Don't worry guys. The overall story doesn't end but unfortunately this book does. The next one shouldn't take long to put together but anyways, enjoy the chapter!
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        He returned to consciousness with the sound of familar ear pleasing humming. For a bit, since he hadn't opened his eyes yet, Add thought he might be dead. It was possible since he remembered being stabbed by Raven just before he went after Ara. Add snapped his eyes open in that moment, panic replacing whatever peace he had. "He took in the familiar surroundings and noticed that he lay across a bed while resting in someone's lap.

        "I glad you're finally awake. I was worried about you," the person, who had also neen running their hand through his hair, said as he looked up at them. "Mother?" Add asked, unsure of whether or not he was dreaming or really just dead...but his mother was alive last time he checked. "Yes, silly. It's me," his mother said with a slight laugh. Although Add was glad to finally see his mother again, his panic still hadn't subsided. "Where's Ara?" Add asked as he tried to sit up only to find himself in pain.

        "Calm down, Add. Everything is fine. Ara is here, she's just asleep. I think she would have gotten up by now if it weren't for her own wounds and fatigue," Add's mother said as she got Add to lay back down. "How is she? How badly was she hurt?" Add asked, fearing the answer. "Nothing major. She seemed pretty devastated when the two of you arrived here though. I'm just glad that you're back here alive and well," Add's mother said. Add felt his eyes tear up a bit, realizing that his mother was once again acting as though she cared about him.

        "I want to go see her," Add said. "You're not in the condition to do that. Your wound was much deeper and potentially more deadlier than Ara's were so you'll need more time to heal," Grace said. She looked down at Add with a smile and continued to pet his head. Add realized something though. His mother didn't seem to be all that phased by him and Ara getting hurt which meant she either knew what was going on or just didn't care. There was even the possibility of both. And of course Paradox would be around for how else did Add end up back home.

         "Miss Grace? Are you awake?" Ara's voice called as she made an appearance in the doorway, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Yes, I'm awake. Add is too," Grace said as she looked towards Ara. Ara's eyes immediately lit up and clouded with relief as she saw Add and she walked over to him and his mother. The first thing Ara did was drop to her knees next to the bed and begin to cry with her head burried into the sheets at the edge of the bed. Add didn't know what for but he felt it was his fault plus he didn't like seeing Ara cry.

        "I'm so sorry. I couldn't win and I nearly got you killed too and in the end, there was so much death. It was awful," Ara said to Add. Grace gave Ara a look of pity. "You poor child. Come here," Grace said as she reached out to Ara. Ara complied, going over to the other side of Grace and leaning onto the bed near her. Grace started to pet Ara too. "Once you two are all healed up, you can go back to your mission again. It's so wonderful, what you two are doing," Grace said with a smile but something was most definately wrong with her statement and nonchalant attitude.

        "I'll go make you two some breakfast. That should make you both feel better. Ara, could you keep Add company while I'm gone?" Grace said. Ara nodded and moved so that Grace could leave. Once his mother was out of sight and hopefully out of earshot, Add decided to try getting up on his own. He fought through the pain long enough to be able to sit up but he couldn't get any further than that. When Ara noticed his change in position, she got off of the floor and sat next to him.

         She was wearing a pair of his old clothes which he didn't mind but he certainly wondered why. He himself had also been changed into something old that he owned. "How lomg have we been here?" Add asked. "A day and almost a half...you nearly died," Ara answered. After she'd stopped crying, her eyes remained sorrowful as she stared off into space. "What exactly happened in Altera?" Add asked although he wasn't sure if Ara was emotionally stable enough to answer him.

        "Raven took Eun's hairpin from me and I fought back with a power I was unfamiliar with. He would have killed me if it weren't for Owen showing up. I didn't know Owen was still alive but he ended up dying anyway. He was probably the only innocent one there. Paradox showed up after that. He said that we needed to leave before Altera collapsed. Apparently the code card only works for so long. He took you first so I thought he wouldn't come back but he did. I don't know where he is now but I think he didn't something to your mother's mind. She doesn't remeber me at all. I had to reintroduce myself twice while you were unconscious," Ara said.

