Aldous paced back and forth in his room early in the morning, his mind racing.

He had been doing his best to act like he knew nothing about Krystal's true nature, but it seemed the anxiety was getting to him.

"Get a hold of yourself, Aldous. You're taking this far too personally," Beta instructed calmly.

"I can't help it. We've been living with an ancient for a month now, and I haven't the foggiest idea of what to do with her." Aldous replied still pacing before coming to a stop. "Where did she come from? Can she do special things? Do I tell someone?"

"No, you must not inform anyone of this discovery, lest this place becomes a breeding pool for people wishing to see a world wonder." Beta interrupted with a stern expression.

"And as for your other questions no one knows for certain what year they originate, and there is no record of the ancients having special powers or anything like that. Barring their transcendence of time."

"So she's just like us then... I guess that's assuring...I think." Aldous said to himself. "I never thought I would be asking you of all people, but what should we do then?" He asked leaning over his dresser looking into the mirror hanging above.

"We maintain course," Beta replied as his eyes became lighter in color. "You continue educating her in modern standards, and I will keep a close eye on her, as I was before."

"Do you think we should tell her what we know?" Aldous asked standing up straight.

"Not yet. From what I've observed, the girl seems to lack any knowledge of her own kind." Beta replied while stroking his chin. "If you recall, she took a substantial blow to the head back in the alley. It may be possible she's forgotten her heritage."

"But she remembered her mother," Aldous added recalling what Krystal had told him.

"Be that as it may, one does not suffer a total memory wipe from a blow to the head," Beta explained, placing a hand on his hip. "And seeing that our knowledge on the subject is insufficient, it would be wrong for us to educate her about her own kind."

"So we keep this to ourselves, then what?"

"We should attempt to jog her memory," Beta declared. "Observation alone cannot dissect ones psyche. She has to be the one to discover for herself. Only then can we find the truth."

"Okay, so let me get this all straight-"

Before Aldous could say another word, they both heard the sound of a crash in the other room, followed by a high-pitched yelp.

"What happened?" he asked with a panicked tone.

He saw her standing in front of the stove, sucking on her fingertip with an apron around her waist when she saw him.

"Oh, sorry Al, I didn't mean to wake you," she replied. "I just burnt myself on the pan."

He breathed a sigh of relief that it was nothing major before looking back at her with a confused look.

"Wait you burned yourself on the-? Are you cooking by yourself?"

She held her hands behind her back and avoided eye contact, feeling a bit embarrassed all of a sudden as if she'd been busted doing something wrong.

"Umm...yes..." she answered with a shy squeak while dragging her foot across the floor. "I wanted to make breakfast for you for a change..."

He looked past her and saw that she had prepared some omelettes all on her own.

"You did this for me?" He asked with a rased eyebrow.

"I wanted to thank you for everything you've done for me... I know it's not much, but I hope you like it," she said, looking up with a little grin.

Although grateful that she would do this he, felt somewhat bad for letting her believe that she had to repay his kindness.

Nevertheless, he accepted. As the egg hit his tongue he looked down at the plate with a strange look on his face.

"Is it okay? Did I do something wrong?" Krystal asked with her hands folded in front of her chest.

"Not at all. This is amazing!" he answered, taking a second bite, followed by a third. Had he been looking, he would have seen her face light with pride in accomplishment.

"And you made this yourself?" he asked, looking up for a brief moment. She nodded, watching him enjoy her labor.

"Hey, what are you waiting for?" he asked with the fork still in his mouth. "I can't let you just stand there watching me; grab a fork! You earned it, girl." He set aside the second serving for her while he polished off the first.

Upon tasting her own work she realized Aldous was right. Not only was it delicious, but her skill behind the stove surpassed Aldous's.

"And this was your first time in the kitchen?" he asked satisfied with the meal.

"Well, not exactly..." she answered, looking over at him. "But I picked up a thing or two, you could say."

"You could say that again; you're a natural, Krystal,"

"Thank you..." she said with a light blush, looking down at her hands.

