“Not really,” Angela smirked a bit and ruffled Xeik’s hair. “You get all embarrassed it’s kind of cute.”

“When… how… WHY ARE YOU BEING LIKE THAT,” Snow pointed at Angela. “You weren’t like this before.”

“Oh, I was… but see my clergy makes me act all holy and professional in front of the public. You both are family now so…” She started to harass Xeik again and was rubbing her cheek against his. “It’s going to be another hour. Lila and Janus aren’t okay with separating despite talking to you. They have to relax first because if I try to force this… Someone will get hurt. It requires them not being stubborn… and well…” Angela looked at Simone.

“What?”

“Do you realize how stubborn you are?”

“…I’m not stubborn.” Simone looked away.

Lewis gave her a glare, “Yeah and I’m not a trained killer.”

Simone blushed a bit and looked at Lewis, “Don’t call me out like this.”

“Anyways, that’s what I’m waiting on. Janus is the one being stubborn. His attachment with Simone is giving him anxiety,” Angela frowned towards Simone. “It happens. He’s a momma’s boy after all. He just doesn’t realize he doesn’t have to be this attached to you to lay in your lap. He’s worse than Lewis.”

“They are about the same…” Simone smirked a bit. “Lewis can’t stand being separated or turning off the resonance either. He always gets worried when I do it.”

Angela disappeared so she could continue to try to argue with the Terrowin twins. Assassin stood up and stared at them, “THAT’S the mighty Goddess Angela? She’s the one I’ve heard tales about? She acts like a joke.”

Lewis smirked, “But you don’t like it when I cut the resonance either.” He poked and teased Simone for a moment and smiled. “But that’s okay. I’ll accept the fact that you called me out. This time, at least…”

Xeik gave Assassin a look, and started to chuckle. “She acts like a clown, sure…” His eyes met Assassin’s, and darkened. “But I can guarantee that she’s the real deal. I’ve seen her cure world ending plagues in a day, resurrect long dead races…” he thought for a moment. “She even killed another God…though, that was before I studied under her.” He sighed. “And she’s a workaholic. I swear I can’t get her to take a break worth anything…”

“Have you met yourself?” Lewis asked. “You work almost as much as she does.”

Xeiks shrugged. “Always did struggle to sit still.”

“So..another hour of dealing with this bullshit,” Edge said as he wandered around in circles. “Then I can be rid of all of you.”

“More the other way around,” Lewis replied.

“Shut up,” Edge shot back venomously.

“Ang…thank you,” Lewis said as he turned his attention to the Goddess. “If you hadn’t arrived when you did…well, let’s just say I don’t want to owe Raile any more favors…’

Angela gave Edge a look, “A little young for me… but…” She appeared behind him and started to harass him. “Lewis you were just so cute as an edgy little shit.” She was hugging him and he was trying to stab her. She got stabbed and ripped it out dropping it before harassing him again. “Immortal… Remember?”

Looking the actual Lewis over while she put Edge in a headlock and ruffled his hair, “Well… To be fair, Raile was planning on renovating the Wandering Swan. So don’t fall for any of his silver tongue shit about how you wrecked his restaurant. If he gives you any problems just tell him… I’ll spike his drinks with Sweet Lily.”

Xeik went white, “Ang, that’s a fertility plant.”

“I know,” She gave an evil smirk.

“You are evil,” Xeik groaned. “I feel bad for Raile.”

“Don’t, he’s tried to use his silver tongue on me a few times. He’s given up though. Raile is charming but I’ve dealt with enough Railes in my lifetime. It takes a lot more than honeyed words to get me interested in something. He has two of my daughters in bed, isn’t that enough? He should owe me for that,” Angela smirked and kissed Edge on the cheek watching his reactions. “Awwww, he hates it. He’ll love it when it’s Simone though. I remember the first time he set his eyes on Simone after the dream dive. How much he declared Simone was his.” Looking over Assassin she tilted her head, “I’ll tell you what I told Snow. Closing off your emotions doesn’t make you stronger… It makes you weaker. You are the worst form of what you could be. Your potential is stalled under Raith because he fails to tell you what you need to hear.”

Xeik sighed a bit, “You are wasting your knowledge on him… Also, quit giving assassins tips.”

“I used to be the Mother of Assassins my dear. I was the one they prayed to when they wanted a smooth kill. I’ve tasted the blood of innocent,” her eyes darkened as they drilled into Assassin and then into Edge. “So listen to me when I tell you these words. You are weaker without her. She is stuck in a weak form at first but by her side, you are at your strongest. I have forged you a weapon.”

