A Brand New Life

Date | 22nd Apr. 2022
Time | around 9.45 am
Weather | Warm and sunny, summer is coming nearer
Attire | Brown jeans and dress shoes that are polished, a thin striped sweater and a shirt underneath
Surroundings & Place | Athena Academy, by the headmistress’s office. People are now on a break and are walking through the halls.


“Thank you so much for your time” Riggs gave Juniper a warm smile as he took her hand. Now it was still weird thinking that this woman was his grandmother, a person who didn’t remember her daughters for some reason. And that his grandfather was some notorious criminal mastermind. Who would have thought that his life would go from one dumpster fire to another? At least the family he had met had seemed nice enough. Not that he would think of them as such; maybe experience had made him rather suspicious at this point.
The much older fairy nodded with a big smile on her lips. “It was my pleasure, I’m just sad that I won’t be able to show you around, but with the exams coming up, there are many things that I need to look through”, she apologised, but as she looked up, Riggs could see there was a slight shift in her expression. “Aisha, my dear!” Juniper called out to the young banshee and then winked towards Riggs as she waved the brown-haired Asien woman towards them. “Wouldn’t you be a darling and show Mr Lane around?” Riggs made a small awkward laugh “Riggs, please” he turned towards Aisha, giving her a slightly concerned look; the last thing he wanted was someone to make him sound like a thousand years old. “If it’s not too much trouble?” he asked, letting out a soft breath and giving her a much warmer smile. “I’ll make sure to contact your teacher to let them know that you will be helping me rather than having class”, Juniper assured Aisha, knowing that it might be one thing that would talk against her helping her grandchild out.

Aisha was on her way toward her next lesson. She didn’t carry any books, since it was dance. She just had to change her clothing, so she wouldn’t get her normal clothing sweaty, and her clothing was in a closet near the dancing classroom. Like always, her steps were quick and determined, and she was completely walking in her own mind. It was only because Juniper had such a good voice that she turned her direction towards the headmistress. “Hi. What can I do for you?” she wondered and looked from her to Mr. Lane, Riggs, and back to her. Now, Aisha wasn’t the one to say no to something her headmistress told her to do, because she really, truly wanted the best for herself, and staying on the good side of the headmistress was just an overall good idea. But she was about to excuse herself because she didn’t want to be late for her dancing lesson but stopped herself as Riggs asked if it wasn’t too much trouble. With her mouth slightly open, ready to say something she turned her head back to the headmistress who told her that she didn’t have to worry about her lesson. A wide smile spread on her lips, and she clapped her hands together, “Well then we got a deal! I’ll take good care of Riggs,” she assured her and turned towards him. “Have you seen anything yet, or do you want a look on everything?” she wondered, merging her fingers, and looking at him with a smile so wide that it made her cheeks form small apples under her eyes.

Juniper smiled at them before turning around and walking back into her office. Leaving the older fairy with the banshee, he turned towards her and placed a hand against the nape of his neck and gently stroked it before he let out a small chuckle when she asked if he had seen anything yet. “Nah, I’m here to see if it might be the right place for my sister, and since Juniper is my grandmother, it was a natural place to start”, he said with a soft smile, not thinking about the fact that it might be a bit intimidating showing around the headmistress’s grandson. Mostly because he still had problems comprehending just how far and wide his new family stretched. The new siblings he had gotten were the cousins, uncles and aunts. The list was long and kept growing as he navigated through this new life in Athena instead of America. “So, show me some of the best things about this school according to you” he gave her a big bright smile letting his hand fall down his side.
As they started walking, he let his eyes momentarily look at the passing people and objects before turning his gaze back towards the woman by his side. “So, how long have you been going to this school?” He asked with a soft smile playing on his lips.