"Say, where did you learn to cook like that anyway?" he asked, leaning forward in his chair. "I don't remember teaching you myself."

She looked away as if to discreetly hide something, but she answered anyway.

"I looked at your recipe book..."

"Which one? The one on the shelf or the one in the pantry cupboard?"

"The one in the cupboard," she said, pointing to the countertop where she left it. Aldous looked at it for a second and then back at her.

"I thought I recognized the flavor from somewhere. That book was from my mother," he explained.

"Really?" she asked, looking back with a light twinkle in her eye.

"Sure did. I got that copy when I first moved out. I learned everything I know about cooking from her," he explained leaning back in his seat.

"Wow, your mother must have been one talented woman," she replied, holding her hands on her lap.

"Oh, she was," he added. He looked at her again and saw that she was looking away, seemingly deep in thought.

His initial thought was that he brought up a sensitive topic for her and so sought to change the subject.

"So, uh, we both have the day off today. Got any plans?"

"No, not really," she responded with a shake of her head. "Why?"

"Well, I just thought we could do something together, you know? Take advantage of the time we have," he said, looking her in the eye with a heartwarming gaze.

"What something?" she asked returning the stare.

"Hmmm... Ooh! How about a day on the town?" he proposed with a snap of his fingers. "We could go on a walk, get lunch, see the sights... well, maybe not the last one; there's not much to see around here."

"Sure," she said, chuckling at his joke. "That sounds like fun."

He rose from his chair and spoke in a cartoonish voice.

"Well, in that case, pack your winter gear! We've got places to go, and not see!"

Upon heading outside Krystal took in the brisk morning air, looking around at the sight of the snow covering the landscape. The way it reflected off the sunlight at this time of day was something of majesty to her.

As Aldous drove through town, Krystal kept her eyes on the window as if seeing the town in a new light, a sense of curiosity and wonder filling her mind.

"Now where to go first?" he asked himself, pulling up to an intersection. Krystal looked around the area before catching sight of the library on the other side of the street.

"Ooh, ooh! How about there?" she said, pointing forward.

"The library? Don't we have plenty of books at home?" he asked, looking at her with a teasing smile.

"Oh pleeeeease?" she said holding her hands together, begging like a little girl.

"Alright, alright, library it is then." He replied with a light roll of the eyes followed by a light hearted grin.

"Oh yay!" she exclaimed, bouncing in her seat with anticipation.

"Wow she is such a child at heart." He thought watching her behavior.

He hardly had time to park the car before Krystal had unfastened her seatbelt, ready to take off like a rabbit.

"Excellent idea taking her here." Beta chimed in after she exited the vehicle. "I advise you to expose her to the book I showed you. Maybe we can get some answers out of her."

Like a parent taking their kid to school for the first time, Krystal was a ball of energy, waiting for Aldous to hurry up so they could enter together.

Upon entry, her eyes went wide with wonder, feeling dazzled by all the books that were up on display.

"Now where to start with?" he said with a stroke of his chin, teasing her a bit.

"I want to see it all!" she replied, looking at him with glossy eyes reflecting off each source of light in the room.

"Oh, oh, gotta quiet down now," he instructed whilst holding his finger to his lips. "It's the number one rule of the library, we have to be quiet so we don't disturb any other readers here."

"Mhm, okay. I can be quiet," she whispered with a nod.

"Oh hey, I know just where to start," he declared my with a snap of his fingers. With his hand on her back, he guided her to the shelf where Beta found the book from before.

"I found this book a while back, and I thought you might like it." He said with a smile to mask his intentions.

"Origins of Warped Earth?" she read aloud.

"This book's got it all: fact, fiction... everything else in between," he explained while waving his hands, unable to think of a third element.

"Okay, I'll give it a try." She looked down at the book with a light smile before turning around to one of the larger beanbag chairs.

As she made herself comfortable, Aldous was about to walk away when a second book caught his eye, stopping himself dead in his tracks with one foot in the air before backpedaling a couple steps.

