My Brother Is The Hero Of Earth 7 Chapter 7 - A Girl And Her Dog

The next morning, we still woke up early, despite going to sleep so late. Terri offered her shower, but I politely declined with a kiss. I had to hurry since Melissa, Sophia, and I would be taking Katye back to her apartment this morning, so that she could grab everything she wanted from her home. I was pretty sure she would be ready early as everyone was when they got the chance to return to the world outside of the manor, even Ella, the notorious late-sleeper of the household. I slipped out of Terri's room and shut the door quietly, but I nearly ruined all of my effort when I almost screamed in fright as I turned around to find myself face to face with Melissa.

Melissa smiled and gave a gentle chuckle. "Good morning, Becca," she said in her warm voice. By the nature of her magics and abilities, she always gave off this caring, warm, inviting aura that almost compelled you to relax and trust her, not that she wasn't worthy of you doing just that.

"Good morning, Melissa," I said with a sigh and returned her smile.

"I was on my way to check on Katye and discuss when we should leave. I'll be pushing for us to leave by seven, so that we get there in the evening."

"I'll be ready. I just need to shower and change, but you should also check on Sophia. I have a hazy memory of her leaving with Gustavo after you went to bed, so she probably needs a wakeup call."

"I'll make her my first stop then," Melissa said, turning to head the other way down the hall.

I walked around the corner then headed into my room. I grabbed some nicer clothes out of my closet and hung them on the hook by the door as I walked into the bathroom. With the press of a b.u.t.ton, my music turned on as I undressed. The mirrors quickly started fogging up after I turned on the shower. Alice had helped me strength the wards that controlled the temperature of the water and I could get it just under boiling, but even then, the water just felt pleasantly warm. Memories of last night kept replaying through my head until I had to turn the water to its coldest setting, just a degree above freezing, which only felt mildly cool to me, not that cold showers really worked on dragon blood.

After my shower, I changed into a pair of black slacks and a plain, red b.u.t.ton-up shirt. I wasn't sure where the influence came from, but the majority of my wardrobe revolved around the colors of my transformation these days. Even gold, which despite hating the color, was the material for every one of the accessory Lesedi and Sophia made me since it was the only metal that my corrupted mana wouldn't destroy over time.

I headed downstairs for the kitchen since I figured Melissa had already talked to Katye. I found both of them, and most of the house only missing Ella, already in the kitchen with the first tray of food on the table. Alice, Terri, Sophia, and Lesedi were all holding their cups of coffee close, constantly taking small sips while I imagine they are mentally cursing the early morning, judging by the looks on their faces. Katye was also drinking coffee, but she was far more awake and relaxed than the others who were. Melissa, Kiara, and Yue were drinking a green juice which I helped myself to gla.s.s before I sat down in my normal seat between Alice and Sophia.

The golem set down the second tray of food right after I grabbed what was left on the first. Sadly, I only got to finish my first plate since no one, but Gustavo shared my appet.i.te. I ended up stealing half the plate of biscuits and storing them away in my ring so that I could snack later which caused some to laugh, others to sigh, and Gustavo complaining that he was going to eat those. The four us walked out of the kitchen and over to the main room.

Sophia stopped in the middle and gestured with her hand, causing a deep, green door to appear out of thin air. "It's very user friendly, Katye. Just think of your flat then open the door and we will be right behind you," she explained.

"Really?" Katye asked with a smile as she walked up.

"Yes, this is one of my favorite pieces that I've made," Sophia replied.

"Amazing," Katye praised, placing her hand on the handle of the door.

She stopped for a beat before she turned the k.n.o.b and opened the door to a dark room. We all followed after her and she found her way to the light switch by the time I entered, being the last. The apartment was cute, decorated in earthy greens and light blues. It didn't escape my notice as I saw a few fairy figurines which made me smile since I had been obsessed with dragons growing up. The sound of scratching and yowl made everyone turn their heads towards the source.

"Raz! It's momma! I've brought some people over," Katye said as she crossed the room and opened the door to her bedroom. A short, long, black and tan dachshund came dashing out of the room, tail wagging, and headed straight for Katye. "Bubba, be careful, you can't touch me," she said as she dodged his attempts to jump up on her.

"Here, this should make it safe for a while," Melissa said as she motioned to the dog, covering him in a soft blue glow.

Katye stopped and dropped to her knees as she reached out carefully to the dog. He started licking her fingers as the glow just shimmered likely. She cried out as she scooped up the little dog into her arms where it started lick her face while she cried. I shifted uncomfortably since it was never easy seeing a crying woman, but a hand soon pushed me forward. Sophia silently shooed me over to Katye's side and, since I was the only one who could touch her safely, that left it up to me to comfort her.

