banished her for the crime of pushing her to name her father, and Victoriana was starting to worry that her time with her grandparents was going to be permanent.

Her grandfather had to work most of the day, so her grandmother decided to take Victoriana and Travis to the Siew family cottage, where conveniently, Adrian and several of his children also just happened to be visiting. Ewan Traver's kids had also been deposited at the cottage, so the lot was full. If things went badly today, Victoriana could usually count on the Traver siblings to cheer her up. Bronwen especially, considering that she had also grown up without one of her parents. Bronwen's mother had abandoned her just after her birth, leaving her with a similar longing to know her place in the family tree.

It was good that her friends were there to support her if anything went wrong. Her biological father's ex-husband and children were there with her and Victoriana wasn't about to waste the opportunity.

"Okay, girls, let's start again. Ten points to Luci for winning last round."

Trent stacked the game pieces to restart the game. The twins were both ecstatic to play another round of Don't Wake the Llama, but behind them, their father wasn't amused.

"Trent, Luci needs to be in the pool practicing for her swim competition in a few weeks," Adrian insisted. "She doesn't need to be distracted with games. Rien has some math homework to do as well, don't think I didn't find that hiding under your laundry."

"Relax, Adrian, we'll just play one more round. I thought you wanted them to socialize while they're here. They can't socialize while doing homework."

"Yeah, Daddy. Rien's practicing doing something other than reading cards all day and I'm already going to win the competition even without practicing. We never get to see Uncle Trent and Aunt Cindra."

"If I do my homework, can you make Dad give me my tarot cards back?" Adrienne pleaded. "I won't fight with Luci again, I promise. Unless she starts it."

Adrian rolled his eyes in frustration. If he didn't remind his daughters about their responsibilities, he wasn't being supportive and if he did remind them, he was being uptight and strict. He couldn't win with the twins. At least Fiolett was still young enough not to sass him too often. It was only going to get worse when they became teenagers. He and Roman would need all the help they could get when the girls were Theo's age.

"Fine, play with your uncle. I have to make some calls. I'll come check on you when I'm done, and then you're doing your homework and practicing."

"Okay, girls, let's go find some information," Victoriana declared, looking expectantly at her small group of friends. The Travers children stared back at her with expectations of their own.

"Why are we trying to get info on Theo?" Elowen asked. "We've known him forever. The only thing you need to know about him is that he has a boyfriend. He won't shut up about him or talk about anything else."

"Theo talks about a lot more than just Adam," Bronwen said. "He likes a lot of things like playing guitar and practicing magic. There's a lot more to him than Adam."

"Please, like we don't all know why you really know so much about him," Elowen laughed. "You want his little demon babies. You're in love with him. Bronwen loves Theo."

"Shut up," Bronwen snapped, her face suddenly very red. "I do not!"

"We're here because I need to watch him. Because I said so, and I'm the Crown Princess so what I say goes."

Victoriana's words stopped the sisters from bickering, just as she'd intended. She was the heir to the Pleasantview throne and her tone needed to convey that. It was something she and her mother had been working on before the queen had distanced herself from her daughter.

"I just want to know him better," Victoriana explained. "His sisters too. I can't explain why."

"Alright, well prepare to learn all about what Adam eats for lunch," Elowen groaned.

"And his favourite food, colour and animal," Remy added. "Plus the names of their future kids and what month is a good month for a wedding."

"Basically, you'll know Adam a lot better than you'll know Theo," Bronwen laughed. "But if you insist."

"Ah, Vicky, I was wondering what you were up to. If you see your uncle Travis, tell him to get in the pool before lunch." Anna wrapped her arms around her granddaughter and smiled. "I saw Theo out in the hot tub on my way in. I hope you two find what you are looking for in each other. Your grandfather and I love you no matter what."

"Ew, Grandma, not in front of my friends! You make it sound like I want to date him or something. I just want to talk to him."

