Bab 4: The beginning to everything, surely is a Rollercoaster (Pt.02)
[To begin, let me just say. Sorry for the late update. I got stuck in this chap because there was too much transition between scene to scene, which I suck at the most and so, for the lack of updates. I will probably edit it in the future.
So sorry for the inconveniences]
(MATEO'S POV)
CRAA SSSSSHHHHH
.
.
.
A loud booming sound entered my ears, and I could safely assume Iryan also heard it as he moved his head to a 180' at a fast pace, it was almost scary to watch.
"What was that?" he asked, His brows were creased together at the center while his ears seemed to have been locked to the source of the crashing sound.
Oi, is your head okay?
I spared a glance at him. Both amazed and… worried?
Putting those thoughts aside, Should I leave him here or bring him? If I leave him alone, there's a high chance he would just waltz out himself and make trouble. Especially if he accidentally stumbles upon a banana peel and slips down the stairs. But, if I take him with me, he would probably hinder my movements to an extend--
CRACK CRICK CRACK
Another wave of cracking noise rang through the air.
Aghh!!!! Welp! No time for complicated decisions. It's one way or another, I guess.
I took his hand and started dragging him out of my room, "Only one way to find out" I told him in a hushed voice, not even sparing him another look as I walked towards my room door.
"Slowly please, I'm not used to this house yet!" He shouted - whispered to me, pulling my hand, trying to slow my pace down- a bit.
"Hnn" was what I hummed as an agreement, but, surprise surprise, I still kept my pace and only slowed down when we reached the stairs. It'd be too bothersome if he were to fall and we caught the attention of the… visitor?
Yeah, unwanted Visitor.
.
.
.
But as we came closer and closer to the first floor, I heard a rough coughing sound and saw a cloud of thick black smoke coming from the living room. Slowly from the smoke a figure covered by the dust came out while coughing and fanning near their face to clear the flying dust away.
*cough* *cough* "Ughh…, stupid Aquila and her negligence to clean the fire pit!" *cough* *cough*
After a moment, the figure stopped at what they were doing and looked up to our direction. For a second, I felt a sudden surge of panic surging to my very bones. And as obvious it could get, It wasn't a good sign.
"Hmm? Who are you?" The figure asked, "I thought those brats only have one offspring?"
And Aquila… this figure knows Mother??
"Yes I know your mother, kid. Especially that Father of yours." The figure told me? Okay… how did they do that? I didn't say it out loud, did I?
"Your face is like a sheet of paper written with a high quality ink kid." The figure stated while they dust their dust clustered overcoat.
Okay…
"Now," They told us, while taking out their long ancient looking wand, "Tell me who you are? Before I have to use force" pointing it towards Iryan.
"Uhh..-- I- I am…--" Iryan stammered, he had that stupid looking nervous grin on his face. Why the heck are you grinning like an idiot. Either way, This is bad. Very very bad. If I knew it would be like this, I should have left him in my room. Name, what name...
"Nathan," I cut his sentence, "His name is Nathan Crowell, he was adopted into the family not too long ago. Maybe that's why you didn't know him"
Fiuuhh…. Good save, me. It would be bad if the figure knows who he is while we don't even know who the figure is. It could have been one of the enemies, for all they could care. And fighting them now would be as good as suicidal.
"Oh?" The figure hummed, "That's odd. I thought the one that was adopted was supposed to be Iryan Avery?"
This person…
"Who are you?" I asked slowly, knitting my brows together as I pulled Iryan behind me, which he huffed at.
"Me?" the figure repeated, "I thought you already know who I am, child!"
I took a step back as I pushed Iryan further away to the back, he was not pleased "I can take care of myself" he grumbled to my ear.
"And I was ordered by Mother to take care of you!" I shot back to him before reattaining my attention to the figure, "I am very confident in my ability to remember everyone I met, so, who are you?"
The figure stopped their tracks then looked down as they appeared to be sighing deeply, before grumbling something like "Kids these days". The figure slowly took of their hood and muttered "Scourgify"
The black dust suddenly cleared up from the figure's body and the floor surrounding them. Leaving it cleaner than it was before. But when I look up to see the figures face,
And to say I was surprised, might have been an understatement,
...
"Mrs. Flickchered?" I muttered slowly, whilst widening my eyes ever so slightly. Ok, this is a surprise.
