“The two of you shared a meal…?”

“Feeling jealous?”

Shedder perceived the blue merchant with knitted his brows. Stomp knew it’d be a bad idea to tease the man any further than he already had. Despite his impulses urging him on, Stomp gave a straight answer.

“It was just that, a meal shared between friends. She was just muted for most of it. But didn’t ignore anything I said. Hard to come across people with those traits.”

“Did she enjoy her time?”

“Hard to tell from the face alone. If she hated it, I’d think she would’ve made it obvious. Frankly, I was secretly worried that I was gonna set her off with my constant blabbering.”

“And after that, what else took place?”

“A lot of walking. Then we got bored, headed to the guild, you guys were still out, so we played a game of cards.”

Shedder looked over to his friend once more. He knew what happened when the blue merchant is challenged in a game of cards.

“You didn’t pull your punches, did you?”

Stomp brought a hand to his mouth and laughed accusingly. Shedder definitely knew the blue merchant well.

“Guilty. I plead guilty, your honor. –But really. It’s no way near as terrible as you make it out to be. She was getting the hang of it… after the 11th round.”

Shedder led out a long, dragged out exhale.

“Now I wanna do the askin’. When you gonna make a move?”

Shedder appeared startled. He had some guesses to what the blue merchant wanted answers to. Mainly everything that took place in the previous world. But this was out of his realm of possibility.

“What do you mean ‘when you gonna make a move’?”

“I’m talking about Lisa, duh. I can tell that something is brewing inside for that lady. Something obviously happened in the last world with you two. What gave it away was the tone you used when regarding her. Oh~! My little Shedder finally found a type!”

“Stomp. People are looking.”

“Sorry, sorry. I’m just so excited to see my best pal develop an interest in someone! Gah! All this energy I’m building up needs to be expelled! I can hardly control myself!”

The blue merchant’s body trembled from the excitement of his long time friend growing up.

“Breathe, Stomp, breathe… Just focus on steadying your breathing and all the build up energy will disperse.”

Stomp did as instructed and in no time had better control over himself.

“But really, Shedder, I think you should try your shot… Lisa is from what I can tell a nice, ambiguous woman. I get the feeling that she’s ignorant and unmotivated but that can change depending on what you do… You should take it very slow with her. I don’t want to be mean but she doesn’t look like she can handle feelings that are foreign to her… Just put in some effort and try the very best you can do. And maybe she’ll look your way.”

Stomp finished with a soft smile. This was a rare occurrence. Stomp was being serious. And was actually encouraging him to pursue Lisa. Lisa. Of all people. Out of the entire list. Lisa. They hardly knew her for a day. A day and a half in Shedders case.

By no means did he dislike Lisa, in actuality, he in fact did like her. But did he like her in that way? Was his feelings for the woman in their development stage? He didn’t know. But something that surprised him was how he wasn’t opposed to the idea.

‘This will… require further investing of my own.’

Romance.

Love.

Yearning for someone.

These were concepts Shedder had little to no experience, nor any knowledge about. Had his mother still been among the living, he would have gone to her, but sadly for him, it would never happen. His ability was only limited by a day.

Shedder had some doubts. Not that they were doubts per say, more of his own insecurities talking him out of it.

He wasn’t scared to ‘make a move’. Or dreaded all the awkward conversations that would inevitably ensue. No. It was a fear of an inability to keep that person in his life. Keeping the one he loves from walking out of his life, or, anyone dear to him was Shedder’s greatest fear.

Having gone through that once before, Shedder vowed he will not fall in those same footsteps. He is NOT his father. And will NOT make his mistakes.

Shedder frustratingly pushed the memories of his rocky past out of his head with some success.

‘It doesn’t matter. Replaying those scenes in my head is only a distraction from our ultimate goal. I can’t afford to lose track because of the pursued for romance…’

Stomp wasn’t at all expecting a swift answer from the man. And he was satisfied with that. As long as Shedder considered it, he was fine with it.

“That’s some high-level perception you have there. I didn’t figure you were capable of it, Stomp. My mistake. I’ll let you share a drink with me in private to make it up to you.”

A sudden, rapier voice took precedence. Sadly for the newcomer, the screams of the startled men overlapped her words from reaching their ears.

“Ghaaaahhhh!!”

“Haaaaahh!”

Stomp jumped in place as the woman in the black dress materialized in front of them. Shredders entire temple made a violent flinch as a response.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Oh sorry, did I spook you? It was out of nowhere, after all. Forgive me, will you?”

The woman spoke calmly as she regarded the two men before her. A serene smile painted her features.

This has only been the second time they’ve seen the nameless woman free from her mask. And it was still silently agreed upon that she was in fact a beautiful gal when sober.

Picture a lady with a angle bob haircut, and imagine a beautiful face to go with it. An accurate description of what she looks like.

Of the two, Stomp took the initiative, since he was the most familiar with the nameless beauty. All around them, Shedder failed to reach an understanding to way they were receiving strange looks.

