"Hopper, what did you just do? Where are we?"
"I clicked the button. It appears we are in….idk? Do you guys have an idea what this place is?"
"A hotel?"
"A house?"
"It's Shadows AirBnB!!! I remember vaguely but I remember enough. Adalyn took me through here and then....."
"Dandellion, are you okay?"
"And then Shadow killed my dad!!! Sorry. I just need a moment alone for a second."
"Willow, can you…."
"I'll go check on her."
"Thank you. She went upstairs."
"Hopper, we don't have time for this. There is a dragon on the loose and he is sanctioning unsanctioned Mists by the overload which is not good for…..shhh!!! Were you not young once?"
"Well, I..uh…yes, but that has nothing to….then you know how she feels."
"Dandellion? Where are you? There are so many doors and closets up here that it would take me all night just to search through them for you."
"*Sniff* GO AWAY!!!"
"Dandellion, don't be like that. I know how you feel."
"No you don't. Have you ever lost anyone close to you that wasn't just a family member…..but your friend?"
"Don't you remember? I lost my brother too, but I had to get over it. I couldn't let it rule me"
"It never ruled you. You just used his death as motivation to seek revenge on my sister!!! You know nothing."
"You're right."
"That's what I said."
"I know nothing, I feel nothing, I lost nothing, and I am nothing. I didn't feel anything when my boys and I found Adalyn wandering in the woods one day. I didn't feel anything when she grew up in our house under our protection, and I didn't feel anything when the one and only person that brought love and joy into our lives suddenly grew evil and turned into an outcast. Tell me, what was your sister like before she came to live with me."
"How am I to know? She ran away when she was young. Out of both of us; you have hung out with her way more than me. Most of the time she was off traveling on one of her soon to be what seemed like endless adventures. I didn't get to see her much so the very few times I got to see her; I cherished every moment."
"I…I….I'm sorry. I had no idea."
"Zeke, what are we even doing?"
"Well, we're talking and reliving the past."
"No, I mean what are we even doing here?"
"We're waiting."
"Waiting for who?"
"The cavalry!!!"
"What are you doing?"
"WE ARE HERE; PERIOD. WHERE ARE YOU; QUESTION MARK. SEND!!"
"You know; Shadows not that bad of a guy once you get to know him."
"I already got to know him and I don't like him."
"That's a shame because he is really nice."
" Nice? You can't trust anything he says. He plays both sides. He was never good."
"HE WAS A PURE!!!!"
"Was'' is the key word!! He may have looked all charming and nice when he helped bring your world closer to ours, but that is all in the past. He's changed now."
"Don't say that. Pures stay pure until death and even further. Once they become Pures; there is nothing they can do to change that. It's just like being a child of God. Once He accepts you then thei ris nothing you can do to make Him abandon you. Just try to make up with him. I promise you he'll turn around."
"They do change!!! Why do you think some go to Heaven and others to Hell? That Bible verse makes no sense because God ultimately decided on Judgment day who His real Children are and who isn't."
"That's not true. Fathers never abandon their children. It's the children who make their own choice to abandon the Father."
"Hold that thought a second. I would really love to keep discussing this love vs punishment topic with you more, but my phone's going off. I have an incoming message, it says.
'We have received your message and are eagerly awaiting your arrival outside. Any friend of Shadows is a friend of ours.'
Friend? Shadow is not my…..how did they even know I wasn't Shadow?"
"Cameras!!"
"Oh yeah. Go get the kids. We don't want to keep them waiting."
"My name's Willow...and I'm here to help!!!"
"Thank you."
"Zeke!! Dandelion!! Your presence is needed in the Living room please."
"Coming!!! Dandelion, take my hand and I'll walk you down. Here is a tissue for your tears. Dandelion? Why are you hesitant?"
"It's nothing.....okay, it's something. It's just that Adalyn walked through here to save me; and then the last person who gave me their hand…..well."
"What?"
"Not even ten minutes later they got sick and bedridden!!"
"Adalyn's sick? How?"
"It's the fuse. Shadow said it was rare and I found out why it was so rare. Mists can fuse with other Mists because they are both down there, but when a Hopegiver from down there fuses with a living not yet Hopegiver up here….then few survive the fuse. They barely make it through one experience. Please don't tell anyone; promise?"
"My lips are sealed; that is unless you want me to kiss you!!"
"Ewwww!! You dirty playboy. I am your step sister. Regardless, I would rather kiss your brother."
