Demon? Or Angel?

His Old Friend

"I can't wait to see you Aph ..." I say when we're in the vortex. It lasts a few seconds, and then we're stood in a village. So they moved out to O'khasis huh ... 
I sigh and I lead Katelyn through the busy streets. Horse carriages pass by as we walk on the cobbled streets, and the low hum of chatter can be heard from every direction. I forget how lifting this place was, how alive it is. 

You see, after Zane's reign of terror was over, people started to rebuild their lives, and the Jury of Nine where prosecuted and put out as outcasts, but they haven't found all of them, some still roam unfound, like Katelyn. I found her before they did, so it's all good for her, she's unrecognisable to the public now. 

I follow the trail of magic essence leading me to where Irene's relic is ... which will be where Aphmau is, and I come to a stop at the end of a street. I look behind me at Katelyn's expression and I'm surprised, she seems in awe of this place, but it's nothing exactly special. Maybe it just reminds her of home or something. I knock on the door and I wait.

The door opens and I see Aphmau, she immediately recognises me and squeals, hugging me tightly. She doesn't let go of me for a good few minutes, and I can feel Katelyn just standing behind me awkwardly. 

"Travis ..!" She says, pulling away. She smiles brightly at me then realises there's someone else here and looks over my shoulder. "Hiya, I don't believe we've met. My name is Aphmau" She pushes past me good humouredly and stands in front of Katelyn, still smiling in her natural way.

"My name is Katelyn, nice to meet you Aphmau" She says, smiling slightly at her. I study her closely, looking for any reactions. She and Aphmau have met before, but it was in Katelyn's childhood. Aphmau was the result of an affair with Katelyn's father and another woman, and Katelyn's father had a divorce and introduced Aphmau as his kid with his wife and him. It's a complicated story. But I get nothing from her ... strange. 

"Now, Travis, if you're done drooling over Katelyn, would you two like to come inside ..?" She says, walking back into her house. I suddenly go a light shade of pink and I see Katelyn do the same. I follow in after Katelyn, because Ladies go first, and I take my shoes of after Katelyn has done hers. 

I look around and smile as I hear a baby chatting away to who I presume would be Aaron. I turn to Aph "Is that Aaron and Alina ..?" I say, tilting my head, the smell of fresh baked cake flowing from the kitchen.

"Yeah, Alina's learnt to talk now so she likes to have long chats. I let Aaron be put through that pain"  She answers, smiling as she quickly runs up the stairs "Make yourselves comfortable in the lounge" she calls back at me and Katelyn. I turn to her and offer her my arm. She tilts her head at me questioningly before taking it, walking into the lounge and sitting next to me on the couch.

"This place is nice, and Aphmau's really nice as well" she says to me in a soft voice, and I realise she's shy. Or maybe she remembers who Aph really is, and doesn't want to speak of it. I smile at her and lean my head against hers.

"If anything's wrong you can always tell me, you know that right ..?" I say, seeing her face go a light shade of pink, before pulling away slightly. 

"I know ... I just feel weird around people. I don't know. I'm fine though" 

"Just wanted to check Blueberry, just wanted to check" I say, leaning against the back of the couch, waiting for Aphmau to come back down.

About 10 minutes later I hear someone walking downstairs, I open my eyes to see Aaron in the doorway. I smile and release my hand from Katelyn's, standing up to greet him. We both shake hands, and we sit back down again, his leg bouncing up and down anxiously. From his seat opposite me, he smiles slightly at the two of us.

"Hello again Travis" his voice is as quiet and soft as I remember it to be. Reserved and not intruding on anything anyone else has to say or hear. "It's been awhile since I've last seen you. How have you been ..?"

"I've been quite alright thank you" I say, smiling back, aware of Katelyn becoming more and more distant by the second. I decide to get her talking again. I motion to her. "Aaron, this is Katelyn. Katelyn, this is my friend Aaron" She looks up at me in alarm, but smiles anyway.

"Hello Aaron, it's nice to meet you" She says, her voice back to it's old, confident self. 

Aaron smiles back at her, standing up and taking her hand, bending down to kiss it before standing up. Katelyn doesn't flinch, this has obviously happened to her before. "Nice to meet you Katelyn. It's nice to see Travis with someone who doesn't seem to be an airhead" She laughs at this comment and nods in agreement as he sits back down in his seat.

"That seems to have happened to him a lot" She's smiling properly now, and I smile in spite of myself. It's almost time. I'll have to send Alina off with Katelyn to get something from the market, because she can't be present while Enki talks with Irene and Shad. Aphmau walks in, a toddler Alina holding her hand and smiling. 

"Uncle Travyyyy!" She yells, smiling and running up to me, jumping onto my lap. I smile and fall back into the sofa, holding her up in the air. Alina ... lost a lot when she was a baby. But then she also gained a lot. But she's remained happy through everything, and I'm proud to be her 'Uncle'.

"You've grown so big Alina, you're taller than me!" I say, making her fly like a superhero like I always do. But she gets distracted when Katelyn sits back down. 

"Who's that pretty lady Mummy?" She says to Aph, tilting her head.

"This is Katelyn Ali, she's a friend of Uncle Travis'" Aphmau says, smiling at Alina as she sits on the sofa next to Aaron, taking his hand into hers. Usually, if it was anyone else, I would find this extremely annoying, but ever since Aaron came back, Aphmau has to make sure he's real and she's not dreaming all of this. I know she's wanted this ever since she met Aaron, and now she's here, she's got to make sure it's not one of her living dreams. Katelyn waves at Alina, smiling at her softly. Man I love that smile.

"Hi Alina" She says, looking up at her.

"If you're a special friend of Uncle Travis', then you must be Auntie Katelyn then" She giggles and starts laughing as I bounce her up and down on my knee, smiling softly at her. I look up at Aphmau and I nod, signalling it's time. She smiles back, slightly grimly and looks at Katelyn. I mouth at Aaron

"It's time"

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Kxte