You Tried

Chapter 8- Family

-Ty's POV-
Standing in front of me was... My mother. At least, that's what I remember her looking like. She had the same reddish brown hair as me, and it was much longer than mine. I stood frozen, and Grace went over to her. Grace tapped her shoulder, and she turned, a bit startled. "Grace! How wonderful to see you! How are you today?" "I'm doing great, and I believe I found someone you lost."
Grace turned her to me, and her face lit up. "Tyler? Is that you? Truly?" Then she noticed my eyes, and backed away. "No, it can't be my Tyler. My Tyler has lovely red eyes." My heart sinks, because I know if I speak, she won't recognize my voice anyway. But I try.
"Mom. It's really me. It is." She looks doubtful, but when she comes closer, I realize I'm taller than her now. She raises her hand to my face, and I see the recognition rise in her eyes. "Tyler!" And she throws her arms around me. "Hi Mom."
We get what we need, then my mom comes with us back to the pocket. The whole time spent trying to explain to my mom where I'd been. She'd noticed my fangs, and she'd been so confused, that she had reeled away, afraid for a minute. We reached the pocket, and walked to the house. At the edge of the pocket, I warned my mother about the spell on me, and she didn't seem to mind.
I walked into the pocket's borders, and the spell wore off, revealing my wings and tail. My mother was amazed, and she asked me if I could control them. I said,"Of course. Wanna see?" She nodded, and I extended my wings. I didn't fly in front of her, still afraid of overloading her brain.

-Seto's POV-
I could hear Ty and Grace coming up the steps. I'd woken up on my own about an hour after they left. I'd been coloring with Mitch and Jerome for a while. I'd gotten up as quietly as possible, trying to avoid waking Brice. He was extremely burnt out, and he was exhausted. Sky was still out from his energy drain, so I'd checked the bandages quietly and let him sleep.
Ty and Grace walked in, and a strange woman followed them. They all set food down in the kitchen, and then the woman came and started to introduce herself to us. Only setback was when she saw Jerome. She'd clearly grown up away from the pockets, and had never seen a Bacca. Her eyes widened, and when Jerome tried to talk to her, she looked bewildered.
I tapped Jerome, and he turned to me. "Why can't she understand me?" I tried my best to explain. "She's never been part of a fantasy pocket. She can't comprehend things as easily." I gave him a thumbs up, and I went over to the woman. I gave her a small gummy bear.
"If you eat that, you can understand Jerome. Trust me, I'm magic." She stared at me, and Ty tapped her shoulder. "Seriously. Trust him. He is literally magic." She ate the gummy bear. Despite her confusion, she finished her introduction. "My name is Kate. Kate Ellis. I'm Tyler's mother."
I whipped my head to look at Ty, who smiled, clearly struggling to keep his excitement to a minimum. In that moment of silence, I heard a door open and close, and Brice stumbled into the room, tired and worn out. He stopped short when he saw Ty's mom. He raised his hand, and said, "Who- never mind. I came out to get Seto." And he motioned for me to follow.
We went back to Sky, just to finish the process, and just to completely re-energize him. But right before we started, I stopped Brice, and ran back to ask if Kate wanted to watch. She hesitated, then followed me and stood in the doorway like Ty had the night before. With Kate mesmerized, we completed the long and slow healing process. Soon the gashes were no more than small scars.
Finally, Brice and I enveloped Sky's body in a thin film of our own energy, and let it sink into him. He woke up, and Brice and I collapsed in exhaustion.

