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Castorice heads up the elevator of the baths, her heel clicking the floor anxiously as she slowly makes her way to the top.

“…Maybe I should consider suggesting ideas to Lady Aglaea regarding the slow pace of this elevator, it is really starting to agitate me.” She heads over to the center of the bridge, spying Hyacine.

“Cassie, over here!!” The mortician smiles slightly seeing her girlfriend’s enthusiastic waves, and she blinks upon seeing two familiar faces also at the scene.

“Castorice! How’s it going?” She meets Phainon’s wide smile with one of her own.

“Hello, Lord Phainon. I did not expect to see you…” she glances at Cipher, who gives a cheeky little wave her way. “…or Lady Cipher for the matter. Is there an issue?” The Goldweaver sighs.

“Unfortunately, yes,” she goes to summon a gold thread, going to wrap and unwrap it between her index finger repeatedly. “I just got word that two children—an Okheman and a Kremnoan—had wandered a bit too deep into Castrum Kremnos for a game of hide-and-seek. It’s been a few hours since they’ve gone missing, so I’ve decided to employ Phainon and Hyacine to go fetch them…” Aglaea puts a hand to her head, brow furrowing in frustration as Cipher goes to speak.

“I mean, those brats kinda deserve it, no? Who the hell would be dumb ‘nough to—“ three looks are directed her way, and the Dolos cat quickly shuts her mouth, putting her hands up. “I jest, I jest. Anywho, Aglaea is paying me a fine sum of gold to take these dorks there, so if you’ll excuse me—“

“Ah, wait a moment, Cipher!”

“Why do I always keep getting interrupted?” Hyacine walks over to Castorice, Ica in tow.

“Cassie, if it’s not too much of a bother, would you be willing to look after Ika for me? I promise they’ll be on their best behavior!” The mini Pegasus goes to fly in front of the light-purple haired woman’s face, who blinks.

“Ah, sure, Hyacine. Anything for you.”

“Du duu!” Ica flies around happily, going to create bubbles with every twirl it makes, and Hyacine smiles happily.

“Thank you so much, Cassie!” Castorice feels like she could melt into a puddle and evaporate away seeing her girlfriend’s radiant smile. “I’ve got to get going now, but,” the healer motions the mortician to bend down a bit, and when she does so, Hyacine places a gentle kiss on the other’s cheek. “Have fun with Ika, okay? I promise I won’t be gone too long, not with Phainie with me!”

“Aight doc, that’s enough. I don’t think any of us want to see any more of this terrible PDA cringe fest going on here, eugh.” Cipher grumbles, scooping both heirs into her arms as she stretches her legs out, and before Castorice could even blink, the Dolos cat takes off. The mortician only touches her cheek in a daze, her face heating up as Ica dus rather sarcastically.

She gives the Pegasus a look. “Oh, hush. Let me have my gay panic in peace, alright?”

“Du dudu du du,” Castorice briefly wonders if she’ll ever get a chance to understand what Ica’s saying, as Aglaea walks over, chuckling a bit.

“Don’t be so lovesick, dear. They’ll be back soon.” She watches as the mortician’s face turns oh so red, and she laughs a bit more, before coughing a bit, as garment maker appears by the heir’s side with a handkerchief.

“Ah, Lady Aglaea! Please do not exert yourself more than you already have. I know you do a lot for both Okhema and the Flame Chase, but you need to rest as much as any of us.” The Goldweaver smiles wearily.

“Thank you, Cas, but I’ll be alright. There’s still so much more to be done, after all. Even if Dan Heng and the Trailblazer show some promise, I still have lots to do.” Castorice frowns at that, glancing down and spotting some familiar plushies in tow. The blonde-haired woman looks down to where the other is staring, smiling a bit. “Ah, you know, Sensei loves the plushies you and Hyacine made.”

Castorice’s smile turns a bit strained. “I am aware, however, I did not realize that I was inadvertently reminding them of what is to come…” Aglaea only chuckles slightly, walking over to pat the mortician on the head.

“Don’t dwell on it too long, dear. We all know what’s involved with the Flame Chase, and what we’re willing to sacrifice.” She cups the three plushies hanging by her waist, smiling fondly. “Besides, Sensei really treasures these plushies. So much so she entrusted me to keep hold of them lest she loses them while opening a gate.”

The light-purple haired woman only sighs a bit. “I know, I just…wish that death was not the answer in this case, but it is unavoidable after all.”

“Du du duuuudu!” They watch as Ica flies loops around garment maker, the latter going to pop the bubbles left in the Pegasus’ trail.

“I believe that’s enough chit-chat on this matter. Why don’t you go take Little Ica around Okhema now? I’ll be sure to message if anything arises.”

Castorice nods. “Alright. Have a good day, Lady Aglaea. Please do not overexert yourself, or else I will come marching back here and force you to rest myself. I will even take a knife to the chest if I have to.”

“Heh, duly noted.” The mortician goes to wave at her fellow chrysos heir, walking towards the floating Pegasus. “Come, Mister Ica, let us go for a walk around town. Perhaps we will find something of interest to do along the way.”

•—————————•

“Hup!” Cipher slams down against the gravel ground, a few stray pebbles flying up into the air. She does a little spin before finally releasing the other two from her grasp. “Hah, who said ya need a vehicle to do an Akira Slide?!” The Dolos cat goes to stretch her limbs, getting ready to dash back to Okhema, though

“Oh no you don’t,” Cipher stares at Hyacine’s staff blocking her path, looking up to see Hyacine’s overly happy expression. “You’re going to stay here and help us, Ciphie!”

“C-Ciphie?! The hell kinda nickname is that?!” Hyacine only radiates more as Cipher attempts to dodge the sparkles floating her way. “And who said I hafta do that?? There’s money to be made!!” As though it were deja vu, Hyacine produces a large bag full of gold coins, and both Phainon and Cipher ogle at the shining gold glow.

“To the Titans, this could pay off any remaining student debt I have at the Grove…” the white-haired man mutters.

“I-it’s so shiny, and—!” She catches herself. “Hold on, how do I know you’re not tricking me again?” The healer blinks.

“Eh, you’re still hung up on what happened that time?” Hyacine whistles innocently, placing her hands behind her back and swaying her body back and forth. “I can assure you that it’s real. Think of this as my paycheck—except that’s only one-fourths of it.” She mutters the last part to herself as Cipher gets ready to dive into the gold Scrooge-style, though Hyacine stops her.

“Agh! What was that for?!” The Dolos cat hisses as the healer keeps spraying spritzes of water at the other, and the worldbearer only blinks, glancing between his two friends.

“Giving her the real cat treatment, huh?” The pink-teal haired woman turns to her friend with a wide smile, and Phainon notes how it doesn’t quite reach her eyes as he adjusts his grip on Dawnmaker’s handle nervously.

“Why of course! Even the most naughty cats need to be trained! If she still doesn’t want to cooperate, I have more drastic measures as well.” She turns back to Cipher rather quickly. “Now, Ciphie, come join us? I’m sure there’s plenty of treasure hidden around the place~ Plus, don’t you think a trio makes a real party?” Cipher’s eye dart between the bag of gold and Hyacine, before sighing.

“Fine, Grove girl!”

“Grove girl?” Cipher smirks.

“Hey, if you’re gonna give me a nickname, it’s fair game to give one back!” She skips over to the gold bag, scooping it up and throwing it over her shoulder. “Now, let’s go do some dungeon crawling, shall we?”

Phainon goes to speak. “…We’re supposed to be finding those kids, remem—“

“Quiet, Deliverer boy!”

