sally

Rayan turned to Sam, a deep anger making itself apparent in his body language. “Miss Roster, leave my classroom. Now.” He growled. “Mister Zaidi... Normally, I don’t pull rank. But in this case, I want you to keep in mind who you’re trying to bark orders at. I am General Samantha Storm Roster, Juggernaut to the Astarian Military, Military Equivalent to the R.D.R’s Grim Reaper, and Sister to the next head of the Astarian line of the legendary Roster Clan. I could have beat Melody’s ass right in front of you and the administrators of this school wouldn’t have been able to do a fucking thing about it. In fact, they probably would have wondered what Melody did to warrant such a reaction from me.” Sam snarled. “Then you have no honor or respect.” Rayan hissed. “That’s where you’re wrong. I have no honor or respect to those who fuck over the people I care about. Especially when they’ve clearly shown no growth.” Sam smirked. “Your sister never messed with her. Why should you?” Rayan asked, the anger still in his voice. “My sister is very calculating. While she does flare out at some people, it would be beneath her to mess with an insect like Melody. I, however, am not bound by the same kind of calculations.” Sam remarked. “Then your sister is far more kind than you. The rumors that she is “Lynne Roster’s Nice Daughter” must be true.” Rayan observed. “That’s where your powers of observation truly fail you. My sister may look like the more kind, obedient, and merciful one... But she is very much a sadist who enjoys watching the people who wrong her and those she cares about squirm, suffer, and die. She simply holds her dark side at bay more often than not. Even with the Black Tower being the physical embodiment of how horrific Melody Roster’s dark side can get, she doesn’t unleash hell as often as I do. So, because of that, it simply looks like she’s the “Nice Daughter” ... However, the very dark and grim truth is, I’M THE “NICE ONE”! And my defending our family, even in small ways, is a mercy.” Sam explained. Horror replaced the anger in Rayan’s face. “I want you to keep that in mind if you ever feel the desire to bark orders at me again!” Sam sneered as she sauntered out of the auditorium.

“I know for a fact that we’ll be going to New York. Nathaniel really wants to go there.” Alana smiled as she chatted with her mother over coffee at the Cozy Bear. “That sounds really nice! I can give you a list of places that you can go, and friends who you should be able to stay with when you’re there.” Lynne replied as she sipped her drink. Suddenly, Melody appeared before them. “YOU NEED TO CONTROL YOUR SISTER!” She shouted at Alana. “Your daughter is a menace!” She snapped at Lynne. Alana and Lynne looked at each other, a shit eating grin spread across Alana’s face. “I’m not my sister’s keeper.” She laughed. “Melody, my daughters are both grown, young adult, women. I do not need to control Samantha and I will not do so. I refuse to allow you to even attempt to force me to fight your battles for you. If you have an issue with my daughter, take it up with her yourself.” Lynne took another sip of her coffee. Melody looked at them, horrified. “It's not nice when someone won’t fight your battles for you, is it?” Alana asked. “Shut up Alana!” Melody hissed. “No. Melody, we are in our twenties. We’ll be graduating college soon. You need to stand up for yourself.” Alana growled. “Lynne, as your family’s matriarch...” Melody began. “As my family’s matriarch, and mother to my daughters, I am permitted to act in any way that I see fit. Therefore, if I decide to not “parent” my girls in a situation because one of their classmates is ordering me to, then that is MY decision and nothing will change that. What you need to understand is that you are in no position to bark orders at my Melody or me.” Lynne’s tone of voice became slightly annoyed. “But Sam was out of line!” Melody blurted out. “Whether or not she was out of line is not the point. What is the point is that, instead of standing up to her yourself and acting like an adult, you ran to us and ordered us to “control” her as if she were a disobedient child. Frankly, after years of being told how to parent my children from almost every different direction, I have grown sick and tired of other people telling me what to do with them. I shouldn’t have let Carol do it for as long as she did, and I REFUSE to permit you to do anything remotely close to the same thing.” Lynne growled. Melody looked at them, horrified, and annoyed. “Your whole family is disgusting!” She yelled as she ran off.

