Chương 17: Nelo!?

Ch. 17: Nelo!?

"You're here!" Nelo came up and gave me a hug. I closed one arm around her. May you feed me her blood?

"No." I said as I tucked my knife away.

"When did you get two dogs?" I looked over at the two guard dogs and Boba eating from a bowl of dog food Nelo had set out for them.

"Uhm… Nelo, what are you doing in my sister's apartment?" One of the guard dogs had finished eating and went to go play with Nelo. She took his whole face in her hands and gave him scratches.

"I knew you were on a raid, silly. I thought I'd drop by with some food for your sister. Its tonkatsu. You told me that was her favorite. I picked it up from the ramen spot near my house. Have you been feeding these dogs? They look skinny."

"Uhh, yeah. Thanks," My eyes urgently scanned the room. Where was he? Where had he gone? I looked around and said, "Uh… you only count.. Three pets right?"

"What!?" Nelo asked, "Is there another dog in here?" I walked past her and stood in the center of the living room to look around.

"Y-yeah. Should be just about three dogs." I couldn't see him. I moved to the bedroom and turned on the lights. Things looked different; the mess looked different. Piles of clothes I'd had for a long time were smaller and had a new mix of colors. A paperclip that had been on the ground next to my desk for weeks was suddenly missing.

"Well…" Nelo said, "Are there three dogs or more?"

"There's only three dogs," I muttered lost in thought. But where is the miniature Kirin? I thought to myself. I got on my knees and sifted through the pile of dirty clothes. I next sifted through the pile of clean-ish clothes. I opened the closet and my shoes were neatly stacked on a shoe rack. That was new.

"What are you looking for!?" Nelo said, "Maybe I know where it is. I've been tidying this place up."

"Why!?" I demanded.

"What?"

"Why have you been 'tidying this place up?' Why did you break into my sister's apartment to 'tidy this place up?'" I faced her; the tension of confusion on her face was broken by a big eye roll.

"It's hardly breaking in when you gave me a key, Drake." She tugged on her key chain and waggled the apartment key in my face as if taunting me. I brushed past her, into the next room which was my sister's craft studio. I searched a pile of yarn for the murderous mini kirin but only found more yarn. I told her without looking back, "I didn't give you that key so you could come in whenever you wanted." I exited the studio again and headed to the last room, the kitchen.

The three dogs followed me, convinced I was leading them to more food. The galley kitchen in my sister's apartment smelled like ramen.

"Okay!" Nelo shouted from the studio I had left her in, "Well, I'm sorry! You're right. I shouldn't have barged in. I thought I was doing something nice. Especially after you saved my life!" I opened cupboards and moved pans around. I opened the fridge and moved the front-of-the-fridge beer cans so that I could move the back-of-the-fridge beer cans. Still nothing.

"Right here." It was a whisper, a grating whisper, but it was his voice. At the end of the counter there was a bowl of nothing but lemons. Next to it was Spiros. He was hiding behind the lemons. He immediately lifted his knee up and pointed his head toward the sky, acting as a statuette. Nelo peeked over the fridge door, looking down at me as I was digging.

"What!? You're clearly looking for something. What is it!?" My eyes wide, I said, "Paperclip."

"What!?"

"Paperclip. There was a paperclip on the floor right next to the computer. I need it for files." She stared at me in disbelief but said, "I think I put it in the desk drawer. Hold on. I'll get it." This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Nelo walked away and the dogs followed her back to my bedroom. I went up to him, placing my elbows on the counter and whispered, "What the hell happened?" Spiros remained in the statue pose.

"She came in when I was getting a snack."

"Snack!" I said, "Who said you could eat my fucking food!? Besides, you're a ghost."

"I'm not a ghost," he whispered, "I'm just out of the game."

"We have to talk," I told him.

"Agreed. Get her out of here."

"I. Am. Trying," I said.

"Who are you talking to?" I looked back, Nelo was holding a paperclip.

"Did you tell Kayla we were dating?"

"W-what!? The Slay Queen? She was on your raid? How is she? She sends great memes."

"She says all you guys do is talk about me on your secret little text chain."

