Everything turns into a big jam-up at the front door of the orphanage, everyone running into each other as some of them have to cut short behind others. It's not long before Mister Fredricson shoves his way outside to get everyone moving, but stops when he sees us.

"Everyone, get a move on! Get going!" he commands the kids, waving his arms. He already looks angry... Everyone flees from the shouting Fredricson, heading down the road quickly. Once they've all gone, he turns back to us. "So, what happened this time, and who are all of you?" I have no idea how to deal with him when he's angry...

Thankfully, Eryk speaks up first. "I am Eryk, the proprietor of the Ebock Company Refinery." Mister Fredricson's mouth drops open a little, but he doesn't say anything yet. "It is good to meet Aria's guardian." He crosses his arm over his chest, kind of giving his chest a tap. I don't think I've ever seen Eryk do that before, and I don't know what it's supposed to mean.

"R-right, I am Fredricson, owner of the Brenton orphanage. It's good to meet you too." Mister Fredricson returns the new gesture, but it looks sort of different, like he also bows a little. "What brings you here today, sir?" I don't think I've ever seen Mister Fredricson act so politely before, Eryk really is powerful...

"As you can see, Aria was injured quite badly. It may have been impertinent of me, but I took her to a doctor for treatment and have been taking care of her through the most dangerous period of her recovery."

Despite Mister Fredricson trying to act polite, I see him faintly grimace, before he responds. "Thank you, but I'm sorry, I can't afford to reimburse-"

"No need," Eryk cuts him off immediately. "I covered the costs myself because I hope she will be a good business partner in the future." That one completely catches Mister Fredricson off guard.

"Business partner?" he responds stupidly, staring.

"Certainly." Eryk gives a nod that seems a little too enthusiastic. He's acting... weird. Even Mister Fredricson doesn't seem to be able to keep up. "I believe she has a number of ideas which could turn a profit, so I am looking forward to working with her. I hope that is alright with you?"

"O-of course, it would be our pleasure," he seems to be including Aria in that, even though she's still asleep. I frown a little, but there's not much else he can say, is there? Eryk is that much higher status than even Mister Fredricson. When the conversation suddenly hits a lull, Francis steps forward.

"I'm Francis, from the guard. I'm acquainted with Aria, so the guard captain told me to come, to talk about your runaway child report." Runaway child report? The guards do stuff like that? "Given how we found her badly injured, it was concluded that she must have gone missing due to being attacked. However, she was not able to recall anything about the attack." She... what? I have no idea if what he's saying is true or not. "Without any information about the attackers, we were not able to look into it any further, and closed the investigation."

"I see..." Mister Fredricson speaks quietly. "Thank you for your work."

After another moment, Eryk goes again. "Now, let's get her in bed, alright?"

"Of course, of course." Mister Fredricson agrees immediately, opening the door to let us inside. He eyes John for a moment, but then closes the door behind us.

"Our room is up on the third floor, I'll lead the way," I offer, since Mister Fredricson is all the way at the back. I nervously lead everyone through the narrow, dark halls of the orphanage, up the stairs to the third floor, and to our room. The whole way, I can't help but glance back at all of the adults, looking around at everything with carefully guarded expressions. Every one of them is from a higher class, so the state of our house is probably so far below their standards, I'm worried what they'll think...

I open up our door and lead them inside, but they can hardly even fit in the space between the beds. They need to stand sideways in the center gap. I can feel my heart sinking the longer they're here. I'm sure Francis will be fine since he knows everything, but what about Eryk? He isn't going to get too disgusted and stop dealing with Aria, is he? As I look at him, worried about what he's thinking, I realize he's staring at something, and follow his gaze over to the scorch marks on Aria's bed. Then he glances up at me and I quickly look away, heart pounding. Even with all the advice he's given me, and everything he's already discovered about Aria, the status difference between us is just too big!

Trying to hide my worry, I lead Francis over to Aria's bed, and he gently sets her down. It looks like John is staying in the hall, while Mister Fredricson stands in the doorway. Francis stands back up, at the far end of the room near the window. I'm between my bed and Jannette's, while Eryk takes up most of the middle of the room. There's not enough space in here for adults...

