As Zycor laid fast asleep in his bed, he was interrupted by the sound of his mother, Mira, coming into his room to wake him. “Breakfast is ready, honey! You better wake up before your siblings eat everything.” Mira cheerfully exclaimed.
Still groggy and half asleep, the boy covered himself with his blankets to hide from the morning sun. Mira sighed, “Oh well, I suppose we will have to eat the last of the apple jam I made. It truly is a shame, considering everyone in the village will be vying for some next time I make it. Who knows, there may not be any extra next time.”
Zycor immediately threw the covers off himself and sat up. “I will be right there mom! Let me get dressed first! And make sure those guys don’t eat everything, especially the jam!” he energetically stated.
Mira giggled as she shut the door, “Ok, well don’t take too long. We will be waiting for you, Zycor honey.”
After the door had shut, Zycor hopped out of bed, his evergreen eyes scanning his room. It was not the largest room, but it served its purpose. Making sure to avoid stubbing his toe once again on the wooden nightstand by his bed. Zycor grabbed a short-sleeved shirt and a pair of shorts, which were in good condition considering where he lived, from the closet. After quickly brushing his blonde hair, he threw the clothes on as fast as he could and darted out of the room. As he arrived in the main room of the house, he was greeted by his family sitting around a round table. Zycor saw his older sister harassing his younger brother while Mira tried to calm them down. His father, Barlo, was reading the nation's news report, trying to ignore the problem. Getting irritated with the two siblings’ bickering, Mira firmly stated, “Ok you two, that’s enough. Scillia, you are twelve years old, Stop terrorizing your brother. And Gaus, quit antagonizing your sister.”
“But mom, Gaus keeps trying to sneak some sweets from my personal stash.” Scillia complained.
Gaus, like the five-year-old he was, then whined, “But I want the sweets!”
Barlo, putting the paper down, interjected, “Scillia, Gaus, listen to your mother.”
They both sat down and, pouting, responded, “Yes, dad.”
Mira walked over and gave him a kiss, “Thank you my dearest Barlo~.”
Returning her kiss, Barlo responded, “Of course, my sweet Mira.”
Scillia audibly gagged, “Oh dear goddess, don’t do this stuff in front of us! It’s so gross!”
Noticing his son standing in the hall, Barlo motioned for Zycor to come sit down, “Come join us kiddo! Don’t be a stranger!”
Zycor rushed over to the table and took a seat, scanning the table. “Are you looking for the jam, little bro?” Scillia chuckled, trying to get a rise out of Zycor, “Well, unfortunately for you, Gaus ate all of it while you slept. I suppose this is only right considering you decided to sleep in instead of doing something productive.”
Zycor, upset that he did not get to partake in his favorite topping, became rather irritated. He looked over at Gaus as if silently asking for confirmation, and when he nodded, Zycor’s childish anger only grew. Continuing her teasing, Scillia mockingly retorted, “Aw~, what’s wrong? Are you going to cry?”
“Alright, that’s enough of teasing your brother, Scillia.” Mira sternly said as she turned away from the kitchen counter and towards the table.
Putting a plate of toast topped with apple jam in front of Zycor, his feelings of anger instantly dissipated. As he devoured the toast, Zycor thanked his mom. “You are welcome sweety. However, you know not to talk with your mouth full of food.” Mira gently scolded Zycor on his manners.
Having nearly forgotten, Mira told Zycor, “Right, before I forget, Charlo and his brothers came by earlier looking for you. I told them you were still waking up and would join them after you ate.”
With a look of surprise, Zycor quickly finished his toast and gulped down the glass of water. Getting up to join his friends, he had not gotten over his sister's stunt. On his way past her, he grabbed the other slice of toast with apple jam on it and took off towards the door. “Hey! Get back here brat!” Scillia shouted, stumbling out of her seat as Gaus giggled.
As Zycor grabbed the handle to the door, Barlo commented, “Don’t forget that Lizali is coming over today, son. Make sure to not leave her alone or make her feel excluded.”
Zycor, having stuffed the toast in his mouth as he swung open the door, turned back and gave his dad a nod, before slamming the door. Scillia made it to the door and threw it open while yelling, “You owe me for that jam you brat!”
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
Finishing the toast, Zycor shouted back, “You should be nicer! You won’t make any friends like that!”
Scillia shouted, “I HAVE FRIENDS!” and slammed the door.
Delighted that he managed to even out the wrong that had been done to him, he continued on. As Zycor walked through the town to get to the usual meet up spot, he was called out to by a vendor. “Hey there Zy, how are the folks doing?” the vendor asked.
Responding cheerfully while looking at the assortment of fruits he had for sale, “They are good, Mr. Reller!”
