After Whitney Dawnbreaker had kicked everyone out of her museum for the night and had security check this place up and down as well as put in a police report for a missing item. She had brought me to her now slightly cleaner office that now had I large hole in the wall from where she punched it. She had taken out a bottle whisky that seemed to love and poured three glasses before plopping down in her chair. “If it isn’t one fucking thing, it is another!” She snapped, running her fingers over the rime of the glass. “First the piece of the leviathan shard, now the head of the trident, this little brat is costing me a lot of money!”
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I was currently looking at a picture at three pointed fork of this supposed trident. “Why does it even matter that someone stole this stupid thing?” I asked. It looked to be rusted from years of being underwater; only a small piece of bright blue metal remained. “More importantly why would she take that and not the supposed staff of moses, wouldn’t that be more important to her faith or something?”
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“She probably didn’t want that piece of junk, it isn’t even the real staff I found.” Whitney Dawnbreaker admitted taking a few sips from her glass. “As for the importance of that trident, what do you know about the three great beasts?”
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“They made the world, the behemoth pulled the ground up out of the seas making the land, the leviathan controlled the waters and placed them where he wanted them, and the phoenix created the skies and the protection that keeps the sun from burning us alive.” I said going by one of the many theories that I believed in.
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“I forgot your Oren hate God and refuse to give him credit for anything.” Whitney Dawnbreaker said sharply. “Anyway whether you believe that theory or the one I know isn’t important right now. While other animal spirits users can create and mold their own netrix weapon. Mythical creatures only use one weapon that is passed down from user to user. The Phoenix, The Behemoth and Leviathan do not follow that rule, instead gift their users with the same weapon. The Behemoth weapon is rumored to be many things, ranging from a long hooked chain, a shield, or even a war hammer. The Phoenix weapons are two blades, one emitting black fire of destruction and the other white flames of healing. The Leviathan's trident was the only weapon that still remains on earth, rumored to be in the temple of solomon before it was destroyed. I found the head of a trident alongside that fragment of it's netrix gemstone while searching the waters of japan. One of my most recent and greatest finds in history.”
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“Why are you telling me this?” I asked.
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She gave me a sharp looked that destroyed any chances of me giving her a witty response. “I am telling you this, because I need those things brought back to me at once. I don’t know why she is doing this, but I believe that little girl is trying to bring back the spirit of the leviathan.”
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“Why on earth would she be doing that?” I asked. “Besides that animal spirit is just a myth, there is no proof of that beast even being real.”
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“Lady Ivy, we have powers that other humans would think are fake if we told them. Thanks to my raven, I can fly through the air, we can advance our healing, we run faster, jump farther, and fight better than normal humans. We have people that have the strength of dragons and fucking unicorns.” She leaned across the table giving me a very cross look. “So do not try to tell me what is real and what is fake. To regular humans they are mythical creatures to use jepei users they are not myths but mystical creatures, you and I both know this is true.”
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“I will believe it when I see it, Ms. Dawnbreaker.” I said politely. “Seeing is believing and that is what I believe more. I apologize if we have different ideals.”
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Whitney leaned back in her chair and once she finished drinking her first glass, she lifted the second to her lips. “The situation has changed a lot more than I thought. It is why I want to renegotiate the terms of our deal.” She took a single sip of her alcohol before walking over to the safe in the back of her office. She carefully counted out 10 stacks of money before walking over and sitting it on the table. “You can add this to the original 300,000 I gave you as a show of good faith. I am now offering you a solid 1.2 million dollars if you bring her back alive. Extra if you also bring back the items she has stolen from me.”
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I couldn’t believe this for a moment and an even higher payday so soon. “Does the other part of our terms still stand as well, you will spread my name to your network and make me your personal Oren for any other missions that come up.”
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“That and much more,” Whitney answered with that same cold and calculating grin returning to her face.
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“I have one question?” I asked. “If these pieces mean so much to you, why were you auctioning them off in the first place?”
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“Since your people are sworn to secrecy I suppose I can let you in on a little secret.” said Whitney. “Items in my auction that had a red tag on them are real and I will gladly give them away. However, Items with a darker red tag are my replica items. I show them the real one and then once I am paid I give them a perfect replica. That way I make money and still can keep my item. None of those fools in there can even tell the difference.”
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“Your brilliance is truly amazing, Ms. Dawnbreaker.” I said with a slight bow of my head. “Last question, well technically it is two questions, why does it matter if this girl is trying to bring back this creature? Don’t you need all five fragments to truly bring it back?”
