Um, so is it safe? Or are all of you going to lynch me?

So this is kind of an interlude. Except it is pretty damn important to the plot, so I don’t recommend skipping this.

It’s also written in a different style than how I normally put out stories. (And it was written over a year ago.)

I hope you enjoy!

It was bright.

Brighter than it had any right to be and it was that incongruousness which finally forced Wil Wheaton Warner into opening his eyes.

He immediately shut them again as the light stabbed into his eyes, that was obviously not the best idea he'd ever had. "Fuck," he groaned turning over on the hard ground, trying to escape from the blinding glare. However, those movements made him aware of other pains the most insistent was the throbbing pain up near his hairline.

He reached up and felt the phantom hole there and it was then that he remembered.

The prom...

Dancing...

The after party bonfire...

Then her: Anemone's mom, Lily's mom, Rose's mom, Sakura's mom. The woman they had all been warned about, the woman they had been brought up to fear.

Drea...

She was just as frightening as he had imagined she was when he was little. She was the stuff of nightmares. She was mad.

And she'd killed him...

Wil shivered. He was dead. Oh fuck, he was dead. He was barely sixteen and he was dead. He moaned, curling up into a little ball. This couldn't be happening.

That bitch shot him. Shot him like he was nothing.

And he was dead.

He screamed.

And that seemed to get somebody's attention. "Holy hell, we've got a Rememberer! Why didn't someone tell us we had simself kids incoming!"

A sound of papers flipping. "I don't know, sir. He wasn't on the scheduled list of deaths."

"Suicide?" the first voice asked.

The papers rustled some more. "No, murdered," the second voice replied. Then came a buzzing that sounded like a silenced cell phone. "And I've just heard back from headquarters, we've got more incoming. We’ve got a lot more incoming. This is big."

"Fuck," the first voice swore. "You'd better call in the rest of the office. It's going to be an all hands kind of night."

"Yes, sir!" Then Wil heard the sound of someone scurrying away, through the sounds of his keening.

"Hey, kid, you alright?" he felt a thin hand reach down to touch his knee and unbidden his eyes flew open and he stared…

He stared right into the faceless mask of Death.

He didn't have time to think about that mask because at that moment a translucent yellow figure called out. "We've got incoming, sir!"

The skeletal figure nodded and then walked through a door that magically appeared near him.

Scooting himself up against a wall, Wil took that reprieve as a chance to survey his surroundings. Anything to keep his mind off of the horrible fact that he was dead.

It appeared to be a waiting room with a desk in one corner, where the yellow woman was doing some kind of office work. There were couches positioned near the center of the room and a low coffee table with a few books and magazines scattered on it. The room was windowless and doorless.

Although the latter seemed to change as needed when several doors appeared all at once and several cloaked figures along with a woman dressed in a hula girl outfit and another ghostly figure stepped through.

"So Shin's got himself a massacre?" one figure asked.

The woman shrugged. "That's what the page said."

"Why are you here, Bob?" another cloaked figure asked the woman.

"Heard that we got Rememberers in this batch. You know what happened the last time" she answered. "I figured I could help with the..." she made a circling motion by her ear.

The cloaked figures nodded. "So do we know how many incoming to expect?" one asked the original ghostly figure.

The translucent woman shook her head. "No. We've got one now, Jack. Shin's down picking up another one. If you could?"

The questioner squared his shoulders. "Right. I'll go help with the pickups. You get started on the paperwork. Let's hope we can get out of here at a decent hour tonight." And the same door that the original reaper, Shin, used before appeared on the wall and the cloaked figure stepped through.

So he was the first, Wil thought. Not something he wanted to be the first of in the grand scheme of things.

A bright light appeared in the center of the room and the first cloaked figure reappeared with a crumpled up body at their feet.

Elizabeth... His brother Joss' girlfriend and one of the director-person's daughters.

Shin turned to the rest of the figures clustered around the desk. "Is there anyone that can help? She's a Rememberer, too. I've got to go back. There's just so many I can't let them get lost."

The woman wearing a hula skirt spoke up with a sympathetic look on her face. "I can take her, you go get the next one. It's not like there's a ton of platinum deaths for me to attend right now."

