Children of a Lesser God 173 Strange Connection

"What?" She asked.

"You're Vivi?" Kennedy asked.

"Yes...why?"

"Cause... you're.... well..."

"Human?"

Kennedy didn't respond. She just stood there are looked at this girl who was supposedly the little wolf pup she and Malene meet way back when. For her part, Vivi just smiled back and waited. Minutes stretched on and stil Kennedy just stood there and looked at her until Vivi finally couldn't take it anymore.

"FINE!!"

Before Kennedy could say anything, in a flash of blue light, Vivi had suddenly transformed back into the same, albeit larger, wolf pup that she had known back then. Seeing this actually caused Kennedy to take a breath and relax.

*Happy?*

"You can never be too careful." Kennedy turned around and walked over to a glass table at the edge of the office next to the window and sat down, inviting Vivi to come sit with her. Vivi transformed back in another flash of blue light before sitting down next to Kennedy. As she looked on, Kennedy grabbed the tablet that was sitting on the table and turned it on. Hitting a few buttons, she then passed it over to Vivi with a smile.

"What's this?" Vivi asked, taking the tablet.

"I promised you a meal didn't I?" Kennedy smile as she pointed at the stuff on the tablet which was actually a menu.

"OH MY.... HOW RICH ARE YOU?" Vivi was used to living out of a camper with Laz and always had to fight for everything they got. Be it money, living expenses or food, living had always been a bit of a challenge. Knowing that Kennedy was doing so well now when she remembered how much she had done just to make a few bucks back in Basin Falls, Vivi couldn't help but be a little envious of Kennedy's situation.

"Me personally? Not very rich, but I'm saving what I make for the future. Things like this are just a perk of being in charge." Kennedy explained.

"OH MY GOD, IT ALL LOOKS SO GOOOOOOODDDD!" Vivi squealed as she looked through what was available. Everything on there was basically an ingredient with a few cooking suggestions. It didn't conform to a usual type of menu since the main dishes would change daily, based on what demon beast meat was available. Such a thing was just crazy for Vivi who was used to either eating everything grilled or having to freeze it for later. Seeing all the different dishes of fresh food was enought to make her mouth water and then some.

Watching her, Kennedy had a lot of things she wanted to ask and to talk about, but she held back for now. The conversations they had online had to be kept mostly normal since cyber security was hard to enact thanks to a government who liked to listen in on everything. Kennedy couldn't even use her companies servers for it since there would be people higher up than her watching what she was doing and there were some secrets she didn't want revealed just yet.

"Oh, just ask already. I know you want to," said Vivi as she chose a few dishes that looked especially good to her.

"How is he doing?" It wasn't what she planned on asking first, but it ended up being the first question out of her mouth, almost as though they had a limited time together and therefore the number of questions would be limited, which wasn't the case. Perhaps she had just been dying to ask this question for so long that it couldn't help but come out first.

Vivi couldn't help but frown at this question. She wasn't upset that it was being asked since Vivi herself was the one that requested that Kennedy and Malene didn't inquire about Laz over the internet, but because she really didn't know how to respond. It was clear that Kennedy was hung up on Laz and she could only assume that Malene felt the same way. It wasn't like he was some great and unforgettable guy, but that the power in his blood was addictive and almost impossible to forget. Even Vivi herself had to be careful around the big brother of hers and make sure she didn't fall in too deep, despite knowing that staying with him was the best path for her.

Vivi's real concern was that once she told Kennedy about the things that were happening with Ruby and Leona or the things that happened with Kat, that things might get awkward. After weighing her decision for a while, Vivi finally made up her mind.

She told Kennedy everything.

Well, everything that she had known up until this point. Obviously she wasn't around Laz currently and had no idea he was doing what he was doing, but she could make her guesses.

As Kennedy listened to the story, she kept her face as still as a mask, something she had learned to do since she had entered the business world. However even she couldn't stop herself from crying after learning about what happened to Kat. After Vivi had finished the rest of the story, including the two new girls who seemed to be hanging all over Laz now, Kennedy sat back with a thoughtful look.

BAM!

Kennedy's office doors blew open as a speeding figure rushed in, making Vivi jump in front. In contrast, Kennedy just reached over to a small touch screen on the glass table and pressed a button, causing the door to close behind the figure who was now standing there and panting before she slipped back into thought.

Standing there in a blue and black pleated, high waist skirt with a white top and red hair was Malene who had rushed over after hearing that Vivi was visiting.

"WHERE IS SHE??" Malene demanded as she looked around. Her eyes suddenly fell on Vivi who was dressed amazingly similar to her and before Vivi could say anything, Malene screeched and ran over to her, directly locking her into a hug while rubbing her face against her hair.

"OOOHHHH YOU'RE SOOOO CUTTTEEEEE...." It was unknown how Malene knew that Vivi was Vivi, but she knew all the same and hugged while Vivi hugged her back. When Malene had finally settled down, she set her sights on Kennedy with a rather angry look.

"Why didn't you text me and tell me she was coming?" Malene asked in annoyance.

"I did email you," Kennedy responded, breaking away from her thoughts.

"I ONLY CHECK MY EMAILS ONCE A DAY!"

"Well, that's a you problem. I've told you before you need to check it several times a day."

"Why do that when you could just text me?"

