New Beginning 24: Begin Again

[Celadon's Penultimate]

The Narrator wrote

"I too don't desire to be caught anytime soon", he said aloud, "If you all
desire, I can take you to the Narrator's Sanctum, a haven if you will that
can't be found by conventional means."

A web of energy swirled around in the air, behind him.  The portal cracked
and wooshed the air.

"Follow me if you want, but waiting here any longer would be simply
foolish..." He listened knowing the sirens were sounding louder.

"It's spacious enough, just step through...."

He walked through the portal, and disappeared.

Sanctum? That had a sort of intriguing ring to it, the Penultimate had to admit. Not to mention, the portal itself was rather impressive; the Penultimate had yet to experiment with teleportation and quantum physical space in too much detail. In the end, his curiosity got the better of him, and he stepped forward.

"I don't know about you, Marv" he said, "but I'm curious to see where the Narrator's story goes!"

He whipped up as many rudimentary physical and mental protections as his subconscious could muster, before taking a bold stride through the awaiting spatial rift.

[The Junkyard Cat]

It wasn't hard to find these individuals... There we're four of them now as the his sister's voice echoed in his head a faint whisper of a thought as she points out the one walking away into the portal. "That one is making me hungry..... So I can't eat any of them?" Providence chuckled as he stood alone on the roof. The targets had to be captured alive as well as their associates. "That's right no eating them whole.... But a bite won't kill them either." He could sense how giddy she got from the promise of a bite. This was a job plain and simple, but why not enjoy the work. Make it as... Hehehe pleasurable as possible, but they had a limited window once that portal would close. "Can you sniff out where they are going?" he spoke aloud to hear the voice within his mind reverberate. "Of course brother, what kind of predator would I be if I could rip one right into their little hide-y hole." Good... Just good they would have their prize soon and then they can move on from their past.

[Philote]

Picking myself up from where the water had carried me, I cough up the remaining liquid that was in my lungs. Besides the plain weirdness of it, I did not feel any discomfort as if I was in danger of drowning.

The others were already moving on as if the whole exchange had not been a nuisance to them at all. In their place was a portal to who knew where and very little answered questions.

With the arrival of police sirens in the distance, my decision was made. I leap into the portal after them. After all, there would be no solving this mystery by being left behind.

[The Narrator]

As he fell between the planes of existence, he felt as if he was slipping.  Somehow here and there at the same time.  The peace and rest he felt was quickly dismantled as he heard two voices arguing.


"Daddy!!!!" she cried out, "You said you'd read us a story today!"

Still groggy, he looked at himself in the mirror.  Locs slightly graying, he thought he still looked decent for 37.  

"Dad, you promised!" the young boy jumped into The Narrator's face.  

"Well kids, I would read to you all, but I can't find the Variorum." he replied, knowing he hid it earlier in the day.

The young girl reached behind her, pulling the tome from seemingly nowhere.  

"Daddy, I found it."

The young boy looked dumbfounded and angry.

He yelled, "You got the book last time!  It was my turn to get it from Hammerspace!"  He held out his hands in front of him, the Variorum floating to his arms.  

"Ash, stop yelling at your Lily." the Narrator replied, reaching for the book.

Ash stuck out his tongue at sister.  The book raised up, hitting him his face.

"Lily!  What did I say about using our powers on our siblings?"

She looked down, guilty, "Don't use our powers to cause sibling showers..."

"Exactly.  I guess I'll read to you children since I said I would."

The twins sat on their father's lap, shining their 6 year old faces at them.  

"Now kids, this story happened over ten years ago." he began, opening the book.  THe pages flipped to a spot in the near middle of the book, flickering with light they showed a series of beings, good, evil, and those in between.  

"Look, it's Uncle Penny!" Lily said, point to The PenUltimate's picture excitedly.  

"Myself is my favorite!" Ash said, morphing into feline humanoid.  

"I guess I'm just a background character huh kids?" Narrator responded.

He cleared his throat.  
"Remember this, doppelgangers are a big deal in the magical community, and typically, they exist separated by time, location, or a combination of the two.  I once seen a ritual where doppels would try to unify themselves with their other half to become whole.  Balanced, perfect, together.  Granted, that fusion would only leave one persona remaining in control, it's a big deal.  And their were some beings I ran into who did just that, somewhat."

"Somewhat Daddy?"

"Yes Lily.  Most people can fall pray to this, and become overtaken their wills overriden.  Some beings have a will that isn't easily broken.  But more on that later...."

"Basically. Some people caused a big ruckus and came to my Sanctum."  The book shined bright as it projected the past event in front of them.

"They entered the Narrator's Sanctum, and he spoke to them. "Welcome to the Narrator's Sanctum.  Make yourselves at home, I know I have..."

 

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Crossing his arms, in the most obvious attempt to seem aloof, the Penultimate put on his best deadpan expression and snarked, "Hm...it's nice. I think I could stand to set up my own space like this. Well, Storyteller Supreme...you called us here. Providing a reason might be nice. What's this place for? And why offer your refuge. Not that I'm not grateful, of course."