At first, Riley truly thought that it was Aerith that suddenly stopped him. After all, her popping up out of nowhere was not that far off from her usual memo— she was nosy that way.
Even after two other Aeriths popped out, Riley still didn't think anything was amiss. After all, as much as people were unaware of how many abilities he actually had, it was the same with Aerith— she was a mystery still.
But alas, as soon as he felt Aerith's bosoms touching his back, he knew it couldn't be her. And so, he looked to the only person that could make something like this possible… and probably the only human left that could kill him— Paige.
"Aerith's breasts are not this soft, Paige. She uses padding on her suit."
"I… I wouldn't know that! She—"
"Let go of him, illusionist."
And before Paige could completely respond, she felt a cold sharpness sticking to her neck. A literal cold sharpness, that is, since Tomoe was now threatening to slit her throat with a blade of ice.
"That… that's not nice," Paige could really only force a chuckle as she looked at Tomoe. But after a few moments, three other Paige emerged… from Paige's body. And before Tomoe could even react, all the Paige in the hall disappeared— even the one she held her knife on.
"Shock therapy is not the right way to treat someone with dementia, Riley."
She did, however, appear again behind Riley.
"Oh," Riley quickly let out a breath, "So, that is why it was soft. It's been you the whole time."
"That—"
"Die!"
And once again, before Paige could finish her words, she was interrupted. This time, by Alice who continued to rush toward Riley.
"Enough!" But Paige seemed to have already gotten tired of being interrupted as she suddenly clapped her hands— and as she did so, everything turned white; with Alice the only one remaining in the space.
"..." Alice's eyebrows quickly furrowed as she placed her feet back on the floor; her eyes, quickly looking around the vast emptiness. Soon, however, she saw a very small child crying near her— no sound, not even a whisper. But still, the child's trembling shoulders were enough for Alice's furrowed eyebrows to turn wide.
"...My baby?" And as soon as those words escaped her lips, the little child very slowly turned to face her; his face, incredibly white and filled with snot and tears.
'M… mommy?'
Alice's breaths quickly became stuttered; her steps, hesitating and even backing away as she looked her little into his scared, and obviously hurt eyes.
There was actually no voice coming out of the toddler's mouth, but the movement of his mouth was enough for Alice to know what he was saying.
'Why… why are you hurting me?'
"N… No," Alice shook her head, "Mommy… mommy will never hurt you."
'No! You… you hurt me!'
Alice stretched her hand to her son; as soon as she did so, however, her son quickly ran away… hiding behind a much older Riley— the real one.
Alice's eyebrows slightly furrowed; but soon, her eyes started to dart back and forth between Riley and his younger version.
"To be fair, mother. You did kill me," Riley then let out a small sigh as he glanced at his younger self, "But to be fair, I was never really like this when I was younger, and I would have never run from you because I honestly wouldn't even know who you are."
"..." Alice could really only close her eyes from Riley's words. And after a few breaths, she turned her head toward the empty space beside Riley,
"It's okay now, Paige. Thank you for showing me this. I… needed it."
"Will… you be okay now?"
A voice then emerged from the empty space, and very soon, like a canvas being painted on, everything returned to normal; with Paige appearing beside Riley, and the rest of the women surrounding her— ready to restrain her at any moment.
"..." Alice looked at Hannah and the others for a while, before letting out a sigh and shaking her head,
"...I honestly don't know. But if I even try to hurt Riley or show signs of it… all of you have the permission to end my already short life. I would like that more than the idea of me hurting my son again."
"You can't hurt me, mother," Riley was the first to respond as he just shook his head and just started walking around Bernard's secret basement; trying to fix the things that Alice destroyed.
"That's true," Alice let out a small giggle, "And you're very lucky. You have… a lot of women that want to protect you. I expected nothing less from my son, they will make fine wives— especially Diana's daughter."
"...I'm his sister," Hannah quickly raised an eyebrow as she stepped away from Alice.