"Ooh what's this? Guide to Music Made Easy?" he said to himself, picking up the yellow-covered book with both hands. "We-he-hell, don't mind if I do."

Aldous found himself just as enthralled in his book as Krystal was in hers, so much so that he hadn't realized how much time had passed until he double checked the nearby clock.

"Hee whiz! It's almost noon already?" he cried aloud all of a sudden, whilst also trying to keep his voice tame.

"Hey, Krystal? Where did you go?" he called out, trying to be as loud as he can while whispering.

He called her name at least four times before she heard him and snapped her head up in response.

"I'm over here, Al," she replied, breaking away from her book with a wave of her arm.

"We should get going, Krystal. Don't wanna spend the whole day cooped up in here," he explained as he approached her,

"I suppose you're right." She mumbled, setting her book down feeling a little disappointed.

"You wanna rent that book?" He asked seeing how invested she looked.

"You can do that?" She asked meeting his gaze with a glimmer in her eye.

"Of course, that's kinda the whole point of a library." He said adjusting his body weight to his other leg.

"Can you show me how?" She asked grabbing the book again with both hands.

"Absolutely, and afterwords we can get some grub."

"Yeah, now that you mention it, I am getting kinda hungry," she said, looking down at her stomach after hearing it grumble slightly.

"Perfect timing then." He extended his hand to help her out of the chair.

She grabbed his arm and tried to pull herself up, but they both yanked on one another at the same time, causing her to spring out of the seat and slam into him, almost dropping the book.

Out of reflex Aldous caught her, holding her back with one arm while the other hand remained locked with hers.

They both held each other, processing what just happened. It all went by so fast that it left them both stunned for a moment.

Krystal moved first, breaking away and getting to her feet.

"Sorry, that was my bad," she said feeling embarrassed.

"No, no. That one was my fault; I guess I don't know my own strength," he replied with equal shyness.

"Well, uh... We should get going then," she said, following a moment of awkward silence.

"Yes, let's."

After checking out their books, they took off for the downtown area.

"So what do you think of it so far?" he asked, noticing her nose back in the book.

"Hm? What now?"

"You liking the book so far?" He repeated.

"Oh, yeah, I like it," she answered, looking back at the page.

"What's your favorite part so far?"

She paused for a moment, summarizing in her head the few chapters she read.

"I think the idea that people evolved from an ancient people is kinda cool," she explained.

"Oh really? And what is it you like about it?" he asked with a brief glance.

"I think it's a bit silly, but a cool idea."

Although he kept control of the vehicle, his mind went blank in shock at her response. He could tell Beta felt the same way.

"What now?" he asked for clarification.

"Well, it says here that these ancient peoples were ahead of their time, so to say. So if humans really came from them, how would the Stone Age even exist? It doesn't make sense that a people as advanced as the ancients would devolve into something so primitive, don't you think?"

"W-well, yeah, I suppose..." he said feeling even more surprised by her reasoning. "But what if they're real? What would you think of that?"

She giggled at the thought, and responded with a wide smile.

"I think that would be pretty silly. I mean, really- a people who scatter themselves throughout time? Who in their right mind would want to do that?" she asked rhetorically.

"Yeah, I guess that is pretty silly..." he replied with a small laugh. He wasn't going to press the issue further for now.

Neither he or Beta knew how best to approach the subject without possibly messing something up, so Aldous chose to end the interrogation until later when he could piece things together some more.

In the meantime, he pulled into a drive-through for a fast-food establishment. Feeling the sudden change in momentum, she looked up from her book and glanced out the window. The bright, flashy colors of the building captured her attention like a moth to a flame.

"Anything here catch your eye?" he asked as they pulled up to the menu sign at the entrance of the drive-through.

She didn't even know what half the things were, but the presentation and colorful display were enough to make her mouth water.

"It all looks so good..." she replied after a moment, sounding as if she had come out of a trance. "What would you recommend?"

"Hmmm... Oh, I know just the thing." he said as he pulled up to the building.

"Hello, welcome to Listeria's. Eat our slop, and you will drop," said a charismatic voice on the other end of the speaker.

