Family Day

The dormitories were busy and buzzing with the frantic panic of students cleaning their rooms, vigorously. Empty pizza boxes, expired potions and whatever other mess imaginable was tossed out in trash bags that lined the halls of their living quarters, ready to be picked up by the custodians. In the basement of the quarters, the laundry room was filled to the brim and every machine available seemed to be rumbling. In the common room, students worked together to clear the coffee tables, vacuum the cushions of the area sofas and sweep the wooden floors to rid them of crumbs from late night study sessions and snacking.

In their own room, Kyle did his best to polish the makeshift alter at his desk that had over the course of the term, collected major amounts of dust. It seemed like everyone was on edge. Everyone but Sigmund the sorcerer. Sigmund notoriously kept his living space lavish and hardly spent much time in it. His clothing was either brand new, weekly or sent away for dry cleaning. Just this afternoon, he'd spent the early morning away to meet his manager and returned to the academy just in time to witness the distressed aura of his peers.

"Ugh!" He groaned, closing off his nostrils with his hand as he passed by the piles of garbage in the halls. "Just foul..." He couldn't believe how dirty his peers had been keeping their rooms all term. Seeing the door to his own room opened, Sigmund poked his head inside and spotted Kyle actually making up his bed for once. "Wow! It's a miracle!"

"Please don't patronize me today." Kyle sighed, fluffing his pillow. "And I mean it. I really can't be bothered today."

"I've never seen our room this clean though!" Sigmund teased. "Didn't think you knew how to clean!"

"Sigmund, PLEASE!"

Sigmund actually jumped towards Kyle's tone. It sounded incredibly strained, and not in his typical tone of strain. Something was wrong.

"Are you alright?" The sorcerer asked. Kyle sighed deeply, pausing in his rush for a moment to run his fingers through is hair. Facing Sigmund, Kyle shook his head.

"No. I'm not okay..." He finally admitted, leaning back against his bed. "I'm dreading this entire day."

"Why? It's Family Day! It's gonna be great!"

"No, not for me." Sinking to the floor, Kyle pulled his knees to his chest. Sigmund sat on the floor across from him, on top the Persian rug he'd set beside his own bed.

"Want to talk about it?" Sigmund asked. Kyle buried his head in his arms and didn't respond straight away. Sigmund frowned. "I can't say I'm too thrilled to have my own parents come here either. I'm trying to be optimistic, but it's been tough."

"Why? What do you have to worry about?"

"My parents don't act the same as they used to." Sigmund spoke. "Ever since the fame and the touring, they're more consumed in being rich than being a family."

"Really?"

"Ja. My father actually told me we come from a long line of really powerful sorcerers. We've always been top in our class." Sigmund conjured an old Milkweed yearbook, catching Kyle's attention. Flipping through the pages, Sigmund held up the book and pointed out a black and white photo. "That's my great grandfather. He was top of his class the entire time he spent at the academy. Wizard of the Year, every year. I never knew about him till recently. In fact, I never knew about my lineage at all till recently.."

"Then how did you think you came to be of the occult?" Kyle asked. "By chance?"

"Actually...ja." Sigmund chuckled sheepishly. "I was naïve to say the least. He told me my great grandfather was a very well respected and very well off man. Filthy rich, actually. He was so engrained in the realm's society, that he helped to set up the foundation of Milkweed's curriculum."

"Seriously?!"

"Seriously. Because of his status, my great grandfather was only ever interested in people on his level. If you weren't at the top, he didn't care for you. According to my father, when my great grandfather married, he wanted to be married to the top witch in the realm and he got exactly what he wanted. He expected the same from my grandfather to keep the bloodline strong, which he did as well, and my grandfather expected the same from my father."

"That's a bit ridiculous.."

"It gets worse..." Sigmund frowned. "My father didn't marry the top witch in his year. In fact, he didn't marry into the occult at all?"

"He married a normal human?!"

"Haha! Ja! And when he did, he was immediately exiled from the family. Banished. They cut him off completely from everything."

"Oh my word..." Kyle gasped. "You're kidding."

"It's the reason why I spent my early childhood living in a village, far away from this place. I didn't know anything about Milkweed or the realm. We had nothing but our farm. My mother made all our clothes. We shopped for groceries at the marketplace. That was my life. Simple." Sigmund let his back lean into the bedframe behind him. His gaze shifted to the ceiling and his face seemed to soften. "I had an older sister...she passed away, but she was born normal. No magic at all. It was a shock to everyone when I turned out the way I did."

"You had a sister? Wow, sorry to hear that. I'm an only child."

