Within The Dimenscape And Beyond

Chapter 30: One Last Fight

Everyone was astonished upon hearing the truth about the girl they once knew. Everything that they thought they knew was a lie. She had fooled every single person she has met.

"Why would she hide this from us?" Varian was on the verge of a breakdown, holding himself back from crying. "This is just so wrong."

Adrien, finally speaking up after not saying a word, unclenched his tail gently. "For so long she's kept this secret, and nobody has ever offered to ask what her past was like."

"I don't think she could've remembered." Cole admits with a low and weakened voice. "It was such a long time ago. When I was with her in the Penitentiary, she could only remember her mother."

"She wouldn't have been able to tell you in the other worlds as well. The portals cause parts of one's memories to fade away when traveling to another world, and with dearest Alondra hopping to and from dimensions, the possibility of that happening was definite." Phillippio tells their friends. "I've watched her ever since she was a little girl, sympathizing over her whenever she was in trouble. I even went against my Master's wishes when picking a human to fight my battles. I just knew that she was the one to stop all the wrong doings I had done, yet I never realized the consequences just like I've always done." They look to Perillia who watches their brother, seeming to finally forgive them after a millennium of hate. "We need to make things right for her. I need to make things right."

A sense of hope begins to sliver its way into our heroes' hearts as one by one, each person looked to the other with a determined smile on their face, raising the morale. Cole looks around the tent at all of his friends and family. Kids and adults, mutants and vampires, and spirits and human plus many more were waiting outside for further instructions, in hopes to calm them down.

"Phillippio's right." Cole says when walking over to a chest at the back of the tent, while placing his hair in a bun. "Tabitha has sacrificed so much for us over and over again, and it's only fair that we help her this one last time." He picks up the Blade of Fate from the chest that was in between the books that Walter had found months before.

"What do you mean by 'one last time'?" Max asks his dad, raising a wary eyebrow not knowing what he was planning. "What are you doing with that?"

Cole sighs, forgetting that no one knew really knew about the promise he had made to Tabitha when they were trapped in the Penitentiary. This makes him realize that his time with Tabitha was drawing to a close. The end was coming very soon, and he wasn't sure how much time he would have left before she had to leave. He turns around, unsure of what to say first.

Taking a deep breath, Cole finally tells them. "I promised Tab that I would bring her back home after all of this was over." He says in a calmer tone to keep the tension low, but that didn't work as the others started to refuse and protest against his decision.  "She deserves to live a normal life without having to constantly worry about the fate of the worlds on her back, like a goddamn time bomb is strapped to her back! You all know this!"

Silence fills the tent once again as they know this was the truth. Tabitha had done so much for them throughout all her lives in their worlds; saving them, helping them, being their friends, and trying her best to just fit in. It was only fair that they returned the favor.

Max, however, was still in denial of the whole affair, rubbing his arm and looking away from Cole. His father takes notice of this, asking him what the problem was. Max responds with him not wanting Tabitha to leave and that just wanted things to go back how they were in the past.

"I know that things are hard now, buddy, but this is how life is. We were bound to find this sooner or later." Cole tells his son, kneeling down to his level in order to talk with them, understanding Max's sudden change in behavior on the subject. "I'm sorry for not telling you guys about this either," he looks to the rest of his family who stood by their upset brother. "I promise you guys that once this is all over, I'll make things right. No more secrets. No more false promises."