What’s up with him? I hope it’s not going to be a problem.

“Lincoln!” Hector called, waving the boy towards him. The festival had started in earnest; laughter and the smells of various foods filled the air as music bounced around. His friend spotted him and jogged over.

“Hello everyone, sorry I’m late. I got caught up with some stuff with my mom.”

Hector narrowed his eyes. The boy was lying, but why? If it was something to do with his mom, why was he looking over his shoulder? Sure, he could have bumped into someone on the way over—unlikely, given the fact that he was in the second level of Gravity Forging realm—but then why did he look so worried?

Everyone greeted him.

“Is everything alright with your mom?” Hector asked, noticing Mr. Pennybrook step out of the stall with a rather happy-looking couple. Marcus and Delworth were behind him. Whatever Lincoln was lying about, it could wait till later.

Marcus and his cousin said something to Mr. Pennybrook before making their way over to the group. “How are you doing, you two?” Lincoln said, reaching forward to shake their hands. Odd.

Since when did he shake hands? Oh, what has he done? I just hope it isn’t serious.

The two boys shook his hand, looking him over with some confusion. “What took you so long?” Marcus asked.

“Not much, just something to do with my mom.”

“Oh, I hope everything is alright,” Marcus said.

“Ah, it seems you’ve all arrived,” Mr. Pennybrook said, walking over. “I guess that means that you will all be off to drum up some business.”

It was an excuse they had all agreed on. They couldn’t tell Marcus’s father that they were going to go out and pickpocket. At least, not if they actually wanted to leave the stall. So, instead, it had been decided that they would go out and drum up some business for the stall. A small lie. But it wouldn’t raise too many questions, and Mr. Pennybrook was a businessman—he would never turn down free advertising.

“Yeah, we were just about to head out,” Hector said, resting his hands on Mirae’s shoulders. “Is there space in the back for her to get to work?”

Mr. Pennybrook smiled, nodding his head as he looked around the festival. “I’ve already set up the table and put all the food out. She should be fine.”

“That’s good to hear. Alright, Mirae, I’m going to get going now. You be good, okay?” Hector placed his hand on her back and gently pushed her towards the stall. She looked back at him with some hesitation, but eventually smiled. He would—if everything went well—be back soon.

Mr. Pennybrook nodded at him and led Mirae inside. As the two entered the stall, Hector turned to his friends. Marcus and Jodie had a faint look of trepidation; Nyx, Emela, and Delworth looked unbothered. And Lincoln—even though he tried to hide it—looked worried.

It wasn’t what Hector was hoping for; it wasn’t what he needed. Some of his friends seemed worried about what they had to do, while the others seemed unconcerned. At least no one had said anything about calling the entire thing off.

“Well, alright then,” Hector said, scanning the festival. He spotted a few city guards dressed in their white robes embroidered with gold. The sigil of a lion was emblazoned on their chest. In their hands, they carried long polearms—perfect for keeping enemies at a distance. But with each guard on average being at Gravity Forging three, it was a bit overkill. After all, they could tear the standard mortal apart with their bare hands.

“If you guys just give me a moment, I need to think,” Hector said, closing his eyes, “and as soon as I’m done, we can all head to our respective areas.”

Within himself, he reached for the [Street Reader] Talent. He found it, grabbed it, and tugged. Within his mind’s eye, a pulse of energy rushed from him, illuminating the area, showing him the makeup of the crowd and the movement of people.

Hector saw the ebb and flow, the bulging of groups and the scattering of others. He picked his targets and mapped them. Eventually, he opened his eyes, knowing where he’d go first. “Alright, we all know where we’re going, right?”

They all nodded, aside from—rather predictably—Delworth. The boy was a new addition, so it made sense. But where would he send him? Delworth couldn’t act alone; that would put him and them at risk. Several cheers rang out, and Jodie looked off, enthralled by what she was seeing. She—given her brash personality—and Marcus would probably need a bit more help. He would go with them.

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“Marcus, I want you to take your cousin with you. It should make things easier on you and Jodie.”

Jodie’s head snapped to Hector. “What? I don’t want to babysit him. He’ll just slow me down.”

“Oh, come now...” Emela said, regarding her with a frown. “Show some tact; he’s right here. And I’m sure he’ll complement your duo rather well.”

“I don’t see you volunteering to take him along,” Jodie bit back.

Emela locked her jaw and turned away, watching whatever was going on a few stalls down. Hector shook his head. Delworth could be a liability, but he had faith that Marcus could mitigate that. Jodie, for all her complaining, would help in that regard.

Marcus and Delworth both nodded, while Jodie grumbled beneath her breath as she continued to pick confetti out of her hair. She was going to have a long day if she didn’t give up with that endeavor.

