Atypical (A Magnus Chase fan novel)

Explaining Time

     "So...is it explaining time?" I prompted.

     "Well...what do you want to know?" Amara asked. I looked up incredulously, to see that she was kidding. Thankfully.

     She seemed hesitant to explain, but she started to speak anyway. "My mom is a biologist. She met my stepdad who is also a biologist. He...had the money," she said gesturing at the enclosure, "to make this possible."

     "What about the lions?" Alex asked. "How do they not rip you to shreds? No offense or anything, but I still can't believe this." He petted the lioness again to prove his point. "They're like puppies!"

     Amara laughed and stroked her own lions. She was sitting on the ground surrounded by three. One was curled around her from behind, another had his head in her lap, and the third lay across her legs to make sure she couldn't leave without a decent amount of petting. "These guys are a long story, but all of them have known me since they were cubs. I always spent the most time with them, so they kind of view me as the head of the pride. We found these two lionesses, Lexi and Alya, and their brother, Alpha," she gestured to the lionesses next to her and the lion sitting next to me, who had decided to become my personal guard, "in a rescue. The part of the Savannah they had been living in burned in a wildfire, they were badly injured, and had to be taken in for long-term recovery. Once they were healed, they couldn't go back to the wild because they had grown accustomed to captivity."

     "The guy sitting behind me is Jinx. We named him that because he is very mischievous. We found him and Aurora," she pointed at the white lioness sitting next to Alex, "at another rescue." She seemed a lot more comfortable talking about her lions rather than her rich parents, and I could relate. I was embarrassed of my family mansion too, but at least I didn't live there.

     "Aurora was special. She was found trying to be illegally sold for her fur, because she is a rare albino lion. That's why her coat is lighter."

     "You know, I'm surprised they all liked you so much. I just expected them to ignore you, maybe a pet, but not like this." She gestured at me, trying not to laugh, as Alpha was busily licking my ear and I was trying not to flinch. My permanent cowlick behind my right ear wasn't going to be permanent for a while.

     "Well, I am part animal," Alex said.

     "What?"

     "I'm a child of Loki. I can shapeshift into any animal. Wanna see?" Amara shook her head in disbelief.

     "Will anything surprise me anymore?"

     I decided to step in. "Nope." I earned an eye roll from Alex at this.

     "Well, I think it's time to go," Amara said. "The cameras should turn on soon."

     "What? Cameras?" I asked.

     "Yeah, we should go now." The lions sensed that she was going to get up, and swarmed her again. She laughed but eventually made it to the gate where Alex and I were standing. She unlocked the doors, and as she locked them behind us, the lions moaned and pawed at the glass sadly. I didn't know why they were so sad if this was a recurring visit for them, but Amara answered my question.

     "I think they know I'm dead," she said looking down. She said it like it was a fact, like they had told her. We trudged through the brush back to the street, and Amara seemed to know the way, light or dark. In fact, she seemed so comfortable with the fact that it was pitch black, it made me think she had done this before, going out to see her 'pets' in the middle of the night.

     "Can you... can you speak to them?" I asked. I couldn't see her expression, but she was quiet for a moment before answering. I noticed she did this a lot, considering her words before she spoke.

     "Well, I can't talk to them, word for word, but it's like I can read them really well. And vice versa, it's kind of like they get me. Animals just get along really well with me in general."

     "You say animals, like, a lot of them," Alex said. "I'm guessing those aren't your only pets?" We had reached the street now, which was lit by street lamps every thirty feet or so. I can't believe that I didn't notice how poorly lit the streets were before now, but at least we could see each other well enough.

     Amara gave a sly smile. "I have all kinds of animals. I like birds a lot. Mammals. Those are the kinds of areas my parents study, so we have a lot of those. But that isn't to say I don't like other animals too."