The third interlude of The Absolutely Crazy Matriarchy

1. Welcome to An Absolutely Crazy Interruption: The Search For Answers. As always, it's best if you read the previous chapters, because Interruptions tend to get plot-heavy. Basically, an Absolutely Crazy Interruption is a small interlude into the main story - it doesn't feature the main household, but it does contain vital plot elements. On with the story!

2. In the last chapter, three of the Veronaville Simselves set off on a quest to Takemizu Village in an effort to explain the creator's mysterious disappearance. Gaara went because he has the technical knowledge vital to the quest; Cee because she has experience with the problem that the Simselves were facing. Lark went because nobody could persuade her otherwise.

3. "Hello, I have a room reserved under the name Smith?" "The double and the single? Sure, just sign here." Cee looked around at the hotel with interest. Fire had sent them to the best hotel in Takemizu Village - it was plush and decorated in the local style. She signed the book then hurried outside to join the others.

4. "We're all booked in, Lark. I don't understand why you've made us wear kimonos, though." "We want to blend in with the locals. Fire told us to keep a low profile; that's what we're doing." "All right, but if any tourists ask me to do Tai Chi for them, I'll scream." "Fine with me." "Good. Now, did you bring the map?" "I thought you had it." "No, you said you had it."

5. "This is ridiculous."

6. "It's okay, ladies, I found it." "Finally." Lark brushed the dirt off her kimono and filled in her hole. "You'd think they'd make these things harder to find," commented Cee. "Maybe the old man wants to be found." Gaara pointed out. "Let's go then. I'm pretty good at reading maps," Lark said.

7. "This is not the Pagoda in the Shadows, Lark." "Well, no. I wanted some food." "Lark! We're on a quest here!" "And I'm hungry! Also, I like chirashi." "Lark!" "Even though this chirashi's a bit on the budget side. Only three prawns?" "LARK!"

8. "Okay, I'm sorry. I thought this was the right place. Then this guy told me I had the map upside-down. He also taught me to teleport, which was pretty cool." "Lark..." "Hey, those tattered old maps are hard to read, okay? Plus, you got chirashi and a ninja Simself out of the deal. I think it's a win."

9. "Let's get going. Again. I'll navigate this time." Gaara took the map, turned it up the right way and walked towards the pagoda. Lark pouted and ran to catch up with her husband. Cait lagged behind, taking in the scenery as they trudged along.

10. "Is this the right place, then?" They had arrived at a shadowy pagoda. An old man was meditating in the pagoda, and appeared to be floating. A voice reverberated in the three Simselves' heads. You have come a long way, travellers. "Well yeah. Veronaville's a good twelve hour flight from here." That is not what I meant, Cee. You travel in space and time, from dimensions other than this. Gaara interrupted. "Mr. Wise Old Man? We come to seek an answer." Ah, yes, Gaara. How did your little escapade go last time I gave you technical support? Gaara looked sheepish. "It worked. In that dimension, anyway." Lark punched his arm. "You mangled yourself, silly." "Which was meant to happen!" Let us cease this bickering, however amiable, and take some tea.

11. You are indeed suffering from the effects of a fourth wall. "Like in Fuzzy's OWBC?" Cee asked. It is similar, but this has not been imposed by your creator. "Someone else did this?" she gaped. Yes. The one who did this is foolish. It is not a thing to be undertaken lightly, as it cannot be easily undone. "So... we're stuck?" asked Gaara. No. There is a way to break the wall. Certain steps must be taken, however, and they cannot be taken by just anyone. "Who can help us?" demanded Lark.

12. The old man got up. I have a prophecy that you must hear. It is only the beginning, however. The rest is up to you. "It's got to be better than nothing," sighed Gaara. "Go ahead." Very well. Two halves of one One lives in the sun One stays in the shade Not meant to be made When one takes it all The other will fall Which way will it side? You must decide. Then, he abruptly faded into thin air.

13. "What kind of bogus riddle was that?" Lark muttered. "I don't know. We'll have to take this back to SimFire, I guess." "Yeah. At least we know what our problem is." Cee was determined to look on the bright side. "She'll have to be happy with that. We don't have any more time here anyways," Lark pointed out. Gaara stood up. "It's getting dark. We'd better get back to the hotel; we're leaving in the morning."

