Caught up in her ice cream, Rehn hadn’t thought much about it as they wandered over to a more open section of the Plaza though there was a strange itch at the back of her mind. The festival was buzzing with activity around the Dampfhaus but it was also here that you could find a moment of rest from it all. No stands or similar stood in this part of the Plaza but a small park of greenery and shadow spending trees that provided a bit of peace and quiet against the noise. It was a nice resting place after wandering between the stands and attractions. Even with how many visitors the festival entertained the people scattered throughout this small park were spread out well enough to give everyone a modicum of privacy if needed. It was mostly parents with their younger kids who rested here. Or young couples wanting to experience some romantic togetherness.

“Rehn! There you are!” A familiar voice startled the young cat out of her thoughts as she remembered what she had forgotten.

“Phew, I was already getting worried I had missed you!” With a relieved smile Thale waved at her and jogged over to her side, the squirrel-frog missing Ruth as she subtly slipped into the background.

“Y-yeah… h-hi, Thale…!” A cute blush rushed to Rehn’s cheeks as she waved awkwardly back at her crush, the shock that had laid written across her face melting away from her burning cheeks. Thoughts whirled chaotically behind her widened eyes. Immediately her gaze flitted around, looking for anyone from the tower who could be tailing him. There was no way that he wasn’t being monitored closely after her sudden disappearance! Desperate to make sure, she pulled back her Third Eye. This was an emergency!

She had tried to push away her thoughts on getting to their date when Saia had announced they would keeping an eye out on them. Meeting up with him? No way they would have allowed this openly. They knew who she was. They knew how well monitored everyone around her was. But they hadn’t known about her planned date. And so things had suddenly gotten a mite bit complicated. Mighty Complicated.

“So, ah, did I accidentally get the place wrong…? I’m sorry if that’s the case.” Thale rubbed his neck sheepishly. It was so genuine that Rehn couldn’t help but feel guilty.

“N-no! Well, things got a bit complicated… Nothing you have to apologise for…!” Rehn rambled, fidgeting with an adorable blush as she tried to keep up with her own words. Complicated was freaking underselling it!

A confused look flitted over his face for a moment before realisation began to shine in his eyes.

“Ah, I think I get it. Everyone’s on edge after that storm and all.” He nodded slowly, giving her an understanding smile. Rehn could already guess that he was thinking about her position as the Chief Deputy Commander’s daughter.

“R-right, thanks for understanding.” She mumbled nervously, fiddling with her fingers. He didn’t understand at all!

While they talked, her Third Eye sped around the Plaza. Panic nearly hammered into her when she found Thale’s metaphorical tail, an unassuming sparrow male moving around the edge of the stands. The only one as far as she could see. And then she suddenly didn’t know how to feel. Before the inconspicuous agent could inform anyone of her appearance, Ruth had appeared behind him. Everything went in rapid succession, far too quickly for her eye to keep up, but by the end he laid slumped against the back of a stand. All while looking like he had simply gone too deep in his drinks.

No one was any wiser and Ruth seamlessly slipped back into the crowd, practically vanishing from view.

Well, now she knew why the dragon mare was her chaperone first and foremost, Rehn thought with a nervous sweatdrop.

———

“Told you I know the good stuff.” Vee smirked as she and Jak had found where to do their Lebensperl shopping. Nestled into the side of an unassuming looking alley stood the entrance to a beautiful, antique looking store. Gorgeous glasswork and other handcrafted decor twinkled within the soft light of multiple, smaller lamps which hung from the ceiling or perfectly blended in with his wares.

“You did good~” Jak smiled amused back, making her eyes narrow.

Jak had recognised the store immediately. The products, to be exact. Because he had stolen a small number of them over the years. Beautiful glass spheres with intrinsically crafted symbols laid inside, the pearls capped by two wooden poles at their north and south. Graam had paid quite well for those, making him always keep an eye out for them. He hadn’t known they had been made here until now, though.

“Don’t patronise me, Grey Ears. Or I’ll have my own fun.” Vee threatened, a mischievous grin playing over her lips as her eyes sparked threateningly.

“Heh, do your worst.” Jak smirked back, meeting her gaze head on.

While this store was clearly more on the luxurious side, the owner didn’t only sell the expensive Lebensperlen. They were clearly put on display but below them laid entire bowls full of smaller and more affordable counterparts. All handmade as well. Already Jak had collected Graam’s order, leaving Vee and him to put together their own Lebensperlen. A strange feeling filled Jak as he browsed along the shelves of varied symbols and denoted materials, beautifully handwritten notes described their meaning for anyone that didn’t know.

Confidence. Treasure. Friendship. Drive. Desire. Dreams. Success. They were among the most commonly bought Lebensperlen. Love. Loyalty. Understanding. Wisdom.

But they were also the most ambiguous, only in combination with other pearls could they truly shine with purpose. Weaved into a necklace, the symbols within a Lebensperle acted like a language of their own. Five pearls was the common number used for a promise, three the absolute minimum. Jak couldn’t remember when the last time was that he had actually weaved a finished, traditional necklace. It had to have been before he had left the orphanage.

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A cold feeling washed over him alongside a spark of anger that made his fists tense.

He didn’t notice that Vee was dealing with something similar as she gazed over the many pearls. Memories of the catastrophe just the day before played out again, making her shudder. It was nearly enough to have her hyperventilate. Angrily she pushed through the rising panic, tightening her grip around her wrist to keep her arms from shaking. No, she wasn’t about to let this bring her down! Vee blinked away her rising tears, forcing her feelings back down and put a grin back on her face. Confident but fake and brittle inside.

———

“Damnit, and here I thought things were going well.” Grant groaned quietly under his breath as he received Ruth’s alarm. The warning clear and concise. An agent of the tower had been cleared. And then he whined in far too familiar exasperation. “Of course I’m wrong!”

