Jon enjoyed stepping on the crunchy grass again as the three of them entered the plaza.

“All I’m saying,” Milo tried to explain, “is that Jon might be a warrior but is he as strong and capable of a warrior as Hector is?”

Jon agreed with this as well. Hector was the more capable warrior in just about every way. Except for shooting.

“You’re always Hector this, Hector that,” Thalia responded. “Why don’t you just marry Hector if you want-”

Milo flew in front of Thalia, cutting off her path.

“I don’t want to marry him!” Milo exclaimed. “I want to beat him in the head! With my staff. Until he submits to my authority.!”

“You want his respect?” Thalia asked. “You have to give respect to earn respect.”

“I respect his strength!” Milos said. “Nothing else. He doesn’t do anything good for himself. It’s shameful. And he doesn’t even acknowledge my own strength.”

“Didn’t he literally fight you in a tournament?” Thalia said grumpily.

“I don’t see how that’s important,” Milo responded. “It doesn’t count. You should have seen the way he looked at me. Like I was a bug on his shoulder.”

Jon thought that Hector looked at everyone as if they were a bug.

“You want him to care about you more.” Thalia grimaced. “Tell him.”

“Tell him?” Milo floated in thought.

Thalia crossed her arm and tapped her foot.

“No!” Milo snapped back to the conversation. “I can’t ask him! He needs to figure it out for himself!”

“Do you want to talk about this over dinner?” Thalia asked him.

“No. I’m not even hungry.”

“You can come anyway,” Thalia told him.

“Why would I come to dinner if I’m not hungry? I’ll catch you hungry losers later.”

Milo floated higher in the air before flying away.

Jon waved, if not for the novelty of waving for someone who was flying away.

“Jackass,” Thalia muttered.

She looked at Jon. “Food?”

Jon nodded.

“Come on.” She skipped up ahead. Jon didn’t know where to go, let alone where the food was, so he was happy to follow her.

They walked up through the same entrance that both Mallory and Hector had entered before.

Jon stepped inside the large wooden doors.

The first thing Jon noticed was no windows. The library had a darkened feeling to it all. Yet there was a mysterious glow that kept everything alit.

Jon couldn’t tell if it was actually cold, or if it was just the dark atmosphere that gave him the chills.

As he expected, there were a ton of bookshelves everywhere. What made it different was placed. There was a more casual sense to them. They weren’t as tall as the ones in Hector’s house, but there always seemed to be one in arms reach.

The first thing Jon noticed was no windows. The library had a darkened feeling to it all. Yet there was a mysterious blue glow that seemed to keep everything alit.

Jon couldn’t tell if he was actually cold, or if it was just the dark atmosphere that gave him the chills.

As he expected, there were a ton of bookshelves everywhere. What made it different was their placement among the floor. There was a more casual sense to them. They weren’t as tall as the ones in Hector’s house, but there always seemed to be one in arms reach.

Thalia had slowed down her pace upon entering. Jon was glad, as he was taking his time while taking in his surroundings.

“How are you?” she asked suddenly.

Jon turned back from looking at a nearby bookcase.

“I’m okay,” Jon answered.

It was quite uncanny to have to give an answer for that. He had only seen her a couple of weeks ago, if even. The situation they were in was very different than now. Jon wanted to be happy that they weren’t in the same situation, but he also felt a small sense of dread inside his stomach.

Thalia had fought beside him against the other mercenaries, but in that case, he and his allies were doing most of the fighting while she assisted as a backup. Now, even in the city, she was fighting full-on, up close with other combatants. Jon wanted to think that this was the same as with Amalia, but Jon didn’t feel the same sense of responsibility with Amalia as he did with Thalia. He wasn’t how to trust in Thalia’s newfound strength and agency while also wanting her to stay out of fighting as much as possible.

When Thalia didn’t respond, Jon was worried she didn’t believe him. He didn't know how he was gonna bring any of this up to her, or if he should have.

“Do you like sandwiches?”

Jon nodded.

“Can I make you a sandwich?”

Jon nodded before he fully processed what was said.

“Let’s go!” She made large strides. Jon tried to keep up.

