Side Chapter tous 5: New Addition to Daily Life
Seven months.
It had been seven months, and Ceella still hadn’t returned ho.
However, the Stella family didn’t give up hope this ti.
There were tis when individually they would spiral, but by supporting each other they were able to stay strong.
Tella kept up her work and made sure to be a good role model and supporting pillar for her family.
Tyell got a normal casual job where he could work, and he made an effort to connect more with so of his old friends.
lla also made an effort to spend ti with her friends, who were all ecstatic about her recovery. She also had school, which had been taking up a portion of her ti.
But of course, there was a massive change in the family, and that was the addition of Lila. Lila felt guilty about Ceela’s disappearance, and because of that, she tried to leave many tis, but the Stella family didn’t give her the chance.
They wanted her to stay and be comfortable.
Lila had so very basic identification, but not enough to allow her to go anywhere. It was Nina’s suggestion to keep Lila’s presence here on the down-low, which she agreed with, and so she had enough to be able to purchase goods with the Stella family account and avoid trouble. However, she also tried to make sure she would not get into any kind of trouble in the first place.
It was a weekend, and lla was in their backyard training her skills. Ever since everything happened, she wanted to beco at least a little bit stronger.
A gust of wind blew around her. Gentle and calming, lla was trying to maintain it for as long as possible.
After an hour, she started breathing heavily, and her vision got blurry.
Her eyes looked up towards her coach, and Lila in the distance by the door sent a hand signal saying it was ti to stop.
However, lla wanted to push herself one final bit before finishing off this session.
Then she snapped her fingers, and the breeze turned red and flas erupted within it. The weak flas were within her control; she couldn’t manipulate them like Ceella could, but she was able to move them in the direction she wanted.
When she was trapped in her own body after the incident, she rembered being constantly and absolutely afraid of dying and fire, but then all those feelings disappeared when she awoke. Even when rembering the incident, she felt nothing… no fear, desperation, or dread.
The lack of fear should’ve been a good thing, and it was. lla had no issue moving on after the incident because of it. But it was also an issue for lla… it was uncanny, that she didn’t have any negative feelings about the traumatic experience, but her brain knew at one point she did. However, this disconnect caused her a different type of pain.
Her brain knew those mories were supposed to be fearful experiences, and that caused pain in itself. Even partly being responsible for her inability to use her [Fire] elent initially, along with all the guilt that she was feeling, and still knowing the fact that flas took her limbs.
Now though, thanks to the support from her family, recovering her limbs, and a new drive to do better, she has overco the internal barrier and successfully beco able to use [Fire].
lla breathed out and fell forward, with Lila catching her. “Thank you for the help, Lila.”
“It’s… the least I can do.” Lila handed lla an ice-cold drink, and Lila supported her as they walked back into the house.
Once they did, lla found Tella sitting inside at the kitchen table on her phone. She had left before she started training to go on another lunch with Nina.
“Mum, Tyell, not back yet?”
“No, he’s working a partial night shift as well tonight.”
“Right… I forgot.”
“It changes every week, can’t bla yourself if you don’t rember.”
Lila added, “Exactly, and he only said he was going to work when he left.”
“That’s fair.”
Lila and lla went to the kitchen to sit down with Tella, and to enjoy so fruit at the table.
After they got comfortable, lla asked, “Has Nina got any news on Ceella?”
Tella paused for a few monts, thinking.
Lila questioned, “Mrs Stella?”
“Tella is fine dear,” Tella said for the thousandth ti before she thought about the eting she just had. “It’s complicated, but apparently she will be talking to soone who might know sothing.”
lla shook her head. “A maybe maybe…”
Tella sighed. “Yes…”
Whenever Tella visited Nina, the question of Ceella’s whereabouts was always brought up when Tella got ho by lla or Tyell.
Lila painfully smiled, “At least that’s better than for sure nothing…?”
Whether that was true or not was left up in the air as Tella was ready to move onto a different topic.
She said, “Anyway, on more bright notes. Nina asked how you were, Lila.”
“Oh, what did you tell her?”
“The truth.” Tella covered her mouth and chuckled. “That I managed to bring in a beautiful, well-behaved, and kind cookie thief into my house.”
Lila blushed pink, matching her hair in embarrassnt. “I.I.II don’t eat that many of them.”
"No, please, don’t hold yourself back; it’s been great for my cooking skills.”
lla questioned, “I thought Tyell was the one eating them?”
“He does take a few to work, but lla.” Tella looked at her dead seriously. “Do you no longer like my cooking or sothing?”
lla stood up, offended, quickly stuffing a pear slice down her mouth. “What no! I love everything you make.”
“Really?” Tella tapped the table, “I even made special mint-choc chip cookies for you, and you didn’t even touch one.”
