Feros and the Underworld Prince

by A. L. Bridges

  “Cheza, do you want to get something to eat?” A man asks.

  “No thanks Jarrett, I’m not hungry.” Cheza replies as I see her walking across the courtyard next to a tall white guy with black hair.

  “Cole? What’s wrong?” I hear Katie ask from far away as a memory is replayed in my head.

  “No… you’re just the only one that gets to call me Cheza.”

  “I-I-I have to go.” I stammer as I scramble out of my seat, spilling my iced coffee all over myself as I rush to be anywhere that isn’t here.

  “Come on Cheza; you need to eat and I doubt you’ve had breakfast either.” Jarrett says.

  “Airi, drown it out! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DROWN IT OUT!”

  Suddenly, soothing jazz music starts playing in my head and I feel myself start to calm down as I pass a bench and take a seat. A minute later, Katie comes around the corner while holding my backpack, which I had neglected to grab in my panic.

  “Come on, the house isn’t far and that coffee will stain if you do nothing about it.” Katie says bluntly.

  I look down and see that there is coffee all over my grey t-shirt, bandaged arm and some on my cargo shorts. I stand up and follow her, still feeling like a shell. I’m a little surprised when she walks up the walkway and through the door of a sorority. She leads me upstairs, getting several looks from other girls, and into her room.

  “Take off your clothes… so I can wash them” Katie commands.

  I strip off my shirt and shorts while Katie observes, and then I unwind my bandage. I hear Katie gasp slightly in response to my arm, but she doesn’t say anything as she grabs my clothes and leaves her room. I sit down on her bed and wait. Katie’s room is simple; just a dresser, desk and bed with the mandatory minimum of five pillows on it to symbolize that it belongs to a woman. I also notice that the room has a small bathroom as Katie comes back in and sits down next to me.

  “Your clothes should be washed in about thirty minutes and then it will take another thirty for the dryer. So I guess she didn’t tell you about Jarrett, huh?” Katie gently asks.

  “No, but I knew about him… it was hearing him call her Cheza that really hit me.” I respond.

  “How could you hear him from across the courtyard?” Katie asks with a perplexed expression.

  “I have amazing hearing. It’s how I knew who you were, by the sound of your voice; I’ve overheard a few conversations that you and Cheza have had. Cheza doesn’t know about it… I had prepared myself for the fact that seeing them together was a possibility when I decided to transfer here, but I never expected that she would allow him to call her Cheza…” I say quietly.

  “Now that I think about it, you are the only other person that I have heard call her Cheza. Hey Cole, if you don’t mind my asking, what happened to your arm?” Katie inquires.

  “I lost it fighting a fifty foot snake that was trying to eat Cheza two nights ago. I made a new one to replace it.” I bluntly answer.

  “How do you mean, you made a new one?” Katie asks, not bothering to be shocked by the ‘fighting a fifty foot snake’ part.

  “What is your favorite animal?” I request.

  “Pandas,” Katie replies.

  I hold my left hand out and use the hole in my palm to draw out my blood. I swirl it around in the air a few times before I have it take on the shape of a cartoon panda that has a black and red color scheme, because I can’t do white without bleeding all over Katie’s floor. I solidify it and hand it to her.

  “Like that.” I say as she stares at the panda in amazement.

  “Cole, this is amazing! What is this made of?” Katie asks.

  “Silicon carbide nanotubes as far as I can tell.” I reply.

  “How can you make silicon carbide out of your blood?” Katie inquires curiously.

  “It’s not just silicon carbide, I can make various types of explosives as well. It seems that I can completely bypass the laws of chemistry and form molecules, so long as the raw elements are in my blood, without having to worry about balancing charges or anything of that nature.” I answer.

  Katie keeps giving me this look that is either saying that she really wants to throw me down and have sex with me, or she really wants to study me in a traditional lab setting.

  “I’m just going to make it clear that I’m not all that okay with you studying me, mainly because it would put you in danger.” I explain. Katie looks disappointed for a moment, but her expression doesn’t fade entirely…

  “Katie! I heard you had a guy in here…” I hear Cheza say as she starts to open Katie’s door.

