Before Douxie realized what he was doing, he was pulling out his phone and dialing Nari's number.  A couple weeks ago, Krel had shipped them a package containing a super complex phone for Nari in case of emergencies.

"What is wrong, Master Hisirdoux?" Nari asked, trying to mask the despair in her voice.  He never had to call her before.

Douxie cleared his throat.  "I think we might have a problem."

He snapped a photo of the feather and sent it to her device.  Her silence told the story of it all.

After a while, Nari explained, "Well, maybe it belonged to one of those pigeons that wreck havoc on the streets of New York."

Archie butted into the call.  "Not a chance.  I study those birds so that I can eat them."

A small smile slipped onto Douxie's face.  "Gross."

"I've taken the form of a cat!" Archie protested.  "What do you expect?  Back to it: I've never seen a bird that big before."

"We will all be destroyed the moment we reveal ourselves," Nari sighed.  

Not helping, Douxie thought.

Archie answered for her.  "It's alright Douxie.  You go do your job.  I'll investigate into it."

"Are you sure it's safe to leave Nari alone?" 

"Let's hope so," she muttered.

Archie growled.  Then said, "Listen, she'll be fine.  I won't be gone for long."

"But--" 

Douxie bit his lip as Archie hung up.  "Fuzzbuckets," he swore.  

The wizard threw one last glance at the giant feather, then made his way into the store.  The moment he walked in, he forced his dark thoughts away, as ones of pleasing customers replaced them.

It was a sunny little place.  There was a counter for ordering food to go, and clear glass underneath to display the incredible arrange of desserts and pastries.  The walls were painted in light blue tones to reflect the morning sunlight.  Booths lined up along the back two walls, and even more tables placed otherwise.  The restaurant didn't open until 8:00. 

"You're late, Douxie," someone remarked.

Douxie turned and faced his manager, Ted Evans.  He was much older than the wizard supposed age, but his face didn't show it.  He still looked like he'd just graduated college.  His bright blue eyes and light blond hair made him look like he'd been the heart breaker back in school.  For some reason, he always smelled heavily of cologne.  He grinned, elbowing Douxie gently.

"My sincerest apologies," Douxie smiled. 

Ted smirked.  "Alright.  Well, get yourself ready.  You're shift starts now."

Douxie made his way toward the back of the building, when he froze.  The sunlight that spilled across the floor was interrupted by a shadow.  Often, people would stand outside the restaurant and take a look inside, so this wouldn't be a problem.  The only difference this time is that most people didn't wear what appeared to be a skull to hide face.

The wizard whipped around, automatically shielding his heart with his gauntlet.  When he scanned the outside, he frowned.  Whoever had been watching the restaurant -- or him -- was gone.

"Douxie, are you alright?"  one of the other waitresses asked.  Her curly black hair had been tied into a bun.  She cocked her head.

He straightened his jacket, relaxing his stance.  He threw her an uneasy smile.  "Of course.  Well, we should be getting ready."

...

"Douxie, are you sure you're good?" Ted pulled him aside a few hours later.

The wizard brushed the man's hand off of his jacket.  "I'm fine.  Why do you ask?"

"It's just," Ted paused,  "this is the fourth time you messed up an order."

Douxie shook his head out, as if awaking from a daydream.  "Really?"

"Yeah, you did," the manager crossed his arms.  "Not to mention, the lady customers aren't swooning over you.  Are you loosing your charming touch?"

"No!" Douxie exclaimed.  Multiple times, he'd tried to explain to his coworker that he was simply being polite out of habit, and he didn't know why it made him so attractive.  (Okay, fine.  Maybe he did sort of like the attention.)  "What?  I mean," he sighed, "I've just been having a rough day."

"I can tell," Ted frowned.  "I know that you're a really busy kid, and that you've had to drop out of school to support your income.  If it was any constellation, I'd give you a day off, but you know we're understaffed, and that I can't do that."

Douxie wilted.

Ted clapped a hand on his shoulder.  "Well, you know you can always talk to me, right?"

If only you knew the least of my problems, he thought bitterly.  Instead, Douxie nodded.  

"Okay, we're good," Ted offered a grin.  "Now get back out there."

"Of course," Douxie agreed.

...

"Welcome to Susan's Breakfast and Brunch Extravaganza," Douxie forced a smile as he served a group of teenagers.  "How may I serve you fair people today?"

The one closest to him began to speak, but Douxie's attention wandered.  The sounds of the hustle and bustle drowned away, leaving only the sound of his rapidly increasing heartbeat.  The hairs along his spine rose.  Something wasn't right, he could feel it deep inside his bones.  No one lived on the earth for 918 years without knowing when something was amiss.

"Hey, you, waiter!" the person started snapping in front of Douxie's face, but he ignored it.

The air was too hot.  The smells of smoke from the kitchen were too strong.  Suddenly, everything snapped into place.

"Hurry!"  he turned back to the group.  "You need to get out of here, right now!"

"Woah, slow down weirdo," the boy scoffed.  "What are you talking about?  We're not going anywhere."

Douxie grew frustrated.  Panic flared inside his chest.  "There's no time!  You need to go, now!"

Before anyone could respond, the building exploded.