This is Not a Diary, It is a Lychee! (V2)

[Piefan]

Summary
In the calm land of Alinia lives a small family of three, running a huge farm passed down from generation to generation. But the farm is not nearly enough to support all of them, and one day, they lose it - and their house with it. A kindly relative reaches out an offer of support, and Apollo Jupiter is forced to accustom himself to this new lifestyle, a far cry from his old, all the while coping with the most ridiculous school he's ever been in.

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I will put your character into the groups on my own, depending on their personality and how the story goes. Your character may be an elemental spirit, or have powers given to them by elemental spirits. However, this is supposed to be rare. I will be accepting five characters; you may only submit one per person. At least 40 words in overall, please.

Characters so far:
1. Aque
2.
3.
4.
5.

[Piefan]

"I... have to try my best."

Name: Apollo Jupiter
Gender: Male
Overall: Stubborn, violent, and brash, Apollo appears to be your typical problem child. He has no qualms with breaking rules, but - probably because of his mother's influence - he tries his best to avoid lying, though he'll do so if he absolutely needs to. He has a mild interest in psychology, finding it all too easy to manipulate others.

Beyond this rough exterior, Apollo's really just a young boy desperate for his life to go back to what it once was. He's hardworking and devoted, particularly to his family. It's been said that he could succeed at anything if he cared about it half as much as he does - did - about the farm. He actually finds physical work kind of calming - just the monotony and strain of your muscles, moving in a repetitive rhythm.

Apollo has a light Texan accent, but it only becomes noticeable when he's angry, happy, or sad - any emotion strong enough.

"We should not disobey. Rules were not set so we could ignore them."

Name: Reef Daser
Gender: Female
Overall: Formal, submissive, and agreeable. Reef prefers to keep an unemotional façade on at all times - in part because she believes it's what her mother does to be as successful as she is. Quite the perfectionist, Reef can and will try any given task over and over again just to get it right. She's extremely patient, having way too much free time on her paws and nothing to occupy it with.

Reef dislikes change above all. She'll go back to even extremely flawed ideals if it's what she's used to. Because of this, she's very stubborn, refusing to give up on what she believes is the best thing to do, even as proof unravels around her that she is wrong. She's kind at heart, feeling uncomfortable at others' suffering, and often feeling a need to help out.

She has abnormally thick fur, and is the shortest of the four main cast.

"I refuse. You will not see me give up."

Name: Henry Gilligan
Gender: Male
Overall: Henry loves order. Rules, routine, and expectations are what he builds his life around. He's devoted himself to academics, as he believes they're the most important thing for a student to have. Smart, task-oriented, and organised, he's the stereotypical nerd incarnate, in some ways.

In others, however, he's just the opposite. When push comes to shove, he's a very skilled fighter, in the same way as a wild wolf - he does have some of it in his blood, after all. He always looks to solve things as quickly and efficiently as possible, even if it requires being extremely ruthless. Brave, sometimes to the point of stupidity, he doesn't so much as bat and eyelid at most things. He's extremely impatient and curt.

His wolf blood shows - when compared to most his age, he's noticeably taller.

"A little hope never hurt anyone, am I right?"

Name: Lucy Staccato
Gender: Female
Overall: Lucy really just wants nothing more than to have real friends, who'll stand by her side and never give up on her, even when she's at her worst. She seems to be terrible at pursuing this goal, though. Her cheerful, bubbly demeanour attracts many acquaintances, leading her to be the most popular girl in the school, but she has few who're really close to her. She's extremely talkative, and never seems to be satisfied being neutral toward anything.

Her blunt and insensitive personality means that she can be downright irritating when trying to have a personal conversation - she'll just be joking and teasing all the while, not noticing your frustration. Flighty and irresponsible, she tends to drift from interest to interest, never really committing herself to anything beyond her music.

She's quite skinny, and has a high-pitched, almost shrill voice.

[Piefan]

School's beginning in two days.