The Library had looked large from the outside, but Jon was starting to really get an idea of how far it went further and further they went inside. First, they passed over a large section that was round with no bookcases in the way. Above this was a second-level balcony that echoed the circle below it, and then a third and fourth, and so on.

Tall.

After this area, they walked until they passed a long rectangular table with several seats.

Seeing the table made Jon extra hungry. He couldn’t wait to see where the food would come in.

Eventually, they went to a door and Thalia knocked.

“Come in!” A shrill voice called.

Thalia turned the door handle and opened it.

Jon was nearly blinded by the inside of the room. He blinked several times until his eyes adjusted, then stepped through the door after Thalia.

Unlike the rest of the Library with its dim eerie glow, the room here was completely white, with tiles that lined the walls. In the middle of the room was an entire cooking setup, almost like a kitchen without walls. It was also large enough for several people to stand around.

To which there were. Jon didn’t know how surprised he’d feel to see other people. The Library had given him such an empty feeling walking through it all. They all wore thin white coats and puffy white hats, but one lady stood with the tallest hat of them all.

“Hi!” Thalia said, waving.

“Hi, princess!” the woman said. “What would you like to have-”

“She gets the same thing every day,” a man behind her said. He was leaning on the counter with his arms crossed.

The woman huffed.

“Two Thalia specials, please,” Thalia said.

“Two Thalia specials, coming up!” The man answered, sitting up. “No surprise there.”

The woman in the tall hat clearly didn’t favor the man’s words, but nether the less she joined the other cooks.

They worked in unison, each of them going to their spot among the two counters and pulling out either some food or some utensil.

“People,” Jon said.

“Yep!” Thalia nodded. “If you know where to look.”

The wait wasn’t terribly long. Jon didn’t know who to watch. While one cook was chopping a vegetable with a knife, another one was starting a fire on the stove.

The man who had spoken out earlier was using a large bowl and tossing meat inside of it with some breading. The woman with the tall hat had received some more meat from one of the other cooks, and she was bringing it to the already lit stove.

Jon admired the functionality of the group, and how they were each able to fulfill their task and work together. It was something he hoped to accomplish for his own group one day.

“We could bring it to you,” the outspoken cook said from his station.

“It’s okay,” Thalia said. “I’ll wait.”

“Then try not to drool while you watch!” He carried the bowl over to the woman cook, who moved over so that he adds more meat to another pan.

What are they making?

Jon almost felt bad that there was so much happening just to make two meals. In the end, he saw what their final product was.

There were two towering sandwiches on their own individual plates. One sandwich was probably the size of Jon’s upper arm. In between the slices of bread were a clump of several different colors of meat, cheese, and veggies. all of which Jon had trouble making out.

It looked like a bit of a mess, but in a way, that also made it look more appealing. Jon almost felt guilty because he was thinking about this more than about Charlotte’s cooking.

“Serve ‘em up!” the outspoken cook said as the women and another cook brought the plates to Jon and Thalia. Jon grabbed ahold his plate with two hands. He was afraid of the sandwich toppling over, so he tried his best to stay steady.

“Thank you,” Thalia said to the women cook. Jon assumed that the tall hat on the woman meant that she was the head of the cooking team.

“Of course, always, princess!” the woman responded.

“It’s our job,” the outspoken cook added.

Now, the woman cook turned around with a scowl on her face.

“What?” he shrugged. “I hope they like it. They’re gonna like it. She gets the same sandwich every time…”

Thalia walked out of the room, and Jon followed, hoping to get out of there as quickly as possible before the woman cook responded to the man since it didn’t look like she was gonna say anything nice.

The two of them trotted over to the long table before taking a seat opposite each other. The table had space for one seat at the other two ends, so while Jon sat across from her, she was still incredibly close to him.

As soon as they sat down, Thalia picked up the sandwich and dug into it, her face disappearing behind the tower of food.

It was quite a scene to watch. Thalia may have been smaller than him, but she was really getting to work on her meal.

Mana-usage, right. Jon nodded. Today was a fight, and maybe that made her even hungrier than usual. He got ready to take a bite himself.