Meeting the Family 2 ~ On Mom's Side -1

Meeting the Family 2: On Mom's Side
By SonicRanger

  Dear Ximran,
           I know I'm probably the last person you want to hear from, but I heard you were with your father now and it got me thinking of how much he wanted to keep you when you were a baby. I started to think of all those things he used to say about having a child. It was only then I realized how nice that really would be. In fact, I dearly wanted to meet you.
When I heard you were with your father, I thought, "I just have to see him. I have to meet my son. My very first child." So, I sent this in hopes that, maybe, you'd be willing to give me that chance. The chance to meet my child.
I never really wanted to give you away, even though I'm sure that's what I made your father think. I was afraid I would make a terrible mother. I wasn't ready. But I am now and I want to meet you. I'd love very much for you to come visit me in the Mana Realm.
I hope you will consider it. If you do, than I'll see you soon. It would mean the world to me.

                                   With Love, Mom


Chapter 1 : A Single Son

      Joel put the letter away and stood up as the bus stopped. He sighed as he picked up his bag and got on. He looked back one last time. The Jinx Realm looked as normal as ever. He was gonna miss it.
He turned to the driver. The driver was a bald little man with a friendly smile, "First time, kid?"
Joel nodded and took out the money his father gave him. He handed the money to the driver, "To the Mana Realm, please."
The driver raised a thin black eyebrow, "Mana Ralm, huh? Pretty far off. Meeting someone?"
Joel nodded, "Yeah. Visiting my mom." He walked back to find a seat as the driver counted the bills Joel gave him.
As Joel walked, he was surprised to find a familiar face sitting in the fourth row on the left by himself. It was Drago the Dragon-Breed. He was staring out the window with a large headset hanging from his neck.  
Joel smiled, "Hey there, Drago. Been awhile."
Drago looked up at him, "Oh, hey." Joel motioned to the seat. Drago waved his hand, "Sure, go ahead." Joel sat in the seat beside Drago and stuffed his bag under his seat. Then the bus started off.
Drago looked Joel over, "So, where you headed?"
Joel sighed, "My mom's."
Drago raised an eyebrow, "Your mom? The same mom that dumped you in an orphange in the Sahaja Realm right after you were born? And ended up doing the same to your younger brother?" Joel nodded and laid back in his seat.
Drago blinked, "Why?"
Joel handed him the letter. Drago took it and read it silently. Joel noticed some people watching him.
He knew what they were wondering. They were wondering how he was talking to a Dragon-Breed. Joel knew no one could understand dragon-tongue, which is the language Dragon-Breeds used, but Joel had the gift to not only speak it but also understand it like it was english. He didn't have to learn it or practice it. It just happened. He still wondered what dragon-tongue sounded like to other people, because talking to Dragon-Breeds was like talking to any person to him.
Drago sighed, "That sucks." He looked at Joel, "You don't believe this nonsense, do you? I recall explaining the whole problem with your mom last time I saw you." Joel simply sighed.
Drago continued, "She just wants your power. She's inviting you right into a trap."
Joel looked at the seat in front of him, "That's my guess."
Drago was confused, "Then why are you going?"
Joel sat up, "Because what if it isn't? What if she's for real?"
Drago rolled his eyes, "You wizards are too trusting. That's how your father stayed married to her after she dumped you, just to lose his second son too."
Joel became annoyed, "That's another reason." He took the letter, "You notice she never once mentions Barber? She dumped him too, yet the letter was only to me. She only invited me to come, even though I'm not her only son. I'm not the only one she owes an apology."
Drago laid back, "So why didn't he just come? Remind her she has two sons. Take one, take the other or something. Plus, you could probably use the backup."
Joel smirked, "He was sorta glad she didn't include him. He doesn't want anything to do with her. He wouldn't have come even if she did invite him."
Joel sighed, "My father loved her for a reason, even after she took both of us from him. I wanna know what that reason was."
Dragon scoffed, "Because she's a witch."
Joel looked at him, "Huh?"
He crossed his arms, "That's why your father still loved her. She's a witch. A powerful one at that. Witches are very easy to fall in love with, and equally hard to fall out of love with."