You cannot possibly comprehend how much I hate that.

I have a packed schedule as it is, in between helping out the farm and, um, other stuff that I do. We're already in a crappy financial state; things are just gonna get worse from here. "Hey, Apollo, you can't go home to do important stuff! You have to stay back and learn this fancy-schmancy useless maths!" Yeah, well, may the spirits forever scorn you too.

I don't even know enough curses to express my feelings about this. Screw it. IN FACT, SCREW YOU, USELESS JERKS I FREAKING HAVE THINGS TO DO AND THEN YOU GIVE ME THIS "OH, I THINK YOU HAVE PERSONAL PROBLEMS SO I'M ARRANGING A SESSION WITH THE SCHOOL COUNSELLOR AND NO YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE" CRAP WHAT THE

... 'Kay, Apollo. Calm down. I bet Mom's gonna be checking this diary once in a while, anyway, and it'd probably be kinda disturbing if I spent ten pages screaming. I guess I need an introduction here.

My name is Apollo Jupiter, and I'm... just me, I guess. I live in a farm; always have, and always will.

This is my mother. Althea. It was a surprise, I'm told, to everyone when she married my dad. Like, this is a fancy, smart detective girl studying cryptography (is that how you spell it?) and suddenly, she's moving in with this farmer, abandoning her epic career.

Which brings me to my father - Sawyer Jupiter. It's this guy who inherited the farm, and he's taken an oath, if memory serves, to take care of it as well as he can.

He's been doing a good job, too. Jupiter Acres (admittedly not a very good name) has been thriving for quite a while. Business is kinda sorta waning, though. We're strictly organic, and here in Alinia, nobody cares enough about the environment to buy organic vegetables when there are far cheaper alternatives out there.

Talk to ya later, diary. Mom's calling me for dinner.

-Apollo

I confess. I cannot name farms, so I just stuck "Jupiter" in front of a random farm-sounding word and called it a day.

This author's note will contain information about thw characters/world.

[Piefan]

It's one in the morning right now, and I should probably be sleeping right now, but I pretty much just wound up tossing and turning for two hours when I tried. I've gone weeks without sleep, anyway. This is nothing.

Maybe I just need to clear my mind. Which is code for "You're going to hear about my night now, screw you." I'm not actually sure how those two are in any way connected, but feh.

Something you need to know about my mother: she doesn't cook. She can't cook. She's tried taking lessons before, but they just ended in disaster. That's why I do most of the work in that area. I mean, I'm not that great of a chef either, but I think I'm learning.

Dinner, in the Jupiter family, is like a sacred meal or something. It's the only one we ever have together - otherwise, our eating schedules are kinda erratic. The time for lunch is pretty much whenever we get hungry.

So a couple hours ago, Dad, Mom, and I were sitting at the table for dinner. I'd wanted to make something special to celebrate the last day of holidays, but after helping out with the crops, I didn't have the time. Plus, I got lazy (hey, I'm a teen! Cut me some slack) and just threw some vegetables onto rice, and then poured some soy sauce on it. Culinary excellence.

While we ate, Mom tried to make conversation.

Don't get me wrong - I love her. Like, a lot. Seriously, I'd give up practically anything to save any member of my family if it came to that. But I don't speak to her much. Mainly, she just makes kind gestures toward me and I'm just "Hey, thanks, I love you."

"Are you excited for the first day of school, darling?" -Mom
"Nope. Not at all." -Apollo
"... Why not?" -Mom
"'Cause I hate learning?" -Apollo

(Real reason, of course, being that Dad's only one person, and we aren't hiring any other workers, so it's not like he can tend to the crops and stuff alone. But I've already figured out that if I say that, she generally just talks to him and decides that I'm too stressed out. Then she just bans me from doing chores.)

"You shouldn't have that kind of attitude." -Mom
"Eh." -Apollo
"... You're not going to concede, are you?" -Mom
"Nope." -Apollo
"That's all fine and dandy, but you still oughta do your best, son. I'm not going to force you to like it, but someday in the future, you're probably gonna need it." -Dad

I grinned.