"Thanks, Bob." Then the Death walked back through the door the rest of the robed figures following him.

Two more bright lights appeared but when Will could see clearly, he could only make out three figures: two Deaths and another crumpled body.

Uncle Israel...

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" the figure without a body at their feet swore, pushing back his cowl to reveal a handsome black haired man with curls. "Darned aliens!"

Bob looked up from where she was crouched next to Elizabeth. "What happened?"

"Alien kid. One of the casualties, I tried to bring her back with me, I tried. But motherfu-- alien DNA! It shorted out the transport system. I've lost her. Her soul just turned to dust in between my fingers. Just... shit!" he swore again.

"I'm sorry, Zane. I know how hard that is to take. Was it your first?"

The robed man, Zane, nodded.

"Those are always the worst," Bob said sadly. "I wish there was some way to tell these alien pollination techs that they're just destroying the souls of their offspring. I mean now that poor alien kid's family, they won't be able to resurrect them or even see them someplace else in the multiverse. That kid's just gone."

"I know," Zane said, looking dejected. "I tried, Bob, really I did. But..."

"It wasn't your fault, Zane," Bob tried to soothe. "All of the long term Reapers have had to go through this. Some more than others. Just ask Ruth or Jez, they'll tell you."

Wil tried to figure out just who they meant by the alien kid. Then it clicked. Muscat. Uncle Oman's alien daughter. She was the one they were talking about. He let out a keening cry, scooting further into the corner. Pulling his knees up to his chest and rocking back and forth, he tried to force away the words. Will them not to be true. He didn't want Muscat to be gone with no hope of resurrection or rebirth. He didn't want it to be true.

Around him, he heard the flurry of reapers and assistants. But he blocked it out, trying to retain what little bit of his sanity he had left.

"What's wrong with him?" he heard someone ask.

Unsurprisingly it was Bob who answered. "He's a Rememberer."

"A simself kid?" he heard Zane ask. "What about her?" He motioned to the blonde on the floor.

"The same. Thankfully she hasn't woken up, yet."

"I haven't encountered a Rememberer before, I think we only have one or two in my 'verse. We just don't have that many simselves in my 'verse so this isn’t a problem."

Bob snorted. "You're lucky."

Zane's face darkened briefly. "If you want to call it that."

Wil was distracted from Zane and Bob by another pillar of light that preceded the arrival of someone else in the waiting room. He immediately cast his eyes at the cloaked figure's feet then let out another moan. It was his Aunt Star.

For a few moments, things seemed to calm down. Aunt Star got up faster than either Uncle Izzy or Elizabeth who were both still down for the count. The woman looked around and seemed to shrug, seemingly accepting things better than Wil was at the moment. He stared at her as she went over to Uncle Izzy and nudged with him with her foot.

"Five more minutes," Izzy moaned and rolled over. Then, as if realizing he wasn't in bed he sat up straight, his eyes darting around wildly. For a moment, he thought Uncle Izzy was going to start screaming and crying like he himself had done when he'd first woken up in this place. Then a lethargic calm seemed to come over him, much like how Aunt Star was behaving. It was odd.

As if sensing his confusion, the unhooded Reaper, Zane, looked over at him. "It's because they're not Rememberers," the man said.

Wil wrinkled his brow in confusion. They'd been saying that term ever since he showed up in this place, but he still wasn't quite sure what it meant.

Zane walked over toward him slowly. Then stopped a few paces away and leaned on the wall. Close enough to have a conversation without it seeming weird, but far enough away so that Wil didn't feel threatened.

Screwing up his courage, Wil asked. "Don't they know they're dead?"

Zane shrugged. "Yes and no. They know they're dead. They don't know what it means or how they got here."

That was all the conversation that the two could have before something else interrupted.

Elizabeth screaming.

Wil retreated into himself and Zane seemed to understand that the teen wasn't up for talking.

Across the room, Bob the Hula Zombie had managed to calm Elizabeth down enough that the girl was only crying softly.

"We've got more incoming, sir!" the yellow woman called out.

"Fuck!" the figure Wil had identified as Shin exclaimed. "How many?"

"Uncertain, sir. She's starting back up again."

