#arkhelios university

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios University

Roman sat quietly, leaning his back against the wooden bench and trying to breathe. He’d been to Murder Park many times over the years -he’d even proposed to Abe there. He didn’t feel this haunting chill during the day visiting the park. The harsh sunlight of the Arkhelios desert brightened the atmosphere of the park considerably. During the day, dark memories didn’t plague Roman’s mind. During the day, he sometimes brought Theo and the girls to play at the park. During the day, he could forget.

But it wasn’t possible to keep running from the past anymore. Roman’s life would never be safe until he remembered what he’d made sure to forget. Until he could remember....

He had been sitting on the hard, uncomfortable bench for what felt like hours, just waiting for something to happen. Despite his best efforts, nothing new was coming to him. Roman could vaguely remember bits and pieces of his past and some blurry scenes that he couldn’t be entirely sure that he wasn’t inventing. He was at war with himself. One part of him wanted to remember more than anything, while another desperately wanted to crawl somewhere safe and hope that this situation somehow resolved itself. Abe and the kids were in danger though.That had to be the most important thing to remember. Adrian had died because of him, but Abe was still alive. He could save Abe and their unborn child. He could save himself. All he had to do was remember.

Roman closed his eyes once more, trying to place himself in the past by focusing on the sights and sounds of the park around him. He heard the low sound of nearby traffic, something that wasn’t common seven years ago when he was a teen. There were more streetlights now as well, and the nearby Rivales factories had expanded to compete with the business of Pia’s new husband. The wind was unchanged and this bench had been a silent witness to some of Roman’s lost history, so he focused on them.

A small fleeting memory came to mind and Roman immediately latched onto it before it escaped.

He was at home in the hallway. He was trying to teleport out to see Abe, but failing. His grandparents were arguing in the kitchen. He could hear Hunter playing his guitar upstairs. He’d already tried walking out the front door, only to be stopped by what he didn’t know was a demon trap. Maybe if he was quiet, he could bolt to the front door without being seen. Maybe the trap had to be activated by someone watching the door. Maybe if he could sneak out quietly, he could break the ward and disappear to see Abe again.

Roman frowned. This wasn’t helpful. He could easily remember being scared of his family as a teen and frustrated by their endless rules about Abe. He needed to unblock the uncomfortable memories, the ones that would give him something to work with to protect his family.

He traced the scar on his right wrist absentmindedly as he often did when he was stressed. The cut had been deep enough to require stitches, but it had only been treated with magic. Roman didn’t remember receiving the scar or how it had been treated, but the faint powdery residue of a spell had clung to his skin for days afterward.

The second time his fingers trailed along the old wound, something sparked in Roman’s brain. Blood magic was powerful and deep and not easily dismissed. Even years later, that connection to magic could still be made. His scars were more than just physical damage to his body; they held the memory of the magic they were made by.

He pressed harder against a raised scar and was rewarded with a brief flash of recognition and feeling. Anger bubbled up inside of him, along with terror and helplessness. His finger dug across the raised skin of his arm and memory flooded his mind.

He was slumped over the bathtub in the familiar bathroom of the Bellamy house. He could see it now. A soft voice was speaking in hushed latin, or so he thought. His latin skills hadn’t improved a bit in the years that had passed since this memory. He did recognize the voice though. It was undeniably his mother.

Roman could feel the sharp aching of the fresh wounds on his arms. He could smell blood and feel the cool bathroom tiles beneath him. His mother was murmuring to herself, still in Latin, like she was alone in the room. She didn’t expect Roman to be awake, to be a witness to her cruelty. What spell had she been working on? What was Roman’s blood being used to do? Was any part of himself being used against his will to hurt his then boyfriend or son?

While his mind raced to remember more of this memory, it was quickly overtaken by another. Now that he had teased out a small fragment of his memory, his mind was racing to unblock his trauma and memories began snowballing down his consciousness. The dam had broken, there was no stopping the process now.

“Faster, Roman. You can do better than this.”

Roman didn’t even know what he was remembering. There he was in his dark form, long before he even realized that he had one, fighting what honestly looked like a nightmare. His face remained blank, his eyes glassy. It looked like he was in a trance and maybe he was. Maybe his mother was mind controlling him like he suspected she controlled Keiki.

But why? What good did pitting her hybrid son against a monster do her? Was she training him to attack someone for her? Was he just fodder in case her father came around, looking to start a fight? He didn’t know what he could possibly offer his mother that she didn’t already have, aside from being able to get close to Abe or Theo.

With that chilling thought, Roman felt his body grow cold in the desert night.

Was this what she did with Keiki? Was this training what his little half-sister had experienced before her body was used to presumably kill his father? If Kamalani also used Roman in this way, had he killed someone? If so, who? The thought was nauseating. How could any one who loved their child use them in this way?

“He’s not capable of what you want, Kama. Can we please reevaluate this idea?”

Roman’s heart sank hearing the familiar voice that called to his mother.

Grandma? You helped her with this?

This betrayal wasn’t surprising, but it was upsetting. Malika had endorsed several of Kamalani’s schemes, including trying to cause Abe to miscarry from sheer stress, but this was different. This was too far. Roman was being used as a puppet, his own body being used to carry out what he could only assume were terrible things.

And who do you think they were training you to kill?

Roman tried to shove the question down far enough that it would never be thought again. Where he never had to entertain the idea in his lifetime. Where he could re-lock these old memories away and blissfully forget.

They wanted Abe dead. They wanted Theo dead. They wanted Dorhack dead.

Using Roman’s body to kill Abe or Theo surely didn’t require this much practice, so Roman had to assume that he was intended to get between Dorhack and his daughter, even if it only gave her a few minutes more to escape. Maybe his body was resisting the command to kill Abe and Kamalani needed the practice controlling him before starting an attack.

The idea of him waking from a trance with Abe or Theo’s blood on his hands was so terrible he nearly threw up. He couldn’t live with himself if this plan had been put into action and he hoped for Keiki’s sake that he was wrong about her role in Omar’s death. It was a terrible thing to live with and to do it to your own child?

“It feels like forever since I’ve last seen you. How’s the family?”

Roman’s eyes flew open in an instant, hearing the familiar voice outside of his memories.

“The summons worked?” he whispered quickly, barely aware that he’d spoken the words.

“Looks that way, doesn’t it?”

Kamalani’s voice was colder than Roman remembered it. Maybe it had frozen in the darkness of the Void. Maybe she just didn’t care about hiding her true self anymore.

“Mom! You’re here! You’re actually here!”

Kamalani brought out the scared little boy in Roman, reaching instinctively for his mother, even though he knew he’d only get hurt for trying. He felt a small amount of pride that he’d been successful in summoning his mother, considering how terrible he was at both magic and latin. The pride was easily overwhelmed by a mixture of anger and fear though. Now that his mother was standing two feet in front of him in a demon trap, was he capable of following through with his plan? How could he even look at her remembering what she’d done to him?

“Roman, was this really necessary? You get yourself so worked up sometimes. I’m sure that you’ve been made aware of my daring escape from  the sovereign’s clutches by now. I have to keep a low profile; I can’t just appear every time you decide that you need a hug from Mommy.”

“How? Just how? How are you able to function, being as self-involved as you are? Do you really think that I’m standing here, looking for maternal affection? You’ve never been maternal towards me in all my life! You killed my husband! You killed my father! Why the hell would I expect love from you?”

Kamalani rolled her eyes, but still took a moment to pause.

“Your husband was an accident,” she said quietly. “It wasn’t supposed to happen that way. I miscalculated.”

She didn’t deny killing Dad. Is this the closest thing I’ll get to an admission?

“And you’re sorry about that? You apologize for nearly killing my children and forcing them to grow up without a father?”

Roman knew that his mother would never let the words “I’m sorry” ever leave her mouth, but surely some remorse might be visible in her face or body language. Instead of remorse, Kamalani looked irritated, like this confrontation was an inconvenience and not something her son was desperate for.

“You’ve been to the Void,” she sighed. “It’s not an exciting place to visit, is it? You’ve never even seen the truly deep areas. Would you want to stay in that miserably cold hellhole on a time out? I did what I had to to escape. I was being unfairly punished for something my father did.”

“I can’t imagine what it must be like to be punished for your parent’s mistake,” Roman spat. “I can’t possibly imagine what it’s like to have a parent betray you and cut you and leave you for dead! I can’t imagine how hard it is to have to explain to your children that their father’s not coming back, that I may not come back one day all because of my parent. Can you even hear yourself?”

“This is the way of our people,” Kamalani hissed back, clearly not appreciating her son’s words. “We make deals. We make compromises. If you want something then you go after it no matter the cost. And there is always a cost, Roman. Nothing in life is free. People get hurt. Do I like these facts? No, but I’ve accepted them. Sometimes getting what we want means that someone else doesn’t get their way. Accept it.”

“Accept that you’ve taken so much from me without giving me anything in return?” Roman shouted, not even caring who heard him. “Look at me, Mom! You’ve disfigured me! I had to stay in the hospital to fix everything you did to me and you never even stuck around to comfort me! To explain why I had to suffer for your sake! You stole the body of your child, which, by the way, thanks for telling me about! Do I have any more surprises you want to admit to before I run into them? Maybe an older half-sibling, since you’re apparently three hundred fucking years old?”

A curious look flashed across Kamalani’s face despite herself.

