La Dolce Vita
D is for Discipline
Part Two
Half of life is luck; the other half is discipline - and that's the important half, for without discipline you wouldn't know what to do with luck.
Carl Zuckmeyer
The friendship between Elyon Brown and Cornelia Hale was one that had been discussed endlessly over the last few years by the townspeople of Heatherfield. They were not, you see, two peas in a pod (you could say) and it was a small town, with small minds, smaller conversations but with one large appetite for gossip.
Elyon's mother had turned up – yes, literally, turned up – out of nowhere, sixteen years ago on the steps of the Heatherfield Baptist Church, clutching a baby in her arms. It had been a dark, cloudless night and the moon had hung high in the sky, drowning the world in curtains of silver. Pastor Thomas Brown had found her as he'd been shutting up the church after evening mass. He'd asked where she'd come from, and she, by way of response had tried to strangle him.
Pastor Brown had played quarterback for Heatherfield High's Saints all throughout his teen years. He'd never considered it a very useful skill (aside from getting him a college scholarship) – until that night at least. Then, he'd had to pick up a wailing newborn in his arms and sprint half a mile to the police station with a remarkably fast two hundred pound woman at his heels. He thanked God he could.
Needless to say, her mother had been arrested and jailed that very night and deemed mentally unstable only days later.
For the first few years of her life, Elyon had been raised by Pastor Thomas and his wife, Eleanor. That was until an electrical malfunction had caused the family home to burn to the ground, killing the older Browns while Elyon had been at a birthday party. By then, Elyon had been five years old. Mere days later, her mother had been released from prison and assumed full guardianship.
They moved into a rundown one bedroom bungalow near to Hale's Pond, in a section of Heatherfield that was fondly known as "the wrong side of the tracks". There, visitors were few and far between and even the neighbours (who were technically in the same boat) had decided that these two were best avoided.
What was even odder was that her mother had let Elyon Brown keep the name given to her by the late pastor. The mother, who was named Eve, did odd jobs around the town, like cleaning and laundry but the family mostly lived off of "the kindness of strangers".
Elyon never quite recovered from the trauma in her early life. She was sullen, quiet and had a stutter. What was worse was that Eve was a terrible mother. She was an alcoholic, gambled and treated her daughter like an inconvenience. She was still crazy, by all means, and often rambled about nonsense like other worlds, dead royalty and magic. She had several old coins wrapped in a handkerchief that she kept in her bosom at all times. Elyon had only seen them a handful of times, when her mother had taken them out to count them.
Many persons in Heatherfield felt bad for Elyon – she was their token charity case and they could always be counted upon to state what a "great shame" the entire situation was. Although words were really where the sympathy ended.
Elyon had met Cornelia a few years ago when her mother had been hired by Mrs. Hale (head of the sympathy group and wife to a successful bank owner, Harold Hale) to launder the drapes in her massive dining room. Eve was not particularly talented at cleaning (or the most grateful for jobs) but Mrs. Hale had done it to make a point to her Book Club. Eve had dragged Elyon along and then, because she also liked to make a point (or so the story goes), Cornelia had gone out of her way to befriend Elyon.
Whatever the reason, Elyon and Cornelia had been inseparable ever since. Elyon could now be seen following the taller girl around almost everywhere. Cornelia gave her bags of clothes and shoes, picked her up to and from school every day and let her stay over almost every weekend. Mrs. Hale appreciated the behaviour and encouraged it as it gave her yet another thing to brag about to her Book Club – philanthropy.
The Hales were respected in Heatherfield, for no other reason than they were there first. An old family that could be traced back to the Mayflower, they had settled in Heatherfield centuries ago. The name Heatherfield had actually come from Cornelia's great-great-great-great-grandmother, a Mrs. Heather Hale. They had named all the streets and the rivers and ponds – after themselves (of course) because the Hales were always a self-absorbed lot.
As a result of this, Cornelia's family had lived in the only house on Hale Avenue for over two hundred years. It was a massive three story house, painted lily-white with green trimming and a sprawling, well manicured lawn. Over the years they had renovated and added swimming pools and hot tubs to suit, but they had never moved. You see, among other things, moving was something Hales never did.
Cornelia was in the kitchen of that house after school with Elyon at her side, sitting at the marble island, munching on the cookies one of her many secret admirers had baked for her.
"You can always stay over tonight Elyon," Cornelia said after swallowing a small bite of chocolate chip, "if your mom is being weird again."
"S-She doesn't like i-it when I-I stay s-stay over too much." Elyon, who even after years of friendship still had difficulty maintaining eye contact, stammered out, "Besides ... I-I don't want to be a-a bother."
