Finnian did not doubt that, as soon as he managed to relax, he would be able to sleep almost like any other day, but it wouldn’t be until they cleared up a couple of things impossible to postpone. Blanche had folded her arms, looking at him sternly while Ark remained static on the ground in front of her. The colour of his fur had returned to its initial pink, though it still gave off a reddish glow, traces of the power he stole from the armour-elthean. His partners had not reverted in level, aware that they were not free from danger.

“Is this how it’s going to be? You give the orders and me having to obey without being able to complain?” Blanche said.

“When haven’t you ever complained about anything?” Finnian replied. “We’ve only been together a couple of days, and there’s always something to criticize. You’re never happy or agree with what the rest of us say.”

“Did you ask my opinion?” Blanche said, raising her voice and clenching her fists.

“By Titanus, this is like talking to a wall,” Finnian exclaimed, letting out a snort. “How are we going to put all our cards on the table if someone refuses to talk to us?”

The problem was not only Kali but one of them. Because the fairy talked with Blanche and no one else made a good communication path more complicated. She might have been with her group for a short period, but the other Signer changed her attitude as soon as she was around, for whatever reason. If Ead had no qualms about speaking to whoever was around him, what inconvenience would she have to continue with such an attitude?

“She’s shy!” Blanche exclaimed, leaning closer to him.

“Come on! She wasn’t as soon as she took energy from me without my consent,” Finnian said, matching her tone of voice and facing her.

“Is that what your anger is about? Has it hurt your pride that a fairy achieved what others have not?”

Finnian had never been in a fight where fists were involved. It was enough to look away and focus on his own business for the rest of the world to stop paying attention to him. There were rare occasions when he argued with someone like that, but it was only after hearing those two questions that he felt like slapping her, especially to remove that smirk of arrogance that characterized Blanche so much. Instead, he let out a laugh, aware that it would drive her out of her mind.

“Don’t you understand how serious it is to force something without their consent?” Finnian said.

“She saved us. I think the end justifies the means,” Blanche defended herself.

“You’re even more stupid than I had imagined.”

Then he was the one who got slapped in the face.

“Really?” Finnian snorted, aware that his friends were watching the discussion closely, as tense as he was. “Who do you think you are, Blanche?

“Did you expect me not to defend myself against the ‘great and powerful Finnian’?”

“Wow, that’s the key, isn’t it?”

A twinkle in Blanche’s eye revealed that he was not so far wrong. With a tingling sensation running through the area where he was hit, Finnian bit his lip, uttering a smile. He was exhausted, more in need than ever of uninterrupted sleep, but he was awake and overly alert.

“Does it bother you so much that the roles are reversed?” Finnian said, raising both eyebrows. “Me being the storm, always under the spotlight, and you being a mere secondary.”

“Is that what you think?” Blanche said, keeping a serious look on her face.

“You don’t deny it, so I guess I’ve hit the nail on the head.”

“You’re insufferable.”

“Well, now the insults are starting,” Finnian said, rolling his eyes.

“You’re the one who started this, even if you don’t have exclusivity in everything that happens to us,” she replied.

Who had the brilliant idea of turning them both into Signers when their relationship could not be one of the equals, no matter how hard they tried?

“What do you want, Blanche?” Finnian said, losing patience with an argument that had no end.

“To begin with? To stop being a constant reminder of how “special” you are. Nobody looks at me next to you, not even the damn Lord of Calamity,” Blanche said.

“And I’d love to have a fluffy bed where no one bothers me, but unfortunately, we’re not always going to get what we want,” Finnian replied sarcastically.

“Guys, enough of this nonsense,” Ead began to say.

“Are we supposed to team up?” Blanche said.

“But not like on Earth. You know, where I did the work, and you took credit for it. Or is that what you wanted? To leave the hard part to us and then take the credit for it?”

Once again, Blanche tried to slap him while clenching her jaw. However, unlike on the previous occasion, he grabbed her arm, stopping her.