Shin swore again. "Okay, someone follow me. Let's try to keep this as orderly as possible." He looked around the room. "And can someone start these spirits on their questionnaires and paperwork?"

"Yes, sir!" another ghostly figure chirped.

"Questionnaires?" Wil asked.

Zane snorted. "They're a waste of time. I never ask my reaps to do them."

"Oh."

"That stays between you and me."

Wil nodded. He didn’t have time to say anything because the lei-wearing reaper returned with his reap and Wil felt the blood in his veins turn to ice.

It was his cousin, Palau. The current generation’s heiress.

And her mother was a simself.

Wil glanced up at Zane. “She’s going to be like me.”

“What?”

“Her mom’s a simself. She’s going to remember.” Wil was surprised at how hollow his voice was. He felt a twinge of guilt run through him. The fact that his cousin was lying in front of him, he felt like he should be crying or something. But he felt empty and numb, it must be shock, he thought to himself.

“Crap,” Zane said with some heat. “I’ll tell Spicoli.” He motioned to the lei-wearing reaper.

Wil watched Zane relay the news to the other Reaper who took fairly well. Or at least that is what he made out of the odd gesture Spicoli made.

Spicoli then seemed to shrug and a long blond haired man wearing swim trunks and flip flops appeared in his place. “I’ll take care of the wahine, brah. She’ll be fly. Just needs some pizza and juice.”

Zane looked confused for a moment then shook his head.

“He’ll watch out for her,” Zane said coming back over to near Wil.

“And get pizza and juice?”

“At least it’s not bubbles and brew.”

“I don’t think she’d mind,” Wil said thinking of Palau’s behavior at the party.

“She might not. But I don’t think Shin would approve.”

As if summoned, the bright light returned and this time Wil felt his breath catch in his throat when he glimpsed the body at the feet of Shin. It was Rose, Joss' best friend other than his cousin Kor. She was also Drea's daughter.

A shiver went down Wil's spine. It was going to get worse, he knew it and he felt himself start to tremble.

Zane seemed to notice and asked him softly, "What's wrong?"

Wil just shook his head, unable to voice the words. He just stared at the spot where the reapers appeared with their charges and waited.

He didn't have long. Another bright light and the next arrival appeared. This time Wil wasn't the one to stiffen in surprise, his companion looked at the teenager in a fauxhawk and the reaper gasped.

"Quinn..." Zane whispered.

Wil's head whipped toward the man. How in the hell did this Reaper know his cousin's boyfriend?

Zane didn't seem to acknowledge Wil's curiosity, he just slumped further against the wall and closed his eyes. Wil could make out the man's mouth moving, forming words, but he couldn't hear what he was saying.

Are you okay?" he asked after a few moments.

Zane shot the teen an indecipherable look. "No," he answered finally. "But I don't think anyone is okay tonight."

Wil couldn't help but agree with him.

It was quiet for a few minutes, the office ghosts were seated around all of the arrivals except for Elizabeth, Palau, and Wil asking questions and making little notes on a clipboard when the sims answered. They all seemed to be giving the three simself kids a wide berth. Well, other than Bob, Spicoli and Zane, Wil amended. Zane hadn't left Wil's wall and Bob was still seated with Elizabeth, one arm around the blonde girl's shoulders. Spicoli had been good to his word and he and Palau were seated on one couch eating pizza. The two other reapers were off to one side talking quietly among themselves, every so often casting a look over toward his side of the room.

Wil appreciated the quiet, he didn't want to think about the fact that seven people he knew had been murdered. One of them more than murdered, annihilated.

Then a thought struck him. "It's not over, is it?" he asked, half to himself.

Zane heard him though and answered, "No, it isn't. If it were over, we'd get the all clear signal so those of us from other 'verses could go back to them. And the secretary would get the notification that visitors would now be allowed."

Wil looked up at the other man in confusion. "Visitors? We're dead, who'd visit us here?"

"Other dead people, of course. Those that have passed on." Zane smiled comfortingly at Wil.

"So you mean like Aunt Osaka or Grampa Yakko?"

"Yakko?" Zane asked. "You're his grandson?"

