Melody's Whispers (discontinued for a rewrite)

Everyone's a Little Wierd Here

  "I still don't particularly want to do this..." I grumbled as we flew to our destination. "River's repairs aren't exactly finished." I moved my hand up my staff closer to my palisman. If it weren't for Hooty's rough play, I wouldn't have had to do repairs. I carved her myself about a year ago with Grandad; I formed her with a human realm bird in mind. A Blue Jay, it was called. I listened to its songs once while I was collecting junk.
  "Hey, I offered a ride on Owlbert," Ma protested.
  "I can't bring a whole ass instrument to the Conformatorium. River is my right hand. Isn't that right, girl?" The sweet little chirps she made soothed my anxiety. I'd been here once... caught because I was too little to escape. I caused a massive prison break; not my favourite memory. I try to keep it locked away...
  "What is this place?" Luz asked, looking up at the towering structure ahead of us. Darkness clouded its surroundings.
  "The Conformatorium. A place where those considered unsuitable for society end up." I sighed. Luz took Ma's wanted poster from the wall.
  "wow, these guys must really have the hots for you." I rolled my eyes at the kid, checking over River and her repair job. I wasn't so sure about how it would hold up. I didn't want to go to Nana and Grandad's alone to get River repaired.
  "Yep, but we were never caught because we're too slippery." Ma boasted
  "try catching me while I'm covered in grease; I'm a squirmy little fella!" I looked at both Ma and King.
  "That little grease thing landed me in the Conformatorium," I grumbled. "Both of you are the reason we caused a prison break last time. If only I had a palisman back then, EDA. Grandad still says I should have had one long before I did."

The plan went as such: King and Luz were to sneak to the top of the tower while Ma and I flew in to create a distraction. We hadn't thought this plan through, but when do Ma and King think about stuff? I looked Luz up and down as she pulled the hood of her shirt over her head. I'm sure it's a human-realm cat. It was cute. Especially the little 'meow meow' she did. Yeah, she'll fit right in. Ma created a magic platform to lift Luz and King to the window at the top of the towering Conformatorium.
  "Meet you guys there." I followed Ma on our staffs to another window. I wouldn't say I liked this. "You good, Kiddo?" It's not that I didn't hear her; I have good hearing. Too good sometimes. But I didn't register what she said either. "Mel?" Still no. "Melody."
  "I just want this over with. The sooner I'm out, the better." I wasn't staying there any longer than I had to.
  "You okay? You've been tense since we left home. Did something happen when you were locked up a few years back?" I kept my head down as we landed, Leaving Ma to keep watch. She pulled me back around a corner as she heard the Warden coming—a prisoner in tow.
  "Poor soul," I mumbled under my breath. I knew the room he was taking her to. Screams froze me solid.
  "Right, you gotta tell me what's going on." I snapped my head around, ready to blow a fuse.
  "I didn't just sit in a cell that day," I growled, not too loud so no one could hear. "I wouldn't tell them where you were hiding out or what you were up to. I was behind that door. I have the scars to prove it." I stormed off ahead. "Come on. He's distracted; let's meet up with King and Luz and get this over with." She didn't say anything to me after that. I don't know. I managed to heal my injuries enough that day, keeping the massive scar across my back hidden from her. It's not easy when one lives with people who have no sense of personal space. "Come on, this way."

We eventually caught up with King and Luz in the darkened hallways. I warned Ma not to mention what I had said to either of them. I wasn't in the mood for questions. I stroked River's head, trying to keep myself calm.
  "Hey, good news, the Warden's distracted tormenting some tiny creature. He isn't coming around any time soon." Luz just walked past Ma with a defeated look on her face. She'd seen how everyone was locked away, mainly for no reason other than being weird. We approached the door closing all the contraband away from the rest of the tower.
  "My crown! I can feel its power!" King dashed to the door pulling and tugging at its handle.
  "Aww, he's so cute when he's thirsty for power." Ma wasn't wrong. King is adorable.
  "It's not fair that they're all in here," Luz blurted out. "They just wanna be themselves. Why does everyone think that being a weirdo is so bad?" I watched the door handle fall and bounce on the floor as King ripped it from the door, letting himself in with a giggle.
  "Come on before he hurts himself," I sighed, stepping toward the door, listening to King pant excitedly as he ran towards the barrier where his crown was held.
  "OW!" Yeah, he ran right into it. Twice.
  "We have a human, remember?" Ma reminded, kneeling to his level. Luz took a deep breath, leading with her hand as she walked through the barrier. I won't forget her look of disappointment. I get it; we may have led her on a bit, but...
  "My crown!" King jumped up and down as he took the cardboard crown from Luz's hands. She wasn't particularly impressed. This crown was just a child's plaything I got from a human grease food store. I think they called it fast food; I don't know. It still took a long while to cook... AND it didn't even taste that great. But I took the crown home with me since I knew how happy King would be to get it. He was so cute making a scene of his 'power' returning and finding himself a stuffed rabbit to take from a nearby pile. "You there, Nightmare Critter! I shall call you Francois, and you shall be my minion in my army of darkness!" My heart melted just a little bit.
  "That crown doesn't give him any power, does it?" Luz asked
  "Uh, no," Ma let out a sigh. "Oh, look at us, Luz. We don't have much in this world. The three of us, we only have each other. So if that dumb crown's important to him, it's important to me." I nodded at what she had to say. "Besides, us weirdos have to stick together, you know?"
  "Can we just get outta here?" I grumbled.
  "Yeah, if the warden finds us, he'll lose his head." I took two steps back as the door opened, hunching my shoulders over, ready to make a panicked escape on River.
  "Too late."