Chapter Six:

The Oh-So-Fabulous Sebastian Montgomery

Nicodemus

Our car rumbled slowly down the highway, crushing the crumbling concrete underneath it’s tires. Mom had her nose in a book, somehow able to read while the car was moving. Dad tapped the steering wheel with his fingertips, lost in his own thoughts. I was in the backseat with a headphone in, listening to the music on my favorite playlist while petting one of our three annoying dogs. We had been driving for what seemed like hours, growing further and further away from the only place I had ever known my entire life.

None of us had said much the entire ride.

It wasn’t that we were upset with each other, but that my parents were visibly uncomfortable with the entire situation and were trying desperately to hide it from me. I was of course nervous myself, but the idea that I wouldn’t be alone, much less without my parents, made the entire adventure much more desirable. I decided to let them have their space, confident they wouldn’t do this unless they knew it was safe, and let my mind wander about my new home.

Soren and Griffin had been blowing up my phone ever since we met last Saturday, and were more than excited that I was finally coming to campus. We spent many nights throughout the week on video chat, where they told me everything and anything about Valyce while I packed and tried my best to ask any questions I had. It was admittedly very fun to have people my age to talk to, especially ones I was related to, and even now when they were asking me every five minutes how far I was from the school, I still smiled and told them regardless of how many times they asked. The only annoying part was that my phone had to tell me when I received a text since I couldn’t read them alone, so every five seconds my music was being interrupted by a robot reading off their rampant messages.

Finally, Dad pulled to a stop before a set of gates, where he took a deep breath and clapped his hands once. He turned to me excitedly and poked my arm to get my attention, “Ready, Nick?” He asked with fake enthusiasm.

“As I’ll ever be,” I sighed.

He turned to the gates, holding a hand up to some kind of scanner. It beeped three times before flatly saying, “Welcome back to Valyce Academy, Atlas Crawford,” in a robotic tone.

“Welcome back to meh, meh, meh…” Dad mocked the machine, which made Mom and I giggle to his delight.

A moment later the gates creaked open, and a slight buzzing sound filled the air. Dad put the car in drive and pulled through the portal that had appeared; the rush of Elemental energy that filled our car took my breath away. I felt like my lungs had been shocked to life, and even let out a slight gasp at the intense feeling flooding through them. My parents knew I would have this reaction, and gave me a moment to adjust before Dad set a hand on my knee. “It takes a bit to get used to the energy here, so don’t worry if it makes you feel weird. You’ve never experienced something this intense before.”

“It really is jarring…” I placed a hand to my chest and exhaled unsurely, “It’s, like, making it hard to breath. This is ok, right?”

Dad ruffled my hair gently before turning back to the road, “Very ok. You’ll adjust in no time; just take it easy for the time being.” He slowed the car to a reasonable speed, “It always amazes me how beautiful Galaxy has kept this place... Makes me miss it even more, admittedly.” He nudged Mom to get her attention, “Heard there’s a thousand kids here now; that’s a big difference from our time, eh, Ash?”

“Heck yeah. I didn’t think that many Elementals existed?” Mom snorted as she closed her book, and set it on the seat beside me with a loving pinch to my knee.

“You should know, you create them,” he said, which made the two laugh at his joke. I pulled my headphone out and set it beside me as Dad pulled up to the security tower, making the guard squeak nervously. “Morning, James. Longtime no see; we’re just checking in.”

“Y-Yes, Galaxy told me you were coming. You’re in two twenty-three on Fatum Lane, a few streets away from the school,” the guard stammered wildly.

“Thanks so much!” Dad chirped before pulling down the roadway. He waited until we were out of earshot from James to scoff under his breath, “Fatum Lane, really? He put us on Destiny Lane?” He snickered teasingly.

“Oh, would you stop, Atlas? You just love to argue with that man…” Mom sighed. I rolled down the window curiously and was shocked to feel the temperature that kissed my face. A solid sixty-degree breeze enveloped me, though I knew for sure it should be freezing based on the cold weather front we had encountered on the drive here. Mom laughed lightly at my expression, “We no longer are in the Human Realm, dear. This place, is a place of pure bliss.”