"Fredricson. There are some matters I would like to discuss with Aria when she wakes up, would you mind if we stay here for a while?" Eryk suddenly asks.

"Of course, that's fine," he continues to agree easily. "However, I need to go to the church with the children now..."

"That is fine. We will simply wait here," Eryk's response is instant. It would be, Mister Fredricson leaving puts us completely alone in the house, with absolutely no one around to overhear anything we say.

"Then I'll get going. If you finish up quickly, just close the door behind you on the way out."

"Of couse," Eryk continues to speak in a friendly tone. They both make the same weird hand gesture from earlier, then Mister Fredricson leaves. We all sit, Francis on Aria's bed, me on my own, and Eryk on Helen's next to mine. We wait in silence for a while as Mister Fredricson's footsteps echo down the hall, down the stairs, and eventually out the front door. "Haah..." Eryk suddenly releases a long sigh. "That went better than I expected. I didn't think he'd be overly class-conscious."

"Overly class-conscious?" I'm not really sure what he means.

"Mm? It's when someone lets the difference in classes overwhelm them and they let the higher classes walk all over them." He gives a rare, awkward smile. "You do it a bit, you should work on that." I do?! It doesn't take much thinking to remember being back in the clinic. I could hardly move or speak around him and Beth...

"I'll... try to work on that..." I stare at the floor to hide my embarrassed blush when I realize he's right.

"Getting back on topic..." Eryk immediately redirects again. "John?"

"Yes, sir." Without any further instruction, John sets the basket down in the doorway and closes the door, staying outside himself, so we can talk.

"Aah, our first good chance to talk privately. First, I would like to know about what you mentioned earlier," he speaks to Francis. "About Aria not remembering anything. Is that true, or was it just something made up to fool the caretaker?"

"That? Yeah, I talked with Aria a little when I checked on her this last week." Oh, I guess he did actually get to talk to her some, after I left for the night. "We decided that rather than trying to come up with some excuse that seemed plausible, just pretending she didn't remember it would be a much safer option, since it won't complicate things in the future." Oh, that makes a lot of sense. But then I suddenly feel my heart begin to sink, and turn over to Francis.

"But... what about next time?" I mutter, breath coming short at just the thought of the next battle, whenever it comes.

"Next time?!" My thoughts crash to a halt. I was so worried for a moment, I spoke before thinking about Eryk. "What do you mean 'next time'?!" I open my mouth, but can't say anything.

Francis grits his teeth, his expression dark as he stares out the window. "She... she has time, right? She can do better next time, right?" He sounds desperate, like he has no idea himself. Which makes sense. Even if we both know she's a rail unit, neither of us have ever really seen what a rail unit is actually capable of. There's no telling what she's up against.

"What do you mean, 'next time?'" Eryk asks, voice like ice. I guess we both spoke without thinking about Eryk...

I trade a look with Francis, but it looks like I'm the one who will be explaining. "The way Aria got hurt... We can't tell you about it. But.. Well, she's going to have to go through it again at some point." His mouth falls open. He just keeps staring at Aria for a while, not saying anything.

Then finally, "There's nothing to do about it? No way to get out of it?"

"No. All she can do is be better prepared next time."

"Prepared how?" he looks at me with a hard, determined expression. If I gave him something to go on, would he try to help her somehow? Or would he figure it out and throw her away?

I can't just reveal things carelessly, so I keep it vague, only giving an overview. "Last time, she prepared by learning as much as she could. I... can't really be any more descriptive than that..."

"No good, huh?" Eryk sighs sadly. "If you can't talk about that, let's get to the main topic. I want you to tell me about mana."

I figured it was about time for that. I swallow my anxiety and nod. "Mana is basically the source of Aria's special abilities." He nods. That much is obvious. "I..." I bite my lip. I don't know what to say. "I don't know how much I can tell you," I admit. I try to think about it more, but I can't figure out what is safe to cover. I guess I should go to Aria after all. She'll know what she can and can't tell him. I stand and move over to her bed, waking her up gently, and whispering into her ear. "Hey Aria, I need some help. Can you clear your earth mana for a bit?"

