No Regrets

Chapter 12

     We walked out of the shelter, I with my parakeet on my hand, being lifted up to see the world around him, and Ajax walking a few inches in front.

     "So, what are you going to name him?" 

     I looked at my little guy who was clearly wanting to fly and decided to call him, "Morpheus!"

     "Like the God Morpheus?" He asked, putting away the one pound of bird feed and going back to the animal shelter for the eight-foot tall, six feet wide cage.

     I kissed Morpheus on the head, him moving his head towards me and caressing my cheek, feeling safe and comfortable with me in a matter of seconds, "Yes!" I then got into the passenger side of the car and let Morpheus fly up in the sky. 

     Ajax got into the car and began driving off, Morpheus flying back into the car before we left him all by his lonesome.

     The demon who gave him to us explained that all pets were trained to follow the owner and not try to escape, especially the ones that can fly away for good. All that would be needed was a bonding exercise and a training session to have them see the owners as their new demon to follow. It excited me to know that soon enough Morpheus would be following me whenever I went on walks. I stared at his beautiful blue feather and petting his head, rubbing my fingers against his feathers which opened and closed. His eyes closed and he sat down on my legs before falling asleep.

     Ajax drove to the market and parked there and without us getting out he explained, "Markets are owned by ogres and restocked by gnomes. When you go inside you do your shopping, grabbing things you want to eat. Pay with the ogre at the counter and you can leave. Sometimes you'll see the gnomes restock something, either because you pressed a button that every product has or someone else did. Those buttons alert the gnomes that something is empty, where it is, and what it is." 

     I nodded, wondering what food they would have to eat. Would it be different to human food and they ate something so incredibly different that I could find it disgusting, or did they eat what we all eat. It excited me to find the answer.

    He then drove away and quickly explained, "The pool is opened 24/7 but not a lot of us use it as we like to spend most of our time in the gym or training center." We drove towards the gym, "Everything is opened 24/7 by the way. The gym has every training equipment you have ever seen or never seen." And finally, we stopped at the training center where he turned off the car and got out.

     I also got out, wondering where Morpheus would stay during this part of the tour. Ajax told me that I could bring him inside and that he would stay on the ground as he had already spent his time flying in the big cages outside. Most likely, be too tired to move or fly about which made this a lot easier. Without having to worry about my baby getting bored or irritated, I could focus on learning everything I'd need to impress father and stay with my new family. I was slowly getting used to Ajax, loving his person. He seemed kind, understanding, and a natural born leader, and I also started seeing some brotherly instincts coming from him. He has already showed me so much warmth and care since I got here.

     "What does the training center have?" I asked as we entered a lobby. It was big but empty, just couches, a drinks station, and a television. Up ahead were rooms with doors and a hall which did not continue straight, instead curved to the left. 

     "We are assassins, which means we need to train our fighting and dodging skills. So, this place serves as the practice, each room has walls filled with all types of weapons. From guns to knifes, to things you would never use as a weapon but could one day be forced to use it, like a pencil." 

     We made our way to our training room which had our address on it. He opened the door and allowed me to walk in first. 

     "Wow-" I exclaimed surprised, seeing the walls filled with weapons. The room was spacious and did not have any furniture or dummies to practice with. I walked towards the guns, seeing an AK-12 and being compelled to touch it. The building was extremely cold and so was the AK. As I inspected other guns, moving on to machetes, I asked, "Where are the dummies to practice on?"