“Are you still salty that Lewis didn’t listen to you?” Simone said.

“Yes, I’m still pissed that Lewis didn’t listen to me,” Angela pouted. “And what did Lewis learn?”

“I’ve learned that you’re a nosy Goddess who can’t keep her hands to herself,” Lewis replied with sass as he walked over. “Stop traumatizing my past selves…please.” He added the please at the end as a courtesy. Not that she would listen anyway, but he had to at least put forth a semblance of an effort.

Edge scrambled away from the Goddess, and shook his head. “How the hell do you deal with that nutcase.” Having heard she was previously the Mother of Assassins did not help the fact that he saw her as nothing more than a molesting pervert.

From across the way, Damsel puffed up her cheeks. The Goddess was more or less toying with a version of Lewis that she physically recognized, and it made her feel jealous. She pulled Snow into him, and huffed. “Don’t you dare come for my Lewlew.”

Edge and Assassin both, despite their concern for Angela, stared at Snow and Damsel. “The fuck is a ‘Lewlew.”

“Oh here we go,” Lewis said with an eyeroll. “Get used to it. It’s your future. And for fucks sake, it’s nowhere near as bad as you think it is from the start.” He had no idea why he was telling them anything. They weren’t ever going to really ‘grow’. They were literally echoes of his past self, and nothing more.

“Shouldn't you get back to work?” Xeik asked Angela. “Or can you break their bond from in here?”

“Please, I’m capable of multitasking. Raine is talking to the twins because they won’t debate with me. They see me as un-debatable.” She smirked a bit at Xeik.

“As for you… I’ve got no interest in Lewis. Not really, I just wanted to get a reaction out of one of the Simones. She normally takes jealousy very well…” Angela put her finger to her chin. “Dala told me she fought off some women Lewis used to visit at a brothel when they were younger though…” She smirked at Damsel who got bright red. “Where was it? The Canary?”

“THAT IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED,” she puffed up her face and looked away.

“…It is too….” Both Lewis and Snow looked at the younger Simone.

Simone rubbed her forehead, “I never said I didn’t get jealous…”

“Oh, certainly but you don’t just kill them or scare them off like Lewis does. You let him scare them off.”

“They are a waste of my time,” Simone sighed. “They won’t stop unless Lewis tells them off so what’s the point.”

“Exactly, which is how far grown-up you are compared to Damsel~” Angela clapped her hands. “AH! I can stop playing with them now… Raine just won and the twins are pouting. It will be an hour from now. Bye~!” The goddess disappeared once more and Simone sighed a bit. She walked over and sat down.

“She is… too much sometimes,” She propped her head up and looked at Lewis. “You have gained a lot of weight since I started to force-feed you.” She looked between them all and back at Lewis. “And your hair has a sheen now.” It was much better kept than it used to be. “I’m pretty proud of my masterpiece.”

Edge came to grab her and she glared at him, “Don’t fucking touch me. I didn’t give you permission to.” She kicked him back and her face was twisted into a grimace. “No one touches me. Do you understand?” It was vastly different from Damsel who didn’t seem to care. Simone’s skin had even bumped up from Edge almost grabbing her giving her shivers. “Even Lewis asks for permission. Even if you can’t hear it.”

Mia frowned, “Mone, I thought we worked on this.”

“A couple years of therapy with Xeik isn’t going to fix a thousand years of torture and rape Mia,” Simone was stern before she pushed herself up and went to the corner of the room by herself.

Mia frowned at Lewis, “I’m sorry… I said the wrong thing…”

“You’re lucky to be alive,” Lewis said as he sat down across from Simone. “Most men would have lost a hand at minimum.” He sat back in the chair, and closed his eyes. “Not that we’re lacking in our own traumas, mind you. It’s just hard to admit it in your state.”

Edge gave Lewis a glare, and walked off, rubbing the place where Simone had kicked him. It was harsh, yes, but it was one of the first things that Simone and Lewis had talked in depth about, and how to navigate it. For the most part, Lewis was capable of telling when Simone was allowed to be touched. There was a constant signaling between the two, and if that signaling was gone, it was a surefire way to tell that Simone was not in the mood.

And when it came to anyone who wasn’t the real Lewis, previous versions included, it was always a “no.” Even Angela knew how to respect those boundaries, though the Goddess seemed far more aware of the emotional states than Lewis ever could, even with the resonance helping.

