Shifted

The van pulled up and Keon was quite pleased to see that they'd just made it. Ben's car was in the lot, and Ben was just walking out of Ted's apartment, obviously going to see his girlfriend Victoria, or Tori as her friends and boyfriend called her. Ted stopped the van before trying to park, and Keon quickly hopped out. Before Steve could ask any questions, Keon had slammed the sliding door shut, and was sprinting across the grass in front of Ted's apartment. He caught Ben as he got to the sidewalk of Centre Street, and walked with him, talking.

Ted looked at Steve and answered his questioning look simply. "He told me he needed to talk to Ben about something important. I don't know what, didn't ask." Ted of course was lying, simply because he didn't want to try and explain the madness that was going on to someone not involved. It barely made sense to him, and he was directly involved in it! Thankfully for Ted, Steve was not the prodding sort and willingly accepted that statement as the truth. Silently Ted thanked whatever powers there were for blissful ignorance, for another rare moment of wonderful usefulness.

The pair got out of the van, Ted just leaving all of Keon's bags in it. He was going to be driving Keon to his parents house when he got back anyway, which is where he would unload his shit. He calmly stepped inside with Steven, and as Steven set up his laptop, Ted got back on his computer, and once again opened the DnD book he'd been researching from for his necromancer character, still looking for more tweaks and interesting things he could do to the character's skeletal champion.

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Keon caught up to Ben as he turned onto Centre Street. "Ben!" he yelled as he came to stand beside his good friend and little brother. "I need to talk to you, it's rather important." Keon smiled, and the two good friends quickly shared a hug, and then they started walking.

"Talk whilst we walk, brother." Ben said smiling. They walked at a nice slow pace, drawing it out. Keon looked much how Ben remembered him, slightly longer hair, and seemingly a little more run ragged, but other than that, the exact same. Ben hadn't changed much since the summer either, from what Keon could see. Obviously his hair had since grown out some, but other than that, he looked pretty much the same.

Keon smiled, and began the explanation, pulling the paper out of his pocket. Ben stopped as soon as he realized what this was all about, and listened intently. Ben took the proffered note and started reading it as he listened, a smile slowly creeping onto his lips. Truly, for all his act of being somewhat grounded in reality, Ben relished the idea of a fantasy adventure. He truly had a very overactive and insane imagination, and loved the thought of twisted journey, full of mystery and discovery. Here in front of him, in his hand, was the chance that such madness could be real, and he could live it. That was the chance of a lifetime.

Keon finished, and as he did, he offered Ben his token. Ben took it and nodded, speaking to Keon. "I'm assuming Ted already told you about my dream then?"

Keon shook his head. "He mentioned you'd had one, but no we didn't get into it any."
Ben smiled, and explained his dream, watching Keon's face as he did. Throughout the explanation, Ben noted the triumphant gleam in Keon's eye, and chuckled to himself. The clever bastard had already put it together in his head, he already had an idea of who, or more specifically what, Ben was going to end up being good at. He winked at Keon, and spoke quickly. "So anyway, Tori is expecting me, so do you have the ink and quill?"

Keon nodded and quickly rummaged through his pockets, and found both the small bottle of ink, and the quill. He dipped the quill in the ink for his friend, and handed it to him. Ben took it, and proceeded to use his knee as a writing surface. He quickly scrawled his signature on the paper below all the others, and handed the quill and the paper back to Keon.

Keon smiled as the last member of the group was added to the pentagram. Ben's name appeared, with a small tornado underneath it. Keon smiled, and as he and Ben went opposite directions, he thought to himself, "Last but not least, there is our resident sneak. Let the adventure begin Mother." He chuckled, as he entered Ted's apartment. "I'm ready big brother."

Ted nodded, and rose from his chair. The pair walked out to his van, and as the door shut, Ted looked at Keon. "Did he sign it?"

Keon winked, and chuckled as he replied, "Didn't even hesitate."

Ted nodded as they drove down to Keon's place, which didn't take any time. As they pulled up to Keon's house, well his parents house, Ted turned to face him. "Alright, so we've all the signatures. Now all there is to do is wait. May tomorrow night be all that we hope."

