(Luca)

Mr. Zack told Max and me that he had business to attend to and asked us to stay in the City. I promised him I would, and Max did, too. I know he's stressing himself out and upsetting himself and worrying himself over this. He doesn't want to leave us alone, he's scared that what happened to Braden will happen to us.

I overheard him and Nik talking, though, even though they probably thought I was asleep. Nik thinks that it would help Mr. Zack to be separated from us temporarily, even if only a few hours. I think Mr. Zack only agreed because he suspects that Nik will have someone follow us.

The sneak is pretty subtle, but I noticed him. I'm not sure what Max is doing, since he took off after Mr. Zack left, but I'm definitely being followed by a sneak. I think she's a Dark Knight, but I'm not sure. Maybe she's a Blood Priest? She's dressed in black and reds, with a cloak that brushes the ground.

For now, I'm just walking the city, letting my feet take me where they go. Away from people, though, I do make sure my feet does that, so I stay in the part of the City that's mostly uninhabited. I know that we live over here, and Jackson, and some rogue man, and Normar and Aurum. I think one other person does, too, but I'm not sure.

After an hour of walking, I realize that I'm passing over the same bridge again, and stop. I approach the edge of the bridge and look into the water, watching as it run over the stones and down the creek. The water's really clear, and it's a little higher than normal, I think, because snow's been melting the last couple of days.

It's not quite time for spring to come, but we'll alternate between some gentle thaws and more snowfall until the end.

For almost an hour, I watch the creek, listening to the sound of the water and the wind in the trees. There's a bird chirping somewhere. When I decide to try to find it, I realize I can't. It's hiding somewhere out of sight.

Shrugging, I allow my feet to take me where they will again, and do that for another hour before something catches my attention. A golden sparkle, just floating in the air. Since Maelnor isn't fallen, that can't be hostile, right?

If it is, the person Nik has following me will probably take care of it. Or would've, right?

So I approach the sparkles, realizing that they form a sort of trail. A gentle, glimmering, golden trail. My feet took me to the sparkles, so I follow them through twists and turns, past ruins of houses that haven't been looked after in probably decades, even through a small park, its trees devoid of leaves until spring returns. I keep one hand in the trail of sparkles as I walk alongside it.

It feels… strange. Not bad, just strange. Interesting. Curious. I can't really describe it, but it feels nice, too.

Eventually, I find myself at what can only be a hidden area. Without the sparkles, I don't think I would have found it. It's within another small forest within Maelnor. I think the City has four of them in its parks, though this one had walls surrounding it, rather than resting in a park. The walls are all crumbly, but still standing tall. The sparkles help me navigate through the small woods.

When I reach where the sparkles end in the wooded area, I'm stunned by what I see.

(Max)

Boss seem weird when leave earlier. Max think Boss-Boss made him do stuff. Errands, maybe? Max wanted do errands for Boss! But Boss make Max take afternoon to self, so Max left when Boss Did. Now, Max walking through City!

Lots of fun. Max no have money, so just walking around. Eventually, see Boss leaving Jackson's place. Max no happy 'bout that. Jackson make Boss sad! Boss look sad, too.

When Boss out sight, Max march into Jackson shop! Glare at woman behind counter. No customers here, but Max no care! Jackson make Boss sad again!

"Where mean man?" Max demand. "Mean man make Boss sad!"

"Boss?" Woman ask. "Are you talking about Zack?"

"That what Max said!" Max tell her. "Where mean man? Max make him stop make Boss sad! Bring him!"

"He's on a rest right now," woman chuckle. "Give me just a minute to see if he'll come talk to you."

"Mean man better!" Max tell her. "Or Max march back there and talk him anyway!"

The woman go into the back, return with mean man. Mean man look amuse.

"You think funny?" Max ask. "You make Boss sad again! You no funny! You mean!"

"Max," Mean Man say. "Zack was in here picking up a weapon order he placed. All I did was discuss the order with him and give it to him. He was sad on his own."

"You lie!" Max call out lie. "You talk Boss, Boss get sad! Twice! You make Boss sad! Stop it!"

"Zack likes weapons," Mean Man tell Max. "Getting them makes him happy. He has a lot, actually, all forged by me. If I made him sad, do you think he'd keep coming here."

