You know, this is probably the most difficult of my stories to write, mostly because it's in third person whereas at least most of the others are entirely first person. I have no clue why I've always struggled more with third person. It's just harder for me, I guess.
But, we get to meet an interesting new character that I think is incredibly fun to write. Enjoy!
"Maybe, maybe, maybe,
I can find someone.
Maybe, maybe, maybe,
maybe she'll find me."
~ Joe Ely
Chapter 11—(66)
When Philyra woke, Selene was already gone. The older girl mentioned the previous night that she planned to get up early to start cleaning. Philyra, on another hand, was apparently supposed to spend the day with one of Selene's sisters, Felicia.
Philyra liked Felicia. She was calm and quiet, and had eyes like Philyra, where they weren't the same color. But Philyra didn't have the confidence of the woman to be able to let people see them. She knew they weren't something she needed to hide anymore, but there was this feeling of fear whenever she thought about not hiding them.
She stretched in the large bed, one easily large enough for both her and Selene, and probably another person, too. By herself she could completely sprawl eagle-spread and still not reach any edges. And not only was it big, it was probably the most comfortable thing Philyra had ever been able to be on. She felt incredibly lucky.
Deciding it was time to get up and get dressed, she climbed off the bed and padded over to the drawers. Selene had cleared out half of them—and they hadn't even been clothes, just stuff Selene would shove there to get it out of the way—and helped Philyra put all her new clothes there. The amount of which was far more than she had ever owned, and all of them new besides!
Picking out a simple yellow skirt, she matched it with a brown blouse and some odd shoes Ria had called "flats." Ria had tried to get her to try on different sorts of pants, including some that were scandalously short (going only to her knees!), but Philyra was solidly against the idea of wearing men's clothing—something that could get a girl flogged back in the town where she grew up. And besides that, they seemed horribly uncomfortable.
She used Selene's weird hair comb—it was like a circle-tube thing with bristles all around the outside—to untangle the knots in her hair. Then she looked up, into the mirror that was attached to the dresser.
It was odd, being able to see herself in something other than a murky, watery reflection. In fact, she even dared to think, all cleaned up like this, that she was even a little pretty. Her skin was very pale, like the complexion that the richer girls back in Lioorlie coveted. Her hair wasn't a pretty blonde like Selene or Klaus had, but it was a nice shade of brown. Her eyes, individually, were pretty colors, even if she didn't think they went together very well. She'd never pass for a noble girl or even a wealthy merchant's daughter, but she wasn't horribly ugly. And now that she was able to keep clean and actually exist, maybe she'd even catch the eye of a—hopefully kind—man one day, not that Selene would permit anyone who wouldn't take good care of her. Which was a stark contrast to what her fate would have been a few months ago if she hadn't been kidnapped by the evil elemental.
She went down the stairs, able to smell something cooking. It was faint, but clearly something like porridge. She saw Selene passing through a different room with an armful of things—brightly colored toys, mostly—and waved, receiving a nod in reply.
Philyra wished she could be more like Selene. She didn't have the super fair skin, though it was a lot paler than it had been when she'd first been captured, but a slightly darker complexion suited her fiery nature. Not to mention how her other looks combined to make her look like she was a princess from a faery tale. Even with her hair cut boy-short, there was no denying the beauty that was obvious in every feature of her face, from her dark red lips to her shining silver eyes.
But it wasn't just her beauty Philyra admired. It was her confidence, her strength, her unwillingness to do things she didn't think were right. She was a force of her own, capable of commanding legions, but also able to comfort and console. She was everything Philyra wished she could be. But it took a rare spirit to handle such a role, and Philyra was not at all suited for something like that. She would be content with being the sister—and what luck she had!—of such an awing creature.
In the kitchen was Felicia, sitting at the little table eating, as Philyra had smelled, porridge. Or something similar to it. She'd never seen porridge a dark blue color before. Maybe something was in it?
"Ah, you're awake. Did you sleep well?" Selene's sister—or, rather, almost sister, since she was betrothed to one of Selene's brothers—asked.
Philyra nodded.
"That's good. Why don't you get yourself some oatmeal? There's a stack of bowls on the counter. Just scoop yourself some, and feel free to add some berries or jam with the milk. I recommend the blueberries or strawberries, but Selene likes putting raspberry jam in hers." Felicia tilted her head in the direction of the stove, where a large metal pot sat, with a bunch of different things beside it on the counter. "But don't take too long to eat. Eric's coming to pick us up so we can go out."
Philyra smiled slightly in thanks before heading over to the stove. So it was the berries that changed the colors.
