Sunlight greeted Phaylin as she pushed the wooden door open to reveal the harvest season wasn't over quiet yet.

It was a blessing to have such an extended season for farmers and merchants alike, as well as the fishermen. If they had a good season, so would everyone else come winter. Taking a deep breath, she stretched her arms above her head, her frilly attire flapping in the wind for a moment. She had moved out of her family home two years ago and was still reveling in the independence. Their village was thin, but spread across the entire Lavender Valley which went on for miles and miles. Phaylin lowered her arms and turned back to survey her humble home she called her own. It was small and hand built by herself. Her father wanted him and his friends to do the work but she insisted that since it was her home, she needed to build it herself, just as he did with his and her grandparents did with theirs.

Her home was made from mud and stone and had a straw roof. It had one big open room and a smaller attached dwelling where she could clean herself off and do dishes with the water she conjured with her runes. In the large part of the home, she had stacks and stacks of books. She had a wooden table where her runes and notes were kept and she also had a small straw and wooden bed that her mother had given to her as a present. While the woman was pleased to fend for herself, she was a little more pleased to slowly move out of the large overbearing shadow of her parents. They were skilled with their progress with magic and many people had visited them during her childhood, seeking guidance and mentoring. Phaylin knew many requests were denied so she was beyond excised to learn about magic when she turned six.

And now roughly 17 years later, she was making her own strides in magic.

She was hoping to use runes in new ways that people had yet to consider. She was researching the history of Thera and found it quite interesting. She closed the door behind her and let her hazel eyes note the green and purple scenery. The low hills were polished, almost glittering in the morning's sunlight. A smile had been slowly growing on her face and she wandered around back and retrieved some fruits she had foraged from the next valley over. No one lived around her, in fact most families kept themselves isolated but in times of celebration, the village would congregate in the center where trading posts and shops were. She pulled out the runes she kept on her at all times, the basic four runes that were known: air, fire, earth and water. No others were known and most magicians used potions to enhance their power but for Phaylin, that was unnecessary.

"Take flight." She commanded the air rune but nothing happened. Not discouraged, she kissed it softly, "We'll get there." She muttered to it and clenched it in her fist, pushing her energy into the etched rock and suddenly she was surrounded by a mild whirlwind. Phaylin raised the arm holding it and pointed it in the direction of Cyrill, someone who could relate to the struggle of not only living up to a family reputation but also striving to make his own. When she flew above the valleys, her worries left her and she felt amazing. That was a feeling that would never tarnish. As she loosened her grip and diminished her energy, she was lowered near Cyrill's own dwelling. She pocketed the rune and checked her basket to make sure her goods hadn't fallen out during her flight. Thankfully none had.

"Hey Cyrill, wake up! I know you're probably sleeping and probably too lazy to go get food so I, the kind hearted Phaylin, have brought you something to eat. At a price of course." She grinned at herself. They knew each other growing up, they were close yet at the same time, they weren't. Their relationship was rocky since they considered one another sort of a rival so banter was often how they best communicated. She needed to keep tabs on the guy, since he was older he would always be two years ahead of her and she hated that.

Snagging a red apple, she sung her teeth into it, savoring the crisp sweetness.





"No the wiring is fine, I checked." He said quietly. "I'm sure I did." He said, voice strained as the person on the other line was clearly dominating the conversation, though to Nax, this didn't quality as a conversation since he wasn't being given a lot of time to speak up. "Sir, please-" But the line went dead and he touched his finger to the earpiece to also end the class. Nax really didn't like consulting with customers, especially when they were moronic brutes. But in all fairness the majority of people in Rathe were nice and mild mannered. Statistically speaking, only 1 in every 100 exhibited signs of aggression but for their world which was bathed in sleek high tech and flying cars. And Nax loved his word and he loved his job.

He just didn't love talking to stupid people.

Getting up from his desk, he walked over to the window and looked out at the city. It was morning, the day had just started and he had already been insulted. How uplifting. Nax drummed his fingertips against the glass, able to watch people go back and forth, from place to place. They would either use cars, hover boards and jet packs. Everything was shiny and colorful. Some people had on headphones or sunglasses to help encase them in whatever they were doing, listening to music, shopping online or looking at fantastic islands where they'd go on their next vacation. A vacation did sound nice but the blond wasn't sure what he would do to relax. What gave him pleasure was working with computers and digital coding. As he turned away to look back at his desk, a small holographic notification popped up from his semi-transparent laptop.

It was reminding him to head downstairs. He was a high ranking analyst at his job, ReTech, and one of the duties which fell into his lap, was training some of the lower ranked staff. Nax wasn't fond of speaking to people, even in school he would rarely raise his hand even when he knew the answer. He was smart and sometimes he doubted himself in otherwise normal situations. His boss had hoped that forcing him to mentor some newer recruits would enable him to feel more at ease, even if he had been with ReTech for nearly eight years. His earpiece was a handy device and everyone with a pulse had one. It monitored your health, linked your bank account (which allowed you to pay digitally, eliminating physical currency), and had all of your personal date which automatically knew music you enjoyed, your authorized jurisdiction. It prevented robberies and also gave big corporations such as ReTech or Jewel Corp. a nice profit.

With a beep, it knew to slid open the door and let him out of his glass corner office.

Most building were glass to the ones inside, but were a nice black to the world outside, unless otherwise specified by the residents. The blond male wore a black suit, white shirt and lavender tie. He lived alone, only five minutes from work. He liked taking his time to get there though, after work he enjoyed making a stop at the park above the city which offered a great view and some recreational pleasures for visitors. As he walked down the narrow hallway, the elevator door opened automatically, expecting Nax's arrival, and took him down four levels to the fifty-seventh floor where he did his weekly lectures. The doors quickly opened and he took a left into the break room so he could get himself a drink before he tried speaking publicly. By now he knew the people and they were around his age, so the only dread was his own fault.

He poured himself some water and sipped it quietly.

When he heard the door slid open, he turned to see Syn, a friend of his. He offered her a small smile and kept both hands around the glass. "Morning." Nax greeted her. "I was thinking about this morning's meeting..." He began to say. "An dI was thinking I might be feeling under the weather." Though his internal health seemed fine according to records. "I was wondering if perhaps you might be feeling the same, we probably shouldn't be at work..." Nax grinned devilishly. If they were going to make their escape, it should be soon. It wouldn't be hard to change the system in their favor, just for a day. He only skipped work if his day had gotten off to a crap start, it wasn't as though he thrived under lies.

So maybe if she added some wiring here... And drew on this electronic circuit. No. That wasn't going to work. Synnove let out a groan of agitation as she stared down at the technical drawing before her. She was working on some plans for the design of something more efficient to help power the laser technology used and produced by ReTech. It wasn't going so well at the moment. Sure, in the small group she worked with she was most qualified with the qualifications in mechanical and electrical engineering but it didn't mean she wanted to be landed with the whole design. She was under time pressure as well because they needed to get this sorted quickly. It was all just a bit stressful.

Of course the fact she was doing her design on paper didn't help as she would only have to transfer them onto the computer where they would be automatically be shared with other engineers. The lucky ones than got landed with the practical making of the thing. She was far better in that area than a lot of those idiots. But of course she had been assigned the more boring job, stuck here in the shared office. Sometimes she really hated her job and her superiors. Times like this also made her regret the fact that she had purposefully avoided all promotions. Of course she had only just switched over to mechanical, and more specifically laser technology, after around five or six years of working in electrical engineering for ReTech. So it was expected for her to be landed with all the unwanted task.

She dropped her pencil and sat back in her chair with a frown, brushing back a loose strand of brown hair. What to do... what to do. She needed to get this finished by the end of the day. The last thing she wanted to do was fail in something like this. She'd heard there was the possibility of cuts in her department and she really didn't want to lose her job. Not that she couldn't make a living from other means, as she had for a while. Just she quite liked being an engineer.

Furrowing her brow Syn returned to staring at the paper in front of her. Wait a moment... that was what she had missed in her calculations. She had it! A few additions later she had finished the drawing and she pulled over her laptop. It didn't take her long to use the software to create the design digitally and share it with the rest of the team. A job well done if she did say so herself. Hadn't taken too long when she had cracked the problem. And it was still morning. Time for a well deserved break.

She stood with a stretch, grabbing her leather jacket and pulling it on over her typical outfit as she walked. The door opened automatically as she approached it, due to her earpiece, and she headed along to the elevator. After a while of waiting as the elevator came down the doors eventually opened with quiet ping. She didn't even have to tell it where to go as it took her up to floor fifty-seven, around three floors above, where the nearest break room was located.

"Good morning, Nax," Syn nodded with a smile in return to her friend's grabbing a glass for herself and pouring some water. "Under the weather, you say?" A mischievous smile quickly crossed across her lips. "Funny how you say that, I do feel the same. I've had a terrible headache the entire morning. We really should take the day off. In fact..." She pulled out one of the many tools she always carried. pushing back the sleeve covering her mechanical right arm. She fiddled slightly with some of the visible wires before glancing up. "I seem to be having a malfunction with my arm, none of the fingers are working." To prove the point she moved her thumb, the rest of her fingers remaining curled and not straightening. "All the more reason to leave, I need to get this fixed." She smirked slightly, sidling over to the door. "How about we go now and fill out all the medical details from the safety of our homes. For all we know we could be infectious."



