Abandoned by her mother at an early age, Citrine has always been loved by her family and she loves them all the more in return. But even that love can't fill the hole inside of her, and chasing after her past only leads to more heartbreak.
Moonstone: That’s a good thing! You won’t have to hurry and catch up to another class.
Calcite: Mr. Blast said it was the same lesson plan as the public school, so you’ll be fine.
Nova: Better than jumping into a Void-class plan, anyway…
Calcite: There is one thing, though.
Citrine: What?
Calcite: You can’t start any fights. Mr. Blast can choose who’s in his school and who isn’t–one fight and you’re out.
Citrine: …sure. So long as nobody starts picking on Pep again.
Peppermint: Ah–I guess we’ll…do our best?
Calcite: No, that’s not enough this time. I need your word, you two. You need to promise me.
Calcite: I know you two look after each other, and you should, but I need you to promise me you won’t start anything.
Citrine: ….but we can end something?
Calcite: Citrine–
Citrine: No, Dad. If someone’s picking on Pep like that again, I’m gonna finish it. But…untill then, I won’t start anything. I promise.
Peppermint: A-and I promise the same thing! We just wanna be left alone, that’s all.
Nova: *quiet laugh* Don’t know what else we should have expected.
Calcite: ….alright. Alright, that’s good enough for now.
Nova: Come on, kids. Let’s get dinner going.
Moonstone: One set of footsteps too few. Cal?
Calcite: Here.
Moonstone: Ooh, I know that tone. What’s wrong?
Calcite: …*sigh* Nothing.
Moonstone: Calcite.
Calcite: …*quiet groan* I don’t know what I’m doing.
Moonstone: *laugh* Oh, is that all? Sweetheart, none of us know what we’re doing. Not really.
Calcite: You and Ma did! Amber and I didn’t have nearly this much trouble.
Moonstone: You didn’t have a purist bully making life hard for you.
Moonstone: But if you had, you and Amber would have been racing to punch him.
Calcite: …she would have beat me there, but…yeah. I just…how do I do this? How do I keep them safe?
Moonstone: You do what you’re doing now.
Moonstone: You give them the best chance you can, and you support them, and you realize that safe is just a dream.
Calcite: It can’t be just a dream. There has to be a way…
Moonstone: Life isn’t safe, baby. There’s always going to be something.
Moonstone: Everyone’s had their troubles, no matter who they are or where they are in life. The only way to not have troubles is to not live.
Calcite: Or wrap them in bubblewrap and never let them leave the house?
Moonstone: *laugh* Or that. But is that the life you want for them?
Calcite: ….no. I just…I want things to be easier for them. Safe.
Moonstone: Safe doesn’t mean good, Cal. You have to let them live, and experience things for themselves, and be there for them when they need help. As parents, that’s…honestly the best we can do.
Moonstone: It’s what we did with you and Amber. And…obvious accident or not, I think you two turned out alright.
Calcite: Did you ever worry about us?
Moonstone: All the time. I can’t tell you how many nights your Ma and I stayed awake wondering if we were doing right by you, or how many talks I had with my Moms. But they told me the same thing I’m telling you.
Moonstone: Love your kids, support them, and be there when they need you even if they don’t think that’s ever.
Calcite: That’s it? That’s pretty simple, but…it’s not easy, is it.
Moonstone: No, baby, it’s not. But it’s still worth it to do the best we can.
Moonstone: We do the best we can, and hope it’s enough. That’s all any of us can do.
Calcite: …it was enough. For us both.
Moonstone: I’m glad.
Monday Morning…
Citrine: It is small…
Peppermint: Very small…is there really enough space for us here?
Calcite: Of course there is.
Peppermint: Well, the no uniforms are nice.
Citrine: Yeah. …Hey, Pep?
Peppermint: Yeah?
Citrine: Do you want me to call you my sibling or my brother?
Peppermint: Oh! Uhm…either’s cool.
Citrine: Yeah, but which do you like more?
Peppermint: …sibling.
Citrine: Okay, sib. *giggle* Sounds kinda funny, doesn’t it?
Peppermint: *laugh* A little, sis. You ready?
Citrine: As I’ll ever be.
Calcite: Mr. Blast?
Pyro: Upstairs! Moonflower, what happened?
Moonflower: I don’t know!
Moonflower: I hit the save button and it went black and then–
Lucky Penny: And then every computer went black! So much for lucky….
Eternal Glow: I just hope it saved…that was a hard level.
-
Calcite: Okay, you two. Here we go.
Citrine: Nervous?
Peppermint: Nope not at all! You?
Citrine: Of course not.
Calcite: Mr. Blast–oh, boy. What happened here?
Pyro: Minor technical difficulty. I think.
Calcite: You want some help?
Pyro: Please! Kids, why don’t you introduce yourselves in the meantime? This…might take a while.
