The Ink Family Legacy: Generation 5, Chapter 1 Part 1
Hey, I'm alive!
Welcome back to the Inks - now in the shiny generation five version! My life has been crazy hectic lately, and I had the most awful writer's block, made worse by the sheer number of pictures I took for this chapter, ha ha! I got to a point where I thought each and every sentence was utter trash. It may still be, and I apologize in advance, but hey.
But you care not for the details, you care for the chapter! And a chapter you shall have.
Last chapter...well, let's break it down by character, shall we?
Rhyme: Was proposed to by Levi, and she accepted! The quads were happy too, wanting Rhyme to be happy above anything else.
Abel: Abel convinced Kira to wander Bridgeport with him, falling into a fountain and ruining any coolness he might have had. Kira seemed to dig it though.
Noah: Noah received a shock when he stepped into a red room, having his deepest seated fear come true - having his parents blame him for their deaths. Luckily it was an illusion, but Isis and Abel still had to intervene to pull him out of his dark thoughts.
Seth: Seth decided to teach art to second graders, since he ran out of art classes to take senior year. He happens to work at the same school as Stella, but she rejected him for being too young and a rock star. Poor Seth.
Sparrow: Row rejected her vampire side, the self named Junco. But Junco was comforted by Tyler, leading to the awkward situation of only one personality of the same girl having a boyfriend.
There was also a concert in Bridgeport. Then, Abel was picked as heir! And yes...this is a four part chapter. I logged over 400 pics, most of it vacation spam, pared it down a bit...and we still have four parts. Why do you guys encourage my bad habits? XD
Well, get comfortable - here we go!
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Things seemed to be moving in fast forward ever since Nicotine Dream's concert in Bridgeport. It had been so successful that it warranted a worldwide tour, and they were leaving in just a week!
Add in the fact that Levi was moving in and the quads were graduating before then, and it proved to be a stressful time for Rhyme.
Levi was determined to help her relax, though.
"What's up, Lee?" Rhyme chuckled tiredly.
"Just plotting something."
"Oh?"
"D'abord, je chante en français, sonnant exotiques ou quelque chose ..." he sang.
"Lee, you know I don't understand in French."
"C'est ce que je compte sur, que je n'ai rien intelligent à dire à vous remonter le moral ou de vous faire oublier le gâchis que j'ai fait en se déplaçant dans!"
"You know, one day I'm going to learn French and catch you off guard..."
"...but here's a reward for trying to cheer me up." she laughed, leaning in for a quick kiss.
"Thanks hun. I can feel my stress level going down already."
"Good." Levi sighed. "But um, if you want it to stay that way, I suggest that you don't look at our room too closely."
"...why?"
"Er, how fond were you of that bookcase?"
Rhyme sighed, rubbing her temples. Levi was lucky that she loved him.
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Abel wondered why he kept getting called into Steven's office. Sure, that stage dive probably wasn't such a good idea, but it had worked out, hadn't it?
"Don't worry, you're not in trouble." Steven said as soon as Abel walked in. "This time, at least. Take a seat."
As he went to take a seat, he noticed that he wasn't alone. "Oh, hey Kira!"
"Hey." she replied quietly.
It was odd that Kira was in the studio without Reese - something must be going on.
"Abel, Kira, I've called you in here for a special project. We've done some surveys, and it seems like the public wants a collaboration between the two biggest pop bands out there. Mainly, they want a song with vocals from you two."
"No way." Kira said immediately. "Reese wouldn't allow it."
"I'm not asking Reese, Kira, I'm asking you." Steven stressed. "Reese may be the lead singer, but Blue Amnesia is still under contract with me. If it helps, I'll be the one to tell him."
"Well..."
"C'mon Kira, it would be fun!" Abel encouraged.
"Fun? Sounds like trouble."
"Think about it! You could sing something a little out of your normal comfort zone. We could write a song about anything, really, since the public isn't expecting it! Everyone has an idea of what a 'Nicotine Dreams song' should be, or a 'Blue Amnesia song' should be like so, but this is uncharted territory, you know?" he enthused.
"Well..." Kira mused, a slight smile coming to her lips. "That does sound a little interesting. I guess I'll do it. If Steven will handle Reese, I'll collaborate on a song with Abel."
"Awesome!" Abel responded.
Steven chuckled to himself - leave it to Abel to convince even the eternally stubborn Kira.
