Dust

Eighteen: The Council

A/N: The picture is the closest thing to what I imagine the Spire as.

Kara's alarm rings early the next morning, and Callie reacts before I can by screaming in frustration and attempting to break the device on the girl's nightstand. With a yell of surprise, Kara immediately leaps to the defense of the expensive-looking item, covering it with her body as she falls to the floor.

I let out a groan of annoyance, pulling the warm blankets over my body as I attempt to block them out.

We all stayed up far too late just talking to one another, and I'd rather sleep for as long as I can. Yeah, right. Like that's gonna last long.

Kyros soon crushes my dreams (literally. I was asleep.) with the music that blares through the house. With a grunt of effort, I stand up, wearing some of Kara's exercise shorts and an old t-shirt as I walk into the hallway. Wearing only socks and sweatpants, Kyros whizzes past me as his socks slide across the smooth wood flooring. With a failed attempt at a dramatic air guitar, Mikhail slams into the wall as he slides out of the boys' room, dressed similarly to Kyros.

What. The. Heck.

"Spice Girls? Really?" I yell over the sound of the music, and Mikhail throws his head back and laughs as he sings along to the song that history somehow remember. Of all the songs. Why this one?!

Facing off and repeatedly asking each other what they really, really want, Mikhail and Kyros launch themselves across the hallway before a loud crash tells us that one of them fell down the stairs. With an eye roll, I shout for Callista to rescue me. The pissed off ginger emerges from the room angrily, and for a few seconds I wonder if she'll explode on them. She doesn't, however, keeping her mouth shut as she merely storms towards the source of the music. Rather than turning it off, she cranks the volume up, and joins into the madness with a wild grin. Kara pokes her head out of the room with a loud laugh, as Mikhail and Kyros race back up the stairs.

With the end of the song quickly approaching, a very cranky Titus finally turns it off and approaches the rest of us in the hallway.

"Well thanks for ruining my sleep," he spits, pushing past Mikhail as he heads downstairs. With a roll of her eyes, Callista makes a popping sound with her lips and points at the stairs.

"That's my cue. I'll go calm down Mr. Crankypants," she huffs, following my brother down the stairs. Kyros quickly jogs towards his room, and emerges just as he pulls a t-shirt on over himself, tossing one to Mikhail as he passes by.

Kara gives the two of us a smile before heading downstairs, leaving me and Mikhail on our own.

"So. We're actually here," he grins, face beaming as he looks down at me. I raise an eyebrow, but a smile stretches across my face despite my efforts to remain stoic.

"Yeah. It's not like I thought it would be," I say, and he nods slightly.

"For sure. Less hospital gowns and more fun," he jokes, and we both laugh at his lame attempt for humor. Even if I don't feel the same way about him as he does for me, he's still my friend, and we've just about walked through hell together now.

"Breakfast?" Kara calls, and Mikhail gives me a smile before heading downstairs. I follow, taking a seat on a seat by the kitchen counter as Kara finishes laying out the food for breakfast.

"So are we just hanging out here today, or..." Callista questions, sitting next to me and throwing her legs over my knees. Kyros sits on the other side of me, grabbing a piece of toast and spreading some peanut butter over it.

"No. Dad's meeting with the Council now, and tonight, they'll probably want to ask each of you a few questions. You're the first ones to ever make it to our dome without the disease." he says, wrapping up his sandwich making by dumping way too much jelly onto the toast. Kara digs a spoon into the jar of peanut butter and sticks it in her mouth, heading back towards the fridge.