The pen scratched over paper, a rather irritating noise as notes were written. Keir had woken up earlier than he had thought possible, sitting down to study as much as possible. In his last year of studying chemistry things were going about as well as he could expect them to. He was bright and had a flair for chemistry but when it wasn't the job you really wanted to go into... well there was only so much effort he could put in. He barely had any time to do what he wanted any more. University work was just getting more and more tough and the study he had set up in the small flat he lived in was beginning to feel a bit confining. He considered taking a break then discarded it in favour of scribbling down a few more words followed by a diagram and a sigh. It didn't take much longer for him to drop his pen in frustrating, standing up and stretching out his cramped legs. Maybe he should reconsider his sitting position because sitting with his legs curled under him wasn't working out so well.

He grabbed his mobile phone he waited impatiently as it turned on, taking its sweet time. Eventually it let him type in his password and open up a new message.

Please come over. Need excuse not to study.

This text was quickly sent to his friend, Emmy, who always had some way of distracting him from his actual work and scientific nonsense whenever she came to visit. While he did love science, chemistry in particular, and it was why he had picked it for university he tended to just start studying or working on something and he would never stop. That was really the case for anything he did. He started and just never stopped. And sometimes he just didn't want to do chemistry, he didn't want to study for his upcoming final exams or prepare for the major practical he had to do soon. Right now was one of those times. He wasn't even sure if Emmy would be awake yet... in fact he wasn't sure what time it was.

Picking up a bunch of notes so he could read them while walking Keir headed to the kitchen crossed with a living room crossed with a sort of dining room, making himself a mug of coffee and some toast for breakfast. His gaze glanced around the living room area to make sure it was as clean as he would like it to be and his gaze lingered on the grand piano in the corner. It had been a birthday present when he was younger and he had managed to bring it with him when he left home to start out on his own as a student. Music was his true love and the piano had been one of his first instruments, the violin and guitar quickly joining it. He loved composing and writing down whatever random songs came into his mind. Even improvising was great or working out sheet music for the latest movie he had watched. All of it he enjoyed. Of course he rarely had time any more. Stupid chemistry.

Coffee and plate of toast in hand Keir returned to his study after one last glance at the piano. Sipping and eating he sat back down to more writing of notes and practice questions. Really not fun, but necessary. He had decided to work in silence knowing that listening to music would only distract him further. It would just make him want to play. He wanted to do anything other than chemistry. Read a book, play one of his instruments, watch crappy television, he didn't really care. Concentrate! He had to concentrate. Frowning he scribbled something else down writing now scrawling and practically unreadable. And his handwriting was normally so neat. He glanced at his phone. He hoped Emmy would respond. He would be happy even if she just turned up at his door.

Her morning routine was usually the toughest part of the day. She was up by 5AM for a half hour-long jog around the park, which was then followed by another hour and a half of cardio or strengthening exercises in the local gym, depending on the day. She would have a healthy serving of breakfast afterward, and from then on, it was time to get cleaned up. After showering came the most crucial part of morning (Zero Hour as she liked to call it) in which she would decide what clothes to wear and how to style her hair for the day. She didn't become a rising fashion icon for nothing. Emmy's 'walk-in closet' was technically another room entirely, and to those who don't know better, it could very well pass as one of those quaint clothes boutique in the mall. Clothes were divided into styles, and sorted by color. Shoes had their own corner, and accessories had its place in the middle of the room, surrounding a vanity. Emmy hummed a song as she sifted through her closet, pacing along the section with her dresses. Today was pretty lax, as far as her schedule went. The first and only thing she had was a quick ADR session for her latest romcom film penciled in at 9. They only needed a couple lines of narration for the dramatic climax, so she should be in and out of the studio.

That meant she could go with something simple for the day. Emmy grabbed the white button down babydoll dress from the shelf and quickly put it on, smoothing the skirts as she finished. She topped it off with a black scarf and thigh highs, with red shoes for a splash of color. The nigh monochromatic ensemble was simple but stylish enough. Emmy walked over to the full length mirror by the corner of the room and nodded approvingly. The only thing left to do was fix her hair up in a messy bun, and that took her seconds to finish.

Her manager picked her up from her flat at 8:30 to drop her off at the studio, which had been only a couple minutes away. Just as she expected, the session passed by in a blink of an eye. She had been so invested with this character that it was almost effortless for her to slip back into her mindset, and she already had a catch in her throat before she even began. Suffice it to say, they got the recording they needed within two takes, and after some brief socializing with the crew, she was good to go.

Emmy grabbed her mobile from her purse to check the time, and just as she did, a text notification popped up. She glanced at the sender and grinned, correctly predicting what it would say before she opened the actual message itself. It seemed it was time to do what she did best. Her fingers moved deftly as she typed up a quick response: Be there soon! Try not to die before then. ;) She hailed a cab and headed for Keir's flat, which was conveniently located just across from hers. It made it all the easier for her to barge in his flat whenever she was bored out of her mind.

The trip back was even faster without her overly cautious manager in the driver seat, and she was walking up Keir's flat before she knew it. Her heels clacked against the winding path, and she was greeted by a few of his neighbors with a welcoming hug. Most of them have come to know her well due to her frequent visits, and she was tickled pink every time they praise her for her craft. They were probably among her most ardent fans.

"Visiting Keir again, are you, dear?" one of the elderly ladies asked, smiling fondly at her.

"Of course," she grinned. "Poor Keir would be so lonely without me."

"That he would." Mrs. Abney laughed heartily, throwing her head back, as she nodded in agreement. "But do tell that boy not to work himself to death."

"Will do! That's why I'm here, after all." Emmy winked.

She hummed the rest of the way to his flat, unconsciously playing one of Keir's original melodies. This one had been unfinished, still without lyrics and missing a proper ending, but the melody was beautiful. He has a way with music that even professionals would envy, and it always upset her that his full potential would never be realized. Emmy had resigned to letting him choose his own path, but that didn't mean she wouldn't try shoving him in the right direction every once in a while. She smiled to herself. Perhaps she should pester him to finish that melody today.

Upon reaching his flat, Emmy immediately knocked on Keir's door, playing out a familiar beat. It was their 'special secret knock,' one they had made up when they were children in order to keep trespassers out of their secret base, which was really just her family's garage. "Guess who~? ♪"





When it comes to productivity, Cyrill has only two notches in his spectrum. He would either be wasting his life away, never moving from his seat as he read and reread books for days on end, or be so engrossed with his latest brew that he works nonstop and even opts to forego menial tasks such as sleeping and eating. Recently, he had been of the former variety—stuck in a particularly indolent state that he hasn't been able to recover from. He hadn't touched his cauldron in almost a week, and it made him very irritable (even more than usual, which was quite a feat in itself). With a disgruntled sigh, Cyrill slammed the book he held shut and unceremoniously threw it in the messy heap beside him, causing the uneven stack of herbology books to collapse with a loud thud. He could only read about the Battle of Black Hollow for so long before his blood started boiling. The rebellion army's blatant misuse of even the most basic of potions made him seethe—it was no wonder they lost the battle without contest.

Cyrill jumped from his perch on his writing desk and stretched his arms and legs, which have become tight and sore from being locked in one position for too long. Unable to work out the knots in his legs, he grumbled to himself and reached for the small vial on the shelf above his desk. The cool blue liquid in it was his Cureall, a tonic that relieved many an ailment and thus the most popular item amongst his customers. It cured simple illnesses like a cough and cold, or a fever if taken early enough, and gave a boost of energy to those without. In his case, it eased the aches in his body. The only side-effect it bore was drowsiness, but even then, he supposed it was actually part of its healing process as well. Resting did wonders, after all. Since he hadn't been in the mood to deal with people of late, he had to make use of the last of the stash of Curealls he brewed a month ago. These potions lost their potency within twenty-seven days, and it was a shame not to make use of them.

Yawning now, as the effects of the potion were quick-acting, Cyrill sluggishly trudged toward his bedroom. The room in question was as bare as could be, and contained only a small wardrobe and a mattress (he had been too lazy to bring the wooden frame in, so they remained in a pile of junk he had beside his home). He walked to his window and looked over the valley—the sun had yet to rise, so that meant he had a couple of hours to rest before Phaylin came to get him.

♠
Cyrill stirred when he heard a familiar voice call for him. It felt like only a second had passed since his eyes closed, but the sunlight that streamed through his window said otherwise. Too groggy to think straight, he could hardly understand what the dark-haired woman was saying, but somehow the words food and eat stuck with him. His stomach growled in protest right on cue, and it managed to chase away the last vestiges of sleep in his system.

"Just go inside, oh kindhearted one." Cyrill called out, rolling his eyes even though a small smile crept on his face. This part of their dynamic had never changed since they were children; Phaylin was always the one who coaxed him out in the mornings. If it weren't for her, then he would be sleeping straight through noon. He headed to the small room adjoining his bedroom, where he had set up a basin and a small wooden tub for getting cleaned, and called out again before shutting the door closed behind him. "I'll be down in a bit."

True to his word, he would meet with his friend and rival not long after, hair damp and eyes squinting as he fumbled for his glasses. His study was a complete mess (though he liked to call it organized chaos), but Phaylin should have long been used to it. After he replaced the glasses on the bridge of his nose, his eyes immediately locked on the basket she held, feeling his stomach grumbling again, this time in anticipation.

Cyrill held out a hand. "Okay, what's the price this time?"

He was grumpy.

He was always grumpy.

Phaylin skipped inside, not bothered by his usual lackluster attitude. She knew his rotten habits by heart and that made her job all the more fun. The girl slipped inside and looked around. His living space left much to be desired. He was a pig who didn't put his skills to proper use. His home could be roomy and house all of his nifty potions and books but instead she found the maze even more difficult to navigate than the last time she was over. She didn't mind, she found it kind of fun but at the same time, it only left her more concerned for her friend. His skills would never reach their full potential if he was drowning in chaos. How could his mind settle down? She was unsure but kept her basket pressed close to her as she moved to where he spent most of his time, in the small study.