“Don’t take it personally, Mia…” Lewis said as he opened his eyes for a moment when Simone walked away, obviously upset. “She’ll come back when she’s ready.”

And if you don’t, that’s fine too… He wanted to make sure that she knew.

It took her a few good minutes but Simone wandered back in and crossed her arms, “There are rules that even Lewis follows with me. Don’t touch me if I don’t want to be touched. Even Lewis goes to lengths to make sure people don’t touch me if I don’t want it.” She was glaring over the others. “It took a toll on our marriage… Not a big one.” She was upset a bit. “My inability to talk about just how bad it was.”

“The important thing is that we’ve slowly gotten you to open up to Lewis,” Xeik chimed in finally with a smile. “And that’s a relief for all of us.”

Simone nodded but she looked at the door, “The seal weakened again because of Edge touching me.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose before looking at Edge. “I don’t like feeling weak… If you weren’t a part of Lewis I would have dismembered you… Broke you like a toy… Do you understand? There would be nothing you could do to stop me. I have access to all the skills you possess.”

The door’s seal broke just like Simone had been worried about. Her eyes wavered on the door. What would come through? It was quiet at first but when it did open. It was a tortured Simone. She was crawling towards them. “Help.”

Simone looked away from it, “Lewis, get rid of it.”

"Please… Stop them," the Simone cried the best she could.

Lewis swiftly took care of the ‘problem’, making sure that Simone didn’t have to see or deal with it. Once the seal was back in place, Lewis reinforced it with his own, newly acquired black phoenix magic. It was still a work in progress for him, and at the moment he was mostly just reinforcing it using Simone’s knowledge.

The being that had come through the door had spread a dark silence across the room. The whole mood had shifted again, and now no one seemed willing to break the silence.

It was Xeik who stepped up, looking around the room. “This isn’t the time to be moping about. This is a rare opportunity we have to gather around and talk.” This wasn’t like his usual ‘we can talk through anything’ speeches, more of a way to try and break the spell that had been cast over the room.

“Or a game? Chess is always fun. Though…the Lewis’ aren’t too good at it…” He thought for a moment. “We can…no..that might turn violent.” He furrowed his brow. “Actually…there doesn’t seem like much we can do other than talk, now that I think about it…”

Assassin scoffed, “Talk about what? Our feelings?:

Lewis stood up, “Why not? Can make it a game in itself. See if I can’t make my younger selves realize how much they’re missing. Might not do anything fancy, but could pass the time.”

Edge rolled his eyes, “Would rather die…”

“That can be arranged,” Lewis replied. “Though…I can’t exactly have you actually dying. Might just torture you…”

Xeik sighed, “We went over this already…you can’t hurt yourself.”

Mia looked between everyone during the silence. Simone was shamefully looking down at the ground avoiding eye contact. That wasn’t something she would have wanted anyone but Lewis to see. She understood that. “…When you think of Lewis what are the words that pop up!”

Simone snapped out of her daze and looked up at Mia, “Loyal. Strong. Loving.”

Mia clapped and smiled at Simone before looking at Damsel, “What about you?”

Damsel thought about it, “Stubborn, prideful, and…” She blushed a bit. “Passionate.”

Mia gave another grin and looked at Snow, “When you think of Simone what are the words that pop up?!”

She repeated it for the real Lewis too.

Then finally, “What is your favorite memory of your Simone?” She phrased it to both Snow and Lewis.

Snow thought about it for a moment, and closed his eyes. “I came home one time from a job, and she was just…there. I had never really thought about having someone to come home to, and yet, here I was with someone to come home to.” He opened his eyes, and looked away. Despite knowing that there was a future for him and Simone, he still knew that his version, Damsel, would have to die first. And that…

“Anyway, she was there, looking out the window. She got startled when I came in, and nearly fell out. That was the day I met Snowball. The way she was so earnestly trying to defend the poor bird…the shock on her face when I said yes….it was something to remember.”

Lewis smirked, “That’s a good memory.” He walked over to his Simone, and looked at her, smiling. “One of my favorite memories of you was the night we dined out on the terrace of our castle the first time. The moons were high, and you could see the shimmering water in the distance. I had never given thought to the beauty of the world around us until I lost what was most important to me. Bringing you back was worth the price. I would have done anything for you, and more. Being able to share that night with you…the calm, serene beauty, was worth it all.”

It was such a simple memory, and he wondered if she even considered it as one of her favorites.

“I would be moved,” Xeik said as he smirked, “But hearing your monotone dull voice mixed with that passionate speech made it nearly impossible.”