“You flatter me thinking that I’m only three hundred,” she replied smugly. “A woman never speaks about her age though. As for any potential siblings, who am I to comment on that? I left you clues to find Keiki because she needed her family. Maybe there are others who aren’t in need of your help. It’s hard to say.”

“Why didn’t you tell me or Osbert about her?” Roman demanded, only getting more frustrated by the minute. As usual, his mother was speaking to him like she would a child. “Why didn’t you take me with you? Why leave me with Grandma?”

“I think you may have noticed this, but your grandmother feels entitled to you as her heir,” Kamalani remarked dryly. “You were made to seal a contract between us, there was no way that she would have let you go, no matter what I said. Besides, your father was there too. He should have to look after you, not me. Humans love raising kids.”

There was so much Roman needed answers to, but time was running out. His mother looked like she was getting bored and he needed to kill her before she made an effort to escape.

"Oh, like you're not human, Romana?" he countered bitterly. "You're apparently a Rivales now? When were you going to tell me that? Just how human are you exactly? No wonder Dorhack's ashamed of you. A hybrid demon afraid to admit to it. You’re not one of the special demons like you pretend you are."

Something dark spread across Kamalani's features, something that Roman couldn't quite read. She paused for a moment, clearly choosing her words carefully.

"I wouldn't speculate about things you don't understand," she replied, her voice as cold as ice. Kamalani stared at her son in an inhumane way, dark and angry and hateful. Clearly Roman had struck a nerve. "Maybe your question is backwards, and instead of wondering how human I am, you should be asking how demonic the Rivales are. Your dark form is a pale, poor copy of most of theirs after all. And besides, your precious sovereign is a hybrid, not that she’d admit to it. Only the foolish care about lineages and genetic percentages. A real demon judges someone for what they can do, before they learn that lesson the hard way. Trust me, you’ll want to remember that when your little abomination gets older. Only the strongest of us survive, Roman. People may challenge him because of his impressive bloodline from Yours Truly, but if you’re not careful-”

She mimed a decapitation gesture playfully and laughed, seeing how it bothered her son.

Just do it. Do it now, before she hurts your kids. Before she says anything else that makes you want to shut Theo in a bunker to protect him for the rest of his life. She killed Adrian. She practically confessed to killing Dad. Just kill her before she hurts anyone else.

Roman reached for the knife he’d stored in his pants, still red from the animal blood he’d needed for the summoning spell. He moved as quickly as he could while his mother looked distractedly at the night sky.

This is for my kids. For Adrian and Abe and Ulyssa and everyone else my mother will hurt if I don’t stop her now.

Roman began to lunge at his mother, only noticing a critical detail far too late to change his course. The entire time he’d assumed that she was standing within the demon trap he’d summoned her to, but he hadn’t been paying enough attention. While he had been trying to recover his lost memories, the summoning spell didn’t successfully bring his mother to him. She stood next to the circle, and with one foot deceptively close to its edges, but it hadn’t summoned her.

She’d come of her own choice. She wasn’t trapped at all. She was baiting him instead of the other way around.

“How stupid do you think I am? I always knew that you’d be limited by your father’s genes, but I always hoped that you’d be something like me. Keiki at least has a father with more potential than you. Even Malika could see this. Her children were all mediocre at best, so she placed all of her hopes in you.”

Without effort, Kamalani dodged Roman’s attack and redirected his blade towards his body. Roman was still recovering from the last incisions she’d made and was far too slow to react in time. The blade twisted in his hand, grazing his arm and drawing blood. It wasn’t a deep wound, but added to the freshly healing wounds he’d already had, the pain was enough for him to double over, cradling his injured limb.

Kamalani glared at her son with what could only be described as disgust. Complete revulsion that he had come from her.

“Do you know why I killed your father?” she asked sweetly, seeing that Roman wasn’t able to continue his attack. “Because he was embarrassing. It was embarrassing to be associated with him. The more people began talking about your little abomination, the more people looked into his family. I love your grandmother, she and I have gone through a lot together, but I couldn’t endure being connected to her son. Adam at least I went easy on, since he’s easy on the eyes, but your father? The thought of him repulses me. You look so much like him, Roman, but there was always a spark within you that gave me hope that you could be at least somewhat like me. Now I can see that I was wrong. You’re weak and human and slow to learn your lesson. You’re not strong enough to be my son.”

“Why are you saying this?” Roman demanded, still cradling his wounded arm while trying to fight back tears. “You love me, I know you do! Even inside your twisted reality, you left all those clues for me. You wanted me to go to Pleasantview so you could teach me how to control my powers and we could be a family. You trusted me enough to lead me to Keiki. You and Grandma wanted me to be born for your plan to work. You need me.”

Roman could guess how pathetic he sounded to anyone observing this argument, but he didn’t care. His mother needed him; he knew this. He had to have had some value to her for her to want him to follow her to a different country. Sure, she seemed to hate his father and son, but Kamalani had always shown an interest in Roman’s life and development, even if she only did so through a third party.

“Roman, honey, go back to that Chun boy and have how ever many kids you want. Stick to your human life and forget that I exist,” Kamalani insisted, ignoring her son’s pleas. “There was a time when I thought that I could be your mother, but...I can’t. I just can’t. Tell your son to stay out of my way and we’ll be good. I’m giving you the chance to leave; you should take it.”

With those cruel words, Kamalani vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving her son bleeding on the desert sand.

“We have to do something, Gee. I don’t care what your father says. The demons are up to something again.You’re the Grim Reaper, you have to intervene.”

A tall, horned man stood next to Lukas, deity of life, trying to avoid getting involved in one of their plots again. Technically as the son of Death, Gee was the step-child of Lukas, but he’d known Life for millennia and knew better than just rush into a situation they were asking for help with. Lukas had a habit of angering demons, but Gee loved them all the same. The passing centuries would have been dull without Life’s chaos.

“I’m not sure that it’s at a level that we need to step in,” Gee replied cautiously. “Demons get bored quickly, and really, it’s up to the sovereign to reign them in. Technically, no one’s  really died or tampering with death. I don’t have the authority to get involved.”

“Look out at the garden,” Lukas insisted.

Gee was hoping that there was a reason they were standing outside of Twikkii Island’s castle that didn’t involve Lukas meddling with monarchs again. There was a reason why Lukas usually traveled in the living world in their male form. The various palace guards of different nations knew what their female form looked like from experience.

“The garden’s fine.”

Gee looked around quickly and saw the familiar pink flashing of the Void creep across rose bushes. Beside the flashing flowers, some nearby chairs were also touched by the expanding mass of pink.

“Okay, so the demons are up to something,” Gee sighed, wishing that his father had never promoted him to Grim Reaper. This would undoubtedly get messy if he intervened. “Bring it up with the Demon Sovereign. It’s her problem, not mine.”

“The royal family here was murdered, is that a coincidence?” Lukas pressed. “Seems like awfully convenient timing, considering that Void exposure killed several other people here not too long ago.”

“It’s coincidence,” Gee replied. “The explosion deaths here were all filed under terrorism and the paperwork was valid. It was their appointed time, I can’t change what is meant to be. Your role has the flexibility to interfere with the future and interact with the present. This is your department, not mine.”

Lukas smiled.

“But you have the paperwork. The time and cause of death, the murderers, everything I need to determine who to interfere with. I’ve proved that the demons are up to something, but I need your help to find out who.”

“You proved that the Void may not be functioning correctly or that demons may be exposing innocent humans to it,” Gee said, rolling his eyes. “Which, again, I can’t help you with. You know I can’t give you access to my files, what do you really want from me?”

“Don’t tell your father if I have to interfere,” they pleaded. “I promised to stay away from the demons, at least while your siblings are young, but I have to fix this. The Sovereign is up to something, I just know it and if it’s my job to preserve life and uphold balance, then surely I-”

“There aren’t any scheduled deaths in the region currently,” Gee interrupted. “If you keep it that way, I won’t tell Dad. If I get unauthorized, wrongful deaths on my desk, then you’ll be the one filling out the paperwork and explaining how it happened.”

“Of course.”

#sims 2 #arkhelios #arkhelios university #Roman Bellamy #kamalani bellamy #lukas lane #Malika Bellamy #tw: violence #tw: blood

[potential-fate]

“Like…” Ashe trailed off. 

“Like an arranged marriage, yeah.” Roman scowled. 

“That’s…” Ashe frowned, “people actually still do that?” 

Roman scoffed, “royalty, maybe. And apparently rich people. I wish I could say I was surprised, but she’s been trying to convince me since I was 12 that this was the way to go. Now she just has an excuse.” 

“She… she believes that shit?”

“Yeah. I mean, to be fair to her, my grandparents were arranged and it worked out well for her.” Roman looked away, staring blandly through the foliage in front of them. Ashe only made a quiet sympathetic noise.

#arkhelios #sims stories #sims 2 #sims 2 stories #sims 2 gameplay #ts2 #my posts #Arkh Ch5 #Roman Bellamy #Ashe Dallas #Malika and Salem absolutely were arranged in case that wasn't clear previously #Malika actually really wanted to be with Abraham but that didn't work out. #to be fair I'm not well versed on the practice of arranged marriages in other cultures #but at least in my sims universe it's not the standard #since I'm only familiar with the US so it's heavily based around semi-american culture.

[enkisstories]

Omar: “So, would you say Quadington is a good university?” (...) “Yes, you told me about the zombies already. In fact, you wouldn’t shut up about them. But my question was, how does Quadington hold up academically? You see, Roman is about to leave for college soon. He’s working like a madman for his scholarships already!”

