Scarred

Chapter 9

Cassie's POV
The grave. I briefly passed it on the way to look for Eva and Cas that one time, but we didn't have time to stop and give it a look. Now that's what we're here to do.

My eyes skim over all the names, there are somehow more than I was expecting.
"James Ebony," I mutter under my breath when I see the name. Officer Ebony. Maven's "dead" husband.
"Eva Kim..." Hunter breathes with a chuckle. "This one sorta has to go."

"I don't see how any of these would link to my brother. What on earth would he be doing here?"
"Maybe he knew someone."
"Who?"

I skim my hand across the stone, the tips of my fingers falling into the cracks and engraved names until I reach Eva's, written in some kind of ink. Far more recent than all the others.

"I don't know..."

The thing is, I know nothing about Apollo's brother other than what he's told us. I don't know what kind of person he is, who he knows, nothing. I don't even know his name. That would be a nice thing to know.

"Hey Apollo-"
"Oh, sorry, my mum's calling," he says, looking down at the communicator in his hand. It's the same kind of one Eva has, maybe it's a common thing for travelers to own.

"Hey mum, whoa, calm down and tell me what happened... slowly mum, slowly... what? Ammie is, you're kidding right. I'll be back home as soon as possible, begin searching for her now! It'll be alright mum, we'll find her," he almost yells.
"Something the matter?" William asks.
"My younger sister Ammie has gone missing."
"Jesus christ, what is it with your siblings and disappearing?"
"Hunter! Stop being so insensitive."
"Sorry, sorry, so what's the plan Apollo?"

"I need to head back home to help search. Whether you come with me or not is your decision to make."
"We'll come," I say almost immediately. "I'm not letting you lose another person you love."
"Thank you Cassie..."

Surprisingly, we don't board the boat again, instead we find ourselves on a train. William chose to say here, I can't really blame him, he doesn't have any real reason to get involved with this. Hunter would've chosen not to come if I didn't say "we'll come." I know him well, and when someone expects something of him it's difficult for him to allow himself to disappoint.

As we sit on the train, something vibrates in my bag. A communicator? Since when did I have one of these?

Well Eva's calling, so maybe she has something to do with it. Maybe Flynn, after all he was just lolloping around near our stuff this morning.

"Hello?"
"Oh, good, so Flynn did give it to you," she replies with a yawn.
"Is something the matter, or were you just checking?"
"A bit of both. I did intend to check, because although Flynn insisted he gave it to you, it's hard to believe him. But, something odd happened, and Cas and I are struggling to think of what to do."
"And what is that odd thing?"
"A familiar showed up. They almost bashed into my window but Cas opened it just in time, but they fell unconscious almost immediately, they seem to have a fever."
"Just like you. Surprised Cas hasn't caught it yet."
"Now's not the time for a joke, I don't know what to do."

"Has something happened?" Hunter asks.
"Hey Eva, I'll call you back when I think of something, okay?"
"Oh, sure. Bye Cassie."

"So what exactly happened?"

"A familiar showed up at the base and is unconscious. Eva and Cas don't know what to do."
"Really? What type? What animal?" Apollo asks.

"Oh shoot, I should've asked!"
"Why are you so curious?"

"Well, minus my mum, who's a normal human, we're all familiars."

I stare in shock for a moment, trying to imagine what the boy in front of me could possibly turn into. He's one of the rare ones like Cas, one that can turn both human and animal. So his brother must have been too. And as he stated, his sister as well.

"Can't you just call back and ask, it seems like a logical option," Hunter shrugs next to me.
"Probably should, gimme a sec Apollo and I'll find out."

When I go to phone back, I see that Eva's beaten me to it. But when I pick up, it's not her voice over the phone.

"Cas?"
"The familiar! She just woke up for like a split second. You're still with Apollo, right?" He asks.
"Yes, why?"

"She said his name."
"Really... wait what animal is she?"
"You're not gonna believe this, but, she's another dragon."

"Like you...?"
"Like me."

I hang up almost too quickly and tell Apollo the news.
"That's Ammie, it's gotta be!"
"So that means you can turn into a dragon? I would say that's cool, but Cas can turn into one and it's pretty unimpressive," Hunter scoffs.
"Excuse me?"
"What?"

"Your friend Cas is a familiar that can-"
"Turn into a dragon, yes. Why are you so shocked?" I reply.
"What's his full name?"

Cas' full name. I've been told it several times before. It's Cas, no, Casper. But Casper what? I can't remember for the life of me.

"Is his surname Carmen by any chance?"

My eyes widen when Apollo says the name, and any and all suspicions I had have just been confirmed with one name.

"Yes, his name is Casper Carmen. He's your brother, isn't he?"

Nova Note:
I would be all gasping and stuff but I think it's pretty clear that Cas was Apollo's brother

Certain quotes make it pretty clear, for example:

"From what I've gathered he should be doing better now. I found out the location he was being kept and when I looked, there was no one there. Which means he hopefully escaped."

"You said you were here for a separate reason too, what is that reason?"

"Shackles are locked around his wrists."

"His dark skin matches that of Cas', though his eyes are nothing compared to his or Eva's golden eyes, rather they're a brown darker than his skin."

The first two are referring to how Cas ran from the guard

The shackles are the silence Cas mentioned in one of the chapters of cursed

And the last one is pretty obvious

He looks like Cas

Ye bye