“Until you have to start training.” Dad added, which made them laugh again.

(It is quite beautiful…) Claude said within my head, which made me frown. (Don’t be sad, buddy. We’ll go for a walk tonight, and I’ll let you borrow my eyes when we do, ok?)

“Mhm...” I grumbled in defeat.

I flicked my eyes to the window, longing to see what was making everyone so happy. It wasn’t the dense pine forest back home. It wasn’t the little graveyard full of spirits that I would spend all of my days with, who knew me as well as my parents did. It was nothing I had grown not only used to, but to love. I would have to relearn my entire world, my entire way of life, and for a moment I was displeased with my parents’ choice to raise me on Earth. To think I could have experienced so much, and now I was leaving behind everything for somewhere I should have been this whole time… I had very mixed feelings about the situation.

Mom sighed and rubbed my leg as if she could read my mind, “You’re going to make lots of friends here, Nick,” she tried to lighten the mood.

“Well, here we are!” Dad exclaimed as he parked the car and opened his door, “What a place. I wish he wouldn’t stick us in such an obnoxious house, but I suppose it’s nice. We can finally have decent offices, Ash!”

“So long as I get space for my bookshelves, that’s all I care about,” Mom joked. The dogs bolted from the car and towards the huge front lawn, yapping excitedly from being able to spread their legs. The doors slammed shut behind me before my parents each took one of my hands and happily tugged me forward. “It’s definitely a lot different than our old place?” Mom offered.

“How big is it?” I croaked in horror.

“Big enough for us to have plenty of space. I’d like to not have to work in the basement, and I’m sure you’ll love having a bigger room?” Dad said casually.

“You guys are going to work from home?” I whimpered, letting go of their hands to whip around with tear filled eyes.

My expression made them both momentarily pause, and guilt creep into their previously hopeful voices. “Well, hopefully...!” I laughed as Dad pulled me back into his arms, hugging me to his chest lovingly, “There’s no reason to run off to the Elemental world if we’re living here, is there, kiddo? We can access our Realms much easier from the academy, and since we’ll have a bigger space, there is no reason that we can’t spend as much time together as possible. By the time you graduate, you’re going to be sick of us!”

“I hope so,” I gleefully sang.

“For now, we have some unpacking to do before you start Monday! You better get inside first, before I take the biggest room for my office!” He cheered brightly.

“Over my dead body, old man!” I cried, racing up the walkway. Dad ripped the door opened and chased me inside, which made Mom laugh in delight, her energy much more relaxed.

╪

The following day I was out walking with my arms swinging at my sides as I maneuvered the sidewalks. My entire routine had been thrown out the window between the new house and the new Realm, so I had to teach myself how to make my way around this new world. Claude and Alice walked behind me, smiling with interlocked hands as they watched me explore the gorgeous landscape. We had just run into a colony of butterflies and to our surprise, bees, and after almost getting stung we declared I should keep away from bugs for a bit.

Mid walk, I heard the horrific sound of bike wheels screeching, which made me jump wildly. “Watch out!” A boy screamed bloody murder, but the warning came just a second too late. I gasped as he crashed into me, causing us to tumble down the hill like cartoon characters.

[Nicodemus!] Alice shrieked.

“Oww…” I moaned into the dirt when we had rolled to a stop.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! Are you ok!?” He squealed.

“I, ugh, yeah, I think I’m good?”

The boy spit his hair away from his face, gasping and stumbling backwards in shame for almost taking me out completely. “Sorry! Sorry!”

“It's ok,” I laughed out, brushing dirt off of myself as I attempted to stand.

He paused before smacking his hands to his hips, “I don’t reckon we’ve met, and considering I know everyone, that’s a crime around here! I’d remember someone with gorgeous silver eyes like that! I’m Sebastian, and you?” I recognized his accent to be almost an exact match to Deveraux, which made my heart skip a beat curiously.

“I’m Nicodemus…”

“Crawford?” He snapped excitedly.

“Uh, yeah.”

“You’re Soren’s cousin! Oh, I was so excited to meet you…!” He jumped forward and grabbed my shoulders to shake me wildly, “Are you going to school here now?”