Joel looked down at the letter, "Maybe, but I wanna see it for myself."
Drago watched him while crossing his arms behind his head. Joel had made up his mind. Drago sighed and looked out the window, "Guess I'll be skipping out on going south, cause I'm coming with you."
Joel looked at him, surprised, "What? Why?"
Drago didn't look from the window, "You could use the help."
Joel didn't want to drag Drago along, "You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine."
Drago looked at him, "I've made up my mind. Besides, isn't this what friends do for each other or something?" Joel was surprised. This was the first time Drago referred to him as a friend.
Joel couldn't help but smile, "Oh alright, since you're so set on coming." Drago went back to looking out the window. Joel smiled, he was sort of glad to have some company as he faced his mother.
Then Joel thought of something, "By the way, why were you heading south anyway, Drago?"
Drago spoke without looking  from the window, "I was headed to the Ryu Realm. I still need someone to help me become a full Dragon-Breed. Plus, I thought I could use a break from all the Dragon Traps in this realm."
He shrugged, "Though, it's probably worst there. So skipping out is probably for the best."
Joel smiled, "Well, you're welcome to crash with me at my mom's place then." With that, they enjoyed the rest of the trip to the Mana Realm.


      Drago whistled as he looked up at the mansion, "Nice place." It was a large, dark mansion by itself at the end of a lone road up a hill. A very creepy place for sure.
The driver spoke, "Hey, kid." Joel looked back at him. He spoke with a curious smile, "You can understand that guy?" He pointed at Drago, who rolled his eyes.
Joel smiled, "Yeah. It's my gift."
The driver grinned big, "That means, you're the long lost first born son of the great Sir Valdemar! Ximran Gwydion, right?"
Joel scratched he back of his head, "Yeah, that's me, but I go by Joel."
The driver was excited, "Well, it's an honor. Though, I'm surprised you're visiting your mom. I heard she was the one who sent you away."
Joel sighed, "Yeah, but she asked me to visit, so I'm giving her a second chance."
The driver raised an eyebrow, "Alone? What about your brother? I heard two of your were lost."
Joel sighed annoyed by the memory, "Seems he wasn't invited."
Joel could tell the driver understood what that meant, but he politely didn't say anything about it. He simply sighed, "Well, if you ever need a ride back home, here's my card." Then a little card appeared in front of Joel.
Joel took it, "Thanks."
The driver winked, "Have a nice visit, kid." With that, the bus drove off.
Drago scratched his head, "Nice guy, I guess." Joel picked up his bag and started up the hill. Drago pulled his backpack over his shoulder and followed.
It took a couple minutes to reach the door. Joel and Drago looked up at the house. It really was pretty eerie.
Drago spoke dryly, "Real homey."
Joel rang the doorbell. They could hear the bell ring through the whole house. There was silence.
Drago sighed as Joel rang the bell again, "Guess they're not home. Just our luck."
Then the door opened to a handsome boy around their age. He had blue eyes and long black hair. He also had black horns on his head and black wings from his back. Joel wasn't sure if he was a devil or a vampire. He didn't have an arrow-headed tail to be a devil, but vampires didn't have horns or blue eyes.
The boy looked them up and down, "Can I help you?"
Joel tried a smile, "Hi, my name is Joel. I'm..."
The boy cut him off, "We don't know any Joel. Now get lost." The boy slammed the door in Joel's face. Joel was surprised.
Drago smiled sarcastically, "Well, aren't they friendly." Joel rang the bell again.
The door opened, revealing the same boy, "We don't want to buy anything, now get lost."
Joel spoke up quickly before he could close the door, "I'm not here to sell anything!"
The boy groaned, "Then what do you want?"
Joel sighed, "I'm here to see my mother."
The boy raised an eyebrow, "Your mother? Just who are you?"
Joel tried again, "My name is Joel. I'm here to see my mother. Is she here?"
The boy gave him an annoyed look, "Look here, kid, there is only one mother here and she's my step-mother Zelda. She does not have a son named Joel, so leave."