"I'll bet you don't even remember anyrhing you learned back in high school." -Apollo
"Try me." -Mom
"Uh... What's the cubic root of 72?" -Apollo
*silence*
"Rounded off to two decimal places, 4.16, I think." -Mom
"Okay, fine, you would know that, but that's just because you do all the fancy-schmancy maths stuff with the farm's earnings." -Apollo
"Fancy-schmancy maths stuff that doesn't involve cubic roots, I might add." -Mom
"What do plants produce during photosynthesis?" -Apollo

Admittedly, I learned about that when I was, like, nine, but that's pretty much the only science thing I know.

"Mainly oxygen and sugar. Or entirely oxygen and sugar. I dunno." -Dad
"... I swear by the elemental spirits, you guys are doing this just to screw with me." -Ap~

Most Alinians (the country Apollo lives in is called Alinia) don't eat meat. At least part of this is because, well, most kinds we'd eat are pets in the CS world. If you dare eat chicken in public - or even buy it - prepare for horrified looks and spiteful glares. Cows, too, are kinda sorta pets. I don't think sheep are, so you could protest that they should still be eating meat, but, like, it's generally just a huge social taboo.

[Piefan]

I kinda fell asleep in the middle of writing that last entry. Which is really freaking annoying, because now I have drool all over the page.

Anyway, today was the first day of school, and I honestly have no words. Who runs this place? Can I sue them for being incompetent? Because I really want to. I mean, I suck at leading things too, but the suckery of this school is so intense that it overpowers everything else.

I woke up early as always - can't let school get in the way of helping out. Staggering to the bathroom, I washed away the drowsiness, then grabbed my hat. I wasn't sure if they'd allow it in school, but even if they didn't, I'd find a way to wear it anyway. Maybe just put on a wig over it. That would probably look weird, but it's not like people could yell at me for having weird hair.

As I walked downstairs, I heard voices - my parents. They sounded downright furious, their voices raised. They barely ever yelled, so I wondered what'd provoked them.

"-all your fault." -Mom
"No it isn- Fine, yes it is, but can you blame me? People don't want to pay extra cash for organic stuff. I can't contr-" -Dad
"Maybe you can't, but it's pointless to keep producing organic when nobody's going to buy it." -Mom
"But it's family tradition! I ain't gonna change that." -Dad
"Family tradition? Don't give me that. Won't the 'souls of your ancestors' be angrier about you losing the farm because you won't even try modern methods?" -Mom
"Uh, howdy, guys! How're ya doing?" -Apollo

I barged in mid-conversation as I realised they were yelling at each other. Crap. These guys were practically the lovey-dovey couple of the century. If they were mad...

"Ah'll go cook breakfast and..." -Apollo
"Is something troubling you?" -Mom
"What? Nah, that's ridiculous. What'd make ya think that?" -Apollo
"You slipped into your accent again." -Mom
"Did ah- I mean, did I? I'm pretty sure I didn't." -Apollo
"You did. If you ever need to talk, we're-" -Dad
"You should leave, Sawyer. There's work you need to do, isn't there?" -Mom

He frowned, shrank back, and then turned around, walking briskly away.

Following was some tense conversation, and me cooking a couple eggs. Not really stuff you wanna know. Or that I remember, for that matter. Sooo, timeskip!

When I arrived at school, I realised I was, like, way early. The gate was open, though, so I walked in and wandered around for a couple minutes before finding the school hall. I'd been told that we were supposed to gather there, but it was empty, save for a single girl filing her nails, leaning against the wall. When she noticed me, she raised her head and grinned.

