Chapter 19 California, the state of affairs

~Kerata~

"I hate california."

We sat on a ridge, just outside of Hollywood. Well, I was standing, but everyone else was sitting. Or crouching. Or squatting. Or perching. Or- well, you get the idea.

We were above Los Angeles. Right by Hollywood. I mean, we were literally about four hills down from the sign.

Raven bobbed her head in agreement, looking down from the branch where she was perching, watching the rest of us as we watched the city.

As for the city, it was flat.

I mean, it was the flattest city I had ever seen. Almost all the buildings were five stories or less, and the few highrise towers were waaaaay out across a maze that even a minotaur would get lost in. The only difference in the weird flatness of the rooftops were the watertowers. One on almost every block, all with the logos of their TV station or moviemaking company. I swear, if I lived here, I wouldn't even bother with street signs, I would just use the water towers!

Fiona flicked her tail, nearly knocking over the travel cooler full of drinks. "Oy!" Dane practically threw himself over the box, a panicked expression on his face. Duncan rolled his eyes. He was in Wyvern form, perched on a fencepost next to me. I blew a snort at him. He ruffled his wings and glared at me. "Cut it out! You're going to get horsey snot all over my wings!" But I could see the corners of his mouth lift in a smile.

"Okay, Dane, you need to tell us where we're going. How do we find your house?" Fiona arched her head around to face him where he was still fussing over the drink cooler. He sat up and smirked.

"Well, that's the easy part. See, it's not exactly a house..."

Raven cocked her head. "So, what is it?"

He pointed toward the downtown area in the distance, where the tall buildings were. "See those skyscrapers?"

Fiona snorted. "I wouldn't really call them 'skyscrapers', but yeah."

Dane kept pointing. "Well, do you see that really tall round one? Right in the middle?"

"Yeaaaahhh...?" We all chorused. Then, suddenly, I knew where he was going with this. "Oh, you don't mean..."

He nodded. "Yup. Right at the top. Home of my family, the Syeriys."

We all stared out over the city for a moment, slightly stunned. I glanced at Duncan, who seemed mildly impressed.

Then, Fiona stood up. "Yosh! We should get going. How do we get in, exactly?"

Dane shrugged. "Well, going through the front doors is out of the question, since I kindof want to surprise them, and I really don't want you guys to end up in jail... sooo, the roof. It should be relatively easy to get in up there, however, helicopters are common, and police response is quite quick." He kneeled down and swiped at a patch of dirt, clearing away some twigs, then began drawing in it. "I have an idea. Here's what we should do..."