  Right, I should have guessed that Cheza lives here too when Katie said that they live together. Then something even more unexpected happens: Katie pulls me on top of her and presses her lips to mine, just before Cheza enters to get the full view.

  “COLE!?” Cheza shouts as Katie breaks off our kiss.

  Katie gives me a look that seems to indicate that she set up the shot, but now the ball is in my court. My gut instinct is to explain the situation.

  “Chezarei! Umm… this is exactly what it looks like… could you shut the door please?” I’m still vexed by Jarrett, so I decide to take the low road and tell my gut instinct to fuck off.

  Cheza looks like she was just slapped, and then she starts smiling broadly while slowly approaching me. She stands in front of me with a smile so broad that her eyes appear to be closed, not saying a word as I get off of Katie and stand up. I know that physical violence on her part is coming, mostly because of that insanely creepy smile.

  Whilst maintaining her creepy smile, Cheza lashes out. I block her right punch to my face using my left hand; block her knee to my groin using my right hand; and block the ice dagger in her left hand using my stomach… wait, that last one can’t really be considered blocking.

  ‘I am so insanely proud of her!’ I think as I crumple to the floor. She was able to form an ice dagger in a place that has nearly zero humidity in a matter of seconds; plus she countered for my anticipation with a perfect double feint that left me wide open for her actual objective! I really want to kiss her… but I’m unable to with my current position in her life… maybe I would have been better off in the Underworld with amnesia.

  “Holy shit, Rei!” Katie exclaims as Cheza storms out of the room.

  I stand and walk into Katie’s bathroom, where I yank out the knife and toss it in the sink; it will melt in a matter of minutes anyway.

  “Cole! We need to get you to the hospital!” Katie says as she rushes over to me.

  “Settle down Katie, I’ll be fine; it takes a lot more than that to kill me, see?” I say while showing her my stomach and its lack of bleeding.

  “Alright, but doesn’t that hurt?” Katie asks.

  “Well yeah, but I’ve had worse and this makes the second time I’ve been stabbed in my stomach this week and the fourth time overall; not to sound jaded, but maybe I’m just used to it?” I suggest as her eyes go wide.

  “Well, I don’t think anyone can say that you’re boring!” Katie says with a slight giggle.

  “That is true I suppose… by the way, why did you help me lie to Cheza like that?” I ask.

  “I’m a little annoyed by how she’s been handling this situation and what she did to you by not telling you about Jarrett is ten times worse than what we just did so she can go ahead and be pissed at me!” Katie says with increasing amounts of emotion, followed by a few moments of silence while she calms down.

  “Hey, so there’s this party on Friday night… do you feel like going to it with me?” Katie asks while looking slightly embarrassed.

  “Sure, I don’t have any other plans for Friday anyway; here.” I tell her and hand her my phone so she can put her number in. She hands my phone back, I call her, and hang up immediately after it rings so that she has my number. We work on our chemistry assignment and Katie helps me get caught up on the past week while we wait for my clothes.

  “Alright, well I need to get going to my psyc
hology class.” I tell her after getting dressed, whilst slipping my shoes back on.

  “Okay, see you tomorrow!” Katie exclaims as I grab my backpack and walk down the stairs. I see Cheza standing by the door, glaring at me.

  “You know, sometimes I wish you would have just stayed in the Underworld.” Cheza whispers as I pass by her. I stop and turn towards her.

  “What a coincidence, I was thinking the same thing not too long ago.” I say with a sad smile as Cheza’s face softens.

  “Cole, I don’t…” Cheza starts as I exit the sorority house.

  …

  Chapter 13: Why do parties keep doing this to me?

  [September 12th]

  The next three days went by in a rather monotonous fashion. I would chat with Katie a little bit before class and we would work on our chemistry assignments after class. Apparently Cheza is still cross with Katie and is avoiding her. I drive home after my psychology class on Friday and head to my room when I arrive. I plop down on my bed when I get a text from Katie:

  Hey the party starts at 8… so pick me up at 7:45?

  Sure, is the party within walking distance? I reply.

