The Alchemist at Hell's Gates

39

^^ Mr. Bordeaux ^^

My eyes opened slowly, the light of the room slightly blinding and dazzling against my unused eyes as I sat up and stretched, throwing one leg and then the other out of the glass coffin I'd been in for weeks on end. My legs wobbled a bit as I stood up, but my muscles remembered how to work after a few seconds, and I was soon going through my morning exercise regimen with no issues.

"You have, 3, new messages." My phone chirped to remind me I had likely missed a call from my mother, staying and partying with my friends for a couple hours longer than I'd intended; it only translated to thirty minutes out here, but it was enough to irritate my mother, with her love of precision.

"Play messages." I sighed, settling into a push-up position and beginning a set.

"First Message."

A soft light filled the room as a hologram built itself on my couch, of my mother sitting with her back straight and her hands clasped in her lap, as formal as ever on the phone. She had the same features as me, though taller and with more muscle mass; to the evident confusion of everyone I'd ever been introduced to, a championship gymnast had muscles, that was just a fact. Her voice carried into the message crisply. "Samantha Marie Bordeaux, you are Late. Christmas Dinner begins in three hours, and if you miss it, your grandmother will throw a Fit. Don't be late, dear."

"Second Message."

The light moved to my kitchen, where my mother was cooking alongside my father, a small man who looked like he was made of wire and macrame, though his thin half-Inuit features made him the most beautiful person I'd ever seen, bar none. "Samantha. Marie. Bordeaux." Mother snapped, and the message ended.

"Third Message."

The light shifted to a different spot in the room, as their kitchen was much bigger than mine, and now Grandma Bordeaux, the elderly French woman, was sitting on my couch, and simply raising an eyebrow into the camera, her icy blue eyes saying all that needed to be said before it shut off.

"Call Grandma Lily's House-Phone." I smiled, pulling on some pants and grabbing a glass of water from my tap.

"Calling..."

"... allo, Samantha, dearie. Your moser is in a tizzy over you being late, you know, I 'ave not seen her zis angry yet since you broke ze Christmas Star, no?" The soft, gentle voice and its accompanying heavy French accent was an immediate calming effect on my nerves.

"Hello, grandmother; merry Christmas to you, too." I smirked as she laughed at her mishap, realizing her own tactics even as I used them against her.

"Oh, and now you are ze smarty pants, no? Ho, I shall 'ave to tell your moser that you are being naughty on Christmas... Ha! Yes, dearie, Merry Christmas. Now I shall throw you to ze wolv, as recompense! Delilah! Your Daughter is calling finally!" She laughed evilly as I heard the stomping immediately of my mother making her way into the room, even before she entered the hologram.

"Ah, there you are. Well, better late than never, I suppose; fix your hair, and put on a shirt for gods sake, girl! And shoes!!! It is Christmas, not Independence Day! We will talk about you being late at another time, but dinner is almost ready!!!" Mother snapped, clapping her hands sharply.

"I know, and I have a few Guests coming, mother, so hold your horses." I responded dryly, and set my glass in the sink after tossing back the water, moving into my bedroom and brushing my hair carefully, to make sure I didn't have any knots or such.

"Guests?!? You didn't say anything about Guests?!? How many plates do I need to put out?!?" She panicked immediately, rushing about in the kitchens while Lily tried to calm her.