"Emmett, do you have everything ready to go?!"
"Just a wee bit more time, mother!"
Nina Cross rushed around the room, throwing her folded clothes into her bags. The woman zipped up everything she needed and placed it by the front door to their home. She gasped and went to the kitchen.
Nina was a youthful and bountiful British woman in her early twenties with ivory white skin, light blonde hair and emerald green eyes. She was dressed in a matching red jacket and skirt, a black button-up undershirt, and black high-heels with black pantyhose.
She went for the table and picked up a black journal, sighing in relief. She opened it and stared at a circle with a unicursal hexagram symbol in it that was on the back of the cover. Nina closed the book and exited the kitchen.
"Emmett?" Nina called with a soft British accent, hearing light footsteps from the ceiling.
"Okay, I'm here." Said a young masculine voice with a moderate British accent. Nina smiled when the person stepped down from the last stair plank.
Emmett Cross was a young seventeen year-old male with a light neutral skin complexion, short and spiky dark blonde hair with a side-swept fringe cut, and forest green eyes that were naturally shaped in a half-lidded mold that gave him a normal deadpan stare. His attire was a navy blue button-up, high-collared shirt with a white bamboo cotton undershirt, dark beige slim-fit khakis, and navy blue high-tops with white laces. His ears were pierced with small, black stretched lobe piercings.
Emmett carried a grey duffel bag over his left shoulder, staring at his mom expectantly, "Alright, are we ready?"
Nina nodded and motioned Emmett to carry two more bags while she carried her two bags. They left the house as Nina punched in a few numbers on her phone and put it up to her ear.
"Have it going in five. Thank you very much." Nina ended the short call, Emmett walking close by her side. They were turning around a house that was two-story, a huge garden and front lawn they were passing as they walked the side of the home.
"Sticking with the original plan? Destination: Japan?" Emmett asked with his deadpan stare, keeping up with his mother's fast walking.
"Yes, Kuoh to be more specific. We need to leave this place as fast as possible. Your life is at stake if we stay here." Nina said, frowning at her son in worry.
Emmett narrowed his eyes, looking down at his legs as they kicked forward from walking. The two made it to a red "H" on the ground behind their house. Emmett heard a loud whirring soung above him and looked to see a helicopter above them, about to land on the landing sigil.
Nina waved her hand to direct the person and as it landed, she turned to Emmett with a determined expression, "Here we go."
Emmett and his mother climbed on board and sat on the grey seats, the boy sticking his hand out to feel the air. Nina sat back down after telling the pilot where they were headed.
She looked to Emmett as they were heading out already, "Will you be okay, Emmett?"
The boy closed his eyes and leaned his head down, "I'll manage somewhat. Do try to not speak much of our situation, please?"
Nina smiled and ruffled his hair, Emmett flinching back from the embarrassing show of affection, "Don't fret now. Despite who your father was, or what I should say, he was very much good for the most part. I say that because there are some things that he did that needed to be done in order for the world to stay how it is."
Emmett hummed, his eyes set into a blank slate. Nina giggled, "You really did adopt your father's stoic attitude. I can't even begin to compare you guys."
"Right. So, will this help me with my...ordeal?" Emmett asked, clenching his fists.
Nina sighed, starting into his eyes, "Your abilities are some of the unusual ones that I've never witnessed before. But I know that with just enough exercise in your handling them, you will be able to protect even yourself alone."
"Yeah, but–you…" Emmett trailed off, his mother's finger on his lips.
"Don't worry about me. There's nothing a little Woman of Letters can't handle." Nina said with pride, placing a hand on her ample chest.
Emmett blinked, remembering that she was indeed a legacy like some of the few out there. The Men of Letters settled in London was where Nina got her start in the official hunting business. She graduated from some prestigious school in the area, he can't remember the name, and was accepted immediately with her quick wit and strong tactician skills.
Emmett looked up to his mother more than his father, mainly because he hadn't met his father. Supposedly, he left right after his birth, leaving Nina to take care of him. And boy did she.
She was the one to introduce him to the secrets of the world, hunting monsters and saving people's lives. For the most part, they lived in the British Men of Letters at their compound and a few years later around Emmett's tenth birthday, they left to fend for themselves. They later found their first home to be destroyed by some people, they never found out who, and so they had to move on.
Emmett tapped his thigh in exasperation, "Do you think their on us still?"
Nina was busy pouring tea in a cup that she barely caught her son's question, "...Oh, yes. They're still out there, trying very hard no doubt. But they'll never bring their "special plans" as they put it to complete fruition because they are not sharp and prepared like us as we are for them. They're coming…and we'll be ready."
Nina suddenly stood up in the middle of the helicopter and pulled Emmett into a quick hug, "I promise they won't lay a hand on you. I swear to God, they won't."
Emmett reciprocated the hug and eventually let go of her, "Now to adjust to a new life like I am."
Nina gave a warm grin to him, "Honey, it doesn't matter if you're a demon's child. What's important is that you still have your humanity in sync and up and running. I only wish that your father would stick with us. He was one for a nice adventure."
Emmett has never hated his father, not once. The only thing that he was angered about was that he never even got to get a glimpse of him. There were no pictures either, so that was a bust. Still, he would at least get to talk to him.
"You know just think… A cambion child traveling across the continent to live in Japan in a helicopter. It sounds strange for one such as yourself." Nina played around with Emmett who stared at her blankly.
"Yes, I suppose it is." Nina opted to be quiet, tapping the side of her cup as she took a drink.