I knelt down next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder as I said, "I'm sure we can talk Alice into letting you bring him to the house."

"Thank you, I'm sorry... I just didn't think I would be able to hold him again," she said as she calmed down.

"Don't worry, it won't be long until you can control your mana on your own and you won't have to rely on barriers."

"And until you get to that point, I can shield whoever you want to touch," Melissa added.

"Thank you... all of you. How... how long will it last?" Katye asked.

"At the rate of consumption, it should last around twelve hours."

Katye smiled as she stroked the dog's head before she set him back on the ground and stood up. "Alright, I'm fine," she said, straightening her clothes. "What exactly can I bring?"

"This will be one of your first gifts once you start learning to use magic, a storage ring. We can pack away your entire flat inside and still have room to spare. Just point and Becca will pack," Sophia said as she tossed me a golden ring.

I gave a wry smile as I caught the ring and slid it on an empty finger. "Other than something living, I can store anything you want away," I said.

"Okay, I guess I'll take everything?" she asked hesitatingly.

I nodded and started walking around the room, putting away the couch, table, chairs, and such into the ring. The little dog followed me around barking as things disappear until she scooped him back up into her arms. I cleared away the room piece by piece while Katye retreated to her bedroom where I could hear her cleaning up some. Sophia pulled out a set of chairs for her and Melissa to sit and chat while they waited. I moved onto her kitchen, grabbing her fridge and all of the contents of her shelves without really looking at what I put away. It didn't matter what I put inside since everything would be frozen in time while it was within the storage s.p.a.ce.

After finishing in the kitchen, I walked over to the bedroom where Katye had disappeared into and froze in the doorway. She was standing with her back to me and had changed into a shirt that had an opening in the back which gave me the first look at her wings. There was a total of four dragonfly-like wings that sprouted from the center of her back, two on each side with the ones on top being just a little longer than the bottom two. The fleshy parts of her wings were the same bright violet as her hair and gave off a light low in the dim light of the room. They fluttered every now and then as she worked, seemingly unaware of the sparks or flames that would appear momentarily with each movement.

The little dog gave me away as he trotted over to me, still wagging his tail. Katye caught me staring, but before she could misunderstand, I quickly said, "Your wings are beautiful."

She gave a small smile as she tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear and turned back around. "I've packed up some, but I don't really know where to start," she sighed.

I knelt down and started petting the dog as I said, "Well, you don't have to. I already stored your kitchen, so this won't be a problem. Just make a bag of things you want on hand."

"Okay," she said, picking up a yellow messenger bag with a kangaroo printed on it.

I gave a wry smile and shook my head as I tried not to chuckle. The little dog seemed to grow bored with just petting, so he trotted off, collecting a stuff animal before returning. I played with the dog for a bit before Katye opened what I guessed was his container of food as he no longer wanted anything to do with me and started barking at Katye. She tossed a few kibbles on the floor to distract him, so that she could finish collecting a large baggie of food for him.

With everything she wanted inside her bag, Katye turned to me and said, "Alright, I'm ready."

I smiled, rubbing the dog's ears one last time before I stood up and started putting everything away in the room with a simple wave of my hand.

"If the end of the world never happens, I'm sure you could make a lot of money moving people," she teased.

I laughed, "I can see it now, Dragon Movers! Don't lift a finger when a dragon can do it for you!"

She chuckled at my bad joke which made me smile. We moved onto her bathroom, but we were done in just under a minute as I once again stored everything away without looking through it. We headed out to the empty living room with the dog on our heels, where Sophia and Melissa were chatting quietly. Seeing us, they both stood, and Sophia stored the chairs within her own ring.

"Is there anyone you need to say goodbye to?" Melissa asked.

"Not really, my parents died a few years ago and, while I have some friends that will miss me, I have no idea what I would say to them. It's probably just easier to disappear," Katye replied.

The rest of us nodded, understanding the feeling since we had all walked away from our former lives with a few exceptions. Katye picked up her dog and looked around the now empty apartment one last time. Sophia gave her a minute before she opened the green door and led us all back into the manor.

"Let Becca hold onto that ring for now. Until you have some control on your mana, I'd recommend that you leave the storage s.p.a.ces around the house alone. I'm guessing your mana will have the same corrosive property that Becca has so you could destabilize the s.p.a.ce on accident, destroying everything inside," Sophia said.

"I'll remember that," Katye promised.