“What was all that junk about being the chosen one?” asked Cophin.

Luke, Ted, and Cophin were back in the Marketplace. Cophin was shopping for produce and hoping to avoid further interruptions.

“Oh that? That was just Mr Homage being dramatic.” said Luke.

Cophin gently squeezed the skin of a tomato and examined its color. “You don’t want to be the chosen one?”

“No, no, no, no, no… no.” Luke shook his head. “I don’t give people orders.”

Cophin pointed his chin at Ted. “What about you kid? You want to be the chosen one?”

“If the Paladins believe in a chosen one then I don’t want anything to do with it.”

Ted was carrying a basket of produce. Cophin passed him a tomato. Ted obediently put it in the basket.

Cophin stretched his neck til it *Popped*. “I don’t normally offer advice but I’d say you’ve got tha right idea. Being ‘chosen’ isn't a fair position. It’s not a job, or a rank, not even good description. People that get ‘chosen’ get expectations put ah them.” Cophin coughed and spit into the gutter. “Those expectations are often unfair.”

“Well I’m not going to worry about that. I’m not a leader.” said Luke.

“Hmmm.”

“Excuse me Mr Luke’s Boss-” Ted glanced over at Cophin.

“Call me Cophin, or Chef.” Cophin replied.

“Are you an Adventurer?”

“Why would you say that?” Cophin snorted.

“You were very assertive back there at the snow cone stand. You didn’t flinch at all.” said Ted.

“Ha! If I was an Adventurer I would have stolen that man’s magic sword.” barked Cophin.

Ted frowned. “I guess that is true.”

“What’s tha matter kid? You sad that I’m not some nomadic mercenary?”

“No, it’s nothing. It’s silly.” Ted blushed.

“Ted wanted to be an Adventurer when he was younger. Actually a lot of the kids from Star Town grow up to be Adventurers.” said Luke.

“It’s true. I did want to be one. But my father said that Adventurers were greedy and self serving. He told me I would have a much better future if I stayed in town and learned a trade. So that’s what I did.” Ted rolled the tomatoes in his basket back and forth.

“I’m sorry Ted. How is your father? I didn’t have much time to see anyone when I was in town.”

“He’s sick.”

“What?” Luke started.

“It’s okay. He’s getting treatment.” said Ted.

Cophin examined some strawberries and looked at Ted out of the corner of his eye. “If you don’t want ta talk about it-”

“When he first got sick my father didn't want to admit that anything was wrong. He didn’t want to be an inconvenience to anyone else. So he ignored it. He took a lot of herbal supplements and painkillers, but it only got worse.”

Ted sat down on a bench on the side of the street. He dropped the basket between his legs. Luke sat down next to him. Cophin leaned against a street sign.

“My father was dizzy, he was nauseated, he had aches and cramps. And then he met a woman. She said she was a Paladin. She said that she knew how to cure him.”

Ted put his head in his hands.

“We did everything she said. We collected crystals and summoned all sorts of things for her. She said if we were good and helpful the gods would acknowledge us and cure my father. And then one day she was gone.”

“I’m sorry Ted.” Luke said.

“It’s alright Luke. It’s not your fault. You were in the Capital.” Ted said.

Luke stood up and paced. “I know but I could have sent a letter, or a messenger, or or, I don’t know.” Luke gripped his forehead with one hand.

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“And your father?” Cophin asked.

“He’s better. Mayor Letterman found out what was happening and arranged for an Alchemist to see him. He’s on a treatment plan now, and a new diet, which he hates. But he’s better.” said Ted.

Cophin nodded.

“It was a while ago. Mayor Letterman has been good to my father. My father didn’t want to stop working so he made sure he had a comfortable position at the Letterman Atelier. When he offered me a job I took it. It seemed only right to pay him back.” Ted rubbed the back of his neck. “But maybe, I should have said something. Jack and Ash have always been…”

“... rough.” Luke said.

“Maybe if I had said something to Jack earlier we could have worked everything out. And we wouldn’t have been running through the streets like foxes and hens all day.”

“True. But then we wouldn’t have bumped into Chef Cophin today.” Luke patted Ted on the shoulder. “And we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to teach all of those people and Paladins about first aid.”

“In my opinion Paladins can sit on a lantern until the light shines out of their mouth.” Ted sneered.