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“Even having just one fragment of one of the trinity of beasts makes you at the very least equal to those who first unlock their animal spirit. The more pieces you get the more of their rumored five abilities you can unlock. As for why it is important-” She trailed off for a moment and unless I was wrong, I was sure I saw a brief spill of fear rush over her face. “Let’s just say, there are other powers at work trying to find pieces. Like other members of the trinity of beasts, it has been split into five parts, three of them are shards of the netrix gemstone and the other two are split between two people on this planet. Otherwise known as the chosen, these chosen could go their entire life without an idea of what they have clinging to them. Because unlike us who need both jepei energy and an animal spirit to truly become a user. All the chosen need the spirit of the beast and another piece of the netrix gemstone, everything else is given.”
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“Do you think that maybe this girl has the spirit of the leviathan?” I questioned.
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“No she doesn’t, I am not sure what dragon spirit she has but I can assure you that she doesn’t have the spirit of Leviathan.” Whitney Dawnbreaker answered.
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“How can you be so sure?”
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“Trust me, I have my ways.” She stood from her side of the table and walked around to my side, resting her hip against the edge of the table. “Do we have a new deal?” As she spoke the horrible smell of hard whisky hit my nose.
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“Yes we do.” I answered.
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My body was itching for something to do now. I spent all day yesterday focusing as best as I could. The amplification technique we jepei users could use was one of the hardest techniques, you had to flow your jepei through the wound to spend up the healing process. It was easy for smaller cuts and bruises to heal but it took longer for larger injuries to heal this way. Once this technique was finished I had to then spend the rest of the day sleeping since it drained every last ounce of my jepei energy. As I woke up the next morning and once my eyes had finally adjusted to light. I was glad to see a very pout serpent curled on my chest. “Don’t give me that look, Aiko.”
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“If you weren’t so bad at using that technique I wouldn’t be gone for the entire day.” She said in a sly tone.
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“I never thought I needed to use that technique.” I lifted my prized serpent up into my arms cradling her like a baby. “Besides it isn’t all bad, I got an entire day of peace without you.” I joked, and that comment earned a harsh lash of her tall onto the small of my back.
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“Good morning, Lady Ivy.” Mr. Benny greeted from his bed, his large golden lion resting on the floor in front of it. “Are you ordering room service today, or would you rather walk to get breakfast. Stretch your legs?”
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“I love that idea, give me a moment to change.” It didn’t take me long to get into the shower, when I left. I changed into something a little less flashy than I normally wore. A plaid black, gray and white dress that went to my knees. White leggings and white undershirt. I pulled on the new white hat and matching coat and finally slipped on the pair of brown boats I had gotten.
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As we walked towards the elevator I couldn’t help but notice the odd smile on Mr. Benny’s face. “What are you smiling about?” I finally questioned once we entered the elevator.
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“Oh nothing, nothing at all.” He said through his large smile that he had on his face. I had a feeling he had something up his sleeve.
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As we stepped onto the already busy streets of new york, something feel on my exposed hand. I thought at first it rain and there was a pale mark where something wet landed, but it wasn’t until I looked up did I realize what happening. It was lightly snowing… thousands, no hundreds no, millions of small snowflakes were raining from the sky. It didn’t seem cold enough yet for the snow to start to gather on the ground but it still snowing. In all my years in Atlanta we never got snow, so this was a treat truly worth the wait. I took my hat off more a moment, the part of my hair that wasn’t covered by the hat began to catch some of these snowflakes, almost giving my jet black hair the appearance of a starry night sky. If some rude man hadn't knocked into me, I would have stayed frozen on the sideway just staring up in wonder at this natural display.
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I turned to look towards Mr. Benny and he was giving me a small smile. I also couldn’t help but notice his phone was on. “Delete whatever you just filmed Mr. Benny!”
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“Not happening, I think your father will greatly enjoy this footage.”
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“Don’t you dare!”
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We eventually made our way down the streets to a nearby cafe near broadway. It wasn’t that busy with only a few college aged kids working on laptops and chatting. I ordered a simple breakfast sandwich and a coffee, extra sugar and cream. “What is your plan today?” Mr. Benny asked.
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“I have a few ideas.” I answered by sipping at my hot drink. “I know for a fact that Ori-Chan is not gonna leave this city just yet. Even if she has this head of the trident and a piece of the leviathan. She needs one more piece and I just need to find out where that last piece is.”
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“If it is something as powerful as this, do you think that maybe Whitney Dawnbreaker might have it?” Mr. Benny questioned.
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“I don’t think she does.” I answered. “If she did, there is no reason why she wouldn’t tell me.” I explained. “I have two more plans, one involving helping that Bishop maybe and getting close to her or just out right using Aiko to track her down. Personally, the latter would be the easier choice.”