Sure they may have been loud and stood out, but that alone shouldn’t warrant a cornucopia of bizarre stares.

“You should consider attaching a bell on you. It’d give people a heads-up. Anyway, what’s the surprise visit for?”

“Boohoo, you don’t sound happy in my presence. Can’t be helped. I just happened to be in the area and wanted to see what you two were up to? That’s merely it.”

Shedder regained has natural composer and saw little harm in disclosing their objective.

“We’re patrolling sections of Stillhorn to unravel the mystery behind our troubles. I cannot speak for Lisa and Sallustia but our progress thus far remains unaltered. Largely, we still know little.”

“Is that how it is? I see. Woeful as it may be, keep striding for your goals. You have nothing to claim yet, but giving into discouragement will seal away the potential for any sort of headway. Lean your body forward if you have to.”

Finishing her pep talk, she relaxed her voice. Awaiting no needed responses. She could not allow any mishaps. Everything fell out place when she exposed herself. As tough as it sounded, she needed them to salvage what was broken.

“We intend to finish what we set out to do. Incidentally, did you by chance made a discovery of your own?”

The woman’s smile widen considerably.

“You were on the right path but deviated from it. I already involved myself more than I should have so I’ll be redacting my words from now on.”

“You know something, don’t you?”

“I may, but there is little you can do to prove it.”

“But you aren’t making an attempt to deny it. If you really are keeping silent then I implore to share. What happens when all hell breaks loose because you refused to act on it?”

“If a scenario such as that transpired as a result of my actions, then I’ll be taking the reins from then on. I didn’t resolve myself without considering the pros and cons.”

Stomp had an innate sense that it was futile to probe the woman. She had steeled her resolve beforehand and it was unlikely that they’d get anymore out of her.

From his view, it was irrational to prolong this any further. And he knew Shedder knows that too. So that’s why he…

“Shedder. Let her go. She isn’t gonna budge. Let’s just move on from this. She said we were on the right track, so let’s figure out where we fouled up.”

“Before we do that, why did you come to us? I find it hard to believe that you came here just to say all that. If you truly were set on in excluding yourself, then why bother informing us?”

The woman laughed softly to herself. She cornered herself. She hadn’t given it much thought when she gave them permission to perceive her. It was a stupid impulse that did her in.

“Alright, fine. I’ll tell you why. I was listening in on your earlier discussion.”

“The one involving Lisa?” Stomp interjected. So far the woman had only appeared whenever it was tied to Lisa somehow. And frankly, he should have expected she’d show her face.

The woman nodded and gazed at the gray-haired man threateningly.

“I’m just going to be straight with you. If you want to start something with her, fine, go ahead. But please… be careful with her. She may look mature but that’s not really the case when it comes to her emotions. Half the time she doesn’t even understand what’s she’s experiencing. To us, she’s still a little kid. And it’s because of that I’m paranoid.”

The woman blurted out her paranoia without care. She needed to get her point across. She had to get them to understand why dealing with Lisa should be handled with care.

The merchant due had difficulty swallowing the information regarding Lisa. Stomp in particular felt great about his perceptiveness being on point once again. But his heart felt something akin to pity for the brazen Lisa.

Shedder shared a similar sympathy, however, he accepted the imperfection as a part of what made-up Lisa. What made her, well, her.

Clearing his thoughts of any and all obstructions, the gray-haired man voiced an inquiry.

“Then why do you approve of this? From a logical standpoint, you should be against the notion.”

The nameless beauty responded with a tilt of her head. She was more than unprepared for a question such as this, but is one she should have anticipated.

The beauty took another risk. A common tread that’s been happening to her lately.

“Because I think this might actually be good for her. A person changes when romance is involved, right? That’s usually how it goes.”

Stomp had been around long enough to learn that people do indeed change their usual characteristics to match that of their partner’s. Or just change something about themselves to appear more appealing. But this wasn’t the case for some.

Shedder was at a lost to progress the conversion any further, but luckily he didn’t had to. The nameless beauty focused her more stern expression on the gray-haired man. She change her stance slightly, resting one hand on her hip, while the other hand hang to her side.

“I hope you take what I said into consideration? I would hate to get aggressive with you if you did something careless.”

“You need not to worry. I’m quite cautious in what I do. Even if I did something not to your liking, I can solve the issue before it becomes apparent.”

The beauty’s chocolate eyes pierced the young man through. She shuts her eyes and heaves.

“I don’t have much of a choice but to take your word. Before I make my tactical retreat, I should let you in on something.”

Stomp raised his brows at the woman and made a hand gesture for her to continue.

“If Lisa by chance stays rooted in her room for many hours in the day, avoid checking up on her. You’ll succeed in accomplishing an opposite objective. Do you understand?”

The merchant due though puzzled by what she meant, nonetheless bobbed their heads in understanding.

The beauty clasped her hands together merrily and spoke in a more vivacious manner.

“This went stupendously better than I imagined. With everything out the window, I’ll have to strip your permission for the time being.”