"Well not technically. I just helped raise your sister but I share no similarities so I am basically just a friend helping a friend. Also, I don't like labels; but suit yourself. I will warn you though that his lips are cold while mine are not."
" Where are those two? I told them to come down minutes…..there they are, Willow; and don't they just look lovely together walking hand in hand. I feel like a proud dad right now about to tell my son the ground rules for going to Prom."
"Well, if you're Zekes dad then I am Dandellions mom; and I'm here to say to that young man that if he hurts her in any way and leaves her sitting alone on the steps then you and me are going to share more than just a few words."
"Ooo, the mother instinct at work. You're always protecting your cubs."
"You're exactly right, and I'll protect her against friend or foe!!"
"What are you two whispering about?"
"We weren't whispering."
"You know, parents are the worst liars when it comes to whispering. They suck at it."
"Son….uhh…I mean Zeke. Car's waiting for us by the front door. The Shofer here will take you."
"Shofer? I thought you were part of the Ten Thousand. Wait, where's Eli?"
"Ha, no!! I am no Ten Thousand, but if you'd like me to shofer you then it would be my honor. Eli is waiting in the car as we speak."
"Dad, I have to take my older brother with me? He's just going to be a third wheel and will get in the way of our relationship."
"Relationship?"
"Relationship?"
"Son, you're too young to know what true love is let alone what a date stands for."
"Uhh, actually Eli would be my older brother."
"Son, we can't keep eyes on you twenty four seven. You're nearing adulthood now and that's it's own set of challenges and obstacles to face. Eli will just be there to make sure you're not doing anything you shouldn't be doing. That's all."
"You still don't trust me? Have these past few days not shown you my loyalty?"
"Uh…..I…Willow?"
"Zeke, it's not that your dad doesn't trust you. It's just that he doesn't not trust you."
"Huh? That makes no sense. I'm confused."
"So are all kids your age confused, but you have to trust us. Parents know best even if it seems puzzling at times."
"Enough chit chat or else we'll be late. Shofer, can you please take us where we need to go."
"In that case; where we're going not many will follow."
"What took you guys so long? I'm dying in here. Can someone turn the AC on because I can't even start this thing."
"No one can start this thing. This car and other designs like it were built so that only the owner of the car; which is me; can operate it. You will also notice that there are no keys to this car because this car runs completely off of faith. The more faith you have; the more you can drive before you have to fill up again. Now this car is called a Healer car. Twisted house is a nice place to go, but if there is no war we can definitely make it there in time then we just put the injured person in here; drive like normal, and then the car will heal them of every wound they have; physically or otherwise."
"Bro, if you took a bunch of these cars down to Earth then you could heal the whole world in a matter of months…no….weeks!!! You have no idea how much we could use something like this."
"Fasten your seatbelts, folks.
Shadow told us not to get involved with other planets' problems unless he says otherwise. They made their own problems so they should be able to clean up their own messes as well."
"Well, Shadow keeps disobeying his own orders then."
"As king, he can do whatever he pleases. He makes the orders, and we don't question them."
"Man, I wish my world could take some advice."
"Shadow keeps us safe, especially from the Ten Thousand; which means that whatever is going on down there must be extreme to the max."
"You don't know the half of it."
"And I'd like to keep it that way."
"Nightmaster, but you don't understand. We are being invaded. People are coming into our homes and they don't belong here."
"Have you heard the parable of the I forgot which king it was but it was of the great hall? A king made a huge feast but all of his relatives, knights, lords, noblemen, and every other were out of town. He called them to come and feast with him but they all said they were too busy doing their own thing so they couldn't come. One of the maids asked the king if they should start cleaning up and he said no. Open the palace doors and go into every home and street you can find. Tell them the king has prepared a feast and invites them to come. The maids went out and did as they were told, but they realized that the hall was still not full. So the king said go to all the beggars and lame so that they may partake as well. Again, the maids carried out his orders and again the Hall was not yet full. So the king asked them to go to the next town over and invite everyone they saw there. This parable has been rephrased over and over again and there is even a famous book that talks about it. It's a story about the hen and her little chicks. The chicks wanted nothing to do with their mom and didn't want to help cook; so they went off on their own ways. When the hen finished cooking; she called them, but they said they were too busy to come over. So she invited all of the barn animals into her home and they helped cook the remaining food and ate it all. You see where I am going with this?"
"Kinda."
"Well, that's why Jesus called it a parable. You have to discern it for yourself, but only the Holy Spirit can help you discern the real message.
We're here."