Wil nodded. "Yeah. He died when I was little but Joss and Dad told me all about him," he said softly. He then pointed across the room. "Uncle Izzy's his son. Palau’s the heiress to the challenge he founded. The alien kid that was lost was one of his granddaughters."

Zane sighed. "Damn. I wish I'd known."

Wil looked at him sadly. "Would it have made a difference?"

The man nodded. "I wouldn't have tried to do it myself, I'd have asked Jack or Spicoli to do it. They've been reapers longer than me."

"But why is it such a big deal?"

Taking a deep breath, Zane gave Wil a sincere look. "Because Yakko's my friend."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry about your cousin? Sister?"

"Cousin."

"I'm sorry. I really am. She... it..." he trailed off, his hands making helpless motions.

Screwing up his courage, Wil asked. "Can you tell me why Muscat was so hard to reap? That's the right term, reap?"

"Yeah, it's the right term," Zane responded and sighed again. "I probably shouldn't tell you this, it's probably some Reaper Secret, but you know what? I don't care. You deserve to know!"

Shin's pager went off as the secretary ghost cried out at the same time. "Incoming!"

Zane looked at the reapers across the room and then drew up his hood. "But I'll tell you later."

Wil nodded and settled down to wait as Zane and Shin walked through the door leading to his home universe.

The minutes passed and Wil found himself watching Elizabeth. She was no longer crying but instead was looking at Rose, curiosity etched on her features.

She turned to Bob. "Why is she here?" she asked softly. "I mean, how did she die?"

Spicoli answered. "She died protecting some blue-haired dude. Pushed him out of the way and took the bullet herself."

Elizabeth's eyes widened and Wil felt his doing the same. Rose had died saving Joss. She'd let her mom kill her rather than let Joss die. The thought was kind of staggering.

The blonde girl shrugged off Bob's arm. "I need to talk to her."

Bob looked at her sadly. "She won't remember what you've talked about when she's resurrected if she is."

Elizabeth nodded. "I know. She won't remember but I will. And I know my mom's going to resurrect me. I know it. Dad would never forgive her if she didn't."

"Your mom may not have a choice," Bob pointed out.

"She's the director-person," Elizabeth stated firmly.

"Yeah, she's the avatar, but she's not the one moving the mouse."

"I'll be resurrected. And right now, before I am, I need to talk to Rose."

Bob shrugged. "Have at it, girlie."

Elizabeth walked over to where Rose was sitting filling out paperwork. However before she could say anything, she, and everyone else in the room, was distracted by two pillars of light signaling the return of Zane and Shin with two more dead souls.

Unlike the rest of the arrivals, these dead souls were standing upright and seemed to be restrained by their Reaper companions. Then the light surrounding them faded and Wil could see just who the new arrivals were.

Uncle Onslow and the woman who had killed Wil and probably everyone else in the room, Andrea Fitzhugh. Drea.

Drea was dead, but she didn't seem to register the change in venue. She struggled against Shin trying to attack Uncle Onslow but the

reaper held fast. "I'll kill you, you bastard! This is all your fault! Everything is your fault! You did this! I don’t know what you did, but it’s

your fault! I’ll kill you for this!" she raged.

Uncle Onslow just chuckled and looked pleased with himself. "I would beg to differ. You are much too late to kill me seeing as we are both already dead."

Drea looked around the room seeming to take in the ghosts, reapers, and dead souls there. "How?" she breathed then shot Onslow a venomous look. "This your fault. If you hadn't cheated on me, none of this would have happened. If you and your damned family had died like you were supposed to in that fire, I would have never killed my daughter. You fucking made me kill my daughter, you bastard."

"Your logic is quite warped, woman," Onslow sneered. "I will take responsibility for not loving you as much as I loved my beloved, but the rest? Those were your own actions."

Drea lunged forward trying to get at Onslow all the while screeching incoherently.

Onslow just looked amused and then turned to Zane. "Do you think you could uncuff me? I swear on the soul of my wife and the well-being of my children that I will not make any trouble."

Zane glanced at the man sympathetically. "It's not my call to make..." He looked at Shin with a questioning expression on his face.

The other reaper shrugged. The movement unsettling his hood revealing features very different from those of Zane and Spicoli. "He's a Rememberer but he's also died before. So it's up to you.“

Wil's brow wrinkled. Uncle Onslow had died before? When? And how had he gotten back?

