Woods Random Legacy: Chapter 34 - Advancing Plans

Magician: "His incompetence astounds me."
Steam rose from a vial as he poured a violet concoction into it, setting it on his desk in front of where the Seer was slumped.

Magician: "Drink."
She groped blindly for the vial and raised it to her lips, gulping the liquid down greedily.
Magician: "He's an old wolf.  Such a shame that our hand in the world is so...mortal.  Wouldn't you say?"
Whatever had been in the vial was already giving the Seer strength and lucidity.  She sat up straighter, though she still supported her head with one thin arm.  Then she spoke, not in mumbles, but with a quavering voice, seeming almost to drift in and out of awareness.
Seer: "Eyes of blue.  Won't touch you."

The Magician took the empty vial from her before she could drop it, his face expressionless.
Magician: "Of course, some us are more damaged than others.  And yet, we do what we can, in the face of entropy."
He set the vial on a shelf, then turned back, regarding the Seer.
Magician: "Perhaps it's time to enter the world once more."
Seer: "They rise from the grave.  The boy will be saved."
Magician: "They do say that if you want something done right, you must do it yourself."
Seer: "Cursed love.  My love."
Magician: "We will need time yet to prepare.  Rest now, my dear.  Nos praemium capiemus."

James's night in the Sunset Valley jail was every bit as unpleasant as he'd hoped it wouldn't be.  Upon his arrest, he was tossed in with the town drunks for most of the night, finally getting hauled out shortly before dawn - nearly four hours after he'd promised his mother he'd be home.  The interrogation was short, to the point, and off in the wrong direction entirely.  Nobody was quite certain who had called the cops, and in fact the Jeweler was on record as a witness saying that James was a fine young man who had likely scared the thieves away from entering the main showroom, possibly even saving his life.  The police were apologetic, clearly hoping that James wouldn't see fit to sue due to his treatment.  Upon realizing the direction the questioning was going, James shifted gears and played his part flawlessly.  Yes, he found it shocking that degenerates would rob an old man; no, he hadn't gotten a good look at any of the thieves, sorry officer; no, it hadn't looked like that many that got away, perhaps only one or two; you know, I think we should all pitch in to get a nice hot meal for the poor jeweler, he's had quite the scare.

They let him go early in the morning, and he quickly caught a cab ride home, already formulating a plan for what he was going to tell his mother when he got there.  The plan turned out to be unnecessary, as she'd had a call from the police station explaining that they were holding him for questioning, as a witness to a crime.  She had understandably been worried, but her anger wasn't directed at James, a fact that he was thankful for.  Even if his family life was safe, there was still the question of what to do about work.  If he went back, he risked being arrested again, and next time the police would think twice about the coincidence.  On the other hand, if he didn't go back, the organization might even come after him - he knew too much.  He had just finished changing for work, deciding to go back for one day and discuss it with his superiors, when his work phone rang.

James: "Yes?"
Man: "Congratulations, you passed the test."
James was confused for a moment, then something clicked in his mind.  Of course, a test would have explained everything!
James: "I see.  So the cops, the arrest, the questioning...it was all a test to see if I'd talk.  Clever."
Man: "Indeed.  I must say, it's amusing to me to know your true identity.  Don't worry, I see no reason to tell anyone.  The important thing is that we now know that you can be trusted.  Forget tonight's job, we want you at the warehouse.  You start as a Henchman tonight."

It was a chilly winter day when the Reaper came for Eliza.  She had just finished setting Alpha down with a bottle when she felt the inevitable lightness come over her.  Alpha drank from her bottle, too young to comprehend that her grandmother was leaving her.

When the Reaper arrived, Eliza fell to her knees.
Eliza: "Please, she's my granddaughter.  My son...he doesn't know how to raise her!  She still needs me."
Grim Reaper: DEATH IS AN INEVITABLE COUNTERPOINT TO LIFE. THE SANDS OF YOUR TIME HAVE RUN OUT.
Eliza: "Just a few more years, it's all she needs!  Surely a few years of one life couldn't damage fate!"
Grim Reaper: IT IS NOT IN WITHIN MY POWER TO GRANT EXCEPTIONS, EVEN TO THE DESERVING.

With those words, the scythe came down, severing the old woman's connection to the physical realm.  The Reaper took her hand and pulled her to her feet, taking her with him as he departed to the land from which he'd come.

James set up a similar shrine in his mother's honor, up the hill in the catacombs.  He moved a few of her favorite paintings down into the catacombs as well; the air was engineered to be dry, and the lighting was dim, so they would last longer down there than they would in the house, anyway.

Her departure left the question of what to do with Alpha while James had to work.  He found that the only option was to rely heavily on a babysitter.  Luckily, he was able to find one that wouldn't mind staying through half of the night, taking catnaps on the sofa in between checking on his charge.

As for Alpha's life skills, Eliza had thankfully managed to teach her how to walk and use the potty, but she still babbled in half-formed words and sentences most of the time.  James knew that it was his responsibility to teach her before she went to school, but didn't look forward to the task.  He really knew nothing about children, least of all his own.

~ * ~

And Eliza goes. :( It was heartbreaking that she pleaded with the reaper like that!  I can't remember seeing any other sims do that in sims 3, though my sims rarely die unless I'm playing a legacy.

So the rest of the Trifectum is finally deciding to get off their butts and come deal with the James situation themselves.  This can't end well, especially now that his mother isn't here to keep an eye on him.  But you see that right there, those lines the Seer says?  I worked hard on those prophecies, it took me way too long to come up with cryptic hints that rhymed and matched in meter.  I am not a poet, which should be obvious by the fact that I rhymed 'love' with 'love' in that last one.

The bits of latin I toss in when the Magician is speaking should be accurate, fyi.  It's been a few years since I took latin, but I think I still remember enough to put together simple sentences properly.  I don't just run those phrases through google translate(good thing too, when I was using google translate to find the verb I wanted it tried to tell me that the present 3rd person plural should be used, when I really wanted the future 1st person plural!  -nt is not a 1st person conjugation ending!  Silly google.), so appreciate them or else! ;)

The flower vase issue I mentioned last time fixed itself.  I have no idea what was going on there, as I didn't add, remove or update any mods, but they're upright now.