Crazy Doc Sanger arranged for everyone to meet in the null-space hidden in Raul and Rowena's warehouse. For the time being, since it was pretty close to the school and could easily be hidden by the magics of the Domina kids, it was decided that everyone could live there.
They all sat in the dim quiet place, some picking at the threads on the couches, others trying to get better lighting. They didn't need it, pretty much all of them could all but see in the dark. Sanger stood up and cleared his throat, and the kids all sat at patient attention.
"I know this is going to sound strange coming from me, but," Sanger said, "you don't know me at all. And I know next to nothing about you - and I would guess that even though you've bedded down here for the last two nights, you aren't familiar with each other. We are not all related, except for Lucien and Lucrezhia and I, and even then," he shrugged and laughed, "that won't be for more than a decade."
So he told them about himself. A long, sad story for the early parts. How he was born in a little cold town just on the Hungarian border with Russia, and his young sister Ilyana died in her sleep. How they moved to the United States and he spent the next ten years or so being a nice normal kid. And then, when he was sold off to Jon Byers. Experimented upon, sent to Angeles. His parents murdered, more experimental treatments... Getting degrees at 17, learning language after language. Being seduced by Byers, who had kept his identity anonymous during his treatments. Meeting and marrying his wife, starting up the patent process to make virtual reality machines popular in another universe. Siring his son Martin, and then, everything falling to shit. He was framed, driven insane, abused and forced into a terrifying state of mind by Jon. As he tried to escape, committed murder of several members of the swat team attempting to take him down. And then, while waiting for his death sentance to be performed, being rescued by the first angel in his life: Jeff Engell. Or, in his universe, Engel.
("Not a little allegorical, is it?" Whispered Raul, whose sister added, "it's German, I know...")
Being taken to Alabaster and put to good use. At first just in their research and development department, but then because of his rather persuasive abilities, he was made into their head interrogator. Progressively deeper into insanity and depression, his multiple suicide attempts. And at last, being met by Daverin and Brianna - his other angels and protectors. Selflessly, Daverin allowed him to take out years of fear and anger on her - in exchange for calling him back to sanity. Two more children, one with each of them... And then the world broke.
Someone on the other side of reality, another Sanger, the Talon City Sanger, created a device which would allow transportation from one universe to other parallel places. He'd found Crazy Doc Sanger, and took him away. Once here at Carramba however, things changed. All this was so far behind this version of Sanger, he'd been at Carramba for what felt like centuries at times. Since there was a huge time dilation around the place, it being a Nexus, no one could say exactly how long he'd been working there. Losing most of his hard-earned fears and bloodthirsty reflexes, and - most importantly he stressed - being roomed with a genuine angel. "My world didn't have gods," Sanger said. "They just didn't exist. When I first came here, it was like ... I was being judged for real - after my whole life believing that I'd be judged by some God that I really didn't want to hate me."
"Don't all worlds have gods? Someone had to have --" Lucien said, but Tamsin stopped him.
"Not all worlds have gods," she stated, "ours does not. We are our own, we have always had some kind of power, and when we discovered that it was almost entirely genetic, most churches shut down."
"But here," Sanger said, "there are, I assure you. Perhaps not ones which created the world, that I'm pretty sure. But certainly ones which have been watching over ... me. I've fought demons, I know from gods."
"Lucas lived in Hell," Lucrezhia said, "you know he always treats us like his own children."
"Good, because I am sorry I won't be there myself," Sanger said with a grin.
"Why tell us all this? I mean, we know most of you are crazy," Raul said.
"And how did you know that?" Sanger asked.
Shrugging, the dark-skinned boy grinned. "I'm a genrehopper, we know those things."
That was true - some 'hoppers were oblivious to the changes in the worlds around them, while others seemed quite well tuned to them. Sanger himself was one by habit and by force, not by choice. He'd much rather just stay where he was. That brought him back to the reality of what to say next.
"I wanted you to know the truth, from me instead of from rumors or what other universes versions of me would say." He sighed. "I can imagine that it is similar for at least you two," he looked at Raul and Rowena, "because of what you've said, that your father vanished in high school. That would fit the pattern. You know," he glanced around and felt for Umpteenth outside. "I have found many worlds where I wasn't even born, more than those where I've been murdered, and even more still where I'm enslaved. It's very ... discouraging."
"But you're here now," Tamsin said with a brilliant smile. "And I've heard that you go rescue others?"
He nodded, and grinned. "Yes, those are probably some of the offworld travelers who recruited you to Carramba. I'll have to pester them and find out who it was."
Eventually they just chatted, enjoyed being a strange sort of family. Before the end of the afternoon, Sanger rose and pushed his hair back, announcing that he needed to get going.
"It's only three weeks until the start of school, and I've got to get working on my classes," he said. "But I really want to do something for you here. This place is," he looked around, "well, it's okay to reside in as it is, but it's not all that nice."
"You gonna get us some nicer furniture?" Asked Rowena, "we could use a bed or something." The others vocally agreed - though Lucien had already conjured a large four-poster bed which he planned on sharing with Sophia if she'd let him. (She would - only he'd be on the floor soon enough!)