"It's alright. The point of me saying all this is, I feel like my father isn't the same anymore. I mean, I'm sorta the son he was supposed to be to his father and I feel like he's living through me sometimes. He's become so full of himself and the riches he never got to fully have. He was never like this before."

"I see..."

"He hasn't been back to Milkweed since he was banished by his father, years ago. I'm just not sure what to expect with him being here."

"I'm the opposite." Kyle sighed. "My father was top in his levels too, but never number one. For some reason, he expects me to be that number one for him. He's so cold and uncompassionate."

Sigmund was surprised to hear Kyle speak about his family. He never heard the wizard speak about them unless it was in a passing comment. Anytime he was asked about his parents, Kyle always found a way to redirect the conversation. He never outright spoke of them the way he was speaking now.

"What about your mother?" Sigmund asked. Kyle shrugged.

"Same thing. Top in her levels, but never number one. I guess that's what attracted them to one another. Second place losers."

"Ah...I'm sorry to hear that."

"I don't get an ounce of love at home. When I come home with the grades I get, I'm treated the way I score, poorly. No parties for my birthday, no gifts for the holidays, no family dinners, no new clothes, nothing. I'm pretty sure they're embarrassed by me."

"Mein Gott..." Sigmund felt terrible now. He reminisced on the costume party he'd held on the same day as Kyle's birthday party and instantly regretted it. He also recalled Kyle taking a midnight train home for the holidays. Midnight trains in the realm were usually packed with people of the night and creatures of the underworld. It was a frightening hour to take the train and he couldn't understand how a parent could send their child on such a ride, alone. His heart actually ached hearing Kyle speak about what he experienced. "Kahl...I had no idea. I'm sorry."

"No one knows. I'd rather people not know. I don't want anyone's pity to be honest."

The boys sat in silence for a moment, Kyle burying his head back into his arms and Sigmund taking a look around the room. He noticed the wizard had dusted and polished the room to a sparkling clean. He knew Kyle must've woken up early to get all the cleaning done considering the way it had looked all term. It looked as though the place hadn't been swept as yet though. Standing up from his place on the floor, Sigmund pulled off his coat and set it down on his office chair, grabbing a broom leaning against the wall of their room. Kyle stood up as Sigmund started sweeping.

"We're in this together." Sigmund told Kyle, gathering the dust into a pile. "We'll make each other comfortable today, okay?"

"Okay." Kyle nodded, grabbing the dust pan to help out. The boys worked together to finish the cleaning in the room, coming to a mutual agreement in the process. If either of them was beginning to feel even slightly overwhelmed at any point during their parent's visit, they'd reach out to one another for support.

With the trash out in the hall finally picked up by the custodian staff and the students ushering their clothing back into their rooms from the laundry, attention turned from the living quarters to their own appearances. The halls seemed to go quiet with everyone retreating to their dorms to wash up and get dressed before the arrival of their families. After some time, the loud speaker chimed outside of their doors and peaked everyone's attention.

"Good afternoon, students!" Headmaster Merlin called over the speaker. "Please make your way to the main lobby of the living quarters to greet your family members. Their transportation has just arrived in the courtyard. Enjoy the day!"

While some students ran down to the lobby in excitement, others looked downright stressed. Emerging from the room, Sigmund and Kyle headed towards the main stairwell together walking side by side. Kyle straightened up his pullover sweater, clearly anxious to come face to face with his father. Glancing in his direction, Sigmund gave Kyle a warm smile.

"You'll be fine.." He spoke, catching Kyle's attention away from his clothing. "Just remember our agreement, okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

In the main lobby, Sigmund smiled seeing his peers greeting their families. It was funny seeing the parents behind the children. The sorcerer's friend, Ivan, suddenly approached him with his own parents.

"Hey Sigmund!" Ivan grinned. "These are my parents! They wanted to meet you and yours."

"Nice to meet you!" Sigmund smiled back, shaking hands with both Ivan's mother and father. "I haven't found my parents as yet, but when I do, we'll stop by your room."

"Sounds good! See you later!" Walking his parents up to his dorm, Sigmund parted ways with Ivan and immediately stopped in his tracks as his own mother quickly approached him. Kyle watched as Sigmund was embraced by an older woman with a white fur sash wrapped around her. She hugged him tightly, careful not to hit him with her leather purse, and set a kiss to his forehead, leaving a bit of red lipstick. Sigmund quickly worked to wipe it away.

"I knew I heard my son!" His mother smiled brightly. Turning around quickly, his mother waved down his father frantically. "Sweetheart! I've found him!"