Reaching into his pocket, Zycor pulled out five Solium and handed it to Mr. Reller. Mr. Reller only grabbed three of the five coins and handed Zycor an apple, “Go ahead and keep those, consider it a discount for helping me out the other day, keeping those crickets away from my produce.”
Zycor giggled, “It’s still funny you didn’t have any mana potions with you, hehe.”
Shooing the boy away with a chuckle, Zycor left, waving back as he did.
Finishing off the last of the apple, he spotted his friends at their meet up spot. As he got closer, he noticed that they were picking on a girl in an expensive, sky-blue dress. Zycor threw the apple core at them, hitting Charlo in the back, causing him to turn around. As he did, Zycor yelled, “Hey guys, leave her alone!”
Charlo giggled, “Oh no! Her boyfriend is here! Run away!”
And with that, Charlo and his brothers took off while they continued to shout more embarrassing things. Reaching the girl, Zycor outstretched his hand, “Are you okay, Liz?”
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Lizali blushed as she took Zycors hand and responded, “I am now, thank you Zy.”
“Well, we should go find those guys,” Zycor commented, to which Lizali nodded.
After searching for a bit, the two groups finally met up once again. They went to the outskirts of the village, still in view of the adults, and began to play around. They talked, bantered, and rough housed. They would mess with Lizali, trying to make her as embarrassed as they could until she got too upset. Which is when they would switch to Zycor and do the same thing, the difference being Zycor would give chase as they laughed.
As the group ran low on energy and the day came to an end, the brothers went home while Zycor took Lizali back to his. Arriving there, the two children are met with a carriage parked out front, and a couple talking to Barlo and Mira. “Hey mom! Hey dad!” Lizali yelled, waving to them as she and Zycor approached.
With a large smile, the man greeted Lizali with a hug, “Oh my dearest daughter! It is so good to see you! I trust you had another fun day with the young Zycor here?”
Lizali nodded with a smile from ear to ear, “I did have a lot of fun again today!”
The mother, giving Lizali a kiss on her head, said, “I am happy to hear that, my dear.”
Turning to Zycor, she smiled and continued, “Thank you for always playing with Lizali, I know she enjoys it too.”
“Yeah! I always have fun with Liz!” Zycor cheerfully replied.
Barlo began to give a hardy chuckle, and teased, “Ha! When are you two going to go steady? I don’t think anyone would be against it, or am I wrong, Mr. Regali?”
Lizali’s dad sighed, “You old goof, call me Logar, we have known each other long enough for that at least.”
“And the same goes for me,” Lizali’s mom huffed, “You better not call me Mrs. Regali! It’s Vianna!”
Barlo, chuckling, responded, “My bad guys, haha! Just so used to the formalities.”
Logar sighed, “Even after all this time you still feel that way? If anything, we should be more formal with you, after all-.”
Barlo put his hand up to stop Logar mid-sentence. After a brief pause, Barlo said, “That was a while ago now. You are of a higher social class than I am. Regardless of the past, that is the current state of things.”
Logar, accepting this is what Barlo wanted, responded, “Well, if that is how you feel, then I will continue to interact with you as I have.”
Turning to Zycor, Logar continued, “And I hope you continue to get along with my daughter, young man. And if you do decide you wish to have a relationship with her, then it is fine by me.”
Confused, Zycor asked, “What do you mean ‘relationship’? Is it like being best friends?”
Mira giggled and answered, “My dear Zycor, I think you are a bit too young for such a thing.”
Vianna interjected, “I agree. Although it would make me very happy if you two continue to be close in the future.”
Lizali, embarrassed, tugged on her mother’s dress, “Mom~, stop it! You are embarrassing me!”
Logar chuckled, “My apologies, Lizali, but you two are just so cute together.”
Zycor had a sudden epiphany and cried out, “Wait here a moment! Let me go get something!”
He ran into his house and into his room. After rummaging around for a time he returned, clutching something in his hand. He outstretched his hand, opening it as he did, and revealed a hair pin he had bought prior, with his mom’s help. It had a silver clip and a small, sky blue flower design on it.
“This is for you, Liz!” Zycor cheerfully exclaimed.
Liz, blushing, took it into her hand and held it tight. She put it into her hair and happily chirped, “Thank you so much, I love it!”
Finishing their goodbyes, the Regali’s entered their carriage and began their journey back to their estate. “Hey dad, when do you think Liz will visit again?” Zycor asked.
Barlo chuckled, “Well, I’m not sure. However, I think it would not be a problem if we went to visit them next time. We will need to get permission first, but I do not see that being an issue.”
Walking inside, Zycor asked Mira, “Hey mom, what are we having for dinner?”
“You will have to wait and see. I will not be having you run off because you do not feel like eating.” Mira responded.
With a large sigh from Zycor, the trio shut the front door behind them.