“Um, y-yeah?” I stammered in between shakes. For someone so tiny he packed a punch, and his grip was like iron on my arms, yet he radiated nothing but kindness.

“This is amazing! We rarely get new kids on campus, especially ones that are relatives of my best friends…!” Sebastian bowed dramatically, “Sebastian Octavius Montgomery, otherwise known as the great Sebby, is at your service! I will force you to be my best friend by the end of the month, that I promise!” He laughed in his hypnotically sweet voice.

“I, yeah, that’d be cool.” I said politely.

“This will be great! I can be your tour guide around campus; there’s so much to see…?!” He paused and turned to me slowly, “I uh, I'm sorry… I forgot that Soren had said…?”

“That I was blind?” I said matter-of-factly.

“Oh, um, yeah, kind of...?” He whined shyly.

I giggled to his relief and shrugged, “No offense taken. I’d really appreciate a guide, and you seem super friendly and in the know around here.”

“There isn’t a single person who doesn’t know my name by heart, not to be narcissistic, since it’s only because I'm so nosy,” he laughed maniacally before pinching my cheek, “How about I stop by Monday morning so we can get to campus early and learn the basics?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Perfection! Oh, and, er, sorry for bumping into you!”

“I needed some excitement today anyway.” We shared a big laugh before he called a sweet goodbye over his shoulder, leading his newly disheveled bike down the pathway.

╪

My weekend in the Elemental world proved to be dull, full of unpacking boxes and lots of naps, without much opportunity to explore beyond our little hill. Monday morning came faster than I could blink, but I was extremely excited to start the day. Sebastian promised to be here by seven, texting me through Soren’s phone to inform me of this before demanding to get my actual number, and I was waiting anxiously for him to arrive so we could leave. I was in my newly pressed Valyce uniform, which was a simple black or blue sweater, white dress shirt, and black pants of choice, and had ruffled some gel into my hair before darting down the steps fast. “Bye guys!” I called, darting for the door.

[Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!] Alice spun me around and pushed me towards the table, [Eat first, Shrimp…] she demanded.

“What are you, my mother?” I spat, which made Claude and Jackson holler behind us.

“No, but I am, and I’m telling you to eat as well,” Mom snapped from the counter. I reluctantly sat down as Dad joined us, dressed in a suit and tie that he kept fidgeting with while swearing under his breath. The way his tie pulled inward when he tugged on it was not a satisfying sound to someone who used their ears to navigate the world.

“You look great honey!” Mom commented lovingly as she set down plates for us, thanking Alice for wrangling me with a tap to the top of my head for trying to run off.

“Thanks; I gotta get dressed up now that I’m back as a teacher. Though, it’s nice to have a break for a while, so I’m glad to be doing it.” Dad said with relief in his tone.

“Well, teachers have to eat too.”

My parents giggled and kissed sweetly as I took a bite and shot up, “Ok, I ate, bye!”

“All of it, Nicodemus...” Mom scolded.

“But Mom…?!”

“I want you full when you start your day, young man.” She pushed my plate closer and stuffed my fork into my hand, “Why are you in such a rush anyway? Trying to scope out some of the cute girls with your new friend?” She mocked with a dark chuckle to taunt me.

“Promise you won’t have sex until you're older!” Dad abruptly shouted like a pure lunatic, “I don’t want you making any mistakes and bring home unnecessary grandkids!”

“Unnecessary? Excuse me?” Mom scoffed in a tone that meant Dad had better run.

I threw my hands up in disgust, “I'm not going to do anything like that! He’s just being nice and showing me around, no girls involved at all!”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Keep it that way,” Dad snarled dangerously behind his coffee cup.

I bit my lip gingerly as I thought of a comeback, but the words slipped through regardless if I wanted them to or not. “Who said I even liked girls anyway...” I said under my breath.

A wave of silence enveloped the kitchen, and made me flush bright pink, “What did you say…?” Dad asked in shock.

“Um...?” The doorbell rang, and on cue we all shot up for it. I slammed the door into Dad’s face, which made him hit the floor with a thud as I flashed a smile. I sensed the energy of the person immediately, as it was such a bright and refreshing aura. “Hey, Sebastian!”

