The Song of the Keepers

Chapter 20 Oh Family Mine

"For real??"
I leapt to my feet, hardly able to believe my ears.

"Yes, it's most definitely her."
Jasper responded.

"How?"
I sputtered out the first question that came to mind.

"Woah there don't go asking that question, or we'll be here half the night!"
Kairos exclaimed.

"Right, it doesn't matter anyway. Where are they?"
I amended my query.

"It was a rather interesting story as to how I found her."
Jasper said wistfully.

"Trust me, it's not."
Kairos replied.

He sighed dramatically.

"There's no appreciation for my talents with you."

"Just tell her where she is already."
Kairos responded with an eye roll.

"Fine. Servinius Province, like you said. Bel Rea, specifically."

My jaw nearly dropped.

"You mean to tell me Kyle's wife and I lived side by side in the same city?"

That was a freaky coincidence if ever I heard of one.

"Well, it is a large city with many people. They live in an apartment by the Edge."

The Edge was what we used to call the homes that abutted the Plaza. Once it had been a coveted place to live, now it was a cursed one.

"I was able to print these off but no one can know, understand?"
Jasper withdrew a wad of paper from his pocket that he unfolded into a half sheet.

On the wrinkled parchment were two images, one of a young girl my sister's age, she had dirty blonde hair and Kyle's unmistakably dark eyes. A smattering of freckles dotted her face and the corners of her lips were ever so slightly curled as though she were suppressing a smile. The other was of a woman with pale blonde hair, bright blue eyes and porcelain looking skin. There was no hint of a smile or any joy in her blank face. I might have thought I was looking at a pretty doll, or corpse if I hadn't known better.

"Can I keep this? I may need to use it to convince Kyle to leave."

Jasper nodded and I carefully folded the image and tucked it into my pocket.

"Speaking of which, Jasper has a solution to our illusion trouble."
Vienna spoke up.

I glanced at him expectantly.

"It's quite simple really, it will be easier for them to hold the illusion if they don't have to conjure up a figure but simply change the features of someone else."

My brow furrowed, not quite following his train of thought.

"He means that he will pose as Kyle."
Kairos clarified.

"Oh, I see. But uh, don't we still have a voice issue?"
I questioned.

"No, I've solved that as well. Give me a few days to collect some spare parts and sneak a little extra time on the computer when no one is looking and I can build a device that will change my voice to sound like Kyle's."