"Hey, I recognize that joke! Greg Harrison, is that you?" Aldous asked with wide eyes at the familiar voice.

"No way, Aldous Calihan?"

"Yo! It's been too long, bud!" Aldous cried out with nostalgia in his speech.

"You're telling me! How's it been? You still doing that office thing?"

"You know it. And what's new with you? You give up the comedy thing?"

"Nah, not really, just a change in course, really." Greg explained sounding no less animated than before "What about the rest of the old gang? Any word from those guys?"

"I'm still in touch with Michael, but I haven't heard from Raph."

"Hmph, go figure, that little hermit." Greg said as a joke

"Um, am I missing something here?" Krystal asked jagging in.

"Oh yeah, this is an old friend of mine, Gregory, a real class clown, this guy," Aldous explained, turning away from the speaker.

"Yo, hold up, is that a girl I hear?" Greg asked suddenly. "It's about time you got a girlfriend Al."

Aldous and Krystal exchanged awkward looks upon hearing that comment, causing her to blush and look away, clearly embarrassed.

"Nah man it ain't like that, I'm just helping out." Aldous explained speaking into the mix fast. "But hey, look who's talking; mister smoke bomb incident."

"Oh, you HAD to bring that up again! That was one time, one time!" Greg bellowed still sounding light hearted and humorous. "Anyway, let's get things underway, shall we? May I take your order?" he asked, impersonating a cartoon character.

"Alright, can I get a number 1 and a number 3 meal?"

"Mmmm, nope. Try again tomorrow."

"Aw dang it! Not that joke again!" Aldous exclaimed, almost cracking up.

"Ha ha ha, that joke never gets old," Greg said, laughing at his own joke as if it was the first time he heard it. "Alright, alright, all jokes aside, that'll be 22.49."

Krystal was still a little embarrassed at Greg's previous comment about her, but brushed it off when Aldous drove up to the next part.

Upon pulling up to the drop-off point, she could see Greg in person, his beardless face and young complexion complementing his whimsical verbal skills.

"Eh, here's the slop ya ordered," Greg said with an intentional squint of the eyes as he impersonated a cartel lord.

"Eh, pleasure doing business with ya fat greg," Aldous replied, mimicking the same accent.

"Eh, try not to choke on it fat Al. Actually, on second thought, you better choke on it, say?"

"Eh, maybe I will then," Aldous replied making a loop with his hand and waving it as he spoke.

"Eh, screw you fat Al," Greg said, raising his ring finger with a smirk on his face.

"Eh, screw you too," Aldous replied, raising his ring finger in return.

After rolling the window up both guys exchanged a warm smile as the distance between them grew wider.

"Wait, that was dark humor, right?" Krystal asked trying to understand if they were being funny or offensive to each other. "Wasn't that a bit mean to say?"

"Well, yes, but that's what makes it funny," Aldous replied keeping his eyes on the road as he looked for a place to park. "Besides, we've known each other since third grade. It's all good with us."

He pulled into a parking lot and stopped the car.

"Why are we stopping?" she asked, looking around the area.

"Well, I can't eat and drive at the same time; it might cause an accident,"

He opened the bag, and began to sort out what items belonged to whom.

"Here, take this," he said, handing her a small paper cup, keeping his attention on the bag while she took it in both hands.

"What is it?"

"Oh right, I forget you still don't know everything about modern life yet. It's a milkshake," he replied, taking the sandwiches out of the bag next. "Give it a try; see what you think."

Her eyes went wide with pleasure after taking her first sip, the sensation feeling brand new and enjoyable.

"Oh my gods, this is amazing!" She exclaimed taking another drink.

She soon found herself taking mouthful after mouthful chugging the dessert without so much as taking a breath He looked over at her and saw how fast she was chugging it.

"Hold on there, slow down there! You're gonna get a-"

"Ow ow ow!" she cried out closing her eyes tight while holding her forehead.

"Brain freeze..."

"What's happening to me?" she asked feeling panicked and cold.

