Cyrus winced, before blurting, “I’m sorry.”
The Shadow Dweller shook his head. “Not your fault.”
“Skya and Avery?” Killian asked.
“Quill is setting them up in a room, and my mom is helping pick out one for us,” Seri explained, before adding, “Uhh, while they still want me to refer to them as Mom, Avery is experimenting with their pronouns, and is currently going by they/them. They aren’t quite sure if it’s the right fit, but they didn’t exactly have a chance to explore growing up.”
“Understood,” Cyrus stated. “I meant to call my parents before you all arrived, to let them know what was going on, but…we’ve been a bit busy.”
“Did you tell yours, Severo?” Ender asked, the Gorgon apparently done pouting.
He frowned when the Dweller didn’t say anything, and it deepened on noticing the man almost blankly staring at Ender.
“Fuck you're big,” Severo blurted after a few seconds had passed.
Ender let out a low threatening hiss, his fangs flashing, while the action and noise was echoed by the slithering snakes that were currently his hair.
“SEVERO!” Seri squawked in horror.
“Sorry! It just came out!” the Shadow Dweller sputtered. “It was between that and ‘that’s weird’, and for some reason, my brain went with, well, what I did.”
Killian scoffed. “You do tend to make stupid decisions when you're sleep deprived.”
“Hey!” the Cryptid huffed, before his mouth pursed and he mused, “Have to say, I’m curious as to why you are in your Gorgon form. Ignoring the fact you are sitting in a giant nest, I’ve rarely seen it unless you were terrorizing someone.”
Ender glaredat Severo at the accusation. “I donotterrorize people!”
His glare pointed Cyrus’ way when the Fate uttered, “Bullshit,” under his breath.
The man just smiled.
Huffing, he looked back at the Dweller. “I’m due soon, and I’ve been put on nest rest. It’s better that I already be shifted when the time comes, over having to shift while in labor.”
Severo nodded. “Ah, that explains it.”
“Your snakes are pretty,” Seri complimented sweetly.
“Thank you, Seri.” Ender chuckled. “Now, as I asked before, Severo, have you talked to your parents?”
The Shadow Dweller sighed. “I did. Seri made me.”
The Water Nymph hmphed. “Damn right, I did.”
“What did they say?” Cyrus asked.
“To keep going where we planned to go.”
Ender frowned at that. “Did they say anything else?”
“To update them if anything else happened, but for now, stay away and stay hidden.”
That could mean one of three things; they were planning something, they were gathering information before action, or they were waiting to see how far it would go before moving forward with any plan because Fates were involved.
As influential and powerful as Emiliano and Annabella Voli were, he supposed even they would have to walk carefully with the Grimms involved. The couple were likely pissed off, however.
Ender bit his lip as he thought on it further. Things weren’t adding up. While he didn’t trust most Grimms, even as far as he could throw them, the fact was, what was happening at the North America Headquarters didn’t line up with how they usually operated. At least not in an official capacity, and so out in the open.
“Cyrus, have you spoken to Etholus at all, since the start of this?”