—

Castorice and Ica enter the market, and she tries her best not to focus on the whispers of the people currently there.

“…isn’t that the girl who can kill anything she touches? Eek, we gotta stay away!”

“I heard she came from Aidonia. Sad what happened to that place, but should someone like the Holy Maiden really be here?”

“Tch, these chrysos heirs are a joke.”

As always, the mortician attempts to pay no mind to the constant discussions of the people around her. She tries to do some arithmetic in her head, multiplying numbers repeatedly with each step she takes. Perhaps she should work more on her latest poem she’s written up, or maybe—

”Ah…” The light-purple haired woman feels something rub against her cheek, looking over to see Ica staring at her with a concerned expression. She puts down the hand that she didn’t know she had placed on her forehead, doing her best to give a reassuring smile. “Forgive me, Mister Ica, I was getting a bit distracted there.”

“Dududududu duuu!” Though Castorice couldn’t understand the Pegasus, she felt as though she understood then. She nods gratefully.

“Mm, thank you for you concern. I will try not to dwell on their unnecessary comments any longer.” She looks ahead to spot a familiar light-green haired man staring at a stall rather intently. “…Professor Anaxa—“

“—goras.” Anaxa doesn’t even bat an eye as he continues staring at the droma themed goods, a hand to his chin as he thinks. “While you are no longer my pupil, Castorice, my rule still applies and you should still regard me as such.” The Sage finally looks up, holding a purple colored dromas headband in his heads, and his gaze falls on Ica. “Now, what is Hyacine’s familiar doing with you? I hold doubt this is crucial to that blasphemous prophecy.”

The mortician shakes her head. “No. Hyacine and Lord Phainon went to go retrieve some lost kids at Castrum Kremnos under Lady Aglaea’s orders, so Hyacine had asked me to watch Mister Ica in her stead.”

“I see.” He turns back to the stall, handing a few gold coins to the merchant before going to put on the headband. The light-green haired man walks back up to Castorice, blinking. “You’re staring at me like my sister would when I’d talk excessively about dromases: supportive yet confuzzled. Is it really that abnormal on me?”

“Er, I apologize, but I was thinking that the green colored dromas band would better suit you, professor.” He blinks again, turning back around and picking up the headband Castorice had just described. He goes to purchase it, swapping the headbands suiting his head as he walks back up to the light-purple haired woman.

Castorice gives a nod. “Much better.” Though subtle, she can vaguely see Anaxa’s expression turn a bit happier. He motions for her to come closer, and as she does, Anaxa goes to place the original dromas headband he bought on the woman’s head. The mortician grows surprised, going to trace her fingertips against the new item now equipped alongside her mini crown.

+ 1 stat in being a girlfailure! resounds in her head as she blinks. “This feels a bit silly.”

“Nonsense. I’m certain Hyacine will adore it when she inevitably returns.” Castorice’s cheeks flush. First Aglaea, now Anaxa?? What’s with everyone teasing her about Hyacine lately?! Were they really that obvious?

“Dudu!” Ica flies around Castorice’s head, going to nudge the headband a bit, and the chrysos heir gets a vague feeling that she is being laughed at right now.

“Ah, that reminds me,” the light-purple haired woman looks at Anaxa as he brings out a small device from his pocket. “Here.” Castorice goes to accept the device with her metal hand as the sage explains. “I had meant that for communicating with some of the dromases, but I haven’t had the proper time to test it yet, so why don’t you try it with Ica? I’ve been pondering myself what that Pegasus says every now and then.” Carefully, Castorice uses her metal hand to place the device on Ica, turning it on, and they watch carefully.

“Du? Dududu—𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝑜𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇𝑒𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝒹𝑒𝓋𝒾𝒸𝑒 𝑜𝓃 𝓂𝑒?” Both Anaxa and Castorice blink as a voice now replaces Ica’s usual noises, and the mortician notes at how rather smooth the Pegasus’ voice was. “𝒪𝒽? 𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝓌𝑜? 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊’𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓂𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝒷𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝓊𝓅 𝓉𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓋𝑒 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝓈𝒽𝓁𝓎 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝒸𝓀𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒢𝑜𝓁𝒹𝑒𝓃 𝐻𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓎𝒸𝒶𝓀𝑒𝓈!” The Pegasus pauses, before realizing. “𝒪𝒽 𝒯𝒾𝓉𝒶𝓃’𝓈 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓋𝑒, 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒮𝒫𝐸𝒜𝒦! 𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒶 𝒿𝑜𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓈!”

“Professor, is your device supposed to make animals talk in…such a way?” She doesn’t quite know whether Ica’s manner of speech is so overly refined or absolutely absurd, and Anaxa only shrugs.

“It’s only the first prototype of many. As long as Ica doesn’t spew anything that would warrant the wrath of Aglaea—Cerces themselves knows that woman is always listening in—then it should be fine.” He starts walking off into an alleyway, waving as he does so. “Until we see each other again, Castorice. You may keep the device for as long as you’d like.”

“Oh! Um-thank you!” She turns back to the now singing Pegasus, the latter doing even more twirls and flips in the air as she could only stare. “I am going to have a hard time explaining this to Hyacine when she returns,” she says while sighing, and Ica goes to fly right in her face.

“𝐼’𝓂 𝓅𝑜𝓈𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝑒’𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝒷𝓊𝓏𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒿𝑜𝓎 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈! 𝒪𝒽, 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒’𝓈 𝒶𝓃 𝒾𝒹𝑒𝒶: 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝑒 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓊𝓅𝑜𝓃 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓊𝓇𝓃? 𝐼’𝓂 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝑒’𝓁𝓁 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝒶 𝑔𝒾𝒻𝓉 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝑔𝒾𝓇𝓁𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹~” Ica repeatedly rams themselves against Castorice’s shoulder as though they were nudging her, and the mortician has no choice but to agree, going to follow the rather talkative Pegasus further into the marketplace.

—

“DELIEVER BOY.” Cipher stares daggers at the white-haired man’s back as the trio are currently running away from a hoarde of black tide creatures, and she steps to the side, narrowly avoiding being cut in half by a Tide-Eroded Blade. “WHY DIDN’T YOU ATTACK THEM WHEN YOU HAD THE CHANCE?”

Phainon moves his head, dodging the onslaught of arrows from the Black Tide’s Decrepit Bow. “WELL I’M SORRY, BUT I THOUGHT YOU WERE TELLING ME SOMETHING! YOU WERE MOVING YOUR ARMS ALL OVER THE PLACE!!”

“I WAS SIGNALING YOU TO SMACK ‘EM TO THE DAMN UNDERWORLD, DARN IT!”

“LOOK!” Hyacine goes to point with her staff, and the two look over to see the crumbling coliseum rapidly coming into view. “WE CAN ESCAPE THEM IF WE CLIMB UP THE CHAIN!” The trio pick up their pace, going to run up the chain, and Cipher blinks as she passes the worldbearer and the healer within seconds.

“To Zagreus, eugh.” She turns around, going to hoist both Hyacine and Phainon in her arms as she rapidly picks up her pace. “You two are so darn slow! It’s like you’re both asking to die! And we all know Princess Homebody won’t be pleased to give you two dorks especially a ‘dignified farewell’ as she so stupidly puts it!!”

Hyacine pouts. “The things Cassie says are not stupid! They’re adorable!”

“I-I agree!…I think?” Phainon says, though he’s unable to say any more with how much he’s flailing in the Dolos cat’s hold right now. They finally make their way to the top of the chain, and in one swift motion, all three of them launch attacks at the Black Tide Creatures, causing them to fall into the depths below. All three of the chrysos heirs sigh, collapsing to the ground.

“Gosh, huff. I should—huff—demand Aglaea for a damn pay raise! This crap’s seriously outta control!”

