Intuition Detective Agency

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

         Ain led Amy into the break room.  The first face she saw was Gwyn’s smiling one.  I wonder if that woman ever looks serious, she thought.  She turned to the other two.  Ain walked in and made the introductions.  “Everyone, meet our newest employee.  This is Amy.  Amy, you know Gwyn.  This is Zash, and this is Fox.”
         
Amy saw Fox first.  He was hard to miss.  She knew he was a fox, but she was still a little shocked.  He was bigger than a normal fox, about half again the size of one.  He was gray, except for white fur tuffs in his ears, and white fur from his chin down his front.  He was sitting on the dog bed that Amy had noticed earlier.  As she looked into Fox’s gray eyes, she saw the tremendous wisdom in them.  Seeing that intelligence made it so that she didn’t jump when he spoke, even though she knew he could.  “How do you do, Amy?  I’m glad to see I was right about you being a good fit for us.”
         
Before she could reply, she heard a grunt, what suspiciously sounded like a harrumph.  She turned and saw Gwyn elbow the man who’d made the noise in the side.  He glared at her, but didn’t make another sound.
         Amy looked over this last man.  He was as tall as Ain, and just as handsome, but he looked very different none the less.  His hair was black, cut short, revealing his pointed ears.  Unlike Ain, he made no attempt to hide them.  He wore strange clothing, too.  He wore a light blue tunic, with tight black pants that were tucked into knee high boots.  He had three long parallel scars across his face; the middle scar was the longest and slashed across his right eye, from chin to hairline; the right scar went from his ear to his hairline; the left ran across his nose and ended right before his left eye.  It was clear he did not care that he didn’t look like a human. 
         
The last thing Amy noticed was his eyes.  They were a piercing blue, and in them was a look of extreme disdain, as if he didn’t care about anything or anyone.  Though, at the very back, there was pain in those eyes.  At that thought, Amy had another vision, like the one she’d had with Ain.  She saw him almost exactly as he looked now, but the disdain was gone from his eyes, and all that was left was pain and sorrow.  And love.
         
Just like that, it was gone.  She blinked.  She was still looking at those eyes, and she saw their color had lightened inquisitively, with one eyebrow raised.  Gwyn was talking.  “Don’t mind him, Amy.  He’s a great big stuff-bucket.  You get used to him though.” 
         
Zash grunted again, looking at no one.  Amy looked at Fox.  Fox had a knowing, mischievous look in his eyes, as if he knew what had just happened.  Before she could ask, Ain spoke up.  “Now that we’re all acquainted, I’d like to take this opportunity to say, I told you so.”  Amy looked at him, a little surprised.  He was looking at Gwyn.  “I told you we’d eventually get someone at one of those faire’s.  We just needed to be patient.”
         
Gwyn made a dismissive gesture with her hands.  “And when have you known me to be patient, Ain?”  She rolled her eyes.  “You win.  You were right.  Does this mean we don’t have to go to anymore of those faire’s?”
         
Ain looked at Amy.  “Yes.  You’re off the hook.  Now we can all focus on our job.”
         
Gwyn made a triumphant motion with her arm.  “Finally.  I’m behind on spell casting, I’ll have you know.  I’m not like you three, with the ability to think up a trick and it happen.  I have to prepare some of my stuff.”
         
She looked at Amy.  Her eyes were quizzical.  “Speaking of which, do we know what she can do, yet?”
         
Amy pinched her eyebrows together.  “What I can do?”
         
“She means what leanings your power has.  Whether you have independent magical abilities like me and Zash, or if you have more witchlike tendencies,” Ain explained.
         
“Oh,” Amy said.  She looked up at him.  “Do we?”
         
She heard Gwyn giggle, as well as a rather deep animal-like chuckle that she expected came from Fox.  She was pretty sure Zash didn’t chuckle.  She was right.
         
Zash spoke for the first time.  “That’s an excellent question cousin.  Do we know what she can do?”  He sounded as if he doubted she could do anything.
         
Amy should have been offended by that comment, but she wasn’t.  For some reason she knew, not only in her mind but in her heart, that he wasn’t trying to be intentionally insulting, that was just his normal manner.  That knowledge confused her more than anything else so far, which in turn scared her.
         
Ain looked defiantly at his cousin.  “No, we don’t really.”  He held up a hand to stop whatever angry comment Zash was going to make.  “We know that she has them, though.  She obviously has some sort of dormant power that we need to unlock.  If she weren’t powerful enough, she would never have approached the table.  And even if she had, Fox would have been able to tell.”
         
