"Hey, where are you going?"
Atrineas stopped dead in his tracks the moment his mother's voice penetrated the silence of the early morning. Normally no one is up this early around the house, not for a couple more hours at least. He casually turned on his heel to face his mother, who was standing in the kitchen whilst rubbing the back of her head with a soft yawn.
"Uh... erm..." he quickly tried to come up with some valid excuse where he technically wasn't lying, he hated lying to her and thus tried his best never to do so, "I'm... uh... going out of town for a couple days, Mom. Justine just sent me a text asking if I could drive her car up to Flagstaff while she drives another car she just bought for her brother, and then drive her back down. Late notice, I know, but I figured I'd take the chance to get out of town for a while..."
Eyes shifted back and forth as Atrineas tried to search his mother as to whether or not she took the response. Technically speaking he was only half lying; he certainly was "going out of town" and probably wouldn’t be back for a few days at least. He hated half-lying to his family, and most of his friends. But it was necessary, he'd already learned long ago the consequences of involving people that simply weren't ready to see the truth beyond the Glamour that's all around them.
"Okay, just let me know when you're on your way back?" his mom stretched and yawned again.
Unsure of whether or not she was able to see him against the darkness of the pre-dawn light, he nodded slowly and turned to leave. His house keys jingled against his hips as he quickly made his way through the living room, expertly stepping over his sibling's toys and moving around other obstacles that would surely injure the average human that lacked poor night vision. He, however, had near perfect night vision.
"Hey Trey?" his mother's voice once again stopped him dead in his tracks, just as he reached the door and put his hand on the handle.
"Yeah...?"
"Be safe, okay?"
"I always am, Mom."
"Love you kiddo."
"You, too, mom…"
He turned the handle quickly and bolted outside before she could say anything more. She just couldn't handle knowing the truth again, and Atrineas wasn't going to risk it. How could he? What parent in their right mind would accept the fact that their child's soul is actually a century old Hybrid whose duty was to keep peace by creating chaos? More or less, what human in this day in age would accept that?
The memory from one of his past lives blurred from his vision as he stood outside of his house. More often than he was willing to admit, he'd found himself frequently daydreaming about the past. Most of the time it concerned the families he had, and usually it was the ones he became a little bit too close to.
A Hybrid, half arch angel and half arch demon. That's the soul that was contained in this mostly human body. It's been this way ever since he was created; to live inside a human's body and die as one, only to be reborn in another once that life was over. Instead of living with a Hybrid's body, he was given the chance to enjoy the life of a human over and over again. It was a plus, but also a downside as well. But it was what he agreed to, or perhaps it’s better understood as it is what he was created for. Most couldn't understand that, probably never will.
Atrineas whipped out his phone and began texting.
:: Hey are you guys ready? Just left the house. :: to Emilie and Henze.
He waited for a few moments for his siblings to respond. There were only two other Hybrids left in the world, other than him of course. A couple lifetimes back there were seven, but that was a memory he'd rather not think about or even tarry over for more than a second nowadays. It was always dangerous to live in the past.
No response yet. Typical. Atrineas whipped out his pack of death sticks and pulled one out to light it. Camel No.9 "pink", those are his favorite. Even though he kept getting told he should stop because it was bad for him, he disregarded the concerns. For most humans it would matter, smoking was bad regardless of what anyone said. As messed up as it is, he never really cared enough about this lifetime's body. Ever since he'd discovered this smoking thing he figured it'd kill only the body and not his soul. He was able to take only a few drags before his phone began vibrating.
:: Ya ya, I'm just getting a couple more things and I'll head on over, okay? :: from Emilie.
Girls, Atrineas rolled his eyes, they always took the longest to prepare for going anywhere, whether they were human or not. He slipped his phone back into his pocket as he walked down the driveway and towards the front lawn. Trails of broken clouded smoke trailed behind him as he kept dragging out his death stick as much as he could before his siblings would arrive.
"You really need to stop that," a young, yet somewhat deep male voice broke his concentration, "It's a bad habit. Not to mention kinda gross."
Atrineas turned around to face Henze, who seemed to have appeared from out of nowhere. He leaned against the large pine tree in the front lawn and took another drag while staring down the other Hybrid ever so nonchalantly.
"And you should start responding to my texts when I send them," Atrineas jabbed back in a nonchalant tone, "I mean you ARE a technopath, you should be able to do it easily."