Aisha picked up on how he moved around himself, and she was almost about to ask him if anything was wrong, but she figured it out as he replied. Juniper was his grandmother. It made her open her mouth, seemingly gladly surprised, “Oh, okay,” she said and nodded, “Good choice,” she told him with something that reminded her of a true fighting spirit. Aisha was a tough person to intimidate, and this didn’t intimidate her. She liked the school and Juniper, so it would be no trouble to stay on the good side of both.
Aisha’s dark eyes almost lightened up as Riggs asked for the best things according to her. Now, Aisha had a lot of things she liked, but this, this was simply something joyful, “Alright! But please tell me if I’m going too fast because I… I tend to speed walk,” she warned him and narrowed her eyes, slightly embarrassed of the ‘technique’ she had gained from her family to keep the voices down.
As soon as she had warned him, she made an energetic circle wave with her arm to show the way before she started to walk next to him, letting him take in the students as they passed them. She looked over at him as he asked her about the school, “This summer I’m ending my third year,” she replied and nodded. “And one usually stays here for five,” she explained, wanting to be sure how long this school handled their students. “If you live far away, your sister can move in here. There are some pretty neat rooms, some with and without space for roomies. There’s something for every taste,” she explained with a wide smile. Aisha was the type of person who could start to speak quite fast when she first started. Eventually, she led them outside the school, and she gestured towards the running field for him to look at, “Itty bitty me spends a lot of time running, so one of my favorite places to go is the athletics field and just, do whatever I’d like to do,” she explained, almost feeling a crippling feeling in her legs, telling her that it was time to run, even though she was doing very fine. “But behind the field is the archery room,” she said and turned towards him, “Do you or your sister do archery?”

Riggs’s lips curled into a half-smile, and he nodded. “I’ll see if my legs can’t keep up with your speed walking” he chuckled and placed his hand in his jeans’ front pocket as they walked down the hallway. “So you have two more years to go before you’re done?” he said with a soft smile and followed along as his eyes caught a couple of students walking past him, demons. It wasn’t because he had any problems with them, but he was still a little surprised just how wide a range of people was going here. And the fact that you mixed pureblood vampires with the fairies, knowing very well that it could be hard to control one’s hunger when close to some of the best blood on the market these days.
“Ah, won’t be a problem; we live in Oakheart, and I’ll get a job where I can drive and pick her up” he nodded, then hearing how that sounded. “Not that I’m some unreasonable person that doesn’t let her have a life on her own, we just, we came from a sticky situation, where we both need some time to get into this everyday life routine again”, he chuckled, then looking towards her as she explained what she did in her free time. “Running, right, for fun?” he laughed and then shook his head. “I one of those, if you see me running, you should start running too types” he laughed and then looked at the archery room and shook his head when she asked if they did archery. “Nah, but I do know how to handle a bow” his lips curled into a smile, and as he nodded for her to keep going on their little tour, luckily, he didn’t feel like he had any troubles following along with her speed.

Aisha couldn’t help but smile as she said he would see if he could keep up. There was generally something about him that she really liked already. His energy, it might be. She hummed, approving what he had calculated, “Mhm. Two years, that is correct.” Even though she was determined on where they were going, and her steps showed it, she also let herself look towards him, and pick up what he might find interesting. After all, a great student like her could explain most thing about the school. Juniper had chosen wisely to make her show the school, though the way Riggs had put it, she was going to show him where she spent the most time. The best things about the school.

She raised a brow at him as he explained how he could come and pick his sister up every day. When he explained she laughed a little, “That’s alright. One gotta take things in once own pace,” she assured him, “My pace might be a little fast,” she teased, knowing that most people wanted her to slow down.
She looked towards him as he believed that it was odd that someone liked running for fun. Well, it hadn’t really been for fun at first, but it had gotten to it. “Oh damn, remind me never to ask you for a run then,” she laughed , shaking her head a little with a wide teethy smile. She tilted her head a little as he mentioned that none of them really did archery, but he knew how to handle a bow. “Alright, alright,” she said in a slightly teasing manor, “I got a secret place behind the archery hall. I don’t know if your sister is the kind of person who likes to be a bit alone sometimes, but I can show it to her, if she starts before I finish up?” she offered with a kind smile. She wouldn’t mind showing it to him either, since he wasn’t going to go to the school either way.
“Did the headmistress give you a paper about the different subjects?” she wondered, knowing some of them may or may not come of interest to his little sister, and maybe he already had an idea.

He looked towards her when she talked about her pace being a little too fast. He couldn’t help but chuckle at that; it was a misinterpreted that you needed to slow down for people. No, you needed to find someone that matched your pace – that was the whole idea of life, wasn’t it? Finding people that either matched your energy or found it freeing to be in your company despite not thinking alike.
Riggs winked at her as she mentioned that she should never ask him out for a run. “I would much rather sit with popcorn and watch you run, wouldn’t mind that”, he laughed, giving her a wide grin, “which now that I said it out loud sounds like a very pervy stalker; I assure you that was not my attention” he laughed again, even if it was a little more awkward than it had been a moment ago. Folding his lips, he narrowed his eyes for a moment when Aisha asked if his sister liked to be alone. “I think most people, even those that love being around people, need a moment just to be themselves?” he theorised and then nodded when she asked if he had a paper about the different subjects, pulling out the folded sheet from his back pocket “sure did – which do you like the most?” he asked, maybe it was just a sneaky attempt to get to know her better. No, scratch that; it was a sly attempt.  

