Flip-flops had been a compromise for Ixia. A compromise that counted as shoes for matters of legality, but could be easily discarded should she need her magic and to be in connection with the ground once more. And though she was getting used to them, being stealthy with them was another matter entirely.

As she held Cormac’s hand and walked through the quiet suburban neighborhood at night, the Dryad was all too aware of how she could have been more silent. Her Guardian would gently shake his head every time she gave him a concerned look, and he would return to the idle conversation at hand as they strolled towards a certain recently vacated house.

The pair had parked a good ways back after no longer needing a complex light set-up in the truck and wanting to avoid any further suspicion caused by parking in the driveway of a woman who would likely be reported missing soon. That is, if the previous owner had not already been reported missing. Cormac had been more worried about the possibility of his truck being spotted near the house where ‘everyone keeps going missing’, but Ixia had assured him that she would break him out of jail if that happened.

“You’re very sweet, but then I would have to flee into the woods for the rest of my life.” The redhead said as he gently shook his head, taking the time to oh so casually check out nearby houses to see if anyone was paying attention to the two strangers having a romantic late night walk through their neighborhood.

“And living in the woods would be…terrible?” Ixia teased as she squeezed at his hand and flashed him a smile.

Cormac cast a solemn look her way as he paused for dramatic effect. “There’s no streaming services out in the woods.”

The Dryad’s playful smile fell to the ground and her eyes were downcast to see where it had fallen and shattered into dust. She felt the man who had introduced such a wonder to her, who she so enjoyed watching all of those things with, gently dragging her along by tugging at her hand. She finally looked up to him, corners of her lips struggling to turn upwards at her brilliant plan. “What if we-”

“Someone would still have to pay for it.” Her Guardian’s sympathetic, thin lipped smile softened the blow. “Someone who legally exists.”

Ixia exhaled hard enough for wildflowers to spring up through a few cracks in the sidewalk. “And buying an identity is not that easy, and also illegal…” She recited from an equally disappointing memory.

“And so we take these precautions.” Cormac squeezed her hand, speaking in a low voice as he led her down the turn that took them from porchlight lit suburbia into a starlit back alley. “We can try and ask our new…allies–” He really had to fish for that word, reeling it in with a circular motion of his hand when finally settling on something good and neutral, which is how he was comfortable feeling about them for now. “-if they know how to deal with that. I figure at least two of them had to figure it out.”

The dryad paused to think with a hand to her chin. Which was the perfect time to slip a flip-flop off and press her foot to the ground to work her magic. Far ahead in the darkened alleyway and unseen by all, several thick vines unfurled themselves over the stone wall and draped down. Done with her ‘thought’, the pair continued on as Ixia’s face lit up shortly before falling into a frown once more. “Our ‘local shop’ might have a solution but…no…no that would be just as bad.”

Cormac adjusted the duffel bag slung over his back that contained their latest acquisition from said local shop, and offered her a comforting smile while walking her further into the dark alley to where the vines were only barely visible in the dark. “It is right there in my title that I have to protect you, so don’t worry! There’s plenty of other things to worry about first…”

The peaked roof of the house was just barely visible over the high back alley wall. Ixia had found just enough of a patch in the backyard of the home in question that she was able to work her magic, though the corruption brought on by the Gloomfang was starting to fade from the land. In the meantime, the dryad was able to provide a more convenient and less obvious way into the property.

“Need any help climbing up there?” Ixia asked Cormac as her lilac eyes adjusted to the dark. She believed the vines she had provided would be easy enough to climb, but an offer of help was of course in order.

Her guardian shook his head and adjusted the duffel bag once more, letting go of her hand and taking a firm grip of one of the vines. “Nah. I should be good, thanks.”

“Are you sure?” The dark alleyway hid her slight pout. “Just a little boost up there?”

Cormac was already ascending the vines with no difficulty, and was almost to the top now. Still he kept his voice low as he answered. “I’m fine, promise.”

“Because I promise I’m strong enough to help give you a lift and make it easier on you.” Humans didn’t have the best dark vision, and Cormac was preoccupied with climbing so that he didn’t notice her eyes lingering on him as he ascended. And luckily only she could see how much attention she was paying right up until he disappeared over the wall and she heard his feet hit the ground a few moments later.

He dusted himself off and brushed his hands together to clear off the bits of grit from the wall. Ixia landed right next to him with perfect grace, in a continuing effort to prove surprisingly acrobatic and agile despite her curves. She gave Cormac a satisfied smile for only a moment before frowning and looking down from his eyes.