"Okay, you two - we hope to debut the duet at the Riverview concert. That means while we're on tour you two will have to find time to write and practice, got it? No slacking off." Steven said.
"On it, Chief!" Abel replied with a grin.
Kira sighed - this was definitely going to be more trouble than it was worth, wasn't it?
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The week was almost over, and the quads barely had enough time to say goodbye to everyone that they needed to. Of course Noah had no one he felt obliged to see...
...well, perhaps one.
Noah had no idea why he was still doing this. He didn't even work with Isis anymore - his encounter with his parents' ghosts had seen to that. Still, he found himself returning to the graveyard night after night out of habit.
"Evening, Noah." Isis said cordially without turning around. "Lovely night, isn't it? This summer is going to be nice."
If she thought it strange that he kept visiting, she didn't show it. Isis was as pleasant and cryptic as ever.
"I hear that you did quite well in Bridgeport." she said. "Congrats! Wish I could have seen it."
"You could have, considering that you're not actually a ghost, Isis." Noah replied pointedly.
"I told you to drop it, Noah."
Isis had not been pleased when Abel revealed their encounter to Noah. She was hoping that it wouldn't come up, but Noah wasn't one to let that go. He hated liars, after all.
"And I told you that I wouldn't." Noah snapped back. "You live here in Riverview, don't you? Why haven't you met me in person, then?"
Isis sighed and ran a hand through her short hair. "It's...well. You don't want to see me in person, really. That would bring up a whole bunch of questions that I don't really want to answer, okay?"
"That's not an excuse."
After a pause, Isis pleaded, "At least give me until after your tour, okay? I promise that I can explain things better afterwards."
Noah was suspicious - she was probably going to set up some sort of convincing lie in that time, but decided to let it slide for now. After all, he didn't come here to fight with her - he came to say goodbye and be more or less pleasant.
"...Fine. I don't want to argue anyway." he conceded.
Isis broke into a smile despite herself - Noah had gotten much better at controlling his temper than when they first met. If she had tried this then, he would have been yelling by now.
Now that that was settled, they could have a normal conversation.
"So you're traveling the world, huh? That's pretty exciting. Just don't go exploring foreign graveyards, okay?" Isis chuckled.
"Ha ha. I think it's safe to say that I'm done messing with the afterlife." he replied with a smirk.
"Ah, that's for the best. You've got a long enough life that you don't have to worry about the next world for a while, Mr. Vampire."
Noah raised an eyebrow. "You've been dabbling with ghosts too, whatever you are."
"Well, 'whatever I am' has the typical human lifespan." she responded lightly.
Noah made a mental note of that and filed it away quietly. He felt a little...sad, strangely. Had he been hoping that strongly that she was supernatural?
"Noah!"
"Hnn?"
"Spacing out, were you? And here I was showing interest and asking where you were going first!"
"Oh, right. We're heading to Egypt first. Al Simhara, have you heard of it?"
A brief flash of panic crossed Isis's face before she managed a more neutrally surprised expression. "Um, Al Simhara? Er...I've heard of it, yes. Lots of tourist traps there, I hear. You should probably stay away from those."
"And why is that?"
"You'd be bored."
"Hmm."
Noah wished he could have a conversation with Isis without trying to second guess everything she was saying, but it was difficult. Maybe he should learn to let things slide...
It's not like he had some crazy urge to know everything about her. No, nothing of the sort.
"Well Noah, I'm going to miss you around these parts. The cemetery isn't very lively without you."
"That pun was terrible."
"Consider it my farewell gift to you."
And despite everything, Noah thought that he would miss her too...but he'd be damned to admit it.
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"Okay, so we've got plasma for the guys, chips for Rhyme, Levi, and I..." Sparrow mumbled to herself as she approached the grocery store.
She had been tasked with picking up a few last minute items and it looked like she had finally gotten them all ordered and shipped to the studio, where it would be loaded onto the plane for them.
"Hey there!" called a voice to her left.
Startled, Sparrow turned toward the source.
Oh, it was Tyler, the oddly friendly boy who worked at the store! She had been seeing a lot of him lately, with all the running back and forth to the market she had been doing.
She was still shy around him, of course, but she felt like she had gotten better. It was weird, but she got the oddest sense that she knew him from somewhere before...
"H-hi Tyler." she said timidly. "What's up?"