“Look on the brighter side, Ciphie! At least—pant—we’re safe now.” Hyacine goes to stand up, using her staff as support. “Still, there’s no sign of these kids anywhere. I’m starting to worry we won’t ever find them.”

“We will!” Phainon springs up, swinging his sword as he does so. “I won’t give up! We’ll find these kids even if it takes thirty million tries!!”

“You’re a lunatic, you know that?” Cipher goes to smack the worldbearer in the head, though she makes sure not to hit hard. She goes to point at a nearby door. “Let’s go through there. We haven’t checked that out yet. There better be loads of treasure waiting, or else I’m going to pummel the next Titankin I see!” Hyacine and Phainon nod, and the trio set out deeper into the ruins.

—

“Man, these ruins are dark!” Cipher squints her eyes, attempting to see further down the hallway, but to no avail. Even her supreme cat vision can’t see that far ahead, to her dread.

“Don’t worry, I’ll just use Dawnmaker to oblit—“

“Actually, Phainie, I got this, so you can put your sword down now…” Hyacine sighs internally as she watches the white-haired man slowly put his sword down with a small frown. She’d rather not watch Castrum Kremnos get absolutely torn to oblivion if Phainon so much as swings that thing just to produce a bit of light. “I’ll just do a little bit of this and that, and…” a satisfactory smile rests on the healer’s face as she finishes waving her staff around. “Let there be light, hehe!” Phainon looks rather bedazzled at the colorful display now adorning the walls while Cipher has to go squint her eyes a bit.

“Geez, Grove girl. I ‘preciate the new light source, but did it hafta be this colorful? I could practically recreate Caramelldansen in my head for the next week or so.”

“Oh but of course! Who doesn’t love seeing a rainbow?? Plus, it’ll help us mark the places we’ve already been. Aquila knows how much time we’ve already spent lingering around…” Her smile drops a bit as they continue walking. “…I do wonder just how far those kids ran into the ruins. This expedition is going to take a lot longer unless we figure something out soon.”

A hand goes to rest on the pink-teal haired woman’s shoulder, and she looks up to see her friend’s confident gaze. “Luckily, you’ve got me and Cipher here to help! Honestly, we probably should’ve gotten Mydei too, but he kept saying something about wanting to participate in some chimera battle going on.” He goes to stretch his hand outwards between the other chrysos heirs. “Now come on! Join me! We’re a team, after all! Let’s become heroes!!” The healer only giggles, raising her hand to place on top of Phainon’s, and he directs his gaze to Cipher, who crosses her arms, her tail swishing cautiously back and forth.

“Y’know, I was coerced into this.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t complain when you looted that gold bracelet earlier, now did you?” The Dolos cat makes a face.

“Don’t act like all I want to do with my life is go around stealing things and procuring as much gold as possible! That’s only most of what I wanna do!” She places her hand on top of the others, and they all go cheer, albeit Cipher does a bit half-heartedly.

“Yeah! PHC team, let’s roll out!”

“…You’ve gotta come up with a better name than that.”

•—————————•

“𝒪𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜, 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝒻𝒶𝒷𝓇𝒾𝒸 𝑜𝓃 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓎?? 𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝑒 𝑔𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝑔𝒾𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝒫𝑜𝓁𝓁𝓊𝓍 𝓅𝓁𝓊𝓈𝒽 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐻𝓎𝒶𝒸𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓃𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔!” Castorice smiles slightly, going to grab a bit of the fabric between her fingers.

“I agree. This shade of purple is ideal as well, as I have had trouble finding something that distinctly matches Pollux’s skin tone.” She goes to take a roll of fabric from the display, going to take out her coin purse, however, Ica stops her.

“𝒲𝒶𝒾𝓉 𝒶 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉, 𝒞𝒶𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝒾𝒸𝑒, 𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑜𝓌 𝓂𝑒.” Before the light-purple haired woman could even blink, the Pegasus magically pulls out a handful of gold coins from out of nowhere. “𝐻𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑔𝑜. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓀𝑒𝑒𝓅 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒.” they say with a wink, handing the coins to the merchant and going to fly back to the mortician’s side.

Castorice blinks, a thought crossing her mind. “…Mister Ica, were those coins perhaps the ones you were fishing up from the Holy Candle that time I had met Hyacine at the marketplace?” She watches as the Pegasus chokes—she thinks—attempting to find the right words.

“𝐼…𝑜𝒽, 𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓀!” He goes to point a hoof up. “𝐼𝓈𝓃’𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝑀𝓎𝒹𝑒𝒾 𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒? 𝒲𝒽𝓎 𝒹𝑜𝓃’𝓉 𝓌𝑒 𝑔𝑜 𝑔𝓇𝑒𝑒𝓉 𝒽𝒾𝓂???” Hurriedly, Ica goes to fly over the Kremnoan as Castorice only stands there, blinking. Eventually, she makes her way over.

“Castorice,” Mydei gives a nod her way. “I didn’t expect to see Ica with you, that’s rare.” He smirks. “Did you already break Hyacine’s heart and caused her to flee the scene or something? Was this the result of a divorce?” He watches in amusement as his friend’s face practically deflates.

“Wha—I,” she attempts to compose herself, her face burning as she speaks. “Lord Mydei, please do not joke about matters like that. Hyacine and I are perfectly happy!” The former king raises a fist to his mouth, trying his best to stifle his laughs.

“Sorry, sorry. Cipher’s right in that you’re insanely fun to ‘tease’, despite that word being uncommon in the Kremnoan language.” He goes back to staring at the selection of apples, picking one up and inspecting it closely. “I already heard the details from Aglaea. I think they’ll be alright.”

“𝐼 𝒹𝑜 𝒶𝑔𝓇𝑒𝑒 𝒶𝓈 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁, 𝑀𝓎𝒹𝑒𝒾. 𝐻𝓎𝒶𝒸𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒫𝒽𝒶𝒾𝓃𝑜𝓃 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒷𝑜𝓉𝒽 𝒸𝒶𝓅𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝓅𝑒𝑜𝓅𝓁𝑒, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝓎 𝓌𝑜𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝓂𝒶𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝓈𝒽𝑒’𝓈 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝒷𝒶𝒷𝓁𝓎 𝓇𝑜𝓅𝑒𝒹 𝒞𝒾𝓅𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝒶𝒸𝒸𝑜𝓂𝓅𝒶𝓃𝓎𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂 𝒶𝓈 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁!”

Mydei blinks. “HKS…did Ica just speak?” Castorice only sighs.

“Ah, yes. I ran into Professor Anaxa…goras earlier, and he had given me this dromas headband along with a device for me to communicate with Mister Ica. I take it their actual voice is…quite surprising, is it not?”

“You could say that again.” He resumes looking over the selection of apples, grabbing a few more good ones and going to pay for his grocery bag. “Now c’mon. Let’s go somewhere else.” The Kremnoan eyes a few lingering passerby clustered together in the corner nearby, whispering to themselves and glancing at the chrysos heirs. “Unless you want some unwanted company.” Castorice and Ica nod, and they all walk towards the outskirts of town.

—

“…”

“…” the two heirs watch as Ica goes to gobble down a fifth apple in mere seconds.

“𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓈𝑒 𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓁𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝒾𝓂𝓅𝓁𝓎 𝒹𝑒𝓁𝒾𝒸𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈!”

The mortician grows appalled. “…how do you possibly eat even the stem and seeds, Mister Ica?”

“And aren’t the seeds poisonous too…I’d really rather not get chewed out by Hyacine when he gets back.” Mydei adds. While nothing really phases the Kremnoan, the thought of the pink-teal haired heir yelling at him and shooting rainbow colored beams makes him shudder.

