The Fate of A Pendragon

The Spare Room

Billie Eilish- Lovely

    Temps is a cute kid. He's smart and he's really advanced in intellect and magic. He says he dreams the things he knows. Sometimes he sits around and just dwells on his abilities to see things he says comes from the waves. I think he means the magical leylines of the multiverse. My sister is trying her best to keep up with him but without her extra abilities, she gets easily frustrated. 

    "What are going to do with him?" my mom asked. As if on cue, my baby brother started to cry. She went over to him and picked him up. She has her hands full with him and Rose. 

    "We have a spare room in our place," Young suggested. I looked over at him a little shocked. "I mean, how hard can it be to take care of a kid who's always taken care of himself?" 

    "Very," my mom glared at me. I smiled at her. 

    "Yes, very," Elise added, smiling at Young. 

    "Okay, so we'll have a house where two found lost kids live. What's another one?" I shrugged. 

    "Really?" my mom asked. "You two think you're ready for that? You just got your own place. Not to mention that you have a vicious guard dog," 

    "Lolita is your fault. You like messing with her. She only acts that way around you," I scoffed. She rolled her eyes at me as she tucked Malex into the stroller. He's not crying anymore but he is wide awake. 

    "Gwaiin and I would be able to take him in. He is going to need me with his training," Elise added. 

    "Yeah, like on the weekends," Young scoffed. "He needs to start school, interacting with others, he needs to be in a less frustrating environment. You're just going to want to see what he can do already and he doesn't need to be on his toes all the time. That's what we're here for," 

Did my heart not know it loved him this much until now? 

    "He's not wrong," I shrugged when they looked at me. 

    "Alright, we'll try it your way," Elise agreed. 

    The two of them began to make their way outside. When he was sure they were gone, he turned to look at me. He doesn't really care about the kid. At least not in the selfless kind of way. He's doing this for me, I think. Giving me what I want. He's been doing this for a while now. Guilt is becoming his new toxic trait.

    "You didn't have to do that," I smiled at him. 

    "I did. My parents are going to treat him like a science experiment. He's just a kid. We should give him the chance to be," he extended his hand for me to take and I took it. 

    This is either going to really change our perspective on life or it's going to crash and burn. I can't really accuse him of anything because he's not doing anything wrong. If I'm wrong, the kid is going to suffer and that's the last thing I want. I stopped him before we got to the game room. He looked down at me questioningly. 

    "I don't want to be a b***h about this. I've been meaning to say something about it but, I get it. Feeling guilty sucks," I shrugged. He took a deep breath as he turned his eyes away from me. "This is one of those things you can say no to. You don't have to give me this if you're not comfortable with it," 

    "Li, you're not the only one who lost something that day," he placed his hands on both sides of my face and pulled me close to him. "My guilt for all the s**t that's happened to us is mine and I'm going to live with that. The kid-that kid needs us as much as we need him. We've got everything else together, baby. But we're completely f*****g lost. We can all heal together," 

    "I- that's a lot for the kid shoulder. Don't you think? He has to be more than that," 

    "He will be, but right now. We're all he's got. No one else is going to help him the way we can," he placed his forehead against mine. "This one is for us. For those, we couldn't save and those we didn't know, needed saving,"

    "Okay," I nodded placing my hands on his wrists to pull away from him. He let go, offering me his hand again. 

    The way Temps's eyes light up when he sees us is adorable. He rushed over to us as soon as Meer finished tying his shoe. She then took Rose with her to give the three of us some time alone. He took my hand and pulled me over to the table with a bunch of very vivid and beautiful drawings were placed all next to one another. He took one from the center and handed it to me. It's a picture of three grownups. Young, me, and a man I've never seen before. The man is holding a baby in his arms. The way he's looking at the baby is tender. With love. I dropped the drawing and stepped away. It's him. He's the man holding the child. 

    "Je ne voulais pas te contrarier," he picked it up. (I didn't mean to upset you).

    "I know," I whispered. "It's not your fault. It was actually a kind gesture," it really was. My head is just a little too f****d up to accept it right now. It's way too soon for any of this.

    "Quand tu es prêt, je peux le rendre," (When you're ready, I can give it back). 

    "Keep it. It's yours," I shook my head. He smiled, folding the drawing and then sticking it in his back pocket. "I think you already know what I'm going to say," 

    "Je veux quand même l'entendre," (I want to hear it anyway.) 

    "Young and I have a spare room, a few. You have options, in our home. We want to know if you're okay with coming with me and him?" I glanced at Young before meeting the kid's eyes again. His eyes got watery. 

    "I'd love to," he answered so that Young knows what his answer is as well. 

    "Get your stuff then," Young ordered. 

