Reaper's Genetic Legacy Experiment [Complete]

[AnnaSimmery1234]

I agree with Peregrine, that response though. I'm so happy for Noten and Palmira!

[chetanhaobijam]

Awesome update. So very glad to see Noten back. And the story is going great. Looking forward for next chapter.

[Serenity S.]

The last few lines brought tears in my eyes. I feel so good for Palmira and Noten. Hopefully it'll all go better this time, with no traitors or such to end their happiness.

[cainspath]

I want to cry, your photos never load(ed for the past chapter update, too). I don't know why. 

I had no choice but to do with the narration. But I have to say that it's cool to have Noten as her dad. I approve! 

[LivvieLove]

Loved Noten's humorous response to being brought back.  Man am I stiff.  Well, rigor mortis will do that  :=)

I agree with Peregrine, that response though. I'm so happy for Noten and Palmira!

Haha, yeah I couldn't let Noten just come in quietly. That just wouldn't be in character for him.

Awesome update. So very glad to see Noten back. And the story is going great. Looking forward for next chapter.

Thank you! I greatly appreciate that!

The last few lines brought tears in my eyes. I feel so good for Palmira and Noten. Hopefully it'll all go better this time, with no traitors or such to end their happiness.

Aw, if it makes you feel any better, I teared up writing it. They're a wonderful couple together.
I think it's safe to say Palmira and Noten have a chance at happiness.

I want to cry, your photos never load(ed for the past chapter update, too). I don't know why. 

I had no choice but to do with the narration. But I have to say that it's cool to have Noten as her dad. I approve! 

Oh shoot. I recently had to switch from Carl's to MediaFire which I'm slowly getting used to but it takes forever to load the pictures, which means I might have to switch once again to another file. Hopefully it won't be a common occurrence. :/


Anyways, sorry about the delay, I've had a pretty rough week but it's over now. I managed to get through it thanks to my Sims, Long Live the Queen and Mythbusters. Thank you all for continued comments and support for the story! It will resume shortly - I know what I need to write I just need the pictures to match it. Give me about a day or so and you should see an update!

[LivvieLove]

I'll Make a Witch out of You
The air seemed to grow stiff as Edward and Mary awaited the return of everyone who had left. Edward paced openly in the front yard while Mary sat solemnly facing away. Her mind was distant lately, and she felt a growing war that raged on in her head. If her father came home to see her that meant all kinds of possibilities for her and Thomas to be reunited again, but something in her just felt very wrong about the idea.
She looked down at her hands. The apple she conjured earlier sat on the ground a few feet away. Whatever Agnes had done, whatever she had left her - she was stuck with it now and it weighed down heavily on her shoulder.
She heard the taxi pull up but she couldn't bear to turn around, to greet her father. She could hear Edward melting and rejoicing incredibly loudly from behind the house. It was supposed to be a happy time, but now Mary wondered what had become of her fate.
The crunching of grass made her realize she wasn't alone any longer.

"Hello, Mary." The voice was so familiar. She closed her eyes and she could see it like it was yesterday.
The man at the bar.
She jumped up and turned around quickly, and sure enough there he was in a dirty suit, smiling at her in the exact same way he did at the bar.
"Please, you don't have to get up." He chuckled. "Mind if I join you, actually?"
Mary eased a little and nodded, moving to sit back down. She didn't bother asking him if it was really him at the bar. It seemed so minor compared to the choices she had in front of her. Soon Noten was sitting down next to her, staring into the distance in the same way.

Neither of them said anything, they just sat for a long moment. As the silence stretched on Mary finally sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. I should be happier to see you, to meet you." She said slowly. "I just feel like I've got so many decisions I have to make soon, and I just can't seem to come to a conclusion either way."
Noten nodded calmly. "Is this about the war coming up, or what happens afterwards when you return home?" He inquired.
Mary looked at him with wide eyes, surprised at his knowledge of the events going on. "How did you know?" She asked quietly.

