Children of Heroes

A World Within Our Own

She didn't look any less beautiful when she was rotated 180 degrees. Every angle seemed to flatter her, every inch of her as flawless as the next. From her long dark hair, to her caramel skin, to her perfect smile, to her big brown eyes, no part of her failed to impress. She was a goddess, Rafael was sure. 

This was the fifth time he had seen her; he often came here looking for her, but would only occasionally find her. She came here with her sister, and watched from the bench as the little girl explored the park, clambering over the equipment and soaring high on the swings. As she looked on, she was blissfully unaware of the black-clad boy who watched her from the monkey bars, his legs hooked around one of the bars, hanging like a bat. 

He unfolded his arms and brought one hand down to his face height: his watched showed the time to be 1:34PM. He wondered what was taking Max so long. Rafael had phoned his brother almost twenty minutes ago, and their house was mere minutes from the park. 

Glancing up towards the park's entrance, he saw Max and Annalise approaching, as if summoned by his thoughts. He had to hold in a laugh. They looked like the most ordinary pair going: Max was shrouded in a thick glamour which covered up his blue skin for the mundanes' sake, and Annalise smiled up at her brother like a typical eight-year old girl would. They looked so normal, no one would ever suspect how truly abnormal the pair were. Even in the Shadow World they were strange; it was a rare sight to see siblings of opposing species. It made Rafael proud of his family for evading the norm, and upset him when they were forced to hide their true colours. 

Max spotted him almost instantly; Rafael's glamour wasn't strong, just enough to keep him hidden from the mundanes. The glamour could easily be penetrated by a warlock's eyes. Max gestured with his head that Rafael should come over to where they were; Rafe slid from the bar with ease, landing on the floor expertly. 

"Sorry we took so long," Max said when Rafael reached them. They were stood in the shadow of a large oak tree which provided enough cover to allow Rafael to let his glamour slip. "Dad and Papa interrogated me for like ten minutes until I managed to convince them we were really going to the park." He laughed. "I think yesterday really messed with their heads."

"They're probably worried we're gonna let Annie in on the demon hunting."

At that, Annalise's whole body snapped to attention. "Can I?" she asked eagerly, sharing her glance between her two brothers to see which one, if any, would crack. 

Rafael ruffled her hair - though not too vigorously, as he didn't want to misplace the waterfall braid Magnus had woven into her hair, or the little yellow rose hairpiece, for that matter. If he did, his father would go berserk. "Sorry, kiddo. You're a bit too young to come with us." 

"But Kiera went with you yesterday!" she whined, her lips forming a stubborn pout. 

"Yes, she did, and Uncle Simon wasn't too happy about that," Max replied with an amused grin. Although Isabelle had been a little annoyed, after a while she was more nonchalant about the idea of Kiera going on patrol with the rest of them. Simon, however, had been outraged to find out his little girl had been put in danger. He had lectured Kiera the whole night on the dangers of peer pressure. 

Rafael looked back over to the park, checking to see that the girl was still there. When he had assured himself that she hadn't left, he smiled down at his sister. "Okay Annie, wanna go play?" 

Nodding with an overbearing amount of enthusiasm, Annalise threw herself towards the park without even waiting for her brother. 

He began to follow her, but was stopped by Max's hand on his arm. "Rafe, if this is going to work, you might want to give me your weapons belt. You'd be surprised by how much of a turnoff it is when a guy has every kind of weapon under the sun around his waist."