19 - Fighting

The time cut was soft, sound dulls to nothing but those that entered able. Lea has grandpa's hand. Her mother and the English fella are working together. Grandma was slow entry but it seems it was due to her talking to someone else. They became visible, the gentleman in black. Already the Spanish guardians were up to the teeth with fighting imps and there were undertaker pairs casting magic protecting past strangers or supporting the creatures. Lea stands hiding using her grandpa, she doesn't want them to recognize her. She would be a distraction.

"We need to erase the gates." Her mother took the guy's hand. Silver weapons out and together into the thick of it.

"I will go." Grandma nods in following and throwing ash and salts.

"I will look after aunt and uncle." Lea voiced.

"I need to stay here and guard our entryway." He pats her head, "When we return time, we don't want to make a scene." She nods and waits. She doesn't help or hinder, watching from the sidelines. He protects as he said. Morpheus crawls around from her shadow and inspected the things.

"Can I eat those?" He asked. Grandpa stands frozen stiff.

"Morpheus, you eat dreams. These imps will make you have an upset tummy. You let Ragnar deal with it. He eats imps." Morpheus licks the floor with a whip snake shape. He steps in clinging to her and they watched another reptile come to eat the imps from the gates.

"Don't eat the undertakers and my parents! Grandma will throw salt!" She shouts and a head pokes a gate and looks in blinks at her. It purrs and sinks back. Lea sighed, "His always testing me." She pouts.

"I like your pets." Grandpa lifted her, "Did you rescue them?"

"Sort of. I trade with some of them. They sell things. I get the blank coins." She takes a coin out, "Here grandpa. You might need it." He looks at it and pockets it for now, "Morpheus eats visitors from beyond and dreams. Ragnar eats imps. Sometimes I notice Loki. He isn't a fussy eater. He dislikes eating things that talk his language." She nods gently, "They are my kitties. I am their human. It is more like they own me. The book is like that. Book owns me and them."

"OK... That Ragnar is frightening."

"Oh, his wearing some skin. He likes wearing things. He always makes me laugh and I just have not thought about why he wears the skins." She sighed at things turning tide bad again. Her grandpa frowned too.

"Who the right mind has God slayers?" An undertaker complained and was tackled.

"Loki!" She shouted at Loki and he jolts. Wobbles like a bird right to her, "You poking holes again? You fix them. Now." She wags her fingers. Sad waddle slow, "Good boys get treats if they do a good job." That made them instantly off. Even Morpheus knows that phrase. She shrugs at how they forget they can't all eat the same foods.

"What treats?" Grandpa asks.

"Worm meat." She was nonchalant. Watching the struggles and the changes of war before them. Grandma returns looking back at the sudden many reptiles from nowhere. Grandpa points at Lea that shrugs.

"I have so many concerns." The undertaker posed a hand at his worry when his tone doesn't.

"Yeah... that is a lot of slayers. They aren't all mine." Lea pouts, "A good thing I hunt a lot. I was wondering how we even preserve such things."

"But they are all yours." Loki lands on her shoulder in a reptile bird, "Someone used godslayer blood and poison for inking the book. Now the book is one."

"Oh yeah. We blame the cultists on that one." She nods, "They did it before I had the book. Now the book refuses to be with them. If anything... they did us a favor. Bow all these broken things have a new life and purpose. Something to look forward to and motivate them to heal."

"Oh sweet random child. You own these guys?" The undertaker asks in shock, palm posing about the slayers.

"Own? not in the human dictionary." She posed mirroring him, "Does the king own his servants? Or is there a neutral contract? Maybe even this is normal. I am not the only human with a flock of God slayers. Some blind humans have them too."

"She's a bookkeeper." Her grandfather added.

"Oh." Closed hands and nodded a lot.

"Treat back in!" She shouted and the place was cleaned out of all the reptiles. She pouts and sighed in meditation. The last few imps stabbed and gates sealed away. Her mom and the English man.

"Your daughter has an army of reptiles." Her grandmother sighed at their return.

"Your granddaughter is myth rank." Her mom posed, "Don't even get me started about the fact she's 2."

"Yeah time places are weird." Lea agrees, "I look forward to nap time."

The nerves. They clap at the time return. Lea picks up what seems a bird. Petting it.

"Lea! that's a wild animal. Put it down." Her aunt of course noticed instantly. There is suddenly a mass of birds on her and around her feet. Beaks pecking the floor. Eating something. The bird in her arms huffed and hugged, Morpheus not feeling well from biting imps.

"But the birds love me." She argues.

"It is impressive and she can wash her hands after." Her aunt's boyfriend nods, "You must have a smell or something."

"But she has to sit in our car." Her aunt dislikes dirty germs.

"Sorry to interrupt." Time stopped. The glamor of the birds filtered as scaled things. Even Morpheus is curled holding her free hand. The guy was back, "Miss Tricky. Do we have your permission?" She steps and the reptiles part her path for her, following her in look or under her feet. She checked all the things at a long stare and worked out what she was giving the person for. She finally works it out.