He was about to slam the door again, but Joel stuck his foot out to stop the door, "That's because she didn't leave me a name at the orphanage she dumped me in. My wizard name is Ximran." Joel had forgotten his cousin Nox's piece of advice. Always give your Wizard name first.
The boy gasped, "Ximran?" He bit his lip, "Oh. I guess you are her son."
He stepped aside so Joel could come in. Joel walked in, a little annoyed now. Though, as Drago was about to go in, the boy got in his way, "And where do you think you're going?"
Drago groaned, "I'm with him, stupid."
The boy didn't understand dragon-tongue, "Your kind isn't welcome in this house, Dragon-Breed." The boy said Dragon-Breed as if it were the most hideous thing in the world.
Drago growled, "Better watch your tongue, runt, before I rip it out."
Joel spoke up, "It's ok. He's with me. He's my friend."
The boy raised an eyebrow, "This thing?"
Joel glared at the boy, "He's not a thing. His name is Drago and he's here with me."
The boy looked Joel over, wondering if he was kidding. When he saw he wasn't, he called out, "Mother!"
A woman's voice called back, "What is it, Daray?"
The boy, Daray, called back, "He's here." He looked back at Drago, "And he brought a pet." Drago growled at him.
Then a woman walked in. She was very pretty. She had bright red eyes, and long white hair pulled up in a long ponytail. She wore a gothic purple dress and purple makeup.
She smiled when she saw Joel and walked over. Joel simply watched her. She stopped in front of him. She looked him over with a loving smile, "Ximran."
Then she hugged him close. Joel simply let her. She smelled of lavender, a smell he always found comforting.
She let go and looked into his eyes, "Hello, Ximran."
Joel finally spoke, "I go by Joel."
She smiled, "Alright then, Joel."
Drago spoke up, "Hey, Joel. Wanna lend me a hand? I'm still under runt-watch." Joel looked back to see Daray glaring at Drago, daring him to try and come in. Drago just rolled his eyes.
Joel's mother heard Drago and gasped, "What is that doing here?"
Joel was getting annoyed. His father's family never treated Dragon-Breeds like this and he didn't like it, "He is my friend. He offered to come along so I could have some company. Seeing as my brother wasn't invited."
She could understand that he was annoyed with her and sighed, "Daray, let Xim... I mean, let Joel's friend come in."
Daray looked at her as if she were crazy, "But..."
She cut him off, "Now, Daray."
Drago pushed Daray aside with his dragon arm and walked in with a grin. Daray glared at him. Drago looked around, "Nice place, if you're a bat."
Joel gave him a look, "Behave."
Drago gave him a raised eyebrow and grin, "Behave? What are you, my owner or something?" He motioned to Joel's mother with his chin, "They can't understand me anyways. I could say whatever I want and they wouldn't know it."
Joel sighed, "Still, try to act civilized, or I'll have to join them in calling you thing. Because my friend is not here to be a pain. My friend came to help me out."
Drago sighed and rolled his eyes, "Fine. As long as they quit calling me a thing. It's sickening."
Joel's mother spoke up, not understanding her son's odd conversation, "You can understand it?" Drago growled at being called it.
Joel nodded, "Yeah, I can understand and speak dragon-tongue. It's my gift."
She smiled, "And what an amazing gift it is. I'm very impressed." She cleared her throat, "But allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Zelda Akuji the witch, your mother."
Joel smiled, "Nice to finally meet the woman who gave birth to me and my brother."
She understood he was still annoyed with her, "I'm sorry, I just couldn't face your brother. I knew you might forgive me since you were my first child and it would be natural for me to be afraid of having a child, but he was my second child. To send him away would be less forgivable. I'm sorry if I seem unfair. I suppose tend to seem that way a lot." She looked away, sad.
Joel sighed, "It's ok, I guess."
She smiled, "Well, come along and meet the rest of the family. You've already met your step-brother, Daray."
Daray scoffed, "He's no brother of mine. Not with that thing hanging around him."
Drago groaned, "I'm serious, get that runt to quit calling me that, or I'll do it myself."