The girl could tell his sleeping habits were worse than usual. There were potions that could be made, herbal teas, songs from the history books which told you a tale while also entertaining and soothing you. Still, she held her tongue and waited for Cyrill to finish cleaning up so she could hurry up and feed him and be on her way. As much as she enjoy making fun of the guy, she couldn't fret by the sidelines forever. She was considering taking a trip into the woods and figured he might be useful to have, if he needed any new supplies or ingredients for his work. The woman would never ever admit that she wanted company, especially his. When he finally came out, hair slightly damp and clothes still disheveled, she grinned again, her thoughts settling to the side, for the moment.

"I had my eye on a book." Phaylin told him, her grin slowly turning into a smirk.

"Your copy of Music and Melody would be a fine addition to my collection." She pointed to it. She knew it wasn't something he was really fond of and in her mind, it might help with her own research with enchantments and vocal commands with the runes and potions. Though she could always charge gold for the food, either way she wanted her work to be paid for. That's how most mornings went, every few days she would stop by and make sure he was alright, sell him some food and they'd trade rumors about anything going on in the area. Sadly news was slow to travel around the area so word of mouth was the best means to rely on. "I was thinking..." Phaylin began to say as she handed him the basket, having already discarded her apple core outside by his pile of junk. "Of going into the woods this afternoon and doing some foraging."

"Would you like to tag along? You could finally find fish and fruit and nuts and everything else on your own." She offered. It was usually a day trip, sometimes two if people felt brave enough to stay the night. There were parts she had yet to explore. Some traveler told her that there was a great waterfall which fed the river where she had visited once as a little girl. Maybe there, she would find better game and fish. It was a good place to check out while practicing her magic tricks with the runes. And from the looks of things, Cyrill could use some fresh air and time away from his studies. "I won't charge a tax or anything!" She laughed and held up her hand to him, a general sign people used to show they were serious and sincere with their words or promises.

Just the thought of exploring like the good ol' days made her giddy with excitement. "What do you say?"





He could count on Syn to have some fun.

"A malfunction? I might need to take a look." He hummed thoughtfully.

She then suggested they should leave, for precautionary measure. Nax nodded in agreement. "Yes, that seems like a logical decision to me, I don't see why it would be an issue with the higher ups." He said calmly and threw his trash away in the usual, hidden, bin integrated within the walls. Everything was shiny, glossy and sophisticated but that didn't mean the system was perfect and they knew how to exploit in the right manner so nothing was disturbed. "I'll leave word at the front desk downstairs at the lobby, we should probably leave together to ensure neither one of us gets hurt." He said as he moved around her to take his leave. The door opened for him and he made a quick route change, rather happy he didn't have to give any lecture today.

As he tapped his earpiece, a hologram of contacts popped up and he tapped his boss's icon.

As it rang, the screen vanished and he could continue to walk and talk. He spoke to his supervisor who said he could fill in for Nax who would take the day off. Nax said he would send in his files and medical confirmation before the work day was over. He then made another call to Syn's supervisor, which was still someone under Nax, and excused her from the day's work as well. As he got into the elevator, he was finished with his mandatory calls and already on the ground level. The blond haired male approached the front desk and told the woman he and a coworker would be leaving early due to medical issues. He and Syn were given notes on their record and he waited until said female caught up with him, which didn't take long at all.

They stepped outside and finally felt free. Nax stretched and glanced to Synnove, a small smile on his face. "How about we check out the park? I doubt it'll be overpopulated at this time of day." He suggested to her. People were going about their day. Many wore suits or leather attire. Everyone had blinking earpieces in and some punks across the black street were doing tricks with jet packs while a police officer lectured them for being so poor misbehaved. For the most part, their world was busy, productive and innovative. It was incredible to imagine the progress companies made and how information was always free to anyone who needed it. He loved to learn and read and his heart often told him to link knowledge to passion since people around his work, could easily forget why they worked so hard to begin with.

It seemed Syn was in favor of the park so he called for a lift up to it. A small silver platform lowered down to them and they got in and were lifted up towards the park on top of the city. The park was circular and had a special digitized gravitational system which prevented people from falling off or jumping. It was lush and rich, expanding all the time. Sometimes smaller circular exhibits would attach with bridges to the park which could give visitors more places to sit and read or picnic or showcase local artwork or events. It was green, had a forest, several ponds, a small river, several large playgrounds and benches too. It would be a good place to relax and unwind. "You better be careful with that prototype, last person who got one and abused it, now walks around without an arm, hobbling everywhere." He said with a straight face but he was clearly joking as they stepped onto the park, not being charged for the vertical taxi to the prized park.

Synnove nodded, throwing her rubbish in the bin and following right behind Nax. It was quite a relief to know she wasn't going to have to spend the rest of the day here undoubtedly stuck in an office depending on what her next task would be. She had far better things she could be doing. She would probably spend part of the day working working on the two current personal projects she had at home. Maybe do a little bit of hacking. That was always fun and there was a certain thrill to it. Maybe that was the fact that it was illegal and, well, all the security and leaving no traces posed a certain challenge. She enjoyed challenges.

She was more than glad that Nax was dealing with telling her supervisor, rather than her having to do it. She didn't much like the guy and, well, she didn't want to mess things up. Nax was much better at these things. And anyway he was above her supervisor so that was a distinct advantage. Ah, how great it was to be with friends high up in the company. Although the fact she was so low was mostly her fault. The department change was partly responsible and she had turned down quite a few promotions when working in electrical. So yeah it was her fault. She just wished she had a better supervisor.

"Freedom!" Syn dramatically threw out her arms as they left the building and entered the outside world, full of life and people going about their daily business. Everything was so well organised in this part and it was all a bit disconcerting. The efficiency with which everything moved was something to behold really. Her gaze moved to the earpieces blinking in everyone's ears and she couldn't stop certain thoughts taking place in her mind. What would happen if someone managed to hack into them all? She doubted it was possible but it could cause some kind of catastrophe. Those earpieces contained everything and controlled everything. That kind of power... Nope, she was not even going to consider it. "Park sounds good," she smiled. "It will be nice to go somewhere quiet."

Though she rarely went to the park Syn did enjoy time spent there. She glanced around as they reached it, gaze zoning in on a bench nearby. She instantly headed for this and sat down. "Nax, I think you might have gotten your body parts mixed up. As far as I'm aware a leg has nothing to do with walking and shouldn't cause someone to hobble around if they lack it," she smirked at him. "Believe me, I know, I lived without one before I got this. Anyway the damned thing normally malfunctions without any help from me. Problem with prototypes, eh?" She laughed, pulling out a whole bunch of tools and working on getting back movement in her fingers. "So, what did you have that meant you so desperately wanted out of work? General boredom? I mean all that analysing must get really frustrating after a while."

A frustrated noise left her lips after the questions she asked as she tried to move her mechanical right hand, covered by a leather glove, and failed. "Stupid arm..." she muttered, continuing to work. "I'm quite glad to get out of there actually. The stupid manager of my team had me doing all the planning. You know when the last time I got to do practical engineering was? At least a week ago. And the rest of the team isn't really any good at it! They're all new, starting out in their career thinking they're so amazing. At least half have some kind of connection. I'm sick of hearing about their uncle who helped discover the secret to teleportation, or their cousin twice removed who helped with the creation of the earpieces. They all look down on me as well cause I'm older than them by a few years older than them but the same level of job. Its not like I care, they have barely any skill and I doubt they could do half the things I can, but it is so annoying. Almost makes me regret moving from general electrical into laser tech." She scowled. "Don't even get me started on the team manager. He's just the same, really, sure he's so much better because he's a bit younger and my superior. And I really was beginning to get stir crazy in that office!" Seemingly finished with her rant she gave a few frustrated twists of the wires she was trying to reconnect due to accidentally knocking them out of place.The work she had been doing while getting annoyed about the people she worked with had only served to make the problem with her arm worse. "Whoops..."



Gulping down the last of his coffee Keir allowed himself to check his phone, which was on silent, for any reply messages. A smile crossed his lips as he read Emmy's message and with the knowledge that she was coming over he returned to his studies. He was going to finish the notes for this section before she came, because after that he knew he wouldn't get anything done at all. He had regained earlier energy now that he had something to look forward to. If he could just finish these notes then everything would be perfect and he would be able to fully relax when Emmy came over. Not that she'd give him even a moment to think about work or chemistry.

Keir was on his last sentence as the knock sounded through his flat and he quickly finished it before jumping up and hurrying to the door. "Oh I don't know, Mrs Abney maybe? I was always suspicious of her... She's obviously been learning the secret knock." He laughed lightly as he unlocked the door, opening it to let Emmy in. "Good morning! You're looking as fashionable as always." He smiled warmly as he ushered her in, shutting the door behind her. It was obvious that the amount of time he had spent on clothes was quite the opposite of the time she spent. He had just thrown on whatever was nearest, which happened to be a scruffy pair of jeans, plain black t-shirt and hoody that all looked like they had been worn for more than a few days in a row. Appearances weren't really a concern when studying. "Want anything to eat? Tea, coffee? I think I have biscuits somewhere... I really need to buy some more food, I'm running out of the basics."

He wasn't actually sure when he had last left his flat. His brain was a bit blurry at the moment and his memory wasn't really working. Maybe getting up early to study hadn't been the best idea. He did have an important practical coming up soon, and a whole ton of tests and exams. If he didn't study he wouldn't do well and then he wouldn't get the degree needed! That was not something he wanted to happen. He needed to get a good job at the end of this. And unfortunately jobs in chemistry were not actually all that common at the moment. At least his parents had supported him through university. With the amount of work he was doing having any kind of job would have been difficult. Not to mention how stressed he got the closer exams drew.

