"Alright, that's all for tonight," Jannette finally declares, more than a hundred ticks after last bell. I open my eyes and take a deep breath, feeling a bit lightheaded after meditating for so long. And sleepy... Then I shake myself to get some energy back in my limbs.

"Ok, Aria, wonderful job holding still for so long," Jannette suddenly praises me and rubs my head, while turning to Irene. "Now, I know how short we are on time for this order, so if you could leave the dress here overnight, I can get some more work done on it. Come back first thing tomorrow morning, because I still have a lot to do."

"Alright," Irene agrees, but...

"U-umm, I'm sorry. I have to go to church tomorrow morning," I tell her.

"Church?"

I scratch my cheek. "Also, I'm sort of supposed to go to the doctor after that... But I can come here as soon as I can!"

Jannette frowns a little. "Hmm, I can understand not missing a visit with your doctor, but church? I wouldn't expect a girl your age to be so religious."

"No, it's not that," I quickly wave my hands. Well alright, she's not wrong, but that's not the point. "It's just, I'd get in a lot of trouble if I didn't go."

"Trouble?" She looks over at Irene, who can only shrug.

"Huh, I forgot to ask, how does Eryk actually know Aria?" Jannette finally asks the question, like she's thinking aloud, but Irene answers anyway.

"That's somewhat... complicated. Let's just say Aria is a business associate that he's been taking care of."

"You mean a relative of a business associate?" Jannette must think she misspoke, but Irene shakes her head. "At her age? Isn't that a little..."

Irene shrugs once more. "It isn't really my place to question, and he has shown her an uncharacteristic amount of care for her, so I'm not too concerned."

"Huh, Eryk has...? In that case, where are you from?" she asks me. "Why are your parents so strict about church?"

I wince, and she frowns worriedly at the look. After taking a deep breath, I admit, "I'm an orphan. I have to go to church because Karl Liffan demanded we all go to church on Shanadays, for some reason."

"Oh." I watch her face skip through a whole range of emotions, before she settles on a faintly concerned frown, and clears her throat.

"If it's at the order of a noble, there isn't any helping it. Still, an orphan? Doesn't that make her a..." She directs the last part of the question at Irene, who nods stiffly.

"Yes," I sigh out. "I'm a peasant..."

"Oh my, I never would have guessed..." I'm just glad she doesn't sound mad about it. And that she isn't kicking me out of her shop...

"I guess I'll have to go to Eryk's place after the doctor's, so I can change. I know I can't come here in my normal clothes..." That's going to be a whole extra trip across the central district, when I'm already holding her up...

"Oh, never mind that," Jannette suddenly waves it off. "Just come to the back door."

I blink at her. "R-really?"

The woman plants her hands on her hips and says, "We have far too much work to get done to send a child your size walking back and forth across town for no good reason."

"Oh... Thanks..." How can she be so unfazed by this? This is such a high class shop, for her to be fine with me showing up dressed like a peasant... I've been kicked out of shops half as classy as this on sight before...

"No problem." She smiles at me warmly, and helps me down off the high box, then her and Irene carefully help me out of the yellow dress, because it turns out to have a ton of tiny pins and needles stuck through it all over. Working together, they manage to lift it off without stabbing me, then Jannette carries it off into the connected room in the back while Irene gets me dressed again.

We share a warm goodbye, and then leave the shop. It's clear that they're already closed on our way out, Chlea isn't at the counter, the front of the shop is completely dark and empty, and I hear the distinct latch of the lock closing after Jannette shuts the door behind us.

"Alright Aria, let's get you changed, then on your way home. It's already very late." Once we arrive back at Eryk's house, Irene is quick to get me out of the nice dress, and back into my peasant clothes that I showed up wearing this morning. Once I'm standing in the entryway, ready to leave, she looks down at me and purses her lips.

"Kristene and John have already left for the night. I would have sent one of them with you since it's so late... I suppose I'll have to go with you in their stead."

"What? No, I'm fine!" I immediately try to reject the offer. Someone of her class walking in that section of town would just be asking for trouble!

"Nonsense, Aria. You can't expect me to let a young child walk all the way across town alone, in the middle of the night, can you?"

I know I can't tell her that humans can't harm me unless I let them, so I try something else. "That's not the problem. No one bothers me because I don't have anything to steal. You'd definitely attract thieves if they saw you." It's not like she can fight, like John can. I could protect her on the way north, but she would still need to make the trip back on her own, and that's just way too dangerous.

The problem is she doesn't know I'm safe on my own and thinks I need a guard. But she's the one who actually needs one!