"Sure," she agrees. A moment passes while she does that, before she says, "ok, I'm done. What is it?" Lifting her gently, I help her sit up while I explain.

"I don't really know what to tell Eryk-"

"Eryk!" she cuts me off, her sharp tone making my breath catch. I open my mouth a little, looking at her, confused. Her gaze is locked into Eryk's face, eyes wide, but her pupils suddenly shrink to the size of pins. "Not Eryk! No!" Without warning, tears start to flood from her eyes.

"A-Aria?!" I gasp.

"I told Eryk! He can't know! Never! He'll tell everyone!" Her entire body is shaking uncontrollably in my hands, and I can hear her suddenly gasping for breath. With everything I've seen from her, this is completely new. I have no idea what to do. "All of the shops!" Instantly, her panicked words make sense. If Eryk found out she was a rail unit, he would be able to spread the word through all of the other shops in the city too. Everyone would be scared of her and there would be no way she could buy anything. I look over at Eryk, but he's just staring at Aria in shock.

"Woah, woah, slow down," Francis suddenly jumps in. He kneels down on the edge of the bed, grabbing Aria's face in both hands and bringing his right up to hers to stare into her eyes. Has he seen her do this before? He speaks in a soothing tone. "Aria, listen to me. Focus on me. Everything's fine. Eryk doesn't know. He won't find out. Everything will be fine. He won't find out." He keeps repeating himself, rubbing her face gently, and staring into her eyes. Her breathing slowly comes under control, but I can still feel her trembling a little. Her eyes start to focus again, a little bit.

"S-sorry, Francis. You're right. He only knows about mana. But if he asks anyone..." Her eyes start to lose focus again, so I quickly speak up.

"He promised not to mention it. Just like me. He won't ask anyone," I assure her.

"He... he won't?" her voice wavers as she whispers the words, like she can't believe them.

"I give you my word. I will not mention mana to anyone else." Eryk speaks up for the first time since Aria's sudden meltdown began. Francis slowly moves aside so she can see him again. He presses his hand to his chest and lowers his head. "I swear, on my pride as a merchant, I will not mention mana to anyone outside of this room." For once, his tone is dead serious.

With a few tears still leaking from her eyes, Aria sniffles, then says, "I trust you. Thank you. As long as you don't find out, everything will be fine."

"I... don't want to press too hard, but..." Eryk begins, obviously worried she's going to break down again, "It seems that you believe very strongly that there is something I cannot be allowed to know." We all just look at him. We don't even need to nod, our agreement is so obvious. "Since you cannot tell me this certain something, perhaps you could tell me why it would be dangerous for me to know?

After pausing for long time, Aria answers. "Well... You're too powerful. You know too many people and have too many connections. If you found out, my life would become impossible because you would tell everyone you know."

"You... think that the first thing I would do after hearing this, would be to tell everyone who can hear? Why would I do that?" He blinks, clearly confused.

"Because if you knew, you would hate me. There's no helping it, anyone would."

"Then what about these two?" He asks. Having that brought up, I look away, and speak my mind.

"I'm still angry about it, but now isn't the time. I'm definitely going to yell at you a lot later."

"I know," Aria answers. "I deserve it. But... I'm still looking forward to your answer, you know?"

I look back, mouth open, but can't say anything. She's just smiling sadly at me. I swallow the lump in my throat, gritting my teeth. "I'm here, idiot. That's your answer..." I mutter. I'm blushing again, still embarrassed that it took Francis telling me to figure it out.

"Thank you, Emily," Aria beams. I just blush more. But I lean in a little while holding her up, so I can give her a hug.

"I'm sorry, this is still kind of hard to follow..." Eryk puts his foot on the edge of the bed, elbow on his knee, then leans down, resting his chin on the back of his hand as he continues to watch Aria closely. "There is something that you told these two which would definitely make anyone hate you? I can't think of any such thing..." He shakes his head. "Well, if I assume that is the case, I will avoid learning whatever that is, so we can continue to work together." That's unexpected. He'll actually try to not learn her secret? Well, he said he wanted to work with her earlier, didn't he? So unless that was just a lie to Mister Fredricson, I guess it would make sense to him. As long as things stay like this, they can work together.

