The Mismunandi

Chapter 4

"Scarlet. Brighton. Nora." Dr. Paver makes a point to look at each of us. All I can do is stare. What is the enemy of my father doing in my home? I glance over to my sisters. The same expression that is on my face is plastered on Nora's too, but Brighton does not look as surprised.

"Do you know something I don't?" I ask. But she does not respond. Maybe she is more shocked than I thought.

"Please sit," Dr. Paver says as if he has any right to tell us what to do, but we sit on the couch anyway. My mom sits on the chair next to me and lets out a shaky breath.

"As you know, your father and I did not get along that well," Dr. Paver begins. "But we still have the same ancestors and I know your father would have wanted you to get some answers when you were ready. He probably didn't have me in mind when he thought of the person that would deliver these answers to you, but all his friends are either with him or dead, so here I am," he smiles a little at that, making me sick. I look over to my mother who is looking straight ahead.

"We are the Mismunandi. It means different. The first Mismunandi was from Iceland back in the days of the Vikings. It was a woman named GaldurKona. The villagers beleived she was a goddess. She mostly used her powers to heal the sick and manifest food and many other great gifts, but by the time she was seventeen, other clans started to hear of her. The kings wanted this goddess as their queen. Many tried to kidnap her, but with her powers she was able to stop them. As she grew older more houses tried to take her, hoping to drain the power from her and use it as their own. She could not handle all of this and became scared. One day she just left. She didn't give any warning before she abandoned her people and without her, they were killed. The village was burned with its people inside. GaldurKona was horrified when she returned only to find the ashes of her family. She decided it would be best to keep her powers a secret.

"She traveled by foot all the way to Northern Iceland looking for a fresh start with people who had not heard of her. There she met a boy named Ambrosio. He was the son of the leader of her new clan. The two fell in love, but Ambrosio's father would not allow a woman of such low class be married to his only son, so they ran away together. They had a baby girl named Asta. Asta inherited GaldurKona's powers. Confused and scared, her parents searched for more people that had these powers. It took many years and Asta was only getting stronger. She did not know how to control all her power and there was no one to teach her. But then they finally found it. Two more parents who had a son with these powers. Together, the two learned how to use their powers. They were forced into marriage in their teen years and their kids also inherited the powers. They gave their clan a name: Mismunandi. The Mismunandi clan did not last long, but the powers did, and we still manage to keep it a secret to this day." Dr. Paver leans back in his chair. "What I am telling you is only recent news. I heard it a year after your father left. I honestly don't know why he hasen't come back. He went out to find the history, but it's already been found. He should have come back years ago."

This is news to me. If my dad's questions had already been answered, then why was he still gone?

"Now I know you're wondering the same thing so let me tell you this: even though we have kept our secret from most of the world, a few hundred or so people have found out, and let's just say they envy us? So we're in a slight war with the mortals right now. The reason I bring this up is because, although you're dad was not seeking to join the fight, he may have been captured."

My eyes grow wide. What if he's dead? What if he's been dead for all those years and we didn't even know? I turn to my mother.

"Did you know all this?" I ask. She doesn't look at me, but she nods. Unbelievable.

"For how long?"

She faces me. "Since Dr. Paver found out." Her eyes are turning red but I keep going.

"How could you have kept something this big from us?"

"You were only kids; what was I supposed to say?"

"Anything would have been better than the nothing you gave us."

I stand to leave, but Dr. Paver grabs my arm. "I'm not finished," he says. I turn to face him, but I don't dare go back to sit next to my mom.

"With the help of some other Mismunandi I have established a camp, if you will, for kids like yourself. I have been trying to convince your mother to let you go to it for a couple years and it seems as though I have finally done it. I don't want any Mismunadi to die without learning how to use their powers first." he gets up out of his chair and walks over to the door. "I think I've said enough here. You'll leave on Tuesday. I'll let your mom explain the rest." And with that, he is gone. Leaving me and my sisters to process everything.

Nora stands."So we could have been with other kids like us years ago, but instead you chose to keep us here? Why?" She goes to her room and slams the door without waiting for an answer.

Brighton stays sitting on the couch with her legs crossed and hand supporting her head. She is staring blankly at the wall and my mother has to shake her shoulder to get her to stand and go to her room.

"You know I want what's best for you. When Dr. Paver told me about his camp I didn't think it was such a great idea with him and your dad being enemies and all. But now I see that he really does want to help you and I think this is the best thing I can do to help you," my mom says. She walks over to turn off the light. Before she does she turns to me. "Dr. Paver left out one detail."

"What is it?" I ask.

She hesitates. "Your brother..."

And then I am left in the dark to process, once again, what I had just heard.