Slide 1:If you haven’t read the Boolpropian Round-Robin Legacy, this probably won’t make much sense. This is about two of the fourth generation spares: Jason and Liam Doran.


Slide 2:“There they are!”


Slide 3:“We found you now, Donovan.”


Slide 4:“Or shall I say...”


Slide 5:“Doran?”


Slide 6:Jason’s eyes snapped open and he found himself staring at the sky. No elf in sight. It had just been a dream. The blond teenager was usually called names like pessimist, cynic, killjoy... The truth was that he was just plain scared. Terrified, really. Not for himself, but for his family.


Slide 7:Now his family consisted only of his twin brother, Liam, and Jason was solely focused on keeping him safe. Jason sat up, barely noticing the aching bones that would have kept other people in bed. He took quick inventory of his surroundings: they had crashed in a small corner of a park. And Liam?


Slide 8:“Hey, bro!” came the cheery voice of his Pollyanna twin. “Sleep well?” Jason groaned in response, making his way to the shallow creek to wash the sleep from his eyes.


Slide 9:“So, are we almost there?” Liam leaned back and started to whistle a little tune. “Almost where?” “You know, the place you’re taking us.” “Oh, right.”


Slide 10:“Well, are we?” “Sure,” answered Jason, plastering a wide smile on his face.


Slide 11:“We aren’t really going anywhere, are we?” the angry edge in Liam’s voice was something rarely heard. It demanded the truth. “No, we’re not.” “There isn’t really a ‘safe place’ for us like you said?”


Slide 12:“Not that I know of.” “Great,” once again a foreign tone entered Liam’s voice, this time sarcasm. “If we stayed in one place for too long, we would just be making it easier for the elves to find us, Liam.”


Slide 13:But Liam was lost in his own happy world, examining the clouds and whistling. As Jason began to plan the day’s route, he couldn’t help but wish that he could have his own happy place, too.


Slide 15:“I can’t believe you finally convinced me to come to this dump, Madigan.” “I can’t believe you agreed to come,” answered the redhead as she took a dress from the rack and joined her friend in the changing booth.


Slide 16:“This place doesn’t even give you privacy to check yourself out! Is there even a mirror?” “Sure, hold on Brighid. I’ll show you.”


Slide 17:When the girls saw each other, they burst out laughing. “That’s the shortest dress I’ve ever seen!” “Your dress is see-through!”


Slide 18:Once they saw their reflection, they began laughing at themselves. “Dude, I think I can see my underwear!” “How could I not notice that this is made entirely of lace?”


Slide 19:“There is no way I’m wearing this to the prom, Mads.” “I thought so. But isn’t this fun? Funner than those designer places you wanted to go to?” “Well... as long as nobody sees us... at least nobody who--”


Slide 20:“Hey, I think that cutish guy over there is checking us out!” “WHAT!?”


Slide 21:“I can’t believe I lost again! Your turn, Liam.” “Aaw, but the view is so nice from here.” “Lemme see!”


Slide 22:“Remember that girl a few weeks ago, at that store we took these shoes from? How we decided she was the most beautiful girl ever? We were so wrong!” “I know!” “I mean, look at--” Jason’s voice suddenly became hushed and panicked. “Liam? Check out their ears...”


Slide 23:That same day, at the opposite side of town, the two girls were arguing in the sunset. “C’mon, Mads, just because you thought you smelled som--” “I did not smell anything! You know what my gift is! You’re just jealous ‘cause you don’t have one!”


Slide 24:“I am not jealous of anyone or anything! I just don’t understand why you had to make me come with you! It’s bad enough we were following them, did we have to become ‘girl in black’ to do it?” “We dressed in black to blend in with our surroundings! You know, camouflage?”


Slide 25:“It’s not even dark out yet! Besides, black makes me look fat!” “Are you kidding? You look awesome!” “Really?” Madigan nodded, scowl still in place. “Well, in that case, let’s go find these guys!”


Slide 26:The girls found a ladder leading to the second floor, where their target was waiting. “We’ve been waiting for you,” Jason’s voice was dead, tired and emotionless. Both boys looked like they were at their own funeral.


Slide 27:Madigan dropped to her knees, and Brighid stood awkwardly for a few seconds before lowering herself onto the floor, too. Then Madigan spoke in the voice reserved for crying infants or teenage boys who think you’re going to kill them, “We’re here to help you.”


Slide 28:Neither of the brothers reacted to this. Jason continued talking, “We know what you’re here to do. I’ll even help you, since you’re girls and all. If I jump from here, you can say that you pushed me or something. Just don’t hurt Liam. He can be your hostage or whatever. Don’t hurt him.”


Slide 29:Liam was staring at Jason, obviously surprised at the turn of events. Jason went on, “What’s the point of living like this? Maybe it is better being dead.”


Slide 30:“We’re here to help you, not kill you.” Madigan’s honest voice would have convinced anyone but Jason.


Slide 31:“You hear that, Liam? They’re not gonna hurt us. Yeah, right.” Then, suddenly, everyone was on their feet, yelling.


