{-Kalleira-}

She didn’t realize she could have such conflicting thoughts about a person and the situation they were in.

Before, everything had been black and white to her. Both of Rhenei’s parents were terrible, everything they put her through was worse, and nothing would be better than to leave. She was confident in all of those things. Farrar wasn’t quite so simple.

For some reason, she felt like she could trust him—that he wasn’t going to hurt Rhenei in the same way her parents did. Yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more going on than what he was telling them, even if ultimately the same thing was true for them as well. She asked Rhenei about him, but of course she didn’t think anything was strange. Kalleira was the only one who thought he was anything more than just a helpful teen.

Why did she find that so hard to believe?

Perhaps it all lied in the memories she couldn’t recall—memories from before she was with Rhenei.

All of those memories were a blur until the night they met Farrar and she experienced something she didn’t think was possible.

She had a dream.

“When’s Vriuh gonna do something new?” There was no image to go along with the voice, not yet, but there was a sense of familiarity.

“I’m getting bored!” a second, near identical voice agreed.

“If I have to wait any longer, I’m going to tell Theseus I think his hair is stupid.”

A laugh all three of the voices shared. “That’s sure to start something interesting!”

Three figures slowly became clearer. Being able to see them clearly, Kalleira understood who they were.

They were Maho, Ilathri, and Nillae—the Strings. But how did she know that? And why was she dreaming of them?

“Vriuh!” they moaned in unison, “We’re tired of waiting! Give us something to do!”

The pale glow that gave the place its light flickered. Apparently it wasn’t the first time they’ve said this and it only got more annoying with time.

“Oh, I have a plan!” one of them announced. “Let’s split up and insult a different person. Three fights, all at once!”

“But we can’t watch all three,” another pointed out.

“Vriuh will still need to clean it up,” the last said. “They’ll have to listen once we start disrupting things.”

“Alright, alright. Only one. But if we choose an acceptable target—“

They all stopped when something that could only be described as a cold chill blew through. They all looked at Kalleira.

“So Vriuh wants us to do something with you?”

“No, Orestis wants us to do something with her. This is not merely an adopt-a-spirit situation.”

“Well, then what should we do with her?”

“Let’s get something else decided first.” Their collective glares grew into a more scrutinizing kind. “What’s your name, child?”

She fought the urge to back away with so much attention on her. No one else here paid her any mind—most didn’t even acknowledge she was here, and she didn’t dare get close to anyone else who might’ve. “Kalleira.”

They all thought for a moment.

“Wasn’t that the kid who—”

“Shush, don’t you remember what Vriuh told us? Don’t mention the cause of death in front of the kids.”

“That’s one surefire way of giving Usiu someone to babysit.”

“Besides, there’s often crying. Children always cry…”

They collectively shook their heads.

“Nillae, this is your job. Figure out who she is.”

“You’re just as capable of it, Maho!”

“If you need someone to help you, get Ilathri to do it.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“I assign and bond. I don’t know anything about the person’s life. Leave it up to me and I’ll bond her with the next murderer of the century.”

“Alright, alright! Anything to prevent that from happening again…”

They shivered.

“Vriuh was so mad…”

“I didn’t think they were capable of actually punishing us…”

“Turns out those terrible jokes aren’t their only weapon…”

Kalleira blinked, reminding them of their original mission.

One of them pulled out something—it looked like a scroll of some sort—and they all huddled together. They all looked over the scroll and whispered things she couldn’t understand. Every now and again, one of them would check to make sure she was still standing there, or look somewhere else in the distance. Once or twice they all froze and one of them walked off to do something with a set of strings.

Finally, all their mumbling gave way to a shout of victory.

“This should be the one!”

They all gave each other congratulations and nods of agreement.

“Their situations are similar.”

“Perhaps they’ll be able to help each other.”

“Vriuh won’t be mad about this one!”

“They’ll be thanking our genius.”

“Maybe they’ll give us a vacation!”

“Oh, it has been a long time since we last stepped foot in Sanctuary!”