"Thanks a lot, Eryk." I finally feel the tension release in her body and her shaking stop while she smiles gratefully at him.

"Ah." He nods. "Now, what I would really like to know is about mana. It seems Emily doesn't know what to tell me about it."

"Hmm? As long as he doesn't talk to anyone else, we can tell him everything about mana, right?"

"Everything?" I blink in wonder.

"Yeah, I trust Eryk after all."

I whisper, "By everything, does that include Maven?"

Hearing that, Aria jolts insantly. "M-maybe not that part, actually... But all the normal stuff should be fine."

"What part of it is the normal stuff...?" I respond flatly.

"The types and effects are good enough. I haven't gotten that far into anything else yet." I don't know what 'anything else' is, but I nod anyway. I can just explain the basics then.

"Thanks, you can just rest now, alright?" I gently lower her back from her sitting position, before going and dragging the basket of her stuff over beside her bed and giving her the nuvrite and iron briefly so she can regenerate her earth mana.

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"Thanks, Emily," she says simply before closing her eyes and going back to sleep. Once she is asleep again, I move back to my own bed. Before I can say anything though, Eryk asks another question.

"About Aria, I had a feeling she had been through a lot, but that was... Are you sure she's..." he hesitates for a long time before finishing, "sane?"

We both frown a little, but Francis speaks up first. "I've only seen her do that once before. Thinking about it now, she'd probably just about hit rock bottom, and her only chance out was about to be stolen away. So... I guess that sort of response makes sense, when you think about it that way."

"I see..." Eryk sighs. I guess the only reason she didn't act like that with me was because she had already given up on surviving when she told me. Apart from that, the only time I saw her break down that badly was when she realized how the people raising her had intentionally malnourished her all her whole life, which is also kind of understandable, but... based on what she told me about her past, there was all sorts of other abuse she went through too. How should we know what topics might suddenly set her off like that? I don't really want to voice my worries though, so I just keep quiet for now.

"Well, I'm sure if there are any more problems, we can work through them," Eryk sounds surprisingly positive, before thankfully dropping that topic and getting to what we were going to talk about. "Now that you've spoken to Aria, have you figured out what you'll explain, Emily?"

I give Eryk a small nod. "I'll just explain the basics and how things work. As I said, mana is what allows Aria to do special things. So far, she's found eight different types. Fire, Lightning, Earth, Air, Light, Dark, Absolute, and Colorless. Basically, having more of one type of mana causes different effects on a person." I glance between Eryk and Francis. They both look like they're still following, so I move on. "I guess you could say each one has some important uses, as well as some side effects. Earth makes you heal faster, it makes you stronger, and your sense of touch gets better."

"Oh..." Eryk says to himself.

"However, it also makes you happy, get worried more, and more honest."

"So, that is the one that Aria has been using to heal this past week, I take it?"

I simply nod. "Yeah. The others are similar, they all have their own effects. For fire, it's better taste, more energy, and more anger."

"That..." Suddenly, Eryk looks at me closely. I blink a little. He figured it out from just that?

"Yeah, I asked Aria for some fire mana because doing the bar work and hunting were too hard."

"Well, it explains that outburst earlier," he comments.

"A-ahh, that. I'm really sorry about that, I'm still not used to controlling fire mana that well."

"Controlling?" he asks.

"Oh, not like that," I wave my hands. "I can't feel or control mana or anything," I make sure to say it clearly. "I mean trying to keep control on the way it messes up my emotions. I don't know how much she gave me, but that tap earlier hurt a bit. I guess it should have made me just a bit angry, but the fire mana made it way, way, stronger, and I yelled at you before I could get it under control," I try to explain it so he'll understand. "I'm still really sorry about that," I apologize again.

But Eryk doesn't seem bothered by it. "Huh, so that's how it works..."

