The Golden Throne

Chapter 36: A night with friends

"Hey guys, have you seen Zeno?" Hilbert asked. He and Kye were busy setting up the grill for their barbeque tonight.

It has been a few days since the incident at Ris'dra, and tonight they were going to have a barbecue to celebrate their hard-won victory. Hilda was in the middle of marinating the meat, while Ego was piling up chunks of charcoal into the barbecue pit. It was going to be a night for everyone to just chill and have fun. Just the five of them- Hilbert, Hilda, Kye, Zeno and Ripley. There was just one problem: Zeno hasn't showed up from the house for the past one hour. She was staying with them for the time being- just until the repairs of her house was done.

"Don't you mean, Madam Zeno," Hilda said teasingly, still finding it amusing that Zeno insisted they address her with that title.

"Oh, right," Hilbert chuckled.

"I think she's still in the house," Hilda told him.

"I'll go get her," Kye dusted his hands on his pants and walked towards their house. Sundown was fast approaching, and the lights of their home were already lit. "Madam Zeno?" Kye called out as he stepped inside. There was no response.

He searched the living room, the kitchen and then the dining room. There was no sign of her. Hmmm, Kye looked around the living room. Her fur coat's lying over here, Kye noted, noticing it under the pillow of the living room sofa.

He heard something drop upstairs, followed by someone's rushed footsteps. Then, he heard a whine- it sounded like Zeno! "Zeno, are you up there?" Kye called out from the bottom of the stairs. He heard her gasp, followed by her hurried footsteps into her room. Her door slammed shut.

"Eh?" Kye walked up the stairs. "Madam Zeno, why aren't you joining us? Our barbeque wouldn't be complete without you!"

There was no response. Kye walked towards her door and knocked on it. "Madam Zeno?"

"I'm not coming out," Zeno replied.

"Why not?" Kye asked.

"I can't find it! My coat. I am not coming out until I have it," Zeno whined.

"Oh! I saw it lying around downstairs,"

"Please get it for me!" Zeno said in distress.

Alright, Kye muttered, wondering what all the fuss was about. He went to the living room downstairs and saw it lying underneath a pillow. He wondered how it got there in the first place. Must be someone's naughty Pokemon, Kye thought. He picked up Zeno's fur coat. It was light and the fur was pleasant to touch. Judging by the material, Zeno must've spent a lot of money to buy it. Kye went back upstairs and knocked on her door again. "I have it."

Zeno's door opened a little, and extended her gloved hand outside of it. "Give it to me," she muttered.

"Uhh... okay?" Kye handed the coat to her and Zeno quickly shut the door again. "I don't get it. Why can't you join us without it?" he asked.

Zeno, already dressed in her coat, opened her door and stepped out of her room. "No reason," she murmured and adjusted her glasses. Kye looked at her and noticed that her big fur coat hid the shape of her body. Then it dawned on him that she always wore thick clothes- clothes that covered her entire figure. The only uncovered part of her was her face. Besides that, everything including her hands were hidden underneath clothing. It was as if she was trying to conceal something.

"Let's go then," Kye said and turned around. He walked down the stairs with Zeno following him, but then the sound of Zeno's footsteps stopped. He looked over his shoulder and saw her standing at the top of the stairs all by herself, hesitating to go down. "Madam Zeno? What's wrong?"