The Mantis Synchronicity - Book Five - 16. Chapter 16 - Hazel Cove

Filiou stepped away from Tygo and Djaruki, and she approached the big bearded fellow.

“Well, aren’t you a unique individual?” Bivon declared to the spiny Biological Shift girl.

Filiou’s multifaceted eyes glimmered. “Can I see? Can you make your hand disappear again?”

Bivon gave her a curious look. “I wonder if your hand can disappear!”

Filiou did not know what he meant. “But I can’t do that.”

“Hmm…” Bivon replied to her, “let’s see. Hold up your hand.” He leaned down closer and whispered, “What’s your name, hunny?”

Her jaw-horns flexed as she replied, “I’m Filiou.”

“What a lovely name.” Bivon stood upright again. “Everyone,” he called out to the other kids around him, and he shot Tygo and Djaruki a wink, “this is Filiou. Let’s see if her hand will become invisible!”

Bivon focused on Filiou’s spike-covered hand, and to the girl’s astonishment, her fingers began to disappear right before her very special eyes.

“Hey! How are you doing that?” she squealed with a giggle. The bony claws all over her body extended with her excitement.

Other children started cheering for Bivon and Filiou, and Djaruki was brought to tears. “Have we found somewhere that’s safe?” she whispered to herself, but someone behind her heard what she said.

“Hey girl, you three aren’t from Shifton up in Teshon City, so where are you from?”

Djaruki turned around, and a grey-haired woman was seated behind her with a tiny cup of very dark coffee.

She took a sip and added, “How’d you three get here?”

Djaruki looked down at Tygo who was still by her side.

“Her?” the woman asked with an impressed face. “Is she a teleporter?”

Djaruki felt like she was being interrogated.

“What’s wrong, girl? Can’t you speak?”

A second woman sat down in the seat beside the woman who was questioning Djaruki. “Would you give it a rest?!” She leaned over and planted a kiss on the first woman’s cheek. “Sorry!” she said to Djaruki. “My wife has no filter. Can us old maids offer you a cup of coffee?”

Filiou screamed, and Djaruki spun back around to her. The Biological Shift girl was laughing hysterically at her own spiky hand. It had reappeared.

The second woman rose from her seat again and Djaruki turned toward her again. “I’m Thoozu, and this is my wife Rhina. Come on, let me get you a coffee.”

Djaruki put her hand on Tygo’s shoulder.

“She can come too,” Thoozu encouraged with a smile. “If you’re Shifts, you’re in a good place. Weirdo Beard-O’s café is the first Shift-owned business in Hazel Cove.”

“Are you both Shifts too?” Djaruki asked more quietly than she intended.

“She speaks!” Rhina replied.

Thoozu leaned down and kissed her wife again. “Hush your mouth!” she said playfully, and Rhina grinned. “Come with me, girls,” Thoozu urged. “Let’s get you warm drinks. What are your names?”

“I’m Djaruki, and this is Tygo.”

“Lovely meeting you both.”

Djaruki turned to Filiou. “That’s Filiou.”

“Yes,” Thoozu replied with a chuckle, “Bivon informed everyone at the café. Now, do you two want your coffee sweet, spicy, or strong, and would you like it creamy? And how do you think your little… is it pronounced Filiou?” Djaruki nodded, and Thoozu finished, “How do you think your little Filiou would like hers?”

Djaruki did not mean to be so emotional, and of course she did not think of Tygo or Filiou as hers, but Thoozu’s words caused her to break down in tears.

“What’s wrong, child?” Thoozu asked in alarm, wrapping her arms around Djaruki, who could not stop herself from falling apart.

Djaruki sobbed for only a moment, before pulling away from Thoozu and shaking herself. She glanced around the café with a nervous cringe, but no one seemed to have been bothered by the fact that she had just lost control of her emotions in public. In fact, several patrons of Weirdo Beard-O’s were smiling at her and nodding in encouraging ways. Djaruki did not know what to feel. She looked at the tearstains left on Thoozu’s blouse, and mumbled, “Sorry.”