"Just because I was dead doesn't mean I wasn't carefully keeping up with what was going on." He smiled. "Everything from you and Thomas to Edward and his bad decision that brought everyone here."
Mary looked down sadly. "You knew about Thomas?"
Noten nodded.
"I don't know what to do." Mary whispered. "I feel that if I don't use the knowledge I've gained when you came home to bring him back... that if I don't try to bring him back like how you were that I would be a bad person."
"You would never be a bad person Mary." He smiled at her genuinely. "Is this because you don't feel like your feelings for him are real?" 
"Yeah - I mean no, but yeah." Mary's face twisted into confusion. "Towards the end, I knew I cared for him, I mean... it's why I was there, but it felt more like how a mother cares for her child, or how I look at Edward when he needs help. It wasn't... affectionate. It wasn't passionate. It wasn't anything like I've read love to be like. But if I don't do it, how will I ever know if it was love or not?" Mary put her face into her hands gently and sighed again. "Losing Thomas was truly hard, which is why I thought that it must have been love. I couldn't get out of bed, and the world just seemed to go on without me. When I started to get back up again though..." Mary looked at her father sincerely.
"Things began to change, and the world opened up again." Noten finished for her.

"Kind of. I guess it was the revelation that in trying to find myself, I made myself into something I don't think I was, or am, or something." Mary rambled. "I loved the idea of Thomas and I. We just fit together in a way that I've never experienced before, but at the same time, I'm not sure if I could call it love. It was quick and dizzying and different, so I thought that's what it had to be, but when I see Atrox and Amelia, or any other couple it just doesn't feel the same. If that makes sense."
Noten held back a laugh and nodded. He looked at her for a long moment. "When I met your mother she was much younger than I was. She was loud-mouthed, determined and some might say a little bratty, but I always knew there was something about her that drew me to her. She had a spark that brought me in like a moth to a flame. I had never been in love before. Sure, I thought I knew what it was, but I really didn't. Not until I met your mom. Everyone experiences love differently, and everyone will tell you different stories of their love. Your grandmother Emrin struggled her whole life with love, not realizing that the one person who truly loved her was right beneath her nose. It seems even to this day that they're happy. Point is, Mary, this isn't a decision you'll need to make right away. Take some time for yourself, and meet some new people. You'll know when it's love."
"Aren't you full of fatherly wisdom." Mary smiled as she retorted with sarcasm.
"Hey, I've got at least 20 years to make up for, I'm working on it." Noten grinned. "I'm going to go inside, do you want to come with or would you rather sit out here and think so more?"
Mary smiled as he stood up, but the smile faded as she stared out into the ocean. "I still need a little bit more time."
"Suit yourself." He shrugged, but as he went to walk away Mary got up and hugged him.

"I'm really glad you're here." She whispered.
"Me too."

Mary had sat out for another hour when she was joined by yet another presence.

"I see you survived my gift." Agnes teased lightly.
Mary wasn't sure if she was angry or happy with her great-great-grandmother, but she couldn't help but smile at her old wit. "Yeah, I only died partially." She joked.
"I suppose I should explain to you the gift I've given you."
"It's magic, isn't it?" Mary asked calmly. "I'm to take over after you." She stated.
"Has the Watcher already filled you in?" Agnes asked loudly.
"No," Mary grinned, "I figured that one out myself."
"As you can tell, I've lived a life much longer than any one else can really dream of, and as the days pass I'm really starting to miss Tragic and my babies that have all grown and passed. I need someone else to take the torch now, and I know you didn't have a say in the matter, but if you were given one I doubt you would have agreed." Agnes said softly.
"You're right, I probably wouldn't have, but we're here now. What's next?" Mary said, standing.
Agnes smiled, and suddenly they were elsewhere.

