Chapter 13
Ruins of ancient Dracaenae enclave, Continent: Barat, the Year 2041, Planet: Grimoire
This was awkward; Clarence turned his attention back to Firenze, the quieter of the twins and far less thrilled with this situation. Much to Clarence's bemusement, Firenze was already showing signs of shifting to a griffin form.
"Amazing," Clarence kept a distance between them. Sometimes, instinct would cause newly shifted griffins to attack whatever was nearest to them because the animal was usually in charge.
Gradually, Firenze turned into a decent-sized griffin. It was creamy white furred with striping and spotted black tea coloration. Its wings were mottled with black and orange streaks. The eyes were a watchful amber and green hue.
The griffin looked around, attempted to walk, and wobbled ungracefully, its wings mantling as it figured out how to move around. {So, this is what it's like to be something other than human.} Firenze's voice was thoughtful and contemplative. {I'll have to apologize to Grifton for being a jerk in the past.}
{Yes, indeed you will.} A smaller replica of Firenze appeared to land on his head. {I told you that you could do it.} A female griffin preened her features and flipped her tail this time. {Your brother's spirit is a bit slower to figure out ways of communicating with him.}She sounded amused. {That might be why he's stuck with the head and wings of a griffin but not the entire body of one.}
Clarence was in shock when he saw the tiny griffin spirit. "Liz?" He hadn't seen her in many centuries. Now, she appeared and was Firenze's spirit companion. How cool was that? So, Chester also had one but needed clarification on successful shapeshifting? Hmm, that was amusing, though.
Liz looked at Clarence in confusion. "Who...Oh, it's you." She looked startled, wondering if that was even possible. "I didn't recognize you out of your draconic form."
Clarence shrugged. "Times have changed, Ms. Liz," He smiled slightly. "So, who is Chester's spirit companion?" Now, he was curious.
Liz shook her head. {I'll call the lazy bastard out.} She clearly wasn't in the mood to play middleman in this case.
Clarence merely nodded. "Fine with me." He could be patient.
Finally, a spirit popped out above Chester's slumbering form. He was all black, golden-eyed, and bristling with aggravation. {I swear if this isn't an emergency...Uh, what the hell?} His gaze landed on Clarence, and he winced in shock.
{Clarence Delarosa?} He looked around, taking in the surroundings for the first time, and looked horrified. {What happened to this place?}
Clarence sighed. "Do you even know what century this is?" Of course, it would be Sloane Panthia, Chester's spirit companion. "We're no longer in the 900s." He pitied Chester now. "What have you done to him?" He gestured at Chester with a frown. "I don't think he's supposed to look like that."
{Huh?} Sloane looked around in confusion before noticing Chester's appearance and where he lay down. {Oh, right, him.} He flew around the area more, looking over the place. {This is the meditation and shifting training grounds, right?} At last, he returned to where Chester slept and landed on a rock close to his shoulder.
Sloane looked closely at Chester's appearance. {Eh, I hate to break it all, but he didn't like his physical appearance and chose this form to hide his face and hair.} He shrugged when looking back at Lizette, Clarence, and Firenze.
Clarence needed clarification about Chester's circumstances. Despite Firenze's growling and snarling, he did care about his brother. Yes, he had his priorities, but the fact that he'd still agreed to do this meant he wasn't as hostile toward Chester as his words might suggest.
Clearly, Sloane knew far too much about Chester's mental state and insecurities, which he hadn't alerted anyone about. Since he wasn't talking, Sloane clearly decided it was time to end the mystery of why he'd chosen that peculiar humanoid-griffin-headed hybrid appearance.
Yes, Clarance was curious about this, too.
{He was jealous of Firenze there for being a handsome and powerful Alpha.} Sloane sighed and batted at Chester's face. {Wake up, Chester.} Clearly, he wouldn't tolerate Chester's lazy way of handling the situation. {It is time for you to completely shift to griffin form and back to human.} Sloane growled in annoyance when Chester grunted in dissent.
It was apparent Chester wasn't trusting anything Sloane told him. {I'm willing to bet that your face is no longer what you believe it to be.} Sloane shook his head in rising irritation. {Remember, you were never identical, even if you're twins.} Clearly, this was an old dispute between the companion and the man.
A quiet, melodious tenor voice shocked all of them, and it came from Chester. "So, it won't matter what my face looks like anymore?" A light green fog enveloped Chester.
When he reappeared, he was an identical match to Sloane regarding Griffin's form. His eyes were golden in color. However, there were a few differences, such as his head and wings being a tawny brown color and tufted ears, the base color being black. The paws and tail were creamy-hued, and the rest were a beautiful black.
Then, he finally became a human male. He had long blond hair, amber-gold eyes, aquiline features, and a tanned complexion. He had a slender, muscular build and currently wore a beige vest and black breeches, with black sandals adorning his feet.
*
Chester hadn't been in pure human form since he was about fifteen or sixteen. It felt strange without the feathers covering his body. "I'm going to have to get used to this again." He sighed as he stretched and grunted in shock. "Now I feel the chill."
He saw his reflection in one of the walls. "So, this is what I look like?" He tilted his head in curiosity.
"Yes," Four voices chorused, startling Chester. He turned to face them with slight unease.
Clarence Delarosa was looking amused.
A creamy griffin with striped and spotted wings stood watching him with admiration. {You clean up nicely.} Firenze nodded his head. {Does it matter to you so much that we're not identical?} His disappointment made Chester flinch.
Ugh, he hated getting that reaction from Firenze, but at least it wasn't as intense as when they were younger. That was an improvement. "Not as much as it used to." Chester sighed. "I'd heard so many stories of what fun identical twins could have, such as switching places." He shrugged ruefully.
"Then again, I suppose I didn't help when I got mad over you having gone rogue and removed from the family registry." He caught Clarence's startled expression. "We've got a very tangled and complicated relationship," Chester admitted.
Clarence shrugged. "Mmmhmm, so I can tell." He sat relaxed on a higher pile of rocks. "Do you two think that this is an ordinary appearance?" He indicated their appearances. "I can tell you right now that you both have rare griffin forms." He'd chosen to move somewhere where dust kicked up and wouldn't land on him.