Shrugging his hood back, Zane asked a similar question. "He's died before? But I don't remember you talking about this simself kid in the office."

"That's because you're not in the office enough," Shin shot back. "But to answer your question, he's a vampire. I never reaped him, but that doesn't mean he didn't die."

"Oh." Zane turned back to Onslow. "So you aren't going to go crazy if I let you go?"

"I am already quite insane, thanks to that woman. But I will not cause you or any of your office any grief."

"Okay," Zane said. The reaper then snapped his fingers and Onslow was free.

The man shot a triumphant look at Drea before very deliberately turning his back on her and walking away, rubbing his wrists. Onslow's red eyes flicked about the room taking in all of the spirits there and those not there. But the man didn't say anything but walked over to where Israel was seated and leaned against the couch next to the teen.

Shin snapped his fingers and a small barred room appeared around Drea, and the waiting room seemed to let out a collective sigh of relief. It was over.

On cue, all of the reaper's pagers went off and the secretary's phone rang. "Hello," the ghost answered while the reapers checked their devices. "I see... Thank goodness for that... I'll tell them..."

"We've got the all clear." Shin looked over toward her expectantly. "What did Nancy say?" he asked.

"The same. She also warned that there was quite a lot of visitors for this bunch. Including...." she trailed off.

Shin sighed. "I know. You don't need to tell me. Just the last names on my reap list were enough. You've hidden all of the whiteout and permanent markers, right?"

"They're locked in my bottom drawer."

"Okay, send them in."

Wil didn't have time to ponder just who they were talking about because he was distracted by several doors appearing at once. The reapers and office ghosts left through the smaller doors. Going back to their respective universes, Wil guessed. All except for Zane who had walked back to the wall by Wil and was leaning on it again and Spicoli who was still talking animatedly to Palau.

The large door was a bit of a mystery. It looked foreboding but then Wil remembered what Zane had told him earlier, that the spirits in the waiting room would get visitors. He wondered if anyone would come for him.

The door opened and a familiar figure jumped through and struck a pose. "Hello everybody!" Then the dread-locked man skipped over to Shin who seemed to be trying his hardest not to facepalm. "Didja miss me Shiny-Shinnie-Poo? Is that a new hair color? I like! It's all nice and silvery and stuff."

"Hello, Yakko," Shin said with a long suffering sigh. "Why am I not surprised that you're the first one here?"

Yakko's eyes got wide. "But Shiny-locks, how could I stay away? I mean you know how much I love you and Gladys! Hello, Gladys!"

The yellow secretary ghost waved back from her desk.

" And look, Spicoli's here," Yakko continued. “How’s it hanging?"

The surfer reaper laughed. “Killer, brah! Killer. We’re chillin’ and having some food. Then the wahine and I are doing some bubbles later. Wanna join?”

“Oh yeah! You have the best bubbles!" He mimed floating in the air. He quickly recovered and bounced around Shin. “But that’s not why I’m here. I saw the arrival board and I knew I just needed to be here first to see everyone."

He paused and a deadly serious look came over his face. "And you're going to let me see them, aren't you, Shinnie-poo?"

Shin nodded. "I hadn't planned on keeping you away."

The seriousness faded away as quickly as it had come. "Good! So who to see first?" he asked, tapping his chin. "I know! All of them!" Yakko made a motion as if to separate himself into multiple copies.

The reaper placed one hand on Yakko's arm. "One at a time, I don't need more than one of you running around."

"Aww, Shin! You don't let me have any fun! Just for that, I'm going to play at your house next week!"

Shin facepalmed. "I can't win."

During the exchange, a few spirits had wandered into the waiting room. Most of them, WIl recognized, but a few were unfamiliar. Such as the fireman, policewoman, or another man with large black wings. A few confused him, like the director-person’s husband, Scott, Rose’s dad, Mr. Fitzhugh, and a wolf-like dog. Then there were the ones he expected to see, Aunt Osaka, Gramma Jo, and...

"Beloved!" Onslow cried, running toward the spirit that entered the room last. He enveloped the woman in his arms and bent down to kiss her lips.