"Sigmund! There you are!" His father greeted, his grand voice causing attention to where Sigmund stood. He was swept up in another tight embrace. "How was your meeting this morning? You didn't call me before coming back to Milkweed."

"It went as usual.." Sigmund sighed. Looking over his shoulder, he gave Kyle a weak smile and motioned him over. Kyle complied immediately. "This is my roommate, Kyle the Conjurer. Kyle, this is my mother, Gretchen, and my father, Freud."

"Very nice to meet you both." Kyle spoke, holding his hand out to Sigmund's parents. He shook hands with his mother, then his father.

"Oh, Kahl! Sigmund's mentioned you before!" Sigmund's mother smiled. Kyle was surprised.

"Really?"

"Ja! Very fondly."

"Really?!"

"Okay, enough of that!" Sigmund chuckled. "Come up to my room!" Before he could part ways with Kyle, Sigmund noticed the paled expression on the wizard's face. Following his gaze, he noticed two people, an auburn haired woman and a brown haired man, approaching quickly. Both donned hard-faced expressions and it was clear who they were almost instantly.

"Kyle." The woman greeted coldly. It wasn't a very motherly greeting at all. Kyle almost seemed to shrink.

"Mother. Father. Hello...how was your trip?"

"Long and uncomfortable." His father responded checking his pocket watch in annoyance. "Entirely too long. I hope you don't have your dorm in the wreck your bedroom is usually in."

"N-no, of course not."

"Well then, aren't you going to see us to it?"

Watching the interaction between Kyle and his parents made Sigmund feel incredibly uneasy. He heard what Kyle had told him about them previously, but actually seeing it in front of him was appalling. Although the wizard didn't reach out to him the way they'd planned, Sigmund took it upon himself to step in.

"We're on our way up ourselves." Sigmund smiled, catching the family off-guard. "I'm Sigmund Nightbreed, Kyle's roommate."

"I know exactly who you are!" Kyle's father gasped. "Nightbreed, huh? I know that surname very well. Is your father here, by chance?"

"Of course I am." Sigmund's father chimed in, reaching out to shake hands. "Oliver Bloodworth-Thomason! Long time, no see!"

"Freud! How astonishing!" As they shook hands and briefly caught up, Sigmund linked arms with Kyle, who jumped towards the gesture.

"Let's get a head start." Sigmund winked, pulling the wizard along. Kyle followed him quickly, practically clinging on to him as Sigmund called back to their parents. "Come on everyone! We're heading up!"

The parents looked forward and followed behind their sons as they made their way back into the living quarters and down the hall of the dormitory. A couple students, and even their parents, stopped to snap a photo of Sigmund and his parents. Sigmund turned away from the cellphone cameras to open the door to their room.

"Willkommen~!" Sigmund grinned, ushering everyone inside. Slowly, the parents filed in, taking a look around. The divide between the sorcerer and the wizard's sides of the room was more than obvious. One side of the room was beautifully made. Sigmund had velvet curtains, plush comforters, an updated workspace and other decorative objects. Kyle, on the other hand, didn't have much at all. A quilted blanket and the belongings on his makeshift alter were the only highlights to his side of the room.

Sigmund closed the door behind them when they were all finally situated inside. Sigmund's mother was the first to speak up.

"Ah..."She started. "Your room is...nice."

"Don't be modest!" Sigmund's father laughed. "I can't believe Milkweed hasn't updated these spaces. Looks exactly the way I left it thirty years ago! Don't you think, Oliver?"

Kyle's father walked around the room with his arms folded. Looking over at Sigmund's desk, then down at Kyle's, Oliver almost seemed to frown for a moment. Hearing his name bought up, his head popped up.

"Oh, completely. Without a doubt." Kyle's father nodded. "Down to the floorboards, nothing's changed."

"Were you both in the same year?" Sigmund asked, leaning his back against the door of their room. "You speak as if you were."

"Yes, actually." Oliver responded. "We weren't roommates though. In fact, we were rivals."

"Rivals?" Kyle gasped. Sigmund's father laughed to himself.

"There was no competition on my end." Freud snickered. "Oliver was in a race all his own."

"Now you know that's completely untrue, Freud." Oliver butted in, almost immediately. "We were neck and neck for Wizard of the Year, every year."

"I wouldn't say neck and neck..."

"It was very much so!" Oliver quickly conjured up a Milkweed yearbook, causing everyone in the room but Freud to jump in surprise. The book levitated in the air and flipped pages on its own till it came to a stop and Kyle's father quickly pointed out the page with the wizard ranking. "Look! This was our final year!"