Despite my protests, some part of me knows there's no way to convince her. Irene just doesn't listen to me about things like this.

My solution though...

Just as she's starting to turn, looking for something to put over her dress because it's starting to get pretty cold at night, I shout. "Don't worry I'll be fine bye!" I rush straight out the door without waiting an instant for a response.

"A-Aria!" Irene half gasps, half yells after me, and I can hear the clack of her shoes on the floor as she dashes for the door behind me.

Gathering my mana, I kick off hard, flying all the way across the street in a flash of motion, to skid and duck into a shadow behind the edge of a tiny shrub, far too small to expect it to hide anything. I stay low as Irene flings the door open moments after me, taking a couple steps out to scan back and forth across the seemingly empty street.

"What in the..." I barely hear her speaking at this distance. "She's... gone? How...?" After a few more moments staring around in a stupor at my apparent disappearance, she brings her hands up to her face and groans. "Ugh, she can be such a brat sometimes! I just hope she's safe..."

Alright, she's right that just running out on her is pretty childish, but... but she never listens! I'm seven, I can be childish if I want! Normal kids get to! "Hmph," I grumble to myself as I watch her shake her head sadly and go back inside.

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"Mmm..." I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a little guilty, as I stand back up and start on my way home. Whatever, as long as Irene is safe. I already know getting home on my own won't be a problem.

In fact... apart from the chilly air, this is really nice. I never get to walk around outside at night, so I really enjoy myself. The empty roads, deep shadows stretching in every direction as the only light comes from the nearly full moon just beginning to edge up over the town's east wall. Well, the shadows all around make some uncomfortable feeling surface, but I can't really place why. I don't have any reason to be afraid of the dark, do I? It's so nice and comfortable, especially under the moonlight.

Pushing away that one little nag of worry, I head to the central plaza, then it's a straight shot up North Main Street. But I don't get far before I hear approaching footsteps. Then, a man's voice calls to me. "Hey, little girl, isn't it a bit late for you to be out here?"

My eyes scan across the darkness, only picking the figure out by his movement as he comes off a side street. Forcing myself to not sound defensive or suspicious, I just say, "I'm going home." As the man enters the street a short distance away, I still can't get much of a look at him. Even out of the shadows, he's wearing a big cloak over his clothes, so I can't even tell what class he is. It hides his face in shadow too, so I can't tell much apart from his strong chin, with some stubble on it. I don't even know if he's armed...

"Don't you know it's dangerous for kids your age to walk around alone? Especially this late at night, what are your parents thinking? You'll get snatched up by kidnappers before you know it!" When he mentions that, I barely keep myself from glaring up at him. He isn't about to try something, is he? I am not getting kidnapped again.

"Here, I'll walk you home," he suddenly offers. "Keep anyone dangerous away."

Don't you know you seem dangerous...? "I'm fine," I try to tell him, but like all adults, he clearly isn't about to listen to me. Not when I look like a four year old walking alone at night...

"I couldn't sleep at night, letting a girl your age walk off into the dark. Just want to make sure you get home safe," he assures me.

Hiding my irritation and suspicion, I keep walking. I don't glance at him or anything as he keeps pace beside me, trying to make it look like I'm not so on guard. I keep my extra sensitive ears trained on him though, taking in every swish of fabric and scuff of his boots. And yes, that faint clink of metal at his waist indicates he is armed under his cloak. It's too small a sound for a sword, so probably a knife or dagger...

What does he want from me...? All dark and mysterious like that, he couldn't possibly actually just want to take me home... right?

We move in silence, and I have to remind myself repeatedly to keep my shoulders from tensing. Then he speaks. "So, where do you live?"

Of course I don't want to answer that, but he's about to follow me there anyway... "The orphanage, all the way at the north end of town."

"An orphan you say? I never would have guessed, looking at you. I'm sorry for your loss."

"My loss?" I don't get it.

"Your parents?"

"Oh," I shake my head. "I never knew my parents."

"That's... really too bad," he says consolingly, and pats me on the head. I don't flinch at his touch, but I wait extra cautiously in case he makes any other moves, the contact will let me knock him out before he can so much as pull that knife. But he doesn't do anything, and draws back his hand soon enough.

"So, what kept you out so late anyway?" he asks after another short pause. Do I tell him? It's not like getting a dress matters or anything, right?

"I was getting a dress made."

"Oh really, a dress? What kind?"

What does he mean, what kind? "A yellow dress," is the only answer I can immediately think of.