Or not?
I don't know,
there have been weird things. And this is one type of those weird things that had been happening.
.
.
.
There in front of me, was the exact replica of Mrs. Flickchered, just-- not with the creepy smile as the one before. Her hair was loosely tied to a bun as her clothing was not as dignified and frilly as before. It was almost like a Rag cloth-- torned at some places and was choppy at the edges.
"Yeah, that's me" she grinned
"So the one before was…"
"Oh, right!" She widened her eyes, "Wait there for a sec" She went back inside the living room and came back dragging the previous Mrs. Flickchered's body on the ground, "You mean this thing?" She raised an eyebrow, before she proceeded to break the previous Mrs. Flickchered's neck like a toothpick--
I could feel my eyes widen, what is she doing? Committing murder in brought daylight, and in front of two witness-- no, one, but still nonetheless. I don't know what possessed me at that very moment. But I could feel one of my hands find its way to Iryan's eyes. Which I promptly received a "what are you doing?" Muse from him, before I realized how stupid it was.
--And revealed wires upon wires, giving off small Sparks, "This thing was a robot prototype I created not too long ago. I don't know how it got here, though. But it's core was busted and it alerted me, if I didn't shut it down. Things could have gotten a bit…" she drag her words, "ugly"
So it wasn't murder?
"Ooh!!!"
I slightly jumped from the sudden outburst from behind me. Iryan had his hands on my shoulder as a support, and he smiled with such delight written on his face, "So that's what I felt before!!!" he leaned his chin on top of my head. Pushing me forward in the process, "no wonder the air felt strange around that lady!"
Oh no, that's dangerous.
"Stop leaning," I tried pushing him back "you're gonna make us--
Oh ssshoot
-- F
A
L
L
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
And with that single misstep, we both fell down, rolling to the base of the stairs. With Iryan's loud scream right beside my ear. Which made me worry whether I'll end up deaf by the end of the day with all this loud notices lately.
(THIRD POV)
As they crashed down, Mrs. Flickchered simply stared at the sight before her with wide eyes, seemingly amused.
Mateo was beneath Iryan, his arms were covering his head from the impact while his stomach was on the fluffy stair and his right foot was dangling in the air as his right was intertwined with both of Iryan's legs. Iryan was better off, if you could put it that way. His head wasn't touching the stairs, rather, they were just hanging above the ground. And his stomach was on Mateo's back.
So, All in all, it could be said that they… looked like a mingled compass that was near a magnet.
"Well…, that sure was a roller coaster" Iryan muttered out loud, holding his head as it was spinning from the sudden fall.
"And who's fault was that?" Mateo grunted, "Now can you get off of me???" He thrashed around for a bit, trying to free himself from the uncomfortable position.
"Alright alright," The honey-blond mumbled, "but five more seconds please? My head's still spinning"
"Just…" Mateo stopped his struggles as he sighed in expiration, "Just, hurry up will you?" He dropped his head to the fluffy staircase floor in defeat. Deflated like a balloon.
"Do you need help?" Mrs. Flickchered asked them with a raised eyebrow, slowly making her way to the two tangled 5 year old's.
"Please…" Mateo grumbled annoyedly, hiding his face inside the crooks of his arms
Mrs. Flickchered merely huffed in amusement before muttering "Mobiliarbus" while flicking her wand.
With that simple spell, Iryan was slowly- but gradually, lifted up into the air and was seated on the ground next to Mateo, who just simply sat up on his own after Iryan was no longer on top of him, scratching his hair into a mess.
"Okay…, that was scary" The honey-blond muttered to himself, his eyes wide.
(IRYAN'S POV)
Note to self; Never, and I mean it, never leave your feet off of the ground in any circumstance. It's scary and Nauseous.
Usually, even if I couldn't see my surroundings, I could still sense the magic flowing through them. Especially magical beings, items, and folks. So it wasn't that scary.
But, then again It makes me wonder how wizards and witches, at times, willingly want to ride a broom. Putting your life onto A single flying stick, that could also end your life at the instant you lose control.
Quidditch players, you have my respect. At the same time I fear you guys.
.
.
.
We are now in the living room after that incident of rolling down the stairs. The sofa that I'm sitting on is so fluffy I don't wanna part with it. Ahh~ this is heaven.