Mary could feel the magic that had come around her but thinking about it too hard made her dizzy.
"What's next is that I must train you to take my place." Agnes said sharply. "Are you ready?"
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

Agnes threw her hands around, her aurora of lights being channeled into a spell. As she worked the magic she began to teach. "We'll start with the basics. There are three types of magic: Magic Potential, Magic Expelled and Magic Wards. Magic Potential is the reservoir of magic in which you pull the other two out of, it is the most important to know how much Magic Potential you have so as to not expend yourself. When you over-expend yourself a lot there can be dire consequences, but if only done by a little it will just leave you in quite a painful situation."
Mary swallowed, trying to take it all in as Agnes worked up a great ball of light. Eventually the light faded and the empty field now had two strange looking plants on it.

"Let's test your Magic Potential, shall we?" Agnes said with a laugh. "Try and attack one of those peashooters."
"I don't know any spells yet..." Mary said looking down at the ground.
"No, no, no!" Agnes laughed, "Just attack it like normal, try to hit it."
Mary looked at her suspiciously but finally shrugged. "O-kay..." She exaggerated.
Yet as she got closer she started to feel that her body was not her own.

The plant was pelting her with something that was causing her to grow weaker and weaker. Right as she was about to get up to it, she collapsed to the ground and fainted.

Agnes raised her eyebrows. "Not too shabby." She said quietly, knowing Mary couldn't hear her. After a few minutes Mary groaned and picked herself up, feeling pain radiating all across her body.
"What happened to me?" She held her head and groaned.
"That is what it will feel like if you slightly expend yourself past your Magic Potential." Agnes smiled. "Though I doubt that will be a problem for you, as your Magic Potential is incredibly great."
"Then why don't I feel so great?" Mary groaned under her breath.
Agnes laughed. "You'll get used to it. Next on our list is Magic Expelled. Magic Expelled is spells, the ones you see cast by every other witch, there are three parts of a spell, are you picking up on a theme here?"
"Lots of threes."
"The three parts of Magic Expelled are the Pool, the Build and the Extension. Watch me closely here." Agnes said with focus in her eyes as she gathered up the magic before, waving her hands in specific ways.

"The Pool is down by my belly. You'll see the light that just stays there as I move my hands elsewhere, that is the Pool. It is where I am able to build up power in my spells. The longer the light gathers in the Pool, the more powerful the spells are. The Build is my hand movements. It determines what kind of spell I will be casting. The one I'm doing right now is a type of transmutation spell, which we'll go into later." Agnes went on. Mary's head was spinning and she wished she had brought something to take notes on by this point. "Finally," Agnes released the spell. "The Extension is the spell itself after it's been released."
In the place of the Peashooters stood two dummies.

"Does that all make sense?" Agnes asked, turning to look at Mary who was trying very hard to recall the whole lesson.
"I believe so. So you have Magic Potential... which is like where everything gets it's stuff from, Expelled is the spell which is made up of the power behind it, the type that it is and the end product? What about Wards?"
"Oh dear, you're not ready for those yet dear. Let's try to work on Expelled first. Now stand over across from that dummy and work on taking it down."

The two of them fired up their spells, Mary was surprised as to how much of the lessons made sense as soon as she put it into practice.
"Teach me now what you've learned." Agnes called over.

"The Pool is the light that will gather near my stomach, it will give my spell power. The build is the type of spell I want to cast, though I don't know any... it involves the movements of my hands." Mary struggled to keep her Pool growing as she moved her hands frantically in different movements. She wondered if this would end up blowing up in her face. She gritted her teeth as she tried to get control of her spell, "finally the extension..." she pushed her hand forward. "Is the spell itself." Glittering lights jumped out ahead of her, hitting the dummy and making him sparkle. Mary sighed and as her Pool started to fade Agnes scolded her.

"Don't stop there, keep your Pool up! Your first spell will always be your weakest!"
Mary jumped at the scolding and pushed herself forward.
Meanwhile Agnes was pummeling her dummy with spells of fire, ice and smoke.

