➨ When you and Zora continued attempting to make your combination spell work, it didn't. Not that day, the next, or even the next day after that. So, on the third day, you were growing tired of trying.

You'd resorted to trying a different method. Holding hands to hopefully create some type of spark that might be needed. Although, that approach just made it look like you two were trying a form of couple's therapy.

"This isn't working." Zora points out the obvious. "Do you have any different ideas?"

You held your silence because if you had said something, you definitely would've spouted something from the pinnacle of aggression. Instead, you tried to calculate if you did have another theory to go off of.

On day two, you tried to close the gap between you two and stood shoulder to shoulder. Later into that session, you destroyed a few trees—creating yet another clearing in the woods—due to needing to let off some much-needed steam.

As you sat in the makeshift spot, you brought yourself to the ground and groaned as your head rested against a tree trunk. "Have you felt anything different since we started?"

"Maybe a little bit, but it hasn't been enough to make a dent in what you're aiming for." He reaches above you onto a tree branch and swings himself up until he's standing on it. "I think it's getting easier to cast the spells for my traps. Can't say that's necessarily from this."

You tilt your head upwards as you watch him draw a magic circle, the symbols spewing around it in thin air. His finger traces the ash, and you can tell he's assembling a smoke screen from the runes he's scribbling.

"Dust clouds must be your specialty." You murmur.

He glances down. "How'd you know what it was?"

"It's not too different from how the Heart Kingdom uses magic. Except theirs comes directly from natural mana; it's less complex than what you're doing. Well, complex in a language sense." You explain it to him. That's why you can recognize some and not others.

The magic circle fizzes out of sight. "Did you read what the magic circle said when we were in the cave?"

You shook your head. "I wasn't thinking about it. If we could get it to happen again, I'd get a chance to see. But that's wishful thinking."

If you had, you wouldn't be trying to force this out.

From inside your pocket, you felt a vibration. You pulled out the communication device and saw a message from Yuno. Skimming it over, a smile formed on your face for the first time that day. It was quick, but the message was direct and to the point.

"Mimosa got another boat for tonight. But after that, she can't request another one again for a few weeks."

"Some good news for once." You happily sighed. "You gonna be ready to leave tonight?"

He reacted as if he hadn't known this was ever a plan. Like it was the first time he was even hearing the idea of going to a different kingdom. "Tonight?"

"It's now or never really."

He brings himself to a lounging position on the tree branch. "I'm just surprised something is going according to plan. But I guess so, it's not like I have things to pack anyway. It's just a weekend getaway... with you, unfortunately."

His shots and retorts hold no negativity toward you at this point. He can hate all he wants, but you were too excited to finally get there. You stood up and stretched your arms overhead. "I'm sure a weekend getaway with me will be the highlight of your entire life."

"Any sane man would fear for his life if he heard he was going to be alone at sea with you."

"A sane man would love to hear he's getting a vacation with me."

"Right... and yet, I will be looking over my shoulder the entire cruise, feeling anything but relaxed." He leaps down from his perch on the tree branch.

You step forward, and that steady heartbeat fades into your ears. Except it picks up a lot quicker than it did before. "I guess you better listen to me then. You know, so you get that full relaxed feel."

He pauses. There's a moment when you swear he temporarily malfunctions because he opens his mouth and then immediately shuts it again. Whatever perk you have that allows you to hear when his heart rate increases, you're going to abuse it.

"I'm done with the conversation." He finally states and makes a dramatic show of walking around you and deeper into the forest.

"Meet me at the docks at sunset!"

Though you weren't surprised when you didn't receive an answer.

————

You're nearly positive that Zora purposely made sure not to cross your path for the rest of the day because for the next few hours, you hadn't seen him around. Nobody else was all that concerned about his disappearance, though.

However, Yami requested to chat with you in the main lobby. He claimed it wasn't too serious, but you don't know what he classified as serious. You joined him and found him with a cigarette pinched between his lips at the round table

When he heard your footsteps, he waved you over. "I shouldn't keep you for too long, but have a seat."

You crossed over the room and took a seat on the other side. You wanted to wait for him to start speaking before you said anything. Just to gauge what exactly he would try to start the conversation with.

"Alright." He straightened himself out just a tad, rolling his shoulders back and picking his head up just a little. "I don't like dumbing down my words, so let me just start with something obvious: You can't threaten my squad like you did before."

Right, because you're visiting.