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“And what happens when you find her?”
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I shrugged my shoulders. “Probably try to poison her, avoid a fight as best as I can at night. I can’t risk engaging in combat, but I don’t think brandishing a sickle will work in broad daylight.”
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“Do what suits you best, but if you do have to engage in combat with her. Then I think it goes without saying, do not underestimate her.” Mr. Benny warned.
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“Oh don’t worry.” I said, allowing my eyes to take on a more serpent-like glimmer. “If we fight again, I will show her the full force of the serpents of the oren.”
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The steps to the church were lightly covered in snow, it was cold enough now that the snow was starting to stick to the ground. My footprints looked so small in the small blanket of snow now forming. I pounded on the door to the church a few more times. “Pastor Brown? Bishop Brown? Is anyone here?” I called out in my childlike voice.
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A moment later the door to the church swung open and Pastor Brown was standing in the threshold. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a black sweater. “Samantha?” The older woman questioned stepping aside to let me. “Child what in the name of God are you doing here at this time?”
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“What are you doing here?” I asked, walking inside of the room. Appreciating the warmth coming from inside this church.
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“Child I spent a lot more time in this church than I should.” Pastor Brown said, shutting the door behind us. “Now what are you doing here? And where is your daddy?”
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“He had to go to his office today, his boss wanted to show him around. I was supposed to stay inside but I got bored of watching television.” I lied convincingly. “I am glad you were here, Pastor Brown. I hope you don’t mind me dropping in like this.”
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“I tend to do my business here in case people drop by like this.” The church was mostly the same as I had left it when I first came to visit. The only difference was the changes made to the altar. The entire space had been decorated with a mix of sparkling gold and deep reds. Resting below the altar was a beautiful arrangement of red flowers all resting on piles of sparkling white cloth. Two Christmas trees had been set up in the back, each glittering with white and gold lights that probably would look much better in the darkness. The altar itself now had a white cloth over it, two golden angels resting on it, their hands pointed at each other. “People tend to find there way to church in times of confusion or desperation and I like to be here in cause someone needs that help.”
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“That is nice.” I said politely. “Is Ori-Chan maybe here? What does she do when your kids are off at school?” I asked, remembering it was Thursday.
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“Only God knows what that child is off doing right now.” Pastor Brown said with an small sigh. “I worry about her sometimes, there are things she isn’t telling us and I feel she is in trouble. Just the other night she came in limping and scratched up like she had been in a fight of some kind. The next time she snuck into the window again and was hiding something in her coat.”
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“Hiding something you say?” I questioned. “Do you remember what it was maybe? Perhaps I can help, after all we do share something in common with each other.” I reached under my shirt and pulled out my pink gemstone.
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“Follow me,” Pastor Brown instructed, taking me through a doorway off to the side. We passed a few empty rooms with chairs, a music studio that had a few people inside working on a song. We made it to a door that was labeled, Pastor Danica Brown. The inside was much like any other private office, though this place seemed so much different. Almost like the air was thick with something I couldn’t properly explain. Her desk was smaller than most and it had on it at least three different bibles, one was opened and a few verses had been highlighted.
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“I hope I am not interrupting your work.” I said sitting down across from her in a comfy chair. Brown with a red cushion on it.
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“It is fine, I had finished my devotional early this morning.” I looked at her in confusion prompting her to continue. “As a woman of faith, I devote an hour and 20 minutes a day to the lord. I use it to pray and read the word.”
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“How long have you been doing that?” I asked.
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“Longer than you have been born my dear.” She answered with a gentle smile.
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“How many times have you read your bible?” I asked.
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“More times than I can count?”
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“Doesn’t it get boring? Reading the same verse over and over again, it never changes so what is the point?” I asked.
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“Dear child, you would be amazed what the lord can show you in the word he blessed us with. Even in my later years, he still shows me things that I missed even after reading the scripture 10 times in a row. So no I never get bored reading the word of God.” She said with the same love and wonder that most Christians spoke with when describing the bible. “Do you find reading the word boring?”
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“I have never read it, my daddy believes, I don’t.” I answered.
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“How come?” She questioned.
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My mouth went dry as I tried to think of a good reason but most importantly a reason a little kid might give. Instead I choose to say. “All I know is when I struggled in Japan, he wasn’t there for me, so maybe he just doesn’t love me at all.”
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Pastor Brown’s loving eyes locked onto me, her face molding into one of love. “Samantha, God loves you more than you could imagine or think. He loved you and this world enough to send his only son to die a gruesome death on the cross. All so you could be saved and adopted into a family that will never leave or abandon you.”