“Good morning! Don’t you look adorable all dressed up. Are you ready to go, Angel?” He chirped excitedly as he laced our hands together so it would be easier for me to follow the path he planned to take me down.

“Absolutely,” I ripped the door shut behind me, leaving my mother laughing hysterically at my father’s moaning corpse as Sebastian and I skipped the path to school.

╪

Sebastian tugged me along with a skip in his step, moving faster than I could keep up, but unaware of this. I did my best to race after him, but also be aware of my surroundings so I didn’t take a tumble in front of the entire academy. “All our classes are on the main campus, otherwise known as Lambert hall. The cafeteria, library, gym, and administrative offices are on the first floor, classrooms on second, third, and fourth.” He dragged me up the steps in one fluid flash, “We’re going to be in academic classes for a month before we switch to our Elemental ones; we switch off every month to keep up. You’ll have three days a week during academics where training is incorporated, but I'm sure they haven’t added that to your schedule yet, so we’ll keep an eye out for when they do.”

“This place is huge,” I whispered to myself, barely paying attention to Sebastian as I ran my fingers across the walls to familiarize myself.

“Ready to start the day?” He cried abruptly, stopping me in front of a classroom door.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah!” I awkwardly laughed as we walked into class and took a seat in the back. I pulled my brail textbooks out and turned to Sebastian with an embarrassed blush, “What class is this?” I asked so I could procure the correct book.

“English, and my absolute favorite… one of, I should say,” he replied.

I slammed my face into the desk, which made him jump from my sudden reaction. “Please Gods, do not let Dad be my English teacher…” I whimpered to myself.

Dad walked in a moment later, as if on cue, cackling demonically when he saw me huddled in the back crying to myself in embarrassment, “Hello everyone, and welcome back from vacation!” He cheerfully called, laying on the niceness thick to warm up his classroom.

“Nice to see you back, Mr. Crawford; I thought the next time we’d see you is when you came for our souls!” A student teased as she took a seat beside me. Everyone laughed at the playful joke while I sunk in my seat, morbidly embarrassed by my hissing father.

He set his papers down and leaned against his desk slyly, “As I'm sure you’ve noticed, we have a new student joining us today. Would you like to introduce yourself?” He tormented me.

I grumbled to myself as all sixteen kids whipped around in their seats to stare at me, “Um, I guess… I'm, Nicodemus… but you can call me Nick…” I managed to get out.

“Hey, you two look a lot alike! Do you know Mr. Crawford?” The girl beside me asked.

I hissed in horror while Dad cheered to himself in silent victory, “Unfortunately, he’s my father.” I snarled demonically.

Everyone exploded in a thousand different questions that made my head spin. Dad whistled to gain the attention of the crowd back, now realizing he had thrown me fully to the sharks by accident. “Alright everyone, alright; don’t torture him too much. Yes, Nick is my son, but he’s just another student like everyone else. You’ll have plenty of time to get to know him after class. For now, get out your notebooks so we can get to work!”

╪

When class ended, Dad cheerfully wished us a good day as Sebastian and I went into the hallway and up the stairs. Before we left, I kicked Dad’s trash can over in revenge for his embarrassing behavior, but had to giggle when I heard him laughing maniacally from all the way down the hall. As we walked to our next class a girl ran up to us, out of breath and gleaming with excitement. Her aura was incredible, like a full blown tornado had entered my space, but it was an interesting sensation compared to the wash of calm Sebastian emitted. He felt as if I were lying in a grass meadow, watching the sun break through the trees, and while enticing, it could lull me to sleep if I concentrated enough. “Are you Nicodemus?” She heaved as Sebastian groaned and smacked his head into a locker.

“I am,” I replied shyly.

“My names’ Praxis: I'm a Wind Elemental, and Sebastian’s sister. It’s nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you, too.” I offered as she shook my hand.

“Who would have thought Grim and Mama Life had a son; it’s so cool that you’re finally here with us!” Sebastian kept trying to get passed her, so eventually, Praxis let him through but still kept pace as best she could. “I heard you had four Shadow Walkers; is that true?” She eagerly continued, walking backwards down the hall.