"Oh puh-lease! I've mentioned going over to your place a couple of times. I never used the word 'relationship' if that's what you're so fucking scared of."

"Okay, well I don't like that you're just out there… marking your claim to all the other champions." She scoffed loudly. Penelope grabbed her purse and started shoving her things into it, "I'm so sorry, Drake, that I came over to give ramen to your sick sister. And clean your place. And feed your dogs. I'm so awful, right? Oh, and what's this I hear about you breaking my dagger??"

"You said it was a gift."

"And by the way, none of that was the real reason I came over. The real reason was to thank you for saving my life. So thank you, for saving my life, asshole!" She yelled the last word as she stormed out and slammed the door behind her.

"You're welcome!" I yelled back. Spiros smirked at me.

"Well done. Exactly as I would have done."

"Jesus Christ," I muttered as I followed her outside.

"Penelope!"

"I'm sorry," she stopped walking, "You're right. I overstepped. I wanted to do something nice for you after… and I shouldn't have let myself in but you know tech doesn't work in the pits… and I thought I was helping."

"Hey, hey," I cooed, wrapping her in my arms, resting my hand on her nape, "You were helping. I'm sorry, I was being an ass. I feel like I've been pulled in every direction today and you said you were only trying to help."

"I'm sorry," She repeated, "Are you mad at me?" I pulled myself from the hug and looked in her big brown eyes. Their sadness attacked me with more fury than the mole's tendrils did. I was left completely defenseless. While I stared into those eyes all the mad I had in her melted away.

"No. I'm not mad. I'm sorry too." We continued our embrace, then in a whisper I asked, "Are you up for adopting those two dogs?"

"Uhh… what?"

"The dogs. They can't stay here. Would you be interested?"

"We lost our dog a year ago. My dad's been lonely. I… I could ask?"

"Okay, but don't mention me. You know how they feel about me."

"Right," She said as the two guard dogs exited the open door and circled us, "I'm not sure if they'd want two though."

"I really don't want to separate them. Promise you'll try to sell him on both?" She took a deep breath but turned into a smile and said, "Sure. Sure, Drakey. I'll talk to them." I thanked her and I escorted her out the door where she got in her car that was in my parking spot. When I came back inside, the dogs were chasing Spiros again.

"Down!" I said, "Down, right now!" I blocked them as Spiros jumped into my arms. I closed the door to my bedroom and placed Spiros on my desk.

"I got a magic weapon," I told him, showing the knife. Feed me.

"Impressive," said Spiros dismissively, "I thought for sure you would die in that dungeon even with my immense power."

"I can still die, right?" I asked, "And I'll come back as the next guide?" Spiros shook his head.

"Death wasn't invented when we were, human. Humans die, even if they have immense power."

"Speaking of immense power, the split eclipse. When is it happening?"

"The split eclipse? Why?" he asked.

"Because that gives that demon lord another chance at the ritual. And if he does that, that means he'll bring the blade. I'm only at level 10 now. You think I'd be able to catch up to all the other gods on the list in a normal human lifespan? You all had thousands of years to level up. I need something to lighten the odds. A goblin on the other side told me it would be a year in their time. How much is that in ours?" The kirin's eyes flittered as he thought.

"Around three months." I nodded my head standing up and pacing in my bedroom.

"But there might not even be a portal."

"There will be. Us gods were not given all the instructions. In some ways, we're learning alongside the humans. But we have observed enough to understand that the portals line up with the push and pull of celestial bodies. If something as significant as an eclipse is happening, there's going to be a portal that is conjured."

"Okay," I said, "Three months. Three months and I confront the demon lord again. The guy who was strong enough to kill you. To almost kill you." I took out my phone and opened up the Champions app. I smirked at Spiros and said, " I was the guy who was strong enough to kill you."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm on the champs app. I'm looking for available alphas. Alphas and bravos""Tonight? You just got back."

"Tonight. The next night. Every night I have off. I need to get as strong as possible in these three months," I found an available portal for a meadow biome. With a giant wolf with seven eyes and acid drool as the core. I turned to Spiros as I accepted the job, "You and I are going to have a lot of fun these next few months."