The Valentine Legacy: 2.2
Welcome back to the next update of the Valentine Legacy! When we last left off, Artemis had decided to return home and fulfill his duties as heir of the legacy, rather finish attending college. And now, we tune in as he returns to his home...
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After buying some new clothes on the way home from college, Artemis strolled into his home once more, where he was met in a loving embrace by Raphael.
"Welcome home, son." Raphael greeted, smiling.
"It's good to be home, Dad. Sorry for not finishing the college education you paid so much for, but I just felt that my place was here." Artemis replied apologetically.
"It's fine." his father assuaged. "Besides, I can't deny that I am so happy to see you, and at least you managed to complete one year before you returned."
Artemis looked towards the door apprehensively. Here was the moment of truth. "Dad... In a few moments, someone will be arriving here. If she comes back in the house with me, she will be the girl I marry. If not, well..."
Raphael nodded. "I understand. Now go. Propose to the girl."
When she saw her love waiting for her on the edge of his property, she ran towards him, slipping a little on the icy sidewalk. She thought she was going to fall, but she felt the warmth of Artemis's body surround her as he caught her.
"Careful, Brandi." he admonished, taking a closer look at her.
In the time it took for Artemis to return home and grow up, Brandi herself had transitioned into a beautiful young woman. And at that moment, Artemis knew the time was right for him to ask the one question he was dying to ask her.
"Brandi Stompel," Artemis began, going down on one knee in the scattering of snow, "from the moment I first saw you, I knew that you were going to be a part of my life. After all, we're both, well, perfect."
"Brandi, will you do this conceited future rock god a great honor, and become my bride?"
The young blonde gasped as her eyes fell on the ring. "How on earth did you afford this? Oh- oh my gosh, Artemis, yes! Yes, of course I'll marry you!"
And with that, Brandi placed the diamond ring proudly upon her finger, prepared to show the world she was engaged to the greatest man in the world. It seemed that, in their short separation, Brandi had re-evaluated her priorities, and was now a Family sim with the same lifetime want as Artemis's sister, Venus. Fortune was still important to her, but was now only her secondary aspiration. She was an interesting balance of traits, having 7 Playful, 8 Outgoing, 4 Lazy, 2 Sloppy, and 4 Mean.
Artemis was never one to be patient, but as a Popularity sim, he wanted to have a wedding party. As such, he had to wait until a halfway decent hour to hold the wedding, and decided since he had the next day off, he would marry Brandi in the morning. Brandi and Natasha, aided by Persephone via phone, had decided on a white color scheme to work with the beautiful snow still on the ground. Brandi had decided to do without the veil, because it was just an extra charge, and she had barely brought in a thousand simoleons.
The morning had now arrived, and the guests were all in place. Brandi waited, shivering, beneath the altar, which had been placed before the frozen-over fountain Artemis's parents had put in while he was at school, for the one missing person: the groom.
She didn't have to wait long before Artemis finally arrived at the altar. She waited until the guests settled down, and began to speak.
"Artemis, when I first met you, I initially thought you were like all those other conceited jerks who came on to me at the store. But after giving you a chance, I realized that, in spite of your moments of narcissism, you weren't that bad of a guy. In fact, you were a really sweet person. So today, I swear before everyone that I will remain with you, no matter what, until death do us part."
"Oh Brandi." Artemis sighed. "I've always thought you were beautiful, and I knew after that first date that we were meant to be. I wasn't willing to settle for anything less than true love, and little did I realize that I had found it. But now I know that you and I are perfect for one another, and I swear that nothing, not even death itself, will come between us. I love you. And I always will."
And with that, the two lovers exchanged rings. With a final kiss between the two, the marriage was sealed, and Brandi Stompel became Brandi Valentine. And she couldn't be happier.
The guests all applauded politely as the marriage ended and the recession began. Raphael smiled at the two from his seat, and thought, Well done, Artemis. Well done.
Persephone sighed as she saw the newlyweds head over for the heavy-laden buffet table. She wished she could someday have a ceremony like that with her beloved Pamela, but that stupid SimNation law-
"Persephone? Persephone? Honey, I'm talking to you." Natasha called, pulling the young woman out of her thoughts.
"Sorry, Mom." she apologized, looking wistfully at the altar.
As he guests gathered around, Artemis fed Brandi the first piece of the wedding cake, officially beginning the recession. In spite of being a naturally Sloppy sim, she delicately took the bite into her mouth, and swallowed it, eliciting cheers from the crowd.
As the recession wore on, many toasts and congratulations were given to the newlyweds, and the guests slowly divided amongts the tables, talking and chattering quietly in the freezing cold air. Artemis and Brandi sat with Raphael and Natasha, and were talking about their hopes for the married couple.
After several minutes of discussing careers and grandchildren, Artemis was beginning to grow bored, and excused himself away from the table.