Kyle and Sigmund quickly rushed over to take a look for themselves. Sure enough, side by side, was a photo of a young adult Freud and another of Oliver. Sigmund's father sat up straight with his hair, perfectly coiffed without a hair out of place. He was dressed in upperclassman robes and his expression was stoic. Kyle's father sat with a posture similar to Kyle's in his photo, not very straight and ever so slightly hunched over. Even his teeth bared a resemblance to Kyle's, though his overbite looked to be in remission at the age he was. He looked extremely unhappy.

"See? Second rank! Look at our scores."

"I suppose I just never took notice of it." Freud shrugged. Oliver didn't seem very happy with that response.

"Of course not, because you always thought you were above me." Kyle's father spat, closing the yearbook with a slam and letting it poof away. Freud's mouth dropped.

"That isn't true at all!"

"You used to walk the halls of this academy as though you were some sort of realm royalty!" Oliver shouted.

"Well, because I am!" Freud chuckled. "You know my bloodline, the entire realm does, but I never let that get to my head. In fact, I hardly spoke of it during my time here."

"You spoke of it every chance you could get, Freud!"

"I did not!"

"Yes you did!"

"Oliver, please..." Kyle's mother sighed. "You're getting yourself worked up. Mind your blood pressure levels." Sigmund and Kyle glanced at one another, both clearly in shock by the argument that just took place. Though it was reminiscent of one of their own spats, the vibe of that one was much heavier than anytime they'd ever argued.

Sigmund's mother glanced out the window of the room and marveled at all the students and staff members flying across the sky. This was her first time in the realm and everything for her as a normal human had been brand new. Something caught her eye and she pointed outside.

"Sigmund.." She called. "What's out there?"

"Where, Mama?" Sigmund asked, quickly meeting her at the window.

"There, behind those trees."

"Oh! We're not supposed to go beyond those trees actually. There's trails and long roads that lead to the neighboring academies."

"There's more than one school here?"

"Yes, actually. I'm a Halfmoon Hallows alumni, it's one of the academies far beyond that boarder." Kyle's mother spoke. "It's a school for witches, only."

"Kristen was a top student in her year as well." Kyle's father boasted, speaking on behalf of his wife. Sigmund's father chuckled.

"She never quite made it to number one though, did she?" Freud snickered. Kyle and Sigmund covered their mouths towards the comment. Oliver's face was red as ever and in anger, he faced Freud and pointed his index finger against his chest.

"You have no right to speak about my wife in that manner!" Oliver shouted once again.

"What manner? The truth?" Freud laughed lightheartedly. "Let's not be delusional now, Oliver. You chose to brag, so I thought I'd add in some factual information as to not confuse my wife."

"It was completely unnecessary to bring up her place in the ranking! This was exactly what I meant about you thinking you're higher than everyone else! You aren't and neither is your child!"

"Excuse me?!"

Sigmund and Kyle sported the same blood drained, ghost faced looks at this point. The tone in Freud's voice had gone from one of jokes to one of great displeasure. Gretchen and Kristen tried their best to mediate the situation, but the men weren't budging this time.

"How dare you speak about my son!" Freud shouted. "My son is a prime example of Milkweed excellence! He's a member of the school board, the same way his grandfathers before him were!"

"But not in the way you were, huh? You know, considering you dropped out and all..." Oliver smirked. Freud shrugged.

"Even after I dropped out, you still weren't able to become Wizard of the Year. Oliver the Obsolete will always be your true title."

"DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME THAT!"

"What? Do you like Oliver the Oblivious better? Because you're most definitely oblivious to the fact that you'll never be at my level and taking jabs at my son won't get you there either!"

"My son is ten times the wizard your son is!"

"My son isn't a wizard, he's a sorcerer! And he's leagues above and beyond your son!"

"STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!" Sigmund actually shouted, stomping his foot down to break the argument. "STOP!"

The men jumped towards the outburst and watched as Sigmund collected Kyle, who seemed to be incredibly flustered. To their surprise, Kyle's eyes were spilling over with tears and before the mothers could interject, Sigmund was already pulling Kyle out of the room with him. Once out, Sigmund covered Kyle under his jacket as to not be seen by anyone in the hall and quickly ushered him out into the courtyard. By the time they'd found a bench to sit on outside, Kyle's face had already been soaked in tears.

"Don't cry..." Sigmund pouted when he uncovered the wizard from his jacket. Kyle covered his face quickly and hunched over on the stone bench. Sigmund sighed, setting an arm over his shoulder and leaning over to meet his ear. "It's not your fault."

