They ran and ran, all the way until they reached the border for the Kingdom of Varous. Then, they kept on running into the deeper parts of the Endless Woods before finally stopping by a stream of spring water to take a break. Lighting a small fire with a set of metallic tools that Lera has never seen before, Wu then spun the black metal rod around in a fancy spiral before returning it into a plastic holder, putting it back into the backpack. "We have Warmth Casts too......." Lera said, her voice slightly dry as she cleared her throat and took a sip of water from the spring. "That will take some effort from you, right?" Wu asked, "Surely, you would have seen something like this before......" "If we wanted fire, we just use a fire Cast." Lera said, pointing to her book before she moved closer to the small fire with the branches. The flames were pretty light and small, and only periodic bouts of warmth came from it, "The Warmth Casts are also more reliable than......" A gust of wind blew by, and it swiftly put out the fire as if nature is warning Wu that perhaps having a pit of fire when the two of them are on the run may not be the best idea. The sun was nowhere to be seen at this point, and the blackout curtain of the night covered the entirety of the Endless Woods. When Wu looked up, he saw a pair of moons located at either end of the sky, and one of the moons is around five times larger, but just about as bright as the other one in the sky. "Here." Lera said, hovering her hand over the book before taking a small breath in. A small glowing red orb was projected out from her palms, and she let it sit on top of the piles of charcoal in between them. Wu raised his eyebrows and reached his fingers forward over the orb. It is already quite a bit warmer. "Fascinating......" Wu muttered, moving in close until he is practically sitting with the red orb right on his lap. Then, the two shared a rare moment of silence as Lera sat with her hands crossed and covering her knees. Her face was half-covered, though her gaze was fixated on Wu's own excited expressions. After looking at the warm red orb for a little while, Wu dropped his excited smiles and looked back up to her, "You must have had a lot of questions." Lera became startled briefly before she smiled. Before, Wu was the one with all the questions, "Yes......I do." "Is it about how I did it?" Wu said cheekily, "Aren't you just dying to find out? Right? It's pretty weird, ey? Maybe I am not so useless, right? Ok.....I will stop." After the chariot took off, the Vines continued binding him according to Lera's command. However, the tightness of the Vines was directly controlled by the radius of Wu's body and his backpack. When he got rid of the backpack by doing a wiggly dance and sliding it out of the way, the vines became loose immediately. That took a little longer than Wu expected, but now that he's free, he first tried to change the course of the chariot. With no ability to interact with the Wave so far, all of his attempts, ranging from precise mechanical poking to brute-force bangs, failed. That was when he spotted some of the pursuing forces far out in the distance. Unzipping his backpack and looking at the contents within, Wu was able to create a diversion with what he had, jumped off the car, and started running back towards Lera. "Wait wait wait......THIS is the important part." Lera held a hand up before Wu's ready to move onto the next part of his story, "HOW did you create a diversion?" "I sacrificed my phone." Wu said, shrugging, "I made a recording of myself, and I kept it playing at the loudest volume. Then, I drew their attention by shouting until my lungs go out." "I.....got none of that, apart from the last bit." Lera sighed. "Believe it or not, in my world, during our time, our lives were governed by devices the size of your hand. Those things can do literally everything you need to do in life." Wu said, "That was the only idea I had, and in the thick forests, audio is better at drawing attention, especially when the woods are thick and there is no wind. Plus, the chariot moves so quietly that it made it all the easier." "Right......" Lera said, pointing to the backpack beside Wu, "What else do you have in that bag?" "I have......some snacks, a bunch of bike tools, cause we have to ride bikes everywhere in Oxford..." Wu scratched his head before emptying out the content from his backpack before a stack of rubber rings contained in shiny reflective plastic packets fell out. "What is that......?" Lera asked, and Wu quickly reached over and picked up the stack, stuffing it back into his backpack while slightly scratching his knuckles along the zips. He had completely forgotten that he had something like that in his bag, as it was something that was included in the Fresher's Welcome Package four years prior. And......no surprise, he didn't exactly get to use any of those during his time at the University. "Don't...worry about it." Wu said before showing her an adjustable spanner and a whistle, "When I bought my bike, there were gifts of other survival items, so I just chucked them into my bag. Who would have thought it would come in handy in another world?" Lera looked at Wu's face for a while, and even now, he had a light smile on his face. She knew she has said it before, but he seemed so calm with all of this happening around him. Almost too calm and look at her... Her body's still trembling from what happened before, and she hoped that Wu wouldn't notice. "Are