“𝒪𝓃𝑒 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑜𝓃’𝓈 𝓌𝒶𝓈𝓉𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒫𝑒𝑔𝒶𝓈𝓊𝓈’ 𝓉𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑒! ” the two heirs only continue to stare dumbfounded at the pegasus as a passerby comes running by.

“SOMEONE…! SOMEONE HELP!!” Both Castorice and Mydei go to stand up, their expressions morphed into concern. Mydei goes to catch the sobbing kid, holding him by the shoulders.

“What’s wrong?” The boy starts to sob even more.

“We—we were just playing around! Giving each other d-dares,” he goes to wipe his face, sniffling. “B-but then—! My friend got stuck on top of one of the dromas!!” Castorice’s eyes widen.

“If he falls, he might severely injure himself, or even…!” she tries to stay calm. “Lord Mydei, please stay with this child. I will go check the situation with Mister Ica myself. It’s best not to alert Lady Agalea, goodness she’s already stressed enough.” The Kremnoan nods.

“Good luck,” The Aidonian goes rushing off, with Little Ica hurriedly flying after, and the former king goes to hoist the boy onto his shoulders. “Your friend will be alright, just relax kid. Save your tears for your parents so they’ll go less hard on ya, alright?”

“Ri-right—!”

—

This must be it, Castorice rushes towards the crowd forming ahead, looking up to see the commotion. She spots a kid clinging to the dromas’ neck for dear life, along with…

The light-purple woman’s eyes widen “Eh, is that Lady Trianne?!” She watches as the heir holds onto the dromas’ neck for dear life.

“I-I thought you’re supposed to be saving me?! What was with that insane pep talk earlier??” Trianne makes an annoyed expression.

“Well I didn’t think this height would be so…high! EEEK!!” She tightens her grip. “Dromases are so much taller than I could’ve thought up! I’d MUCH rather be in a rocket ship right now, thanks!!”

“Oh, there’s no time…” Castorice mutters to herself, taking a deep breathe in and out and raising her arms high to the sky, attempting to get through the crowd as Ica headbutts the onlookers to help the mortician get through. “Excuse me…sorry! I apologize, but please move…!” Once through, she looks around, before spotting something of interest. “! Mister Ica, please grab that tarp over there!” Within seconds, the Pegasus launches themselves at the blanket covering some dramas supplies, grabbing the cloth with their mouth. They toss one side to the Aidonian, and together, they stretch out the blanket.

I hope this works… Castorice looks up, watching with a tense expression as the kid proceeds to lose his grip on the dromas.

“W-wah!” The kid slips, hitting Trianne in the process, and they fall to the ground, bracing for impact. “Huh…? We’re safe?” Castorice puffs a sigh of relief, slowly sinking to the floor as the crowd cheers.

“Oh my Titans…” Trianne looks over to see the mortician. “Cas! Thank you for saving me!!” Without any warning, the gatekeeper lunges herself at the other, and Castorisw has to awkwardly raise her hands in the air as though she were cheering right now. She attempts to muster a smile through her adrenaline rush.

“I am glad you are alright, Lady Trianne.” She frowns upon seeing the massive bump on the other heir’s head. “…however, I do think I should take you both to Twilight Courtyard to get assessed for any injuries. Trianne crosses her arms, huffing.

“It’s not my fault the kid couldn’t hold his grip! He shouldn’t take dares he can’t even do!”

“My dad said it’s rude to fight with girls my age!”

“Hey, I’m far older than you think!! Respect your elders, mister!” Ica goes to fly in between the kid and gatekeeper, lest they start fighting, and Castorice could only shake her head.

•—————————•

“♫♪ You and I are weak like the reedsssss ♫♪”

“♫♪ But chasing flames is carved into creeddddd ♫♪”

“♫♪ Cleave the darkness and seize the light!!! ♫♪”

“♫♪ Daybreaks meant to be free, ♫♪”

“♫♪ WE ARE GONNA SHATTER THE TIES!!!!! ♫♪” Cipher’s ears twitch as Phainon and Hyacine seemingly harmonize, the walls of the ruins creating an echo effect and worsening the Dolos cat’s vexation.

“Are you two trying to get us mauled by monsters?? Especially you, that falsetto was absolutely terrible.” She directs her glare at Phainon, who only smiles sheepishly.

“Well I think I’ve got a great singing voice. I probably could’ve been some sort of idol type thing in some alternate universe, y’know! Could you imagine?? I think I’d title it something like: ’My Idol Debut Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected! That’s gotta exist somewhere beyond!” Cipher goes to cross her arms, spewing out another retort as Hyacine only giggles.

*Ding!* the healer takes out her phone, going to see that Mydei has messaged her, and she blinks, remembering the time he had so kindly sent Hyacine that picture of Castorice in a chef’s hat. She totally didn’t immediately go save that picture to her photo album, that would be absurd.

As her face turns pink, Hyacine goes to open the message, reading the contents:

Mydei
—
< ur girl a hero >

< MydeiLeanBackandSmirkSticker.jpeg >

“…what?” The pink-teal haired woman mumbles to herself, staring at the former king’s text as though it were completely foreign to her. What could have possibly happened while she was gone?! It hasn’t even been that long??? She only stands there confused as Cipher goes to lean over her shoulder.

“BWAHAHAHA! OH MY TITANS—HAHAHAH!!” The grey-haired cat only clutches her stomach, wheezing as Hyacine turns to her, a frown evident on her face.

“Really, Ciphie, what could possibly be so funny about this??” The heir breaks into fits of laughter, attempting to calm down as she takes a few steps away from the other.

“N-no I’m just, isn’t that kinda funny? Princess Homebody being a hero? She’s so dang gloomy and uptight, I seriously can’t imagine it.”

Phainon lifts his head up attentively, and he goes to put one ear against the wall. “Er, guys, I think I hear something.” He tries to listen closer. “Sounds like…stomping…?”

Hyacine’s frown deepens, and her brows furrow. “What do you mean? Just because Cassie is more to herself, what makes you think she can’t be a hero like any one of us could?”

“I just think that she isn’t really the spitting image of one, per se. If anything,” she points a thumb back to the worldbearer, who’s growing increasingly more concerned. “Deliverer boy is more like one, goofy as he is.” That seemed to anger the healer, who takes multiple steps forward in succession until she’s practically face to face with the other, and Cipher blinks. “O-oi, Grove Girl, what’s—“

“Cipher, why do you say such mean things?” The Dolos cat flinches, noting how the tension in the air felt suffocating and how Hyacine’s tone did a complete 180°. She puts her hands up in surrender.

“Guys, I think we need to get out of he—“

“Chill, doc! I mean, am I wrong though? I don’t get how any of what I said was wrong—“

“Guys, please stop arguing! I get you’re both tense right now, but—!”

“Yes it is! You know everything you said about Cassie while we’ve been on this expedition has been wrong! How could you possibly—“

“HYACINE, CIPHER, LOOK OUT!!” Both heirs blink as the white-haired man’s yelling pierces through their argument, and Cipher looks beyond Hyacine to see a Noontide Gryphon, its head glowing and ready to fire.

Her eyes widen. “HYACINE!!” The Dolos cat could only pathetically hope she was fast enough, her renown speed be damned.

She tackles the healer, and they both just barely manage to roll away unscathed as Phainon deflects the laser with Dawnbreaker. In one swift motion, he slashes at the monster, its head coming clean off as it falls to the ground, and he lets out a sigh. He hurriedly turns back to the two heirs, panic on his face.

“Are you two alright?! I was trying to warn you both earlier, but neither of you would listen…” He helps both the healer and trickster get up.

