Fomidae

Chapter Twenty-Two

     “Don’t be sorry, Mia,” Lark said. “It was worth it. Now the Kin can go back to normal. You’re going to stay, right?”

     Mia hadn’t thought about that. Now that she had fulfilled this prophecy, she had a real choice. Was she going to stay? Or was she going to go home? Then she remembered that she was supposed to become the leader of these felines. But what about Laia? She was still alive, and she was the daughter of the now gone king and queen, which meant she should be the next queen.

     “I… I don’t know,” Mia murmured. “I have a human family, and they have no idea what happened to me. But I am apparently supposed to become the cat queen, which I think is ridiculous…”

     “Maybe you should ask Laia,” Lark said. Mia nodded slowly. “I suppose. I have a feeling that she’s going to make me stay. But I want to see my family again and let them know I’m okay.”

     “Why don’t you stay, then, and go tell your family you’re fine? I’m sure they’d understand, wouldn’t they?”

     Mia snorted. “I seriously doubt that. If they saw me again they’d probably hug me until I was half dead and lock me in my house for safekeeping forever. They probably think I was kidnapped. And besides, they would never believe me if I explained.”

     “Then why don’t you show them?” Lark suggested, cocking his head a bit.

     “I don’t know yet,” Mia said. “I’ll go and talk to Laia about it now, alright?” With that, Lark nodded and Mia padded out of the den. Laia was padding toward the den, luckily, so Mia didn’t have to search for her at all.

     “Hi, Laia,” she called, running over to the lioness. “I have something I want to ask you.”

     Laia nodded. “What would that be?”

     “I was just wondering if you think I should go back to my family or if I should stay here. I know I’m supposed to apparently be the leader of the Kin, but I really want to go back to my family. I’m pretty sure that they all think I’m dead.”

     Laia raised her brow at Mia. “Well, if you’re supposed to stay, then maybe you should stay. I’m not supposed to be the queen anyway. You are.”

     “Yes, but what about my family and friends?” Mia said.

     “Well, maybe you could go and visit them sometimes. Tell them what you are.”

     “I’m not entirely sure they’d understand, though,” Mia replied. She flattened her ears a bit.

     “At least try. Then they’ll know that you’re alive,” Laia said. “And if they try to keep you there, you can run away again.”

     Mia huffed, her warm breath creating a small cloud in the cool air around them. “Fine. But don’t you want to be the queen? I was a normal human before all of this happened.”

     “It doesn’t matter what I want,” said Laia. “The Elysium spirits want you to be the queen because they see something in you that many others might not. Not to mention you killed our last ‘king.’ Why don’t you go and see your family now?”

     Mia hesitated for a moment then finally nodded slowly. “Fine. I’ll see you later then.” Then she ran off into the woods. Mia walked until she was in her town and by a clothing donations bin. She jumped onto the rim and jumped inside onto the soft clothing. This time she found a pair of too-big pink-and-white tennis shoes, a pair of awfully tight jeans, and an oversized white tee shirt with the local baseball team on the front.