The following morning, Ford woke early as always, walked out of her tent, put on her Fedora, and went over to the smoldering coals of the fire from last night. Kii and Mizu slept shoulder to shoulder while on watch. Ford shook her head, summoned her Elemental blade, and placed the tip of it between their chins. The cold metal woke them, and fear filled their eyes as they instantly used comms, “SOMEONE’S HERE! HELP!” Then they noticed who held the sword, “Oh, oh wait, it’s just Ford. Never mind!”
Ford chuckled half-heartedly to herself and said, “You’re lucky we weren’t attacked when you two were on watch. Otherwise, we would’ve probably died.”
“Sorry, Ford,” the twins apologized dejectedly.
“It’s fine, guys.”
“No, it’s not! We should punish them!”
‘No, we won’t punish them,’ Ford rejected Wrath’s demands and began to get ingredients to cook breakfast. Soon, everyone began to leave their tents and wait for breakfast. That’s when Ford noticed something was wrong. She looked at all of them and saw Farah, Lilly, Morgan, Gimble, Kii, Mizu, Ee, Max, Tanya, and Ace, but not Benet. A sickening feeling clutched at her gut, and she quickly stood and went over to Benet’s tent.
“Benet! You in there?” Ford asked and opened the tent flap. Ford cursed and turned to everyone, yelling, “Pack up camp quickly! We need to go now!”
Everyone looked confused at Ford’s demand as she willed storage portals to open underneath everyone’s tents, swallowing them whole. “Why? Wha’s wrong?” Lilly asked, starting to feel a little panicked.
“Benet! He’s gone!” Ford said and snapped her fingers for Ace to come over to her. He did so without hesitation, and Ford made him grow to his full size before attaching the wagon.
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“What are we going to do? Run?” Farah asked.
“No,” Ford said, adding, “We are going to find him, save him, and be on our way as fast as we can.”
“What if he doesn’t need saving?” Morgan asked.
“Then we drag him away kicking and screaming if we have to. But for now, enough with the questions. Let’s go! Who knows how much of a headstart he has on us, and we need to confirm he’s still alive,” Ford jumped onto the front of the wagon, followed by everyone else climbing on in a hurry.
Lilly sat next to Ford and said, “Let’s go.” Ace barked and quickly ran to the south, where the lights were last night. Ford clenched her hands together and began gnawing on her knuckles, and a moment later, a gentle hand wrapped around her wrist. She turned to see the concerned expression on Lilly’s face, “It’s goin’ to be al’ righ’. We’ll git ‘im,” she said reassuringly.
Steeling her resolve, Ford nodded, “We’ll get him. I know we will.”
***
Tanashi and the other gods all watched as Benet snuck out of his tent and ran toward his hometown of Hobtin. The ever-present smile on Tanashi’s face grew wicked as he looked at his cards. “I think,” Tanashi began, “I’ll play this one.” He pulled the third card from his hand and placed it face-up on the invisible game table for everyone to see.
Good Luck +2
“Why use that card?” Guargen asked.
“I think Benet could use it right now,” Tanashi answered as the card dissolved into gold and blue dust, and words appeared in the center of the game table.
Good Luck +2 has been used on Benet Benten.
Good Luck duration will last two hours.
“I’ll play this card,” Samael said, pulling her bottom card and placing it face up.
Good Luck +2
Good Luck +2 has been used on Benet Benten.
Good Luck duration will last four hours.
Zee began to cackle as Drake and Shirma both passed their turns. She then played another card, “I think thisss will be worth usssing now.”
Even Scales.
The scales of luck will be balanced with four hours of Bad luck.
Tanashi laughed and dealt Zee, Samael, and himself three new cards, “I like the way you think.”
“Now all we have to do is watch,” Finn said, leaning back on his throne and watching his champion run across the fields of grass at incredible speeds on his way home.
***