At Time's End

Chapter 13 - There Is A Sace In Our House, But Why?

"Eterna."

No answer.

"Why is there a sace in our kitchen?" The small, admittedly kind of cute pink animal stared directly at my eyes from the kitchen table. Eterna still did not give me an answer. "Okay, but how much did it cost?"

"There's a... what in our kitchen?!" She seemed excited.

"Wait, you're not behind this?" I spotted another, blue one. "Why are there TWO!?"

"No, no I'm not." I heard her footsteps on the stairs. "WAIT THERE'S TWO?!"

"However, we're not keeping them."

"Yeah, no, you're not." That wasn't Eterna, but it sounded ...familiar? "Sorry, they got in here before I could. C'mere, little ones!" As the saces sprinted from our arms towards their owners, I followed them with my gaze and looked over at the person responsible.

"Yeah, hi. I'm Karmella Stormwind." She flicked her hair back. "Sorry to cause problems." Stormwind? Although she had fire red hair that flowed down her shoulders, opposed to Lucy Stormwind's short blonde, which is why I noticed it immediately. Red hair and a leather jacket - she sure was beautiful, and a bit younger than Ignus when he... ugh, it's still hard to talk about that.

"Hello," I said, rushing to the front desk and putting on my best customer service voice from way back when, "I suppose you got what you needed, unless we can help you somehow?" She seemed suspicious of me for some reason.

"Nice, uh, what's your name?" she asked, while still staring at me. "You look... familiar." 

"Jaiden Hawks. I was also thinking, are you related to Lucy Stormwind?"

"Yeah, every researcher asks that. My little sis is something of a celebrity in your circles, huh? She is extraordinary, after all." I could tell she didn't say that out of her being a record breaker, she said that out of pure love for her sister. That's... sweet. "Anyways, who are you to her?"

At this point, Eterna interjected. "Wait, Jaiden. Was this that Lucy who showed me the snake and tried to make it bite me when we were kids?"

I sighed. "Yes, that Lucy. Calm down, it's been like what, 30 years?" I scoffed. "It never even bit you in the end." She still looked annoyed about that.

Eterna scoffed back at me. "Yeah, but it almost bit me! It could've been poisonous!"

"Eterna, buddy, it's venomous, not poisonous." I smiled, catching her mistake. "Poisonous is when you bite something and you die."

"Shut up, will you."

"Anyways, so you knew Lucy when you were a kid? Interesting." Crap, I somehow forgot she was here. "So that's why I knew you."

"Great. Anything else?"

"You know, I have been looking for a job..."

"We're not hiring!" Eterna blurted.

"In case you weren't aware, I'm the current owner of this establishment." I shot back. "So, you were saying? We are pretty low on workpower."

"I'll take it. So that you know, pouty girl in the corner, my name is Karmella Stormwind. I'm quite sure you already heard it, but you seem like the type to forget names." Eterna clenched her teeth. "Also, remember to be cordial. It might seem obvious, but a little politeness goes a long way, don'tcha think?" I'm pretty sure I heard a crack coming from Eterna's teeth at this point. She's angry, but she still forced a smile.

"Alright, yeah. Nice to meet you. I'm Eterna Talon, the cook and secondary owner of this establishment. I'm glad you're here." If those aren't the most fake words I've ever heard, I'll chew my leg off.

"Yeah, I introduced myself already, but I'm Jaiden Hawks, primary researcher and owner of this place. There's also Ignus Engarde, but he's only a hologram. His human form is... permamently retired."

"Ah... I see." She seemed as if she was debating something with herself. "May I ask-" No. "-how advanced said hologram is?"

"Sure!" That wasn't what I was expecting. I went over to the button that activates him. It took a couple tries, but it finally worked and he was summoned into the living room.

"Hi Eterna, hi Jaiden, hello to whoever you are?"

"Karmella Stormwind." She grinned at Ignus. "You're certainly a very.. advanced hologram. May I ask where your data is from?"

...This led to a bunch of technical speak that I could not comprehend at all. My head started to spin.

"So, uhh, Karmella, where do you work normally?" I asked, the first chance I got.

"I'm an engineer. Can't you tell?" She smiled. Right, of course she's an engineer.

"So why aren't you in the Energy Ring? That's the number 1 workplace for engineers, right?"

"Oh, that. Yeah, I got fired from Ring 1 after causing multiple blackouts." I'm starting to think Eterna was right on not hiring her. "I improved after that -" phew. "- but they didn't let me back in. It was apparently a permament ban. So, that's why I'm here."

"Alright. So, what do you offer for this center?"

"Uh. Repair service? You got any computers here with passwords you don't know? I could crack them." Wait. Does this mean I can ask her to find the password for the computer in my study?

"I have one." Eterna? "I found it in my room. It's my old computer, but I can't remember the password. I can bring it down here," she said, basically meaning 'I'm not letting you in my room.'. Can you not have a grudge on her for existing as your old childhood enemy's sister? Calm down.

"No, I can come and see it there," she countered. "Less work for you, right?" Eterna looked surprisingly happy, despite her probably being almost at her boiling point. I know her well enough to know she is.

"Alright. I'll go clean up a bit." Code for 'I'm going to hide everything that could give you a hint to what kind of a person I am, to give you less topics to insult me about.'.

As we waited, I tried to make conversation. "So, as of now, you're formally hired." I guess. "Uh, where are you going to sleep?" Good question.

"How many rooms do you have?"

I had to count with my fingers. "The one we're in now, two bedrooms, and the kitchen and bathroom."

"Cool. Should I run to the store to get a bed real quick? I guess I could sleep in the same room as the other employee." I know I should say no, but this would be way too hilarious to watch to say no.

"Yeah, sure." I'm going to regret that.

I heard Eterna yell "Okay, I'm ready!" from upstairs. I guess I had to run to the furniture store.

"Uhh, try to not aggravate her too much while telling her that you're going to stay there. I'll be right back." They'll be alright. Nobody will come to their room and kill them. There's two of them. I can do this.

The trip was short, not just because I just got a really basic bed and drove back, but also because I purposefully hurried. I still remember what happened when I last took my time. The lights were off from the living room, but that was because I switched them off when I left.. right?

As I stepped through the door, I could hear Eterna yelling (and Karmella laughing maniacally) from upstairs. I went to check things out. Apparently Karmella had found a plastic snake from god knows where, and put it under Eterna's pillows, just enough that it was still visible. Eterna is still afraid of snakes. Chaos ensued. At least on Eterna's side, Karmella was still just laughing and petting her saces.

"Okay guys, specifically Eterna, this might come as a shock to you but Karmella will be sleeping in this room for the time being. If either of you complains about the other being horrible -" I said, shifting my gaze towards Eterna again, "- I won't offer anything except a 'suck it up you're roommates now'. Alright?" I didn't wait for an answer. "Great. Try to get the bed assembled before midnight."

I have a feeling I won't be able to sleep tonight.