Crystal Legacy - Generation 5 (Part 13)

 

Abandoned by her mother at an early age, Citrine has always been loved by her family and she loves them all the more in return. But even that love can't fill the hole inside of her, and chasing after her past only leads to more heartbreak.

Peppermint: Already?!

Pyro: Technically, you’re all around a year behind for first placement exams. You’d be sophomores in any other school, and freshmen take their exams on entry. 

Peppermint: Oh, great. 

Eternal Glow: It’s just a test, right? An aptitude test?

Lucky Penny: More like six of them rolled into one, and whatever your best score is is where you place. Ugh, no thanks.

Moonflower: Come on, you know it’s just an idea. You can always choose where you go to work no matter what those tests say.

Peppermint: So why even bother…

Citrine: It’s a part of the curriculum.

Eternal Glow: Great! Okay, so when and where so we can get these over with? 

Lucky Penny: Uh, EG? We take them here?

Pyro: *chuckle* Right here. I’ll let you know when I can get the paperwork all sorted, but soon. Right now, though, have you given any thought to internships? Is there anything you’d ;like to try out?

Peppermint: Anything besides athletics.

Citrine: Um…

Eternal Glow: Engineering, for sure. Maybe Robotics.

Pyro: Okay, Pep, table that for now. EG, we’ll need to look into a job at Evergreen Harbor. Citrine? ANy ideas?

Citrine: Um….no?

Moonflower: Was that a question or a statement?

Citrine: …boooooth?

Lucky Penny: *laugh* Oh, Cit.

Citrine: Look, I got a little focused, okay!

Lucky Penny: A little too focused! Yeesh, girl. Do you have any idea what you want to do for a job?

Citrine: Uh….

Moonflower; Well, like the song says: Try everything.

Citrine: Oh, sure, easy for you to say. You’ve been writing fic since you were twelve. You already know where you’re going!

Moonflower: Don’t flip this on me, Cit, or I will psych your butt.

Citrine: Haha…Mommy issues, abandonment issues, etc, etc.

Pyro: Okay, you three, settle down. Moonflower, you’re going into writing?

Moonflower: Yep!

Pyro: Penny?

Lucky Penny: Uh…I’d like to try eco-engineering.

Pyro: Evergreen for you too, then.

Pyro: Citrine, come with me a minute. We should talk.

Citrine: *sigh* Yes, Mr. Blast.

Pyro: You really haven’t given any thought to what you’d like to do?

Citrine: Long term? Nah. I mean, a job’s a job, Dad and Pop have said I can stay at home as long as I need or want, but….nothing really calls, you know?

Pyro: I know, I know, but…nothing’s called to you?

Citrine: Well…

Pyro: Nothing at all?

Citrine: ….I did think about archaeology for a while, when I was a kid. About….going to Selva, and meeting my Mother because of that.

Citrine: But I think we both know that’s not an option.

Pyro: Selvadoradan history isn’t the only culture studied by archeaologists, Citrine. There’s plenty of work to be done in Al Simhara, and Shang Simla, for starters….

Citrine: ….I know, I just…

Pyro: You want to let that go.

Citrine: Mmhmm.

Pyro: Okay, consider it gone. But no other ideas? 

Citrine: None whatsoever.

Citrine: That’s not good is it.

Pyro: Well, most people use internships to feel out careers before they commit to anything, or to confirm they want what they think they want, so not having any ideas…it does leave you…floundering a bit?

Citrine: More than a bit.

Citrine: I have no idea what I want to do with my life!

Pyro: You’re sixteen, there’s plenty of time to figure that out. As for the internship…how are you with a camera?

Citrine: Um…passable? I take a few selfies now and then, and a lot of landscape shots. Why?

Pyro: I’ve got a friend who’s a reporter, and they need a cameraperson for some articles the paper’s working on. It’d be a temp position at first, but Spangle’s trustworthy.

Pyro: You’d be perfectly safe.

Citrine: A newspaper photographer, huh…I didn’t think there were any papers left out there…

Pyro: From what I understand it’s mostly digital these days, but the Times are still a reputable paper.

Pyro: So, want to try it?

Citrine: Sure. Not like I’ve got anything else planned for the summer.

Pyro: That’s the spirit. I’ll give Spangle a call and let him know you’re coming.

Citrine: Yeah…thanks, Mr. Blast.

Pyro: That’s what I’m here for.

Citrine: Newscast Nine…huh. I think we’ve watched them before…

Citrine: Hello?

Volcano: Can I help you?

Citrine: I hope so. Pyro Blast would have called, something about an internship for Citrine Crystal…?

Volcano: …huh. Yes, he did. We don’t usually do internships here, but we’re down a few hands…you’ve used a camera before?