“Is this how the Roster Family deals with members acting unsavory?” Rayan called as he walked up to Lynne’s and Alana’s table. “We have yet to talk to Sam. This is how we deal with outsiders attempting to dictate how we act.” Lynne sighed. “As it is, she was the one who ran up to us and screamed orders at us.” Alana remarked. Rayan looked at them, a little baffled. “Alana...” He began. “Look, Melody is, at least, twenty-four years old. Instead of actually standing up to my sister, like she very well should have, she ran up to us and threw a literal temper tantrum.” Alana cut in. “Your sister was out of line.” Rayan replied. “Be that as it may, we will deal with her when we see her next.” Alana sighed. “On top of that, I will not be told what to do with my own daughter.” Lynne shot. Alana quickly shot her mother a somewhat sympathetic look. Lynne looked sad and angry at the same time as she stood up and glared at Rayan. “I have spent years being told how to handle my children by outsiders, I will not continue to allow it any longer.” She growled. Rayan looked at Alana, annoyed but with a hint of empathy. “We will deal with it.” Alana sighed. He looked at her for a minute, almost as if he were trying to convey a message through telepathy. He looked at them sternly. “So long as you do.” He sighed as he walked away.

A couple of hours later, while Lynne and Alana sat at Agatha’s, talking about family matters, Sam stumbled into the garden laughing hysterically. “That girl is so full of herself!” She cackled. “Sam, I hope you realize, she ran up to us and demanded we punish you. She did this in broad daylight at the Cozy Bear. And then Zaidi came and hounded us for not doing things to “proper standards”. It was not pleasant.” Alana scoffed. “It's not my fault she’s too full of herself! And your professor really needs to learn his place!” Sam laughed harder. “Sam, what you did was out of line.” Lynne sighed. “I’m not gonna apologize!” Sam huffed as she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Sam, I get that you still hate her. I get that you like to troll her. But this is beneath you. You are a high ranking general in the Astarian Military, on top of being a member of this family. Why didn’t you just flaunt that in her face? Or, better yet not do anything to her directly? I’ve been minding my own business for months and it has driven her insane!” Alana explained. “Yeah, I don’t care about subtlety.” Sam remarked. Agatha walked into the garden with a tray of snacks and drinks, sat the tray on the table and sat down on her swing. “Sam, you need to not be so cruel. That girl has done nothing to you or Melody in years.” She sweetly suggested. “But she’s insufferable!” Sam whined. “Sam, that doesn’t do anything to put you in the high ground.” Agatha sighed, looking a little peeved. “But, Agatha, you know she’s horrible! People like that only care about their position. She is no better than people our family have gone up against for years!” Sam called back. “Yes, she is, but you are simply putting yourself beneath her by showing your backside like this.” Agatha sharply replied. The tone caught the rest of the women off guard as they all looked at Agatha shocked. “Agatha.” Sam stuttered. “Holy shit.” Alana gasped. “Look, cruelty is never the answer. Senseless cruelty simply makes you the bringer of pain and embarrassment. Had she done something to you in the first place, it would have been more acceptable that you lash out at her. But, since you did it without warning, or real reason, you are the one in the wrong. Samantha, you are in your twenties, a member of this family, and a military woman; By now, you should have a basis of that ingrained into your mind.” Agatha scolded. Sam blinked and stood in a stunned silence. “Cruelty is never the answer. And yet we all never really argue with what Sam and Mels have been doing for their jobs for the past few years...” Lynne rolled her eyes. “That was different, and you know it.” Agatha spat. “Wow. So, THAT’S what sets her off.” Alana commented. 

