Klef wakes up before I do the next morning, and is taking a shower when I finally come to. I knock on the door and the water turns off. Klef pokes his dripping head out in front of the door. “Yes?”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUGyQTs212e
“I’ve got to pee,” I deadpan.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVCmdwyM2Ss
“Nah, I don’t think you would yet…you went before bed, didn’t you?”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDycZOdsEoc
“Nope,” I say, shaking my head. “Dry off in the bedroom, bird brain.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbTF53HaALG
Klef closes the door and I’m about to yell at him when the door opens and he walks out in just a towel. I walk into the bathroom, closing the door harder than necessary. I do my business as fast as I can and open the door to the bedroom when I’m decent. Klef walks in, ruffling his hair and feathers. “There a comb in here?” he asks.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ92LNgiWxVo
I toss the brush by the sink toward Klef. “Use a brush, comb might be hard to find when everyone around here is covered in fur.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDS2UILgss4
Klef whines. “But brushes are for long hair!”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1mlKnEbQQN
“I use a brush, and my hair is almost as short as yours.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRA756rbP1E
“But I don’t wanna!” Klef protests.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRzzOYVFLR
“Use it or have a nest of birds in your hair.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUfguqdl7X
Klef frowns and chews the bottom of his lip. Then he hands the brush back. “‘Kay, I’ll risk it.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡznxIJTYNJi
“You are ridiculous,” I scoff, running the brush through my own hair.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXc5qld6LxA
“And you love me for it!” he cheered.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0N0NL7nRLy
I look just beyond Klef, to find Dad in the doorway, jaw dropped and looking murderous. “Klef…” I try to warn.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVFhLy1nwnm
“No no, don’t even try to deny it! You know as well as I do that you are smitten!”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSdkJtv6A6
“Klef, it’d be best if you shut up, now.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaGN2oPV3Ud
“Oh yeah? Why?”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqAGOsmS9gl
“Probably because you didn’t lock the door,” Dad growls.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgbfCLqgObZ
Klef jumps up and runs behind me. I roll my eyes. “Really? Treble, you’re 21.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvHiFUi2qP
“Sh-shut up!”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9R5Hi73may
Dad frowns. “A good boyfriend would stand up for his girl, you know.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkuvRYpsOii
“A good father lets his grown daughter stand up for herself,” I threaten.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡquGmKOo2FW
Dad smiles. “Always nice to see you, Iri.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCivwlBgOIO
“Why are you here, Dad?” I ask.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn2ARx6IQm0
“I need to get you somewhere safe. Out of the way of a siege or an uprising.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwox2MqwkvV
“Oh, come on, what are the odds of me getting hurt out here?” I scoff.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5w1DAyTspe
Klef tenses behind me and wraps me in his wings. “Get down!” he yells.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMN3oYH5BX
All 3 of us hit the floor as a flash of light and a loud BANG appear from the main room. Everything in the room is shrouded in dust and smoke. But when it starts to clear, Klef stands up. “Thought I recognized the shape! That was a grenade!”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEwlhq2XIos
“What’s a grenade?” I rasp, even though I dread the answer.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkBtQIFOYtL
“It’s a bomb. A small, strong bomb.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpWSFb9qY2
I swallow and cough. “What was it doing in our bedroom?!”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwDqTZetXdP
“I saw someone throw it in! Crap, I thought you were gonna die!”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzJHk9IuaCK
Dad growls, fur standing on end as he stands up. “And how do you know what that thing was?”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKukNCyE9XA
“I-I stole one once,” Klef says, scratching the back of his neck. “You both know my job. It took my buyer until I got the grenades he wanted to tell me how dangerous it was to have them loose!”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFrOpDaW5jG
“How dangerous?” Dad asks.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQWnjEj7JL
“You pull a pin, and then throw it or roll it. When the timer runs out, or if it’s jostled too hard, that happens,” he nods at the flames licking the remains in the bed. “Unfortunately, with more technology being spread, weapons are being made more too.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ82A35UemTg
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” I say, standing up. “That had to have come from the doorway. One of the Crusaders is trying to kill us.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC5AnsvEhfH
~/~1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrS8pvA0mzD