Henze heaved the heavy backpack off his shoulders and set it on the ground. Probably just left another late-night class, and most likely he was in a hurry as told by the half zipped up pockets that leaked corners of pages. He was certainly more athletic than his younger brother. Well-built physique that was obviously built to be a powerhouse, whereas Atrineas was built for speed and flexibility, skinny and not a whole lot of strength. Their sister, Emilie, always enjoyed sitting back to watch her brothers fight when they got into an argument. Emilie knew it, Atrineas knew it, and Henze knew it, but Henze never wanted to accept the fact that when they were created they were designed to be balanced as a team. Not one more powerful than the next. The scales tipped only due to lack of attention or care. So whenever the two got into a fight it just ended up in a draw along with bruised, sometimes broken, bodies.
"You just need to remember that I get the alerts before you do and by the time you're ready I'm almost here," Henze shot back, already beginning to tense up since Atrineas insulted his Abilities.
"You get the alerts first only because you're the oldest," Atrineas took a slow drag before continuing, "Yet you seem to forget that I was chosen to run the show."
That's all it took to set his older brother off. Ever since Atrineas was elected by the Creators to lead the Hybrids, Henze had this grudge against him. Standard eldest equals rights to leadership mentality. The Creators called it a test of allegiance after what happened decades ago; the reason why there were only three Hybrids left.
Henze's hand balled into a fist and made haste for Atrineas' left shoulder. The younger Hybrid blurred as he dodged the attack, grabbing his brother's wrist and redirecting the attack at the tree. Splinters and broken bark erupted around Henze's fist from the sheer impact of the blow, even if it wasn't his best.
"Ahahaha!" Atrineas burst into laughter, bending over to hold his gut, "You missed! You big oaf!"
Once again the older Hybrid's anger was fed by more childish taunts. He drew back his fist once more and this time aimed for Atrineas' face. Atrineas flicked his death stick away and slapped the attack upwards with the back of his hand, spinning around and landed a fierce double palm to his brother's chest. Henze coughed as the wind was knocked out of him, doubling over to stagger back a few steps. The younger Hybrid didn't have a lot of strength, but for what he lacked he made up in focus point techniques. He didn't stop there, spinning around once more to land a focused kick right at his brother's diaphragm.
"Boys! Stop it!"
Like her older brother, Emilie appeared out of nowhere, running to place an arm over Henze's shoulder as he began coughing and vomiting. Atrineas whipped out another death stick and lit it, shrugging as he shifted his weight to stand casually. He didn’t seemed phased even the slightest.
"He started it," Atrineas cooed softly.
"Yeah? Well I'm sure you didn't help by stabbing his ego and feeding his anger, like always, Atrineas," Emilie glared at her younger brother before kneeling in front of Henze, "You okay, hun?"
Henze nodded slowly while dragging his knuckles across his lips. A slight flick of his wrist as he attempted to fling the bits of vomit at his brother, to no avail. But Emilie tried to not take sides, slapping the top of his head as she stood up.
"You boys KNOW we can't be doing stuff like this out in the open," she folded her arms and turned to face Atrineas.
"Why? You could just use your Abilities and throw up some Glamour," Atrineas smirked.
"That's no excuse. Now fix the tree, dammit."
Atrineas rolled his eyes and walked over to the pine. He placed an open hand over where Henze had smashed a crater into its trunk. After a few moments of cracking wood sounds and re-growth, it appeared as if the older Hybrid had never even touched it.
That's where the youngest Hybrid’s Abilities lie, nature and the elements. Henze had control over technology such as gadgets, computers, phones, et cetera. Emilie had Abilities over the mind whether intrusive, obtrusive, or elusive, and her younger brother always considered her the strongest out of them all.
She pulled a mirror out of the purse she had slung over his shoulder. Emilie was certainly like your average human girl, always obsessing over her make-up and hair just to be "presentable" to whoever looked at her. She bounced her long, black curly hair a few times before tossing the mirror back into her purse.
"Alright, ‘re you guys done with your childishness and ready to do what we're supposed to do?" she spoke in a sing-song voice, which she tended to do after she broke up a fight between her brothers.
Emilie didn't wait for a response before she began to Travel. Below her feet, a red Archaic Circle appeared and started to emit smoke. Henze and Atrineas soon joined in by standing around her to make a perfect triangle, Archaic Circles appearing beneath their feet as well. In just a few seconds the Circles sprouted lines and connected to one another, enveloping the Hybrids' bodies in black smoke. A loud snap split the air as they vanished, along with the Circles. All that remained were wisps of smoke that gently floated into the night sky and dissipated.
Stumble!