Rayna meandered through the shopping district within the inner city of Tulimeir, perusing tinted window dispys and reading the various magical signs, which changed their text to list out the various items awaiting within for the best price you could find during a blood moon. The only good effect the blood moon had on the economy was the sudden surge of supply for Monster Seeds, Spirit Gems, Aspects, the assortment of monster parts, and the various Shards the tundra normally produced.

  She still had four abilities waiting to be cultivated by Spirit Gems before they could begin progressing again, and she was itching to solve that problem as soon as possible. The recent fights felt like she was missing out by not having those locked abilities grow with her efforts and none of the loot they had split had extras.

  Phoenix had offered her the Predator Spirit Gem when they had quickly gone over everything earlier, but she knew that the Wayfarer was stubborn about letting “Fate decide,” or some nonsense like that. Instead, she asked for more of the Mana Bits and headed for the market.

  She had no issues with buying the things she needed, and it let her feel more in control of her future. Plus, she enjoyed the activity itself. Shopping had been a source of stress relief for her over the years, exploring new items, discovering epic deals, and obtaining precious treasure; it was like an adventure without the risk of a monster eating you… unless you counted some of the zealous shoppers around the holiday sales.

  Rayna’s attention was drawn to long blue hair with various leaves sticking out from it, and she grinned at the sight of the dryad. Moha had been pleasant to chat with on the trip back to the city after such a terrible expedition, and she wanted to keep getting to know more about the lovely woman, “Hey there, little sparrow.”

  Moha turned, and the smile she fshed was utterly dazzling, “Ray! Tinsel missed you too!” she happily said, putting a hand up to the icy bird on her shoulder who obediently hopped onto it.

  Rayna coughed a ugh and awkwardly patted the sparrow’s head with a single finger, “I, uh, was actually talking about you. Sorry, it was a dumb attempt at a nickname.”

  The dryad blinked at her before ughing, and she could feel her cheeks becoming hot. Before she could make a run from the embarrassing situation, however, the frosty woman grabbed her arm and pulled her deeper into the store, “It’s cute, but you can just call me Mo. Come look at this, do you think it would look okay on me?”

  Moha lifted a purple blouse with many frills. Rayna was pretty comfortable with her own style, but after getting repeatedly shut down by Phoenix on her wardrobe advice, and seeing how the runeforged and cinderen dressed in way more yers than she would ever want, she wasn’t sure if she was the best to give fashion advice anymore.

  “I think everything would look great on you,” she admitted, then felt her face flush again as she processed how her words sounded. What was wrong with her today? She felt totally out of rhythm around this woman.

  The cheerful smile the dryad gave her was totally worth it, though. “That’s so sweet of you,” Moha said, then asked, “What did you come here for?”

  “Lookin’ for Spirit Gems,” Rayna murmured. This was obviously not a store that sold them, so she expined, “This is just a chance encounter. I just saw you through the window and wanted to say ‘hi’ is all.”

  “Oh. Well, I can come back ter if you want to go find some together?”

  Rayna blinked. She hadn’t expected the woman to just drop what she was doing to accompany her, “But… don’t you need to finish before the next mission?”

  Moha waved a hand dismissively, “Po is figuring things out with Tanner still. We got in a lot of trouble because of him, but they still want us for the Call-to-Arms so who knows. I’ll figure it out when Po tells me what we’re doing.”

  Rayna chuckled, “You sound like Uriel if Po was Dazien.”

  The summoner gave another of those beautiful ughs and said, “Po’s my best friend, but the vibe I got from those two was a little more than that. Don’t get me wrong, I love Po to pieces, but she’s not my girlfriend, she’s just a girl who’s my friend.”

  “Then who’s your girlfriend?” Rayna asked curiously. She immediately wanted to punch herself for the brash questions that Saiya kept scolding her for but always seemed to escape her mouth before her mind could stop them.

  The next look the dryad gave her was one of the most deadly attacks she had ever received. This soft and kind woman, who she already thought was one of the loveliest she had ever seen, gave her a wickedly pyful smile, “I’m not sure yet. Perhaps you can help me find one?”

  Yup. She was sin.

  Rayna returned her smile and asked as casually as possible, “Before or after shopping for a gem?”

  Moha giggled, took her furred hand, and led her back towards the store entrance, “After. Gem first, then new outfit, then—”

  “Dinner?” Rayna interjected hopefully.

  The dryad fshed another teasing smile, “I like eating Toivoan. Know any good pces?”

