River trailed along behind Oliver, who was walking assuredly through the streets he knew, a kind of relief in his features. It wasn’t his home, but it was at least familiar by this point.

His smile didn’t seem very enthusiastic, but he was trying. At least, so far as River could tell.

River couldn’t see amazingly well in her mask, and she was tired.

It took more than a night’s sleep and a small meal to eliminate the effects of weeks of abuse.

Looking into the faces of strangers passing by, at the red-headed man who said he was from Earth. Trust was a hard thing. She didn’t flinch or back away from the shadows between buildings, that’s not where horrors lay.

Horrors lay in the hearts of the desperate. Horrors lay in the absence of empathy. In self-centred desire.

Eat or be eaten…

It was a cruel system that imprinted itself on those it afflicted, like a disease. One who is mistreated is more likely to mistreat others. River was not immune to that, though she was vaguely aware of it.

A hand reached out for her, and she was yanked away. She made not a sound, as she was told to do.

—

“Stop struggling, you ingrate.”

The thug said that, but River was hardly resisting at all. She knew better.

She was dragged into the alleyways, where a man was stood – waiting for her.

A neat, well-groomed man with slicked black hair and a slim-fitting cream tailcoat, accented in red. Juxtaposed to the thug, he was not fit for the alley he was standing in.

Not cowering, but not in opposition, River stood in front of him.

But who the man saw was…

“Paige. Brazen of you to keep me waiting. You would do well to remember, though your crimes against the city have been forgiven…”

He bent forwards, looking into the slits of River’s mask. He whispered.

“Your debts have not.”

He placed a hand on her shoulder, and held out another. He was holding something.

“Here, a reminder.”

River took it. The weight of it, more and less significant given her experience.

If she had seen it weeks prior, she would have screamed. But she just looked at it.

“I collect all sorts of payment. Money, labor, personal assets– but since you seem to lack much of the former, here’s the task you need to complete by next week…”

After outlining her task, they left. Sinking deeper into the shadows, as their ilk was wont to do.

River stood there for a few more minutes, still looking at it.

The finger.

—

Oliver wasn’t being incautious, he was checking that River was following him almost too often. Who knows if or when she would just collapse. He would have insisted she stay home if he trusted his apartment enough.

But it only took one moment where he was distracted by his thoughts. One second she was there, the next she was gone.

Not again…

Rather than freak out, Oliver gave everybody nearby the eye. He thought of the amount of things that he would have liked to be able to do but couldn’t, such as calling the police.

When River emerged from the nearby alley, Oliver felt a bit stupid, but a bit relieved he hadn’t done any freaking out. Still…

“Ri- Uh, Paige!”

River walked back up to Oliver. She couldn’t talk in public, which wasn’t helpful at this moment.

“Can you, uh, not go and disappear without letting me know?”

She nodded.

Oliver eyed her a second longer, before letting it go. I’ll ask her what that was about later.

They arrived at the Scholarium shortly after that.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

—

Shuffling of files, receptionists running around. Finally Oliver got to the front of the line.

“Hey. Tell me where a boy called Levi is at this moment. About ye high, brown hair. Nine years old.”

The scholar tilted her head, then started shuffling through files. “U-uh, any last n-name?”

Oliver raised an eyebrow. Damn it, had we discussed that? “No…”

The scholar gave him a weird look, then continued shuffling through her papers.

Oliver grumbled, “This place is so disorganised.”

He tapped the counter as he waited for the idiot scholar behind it to tell him what class Levi was in, if he was in a class, where it was, et cetera.

The young woman shakily adjusted her round glasses, as if unsure why this man was being so randomly aggressive. “E-Er d-do you have p-permission to be a-asking for such i-information?”

Oliver looked blankly into the scholar’s eyes.

Why is this woman in customer service?

“Yes. I do.”

The scholar doesn’t seem confident enough to question him further, and found the information that Oliver had wanted. Levi wasn’t scheduled for anything within the next hour or so.

—

Oliver and River spotted Levi outside the Scholarium. He was walking with a girl of similar age to him, and being trailed by some armoured woman. They were being given a wide enough berth by their surrounding students that it was honestly strange.

“Levi!”

Levi turned, which made his companions turn as well.

—

Levi forgot any reservations about seeing Oliver again. Who knew how comforting it would be to see someone familiar again. If he needed to see someone from Earth, he had the professor to go to – but having his comfort stripped away from him, time after time…

Levi was committed to acting as a grown-up would, that wasn’t going to change. And he had made some companions in Mia and her protective Knight. He had some level of trust in Emilia. He was familiar with people.

But.