"Have it all sorted with the certificated court hunters? They have to have an ID or court documents. You can't trust just anyone." She rocks on her feet in calming Morpheus down, "Did you collect the evidence by the guidebook script?"

"Yes, little lady." The gentleman was passive-aggressive in how she was nosing in business.

"Oi, I don't want you folks complaining that you left some evidence behind. If you are going to convict someone, you do it on the paper. I don't make up the rules. Their mostly your rules."

"Lady Tricky is right but we collected what we can." The Duchess in the blue dress sighs.

"Oh, I guess that was locked to you. So sorry. Here." She waved her right hand in appearing a guidebook, "Please take this guide in permission to access the god slayer section. It explains how best to deal with them and what you need to take. You must not take these words lightly. You do not want Twilight after you. She a court hunter or was one." The book was taken and read. The Duchess makes them do the orders. Lea nods gladly.

"Oh, that was interesting. I see why Curiosity finds you interesting. Do forgive my rudeness ranked being." A soft bow, "The right people will be sent."

"Good. I don't plan on making this a habit." She puts Morpheus down, "Even if I am around, I will not interfere normally. I cause such stir in the courts as it is. More stuff on my desk. It's not even my stuff to worry about."

"Lady Tricky. What is your opinion about the current kingdoms?"

"I have none. I don't bother in politics any more than I have to. I don't pick sides. Everyone had a purpose, those concerns are to be swept aside over the other. We must sort things as they come. Chase what you lagged with care." She crossed over her tummy and stood in a perfect stance. Her tell for those that meet her in her other shape.

"All sorted." The clap returned, and Lea was holding morphine again. Surrounded by birds. She posed for the photo and in the click, the flock left. Even Morpheus. She takes out hand sanitizer and wipes where she can. Her aunt is fuming at whatever was happening. Lea puts it back and took out a poker tarot card. She puts that back too.

"We can't control nature," Grandpa said. Her mom and grandma take her to the toilet to clean more. Lea came back in a new change of clothes that pleased her aunt at least. No one else cared as much, she wasn't pooped on or anything dirty. In all the while that Lea was being cleaned. She seems sunk into herself. Away with the fairies in darkened eyes. Her expression was not grim or fearful, yet hollow and held by someone that is first-hand in combat. When she returned physically with everyone, her mind had not. Holding her mom's hand as they walked shop to shop. Little easy stuff to gift his daughter back home. Interesting stuff for his grandchildren, not that he ever wants to see himself in the old way of that context. They walked on the very streets that were blood-soaked in demon imp gore and even so with the black ink-like blood that her slayer pets dripped. Regardless, blood is blood - her in so many memories that she locked away.

"I remember what I paid for in return for being back here." She slips between her lips this vacant thought. Even still that sudden shock of her mom checking her over and then the smile they traded, "It was worth it."

"What is, a flower?" Her mom looked at the level of things as Lea did. Lea shook and picked up a shop item. It was a jar of example shells and it was educational in teaching about the shells. A poster inside and it was all clean. Lea presents this gift idea to the English man, "I think she is onto something. I used to make my own as a kid. A little jar of shells I find. If they are really good, I make a mini terrarium."

"That's a brilliant idea that I can take back." Jar added to his basket of things, "Thank you." Lea pretends to avoid something which was bump her mom into him. They make an awkward moment and Lea smirked. Lea of course plays it cool and distracts herself with another look at things.

"A shame you can't take plant material." She picked up heart-shaped nuts.

"you tend to find these after a really bad storm. There is a folktale that these hearts are the souls of people lost at sea, returning to land." making Lea put the heartnut back for now. She browsed as anyone normally does, and eventually, her mind returned to what she had been through. It was as if it doesn't switch off the images are less than pleasant, but she has been through these motions before and had sought a professional therapist.

"So you're a Tricky Trickster." Her mom softly into the subject.

"I may hate the name of Trickster but I have their abilities. It isn't a denial that it has helped me through a lot being a Trickster. I don't have to be a Seer to be a Trickster. It's just what those on the other side call folks alive that can visit." She talks gently back and is honest. Filtered but it will do.

"It suits you." They were waiting as he was paying for stuff.

"You two work well together, back there you both seemed like partners. I don't know what sort of bad things or sorrow is on his shoulder. Yet he brings out a better you as you do for him." Lea softly smirks "Brother would be jealous and test this guy. We only want the best for you."

Her mother frowns that he isn't here and then she smiles that she understood what Lea meant. She got that the brother would be testing this English guy. For that, Mom does worry about the brother and stares in direction like it was instinct to find him.

"Its about time we sat down together and talked about the turth, the sort of time stopping kind." Her mom pets Lea head in having a disheartened feeling, a nag of foreboding silence for them. She like the other three adults with the sense. Knew in spite of Lea's age. She has to be told the danger of the afterlife and the on going war they been facing a lone. This branch has been under radar, any slips have been assumed a Seer problem so far. But with Lea, winds of change on this battlefield is raising stakes. With her brother assumed among the ranks of cult, the feud is now on their hands.