Kennedy just sighed as Malene took the other seat at the table and picked up the tablet to order food, almost as though this was her own place.

"So what did I miss?"

"I was telling big sis here all about bug brother Laz," Vivi responded with a smile.

"All about him? What kinds of trouble has he gotten into now?" Malene asked, looking over at Vivi.

"I thought you said you were done with that uesless guy who only knows how to take advantage of women and never gives anything back?" Kennedy said with a smirk. Although she had been feeling rather down for a while over several things, being together with Vivi and Malene did much to improve her mood. While Vivi started retelling her story to Malene, Kennedy got up and grabbed some glasses from the bar area and grabbed some juice out of the refrigerator. There were actually many different types of alcohol here as well, but that wasn't something for the girls that were even younger than her to drink.

Sitting back down, she poured a cup of the juice for both girls and just sat back while sipping on her own, enjoying the mood. It was truely relaxing to be able to just sit and talk without having to worry about something or another. It was a feeling she missed from when she was younger.

Seeing the juice in front of her, Vivi reached down and took as sip and was so stunned she almost dropped the cup.

"What is this?" She asked, surprised.

"What do you think it is?" Kennedy responded back.

"It tastes... great, but the interesting part is that it contains a trace of cold energy that reminds me of the cold blue pond from where we used to live..." Vivi said while searching her memories as though trying to confirm it.

"That's exactly what it is actually," Kennedy said while laughing. Even Malene was giggling,

"But... how?" Vivi asked.

"OOHH. Let me." Malene said before Kennedy had a chance to answer.

"So. After sis Kennedy her started getting stronger and taking over running parts of the company, she set quite a few things in motion. She got a hold of me and started having me work on an outside secured server system so that we would be able to chat freely soon. I'm kind of good with computers afterall. Also, she ended up buying the land that "The Shack" was sitting on and purchasing the building that is now a burned out husk. Because of that, the park area in the wooded area behind that came into her personal possession and we've started doing experiments on both the nectar of the flower and the water in the pond. That's actually how we've started an outside business so that all of the funds used to set up the server and start funding our group have been covered without having tracks back to this place.

One could tell by Malene's expression as she explained things that she was very impressed with Kennedy's ability to do all these things in a short amount of time. And the business was booming. Just a drop of the special water in a large vat of juice would be enough to several hundred gallons with this taste which was not only amazing but also good for a normal person's health. Of course, that was just one product that had come from this as there were many others. There was also other things which the research had unearthed. For example, after various testing, the girls figured out that both pond and plant seemed to generate one drop of spirit liquid a day and using more than that required a longer amount of time to replenish it. But using more of it wasn't a bad thing as the nectar or water that came back to take the place of the now missing bits were actaully more concentrated that they had been before.

Soon, the girls even had plans to start making products that were benefical for energy users only. Although how much they would sell it for or how it would be done, they were still working on that. Even now, there were only a few people working on the project for Kennedy and all of them were outside contracts not related to the company. She was being extra cautious to not keep ties too close to it, almost as though she knew that she would not be with the company forever. For now though, it was a useful tool.

As the food came and the girls started eating, Vivi finished the story and Malene, who had also cried when she heard about Kat, couldn't help but sit back and lose herself in thought, much the same way that Kennedy had done earlier. Seeing this, Vivi couldn't help but feel something was wrong.

"What is it?"

"What is what?" Kennedy asked, asnwering for Malene.

"So far both of you have seemed to start thinking about something after hearing his story. I would have thought you two would be angry about him being involved with other girls. Arn't you worried that he's just being a jerk and going to forget you two?" This was the primary question in Vivi's mind. Why did it seem like neither of them had this concern? Or was it that they already had stopped wanting to be with him?

The girls exchanged a look before Malene reached out and grabbed Vivi's hand that was resting on the table, setting her own on top of it.

"It's not that," Malene started off saying.

"Actually, we could never be apart from him even if we wanted to.." Malene's voiced trailed off, but the words confused Vivi.

"What do you mean?" Vivi asked.

"How much have you learned about Laz's ability?" Kennedy asked, not explaining right away.

"He's really strange. His black flames, his body, his ability to use runes like I explained. It's like, he's not even covered the surface of what he is capable of and yet there is so much underneath that remains a mystery," Vivi answered honestly.

"No one like him has ever appeared before, or at least, my awakening memories don't recall someone like him," Vivi finished her thoughts and looked at the two girls.

After exchanging another glance and a nod, both girls stood up. Kennedy removed her suit jacket and started unbuttoning her blouse while Malene lifted her shirt and pulled down the high waist of her skirt. Just as Vivi was going to ask what they were doing, she noticed something on their skin that she had seen many times before.

On Malene's waist was a very detailed and finely drawn black, leafless tree that matched perfectly with the one on Kennedy's chest just above her breasts. Unike the tattoo that Ruby had from her organization, these weren't tattoos and didn't have any other details with them. They looked like newly grown and young trees, remarkably similar to the ancient one that was on Laz's chest. The other difference was that there was no full red moon behind it. It was just the tree itself. Despite looking like a younger version of the one Laz had, it still carried with it an innate feeling of power that couldn't be imitated.

"The reason why we arn't worried about him ever being able to leave us is because he is already connected to us, through his own doing..."

Chapter end