Life for the Wallace-Fuchs family became a routine.

By day, Bruges stayed true to his word and cared for Louis.

It became his top priority.

He was the one to help Louis grow into a toddler.

And cared for him until his parents awoke.

By night, Romi and Alan finally awoke.

Ready to spend some quality time with their son and each other.

Romi was always relieved to see Louis was all right.

Her favorite part of the night was spending time with him right before he went to bed.

Slowly, she began to become comfortable with Bruges watching him. Still, she didn’t completely

trust him.

She still couldn’t help but be suspicious of him and his motives.

“You’re looking lovely tonight, Romi,” Bruges said.

Well, at least he was polite.

“Trust me, kid,” Romi said sardonically. “Flattery will get you nowhere.”

“Now, who’s ready to go to bed, hm?” Romi asked Louis.

Bruges crossed his arms. “Hmph.”

Count Alan snuck up on him.“BLEH!!!”

It did the trick. “AH! Alan, would you please?”

He laughed. “Count Alan to you.”

“I love you, Count,” Romi said.

“I love you too, milady.”

“Hm...interesting.”

“*sigh* It’s only until they go to college...”

The days rolled by. Bruges cared for Louis.

Barcelona never left the attic and stirred her cauldron.

Romi and Alan woke up at night.

And Romi tucked Louis in.

“I hope you’re doing well tonight, Romi. You look—”

“If you say ‘a little pale’ I will bite your neck right here and now.”

“I was going to say ‘close to term,’ but now that you mention it...”

“Look, Bruges, I know you’re trying. A for effort. But I’m really not in the mood. So, please, go

away.”

“I apologize. Excuse me.”

“But are you well, my dear?”

“Of course. The baby’s behaving, thank goodness.”

“Good.”

“Mm.”

Before too long, faster than usual it seemed, it was time for another birthday. Louis was ready to

become a child.

“How do I look, Mother?”

“Very handsome, Louis! How did you get so big?”

“I don’t know, but there was cake!

“Come here.”

“I love you, Mother.”

“I love you too, Louis.”

Barcelona finally came down from the attic. “Ah, there you are! The little vampire boy! Well,

non-vampire boy I should say really, which is very disappointing, seeing as your parents are both

perfect vampire specimens.”

“Why are you glowing?”

“I’m a witch! A very powerful witch, actually! I know every spell in the book!”

“Do you know ‘Abra Kadabra’?”

“That spell isn’t real.”

“Yeah, right!”

“I came to give you a check-up, not to chatter. Give me your hands.”

Later that night...

“Romi! What can I do?”

“Get...my...husband!”

Romi gave birth to a baby girl named Claudia.

“A baby girl? This is wonderful, my dear! She’s beautiful!”

“A baby girl! Fascinating...”

Well, that can’t be good.

“Yes, she’s very lovely.”

It was a moment that brought much joy. Except for Louis.

“Do I have to share my room?”

The next few days passed peacefully. Louis started to learn the piano while Bruges painted.

And Barcelona practiced alarmingly unsafe magic upstairs.

However, one night, after a visit to the Night sisters, Romi returned home, angry.

“Bruges Wallace!”

“Romi, what’s the matter?”

“I have a bone to pick with you!”

“What on Earth are you doing with my friend’s sister?!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Why are you dating Celestia Night?! Just what are you getting at?!”

“I like Celestia. That’s not a crime.”

“Are you using her?”

“Do you really think I would do that?”

“I don’t know, Bruges! I don’t know anything about you or your sister, other than she’s an evil

witch and you try playing nice! I came here because my brother raised you and he is one of the

few people I trust in this world, but that was clearly a mistake! If you want me to trust you,

Bruges, you need to give me a reason to! Just who are you?!”

“*sigh* You’re right. You have no reason to trust either of us, but you came to us anyway. You

deserve to know who we are.”

“Please, have a seat, Romi. We might as well get comfortable.”

“I hope you won’t mind me asking questions about you as well.”

“That depends.”

“You’re not an ax murderer, are you?”

“No.”

“That’s a relief. Start from the beginning.”

