《Anomalous: A Contemporary Reality-Bending Adventure》Epilogue
Advertisement
It took surprisingly little effort to convince Michelle she didn't need to know about what had happened at Tech United or the answer to the mystery of Sam's powers, and surprisingly monstrous efforts to convince the courts they hadn't been responsible for kidnapping. Elena was in and out of trials and courts for the remainder of the summer, though the last bit of funding remaining for Camp Universe covered the expenses from the trials, as well as bail.
Sometime during that first conversation with the police, Patrick slipped his hand into Elena's. She felt her breathing slow, and her stomach settled, and her pulse didn't pound quite as hard in her ears. It wasn't exciting, exactly—it felt natural. After that, they held hands every chance they could get. The first time Michelle caught them, she just smirked and said, "I was wondering how long it would take you to figure it out."
Sam stayed with the Camp Universe team in their hotel room for another week or two, but after that, the police took him into custody. Early on, they were allowed to visit him, but his case worker grew more and more icy with them as the summer went on, especially since Michelle seemed to have less and less patience with him with each visit.
After one visit where Michelle had actually snapped at Sam, Elena spoke with her in a low voice. "I've never seen you like this."
"We can't stay attached to him," Michelle said. "They're going to need to find him a home. We're not going to be able to visit him anymore."
Elena had been thinking about this one. "Do you want kids, Michelle?"
"I never married. I don't even have a partner."
"You know what I'm thinking."
"Would you want to be a single mom?"
Advertisement
"My mom is." Her first thought was that that didn't make a very good argument, but she pushed the thought aside. She needed to stop thinking such negative things about her family members if she was going to make amends.
"But—" Michelle shook her head— "would you volunteer to be that?"
That ended the conversation, though Elena knew Michelle well enough to hear in her voice that the issue wasn't really over. She didn't find out until a couple of weeks later that Michelle had already pulled her final strings and cashed in her final favors. Sam went to live with her in the third week of August.
Elena stayed with the rest of the Camp Universe team in San Francisco while the trials were still happening, but she called her mom a couple of times a week throughout July and August, and she visited for a week at the end of August before, finally, returning to school. She bid Sam and Michelle good bye and returned to the oasis of her science and engineering classes.
And for the first time, she found her classes to be insurmountably difficult.
Not the content—she still earned A's. She was still the envy of her classmates. But everything that had driven her to her scientific endeavors had faded. The subconscious desire to lack no knowledge; the conscious hunger for as much understanding as a human mind could contain; the craving to have control over the elements that surrounded her; the longing to impress, for her words and name to bear weight. The deep need to carry out her father's legacy.
She still loved science and enjoyed being in a lab as much as a machine shop, but freed from the forces that had compelled her to stay, she found little lasting satisfaction in the work she produced. It was pleasant but empty.
Advertisement
On their sixth or seventh official date, Elena brought up her struggles to Patrick. He just laughed.
"What?" She felt a little offended, like he was trivializing her.
"Sorry. It's just, I should have realized what your reasons had been for being an engineer."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you've come a long way. You were kind of a control freak."
"Well . . ."
He took her hand. "You're nineteen, Elena."
"So are you."
"And I'm undeclared and loving it. Why don't you study some different things?"
"But . . ." She winced. "I love engineering. I really do. I love building things, and making things work, and seeing science come alive—"
"So maybe you'll come back to engineering." He shook his head and smiled. "But you've got time. Try some different things. Learn about yourself."
So she did. She took a class in literature, which made her brain hurt in ways it never had before; a class in art, which she hated for its lack of structure until she could get used to it; a class in law, which put her to sleep; a class in business, at which she was surprisingly good; and a class in teaching, which required her to help out in a fourth grade classroom once a week.
She still wasn't great with kids. But the teacher of the classroom wasn't great with science, and she put Elena in charge. Elena spent her free time building demonstrations like the ones she had for Camp Universe. For a little while, she found her joy again in the astonishment of the kids as they saw science in action through Elena's creations.
Maybe she'd keep it up for another semester, or maybe she'd go back to engineering. Like Patrick said, she had plenty of time to decide.
The professor of Elena's teaching class came to evaluate her during the last week of the semester. Elena was teaching the students to make helicopters out of paper to demonstrate aerodynamics. Her professor sat in the corner with a clipboard.
Elena took a deep breath as the kids finished their cutting and folding, keeping her eyes away from the evaluator. "Alright, we're all going to send them up to the sky, on the count of three! One, two—"
Twenty little helicopters flew to the ceiling and fluttered back down, but one shot straight down to the floor. All eyes turned to the little girl—Moxie—whose helicopter had failed.
"I think mine is broken," Moxie said.
Elena glanced down at the folded paper on the floor. It looked fine to her. The hair on the back of her neck prickled; she could feel her professor's eyes on her.