“...what?” The confused man asked before she grabbed his rear with a pleased grin. Only for a moment, which was plenty for his face to turn as red as his hair while he flinched in surprise. “Hey! Why can’t I do that?”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t.” Even in low light, her smile was enough to send shivers up and down Cormac’s spine. At least the laughter was playful and amused, he thought to himself, as it cut through the tension before she planted a peck on his lips. “We shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

“Arguflump.” Was what fell out of Cormac’s mouth before he clenched his jaw and shook his head while Ixia giggled. “I mean yes.”

Their mating dance was put on hold as the back door swung open. The lights were off inside, but the large figure of Gene was still clearly visible enough in the shadows as he waved them into the otherwise unassuming house. The couple darted in, gravel crunching beneath them and piercing the otherwise silent night until they were safely inside and away from any possible curious onlookers.

The wooden door was carefully shut behind them as Gene flicked the lights on to momentarily daze the couple. He gestured with his arm down a dark hallway to the living room. “I hope that you didn’t have too much trouble getting here. Take a moment for your eyes and then follow me.”

Cormac and Ixia blinked a few more times, getting their bearings, and then followed after him towards the sound of conversations deeper in the house.

“Have you…found anything of note yet?” Ixia asked the large metallic man.

Gene shrugged. “We were waiting until you got here to really start inspecting things. Better to have more eyes on it all. But we have started sorting what we can. I would recommend wearing some gloves, and yes we brought spares.”

“Is it all…dirty, evil or…?” The Guardian asked, suspecting the answer already.

“Both.”

“Of course.” Cormac’s complete lack of emotion in the response was a sign that he was at least starting to get used to this. Which, he suspected, was a prelude to something even more horrifying happening.

The scene before them in the living room was one of all the furniture pushed against the walls as a large tarp had been laid out on the floor. Across it had been strewn all manner of objects that the group had thrown into trash bags, looking like the yard sale version of the strange shop that existed between spaces.

Books of questionable levels of evil were starting to form a pile in one corner. Knives and other sharp implements were gathering in another corner, while an eclectic collection of other objects sat in a pile. Ed, Itra, and the twins waved to Cormac and Ixia for a moment before quickly settling a debate on whether scrolls should have a separate pile than books.

Abha held out a hand as the pair were about to take their place around the tarp and begin sorting. “Be aware, we found but one cursed item amongst everything here. We have set it aside.”

The twins both pointed to a recliner nestled against the wall with a metallic urn bearing strange carvings sitting in the seat like a sulking child.

“What is it?” Cormac asked while he gripped the strap of the duffle bag slung across his back.

“We have absolutely no idea.” Akna said while inspecting some glass flask that bore an unknown residue.

The urn twitched in its seat as though it resented being spoken of like it wasn’t there.

“It does that sometimes.” Abha offered an unconcerned shrug to Cormac and Ixia, who were in fact very concerned. “It should be safe to leave over there, but don’t bring anything else close to it.”

The Guardian shook his head as he and Ixia took their spot next to the tarp and sat down to begin sorting. Itra took notice of Cormac setting down the duffel bag beside him. “Whatcha got there?”

“A new weapon.” Cormac said as he took one of the pairs of gloves from Ed while looking over the pile of magical loot. “There is a threshold in this house that leads to…I don’t think anyone knows do they? So I wanted to be better prepared if and when something from, uh, in there decides to pay us a visit.”

Ed stifled a chuckle as he sorted through other possibly alchemical implements. “We show up someplace new and find an abomination pit. I brought a ton more arrows so I won’t judge.”

“I told you–” Itra rolled her burning eyes as she slumped back against the base of a couch. “I don’t mind standing guard by the threshold while we’re here. I won’t even put my headphones on, I’ll just use my phone’s speakers! Full-ish awareness!”

“Nonsense.” The metal golem waved her off as he finally took a seat next to her to rejoin the group. “We should not be separated, nor should we lose your valuable input in examining what we were able to recover from the Gloomfang’s inner sanctum. What we find here may very well influence our next steps.”

“Yeah…” The woman of fire rolled her eyes and pushed herself off the couch to resume sorting. “Whatever.”

And whatever else anyone expected of Cormac here was a far cry from what he would be able to provide. The human quickly found that at best he was able to help with the most basic sorting of all the objects here, while the exact nature of most things eluded him. A wave of dread and inadequacy was building and looming high, ready to crash into his mind until Ixia broke his concentration.

“I’m just making sure–” She held out an open book full of completely unreadable text and even more mysterious illustrations. “are you sure this isn’t anything you can read?”

Cormac blinked as he was back on solid ground, the looming wave ignored for a moment. He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head before offering a shrug. “No clue.”

