After the staff showed me to my room, I prompted to start filtering the Kool-Aid out of my system. Hours later, I emerged from the room looking close to normal, with the exception of my hair having a purple tint at the tips. I toured the area for What felt like hours until I realized I was lost. Stopping one of the staff members, I tried asking about my location and what time dinner was; however, they turned their backs and proceeded towards the other direction giggling as if they were sharing an inside joke. Flashing back to when I was smaller and my dad was teaching me to fish (with a fishing rod, of course). We had gotten lost on our way back and ended up stopping at a diner for directions...in which the lady refused to help us unless we dried off and ate some hotcakes (‘don't worry hon they're on the house!’)
Walking around and deciding I might as well just press my luck, I wandered some more until I found the kitchen. Upon seeing the metal oven, steel stove, and various assortment of kitchen utensils, I staggered back. Amazed by the variety of different tools, I glanced and held up a spaghetti maker in awe. I had always wanted to try using different tools and, honestly, never thought I would ever see so many anytime soon. Even the cafe didn't have this many items! Preoccupied with my excitement, I heard my stomach growl as I realize how hungry I am. Looking around the kitchen and seeing no one in the vicinity a smile breaks across my face as I run back upstairs to get my recipe book.
It was about to get fun, really quick.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I’m telling you Damian, the kid's nowhere to be found! What'll Cole say when he finds out we lost his kid?!”
“The brat ain’t lost, Tony!”
“But-! Wait a sec…” a scuffle comes out of the kitchen and the sound of pans falling stops whatever Tony is saying.
The two men barged into the room only to see said-kid lying in a pile of pans trying to seem innocent. The little imp even held up the now attained syrup bottle and shrugged slightly as if trying to imply it wasn't his fault the pans tumbled down on him. Damian and Tony felt the strong urge to throttle the kid for the worry he caused-and for the scolding they were sure to get from the chefs.
~~~~
“Umm, hi?” I immediately try to sit up from the pile of pans surrounding me, only to fall on my butt once more. Annoyed and hungry, I slosh out from the pans and try to fix my clothes; the two men staring at me the entire time in disbelief. “ Look, I know how it looks, but, in my defense, I did try to ask for directions and-” Seeing their unamused faces I try to change the subject. “ Anyways...hungry?” pulling out my breakfast, I present a steaming plate of pancakes to the men with a wry smile, hoping they won’t be too upset that I had wandered around and trashed the place.
~~~~~
Shrugging his shoulders, Tony grabbed the plate from the mysterious boy (who he presumed was their missing charge) and stuffed a hotcake in his mouth. Almost dropping the plate in surprise, he savors the flavors across his taste buds and wipes tears from his eyes. Eyes shut, he hands Damian the plate and walks out the room for a moment. Damian stared wide-eyed at Spyro and carefully sniffed and then ate a piece of the hotcake. He immediately looked at the boy in shock, causing the boy to ripple and shrink in on himself.
“D****, this is the best pancake I’ve ever tasted,” sighing he looks at the boy who started unraveling a bit. Clearing his throat, he turned to the boy,” So, Spyro I presume?” Upon the kid nodding his head, the dark-skinned man took a breath of relief and herded the boy out of the room. “Getting on topic, I need you to come with me and my partner-Tony get your arse back in here and quit being a wuss- You're being summoned to appear before the Don.”
~~~
So apparently Cole is the Don of said mafia that I’m being forced to join. Great.
Walking down the hallways, I took notice of the pointed ears and tail on the tall, lean man-Tony, I think his name was- and the slits in the back of his jacket signifying wings. Damian had pointed ears, along with wolf ears protruding from his hair. Something told me that these guys would be in the same boat as me-as far as treatment goes. From what I've seen so far…
Once we arrived at Cole's office and the first thing he did was laugh.
“Ye' can literally cut a knife through all this tension in ‘ere. Why everyone so stiff? Relax a bit,” turning to me he pointed a finger,” Especially you! Ye need’ta relax and unwind. It's summer vacation, try enjoyin’ it a bit. “ He grabbed a pack of cigarettes out of his coat and walked outside to the window.
“Sir,” Damian warned,” you know what Doc said about smoking the cigs…” Cole sighed and tossed the pack in the air and flicked his wrist, causing the pack to disappear. Turning towards me he chuckles under his breath, obviously still amused by the little bits of purple still stuck in my tips. Really tempted to flip him the bird, I turn away and eye Tony’s tail. Upon further speculation, it seemed as if the tail would shift into different forms. Without meaning to, I grasped the tail to see if it was real or an illusion. Tony stiffened and carefully removed my hand.
“Why-” he started, but Cole’s laughing cut him off.
“Why, my boy, have you never seen a shapeshifter before!? I thought that by working in a cafe, you would be used to seeing everything,” calming down he placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder and shook his head,” don’t be too hard on him Tony. He’s not used to the change in scenery just yet.” He walked over to his desk and sat in the chair, pulling out a file. “ Now, the reason I called the three of you here is that I would like the two of you to train our little newcomer so that he will be acquainted with our missions...and stuff.” Damian and Tony looked at Cole as if he proclaimed that he was a Martian.
“Wait a second! Cole, you’re letting a kid like him go on missions? Have you finally lost your mind?” Damian exclaimed thrusting his hands upon the desk. “He can’t be but, what, 14 at most-”
“Actually,” I said, annoyed that I was being ignored for the moment,” I’m 16 years old. Undine, hybrid or not, physically age slower. My dad was only 30 when he died, but looked about 24. So...yeah” Stopping when I realized how much I was talking. Why was I just easily telling these people about my people? I mean, Undine aren’t secretive in any way, but I really don’t know these people. For all I know, they could be just as unreceptive of hybrids as most people I’ve encountered so far. Besides, I wasn’t ready for them to know everything about myself...Especially not “that”.
“Damian, while I appreciate the concern it’s unnecessary. Spyro is fully capable of working in the familia. He may be a little young, but I’m positive he’ll learn quickly. Besides, even if he doesn’t go on a mission, I want him to be able to defend himself from any rogue attacks or enemies that try to strike back. A little caution ain’t never hurt anyone.” He then turned to me and grew serious. “Son, I know I won’t be able to replace yer Pop, but You need to work wit me ‘ere. I will not be like your Uncle. I swear this to you!” This caught me off guard as this was the first time I witnessed Cole being serious. However sincere his words are, though, I plan to give it another week or less before his actions say otherwise. I’ll wait it out until then.s He handed me a band and told me to put it on my arm-Any place is good, just make sure you have it on you- so I placed it on my right arm near the cuff of my jacket. Out of sight and out of mind. Damian, Tony, and I were then dismissed.
~~~~
“Come on kid! Let’s see what you got in that little arsenal. Hopefully, you can do more than simply ripple.” Tony stated as we walked into the training room. He was about to be in for a big surprise.
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