Feng's Foods

Emmia was seen leaning against the wall of the warehouse, still catching her breath.

Almost recovered, Icarth was nowhere to be seen.

Well, that was to be expected since Emmia raised such a sensitive topic without warning. She closed her eyes to recall what transpired a few moments prior.

Icarth gazed at his sister coldly, "Why do you keep bringing that up when you know what my answer will be?"

Emmia was at a loss for words at his tone of voice.

"....Seril forgives you-"

"She doesn't and neither do I." Icarth cut off with an edge to his voice.

"I'll be going ahead. Take rest and wait for Sefir to pass through here." Icarth walked away, signaling the end of the conversation.

Emmia sighed, her throat slightly constricted. Taking deep breaths, Emmia forced herself to calm down.

'Why is he so stubborn??' Emmia thought helplessly. A long time ago, Icarth had a fight with their big sister, Seril, causing him to start living on his own in the dorms provided by Nova Academy. Since then, the two hadn't been on speaking terms mostly due to Icarth's reluctance to make any amends of any sort.

Lost in her thoughts, Emmia failed to notice the arrival of Sefir and Luna.

Spotting Emmia, Sefir lit up with joy. 'Finally, I don't have to bear this silence!' Sefir thought relieved.

"Mia!" Sefir called out.

Emmia flinched and directed her gaze toward Sefir and Luna. Fixing her expression, she forced a smile onto her face.

"Hey guys!"

"....are you okay?" Sefir asked slowly after noticing the lapse in her expression.

"Yea, I'm fine. I was just catching my breath since I couldn't catch up to Ica." Emmia responded weirdly.

"....what did Ica do?" Sefir sighed, guessing the source of the problem instantly.

"..nothing...I shouldn't have mentioned that topic in the first place." Emmia bit her lip as guilt surfaced in her eyes.

"...C'mon, we'll get late for food." Sefir ushered Emmia and Luna towards Feng's Foods before Emmia could sink back into regret.

Forcing a smile, Sefir started a conversation to keep the mood light, " So, Luna, did you Emmia works here actually? She comes here each weekend to build stuff?" Sefir phrased the last part as a question to Emmia.

"Actually, I'm still operating the machines, I've yet to build anything...." Emmia corrected.

"Then what does operating the machines actually mean? Give us some details." Sefir asked Emmia to continue to get her mind off the mini-fight that she had.

"I mean....do you want to know?" Emmia turned to Luna.

Luna blinked and gazed at Emmia face. There, a mix of emotions swirled. Hope, fear, sadness, and excitement all showed their colors across her face. As she was analyzing Emmia's open expression, she caught a glimpse of Sefir nodding his head almost imperceptibly. His eyes urged Luna to say yes.

"....Yes, I would like to know.." Luna answered softly.

Brightening up, Emmia started to throw away the gloom that was hanging around her as she spoke.

Through the rest of the journey, Emmia spoke almost non - stop with some comments from Sefir intertwined in between.

Luna gazed in wonder, at how someone could talk so much in such a small time and how they could look so bright.

-----

Arriving at Feng's Food the first thing that the trio saw was Icarth in a waiter outfit sweeping the front area of the restaurant.

"You guys took your sweet time," Icarth commented without a hint of what had transpired between him and Emmia.

"Yea, we were chatting along the way which slowed us down," Sefir replied taking a seat.

"Mia?"

"Yep."

"Hey! You asked me to explain!" Emmia defended herself.

"I did, I just didnt expect a 20-minute explanation on how an engine works," Sefir replied dryly.

Luna sat down and looked around while Emmia and Sefir bickered with each other.

It was a small-scale place. Neatly swept, the patio was decently large with around 5 tables with 4 chairs each. Behind the counter was the way to the kitchen where a middle-aged man worked as the chef.

His light brown skin glimmered from his sweat. His apron highlighted his physique which was nothing to be scoffed at. But it was truly his beard that stole the show. Even though his hairline had receded slightly over the years, his beard had only gotten more glorious. This was none other than Feng, who had become Icarth's employer a few years prior.

Currently, he was cooking at the back, Luna watched transfixed at his motions as the twins once were.

A few minutes later Icarth brought out the food on plates and laid them in front of the trio. Then setting a plate for himself, he sat down on the fourth chair.

"You're on break?" Emmia asked.

"Nah, there aren't many customers so I can relax for now," Icarth answered while digging into the food.

It was a bowl of steaming noodles in a thick broth with vegetables glistening in the overhead light. There was a hefty amount of steam that billowed out of the bowl as Icarth tried to cool it.

Everyone else started to eat too.

10 minutes later, everyone was finished with their food. Icarth and Sefir sighed in contentment while Emmia slumped down in bliss.

"That was great...." Emmia commented.

Sefir nodded in agreement, as Icarth placed his head on the table and closed his eyes to bask in the aftermath of the meal.

"How was it?" Emmia asked Luna. Sefir turned to Luna while Icarth opened one eye.

Luna, with her bowl empty and cleaned of all the broth as well, responded softly, "It's good..."

Emmia grinned, "I know right? All the items here are great. There's this one....."

Emmia started on her usual long-winded talks when Icarth spotted the first actual guest of the day.

"I got to go, also make sure to pay," Icarth added before leaving to serve the person.

"Haah, when will he actually treat us," Sefir sighed.

"When hell freezes over," Emmia responded.

For all his laziness, Icarth was never willing to part with money.

------

3 hours later, the dinner rush was finally over. Emmia, Sefir, and Luna had already left long ago.

Icarth slumped down on a chair and let out a long breath. Even though he had been doing this work for over two years now, it never got easier.

A plate of piping hot food was placed in front of him as Feng sat down with Icarth.

"Great work as always!" Feng complimented with a tired smile.

"Thanks, uncle," Icarth responded before burying himself into the plate in front of him.

Feng smiled. It's said that a chef's greatest joy is to see their food being enjoyed to the fullest.

"How's the turnout today?" Icarth asked in between mouthfuls, referring to the number of people who visited the restaurant.

"Better than yesterday, but still not enough," Feng sighed. "They weren't kidding when they told me this wouldn't be easy."

Icarth didn't say anything.

"Truly running a street-side restaurant is like a war. Maybe even harder than one!" Feng gave a hearty chuckle to that. "You eat up my boy. I'll go clean up behind the counter."

Icarth watched Feng get up and head behind the counter, his back reflecting an evergrowing tiredness that never seemed to go away.

-----

By the time Icarth was walking back to the dorms, it was already night. Night in Aster City was serene. The streets were quiet, as most people were already in their homes. With the exception of a few late workers and cleaners, the streets were empty.

Taking a deep breath, Icarth decided it was time.

Ducking into an alley, Icarth made sure he was out of sight. Touching his id card, Icarth felt his access to his gift was restored. Since Jade wasn't here, Icarth had to settle for his partial transformation.

Universal energy flowed into Icarth as his fangs and claws grew out. His pale red eyes sharpened, filled with a predatory look. His blond hair started to wave in an invisible wind.

Crouching, he leaped onto the roof easily. Scanning the rooftops, Icarth started to journey towards his destination, leaping across the rooftops as part of his daily training. Finally, it was clear where he wanted to go as the outline of the forest started to grow in the distance. It was training time.