You all are great. :) I'm glad this story is fun for you to read. I have a lot of fun writing it!
MeTheAwesome: Yes, you've started a "thing" lol. It's not going to go on for TOO much longer, but will for a little while! Might be a recurring theme with later chapters, too... not sure yet.
So - about this movie thing! Apparently there is a Facebook group called "Fablehaven Movie Support." Check it out! This info came from PinkFan-Gurl. Thank you!
On to the next chapter. Enjoy!
As an additional disclaimer, I don't own any superheroes or songs mentioned within. I also don't own Star Wars.
Chapter 7: Supergirl
Kendra peered around the corner of the attic bedroom and looked down the stairs warily, as if expecting something dangerous or spooky to be lurking outside. She didn't see anything, but decided to turn on the light over the staircase for good measure.
Still nothing. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in and descended the stairs to enter the living room. Caution forgotten, she rounded the corner at the base of the stairs and jumped a mile when the song "You Are My Sunshine" started ringing through the house with the origination point being about a foot away from her right ear.
"Seth!" she shouted. "I swear, one of these days you're going to wind up dead!"
Apparently he either wasn't within earshot of her or he just didn't care to answer because all Kendra heard was that stupid song playing in high-pitched, cheap electrical tones. Sure enough, when she turned her head to look at the source of the noise she saw a little toy flower sitting on a shelf built into the side of the staircase that was about head-level with her, swaying from side to side as it continued to emit that annoying sound.
Her brother had recently acquired a bunch of light- and motion-sensor toys from heaven-only-knew-where and had hidden them all over the house. Kendra herself had been greeted by a talking octopus that morning when she opened the shower curtain to turn on the water (it said, "Good morning, lovely!"), a singing turtle when she opened the cupboard door to get some granola out for breakfast (that song was "We Will Rock You"), a couple of stuffed dogs that barked when she walked by the television, and now this crazy plastic dancing flower thing. Other members of the family had also stumbled across random toys - she'd heard canned maniacal laughter followed by a string of curses from Warren earlier that day (she thought he might have beaten whatever toy it was to death as well), was present in the dining room when Grandma Sorenson opened the china hutch to put away a cup and instead dropped it when the loud sound of a revving engine started up (it was a little button-sized toy, probably made for scaring people), and Grandpa Sorenson had told her this morning about how he ran into one of those mounted fish that talks and moves at the end of the hallway downstairs while he was still groggy with sleep early that morning.
Needless to say, they were all getting decently annoyed with Seth, who was conveniently nowhere to be seen. He had to be nearby, though - Kendra had walked past that spot at the staircase several times already that day, and there hadn't been a noise maker there earlier. Someone had to have put it there since this morning. Besides... her brother was the kind of person who had to witness his work in action - it wasn't satisfying for him to set up a trap and then leave before he could watch anyone run into it.
Kendra huffed in exasperation. Her brother was clearly abusing his Shadow Charmer abilities. This had been going on for far too long - the past couple of days had been horrible! Kendra never knew what to expect from Seth while he was sneaking around, setting up traps for random people to walk into without anyone noticing.
She picked up the plastic dancing flower and threw it into the small trash bin near the front door. Then she turned around and shouted, "You're a coward for hiding!"
Nothing happened, of course. Kendra left the living room and moved toward the kitchen, thinking that perhaps a glass of water might help her calm down. The freak rainstorm they'd had a few days ago had lifted, but the weather had decided to turn hot and muggy which she was sure was a contributing factor to her bad mood.
She pulled a glass out of the cupboard and walked over to the fridge for some cool water. Just before she opened the refrigerator door, however, she recognized the little button that had been hiding in the china hutch was wedged in between the door and the main body of the appliance. Smirking, she slid her finger around it and pulled it out without causing it to go off. Holding it tightly in her hand, she ran to the cupboard under the sink where the garbage can was and threw it in the bin. Two down, undetermined number to go!
Returning to the fridge, she opened the door and yelped when yet another dancing flower that had been hiding inside started to sing, "Pop Goes the Weasel" in the same cheap, high-pitched tones.
"Seth Michael Sorenson!" Kendra yelled, grabbing the toy flower and throwing it on the floor, effectively breaking it. At the same time, a ball of light appeared and shot toward the middle of the room, hovering in mid-air.
Kendra blinked in surprise as she stared at the ball of light. It looked just like the one she'd seen Bracken produce when she first met him at Living Mirage. She turned around, fully expecting to find the unicorn standing there, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Her brother was, however.
