Cyrus didn't know why, but it was nice to see that his family's home was still the same as it had ever been. Granted, he wasn't expecting it to change all that much in only a month's time. But the familiarity of the place where he spent most of his childhood was comforting in one of those weird, nostalgic ways.
The house still smelled faintly of old paper, sandalwood, and the lemon cleaner that his mother just loved to use all over the place. But for some reason, everything felt a little...quieter. Maybe it was the feeling of the mountain air still clinging to his skin, or the sharp edge that came after weeks of training his body and mind under the watchful eyes of Elaine and her posse. Whatever this feeling was, he couldn't quite place it.
The young man took a moment to stand just inside the threshold behind the door, his hands placed firmly in his warm pockets as he breathed in the familiar air. It was warm here. Safe. Something he hadn't felt in weeks.
From the kitchen, footsteps could be heard approaching. Heavy. Rhythmic. Then a familiar voice, deep and composed, called out to him.
"Cyrus?"
Cyrus turned his head to the left, and his father appeared in the doorway connecting the living room to the kitchen. The dark-skinned man was dressed in a gray dress shirt, sleeves rolled to the elbows, and a black tie that hung a little loose from a long morning in court. A look that was typical for him around this time of day. Darius Moore was a man carved from discipline, wide-shouldered, clean-shaven, with a steady gaze that had made even the most hardened of criminals crack on the stand.
But now, his dark eyes softened as they landed on his son.
"Nice to see you back in town." Darius said, his face breaking into a rare, warm smile.
"What's up, Dad?!" Cyrus said before kicking his shoes off and leaving them at the door. "Yeah. Got back last night. Thought I'd swing by and see how you guys were doing. Sorry for not calling ahead, I kinda forgot."
Darius stepped forward and embraced his son. The hug was brief, firm, but full of a quiet affection Cyrus hadn't realized he'd missed.
"You look good." Darius said, pulling back to give his son a once-over. "Better than the last time I saw you, that's for sure. You even got a bit bigger, huh?"
Cyrus chuckled. "I feel better. The training helped. Got my head on straight."
"Good." Darius nodded, motioning for him to follow into the kitchen. "Come on. You hungry?"
"Not really, but I don't see the point in turning down a quick snack."
Before they knew it, the two were standing in the kitchen, and Darius moved with practiced ease while opening the refrigerator and pulling out leftovers of his wife's roasted chicken. Along with some cornbread and a container of what looked like candied yams. Clearly, the man was still trying to work his way through some of the leftover food he had from Thanksgiving this year.
As he waited for his food to heat up, Cyrus leaned against the counter, arms crossed. "How's Mom?"
"Busy." Darius said nonchalantly. "She's looking to expand the shop. I think she's finally hiring help, though knowing her, she'll still try to do it all herself."
"Yeah, sounds about right." Cyrus said, smiling faintly. "I'll swing by after I leave here and surprise her."
Darius sat across from Cyrus before handing the young man a glass of sweet tea. For a moment, they sat in companionable silence. But after about thirty seconds, they began talking again.
"So, how was your trip?" Darius said calmly. "I know that wasn't just a vacation up there in the mountains."
Cyrus paused after swallowing his food. He had no clue how much he missed his father's cooking. The man would've had serious potential as a chef if he hadn't already committed his life to the law. "No. It wasn't. I know I called it 'rehabilitation,' but it really was more like a recalibration. I was training and studying non-stop the whole time. I only got a full eight hours of sleep once while I was there."
Darius raised an eyebrow. "That sounds...intense."
"It was." Cyrus set his fork down. "But it was worth it."
Darius nodded slowly after considering his son's words. "It's kinda funny. Most people your age are still trying to figure out how to make rent and survive college midterms. But you're out there dealing with those cryptid things and gods know what else."
"Can't argue with you there." Cyrus said firmly.
The young 'tree magic' user still found it a bit weird how his father was so casual about him having powers and what he did for a living. Cyrus's father was never one to get all up in arms about anything, but the fact that the man took it all in stride like this was odd to say the least.
He should probably ask him about it sometime in the future.
Darius looked at him then, really looked. "I'm glad you're back. And I'm certainly glad that you're okay. I know I don't always say it, but…I worry about you. This work you're doing…it's not ordinary. You're nineteen, and you've seen things most people wouldn't believe."