"I've seen a lot of Spanish telenovelas, trust me," Alice once again giggled, "And besides, Diana and I sort of made a promise that we would try to get our children together. It just… happened a little differently…
…I also like that one," Alice then pointed at Paige, "I think her relationship with my son is a little unhealthy, but she taps into his crazy side and lets him flourish."
"M… me?" Paige could really only point to herself.
"And you," Alice then pointed at Katherine, causing her to blink a couple of times, "You and my son have a child together, so you're obviously in the harem. Plus, you have the largest breasts."
"..." Katherine quickly turned to look at Paige, Hannah, and Tomoe, not really knowing what to do with the information.
"Wait, now that I think about it… You're obviously older than me," Alice then said as she looked Katherine straight in the eyes, "Minus the time I was dead, of course."
"Right!?" Hannah then raised her voice and clapped, "She basically targe–"
"That's hella fly!"
"What!?"
Hannah, whose nose was about to reach the ceiling because she thought Riley's mother agreed with her, could not help but choke on her own breath as she heard the excitement in Alice's voice.
"I heard briefly from Diana that you're also his teacher, right?" Alice then suddenly grabbed Katherine's hands and started shaking them. But after a few moments, her eyes turned serious, "Are you…
…teaching my son a lot of useful things?"
p
"That is not entirely true, Katherine," Riley spoke as he continued to fix the broken floors, "Before you, I never thought that the human tongue could—"
"Stop!" Katherine quickly screamed, her voice, as high-pitched as it could be, "No… no one needs to know that!"
"...Hm," Riley only shrugged before focusing on his activities.
"And you…" And lastly, Alice turned to look at Tomoe, "...I don't really know anything about you."
"I… I am Riley's shadow, madam Alice."
"...So you're a stalker?"
"N… no! I—"
"I'm kidding!" Alice then pinched Tomoe's cheek, "I already know who you are. You were the first one to bare your fangs at me when I tried to hurt Riley…
…that's all I need to know."
"..." Tomoe only looked at Alice for a few seconds, before bowing her head and stepping back.
"I guess that's—"
"Me! Me! What about me, grandma!?"
"Of course!" Alice then quickly pointed at Karina, who was hopping up and down with a very wide smile on her face, "I'm not gonna forget about my beautiful granddaughter."
"Hehe…"
It was a weird sight. Karina was taller than Tomoe, and yet the way she giggled and talked truly resembled that of a child as Alice tried to tickle her.
"...Grandma?"
Suddenly, however, Alice kneeled on the floor and started sobbing out of nowhere as she hugged Karina.
"Alice!?" Katherine was the first to rush toward her to check her condition. However, she found something else when she checked the beating of her heart; it was… weird. Almost as if she was…
…manually controlling her own heartbeat.
"Alice, you…"
"I'm happy…" Alice did not let Katherine speak, "...I can die happy knowing Riley has a lot of people there for him, thank you… thank you, everyone."
"...Grandma? Why… why are you crying!?" And with that, Karina also started bawling her eyes out.
Hannah could really only cover her mouth, before turning her eyes to Riley and subtly asking him to do something.
"..." Riley really only looked at what was happening, before letting out a small sigh and making his way not to Alice, but to Paige.
Riley then whispered something to Paige, lasting for almost an entire minute before he pulled his head away.
And as soon as he did so, Paige took in a deep breath, before the scenery once again changed.
"Hm?" Alice could really only blink a couple of times as she saw her surroundings changed into an interior similar to that of a hospital room— but her eyes did not wander for long, however, as they landed on the little toddler that was making his way toward her,
"Another illusion? I don't need to—"
"M… mommy is back?"
"..." Alice's eyes quickly turned wide, as this time, a voice truly came out of the toddler's mouth— and not only that, she could also feel the warmth in his hand as he embraced her leg,
"Mommy, carry Riley!"
"...Riley?" Alice quickly but very gently kneeled to the floor again— very slowly and carefully embracing the young Riley, and to her surprise, her hand did not go through.
"Hm," baby Riley then quickly snuggled in.
"That… that's right…" Alice then quickly nodded her head as she tightened her embrace,
"Mommy… mommy is back."
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