"W-well anyway," I move on to the next one. "Air makes vision better, makes you more flexible, and kind of, uhh, playful. Or at least easily distracted. Aria wasn't too descriptive about that one, but she reminded me of a cat when she was using it." When no one offers any comment, I move right on to the next. "Lightning makes the sense of smell better, and the lungs stronger. And it makes fear and intuition more powerful too."

"That must be it," Eryk says with a grin. "That must be why I've had a better sense when making decisions lately, right?"

"Y-yeah... Aria said she gave you a little lightning and earth mana as thanks for everything you did for her. I guess that's how you figured it out?" While he nods, I mumble, "It just had to be lightning mana, didn't it...?" Eryk gives a small smile, but leaves it there. "Anyway, the other three are kind of different. Aria said they don't really do anything like the others types do. So I'm not really sure what they're for. But she did say that she hasn't been able to change absolute mana back into any other type."

"Oh, about that, I'm assuming that is what the metal is for? Changing it into different types?" Eryk asks. He must really want to know about that, since it is his specialty. It's why Aria went to his shop after all.

"Yeah, certain metals can convert mana from one type to another. Iron makes earth mana, ignium makes fire, durite makes lightning, glass makes air, tin makes light, and nickel makes absolute."

I see Eryk take a moment to count off on his fingers before asking, "What about the other two? Dark and colorless, I believe?"

"Colorless is the mana that hasn't been changed into anything else, and she said she doesn't know where dark comes from." I shrug a little. If even she doesn't know, there's nothing to do for it.

"Huh," Eryk rubs his chin in thought. "So when she was talking about finding the unique properties of different metals, this is what she was actually referring to? But how do the magnets she brought tie into it?" he asks.

"Well..." I think about that a bit. "I don't think I should talk about that. There is more she found out about when it comes to metals, beyond using them to convert mana into different types, but I'll leave it to her how she wants to explain those." I can't think of what uses they might have, but even I know that there must be some. The way different ones can become hot or cold or magnetic, I don't want to give them away when Aria might be able come up with something later.

Eryk shrugs. "I guess that's understandable."

"Well, I think that's about it for what we know about mana so far. Any other questions?" I look back and forth between Eryk and Francis.

This time, it's Francis who speaks up. "What about poison? You didn't mention anything about that."

"Poison?" Eryk asks.

"Oh, right. I forgot about that," I say. "I don't really know much about it. The monster had some kind of poisonous mana, but that's pretty much all Aria said about it, so I don't know anything else."

"You've mentioned a monster a number of times, what happened exactly?" Eryk asks.

"Ahh, that?" I shudder as soon as I think back on it. I try to be brief. "We got attacked by a monster in the forest. It had poisonous mana, which kind of attacked anyone the monster injured. Aria cured it though."

"I see," he responds with a small nod. "I guess that's all then?"

"I think so." I look back and forth between Francis and Eryk again, but neither of them have anything else to add.

"Ok then. I would like to keep sending meals for Aria, but I don't suppose there will be anyone here during the day to feed her, will there?

"Mmm..." I mumble. I hadn't thought of that. I was able to take care of her at the bar because I was working there. I've been putting off thinking about that, but whether I go there or not, I won't be home to feed Aria.

"Hey, John." Eryk goes to the door and calls him in. "It looks like we'll need someone to feed Aria this week since Emily won't be home during the day. I'll be sending you to do that."

"Yes, sir." John responds simply.

"Is that acceptable?" he asks me.

"I think so." It would be a great solution. Since she can safely lower her earth mana when he's around, we don't need to worry about her saying anything she shouldn't. "I'll talk to Mister Fredricson about it. Thanks a lot for the help."

"Good, then I'll be going now. I'll be back in a week for Aria's next checkup."

"Right." I nod. I have to climb over Helen's bed to get to the door, but once I make it into the hall, I lead everyone back to the front door, to see Eryk off. While he walks down the street with John following, I grab Francis' sleeve when it looks like he's about to leave too.

"Hold on, I want to tell you about everything that's happened with Aria. You're the only one I can talk to."

"Sure, I'll listen," he agrees easily. We go back to my room and sit once more.