"What happened was that you chugged ice cream, silly," he explained, tossing the empty bag in the trash bag behind the car seat. "It's meant to be eaten slowly, not all at once."

"But it was so tasty," she protested despite her discomfort.

"Well, some things need to be learned the hard way, I suppose," he commented to himself looking down at a thing of fries.

"Here, try these; this might help a little." He said, handing her the fries.

Yet another new sensation assaulted her lips as the heat of the fries helped reverse the effect of the shake. She closed her eyes and savored every last salty, crispy morsel to its fullest extent.

While grabbing his burger he gazed over at her, finding the way she savored the dish adorable. Watching her eat was like watching her hypnotize herself as she seemed to be in her own little world.

"Al...don't hate me for this, but I think this might be better than your cooking," she said abruptly, keeping her eyes shut for the most part.

In response, Aldous opened his mouth and pointed his finger to object but retracted before saying a word.

"Yeah, that's probably fair."

After a few minutes of bliss she looked down at the paper dish, realizing it was now empty.

"Awe... That was the last one?" she said to herself.

"Yeah, looks like it. You really enjoyed those things huh?"

"Yeah, I did." She mumbled feeling a little disappointed that they were gone.

"Oh, don't be upset about that. I think I got something else you might like."

"Oh really? What's that?" she asked, looking up at him with a look of innocence and curiosity.

"Follow me," he said, opening the car door.

She followed suit and trailed behind him out of the parking lot to the bottom of a hill on the edge of town, just a block's length away from where they parked.

"This hill used to be a special place for me, you know," he explained as they began to scale the snowy hillside.

"It is?"

"Yes, I used to come here all the time when I was little," he replied, leading the way through the snow. "This hill is where I would go to clear my mind sometimes and just reflect on life in general."

"Reflect on life?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

"Yeah... I can't explain it well, but I just felt that this hill is like an anchor in time or something, I don't know. It's like... when time goes on and things change, this place seems to remain the same."

"I see..." She said not fully grasping what he meant.

"Here, just follow me and you'll see what I mean."

Leading her to the top of the hill, he turned around and extended his arm to the horizon.

"Just look out there, Krystal."

She turned around and dropped her jaw at the sight. The town lay below them, not enough to see the whole thing but enough to see how small it looked from up here.

To the right was a patch of woods at the bottom of the hill, beautifully decorated with snow and frost.

And to the left was a vast, open field, clean of both man and nature under the heavy snow blanket.

It was about midday, so the sun was smack dab in the middle of the sky, not a cloud could be seen. But the sun's rays reflected off each and every flake of snow below, creating a gorgeous radiant aura around the place.

"Aldous... it's beautiful..." she spoke softly, glueing her eyes to the splendorous scene.

"And this is just one point of view. You should see this place in the springtime when the flowers start to bloom. Or in the summertime when the city is most lively. And who could forget the scenic views of the fall trees?" he explained.

"I think I understand what you mean now..." she uttered managing to pry her gaze away from the scenery. "It's like, no matter what time you come here, there is always something to appreciate-something new, yet familiar to see."

"Yes, exactly." he said softly with a pat on her shoulder. "I've been in this town for most of my life you know, and a lot has changed over the years. People have come and gone, trees have grown and come down, buildings have been built and torn apart. But up here, on this hill... It's like none of that happens. We can just look down and observe the ever-changing world below us, without having to change with it."

"Thank you for showing me this." she said from the bottom of her heart. "I can see why this is a special place for you now."

While taking a step back, Aldous landed in a sinkhole in the snow, causing him to trip and begin a long tumble down the hill backwards.

Hearing the snow crunch with each landing Krystal whipped her head around and watched as he fell down the slopes.

The hill wasn't very steep, so it was unlikely he would have gotten hurt, but seeing him take a fall made her concerned for him nevertheless.

"Are you okay!?" she called out as soon as he hit the bottom. Seeing him lay still on his back worried her some, until she saw him raise both hands in the air.

