[IC] Fateful Convergence

[Vocalia]

Squeaking in fear and shock, Eryn jumped on her spot and made a hasty run for the door, only to gasp when she saw Sean in front of her open door with the frightened and disoriented dorm warden clinging onto him for dear life. The woman felt terrible for the warden, but at the same time, she found Sean's entry to be quite hilarious, if not surprising. "I-I'm sorry, sir. He's a friend of mine, but he can be a bit... exuberant at time," she first said to the terrified warden, then turned to Sean and said, "Signing the visitor book wouldn't take too long, but I suppose you're getting a bit impatient, aren't you?" Giggling softly, she grabbed her handbag and closed the door to her dorm room, then led Sean back to the jeep after placing the warden back on his previous location.

[Daxam]

"Hell, yeah," Sean says as he walks with Eryn, the dorm warden far behind them. "I've missed you a lot, Eryn." Then, his smile turning sad, he adds, "Besides, I think we need someone like you after what happened today..." Shaking his head, he says, "I'll let the others talk to you about it when we get to my place. For now..." As soon as they were outside of the building, he wraps his arms around Eryn, lifts her off of her feet, and spins her around in a tight hug, shouting, "I've missed you like hell!"

[Vocalia]

Eryn barely held back the urge to scream and flail wildly when she was being lifted off her feet and spun around by the powerful Sean Anderson. She began to wonder what sort of bad incident he had gone through for him to say what he said, but she was nonetheless happy to be reunited with him. "I miss you too, Sean... I still can't believe you've managed to help me reconnect with my sister again!" she replied as she was soon taken to the jeep.

Upon the sight of her mirror image sitting at the back seat, Eryn was let speechless as the two sisters looked at each other in disbelief, even as Sean opened the door to let her in. The moment she stepped into the vehicle, Arlia practically tackled her against the door, crying and screaming with joy. "Eryn! Eryn, I miss you! I miss you so much!" Arlia whimpered as Eryn returned her tearful hug. "Arlia... You have no idea how happy I am to see you alive..." Eryn sobbed with joy, the two sisters now joined in a tight hug.

[Daxam]

Sean, standing outside of the jeep, grins at the two sisters as they embrace. After a few moments, he opens the door and climbs into the driver's seat. Soon, they were once more on the road, heading toward the penthouse, watching the two sisters in his rearview mirror. Nigel stays silent, more than happy to let his girlfriend and her sister reconnect. Isaac was just as content to do the same, although Vincent was more excited than a dog in a room full of bacon at the prospect of being among equally attractive twins. After awhile, Isaac finally asks, "So, you still go to school? How far along are you?"

[Vocalia]

"I'm in my final year of my four-year long double degree in arts and business. I'm currently enjoying the semester break, but once classes resume in two months time, I would be quite busy," Eryn replied, her voice containing hint of a very subdued pride. "Wow, four years of university study. You're so lucky, Eryn!" Hayley said with a smile. "Oh? Are you not studying at the moment?" Eryn asked with no ill intention. "Nah, I can't pay for it and my remaining parent is an absolute deadbeat. Plus, I am a little occupied at the moment," Hayley casually replied, but the shy woman seemed to feel guilty about asking her that particular question. There was also the fact that Hayley only mentioned about one parent instead of two, which she quickly noticed but chose to put aside. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" Shaking her hand, Hayley smiled and interjected, "Hey, it's okay. I'm gad that you have a great future ahead of you and you seem to be a good girl too. Hope things go well for you."

[Daxam]

"I'm so proud of her!" Sean says, beaming as if she were his sister instead of Arlia's. Isaac chuckles and says, "Well, congratulations, Eryn. You're gonna be able to get pretty far with that kind of degree." Soon, they pull into the parking garage across the street from Sean's building. A couple of minutes later, they step out of the elevator and into Sean's penthouse. "Go ahead and take any available room you want, Nigel and Arlia," Sean says. Without wasting a moment, Nigel, who hadn't said a word since they picked Eryn up, breaks away from the group and disappears into one of the empty rooms. Isaac sighs, but instead of doing what Nigel did, walks over to the couch and sits down, running a hand through his hair. Sean looks at his friend, then where Nigel disappeared into his room, then says to the twins, "I'll let you two get caught up. I have some...things I gotta take care of upstairs." That said, he turns around and disappears up the stairs.

[Vocalia]

Hayley turned to the twins after glancing at Isaac and said, "Lemme get something for you lot to eat. If you want, the study room's a nice, quiet place for you both to catch up with one another." Without further ado, the blonde turned to the kitchen and made herself busy, leaving Arlia and Eryn to catch up with each other and for the former to inform the latter what had happened.

[Daxam]

Isaac watches Hayley walk into the kitchen as the sisters disappear into the study room. Quietly, he stands and follows Hayley into the kitchen, where he leans against the counter and smiles at her. "That Eryn girl seems pretty nice, huh?" he asks quietly.

[Vocalia]

"Well, she certainly has a good head on her shoulders. I still find it hard to believe that she and Arlia are related. They're the opposites to each other, yet they're identical in appearance. It's like staring into the Twilight Zone," Hayley chuckled, but then fell silent again as she prepared some vegetables to go along with the meat and poultry meal. She kept her eyes focused on her task, but then her voice turned somber and morose as she said to him, "Isaac... I'm sorry... about Sarah..."

