Vanessa and Emily lifted their heads at the sound of something heaving dropping to the ground, a rancid smell entering their noses shortly after. Neither had felt any mana fluctuations yet the two children they'd been waiting on lay before them in a heap, covered in vomit.

"What in the... what happened to you two?" Emily asked, jumping up from the carriage.

Damien untangled himself from Alexa and had begun slowly crawling toward the lake, dry heaving while wearing a silver(ish) suit. Alexa stayed in place for the most part, kneeling on all fours while staring into the sand and wearing a formal black dress. Neither looked intent on answering and both had definitely not been wearing those clothes a half hour ago when they'd left.

The only one in their group who seemed to be fine was a Fae they had brought back with them, seated on Damien's shoulder in a long satin blue dress. Vanessa noted it was the mute Fae that seemed to always be around Damien of late, perched on the same spot on his shoulder and as expressionless as usual, though her skin and wings had changed color. Whereas before she'd looked identical to any other Fae, now, with her wings covered in a vibrant grey that seemed to have a pattern of some kind on them, she was completely unique.

Vanessa walked forward while holding her breath and stopped above Damien, dousing the boy with water as he collapsed on the ground in relief and the Fae on his head glared upward indignantly.

"Mind explaining?" she asked, crouching down next to Damien.

He said nothing but held up a single finger, indicating the need for time. She nodded, though he couldn't see her, and looked over to see Emily resting a hand on Alexa's back, cooing and comforting the girl. The sight brought a smile to her face.

She stood and made her way to her niece who hadn't moved since they'd both unceremoniously been dumped onto the ground by the back of the carriage. She was still staring into the sand and had begun shaking slightly. Her skin was paler than usual and her white hair cascaded to the ground in a matted mess of sweat and undesirables.

Upon reaching her, Vanessa poured water over her body as well to remove the smell. She didn't quite understand how Emily had been able to stand it.

She looked down at her niece's back and noticed a handprint set between her wings, the same grey color as the Fae's wings. Most likely a paint of some kind, yet it hadn't smeared with the water. She decided to address it later as she kneeled down next to Alexa.

They cleaned out the girl's hair and clothes for a few minutes before turning to do the same for Damien, who'd seemed to be in much better condition, only to be surprised to find him sitting up and looking already taken care of. The culprit revealed itself shortly after as the Fae with him flit about in front of his suit, dusting off the sand that clung to him. Once finished, Vanessa watched as she flew back up and rested on his left shoulder.

"Thanks for the help, Kastra," he said, smiling tiredly at the fairy.

Vanessa received another surprise as the fairy nodded to the boy and actually smiled back. Not only was the Fae helping clean him of vomit, but it seemed happy to do so.

Shaking her head at the boy who made strange things commonplace, Vanessa turned toward Alexa and lifted her body into the air, carried her to the carriage, and set her gently on one of the padded seats. Emily had moved to Damien while she carried Alexa and looked to be about to pick him up when the fairy grew to the same size as they were and lifted him instead, flying into the carriage and setting him with Alexa on the same bench seat rather than his own. She then shrunk once again and laid between them on her back, silent.

Vanessa turned to Emily to see that her mouth was indeed shaped in an O just like hers was. They had no idea the Fae could change their size and had been given a first-hand showing of it while she helped a Human, as if it were commonplace.

Whatever they'd been up to now no longer just seemed interesting but was very, very interesting.

Pushing the multitude of questions from her mind, Vanessa quickly got to the carriage and began moving away from the lake, eager to leave the mountain before anything else happened to delay them again.

Damien felt the carriage come to a stop, the rattling and crunching of the wooden wheels finally giving his ears a break. Vanessa and Emily, to their credit, had left him and Alexa to recuperate from their second transfer all day, and they'd needed it. They had both been hit much harder by the second instance of the Fae magic than initially and still felt queasy, if only slightly.

Damien sat up slightly as Kastra tumbled down from his chest, looking up at him accusingly.

"Sorry, sorry. You should make yourself heavier when resting on me though, I didn't even feel you there," he claimed in defense to her irate expression.

After a moment of what looked like contemplation, her face softened as she nodded before lifting herself through the air and landing upon his shoulder, resting her head against his neck. Damien blushed slightly. It felt awkward for her to be so affectionate as she had been in the past few hours and he wasn't exactly sure what he should do in response.