"Just saying hi." he replied with a bright smile. "Since you won't be around for the next four months, will you?"
"Yeah. I've got to admit, I'm getting nervous for the whole thing." she said. "I can barely talk in front of a group - how am I supposed to sing in front of such huge crowds? I nearly passed out in Bridgeport."
"But you made it, didn't you? You'll do awesome Sparrow, I know it." Tyler encouraged. "I think you can be quite confident if you try."
Sparrow quirked an eyebrow. "How would you know that?"
Tyler merely smiled in response, confusing her further.
"Well, how about a practice in confidence, then?" he offered. "Like, say, a short date with the nearest store employee?"
Sparrow giggled at that. "I-I guess. If the nearest employee insists."
"He does. Now follow me, my lady."
It wasn't so much a date as it was eating hot dogs at the local park, but Tyler wanted to keep it casual for now. Junco may be his girlfriend, but Sparrow wasn't.
"Hope hot dogs are okay!" Tyler said cheerfully.
"Oh, anything's fine." she replied shyly.
"Good, because this is the only food I think I can cook without burning." he chuckled, arranging the links carefully.
Of course, Tyler wasn't exactly a winner when it came to these things. A flare up from the coal took the hot dogs from well done to ash the consistency of pretzel sticks.
"Whoa." Sparrow squeaked out despite herself.
Tyler sighed, gathering the plate and picking through the pile, trying to see if anything was salvageable.
So much for impressing her. Junco already knew Tyler was hopeless with most skills, and now Sparrow knew it too. Wonderful.
"Okay, so I'm not usually that uncool. Er, actually, that may be a lie. But I don't usually burn hot dogs, mostly because I microwave them. But I digress." Tyler babbled on.
"How does fast food sound for dinner then?" he offered sheepishly.
To his surprise, Sparrow laughed. "That sounds great, Ty."
Tyler grinned. "Ty? Giving me a nickname already?"
Sparrow looked surprised. "Oh! Er, sorry, is that okay? It seems really natural to call you Ty."
"I'm just teasing you - it's fine."
"Let's go and buy out the dollar menu somewhere and bring it back!" he cheered.
"Okay!"
"I must say, it's impressive that we managed to eat six bags of fries between the two of us."
After eating all the food they could buy with twenty dollar bills, Tyler and Sparrow were chatting idly back at the park.
"Well, considering that you ate five of them..." Sparrow said with a slight smile.
"What can I say, salt is delicious."
"You know something Ty? You'll probably think I'm crazy, but I get this strong feeling that we've met somewhere before. Besides all the times we've met when you were at work, I mean. The things you say seem so...familiar." Sparrow admitted.
Tyler paused, unsure how much he should say.
"I've heard of that happening before. Granted, it was in a comic book, but the principle still holds, I think! Maybe your subconscious is trying to tell you something." he finally said.
When Sparrow's brow furrowed, concern crossing her features, he decided to lightly change the subject.
"Anyway, it's getting dark - how 'bout I walk you home? Shouldn't stay up too late in the days before your big tour, right?"
Sparrow smiled. "Sure. Thank you, Tyler."
"This is my stop." Row said when they arrived. "Thanks - I know that my neighborhood has to be way out of your way."
Tyler chuckled - half an hour out of his way, but he'd gladly travel more than twice that distance for her.
"Good luck on your tour, Row. I know you'll knock it out of the park! And heck, maybe I'll even be able to wedge my way into one of those concerts, huh? If the burnt hot dogs and dollar menu food wasn't enough to scare you off, of course."
"Actually, I think this helped me a lot. I can't normally talk this long with anyone outside my family." Sparrow confided. "Maybe I can even sign autographs properly this time around!"
After a moment of nervous fidgeting, Sparrow stepped forward and hugged Tyler. "Thank you for all your help, Tyler. Maybe we could try those hot dogs again when I come back?"
"Am I allowed to upgrade that into a proper date?" Tyler teased.
"I-If you'd like." she responded shyly.
"Definitely then."
Cue the investigation squad.
Or rather, the disapproving big brother squad.
"Who does he think he is, cozying up to our little sister?" Noah growled.
"He better not try anything." Seth added.
"Well, he doesn't seem too bad guys." Abel offered weakly. "He might be-"
"Holy crap, they're kissing!"
"WHAT?!"
"WHAT."
