I smile venomously from ear to ear, bearing my teeth with the most demeaning chuckle that I think I can make. Dani doesn’t relent, his hand pressing down onto the sphere with the kind of insistence that can only come from relentless self-confidence. No matter how hard he pulls, I don’t relent. His face twists in confusion as magic swirls up his book, into his arm, and spills free from underneath his fingernails.

  “You’re not that bright, are you?” My words slide free with utter disdain. Dani grimaces as more magic wells up in his book. “Just a little warning, but if that magic leaves that book, you won’t have a brain left to give it commands. So let go of the god damn sphere.”

  Dani flinches and lets go. I send the sphere to my inventory and step into his personal space, pressing my shoulder into his neck with… more hatred than I thought I’d feel. Something about how he’s acting just… gets under my skin something fierce.

  “That’s better. Don’t forget that we’re the ones letting you stay here where it’s safe. We’re the ones doing you a favor.” I gently pat him on the shoulder and press a projectile against his clothes. He goes perfectly still. “You try something like that again and I’m not giving you a warning next time. Am I understood?”

  He sneers and looks away. I tilt my head to the side and let my teeth show. Two hands on my shoulders stop me before I blow the smug asshole’s neck off his body, and another set drags Dani away from me. I turn lazily to come face to face with Jumble, whose expression is a stony mask. She glances over my shoulder at Dani, who’s already talking with Ward and Rina, and doesn’t look like he’s even taking a second to reflect on his actions.

  I feel Clutter on the edge of my awareness. His spine-tingling anger comes right after. If he wasn’t already hard to sense, I’d be worried that the party might be able to sense him from emotion alone. A tiny nod in his direction is all I give him–one that I shift into a pleasant smile directly in Jumble’s face.

  “Do you think I’m kidding?”

  Jumble’s hands leave my body as if I’d just burst into flames. Panic flashes over her face for a split second before she composes herself and motions away from the lighthouse.

  “Let’s get… going?” She asks pathetically.

  I snort and bow mockingly while repeating her gesture. “Ladies first.”

  “But you’re…” Jumble starts, then swallows hard. “Nevermind. Just… please go. I need to talk to them.”

  “No. Move.” I slap my hand on the wall and plant the other on Jumble’s back. “I’m not in a great mood right now. Either I blow off some steam by running, or by other means.”

  I nod at Dani for emphasis, which gets audible gulps from Jumble and Euro. They share a worried look and slowly step through the threshold, watching Dani all the while. He glares at me with an almost pouty annoyance–like a kid that was just told he can’t steal another kid’s toy. I probably shouldn’t, but I flash him a wide smile and waggle my fingers in a wave goodbye as I step through the door and watch it snap shut behind me–closing Clutter in with the rest of them.

  But I’m not worried about him. I’m more worried about what he’ll do to them after he’s stuck listening to them for a few hours. Jumble and Euro slow to a stop a few dozen feet from the lighthouse, sparing glances back at the lighthouse that they must not think I can see. I step up and throw my arms over each of their shoulders and pull them in close.

  “I didn’t think we were being bad hosts. Were we being bad hosts?” I ask as I slowly turn to study their expressions. “Because I wouldn’t try to steal a potentially extremely important quest item from someone that’s been a good host. And if it was an accident–or a misunderstanding–I’d be pretty damn desperate to clear that up. But your friend… he made it pretty clear without saying a word that it wasn’t a mistake.”

  Euro turns away. I let it happen. Jumble opens her mouth to say something, but from how quickly her teeth clack together, she violently decides against it. So they’re not going to defend or condemn Dani’s actions. Pathetic.

  I step forward, pushing my arms on their shoulders so they bow as I pass by them. Without saying another word I bend down and open up a door on the ground, turn to them, and point violently down into the walls. They trudge up to it and hop down, landing harder than Clutter ever has. I bite back a sigh of disappointment while Pearl shakes her head with a sour expression.

  That’s probably the best way to describe this situation; bitter disappointment. I’d expected these people to be threats. Or, barring that, potential allies against stonestep solutions. Instead, I’m stuck with four pathetic enablers and one boundary-pushing dipshit. I look back at the lighthouse, half expecting it to be bathed in magical light. It’s perfectly normal. So I shake my head and jump down to join two fifths of the party.

  Euro scrambles back as I land easily. I barely spare them a glance as I summon the sphere, check where it’s telling us to go, and turn to face that direction.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “Follow me.” I state calmly. “Don’t do anything else to piss me off.”

  Jumble nods seriously. She helps Euro to their feet, her legs perfectly still compared to the shaking limbs that connect Euro to the ground. I make a mental note of the difference in their physical abilities and start walking. The pair slowly follows until Euro’s legs stop shaking. Jumble jogs to catch up to me, then slows to match my pace a few feet behind me. Euro catches up a second later and goes almost shoulder to shoulder with Jumble.