As for Mrs. Flickchered and Matty…
Strangely, those two weren't acting like before. It was terrifying being between those two from before, just thinking about it gives me chills. Like a force seeping between the both of them, and I was just there in the middle. As a middle man…
Welp, puting that factor aside. I still can't shake the feeling of being uncomfortable when I'm with these two.
If the reason from before was because of the tension, now it's because of their chumminess. Those two are leaving me out by discussing complex Alchemy - herb - potion things that I couldn't understand, not even half of it!. It's frustrating!!!
Meraki… Dagaz… Kano… Ehwaz...
What do they even mean???
...
So basically, here I am, a third wheeler between these two. I could almost understand the feeling of those sidekicks in hero stories. Ahh… I really have to give them much more credit than I thought. Having to deal with the heroes shenanigans and being kept on getting dragged into battles after battles, while having to deal with the heroes 'Aura' that kept on attracting troublesome allies and love interests. They have to be getting tired at one point or another, right?
Huh~ fates please save me--
"Oh right, Iryan, have you heard about the program?" Mrs. Flickchered asked me all of a sudden, guess I don't have to be a third wheel anymore?
"Hm? What program?"
"You know, the… what did they call again? Stupid old brain..." She pondered, muttering a few curses to herself about how she couldn't remember some details, "Ah! Right! The Homeschooling program! ...was it?"
"Never heard of it"
Oops. That was quite an rude way of phrasing it.
But it seemed like she didn't mind at all, "Oh, so you haven't?" She ask
Okay… remember Iryan. Have they ever say anything remotely close to Homeschooling? No. Actually, I don't think I heard them say anything other than the usual, 'how are you?' type of conversations. But then,
"who's the teacher, mam?" Matty asked her politely
And she quirked the edge of her lips upwards, "You and Iryan will be teached by your parents about basic spell's and defense charms for two years"
Two years? Isn't that...
"Isn't that a bit short?" Matty asked
Ooh~ I'm starting to like this kid. He thinks at the same wavelength as me at times. Which is convenient for me~
Hm? Someone coming? Two someones?
"Yes, but we will discuss about that at another time" Mrs. Crowell's voice sounded
(MATEOS POV)
"Yes, but we will discuss that at another time" Mother suddenly appeared, standing at the entrance of the living room, "Now I sort of understand why Theo suddenly said that it was a good time to take the ordered books. But I still don't understand why he was so quick and urgent about it"
Mother eyed Father, which the later simply shrugged and smiled meekly at her, "I thought it would be a good date?" he reasoned, "Besides, with all that been happening lately. I thought it would be a good time to let loose and have fun"
"Have fun?" she asked with a raised eyebrow
Mother raised an eyebrow, which Father squealed at, "Yes?" he answered
"Sigh, honestly. Your insufferable at times" Mother muttered as she face palmed herself, "Now please tell me I could 'have fun' when I was constantly worried about the children's!"
"But you did though…" Father mumbled under his breath, but it was still audible to us.
Bad choice Father, bad choice. Look, Mother's aura is coming out now.
"Yes?"
I hear a loud crack, though I don't know the exact place where it sounded. But I could safely assume that's the que for Father's death flag.
...well,
Rest In Peace, Father.
.
.
.
While Mother and Father were bantering, I looked towards my sides and saw Iryan and Mrs. Flickchered's gaze were stuck onto them, well at least Mrs. Flickchered's. Iryan was simply directing his ear towards them. But even I have to say, this wasn't a sight I'm used to seeing. Though, it doesn't mean I never saw it.
"Alright, alright you brats!" I flinched at the sudden volume outburst from Mrs. Flickchered, her voice was rather raspy and.. well, old. She stood up and fixed her long ragged skirt before going to where Mother and Father were at, "Stop fighting like toddlers. Even five year old's could act more maturely than you two right now!"
Was it because of her?
My eyes were locked onto the unfamiliar sight in front of me. Never, I thought, never would I ever thought I would see mother getting scolded like that with Father
Or was it because of him?
I looked towards my left where Iryan was seating by, he was leaning towards the couch that was behind him while hugging a pillow from the couch. His eyes were closed per usual, but I could tell his ear was listening sharply to what Mrs. Flickchered and my parents were talking about. Since it was perked out, with his blond curly locks tuck behind his ears.