"Jesus lord!" Cornelia smiled, "I'm sick of telling you that you're not a bother. Who else am I gonna hang out with? Those losers at school?"
Elyon smiled shyly at that, taking another huge bite of the cookie before she spoke, "that Will g-girl was a-a m-mess."
"I know right!" Cornelia giggled, "Such a disaster, she's so over. And if she's going to be friends with Irma Lair ... then it's already social suicide."
"W-we should have a-a f-funeral for her."
"For both of them you mean. Irma's been dead to me for years." At that moment, Elizabeth Hale, Cornelia's mother, came into the kitchen. Although it was sweltering hot and in the beginning of September, Elizabeth was dressed in an expensive cashmere sweater with fashionable linen pants. Her short blonde hair was knotted at the back of her head, done to reveal expensive white gold earrings.
"Cornelia, darling," She brushed her lips against her daughter's cheek before plucking away a cookie from Cornelia's fingers, "Don't eat those, you'll get fatter. You already put on five pounds this summer! You have to work on getting that off. It's all that East Coast food, I swear."
Cornelia instantly fell silent, her head dropped and shoulders slumped forward as she stared at her well manicured hands in her lap.
Her mother never noticed.
"Elyon, how are you today? How was school?" She was already bustling through the kitchen to the fridge where she removed a pretty iced cake. That, she set onto the island before going to gather plates and forks.
"I-It was o-okay ... ma'am."
"Now, darling what did I say about calling me ma'am. Making me sound like an old school teacher. Call me Aunty Liz – I insist. Where are those forks?"
Elizabeth stayed for about three minutes, draining all the energy in the room as she chattered, looking for cutlery. Finally, "Cornelia, did you pick up Lillian?"
"Yes ma'am, she's upstairs."
"Good. Sit up straight Cornelia you'll give yourself a hump! Toodles girls, I'm off to gossip!" And she left, her outrageous laughter bubbled through the doors, indicating that she'd met up with her equally vapid friends.
"Parents." Cornelia smiled, trying to pretend like it hadn't bothered her in the least. She looked at the cookies in the plate but didn't touch any more. "C'mon, we've got those Alegbra sums to work on for tomorrow."
"A changeling is an Irish fairy." Down in the basement of the Silver Dragon, which was presently covered in thick yellow goo and smelled like sulphur, Yan Lin spoke to Will as she poured over goo coated spell books. "Fairies are vain things. When they give birth to ugly fairy kids they come to our world and snatch up pretty human children."
It was hard for Will to enjoy her makeshift dinner of pork fried rice in this disgusting room, but Yan Lin hadn't given her a choice. "So the thing you guys released is a changeling?"
"Yes. We had it in here for months without incident ... we were using its toenails in some curry ... err ... love potions. You see, there's no need to kill them since they usually die on their own in a year or two – but those damn bat wings! I'll never buy from one of Eric's suppliers again!"
"How'd it get here?"
Yan Lin grumbled, "Years ago, before all this migration and road trips and bull shit things stayed where they were." She seemed to forget she was Chinese. "Irish people know how to deal with changelings! But now everything is everywhere ... last year there was a Japanese Oni in Heatherfield and to this day no one can tell me how a twelve foot, red monster with horns got through immigration!"
"All right Nana!" Hay Lin skipped downstairs, her face turned up when the smell of the gunk hit her but she didn't say anything about it. Instead she concentrated on some papers in her hands. "I asked online about the changeling. Umm ... killbill44 says that we're idiots ... and err ... newmoon_09 says ROTFL ... I think it's a code. Oh, and downundagirl nominated you for the worst hunter of the year poll. That's good news though; you're ahead by five percent!"
"As usual, those idiots online have no idea what they're talking about."
"They said to use the compasses to track the energy level ... Changelings have a lower energy level than normal humans."
"Compasses don't work in Heatherfield because of how close we are to Meridian! I give up! No one can help us! We're on our own! " Yan Lin slammed the spell book shut. "Hay Lin ... Start cleaning this mess up! You too Will."
"Why do I have to clean? I didn't do this."
"No, it's a part of your guardian training. Mop wielding skills are most handy. Besides you owe me for the rice."
Will rolled her eyes and started to complain when a bright light engulfed the room. The next second, Caleb was besides her, already complaining that she hadn't started without him. "I'm not training with you today." Will said smugly, "Yan Lin needs me for something."
"What the meaning of this Lin? Don't you think I have other things to do with my time –"
"Yeah, like pull that gigantic stick outta your ass."
"There is no stick ... what's this mule you speak of?"
"Caleb, a thousand apologies. You can have Will ... Hay Lin and I will manage without her for today."