-Sky's POV-
Just as I sat up, I could see Brice and Seto fall sideways to the floor. In the doorway, I could see a strange woman staring at me. I leaped to the floor, and lifted Brice into my arms. Ty came in, and he grabbed Seto. We carried the boys to a room, and set them in the bed. Ty closed he door behind us, and we left the hallway silently.
Mitch and Jerome were coloring on the floor, Josh stared out the window, and I could just barely see Grace cooking in the kitchen. The woman introduced herself to me as Kate. She also said she was Ty's mother. I sat down on the floor in between Jerome and Mitch, and they showed me their pictures. Jerome had a crayon drawing of us, and another crayon drawing of our bonfire.
Mitch had a very detailed picture of a sword, and he said, "I want to learn to use one. Then I want my own!" I smiled, and asked him, "What about Jerome? What would Jerome use?" He seemed prepared, and pulled a detailed picture of a battle axe. It was so beautiful, and had incredible detail. I could make out a spiral inlay of gold, and the highlights and shadows were accounted for. It looked so realistic, I felt like I could pull it off the page and use it. Then I thought, why not?
I had Mitch set the page down, and I touched it, willing it to come out of the paper. Just as fast, the axe was solid, and sitting in front of us, and the paper was blank. The handle was a polished dark cherrywood, so it had a red tint to it. He put the sword picture in front of me, and I did the same thing. Each weapon materialized to its normal size. The pictures were small, so the weapons grew until the were regular size.
Before Mitch and Jerome touched the weapons, I asked their parents, and they both hesitantly gave permission as long as they didn't get hurt. I led the boys outside, and Mitch was already swinging. I stopped him, and summoned my own sword. I showed him the basics, and I sent him a few feet away so I could help Jerome. I dematerialized my sword, and grabbed an axe from nowhere. I helped him get the hang of holding it first, then I gave him the basics of the axe.
I sat on the steps and watched them. Ty came out and sat with me, watching the boys as they practiced. "Nice trick. They seem to be enjoying it." Ty sat back and leaned on the step behind him. "Ya know, just thought the pictures were so good, I had to make it reality for him. They were amazing. He drew that sword, and the axe, just as you see them. Every little detail was drawn out."
We watched them for a while longer, and Grace called for dinner. We filed in, and I made sure the weapons stayed near the door so they didn't accidentally hurt someone. Seto and Brice were already at the table, but Seto was half asleep. He was only awake because his hand kept his head suspended. Brice sat quietly and politely, like his family must've taught him.
I sat next to Brice, and Ty sat at the end of the table. It wasn't a big table, so the adults sat on the couch. We had 6 kids/ teens at a 4 person table. Mitch and Jerome sat on then same chair. So did Brice and Seto. They didn't seem to care though.
Ty and I sat at opposite ends of the table, and the boys sat between us on the sides. The one thing that kept me from eating, was a memory. A painful one at that. It was an old memory, but it was enough. It forced me up and away from the table. I walked outside and sat on the front steps.
The memory was painful, because it had my mother in it. In the memory, I had been maybe, 3? But still, I had been sitting at our dining room table in the Nether castle. My mom sat next to me, making sure I didn't make a mess of myself. Halfway through my meal, she pulled a small, black velvet box from her cloak. She set it in front of me.
"Now, to get what's inside Sky, you need to tell me your full name. You can't hide your name forever. It's nothing to be ashamed of." I pouted, but I did as I was asked. "Skybrine." She smiled, and handed me the box. Inside, was my first pair of sunglasses. They were black lenses, and a silver frame. They were half wraparound, half regular. The frame was regular, but the lenses wrapped around the sides, blocking people from seeing behind the sides of my sunglasses.
It had happened at a table very similar to the one Grace had me at, and I couldn't bear the memory. It had been my 3rd birthday when I got those sunglasses, and they were still hidden in a box under my bed. My new sunglasses were for the pure single purpose of the others not fitting. But then, I remembered something, and I went back inside. As long as those sunglasses stay hidden, and out of the way, I couldn't drag on it.
I sat down and ate in silence. No one bothered me, and I could see they hadn't really noticed my sudden up and out. After dinner, everyone drifted off to bed. Seto and Brice went back into the same room as earlier, and crashed together. Mitch and Jerome went into their old room, and crashed together as well. Ty and I dropped on the couches. Grace and Josh went into their room, and Ty's mother went back to her house in the city.
Ty and I talked for a while, until Ty crashed, and I slowly drifted off to sleep, only to get haunted by nightmares.

-Brice's POV-
In the middle of the night, I could hear the faint sound of crying coming from the hallway. I followed the sound, curious, and it led straight to Sky. He was asleep, but his face looked pained, and he was definitely crying. I gently shook him awake, and he sat up. "Are you okay?" He shook his head, "Nightmares. I'm fine though." He waved me off, and I went back to bed.
Tomorrow I was GOING to get answers.