"The... yellow kind. Huh." Was that not the answer he was looking for? "And this dress, what's it for?"

The more questions he asks, the more suspicious I get. Why does he even care about me getting a dress made? I know it's weird for an orphan, but still... "A party."

"Oh really?" I can hear the exaggerated surprise in his tone. "What kind of party? A big one?"

Actually... I'm not sure. Kathy, Irene, and even the other women at the shops we went to seemed to be mentioning how the party will be a pretty big one, but I don't have any reference for what's a big and small party. And besides, I don't want to mention the exact party, because I don't want to give this suspicious man any names of anyone connected to me. It just feels like a bad idea.

For my answer... "I don't know, I've never been to a party before."

"Really? They're great. Music, dancing, food... I'm sure you'll have a great time." So... he's been to a party? Just knowing about them like that, he must at least be a vulgant...

"Wow, that sounds fun. Why are you out so late?" He isn't the only one who can ask questions.

"Oh, me? On my way home from work."

"Work? What do you do?"

"Logging." Does he think I'm stupid? The gates closed more than four hundred ticks ago, he could have made it home anywhere in town in that much time, but he was only as far south as the central plaza? No, I have to remind myself after my initial, annoyed thought. He just thinks I'm too young to know better.

Well, he might have stopped at a bar like where Emily works. That's always a possibility, but still... "Anyway, what do you normally get up to?" So he's turning the topic back on me...

"Well, at the orphanage, we mostly go gathering in the forest." I don't want to mention anything about Eryk, so I choose my words carefully at first. But then I get another idea. "I also like talking to my friends."

"Friends? Like who?"

No names... "Well, I have a bunch of different friends, and then they have friends too, and we all talk a whole bunch, and it's really fun." I try to kind of babble it out, like I remember Thelia doing. Don't want to sound too smart for the age he expects me to be.

He goes quiet for a little while, and I try to pick up my pace a little, without being too obvious about it. "Well, that all sounds quite nice," he finally continues, and I prepare myself for another round of suspicious questions. But he still manages to jump on something I'm not ready for. "So, I couldn't help but notice your white hair. That's a really unique color. You know who else has hair that color?"

I already know, but don't want to say it. "Who?"

"Catherine Lundrum."

I try to play dumb. "Oh, that's... that angel lady?"

He chuckles. "Yes, the angel lady. With your hair, do you think you're related?"

I shrug, trying to sound like I don't care. "Don't know."

"Huh, guess you wouldn't, little one." He pats me on the head, but again, it's just a simple gesture and he doesn't do anything else suspicious or dangerous.

Maybe... Maybe I should try reading his mind? I finally think of that option. It would tell me for sure what he's up to. But he's already pulled his hand away, and I'm not about to touch him for no good reason... Even if it feels wrong, he's being so creepy and suspicious, I don't think I'd even feel that bad about it.

Unfortunately, I don't get a chance. "Well, that looks like your place," he announces as it comes into view down the street, a pair of guards standing out front, with shining armor and lanterns in their hands. "Good to see you home safe. Have a nice night." The man speaks shortly, not even waiting for a response before he disappears down a side street, and into an alley not a moment later.

"Gone..." I mutter. Who on Loqa was that and what did he want from me? Darn it, I really should have thought to read his mind earlier... "Ugh, whatever..." Moving on, I soon get close enough that they turn and raise their lanterns, hands on their weapons. But they calm down a moment later, going, "Oh, just a kid." They shift back into position, at ease.

"I'm Aria, I'm home for the night," I say to no one in particular as I go past. "Karl Liffan told me to tell you if I got home late." They don't respond, and I just walk past, into the house. I'm actually starting to get really tired now, after being so nervous about that man on my walk back.

I rub at my eyes and yawn, but don't head for the stairs. Instead, I check the kitchen. The caretakers are already gone for the night, but there is a bowl of food left for me since I wasn't here for dinner. I pull the top off, sit down at the table, and scarf it all down. It's kind of nasty after being left out for a while, but I ignore it and eat it anyway. I even eat the one food in it that feels weird.

After all, this one doesn't feel like I'll have a bad reaction, it just has a really calming feel. And the caretakers aren't here to get rid of any evidence that I didn't eat it all, since I still have no idea if that's a problem. Besides, it's nighttime, I don't have to worry about its effect on my mana for a while anyway.

To my surprise, the food doesn't actually have any effect on my mana. What it does though, is immediately erase all the tension, worry, and anxiety after that talk with that man. And about tomorrow after church. And everything else in my life.

I just feel... at peace...