ParaFabi: I really have no idea what to call this chapter

It was several hours before ParaFabi turned away from the screen.
"Are you done with the mini-laptop yet?"
Silence.
"Fabi?"
Silence.
"Hey, I sound like I'm being all creepy and talking to myself. Not that I'm not talking to myself. I mean, you are me. Or, who I might've ended up as. And your name's Fabi, so I don't have anything else to call you, but that's beside the point. The point is, I need the laptop back, so I can see about getting an Internet signal from across the dimensions. It's technically impossible, but-- Oh."
Fabi from this universe, the Fabi you all know and bother with, was lying on the bench, not moving, not even seeming to breathe.
"Well, what've I done this time? You'd think the other me would be more experienced, and like, know better. Polly? Polly!"
Silence.
"Martin?"
Silence.
"Kath?!"
ParaFabi walked over and pressed the yellow button, a sound like a doorbell reverberating throughout the building.
After a minute and twenty-six seconds, Polly ran in, followed by Martin, Kath, Linda, Lalla, Paul, Frank, Maurice and Eunice. None of them were able to wake Fabi up, though Maurice was able to determine that Fabi was alive and in some sort of coma.
"If it was me lying there unconscious, would you stupid people be just as helpless?!" ParaFabi shrieked.
"Ma'am, we do have a very thorough and detailed record of your medical history, and of course your wristwatch monitors your pulse and would inform us immediately if you were anywhere near death," Martin pointed out.
"Well what good is that? Shut up if you value your current position," ParaFabi snarled. Martin backed up a step and started to stammer an apology.
"Excuse me, ma'am?"
ParaFabi turned, "What is it, Linda?"
"This box... Does it belong to you?"
"No, why would it?"
"Then, perhaps it contained whatever made the other Fabienne unconscious?"
"Well, what use is that? Do you see anything there now?"
"No, ma'am, but there's this inscription on the side..."
"Well what does it say?"
"It says... MageBay. I believe that's a company."
"Interesting... Someone, write that down." All nine of her employees hurried to do so.
"She asked for a computer..." ParaFabi gestured around vaguely, and let Lalla locate the mini-laptop.
"She added a password protection, ma'am."
"Give it here." ParaFabi snatched the laptop and tried a few different combinations before she found the right one. She opened the web browser and looked at Fabi's browsing history. "MageBay is an online store..."
"Like a magical eBay?" Martin asked.
"It would seem so." ParaFabi was too intrigued to point out her employee's idiocy. "She was looking at items related to sort of meditation, lucid dreaming, and spirit travel, that sort of thing... Oh no."
"What is it?" about a half-dozen lackeys chorused.
"Other-Fabi is trying to save the world."
There was a silence.
"Um, boss?" Martin asked hesitantly, "Is that a bad thing?"
"Nah, but she's going about it all wrong."
"Okay... What would you like us to do?"
ParaFabi pulled out a wallet and fiddled around with it. Finally, she set it on the ground, somehow reached both arms inside and pulled out a bedframe. Polly and Kath helped steady it as she stumbled back, the metal bending so it wouldn't crush her. Finally, they set it in a corner and went back for the mattress. Polly, Martin and Lalla guided it on top of the  frame of the bed.
Kath picked up Fabi and set her on top of the mattress. "Now what?"
ParaFabi shrugged, not wanting to state out loud that she had no idea. "I guess we wait," she finally decided, waving her hand to dismiss the others. "Polly, bring me some tea. The rest of you do what you like, goof off in the arcade, I don't care. What, you didn't think I knew about that? It's my arcade, it does have surveillance cameras." She laughed at their shocked faces. "As long as someone's there when I call you, you can do whatever you like in your free time. Just don't break anything and don't forget about your job. Otherwise..." she grinned and waved her hand, leaving the sentence to hang dramatically. There was a moment of silence and stillness, and then everyone returned to their work.

