Faith Adiana O'Keefe

Uncle Jon was undeniably Faith's favorite uncle, but 'Uncle Omniel', as he always told her to call him, was also pretty high on the list.  He wasn't one of those cheesy uncles who did magic tricks or gave you peanut brittle - the kind Faith's friends had.  Instead, he was a complete and total badass.

No, really.

I mean, most people in her family were, but no one told a story like he did.  And telling stories seemed to be his favorite thing to do now.  The best part was that he liked to act them out - and he had this awesome scar across his face that made them all completely believable.

"This castle's been besieged many a-time," he intoned one afternoon, in his somewhat lumbering Irish accent.  "Look over there, Faith, and tell me what ye see."   He pointed across the vast lawn, and Faith leaned out the crenelation, shielding her eyes from the sun and squinting.

"I see Dylan filming a tree."  She waved enthusiastically at her brother, who waved back.  She gestured to her uncle - as if to say 'Come up here and hang out with us', but Dylan just gave her a weird look and waved his hand dismissively.

Faith frowned.

"I'm sorry everyone always seems to avoid you when you visit," she said.  "I think you're interesting."  Omniel fixed her with a strange stare for a moment, but said nothing on the matter.  "Anyways, you were saying?"

"You see the remnants of the wall from here?  They look like mounds now - all grown over."

"Is that what those are?  But they look like they've been buried for ages.  Geez, Uncle Omniel, you're so old."

He smiled, almost sadly, and nodded.

"Aye child.  That I am."

She considered the mounds for a long moment before turning back to ask him a question.  He was gone.

Faith grinned widely and shook her head.

"Like freaking lightning," she said.  "He's so cool."