Eisenstern 3.1
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So I age up into an adult, and suddenly, the Eisenstern legacy is mine.
That’s pretty weird, actually. Realistically, I’m not sure what that means. Aside from, I guess I can stay up all night if I want to. This isn’t some special condition of being the legacy heir, considering mom probably would’ve let me do that when I aged into adult even without being heir, but that’s neither here nor there.
What did confuse me was why exactly I ended up heir, but it wouldn’t shock me to discover pretty much every heir in a legacy wonders, “Why me?” It’s not like I didn’t want it. I’d never thought about it, to be frank. I just figured Hilda would get it, because she’s the youngest, and if you pick the youngest, then there are no little siblings running around being a nuisance, right?
Mom explained it, though. Hilda’s too dependent on other people. (She’s actually pretty easy to manipulate if you know how.) It makes sense. Hilda never fully grew out of that one and is still a bit gullible and naïve even now. I can’t fault her that, though. She is a really sweet girl, and I hope someday she finds something, and maybe someone, that really means a lot to her.
Not long after I did the house renovations (it was sort of weird mom agreed to them in the first place, but I guess she’d already decided I was heir), Caleb showed up. I guess he’s not really my uncle, more like my mother’s… uncle-in-law? He married Morgyn. And I’m not real certain how he managed to show his face around here so soon after that stunt he pulled biting mom, but I guess I should be nicer about it. It’s not like he did it on purpose or whatever. Vampires will be vampires.
Long as he doesn’t bite her again, I guess he’s fine. I’ve never been terribly fond of him to begin with. He always seemed to have this massive crush on mom. Nothing ever came of it, it’s not like he made my parents divorce or anything by existing, I’m just weirdly bitter about it. Can’t even say why.
Anyway, I have more important things to be doing, like perfecting my cooking craft. I’ve gotten pretty good at it! Mom was relatively impressed, but to be fair about it, mom’s impressed by just about anything. On the one hand, it’s nice not to have to fight to make her happy about something. On the other, I’m not so sure it always feels earned, if that makes any sense.
I made a dish one time, and she took a bite and said, “Wow, that’s the best Caesar salad I’ve ever had!” No it wasn’t. Grandpa’s Caesar salad is the best Caesar salad you’ll ever have, and I’m definitely not on his level. I’m pretty sure I’m not even in the same country as his level.
But! Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…
Cassandra moved in when we were teens. She didn’t seem terribly happy at home, and I mentioned my parents might be okay with her crashing with us for a bit. And she never really went away. Her brother Alexander comes by a lot too, and he’s a cool kid. I can’t say we’d have been best buddies in high school or anything (I didn’t have many friends, actually), but he’s alright.
He seems to like going up into the magic tower and talking to himself. Whatever makes him feel better. The magic tower’s one of the coolest places in the new house. It’s got a cauldron, nice fireplace, an aquarium, bookshelves and magic crystals everywhere. We’ve collected a number of them over the years. Cassandra went upstairs some time ago and put down these cool candles.
They burn blue! Sort of. The flames are like, black almost. I’m not sure what they’re for exactly, or what they do, but she called them sacred candles. Sounds pretty spoopy. I’ve been pretty nervous about asking what they’re for, but maybe someday I’ll work up the courage to. We’ve been dating for a while, but I still get a little tongue tied around her.
Wonder if that ever goes away. If it doesn’t, mom and mom sure made it seem that way.
Unsurprisingly, we tend to gather together either in the library/office, or in the garden. There’s almost always someone in either one, and where you find one Eisenstern, you’ll eventually find the rest. Moms are still pretty young. They’ll be elders in a few days I think, and I’m not really looking forward to it. I was sort of hoping they’d be around a lot longer, but it’s not like they’re going away the moment they age up I guess.
Hilda’s going to age up soon too, and asked if I wanted her to move out when she does. Well, I don’t really have any plans about raising an army or anything (I’d never ask Cassandra to birth me an army, that sounds unbelievably terrible), maybe just one or two kids. Besides, I don’t think my little sister would do so well on her own. I’d rather she stayed here, where I can make sure she’s okay.
And, you know, hex anyone that threatens her. (I wouldn’t do that.) (I would.)
Fortunately, I’ve gotten far enough in my food-sizzling abilities that I can make Diaval’s favourite dish. Grandpa got him on this stuff a long time ago, back when moms were little babies, and he’s gotten pretty accustomed to being fed gourmet fanfare. I’m not good enough at spellcasting yet to be able to bind a familiar, but it’s probably a good idea to get a better relationship with him.
It’s not like he hates me. He seems to like me decently enough. I just also know that we’re going to spend a lot of time together, and I’d like him to not be miserable.
Grandpa still comes by from time to time. I wonder if maybe someday there’ll be a time he stops coming, because nobody really remembers him anymore. That sounds awful. He and Cassie get along really well, and I was really happy to see that. He can be a little old-fashioned and hard to relate to since he’s so much older than everyone else (that must be pretty awful too), but he has the most interesting stories.
Maybe that’s why Cassie likes him. She seems to enjoy stories, even if they’re a little macabre. Actually, come to think, she seems to like the stories that are a little macabre the best. Grandpa’s got quite a few of those…
At least he doesn’t think my stupid puns are boring or anything. I always figured talking to me, his grandson, would be really weird considering we’ve got nothing in common (aside from a love of food I guess, but he’s not exactly married to food either, and if it was single I’d ring it), but he never seems annoyed or anything. The more I stare at him, the more I’m pretty sure I’m his clone, just with mom’s eyes. Avery-mom not Cecily-mom.
Fortunately, I grew up in Mt. Komorebi, where the eyes aren’t so weird. Hilda and I fit in here pretty well, actually. Well, aside from the fact I’m somehow blond. I know how, Cecily-mom’s blond, and it is natural, but some kids love to tease about your hair being blond. Or maybe that kid had a crush on me, hard to tell. Not that making fun of someone is a good way of telling them you have a crush on them… it’s not flattering.
I seem to be the only one in this family that’s cisgendered, though. And that’s a weird thing to think, but I’ve never felt… like, wrong? Or right, for that matter. Maybe I should play with that.
I have a strong love of red, and sweaters. Unfortunately, a lot of sweaters, depending on the style, make me look fat. I seem to have the same build as my grandpa, where I look fat, but I’m actually just really muscular. That’s a pretty weird thing to be, too, being fair about it.
I thought I might check out the slopes up here. Snowboarding and skiing are big things around these parts. We’ve even got actual snow-sport celebrity athletes around here, or we did at one point. Not sure what happened to them, they just sort of dropped off the radar. A lot of athletes do I guess.
I’m not bad at sports, I don’t think. Might be fun.
Hilda’s birthday came pretty quick, and then we were having a conversation over a birthday cake. (I hear we’ve used the same birthday cake for birthdays since grandpa ran the legacy. Wild. Almost gross.)
I let her know she’s always welcome to stay here, and I could never throw her out, and she seemed pretty relieved about that. I’m not sure why she was worried, to be honest. She’s still my little sister, and I’ll always be here when she needs me. Besides, this is her house too. I think it’s even in the legacy laws and whatnot, I’d have to check, but it doesn’t really matter. She’s always welcome here.
And if she never decides she wants to move out, that’s okay too.
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