"A lot of stuff happened since she got here." I start off. From there, I try to give him a brief overview of everything. The kidnapping, monster attack, hunting and studying mana. I cover everything just a little, so he at least knows what has happened, even if he doesn't know any of the details. Finally, I get to Reena.

"Besides all of that, there is one really important thing. I mentioned it a little earlier and I wanted to know what you thought about it." Francis nods, since he already knows where this is going. "Aria received a blessing from Reena. Apparently, the divine totems the church uses when we pray actually make some sort of connection to the gods." Of course he looks surprised, anyone would be. "She said it let her basically talk directly to Reena, and Reena gave her a blessing."

"Reena though? What sort of blessing would she even give?" Francis asks, scratching his head.

"I know, right?" I agree. "It's too weird. Even when I thought she was a peasant, for Reena to be the one... But now that I know she's actually a rail unit, it makes even less sense."

"What do you mean?" I feel like he should understand, but he asks anyway.

"You know, how she's not... not actually human? I mean, I care about her a lot," I emphasize with a hand to my chest, "but why would The Goddess of Knowledge? Right?"

"Hmm, I guess so..." He lowers his head, a fist to a cheek as he considers it. After a few moments, I move on. There's no use wondering.

"Anyway, Reena's blessing was some absolute mana."

"That's it?" He cocks his head to the side slightly.

"Yeah, but it was really important. From the way she explained it, it was like she never had anything to do with her mana before that, so having the absolute mana is basically what pushed her to start learning to control it."

"Huh..." He gives a few vague nods.

"But, umm..." I gulp a little. "The big one was Reena's second blessing."

"S-second?"

"Yeah. Reena gave Aria a premonition."

"For real? A premonition?" He half stands in shock, turning around to stare at Aria over his shoulder, before finally falling back onto the edge of the bed.

"Yeah. She said Reena told her she couldn't fight or she would die. I... don't really understand why, but she interpreted that as not attacking during the battle." I shrug, maybe there was more to it in the premonition itself. "So she did everything she could to prepare to defend herself and run away. I guess it worked, but just barely... But you know this means the gods have something in store for her, right?" He gives a hesitant nod. "I don't know what's about to happen, but..." I'm just so worried.

"Something is coming," Francis finishes for me in a serious tone.

"Yeah. That's what I really wanted to tell you. It's not just the war, Aria is going to get dragged into something else. I don't know if there's anything I can really do to help, but I'll try."

"Sure, I'll help too, any way I can." He answers before I even ask him. That makes me chuckle a little. He sits and thinks for a bit after that.

"...Hey, Emily," he says slowly, carefully.

"Yeah?" His tone puts me on edge.

"You don't think... it's related to the blight, do you?"

"I..." I don't want to answer. I don't even want to think about it. I look down, unable to respond.

"I know, I don't want to think about it either," he speaks seriously, guessing my thoughts. "But... She's the only one infected that isn't under the control of the rail unit program, and now the gods are getting involved. That can't just be a coincidence."

"M-...Maybe..." I gulp, "Maybe she won't be like that? Maybe not everyone infected turns?" Francis frowns deeply. "I mean... look at the stories, there aren't that many stories of people changing, right? There were way more rail units than that at the church, right? Maybe the disease only affects some of them?"

He points out the flaws immediately. "Maybe, but it's been a hundred years since the program started. There are a lot more people now, and a lot of the stories could have been lost over the years."

"W-well, she's already seven, right?" I try reasoning uselessly. Of course, he narrows his eyes his eyes at me for being stupid. "Ok, fine. I know they usually turn closer to nine," I reluctantly admit. I know he's right, but... I just... I don't know...

We sit in tense silence, with Aria's sleeping breaths the only sound in our tiny room.

"Actually..." Francis begins, brows furrowing as he frowns deeply. What did he think of now? "Hey, you know rail units grow faster, right?" I nod stiffly, my heart sinking. I know where he's going with this. "Even if she's grown up to seven, she's only been alive for five years. Why do you think they make them grow faster?" he asks.

"Because..." I turn to stare down at Aria sleeping. To get them into battle faster? So they don't have to train as much?

The words come in a whisper. "So... most of them don't live past seven..."

