Monster King

Chapter 53 - Death siblings

I leaned back against the rough bark of the old oak tree, my eyes trained on the rustling branches above and I tried to just not think about it. This could be the last time I'm in my own neighborhood for years, the last time I'll have the ability to walk down the street and see Casey. I took a breath and tried to just relax, but my heart just kept racing. Why was saying goodbye so scary?

"You ready Gremlin?" Boa called out and walked over to me. 

"Not yet, Cyrus and Casey wanted to see me off." I said. 

"Awww, I haven't heard from Cyrus in a while." She said with a chuckle. 

"Yeah, I kinda figured since I'm banned from every guild he wouldn't want to talk to me anymore." I said with a nervous laugh.

I reached into my pocket and put on my facemask. Boa walked over and tilted  her head at me and smiled. 

"Aww a facemask with a frowny face on it! Cute." She said,

"Min gave it to me. I lost and ripped a lot of them. So this is one of three I have left."

After a bit of waiting footsteps started to sound off from the woods. We looked over and saw Cyrus coming out from the treeline. His little white fluff ball partner was happily resting on his shoulder. I waved and walked over to him. 

"Hey bro, what's up?" I asked. 

"Hey." He said and immediately looked away to the ground."I umm, wanted to talk to you about something."

"Oh, uh sure." I said and he pointed over to the woodline. "Is over here cool?" 

"Yeah, that's fine." I said and he started walking, and I followed his lead. 

He took me deeper into the woods. While his little furball buddy happily hopped around on his shoulder. I never asked him about that guy before, did I? His little ball of fluff with horns. I don't think I've ever even heard about that thing before in mythology. Soon we stopped walking and he took a breath.

"I'm sorry by the way for not talking to you after the Karma incident." He said, and I looked away from him this time. 

"It's fine, you're a part of a guild right? I don't want you to get kicked out on my account..."

He took a breath.

"Well, I talked to my guild master. And he said as a member, he didn't want me to affiliate with you." My stomach churned a bit as he said that. Of course, who would advise it after what I did? "But, he said he couldn't stop me from being your family. So, he's okay as long as no one else finds out in the guilds." 

I turned back toward him fast. "What?"

"You're my brother." He said with a chuckle. "Family is important. When I was adopted I learned a lot about family. So, I don't wanna let you go when you need family right now. That's why I wanted to talk."

A warmth rose in my chest and I lowered my mask. Showing him a big smile. "Thanks, that, that really means a lot."

He nodded. "And to add to that, I've heard from dad. You we're hearing things right? Seeing things? More than usual?" He asked. 

"Ummm, I guess you can say that?" 

"It's difficult, being a child of death who sees ghosts and hears and sees souls. Plus having...mental health issues too." He said and scratched the back of his head. 

"Yeah, I'm hoping Tokyo helps me out."

"Well it might not." He said quickly. 

I tilted my head. "What do you mean?"