  Rayna gave a fanged grin at the innuendo and returned the taunt, “Only at my pce. How about some Shemrion cuisine instead for tonight? I found this little hole in the wall in the International District run by an immigrant from there. She cooks some incredible seafood.”

  “It’s a date!” Mo replied, pulling her along as all three of Rayna’s tails happily wagged behind her.

  “Saiya?” a familiar voice called her name and she looked towards the sound to find another Healer walking up to her.

  She smiled at the teenager and greeted, “Simmon. What are you doing here?”

  He chuckled and gestured towards the rest of the Temple District they were currently standing in, “What else does anyone do here? Seeking guidance. I’m gd to see you, though. Maybe you can help?”

  “Is this about Tanner again?” she asked with a raised brow.

  “Sorta? But more about Polissa,” he said awkwardly.

  “Do you want to sit down or walk and talk?”

  “Walking’s fine,” he replied happily.

  Snowbelle fpped beside her and gave a small bark in greeting that was returned by a smaller chirp, causing Saiya to look towards the little Wellspring Wyrm on the cinderen’s arm. She giggled and used a finger to pat its tiny ft head, “And hello to you too, Wally. I hope you’ve been keeping Simmon out of trouble.”

  He rolled his fiery eyes, “I’m not the one you need to be worried about. Po went to go meet with Tan about the party, and I’m worried she’s going to think with her heart instead of her head.”

  “That’s not always a bad thing,” she countered, petting Snowbelle’s furry head in the name of fairness for the begging Familiar.

  Simmon shook his head as he crified, “I know Dad wants her to lead the party instead, and frankly, he’s furious at Tan. I’ve honestly never seen him so upset before he watched Moha’s recording of everything.”

  “Recording?”

  He snorted a ugh, “Yeah, she activated a Sense Stone when she thought Dazien might murder Tanner. Not that she thought he didn’t deserve it at the time, but she knew there’d be a lot of questions if that had actually happened.”

  Their conversation was halted when they began approaching the area that had been devastated by a recent monster breach. Phoenix had mentioned it to her during their brief reunion, but she hadn’t realized the scale of it.

  Blood stained the cobblestones and the remaining walls. The temple of the Servant had completely colpsed, bodies still being pulled from the rubble. The Confidant’s tower had also sustained heavy damage, but was still standing, albeit precariously, and construction Casters were already at work trying to make the site safer.

  “What happened here?” Simmon asked in bewilderment leaning towards fear as they observed the chaotic destruction.

  She almost instinctively wrapped her aura around him and expined what little she knew. His look of horror only grew, and he asked, “Who would do something like that? All these innocent people…”

  A tail slipped around the cinderen as she pulled the sweet teen into a hug, “Some people are monsters underneath. All they want is to hurt others. I’m here because I want to learn how best to help my party avoid that outcome.”

  “What?” Simmon asked in confusion, pulling away from her, “But your party is amazing! Your Striker and Mage are incredibly powerful, your Defender leads with intelligence and compassion, your Supporter is literally Chosen by the gods, and you… well, you’re simply amazing. I dream of one day being a Healer as good as you. You saved multiple lives on the expedition.”

  She smiled sadly, “We’re not perfect.”

  “You seem like it,” he muttered softly.

  “We have fears and fws just like everyone else, Simmon,” she reiterated, “What you see is just the mask we all wear to keep those fears at bay.”

  “Even you?”

  Saiya ughed, but it became bitter as she admitted, “Even me. I feel everything—sense everyone’s emotions—but I often find myself unable to do anything to change them. Can you imagine how frustrating it can be to know your friend is silently suffering, drowning in grief, yet not being able to make them smile? Or having someone you rely on and want to support, ugh away the concern you show, but you can feel exactly how much they think they failed?”

  The cinderen frowned, “I hadn’t thought about that. Is that what you feel?”

  The question caught her off guard, “What?”

  “Is that what you feel? Silently drowning in the grief of your failure to help the others and putting on a calm mask despite it?”

  She stared at him for a long moment then shook her head, “You know. I think you’ll be an amazing Healer, Simmon.”

  He smiled brightly then pointed out, “That wasn’t really an answer.”

  Saiya chuckled, “I still have a long way to go in my own journey. Want to join me to visit the temple of the Traveler? I think they might be able to offer us both guidance and a chance to remove the masks for a while.”

  Simmon nodded and followed after her, helping others along the way.