Meanwhile Roman: “Or we could go play pool. That’s worth a scholarship, too.”

Roman is five days away from growing up at the beginning of the first spring round, Abe seven.

#Quadington University #Arkhelios #sims 2 arkhelios #sims2 arkhelios #thesims2arkhelios #sims2 dbh desiderata #sims2 #sims 2 #the sims 2 #thesims2 #ts2 #ts 2 #simblr #arkheliosinvestigations

[auroragoth]

CULTURE

ART

Dreams of the Sea • Rosie Memorial Art Gallery, Sable Square, Brindleton Bay • Nov.26-Dec.18 The Rosie Memorial Art Gallery presents its last exhibition of the year: Dreams of the Sea, by young artist Noah Finch. The exhibit centers around the beautiful yet menacing aura of the sea, the paintings reflecting its eerie elegance and deathly charms, heightened by the masterful watercolour technique of the painter. Evening showings feature haunting piano or violin performances by the artist himself, complementing the various compositions of the exhibition. Noah Finch, native of the Bay, studied art at the University of Britechester and has known a steady rise in popularity since his graduation. The exhibition is on until December, 18th, evening showings are scheduled every Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 6pm.

SERIES

Arkhelios, the iconic drama series, has been renewed for another season! Will Melvin's murder investigation finally reach its conclusion? Will the different resurrections around town be discovered? Will Abe and Roman's relationship survive college life? Whose secrets will finally be revealed by local gossip queen Alex? While we wait for all these questions (and more) to be answered next season (or not), why not binge the whole series again on potentialfate-sims.tv? All past seasons have finally been uploaded for us to savour to our heart's content!

Noah Finch by @rebouks​ | Picture by @rebouks​

Alexandra Munoz & Roman Bellamy & Abe Chun by @potentialfate-sims​ | Pictures by @potentialfate-sims​

Texts by @auroragoth​

Thank you Becca and Allie for your participation 🧡

#SimTalk monthly #noah finch by rebouks #alexandra munoz by potentialfate-sims #roman bellamy by potentialfate-sims #abe chun by potentialfate-sims #rebouks #potentialfate-sims #sims 4 #ts4 #the sims 4 #sims 2 #ts2 #the sims 2 #sims #the sims #simblr #STM1

[nappe-plays-the-sims]

I posted 934 times in 2022

That's 552 more posts than 2021!

185 posts created (20%)

749 posts reblogged (80%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@potentialfate-sims

@saralynnx

@arkhelios-gameplay

@nappe-plays-the-sims

@luverofralts

I tagged 854 of my posts in 2022

Only 9% of my posts had no tags

#arkhelios - 641 posts

#potentialfate-sims - 301 posts

#saralynnx - 181 posts

#sims 2 - 167 posts

#rivales family - 149 posts

#bellamy family - 137 posts

#roman bellamy - 129 posts

#arkhelios-gameplay - 111 posts

#widespot - 100 posts

#abe chun - 92 posts

Longest Tag: 85 characters

#(well this one was just pleasantview but since it's all part of the widespot story...

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

THE FUCKING TODDLER IS CARRYING A TV DINNER FOR SOME REASON AND I CAN’T MAKE IT STOP

24 notes - Posted May 11, 2022

#4

Lilith didn’t seek comfort with her twin, or with her alternate universe self either for that matter. All she had was Dirk, and she clung onto him like a lifeline.

Her parents didn’t allow him to sleep over, of course. Not that she cared. They were too busy screaming at each other to notice her sneaking Dirk in anyway.

The fighting was incomprehensible to Dirk. After what happened to his mother, he thought everyone in Pleasantview would consider themselves lucky to have their spouse alive. Instead, Daniel and Mary-Sue Pleasant seemed determined to make each other’s lives as miserable as possible.

“Are you okay?” Dirk asked, even though he knew the answer was no. He felt Lilith shake her head.

“That damn merge,” Lilith mumbled. Ever since the Merge of Timelines had everyone meet up with their mirror counterpart, her mother had been infuriated that her Daniel had married someone else in that timeline, and her father had been infuriated that his Mary-Sue had married someone else in that timeline. Whoever caused that merge, I wish you a lifetime of pain and suffering, she thought.

25 notes - Posted April 26, 2022

#3

I’ve told my partner to matchmake adult Pleasantview Sims for me. He has never played the game so all he has is a brief description with their biography, zodiac description and personality description, plus interests and employment. Pray for him

26 notes - Posted May 2, 2022

#2

SIMSTOBER - Day 1: Frankenstein’s Monster

Is he alive or dead? Has he thoughts within his head? He was built in Abraham's lab, one of the first Servo prototypes. 

Nobody wanted him, but Abraham saw his potential.

32 notes - Posted October 1, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

See the full post

83 notes - Posted April 3, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

[hubris-hood]

RULES

So the Hubris Hood is gonna work differently from a lot of my other neighbourhoods because I'm really using it to push the limits of Story Progression (and to stream gameplay for my partner).

Right now, I have these hoods in the mix:

Arkhelios Shady Shores Nekojima Widespot RFD Early Strangetown Sunset Valley Arbordale/University Premades Emerald Heights Land Grant University Quaddington University

I intend to add more Maxis hoods to the mix as Early Strangetown and Sunset Valley get closer to being just Regular Pleasantview and Regular Strangetown, But... we'll see how much the HUBRIS gets in the way of that. It might not be possible- adding BDC, for example, is probably going to be a bad idea. I should back this nonsense up early and often, huh? XD

I'm using ROS to pick which town I play in, which family I play in that town, and which random events happen during their rotation. I'm playing very short rotations- the Arkhelios-recommended two-three days- and letting story progression handle everyone while I'm not playing them.

#ts2 #hubris hood #rulespost #may be updated as time goes on

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios University

“Duke Goldman! How lovely to see you again.”

Maura kept her tone polite as she’d been trained to do since birth. The day had already been incredibly long, and it was barely over. After the duke’s visit, she still had several more appointments and a meeting to go through that she was dreading. It was a beautiful day out and despite ruling a country, Maura wasn’t free to go out and enjoy it. While other people got to swim or take long walks on the beautiful beaches of Twikkii Island, Maura would be reviewing graphs and approving budgets. No wonder her grandmother had been miserable to her family; the job as monarch felt more like a prison than anything and it took all of her strength not to run out of the castle in defiance. This was her job. She had a nation to protect and she knew it. It was all up to her.

“It’s great to see you again, Your Majesty,” Ewan Traver, Duke Goldman said with a smile. “I know you’re busy, but I had something I wanted to discuss with you. A close friend of mine thought he might be able to help with your initiative to update the palace gardens. I know you’re looking to maintain security while still having the garden look impressive and I thought....”

Maura tried to retain the smile on her face while still looking interested in talks about the back gardens. Couldn’t any of her family members just come to her like they had in the past? Did she really need to listen to a grand proposal about lawn care? Ewan had fun; she often saw him at the family cottage laughing and playing with his wife and kids. He had a small estate to run and all the time in the world to do what he pleased. When she and Ulyssa had children would she ever have time to play with them or would she be stuck in meetings all day?

“King Charley and Prince Vrai of Strangetown have arrived, Your Majesty,” a voice behind Maura interrupted. “Security is just clearing them now.”

“Thank you.”

What was the Strangetown king visiting about? Maura could hardly remember. Something about their shared security treaties? The upgrades to the ferry service between their two nations? Whatever it was, it would undoubtedly be tedious.

“And if I had even a limited contract, I’m sure that I could improve those statistics in as early as three months.”

Maura focused again on the man eagerly awaiting her response and smiled.

“Submit that proposal in writing to my office and I’ll have someone evaluate it,” she replied politely, completely unaware of what had just been proposed. “It certainly sounds promising. Thank you for your time.”

Ulyssa happily played on the drum set in the ballroom, feeling her frustrations leave her. She was supposed to be en route to the home of the recently revived Duke Siew, but his estate wasn’t far from the castle and Ulyssa would simply teleport there instead of drive. Teleporting meant that her security would teleport with her and she wouldn’t have to spend twenty minutes in a car, staring out the window while four armed guards watched her. It wasn’t as if there were any real threats to her safety. Most of the recent “threats” had all been fraudulent- bored people looking for attention or teens who underestimated the reaction of the castle. And her doctor’s appointment after seeing Adrian? That would be a breeze to get to; what would be hard was protecting any conclusions of that appointment.

“King Charley. Prince Vrai. Welcome to Twikkii Island.”

Maura forced a smile. It wasn’t like the two brothers from Strangetown were difficult people. Maura usually enjoyed their company at balls or formal events, but did they really need to visit and add one more appointment into her schedule? Surely a secured phone call or email could have been just as effective and she could have read or spoken to them in more comfortable clothes and without a heavy tiara.

“Your Majesty,” both brothers replied in unison, Vrai quickly bowing to the queen with higher rank.

“Shall we sit down to discuss your business with Twikkii Island?” she asked, gesturing towards the comfortable chairs in the throne room. “I can have some drinks brought in if you’d like.”

Maura watched the prince’s eyes dart around the throne room, clearly uncomfortable with standing in it. That made some sense to Maura as Vrai was once married to her now deceased grandmother and had probably spent countless hours in the throne room with the woman he loved. As far as she suspected, Vrai had been the only person her grandmother had ever loved, though Maura’s mother would have angrily corrected her if she were still here. But her mother wasn’t there. She never would be again.