When Levi hugged Oliver, as he had been hesitant to do in the beginning, he hugged Oliver as if he was getting the chance to hug his dad again. Slightly longer, slightly harder, and with an ounce more respect. Not so much that Levi would seem weak and in need of protection, that would only lead to disaster. It was meaningful.

When Levi drew back from Oliver, he raised his chin…

And couldn’t think of anything in particular to say.

—

My arm still hurts.

Oliver looked down at the young boy. Wearing magical robes, painted in certainty and confidence…

I mean, it’s good that he’s safe. Nice to see him happy. But what the hell is all this?

Oliver glanced around at the second peanut gallery he had witnessed since his ministry exam, except this one was bigger. Spectating scholars of various seniority taking interest in the dramatic events playing out. He decided to ignore them for the moment.

Oliver looked at the young girl and the accompanying bodyguard. As good a starting point as any.

“Who’s this?” Oliver nodded to the girl, meaning for Levi to introduce her. However, Levi didn’t get the chance. The armoured woman stepped forward, nodding at Oliver and River as she did.

“I present Lady Mia of House Willowen, junior Scholar of the Scholarium. I am her Knight and protector, Luna.”

Oliver took all of that in with only a slight amount of surprise.

Right, there was one other kid in the entrance test. I remember getting a hard time for calling her a brat.

Oliver stuck out his hand for a shake. “Oliver’s the name, I help out at the Ministry of Finance. Levi is my…” She’s not shaking my hand.

After putting his hand back down, Oliver heard the little Lady in question speak. “He’s your brother, I have heard. Well met. Levi and myself are fellow scholars who share certain qualities that make it easier to get along.”

Fancy words for someone as small as you, but yeah it seems you’re the only two kids around.

Levi found his opportunity to speak. “So who’s that, then?” He pointed to the figure who was about halfway between him and Oliver in height. River stepped forward and waved timidly, though she still pretended she couldn’t speak.

Oliver gestured to her, “This is Paige, she can’t talk. She’s one of the prisoners I was… fighting with… Anyway, I’ll get further into my situation whenever we get a chance to relax a bit. I gather you’re off to class but, could you tell me why I couldn’t find you after your test?”

—

Levi, reminded of the impending lecture he had been heading to, gave Oliver the short version. He couldn’t say the whole thing in public anyway. “I was talking with someone in private. You missed me. You probably will want to meet him, but we can talk about that later, too.”

Oliver groaned at the simple mistake he’d made.

Levi turned to leave, as Mia and her Knight had done, but remembered something. “By the way, I’ve been staying at Emilia’s house while you were gone. Do you want to come pick me up from there around dinner time?”

Oliver paused, but decided Levi staying there was the only realistic outcome of him being gone. “... Sure, a bit before sunset. See you later.”

—

Now, what to do in the next five or so hours.

Oliver hadn’t asked where Emilia’s house was, so he would have to go to the ministry to head back with her– but other than that, Oliver felt at his sore arm.

River was standing beside Oliver, but she was swaying from side to side.

They had addressed the most urgent thing rather easily, and much as Oliver had renewed will to go on, they did need more rest.

They picked up yet more food on their way to the apartment. Oliver considered stocking up the cupboards at some point instead of eating out all the time, and wondered if there were some magical fridge equivalent to keep perishables in.

But that was an idea for another day. Oliver and River sat and ate their food, both tired, but River was practically falling asleep. Before she could, Oliver asked what he had been meaning to while she could speak.

“Why did you disappear on the way to the Scholarium?”

River lifted her head, which had almost dipped into the food. “Some people who knew Paige pulled me aside.”

Oliver narrowed his eyes in concern. “Did they suspect anything?”

River, drooping, managed; “Don’t think so.”

I guess that’s fine then.

Oliver donated his bed to River, opting for the couch whenever he would sleep later that night, leaving Levi’s bed for his return. The couches were nice enough.

When the time came to leave, Oliver decided it would be better to leave River there asleep for a couple hours, rather than wake her up for this errand.

—

Oliver turned up at the ministry around the time Emilia would usually finish up, but found she had already left. He scratched his head, and decided to see if anyone else knew where she lived.

He didn’t have much luck, but when he stumbled upon High Official Curtis, he did a double take. The man looked worse for wear than Oliver, which was interesting since Oliver assumed his job consisted of light walking at most.

Oliver gave him a bit of a glare, but when Curtis saw him–he flinched away. It was barely noticeable, but it was a big enough difference in behaviour that it stood out to Oliver.

The clock was ticking, and Curtis was Emilia’s superior, so Oliver decided to ask.

“Any chance you know Emilia’s home address?”

Curtis did in fact know her address. He gave it to Oliver without a fuss. Trying to get Oliver to leave as soon as possible, even.