“Hush, child,” Thoozu replied. “And is it Djaruki?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, Djaruki, I think you’ll find that the folks who come here to Weirdo Beard-O’s, we understand what you’re feeling, even if we don’t know your story. And to answer your question no, my wife and I are not Shifts, but all of us here could tell immediately that at least one of you three was.” Thoozu glanced at Filiou with an affectionate smile. “We all know that Shifts have faced oppression everywhere, and a lot of us have experienced it ourselves. Coming to Weirdo Beard-O’s for the first time can be emotional, especially for Shifts.”

“We all are,” Djaruki blurted out, even though Z’Matri’s warning against divulging her secret repeated in her head.

“Djaruki, you have more friends than you know. Now, how about that coffee, and we can all go sit together.” Thoozu grinned. “The rest of Hazel Cove may not be quite as exciting as Weirdo Beard-O’s, but you are in a safe place here, and you can relax.” She waved at the counter and the barista, who was waiting to take Djaruki’s order.

“I don’t know what I want.”

Thoozu chuckled. “Would you like a plain coffee, or would you like a fancy coffee? My wife takes hers plain but strong, and I like mine spicy with cream. You can have anything you’d like.”

Djaruki was intrigued. “Can I have one like yours?”

Thoozu turned to the barista. “Get her a firedrop latte, please.” Thoozu grinned down at Tygo. “And what about you?” She eyed Djaruki.

“Tygo,” Djaruki reminded her.

Thoozu mouthed the words thank you and said, “What would you like, Tygo?”

“I want a sweet one!” the girl declared. “And Filiou probably wants the same.”

Thoozu leaned toward the barista, adding, “And two snowy lattes.”

“Comin’ right up,” the youth behind the counter replied, taking Thoozu’s payment for the drinks.

“Why don’t we go sit and wait for your coffees? Rhina, my wife, clearly wants to know all about you three, but you don’t need to tell her anything you’re not comfortable sharing. She’s nosy,” Thoozu added loudly, stepping back up to her table.

Rhina chortled. “I embrace who I am. So, tell us about you. How old are you, girl?”

Thoozu leaned close and whispered to her wife, “Hunny, her name’s Djaruki.”

“How old are you, Djaruki?” Rhina repeated.

“I’m twenty-two. I grew up in Phanisia, on the island of Philletri.”

“Never heard of it,” Rhina stated. “How’d you three get here?” Djaruki’s eyes inadvertently went to Tygo again, and Rhina focused on the younger girl. “How’d you do it…” Rhina glanced at Djaruki.

“Tygo.”

“Tygo, you’re obviously the one who brought the three of you here, but how’d you do it? And how old are you?”

“Filiou and I are both fourteen.” Tygo giggled and declared, “I love using my power!”

Rhina let out a laugh. “A Shift who loves being a Shift and embraces being a Shift is one of my favorite things!”

“You two really aren’t Shifts?” Tygo asked.

“No,” Thoozu replied, “but years ago, we had a son who was.”

“What was his name and what happened to him?” Tygo asked.

Rhina’s smile faded a little, but it did not go away completely. “His name was Qin. He was killed a long time ago, when he was in his twenties.”

“It’s sad,” her wife added before either Tygo or Djaruki could reply, “but his memory is very special to us, and we’ve done what we can to help Shifts since we lost him.”

One of Weirdo Beard-O’s baristas approached their table, carrying a tray with the three beverages on it. Two were in matching mugs, and the third was in a taller, skinnier cup with handles on either side. Djaruki and Tygo each took theirs, and Tygo enjoyed a sip before placing her mug onto the table. “Oooh, yummy!” She picked up the other mug and carried it over to Filiou.

Djaruki also took a sip and smacked her lips. “Oh, it’s good.”

The two women watched Tygo walk away from the table, and Thoozu leaned closer to Djaruki. “Okay, so she’s the one who brought you three here, but what can you do?”

Djaruki looked nervous. “Aren’t shifts not supposed to talk about our powers?”

