Gee was sat in front of his mirror – no, her mirror – fixing her hair when Nathan came stumbling into the wooden shack, gushing blood through his fingers. In the yellowed reflection, she could see him grabbing his arm where his shirt was cut, and she didn't need any more reason to shoot up from her chair and come to his side. Before she did, she grabbed the healing kit stashed behind the mirror.

Nathan had come around before returning to the Mothers, finding Gee down by the river with the washing women as she cleaned her costume in frigid water. As soon as Gee had spotted him, she recognized his exhausted staggering, and he practically collapsed into her arms as she went to hug him. When he pulled back, dark bags under his eyes, she noticed the rug burn on his cheek and the disheveled state of his hair. She started fixing it as he spoke.

"You won't believe the day I've had," he mumbled, closing his eyes as her hands worked through his hair.

"I believe you. Tell me about it." Gee could wager a guess that he was on a job that had gone badly. She loved Nathan extremely, but even she could admit he rarely had a job go well, no matter how skilled he was at being silent. At shows, when he danced through crowds as deftly as she danced on stage, it was a fifty-fifty whether or not someone caught him. Thankfully, he was great at escapes.

"Botched job. The house was supposed to be empty, but someone caught me. Had quite the conversation." Gee lowered her hand and scoured Nathan's face for more information. He always kept details close to his chest – it was much safer for the dancer if he did – but that didn't mean she liked it. "I didn't get everything I was looking for, but he let me go."

"Is your boss going to like that?" Nathan laughed snidely, grabbing at an ache on his side.

"No. But this noble, he offered to keep me safe until after he saves the world." Nathan cut off Gee's stream of questions with a shake of his head. "Don't ask me, I have no idea. How do you feel about meeting up with him this evening?"

So Gee canceled her show for the night, giving the band a dramatic apology to make up for the late notice. They mostly shrugged her off and started searching for a new performer in her absence. She'd been waiting in the wooden shack for an hour or so, fixing her auburn hair and admiring her outfit before Nathan barged in, bloody and beyond words.

As he fell to the ground, she came down with him, quickly working off his shirt. He gripped his bicep in desperate attempts to stem the flow with pour results as blood trickled over his fingers, drawing hissing breaths between gritted teeth. She was digging through the healing kit the next moment, drawing out bandages and gauze. She batted away his hand and began wrapping his arm. This was not the first time she'd had to do a rush job like this for him before, but it was a blessing as she wrestled back her focus from her panic and made quick work of his bandages. With his spare arm, Nathan reached around her and grabbed a washcloth from the kit, running it up his bloody arm and trying to clean himself.

Once she finished tying his wraps, she softly took it from his trembling hands and finished the job.

"Thank you," he said breathlessly, relaxing against the wall as she wiped. "They were not happy about a job half done."

"Clearly. Are you going to be okay?"

"It's just one cut. We've been through worse." Gee harrumphed, and she watched his thin chest heave as he breathed, eyes shut and slumped against the wall. He's exhausted, she admitted as she tried to wipe the blood from her hands, but Nathan batted his eyes open. "We have a meeting to get to."

"If you insist– Stop!" Gee snatched the bloody shirt from his hands as he picked it off the ground, his face twisting into hurt confusion.

"What?"

"You're not putting this back on," she chastised, throwing it in a pile with the bloody rag.

"That's my only shirt!"

"I can mend and wash it later. Wear one of mine." Nathan cocked his head at her in exasperation, like she'd suggested he stuff a whale into a purse.

"Are you trying to humiliate me to death? I'm going to look like a toddler in his dad's shirt." Gee snickered, but her eyes traced his lithe frame, lingering on his ribs which poked through his skin. Gee wasn't big by any means, she didn't eat enough and she danced too much, but Nathan fell on the other end of the spectrum. Their differences were stark, and plus, she liked big flowy shirts.

"I'm sure I have something small enough and dark enough for you." She winked at him and began digging in a dilapidated dresser as Nathan grumbled on the ground. Still, he caught the shirt easily as she threw it at him and slipped it over his head without a word. He pushed himself to his feet and went to assess the damage in the mirror.

It was a very similar shirt to the one Gee was wearing, big sleeves and a deep V-neck that could be laced up if you wanted to. Gee never did, taking too much pride in turning heads wherever she went, bronze skin glowing beside the white linen. She'd found a dark blue variant for her rogue.

Nathan began lacing up the neckline in the mirror, pushing up the sleeves and stretching his shoulders in soreness. Gee watched him in the reflection until it looked like he was about to settle for going out in public looking like that, so she hopped off the dresser and came up behind him. She undid his string-like belt at his hips and laughed as he tensed under her fingers.

