{-Llewel-}

He didn’t always mind when Zetai and Reynneak left for the real world. They always made sure that they were at a camp or an inn before leaving, and he was fine with using the time they were gone to rest. But there were some times, like this one, where he couldn’t help but feel like there was something else he should be doing. Myr, after sleeping for a while, seemed to share the feeling.

“When do you think they’re going to come back?” she prompted.

Llewel shrugged. “How am I supposed to know? Sometimes they’re gone for half an hour, sometimes a couple, and occasionally for a whole day. I’m assuming they’ll be back soon, but there’s really no way of telling.”

Cahacu, meanwhile, ignored the conversation they had to say, “I think that’s a good place to put it! All they said was that they wanted it in the center. I’d say if they want it identical to everyone else’s then they can do it themselves.”

The twins carefully put the table down, then went on to what they had to move next. Since both of them needed something to do, they’d offered to help Cahacu move things around in an old room. She mentioned something about the developers hoping to use it for an event they were going to be running soon.

“I don’t think I can thank you guys enough, by the way,” she remarked when they went on to move the chairs. “Yullun… isn’t really the best person to help with these kinds of things and I couldn’t imagine doing it on my own and getting it done on time.”

“We helped Idihu do stuff like this all the time in Nafrius,” Myr replied casually. “It’s not really a problem.”

“Well, keep up the good work! I asked Yullun to get you two a treat for all the hard work you’ve been doing. I know you’ll like it—it might not do a lot of healing but it sure does taste good!”

Llewel gave a thankful nod and small smile, though quickly went back to what he was doing. He knew they’d need to stop as soon as Zetai and Reynneak returned; if they weren’t done already, he wanted it to be close enough that Cahacu didn’t have a problem finishing it on her own.

They finished up all of the big stuff by the time Yullun came, offering them a small box.

She smiled and said, “Don’t fight over it, now. There’s four in there, two chocolate and two glazed. It looks like you’ve got a lot done while I was gone; Haksima’s got plenty more and I’m sure Cahacu would agree that you’d deserve more if you wanted them.”

Llewel cautiously opened it up to see the donuts carefully placed inside of it. Myr grabbed her two, proclaimed her thanks, then devoured them. He made a point to eat slower but was clear in his thanks as well.

Cahacu smiled. “I guess this wasn’t something you had a lot in Nafrius, huh?”

“Fininri gave some to us sometimes,” Myr said. “He didn’t usually have a lot, though. We didn’t have the coins to spare to afford it, and we didn’t really talk to him unless we needed to for some reason.”

“Better question,” Llewel began, observing his second donut, “how did you know we were in Nafrius before this?”

“Well, there’s only so many places you could be!” Cahacu laughed. “No one’s ever seen you two before, and it’s not like you’ve got the experience to show that you came from somewhere else. It’s pretty obvious to guess when that’s the only other place that it could be.”

As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t believe it. He kept thinking about what Isralla said, about how certain people were close to the developers. While it made some things more confusing, it also answered questions; it would explain his feeling, at least, that Duuzlo knew much more than he would ever tell. Isralla’s own comment before making them leave the library was enough to confirm that part of Llewel’s suspicion.

But he didn’t mention anything more on the topic, instead prompting, “We’ve moved most of the big stuff, is there something else you’d like us to do?”

Cahacu gave the room an appraising scan. “Yep, that seems to pretty much do it. That matches the description they were going for as much as we can make it, anyway. I can hang up those posters on my own.” She glanced back at them and smiled. “How about you two take a walk around while you wait for your friends? I’ll tell them that you’re out. I’m assuming as long as you stay in the city, it won’t be too hard to find you.”

Myr gave Llewel the most hopeful of looks. “Can we? We still haven’t had a lot of time to look around—we’ve always had some sort of quest we needed to do.”

“It won’t hurt,” he decided with a nod. “But we should probably stay close, so that we’re easy to find when they come…”

With that decided, they’d waved goodbye to Cahacu and Yullun before wandering into the streets. Myr, naturally, was the lead; Llewel simply followed behind and held her hand so she didn’t go too far. Luckily it was one of the slower times—there weren’t that many players, so they didn’t need to fight their way through anyone.

That also meant that they were more likely to hear what would have otherwise been lost in a large crowd.

“You know they’re here, don’t you?” It was Zuradu’s voice.

“I’m not bothering you. Just leave me alone.” And that was the girl from before… Kyrenise.

Llewel had to hold Myr’s hand tighter when she threatened to get away from him. “It sounds like she’s in trouble, we need to help her!”

“We can’t just go out there,” he reasoned. “We don’t know what we’d be getting ourselves into, or if we’ll be able to get ourselves out of it.”

That voice, though, threatened to destroy any sense of reason he had. “I said I wasn’t—”

“Oh, Cassy, do you really think that’s going to work on me? I know what you’re trying to do. For all the hard work your father did for you, I would think you would be trying to preserve that work, not destroy it. You’re getting in our way and you know what happens when you do that…”

“Myr-Myr, you’re never going to hear me say this again, but screw reason. I’ve got to do something.” Llewel, before giving himself time to think about it, rushed to where they were. Myr was close behind him, and he made sure to stand between her and Zuradu.

Zuradu’s frown deepened when he saw them. “Of course you show up right when I have nothing to apprehend you with. You know you’re causing quite the trouble for all of us. Why don’t you make this easier for everyone and come along with me now?”

“All we want is for you to get away from her,” Llewel said calmly. “I don’t care what I have to do as long as you back off.”

That didn’t seem to faze him at all; it was the girl’s comment that made a clear impact. “You’re probably getting paid by the hour, aren’t you? They can’t fire you. They barely have enough people on the team as it is. So really, would it hurt anyone if you simply said they got away and tried again some other time..?”

“I can’t believe I agree with a sixteen-year-old’s logic…” Zuradu sighed. “Fine, you win. But I’d really advise you not to stay here long… I’m the least of your worries if they realize you’re interacting with each other.” He walked away without another word.

The girl looked relieved, at first, then let out a noise of surprise when Llewel hugged her.

“I’m glad you’re okay…” The next word, one he’d never intended to say, came so naturally. “Casrane.”

Nothing could’ve hidden her mixed surprise and joy when he stepped back. “Do you remember me, then..?”

He shook his head, managing a small smile despite himself. “Not really. But that name… it’s enough of a start, isn’t it?”

She smiled too. “It definitely is. But… I really shouldn’t stay here long. They think me being around you is going to make things worse. It looks like things are already so bad now, I don’t want them to get worse…” She took a deep breath. “There’s just one thing I want to tell you before I—”

“There you two are!” Zetai walked up next to Myr, Reynneak close behind her. “Cahacu said you went out, so we came to find you.” She noticed Casrane and prompted, “Who’s this?”

Casrane stepped back. “I should get going. I don’t want to risk another close call like that again. Just one warning: keep an eye on Zuradu. You don’t want him sending anything to anyone; stop him before he has a chance to tell the others what’s going on.”

“Wait—” But Llewel’s attempts were pointless, since she’d gone into a run almost immediately.

“Did you know her?” Reynneak asked.

“Yeah,” Myr sighed, “but we don’t remember her.”