"How has your day been so far?" Keir had entered the kitchen area, rummaging about in the cupboards in an attempt to find something edible that wasn't bread or some kind of tinned food. He eventually managed to find an unopened packet of biscuits that were actually in date. Well that would have to do. "If I remember correctly you had an ADR session, right?" He tried to know what Emmy was doing and when. After all it was nice to know if she was doing well or not in her career. And it certainly seemed to be going well. "When do I get to see the film? Because that would certainly give me something to look forward to." He headed into the living room and sat himself on the couch, biscuits placed on the small table in the middle of the room.

After sitting he picked up his acoustic guitar, which sat in its case beside the sofa, and absent mindedly began to pluck the string. He wasn't really thinking about what he was doing and the notes barely had any form to them. There was the slightest hint of a song in its rawest form peeking through but just barely. He hadn't even meant to pick up his guitar in the first place and it had really just been an automatic reaction to being in such close vicinity to it. He hadn't played any of his instruments in a while and he missed that. He'd definitely have to play the piano and violin sometime later to make sure he didn't get rusty. Even if he wasn't going to make a career out of it music was still his favourite hobby and he didn't want to lose any of the skill he had in it.

"Why, you are far too kind Mr Moray," Emmy said after Keir had praised her, twirling once to show off her outfit before bowing with a flourish and a wink. "And entirely spot-on. Good morning!" She gave him a quick hug in greeting as he guided her inside, and turned to give him a quick once over. Her lips twisted into a half amused, half pouty sort of smile as she noted he was wearing the usual. Jean, shirt, and hoodie. It was what he wore when he was in his study mode, and by the looks of it, he had been in this mode for more than a few days. She looked at the state of his flat, clean as usual—of course, one should expect nothing less from Keir—but with an evident spattering of his notes. It was no wonder she'd hardly heard from him this week.

"Just had tea with the crew actually. Thanks though," she said as she plopped down on his couch and grabbed a sheet of paper lying about, trying to make heads or tail of all the numbers and diagrams he'd scribbled on it and failing horribly. She crinkled her nose. Just looking at his notes gave her a headache; too many formulas and laws and numbers involved! This was why she was an arts and English person. Less complicated for her. She always wondered how Keir managed to be amazing in both areas...though she supposed he has been neglecting the arts side for quite a bit now. At this, she made a face at him, donning the playfully condemning expression she always used when she was confronting him about it.

But as it was, even pretending to be mad at Keir was a challenge. It was no use! The boy was utterly unhateable, even if he did make her cry about his wasted potential on a daily basis. Okay, so she was exaggerating, but she stands by her point. She knew deep inside he'd rather take a shot at a career in music. Keir would do so, so well in the industry, she just knew it. But he was good with all his science-y things as well, and he was putting so much effort into it that she feared he would be heartbroken when things don't work out for him. See that? One would think being so conflicted and frustrated over someone else's career choices would be good grounds to dislike a person, but nope, not him. Never him.

Emmy grinned to herself, making a note to knock down the pedestal she put him on a few pegs. "ADR session went brilliantly! Done after two takes," she recalled excitedly, preening a bit. Other people might think it unbecoming or arrogant, but she quite liked to rejoice when she did her job well. She prided herself on her dedication to her craft, after all. "It won't be released for a couple of months, but I'm warning you now, I'll be dragging you to the premiere."

Keir started playing with his guitar then, and Emmy beamed. He looked exactly like someone who'd been withheld from doing something he loved for far too long. For a while, she hummed along with the tune he played. Then she started adding her own lyrics to it, singing about the woes of the hardworking Uni student. She played with him like that for a while, just enjoying his accompaniment (it had been a while since they've done this!), before an idea struck her.

"I was just going to throw some impromptu karaoke party in here, but since you've clearly taken to the ways of the hermit, I'm thinking we need to get you some fresh air. Look how pasty you've become!" Emmy laughed as she hopped off the couch and started pulling her friend up. "Come on then, we can go wherever you want, as long as it's outdoors. We can even drop by Aldi so you don't starve to death."



"A book," Cyrill repeated, his tone sarcastic without meaning it to be (it was sort of his default), as his eyes followed where her finger pointed. Music and Melody stood out from the many books in the shelf, with its title embossed in gold right at the spine. He quirked an eyebrow but said nothing, and only nodded as he went to retrieve the book. It was obvious to him what Phaylin would need it for. In fact, he remembered he meant to give it to her at one point, after he had finished reading it, which was quite some time ago. The thick layer of dust that coated it suggested it's been months, at the very least. He probably forgot again, but he supposed that didn't matter anyway, it all worked out. In any case, while he found it of little interest, finding it irrelevant to his studies, he certainly hoped Phaylin would find it more useful.

"Here."

Cyrill tossed her the book before grabbing the basket she offered hungrily, digging into an apple like he hadn't eaten in days. He made himself comfortable on top of his desk—for reasons he could never figure, he just felt better on the desk rather than the chair—and grabbed another fruit from the basket as he waited for Phaylin to get on with the point. If it were anyone but Phaylin talking with him now, they could very well misconstrue the face he was making as one of blatant disinterest and think him rude. But in truth, that slightly annoyed expression, with his eyebrows knitted together and the corner of his lips pulled down, was his resting face. He was actually a really good listener.

The woods, huh?

He pondered her proposition for a moment, weighing the pros and cons as he usually did. First off, it seemed entirely troublesome. There was nothing he hated more than exerting physical effort when it was perfectly avoidable, especially under the sun's heat. Before, he even thought that going outside was nothing but a waste of time, but someone eventually convinced him that it was a necessary evil. He supposed it did have merits, prancing about the woods. A change of environment might do him wonders, get him out of his listless stupor, and he could do with some foraging himself. He'd just read about Sanguinaria Canadensis, or bloodroot, as was its more common moniker, and he was interested in its toxic properties. The healers have used it for their salves, but he knew it would be better off used in poisons.

Cyrill nodded slowly, trying not to look as eager as he felt, even though it seemed his friend felt the same way. Speaking of, it seemed it was always Phaylin that manages to bring him out of his worse slumps. He supposed he should thank her for that, he thought as he glanced at her. Probably not today, though. "Sure," he said offhandedly, as though he was only agreeing because he had nothing better to do. His lips had turned into a small lopsided smile, even though he was trying hard to fight it off. "I need my weekly dose of sunlight anyway."

He jumped off his desk and grabbed a pack hanging from a hook on his wall, quickly filling it with empty vials he picked up from the shelf and a small box that held his tools of the trade. If they were going, they best do it now while he still felt motivated to do so. Cyrill kicked through his messy heap (of organized chaos) and walked passed Phaylin as he made his way to the front door.

"Waiting on you now."

When he tossed her the book, she barely caught it, only grabbing onto the top cover. Phaylin pulled it up and properly held onto it now, making sure she hadn't ripped any pages or caused any sort of damage. She threw Cyrill a look of annoyance when she concluded that the book was alright. She then began to flip through it as Cyrill began to consider going out or not. She knew he'd agree in the end, it was a logical choice and even his stubbornness to remain lazy couldn't trump logic in this situation. When he finally did accept her invitation, she looked up from the table of contents, having quickly studied up on the areas she wanted to first read about. But that could wait, "Excellent." She said and closed her new possession.

The male made his own quick preparations and brushed past her.

"Oh, I'm coming. I'm coming..." She turned and picked up the basket she brought with her and put the book inside it before picking it up again. When she exited the humble abode, she glanced behind her and then to Cyrill who had snagged some items to help forage. "Let's go." Phaylin smiled and tucked the basket against her hip as she pulled out a wind rune and held it up to the light. "I think if we flew, it would be much better than walking...don't you think?" Phaylin slowly grinned at him. Without wanting to wait for him to decline her genius offer, she hooked her basket arm with his and used the other to channel her energy into the rune which was grasped in her other fist. A smooth zephyr was summoned and they were soon lifted a foot off the grassy ground.

She nudged her head toward where the forest beckoned them.

Within a matter of seconds, the pair was flying through the air and steadily approaching the woods. She carefully began to channel less energy to the rune and they landed without too much trouble. "Not so bad huh? I'm getting pretty good if I do say so myself." She pocketed the rune after tossing it in the air. Phaylin looked around and suddenly became unsure of where they should go first. Usually her father would be by her side, directing her towards safe endeavors, away from anything risky or dangerous. This would be a test of her maturity and growth and she wanted to come out of the woods victorious, not covered in hives or bites or anything like that. Phaylin knew Cyrill wouldn't be much help when it came to orienteering so she tried something different.

"How about we take turns exploring." She suggested to him. It could ensure both could be in charge and find things they wanted, while also being able to not be burdened with leading entirely. After she figured out where they could go, she pointed to a left trail which led into some thick bushes. Everything around them was peaceful, the large trees shaded them from the heat and different colored flowers gave them something to look at it. In the back of her mind, Phaylin was considering what she would need for the next week or so, in terms of food as well as testing samples. If either of them were lucky, they might be able to find new earth or water runes around. Anything was possible.

As she led them down the path, she heard a bird take hasty flight and turned just in time to see it dart into the sun. Phaylin glanced back to Cyrill and then looked ahead of them. After another couple minutes of walking, she slowed down and bent by a bush to harvest some of its leaves, which had healing powers, if you boiled them. After she cut off a handful and put them in her basket, she rose and mentioned that Cyrill should take the lead now. The smell of wet mud and fruit was getting heavier, more noticeable, as they moved further into the deeper part of the woods. There was no doubt that they'd find some useful goodies for whatever they needed. "I wonder if anyone else is trampling through here." She wondered. It would be interesting to run into friends but the odds of that were low, as one might imagine.