Fabi: Dreams

"It was Kim," Fabi said, as the world slowly came back into focus.
"What?" ParaFabi jumped and turned around. She'd been busy at her computer, typing in commands. Very much a Cavendish, Fabi thought bitterly. She wondered if that had been better for the other her, too, family relationships.
"Leela Chrysanthabelle Fulviana Kim."
"If you think that just by mentioning her name..."
"She's the one the refugees were running from."
"What... Oh, I considered that possibity," ParaFabi said carefully. "I guess it all came down to her in the end."
"Yeah..." Both Fabis were silent for a while. "Did you have that recurring nightmare about the swamp?"
"The one where a giant laptop was floating on the water and these men in orange vests were trying to get it to eat me?"
"Yes, that dream, but... I meant more the feeling of running around someplace you should know by heart..."
"...and everything changes constantly," ParaFabi finished. "I generally prefer not to dwell on that bit. The laptop was actually sort of funny."
"For me it was a pencil case."
"Really?" ParaFabi frowned. "I never really had a pencil case. I had a purple zipper-pouch thingy for my school supplies."
"So did I. The pencil case was for some of my art pencils."
"Oh. I was never really into art... I guess when I was really small, but Mom wanted me to be a successful computer programmer like her."
"Are you?"
"I guess. I was studying engineering in college. I'd rather build something, like with actual solid materials. That's how I got into metalmagic."
"Same. Um... How old are you?"
When ParaFabi told her, Fabi raised her eyebrows in shock. "You don't look any older than me."
"It's called magic," ParaFabi explained with a grin.
"But that means..."
"Don't worry about it, don't even think about it," ParaFabi snapped. "If it happens, it won't be for years."
Fabi nodded. "Okay... Would you mind untying me?"
ParaFabi laughed. "You're so nice, I don't get how we're the same person."
"Um... Thanks?"
"Whatever. Just don't touch anything." ParaFabi said, bending over the chair.
Fabi bit back something, she wasn't sure if it was a laugh or a sob. Even her alternate self didn't see her as a threat. Once again, she had to remind herself that that was one of her greatest strengths. It really didn't feel like one, though.
ParaFabi resumed her computer work, and Fabi sat in the corner, taking note of all the cameras and traps in the room. For someone who had just arrived in this reality, ParaFabi had a pretty cool base of operations.
Fabi's mind changed the topic, as it always did, first to some topics irrelevant to the plot, such as Fabi's codes (she wondered if the other her could understand them), chocolate-filled croissants (hey, Fabi gets hungry just like the next person), tennis (a sport Fabi had not been hopeless at, surprisingly) and then finally to what had been worrying her. The other dimension was several years ahead, so did that mean that this world, too, would someday explode?
ParaFabi had practically threatened her not to worry about it, but Fabi wasn't really bothered by the threat. ParaFabi was incapable of reading her mind, no matter how similar they were.
Dreams might be the answer, she decided. She'd seen mages sort of meditate before, and let their subconscious travel. They all did it differently, in ways that fit with their disciplines, but underneath, there was a basic technique she might be able to use, with a little help.
"Is there a computer I can use?" Fabi asked the other Fabi.
"What? Oh, sure." ParaFabi pulled out a mini-laptop and quickly created a new account so that Fabi wouldn't see anything she didn't want her too. Unless she guessed the password. "Here you go," she said, handing it over.
Fabi nodded her thanks and opened a web browser, typing in the URL for MageBay.

Zafira Kerias: Suddenly

Set when Zaffy decided to try to kill Ari. 

Zafira now was actually laying on her back the cut Niccolò had made stung. She felt a searing pain in her back and next thing she knew she felt the command change to Niccolò. He wanted Aretha and so she got up and freed Aretha. She felt Niccolò's hand and the fog cleared. She shook her head. What just happened? She thought. Then Javier's voice broke in, kill Aretha I say and what do you do? Release her. Idiot. She growled but did nothing.

The warm air played on Zafira's face. Niccolò was talking to Javier. Zafira listened in. 

"Please for once....for Alexis for me keep Zafira safe....it's all I want keep her free from Justaria I owe it to her its my fault she knows her true name."

"Then it's your fault. I don't care. Just die. " Zafira was in shock how cold Niccolò was sounding. What was going on?

"then you're....no better then I..  look Niccolò....don't be like me have a heart just...at least let my daughters say goodbye"  Zafira shadow-walked down and suddenly saw Javier on fire. The connection broken and Niccolò spoke out loud to her,

"Damn emotions... Try to douse the flames or bring him back, and I'll only kill him again. " Zafira watched him vanish and she felt tears form. She went to the flames letting them go out. She took the charted remains of Javier and when she returned them to his parents she returned to Blogland and sighed. What was she thinking? She watched Javier die. He died. What did she do now? She lost Javier and she knew deep down inside Niccolò never would never love her nor would she ever have a shot to be with John Smith. She walked along the grass. 

