The Ithaca Legacy - Graveyard Please

[notjustabook]

1.6. Holiday Cheer



I was no longer young, I realised, and when my birthday came along again, I felt more like a proper adult. Carlo laughed at that.
“You're not old,” he said and pointed to his own grey hair. “Look at this.”
I silently disagreed. I was old, and it seemed right to mark it with a haircut.



I felt needlessly dramatic about the difference, but I also felt mature. It felt right. It was right in time for snowflake day, the day when the triplets met their uncle for the first time.



Camillo was our only guest, but with all the work we'd had to put into raising the triplets, socialising simply hadn't been possible. A brother was one person that wouldn't forget Carlo any time soon, though, and he braved snow and his own distaste for children to see us all on Snowflake Day.
He did well, considering Carlo had told me that he'd had a dislike for children all his life. I didn't particularly like that about him, and the same distrust I'd experienced the first day we met, I felt in him that evening. He softened during the party, though, and relaxed enough to tell us that he'd made a career change. He'd quit cooking to be a painter, something he had always wanted to do but never really discussed with his brother. Carlo for some reason had fun with that, but then he was exceptionally good at having fun.



Other than being a gift giving party, the evening was uneventful, calm and warm. We unwrapped the gifts – Pasiphaë being the most eager of all.



Aërope, while less eager for presents, showed all of us her lively imagination when she presided over the royal court at the dinner table. Ariadne, ever shy and timid, sat still for the meal but giggled at her sister's shenanigans.



It seemed like it was the first time since I brought home the troublesome trio that I could truly relax and just spend time with the girls. We stuffed ourselves with food and snacks, opened our gifts, and even had time to be outside.
It was the strangest moment when I was outside with Pasiphaë and suddenly realised that she was almost grown up. We rolled the first part of the snowman over the lawn, and she suddenly stopped in the snow, looking at it with a wicked grin.
“I want an army of snowmen,” she said.
I stood up, rubbing my already-sore arms. “An army, what do you want with an army?”
“Take over the world,” she replied, matter-of-factly. “I want to be president some day.”
“How about you do your homework first and take over the world when you're grown up?”
She thought about that for a moment. “Hmm, yes, that could work. But I'll start putting my plans into action now, you know. I need to be ready.”
“Well... yes.”
As she dashed off to get a carrot for the snowman's nose I stood laughing and thought that Lilah would probably have liked my aspiring president very much.



As Snowflake Day drew to an end, we tucked all of the girls in. Carlo went through the painstaking process of finding each a bedtime story that suited her specific needs (and world domination plans), and I sat musing over my chessboard.



Aërope, Pasiphaë and Ariadne were on my mind. As different as sun, moon, and stars, their paths were unfolding before them.
And in those years, never before had the path ahead seemed more perfect.

[Lovesarts]

Oh my gosh I love this story!!!! I love Greek mythology and when I saw all of the Greek names, that made me love this story even more. Plus, you're doing the story in my favorite town!!
*waits for update*

[notjustabook]

Oh my gosh I love this story!!!! I love Greek mythology and when I saw all of the Greek names, that made me love this story even more. Plus, you're doing the story in my favorite town!!
*waits for update*

Thank you so much! I'm really, really glad you like it. And I pretty much agree on Monte Vista being a favourite town!
Another update coming up!

[notjustabook]

1.7. As Time Goes By



Aërope was all her own – I didn't know where her imagination came from. I found her banging a pillow at thin air, and when I asked what was going on, she grinned at me and replied that Rags had started it. Who Rags was, I didn't know, but she spoke about him often.



Even with my work, I had more time to get to know the girls now. They had time off from school because of the snow, and it led to snowball fights and happy days.



Then of course, Aërope would take us all by surprise – she once zoomed off on her bicycle, crying in excitement that she'd seen a rock out on the little island and she was going to go get it. She came back drenched and sneezing, but could proudly produce the rock: a piece of silver. Hardly worth the illness that spread from her to the rest of the girls, but no matter how much Carlo and I reprimanded her, she couldn't wipe the smile off her face.



Ariadne, as always, stayed indoors and became my chess partner, and quite a good one, too. Though I had the advantage of her in years, she sometimes beat me with her eccentric mind and childhood imagination.



