Chapter 39: Misery Loves Isolation

Having just watched young Zephyr age into a child the mood in the Mars household should have been jubilant, but in fact it was somewhat sour...
Blaze, Bronx's cousin, had been left carrying his baby after their one night stand. Having known Bronx all her life, Blaze was too smart to ever think that he would be with her, and so she knew she had to get out- get away- if not for her but for the sake of her unborn child.



The only problem with this decision was Zephyr. Blaze had watched over Zeph and nurtured her as she grew, and in time the two had formed a very strong bond. Leaving was a simply selfish choice, and Blaze knew she would have to put aside her love for Zephyr in order to protect her baby.



And so Blaze told Zephyr the truth- she told her she wasn't going to let her child be raised in this house of horrors. She tried not to relent as she saw the sad shadow fall across the little girl's face.



Zephyr was deeply upset by Blaze's declaration, but she tried to put on a brave face and accept the news. She didn't want her to go, but Zeph knew that Blaze was making the right decision. If she'd have had the choice, she probably would have done the same thing.



That day, Blaze FuryRed left the Mars household for good. She didn't even look back once.



With Blaze gone Zephyr felt worse than ever. There was no one left for the girl- her dad was a cheating scumbag, her mom was broken by his behaviour, her auntie was the cause of all the pain. There was no one to turn to.



And so Zeph instead withdrew into herself more and more. She spent her days at the chessboard or on the playground, and tried to tell herself that she didn't mind having no friends.



Elsewhere in the house there was similar alienation as Bronx continued his affair with his sister-in-law Gemini, in full view of his ever-suffering wife.



By now Sapphire had had enough, but she was still at a loss as to what to do. The pain Bronx was causing her, it hurt too much, but still she couldn't bring herself to leave him. Perhaps though it was time to ignore her feelings as Bronx had done, and think instead of her daughter.



Of course it wasn't that simple, and naivety meant Sapphire couldn't resist just asking for an explanation. She said she wanted to know why Bronx had treated her this way, but in truth all she wanted to blurt out was 'please take me back'.



Unfortunately by now Bronx was completely done with Saph. He'd used the poor girl up for all she was worth and now there was nothing left, nothing he could take anyway. And so he could only look at her incredulously, and try not to smirk.



The rejection hurt enough to push Saph to action, and she was forced to change tact. It was only a simple suggestion, just a 'What If?', but it was enough to make Bronx's blood boil...



Just the hint of it infuriated Bronx, and he hated the fact that anyone would even dare to disobey him. Sapphire would not be leaving, that was not even her decision to make, and if she tried it Bronx would ruin her, and take Zephyr away.



With all avenues exhausted, Sapphire was resigned to her fate. She couldn't bare the thought of not having Zephyr by her side, but... maybe she wouldn't have to. Maybe the time for diplomacy was over, and the time for action was nigh.



Zephyr on the other hand barely knew what to think about the whole messed up situation. She loved her dad but she hated him for destroying her mother, though this was something she would never say- she was too afraid.



However, not everyone was so shy about their feelings...
Sapphire certainly wasn't afraid to make her rage clear to her sister every once in a while.



Or twice.



Or thrice.



As time went on in the Mars household Bronx continued to pursue his political career. By now her was the Vice President, so this of course meant a lot of time spent throwing parties and schmoozing the constituents.



And of course Sapphire was expected to be on hand to serve drinks and play the dutiful wife.
It killed her inside.



Her sister Gemini on the other hand was feeling much happier, but also calculating...
The pregnancy was no accident, simply part of a devious plan to make Bronx hers entirely.



With a baby on the way Gemini knew it wouldn't be effortless. Bronx's career was so important to him and image was everything, so a pregnant mistress was a disastrous prospect indeed. However, if the wife could be taken out of the picture then maybe everything would be different...



As night fell Gemini let herself into the attic and called to her sister. She knew she would be the last person Sapphire wanted to see, but with a bit of charm and lies she felt she could get her on side.



Sapphire was set for bed, but Gemini's insistence had convinced her to heed her calls. On arriving in the attic Sapphire sized up her sister, the baby bump, and frowned. Gemini smiled, said she'd be back in a minute with something important, and made for the stairs.



Slipping down the steps quickly but quietly, Gemini's demeanour was calm. After reaching the hallway below she turned, locked the door behind her, and carried on as if nothing had happened.



Several hours later Sapphire eventually began to accept that she had been duped, that her sister would not be coming back, and that her life was very possibly over.



In the world below the attic Gemini proudly showed off her growing bump to her lover.



After scheming a while the couple fell into bed together, played for a bit, then drifted off into a contented sleep.



Elsewhere in the house we were graced with the presence of an exciting ghostly visitor! Yayy Crimson; this is the first visit she's made since she died, it's just a shame Blaze isn't here to see her mom.



So before long Gemini went into labour, and even though she detested her aunt Zephyr did the right thing and stayed by her side during the birth.



Some lovely sparkles followed, and a boy arrived. Now as I'm oft times bored by the baby stage I aged the sprog up immediately. Would you like to see him?



Wheeee, this here is Zenith, accompanied by Zoom Zoom the teddy bear ^_^



Despite her scandalous activities, and the fact that she previously abandoned her other newborn baby Levi to move in with Bronx, Gemini turned out to be a very attentive mother. In fact, Gemini was so busy with her new boy she forgot all about the prisoner in the attic...



After several days of perfect agony Sapphire eventually relented to death's call.



Perhaps now she can finally be at peace.



Gemini recognised her sister's fate in just enough time to have a little game of foosball with the Reaper.



As news of Sapphire's death set in the members of the Mars household all reacted in their own unique ways. Naturally Zephyr was distraught, but the same could not be said for others...