Anna watched Victoriana leave in search of her half-brother with worry. The poor girl couldn't handle a rejection from her sibling if this went badly. Theo seemed to be a nice boy though. She didn't see any reason why he would be rude.

Ewan should have been the one taking the kids today. He cried at the end of sappy movies and probably would have some kind of "family reconnection" party planned to help the siblings adjust to their new relationship. When he found out that he had a living half-brother of his own, Ewan had immediately set up "brother play dates" every so often to give them time alone to bond, despite being adults. Anna had no doubt that if her husband was here, he'd be doing the same for Victoriana and Theo. On second thought, maybe it was for the best that Ewan was working.

"What do you think Victoriana wants with Theo?" Bronwen asked her sister, watching as the princess took confident strides toward the hot tub. "She seems pretty determined to do whatever it is that she's doing."

"Jealous much? She has the same chance that you have with him, which would be zero. The guy is obsessed with his boyfriend, Bron. Move on."

"I'm not jealous," Bronwen hissed, looking around for anyone who might have heard the accusation. "We're just friends. And Victoriana could do way better than Theo, I'm just surprised. She's going to be queen one day and she wants Theo?"

"Maybe she just wants to yell at him for something. He's always screwing up with his blood magic, maybe he went too far and the queen is pissed," Elowen replied. "Victoriana seems jumpy whenever we mention her mom."

"I think something might be going on with her mom," Bronwen said, looking over her shoulder to check for eavesdroppers. "You've seen how twitchy Dad has been lately, and your mom seems to be practically living in the archives. When I tried to do my homework on her desk, I could barely find a place to write on. She had all sorts of weird books and scrolls."

"Yeah, something is up with her. I found her crying in the kitchen before we left for school, but of course she denied it. Do you really think their weirdness has something to do with Victoriana's mom? Victoriana has been staying at her grandparents' house on the weekends now, which is weird, and now she's determined to talk to Theo? It's all weird, but does it mean anything?"

Bronwen shrugged.

"I guess we'll see how this thing with Theo goes today. Maybe it's all just a coincidence."

Travis Goldman tried to walk as quietly as he could across the backyard, hoping to sneak past his mother's watchful eyes. He wasn't sure just what powers a reaper had, but she had to have super sensitive hearing for all the times she had caught him trying to sneak out of social occasions.

Today was no different. His royal niece had been staying with them, forcing social interactions on him the entire time. Now he had to endure a bunch of loud kids and all of Victoriana's friends at the busy family cottage. All he wanted to do was sit down with a good book and ignore all the noisy people around him, but his mother would never allow that. He had to always put on a smile and try to make some friends everywhere he went. His parents "worried about him" far too much. All the damage and trouble he'd caused at school made them think that he was lonely or lashing out because there was something in his life that he lacked. Ironically, the only thing he did need from them was some space, which the two of them could never give.

"Travis, honey, are you alright? Do you want a snack? I think the other teens are meeting in the hottub if you want to join them."

"Mom, I was just going to read a little. I don't want to use the hottub, I want to read. By myself."

"Well that sounds lonely," Anna said. "Why not join the other teens? You know all of them. They're nice girls and I'm sure they wouldn't mind the company."

"Maybe," Travis muttered. "Can I at least read a few chapters? I'm at a cliffhanger."

Anna frowned. It wasn't an unreasonable request, but the instant she said yes, her son would be locked in a room in the cottage, completely alone with the stacks of books he could magically summon. There was no way that he'd actually meet with the other teens.

Her other two children had had the opposite problem as teens. Claudia and Oliver were extremely social, driven to be the top student with a large group of followers. Travis was shy and reclusive by nature and his parents were at a loss trying to know what was best for him.

His biological mothers had both been outgoing, charismatic witches who had the combined audacity to try to kill the Grim Reaper. Travis had none of those traits, preferring to read quietly until people forgot that he was still in the room. She and Ewan had tried to raise him just as they did their biological children, and she'd like to believe that they had succeeded. Little Travis was an introvert in a family of extroverts; maybe it was just as simple as that.