Damien looked to his left and observed Alexa sleeping next to him, ever the deep sleeper having not woken up from the carriage stopping. He reached over and shook her shoulder.

"Lexi. Lexi get up, we've got to set up camp."

The Celestial groaned to him and turned over, resulting in a high pitched yelp as she fell off the bench and onto the floor of the carriage. Damien suppressed a laugh that begged to be let out.

'Poor thing probably just shook the hell out of her stomach.'

A minute later of assistance and defending himself from her blaming him for not saving her, they were making their way out of the carriage. Both worked on creating a fire pit and seats for their family while Emily prepared dinner.

Vanessa tended to their horses.

Kastra stayed seated on his shoulder as she observed everything like a child starved of real-world experience. After the tasks had been completed, she lit a large fire, filling up the four-foot diameter fire pit they'd made before any wood had been put in and he felt as she turned to look at him.

"Is that helpful to all this?" she asked, gesturing to the camp.

"We have to gather wood for the pit first, though the light and warmth is nice. You'll run out of mana before we go to sleep... or will you? How long can you keep that going without fuel?" he asked, looking to his left as he met her gaze.

"Around two hours," she responded.

His eyebrows gnit slightly as he considered her words. On the one hand, that was very impressive. Constant strain on the mana veins while creating increased the difficulty of conjuring any element as time went on, making longer-lasting fights much harder to stay in. On the other hand, it was lackluster. As an immortal who had been alive for a long time, he expected her to be able to keep it up almost indefinitely. Instead, she was able to keep it lit for the average amount of time someone who was fifty would be able to. Strong, yet weak.

"How old are you?" he asked.

"It has been thirty years since my last revival, why?" she responded, tilting her head questioningly.

'Surprise again,' he thought.

So young for a Fae, he had expected her to be hundreds, if not thousands of years old.

"Just wondering about your answer. Do you have your memories back?" he asked, sitting down on one of the chairs they'd created.

"No."

He nodded. Still impressive, whether or not she had her memories. Truly a race of magic, younger than his own father but definitely able to outperform him. Damien himself could probably only keep a lit fire going at this intensity for a few minutes.

"Do Fae always learn to control magic so well that fast?" he asked.

"No. Most are faster," she responded, looking down. "But we don't usually get too much more mana to control than this here..."

"Still very impressive though. You might be strong as the average fifty-year-old mage," he said, running a finger along her small head and smiling at her in what he hoped was a reassuring manner.

She looked up at him inquisitively and reached her small arms above her head, lifting his finger away from her hair.

"Not pleasant," she mumbled, stopping him from petting her.

Damien removed his hand and chuckled nervously as they sat, conversation at a standstill. Alexa had left to help Vanessa and he should be gathering more wood. Instead, he stared into the Fae's fire.

"We are strong because we are together," Kastra said, following his gaze to the flame.

Damien glanced to her, a questioning look on his face.

"The Fae draw magic from one another to cast their spells. Individually we are weak, together we are strong. That is what our pact also simulates as it matures. Now, we can feel each other's intent and emotions. Later, we can draw upon them to help alter one another's mood, as long as both parties are willing. Once it deepens further, we will be able to manipulate each other's mana as if it were our own, same as the Fae."

Damien stood up in surprise at this knowledge. Altering each other's moods aside, if he had access to more raw mana... the possibilities.

As far as the Fae were concerned, that would make them possibly the most deadly beings on this planet. The area a normal mage could influence continued to increase the more and more one stretched and practiced manipulating mana at distances, with no real boundary to the limit being found yet. This meant someone could theoretically span their mana across the entire continent if they were talented enough.

The amount of mana they could manipulate increased depending on how soon they started, how old they were, where they practiced, if they communed... among other things. But one thing that was very widely acknowledged was that a mage that was two hundred years of age didn't have twice as much mana to create as one that was one hundred years of age. In fact, since refining the amount you could control had a downward trend in dividends, it was typically only twice as much as someone sixty to seventy years old. Which meant two sixty-year-olds had as much mana as someone that was two hundred, and potentially three of them could have more than someone who was three hundred. Add the Fae into this equation...

They should have mages with hundreds upon hundreds of years to practice and may very well have one old enough to span the continent with his mana. Funnel thousands of the kind folk's mana into that particular Fae to manipulate...

Damien didn't even want to consider the possibilities.