She had no idea what had just happened. She waited for the panic to begin to arise, for her stomach to turn, for her skin to crawl . . .
But it didn't.
Elena knelt down and picked up the folded paper. "It's not broken. It's different. Let's try to find out why."
"I messed up," Moxie said.
"Maybe," Elena said. "And if you messed up, we can fix it. But maybe you just made something new. Something I've never seen before."
Moxie's eyes met Elena's, and she grinned.
Advertisement
My Monster Adventurer's Guild
Cless was a girl with a sad fate. Orphaned at birth and born with a misshapen body, she would've died if the Church of the One God didn't take her in. Shunned by society, she grew to the age of fifteen knowing little love. Now it was time to leave the safe haven of the church behind. The day of her rite of passage to adulthood arrived. All humans earn Skills granted by the One God when they pray for guidance during the rite. Skills could go from a lowly G-rank to a powerful A-rank. There was a mythical S-rank Skill in the scriptures but nobody ever earned one. Until Cless' turn came, that's it. The world Cless lives in is a world full of danger. Monsters once prowled the surface and devoured humans. The One God created dungeons to imprison the monsters, but the dungeons are failing, threatening to spill wave upon wave of monsters upon the land. After becoming an adult and leaving the church she was sexually abused by a vengeful classmate and learned how to fight back using her Skill. After that, she went on the fast track to becoming the world's youngest guild master. With her dark heritage dormant, the girl will try to carve her place in the world. However, the kind of company she attracted might not earn her many smiles among her fellow humans.
8 80A Simple Bar In The Multiverse
I'm Lucas, 30 years old and single. I went to drink with some friends that day and when I was walking home, I found some weird glowing door on a wall on which I've never seen anything before. I'm a bit ashamed to say that I instantly tried to open it. Behind it was that weird silver light which I also touched with my bare hand. Don't judge me! I was very drunk. It has nothing to do with my intelligence... Anyway, I seemed to have been transported in a magical room and an invisible female entity has just just given me an offer: Turn this bar into the best bar in the universe where you'll work forever. In exchange I would get great powers with great responsab... Wait! That's spiderman. Anyway, great powers and unlimited lifespan. I think I'll say yes... Follow the story of Lucas, the manager of the Simple Bar, while he turns this seemingly innocuous bar into one that becomes known in the entire Multiverse. Or at least in a big part of it. I mean, the Multiverse is virtually infinite, so... A part of the story will take place in the Divine Realm of the Wanderer's Realms from my first novel 'The Life of a Goddess and a Fox in the Cultivation World '. I will post 1 chapter every week at 7 p.m. EST on Saturday.
8 173Soulblade
Magic is a dangerous tool, wielded by Soulblades. They are necessary for the survival of humanity, but when an uncontrolled Soulblade can potentially destroy entire cities by accident, it only makes sense that heavy regulations are put in place to prevent such accidents. Cassian is a revolutionary who has stumbled onto the truth of magic and is willing to use it for the freedom of his fellow Soulblades. Darian is a king who only wants his people to thrive under his rule. Kara is a Soulblade Guardian, burdened with the responsibility of exterminating any Soulblades who fall out of line.
8 84Life's Allegory
Explore the Barbarian Tundra, the Hito Mountain Villages and unknown lands of wonder and horror across Gaia and the worlds around her. See through the eyes of a few, experience the harsh realities of sword and sorcery and how Sachihiro, a young man who takes a path never before tread by another carves a place from the chaos of the world or dies trying. ______________________________________________________________________________________ Part I: The Followers of the Way Part II: The Fall of the Tribes Interlude Part III: The Lost Part IV: The Lost: Death and Birth of Legends Part V: The Fall of Worlds ______________________________________________________________________________
8 546Peridot x Human!Reader
When you continue your day as usual, you receive an unexpected guest that arrives in your home. ( This may become a Peridot X Human!Reader romance)I tried to keep the 'human', or you, with simple pronouns, so that way everyone can enjoy it, whether you be male or female. or whatever you choose to be respectfully called. ^u^*Characters and Steven Universe, the show, both belong to the amazing, beloved Rebecca Sugar. **ART ON COVER IS MINE AND BELONGS TO ME. DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION*
8 186Severus Snape x Reader Story
Severus Snape: one of the most despised Hogwarts Teachers; the Head of Slytherin House and The Potions Master. Rude, snarky, and generally cold-hearted, it's not a wonder why people don't like him. At least, that's what everyone says. Except perhaps you..............................Hey guys! Harry Potter (the entire series and movies and any other publication of any kind) doesn't belong to me. The picture on the cover doesn't belong to me either. I just write fanfictions. This is my first time going public and writing to an audience. I will attempt to write at a continuous rate, because like you, I like a good story and cannot wait for the next chapter. I will be waiting for a good amount of comments/votes/anything really to continue. And I promise: I will finish this one. Best of luck.
8 155