Simone came over with a ceramic vase in her hands. “As complicated as Lady Angela backhanding you for waking her up… Which is what I’m going to do to you for making me lose that auction.” There was a deadpan look on her face.

“You don’t mean that Mone…” Lewis sighed a bit.

“…Don’t you tell me how I feel.”

“Mone, I can literally tell you what you are thinking about right now. You are just being a brat.”

“…You’re a brat.” That was all she had before Lewis choked on a laugh. Simone was fussing a bit as a portal opened up and their butler came out and took the vase from her. “Can you put that in the courtyard… Preferably…”

“Mone, don’t you go down that rabbit hole. If you try to make it perfect right now you are going to make us go home.”

“But…”

“Mone….” Lewis gave her a look.

“Oh fine!” Simone threw her hands up. “Can you put it on the pedestal in the courtyard for now?” Their butler nodded and took it away. Mone was vocally fussing at Lewis who leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Don’t you kiss my ass Lewis Terrowin.”

“Whatever you say Mrs. Terrowin,” Lewis snarked back at her.

Darren looked between them. “It really is you.”

“Oh, hi Darren.” Simone waved.

“Did you just now notice?” Darren and Lewis stared at her with amazement.

“…Sorry I get really into auctions.”

“So I noticed…” Darren gave a smirk. “So you were brought back?”

“And mentally chained to Lewis for the rest of our long lives. Which is effectively forever now,” Mone smirked a bit as she held Lewis’s hand. “Poor bastard has to deal with me for the rest of his life now. I saw a cute cafe lets go that way.” She took Darren by his sleeve and dragged Lewis with her. Once they were sat down Simone began to order food and tea. She even went so far as to order what Lewis wanted since she knew.

“So… Does she speak for you all the time or? Is it something to do with how you brought her back?”

There was a look on Mone’s face for a moment, “Shaya just punched Everett.” She looked at her ring.

“Everett? Shaya?” Darren looked between them. “Do you guys have kids?!”

Now that they were in the little care, Lewis felt better about the whole situation. Simone was away from the auction, and that was the most important part. Everything else was secondary, and Simone could feel that from Lewis. She ignored it for the time being, and let Lewis answer the few things that had been asked.

“Simone and I…we’re…” Lewis thought for a moment. Usually it was Simone who did the explaining. “Well…we’re magically bound together. We can hear each others thoughts, and we’re…the same person?” The ex-assassin threw his hands up. “I don’t know. All I do know is that we’re always talking to each other, even when we’re not physically talking.”

Simone gave him a look. “You seem to be struggling today, dear.”

“Maybe it has something to do with the auc-” He thought about what he was about to say, and sighed. “I’m just tired.” That was the truth. He was still losing sleep over the nightly transformations, and Angela nor Xeik could find a way to fix the problem.

“Yes,” Lewis said as Simone brought up Alshaya and Everett. “We have quite a few. Thirteen-”

“Fourteen,” Simone corrected.

Lewis paused, and looked at her, and then back to Darren. “Fourteen kids. Only two are biological, though…” He paused. “Sort of…” He waved his hand. “Nevermind. What matters most is that we love them.”

Darren seemed almost shocked at the amount of kids they had. The awkward assassin Lewis Dusk…with children. That thought was absolutely terrifying. Yet, with the way he was acting now, it almost seemed appropriate.

“You’ve changed…”

Simone cocked an eyebrow at Lewis which went away as soon as he thought better about what he would say to her. “Remind me to tuck you into bed with some of the deviants. I bet that will help you.” She was joking with him but even she knew that it was a terrible process for him to go through.

“Sure, changed,” Simone smirked a bit but then her smile slipped as her eyes landed on two little bodies holding hands. “…Wild deviants.” Lewis looked with her and there was a brief sense of fear that washed over them both.

The little bodies came over to the table and put their hands on top of it to get a better look at Lewis and Simone. “Come home when?”

“When we’re done with the day,” Simone was struggling not to scream. “How did you two do that?”

“Saw Gerald portal,” Janus spoke innocently.

“Felt where it went,” Lila answered.

“Focused on you,” both of the twins answered. Lewis’s face was draining its color.

“You two…” Simone and Lewis both took one. “What if you got hurt?”

“Not hurt,” Janus and Lila began to check each other. Darren was taking in the mini-mes that Lewis and Simone had produced.

“But what if you were?”

“Then… Daddy shank them,” Lila shrugged and looked up at Lewis with a giggle.

“I shank them too!” Janus yelled and clapped his hands.

“Okay but you two… You can’t do this. You know you scare Mommy and Daddy when you do things like this? What if Uncle Raile and Aunt Leilah find out you are missing and they get scared?”

