Chapter Twenty! *Cheers for no reason*

No, wait, there is a reason!

I got a new computer!

See? Saving money is a good thing. :3 I feel all kinds of accomplished.

Anywho, enough about me. xD I'm sure you want to read the story, right?

Thank you, my various readers and reviewers, my various stalkers, and my lovely not-stalkers. Also, sorry about accidently aiding the generation of the fangirl army that is now taking over the review section of many stories. O_O My bad.

Mia-Teresa-Davenport: "You're not helping to discourage the Hellia faction."

DisneyXDGirl: Really? I would think it made it a bit easier.

For those of you who are wondering what said clue is, it is regarding Krane's demise.

"Sometimes, I think I'm crumbling from the inside out. I can feel a parasite gnawing at the coffin encasing my soul and exposing the pretense of overconfidence for what it truly is – dust…."

Ella Schmeits, Dust

RissA15: Hey, she got it! Everyone, applause!

*golf claps*

DarkestKing: Sorry. Marcus is going to stay dead. Being crushed tends to do that.

Now, as for your questions, there is one small detail that I forgot to mention….

But I'll mention it later.

AllAmericanSlurp: *Takes the knife* "What a lovely weapon! It's mine now. :3"

…You just got knife-jacked by Douglas…

Gg180000: I know a few cuss words in other languages, but I'm not going to teach them to you because they have a different impact among native speakers. For example, calling someone a bitch in Spanish is equivalent to calling someone a fucking c**t in English. It's not something I want to start. xD You'll be going around getting the crap slapped out of you for things.

(And yes, there are words even I will censor a bit.)

I don't think this chapter is just awesome, but the next on will be. :D Hopefully, anyways.

Anywho, let's do this! Mr. Davenport?

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

"Life is only precious because it ends, kid."

Rick Riordan, The Son of Neptune

"The past is an old armchair in the attic, the present an ominous ticking sound, and the future is anybody's guess."

James Thurber

Chapter Twenty – Stalking and Stalling

Chase

Ferran - well, the man that had Ferran inside of him - was later than usual.

Normally, I would be pacing by the fence, irritated. However - since I now knew that Ferran could see straight through any form I took - Oly and I were waiting on the roof. I was laying on my stomach, my wings spread out wide to either side of me to stretch and warm in the sun. Oly had decided to curl up on one of my wings, claiming that my dark feathers made a nice, soft alternative to sitting on the roof itself.

I was starting to lose feeling in the wing she was laying on, but whatever. She was being quiet, and I didn't want to mess it up.

I know: Why didn't I don a human appearance while outdoors this time?

Because how many people take the effort to see everything that's on a roof? People normally just keep their vision locked in front of them, so we were fairly invisible up there.

Anyways, we waited in silence, watching the sun dip lower in the western sky and searching for signs of the man who had stupidly allowed Ferran inside of him.

Just a quick note here: Don't let a demon inside of you. Who knows what crap it could pull? I could think of a few things - my voice could think of a few more - and none ended pleasantly for the human involved.

Why did you think that demonic possession is so feared? Granted, demons couldn't really possess anybody on our own, and most of the old stories about people being possessed were just people having epileptic seizures - nobody really knew what epilepsy was back then - but the point still stood to reason. If it was a good idea, more people would be trying it, no?

Oly shifted a bit, the rhinestones on her wings catching the light. "It's boring up here," she huffed.

"We could play a game," I suggested, still looking at the street.

"What game?" Oly asked suspiciously.

"Throw Oly off the roof," I answered, grinning.

Oly smacked my head with her tail. "Don't make me bite the rest of your ear off."

"Douglas would make us hold hands again," I pointed out, remembering the odd punishment Douglas had given us after Oly had bitten the tip of my ear off in an all-out grudge match long ago.

Or had it really been a shorter amount of time? Honestly, everything since the house fire had been almost a blur. It felt like it happened years ago, to someone else.

Strange, though: I had never felt that way before. It was like time was blending together, no longer separated by years, weeks, minutes, or seconds. It seemed like it just existed, and I was just whisked along with it.

Maybe that was what immortality felt like? Maybe time would lose all meaning for me after a few years?

Was I even immortal? Did I inherit that particular demonic trait, or had it passed me by? Was I simply overwhelmed by the short period in which everything had happened, causing my mind to distort the timeline it was fixed upon? Or was an eternity within reach for me, waiting to see me on the other side just so I could tackle the next one?

Was I ever going to stop asking questions to myself?

Apparently not. But I could ask my voice, right?

I don't know of your mortality, my voice spoke up immediately. Even I can't see the end until it draws near, and we have no idea when that may be.

Since when can anyone see the end? I pointed out. You're a voice, not a seer. A very violent voice, and a constant pain in my ass. But, in the end, you're still nothing but a voice.

I swore that it laughed. Stupid little voice.

"Finally," Oly suddenly huffed, snapping her beak shut loudly in exasperation.

I glanced at the fence to see Ferran's host strolling by at last.

Finally, indeed.

I pinned my ears and growled, familiar hatred bubbling up inside of me. Oly and I watched as he passed, not even bothering to acknowledge us. I had no doubt that Ferran was raging in there from my presence, too. He had to be. The man hid it well, to be honest. Ferran was likely urging him to climb the fence - illness be damned - and charge me.

