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“I didn’t expect there to be children as well.”

“What, you're allergic?”

“No.”

“Then everything is fine.”

“Did you tell them about me?”

“Of course not. I have some respect for your privacy.”

Luna convinced Flick to come along with them, but didn’t give them the specifics of everything immediately. While Luna would love a one-on-one where they spent proper time learning the important lesson on Space, but their mission was more important than learning a new ability.

[Will this be okay?] (Eva)

[Hopefully, but she is her own person and while we have managed to catch her attention. Keeping her on the hook can’t last forever.] (Syrus)

[Any reason you used a fish metaphor?] (Eva)

[I am hungry.] (Syrus)

Luna, of course, still wanted to learn from Flick, but it had to be a delicate balance.

One thing that was gained from bringing Flick to the fray was that there was someone else to look out for the kids.

Anlesa didn’t need Flick to take care of them; she could do that, but having an extra set of eyes on them, especially if they were going into dangerous territory.

She understood that Flick held the upper hand when it came to teaching; she could easily misinform them about the details of her abilities, so that Luna would have a more difficult time learning or even have a flawed execution.

That was still a price worth paying as an inferior version of that quick, cheap blink was still valuable, especially so when compared to their current spatial ability.

Still, their method of keeping Flick around was a flimsy leash at best.

“Don’t worry, our first stop is the demon territory,” Luna said.

They had returned quickly after they made the deal. Anlesa knew they had to be fast if they wanted to avoid any mess and to keep Flick entertained. Meeting the children was something they knew was going to cause concerns, but in the end, the children were still more important.

Anlesa and Flick's conversation was a quick whisper to each other. Although one of the children could hear it. Anlesa had neglected to tell Flick about Susan’s attribute, but at the same time, it was common practice to announce other people’s attributes with their consent.

Still, Anlesa was being quiet about Flick’s identity and planned to stay that way even when talking to Flick.

They didn’t even know if the children knew anything about it, but they already had enough risks in the last forty-eight hours.

“Syrus,” Susan asked,

“Yeah?” Syrus replied.

“I know you told us where we are headed, but is there anything we should be aware of or prepare for?”

“Hmm, I don’t have much I can teach you. If you face any mutated creatures, immediately let me know about them, and stay behind me. For demons… just say you aren’t a fighter, and you can point them my way. We should be around each other, so that should solve most of the problems.”

“But what if we do get separated?”

“That’s tough and not a situation I would like to happen, but either try to find me, yell and make noise, or hide.

I know that was basically saying do anything, but I don’t have the info to make a judgment on what is best to do.

” Syrus turned to Susan and patted her on the head, “Sometimes you have to trust your noggin to make the best decision in a bad situation.”

“What if I make the wrong one?”

“Well, you got friends. Three heads are better than one, I say that is a very true fact.”

Susan kind of just nodded, then looked at Jerry and Billy, who were only slightly behind her. They could hear everything she said, but chose not to interrupt. Every one of them was too tired to do anything unless necessary, but the two of them nodded at her.

“Thanks, Syrus.”

“No problem.”

Susan took a couple of hops back so she could walk with the children again.

They were walking along the road still, as that was easier than trying to dive through the forest. They didn’t plan to be on it for long, as if Luna remembered her direction correctly, soon they would turn off it and make a beeline for the demon’s border.

There was the chance that there could be guards along it, but that was a low chance, and they could simply wait for them to pass.

The average citizen might imagine an army of guards protecting their border from an invasion, but the higher-ups knew that the demons never attacked unless it was to reclaim a large area recently taken.

Flick said, “You act differently around the kids.”

“They are kids, you are an adult, I have a working relationship with.” Anlesa played up the difference between Luna and Syrus being in control as simply acting differently.

While they would prefer for Syrus to be exclusively the one to talk in this form, they had learned plans don’t always go as intended.

“Working relationship?”

“Yeah, trade deal, which should count close enough to work colleagues for this.”

Flick sighed. She pushed her tied brown hair down her shirt and adjusted it to be tighter. Her clothes appeared simple, but they covered a lot of her body, and with a string placed in the fabric itself that she could pull and tie, she could make the clothes stick to her body more closely.

Her oranges flicked between the kids and Syrus again, “You are a strange one.”

“I could say the same about you, not many people would even think, let alone attempt to do what you have repeatedly done.” Said Luna.

Even for all the different opinions in Anlesa, they all agreed that what Flick did was insane.

Syrus had done plenty of her insane things, but basically making an enemy of every governing body for art?

That was a bit much for her. Syrus could see herself becoming enemies with multiple different countries for other reasons, but art and items of historic value, she believed she needed to consume a lot of alcohol to even about doing something like that.