…
Sigh,
Either way. Thinking about it too much hurts my brain, especially after all the 'surprise' that's been happening lately. Maybe I should just wait until they tell me? But even if I do wait… will 'they' tell me though?
.
.
.
"Mateo! Can you come here for a bit, kiddo?"
(THIRD POV)
"Mateo! Can you come here for a bit, kiddo?" Mr. Crowell called out to his son, his neck stretched out like a giraffe reaching for leaves from a tall tree, "I'd need your help with something!" He said as he walked towards the door.
"Ah, yes" The ravenette breathed out, his right hand went to the ground and pushed him off of his seating position, "What help do you need, father?"
"Oh, not much. Just some books we pick up when your mother and me were out this evening"
With the father and son duo went out of sight. There, in the living room, was now left with a small blond, a middle aged woman, and an old lady.
"Ah, right, I almost forgot!" Mrs. Crowell's eyes widened for a moment before she turned her back and went towards the kitchen, Which was just across the living room. "I'll go get us some tea" and with that, she left.
.
.
.
It was awkward.
Very, awkward.
Iryan was starting to feel it in the air, and Mrs. Flickchered didn't even try to alleviate the overbearing silence that was ever growing. Making Iryan prayed for the machine and the old man to hurry up on what they were currently doing and come here already.
It was fine before so why was this time different? He managed to talk and made a conversation with the other Mrs. Flickhered. So why is this one so different?
Right…,
Because before, he was trying hard to make the suffocating feeling, created by Mateo and Mrs. Flickchered, to the point he forgot his own discomfort. But now? He could feel the awkwardness and what should he say? 'Nice to meet you!' ?
Iryan's fingers were fiddling fidgetly with the loose strands from the pillow he was hugging, while his toes were shifting ever so slightly- intertwining with each other.
"So, how is it?" Mrs. Flickchered finally asked
Which he stupidly responded with a, "Huh?"
Iryan lifted his head for the first since the Crowell's left, and face his head towards the general direction of where Mrs. Flickchered was at
"How is your stay with the Crowells's been?" Mrs. Flickchered repeated her question, "Was it nice?"
Iryan frozzed, All he could hear now was the soft sound of colliding metal and the sound of boiling water. 'It was nice.' ?
"Yeah, It's nice" he answered her question. Iryan shifted slightly to fix his sitting position and prop his head towards the pillow he was holding in front of him
"Really?"
"Yup,"
"How?"
"Well, Mr. Crowell is nice and funny. Mrs. Crowell, even if she is a bit uptight at times, She is kind and cares for me. And Mateo… He acts like a robot most of the time." he said the last one with a deadpan expression
"Oh? How so?"
"He always uses formal speech, and calls his parents in such a stiff manner. I mean, who does that?" He let out a small laugh at the end, "Ah, sorry. Was I ranting out too much?"
"Hm? Not really. You also seemed to have relaxed a bit," she smiled towards Iryan, which the later accidentally opened his eyes and blinked for a few time,
"Eh?"
"Haha…" she laughed at his behavior, "Is being with me really scary? You were very stiff back there," She teased
Ahh… right, Iryan's eyebrows raised for a bit before he stuttered, "Sorry, it was rude of me--"
"No, it's okay. Was the sudden change of how I acted really drastic?" Mrs. Flickchered smiled towards Iryan in a playful manner, "Then again, it's quite ironic, huh?"
"Ironic?"
"Yep, you said how he was all stiff. And yet, there you were--" she gestured her head towards Iryan, "acting stiff yourself" flicking his forehead with her right index finger.
Right..-- I did, did I? "Sorry…--"
"We're Back!!!" Mr. Crowell's voice rang throughout the room. Making both of the Blonds jolted their head towards the Grinning Crowell who was holding a box filled with books, "Hmm? Did I miss something?"
Behind him was Mateo, also holding the same stuff as him… with a noticeably smaller size box of course.
"You didn't miss anything. So quiet down your voice, it's already late!" Mrs. Flickchered gestured towards the window, which showed them the already setted sun- with only a small Ray of red peeking from the horizon.
"...Oops?'
The lady shook her head, "Honestly, aren't you the one who just went outside?" She muttered under breath
"Oh well! Either way… where's Quill?"
