Supper
The great clock ticked as the seventeen year old paced up and down the hall. It was as if tomorrow was an eternity away. The young man longed to leave the boring home that he had been forced to live at for the last seven years and tomorrow, he would finally get his wish. He would join his older siblings in the Capital where his sister, Alexa, ruled as Queen of Circron. His dark green eyes focused on the clock as they had been doing for the last several hours.
"You know, you can't control time, Jett..."
He recognized that voice. It belonged to his younger sister. Desiree was the closest to him in age, being fifteen years old, and it only served to remind him that she would be allowed to go to the capital in a few months whereas he had to wait until after he turned seventeen. The unfairness of it all irked him, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had to follow Alexa's orders without any complaints.
"What do you want?" Jett asked irritably. "Are you here to give me more fashion tips for when I get to the capital?"
"Actually," she replied. "I just came to see if you wanted any supper."
He turned to face her. Out of the seven Ciel children, Desiree and Marcell looked the most like their mother, but at least Marcell had inherited their father's powers. With her light skin, light brown eyes, and wavy dark brown hair, Desiree seemed as if she had been cloned from their mother. The fact that she had inherited her powers only made it more noticeable. Jett could not see any trace of his father in Desiree, but it didn't seem to bother anyone – least of all Desiree.
"Since you're here," he started. "Can I ask you something?"
"I don't know," she replied as a grin formed across her freckled face. "Can you?" He frowned at her and she let out a laugh. "Go ahead, big brother."
"Do you think I'll be able to...fit in at the capital?" Jett asked as he shifted his gaze at the floor. "Because, you know-"
"The whole 'no powers' thing?" Desiree finished. He nodded his head and she scoffed. "Your sister is the queen who slayed Zenith's demon and brought peace to Circron. They call her the Storm Goddess for a reason. And your brother killed the warlock who summoned said demon, so I'm sure you have nothing to worry about...except for the vampires of course. Those arrogant bat-brains..."
Jett snickered as he listened to his younger sister. His harpy family on his mother's side had a long standing enmity with the Ulrichs, the vampires who ruled from Circron Hills, and the wind sorcerers on his father's side of the family weren't too fond of them either. The previous war against Zenith had only made tensions worse, but Jett preferred not to think about those troubled times. Still, it was funny to listen to Desiree complain about the vampires being arrogant when she was quite full of herself.
"What's for supper?" he said, trying to change the topic.
"Come see for yourself," Desiree shot back. "And will you please take off those dirty gloves before you come eat?"
"Absolutely not," Jett told her. He glanced at the tattered, black, fingerless gloves on his hands. "You know I can't lose these gloves. They're the only thing that can put me on an equal level with everyone. Humans have their guns, vampires have their fangs, wizards have their magic, and I have my gloves."
Desiree decided not to continue the conversation and left the hall. Jett gazed at the clock for a few more minutes before making his way to the kitchen. Desiree had joined their younger sister and brother at the table, but their uncle had yet to arrive. For the first time that day, Jett realized that he would not see his uncle or his younger siblings often once he left for the capital. Shaina was twelve years old and it would be four years before Alexa would allow her to leave Circron Cloud. It would take Felix even longer since he was only eight.
"Hey, everyone," Jett greeted as he took a seat on the other side of Felix. He messed up his hair and grinned. "How did training go?"
"Uncle Crandel said that I did really good!" Felix said excitedly. "Watch this, Jett!"
Felix pointed at a small cup placed at the top of the counter and concentrated on it for a moment. After he was sure that he had a good aim, a white light suddenly emerged from Felix's fingertips and blasted the cup to pieces.
"That was great!" Jett told his younger brother. "You're going to be stronger than Marcell and Lamar combined one day."
"You really think so?!" Felix asked.
"Without a doubt," Jett replied. He shifted his gaze at his sisters. "Shaina, how did your training go?"
She simply shook her head and glanced at the floor. Jett instantly knew what the problem was. Lamar, Desiree, and Felix all had their mother's harpy powers while Marcell and Shaina had their father's wind powers. The only exceptions were Jett himself, who had no powers, and Alexa, who had both. Since they lived with their mother's brother, it was harder for Shaina to be trained adequately since most of the wind sorcerers had died out during Zenith's War.
"Why can't I just come to the Capital with you?" Shaina asked him. "Marcell's there and he could train me and you won't be so far away."
Jett glanced at Desiree who merely shrugged her shoulders at him. "Listen, Shaina," he told her. "The first thing I'm going to do when I get to Circron Capital is find you a trainer. We'll talk about it more after dinner. Where's Uncle Crandel?"
"He's finishing up all the required paperwork for your move to the Capital," Desiree said. "He said to go ahead and eat without him since he probably won't be done until later tonight."
The meal was simple corn and ground beef with baked bread. It was not anything fancy, but Jett knew that it would definitely sustain him for his long trip tomorrow. He ate as much as he could, but he made sure not to eat too fast. This would be his last meal with his younger siblings for a long time and he certainly did not want to rush it.