  Whispers leak out of Jumble’s mouth like a stream of song-laced breaths. Euro takes a deep breath, as if the very words themselves were an invigorating meal, and whatever remnants of the hard landing melt away into nothing. I try to hear what she’s saying, but the words are just as magical as their contents. Most likely a spell. One that doesn’t seem powerful, but I won’t be caught off guard. Not with how Dani reacted in a moment I was trying to offer them some ‘help’.

  Euro leans in close to Jumble. “What should we do?” They whisper. “Is this safe?”

  “I don’t know.” She whispers back. “She’s… right to be angry. And she’s still taking us to a side quest. We just need to be careful.”

  Amusement lifts the edges of my cheeks. We’re thinking the same thing, just for vastly different reasons. Plus, they’ve just proven that they’re horrible at keeping actual conversations private. As long as I stay a few steps ahead of them, there’s a good chance I’ll hear things they don’t want me to hear. I’ll have to thank Illumisia for the strengthened hearing when I can safely bring her here.

  Minutes pass. The pair of party members gawk at the plastic paindne speaking nonsense that now occupy the halls, but they don’t say anything worth listening in on. Mostly just noises of disbelief and comments on how they don’t look quite right, along with a bunch of theories on why that is. Part of my brain wants to correct every wrong thing they say, but the other part of it slaps some sense into my mind with a reminder that I’m here to see how they react.

  Theorizing over something with no obvious answer is the perfect way to see how somebody thinks. So even if they’re just talking themselves in circles, I force myself to listen as I navigate us towards our destination.

  “It’s definitely just for filling space. We’re going to have to fight with them around eventually, and the quest wants distractions.” Euro suggests with a hint of worry in their voice. “I can barely focus now. How am I supposed to focus when there’s spells and skills blowing up like fireworks?”

  Jumble considers that for a moment, then shakes her head. “There’s something wrong about these things. We’ve seen that the system can make way more complex things. These have a reason to be so simplistic, and that’s where we’ll find our answer. I bet we’re supposed to kill a bunch of them eventually to find another body part.”

  Another body part? I blink away the boredom and razor-focus my attention onto the barely whispered conversation. It shouldn’t be a surprise that they have a body part already, but which is it? Clutter and I have the heart. Do they have another vital organ?

  Euro scans the plastic paindne with a hiss through their teeth. “I… don’t know about that. Too bad Ward isn’t here; he’d be able to tell us if there’s any flesh in these things.”

  “Mm, good point. These things don’t look like they’d have any organs at all. Which is exactly what the quest wants us to think.” Jumble says seriously. She shoots me a glance, then turns back to Euro and leans in close. “One of these things definitely has another body part. I’m sure of it. Be ready for the quest to give the notification any minute now. When it does…”

  She makes a running motion with her ring and pointer finger and nods back down the way we came. Euro barely nods back in confirmation. I roll my eyes at the blatant attempt to run away from me; guess they think I’m more dangerous than Dani. Which makes sense, but is not a mark in the ‘trust them’ column. Unfortunately for them, I don’t think the quest’s going to be giving out any more notifications until it’s completely done with whatever it's doing. Which gives me plenty of time to check out this subquest.

  I turn and look over my shoulder, silently enjoying the guilty twitches as the pair separate. They’re one step away from whistling to prove they weren’t talking.

  “We need to up the pace if we want to get there anytime soon.” I tap the orb for emphasis. “We’ve still got a long way to go. What’s your top speed?”

  “I don’t know!” Jumble blurts out stiffly. “Nobody’s asked me that before.”

  “Really?” I turn to Euro with a raised eyebrow. They nod sheepishly in agreement. “You too? Damn, what the hell have you been doing with your time? Clutter seems like he’s a few years younger than you and he’s way more competent than either of you.”

  Jumble’s face scrunches up in preparation to launch a retort, but she decides against it and crosses her arms with a huff. Euro just looks down at their feet. I sigh and double-check our path on the sphere, then send it away as I open a door at my feet. After waiting for the pair to drop down, since now I have to worry about them running away, I hop through and motion down the hallway.

  “You two set the pace. I’ll match whatever your comfortable top speed is.”

  “Are you sure? We could be way faster than you are.” Jumble states, but her tone says she doesn't believe it. And that frustrates her. More than I expected.

  I offer her a sweet smile and roll my shoulder. “Believe me, I can keep pace. What clearance are you two, anyway?”

  “None of your business.” Jumble grumbles.

  “So not very high; gotcha.” I chuckle humourlessly. “Start running. We’re burning daylight.”

  “Hrmngh. Fine.”

  Jumble pats Euro on the back, then leans in to whisper in their ear. Wisps of magic connect the two, and they bolt off at… what I’d call pinnacle human speeds. Which Clutter and I have passed by a good margin. I flex my fingers as I watch them run, their legs pumping in perfect sync thanks to Jumble’s magic words of inspiration. A deep breath spreads oxygen down my body. My legs flex as I push off, and within seconds, I’m in striking distance.

  Their conversation dies with my approaching footsteps. But not fast enough. Euro’s last sentence trails off as what’s visible of their face blanches.

  “...She wouldn’t be so cocky if we had the book right now…”