“I mean, yeah, I guess I do…” I said nonchalantly.

The two gasped in shock, which made me blush ferociously. Sebastian yanked me to a stop immediately, “You never told me you had four! That’s incredible, Nick!”

“Can we meet them after school?” Praxis begged, tugging on my arm.

Before I got a chance to answer, Sebastian flicked his sister’s nose to make her yelp and stumble backwards, “Come on, we got class! Go find Griffin or a place to nap.” Sebastian took my arm jealously and dragged me in the opposite direction; Praxis grumbled in annoyance at her brother before stomping away.

“Bye, Praxis…!” I called over my shoulder to be polite, but I could tell from how her energy changed that she was more than pissed at her brother.

“Excuse my sister, she’s a bit demanding sometimes.” He snorted as he navigated the crowds of students, charging forward like he owned the place.

“I think she was sweet?” I tried lightly.

“Wait until you actually get to know her,” Sebastian paused by another door, “We have to part ways for this period, Angel, but Blaine knows to keep an eye on you. I’ll meet you here after class so we can go to physics, then hit lunch, ok?”

“Sure thing. See ya, Sebby, and thanks for being so helpful.” I trudged into the room after he had whisked away, a little sad that we had to part ways. The teacher, who was in fact the God of Fire himself, handed each of us a folder before directing us to our seats. He had slid an extra paper onto my folder, which when I ran my fingers over it, I discovered it was a complex Trigonometry problem. Other kids whispered about me softly as I began doing the math in my head, ignoring their muttering to the best of my ability.

“Welcome everyone, to Trigonometry One. I am your teacher, Mr. Levasseur. I see a few fresh faces this semester, so let me go over my classroom basics for those joining us. I'm going to keep everything simple; should you have any question about class or homework, please email me or come see me during my office hours. Your syllabus will cover the basics, but since most of you have had me before, you know how the show runs. Now, who here has an idea of what Trigonometry is? Or at the least heard of it?” A few kids raised their hands, but I kept mine down regardless of the truth. “I see… Well, here’s your first problem. Find H!” He smacked the whiteboard with his pencil, which made everyone shriek, “You have ten minutes, show me whatchya got!” I plucked my pencil up and began scribbling away, ignoring the time.

The girl beside me sobbed in horror for a moment, but began watching the work I was doing. Other kids leaned over to see as I set my pencil down with a smirk. Finally, the time tolled on Blaine’s little timer, and he whistled to get our attention. “So, who’s got an answer?”

The room was quiet for a moment before I cleared my throat, “H equals 100 tan, which equals 32.5 meters.” I called over the stagnant silence.

Everyone turned to me in shock, giggling, until they saw whatever look was on Levasseur’s face. He walked over and ripped my paper up, then looked back to me. “Huh, that’s correct,” he scoffed as my classmate’s gasped in disbelief, “You didn’t raise your hand when I asked whose heard of Trigonometry?” Blaine taunted as he leaned against my desk and crossed his arms.

“You asked if we’d heard of it… I’ve learned it,” I replied as modestly as I could.

“I think I like you, Crawford,” He snorted before handing me my paper back and going to the board; all the kids whispered excitedly as I blushed brighter than a tomato.

╪

Lunch finally came, and by the time it did I was exhausted. Sebastian had succeeded in dragging me all over the school; I had gone up and down so many steps that I thought my legs would disintegrate into dust. He was bubbling with the same enticing energy he’d had since we met, and didn’t seem to catch on that I was drowning. It was near impossible to keep up with him since he seemed to be fueled by determination and pretzel sticks that he had an endless supply of in his pockets. I didn’t take one as I wasn’t sure if they were bagged or not.

He procured a pizza and fruit cup from the cafeteria line before we headed to a table outside, where I whisked out the lunch my mother had made me the night before, praying she packed something with caffeine inside. “So, we’ve had quite the day. How do you like Valyce so far, Nick?” Sebastian asked as I unfolded the foil of my sandwich and popped the tab on a canned espresso gratefully.

