The People Who Aren't

Ultimately, against his better judgement, Jean followed after his aunt. Before leaving his suite, Celezar assured him their children would return home, though that was absolutely the least of his worries.

The manor seemed eerily quiet as he walked to the main foyer. Unfortunately, it was once he left the hall to his suite that he picked up the distant sound of screaming from Hyacinth. The woman was fast, like her sister...

Bracing himself, well aware he was the highest contender to be blamed for informing her of how her brother met his end, he continued forward.

When he arrived in the sitting room, Hyacinth was the only voice screaming with Friedrich's attempting to speak over her, to no avail. His mother remained quiet...but he could sense her rage.

Jean was not afraid of his mother, not anymore. There was no reason to fear her since he became inhuman. Yet, sometimes his mind made her out to be a terrifying person, even as he stood in her presence as a thirty-six-year-old man.

He found himself standing on the fringes of the room, frowning deeply. The high neck of his coat fortunately hid much of his face from certain angles, and he glanced at his brothers who also stood further from the siblings known as their mother, aunt, and uncle.

His heart went out to his brothers when he saw they stood deathly quiet. They didn't dare interrupt.

Oren stood nearest to the door, a hand on his wife's shoulder as she looked damn near ready to raise hell, as did Gwendolyn herself.

His mother's expression was the textbook description of livid, her blue eyes seeming to spark with magic. She leaned forward, hands placed on the table, and glared at each of them. "Which one of you fools told Hyacinth about Alfred?" she demanded, practically spitting the insult.

"Does it matter?!" Hyacinth screamed, trying for what even he could see looked like the umpteenth time to approach her sister. Likewise, for what was likely the umpteenth time, her husband held her back, though his expression wasn't too much different from his wife's. "You killed our brother! I had every right to know!"

Ignoring her, Gwendolyn pinned her merciless gaze on everyone else. Jean didn't flinch, but with keen eyes, he saw that his brothers did. Friedrich was not excluded from this glare, and she seemed to think he was the culprit from how she lingered on him.

But he shook his head. "I wouldn't have."

"Fred!" Hyacinth's stare at him was a complicated mix of devastation and desolation. "You, too? What the hell happened to this family during the time I was gone?!"

Gwendolyn turned to her sister. "We've done better than we have in a long time. Stability has persisted in this family for over fifteen years now. Children are being born, growing up. Traditions and our credo continue to be upheld. Nothing more needs to be done."

"And killing Alfred was following tradition?!"

"It was." Gwendolyn didn't so much as flinch when Hyacinth broke free of her husband and stood directly before her. The sisters stared each other down. "I see you've forgotten that this family eliminates taint from our bloodline."

Hyacinth's eyes flashed, blue magic sparked from her balled fists. "Al...was not a taint. How dare you!"

"How dare I? Nonsense." Gwendolyn scanned her sister. "I wonder if you, too, believe inhumans aren't a threat. That they are anything like humans."

A menacing sensation briefly flared from Oren, one Jean prayed only he could sense. The goblyn took a step forward. "Are you...threatening my wife?"

As he moved forward, so did Friedrich. Gwendolyn folded her arms. "I am threatening my sister, yes." Looking Hyacinth in the eye, she slightly lifted her head. "If you believe in such nonsense, I can only hope you haven't tainted your mind, body or spirit. Otherwise, you will be faced with far more than a threat."

Jean's heart went out for his aunt as Hyacinth's jaw fell open in shock. He couldn't remember what life was like when his aunt had lived in the manor. Whatever it was that brought her away, today she clearly no longer knew her sister as much as she thought she had.

Or, perhaps she once thought the same way. She had changed.

He glanced at Oren.

Perhaps it was the same for her, too. It was because of love.

His jaw locked.

"So you would even kill me?" Hyacinth's voice didn't waver. Before her sister could answer, she demanded, "I want to hear it from your mouth, Gwendolyn."

Without a second's hesitance, her sister paused to look her in the eye. Coolly, with a tone so absolute it pained to hear, Gwendolyn enunciated, "I would have you killed, Hyacinth."

Likewise, Hyacinth slowly nodded without wasting a beat. "I see," she said softly. There was no pain in her voice. Only dangerous defiance. "We'll see, Gwendolyn. We shall see."

The older woman's eyes narrowed with dark suspicion, but she said nothing as her younger sister spun around and walked away with her head held high. Oren followed after her, but not before Jean realized he had been in a stare-off with Friedrich.

A sudden realization overcame him then, settling in his gut, as moderate silence descended. It was swift and jarring, but he knew it was true.

His mother brushed past him and his brothers with Friedrich in tow, her footfalls the same brisk staccato he had come to associate with her his entire life. He felt himself calm considerably as the sound moved further away, a reaction that did not settle well with him.

A sigh brought his attention to Ulrich, who brushed a hand down his face. "So. Who wants to get a drink?"

Instead of answering, Jean immediately left the room. He heard his brothers call after him but ignored them.

This family was a farce.

He easily made his way through the hall main, his long strides bringing him to the foyer in short moments.

"Jean-Luc."

He paused, then came to a halt. He turned to look at his mother standing high on the staircase leading to the balcony of the second floor. Instead of answering her, he approached.

She waited until he was closer, then looked up at him with an unreadable expression. "I want you to keep Hyacinth's family in your sight."

Looking upon her, he saw this wasn't her testing him. He looked to think about it but nodded.

"She is undoubtedly a taint," she continued, her eyes hardening. "We haven't had a reunion in many years. Like her, others may have fallen behind our doors."

Jean briefly closed his eyes, but nodded obediently. He understood exactly what she meant. "Very well," he said.

She briefly scanned his face, as if looking for something. She opened her mouth to speak, but seemed to think better of it and shook her head. Waving him off, she turned around to walk briskly up the stairs.

He stared after her, a heaviness he couldn't place settling in his chest, mind, and his very soul.