"Who is he?"

"A friend."

"What friend? He is like centuries older than you. Are you sure about knowing him?"

"Shut up."

The trio has been walking for a while now and all this time the old man and Rhia kept talking as if they know each other for ages. Sean tried getting closer to Rhia and starting small talk but she was too occupied to continue.

'Do they know each other from before? Probably. The way they are being inseparable certainly proves it. Don't tell me she brought us here to meet him?'

"You remember, don't you? You used to be so chaotic then, always running around looking for trouble. Remember the day..."

Sean didn't even need to eavesdrop, they were loud and clear. His eyes were fixated on Rhia's face. She smiled and even laughed happily, her face was glowing. By the time Sean realized they were standing in front of a wooden building. It was a house alright but it was huge. The area it covered would approximately be 2-3 acres and the green field surrounding it was more than 5 acres. They left the forest long back and Sean didn't even notice it.

"Come inside." The old man said and Rhia was more than excited to do the same. The house was spacious and had big rooms. Decorations were less but the place was clean and calm. There were a few photo frames set on the shelves on the walls. Rhia reached towards one and looked at it with a smile. "Is this the one from the hunting?"

"Yes. You will find here everything the same as you left it. I have taken utmost care in not replacing a single thing, not even the utensils, ha ha ha."

Rhia turned and smiled at the man. She saw Sean standing dumbfoundedly and looking here and there.

"Oh, I am sorry. I should have introduced you two earlier. Sean, this is Lionel, my father's best friend and the only one alive who I consider as family, and Lionel, this is Sean, a friend I have made recently. He has helped me so much these few days, coming here without his help was impossible."

Both the men looked at each other and Lionel looked grateful. "Thank you young man for taking care of her." All kinds of foul feelings that Sean had for the man diminished. He looked at Rhia and she was smiling, it was bright, and everything was going well when a certain rumble made everybody awkward. Sean can see Rhia's expression of surprise that slowly changed. Waves of laughter flew into the room and Sean was super embarrassed. His stomach growled again and the laughs got louder as well. "I see you are having so much fun. This is all because of you. I haven't had a proper meal and you made me walk all this time, even my neck has started to hurt now."

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

"I am sorry," Rhia spoke trying to stop laughing. "Oh, this was so much fun." She cleared her throat. "I am sorry for keeping you hungry Sean."

"You guys go and see around while I prepare supper." Lionel left and Rhia asked Sean to come along with her. They went towards the backdoor and Sean was excited to see the view. Unlike the barren land in the front, the back was filled with life. There were stables containing different kinds of creatures. A few loose ones were grazing and a few others enjoyed inside the big pool of water. There were bushes all around where pink berries hung and medium size trees had yellow, round food hanging on them.

"I am sorry for laughing back there."

"It's all right. I know it was funny."

They sat on the patio. Sean still couldn't believe he was spending time here with an Odd when his whole career, probably even life is being ruined at the moment at Pordes. Rhia reached his neck and took the band-aid off. "Does this still hurt?" She slowly grazed her fingers over the wound as Sean nodded his head. "There, it's fixed now." Sean touched his neck after Rhia removed her hand and could feel that the area was smooth again, the cut was gone.

"How did you do this?"

"I can heal myself and others. That's one of my powers."

"One of your powers? Well, now I know you can heal and make portals to jump from one place to another, what else can you do?"

"I am also good in hand-to-hand combat, shooting, and a few other things."

"Hmm... no wonder you are called Queen."

"I kept that name for myself. My father loved calling me that. He died calling me that."

"So, Lionel is your father's best friend?"

"Yes, we lived here together after my mother's death. Lionel doesn't have a family and my father thought as an Odd he would be a good teacher for me."

"The old man is an Odd? What kind of power does he have? Let me guess... Shooting? He shot the creature at the jungle so effortlessly."

"No, his power is to disable any Odd's power when he is within a 1-meter radius from them and that's why I couldn't make a portal for us to get out while we were fighting the creature. Shooting is just something he is very good at."

Sean was learning so many new things. At Pordes everybody knew about the concept of Perfects and Odds. Perfects were the ones who are void of any powers and are eligible to live and Odds are the ones with powers and hence are a liability and needed to be killed. He is slowly starting to feel all this being a lie. Yes, there were differences between them but he didn't feel threatened. The ones they fought before can be tagged as criminals and sometimes even Perfects do crimes.

"Let's go in. I will show you pictures from my childhood and tell you funny stories about Lionel. We might not have time like this for a long time again."