Okay, I'm ba-ack! With a hopefully better update! Woo-hoo! Thanks for all those who read! And I own absolutely nothing. *sobs*
I felt like dissolving into the car seat. If I was able, genuinely I would have. The medley of frantic voices drilled into my ears as I solemnly pressed my forehead against the cool window. The flickers of my reflection that I caught on the glass stared grimly back at me.
"Your mom's back. Seriously. Tonight. Are you bloody kidding me!" Adam ranted, dangerously swerving the car back and forth through the lanes.
"L.J., your mom is here, in person, for the first time four years. And instead of having dinner with her, you stood her up to go drinking with us." Leah said slowly, staring at the sea of city lights, feet propped onto the dashboard.
"Yes, I just told you that. No need to quote me." The moment I'd confessed the significance of this night, my friends had immediately started squawking and running like chickens, scrambling to get me in the car and take me home.
"Aha, I've got a quote for you. How'd it go again? Oh, that's right… 'you're an idiot.'"
It's natural to be afraid of your own mother. It's a bit odd to have everyone you know be afraid of her as well, but in this case I wasn't too surprised. My mother was, for lack of a better word, their boss. Their parents' boss.
"I didn't want to be there." I tiredly pushed my hair back with my hand.
"You wanted to run away." Mary stated, more patiently but still bewilderment, "L.J., your mother is the Guardian Angel. When she comes back from that other dimension and tells you she wants to have dinner with you, you don't stand her up."
"I didn't want to hear what she had to say." I shrugged.
I was a little pissed off and probably wasn't being as respectful as I should have been, but honestly, screw that. My mother, the great Lady of Life and Light and whatever else, was a lousy parent. It wasn't so much that I hadn't seen or spoken to her properly since I was twelve, so much as that she'd left me here at the worst possible time. Gods from the Otherworld have a tendency to drop their "children" in the physical realm- it's how they asserted control over the human world without having to enter it themselves. That was just our culture. I tried to manage the Institute as much as I could, but in the end I was just in charge of student and agent affairs. Glorified student body president, really. All the technical stuff was done by the staff and Administrative Board. The Institute was a collection of Godlings and special humans (most being some manner 'Chosen One') who needed shelter. As my mother was the overseer of the barrier between worlds, she was obligated to look after them. Emphasis on "was." Would've been nice to be given a head's up, mom. Especially since she knew I wasn't the most responsible person around. We finally pulled into the front drive, the gates opening automatically. A collective shiver ran down my friends' spines as the realized they'd been waiting on us.
"Alright, drop me off here. You guys go home." I unbuckled myself, climbing out of Adam's car.
"What? Are you sure?" Isaac blinked, sitting up.
"Uh huh. It's fine." I didn't want them to have to face my mother when they were clearly already about to have a break down just from seeing the gates open. "I'll see you when we leave for the Gathering tomorrow, alright?"
"We'll keep you in our hearts brave soldier." Isaac said dramatically, he and Mary saluting.
"Yeah yeah, we'll be with you in spirit." Adam waved me off, eager to floor it back down the road and as far away from my house as possible.
The headlights of the car scanned over me as it pulled back. I watched them disappear into the night before turning and trudging the rest of the way to the main entrance.
"Hey there. We half expected you to go in through the window." A calm voice attracted my attention, and I spotted a blonde boy, seventeen, leaning on the front steps.
"That only works when there's a chance they don't know I've gone." I replied smoothly. "Going through the door is a little bit more dignified anyway, Damien. Where's John?"
My partner shrugged. "Hell if I know. He tried damage control for as long as he could. Wouldn't be surprised if he was upstairs trying to drown himself in the shower right now."
"Hn." A quick look at him, and I saw the burning question in his eyes that he was trying not to ask.
Why did I do it? Keep sneaking out, even having the brass to ditch my own mother? The simple answer would be because I wanted to. I wanted to get out, go places, see things. My mother wanted to keep me almost exclusively in the country, which infuriated me. Other Godlings were able to go all over the world! Even some of the street kids I knew told me stories of the places they'd seen or come from. And I wanted it. If Death personified Law, than I had inherited the need for Liberation, freedom. Even the Chaos that came with it would be worth it.
