Mihari smiled gleefully atop her perch. The entertainment had arrived. She saw their approach through the Oracle Stone, and set herself up in a large room near the Unity Crystal. It was an unfinished exhibit, with ten empty pads arranged on either side of five ascending platforms.

Little Seishin’s team walked in first, one at a time through a narrow arch, each immediately turning a hostile gaze towards her. They were followed by a dark skinned woman with colorful hair who glanced about with lively interest.

Ah, Newton. That explains how they got here so quickly. I thought I recognized the symbols. The Southerners must know something about this place.

He was right, of course. She overlooked that possibility. Not that it mattered. Still, she didn’t like the anxious feeling from her nephew.

Alvina followed shortly after. She had removed her mask and hood, examining each item in the room as she entered. Just behind her was the seventh, and apparently final, guest.

I knew she would come.

“Ah, were you hoping she would?” She tried to project playful indifference, but as soon as Bridget appeared the Little Seishin became terribly depressed. It was unnerving.

No, I was hoping she wouldn’t, but I’m not surprised. Literally every part of my first mission has been an unmitigated disaster, I see no reason for it not to end that way.

“If you’re trying to trick me into releasing your body, it’s not going to work.”

There’s no trick, and I know you won’t give up.

She huffed as best she could internally. “Well, if you know, then stop trying to distract me. I have work to do.”

Wait… She felt a spike of anxiety from him. Can we… talk?

“Like right now?”

Why not? We could spend months in the time it will take them to finish walking in.

“Oh, fine. What’s on your mind, kid? Girlfriend troubles?”

She felt a sad smile from him. In a sense, yes, except the girl in question is about to murder me.

He seemed genuinely terrified. She didn’t see why, that Mairtalan girl wasn’t anything special. She was freakishly tough, sure, and hit like a tank, but compared to herself, Bridget was a lot of sound and fury. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to reassure the poor kid.

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You’re underestimating her, but it’s not Bridget I want to talk about. Actually, I just want to, like, hang out, with you.

“Just… hang out?”

Yeah, we’re going to spend the next ten minutes or so going back and forth between you and them. They’re going to ask you a bunch of questions, you’re going to give a bunch of vague answers, then Bridget’s going to say something like, “Alright, I figured it out,” and then punch a hole in our chest. So before that happens, I want to live as much as I can, even if it’s sitting in my own head chatting with my crazy aunt.

She… wasn’t sure. Part of her felt he had to be trying some trick, but his feelings seemed perfectly genuine. He really did believe he was about to die.

Please… don’t make me spend the last three years of my life alone.

There was a pang in her heart. He reminded her of… when he was little. After her sister died. He felt dreadfully lonely back then. She hadn’t been able to comfort him then, and, well, not like she super cared, but still, she could do it now.

“Alright kid, we’ll hang out, you and your auntie Mihari as long as you want. And when this is all over I’ll show you Bridget is nothing to worry about.”

And so, they talked. As her nephew said, there was a great deal of conversation from the rescue party. Elvira opened up with some questions. The Little Seishin and she talked about his plans for the novice mercenary. He meant for Elvira to take the second in command role from Protius, who never liked it anyway.

Protius made insightful guesses about what was going on. Her nephew complained the Arteficer was far too comfortable coasting on talent. One day he was going to be undone by a problem without an easy solution.

Gordon gave dry comments about the situation, playing it off like this was a chore. Hitori felt his troublesome friend worked too hard trying to look cool, and not hard enough living his best.

Chandra kept to herself, asking only about her captain’s well being. Hitori worried she was drowning in undeserved guilt about what happened between her and Kalindi, and joked that the next time they met he hoped Chandra would punch the jackass once for his sake.

Newton was silly and playful, apparently oblivious to the seriousness of the situation. The two of them made wild speculations about her life and Southern culture, concluding in spite of the evidence she must be a princess in exile.

Alvina brooded off to the side, lost in private thought. They both agreed she was up to no good, and spent weeks coming up with increasingly elaborate and implausible schemes for her to be caught up in.

They talked about all those things, and more. About Maia, the troubled life she lead. About Virgil, apparently the center of some fascinating global intrigue. They even talked, eventually, about Hitori Taira, the boy Maia secretly had a crush on as a girl, and the tragic end of their relationship.

They talked, and all the while, Bridget watched. She stood, roughly front and center, staring intently at Mihari. She didn’t comment, didn’t ask questions, just watched. Her eyes contained neither malice nor fear, only unbridled observation. Mihari felt increasingly naked under her gaze, like she might even see into her time with Hitori.

She watched. And then she was done.

“Alright,” Bridget said. “I figured it out. I’ve gotta punch that crystal out of your chest.”

“About time,” Mihari said, making sure it actually came out loud. She pulled apart her sword and stood up as Bridget took a few steps towards her. “I was w—“

Bridget snapped up to her mid step, almost too fast for Mihari to catch. As it was, the woman now floated within striking distance, a punch halfway towards her chest.

“Well, she doesn’t waste any time now does she?” In spite of the playful quip, Mihari couldn’t shake her boy’s looming sense of dread.