“Oh, it’s nice. A lot to get used to, that’s for sure, but I'm excited to get into Elemental classes soon. Seems pretty straightforward for now.” I replied with a light shrug.

“It is, but I think you’ll like it. Everything seems normal until we get into the fun stuff, so just be a little patient…” He leaned towards me with an evil giggle, “Everyone is talking about you today?” He said to antagonize the situation.

“Why?” I hiccupped.

He squeezed my shoulders with a gentle shake, “Well, you’re the son of Grim and the Mother of Life. That’s a big deal around here, especially since you’re their only child. No one ever thought they’d have a kid, let alone a secret one we didn’t know about!”

“It doesn’t make me anymore special than anyone else?” I whined sheepishly.

Sebastian scoffed in surprise, as if I should have known what he was explaining like it were second nature, “You don’t think so, but you haven’t grown up in the Elemental world. To these kids, our parents are the tippy top of the food chain. I mean, we’re all desperate to get a job working for them after all, and being their kids makes us big targets.”

“Our? Who are your parents?” I asked in awe.

“Oh, Deveraux and Zephyrine! I'm an Earth Elemental like my dad, and Praxis is Wind like my mom! You should see the amount of plants in my house; I think Mom’s going to throw Dad into an F5 if he brings home one more Ficus!” He wailed, extending my arm so he could use his fingers to show the size of the plant he was describing, which was in fact pretty big. It made me feel much more at ease that he was being so sweet about my being blind, and trying his best to involve me in whatever he did.

I snorted a huge laugh to his delight as footsteps approached the table wildly, “Hi guys! We’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Praxis cried as she and my cousins joined the table to Sebastian’s immediate disgust.

“Why are you three here?” He demanded jealously, looping his arm with mine protectively.

“Stop being greedy; we want to be his friend too!” His sister barked back.

“Considering he’s our cousin, we should be able to say hi too, Sebby.” Griffin shot back.

Sebastian huffed sarcastically, though he did sigh in defeat as Soren slipped into the bench beside me, “We were looking everywhere for you! How has your first day been? Nothing too overwhelming I hope?” Soren asked as he hugged my side.

I smiled in delight and squeezed him back, “Same here; I was hoping to meet with you guys soon! I don’t have any complaints so far.”

“Great, everyone’s friends. Now can you three leave so I can play with my new bestie?” Sebastian spat as he shooed Griffin and Praxis back from the table they were leaning on.

“Excuse us,” Soren scoffed with a giggle.

“Oh, they can stay, Sebastian,” I said, though I could feel his glare as they cheered.

Sebastian huffed in annoyance before flicking Soren’s nose, “Fine, whatever… Just don’t get any ideas about stealing my new friend, you jerks.” He made some kind of gesture to them before the conversation lightened in tone, “You guys seen Odysseus today? I was hoping he’d be back before Nick came to campus?”

Praxis stole the other half of Sebastian’s pizza, and took a big bite as she spoke, “Nah, he’s still pretty sick. Blaine said he’s got a bad temperature, but Lysander gave him some medication to bring it down. He should be back by next week if he can go three days without a fever. Guess his last training sesh really kicked his ass.”

“Is Odysseus Blaine’s son, then?” I pressed curiously.

“Yep! He’s our precious little boy! He’s not much of a talker, ya see, but he trusts us enough. We can get a few choice words from him, but he has his ways of communicating that we’ve picked up on. He’s really sweet, and you’ll like him a lot!” Griffin declared.

“Guess all the Gods’ children are in their own little clique?” I offered unsurely.

Sebastian hissed in delight and squished my cheeks together, “Yes we are, my sweet Angel, which means you HAVE to be our best friend too!”

“Sebastian can be a bit overbearing; just nod and back away slowly.” Soren said to make the group burst into laughter.

After a few moments of silence, Praxis rounded the table so she could sit between me and Soren, and poke my temple a few times to get my attention. “Hey, can we see your Shadows now?”

For a moment, I was very hesitant to answer. I was having a difficult time adjusting to the way my powers fluctuated in this new environment, so the last thing I wanted to do was overdo it in front of so many classmates. At the same time, I was trying to make a good impression, and hopefully make some friends, and thought saying no would ruin my chances even further. I swallowed loudly as I flicked the latch on my lunchbox. “Um, er...?”