“On second thought, let’s move our meeting to my office upstairs,” the young monarch said tactfully. “It would make my security team much happier and I’d much prefer the change in scenery from this room I’ve been trapped in all morning.”

Both men nodded their approval and followed Maura out to the hall towards the staircase. Vrai paused briefly, looking very much like he was evaluating something in his mind. After a moment’s pause, he cleared his throat and looked sheepishly toward Maura.

“Before we do have our meeting, there’s something I should mention,” Vrai announced quickly. “Someone is here- someone I didn’t bring, you have to know that. They usually follow me around -long story- but I didn’t bring them here. They’re not a threat-or at least they’re not usually a threat, but you should still probably know that they’re here all the same.”

Maura raised an eyebrow, suddenly interested in where this conversation was going. Beside Vrai, his brother groaned, massaging his temple.

“Oh god, here too?” he groaned. “Where?”

“The visitor entrance near the parking lot,” Vrai replied. “I couldn’t be sure until I saw the kid. It’s definitely him though.”

“Him? That’s against the treaty!” the king sighed, looking towards the door they’d just entered through as if it could explode at any second. “Why did we ever sign the agreement if they never intended on following it?”

“I told you that you can’t make a deal with a tornado. Order is against its very nature. You can’t order a god to listen to you.”

Maura stared at the brothers, completely lost.

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand,” she said diplomatically. “Are you saying that we’re in danger?”

“No,” the king replied. “But your jewelry might be. Usually their husband makes them return it within a week, but they’re like a magpie, always on the hunt for shiny objects to hoard. How lucky for me that they’ve chosen my brother as their newest pet.”

“What?”

“Smile, Davis! Daddy will want to see all the pictures from our tour of the castle. We’ll get him a keychain from the gift shop when we go for ice cream.”

“No need. Daddy can come along with you for ice cream, after we all do the tour.”

“Daddy!”

 The pale, stereotypical tourist groaned, realizing that they’d been caught.

“Who told you?” he demanded, holding his arms defensively. “I brought our son, I’m not going to do anything with Davis around.”

“No one needs to tip me off; I just wanted to spend some time with you. Although, the red hair and glasses you use in most of your disguises certainly helps.”

Death stared at his spouse kindly and Lukas sighed dramatically in response. This was a game they frequently played together, a playful game of hide and seek of sorts. Lukas would frequently get into trouble among the humans, and then wait for Death to come “stop” them. The living mortals were often frightened by the game, adding to the legend of Life and their constant struggle against Death. To the two deities however, it was simply how they flirted with each other.

“Dearest, you know the agreement you made with the living,” Death continued. “I’ve caught you fair and square, now you must use the form their security officers have been made aware of. I’m certain that you’re not going to try to steal their throne for yourself, but you know how they worry. The children need a positive role model while they’re young.”

“You steal a throne once and they judge you forever,” Lukas grumbled, waving their hand and transforming into their feminine form. “Here you go, right down to the clothes in the security alert. You ruin all my fun. The queen has the most beautiful set of earrings I wanted to try out.”

“Next time,” Death promised with a laugh.”I’ll try to arrive a little slower if you promise to put more effort into your disguise. For now though, let’s just have a nice outing with our son. I may even try to consume the mortals’ desserts that you love so much.”

Ulyssa wandered through the hallway of the living quarters listlessly. She had a long list of places to be and people to speak to, but she struggled to find the energy. She was just so tired and there was just so much to do. At least she had a reason to be so tired, aside from the long hours she kept. Her doctor’s appointment had confirmed what she had been hoping. She was pregnant.

She tried thinking of romantic ways to tell Maura know this news, but she struggled. The way things had been between them since Maura’s coronation, a text might be the fastest way to tell her this news. Before Maura’s coronation, Ulyssa could have planned a romantic dinner or made a card or surprised her with a box of baby clothes. But now? Maybe she could tell Maura when they went to bed together. Maura was usually first to fall asleep though. Maybe a note left on her pillow?

Ulyssa sighed at the thought. How unromantic. She stared at the many photographs on the castle walls with new respect. A small piece of all the people who had lived in this castle before her was now living inside her. Ulyssa carried both Twikkii Island’s past and future inside of herself which was an overwhelming thought. All of these people had made Maura and walked down these same halls. She was bringing the Durant family into this crowded bloodline in a way that she hadn’t understood until this moment. She was going to be a mother.

“There’s not a lot of new pictures posted here. I figured that Maura would have the walls covered with all of the pictures she takes, but I guess she’s busy now.”

Ulyssa turned around to find Trent alone, standing behind her. Cindra wasn’t anywhere that she could see, but if Ulyssa knew her sister, Cindra would be down in the kitchens, grabbing the pastries Ulyssa had smelled baking earlier.

“She doesn’t take a lot these days,” Ulyssa replied, grateful to see a friendly face. “Plus it feels wrong to take these pictures down. They’re historical. This whole place is historical.”

“These are my grandmother’s pictures,” Trent insisted. “These are all the people she knew and loved. There’s not even a single picture of me up there, or even your wedding photos. It’s time for you to make the space your own. This is your home now; we just live here. Have some fun in your life. I promise you, Grandma’s not going to come haunt you if you change the lamps in the hall.”

Ulyssa smiled at her brother in law fondly.

“You’re right,” she said. “There has to be some upsides to living here. You’re a good guy, Trent. If you hurt my sister though, I’ll have you murdered. Don’t think that that’s a joke. If I don’t, then my dad will.”

The two laughed together and Ulyssa could feel the slightest bit of peace flare up inside her. She had a loving wife and would soon have a child that they would love together. She had so many good things to look forward to and a family that would support her through the rough patches. For the first time in months, the future looked bright.

#sims 2 #arkhelios #arkhelios university #ulyssa durant #trent siew #sim: Trent Siew #maura siew #sim: Maura Siew #vrai toyonaga #charley toyonaga #lukas lane #davis lane #sim: ewan jr traver

[luverofralts]

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

[luverofralts]

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

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios University

“I wonder if Grandma’s proud of me, wherever she is. She never seemed to be, but maybe dying has made her less...intense.”

Ulyssa looked at her wife sadly. From all the microaggressions she’d endured during her brief time with the former queen, Ulyssa doubted that the woman could be proud of any of her family members. None of them had ever measured up to her standards, but saying so wouldn’t be comforting for Maura.

“I’m sure she is,” Ulyssa lied. “You’re doing great as queen; you just have to believe in yourself. Twikkii Island has changed since she ruled it and you’re guiding it through a hard time. You’re doing just fine.”

“It really has changed, hasn’t it?” Maura remarked with a sigh. “Things aren’t as peaceful and calming as they used to be. I’m spending enormous amounts of money on our military and I can barely use the washroom without a full military escort. This isn’t how I wanted to rule. Everyday things here feel less and less like the home I grew up in. On one hand, I’m sending our forces to be trained by Claudia’s generals and on the other, I’m supposed to be cautious of trusting her because of Pleasantview’s history of aggression. She’s my cousin and my friend. Am I really supposed to consider her a suspect in my mother’s murder?”

“I know things are rough now, but we’ll get through them,” Ulyssa promised, kissing her wife quickly. “I have my doctor’s appointment to get to this morning, but I’ll see you after lunch if I can. Just try to relax until then. Who knows? Maybe I’ll have good news about the heir situation.”

Maura smiled.

“That would be one less thing to worry about,” she agreed, though her rigid posture showed no sign of relaxation. “Good luck. I hope things go well.”

Maura left in the direction of the throne room, leaving Ulyssa alone- or at least as alone as she could be in a castle on high alert with a protective squad following her every move. While she understood the need for security, the castle had felt unusually claustrophobic lately. Her only escape was teleporting back home to Arkhelios where Wanda had made it very clear that sending a protective detail with Ulyssa would be seen as an act of aggression. The Durant family was entitled to privacy and seeing armed guards escort the Queen and her wife around didn’t sit right with the witch. Arkhelios would take care of its own, which was more than fine with Ulyssa. Visiting Arkhelios was her only escape from the castle and her time spent there was now incredibly precious.

“Ulyssa? Are you free to talk?”

Ulyssa recognized her little sister’s voice immediately, though she couldn’t guess why Cindra was at the castle.

“I’m free for a little bit, what’s going on?”

Ulyssa saw the shy smile on her sister’s face before she realized that Cindra was standing next to someone. Maura’s half-brother Trent was shyly smiling and wringing his hands, a clear sign that he was nervous to speak with Ulyssa.

Oh god, this can only mean one thing. She’s either dating him or pregnant. At least it’s not Nathan. I don’t know what I’d do if it was Nathan.

“We just wanted to let you know that we’re dating,” Cindra announced, looking hopefully at her older sister. “I’ve run into Trent a couple of times when I’ve been here to visit and we really hit it off. I asked him out for coffee and one thing kind of lead to another. I hope you’re okay with this. We’re not trying to threaten you or Maura or compete with you to make heirs or something stupid like that. We’re just dating.”

Ulyssa cringed internally but managed to hide it from her expression. What weird world had she gotten herself into where her little sister felt like she couldn’t date someone without her permission? Had someone in the castle told either one of them that Maura may oppose their happiness because she was still without an heir of her own?

