Everyone in Selene's family speaks English and Myulan. However, since Philyra's here they'll mostly be speaking in Myulan so she can understand them. They do speak English to the Terrans, though. English, when spoken, looks like this, just to remind you.

"Because a family

is what you make it.

It's you and your loved ones,

whoever they are."

~Jim Rule

Chapter 10—(63/64)

Selene had woken up in the middle of the night. She had woken up Philyra when started thrashing around. Philyra then shook the older girl, who'd started choking as she tried to breath, awake.

She gasped and opened her eyes, then looked at Philyra. "Sorry if I woke you, Lyra. I'm fine. It was just a bad dream. And bad dreams can't hurt me."

Philyra crossed her arms and glared. Selene laughed sheepishly, "Yeah, yeah, I know. I just thought I'd give convincing myself a try."

Philyra sighed and layed back down, snuggling into her sister's side.

The sister who didn't fall asleep for a while. Philyra pretended to be asleep, but she didn't fall asleep until after Selene did.

…. …. ….

Philyra woke to light coming in from the window the next morning. She laid there until her stomach grumbled a complaint, then slid out from under the covers. Selene was out. It seems like her energy was entirely spent, and Philyra wasn't about to wake her. She needed it.

Philyra crept down the steep stairs and almost ran into a kid coming out of a door right by the bottom of the stairs—which, honestly, was not the best place for a door. It was a sleepy-eyed Daren, who perked up at seeing his new aunt. "A-a-aunt Ly-ra!" Daren smiled. "M-m-morn-in'!"

Philyra smiled at him, then froze as Daren grabbed her hand and began to pull her along, down another set of stairs and to the kitchen. "M-m-mor-nin!" Daren cried. There were a few of the adults in the room, preparing food. She believed their names were Cynthia, Marie, and Ria.

"Well good morning, sweetling." Ria put down the spatula she was using to make something in a pan and came over to give Daren a hug, "Is daddy still sleeping?"

Daren nodded, "B-b-but Au-aunt Ly-r-ra is up-p!"

Ria smiled at Philyra, "I can see that. Did you sleep well?"

She nodded. It was a bit of a lie, but it was trivial. She'd slept a lot worse.

"Are you hungry? Breakfast is just about ready."

Another nod.

Ria smiled softly, "Well then, why don't you take her to the table, Daren? Have her sit in Aunt Lena's seat? I'm sure that she's not going to be up for a while."

"Ha. She'll sleep 'till noon, I bet." One of the brothers, who had just walked in, snorted, "She was dead on her feet." Merlin. The name popped into Philyra's head. He's the one who liked making things out of Terran things and Myulan magic. The youngest older brother. "And kiddo," he looked at Philyra, "I didn't get the chance to say this last night, but welcome to the family. And if you ever need anything, just come to any of us. One thing you'll quickly learn about this family is that we take being a family seriously." He patted her on the head and went to go bug Marie for...bacon, was it? Marie lightly whacked him on the back of the head when he tried to grab some, and told him to wait until everything was ready.

Philyra stared after him with wide eyes. Selene had told her almost the exact same thing. Did all of the members of this family feel that way?

…. …. ….

Breakfast was chaotic. A mess. But it was more fun than Philyra had in a long time. She wasn't usually a fan of noise, but Selene's family—no, they were her family now, too—made noise equal entertainment. The table wasn't one table, but two large tables pushed together to hold everyone and the food. She watched as mothers and aunts made sure the children were fed and didn't make too much of a mess as the brothers talked and debated and occasionally threw food at one another—earning whacks and scolding from the nearest woman for being a bad example for the littles.

And little Daren sat by her and talked to her, while Alric sat on her other side with a pink wing-rabbit (which was named Sakura, as the little boy had informed her) on his head that kept fading in and out of sight. Philyra ate until she felt as if she would throw up if she ate more. It all tasted wonderful and she didn't think she'd ever had so much food she could eat at once, and most definitely none of it this good.

As everyone finished up, Marie stood up and announced, "All littles head my van! We're heading to my house for the day to let certain peoples have some peace and quiet."

Four boys, ages five to ten, hopped up, took their plates to the kitchen, and ran to the front of the house, pulling on strange snowgear that Philyra assumed was normal for this world. Not even two minutes later they had run out the door, Marie following close behind.

Daren, however, still sat in his seat, and was playing with a his fork and a piece of bread, making them talk to each other in another language—which Philyra assumed was English, from what Selene sounded like when she spoke it.

Selene's brothers were all wandering off, either leaving or to their respective rooms, as were the sisters. Ria stayed, and used a bit of magic to clean the table. She looked at Philyra and winked, "The women make the food, but the guys—they get to do the dishes. They'll get to them later, probably after we leave."

Philyra tilted her head, her brows furrowed in confusion. Leave?

