Ch. 5, Part 3: Time of Crisis

(Continued from Part 2.)

Given that recent years presented to us the deaths of our two cats, and our children growing up, I can only wonder how Shark was taking it all.

I mean, I didn't want to ask him, since it didn't feel right to do so. I was taking it as best as I could, but...

With him, you had to be careful. Things could get turbulent with him.

I tried to cheer him up with other events coming up, like say...

His own birthday?

I waited until the kids were in school and asleep, and I made it so it was just me and Shark, celebrating his happy birthday.

Or it was supposed to be happy, anyway. After he made a wish, and blew out the candles, he started saying he hoped it'd come true.

I know a lot of people say that, but the way he said it, well...he didn't sound very confident. And in fact, he actually opted not to eat any cake. He told me to save it and give it to the kids for dessert tonight.

There was a reason he was acting like that, actually. 

Ch. 5, Part 2: Niveous Victory

(Continued from Part 1.)

At one point, I knew Shark, the kids, and I had to face death again sooner or later.

After all, I'd probably seen the guy with the scythe numerous times when I was younger. And Shark was obviously no stranger to him.

But I didn't think he'd come so early.

But I suppose you don't fight it, like many people try to do when their time is up. Rather, you should greet Death as if he were an old friend.

And if you believe it's fair that your time has come, good on you. Sometimes it's best not to protest.

Then again...the ones who died when we were living there...I don't think it would've mattered, since they couldn't speak, more or less.

Ch.5, Part 1: Growing Up Sucks

(Note: This is a long chapter under the cut.)

You know how they say 'with age comes wisdom', or...one of those supposedly philosophical quotes that everyone spews out one time or another? Most don't really know the true meaning of that phrase.

It's like they expect to coast through life knowing nothing, then when they hit the age that's considered 'old', suddenly they're these all-knowing beings.

Whenever I heard someone say that phrase, I just wanted to go over and clock them in the jaw.

I mean, look at me. I'm old enough to be the grandpa to a bunch of people in town, and I still can't remember what time the paperboy comes in the morning.

What they mean by that quote is, "as you age, you learn more from your mistakes", actually. I suppose. And there's no way to stay the same age forever as you learn.

It's not as simple as, say, waving a magic wand. You're going to age, like it or not. And it's not just you, it's everyone around you, as well.

Your children are going to grow up, and learn what they want to do in life. They'll become independent, they won't need you anymore.

Before you know it, your little baby birds are grown, spreading their wings, and leaving the nest.

Sometimes I wonder if Shark knew that when we adopted our kids. I'm sure he did, but he never said anything about it.

Ch. 4, Part 3: The Blue and the Green

 (Continued from part 2.)

You know how some teens are when they start out at high school? At first, they're all confident, and raring to go and make a name for themselves?

And then there are other teens who are all shy at first, then they get all confident?

I don't think Echo fit either of those. She was...she was her own woman. Shark and I were worried about her, at first. We didn't want any boy in school to tease her for anything.

In fact, Shark promised her that if any guys got fresh with her without her permission, he wasn't afraid to bust some heads for her.

 Echo said that it wasn't a problem. She could handle it. I know she could, but it still didn't mean we worried about our little girl.

As for Amaranth, well, she did her own thing.

We actually had to convince her to leave her doll at home. We assured her, nothing was going to happen to her little Pal. She held onto it like some kind of security blanket.

As for her school performance, well, she kept wanting to see how her big sister was doing, you know, with all the grades in one building and all. They kept sitting together during lunch.

Amaranth even wanted to go into the same after school shop class Echo was enrolled into. When we told her she was too young, though, she settled for scouting.

Both of us were happy for our daughters, starting to grow up on their own, and the time was just going too fast. Before we knew it, we were going to be attending Echo's graduation.

I made sure not to say that in front of Shark, though. The last time I did, he started bawling about how they weren't babies anymore, and he just wanted them to stay small just a little longer.

Well, I couldn't exactly control time. What, did I look like that green-haired chick from Sailor Moon? If I could, I would. But I couldn't, so...

Time just kept going, whether we wanted it to, or not. And time stopped for at least one of our relatives, in a sense.

Ch. 4, Part 2: Leaf and Nature

(Continued from Part 1.)