"No way," he said, an equal expression of surprise covering his face. "How did you do that?"
Kendra seemed to momentarily forget her annoyance due to the new development.
"I did that? Are you sure Bracken's not hiding around here somewhere?" she asked, turning back around to look at the ball of light. It illuminated the kitchen extremely well and was still just hovering in place.
"That was definitely you. I saw it come out of your hand when you killed the toy," he explained. "I didn't know you could do that."
The siblings just stood and stared at the light for a moment, then Seth moved forward to grab it. "Seth - what if you get hurt?" Kendra asked, touching his arm. Seth shrugged his shoulders and grabbed at it anyway.
"It's not solid," he said. "My fingers pass right through it."
Kendra moved her hand slightly underneath the ball and, experimenting, she moved her hand to the side several inches. The ball followed her hand as she moved it from side to side and up and down.
"Okay, that's pretty cool. Not gonna lie," Seth admitted.
"Do you ever wonder...?" Kendra drifted off, appearing to be lost in thought.
Seth waited about five seconds before speaking. "Wonder what?" he prompted.
"If we're not really human anymore," she said, frowning.
"Don't be ridiculous. We're still humans. We just have super powers now," Seth answered.
Kendra sent him a pointed look, still cradling the ball in her hand.
"It makes me feel better if I picture myself as Batman. You can be Supergirl if you want."
"Batman doesn't have super powers. He's a rich guy with a lot of gadgets and a fetish for womanizing and angst. The day you turn into him is the day I will not stop hitting you upside the head."
"Way to be a Debbie Downer."
"I probably wouldn't be this wound up if you didn't keep putting stupid toys all over everywhere. This light thing isn't helping the situation, either! I feel like an alien or something."
"An alien, huh? With balls of light? You sound more like Starfire now."
Kendra removed her hand from beneath the ball and it continued to simply hover in mid-air, still glowing with the same intensity as when it first appeared. "You're not helping," she said. "How do you think I get rid of it? I'm not sure I like being an alien."
"How should I know? I'm not your unicorn boyfriend."
Kendra snapped her head toward Seth. "Can I borrow your coin? The one you use to talk to Bracken?"
"It's upstairs. Can't you just tell it to go away or something?" Seth asked, reluctant to fetch it.
She tried. Nothing happened. "Any other ideas?"
"Use the Force?"
"Again, not helpful."
"It came from you. You should be able to concentrate or something to re-absorb it."
"Seth!" she cried in an elevated tone, exasperated. "I've been dealing with your dumb jokes all day, this weather is bothering all of us, and I'm asking you to do one simple thing for me. PLEASE!"
"Fine," he grumbled, exiting the kitchen to head upstairs. It was only a couple of minutes before he came back, during which time Kendra had tried telling the light to leave several times with no success. She had to be over thinking it. Or maybe not thinking hard enough...
"Here," Seth said, passing the coin to Kendra. "I already warned him that you were freaking out."
"Thanks," she said, holding the round piece of silver in her palm and choosing to ignore Seth's statement. "Um... how does this work?"
That will do, Kendra heard Bracken's voice in her mind. Startled, she jumped up and Seth chuckled at her reaction.
Bracken either didn't know she was surprised or he chose to ignore it, but his next words came across with a trace of slight amusement. Seth told me there's a problem, but he didn't explain what, she heard. He also told me that you're worried. What's going on?
"I was upset at Seth and all of a sudden a light appeared," she said, closing her eyes and picturing what she was talking about, wondering if he'd be able to see her thoughts.
Yes I can see what you're visualizing, he said. And thanks, that's helpful. Interesting... I didn't know you'd be able to do that.
"Please tell me how to make it go away," she plead. "I don't even know how I did it."
It was an accident, he said. Still, I've not known a mortal with the capability to do something like this. I'll puzzle over that later, though. You need to command it to turn off.
"That's it?" she asked. "I've been trying to tell it to go away." Looking at the light, she said, "Turn off!"
Nothing happened. The light remained in place.
No, Kendra, she heard. That's not what I meant. You have to concentrate. Think of what you want to happen, then say "extinguish." It needs to be in the fairy tongue.
She frowned. "I don't know how to purposely speak in the fairy language," she said.
A wave of comfort washed over her with his next words. I'll help you.
"I trust you," she responded.
How has your day been? he asked. He sounded pleased.
"What does that have to do with anything?" she asked.