“Should do a better job,” Lila answered with a huff.

“Lila… You are being a brat,” Simone said softly.

“Yeah Lila. A brat,” Janus nodded towards his sister. “We sorry Mommy and Daddy. We missed you.”

“And we miss you but we need our time too…” Simone rubbed her nose against Janus’s nose.

“What if Mommy gets hurt when we not here?”

“YEAH WHAT IF MOMMY GETS HURT WHEN WE NOT HERE?”

Lewis smirked a bit, “I can take care of your mommy. I promise.”

“I’ll fight you.” Janus squinted at his father. “Make sure. Promise.”

“I already promised,” Lewis put up his hands.

“These… are your two biological?” Darren finally spoke up amused by it all.

“Yeah, what about it?” Janus and Lila said to him.

“He bothering you Mommy?” Janus looked up. “She mine.”

“Oh goddess here we go again…” Simone sighed a bit.

Lewis should not have been surprised. If anything, he should have expected it to happen sooner rather than later. Yet, he was just as surprised as Simone to find his children walking over to say hi. They were starting to get scarily independent and capable, even with the waning power of the resonance.

Lila hopped up into Lewis’ lap and stared at Darren with an intense glare. “He bothering Mommy.” She started to raise her hands, but Lewis put them back down.

“Both of you calm down. It’s fine,” Lewis said with a smirk. “He’s an old friend. From when Mommy and daddy first met. He was checking up on us.”

Lila looked at him, and then up at Lewis. “He smells like you used to smell. Did you work together?” It was rather frightening how smart Lila was becoming. The fact that she could discern something like this meant that she was capable of doing much, much worse.

“I think it’s about time that you got home. I’m sure they’re panicking about now looking for you two,” the ex-assassin said as he ruffled Lila’s hair.

Janus looked to the door, and pointed. “Why? Uncle Xeik is here.”

Lewis looked over, and blinked. There was no one there, and Lewis wasn’t one to miss a presence. “No he’s no-”

A gate opened, and Xeik popped out, immediately identifying the twins. “Hah! Found you, you little twe-” He looked up and noticed that Lewis and Simone were holding them. “Oh…well…that…that makes sense, actually.” He walked over to the table, and took the twins in each arm.

Janus and Lila both pouted. “No! We wanna stay!”

“Now, now…your parents need a break, even from you,” Xeik replied with a sigh. “Not even they can handle you both all the time…”

“No break!” Janus demanded.

“Play!” Lila responded.

“Play?” Janus asked as he looked at Lila with a devious smile.

“Play!” his sister responded with an equally concerning smile.

Darren was sort of terrified by the twins but the look Simone gave him spoke of not showing them that. While Simone was amused she was holding it in and only displaying her worry. They were getting awfully good at not only sensing familiar mana but also replicating what they were seeing.

Simone let Janus go easily as she listened to the twins' protest. “No,” Simone said.

“No?” The twins looked at her.

“Whatever you two are plotting. No.”

“Why?”

“Yeah, why?”

“If you cause any more trouble…” Simone thought long and hard as she thought up a punishment. “I won’t give Glynn any potatoes for five nights.”

“YOU WOULDN’T!” Lila yelled.

“He would be so upset!” Janus yelled with his sister.

“Oh, I would. You know I would. You know what I would tell him?” Simone leaned over. “That it’s because of you two…”

“HE WOULD BE UPSET AT US!” Janus yelled as he started to get tears in his eyes.

“Don’t hurt Glynn!” Lila was almost crying too.

“Then what are you both going to do?”

“Behave.” They both answered together and looked up at Xeik with tears in their eyes. “We go home now.”

“Kids,” Simone sat up with a smile.

“Yeah?”

“We love you.”

“We love you too…” They answered knowing full well they couldn’t contest the love they felt from their parents.

“Thank you Xeik… For finding them for us,” Simone took Lewis’s hand and watched as the twins left. “…Maybe we should have restricted their magic…”

“Do they do this often?”

“They’ve been doing stuff like this since they were born… It’s gotten worse as they have gotten older. They can pull knowledge from us and the only thing really stopping them is their bodies being so tiny. As they get older they can’t pull as much but… They’ve already learned how to do most things.”

“That… sounds exhausting.”

“You have no idea…” Simone sighed. “It started innocently enough. Janus discovered he could portal. So when we tried to get him to walk for the first time he refused and just portaled to me. Then we told him he couldn’t do that so he portaled me to him… And he’s just been doing stuff like that ever since. Lila is the wildcard. She was more interested in climbing things and getting into stuff like a regular toddler but she has a wild streak in her.”