“Ah, your leg!” Hyacine bends down to the harsh scrape now on Cipher’s leg, the latter only rubbing the back of her neck.

“Eh, it’ll heal.” She tries to think of something to say next, but she’s suddenly thrust forward, the healer’s grip on her wrist. “Ow! Geez, okay! You don’t need to hold that hard—!” Hyacine remains silent, going to point her staff at the dead Noontide Gryphon’s body, and both heirs watch as the healer instantly obliterates the monster’s body with ease, the only evidence left being a trail of small sparkles going upwards. They go further into the dungeon, no one daring to speak, and Cipher’s tail only moves haphazardly. She turns her gaze to Phainon, who’s standing a few feet behind both of them, however, he makes a zipping motion with his lips, indicating that he won’t say a word.

Darn, et tu, Deliverer Boy? She had hoped that Phainon could interject with some stupid thing joke or quip, but it seems like that was no avail. She directs her gaze back forward and on Hyacine’s back. Though, to think she would get angry like that…all over Princess Homebody too…

“Let’s stop here,” Cipher blinks as they come to a stop, and she notes how the area seems to have a window ledge peering out towards the coming nightfall. The healer goes to point at a section of the wall. “Go over there, I’ll treat your wound.” The grey-haired cat does as she’s told, and Hyacine turns to Phainon. “Phainie, could you go look for some wood around here? I think this’ll be a good enough spot to set up camp for the night.” The worldbearer nods, going off back into the ruins, and in an instant, Hyacine summons a first aid kit.

“Woah, are you a healer or a magician, girl?” Thought barely noticeable, the corners of Hyacine’s mouth curve into a smile despite her more serious expression.

“The kids love this trick. They ask me soemthing similar when I do it.” She looks back down. “Now, stretch out your leg. I need to clean your wound first.” She does as she’s told, and Hyacine goes to pour some water from her thermos, patting the area dry. She takes out a cotton ball, pouring a small bit of disinfectant and dabbing the area, to the cat’s chargin, though, Cipher tries her best not to let her discomfort show. Hyacine goes to unravel a bit of the bandage, making sure to wrap it firmly around the other heir’s leg before she goes to cut the rest away and makes sure the bandage is properly applied. Once done so, the pink-teal haired woman waves the kit away, going to stand up, however

“Wait,” Hyacine turns around, seeing Cipher’s hold on her sleeve, and slowly, she crouches down to where the other heir is, resting her back against the wall. The grey-haired cat scratches her cheek awkwardly, attempting to find the right words. “Listen, I’m sorry about what I said before, and what I said at the beginning too. I genuinely was just trying to tease Princess Homebody there, but I guess you can’t exactly tease someone if that someone isn’t even present…erm.” she goes to bow her head, and Hyacine smiles a bit.

“It’s okay, Ciphie. To be fair, I shouldn’t have really lost my head there. We could’ve completely avoided this if I had just stayed more diligent.” The trickster waves a hand.

“Eh, don’t be! I actually kinda like this newfound side of you!” She meets Hyacine’s confused expression, laughing. “I’d watch you sometimes at the courtyard, y’know. Algaea would send me on fetch quests, and oftentimes, I’d spy on how you act whoever someone sick or injured comes in. No matter how bad it was, how much longer they had left, or how often you’d get chewed out by people expecting you to full-on cure them…you’d just take it all with a smile! To Zagreus, I thought it was absurd!” She ruffles a hand through her hair, propping her non-injured leg up. “You’d never fight back, always hiding how ya really feel with a smile or whatnot. But then, ever since you and Princess Homebody started going out, I’ve noticed you’re more lax now in properly expressing your feelings instead of just smiling through it. Whatever she’s done to you changed you a bit, Grove girl…but anyways, that’s why I think you shouldn’t really be sorry for being justifiably angry then.” Cipher sighs. “Geez, that was a lot. But I hope ya can forgive me and we can let bygones be bygones? I can’t promise I won’t make quips about Princess Homebody here and there…but I’ll try to be more careful…ish. ‘Sides, I should know more than anyone what it’s like not l being a hero.” The heir mutters to herself as Hyacine looks back down to her lap, contemplating, before looking back up to meet Cipher’s tense expression.

“Of course I do, Ciphie! We’re friends, after all!” she smiles a bit more as the Dolos cat sticks her tongue out, and she goes to think over what Cipher had said.

“Speak any more, and I will make sure you can never speak another word for as long as you live. You are NOT to spew such insults at Lady Hyacine ever again. She does so much more than your pathetic self could even dream of doing in comparison.” Hyacine smiles a bit more softly recollecting that particular moment when Castorice, in an act of boldness, had stood up for against that now bald angry scholar. She makes a mental note to have to thank the mortician later.

“Friends…huh,” meanwhile, the trickster mulls over those words seemingly foreign to her. Her expression wasn’t an unhappy one, however.

“I’m so glad you two made up, uwahhhhhhh!!” They look up to see Phainon, his arms filled with wood, to which he promptly throws to the side in favor of lunging at his fellow heirs.

“What—! How long have you—oh, forget it…” Cipher sighs as she’s enveloped in a hug alongside Hyacine, who giggles. He twirls them both around for a bit, before finally releasing them. “…When did the room start spinning, eurgh…” the white-haired man only grins wide. He goes to speak,

*GRGRRGHRHRHGRGEGRHGRGRHGHH*

Phainon puts a hand to his stomach, blinking. “Whoops…uh, I guess we should eat something.”

“Did you or your stomach decide that?” Phainon only rubs the back of his head bashfully, and they all go to sit down. Within a matter of seconds, the worldbearer produces a whole feast of foods, accompanied with a picnic blanket, and the trickster goes to eye the wide array of fish in the corner.

“You certainly went all out, Phainie!! I’m starting to think I should’ve brought Ika along after all, they would’ve surely enjoyed this.” She goes to pick up a sandwich, eating a bit of it as her eyes sparkle. “Wow, this is delicious!” The worldbearer only smirks.

“Why thank you, Hyacine! I’ve gotta make sure not to lose my cooking skills, lest Mydei beats me in a cooking competition one these days…” he goes to pick up a handful of meat pies, shoving them in his mouth as the atmosphere turns warmer. “Anyways—we should make a game plan about those kids.”

“Ugh,” Cipher groans, taking a bite of fish. “Seriously, those brats just had to choose here to play their game?! What’s wrong with playing in the streets and getting hit by a fast running dromas or something??” She takes a few more bites of fish in annoyance as Hyacine and Phainon laugh.

“It can’t be helped. Kids have far more imagination than adults do. They probably got bored of Okhema and wanted a better challenge for themselves.”

“Well then they should’ve picked Dawncloud to do that! That place is so linear going it hurts.” Hyacine goes to pick up a cookie, eyeing it curiously.

“Maybe we could attract them with cookies?” Both heirs look over to the healer. “Sometimes the kids that come into the courtyard are those who are just dealing with a sugar rush. We could probably get them excited over the smell of cookies…”

“Oh, great idea! But…is that good enough? I don’t think cookies are gonna be enough to lure these kids out…” He puts a hand to his chin, brows furrowing as Cipher glances at the other, her eyes fixated on the two large tufts of hair sticking up from the white-haired man’s head.

“Y’know, Gray mystery told me soemthing rather interesting recently—well, they were drunk on ambrosia, and that Green nerd hadda drag them outta there—but,” she goes to swallow as Phainon and Hyacine’s attention are on her. “They had mentioned something about this place called Penacony and these things called ‘origami birds’. Supposedly, you can spot them by the feathers on their head and go pull them outta random places, and…” Phainon looks a bit surprised as Cipher’s gaze lands on him.

