Blood of the Earth [Jupiter!]

With a lazy, carefree swagger Jupiter followed a step or so behind the girl. He was slowly closing the ground between them, but it was hard to be fast when he was trying so hard to be nonchalant and cool. As they began to round the corner he finally caught up with her and walked abreast with her until she stopped to take in the river of fire.

He'd seen the river many times so instead of looking at it he watched Aurielle for her reaction. As far as he knew there was nothing above ground that compared to it. She didn't disappoint and was so engrossed it appeared as though she'd forgotten he was there. Amused by this, Jupiter grinned.

So Regulus had kicked her out, eh? Forced to explore. That was his kind of dad. The rest of what she said, though, was a bit of a bummer. Jupiter's smile faded as he thought of his own missing family. His voice soft, he said, "I'm missing my mom and my siblings too." He saw his dad often, but he'd been careful to keep his abandonment to himself. As much as he loved Angelus, Jupiter didn't want to travel with his dad and he knew the elder Imperialis would insist upon it if he knew.

He sniffed and then seemed to catch himself. This weepy sad stuff was for the birds! Jupiter shook his head as if to rid himself of the sadness. Forcing a cheerful note into his voice, he said, "Hey, what do you say we find stuff to throw in? You haven't seen anything yet - wait until you see what the river does to rocks!"

"Jupiter"   "Amadeus" ”You”