Don't even worry, I keep my word.
...Totally. Whoops. Ehehehe... plzdontkillmethanks.
The poor strain looked confused by the reply, saying, "How do you know her, then? As far as I'm aware, only strains should know Dresden and refer to her as such. She's the one who creates us, after all, and all strains know about her since we meet her when we're given our powers, forcefully or at random."
Huh, that could be useful, I thought, pushing aside the uneasiness I felt when she winced while saying that they were forcefully given their powers. If they all know Dresden, then I could possibly use this to my advantage, especially if I plan on changing anything in the future. I'd need all the allies I could get, and if I could get strains as my allies that would be incredibly useful due to their wide versatility in powers.
Hey, it was early in the path of change, but there was no harm in starting so soon. It could only bring good, after all, to be well prepared for anything.
"How should I even start explaining this…"
The strain's name was Kaishi. She insisted on not telling me her last name since I didn't use mine, just so I wouldn't be the only one doing that sort of thing (which was rather sweet of her).
Her powers allowed her to understand any and all languages, and pass that on to others. Anyone who touched her would understand them as well, at least until they released their hold. However, she could create a little pocket, per say, wherein anyone in the area would be able to understand each other, no matter the language, with a max range of the size of a floor of a small building.
When I told her about what had happened to me (albeit leaving out that I was from another world or dimension entirely) she seemed to be in awe once again, before suddenly proclaiming that she'd help me in any way she could, since any friend of Dresden's was a friend of hers. Well, that and she wanted to return the favor for rescuing her from the blues, who had indeed returned at one point to scout out the scene. We quickly left once we saw them, walking right past the wall of people that seemed to surround the alley's exits out of nowhere.
"What are we going to do now?" Kaishi questioned quietly, her stitches stretching a little as she tried to make herself heard. I still wondered how that happened, and why she didn't take them out.
"Well, finding a place to sleep is high on the list," I stated, before sighing and looking down at the ground. "But I think something else is a bit higher."
"What's that?" She asked, coming to a stop when I did since I had to continue holding her hand for her to see me. Earlier we'd tested to see if I could extend my power out to her without doing so, but I still couldn't control it, so direct contact was necessary for her to see me.
"Finding a king to help me control my power. I need to get this under control before something bad happens," I said, knowing full well that the longer I let this go on, the greater the risk of the shadows doing more than just hide me. It was rather frightening to think that I didn't know the full extent of my own powers, and in fact barely knew a small fraction about them from what they'd done so far.
Kaishi looked a little startled by this, and looked ready to argue against it before seemingly coming to a realization and calming down. She replied, "Well, you know your options, but um… you've probably already guessed that none of them are ideal. The Gold King and Blue King would probably detain you and lecture you until your ears bleed, the Silver King is way up high in the sky, the Colorless King is dead and the Green King's location is unknown, though I doubt you'd want him to help since Jungle as a clan is rather chaotic. Ah, why don't we go to the Red King?"
I smiled at her, "Alright, I guess so. That seems to be the only viable option. He's probably got a few tricks anyway, since red aura is supposed to be the most destructive and difficult to control." I frowned a bit before realizing that I had no idea how he'd react to another king being on his turf (I could only assume violently), but it was still the best and most likely only option, so I'd deal with that when the time comes.
Her face brightened a bit before adding, "That, and bar HOMRA is a safe spot!"
"Safe spot?"
"Ah, strains know it as a safe spot since the Red King helped one of our own. Since he did that, no one really bothers him except the really rowdy strains since we all appreciate what he's done for her. Therefore, it's a safe spot since we know we'll be accepted there." She explained.
Ah. She was talking about Anna. Did strains have a widespread information network or something? It sure seemed like the majority of strains looked out for each other, if the way Kaishi spoke gave any indication.
"Alright then," I said, "I'm assuming you know how to get to where they are then, if the bar is a safe place for strains. Lead the way, Kai!"
"Ah... Kai?" She muttered, blushing a little.
I looked at her sheepishly, "Oh, I have a habit of giving my friends nicknames. If you don't mind, of course. It's just that Kai is a bit easier than saying your whole name, haha!"
That and it sounded a bit more like a normal name for me, being from America and all. Japanese names were going to take some getting used to...
She smiled back at me, "It's fine, I just have never had a nickname before. Kai does roll off the tongue a bit easier, doesn't it?"
And so we set off towards bar HOMRA, laughing and talking a bit more on the way there. As we got closer though, this sort of pulling feeling began tugging at my insides, and without realizing it I'd started leading the way instead.
We stood outside the door to the bar, both of us fidgeting anxiously. The pulling feeling that had once felt like a spark now felt like a low burning flame, flaring inside my core. I looked over at Kai, and she smiled a bit hesitantly at me before we slowly opened the door.
It was laid out similar how I remembered it from the anime and manga. The sofa was pushed up against the wall next to the window, with that neat jukebox sitting beside it; a coffee table sat in front, and the bar was a bit farther back. The stairs to the second floor were to the right, and a small path to the kitchen and the back room was placed to the side. The entire area was a bit bigger than I expected, but I attributed that to the fact that this place was a business, and would need more space to place more tables for customers.
There weren't any customers, luckily, since it was only the early afternoon, so no one but members of the clan would be here. Kusanagi was polishing a glass behind the counter, the Red King was sleeping on the couch, and Anna sat at the bar drinking what appeared to be orange juice. No one else seemed to be here, so I assumed they were all out doing whatever the members do during their free time.
When we opened the door, Kusanagi looked up, opening his mouth probably to tell whoever had entered that the bar didn't open till later, but it closed before a word could get out. He put down his glass, looking perplexed towards where we stood at the doorway.
Anna looked up curiously at him. "Kusanagi?"
He frowned, muttering, "I swore someone came in. The door opened..."
Oh, right. Invisibility. I was a bit distracted though, since right when I entered the building, that low burning flame felt like it had a lot of fuel added to it, and it was really hard to ignore as the feeling spread throughout my body.
A tug on my hand snapped me out of it, though, and realized I'd been staring at Mikoto, who'd woken up with a snap as soon as we set foot inside. He hadn't sat up yet, but the fact that his eyes had opened and were scanning the room made me realize that he might be able to sense me. Kai looked at me curiously, but I just shook my head and waved off my oddness. There were more important things to do, after all.
"How do you suggest we do this?" Kaishi asked glancing at the three others in the bar. How should we do this? Maybe it was a bad idea to just walk in...
Ah well, I'd have to deal with it now, especially with Mikoto already knowing that we were there somehow. Maybe it had something to do with sensing other Kings? It would definitely explain that burn I was feeling, making me wonder how he must sense my black aura.
I could think on that later, though. Looking back at Kai, I made up my mind and replied, "Okay, since you're my translator you're going to have to let go of my hand, explain to them the situation or at least enough of it to get the point across, and get one of them to agree to let me touch them so they can see me. An-The girl will probably be the most willing, since you're both strains." Whoops, going to have to watch what I say. I almost let it slip that I knew Anna's name when I wasn't supposed to.
It would be really bad if I let anything I knew out without meaning to. So many things could go wrong, and if the Green King got a hold of that particular information...
No, I couldn't let that happen.
Kai frowned a little, clearly unhappy with the idea, but nodded anyways. Reluctantly, she let go of my hand, and judging by the startled looks of the three others in the bar, was now visible to them.
I hoped this didn't end up being a disaster.