The silence of the morning was broken by the sound of a soft mewl, followed by the growl of an irate male. "Oh no, don't you dare! don't you DARE do that you little...hey! Stop that! You'll tarnish my jewels dammit! Get away from me you mongrel!"
The ranting and shouting continued, getting louder and more irate by the passing minute.
Serafina let out an aggravated huff. She really detested her next door neighbor. The man was rude, uncouth and lewd. "I wish his mouth would get sewed shut," she snarled and thumped her pillow hard in frustration. The events of last night still weighed on her as well as what to do about her now unwelcome guest.
"SERAFINA! Get this mangy mongrel feline away from me! If she makes even a SPOT of rust on this it'll ruin my value!"
Sin'tal wasn't happy, this cat who was primed to relieve itself upon his beautiful scabbard and exposed blade, had been curled up on him all night. He was pretty sure he had hair in places there couldn't possibly be.
Serafina groaned. Oh wait, that wasn't her neighbor. It was her unwelcome guest. Wait! He was threatening Dex! She surged from bed and ran out to the living room, her hair mussed and her long nightgown covering her body.
"Don't...touch...my...cat!"
The silence was deafening for a moment before the slightly surprised tone of Sin'tal broke it. "You do realize that as a sword I can't do anything right? I don't have any extremities to touch ANYTHING. Never mind a furball who is about to mark its territory on a priceless artifact."
She stopped and laughed, she couldn't help it. "Serves you right! You barge into my life, making all these demands. Maybe you need a lesson in humility."
"Demands? I hardly call them demands. But if you like I'll leave you to die next time shall I? To get eaten by whatever beast decides you look tasty, hmm? You aren't exactly being grateful for me saving your life are you?"
"Guess what? If I die then you'll get scooped back up and put in some musty museum with no one to talk to. How about that!" Serafina snarled before retrieving Dex. She stroked his calico fur and glared at Sin'tal's scabbard.
Sin'tal glared back. "Well being alone is mildly better than being dead, but if you want to test that theory go right ahead. I can guarantee you being dead isn't any better."
"You're impossible! I have to go to work. I need the money to pay my bills. You can stay here. I'll let Dex out so that he doesn't mar your precious scabbard," she sneered, angry at him and herself. She wasn't sure why. She'd never been a morning person.
"You mean the one you stole me from? I didn't think theft would have become socially acceptable, apparently it has."
Serafina nervously began to pace. "I know, I'll take the scabbard back. Say I found it outside the grounds but was too embarrassed to admit that I let such a precious piece of art get stolen."
"Oh, like they are going to believe that. Who would drop something like me? Only an idiot that's who!"
"Well what do you suggested I do, your royal pain in the ass! Rent is coming up and so is the electric bill. If I don't pay either I get evicted."
"Good, you won't be needing this place anyway. A journey lies ahead for you. You managed to do something no one has done in centuries. You must learn from a true maser of such arts to unlock your full potential."
"Master!" she sputtered. "Now wait just a minute Sin'tal. I am not a fighter. I don't wage battles. I read about them, safe and sound. I knew I shouldn't have gone into that room but no, I was trying to impress the Professor. I've ruined ten years of hard butt busting work, and for what? A talking sword with attitude who wants me to learn to fight. Oh my gods! I think I've finally lost it."
"Serafina, you have a gift that is going to waste in that horrid place. You were able to use my own power to defend yourself. To summon me to your plane of existence. That is a rare feat, only a few in all of human history have been able to do that. Without proper training, you won't be able to fight the enemies that will come for you and your power."
"ENEMIES!" she squeaked. "You're going to be the death of me!" she wailed. "Before you I never had enemies! No one even noticed me!" She abruptly sat down in a chair and clutched the purring Dex to her chest so hard the poor cat meowed a protest.
"No, the friends of the drooling growling monster we killed will be the death of you, unless you seek training. They would have noticed you sooner or later, at least this way you can learn earlier and get stronger faster."
Her head snapped up and she glared at him. "What do you mean, sooner or later?"
"The beast we killed does not exist in this world naturally Serafina. Someone summoned it to this realm, which means they can sense such powers. Eventually they would have discovered yours."
"I don't have noticeable powers because I DON'T USE MY POWERS AT ALL! This is all your fault Sin'tal!"
"You could've ignored me, you chose not to. Clearly destiny has something else in store for you."
"Destiny," she remarked dully, looking ready to cry. "You know that's the same stupid excuse my mother gave when she left me to gallivant about the universe with her drug pushing boyfriend. I was only twelve. And I told myself, never again and that destiny is a lie people tell themselves when they run out of logical reasons for stuff."