"Go finish that chapter and then maybe you can read beside the pool," she decided. "You don't have to swim, but maybe you can join in some of the conversations later. I love you, you know that, right? I just want what's best for you."

Travis reacted to her words with embarrassment, just as Victoriana had earlier. God forbid an adult tell a teen that they loved and supported them.

"I'll go in the hottub for twenty minutes," Travis proposed, noticing the worry on his mother's face. "But that's it. Then I get to read as much as I want."

Anna had experience with the darkest minds, and the most hateful creatures of the supernatural world, but they were nothing compared to the roller coaster of parenting teenagers.

"I think that sounds very mature and understanding of you. I appreciate you and our talks, Travis."

"Mom!"

With that, Travis scurried away to find a bathing suit, desperate that none of the other teens see his mother expressing her feelings for him.

#sims 2 #arkhelios #arkhelios adventures #sim: theo bellamy #theo bellamy #anneken toyonaga #travis maricourt #bronwen traver #sim: bronwen traver #sim: elowen traver #remy maricourt #Victoriana goldman #trent siew #sim: adrian siew #adrian siew #luciana bellamy #Adrienne Bellamy

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luverofralts · 1 year

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Arkhelios Adventures

"Hey, things will work out. It's just taking more time than we thought. This project is going to succeed."

Adrian gave his ex-husband a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder, trying to sound optimistic. Roman was currently in the middle of an existential crisis, spiraling out of control thinking of just how much money they were losing. Even with the entire Bellamy family pitching in to help, the restaurant wasn't profitable. All of their hard work so far had been for nothing.

"We have no way to turn this place around," Roman sighed. "I can't ask you to put more of your own money into this, you and Evren have a family to take care of, same as me. I'll-I'll get a job of my own and start to pay off the debt. I could read cards just like my grandmother. She always made a decent living from it."

"You're not reading cards if you don't want to," Adrian snapped. "The father of my children is never going to have to worry about money. I promised you that when we got married and I'm not about to break that promise anytime soon. As long as it's your dream to have a restaurant, I'm going to help you make it a reality. We're family and family doesn't quit when things get hard."

Roman smiled at Adrian's kindness despite his churning emotions. Adrian was far too good a man to have ever been married to him. Roman thought about how they'd exchanged vows as young adults on the beach while his heart was still stuck on dreaming about Abe. How even when they planned to get divorced, Adrian was trying to figure out how he could still be involved in his stepson's life. Family meant a great deal to the Siews. Maura, Trent and Adrian were devoted to their families above all else, especially now that so much of the royal family had been lost in tragedy. Maura had responded to The Incident with Ulyssa by pulling her family even closer to her, and Adrian and Evren had adopted all of Roman's children into their lives despite Roman's marriage to Abe. If anything, people often mistook the four men as a polycule of sorts, given how devoted they were to raising their combined children together. Roman could attest to the fact that Adrian and Evren were nowhere near his bedroom in any way. That was a line none of the men wanted to cross. Still, their combined children treated each other like siblings and both couples as authority figures.

"We'll see," Roman sighed at last. "I know that you're not going to change your mind until the paychecks start bouncing, but we may need an exit strategy here. You can't run your estate into the ground for my sake. Luciana needs to inherit your title and all the resources we can give her, as well as the other kids. I never wanted your money for myself; it's all for the kids."

"Trust me, I've got it covered," Adrian replied. "My parents left large estates and millions of dollars when they died and Maura has been generous."

"I know, I used to run your estate," Roman said quickly. Bringing up Adrian's death and the years Roman had spent running his estate was still a sensitive subject. "I know what they left you. And Maura…I wouldn't trust her kindness forever. She, rightfully, isn't my biggest fan these days. She might take out her anger on you one day."