Zash looked like he wanted to argue, but didn’t.  “I concede that you have a point, Ain.  But how do you propose we ‘unlock’ them?  I don’t think she’d appreciate Fox probing around in her subconscious.”
         
Fox turned to Zash.  “That is an invasion of privacy, which I wouldn’t do to a coworker.  Besides, gradual development would work better in the long run than immediate realization.”
         
Ain nodded.  “You’re right, Fox.  I don’t think you should go probing around in her brain.”
         
“So what are you going to do, cousin?”  Zash asked.
         
“Training, of course.”
         
“Training?”  Amy asked.  “What type of training?”
         
Before Ain could answer, Gwyn piped in.  “If this conversation is going to last as long as I think it’s going to last, can we at least get comfortable?  Everyone standing around is exhausting me.”
         
Ain flushed slightly.  “You’re right, of course.”  He turned to Amy.  “Take a seat, Amy.”
         
Amy sat down next to Fox.  Ain sat on her other side, with Zash slumped across the table from her.  Gwyn pushed off from the counter and walked towards the fridge.  “Would you like something to drink, Amy?”
         
With everyone seated and relatively comfortable, the conversation continued.
         
Zash spoke up.  “How is she going to be trained, Ain?  We don’t have the facilities here to learn what powers she may have.”
         
“I’m aware of that.  It’s clear she can’t be trained here, at least not adequately, and not in the time frame we need,” Ain replied.
         
“Then where?”
         
“The Land, of course.”
         
Amy had just taken a sip of the Coke in front of her when Ain said that.  She choked on it as she gasped in shock.  Fox continued sitting, that knowing smile in his eyes.  Gwyn and Zash’s reactions were a bit more vocal.
         
“What?!”  They exclaimed together
         
Amy turned a shocked face towards Ain.  From what she understood, the Land was off-limits to humans.  She was partially right.

         Gwyn piped in.  “I had to prove myself magically capable before I was able to set foot in the Land.”
         
Zash agreed.  “We can’t just let a human into the Land before testing her.”
         
Ain gestured to Fox.  “It was his idea, actually.”
         
All eyes turned to Fox.  “As Ain said, she needs to be trained quickly,” Fox began.  “What you two are forgetting is that she has no previous experience with magic.  When Ain’s father started this agency, both Ain and you, Zash, were already fully aware and capable of using your powers.”  He nodded towards Gwyn.  “And Gwyn was already a full blown witch before she was hired.  Amy doesn’t have this advantage.  She needs to be surrounded by magic for her powers to become clear.”
         
As Fox finished this speech, Amy realized her mouth was open.  She spoke up.  “Do I get a say in this?”
         
Everyone turned to her.  Ain looked a little shocked.  “Don’t you want to learn about your powers?”
         
Amy nodded.  “Yes, of course.  But I’d like to be included in the conversation determining my future here.”
         
Gwyn grinned and turned to Ain.  “I like her.  If any girl has enough personal wherewithal to speak her mind to her boss like that, she deserves every opportunity possible to grow magically, even going to the Land.”
         
Amy then realized what she’d said.  She cursed herself silently.  She had been told many times to curb her tendency to argue when she perceived things being forced on her. 
         
To Amy’s surprise, Ain agreed with Gwyn.  Fox spoke up at Amy’s astonished look.  “I noticed you had a mind of your own.  Don’t worry, I didn’t poke and prod in anything personal, just a general personality scan.  That’s one of the reasons you’re a good fit.  We need someone who isn’t afraid to speak up, not a timid little thing.”
         
The only one who didn’t say anything was Zash.  Amy looked at him, and his face didn’t betray anything in his thoughts.  In his eyes, though, she thought she saw a tiny glint of respect.
         
Ain spoke up.  “No arguments then?”  When no one said anything, he continued.  “Good.  Then tomorrow, Amy’s training begins.”
         
He looked at Amy.  “You’re probably brimming with questions, but I think it would be best if you went home and mulled everything over tonight.  Gwyn can pick you up tomorrow morning at 8:00 so you don’t have to take the bus.”
         
Gwyn nodded.  “Of course.  If you want, I can give you a ride home now, since it looks like he’s done with you for today.”
         
“Thank you,” Amy said.  “I wasn’t looking forward to the ride home.”
         
Everyone stood up.  Ain walked over and opened the door.  “We’ll see you tomorrow, Amy.”

