Adrien rubs cold salve on the cut causing me to wince in pain. The large cut stings painfully as my arm aches from being tense. His poison green eyes narrow with concentration as he rubs it around.

"You're doing great, Eve!" Gideon encourages brightly, hovering above Adrien's shoulder.

"This will help you heal faster," Adrien comments, ignoring Gideon. "By tonight, the wound will almost be gone."

My jaw slacks in disbelief. "Really?"

"Yes," Adrien answers in an obvious voice. "Did you seriously think I'd let you fight with a wounded shoulder?"

I watch him in surprise. "Guess not."

Adrien snorts before shoving Gideon off him. "It's my fault you were injured so it's my job to make sure you get better."

I watch Adrien warmly before nodding at him. "Thank you for helping me."

Adrien rolls his eyes dramatically before scowling at me. "I'm doing this because you're the key to our plan. Nothing more." He looks down at the jar of salve for a moment before a small smile creeps across his lips. "Besides, who's going to watch my back?"

I smile back at him feeling more comfortable interacting with him than before. In fact, this is the most relaxed I've been in days. It must be because they're nicer to me and relaxed as well. And maybe it's because we're leaving tomorrow. I can't help but smile at the thought of returning home alive. Mom must be so worried right now... but it will be okay. I'll come back home and explain everything. She'll believe me. I know she will. We both know anything could be hiding in the forest. It's wiser not to dismiss any possibilities.

Plus, I'm going home on Christmas Day! Talk about a great Christmas present! This is going to turn out okay. I know it will.

"So what's the new plan?" I ask curiously, remembering they were making a new one earlier.

"The new plan is like the old plan, except we aren't sneaking in," Gideon answers confidently. "Alexius will know we sent the Masser but we'll be long gone before he tries to chase us."

"So I still have to face the Masser?" I ask nervously, wincing again as Adrien rubs a new coat of salve on the cut.

"Yes, but you'll have us with you," Shiloh encourages me with a soft smile.

My heart flutters at the sight of his smile. I force my thoughts to remain calm as I watch him. What do you think of me? What am I to you?

"And you gave me an idea from when we first met," Adrien adds, oddly cheerful. "You used white powder to see the Masser. So we'll do the same. It'll be better if you can at least see the Masser to be able to tame it."

I gulp. "Uh yeah, sure."

"You'll do great!" Gideon exclaims before sitting down next to me. He grabs my free hand before pulling it up to his lips with a sly smile. I gasp softly but don't jerk my hand away out of habit. He gently kisses my knuckles with mischief in his eyes. "After all, you were able to tame this wild beast, how hard can a Masser be?"

In the corner of my eye, I watch Shiloh tense.

Adrien gags dramatically before hitting Gideon's chest. "Stop moving her, I'm trying to fix her arm."

Gideon only laughs and draws closer to me. He rests his head on my shoulder with a wide grin. "She'll get better if she's close to me."

"Give her some space," Shiloh comments, eyeing Gideon with-, wait was that jealousy? An odd thought crosses my mind as I glance between the boys. Earlier Shiloh mentioned Gideon liking me and said it wasn't good to lead him on. But could Shiloh have been trying to push me away from Gideon to keep me for himself? No that's ridiculous... Shiloh wouldn't do that... he said he didn't like me. Well, he never outright said anything for that matter. Urg, this is way too complicated.

"Jealous, Shy?" Gideon questions with a smug look. Gideon chuckles roughly before cuddling closer to me. "If you really wanted her you would have done something sooner."

Would he though?

Shiloh shakes his head. "Clinging onto Eve just makes you look desperate," Shiloh retorts, his voice full of spite.

Gideon only beams, unphased. "I'm only securing my chances. And Eve doesn't mind, don't you Eve?"

I hesitate to answer him. I don't want to make him upset again... I don't want to lead him on either... But then again... a part of me just wants to see what Gideon is like in that way... and maybe it could push Shiloh into taking action-, no. I can't manipulate them like that. That's wrong. Just be neutral. Be Switzerland.

"Um, as long as you don't try anything..." I answer unsurely. "Hugs are fine... for all of you... My friends give me hugs all the time so I guess...?"