Wil glanced away to where Drea was encased and saw her beating her fists against the bars. Thankfully he couldn't hear her, since he imagined that she was screaming loud enough to puncture eardrums.

Wanting to find out who the visitors would go to, Wil's eyes darted around. The faux-hawked man was talking with both Rose and Quinn. Odd. But the two did look a lot alike and Quinn and Erin didn't mention who their dad was. Which if what his gut was telling him was true, it meant that Rhys Fitzhugh had more than five kids in Wil's world.

The director-person’s husband was talking softly with Elizabeth. Aunt Osaka was hugging Onslow and alternatively punching him playfully in the arm. Aunt Olive had taken a step back and was watching the whole proceeding with sad eyes. Gramma Jo was hugging Uncle Israel warmly. While Aunt Star pounced on the dog giving him belly rubs and hugs.

Then his eyes found Grampa Yakko's. The dread-locked man looked from him to Palau to Israel then back again. Wil could almost feel the indecision in the man. It was obvious Yakko wanted to spend time with both his children and grandchildren but didn't know how who to approach first. Yakko's head tilted to one side slightly when he caught sight of the winged man. His grandfather then locked eyes with Zane and gave a small nod.

Zane sighed but nodded back.

Wil was confused again. What in the hell had just happened?

He didn't have long to ponder that when the winged man walked over to him. "Wil Wheaton Warner?" the man asked. He looked frightening with his black clothes, stompy boots, messy hair, and black wings. The expression on the man's face did not ease Wil's sense of dread.

"Yeah?" he answered tremulously.

"I'm Spider Jerusalem Vetinari," the man said as if that explained everything. It didn't and at Wil's blank glance the man continued. "Your mom asked me to help you."

Wil looked up at Spider with a confused expression on his face. "My mom? How do you know my mom?"

"This isn't the place to talk about it, kid."

"How do I know my mom sent you, then?" Wil asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "You could be a psychotic murderer."

"Nope. Just related to one."

"Like that makes me feel any better."

"I'm here to help you, not kiss your boo-boos and make it better. If you don't want my help, fine. I got other things to do." Spider gave his wings a stretch and started to turn away.

Zane came over and put a hand on Spider's shoulder, stopping him from walking away. He looked at Wil. "It's okay. Spider's a friend. We know your grandfather." He called out "Hey, Yakko!"

Grampa Yakko spun around, dreadlocks flying, nearly hitting Uncle Izzy in the face, but Uncle Izzy was too out-of-it to care. He waved enthusiastically. "Hey, Zane! Hey, Spidey-Widey! Can we do s'mores later?"

"I fucking hate it when he calls me that," Spider grumbled, but called back, "Raincheck on the s'mores, Yakko."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. I got a Reaper to torment anyway," Yakko agreed.

Wil stood up, using the wall for support, and walked over to Grampa Yakko. "Grampa? The guy with the wings wants me to go with him. Should I?"

"Of course you should! There will be s'mores! Spidey-Widey makes the best s'mores ever!"

"Wil? It's probably easiest if you don't hang around here too long," said Zane. "You're a Rememberer, and it'll complicate things for everyone if you stay. Go with Spider."

"Think of it this way," Spider said. "The worst that could happen already has." He shrugged. "Come with me, or stay. No skin off my ass, although apparently there will be treats if you come."

"Oh, uh.... I'll go then, I guess," Wil said. He had to trust that Grampa Yakko knew what he was talking about.

Zane walked over to the yellow see-through woman. "Wil Wheaton Warner's coming with us. Page me if you need him for anything."

"Thanks for all your help, Zane," she said. "We really appreciate it. Let us know if we can return the favor."

"This is one favor I hope I never have to call in," Zame replied sadly.

"You coming too, Zane?" Spider asked. Zane nodded. "Okay." Spider went to the nearest door, which Wil wasn't even sure had been there a second before. He put his hand on the knob and gave it a twist. "Let's go." He pulled open the door and stepped through. Zane waved Wil through, and followed close behind.

