A Tale of One Deviant (Book One)

Chapter 168: A Righteous Anger to Kill A Soul

"There we go, all set. You can run along now. Oh, but remember, don't go too far, alright? You shouldn't get lost. Magaris shouldn't have to chase you."

     Adri reached up to touch his nose, which I'd just tapped off of after editing his Status. The whites of his eyes stood out so much that it really pointed out to me he was just a child. An eight-year-old boy. His fate, in the hands of those that came before him and sought to raise him.

     And, if fate had taken a different turn, the indirect cause of his little sister's misery.

     "What did Sissy do?"

     "Oh," I swept my hand over his face as his hair steadily turned black, his eyes becoming a much more vivid green. He frowned and reached up to one side of his forehead, pained. A few spells made the pain go away, made the area numb so he wouldn't notice the horn coming through slowly, hid it in a tiny pocket dimension so he would never be able to reach for it, and changed his hair and eye colors back to the way they normally were. "Nothing much. Just making sure you're all set to go back to school next year. I heard they call you guys the 'Power Three,' isn't that right?"

     And his eyes lit up again. A bashful look came on, face slightly reddening. "They do..."

     "Grandfather and Grandmother are going to have a tough time not letting it get to your head. Stay humble, alright? Remember: there's always someone stronger. If you think you're the strongest, you're going to get swept off your feet before you could blink twice."

     "Why twice, Sissy?"

     "Because once is a little too fast."

     "Hah," he smiled, cluelessly tilting his head to the side when my hand went that way. "But Sissy would be faster than even half a blink, though."

     "More like a thirty-second of a blink, but who's keeping track? Now, go on. I'm going to go and see Chord. Then, when you're done, you can go back home."

     "But Sissy..." He latched onto my hand then, eyes drooping. "We haven't played yet."

     "I can't play today. I have other stuff to do."

     "Stuff more important...than us?"

     "My heart, boy...I mean, no, Adri, but it's still very important stuff." Kiki would get mad if I ruined her credit after all, though it wasn't like going to see the dork was very important. "It's like when we couldn't approach the earl's office because there's work being done there for the day. But at the end of the day, we could."

     "The earl?"

     "Huh?"

     Adri blinked at me, so cute. Oh, wait, he's serious.

     "Daddy," I substituted. His face lit up with an "Oh," before nodding.

     And those two judge me because I didn't even know our grandparents' names. There are a lot of names I don't know, I'll have you know.

     "Hey, Adri."

     "Yes?"

     "What's Grandfather's name?"

     "Grandfather's...name?" He looked back at the door, then at me. "Grandfather...has a name?"

     "...ha..." I held it in. My point was just proven to those other two. "Yes, Adri. Grandfather has a name, just like you. So does Grandmother."

     "Grandmother too?"

     "Yes. She's not just 'Grandmother.'"

     But that looked like news to him. He took off in search of his sisters, clearly attempting to share the news. He called them frantically, heading into the distance, while I sat there with a pleased look and a trembling heart.