"I think she kissed him...but he is still about five second from getting his ass kicked."
Her brothers' rage may have been a bit of an overreaction - Sparrow only gave him the shyest kiss possible, bouncing up on her toes and pecking him on the lips.
She then turned complete red, mumbling something rushed about seeing him later...
...before fleeing inside.
Tyler was pleasantly surprised. He had been worried that it wouldn't work, not with Sparrow knowing nothing about Junco, but maybe he would be lucky to have the same girl fall in love with him twice.
But that would have to be for another day, as glares of death were still pointing squarely at him. Not wanting to invoke the wrath of three vampires, Tyler made a hasty retreat.
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This had bad idea written all over it.
It was ten at night and their flight was at seven the next morning, and yet here Seth was, at Stella's apartment. What was wrong with him? She had made it clear that it wouldn't work, even if she liked him...
But there was something he had to ask her, important enough to steel his nerves enough to ring the doorbell.
Stella was having a quiet evening, revising a lesson plan for the last week of her preschool class. She had the news on, the announcer distracting her with news of Nicotine Dreams' impending tour.
It was strange then, that right when her mind turned to Seth, her doorbell rang and she caught a glimpse of very familiar blue eyes.
And here she went encouraging him by opening the door. Why did they play this game when they knew they couldn't win?
"Seth, you shouldn't be here." she sighed, contrasting her words by opening the door wider.
"Before you get too mad..." he began quietly. "...I just came to say goodbye and ask you one question. Could you allow me that much?"
"Why now? Don't you leave tomorrow morning? If it was important, why wait so long?" she pressed.
Seth sighed and looked away. Though he said nothing, Stella could've sworn that she heard a few words in the silence that sounded like Seth.
"...shouldn't have..."
"Shouldn't have what?" Stella said, wondering how he spoke under his breath so well.
Seth startled - he hadn't meant for her to hear any of that.
"I've been trying to talk myself out of it this whole time." he mumbled to her. "That it's a waste of your time, since you've already given me an answer."
"But then I figured that we're still friends, and that I should at least say something before I take off for a few months." Seth finished.
Stella sighed - well, at least he looked conflicted about it. He was seriously thinking about consequences - one of the little benchmarks that proved he was maturing.
"Okay, sit down." she said, giving in. "I'll make us some coffee. And don't mind the clutter at the table - lesson plans and the like. You can put them in the chair...ah, I should've cleaned up a bit if I was going to have guests."
Seth smiled and went for a seat.
It didn't take long for Stella to start worrying about everything. What did he have to say that was so important? Why right before he left?
But most importantly, would she be able to ignore him just sitting in her apartment at such an hour?
Coffee was surprisingly quiet, each gathering their words.
Seth, particularly, seemed very engrossed in whatever he was planning to say.
"I'm going to be gone about four months." he finally managed. "My eighteenth birthday will be over that time, too."
"Oh?" she replied, trying to keep any emotion out of her voice. "That will be fun to have a birthday on the road."
"Maybe, but that's not why I told you that." Seth continued, following her to the couch and sitting down next to her. "When I come back, I'll be an adult. Getting a real job. We'll be equals."
"But you'll still be a celebrity, Seth. You'll still be the kind of guy that can't have a quiet life." Stella replied.
"Maybe so. But we don't know what will happen in the future. That's why I wanted to ask - if you're still single by the time I come back, would you go on one date with me?"
Stella hadn't been expecting that. "A date?"
"Just one. Then I'll drop it, if that's what you want."
She wasn't sure how to respond. In all her imaginings of her ideal life, it never involved anyone like Seth. She had always thought she'd be married to someone normal, living an average life. Being with someone like Seth...well, that was the unknown. The terrifyingly unknown. Paparazzi. Tabloids. Never a moment of peace.
But how much could one date hurt?
"I guess...one date is fine. If I'm still single."
"That's all I want." Seth responded, his expression brightening. "Thank you, Stella."
Stella sighed - she was terrible at denying Seth what he wanted. Her resolve seemed to be weakening inch by inch.
And considering that Seth was the type to take a mile when given an inch, well...
She wished that she was glamorous or that he was plain, so that they could match.
She broke away from the kiss before it could go any further, looking upset with herself and refusing to look Seth in the eye.
Maybe this date was a bad idea after all.
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Yeah, it's best not to encourage Seth when he's like that.
Alright, onto Part Two!