you cold?" Wu asked before snapping his finger, "Damn! I left my jacket behind on the chariot as a distraction, and they blew the entire thing." "Did......did my Strengthening and Lightening last long enough?" Lera asked. "It must have been! Or I was just so drunk on adrenaline. Who knows?" Wu shrugged, and Lera's eyes blinked a few times before she ignored the complicated-sounding word, chalking it up to one of those Wu-isms. "So...Why...why did you come back?" At last, Lera brought up enough courage to ask, "It was too dangerous for you to take that chance, especially without any powers..." "Why did you leave me?" Wu asked. Then, he locked his eyes on Lera, waiting for her response. Lera's mouths opened, but nothing came out. Her stomach felt sick, and her throat moved as if she's about to vomit. The question had completely stomped Lera, and she did not know the answer. Or rather, she's afraid to face the answer. No. Wu's wrong. Shaking her head, Lera forced her head up, ignoring the emotions winding up inside of her, "What else could I have done?! I am your Guardian! It is my duty to protect you! That's why the Tablet chose me!" "But I didn't want you to sacrifice yourself just so I..." "BUT I HAD TO!" Lera shouted, throwing her hands out onto the side as her voice cracked, "YOU HAD NO POWER, AND I HAD NO IDEAS! I HATE IT! I HATE IT ALL......YOU THINK I WASN'T AFRAID?! YOU THINK I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THEY WERE GOING TO DO TO ME?!" As Lera's last words echoed in the darkness, Wu simply sat there quietly and waited until she finished. "I am sorry..." Wu said, and that caught Lera completely off-guard. He was the one that was summoned. He was the one that was thrown into a situation he couldn't hope to understand, and HE was the one that saved her from the scums of the Sonne Security Force. And now, he's the one apologizing? What is he apologizing for?! I was the one that made the decision, and I was the one that pushed him away. Now, I have just snapped at him......Lera buried her head in her arms as her heart raced faster than ever before. Her guilt and regret overwhelming her mind. "What are you apologizing for..." She said with her crackling voice even though she tried to sound normal to the best of her ability, "you have done everything right. You are a...the Savior, and I am but a failed wannabe Guardian..." "I am apologizing because I couldn't convince you to let me help before." Wu said, moving to sit beside Lera on the other side of the dark red orb, "I am apologizing, because my lack of power made you lose hope that the two of us can both make it out of this alive......And maybe.....just maybe I am brought to this world for a reason.....maybe I am supposed to be the Savior of this world. "But without you, I couldn't have done it." Wu said, poking lightly in the shoulders of Lera, "If you didn't have the resolution to sacrifice yourself just so I can get out, I wouldn't have been able to push myself to think of a way to figure everything out.......If you didn't go out of your way to carve a path through the forest, I wouldn't have been able to follow after you. And if you didn't create the chariot of clouds that moves so swiftly and quietly, my plans of distraction would never work......." Lera stayed in the slouched pose, but Wu can tell she's listening. "I may be a powerless Savior, and you may be a failure of a guardian." Wu said, his eyes tracking upwards and gazing towards the stars above, "But together, maybe we can do something. Maybe we can even save the world. Not as a baby and a baby-sitter, but as equals. As partners." The dark red orb hummed lightly before a pulse of heat brushed past the body of both Lera and Wu, and at last, Lera moved. She pulled her head back, revealing her puffed-up red face and tracks of tears on it. She looked like an adorable mess, and Wu noticed that her silver strands of hair are glowing in the dark. "Can you...forgive me for looking down on you?" Lera asked, her voice shaken and filled with doubt, "Can...can we start over fresh?" "Of course." Wu said cheerfully, "We just chalk whatever happened today to just be the result of a long hard day. Let's forget about today, and make a better tomorrow together." "You really should be a priest." Lera chuckled lightly before sniffing her nose. "I just watched enough anime speeches." Wu laughed before his expressions froze up, and a disappointing realization arose in his mind, "Ah. But there are no anime in this world. Tragic..." Wiping away the drops of tear at the corners of her eye, she smiled towards Wu before reaching her hand forward. "Hi. My name is Lera Huten." She said cheerfully as her smiles lit up the darkness, "I am a Caster and your Guardian. Welcome to the world of Olympus Prime, and I look forward to lots of adventure together!" "Hi." Wu smiled back and held her hand firmly. Despite the cold exterior, he could feel hints of warmth returning within, "My name is Wu Li. I am the supposed Savior that's totally powerless and I will be in your care for...a long while." Lera chuckled at the remark while their hands are still joined. "You may be powerless, but you are not useless, Wu." Lera gave his hand a squeeze, "I am sure that whatever hidden power you might have is destined to change this world." In fact, he has already changed her world. With a new and uncertain future laid out in front of them, they shall move forward together as equals, as partners in arms, and as the Savior and his Guardian.