Bronx, initially perturbed by his wife's passing, had eventually began to see that it could be a good thing. Wholesome politician with loving wife and kids was a good picture to paint, but grieving widower bringing up a young child alone? Well, that was just perfection.



Gemini, Bronx, Zen, and Zoom Zoom. Everything Gemini had ever wanted was now hers.



Everything Zephyr had ever wanted was but a distant dream. All she had left now was a memory.



When Zephyr's birthday arrived she had no choice but to spend it alone, and in truth she preferred it that way.



Sparkly time... let's see what our girl looks like as a teen shall we?



Wowsers trousers. She's beautiful, and very exotic. This using pre-mades thing is definitely bringing an interesting bit of variety to my Simmies.



So as a teen Zephyr gained the Genius trait, and her childhood trait was Coward by the by- I think I forgot to mention it.
As she'd already been pursuing the logic skill a fair bit her new trait proved to be very handy when it came to her hobbies.



Not long after Zephyr's change I decided to age up Zen as well.



I realise now I forgot to mention his traits. As you may be able to tell from the picture one of them is Evil. Another is Mean Spirited and the third is Insane. Isn't he just a whole bag of fun?



Like all my other Evil little Simmies it didn't take long for Zen to show his vicious side. Poor Zeph, as if she hasn't suffered enough.



Being the kind gal she was Zephyr did try to bond with her little bro, but it didn't exactly go well.



If he was just Evil then maybe their relationship would have stood a chance, but Mean Spirited too? Well, we all know how things turned out with my last mean Mars.



Distanced from her father, pushed out by her brother, Zeph could do nothing but spend time in her own company. It was something she began to accept as normal, though she never stopped dreaming of changing it.



Bronx meanwhile was on top of the world having been just promoted to President. All hail President Mars! Really not feeling that suit though...



Naturally Bronx noticed his once-close relationship with his daughter was falling apart. He wanted to try and fix things but he didn't know what to do. How could he mend her aching heart when he had hurt her so much?



In the end Bronx resigned himself to failure. Zephyr didn't want to know him anymore, and he couldn't blame her. Right then, for the first time, Bronx felt real shame for what he had done.



But just because he had messed it up once it didn't mean that Bronx would necessarily fail again. He still had Zen, and all the time in the world to be a good dad.



It was just as well, because Bronx's chance of being a good father to Zephyr was definitely gone. She had made up her mind- she wanted out- and there was only one person she knew she could rely on to help her...



Ahh Blaze, I've missed you!



So as you can probably tell Blaze is looking a lot happier and healthier than she has in a while, and there's a reason for that.
She's pregnant. I know I know, she was pregnant when she left, but the Blaze/Bronx child was born a good while ago (don't worry, you'll meet her eventually). But anyways, this is a new baby, and the father is...... James. Blaze only went and ended up marrying her first love interest James Durham didn't she? Bless.



As her own personal life was going so well Blaze was more than willing to help out others in need, especially when the person in question was Zephyr. She had a plan to change her life, and now all Zeph had to do was break the news to her dad.



There was no secrecy, no covert escapes. It was really straightforward in the end- Zephyr was leaving, and that was that.
As Bronx listened to his daughter's verdict he couldn't help but be disheartened by the news, but he didn't try to stop her. The sad thing was if Bronx had just asked Zeph to stay then she probably would have.



Chaperoned by the always-helpful Super FuryRed, Zeph left for her new life, alone.



In the morning Zephyr rose bright and early, content in the serene silence that greeted her.



As the sun began to rise she made herself some breakfast and sat down to eat.



Only after standing on the balcony and gazing at the beautiful view of the sea opposite did it really begin to sink in. Zephyr was free, and she could do whatever she desired.



In the days that followed Zephyr began to adjust to life in her new flat. Blaze was a frequent visitor of course, and she helped keep Zeph company.



Blaze even went into labour on one of her visits. She later gave birth to a baby girl, who's name I've completely forgotten. Sorreh!



As her teen years passed Zephyr carried on doing what she always did. By now she was progressing nicely in the logic skill and regularly taking on other Sims in chess matches.



She also spent a good amount of time out of the house, enjoying nature.



Feeling better about things, Zeph even went so far as to invite her dad over for a visit, and Bronx arrived in a ruddy limo- the show off.



Things weren't just magically fixed of course, after all Bronx was still the same Evil sod he'd always been, but it was a start nonetheless.



Oh, and a little side note for ya now- not long after Zephyr left Bronx and Gemini broke up! All that for nothing! My story progression mod sure likes to mix it up some doesn't it?



Hmm, so who's this interesting looking fella then? Well it is in fact Zenith. Like me you're probably thinking 'what the fridge is up with his hair?' I'm afraid I really don't know.



Normally when Sims rock up to my crib with their crappy default hair and clothing I give them a makeover; fix up look sharp and all that jazz, but in this case I wasn't feeling it. For some reason I really love Zen's girly hairdo. I don't know if he's transsexual, transgender, or Transylvanian, but either way I kind of heart him.



That said, he is still a mean little bugger. Here he is on one of his visits insulting Zephyr's lovely new home, the swine.



So before long it was time for Zephyr's birthday, and as you can probably tell that's Blaze in the background all elder-fied.



And on this side we have Blaze's husband James, Bronx as an old dude, and the charming Zen of course.



As a Young Adult Zephyr gained the Dislikes Children trait, which is understandable considering Zen's treatment of her when he was a kid.



Soooooo, now Zephyr is a Young Adult, and a very pretty one at that. What will her life bring, will she ever develop a romantic connection with anyone, and what sexy pre-mades will I create to keep her company? Find out in the next chapter of The Mars Family Legacy, coming soon.


You can find the original on the story board here- feel free to rec that if you've enjoyed this : )