Chapter 158: 2.38 Eerth (3)
Koda was asleep on Connor’s lap as Julius peaked out the window.
"It’s getting late... Celeste still isn’t back. I’m kind of getting worried." he said as he walked back to the couch and sat next to Rissa, who put her head back on his shoulder.
"It’s Celeste, I’m sure she’s fine. It’s not like a human and a companion carrying magic could overpower her," Connor said confidently.
"True. I wonder what’s taking them so long. We’ve had lunch and dinner and it’s already around 8 PM." Rissa yawned.
"Tired so early?" Julius laughed. "I guess it’s from the travel?"
"Ha, humans call it jetlag. You get tired from moving from one planet to another." Connor laughed.
Koda perked his head up and barked.
"They’re here. Let’s let them in. Ugh, it’s a cat. Why did it have to be a cat?" Koda complained.
Connor laughed. "They’re here, and apparently the companion is a cat. Koda isn’t pleased.
Connor opened the door as Celeste went to knock.
"Oh, hello Connor! This is Shawn and his companion Kory," Celeste said awkwardly.
"Heya. You must be Connor. Where’s the vampire and the demon? I’ve never met a demon before!" Shawn said enthusiastically as they made their way inside.
"Woah, she’s beautiful! You’re a lucky man," Shawn said while shaking Julius’ hand.
"Ha, thanks. She is, I’m lucky." he admitted.
"Hi, I’m Rissa, I’m a succubus." she said politely as she shook Shawn’s hand.
"I thought you were a vampire?" Shawn asked while looking at Celeste, confused.
"A succubus is a vampire you idiot. It’s a subclass." Kory laughed.
"Well how was I supposed to know?!" Shawn exclaimed.
"Looks like he’s talking to his companion." Connor laughed.
"It’s nice to meet you Kory! This is my companion Koda. He’s been with me for 7 years now." Connor smiled as Koda sat straight up.
"Ooooo he’s beautiful! Is that a Siberian Husky? Those are really, really rare! Almost as rare as my Norwegian forest cat Kory!" Shawn playfully bragged.
Julius, Rissa and Celeste were confused, but just went along with everything.
*****
"That’s a beautiful cat you have. Anyway, how in the heck does a human have magical abilities on Eerth?!" Connor exclaimed and Koda followed it up with a bark.
"Well, that’s actually a fun story. So, I was born with them. I didn’t find Kory until I was on a trip with my family to Nexus. Someone abandoned their cat and I found him starving in an alleyway. I offered him some food, he took it, jumped on my head and he pretty much stayed there since." Shawn explained gleefully.
"When did you first learn he had powers?" Connor asked curiously.
"Well, a few years ago, we were on Nexus and someone recognized Kory. She accused me of stealing her families’ cat. I tried telling her she had the wrong idea, but her group wasn’t human. Mages I think they call them. They’re from the planet Marza, not too far from here actually. Anyway they started casting magic at me, Kory jumped off my head, transformed into this massive lion and started reflecting the magic back at them!" Shawn mimicked the fighting while he told the story.
Celeste covered her mouth while she laughed quietly with Julius and Rissa.
"He’s certainly animated!"
Connor, Koda, Shawn and Kory paid not attention the the trio on the couch, and Shawn continued with his story.
"Next thing I know, I’m shooting off water magic at two other mages who joined the fight, and Kory’s using all types of different magic, water, Earth, fire, wind and the mages ran with their tails tucked. Unfortunately, we got arrested and thrown in Nexus jail for two days. Was worth it though!" He laughed as he pet Kory and fed him a snack.
Kory purred and adjusted himself. He was laying on his back on Shawn’s head stretching his paws.
"Why did you get thrown in jail if they attacked you? Nexus seems like a strange place." Julius asked curiously.
"Mages usually are really wealthy. Probably paid the cops off or something. Next thing I know, our pictures are up everywhere around Nexus advertising this dynamic magical duo of human and pet!" Shawn bragged.
"Ok, so if everyone knows about your abilities and your companion, why do you stay on Eerth and why were you so hard to find? Usually when Celeste tries to find someone she’s back within minutes, not hours." Rissa asked.
"Celeste, I can sense Kory and Shawn have a unique ability that masks their scent. I can’t smell them at all." Koda said, irritated, a cat had power he didn’t.