Citrine: No, ma’am, but I’m a quick study.

Volcano: We’ll see. These aren’t your usual digital cameras, you know. They’re very fiddly.

Citrine: Give me twenty minutes and a connection to Simstube and I can get you good photos.

Volcano: Ha! I like your confidence.

Volcano: You’ll be working with our cultural reporter today.Can you keep up with a hyperactive puppy?

Citrine: uh. Probably?

Volcano: Well, you’re going to find out. Spangle! Your intern’s here!

Spangle: Coming, coming. You’re Citrine, right?

Citrine: Yes sir! That’s me.

Spangle: *laugh* Please, call me Spangle. Sir makes me think I should be looking for my Granpa.

Citrine: Oh, okay. Mr. Spangle.

Volcano: *laugh*

Spangle: *sigh* Kids these days.

Spangle: Anyway, it’s nice to meet you, Citrine. Pyro told me you’re a quick study and a hard worker.

Citrine: I try to be, when I can.

Spangle: Good, good. It’s the trying that’s important.

Volcano: Spangle, you’re going to be late.

Spangle: wha–ah, why do I even bother wearing a watch. We’ll take a cab–you know the Museo de Cultura? That’s where we’re going.

Citrine: ….yeah, I know the place. Lead the way.

Canela: ….all these artifacts you see here are on loan from the Alam Museo, and the Selvadoradan Government.

Spangle: So the rumors of an illicit artifacts trade….

Canela: All true, I am afraid, and far too active. Thousands of Omiscan artifacts have been lost to black market collectors, and only a fraction of those have been recovered. 

Spangle: That must be very frustrating.

Canela: It is. Both for the sake of ethics and the fair treatment of the Omiscan people, but also for the sake of knowledge. Neither side learns anything from nothing.

Canela: Unfortunately, people on both sides of the Divide prosper from the illicit sales, so…

Spangle: So where there’s money, there’s motive.

Canela: Just so.

Canela: Even so, we have multiple eras on display here,going back so far as to the Golden Era.

Spangle: And the Lost Emperor? The one who made tracks all the way to Wineburg?

Canela: Well, not so lost anymore now are they!

Canela: But yes, we have several artifacts from their smaller empire on display here, including their death plate.

Spangle: I’m told those are extremely important.

Canela: Oh, extremely. Death plates were a sort of…ID system, is the closest analog I can think of, so they could pass peacefully into the afterlife.

Spangle: And if they didn’t have one?

Canela: They would have to undertake the Trials. Quite a complex undertaking, I assure you.

Spangle: I’d like to hear more, if you have the time?

Canela: Of course. The Trials were….

Later…

Spangle: Well, from looking at these photos? I’d say you’re hired.

Citrine: It wasn’t that hard. Just point and shoot!

Spangle: *laugh* Volcano said the exact same thing.

Spangle: So, you’ll come in after school, we’ll work a few things out, and go from there. Sound fun?

Citrine: Sounds interesting, yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow, then?

Spangle: Absolutely. Can I call you a cab home?

Citrine: Nah, I know the way from here. Thank you, Mr. Spangle.

Spangle: Kid, seriously. Just Spangle.

Canela: Citrine, could I borrow you for a minute?

Citrine: Is something wrong?

Canela: I was about to ask you that! Are you…doing alright?

Citrine: Did Dad call you?

Canela: No. Solana did. She was…very apologetic for whatever happened between you two. Are you alright?

Citrine: Oh…yeah. I just…got ahead of myself. Expected too much, that’s all.

Canela: Citrine…ai, chiquina…

Canela: You must have heard this before, but people can only give–

Citrine: What they have inside. I know. I just thought….no. I just hoped she’d have enough for me, too.

Canela: Solana has always been…flighty, Citrine. She does not mean ill, simply…

Citrine: She’s got nothing to give. I get it, really I do, I just…

Canela: You hoped.

Citrine: ….yeah. I hoped. *snort* Big mistake.

Canela: It is never a mistake to hope. That they were dashed…dust yourself off and learn, chiquina. It is all any of us can do.

Citrine: Just like that?

Canela: Just like that. You did the best you could. Let that be enough. And…for what it is worth?

Citrine: Yeah?

Canela: Your mother would be proud of you.

Citrine: She didn’t want anything to do with me.

Canela: Not Solana. Amber. 

Citrine: Oh. How do you…

Canela: I knew her well. She would have punched Solana for you, I am sure, but….she would also be glad to see you have become a young woman who learns, and grows, and knows who she is.

Citrine: I…thank you, Miss Canela.

Canela: Of course. Can I call you a taxi?