As Mary persisted her spells became more potent, even ones that started to explode and even catch her dummy a little on fire.

Agnes finally turned and set up the next area, her dummy being fairly damaged. "Let's try another thing, Transmutation spells."
"What kind of spells are those?"
"The kind you'll be doing is the kind that changes a substance into something else. It's very useful, but it can be tiring as you can't decide what it will be changed into. As you train longer you'll be able to pull whole other objects out from nothing like I've done here for you to train, but for now, let's just change an apple into something else."
Mary got right up to the newly placed table and started to work her magic. This time she worked diligently to build up a strong pool before releasing the spell. She had watched the hand movements Agnes had done and followed them accordingly.

When she released her spell out, she was surprised to see it actually worked, and there in the smoke sat a sad looking tragic clown fish.

Mary was starting to get the hang of this. Afterwards she worked more on transmutation and even on fire and ice spells.


She learned how to clean up the puddles that came with Ice Blasts and extinguish the fires she created with her Fire.

It wasn't until the light of dawn had broken indicating the next day that Agnes finally spoke up. "Now, Mary, you are ready for the final part of Magic - Wards."
Mary grinned. "I'm not doing too shabby then, eh gran?"
Agnes laughed. "I can certainly make a witch out of you yet, my dear."

[PeregrineTook]

What?!?  There are practice dummies for magic?  I had no idea such a thing existed!!  Magical Mary has a nice ring to it  :=)

[Hallucination]

What?!?  There are practice dummies for magic?  I had no idea such a thing existed!!  Magical Mary has a nice ring to it  :=)

No. Those are scarecrow decorations (from Riverview, I think). Just a plot device.

[Serenity S.]

Ow, I never knew magic is that exhausting. Now I'm glad I wasn't born a Witch - or a Reaper, for that matter.

[VioletG]

Neat, I like the magic lessons. It really gives you a nice idea of how magic works in your Sims world. Can't wait to see what Mary does next!

[Rhoxi]

Well, we all knew Mary was special, but taking the legacy direct from Agnes to carry it on? She's no ordinary heir. 

[MadasaHatter]

I've been stalking the forum for a long time and I finally decided that I had to make an account JUST so I can tell you how much I love your story. I find myself crying and gasping and just kad;lfjkasd;jfaks-ing with pretty much EVERY single chapter. So keep up this great work! Look at Mary go, though! She's gonna be a great heir. =D

[LivvieLove]

What?!?  There are practice dummies for magic?  I had no idea such a thing existed!!  Magical Mary has a nice ring to it  :=)

Unfortunately there are no practice dummies for magic, just my creative mind. I do like that though, Magical Mary... I might hang on to that one.

No. Those are scarecrow decorations (from Riverview, I think). Just a plot device.

Exactly, Thank you.

Ow, I never knew magic is that exhausting. Now I'm glad I wasn't born a Witch - or a Reaper, for that matter.

Yeup, Reapers never get a break, nor do witches. But being both would be absolutely exhausting!

Neat, I like the magic lessons. It really gives you a nice idea of how magic works in your Sims world. Can't wait to see what Mary does next!

Thank you! I was trying to think of a creative way of having Agnes "pass the torch" so to speak. I can't wait to see what Mary does either! Oh wait... I'm supposed to know that, aren't I? Oops. 

Well, we all knew Mary was special, but taking the legacy direct from Agnes to carry it on? She's no ordinary heir. 

She's my halfway heir, so she's got to be special. This is the farthest I've ever come in a legacy... granted I'm cheating left and right but it's a heck of a lot of fun!

I've been stalking the forum for a long time and I finally decided that I had to make an account JUST so I can tell you how much I love your story. I find myself crying and gasping and just kad;lfjkasd;jfaks-ing with pretty much EVERY single chapter. So keep up this great work! Look at Mary go, though! She's gonna be a great heir. =D

Aw, that's really so sweet! Welcome to the forum! I'm completely flattered. Thank you for your kind words.


