(The New) Power of the 8 Elements: Part One

Chapter Forty Four: Gone

"Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life." - Sophia Loren
PRESENT DAY
PHOENIX

"...or...or maybe they aren't mad at me, but they're still struggling to comprehend. Maybe I just bewildered them so much, and they're proud of me!"

It's Friday afternoon, and a very cloudy one. I decide to spend it with the Arcane Order. I give Bellroc the other two pieces, and she's now out looking for the last one with Nari. I have no idea where the last one was. Mom and Dad were still giving me the silent treatment/"I'm still thinking". Terri is getting more attention, but they can't talk to me. I can't even go into demigod form around the house. The only way I can is at the Arcane Order's fortress, and I'd rather be shorter than quieter.

I sit in Skrael's bedroom. Skrael has a loft bed, and he uses the space underneath to write sheet music, play the violin, and that's pretty much it. As I continue spitting out theories about my parents, he seems less and less interested.

"You know what? What if Mom and Dad are talking with someone secretly about getting me to stay here, and they want to surprise me?" I hang upside down from Skrael's bed. "What do you think?"

"Nope, considering their incandescent response when you first told them, and the behavior that they've been exhibiting ever since, they are most certainly still p*ssed."

"What does incandescent mean?"

"You don't know what incandescent means?"

I shake my head.

"You should. Hold on." Skrael disappears for a second, and then teleports into the bed holding a notebook. "I wanted to give it to you for your birthday-"

"-my birthday is in December-"

"-here. It's a journal for you to keep track of all of the words I say that you don't know. Start with incandescent."

"This is a unique late-birthday present."

"I know. I always give the best birthday presents. The raven cape Bellroc always wears...I made it."

"You did?"

He nods. I shrug and fall back on the bed.

"I'm in big trouble with my parents, but you wouldn't understand because you don't have parents."

"I mean, Bellroc is always screaming at me, so...yeah, I guess I do understand. But if you can survive this week, you can certainly last the next 600 weeks."

"600?"

"The average age for people to leave their parents' house is around twenty five and a half. You have about six hundred weeks before you can leave and live with us."

"That's a lot of math. I'm not sure I could do that."

"It's quite simple actually. If you could start a team of heroes, you can certainly multiply fifty two by eleven."

"Actually...the team got disbanded again."

"Again?!"

"Yeah, we tend not to last very long. When our parents found out, they immediately started calling mine saying that I put their kids in danger, so I'm in trouble with not just my parents but everybody else's."

"Tough."

"Why do you have such unexpected reactions to everything people say?"

"I don't get it."

"Like, when somebody is clearly troubled, you want to sound comforting."

"So what do I sound like, Phoenix?"