“Good enough for me.” Cophin snorted. “I don’t offer advice but you kids talk too much.”

“Here.” He shoved the basket back into Ted’s hands.

“What do you want me to do with this?” asked Ted.

Cophin looked at him like he was an idiot. “I want you to carry it.”

“Okay.”

“You’re going to help me carry it back to tha restaurant and then, I don’t know, I’ll find you something ta do. You don’t need a job do you?” Cophin raised an eyebrow.

Ted shook his head. “No. I work for the Mayor.”

“Good. But I’ll find you something ta do anyway. Keep ya moody melodramatic teenagers off of tha streets.”

“We should probably head back.” Luke said.

Cophin and Luke helped Ted to his feet. The three of them started walking away from the Marketplace.

*Bump* Luke brushed shoulders with a man walking the other way.

“Excuse me. I didn’t mean to bump into you.” said Luke to the man.

“It’s alright son.”

“Dad!?”

“Mon fils!”

“Mr Eauparil?” asked Ted.

“And young Ted is here as well. Good to see you.”

Luke’s father was in his mid thirties. His long glossy russet hair was braided up and behind his ears. He wore a loose short sleeved shirt and shorts so he could show off his toned neck, calves, and forearms. He had a neatly trimmed goatee. He had a number of thin red cords tied up around his left wrist in little bows. Dozens of colorful folded silk scarves were pinned to his right sleeve with safety pins.

Mr Eauparil took Luke’s hand and gave it a shake. “Look at you Luke. You’ve gotten so big. What has it been?”

“Uh, four years.” said Luke.

“Time really does fly. Listen, I’m on my way to the Ocean’s Bounty. It’s the big Gambling Hall up on the hill. You should drop by sometime. We can catch up. Okay, I’ve got to go. Au revoir.”

Luke’s father gave the boy a quick pat on the shoulder, turned, and kept walking away into the Marketplace crowd.

Luke stood there, still holding his hand out in the air.

“That was your father?” Cophin asked.

“Yeah.” mumbled Luke.

“You two seem… friendly.”

“I haven’t seen him in four years. The last I heard he had sex with half the residents of Star Town and then floated down a river.” said Luke.

Cophin started to chuckle. He looked at Ted’s face. Ted gave a quick nod of confirmation.

Cophin choked down his chuckle. “Hmmm… I don’t usually give advice, so I’m not going to. How about… I get you boys ah nice snack? Does that sound good?”

Ted put a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “I think that would be nice.”

Cophin waved at a passing Street Bee. The medical confectioner strolled over to them.

“What can I get you gentlemen?” asked the Bee.

Cophin held up three fingers to the Street Bee. “Caffeine and fructose if you please. Throw in a little anti inflammatory too. As strong as you can make them.”

The Street Bee nodded and pulled some wax sheets out of his backpack. He rolled them into tubes and then filled them with a precise mixture of jelly from his pipettes.

Cophin paid the Street Bee and handed the sprigs to Luke and Ted.

The boys chewed one end off of the wax containers.

They stood on the corner of the street at the edge of the Marketplace and watched the tourists walk by.

*Hustle*

*Bustle*

“Thanks for this Cophin.” said Luke.

“Thanks.” said Ted.

“Don’t worry about it. I need you focused for tonight’s dinner rush. Tha’s all.” said Cophin.

As they waited a group of children gathered around the Street Bee. The children traded in handfuls of pennies for small wax candies filled with grape or mango jelly.

“What are those?” Luke asked.

Ted looked over at the children. “Those are Bee Bites. They’re street candy that’s really popular amongst tourists. I hear that Alchemists hate them because the sugar causes cavities. But they’re really popular and they make a lot of money so they don’t complain too much.”

“No. Not the candy. That.”

Luke pointed to a small cup that the Street Bee had on the front of his workboard. As they watched, the confectioner poured a small amount of wax into the cup, swirled it around, and then hollowed out the center with a spoon. The Street Bee then poured sugar infused grape jelly into the hollow and sealed the top with another dollop of wax. Finally he stretched the edges of the cup apart. The wax candy popped out. It looked like a thumb sized bellflower with the grape jelly showing through the wax.

“That’s a food grade silicone mold. Street vendors use them for making little sculptures out of wax. Childish if you ask me.” Cophin chewed the end of his sprig.

“Interesting.” said Luke.