{-Llewel-}
Myr spared no time in declaring, “Llewel didn’t think you’d come!”
“Well, a minute ago I assumed that was it!” he tried to argue, though ultimately failed.
“I missed you two, too,” Casrane said. She gestured back into the hallway. “Now come on, they should be busy for a little bit. If we’re quick we should be able to get out of here and out of sight before anyone else knows you’re missing.”
They both nodded and followed her lead. None of them dared saying anything else to each other as they left… though he couldn’t help but note that it seemed like she really knew her way around. She didn’t take them to the main hallway, but rather some other door at the end of this one. They didn’t come across anyone else and the only mention they ever heard of someone noticing they were leaving was right as they left the building.
She slowed down and guided them through the trees. It was nearly impossible to see the building through the forest but she glanced back in its direction anyway. Then, assured by whatever she didn’t see, turned her attention back to them. “I’m going to bring you back to Kyirius City. We should be able to lose them here and they’re going to think the city is too obvious to check first. Do you have any idea of where you can stay until then?”
“There was a place near the temple in Nafrius where no one ever thought to look,” Llewel offered. “Duuzlo had shown us where it was and it didn’t seem like anyone else knew. Is there a place like that here?”
Casrane nodded. “There should be. If there isn’t, then there’s another palace we can try. I’ve been there a couple of times before, though, so they might already think to look there…”
“Are you going to be staying with us?” Myr asked, sounding happy at the thought even though they all knew she probably shouldn’t be.
“Until they stop trying to look for you, yeah,” Casrane responded. “I want to make sure you’re safe, but I can’t stay after that. I’ll be able to give you some more time to do things with your friends before my father catches up to you again.”
There was a thought and feeling Llewel couldn’t shake, making him prompt, “Are you going to be safe doing that..?”
She didn’t necessarily look surprised to hear him say it, though she might not have completely expected it. “We can talk about that part once we’re back in the city. There’s something else I want to tell you anyway. It’s a lot better to talk about when we’re not trying to run away from people.”
Seeing as neither of them at least questioned it, Casrane began to lead the way back to Kyirius City. She continued to take paths through parts of the forest they’d never been in before—where it seemed a bit too untame for anything but a couple of animals. She didn’t have any problems navigating through it though and, as long as the twins followed her footsteps nearly exactly, neither did they.
There was little sign of anything in the city. For reasons he never quite got yet chose not to question, anyone hardly went anywhere during maintenances; if the NPCs didn’t already have a house to stay in, they found one willing to take them in. Without the players, there wasn’t nearly as much noise. The most he saw of another person was Relenri peering outside, seeing the three of them, noticing the expression Casrane gave her, and retreated back inside the inn.
Llewel took the lead once she prompted him to. When they got there, he stopped and waited for her approval. It seemed to take her a moment to even realize that he was motioning to the cellar door and that it was there at all.
“There’s also a hatch that leads into the temple,” he said. “Or at least there was in Nafrius.” He hoped they wouldn’t need it, but it would mean that they weren’t completely trapped here.
“This should be perfect.” The smile she gave him brought back those feelings from their dance, feelings he shook away when she wasn’t looking. Now wasn’t the time to think about it.
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Casrane opened it, gestured them both in, and closed it behind them. Llewel wandered to the other side of the small room and fumbled with the lamp until it gave them a dim light. He decided to be grateful that it was there at all then went back to Myr. She was sitting in a corner and wasted no time taking his hand once he sat down as well.
“What was it that you wanted to tell us?” he prompted, glancing at Casrane.
She thought about it for a moment before first asking, “You plan on going to Kehnore when you’re done here, right?”
He shrugged. “I don’t think they’ve really said it yet, but I would assume so. It’s the next reasonable place to go.”
“How much do you remember about when we first met?”
“More… fragments that don’t really connect to each other than anything I’d actually call a memory.”
“So you probably don’t remember anything that happened before then, when you were just with Duuzlo?”
Beginning to piece together why she was asking, he shook his head but said, “We did hear something earlier, though—recordings Duuzlo made that another test player listened to. He talked about our mother and… about us a bit, too. He said we’re related to Emmyth. And back in Anthalas, we learned about our necklaces…”
Slowly, she nodded. “It’s good to see you’re able to piece it together on your own. You two are descended from Emmyth, which is why you joined the hero in the story quests. You’ve encountered the Rune Reactivation Project guys, right?”
“A few of them in Anthalas, but hardly any outside of that.”
“There’s a lot of them in Kehnore—like, half of all the NPCs you’re going to come across are somehow related to them. It’s not as big of an issue as Nankohm’s going to be, but they’re still part of the reason why we’re like this in the first place. I’m… really not even sure of how much they’re going to remember you two. All I know for certain is that I’m not going to be there to keep an eye on them. So just be careful when you get there, alright? I have a feeling they either still have their ways of recognizing you or they’re about to regain them.”
“Then… would it really be a good idea to continue doing things with Zetai and Reynneak? Wouldn’t it just draw attention to us?”
“Believe it or not, it’s better than you being on your own or going back to Nafrius. There’s not a lot my father’s willing to do in front of or around players, and the Rune Reactivation Project probably isn’t going to be able to do much with them there. I’ll do my best to keep them away from you, but generally I think it’s safest if you stick with them.”
They all paused for a moment when they heard footsteps and mumbling. It sounded like a more casual conversation; complaining, almost. But it never seemed to realize who was so close to them and walked away again.
Casrane got up. “I’ve got to go and make sure they actually think we went to Anseshara. They’ll need to end the maintenance eventually, no matter whether they found you or not—wait until players start coming back and head to the inn. You can wait for your friends there.” Before either of them could say anything to her, she smiled and carefully left.
…
Llewel had decided to wait until they were completely sure that there were enough players. Myr still stayed close beside him, even if there weren’t any signs of Nankohm workers lurking around.
They did, though, hear plenty of speculation on their way to the inn.
“What do you think that was for?”
“I don’t know. I checked and that dungeon’s still locked, so they didn’t fix that.”
“An event?”
“There’s nothing new. Besides, that was way too sudden to be something they had planned.”
“At least they gave us some halfway decent compensation.”
“Seems like all those other people are gone now, too. You know, those guys that said that they were looking for someone?”
“The ones that wouldn’t even say who? Yeah, no wonder. They were starting to give me the creeps.”
The inn had several more groups of theorizing players, but none had a familiar face. Relenri waved the twins over once she saw them.
“I was a little worried, at first,” she remarked, “but it seems like everything turned out alright in the end. Zetai told me the whole story when she came looking for you.”
“Is she here now, then?” Llewel asked.
She shook her head. “She came here, told me what happened, I assured her everything was fine, and then she had to leave again. Sounded like both her and Reynneak had been waiting for the second the maintenance ended.” She gestured towards where the rooms were. “You can both stay in a room for a while. I’m sure they’ll be back soon, I’ll point them in your direction.”
“Thanks.”