I had no favourites, as well a mother shouldn't, but Pasiphaë was a master at grabbing my attention. She'd come to me with her always blue eyes and beg, and I would respond as she wanted. That was her power.



A power that her father, too, was powerless to resist. Whether she asked for bedtime stories or snowball fights or help with her homework.
Home felt more like home than it ever had. Carlo steadily climbed the ladder in the crime syndicate, and at a certain point, I began bringing home a decent income myself. All this lead to a home that was finally properly furnished, and more like a home than ever:







Time passed as time will, and all eras must come to an end. My girls grew weary of toys and presiding over court and bedtime stories.



And so, it was time. We lined up the cakes and the girls blew out the candles – a new era was beginning and another was ending.

[Author's note: I normally think kids are so boring to have but with all the Generations stuff, they're really, really cute and lovely to play... I'll miss these three as kids.]

[EtnaFan666]

This is a very beautiful legacy story. Keep it up. 

[notjustabook]

This is a very beautiful legacy story. Keep it up. 

Thank you a lot! I sure will!

[notjustabook]

1.8. The End of an Era



Time was cruel and time was kind.


Time gave me Aërope, disciplined but excited, always eager to see more and more of the world.


Time gave me Pasiphaë, eccentric and inventive, and in time easier to impress.

Time gave me Ariadne, timid and fond of the indoors and with an eye for photography we discovered in her teen years.


They all turned out beautiful, eccentric, ambitious, brave, cowardly, adventurous, kind. Each had her little quirk and her little thing to say.



Time brought new acquaintances, teaching Aërope that she was more beautiful, more desirable than she had ever dared hope. Carlo called Zackary, originally a friend of Pasiphaë, 'that boy' and looked like he would bite his head off, but one look at Aërope's smile made him roll his eyes and smile. He kept an eye on them, but he let it happen.



Time made Pasiphaë patient. I never thought I'd see the day that she would sit down to a game of chess without any intention to make it part of her plan to rule the world.



And time made my little Ariadne brave. She braved the outdoors and arrived triumphant, with a radiant smile, from the grocery store.
“I've got a job,” she said. “After school. I really got a job! Me!”

Time gave me so much.
I never stopped to think, that as time passed, and time gave...



Time would take away.

And time came crashing down. Wrinkles and grey hair was cosmetic, and inside, I knew, he wasn't really old. He wasn't really ready. I wasn't ready.



Three young girls weren't ready for him to leave. I barely heard the cries around me, because my own world was spinning and shrinking, imploding on itself until only faint sounds and Carlo's face was left.
“Dad!” someone yelling.
“No!” someone sobbing.



A someone reaching out. Carlo's voice.
“Please, Persie, don't...”
And no more.



I think my story is over.
I think time has given and taken all I could get. For just a while, I want to be selfish. I sent the girls abroad, to let me suffer on my own. To think of all the things that could have been. The weddings missed, the grandchildren not met.
The times I didn't pull him close, the times I didn't kiss him, the times we didn't laugh because time wouldn't let us.
For now, this is the end of an era.
For now, I want to be alone.

[Author's note: Carlo died very close to his final promotion to Master Thief... so not fair. Sigh... Rest in peace, Carlo...

Next up – the heir takes over with the story!]

[JudesSims]

Very nice writing! I'm enjoying this very much.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

[Shewolf13]

Oooo this is fabulous!  Such a great story!  RIP Carlo!  *sniff* I hate it when spouses die.

[notjustabook]

Very nice writing! I'm enjoying this very much.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

Thank you so much

Oooo this is fabulous!  Such a great story!  RIP Carlo!  *sniff* I hate it when spouses die.

And thank you!
Yeah, me too And it was almost enevitable that Carlo would die pretty early, seeing as he's already rather old when you start up Monte Vista... still, my Sims tend to live ridiculously long when I don't want them to stick around (I have one that's way over a hundred in another game) and when I want them to stay, they die... typical.

[notjustabook]

2.0. The Dog and the Redhead



I am Pasiphaë Ithaca and if you're sitting there thinking 'Wow, that name is quite the mouthful!' I couldn't agree more. That's why my friends and family have taken to calling me Passie, because few people like to risk breaking half of the bones in their face just to call me over. I'm grumpy, eccentric, a heavy sleeper and easily impressed – not going to lie about that last one. Show me a stick bridge over a shallow puddle and I'll call it an architectural marvel.

