Information

Ethair has a minion!

Vita the Crowley

Ethair
Legacy Name: Ethair

The

Angelic Sheeta
Owner:

Skitty

Age: 10 years, 10 months, 2 weeks

Born: June 16th, 2013

Adopted: 10 years, 10 months, 2 weeks ago

Adopted: June 16th, 2013

Statistics

Level: 1
Strength: 10
Defense: 10
Speed: 10
Health: 10
HP: 10/10
Intelligence: 0
Books Read: 0
Food Eaten: 0
Job: Unemployed

....

Ethair stood in the shadows watching as the old ladies left The Garden Cafè. The young girl who ran the place looked exhausted but she still looked very pretty. He frowned. Where had that thought come from? He turned to his companion.

"Are you sure she's the one, Vita? Quite sure?" Ethair's whisper was no less stern for all its lack of volume.

"I am sure Master. Positive." Vita croaked softly, his cracking voice showing his age. "She is being watched. They are hunting her." Vita nodded slightly as the girl inside the cafè stood again and began to move with poise and grace, no less graceful inspite of her unshod feet and obvious weariness.

"Her name, Vita?" Ethair snapped his thoughts away from the girl, staring down at his companion with barely masked curiosity.

"Akarima. She lives alone. She works alone most of the time. Or so she thinks. More than just us are watching her tonight Master. It is known." Vita nodded sharply.

"How can you be sure? How do you know?" Ethair glared, unusually agitated by the girl in the cafè. He was so calm in all situations. It made it so easy for him to blend into the background. But something about the girl, Akarima, made him feel at odds with himself, uncomfortable in his own skin.

Vita stretched and croaked softly, "The Crow Knows. The Crow Knows." He stretched his wings and took off towards the cafè, climbing high above the building. Ethair watched as Vita dropped a single feather above the cafè before flying away.

The feather spiralled down, carried by the wind, an inky smudge on a hurriedly darkening sky. It twisted and then...burst into smoke, maybe three feet above the roof of the building. Ethair frowned, cursing under his breath as the girl stepped back into her heels and left the building. Vita was right. Somehow The Crow always knows.

The girl was being watched. Ethair had to protect her.

--*--

Sunday the cafè was closed. Ethair was disappointed that he would not see the girl. He walked around the building, seeking the marks of whoever was watching her. He walked close to the walls and spiralled outwards, desperate to find a way to break, or at the very least weaken, the wards. He had no luck.

Silently he waited, invisible in the way only an unremarkable ordinary person can be. No one saw him but no one he expected came to the cafè. No demons and no demi-gods, no spirits and no angels. No one remarkable came.

On Monday, Ethair stood watching the cafè. He watched her supposed help steal from her and, in a very unremarkable and ordinary way, he manipulated Akarima into entering the kitchen.

Ethair was not used to manipulating those he watched. As a Marshal of the Gods, one who is a deified human but is not a demi-god as he or she does not have godblood, Ethair was under strict instructions to only use his powers if his charge was in danger. Well, technically, she was in danger of being let down...Ethair shook his head and groaned softly. He never tried to find loopholes in the rules that guided him...until now.

On Tuesday, Ethair watched Akarima's temporary help texting constantly. He didn't need to manipulate her that day. She was furious by 2pm and had already asked for a replacement.

On Wednesday, Ethair made sure that Akarima saw as her help rubbed his nose on his sleeve and then started to handle the food. Well, she would eventually have seen anyway he reasoned to himself.

On Thursday, Ethair saw the boy who was her intended temp. As hard as it was to leave Akarima to work alone, there was no way he would let her be saddled with a boy who was so large he could barely lift his own weight, let alone the weight of a tray of food. Silently, and already partially begging for forgiveness, Ethair manipulated the boy into walking past the cafè and forgetting where he was going.

Akarima would not have thanked him, he knew that. But he was determined to keep her safe.

On Friday, Ethair had had enough. No demi-gods nor demons, no spirits nor angels had come near the outside of the cafè. At least, not that he had seen. He knew he had to get on the inside, find out why she was being watched, why he was there to protect her.

He walked to the door and knocked softly, hoping he had been watching long enough to know how this would work.

--*--

It had been a hard week for Ethair. He had watched her all day, listened out for problems, helped all he could, usually just by taking charge of extra work but also sometimes manipulating her poor tired muscles so she didn't feel so tired. While he may not touch her skin, he knew every part that ached and he soothed every muscle so she could relax.

And still no one came. He watched for her, wishing that someone would come. He talked with her when the cafè was quiet and yet learned of nothing that could possibly make her a target.

She was beautiful, sweet, tender. Her eyes danced when she smiled, her voice purred when she spoke about her friends and family. Ethair found her fascinating, a delight, a bittersweet reminder of his human nature, his ability to feel the hedonistic draw of passion even though he was merely there to look after her. But she was, he knew, human, falliable, imperfect and there was no reason for them to be watching her.

Had he not seen the wards with his own eyes, felt them shimmer as he stepped over the lines, he would believe that no one was watching. He stood watching the cafè every night, determined to see who was watching her. But no one came.

--*--

Vita came to him one morning. "Have you seen who watches her?" he croaked softly, his voice strong.

"No. I have seen no one, old friend. Only her. I don't know how...or why...but it is as if they are not watching." Ethair muttered softly, his lips barely moving.

"But you have seen the wards. You have felt them. They are as real as you or I. How can it be that the only one watching is you?" Vita's voice broke, his head dipping as he looked at Ethair through hooded eyes.

"I don't know. I have to find out. But...ah...she is a strange one. The girl I mean." Ethair closed his eyes, knowing he was doing Akarima an injustice to even think of her as strange, let alone expressing that thought. He who stood in the bushes and talked to crows.

"Strange, Master? How?" Vita moved closer to him and, without any forethought, Ethair gently stroked Vita's feathers.

"It is like a bewitchment. She makes me look at her, pulls my eyes and my thoughts to her and then she is ever out of reach, just one step, perhaps two, never quite where I want her, though she should not be there..." he shook his head sadly, unable to explain. Vita smiled crookedly, nodding his head once as Ethair took a step towards the cafè, ready to start the day.

"I ought to go. She will wonder where I am. Although...its like she sees me, even here, even when I am watching she...she knows where I am." Ethair walked to the cafè door, a smile on his face, his eyes softened by something he could not see.

Vita watched with a smile as she opened the door, stared as she looked at him and spread his wings as she spoke.

"Who are you? I have to know. Who are you?" Her voice was crisp and clear and she looked hurt. Ethair wanted nothing more than to take the hurt away. He opened his mouth to explain and felt a strange tugging sensation.

"I am who you want me to be. Just that. Nothing more, nothing less." The words, said in his voice, surprised him. Almost as much as his actions did as he tugged her gently to him, leaned down and kissed her softly. The tugging sensation stopped as he relaxed into the kiss and she kissed him back, her arms sliding round his neck as his hands clasped her waist.

Vita winked, dropping his wards and spread his wings, soaring high and calling out one last time.

"The Crow Knows."