Lucky Penny: Hi! I’m Penny. I was born in Waffle Creek, but my Dad moved us out here last year so, here I am!
Peppermint: Nice to meet you! I’m Pep, and this is my sister Citrine.
Eternal Glow: Sister? You two don’t look alike, though.
Citrine: Adopted. Are you from Sixam?
Eternal Glow: Yep! The Poncour Mountains. Moonflower’s the only one here who’s actually from the Springs.
Moonflower: Heh, only cause Daddy ran away from Newcrust and my crazy Grampa.
Lucky Penny: Nope! Nope nope nope we don’t talk about him and his stupid “Pure Raws are the only good sims” ways!
Peppermint: Oh, no…your Grampa’s one of those, huh?
Moonflower: Uh-huh.
Lucky Penny: You’ve run into one too, huh?
Citrine: A bully at our old school was one of them. He kept calling Pep a freak, so…
Eternal Glow: So?
Citrine: I punched him.
Lucky Penny: Ha! Oh, I like you! …Hey, Pep, what’s that necklace mean?
Peppermint: Oh, this? Uhm…it means I’m non-binary.
Eternal Glow: Non-binary? What’s that?
Moonflower: Come on, EG! We just had t hat lesson, remember? She and he and they and–
Eternal Glow: Oh! Right, that one. Sorry, Simlish is still kinda confusing for me.
Peppermint: That’s okay. It doesn’t make much sense to us either sometimes.
Lucky Penny: So which do you like? Just so we know?
Peppermint: They, definitely they. But it’s okay if you call me a He a few times, I won’t get upset.
-
Pyro: So when you said Citrine punched a bully…
Calcite: He was misgendering Pep.
Pyro: Ah. Well now, what’s a very valid reason. And I’m pretty sure you can see it won’t be an issue here, of all places.
Calcite: Yeah, and I’m real glad for that!
Eternal Glow: So what’s it like growing up with a sibling? I mean, are you two close or…
Citrine: Oh yeah, totally. My Mom left me with my Dads, and Peps parents left them with us a few months later…
Lucky Penny: Talk about a mixed bag!
Moonflower: You two are lucky…I’ve got four sibs, all of them younger. It gets…loud at home.
Citrine: Oh gosh–how loud?
Lucky Penny: VERY loud! They’re all under five and agh my ears!
Peppermint: I bet!
Lucky Penny: And then there’s me and EG. We’re the odd ones out, just only kids.
Eternal Glow: With friends like this, who needs siblings?
Moonflower: Not me! I’d love to be an only child.
Peppermint: I dunno. Sisters are pretty neat.
Lucky Penny: See! Told you!
Moonflower: Well, you guys can have mine–oh, shoot. Was that okay? I mean, guy or dude or–
Peppermint: No, those are fine! Thanks for asking, though.
Moonflower: Of course! Penny calls everyone dude, even if they’re not…well, dudes.
Lucky Penny: Hey…I can, you know, not, if it bugs you.
Eternal Glow: Have you known for long? That you’re not a boy or girl, I mean.
Peppermint: Not too long, really. I’m still kinda figuring it all out, but I feel better with they, so.
Citrine: So I punched the bully who wouldn’t call them them, and.Well, here we are. I mean, Basil was a purist jerk anyway, but.
Moonflower: Ugh…..Watcher, I can’t wait for people to get over that stuff.
Eternal Glow: Tell me about it! So, are you guys studying the same stuff or…
-
*Children continue talking…*
Pyro: Well, seems like they’re all getting along nicely.
Calcite: It sure does! Thank you for giving us a shot, Mr. Blast.
Pyro: Pyro, please. I prefer to be friends with my students parents. Small classes give me that luxury.
Calcite: And more than that, I’m sure.
After class…
Pyro: See you tomorrow, kids!
All: See you tomorrow, Mr. Pyro!
Peppermint: That was pretty fun! For school, I mean.
Lucky Penny: Wasn’t it? Hey, do you guys wanna hang out a while before we have to go home? There’s a park not far from here.
Peppermint: Sure! Citrine?
Citrine: Huh?
Citrine: Huh? Oh, sure, yeah, let’s go.
Lucky Penny: Great! It’s this way, so keep up!
Lucky Penny: Last one there has to scrub out the engines!
Moonflower: HEY! Oooh, you’re so on!
Citrine: Scrub out the engines?
Lucky Penny: Of the Guardians ship! Come on, slowpokes!
Peppermint: Are the engines clear to burn, Guardian Moonflower?
Moonflower: Engines clear, Guardian Peppermint!
Peppermint: Captain Glow! All systems are a go!
Eternal Glow: Good! Gunner Citrine, watch our flanks! We’re getting out of here alive!
Citrine: Aye, Captain!
Eternal Glow: Guardian Peppermint, full power!