  Ya its not too far from the house.

  Okay, then I have a surprise for you. Just make sure that you are ready to go by 7:45.

  Ok!

  It seems like I have some time so I decide to take a nap.

  ****

  “Cole… wake up, Cole… you’re going to be late you lazy bum!” Kita says into my ear.

  I turn over and see Kita standing in my room, wearing her yellow apron. I smile at her, then her face suddenly turns pale and her eyes start to glow as I notice the bullet hole in the side of her head.

  “I am just one of many that would still be alive if they had never met you. Why don’t you join us Cole?” Kita says with a crackling voice as she reaches out and caresses my cheek.

  ****

  “AHH!” I scream in terror as I jolt awake.

  “Cole?” Naia asks from my bedside.

  She wraps her arms around me and waits for me to calm down. I’m surprised to see that my ‘combat vision’ is active, but even more surprised to see that Naia has the same silver outline that Cheza and I have, while the inside of her aura is a swirl of vermillion and periwinkle; I can worry about her aura at a more convenient time.

  “Thanks Naia.” I tell her a few minutes later and then I look at the clock.

  “Shit, I’m going to be late!” I say as I jump up and grab some new clothes. I quickly throw on a long sleeve button-up (to make my bandages less noticeable) and a pair of jeans before applying a few spritzes of cologne.

  “Alright, see you later Naia; I’m going to a party. Bye!” I tell her and then, at 7:47pm, I port to Katie’s room.

  ‘This is why I told you to be ready at 7:45pm!’ I try to say as I look at Katie, who has her hands behind her back in the process of clasping her bra.

  “You know, when you told me to be ready at 7:45, I assumed that you would be knocking at the front door instead of magically appearing in my bedroom.” Katie says with a slightly embarrassed smile. I turn around while she finishes getting dressed.

  “Yeah, sorry about that; I guess I should have called first…” I tell her.

  “Don’t sweat it… so, ready to go?” Katie asks and I turn around to find that she is dressed in a white, low cut, mini dress.

  “Wow, you look great.” I comment.

  “You really think so? Even now that I have the dress on?” Katie jokes.

  She takes my hand and leads me down the stairs and out the front door. The party is at another sorority that is about half a mile from Katie’s. There’s a line at the door, but Katie just walks past it and up to a preppy blonde girl by the door.

  “Katie! How are you!? Who’s your friend!?” the blonde asks in an excited fashion and I immediately don’t trust her; there is no reason that anyone should have to be excited to find out who I am… wow, that’s depressing. This night is just getting off to a great start, what with the dreams about dead girlfriends and then the self-depreciation!

  “This is Cole, he’s in my o-chem class and I’ve known him for a couple of years. Cole, this is my friend Jamie.” Katie explains.

  “It’s nice to meet you Jamie.” I respond.

  “It’s nice to meet you too, Cole! Head on in and get something to drink!” Jamie replies in the same excited fashion.

  “Thanks Jamie, I’ll talk to you later!” Katie says as we walk in the door.

  Katie leads me to the bar where we get a couple drinks and then she introduces me to some of her friends.

  “So how do you like an ASU party?” Katie asks after her friends wander off.

  “It’s better than the last one; last time, I got stabbed in the chest with three swords and had to kill thirteen people.” I bluntly say.

  “I’ve heard rumors about that party but… That was you!?” Katie asks as her eyes go wide.

  “Umm, yeah. The thirteen frat guys were actually ancient Persian gods that were holding a caged, naked, thirteen year old girl in their secret basement.” I explain.

  “Wow… that is a lot different than the official story. Supposedly there was some kind of cult suicide that left the thirteen fraternity members dead… anyway, let’s go dance!” Katie exclaims as she grabs my hand.

  We start walking toward the dance area as I start feeling a sense of dread about dancing. Something answers my prayers as I see people stop dancing and scoot back.

  “YOU GUYS! STOP IT!” Jamie screams at the two guys that are fighting. Katie immediately starts dragging me in that direction.

  “Jamie, what’s going on?” Katie asks.

