An evening breeze whispered to me. I woke up feeling extremely dizzy. The cut along my arm was gone but it throbbed painfully. I could see the sun setting on the horizon, beautiful combinations of bright colours spread across the sky, anticipating the time of darkness was upon them. Looking around, I deduced that I'd been taken to my room to recuperate.
But what exactly happened? All I remember is being cut and then I had that horrible experience to which Mira ended it. Come to think of it, I should probably thank her and also see why Mikel did what he did.
Swivelling around, I attempted to get out of the bed but landed on my face. This seems to be a recurring incident weirdly enough. Gripping onto the mattress, I pulled myself up and grabbed a cane that was placed by my bed to stabilise myself. I took a step then another, each consuming a massive amount of energy from me. I persevered and reached the door.
Exiting the room, I was met by a peculiar creature laid directly in front of the entrance. It looked like a mixture between a dog and a cat so maybe a dat? No that doesn't sound right. Cog? That doesn't sound right either. I bent down slowly to pet it. It responded energetically and started bounding around me excitedly.
"I see you met our mascot, Joey." Mikel said, walking down the corridor.
"You guys have a mascot? What species is he?" I asked curiously, avoiding Mikel's eyes.
"Not exactly a species, but he's a familiar. And no he's not our mascot, I was joking about that. I'll explain everything that happened to you once you've regained some strength. I even went out to hunt, so we had something different to eat."
"Where's Mira?"
"Mira? She left hours ago. Why?"
"Was she with me after you cut me?"
"No, not at all. It was just me and you. I kept the incident quiet from the others."
"Strange... Anyway I'm starving, so I'll take you up on that offer."
"Bring the familiar with you as well."
Hobbling slowly, I eventually ended up in the dining room, the small familiar following after. There was what was essentially a feast laid out across the table with Mikel scoffing down a large amount of it at a time. I sat down opposite to Mikel and grabbed a chicken leg. Mikel started to explain everything in between gulping down whole chunks of meat.
"You probably have a lot of questions on your mind. I'll try to ease your mind by answering them. Anything specific you wanted to ask before I start?"
"Was Mira really not near me at all?"
"I'm certain, why? What happened whilst you were out cold?"
"I was subjected to let's say an unpleasant experience. Basically, I was given the choice for something and Mira stopped me and calmed my mind."
"How interesting... At the time of your unconsciousness, your arm started glowing with the sign of Ai, the Goddess of Love. If I remember correctly from that private conversation I just so happened to listen in to, then you made a blood pact with her. To make a blood pact with another person other than a God, you can be granted permission to use a certain God's sign to seal a promise. The question is, what did you promise her?"
"I don't have any recollection of it, so I don't know. Do you think this blood pact is the reason why Mira was with me in that nightmare?"
"One can only assume so. Anyway, I'll explain why I cut you. I attempted to do the blood-letting ritual on you, however, you were rejected by the Gods. Just to put this into perspective, no matter someone's morality or wrongdoings, they are always granted a God's blessing. You are the first case of this happening.
Also, when I cut you, your blood formed, what I assume to be, a familiar. I'm uncertain of what it is to be honest so that's the term we'll use for now. Magicians can summon familiars but never has one been summoned like yours. Another thing to point out is that your mana veins were already flowing, so we'll need to test out your magic at a later date. I think that covers everything."
"Wait! So are you and Michelle the same person?"
"Yes and no. It's a tricky question that I'd rather wait to answer. First enjoy the feast then name your new pet."
For the next half an hour me, the familiar and Mikel ate heartily. It was a nice feeling to be full and the throbbing in my arm had subsided. I mulled over some thoughts like why was I rejected by the Gods and was that a different version of Mira that I encountered but I arrived at no conclusions so I just focussed on eating.
After pigging out and burping a sigh of relief, the familiar jumped onto the table and stared at me with puppy, maybe kitten, eyes. Mikel had left to get some sleep, telling me that my physical exam started midday tomorrow. I stared at the familiar, pondering what I should call it.
"What about Leonides?" I asked quietly.
The familiar stared angrily at me. That's a no then.
"Kubo?"
The familiar wagged its tail excitedly. That seems like a yes, thank the Gods. I'm terrible at choosing names as it drains me just thinking of them. Just as I went to turn in for the night, a truly jaw-dropping incident happened. The familiar started growing at an exponential rate and started forming into something completely different to its original form.
There laid before me was a little girl without clothes, causing me to do a complete scramble for the door, screaming at the top of my lungs, calling for Mikel. Grumpily making his way back to the dining room, he started complaining about being announced before he could even reach his bed.
