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Reuben sat at his coffee table, as it was a bit too chilly to go outside, doing a tarot reading for himself for the day. He brought some tea to the coffee table and sat down. He shuffled the deck and drew his cards. Today had been a lazy Sunday, unlike any other Sunday. He had decided to close the shop for the day. After being out in the wilderness for an entire weekend with Sam a few weekends prior, he realized that he needed to take some time off now and again to recoup. So, this weekend was his lax weekend.

As Reuben sat there, reviewing the cards that sat atop his coffee table, he was a little surprised coming to see that his reading really pointed him into a new direction. The Page of Cups, The Magician, and the Four of Wands. Offering up a pretty juicy reading which could be construed in many ways. The tarotist took the reading in stride as an emotional journey could begin that involved a surge of creativity, the end resulting in something to truly celebrate about. With that happy thought aside, he sipped his tea once more and heard his cell phone ring.

Answering it would be the best thing that happened to Reuben in all of 2017. "Hello?"

The next moment, Reuben's eyes widened to an extreme as his heart began to race. He grabbed his keys and ran out of his house to the car, speeding off to Lab 305, where his baby was finally born!

Reuben sped the entire way to the Lab, heart still racing just as it had been, a smile plastered on his face. His mind was everywhere. Was it a boy or a girl? What on earth would they look like? These and many other questions plagued his mind.

Finally arriving to the lab, Reuben tore out of his car and scurried into the building.

Out of breath, the man spoke, "Hello, my name is Reuben Rothmore, my raevan is here, I think?" He stood straight, huffing a bit trying to catch his breath. "I got here as soon as I could."

Reuben shook the man's hand, still out of breath. When Zeke introduced himself, Reuben didn't connect that this man was the man who had written the letter. He had envisioned him much older and proper. This man seemed so relaxed and easygoing already, just because of how he kept himself. Granted, he was an attractive man nevertheless, it just wasn't what Reuben was expecting.

With a large sigh of relief, Reuben smiled and chuckled. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Zeke. Thanks again for the call. I was in the middle of a reading and you just caught me off guard. And you're right, I avoided major highways as best I could to get here undetected."

As the importance of why he was there set in, nerves instantly overtook the man. He was here to meet his new charge! With a final deep breath, he nodded. "Y-yeah. Maybe a cup of water would be nice."

Reuben took a seat for a moment with a couple of deep breaths. His heart was still racing from a combination of nerves and running. Sitting for a moment would be best.

Reuben chuckled and shook his head, "Don't worry about it at all. I was so surprised and happy, I couldn't help but to rush. But thank you."

The tarotist took a few deep breaths and a swig of his drink and waited for Zeke to return. Looking about the room, the office looked so ordinary for holding something so magnificent. After a few moments, Reuben felt calm and collected. His heart was still a bit quick with nerves, but other than that, he was ready.

As Zeke came back into the room, Reuben grinned. "Of course, it's very understandable. I hope we can definitely get to know each other more from here on out."

Reuben stood up and took a final deep breath. With a smile, he spoke. "Okay...I think I'm finally ready to meet my raevan."

The man couldn't help his nerves, but he stood, completely ready to meet his charge. Thoughts of what could be roamed in his mind. Then Zeke spoke.

"...ready to go and see him..."

Him? It was a boy?! Reuben shook with excitement. He couldn't wait, now. "Yes, of course, we'll finish the paperwork afterwards. I just want to meet my son."

~~~

A bookcase stood tall in the room. A finger dragged along the spines of each book. Curious, the toadstool hooked the top of the book on his finger and pulled, yanking it from it's place. Pulling it out with a curious look, it dropped to the floor. Floating down to see the words, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" plastered on the cover. It meant nothing to the frei; it was just a bunch of jumbled images that he couldn't understand. But one image caught his attention. The picture of a girl on the cover. She was beautiful, young, yet looked slightly scared.

"Can I help you read it?" A small, dainty voice spoke from behind the frei.

The toadstool zipped around in a circle quickly to view where the voice had come from. There she stood, a girl, tall and lanky, legs about three feet too high and an upper body two feet too short. With very long limbs and a dress that looked as though it came right off the cover of the storybook. Her eyes were wonky, and everything about her, from an outsiders opinion, would have screamed "get away from me!" She looked to be out of a nightmare. But to the frei, she felt like home.

The raevan understood her completely in that instant. He nodded quickly with a smile and he picked up the book. Floating over to a seat that was in the corner of the room, he sat down. The girl perched herself up on the back of the chair, much like a toad before jumping and looked over the shoulder of her newfound friend. As he turned the page to the first chapter, the girl over-his-shoulder began to read to him.

"Chapter One - Down the Rabbit-Hole. Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice 'without pictures or conversation?'"

Reuben listened to Zeke speak as the two made their way down the hall. The biggest problem was, however, that Reuben wasn't truly paying much attention. He heard that his frei was strong and healthy, and that the guardian, aside from Kyou, would be the first one to meet with the newborn Raevan. That much was great.

But by the time Zeke had finished and they had arrived at the door, Reuben's heart was in his throat. He didn't have anything to say aside from, "I'm totally ready."