Ria noticed the girl's confusion. "Yes, I'm taking you out. We're going to get your hair cut and buy you some clothes. Everyone pitched in some cash, so we have more than enough. You'd probably fit into Selene's old clothes, but then there's the fact that she's always been hard on her clothes, so the old ones are worn and tattered. Therefore, we'll find you some cute clothes to wear, brand new. I'll help you pick them out, if you'd like, but they'll mostly be your choice." She smiled, "Come on, now, let's have you take a bath and find you some things to wear out in public, as well as a coat and such. It's pretty cold. Daren, make sure to go tell Daddy that we'll be leaving sooner than later, will you?" Daren nodded happily and skipped off to go find his father.

Philyra allowed herself to be docily led to a clean white room that contained a fancy—apparently only fancy to her—bath of sorts, as well as a sink with a long counter. Ria turned on some sort of faucet and water came pouring out. She held her hand in the waterflow until she nodded and put a plug into the drainage hole, causing the water to start filling it. Ria went and closed the door. "Come now, let's get you clean."

…. …. ….

Half an hour later, Philyra found herself being wrapped in one of Selene's old coats and a random pair of mittens that Ria wasn't sure who they belonged to. "We're a big family," she said. "We switch the little things around and they really belong to everyone. The only reason that I know this is Selene's coat is because it's too small to fit any of her brothers." Ria laughed, "I'd lend you a better coat, but I didn't bring a spare with me. Mine are all at home." She looked over into the other room, "Daren, hun, you coming?"

"C-c-com-ing Mama!"

…. …. ….

This world was so different from the one she left behind. The house where she had been was strange enough. Then she was introduced to things she'd only heard Selene talk about. A horseless carriage that ran on non-magical energy, which could go far faster than a carriage ever could—the scenery was blurry outside of it as it moved and it made her dizzy. It frightened her, especially at first, and she was clutching the strap that held her in place the entire time until their first stop, and it wasn't until they stopped that Philyra noticed where they were. It seemed to be a town, but it was a town unlike any she had ever seen. Buildings were made with such precise angles that it seemed hopelessly improbable for such things to be built.

"First stop: hair salon." Ria said, smiling at Philyra as she unbuckled Daren from some sort of seat contraption. Philyra had scrambled out of the non-beast thing—car, it was called a car—as soon as it had stopped and unlocked. "Normally, Sarah or I would cut your hair, but Sarah had a baby last night and I'm not as good as she is. I'm thinking layers for your hair, and I can't do that so well." She carried daren as she lead Philyra towards one of the buildings, "I can fix short hair, because I can just use the hair trimmer, which is what I'm doing with Selene's later, but yours is going to be a little more complicated. Her's will just be making it all about the same length in a pixie cut, which is pretty much what we do for the boys."

Philyra just stayed, as per usual, silent. Not that even if she were to speak she'd know what to say. None of that really made much sense, other than Selene's hair had to be fixed and she was getting hers cut. That worried her. She really didn't want to have people see her green eye. Even when Ria had been washing her hair, she had kept it closed or hand a hand over it when it couldn't be covered with her hair.

A bell rang as Ria pushed a door open. She let Philyra in first and followed close behind.

"Hello!" a cheerful voice called out a greeting in English. Well, Philyra assumed it was English since Selene said that was all people spoke where she lived in Terra, with the exclusion of her family members.

"Peggie!" Ria grinned, "It's wonderful to see you. How've you been?"

"Good, good. Business has been doing well. I was surprised to see that you had called to set up an appointment this morning, and so suddenly. Sarah not able to do it?" The woman, a little younger than Ria and extremely perky, apparently named Peggie, asked.

"She went into labor last night. Baby girl , named Calina." Ria replied.

Peggie gasped, "Oh my gosh, tell her I said congrats! That's the first baby girl in the family since Selene, right?"

"Yes, she is," Ria laughed, setting Daren down. He grabbed Philyra's hand and pulled her to the chairs and sat next to her. Philyra didn't mind. She couldn't understand what was being said between the two woman anyway. "She'll be spoiled rotten for sure. Her aunt certainly is."

"I bet. Now, what was the appointment for? The cute little girl you brought with you? She's new." Peggie gestured to Philyra, and Philyra guessed where the topic of conversation had gone.

"Selene adopted her, actually. She's from another country. Some small European country. Doesn't speak English," Ria said. "It's where Selene goes to school. I never could pronounce it."

"Really? How can anyone understand her?" Peggie seemed to ask.

"You know Selene. She's really good with words, plus she goes to school there, so she of course knows the language. Selene brought her with when she got in last night. She doesn't really speak much anyway. Very quiet."

"Wow. Poor Selene, though. She missed the funeral, didn't she?"

"Yeah. She's pretty torn up about it. I, however, decided we need to take care of this girl she's taken in. We're going clothes shopping after this."

"Well, then we better get started. Mind telling her?" The woman bent down and started scribbling something on a notepad.

Ria turned to Philyra, gesturing for her to come over. She bent over and whispered in her ear, "Peggie here doesn't know about magic or anything." Ria stood up, "Don't worry. You're in good hands."