Thoozu and Rhina gave Djaruki knowing nods. “You’re smart for keeping your secrets to yourself,” Thoozu replied, “and you certainly don’t have to tell us old ladies anything you don’t want to, but this is a place where Shifts get to be themselves, where people like you are celebrated for who you are.”

“You don’t have to tell us anything if you’re not feeling comfortable,” Rhina confirmed.

“But we love shifts,” Thoozu reassured Djaruki, gesturing to the café and its patrons.

Djaruki gave them a sheepish smile. “I’ve recently gotten to tell a few people about what I can do, but I’m not really sure what it is I can do. I think I can control air. I can use it to break stuff, but I can also use it to heal minor injuries to myself and others.”

“Fascinating, why do you think it’s air?”

Djaruki scrunched up her face. “I don’t know. That’s just what it seems like I’m doing. She gave the wives a curious look. Djaruki knew she was not supposed to ask, but she said, “What could your son do?”

The two women smiled. “Qin was an aquakinetic. Our son could manipulate water.”

Filiou and Tygo approach the table. “Your son was a Shift?” Filiou asked, the shimmer on her multifaceted eyes shifted as she looked from one woman to the other.

“Yes, he was,” Rhina answered.

Filiou took another sip of her latte. “This is yummy, thank you so much!”

“And thank you,” Thoozu replied, “for being so polite.”

“Filiou, what’s your ability?” Rhina asked the spiny girl.

“Besides my looks?” she replied with a smile. She stretched her spiky arms wide, causing her bony protrusions to flex, and Rhina, Thoozu, Djaruki, and Tygo could not stop themselves from laughing.

“Yeah,” Rhina replied, “I bet most folks just see your appearance and don’t think about what you can do. So what can you do?”

“Filiou can talk to animals!” Tygo declared.

Thoozu and Rhina were surprised. “You can?”

Filiou nodded and the feather-like appendages extending from her head swayed. “They don’t talk like people do, but yeah, I can talk to animals.” She looked out the front door of the café, and a hummingbird came buzzing in and hovered next to Filiou’s multifaceted eye. She held up her finger and the tiny bird landed on her spiky knuckle. With its wings folded against its body, the whole animal was barely bigger than a walnut. Filiou turned toward the counter and the big bearded barista, and she called out, “Excuse me!”

Bivon turned to her and replied, “Yes, my dear?”

Filiou held up her finger with the hummingbird. “She says you have nectar back there. May I please have a little dish with some for her?”

Bivon was confused. “Nectar? Do you mean sugar-water? I’ve got sugar-water.”

Filiou looked at the bird with her huge eyes. “She says nectar.”

“Let’s see if this is what she means.” Bivon squirted a little simple syrup into a ramekin, added a little extra water, and handed it to Filiou.

“Thank you!” The little bird immediately stuck its needle beak into the bowl and began lapping up the sweet liquid. Filiou giggled. “She keeps saying nectar, nectar!” A moment later, Filiou said, “Bye,” and the hummingbird zipped back out the door.

“What an incredible ability!” Thoozu proclaimed with a laugh.

“I’ve got a question,” Rhina added to Filiou. “Can you talk to bugs?”

“Yeah, but the smaller they are, the harder it is to talk to them. I can talk to spiders all by themselves, and I can only talk to ants in a group or flies in a swarm, but those types of bugs don’t talk well by themselves. Also, I know there are really really little bugs in the dirt and water and stuff, but they’re too small to talk to.”

“All you Shifts really are so unique,” Thoozu said with a smile.

Bivon stepped up behind Tygo and Filiou, and he smiled through his red beard at the group. “Enjoying your coffees?”

The three girls looked up at the big fellow and nodded, and Filiou squeaked, “Yes, thank you!”

“Are you girls hungry?” Bivon added. “Would you like a little breakfast?”

The three of them nodded again, and Filiou said, “Yes please!”

Bivon chuckled. “Wonderful, I’ll head in the back and get some hot breakfast bowls started. And may I just say again, welcome to Hazel Cove!”