"Have you heard about any waterfalls?" She spoke up, curious.





"Customer service." He grumbled to Syn when she sat down and asked as to why he needed to get out of work as soon as possible. "I have no idea how he got transferred to me but I did try to help him." He shrugged. "I didn't have the heart to get into a fight with the guy." He knew how frustrating it was to have things suddenly not work. At the same time, Nax hated starting his day off so poorly so it gave him a good enough reason, in his mind, to take the day off and start over. Then Syn began to go another ramble as to why she needed the break and how hard it was for her to find footing around those she worked with. Nax could relate, somewhat. Nax nodded as he looked around the park from where they were sitting.

Synnove continued to talk and Nax continued to listen, while doing so, he watched a middle aged woman with her dog. It was a dalmatian. From what he could tell, the woman was busy on her phone, too busy to give her dog the attention it needed. The blond glanced back to his co-worker as she ended up damaging her arm. He gave her a look and pulled out a small silver compactor from his pocket. It was a kit which helped him fix pretty much anything, from computers to cars. And in this case, it would help him patch up the arm. "You need to be more careful." He told her as he took her arm and began to reconfigure the wiring while making sure nothing else was bothering her or in need of another tune up. "With your arm but also your work." It wasn't easy being friends with someone you worked with.

It was hard to draw the line between person and business.

"You would do a lot better if you befriended some of them, rather than allowed comparisons to take place. Everyone is jealous of somebody." He pointed out to her as he finished inspecting what tweaks he had to make. "You can't get overly emotional and invest too much, you're only just beginning...just think, in two years you'll be somewhere else, with other people, hopefully doing something you're more passionate about. And when that happens, you can make friends and enjoy collaborating, rather than worry about other people and outward perceptions." Nax said as he set down his thin tool which closely resembled an old cross shaped screwdriver. Of course old tools like that had been improved upon and it was more lightweight and efficient. He looked at his collection of tools, reviewing them in his head like a mental checklist.

When he was certain that all were accounted for, he closed the kit and put it away.

"Come on, I smell food and my breakfast was minimal." He told Syn and got up. Across the circular park was a section where food vendors could gather and sell things. And right now he smelled something deep fried and unhealthy. Some comfort food would be rather welcomed. He headed across the grass and walked around following the smooth path which was meant to mimic a stone pattern. When he found the vendor where the enticing scent had originated, he asked for the deep fried breakfast sandwich. It had three slices of bread, cheese, bacon, sausage, eggs and tomatoes. And it was all battered in a thick sweet goo and fried to a golden crisp. Was it healthy? No. Would he regret in a few hours? Probably. Would he need to alter his planned nutrition guide for the next week to accommodate the sinful delight? Yes of course. Did he care? Nope. Nax paid the man who scanned his earpiece and handed him the naughty indulgence. "Mmmm."

He swallowed and glanced to see Syn standing by him. "Want anything?" He offered to her.

Nax then asked for a bottle of water which would come in handy. He took a second bite of his sandwich and stepped to the side so he wasn't in anyone's way. As he munched in his treat, he glanced to where some bushes and trees were. For a second he could have sworn he saw something glimmer in the sunlight. He shook his head and finished his sandwich. He grabbed some napkins and then took a drink of water. "I guess we could walk around a bit." He offered to her, not sure what to now that they had gotten to the park itself. The blond glanced back over to the wooded area again and saw the light catch something in the same area as before. He couldn't be imaging things could he? No one really littered so it had to be a lost item. He motioned to Syn and headed over to investigate. Hey, it was something to do. As he rummaged around, he saw two shards but they weren't glass, they were from a mirror. "Where could these come from...?" His was an acute long triangular shape, very pointy. Pretty cool.

"Being careful can be so difficult," Synnove replied, allowing him to take her arm and fix it. Normally she would be able to fix it, but her mind was completely elsewhere and she had no idea what she had done to mess it up so badly. And it was difficult working on her own arm, after all it meant she only had one hand to work with. "Yeah, I guess maybe I should. I'm just not good at being nice to people I don't like, you know?" She experimentally flexed her right hand, flashing Nax a thankful smile. It was working just fine now, thankfully. Maybe she should be more careful... After all it was this arm that allowed her continue doing all the things she could do. Engineering was difficult with only one arm. "I'm hoping I'll be somewhere else in two years." She sighed softly. "It's just I'm beginning to wonder if I made the right decision moving from electrical engineering into laser technology. Hell, I don't even know if I made the right decision beginning to work as an engineer rather than making my living off computing." She sighed softly, speaking as she stood and followed Nax over to the food vendors.

"Food sounds, and smells, good," she murmured as they reached the area with all of the food vendors. She wandered around all of the vendors, taking time to look at their wares and decide whether she wanted something or not. Food would be good... very good. Unhealthy preferably. Unhealthy food was always the best. She would do some form of exercise to work it up that evening. Anyway, there was nothing wrong with a treat now and then. She ate healthy food all of the time, just like most people did. Technology really helped when it came to eating well. Nutrition guides were quite common now, and relatively handy. Syn followed hers most of the time. Okay, that was a lie. When she felt like it. But she was in perfectly good shape.

She eventually came to stand beside Nax, glancing at what he had ordered. That looked pretty good. "Yeah, I'll get something. I'll buy it myself, though." She flashed him a smile. She had recently got payment from a small, but rich, company that she had helped with computer network security after they had been hacked and lost quite a few of their files. Of course she hadn't been the one who had done the hacking... no that would just be unethical. But it was nice having a reasonable amount of money, and with having that came spending it on herself on stuff such as this. "I'll have another one of those, please," she pointed to what her friend was eating. She got her earpiece scanned and took the sandwich, immediately beginning to wolf it down. It tasted just as good as it had smelled.

"Walking around a bit might be good. We can work off the calories we put on due to this," Syn laughed, taking another bite. She was pretty quickly devouring the unhealthy sandwich. Soon it was gone... and she wanted another one. No, that wouldn't be good. One was more than enough. It was certainly unhealthy enough. Arching an eyebrow curiously the young woman followed him over to the wooded area, slightly confused as to why he was heading over there. It was almost as if he had seen something... She hadn't. But then again, that wasn't surprising. She was terrible at noticing things.

Okay then, he had seen something. Syn crouched down to pick up the other sharp, holding it at about an arms length away from her green eyes which were narrowed as they look at it. Her piece was more of an uneven trapezium in shape with rather sharp edges and reasonably pointy corners. Nax's would work better as a weapon... but she really doubted these were meant to be used as weapons. "Maybe someone dropped them?" Syn shrugged, closing on eyes as tried to inspect hers. "Because people like to leave things in wooded areas. And everyone around here litters." She pursed her lips, rummaging around her tools and pulling out a small laser pointer. It was quite rudimentary technology, nothing dangerous. It just produced a beam of light. She had made it herself, though, when she was younger so it had some kind of sentimental value. And it came in handy at points. "They could be part of a secret plot to take over the world!" She smirked slightly, shining her laser into the mirror shard to see what happened. "Hey, this is weird. It's reflecting, like it should do, but the laser also seems to be going through it... odd. Some kind of optical illusion or something."



"Congrats, really glad it went well," Keir smiled. "But, Emmy, you know how stressful premieres are," he whined good naturedly. "I do love seeing your movies, but the premieres... And what will people say when you turn up with me? Some badly dressed, obviously nerdy boy. I'll completely ruin your good image. But I guess I don't really have a choice in the matter, do I? As long as I don't have to socialise too much. And I think I have a nice outfit somewhere in my wardrobe... It's probably covered in dust and been eaten by some kind of creature."

He smiled as Emmy began to sing to his absent-minded playing, concentrating on it a bit more and just allowing all the music that had been stuck inside him to flow out into the tune which was quickly gaining more of a shape. He gave her a half hearted glare at the lyric choice. She was trying to make a point here, wasn't she? It was times like this when he began to regret his decision to study chemistry, rather than pursuing a career in music. Some small part of him wanted him to abandon university and follow that wild dream. But what would his parents say? They would undoubtedly withdraw all support. And he doubted he would make it. Only the best made it in the world of music. And while his tunes were nice enough they weren't that great.

"Going outside? That's sounds pretty terrifying," Keir laughed lightly. "And I'll have you know the ways of the hermit are brilliant ways. It means little social interaction. And no fresh air." He smiled and allowed Emmy to pull him up to his feet. "I guess going out would be good... and I do need some more food. Last night I had beans on toast for dinner... But I didn't have many beans." He nodded. "We can do that on the way back, though." He headed over to the door and picked up a pair of trainers placed on a shoe rack just beside it, pulling them on. "How about we go to the park? Its always relaxing... And plenty of fresh air there, unpolluted by cars."

He headed out of the door, waiting for her to follow before locking up. "Remind me to write down that song when we get back. It want to develop it... it wasn't too bad. Although the lyrics you added were absolutely teasingly," he spoke teasingly, glancing at his friend with a light smile. He headed down to the stairs, humming the tune that he had just been playing to himself as he walked out the flat. He seemed to be trying to work out exactly what he wanted with the song, smoothing out certainly faults so it would be decent enough to write onto paper. He paused, frowning thoughtfully before going back to the beginning and humming again.