Citrine: Nah, I think I’ll just…walk home.

If you hear a voice in the middle of the night

Sayin’ it’ll be alright

It will be me

If you feel a hand guiding you along

When the path seems wrong

It will be me

There is no mountain that I can’t climb

For you, I’d swim through the rivers of time

As you go your way and I go mine

A light will shine

And it will be me

If there is a key that goes to your heart

A special part

It will be me

Citrine: Would you be? Would you be proud of me? 

Amber: More than you know, baby. I wish I could tell you that.

At Summer’s End…

*knock on door*

Citrine: I got it!

-

Citrine: Good–FERN!

Fern: Hey, sunshine.

Citrine: When did you get back?!

Fern: Last night–like early this morning kinda last night. Oh, I missed you!

Citrine: I missed you too.

Peppermint: Well, look who the cat dragged in! Missed you, stinker.

Fern: Missed you too, Pep. Did you put on muscle while I wasn't looking?

Citrine: They did.

Calcite: Well, this is a nice surprise! How was summer in Glimmerbrook, Fern?

Fern: Surprisingly not as hard as I thought it’d be, actually.

Calcite: And I see you’ve taken after your parents, too.

Fern: Heh, you could say that.

Calcite: So, what’s in your plans now? Family business, something new?

Peppermint: Uncle! She just got back–can we skip the sixth degree?

Fern: *laugh* It’s fine, Pep. Yeah, I’m going into the family business, but, uh…

Calcite: Still a secret?

Fern: Still a secret. Hey, do you mind if I kidnap these two for the day?

Calcite: Hm…that depends. Do you intend on returning them?

Fern: In one piece, absolutely.

Peppermint: Can we, Uncle Cal?

Calcite: ….hm…okay fine.

Calcite: But phones on, and everyone back in the neighborhood by dark. Okay?

Fern: Sir yes sir!

Calcite: Oh don’t sir me. I’m not that old, whippersnapper!

*all laugh*

Citrine: So…where are we being taken, exactly?

Fern: You’ll see! We need to grab the others on the way–I wanna catch up with everybody!

Peppermint: And maybe tell us a few stories of your own?

Fern: Maaaayyybe. Come on, let’s go!

Later…

Fern: Yikes. That is…definitely a lot. 

Fern: And are you two okay with this or…

Peppermint: No, but what can we do? Gram’s already decided.

Eternal Glow: And even the basic stuff needs full consent on Sixam. It’s…kind of a real mess, isn’t it.

Citrine: Kind of. But enough about that–you said you’d explain those tattoos! So,  spill already!

Fern: Okay, okay! So, this may be hard to believe, but…these tattoos mark families of Hunters, descended from the Drakon lines.

Peppermint: …I’m sorry, the what.

Eternal Glow: The Drakon lines–wait, as in the del Drakon families?! They’re real?!

Fern: They are very real.

Moonflower: Uh, explanation for those of us who don’t spend all our time on supernatural forums, please?

Eternal Glow: Long long story, but apparently some…four or five thousand years ago, when the world was really really wild, there were these families who were gifted powers and abilities that let the fight against the forces of Darkness and Evil and–stuff.

Fern: *laugh* Stuff is a good way to put it!

Fern: You know about the Sages Three, right? Well, it’s kind of the same thing. There were five members of the del Drakon family who battled against the forces of Darkness, and over time, they trained others to fight like they did, and that became what’s known as the Hunters and Guardians. My family can trace our lines back to Terra del Drakon, and we’ve been Hunters for just as long.

Lucky Penny: And what’re you hunting? I don’t think you need fancy tattoos to hunt deer.

Fern: Well, I haven’t hunted anything myself yet, but we deal with vampires and werewolves and ghosts and anything, well, not human.

Citrine: …wait. Those are all real, too?!

Fern: Yep!

Citrine: Oh, great. Oceana is going to be insufferable.

Moonflower: Wait, hang on–the…the supernatural is real and you hunt it? Even if they’re not doing anything?!

Fern: No, no! Of course not!

Peppermint: And why all the secrecy? Shouldn’t people know about…everything?

Eternal Glow: They’d freak out, babe.

Fern: They’d…really freak out. I mean, Forgotten Honeycomb’s already got a bad rep for the idea of being a vampire hideaway, and all the stories…*sigh* It’s a mess, but honestly we’re just…kind of police, keeping the peace between supernatural and. Not supernatural.

Citrine: …they just want to live their own lives, huh. Like we do, like everyone not from Maxis…

Fern: Yep. Just like that.

Lucky Penny: And I’m guessing that was supposed to stay “in the family” huh?

