Corina Kyle flew under her own power toward the Masterson Family Farm with a large duffle bag slung over her shoulder. It felt like ages since she had seen her niece and nephew. On the day of her brother’s funeral—The Legendary Captain Steel—was when she found out he had left two children behind. They were newborns then, now they were 12-13 years old. The idea she thought of a range instead of the actual number made her feel worse than usual.
She also had no idea he had set up this homestead miles outside Saint Century. It made sense to set it so far. Saint Century was like a growing mold; it spread outward bit by bit and subsumed everything it touched. Corina has heard it said that the remaining 4 settlements—Madrono City Prison Complex, StellarCorp Estates, Johansentown, and Millerton Bay—were lucky to still exist. There’s talk that all the newish neighborhoods in the city’s history were simply other settlements that never grew big enough to be mentioned.
Total time in the air for the trip was under two hours; she landed softly on the main lawn with a small amount of fanfare. Of course, the twins mobbed her first. With her black hair a shade above unkempt, Little Athena collided with her torso first. MJ, Michael Junior, more diminutive and just a little shier, arrived momentarily. His hugs were no less intense.
Other farm workers waved before returning to their work. The Masterson Homestead was a settlement in and of itself these days. Everyone who lived here got a share of the income; it brought to mind StellarCorp and what happened there. It made Corina ask herself if she was wrong to just put the Stellar Hunter away. She asked herself if she was complicit.
Where would she stand if this place grew too big?
“Corina!” Danielle’s voice traveled fast enough to break Corina out of her doom-and-gloom spiral. Danielle was her brother’s widow. She was hardly a hair taller than little Roxanne but packed a punch in her own ways. She had long, dark purple hair that traveled along the wind. “Okay, let Auntie breathe, you guys.”
Athena and MJ broke off dutifully and then started chasing each other around the grounds. They had already begun showing supernatural abilities. MJ moved as quickly as his dad, while Athena found more creative ways of dealing with that, such as impeding columns of dirt.
Stolen story; please report.
“Hey!” Danielle, the hovering mother, clapped her hands three times in unison. “What did I say about doing that on the grounds?”
Both kids stopped what they were doing, and their body language sagged. Corina paid them no mind so she could hug her sister-in-law. Danielle was deathly afraid of her kids turning out like their Aunt and Dad; Corina tried to respect that. They both broke their embrace, but each kept a hand on the other.
“I really needed this vacation,” Corina said, a smirk forming.
“I can tell,” Danielle replied. “We have matching luggage.”
“…what?”
“Bags under your eyes,” Danielle grinned and pointed at her face. “Something dumb my mother used to say.”
“Oh,” Corina replied, touching her face. “You know me—I never sleep.”
“Well, that’s the end of that—” Danielle started to say when a heavy crash captured their attention. A worker loading one of the trucks had fallen over and spilled an entire shipment. Danielle turned and started yelling. Something about being careful, Corina had trouble catching it. She noticed her niece and nephew were directly underfoot. Their wide eyes stared upward and looked straight into her soul.
“What?” She asked.
“When do we begin training?” Little Athena began.
“You said you would,” MJ finished.
“And what did I say about the T-word while your mother was in earshot?”
“To not,” Athena whispered.
“Because…?” Corina let the word hang.
“Because she’d go ham,” MJ replied. Corina laughed; that wasn’t exactly what she said, but it was close enough. Danielle finished with the workers, and things got back on track. She returned to Corina and told her a big lunch had been prepared, and The Galaxy’s Mightiest patted their stomach.
The family walked a couple of feet to the mess hall, a building near the grounds with entrances on each side. An incredible feast of fried chicken and various sides awaited everyone. Those available to take lunch were ready and waiting, while others would have to come for the second rush later.
Corina filled her tray with chicken and heaps of mac and cheese before joining her family at one of the tables. Other workers joined at the same table, and all took turns marveling over the quality of the feast. Athena and MJ had decidedly smaller trays but were entirely consumed by the need to finish what was before them.
When finished, Corina excused herself and walked back to the house. Seeing all this open air and camaraderie made her retreat inward to her stray thoughts. It was hard to believe he set this up before he died. Michael was the ultimate city boy; he used to act like weeds would trigger his trypophobia.
And yet…maybe she didn’t know him as well as she thought.
Corina entered the house, a massive three-story mansion built out of natural wood with twenty rooms, five bathrooms, and a basement. She claimed one of the twenty for herself, threw her duffle bag on the bed, and started changing out of the uniform.