Chapter 2

“Huh, he’s asleep” Hans turned to me questioningly.

“Of course he’s asleep, Hans, this is Pappy Pete we’re talking about, just be glad he isn’t…” I stopped myself.

Hans turned to me. “No, it’s okay. I get it, you’re probably experiencing some wacked out emotions too and stuff can slip. All that matters is that we are here for each other. Plus, we’ve got to get ready for school anyway.” Hans said with the same level of intelligence as he had always shown.

Truth be told, I wasn’t feeling emotions anyway, but I didn’t want to offend Hans so I went with it.

“I know man I know, pretty crazy that we have to go to school right after getting off a plane, but we can’t miss our first day and it’s not like we need Pete to drive us anyway, school is close to our house, that’s the good thing about living in a small neighborhood.” I replied, changing the subject.

“Definitely better than sitting in line in a school bus every morning back in New York” Hans said with a sly sense of humor.

“Yeah for sure, hey, well I’m glad you’re not getting completely shut down by these unfortunate events, let’s just get ready and head out. Just be glad the plane wasn’t delayed and we were lucky enough to land early in the morning” I said back.

Hans turned to me with a slight smile. “Sounds good to me.”

The teacher stared daggers into the eyes of his disruptive class, and with a thick accent said “Be silent, allow me to take role and we can get on with getting to know each other.”

The class went silent and gave the teacher their attention.

“Firstly, I know this school is very tight-knit and the classes usually stay the same even with a change of year, but I would like to introduce to you all, two new students that will be joining us. Hans and Daniel Aerni.” The teacher said smugly, finally getting the class under control.

The students looked at us, some with anger and some with curiosity, but nobody seemed all too welcoming to the newcomers.

The teacher turned to us, whispering “Changing schools is tough, especially this late into High School, so this will be rough considering the exceedingly rare change that this class experiences, I wish you both the best, please take your seats.” Leaving our whisper-range vicinity with a smile, he turned to his podium. “Hans, you’ll sit next to Maria, and Daniel, you’ll…” He looked around the room for an empty spot “...you’ll be sitting next to Ophelia.”

Ophelia? Ophelia seemed cool enough. Driven and passionate about the world and super focused on electrical engineering. Only problem was, she didn’t seem too happy about sitting next to me. Maybe it was because I was American, but my looks screamed European, so I wasn’t quite sure. Regardless, we were able to talk enough during class that I learned a succinct amount of information about her.

Lunch couldn’t come soon enough. The plane ride was a connecting flight so I hadn’t eaten and was starving. Ophelia seemed to be just as popular as me, so once I had picked up my food, I decided to sit by her. Hans was much better at taming the social tidal wave, so he was already invited to the “cool table.”

“Soooo, what is it that electrical engineering has that has you so interested?” I asked.

“Well aside from the great pay?” She asked back.

“Yeah, already aware of that much, what made you so interested in it?” I pondered.

“Well, my family lives on top of the Kaiser Hill. Not sure if you’ve seen it, but it’s quite a large lump of land in town. Anyway, due to being elevated so much, thunderstorms are quite a pain, but the lighting strikes are so intriguing to me that I just started inventing ways to both prevent our house from getting blown to smithereens AND learn more about electricity in the process, especially from natural occurrences.” Ophelia explained to me.

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“Ah, so out of necessity grew passion?” I asked her.

“You’re quite the poet, huh?” She joked back.

I snickered. “I guess if you say so.”

***

“Where were you two?!” The big burly nordic man asked.

“Pete, we were at school it was our first day remember?” Hans said to our grandpa.

“Oh right, I was worried sick. Thought you missed your flight.” Pete said.

“Course not, did the suitcases not give it away?” I asked.

“Nope, not to these old eyes…” Pete said with a sense of longing.

“It’s alright Petey, we are just glad to be here safe and sound. We haven’t seen you in forever man!” Hans said back.

“Yeah, well, I wish it were on better terms. Alas, fate gets to have the final say in things.” Pete said.

“Guess so. Well, I’m tired and I’m sure Hans is too, so if you don’t mind we are gonna get settled in and maybe take a nap, then maybe we can chat later tonight?” I asked Pete.