~~~

"`Off with her head!’ the Queen shouted at the top of her voice. Nobody moved. `Who cares for you?’ said Al-" the voice was cut off by the knocking at the door.

Both the frei and the nightmarish woman glanced up in unison towards the door. "Who's that, I wonder?" the girl asked, cocking her head to the side.

"I...don't know," responded the mushroom frei.

As the door opened, there he stood, a man with sandy-blond hair and glasses. The frei's eyes widened a bit for a moment as he eyed this new being in front of him.

Reuben's eyes widened as his first sight was the frei, with nothing but a ribbon and glowing rune, sitting hunched over in the chair across the room. Followed by a horrific look on his face as he glanced up at the image of a girl hovering over him. Nerves overtook him.

Before even entering the room, Reuben turned his face towards Zeke, keeping his eye on the girl who seemed to be staring into his very soul. "I thought we were supposed to be alone," Reuben whispered quietly, in a worried tone, to Zeke as he turned his face back towards the frei and his companion.

"Who-"
"-are you?"

The two voices synced as though the sentence was spoken from one person.

Reuben slowly made his way into the room, closing the door behind him. A nervous smile was all he could muster. "I-I'm Reuben...y-your...guardian. I'm here to...umm...take care of you and...umm...take you home with me." What had he gotten himself into? What was going on here? Definitely not something he was expecting.

The girl's eyes widened further than they had previously been, right before the tarotist's eyes. That did nothing but freak the man out a bit more. Her eyes looked mean and angered.

"Hm. I see," the frei spoke, closing the book and floating up into the air.

The girl didn't move anything but her head, cocking it to the other side, keeping her eyes glued onto Reuben.

Reuben couldn't breathe. His eyes glanced back and forth, a moment towards the frei and the other towards this strange girl. "Wh-who are you?" Reuben asked the girl.

The mushroom took the cue from Reuben's eyes to note that he as speaking to the girl. "She's Alice, my friend," he stated bluntly.

Reuben's head spun towards his frei. This was his...friend? Looking back at her, she had the creepiest, widest smile on her face.

"Friend."

With that, she began to fade away ever-so-slowly. Soon she was transparent, and she hadn't really moved from her perched spot on the back of the chair.

Finally, when she was gone, Reuben didn't understand what was going on whatsoever. His mind was spinning. Did all raevan come with a nightmarish companion?

"So, you're my...guardian?" the frei spoke.

Reuben nodded, unable to speak a moment. He swallowed what seemed to be a huge, nervous lump in his throat.

"Wonderful."

Reuben chuckled nervously and smiled. "I'm glad you think so."

The frei held tight to the book he had been reading with Alice and floated to the door. "Do we leave through here?"

Reuben walked over to the door with a smile, looking his frei in the face (since he floated at about his height). "Yes...we do." And he opened the door.

The frei floated through the door and as Zeke came into sight, he backed up, allowing Reuben to go first. All he could do was clench tighter to his book. Zeke looked different from Reuben, but at the same time, they looked so similar to the frei. What were they and why were they so vastly different?

"Oh, yeah, sorry, he wanted to go?" Reuben questioned, still unsure of the entire ordeal that had just occurred in the other room.

The mushroom just looked at Reuben as he spoke and then back to Zeke with a raised brow. When Zeke held out his hand, the frei didn't know how to react. He pulled back further a bit and waited for Reuben to speak.

