Torin looked like he did in the photos, but also not. Not that Lexie blamed the photos though. He had a vibe that was probably very hard to capture and translate virtually.

First off, he was tall. At thirteen-years-old and five foot seven, he was probably somewhere in the 95th percentile for height. Lucky bastard. He also had a lean athletic build and messy hair that was slightly blonder than his brother's.

But it wasn't even just his size that caught Lexie's attention.

It was the fact that he exuded arrogance.

Perhaps that was judgmental of her to say when the guy hadn't even spoken two words yet. But Lexie felt it though, that 'I'm so over this' energy combined with the 'what am I doing here when I'm better than these people' gaze. Plus he stared at her for a a couple of seconds with an almost angry expression, even though she'd never done anything to him.

Lexie wondered if it was the mention of her mother that did it. Did he know she was Aiden's daughter? Maybe he had the same hatred toward the Archmage that his Uncle Luther did.

Although Lexie wasn't sure because he didn't seem too happy to see Xena or even Dewie for that matter. Dewie didn't act like this was something unusual though and simply nodded at him with a meek, "Hey, Torin."

Torin nodded back, and also did the same thing when Veronica greeted him too upon entering the dining room.

So maybe it wasn't just Lexie. Maybe he just hated people in general. That made her feel a lot better then.

The dining room, like the rest of the home, had blue walls and scarlet rugs that looked a little like feathers. Their feet didn't make a sound as they walked across and the chairs slid out automatically once they stopped in front of it.

"No need to tug on it, dear," Vera said to Xena who hadn't noticed the chairs move and was reaching over to pull it out. "These are custom-made Charivelli. They move on their own."

"How convenient," Xena said, catching Lexie's eye. Lexie shrugged and they both tried to sit on the elegant hard-backed seats without the awkwardness, while Theo and Veronica looked on in amusement.

After everyone was seated, the food was brought in by about half a dozen servers, one for each person, and they avoided eye contact as they moved efficiently to place plates of seared lamb on the table along with long-stemmed glasses of grape juice for the kids and wine for the adults.

Lexie murmured thanks to her server, but the woman merely nodded unsmiling, and retreated as quickly and deftly as she could. Like a ghost.

"I had them make your favorite, Dewie," Vera said, smiling at her son. "And even sent Wentworth to District 6 to get those special grapes you like. They're sweet."

"Thank you," Dewie said politely but also a little uncomfortably as well. Vera was treating Dewie much better than normal, thanks to his S-Rank. She'd even withheld her eye-roll at his mention of the fairies earlier. That was very unlike what Lexie had seen on Parent-Teacher Day at school, where Vera had doted on Veronica and Dewie had trailed after the pair like a sad lost puppy.

Today, all her attention seemed to be on Dewie, and it was Veronica stewing in the corner in rigid silence.

"By the way, big congratulations on awakening, you two," Theo said. "Your mom tells me you'll be applying to the Hero Academy."

"Yes," Vera answered before her kids could, beaming at them. "They've already sent in their applications. Of course, we had it prepared months ahead of time and it's perfect. Mrs. Pomme said she's never seen applications quite so robust." She sighed. "Dewie is obviously a shoo-in, being an S-Rank mage, but Veronica might need a little help getting in." There was just enough wheedling in her voice to hint at her intention, even as her daughter stiffened from the fact that her mother was clearly begging on her behalf, belittling her in the process. Vera didn't seem to notice her daughter's hurt, but Theo certainly did and he tried to rectify the situation.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Theo said, shooting Veronica a wink. "A B-Rank isn't bad at all. Only nine percent of the population are B-Rank Mages or higher. Heck one of my teammates is a B-Rank and they're a darned good spellcaster."

"Oh, I know. It's just…we expected more from her. Since she pre-awakened and everything we thought..."

"A pre-awakening is not a predictor of rank."

Tell me about it, Lexie thought.

"Yes, we know that. It was just disappointing. Veronica so badly wanted to be a [Hero] and go to Victoire and now she might have to choose from the less reputable academies."

"Mom…enough," Veronica said, quietly furious at her mother's words, but once again Vera ignored her and Theo took pity on her.

"I'll talk to my mom," Theo said. "She's on the board for Victoire. Maybe she'll put in a good word."

This was obviously the outcome Vera wanted because she smiled brightly when she got her way. And then she said, "That would be very kind of you dear. Oh and Torin, I'm sorry but I have to ask you to take care of our little Dewie while he's there. He'll probably need you to mentor him."

Torsten paused in the process of chewing but still completed the process and swallowed before he asked bluntly, "Why?"

"Well because, he's going to learn fire magic."

This caused both of the brothers to share a puzzled look.

"That would be a little hard..." Theo ventured first.

"Only Firebringers can learn fire magic," Torin blurted out without his brother's delicacy.