"Woo! That was fun!" he yelled back. "Come on down; the snow is fine!"

She hesitated to go down the hill like he did. But hearing the joy in his voice made her second guess her concerns.

She felt a little awkward getting started, as she had never intentionally tripped herself before.

But once she got going, a blend of fear and thrill took hold of her heart and carried her to the bottom of the hill, landing just a few feet away from where Aldous had landed.

Looking up at the sky with a traumatized look on her face, breathing heavily, a smile began to creep on her face as the fear was replaced with adrenaline and dopamine.

"Let's do that again... Let's do it again!" she cried out, flinging her arms in the air.

"Now you're talking!" He bellowed trying to pull himself up out of the snow.

"Now if only we had a sled, this would be more fun." He said almost falling over as he reached the top of the hill following close behind her.

"What's a sled?" She asked turning around to see him.

"It's like a plank of wood people can ride on to slide down hills like this faster."

"Faster? That DOES sound funner!" She exclaimed with an excited look.

"Too bad I don't have one tho... Oh well, I guess this will have to do!" He shouted before lunging down the hill before turning his body sideways as to roll down the hill without hurting his spine or neck. She followed suit and quickly followed him down.

Barring some snow in the face freezing their nerves some the two had a blast, scaling and sliding down the hill like they were both little kids again.

After a couple hours they decided to call it a day. They burned a lot of calories going up and down the hill in big, clunky winter gear so they were exhausted by the time they got home.

Aldous threw open the door, and they both trudged inside, feeling like they just ran a marathon.

Krystal slumped backward into the sofa, Aldous following suit.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, he glanced over at her with his arms sprawled out on the cushion and the armrest.

"So... was that the best day ever or what?" he asked with a light grin.

"Yes, yes it was," she replied, sounding sincere. She rolled herself over to face him. "Thank you for today, Al..."

"You're most welcome, Krys... Does that work for you? Can I call you Krys?" he asked, showing equal attention to her as she showed him.

"Yes, I like that," she replied with a light giggle.

What would become a heartwarming moment had to be cut short when he felt Beta watching them again.

"I'll be right back; there's just one more thing I gotta do." He told her with a groan as he rose from the seat.

She nodded and rested her back against the cushions, taking his former spot as he left for the hallway outside the room.

"What are you doing?" Beta asked, his voice just above a whisper. "Did I not tell you to not grow attached to her, or to allow her to link herself to you?"

"Relax Beta I was just having some fun, is that so wrong?"

"You didn't have to take her out for the whole day." Beta argued. "My prediction is coming to pass, and what's worse, we didn't even get a proper answer out of her about her origins."

"What's there to analyze? She said she thought it was a silly idea. That means she doesn't know she's an ancient." Aldous replied hoping to end this dialogue quickly.

"And this doesn't concern you in the slightest?" Beta asked, sounding urgent without raising his voice. "She doesn't know what she's capable of; YOU don't know what she's capable of, and here you are prancing around in the snow all afternoon as if it's some kind of game. How can you be so unwilling?"

"You know what I think?" Aldous asked ina. Challenging demeanor. "I think you can't handle that I'm doing well for myself without you."

"Nonsense, you would be a wreck without me." Beta argued. "And you're making a mistake right now Aldous, I am warning you-"

"Look here, I just finished being a human sled for hours on end, and I'm tired. I'm not in the mood to debate this time, so, here's an idea: how about you keep your end of 'the deal' and don't come back out unless there is real danger here? Because right now, the only threat here is you trying to pick at her past like you're some kind of cop or something."

"Are you defending her now?" Beta asked surprised by his boldness. "No no! This is exactly what I am warning you about! You're not listening to me-"

"Not another word about this, Beta, not now, not today. We will talk about this later and that's final."

Anger boiled up within Beta, wishing to lash out in a fit of rage, but he had to remind himself sometimes pawns must be sacrificed for the sake of victory.

"Very well, another day then, Aldous. Another day..." He said straightening his posture. With three eerie whistle notes Beta vanished allowing Aldous to rest for now.