[Daxam]

Hearing Sarah apologize about Sarah, Isaac shakes his head and pushes himself away from the counter. Wrapping his arms around Hayley from behind, he clasps his hands together in front of her stomach and rests his head on her shoulder, saying, "You don't have to apologize, Hayley. I know you, Alexis, Arlia, and Sean did all you could to save her. That's all anyone could ever ask." Then, smiling softly, he adds, "At least she's in a better place, now."

[Vocalia]

"I guess that's what matters..." Hayley replied softly, putting the kitchen knife onto the cutting board as she began to feel herself losing her composure. Closing her eyes, she finally decided to be upfront about what happened on her end. "Back then... When you regained your memories, Sean spoke briefly about your past... There was something about what he said that suddenly made me feel sick. I felt as if my head was being crushed underneath a ton of brick, so Alexis took over, but even after that, the pain didn't stop and I momentarily blacked out... When I opened my eyes... Sarah... She was running towards you..."

[Daxam]

Hearing Hayley's voice on the verge of breaking, Isaac turns her around and, lacing his hands behind her back, he looks down into her blue-gray eyes and whispers, "Even so, that isn't your fault, Hayley. Sometimes, when something happens, no one can be blamed. It's just one of those things that happens." Gently caressing her cheek, he smiles sadly at his girlfriend and says, "I want you to stop blaming yourself, okay? I still love you even though...that happened."

[Vocalia]

Hayley said nothing, but her small smile seemed to be her way of saying that she returned his feelings. With one arm around his waist and another on his arm, she looked at him and asked, "Can I ask you something...? How much of your memory have you recalled? Back then, when you fought against those Crey bastards, you seem to feel... slightly different. I can't tell if it's a good or bad thing, but you seem to be much more focused. In a way, it's almost as if you have regained a small part of you that you have lost."

[Daxam]

Isaac doesn't say anything right away, thinking about how much to reveal to Hayley, while making it seem like he was recalling what memories he regained. Out of all of his memories, which were mainly about him and Sarah, one stuck out in his mind: the body of the blond woman. For some reason, he doesn't feel as if he should mention it quite yet, so he says, "I haven't remembered much. Just the time I spent with Sarah, namely when we were under that tree she's buried under..."

[Vocalia]

"I see... Maybe seeing her triggered the return of memories associated with her. That certainly makes sense..." Hayley said, sounding less morose and more thoughtful. "Well, in any case, I guess this is still a step forward to finally getting back all your memories, so that's one good thing. Besides, we now have two new allies in our fight against Crey. At first, I don't have much of a stake in it beyond it being a trouble to us all, but now, it's personal." She clenched her hands into hard fists, her eyes now filled with determination. However, that determination was a mixture of the desire to make Crey pay for what they did to Sarah and a determination for her to seek the truth. For now, she seemed content with the knowledge of Isaac slowly regaining his lost memories. "Alright, back to lunch. I'm just gonna mix all this shit and hope that the end result isn't going to give y'all food poisoning," she said to him with her natural, cheeky grin.

[Daxam]

Isaac smiles, glad things seemed to be getting back to normal between the two of them, and says, "Let me stay and supervise. I wanna see--" Suddenly, the entire penthouse shakes, rattling the pots and pans hanging off of the hooks in the wall. After a few moments, everything settles down. Looking up at the ceiling, Isaac says, "Man...Sean's taking it harder than I thought..."

[Vocalia]

"Tell me about it," Hayley replied, sounding somewhat unfazed by the sudden earthquake. Picking up the kitchen knife once again, she resumed her work on the meal that was supposed to feed at least six people. "Y'know, there's something about how he seems to gush over Eryn that strikes me. It's almost as if he's smitten. Can't exactly blame him for that though. That girl screams "purity" in every way, shape, and form. I'm probably placing too much hope on her, but if anyone could bring Sean out of his funk, it's gonna be her and no one else. My gut feeling tells me she's the right girl for him and I hope they can get along as well as we both have."

[Daxam]

Isaac replies, "I think you're right. Especially when you think about how he hugged her, earlier. I think he's in love." Hearing Hayley's last couple of comments, he says, "You may be right. I'll go see if she can talk to him." That said, he leaves the kitchen and walks toward the study. Seeing the door closed, he gently knocks, saying, "Eryn? Arlia? May I come in, please?"

[Vocalia]

A soft shuffle was then followed by the door opening to reveal Eryn standing on the other end of it, smiling politely at Isaac. "Yes, Mr Ryder?" she asked, her twin sister poking her head to look at him. "Is there anything you need from us, Isaac Ryder?" Arlia asked, raising her brow curiously at his sight.

[Daxam]

"Please, just call me Isaac," Isaac says to both of the women, smiling kindly. Then, becoming more serious, he says to Eryn, "I was wondering if you could talk to Sean. That tremble you probably felt a little bit ago was him." Looking at Arlia, he adds, "I think he's taking what happened harder than he should be." To both women, he adds, "I figured that Eryn would be able to help him out more than any of us could."