Cyrus Anders
Cyrus cried when his sister embraced him for the first time in years. He didn’t think he had ever been this happy before. All he wanted to do was sit down and talk with her. About her new job at the news station, her friends, her classes. He wanted to sit there hugging her until the rest of his family came home, and he could see them too for the first time in years.
That was a fact he didn’t like to be reminded of. He hadn’t gotten to watch his little sister grow from the curious girl she had been into the confident young woman that stood in front of him. He hadn’t gotten to see Birdy go from an energetic little kid who loved mermaids into…whoever she was now. He didn’t even know what she was like anymore or what she was into. He wasn’t there to see his mom win science awards or to be a son for his father. Would his family even recognize who he is now?
So much about him had changed. Four years ago, he had been considered short for his age, but now he was a bit above average. He still loved science and building, but he no longer ranted about it for hours to any open or closed ears. He wasn’t the same person he used to be. He had done horrible things.
So, although there was a huge lump of undealt with talks that he would now eventually have to have with the rest of his family, he just now realized how terrified he was to speak to them again.
Both him and his sister pulled back from their embrace and just truly looked at each other's faces. Both were saddened to see just how much had changed. Cyrus knew Holiday was coming to the same revelation that nothing was the same, nor would it ever be again. The two siblings shared a look, knowing they would talk more later, but that as of right now, they had to focus on the task at hand.
Holiday turned around, still not letting go of Cyrus’s hand, though, and addressed the rest of the room with an air of authority that honestly caught her brother off guard. She made sure they kept planning, and they did.
When he and Magnus had first started thinking about doing this, it had seemed completely impossible, just a daydream that they would eventually abandon. But now, although this still seemed very far-fetched, he was beginning to have hope. Maybe this could work out after all. But they would need to be careful.
Tempest was many things, but he was far from stupid. One mistake could cause all of this to go down the drain and end all of their lives. They had to keep acting normal, and they had to be ready for anything to happen. So they spent multiple hours in Holiday’s bedroom creating ideas and tweaking them.
Cyrus had been surprised at first that his parents would leave his little sister alone in the house for so long, but Holiday had said they were out watching a play Birdy had been cast in. She also reminded him that she wasn’t a little girl anymore, and as soon as she said that, they both looked at each other with a sorrowful look in their eyes.
After that, they quickly got back to work, trying to ignore the awkwardness between them as they realized just how big of a divide four years of him being fake dead had put between them. It was, admittedly, not something either of them was eager to talk about, so they played the avoidance game.
After the entire group had finalized the plan, it was getting fairly late, and Holiday said that the other Anders would be coming home soon with dinner, a subtle hint that they all needed to leave immediately.
Brynleigh and Badger worked together to get everything cleaned while Magnus practiced jumping out of the window, then climbing back in the room and jumping again. Both Cyrus and Holiday were in the corner watching him, the two being joint at the hip since they found out who the other was, as she told him stories of what had happened while he was gone.
Cyrus once again looked over at his sister in awe. She had grown up so much without him. Up this close, he could see every little detail about her face that had developed while he was gone. She still had dimples when she smiled, but her cheeks had less baby fat. She had learned how to do makeup and how to do it really well. She seemed so similar, yet she was now a complete stranger to him.
He took mental notes on some of the things that seemed especially important while she was talking. Holiday had gotten a girlfriend named Merica. Which surprised him, not the girlfriend part, but Merica had been one of his old friends before he was kidnapped. Birdy had started getting involved in dramatic theater, hence the play she was in tonight. Dad had gotten multiple promotions at his work, and his mom had received many science awards.
Cyrus was happy for all of them, but he couldn’t help but feel that they had all gotten along just fine without him. He had originally thought that he would move back in with his family after the plan was complete, hopefully successfully, but now he brought himself to consider other options.
He could maybe work at Helt, but there was no guarantee they would hire him. He could just try to get a nine-to-five job and make it, but he had no proof of identity or education. Every possibility he ran through seemed to have a dead-end sign. Nonetheless, he was sure he could figure something out. He had too.
