A few days passed. Remi had explained Zane's situation to Aenon on the first day after the encounter, who began treating Zane much nicer but quickly went back to normal after receiving a few of the British boy's snarky remarks, and the other days followed a monotonous routine. Wake up. Wash up. Scout the area. Combat training which Zane insisted they do. Eat probably expired food. Sleep. Rinse and repeat.

" We should probably head somewhere else, it isn't safe to stay in one place too long," Aenon said to the two sparring on the school's lawn.

Zane carefully planned their combat training, he had regular spars with Remi and made the redhead do at least 50 push-ups a day followed by a few laps around the lawn daily. For Aenon, he had fewer spars but made him run much more and also practice forming water as quickly as possible, which he was currently doing. The taller two protested on the first day but quickly obliged when Zane pulled out his knife, perfectly devoid of any trace of the work he'd done on the owl. Remi, despite his previous protest, seemed to enjoy the exercise. He appeared to have a lot of pent-up stress and working out helped relieve him.

A fist flew through the air. It was aimed at Zane, who dodged it easily and responded with a gut punch right to the liver. Remi lurched in pain from the unexpected attack.

" That's true, how about we pack up today and head out before midday? It's still pretty early. " Zane said as he wiped some sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief and headed towards Aenon.

" You're definitely not strong enough to pack a punch like that. Why did that hurt so much, gosh." Remi came closer to the other two with his hand rubbing his belly.

" Force isn't all that matters, if I was only a bit stronger a direct punch to your liver like that should've knocked you out at least. " Zane said as if disappointed.

" You're a scary dude."

" I wouldn't be so scary if you just remembered to guard your vital points."

Aenon laughed as he dissipated the water he was forming and stood up, joining Zane to point out Remi's faulty battle sense.

" Why are you talking Aenon? If you weren't an edict user Zane would destroy you quicker and easier than he already does. "

" That is a reasonable deduction Remi, I probably would."

Aenon just rolled his eyes and snickered. He didn't talk as much or was as bubbly as Remi but he talked more freely and with much more enthusiasm than Zane, it was a nice balance to the sunshine and midnight rain of the other two. The three walked back into school, washed up and got their things. They decided to use the streets rather than the woods, they needed to find somewhere to get some more supplies, especially since Aenon had nothing on him.

" So Aenon, how draining is it to use your powers?" Remi asked as they were walking.

" Depends on how much water I'm forming, and the purity but I can still use them a lot before I wear out. Better than most edict users I've met, they can't use theirs for long and some have fucked up drawbacks on theirs."

" What kind of drawbacks?" Zane pitched in, his interest piqued.

" Like this girl in my old group, she was a way better healer than me. Could practically heal anything, but she had to take whatever injury the person had for herself."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

" Wouldn't her edict be worse than yours then?" Remi asked.

" That would be the case, but she could heal dismembered body parts perfectly, like no sign of being lopped off at all!" He raved as if still amazed by her ability.

"...But she had to experience triple the pain from the wound for who knows how long. She'd always say she was fine but everyone could tell she was in terrible pain. But we all just pretended like she was perfectly fine."

Aenon looked down at the stone pavement of the sidewalk as he finished his sentence, it had lost its polished finish leaving only ugly eroded rock behind. He continued to stare at it for a few seconds before Remi broke the silence.

" I'm sure she's doing better now, I know lots of people who don't speak up 'cause they're afraid of letting down their friends but they always pick up sooner or later. They're tough like that." He said as he clapped Aenon on the back.

" Seeing as how you used the past tense when talking about her, I think it's correct to assume that she's no longer alive. My condolences, " Zane said without turning back as he continued to walk ahead of the other two.

" Yeah, she died before I left," he replied, quiet and shaking.

In the sparse days they'd spent together, they had begun to understand each a bit. Hence, Zane and Remi knew to avoid the topic of Aenon's old group as much as possible. It was met with either silence or silent sobbing if it was brought up. They understood that they each had their share of secrets and trauma and decided not to pry too much into a sensitive topic as they continued to walk in silence.

Soon they arrived at a convenience store, Remi pulled out his bat and took the lead with Zane right behind him and Aenon at the back. The store reeked of mould and dust, and the stale air made it hard to breathe. Several aisles had been ransacked, left barren by the last group that had come, everything in the drug aisle was gone aside from a single pack of birth control which Aenon grabbed and put in his pocket. Zane crouched down and stared at the mould growing through the cracks of the tiled floor, it had an almost cyan hue to it. He wondered how it would feel to the touch, its tiny spores were drifting into the air so quickly that the mould almost resembled a blue blaze. Aenon and Remi noticed he wasn't moving and came to check if he was alright.

" Ah, I'm fine. This mould is just so...fascinating," He said as he brought his hand closer to it, as his fingers grazed it he felt an intense chill like his hands had just been wet with snow.

"Just marvellous," he said as he scooped some of it into an empty transparent medicine bottle from his bag. As soon as the mould filled it up condensation started to form on its interior. He wrapped the bottle with an old rag on the store's counter and shoved it into his sack.

"Y'know you're gonna get a hunchback from carrying all that weight everywhere," Remi stated to which Zane ignored.

" I found a satchel lying under the counter so I've got a bag now. Where shou-" Aenon was interrupted by a loud bang from the store's door.

A heavy gust blew the door open. The three raised their hands to shield their eyes as the wind slowly subsided. They could see a girl with blonde hair and arms raised at the front of the door with a shorter boy who bared a likeness to her behind. Zane pulled out his knife and Remi his bat, the red-hair briefly wondered how Zane would do in a real fight with humans but he pushed away his worries. Zane was probably already making a plan.

" W-what are you guys doing here?" Aenon exclaimed.

" You know them?" Zane questioned with his eyes still focused on the pair.

"I-"

Before Aenon could finish his sentence the girl made a spinning motion with her arms. Suddenly they were surrounded by a mini tornado, they could feel the air in the room getting thinner and thinner. Zane was the first to be knocked out, his weak frame unable to handle the shortness of breath.

"Fuck," Remi uttered as he followed Zane to the ground. Aenon was still standing and rushed to them but with a sharp pulling motion by the girl was lifted into the air and out the door. The boy behind her grabbed Aenon and restrained him, despite his small stature his strength was overwhelming and Aenon couldn't move an inch.

The girl dropped her hands and walked back towards him. She grasped Aenon's face and stared at him. Her eyes were full of admiration and worship, it was like she saw Aenon for more than he was, more than he ever could be.

" We missed you so much, bearer of sacred water. Angel Aenon, you've come back to us."