Chapter 65: GIVE ME MY EARS BACK!

“Oh wow, it’s so juicy..”

“And such a thick cut..”

“It’s good meat..”

Anna, Orla, and Mira are holding a contest to see who can eat the paddle horn the fastest. I’ve been fawning over Anna since I first saw her, but I literally have to avert my eyes from this. Her lips are redder than the inside of the steaks I made. A shiver ran down my back when I saw her take the first bite.

“I’m glad you like it,” I say, my eyes pinned directly down at my own plate. I maintain this posture until I hear the forks and knives stop their dance over everyone’s plates. When I look up, everyone is staring at their pizza slices.

“It’s called pizza,” I say, then pick up my own slice to take a bite, “you can eat it with a fork and knife if you prefer to keep your hands clean, but it’s typically eaten with your hands,” I explain and crunch. God, I love pizza. I enjoy the flavor with my eyes closed.

Crunch crunch crunch

I open my eyes and see childlike joy on the girls’ faces. Anna's red eyes beam, and her hand crimps the crust of the pizza tight, sending crumbs all over her plate. Mira hardly stops to chew her first bite before she takes another. Bread and cheese are a wonder when you’re drunk. Orla has the most composure, but her smile is even wider than normal. The girls chow down until they clean their plates, while I smile.

“What’re you smiling about??” Mira asks, then startles as she holds in a hiccup.

“I like it when people enjoy the food I make, that’s all,” I reply.

“Must be nice- HIC, UHH, not having to eat tough monster meat all the time,” Mira says, making me hum in thought.

“You can come with me to the outside world sometime,” I suggest, making Mira perk up. Anna looks a little excited, too, but Orla sighs hard.

“That’s a kind offer, Sio, but from what you tell of the human church, Terrans would face significant danger in the outside world,” Orla says with a frown, but I smile in return.

“Normally that would be the case, but I’ve been working on something,” I reply and pull several metal clips with inlaid spell stones from storage, “Mira, could you help me test something?” I ask, and she nods eagerly. I walk over next to her and place a clip on each of her spotted leopard ears.

“Aha, ha, it tickles,” she says while squirming.

“Sorry,” I say, “push some of your magic into the spell stones on those clips, Mira,” I command, and she obeys. A small bubble of magic pushes itself away from the stone, then light bends, and her fluffy ears disappear.

“WHA!” Anna shouts and jumps to her feet.

“That’s.. the spell around this house,” Orla says while closely examining the top of Mira’s head.

“Exactly right, the spell bends incoming light, so her ears haven’t gone anywhere. They just can’t be seen,” I explain.

Mira lifts her hands to her head and touches her ears, then frowns.

“I don’t get it,” she slurs. I create a thin film of water in front of her, and she gazes into it to see her reflection.

“WHAT! GIVE ME MY EARS BACK!” she shouts and jumps to her feet, then grabs hold of my shirt, making Orla palm her own forehead.

“They haven’t gone anywhere, Mira, they’re just hidden by a spell,” I explain and gently take hold of her wrists. Mira scowls for a moment, then turns and kneels on the couch with her butt and tail pressed out.

“You can borrow my tail as well, but I want it back!” she yells and leans over the back of the couch. Orla’s eyes are shut in shame, but Anna is watching intently.

I place the first clip near the base of her spotted tail, the exact distance from her butt that the magic bubble will expand to, but her tail starts fwipping erratically.

“Mira, can you hold your tail still?” I ask as it slaps against my stomach. I turn my head to look at her face and its beat red.

“It um.. Sio.. it feels funny,” she says awkwardly.

It must tickle.

“Sorry, just hold it still for a moment, I’ll be quick,” I reply, and her tail steadies. I suspend the remaining clips in the air with condensed magic and look to each spot that I’ll place them. I gently hold her tail just past the first clip and use my free hand to place the others in rapid succession. Mira’s whole body tenses, but I keep a firm grip of her tail until the last clip goes on.

“There!” I exclaim and back up. Orla has her head in her hands next to Mira, and Anna has a hand covering her eyes. “What?” I ask, then turn to Mira. She’s biting her lip and panting like she’s fighting for her life.

“HHAA.. HEEE..” she breathes hard and trembles, then turns to look at me. Her golden eyes shimmer and remind me of dripping honey as her body relaxes and her posture collapses into the couch. “I nev.. I never accepted that proposal, you know..” she whispers.

“What are you on about?” I ask and look back at Orla and Anna. They’re nearly as red as Mira is.

“Sio..” Anna starts, “Terran tails are sensitive, normally only our mates would touch them that much..”