"Yeah, that whole thing with Ulyssa wasn't your finest hour. It was like watching a train derail in excruciating detail. Even for you it was bad."

"Gee, thanks." Roman bristled at the rebuke, even if it was well deserved. If even Adrian couldn't get past Roman's mistake with Ulyssa, what hope did he have of ever standing near Maura without worrying that her guards would haul him off to a dungeon at any time? "I regret it enough without the constant reminders. It's in the past."

Adrian remained quiet for a moment, inwardly debating about whether to ask the question that had been rolling around his head for a while now.

"Ulyssa…Her Highness, that is…did you two…well I know when we were together we…."

"What are you asking me?" Roman replied, his voice growing colder when he thought about where this question might be going.

"Princess Georgiana, she's-"

"None of my business," Roman snapped, cutting his ex off before the words could be said out loud. "Princess Georgiana is Ulyssa and the queen's daughter. I was told that she isn't mine and that I'm not to ask about her. So I don't."

Adrian could see the pain in Roman's eyes when he spoke and he had his answer. Evren was right after all. Maura was hiding something from her cousin as best as she could. Unfortunately for her, DNA couldn’t be hidden.

"Roman, I'm so sorry. I never thought, until dinner last week at the palace…I mean, she has your eyes. She looked right at me and it was just like staring at Theo. I…I'll talk to Maura. I promise, I'll talk to her."

"Don't," Roman sighed, rubbing the tears threatening to form in his eyes. "It's fine. It's what I deserve. Anyway, let's just focus on my current failure, shall we? At least this one I have some control over."

"No, this is a big deal," Adrian insisted, staring intently at his ex. "Does Abe know?"

"Of course he knows!" Roman snapped. "Seriously, I'm not having this conversation unless there's a drink in my hand, Adrian, preferably never. Forget about it. I have."

The sound of laughter rang out down the hall, jarring Roman from his thoughts.

"Theo, say goodbye to your friend. It's late and I'm sure his family is missing him. Clean up your workspace, we're going home soon."

Adrian locked the front door as Roman prodded his son into cleaning up the cash register area, his mind still racing with Roman's revelation. Maura had seemed different the past few years with the stress of ruling while simultaneously grieving their lost family members and working on her damaged marriage. Plus being thrown into motherhood earlier than she'd planned to secure an heir. It had been a turbulent few years for his cousin, so it was only natural that Maura might have been changed a little by her circumstances. Still, this hidden family secret bothered him. Maura was under no obligation to tell Adrian about her daughter's paternity, but it wasn't like her. Before his death, Adrian hadn't really been close to his cousin, but upon his revival, she had confided in him often- there hadn't been a lot of family members left to confide her fears to. If Maura was hiding a daughter with a complicated paternity, what else was she hiding from her family? Was she ever going to admit that Adrian had a secret stepdaughter or was he supposed to just ignore the fact that the young princess looked like the spitting image of his ex-husband? If he had noticed, then who else would? Would other countries sense weakness in the royal family and attack?

It was all too much to think about and Roman had shut down any talk on the issue pretty quickly. If Maura was lying and Roman was in denial, then Adrian wasn’t getting any more information on the matter any time soon. If Roman wasn’t involved in the situation, Adrian might have been tempted to ask him to read his cards to see how to proceed. Their daughter, Adrianne, was far more talented at card reading, but he didn’t want her involved in case the cards revealed more than he wanted them to. He would talk things over with Evren then. Evren would know what to do.

#sims 2 #arkhelios #arkhelios adventures #adrian siew #sim: adrian siew #roman bellamy #theo bellamy #sim: theo bellamy

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luverofralts · 1 year

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Arkhelios Adventures

"Bellamy's Twikkii Island inspired Family Restaurant. What do you want? I mean, how can I help you?"

