Looking glad that he was a human again, and not a hellhound anymore, Cody was so relieved to be turned back to normal. "Wow. I guess the Hellhound form was only temporary." nevertheless, he got in the shower to clean himself up and get ready for a new day ahead of him. The water always felt so nice to his skin with how warm and soothing it was. Granted, it wasn't like a steam room, but it was still nice. He was also glad he didn't have all that fur on him anymore. Months ago before all of this happened, he had a golden retriever named Shadow.
The dog was a very friendly one like most golden retrievers, but when he was given baths, it was a little... high-maintenance. But alas, Shadow was a good dog, and he died of old age six months ago (and hip displesia). At least he didn't die in the fire.
At least Shadow was in heaven with his parents now. Still, the kid really missed them all and wanted to see them and reunite with them. But, alas; the demons down here in Hell (as far as he was aware of) couldn't meddle in affairs like that, and they were not powerful enough to bring people back from the dead either. At least his parents were there in spirit, and he still had Tommy in his life. After all; his parents still appeared in his dreams as angels from the heavens.
It might sound crazy, but Heaven always triumphs over Hell, and demons were no match for angels. Even Satan wouldn't be able to stop his parents from visiting down here and visit his dreams. While drying his semi-long hair, he wondered how Loona will react to him being turned into a human again.
Would she be happy that he is back to normal? Or would she be sad because he wouldn't be considered a little brother to her anymore? There would be only one way to find out for sure. Drying himself off with a towel, Cody put on a Motorhead shirt and some blue jeans. Before heading out the bedroom door, he looked at himself in the mirror one last time to be glad that he was back as a human being again. "It's good to be back to normal." he said to himself before leaving. He didn't see Loona anywhere, and saw Blitzo sleeping on the couch in his underwear, giving the kid a rather uncomfortable feeling.
At least he was having a bottle in his hand this time, or a bunch of other empty bottles on the coffee table. Cody then went to Loona's room, looking at the posters of Black Label Society, Slayer, etc. There he found her sleeping on the bed on her back, and her right leg raised up, twitching. She was wearing a black tank top, and grey pajama pants as she was snoring. Her mouth was open and some drops of drool were dripping from the mouth as she was snoring.
It made him a little afraid to wake her up, because, judging from her attitude, it would almost look like trying to poke a sleeping bear from hibernation. Or, in this case: waking a sleeping hellhound from her beauty sleep.
One thing was for sure: Hellhounds would be far more dangerous than bears. Still, Cody knew her and she really liked him so he probably wouldn't get hurt or anything. He walked over to her and gently rubbed her left side. "Loona, you awake?" he asked
The female hellhound made a small grunt and turned over and said in a groggy voice: "Go away, Moxxie. I'm in no mood."
An idea sprang in Cody's head and he said: "Vortex!"
That very word made Loona's eyes perk up and sat right up in an instant. "Where? where?! How's my makeup?" she looked to and fro rapidly. "What? what? Oh. Cody." Loona said, realizing what happened with him. "You're human again?"
"Yeah. I must have turned back overnight while sleeping." Cody admitted.
"Wow. I guess the transformation was temporary."
"I'm sorry I'm not a hellhound anymore."
"What do you mean?" Loona looked confused as she got out of bed.
"Before I went to bed Blitzo said you were happier that I was a hellhound instead of a human."
"What? that's crazy talk." said Loona. "Why would Blitzo tell you that, kid?"
"Well I heard him talking in his sleep admittedly."
"Oh come on. Blitzo has no idea what he's talking about. He was having one of his drunk dreams again. it's a thing he does sometimes. And, I'll be sure to correct that when he wakes up." she cracked her knuckles telling how irritated she was with her adoptive father. "But, this isn't normal for me to say, but... don't tell Blitzo, but... I love you. Not like romance love, but the other kind of love.
Those words touched him and it almost brought a tear to his eyes. It showed how much she grew to care for him like he was her own flesh and blood. "Thanks, Loona."
"Don't mention it. I'm glad you're a human again. I just want to see you happy." she bent on one knee and put a hand on his shoulder again. "You'll always be you."
"I know." in his head, he was thinking about his friends up there in the human world. "Loona?"
"Huh?"
"Do you think we can go up on Earth and tell Miss Stacey, my teacher, that I'm ok and apologize for missing out on school now?"
Giving him another warm smile, Loona said: "no problem, kiddo."
The female hellhound was back in her human disguise and there was Grant Elementary school across the street and Cody was standing on the left next to her. "Here we are." he said.
"We'll just go talk to your teacher and tell her you're still alive." Loona stated plainly with her arms crossed.
Both of them walked up to the administration office and they found an African-American man with a pale-brown business suit with a red neck tie. glasses on his face doing some paperwork with a man that looked like he was of Vietnamese decent. He also had a white work shirt with a black tie and some black khakis.
"Mr Brock?" Cody said. Both of them perked their heads up and saw Cody. The African-American man smiled and gasped
"Cody!" he said. he rushed up to the kid and hugged him tightly. "Thank God you're alright. When Tyler told us about the fire, we assumed the worst, but I'm so glad you're ok."
"I'm fine," said Cody. "She saved me." he pointed at Loona.
Mr Brock looked at Loona and looked a little uncomfortable by her metal appearance. "Oh. how wonderful." he said with a chuckle. "My name is Arthur Brock, the principal of the school." he reached out his hand for a hand-shake.
Loona just had his arms crossed and looked unamused like she mostly is. "Name's Loona, don't wear it out." nevertheless, she meakly shaked his hand while looking the other way.
"So you saved Cody?"
"Yep. I couldn't leave him to die. I had to do something. In my gut, I knew something was wrong when I heard his voice cry for help."
"Well that sounds like something very heroic and something worth rewarding."
"Ah, keep the reward." said Loona. "Cody being safe is good enough."
"But my parents were... not very lucky." Cody looked down sadly.
The principal gave him a sympathetic look and said: "I'm sorry, Cody. But it wasn't your fault. You're just a kid."
"Thank you, Mr. Brock. Is Miss Stacey here?"
"oh yes. She's been very worried about you. Wanna go meet her? and if you have any more problems, come talk to me or her. And we'll be more than happy to help you out. Ok, buddy?"
"Got it."
"Matter of fact, let me call her here to the office right now, and tell her you're alright." He did just that and announced the teacher's name on the intercom.
After a moment, sitting in one of the lobby chairs, there came a beautiful young woman that looked like she was in her late twenties and had long, brunette hair and a work shirt on her and a small skirt with black leggings. "Cody!" she said before coming up to hug the kid. "I am so glad to see you."
"It's good to see you too, miss Stacey." Cody smiled.
"I've heard about the fire and I am so sorry."
"It's ok, Miss S." said Cody. "It's not my fault. My parents... didn't make it."
"I'm so very sorry about that."
"Thank you. This is Loona. She saved me."
"W'sup, loser?" asked Loona with her left eyebrow raised.
"Oh. How charmed." Miss Stacey let out a chuckle.
"So listen," Cody began to explain, "I'm sorry if I was missing school, you guys. I've been so sad about my parents dying and I'm just trying to get over it."
"There's no need to apologize, Cody." said Mr Brock
"Yeah, we understand why."
"But I think I need a few more days in mourning. But i'm not trying to ditch school, i promise."
"Oh we know." said the principal. "You are a very good kid."
"Yeah, we really understand. "When you are ready to come back to school, let us know."
Cody smiled and said: "OK, I will."
