"Love you, I do. Stay here, I won't. Want to make it fun, don't trust anyone."
After every member was finished with their meal and had cleaned up accordingly, the family gathered around the dinner table once more to await Dakedei to start the meeting. He usually and patiently waited for each person's attention and interest before beginning, and tonight he seemed particularly amiable and patient. To Meo it didn't seem like too much of a meeting-type air around the area, but perhaps she was once more over thinking everything. She knew Dakedei well enough to know that he wouldn't be smiling and chatting so lightheartedly if there was something serious to announce. Not wanting to partake in any conversations, Meo sat quietly, simply listening to Kazuna ramble on about some new line of nail colors to Kiriaki. Dakedei's attention was mostly captured by some story Emilia was telling, and there was certainly no interrupting her. Not that anyone was in a rush to get to this meeting. They had had their share and then some, with some resulting in rather misfortunate occurrences, like fights and break-ups. It was rather difficult to reminisce on.
But Emilia's story seemed to end sooner than expected, for Dakedei called for attention and waited for everyone to settle down and hush. He was seated at the head of the table- which normally would've been Dragonov's seat- and was slumping in it comfortably. That was a particular thing Meo liked about Dakedei; he was laid back and placid all of the time. He ran a hand through his dark hair, blinking twice before beginning. At first the suddenly-serious atmosphere made Meo tense, but soon enough Dakedei was smiling again and it began to wear off. Slowly, but it was leaving.
"Drag suggested something to me the other day, and I was thinking about it," Dakedei started, tapping lightly on the armrests of the chair in an aimless manner. "It's about time we had another vacation."
Vacation? She thought to herself. She hadn't expected that--not in the least! Already her mind was racing with how to prepare- after all, the only "vacation" she had taken with such a large group before was a summer camp for her youth group years ago. Where on Earth would they go that would fit eighteen—or rather, seventeen people? She raised her eyebrows but said nothing as an excited murmur arose from the other members.
"And since we never agree on anything full-heartedly, we'll have to leave it to a vote." He looked around to each person. "Suggestions?"
"The beach!" Emilia chimed in first before anyone else could. "In Italia!" She added with a flourish of her native accent.
"We go there every time." Ryu cut in, grumbling.
"So?"
"Well, we will leave that option to the voting, alright?" Dakedei soothed them both.
Immediately other suggestions popped up and small arguments arose, to each which Dakedei attended to. Meo thought to herself, wondering why—if the Foxfire deal was so important—they would want to just pack up and go on vacation. Perhaps it was just a distraction. Maybe Dragonov just wanted everyone to forget about it for awhile and handle things himself. Not that there was anything to handle much anyways at the moment. She focused on the trim on the ceiling, tuning out the entire conversation and getting lost in her own thoughts. She hated to let herself to get so distracted, but things had just been so wound up that she had no interest in serious matters. Well, if this counted as serious.
She was nudged in the arm by an elbow, and her attention snapped to. She hadn't noticed Nitrous sitting next to her, but he, along with the rest of the family, was staring at her. It was his elbow that had met her arm, and he was giving her his usual blank stare. She immediately searched for Dakedei's gaze, who was smiling kindly at her. "What?"
"What's your vote, Meo?" he responded.
She gave a light giggle in embarrassment. "What are the choices?"
Someone snickered, furthering her embarrassment and causing her lips to curl inwards. "We have the beach, a lodge at the lakes up north, or a skiing trip at a mountain resort."
Well skiing certainly wasn't her thing, and she didn't much care for camping—lodge or not. She hesitated slightly, sensing that everyone's stare was still on her. It was unbearably silent for some odd reason. "Th-the beach."
A few groans came from throughout the table and Dakedei raised his hands slightly. "Well that settles it; the beach it is."
Still the idea seemed abrupt and odd, as if nothing was wrong for the family and it was like any other day. Although Meo couldn't really fathom any sort of normal day for them. Not to mention going during winter. It wasn't entirely unheard of before, but Meo still hadn't ever expected to actually go during such a cold season. Who cared if there were less people? She just cared about the sun and warmth—and cold water was something she certainly didn't enjoy swimming in.
With that the family began to disperse, and Meo stood along with them, already planning on retreating back to her room for the night and reading. Dakedei stood and stayed in his place, waiting for everyone else to file out and spread to their usual places. Meo was one of the last to leave, and he stopped her with a light hand on her shoulder. She stayed back in the room, already wondering what was wrong now. Kazuna cast her a curious glance before continuing out of the room. When they were finally entirely alone and the room was quiet, Dakedei fully faced her. He leaned back against the chair and gave his usual polite smile.
Meo clasped her hands together and stiffened her fingers so that she wouldn't fidget nervously.
"How are you holding up, Meo?" he asked directly in a light tone.
"I'm fine," she automatically responded. She thought she had been putting in more effort to appear entirely settled within the family, but apparently it was transparent. "I'm just naturally nervous."
He grinned. "Well that I know, but I thought that since you gave us a second chance you might be feeling either much better or much worse."
