The Others

Part 5: David

(It may have been short, but the ending was better.) So. let's recap. Xania and Shara leave and Mom and Sybel return. Mom and Dad go off to do God knows what in their room. I help Sybel transform the futon in the living room into a bed and get her a filing cabinet for her clothes. Then, we hang out for a while and Sybel asks me out. So, yeah. Let's start there.

"Will you go out with me?" Sybel asks.

"Oh-My-G!" I hear Shara scream from the door. "Answer, David, answer!"

I sit there blushing up a storm. Sad that I can blush but my sister can't. Shara's pale skin should blush more than mine, but no. I'm the poor lad who got the white stone. Anyway, I'm sitting there. Sure Sybel's pink hair with black highlights are pretty, but I barely know her. I do suppose that that's what dates are for.

"Yeah. Why not?" I answer.

"Eeeekkk!" Shara squeals. I'm sure that Mom heard that one. Still, I don't hear them coming to see what's wrong. "Should we tell them?" Shara asks Xania.

"Tell us what?" I say, confused.

"Shara and I are dating." Xania blurts out.

"Oh. Ok." I say. "Say, Sybel. When'd you get your hair dyed?"

"I've never gotten my hair dyed. This is how it grows. Black, and then pink. It's weird. It's like it knows when to I get my hair cut and changes colour to accommodate." Sybel explains.

"I think that that's cool." I say.

"Awwww! You to are too cute. You know that?" Shara says, now sitting on the couch.

    "Who's too cute?" Mom is right behind me.

"Sybel and David. They're a thing." Shara says.

"Xania and Shara. They're a thing." I say, matching Shara's tone.

"I knew about them," Mom points to Xania and Shara, who are holding hands, "But Sybel and David is a new thing." Mom smirks. "I wonder how this plays out."

    A while later, I think of the greatest way to possibly find out as much about Sybel as possible. "Walter's Burgers and Stuff". I bring it up to Sybel, and She approves. She said how she never went there, even when she was with a family. Too expensive, they'd always say.

    When we get there, I order a "Burgh Burger". It's supposed to be a burger made the way Germans make them. I just think that they put on Camembert Cheese instead of American Cheese, but, oh, well. Sybel orders the Reese's Disaster. Which is Reese's Peanut Butter Cups on top of brownies with peanut butter filling. Turns out, Sybel is addicted to Peanut Butter Cups.

We talk about each other for a while, and then go home. No one is in the house, so I run to the back yard.

"Surprise! Happy Birthday David!" I hear everyone yell. Sybel almost had a heart attack.

"Took you long enough." I say, "My birthday was yesterday."

"Too much happened, we forgot." Mom says. (I forgot to say that mom taught me protection spells yesterday while Xania and Shara were gone. I accidentally summoned a Deamonhound. It got a l i t t l e  out of control.[Ok, maybe a little is an exaggeration. The dumbed down one. The backyard caught fire and now we have no grass. We managed to fix it before it caught the forest on fire.] I made a new friend from the Underworld though.)

"Oh. Yeah. I forgot." I say.

"What's today?" Sybel asks.

"Wednesday. Why?"I said.

"Date, Idiot." She shoots my way.

"I am an idiot. I'm proud of it." I shoot back. "August 25th."

"Really? Today's my birthday." She says.

"Oh. Cool. Uh..." I look at mom.

"Uh, I've got an idea." Mom smirks. "We'll have Sybel's birthday in an hour, and David's tomorrow."

"Okay." I say.

"You sure?" Sybel asks.

"Yeah. They already kinda postponed it once, I can wait another day." I say.

"Alright." Sybel says. "If you insist."

An hour later, Mom, Xania, Xaven, Shara, and I had gone to the store, bought Sybel a present, and picked up another cake. We get home, and Mom puts the words "Happy Birthday Sybel," on the cake. Sybel and Dad have been playing IOU Texas Hold 'Em. IOU Texas Hold 'Em is exactly like it sounds. Texas Hold 'Em, with chips and everything, but instead of money exchanging hands, whoever wins the whole game gets an I Owe yoU from all the other players. Sybel has about seven favors from dad, but dad only has one. I join in while the others get ready. I amass two favors, one from dad, and one from Sybel. Sybel has about seventeen, twelve from dad and five from me. Dad is in for some work. He's got a total of thirteen favors against him. He only has two favors for him. One from me, and one from Sybel.

    "Come on back!" Mom yells for us. Sybel, Dad, and I walk out back and see the charred ground, which makes my family's pale skin really pop out. It also really contrasts with the white tablecloths. The presents aren't wrapped. My family doesn't believe in wrapping gifts. Easier to throw in a shopping bag that can then be reused later. We have a great time. There is cake, ice cream, and Sybel loves her gifts. Xania got her makeup, Mom, a hat, Xaven, a good size book, and I got her a puzzle box that is a puzzle to open, but I made a fake bottom filled with chocolates. She loved that the most. She found out how to open it and noticed the almost obvious fake bottom and ate all the chocolate but one. Which she promptly threw at me. I caught it between my teeth, because I'm so damn skilled. Yeah. She smiles in a way that just says, Damn it! He had to catch that? I was hoping to hit him! and then we have cake.

After the party, Mom cleaned up with a quick clean-up spell. She conjured a few mannequins, and turned around.

"Gotta make up for lost time!" She yells. "Tyler! Take David and Xaven to Train Point A! I'll train Xania and Shara. But first, Sybel. Show me what you can do." I see Sybel teleporting around as Dad takes me back to the place where Xaven and Xania battled. I realize that Train Point A is this piece of the woods. I ask Dad why it's called Train Point A.

"It's because It was here, that Nerlin taught us to hone our Shadahe powers."Dad starts. "I became the more healing and protection focused one. Your Mom was the more destructive and violent of the two of us, as she feared nothing but death to the ones she loves. Me, You, even Shara, though she can be a pain sometimes. Shara has a tendency to get in trouble. Like Mother, Like Daughter. You're turning out just like me, too. So I guess, Like Father, Like Son, eh?"

"Yeah... Like Parent Like Child ..." I say. "... Like Parent, Like Child ..."