We spend the rest of the night enjoying the fair, visiting each and every stall, doing every activity, and eating every food. It was all five of us at first, but not too long after their previous encounter, Piper, the girl Asher was itching to see, called him, and he swiftly disappeared into the crowd after a hasty farewell. They must have been gone for at least a few hours by now, so I assume it must be going well.

‘Good for him.’

Still, I’m afraid I’m going to have to put an end to his fun. Realizing that the sun has set a long time ago, I turn to Aurora, my mouth half-full with a sweet and soft pastry I bought a few minutes ago.

“It’s getting late.” I say, staring at the moon high in the sky. “We should tell Asher it’s time to go home.”

Aurora wipes icing spread around Calliope’s mouth with a clean handkerchief, and commands the little girl to hand over the rest of her sweets. When Calliope reluctantly agrees, she meets my eyes and she stands up.

“Yeah we should…but I don’t know if he’ll want to leave.”

She dials Asher’s number and calls him through her watch. As the call is going through, I whisper to her. “Tell him he doesn’t have a choice, or I’ll go get him myself.”

The call connects and Asher speaks first from the other side.

[What do you want?] He says, his voice low, almost a whisper.

Aurora’s tone is flat, uncaring. “Alden said it’s time to go back, and you’re coming with us.”

[What?! Go back by yourselves!! I’ll be home later!]

I intrude on their conversation. “No, we’re going home together.” I say, hoping to make my statement final. “I need to talk to all of you.”

[Come on! Can’t that wait until tomorrow?!]

Aurora’s smirk spreads as she cuts him off. “You heard him. It can’t. So you better meet us at the entrance unless you want Alden dragging you back himself.” She tells him, almost triumphantly.

“Did you kiss her yet?!” Calliope yells, standing on her toes to reach Aurora’s communicator.

[I’m hanging up!]

“We better see you there in half an hour!” Aurora states before the call is cut off.

I raise an eyebrow. “Half an hour? That’s generous.”

“I’m not a monster. He needs time to say goodbye at least.” She replies with a shrug.

We slowly make our way to the main gate, and exactly a minute before the half hour mark, Asher meets us at the entrance, accompanied by Piper walking close to him. The girl’s appearance is much different from when she tended to the food stand earlier. Her hair is untied, she’s no longer wearing the apron, and though I’m not sure, I’m fairly certain she’s changed her clothes as well.

A bright smile covers her face as she talks to Asher.

“Thanks for taking care of my little brother, Piper.” I tell her once they’re close enough.

She nods clumsily, and a strange silence ensues. Scratching the back of my neck, my gaze drifts to the gate. “Well… I suppose we should get going, right?” I start walking off, expecting Asher to follow me. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Piper.”

They do not follow, however. Asher seems nervous, his hand briefly brushing his neck while Piper seems to be in the same boat, but most likely for different reasons.

Placing his hand on my shoulder, Asher holds me back. “We were wondering… if Piper could-”

“Absolutely not!” Aurora yells, interrupting him.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say!” He snaps back

“What? You want her to come over? The answer is, and has always been N.O.!”

Piper intervenes, cheeks peach red. “N-NO!! That’s not what he was going to say at all!” She pushes her hair behind her ear, clearly embarrassed. “I-It’s getting late and my dad needs to help close up the fair since he’s part of the committee, but there’s school tomorrow and he worries a lot since ours isn’t the best neighborhood… and since we live close and all…”

She seems to be having a hard time finding her words. “I-If it’s okay-”

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I scoff. “You want company on your way home? Sure, why not.”

Her eyes widen and she clasps her hands together. “T-thank you!” She stammers, her cheeks still flushed.

Asher sighs with relief quietly, but Aurora seems anything but pleased. “Seriously?” She mutters under her breath, pulling on Calliope’s hand toward the gate.

Piper tells her father with a call, and all six of us together, the quiet and nearly ghost-like Reginald included, cross the entrance of the fair, marching home. As we step into the cool night air, I find myself relieved, content even with tonight. This was something I needed just as much as they did.

----------------------------------------

I stop abruptly when I realize that we can’t go any further.

“A roadblock…” I mumble with exasperation.

Asher steps in front of me and squints at the sign planted in front of the roadblock. A wide grin creeps up his lips as he reads it.

“Ah man! Looks like we’ll have to go around!” His words do not carry an ounce of annoyement. You’d almost think he’s happy about this. “It’ll take longer, but what can we do?” He muses as he turns around, ready to take the detour.

“Well, my house isn’t much further.” Piper points beyond the roadblock hesitantly. “And the detour isn’t that bad, so I can probably just walk the rest of the way? I can’t trouble you all any further.”

Aurora’s eyes widen, and she nearly jumps with joy.

“Lovely! Now, let’s-”

“No.” I cut in, my tone firm. “We said we’d bring you home, so we’ll bring you home.”

