Udinov Cabin (Dev #102)

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

Atlas chuckled heartily, the same way he had in life. Cassandra watched her, seemingly unable to speak at the awe of being able to communicate with her living daughter.

The mist wavered and the two looked around.

"Oh!" Dev said. "You have to ask a question," he told Hannah. "It keeps the gate open."

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Hannah had to smile, remembering fondly how she used to be able to feel the rumble of laughter in his chest when he hugged her. She frowned a little when the mist wavered. Questions she mouthed, now frantically trying to think of what she could ask them. Her mind was drawing a blank on what she could ask. "Could you watch us?" she finally asked, the best question she could come up with, even if she didn't think it was very good. "Bart and me...and Peter...while we grew up?"

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

Atlas and Cassandra shared a look. "When you needed us most, we were by your side," Her mother told her.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"I feel like I needed you guys a lot," Hannah said, looking away. She couldn't think of a single question and she was trying so hard to think of one. She didn't want them to go away yet, but what could she say?

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

Cassandra smiled at her lovingly. "I wish we could have really been there with you, to help you through it. But you've been so strong "

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Hannah shook her head, disagreeing. "I'm not strong, I've been a wreck for years. So many years.... If that's strength, I can't imagine what weakness is."

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"Weakness is giving up entirely," Cassandra said. "And You didn't."

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

Dev had caught on that they were talking to her somehow and she was able to hear it.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"I wanted to," Hannah answered. "Sometimes." It was usually in passing that she considered how pointless her life was, but....she supposed that was almost nothing since she was fine now.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"And how fortunate You are to have held on," Atlas said. "Your brother was able to find you again. I was certain for a long time that the two of you always needed to be with each other always. I wish you hadn't been separated twice."

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"The universe just didn't want us together," Hannah said, looking away. "But we're together now. At least, until something else happens. But I hope it won't. Did you know that Bart is now two people?" she asked. It had been so long since it happened that it almost seemed natural now, but her parents hadn't been around then.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"Everything happens for a reason," Cassandra told her, "Even if it makes no sense at first."
Atlas and Cassandra exchanged looks. "We were aware it was possible. Lucky he had the run in with the cloning machine," her father muttered.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"What do you mean? You knew that could happen? What would have happened if he hadn't gone in the cloning machine?" Hannah asked all at once, a small frown on her face.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

Atlas chewed his lip. "He would have struggled with himself until he met his match," he said, looking at Cassandra. She smiled up at him.
He smiled but he looked a little worried.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"Wait, did it happen to you too?" Hannah asked, a little surprised. "So after he split, is it possible it would happen again if one half didn't meet his match?"

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

Cassandra looked at Atlas. "There was so much we didn't know. Your mother, your grandmother," she said turning back to Hannah could have told you more about it because it has ran in the Lupin family for generations."
Atlas rubbed his knuckles. "It is possible she explained it to Ba- Peter, or it is in one of her journals."

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"If it's been part of the family for generations, is it possible Peter's son has it? Or me?" Hannah asked, concerned more for her nephew because she had never really experienced something like that.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"Not You, pup. No, the women in our family never showed signs of it," Atlas said.
"Peter's son..." Cassandra said slowly. "It is very possible."

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Hannah chewed on her lip. That worried her, though in theory her children would be less likely to have it. Still, Caden....she would never wish that on him. "Is there anything that can be done for it that you know of?"

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

Atlas shook his head. "It's not a death sentence, pup. It's just the soul at unrest.
"He must find someone who calms his soul. But it's not always the romance of fairytales that will save him."
Cassandra frowned slightly. "Hopefully Bart and Peter will figure that out since they separated."

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"I know, but...I don't want that for them. I may not have seen Bart struggle for long but I would never want that for anyone else. Especially after watching how they both struggled both immediately after and....hopefully far after too." Hannah added the last part since now she was beginning to hope that Peter's whole situation after the split were what led him to leave her.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"Well, sometimes the thing that frees one is not what frees another," Atlas told her.
Her parents shared another look that showed they obviously knew something.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Hannah frowned a little, confused. "What do you mean?" She asked, just hoping that they would actually answer her.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"Your mother freed me," Atlas told her. "But I don't know if that kind of match will free your brothers completely. In the end we were bound to struggle with ourselves again until we found the balancer."

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Hannah still frowned, and felt a little more helpless. But there was nothing really that she could do to help anyway. "I just hope they both find it sooner rather than later."

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

Atlas was going to say something else when he paused. He and Cassandra both looked over Hannah's shoulder.
"Someone is coming...
Come back to us again. Next time will be better...."

Just then an Amber colored wolf ran into the clearing. It seemed to be running wild but faltered once it saw the arch.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"No, wait," Hannah said desperately, not wanting them to leave. She turned around to see who might be coming when she noticed a very familiar wolf. She could only hope her parents wouldn't leave so that Bart could see them too.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

With a yelp the wolf ran back into the trees.

Dev, who had protectively put himself between her and the wolf, turned to see that the arch was empty.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"No..." Hannah whispered aloud. She didn't even have to look at the arch to know that they were gone. And for some reason, it made her heart ache. For a few moments, she'd had her parents back...

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

Dev rubbed her soulder. 'We can come back. Was that....?'

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Hanna rubbed her eyes and looked up to him then. 'It was my parents, yes. Thank you, by the way, for bringing me here.'

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

'It wasn't what I planned,' he admitted.
'Should I take you home?'

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

'I suppose,' she signed back. It hadn't been a very long walk, but she supposed that was okay.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

'Or we can go back to my place,' he held out his hand to her.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

'It doesn't matter,' she replied and then took his hand. SHe really didn't mind wherever they went.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

'Are you okay?' He asked her.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

She nodded and gave him a smile. 'Yeah, I'm fine,' she signed. 'Just thinking.'

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

'About what?' He asked, the previous events a loss to him because he could not hear their discussion.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

'About my brothers, mostly. I wish they'd gotten to see our parents, but maybe another time,' she signed, keeping it as simple as possible.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

'It's a bit temperamental but there will be anither time eventually,' Dev told her.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Hannah nodded in understanding and smiled a little. 'I'm sorry I didn't introduce you to my parents. I didn't even think about it.'

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

He smiled at her. 'It wasn't the right time. After all, they didn't seem to notice me. But you were able to talk to them. I couldn't hear a thing."

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

She nodded in reply. 'Yes, I could hear them. For the first time, I think. I was only eight when they died so I couldn't shift yet. The way they spoke to me is much how we as wolves can.'

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

'You'll have to tell me more about that,' Dev told her. 'It really is fascinating.'
'You seemed worried though, what did they say that had you so upset?'

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

'Just something about Bart and Peter. I don't know how to explain it though. I don't even fully understand it,' Hannah answered.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

'Well maybe Bart would know more about it, if you asked him," Dev suggested slightly

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

'He might. I could try to ask,' Hannah signed and shrugged one shoulder. She had a feeling Bart wouldn't want to talk about it, and it was very likely that Peter was the one that knew more.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

'Well, I'm not sure what to do in a situation like this,' Dev told her. He led her out of the clearing, following their footprints that went away from the wolf tracks.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

'It's okay. I don't really either,' Hannah replied, giving him a gentle smile. 'We should have our picnic sometime, don't you think? When most of the snow is gone.'

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

'Yeah. There's actually a place in the mountains that rarely gets snow. It's pretty warm most of the time,' Dev said.
'We could try there if you like.'