Crap! How could I forget my own familiar's egg like that?! It's only been four days since I got it, and it's already missing!
"Oh miss Corvus, has your egg hatched yet?" Donna asked me.
I started to panick- "Oh..n-no not yet, Mrs. Gras. It's been hibernating for a while now. This little one sure takes its time, doesn't it? hahaha!" I said, trying to distract her from the fact I'v screwed over again.
"Huh… that's unusual, but it's not something that wouldn't happen. You should keep a close eye on it, miss Corvus. Based on the size of its egg, it might be very small, so if it's hatched when you're not around, it might be difficult to look around for it." Donna said as she finished wiping her hand and come to the shed.
"HAhaha.. yeah… I'll be on the look out for it.." I said while profusely sweating.
Immediately after my shift ended, I rushed to my room.
"Ughh.." I groaned. My room is like a rat nest… I'm never going to find this thing.
"Don't worry about it running away, miss Corvus. Familiars can't wonder far away from their masters." I remembered Donna saying.
"Huu… let's try to find it a bit more. If I was a small little thing, where would I be.." I said as I scanned through my ruined of a room. After awhile of searching, I finally found a bit of a clue. Looking around in the dark corner of my furnitures and somewhere on my cabinet, I noticed some scratched marks on the wooded drawers. Adding to that, there were some scruples of freshly shedded skins under the couch. According to what little information I have gathered, my pet is definitely some sort of reptile with claws…
*Knock, Knock!*
"Excuse me? I'm here for cleanups. Is anybody in there?" A woman said from outside.
Huh.. I haven't requested for a service yet though? I crawled out from under the table to opened the door. It was a girl, probably in her mid-twenties, wearing a maid outfit.
"Ah.. greeting, young miss. I am here per your room service." The woman bowed down to me. She was holding a broom in one hand and a bucket in the other.
"Oh.. well come in, but I don't think I have called for any cleanups though…" I said.
"Ahh.. It was via the young miss with silver hair that requested us this morning. She was a real beaut and a soft spoken young girl!" The woman said.
"Oh.. okay." I replied.
From what I've heard, after I bashed on Cercis infront of everybody, I dragged her along out that night, so the title of the Viscum's Queen was bestowed to somebody else, and Viscum's King was given to none other than the prince. Because of such reason, Irene has to compete in the selections of champions from the start like everyone else since this morning. Still, she has the time to think of this things…
There was a bit of shocked on her face when she entered my room.
"Oh! I see the after party was really intense in here.." The woman said.
"Y-yeah.." I replied along. Honestly I have not a single clue of what happened here either…
I watched along on my bed as the maid organized my room. Out of boredom, I asked her- "Hey, in your time cleaning, have you ever like encountered a lizard or something in a room?"
"Mmm.. I have not seen much, my lady. Small geckos, reptiles are rare around here. Temperature ranges around the capital are quite low. Although it's just past summer, so there might be some lizards here and there, habiting in people's homes."The woman said as she looked out through the window.
The woman continued- "Oh! Perhaps are there any of these little things infested in your room? Do you need help getting rid of it?"
"Ah.. it's not-" as I was saying that, something fell down and landed on her broom… what the f*ck is that?! - I thought to myself.
The moment she heard the thud, she turned around to look, but that thing was gone.
Simultaneously, I got up out of my spot and grabbed her broom.
"Ah-ahh.. thank you for coming! but let me finish this up here, alright. Really! I appreciated you coming here. Hahaha! You can go off now." I said rushingly while leading her out the door.
"Oh! W-wait, young miss!" The woman stuttered.
I shut the door on her, and another thud happened like something dropped underneath, near my foot. Immediately, I touched the top of the broom and there was nothing! Crap… I know now why I haven't found this little one… after all, it's a natural born camouflager.
I saw it right before my eyes, the moment that maid turned over, it instantly disappeared, merging into one with its surrounding. It would be useless to solely rely on my eyesight anymore, I have to focus on the noises around me.
I waited until there was no longer any knocks from the door, waiting until silence and peace were established in the area.. For a minute, all I could hear was the sound of the wind blowing from outside, a vibrant noisesof trumpets, parade's music in the distance.
After a period of silence, I gripped the broom tightly in my hand, slamming it to the foot of my bed, shaken the whole thing.
*Screechh!! Plob!*
Immediately, something fall atop of my head. What I saw from many reflections of the broken mirror at the left corner of my eyes was a creature with a head that looked like a reptile skull. Its eyes were empty sockets and its flesh was dulled sage.
From that picture alone, it got me freaked out and start swinging the broom over the top my head, spinning around trying to shake that thing off, but its two hind legs with hooves that's sharped like a claw, was binding to my head like a tape.
I continued thrashing around, hitting the edge of the furniture and tripping over my carpet.
"Ugh.." I groaned as I entangled myself in a pit of my own foolishness, stucking in between my couch and the glass table.
… Sighed.. what am I doing? This creature is mine, and a part of me. Why am I trying to hurt my own flesh? I watched as the little scoundrel crawled down my head and onto my chest. Its thorax is shaped almost like a bat while its lower body was built like a lizard with split tails. Its body look rough but it didn't have any scales, it reminded me of a Komodo dragon, but crawling on two limbs and its head seemed to look like it got thrown into a pit of acid or something that what's left is all bone and no flesh.
My first impression on my own familiar was why does it look so hideous? I saw other people's pet looking quite adorable and resembled their owner, but what is this? How is this a part of me?.. It doesn't look right… everything about it is out of this world.. like it doesn't belong here.. ahh I get it…
"So you truly are mine…" I said as I reached my hand to try and pet it. First, it was taken aback by my approach, then it got closer to let its head press against my hand, allowing my finger to stroke it. To my surprise, its skull of a head wasn't as hard as I thought. The area around its mouth was a bit softer, like the gum of the teeth.
"You looked quite unique…how about Ichi.. that will be your name. Well, do you like it?" I asked the the little one as I started to stroke its head.
In that instant, it started wagging its tail side to side like a dog, hah just like chi chi… but all of a sudden it's started to twitch, then gagging noises came out of its shut mouth.. and before I could react-
*Blreeegh!!*
It suddenly opened its jaw and some sort out slimy substance cackled out of its mouth, drawn out with a small clump of hair and pieces of white egg shells sticking out.
"Oh…" I said, a bit grossed out after it vomited on my hand. Huh, has it eaten its way out of its own shell?
Now that I think about it, these past few days, what has Ichi been eating? All those thoughts led me to go around and got some stuff for Ichi. Fruits, vegetables and meat, Ichi taste tested it all. What I found was that meat suited his taste the most, especially raw and fresh one… more so, he doesn't decline having some greens either. Guess he is some sort of omnivore with some nasty appetite.
"Let's see…" I picked Ichi up and he crawled onto my shoulder. As I walked past the sunlight, shining through the window, Ichi shriveled a bit and went to hide behind my back.
"You're not a fan of lights as well. Hmm.. I wonder if you can get invisible on command, that would be convenient." I said as I raised my fingertip to pet his nose… now that I think about it, where is his sinuses?… well who am I to question how a mythical creature works, I'm sure we'll get along just fine.