She put a scoop of the porridge into a bowl before turning to the small bowls of berries and jars of jam. There were so many choices, and while she didn't want to be greedy, she sort of wanted to put a little of everything in. After a moment's inner debate, she shrugged and did so.
She went and sat across from Felicia, who smiled when she saw the multicolors in Philyra's bowl. "See you took the everything route."
Philyra blushed, suddenly feeling like a glutton.
Something the woman in front of her seemed to sense. "Oh, it's perfectly fine. It's not like there isn't always enough. In fact, with this family, too much seems to be preferred when it comes to food. Because if it isn't eaten at the meal, we can be guaranteed Selene will finish it later." She winked, making the girl smile. "Besides, putting a little of everything in is exactly what Eric does. Of course, he normally takes at least three times what you have because boy, that man can eat. But what's almost sad is how Selene out-eats not only him, but everyone! We used to wonder where she could possible put it, seeing as she ate so much it was inhuman. I guess we know why now."
That drew a little giggle out of Philyra, which surprised her. She'd hadn't really ever laughed, not since she was very small. It was a nice feeling, this little sound that lightened the pressure she'd always felt upon her shoulders.
…. …. ….
"Okay, so I do have a few errands I need to run, picking up medical supplies and such. Since even I find it dreadfully boring, I'm going to send you with Eric, to go look at pets. Selene demanded that we get you one." Felicia informed the girl sitting in the backseat. "But it's not going to be a normal one, but instead will be a familiar-bred. We're headed to a mall. It's not the nearest one, but this one has a mini-transfer station to a magical equivalent in Myula. Normally one would need a passport to transfer between the two, but things like this one are set up with certain spells that keep anyone who transfers over in the building. It's not the biggest one, but it's decent, and enough for our purposes. I'll be meeting back up with you two after that, and we'll go take a look at the magical conduction instruments store, to get you a wand, or whatever other tool the shopkeeper thinks would best allow you to use your magic. Okay?"
Philyra nodded and Felicia turned back to face out the front window of the car. Philyra was slowly getting more used to these weird horseless carriage things, even though the starting and stopping still startled her.
Eventually they pulled up to a large, busy building, parking towards the outskirts of the lot because most of the slots were taken. There were a lot of people there. So many Philyra immediately started feeling nervous. But she got out of the car with the two adults. Felicia took her hand, saying it just wouldn't do to lose her, and set off, Eric in front of them, easily parting the crowds with his large stature and making it easier for the two females following him.
They trekked around to the back of the building, to a white door that was inconspicuously placed. While the front of the "mall" was bustling, the back was almost creepily empty. Felicia let go of Philyra's hand and went up to knock on the door.
"Arnold, you in there?" she called.
There was a thump before steps went to the door, and the sliding of a lock could be heard before the door opened, revealing an elderly man with grey hair. "Ah, Felicia, you're early. Running out of supplies faster than usual?"
Felicia smiled, "Only a little. I'm really here to take my new little sister shopping for a pet and a wand, though. Selene, who went ahead and adopted Philyra here into the family, insisted she have a familiar before going the two of them went back to her school. Philyra, this is Arnold. He runs the transfer station here."
"Nice to meet you, Philyra." Arnold said.
Philyra nodded in reply.
"Not the talkative sort, I take it?"
"She prefers quiet to noise." Felicia explained. "Now, mind if we make a transfer today?"
The old man nodded, "Not a problem. Just give me a minute to get her warmed up. But please, step inside while you wait. It's freezing out."
…. …. ….
After the transfer—which, as was explained to her, led to a market in Suron, a country to the southeast of Gedonelune, which is the country where the Six Ball (whatever that was) team Selene's brother Wade was in came from—Felicia went off on her own and Eric led Philyra in the opposite direction.
Neither of them said anything as they made their way to the pet store, named Finch's Familiars. They walked in, and Philyra wrinkled her nose at the smell. But only for a moment—the slave pens had smelled far worse.
But what caught her focus was the animals themselves, and Philyra couldn't help but run over and start looking. There were everything from rabbits to birds to dogs and cats—there was even a baby goat!
"I'll let you look around. Tell me if you see something you want, okay?" Eric smiled as the girl nodded, not turning away from the kitten she was petting.
She could choose any animal she wanted. Any of them! She wandered further back, and the animals got older or stranger, or both. Some were clearly magical, other's just no longer so young. It was sad they had to be in these cages for so long. Many of them were dozing, clearly bored.