Anyways, short/bad/good/ugly/in-between/long/redundant announcement:
I've come a long way with the Reapers, and I'm going to say this just to make it clear: I have no intentions of stopping here. Lately my updates have been sparse, few and far between and I really want to explain why. With Carl's Gallery being closed I've had to switch photo-hosting sites and I now have to go through a more complicated system of getting my pictures up. That alone wouldn't really be a big issue, but lately I've just been growing weary of "setting the scene" with my Sims. It's tiring and it requires a lot of thought and effort and less playing for me. While I love telling stories and I would never - in any way - just drop a story line because it got too exhausting, the combination of effort required to get a chapter up makes me postpone a lot of my updates until I feel motivated enough to do so.
So, in short, after Mary's children are grown I'm likely going to switch back to a story line that's a little more closely resembling play-style and less of "scene setting."
Hopefully, that won't be too boring for anyone, as I really enjoyed the feedback I got from my different storyline. I'll try to keep things fresh and different and I will have story lines even still, but they won't be so out-there as to where I'm juggling 14+ Sims in a house and having to make needs Static just to set up pictures. I want to make sure I'm out of Barnacle Bay before I switch things up though because 1. I really want to wrap up the Isla Paradiso story line cleanly and 2. I want to make sure that everyone makes it out of BB alive without losing anyone like I did with Thomas and Edward.

Anyways, I have an update for you today, but I just wanted everyone to know that I'm not giving up on my Reapers, no matter how long it's been with my updates. I've just had this combination of real life/struggling to motivate myself to update that's really weighing me down and I've come to the sad realization that I just need to get back to telling the story while playing instead of fighting with myself to set up a story and have no fun because I'm not getting a chance to play them. Hopefully this all makes sense. Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys the update.

[LivvieLove]

I am Mary
Agnes stood across from Mary by a few feet. "Mary Reaper, you've come a long way with your magic, but we have one final thing to discuss."
Mary bowed her head in thought. "Wards." She said, as if answering a question that Agnes had phrased.
"Indeed. Wards are a very different kind of magic, and a lot more complicated than the two counterparts you've already learned. Wards are long-lasting spells, in a way, that don't work like regular spells."

"I'm trying really hard to follow you, but you've lost me." Mary's brow furrowed.
"When you cast a spell, you're usually aiming it at a target, whereas Wards are magic that - when cast - have more of an area-of-effect. The best example I can give you is a shield that a Witch will draw up when they duel someone. The shield is not being cast the same way as the offensive spells, but rather it's something that protects the area within a certain radius. Does that make a little more sense?"
"Kind of?" Mary was still trying to make the connection.
"Ok, well do you know what auras are?"
"Yeah, kind of like a spell being projected around something."
"That's exactly what a Ward is. Instead of it being projected onto something, it's being projected by something and it usually surrounds it."
"I think I get what you're saying. So Wards are more like auras?"
"That's the best way to describe them, except Wards usually take the form of curses or protective magic. When you curse someone to be a toad, it's not like hitting them with an ice-spell, the spell must continue to thrive once the magic is no longer connected to it. So the spell learns to feed off of certain types of energy to keep itself alive for a time period. That is why the person you turn into a toad is able to stay a toad and not just immediately switch back."
Mary nodded, finally feeling the knowledge sink in.
"There is also a protective Ward to defend against magic that most witches use in dueling, and that's what you and I are going to use to practice Wards."
"Wait, what?"
"Take your battle stance!"
"But... Gran...?"

"Get ready!" Agnes called out.
"I don't even know how to cast the Ward!" Mary squeaked.
"It's a learn-as-you-go situation Mary, you can do it!"
The first spell struck Mary and made her limbs cold and numb. She noticed a few orbs of light had developed in front of her as she braced herself again for another spell. Agnes smiled at her from where she stood.