“Wait, are you saying…” the Dolos cat only smirks, and the worldbearer sighs in defeat. “Alright. Whatever you have planned for me won’t get in the way of being a true hero nor ruin my dignity…I hope.”

“No, but Little Prince would’ve wished he took a vacation day to see it, haha!” The grey-haired cat cackles as the healer goes to yawn. “Anywho, we should call it a night.” She goes to sweep the picnic blanket off the ground, bunching it up and setting it aside. “Go get some rest, I’ll keep lookou—“ Cipher lifts her head, seeing that Hyacine and Phainon were already long asleep, resting shoulder to shoulder while holding onto their weapons. The Dolos cat goes to stretch, before situating herself on the window ledge and staring out into the night, eyeing the moon peering through a few clouds. “Huh, look at that, it’s in its waxing phase.”

”Cifera,” the trickster blinks, though she doesn’t turn around as she hears the familiar sound of heels tapping on the ground. The sound stops, and the person goes to stand next to Cipher as they look up to the night sky. “It’s a waxing crescent moon.”

“Huh? There’s a name for that?” Aglaea only chuckles, going to rest a hand against the guardrail.

“Yes. There’s different names for each of phases the moon’s presently in. Looks like we’re going to see a full moon soon.”

“Eh…”

“…you know—“

“If this about that dang prophecy, I really don’t wanna hear it right now. Why should I have to care about any of these other…chrysos heirs or whatever?! If we’re all basically gonna die, I’d rather die fending for myself!” She turns her head away, for she knows the Goldweaver’s expression is pained right now. She hears Aglaea sigh lightly.

“There will come a time when you need to rely on others, and I—” she pauses. “…and the Flame Chase needs you. You can become a hero too, Cifera, despite your beliefs.”

“But I’m just a thief! Have you ever heard of some sorta epic hero from Dolos?? When that place is known for only breeding rogues and lies?!”

“I’m looking at one right now,” Aglaea mutters to herself and the crescent moon, her statement failing to reach Cipher in the moment. The Dolos cat can’t quite read the light-blonde haired woman’s expression in the moment, as the woman goes to speak again. “I hope when the others eventually do arrive, you treat them well, even with that snappy mouth of yours.” She catches Aglaea’s smile in what little moonlight was shining down then and there.

Cipher’s smile turns fonder as she continues gazing at the sky. “…maybe you were right then, Aglaea. It really isn’t so bad to rely on others every now and then.”

—

“Woah, is your hand really made of metal, miss?!” He gasps. “Are you some fullmetal alchemist or something?!” Castorice only smiles awkwardly, watching the little boy jump up and down while the elevator hums.

“I…have two perfectly functioning hands…? And I think Professor Anaxa would know a bit more about that topic than I.” She tries to think of something to say to the kid, but falls short. “I cannot touch people, so I use this to make do. It was gifted to me by…my partner.” She blinks as the kid’s eyes seem to sparkle, and Castorice can only sigh internally at her horrible attempts at conversing normally. They finally arrive to the top, and the mortician practically drags the little kid and gatekeeper to Perahippas.

Perahippas looks up from her clipboard. “Oh, hello Castorice!” She looks down to see Trianne and the little boy getting into an argument, with Ica only flying circles around them.

“They were playing on a dromas and fell, though Mister Ica and I managed to catch them, could you perhaps take them in?” The brown-haired woman nods.

“Of course! Leave them to me!” She ushers the kid and Trianne over to a room, and the mortician goes to sigh, putting a hand to a chest.

“𝒲𝑒𝓁𝓁, 𝓉𝑜𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝒶𝓃𝑒. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝑒 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝒾𝓉, 𝒞𝒶𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝒾𝒸𝑒! 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓎’𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓃𝒶𝓂𝑒𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒽𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓎 𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀𝓈 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒩𝑜𝓋𝒶 𝐸𝓇𝒶!!” The light-purple haired woman only smiles sheepishly.

“I think you are exaggerating a bit, Mister Ica, but I concur. We did a great deed today…though, part of me slightly wishes that Hyacine were there to see it.” The Pegasus goes to bump themselves against Castorice’s shoulder in condolence.

“𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒹𝑜 𝓂𝓎 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝒹𝑒𝓉𝒶𝒾𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑒𝓍𝒶𝒸𝓉𝓁𝓎 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝓂𝒶𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓊𝓇𝓃𝓈, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓃𝓉 𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉.

“Thank you,” she goes to stare at the crescent moon, and silently, she dearly hopes that Hyacine and the others will arrive back soon.

•—————————•

Castorice steps out into the courtyard, her eyes squinting at the sunlight, as she attempts to keep walking forward.

“—and I promise I won’t ever do that aga—“ the little boy perks up, face breaking into a grin as he rushes up to the mortician. “Ah, mom, dad, she’s the one. This was the lady that saved me!!” Both parents go to bow their heads at the heir, who panics.

“Oh, um—!” She feels a nudge from behind, and the the Titans themselves already know that the Pegasus was smirking. “It was my pleasure. I am just thankful your son is not injured.” She goes to wave at the parents, the little boy waving both hands in the air excitedly.

“Bye bye, nice lady!”

“Mm, bye,” a small smile grows on the light-purple haired woman’s face, and after a few moments, she continues walking further to see Tribbie and Trinnon scolding a poor Trianne.

“Trianne.” The red-haired girl in question jolts a bit, as Tribbie crosses her arms, her face and tone stern. “That was such a dangerous stunt to do! If it wasn’t for Cas, we would’ve seriously gotten hurt there! You aren’t that ‘Thomas Cruiser’ person that’s been circling the net recently! What would Agy think?!” The eccentric triplet only rubs the back of her head.

“I agree with Tribbie, Trianne.” Trinnon’s voice breaks through Tribbie’s scolding, the bashful triplet rocking back and forth. “Please don’t try and rush into things again. We kept advising against rushing into the situation, but—“

“But all’s well that ends well!” Trianne only says with a lilt in her tone, and she spots Castorice and waves. “Cas! Glad to see you!”

“Ah, Cas,” Tribbie and Trinnon go to bow their heads to the mortician. “Thank you so much for saving Trianne. We are very grateful!”

“Very,” Trinnon adds

“Yep, very—ow!” Trianne rubs the bump on her head as Tribbie turns back around, the calm triplet blinking as she studied the other heir closely.

“Cas, if it’s not a bother, what’s wrong?” She goes to put a hand to her chest, smiling. “If there’s anything you need, we would be willing to hear you out!” Castorice blinks as though she were a deer caught in the headlights, and she blushes slightly.

“Ah, I was, um, just wondering when Hyacine would return. It is nothing serious, truly.” The triplets look amongst each other, before they all smile.

“Young love, huh?” Tribbie goes to pat Castorice on the helm of her dress. “Don’t worry, Cas! Cinny will come back in due time!”

“She definitely will,” Trinnon adds.

“And if she still hasn’t yet, come find us! We’ll blast those lonely feelings into the sky!!” Trianne raises a fist to the air, and Castorice can’t help but giggle.

“Thank you, Lady Tribbie, Lady Trinnon, and Lady Trianne. I feel a lot better now.” They all nod, waving at the mortician and skipping along the path to exit the courtyard, with Perahippas coming along, Kevin resting on her head. “Hello, Lady Perahippas.” She looks up to the familiar white chimera on the woman’s head, using her metal hand to stroke the chimera’s fur. “And hello, Kevin. I am glad to see you are doing well.”

“Awo!”

“And the same to you, Castorice!” She gives a friendly wave to Ica, who does a twirl.

