COBALT: The Red Phantom (Book One)

Chapter 14: The Trial (Part 3/3)

This one's a shorter part, sorry about that (or you're welcome, if you hate long things). Had to chop off it's rear end, because that scene sat better in the next chapter~

Also, as always, thank you to all my extra lovely readers that provided critiques and some great questions to pop up possible plot holes. You guys get some non monetarily valued kudos from me, since I love me a good shredder of a critique~

Keep up the great work, and I hope you enjoy this part as well! Cobs has nearly doubled in views since being featured, and just hit it's 700 votes marker (yes this is a celebratory chapter)! So I'd like to thank the mysterious editor for somehow finding my 3 months dry on updates novel, and absolutely everyone (even those of you that seemed to only love my table of contents) for giving this book a chance!

I'm done rambling, here's the last part - of the chapter- 

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          Káel had himself awkwardly sprawled across the bed, arms stretched to flatten a spare scrap of parchment on the corner of his nightstand. Aimlessly tapping his lip with the butt of his pen as all the ways he could have worded his letter escaped him. He had briefly recapped his stay at Cobalt to his self proclaimed uncle, but before he could end the note with a sagging signature, Phantom popped up the idea of begging for illicit artifacts again.

          Now, torn between the unlikely chance of getting what he wanted, and banking on the bliss of ignorance his uncle would tack to him when he asked for the object, Káel was at an utter loss for what to write. 

          He tried to imagine the situation as if he was back home. Opening his front door to face the towering man, his flowing clothes just as colourful as his personality, and the little blue car he swerved about the roads on parked right on the lawn. What would he do if Káel opened that door with a stiff smile and asked for drug money?

          Káel bit the butt of his pen, bouncing it up and down like a wonky spatula. He'd never seen his uncle on a bad day, in fact, he barely saw him at all. Which made for the sinking realisation that even if the person receiving his letter wasn't in fact the uncle he'd seen so many times, it wouldn't make a difference.

          Allowing the heavy air to fill his lungs, Káel told the truth. 

          No matter what, he didn't know the person at the other end of his letter. He didn't know how to use a zodraic battery, or what it even was. He didn't know what Ray was going to do with an illegal artifact.

          But what he did know was that he wanted to go home.

          Jeremiah leapt onto the bed as soon as Káel finished up the letter, his permanently disapproving meow pulling Káel's attention as the cat weighed his judging eyes upon the human.

          "What?" Káel said, trying to mimic the cat's scowl.

          "Letter..." Phantom started, making a couple motions with his hands as he focused on the cat's back. "Collar? I think that's what he said, but his tail is everywhere."

          Káel squinted at the man, slipping the small paper into his cat's collar for the sake of humouring his ludicrous tail reading claims. 

          But Jeremiah chirped at the action, slipping away to rake his claws across the door. As soon as Káel cracked the door open, his only piece of home slipped away again, tearing down the hall to slip through another door before the wandering student closed it.