Chapter 8: Khufu, the baboon

I'm bored.

I know I said I wanted to enjoy baby life while I could, but gods it is boring. There's nothing to do and there's always someone watching me, so I can't even sneak off to explore the mansion like I did before.

The only place I can roam around freely is the 1st floor, and only because Dad's (and mine, because we're sharing a room for now), room is there, and there aren't any particularly dangerous artifacts over here.

Of course, even if there were, I wouldn't be stupid enough to go anywhere near them.

And where on Earth is Khufu, the rainbow baboon?

But I'm getting off track. I'm forbidden to go up the stairs or out the door without an adult, and since I'm pretty sure there's some kind of tracking magic on me, as the adults let me roam out of their sight, I don't dare to break those rules. That would just land me with less freedom.

Besides, I can always explore when I'm older.

Right now, though, I'm standing in front of a hallway on the 1st floor. An extremely short corridor that ended with doors engraved with images of scrolls and papyrus and- is that an ancient painting set?

I assume this is the library, and now I'm contemplating what to do, enter or not.

It wasn't forbidden or anything since it was on the first floor, but I wasn't really encouraged to come here either. At least it isn't bound with padlocks and chains and who-knows-what else like in the books.

Ah, why not? Let's just take inspiration from (A?N: Minor Spoiler for those who haven't read Trials of Apollo: Tyrant's Tomb) Lavinia, the manibulista-wielding, tap dancing legionnaire that was probably born recently and is definitely not a legionnaire right now. To quote Apollo, 'It wasn't exactly forbidden, but it wasn't really encouraged either, which seemed to be the zone Lavinia was most comfortable in'. (A/N: Okay, spoiler over!)

Well I'm not exactly comfortable with it Sunshine Boy, but like I said, I 'm bored and there's nothing to do and there'll probably be things trying to kill me later so I might as well find out about them now. Oops, did I say that before? AND! BOOKS! Wondrous, glorious books!

As you can tell, I'm a bit of a book lover.

Let's go! I charged towards the doors with gusto, pushing them with my hand like I did whenever I opened other doors (I can't reach doorknobs yet).

The doors didn't budge.

I tried again, backing up more so my momentum would be larger. I hit the door with my shoulder and ended up falling on my butt.

...Apparently the library door are heavier than my whole two-year-old body could move.

"Agh!" I let out a sound packed with many, many emotions and turned away from the doors like a child throwing a tantrum. ...Wait, that's exactly what I was.

"Agh?" I heard a rough (but at the same time squeaky) voice. Looking up, I saw...

Something that would haunt my nightmares for years.

"Nyssa!" Amos Kane walked through the main hall, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Nyssa! Where are you?"

He wasn't exactly worried though. He knew his daughter was smarter than other babies and wouldn't wander off anywhere dangerous. So he kept looking.

"Nyssa! I want you to meet your new friend!" he hoped that would make her pop out of hiding. "Nyssa?" he popped his head into the bathroom. She wasn't there wither.

Now he was starting to get worried. He'd checked the main hall, the balcony, the bedroom and the bathroom, all of which were Nyssa's usual haunts. Could she be in Carter's room?

He dismissed the though. Nyssa's leg muscles weren't developed enough to climb the stairs without support, and she knew that too (after a certain rude awakening), so she wouldn't risk it.

In passing, he glanced towards the library doors and saw Nyssa pressed up against the wall in terror, afraid of something out of sight.

"Nyssa! There you are!" he scooped her up and gently scolded her. "Why didn't you come when I called?"

She didn't answer and simply clutched onto him, her face turned in the direction of... Khufu, their new housemate.

"Oh, that's Khufu, the baboon. He'll be living with us from now on, so I hope you get along! He like basketball."

Nyssa heard him but didn't quite register his words. Her mind was replaying the image of Khufu standing over her, fangs gleaming and a basketball jersey not quite covering his body.
She was supposed to live with that absolutely terrifying-?!

No, calm down. This is good. She was just wondering where he was, after all.

"Okay."

But it would be a long time before the two of them could get along normally.

And DONE! What do you think? This was a fast update, right? Right? Well, there's no meaning if you readers don't like it though, even if it's fast. So please review and tell me what you think about this chapter!