They entered a garden lined with flowers and statues; in the center was a huge fountain that Wil longed to pour soap into. There didn't seem to be anywhere to sleep, or eat, or crap. It was just a garden in the middle of a desert landscape. The lack of any creature comforts surprised him, but then he realized that he wasn't tired, or hungry, and he didn't need to go to the bathroom. Wil supposed it was a side effect of being dead. "Where are we?" he asked.

"My place," Spider said.

"You live here?" Wil realized how dumb the question was as soon as it was out of his mouth.

"A little late for that," Spider said wryly. He waved a hand, his eyes going completely black. Some comfortable outdoor furniture appeared in front of them.

"How'd you do that?" Wil was shocked.

"Like I said, this is my place. It's whatever I want it to be, or whatever I need it to be. It's a construct of my imagination, if that makes sense. It exists because I want it to."

"That doesn't make sense, but nothing else here does." Wil sat down on the edge of the fountain, surreptitiously poking the leftover soap bubbles. "So how do you know my mom?"

"You know about SimSelves, right?" Spider asked.

"Well, duh, my mom is one," Wil said, putting all of the teenage scorn he could muster into the sentence.

"Okay, but do you know what that means?" Spider replied.

Wil's brow furrowed. "Um... um... um... What do you mean, what does it mean?"

"Was I this dumb when I was your age?" Spider asked rhetorically.

Zane shrugged.

"Look, I'ma nutshell this for you," Spider said. "Your world isn't the only one out there. There are dozens, hundreds, maybe more. You're from this one. I'm from somewhere else. Zane's from a third place. The Reaper Jack? From somewhere completely different. And each world has a SimSelf in charge of it. SimSelves are special. They can move from world to world. We generally can't. Where you are right now, this is the Dead Realm, and the rules are different here. The Dead Realm is sort of the nexus of all the worlds."

"It's the heart of the multiverse," Zane supplied. "It's like the only truck stop on a dimensional highway. Sooner or later, all worlds touch the Dead Realm."

"But I saw Rose's dad," Wil said. "He was different, though, and he wasn't just with Rose. He was talking to someone else, who I guess was his son? But not in my world. How does that work?"

"You're going to be here for a long time, and I don't want to give you information overload right now," Spider said. "Basically, you are the original you, but you can exist other places as an echo." He turned to Zane. "How many times have you been through puberty now, Zane?"

Zane sighed. "Four, so far."

Wil shuddered. "Once is bad enough."

"Tell me about it," Zane said.

Spider smirked. "Everyone wants me as an adult."

Wil glanced at Spider. "So my mom's a SimSelf, which makes her special. Why does that make me a Rememberer? What's a Rememberer?“

"SimSelf children have some of their SimSelf parent's specialness," Zane said. "And generally, SimSelf children don't die violent deaths, if they die at all. But the ones who do die prematurely remember how they died, and what happened on the Dead Realm as well as in other universes they’ve visited. They also seem to have access to some simself powers although that’s a crap shoot."

“So that’s why I remember being older…” Wil trailed off. Then he turned away from Spider and Zane. “I don't want to remember! I don't want to be special! I don’t want powers! I want to not be dead. No offense, but this sucks!" the teen shouted.

"We don't make the rules, kid. We're not even enforcing them," Spider said. "Your mom asked me to help, that's all."

"Who is she to ask you?"

"Your mom's the SimSelf who created my world," Spider said with a sour look on his face. "Believe me, I owe her exactly jack fucking squat, but trying to help you deal with this is the right thing to do."

Wil turned to Zane. "What about your SimSelf?"

Zane shrugged. "I must have one, but we've never met."

"Yeah, but she beats on you like a redheaded stepchild," Spider said.

Wil thought for a moment. "So, Mom is your Director-Person?"

"Pretty much," Spider said. "The terms change, but the idea's the same."

"Then why did my Director-Person let her own kid die?"

"No clue," Spider said. "We're not privy to the intimate details of your universe." He narrowed his eyes at Wil. "And don't think I don't see you having thoughts about dumping soap into my fountain."

Zane ran his hands through his curls. "Spider's very possessive of his fountain. He really hates when anyone else soaps it."

"Sorry," said Wil. "It's just been a really bad day."

Zane flashed Spider the sad puppy eyes. Spider sighed. "Fine." He held out a hand, and a box of soap appeared in it. "Take it," he said to Wil. "But just this once."