“No, seriously, it’s oka-”

“No point in arguing. Lead the way.”

Without further retort, Piper goes to the front and leads the way to her home, Asher at her side. Aurora rolls her eyes, an annoyed sigh escaping her lips, and I walk a few steps behind, a sleeping Calliope resting against my back.

Had the sun still been up, I might have agreed to let Piper return by herself, since she’s not exactly a child. At her age, I was already going to and from many places on my own, after all. But if I remember correctly, the detour we have to take to reach the place she pointed to takes us through an especially bad part of town, one I’d hoped to avoid. I wouldn’t feel right letting a young girl cross it on her own.

We walk for another twenty minutes or so, and on our way, the sights are far from pretty. With me here, there’s no real danger, but still, I instruct everyone to stay close, and to avoid eye contact if possible, just as I used to do when I got home late at night.

Regardless, as we’re about to exit this sector of the neighborhood, an obstacle blocks our path. Three rough looking men stand before Asher and Piper, hands in their pockets and a grin on their face.

The tallest, a man with a crooked nose and an equally crooked grin speaks first. “Aren’t you a pretty little one? Why don’t you ditch this little boy and come play with us?” He says, bending over to meet Piper’s eye level.

His friend on the right, dirty long hair and mismatched boots, looks over to Aurora who’s grip tightens onto my arm when she meets his eyes. “Oh! There’s another one in the back, and she doesn’t look too bad either!”

Almost as if by reflex, Asher pulls Piper close, and steps in between their line of sight to Aurora, which only seems to anger them. With a dry chuckle, Crooked Nose takes a few menacing steps toward my younger brother. “ This isn’t a movie boy.” He says, leaning until there’s only a few inches of distance between his face and Asher’s.

The third man, a scrawny, pale looking guy, reaches into his ragged coat and pulls out a weapon, some sort of knife or dagger which reflects the moonlight. “Yeah kid, I think you better leave them to us…” He walks over to me and lightly presses the blade of his knife against my throat. “Same goes for you, the kid on your back, and the fatso behind. Why don’t you all just be on your merry way…”

‘Rude.’

“Y-you better listen to me you thugs!” Aurora snaps, her voice trembling but defiant. “You’d move out of our way if you had any brains at all!”

“Y-yeah! This won’t end well for you, trust me!” Asher chimes in.

For a moment, Scrawny blinks, surprised. Then he laughs. “Pfff.” All three of his friends join in, their cackle echoing in the streets.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Reginald reaches into his pocket, and as he does so, he whispers something beside me. “If you wish, Lord, I can-”

I shake my head subtly, and my gaze falls onto the man threatening me.

“I’m… really not in the mood for this.” I say flatly, and I stare into his eyes. “Move, or else.”

Another laugh escapes the Scrawny's mouth, and he slowly lifts his dagger from my neck. “You must think I’m a joke…” He mumbles, before he attempts to drive it into my stomach.

It might have caught anyone else off guard, but before the motion can even gain any momentum, I sink my foot into his chest, making sure to restrain the force of my blow, but still breaking a few bones. The sheer force sends him crashing into the ground a few meters away, clutching his ribs and gasping for air.

The other thugs' laughter dies instantly, replaced with silence, and I use the moment to lower Calliope from my back into Aurora’s hands. “This won’t take long.” I say quietly.

Now wary, Crooked Nose steps back, putting some room between Asher and him, and he reaches into the back of his pants. “S-so you can fight. Big deal! Are you from Lauderdale?! Is that why you were so confident!?” Hastily, he pulls out an old firearm and points it at me. “But what can you do against this?!”

I stop a few paces from him, my tone hardening. “A knife, I can overlook, especially from ordinary people...” My eyes meet his, and I ensure my intent is conveyed. “...But if you seriously intend to use that thing...”

The words hang in the air and Dirty Hair seems confused as to my phrasing, but then his eyes widen with shock. Immediately, he taps his friend on the shoulder, his face pale. “H-hey bro… He called us ‘ordinary’ people…”

His friend snaps back at him, annoyed. “So what?!”

“There’s only one group of people who use that word to refer to us…”

Finally, realization seems to set in Crooked Nose. “...No… That’s impossible…!” He steps backward, afraid, but he doesn’t lower his firearm. “H-He’s bluffing! Yeah, that’s gotta be it!”

The barrel of his gun wavers as fear wrestles with his prior confidence.. “Do you think [enlightened] are found just anywhere, huh?? Especially around here??? These guys are all nobles! You wouldn’t find them dead in this kind of place!”

His friend keeps quiet, perhaps as to not aggravate him any further, but he clearly isn’t convinced.

I sigh, exasperated. “Look here. I’ll give you one last chance. Put down the weapon and-”

“Shut up!!!” He screams, his finger tightening on the trigger.

BANG