"Is that... my grandchild?"
There was a sudden, and somewhat solemn silence as everyone watched Riley pick up a little version of himself, except perhaps much cuter due to his already bubbly personality - and he hadn't even made himself known for a minute. But perhaps the most surprising of all was seeing Riley actually carrying a child.
Aerith was completely at a loss as to what to do, as the last time he saw him hold a child inside the trial, he just killed it without any hesitation. This time, however, the silent warmth on Riley's face told her that it wasn't going to happen. After all, Darkday may be evil... but he won't actually kill his own family... right?
And while everyone was looking at him, little Enel just cuddled himself deep onto Riley's chest, wiping his face on his shirt before finally looking at Diana and Bernard. Enel squinted his eyes as he stared at the two for a few seconds before glancing at Riley and smiling.
"Papa, papa! Are they grandma and grandpa!?" Enel breathed out.
"Yes," Riley nodded as he gently placed Enel on the ground, "They are the copies of your grandparents, but they are real."
"Huh...?" Enel squinted his eyes again, "But they are grandma and grandpa?"
"Yes."
"Wah...!" A very wide smile then started to crawl on Enel's face as he looked back and forth between Bernard 2 and Diana 2. And after a few seconds of doing so repeatedly, he stretched his arms up to the side and started standing on his toes."Oh my..." And with her almost swallowing her own breaths, Diana quickly and very gently picked up Enel, who immediately started touching her face as soon as she carried him, "...He reminds me a lot of you, sweetie."
"Hello, I'm grandpa. Grandpa," Bernard also stood behind Diana as he started wagging his finger in front of Enel.
"What are you guys on about? He's nothing like Riley," Hannah also approached Enel to look at him, "Riley didn't even fucking smile when he was a child."
"Ha! She said fuck!"
"Hannah! Why are you using that language!"
"He...hehe," Enel let out a small giggle while covering his ears. But after a few seconds, he turned his attention to Karina. He then struggled to get away from Diana's grip before just rushing to Karina and grabbing her by hand, "This is my big sis! I've only known her for a short time, but she's really pretty!"
"E... Enel, don't do something unnecessary," Karina just awkwardly smiled as she looked at Bernard and Diana, "And we've already met earlier. I'm really sorry about this, Diana - you... you don't really have to accept all of this at face value. We're not your grandchildren, not really."
"Nonsense," Diana quickly grabbed Karina's hand, "We're already here, and we are ready to accept reality for what it is. Right, honey?"
"We're very flexible," Bernard pointed at Diana while nodding, "And being here in this new universe... as selfish as it is, actually makes the situation better."
"Yes!" Enel hopped in place, "You did not have to kill your best friend! Bang, bang!" "...What?"
"Don't... mind him," Karina quickly covered Enel's mouth, "He says some cryptic things sometimes and sees eyes in the sky. Sadly, all of you grandchildren are fucked in the head."
"...It's not your fault that something is wrong with your minds," Diana shook her head, "However... the language you are using-"
"I learned it from Aunt Hannah."
"What the Hannah!?" Diana quickly looked at Hannah and almost snarled at her, "What are you teaching your niece!?"
"That wasn't me, we both literally just got to this world. Come to think of it, couldn't this be considered traveling to the fucking future!?"
"That-"
"I truly hate to break this pseudo-reunion, but we really must go back to the Sole Remaining Universe," and before the situation of the 2nd Ross family could go deeper down the rabbit hole, Death snapped her fingers; summoning a large door that caught everyone's attention, "It may not seem like it, but the connection between the Outerverse and the Sole Remaining Universe is thinning - and right now, even the slightest loose branch could probably completely tear it apart. All of you need to go."
"You are not coming with us, Death?" Riley tilted his head to the side and asked.
"I am afraid not," Death shook her head. And before she could say anything else, she felt someone suddenly tugging on her leg; she looked down, only to see Enel carrying a sad face. "You're... not coming with us, Grandma Deedee?" Enel pouted, "But I like you."
"...I'm sorry, little one," Death crouched down as she patted Enel's white hair, "The Sole Remaining Universe will not be able to handle it if I join you - I will wait here. Just tell the Big Eyes that I said goodbye, okay?"
"Hm... they know," Enel looked up to nowhere in particular, "When Papa and I are together, they are always watching us."
"...I retract my earlier statement," Hannah whispered to her mother, "He's also as creepy as Riley."
"Hannah, stop it."
11
"Riley Ross," Death then approached Riley and touched him on the cheek, "You tra- And before Death could speak, Riley also placed his hand on her cheek for some reason. "...You travel a road no one has ever taken before," Death, however, just chose to ignore it and continued her words, "You do not need me to say that the entirety of Creation, Reality, and everything else rests on your shoulders. Please... do not shrug us off. You too, Hera."
"I don't have a choice." "Just another fun day with the whitey." "I'll make sure father doesn't stray from the right path!" Hera 2, Hera 1, and Talia all nodded their heads at the same time as Death looked at them.
"...Father?" Diana, however, only heard one word from them as she looked at Talia, "...Just how many children do you have?"
"You will meet all of them soon, Mother 2."
And with those words, Death once again snapped her fingers, causing the door the just summoned to open. The light which emerged from it was almost blinding; blinding to the point that Riley and the others did not really need to pass through it to travel back to the Sole Remaining Universe and straight into Riley's house.
"Riley... this is your place?" Hannah smiled as she looked around, "Not bad. Not bad at all - and how large is that TV!?"
"Mango graham!" Enel was the first to leave the group as he rushed toward the fridge, followed by Miss Pepondosovich who snatched the plate away from him.
"You've had enough swee-something is not right," Miss Pepondosovich could not help but just lower her hand, allowing Enel to just snatch the plate back away from her as she started
looking around,
"Riri, something's not right. This mango graham is the one Katrina made before...
...it doesn't make sense that it hasn't been eaten yet. Something is-"
"Outside!" Everyone then turned to look as the three Heras suddenly rushed toward the
terrace. And they did not even need to follow them...
...to see the burning city in front of them.
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