Chapter 3.16 - Confrontation

“Alaric! I need to talk to you!”

“I’ve heard that enough over the past few days to be sick of hearing it. Say what you want to say.”

“Are you my father?”

“I’m not, but people have been saying I must be since you were born. I’m honestly surprised this is the first time you’ve asked me.”

“Since I was born?”

“Just because I’m not your father doesn’t mean people don’t make assumptions. Madeline and I’d had something going on since high school. People just thought it had gone farther than it actually had at that point.”

“At that point? Wait, since high school?”

“Look, kid, I’m not going to lie to you, but I don’t really think you want to hear the specifics. And yes, since high school. She kissed me the same day your father proposed to her. I came very close to objecting at their wedding. So no, I’m not your father, but it’s entirely possible there’s an alternate universe somewhere where I am.”

“I… don’t really know what to say to that.”

“I don’t really care what you say, but you wanted to know.”

Jonah sat on the floor, sad and scared and angry and not really knowing why. All he knew was that he needed time to collect his thoughts.

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Willow walked out to her usual spot in the woods, feeling oddly contemplative. She needed some time to herself to think.

So when she saw someone else standing by the pond, she was briefly irritated - until she realized who it was.

“Conor! I haven’t seen you in forever!”

“Hey, Willow. I was hoping you’d come out here today.”

“Where have you been?”

Conor shrugged easily. “Everywhere, really. My dad decided that I needed some bonding time with the p- rest of the family, so we all went on a backpacking trip. Really got in tune with nature. It was great.”

“That sounds nice. I know you’ve wanted to do something like that for a while.”

“I’ll take you on one of those trips someday.”

Willow laughed. “As long as I get to teach you Sim Fu.”

“I might take you up on that, now that I’ve finally hit my growth spurt. But in all seriousness, the best part of the trip was getting to feel connected, not just with nature, but with my family. That sort of close proximity… you can’t help but get to know people better than ever before.”

Willow sighed softly. “Yeah… I wish I had that with my family.”

“It’s never too late to make it happen.”

Willow nodded, ideas sparking. She was definitely going to make it happen.

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“Maxwell, please. You have to tell me what’s going on.”

“I think you’ll find that I don’t have to do anything of the sort.”

“On the contrary, I think that you have a vested interest in keeping me safe, for some reason, and I could easily make that very difficult for you.”

Maxwell was briefly silent. Then - “What do you want to know?”

“All of it!”

“That would take more years than you have on this planet to convey.”

Amanda rolled her eyes. “I wish you wouldn’t do that. I meant everything that’s relevant to the situation at hand, and you know it.”

Maxwell nodded. “I apologize. That’s what fairies do: we twist words, hide double meanings, feign misunderstanding. We do it to make up for our inability to lie.”

“That’s why you told me to never lie to a fairy?”

“They - we - hate it when humans lie. It’s taken as this inferior species showing off the one thing they can do that we can’t.”

“Okay, but will you please explain to me what that woman was talking about at that meeting?”

“Under fairy law, all Seers - of which you are one - are property of our king.”

“Why?”

“You’re considered to be too dangerous to be left to your own devices. While you aren’t immune to our magic, you can see through glamours, which make up a good deal of commonly used defense mechanisms. As tools of the king, though, Seers are valued for the very same skills that make them a threat.”

“Because fairies can’t see through other fairies’ glamours?”

“But Seers can. Exactly. Often, the fairy who finds a Seer, especially if said Seer is still young, will spend a few years training them before bringing them to the king. The king doesn’t like to waste his own time training a new Seer, so it’s a reasonably popular way to win favor at court. That’s what I originally intended to do with you.”

“But not anymore, obviously.”

Maxwell sighed. “I went soft. I came to like you, not as a tool, but as a person. I knew that I couldn’t give you up to the Court, where you would be a tool and a pet for the rest of your days. So I began to work to undo my own plans, but…”

“It’s not easy.”

“It’s definitely not easy, and now the Court knows that I’ve turned on them. I’m powerful enough that they won’t challenge me outright, but as soon as the protection I laid on you wears off, we will both be dragged back to court - you to become the king’s new Seer, me to face a trial.”

“So how do we stop it? I know you have an idea, or you wouldn’t be telling me this at all.”

“You need to prove that you aren’t to be trifled with, and I need to escape the king’s jurisdiction once and for all.”

“And how do we do that?”

He hesitated. “There is… a certain potion…”

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“What are you doing?”

“Playing hopscotch. Not very well, but I’m playing hopscotch.”

“Aren’t we a little old for that now?”

“I don’t think you’re ever too old to have fun. And this is fun.”

“If you say so…”

Serena stopped for a moment. “Alphonse, have you ever played hopscotch?”

“I’m sure I have, I just can’t recall exactly when at the moment.”

“You’re playing with me, then.”

“Come on, Serena, this is a kid’s game.”

“We were kids not to long ago. Now play, mister.”

Reluctantly, he joined in. And despite the fact that both of them were very, very bad at it, they found themselves having fun.

Eventually, Serena stopped, slightly out of breath, and looked at Alphonse. “By the way, where were you last night?”

He froze.

“We were supposed to go watch that new movie with the soundtrack you wanted to hear so much.”

“I… had a family obligation.”

“What sort of family obligation?”

Alphonse looked around desperately, trying to find a way to change the subject. Surprisingly, there was one. “Serena, there’s a woman standing at the edge of the park.”

“Lots of people stand at the edges of parks.”

“Serena, she’s staring at you.”

“How do you know she’s not staring at you?”

“Just look at her, okay?”

Serena looked. “Oh.”

Slowly, she walked over to the woman, Alphonse following a few steps behind her. When she got over there, she spoke. “Hello.”

“Serena? My name’s Odessa Winchester. I’m your mother.”

Author's Note: Told you she wasn't out of the picture just yet... 
Anyway, as of yesterday, I've officially finished all the chapters of this generation! I'll try to stagger their release, but they should all be out within the next few days. Then it's heir poll time! I hope you're at least starting to pick out a favorite, although of course Felix still isn't even a teen.

Speaking of teens, here is teen Serena! She is now childish, and the only sim I have ever had who can work that dress and hairstyle. I could have put her in something a little more conventional, but it wouldn't have been her style. Next chapter: Felix ages up, we have some more conflict, and there is an unusual amount of lying!