Death's Little Girl

Chapter 3: Peter Piper Picked a Pepper

You mustn't tell anyone. Theta's reminder still lingered in the heads of Keira and Iota. They walked shoulder-to-shoulder on the way to Keira's room to pack for their new adventure.

"Why do you think she doesn't want us to tell anyone?" Keira asked.

Iota shook his dark hair before responding, "who knows.. Reaper business most likely. I mean, we're not flatfoots, probably not allowed to do this. Theta might get in trouble for allowing us to do this." He was quiet a moment before muttering an additional, "not like I have enough trouble already."

"Still, it's...strange." Keira said thoughtfully. "Why would she do that?"

"Don't care. Look, princess-"

"It's Keira." She corrected.

He gave an annoyed sigh. "Princess, this isn't how I really wanted to spend my evening. If this lovely opportunity wasn't so grandly bestowed upon me by Theta, I wouldn't even be here."

Keira blinked several times, slowly grasping what he said.

"You know, Iota. You can leave." She said in her coldest voice, but even Iota could hear that her heart wasn't in it.

He smirked at her sarcastically before opening the door handle that revealed her chambers.

"Keir-...you're not Keira."

A boy with pale blond hair, almost white, and gray eyes looked at Iota. The boy looked young, not even ten years old. Although pale and looking almost translucent, there appeared to be bruises or welts on some parts of his exposed skin.

"Peter! Oh good, you're here, this is Iota," Keira pushed past Iota to go see the boy, Peter. "He's ah....gonna help us find my dad." She kneeled down to give him a hug, though it didn't seem to work very well.

"Right...uh...I'm sorry, Peter was it? You're kinda looking...I dunno, not substantial? What are you?"

Peter tilted his head, then looked at Keira.

"You had to recruit someone so rude? I thought you had better taste in people."

"I know. It wasn't really my choice," Keira sighed softly to look at Iota. "But you're right Peter, he's a handful."
Iota was still confused. A practically translucent child was standing only three feet away from him. Peter untangled himself from Keira's hug and turned to give Iota his attention. "If you must know, I'm what is most commonly referred to as a spirit-soul, or what mundanes like to call a "ghost": I am dead. But as you just seen when I hugged Keira, I can touch things."

Iota looked uncomfortable and his body language was obviously telling him to leave. "Keira, could you hurry and pack, please."

"Yeah, sure." She replied, "Peter, can I get a hand?"

Peter and Kiera began packing and Iota was left to wander. The pictures framing the wall were filled with beautiful paintings and descriptive art. But at the end, the wall was empty. Not one picture was seen with a smile in it . No family, no friends, no Keira. Her room was the poster child for a home decorator's portfolio.

"Keira, hurry up, we've gotta go," Iota called from his place.

"I told you that you could leave if you wanted!"

"Theta'll be upset if I don't go. Again, I don't need any more problems. Grimm's sake, hurry it up!"

Keira came out of her room wearing black pants and a dark sweatshirt. She carried with her a satchel and what appeared to be a walking stick, and Peter followed behind her.

"All ready," Keira chirped.

"Alright. Let's go get this over with."

Iota began heading out, Keira and Peter following behind. It took Iota a moment to process that Peter wasn't going to stay behind when the three of them walked out the door.

"Woah woah woah, that child spirit thing is not coming with us. How old is it anyway? Like, eight years??"

"Try eighteen," Peter retaliated. "I just look eight years old."

"What??"

"He passed at a very young age...spirits usually look how they did at their time of death," Keira explained, then tried to stifle a laugh at Iota's facial expression, a mix between bewilderment, disbelief, and not willing to budge on letting an eight year old come with.

"I am coming with you two. We need to hurry up if we plan on making all this work right."

"Peter's right. Let's go! We need to get my dad back!"

"Dear Grimm. Fine fine fine, let's get my boss. Sooner the better."

The three walked out of the room and down the hall, heading off on this new adventure.

"Do you think I'll get a reward for saving and getting your dad back?"

"Shut up Iota. Don't talk about your boss to his daughter."

----A/N ----

Hey !! Thanks for tuning in . If you're reading this I love you . I hope you enjoyed this chapter , trust me . I think you'll all come to love Peter as much as I do. Remember to comment/vote/follow Izzyprime21

- Crystale 😊❤️