"Lovely!" Gideon cheers before throwing his arms around my neck. I gasp softly and try to pull back only to have him come closer. A blush rises to my cheeks as I watch him with mild fear. Gideon grins smugly before nuzzling his head against my good shoulder. "This is fun."

Shiloh watches Gideon blankly for a moment. His eyes growing distant as he begins to look pained. Shiloh scoffs, snapping out of it, and shakes his head. "Fine, have your fun."

"If you're done cuddling with Eve, we should start discussing the new plan," Adrien announces boredly. He flashes Shiloh an odd look, "Unless you have something to say?"

Shiloh frowns at Gideon before shaking his head. "Nothing relevant to the plan."

Adrien clears his throat before twisting the lid back on the salve container. He sits up straight before his eyes harden with a serious look. "First, we're going to have to start packing. Granted we may return, the Guard might try to raid our home and steal things. Not to mention scavengers. We also can't take everything."

"Pack essentials first and then others?"

"Exactly. Next on the list is Eve's Masser issue. We have to go to the border, find the Masser, get her close enough, and hope she can tame it."

My heart jumps at the thought of facing it again. "And... what if I can't?" I ask nervously.

Gideon's hand trails up my arm creating a line of goosebumps. I shudder and flash him a gentle warning look. He smirks to himself as he continues to trace patterns on my arm. "We'll protect you, Eve. Don't worry."

"Third on the list is getting close to Alexius's fortress for the party and leading the Masser there. A Masser isn't something that can hide easily so it'll be an issue getting it past people in general, not to mention the Guard. We need some kind of camouflage to even get close."

"Couldn't Shiloh activate his shadow teleporting?" I suggest, trying to be helpful. "Maybe he could teleport the Masser into the fortress itself...?"

Shiloh shakes his head. "It only works on me. Besides, even if I could use it on other people, a Masser would be too chaotic to even control when teleporting. It'd probably kill us both."

"Oh," my voice falters, immediately guilty for merely suggesting it. "Sorry, I didn't know..."

"It's fine," Shiloh answers distantly, staring down at his feet.

"We could use mud to cover its white fur...?" Gideon suggests, tilting his head curiously.

I blink in surprise and glance at Gideon. "Wait, it's white?"

Gideon nods, "Yeah, I almost forgot you can't see it."

"What does it look like?" I ask, my curiosity peaking as I try to remember the blurry memories of my last encounter with it. The flour I threw on it only allowed me to see a small part of it, it wasn't enough to let me see the entire beast.

"I have drawings..." Adrien mumbles before fumbling with his large book. He opens it up to a page filled with his beautiful handwriting and a few drawings.

My jaw drops with terrified awe. Is this truly what I faced?

The drawing depicts a large creature with a hunched body coated with thick white fur. It stands on four large legs with cruelly shaped claws. Its tail extends back with a wolf-like appearance with a large fluff of fur at the end of it. It has an extended jaw filled to the brim with crooked teeth with ears which resemble a wolf's. Odd dark stripes decorate its face like a tabby cat's markings with rings around its long snout. Its eyes are surrounded by dark markings drawing attention to its intelligent eyes. It has a wolfish and hyena appearance due to its dark grin.

"What did you think it looked like?" Adrien asks curiously, studying his own drawing.

"I thought it was more muscle... more like a large ball of muscle actually," I admit in shock. Granted it does have muscle bulging under the fur, it wasn't as much as I was expecting. I also never considered it being white.

"Moving on," Adrien slams the book shut before resting it on his lap. "Our time of attack should be at the height of the party. We should also be ready for any type of attack from the Guard if we're caught. And finally, our escape plan to the border."

"I thought we were just going to run back...?" Gideon asks confusedly. "There's nothing we can really do to improve that part..."

Adrien shakes his head. "We need a better plan than simply running. I think we should considering activating our powers in order to escape."

"Wait, I thought you guys were already extremely fast on your own...?" I ask, glancing between the boys. "You can make yourself faster by activating your powers?"

"Yeah, it's like a boost to our natural abilities," Shiloh explains gesturing to the boys. "It is risky though..." he trails off before flashing Adrien a wary look. "We could accidentally hurt Eve in the process..."

"We'll have to be careful," Adrien answers simply. "But I'm not risking being caught. And since I have the most control with my abilities, I will be carrying Eve."
"Carrying me?" I ask, bewildered.

