Symphonic Odyssey
: Vol. Four: Odyssey’s Outset: Verse One-Hundred Sixty-Four

The first thing Cypher noticed when he walked into Elaine’s house, was the waist-high ceramic panther that stood by the door. Its head was turned towards the entrance, and it seemed to be looking through you and into your soul with its deep emerald eyes. At the same time, it seemed to be deciding on whether or not to come to life and attack you, and this was deeply disturbing to Cypher.

But that was of little concern as he walked into her living room. It was like someone had taken all the colors from a painter’s stall and splashed them all over anything in sight. Cypher saw red wooden floors, light green walls, blue curtains, bright orange lounge chairs, a yellow ceiling, and a large pink couch.

None of it matched and Cypher couldn’t begin to understand her aesthetic decisions when she was furnishing this place. Elaine quickly moved into her living room after locking the door behind Cypher and plopped herself onto her pink couch. She hefted a leg up over the back and let the other dangle to the floor.

Unsurprisingly, Cypher looked away again. ‘What the hell is with this lady? Doesn’t she have any modesty?‘ he thought to himself. Elaine looked at him out of one eye again and groaned in annoyance.

“Oh for fucks sake, relax! Haven’t you ever seen a naked person before? It’s nothing special, we’re all humans here. No need to be so stiff and polite. Don’t tell me you sleep in a full set of clothes. How the hell do you stay cool like that?” said Elaine.

Cypher continued to look away, blushing a bit, and shrugged his shoulders. Elaine sighed in annoyance again and continued. “Ugh, god… It’s not like I’m coming onto you or anything you know, but fine, if you’re so concerned about it,” Elaine snapped her fingers and a pair of brown cloth breeches appeared on her body.

She tugged at the scratchy fabric in annoyance and rolled her eyes as she pulled the robe closed around her chest. “Better? Now, seriously what the fuck do you want? My pillow here calls to me and if you won’t get talking, I’ll get sleeping!” Cypher turned to face her now that she had properly covered herself and began speaking.

“You were on a team with my parents, right? Well, I think you owe me some answers about what they were like. There are some strange things happening to me lately and I really need some help sorting out why.”

Elaine looked at him as if he had just slapped her in the face. “Eh?!? What kind of stupid ass… What the fuck makes you think I owe you anything? You come to my door at four in the morning, and wake me up, which, by the way, is super rude! Thanks for that asshole! I was having a very wonderful dream. But you come here being rude as hell and say I owe you some answers?

“Nah. Nope. Shit doesn’t work like that little boy. You’re lucky I don’t feel like I “owe” you a kick in the balls for waking me up so early. Maybe you try showing a little respect for your senior yeah? Fuck me, why did I ever accept being your Godmother? Serenade owes me big time for agreeing to that fucking offer.”

Cypher’s eyes went wide and he almost fell over as his mind went blank. ‘This woman is my fucking godmother?!? What the hell mom and dad? What were you thinking when you made these decisions?!‘ Cypher thought to himself.

“Oh shit, you didn’t know that did you? Yeaaah, well, maybe you just forget that I said that and we’ll call it even for waking me up and being so rude to me. I’m not exactly the mothering type you see. I didn’t really have much of a choice when she asked, so don’t expect me to pamper you or anything alright?” said Elaine.

Cypher didn’t know what to make of this. Finding out that Alvin was his Godfather was a big enough bombshell, he didn’t need more of that right now. However, he decided to accept her offer and even the score between them. It didn’t matter if she was his godmother or not, right now he needed her to tell him what she knew.

“Deal. Now, will you please tell me about my parents? Please?” Cypher asked, and Elaine tilted her head and smiled wryly at him.

“Ah, you learn quickly. Unsurprising given your folks. Alright! Fine. I’ll tell you what you want to know, but after that, you gotta leave and let me sleep okay?”

Cypher nodded at her suggestion and sat down on one of the orange lounge chairs. “I’ve been having these… dreams. They aren’t like normal dreams at all. Everything is so realistic and events seem to play themselves out over and over but with little changes. Do you know what that’s about? Did my parents, I dunno, cast some kind of spell on me? Or…” Cypher trailed off as he failed to think of something else.

“Oh, that? Oof, I wish you had mentioned that earlier, that’s really important. I might not have tried to kill you at the door if you’d have led with that. Uh, shit, okay. Hmm… Ugh, there goes my chances of getting some more sleep. This is gonna be a long story so let me go make some coffee and, I guess, change into something more comfortable. These pants are itchy as hell. Do you want something? I got juice and water. The coffee is mine.

Cypher nodded and asked for water and Elaine quickly left the room and headed into her kitchen. The sound of clattering pans and the shattering of glass soon filled the house, followed by a loud, “FUCK!” from Elaine.

Cypher chuckled a little, but he stopped when one of the pans came hurtling into the room towards him. He ducked and it clattered against the wall and hit the floor. “It’s not funny, don’t laugh!” screamed Elaine from the other room.

Cypher quickly stifled his mirth and thought, ‘Gods above she’s hard to deal with! Why didn’t Alvin warn me about her?‘