“May I see?” The large metal golem asked with an outstretched hand. Ixia handed him the book, and after flipping through a few pages and frowning, he shook his head and moved to add it to the pile of books before pausing. “Wait…how many books actually could be read in this pile?”

Itra, Ed, and the twins exchanged a few looks that shifted from silent questioning to guilt. The metal man sighed, shoved the pile of books to the side and set down the one book in a new pile. “This will be the pile for unreadable books.”

Whatever was left of the wave of dread that threatened to drown Cormac had receded into something barely big enough to lap at his ankles. He assisted in quickly sorting through the pile of ‘sorted’ books, flipping through pages with Ixia and passing the tomes around the circle. An act that only managed to catch a small few.

The identification of everything else went only slightly better, in such a way that Cormac hardly looked out of place with his complete unfamiliarity with all things supernatural. Not that Ixia was faring too much better as she kept shooting her Guardian the occasional quick glance of utter confusion while trying and failing to identify various items that she could only guess came into existence sometime after she had fallen into her long sleep.

Her smile struggled to stay on her full lips as questions of just how long she had been asleep started to creep back into her head like a persistent rot that wouldn’t leave. She ventured a question, and immediately regretted asking. “How old…are all of these?”

“Some are very new.” Abha said as she held up a device that looked roughly comparable to a large needle with attached phial. Cormac would not describe it as a syringe, as that sounded too medical for something far too jagged and fearsome looking. “This couldn’t be older than a decade.”

“But this–” Akna used both hands to cradle an old, dark mirror in a silver frame that was carved into an odd organic design that was just beyond the recognition of any familiarity. “is very old indeed. At least three thousand years…with everything else she had here, the crushed obsidian…I’m surprised she would have this. Even in its case.” She placed it back in an ancient looking wooden box with faded black and yellow coloring, securing it with a weathered yet rust free latch before her tattooed fingers lingered on the box. “Forgive me, but I don’t think he will mind us wanting a touch more privacy given we are trying to help him.”

Cormac was nodding along, listening carefully and took a bit too long to realize that she had been addressing him specifically with that last line. It took him a further moment to glance to Ixia for some desperate hope of help, only to find that she was looking quite dejected. He reached a hand over to hers to gently squeeze it before putting on a face of indifference for Akna.

“Ohhh, it’s nothing really. But could I see that?” The redhead said, pointing to the box after piecing together that it was somehow important to him specifically. Akna immediately handed over the box to him with some noticeable deference and lowering of her eyes.

“My apologies, Guardian. I didn’t mean to be so rude…I suppose I didn’t realize how much it would mean to you.” The young lady looked genuinely remorseful, like she had accidentally used some outdated language that had evolved into a slur. None of the others saw anything else unusual with this, and even Gene gave a knowing nod. “I have only just met you, and I wasn’t conscious of your status.”

The Guardian in question had to endure through a smile as he took the ancient wooden box in hand and set it aside. He waved off her worries with a more genuine smile. “It’s fine! I’m not the best…” Ixia squeezed his hand. “-not the most traditional Guardian. I feel like sometimes…well I feel like I’m still figuring out what it even means to be a Guardian.”

“I completely understand.” Gene’s nod with crossed arms was as knowing as it was solemn. “It has only been through my association with my friends here that I believe I truly, finally started to ‘figure myself out’ as you would say. But you are even luckier than I. You could attempt to seek advice right from the top if you wanted.”

Cormac’s right hand had been resting on the wooden box, and the very moment that Gene pointed to it with some implication of ‘word from the top’ the human immediately removed his hand. He caught himself and turned the hand into a pointer finger to emphasize his agreement. “Yes! You are so, so right!”

Ed raised an eyebrow and set down an old rusted sword. “And you…believe you could get a straight answer out of the trickster god?”

The Guardian’s mouth ran dry while Ixia subtly tried nudging him several times before taking over. “I have seen him deal with many creatures born of madness and live to tell the tale!”

“An expert!” Itra exclaimed with some relief as she eased her posture. “We might have to call on you more after this whole…” She waved her hands around. “-situation is done with!....because I can appreciate the value of talking through a situation…instead of going right for violence?”

She was making no effort to hide how she was looking to Gene for some manner of approval, which the metal man returned with a sigh and a nod. Cormac only bit his tongue, offered a thumbs up, and left out that he was far from one to never resort to violence if the situation called for it.

Not that Ixia was one to stop him. But not that she was paying much attention either as she spied the book that she had remembered clearly from their looting of that pit of abominations. A large book that had been surrounded by crushed obsidian. She reached for it, picking it up with care as though it might bite her and held it up. “I believe this one is important!”