Philyra nodded and allowed Peggie to lead her somewhere. There was some sort of music playing from somewhere, and while Philyra didn't know what it said, she kind of liked it. "Like the music?" Ria said. Philyra nodded, causing Ria to giggle. "Selene'll be happy to hear that. She loves this song. It's called Something Wild by Lindsey Stirling, featuring a man named Andrew McMahon. Selene loves Lindsey Stirling."

"Oh, does she like the music?" Peggie asked and Ria nodded. Peggie smiled. "Nice. Now, let's get her hair washed and then cut. Any ideas of what you want?"

…. …. ….

An hour later, Philyra stared wide-eyed into a mirror. Her hair was shorter than it had ever been, just brushing her shoulders. Before, it had gone down to her lower back. It was much lighter now, and had fringe framing her face, along with heavy bangs on her left side, covering her green eye. She had managed to get the message across to the woman, Peggie, that she liked that eye covered.

"She's a doll, alright. I don't normally go for bangs over an eye like that, but it works on her." Peggie nodded her head in satisfaction, "And the layers in there help take a lot of weight off. She's adorable, really, and her hair is a beautiful shade of brunette. How old did you say she was again, Ria?"

"About fourteen."

"Well, she'll be an absolute beauty when she's a smidgen older. Won't have any trouble finding a man to take care of her." Peggie winked at a confused Philyra.

"Ha! If she can find one that Selene won't scare off. She's very protective of the girl." Ria laughed, "Although, Selene does have her own man now. Met him briefly recently. Didn't get to talk to him, but he's sure a looker. And from what Merlin said, he's got quite the reputation."

"I can't see Selene really going for the bad boy type, Ria." Peggie looked amused, and Philyra wondered why. She knew they were talking about Selene, but that was it.

"Oh, no, not that kind. He's top student at the school, prefect, and even teaches classes. A little older, about twenty. In his last year of school. They've got weird years in that country. He's apparently very smart. Keeps Selene sharp—apparently banter is the preferred pastime between the two. They're the sort of couple, from what I've heard, that will annoy the crap out of each other just for fun. Just the kind of natural imperial blonde you love working with, too, and according to Selene, he needs a haircut. Although, I'd bet she'll just do it to him herself before long. You know how she is. When something bugs her she just has to go and fix it." Both women laughed. Philyra just kept inspecting herself in the mirror. It was a clearer mirror than she'd ever seen back in Myula. No ripples or distortions, but a clear, smooth surface.

"Well, we better get going. Lots to do. Thanks so much for allowing such a sudden appointment," Ria said.

"Nah, no one else is even here until after lunch. It was no problem. Tell everyone I said hi!"

"Will do. Bye-bye now!" Ria picked Daren up, "Come on, Philyra. Let's go get you some clothes."

Philyra pulled herself away from the mirror to follow Ria, waving goodbye to Peggie, who smiled pleasantly in return.

Who knew something so simple as getting a proper bath and a haircut could change how someone looked so drastically? And everyone had been treating her so kindly, too. It was entirely new, and gave her something to hope for. That maybe people weren't always so mean, that there were people she could trust.

But let's not get too hasty. Only time will tell.

…. …. ….

Several hours later, Philyra found herself following Ria through the door of the house. She was wearing new clothes, underthings (as well as a thing called a "bra" which was some sort of corset equivalent—it was an uncomfortable chat Ria had with her while picking a few out), and boots. She now had more clothes and shoes than she ever owned in her life. As well as bunches of other little knick knacks that Ria said were "just so cute you just have to have them!"

Daren let go of her hand once they were inside and ran off to put his cold-clothing away. Philyra saw Selene curled up on the couch just a Selene looked up. Her eyes widened slightly and she grinned widely, "Is that my old jacket?"

Philyra nodded.

"And I love the haircut. It looks super cute on you, Lyra." Selene said, causing Philyra to smile ever-so-slightly and look down, scuffing her boot lightly against the ground.

"Yes, it does." Ria said matter-of-factly, "Now come and help me before my arms fall off. It all needs to be taken to your room. And then we're cutting your hair. I can't believe you literally just whacked it off with a knife. Seriously, we've all taught you better."

Selene grinned as she shrugged, getting up. "Can you blame me? It was necessary for the act. Besides, you would've moaned and groaned about how dead and split the ends were, or whatever terms you would've applied, regardless of whether or not I cut it." Selene took about half the bags from Ria's arms. "Come one, Lyra, let's get this taken care of. Ria, I assume it all fits, correct? That means you can go and cut off the tags, Lyra, while Ria fixes my hair. And then we can put them somewhere later. There's a pair of scissors in the center drawer of my desk. Sound good?"

Philyra nodded. She felt a lot more at ease here in the house. It was more familiar, and less frightening than the places they'd gone to. Less people, less noise, more of a calming, peaceful aura about the place.

Almost felt like what she imagined a home to feel like.