I hate this.This wasn’t supposed to be what my life was like. Maura and I were going to live how we wanted and have kids when we wanted and go where we wanted. Now, everything’s a mess and I don’t know how to change things. Am I really supposed to worry about who Maura’s little brother dates, just in case they’re a threat? It’s Cindra, for god’s sake. She couldn’t threaten a fly.

“I’m glad you told me,” Ulyssa said finally. “I’m really happy for you two. He’s a much better man than Nathan and I want you to be as happy as I am with Maura. Maybe we can have lunch together sometime and catch up.”

:Yeah, I’d like that.” Cindra beamed at her sister and grabbed Trent’s hand eagerly. “Trent, you promised to show me the back gardens. Let’s have a picnic out there this afternoon. Maybe my sister or Maura can join us too.”

Not likely with our schedule. I barely see Maura anymore until we’re in bed at night. If I wanted to take her for lunch, I’d need to schedule it three months in advance, plus clear it with my own schedule. Just talking with her in the hall was a miracle. We were supposed to have years together before she got the throne but now it’s all we talk about.

“That sounds great. I don’t know if I have time today, but sometime soon.”

With a sad smile and a quick hug for her sister, Ulyssa continued down the hall to prepare for her doctor’s appointment and likely more bad news about the potential heir she was supposed to produce.

#sims 2 #arkhelios #sim: Maura Siew #maura siew #ulyssa durant #trent siew #sim: Trent Siew #Cindra Durant #arkhelios university

[luverofralts]

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

#sims 2 #arkhelios #arkhelios university #abe chun #roman bellamy #adrian siew #sim: Adrienne Bellamy #sim: adrian siew #Adrienne Bellamy #sim: Luciana Bellamy #luciana Bellamy #lucy chun #theo bellamy #sim: theo bellamy #evren thorne #nathan chun #Kaeileen Rivales #saturnia bellamy #sim: saturnia bellamy #Ironman Helios #Keiki Yoxall #Fiolett Thorne #Juliet Fontana #Naethan Rivales #Mikel Helios

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios University

“I still can’t believe that you’re here!” Roman exclaimed, wrapping his formerly dead husband in a tight embrace. After a few minutes had passed and Roman was still clinging on to him, Adrian gently pried himself free.

“I’m not quite sure what to make of it either,” he replied softly, clearly still staring in awe of their bland hospital room. “Things are a lot less...intense here. There’s a lot less pink, anyway.”

“And the doctors cleared you to leave? How? Your body is lying in a very expensive crypt. I saw you buried myself.”

Adrian smiled weakly, cringing internally about learning anything having to do with his death. It was a weird subject that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to continue to learn about.

“We did see the Grim Reaper,” he said with a dismissive shrug. “Between him and that strange man that kept talking to him, I have a feeling that there isn’t going to be a scientific answer to this situation.”

“Which is what brings me here.”

Both men spun around to see Evren Thorne, architect extraordinaire, waving at them.

“The witch council wants a report done on this resurrection,” he continued. “They want to make sure there is no threat or plot against the living and that ‘a hoard of zombies’ aren’t about to descend on us. It’s ridiculous, but it’s what I’ve been assigned.”

“Adrian’s not a threat,” Roman insisted, looking incredulously at the witch. “Who gave you that assignment? Claudia in Pleasantview? I’m on very good terms with your queen and I demand that you-”

“Wanda sent me,” Evren interrupted. “She’s worried about you more than anything. Theo too. Half of these questions I’m supposed to ask are about trust funds and house ownership, not magic. She’s your friend, right? She’s just using the witches as an excuse to meddle in your life.”

“Oh.”

Well, that was a different story then. Roman backed down, touched that his friend and aunt was looking out for him and the estate that he benefited from. He hadn’t thought about how the estate would be managed now that Adrian was no longer dead or about what he might be owed financially that the divorce would have settled had Adrian been alive. Was he still married to Adrian or was he still widowed and married to Abe?

“Some of these questions are about the duke though,” Evren said, relieved to see the challenge leave Roman’s eyes. “The witches are extremely interested in your body- I mean your resurrected body! What it’s made of! They want to make sure that you’re not a reaper in disguise or some kind of revenant. If you could help fill out this form with me, I can go back home and leave you two alone again. I keep telling them that I’m an architect, not some master warlock. I just want to start designing the witch council chambers.”

“Wanda’s building a witch council and a magical academy in Arkhelios,” Roman informed his ex-husband. “She’s got witches from all over relocating to Arkhelios.”

“Daddy!”

Theo burst in the room, determined to find his parents. He’d been told to stay with his grandmother until his parents returned home, but Theo didn’t feel like waiting that long. The hospital was only a few seconds away by teleportation after all.

Roman hugged Theo tightly, happy to see his son despite Theo’s inability to follow directions.

“Hey, buddy! You have a little sister, wanna see her?”

Roman reached into the incubator and retrieved his daughter. It was probably against hospital rules, but no one aside from Evren was around to complain. 

Theo stared at the infant in front of him and smiled at her. His sister didn’t shrink away from him even while he was in his dark form. After the initial excitement, Theo’s gaze traveled to his father, still unresponsive in bed.

“Is Dad dying?” he asked, tears welling up in his eyes. “I don’t want Dad to die.”

“So you’re from a different time and universe? That’s got to be hard to deal with. I was gone for a few years and just the trip to the hospital was unnerving.” Adrian smiled at Evren, happy to have found someone who at least sort of understood what he’d been through.

“It’s been a nightmare,” Evren confirmed. Adrian was a lot nicer than he’d expected and both attractive and rich as well. Roman had to have been insane to divorce a man like him. “Every time I feel even a little bit settled, something absolutely insane happens to throw me off again. At least the witches were nice enough to take me in. I’m not sure where else I would go if they hadn’t.”

“You could always come stay with me,” Adrian blurted out before he could doubt himself. “I have a huge estate and only my daughters to live in it. You’d have your own room and area of course, but it sounds like we’re both in a weird place in our lives. Maybe we could help each other.”

Evren nodded. The man was rich, attractive and his ex-husband was remarried with a new baby to distract him. Living anywhere that wasn’t with the snobby witches who were busy trying to establish their hierarchy would be amazing.

“I guess I can see what your place looks like and if it’ll work for me,” Evren replied, trying to hide the blush he felt spreading across his face. “I mean, I’m sure that the other witches will be happy if I stayed and kept an eye on you. Just in case you do start exhibiting zombie characteristics.”

“Of course.”

“You’re dad’s fine, he’s just sleeping,” Roman reassured his son. “I’m sure he’ll be awake soon. You can come sit and wait with me and your sister since apparently Grandma can’t keep you at home.”

“Adrian!”

The instant Theo’s focus changed from his unconscious father to the rest of the room, he could hardly contain his excitement.

“Hey, Theo. You remember me?” Adrian stood to greet his step son, only to have Theo fling himself into his arms just as tightly as Roman had earlier. “I missed you.”

“Adrienne talks about you a lot,” Theo confided. “Plus you had the best candy and let me have fun, unlike Daddy.”

“Hey!” Roman frowned, disliking the amused grin on Adrian’s face. Parenting was hard and sometimes Roman had to at least try to enforce the family rules even when it made him unpopular with the kids.

“Speaking of, I kinda figured that you’d be visiting before your dad came to pick you up. I snuck one of these out of the vending machine down the hall. These are still your favourite, right?”

Adrian held out a chocolate bar and Theo’s eyes grew wide with excitement. Those were still his favourite chocolate bars, not that his father let him eat that “garbage processed junk”. Theo immediately grabbed the chocolate and cradled it protectively. He stared at Roman, daring him to take his gift.

“You can have it,” Roman sighed. “I’m pretty sure that you saved a lot of people tonight with your gifts. A little bit of candy won’t hurt. But no more!”

#sims 2 #arkhelios #arkhelios university #Roman Bellamy #sim: adrian siew #adrian siew #evren thorne #sim: theo bellamy #theo bellamy #sim: saturnia bellamy #saturnia bellamy

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios University

“Mom! Mom! Can you make the ball again? Please? Mom!”

When Roman opened his eyes, he was certain that he was dead. The last thing he remembered was a bright light and a flash of wings. He’d been chasing after Abe, who his mother had captured and everything went black. If he strained, he could almost half remember piercing blue eyes. He could barely make out words that had felt like they’d been whispered directly in his mind.

I’m going to make things right.

Directly in front of him, his mother sat in the Rivales’ backyard, patiently listening to the incessant cries of his younger self.

“Not now, Roman. Mommy’s tired.”

It was so strange to see the woman who had betrayed his trust so many times sitting so casually with him. If he didn’t know any better, Roman could swear that he saw a brief flash of affection for him hiding behind all of the irritation in his mother’s face. Roman didn’t remember this visit to the Rivales house and would have doubted it happened if he wasn’t seeing it directly for himself. His grandmother didn’t allow him to visit the Rivales house often because of her distain for Giovanni and Emilia, and when Kaeileen betrayed him in high school, Roman had written the Rivales off as well. Sure, he could remember coming over to play with Kaeileen sometimes when they were kids, but they had mostly played at the Bellamy house where Malika could keep a careful eye on the Rivales spawn. 

It was hard to remember any time when Kamalani had taken her son for a special outing, but clearly she had been far more connected to the Rivales family than she’d let on and even visited occasionally.

“Make the ball again, Romana, or I’ll be forced to try my hand at it for you.”

Roman recognized the voice of Giovanni Rivales instantly. Giovanni hated Abraham Helios and was friendly with Salem Bellamy purely to spite him- or that’s what Roman had always believed. Now that he knew there was a connection between his mother and the Rivales family, Roman didn’t know what to believe.

