Chapter 15
Ozzy was overlooking some paperwork when the doorbell rang and he grew curious as he quickly checked his schedule, but saw he didn't have any meetings or appointments for the afternoon. Curious, he got up and headed out of his office, knowing Fizz wouldn't ring the doorbell as he always had his keys with him and Oliver was in the playroom that Ozzy and Fizz had both built for him.
He checked the cameras and his eyes widened at seeing a cloaked being with a spider-like clasp at his neck. He opened the door and smiled. "Good afternoon, Zestial," he said graciously as he gestured him to come inside the palace.
"Greetings to you, Ozzy," Zestial greeted back, his voice deep as he stepped inside. "I hope thou forgiveth me for arriving unannounced, but I happeneth to be in the area."
Ozzy smiled. "I'm used to unexpected visits," he said with a chuckle, knowing the other had used an unlimited pass to visit him.
"I do apologize if I interrupted thou from thy work," the ancient being said apologetically.
"I needed a break," the rooster being said, which was true. "I'll get us some tea. Any particular blend?"
"Whichever thou have," Zestial said politely.
Ozzy gestured to the living room. "Have a seat then," he said. "I'll be back momentarily."
Zestial sat down on the couch and smiled, enjoying the warm atmosphere of Ozzy's palace. As he was enjoying the peace, he felt something lightly bump against his cloak and he gazed down to see it was a toy car. A little boy came into the living room and stopped when he saw the ancient being, taking a step back in uncertainty as he gazed up at him.
The ancient spider being smiled at the boy. "Greetings, child," he greeted them before leaning down and picking up the toy car, extending his hand to the child with the toy in his palm. "Is this yours?"
The boy nodded, looking a bit nervous now before his hands moved in sign language. Though the being wasn't well versed in sign language, he could guess from the boy's body language that he was apologetic for the toy bumping into him. "It is alright, child," he said. "I am not mad at thee. Thou needeth not fear me."
The Old English the being spoke confused the boy as he had never heard it before and he cocked his head to the side curiously, something that made Zestial chuckle in amusement as he extended his hand with the toy in it a little closer to the boy to encourage him to take it. Oliver took a couple steps forward and slowly reached for the toy car, keeping his eyes on the ancient being, which made Zestial curious as to why the boy seemed nervous.
Ozzy came in with an entire tea tray filled with everything needed for an afternoon tea and set it on the coffee table nearby. He spotted his son and Zestial and smiled before noticing Oliver seemed afraid. "Everything alright, Noodle?" He asked.
The boy jumped at hearing his father's voice, but he nodded before taking the toy car from the ancient being's hand and moving closer to his father, hiding behind him but curiously peeking out at the ancient being as well. Zestial gently chuckled at this. "Who is this curious youth?" He asked.
"This is my son, Oliver," Ozzy said, smiling. "Fizz and I adopted him nearly half a year ago."
"The jester?" The ancient being said before smiling. "Tis true, then? Thou fought for the jester and winneth against Mammon?"
"Yes, it's true," the rooster being said. "Something that Mammon is still sore about."
Zestial hummed at this. "Mighteth I advise thee to have caution?" He asked. "Someone with uncouth intentions could interfere?"
"Thank you for your concern, Zestial," Ozzy said with a nod. "I do have security posted in many places to help Fizz and Oliver stay safe, especially after the incident with that Mafia leader."
Oliver looked up at his father curiously, but he smiled at the boy. "Nothing for you to worry about, Noodle," he said reassuringly before gesturing to the other being. "This is Zestial. He's an ancient being, but very wise. He won't hurt you."
"Perish the thought," Zestial said with a wave of his hand before accepting the cup of tea from his host, taking a sip of it and smiling. "Ah, Assam tea. An excellent choice, Ozzy."
"I have a good friend who taught me about the different kinds of tea," the rooster being said.
Oliver was more curious now and suddenly, something fell out of his pocket and rolled towards Zestial. The boy tried to catch it, but failed as it bumped into Zestial's cloak. The being gazed down at the item and grew curious. "I've never seeneth a ball that looketh like that before," he said as he set down his tea and picked up the object.
Oliver began signing and Ozzy translated. "It's a yo-yo," he said. "It's supposed to have a long string that coils around it and when you let it go, it goes down, but then will go back up to your hand if it has enough speed."
"Ah, how interesting," the being said before looking at the boy. "Does thou haveth a string for this toy?"
The boy blinked in confusion before looking up at his father, who chuckled. "He means do you have the string that came with it," he said gently.
Oliver shook his head and began signing. "I found it outside at school and the teacher asked around, but no one claimed it, so she told me I could have it," he said.
"And it had no string with it?"
The boy shook his head and Ozzy hummed. "Maybe the string broke and someone tossed it out thinking that it couldn't be fixed," he said.
Zestial shook his head. "Tis an easy mend," he said before looking at the boy. "Would thou like me to mend thy toy, young one?"
Oliver guessed that the elder being was asking if it was alright if he could fix it. "Can you do that?" He signed curiously.
Ozzy chuckled. "Oliver is curious about how you'll fix it," he said.
Zestial smiled. "Come sitteth beside me, child, and I shall showeth thee," he said, patting the spot on the couch next to him.
The boy looked up at his father, who nodded gently and the boy went to the couch, climbing up and watching as Zestial opened his cloak and pulled some spider silk from a hidden pocket on the inside of the cloak and began looping the silk around the metal piece that held the two parts of the yo-yo together. After that was secured, another strand of silk was added and then the two strands were twisted around each other, forming a strong string. Once it was completed, the being gently wound the string around the center of the yo-yo, soon finishing and smiling as he held it out to the boy.
