“You… know him?” Mio said, inching a little bit closer to the two.

The woman shook herself back to focus and proceeded to pour her concoction down his throat. It slid down without effort, and immediately, Mio noticed that Brock’s wounds began to knit themselves back together and that his limbs slowly bent themselves back into place. It was a slow, and seemingly agonising process, but he was healing.

She allowed herself a breath of relief as the alchemist turned to her. There was an oddly… nostalgic smile on the woman’s face, “It’s… well it’s a long story.”

Mio raised a brow, and the woman glanced back at Brock. While sputtering a bit, his chest was beginning to rise and fall with more stability, “He… uh… we’ve known each other for a few years, I guess.”

“You’re his friend?” Mio ventured, her eyes wandering back to the alchemy bench. It was… interesting. She felt herself infected with the urge to fiddle and experiment with what she could see.

The alchemist, seemingly unaware of the other woman’s wandering attention, shook her head lightly and strolled back toward her bench, “More like… girlfriend. Ex. We dated for a year or so back in college.”

Now this caught Mio’s attention. Brock, Brock Carter, had had a girlfriend? “Are you serious?”

Brock’s ex cocked a brow in her direction as she placed the emptied flask upon her bench. Closely, she inspected the concoction she had been working on before, and satisfied, she corked it and shoved it into the cupboard where she’d pulled the first potion from, “Sure am. It was… an interesting time, to say the least.”

Mio picked out a hint of longing in the woman’s voice. She remained quiet as the alchemist continued, “Definitely didn’t expect him to turn up on my doorstep like...” she gestured idly at him, “that, though.”

She closed the cupboard and levelled her gaze at Mio, “What the hell happened to him? And you. Your aura is almost fully depleted.”

Mio scoffed, “It’s a long story.”

The woman crossed her arms. A frown played on her lips, “Well he’ll be here a while. I’m Amara, by the way.”

“Mio,” she nodded toward Amara, although the action was stiff and clearly meant to be as unfriendly as possible, “I’d love to tell you how Brock got his face smashed in, but we need to get going. Now.”

Amara massaged her neck and threw a glance Brock’s way. Mio could see some emotions behind that gaze that she knew would complicate things, “And why’s that?”

Fucking hell. Groaning, Mio crossed her arms as tightly as she could possibly get them and followed with a five-minute-long explanation of their current predicament, superpowered Oni and all. She could see that afterwards Amara didn’t buy the part about the Oni, but thankfully her concern was instead invested in the part about tracking.

“The… alien-” she began.

Mio cut her off, “Oni.”

Amara threw her a glare, “This ‘Oni’ is able to track him? Is it by an implant, or?”

“Aura,” Mio licked her lips, all too aware of the aura trace Brock had left behind. It was a trail straight to them, “I believe. He has a device.”

“And you also believe that he is going to follow you through your teleportation power?”

“Correct.”

Passing a breath between her lips, the alchemist considered her knowledge on the situation. As far as Mio knew, there was nothing this ex-girlfriend of Brock’s could do. Sure, she may be the only alchemist she’d seen so far and would be an invaluable asset if brought back to Meiyo, but that was it.

The woman made potions, and unless she had one that could teach the man the aura compression technique used by her and the other scouts to refrain from leaving traces, then that was where her usefulness ended. She had stabilised Brock’s condition and put him on the path of recovery, but it was time for them to go elsewhere.

Mio took a step toward Brock and noticed that he was still bleeding. The darkness of his blood concerned her immensely. The doctor had said that sustaining injuries would reduce his sparsely remaining lifeforce. Idiot…

Behind her, Amara sighed, “I’ll admit, if you’re telling the truth, then there’s nothing much I can do.”

She took in a deep breath, “But, I also don’t believe that he should be moving yet. My Vials can only heal so much damage. He’s stable for now, but if he starts getting moved around, I have no idea if that might change.”

A silence fell between the two as Mio gritted teeth and Amara leaned back. The shadow assassin knew his condition wasn’t the best, and she knew he was still far from being even remotely recovered, but if they stayed here, the chances of them being found would grow higher with every second.

But…

Her lips twisted as she looked over Brock again. Trickles of blood still gushed from the crags of his face, and his cuts were yet to scab. Many of his limbs were still twisted and disfigured, and Mio found herself clicking her tongue.

It had been hours already, only a few, but it had. The sister of Ari had said Zin had left a short while after, probably by tracing Fon’s idiot of an acquaintance’s teleportation. Meaning, if they hadn’t been found out already, they probably had a good chance that they weren’t being followed. It was a gamble, and more hope than certainty, but she felt her mind clutching onto that thesis.

What it did beg, however, was the why of it. If that man could have followed them instantly, why hadn’t he. He had seemed wholly enraged as they left, a display far from the idle amusement she had witnessed before. Did he…

Her eyes fell to her shadows, and it suddenly struck her.

Her teleportation and Jonathan’s was different. Not because of the power’s themselves, but because of the execution. His appeared to simply connect between places in space and poke a hole, while her shadow jumping deposited her into a realm of shadows to be spat out elsewhere. Zin Keene… must not be able to access that realm, and therefore…

He can’t follow us…

Mio admitted she knew little of her powers, let alone the shadow realm they connected her to, but something deep inside her was telling her she was right. The sensation of approval pulsed through her, like it was emitted from the beating of a heart. Despite herself, she found them oddly… trustworthy.