"Now, I think the 'I'm just a kid' argument would go nicely here." Damian suggested suddenly. "Begging her not to fire us could also do."
"Your words of confidence never fail to elate me, Damian."
"Wow. I really, really don't know what to say right now. What can I say? Is there any point in me even trying to teach you anything anymore? Because obviously, you have all the answers! I told you, I told you I was arriving tonight, that what I was going to say was important. Even after four years There are going to be things in this world that you won't be able to run away from Junior, things that don't have windows for you to sneak out of! You haven't grown up or learned any kind of responsi-"
I listened to my mother's ranting without protest. It occurred to me that my mother still had quite the temper. There was that phrase…'life's a bitch and then you die?'
"Life Junior, are you smiling! ?"
"No!" I jumped, and she continued on as if she had not been interrupted.
The phrase wasn't entirely true, though, not really… It was difficult to describe my mother. As a Guardian Angel, she seemed to glow out of the corner of your eye, but was always in perfect focus if you looked directly at her. Long, shimmery hair and bright teal eyes with a pearly sheen. She was an amazing and generous Guardian Angel, but as a mother? Kind of horrible, to be honest. I suddenly flinched as the old clock's chimes reverberated throughout the house; numbing my brain to keep me from thinking of all the snippy retorts I could be firing at my mother now that she'd finally stopped talking. But she simply sighed and placed a hand on her forehead.
"It's late, we need to leave for Nevada in a couple hours… do you have anything to say for yourself? Any proper explanation for what you did tonight that was so important?"
I lazily folded my arms. "Whatever you had to say didn't interest me. You left me here for four years, yet still demanded I lived by your rules. Fine. But now you don't get to act like you have any genuine parental authority over me, and I can spend my nights with the people who actually were there for me. If you wanted to keep me loyal and subservient to you, you shouldn't have left and forced me to do your job. I'm not just your fragment anymore, and you saw to that."
There was a dark, sickly pause, and I knew I'd gone too far. In the morning, once this alcoholic haze dissipated, I'd be kicking myself and praying that the world would swallow me up. Who knows, maybe Isaac could have that arranged. But finally, my mother spoke.
"Is that so." It was quiet, and not really a question, so I didn't respond. "… Very well."
"Um…okay?" I blinked.
"It's late and we're leaving tomorrow. Since you're so independant, I trust you'll be ready."
And then she left. That was it?
Could it be she… agreed with me? Was this a trick or something? If her maturity level was anything like mine, I'd be right to stay aware.
"So… Nevada." I said, looking around over the barren land. "This is... well this certainly is a place."
"Yup." Leah nodded, popping her 'p'.'
There was a hollow 'snap' as Damian snapped a picture of the scenery.
"Well I've done all I can." Damian said, carelessly airing the photo before stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Hey, so I was thinking, since I'm the only one with an cool-sounding name, does this mean I get an evil laugh? The acoustics in this hell valley have got to carry for miles!"
"NO." We all silenced him, as the last thing we (or anyone in a five mile radius) needed was to hear Damian rehearsing his maniacal laughter for two hours.
The limo we were in rolled through the hills, kicking up dust everywhere so that it spewed behind us. It was hard to believe anything, let alone a school, could be out here. Gatherings always took place out here in Nevada, since Lord Death couldn't leave the city. Not that I could get why anyone would root themselves out here, you know, if they could help it. But I'd have to refrain from saying stuff like that at the party-just before getting into the car; Shadow (one of my mother's subordinates and occasional partners) had given us all a very warning lecture:
"Now, in case you've all forgotten," He began, shushing us with a 'this is serious business' look. "The Gathering is not like the meets most of you have been to. All the Gods will be there. So you are all expected to be on your best behavior tonight-we don't want a repetition of what happened at last year's Elemental Meeting…"
He cast a disapproving gaze at Leah.
"How was I supposed to know it was combustible!"
"We understand, sir." Adam said, elbowing his girlfriend. "Lay low and don't break anything until it's over."
The Gathering happened every 100 years, so it was natural to be anxious or excited. Every God that interacted in mortal world was to be attending, making this a pretty big deal- but to me, this was just going to be 24 hours of being polite to people I don't know and sitting next to other Gods I wouldn't know how to talk to. It was starting to grow dark outside the car window, the sun just bobbing over the horizon with each chuckle. I tugged at my white and gold gown-with my dresses, I usually tied the sash near the side. But tonight, my mom insisted on having it tied at the back. As if that'd make it any more fancy.