Fern: Oh yeah. Uncle Mantis–he’s the head of our family since he was born before Dad–he’d freak if he knew I was telling you. But I don’t care–you’ve got a right to know what else is out there.

Peppermint: Is there something dangerous in the Springs?

Fern: No, the Springs are pretty quiet. There’s a few vampire families up in the old districts, but they keep to themselves–my point is, you’re not always going to live or stay in the Springs, right? I’ve heard…way too many stories of people getting jumped by something they didn’t know was there. I don’t want that for you guys.

Citrine: so it all just. comes out.

Fern: Yep. And I wanna teach you some stuff. Stuff you could learn at any gym, really, just…with a kind of Hunter’s touch, in case you run into trouble that’s not a mugger in a dark street.

Citrine: …sure, I guess. It’d be nice to do something.

Fern: way to sound enthusiastic, sunshine.

Citrine: *sigh* Okay. Let’s do it. Tomorrow?

Fern: Tomorrow. 

Later…

Eternal Glow: You really believe everything she told us?

Peppermint: Why wouldn’t I? Babe, I’m dating an alien. Werewolves and vampires aren’t the weirdest things ever.

Eternal Glow: *laugh* Okay, point. But I meant the whole…Hunter and Guardian thing, whatever those are. I’ve told you about the Drakon lines, yeah?

Peppermint: Some of the oldest Berry lines ever, vanished mysteriously with the Sages Three, never seen or heard of again even after the Sages started showing up again? Yep, you told me.

Peppermint: Why?

Eternal Glow: It’s just–okay, the stories go that, way back when, when the Watcher granted the Sages Four their powers, it was because there was a great Darkness–capital D, mind you–threatening the world, and she wanted there to always be people to fight it off and protect the world.

Peppermint: And the del Drakon lines came from that?

Eternal Glow: Uh-huh.

Eternal Glow: The House of Flames, the House of Blizzards, the House of Storms, and the House of Thorns. Supposedly there’s also the House of Time, but–who knows if that’s true, and–

Peppermint: And it still sounds like it’s come out of a novel. Look, I believe her, and I believe you, but…world ending Darkness? Hunters of the Dark? Sages and mages and Hunters and…*sigh* It seems like someone else’s problem.

Eternal Glow: ….you still haven’t told your parents about the enby thing, have you.

Peppermint: Ugh. No.

Peppermint: I don’t even know how to bring it up! I tried to tell them and just…chickened out.

Eternal Glow: Do they even have to know?

Peppermint: Have to, no. I just…

Eternal Glow: Babe, you haven’t had them as your parents for…what, fourteen, fifteen years now?

Peppermint: …ever, really. I remember my grams spending more time with me than my Mom and Dad. And my Uncles who’re really more my Dads than they are so–

Eternal Glow: So, screw your bio-parents. That’s all they are. They made your body, sure, but it was your Dads who raised you and…helped make you, you, so.

Peppermint: So they’re the only ones that matter?

Eternal Glow: Well, not the only ones. Citrine and us, we matter too, but….yeah. As far as parents go, yeah.

Peppermint: *snorting laugh* Alright, Mr. Sage Wisdom. Are you saying I shouldn’t bother telling them anything?

Eternal Glow: I’m saying it’s okay if you can’t tell them, because they don’t really matter. They haven’t been here for any of your life, Pep. You were adopted, and you’ve got a great family. Does who bore you matter after that?

Peppermint: …not really, no.

Eternal Glow: Mmhmm. So, don’t lose any sleep over it. Tell ‘em if you get a chance, sure, but if they can’t accept that, or you can’t tell them, that’s okay, too.

Eternal Glow: We all still love you. Even when you smell like gym socks.

Peppermint: *laugh* Hey! I wash those!

Eternal Glow: Well then you need more soap, stinker!

Peppermint: Come here. I’ll show you stinker.

Eternal Glow: *laugh* I’m quaking in my shoes, babe. Absolutely terrified.

Moonstone: So, how’s the internship been going?

Citrine: Great, actually. Miss Volcano’s warmed up a lot to me, and I’m learning a lot about how newscasts work. I wouldn’t have thought so much went into them, but they’re so complicated!

Moonstone: So, is it something you’d think about doing for a living?

Citrine: behind the camera? Nah. I was actually thinking of becoming a journalist like Spangle. Going out there, getting the big scoops.

Moonstone: Ooh, an investigative journalist. Now that sounds fun!

Citrine: It does, doesn’t it? …Gram, if you hadn’t been attacked, what would you have done?

Moonstone: Oh, now there’s a thought. Well, I had a full ride to Foxberry’s athletics division, so I suppose I’d have done what your Gramma Hori did. Played until I was too old, then go on to train the next generation.