"I-I'm just embarrassed. Terribly embarrassed. He's just the worst!"

"They're both equally stupid." Sigmund replied. Kyle shook his head as he wiped his eyes.

"No, my father is worse. I cannot believe he conjured up that yearbook."

"Ja, that was pretty pathetic." Sigmund chuckled. "Something you'd do..."

"Huh?! Shut up!" Kyle groaned, something that only made Sigmund laugh harder. Kyle smirked before laughing with him. "Okay, maybe I would've..."

"I felt that way the entire time they bickered." Sigmund added. "They're just really gross and obnoxious older versions of us."

"You think so?"

"Well, at least I hope not..." Sigmund sighed, sitting up again. Kyle looked up at the sorcerer, straightening up with him as he wiped his nose with the back of his sleeve.

"Can we make a promise to each other?" Kyle asked suddenly. Sigmund raised a brow.

"A promise?"

"Can we promise each other that we'll never become that petty towards one another? I mean, I know we have our moments too, but after that display, I never want anything to make us that bitter towards one another. Ever."

"Ja, Kyle. I promise you." Sigmund nodded. "And I'm sorry for poking at you so much this term. I never really mean it personally, you're just so fun to mess with haha!"

"It's alright. I'm sorry too. I wasn't the nicest when you first transferred here. I definitely could've been a bit kinder."

"Meh, I don't need your kindness." Sigmund smirked, sticking his tongue out playfully. Kyle gave him the same gesture right back before they broke out in laughter again. Peeking her red head out from the door of the courtyard, Kyle's mother gasped and rushed over quickly.

"There you are!" Kristen sighed, kneeling down in front of her son on the bench. The rest of the parents seemed to file out behind her. Kyle's head lowered and he looked away from his mother in front of him. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine..." Kyle muttered, keeping his eyes away as he wiped them with the back of sleeve. His mother frowned.

"Kyle, you're clearly not fine."

"What do you care?"

"If I didn't care about how you were feeling, I wouldn't have asked you."

"You wanna know how I'm feeling? I'm feeling embarrassed!" Kyle shouted, catching both his parents off guard. "You've embarrassed me! Both of you!"

"I'm embarrassed as well." Sigmund spoke towards his father. "How childish of you to have been arguing the way you were. Grown adults!"

"And I'm sick of you comparing me to everyone!" Kyle added in. "Enough already with this stupid ranking! I'm through with it!"

"We're roommates. We care about each other. Kyle's my friend, not my competition."

Kyle was shocked with what Sigmund had just said. Friend? All term long, Sigmund hadn't claimed Kyle as a friend and Kyle certainly didn't consider him a friend either. The wizard always felt a slight pang of jealousy whenever he saw how easy the sorcerer seemed to get by. He always thought Sigmund looked at him as less than, but hearing that he never viewed him as competition was news to him. Looking back on the term, they'd definitely grown closer in their own strange way. And now here in front of their parents, Sigmund was actively defending him. Kyle smiled softly as Sigmund continued.

"This is supposed to be a day for families to enjoy each others company. Look around! Look at how much fun other families are having! What is wrong with all of you?!"

The parents looked at one another in shame. Sigmund was right, this day hadn't been good from the start. The parents had come in with their own motives and not with their children in mind. As Kyle's mother straightened up, the men of the family looked to one another.

"...my apologies, Freud..."Oliver surprisingly spoke. Though it was a hesitant apology, Kyle was surprised it came out anyways. His father was never the type to apologize.

"I also apologize." Freud responded. "And I'm sincere."

"I apologize too, to you, Kyle." Kyle's mother spoke. "I didn't approach you the way I should've when we arrived." Kyle rubbed at his eyes and shrugged.

"It's fine, I suppose..." He mumbled, finally meeting his mother's gaze. Sigmund's mother leaned into the conversation, rocking on her heels. She seemed to be the only one who hadn't gotten into the heat of the drama.

"I left a basket on the bus they bought us on..." She spoke gently. "Is anyone hungry? There's enough for everyone to have lunch and I see picnic tables over there."

The suggestion was a good segue away from the awkward argument from earlier and after collecting the basket, the two families sat together for lunch. Glancing at each other from opposite ends of the table, Kyle actually gave Sigmund a smile, which the sorcerer returned with another poke of his tongue.

Although Kyle didn't forgive his parents for the way they treated him on the regular, he was thankful that in this moment, they actually seemed to be trying. Even if it was just a front for the sake of appearances, he decided to enjoy the moment for what it was. He honestly had Sigmund to thank for that.