"Got it! Definitely remind me to write it down," Keir grinned. "It's really developing in my mind." He pushed his glasses up his nose as he walked at quite a casual pace along the road, finding it weird to once again be outside. It was nice. He should really try to get out more while studying. "So, do you have any other acting jobs at the moment? How about singing? That going well. If you ever want someone to help with writing a song or to play the guitar or piano or something I'm available. I don't charge much, I'm just a skint student." It was, honestly, really great to see Emmy doing so well in such a difficult industry. He was sure she would be properly famous sooner or later. Although, if that happened, she might be dragging him to premieres on very regular basis. That was a really terrifying thought. What if she had a massive fanbase that he had to compete with to be number one fan? That would just be so weird. If she became famous she would constantly be pestered by the press. He might be pestered by the press. He really should stop thinking about all that... it was something in the future.

"Oh god. Beans and toast? Good thing I'm here, because I am going to make sure you buy proper meals." Emmy followed him out the door and down the stairs, and poked him on his side playfully once she caught up to him. "Old men need to start taking care of their health, you know."

After promising to remind him about his song, Emmy hooked her arm around Keir as they strode out to the street, humming his song with him. They passed by Mrs Abney down the road, talking to the baker across the street. She only caught the tail end of the chatty woman's conversation, but Emmy was sure she was ranting about the loud dog who unfailingly howled at 3AM every day. She could hear it from her flat, too. Mrs Abney laughed as she saw the two of them heading off, and Emmy pointed at him and winked. "See? Just saved him from death by overstudying."

It was a lovely day outside, and although the sun beat down on them, there was a gentle breeze that prevented the day from being too hot. She checked on Keir, just in case he would start to melt or something (hey, you never know, what with his super pasty complexion, he could just start catching fire right there and then!), and nodded happily to herself when he seemed perfectly fine. He even looked like he was enjoying their little walk to the park.

When Keir asked about her job, Emmy looked up at him giddily, obvious excitement glittering in her eyes. "It's top secret, okay," she said in a hushed tone, although her eagerness to tell it seemed contradictory to her words. "I just got the lead on a musical film. We won't start shooting for a while, but I am incredibly excited." She practically squealed in delight when Keir started going on about wanting to be involved with her music, and even though she hadn't been sure if it was merely an offhanded comment, she knew she will be taking him up on his offer.

Emmy stopped right as they arrived at the park and walked in front of him. "I'll hold you to that, Mr Moray," she said impishly, extending her pinky finger. Childish as it was, pinky promises were something of a long-standing tradition between the two of them, just like their secret knock. A testament to their even longer-standing friendship. "I'm close to having an EP in the works, and I can't do it without the genius musical styling of the one and only Keir Aodhan Moray."

She twirled around before he could start his modest spiel on how he isn't as great as she made him out to be (which she just did not believe) and walked ahead of him, scouting the area. The park was mostly empty at this time of day, and there were only a handful of people about. Emmy thought about just having a nice, leisurely stroll to give Keir a bit of an exercise, but then an idea struck her. Might as well spice things up. "Enough job talk. Let's have a bit of fun, shall we?"

One of her American friends and costar from her romcom film had told her about geocaching, or as he had put it, modern-day treasure hunting. She blanked out on the specific details—something along the lines of logging and trading things; her friend tended to talk a mile a minute, and it was hard to keep up—but she got the gist of it. Use app, follow map, find treasure. Easy! It seemed like a good way to get the studyholic focused on something else. Emmy pulled out her phone and after explaining their game, quickly showed Keir the app, which had listed coordinates for caches that were near them. She picked the one closest to them; according to the description in the app, it shouldn't be too far.

"I'll check by that tree over there. I think it looks suspicious," she joked. "Check over there."


It was probably an exaggeration, but Cyrill could have sworn his skin was starting to burn under the intensity of the sun as he stepped foot outside. It took him a moment to adjust to the brightness, and even then, his face was still scrunched in obvious discomfort. Gah, this was what happened when one stayed cooped indoors for weeks at a time. Sullenly, he pulled the hood of his cloak over his head, preferring to suffer the heat from the thickness of his garments rather than the prickling heat of direct sunlight. Phaylin fell in step right behind him, and he turned to her when she started saying something about flying.

Before he could get a word in—even though all he was going to say was 'sure'—Phaylin had already dragged him along. A gust of wind formed from underneath them, propelling them upward and sending them flying within seconds. Cyrill swallowed and visibly paled, but said nothing, afraid he might lose the breakfast he'd just had. It seemed he would never get used to Phaylin's preferred means of transportation, no matter how many times he'd already done it. Each time he thought he would be prepared, but he never was. Cyrill noticed it was slowly getting easier to withstand, however, which meant Phaylin was right in thinking she was getting better. He could still remember the first time she took him flying, and that was uncontested, one of the worst days of his life.

"Sure," was all he said when Phaylin suggested taking turns. Even if she was getting better, he still would rather not risk talking too much. Flying and retching weren't the best combination. He tried to concentrate on the woods before them instead, trying to figure out where he would be able to obtain some bloodroot. They were usually found in dry woods and thickets, near steams on slopes or food plains. That means it shouldn't been too difficult to find, and the path Phaylin to looked promising.

Cyrill's mood had lightened some thanks to the tranquility of the area (and the shade, of course), and he was admittedly getting excited. He could feel the gears slowly moving again after a week of stillness, and he was already looking forward to experimenting with other ingredients to bring out the different properties of the bloodroot. As he followed Phaylin, he randomly grabbed at the leaves of certain plants that were within reach and examined them. They walked in silence until Phaylin finished harvesting some leaves, after which she offered to switch roles as lead. Cyrill nodded and surveyed the area they were in, trying to picture the map of the woods in his head. They were deep within the woods now, and they'd just passed a small closed-in cavern that served as the halfway checkpoint.

"The area looks undisturbed," he said as he lead Phaylin northeast, to where a river was visible. "So unless they've been really careful to leave tracks, it might just be us today."

Cyrill stopped when they reached the river and traced its path up a rocky slope, continuing eastward; that seemed to fit the bloodroot's habitat to a tee. He beckoned for Phaylin to follow as he climbed the slope, his clumsy movements a telltale sign that he is unused to such physical activities, and almost stumbled over an unstable holding. Cyrill grumbled to himself as he finally managed to heft himself up and dusted his cloak, refusing to look back at his friend and face her jeering. Maybe he should brew that potion he made for Old Weston again, the one that boosted one's strength. He hadn't realized how out of shape he was lately and—

"There you are," he muttered to himself as he found some bloodroot just by the river, his thoughts quickly interrupted. He carefully plucked a handful of plants, careful to preserve their roots. After filling most of the empty vials he'd taken, he finally got up and turned to Phaylin again.

"About that waterfall of yours. If we follow the river, it should take us there. What's so interesting about it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. His curiosity mirrored hers; it seemed he'd been out of touch of the goings-on this past week.

Even though the woods were an anomaly among the endless spanning valley of flat green hills and meadows of wheat, it was still bigger than one might think. A bird might see it as tiny but an explorer would have a far different perspective. Cyrill took the lead as suggested and mentioned that the area close by may not have been touched by anyone. At least recently. It was a good day, she couldn't imagine them not running into someone else but it was still possible that the forest would be their own hideaway for the day. They walked along and the sound of a river reached her ears before she even set her eyes upon it. Phaylin remained quiet, following her leader's suit.

As they began to follow the river upwards, Cyrill was clearly struggling but she knew he had pride and she held her tongue, even though she really wanted to tease him about his lack of physical strength. The day was so nice, that she couldn't disturb it. That wasn't to say that the next time he messed up, she would be as generous with her silence as she had been this time. When he stumbled again, he gave a grumble and she grinned. He began to dust himself as he had vanished the fearsome slope. "I should take you out for walks more often, you clearly need them." She grinned, unable to help herself this time.

His attention then moved to a bloodroot and she rolled her eyes. Since they were stopping for a bit, she went to pick out some other things which could come in handy. Unlike Cyrill, she didn't have anything in mind just yet, so she wasn't being too picky with whatever she harvested. It was always better to be over prepared than not at all. Her parents had a lot of things stored for their work and as she grew up, Phaylin learned to take whatever she could, as the fates could change any minute. "Hm?" She looked up to the boy, as he mentioned the waterfall she had a while ago.

"I'm not sure!" Her face brightened up.

"I've heard this and that about it..." Phaylin intentionally left any rumors or speculation as vague as possible. She wasn't too sure if he'd follow a river based on a rumor. She would, of course. Why not? "I think we should check it out." She told him, not wanting to do anything else now that he had given her the bait. There was no way she would let him get out of it now. She marched forward up the hill, intending on hurrying along. "Come on slow poke!" She called, not liking his pace one bit. Phaylin would have gotten behind him and pushed but she already knew it wouldn't end well for either of them if it came to physical attacks. As they followed the river, she kept her ears alert for any game, it would make a good feast if they were fortunate enough.





Syn had gotten herself something to eat.

And now their day could carry on. Nax tossed his trash away and went back to observing what they had found. "I don't know." He muttered. "Litter gets picked up if there ever is any." He commented and looked at the shard from both sides. On the back, there seemed to be words but without the whole thing, they were meaningless to him. He could speculate of course, as to what the words meant but it would be a waste of time, he was sure. The shards were probably nothing at all. Syn blurted out that they could be something to do with taking over the world. He snorted and went back to looking at his own reflection as his friend pointed a laser at the object, checking out as anyone would in their position.

Syn then mentioned the laser bounced off but it all went through. That was odd. Really odd. He looked over to see what she was doing. "Hmm..." He took her piece gently, wondering if they could match up. He checked the back of hers, it had writing on the back too. After some trial and error, he could fit them together. "Weird. They're from the same mirror." Did that mean anything? He couldn't make out the words still, even with a bit of help from Syn's shard but he wondered if there were anymore around them. "Be careful." He warned as he looked around, trying to spot any other glint in the sunlight.