Kuoh, Japan
It was about four in the afternoon since they left and now Emmett checks his phone and the time now reads five in the morning. As a cambion like Nina said he was, he doesn't sleep much, having been sleeping for half an hour earlier and fully energized.
He looked up and saw Nina asleep, head back against the headrest. Emmett hummed with a blank face and lifted a hand to her, flicking his forefinger down quickly. Her upper body fell forward which made her face smack into the small wooden table hard.
"Ah!" Nina hissed while holding her nose, Emmett looking back at his phone.
"Careful there." Emmett remarked, sliding through a couple of screens. The Woman of Letters grumbled, rubbing her nose soothingly.
"Thank you for the heads up." She replied sarcastically. The two looked outside the window and found they were above water.
"Looks like we're crossing a strip of the Pacific. Look." Emmett showed Nina his phone, a map of the world and a blinking red dot that indicated it was them.
"So, we must be landing immediately to our destination in Kuoh. Our new home must be waiting there for us already." She yawned in her sleeve, stretching her arms above her head.
Emmett nodded, tucking away his phone in his bag. He breathed in and out slowly, eyes closed as he meditated in his seat. Nina watched him with a neutral gaze. His eyes shot open after a few minutes, his forest green orbs glowing a brilliant silver that showed like a ring inside of his eyes. His head tilted up, staring not at the ceiling but through it.
"Mother, I've picked up millions of spikes in power near a couple of small towns north of Japan." He said slowly, garnering Nina's attention.
"What? What kind of power?"
"It's extremely familiar to the monsters that we face on a daily... Japan is riddled with supernatural activity." Emmett's eyes returned to normal, a serious expression donning his face.
Nina copied Emmett, a scowl on her face, "Looks like we just can't catch a simple break. Once we arrive to our home, I'll set up everything we need to track these monsters down. I'll take you out of school early with a phone call in case something pops up."
Emmett did a double-take of what his mother said, "Schooling? Do I need to go to school?" He looked back to his phone, eyeing the red dot that moved through the waters on the map.
Nina nodded with a happy hum, "Yes, to get you a brand new beginning! Plus, you're still a teenager, so you have to still go to school. I believe the school's called Kuoh Academy dear. I heard they just shifted to a co-ed program so there'll probably be more females than males, if you "catch my drift"~"
"Oh for the love of Christ, don't pull your "hipster mom" voice on me right now." Emmett scoffed, making Nina giggle.
"I'm just kidding!"
"Ms. Cross, we're inching close to landing. Just want to wish you good luck on this new start." The pilot said through the intercom. Nina pressed a button on the wall of the helicopter.
"Thank you for your service. We'll take it from here." Nina looked out the side door, staring at the ground where they will be landing.
Emmett peeked his head out and found a nice home waiting outside for them, "Is that a...pacific lodge home?"
"Yes! I bought it last week online. Japan has some of the nicest homes, don't you think? I wonder how the rest of Kuoh looks like…" Nina asked, looking at the house from above.
"I should think so. It looks almost identical to the compound!" Emmett said, winded by how much Nina might've spend on this house.
"A three story structure, over six-thousand square feet in length, and an absolutely beautiful view of the mountains and valleys. Our new home is quite the...large one. I wonder how I'm going to do this." Nina pondered, a hand to her chin.
"For a "brilliant tactician", you sure don't think ahead." Emmett muttered, Nina shushing him.
"I'll figure something out." The helicopter landed in the front on the smooth concrete driveway. Emmett hopped off with their things, followed by Nina who was busy mapping out how she would set up shop.
The front yard was huge as well. A colorful marble concrete floor, cobblestone paths along the side of the house, the front porch decorated with elephant ears Emmett recognized, and a large rooftop that shaded the ground from the sun.
The two went inside, Emmett widening his eyes at the interior, "Do we...really need all of this?"
"We'll, I thought you would like it. The walls and ceilings are fully furnished, there is a security system, built-in speakers inside the crooks of the wall, walk-in closets, and my personal favorites: a wet bar and a steam room!" Nina squealed, happy to know she had something to look forward to when she gets home.
Emmett gave her his natural deadpan stare, "I feel like we're not progressing faster. Where are the bedrooms?"
"Oh, around that corner and up ahead it seems…" Nina said, scrolling through her tablet. She handed Emmett the piece of tech who thanked her before walking away.
"Alright let's see…" Emmett wandered through a hallway that was left of the living room, up some stairs down the end where his room should be on the third floor.
"Mother's room is on the second floor along with her bar and steam room. Sigh, I admit she really deserves all of this. Must be hard keeping her legacy in tact with what the Men of Letters having fell."
Emmett stood in front of a door and opened it, greeting his new room. His room was simple: a twin bed, some drapes above his bed, a small desk beside it, some drawers with a mirror to the other side, and a bathroom next to them.
"So...this is our new life? Let's see if we can keep it." He said, rummaging a hand through his hair. He threw his bag, deciding to unpack tomorrow. Well, technically later today.
For a moment he laid there on his bed but then raising a hand in the air. A dark silver-colored energy manifested around his fingers, swirling around them with controlled practice. He pointed his hand in a gun-like gesture, the energy shooting at the ceiling like a bullet which effectively destroyed a huge chunk out of it.
"Oh, shoot!" Emmett got up quick, almost tripping over himself. He came under the hole in the ceiling, pointing a hand to it. The pieces from the ground raised from their position and floating over to the ceiling. Emmett narrowed his eyes, the pieces sticking to each other and filling the hole back to normal.
Emmett sighed, lowering his hand, "Yep. I'm not halfway there to full control yet."
"Emmett, what was that?!" He heard Nina from downstairs.
"Nothing! It's definitely nothing!"