Theo rolled his eyes, barely listening to the voice on the other end of the phone. It was Saturday and Adam had invited him to spend time in Pleasantview with his family, which Theo would much rather be doing. Instead, his parents had insisted that he come home for the weekend as scheduled to help with the opening of Roman and Adrian's new joint venture. Business had been slow, staff hadn't shown up and they were losing money. Theo had been appointed to greet guests and answer the phone, a task he resented. Barely anyone called the restaurant and the few that did had complicated requests that Theo wasn't sure how to navigate. So when Theo couldn't understand or hear a customer, he simply hung up. He wasn't getting paid for this shift anyway. His father had told him that it would be his way to repay the family some of the expensive tuition they spent on his schooling and Adrian had uncharacteristically remained firm as well.

A sudden crash tore Theo's attention from the phone and he quickly hung up the phone to investigate.

Damien Hydes was busy cringing and trying to fish salad from a well dressed visitor to Arkhelios. Theo had seen him talking to Aunt Wanda before, using the name Maricourt in their conversation. The Maricourts were a famously powerful line of witches and warlocks from all over the globe. They were powerful and smart and dangerous, and Adam just happened to have Maricourt blood in his veins too.

Theo often wondered about what his and Adam's kids would look like if they got together. With a warlock for one parent and a demon studying blood magic for the other, their kids would be the stuff of legends. Pretty cute too, if they took after Adam. Would Theo keep his last name when they got married? He was technically the heir to the Bellamy estate in Arkhelios, but if Adam wasn't interested in that, he could always pass the title to one of his little sisters. Theodosius Ulysses Maricourt had a certain ring to it. No, Theodosius Ulysses Maricourt-Darktide. That was better. Their first kid could have Bellamy as a middle name so Great Grandma Malika didn't burst out of Adrienne's Ouija board and murder them for leaving the Bellamy name in the dust.

"I'd like a table for two please."

Theo snapped abruptly out of his fantasy and back to the cold reality where he wasn't married to his best friend. His great-aunt Darcy was staring at him expectantly for some reason.

"What?"

"I'd like a table for two, Theo," Darcy repeated, looking annoyed. "It's date night for your uncle and I, and we really want to support your father."

Her husband is named Adam. It must be nice to be able to say "my husband, Adam". This is my boyfriend, Adam. I'm Adam's partner.

"Theo? Do you have a table for us? I can seat myself if it's too hard to sort out."

Theo blinked, snapping back to reality for the second time in two minutes.

"There’s a table over there," Theo replied, gesturing broadly towards a row of booths. "You can try over there if you want."

"Another order is up!" Tennyson announced, inspecting a cup to ensure it was clean. Working with Roman was a bit of a side hustle for Tennyson, who mostly wanted to stay on the good side of the rich Bellamy family. If this job didn’t work out, it was no big deal. It was good to see the Hydes boy out as well. His twin brother was away at school while Damien chose to remain in Arkhelios.

Roman nodded and added the new order to the list of orders he was juggling already. Cooking and baking for his family was one thing. It was a lot more hectic preparing meals for strangers on demand.

"Okay, this one should be ready to go," he replied, passing a plate to Damien to serve. "Try not to drop this order too. We only have so many plates."

"Theo, have you seen your sister lately?"

Theo barely looked up from the phone he was suddenly clinging to. Adrian probably wasn't there to yell at him, but Theo had more pressing concerns to deal with. After getting bored of working, he had summoned the courage to call Adam just to chat. Adam hadn't hung up even after they'd exhausted every topic they could think of and talking to him was a much more enjoyable way to pass the time.

"Which one? I have a billion sisters between you and Evren and Dad," he replied snarkily. "How am I supposed to keep track of them? You're the grown-up."

Adrian sighed, pinching his nose and focusing his attention on not strangling the teenager who had made it clear that he didn't want to be there.

"Saturnia. Have you seen Saturnia?" he asked. When Theo shook his head, Adrian sighed again and walked away to continue his search for Roman's daughter. The twins and Fiolett were accounted for and Abe was being babysat along with Adrian and Evren's boys, leaving only Saturnia.