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'Cyrus and Magnus made no care as to how loud they were being as they dragged Velocity through the door, who was pretending to be unconscious. In fact, they were trying to make noise. They wanted Tempest to come out for himself and see just what they had dragged in.
After a minute or two of dragging the other boy around, they finally heard footsteps coming from behind them, and they both knew who it was. Cyrus and Magnus turned around to see Tempest staring at them.
The boss raised his eyebrow in questioning why they had a, seemingly, random boy with a mask on the floor. Magnus launched into an explanation that he was a newer hero named Velocity. He had tried to tell an epic story of how he and Cyrus had fought him and another hero to capture him, but Tempest waved him off the second he heard it was a hero.
Tempest bent down a bit and prodded at the boy a bit. Cyrus shivered slightly as this reminded him of when he first woke up in this building to find Tempest doing similar nudging to him, except more in depth.
After a second, Tempest seemed to be satisfied with the young boy and ordered Badger to be brought to his chambers. But he was interrupted by Magnus, who had another idea.
“Actually, since Cyrus and I were the ones to capture him, we were wondering if we could have him for ourselves. Little reward for the work, you know.” Magnus said it all so confidently that Cyrus was sure that if he was in Tempest’s position, he wouldn’t hesitate to believe him.
Tempest did take a look between all three of them, probably trying to decipher any lies, but after a minute, he smiled and replied. Well, maybe not smiled. It was more a wicked or evil smirk.
“Alright. Don’t have too much fun without me.” Tempest winked at them before walking off to complete the task he had been doing before. Although Magnus looked a bit confused at the underlying message in Tempest’s tone, one look at Cyrus’s uncomfortable expression, and he understood what their boss thought they were going to do with the boy. He honestly felt disgusted at the idea.
❅❅❅
Cyrus sat on the couch along with Magnus, Badger laying on the floor at their feet. He looked over at the clock to see that it was currently 2:48 A.M. He didn’t know why, but it seemed as though none of the boys could get any sleep right now. Maybe because he and Magnus had to share the tiny couch, and Badger was on the floor.
They all sat in silence and contemplated their life choices until Badger suddenly sat straight up and caught the other two’s attention. Badger just explained that he was bored and felt like worrying them a bit. This prompted Magnus to grab one of the extra pillows and throw it as hard as he could at Badger’s face, taking good care to make sure the zipper hit him. The younger boy threw it back in retaliation, but before they could continue their silent fight, Cyrus stopped them.
He feared that if they made any noise, then Tempest would be alerted of their shenanigans. So, he distracted the other boys with ice breaker games to get to know each other. None of them were particularly excited, but they had nothing else to do.
“Okay, one interesting fact about you, Magnus first.” Badger said and waited for the other to respond.
“I almost lost my virginity at twelve.” Cyrus spit out a bit of his water, and Badger’s mouth fell open. “Relax, I said almost. Besides, you’re not one to be shaming other’s Cyrus.” He followed up with.
Cyrus looked at him confused before saying, “I’m a virgin.”
Magnus raised his eyebrow. “You’re like seventeen, and you’re seriously going to tell me you’ve never done it.”
“Well, I was kidnapped when I was around thirteen and haven’t had a whole lot of contact with other people since then, so no.” Cyrus explained.
“That’s weird. Tempest told me when I came here that you weren’t. Figured he had walked in on you or something.” Magnus sat back as he talked.
“Okay, first of all, I am indeed still a virgin for the millionth time. Second of all, why did this come up in your conversations with Tempest?” Cyrus questioned, and the other two boys laughed.
He didn’t really think it was funny, but he still giggled along with the other boys, and before long, Badger had fallen asleep, quickly followed by Magnus and his loud snoring. But Cyrus stayed awake and stared at the ceiling.
He couldn’t figure out why Tempest would tell Magnus that he wasn’t a virgin. It seemed like such a tiny detail, but for some reason, he couldn’t get it off his mind as if it were something truly important.
(I hate writing dialouge.)