“Your brother married our mother.”

“Not that far.”

“You said from the beginning.”

“Your beginning.”

“Very well.”

“Our mother got abducted by aliens.”

“They brought her back after a few hours.”

“And that’s where alien babies come from.”

“You’re a real smartass, you know that?”

“It’s been brought to my attention, yes.”

“Barcelona and I were born a few days later. I honestly don’t know what my mother was like.

She died not long after my birth.”

“What happened?”

“That’s going to need some context.”

“Your brother may have been married to our mother, but he wasn’t always faithful to her. Does

the name Aiyana Cody ring a bell?”

“Yeah,” Romi said.

“Amaranth dated her in high school. She gave him his first kiss.”

“Well, she came to him and told him she was pregnant with his child,” Bruges said.

“Amaranth took her in.”

“He took her to Jeannie’s house to stay.”

“Wait, Jeannie?” Romi asked.

“As in my mom’s cousin Jeannie?”

“Yes, that’s the one. Did you know her as a child?”

“Not really.”

“All I know is that they’re close and that she gave my mother her powers.”

“Well, your mother Ariadne gave Jeannie a house on her property to use as she pleased,” Bruges

continued. “She allowed Aiyana to stay there.”

“He probably thought it was the responsible thing to do, but personally, I think he did it so he

didn’t have to explain more than he had to to my mother.”

“You sound bitter, Bruges.”

“Just a little.”

“Anyway, Aiyana gave birth to a daughter named Lula. Now, her child had the chance to be heir.

But she still had to compete with my mother and Amaranth’s children.”

“Bo.”

“Riley.”

“And Bijou.”

“I think my mother at least tried to make peace with Aiyana.”

“With varying results.”

“Over time, my mother and Amaranth fought.”

“He went back to Aiyana.”

“And soon after, Barracuda was born. Now, she had a back-up.”

“However, Bo, Riley, and Lula went off to college and interest moved to Bo. He’d always been

the favorite in the family.”

“He soon married and started a family of his own. Whatever the rest of the children did wasn’t as

important.”

“Aiyana was furious and threatened my mother.”

“And then, one day, she disappeared.”

“That same day, my mother was found dead in the pool.”

“Wait, what?” Romi exclaimed.

“That’s how my mother died.”

“Aiyana killed her?!”

“That’s certainly how it looks.”

“What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything. I was still a baby.”

“I do know that Amaranth was devastated, though,” Bruges said. “It was probably a mix of grief

and guilt.”

“He and Ariadne continued to care for us, though. I am thankful for that.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Romi said. “My mother was always a stickler for family.”

“Bo was deeply affected too,” Bruges said. “I’m sure it was horrific for everyone, but he

especially took it to heart.”

“Sometime afterwards, he tried to bring her back to life via a genie.”

“And it worked.”

“Somewhat. Never trust a genie.”

“As horrible as it was, at least she was back.”

“When Bo brought her back home, Amaranth immediately rekindled their relationship. Whether

or not that was for the best, I don’t know.”

“...Romi, can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“You said that your brother is one of the few people you trust. Why?”

“Well...”

“I grew up in a house of five children,” Romi said. “My sisters Anna, America, and I were

triplets. My big brother and sister Amaranth and Away were twins.”

“My mother Ariadne decided that she wanted to combine the magical abilities of witches and

matchmakers, so she married my other mother Kana. The heir had to have a strong sense of

family and would be given Ariadne’s magic.”

“Though that didn’t stop either of my mothers from having affairs.”

“But despite their flaws, I loved my family. I really did.”

“Even if my sister America and I didn’t always get along. I’ve always had a bit of a sharp

tongue.”

“I hadn’t noticed.”

“Oh, shut up.”

“Soon, it came between me and Amaranth. America and Anna had interests elsewhere and Away

was in love. That left us.”

“Amaranth was the favorite and I knew it, but when my mother told me he was going to become

heir, it still hit me hard. Harder than it should have, really.”

“That’s when I decided to leave and go off on my own. I was angry. I felt unwanted. It was

incredibly immature, but I was a teenager then.”