“Very well,” Kamalani sighed irritably. “But this is the last time. If you continue to indulge him, Roman will grow up to be spoiled. I won’t have him turn out to be just like his father.”

“There are worse fates than that, Romana,” Giovanni chided. “Besides, kids thrive when you indulge them every now and again. Just look at our dear Kaeileen. Jolanda is a very indulgent mother and Kaeileen seems to be developing in a healthy manner for her age.”

Kamalani looked just in time to catch a toddler Kaeileen shoving piles of dirt into her mouth, unconcerned about the potential choking hazards of doing so.

“Yes, she’s doing wonderfully for her age,” Kamalani remarked dryly, watching as Giovanni quickly stepped in to redirect Kaeileen’s attention from chewing dirt.

With a dramatic sigh, Kamalani flicked her wrist to produce a small, glowing ball of light and the toddlers squealed in delight. Giovanni smiled and tried flicking his own wrist to copy her action, but he was only able to produce a few sparks of energy that quickly dissipated in the desert heat.

“Show off. My mother did always say that you had a talent for magic,” Giovanni laughed. He only laughed harder when he saw a look of repulsion cross the demon’s face. “Yes, yes, I know that you two were like oil and water, I haven’t forgotten in my old age. As much as the two of you fought, we’re still family. That has to count for something.”

Within the blink of an eye, Giovanni and Kamalani vanished, replaced by a much younger version of Osbert and Roman’s perpetually ageless mother.

“Roman’s a bright kid. You must be very proud.”

“He’s doing okay considering that he’s his father’s son,” Kamalani replied, still keeping a watchful eye on her toddler. “Personally, I’m surprised that he can walk or talk at all since his father’s not particularly good at either. He must take after me.”

Osbert tried not to look surprised at the dismissive words coming from an otherwise charming and beautiful woman.

“Trouble in paradise?” he asked. “I don’t usually see you and your husband together around town. Are you considering a divorce?”

“Fishing around to see if I’m interested in changing husbands?”

Osbert’s face flushed with embarrassment, while Kamalani seemed to enjoy his discomfort. 

“N-no, I was just wondering, but that’s none of my business really and-”

“It’s an arranged marriage and a loveless one, at least for my part,” Kamalani finally interrupted once she’d finished watching Osbert scramble to apologize. “I’m not looking for another husband, but I’m open to other offers.”

Osbert’s face turned deep red and he tried to stammer out a reply that wouldn’t offend an attractive woman looking to maybe start something up with him. Jolanda was certainly never going to settle down with him and for a brief period of time, she hadn’t even been sure that Kaeileen was his daughter. Normally, he’d be horrified to start an affair with a married woman, but maybe it wasn’t so bad if it was an arranged marriage. Maybe Omar felt the same way, but their parents had insisted on the match anyway.

“Maybe one night a week, we could let the kids play together,” Osbert suggested, trying to sound casual and dispassionate about the idea. “The kids get along really well and Kaeileen could always use some exposure to different types of people. Basically any person who can hold down a job or that Jolanda disapproves of. I don’t want my daughter to grow up stealing credit cards and running scams when she’s older.”

“Well, we’ll disagree on that,” Kamalani teased, enjoying watching the man squirm. “I’d be proud if Roman could pull all of that off, especially considering his father. A man’s got to earn his own way through life, no matter how. Stealing is a skill, especially if you don’t get caught. If people are dumb enough to fall for a scam, then they deserve to be scammed.”

“Hmmm.” Osbert made an uncomfortable noise, trying to think of how to respond, only to be cut off by laughter.

“You are fun,” Kamalani laughed. “You believe everything a woman tells you, don’t you? I can see us getting a long very well in the future.”

Osbert let out a relieved sigh, realizing that Kamalani was only teasing him with her outlandish ideas. This woman was a roller coaster of emotions; he could see why she found someone like Omar dull. 

“So I’ll bring Kaeileen over to your place sometime this week?” he said hopefully. “Omar works during the day, right? I might be able to drop by some day this week...if that works for you.”

“Sure, why not?”

“Roman! Share with your friend or you’ll be dealing with me! Last warning!”

Roman watched his younger self fight Kaeileen for a bottle that had clearly been for Kaeileen and felt embarrassment wash over him. All the things that he disciplined Theo for, Roman was guilty of himself. The twins seemed to be mild mannered for the most part, so maybe it was just the Bellamy men who were easily riled up. Then again, Kaeileen had always been aggressive right back to him, and stealing a bottle was hardly the same thing as everything she’d done to him in high school.

“Kamalani! What a surprise to see you and Roman around here. Do you have a minute to talk so the kids can play?”

Osbert awkwardly leaned down and tried to flirt with the demon who was clearly only there to see him. She had zero interest in supervising Roman, and no one else was around for her to have been waiting for.

“Oh, I do have to run,” she lied, placing her hand expectantly on the couch in front of him. “Maybe the kids can play for a few minutes. Unless you want to go to the park with us?”

“Absolutely, that sounds like a date.”

Without warning, Kamalani pulled the man closer to her until their lips were touching.

“No one’s home,” she said playfully. “I just wanted to see you struggle against my womanly charms.”

“Your demonic charms, maybe,” Osbert replied, lifting her in his arms and depositing them both on the softer sofa in the living room. “You’ve got me in a demon trap of your own design. I’m bound to you whether I like it or not.”

Roman felt like gagging watching his mother flirt with a man she clearly cared about more than her own family. Why hadn’t she just told his father that she wanted a divorce years ago? Was this why he and Kaeileen had become friends in the first place? How long had this affair gone on for? Keiki was still young and Roman’s parents had remained married for years after this. Was the thrill of sneaking around worth it to his mother or was admitting to an affair too damaging to her relationship with the Bellamy family?

“Kama? Something’s wrong with Roman.”

Osbert’s concerned voice echoed through Roman’s mind as the scene shifted again. Before him was a vision of himself as a toddler, Osbert and Kaeileen carefully keeping their distance from him. Roman could hardly believe what he was seeing. He was in a dark form more scaled back than his current one, but a dark form just the same. Roman had been convinced that he’d never expressed any demonic traits before he was a teen, but here was proof right in front of him.

“Oh that’s normal for his age,” came the disinterested reply. Kamalani didn’t even move to see if her son was okay. “Don’t tell his father. I’ve been crushing some remedies into his food to suppress that, but he’s strong enough that they don’t always work. He’s strong, just like his mother.”

“Uh huh.”

Osbert didn’t sound convinced entirely about what he was seeing, and Roman couldn’t blame him. It had taken Abe a long time to accept that his husband and kids were demon hybrids, clearly Osbert had taken that same emotional journey as well.

The scene faded once more to be replaced with an idyllic family scene. Osbert and Kamalani sat together in the desert sand watching Roman chase Kaeileen around.

“They really do get along,” Osbert marveled, watching the children play beside them. “They get along so well, almost like brother and sister.”

Osbert’s words hung in the air for a moment. Kamalani had no doubt of what he was saying.

“Are you...proposing something that might make that a reality?” she asked slowly. “I promised Malika a fixed time frame, but I know her weaknesses. She and I could amend the deal. That is if Jolanda isn’t interested in pursuing something more with you.”

Osbert shook his head, quick to discourage that line of thinking.

“She’s after a much bigger mark than me,” he revealed. “She knows that we’re just co-parernting- or I guess in her case, letting me be the parent while I’m supporting her network of scams. I’d like us to reconsider our relationship though. I want to be with you and I get the impression that you might want that too. Run away with me if you aren’t happy. I’ll gladly raise Roman like he’s my own. It doesn’t matter as long as we’re together. We can start our own family.”

Kamalani paused, clearly giving the matter some thought. Roman had never considered that his mother could have feelings or that her abandonment of him could have been as temporary as he’d hoped. If she and Osbert wanted to take Roman with them, then all that he’d learned about his mother wanting him to meet him in Pleasantview or Strangetown could have been legitimate. She really could have tried to pull Roman from the Bellamys so that he could live with her. In an evening filled with cruelty and malice, Roman had to believe that there was a side to his mother that wanted to have him by her side when she embarked on a new romantic journey. Osbert wasn’t against it and he got along with Kaeileen, so it was only his mother who might have objected and she just admitted to being able to talk Malika out of certain custody agreements. Abe would give him a pitying look and a reassuring kiss on the cheek, but Roman had to believe that this was plausible. If only she’d-

“Roman Bellamy! You get over here right this instant and explain yourself! Do you hear me, mister?”

Against his will, Roman felt himself being pulled once more, his vision going blurry from the intensity of the energy around him.

#sims 2 #arkhelios university #arkhelios #Roman Bellamy #kamalani bellamy #Osbert Yoxall #Kaeileen Rivales #sims 2 pictures

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios University

Theo nervously watched his parents float above his head, completely limp and helpless. While he and Keiki were helping the Rivales twins and the unknown warlock trap his grandmother, Adrienne seemed to be working on a plan of her own. Theo had never seen wings on any of his classmates or horns curled quite like that, and he was impressed by his little sister. She didn’t seem to be using demonic magic either or if she was, he’d never seen it before. Maybe he wasn’t so alone in his family when it came to magic after all.