"How long until that becomes possible for us?" he asked eventually, breaking free from his thoughts.

"Depends," she said, turning back to look at him again.

He kept staring at her as he waited for more.

"Usually, around one to two hundred years or so. For those in love and also bound by an Equals pact like us, fifty would be the earliest," she stated while gazing into his eyes.

So this was similar to marriage in the Fae's eyes, then. If not, why would it be altered by their feelings for one another?

"Not so sure about being in love just yet," he laughed out nervously.

"It will come," she said firmly, giving no room for argument.

He blushed and looked away, not used to this type of confidence being directed at him.

"Feelings of intimacy effect it?" he asked eventually.

The Fae took its time to answer, causing him to look back and see her blushing while looking back at the fire.

"Not feelings. Physical... interaction and proximity to one another. It helps. So, I think being in love would help..." she finally answered in a quiet tone.

Damien tried not to smile. She was cute while being nervous and idealistic.

On the one hand, this was a good thing. He slept with Alexa every single night and that would influence the speed at which the pact matured. Counter to that, though, meant that... well, for it to mature quickest...

Needless to say, that was completely out of the question. They hadn't even gone through puberty yet.

"We should gather wood," Damien declared, standing up abruptly and causing Kastra to grab onto his shoulder quickly to stabilize herself, doing his best to change the conversation. "You shouldn't force yourself to run low on mana, and it creates a nice atmosphere, the smell of burning wood and crackling of flames. You'll see," he said.

Kastra nodded to his energetic declaration with a confused expression as they set off to the nearest tree.

"I feel like we've had to do this much too often for a normal family," Vanessa stated as she stared at Damien and Alexa.

She was definitely right.

Emily smiled awkwardly while sitting to his right as Alexa sat on his left and Vanessa sat across from them all, looking through the fire at him for answers.

"Well... what do you want to know?" he asked.

"Mainly? What your new little tattoos are supposed to mean and where you'd gone off to," Vanessa asked.

"And why you were so sick when you got back," Emily finished.

Damien looked to Alexa and smiled awkwardly, yet before he could open his mouth to give an explanation, one was offered.

"The markings are proof of the binding, similar to marriage in the Fae world. They were sick because of teleportation magic."

Alexa's eyes widened in shock as Damien fought the urge to smack himself in the face. Looking further left and making eye contact with Kastra showed him the face of a satisfied Fae. She seemed to be asking for his praise at the quick resolution to the questioning.

Vanessa and Emily both seemed equally shocked.

"Would you mind explaining that further, Damien? And since when can she speak?" Vanessa questioned, eyes narrowing.

"We entered a pfmmmm," Kastra began saying before he covered her mouth.

"Not helping. Definitely, definitely not helping, Kastra," he said

The two adults looked to him for an explanation as Alexa stared off to her left at the mountain, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

Damien took the moment of silence to grab ahold of the conversation, pulling out the plaque that held their names. Emily and Vanessa's eyebrows both lifted in surprise at seeing the silver stone appear from thin air.

"Is that Fae silver?" Emily asked excitedly.

"Yes," Kastra responded.

Damien had never heard of Fae silver, examining the plaque anew.

"That's amazing! Garrett would kill for this. It's the only material ever known to be better at conducting mana than Moonstone! Gosh, it's so expensive... wow. It's too bad he can't have it to experiment with, once you alter it, it becomes useless for anything else like Moonstone," Emily finished, smiling lightly as she stared at it.

Damien smiled back, choosing in that moment to omit the part of them wasting two other pieces then. He didn't know how expensive Moonstone was, but he didn't want to find out and regret what happened earlier. It was a necessary cost for his freedom.

"So, it's a pact," he started, "not marriage. It's only really intended to make sure that I will be an ambassador of sorts to the Fae with regards to other races. That I try and get people to accept them. They weren't exactly too clear on what I needed to do, but... in any case, that's all that part was," Damien explained.

"I thought this was going to be a reward, yet they gave you responsibilities?" Vanessa asked, glaring toward Kastra.

"Well, yes and no," Damien replied hesitantly, trying to gather together what all he'd explain.

"What do you get from this then?" she asked back.

"My body for life."

The two adult women turned their attention towards Kastra at that moment before looking back at him.