"Yes," Vera said. "But we're family. Dewie is practically a Firebringer himself."

Not really, Lexie knew. Dewie had explained that his father was a very distant cousin of the Firebringers, and they may not necessarily be related by blood. But Lexie wasn't about to tell Vera that. And neither, apparently, was Theo Firebringer who nodded and said, "Well, anything is possible."

Torin however did give a brief, sardonic twist of his lips as he regarded Vera, but then turned his eyes back down to his lamb, chewing it methodically. He chewed like a robot Lexie realized. Like he was counting between chews. Four times per side. Weird.

"Sorry, I'm late." Footsteps sounded on wood but then disappeared into the feathered rug as Dewie's father finally made his appearance. Governor Azure looked like someone who had probably been handsome when he was younger and had a full head of hair. But the age had peeled his hairline back several inches, given him an unforgivable gut, and a double chin. Still, he had a pleasant enough smile that reminded Lexie of every politician she'd ever met. Practiced, disarming, and a little smarmy. "I had a few business calls to make. Theo, Torin. Welcome."

"Thanks for the invite, Uncle Harry." Once again, Theo spoke for both of them. "Looking good as always."

Governor Azure laughed. "Don't blow smoke up my ass, my boy. I know what I look like. But it's not important to my constituents as long as I do my job well."

"Language," Vera scolded with a tight smile. "And why did you wear that shirt? I laid out a perfectly good shirt for you on the bed, honeybun."

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

The Mayor ignored his wife and turned to the two girls. Lexie didn't know if she imagined the darkness in his gaze when he considered her. "Welcome, you two. How is everything?"

"Good," Lexie responded.

"I hope congratulations are in order for you guys too. Especially you, Lexie. I heard you were one of our honored pre-awakened. I bet System Day was exciting for you."

Lexie nodded, although she felt put on the spot. "Yeah, but my pre-affixation wasn't anything special. C-Rank Card User."

Veronica snorted and her eyes glittered wickedly. It seemed her mood vastly improved by knowing that Lexie had gotten a worse pick than she did.

Everyone else around the table, except Xena and Dewie who already knew Lexie's pre-affixation, was shocked though.

"Really?" The Mayor said, sounding highly amused.

Lexie tried to shrug like it wasn't a big deal. "Maybe it's because I enjoy cards. But as Theo said, pre-awakening is not a measure of rank."

"Yes but.." The words trailed off but she could still hear them. Everyone had expected her to be a high-rank mage because of her dad. Lexie could feel her face getting hot. As much as she wanted to not care and act above it all, the disappointed stares were starting to get to her.

And Dad said it was no big deal.

It may not have been a big deal to Aiden, but Lexie certainly knew that it would be a big deal to other people. A C-Rank child of an S-Rank mage was disappointing and Lexie felt it.

"My mother didn't have a mana ranking," Lexie blurted out, feeling some need to defend or explain herself. "She was a good fighter but Dad said she couldn't raise a mana signature to save her life. So I guess I got something between S-Rank and nothing, which was C-Rank."

"But she has S-Rank Intelligence," Xena spoke up. "And she wants to be a scholar anyway so it doesn't matter what her mana ranking is."

"Oh wow!" Theo grinned. "No wonder. I always knew you were pretty smart."

"How would you know?" Lexie teased, finally easing up. "We had one conversation."

"Yes, but it felt like a smart conversation. You asked a lot of questions."

"It's her specialty," Xena said wryly and Theo laughed at that.

"Oh and your mother wasn't just a good fighter, Lexie," Theo continued. "She was a great fighter."

"She won a Golden Glove," Torin said his second sentence for the night, and it almost sounded like approval in his voice. "The youngest female champion ever."

"Yes," Lexie responded. "I heard."

Thankfully, the conversation quickly moved on from that and Theo managed to make Veronica laugh by telling her a story of how he and his B-Rank friend saved some sorority girls from a swarm of angry, giant crocodiles. The story sounded so far-fetched that Lexie thought he probably made it up to make the girl feel better. The Mayor and Vera Azure spent most of their focus on their son who looked both happy and uncomfortable with the attention. And Lexie and Xena mocked each other by trying to eat with a fork and knife like Vera was doing. They had been initially making genuine attempts but they eventually gave up and would elbow each other to show the other's their increasingly abysmal skills.

Lexie thought a couple of times she caught Torin glancing at her with a confused scowl but she couldn't be sure.

As the dinner winded down, all the guests were leaving around the same time. They stood at the entrance getting their coats and Lexie finally got the opportunity to ask Theo, "Oh by the way, how did the Mouse investigation go? I was always curious." She'd read news articles about GLITCH and how they were behind several bombings. It said that some agents had been apprehended but it didn't say who exactly.

"I'm not sure," Theo said. "I wasn't supposed to be on that case in the first place and kind of invited myself on in not totally legal ways. Got chewed out and suspended for a month because of it."