Artemis had planned to mingle with the other guests, but his eyes were drawn to a strange figure now entering his lot. The figure was that of a sim woman who was dressed in street clothes. He knew she wasn't on the guest list, but there was something else a bit- different about her. Something otherwordly in her demeanor.
The woman saw him hesitating by the buffet table, and walked swiftly over to him. "Artemis Valentine, am I right?"
"Yes." Artemis answered curtly. "How do you know my-?"
"How I know your name isn't important. What is important is what I have to say." the woman cut him off. "I'm a simself. I have been sent here on the behalf of the avatar of the goddess of this realm. My name is Regina. And Kara, the avatar, is my- employer, I guess."
Regina could see the man's eyes glazing over. "Look, what's important is that we're here to look after you. There are those out there who want your legacy gone. It's our job to make sure they can't harm you. All I was sent here to tell you is that we'll be watching."
"Watching?" Artemis asked, incensed. "Why are you spying on us? Who's trying to come after us?"
Regina shook her head. "I can't tell you that now. You will find out later. All I can say for now is to watch your back. I'd be careful how much I go outside in the night from this point on."
And with that, the mysterious simself left the legacy house lot, leaving Artemis very confused.
However, Artemis had little time to dwell on the strange occurance, for night had fallen, and he and his beautiful wife set to the pleasurable job of creating the next generation of the legacy. And as their impassioned moans slipped into silence, Brandi swore she heard the soft tinkling of a lullaby slipping into the recesses of the night.
Artemis was jolted awake at 4 am with the realization he had yet to find a job. If there was one thing he despised, it was unemployed people. So he ran up to the upstairs room, which contained the only computer in the house.
I'm gonna have to do something about that... the omnipotent voice muttered.
Artemis spent about half an hour on the internet before finding an opening in the music career as a Piano Tuner. He applied, and was accepted within the hour, which surprised him, given that he didn't finish college. The freshman year must have helped, at least a little bit.
Brandi was the next person in the house to awaken. She had chosen to dress in her formal wear for some odd reason. Maybe she just wanted to look nice. However, no matter what clothes she was wearing, she went to the kitchen, and pulled out materials from the refrigerator.
What are you making, Brandi? Brandi?
Oh crap. Brandi. Brandi! Put. The cheesecake. Down. Put. It. Down. NOW.
When I said 'put it down', I didn't mean 'serve it'. the voice grumbled.
"Hey, Arty?" Brandi began. "Ummm... I think I may be pregnant. I just woke up with the strangest craving for something sweet, you know? Usually I don't eat sweets, but..."
"You're pregnant?" Artemis asked, shocked. "Th-that's great, Brandi! Really!"
The two lovebirds finished feasting on cake, and Brandi put the leftovers up in the refrigerator.
As she left to dispose of her plate, she gave a knowing smile towards the omnipotent voice, almost as if she knew exactly what the effects of her dessert choice would be.
After spending the whole day hard at work skilling, Brandi got confirmation that she was pregnant while asleep, her stomach ballooning outward to a rather large size for an average pregnancy. Artemis was elsewhere, but she made sure to warn him that there might be more than one new child coming soon.
The days of Brandi's pregnancy seemed to fly by. She spent her down time at the house skilling for a promotion at her job as soon as she returned. All the while, Artemis was being nothing but kind to her and the babe when he was at home. Raphael was proving to be quite the grandparent to the unborn, often going over and speaking to it.
Natasha spent her time either chatting with her old friends, complaining about the cold snap to anyone who would listen, or keeping her mind sharp by doing crosswords and playing Sudoku.
Artemis, meanwhile, spent most of his hours schmoozing for promotions and friends. He was talking with someone from work whose name he had never registered who was boring him half to death while his mother painted in the background, wishing that he could just get the conversation over with so he could see his wife.
Brandi and Artemis had breakfast together on the final morning of the pregnancy, as Artemis had the day off. They were joined by Natasha, who was still dwelling on the cold weather and how it was absolutely ruining her good vibes for the day. They spent the morning in quiet conversation until Raphael beckoned Artemis away from the table, asking him to come outside.
"Dad, what are you doing out here?" Artemis asked when he met his father on the bench before the still-frozen-over fountain. Winter was beginning to melt into spring, but the snow refused to vanish. "You'll freeze half to death!"
"Artemis..." Raphael began, "I haven't been completely honest with you about what being the heir of this legacy entails. I feel I need to tell you now what our purpose is, or I may never get the chance again. You know I'm getting on in years, so..."
"Wait." Artemis cut in. "Before all that, let me ask one thing. Why? Why did you choose me as heir?"
"It was a matter of practicality, really." Raphael replied simply. "Persephone was indeed far more well-balanced, and a lot less- temperamental than you or your sister, but... She may not think we noticed, but your mother and I know the kinds of feelings she has for Pamela. It would be cruel of me to deny her the life she desired, would it not? And as for Venus, well, she's just as temperamental as you can be, and she's a Romance sim on top of that. Despite her claiming to be career-oriented, you and I both know Romance sims are notorious for being homewreckers."