Something about Dakedei's personality calmed her. She felt she could entirely relax—after all she knew he was reliable and trustworthy. She returned his smile and exhaled silently in relief. "It's honestly still the same. Maybe a bit better. Mihael seems to have turned around."
"Well that's good; the kid needs to stop penning stuff up like that. You'd think he'd take that from me . . . ." he trailed off before continuing. "But you're still free to come and go as you like. You don't absolutely have to live here, you know. Most of the members stay because they don't have anywhere else to go."
"I can understand that," she responded. "And I don't think it'd be very fair to just leave with the privilege they don't have."
Here Dakedei laughed. "Meo, they aren't stuck here. They choose to stay. No, they don't have another home like you do, but they could easily make their own."
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come off as prude."
He waved a hand in reassurance. "Oh don't worry about that. You think too much, you know that?"
His comment made her silent, but she smiled and looked down at her feet. So it was noticeable, apparently. Or perhaps Dakedei was just that observant. She nodded, feeling like a young little girl all over again. Her whole life she had been told that, and it had certainly gotten in the way of plenty of things. Some would even say she was hard to deal with.
He told her not to worry and gave her a clap on the shoulder before leaving the room. She shortly followed behind, already silent and withdrawn back into her mind. Trying to focus on not thinking so much was a rather difficult thing to do, and it was something she didn't even know how to manage. She started up the stairs, focusing instead on her feet, left right, left right, step step. She appreciated that Dakedei at least cared- but that was kind of his job, wasn't it? She shrugged to herself, not caring if anyone saw. They probably thought she was weird anyways. Meo reached the second floor and shuffled to her room, trailing her fingers lightly over the wall. She hesitated in the doorway, staring around at the lilac-colored room that still had Foxfire written all over in the atmosphere of the place, even though she probably hadn't picked the color.
Meo sighed and slumped over to her bed, letting herself fall face-forwards onto the mattress, arms spread outwards. While she did appreciate Dakedei's thoughts, she wanted the family to just go ahead and forget about her whole ordeal. She knew eventually she'd settle in and everything would go smoothly- as if she never had an irk about fitting in in the first place. But first, it took some adjustment. She exhaled into the comforter, one she had brought from home, and thought of her parents. It no longer contained her room's smell, but had taken on a new one, one that fit into the Element household. She wondered how often her parents thought of her, even though she still kept in touch quite often. It was about time she had begun to look for a new place anyways. That was what was expected for someone her age, right? She'd think about getting a job and going to college later; she had enough to handle and balance at that moment.
~
It was a terribly old, weathered and faded book before them; one that Foxfire already wished to set aflame to. The musty, moldy smell gagged her in short breaths before she could even dare look upon the pages. Hinekko didn't seem bothered by the book's scent nor the dust coming from each page they tediously turned. It took will and patience not to let the pages rip or fall apart within their fingers. They just couldn't believe it was so easy to obtain. Reading it would have to come later, but even so they needed to make sure it was the right one. Well, of course it was the right book; how many were there of this very particular kind? Foxfire was still reveling in succeeding in talking to Hinekko and convincing them to dabble in this certainly forbidden knowledge. Actually finding the book was a plus, but still not as great as the excitement rising in them both. There was something they couldn't quite place upon the feeling; they both were jovial for the same reason and yet each had their own plans to accord to. Only, the other didn't know of it.
If what they thought the book pertained was actually feasible and existed to the very laws of reality, then there was something certainly great to look forward to—and not just for them alone. No, if this was a success . . . they could only imagine the other capabilities they could create; something out of nothing. Essence out of being and perhaps even return joy to loved ones. Foxfire had been keeping Meo in mind, for she knew fully well what would happen if she and Hinekko succeeded in their task. Hinekko had voiced this concern (although it was much less than that considering they didn't know Meo), but Fox had only brushed it aside with a shrug and a mumble. There was neither need nor reason to explain herself. It was all very clear and obvious; Hinekko knew how Elements worked. They were Gallissy's dear older sibling after all.
It was a sacrifice Foxfire wanted to make.
There were far more good outcomes than bad outcomes for the situation, and so she had to let the lesser go.
"Let us return this to Dragamir. At least we will be in a safe place to study it," Hinekko shut the book gingerly, wrapping it up in a large silken scarf they had brought along just for this reason. "He could care less about this."
"I thought you hadn't told him anything about this," Fox narrowed her eyes. She trusted Hinekko to a certain point, but she knew that the person's loyalties absolutely lay with Dragamir- for whatever reason. Perhaps it was because they were both the rejected siblings; the pass-overs and the left-behinds. It wasn't much of a moot circumstance- it was just rather a plain happening of understandable relativity.
"I didn't tell him what the book was for. I simply told him we were going on an archaic relic hunt."
"Archaic indeed." She turned her nose at the book. She didn't like it, and for once didn't complain that Hinekko was going to carry it. They were less likely to drop it anyways. "If he knew about this, do you think he'd try to stop us?"
