Alexa shut the door quietly and turned to head up to her room. Kaleth, Patrick and Pitch had already headed up and were talking quietly when she arrived.
"I do not trust this guild. We don't know who is in it or what kind of criteria they need to pass to join. If just anyone can join that's exposing yourself to a whole bunch of potential enemies. We need to figure out what is causing Patrick's imbalance before putting either of you out there. " Kaleth argued. Patrick was quick to speak up.
"They aren't like Alistar though. They are a group where he couldn't be near anyone without killing them." Patrick argued. Obviously the hope of finding someone to deal with his problem. Alexa considered both side to the argument and even if she did not usually side with Patrick or trust his judgement he did have a stronger point than Kaleth. They had been getting no where with his training and this group had very little in common with Alistar. They'd deliberate;y given him a wide berth and even after his passing waited several months before even venturing to confirm it. Obviously they did not have any intentions of tangling with Alistar if at all possible.
"I think I'm going to side with Patrick on this one. We need to branch out and the chances of ever meeting someone quite like Alistar are slim. I think it's a minor risk worth taking." she said. Patrick's face lit up with a wide grin while Kaleth obviously was not pleased with the idea. Pitch sat on the bed looking sceptical. Alexa's overhead light also lit up, made a sparking noise and exploded. Patrick grinned sheepishly and ran for the broom. Alexa definitely would not miss cleaning up broken glass from Patrick's mishaps when they finally solved his problem. The rest of the day, even though they didn't all want to admit it, they were all on high alert. Whether Alexa thought there was a serious risk to exposing themselves or not, she couldn't help but be extra vigilant because of Kaleth's warnings. Pitch padded up beside her and rubbed his head against her side. He knew she was worried, he wouldn't say anything of course, but he would stick close and was always there to comfort her.
Patrick was actually sticking closer to Kaleth today. She assumed it was because Kaleth was always on high alert, and he felt safer even if he too wanted to meet the guild. They were out "practicing" if that's what you wanted to call it. It was more like sword fighting with a lot of sparks. It was not improving Patrick's magic at all but it was giving him some basic defensive skills for when magic wasn't necessary. Over the past few months Patrick and Kaleth had managed to form a strong bond some of it was from both understanding how it felt to be under Alistar's control. Alexa assumed the other part was that Kaleth looked at Patrick as a younger brother almost. He was very protective and Alexa was glad they weren't at odds anymore. Pitch was sitting on the balcony and watching.
Their parents would be returning from their weekend trip soon. Then the weekend was over and they only had to wait three more days until they could meet Logan's guild. Alexa wasn't sure if she could take the suspense.
She had tried searching anything on the guilds online but they had either never uploaded anything to the world wide web or they were very good at safeguarding anything they did upload. Alexa eventually decided that the only way to get her mind off the upcoming guild meeting was to dig into further research. She had noted that Logan did not seem aware that a soul was required to summon a familiar. That had been the basics to Alistar. She dug out his battered notebook and all the old books she had borrowed from the lair and started doing more research. She spent most of the afternoon digging through every book she had and it seemed that the only mention of needing a soul was in the battered notebook in Alistar's own hand. So he had figured something out that, Alexa had to assume, the rest of the magical world did not know.
She didn't find mention of ferret familiars much either. He was only a little smaller than Pitch had originally been. Although he had been mostly white, he hand a band across his eyes, which she found was very common amongst ferrets. She also found that there was a constellation called Huldah, the weasel, that he must have been summoned under.
The constellation was named after a prophetess from the bible. She was referred to in the book of the Law that was discovered at Solomon's temple in Jerusalem. She was a prophet who spoke the Law on behalf of King Solomon in his later years.
She had never known a lot about ferrets until she started researching. She had assumed they were a rodent like many small animals but they were actually closer related to skunks and badgers than rodents. They like to steal and hoard things which she wondered how that translated into Ozzy's human personality. She wondered if he was a thief in his previous life. This did not bode well for good intentions from him. Logan didn't seemed to be bothered by his personality though and they seemed very close. They also slept a lot, like over 18 hours per day, but when they were awake they were extremely curious and active. Alexa was a little concerned to find that they bonded for life and could go into deep depression and even starved themselves if they lost a loved one. She wondered how Ozzy had lost his human life and why his soul had been nearby when Logan summoned him. Had he been recently summoned or had it been some time ago. Would his human death be in the newspaper or at least an obituary. Would there be some story as to why he became a ferret instead of one of the typical familiars that were based on the 12 signs of the zodiac. She didn't even know a time frame to look for but her new goal was to find out where Ozzy's soul had come from.
On Wednesday Logan was going to come and pick them up and take them with him to the guild meeting. He had mentioned that it was unlikely that they could find their own way without his help. Alexa was curious why he had such doubts on her navigation skills. She also had not considered that they would need space for Kaleth, Pitch and Patrick as well. It seemed he had driven a truck for his previous visit, so she wondered if he'd be bringing a different vehicle or expecting the familiars to ride in the back.
She assumed Kaleth and Pitch would not be pleased if he didn't consider they were coming along to guard her and Patrick. She wondered if they would be able to find their way if they were following her and Patrick. Why was it so hard to find the guild meeting place. Was it hidden, or did they need to use a spell to enter. She couldn't wait to find out.
There was so much she couldn't wait for and the research had not nearly filled up the her time. She could think of anything else to search and was glad to see her parents pulling into the driveway with take out. Kaleth vanished to hide in her room and Patrick ran to greet them. At least they could distract her for a couple more hours until hopefully she was tired enough that her thoughts would not keep her up all night. Alexa jogged down the stairs, with Pitch following closely. Patrick had gotten the door for their parents and they were unloading the groceries and setting out dishes for supper.
"Hi." Alexa said, taking the food from them. They had gotten chicken and fries with gravy and coleslaw. It smelled amazing and Alexa only realized now that she was starving. In the excitement of having Logan as a guest she had forgotten to get herself some lunch. Patrick seemed to have done the same. It was not a common occurrence for their entire family to be there and sit down for a meal together. Between their parents working so much and the general attitude teenagers seem to have about family at least one of their family member was always absent. The beginning of their meal was quiet but once everyone had dished up their food and was settled in to eat Alexa cleared her throat.
"Patrick and I want to go in town Wednesday night if that's okay." she said. Their father raised his eyebrows and shrugged, obviously he didn't see anything wrong with the idea. Their mother nodded.
"What are you going in for?" she asked. Alexa sighed, there was no way to word this that didn't make it sound like a date with Patrick as some kind of awkward third wheel.
"A boy from town stopped by today and invited us out." she replied. Her mother's eyes widened and she nodded again. Her father seemed to take notice now that there were more details and there was a boy involved. Alexa's cheeks started to burn.
"What's his name?" her dad asked. Patrick was grinning but has managed to keep silent.
"Logan Moore." Alexa replied, sure her face was bright red by now. They ate in silence for a few more minutes before her father brought it back up.
"How old is he?" he asked. Alexa shrugged, why the hell did she, or her father for that matter, need to know that. She kept silent with her head down for the rest of the meal to avoid any further interrogation. When she went up to bed sleep was far away as her imagination ran wild with the possibilities of who she might meet and what she might learn in the guild.
