Pugna shined red in the distance, like a sun that was always rising. It was a bit of a nostalgic sight for Svector, as he hadn’t seen his own sun in quite a while. He hoped that he could see it again soon.

  Though, thinking about that, he really did have no way to get back home. That was going to be an issue for his future self to deal with. For now, he should be focusing on reuniting with his girls. The carriage moved along the road at a constant pace, leaving the city closer and closer.

  Svector closed the windows and turned on the inner lights. Serena seemed to be playing with some of the black substance that she pulled out of Svector’s head a while back. The strange matter morphed like clay, as she made various tiny objects with it.

  “So, what exactly is that stuff?” Svector asked. “You pull it out of my head a lot, and you refer to them as negative thoughts?”

  “When people’s emotions spiral out of control, their minds tend to cloud. I’m just effectively removing that cloud, allowing people to think logically. I do it a lot to myself, and I tend to keep it in vials,” Serena said. “It’s a part of my magic.”

  “When did you learn that kind of magic?”

  “I think I always had an aptitude for reading people. That’s when I understood the cloud in their minds. Mental manipulation like that is a tight rope to walk on. It’s not illegal, but it does have some moral implications. Controlling emotions like happiness, sadness, love, it’s all constantly argued over by people.”

  “Well, you seem to use it fine, at the very least.”

  “Mhm. I try not to directly control people’s emotions, I hope you could feel that whenever I used it on you. I just want people to think clearly, because the worst decisions happen when that cloud is in your mind.”

  “I see. Why do you keep the black stuff though? I’m surprised you don’t let it dissipate into the wind.”

  “It’s surprisingly malleable. I use it a fair bit when I fight or go on missions, I can basically morph it into anything I want. It’s helped me in a ton of situations.”

  “Oh, I get it. I’m glad my frustrations could help you, at least. I’ve never seen that kind of magic in my world.”

  “You should tell me more about the world you and your girls come from, really. You have magic in that world too?” Serena decided to interrogate Svector himself a bit.

  “Yes, there is. But I never encountered it until I met their mother. The mansion that we lived in, it was like a treasure trove of magic in a world without it. My kids learned, I learned, it was amazing for the first time,” he answered back.

  “But nowhere else?”

  “Outside of her? No, not in particular. It was very mundane, so to speak. That mansion… those woods… were special though, and I don’t know why. Never told anyone else about it though, I didn’t want to bother the girl’s childhood with that.”

  “Well, maybe the reason you’re here now is the answer.”

  Soon after, the carriage came to a stop. The driver called from the front for them to turn off the inner light. Shortly after, the door opened to reveal the bustling city of Pugna, all up close for their eyes to see.

  “This definitely feels like a city of fighting, alright,” Svector said, having walked a bit into the city. There seemed to be lots of guards and tape, as well as massive footprints in the streets. Rubble and debris were strewn around as various guards attempted to direct the foot traffic to a more sustainable route. Chatter and noise filled their ears, as people seemed to be in a hurry at this time of day.

  “That’s odd,” Serena said. “Despite its name, there usually isn’t destruction out and about just like that.”

  “We are hoping to finish the repairs by next week! Please take alternative routes to your work and events!” a guard shouted at the crowd. This did make walking a little bit more difficult, due to the congestion of the crowd as a result of these closings. It felt crushing.

  “How about we find an inn?” Serena shouted over the bustling crowd. People were trying to push them to the side to get where they needed to be, but Svector managed to keep a hold of her in the crowd. “It’s a lot better than talking out here in this mess!”

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  “Good idea!” Svector said. “We just need to survive this crowd, first.”

  “Don’t worry, I have a plan! Hold on to me!” Serena shouted. She grabbed Svector by the arm and then took out multiple vials of the black substance. With a wave of her hand, she commanded the black matter to float behind her, before it took the form of two massive angelic wings. With a simple kick, the two of them were lifted into the skies above the noisy crowd.

  “Woah! Hey!” Svector was unfortunately subject to gravity, unlike Serena. And for the first few seconds it felt like he was dangling in the air. However, soon after he was flipped over into both of Serena’s hands, in a bridal carry. The two of them floated above the massive crowd, looking down.