Now, it was Caleb's turn to look smug as Will began her outrage. "Yan Lin ... I thought that ..."
The older lady pulled Will's face towards her own and whispered, "Look, just distract him for a while until Hay Lin and I figure out what to do. I can't have him getting suspicious and telling Lucia!"
Will sighed, she couldn't remember half the steps Caleb had forced her to learn this morning and she knew a thousand lectures would be forthcoming. "All right," Will slipped away, "Let's go."
"Get your sword!"
"No shit Sherlock!"
"They're so cute together," Hay Lin sighed dreamily, as echoes of the pair's arguing swallowed the basement. "Aren't they Nana?"
"Cute isn't the word. Start mopping, I have to figure out where to get more foxglove – Mrs. Cook has been catching on to our gardening."
"You need to keep your back straight. I keep telling you to hold your weight in your legs." They had set up practice in the empty upstairs dining room. The tables and chairs had been pushed into the corners and Will stood very still in the middle of the red linoleum holding the Blade of Kandrakar as Caleb walked around her, correcting her ever worsening form (his words).
Outside the sun had set and across the sky, pink and purples swam towards the horizon, and threw a dull orange shimmer into the small room.
"Put your hand like this ..." He was behind her, she could feel him (there was a low rumble in his chest when he spoke), rather than see him. His arms were around her, his palms were rough. She could feel them on the backs of her arms. Goosebumps erupted from the rush of heat that he created. He smelled nice, she noticed, like the grass and sun and the outdoors. It suited him completely.
His fingers covered hers, readjusted them along the hilt. In that movement, Will recognized just how much strength there was in those hands. "Protect your thumb, line it up with the edge of the blade ..." Will nodded, feeling dizzy – feeling as though something were bubbling in her chest and choking her. "That's perfect." He had moved.
She was glad. Will tried to shake off the encounter but she couldn't, no insults were on her tongue, nothing was in her mind. So, she did the next best thing – she ran. "I'm gonna go back downstairs and see if Yan Lin needs me."
"No you're not. You'll stay here. We have a lot more to go through before you're ready."
Will frowned, he was so annoying. "You may be the boss of Meridian. But you can't tell me what to do."
"I just did."
"Doesn't mean that I'll listen."
"You're an irritable woman. You know this?"
"She knows." The pair jumped when Lucia strode into the room, "I've found two more guardians. Your practice will have to wait."
Christopher, her six year old half-brother was the only one at home when Irma got there. That was strange, since the Lair house was notorious for holding cousins, uncles and friends. He was sitting in the laundry cluttered living room watching cartoons and eating pudding cups (dinner).
As far as half brothers went, he looked nothing like her. While she was basically brown – all over – he was white blonde, green eyed and chubby (although that was putting it mildly). Chris had been diagnosed with autism two years ago and right now, cheese chips were his best (only) friend.
"Chris, what are you doing here by yourself? Where's your mom?"
"Where's your mom?" Christopher repeated. Irma dropped her backpack among the mess and walked over to him, already knowing that he would be filthy – from pudding and lunch and maybe from urine if he hadn't remembered how to use the potty today.
"Who leaves a six year old home alone?"
"Work late."
He was filthy and more, and when she reached down to pick him up, he wouldn't look at her, instead he covered his ears with his palms and stared at the television. Grumbling to herself, Irma tugged Chris's hands away and began to pull him into the downstairs bathroom.
As usual, he was fussing – he hated baths. "Chris, you stink like old cheese. You need to bathe!"
"Bathe! Bathe!" He had started kicking and crying and by the time Irma had gotten him into the shower, he was hysterical.
"Chris stop!" He knew what stop meant and after a little while he calmed down. That was before the pipes in the house all turned on at once and water sprouted down from the shower nozzle and drenched him completely. Now, he was uncontrollable, kicking and screaming bloody murder until Irma finally had to take him out.
Her step-mother chose that moment to come home. "Are you trying to drown him?" She screamed, then pushed Irma aside and grabbed Chris from her, immediately cooing and shaking him even as he tried to squirm away.
Irma tried to shut off the taps but they weren't working. "What's wrong with these pipes? I thought you got these fixed!" Suddenly the water stopped, and Irma, drenched to the bone, found herself in a bathroom that was flooded up to her ankles. "Gross! The toilet too!"
Anna Lair had already covered her son in two towels and was apparently contemplating CPR when Irma came into the living room. She was able to manoeuvre through the mountains of toys, books, pudding cups and clothes to stand besides her step mother. "Why was Chris home alone?"
"What do you mean home alone?" Chris had started chewing on the edge of the towel, and his mother took that as a sign of recovery. "Why weren't you here with him?"
