He had no trouble getting into the house. With his wand at the ready, he sought her out and found her distracted as she made herself a microwave meal.
Agnes Crumplebottom had no idea she was about to be the target of a spell. If someone had told her, she wouldn't have listened. She didn't believe in magic. It was all nonsense with smoke and mirrors. Entertainment for simpletons and that was that.
These thoughts did not protect her from the effects of the spell.
A confused toddler sat where Agnes had been. She was suddenly very scared and no longer able to hide how alone she felt, but the stranger coming towards her seemed very reassuring.
"Come with me, little one," he said, his voice sounding distant. "We must get the others if we're to have any hope of success."
With that, they set off for Moonlight Falls.
Bell peppers. Beatrice never knew why they gave her so much trouble. It seemed she had another batch that was supposed to be red peppers, but it had turned out yellow. Had Beatrice messed with her seeds again?
As a flash of light cascaded around her, none of the concern over peppers seemed to matter. And everything seemed bigger. And new. And different. She wasn't sure what was happening, but she wanted to explore and find out.
Bianca was sick and tired of her unappreciative sisters. She was heading out. Others knew how wonderful she was. Beatrice and Belinda were just jealous.
As the colors swept over her, she forgot what she had been mad about. She remembered that she was thinking of her sisters. Maybe they'd want to play...
Belinda was heading out to get the mail. She loved getting the mail. It was her favorite when she happened to come out as the mailman was putting the letters into the box. Then, she'd get the letters
and a chance to chat. As she looked out towards the street, she didn't see the mailman.
Since she wasn't looking to the side, she didn't see the man with the wand.
Then she saw the ground. It was much closer. She decided to crawl across it: to really get moving as fast as she could!
The stranger scooped up the trio of toddlers and assured them he was going to take them "somewhere safe" until it was time.
"Somewhere safe" turned out to be a house where the three sisters were united with their distant cousin.
The stranger raised them from toddlers to children. He referred to the three sisters as his "daughters." Aggie was not a daughter, but she was still family, and family, he told them, is of key importance.
In their childhood years, he started telling the girls that they had a great purpose to serve. "You will help save all of Simanity," he told them. While never being too specific, he assured them they would be important in bringing about a newer, better world.
As they grew to be teens, their personalities were moving more and more towards the roles he had set out for them. "You will do great things, my darling daughters," he said, beaming with pride. "Oh, you will too, Aggie," he added for the cousin.
And as they grew older, he pulled out an ancient-looking book. He called it a grimoire. It had secrets, he told them. Secrets that would help them save the world.
He was reading to them from the grimoire one night when he surprised them by asking Bibi to read a passage.
"This one," she asked, a bit hesitant and uncertain why she was being given this honor.
"Yes, my dear," he said, reassuringly.
She began reading, "...and then the dwindling away will happen. They will dwindle and come to their end. This will begin the age of ghosts."
"And that is where you come in, my dears," he told them. "You will help keep the varying races of the Sims from dwindling away and ending. You, the Crumplesteam sisters, and your cousin Aggie, will save the world."
Bibi replied with, "Umm, we love the faith you have in us, but..."
"What she's trying to say is that we appreciate your faith in us, father," Trish interjected, "but we're just a quartet of teen girls. I really don't think the salvation of the world is in the best hands..."
"Let's address that," he said with a smile.
And so, he brought the girls to the cake. After each blew out the candles, their "father" told them of their role.
Lindy went first. "You will garden and fish for the household. You will also learn athleticism and martial arts."
Next was Trish. "You will learn a multitude of skills from books. You are the font of knowledge and education."
Then, Bibi. "You will be the mother of a child from each of the nine races: sim, fairy, vampire, werewolf, mermaid, alien, genie, witch, and a plantsim, though Trish and Lindy will have to help with that last one."
And finally, Aggie. "You will be the housekeeper and the repairperson. You'll also raise the children so Bibi doesn't have to. Not a glorious role, but support is important. Now, my girls, it's time for you to head off to meet your destinies."
And with that, the quest to save the world was placed in the hands of the Crumplesteams.