"Destiny isn't always kind Serafina, after all it had me get stuck in a sword for countless centuries."
She snorted. "I bet it was your fault that you got stuck, not destiny." She was about to berate him some more when her comm began buzzing. "Oh crap!" she stared at the number. It was the Professor's personal line.
"Actually it was and it wasn't. I was fighting a being summoned from the deepest circle of hell that was determined to destroy the world. Once I defeated it, the sorcerer took advantage of my weakened state and imprisoned me in here with his dying breath. It's the price I paid for saving the world."
"Oh." The unit continued to buzz. Making a snap decision she tossed her blanket over him. "Make sure you stay quiet. I have to answer this."
Before he could stop her, she hurried to the unit and pressed the on button. She knew she looked off, her hair all over her head, bags under her eyes. She hoped she'd be able to convince the Professor that she was sick, buy herself some time.
"Hi, Professor," she croaked, making sure to keep her voice hoarse.
"Good Morning, Serafina! First of all, I want to congratulate you on your wise decision last night! If not for your fast thinking in removing the artifact it surely would have been lost forever to those foul thieves who broke in!"
The Professor smiled at her through the video link, giving nothing about his true motivations away. He wanted to study this girl further, to see how much potential she had. He didn't want her disappearing on him.
All thoughts of lying flew out of her head at his commendation. "Uh, thank you sir! I, I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner. I was scared and panicked and, well I didn't sleep well...." she trailed off. Everything she said was truth.
"That's perfectly alright my dear. it would have been such a hassle anyway if you had come in sooner. There was so much paperwork to do regarding the break in and such like. But don't worry I have covered all the interviews with the police, they won't need to speak to you so you can rest easy."
"Police?" Suddenly she felt faint. "Oh, oh," she managed, her voice barely a whisper as the enormity of her situation began to sink in. "I'm sorry sir, what should I do?"
"I want you to take a few days off to recover. Feel free to keep the artifact in your possession for the moment while we fix the security problems. Bringing it back right now would only tempt more thieves to break in."
"But, sir!" Her eyes widened in horror. Be stuck with Sin'tal for several more days? She would go crazy.
"No, no, I insist Serafina. After all only I know where you live and I am certainly not going to tell anyone where you are now am I? Right now the artifact is in the safest place it could possibly be."
"But," she stopped and admitted defeat. When the Professor issued a command, it was law. "Yes, sir," she acknowledged, beyond unhappy with her situation.
"Excellent! Now rest up young lady, I want to see you bright and bushy tailed on your return!"
"Yes, Professor." she stared at the now dark screen. "I am so screwed," she whispered. She walked over and moved the blanket off Sin'tal. "Sorry," she said automatically even though she didn't have to.
"That was a strange conversation, given how valuable I am, any normal person would have been frantic with worry over me not being in their possession."
"Maybe your ego makes you think they would be frantic. The Professor knows I am honest and keep my word. He worries less about my behavior than most employers would," Serafina replied haughtily.
"Serafina, if you owned an artifact worth enough to buy an entire continent wouldn't you be just the slightest bit curious as to the condition it was in?"
She opened her mouth to deny it but thought better of it. Sin'tal's question was valid and it made her uncomfortable to admit it. She opted for crossing her arms and staring at a point above him at the wall.
"So, what are you going to do now that you still have a job with your creepy boss who apparently isn't concerned about the condition of the artifact he spent a fortune to recover?"
"You know what? I don't have to answer to you. I'm going to go shower, AWAY from you. I'm tired and dirty and I want to get clean and clear my head." She petted Dex who was twining around her ankles. "You can sit there and keep being melodramatic." She stomped from the room, refusing to look back at Sin'tal.
"Serafina, you just got up. How can you be tired after so much sleep? Besides it's not like showering will do any good, five seconds on this sofa and you'll be covered in cat hair anyway."
"Go fall into a fire and burn up, you aggravating sword!" she hollered back at him before slamming her bathroom door.
"Oh, yes, like metal can burn. really accurate with your facts you are." He was getting a bit aggravated with her attitude. He should've simply left her to die at this rate.
"I heard that!" she snapped, her voice muffled by the door.
"Good! Shows you aren't becoming deaf as well as ungrateful!"
Dex chose that moment to walk over to Sin'tal and rub against the sword, purring rather loudly.
"And you can get lost too, you filthy mongrel! Not that you can understand or even hear me. At this rate I should've just let that sorcerer destroy the world. It's hardly grateful for me saving it."
Dex meowed and bumped the sword hard enough to knock it over. He sniffed it once and then with a disgusted grunt walked away, tail swishing as he went to his food bowl.