Sam sat down, still bewildered at the mere idea of Agatha snapping at her. “Mom, keep in mind, you never argued with what the two of us were doing. Just because you’ve made snide comments about a few of Sam’s and Ken’s orders, and you nearly killed both The Red Death and Azrael over what happened with me, that doesn’t mean you actually fought for us when we first started out in our positions.” Alana rolled her eyes. Sam instantly snapped back into reality. “Yeah, if you actually gave a shit, you would have fired Carol years before Mels, Dad, V and Agatha made you. I didn’t go into the Military just because Ken went back. I went in because it got me away from that evil bitch!” Sam announced. Shock washed over Lynne and left her looking destroyed. “Will you ever let me live that down? I said I was sorry! I fired her!” She blurted out. “NO!” Sam and Alana yelled back in unison. “Yeah, Mom, I don’t wanna hear anything about how sorry you are! We love you, but you fucked up!” Sam boomed. “As it is, we have scars that will take years to heal that you caused. Do you honestly think our scars are only from our jobs? Brielle isn’t the only therapist that a member of this family has!” Alana stated. Agatha stamped her foot and looked at the girls angrily. “THAT’S ENOUGH GIRLS! We are here to discuss Sam’s bad behavior at Anteros today. Not to bring up old, open, wounds!” She barked. “I didn’t really do anything?!” Sam yelled. “You humiliated her and you did it without being provoked!” Alana yelled back. “Samantha Storm Roster, if you actually do think that you didn’t do anything wrong, then you have shown no actual growth when it comes to your peers from High School.” Agatha judged. “It also shows that part of your training from the military didn’t take. She is, technically, a civilian. On top of being an ass, and dishonoring the family, you are making the military look like shit with this.” Alana explained. “So what? The military doesn’t look the best in any country!” Sam scoffed. “Now Sam. I’ve seen Prince Urien showcase more honor than that!” Alana rolled her eyes. Sam’s eyes widened with rage. “DON’T COMPARE ME TO THAT ELITIST, ROYAL, DOUCHEBAG!” She hissed. “THEN DON’T SINK BELOW HIS LEVEL!” Alana yelled back. Sam and Alana stood up and looked at each other with rage. “YOU WILL NOT VIOLATE THE TREATY!” Lynne boomed as she stood up and got in between her daughters. The girls looked at their mother, huffed and sat down at opposite ends of the room. 

“Samantha, you need to do better. The main thing that will separate you from the pathetic trash of this world is whether or not you have the high ground.” Lynne instructed. “Ah, yes. Talk to me as if I’m Anakin Skywalker. Wouldn’t that make Mels Obi-Wan Kenobi?” Sam rolled her eyes. “At least I get to fuck a Mandalorian!” Alana laughed. “We all KNOW Nathaniel isn’t a Mandalorian! At BEST, he’s a former Sith!” Sam scoffed. “ENOUGH!” Lynne yelled. She looked at both of her daughters, a flicker of rage in her eyes. “NOW, until I formally step down, I AM the Matriarch of the Astarian Line of the Roster Clan. I do not care how powerful the two of you have gotten outside of our family’s privilege. I WILL NOT ALLOW ANY OF MY CHILDREN TO CAUSE UNNECESSARY TROUBLE!” She boomed. Alana looked at her mother, wide eyed for a second and then began laughing uncontrollably. “Mom! Just because you’ve been doing the Founding Day traditions of representing the Roster Clan and denying the Astier Clan their ability to bestow a formal title onto us since you got better, doesn’t mean you’re the Head of the Family! Seraphina does the “Ancient Roster Clan Duties”, Agatha is our presence at all of the local Ren Faires, Oma and the Legal Team work with her sisters to keep the finances going, Sam and I work together to formally “protect” the family, and I get a daily briefing on how every aspect of the family is doing. Oma, Violet, Sophie, Seraphina and even King Julius and Princess Ariadne formally recognize me as the Head of the Family. At most, you’re a figure head. You only have power here because you’re Sam’s and my mom. We love you. We will yield to you. But that’s about it.” Alana sounded almost clinical as she spoke. Horror took over the rage on Lynne’s face. “Agatha, Melody can’t be right... Is she?” She stuttered. “Well, it's not like the three of us truly wanted to be Head of the Family. Right? You only took the position since Seraphina and I refused it.” Agatha shrugged. “I took the position because one of the three of us had to!” Lynne spat. “But here you are, trying to command the power of the position when you don’t even truly have it. You have it in name only because we haven’t done the formal passing of the torch. Oma doesn’t want to do that until I’m at least thirty years old.” Alana pointed out. “Be that as it may, I am still your mother!” Lynne huffed. “And? Mom, I just explained to you that, when it comes to the powers that recognize our family, you are just a placeholder for when I formally become the Family Matriarch. You may be our mom, but your say here stops at that.” Alana explained. “And if I decide not to formally pass the torch to you? I could give it to Samantha.” Lynne shot. “No, you can’t! Mom, it has to go to a blood related heir, unless the line of succession is approved by all ruling members of the family!” Alana laughed. “Even then, I don’t want it.” Sam stated.