"I wasn't going to crack down on you for it because I know how Noelle is, but with everything going on and your... accidental murder of a man," he says it slowly, as if he doesn't get it himself, "I just don't want to take chances on something worse happening. Especially not on my watch—that's too much trouble."

"I was going to apologize whenever I saw her again." You feel like Noelle might brush it off and bring up her royal status. Probably something along the lines of 'well I'm royalty, so you should be apologizing'.

But if you were to bring up her being the only Silva sibling to not be on the Silver Eagles, you'd be the bad guy.

"Just thought I'd say something." He takes another deep inhale from the cigarette before blowing it away from you. "Secondly, I wanted to ask you something; might be kinda personal, so you can blow me off if you want."

You sat back a little bit, becoming defensive before he even asked. "Personal how?"

He taps his finger on the wooden surface. "After hearing about what went down with the Spade guy... I'm curious how you managed to do that. I mean, no offense, but I didn't think puppets were all that strong against magic like that."

Considering you were more Spade than Clover, it doesn't seem surprising that your magic is effective against them. There's that, and there's the fact that you're convinced you might be possessed by some sort of entity. The same one who possessed you during the elf attacks.

However, you don't plan on telling anyone else that for a long list of obvious reasons.

You shrug. "I don't know, luck? I've been going through a lot of shifts lately; it could be because of that."

"Shifts?"

"Within my magic. After the elves, I think some of the magic is still in me, sorta like how Luck feels." Which isn't an entire lie, but not the full truth. He'll know what you tell him, nothing more.

It's hard to tell if he takes that answer, but at the very least, he takes it at face value. "Right. Hopefully, your luck doesn't run out, you're making dangerous moves."

"I know." You answer bluntly. "Gotta do what most people can't. Or won't."

He tilts his head. "Damn straight." He takes a deep inhale again and puffs out the plumes. "Sure, that's what he wants from you anyway."

"Who?"

Yami takes a pause, letting smoke roll out of the small opening in his mouth. "Julius."

At first, you have no idea who he's talking about. It takes an extra second to recognize he's talking about the Wizard King. Why he of all people would want you to basically play around with your life is beyond you. Or maybe the man wants you to fight to prove your innocence. He does tend to be more excited and interested in things when it involves big magical displays.

"So... in other words, he's playing with me?" You ask for clarification.

"Not necessarily. He's just trying to appease everyone. Letting you off the hook is against what most of the kingdom wants."

This doesn't exactly feel like being let off the hook. But you're alive, so you guess that's as good as things can get.

"Do you think he really believes I'm a murderer?"

He scratches the back of his neck. "I'm sure he believes something."

Real reassuring.

You push out of the chair. "Well, if there isn't anything else, I have something to do. Hope you don't mind me stealing one of your squadmates for a day or two."

His shoulders loosen up. "Depends on which one it is."

"Zora."

"Oh, please take him." He waves his hand. "You're doing him a favor. Ever since you've come around, I think he's become more tolerable."

That's actually not the first person to tell you that. Knowing that, you're inclined to believe it now. You can't tell if his attitude towards the others has changed, but you know you softened him out just a tad.

Yami let you go, and you went upstairs to pack a bag. Nothing too extreme, just a few changes of clothes. Afterward, you departed the hideout and summoned your broom. Before you left, you thought about reaching out to Mimosa directly to thank her, but she wasn't as prone to rule-breaking as Yuno was.

Instead, you chose the best option which was to move in silence. The less communication you have with them, the less exposed your plan is to unwanted ears.

The sunset cast a golden-purple hue over the trees as you flew over them. Gently touching everything in a combination of cool and warm tones. Going over it brought a memory to the forefront of your mind.

Your father told you a story that once he took you on a joyride over the entire Spade Kingdom. Of course, you were less than four years old at the time, so you have no personal recollection of the event. He had said that the entire time you hadn't cried once. There was a smile on your face throughout the whole thing.

Then your mother had smacked him upside the head for recklessly bringing her daughter up into the sky without her knowledge.

Growing up, you noticed that a lot of kids had a fear of heights, but you had no issues with them. Whenever they tossed a ball into the trees, you were the one who went up to retrieve it.

A warmth spreads through your shoulders and down to your fingertips for a moment before it simmers away. You rubbed your thumb and index finger together, trying to catch it for a few more fleeting moments.

There's been too much cold lately.