Sadly he didn't see anything else which puzzled him even more. Nax moved closer to Syn, the two of them still crouched in the artificial cluster of greenery. As he looked at him and her in the mirror, the background suddenly faded into something else. Their scenery changed. Rather than see their sleek buildings in the sky with digital advances, they were now in some other kind of urban world. Cars weren't in the sky, they were on the ground and buildings were dirty. In the background behind them, people in loose fitted clothing passed along the sidewalk, some people were angry while most were silent in their trudging along.

He took the mirror pieces apart and then put them back together which put him and Syn back in the rather bleak world of dirt and isolation. He had no idea what they had just seen. An optical illusion? A trick surely but whatever for? "That was strange." It kept getting stranger too. Nax handed Syn back her own treasure, not sure what to do with his. He figured he could take it into work and run some tests, see what was going on. "It's clever, I'll give it that much." He smiled a little and got to his feet. He made his way back out to the other side and stretched his arms. His mind no longer lingered on the jerk from earlier, and was now pacing around the weird mirror he had found. There was something different about it, something that affected him somehow.

Crouched next to Nax and also staring into the mirrors, Syn noticed the same phenomenon. She was completely and utterly confused about what they were seeing. Why was everything so dirty? It just didn't look right to her. She'd grown up in her clean world. This confused her. Was it their past? Had someone programmed these shards to project this moving image whenever someone looked into it. She wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. It was certainly the most logical conclusion that she could come to for that moment. The whole thing was strange.

"It certainly was strange," Syn replied thoughtfully, brow furrowed. It did explain somewhat the laser going through the mirror. Sort of. It was rather odd. "Could just be some kind of device, disguised as a shard of mirror. I want to try and take it apart at home and see." She held up her piece again, holding it with her left hand and turning it so she could look from every angle. Nothing happened with just the one piece. Whatever it was the person who created it must have been rather intelligent. To make something like this... She couldn't wait to properly inspect it.

"There must be other pieces somewhere," she commented as she stood and headed over to where Nax was standing. After looking at her piece for just a few more moments she put it with all of her tools. It would be safe there. "After all, the writing wasn't complete with just the two of ours. Maybe they're in other parts of the park? There isn't some form of treasure hunt or something going on, is there?" She grinned, both puzzle and pleased by their find. Her mind had also switched to thinking about the mirror rather than work earlier. If it was some kind of technology it was very well made. She wanted to know how it worked.

As she moved to flex her right arm she froze, eyes narrowing. "Eh, Nax... My arm it seems to be," trying with all her might to get the mechanical arm that lay still at her side to move, even if it was just one of the fingers, she continued, "malfunctioning. And I swear it wasn't me this time. I haven't done anything since you last fixed it." She forcefully moved it with her other hand so that it was easier to look at. "It's really rather odd. There's no reason for it not to be working, none at all. What do you think?" She glanced at him with a frown. "Oh, and I'll need your help with this of course."



Keir was quite impressed about Emmy getting the lead in a musical film, and really quite delighted. She was more than capable of that and he was glad that her career was flourishing as it was. It was always nice to say you were best friends with someone famous. Although the press were slightly irritating and he could only foresee that increasing. He had gone to one premier with her, once, and they had instantly latched onto them. Who was this boy? Why was he with her? Where they in a relationship? It had been really over the top.

"Of course you do," he rolled his eyes slightly at her, though there was a smile on his face as he curled his pinky finger around her's to make the promise. It was so childish but it was one of the little things of their friendship. It was these things that made it so special. Keir wasn't sure what he'd do without Emmy as a friend. Waste away studying, he was sure, until a stray ray of sunshine caused him to melt and cease to exist. He was certainly the only one who could force him away from his work and into the outside world, away from eating junk food and sitting in small dark rooms. "Though I'm sure the EP is great without-" He was cut off by her going ahead of him and hurried to catch up.

He tilted his head as Emmy suggested having fun, expression gradually growing more sceptical as she went on about geocaching. He really had no idea what it was or what he was supposed to do but he would try it anyway if only to keep her happy. He guessed it would be fun enough. And these caches sounded interesting, whatever they were. "Okay, I'll check over there. Loads of bushes. Very suspicious." He laughed lightly and headed over.

He crouched down and began rummaging through the bushes and looking at the tree next to them. He wasn't sure exactly what he was looking for but he was sure it would be obvious when it appeared. Something caught his eye. Well, more specifically, it blinded him as sunlight caught on it and shone right into his eyes. He winced, blinking furiously to regain his vision as he tried to find whatever it was that he had seen. "Ow!" He managed to find it, but of course he managed to cut himself on the sharp edge of the very item. Ignoring the cut on his finger he inspected the item, not two items. "Hey, Emmy! Come over here I think I've found something... It looks like pieces of a broken mirror."

The suspicious tree turned out to be an ordinary, boring tree with not treasure for her to reap. Emmy circled it twice, tried climbing up the lowest branch and failing because of her shoes, and even risked sticking her hand inside the hollow. The result? Nothing, zilch, nada. Disappointed, she turned to the next tree and the one after that, but both yielded nothing as well. After dusting herself off—aah, she shouldn't have worn white today!—Emmy pulled up her mobile to check the coordinates again. The marker on the screen was directly under her position, so it should have been around the area. She was about to search that blasted suspicious tree one more time when Keir called for her.

"Hold up! I think I heard a cry of pain," Emmy said as she sauntered toward him, hands already digging in her shoulder bag for the small first aid that she was required to carry at all times (or so said her manager). She put her excitement over Keir finding the treasure momentarily on hold and took the time to tend to the cut that ran along his finger. Without warning, she sprayed some alcohol on the wound and wrapped it with a plaster. Small wound or not, if Keir's hands were injured, Emmy was always quick to act. There was no way she'd let him risk sustaining injuries that could potentially impede him from playing his instruments. She grinned up at him when she finished and only then did she refocus her attention on the treasure he had found. It turned out to be broken shards of a mirror, but that didn't matter. Treasure was treasure!

"Mirror shards, huh? That's interesting." Emmy carefully took one of the shards, pinching the flat surface so as to avoid the sharp edges, and examined it, tracing the indecipherable writing on the back before checking the one Keir still held. There was writing on it as well, and it seemed to connect with the one she had. "Do you think you could read this?"

Emmy pieced them together and turned it around to show Keir the writing, but the writing was too fragmented to be legible. She waited for Keir to take a shot at deciphering it before turning the mirror over. Her overactive imagination was already kicking into gear, leaving her extremely curious about the origins of the shards. Maybe the person who left it was superstitious and he left the shards thinking it would scatter his supposed seven years of bad luck. Or, maybe this was someone's prized possession. Then again, they could also just actually be picking up rubbish. The app hadn't mentioned any specifics, so there was no way of knowing whether this was the treasure. But that was boring, so she thought of another scenario.

"Keir," Emmy said quietly, feigned terror tingeing the tone of her voice. "What if this is a Horcrux?" She stared at Keir for beat, completely serious, before she burst out laughing. If only. She'd always been the starry-eyed sort (it actually helped a lot when she was acting); she certainly wouldn't mind being whisked away in a magical adventure. But since that wasn't possible, she learned to make do with the magic of green screen.

"Well, I suppose whatever it is, it's ours now," she said once she'd regained her composure, looking over their reflection in the mirror.

…wait, what?

Emmy rubbed her eyes with her free hand and turned to Keir, confusion settling in her features. "Um, did you see that as well or have I finally gone mad?"


Cyrill knew Phaylin well enough to realize when she was hiding something. She did it now with her vague response and sudden burst of eagerness, but instead of speaking up about it, he only cast a suspicious glance her way. It had to do with her source of information, that much he was sure of, and after sifting through at least ten different scenarios, he narrowed it down to one of two things. First, it could be that she had no basis in fact. They could very well be wasting their time, and this whole thing was just her indulging another of her whims. Or, she could have heard some concerning accounts about or around the area and she knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't accompany her anywhere that seemed remotely perilous. Thinking back on it now, he realized it was a no-win situation for him either way.

He sighed and ruffled his hair as he followed her, a gesture he'd come to realize was a sign of defeat, one he usually did when he willingly strung along with Phaylin and her unpredictable antics. Whatever. His curiosity had taken over; there was already no helping it. He grumbled to himself about wearisome women and cursed the small rock he had just accidentally stumbled over. All of this had better be worth the trouble.

The hill was steeper than he expected, and soon enough, he fell behind at least ten paces. Phaylin was hurrying him along, but with his breath already ragged and his legs starting to ache, he knew he couldn't move faster than his current pace. It felt as though the river stretched on forever—quite an exaggeration, he admitted, but he thought he was perfectly justified. Phaylin was still far ahead of him, and even though she appeared like a tiny figure in the distance, he could spot the rigidness in her posture. She was looking to hunt then? Cyrill never understood the appeal of hunting for your own food. It took far too much time and effort. He'd much rather purchase his meat from the markets, where they've been skinned and cut, so all you had to do was cook and eat them.

When the sun hit overhead, its heat becoming inescapable even with his cloak on, Cyrill picked up the pace, eager to get this trip over and done with. The waterfall was visible by now, taking up most of the horizon, and the sound of rushing water was steadily increasing in volume. Below, the plunge pool shimmered unnaturally, as though something underneath was reflecting the rays of the sun. When he finally caught up to Phaylin, all sweaty and out of breath, he pointed out a pair of rabbit that bounded toward the river, motioning for her to get it with her runes. He would have done something himself if he hadn't been so tired. Cyrill took back what he thought about hunting. He understood one of its appeals, now that he was hungry and there were no markets in sight.