He gives me a weird look. "You can't run as fast as we can. I thought this was obvious."

"Anyway, what happens next?" Shiloh asks, urging the conversation to move on.

"We cross the border through the Gateway," Adrien continues, though his professional tone is fading with worry. "We run to Eve's house and remain there."

"But what about your age reset?" I ask worriedly. "Doesn't it reset when you come over?"

"We can use aging tonics when we get there, we were unprepared last time," Adrien answers coolly. "We didn't know we were going to cross accidentally."

"I slipped," Shiloh reminds them with an apologetic look. "The Masser was already going nuts at the time with the Guard there..."

"But at least we got to meet Eve," Gideon comments with a smile. "I'm glad we crossed."

My eyes soften as I watch Gideon. Does he really think that?

Adrien doesn't look as sure. He sighs before fingering his books. "The only thing I'm worried about is how I'm going to bring my books..."
"You can't bring all of them..." Shiloh warns gently. "It'll be too much to carry."

Adrien shakes his head. "I'd rather have my books than clothes."

"You'll need new clothes anyway," I comment quietly. "You can't wear cloaks on our side."

"That's right... it'll be weird to wear jeans again," Shiloh jokes, flashing me an easy smile.

"Is it... comfortable?" Gideon asks hesitantly. He begins to mess with his cloak pin, "What do you guys wear exactly...?"

"It's less formal, from what I've seen," Adrien comments with an eye roll. "They look like beggars."

"We do not," I argue spitefully, "we just don't dress like royalty." I turn to Gideon with a reassuring gaze. "And yes, it's very comfortable."

"And the white stuff... snow?" Gideon asks warily, "It's very cold... how do you protect yourself from that?"
"This place doesn't have snow?" I ask curiously.

"No, it's always... grey," Shiloh answers distantly. "They don't exactly have weather here. It's always cloudy and sometimes it can rain but... it's nothing compared to our side."

"Oh," I say in surprise. "Well... we have jackets, mittens, you'll be fine. We have special clothes to keep us warm. Just don't stick your head in it."

Gideon smiles bashfully.

"Moving on, the next part is a bit tricky since we're going to have to adjust to..." Adrien trails off and gestures to me. "This part of the plan is on you. You're going to have to teach us customs and culture when we cross. You're just lucky we can speak English, but we have no idea what it's like over there."

"That's right..." I agree with a nod. "You guys are going to stay with me but after that, you're going to have to learn to live on your own."

"Wait, we're not going to stay with you?" Gideon asks, his eyebrows furrowing. "Why not?"

"I mean becoming an adult," I explain quickly, "we have different stages of life since we age. You guys would be at least teenagers or even young adults. That means you have to start acting like an adult. Get a job, buy a house, car, things like that."

"Job?" Gideon asks uncomfortably. "What kind of job?"

"Nothing like what you're thinking, Giddy," Shiloh coaxes, sitting down next to him. "They don't have Serex people as we do."

We do, but they are just under a different name.

"I mean like serving food, being a teacher, a doctor, stuff like that," I explain before pausing. "Uh sorry, I'm not exactly sure how to explain..."

"Does everyone have to serve people?" Adrien asks in distaste. "Does no one do things for themselves?"

"Everyone needs money," I continue unsurely. "You need money to buy food and do basically anything. You have to work for money so that means doing your job."

"Why can't we just do what we usually do and steal?" Adrien asks obviously, "It's a waste of time to work for someone else."

"It's extremely illegal," I argue beginning to seriously panic about bringing them over. "So it murdering people. You'll go to jail."

"If we're caught," Adrien muses with a dark grin.

My eyes widen in horror realizing how badly this could go. How on earth am I going to convince them that working is good and killing is bad?

"We'll get to that later," Shiloh cuts in, sensing my unease. "First we have to let Eve face the Masser."

I bite my lip nervously as their eyes turn to me. Can I do this?

Gideon suddenly presses his face against the crook of my eyes. I blush again and try to gently push him away but he wraps his arms around my stomach. "You can do this, Eve. We'll protect you," he vows seriously.

"We'll make sure it doesn't hurt you," Shiloh promises with comforting eyes. "You're strong, Eve."

I force a brave smile as I begin to brush Gideon's thick hair back. "Thanks, guys."