Keon smiled nonchalantly, confidently, and as he got all his stuff out of the back of Ted's van, he simply replied, "It will be, I'm sure of it." With that they bid each other goodnight, and Keon moved up to the door of his parents' house, noting that both his mom's grey Honda Accord, and his Dad's blue Chevy Silverado were in the driveway. He still had a key to the door, and unlocked it and entered, calling out to those inside as he did so. "Mom, Dad, I'm here!"

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Keon loved his parents, he really did. But they were not the most exciting of people, so he always struggled to stay around them for too long. This time had been no different. He'd said his hellos, exchanged the general necessary pleasantries. He'd stuck around for a little over an hour, throwing his laundry into the washing machine. He'd even been civil with his little brother Luke, despite wanting to tear into the child. Luke was seventeen, but in many ways was less mature then most twelve year olds. He smoked too much pot, didn't care to pass school anymore, and refused to help out at home, or to get a job. All in all, he was becoming a dead load burden that Keon's family just couldn't afford, and that didn't sit well with Keon at all.

So Keon had just walked out after close to an hour and a half after getting there, keeping up the facade of pleasantry. In truth, however, his parents and biological little brother really just grinded at him really quickly, despite his love for them. So he had just gotten out of there, before he started getting annoyed and saying things he'd regret.

He walked back to Ted's, backpack with his laptop in it on his shoulders, singing along to a new Dropkick Murphys tune, called Rose Tattoo. They had a new album coming out in January, called Signed and Sealed in Blood. Rose Tattoo was the single from the album, and Keon really liked it, and was excited for the rest of the album. Music was one of his many passions, and one he kept well indulged in, unless writing, or outside amongst the countryside and woods. He moved down Jelly Street, and turned left as he came to Centre Street, quickly making pace to the music, as he moved down the street to Ted's house.

He walked into Ted's house to see he and Steve in the middle of a game of League of Legends. "How's it going lads!" he asked as he walked in, taking out one headphone. Sitting in front of his setup, which was similar to Ted's but in front of the couch, and on a table of its own, was another of Keon's adopted brothers, whom shared the same name as his biological brother. "Luke!" he said, happily. "Come here, you wonderful bastard!" Keon embraced his dear friend and little brother, as he stood and smiled.

As they stepped back from each other, Keon looked over his dear friend. Luke looked good. He was about Keon's height, with short black hair, well kept. He had dark dull blue eyes. He was a lot like Keon, but with more visibility to his muscles. He was closer to about one hundred and fifty or so pounds, but it was all rather compact muscle. He was wearing a pair of faded jeans, and a grey t-shirt with some green tribal designs on it. He had probably just got back with Ben from work. They both worked at the same place, an animal research facility somewhere in the Dundalk area. He looked at Keon and laughed. "I'm doing fine, I see you've not changed much, you skinny bastard."

Keon chuckled as they sat down, and Keon started setting up his laptop. "Nope, not really. I've let my hair grow out a bit longer, and gotten a bit more muscle I think. But yeah, haven't really changed much at all." Keon then turned and looked at the screen of Ted's setup. Ted was playing Cho'gath in mid lane. League of Legends was an online multiplayer arena game. The map Keon and his friends liked playing the most was called Summoner's Rift. Generally, the way you played that map was having a bruiser up top. Basically someone who could take a pounding and deliver one. Keon's best role was solo top, he had many champs he could play up there. Then there was mid lane, where you generally put your burst mage, also known as the ability power carry. Ted was good at this role, and one of his favorite things to do was take Cho'gath there, because although Cho'gath did indeed deal a lot of damage, and was a mage, he also was very tanky. He was nearly impossible to kill in a one versus one. Finally down bottom lane, you had the support and the attack damage carry, who was generally ranged. The carry's job was to do tons of damage with nothing but auto attacks, and the support's job was to ward and do his or her best to keep their team alive.

Keon also played a mean support with a couple champs he enjoyed. Finally there was the jungler. In between each lane there was a small area called 'the jungle'. Each team's half had a jungle, and they mirrored each other. Each half of the jungle had a pair of big buffs. The first was called blue buff. It gave cooldown reduction on abilities, and also faster mana regeneration. The other buff was called red buff. It gave extra damage, also caused your auto attacks to slow your enemies and gave your auto attacks a burning damage over time effect. Keon could also jungle rather well with a few champs.

