Things had gone according to plan from the day I came back to the past until now; I had been laying the groundwork for ousting Amanda as the backstabbing bitch I knew her to be, and while I hadn’t made any DRASTIC changes to my personal timeline, they would be changing from here on out.
For starters, without the first move to the Keys, she no longer had the option of getting her name onto the mortgages or cars as she had in the Origin Timeline; that was primarily how she enacted her plan in the first place.
Since the house in Oviedo, which we didn’t move to this time, was also in her name, she was able to convince my father to leave after serving him the divorce papers. From there, since he no longer lived with us but was a responsible parent, he would give money to Amanda every month for the mortgage, which in turn went into her pocket and funded both her move out of state and her lavish lifestyle.
Now, she had nothing.
After being released by OCSO, she called my aunt in Chicago and had her send a plane ticket, and just like that, she was gone.
The coming weeks were relatively calm; we went back home, and life continued on as it had been before the Valentine’s Day incident. July rolled around, and my second Henry Potter book came out.
Unlike the first book, the second was released on a mass scale; as hundreds of thousands of copies hit the shelves internationally, the money began rolling in.
It had been a relatively slow start for the first book, but after having been out for over a year, it had picked up traction and was critically acclaimed as the next big thing in children’s literature.
As promised, I even made a trip back to England and signed a hundred copies of both Books, along with checking in on Xilia and Jennifer, who, unsurprisingly, were both fine.
I had several long conversations with Xilia in particular, who, although at a higher level than me, could barely stand toe to toe in our sparring matches, much to her dismay.
I had to admit that she was relatively strong with offensive stats above mine, but it didn’t matter because when it came to combat experience, I far exceeded her.
I also got to experience something strange, as upon reaching Alpha Rank, she unlocked another Talent slot, which, during our matches, she used to acquire my Talent.
It would be an understatement to say it was weird having my Coersion skill used against me, but since my mental defense and Intellect stat were so high, it had ZERO effect on me.
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Still, it gave me a weird itch in the back of my head, but overall, it was quite a new experience.
In the end, Xilia not only got my Coersion skill but also Psy-Tag, turning her into a literal mini-me, and with her new acquisitions, the door was open for her to begin covert operations on my behalf.
When I finally left England, I had given a mountain of work to Xilia, who complained with each new task I gave, especially the ones that involved her checking in on Vincent, but I didn’t give her a choice.
Oh, I also racked in a shit ton of stuff from her event quests, along with some added materials from her Instance dives, and before you ask, No, I didn’t steal them or force her to hand them over; I just gathered the stuff necessary to make some new weapons and gear….I swear.
Anyway, after that, several months passed until it was once again the evening of Brenden’s birthday.
As I had done so many times before, at 11:58 pm on October 26th, I snuck into my little brother’s room and sat on the carpet in the center of the room, watching over him while he slept.
’I’ve been back five years, and in that time, I laid the groundwork for the future, so no matter when you come back, I have things ready. It doesn’t have to be now, but I do hope you return soon…as much as I enjoy being alone and having my solitude, I have to admit a good majority of my plans have been completed, and I am stalled for now, without you.’
’To make matters worse, I’ve been feeding you all kinds of resources since birth…which I kind of regret since I have no idea whether or not you have undergone any physical changes due to a Racial Classification increase…hm?’ while on that thought, I noticed my little brother stirring under his blanket, something that immediately caught my attention since he wasn’t the kind of sleeper that moved around at all when out cold.
And then it happened. There wasn’t a bright flash of light or anything significant that occurred visually, but I could sense it: the sudden presence and surge of Particles surrounding my brother.
It was enough for me to jump to my feet and withdraw my entire stock of potions to the carpet I had been sitting on.
While I watched, I noticed my brother’s heart rate quicken as his breathing became labored, and I couldn’t help but get excited.
"FUCK! AHHh, huh…what happened…why does everything look off…wait, how old am I…huh?" Sitting up straight and half yelling, Brenden was alert as if he had just come out of a large battle, with his left hand going to his waist as if reaching for a weapon before realizing he wasn’t in combat and that his arms seemed abnormally short.
"Well, well, well, look who finally decided to return…welcome to 1998, little brother also, Happy 5th birthday." Walking over, I quickly handed my brother a cocktail of different potions, from Particle to Health and even Acclimation potions; I was taking no chances, especially since I felt an equal presence to my own radiating off him, which informed me that like I had, he returned to the past with the body of a 6C.
"Taylor??? How long have you been back? Also, I don’t remember you looking like that as a kid." Brenden asked as he unquestionably received the potions and downed them one after another.
"We have a lot to talk about and all night to do so, for now, tell me everything that happened after I died in the Origin Timeline." Wearing a smile, I tossed the empty vials into my inventory before sitting down beside my brother on his bed.