"I'm sorry, Javier." She whispered. "I'm sorry I left you to suffer. I'm sorry I was a fool to never have thought you loved me." She sank to her knees alone. She had never felt more alone in her life until now. He was always there, always. A memory stirred.

"Stay with me?" Javier asked.

"Always." Zafira replied. 

The memory hurt. She knew how wrong she was to have doubted Javier. Now? She had to live with her choice. Now she must carry on and hope, merely hope that somewhere in Niccolò Croatoan's heart he had the capability to like her back. Just maybe. Or even John being allowed out. The tiny voice in her head of Justaria, even this voice grieved. Justaria of all people or names grieved. Today was not a good day to be alive. 

Alastair Cruciatus: Experimentation

I hear tell that darling Adra has requested I write about a certain night we spent together. No doubt, she was expecting to hear some heartwarming tale about how I realized my capability to be kind and care for others. She will be disappointed. It is certainly true that I could have kicked her injured leg rather than healing it; that would have been much more satisfactory, and it certainly would have required less energy.

It has been my long held belief that human beings are inherently cruel creatures, and any apparent kindness in their nature is forced. It may seem effortless, yet when we are physically and/or emotionally exhausted and can no longer afford to pretend, we always leap to violence and anger. When a human has lost something important, his first compulsion is to seek revenge. While vengeance is not actually productive in any way, we still want it. We're selfish creatures, who like to think ourselves better than others, and even the most admired among us feel some desires to watch those they dislike, for whatever reason, suffer.

Yet it is also undeniable that most people feel compulsions to assist each other and alleviate pain. I am convinced these compulsions come from impressions and standards pressed on us from a very young age, and perhaps also from the desire to reproduce programmed into every surviving species. From what I can tell the only impulse we are born with that serves no purpose beyond personal enjoyment, satisfaction, or entertainment, is sadistic.

But the fact remains that every now and then, a human comes along who fights their own sadism so well, I am forced to consider the possibility that compassion is equally ingrained in basic human nature. So, every now and then, I experiment. I do something that benefits only a person other than myself, and I see whether or not I feel like doing it again. Niccolò would argue that such experiments are heavily flawed and negate just about every basic principle of scientific method, but I didn't write this to argue with him. I wrote this because the lovely Miss Dark was curious. Now, she has her answer.

The Current Moment 4 ((Updated as often as it can be.))

Death: Saved Zaf from fire (in our universe)

Snow: Having awkward adventures with paraSnow (in our universe)

paraFabi: Texting paraAretha about making a new portal (in our universe)

Trip: Doubled over in pain and then "slowly teleported" away (in the parallel universe)

Emerald: Was last seen getting mad at parAretha (in our universe)

Adra/Zafira/Alexis/Aretha/Niccolò: Trying to fix the dying world (in parallel universe)


Current plot: There's a universe parallel to ours, where planet Earth is supposed to explode by the end of the week. The people tried to evacuate to our world and move us to theirs, so they could take our places, but chaos erupted so they broke all the portals. Now some of them are stuck here, and some of us are stuck there.

Really sorry if I missed anyone- it's late and I'm tired! Feel free to fix it or ask me to!

Niccolò Croatoan: Heartbeat

I knew the moment Clara pulled me through the portal that I was dangerously far from Aretha. I could feel the shift before I could hear my own thoughts. That in and of itself was enough to slowly force me awake. The first thing I noticed were all the heartbeats. Trip's and Adra's- and by the sound of it, he'd nearly died- and Zafira's. She was concerned, presumably kneeling beside me. But by far the most striking was the absence of Aretha's. It took me several agonizing minutes of doing absolutely nothing before I had the energy to start to recover.

"Where is Aretha?" I asked Zafira, masking my anxiety as I pushed myself into a sitting position. I knew at that moment she was far weaker than I, and I knew she had enemies in that other universe. If they find her, and I'm not there... I quickly discontinued that line of thought.

"She's... She's still over there." Adra was the first to acknowledge the question.