“Of course my boys, make yourself at home. I’ve been quite lonely if I’m being frank, it’s wonderful to have company and especially fantastic for that company to be you.” Pete answered.

“Well, we will get going then. Thanks again for everything!” Hans replied.

“Anytime my boy, anytime.” Pete said with a farewell.

Truth be told, things weren’t all that bad. Making a “friend” on the first day and getting to speak with the man that had created so many of my lifelong convictions was nearly unfathomable for me. I guess I was still in shock with all the recent and rapid change, but to me it was alright for a first day. Pete lived in a wooded cabin by himself since his wife passed years ago, but he was always bright and spent his time working to keep himself occupied, and the town loved him. We’d probably have so much more of a complete idea of who Pete was if we had never moved to New York, but as Pete said, “Fate gets to have the final say in things.”

Speaking of location, Switzerland was absolutely gorgeous. Not a pollution-creating factory in sight of our tiny nestled hamlet, and glorious verdant hills and slate-toned mountains all over, as far as the eye could see. Marshmallow colored snow capped the mountains off as wispy clouds rolled lazily among the peaks. Switzerland was simply very peaceful and calming. Walking around the streets along could give you a sensory overload with the smell of rain, fresh-baked pastries, and the beautiful and lush sights all around. It was like heaven on earth by only a slight stretch of the imagination.

There was that hill, too. Ophelia’s hill. The tallest hill anywhere you could see, with a quaint house perched atop it. She had called it something, “Kaiser Hill.” With my fairly limited knowledge of etymology and linguistics, I believe that means “Emperor Hill” in English. Though, I wonder what the “Emperor” stands for. Guess I’ll have to ask Ophelia tomorrow. However, my eyes were getting heavy with the weight of the day, so I layed down in the rustic and worn, but incredibly comfortable bed and shut my eyes.

*

“Ophelia, come.” The figure hidden in the shadows called for his daughter.

“What is it, Father?” Ophelia asked.

“Those two boys, Hans and...Daniel, is it? I need you to keep an eye on them.” The figure instructed.

“Why is that, father? They seem nice enough…” Ophelia questioned.

“You know not to interrogate my methods. They’re of concern, just moved in and quite close to the Kaiser, it’s only natural that we make sure to do our due diligence and background check them a little bit.” The figure reasoned.

“I mean, doesn’t matter to me, Daniel sits with me anyway so I’ll just keep a closer eye out” Ophelia assured the figure.

“Very well… I believe we may see a twist of fate that we aren’t very well expecting, if I say so.” The figure said with omniscience.

“It’s very rare for you to be wrong, Father, I know you have the best interest of the Jotann line in mind so I will follow.” Ophelia said.

“You always were so loyal and good.” The figure openly stated.

*

“Aye, I’m coming!” Pete turned towards the door.

Opening the door, Pete found a familiar face smiling back at him.

“Hey Mister Peter, I was just wondering if it was true that Daniel and Hans moved in with you?” Ophelia asked.

“Aye, what brings Jorun’s kid to my door anyway? You got a crush on one of the lads?” Pete asked the girl.

“Hah, no sir. Just here to check on them, I sit next to Daniel in class actually!” Ophelia said.

“I see I see, well let me get him for ya.” Pete told the girl.

“DANNY BOY! PRETTY GIRL HERE TO SEE YA!” Pete shouted into the house.

“COMING!” I exclaimed from my room.

“Ah! Ophelia, how are you?” I asked my acquaintance.

“Good, good, just here to see if you moved in here, quite close to Kaiser Hill actually!” Ophelia said.

“Oh right, you live there yeah?” I asked.

“Sure do. Say, would you like to come with me and check out the hill?” Ophelia asked.

I turned to look at Pete, questioning if his authority applied in this area.

“Why are you looking at me, kid? You’re a man now, you can handle yourself.” Pete told me with the same jaded tone he always used.

“Well, I guess I’ll be going for a bit then, see you later Pops!” I said to the man.

“Stay safe boy, I haven’t had a good chance to check that hill out to be frank.” Pete warned.

“Of course, see ya!” I said back.

End of Chapter 2