"Hey! The name's Lucy Staccato." -Lucy
"Oh. Cool. I'm Apollo Jupiter." -Apollo
"You new here or what?" -Lucy
"Yeah. It's my first year." -Apollo
"Me too. Hey, did you know I'm the queen bee here?" -Lucy
"What?" -Apollo
"I know! It's so cool, right? I've always known I'm epic, but now I'm in charge, too!" -Lucy
"No-" -Apollo
"I'm totally going to hold on to the role 'till like, forever. I can't believe I made it!" -Lucy
"No, I mean, what's a queen bee?" -Apollo

She didn't answer, just continued chattering on. Mid-way, I began getting distracted, my attention drifting to just about everything in the room other than Lucy. She seemed nice enough - friendly and enthusiastic - but dang, she talked a lot.

After several minutes, people began flooding in, and I got the opportunity to dodge away from the conversation. Disappearing into the crowd, I paused for a moment to pull a sheet of paper out of my hat. I'd written my class on it, to help my bad memory, and I read it then.

Once I was reasonably confident of where I was supposed to go, I slipped out of the crowd again and looked over the place. Spotting a sign labelling my class, I walked toward it.

"No running." -???

For a moment, I worried that some teacher was gonna yell at me on the first day of school, then I realised the voice was a teenager's. I turned around, but the guy I saw behind me didn't seem like a student. He had this intimidating air around him that made me wanna shrink back - an urge I shoved to the very back of my being - and he was at least as tall as an adult.

"I wasn't running, though." -Apollo
"You definitely were." -???
"Nope." -Apollo
"Your gait could not be described as anything but a run. Maybe a jog, if we were being generous." -???
"Wait, seriously? I guess that's kinda my natural gait." -Apollo
"... Do you actually expect me to believe that?" -???

I frowned, finding myself seriously annoyed by him. Ignoring the boy (man?), I shoved past him and went to my class. I was early, apparently - apart from the teacher, glancing anxiously at me, as well as a few other people, I saw nobody else there.

Then the boy stepped behind me.

He was in my class? Spirits, I was going to punch someone. Unless I made deliberate steps to walk normally, I got the feeling I was gonna get yelled at a lot. Which would be extremely annoying, needless to say.

A little more time passed as more of my classmates arrived, chattering idly to each other. I ignored them. Then a bell rang, and Lucy walked onto the stage at the top of the room.

"Welcome to the first day of school, Ardor High! *waves arms dramatically* I'm Lucy Staccato, and I'm your Queen Bee!" -Lucy
"What the heck is a Queen Bee?" -Apollo
"You don't know?" -???

The guy from earlier spoke, voice filled with condescension.

"The principal of the school will barely make any appearances to us, beyond being sent to her office, but in years past she took part actively in-" -???
"Get to the point?" -Apollo
"Her students complained about one of her actions. She took the logical course of action and imposed a caste system upon us. And... I don't believe we've been introduced. I am Henry Gilligan." -Henry
"Oh. I'm Ap-" -Apollo
"I know. I made it a point to check the class list and research each person." -Henry
"???" -Apollo
"... And that brings me to the end of my speech! Now, for the sortings!" -Lucy
"???" -Apollo
"We'll be going class-by-class. Uh, everyone here! Line up, single file, facing the stage!" -Lucy

She pointed straight at my class, and we did as told in a flurry of confusion. I somehow ended up in the beginning of the line, my face the picture of blankness.

"You! You're... Apollo, right? What are your interests?" -Lucy
"Yeah. I guess I like... plants... and stuff." -Apollo
"You're not giving me much to work with, you know." -Lucy
"I like food?" -Apollo
"... Still not much. But from your muscles, I'm gonna say Jock. Get over to their section - it's over there. Next - you! Why the heck are you wearing a trench coat? You look terrible." -Lucy
"... I am going to ignore that remark. My name's Henry Gilligan; I enjoy studying and logic puzzles." -Henry
"Nerds!"

On and on the interviews went - I didn't pay much attention. From what I could puzzle out, though, there are four groups. In order of highest to least valued: Populars (Pops), Jocks, Nerds, Outcasts. Lucy, as the Queen Bee, is pretty much a Popular, except better. Outcasts doesn't really seem to have much official criteria - like, Jocks are the cool guys, Nerds are the smart punks, and Outcasts are just whoever Lucy doesn't like. People who snap at her, or those she gets frustrated at.