"You evil man, too!" Max tell Mean Man. No! Max tell Evil Man! "You force Boss come! Make Boss sad! Max not let you win! You wait!"

Max leave the mean man's shop, almost walk into group of beastborn. They're clean and healthy. Got meat on bones. Not much, but not slave-little. They be the ones work for Dark Knights, Max guess. They wear black and red, so probably.

Max chat with free-beastborn. Get funny looks from others. Maybe because Max talk with words while free-beastborn don't? Oh, well!

Free-beastborn be on way buy sticky buns. Max want sticky-buns, but no have. Tail wag anyway. Free-beastborn invite Max along, so Max join free-beastborn on way market. There, free-beastborn give Max money buy sticky buns.

Max count beastborn. There be eight of them. Nine! Max beastborn, too! And get one! They buy Max sticky bun!

"Nine sticky bun, please!" Max say to woman at the stall.

Woman look Max shock. Max hold out coins. Free-beastborn say sticky bun cost five copper each, give Max forty-five. That be enough, right?

Max no say please?

"Please!" Max say in case forgot.

Woman give Max and free-beastborn sticky buns, then Max and free-beastborn go to fountain and sit on benches and fountain. Max eat sticky-bun. It's sweet! And delicious! And sticky! Max tail smacks water in Max's excitement!

After Max and free-beastborn lick fingers clean, we rest at fountain, talk. Free-beastborn like work Dark Knights. Dark Knights cool. Boss cool, too. Free-beastborn want know everything about work with hero. Max tell free-beastborn that hero not Max's master, but Boss.

And awesome.

And that Max no slave, but friend and teammate. Free-beastborn like that! Max ask if named, and free-beastborn tell Max that Gold tell free-beastborn pick own names! Gold both beastborn and Dark Knight!

He awesome. Max one day be Dark Knight, too, but for now, be magician!

After Max talk with free-beastborn, free-beastborn go park with Max, play tag.

(Zack)

Nik convinced me into separating from my team for a few hours, even though he knew it'd stress me out. He promised to have two Dark Knights stalking them to make sure they don't leave or get into trouble.

So here I am, heading to Jackson's forge by myself. He told me this morning that he'd finished the knives. I guess he put a small priority on it, since it's only been five days since my vision of the knight's arrival, so I think that means five or six days since I commissioned them? I can't remember when, exactly, I did, just that I did.

Maybe it was longer than that?

Whatever, they're done.

In his shop, I find the lady who didn't give me attitude standing there, arms folded across her chest as she stares at a man with an intense stare. Her name's Veronica, and she's Jackson's niece, or something like that. I didn't pay too much attention to what he was saying, Max was a bit too hyper this morning and it was upsetting Luca.

"Zack," she smiles, favoring dealing with me over this guy. "Jackson's in the middle of something, but I'll let him know you're ready. Do you want to wait in the private room for him?"

He must have more, then.

"Sure," I say, and she leads me into the back after giving the customer another stern glare.

"The rest of the Primordial Essence has been bought," she informs me. "So you have another 30,000 platinum to pick up, in addition to your order. He wants to know if he can borrow the Primordial Dark Armor he forged for you and take your measurements?"

"He can adjust it to accommodate the wings?" I ask.

"Yes," she nods. "As long as it hasn't been used too much, a Master Blacksmith can convert equipment forged by a blacksmith back into its components or make adjustments to it without affecting set pieces."

"It's not part of a set," I tell her. "I mean, it is, but it's not. There's no bonus or anything."

"Really?" She asked. "Dark Armor usually has some sort of bonus."

"To Bleed or Health Regeneration," I nod. "Rather than a set bonus, my Primordial Dark Armor… does some funky stuff."

"Funky stuff?"

"Ask Jackson about it."

There's totally a set bonus. If I'm wearing the full set, blood- and shadow-based Skills have their effects halved. She didn't even question my comment about what's the normal bonus. Mine is the normal bonus.

"Veronica," Jackson enters the room. "Zack's screwing with you, and I think you've dealt with a few too many customers without some rest. Why don't you close up shop for awhile and take a break?"