"I see you found your inner ward!" Agnes said as she waved her hands in a way to keep building her Pool. "Now learn to harness it, it will protect you."
"How did I do that?!" The next spell was already hurling towards her though. Mary quickly moved to put her back towards the spell when she realized the Ward had started to absorb some of the blow.

"Perfect! Now you must have your Ward release the magic it's absorbing in other directions. If it keeps absorbing it will explode!" Agnes called quickly.
Mary's eyes went wide. "Explode?!" She stepped forward in a panic, but the ward responded and released magic on either side of Mary, nearly knocking her back until she set her foot down firmly, making herself the unmovable object.

She clenched her fist tightly, eyes bright and a wild smile growing on her lips as everything started to make sense. Before she knew it she was whipping up her Pool in an effort to make an offensive move.

Agnes and Mary went at this for hours, offensive and defensive. Mary was often the one to be knocked back, but she was very determined to knock her opponent down, and the determination was growing with every hit she took. Because in those moments when she would take a hit,

Is when she would start to uncover,

The person she's always wanted to be.

And after that realization - after however long they had spent going back and forth, Mary finally did it.

Joy built up in Mary's determined eyes as she grinned. She had found the spot, and all she needed to do was to keep going at it. She was untouchable. She was unstoppable.
She was Mary Reaper.


And no one else could tell her differently.

During the fight, Mary's parents had come to watch and cheer her on. Palmira cheered openly while Noten only watched with worry.

Mary hadn't noticed them though. She was deep into her duel and nothing was going to stop her now.

She was finally getting her footing and her confidence was high.

It wasn't long before she had completely overtaken Agnes.

Until it was just the two of them standing as the sun set. Mary had come out the victor.

"Congratulations, Mary." Agnes clapped her hands. "You've done it. You are now fit enough to take my place as head of this family for the next five generations. You have fought well and let yourself finally shine. I have no more to teach you, the rest is up to you to decide."
Mary gave a huge grin and spoke breathlessly. "Thanks Gran." She then about fell over as she put her hand to her head. "Man, I suddenly feel tired, hungry and fatigued."
The adrenaline has run out, dear, that's all.
Mary's eyes went wide. "You're the Watcher?"
That I am, now let's get you home to something to eat and a nap, you've been going at it for days.
Mary shook her head, but Agnes simply grinned. The connection had been rebuilt.
Thank you again, Agnes. Your age has been unfrozen, you can now go where-ever you wish to be and await the calling of your family.
Agnes nodded her head softly. "Thank you." Her voice sounded older than it had before, weary with time and age. "Noten, my dear, can you possibly take me to the airport? I have just a little bit of energy left and I want to use it to see Monte Vista one last time." Her voice had gone raspy. Noten nodded kindly and he and Palmira left to take her off to the airport, but before she could leave, Mary pulled her in for an embrace.
"Thank you for everything, Gran. I'll do my best to follow in your footsteps." She felt tears coming to her eyes.
Agnes shook her head, "no dear," she put her hand to Mary's cheek. "You must create your own path. Find your strengths and acknowledge the things that weaken you. Don't let little things prevent your happiness." Mary looked down, but Agnes pulled her chin right back up. "You will find love again, sooner than you think. Erik might have been my first love, but I can say - without shame - that I loved Tragic just as much, or even more." She smiled sweetly at Mary and walked slowly to the taxi where Noten and Palmira waited. They drove out of sight and Mary felt her heart grow heavy.
She flew herself home on her broomstick and thought of Edward as he always cheered her up. Even though she was sad to know Agnes would be gone, she was a little excited to explain her adventure to her brother. She bounded up the stairs to the house and opened the door quickly. "Hey Edward! You won't believe-"

And that was when she met him.

[PeregrineTook]

Whoa, nice epic battle scene! 
Also, I like that you brought us to a nice conclusion, then threw a twist right when we thought the update was coming to a clear conclusion  :=)