Crap. Oz was being too quiet. For a mana core with no eyes, he reads the room way too well. Jessie cleared her throat and booped the Komodo on the nose, making it sneeze. She smiled and stood up. Excitement boiled in her, making her unable to stand still despite her feeling drained from the beast creation. She bounced on her feet. "Ooooh~ I can't wait to show Mel this little guy! Man, I'm crap at surprises though!"
She shook her head. Ugh. So much to do. "Alright, alright," she said as she tried to figure out her next course of actions. "First. Gonna go grab some food. I really need to get my cultivation level up. Just making a Komodo really got me drained. Oof.
"Maybe I'll hit up the training grounds to refine my meridians today... But... Hm." The thought of going out into the public when her family was, no doubt, looking for her made that idea stop in its tracks. She could cultivate here, true, but hiding away from her family for the rest of her life also rubbed her off the wrong way. That won't do at all.
She looked at Oz who had been patiently waiting for her while she was off in la-la land. "Sorry," Jessie said sheepishly, scratching her head before plopping her butt down on the bed. "I need to talk to Great Grandfather soon. He'll be able to help me out of this whole mess. I can't really go nowhere without looking behind my shoulders until I do. Ugh," she massaged her temples for a second and both Nyx and the Komodo came to her side to comfort her.
"I'm okay, guys." Her voice was warm from seeing the loyalty of the beasts and she started to pet them once more.
<<... Would you know when your Great Grandfather would be back?>>
Jessie mulled her words for a second before shrugging. "Not sure. He sent a letter back home to my aunt and said he'll be back in a week's time, but knowing him, that could spell up for a few months if he ends up getting sidetracked."
Oz was hesitant as he remarked, <
Jessie giggled as the comment did fit her Great Grandfather to a T. "Yeah, that is like him though. Great Grandfather is an Exalted cultivator, a staggering two tiers higher than even the second person with the highest cultivator level here in the city, Ethan Tyrieo of the Tyrieo clan. If he wasn't so flighty and such a huge procrastinator, I think Great Grandfather would probably be Protector already."
She then explains to Oz that the title of Protector is something along the lines of a mayor, one who moves the civil senate of the clans and the public civilians as well as help coordinates the adventurer's union in the region. They are held in power for as long as they can gain the unanimous approval from the eight head clans in the city and majority vote from the public, but once in the seat they are Protector for life until they retire or impeached by the public. So far in the history of New Brynheim, no Protector have had to go through the humiliation of being impeached. In the four hundred years since the first settlers, all Protectors have bared the mantle of their power with grace and service to the city.
The current Protector is, of course, the second strongest cultivator in New Brynheim – Ethan Tyrieo.
"Anyways, that's what a Protector does around here. I'm sure other cities have their own kinda requirements regarding Protectors, but that's how it works in New Brynheim."
Jessie smiled. It was nice talking to Oz, really. She never really got the chance to be this comfortable talking to anyone else so casually unless it was with Mel since the other people she knew of were of the 'high-society' variety and were as soon to gossip about her or her family as soon as she went a bit loose-lipped. While Oz had the practiced politeness of her world, she could hear his sincerity as well. All in all, Oz was just a nice guy.
"So yeah... I'm not really sure what I'm going to do at this point. I don't want to be stuck here in this apartment until Great Grandfather comes back, but I'm not really seeing any other options here. If Aunt Lucinda finds me before he gets back, I'm gonna get punished and subsequently get traded off to the Garrin family... And if they find you... You're an oddity and I'm not exactly sure what they'll do with you, but it won't be good."
<
Jessie nodded. "Yeah, well. What are we going to do about it?"
It was then, a familiar chime echoed through the house coming. Jessie knew it to be the doorbell and she froze, her hands stopping their actions to pet the beasts.
Mel didn't say anything about visitors.
"Crap. Give me a second," she whispered to Oz. She told the beasts to stay in a soft voice before sneaking out to the entrance hall, the heels of her feet lifted off the ground as she stilled her breathing to achieve perfect silence. Something she had practice on whenever she would sneak out to meet up with Mel at night. No cultivation techniques required, but honestly, now that she thought about it. It probably wouldn't hurt to pick one up.
She leaned over to peer into the peekhole of the door.
Standing outside the door was a youthful male around fifteen or sixteen. He was dressed in a white school uniform accented with green threads along the lapel and sleeves that seemed tailored to fit on his slender frame. There was a Multi-Tailed cat sitting on his shoulders as he held in one hand a phone as he checked the screen while the other hand was inserted into a pocket in his pants. Even from the top of his short mussed purple-colored hair, Jessie could tell that it was her cousin, Adrien.
Suddenly, the boy looked up to reveal the sharp features of his face that Jessie knew so well.
"Come on, Jessie," he snarled. "I know you're in there. Open up. I don't have all day."
Jessie stood back from the door and her heart nearly plummeted into her stomach.
'Oh, crap.'