“𝐻𝑒𝓁𝓁𝑜 𝒫𝑒𝓇𝒶𝒽𝒾𝓅𝓅𝒶𝓈! 𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒶 𝓅𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓈𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑜𝒹𝒶𝓎! 𝒟𝑜𝓃’𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒻𝒶𝓃𝒸𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝓇𝑒𝑒𝓏𝑒?”

“I most certainly do! It’s so nice that I could go lie in the grass and take a nap for a few hours…wait, how long is a nap again? But, unfortunately, duty still calls.” She holds up a clipboard. “Still gotta keep the place running even if Hyacine isn’t around right now.”

Castorice blinks. “Er, Lady Perahippas, I am a bit surprised that you are entertaining this. Are you not perturbed that Mister Ica is able to actively communicate with you now?” The brown-haired woman only shrugs, going to take the fountain pen that was resting on her ear and jotting something down.

“Eh, I’ve seen stranger. I once had a dream where I met this floating triangle with a top hat who kept wanting to make a deal with me, though I adamantly refused, saying I had work tomorrow. Another wanted me to enter this place called the Boiling Isles and learn magic! Unfortunately, there’s so much paperwork to be done, so I refused that as well. I wonder what tomorrow’s dream will hold…hopefully it’s something frog related!”

“It sounds like you have a lot on your plate, Lady Perahippas. Is there anything Mister Ica or I could do to ease your burdens?” The assistant goes to think, before snapping her fingers.

“Well, there is this one thing…”

—

“T-tweet! Tweeeeeet!!”

“Deliverer boy, that was actual shit. Put more emphasis into it!!”

“I’m trying! But between holding this camouflage cloth and shaking my head around aggressively, it’s a lot of work to try and act like a bird!!”

“Well complaining doesn’t get ya anywhere, so try harder!!”

“Eugh…yes ma’am…” he takes a deep breathe in. “Tweeeeeet! Tweeeeeeet!” The Dolos cat turns back to the healer, who’s fanning the now ablaze cookie tin with a frown.

“Ciphie, I think these cookies are burnt.”

“Yeah, I may have went a bit too hard with the lighter there. Not my fault! I stole it from some rando on the street back in Dolos! They must’ve modified it!” She spins around, going to point at Phainon, who’s gasping for air.

“MORE PASSION, MORE ENERGY, MORE ENERGY, MORE PASSION, DELIVERER BOY! ELSE I’M GONNA SHOW YA WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A BIRD ENTERS A CAT’S FIELD OF VISION!”

“T-tweeeeeeetttt!!”

“!” The Dolos cat’s ears twitch, and she perks up. “Wait, I hear something.” She puts a hand to an ear, focusing. “It sounds like…multiple footsteps! I think it’s them!” She signals for Hyacine to hide behind the cloth Phainon is holding up as the worldbearer panics.

“Wait, I’m not—“

“Oh, what’s that??” A little boy steps into the area. “Looks weird!!”

“Kinda smells like, cookies…?” A little girl steps out from behind the boy. “Y’know, I kind of want to go home now. Mom said she would be baking cookies right about now…” the boy only blinks.

“Ugh, you’re such a chicken! This wasn’t even that bad anyways, we didn’t run into anything dangerous!”

“Yeah, but—“ the kids continue arguing, and Cipher goes to nudge Phainon rather harshly into the side.

“Tw—TWEEEEEEETTTTTTT!!! TWEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTTTT!!!” Phainon’s loud voice echos through the walls, and Cipher and Hyacine have to go cover their ears. Both kids fall over, attempting to run away, and the Dolos cat springs into action.

“You brats ain’t getting away again!!” She pulls out her magnet, and the little boy flies over to her, while Hyacine goes to capture the little girl in her arms. “You two were seriously such a hassle to track down, ya know that?!”

“Ciphie, relax. They can receive a scolding from their parents later. We should just think about getting back to Okhema—“

“I DON’T WANNA!!” The little boy suddenly screams, thrashing around as Cipher has to stabilize herself. “I HATE THAT PLACE. I HATE IT, HATE IT, HAAAATEEEE ITTTTT!!”

“And why’s that?” Phainon goes to reveal himself, and he signals Cipher to let the boy down, which she does so reluctantly. The white-haired man goes to bend down on one knee as the boy crosses his arms.

“It’s so boring there! There’s barely any places to hide, and whenever I wanna play with a grownup, they shoo me aside and tell me to go play by myself in the corner! They hate me!!”

“I-it’s true. None of the grownups have time to play with us right now, and we just…we just wanted to go do something fun! S-so when he suggested we come here, I agreed, and the next thing you know—!” The girl breaks down crying, and Hyacine goes to pull out a handkerchief.

“There, there, it’s okay! We were actually sent to find you because your parents were worried about you.” Hyacine goes to hold the girl’s trembling hands within her own. “It must’ve been scary being all alone here, but you’re so brave for doing it regardless. I can’t vouch for your parents, but I think they do love and care about you a lot, and such, they’re waiting for you to come home.” A brief image of purple flashes through her mind, and Hyacine smiles slightly. The pink-teal haired woman waves her staff, and a few bubbles appear, the girl hesitantly going to pop one. “How about this, if you ever feel lonely, you can always stop by Twilight courtyard! There’s plenty of stuff for you to do there.”

“You can also come find me!!” Phainon adds, going to flex his arms to the dismay of Cipher. “I’ll gladly play with you kiddos anytime you want, deal?” He offers his hand to the boy, who finally takes it after a few minutes, going to shake it.

“O-okay, it’s a deal, but I’m going to keep you up on it, mister.”

“Ahah! Yeah, yeah.” He goes to put the boy over his shoulders while also grabbing the girl’s hand. “Everyone ready? Now, let’s get out of—“

“SCREEEEECCCHHHHHH!!” They all flinch, turning around to see a horde of Titankin now blocking their path.

“SHIT, how did they…?” Cipher turns to the fire. “Damn it, I left the fire for too long, the smoke must’ve alerted these things.” She points her magnet at the hoarde, taking a fighting stance, though Hyacine stops her.

“Don’t worry, I got this.”

“FAH, FAH!” A murder of crows come flying near the window. Hyacine raises her staff up towards the ceiling and close to her, closing her eyes as she takes a deep breathe in.

“Pretty cure!!! Jugemu Jugemu, A Nearly Infinite Eon, Ultimate Marine Splash, Mega Wave Dragon, Tropical Mango Kiwi Limbo Dance, Tappity-tap Crash Niagara Shower, Flying Phoenix Super Serving of Level 100 Spiciness, Free Refill of Fatty Roast, Beauty Legend Passing Shot, Laura Apollodoros Hyginus La Mer, Gran Ocean’s Cutesy and Smartest Beauty, Queen of Queens Bubble Bomber, Floral Pink and Purple Shadow, the New Fall Line’s Rat-a-tat Tap Punch, Kururun Kururun Kururun Run, Shuringan and Gurindai, Land Beat DYNAAAAAAMIC!!!!!” she aims her staff at the hoarde, and Phainon, Cipher, and the two children could only watch as the entire scene was obliterated into a mass of rainbows and sparkles. The healer turns back to the group with a smile. “Alright, let’s get out of here already!” The rest of the group just nods rapidly.

—

“Alright,” Castorice mutters, adjusting her grip on her scythe. “Here goes…” she raises her blade to the sky, the scythe glinting beneath the sun lights glow. “HUP!” She goes to swing, making a clean cut. “How was that, Lady Perahippas?”

