Alright, yeah, okay, I'm fine now. I'm-,

"YOU DA-,"

Okay yeah shit lets get out of here

"I'll take Mal, get out of here dude!"

Todd said, hopping down from where I was holding him. Yeah, will do! I nod, getting the message over, and bolt for it. Luckily, the wizard never has been any speed-focused, so getting away from him was as easy as poppin' pussies into pies.

Once I'm on the road, well outside of his radius, I can take a peek behind me. As per his own instructions, Todd is indeed jogging up a fair bit behind me, Mal slung over his back in a piggy-carry. Impressive, for a man with 16 attack. After a moment's waiting, he catches up to me, smiling a goofy-ass smile as if nothing bad ever happened.

"...You're fine with what happened-?"

I ask, gingerly receiving the out-cold Mal from his back. Todd's eyes widen, but he quickly regains his composure.

"Well, uh, yeah? Like, I got into this kind of for this exact reason. To steel my spirits, get a strong tolerance for pain, all that, yeah? I'm already pretty strong physically, so I really just want to get strong mentally, too."

Todd says as he hops onto my back. While I mull over his words, I grow to about the size of a carriage, to increase the distance covered.

"What for?..."

Maybe it isn't my place to ask why he wants to get used to pain, but I feel it's necessary. I could never imagine wanting to feel pain, so much so that you get used to it to such a degree, but... I want to know why he would want that for himself.

He smiles fondly.

"I want to join the military. Like my dad and grandfather, and... and if it does well, and I don't get drafted all of a sudden or anything, I'd like to become a police officer. It runs in the family, I guess."

The way he said it, I could tell there was something to this, something he didn't want to tell me. And that was fine. If this was all he wanted to tell me, this was all I'd need to know for now.

The rest of the way passed quite peacefully. Mal was still sleeping, and as far as Todd could tell, his only visible wound was a small chunk out of his left ear, which was a minor injury after such a bloody battle. I asked Todd what had happened after I left, and as he described it, it was pretty much torture. Todd was able to get the spider to focus on himself since he would be alright no matter the damage, but Mal still wasn't entirely spared.

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"'S a good thing you came in time, eh, Johnny?"

I don't tell him about why I didn't come earlier. About how I had allowed them to become second priority. That'll gnaw at me forever, but it won't gnaw at him or how he feels about me. I won't let it.

Soon enough, we reach the man's cabin, but Mal hasn't even woken up yet, which is alright.

The man greets us at the door, and Todd insists on getting the man to personally thank us, which he does, after some confusion.

...Kind of weird, considering that we were doing this as a way of returning his favour, but okay. Before we leave, he hands us Mal's backpack, which we had almost forgotten in his house.

With the backpack reclaimed, I put Todd back on my back, and wave goodbye to the man. We might never see him again, and it leaves a dull ache in my gut. But it's okay. I've got friends on my back, and as long as I have them, I can deal with saying goodbye to an odd man or two.

"Hngg-,, where-?..."

"Ah, you're finally awake!"

Todd leaned over to greet Mal, and I could feel Mal scramble away from Todd, almost falling off my back in the process.

"Hahahah! Gotcha!"

Todd says, and I can't help but twist my waist to look at what they're doing. Yes, as it turns out, Todd is clutching his gut, and Mal is, in turn, clutching his backpack, his ears red with anger and embarrassment.

"Misguided hero, you banshee of villains! Tvi, tvi, you seducer of evil!"

Oh, those boys.

I turn back around, and focus on the road and the pretty mountains and the castle and the tall trees and the-,,

The castle...??

To be sure, a far ways down the road, so far I can't tell exactly how far it is, the very top of a castle can be seen. As we come a bit closer, it seems the castle is, in fact, placed right on the side of one of the many mountains, almost at the top! It reminds me of another city that's on top of a hill... Grasse? I think it's elevated somewhat, but...

Not like this. This castle, along with a bunch of stone houses next to it, is just straight-up on the side of a mountain. The closer we get, the more houses are revealed. All of them seem to be made of some sort of stone, with the larger and more luxurious ones being a pristine, marble-like white. The castle, however, seems to be made of regular rock. How odd.

"Dude, there it is! The city of Blank! I think the full name is something french like "Blanc de Montagne," but who knows really? As far as I can tell, this whole area of the map is all frenchy for some reason. No idea why."

Todd said as he hoisted himself up to stand on my lower back, with his hand on my shoulder. I kind of feel like telling him that I'm not a tower to climb, but he seems to be having fun, so I decide not.

"...French-y?..."

Mal mumbles from further down on my back, sounding exceptionally confused.

"Yeah, frenchy! Like, this place is kind of like France, but it's much more north, so it's more like Norway, yeah?"

Todd said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, but it only seems to make Mal more upset.

"...You returners, I should never have agreed to come on this journey, you'll be the death of me for sure..."

He said. After getting mauled by a spider. Right.

Either way, the city is only getting closer, punctuated by a sudden and complete loss in trees and foliage, quickly replaced by farmland. Of the most basic sort. Gee, just looking at this is making me question how we even survived this long at a-,

"Oh, right, dude? You should like, get small and stuff, cuz if people see you they'll totally freak out?"

Todd raises a good point. Speaking of people, although the farmlands we're the closest to are pretty much empty of people, further down the road (now walled on either side with walls made of large, round-ish stones), you can clearly see shabby houses, so there are people who can see me. Right, let's get small.

I turn around, and once I've got both Mal and Todd down on the ground, I shift back into my small size, flying over and sitting down on Todd's shoulder since, well. Comfortable.

"Uh. Hero, Villain? If you do not wish to be caught at the gates, I would recommend that you, little fiend, are in your more... insect-like form. Pixies are not too loved."

Mal warned, and, well, he's right, I think? I guess I could hide in Todd's shirt if I wanted to, but I'd actually really like to see what's going on, so...

Poof, and I get small and little and insect-y.

"Alright, let's gooo!"

Todd says, and we're off.

To the city of Blanc!