Gideon hums softly as his hot breath sticks to my bare skin. I blush deeper finding it hard to push him away.

I'm not worried about that. I'm worried I'm going to be ripped apart like my father and all the others. This is a monstrous creature. One with no mercy and no love in its heart. I can do this. Hopefully.

〰✷〰

"Guys?" My voice trembles with rising panic. My eyes are the size of baseballs as I stare at the three boys. I can hardly breathe through my short breaths, it's as if my lungs were trying to contract. "Guys, please help me?" I plead desperately.

The Masser's giant head nudges my leg before rubbing the side of its large snout against the back of my legs. I stifle a shriek as I feel its teeth graze my calves. Its giant body rubs against me as it tries to surround me. Its crooked claws gently brush over my shoes nearly shredding them in the process. A low purr rumbles through its massive body as it continues to act like a cat.

Adrien is howling with laughter and can barely stand up. He recently collapsed on the ground, near tears, from hysterics. Shiloh is catatonic and hasn't blinked for two minutes. Meanwhile, Gideon continues to cling to an overhead tree like a monkey with bewildered eyes, at a loss for words.

I gasp softly as the Masser's head comes around me and manages to push me closer to its furry body. I can feel the sensation of the fur against my back. Squeezing my eyes shut, I fist my hands as I internally panic. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my- HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!? We came to the border area, Gideon started making noise to lure the Masser out, and next thing I knew the Masser was trying to cuddle with me. The boys are of no help leaving me to deal with it myself!

Then again, it is pretty nice I didn't get eaten.

The Masser sniffs my cheek before purring even louder. I slowly open an eye only to see nothing in front of me. Those born on the other side can't see the Masser. I think back to the drawing Adrien showed me and try to picture that. But I can't imagine the monstrous wolf-hyena hybrid acting cute.

Adrien falls over onto his side, laughing his head off, and kicking at the ground. "Can't-, can't te-, hahaha!" He is overtaken by his fit of laughter and unable to say more.

"Help..." I moan in pain, my heart threatening to leap from my throat.

"This is-, this is-," Gideon stutters in shock. "I can't believe it... you really are a Masser Tamer."

The Masser purrs louder as it tries to press its wet nose on my cheek. I freeze as it sniffs me before snorting loudly. I jump out of fear but the Masser continues to try cuddling with me.

"This was easier than I thought!" Adrien laughs hysterically, rolling on the ground. "We should have done this a long time ago!"

I gulp loudly staring at the boys in utter shock. My vision begins to darken as my head spins dizzily. "G-Guys?"

"You're okay, Eve..." Shiloh finally says in a daze. "You're... you're okay..."

"This is great," Gideon whispers excitedly, his paralyzed state wearing off. "How lucky are we?"

I'm just relieved it didn't eat me.

Shiloh blinks in shock. "It worked. It really worked."

Adrien finally recovers from his fit and slowly stands up. He gasps for breath before chuckling softly. He wipes his eyes before grinning widely making the hairs on my back stand up. Adrien is truly smiling. His laugh is quite musical, it was nice to hear, however, I fear his motives once again. "So it's decided. We attack tomorrow at Alexius's party." He locks eyes with me with a sly grin. "We're coming over to your side, Eve."

As the Masser continued to lick at my shoes, I stood frozen unsure if this is a good thing. Will they be able to make it on the other side? What if they go on a killing spree out of boredom? Can I even stop them? What am I going to do? I should be happy I'm going home but...

I looked over at Shiloh realizing he's thinking the same. His eyes filled with regret as he watches Adrien and Gideon, who drops from the tree and begins to dance around like a drunk. Or that's just how he dances. Maybe this was a mistake. However, no matter what I think now, there is no going back.

These boys are coming to our side whether I like it or not. I just hope the world is ready for these three. Because there's no way I can control them if something goes wrong. I'll have to face new monsters when I return. They will be confused, maybe even afraid. I'll have to learn to help them and tame them.

It would seem, that I must face three more Massers before I can truly be safe. 

(This is a shorter chapter but I hoped you enjoyed~ Above is a picture I drew of the Masser so I claim all rights to it. The entire time I was writing this chapter I could only imagine a tiny version of the Masser trying to cuddle with Eve so if anyone wants to, maybe you could try making a baby version of it? Just a thought~ )