  Polissa sat next to her father, Ethan Teras, at the small circur table. Across from them was Tanner with his mother, Tabitha Neired. They were currently on neutral ground at the AOA building as they discussed the next steps for their party. Technically, both of the adults were listed as Mentors to their children, which gave them some say in the party’s makeup and future.

  “Your son recused himself of leadership in the middle of a joint expedition, Tabitha,” Ethan said, and Po winced along with Tanner, “I will not have my children risking their lives to follow a boy who will crumble under pressure. It brings dishonor to both of our family names and it will be unacceptable for it to continue.”

  “I understand your concerns, Lord Teras. I can only ask for leniency to understand that Tanner was distraught by the death of his Bonded Familiar. He had never experienced that kind of trauma before, and you know he has a deeper tie than most. It was one of the very reasons you desired his inclusion in the first pce,” Madam Neired calmly replied.

  “It’s a liability!” her dad yelled, throwing his hands in the air, and Polissa just wanted to be anywhere but here while their parents fought over their future.

  “Dad, it’s fine,” she tried to interject, “It won’t happen again, and next time—”

  “Next time he will NOT be in a position of power that risks everyone’s lives because he can’t set aside his feelings and make the right choice!” Ethan interrupted, smming a palm on the table for emphasis.

  “We don’t have to kick him out of the party, though,” she objected, “We can find another leader or…” Polissa thought back to what she had seen Phoenix’s party do. What they were capable of when they worked together and listened to each other. She straightened and finally decided, “I can become the official party leader and Tan can stay as the party’s Striker.”

  “I can still do most of the paperwork for you, too,” Tanner offered up, having remained silent the entire time.

  Po fshed him a smile, “I would appreciate that. See?” she asked, turning to her father, “We can still move forward and help defend the city. We are a solid party and I know we have the potential to be better.”

  Ethan scowled at her, muttering, “You know I wish you’d put this whole adventuring thing behind you and focus on your duties with the OOM.”

  She grinned, recognizing the signal that she had already won the debate. He always fell back to this argument when he had nothing else to object to. “You know it’s just this bad because of the blood moon. I’ll be mostly at the OOM again once it’s done between the occasional mission.”

  “I don’t like you fighting monsters and risking your life when there are other ways to progress your abilities,” he continued.

  Polissa shook her head, “You know that path is much slower. I don’t want to be an old man like you by the time I’m Emerald.”

  “Ouch. Low blow,” Ethan muttered, then sighed as he relented, “If Tanner and Tabitha agree to the change, I am willing to keep the party intact,” he pointed a finger at the younger runeforged and warned, “However, if I hear that you disobeyed a single order, then you are gone.”

  “Yes, Lord Teras,” Tanner said with a bow of his head.

  “Good. Tabitha, a word if you will, while we go fill out the forms,” her father said as he stood and gestured for Tanner’s mother to lead the way out, which she obligingly did with a nod.

  Silence reigned for a long while before Tanner spoke up, “You didn’t have to do that for me. I know how much you hate paperwork and, despite being a natural at it, I know you don’t care about leading.”

  Polissa took her time to contempte his words. She knew he was right. She knew that she had the strength, the confidence, and the capability to lead others, but she had never desired to at all. At least, not until seeing what a difference it could make.

  Po had avoided the weight of responsibility, but now she realized that if she wanted to be someone that a person like Phoenix could rely on, like she had seen her rely on Dazien, then she needed to stop acting like a child.

  “I did it for me,” she replied, “I might not care about being the leader, but I think it’s time I stepped up and took responsibility for the party I put together and want to keep. I want to show people that I can be relied on.”

  The somber runeforged observed her carefully before asking, “You want Phoenix to rely on you, don’t you?”

  She met his gaze and nodded. He surprised her by not compining or trash-talking the Wayfarer. Instead, he gave a soft sigh and a pained smile, “I never had a chance with you. Did I?”

  Polissa knew what he meant. Knew that he had fallen for her long ago while working together and enjoying the time they spent with each other. Knew that he would always submit to her. That he would be loyal but never brave. It was unfair of her to let him think they had a future beyond the party, “No, Tan. I’m sorry, but I just don’t feel that towards you. I enjoy having you as a teammate and friend, though. If that’s alright with you.”

  “I’d rather have that than nothing, especially after all the strife I caused,” Tanner admitted, and his smile became a bit gentler, “Thanks, Po. For giving me another chance to be a friend.”