"He can-"

"It was going to be a slave pact with a demon named Seria," Damien quickly said, interrupting Kastra. "The Fae think a reward is being gifted with their presence until you die. Luckily, Kastra here willingly chose to have it be an equals pact, which means that we... sort of have to be together until we die."

Vanessa remained silent as Emily adopted a... complicated look, he thought.

"Then... you are already married? It's... you are four, my star," she said, a little hesitantly.

"No, mom, it isn't marriage," Damien clarified.

"Well, what is it then? You keep dancing around the specifics," Vanessa said curtly.

"Ok, the specifics. Well, the three of us can't be physically far from each other for longer than eight months, or we start to need to be back together. Kastra has to protect Lexi and me, basically. And... I'm a representative of their race. We get these nifty tattoos, can sense each other's emotions and locations... Oh! And they'll avenge me if for some reason I'm killed by anything," Damien finished, grinning.

When he put it all like that, it didn't sound bad at all. Maybe a little cumbersome, but useful all the same.

Kastra looked like she was going to open her mouth and add the one thing Damien absolutely wouldn't be mentioning in that list, so he broadcasted a flurry of negative feelings while looking over at her. She picked up on his intended meaning, luckily, nodding at him and stayed silent.

After a few moments of thinking, Emily spoke up.

"Well... besides you dying, which won't ever be happening, the rest doesn't seem too bad? You can sense their emotions, though?" she asked.

"Yeah. Kastra is... well, neutral, and Alexa is nervous and scared, most likely of Vanessa," he stated plainly, Alexa still looking away from the family, pretending not to hear him as embarrassment began flowing through the bond too.

Vanessa sighed.

"I'm not mad at you, Alexa," she said, standing up to go sit near the smaller Celestial. "I'm worried about your mother. What will she think? And are you ok with all of this?" she asked.

"Please don't tell her," Alexa begged, looking at her aunt quickly. "I'll... handle that eventually. I'm the one who wanted to be added," she said. "I didn't want it to just be Damien and her so..."

When she went quiet after trailing off, Vanessa chuckled and nodded.

"Well, if it was your idea and not forced on you, that's fine. I won't handle your affairs for you. Can it ever be undone?"

"Alexa's part can," Damien cut in. "That's why I allowed her in. If she changes her mind, we can remove her."

He wished he'd used different words immediately as anxiety and sadness flowed through from Alexa's end.

"Good," Vanessa said with a nod. "Then let's just list this as another thing your strangeness has brought into our lives, shall we?"

Damien laughed as Alexa finally stopped feeling so nervous, looking up at her aunt as he felt the sadness slowly fade too.

"Well," Emily said, "Kastra. I'm not sure you're exactly a part of the family yet, but I promise to do my best to make you feel at home while you're with us," she claimed with a smile.

Kastra flew off Damien's shoulder in front of her and lowered her head slightly while holding her forearms away from her body, palms up, with her elbows at her sides. Damien wondered what that was supposed to mean.

"I hope to be of assistance in the future," she said seriously, before flying in front of Vanessa and doing the same.

Emily smiled awkwardly while Vanessa rolled her eyes. Damien hoped she'd eventually get used to the Fae, but knew she'd at least grow to like this one that wasn't obnoxious every single moment of the day.

After a bit more talking, the conversation drifted towards a close.

"Hey, son I love so much. How many people can be added to that bond?" Emily asked.

Damien looked at her questioningly, confused by her strained wording.

"Uhm... I don't know actually. Kastra?"

"Seven at most," the Fae said immediately.

"Oh! Perfect. Then, so we can be bonded, let's add Vanessa and I to it-

"""No!"""

Damien took a deep breath, holding the bridge of his nose as Kastra looked at him for approval while Vanessa and Alexa both looked at each other and then him before turning back to Emily.

"Oh come on, please! I want to be able to sense your emotions too! Let's get hitched," Emily pleaded, glancing at her favorite Celestial with sad eyes.

"Not a chance," came the cold response.

Damien grinned as his mother continued whining. If this is where the conversation had gone, it meant he had successfully navigated a minefield without any big repercussions. He was glad they were so willing to accept the strange events brought on by his being around.

Four days had come and gone as they continued their trip home. Nothing interesting had happened yet, and nothing interesting was happening currently.

Damien was bored out of his mind and immensely bummed at the prospect of not being able to practice mana again. Since they'd left, he'd been forced to keep all mana hidden, just like on the way out to the lake. Unlike in their house that was warded, if they ran across someone here, it would be impossible to hide that he'd been using mana. If someone detected five mana signatures from their cart and they crossed paths, he would be found out.