Torin snorted. "That was nothing compared to what mom did to you."

"Yup." Theo grimaced. "She tore me a new asshole because I used her access key to get into the files. Anyway, I never got to see the conclusion of the case, but GLITCH has been relatively quiet for the last year. Good thing too, because the year before that felt like one disaster after another."

"Tell me about it," Xena quipped. "We had unstable dungeons popping up all over Hovelton"

"I heard. Sorry, that must have sucked.'

"It did," Lexie admitted, and then took the opportunity to get to her next point of curiosity. "Also, my dad says my mom and your mom fought about something before she died. Do you know what that was about?" Not that she didn't trust Aiden's telling of events, but she wanted to know if there was more to the story.

Theo shook his head. "Not really. But I did know she stopped coming around as often. It was a shame. I adored Aunt Lara. She taught me her famous pirouette."

Lexie cocked her head in confusion.

"You know the Hunter's Pirouette?" He was shocked. "The move she matched with the Sniper's Bulls-eye? Your dad never showed you her old fights?"

"Maybe but I don't remember" She briefly explained about her memory loss. "I only remember the one with Mr. Amazing."

"Oh, that makes sense. I guess you don't remember when your mom brought you over to our place either."

"She did?"

"Quite a few times. I was shocked you didn't remember me during our first meeting. I mean you were probably too young but still. I thought you would at least remember that you and Torin used to play hide and seek together."

She turned toward Torin. Was she supposed to remember him too? Their parents had been friends and they were around the same age? Had they been friends too?

But Torin didn't seem at all interested in this conversation and told his brother, "We need to get going. I have homework due at midnight."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Your social battery is done for the night and you're getting grumpy." He ruffled his brother's hair while grinning at the girls. "It was nice seeing you again, Lexie. And, if you have time, you should watch Lara's matches. It might give you a better sense of who she was than anything your dad might tell you."

With those cryptic words, he waved once more and stepped through the door.

Lexie blinked wondering what he meant. She hadn't watched any more of her mother's fights after the one with Mr. Amazing because watching that one had raised a lot of emotions that she wasn't ready to deal with yet.

She didn't know why, but she didn't want to see too much of Lara. It was like her mind and soul resisted, and fought every time she tried. It was purely an emotional response, maybe because it would make everything feel too real. She might actually start feeling heartbroken at her death, and start to grieve a woman she never knew.

Her mind was already a complicated enough mess. She didn't need to add that to it too.

"You okay?" Xena asked because Lexie had been standing there staring into the air for a few seconds.

She nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine."

When they stepped out, they saw Theo and Torin pulling off in a sleek, modern-looking Road Rocket.

Xena gasped as she watched the car go, saying, "I'm going to die of jealousy. It's almost as cool as your Uncle's bike."

"Nah. I think Esmeralda is way cooler." Esmeralda was what Uncle Max called his bike. As they walked into the cool night air to where Lars waited to drive them home, Lexie ventured, "Well that was fun."

"Was it?" Xena quipped. "Or was it just fun because you had a conversation with dreamy Theo Firebinger?"

Lexie stuck her tongue out. "Speaking of which, did his brother seem mad to you?"

Xena shrugged carelessly. "Who knows? Maybe he has anger issues. Or maybe he just has resting asshole face." She kicked a stone in her path, then grinned. "Dewie was really soaking in the attention. I'm glad he had a good night at least."

"Yeah, I'm glad he had fun." Although Lexie wasn't entirely sure he'd had fun. At one point, he looked a little weary from all the doting, like he was tired of his parents pretending to care about him and tired of pretending like he didn't notice their act.

She made a note to text him when she got home and make sure he was really okay.

And maybe she would ask about his sister too. She didn't look like she was doing well.

Poor Veronica.

Lexie paused for a second. She couldn't believe that thought had actually crossed her mind. She shook it off instantly and promised herself not to think about it again.

The ride home was made in peaceful silence, where the girls started dozing off. When the car stopped at the end of Xena's driveway, Lars had to shake them to get them awake.

"Bye Lars," Lexie said as they stepped out onto the pavement. "Good night."

"Good night, Lars," Xena parroted as she yawned.

"Goodnight girls," he said and watched them walk to the doorway before he began to pull off.

The girls were so tired that when they walked into the home they didn't notice the eerie silence. Xena's home was almost never quiet because usually Emma was playing music, or singing or had the TV on loud.

But everything was quiet until Xena announced, "We're home."

Only to be met with no answer.

"Mom?" she called and Lexie followed her past the staircase toward the living room. "Are you here?"

But then Xena turned and stopped at the living room archway.

Lexie came to a stop beside her when she saw a pale-faced Emma on the couch sitting opposite two stern-faced men in suits.

Black suits.

Oh no.

One of them stood up. "Which one of you is Xena Lightlark?"

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