International Legends

Chapter 46 - Leo

Whatever they had did in Genesis world had worked. Everything was in pure chaos. My newsfeed, every single day, was about some unknown discovery that they had found. Mermaids that were sitting around rocks in Greece, giant cyclops that were hiding in caves, even bats that turned out to be vampires in disguise. These vampires were much cooler than those of the Vampire Queen, so it wasn't so bad.

"So, you're telling me," murmured Dad, going over it a hundredth time, "That you're from an alternate universe were bears walk around terrorizing people?"

"Basically," I say. "Can you believe that the people of this universe think that bears actually terrorize them? They are talking about putting bears down because they walk up to them and want to take a picture. I mean, imagine walking up to a grizzly and her cub trying to take a picture, thinking that the National Parks have a say on this matter."

I hear the roar of the crowd over our conversation as Mom says, "Well tell Naomi that we still want her to come visit us. I know it's a bit colder up here than she anticipated, but that doesn't mean we wouldn't have a good time."

"You can bet I am going up to see my niece," I say. "Anyway, I have to go. Mom, Dad, I love you both. I am happy to be back."

"We love you too son," says Dad, and I smile at that.

The crowd is absolutely crawling out of the auditorium as a gaggle of girls are waiting for the guest speakers to come in. Naomi, accompanied by Laura and Emma, are here to talk about the thrilling conclusion to Naomi's trilogy - International Legends.

Naomi ended up getting everything that she wanted. Her fans were all back. Her shows had all been produced. However, it was a bit confusing with the copies that Laura and Emma had already published to Amazon.com. It appeared as if there was a copyright issue, and someone needed to make a claim on who wrote the book first. So, it was republished - being Miami Horror, Singapore Sci-Fi, and International Legends written by Naomi Campbell, with Emma and Laura as "contributors."

"Gosh," groaned Tyra Banks, the television host. "It's so impressive. What a thrilling conclusion to the series that you have all three written. It's fascinating and ultimately eerie that you three wrote the same book at the same time. Tell us how it happened."

"Well," thinks Laura, "This guy I liked broke up with me. I was exhausted and I was half-watching that show Jane the Maiden."

"Yes," agrees Emma. "She was really bored because Coronavirus was happening. It was 2020, and she didn't know what to do. She asked me if she wanted us to write a book together and so I agreed to. That's when we found Naomi's story."

It's amazing what a memory wipe will do to the system, but this was a complicated situation. Before you judge us, imagine the entire populace being let known to the secrets of the Quantum Computer and the Multiverse. It would be a crazy situation with tons of people trying to hack into God's mind. That kind of power could not be allowed.

Spiritual initiation, as Ozara had described it, was incredibly important. It was not by being revealed secrets by a "spiritual guru," nor by being taught information about something through a technology that mimics neurological development that should only happen naturally through an active spiritual connection with God.

This world, the world of Basques, was so disconnected from the actual reality. The actual truth was God and a spiritual war that so many were not prepared for. One that we would eventually be fighting. For now, I was enjoying the present.

Laura and Emma, thanks to Dr. Jodie and David's intervention believed that they had met Naomi and shared the same idea with her. It wasn't that hard to believe. Naomi was everything that they weren't = confident, fashion-forward, highly talented, and juggling a lot of talents. Plus, there was the added caveat that Emma and Laura's memory of the events at the aquarium had come back. So, there needed to be a little manipulation. Emma and Laura would never know the true extent of the Multiverse War, but it was okay. They were privy to the magic that they had been thinking about for so long, and that was good enough for them.

"I was busy in college when I was writing this world," admitted Naomi. "Imagine my surprise that Laura and Emma knew all about it. My roommates hooked me up with them, and the rest was history. Now we have a successful franchise."

"Tell me about the decision to put Jasper, Ozara, and Leo as the front-runners of the book."

My jaw dropped as Naomi's face turned a bright red. Emma looked like she was about to jump out of her chair with excitement, saying "Jasper was originally a character in my Genesis story. He was a person that had been possessed by Genesis. Then, of course, I based him off my fantastic boyfriend. I can't say much more about him, but he never fails to impress me with his patience with me."

Laura, blushing, admits, "Yeah, I had a crush on Leo for quite a while. He never really noticed me though. He had his heart set on someone else... So, I figured, why not put him in the book? Naomi agreed. We made him into a character named Levi who worked at the National Parks. He gets stuck on the cruise but wants nothing more than to get back to the mountains. I guess I was inspired by my mom. She's been working really hard at her job."

Sarah's daughter. I put two and two together. The way that she stared at me in the library at my job, wanting me to talk to her. Shoot. She really did have a crush on me. Oh well. I guess I just didn't notice or something. I feel kind of bad now.

"Leo was the only person that could love the main character," said Naomi. "She was going through so much mourning the death of Theo. There was no way of redeeming her character arch other than by forcing her to be in the same area as Leo, I mean, Levi..."

"Leo, you mean your boyfriend Leo?" asks Tamara Banks.

Naomi is blushing a bright red as the audience giggles over this, calling out my name over and over. Ugh. I guess I have to.

I step out onto the stage, waving at the entirety of the crowd.

"Hi everyone!" I say, waving at them all.

"He's just like Levi in the book," says one woman; while another says, "I wish I could get my husband to work out in the way that Leo does. He won't even hit the gym anymore."

"Leo," asks Tamara Banks. "Are you the Levi that's in the book?"

The women in the audience look like they are waiting on bated breath, trying to figure out if this romantic reality is true. Imagine being so loved by someone that they make you into a character in their book, one in which everyone seems to be fawning over. That level of expectation - it shouldn't' be allowed.

"No," I say, making the crowed disappointed. "I am not Levi in International Legends. Levi is a character that was created by three highly talented writers. No, I am simply a man that is trying his best to get by. A man who found a beautiful woman, and didn't know what else to do. A man whom...."

I stare at her, and I feel all the words wash away out of my mouth. She is the most beautiful woman that I had ever seen. She was so tall, such a beautiful complexion, round plush lips that demanded to be kissed by me. I felt myself being drawn in by that alluring feminine energy, and I wanted nothing more than to grab her in my hands and make love to her in front of that entire crowd. Damn them all.

Instead, I dip her in front of the crowd, causing a cacophony of fangirling and screaming that came from the audience. Yeah, a dip was always a crowd favorite. Naomi is giving me an amused look like, "This had better be good."

"Who is the most amazing woman that I had ever seen," I say, prompting sighs from the audience as I leaned in, swooping her in for one fantastic, last-moment kiss. I can't say if it was perfect, I can't say if it was a moment that Naomi was going to remember for the rest of her life.

I do know that the next day - the news websites were all talking about the "hot park ranger" and his novelist fiancée. I was getting everything from modeling offers to spots of podcasts.

Naomi joked about it, saying "How does it feel to become America's darling?"

I just smiled, and said, "I want to get back to the Tetons."

Back with Naomi, enveloped in the mountains, feeling pure peace.