“Who is Glynn?”

“He is our youngest. He’s around two now but the twins adore him. They would do anything for him. I hate weaponizing him against them but… They fear so very little.” Simone looked distraught at the thought of something happening to them and quickly sipped on tea as she got it to calm herself down.

“…Out of curiosity… Lewis what do you do for a living now?” To keep fourteen children… They would have had to have a lot of money, especially for Simone to go to auctions like it was nothing.

It was rare for Lewis to be asked a question regarding his work and what he did now. Darren had caught him a little off guard, and the ex-assassin had to think on how to answer it.

“Well, after Lo-, well…after Raith fell, we ended up in Jayou for a time. I still had my connections in the underworld, and kept up with my high profile jobs. Getting silver was really easy for me, but I definitely suffered with work and life balance. In the end, a…friend of course came up with a proposition. He’s…really good with silver. So, we invested…”

Lewis looked away for a moment. “That investment…produced ten times the amount of silver I put into it in less than a year. And it…hasn’t slowed down.”

Darren’s jaw dropped. “W-who…”

Lewis shook his head, his dead stare somehow even more lifeless than usual. “It’s…not worth it. The favors his family requests are near inhumane…” Visions of Lady Angela and her ‘experiments’ flooded his mind. “I swear she calls in more of his favors than anyone else…”

“Who calls in favors?” Darren asked. Now he was getting confused.

“For…lack of a better word, Mother in law…” the sad part was, due to the way that Simone had been reborn, this was highly accurate.

Simone snickered lightly and leaned on her palm as she propped herself up. “Angela has pretty much made herself my mother and rubs it in our faces whenever she wants something. The goddess just does whatever she wants when she wants to. One time her experiment resulted in three of me for four days. Poor Lewis~” She teased him softly.

“So… A goddess just does whatever with you guys?”

“It does have its benefits. She’s our doctor now… Took over from Raile’s wife who is Angela’s daughter. She likes to monitor how I’m doing and keep track of it. She’s never done anything like this before. The binding of souls… My new body. She gets paranoid even though her work is flawless. She even put Lewis’s arm in a cast in when he broke it.”

“…That is all really normal… and she does it?”

“She’s an enigma…” Lewis and Simone said together.

Simone thought about it for a while and finally she smiled, “Lewis also started his own vineyard. After he retired from assassinations he got really bored. A bored Lewis is a dangerous one so he decided to start the vineyard after a lot of research.”

“And… do you watch the kids all day?”

“Hell no. I operate a guild with a partner for the arts. I write books.” Simone kept it simple but she saw Lewis flinch for a second at the mention of them. “Raile sells them. As he puts it… We’re very valuable for his business. We also have this weekend stint where we work at his Angel Cabaret named Heaven. Lewis works as a bodyguard and I am a hostess. Something to get out of the house. On occasion, like today, Raile and them throw us out of the castle to get some time together.”

“Castle…”

“I suppose that’s the bigger surprise. Lewis bought us a huge castle and an island all to ourselves. A place we can control and keep safe for the kids.” Darren’s face was the look of shock. He was barely hanging on. Simone noticed his face and she looked at Lewis briefly. “You know… We could always use someone to patrol the island. It gets tiresome doing it myself all the time. The kids always get upset when I go to do it. You’ve lost a bit of weight since your time at Raith’s.”

Darren was shocked as he looked in between Simone and Lewis. “Why would you offer that?”

“You helped Lewis when he needed it the most. When you didn’t have to even though he was an asshole. This makes you a good person and someone we can trust. We don’t trust very often so for us… This is more beneficial than just choosing anyone. Trust us… We interviewed for over two years just to have the small amount of help around the castle that we do. Plus… Lewis could use someone who is not me to practice with. He doesn’t want to lose his edge and I’m not as nimble as I used to be.”

“Judging by what you did the other day,” Lewis commented. “I’d say you’re lying about your nimbleness.” The ex-assassin sighed. Simone was right, though. Having help with patrols around the house would be beneficial in the long run, and having a sparring partner who wasn’t Simone would help immensely. It was hard to take training seriously when both opponents could read each other’s minds.

“I’m okay with it. There’s no room in the castle, though,” Lewis stated. “But I have no issues if you build something on the island for yourself. Can even front you the silver if it would help.” He smirked.

Darren was still in a state of shock. Out of nowhere, he was just offered a brand new life. “I=I’ll…have to think about it. I’ve never been offered something like this.”

Lewis shrugged. “Okay. Well…we’ll be here for a few hours still. I don’t mind if you take your ti-”

“Yes!” Darren said immediately. “I’ll take the job.”