"Welcome to Halloween Town." Adam murmured as we began to approach Death City, once only a speck in the distance.
"Be nice." Mary said absently, staring out the window with me.
I was slightly surprised-it didn't look like one of those podunk little American hick towns we'd been expecting, and I could tell by the looks my friends were exchanging that they agreed. It was a rather quaint, but attractive city. The homes were cute with shingled roofs and the streets made of cobblestone that made the limo jostle. Today, the buildings were decked out in banners and streamers for the special occasion. When we finally pulled up to 'DWMA', we were greeted by the sight of numerous limos like ours pulling up to what was easily the biggest and most, ahem, elaborate building in the whole city. The limo crawled to a stop, and we stepped out onto the front steps of the school.
"...So you ever wonder what he's laughing about?" Damian asked conversationally, completely ignoring our battling friends as we began hiking up the stairs.
"Eh…?" I followed his gaze to the sinking sun. "Oh. Well, it must be pretty funny if we can hear him from all the way down here. Noise doesn't travel in space, right?"
"Huh... You known, he sounds kinda like the guy from Mario Kart."
"Uh, L.J.?" I glanced back at Mary, who was sheepishly rubbing her neck.
"Mm?"
"Would it be okay if... you know, we went looking for our parents?" She asked, slightly bashful.
"Wha- yeah, of course. Go ahead, we'll see you later." Just because I had rebelled, I didn't want my friends feeling bad for still being subservient to their parents.
I was planning on spending the whole Gathering away from my mother- she'd be leaving once it was over, anyway. Figures.
"Well, we've got time to kill." Damien shrugged, watching the group scatter. "Wanna find where these guys are hiding the food?"
Why we thought anything about today would be easy, I'll never know. The school's architecture was ridiculously convoluted- it all looked the damn same. You think someone would have taped up some arrows or something to help out guests. It wasn't until another half hour of searching that we finally found our way to the dining hall.
"No, no, no! It's leaning to the left! Take it down and do it again!"
Some guy was in here, frantically talking at a group of students who were adjusting a banner.
"And after that, someone needs to chisel down the ice sculpture, it's leaning too far to the righ- agh, no, just get rid of it!"
"Kid, that's the best we can do right now." One student said, stepping off a chair. "It's getting dark, it's almost time to seat everyone."
"That's why everything must be precise and perfect! If not, the only thing the other Gods will be talking about for the next 100 years is how disgraceful the decorations were!"
"Whoa." John blinked.
"Uh…dude?" Damian asked cautiously as we pushed him forward. "We were just wondering where the food was…"
The boy turned around, revealing three stripes of white going through his dark hair, and eyes of bright gold. It was kinda creepy, because he wasn't…blinking. I could tell because he was staring straight at us, now horrified that someone had actually walked through a wide open door and seen his 'disgraceful decorations' or whatever. And- uh, did he just stop breathing?
"Ahem, those are cool stripes, mate." John said, changing the subject. "That a fashion or something in America?"
The boy's eyes grew wide as he opened his mouth, but instead of a snappy retort like we'd expected-
"I'm an ABOMINATION! Trash! What have I done to deserve such asymmetrical features! I knew I should have tried harder to dye them before the party but the banners were askew, the sculpture is disproportionate, and augh, I deserve to DIE!"
And then he was on the floor, in some kneeling-fetal position. Odd choice for someone who seemed so sanitary.
"Okay…what's up with him?" John asked nervously as the boy continued to freak out on the floor.
"Maybe he's on the drugs." Leah suggested, materializing out of the background like a Predator and curiously tilting her head to the side.
"Possession, perhaps?" I offered.
"I got it!" It makes sense, I understand now. This guy, he's…" Damien pointed at him dramatically. "AN EMO!"
We all shared ellipses before John face-palmed.
"Maybe we should just go…"
"Yeah…okay."
"Let's do that."
Okay, so L.J. and Kid have met…sort of. I hope he wasn't too over-the-top…but hey, it's a ceremony that happens every 100 years, you'd be under pressure too! And the story still sucks but I'm working on it. XP