I recently lost my father – I know, what a way to lighten the mood. Tell them all about your silly name and then break it to them. When he died, things didn't slow down the way I expected. Time just kept passing for some reason, and the only one who seemed to have a hard time coming to terms with that was Mum. I tried desperately to catch her attention for days – feigning teenage moodswings, threatening to stay out past curfew, rigging the shower to colour Ariadne's hair purple – but it didn't seem to work.

Finally, she took us all aside and said she was going to send us abroad. Of course, because my sisters and I have nothing in common, she picked three different destinations for us.



Aërope, she's my older sister, went to China. She's always been disciplined and focused on the things she does, and now she'd decided to go for martial arts. She came home with a belt that I don't remember the colour of, and stories of a Chinese woman she had a nice chat to.

That's my sister for you – she's so sensible. Sure, she's possibly even more excited about everything than I am, but she just... gets things done. Life demands that she get a hobby? One hobby coming up. Life demands that she get a boyfriend? Enter Zackary, that guy I'd just sort of talked to once who came over because he said he wanted to play chess (in reality, he had a thing for Aëy and he was completely transparent about it). Yeah, Aërope always came through easily.



Ariadne went to France, because scaredy cat that she is, exploring tombs just wasn't her thing. She had a nice relaxing holiday, unlike some others (yeah, I mean me) – tasted good nectar, chatted to Frenchmen and apparently not much more than that. Some people have it easy, sheesh. Of course, when she came home, she had to work on homework and the job she found for herself – guess she needed some time off from all that.



And then there's me. For some reason, I couldn't settle for nectar sipping and faking knowledge of great art at a French museum – I picked Egypt. I tried relaxing. I sat at the Base Camp, roasted food on the fire, chatted with locals and hunky adventurers and... got really bored. That's why I decided to explore the pyramids.

Now, if you ask my mother, she will swear that I'm lying through my teeth, but I found gold and treasures and met a mummy. No, really! A real live (well, sort of live, you know) mummy. I tried persuading him to join my army of snowmen so that we could take over the world but you know what mummies are like these days – so difficult. Require way too much pay – and health insurance, too. Nah, I'll stick with snowmen.



Eventually, the trip was over, everyday came back and we all returned to find that not much was changed. Time was still passing relentlessly and Mum, who hadn't had the advantage of nectar, martial arts and mummy chasing was still miserable.

And that figures, really, but... it still felt weird. She would prefer to stay in bed when she didn't work, and while her and I used to be the closest friends, she hardly had the energy to say a word.

Now, I'm not much of a people person, and I know that. I wanted to talk to her about it, let her cry on my shoulder and talk about dad until the pain passed, but I didn't know how. Whenever she came home, she gave me that tired smile and went to bed, saying work had been nightmarish and busy and would we mind if she went to sleep? Of course not is what we said.

And it hurt, so with my anti-people skills, I hatched a plan.



I always said: when everything else fails, buy a puppy. Or maybe I didn't but now I certainly do. Mum was at work when he came and to her surprise, she came home to find a soft, brown little puppy that I'd given the theme appropriate name, Achilles.

“You bought him?” she asked, but even though she looked more surprised than happy, she knelt down to pet the little guy. “Why?”

“Well, I... thought we needed a dog. He can chase of burglars and... that creepy university mascot.”

Aërope and Ariadne both nodded enthusiastically at that.

“Isn't he cute?” Ariadne said, already smitten with the little guy.

Aërope added: “Yeah, Zachary told me that having a dog will bring a family together.” Well, good thing my silly plan was approved by Aëy's boyfriend – couldn't have him not approving.

For a while, we were all silent and I wondered if I had seriously messed things up this time. It wasn't like I imagined that a dog would replace dad in any kind of way, but I wanted someone there for her. She was just absentmindedly scratching Achilles behind the ear for what felt like a long time.

Then she finally stood and picked him up.



“He's wonderful,” she finally said. “He really is. What a good idea, Pasiphaë.”

With that smile on her face, I didn't have the heart to ask her to call me Passie. I just enjoyed that first smile on her face since dad passed away.

Sometimes, the ones with no people skills do win. A little.



At least the dog I bought distracted Mum from Aërope and Zachary having their first kiss nearby. Or maybe she just chose to give them some space.