“Um–! That’s because Tyell and Lila ate them all.” lla firmly stated.
Lila turned to her flabbergasted, “Hey… I don’t even like mint.”
“Even I know Lila’s food preferences, lla, don’t try to throw others under the bus.”
“Eh…” lla began to stumble over her words.
Tella continued with the questions, “It can’t be about your weight, it wouldn’t be peer pressure from your friends either, so what is it?”
“Itt’s’s nothing.” lla wanted this conversation to be over. She continued to tell her mother the actual reason she stopped eating the cookies. It was too embarrassing.
“Maybe I should ask Irene or Elka? Maybe they could help provide an answer.”
lla covered her face to hide her embarrassnt and she whispered, "Please, no…”
Lila just stayed quiet, watching on. The Stella family was a weird place, but she was glad she was able to be here, at least for a little while. She thought this chance would disappear years ago with her sister’s passing, but life decided to throw her many surprises over the last half a year.
Tella eventually gave up interrogating lla, but she told her to have a better excuse next ti.
It was another normal day at the Stella household.
Tyell was on his way ho when he noticed a friend on his way ho.
“Good afternoon, Elly.” Tyell waved towards the person in front of him.
Elly turned around. “Oh, hi Tyell.”
It was late at night, and Tyell had just left from work. He didn’t always work night shifts, but sotis he chose to do them because of the quiet atmosphere. He worked at the gym owned by Brigade Maxim, the sa place his dad used to work. Unlike his father, Chris Stella, he didn’t work as an instructor or coach, but as a simple everyman. His job was to either keep the place clean, help get set up, or get equipnt for other people. Brigade, as usual, treated Tyell like a nephew and gladly welcod him into the fold when he asked about the job listing.
They were wearing casual, warm clothes for the cold night.
Tyell asked, “How have you been?”
Elly quietly replied, “Fine, busy, but fine.”
They hadn’t talked much in the past few months. While Tyell connected with so of his old friends and even made so new ones, Elly was and still was his closest confidant for the longest ti. Tyell kept to his word and invited Elly to work at the gym after he got the job there, but she turned him down. Then after that, busy schedules and different sleeping hours made it hard enough to connect. However, adding to that, Tyell felt Elly was avoiding him.
He could easily guess the reasons why, but they didn’t matter.
“Want to go get sothing to eat together?”
“No, I got work now.”
“Fair, how about later this week then?”
“That… might be tricky. I’m already booked out for this week.”
“You have been looking better, Tyell.”
Tyell flexed his muscle, “Thanks, I can help you at the gym if you want to get in shape as well.”
Elly chuckled, “That’s not what I ant.”
“I know.” Tyell laughed as well. “But we should et up soti soon.”
“Maybe… but sorry I have to go now. My shift starts soon.”
“Understandable, but be careful okay?”
“I will.”
The two went in different directions and Elly made her way to work uninterrupted. Unbeknownst to Tyell, she had indeed switched jobs, but it was still just another place that sold food and drink on one side and dealt with illegal activity on the other.
When she entered the backroom of her job to change, a surprised “Hello,” spoke from behind her.
Elly replied back to the surprise guest, “Oh, hello Colours, what are you doing here?”
“Ah, nothing much.”
Colours was the na she went by, she was the new person from Dominous Hood who had been assigned to the area temporarily. She was pretty laid back but Elly believed she must’ve had a higher rank than the people previously here.
“Does that an a new request?”
“Kind of, but a suggestion to move and work at one of our bases.”
“I thought I would be able to work from ho with my position?”
“Yeah, but for two reasons. First, the situation recently has been crazy. Have you seen the ss that happened on Earth? I was there, it was a ss. Second, we have new equipnt set up to enhance your abilities. ”
“...Do you even follow the security and secrecy rules?” Elly knew the rules that were in place, but Colour seed to just ignore so of them.
“Most of them, but that is probably the reason I haven’t been promoted in a long while.”
“Is it an order, or a suggestion?”
“Does it matter?”
“...I just don’t like changing my environnt. It makes uncomfortable.”
“Well, for the ti being, it’s a suggestion, but it may beco an order soon. So better go before it gets too busy.”
“Hmhmm.” Elly continued to change for work.
“Worried about missing people?”
“Not really… it is just a chance. It was already painful enough just to switch jobs in my neighbourhood.”
“Okay then, I’ll be back next week for an answer.”
The Dominous Hood mber disappeared without warning, leaving Elly alone in the room.
She thought in her head… Tyell… What did your family do? Rembering her recent use of [Future Prediction] from a month ago. The only prediction she ever made on the clock for work that she didn’t report on. It was vague and only she would understand the aning, but she had no idea whether to believe it or not. Either way, the only thing she was certain of was that turbulent tis were ahead.
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