"I couldn’t sense either of them. I was invisible when Kory jumped on me. They knew I was a goddess too. Even Julius and Rissa didn’t figure that out until Bishop said it on Solstice." Celeste said while scratching her head.
"Oh, that’s Kory’s power, not mine. He can mask our magical ability and our scent so no one can track us down. He can also identify who is around us, like that goddess Celeste we met. How did you know it was us, anyway?"
"I told you, I’m telepathic. I heard Kory and knew I was on the right track. That’s when Kory jumped on me and scared me!" Celeste laughed.
"Wait, someone tracked YOU down and not the other way around?" Julius said as he and Rissa burst out into laughter.
Connor shook his head, "Do you have any matters for a goddess of Paradise?"
Julius and Rissa stopped laughing and looked embarrassed. Both of their faces went flush.
"We’re sorry Celeste.."
Connor burst out in laughter and Koda snickered in his dog form. "Too easy!"
Shawn and Kory looked confused, so Celeste smiled and explained.
"No one is supposed to know I’m a goddess. The majority of the people in our party and on Exteria think I’m Uthra traveling with Sora, Brie and the rest of their party. One of our party members accidentally revealed that I was a goddess on one of our recent adventures and they felt really bad they weren’t treating me as one." Celeste explained cheerfully.
"What they don’t understand is that I’m glad no one treats me like a goddess. I’ve been one since I was born and that was a really long time ago. It’s been nice to feel like a regular person in such a great group of people. We have vampires, demons, gods, another goddess, Uthra, elves, an Ancient Chimera, the last dragoness, a hybrid phoenix of Solstice..." she continued.
"And you want me and Kory to join this little party of yours? We’d love to! How do we sign up or whatever?"
"Well, our party leader is currently away right now..." Celeste started speaking until Koda interjected.
"Have him pray to Sora and when he goes to sleep tonight, Sora should visit him in the dream. Tell him to include in his prayer that he wants to join the party and would like a party seal." Koda explained.
"That’s genius! Great idea Koda, thank you." Celeste said joyfully.
"Shawn, Kory, our party leader is actually a god. Shawn, I need you to pray tonight to Sora Lockheart that you would like to join the Savior party and when you go to sleep, he should visit you. Kory, don’t freak out. Gods and goddesses visit people in their dreams. When this happens, the human usually has some pretty terrible night terrors and when the god finally visits, they appear almost dead. Their heartbeat and breathing are both incredibly slow. But don’t worry!" Celeste said cheerfully.
"This is definitely a scam. Retreat, retreat, retreat!" Kory pleaded.
"Are you really that big of a scardy cat?" Shawn laughed.
"Don’t come crying to me when you’re dead in Paradise." Kory teased.
"Then who will you have to annoy? Poor little scared kitty." Shawn joked back.
"Ok then, here goes nothin`" Shawn said.
’Sora Lockheart. I pray to you in hopes that you will allow me to join your Savior party. I think I’m supposed to say Athena, on your or for your, nope, it’s definitely Athena, for your honor. Sorry about that!’ Shawn thought and shook his head.
"I think I got it close to right." he said nervously.
"Close enough, it always ends with Athena for your honor, you were correct." Celeste said smiling.
"Why am I so tired?" Shawn said before immediately falling asleep.
Kory tried swatting him with his paws as Shawn shook uncontrollably for a few minutes. Celeste finally sensed Sora’s energy and told everyone to relax. Kory sat on Shawn’s chest, relieved he could still feel a heartbeat and breathing.
Before he woke up, a yin and yang seal illuminated on Shawn’s hand and Kory’s paw.
"Holy! Sora sure seems like a nice guy but those were some of the craziest dreams I’ve ever had. Why do I have a bunch of dots spread out all over the place in my head?" Shawn asked, confused while Kory licked his face to wake him up faster.
"Those are your party members, didn’t you get a list of conditions you had to agree to?" Julius asked.
"Oh, yeah, those! Kind of hard to remember because I was asleep, but it’s coming back to me." Shawn laughed. "You ok Kory?"
Kory nuzzled him and purred and Koda snickered in his dog form.
"Well, it’s been a long day. There are plenty of rooms so make yourselves at home. We’ll head back to Exteria tomorrow." Connor said proudly.
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