Persephone

Chapter 16: Letters and Brothers

Chapter 16: Letters and Brothers

Amber flitted outside the Pack House's window, surveying how their gal was as she chomped on a piece of pizza. She was invisible, but that didn't mean her scent was also masked. She didn't mind of course. She just smelled like any other wildflower in the forest. She went back to looking at Percy as she was passed a plate of food. Amber pursed her lips. The Braithe pack was one large family, and Uriah Brady was the pack's next in line instead of her multitude of brothers.

Amber wasn't surprised that it fell to Uriah being the next heir. Between all her brothers, and some other uncles from her mom's side, she is legitimate to being the next as the bloodline goes.

It wasn't like her father's head was ruled with prejudice, but then it seemed to be a natural trait to pick who would be next. 

Uriah was hovering protectively over Percy's side, always pointing out to which brother was who and describing a lot more things the half-fae would ever know of. Amber finished her slice, and then moved away, fluttering into the night. 

It was time to report back to her mistress.

*

"So, Percy, I hope Adonia has had you catch up with some of your memories?" Joseph finally asked her as the kitchen dispersed of everyone else, except Uriah and Joseph's beautiful wife. Percy was stuffed to the brim with the lavish dinner they had all enjoyed.

It was so different if you really lived so simply then one day be seated in front of a table laden with so much food it could fill up a whole court of people. Not to mention, hungry people who were werewolves.

Percy has never known anyone to have such an extended family until she met Uriah. The were-girl has twelve brothers, Kayle being the youngest. Uriah wasn't really the youngest either, but she certainly took the advantage of nine older boys.

The first three eldest were triplets, Charlie, Christian and Christopher, who all had their mother's blue eyes and their father's strong, sharp jaw. It was hard for Percy to decipher who was who until Uriah had pointed out that Charlie had a black band tattoo around his left arm, just below his elbow; Christian was the one who wore eye contacts and braces (she couldn't really see them until Christian smiled); and Christopher had neither, but a circular tribal wolf tattoo on the right side of his neck. Percy thought them very smart. The triplets were certainly more than that.

The second eldest was Matthias, thin and tall, who had to wear glasses because he had an accident when he was younger. He had his nose buried in books, and sometimes his siblings couldn't stop themselves from making jokes about his scent always intermingling with dust or old paper. He was still a gentleman, Percy thought.

Third eldest were twins - (Percy had looked at Annaliese at a different angle since then, having to bear too many children) - James and Jaime, who wore exactly the same clothes of the other twin, making hard for almost everyone to decipher which twin was who. The twins, so unlike their older triplet brothers, took great amusement in the bafflement of their family, and most especially, Percy, when Uriah introduced them to her. The only way, Uriah told Percy, to really know who was who was through their scents, although that too was almost the same. James preferred chocolate, while Jaime preferred caramel.

Next was Tobias, who wore a beanie over rainbow colored Mohawk hair; Cody whose hair was bleached, giving him a look of a surfer dude (also thanks to their mother's blue eyes); and lastly Noah, who appeared to Percy as the black sheep of the pack, being so cold and mysterious looking from the other side of the table that she felt so intimidated.

The last, who was the same age as Uriah but was born on a different later month than her, was Laurent. Fortunately they weren't twins. And that left Kayle to be the baby.

"Just bits and pieces," Percy answered. She was steering Earl Grey tea in a small cup prepared by Annaliese to keep her dinner down.

"Right, well, the priestess asked me to give you this once you've got everything settled." Uriah produced a small white envelope, and handed it over to Percy. Joseph motioned towards it, and she deftly tore it open. A small placard fluttered out, along with a postcard and two neatly folded letters. The postcard showed something that looked like an old gothic school. Percy took up the smaller of the letters.

Percy,

Your mother wanted you to go to this school on the day you come into the coven. She wanted you to have the education she had when she was still young, and have asked us to keep a close eye on you as you develop your powers overtime as well.

If you agree to do so, everything will be arranged in your mundane school and in your new school. I'll explain everything and teach you as I can, but everything in its own time. The other letter attached is from your mother. You were very much awaited.

I hope you accept the school.

Wishes. ~A

The letter was written with a childish hand that Percy almost dismissed the idea that her visit to the coven was nothing but a dream. Adonia was pretty much real, and the tug in her heart as her eyes landed on the other paper was too. But instead, she tucked it in her back pocket.

Joseph looked at Percy carefully. "I suppose she's referring you to Black Briar's," he said thoughtfully. "Best place for our kind to be."

"Black Briar's Academy is a very prestigious school for supernatural beings of all kinds," Annaliese told her, glancing reproachfully at her husband. "It's where I went, and where everybody's staying at the moment."

"Wait- Wait, how do I get in?" Percy asked, confused. Most schools needed enrollment, but Adonia only mentioned saying 'yes' to the school and she's in.

"Well, as all things other-worldly," Uriah started, "They just need your consent to get in. Not like most schools, where you're forced to. You have to really want to get in so that you will. If not, then no, you won't get anywhere."

"So, it's automatic?" she asked.

Uriah nodded. "It's in the blood. It's like an automatic book of names that records every single supernatural being here on earth."

The statement sounded like a series Percy would binge-watch on her vacation, but the look on Jacob's face was so serious that she had to keep a straight face. "There isn't a safest place for us until we've got our powers under control," Joseph laced his fingers together. "It's what enabled us to continue through this mundane age for decades too."

"What are these powers you keep on talking about anyway? I don't have any to qualify." Percy's shoulders shrugged as she recollected past events. Nothing was out of the ordinary, except for the fact that she kept on seeing or imagining things about someone following her and then doing bad things to her. Percy's eyes closed as she remembered the sticky feeling of blood all over her face.

Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Annaliese. "Of course you do, dear," she said soothingly. "Your mother certainly would have helped you discover them if she was here ... but this is all that she could do. Her and us."

Percy looked at the woman who bore too many children, and felt her affection thoroughly. She leaned on Annaliese's hand and  smiled wanly. "I'll think about it," she said softly, feeling the paper crackle under her denims.