Galaxy of Hyperion: Mystic Heir

Chapter Fifty: Family of Three

For a few blissful moments the next morning, Jayler knew peace. 

It did not last long. 

The night before had been spent with the rest of the Clan Leaders and Skylian Mages, chattering about some subject or another to pass the time. Jayler found that their two groups meshed together rather well despite their widely varying backgrounds, and he was glad that he was finally being given the chance to speak more with the team that his sister was a part of. The rest of his team seemed to have enjoyed themselves as well, and buzzing energy had thrived in the air the entire way back to his room. Jayler had fallen asleep almost immediately, not realizing how tired he was until after it was too late for him to try and keep his eyes open. 

Waking up the next morning brought with it an onslaught of positive memories from the night before, but at the same time, it offered Jayler a reminder of the fact that he was going to be headed home before the day ended. He would be meeting with his mother once again, and for the first time since they were children, Jay would be with him. 

Having Jay come along meant that Jayler was by default going to have to explain everything about magic to their mother. There wasn't a way for him to avoid it. The truth was going to come out, and it was going to come out quickly if his predictions were correct. Jayler wasn't exactly fond of the idea of sharing the full extent of his adventures with his mother, but he knew that he didn't have a choice. He was going to have to tell her sooner or later, and Jay's arrival back on Earth was going to be the perfect chance for her to hear the truth. Jayler knew that she was going to be defensive about the idea of her children being involved with a magical dimension, and that was assuming that she was still able to keep her composure after she saw her daughter for the first time in well over fifteen years. 

Jayler was unable to keep his nervous energy inside, and he started to pace back and forth across the length of his room in the castle. His stomach had decided to start doing merciless flips, and that only made him feel worse about the whole situation, something that he hadn't even realized was possible up to that point. How was he supposed to think about how he was going to tell his mother when his body seemed to want him to throw up everything that he had ever eaten in his life?

A knock came at the door a moment later, and Jayler found himself approaching the door to open it. The door opened before he could pull on the knob though, and Lex poked her head into the entryway from around the corner. "Tuila says that we're almost ready to leave to go back to Earth. She told me to come and get you," Lex explained. "I'm glad to see that you're up and moving."

"Yeah... I'll be there in a second," Jayler told her, trying his best to hide how overwhelmingly anxious he was. The critical sheen in Lex's gaze told him that he hadn't done a good job of keeping his nerves a secret, but she didn't question him on it, seemingly understanding that this wasn't any of her business. Lex retreated from view a moment later, disappearing around the corner and down the hallway down to the main area of the castle where Tuila was undoubtedly waiting. 

Jayler sighed as soon as he was alone, almost collapsing onto his bed between his weakened knees and his upset nerves. He wasn't going to be able to hold this off forever, and all he could do was take the bull by the horns and deal with whatever was to come. He was going to have Jay by his side, so that was going to make it easier by default. He had been alone when he first told his mother about the fact that he was transgender, and having Jay by his side was sure to make this ordeal less taxing in the long run. That was what Jayler kept telling himself, anyways, though he didn't think that he was going to be inclined to actually believe it anytime soon. 

Even so, it didn't take him long to pull himself together for the day and head back down to the lobby of the castle. Jay was there alongside Tuila and the rest of the Clan Leaders. If any of his teammates caught onto his nervous energy, they chose not to bring it up, though Jayler did receive a few sideways glances from Xia and Gemini as soon as they saw him. Jayler swallowed dryly, doing his best to not think about what he was about to do. He wanted to tell himself that he was making a mountain out of a molehill, but he knew that it wasn't going to be quite so easy as repeating cliched phrases into his own ear.