Exactly the same and completely different

Hunter gripped his jacket closer to him as he closed the taxi door and stood in the brisk autumn air. Dusk would arrive in an hour or two, and he could already see the clouds forming for their nightly snowfall. There was always fresh powder to cut on the slopes in the morning due to the enchantment that caused it to snow every night near winter. It was an incredibly intricate spell that, thankfully, left the roads free of snow. Unfortunately developing near the mountain was an absolute nightmare; dispelling the enchantment to knock down, move, or expand something, only to recast it later was prohibitively expensive.

As such, the palace in front of him was pretty much the same as it had been when it was constructed more than a hundred years ago. Electricity and running water had been installed during a massive civic renovation in the thirties, but other than that it hadn't been touched. To his eye it looked a little like Blair Castle in Scotland, but the masonry work was that of Buckingham Palace. Regardless, it looked elegant, grand, and private. It was his first time standing in front of it, yet he could remember being here every year growing up. A pain throbbed in his head and he turned towards Jeeves who was retrieving the luggage from the trunk of their ride.

"I don't suppose you have an Aspirin by any chance?"

Jeeves finished unloading the car and shut the trunk (or boot as he called it) "Regretfully, no sir. However I'm sure the medicine cabinets inside are fully stocked. Are you feeling ill?"

Hunter shook his head and grabbed one of his bags. "Just a headache, I'm sure it'll pass."

The two made their way along the long roundabout driveway. There were more than a half-dozen cars parked in the semicircle and that told Hunter that most of his mother's family had already arrived. He could see his parents' Lexus, as well as his older sister's Cruze. There was a Ford Escalade, Fusion, and Mustang which told him his Aunt Jenny and her family were present. Finally, he spotted a Ferrari, Maserati, and Lamborghini and let out a light chuckle. One branch of the family loved their Fords, the others only drove Italian. Clearly, the battle would continue for another year.

Hunter winced in pain and stumbled into the Mustang. There was something wrong; his mom only had one sibling, a younger sister his Aunt Jenny. But he distinctly remembered his Uncle Terry, her younger brother; who was married to his Aunt Rachel. He groaned, and collapsed against the car. Rachel was his father's younger sister. But he remembered she never married. Yet now he recalled that she did. He was at their wedding when he was five. It was the first wedding he'd ever gone to and he remembered having so much fun playing with all his cousins.

"Master Curze, are you alright sir?" Jeeves asked concerned. "Shall I call for the doctor?"

"No." Hunter said a little hoarsely; then added when the pain subsided "thank you Jeeves."

"As you wish sir."

When his pain subsided a disturbing thought occurred to him. His alteration had created people!

God indeed.

They were three steps from the top of the staircase leading to the main entry when the door swung open and out charged Elle, Hunter's eighteen-year-old "little" sister. She launched herself at him, nearly tackling him down the stairway.

"Hunter!" she cried hugging him tightly.

Hunter managed to brace himself just before impact and instead of falling back and likely breaking something, steadied himself before hugging his sister back. "Hey Elle."

"I missed you so much!" she said burying her face in his chest "You didn't come home for summer."

It was true, Hunter had opted to stay at the college for the summer, he had taken classes so it wasn't as much of a break as he'd like, but he got to hang out with his new friends more, and see the city. He considered it a fair trade-off.

"I know," he said only somewhat apologetically, "but I'm here now."

She broke the hug and backed away from him, then gave him a playful swat, "Yeah for like a few days."

The two stood an arms length apart from each other, and Hunter looked at his sister. She hadn't grown so much as grown up since he'd seen her the Christmas before. Her hair was longer than he remembered, falling halfway down her back; it was a little wavy and hung loose. The color was either dishwater or dirty blonde depending on who you asked. Her roots were dark, but as it reached her shoulders became more ashen.

She wrapped her arms around herself and started shivering in the cold. It wasn't hard to see why, she was dressed in sweatpants and long sleeved t-shirt. Comfortable sure, but hardly enough to beat back the temperature. Even though the clothes were unflattering they couldn't hide her figure. The pants gripped her slim waist but then flared out at her hips, and her arms crossed under her breasts which Hunter surmised would fill a C-cup. These were things he knew he shouldn't notice about his family members yet always did because... well... he didn't really know why. But he could tell a hot girl when he saw one. "The **** God" rang through his head.

****. Strangely the thought didn't disgust him.

Hunter shook his head, clearing his mind of that realization, and took off his own overcoat and wrapped it around Elle before ushering her back up into the home. "Better than nothing right? Plus, you're taking a year off, you could've come visit me anytime. Still can." he replied as they stepped through the doorway and shut the heavy oak door behind them.

She would've replied, and in fact opened her mouth to, but didn't get the chance as she was cut off by a cacophony of voices.