  “Those idiots are fighting over me!” Jamie yells in an exacerbated fashion. One of them grabs a bottle and I decide that it is time to step in.

  “Whoa, guys! Isn’t there a better way to solve this; a way that doesn’t involve ruining the party?” I ask after stepping between them.

  One of the guys nods in acknowledgment of his wrongdoing after he looks around at the situation. The other guy decides that he isn’t finished and decides to throw the bottle at me. I catch it with my right hand and drop it, where it makes a soft thud when it hits floor. I put my left hand in front of the punch that was following the bottle.

  “AUGH!” the guy screams as he pulls his hand back.

  “Congratulations you fucking idiot! You most likely just broke your hand.” I tell him as I grab the collar of his jacket and drag him towards the door.

  “You will probably want to get some ice for that!” I call out as I toss him onto the lawn and return to the party.

  “Thanks Cole!” Jamie says cheerily while handing me a drink to show her gratitude.

  “Still unable to go to a party without being involved in a fight I see, eh big brother?” I hear Cheza ask behind me in a slightly malicious tone.

  I nearly drop my drink when I hear her call me ‘brother,’ but I chug it instead so I can buy the time I need to recover and come up with some clever comeback. I turn around and see a smug smile that tells me that she knows what her ‘big brother’ comment did to me.

  “Brother huh? That’s funny, I don’t recall you ever calling me brother in the shower, or in my bed, or on the plane, or in the Greenlandic hotel, or that time with the beaded cat’s tail.” I state in a matter-of-fact fashion, watching as Cheza’s eyes go wide while her face turns a deep shade of crimson before she storms off.

  I hate myself.

  “Dude… that might have been a little too far…” Katie suggests.

  “You think so too huh…? I’m going to go get some fresh air.” I quietly say.

  “Do you want some company?” Katie asks.

  “No… but thanks.” I say while trying to smile.

  I take a right out of the house and start walking. About ten minutes later, I pass by the entrance of a place called Desert Arboretum Park.

  “I’m sorry I have to do this.” I hear Jarrett say, accompanie
d by the sound of a gun cocking. I race towards the sound and into the park.

  “Who are you? Why are you doing this?” a female voice asks.

  I round the corner and see five men holding a woman at gun point with M4 Carbines. As I get closer, I see that this woman has two bushy, orange and white tails, and a matching pair of ears poking out of her head. I’m not about to watch a fox-girl get shot in the head for the second time this week.

  “HEY! LEAVE THE FOX-GIRL ALONE!” I shout as I run over.

  “You know the orders: no witnesses. Make it look like a mugging.” Jarrett says.

  One of the soldiers pulls out a Beretta M9 9mm pistol and fires at me twice. My helmet engages as I dodge the bullets and I’m surprised by what I see: all five of the men have red outlines, but human centers of solid red, blue, or green. The helmet freaks them out and they all start firing their M4’s at once. I keep my distance while I unwrap the bandage from my arm. Recalling Tia’s lesson’s on guns, the M4 has a velocity of nearly three thousand feet per second and I’m not wearing anything that is bulletproof so I can’t get in close.

  Suddenly, a large fire nova erupts from the fox-girl, igniting the clothing of several of the men. I use this distraction to close in as one of the men turns his sights on the fox-girl. I flash forward and give him a single left punch to his chest. He squirts blood as he flies about thirty feet with his ribcage completely destroyed.

  (FALCON PUNCH!)

  I start laughing as I rush forward and punch through the head of the last gunman that isn’t currently on fire. The three that are on fire are too disoriented to put up much of a fight so I quickly pulp them.

  “Thank you… what is your name?” the Asian fox-girl asks.

  “Cole Treyfair.” I reply after I retract my helmet.

  “Thank you for your assistance, Treyfair-san. You appear to have a yatagarasu flying over you.” The fox-girl replies. I look up, but I don’t see anything.

  “I don—” I start to say until I look back down and see that the fox-girl is gone.

  I don’t feel like this makes up for Kita, but I do feel that I have atoned for my failure, if only slightly. I do wish I would have gotten her name though, especially with how things are looking with Cheza…