Queen's Princess

PART V: Chapter 33

"What are ya doing out here? Shouldn't you be in there with your people?" her mother asked as we sat down at the small kitchen they had.

"You are my people," Odessa said. "You're much more important than those people in there. You're my family and I can't abandon ya."

Her mother smiled, "That is very thoughtful of ya, Dez, ya got that from your father. But the people in there need you."

"To hell with them. They can go without their queen for a few hours, can't they?"

"I suppose. I don't know how it works in there."

"Neither do I, but I am willing to take on that challenge of the unknown. I've got Y/N here with me to help with the learning curve."

"Ya best take care of her, Y/N," her mother smiled.

"I will do my best," I said.

"While we're here, mum," Odessa said. "Things are going to change for the better in Junkertown. And I am extending an invitation for you to come back."

"Dez, I appreciate the thought, but we can't just up and leave everything we have here. While there's not a lot, there is still more than we can carry back to Junkertown."

"I can have someone with a cart come out and help ya."

"It's very thoughtful, but I don't think ya want your family in your business. Especially when you're with Y/N."

"I don't mind it at all," she said.

"Neither do I," I said, looking at the expression on her mother's face as she looked over in my direction.

"See," Odessa smiled. 

"I'll think about it," she said.

Odessa smiled, "Thank you, mum."

We got up and said goodbye to her mother and her siblings. Before we headed back to Junkertown, she took me over to where her other siblings and her father were buried. She knelt in front of their graves and smiled sadly at them.

"Hey, everyone," she said. "I'm sure ya saw what happened. What a fight, am I right? I hope you're all doing fine wherever ya ended up. Don't worry, I'm doing fine as well. Better stick around, you're in for a show."

She stayed there for a few moments before she stood up and faced me, "Ready?"

I nodded and we headed back to Junkertown, hand in hand like how we left. The guards at the gates opened it up and we headed back into town.

"Want to head to see that warehouse?" Odessa asked.

"Yeah," I said. "I have a vague idea of where it is."

"Let's see if we can find it."

We walked towards the center of Junkertown and there was this large warehouse. Walking towards it, a large sliding door was locked up. Pulling out the key, I slid the key into the lock and unlocked it. Odessa grabbed the lock and pulled it from where it was attached to the sliding door and the side of the warehouse. She grabbed the handle and slid the door open. The suns rays illuminated the warehouse to reveal everything was covered in a large layer of dust and there were spider webs everywhere. The windows were covered with what looked to be burlap, preventing the sun to come into the warehouse without the door being open.

"Looks like we need to get some cleanin' done," Odessa said, walking into the warehouse.

"This is going to be a long time to clean," I walked in, running my finger across one of the work benches, picking up a large clump of dust.

"Did your father have a closet in here?" she asked, walking more towards the back.

"Yeah, somewhere," I said and walked into the back with her to see there was a large shelf with cleaning supplies. 

"We should probably get new cleaning supplies since these don't look great," Odessa said, having a bit of a disgusted look on her face.

"That's not a bad idea."

"Come on, I know a place where we can get those."

"I-I'll stay back here to watch over the warehouse."

"Are ya sure?"

"Yeah. I want to," I walked around, looking at the warehouse. "Remember what it was like to be in here with my father."

"I hear ya," she said and walked past me, placing a kiss on my cheek. "I'll be back soon."

She walked out of the warehouse and I grabbed a stool, wiping off the dust from the seat before sitting down. I spun around, hearing the creak of the metal as it hasn't moved from its position for a long time. I smiled, remembering sitting on a similar stool when my father would work on replacing parts of different weapons, pieces to automotives, and mechs. He was mostly known for his repair work more so than his handiwork. My grandfather was known for his handiwork and together, the two of them taught me how to be effecient in both areas. I remembered when my father let me work on one of his mechs since it needed to be repaired and since he was swamped with other work during that time, my grandfather and I worked on it together. It was more like I wanted to do most of it and my grandfather was there if I needed any help. It was the best looking and best functioning mech that won many battles. I smiled to myself, thinking back to when my father was into mech fighting. I'd go and watch the battles with my grandfather and sometimes my mother would come.

Snapping me out of these bittersweet memories, Odessa walked back into the warehouse carrying a large box. I stood up from the stool and she set the box down on one of the work benches.

"Alright, I think I got everything we need," she said, taking out the cleaning supplies. "It appears its mostly dust since no one has touched this place in a while."

"I can take care of the dust if you can take care of the spider webs," I said, handing her something that will catch the spider webs.

"Afraid ya won't be able to reach 'em?" she joked at me.

"I know I won't be able to. The question is, are you?" I chuckled as I picked up a rag to pick up the dust.