It was a little frustrating to have to stop and look back every so often to make sure Cyrill hadn't toppled over and rolled back down the hill.

Then again, Phaylin couldn't complain much since he was following along on a wild goose chase which could be nothing. On the other hand, it could be something super amazing and if that was a possibility, she couldn't ever walk away without knowing what was what. To put it simply, she wanted to find the waterfall and see if the rumors were valid or not. If they weren't, she could still collect some water and game and consider the day a productive one. If the rumors happened to be true though, Phaylin would want to spend a considerable amount of time in the area, making sure to document everything she saw, smelled, tasted and felt. It would be rather marvelous to stumble upon a place that was only spoken in myth and hypothesis.

Phaylin could hear a faint rush of water and that only fed her energeticness. “Come on, come on now!” She waved to Cyrill and turned to see a small animal near the pool where the river began, spilling from the large basin which was being constantly fed by the large waterfall of nourishing water. She fished out some of the stones from her pocket and wondered what she could do to capture the small squirrel but it ran off. She saw her companion had finally caught up with her and he seemed to spot another possible source of meat. SHe looked at the rabbits and used the runes to create a small burst of fire that killed them

Though their fur was mostly singed off they were dead and could serve as a good source of meat. She walked over and picked them up and tossed one at Cyrill as she put the other into her own bag. She then turned back around the fully enjoy the sight. “I can’t believe it.” She said in awe and walked over to the edge and looked around. It was so beautiful, a large waterfall to feed the entire oasis, Phaylin was so happy they had found it. Of course if they hadn’t, Cyrill would have been pretty cross with her. “This place makes me feel so alive, I wish I could just bottle up this energy and save it for a rainy day!” She spun around and ended up slipping into the pool of water. She just laughed and stood up, the water only going to her ankles in the shallow area. “It was worth the trek I think.”





“Hmm do you think this is some kind of promotional trick for something? Maybe if someone or a group collects them, they get a prize to go with some upcoming movie or album?” He wondered, trying to find some sort of logical reason why they had just found shards of a broken mirror that clearly was begging to be reunited with the other pieces. Nax did agree that there had to be more of them but where? And why? He looked around but couldn’t see anything else. Maybe there were others in different parts of the city. It was possible, though a bit of a long winded promotion, if that’s what it was.

Nax glanced back to Syn who then seemed worried about her arm yet again. He liked mending things but he didn’t like doing it every ten minutes. He gave her a look and took hold of her arm. “Really? If you can’t take of this properly, I’ll take it away from you.” Nax told her sternly. The blond looked it over, trying to figure out what was wrong with it and why it may be malfunctioning. He couldn’t really tell what went wrong but if it was continuing to give her trouble, they might need to go someplace else where he had access to better tools and diagnostics. “I think it was just a glitch, I can’t see what is going on but maybe we should go.” From the look of things, they weren’t going to find any other shards around but maybe they’d get another idea if they moved along.

“If anything, we might get in trouble if someone spots us when we’re supposed to be at home, resting.” He reminded her. As fun as the outing was, Nax was starting to feel a little uneasy about everything. He looked back down at she shard of mirror and then wondered why they acted to strange when they touched their counterparts. Either way they couldn’t know much until they had more pieces. And his gut was telling him that that wouldn’t be easy. Nax moved out from the small wooded area and looked around. No one seemed like they had found something strange. Why was it just them? He began to walk back toward where they catch a ride home on another silver slim platform.

“At least we’re not at work right?” He laughed a little, looking over his shoulder.

"Promotional trick sounds likely," Syn replied with a tilted head and thoughtful look. "Though for what, I wonder? The image wasn't exactly appealing." She made a face. It really hadn't been a nice experience and a bit of a shock. What they had seen was... almost like another world entirely. It had been so dirty. Certainly nothing like the place they lived in now. It certainly wasn't a place that she wanted to end up at.

"I didn't do anything! It just stopped working! Sure, the other time was my fault, but this time wasn't," she protested with a frown. She sincerely hoped that Nax didn't see through with that threat. "You know how much I need this arm. If I lost it I would probably lose my job, and its so much harder using computers with only one arm." Sure, she had survived long enough but... it wasn't easy. Not many people were willing to take on someone who only had one hand to work with. Especially in engineering. She wouldn't have gotten very far up the chain at least. "Yeah, might be a good idea..." she sighed softly.

"What will they do if that happens?" Syn asked with a light huff. "You have a pretty perfect record, don't you?" Even so she followed him from the wooded area and towards the platform. Her working hand fiddled with her mirror shard slightly in her pocket as she thought about it. It was certainly... interesting. The turn of events had been one she'd expected. "I guess home is a good idea, though." She spoke as she stepped onto the platform that began to take them down from the park. "Far better than work at least. Less... work involved." She smiled.

"Hey, that's weird, my fingers can move again," she commented as the lift began to reach the bottom. To prove this she waggled her fingers. "Must have just been a glitch. Strange. Hopefully I'll get movement in my arm again." It was certainly odd. Maybe whatever had projected the image had interfered with her arm. Shrugging to herself she glanced over at her friend. "What are you going to do when you get back? I'm planning on doing a bit of my... other job," also known as hacking, "and updating E.R.I.C." Standing for Erikovna's Really Intelligent Computer. It was an AI she had began building as a child (thus the terrible name) and had continually improved as she got older.



"Ow!" Keir let out a sharp cry as Emmy suddenly attacked his finger with alcohol before wrapping a plaster around it. "It wasn't that bad, honestly, Emmy." He couldn't help smiling though. It was nice to have a friend that he could depend on even if it was a rather small cut. It would mean there was no impediment to his playing whatsoever. Then again he guessed that was why she did it. He was glad for it, truthfully. It wasn't nice when any pain stopped him playing.

"I really don't think so... There are obviously some pieces missing... I can maybe work out a few words... that looks like the. No, I don't think this will work," Keir murmured in reply as he squinted his eyes, pushing his glasses down his nose to peer over them at the writing on the back of the shards. There was no way he would be able to read it. he may be smart but he wasn't quite that smart. His eyebrow arched at what she went on to say, gaze sceptical though Emmy was making it very convincing. "It could be- oh, well done, you almost had me there." He rolled his eyes and joined in her laughter. It was all good natured.

"Yeah," he nodded, eyes darting to their reflection in the mirror. It was a bit warped due to not being a complete mirror but normal enough. Then, suddenly, everything changed. It was their surroundings that suddenly shifted and they seemed to no longer be in the park, with the roads and cars that surrounded it gone and replaced by sparse buildings made of mud, and wood, and other rudimentary materials. People were all moving on foot in small clusters. He could barely make them out and, quite frankly, it was all a bit terrifying. What had happened to the park? Was Emmy still beside him.

Glancing over at his friend and breaking eye contact with the mirror everything went back to normal. What... He had to have been imagining it. Then Emmy spoke and he realised he wasn't imagining it. "No, I saw it too. At least I think I did... different surroundings, yeah?" He shook his head frantically and moved the two mirror shards away from each other in case it happened again. He did not want that to happen again. "I think we may both be going mad." He slowly stood, frown on his lips. "How did that happen? It must be a trick... or maybe it is magic... No, its not magic. Definitely not magic." He frowned as he tried to work out if anything chemistry related could cause this. "Maybe it was hallucinatory gas that made us see things. Did you see anything... gas like?" It was a theory.

- WIP -


Cyrill's eyes rolled on reflex, but the corners of his mouth tugged the slightest bit upward. Of course Phaylin would be excited like this. He took a moment to appreciate the view as well, although he didn't quite know how to draw energy from just the sight of it, like Phaylin had done. The splash that came after her ridiculously sappy sentiment almost didn't surprise him, but he did think about going over to check if she somehow hurt herself like an idiot. Luckily, her laugh was sign enough that she was unharmed and so he didn't need to bother.

"Sure," he said for the umpteenth time that day, even though he wasn't quite certain if all the physical stress he'd suffered through was worth all this. The bloodroot was a plus, he supposed, but if Phaylin had just wanted to enjoy a view, he could have easily rifled through his books and shown her images of waterfalls. Shrugging, Cyrill left her to play her heart out in the water and moved to settle under the cover of a nearby tree. The rabbit in his pack was calling out to his rumbling stomach, and he knew he wouldn't last any longer.

Cyrill set up a small campfire quickly with runes of his own, using them to set some twigs he collected on fire. It burned low but steadily, just the right heat to slow cook something. Runes were more Phaylin's forte, but he forced himself to learn little tricks that would help his brews. Scrunching his nose in disgust, he worked on plucking the remaining fur from the rabbit before grabbing his small knife and cutting it to pieces. For someone whose profession involved the use of various and increasingly disgusting animal parts, he was awfully squeamish with such things. But once again, that's the beauty of marketplaces, wasn't it?

He had only his vials for cookware, so he had to make do. Cyrill filled one of the vials with water and mixed in some coriander leave to purify them before boiling it. Then he quickly gathered some nearby leaves and added them to the water once he was certain it had been cleansed enough. He added the rabbit pieces last and let it boil for a while. The boiling mess of a stew would probably be the worst one he'd ever have, but hey, at least he wouldn't be hungry.

With a bit of time to spare before his meal was cooked, Cyrill meandered over to the edge to check on his friend. "How's your beautiful waterfall?" Cyrill asked dryly, arms crossed and eyebrow raised. "Bottled enough energy yet?"