Apparently, one person from my class was absent - some girl named Reef. What kind of name is that, honestly?

Talk to ya later, diary.

(Okay, I have got to stop saying that. I've done it twice in the past three days. What if I called you Lychee instead? Heh. Not really.)

Due to its small size, Alinia used to frequently wage war against other countries so as to take their land. It's dropped that little habit by now, though. It kept losing, and boy, did that take a toll on its economy. Thankfully, its citizens are really good economists.

Apollo's parents won't be as prominent a figure in later entries. Reef will appear soon, don't worry. She's one of my favourites. Of course, so is the counsellor, and she appears, like, twice.

[Piefan]

HDSOUTSQ8IGDS8IGCS8UGCS8IGSCU8TCWKBZAIB

I CANT BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING TO ME

WHAT THE HECK WHAT THE HECK THIS IS STUPID WHAT

... I won't apologise for that outburst. I got plenty of problems, and suddenly life is just like "Hey, you know all that crap we were gonna throw at people? Let's just dump it all on Apollo!"

We are being evicted.

EVICTED.

I am not exaggerating - violent instincts kicked in when Dad told me, and I attempted to punch him in the face. I'm not actually sure how that happened, but he dodged anyway, so I'm not gonna worry about that.

But we're not just losing the house. Also the farm. I could deal with moving to a smaller place, but seriously! The farm!

And even worse. Mom managed to find a new place to stay, but it's not alone - it's with these random rich-tail relatives. Apparently, they're really distant, because they don't even share the Jupiter name. I've never even met them in the whole of my life; now we're freaking living with them? What is this?

They already packed up while I was at school - really lame affair, I'm not going to describe it to you - so we're leaving today. Right now. I have no words.

***

We're here. Their house is... larger than I expected. It's practically a mansion - I'm pretty sure it is a mansion. How?

Dad had flagged down a taxi. We don't often take them - even when we do leave the farm, we prefer walking - but no way were we walking three miles, especially not with all our stuff. I didn't own much, but I was also carrying some of Mom and Dad's luggage.

(Backpacks. We don't own all that fancy-schmancy wheeled stuff.)

A huge gate surrounded the estate. Wings fluttering nervously, Mom stepped toward it and paused for a moment to look back at Dad and me.

"Remember - these people may have different lifestyles from what we're used to. You don't have to try to emulate that, or even like it, but you have to respect that. These are our hosts, helping us through a difficult time. Be kind. Respect them." -Mom
"... Whatever." -Apollo

She stared at me sternly for a moment, then bit her lip and hit the doorbell. (Gatebell? Bell, either way.)

We had to wait for a moment, but I spotted two figures emerging from inside the building. Then, slowly, the gates opened, and we walked in one at a time - Mom in front, me at the back. I was still kinda sulky about the farm, and can you really blame me?

As one of them pushed them back closed, the other - an adult - turned to us.

"Well wishes. Welcome to our estate. My name is Amirah Bohong." -Amirah

I didn't know why, but I got the feeling English wasn't her first language. There was something about her accent, about the way she spoke deliberately and carefully, as if she was making sure what she was saying was correct. My ample-ish knowledge in linguistics combined this information, and came to the conclusion that she probably spoke Malay.

Oh, and also, she was a cat, and those guys don't usually do English. It's, like, a species thing.

"Thank you. Er, what should we call you?" -Mom
"Amirah is fine, or in more formal contexts, Miss Amirah. I would appreciate if you didn't use my last name." -Amirah
"Hm? Why?" -Sawyer
"... It's a long story, and one I'd rather not share." -Amirah
"Of course. And, um, you?" -Mom

She nodded at the smaller figure - a dog.