“One thing’s for sure: they’re going to be praising us for an eternity about this.”

“Most definitely.”

“This is a match that’s hard to believe Orestis didn’t make!”

They all looked at Kalleira. “Well, little girl, are you ready to meet who you’re going to be paired with?”

“Who—who is it..?” she finally managed to ask, still without a full grasp of what was going on.

Their lips moved but she didn’t hear a name. Another image flashed in front of her, though she wasn’t able to stay in that place for long. Instead, she woke up, reminding herself of the previous day’s events when she couldn’t recognize her surroundings.

They were on Farrar’s couch. Most importantly, they were safe.

She didn’t know if she somehow contributed to waking Rhenei up or if that was something she did completely on her own.

“Is it morning yet..?” Rhenei mumbled, opening only one of her eyes. After she undoubtedly saw nothing but darkness, she rolled over and nestled closer into the blankets Farrar gave her. This was the first time she’d looked so peaceful in a long time.

Kalleira hated to be the one to possibly disrupt that. “Rhenei, there’s something I want to tell you.”

It took a moment, but Rhenei sat up, blinking warily at Kalleira. “What is it..?”

“I had a dream. Or, I think that’s what it was. That’s those things with—with the pictures, and the voices, that happen when people close their eyes for a long time, right?” Kalleira tried to shake the nervous feeling she had, but she couldn’t think of a way to assure herself. It didn’t feel like something that she was supposed to do.

“I thought you said that you couldn’t dream.”

“I didn’t think I could, but… it just happened.”

“What was it about?” Rhenei was a lot more awake than she was before. It seemed she was more excited about the new discovery than anything else.

“The Strings, I think. Maho, Ilathri, and Nillae.”

“Did you hear anything or remember what they did?”

“They were talking about someone—me. Something Vriuh wanted… or Orestis wanted. I know what they said, but I… don’t understand any of it…”

“Tell me! Maybe I know.”

Kalleira couldn’t help but show her disbelief. “If I don’t know anything, you’re probably not. I know everything you do.”

Rhenei’s grin, however, still did not fade. “Try me.”

After a deep breath, Kalleira recounted everything that she heard to the eagerly-awaiting Rhenei. When she finished, her skepticism was all but proven to be well-placed.

“Yep,” Rhenei said after a moment of thought, “I have no idea.” She must’ve noted how it definitely wasn’t the right answer. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t figure it out.”

Kalleira tilted her head. “Do you think that’s possible? Neither of us know anything about it. We don’t even know where to start…”

“But we can definitely try, right?” Rhenei’s smile only grew. “We need to get out of the city anyway—the sooner and further the better. Especially if we don’t really know where we’re going, they might not be able to track us down!” She looked around and tried scrambling in the dark. “Where do you think Farrar’s family keeps a random piece of paper and pen? I want you to tell me everything else that dream makes you think of. Maybe one of them will help us figure out where we should try first.”

“I already told you everything…”

“Tell me again! And everything else related to it—anything that crossed your mind.”

Then, suddenly, a candle gave light to the room. “You’re up bright and early.”

Rhenei perked up and they both looked at Farrar. “You don’t look like a morning person.”

He let out a long yawn. “It doesn’t help that you started talking to yourself down here.” His casual shrug was meant to be reassuring, but Kalleira found it inexplicably mocking. “You’ve probably got to get going soon, right? For whatever reason you’re running around for?”

“Yeah. Probably before they’re up…” Rhenei said with a confident nod.

“Do you want something to eat before you go? I’ve got plenty here. You could probably take some of it with you…”

Rhenei was quiet for a moment before her expression lit up. Kalleira knew to be wary of that face. “Hey, how much do you know about the outside?”

“I know basic geography, if that’s what you’re asking. What you should and shouldn’t do if you don’t want to get killed or robbed. Common sense and basic survival.”

Kalleira gave Rhenei a glare. “You better not ask what I think you’re going to.”

Rhenei, of course, completely ignored her. “Do you think you can help me out with one more thing?”