  It was a little bit awkward for Svector to be carried by a shorter and much younger girl than he was. Serena was relatively tall for a lady, but it was still a six inch difference between them. Not that he minded, however, as this did make their jobs a lot easier.

  “You didn’t tell me you could fly,” Svector said.

  “It takes up quite a bit of cloud, so I try to limit myself. Even still, I’d rather not wait an hour just to commute through all that foot traffic. Hoping it clears up soon,” Serena explained.

  The two of them floated through the skies, looking for any kind of inn or hotel that was in a less crowded area. The city itself was large, so it took a moment of searching. However, they eventually settled on a small wooden building on the outskirts of the city. It seemed to be connected to a nearby forest as well, placing it in a location away from all of the traffic.

  They were about to land, but Serena just paused before they reached the ground.

  “Hold on a second, something’s wrong,” Serena said, looking towards the forest nearby. “Do you see that?”

  Svector looked towards where Serena was looking. He didn’t see anything at all.

  “No,” Svector responded. “What’s wrong?”

  “Shoot,” Serena said. She and Svector landed on the ground, as she drew her hammer and looked at the forest. “Follow me.”

  Svector was unsure what Serena’s issue was, but he decided to follow along quickly. The two of them ran into the forest, past the inn, and into the trees. He kept his guard up, because he didn’t know if there were any monsters in the woods. There were a few bad experiences he wouldn’t like to repeat.

  Serena kept on running forward, and it was actually hard for Svector to keep up. Though eventually, she came to a stop, allowing Svector to catch up to the bounty hunter as she stared at a sight.

  “I knew it.”

  The glowing blue flowers illuminated the ground beneath them, keeping the forest itself from being too dark in the night. The shine allowed them both to see a strange sight. A girl, crying. A light amount of black substance was forming above her head, swirling and coalescing slowly into a more solid structure.

  “Stand back, Svector,” Serena said, putting her hand in front of him. “This could be dangerous. I’m going to try and calm her down.”

  Svector didn’t fully understand what she was talking about, but he nodded. He stood back as Serena slowly approached the girl.

  The bounty hunter waved her hand, and the black mist began to disperse. She put some into a few vials, but eventually… she just had to begin dispersing away the substance into the air. She waved and waved, before eventually the girl stopped producing the mist. Serena quietly turned her around, and the girl wasn’t particularly responsive.

  “I-I’m sorry…” the girl said. Svector got a good look at her, she had red twintails for her hair, and her armor was relatively cheap and basic. She looked just like a rookie adventurer, but there was one notable feature. There was blood streaking down her eyes.

  “Shhh… shh… it’s going to be okay,” Serena cradled the girl, letting her hug her. She created a soft handkerchief out of the cloudy substance and began to wipe her face clean of the blood.

  “Is she going to be okay? She was bleeding,” Svector voiced concern at the situation. However, Serena quieted him with a finger and comforted the poor girl.

  “Let it out, your pain… it’s okay,” Serena whispered. A few sobs came into Serena’s chest, and this continued for a few more minutes. Until, finally, the girl looked up.

  “Thank… you…” the girl whispered.

  “My name is Serena, sweetie,” she smiled. “What’s yours?”

  “It’s… Elaina…”

  “Elaina? Okay… we got you. Can you tell me what’s wrong?”

  “I… I just screwed up… just…. Really badly…” she whimpered in Serena’s arms. “I don’t want to go back… not now…”

  Was she talking about the city? That was strange, it was crowded, but it didn’t seem particularly hostile or anything. Svector continued to watch in curiosity, and concern. Maybe this could be a clue.

  “I could tell from your emotions, a lot of regret was in there. You just need to not let it cloud you… or else a monster will come out,” Serena explained. “We don’t need to go back into the city… but we need to find a better place to talk. I’m sure the inn back there will let us do that. Trust me.”

  “Okay… okay…” Elaina said. “I… trust you.”

  Serena gently and quietly scooped the little girl off of her feet, picking her up in her arms. The girl was quite short, so Serena could manage to do so with ease.

  “Let's go to the inn for now,” Serena said. “Sorry to distract you from your journey but I couldn’t just leave her here like this.”

  “It’s fine,” Svector said. “I couldn’t leave a girl like this crying on her own as well. Rumia would get really upset at me if I did.”