He looked at Ted's score and saw he already had four kills and no deaths. He chuckled, and asked, "Who you rolling over this time?"

Ted smiled a hungry grin. "Twisted Fate," he said, laughing softly. "It has been way to easy."

Keon laughed, and logged into League. After Ted and Steve finished their game, the boys started playing, and played long into the night, doing rather well. At about midnight, they called it a night, and went to sleep. They'd normally have stayed up later, but Ted, Luke and Ben had to be up early for work. So they called her a night and went to sleep. Keon also told Ted to wake him before he left for work. Keon had a lot left to get and do tomorrow before the party, so he wanted to get a start on it bright and early.

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Ted woke up as his alarm went off. He got dressed and went out into his kitchen. He got a bowl of cereal, and sat down at his computer, just going through random things to kill time as he ate. Luke and Ben both woke up as he sat down, their alarms both ringing. They both got dressed, and sat around, shooting the shit with Ted. At about seven thirty, Ted rose, and prodded Keon. "Wake up little brother, I'm leaving for work."

Keon grunted, slightly annoyed, but woke up. He nodded, as he rose, and stretched. "Thanks big brother, have a good day." Keon gathered up his t-shirt and sweater, and moved towards Ted's washroom.

Ted smiled and chuckled, "No problem little brother." With that he followed Ben and Luke outside, and got into his van and left for work.

Keon got into Ted's washroom and quickly washed his face with cold water, cursing as he did so. "Fuck, that's a fucking wake up call." he laughed and quickly locked the door, taking off his pants, boxers and socks. He got into Ted's shower, and cranked the water up really hot, as he liked. He showered quickly, and within fifteen minutes was out back on the couch, logged into his laptop.

Sideroads, the restaurant he generally liked having breakfast at, wasn't open until about eight in the morning, so he had fifteen minutes. He quickly started figuring out what he needed to do with the pool of money he had. He'd been given sixty dollars from his dad, along with sixty from his grandfather. Ted had given him forty, and Keon had about two hundred of his own. He needed to get snack food, alcohol, and mix, and leave himself enough for dinner and breakfast tomorrow morning. Easy enough, but it would require a fair amount of back and forth trips out. He looked at Steve, who was still unconscious. It was useless to try and wake Steve before ten in the morning, and sometimes that wouldn't even work. So Keon just shook his head, and rose, getting his sweater on. He put in his headphones, and turned on his music. It started playing a bell, and he smiled. The song, Hallowed be thy Name, was literally Keon's favorite song of all time. It was by Iron Maiden, his favorite band, and it was one of the first songs he'd ever heard by them.

He started humming and singing along, as he started walking up James Street, crossing Andrew Street, and turning left on Main Street. He walked down it, and came to Sideroads. He smiled, seeing it was open when he got to the door. He walked in, and sat down.

An hour later Keon walked out, very content and full. He left the waitress, whom he'd recognized from his high school days here, a tip of about ten dollars. He walked down to the grocery store first, and cracked his knuckles. It was time to get things done. He grabbed a cart, and pushed it into Foodland, chuckling. He started grabbing what he needed. To start he noticed that twelve can cases of Coca-Cola and Barq's Root Beer. He grabbed three cases of cola, and two of root beer. That was all he could carry to start with. He went up and paid for those, and walked back to Ted's.

The grocery store was across town from Ted's, about a ten minute walk each way. Keon got back, to surprisingly find Steve awake. Keon dropped off the cases of pop, and was quickly out the door again. He'd asked Steve if he wanted to come, but Steve had been in the middle of a game. So Keon started walking back to the grocery store. He went back in, and now started loading the cart with snack food. About five or six bags of chips, various kinds, some candy and some pastries from the bakery. He went up again, and paid for it all. This bill came to close to forty dollars. He then walked back to Ted's again.

He got back and it was about eleven in the morning. Keon was pleased, because now the LCBO was open. He quickly left again, and walked out there. He went in, and came out almost twenty minutes later with a six pack of blue Vex, for Ben. Also he had a twenty-six ounce bottle of Captain Morgan's Rum, one of Crown Royal, and one of Smirnoff Triple Distilled Vodka. He got back to Ted's and somehow fit all the three twenty six ounce bottle into Ted's freezer. Then he shoved the Vex into Ted's fridge. He checked the time and it was about one in the afternoon. He smiled, and quickly pulled out his cell phone.