Peppermint: Full power–everyone hang on!
Citrine: Monsters off port and starboard, pew pew!
Eternal Glow: Pew pew–lasers don’t sound like that!
Later….
Lucky Penny: It’s getting late, guys. I gotta head home.
Peppermint: Kay! See you tomorrow, Penny!
Eternal Glow: All systems clear, Captain.
Citrine: Starboard watch clear!
Moonflower: This is me. Hey, we’re neighbors!
Peppermint: We are! That’s so neat–wait, what’s that sound?
Moonflower: *sigh* That’s Fantasy. Baby brother.
Citrine: We can hear him crying all the way from here?!
Moonflower: Yep. Mama Mystic says he’ll be a great singer when he’s older. *snort* Don’t know if anyone’ll hear him if he makes them all deaf first, though.
Citrine: Ah, geez…well….good luck?
Moonflower: Thanks. See you tomorrow!
-
Peppermint: Okay, maybe I am glad we don’t have any little siblings.
Citrine: You think?!
Citrine: I like hearing things, thanks.
Peppermint: Yeah, yeah. But today was good, wasn’t it?
Citrine: Yeah, it was.
Citrine: We’re back!
Saffron: Welcome back, kiddos! How was school?
Citrine: Great!
Citrine: Everyone’s really cool, and Mr. Pyro’s a really good teacher.
Peppermint: I actually want to go back to school tomorrow!
Saffron: *laugh* Now there’s something you don’t hear every day. Go wash up–dinner’s almost ready.
Peppermint: *sniff sniff* Wait, don’t tell me! Those are–
Citrine: Pop’s fish tacos! Are we celebrating today?
Nova: Why not? Things are working out for you two, so that’s reason enough to celebrate if you ask me!
Nova: Don’t keep us in suspense any longer–how was it?
Saffron: You said it was great but was it really? No regrets?
Citrine/Peppermint: No!
Citrine: It was great! We made friends and everything. I mean, there was math lessons and all, and the computers didn’t work again, but it was still fun.
Calcite: Oh, good. I’m glad to hear that.
Moonstone: Maybe now you can stop worrying a bit, Cal.
Peppermint: You were worried, Uncle Cal?
Saffron: About as worried as I was when he was born.
Moonstone: Hm, maybe a little more than that.
Calcite: Ma! *sigh* Yes, I was worried. I wanted this to work out for you two, that’s all.
Citrine: Well it did! The other kids are really fun to hang out with, too. We went to the park after lessons and played Guardians–really, it’s all great, Dad.
Saffron: So, no new Basil to worry about?
Peppermint: Nope! Everybody said they’d have punched him, too.
Moonstone: Oh, Watcher *laugh* Yeah, you’ll be just fine.
Calcite: Well, at least there won’t be any punching people this time!
Citrine: Pfft, Daddy, no! I’ll keep my punching to a bag from now on, I promise.
Citrine: You don’t have to worry about us anymore, okay? We’ll be fine.
Calcite: I know you will, but I am your father. I’ll worry anyway.
Saffron: Comes with being a parent, kiddo. You might do the same thing someday.
Peppermint: Not for a very very very long time!
Citrine: Daddy…you really don’t have to worry. We can handle ourselves, I promise.
Calcite: *sigh* I know, sweetheart, I know. But we’re here if you need us to get involved, okay?
Citrine: We know, Dad!
Calcite: Okay, Miss Sass! You did not get that from me!
Nova: Babe? I hate to break it to you, but she totally got it from you.
Saffron: Yes, she did.
Calcite: Oh, very funny!
*Laughter*
The next day…
Pyro: So, have you two picked a system to model?
Peppermint: Sort of? We can’t decide between Arcadis or this one…
Peppermint: My parents are on a station orbiting Arcadis, but EG’s from Sixam, so…
Eternal Glow: So we’re trying to decide between us…it’s harder than I thought.
-
Lucky Penny: There’s not many castles left we can model ours after, though…
Moonflower: There’s the old one from Wineburg, isn’t there?
Citrine: Do we have to build a castle castle, though? Can’t it be a temple or something?
Moonflower: A temple? To what? From where?
Citrine: From Selvadorada!
Lucky Penny: Oh! An Omiscan temple? Huh…that’d be neat.
Citrine: And we can find tons of references, too! Would that be okay, Mr. Pyro?
Pyro: I don’t see why not. I did say a building from your history books. The Omiscan people built quite a few temples back in the day.
Moonflower: Aw….did they have any princesses?
Lucky Penny: Um…I don’t think so? I know they had an Emperor but–
-
Eternal Glow: So your parents are working on Arcadis Station? That must be weird.
Peppermint: What do you mean?
Eternal: Well, it’s so far away from Maxis! You can’t ever go visit for the summer or something.
Eternal Glow: Since it takes years to get there and everything.