"Relax, I'm just fixing your shirt. You look like a mushroom." Gee retied his belt over the fabric, gathering loose cloth and revealing his frame through the volume. She finished and admired her handiwork in the mirror.

"Much better. We should leave now and maybe find a washroom," she added, frowning at the blood under her fingernails. Nathan agreed and picked up his cloak from the floor, draping it over his shoulders as she opened the door for them.

After scrubbing in a water trough for a while, and then forcing Nathan to scrub too, he led her through the town arm-in-arm until they broke into an open boulevard at the foot of a hill. The sun had set a few minutes ago but the sky was still bright in shades of blue and green, and Gee could recognize the cadet camp at the top of the hill. They were near the edge of town, but that didn't mean it was quiet here as people gathered to head in towards town for some drinks. This was typically the time when the band started playing and collecting an audience, Gee realized. She wasn't going to make any money tonight, so she hoped they were going to meet at an inn for dinner. The outlook wasn't good so far.

Nathan stopped suddenly in his tracks as they walked up the road, and Gee stumbled as he tore himself out of her arm. When she turned around to face him, he was facing the opposite direction, a hand over his mouth and his head hung in defeat.

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"What was that?" she chastised, but she started scanning the area around them curiously. He must've seen something that made him hide his face.

"Do you see that group of four, sixty feet ahead?" She sought them out and found a small group lingering up the road.

"Yeah?"

"I recognize the big guy. I tried to pick him at one of your shows last week, and he caught me." Gee found the kid he was talking about, sizing him up and trying to remember his face. Nathan worked most of her shows while she dazzled people onstage as Moonlight, but it was hard to remember faces when you were trying to woo everyone at once (tips were better that way). But this kid was a giant, a foot taller than some of the people around him and clearly muscled as he crossed his arms over his chest in boredom. She almost remembered him, noting his cadet uniform, but she kept getting distracted by his arms as she fought to keep a smile off of her face. If Nathan had made him his enemy, he couldn't have picked a more gigantic opponent.

Nathan mumbled encouraging things to himself through his hand before he looked up and tried to stand taller.

"Let's just get this over with," he said under his breath, and they continued forward. The tall kid was the first to spot them, and Gee watched his expression darken very closely in case they needed to get out of there quickly. That's why she jumped when a loud voice suddenly rang out, caught off guard as a small kid suddenly pointed at them.

"You're the guy who stole my shit!" Nathan placed a hand over her chest in caution, but they watched another kid in blue and yellow step between them quickly, his back turned towards the two.

"Brady, I told you he was a thief, keep your voice down."

"But he stole my shit!" the kid, Brady, cried from behind him. Gee checked Nathan in the middle of all the yelling, but he was standing tall and trying to disguise his exhaustion with a glare.

"Brady," said another one, tall and dashingly handsome as he put a hand on Brady's shoulder and asked him to calm down. His black shirt and pants immediately caught her attention, especially compared to everyone standing around him in more rugged attire. The four boys turned to face them as they finally closed the distance. Brady glowered at Nathan but kept his mouth shut, and Gee let her eyes linger on his face and the scars that colored it. The boy who stepped in front of him cleared his throat.

"This is the one I was telling you all about, but I think introductions are in order." He turned to Gee. "My name is George Nattien."

"Charmed. I'm Gee."

"Gee? Like the letter?" Brady blurted, and Gee gave him a devious smile.

"I see you know your alphabet. Yes, like the letter." Brady shrugged, but Gee caught the flash of humor in his eyes.

"This is Nathan," she introduced once she realized Nathan wasn't going to respond, and he frowned down at her. "He apologizes to everyone he's met before tonight." Nathan's eyes went back to the cadet, and he bowed his head.

"I am sorry, it wasn't personal, we're just trying to eat," he apologized, and Gee watched the cadet's face soften.

"What the hell, why don't I get an apology?" Brady asked, and tall, dark and handsome put another hand on his shoulder. "What? He stole all my shit! You had to buy me a stone, remember? I was homeless because he stole my–"

"I'm Adam. Hesler," his friend interrupted, and he put out his hand for Gee to take. She did and tried to suppress the smile breaking over her face as he kissed her knuckles. He gave Nathan a nod. "I seem to be the only one who doesn't recognize you." Gee elbowed Nathan in the side.

"One out of four isn't bad." He hissed at her to shut up.

"My name's Matt," the cadet said quietly, his anger seeming to have fled since the apology. "It's been a while, but I remember starving. Consider it forgotten."