“It’s ok if no?” Soren said sadly.

“I, I’ll try,” I cleared my throat, “Bori se sa mnom, prijatelji moji sjena…” I said the archaic summons under my breath, and winced when the intense pull of energy rushed through my body. My head pulsed wildly, and before I knew it, my Shadows had appeared before the group in a collective and neat line. Everyone gasped in awe, and rushed over as the four smiled to the kids. I held a hand up to my forehead and wobbled a little from the intense sensation, and luckily, my Shadows caught on to how sick I was feeling immediately.

{Hello, everyone!} May chimed with a delighted wave.

“Whoa… this is so cool! I’ve never seen so many Shadows!” Praxis giggled excitedly.

(It’s very nice to meet you all, but we can’t stay for long. Nicodemus is still learning to control his powers in the Elemental Realm, so we don’t want to overdo it.) Claude said warmly, nodding to the way I was panting behind him.

“Oh, gosh, we had no clue! You can go!” Soren exclaimed. They waved and dissipated as I held a hand over my mouth, groaning loudly at the wave of nausea that consumed me. “Are you ok, Nick...? We didn’t mean to push you if you weren’t ready?” He whimpered, clutching my arm.

“Yeah, I'm good. I just need a minute...” I moaned, though I was so dizzy I felt like I could puke all over the table, “I’ll… get better eventually, I hope…!” I gagged.

“Wait until Blaine sees this!” Sebastian whispered in absolute awe.

╪

“ASHLYNN, OUR SON IS A GENIUS!” Dad screamed, with me laughing wildly as he hoisted me up into his arms and slammed the front door shut behind us.

“Oh gosh, what happened?” Mom asked as Dad swung me in circles like I was five.

“He outsmarted Blaine Levasseur! He freaking outsmarted BLAINE LEVASSEUR!” He declared, laughing hysterically as Mom actually gasped a little.

“What? How?” She bawled in astonishment.

“He solved his famous first day math problem! Finally, someone put that know-it-all in his damn place! Oh, you incredibly smart little devil!” Dad cheered as tears ran down my cheeks from laughing at the moron.

“I told you hiring a tutor was a good idea!” Mom yelled like a maniac, “No, Ashlynn is pushing Nicodemus too far. Oh, he’s too young for Trigonometry, Ashlynn, he’s only thirteen; he’ll never learn, Ashlynn. WELL SCREW YOU ATLAS, BECAUSE MAMA ASHLYNN WON THIS ROUND!” She screamed in triumph.

Dad and I burst into disgustingly loud hysterics as my mother danced through the living room, pirouetting with one of the cranky Pomeranians in her arms. “You two are insane,” I sighed as Dad finally set me down.

“So be it. Still, I'm glad you did so well today. I hope you aren’t too tired, because tomorrow we’re going to have a little welcoming party with The Gods and their children!”

I was in the middle of wrapping myself in a throw blanket on the couch; their request made me glare over the edge of my cocoon. “Why are you doing this to me…” I hissed like a snake.

My parents giggled at my tone and took a seat on either side of me, “Because, you anti-social maggot, you need to make friends with kids like you.” Dad said casually.

“What’s wrong with the other Elementals!?” Mom and I snapped simultaneously.

“N-Nothing, nothing! I mean, I thought maybe it’d be nice for you to spend some time with family...? Besides, don’t you want to meet the other kids?” He sheepishly tried.

“The other kids…? Oh, I already met the Montgomery siblings, and Griffin and Soren met up with us at lunch. We’ve been hanging out all day today.” I assured to my parent’s delight.

They exchanged excited whispers before directing their attention back to me, “Oh, really? That’s amazing! Well, that should make tomorrow even more fun. Wednesday we’ll enjoy ourselves and take a break from packing. Sound good, kiddo?”

“I guess so…” I smooshed my face into the blanket with a small smile, “I really like the Gods kids, so it’ll be fun to have some friends over…” I cooed with a warm smile.