Reggie was practically vibrating. With rage. "Mr. Rolander, you- Tried to break into his house! This is not at all like you. If this is all over a fancy divine wristwatch then... I'm sorry, but you can't have it." Reggie was seething. The only reason why he didn't just stomp Kobbsley into mulch was because Claire was holding onto him. "I have *proof* that Rattlescale has ill-intent for it. He TOOK the recording of it, and won't give it back. Until you just- Listen to it, then I am not giving up the Originator."

"Argus Rattlescale is a trusted member of the community! He's been teaching here longer than you've been alive! If it were any other charges, then I'd be far more believing but, you're accusing him of being a supervillain out of a cartoon! That's- I'm sorry, that's an exaggeration, but still. These claims are very extreme, and thus far the only proof you have is asking about some tape recorder that he confiscated after you SNUCK UP TO HIS WINDOW to record him!"

Reggie scowled. "I knew there was something UP with the guy! He just- Immediately when he saw what the originator could do, it was all 'Gimme gimme gimme', he didn't even call you up until like, the end of the conversation! The guy wanted to just pocket it and- Now I know why!" He was angry, volcanically angry, he could barely think straight. Small miracles, but Claire finally spoke up.

"I- I know Reggie is being weird about this, he was scaring me too, but- I heard it too. Plain as day, talking about some weird... Originator army. I don't think we should call up the news or anything-" Traitor, Reggie thought. "But we shouldn't give him the Originator. I think it'd be better for everyone involved if it stays with you."

Reggie just stared at her, not quite able to process what he was hearing. His heart was ringing in his ears because they wanted to take it, they wanted to TAKE it from him, the one thing he was CHOSEN for, and- "Reginald!" Kobbsley called out. "I- MY NAME IS NOT REGINALD IT IS REGGIE!" He yelled back at the top of his lungs, just staring at him.

The vice principle didn't even flinch, just said. "That is a nice jacket! Green, solid wool, good for stimulation you said?" Reggie nodded, but- What, why- "It's friday. One day before the weekend. Two days before sunday. It rained yesterday. And I see that you are in fact calming down from your panic attack. I think this conversation is getting a bit intense. How about we focus less on butting heads on what we want to do, and instead talk on why we want to do it? Far less stressful. Juice box?" The vice principal asked, hefting out some sorta fruit punch flavored thing from a minifridge.

Reggie nodded, just, staring, breathing heavily. "I- I was... Chosen, to make this. I asked, and The Unchained Mind answered me. ME. Little old Reggie, in Geode Valley. I just- I don't want to lose that, man! I don't want to throw that away." He said, clutching his face.

Kobbsley nodded. "Claire? Do you have anything to say?" She nodded. "It's... Worrying me, Reggie. I've been getting bad omens for a while now, and they're getting worse. Maybe it's for something else, the storm going on? Maybe something else? But you've been getting... Weird. Like the watch is messing with your head. The god that told you how to make it isn't a... Nice god, Reggie. It might not be a good thing to be chosen by him."

Reggie sighed. "I- I want to go through with this. Make the world better. Help people. This thing has so much potential that's just gonna be wasted if Rattlescale uses it for his robot army-" Kobbsley coughs.

"I am willing to believe you have reasons to keep it, and I agree with them, but I just patently do not believe the robot army thing. THAT is just too much to believe as an actual serious allegation."

Reggie sighed. "I- Alright. Fine. I still don't trust him with it."

Kobbsley nodded. "I can understand. He can be, forceful when he thinks he's doing the right thing. You may keep the Originator, just don't use it at school."

Reggie and Claire sighed in relief. "THANK you, Kobbsley..." Claire said, finally slinking out of the room, Reggie following behind.


LATER THAT DAY


With that, stressful, stressful nightmare behind them, the two kids just hung out in the woods near their cave. Reggie was currently a Taotie, taste-testing various rocks and trees, with Claire writing down notes. "Weird reddish rock?" Bite, munch munch munch. "A bit savoury? A good bit of a weird flavour that I can't place." He swallowed it, and grabbed a weird green-and-black log, taking a bit. He then promptly spat that the heck OUT, because... "Gah! That's like, absolutely cursed, what the heck? Eugh." He changed back, and kicked it. And it hissed. "Great, cursed tree by our cave! We should tell someone." He said, grumbling a bit.

"Probably. Maybe that's what's gonna go all weird? I'm getting like, worse and worse vibes lately. Bad crow numbers, weird ear noises, I swear my mirror has a tiny crack in it..."

Reggie sighs. "I hope not. If things do get bad though then... I'm gonna help people."

Claire looked to him. "How?"

"I can be any origin, I can probably use that for search and rescue."

Claire nodded. "If that's how you wanna use it, definitely."

"How do omens work anyways?"

Claire shook her head. "It's like... Reading the universe for spoilers. Seven crows means someone's gonna die, black butterflies and white moths on the same day means... Well that means to contact a prophet and ask them to save your butt."

She shrugged, sitting back and pulling out some membrane jerkey. "Anyways, point is it's not very precise- Not really the sorta glimpses a real diviner gets, but also like, anyone can do it. Even kids, like me! You too, probably, if you were observant enough for it." Reggie laughed and just fiddled with the Originator some more, settling on Human again. That same amber flash as always, and he was sitting by Claire, eating some apple slices. "Maybe, maybe. The omens could be from the storm though, the news is saying this is gonna be a big one."

Claire nodded grimly. "... Probably. My family is considering evacuating. But they, probably won't- Stepmoms an Inari after all, she'd try and just fight off the water with a mop and bucket than leave. But, I'm worried." Reggie shrugged, eating the last of the apple slices, and stood.

"... Wanna try flying?" He asked.

Claire looked to him. "Huh?"

Reggie smirked, pointing to the originator. "It's- It's not like it's keyed to me or anything. Today's been freaky, I've been freaky, I don't think I've ever gotten this worked up over something. I think I need to maybe get this away from me for a bit, or at least off me? And, hey, flying around with the wings of a Tengu seems like it'd be a fun 'sorry for dragging you through a storm' gift."

She stared... And held her hand out. Reggie slowly undid the latches keeping the Originator on his hand, and handed it over. Claire put it on, securing it firmly, and started scrolling through the... Menu? "I'm not sure how to... Use it."

Reggie nodded. "Left and right switches which item in the menu you're selecting. Up and down changes menus for extra features- The actual clock part, a game or two. Clicking down on the trackball selects the option, HOLDING it is the back button. Go to the origins list, select an origin, tap twice to select and confirm, and then..." Claire listened to the instructions. Right before she transformed, she nodded. "Then we fly. Together."

This was sounding fun. It'd be nice to see why Reggie likes it so much.