Now, Aisha should know better than to swoon, but there was some part of her that simply melted as he winked at her. Odd how closing one eye could make one swoon. And Aisha didn’t physically swoon, sigh, or melt, no, but her heart almost ached for something that felt right. She nodded with a wide smile as he mentioned watching her with popcorn. She was so close to tell him it sounded like a perfect date, but she didn’t even get to send the message to her lips before she interrupted herself with a sweet laugh as he said it sounded like a perverted stalker. “I never imagined you as a perverted stalker. Eating popcorn doesn’t really put you in that category,” she teased. It would be different if he hadn’t included the part with the popcorn. And at least he hadn’t told her she would be the one to do all the hard work, that would definitely have put him in the perverted category.
Oh lord, how was he able to understand her without her even telling him about some of her problems? It touched her in some way that she was certain she had never been touched like before. “Yeah,” she almost forgot to reply to his statement, “I’ll make sure to show it to her,” she replied, almost feeling like her lungs had been emptied from air; but not like when she had been out running.
He found the flyer with the different subjects, and asked about her favorite subjects, “Well, I’m all about the athletic classes, but,” she licked her lips, thinking for a short second “I’m attending music, dance, psychology and… Martial arts,” she told him, nodding a little. “I actually love music class. I’m a singer and songwriter in my free time, so, it inspires me,” she said with a slightly smug smile. If Aisha did things correct, she would ask what his sister might choose of subjects, but she was too quick and asked, “What would you choose?” she wondered, knowing he didn’t know the teachers or the tasks they were given in the subjects, but maybe he had an idea?

He nodded, giving her a warm smile as she told him that she would be sure to show his sister around. He just needed to figure out if this was even something Cordelia wanted, but getting her out of the house was somewhat his priority at this moment. Then he could start looking for a job and see what he would end up doing in the next couple of months while sorting through the mess that felt like his life right now.
“Well, could have guessed that”, he laughed as she had spoken about running and archery. Nodding along as she listed the different things that she was taking, he couldn’t really hide his surprise as she told him after explaining she loved music; a singer and songwriter. Now that wasn’t something you heard every day.
“No, hey, hold up and rewind a little”, he chuckled, shaking his head when she asked what he would choose. He would tell her, but first, he needed to know; “So are you famous or something, or is it more a hobby?” he said with a bright smile; now he wasn’t really the type to be on the latest fashion when it came to all those social media things, he still liked an excellent LP to play him his tunes.

She looked up at him as he told her to rewind. She couldn’t help but smile. She loved when people told her when they couldn’t follow. She loved to explain and make sure people understood, because she knew she talked fast and that sometimes people simply couldn’t follow along. Her smile grew as he asked if she was famous, “Well my first real album is being released in a month,” she replied, “I got a good number of daily listeners, so, a little famous maybe. I have mostly made covers on YouTube while I’ve been writing my own songs behind the scenes,” she elaborated and put her hands in her back pocket. She furrowed her brows, but only a slight bit, “Does that reply to your question?” she wondered and licked her lips slowly. Currently, she hadn’t made LPs but a good recommendation might change that.

Now, he hadn’t thought she would be that far into the world of fame. So, when she asked if it replied to his question, his mouth was hanging somewhat open, almost forgetting how it would look, so he closed it and let out a cheerful laugh. “If that answers my question, damn” he shook his head and laughed again. “Yeah, that answers my question, so Aisha, what is your last name, because, in that honour, I will go home and educate myself since I clearly should have known better than to ask” he chuckled with a warm smile, not that he was overly embarrassed, that wasn’t really something Riggs did.
“Even though I’m more an LP record man myself, there is just something about how that needle scrape over the grooves of the vinyl and how the sound is just different. And when you’re done listening to one side, you just flip it over and hear the next side” he shrugged and licked his lips. “but I’m an old soul, and I’m a true testament to the; old habits die hard,” he added looking around them, realising that they hadn’t moved for a while. “Should we continue?” he asked, giving her a slight smile as his hands folded behind his back, and he nodded in the direction they might go.