The demon sovereign had warned Theo that this day would come. It was only a matter of time before his scary grandmother returned, looking to either kill or exploit him. She’d prepared him to join together animals and then his parents when their wedding happened, but she had also lied. It wasn’t only his parents that he had to join, but an entire family. Using the blood and energy of the family that had produced her, the sovereign hoped to contain his grandmother, for real this time. She could never escape and try to hurt Theo or his family ever again.

The spell was difficult though, and his friend Adam had been too afraid of it to help him practice it at school. Adam was convinced that the spell was dark magic and that Theo should tell a teacher about it, but Theo knew that his friend Alexis was counting on him to perform it and he wasn’t going to let the sovereign down. The group of ants he’d tried a weaker version of the spell on were doing okay, or at least he hoped they were. They weren’t really doing much since the spell aside from moving perfectly in sync with each other only to run into a wall. He couldn’t tell if they were perfectly in tune with each other or if they were fighting for control over the group, but they’d only managed to collectively move about two inches or so over the span of two days. Theo had no idea about how it would work with humans, but he certainly hoped to avoid living like the ants.

Cain and Rose were mostly following Theo’s lead, as they didn’t have the slightest clue of how to fight against a demon, let alone one as powerful as Kamalani. Beside them, a strange boy was moving his hands rhythmically while murmuring strange words underneath his breath. All around them, energy tightened its grasp on the crowd, sparking in the air and tying their energies together. The twins could feel magic fill the air, pouring into every part of themselves, hungrily hunting for more energy. Whatever spell Theo had started to defend his parents was consuming their energies at a startling pace, but for the first time, the twins experienced the sort of magical bonding Theo had always described his parents having. Cain could hear whispers of his sister’s thoughts echoing through his head; he could remember what Theo had for breakfast that morning. His eyes saw what Kaeileen was seeing inside the house and he felt her baby shudder inside of her while the energy knit the Rivales family closer.

“Theo. You come from Theo.” Rose spoke the words out loud and without any explanation, Cain could feel that she was addressing the teenager beside them, because he too could feel the name pulsing out like waves around the teen. The boy was an orphan, sent from Strangetown to study magic at Wanda’s new school, and yet he was just as much a part of the Rivales family as either of the twins. The siren call of magic had drawn them all together to entrap one of their own. Even Theo’s dad didn’t know where Kamalani fit on the Rivales family tree, but her blood called to her family all the same. Like it or not, blood bound them to the demon and they would bind her with the same, no matter the cost.

“What? What’s happening?”

Kamalani looked at her hands, wondering why they were failing her. She could feel the energy drain from her son, but it was becoming lost in the haze of energy building around her. The assorted group of children were staring menacingly at her, their faces all either stoic or angry, but she’d never even seen some of them before. What exactly they had against her was a mystery, especially the toddler who seemed determined to rip her apart limb by limb if she could.

The child looked demonic, but her magic felt different. In truth, it reminded Kamalani of Malika and the supernatural frenzy the Bellamy family outside of Arkhelios was known for. The girl shared the same scowl as her father when upset and Kamalani recognized the sad pout instantly. This was Roman’s daughter, likely the Bellamy heir that Malika was babbling on about earlier. For all of Malika’s worries, the toddler looked fine to Kamalani. Better than fine considering that the poor girl had Omar for a grandfather.

While the joining spell wrapped the Rivales family together, tighter than they’d ever been before, the deity of life was dangerously close to causing death. It was a fight that the demon sovereign knew she would probably lose, but then again surely Life couldn’t cause the death of a being. Even if they had stolen their husband’s scythe, the sovereign was willing to gamble that they weren’t able to use it properly. What would happen if Life took a life? Would the universe collapse? Would some other deity intervene? She might be dangerously close to answering that riddle.

The sovereign had lost the grand sword she’d summoned nearly instantaneously. It had been her grandfather’s sword, the first, original ruler of all demons. She hadn’t had much practice wielding it in her relatively short time as sovereign and it showed. Lukas had an entire line of champions dedicated to the well-being and security of nations, all of which were expertly trained in combat. Whatever their origins were or their purpose in the universe, Life fought to survive and the sovereign didn’t stand a chance against them.

“Leave now,” Lukas ordered, completely aware that he held the upper hand. “I really don’t want to have to educate a new sovereign on how the world works. Let this be a lesson learned about your place and we’ll forget this ever happened. I’m not going to let you prey on some backwater nation like Dorhack did and we all know how combining the energy of a bloodline ends up for the living. You don’t get to bind one demon to the energy of the living while skimming off the top for yourself. I won’t allow it. Pray that I don’t refer this to a higher power to review. I doubt that they’d be merciful.”

They tightened their hand into a fist, summoning fiery energy that shone as bright as the sun. The sovereign stepped back in awe of such power, unable to hide how desperate she was to be near it. Just a fraction of that energy would spread warmth to her perpetually cold body for ages. A tiny piece of it would frighten off any potential usurpers to her throne. Queen of the demons was a small, insignificant title when beings like Lukas could mold the very stars themselves.

The sovereign watched in horror as Kamalani’s own hand began to emit the same brilliant light as Lukas’. Kamalani herself seemed shaken by this development, looking around her for the source of the attack.

“You can’t kill her,” the sovereign whispered, watching as the same energy that lit Lukas began to engulf Kamalani. “You can’t use that scythe. Life can’t take lives. You can’t interfere with demonic affairs, that’s my realm!”

“You’re right, the scythe is just for show,” Lukas replied, sending his opponent a dark look. “I don’t need it. I don’t plan on killing this demon.You see, a living being is composed of many pieces: blood, organs, cells. I don’t intend to end those processes, causing death. No, what I do is create life and nurture it. Your troublesome demon is alive and will remain so, All I’m doing is creating a new form of life for her. She’ll still have all the pieces that sustain her, but they’ll be redistributed. Millions of living cells still technically alive, scattered in the wind. If you’d like, I can scatter her across the stars and make a new constellation for you to remember her by. In fact, let’s do that, so that whenever you look up at the night sky, you’ll remember our little chat.”

Kamalani screamed as the piercing light consumed her body, penetrating down to the smallest cell and gently separating it from joining cells. In a surprisingly beautiful shimmer, the image of Kamalani Bellamy winked out of view to be replaced with an unearthly red glow hovering in the air.

The Rivales bloodline was immediately released from their binding, now that the person they were connecting to themselves had suddenly vanished. The children looked around in bewilderment, staring at Theo like he could explain what just happened. Roman and Abe fell to the ground, no longer suspended for the demon to feed from. Theo and his sister ran to them hopefully, but neither one of them could wake them.

“I hope you like your gift, Saren,” Life said, lifting the energy that had once been Kamalani Bellamy into the air while the sovereign watched in horror. “Just remember, if you step out of line again, you could be joining Kamalani up there in the sky. I won’t kill you, but as everyone knows, there are sometimes fates far worse than death. Now, forgive me, there are a few other corrections I’d like to make to my realm, now that you usurpers to my power have learned your place.”

#sims 2 #tw: death #kamalani bellamy #Roman Bellamy #abe chun #Keiki Yoxall #sim: cain rivales #sim: rose rivales #lukas lane #sim: Adrienne Bellamy #Adrienne Bellamy #gavin chezzetcook #arkhelios #arkhelios university

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios University

“The baby is definitely kicking,” Kaeileen declared, massaging her stomach to hopefully calm the kicking down. “It seems really bothered about something. Maybe it’s tied to the noise by the park. There could be some kind of magic running loose.”

“It’s got to be something Lucy did then,” Pia replied bitterly. “You know she’s tied to the demons. One of her boyfriends must have had his heart broken and wants revenge. Lucy’s going to get us all killed.”

“Why did you call Aunt Ginevra, Grandma? Has she seen anything like this in Strangetown? Can she help?”

Emilia ignored Kaeileen’s question, but her face remained confident, which Kaeileen took as a sign that they were probably not in any danger.

“The Rivales family protects its own,” Emilia finally said. “Even if the danger is coming from within the family. We don’t tolerate turncoats. This is something the heir must do, whoever it may be. Pay attention.”

Kaeileen could definitely feel an almost electrical crackle in the air. It called to her and against her will, she could feel it pull her into her dark form. She wasn’t sure if it was dangerous for the baby to do so, but she’d been given no choice. Strangely, only she was dragged into a dark form. Her grandmother wasn’t demonic, so Kaeileen had always assumed that her demon heritage had come from her grandfather, the man she’d seen in a vision that had helped fix her dark form. Pia was his daughter though, and she looked just as human as Emilia. Maybe she didn’t inherit the gene for a dark form or something obvious like that. Either way, something had made Kaeileen shift, so demonic magic had to be being used somewhere.

The sovereign surveyed the scene before her, marveling at the complexity of the spell before her. Dorhack’s daughter was gifted, of that there was no doubt. Her other mother or father must have surely been powerful, whoever they were. So far, things were unfolding just as the sovereign predicted. Kamalani was trying to run and needed both energy to do so and to eliminate the threat to her safety that her stubborn son posed.

And the sovereign’s own plan was about to unfold now that her little Theophilus had arrived. The child was poised to attack just as he’d been trained and Kamalani’s little display only added to the plan’s potential. All she had to do was wait.

“Stop hurting my daddies!” Theo shouted, raising a hand defiantly, which Keiki matched. The two of them stood hand in hand, united only by their shared hatred of Kamalani.

“Leave them alone, you bully! You-You bitch!” Keiki spat the bad word out, meaning it with all the strength she had, even if her dad might yell at her later. “You’re not my real mom, you’re a monster who doesn’t care about anything but herself! Go away or you’ll be sorry!”