You peer down at the wooden broom that's seen enough time. It's probably because of the old thing that you feel so sentimental. It is his, after all. There's a messy knife-carved K towards the bottom. Your finger ghosts over it, acting like it was the first time you've ever seen it. Truthfully, most times, you ignore it.

Twenty minutes pass, and the dock comes into view. Unsurprisingly, you don't see Zora. He has a few more minutes until the sun actually sets, so he's not late. You just knew he'd milk every last second.

You land on the sand and look out at the dock. The boat was already here, quietly waiting on top of the water. It wasn't anything crazy. Just enough for two people to take a short night cruise. Leaving within the next few minutes means you could get there in the early morning—possibly 1 or 2 AM. It all depends on how fast the thing moves.

It takes five more minutes before Zora dramatically falls out the sky off his broom. He lands next to you and stashes his ride into thin air. A dark brown bag is slung over his shoulder, and he puts his hands on his hips.

"Wow, I'm surprised to actually see a boat. I thought maybe we'd get a dolphin or something." He murmurs and stares ahead. "Good for you."

Maybe that was his idea of a compliment. "Mimosa doesn't flake out on her promises. Plus, she's royalty; this was probably easy."

"Whole time she's assisting a criminal. Lovely friends she has, huh?" Zora starts to walk forward, but you don't take his bait. The more responses you give him, the more he has to spit back out.

Your feet meet the wood of the dock, and you follow behind him. Walking up the plank and then onto the main deck. You had the idea that it was magically operated because you could sense it. Something was controlling it, which meant you didn't have to worry about navigation.

There's a low creak, and you feel movement. Water sloshes against the hull, and when you turn to the side, the dock is slowly getting further away. "I didn't think it'd be that easy."

Zora easily found the trapdoor that led below deck. He throws himself down while you peek down into the darkness. He spins around and then looks up. "Not that much of a light source down here."

Marionette Roulette.

The move isn't much of a roulette anymore because you've gotten better at controlling who comes out. This time, you focused on Sylvania, and she rose from the darkness. "You can play Captain."

You take the steps down and stand next to him in the dim atmosphere. He's right, there's a lantern off to the side, but that doesn't illuminate much. You can basically taste the dust that floats around, but it's a small price to pay to get what you're looking for.

"Well, there's no need to stay down here until it gets dark then. Just stay above the deck for now." You tell him.

"Not happening."

"Are you really trying to distance yourself? It's only two of us here, you can't get too far away from me."

He tosses his bag down. "It's not you. For once." He murmurs. "How fast does this thing go?"

"Based on the diameter of the hull and the circumference of—Zora, does it look like I would know?" You shook your head. "It'll be a few hours until we get there regardless of the speed."

He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed with an evident frown. "I don't give a damn about when we're supposed to get there."

"So why do you care about..." You trail off, already eliminating reasons why he's so concerned about the speed the boat can go. Although, there's one that makes sense.

"...Sea sickness?"

He stays quiet.

"Oh, wow. All the shit you can take on and you still get seasick?" You tried to hold back your laugh.

"Real fucking funny. I'm staying down here until we reach Heart." To make his point, he slides down to the ground.

If he thought that would work to get you out of his presence, he was mistaken because you plopped yourself down next to him. "Well, I can't annoy you if you're all the way down here."

"You're too damn close."

"I'm not." Indeed, you were. "Sylvania can help you with your little problem if you want."

"I'll pass." He grumbles.

You laugh. "Suit yourself."

For the rest of the hour, you poked fun at him. There was finally something you could use against him after all the unspeakable dirt he has on you. Eventually, you ended up dozing off, which was easy when you had his shoulder as a pillow.

Sometime in the middle of the night, a vibration comes from your pocket. Groggily picking out the communicator, you see Mimosa's name pop out. You were trying to keep communications with her scarce, but she's the one who called first. It'd be rude not to answer.

Clicking answer, you wait for her hologram to fizz into view. "I've been trying to call you for nearly two hours now, are you okay?!"

She sounded frantic, which forced you to blink the sleep from your eyes. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be? We got on the boat just fine."

"What boat?"

You lifted an eyebrow. "The one you sent for Zora and I. Yuno told me you got one more before you had to go on a cooldown or something."

Her eyes widened. "He asked me a few days ago, but I haven't gotten confirmation for another one. I haven't even seen Yuno in nearly two days. That's why I called, I thought maybe he was with you."

Two days?

"Wait, wait, then where did this boat come from?"

"I... I don't know, but it's not from me. I have no idea where that one could be set to go."