Chapter Thirteen, ya'll!

I wasn't expecting all the reactions to be sad. O_O I didn't think I did that great.

My words must be riddled with unknown power! YES!

I think you left exactly five reviews to mess with me this time. O_o You sneaky conspirators. I'm tellin' ya, it's a pattern!

Remember: After review 75, I'll answer your questions. Personal life details (name, age, that shit) and major Hybrid spoilers won't be answered, but everything else is fair game. Even if it doesn't pertain to Hybrid! If you don't want to review, that's fine, but if you're dying for answers, you may want to pop in to say hi.

Thanks to everyone reviewing or just reading. :3

Moonlit: ¿Por que no? He tends to overthink things sometimes...

DisneyXDGirl: Get crackin' that whip and make the Davenports form a search party! They're a bit too stunned at the moment to do it themselves. Better yet, send Marcus to do it. ;D

Vampire Girl: Testify, girl! *finger-snapping poetry applause*

AllAmericanSlurp: What is this thing called a..."social life?" O_o It sounds terrifying.

Of every chapter twelve review, I got a mixed poll result on who's right:

Chase

The Davenports

Both, since the Davenports don't have the full story

Loved the chapter

"Go find Chase right now!"

I love you guys. :P

Anyways, who's ready for a sadly short chapter? Yahn?

"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."

"...The cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon; little boy blue and the man on the moon. When you comin' home, Dad? I don't know when, but we'll get together then..."

Harry Chapin, "Cat's In The Cradle"

"...Self-inflicted, his perdition..."

10 Years, "Wasteland"

Chapter Thirteen - Not A Thing

Chase

"Well, that was a bust," Douglas called, cupping his hands around his mouth.

Honestly, I don't know how he recognized Oly and I when we were freaking birds - especially since humans could see planes without extreme concentration (he'd only see down to the second one, anyways; we were birds all the way to the fourth) and I saw no signs of the three grovelling imps anywhere - but I didn't question it.

Actually, scratch that: I was going to question this!

Oly and I backwinged and landed in the alleyway at Douglas' feet, hesitating a second to exchange our bird guises for our original bodies - home sweet home - before I cocked my head. "How did you know it was us?"

Douglas raised an eyebrow. "How many injured ravens follow injured robins?"

He had a point. Oly and I were still all kinds of scratched up. I nodded. "Makes sense." I backed into a brick wall and slid down until I was sitting with crisscrossed legs, my tail wrapped around my legs so that my tail tip rested in my lap. "That was a huge bust," I sighed, finally responding to his original statement. I let out a slightly sarcastic laugh, smiling a big. "Actually, I don't know why I thought going to them was viable in the first place."

Douglas sat beside me. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," he quoted.

"Because that worked out so well," I snorted before rubbing at my eyes. After a second, I asked, "Where are those other three imps?"

"I Dismissed them," Douglas answered, casually waving his hand. "With everyone so on-edge about demons, I imagine that any other guards sent would be recognized instantly, especially by Adam. So those three weren't needed anymore." He paused before smiling. "I bet they've imprisoned a few innocent insects by now because of us."

I nodded. "Probably." I then looked at him quizzically. "Wait, why would Adam recognize a demon?"

"The tall kid?" Oly asked, frowning. She had her hands on Yahn's shoulders for some reason. "He's a Persoană Fermecătoare. Duh."

"A what?" I asked, perking my ears towards her.

"A Charmer," Yahn translated helpfully. "You didn't feel it? That little aura that he gave off? Didn't you want to listen to him talk forever?"

"He was pretty fascinating," I admitted thoughtfully.

"Charmers are people who have a certain appeal to demons," Douglas explained. "No one knows why, but demons are really, really fascinated with them; sometimes, Charmers can get demons to do things voluntarily. They can usually tell when a demon is around." He grinned. "It's a gift, although others argue that anyone attracting demons must be cursed. At the moment, it's something that can be advantageous when Adam figures it out."

"Charmers are rare," Yahn added as Oly began to scramble up on his back. "I've only met a few hundred in all my years." By the time he finished telling me this, Oly had climbed fully onto Yahn's shoulders to look over the top of a dumpster just in case something nice was there for her to take.

"But why is Adam a Charmer?" I asked. It seemed a little too coincidental. I mean, think about it: Douglas - his father - was a summoner, and Adam just so happened to be a Charmer. Anyone else feel like some details were missing? "Why him?"

Douglas took a deep breath and sighed, his expression suddenly sad and distant. "Genetics. Dad was a Charmer." However, instead of saying anything else about it, he changed the subject. "Anyways, how did you escape?" He nudged me with his elbow. "They didn't give you trouble, did they?"

I really wanted to ask more questions about Douglas' father - my grandfather - but he probably dropped it for a reason. So I just shook my head. "No trouble from anyone."

Surprise spread across Douglas' face at this. "Wait, seriously? They sure gave us hell about it when we tried to take you with us."