(Note: To explain the seasons changing drastically, just pretend everything took months or even years during certain events. In the game file this story was based on, each season only lasted seven days. Other than that, just try to ignore it. )

(This may also be one of the longest posts I've written so far. It's mainly because there was a lot of events I didn't want to split up, and whatnot.)

When the Rackets moved out after I brought them back to life, Shark and I realized we still had a plate of Ambrosia left.

The obvious first choice for me was: Jenni. I figured, I was essentially the one that caused her to kill herself all those years ago, so I wanted to make things right.

I was even about halfway to the graveyard and start to find her, until Shark stopped me. He first, told me to stop and think about this.

Second, he gave me reasons on why this was a bad idea. He told me that, yes, it seemed best to bring her back, but would she want me to do so?

He went on to say that the circumstances of her death had to be brought up. Even if Jenni was brought back to life, chances were seeing Goodwin and Amy still together would likely just push her over the edge again.

Did I just want to repeat history again? I gave it some thought, and by the time I got to the cemetery, I decided he was right.

But I didn't want to have gone all that way for nothing. There was no way I was going to leave empty-handed. So, I scouted the area for someone else that had died, and maybe I could give the Ambrosia to them.

I quick made my choice, and when I came back home, I brought her with me.

Ch. 4, Part 1: Redemption Earns Life

The very concept of resurrection is almost...sobering. Most people don't really talk about it in town. Basically, nearly everyone figured, once you died, you died for good.

I wanted, no, I needed to know, if it were even possible.

It was just so confusing. Shark and I were seriously thinking about messing with the balance of life and death, just to restore the lives of a bunch of former criminals.

But I guess in the end, it was all straightened out.

Shark brought the situation up with Dudley and Scout, and they said that should the Rackets actually not be willing to change, they would be dealt with accordingly. Otherwise, they said that if their dead relatives really were honest about it, it was worth a shot.

And as for me? I asked around, seeing if any of the older inhabitants in town knew anything about raising the dead. After having next to no luck, I wound up talking to one of my co-workers.

She told me that there was a recipe for a special type of dish called "Ambrosia". She herself had never cooked it, but she went on to say that it was believed to prolong one's life.

I asked her what would happen if it were consumed by a ghost. She seemed confused, but then told me that if the person eating it was already dead, then surely the ghost could come back to life!

After we were done talking, she ended up giving me what looked like weird glowy pears. Called them "Life Fruits" and, if cooked with another ingredient, could possibly be used for whatever I was doing.

I couldn't thank her enough. Of course, I still had to figure out what else I need to make this "Ambrosia". And I...needed to know how exactly to make it.

Ch. 3, Part 3: I See Dead People

(Continued from Part 2.)

At some point after adopting Masaru, Echo got older, and Jade had to move out. We were sad to see her go, but she couldn't live with us forever, just until Echo was old enough.

I almost felt bad for Echo, having to live with a bunch of guys, with the only other girl being her baby sister.

Well, at least she could explain things to Amaranth when she was older, like where not to crawl, why she shouldn't throw her toys everywhere, explaining that no, their parents weren't hurting each other under the sheets...

(Poor kid had to see her parents doing it)

In my defense, I thought the door was locked! And I didn't hear her come in until I was...

Anyway, that wasn't the point. Besides her walking in on us at the wrong time, our daughter had...a pretty decent childhood. She did what most girls her age did, play outside, go to school, watch TV, complain about homework.

Of course, she asked for a treehouse and, well, she got her treehouse. She played for hours in that thing. Sometimes she even slept in there.

Of course, all of our kids used it at some point, so maybe she was just breaking it in.

She always declared herself "Queen Echo" and ask that everyone bow to her. Apparently her subjects were all those stuffed animals she snuck up there.

I think one time she tried to bring up Masaru, but he would have none of that. At least, that's what I thought when he came tearing through the house in a little pink princess outfit.

And well, guess who had to tell her not to put doll clothes on the cat.

Well, after she was told Masaru was the family pet, not a toy, she decided to just go back to playing with that weird doll of hers.

Never understood why she didn't throw it out. It was obviously starting to show signs of wear and tear. It was probably for sentimental value.

Kid had an imagination. Whenever Echo was going through one of her little games, I guess I just played along.

Then her 'games' started taking a strange turn.