“How long will it take for you to get Brock healed up?” Mio’s voice was low, but her tone light. A weight had been partially lifted from her shoulders, and while she remained cautious, the bulk of her fear had lessened.

Amara’s expression brightened noticeably, and she snuck a gander at Brock. The way she swallowed told Mio that she regretted willing looking at the sight of him, “Considering I can only give him a Vial every twelve hours or so, a day, maybe two? If I give him more than one in that ti-”

Mio waved her hand, “He’ll get extremely sick. I’m aware.”

“You’ve met another chemist?” the woman’s eyes grew brighter, and Mio didn’t miss the way she called herself a chemist instead of alchemist. Guess Brock must like ‘em smart.

Brushing her inner comments aside, she shook her head and pulled an Auraberry from her pouch. In a swift move, it arced through the air and Amara caught it, “Have these growing back at our city; in Tokyo. We’re well acquainted with the side effects of overuse.”

Mio found it somewhat amusing at the fact that the woman seemed more enamoured with the small, blueberry-esque fruit instead of the knowledge that they had come from so far away but decided not to remark on it. Eagerly, Amara deposited the berry atop her workbench and turned back.

“Interesting,” her eyes wandered toward Mio’s pouch, “Anyhow, I can do my best, but a day until Brock’s recovered is the optimistic outcome. In the meantime, you’re welcome to crash here.”

While the idea didn’t exactly enthuse her, the day was progressing, and there wasn’t much longer until night fell. That aside, she could still sense the flared auras of those few powerful individuals, and she was aware enough to know that it was sign that she was unwelcome and closely watched.

It wasn’t uncommon she’d found, especially in many of the secluded, smaller cities around the mainland. They were paranoid, scared. She decided it was better to stay where she was instead of looking for housing elsewhere, if just to avoid pissing them off. People who feared something tended to be on a hair trigger when it came to the object of that fear.

She was confident in beating any of them one on one, but if they all ganged up on her? The only way she’d escape would be by leaving Brock behind. Which she’d rather not do.

With that in mind, Mio clicked her tongue, “Fine.”

**

Surprisingly, the bed she had been given wasn’t in terrible condition. The blankets were still a bit off in colour, and reeked of must, although they had appeared to have been bleached and cleaned several times in an effort to combat that. The mattress itself was rather flat and lumpy, but it was better than the floor.

That, plus a solid roof over her head, gave her a relatively decent room, at least in post-System terms. From what she’d seen, there were two other bedrooms here, both in a condition no different from her own. The one across from hers belonged to Amara – Mio could sense her aura within, tranquil with sleep – while the other was unoccupied.

All the helpers from before seemed to have lives outside of being impromptu ‘medics’ and had returned to wherever they had come from. From what she could see, Amara appeared to be the town’s only form of healer, and the rest were obviously volunteers of sorts, as they couldn’t actually assist with the healing themselves.

It did make Mio wonder why Amara didn’t just teach them alchemy also, but the thought wasn’t important enough for her to focus on. The fact that she was the town’s lone healer made her leery of her initial idea to poach her for Meiyo once things were resolved with the Oni, though perhaps she could bring some people her and give them an education.

Unless the reason she hadn’t taught them was an issue of compatibility. Or a lack of capability as a teacher.

That aside, Meiyo already possessed blacksmiths, a thorough grouping of healers and a numerous amount of powerful warriors, so why not alchemists too? Granted, she knew they hadn’t found nearly enough enchanted herbs and fruits – as her peers liked to call them – to have an effective alchemy branch, though a few expeditions into the wilds should solve that.

Then they could replant what they’d find and watch alchemy thrive. She approved of the thought greatly.

Meiyo was already looking to be one of the big cities out in the new world. New Paris and Schlovak were others that came to mind, although not as developed System-wise. The former was far more technologically advanced, however, while the latter possessed more unique and powerful warriors. The latter was also the city ruled by the Harakat and was placed under heavy watch.

Other, smaller cities were cropping up here and there across the mainland, and while she was fairly certain a few would join the current three big cities, most would either fall, or assimilate into other cities. As for towns like the one she found herself in, she felt rather confident that they’d remain independent, or at least partner with other forces.

Just by the sheer amount of herbs that Amara seemed to be hoarding in those boxes – Mio also believed she held more in the house’s basement – she knew this place would stand out as a supplier. Same with King’s Cavity. It had the making to become a powerful city, but also would be an invaluable supplier of metals, considering the materials inside the chasm that Brock had created.

Discarding her thoughts of the future of humanity, Mio glanced over at the clock plugged into the wall and cursed. It was three in the morning already. She had gone to bed at twelve, and while she didn’t technically need to sleep yet, she felt she did need to do so after the stress of today’s events.

But a simple fact prevented her from doing so; she couldn’t.

Her mind wandered too much, her thoughts turning to moments in the fight and the emotions that surged through her. Images of Brock’s ruined and bleeding body flashed in her head repeatedly, keeping her from ever closing her eyes and resting. She considered herself a relatively strong person, but the events of today had truly shaken her.

It… it reminded her of her Tutorial too much. Their screams echoed in her mind any time she tried to drift away. To be embrace by the darkness of sleep. She shuddered.

That being, Zin Keene, he wasn’t someone you could defend yourself against or escape. Not truly. In the face of his power, Mio knew she and Brock were defenceless, and she knew all too well that somehow, that man would find them. Whether he could follow her shadow jump or not, he would, she was certain.

Which meant all they were doing now, was biding time.