Just talk to me for a moment. Please. Tell me what Seth did earlier that was bothering you so much.
"He's perpetuating his stupid 'prank war.' We all keep running into things that start talking or singing or just making awful sound effects. He's purposely trying to antagonize innocent bystanders. It's ridiculous."
Hmm. I have something in mind that may get him to stop.
"What's that?"
Just in idea form right now. I'll tell you when I've worked out the details.
Kendra looked around for her brother to find him standing near the fridge with an apple in his hand - apparently to snack on - and he was looking at her oddly.
She decided to return his odd expression with one of her own and mouth the word, "What?"
Your brother looks funny like that.
"Yes he does," she said, turning back around to face the light again.
Try it again. Just say "extinguish."
"I already told you - I don't know how to purposely speak in the fairy language."
I think you should give it a shot. "Extinguish."
"Extinguish," Kendra said; and much to her astonishment, the light disappeared. "How did I do that?" she asked.
You're great at speaking in the fairy language unintentionally, Bracken said. You've been talking to me in it for a while now. I wasn't sure if that idea would work, but I thought that if I could get you started then perhaps you'd just continue on your own.
"Good job, whatever you just said," Seth said, chomping loudly into the apple.
"It worked!" she responded, again ignoring her brother. "Thank you! I was starting to wonder if we'd just have a hovering light in the kitchen for the rest of forever."
It would have extinguished itself eventually, he responded. It probably would have been a few hours, if not a couple of days, though.
"How did I do that in the first place?" she asked. "I don't want to do it again."
That's the thing I need to think about. Obviously it had something to do with you being fairykind. Were you thinking about light when you were upset?
Kendra thought hard, trying to remember what had been running through her mind about fifteen minutes ago. She stopped when she remembered - she'd wished that the room was so bright that her brother wouldn't have anywhere to hide. Strongly wished.
That probably did it, he said. I think we may need to have some tutoring sessions. I'll teach you how to purposely write and speak in the fairy language, and maybe we'll discover more things you can do.
Kendra bit her lip. "I'm alright with learning the language, but... more abilities? I already feel so different from everyone else."
It's nothing to be ashamed of, he said. Actually, it's something to be proud of; but I see your point. I won't push you to try new things unless you want to see what else you're capable of.
"Thank you, Bracken. I really appreciate your help. Thanks for calming me back down again."
No problem. I'm glad to have had an opportunity to talk to you, even if it was only for a short while. I won't be able to make it back to see you for about another week - we're working really hard on opening up another shrine. A lot of the creatures of light were cut off from the fairy realm when Mother destroyed all of her shrines last year. This place still looks messy, but we're making progress. Our top goal at the moment is to re-open as many shrines as we can.
"I'll let you get back. Thanks again... I'll see you the next time you come around," Kendra said. She then handed the coin back to her brother, who pocketed it and continue munching on his apple.
"Are you done speaking in alien now?" he asked.
"I didn't do it on purpose," she responded. "And don't talk with your mouth full. It's really gross."
"Yes, Mother," Seth said, rolling his eyes.
Kendra realized she was still holding an empty glass in one hand, then remembered her original quest to pour herself a glass of water and moved back to the fridge to retrieve the pitcher. She opened it and screamed when the little button she'd thrown away just a little while ago started making revving engine sounds again, then glared murderously at her brother. The little sneak had put it in there while she was distracted!
"I'm going to punch your face in," she said dangerously.
"I guess that's my cue to run," Seth said, suddenly turning to the side and dashing for the back door. Maybe it would be a good idea for him to grab the rest of the toys and throw them away or donate them or something. If they could make his normally peaceful sister want to tear him apart limb from limb, he wondered what they'd do to the other people in his family.
Then again, maybe he should give them to Newel and Doren. They'd be sure to find some random use for them until the batteries died.
All he knew was right now, he was running away from a sister who was determined to catch him.
There we go. :) Some silly brother and sister exchanges.
I'm planning for a lot of Brackendra in upcoming chapters. Starting with the one after the next one. You've been warned. ;) I'm a sucker for romantic fluff.
I'm trying to keep all of the characters' personalities in check. I know when I was a teenager, I would have amazing moments of maturity followed by amazing moments of immaturity fairly frequently. I'm trying to make Kendra and Seth relateable/realistic as I age them - hopefully that's coming across correctly.
Thank you everyone for your favorites, follows and reviews! I'm really happy that this story seems to have been enjoyed so far!