From behind Kamalani, Cain and Rose emerged, along with one of the boys who had started at Wanda’s witch program. All of them were in their dark form, their brightly coloured horns gleaming in the moonlight. It was as though the entire extended Rivales family had been summoned here, drawn by the siren call of demonic energy. Normally Cain and Rose would be punished for sneaking out of the house on a school night, but even Emilia could sense the change in the air. They were needed and her dear Giovanni had once warned her that this day might come. The other boy who had been called was a mystery to her, but considering that he’d answered the call, she had a guess as to why he’d been included.

The current in the air swirled around Keiki, pulling her towards the demonic energy flowing around them, but she remained as she was. Theo had only seen a glimpse of what he assumed her dark form was before when they fought, but Keiki didn’t change now when then entire Rivales family seemed called to change form. All of her energy remained tied to Theo, fueling his own power so that he could fight their shared enemy.

“You can feel the energy, right?” Theo whispered to his aunt while the Rivales twins and the surprise witch tried freeing Roman and Abe from Kamalani’s grasp.

Keiki nodded and closed her eyes, trying to focus on what she could hear crackling around her. She didn’t have the training Theo had, or even an idea of what magic could do, but she was committed to stopping the woman who had left her in an orphanage and decided to help herself to whatever power Keiki did have.

“Saren.”

The sovereign froze at the sound of her true name, her excitement ruined by the arrival of one of the only beings who knew it.

“How interesting to find you in this mess. It’s alarming that a child that young knows binding spells this powerful, wouldn’t you agree? I just had to stop by and check it out for myself.”

The sovereign grimaced before she could catch herself. It was never good when a deity interfered with your plans, and especially terrible when that deity was as petty and vengeful as Life was.

“I’m just as shocked as you, Lukas,” she lied, mentally preparing the spells she would need to escape if this conversation ended badly for her. “I had no idea that Kamalani had even escaped my punishment. She’s stronger than I realized.”

“And this pooling of energy? You’re just lurking nearby in case you need to help literal children do your work for you?”

“What are you implying, Lukas? Unlike Dorhack, I haven’t broken any laws in this place. I’m simply keeping an eye on a troubled child with an escaped convict for a grandmother,” the sovereign replied, trying to keep her voice even.

“You can keep using my name all you want, but you’ll never have control over me. Not even if your little scheme here had worked,” Lukas said angrily. “It took me some time to see, but your plan has been revealed. Using innocent children is low, even for you.”

The sovereign smiled tightly at this, but didn’t speak. It was down to a fight or flight response and she didn’t feel like running.

“The little hybrid is very talented at blood magic. I may have given him some guidance, that’s all. As one of my own kind, he’s become a protege of sorts. His fathers wanted to be joined in demonic matrimony, so all I taught him was how to join two people. If he’s expanded that range to include more people, then it is only because of his natural talent.”

And not at all because I asked him to start this.

Pia stared at her niece, looking at the impressive horns that had sprung from her head in fear. All this talk of demons and heirs seemed like nonsense to a rational person, which Pia prided herself on being. Still, there was no denying the change in Kaeileen or the ominous light that was leaking into the house, enveloping what it could like an endless fog. For the first time in her life, Pia seriously considered whether she wanted to be the heir of her family. This was all so foreign and dangerous, nothing like she’d ever expected.

Without warning, Life summoned a familiar looking scythe and held it menacingly before the demon sovereign.

“Last chance, Saren. You can still walk away from this. I’d prefer it if I got to wipe you from existence, but I’m giving you the chance to live. I know you let Kamalani escape, causing her to harm the living people in my realm. I know that you’ve taught a living child to bind an entire family through blood magic and I know that you’ve been hiding here, waiting for the binding to complete to harvest it.”

“And you’re borrowing your husband’s scythe,” she replied, hostility edging her voice. With a snap of her fingers, an ancient sword appeared in her hand. “I wouldn’t judge others while you’re crossing boundaries yourself. I’m within my rights to be here. I may have let Kamalani escape, you’re right, but only so that I could seal her permanently this time.With the combined energy of her blood family, there’s no way that she or Dorhack can escape me again. If I wanted to control and direct that energy myself, I’d say that I’m entitled to it, so this is your last chance to leave. There’s too much energy building now, I have to help bind it or your precious living subjects may be injured. You need me, and I won’t be denied the fruits of my own plan. Kamalani and Dorhack will be bound by their blood relatives and I will be rewarded for my ingenuity.”

“We’ll see about that.”

#sims 2 #arkhelios #arkhelios university #Kaeileen Rivales #Pia Rivales #lukas lane #sim: theo bellamy #theo bellamy #Emilia Rivales #Keiki Yoxall #kamalani bellamy #sim: cain rivales #sim: rose rivales

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios University

“Just what do you think you’re doing here? Your mother told me that you’d go through my phone, but I didn’t believe her. I thought that I’d raised you better than that. It’s that Chun boy. Ever since he purposely got pregnant to trap you, all you’ve been doing is catering to his whims. The baby isn’t in your tarot readings; it’s probably someone else’s. I don’t know why you keep insisting on-”

“Mal, it’s far too late for your lectures. You agreed about what needs to be done. We can’t allow this to continue!”

Roman blinked, hoping that the scene before him was wrong. He remembered sitting on a park bench in Murder Park, waiting to hear if Abe was about to die like the message on his grandmother’s phone had warned him.

“What are you- Abe isn’t really hurt, is he? This is a trap.”

No no no no I’m not here again. I’m not seeing this again. I don’t want to remember!

Roman could feel himself removed from the scene in front of him. He wasn’t actually the teen sitting on the bench waiting to be betrayed. He had suppressed this night in his memories for years. He wouldn’t relive this-he couldn’t.

“For now,” Kamalani said, the familiar words ringing in Roman’s ears. “But his turn is next, don’t worry. You’ll be together again soon enough.”

“Kama! That’s enough! You’re not killing my grandson!

“Why are you doing thi-”

An echoing bang cut through the air, and Roman collapsed on the ground, slumped not too far from where Abraham’s body had been found.

“Oh my god, you actually did it! Kama, that’s your son! How could you? It was supposed to be his arm!”

“We planned for this, don’t be ridiculous,” Kamalani snapped quickly.

Roman watched himself stare at the blood on his hands, unable to process what had just happened. He could remember being that young and horrified and convinced that he was about to die. All the time he spent repressing his memories of this night were for nothing. He could still remember the metallic smell of his blood as it spread across his chest. He could feel the burning pain tearing through his chest all over again. He wanted to forget this night more than anything in the world, but someone or something refused to let him.

“Roman! Keep breathing! I’m here!”

Malika sounded lost and panicked, hovering over her grandson’s body with remorse. Kamalani on the other hand was beginning to lose her patience.

“It was a clean shot. If you call Adam now, Roman should be fine. He’ll never disobey us in the future and this will bring both fear and sympathy from the other families. The trauma will either keep Roman from remembering our parts in this scheme, or if it doesn’t, he’ll rightfully be more afraid of what we are capable of and obey us. “

Roman could feel the blood pool around him on the ground. It had been so long ago, but watching the image of his past suffering had thoughts, feelings and horror come flooding back into his mind. He couldn’t be here, watching himself bleed out, hoping that Abe would somehow save him..

“Please, I don’t want to be here anymore!” Roman cried out out loud, hoping that someone, somewhere would hear him and free him from the torment of these memories. He didn’t think that his school books had mentioned that a hell existed, but if did, this was surely where he was.

“Please!”

From behind Kamalani, a glimmer of hope appeared out of nowhere. Some kind of sigil spread across the sky, calling to Roman. He didn’t need any more encouragement; he started running towards it the instant it stabilized. He didn’t even care where it led, as long it led him away from this memory.

Roman heard the crash of waves first, followed by the familiar smell of salt air. He recognized the place instantly. This was Adrian’s estate. Why would he be here of all places?

A familiar man sat on the shore, watching the waves roll up and then gently retreat back into the ocean.

“Adrian?”

Roman assumed that this was another memory or some trick being played on him by his mother. He stood, waiting for some horrible specter of their life together to begin playing to torment him, but none came.

“Roman? What are you doing here?”

“You can see me?” Roman asked incredulously. “No one’s been able to see me before.”

“A man as handsome as you? I doubt it. No one can miss you.”

Roman felt a tingle of pride at the compliment but was afraid to trust this specter of his dead husband. His mother could be making him seeing whatever she wanted to if she were behind this.

“You’ve lost the beard, I see,” Adrian continued. “Too bad, I really liked it. I really liked all of you actually, not that you could ever see that.”

Roman frowned. He didn’t remember this from any moment in his life and he’d shaved his beard off after Adrian had died, or so he’d thought. Was this really a memory or was this place somewhere different from before? Did that sigil he ran through have something to do with this?

“Are you...real?” Roman asked, completely dumbfounded. “Do you know me? I talk to you in my dreams sometimes, but this feels different. Is that really you, Adrian? Is this the afterlife? Am I dead?”

Adrian chuckled at the questions and pat the sand beside him to in invite Roman to sit.

“Sit down,” he laughed. “We’ll figure it out together.”

#sim 2 #Roman Bellamy #adrian siew #sim: adrian siew #tw: blood #tw: violence #Malika Bellamy #kamalani bellamy #arkhelios university #arkhelios