"I am Reef Daser; Amirah is my mother." -Reef
"Why in the heck do the two of you have different last names?" -Apollo
"Feline genealogies are complicated. Everyone, including us, has essentially given up trying to force them to make sense to outsiders." -Reef
"'Kay then." -Apollo
"Why don't you come in? We'll show you to your rooms." -Amirah

They turned to walk away, and we followed. We passed what I could've sworn was half the building on the way - I saw private libraries (as in, plural. they have two. who owns this many books?), a home theatre, and a couple studies. We seemed to be the only people in the house, to my surprise. You'd think these guys'd have servants or something.

At last, as the five of us reached the end of one hallway, Amirah flicked her tail at two rooms opposite each other.

"Apologies - we didn't have the time to properly decorate, and I'm... not much of an interior designer in general. If you'd like, my daughter could help you clean up and redecorate. Isn't that right, Reef?" -Amirah
"Of course." -Reef
"Althea, Sawyer, you two will be sleeping over here. Apollo, this is your room. The toilet's just five doors over. We'll be leaving you now; I have business to attend to. Reef can show you around. *beat* Wait, I'm sorry. Is that fine, Reef?" -Amirah
"Yes." -Reef

They walked briskly away, and I pushed open the door to my room, ignoring my parents. I'm... not sulky - that sounds so whiny and stupid - but I still haven't gotten over the loss of the farm. I would've expected some kind of warning before that. Maybe some mysterious letters showing up, or some punk coming in and talking to Dad.

Maybe there was, and my parents just scheduled everything to make sure I didn't know. I wouldn't put it past either of them. Dad isn't the type of person to try and shelter me, but he is the type of person who would be too ashamed to admit to something like this. Like, "Hey, son. You know how I told you all about how I swore never to lose this farm, no matter what the cost? And how my ancestors worked their butts off to get this place to where it once was? And how I told you never to break a promise, especially one relating to your family? Yeah, I'm losing the farm."

And Mom... she's the type of person to probably just hold on to hope the whole time, wishing with all her heart that some angel would swoop down from above and be like "Oh, I just solved all your money problems and also I just achieved world peace and everything's perfect now." She's also smart enough to find a way to do literally anything if need be.

Bye, Lychee.

Uh. Diary.

As opposed to farming tools, in Alinia, scythes are often seen as weapons. That's why some people carry them around - it's considered acceptable for self-defense. (Of course, all weapons must be dulled and, if applicable, sheathed at all times, unless otherwise stated.)

Reef Daser's pronounced... Reef Dayzer.

[Piefan]

Saturday.

I kinda woke up instinctively at dawn, planning to do some farmwork for a couple hours before having breakfast. Then, when I realised this wasn't my house, I spent some time just... sitting there in confusion, forgetting for a moment what had happened yesterday.

Finally, I sighed, lying back down and beginning to mentally whine. A heavy air of oppression surrounded me - I don't know how to describe it, but either way, I really didn't wanna get out of bed. Maybe if I kept lying around, everything would be okay. Maybe.

And maybe I'd learn how to fly while I was at it.

I laughed bitterly - a brief, loud, bark - and hauled myself out of bed, digging through my bag to find my toiletries. Once I had, I headed for the bathroom, beginning my morning ritual. I left my toothbrush and toothpaste inside, not sure whether I was supposed to bring it back. If I was wrong, I'd just make up some excuse. Whatever.

Taking a shower put me in a much better mood, at least. I had no idea what I'd do for the rest of the day, so I left my room and began to wander through the hallways, looking around as I did.

There were marks on the walls where I assumed picture frames once were. Why'd they get rid of them? I frowned, resolving to ask about it once I got the chance.

I decided against it, however, when I walked into one room - dusty and apparently unused - and noticed that there was still one photo there. Amirah, Reef... and one other guy. A man. So... this was Reef's father? I can be pretty thickheaded at times, but I'd have to be an idiot not to figure it out. I could see the family resemblance, when I looked enough. They sorta had the same eyes. And they were both... purple? Yeah. Purple.