Peppermint: OH, yeah, like that it is kinda strange, but they call at least once a week, so it’s not like I’ve never seen or heard from them.
Eternal: Do you miss them?
Peppermint: ….I dunno, a little?
Citrine: The Omiscans did have Princes and Princesses, if they were the Emperor’s kids. Why?
Moonflower: No reason! I just like princesses, and castles have princesses. So what does an Omiscan temple look like?
Citrine: Well….
Citrine: Kinda like a pyramid without the slope? Like…a triangle made of blocks.
Moonflower: Oh! We can make it out of boxes!
Lucky Penny: Yay! An easy project this time.
Citrine: Yep! Worth it now, isn’t it?
Lucky Penny: Heh, yeah. You know a bunch about Omiscan temples, huh?
Citrine: I’ve….done some reading, yeah. My Mom’s Omiscan, so…
Lucky Penny: Whoa whoa whoa–your Mom is Omiscan!? I thought you said she died!
Citrine: Oh, no, that was Ma Amber. Mama Solana is…well, she’s a guide in the Belomisia, so…
-
Peppermint: What about you? Do you miss Sixam?
Eternal Glow: I don’t really remember it! I like the heat down here, though. Better than the cold up there, brr!
Eternal Glow: D’you know how many layers I had to wear just to leave the hab? So many! I looked like a jumbo marshmallow!
Peppermint: *laugh*
-
Lucky Penny: You’re kidding! That’s why you live with your Dads? Because she’s out in the wilds all the time?
Citrine: …yeah, something like that.
Moonflower: Ooh! I bet she could send us all kinds of neat pictures! Stuff that’s not in the books! Could you email her and ask?
Citrine: Oh, um….
-
Eternal Glow: Y’know what? Let’s do Arcadis. It’s got…three planets?
Peppermint: Three planets, two asteroid belts, and a binary star system!
Eternal: Yeah, that’s way more fun than this boring old system.
Lucky Penny: Um what?
Citrine: I….haven’t spoken to my Mama Solana.
Moonflower: In a while?
Citrine: Ever.
Moonflower/Lucky Penny: WHAT?!
Moonflower: You mean you’ve never even emailed her?!
Citrine: No…Dad and Pop have tried, but she’s never answered, so…
Lucky Penny: Oh, that is just so not cool!
Citrine: Well, no, but…
*distant chime*
Pyro: Oh–excuse me, kids. You all keep working, okay? I’ll be back soon.
All: Okay!
Moonflower: Why hasn’t she emailed you back?
Citrine: ….I dunno, really.
Lucky Penny: Well, forget her, then! We can just get what we need out of books!
Citrine: Or we could just…do Castle Wineburg.
Moonflower: What? No! No, a temple really does sound like a lot more fun!
-
Eternal Glow: (Whispering)…dude, is she okay?
Peppermint: Sort of.
Eternal Glow: She really never–
Peppermint: Mmhmm. It’s tough.
-
Citrine: No, guys, it’s…really, it’s probably better. More stuff in the books.
Lucky Penny: Hah! How hard can it be to make a pyramid out of blocks? We’ll do just fine!
Citrine: *sigh* Okay, okay. Let me see if I have a good picture…
Lucky Penny: Eh, who needs pictures? It’s boxes on top of boxes! Come on, we got this!
Pyro: Dear Mrs. Strike. I have received your daughter’s transcripts, and am open to accepting her into the class for this year. Please come by with her at your earliest convenience so she may meet her potential classmates, and so we can discuss her schooling needs.
Thank you,
Pyro Blast, Willow & Stone Academy
Later that day…
Citrine: Someone else new is joining the class?
Pyro: Potentially, yes. That depends on what her parents and I can work out.
Pyro: And if she’s a good fit with all of you, too.
Moonflower: Mr. Pyro asked if we’d be okay with you two joining us, so now you’re getting asked, too.
Eternal Glow: I’m cool with it, but why’d it have to be another girl?
Lucky Penny: You’re just that unlucky, EG.
Citrine: So what happens if a new student doesn’t fit in?
Pyro: Well, there’s a trial period of a month first, but if it doesn’t work out I give their parent recommendations for other schools in the area.
Pyro: It’s important to me that all of you get a proper education, and that starts with feeling safe enough to be yourselves here.
Peppermint: Well, so long as she’s not a bully I’m fine with it.
Pyro: Noted. Moonflower? Penny?
Moonflower: I’m okay with it. I’d like to meet some new people!
Penny: Sure! We outnumber her if she’s a jerk, anyway.
Pyro: Yes, you do. And you, Citrine?
Citrine: Sure!
Pyro: Alright then. Well, we’ll need a bigger table, obviously, but we can settle that when she gets here. Now, it’s time to talk about this month’s assignment.
Eternal Glow: Oh no…
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