"They do get exercise at night." Philyra jumped and nearly tumbled over, but a strong arm caught her and set her right on her feet again. "Sorry about that. I'm always getting scolded for not making noise when I move."
Philyra turned to see a boy, not much older than Selene, smiling sheepishly. He held out his hand, and Philyra hesitantly shook it. "I'm Warren. My uncle owns the shop. But as I was saying, they're not always cooped up. We've got a spell that changes where the front entrance of the store opens to, and at night we let them run around outside, which is why most are docile during the day. What might your name be?"
Philyra, in a split second decision, whispered her name.
"Pardon?"
"P-Philyra…" She said, a tad bit louder. Her voice was hoarse from misuse, and she hoped the handsome boy before her hadn't noticed. He wasn't a royal handsome like Klaus, or a smart-handsome like Merlin. Warren was the kind of boy one would see out hunting, a rugged sort of handsome. Dark hair and eyes, tanned skin, strong, but good-natured and friendly.
"Nice to meet you, Philyra. Now, are you looking for anything particular, or just looking around?"
She shrugged.
"Don't know, huh?" He seemed to just accept her quietness and act as if it was nothing of importance.
It was nice, Philyra thought, that Warren felt no need to make a big deal of it, and just went on treating her as if she was normal. It was really nice.
"Well, would you like some help?" he offered. "I know all the animals in here real good, if not personally then by their species."
She nodded, muttering a thank you.
Warren began leading her around the shop, explaining the ups and downs of various animals. "You'd probably want a baby animal, but if it's your first time having a familiar, I'd recommend one of the older ones, because all of the ones we have, mostly, are trained and much easier to take care of than a youngin'. It's up to you, though." He explained.
It made sense to her, so she gravitated towards the back half of the pet part of the store (as the shop was divided between pets and pet products).
She looked among the animals and spotted a cat pacing back and forth in it's cage. It was an odd blue-black color, but the strangest thing about it was the fact that it had two tails instead of one. Philyra knelt down by the cage and the cat stopped pacing, instead looking directly at her. Most people would probably find it unnerving, but Philyra was just intrigued. It had two colored eyes. One a dark, deep blue, and the other a dark violet color.
"I see you've found Regis," Warren said. "He's a Nekomata, from an island country called Hinomoto. He was brought to us a few months ago by the daughter of his owner. Nekomata's are magical creatures greatly resembling cats, but with the obvious two tails. They live a lot longer than humans, how long I don't know. But they grow very attached to their owners, or at least this one did. He barely eats, and spends a lot of time pacing. The woman who brought him in apparently couldn't deal with such a strong reminder of her late father and dumped him with us. I'd feel bad for it if it hadn't tried to bite my fingers off when I tried get it to eat. It's a haughty little thing, and has scared the heck out of more than one potential owner. It's odd, though. He seems transfixed by you."
A man from somewhere else in the store called for Warren, who sighed. "That's my uncle. I'll come by in a bit, if you think you want Regis."
And with that Warren wandered off to see what his uncle wanted.
Philyra found herself fascinated by the ca-Nekomata. It was a beautiful creature, and it was so sad that it lost its owner.
'Hello, halfling.'
Philyra jumped, looking around. Other than the animals, no one was to be seen.
'Spare me the "Oh, where did that come from?" crap. It's me, the Nekomata. As you know, my name is Regis. And yes, I'm speaking to you using a form of telepathic communication.'
Philyra started at the cat-like creature before her, wide-eyed and unsure of what to do.
The thing almost seemed to smirk at her. 'You don't talk much, do you? Whatever. You're here picking out a familiar, aren't you? You won't really find a better choice than me, you know. Not here at least. They don't have very many magical creatures, and none of the ones they do have aren't all that clever. So, what do you say? You seem to have interesting things happening around you, and it would be much better to be around you than stuck here in this cage as imbeciles gawk at me.'
"You called me a 'halfling'?" Philyra said, her voice quiet as ever. "I'm human…"
'Half human. If you were full human you wouldn't be able to hear my voice. Humans aren't smart enough to understand me when I speak. But you, you've got fae blood in your veins, and I can smell that you've been around a part-Elemental recently, too. That alone is interesting,' Regis said. 'It's not like it's a big deal, being half human. I've come across a number of halflings. They're more common than most of the stupid humans think. They're usually pretty good at hiding themselves. In fact, it's usually the not-human halves that are the better halves.'
He's a bit full of himself, Philyra thought, very stuck-up. But he seems lonely, beneath it all. Maybe I should pick him? He's like I was. Not wanted because people are scared of him.
…I'm choosing him. No one deserves such a lonely fate.