Location: The village of Bregar
The sound of her mother dragging the pots and pans out from the cupboards woke her up, but it was her brothers who decided to play 'monster attack' that caused her to drag herself out of bed.
"Will someone please get them to stop it?" The girl complained, swinging open her bedroom door and putting on her best scowl to present to her family. Though her face itself looked rather nice, her usual expressions tended to make her appear... unfriendly. The forming frown lines and cold eyes tended to warn people off.
From the kitchen, which was really only a few feet away, her mother Diane smiled, "Good morning to you too, Etta." she said, "Did you have a good sleep?"
Etta let out a yawn and made her way over to her mother, "Yes, it was fine." was her reply.
The mother frowned at her daughter, but did nothing other than announce that she was getting breakfast prepared and that it would be ready soon.
When the food was on the plates and the family of six was settled down around the table, Etta's father, Max, was the first to start a conversation. "So, it's a big day today, huh?" The man said, looking up from the cooked ham and corn.
"I hope I'm chosen this year." One of the brothers said, his brown eyes shining with excitement, "I'd be the first one ever to kill one of the monsters and bring it back to Bregar!"
Etta rolled her eyes, "You seriously don't think that would actually happen, do you Adam?" She asked in a mocking tone, "Like the Fiddleson sisters would ever chose you."
Adam sneered at her, "Who's the one who wants to be a Protector, but can't get accepted into training?"
"Shut up!"
"What? Are you mad?" Adam laughed, "Johnson says you'll probably never make it through, you know."
Their mother narrowed her eyes, "Stop it, both of you." She snapped in a harsh tone, "Ettana, you do not say such things to your brother. Adam, apologize immediately."
The two other brothers did their best to hide the smirks on their faces while the third spat out an apology. Their father nodded and put back on the smile that had momentarily left his face when the two children had been arguing, "Good. Once we've finished our meal, I want all of you to wash your faces and dress nicely. None of you may be picked today, but it has never done harm to look your best."
Above the family, the lights dimmed and went out completely after a few seconds. When they flickered back to life, Etta lowered an eyebrow, "When is the power going to be fixed? It's been acting like this for months." she said, picking at the cooked ham with her fork.
Her father wiped his hands on a napkin and shrugged, "I'm not informed with the Council's activities, Etta, but I'm sure they'll fix it soon."
"Mr. Araya could fix it, if they'd let him."
"He doesn't do that kind of work anymore, idiot." Adam pointed out, "Not after what happened to his son."
The story was, the Council claimed, was that Ak Araya's son had been killed during work one day. The boy and been electrocuted and fried due to clumsy use of equipment was their story, yet a body had never been shown during the funeral. The Araya's had been the machinery people of Bregar, and when Ak and Nisa's son died they stopped their business and never reopened. And now, years later, they pretended that Nolan had never existed.
The story wasn't even supposed to be mentioned.
"Hush, Adam. No one asked for your opinion." Diana said, shooting a cold glare at her son, "The Council will make arrangements for repairs when they have the time. They are very busy people, you know."
Adam scowled, "Of course I know! Everyone only says it about a-"
"Alright!" Max said suddenly, shooting up from his chair and cutting his son's sentence short, "Children, go clean up. We're expected to be outside in half an hour."