Wil hesitantly accepted the box of soap, and then upended it into the fountain. "Thanks. I feel a little better now."

"You're welcome," Spider said with poor grace.

"So how long am I going to be here?" Wil asked. "Who decides who gets to be resurrected? What's going to happen to Drea? Is she getting resurrected too? What about Uncle Onslow? How are they going to know that Muscat can't be brought back? What am I going to do while I'm waiting?"

"One question at a time," Zane said calmly.

"The time thing... Not gonna lie, that's pretty well gonna suck for you," Spider said. "Your mom explained about some sort of restriction or something, where no one can get a promotion until the heir has a baby, which considering the heir’s dead means that they’re kind of screwed. Which means no one can get a Bone Phone, so you all are just going to be hanging out on the Dead Realm until some miracle happens which considering the body count isn’t fucking likely. So it’s going to be a while."

"That sucks," Wil said.

"I did say that," Spider reminded him.

"Yeah, you did. Are you sure they're bringing me back? Who gets to decide?"

"From what I was told, I'm damn sure you're getting brought back, along with everyone else, except for Drea and Muscat. The only way anyone else is staying dead is if they want to stay dead." Spider cocked his head. "Not sure about your uncle, though."

Zane chimed in, "Technically, Drea could come back, but I doubt Rhys would want to resurrect her."

"One of her kids might," Spider pointed out. "Or one of her minions."

Zane made a face. "I'll pull some strings, then. Take her to the Punished Realm myself, make sure no one can bring her back."

"Thanks," Wil said dully. He was relieved that she wouldn't come back, but that didn't change what had already happened.

"As for your uncle, he's a special case," Zane said. "Technically, he committed suicide, which would mean he'd end up an office worker, but he also committed murder, so he should go to the Punished Realm." He shrugged. "It's Shin's problem, not mine."

"Isn't he also a Rememberer?" Wil asked.

"Not my problem," Zane reiterated.

"You said that if someone didn't want to come back, they didn't have to, but how would the alive people know not to try?" Wil asked.

"It's up to the SimSelf in charge of the world to make that known," Spider said.

"I don't think anyone's going to want to listen to the Director-Person at this point," Wil said. "They'll probably be even more mad when they find out Muscat can't come back."

"Don't worry about it right now," Spider said. "We'll--they'll--figure something out when the time comes."

"So where am I staying? Do I go back to the gray room with everyone else?" Wil asked.

"I said I'd help, but I'm not inclined to take on a permanent roommate right now," Spider said. "You can stay here sometimes, as long as you understand what a sock on a doorknob means."

"You can stay with me sometimes too," Zane said. "I'm technically not allowed, but some rules are meant to be broken."

Spider sighed. "I suppose this means I need to imagine myself an actual house with actual doorknobs."

"I wouldn't mind that so much either," Zane said.

“Prude.”

Zane just shrugged.

Looking at Wil, Spider sat down and said, "Listen, I'm not gonna lie to you here. This sucks, and it's gonna be rough, especially after you get resurrected and you're the only one who Remembers all of this, because you're gonna be here for a lot longer than the other Rememberer who came in with you. I might not feel obligated to my SimSelf, but I sure as hell know what it was like to be lonely, and you don't have to be. If you Remember nothing else, Remember that people are here to help you."

Wil chewed his lower lip nervously. "So what do I do now?"

Spider's eyes went black for a second. He waved towards a chess board that had sprouted out of the lawn. "Care for a game?“

~*~

That’s it for this chapter. Next chapter will cover, well, stuff. There are some people that need to be thanked here.

For letting me use and abuse their sims: Orikes, SmoothieQueen, Peasant007, DocSupremeNerd, OliveTheGreat.

I also need to give special consideration to DocSupremeNerd and Peasant007 for helping me with writing this. They were here when this was initially written out. And yes, I had permission to kill Quinn, again. Trust me there is a good reason for this.

If you have any questions about how the Dead Realm or the people in it work please go read this:

http://sims-crossing.livejournal.com/22184.html

Comments make the words and pictures flow and inspire me to continue, so I hope to hear from you

Until next time. Happy Simming!