"It's okay. You shake his hand, like this." the tarotist stated with a smile, offering his hand to the vet and shaking it firmly. "It's how a lot of people greet each other. A handshake and a smile."

The frei's mouth downturned and brows raised in a sudden 'interesting'-esque fashion. The mushroom simply ignored the gesturing, moreso because he wasn't comfortable touching others, not yet. He hadn't touched a whole lot, but he wasn't about to go around touching everything. He simply took the information in and curled his arms around himself before speaking, "It's...nice to meet you," the imaginative mushroom repeated similarly as Zeke.

Reuben nodded with a smile as he watched the scene unfold. But all he could think about was Alice. He definitely wanted to speak with Zeke privately about what he had just witnessed before he took this little raevan home.

The frei nodded simply, agreeing to go into the lobby. He didn't necessarily know what 'outdoors' meant, but he was curious to find out. Without a second look, he just floated there in the doorway, waiting for the two adults to move along so he could follow behind. Nothing else to say, really. He was a quiet one, that much was certain.

Reuben's eyes widened at the mention of a name. He hadn't even thought about it! As the three made their way into the lobby, Reuben's mind swirled with many potential names over the previous months, but all had left his mind. He couldn't think of a single name he had thought about so many times. His mind, blank.

"M-may I suggest something," the guardian spoke up. "I, honestly, haven't been able to pin down a name yet, Zeke. Do I need to do that now, or can I just call you later and update you when we...umm...decide on one?" he questioned. First, he did want to spend a little time with the guy in order to sort of get to know him. Secondly, he wanted his input since it was his name. This wasn't like getting an animal or even a baby. This was a fully fledged, intelligent being. He couldn't just throw any name at him whatsoever.

"Or..." he paused a moment, eyes narrowing in thought. "You could choose your own name once you figure out what you'd like to be called. Do you like that idea?" Reuben turned to his charge.

The toadstool's eyes narrowed. That was a very good idea indeed. He liked it. He figured he was good at coming up with names. After all, he named Alice. What was stopping him from naming himself? He nodded. "Yes, I do."

Reuben's face lit up with a smile. "Alright then, that's settled, as long as we're able to do that?" He inquired, turning to face Zeke.

Reuben's face fell as the vet's words hung in the air. If he had to think of a name right here and now, he couldn't very well do it, especially since his charge had just agreed to give his input on his name.

"But-" the toadstool frei muttered before Zeke could finish, and as he did, the frei quieted down again, a quaint smile on his face. It was a good sign that he was going to be able to name himself.

Reuben let out a sigh of relief as he was told it was alright to take the little guy home first. A smile on his face, he nodded, listening to Zeke's words and watching the pen tap at each place to print and sign. When finished, the tarotist took the pen and began to scribble away.

Meanwhile, the toadstool looked around the room and out the window. His eyes widened at the thought that he was about to leave this little sanctuary. Nervous, yet curious, he floated over to the window and stared out of it. "I...do not believe I have any questions." his eyes still peering out the window into the openness of the front parking lot. The sun was bright and high in the sky. It was already fascinating, this...outdoors. He couldn't stop looking at the parking lot, it was as though it was the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen. Now it excited him to leave this little place and find out what else this world had to offer.

When Reuben finished signing, he put the pen down and pushed the stack of papers over to Zeke. "There," he began, his mind going over the many, many questions he had for Zeke. The first, and foremost important, question that he knew he had to ask, was about the creepy woman who was hovering over his charge when he entered the room.

Reuben glanced over at his charge, who seemed to be perfectly content looking out the window. "I do have a one thing to ask. Wh-where do I start? Umm..." his eyes narrowed slightly and he looked off into the distance. How did he explain it? "Well, when I entered the room...there was...this woman?" he knew it was probably strange. "She...was there, hovering over him. And then just...faded away." His words were twinged with slight concern, maybe even a little fear. After all, she was strange looking...almost out of a nightmare. Her limbs being extremely long and her body small. Like a spider of sorts. He couldn't really get her image out of his mind. "Is that...normal? Like is she some sort of...umm...protector here at the Lab? He called her Alice." He knew how this all sounded. Crazy. But he had to ask regardless.