"Why wasn't I –"
Through the blue glare of the television set, Irma saw Anna's eyes flash dangerously. "I told you we had a PTA meeting today! I'd be late and you needed to come home and get Chris because the sitter was busy! I told you that twice this morning Irma!"
Irma honestly couldn't remember such a conversation and didn't doubt her step-mother (the wickedest bitch in the west) had just made it up to spite her. "No you didn't! All you were harping on this morning was about how Chris put on so much weight. Um, news flash – he lives on pudding and juice because you don't cook!"
"Don't change the subject! You are incredibly irresponsible! You know the situation and you don't even try to help! When you're father gets home he and I –"
"Whatever!" Irma turned on her heel and started to go upstairs. There were a million people in this house and she was the only one who ever had to do anything! As soon as the thought crossed her mind, her step-mother began to shriek again.
The pipes had turned back on.
"I would just like to say that I have always known about the other two guardians." Back in the basement, Yan Lin had hastily hidden her spell books and even the mop when Lucia had appeared at the door, for all the good it did, the room was still coated in yellow gunk.
"It still counts because I found them first. That's three to one. Although Hay Lin shouldn't count since she was under your nose the entire time." Lucia adjusted her long golden robes and grinned. "Face it Lin, this is a losing battle for you."
"Enough chatter. Why don't we talk about Phobos?" Caleb folded his arms across his chest, trying to take up as much space as possible in the small room. "He has been dormant for weeks. This is the calm before the storm and it makes sense that we ..."
"All right! This is what will happen." Yan Lin took charge, looking at Lucia as if she dared her to question her authority. "You and Caleb can get the new guardians, while Hay Lin, Will and I will continue training in spell making."
"Will doesn't need to learn spell making. Actually," Lucia smiled widely, "I doubt that Hay Lin can learn anything from you either. What's this Yan Lin?" Lucia indicated towards the gunk of the walls, "a seeking spell? Really, that's first year stuff."
"Well..." Yan Lin reddened, she was certain she would be revealed so she tried to cover as best as she could, "it wasn't a seeking spell. Although that's such an amateurish mistake –"
The echo of the doorbell upstairs interrupted her. Yan Lin frowned deeply and clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, "can't people read anymore? Don't closed signs mean anything?"
"Closed means shut up and listen." Hay Lin recited.
"No, I summoned these guests." Lucia snapped her fingers and instantly, there was the sound of footsteps against the upstairs linoleum.
"You can't just invite people in here Lucia! This isn't a half way house!"
"You're right – for once. It's more like an out-house."
There was enough tension in the air to ignite another argument (not that this pair ever needed much) but they were interrupted when more people entered the basement.
Will felt her forehead wrinkle as realization settled heavily on her, "these are the new guardians?"
She hadn't needed to ask. There was no other reason Lucia would call them. Behind her, Hay Lin squealed excitedly but Will (once more) found herself speechless. There was nothing in her life that had ever prepared her for even the thought of having to deal with Cornelia Hale or Irma Lair for more than the six hours she spent at school. Much less save the world with them.
Karma was a bitch.
"Um, are you guys still serving? I had this weird craving for Chinese food just now." Irma looked around at the basement, looking for sweet and sour chicken in between the myriad of expressions that played out.
Cornelia was never one to play second fiddle, and she pushed herself forward, speaking in a loud, clear voice "my sister's been begging for fortune cookies. Not those nasty, stale ones that you gave us last time when the fortunes were in Portuguese." Her eyes also swept the room but once they saw Caleb, they moved no more. Instantly, her back straightened, her hand flew to her already flawless hair.
"Hello," she smiled.
"Yes," Lucia cleared her throat, "let me introduce you all to the guardians of water and earth." She faced the confused looking pair and said simply, "Never mind the smell girls. Though, I think you should both sit down."
Author: I can't believe I've updated again! Hahahaha. Well this roll is gonna have to stop because I actually got a real, full-time job, starting tomorrow so I'm back to weekends and late evening writings. There was more to this, I wanted to at least have Irma and Cornelia in guardian form by the end of this chapter, but I needed some more time to introduce their home situations. Hopefully now you guys have a better understanding of why they are the way they are.
No more home drama though, I think Hay Lin is pretty balanced and Taranee will have a lovely, supportive family.
I did my best to write a believable autistic child, but the description may be flawed. I'll try to do the next chapter by the end of next weekend.
Next chapter will be crammed with action. I plan to have Cornelia and Irma go to Meridian to fight off some solders or something. While the other girls find this changeling.
Thanks again for the reviews guys! They mean a lot.