Artemis held out his hands in a yielding motion. "All right. Fair enough."
Raphael nodded in agreement, then held out his own hands in a halting gesture. "Wait. Before I go any further, let me warn you that this tale you are to hear, and our fate, is of a rather grave sort. I chose to meet out here to mitigate the effects. I was forced to tell my dear Natasha at night, and she complained of nightmares for a while afterward."
"Just tell the story then, so we can get inside before we both freeze." Artemis retorted, his teeth chattering.
"All right. You know I'm not from this town originally, right?" Raphael asked.
"Well, duh." Artemis replied. "Mom told me you moved here from somewhere far away."
"Right. The town I moved from is a litle mountain village called Nibelheim, and it is there where the tale of our legacy begins."
"Once, many years ago, before my adoptive parents were grown, before I was even born, there was a loving man named Vincent Valentine, who lived on the outskirts of town. He was a Family sim, like me, and had a beautiful wife named Lucrecia, who bore him a beloved son, who was also named Vincent, for he was the mirror image of his father."
"However charmed his life seemed to be, Vincent bore a terrible curse. You see, the night of his wedding, he had seen a strange wolf on the edge of his property, tried to comfort it, and ended up being bitten. As a result of that bite, he was forced nightly to transform into a monster. A beast."
"You mean, he was a werewolf?" Artemis queried.
"Yes, Artemis. Exactly. Now, let me continue."
"Vincent could only live his double-life so long, and he had taken many precautions to avoid hurting his family. However, due to his own carelessness and his wife's own foolishness, he lost control of himself, and ended up killing his precious Lucrecia."
"Years passed, and nothing could pull Vincent out of the depression he sank into. Nothing- until a young woman named Aerith Gainsborough, who owned a local flower shop, came to his mansion. Aerith had always spoken highly of Vincent, admired and defended him when the others spoke against him. The two laid together, and from that encounter, a child was sired. Me. Only, I never got to know my birth mother."
"Why?" Artemis wondered.
Raphael sighed, finally brought out of his reminiscence by a blast of cold wind. "Because of an evil warlock named Sephiroth Crescent Hojo. He presumed that, as a werewolf's child, I would be as much of a beast as my father, and set the house aflame in an attempt to destroy me after having stabbed my birth mother. I survived, and was taken in by Namine Gainsborough and her husband, Riku. They were the ones who raised me. I was sent away from Nibelheim because Vincent, my true father, had bitten Riku, and they feared the pack mind would give away where I was."
"And then those people who wanted your father dad would be after you?" Artemis guessed.
"Yes and no." Raphael qualified. "You remember Vincent the II? He made himself into a vampire, and created out of the sons and daughters of my adoptive parents and their friends a coven of vampires to overtake the city, basically plunging it forever into the realm of darkness. You see, I had grown up being told exactly what my purpose was, and now I'm going to tell you why I needed to survive. I was sent away because my birth mother had seen a vision of my bloodline finally triumphing over these creatures of the night, returning Nibelheim to what it once was. The firstborn of the tenth generation will be the one who finally returns to Nibelheim and slays these dread demons, finally allowing my true father to rest in peace."
Artemis made an 'ahhhh' of realization. "So that's why that simself came over... These vampires must be on the lookout, trying to find us..."
Raphael nodded. "I've been frightened each day for years they would discover where I had been sent. But enough dwelling upon these dark tidings. I didn't mean to cast a pall over what should be one of the best days of your life. Just- keep in mind what I have said, understood?"
Artemis nodded. "Yes... Dad... Now, come on. Let's both get inside before we freeze."
Meanwhile, down the street slightly...
"Did you deliver my message?" the teenage sim lounging on the couch asked Regina.
"Yeah, I did Kara." Regina responded. "Three days ago. I've been meaning to tell you, but you've been holed up in your room with schoolwork."
"Good." Kara, the young simself, replied, pulling herself into a sitting position.
Regina cleared her throat. "Is there any particular reason why you've chosen a teenage form as your avatar, Kara? I mean, really. You know I'm truly a teenager as well, but I use an adult as my avatar."
Kara stood up, and began walking out of the room. "I have my reasons."
"I gate-crashed a wedding for you!" Regina shouted as the girl walked past. "The least you could do is give me a hint!"
"You'll find out why when the time comes, Regina. And I really am sorry for making that situation so awkward. But I couldn't go myself. School, and all that." Kara replied serenely. "Besides, I doubt they'd take a teenage simself seriously anyway."
"But that still doesn't tell me why you're choosing this form!" Regina shot after her best friend.
Kara had a mysterious smile on her face as she replied, "It makes it easier for me to... get really close to this legacy..."
Regina's only response was to look confused and wonder what on earth she was going on about as the door to her room closed.
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And there's the next update! Tune in next time for births and toddlerifications!