"Saturnia? Where are you?"

Adrian's search ended quickly, having spotted the missing child outside, entertaining something that shouldn't be hanging around food and hungry guests.

Tabitha Durant, or perhaps Tabitha Chun to be generous to the woman who had stolen away Ian Chun from Elaine, was standing, groaning repeatedly at the child. After his own brush with death, zombies were the creatures Adrian hated most to come across. Witches and demons were attractive and powerful, while zombies were powerless and uncomfortable to even look at. Tabitha had technically been Saturnia's step grandmother in life, but to imagine leaving the girl alone with a walking body of rotating flesh was unthinkable.

"Saturnia! Come here, it's not safe!"

While Adrian took off after Theo's little sister, the teen returned his focus to his phone call.

"Sorry Adam, my stupid step-father thinks I should know where my hoard of siblings are at all times."

To his horror, there was no reply. The dial tone haunted Theo's ears. Adam had hung up on him. Adam hadn't been able to wait for Theo to answer his step-father. Adam was bored of him.

Theo cringed, trying not to panic. Surely he had accidentally hung up or the line was dead for the entire block. Someone probably ran their car into the phone network box on the street outside. That was definitely better than Adam hanging up on him.

"Theo? How's your shift going now? I saw your stepdad yelling at a zombie outside, so we can talk, right?"

Theo's heart skipped a beat and threatened to stop altogether.

"Adam? You're here?"

Thank whatever god or mystical force that allowed witches to teleport in the blink of an eye. After their conversation had been interrupted once again by the business of running a restaurant, Adam had come to see his friend in person. Theo blinked and tried to think of something cool to say. He blinked again, completely blanking on how to speak when Adam smiled at him.

"Hi." It was lame, but at least it was a word.

"I was hoping to get a table here," Adam said kindly, seeing that Theo's brain was slowly trying to reboot itself and failing. "You're welcome to join me if you want."

Dinner with Adam? He's asking me to dinner? As friends or is this a date? It's probably just out of pity for having to stay here and help. He's such a good friend, that's all this is.

"Yes. I'll find something," Theo promised before being cut off by Adam wrapping his arms around him in a hug. He honestly thought he might die of the complicated feelings rushing to his head.

"Great, it's always good to eat your dad's cooking. Mine is the worst at it, despite being a potion master. I'm sure he won't mind me charging a dinner to him that's actually worth eating."

#sims 2 #arkhelios #arkhelios adventures #tabitha durant #theo bellamy #sim: theo bellamy #saturnia bellamy #sim: saturnia bellamy #sim: Adam Darktide #adam darktide #damien hydes #adrian siew #sim: adrian siew #darcy mishra

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luverofralts · 1 year

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Arkhelios University

2 Years Later...

Ironman looked at his son with mixed emotions. The only time he saw Nikolai these days was when they exchanged the children for visitation. Obviously leaving him at the altar while he had an existential crisis about his new body had been a step too far for Nikolai. The former servo needed to “find out who he was now”, or so Nikolai had screamed at him the last time Ironman had tried to bring up their relationship. It was a fair point, even if it made all the emotions he’d never been able to process before build up in his chest until he felt like he was about to burst. Who was Ironman now? How did he navigate as a human in a world he’d thought he understood?

The twins were Ironman’s only joy now, aside from the members of the Helios family who had come to rely on his guidance in life. Roman and the kids came over often to bake with him, and as much as Elaine denied it, she’d been making excuses to stay home with the former servo when he was upset. She insisted that she needed that time to go over her investments, but Ironman knew the truth. Even if he didn’t have Nikolai, he still had a family.