And run across someone they did.

Five hours into their day, Emily returned to them sooner than usual and Vanessa slowed the cart to a stop. Damien wondered why, but when she got closer it was clear Emily had a look of distress on her face. Vanessa must have seen it sooner than they did.

"Bandits ahead, raiding a small convoy. They should be able to repel them, but there will be casualties and injured," she reported.

Damien's chest was gripped by apprehension at her words. Bandits, and enough of them to fight with a small group of people. It was fortuitous that they hadn't been ahead of the other convoy and run into them instead. He turned to Vanessa to see what her reaction to the news would be.

"We'll move off the road further away from the trees then. Let us know when the fighting is finished," she said.

"Shouldn't-"

"No," Vanessa stated, interrupting Alexa before she could even begin her question. "We will wait for the fighting to end and if need be we will find another path home. We can abandon the cart and run just fine from a group of bandits as is, but if we separate to help, it places you both in danger. We will wait and help the survivors if it is safe to once the fighting is over," she declared. "Being so helpful is a trait reserved for the powerful."

Alexa nodded eventually at the decision as Emily left again, returning an hour later with good news.

Five had died and more were injured, but the bandits had been driven away. The victims had all been members of the Association, guard details hired by a few families to take them west toward the Academy for school the following year. The trip was long and they were starting early, hoping to avoid traveling through the mountains during the more frigid seasons.

After finding out a bit about them and gauging their respective strengths, Emily decided they were relatively harmless and came back to get Vanessa and us, cautioning that we be careful. In the event things did go wrong, Vanessa would cover our tracks out and Emily would escape with us, all meeting back up after Vanessa flew off.

Damien didn't like the feeling that helping others outside city walls could end badly, even if they weren't bandits. He still didn't feel all that comfortable even after Emily's assurances, but she had said the other party also had children with them, so that helped a bit at least.

They traveled back to the road and continued down for five miles or so before coming upon two carriages traveling together, set next to each other on the road. Five men and women guarded the surroundings while the injured were in between the carriages being looked after.

As they approached, Damien noticed one very important detail Emily had left out.

All members of the convoy were Celestials, besides the guards.

Damien had counted six, four of which were injured, before he had to stop, unable to see into the backs of the carriages as the cloth was draped over the entrance instead of parted.

Vanessa proceeded forward to the injured members of the guard detail and began her work on the most injured while Damien, Alexa, Emily, and Kastra all sat on the back of their cart watching. When Vanessa began working on her third patient out of seven, a young Celestial approached her.

"Shouldn't you be healing my father first before these Humans?" the boy asked.

Damien tensed as Vanessa stood up and glared at the child before ignoring him, continuing to a different guard, kneeling, and helping him. The child scoffed and walked away, back toward the further carriages.

A different Celestial came over to their cart with his son in tow.

The man was more portly than Damien had seen anyone so far, yet not so much that it was a true hindrance in any way. He looked... jolly, if anything. He stood around five foot ten, wore a full brimmed hat, used a cane to assist in his gait whenever stepping with his right leg, was immaculately dressed, and seemed to be quite young, perhaps around one hundred and twenty years old in Celestial years if Damien were to guess.

He also looked every bit a merchant in Damien's eyes.

His son was small, about Damien's height rather than Alexa's. He was very well dressed too, in a vest and formal pants, sporting dark brown hair slightly longer than any boy his age usually had. He followed alongside his father with a bored expression, attempting to free his hand and making no efforts to look at any of them, lost in his own world.

"That's Mr. Toren," Emily whispered. "He's a kind man. I spoke with him earlier. Come on," she said, hopping off the cart. "Get down and say hello."

Damien and Alexa slid down from the cart as the two Celestials neared.

"The bodies are buried off the forest's side of the road, I wanted to make sure you were notified of that before allowing your children to wander. Also, I wanted to thank you again, Ms. Emily," the man said, doing the same strange bowing gesture Kastra had with his arms out and head slightly lowered. "If you and Vanessa had not come by, we may very well have had to bury another one or two of our companions to blood loss. We healed what we could, but none of us have communed. It took all we had to get where we are now after the attack while still saving some offensive potential if the bandits did come back," he finished.