“I didn’t blame Amaranth, though. He was my big brother, my only brother, and he’d always

looked out for me. I couldn’t blame him.”

“So, I went off on my own.”

“I found a little shack on the outskirts of town. I probably could have done better, but I was

desperate to be out on my own.”

“And then, I met Alan.”

“From what I understand, Amaranth was given the family magic. As much as I love him, it was

wasted on him. I don’t think he ever used it.”

“I can attest to that,” Bruges said.

“He married your mother. What was her name again?”

“Gwen.”

“America married some guy named Jihoon,” Romi continued.

“And Anna lived with them.”

“Away married some rich guy named Richard. Haven’t heard from her since.”

“And me...well...”

“You know what happened to me.”

“Yes.”

“Bruges, I have to know...”

“My parents...Are they...?”

“They’ve passed on. I’m sorry.”

“Oh...”

“If it’s any comfort, they lived happy lives.”

“Yeah. I know.”

“So, I have to ask, was Aiyana ever caught?”

“Well...”

“You remember Aiyana’s son Barracuda?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, he convinced Bo that he’d feel safer if he lived with him, so Bo took him with him and

Barracuda grew up with his children.”

“I think they came to see him as a brother.”

“He was the first to go to college.”

“And soon, they were all living in the Greek House together with Barracuda’s fiancée Heidi.”

“And that’s when Barcelona and I came along.”

“What does this have to do with Aiyana?” Romi asked.

“I’m getting there.”

“Barracuda was trusted among his siblings, nieces, and nephew. We believe that he was trying to

manipulate them and take over the legacy from the inside.”

“What makes you think that?”

“His mother’s disappearance and his insistence on living with the brother he hardly grew up

with, for one thing.”

“He also had some...”

“Questionable alliances.”

“We believe he was plotting on his own. So, we plotted ourselves.”

“We didn’t know her when she was alive, really alive, but Gwen was our mother.”

“It pained us to see what she’d become. We couldn’t just stand aside and do nothing.”

“Eventually, it was Barcelona who had the idea. She appealed to Ariadne, who was disappointed

that the family magic had gone to waste.”

“So, she made Ce a witch.”

“What about you?” Romi asked.

“What about me?”

“I just thought...you know with the robes...”

“Oh, no, I’m not a warlock. Ce just wanted us to match and...I thought they looked cool.”

“I started to regret it almost immediately. Ce had always been bold and determined to get what

she wanted, but after she became a witch, she was never the same. She loved the power.”

“I joked that she should wear pink and float in a bubble, but she immediately berated me. She

said that good magic was no good for revenge. Her new attitude scared me, but there was no

turning back.”

“Finally, we got wind of an Aiyana-sighting.”

“Riley and Lula had always been close. After college, they moved in together.”

“Apparently, Aiyana had gone to see Lula.”

“But she was gone by the time Riley came home from work. Ce and I immediately sprung into

action.”

“Ce claimed Aiyana.”

“What did she do?” Romi asked.

“I don’t know. And I don’t really want to.”

“All she told me is that she took care of it.”

Romi felt sick. “Plumbob...”

“What about Barracuda?”

“I was assigned to him. He and Heidi moved in together after graduation. I went to visit them

and...”

“Well...”

“That’s when we dropped out and moved here.”

“You...You killed them.”

“Yes.”

Romi was speechless. “...Do you regret it?”

“Yes. Some nights, I debate with myself, whether or not we should have done it. We couldn’t

ignore what they did. Aiyana and Barracuda did and was going to do terrible things. I just don’t

know if what I did could be considered justice when it was simply revenge.”

“I see...”

“Romi, if you no longer feel safe with your family living here, I would understand if you chose

to move out.”

Romi was silent for a moment.

“...Bruges, do you care about my children?”

“Of course.”

“Will you protect them?”

“With my life.”

“I believe you.”

“You...you trust me?”

“I never said that. I just won’t leave.”

“Does Celestia know? About any of this?”

“No.”

“Are you going to tell her?”

“...”

“She should know.”

“I’ll leave you to sleep. Goodnight, Bruges.”

-End of Interlude-