"We shouldn't talk here," Adam said, nodding his head at the errant folk around them. "Follow me."

Gee had never been inside the library before, and she sucked up to Nathan's side as they were escorted through tall shelves of books. Even at this hour, when most left their duties for drinks and entertainment, there were patrons at dimly lit desks, sipping teas and coffees and scribbling notes as they read. Aids were roaming everywhere, and they eyed their troop suspiciously until they recognized George and Adam. Gee had recognized their surnames, having lived in town her whole life, but she could ignore the pit of disdain in her stomach for them as they waved off concern.

Despite his silent footfalls, Gee couldn't help but look up at Nathan as they walked through narrow aisles, and she noticed he hadn't taken his eyes off of George for the whole journey across town. A smile split her face as she stashed that knowledge away to tease him later, but her thoughts were interrupted by the click of a cane in her ears. She turned to find Brady on her other side.

"Have we met before? Something about you is very familiar," he said, eyeing her carefully. Gee smiled.

"Do you frequent the shows in the low town?" His eyes lit up as his jaw dropped.

"You're Moonlight?" George shushed him loudly. "I didn't recognize you, you're always in that veil. Matt, it's Moonlight!" He hit the back of the cadet in front of him, who spared them a glance over his shoulder.

"Of course, I already recognized him."

"Her, today," Gee corrected, and Matt apologized.

"You didn't think to tell me?"

"I assumed you figured it out by now." Matt spared her a glance and flushed as she winked at him, turning back around as Adam halted the group. The page leading them through the darkened library stopped at a thick wooden door and pulled out a ring of keys, unlocking it. He handed one to Adam who ushered them into the small study room and locked the door behind them.

"Why'd we have to come here?" Brady asked, taking a seat at a big oak table littered in small lamps. Gee sat next to him as Adam leaned against the wall opposite them, everyone finding their spots in the small room.

"It's discrete, and George and I visit enough to be left fully alone in here. This is very sensitive information." The noble's eyes landed on Gee and Nathan, side by side.

"Yes, saving the world and all that." Gee waved away his suspicion. "I know we're not in the same social circles, but we're just as interested in living as you are." Adam clearly wrestled with a thought as he chewed on his lip, but he eventually nodded apology at her.

"You're right, this is a matter of humanity. I might as well get to it then: I have reliable information that dark forces are assembling something up north. George and I have been working together for many years, learning everything about devils that we could get our hands on, and I trust his expertise without question. He found a prophecy he thinks will lead to stopping whatever it is I was warned about."

"How confident are you it's the right one?" Gee asked, but she watched Brady shake his head sagely.

"It's the right one," he declared, and George cast him a heavy look. From the bag slung over his shoulder, he pulled out a thin black book and flicked through the pages, echoing Brady's words.

"It's the right one."

"But we're not the right people," Matt countered, and all eyes turned toward him, arms crossed over his chest and brows furrowed in worry. "Maybe Mister Hesler is tied to this, and Mister Nattien by extension, but the rest of us are commonfolk."

"It's like he said earlier," Gee offered, "it's a matter of humanity. If I can do something to stop the world from ending–"

"On that front," Nathan interrupted, his hard gaze on Adam. "What kind of 'world ending' are we talking about? Not all of us have been fed from a silver spoon their whole lives, so forgive me for being skeptical of your concern." Adam didn't flinch away from his glare.

"I'll admit I don't know, but I'm not talking about destruction of capital, if that's what you're worried about. Based on my experiences, this is about human lives, and preventing a new era. George, maybe it's time to share the prophecy?" The second noble nodded at his side, the passage already opened in his book.

"There will come a son, born in tendrils of smoke," he began, his voice steady, if shy. "He bears his teeth and a five headed weapon. South to north the shadows shall take him, into the jaws of his fate.

"They come marching one, by two, by three." He took a deep breath. "The heat of the sun with six rays to pray on; A knife which cuts shadows and plays to your heart; The tags of a soldier who fights with soaring courage; Flowers from the grave of your darkest betrayal; A crown which speaks to armies of faeries.

"The son will bring this treasure and feed his father a promise. May the son find his courage, lest the world is plunged into darkness."

"Sounds dire," Gee whispered into the silence after George stopped.

"Sounds like a treasure hunt," Nathan corrected.

"Some of it sounds like us," Brady chimed in, and he turned to Matt in his chair. "'A soldier who fights with courage?' That's you."

"The six sun rays," Adam mused, and his gaze fell on George who wilted under it.

"Who exactly is ending the world?" Gee chimed in, and Adam redirected his attention to her with crushing seriousness.

"My father."