"No, please, it's fine. There is no need to go that far," Emily responded hastily, waving her hands. "And we'll be sure to stay clea-"

"Nonsense!" he interrupted passionately, "You saved our lives, it is only right to be this thankful. We come from the eastern coastline, a detachment from the main colony that resides on Hylyu. We are much less arrogant out there and know how to give thanks when it is due, though some still cling to the old ways," he said with an uptick of pride at first, followed by a shrug of his shoulders and a glance toward where the rude boy and disappeared after questioning Vanessa.

Emily nodded with a smile while motioning toward the boy at his side, "And who might this young one be?"

"This is Gallion, my son. He turns eleven on the sixteenth month and is who I am bringing to Eleram."

"Not young then, I apologize. Almost a man in his own right," Emily said, looking at the child.

"Poppycock, he still is young. Though, he doesn't seem to act it, dressing lavishly every day. Come, my son. Say hello to the ladies and boy," he said, motioning toward the two women and Damien.

It would seem neither of them even noticed Kastra on his shoulder.

"If I do will you allow me to go back to my books, or will you parade me around to the rest of the convoy like a trophy again?" the boy, Gallion, asked, delivered in a bored, pretentious, and smooth tone as he glanced at his father.

His father merely chuckled at the response and muttered 'we'll see' under his breath while pushing him forward, seemingly used to his rude way of answering.

Gallion stepped forward extravagantly and bowed nearly at a ninety-degree angle, practically oozing sarcasm, in front of Alexa as he grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it. Damien's eyebrows lifted as Alexa looked down at the Celestial, confused.

"It is your pleasure to make my acquaintance, ma'am. I am Gallion, son of Toren Ruiden, no relation to the pompous bastards on Hylyu," he declared, tone remaining uninterested.

Before Alexa could respond confrontationally, he'd stood back up and bowed before Emily in the same manner, barely even looking at either of them before moving on again.

Emily and Toren took a few steps to the side before engaging in a separate conversation, leaving the three Mortals and one Immortal to themselves to speak.

Gallion turned to him but didn't bow, instead meeting Damien's eyes and holding them for a moment as he looked up and down at his suit. Damien began to grow uneasy as his voice failed him.

"Well," Gallion said, taking an extra step forward before grabbing Damien's hand in a similar manner, "it is certainly my pleasure to make your acquaintance, isn't it," he declared, bending over at the waist again and kissing his hand, far longer than he had the other two.

Damien paled and remained speechless. In this world and his old one, he'd never been so blatantly hit on by a member of the male sex. Let alone one who looked like a pre-teen.

"Shy as well? A boy after my own heart, aren't you. Would you have accepted if you were Kreel?" he asked, standing up straight and resting his left hand on Damien's cheek as Damien inwardly panicked. "A little young, but it's good you Humans age so quickly," he said, leaning inward for the last part, "I have a feeling you'll age like fine wine," he whispered.

Damien's mind finally snapped and he leapt back, slightly further than he should have been able to, bumping into the cart with a face white as a ghost.

"I.. I'm not... I don't... Girls. I like girls, man," he eventually pieced together, looking to his right at Alexa and begging her with his eyes to intervene.

"Oh? Such an interestingly... aged response. Are you as old as you look? You know, you might enj-" Gallion had begun, smiling at him and taking a step closer again before Alexa inserted herself between them.

"Could you... could you not do that, please?" She asked.

Gallion stopped and looked to Alexa before turning back to Damien, then back to Alexa. He smirked.

"Sorry dear, I didn't realize he was your man. I believed you westerners all to forbid relationships with Humans," he said, watching her face as it blushed. "Though, if he isn't, I don't see what harm there is in playing, no?"

"Well... he... he's mine so... please don't do that again," she stuttered out.

"Ohhh?" Gallion said, his smile spreading across the entirety of his face. "Really now, you are BOTH so interesting. I think I'm beginning to like you. Would you two like to come back to my carriage to... I don't know, play?" he asked.

Alexa turned to Damien while flushed, grabbing him by the hand and dragging him toward where Emily and Toren had gone off to in a hurry.

"It was a joke you know, we could always just read," they heard as he called out from behind them.

Damien was only too happy to oblige Alexa and get away as he felt a light poking on the side of his neck. He turned to see Kastra sitting there with an inquisitive look.

"Should we add him to th-"

""No!"" the two both shouted simultaneously.