Slide 32:“You can’t take us! We’ll go down fighting!” “What?! Two seconds ago you were going to commit suicide!” “Jason, listen to yourself!” “You mean I just dragged myself across town in icky clothes for nothing!”


Slide 33:As suddenly as it had gotten loud, it became quiet again. “Listen, I know how you feel. When I was five years old, I was sentenced to death because I’m a half-blood elf. That’s what we think you are, too.” “A half-breed. We want to take you somewhere safe,” added Madigan.


Slide 34:“A half-breed elf? C’mon, do you see any pointy ears on us? Huh?” Jason’s words said one thing, but his defensive stance and Liam’s silence said another.


Slide 35:“You wear your hair covering your ears. That seems kind of suspicious, doesn’t it?” Madigan spoke before thinking, then apologized. “Sorry. But we-- I know you are at least part elf. And we know a place where you’ll be safe.”


Slide 36:“What makes you think we want your help? We’re just fine!”


Slide 37:“In fact, you can ju--” “Jason, shut up and get over here.”


Slide 38:“Jason, you’re obviously not thinking straight, but they’re telling the truth. I know they are. They can help us. Besides, they’re kind of cute.”


Slide 39:“Fine, we’ll do it your way. But if we end up brutally murdered, I will hold you personally responsible.” Jason paused then added, “But only because you’re right, they are kind of cute.”


Slide 40:Jason spun and scowled at the girls. “Fine, we’ll go with you. But if you try anything I’ll--” “Threaten to kill yourself?” “Shut up, Mads.”


Slide 41:“... so we brought them here.”


Slide 42:“Thanks, Madigan. We still haven’t even established that they are actually half-breeds, though. Well, gentlemen? Has this all been a mistake?”


Slide 43:“Actually, sir, we don--” Jason was interrupted by an elbow in the ribs, and Liam pulled back his hair to reveal a delicately pointed ear.


Slide 44:“Okay, now we’re sure you aren’t humans. You could be full blood elves, but we’ve taken that risk. But please, tell us how two young fellows like you wound up on the run.”


Slide 45:Liam told the story. “Our great-grandmother was Carli Doran. Apparently she’s well known. Have you heard of her?” A nod from the white haired half-breed bid him to go on.


Slide 46:“Well, she had our grandfather, who eventually fled to Bluewater. There’s no way you haven’t heard of Dominic Doran and the Bluewater Plague.” Again, a quick nod affirmed this.


Slide 47:“Well, his son and our father Gethin married our mom, Amber, and had ten kids. Then... uh... the military was forced to... ah... take contr--”


Slide 48:“Oh, don’t sugarcoat it! Our parents were murdered before our eyes!”


Slide 49:Gasps filled the room, the loudest coming from the older woman. “How horrible! You poor babies! Devin, we’ve got to do something!”


Slide 50:“I agree, Ea. Why, nothing makes me madder than innocent people being killed for no reason.”


Slide 51:“Why, I could--” “Dev, the children!” “Sorry.”


Slide 52:“Well, we appreciate the concern, but how can you help?”


Slide 53:“If you want to replace out parents, we’re better off being chased by elves!” “Jason...” Liam knew better than anyone how his twin’s mood snapped back and forth when the subject of their parents end was brought up.


Slide 54:“Why, honey, we would never want to replace your parents! We just want to give you a safe place to stay.” “A safe place that hopefully hasn’t been compromised by the antics of two young ladies,” Devin added with a frown at the girls.


Slide 55:“I’m sorry, grandpa Donnelley! But you know I can tell about things like this. I knew they were part elf!”


Slide 56:“I know, honey, but you still need to be careful!”


Slide 57:“I told her, grandpa Donnelley--” a glare from Madigan changed her sentence. “Uh, I told her we should be careful, and we were.”


Slide 58:“I’m sure you were, Brighid. But back to the question of what we will do with the Dorans, what will we do with the Dorans?”


Slide 59:“I think we should keep them here in Macadamia Lake, where they won’t have to worry about the full-bloods any more.”


Slide 60:“Why do you keep talking about us as though we aren’t even here?”


Slide 61:“You could just ask us what we want! And the answer would be that you--”


Slide 62:“We’d love to stay here in Macadamia Lake, Mr. and Mrs. Donnelley, if we could. It sounds like the perfect place for us.”


Slide 63:“No, it doesn’t! We don’t want your--”


Slide 64:“We really appreciate all your help.”


Slide 65:“Well, if you want to stay here in Macadamia Lake we’ll find a place for you.”


Slide 66:“Thank you, sir,” answered Liam, ignoring the groan of disgust from Jason.


Slide 67:“Why, Dev, we should keep them here with us! It’s been so long since we had young ones around.”


Slide 68:“But, Ea, we don’t have any place to put the--”


Slide 69:“Wait! They can stay in Flanerry’s room!”


Slide 70:“Thank you, sir. We appreciate this a lot.” “C’mon, children, let’s get you settled.” said Ea in a sing song voice, leading them down the hall.


Slide 71:“Tada!” “You have got to be kidding me!”