“You have to hit me to shut me up. The first one I didn’t see coming but try it one more time, and you’ll get to know me,” Finnian said, speaking so she could understand him easily.

“That’s enough.”

This time it was not the hummingbird that intervened, but Aer. The seriousness of both his voice and his gaze made him feel as if he were being punished. Yet they were in the middle of nowhere, arguing loud so that anyone could hear them. They might have dodged a problem, but they were screaming for others to come to them.

“Are you going to tell us where we’ve ended up?” Leith said, pointing to the fairy hiding behind her friend.

“She’s not sure,” Blanche hesitated.

Teleportation was complicated because of the effort it required or the magic needed to perform it. Kali was used to it, but she couldn’t compare moving herself to all of them. The size of those she was transporting had an impact, and although she supposed the distance was sufficient to get them out of the Ikeleia, it was not the time to continue moving in the middle of the night.

“We’ll camp here. We’ll rest for a few hours, and tomorrow we’ll look for a village or town to set up in,” Finnian said, looking at the others, then focusing on her. “If that’s all right with you, of course. “

“It’s not like we have anywhere else to go,” Blanche said.

However, they would not set up the tent or a campfire. They had caused enough noise to alert those who lived nearby. With the light of day, they would see everything with different eyes. After a moment of searching, they soon noticed a slight slope where they could take refuge or not be in sight of anyone with night vision. As soon as the elthean reversed their evolution, a sigh of relief filled their ears, though it came from the other Signo.

“Don’t give me that face. Do you think it’s easy for me to be around you?” Blanche said, and when she saw that he didn’t answer, she clicked her tongue, “Why do you think Kali prefers only to talk to me?”

“Do you really want me to answer that?” Finnian said.

He had a couple of answers ready, though none of them would please her.

“She’s scared of you. Maybe you can hide or contain all that energy inside you, but it’s enough to see you fight not to know what’s going to happen,” Blanche said.

“I’m pretty open, and you’re the one who’s been making things difficult since we met,” Finnian said.

“You keep answering the same thing, but you don’t tell everything,” Blanche said. “You have your secrets, and I have mine. If she doesn’t want to talk to you, I won’t force her.”

“It seems fair to me.”

Maybe that discussion was over, but it had shown the lack of trust that existed between the two of them. It was due to more than just the problems of their homeworld, but their current differences.

“You can’t change what others think, only the way you react,” Aer reminded him.

It was far from a reproach but a piece of advice in which the rest agreed. In Galya, he was taught that many would try to use him, but there was a new perspective Finnian had not considered until now, or not entirely. How his power affected others even when he did not intend to, especially if they did not know how to assimilate such differences.

“Your actions speak for you. Your actions speak for you. Some may fear you, there will always be someone like that, but not everyone will see you like that,” Rune said.

“There are no such people in your world?” Leith said.

There were influential people, ordinary people who just wanted to live their lives. So far, Finnian had been the latter, but he didn’t see himself as someone who would change the world because he had other plans. He had an ancestral mission, a purpose, and he intended to stick to it. However, there would be elthean who just wanted to live their lives, despite the problems that were going on.

“Then stay calm. You’re careful, and you’re trying hard. Focus on that and what’s ahead,” Nero said.

“Besides, I think I have an idea of how to find out where we are,” Ead added, “but we’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”

“Now I’m going to be thinking about what idea you’ve come up with. Haven’t you ever felt that you couldn’t sleep that way either?” Aer said.

“Not even an advance? A glimpse?” Finnian asked.

“Patience is a virtue, my friends. Besides, a little sun and rest will make you see everything differently,” Ead said.

Finnian wanted to comment on something else, but he didn’t quite know what to add when it came to Blanche. How could he trust someone who didn’t see him as her equal just because she felt inferior? That was a problem the Signer herself would have to solve independently. Although something Finnian could do to improve their relationship, couldn’t he? But, as the frionach said, nothing they could solve for the moment and a few hours of rest would do wonders for them if they could sleep without being surprised by someone again, which had become a dangerous habit.