Marg had calmed down and it was time to assess our situation.

Anyway, "You guys, can we argue after cleaning all this up?" I looked over at mom and grandma. "Got any bright ideas?" 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Our house was in rubbles. But we had to live somewhere. Mom had actually sold her old place. We had three extra months of rent paid- so she’d sold those three months to the new buyers of that house after making a contract with the landlord. It was a complicated thing but- now we didn’t have a backup living place.

Also, all our old stuff were actually on their way.

"I could just make you a new temporary house," Grandma mumbled. "It’ll be just woods though." She thought for a second. "Or you could just come live with us for a few days."

It was better than nothing. Even if we used the Express Builders Association, a new good quality house would take at least a week.

We had money, so we could just afford a house on mainland.

Grandma’s house was big, so that was good too.

But- none of them really seemed desirable for me. I really liked my house- our house, and I didn’t want to part from it.

The feeling was really weird.

"We could live in the mansion for a few days if you-" Father paused as though he reconsidered. "Never mind."

’The wedding-’ I guess we didn’t have time to worry about that anymore.

With the world ending and all-

Wait, maybe that wasn’t quite it. Maybe a wedding was the thing we needed! The world was under the threat of aliens but- but that meant we probably wouldn’t get this chance again.

"Ah!" A weird moan came from the distance. A rather round guy- bald. He was looking at our house and turned visibly pale.

Apparently, the landlord was here.

"Oh, my gawd."

And so, facepalm sigh it was.

***

The landlord was quite furious but when he saw my full house, he ran for his life.

His exact words were, ’Only half rent next month!’

I guess he forgot for a second that the whole year’s rent was already covered by Melheim, Marg’s father.

"We could but-" Mom paused and looked at me and Marg. "What about the wedding?"

"I guess..." Marg became a bit too quiet. "We could hold it off for now." She was looking down, and I could say with certainty, she was upset about that. "There are more urgent matters-"

"We’ll still have the wedding," I said. "And we’ll have it despite all this."

Marg stared at me, a bit puzzled. "But-"

"Look, there will always be threats to the world, heck we pose more threat than anything else. But- there will only be one wedding for you and me. And I want it to be grand, and I can’t really wait." I might or might not have dreamed about my wedding before.

I even had where and how and all that planned out too. Though I had a feeling my choices were a little too poor.

"I guess a beach would be a bit too farfetched." Oops, I unintentionally voiced by inner thoughts.

"A beach?" Marcus smiled. "Oh, so you wanted to just enjoy the view and get married too? Rascal!" He chuckled.

My dreams weren’t that lewd, okay!

John also chuckled. His chuckles were much, much louder. "That’s Helio for ya!"

I cleared my throat. "Let’s not get carried away here." That was my middle school dream. But yeah, a dream was a dream and I couldn’t be a middle schooler forever. Besides, I was in high school right now. "We could just settle for a small church, I guess." Anywhere was fine though, as long as we got to get married. "Or did you have any plans?" I asked.

It wasn’t like I was changing the subject or anything, okay!

"I actually do. There’s a small church just outside our domain where I met some orphans. I was thinking we could get married there. Though I-" After actually saying it, Marg was backtracking. I guess she thought we’d be not okay with her being a bit selfish.

"Alright." But I was totally okay with it.

I might or might not have been slightly disappointed that my middle school dream wouldn’t come to fruition though.

Marg smiled and came close. "I wouldn’t mind wearing a bikini under the dress that day," She whispered.

Ahem! "Looking forward to it."

A set of giggles ensued followed by a burst of chuckles.

***

Roughly an hour later, a geezer had fallen from the sky.

A round, large bearded guy. He’d changed into something fashionable for once. Though I had a tough time calling shorts and a Hawaiian shirt fashionable in late autumn. It was definitely better than his decaying clothes though.

"You were still alive?" Grandma slightly grimaced.

Grandma had made us a makeshift small villa of sorts. It had wooden rooms and though the rooms were small, there was plenty of furniture.

Currently we were in the central room: the living.

The man snorted. "Yup, kicking as always." He flashed his teeth. He was missing quite a few.

We had some sort of wooden sitting- almost like a sofa but without the cushions.

It all checked out. And if grandma knew him too, it just meant the guy was speaking the truth all along.

"This man is?" Mom said.

"Oh, he’s your uncle, I guess." I wasn’t too sure about that.

Mom looked at grandma for an answer. Her expression was kind of funny- I made sure not to laugh.

"I suppose you can say that. Though he isn’t much of an uncle material. And I’d be careful with him if I were you." Grandma was warning me, instead of anyone else.

"Why?" I asked.

"He’s not straight."

I froze for a second. ’Oh so, that’s why he said he-’

The old man just chuckled. "Hey, don’t go spilling beans. Besides, why on Neil would I even bother to put my hands on my own frigging nephew?"

Grandma rolled her eyes and just sipped on the morning tea. "As long as you understand."

I never once got that vibe from him though.

Mom however was kind of confused and overjoyed at the same time.

The only guy who looked out of place was dad. He couldn’t choose between stuff.

Anyway, I kind of wanted to be alone, so headed for an empty room. These guys needed their reunion time anyway.

Marcus and John were roaming the island while Uncle had left for hunting- or so he claimed. As for Auntie- I wasn’t so sure.

Aria had gone out with Raea and that left Elsa and Marg. Both were currently inside this one-storied maze, but I kind of didn’t know where. I wanted to be alone, I didn’t care.

I just walked.

This coffee tasted a bit too bitter. ’Maybe I should have gotten milk?’

I kind of didn’t like lactose-free milk though...

Then again, I didn’t like coffee anyway.

"So, you’re saying you love him more than me?"

As I was passing through the corridor, I heard something. These were wooden walls, so I could hear pretty well. I just had to pay attention and get close to the wall.

"But that’s only natural." A very confident answer.

Judging by the voices, Marg and Elsa were inside.

"But he’s your brother."

"I’m sure you’re already aware but even if you aren’t- we’re not blood-related."

"I know but, he only sees you as his sister."

The hell were they talking about?

"I know that!" A long pause. "But I love him and I’ll- I, I want to have his kids."

Holy-

"Even if it means tearing your relationship, even if it means tearing your family?"

I gulped. ’Maybe it’s better I don’t listen to this.’

I’d actually suspected this... I knew Elsa loved me. But all this time, I merely shrugged them off as sisterly love.

And yet-

Sigh.

’Why the fuck did it have to be so complicated?’

This wasn’t just complicated; this was beyond that. My little sister, wanting my kids?

Was this some sort of joke?

Were they rehearsing something for a play or something?

It had to be that, right? RIGHT!?

"I love my family." I was about to leave but- I listened on. "I love them all. But- I love Helio a lot more. He’d saved me, he’d cared for me. He was there for me, even when mom wasn’t: when dad wasn’t. He was always there, every night when I had nightmares, every time I got lost, every time I wanted to listen to a bedtime story, he was there for me. Always. I want to be there for him too. I want to show him, I love him too."

No, this wasn’t something as simple as a rehearsal. ’They’re serious...’

"But you can do that as a sister and-"

And I kept walking.

For now, I had to focus on something else.

No, that wasn’t it. Maybe I was just running away.

But- this was something Elsa had to sort out on her own. ’Until she comes out on her own, let’s pretend this never happened.’

Though I had a feeling no matter what, there was no way, I could have just passed this off as nothing. Besides, she was my sister.

How the hell am I supposed to act around her now, knowing all this?

Could I ever treat her the same?

Sigh!