    Temps rushed to follow through on the demand. He took the backpack Rose had given him and put all the art supplies Meer had gotten him in it. Along with some of the drawings on the table. Young held his hand out for me to take and I offered mine to the boy. Temps paused for a second before taking it. 

    "Let's go home then," I smirked at him. 

    He got a little car sick. He had never been in one and I honestly should have used a portal. I can't imagine what it would be like for him to get on Andre. I watched two wolves wrestling on my lawn as we climbed out of the car. Set is sitting on my front door steps while Lolita and Scraps are play fighting. He's really taken by the fight. I pushed him with my foot, he got up, jumping into an attack position. Temps laughed. 

    "Don't do that," he sighed. 

    "We drove up," Young shook his head. "You can come out of the bush," 

    "Awe man," Aurora jumped out from the bushes by the gate. 

    "I can see mana. You know that right?" I asked her. She laughed. 

    "Right," she shrugged. "Who's the kid?" 

    "This is Temps," Young introduced him. "New member of the Gwaiin family," 

    Temps's eyes lit up like nothing I had ever seen before. The smiled on lips faded and his eyes began to pool with tears again. 

    "Let's show you around," I motioned him inside. "Settle this, set," I motioned the wolves. "Rory, make sure he doesn't start fighting with them," 

    "Yes, ma'am," she laughed. 

    "Oi," Set called out to the wolves. 

    Young instantly began to talk about the house. He had digitally modeled the structure for me before I materialized. He designed and had me scan every single detail that went into the place before I started prototypes. We had a lot of fun making this place. He calls it Gwaiin Manor. Cam was the first to call him out on it. Especially the front gates that look exactly like the front gates of Wayne Manor in Batman the Animated Series. Which we now have on blue-ray. 

    The house itself looks nothing like Wayne Manor. He wanted something more open. It looks like three one floor homes badly stacked on top of each other. It all seems normal and modern but the place is a fortress. Built-in a way that makes it difficult to gain ground if intruders were coming in from the first floor or the roof. There's no way in from the sides. And it's all activated by our mana. The first mana adaptive home of it's kind. 

    Temps is completely engrossed by what Young is saying. He understands the power and the brilliance behind Young's masterpiece. He hasn't geeked out about the house since he was explaining it to Meer who was equally enthusiastic about knowing everything about the house as Temps is now. 

    "So, which room do you want?" Young asked when he was done. 

    "This one," 

    He pointed at the room with a clear view of the waterfall that leads down to Blood Fountain. The kid has amazing survival skills because if we were to ever get a home invasion, that is the quickest way to safety. Elise was right, the kid knows how to take care of himself. 

    I placed my hand on the floor dematerializing everything in the room to give him the option of setting the area up for himself. He came over to me with a picture and held it up to me. I pictured the layout in my head before showing him a projection of what I think the room would look like. He came over to me and placed his hand on my wrist. Everything moved around in a quick zooming motion. He then pointed out that this is how he wanted his room. I materialized everything into place. 

    It's a strange feeling. I feel light-headed. I pulled out my phone to see he had skipped time three hours. He took a step out of the room and reversed it back to the time it was before. All except the room. Young looked around a little disoriented before meeting my eyes. I looked over at Temps who is now looking around the room happily. 

    "Oh," I finally gasped for air. He looked up at me with a smile. "Okay, rules. There's going to be a few," 

    "Oui,' he nodded. 

    "Never do that to anyone without their permission ever again," I scolded. "Agreed?"

    "Bien entendu," he agreed. 

    "How long does this feeling last?" I asked. 

    "A few minutes. Sit," he patted the bed. I went over to him and sat down. Everything is spinning. 

    "Did this happen to you the first time, when you were alone?" I asked. He nodded. "How old were you?" 

    "Four," he answered. 

    "How long have you been alone?" I asked. He looked down at his hands counting on his fingers. He held seven fingers up. 

    "In the forest?" Young asked him. He nodded. 

    "Do you remember who your parents are?" 

    "Je me souviens de tout depuis la première fois que j'ai ouvert les yeux," (I remember everything since the first time I opened my eyes). 

    "As an infant?" I whispered. He nodded. 

    "f**k," Young sighed. 

    Temps reached into his backpack and pulled out a picture. Once again, I found myself looking away. It's a f*****g picture of time and another woman. Elise had found that he had been married and had families outside of Fate. I had an idea of who he had been based on what Fate had shown us and what he had recorded. To find that he could be a person outside of what he did to Fate made me sick. Makes me sick. 

    "Would you like us to find her?" Young asked pointing at the woman. 

    "Elle est partie. Il l'a tuée," he shrugged. (She's gone. He killed her).