So. This guy was their father, and I hadn't seen him yesterday. It stood to reason that he was dead. Or left, for some other reason.

Dang. Amirah was a widow? Reef was missing a parent?

I doubled back into the hallways, feeling like I was somehow violating their privacy. This was personal, without a doubt. Frowning, I wondered what to do next. I didn't want to keep walking into rooms I wasn't supposed to. Find Reef and Amirah? But this place was way too big. They could be anywhere.

Silently, I shut the door, then slinked back to my the room.

Or tried to, anyway. Navigation isn't my thing, and I'd strayed pretty far. I ended up just walking around aimlessly, hoping I'd somehow find my way back. Mom found me, after a while.

"Hey, Mars." -Dad

(It's... a nickname of mine, unused by everyone but him. His last name - and, actually, mine - Jupiter, the Roman dude. Mars is that Roman dude's son. If he had a daughter, what would he call her...? Like, I'm pretty sure he knows exactly 0 people who he hasn't nicknamed.)

"Hey, Dad. Am I supposed to... be somewhere?" -Apollo
"The dining room. We've been waiting for you. It's right downstairs. C'mon." -Dad
"Oh." -Apollo

He led me downstairs, and I tried to gauge his mood from his gait. He isn't exactly subtle as far as emotions go, and I'm kinda into psychology. It's a nerd thing, but a cool nerd thing, y'know?

Anywho, I didn't really manage to gain much from that. He walked in a more controlled way than usual, but what exactly am I supposed to deduce from that? He's calm, or trying to be calm, or trying to project an image of fancy-schmanciness? I gave up just as we reached the dining room, where Mom, Amirah, and Reef were already sitting.

Breakfast was... mediocre, I guess. Maybe I could offer to cook someday. I hate owing favours, and staying in someone else's house because we got kicked out of our own? That kinda indicates me owing a huge favour. At least making a couple meals could make up for that. If only partially.

And then Amirah basically decided to force me to befriend Reef.

Well, her exact words:

"Apollo, Reef, why don't you spend the afternoon together? You could guide him around the house, and maybe you two'll befriend each other." -Amirah
"Very well." -Reef

Does this girl never disagree with anyone? Seriously.

I'll tell you how it went later, Lychee (why do I keep writing that?) Diary.

I believe this post was finished 30th/31st Jan? Just to give you an idea of how early I write this stuff.

[Piefan]

"Why in the name of the elemental spirits do you have two private libraries?" -Apollo
"To be fair, both are relatively small." -Reef
"Well, yeah, but that still doesn't make any sense! Like, why not just combine them into a single, large library?" -Apollo
"... Mother is not very good with interior design." -Reef

As she'd promised, Reef was leading me around the house, showing me into all the significant rooms. I, meanwhile, made sarcastic remarks and grumbled a lot. It was unreasonable - she wasn't the one who closed down the farm - but... I guess I just really need someone to vent my anger on, and it certainly wasn't going to be Mom or Dad. I'd seen them, working day and night to keep the farm afloat. Grumpy with lack of sleep, but still caring for me anyway. Handling arrogant punks constantly patronising them, just for the slim hope that they'd strike a deal and earn some cash.

Okay, now I sound like some kind of whiny loser. Dang. Why does that keep happening?

"Do you have any plans for the rest of the day?" -Reef
"No. Why?" -Apollo
"I was hoping you would. I do not, in truth, have any idea what I am doing." -Reef
"You don't know how to get around your own home?" -Apollo
"Of course I do. It is just... harder to explain to another person." -Reef
"Hate to break it to you, buuut that makes absolutely no sense." -Apollo
"It does. How do you tie a simple knot?" -Reef
"Simple! Just... put both of its ends... together... and..." -Apollo
*flat stare*
"... Apples to oranges." -Apollo
"Very well then. Believe what you will." -Reef

The afternoon wore on, and even after half an hour, the tour still wasn't finished. I'm pretty sure that isn't even because this place is that big - Reef and I kept arguing, and getting distracted from the task at paw. Half the time, they weren't even over anything important. Just "OH MY GOSH WHY DID YOU EVEN ASK ME HOW MY DAY WENT WHEN WE'VE BEEN SPENDING THE WHOLE OF IT TOGETHER???"