Joel spoke up, "Could I ask that everyone stop calling Drago a thing or it. It's getting to be annoying. He can understand you, you know."
Zelda smiled, "Of course. We understand." She gave Daray a threatening look, "Don't we, Daray?"
Daray knew better then to challenge a witch and faked a smile, "Of course." He dropped his smile and stalked off to the next room. Zelda smiled and led the way into the room.
In the next room was a large, beautiful living room. A regal man, who looked like an adult Daray with red hair and red eyes, was reading on the couch while a boy and a girl were playing chess at the table. The man looked up from his book, "So he came." He closed his book with one hand and stood up.
The two playing chess looked up from their game. Joel was amazed by how they looked exactly alike. They were identical twins. The only twins Joel had ever met before where the twin princes of Fairy Meadows, though they weren't at all identical, and he really liked them.
The boy had short white hair with black streaks in it while the girl had long white hair with the same black streaks. They both had matching blue eyes.
They stood up in unison. The boy wore thin glasses on top his head. The girl wore a black veil over her eyes and her dress had one long sleeve that reached down further than her hand. They were expressionless. Daray sat on the couch, grumpily.
Zelda smiled, "Dear, meet my husband, Richard the Demon."
The man gave a bow, "Welcome to our home, Ximran."
Joel managed a smile, "Uh, hi."
The twins gave a bow and spoke in unison, "Greetings, Ximran. We are Sauda and Tynan."
Joel gave them a smile too, "Nice to meet you both."
Then he heard Drago hiss softly, "Unborns." Joel looked at him. He was watching the twins with a look of disgust.
Joel groaned, "What did I tell you about behaving?"
Drago ignored Joel, "Ever heard of an Unborn?"
Joel blinked, "No. What is it?"
Drago motioned to the twins with his chin, "Them. They're Unborns. Unborns are as their name implies; they are created, not born."
Joel spoke up, "Created? How?"
Drago shivered, "You don't ever want to know. All I'll say is it takes plenty of Black Magic and a lot of very horrible things to create them. A lot." Zelda watched them, wondering what they were saying. Richard looked very surprised to see Joel speaking with a Dragon-Breed.
The twins still showed no emotion. Their eyes gleamed as they spoke together, "A Dragon-Breed? What is it doing here?" Drago stepped back from them. Joel wondered why Drago seemed so uncomfortable around them.
The twins spoke again, "Is it ok to..."
Zelda cut them off quickly, "No, dears. The Dragon-Breed is your brother's friend."
They turned to Daray, who scoffed, "Not my friend! As if."
They turned to Joel, who smiled, "Yeah, he's with me."
Joel then noticed Drago was back by the living room door. He was really uncomfortable around the twins. Joel wondered if maybe part of creating an Unborn had something to do with a Dragon-Breed. Maybe a Dragon-Breed was sacrificed to make one? He did say Black Magic is used to create them and from what his Uncle Zev had told him of it once, Black Magic involved sacrifice and suffering to the highest degree.
Richard spoke, "The boy speaks dragon-tongue and understands it?"
Zelda smiled as she hugged Joel from behind, "Yes, isn't he gifted?"
Richard looked impressed, "Indeed." Daray turned away with a hmph.
Joel noticed the twins watching Drago, who looked away from them as if they were hungry beasts.
Zelda spoke, "Well, let's get you to your room. I'm sure you want to rest after that long trip." She led Joel out of the room and up the stairs. Drago followed, grateful to leave the room.
The bedroom was a simple bedroom with one bed, a couch and table, and a vanity with a lamp. Joel smiled, "It's a nice room. Big enough for both of us, Drago."
Drago simply went and sat on the couch, laid back, and fell asleep. Joel had to laugh, "What a dork."
Zelda smiled, "Well, I hope it's comfortable enough for you two."
Joel smiled, "It is. Thanks, mom."
She looked deeply touched to hear him say mom and smiled, "I'll just let you unpack." With that, she left the room.
Joel sighed, "I wonder if I'm letting her off a little too quickly."
Drago spoke without opening his eyes, "I'd say so."
Joel rolled his eyes with a smirk, "Oh go back to sleep."