Sanger promised something for them, by the time school started.
***
He sat in the large office of a downtown building, not exactly comfortable. He should have been, after all this was an Alabaster office. He'd spent a good portion of his last life in one of these buildings. Admittedly, that was on another reality level, and this was not 'His' Engell he was sitting opposite.
It didn't matter - all the Engells spoke to one another too, once they had learned of each other's existence. This one steepled his fingers just like Jeff on the other world did, pressed his large frameless glasses up his attractive nose in the same way. But his Sanger was dead - killed in a raid by what had been that universe's Byers. What Sanger didn't know was that this same raid also killed Karen, his wife, as well as his son Kyle. That was a disaster, and had he known about it all, Sanger wouldn't have even asked. He didn't want to drege up anyone's bad memories, and it always looked as though Engell had some haunted past to deal with. He always looked just like Sanger had, years back, with the sunken eyes and hopelessness showing when the armor dropped.
"You know I wouldn't bother you with this," Sanger said, "but they're just kids, and it's important they have a place to stay."
"I understand," Jeff said, "and I've often given grants to the Carramba schools. But what is it exactly you need this time?"
Sanger gave a strange narrowing of his eyes, "this time? I've never ... I don't recall having asked you for anything in my past, Engell, you might be thinking of another of my copies. I have quite a few that visit."
"I'm sorry," Engell said, glancing away. "It's been ... a long time since I've had - you - sitting there. It was an old habit, he would often ask for favors." The soft smile on Engell's perfect lips betrayed volumes, "and he always wanted to repay me in the most obscene ways possible. Don't go there."
"I won't," Sanger said with a laugh. "I mean, I would but since you ask, I won't."
"Good, that's settled." After that, they got to business. Sanger wanted the kids to have a better place to reside than a warehouse - and what better to make there than a real apartment building? It would be easily re-zoned, since the area's industries had long since vanished and moved to the center of the city. Alabaster Incorporated would buy the block, rebuild the place, and in the meantime the eight of them could stay in the guest accomodations at Alabaster's local hotel investment.
For Engell's business it was a writeoff, charity work always looked great on tax forms. For the community it would be huge - though the building was planned for a ten-unit apartment and a community center with a small pool, it cost almost nothing for Engell to have it bought, torn down, and rebuilt. Locally the folks in need of a place to live suddenly found they could rent a very low-priced place, and they defended it carefully.
Since Lucien and Lucrezhia were mages, they assembled a little 'bonus' for their own apartments and those of the other Sangers. Connecting mirrors allowed them to come to one another's places instantly. But more than that, they expanded the size of the interiors so they were almost mansion-sized within. A gated, secure location like this would usually run quite a bit of cash a month - it was gang-tagged almost immediately. And right after that, directly before the school year was in swing, Alabaster made sure that the gangs of the area knew better. Whether the wet teams extracted the whole gang or just the group tagging and responsible for terrorizing the block, no one knew and no one asked. Ever. That was what Alabaster was all about, after all.
School started - with a bang. Everyone always turned out for the opening-day festivities. Classes were short, Senior class members were expected to guide their younger n00b friends around the campus and familiarize them. Freshmen and Sophomores always got lost in the first week, so there was never a tardy time until the second week.
Homeroom elections and school clubs were made, changes to schedules were hashed out when incompatabilities were found. It would never do to have a normal human kid with no powers stuck in a Non-Human Martial Arts class designed for people with more than six limbs!
During all this, the staff and instructors tried to keep their cool and work out just what would be going on in their classes that semester. The challenge this year was 'offworld students who can't speak known languages'. Which was, cleverly, where Sanger and another of his namesakes came in handy. Abdul-Razi already taught several classes, Archaeology and such, but it was decided that a Linguistics class be added to his schedule, one which when teachers had a spare hour in the morning, they could also attend.
"Why isn't there just an enchantment on the whole school to translate everything?" Asked Lucrezhia when she was on her way to the Math building. "I mean, it'd be easy to do."
"But then how could you be learning to speak another language, if you can't even tell you're hearing it?" Sanger said.
"Good point dad," she said, standing on tippytoes to give him an abrupt hug before darting into the building.
Though the smile on Sanger's thin lips was barely enough to be noticed, his heart filled up nicely.
***
Follow the new students on their journeys! (all site links are far out of date, don't bother, but I'll leave them in case archive exists)
Raul bonded Blue Yellow Marked (m) Letyrin at Cy Dragonstake (adult)
Rowena bonded Undead Fire-winged Green (f) Suezu at Darkling Dawn (adult)
Lucien Bonded White Lurir'Inny at Thaell Ayaath (adult)
Lucrezhia bonded Red Female Claalih at Cormwood (adult)
Soren bonded Green Shonaith at Wu (adult)
Sophia bonded Purple Female Zuruihebi Isasa at Renaissance Castle (adult)
Tamsin bonded Red-Blue Male Noreax Riforiok at Tripaldi Avian Frenzy!
Thomas impressed Bronze Sairojath at Copetus Weir (adult)