"She's in the other universe. Clara went back to get her. And you are NOT going to look for her. Clara will get her. You're staying here." Zafira's response. If I was not so preoccupied with Aretha, I likely would've been angry with her. As it was, I nearly laughed, simply out of spite. "I'm sorry. Rest. You'll need your strength now more than ever," She continued a few moments later, and fell asleep on my leg. Are you, really? I marveled for a moment at how cold I could become in defense of another, even without the influence of my more sadistic names, though I suppose that is simply what love does.

"Zafira. Telling me to sit here idly while she..." She may be dying, but I can hardly bring myself to think it, let alone say it aloud... "She is no better than I, if not worse, I am certain. And Clara has not returned. They're likely stuck for whatever reason. I'm not leaving them." And I left her there.

At another time, it would have occurred to me to return her to her home rather than simply leaving her in the dirt, but under the circumstances I could barely think beyond Aretha. You may call me obsessive, yet before you do, consider that Mevolent was out to kill her, and several others as well, and I had last seen her bound and unconscious in the dim lighting of the room I had adopted as a study. Consider, also, that there is nothing in this world I value more than her.

I spent the rest of the night working my way through the cells of an underground terrorist group. Mevolent was a member. I released those who were on their native Earth, and returned those few who weren't, quickly dealing with anyone who crossed my path, until I came across Aretha. Since I could not leave her as she was in either universe, I carried her with me as I continued, searching in as many places as I could reach for anyone out of place. By and by, morning came, and despite the fair number of people I'd repatriated, I had yet to find Clara.

It was remarkably fortunate, in a relative sense, that I happened to be transporting a group of people to my universe directly outside of Adra's laboratory, at the same moment as she ran into the parallel version of herself. I was close enough to the situation to hear a few stray thoughts, and suddenly I realized exactly what the parallel version of myself was sure to do. I made it through the portal to my world just in time to see it shatter behind me, and brought Aretha to the only place she called home. I sent a copy of myself to assist the others while I myself remained with her, balancing the flow of her magic until she recovered enough to fall into a healthy sleep. I swore there would never be a faster way to spend an hour than to listen to her steady beating heart.

Zafira Kerias: Emotional Trainwreck of Life

This is what Zafira has been feeling and what's gone between Zafira and Javier.

Zafira stood looking at the full glass windows in the living room of her treehouse. It overlooked Blogland. She felt little Olivia crawl over to her and she smiled seeing her youngest daughter. Olivia had no idea that her parents would most likely split but Olivia's innocence made her smile. Alexis knew but didn't press it. Olivia crawled around to her toy area. Javier came up looking at her almost with a hurt look in his eyes. They had barely spoken for a few days. Javier's gentle voice was laced with a type of pain foreign to her,

"Zaf, can we just talk?" He asked. She glared and continued working. Javier sat beside her,

"Zaffy I love you. I do. Please." Finally she spoke,

"What?!" She snapped. 

"Zafira why is it you wish for us to not be together?" 

Zafira's voice was laced with anger,

"You are insane. You've hurt Alexis and myself. I can't be with you."

"And what about Niccolò?! You trust him but not me?! He is a killer he spent years killing and torturing. He has Alastair in his head for god's sake! Zaf why do you like him?!" He yelled. Javier looked desperate. Zafira stood and turned away from him.

"Because Niccolò proved himself trustworthy to me. He never hurt me as himself. You have." She said quietly. Javier walked up wrapping his arms around Zafira's waist. 

"Zafira I love you. Please don't hurt me. We have two children you wanted a son I know. I want to be with you, Zafira. You're beautiful and caring. You're the best Grand Mage I ever heard of. You rule with justice. You rose above all odds. I love you." Javier turned her and kissed her and after a moment she kissed him back. Javier pulled away slowly. 

"I'll always be here for you. Always." He whispered. He went to the door and vanished. Zafira watched the space where he was moments before. She had to do this. I have to. No matter how much Niccolò insists I'm crazy to love him I have to try. There has to be some part of him that likes me back. Somewhere I haven't reached. I love him. I always will no matter how much he refuses me. Zafira walked to the window again singing to herself. Life was for the alive. I'll always be here for you. Always. Javier's words echoed in her mind. She could hear his thoughts as he could hear hers. He refused to break their link no matter what happened even if Niccolò and her did begin to date.