“Alright, before I let you guys go,” Hector said, looking into each of their eyes, hoping—no matter how small—that he was giving off some form of confidence. “I want to ask one more time: does anyone feel that they should back out?”

Lincoln looked like he wanted to say something. But in the end, he turned his head to the side, not speaking up. The rest of them nodded. Delworth was the only one that looked a little excited—he probably still didn’t grasp the gravity of what he was doing.

“There is no point getting cold feet after this,” Hector said. He paused as some guards walked by—they were more than a few feet from them, but you could never be too cautious. Especially around Mana-cultivators. “I want to make sure you are all ready.”

“We are, Hector,” Emela said, smiling at him. Her smile achieved the effect he’d hoped his own had. It made him feel more assured of what he was about to do.

“Okay, then I will see you all soon. Oh, and one more thing,” Hector moved over to the side of the stall, reaching down behind a nook, pulling out a sack. Inside were the masks. He walked back over to his friends and began handing them out. “I picked yours, Jodie.” He handed her a red and yellow mask—an unusual coincidence given what she was picking out of her hair.

“Thanks,” she said. She didn’t look pleased, nor upset. It was just as he’d hoped; she didn’t care what she wore, only that it was effective—he loved her practicality sometimes.

“Marcus and Lincoln picked the masks out for both of you,” he said, handing Nyx and Emela a mask each. Nyx nodded, accepting the pure black, featureless mask, while Emela seemed pleased with her blue and white mask with various shapes running along its edges.

Lincoln took his green one, and Marcus and Delworth both went for a simple white, featureless mask. Overall, the designs were quite good. “Now that we are all equipped,” Hector said, “I’ll see you guys around. If anything happens, we should regroup here.”

The group dispersed. Hector, with Lincoln at his side, moved to the west section of the festival. They picked through the crowd, dodging dancers and festival-goers alike. Finally, after a few minutes, they reached their spot.

Lincoln pulled on his mask, slipping the string around his ruffled hair with a grunt. “Well, I guess we just have to find our targets now,” he said, his voice muffled.

“I’ve already got a spot,” Hector said, slipping on his own—the mysterious ray design had grown on him in recent days. He hoped the pickpocketing operation would go off without a hitch, so the mask wouldn’t become evidence against him. Even though he’d agreed that this was his world now, it would still be nice to have something that reminded him of earth.

“You have? Well, come on then, let’s head over. I’ll go first.”

Hector nodded, taking the lead, with Lincoln trailing behind as they made their way past people. The west side of the festival was predominantly a restaurant area—unlike the center where Marcus’s father’s stall was, which was a mix of everything. In this area, people wanted to eat, so they were going to be more ready with their purse. Not good. But he had to make it work.

The talent had shown a good swell right around here. I hope Lincoln will notice it and take advantage of it.

“This it?” Lincoln said, stopping next to him. They stood next to another stall, much like Marcus’ fathers. It was more like a shop. People—clearly seen through the glassless wooden window frames—sat inside eating. “Are you sure that this is a good spot?”

“Yeah, just give it a moment.” Hector steeled his gaze and waited. Watching. He noted a father and son walk by. The father was lecturing his child similar to the way Hector’s own father did to him. We do good because it’s far too easy to do evil, his father would say.

Then why doesn’t this feel easy? I’m about to ruin someone’s day, and that’s wrong. But I have no other choice.

As the crowd continued to build, a frown came to Hector’s lips. What would it be like to come here with his family? What would it be like to have enough money to just enjoy this place and not worry about anything?

His father rarely spoke of the past. But from the faint memories Hector had, it had been better. His mom was around. He’d probably been one of these families at some point. But now. Now he was the type to ensure that today would be one of disappointment for them. The laughter of a couple broke him from his thoughts; he looked towards them.

Lincoln nudged him. “Well, it’s time to get this started,” he said, gesturing towards the growing crowd—it was just as Hector had seen with his Talent. “Wish me luck, and if this goes wrong, remember, I told you so.” The boy chuckled.

Hector playfully slapped him on the back as he slinked away into the thickening mass. It was time; no going back now. What had brought him to this moment? What had he done? Sure, he organized this, but was there something that could have been done before now? Could he have prevented his dad owing the Collar gang money? Hector lost Lincoln as he disappeared like smoke into the cluster of people.

Hector took a step back, leaning against the restaurant stall’s beam. He couldn’t have done anything before now. He wasn’t the same person, after all. No. He was someone else, someone weaker. But he’d changed, he was changing, and soon he wouldn’t ever have to do something as pathetic as this again.

It was weak of him to steal from these innocents. But it would be just this once; perhaps in the future, when he was strong enough, he could repay them—though would he even feel he needed to by then?