Shrunken

Chapter 39

  Vibrant yellow light washed the room in a warm glow, burning away shadows and glinting on every surface. Behind the light's threshold, the sun blazed forth in the midst of shimmering pale blue. Only wispy threads of cloud floated freely in the vast ocean of sky. Specks of gold dotted the forest trees, flickering as a slight breeze shook their leaves.

  Locked away from the brilliant afternoon was a tiny fox hybrid seated atop the pane of a window. She perched on a small black device, safely sealed behind thick glass.

  Singing Billy Joel.

  Kay laid back against Seto's cellphone with a wide grin, her head thrown back and her eyes closed in bliss. Her long furry tail twirled and flicked to the slow harmonic rhythm. She opened her mouth to another verse.

♪"He says, 'Bill, I believe this is killing me!'

  As the smile ran away from his face.

  'Well I'm sure that I could be a movie star,

  If I could get out of this place!'"♪

♪"Oh la la la, di da da. La la la di da da da dum!"♪

  From her spot on the desk, legs dangling from the edge, Tyra chuckled at the hybrid. Not out of mockery, but of warm amusement. She hadn't seen her friend this happy in a while and her voice wasn't bad at all. It caught every note, no matter how high or low, and had a strange knack for memorizing every word of a song.

  Working on his brew, Seto was smiling too. Reason one, Kay's exuberance was hard to be stern and serious around. Reason two, his potion was almost complete. He poured a vial of red fluid into the bottle, making the liquid hiss a cloud of purple mist and turn a deep scarlet color.

  His grin widened. Finally, something was going right!

  Squeezing the cork back into the vial, he peered back at Tyra fondly. When she caught his gaze, he held his arms up, bright eyes gleaming with joy.

  "Only a few more hours," he chirped.

  "Oh, thank heavens!" she exclaimed, mirroring his expression with a sigh of relief. "Goodbye vulnerability! And fatal injury! And near-death experience!"

  She paused and thought for a moment. "Actually wait, I'll still have all that. I forgot my life is screwed up." That being said, she began to giggle.

  Seto made a pout face. "Not because of me, right?"

  Tyra moved her legs from the ledge and crossed them, looking up at the sorcerer with a playful smirk. "Oh no, you're the worst of it all."

  He shrugged and blew his bangs away from his eyes. "Love me or hate me, just keep talking 'bout me," he said, leaning his elbows on the desk with his knuckles under his chin.

  The miniscule woman rolled her dark blue eyes. "You're so stupid," she said affectionately.

  Everyone was in a spectacular mood...

  "You guys are nauseating."

  Except Brice.

  The older teen sat on his bunk, a sour look on his face and disdain in his crystal blue irises. His arms slumped against his knees, where his head lay lazily.

  "And Kay, your music sucks."

  The singing hybrid didn't pause or turn to look at him, but raised a certain finger up over her head. He glared at it and bit back an insult.