[Author's note: And there, Pasiphaë's first part. I was getting so tired of writing from Persephone's point of view - I've always wanted to write a snarky, weird Sim and Passie is just that. Gotta love it... well, I love it.]

[Lovesarts]

Awesome update! I was hoping Passie would take over.
(the story, not the world.)
Once when I played Monte Vista, my Carlo died 1 hour before work started.
On the day he was going to get promoted.
That save game is gone now.
*waits again*

[notjustabook]

Awesome update! I was hoping Passie would take over.
(the story, not the world.)
Once when I played Monte Vista, my Carlo died 1 hour before work started.
On the day he was going to get promoted.
That save game is gone now.
*waits again*

I think Pasiphaë was a great choice, too She's basically just a clone of Persephone, and so fun to write.
Oh man, he just has to die too soon, hasn't he! And it's too bad, he's a great starter spouse in Monte Vista. His brother would have been the more obvious choice, being younger, but then there's the Dislikes Children trait - no thank you!
New update coming up

[notjustabook]

2.1. Junkyard Girl



Why am I zooming off in the rain like that, you ask? Well, it's been nine months since Dad died and since then, I'd found myself a hobby. I was going to revolutionise the world as we all knew it – I had it all planned out. But the great inventions of a generation didn't come on their own, and so a creepy old lady told me that the junkyard was the place to go if you wanted to be a master inventor.

Hence driving in the rain.



Some girls might have preferred to spend their teenage years chasing after boys or... making flower arrangements (what, I don't know what normal teens do), but I preferred finding scrap at the junkyard. In the rain.

I was sifting through the pile, thinking about the things I could make with the strange things I found, when a voice cut through the air.

“Hey, you, are you crazy?! Get in here!”

It was a boy, around my own age, I was guessing, who was waving at me from the shack on the property. I raised my eyebrow at him.

“Just come in here, there's a thunder storm coming. It's dangerous being out there.”



I did what he said, though not without rolling my eyes. The shack was small and other than me and the rude boy, there were a couple of other people huddled up to avoid the rain.

“You know, I'm pretty sure getting hit by lightning is a very rare occurrence,” I said, and he smiled.

“Well, I may have exaggerated a bit.”

“You don't say.”

“Well, it's because you're pretty, I mean, I guess you are, if you don't mind.”

I snorted. That was the most hilariously failed flirt I'd ever experienced, so I decided to bail him out of the misery.

“Yeah, I am very pretty. Would be too bad if my hair was messed up or something. Anyway, don't you think we should properly introduce ourselves? I'm Pasiphaë.”

“Gesundheit.” I glared at him. Rude. “Right, I'm... Junior...”

I think I was silent for a moment and then I burst out laughing.



Turns out, I was pretty rude, too, and he didn't take it too well. He mumbled something about a stupid name and said he had to head off.

Well, two could head off like that. I'd just had a brilliant plan for changing the world myself, so I hurried home to put some of my scrap to work. I was going to change the world! Revolutionise the universe! Just you wait, I thought, four days with me in charge and the world would soon be like a sci-fi movie...



Oh, well, no rush.

I started small and worked my way up, and Junior even called me later, apologising for being so rude. I did the same and had to stab myself with a nearby pencil to prevent myself from laughing when I said 'Goodbye, Junior'.







Meanwhile, our little doggie wasn't such a little doggie anymore. He grew up into quite the lovely, big dog. Aëy, Ariadne and I hardly had time to celebrate our grown up doggie, though, because prom was coming.

Unsurprisingly, Aërope was going with Zachary, while Ariadne and I hadn't found anyone. Ariadne had gotten herself a job at the grocery store and said she'd rather work than chase after boys. I tried out something like that: 'I'm so busy setting myself on fire and running to and from the shower – I simply don't have the time.'

Then I thought, hey, I could ask, but then I didn't get further in my thoughts, because Junior. The name still made me laugh. And so, prom came, and both of us went alone, but in style.

[Lovesarts]

He's sooooo FLUFFY!! I love him!!
The dog, not.. Junior. I love Pasiphae's point of view. I am actually the kind of person who would rummage in the junkyard while it was raining. But if someone that I didn't know yelled at me...
then please hold my earrings while I beat them to a pulp.
Great update as always!!