Luna replied, “There’s a difference between the common form of what you are talking about, and what you do is massive.”

“Still the same cloth.”

“Then cut and made into vastly different clothes.”

Anlesa and Flick didn’t talk much more during the walk. Flick was being quiet to Luna’s probing questions, and Luna did not want to push too hard that Flick would just up and vanish.

[How much longer?] (Eva)

[There is a rock formation I want to reach first. If we enter from that area, there is less of a chance to encounter border guards.] (Luna)

The journey stayed simple until off in the distance, Syrus noticed something with her enchanted sight. There was a merchant leaning back in the driving chair of his donkey-pulled cart. It was a familiar face, one whom she didn’t want to see Jerry.

[Fuck, it’s the merchant we meet at Arisea Station. The one with the special eyes.] (Syrus)

[That is a problematic encounter…] (Luna)

It was a while ago that they met this merchant, but it was an encounter they would be hard pressed to forget. He had eyes that could see their attributes, only the ones that had passive effects on their body if they weren’t using them, but that was if they could take his word on that.

Either way, even if he did tell the truth with his initial guess on their attribute amount, they had no idea how that would register with Guidance.

Anlesa still barely understood how it worked.

The simple truth was they didn’t want basically anyone to know about Jerry’s second attribute until he was an adult at very least.

“Flick. Run away now.”

She asked, “What? Guards?”

“No, someone much more dangerous.” Said Luna, “Let’s reconvene further up the road, but don't under any circumstances get anywhere near the cart, better yet, stay as far away as possible.”

“Okay, I will–” Just as Flick was about to ditch them.

“And before you go, take Jerry with you.” Syrus pushed Jerry towards Flick.

“What?” Flick flinched as the child was pushed into her side. Jerry also had no idea what was going on, but trusted Syrus, so he didn’t say anything.

“Please, he must not be noticed by the merchant who is coming.”

[Will she accept..?] (Eva)

[She needs to.] (Luna)

Flick paused; she had thought about simply leaving entirely.

While she had agreed, she was still a thief, and lying wasn’t exactly unknown to her.

Now, ditching a child in the woods… that was a bit much even for her, which was making the decision rough.

She wasn’t sure why this merchant was such bad news for them that she and the boy had to go, but by Syrus’s reaction, she wanted her gone now rather than sitting around for the answers first.

“Fine… but give me the answers later.” Said Flick, “Come here, kid.” She grabbed Jerry’s arm. “We are running.”

Jerry groaned a bit at the grab, but the two of them ran off. Going straight into the nearby forest where the road split, and they were going to take the long way around.

[Why didn’t we have her take all the children?] (Eva)

[Honestly, I don’t know if she is capable of taking care of the three of them.] (Syrus)

[That’s it?] (Eva)

[That’s enough.] Luna was also concerned about that, if there was one child, she figured Flick, even if she was unaccustomed to protecting one, should do a fine job and should be able to run anyway with them, but if there were two or more than that certainty dropped.

Simply put, they didn’t know her capabilities, and they couldn’t afford testing them right now.

“Susan, Billy, I need you to listen to me. Don’t talk to this man, but you can yawn and complain at me if you wish.”

Billy said, “What?”

“We are going to be doing a little bit of acting.”

Anlesa gave them the quick rundown on what they were going to do, but all the instructions were simple, as the goal was to put minimal burden on the two children.

When he got closer, the man looked up from his cart, and he waved towards Sryus and slowed down slightly. There was still a distance between them, but they were within hearing distance.

“Hello, want to buy anything from the cart?”

Syrus replied, “Howdy as well, but no. Didn’t expect to see you in these parts.”

“Neither did I, but as a merchant, I travel around.” He tipped his hat up and gave a little chuckle.

His smile dropped a little bit. “Heard what happened. I see you got out okay.”

Syrus shrugged, “Better than others, but I've got to keep working. Money’s still tight.”

“Truer words, never spoken, guess that is the reason you are all the way out here.”

The two parties moved closer as the slow movement steadily got closer to each other.

“Yep, escorting these two. Their parent thought it was time for them to learn about the real world, so they ordered, well, paid me, to bring them to a relative without transport.”

Susan and Billy looked absolutely exhausted from everything that they had been through, but they managed to scowl towards Anlesa's back while the adults were talking.

“I see… an interesting family.”

Susan’s glare flicked between Syrus and the merchant. Finding disgust in his words.

“They paid well, so it works out,” Sryus replied.

“Well, good luck with your walk.”

“You and your business as well.”

The two parties passed each other on the road after a long while, when the man was out of sight, did Syrus sigh in relief, and Susan asked, “What was so bad about him?”

“It is his ability that we need to worry about… I will explain the rest when Jerry and Flick are back, so I’m not doing it twice.”