"They didn't know I left," I explained. "Oly and I took flying leaps out the window. They were none the wiser." I paused, having to force down a threatening lump in my throat as I unconsciously touched the pocket that held the picture, blinking rapidly as my eyes started to water. "You know, it sucks being a family's outcast." I glanced at him. "How do you do it?"

"It's not that bad," he soothed, smiling a bit as he threw an arm around my shoulders. "You get used to it eventually." He hesitated before adding, "Throwing eggs at Donnie's house occasionally helps, too."

At his half-serious suggestion - he'd probably done it - I smiled slightly and sniffled once, wiping my eyes as I gave a slight laugh. "I'm surprised you didn't say something like tagging his offices or keying his cars."

"Oh, I did that, too," Douglas admitted easily, actually scoffing. "Not as much fun as throwing things in rage." He chuckled himself. "I have more elaborate ideas now than I used to."

"Those were centered around Adam, Bree and I," I pointed out.

He waved my words away. "Details, kid. Details."

I laughed a bit harder, cheering up slightly as I pictured Douglas committing various acts of childish revenge.

Oly - now holding a rhinestone that she had obviously pried from something - jumped from Yahn's shoulders and landed in my lap. "Who needs 'em? Just spit in their direction when you cross paths and live your life."

I rolled my eyes, but bit back a response. It was hard for her to be sympathetic, as she never had a family. It seemed like a horrible, lonely existence to me. Of course, you can't miss something that was never there.

"Now," she went on, "tell me: Does this look as great as I think it does?" Before I could as what she was talking about, she licked the silvered backing of the rhinestone and stuck it on the thin membrane stretching between the fingers of her right wing.

Sadly, it took me until then to remember that Oly, though a pretty vicious demon, was still a feminine creature. "By itself, no," I answered honestly. Her face fell instantly as Yahn and Douglas started snickering. "Hey, I wasn't finished," I announced. "If you got some more and put them on both wings, I think it'd look pretty nice."

Right? Imagine it: Every time she moved her wings, they'd shimmer a bit. How cool would that be? I know that I'm a guy and all, but that didn't mean I couldn't appreciate a fashionable idea for a lady demon.

She grinned smugly and extended her wings a bit, sitting up taller. "I think so, too."

"Seriously?" Yahn snorted. "She'd look like a fool!"

"They're not your wings," Oly snapped back.

Douglas sighed and pointed at her, raising his eyebrow at me. "I hope you know what you've done."

I just smiled as Oly stuck her tongue out at Douglas before she took a flying leap back into the dumpster to hunt for more rhinestones. Yahn sighed. "She'll drive us mad, Master."

Douglas shrugged. "When didn't she?" He smiled fondly. "She reminded me of Bree just now."

I frowned. I couldn't recall her asking for my advice on fashion. She always just kind of did her own thing. "How?"

"When she was little," he answered, "Bree was endlessly fascinated by shining objects. So, when she found one - maybe a loose nut or some wrapper from a candy bar; something like that - she would take it to her spot behind her capsule and add it to the cardboard box she collected them in." He chuckled. "Sometimes, she would take them out and line them up, one by one, or arrange them into little patterns before shining a light on them so that the design lit up. She used to be quite an artist. Her eyes would light up, like she'd seen the most beautiful thing in the world. All over little pieces of debris." He then sighed, his smile fading slightly. "Of course, you and Adam had to find her collection one day."

"I remember that!" I interrupted suddenly. Then, I winced. "We hid the box in Mr. Davenport's desk to get back at her for telling him that we had been playing with his inventions again. But Mr. Davenport found them first, thought they were trash and threw the box into Eddy's compactor. She was so upset, she didn't talk to us for days." I hesitated, suddenly feeling horrible. "I thought she was over-reacting. I didn't know that they were that special to her."

"She didn't really do anything artistic after that," Douglas said quietly. "Her eyes never lit up quite the same way, either. She used to find so much beauty in little things."

"She still does," I defended. Then, I found myself sighing. "She just doesn't get excited about it." It was a bit upsetting to think that Adam and I had taken that small joy from her when we were younger. However, that gave way to a realization. "Wait: How do you know that?"

"Eddy was never hard to hack," Douglas explained. "I would spend hours watching you guys play and grow."

"Sounds boring," I noted.

He laughed. "With you three? Never."

"So...you watched us grow up?" I asked slowly.

He smiled, squeezing my shoulder in a kind of halfway hug. "I know I wasn't there; Donnie wouldn't have allowed it because of how much of a wild card I was back then. I really screwed myself over there. But I didn't miss a thing, Chasey. Not a damn thing."

Shit...caught the feels, bro...got me all fucked up.

So, anyone else catch that? Can it be?

It is!

Summoner Douglas has a Hybrid backstory!

Gasp!

Do we want to know what it is?!

Hells yeah!

Are we going to have to wait until Chase finds out what it is?

Absolutely!

MUA HA HA HA HA!

Feel free to review. Or don't. :3 Your business.

And enjoy.

*Bows and exits*