"Of course." Hinekko was nearly at a whisper, for the direness of the situation pertaining them at the very moment wasn't something to neither take lightly nor fool around with. It was time for them to leave unseen, undetected, which was sometimes harder than getting in. They started the pace at a brisk run, having trained their footsteps to make no noise as they pounded against the metallic linoleum beneath them. They had trained Foxfire in the same manner before they came here, but even so the girl behind them hadn't fully accomplished the silence and stealth of the task.
Fox kept up with ease, having been subjected to the same training as every other Elemental that Dragonov and Dakedei instituted for fair measures and reason. They had always said "just in case this is needed" when training the Elementals, and it had always really been for more than just controlling the Elements. Foxfire knew how Dragonov thought. He wasn't entirely hard to figure out; many people over analyzed him, figuring that if he was stoic and silent then perhaps that was how he planned things out. But no, Dragonov was someone who was far advanced beyond his age. He was insanely clever, and unlike the previous Element generation, he knew that there was always dire need to be prepared. It was important to gather all Elements as soon as possible, and as young as possible. His father had certainly taught him well, even with him getting his Element from his mother—but Drag took it beyond even that. For him, there was always more to learn, always something else to find out. Foxfire had always assumed this to be his only weakness, that and over calculating.
He had proved her wrong on that second part. He would think just enough, and then depending on the consequences, branch out that thought pattern in overwhelming manners. That was why she felt it all too easy and not a threat at all to reveal herself to Nitrous that one day . . . but she needed to return. Returning might be a bit harder, but she had to take one thing at a time, and it started with following Hinekko from shadow to shadow, avoiding the moonlight and stepping lightly on each tile for less than a second each. She had learned how to make her breathing shallow and light, to make her body lither as she sprinted forwards. She was glad she wasn't carrying the book; it would've been too awkward for her.
It was a maze of columns and corridors, open courtyards and stone rooms that they navigated through, having memorized each trace and step. Of course, not a living soul was present within the entire place, but the two took no risks against perhaps some ancient barrier of Elements or some other unnamable and unimaginable presence. They didn't want to say magic, that term seemed too . . . childish, ironically enough. But that wasn't important. What was important was to return to Dragamir's and get down to business.
~
The next day, Meo made an amiable attempt to at least try and placate the void between her and Nitrous. As Dragonov had said, no, they didn't have to get along nor where they expected to, but it was ridiculous with how they had behaved towards each other. She really felt that for the most part, things had been patched about their rough start, but she still wanted to leave them off on friendly terms. At breakfast she had sat purposefully next to him and attempted meek chatter, to which he obliged with slight confusion but participation nonetheless. They were given odd looks by Dakedei, who had been fully aware of the previous tension between the two but not of their mending their rocky start. At first, he had seemed meekly blank, as usual, towards her friendly attitude, and after awhile Judas and Mitchell began to pester him about it. He had told them everything, except for their menial "make up". He had wondered shortly about her off behavior but best decided not to question it.
After all, who was he to complain? He just hoped she hadn't taken it as him suddenly wanting to develop into a friendship. An acquaintanceship at best, perhaps, but it didn't mean that he was suddenly all warm and fuzzy towards her in any manner. She was tolerable at best anyways—even though she seemed to get along with Judas and Mitchell just fine. He could in a way have a biased opinion, but well, unfortunately that wasn't very likely to change, even if wrongly placed. To his comfort, she had basically left him alone most of the day, and seemed to naturally avoid awkward situations with ease. Nitrous had indeed misjudged her, and come dinner that night, he had developed a partially new opinion of her.
It didn't matter much anyways, for Kazuna stole most Meo's attention and seemed to really get the girl to come out her shell. Nitrous had certainly noticed a change about her—how she had turned into a lively, cheerful, full-of-laughter kind of person and away from her withdrawn quietness. She had also frequented the forest less, which was also a good sign that she wasn't as stressed or upset. It didn't bother him all that much anyways, for she mostly kept to herself and wasn't so bad for meager conversation. He was relieved she wasn't the chatty type who felt pressured to fill every waking moment with idle talk—like Kazuna was known to do.
She sighed aloud, staring off towards the ceiling as if it were the most captivating object she had ever witnessed. Her fingers fidgeted aimlessly, making him want to reach other and stop them from being so . . . annoying. Nitrous had noticed she did this quite often, but it was certainly better than slinking off to destroy trees—for whatever it was that plagued her mind.
He shifted uncomfortably and looked back towards the TV that hung slightly crooked on Star's wall. She claimed it gave the room some sort of feng shui vibe or something of the sort, but everyone knew it was simply because she had no idea how to fix it without ripping the wires out of the wall. It wasn't meant to be hung on the wall in the first place, but Star did what Star wanted, and so everyone left it alone.
Judas reached over to rip the remote from his hands with an impish grin. "Hate to burst your infomercial-lovin' bubble over there, dude, but I'm pretty sure none of us wants to buy Oxiclean."
He didn't say anything in return, noticing that yes, they had been staring at an Oxiclean commercial for the past several minutes and no, he hadn't even realized it. He had a slight strain of annoyance at himself for a few seconds, letting Meo cloud his thoughts like that. Not that she had noticed any difference. He only blankly stared at the screen as the channel was changed to some celebrity's big life off the set.
e