He called his friends who lived out of town. Matt Tanner, Kyle Travis, Alex Heck, and Kayley Hurst. Then he nodded to Steve and left again, walking to his mom's work, the IDA pharmacy on Main Street. He went in, and got the keys to the car from her. Keon was whistling quite pleased, as he drove off out of the parking lot, towards Riverview, where his friend Matt lived. He left the town behind, going down the highway. The night was going to be an awesome one.

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Many hours later, and a few car trips later, Keon had picked up all four of his friends. Each of them looked much like he remembered. Alex and Kayley were still both extremely attractive, and Kyle and Matt were still both rather muscular and well built.

The night was full of drinking and silliness, as Keon and his friends made idiots of themselves. They sang, danced, and basically got absurd, joking and playing all kinds of drinking games. They talked about life, about serious stuff and joking stuff.

They had a great time long into the night, but slowly, after midnight, they all started falling off, asleep. First to pass out was Steve, because he didn't drink. He was allergic to alcohol, the poor bastard. Next to nod off was Kayley, followed by Luke and Matt. Last to hit the sleeping trend were Kyle and Alex. Keon smiled, as he and Ben and Ted all polished off one more drink, with a toast as they looked at their sleeping friends.

"After such a great party, what can one say but Happy Samhain. Tonight was great fun, very much an awesome celebration. Yet the fun is only beginning. For tonight, us three, with two others, get to live an experience many others think is not possible, and some others will only ever dream us. So lads," Keon said, winking at Ted and Ben, raising his glass of rum and cola, "What more to say, but this. Let the adventure begin Mother. Bring me that horizon!" Ted and Ben's voices joined him on the last sentence, and the three of them hammered down their drinks. They all moved off to their respective sleeping spots, smiling at each other.

Keon laid down on the floor, his backpack his pillow, his sweater his blanket. He got as comfortable as possible, but it was a hardwood floor. Even drunk as he was, and Keon was pretty hammered, he wouldn't normally have been able to fall asleep very easily on the floor. Yet tonight, as he gripped the token, he felt it start getting warm, and his eyes slammed shut, as sleep took over his body. His consciousness, now sober, drifted up. He looked down, and felt a slight awkwardness, as he realized he was staring at his sleeping self. His body was still obviously breathing, so he didn't panic. He just found it a strange experience. As he rose, he saw the beautiful woman, the one in the robe with the strange eyes, above him. He smiled and nodded in deference, speaking. "Hello, Mother, and thank you for this amazing chance."

She smiled and nodded, gesturing to wait. "Keon, my child, let us wait until we collect the others." She motioned to Ted and Ben below, as they started to lie down.

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Ted and Ben both laid down and spoke to each other. "Goodnight brother, and see you soon enough." they said to each other. Ted turned off the light, and closed the door, and both closed their eyes, clenching their tokens. They felt a pull, and their eyes slammed closed, as sleep took them. They felt their consciousness being pulled up by something, and looked up. They saw a purple and blue light, in front of which Keon was floating. Beside Keon was a woman who they knew was the one they'd been hearing.

She was gorgeous, and obviously some kind of higher power. She just had that look, and feel to her as they got closer to her. She smiled at them, her blue and green eyes twinkling mischievously. "Hello children. I'm glad to see both of you here. I honestly had my doubts about you, sir Theodore. But it seems, despite the demeanor you put forward, you truly hoped such an idea could be reality just as much as either of your two brothers."

Ted smiled and tipped his head in deference. "I guess so-" He looked at Keon, who mouthed the word 'mother' to him. "Mother," he continued. "So, I have to ask, are you literally the 'Mother Goddess' that Keon's faith speaks of?"

Keon stared at Ted, not sure how such a blunt question would be taken. But the woman just chuckled and looked at him. "Strong of body, and thirsty for knowledge. That suggests a strong mind. You'll do well in Tariek, Ted. But let us leave such things for after we retrieve the other two members of your little party, if you don't mind?"