“Hm…” the assistant bends down, touching the freshly cut grass blades. “Just a tiny bit lower, and it’ll be perfect!” The mortician nods, going to repeatedly swing her scythe side to side. “Thank goodness you agreed, Castorice, I was worried the lawn was just going to to get longer and longer the more time passed!”

“I am just glad to be of use.” She focuses her attention back on the grass, Ica going to cheer as Kevin rides on their back.

“𝒴𝑒𝒶𝒽!! 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒹𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝑔𝒾𝓇𝓁!!”

“Awooo!” The light-purple haired woman only smiles sheepishly. She makes her way to the end of the courtyard, kneeling down to admire the array of flowers Hyacine had specially planted for her.

“𝒪𝑜𝑜, 𝓂𝒶𝓎𝒷𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒸𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝒶 𝒻𝓁𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇 𝒸𝓇𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝐻𝓎𝒶𝒸𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓈𝒽𝑒—! 𝒪𝒽 𝓌𝒶𝒾𝓉, 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹𝓃’𝓉 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓀. 𝐻𝓂, 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝑜 𝒾𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝐼 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉…” the Pegasus goes to ponder as Perahippas walks over to where the trio are and deciding to disturb their peace, looking into their eyes.

“Something bothering ya? Don’t worry! C’mon, tell me the things you keep blabbing about behind my back! Whatever it is, It’s Going Down Now!” She says with a wink. “I’m not exactly a love expert, but I’ve worked with Hyacine enough to know a thing or two about her, so spill sister!!”

“I would like to give something to Hyacine when she comes back, as a sort of ‘welcome back’ sort of thing, but I am afraid I cannot come with any feasible ideas, nor can Mister Ica.”

Ica sighs. “𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝓈𝒸𝓇𝓊𝓂𝓅𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓁𝑒𝓈 𝑀𝓎𝒹𝑒𝒾 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓊𝓈 𝓎𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝒹𝒶𝓎! 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝒾𝓂𝓅𝓁𝓎 𝒹𝑒𝓁𝒾𝒸𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝒶𝓈.” the mortician and Pegasus seemingly become down, and as Perahippas goes to think, a slight breeze overtakes them all.

“Oh, here’s an idea! Uh, but it’s gonna take some time to make…” she looks up. “Listen, please keep up the good work with the lawn, I’ll be back in a few!!” They all blink as they watch Perahippas practically run out of Twilight courtyard, and Castorice readies her scythe once more.

—

“Finally…” Cipher falls to the ground. “We made it.” Phainon goes to set the children down as they run up to their parents.

“Great work, everyone. I knew you could do it.” Phainon and Hyacine turn to see Aglaea coming towards them. “I’ll be sure to compensate you all accordingly at a later date, for now, go get some rest. There’s some people who sorely miss you.” She directs wink at Hyacine, who blushes a bit. As the two chrysos heirs bid their farewells to Aglaea and each other, the Goldweaver walks up to the fallen Dolos cat.

“I’m surprised you ended up tagging along with them, Cifera.” The trickster only groans into the ground.

“It wasn’t by my own will at first, but…” she lifts her head, taking Aglaea’s hand and finally getting up. She goes to dust herself off as she speaks. “But you were right that time.” Aglaea smiles knowingly.

“I assume you saw the waxing phase yesterday too, then?”

“I’ll let Zagreus attest to that.” The Goldweaver only laughs, going to pat the Dolos cat on the head.

—

Castorice
—
< I am glad you, Lord Phainon, and Lady Cipher have arrived back safely. I will be awaiting you at our usual spot. >

< CastoriceSmallSmileSticker.jpeg >

The healer smiles to herself, an extra bounce in her step as she goes to put her phone away, though strangely enough,

“Huh? What’s this?” She fishes out a small gem fitting in the palm of her hand, along with a note.

< To Grove girl Hyacine,

I know this may be weird, but our convo from that time really meant a lot. I found this while we were scaling the ruins and Deliverer boy was trying to ‘climb the wall and defeat the Titans’ or whatever he was yammering about. Anyways, take this as a gift from me now that we’re friends. Plus, it reminded me of you and Princess Homebody, so yeah.

P.S. I expect a sum of gold coins directed to me by the end of the week ≽^•⩊•^≼

Your friend,

- Cipher >

Hyacine smiles at the note, going to hold the gem on the sunlight and admiring the way the gem faded from iridescent shades of pink and purple. She makes sure to keep the gem secure as she hurried along to the courtyard. As the elevator finally reaches the top, she rushes over to the field, where Castorice is waiting, the latter talking to Perahippas.

“—she’ll love this, don’t worry! Oh!” The brown-haired woman smiles as she spots the healer. “I’ll scatter now, have fun~” Perahippas runs off, Kevin in tow, as Castorice finally turns around, hands behind her back as she seemingly struggles to keep whatever she has hidden.

“Hyacine, it is wonderful to see you again.” The pink-teal haired woman motions the mortician to bend down, and she goes to press their lips together, wrapping her arms around the other’s neck, and bumping their foreheads together.

“Mm, I’ve really missed you, Cassie. I hope you weren’t waiting long.”

“Of course not, Hyacine. I could wait 500 years for you if I had to.” The healer raises an eyebrow.

“Isn’t that the plot of one of the books you’re reading? The one with the shogun and the shrine maiden?”

“Er…perhaps.” Hyacine finally lets go, and Castorice goes to stand up straight again. “It is romantic though, no?”

Hyacine giggles. “It really is, but no spoilers! I’m still way behind on reading it compared to you!” Hyacine pouts a bit, crossing her arms as Castorice only laughs. “Anyways, mind telling me what you got there?” The light-purple haired woman fidgets in place.

“Ah, this was Lady Perahippa’s idea and making, but,” she holds out her hands revealing two kites, one pink and the other purple respectively, and Hyacine’s eyes widen. “She had told me about how you have always wanted to go kite flying, so I was thinking we could go do that? Lady Perahippas made sure to clear all the paperwork and patients, so we have the place to ourselves and the chimeras…outside of Kevin.” She goes to place one of the kites in her hands, using the other to try and find her metal hand. “Now, where did I…ah!” A breeze suddenly overcomes them both, and Castorice accidentally loses her grip on the pink kite. “O-oh no—!”

“𝒟𝒪𝒩’𝒯 𝒲𝒪𝑅𝑅𝒴, 𝐿𝐸𝒜𝒱𝐸 𝐼𝒯 𝒯𝒪 𝑀𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸!!!!” Ica comes swooping in, grabbing the kite string with their mouth. “𝐻𝒶𝒽𝒶, 𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓀, 𝐼 𝑔𝑜𝓉 𝒾𝓉—!“ they suddenly slam into the blessing fountain, and both heirs come rushing over to the Pegasus as they slowly float to the ground, and Castorice spies Anaxa’s device now sinking to the depths of the fountain.

“Oh no, Ika! Are you alright??” Hyacine cradles the Pegasus in her arms, and as they regain their composure, they start to float back into the air. “I’m glad you’re okay, but was I mistaken earlier? Did I happen to hear you speak?” Both the mortician and the Pegasus’ eyes go wide, and both proceed to rapidly shake their heads.

“N-no, Hyacine! You must be mistaken! Perhaps you are hearing things from the wind?”

“Dudu! Dududududu!!” They shove the kite string into the healer’s hand, and she watches as the kite soars high into the sky. A purple kite goes to fly close to it, and she looks over to meet Castorice’s smile with one of her own.

You’ve really done so much for me, Cassie, more than you’ll ever know. she decides to send that to the wind as she adjusts her hold on her kite. “Right then. Shall we?” The light-purple haired woman gives a nod, and both heirs take off running, Ica right behind them, as they fly their kites into the bright blue sky, laughing all the while so.