Shattered From Stars

Chapter 14

"Where are we?" Shadow's soft question reached my ears.

"A friend's," I replied, stopping on the dirt walkway in front of a familiar building.

Shzeltis came to stand beside us yet said nothing. He'd insisted that he walk even though he seemed far from fit to handle it on his own. His tail drooped and he showed all signs of energy loss but when I insisted on carrying him, he uncharacteristically snapped at me. He'd been silent ever since.

"This looks like a bar."

"It is."

"You're going to get drunk?"

I curled my lip, "Maybe out of spite. You think that's what we're here to do?" I joked, "That's shallow. I'm offended."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw her roll her eyes. "I dunno, sounds like something you would do," she muttered.

"You don't know what I would do. You don't know me," I retorted.

"For the record I've known you for a bit. And Caeli told me a bit about you; you drink sometimes."

"Well, 'for the record,' we're here to get some information." I ignored that last bit.

I burst through the doors. Every patron in the small bar—maybe 13-15 beings—fell silent. Their eyes were all trained on us. Shadow's ears pinned to her head in embarrassment. I smirked.

"What are you miserable masses looking at?" My voice echoed through the tavern. My eyes flashed dangerously and everyone turned away from us.

The crowd parted for me, making a straight shot to the front bar.

I leaned closer to Shadow and whispered, "Go find a seat. I need to talk to Shzeltis."

She fluffed up anxiously but complied. Shzeltis had slipped into corner booth, far from everyone else, and curled his tail tightly around himself. He was lightly grazing a paw on the golden key stuck in his fur. His eyes were glazed over in subconscious thought. Dark liquid was dripping from his eartips and nose. He didn't seem to notice I was there.

"Shzeltis?"

He didn't give an indication that he heard me. After a moment, his gaze finally drifted to me.

He just... stared. His eyes were dark. There was no emotion. No nothing. It was... blank. Not a trace of the curious, loving scientist I knew. It was rather... unnerving.

"Hey. Shzeltis? Are you doing alright?"

He turned back to the wooden table in front of him. It was like he was possessed. He wouldn't talk to anyone. He seemed--for lack of a better word-- broken. I'd tried to heal him multiple times during the trip over but something prevented it. I'd had yet to figure out what it was.

"Yeah," he rasped quietly, "I'm fine."

"Shell don't lie to me-"

"I'm not lying!" He snapped. He breathed heavily, though his breaths sounded clogged. My ears pinned to my skull reflexively.

"I'm not a liar...I'm... n-not... I'm not lying..." he grasped his head in his claws and muttered rapidly under his breath, "there's so much to lie about. I am a liar. I'm not fine. I'm lying..."

I lifted his chin to look me in the eyes. His eyes lacked the shine they usually had. Thick tears slipped down his cheeks. "Shzeltis, you're not a liar. I know it and you know it. You're driving yourself crazy, please just talk to me."

He refused to look at me; I dropped his chin and left him to ponder by himself.

"That could've gone better," that small voice muttered from the back of my mind. I shook my head and pushed it back down.