Chapter II

“He has green hair,” the boy exclaimed in disbelief.

“We’ve noticed,” a lady said.

Kizu yawned and rubbed his eyes. He’d been sleeping on the uncomfortable wooden chair the Elites had offered to him a few hours back. They’d asked him questions about the crone and his relation to her. Some questioners looked piteously at him while others looked irritated or disbelieving. But eventually he answered every imaginable question down to what socks the crone preferred. Then they left him in peace to sleep.

Three people leaned across the table in front of Kizu. A lady with her hair tied up in a net and a disapproving face eyeing him. A middle aged man dressed as if for business, with a forced smile and a twitching eye. And a boy a year or so younger than Kizu, whose face was beet red and who continued to blubber out words incoherently. Supposedly, this was his family.

“Where’s Anna?” Kizu asked. If he was going to be sent off with these people, he at least wanted a familiar face.

The smile slipped from the man’s face. All three of them glared at Kizu.

“Kizu,” the man said. “The first thing you need to know. We never speak of Anna. She’s been disowned and cut off. She might as well be dead for all we care about her.”

“She’s my sister!” Kizu said, shocked.

“Not anymore.”

“You can’t just un-sister someone from me! She’s the only one I even remember out of the lot of you!”

The man took a big breath, as if preparing himself for a fight. “I am your father. The head of the Kaga family. I will only be going over this once, so listen closely. Your name is Kaga Kizu. It’s true, you used to have an older sister named Kaga Anna. A lot of changes have happened in our family since you were six years old. Anna did not adjust well. Four years ago, we realized that the irreparable damage she repeatedly dealt to our family’s name was too much. So we cut her off. Sentiment motivates bad business. Far better to cut off a wayward business partner, than file for bankruptcy. We will not be discussing the damages, nor any other subject relating to Anna. You need not let it affect your life. You have survived for ten years without the girl just fine.”

“Besides,” the woman said. “You have your brother to get to know now. He was only five when you left us. Hardly old enough to leave impressionable memories. It’ll be like discovering a whole new brother.”

The boy slumped in his seat and pouted. Finn. Kizu remembered his name now, it was Finn. He barely managed to dredge up even the name from his memory. His mother was right, Kizu barely remembered the boy at all. Though he already doubted that he’d serve much of a replacement for Anna. Anna had been the one to take care of him. She’d taken him everywhere with her. Hours scouring the beach for seashells or comparing tidepool finds. Everything from his life before the crone he could recall only vaguely, but Anna still stuck out.

The only memory he had of Finn, on the other hand, was of a screaming infant. And, he noted with dismay, his brother still looked like he’d still devolve back into that state at the drop of a hat.

He let the issue die. Obviously something had happened while he’d been away. The crone had taught him listening yielded more answers than questioning. If you listen to the mountain, you'll hear the landslide instead of being crushed under it. Though, he still wondered if that was just the crone’s way of shushing him. She also always used to say wisdom and craftiness were two sides of the same coin.

His father resumed speaking.

“After some great deliberation, we decided on the way here that if you were real, which it appears you are, we will sign you up for Wave Edge Academy immediately. The semester starts next week. Plenty of time to readjust to civilization before departing. You surely remember our villa out there? You’ll be moving into it next week with Finn.”

“Not fair!” Finn yelled. “You made me live in the dorms for my entire first year! You said it was ‘character building.’ Now, when I finally get to move out, you’re lumping me in with the smelly witch boy?”

“Finn, we can discuss this later,” their mother warned.

“I’ll stay in the dorms,” Kizu decided. The only thing worse than living with the crone for ten years, would be living with this boy. The dorms must be better than that. Plus, he hoped maybe the decision might earn him some good will with his brother.

His words sent Finn into a blubbering mess. All the arguments and complaints seemed to jumble together into nonsense. As if, by trying to stop his torrent, it all tumbled together instead. He glared at Kizu.

Kizu returned the look blankly. The reaction didn’t make much sense to him. His brother should be grateful. Then Kizu shrugged. At the very least, now he wouldn’t have to worry about the boy.

His parents kept talking but he drowned out the noise with his own thoughts. A school. All his memories from before the crone felt faded and required mental stretches to dredge up. But the school sounded familiar. Wave Edge Academy. It rattled around in the back of his mind. He thought maybe he remembered visiting the library there once with Anna. An image of massive spiral staircases leading up to walls and ceilings full of books. It was difficult though, because he might just be confusing the memory with an old dream. Dreams and childhood memories faded the same way.

But the one supposed memory he had was a good one. He decided that attending the academy seemed as reasonable of a path as any other.

“How stunted is your current education?” his mother asked. “We need to know now before you embarrass us publicly.”

“The crone taught me the basics of brewing.”

“Is that it?” his mother’s eyes widened in horror. “No other studies? You don’t know how to do anything else?”

Kizu waved a hand and mentally commanded the space in front of him. The image of a grasping creature emerged from the wood grain of the table. The monster appeared all mouth, with rows of teeth spiraling down into the gullet. The creature grew larger, engulfing the table in front of them. Just for a little added effect, he decided to create the image of a bird flying across the table. The tongue of the monster lashed out and snatched the bird from the air.

The three of them all jumped backwards alarmed as blood sprayed across the creature’s teeth. His mother squealed and his father reached for a wand at his belt.

He released the image and let it collapse in on itself until the table was once again the only thing that remained.

“I can create some minor illusions. The crone put me in charge of that end of the security around her hut.”

His father, color returning to his face, smiled slightly. For the first time, the smile appeared genuine. “You’ll be fine. You’re my son with my blood in your veins. Even a witch can’t dampen that fact.”

Finn’s face remained pale. He shuffled to the side. “Can I be excused for a minute.”

“Do you need the lavatory?” their father said, irritated. “Can’t you just hold it.”

There was a painful silence.

“Blood of my fathers.” He pulled out his wand and pointed it at Finn’s crotch. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

A quick flash of light and their father put his wand away, scowling and shaking his head.

“Now,” his mother said, dabbing her face with a handkerchief. She tried to smile but it was shaky across her face. “We need to do something about that witch hair of yours.”