        "She's always been forgetful like that. It probably got worse because of how long we were gone," Add muttered. "I don't want to leave anymore," Ara whimpered. Add looked over at her to see that her eyes had teared up. "I'm tired of us risking our lives like this, getting into situations that we have no business knowing about. We almost died on several occasions. Eun hasn't talked to me since we got back and my hair is turning white at the root on one spot. I think I'm becoming something that I don't want to be. If we continue these journeys, what will happen to us. You'd never killed before leaving this village and now you already have blood on your hands that wasn't there before," Ara said.

        Add didn't know what to say but something needed to be said. "We can't give up. The world is in danger of ending because of the time anomalies that Paradox's arrival caused," Add muttered. "Why can't he just fix them himself. Our lives aren't some disposable tools. I just want to go somewhere and live peacefully for just one week at least," Ara said. "If that's all you're worried about, I think your next job won't be too much of a problem. Besides, there's a reason I'm not supposed to fix these types of things myself," Paradox said having suddenly shown up at the door in his child form.

        "When did you...no, how long were you listening?" Add asked, having the urge to glare at Paradox but not doing so. Paradox was in his child form and seemed harmless if it weren't for the dynamos he had behind him. Add assumed that's what those were. "I've been listening since mother announced breakfast. She cooks very well you know," Paradox said. "I want to know why you can't fix these time anomalies yourself. You're stressing Ara out and I can't stand it," Add said.

         Paradox tilted his head at them. "If I were able to fix them myself, don't you think I'd have done so already? There are still rules and laws of time and space that I have to follow if I want to keep this world intact," Paradox sneered. "Doesn't mean I want to fix your problems," Ara muttered, seemingly satisfied with the answer but not with her options. "If you must complain so much then I'll accompany you but if my actions break any of the laws then don't say I didn't warn you," Paradox said.

        "Why do you want to help us all of a sudden. Last time I checked, you absolutely despised us and only needed us to keep the world from ending so you could steal my mother," Add snapped. "He's got a valid point," Ara muttered. Paradox huffed in annoyance. "It may not seem like it but I've actually taken a liking to the two of you. It's been a while since I've been around people in general and I sort of understand you now...well Add at least. I was able to restore mother's memories only for her to almost kill me one time. That's another story though. What I'm saying is...maybe you aren't that bad," Paradox said, refusing to meet neither Add nor Ara's gazes as they stared at him in confusion.

        "You can't just change your mind like that. Is it because we almost died? Are you finally growing a conscious?" Ara said. Paradox only stared at the ground in front of him instead of answering Ara. Add wanted to ask Paradox more questions seeing as he was no longer an enemy of sorts but he decided that it wasn't the right time to do so. If he were to make Paradox angry, he was in no condition to be fighting back and neither was Ara.

        Add had noticed that one of her bandaged arms had started to bleed through the bandages. "You should take care of that," Paradox said, pointing at Ara's arm. She shook her head at him. "We don't have any more bandaged. Miss Grace used them all on Add. I'll be fine though. A scratch like this is nothing compared to what could have happened to me so I'll suffer through it a little longer," Ara said.

        Add hated it when she did things like that, allowing herself to suffer through something and not saying anything about it until she's questioned about it. He met Ara's gaze, intending to say something on the matter, but stayed silent when he saw just how dull and empty her eyes were. He wasn't used to seeing Ara that way. Usually when she said something like she did, she'd still have happiness in her eyes as she lied strait to his face but now there was nothing. No happiness, no anything.

        "What if I let Ara stay here while we go on the next one?" Add asked Paradox. "No. That's not an option," Ara immediately answered before Paradox could even think of a reply. "You can't take much more of this," Add muttered. "I noticed. There isn't much I can do about it now. I just have to accept it and hope things turn out okay," Ara muttered. "Like I said, this time around, things shouldn't be so disastrous. At least I think so anyway," Paradox said.

        Before Add could comment on Paradox's words, his mother returned to the room. "You three seem to be getting along pretty well. Breakfast is ready so I'll bring it to you guys in here," Grace said. "Thank you, mother, but I think I can handle things from here. Why don't you go and rest," Paradox said. Grace stood at the door smiling for a bit before she actually did anything. "Okay. I should go and rest. You three better not cause any trouble," Grace  before leaving the room.