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“I know,” I said, holding back the urge to roll my eyes. “I just don’t know what to believe or what is true.”
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“Well if you ever want to discover the truth, our doors are always open both here and at my house.” She changed the subject to what we had originally come to her to talk about. “Now if I am not mistaken, you were wondering about what Ori was hiding the other night correct?”
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“Yes ma’am, maybe I could help you understand why she might be keeping it secret. Maybe it is a jepei thing that she doesn’t want to bother you with. After all, explaining jepei to those without it is kinda hard.” I said.
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“Speaking of which, give your daddy our thanks, his contacts have been a great help for our daughter during this time.” Pastor Brown said, giving me a thankful smile. “I normally wouldn’t go through her stuff but this time it got me worried I am being honest. It is some horrible rusty item of sometime, three points like one of those trident mermaids carry around.”
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“That sounds interesting.” I said biting down my fingers to play as if I was thinking. “Well maybe this might help, I don’t really like thinking about it cause it is scary but. When a jepei user dies and their netrix weapon isn’t summoned back to our gemstone it stays in this world forever. Maybe she found one of those and is keeping it safe, maybe she wants to sell it or something.”
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“Can you explain more on what a netrix weapon is?” She asked.
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“I can show you if that helps.” I said, holding out my hand summoning one of my deadly sickles. “Sorry it looks so scary, I wasn’t really thinking right when I made this.” I lied. “All jepei users learn to make what is called a netrix weapon, it is a weapon that only we can use and it is made of our own jepei aura. This is the only thing that normal people can see that is made of jepei energy, why that is I am not sure if I am being honest.”
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I set my sickle on the edge of her desk and held my hand out to it, snapping back to my open palm. “We can summon our weapons back to us since they are a part of us, we always know where they are when they are summoned. However, we have to want to summon them back to us, if we don’t they will stay in the normal world and can easily be used by people.”
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“Such an interesting culture that spans nationalities.” Pastor Brown said in amazement, “I have only heard stories of these people, a rare group that have at most a million members. Large for some but out of over seven billion people that is so small.” Pastor Brown put a hand on her jaw for a moment in a thinking manor. “Is there anything significant about this head of an old weapon?”
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“Well I can explain that but I would have to go through another story.” I stopped to think how I would explain this properly like a child would. “My daddy told me that the first three spirit animals in the world were created by the father, to roam the earth. Mr. Adam and Mrs Eve lived in the garden of eve. They were named The Phoenix, the ruler of the skies, the behemoth the king of the earth and the leviathan the master of the seas. As time went on and more and more people began to fill the earth, those three creatures were instructed by the father to find a proper host. That was when the first three netrix gemstones were made and from there the first abilities, and then the first netrix weapons. The phoenix used two swords, one spinning with white flames, the other concealed in black fire. The behemoth's weapon is really confusing since no one knows what it might have been, some say it was a war hammer, some say it was a large chain with hooks to help pull the land, others a large battle ax. The leviathan weapon was a trident.”
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WHen I finished my story I saw the old woman was jotting down a few notes in beautiful cursive letters. She set her pen to the side giving me her full attention again. “Your culture is amazing and you have been truly blessed with this. However why is this trident broken in the first place?”
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“Another story than.” I said with joy. “As more animal spirits and jepei users began to form bonds with each other. The father decided that the first three animal spirits were too powerful and could fall in the hands of some of the worst people. Especially since those three first users were starting to go to war with each other. So he took those first three creatures and shattered their netrix gemstones into three pieces each and split their weapons into even pieces as well. However, in case something really bad happened, he split the main spirit animal into two pieces and every generation those two people are known as the chosen of the trinity. If they can get all three pieces of the netrix gemstone as well as the weapon then they will become the true chosen. Ori-Chan seems to be getting the weapon of the leviathan back together for some reason.”
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“Does that mean something bad is gonna happen?”
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That made me go silent for a moment as I tried to think if anything big had been happening lately. “I am not sure, I haven’t heard anything but to be fair I didn’t really know much until, my daddy adopted me. I didn’t even really know I was jepei user until than.”
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“Than Ori is doing what she thinks is right.” Pastor Brown said in relief.
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“Sometimes doing what is right can be very wrong.” I said with a sad smile. “It could lead to trouble, that you could never possibly imagine.”
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Pastor Brown seemed to be thinking before she stood up and went over to her coat. “I think I know where Ori is right now, I can take you there but first we are gonna get your daddy on the phone so he knows where you are and you can ask for permission.”
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“Of course, Pastor Brown.” I bowed my head to her bow in respect but also to hid the dark smirk forming across my face. “Thank you helping me find my new friend.”
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