14. Back at the hotel, Gaara picked up the phone. "I'm getting room service. What does everyone want?" "Salmon!" called Lark from the bathroom. "I don't particularly care, as long as it's hot and filling," said Cee from the couch. "Salmon it is."

15. Lark snarfed down her fish. "Damn jetlag. It's nearly midnight, I'm wide awake, and I''m starving ." Cee nibbled at her food, lacking appetite. She missed her husband; this was their first night apart in their new marriage.

16. The next morning, Gaara checked them out of the hotel. "Are you sure you can't stay a few more days, Mr. Smith?" asked the manager, not too subtly. "Positive, thank you." Gaara signed the book and walked over to the couch to wait for the shuttle.

17. "Fire's gonna love this. She shelled out for a four star hotel for us and she just gets a weird riddle and confirmation of what we already suspected," complained Lark "Don't forget the chirashi. She paid for the chirashi," Gaara pointed out. "And the chirashi," she added. "She might understand the riddle. We can't know how she's going to take this," said Cee.

18. Cee was simply happy to be going home to Jeremy. She'd felt fairly useless for the whole trip. A horn sounded outside the hotel. "Guys? I think that's our shuttle."

19. They picked up their suitcases and headed to the taxi that would send them on the long road home.

20. Hey, guys! You're back! How was the trip? "Great. We got a couple answers for you." Excellent. Sit down, you must be tired. "A little."

21. So. How did you guys go? Did the old guy give you anything concrete?

22. "Yes and no. He did confirm that we've got ourselves a bad case of Fourth Wall." "And that it's going to be hard to get rid of it. There's only one person who can fix it." Who? "Well..."

23. "He didn't actually tell us, Fire. He just gave us this weird prophecy type thing. Let's see... Two halves of one One lives in the sun One stays in the shade Not meant to be made When one takes it all The other will fall Which way will it side? You must decide. "

24. What. The. HECK? What on earth is that meant to mean? I send you guys on an expensive trip to Takemizu Village, and all you can tell me is some dodgy poem?

25. "Hey, hey! We did our best, okay? We're not gods. Here, anyway," Lark snapped. Fire sighed. I'm sorry, but it's frustrating. We've found nothing in all of our books. Spike's been trying for three days to breach that firewall. We're running out of options.

26. "I have a couple new angles I can try. For example, the riddle mentions 'two halves of a whole'. That could mean twins, so Bella or Zoey could be able to break the fourth wall. We're not completely sunk yet, Fire." Fire nodded. Well, I guess we'd better get back to work.

27. Spike swore as Gaara picked up the phone. "Some bloody bug attacked the computer when I tried hacking back into Fire's system. The motherboard's toasted." Gaara dialled Bella's number. "Hello, Bella? What? Sorry? Slow down, Bella. What's that about Rin?" Gaara paused and listened intently. "Rin's been kidnapped? Oh, plumbbob. Fire? We have a situation here! All Simselves to the war room!" Everyone rushed in.

28. Everyone, that is, except Fire. "Where is she?" "I dunno, Lark. Maybe she's in the shower or something." "This is perfect. First Rin disappears, then Fire does the same thing." Spike had finished snarling at the computer and was now leafing absently through a file on Fire's desk. He suddenly jumped up, throwing the folder down. "Bloody hell!" He shot out the door. "And what was THAT all about?" "The man's an enigma."

29. Fire hadn't been sitting around idly while the others tried to crack the wall. She'd been doing a little research of her own, based on nothing but a gut feeling and the fact that RealFire had last contacted her from Bluewater Village. The files she was looking for were there, buried deep enough to keep them from the uninitiated, but shallow enough to be discovered easily by the right people. Or person. It stank of a trap.

30. The riddle had been mere confirmation of what she'd discovered; that she was the one who would have to put her life and the lives of her friends on the line to remove the wall and return things to normal. She sighed as she walked away from Simself HQ for what might be the last time. This was unimaginably stupid. She was going to do it anyway.

31. That's the end of the Interruption. Thanks for reading! Join us next time to find out precisely what is going on: where is Fire going? Why is she going there? Is she going to find Rin, or walk straight into a deadly trap? Until next time!