Norbert followed after Sally, having returned to the apartment he shared with Jack. On the train ride back, he sent several emails notifying his university and job that he wouldn't be back for a year. His phone buzzed as his boss tried to reach him.

Silencing it again, Norbert walks down several blocks, going back and forth, getting utterly confused as he follows Sally. "So where is this safe house?"

Sally stopped, taking the tarp off the vehicle. Seeing it was the bike, she once spun Jack on, "A distance away; I'll show you the location, but jump to and from in a different place; I don't want the place to get bombed with you in it.'

Norbert hopped on behind her, grabbing on as the engine roared to life without

"What about a helmet?" Norbert asked Sally while Obsius and Kit hid from the wind in his jacket.

"Do you need a helmet, Mr Decapitator?" She asked, Norbert’s face grimacing. She laughed as they drove away.

***

Green and yellow of the rapeseed fields as Norbert passed them by, coming out to the fields, the city far behind them. Norbert heard the bike idle forward as Sally turned it down a driveway, a small cottage on the overgrown plot of land. As they rode by, the grass on either side of him nearly up to his head.

Coming to a stop, Sally looked out at the sun as it started to hit its apex. “I don’t have much time. I’ll show you the place, then you better scram.”

Norbert jumped off the bike and walked up the stairs to the single-story cottage, the veranda around it reminding Norbert of Cossan’s and Helga's house back in Flare-dew. Coming inside, Norbert looked at the simple wooden furniture and a chest of draws near it, seeing cups and non-perishable foods in the cupboards.

Directed to the drawers, Sally opened them, taking out a pen and a stack of papers with envelopes. “To write messages down, place it through the slot if it’s a message to me,” she said, and Norbert saw one of the drawers having a large slot in which to place the envelope.

“The rest of this place is for food or a place to rest when you need it,” Sally told him, walking towards the only other room in the house. Norbert saw two bunk beds there, “In case you need a sleep as well, but knowing you, the extra facilities will probably not be used.”

Norbert nodded his head, looked around, pulled out his phone, and checked his location. With a wave of his hand, Norbert headed for the door. “Want me to get to Grimm?” Norbert asked her.

“First to Morenas, then head to Grimm with those to escort you.”

“And what if it's quicker to get there alone?”

“How would you know that?” She asked him.

Norbert smiled. “Because luck is on my side,” he told the closed door. Looking up at the sky, he almost saw a twinkle of a mote of light coming down from it and blessing him with its presence.

Shaking his head, Norbert patted both Obsius and Kit. He walked directly into the field, leaving the bike behind him. Out into the field, Norbert walked, waiting for whatever was to happen, allowing him to return.

As the thought came through his mind, a feeling took over him, a pathway opening in his mind, of a muscle he could now flex. Standing there, Norbert willed it to move, darkness surrounding him. He stood still as he waited, feeling the weight on his body again, looking around the white room with the two chairs, the coffee table, and the trolley on the side.

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The smile did not leave his cheeks as he saw Luck sitting there, already drinking, as she looked at him “You returning?”

Norbert moved over to his pile of clothes. “That I am, didn’t feel right to never come back. I have a couple of people to protect and a few more adventures to go on,” Norbert told the goddess, reaching into the sack of clothes and laying out what he needed on the back of the chair. Both Obsius and Kit made their way to the table, looking over some of the snacks and biscuits that Luck had left out.

Having changed his clothes, Norbert felt the weight of his daggers on his legs again. Sat down in the chair, he picked up Obsius and Kit from the table and placed them on his shoulders again as he reached for the tea.

“So you liked it enough to return when you had your chance to escape.” Luck provided.

Norbert nodded his head. “Still have some unfinished business.”

“Have a taste for blood; be careful, or else people may think you’re a vampire.”

Chuckling, he replied, “I might have stayed around the Grimm a bit, but not much for me to turn into one of them.”

Luck just gave him a look with a single eye as she continued to take a sip of her tea.

Norbert blew bubbles into his tea, the fragrance filling his nose as he breathed it in. “Do you have any advice you want to give me before I depart?”

“Well, apart from the don’t do it, just be careful. This is a piece of advice I know you won't take to heart at all. So follow your nose, and if you have any questions, you know how to reach me.”

Norbert nodded his head. “Am I able to come back here?” Norbert asked, looking longingly at the room around him.

“You can, but there is a time limit of a day before you can jump back, so only do it when needed, and you don’t change your position either.”

Norbert nodded his head, feeling a tugging in his body.

“It looks like it's time for you to go,” Luck told him, placing the tea cup and saucer on the table, standing up, and walking towards Norbert.

Norbert stood up as well. With each step that the goddess took, she grew slightly taller. Now, as he looked head-on at her, Luck gripped him in her arms. Norbert held still for a moment, not knowing what to do as he embraced her, his arms gently coming around the woman in front of him.

He felt her shake in his arms, a tear cooling on his cheek as he moved his head out a bit. He saw her red balling eyes in front of Norbert, and he held her tightly as Norbert tried to stop her from shaking in his grasp.

“You’re the best champion I could have asked for.” Luck sobbed into his neck.

Norbert pulled her back. “Not raising a death flag now?” He questioned her.

Luck's stifled laugh came out as she looked towards Norbert, shaking her head and pushing him away. “You need to go now; see you next time you return.”

Norbert nodded, giving a half wave as he was consumed in darkness again.

Light came around him only to surround him in darkness again. He felt the stone underneath his feet, gravity once more pushing down on him. Norbert felt the energy in his body still low, but the channels where the energy went through had recovered enough.

Changing his vision, Norbert still saw darkness around him, shaking his head in annoyance, taking his pack off as he ruffled around, finding the flint and a torch he had kept spare. Holding the torch between his feet, striking at it with the flint and one of his daggers, the sparks dancing off it as they leapt to the torch, flickering to life, Norbert hissing in pain, having forgotten to change his eyes back.

Feeling tears well up and fall from his cheek, Norbert blinks them away from underneath the helmet, which he had placed on when they were surrounded by darkness. Holding the torch above his head, Norbert picks up the pack and places it on his shoulders, looking around at the new place the three of them have found themselves.

They were looking around the smooth round tunnel they found themselves in, the hairs on the back of Norbert's neck rising at finding the place.

"Didn't know this was under the Colosseum", Norbert told his two companions.

Kit looked around, tail curling around behind Norbert, as he felt the hairs stick up on the fox. Obsius was tweeting in his ear about their location.

"And you never dreamed to tell me it would be a random location? I should have brought scuba gear and air tanks..." Norbert looked around, holding his breath as he began counting. He stared at the torch in his hand, lowered it to the floor, and waited to see if it would be snuffed out.