Ted nodded in deference, and smiled, "Well this is your setup here, my dear, so of course I can wait." She smiled, and led their souls across the skies and quickly they were over Angus, Katie's house to be exact.

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Katie woke up, checking the time. It was about three in the morning. She woke up a little panicked and sad. "No, I forgot!" She whispered, going to her dresser. She picked up the token, and laid down again, starting to feel like she was going to cry. "Please tell me I wasn't too late.." she whispered as she started to fall asleep. Suddenly, the token heated up, and her eyes slammed shut, as sleep took her over.

She felt her consciousness being tugged up, and at first was scared. She got even more frightened as she saw her own sleeping body below her. She started to panic a bit, thinking she might be dying.

Far above her, the others watched, but Keon could tell what was going on. He had a slight empathic connection to his lover, and from this close, even though they couldn't see her, he knew she was panicking. Keon shook his head, and flew down towards her body. Her soul came into view, almost at the ceiling of her bedroom. Her eyes went wide as she saw him. "Keon?" she asked, confused, and scared "Is that really you?"

Keon nodded, and offered his hand. "It's me lover, I promise you. You are fine, you will be fine. We are not dead, simply in a state of limbo. I don't know what's doing it, but our bodies are just fine, they are still breathing. Come on, lover, this is how we have to get to Tariek, and then we can have our adventure."

She looked at him, still not sure. He could tell she didn't know if it was him, so she was still fighting it. So he took drastic action, and moved up to her. He put his right hand on her face lightly, and suddenly kissed her. It was passionate, but loving and caring and soft. Her eyes closed and she calmed down considerably. When he stopped, she looked at him, and spoke again. "Alright, if you say it's okay, I'm going to trust you."

Keon smiled and together, they rose. Katie's jaw dropped with awe, as she saw the woman who was leading them. "Who is this?" she asked Keon.

Keon smiled. "This is Mother." he said, as if talking fondly about his favorite parent. She looked at the woman in amazement. She was gorgeous, but had a soft and friendly look to her.

She looked at Katie and smiled at her. "I know you are confused, but we have one more person to join us, and then we need to get to the Isle before I can truly make all this make sense to you. So please, come along and let us collect our fifth member of your little group."

They flew off and soon enough they were over a house Keon recognized as his cousin's. He watched as Mother closed her eyes, and whispered something. He just caught it, "Come my child, and prepare yourself. Your story is about to begin." Keon watched, waiting for Melissa to join them.

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Melissa couldn't sleep, and was holding the token under her pillow. She just couldn't sleep, even with Lee's arms around her. Something was keeping her up. She blamed Keon's token, because she was anxious to see what would happen. After a bit of contemplation, she was going to throw it across the room. But as she started to pull her hand out from under her pillow, suddenly she felt terribly tired. Her eyes slammed shut as sleep took her, and she felt her consciousness being pulled away. She was looking up, and rising. Her eyes opened, and she saw Keon, waving, along with two other women and two other men. She rolled over, confused, and looked down to see....herself! Melissa started to panic a bit, thinking she was dying. But she shook her head, noting her body move, snuggling closer to Lee. She was obviously still alive.

She turned and looked at Keon, confused. She could tell it was him, yet it didn't really look like him. She spoke, to him. "Keon?" she asked tentatively, "What's going on?"

Keon smiled, motioning towards the beautiful woman in the brown robe, with the two different colored eyes. "This is Mother, she's the one who's behind all this. All will be made clear when we get to the Isle cousin, I promise. But we have to get there soon, so for now we just have to follow her, okay?"

Melissa looked up at him. "You remember your promise to me?" she asked softly.

Keon nodded, and offered his hand. "We're family, and family always keeps their word." he said, smiling. She took his proffered hand, and he hauled her up into a 'standing position', though they were all floating. He looked her in the eyes, and then motioned to the other three behind him, and spoke, his eyes twinkling. "Now, let's go and find an adventure."

She nodded, and with that, the six souls took off, up into the purple and blue light. It disappeared, and there was a flash of blinding light, and then darkness for a moment.

As the five friends' sight returned, the woman smiled and turned to face them, lowering her hood. She spoke to them, motioning behind her. "Welcome to Avalon, my friends, my children. Welcome home."