         "What did you do to her," Add asked, realizing that Paradox seemed to have a certain degree of control over Grace. "Nothing to harm her if that's what you're worried about. I would never harm mother. She's different than the others. She's harbored a hatred for you...for us. I don't know why but I've been able to keep it under control. I did tell you that she tried to kill me once," Paradox said. "What exactly is your goal, Paradox?" Ara suddenly asked.

        "My goal? What do you mean by that? I already explained my goal long ago," Paradox said. "No, you told us what you wanted us to believe was your goal. That or your goal has recently changed. I know for sure that you wanted us dead at one point. Then all of sudden you wanred us to fix your problems so that you could remain here with Add's mother. Now you suddenly think we could just become friends or something along those lines? You mist be crazy!" Ara said. Paradox gave his signature laugh.

        "I actually am a bit crazy. I won't deny that fact," Paradox admitted. Add and Ara both shared glances, both of them wondering whether or not it was even safe to trust anything Paradox said. "Why don't we talk more over breakfast. I'd rather not die of starvation although that's a bit of an exaggeration," Paradox said in a very childish way. If it weren't for Add's knowledge of Paradox's adult form, Add would be convinced that he was just a rather smart and terrifyingly crazy child.

        Just as Paradox stood up from where he had been sitting at the door frame, he froze and quickly jumped back. Add and Ara both looked on in shock as they saw the person that had nearly attacked Paradox. "Mother?!" Add yelped. She held a knife and had a blank expression on her face as she weilded it with the intent to kill. "She isn't your mother...not in that state she isn't," Paradox said as his dynamos took a defensive stance arround him. "How could you...why are you here to remind me of him? I can't stand it. You look too much alike," Grace was muttering.

         Add felt a terrible moment of déjà vu as she said thise words. "What exactly did you do to my mother?" Add asked almost in a whisper. "Whatever it was, we need to figure it out later because I think Miss Grace is trying to kill us," Ara said as she slowly stood. "Be still! Don't make any sort of movement," Paradox instructed. Ara froze in place. "Mother...you need to remember who I am. This isn't you," Paradox said. "Shut up...you even sound like him. I don't want anything to do with him anymore!" Grace said. Paradox flinched at her raised voice.

         "Mother, please don't do this again," Add found himself saying. He remebered this moment in the past when something quite similar had happened. "I said shut up!" Grace snapped. She clearly couldn't tell the differences between Add and Paradox's voices. Either that or she didn't care. Add couldn't take it though. This event had already happened. He had already gotten his mother to overcome this point in her life so much so that she had at least begun to pay him attention again. She hadn't been caring towards him until the day he'd left to help Ara.

         "Add, what are you doing?" Ara hissed. "I don't know," he replied as he practically moved against his will, slowly standing despite the pain he felt from his wound and heart. "Mother, I don't want to hurt you. In fact, I can't bring myself to, so I'm asking you to put the knife down," Paradox said. "You aren't doing a single damn thing to my mother," Add growled, finding himself enraged for a split second.

        "He's taken too much away from me...I can't stand it anymore. Why...why must I suffer because of my actions? Did I not make the right choices by saving you and raising you in a new time?" Grace asked, talking more to herself than she did to Add. Her hand was shaking as she spoke. "Mother, listen to me. I don't want us to go through this again," Add said. He was slowly walking towards his mother despite Paradox's earlier warning.

         "Again...as if I'd let myself make the same mistake twice. I only have one option now...to get rid of the source of my problems. Add you look too much like him. You even have his ingenuitive mind," Grace said. "I'm not my father! I will mever be him! I'll always be Add. I'm my own person. You raised me to be better than him," Add said. Grace began to cry as she shook her head at him. "I don't believe that," she said.

         "Please believe me. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you this way again," Add said on the verge of tears. He continued to walk to his mother and she slowly began to lower the knife she held until she completely dropped it. Grace pulled Add into a hug since he was close enough and Add hugged his mother back. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. All Add heard next was Ara shouting his name in alarm.

To Be Continued...
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Yes. I did just end the chapter like this. I got another book to write don't I? I'll see you guys there right? The details will ne in the After You Read section of this book so until then you amazing readers!