Myra and the kids had already successfully rode the Dampfhaus rollercoaster twice, Grant barely able to keep up with the bunny cat’s energy. The kids were no problem, he had the longer legs! Not the case for Myra, however, who was basically the third kid he had to babysit. Okay, that was unfair. She could clearly take care of herself and Jenny and Mina. But he would be much happier if she could do that without having him always running after them!

“Agh, why do I always have to be the cool guy?!” He cursed himself for not speaking up before.

Hurrying after the trio, Grant pushed through the crowd. Time to leave. There was no question that the agent would have the City Guard snooping around here when he didn’t call in soon.

———

Rehn wanted to cry. She had been looking forward to her date with Thale for weeks! And now she had to find some way to awkwardly push him away without looking weird. Or maybe just buy time? She was barely able to hold onto a clear thought as embarrassment, panic and confusion whirled them around like a storm within her mind. Why wasn’t the world spinning around with her?!

Opening closing her mouth, no words escaped her and she just wanted to die as Thale started to look similarly awkward in her presence. A knife in her heart wouldn’t hurt as much as the disappointment flickering in his eyes!

“So… I guess, I should be going then…?” Thale said tentatively after a short while.

“…” She mutely nodded, her throat felt too tight. Like a frog closing it up. Only to look utterly bewildered when Ruth stepped up from behind him. She half expected the dragon mare to lay him flat on the ground as well, really making today the worst after yesterday.

But instead the Inarian woman put on a ridiculous bright and vapid smile. It looked just plain wrong on the normally bland Ruth, like someone had scrawled a hasty stick figure face onto an otherwise serene portrait.

“Like, hey there~! Sorry, but Rehn here’s got, like, super duper much to do! Like, sorry~” Ruth giggled as she hopped - hopped! - cheerfully into their conversation. Or more lack thereof.

Rehn looked at her in absolute horror as she simply refused to believe that that bubbly, happy and utterly vapid voice could come from the dragon mare before her. She was absolutely mortified as Ruth played the part of a dumb bimbo disturbingly perfectly. Then Rehn twitched aggravated as Thale blushed embarrassed, completely ignoring that she was thoroughly embarrassed by her as well.

“Heh, Rehn, like, is helping me… me… do stuff!” Ruth’ eyes glazed over for a moment, crossing confused as if she was actually having difficulties to think of what to say, before puffing her chest out with proud grin as if what she had managed to come up with was somehow incredibly smart.

“Y-yeah…” Rehn nodded slowly, awkwardly. As if she was dealing with particularly sensitive bomb ready to blow up.

Shuffling over to her side, Thale whispered quietly from the side to her ear with a sympathetic grimace.

“Okay, definitely get why you were so awkward until now.” He sweatdropped awkwardly as he watched Ruth’s eyes seem to lose focus, staring at nothing with a vapid smile. She could see how uncomfortable he was around her, too.

“Thanks, it’s a pain.” Rehn whispered back, a fake grin plastered onto her face.

Rehn visibly slumped forwards in relief when Thale finally vanished in the distance, he had wished them a nice Lebensfest and then left quickly, giving her one last, cheerful wave in goodbye. Ruth’s acting, however? It had her torn between utter mortification and gratitude for the perfect save. Hopefully Thale wasn’t about to get into trouble because of this, though.

She felt unsure if this had been the right path to take. Had she called out, the City Guard could have brought her safely back home. It was an option that had been there the whole time already. But it wasn’t just the warning Saia had given earlier that day that stopped her from doing so. The fact of the matter was that there had been no need to allow them to come here at all. It was the way they had interacted with them. Rehn had felt more malice from some of her bodyguards than anyone in Babylon.

And her Third Eye had allowed her to spy on them in secret. She couldn’t help but feel confident that they had good intentions. It also helped that Ruth had been the most fun bodyguard she had ever had. With exception of that mortifying bimbo act, of course.

“Sorry. We have to go.” Ruth spoke up, thankfully back to her subdued and stoic self, looking as apologetic as the real her could. “Meet up with the others. Then go back.”

“R-right, sorry…” Rehn nodded with a sigh, downtrodden that the festival had been cancelled for them already.

“Not your fault.” Ruth shook her head and her lips twitched lightly with a teasing smirk, patting her back. “Cute boyfriend.”

Immediately Rehn flushed hotly and a mortified whine escaped her.

“H-he’s not my bb-b-boyfriend!” She cried out, flailing her arms futilely as she was unable to convince the knowing twinkle within the dragon mare’s eyes. After all, she just really wanted him to be her boyfriend. Groaning embarrassed, Rehn huffed and crossed her arms with a furiously blushing pout as she quickly flitted after Ruth, making their way back to the entrance.

They were the first to pass the entrance gate and slipped into a side alley, keeping them out of the way of the surging crowd of visitors as they waited for the rest of their group. Just like many others were doing around the gate as well.

Rehn couldn’t help but feel nervous, even a bit terrified, as she waited with Ruth within the shadow of the alley. Before she had just been assumed kidnapped but now they would quickly learn that she had for some reason been allowed to go to the Lebensfest. Even if they thought her free of suspicion, should they take her back she would definitely have to deal with in-depth interviews and maybe even interrogations. A shudder ran down her back and she shook her head to distract herself from those thoughts.

Immediately she turned her focus inwards, her mind slipping back in her Third Eye. It was still floating around the Plaza where she had left it, still looking at the agent laying knocked out at the back of the stand. Amusingly someone, maybe a child or more, had scribbled all over his face.

Giggling to herself, Rehn grinned. And then her view shifted as she decided to take a look back at what the Babylon Team was doing below the city.