Power of the 8 Elements

Chapter Thirty Two

We got home late. Too late. I stayed at Celeste's place to clean up, get dressed into better clothes and come home. Unfortunately, I did not realize that my parents would've got home before us.

"Boys..." Mom said, once we entered the house. "Sit on the couch." 

"I have to do homework," Terri said.

"No, you won't. You will sit on the couch or wherever. Just in front of us. We need to talk."

"About what?" I asked.

"You'll see."

Mom and Dad sat in the chairs in front of us. I hated when parents did that. When they say "we need to talk", and then they say "you'll see". You never know what they'll be talking about. It could be grades, school, somebody's death, or just "The Talk". I knew somebody didn't die because usually they'd be crying. Right now, they had a stern sound in their voice. 

"We're worried," Dad said. "Both of us. You always sneak off on the weekend, and you always tell us that you're going over to Amaya's house."

"That's what we were doing," Terri said.

"No, you weren't because when we didn't see you home, we called her mother, and she said that Amaya was at your house." 

Terri looked at me. I looked at Terry.

"You've got to tell us what's going on," Mom said. "I get that your grades are fine, but still...we want to make sure that you're alright. That you haven't been getting involved in anything bad." 

I struggled to find the words to describe what we were in. Parents certainly want to hear that their child formed a group of "heroes" (in a way) who were trying to fight this evil robotic engineer. 

"What's this?" Mom asked, noticing my hand. 

"My hand?" I asked.

She pulled up the sleeve, and I noticed a snowflake mark from my demigod form that I'd forgotten to hide. 

"Is this a tattoo?" 

"What?! No!"

"Have you been getting tattoos without my permission?!" 

"No!" Terri said.

"What's next?! Plastic surgery."

"It's magic!" I said.

"Magic?" Dad said.

I nodded. 

"If you're honest, we'll try and find some way to---comprehend this situation." 

I looked at Terri and sighed. They deserved to know.

"I...we...I formed a group of eight people---eight of our classmates---and we fight villains. Are fighting a villain."

Mom and Dad looked at each other.

"Tell them, Terri."

"Oh, yeah, a few days ago we fought this robot with scissors for hands called the Seamstress, but we won the fight."

I nodded. Well, technically we didn't win the fight, we just managed to get it to leave.

"What kinds of villains? You're fighting villains? What? What are you even talking about?" Mom asked.

I wanted to explain to them the Evil Angel, but I didn't want them getting hurt. Who knows what kind of stuff she could do? Her robots were terrifying enough? 

"Also...Mom...I'm not just a part of this group." I stood up and went into demigod form. "I am Phoenix...Phoenix of the Frosted Tundra, the general of the Arcane Order." 

Mom and Dad froze. They stared at me, looking rather afraid. Finally Mom spoke, but she was livid.

"WHAT?! A DEMIGOD?! THIS IS--ABSURD, TERRY!! What have you been watching that made you think of all of this! What is this anyways?!"

"I'm not making this up," I said, holding frost in hand and conjuring up my spirit animal.

"Terri, you believe this, too?!"

"It's true. I saw the Arcane Order, too." 

Mom groaned. She did that thing where she licks her finger and wipes it on your face to me, but there wasn't anything to wipe off.

"Mom!" I groaned. "There's nothing to wipe off, cut it out." 

"I can't believe this!"

"And this! Is this real, too?!" Dad asked, gesturing towards the antlers.

I covered my head. "Yes, please don't tug on them. Everything is real."

Dad grumbled, "Get out of that ridiculous armor."

"It's not ridiculous! Xan and Bellroc made it for me." 

"Xan?! Who's Xan?" Mom asked.

"A friend. A really good friend, and we cares about me."

"You think we don't care about you."

"He appreciates who I am, as do all of my friends."

"I accept that my sister is a demigod."

"Sister?!"

"This is going to be awkward," He said.

"What the heck is the Arcane Order anyway?!" Dad said.

"We are a group of demigods who have been around since the world first began. We protect the balance between the magic and mortal-"

"This makes no sense."

"It wouldn't make sense if you met them in person, but you can't. You can never meet them." 

"Rooms, now!" 

I was a teenager. I shouldn't have to be told to go to my room, but I did anyway. I didn't fight back because I knew that there was nothing I could do to convince them.