Aisha folded her lips at the sight of his reaction, holding back a smile. A chuckle left her as he told her that he should’ve known better than to ask. “Lowde,” she presented to him. “But I don’t blame you for asking,” she assured him and corrected a strand of her hair behind her ear.
She raised her brows, tilting her head a little as he spoke about his own preferences. Her smile grew slowly as he spoke, liking the way he thought of things. Should we continue? It was almost a slap in her face. Had she been staring? “Yeah! Yeah… Let’s go,” she said correcting her gaze forward to continue walking. She chose to show him some of the outside areas at first, because she truly loves how everything was a little quieter out there, except for when she got too close to the forest. It had a lot of awful dead souls that screamed for ascension. She truly wished she could help them. “So, The school generally has quite big outdoor areas,” she told him and let her hand glide horizontally to gesture to the big green areas that had a little to everything. “The forest has a road all the way to Aston, but” she licked her lips a little, “Some part of the forest is like… Forbidden,” she said. “It’s all foggy and creepy. It’s pretty clear when you’re getting too close to the forbidden part,” she assured him. Was she talking the school down, or simply warning him? She licked her lips a little thoughtfully, “Is she-” she licked her lips shortly, “a fairy too or?” she wondered, considering whether or not it was important to talk about the security and control of blood feasting beings.

He nodded when she told him that they could go. Following along again, he released the hold he had on his wrist and put his hands down his pockets as he had done while walking to the archery room or place; what did you call it? It had a name, didn’t it? Oh, it didn’t matter, just his stream of consciousness starting to get the better of him.
“Right”, he murmured as his eyes glided through the area they were walking through; the beautiful architecture spoke for itself; the magic was almost seeping in the sandstones' veins underneath their feet.
Then she spoke about something forbidden, and he couldn’t hold back her laugh. “What, like Harry Potter, really?” he looked at her and then folded his lips together so he wouldn’t start laughing too loudly; then, she asked if his sister was like him. He shook his head. “In reality, she is actually my cousin, but I’ve known her since she was a baby, so she is more like a sister – but no, she is not a fairy; she is human but has some powers that she needs help with understanding, which seems like this could be a great place to do just that” he added with a smile. “So that forbidden forest, you’ve been there since you know what it is like or is it just what people tell you, and then you believe it?” he asked, raising a brow, because when someone told Riggs that he wasn’t supposed to or it was off-limits, now then he needed to know or try it out.

Aisha folded her lips trying to hold her laughter back, “Yeah, kinda like in Harry Potter,” she replied. Her brows raised interested as he explained about her little sister… Cousin. “Ah, seems like the best place then,” she said with a kind slight smirk. “We got really good teachers who can help with abilities. I think… Mr. Gonzales will be able to help her if she thinks her powers are a bit too powerful for her to master right now,” she informed, not knowing anything about his sister’s abilities, but who knew, maybe Mr. Gonzales was just the man for the job?
Once again, she raised her brows as he asked her something. Yes, the forest. An interesting topic, if she had to say so herself. “Oh, uh… I can’t get too close without going nuts… You know, Banshee stuff with voices and all that,” she tried to explain though she figured a little late that she just had revealed that someone had died in there, and it might be more than couple of people since it could keep her from the forbidden part. “I’m sorry, it’s not like it’s a death sentence to go into the forest, people just seem to… Experience bad things when they get to the forbidden part,” She remembered so clearly when she had arrived at a scene where Mirabel died in the arms of Caroline and how Ajax tried to make the sisters have a moment longer. Deaths did however haunt banshees all the time. She shook her head a little, “I’m not the right person to ask about the forbidden forest. It just isn’t a place for me to go. Or well, I’ve tried to stay clear from it, and I got my methods and all” she said and pulled on a slightly sad smile. She herself was curious and wanted to see everything but she just hadn’t managed to get very far before the voices just got too much.

He nodded thoughtfully about there being a teacher. “And if not, I know my aunt is a teacher here as well, so she might be able to help as well,” he said with a small smile; he nodded thoughtfully when she told him that she would go nuts if she came to close. Now he was never going to pretend he knew anything about that, even if they had a banshee in the camp, but she had always seemed so unbothered by all of it. But everyone was different, right?
“Well, colour me intrigued,” he said with a bright smile. “You have your running; I have my; go into places where you really shouldn’t”, he laughed, licking his lips and then nodding a little thoughtfully. "Don’t they help you that with the school? I mean, it's not because I’ve met a lot of Banshees, but some just seem so unbothered by it, as if they have mastered the whole, tune out the static, so it doesn’t affect them? Not that I’m an expert in that area,” he was just about to talk about the fact that he had been around enough death to know that it wasn’t only banshees it tore on. But that seemed a little deep and dark for the first meeting.
“Well, cheerier topic, why don’t you show me where the art and crafts area is,” he said with a small smile and waited for her to go in the direction they needed to head in.