“Your mat- oh.. um.. sorry Mira,” I say while sucking my teeth, but Mira curls up into a little ball and runs her tail between her legs to hold it.

“It was nice,” she mutters and closes her eyes. Orla has pulled her head from her hands and has started shooting daggers at me.

“Ahem – anyway, can you push some magic into the spell stones on your tail?” I ask, and Mira listens without opening her eyes. In an instant, her tail disappears under several magic bubbles.

I return to my seat across from the girls, hoping the mood will change, and Anna lends me a hand.

“Wouldn’t humans see the magic from those stones?” she asks, making me shake my head.

“Humans struggle to see magic, even Terran descendants can’t differentiate that spell from the magic that naturally rolls off the body,” I explain, and Anna turns to examine Mira more closely.

“Since her magic is keeping them activated, it is hard to tell, but I think most villagers would notice eventually,” she says, and Orla nods in agreement.

“Luckily, we’re not trying to fool anyone here,” I reply with a smile, then turn to Orla, “Do you have a map of the city below?” I ask, and her face turns serious.

“We have a rough map of the area we want to reach,” Orla answers, “there’s a research lab which should contain books written in our ancestors’ research language.”

“Research language..” I repeat, then make a storage opening over the table and pour out the books I found in the north, “Like these?” I ask, and the room erupts.

“Where’d you get these?!” Orla cries and scrambles to read across their titles.

“Wha, how!” Anna yelps and does the same.

“Humrah.. what?” Mira stirs; she must’ve fallen asleep.

“Those facilities your ancestors built around the world to move this continent, I found one a while back and nabbed all the books that were in good condition,” I explain, “I’ll let you borrow them, but you have to teach me the language.”

I smile at the deal about to be struck, but pages turning wildly is the only sound I hear after making my offer.

“Tectonic plates and where they overlap.. magical conductivity across different densities of rock.. earth’s energy amplification through otherworld gems..” Anna mumbles and tears through books one after another, while Orla is settled on just one.

“A counter-thesis, potentially disastrous ramifications to tectonic plate manipulation..” Orla whispers, “So they did know.”

“Are you guys ok?” I ask, making Orla and Anna look up.

“Yes, right, what do you want for these? You can marry Mira if you’d like,” Orla offers, and Anna nods furiously.

“Marry..” Mira sleep talks, “Sio and I are already married, we have a baby named Titus..”

“No, what- no, you can read them cover to cover, but I want them back eventually. All I ask is that someone teach me the language,” I offer again. Mira and Orla exchange glances, then turn piercing eyes to me.

“Deal,” they say in unison and start stacking the books up.

“I’ll return tomorrow morning with a map of the city below, and you’re free to pick from our best warriors for your expedition,” Orla says, and Anna’s hand shoots up.

“I want to go!” she shouts.

Is this girl a nerd or a warrior?

“I wasn’t going to bring anyone if it's as dangerous as you say it is,” I reply seriously, making both girls frown.

“Sio, you’ll need someone who understands the old language; you should at least take me,” Anna says firmly.

If we’re fighting underground, a fire user is the worst pick for this trip..

“I won’t agree to take you today, but I have two requests,” I say, “Orla, when you return tomorrow morning, bring me to see Priscilla, and have her closest family member with you,” I request, making her grimace.

“They’ll have hard feelings considering you killed her bonded..” Orla says.

“That’s fine, they’re necessary for waking Priscilla,” I respond, “and Anna, tomorrow afternoon, gather warriors who speak your old language so I can test them.”

“I will, but no one will be stronger than me,” Anna says fiercely.

Damn, that was super hot.

“Ahem – right, what do you want to do about Mira?” I ask and motion to the snoring girl on the couch.

“Let her sleep,” Orla says with a shrug.

“But no more touching her tail,” Anna says and points a finger at me.

“Got it, I’ll throw a blanket over her and head upstairs then,” I say.

I walk Orla and Anna to the door, and they walk out into the night. I hardly even noticed it got dark. I throw a blanket from a guest room over Mira, place a large glass of water on the table in front of her, then head upstairs. I change back into my usual black attire and flop into a duck feather bed embrace.

I learned a bit today, and I think my relationship with these people is moving in a good direction. Victoria will probably be welcome here if I can carve a path to those books underground. Maybe Selena and Kara, too, though they’re pretty weak compared to the Terrans.

I need to stay focused on the church. I have some good info to go off of, but I should report the orphan crew’s demise and try to get a meeting with their contact at the church. It would at least tell me who to start torturing with Victoria once she’s ready.