The Rivales family was slowly beginning to heal and move past the shadow of Kamalani. Roman insisted that she would never return and the bewildered family took him at his word. There had been no explanation of the call they’d felt towards Kamalani that night or why it had summoned people they barely knew. Emilia had shrugged and chalked it up to a supernatural mystery that they didn’t have the relevant pieces to understand and no one challenged that interpretation. The less they thought about potential demons running around in their family tree, the better. It had taken months after Kamalani’s demise for Roman to get in the proper headspace to acknowledge his half-sister, and despite their previous bad blood, Theo and Keiki appeared to have settled on a sense of mutual dislike for each other. They weren’t friends, but they weren’t enemies and it was a compromise Roman was happy with. The two of them had been through trauma together and been forced to acknowledge what the other was capable of. Theo felt bad about her mother and Keiki felt bad that because of his power, Theo was frequently placed into dangerous situations.

Roman was still working on his feelings towards Keiki’s father, who had spent countless hours with him without even mentioning once that he had been in love with Roman’s mother. That he had been a large part of why she had abandoned Roman. While he felt bad that his mother had manipulated and abandoned Osbert too, Roman wasn’t sure if he could ever forgive the man who had had an affair with his mother for years without a second thought for her son or the husband she hated.

Keiki had really hit it off with Juliet, Oriana’s unconventionally featured daughter. Both girls were misunderstood and teased at school and they had formed a friendship because of it.Oriana didn’t pay much attention to her daughter, who she had pushed nearly every law of science to create only to get bored of her when a new experiment popped up. Benvolio was an attentive father and he tried to spend every waking moment with his daughter as he was living on borrowed time. Both he and Oriana could die at any time, leaving their daughter in the hands of the greater Helios family, so he tried to make up for it by seizing every day to be a good father. Oriana did try, though she had the exact same relationship with Nicholas as well. Science could only get her so far in life and demons didn’t often make a deal with the same person twice.

Already she could feel the time slipping through her fingers. Her energy had to be shared with Benvolio and some days she was barely able to get out of bed and dressed for the day. She had unfortunately lost the pregnancy she had started when Benvolio was resurrected because of this drain on her body. She had cheated death for a time, but there had been a price to pay. she would have a shorter life and be incapable of sharing her energy to make new life. As someone who didn’t care for parenting, this was a fine trade; as a mad scientist looking to push the boundaries on life and death, it had stung. Having this one avenue of study taken away from her only made her more determined to collect data from other beings who had been resurrected, much to the irritation of Adrian Siew.

“Naethan is crying because of you!”

“No, he’s crying because his father is never around which means he doesn’t know who you are!” Kaeileen snapped angrily. “You can’t just show up with a toy and expect your son to be comfortable around you. I told you last week that he had a doctor’s appointment, but you’re just ‘so busy’. Busy doing what exactly? Why won’t you just take your son to the park once a week? Spend some time with him before he leaves for college!”

Nathan rolled his eyes, looking as irritated as the day Kaeileen had told him she was pregnant.

“Gareth and I are planning a wedding. I can’t just drop everything and run off to take Naethan to the park. Maybe if someone still wanted to marry you, you’d understand.”

Kaeileen fumed internally, but tried her best to hide her reaction. Nathan was just trying to rile her up and she refused to play his games. The few times he visited with Naethan, he was positive and playful with their son. It had to be Kaeileen specifically that he insisted on being a jackass to, so Kaeileen followed his own mother’s example and tried her best to ignore that Nathan was in her life, save for the child support he had been forced to pay her.

Saturnia was a happy toddler, easily fitting in with the kids of Arkhelios. She wasn’t as moody as Theo or as excitable as her sisters, endearing her to her already delighted grandmother. Elaine spent enough time with Saturnia to mark her as her clear favourite, though the other kids really didn’t mind. Grandma Elaine going on about proper financial planning was an experience that most of the Helios grandchildren could do without.

“Fiolett! How are you doing? Excited for dinner?”

Roman appeared out of the Helios kitchen just in time to catch the newest member of the Siew family. He made a silly face and the toddler and her father laughed.