Because I knew that he knew I was there. He was just ignoring me, like I wasn't worth his time.

"Keep it together, Half-Breed," Oly cautioned as a low growl slipped through my teeth. "He has to be able to walk so that we can follow him."

I didn't respond, but I stopped growling.

Did I mention that I hated Ferran?

I hated Ferran.

Still, Oly was right. So, instead of attempting to tear the man's head off – maybe Ferran would pop out - I waited with Oly on the roof, my tail tapping the surface irritably. On the porch below us, I could hear Tasha and Mr. Davenport talking to quietly to one another, discussing how well getting Leo out of his apprenticeship with Hall would go over. Although Douglas assured them that it would be fine before he dragged Leo off to the Council meeting that had started as Oly and I waited for the glow stick to show up – eventful day, right? Summoner training and a Council meeting? Summoners were busy people, to say the least – they were both still worried. Hall had just revealed a top-secret research project to Leo not a few hours ago. Losing him now would invite suspicion. However, Douglas insisted that Leo get out of the situation right then – not even bothering to attempt to arrange a private meeting with Summoner Hall, which would likely result in wounded pride when it was brought up publically - so away they went.

Douglas may have denied it, but I honestly thought that he liked Leo.

We waited until Ferran – and the guy that contained him – passed by our home and the two next to it before Oly and I started following him, turning into ravens to avoid detection by humans.

Time to find where he was hiding.

"Dispute not with her: she is lunatic."

William Shakespeare, Richard III

"Baby, you're a firework! So just explode and die, bitch."

Unknown

Adam

Leo was right: Summoner Hall was a nutcase.

A genius, but a nutcase.

Douglas and Leo had talked to the man as privately as they could before the meeting, promising not to bring up the termination of Leo's apprenticeship in the meeting to spare anyone any embarrassment.

Too bad Hall didn't keep his promises.

He played the martyr well. Even Adam felt a bit sorry for him after his monologue about how he wasn't good enough to teach a student any longer.

Yahn sat on Adam's good shoulder while Douglas and Leo were enduring an onslaught of questions from Hall and other Council members alike.

"You just became apprenticed! Why are you leaving?"

"Councilor Hall is one of the finest Summoners in North America. Why would you not want to learn from him?"

"Are you stupid?"

The demons around the room, however, were watching with amusement. Adam stood quietly among them – he was still banished to the back, as the Councilors had yet to accept that a Charmer could be an ally instead of a potential threat – as they whispered amongst themselves, occasionally chuckling when their master got involved. They didn't understand what the big deal was, really. Humans had the right to pick and choose their masters. Why not exercise it? However, a few acknowledged what Hall was doing and vocalized it to Yahn, which was how Adam came to appreciate the situation for all it was worth.

Hall had backed Leo and Douglas into a corner. If Leo didn't continue his apprenticeship, he would be insulting Councilor Hall greatly – alienating quite a large portion of the Council in the process and possibly destroying any chance of a different apprenticeship further down the road – which would not bode well for him. However, if he stayed with Hall, Leo would seem spineless, like someone who couldn't make up his mind and stay with it. And what kind of Summoner was indecisive? Demons certainly weren't, so Summoners couldn't be, either.

However, Hall was most likely concerned with Leo keeping his secret research…well, a secret.

Adam was glad that he wasn't in the situation himself. He would have issues deciding with so many people yelling at him. Leo looked a bit scared, to be honest.

Douglas, however, was the very definition of standing one's ground. He denied continued offers to reconsider, speaking for Leo since the kid seemed to be tongue-tied.

On his shoulder, Yahn shifted a bit. "I don't like this," he whispered. "I think Summoner Hall is stalling rather than trying to get Leo back."

Adam frowned. "Why?"

"Because most of the time, Summoners handle this kind of thing in private," Yahn explained. "Especially Hall, as he has a reputation for keeping private matters out of the public eye. However, now that the Council is stirred up, the meeting is taking much, much longer than usual."

Adam furrowed his brown. While it was true that the past hour had been spent discussing Leo and Hall, Adam couldn't think of a single reason as to why Hall would be stalling. What was he hoping would happen? Was the sky going to open up and shoot rainbows at everyone?

Wait, could the sky do that? That would be awesome.

Adam, however, didn't have to wait all too long for the real answer to the question. Rather, he didn't have to wait for what he assumed was the answer, since it was essentially the only other thing going on in the room. Near him, a man walked through the door.

More importantly, it was the man that Chase claimed had Ferran locked inside of him.

However, the person of most interest was the second man who walked in behind him.

Looking like some kind of demented bounty hunter – complete with an eyepatch – Krane strode into the room.

Adam hoped that Chase and Oly at least had the good sense to run back home when they saw the mystery man join Krane, because Adam sure as hell didn't want more family members in the now-dangerous situation.

Who saw it coming?

Don't be shy; speak up. I don't bite hard. ;)

Anywho, Krane's back with an epic eyepatch.

Like a pirate hooker. :D

But you'll have to come back next time to find out what happens.

So feel free to review. Or don't. :P Me no gives crap.

And enjoy.

*Bows and exits*