The slow grin of the Keeper makes me almost shiver, and when he answers, I know why. “A Stymphalian bird.”
KK doesn’t know what that is, but I sure as hell do, and it’s impressive as fuck—this guy might be more useful than I thought.
Mysteries and Mayhem
Kit/Kat
Everyone looks really impressed, but I haven’t gotten to that species in Mythology yet. I have no idea what it is—beyond a bird—or why it’s awe-inspiring. So I sit up straighter and ask a question guaranteed to make me look dumb. “What’s a Stymphalian bird? Sorry… I’m still learning about Hell.”
Arces blinks, then looks at Jasper with a dark frown. “Your new inductee is completely new to Hell? For fuck’s sake, Eversore… Were you going to let me act like a fool forever? Beelzebub’s hairy legs, boy, you know better than that!”
I shrink back a bit, waiting for Jasper to hurl snark at me, but the prince simply shrugs. “I thought you’d figured it out by the animal, Keeper. I wasn’t hiding shit from you.”
The big man sniffs in indignation, then looks back at me. “Well, Kit… I suppose I’m going to be the one to educate you even though they didn’t place you in one of my classes. Seems like a shitty oversight if you arrived with this little gal because anyone who comes here with an animal obviouslyhasa familiar. They’re not all that common, and few demons have a true partnership with animals like us.”
“My animal likes me just fine,” Salem says with an annoyed look. “He just happens to beon the inside, not out.”
The bearded demon gives my roomie a stern expression. “We’re not talking shifter hybrids, Stryker. That’s someone else’s department, thank fuck. But before we end up on a long-winded rant about this school’s idiotic schedulers or your bear, I want to answer Kit’s question. Stymphalian birds are much like any mythical bird in that they are inexorably linked to an element of the universe.”
I bite my lip to keep myself from making a Pokemon reference, and even though I don’t look, I hear Zav’s quiet chuckle. “So… um then… you mean phoenixes would have fire?”
“That’s right!” Arces moves to pull his huge chair closer to the table so he can see Dottie while we talk. “Mind, there’s a difference between a phoenix shifter and a phoenix familiar… and not every mythical has non-shifter cousins. As I said, the shifter/animal line of inquiry isn’t my area of expertise—outside of being one. That doesn’t mean I study theory and historical biology, though, so don’t think I’ll be able to go into detail about it. My affinity is with the companion animals that some of us can be gifted by Fate or simple happenstance, like your furry friend.”
“Her name is Dottie,” I say, as my brain tries to wrap around the existence of both normal animals and shifter variants. How would I ever fucking know if a wolf or some random cat is aperson, not an animal? This is bullshit, and I’m frustrated to death with all the things I have to learn suddenly. “But I’m… mostly sure she’s an animal?”
Arces laughs, smacking his palm on the table and Dottie jumps, then shakes her fist at him. Her chitters are angry, and the big man immediately coos an apology. I’m not even sure how he’s making those sounds, but it definitely calms my kinkajou down. “Sorry about that, little one. I didn’t mean to frighten you. I’m a lummox, you see, and sometimes we’re not the most cautious of beings. We’re heavy of hand and foot without thinking about those who are small.”
Dottie stops, giving him her signature chastisement at his words, settling back on her haunches and holding her tail as she looks around carefully. The other guys stay still and I let out a sigh of relief that no one is making a stink about her panic. Being scared doesn’t mean she’s weak or useless anymore than it does in humans or demons. I don’t want Jasper nitpicking my biggest comfort because she didn’t want to be squashed.
If he does, I’ll shove more than grapes up his fucking nose, that’s for damn sure.
“So…what element does your bird have a connection to?” I ask as Arces holds his hand out to Dottie. I think he wants her to climb onto it sohe can study her close-up, but I don’t know if she’s ready for that after his table pounding.
“Metal.” The Keeper grins broadly as my girl moves closer, bit by bit. “She has metal feathers, a razor sharp hybrid beak, and her shit is actually poisonous. You wouldn’t think that’d be an advantage, but it is. Saved my bacon plenty of times on the fields of war long ago.”
“That’s cool as fuck,” I admit. My eyes stay on my kinkajou, anxiety flowing over me as Arces attempts to get her to warm up to him. “I don’t think Dottie has any special powers… Well, maybe she seems to understand me when I talk, and she’s quite good at telling Jasper off.”
Xerxes holds up a finger. “She also shoved grapes up his nose, so her bravery is fairly off the charts.”
Arces looks at me, then the others for confirmation. Finally, his eyes move to the prince, who rolls his in response. “I’ll be tarred in wastes and covered in Black Cow dung. Youarea brave little nibblet, aren’t you? Most grown demons wouldn’t risk attacking the Prince of Hell, and here you did it and lived.”
Dottie chitters happily this time, then alights onto his palm. The Keeper brings her up closer, tilting his head as he looks her over. “I see nothing that marks her as dangerous, though we knew that because she protects and comforts you, Kit. I assume that’s why she put fruit into Jasper, and I’d guess it’s why she has such a fighting spirit.”
“I didn’t even consider that,” Zavida says, his eyes wide. “Dottie defends Kit so much that none of us thought she could be a problem.”
“See, that’s where schools are failing you whelps.” The Keeper looks up, pinning us with a one-eyed glare. “They don’t teach you rich little bastards that bad things come from everywhere, not just shit you’d expect. Someone could have sent a handful of magical things to pretend to be a damn familiar.”
Jasper growls softly, slapping his hand on his face. “Damn it. I should know better. Weallshould know better.”
“It’s my failure, not yours,” Slash says with an angry frown. “I should be punished for my carelessness.”
“I didn’t think of it when I did the checks—” Zav shrinks into himself, clutching his tails.
Oh, we’re so diving into deep, uglywaters here; I have to stop it.
Shooting to my feet, I clap my hands loudly. “Hey! Hey, shut up. All of you.”
The big hybrid holding my familiar gives me a pleased look, but the others stop and gape at me. I suck in a big breath, then blow it out before I speak again. “Blame doesn’t change what happened. No one needs to prostrate themselves or get upset. Dottie isnotevil and we’re all fine. Plus, now you’re… I don’t know, more aware for later.”