Oliver was in awe as he accepted the fixed toy and smiled, singing 'thank you' to the elder being, who smiled as he guessed what the boy was saying. "Thou is quite welcome," he said.
The door opened and Fizz came in, looking a bit exhausted. "Froggie? Everything okay?" Ozzy asked.
"Yeah, just tired," the jester said. "By the way, think you can give our seamstress a raise or a bonus? When I went to see her, she was frantically working on several costumes and the suppliers ran out of the specific color of blue she wanted to use for one of the costumes I commissioned her for, so she picked another one that was close and it honestly looks really good."
"The suppliers ran out of the color fabric she needed?" The rooster asked.
"Yeah. She was really frantic and worried that I wouldn't like the change, but when I tried on the outfit, I think the color she used works better than what we originally wanted," Fizz said. "We tried the neon light test and it really catches the neon lights."
"I'll be sure to send her a bonus then," Ozzy said before gesturing to their guest. "Froggie, this is Zestial. He stopped by for a visit."
Fizz's eyes widened as he looked at the ancient being and swallowed hard. "Um, hi," he said a bit nervously.
"Greetings, Fizz," the ancient spider being said with a smile. "I have heard much about thee. Word of thou's victory hath circulated everywhere. I congratulate thee, but I adviseth caution. Mammon mighteth be greedy, but not lacking some intelligence."
"Yeah, we're being careful," the jester said. "But thanks."
Oliver ran up to him with open arms and the jester smiled and scooped up his son. "Hey, Noodle," he said, tossing the boy up into the air playfully and catching him, making the boy giggle before the child hugged him and then held up his new yo-yo.
"I found this at school today, Papa," he signed. "It was missing the string in the center, but Mr. Z fixed it for me."
"Wow, that was nice of him," Fizz said with a smile.
"Can you teach me how to do tricks with it, Papa?"
The jester smiled. "You bet. After dinner tonight, I'll teach you a few tricks," he promised. "Speaking of which, what should we get for dinner, Ozzy?"
"Good question," the rooster said before turning to Zestial. "Do you have any preference, Zestial?"
"Whatever thou serveth will be fine," Zestial said with a smile as he understood that he was being invited to have dinner.
Ozzy went to put in the orders and Oliver went up to the ancient spider being, looking curiously at the black cloak and reaching a hand forward, lightly touching it.
Feeling the child's curious touch, Zestial turned and smiled at him. "Thou is a curious youth," he said before he opened part of his cloak to allow the boy to look more closely at it.
Oliver reached forward and noticed how the cloak seemed to be like skin and looked up at the being. "Is your cloak...part of you?" The boy signed.
Fizz translated. "Oliver is wondering if your cloak is part of you," he said.
"Yes, my cloak beeth a part of me," Zestial answered. "Thou may toucheth it, young one. It hurteth me not."
"In other words, make sure you're careful, Noodle," Fizz said gently.
The boy nodded and carefully touched the inside of the cloak, his eyes wide with amazement. The boy's face made the ancient being chuckle and he playfully poked the young one's side, making Oliver giggle and playfully bat the elder's hand away. Zestial smirked in amusement before playfully poking the boy's side again, making Oliver giggle again before the boy jumped up on the couch and crouched down, his tail wagging from side to side as he was ready to pounce. "Oh, is thou feeling confident?" The ancient spider asked with another chuckle. "Thou believeth that thou can best me?"
Oliver nodded with a huge smile on his face and Zestial smirked again. "Let us seeth thou try, young one," he said as he got ready to catch the boy.
The young boy pounced, but the ancient being caught him and began tickling Oliver's stomach, making the boy burst into laughter and try to escape. He tried to sneak in a ticklish counterattack, but Zestial saw it coming and tickled the boy's underarms, making him squeal with laughter.
Fizz chuckled as he watched this, amused. Soon, the ancient spider being let the boy up and playfully, yet gently, pinched the side of the boy's face. "Such a silly little youth," he said playfully, gently booping the boy's nose, to which the boy giggled before looking a bit sleepy.
Smiling at this, Zestial cradled the boy in his arms and gazed around for a blanket. Fizz noticed and got out a small blanket that was perfect for Oliver. He watched as the ancient being gently draped the blanket over the boy and tucked it carefully around him so it looked like the boy was in a cocoon with his head poking out.
Oliver fell asleep almost instantly, to the jester's surprise. "Wow, I don't think I've ever seen Oliver fall asleep that fast before," he said quietly.
"The cocoon provideth warmth and feelings of safety," Zestial explained. "I haveth witnessed many mothers do such for their youth and it hath never failed."
Ozzy came back into the living room and smiled. "Food will be here in about an hour," he said. "Apparently there's a lot of orders coming in." He then saw Oliver was asleep and smirked. "Let me guess, he tried to best you, Zestial?"
The ancient being chuckled. "He did. Quite a brave youth," he said, allowing the sleeping boy to rest his head on the cloaked shoulder. "Raiseth him well, my friends."
"We will," Fizz said, smiling as Oliver continued to nap peacefully, Zestial holding him protectively as he did so.
When I learned that Zestial was voiced by the same person who voiced Ozzy, I just had to do this one. :) Also, writing in Old English is not easy. Quick note, 'beeth' is the Old English way of saying 'be'.
Please leave a review, but no flames!
GoldGuardian2418