.

.

.

We sit for a while.

I finally think of something. "You know, that means we have at least two years, right?"

"I... I hope so," Francis responds, but his tone is sullen. "That was just my guess... If I'm wrong, it's sometime in the next two years. If I'm right, it'll be two to four years from now. There's no way to tell, it could be any time in the next four years," he groans. I stare at the floor, I know he's right.

"I... I just don't believe it. I don't believe she'll change. She's already a m-monster..." I stumble, the word alone bringing back the memories of those claws and fangs. But I push forward anyway. "Why would she change into another monster?" I insist.

"I don't know..." he says. "I don't want to believe it either. I'm just... I'm really worried now." His head sinks into his hands. "I sent her out thinking it would be fine. That she would be fine. Either that or... you know." He doesn't even need to say it. "But with the gods getting involved, I don't know what else it could be..."

"Maybe..." I look up, realizing something. "Maybe it's completely different." I see a little hope in his eyes as he meets mine. "Reena taught Aria how to use her mana. I mean..." I grit my teeth. "I know she did it so Aria would survive the battle, but maybe Reena needs Aria herself for something, not just her turning into- into a monster..." I know it's bad reasoning. What could Reena possibly need Aria for? But I just refuse to believe it. Aria isn't going to change. She just can't...

"Should we... warn her?" Francis asks quietly.

I think about it. I won't believe that it's going to happen, but should she know it's possible? She already knows about the disease, but there's no way she knows the details, right? They never told her any stories about the gods or anything else, why would they tell her the stories about the blight? And after that monster attack, I stayed away from any bed time stories about it.

"I..." I take a deep breath. "I don't want to. She has so many problems already... I can't give her any more to worry about. She already thinks she's a monster and hates herself for it. How are we supposed to tell her she's going to become an even worse monster? If she thinks she might transform at any moment... she might... just..." I can say it out loud.

I've seen how obsessed she is with helping people, how everyone else's life is more important than her own. If she seriously believed that she might change at any moment, that she could actually be dangerous to everyone around her, she might... actually do that.

We sit silently for a little longer.

"Alright," Francis answers. "Let's just keep this to ourselves. I believe in Aria. Let's do everything we can, see if she can beat it. Sound good?" he smiles a little, and I return it.

"Sure, I won't let her change," I agree. "I'll keep an eye out for anything with Reena too."

"Alright, I'll do whatever I can too, don't hesitate to ask."

"I'll do that. Thanks a lot, Francis." We share apprehensive smiles. I guess the discussion is over. With the unspoken agreement, I lead him downstairs, and see him off at the front door. Then it's back to our room, where I flop down into my bed, letting my arms and legs hang over the sides.

Aria's going to be fine. She will. She's my best friend. She's so strong, she survived a battle against rail units. There's no way she'll lose to the disease... A long while passes with my thoughts circling, assuring myself over and over that things will work out before I finally to push those worries from my mind.

I just lie back for a while. Everything with Aria is taken care of now. I let out a long, tired sigh, and stare at the ceiling.

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After a long time, I finally turn my thoughts to myself. I have lingering worries too. I still have a big decision to make.

I think back on all the stuff Eryk told me to consider. From my goals, to the pay, to my plans for the future, my own future. My worries about whether all of this can be possible for someone like me.

I've spent most of my life working for scraps, always keeping to myself so I don't get hurt, all alone. If it wasn't for working at the bar and starting to learn to cook, I never even would have known I liked it. I never would have known that there is something out there I actually want to do. Aria helped open a path for me, but if I decide to go for it, I have to do it on my own.

Then I remember Beth's words. I should go for it, huh? I guess that's what she did. That's why she's a doctor, even though women don't become doctors? Even if there's nothing stopping a woman from becoming a bartender, or better yet a cook, does that go for peasants? Who would want a peasant for a cook? Does that mean if I just go for it with everything I have, I can become one anyway? Would I really regret it if I didn't? How am I supposed to know? All I have to go on is the advice of a couple people I don't really know all that well.

"I want my Mom and Dad..." I whisper.

They would know what to do...

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