"I signed up for it." Cyrus said softly.
"I know. But that doesn't mean I stop being your father."
Cyrus looked at his father, really looked at him. The judge who weighed truth every day, who carried the burden of justice for strangers and still made time to be there for his family.
The silence stretched again, full this time. A kind of quiet understanding settled between them, stronger than any spoken reassurance.
"Just make sure that you keep your head above water from now on." Darius then said. "You've seen and experienced more than you should have at your age. I just want to make sure you don't lose yourself because of it."
"I won't." Cyrus said quietly. "You raised me better than that."
Darius smiled again, this time with pride, and leaned back in his chair. "Good. That's all I needed to hear."
The two spent the next hour talking about the city, the latest courtroom gossip, a ridiculous case involving a man who tried to sue a ghost, and the latest additions to Cynthia's chaotic mess that was a home garden. Cyrus didn't mention anything regarding his conflicting feelings toward Elaine and the others. It was simply too risky to drop on the man like that, especially since he was about to head out for work again. Besides, that stuff could wait until after he was done accomplishing his mission.
For now, he was home. Safe. Grounded.
And for a little while, that was enough.
-(o)-
[Later That Night]
"Have I ever told you guys how glad I am that I met you?" Mikayla joked to her two friends while flipping her fingers through a stack of money.
"No." Hannah smiled at the 'bone magic' user. "But you could stand to mention it more."
"Nah, I don't want you getting a big head."
As per usual with the Iznana trio, the three of them were hanging out inside Mikayla's condo while they waited to leave. It was a pretty normal day as far as the three of them were concerned, one that didn't involve any immediate attention regarding their still ongoing operations around the state. Now that they all had moved up in the organization, there wasn't a need for as much direct involvement in the day-to-day operations of their assigned area. Most of the legwork had been delegated to their underlings while they just sat back and raked in the cash.
"Things have been kinda easy lately, haven't they?" Hannah then mused as she scrolled through her phone.
"Yeah…" Aaron stoically added. "There hasn't really been all that much for us to do."
"The only thing I can think of is when the Boss's muscle made me get some cryptids for him. I think he said that they were going to use them for target practice or something."
The group's 'ice magic' user then turned her attention toward her brother. "Didn't the Boss also make you grab a death-row inmate for her like last week?"
"She did." The raven-haired man nodded. "I don't know why, though."
"She probably just wanted to try out a new enchantment on him." Mikayla shrugged after placing her wad of cash back into the briefcase that was sitting on the coffee table. "Isn't that what she usually does when she starts experimenting with some new tricks?"
"Yeah, that sounds about right."
Although Hannah was glad that things were still going smoothly for them, she was still feeling a bit restless. The Boss had yet to give her any new toys to play with, and there was really nothing for her to do aside from continuing to coordinate the efforts of her underlings. On top of that, the woman in charge of their whole operation had given her a bunch of low-level missions to deal with while she was apparently busy handling business in other areas of the country.
Of course, Hannah was happy that her previous worries had been negated on account of the Boss making more frequent contact with her in recent weeks when she wasn't busy. But the lack of new toys to break at her leisure was starting to get to her. All she had to keep herself busy was the men she lured into her clutches whenever she stepped out to one of the local clubs. But messing around with regular humans was far less exciting than playing with other sorcerers. Especially since they had a tendency to break so easily whenever she had them.
Suddenly, Mikayla stood up from her spot on the sofa and took a second to stretch her limbs out before looking at the two siblings. "Anyways…you guys ready to go? Our reservation is at six, and I want to try and beat the traffic."
Hannah looked down at her phone to check the time before replying. "Yeah, we should probably get going."
"Agreed." Aaron nodded coolly before grabbing his car keys and making his way toward the door. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was really looking forward to seeing what this fancy new restaurant in the northern part of the city was all about.
With that, the Iznana trio made their exit, ready to spend a night out on the town. They had been working hard over the last month or so, keeping things in order. So, it was time for them to indulge themselves a little bit with the promise of good food and entertainment to hold themselves over until it was time to get back to the grind.
Little did Hannah and her friends know that their lives were about to take a turn for the worse in the very near future.