But one thing does bother me: magic cores and magical beast bonding. I get the gist, but I don’t understand it completely. Mira said a magic core could be forcefully removed to make a magic beast bond to you, but that implies it takes a physical form. Do I have some lump of dense magic inside me that can be ripped out? I run magic through myself daily and know myself inside and out; you’d think I would notice something like that. But maybe only beasts have them?

I’m getting a headache, time to sleep.

***

“SIO! SIOOOOOOO!” yawnnnnn someone’s yelling downstairs. I release a bit of magic and sense Mira searching the guest rooms.

Post-blackout confusion; haven’t seen this since college.

I leave my room and stretch my body as I walk to the stairs.

“Coming, Mira!” I shout and stifle a yawn. I walk downstairs and see a panicked Mira. Her hair is tied back up in orange buns, but her expression is nearing terrified.

“SIO! What did you do to me?!” she shouts while holding her magic hidden tail in front of her. I yawn and rub my eyes with the back of my hands.

“It’s just a spell stone, Mira, hold your magic in, and it’ll deactivate,” I explain.

Mira closes her eyes and clenches every muscle in her body. Her magic pulls back to the edges of her skin, making her ears and tail reappear, covered in clips that hold small spell stones. She looks quite nice, her body is clad in a tight blue shirt, and pants that contrast well with her orange hair and golden eyes. And her average curves are accentuated by the clothes. I kinda wish I bought looser clothes for the city-state girls..

“Why are you staring?!” Mira shouts while furiously undoing the clips. She takes the last from the base of her tail and inhales sharply, then looks up at me. “You put these on?” she asks with wide eyes, and I throw my hands in the air.

“With your permission.. though it did get a little weird,” I answer awkwardly.

Mira’s face turns bright red, but a knock at the door saves me.

“I’ll get it!” I shout and run to the door. I swing it open and see Orla.

“Good morning, Sio,” she says sweetly, like a grandmother greeting their grandchild.

“Good morning, Orla,” I reply with my warmest smile on, “please come in.”

Orla walks in and snickers when she sees an embarrassed Mira holding the spell stone clips. She places a rolled-up map and a book on the table in the living room, then turns to me.

“The map we discussed, and a book to help you learn the ancient language,” she says.

“Great, thanks, Orla,” I reply and glance at a reddening Mira, “can we go see Priscilla now?” I ask. Orla glances between Mira and I then snickers again.

“Sure, Sio,” she says and walks to the door, “Mira dear, remember we offered your marriage to Sio,” she calls over her shoulder and leads me outside.

“WHAT!!!” Mira screams from inside, but Orla picks up the pace so we can get away. Orla leads me through the village to a long rectangular building. The inside is a hallway with room after room on each side. There’s no mistaking it, this is a hospital.

We walk into a large room at the end of the hall, where an old woman with a sunken face and sharp black scaly ears sleeps. On a chair next to her is a young boy with yellow hair and nubs of animal-like ears who is equally asleep.

“This is Priscilla, the eldest of our village,” Orla says while motioning to the sleeping woman, “and her grandson,” she adds gently.

The boy’s eyes open, and he sits forward slightly. Noticing Orla, he jumps up onto wobbly feet.

“El-elder..” he grumbles, and Orla bends down.

“It’s alright, Yanto, I brought the man I mentioned yesterday,” she says, making Yanto blink rapidly and fix his gaze on me.

“You.. you did this,” he says, and I nod, then crouch down.

“I did, and I won’t ask for your forgiveness; you should hate me until the day you die,” I say gently, “but I do ask that you let me help.”

The boy's gaze is filled with hate, and I don’t blame him. I’d fuck someone up if they hurt my grandmother.

“Do as he asks, Yanto,” Orla says, making him frown.

“Yanto, what do you call your grandmother?” I ask.

“I’ve always called her Gran P,” he grumbles.

“Alright, and when your parents don’t give you what you want, what face do you make at them to try to change their minds?” I ask, and his head tilts. But he straightens up and makes puppy dog eyes at me.

“Perfect,” I say, “now I want you to keep making that face and say ‘Gran P, please wake up, I’m scared’.”

Orla gives me a disapproving look, but the kid repeats it back perfectly; he could be a child actor. I walk to Priscilla’s side and weave my magic into the air, then into her brain. I push that image as clearly as I can, and amplify the boy’s voice to a cry, when Priscilla’s magic starts to stir.

“Wha- Sio, what are you doing?” Orla asks.

“I’m showing her that she has a reason to wake up,” I answer, and continue pushing my memories into Priscilla. Her magic grows and grows until it shoots out violently, and Orla jumps to shield Yanto from it. Priscilla startles awake and sits up swiftly.

“ETU!” she screams and scans the room, but her eyes lock onto me.

“YOU!” Priscilla shouts and fills the room with her magic.

Balls.