Shedder felt his muscles tense at that declaration. It would be some time before they would cross paths with the beauty again, and with her knowing more than they already did, he had to try one last time. Even though he knew nothing will change.

“Please wait. Will you really not lend a hand? I know you made it clear before, but I strongly urge you to give it a second thought.”

“… Sorry. I really am, but I’m digging in my heels here. You might dislike me now, and your rightfully so, and I hope when this blows over I can make it up to you two. Farewell… you two…”

Vanished. She just… vanished. Gone. In an instant, she was nowhere. The merchant duo scanned their surroundings but found no signs of her. Stomp took a glance at the ground she stood on and once again took note of the irregularity of the nameless beauty.

“No footprints. She definitely ain’t teleporting or using some kind of cloaking magic. How does she do it?” Stomp fiddle with his lengthy hair as he mulled over the beauty.

Shedder stared off to nowhere. He hadn’t moved an inch since her departure. He heaved heavily as he addressed the blue goofball.

“Let’s go back.” Is all the gray-haired said.

Stomp took notice of his sullen tone and rubbed his best buddy’s back.

“Alright, man. If that’s what ya want, I’m not going to say no. Also, is it just me or are people looking at us like we’re crazy? I swear I heard a few of ‘em whisper about us.”

Shedder had reached the point where he no longer addressed this unusual occurrence.

“Taking everything that happened into consideration, I can see why we would be branded as odd. So for our acceptability we should retreat back to the guild.”

“Right. I wonder what’s she’s doing in the meantime? She just appears and disappears. Where does she even go?”

“Who knows.”

______________________________________

Pacing the living room was a mother of one. She had a face with a mixture of emotions. She was agonizing over something. Over what exactly? The child? Couldn’t be. They were safe and secure. There was nothing to fear anymore now that they were with him.

He took a sip of his tea, it was cold. He stared at the brown liquid. It bubbled and began to give off steam. The bubbling settled down and he took a mouthful.

He smiled in content and slumped in his seat. He closed his eyes and took a breath. When he reopened them, he examined the woman once more. Her pacing became more erratic.

The man’s brow twitched in annoyance. Her obvious paranoia insulted him but he wasn’t going to show it through an ugly image of himself. Instead he opted to voice it in a calm and gentle manner. Never raising his voice more than needed.

“Do you plan on continuing this silly pattern of yours. You are spitting on this clean and beautiful face by behaving this way. Stop it.”

Their eyes met momentarily and he could see anger surging inside. Even knowing this, he refused to back down.

The woman spoke in a lecturing tone as she dangerously approached him.

“You would never understand a parent’s love and the true reality of our circumstance. All you’ve ever know is pure arrogance and this love you preach on about. Open your eyes and look through them.”

The man frowned at the disrespect and instead of lashing out like an uncivilized barbarian, he addressed the problem head on. This would bring them back to their previous selves.

“Your child’s absence is the source, isn’t it? Why must I remind you that it’s unnecessary and bad for your heart?”

“She left through those doors when the sun raised from the mountains, and it’s setting under the sea. Where is she? Where did she run off to? Why isn’t she here?”

“This should still be of no concern for you. As long as that child stays within the territory, no harm, no matter how big or small it may be, will never befall any of you. The love of our wonderful world, the fondness it has for me, is being shared between us three. Take solace in that.”

The mother sat down on one of the unoccupied couches. She rubbed her temples and felt sweat beginning to form.

“I’m fully aware of what you can do, but none of this eases my heart. –You must know where she is, right? You always say how nothing can hide from the world that has pampered you from birth.”

She was correct. He sensed where the child was. He also felt five familiar individuals lurking not far from here. One of which he could only feel for moments at a time.

The child at this rate is fated to cross paths with at least one of these individuals. She will return soon after their exchange.

“She is near. In the warm embrace of the territory. Safe from the upcoming calamity. An entire country away from the Sunday Killer.”

The mother’s face softened, but only moderately. The man placed the now warm tea on the coffee table in front of him as he hoisted himself up. The table almost on cue moved to the side. Out of his way like it should. It was a product made by the world, after all.

The man stretched his arms wide to loosen the bones. He was victimizing himself with all sorts of petty self-indulgence lately, and may turn to an addiction if he carries on.

“I wish she wasn’t so rebellious at times. It’s that father of hers what’s making this more difficult for me. Maybe I should have left early on; then maybe this could have been avoided.”

“Try not to make your affairs my own, I would feel troubled if I were the cause of a divorce. And If I may, a slap across his face is a start in the right direction for you and your child.”

“First it was give him a piece of my mind—in front of the eldest brother may I add. Now you advise a slap as a ‘start in the right direction’.”

The man nodded with absolute certainty as he made his way over to a window. He stared up at the purple-like sky. How he wondered what influenced his maker to tamper with something he had little understanding of.

The man turns back to the woman to start up another topic of discussion.

“You know, for as merry as that child can be, she has never been content with the state of her life.”