"What's the bloody prob- Zeke, who's this naked little girl prancing on the table!?" He shouted reeling back and covering his eyes.
"The familiar!"
"The what? This has never happened before. You're like a walking contradiction to the entirety of all that is known about magic!"
"This isn't the time for moaning! Do you have any spare clothes for that girl?"
"Master, my name is Kubo!" The girl pouted.
"You named a female familiar with a male orientated name!" Mikel retorted.
"I didn't know it was a she, ok!?"
"Why are you hiding master?" Kubo suddenly jumped off the table and started running towards me.
I avoided the first dangerous hug but there were no guarantees about dodging a second. Is there any cloth in the dining room that would cover her? I quickly glanced over but unfortunately there wasn't anything feasibly a good size for the girl.
"Do you want to play a game Kubo?" I asked, creating a master plan on the spot.
"That sounds fun! What game?"
"It's called hide-and-seek. Do you want to play it?"
"Yes! I'd love to. Count to ten and no peeking."
I counted to ten and finally me and Mikel had time to gather our breath.
"So are there any clothes?" I asked, a bit annoyed he didn't answer earlier.
"Yes, in Mira's room. She has clothes of all sizes in case of an emergency."
"How would you know that?" I pried, curious to see if he snooped into other people's rooms. I mean if he does then I've got blackmail material.
"Huh... No particular reason... why?"
"No reason, just curious. Anyway let's sort this problem out shall we?"
We headed towards Mira's room. Just as I went to enter, Mikel halted me. He indicated above and I saw what he meant, a trip wire, meaning that Mikel clearly did snoop into other peoples rooms. Letting Mikel clear the trap, we carefully entered the room. Nothing had changed since a couple of days which wasn't surprising. I planted my foot on a switch. Being as calm as possible, I asked Mikel for help.
After replacing the pressure being exerted by me, I was able to move again. We looked inside the wardrobe only to find it empty except a singular note. On it, it said, 'You'd think I'd leave my clothes in close proximity of you old man. Nice try. Yours angrily, Mira'.
"What did you do to her?" I asked.
"The less said about me stealing her clothes, the better."
"I agree with you."
We searched the drawers, hoping for some clothes that would fit Kubo. When we looked in them, they were all empty, but the bottom the drawer seemed to be able to move. I removed the bottom of the drawer whilst Mikel searched under the bed. To my astonishment, there was something hidden underneath but it looked like it was just a selection of diaries. I do wonder what's goes through her mind but I have more pressing matter at the moment.
Respecting the secrecy of her diaries, I withheld their existence from Mikel and returned the drawer as it were. Unfortunately, our efforts went to waste as everything had been hidden by Mira expertly. Suddenly Mikel leant on something and a portal appeared. Mira stepped through and Mikel's face turned white.
"I'm going to ask once. Why are you in my room?" She sounded like she was about to kill him.
"C-clothes!" Mikel stammered.
"After my clothes again!? How many times does that make it now? I'm trying to find a dragon whilst you teach my beloved Zeke about the world and this is what you do!" She screamed.
Out of fear, I hid myself from her sight. It seemed cowardly to leave Mikel to her wrath but it had to be done. He was a brave warrior who sacrificed his life for the greater good. As Mira was brutally interrogating a petrified Mikel, the worst possible scenario happened. Kubo ran in, spotted me and jumped straight on top of me. I braced myself for an earful.
"WHO IS THAT!?" Mira screamed.
"Woah... Master there's a pretty lady! You should meet her." Kubo started pulling me out of my cover and I locked eyes with Mira.
"It's not what it looks like. I promise." I immediately started.
"Ok, I'll give you a chance to explain. Only after I finish beating my frustrations out on Mikel."
"There's no need! He did nothing wrong this time!"
"I'm going to be asking the questions. If I don't like them, Mikel gets a punch and if I do then Mikel gets a punch."
"That sounds fair."
The words slipped out of my mouth as Mikel screamed traitor.
"Firstly, who exactly is the small naked girl clinging to your arm?"
"I'm not entirely sure, but she was formed as a familiar from my blood and then transformed into this. That's why we're in here since we came to find some clothes."
"That's fair enough." She punched Mikel. "So you activated the blood pact, I see?"
"Wait, was that actually you in that dream?"
"Of course it was. You were in trouble. I can't give you the details now but when I come back I can explain what happened." She punched Mikel again. "That's for doing that to Zeke! You really think I wouldn't know what you did! Anyway, let me tie this fool up and I'll take you to where I kept my clothes."
After a couple of minutes, Mikel was fully bound to a chair and gagged. This seemed like a regular occurrence. I was led out of the room by Mira with Kubo. She pressed a switch on the wall of the corridor and it opened up to reveal an entire room, stashed full of clothes and possessions.
"How comes you didn't put your diaries in here?" I asked without thinking.
"What did you say?" A menacing aura surrounded Mira as she turned, her eyes full of fury.
"D-don't worry! I didn't read it, I swear! I even hid the fact that I'd found them from Mikel."
"Thank you for not reading it. They are the diaries I wrote before I met you originally. They were dark days and not pleasant. So I'm grateful you respected my privacy."
"Master, what is this cool room?" Kubo asked.
"This is where you'll get some clothes to wear." I answered.
"Don't worry, you wait outside the room and stand guard whilst I pick something for her."
"Thanks for doing this Mira. Say, how did you get here?"
"Teleportation stone. The portal lasts a while, so I've got time until it closes."
I left the room and stood guard as ordered. Thinking about it, Kubo looked exactly like Mira, only smaller. It was the same shade of blond, same coloured eyes and everything. How strange... Kubo is essentially a child version of Mira. I went to check up on Mikel after his beating to apologise for not standing with him. He was still tied and gagged.
"Sorry for leaving you for dead. But maybe, don't get a reputation for snooping though people's rooms and you wouldn't be in this mess in the first place." With this I patted him on the head sympathetically and headed back to the secret room, Mikel screaming.
Stood in the hallway, was now a clothed Kubo. She was wearing a gown with bright flowers covering it, wearing her long hair down. Mira came out in a different outfit as well. She was wearing a green dress with gold trimmings lining the edges. She had her long hair in a bun, and she was smiling.
"So what do you think?" She asked cheerfully.
"It looks fantastic!" I gave the good ole thumbs up to which she just laughed at the awkward gesture.
"Hey! What about me master?" Kubo pouted.
"You look great too. Also, would you mind just calling me Zeke?"
"Yay! Thank you daddy!"
"What!? No, no, no! Zek-ee not dad-dee."
"Mum, what do you think? Master or daddy?"
"Wait, you mean me!? I'm too young to be having children!" Mira shouted flustered.
"Why not? You're so pretty!"
"Zeke, get her under control!"
"Kubo, stop teasing her. I'm sure you're tired, why don't you head to bed."
"Yay! Sleep time..." Kubo collapsed on the floor, snoring.
"She's such an oddball. How's your mission going at the moment Mira?" I asked picking up Kubo and putting her over my shoulder.
"We're almost at the town. It's going to be pretty dangerous but nothing we haven't dealt with before. Say, when you were in that dream, was that your fear? Being overcome with anxiety."
"How'd you guess?" I joked half-heartedly. "I'm scared of the questions that appear in my mind. This fear will either consume me or I will consume it but I need to sort it quickly. If I don't, then I will hesitate in times of need and it will get me killed."
"You can't just sort out problems like that quickly. It takes time. You may not like it but those questions are bound to help you one day. If only for a second, it may stop you from doing something that will break your morality. Just know that I'm here for you to confide in whenever you have problems and I will always do my best to help you. It's the least I can do after what you've done for me."
"Why won't you tell me what I helped you with?"
"Because that would be breaking a rule on our promise. I want to tell you but we'll both get punished by the Gods."
"Am I really the same person as the one you met?"
"Exactly..."
"That's comforting to know."
"I should probably head back now to Ronan and Kassandra. You should probably get some rest. Take care of your daughter, ok?"
"You're acting as if she hasn't already claimed you as her mother, so we share responsibility." I joked.
"I'll give it a think, but she's your familiar. A unique one, but she's indebted to you for the creation of her life. Also, don't think I haven't noticed she looks exactly like me."
With this Mira hopped back into her room, punched Mikel again and jumped through the portal. The portal vanished and it was back to the three of us left in this house.
I placed Kubo down gently and untied Mikel.
"This the usual treatment you get from her?" I asked.
"Yeah but I don't mind. It's all in good sport. Anyway, I'm exhausted now, so I'm heading off to bed. Do you want an extra mattress for the familiar?"
"That would be helpful."
"Take the spare room's one then. I would've suggested letting her sleep in the spare room, but she's attached herself to you. Try to sleep well, tomorrow you have you physical and magic examination."
I took Kubo and laid her on my bed. I then grabbed the spare room's mattress and dragged it into my room, placed it on the floor and collapsed in exhaustion onto it. It didn't take long for me to drift into the chaotic mess of my nightmares once again.