“She’s extremely excited,” Adrian replied with a tired smile. “Finally a decently cooked meal. Between her teething and Evren fighting off morning sickness, we’ve been living off soup and ginger ale for the past week.”

The toddler smiled back at Roman, making his heart melt. Who knew that your ex-husband could be your best friend and that seeing him with another man’s child was rewarding instead of causing jealousy? He would never have imagined that Adrian would have anything in common with Wanda’s involuntary witch recruit, but the two of them really seemed to be good for each other. Having Evren around had done wonders for Theo’s grades as well. The man swore that he wasn’t a talented witch or teacher, but Theo’s report card said differently.

Fiolett had been a happy accident, just like Luciana and Adrienne, but the instant she was born, her parents had committed to having more children together. Since Adrian had a legitimate heir and a spare to his title, he and Evren weren’t rushing to the altar despite their kids. Roman had no doubt that they would get married in time, but unlike his ex-husband, Adrian wasn’t planning to rush into another marriage.

Mikel, Elaine’s newest and least adored grandchild, had also been a surprise to the family. From his yellow eyes and soft blond hair, it wasn’t difficult to identify his father. The only thing Elaine hated more than Lucy’s constant relationship drama was the proof that Lucy had no respect for her workplace. Having your boss’ demon child was a sin Elaine couldn’t forgive, even though her expectations for her children were already extremely low.

As Elaine’s heir once more, Lucy knew that her mother had impossible dreams for her and she couldn’t care less about them. She had Noelle to inherit the estate one day, so Mikel’s father shouldn’t matter to her mother. Were they going to keep dating? Lucy couldn’t think of a reason to stop seeing Michael unless management stepped in and that didn’t seem to be happening any time soon. Until then, Lucy would do whatever she wanted.

“Evren! I’m surprised to see you. I thought you’d be resting. Fiolett is doing just fine with Adrian.”

Abe smiled at the warlock, who still looked a little pale if he was being honest. Abe could certainly relate to pregnancy discomfort. Between his difficult pregnancy with Theo, and the twins and Saturnia’s emergency births, Abe wasn’t planning on having any more children. Hopefully Evren would have a calm, normal pregnancy like he had with Fiolett.

“Wanda brewed me up something that helped,” Evren replied, pausing when Theo came running down the hall at the sound of his voice.

“Evren!” The little demon hybrid clung to the warlock, excited to see him there when he hadn’t been expected. “I practiced my homework like you showed me and the butterflies appeared just like you said they would! My teacher gave me an A-, which was higher than my friend Medora got. Adam said that he could summon fireflies and that he was going to show me at his mom’s house on the weekend. His mom said we could order pizza if we want, so we’re going to get the biggest pizza and split it with his sister. Can Luciana and Adrienne come? Please? Adam’s mom said it was okay!”

Evren smiled and ruffled Theo’s hair playfully.

“That sounds like fun; make sure you check with your stepdad first though. You know all the activities your sisters are signed up for on the weekends.”

Evren wasn’t lying. Even Abe, who had been raised by Elaine with her insane expectations, thought the amount of extracurricular activities that Adrian had signed the twins up for was excessive. Some activities were helpful to keep the kids out of trouble though. Abe made sure that Theo and Saturnia accompanied their siblings to dance, skating and piano lessons and even allowed them to stay over occasionally at their stepdads’ house.

Stepdads. Despite Roman being assured by lawyers that his marriage to Adrian had been dissolved upon Adrian’s death, the strangely blended family still referred to Adrian and Evren as the stepdads of Abe’s children. Despite everything, Adrian wanted to be a part of Theo and Saturnia’s lives. Despite everything, Abe found himself grateful for that fact.

It had been a long, terrible journey, but the Bellamy family would survive. After everything, the adversity they endured had only made them stronger. For the first time in a long time, Abe felt optimistic about where his life was going. He had a husband and children who loved him, a house to live in and his mother's attention was once more on Lucy and not him. The Bellamy family was going to be just fine.

The End

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