"Aquila? She's in the kitchen brewing us some tea-- oh there she is"
Just as she said it. Mrs. Crowell entered the room with a tray filled with four cups of tea and a mug of coffee. She went inside and placed it on top of the small table placed right at the center of the room. She took one and gave Iryan a cup and took one herself. But when she finished and looked up. She was greeted by the sight of Mrs. Flickchered, Mateo and her husband, looking directly at her. She frowned, "What's the matter?"
.
.
.
No one answered for a few second,
Then Mrs. Flickchered blinked, "...nothing," she broke the silence, taking one of the cups and sipping it's content with closed eyes.
"Err… Mhmm…" Mr Crowell agreed, before he went towards the center and put the box to the floor. Taking the mug, well he assumed it was his'. Since Mateo couldn't possibly be the one drinking the coffee.
Mrs. Crowell frowns deepens, "Mateo?" She raised an eyebrow to the only one left standing. Which was promptly replied with a small, "Nothing, Mother". Before he walked to where Mr. Crowell was sitting and put the box he was carrying next to the one Mr. Crowell just put down.
He took a cup and sat on the floor like everyone else and sipped his tea quietly.
(IRYAN'S POV)
"...well, with all of that aside, and now that we are all here, I think it's time to start explaining about the program" Mrs. Crowell started, then I could hear a soft click sound of glass.
.
.
.
Program?
…
Oh, right. The program. The one Mrs. Flickchered said before.
"As you've heard before, me and Theo would be teaching you both." She told us, "But first, before we move onto spell's and such, we will be teaching Iryan the basics first. Like Herbiology, Spell theories and all those other things''
The soft strokes of rigid sounding paper entered my ear.
"I already teached Mateo all of those small things. But Iryan, You would have to re-adjust everything. Tell me, how far were you teaching before?"
Hmm…, I don't know. I mean, I have always been learning by myself since Mom and Dad were always busy with stuff. But how much I guess…
"I could already read a story book myself, but I never teached anything else." I answered her,
"...Oh, ...really?" She sounded… surprised?
Hm? What's this? Was she surprised at how amazing I am-- "I guess, I had to start teaching you from the basics of the basics?" She huffed,
.
.
.
Eh?
"I see," she shuffled for a bit, then the sound of a heavy book closing sounded through my ear. How big was that book? "Change of plans then," I heard a heavy thump from the direction where Mrs. Crowell's voice was at, "I was planning to let you rest for a few days, but since the situation is worse than I thought. We'll start both of your lessons first thing tomorrow!"
(OMAKE)
It's already late now. Iryan is staying at my room using the spare bed, and Mrs. Flickchered is using the spare bedroom. Mother and Father should also be in their room by now.
And me? I'm going to the kitchen to grab a drink, plus I couldn't really sleep now. Not with all of the things that's filling up my head.
Sigh
Why is today so… complicated? Confusing?... I don't know,
"Welp, today was fun, Huh?"
I heard Father's voice from the backyard, so I stopped my tracks
"Fun? You call 'that' fun?"
And Mother's voice,
What are they doing this late?
I slowly sneak up towards one of the kitchen windows and peep from the corner. There I saw both of my parents sitting on a piece of stool with their heads up, looking at the night sky. Between them, a small wooden table that has two glasses of red… wine? I think it's red wine, and a lighted candle stick.
"Oh come on… we don't know how long we could enjoy times like this," Father laughed, "after all, with the prediction... Our lives won't be the same after long…"
I couldn't see their faces, since they are facing the other way. But what I want to know the most is, why is Father… saying that?
"Theo…" Mother's hand twitch, and not long, found its way towards Father's shoulder, "
"I guess," he dropped his head, "We just have to find a light that shines through? Huh?" He grinned as he pointed the dancing candle at the table.
Seriously Father? Seriously?
It was a bit hard to see from here, but I saw a small hint of Mother's eye that went wide, before it closed.
"Why… you…," Mother sighed, "and there I was…" she hurried her head into the crooks of the folded arms, muffling the last sentence.
"What can I say? The atmosphere" he pointed to the sky, "was starting to get too depressing"
"Are you serious?"
"Nope, I'm Theo"
.
.
.
"Why are we married again?"
"Because you fell for my charms?"
"Are you going to answer every question I ask?"
"I don't know, what do you think?"
"Huh... you truly are insufferable…"
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
Alcaine
Alcaine Sorry for the late update. this chap got me stuck since... well, to put it simply. It was complicated.
Thank you for reading :)
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone