"Thank you again, young man, for saving our beautiful Coronis Metro! Without the core, we would all just cease to exist! However can I repay you?" The old mayor shook my hand violently as if he was trying to steal my arm. I laughed nervously and rubbed the back of my head, "With all due respect sir, I'd like to mention that it wasn't I who had retrieved the cube, but my partner…" I trailed off as my smile dropped to a somber frown.
Kara…
Are you okay now…?
"Ah, that beautiful young lady did? I'll have to show her my gratitude as well! In my eyes, you are both heroes of this city and we will never forget such a feat!" He continued to ramble on, but his words suddenly became lost to me as I stared off into the distance past him.
Kara had managed to break the curse, but I should have known everything felt too easy. She had completely drained her mana and collapsed from the fatigue. The chills I got when I felt her body grow cold within seconds… How lifeless she felt when I caught her in my arms. I had goosebumps and I was too afraid to even breathe. Never again. I couldn't let her over-exert herself again. There had to be some way for me to get stronger so that I could protect her, and that's exactly what I planned on doing.
"Hey! Don't let him escape!" A loud voice called followed by the sound of several footsteps. The commotion broke me out of my trance and I looked back over my shoulder just in time to see a familiar figure charging at me at full speed. It was the bird boy that Kara had saved. "Stop him! He's going after the hero!" A small army of guards were charging after him in my direction as well, but I was too focused on the boy coming at me. For some reason, I felt an unsettling bubbling sensation at the pit of my stomach. It left a nasty feeling that I wanted to be rid of, but at the same time it felt empowering.
What is going on?
I felt a burn in my eyes and shielded my face with my hands to try and ease the pain but to no avail. However, it simmered down on its own and left me feeling… powerful. My body seemed to move on its own though as I took off towards the boy on my own, my arm outstretched in front of me. It felt like I was in a trance of some sort because as much as I wanted to stop, my body kept going. I had no control over myself anymore. Another burning sensation appeared in my outstretched hand, except it didn't hurt this time. It just felt as though I were reaching for heat, but couldn't touch it because something was stopping me. A flame of blue appeared in my hand and just as I was within arm's length, I reached for his face, ready to burn it off completely for what he did.
No.
Revenge isn't what I want.
Stop controlling me!
The boy let out a shriek and disappeared in a puff of smoke that temporarily blinded me. The burn in my eyes returned but this time, I could actually feel my body this time. I wafted the smoke away and coughed as I searched around for where he had gone so quickly.
"H-Hey! You just tried to kill me! You psychopath!" I heard a squeaky voice amidst the squawking of a bird. I finally managed to clear the smoke and saw a small black bird flapping its wings violently. I raised an eyebrow as it landed on my head and started pecking at the top of my head and I winced, "Hey knock it off! Are you bird boy? Why are you causing a ruckus this late into the day huh?" I snapped at him, his childish behavior gradually ticking me off.
"Ah! Is that the true identity of the thief?! How dare you defile our hero with your filth?! Guards!" The mayor wailed and the guards that had been pursuing him prior to our personal encounter seemingly popped up out of nowhere and startled both of us. "Seize him." The guard up front grumbled and hands started reaching for my head, which really was not how I wanted to go out tonight.
"H-Hey on second thought! Mayor sir, do you mind if I keep this bird- er, boy, under my protection, y'know… as the Coronis Metro Hero and all. That way, since I'm merely a passerby, he will be under my custody and forced to leave this city as well." I explained with an uneasy smile on my face, the bird still resting on my head as if he had found his new home. The mayor seemed skeptical as he tapped his foot impatiently at the thought and fidgeted with his totally sick mustache.
"Why, what a fine idea, great hero! By all means, please take him away from our wonderful city!" He seemed more than happy to oblige and shook my head once more before clambering off with all of his guards in tow. I let out a big sigh of relief that they were finally out of view and proceeded to wrap my fingers around bird boy's body and hold him up to face level.
"Look, kid, this is the second time your tail has been saved today. I'm still very pissed that Kara has been out for hours because of you, but I'll let you stay because I need some answers from you." I huffed and released him from my hands. In a puff of smoke he returned back to a boy and looked at me with wide questionable eyes. "Kara…? Ah! The pretty lady that saved me?! Where is she?!" He flapped his human arms around frantically and started jumping around. I groaned once more and grabbed a hold of him, "Chill out! One thing at a time! And I'm not even answering questions from you yet, you're answering mine!"
"Why should I answer you? I don't even know you!" He started pecking at my head and I swatted him away once more, "Dude, stop! Okay?! Damn..." I sighed in annoyance after successfully having knocked him off my head. "Okay. I'm Perrin. I died and came into this world. I'm on a mission to better myself and prevent catastrophe from ensuing in this new world." I explained and held my hand out towards him, trying my best to make peace. It was a little strange how I knew nothing of this little guy and yet, he felt kind of… familiar to me,
He looked at me, eyes narrowed and nose scrunched as if assessing me. I couldn't tell what he was thinking because his expression was pretty much unreadable, but he took a small step back and shook his head.
"Thank you for saving me... but I have to get back to my master... Him and Miss Claudia are waiting for me." He muttered and rubbed his arm nervously before shifting into a big raven and taking off into the sky.
"Hey! You're in my custody!" I yelled after him and took off to go chase him down. Thankfully, the mayor and guards had left the vicinity, so thankfully they wouldn't notice my little slip up as a hero. All I heard in response from him was an obnoxious caw that didn't even sound like a real raven.
In hindsight, I didn't take into consideration that there wasn't really much I could do to stop the kid from running off, especially since he can literally turn into a bird. I kind of just figured he would trust me blindly and make my job a lot easier. Obviously, that wasn't realistic, but kids were stupid, so my logic wasn't all that flawed.
"I-I can't stay! I've gotta go, Perrin sir!" He called out from ahead of me before letting out another caw. He made a sharp turn and flew up towards the ceiling and I skid to a stop just before running into a bench.
"Dammit... Kara's going to kill me!" I groaned and ran my hands down my face in agony. I crouched down and slung my bag off my shoulder. I rummaged around it for a bit trying to find something that could help me catch him, anything at this point. And that's when it hit me.
No, literally.
I felt a splat hit the top of my head and instant chills coursed down my spine. I didn't want to believe that I had just been attacked by something so foul. But the smell is what got me. So there I was, frozen in place, in the middle of digging through my adventure pack when a bird, who I could only assume was the kid, took a massive dump on my head. I was appalled, but that was an understatement because there was no way in hell a kid just shat on me like that.
"Ew! You're all stinky now! Only shady weirdos get pooped on! Haha!" He had circled back and was now laughing at me, but it was mixed with raven screeches that really ground my gears further. I clenched my teeth and gritted my fists tightly.
Wait, no that's wrong.
I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists tightly as he landed in front of me with a weird look on his ugly bird mug.
"Are you mad, Perrin sir? Don't be mad! It's for the betterment of your health! Raven poop is one of a kind, just like, Mister Perrin sir!" He bounced around on his disgusting bird feet, taking careful steps towards me. But I was still. Lying in wait until the perfect moment to strike. One hand was on the hilt of my blade and the other was in my bag, ready to pull out my hoodie and use as a net.
I'm going to kill this bird boy.
"Mister Perrin sir! Don't be mad! You can shower! Take baths and shower! Or I can wash it for you! I'll become a pelican and scoop up water to dump on you and you'll be squeaky clean, Mister Perrin sir!" He continued his senseless chatter, but I wasn't having it. He was within arm's length and all I had to do was just…
"You're dead, kid!" I growled and lunged at him. He squawked back at me in distress and started clawing at my arms, putting up one hell of a fight. But I was mad. And I was going to win this.
One way or another.