*                                        *                                        *

         As soon as the girls left, Zash turned to his cousin.  “How can you allow a human into the Land before knowing her at all, Ain?”
         
Ain walked over to the fridge and grabbed a soda.  “I agree that it’s risky, Zash.”
         
Zash was taken aback.  “Then why are you doing it?”
         
Ain took a swig of Coke before answering.  “Like I said it was Fox’s idea.  And he was adamant about it.”
         
Zash turned to Fox.  Fox jumped from his perch and walked over to the cousins.  “I have my reasons, Zash.  And you’ll understand in time why I feel she must be trained in the Land.”  He put up a paw to stop Zash’s arguing.  “Trust me.  There’s a reason why I’ve been the court advisor since long before you were born.”
         
Ain clapped a hand on his cousin’s shoulder.  “Cheer up.  What are you afraid of anyway?  She’s just one girl.  I doubt she’s going to try to steal our secrets and sell them on the black market.”
         
Zash turned to his cousin.  His face softened slightly.  He and Ain were good friends, so Ain had the power of cheering him up when no one else could (other than his mother).  Well, at least now he was.  “You’re right.  I’m just not as trusting as I used to be.  Or as you seem to be.”
         
Ain laughed.  “Trusting?  You?  I’m not trusting just anyone, Zash, but Fox.  He’s court advisor, so we should take his advice.”
         
They were still talking in the break room when Gwyn got back.  She walked over to the fridge, grabbed a drink, and plopped in a chair.  “Okay boys, what I miss?”
         
Ain shrugged.  “Not much.  Just assuring Zash that the Land isn’t going to end because one human girl gets trained there.”
         
“That reminds me,” Gwyn said, a pensive look on her face, “who’s going to train her?”
         
Fox leapt up onto his chair so he was eye to eye with Gwyn.  “I am.”
         
Gwyn nodded, accepting that.  “Okay.  How are you going to train her?”
         
Fox had a twinkle in his eye as he replied.  “Oh, you probably wouldn’t understand.  Psychic jargon and all that.”
         
Gwyn shrugged.  “Whatever you say, Yoda.”
         
“I’m going to be there for some of it, as well,” Ain piped in.
         
Zash spoke up at that.  “What?  Shouldn’t you be here?”
         
Ain waved that away.  “I said I’d be there for some of it, Zash, not all of it.  Besides, we don’t have any cases right now to worry about.  Admittedly that can change any minute, but I can get back quickly.  And may I remind you that training a new employee is still a part of the job.  And last but not least, Fox wants me there.”
         
Zash looked at Fox.  “Why?”
         
Fox turned to him.  “I can help awaken her power, but can’t really help harness it.”  He gave Zash a pointed look.  “I want you there for some of it, too.”
         
Everyone looked at Fox.  Gwyn was the first to break the silence.  “From what I understand, Zash doesn’t do the whole teaching thing.  His idea of constructive criticism is making a pupil cry.”
         
Zash glared at her.  Gwyn propped up an eyebrow.  “You’re just proving my point, Zash.”
         
“I’ll say it again, I have my reasons,” Fox explained.  “Once her power is realized, you’ll understand.”
         
Before anyone could ask what he meant by that cryptic remark, he jumped down from the chair and walked towards the door.  “I’ll be in my office if you need me.”
         
Zash started to rise from his chair to follow him, but Ain put a restraining hand on his arm.  “Don’t bother.  Fox is better at intrigue and keeping secrets than almost any politician.  Just be patient and he’ll tell us what’s going on eventually.”
         
Gwyn let out a quick peel of laughter.  “Ain, Zash is more impatient than I am.”  She stood up and stretched.  “Well, I’m going to go to my office and work on some spells.  Like I said, I’m running a little low.”  And with that she left the room.
         
The cousins were left alone.  Zash looked at the door as he spoke.  “Why do you think Fox is being so secretive?”
         
Ain gave him a look.  “You think I understand Fox any better than you?  And when has Fox’s eccentricity bothered you so much before?”
         
Zash shook his head.  “I don’t know.  This feels more personal than the other secrets he keeps.”  He made a face.  “And I hate being patient.”
         
Ain stood up.  “Well, do what Fox says and you’ll probably get the answer quicker.  Now come on.  Father will want to know we’ve hired someone new.”
         
Zash nodded and followed his cousin out of the room.  What Ain hadn’t mentioned was he shared the same worries as him.  This did feel somehow personal.  But unlike Zash, he could be patient and wait for the events to unfold.