Bunches of Crusaders, attracted by the noise, swarm the bedroom and bathroom after the flames are put out and the rooms are impossible to navigate. I try to find Klef in the chaos after I’ve been furiously questioned, but in all the people it’s impossible to find his wild dark hair. Ama and Dad whisk me out of the room as soon as I’m close to the door and to my relief Klef is waiting outside. I wasn’t comfortable around him at first, but now I find it hard to be away from him. Maybe it’s Stockholm syndrome, maybe it’s just the fact that someone is trying to kill me. But I’m not going to fight it as long as it doesn’t cause trouble. “Hey, pointy ears,” Klef teases. “Meet anyone in there half as great as me? Anyone I need to beat up?”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUqe73W8kMG
“Not today, bird brain,” I scoff. “If anyone should be beating up anyone, I should be smacking you around for making that grenade thing public!”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8AuwSHpN6
“I didn’t know it was dangerous, all right?!”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbQwuTLGN3p
“Oh, a likely story,” I say sarcastically. “I told you your thieving ways would catch up with you.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7EWVsSgfIT
“Lighten up Ride!” Klef retorts. “You and I both know you thieve as much as I do nowadays.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7lwb0qzCft
“You have no proof!” I protest.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyl8cSjSf1r
“A testament to how good you are,” he points out.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNRRwnRcT5u
I pause. “I am good,” I reason. “Maybe not at thieving, but I am good.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fFUeEgdpJ
“Oracle,” Ama murmurs. “We need to move you.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqmhtz4OGA
“Don’t,” I snap. “We need to know who wants to kill me before I can leave. They could just endanger me somewhere else if they tagged along.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBBaYf5cu8S
“Much as I hate to admit it, Iri has a point,” Dad grumbles. “If we move her, she could be in even more danger.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsiml02LOA0
Ama bites her lip. “…Fine. But she’ll need a human I know for protection in addition to myself.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzG2jT6AbQ
She walks off and I don’t hesitate to follow. “So…can I ask you a personal question?” I request.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzrbMUWvCaK
“I won’t guarantee an answer, but sure,” Ama says, smiling.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlhtRcvOchR
“You seem so sweet. How are you a necromancer?”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3492zCwuis
Ama’s smile drops. “You wouldn’t like me angry, let’s put it that way,” she mumbles.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBKbFGUQ6QO
Someone laughs walking towards us down the hallway. “You lose it again, Ama?” they chuckle. “Bobbi, they/them. Pleasure to meet you.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGsTvQbX0vK
“Likewise,” I stammer.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZV3a0wLxLq
Bobbi runs a hand through their bright blue hair and fixes me with hazel eyes. “So you’re the Oracle, huh?”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1qzUdEh1tf
I cringe. “Uh…yeah.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnD5ieo8F6h
“See anything about me?” they tease.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKukqIPcgY
“Bobbi!” Ama reprimands.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuEMwGVx45M
I laugh, but it’s too high and sounds more like a choke. “Haven’t seen you that I know of,” I supply. “Sight is sort of finicky. Can’t really control it like everyone thinks.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkRamoggynO
Bobbi nods. “Wasn’t expecting much,” they chuckle. “I’m not a celebrity like you.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6pxsUE40ob
“Please don’t call me a celebrity,” I ask. “I don’t know you all that well, and it sort of…makes me really uncomfortable.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLN7y28KixH
“Oh!” Bobbi exclaims. “Sorry. Want to go somewhere quiet? Away from everyone like me who doesn’t know how to make sure you’re comfortable?”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJUmqSUDlI4
“Is there such a place?” I laugh.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBef0M5PLNZ
Bobbi crooks a finger. “Follow me.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30SrAu12MA
I run to keep up with their quick pace. Ama follows behind, slower. “Bobbi is who I was going to look for. They’re my partner in crime, I suppose, the way you and Klef are to everyone around here. I couldn’t think of someone I’d rather have my back in a fight more.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnFYIb65Bs
“Oh you,” Bobbi laughs, looking back at Ama. “Speaking of, where’s your partner in crime?” they ask me.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVPE7QGYiN
“Oh, Klef!” I exclaim. “I left him at the bedroom we used last night! I’m not sure if I could find my way back, though,” I say, looking back down the hall we were walking through, upset.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBX5hcWvs1n
“He’ll find us,” Bobbi assures. “He’s that kind of guy.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡelTYD3aCtQ
“He’s really not the best tracker, especially in a concrete jungle.”1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnE6U4SS3Wf
“True, but he also won’t stop until he finds you. It’s his way of caring,” Bobbi rebuts.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoUmGAKSygl
I smile at that. “He’s a big softie,” I sigh, shaking my head.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrz5yxs0vCw
“Oh, we’re here,” Bobbi says, gesturing to a nondescript door.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvuvVs5M7D3
Penana
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