“Oh…well that was fast…”

Simone tapped her finger to her lips as she thought about it. “Honestly, building housing for the house help would be a good thing to have. Silva was complaining about having to take a boat or a portal. Though I think she just wants to stay with Henry more.”

She was pleased when Darren took the job and finally she clasped her hands on the table, “One of your jobs going forward is to make sure the kids get back and forth to school alright. They are getting old enough now where I don’t have to go on the boat with them… See the twins are starting school in what a year or two… the teacher hates me and I think my kids make her drink. I was teaching the kids myself but…”

“But?”

“We decided it was in their best interest to be social with other children who weren’t their siblings. There are rules to the island though. No outsiders unless they are approved. No dangerous activities. I don’t want drugs on my island. And absolutely do NOT mention that I have abilities to the people of Benin.”

“Why?” Darren was curious why the last part was a stipulation.

“Because Simone went diva and blew up a few chimneys to get our taxes lowered and she played it off as if the ghost pirates of the island were protecting my poor ailing wife who is ill. They think she is fragile and gets sick a lot.” Lewis appeared amused. “Poor ailing Mrs. Terrowin.”

“Oh hush. I couldn’t think of anything else to get the taxes lowered…” Simone blushed a bit. “Anyways… We can take you back with us when we go so you’ll have to tag along with us until we’re ready to go home. I wonder if–”

“Absolutely not. No more auctions.” Lewis looked dead.

“Why?”

“Please, for my health…”

“And you say I’m the diva.” Simone rolled her eyes. “Roma would take me to auctions.”

“Roma spoils you that’s why…”

“You spoil me.”

“Yeah well… I’m also a selfish greedy bastard soooo~” He teased Simone and she gave him a look.

“It feels good to see you both thriving,” Darren spoke and Simone took a look at him.

“It’s not always so great. Because of everything I go through I have my moments… I have to go see Xeik a lot. Lewis does his best but maybe eventually I’ll tell you what happened to Auclair.” She knew he had found the history of it. She knew he had to have been curious. “Oh yeah, and if an idiot redhead comes onto the island making requests don’t be too alarmed.”

“Which idiot redhead…”

“All of them,” Simone shrugged. “Though one is my son…” She thought about it.

They spent the rest of the time in Egjora going to the different floating markets. Darren hung back and let Simone and Lewis have their little date. Simone would get excited over mundane stuff she had never seen before likely from her upbringing as a noble.

Once their date was done they opened up the portal to the beginning of the island. Thankfully it wasn’t dark yet. “We’ll start you here and show you the island.” Simone and Lewis showed him everything from the pier to the Wisteria tunnel to the many gardens. Lewis even had a bit of pride in showing him the playground and vineyard.

Shaya and Everett were on the playground when they got there. “Yeah, well that new dress Mom got you makes your butt look huge,” Everett yelled.

Shaya was at the top of the playground glaring at her brother before she bounded down and went to deck him. “Your face is ugly!”

“SHAYA,” Simone yelled as she put on her mother tone. Darren had to plug his ears to stop the scream from killing his ears. “If that fist connects to your brother’s nose I’m going to confine you to your room AWAY from Llonan when he visits.” Shaya’s fist stopped just in front of Everett’s nose as she looked at her parents. “And don’t call your sister fat. How many times do we have to talk about this.” Simone marched up and took both kids by the ears. “Apologize to each other.”

“Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow,” Shaya and Everett were crying out for Lewis to help.

“Don’t look at me,” Lewis said with a half smirk. “You got yourselves into this.” That earned more cries from Alshaya and Everett. Before Lewis could do anything les, though, Lila appeared above him and fell into his arms.

“Daddy! You’re home!” A similar thing happened with Janus and Simone.

“Lila! Not even a few minutes and you’re already here.” Lewis said with his uncharacteristic grin. “What’s my little girl up to now.”

“Uncle Xeik lost a game to me. Chess is getting boring,” she said with a frumpy face. “I want someone smarter at the game.” This earned a laugh from both Lewis and Simone, and a kiss on the forehead from Lewis. “Poor baby girl. We’ll have to find someone who can play you on equal terms.”

Darren stared at Lewis, a little weirded out by his smile. “Does he…do that often?” he asked Simone.

“All the time,” she replied with her own smile as she babied Janus.

As things settled down, Lewis showed Darren around with a lively Lila in arms. It seemed she missed her father, which was perfect because Janus missed his mother. They could have their own special time together before meeting back up. As the tour concluded, Darren could only shake his head in awe at just how much the two had achieved in such a short amount of time.

“I’m…really impressed Lewis,” he said as they entered the main hall once more.