(Okay. That one was me, I admit.)

Thirty minutes is way too long of a time for me to be paying attention to a single subject, so I ended up excusing myself to head up to my room. I didn't actually plan on staying there for the whole of the day, but I... kinda wanted to just sulk for a little over losing the farm. This huge change was kinda hard to digest, y'know?

I ended up sulking way more than I planned. And by sulk, I definitely do not mean "cry on my bed". That'd be ridiculous. I am not weak.

***

Yeah, sorry for ending that last part so abruptly. Reef just kinda suddenly peeked into my room, and I pretty much just threw you out the window in shock. I don't really care about her opinion, but at the same time, I don't want her to think I'm a nerd. It's weird.

Standing from my spot on the bed, I looked at her.

"What're you doing here?" -Apollo
"If you have no objections, Mother would like to tell you something." -Reef
"And she couldn't come here and say it herself?" -Apollo
"She had a Powerpoint presentation prepared. Follow me, if you will. We should be hearing about the complete history of our bloodline soon." -Reef
"... Why?" -Apollo
"In all honesty, I myself do not understand. But it is what Mother wants." -Reef

She walked off, then, and I followed. Not that I was eager to listen to this speech, but I'd had enough of moping for one day, and there wasn't much else I could do.

The path was short, thank goodness, and Reef didn't try making conversation this time. I really don't want to hear her voice, with its weird pseudo-British (we're in Asia; how did she even get that) accent. As she pushed open the door to the home theatre - I recognised it from earlier, when we'd first arrived - Amirah greeted us.

She was fiddling with a projector, trying to get it to work; Reef started toward her. Amirah managed, though, and she hurried to a laptop nearby.

(I watched in fascination. I'd never used a laptop before - our financial outlook was bad enough that all we had was an old computer for business emails.)

She directed my attention to the wall opposite the projector, where she had an image of the family tree. As I've said before, we have a really big family, and that went when we were only tracing it back four generations. This one had at least seven. It was like a web of rectangles and text, hard to make sense of at a glance.

I spotted some familiar names - Aunt Amelia, Dad - and plenty of unfamiliar ones, too. I traced the one furthest to the right to find, after much effort, Amirah. The ones way above her were marked with blue circles around their names.

"As you know, Apollo, the Jupiter clan is a large one. You could argue that everyone, if you dig deep enough, is related, but this is one of the few that keep track of anything beyond two or three generations. Now, I myself am not a born part of the family, but rather married into it." -Amirah
"Uh, wait. Question. How long is this going to be?" -Apollo
"Your mother mentioned to me that you have a relatively brief attention span, so I've compressed it to half an hour. You already know everything about your own ancestry, of course, which means I won't be dwelling on it. I was born in Perrobumi, to a wealthy couple high up on the social ladder. Tracing back Reef and I's bloodline reveals a rich history filled with nobles and sultans." -Amirah
"Huh. Cool." -Apollo
"When I met Reef's father-" -Amirah
*wince* -Reef
"-he departed from the farm life, helping me build a business empire instead. This is what pays all the bills, in addition to decent inheritance I received from my ancestors." -Amirah

And so the speech continued.

You do not want to hear it. It managed to be more boring than school.

Six types of elemental spirits govern the world, controlling everything in nature. These spirits are Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Light, and Darkness/Shadow. They can give people powers, and they have the ability to possess bodies (usually corpses of willing people; it's like an organ donor thing) to take on the life of mortals. They're mostly ambivalent - they won't bother you, for the most part, unless you harm nature. In which case you're going to die a painful, painful death. Despite this, they're very famous, regarded almost as gods.

There are probably hundreds of each type of spirit.