She nods and leaves, and Jackson sits, setting down a box with money. I quickly count out my earnings from the Primordial Essence, then send them into my Inventory.

"You went through that fast," I tell him. "There was a small lull?"

"The Fallen Hunters stopped by last night," he explains.

"Ah."

It's about time, too. I was beginning to wonder if they weren't going to go after ultimate gear.

"I don't have much left," I tell him. "And there's not another Nian around for me to farm it off of."

Unless I manage to find the sleepy hole of the one in the pass between Maelnar and the next town. Since the Nian are obviously not something that spawns, but something that's around all year, that's entirely possible.

The question I have is if it'll still yield rewards out of season or not.

"That's okay," he tells me. "If you give it to me or not is up to you, Zack. I know you're likely wanting to save some for future gear for you and your team."

It won't be right away, I've learned not to do that with Braden, but I'm going to, in the future, once they're strong and powerful. My team is going to be the greatest in any Boundary, and they're going to have the ultimate equipment.

"I am," I nod. "Sorry if it comes across as selfish, but-"

"Zack," he snorts. "You've given what, forty of them for me to use for others? If anyone calls you selfish, they're idiots. Let's get you measured, then I'll give you the knives."

"Okay," I remove my sword from my back and set it against the table, then remove my armor and tunic. "The form lasts five minutes."

"That's enough for me," he tells me, pulling out a notepad, quill, and measuring cloth. "Ready?"

"Demon Form," I trigger it.

Jackson takes a moment to collect himself after seeing my form, then gets to work measuring my torso and the locations of my wings. Once he's taken down the necessary data, he sits down, and I only have a minute left. I slide the armor across to him.

"Do you need just the breastplate?" I ask. "Veronica said you only needed that one."

"I can use just that one," he nods. "However, I'd like the full set, if that's alright by you."

"It is," I remove the rest of the gear and give it to him, finishing just as my form reverts back to human. I pull on my tunic and fix my sword to my back once more. "Thanks, Jackson."

"You're welcome," he responds, before pulling a box out of his Inventory and setting it down. "I figure that it's better than you having to remove your armor every time you enter Demon Form, and the Fallen Hunters said that you've begun using your Inventory to quickly remove stuff without actually taking it off."

"Which means that I can just send my tunic into it," I grin at him. "Yeah."

"These are basic knives," he taps the box. "Forged with potent resources, of course. I used one Spook Ingot, one Primordial Essence, one Primordial Ingot, one Crystal Ingot, and one Crystal Essence to forge them. I know you asked for four, but I had enough of the metal to make a fifth, so there's one for you as well.

"As with anything forged of Spook Ore," he continues. "They'll absorb magic sent their way, and draw hostile magics to them. As knives, the range isn't that good."

Made mostly for cutting through a spell or barrier rather than fighting a full magician.

"They're durable," he continues. "And sharp. It is likely they will never need sharpening, and their edges can cut through nigh anything. It is unlikely they will ever be damaged, even against the strongest of monsters. I can't fathom a more powerful set of materials to work with than what you've given me."

"Thanks," I open up the box and examine the five blades, each resting beside a matching sheath.

They're dark grey, with blades around six inches long and a slight shine. They look pretty basic, but Appraisal doesn't yield any results for me, which is an indication of their quality. It's at Level 9, after all.

Each of the knives and their matching sheaths have a small set of runes etched into them, our names. On the sheaths, it's just below the part where the blade slides in, and on the blades, it's right at the base, just above the handle. The runes aren't that big, but are on both sides.

I sheathe each knife, then send them all into my Inventory. They'll be given out once my full team is assembled. With everyone having one and me being even more careful of what happens to them, I'll feel a lot more comfortable.

"Thanks," I tell Jackson.

"You're welcome," he says. "I'll drop your armor off when I finish. It'll be either tonight, or if it's too late, first thing in the morning."

"Thanks," I repeat. "Have a good day."

"I will," he nods, then I leave.

Hopefully, it takes my team awhile to realize how potent their knives are, so that they don't try running off and doing something stupid, like Braden did. The first Braden, not the one that's apparently going to be joining my team.

I guess the Crystals are sending him to us to help Luca and me 'heal' from what happened, but that would happen over time, anyway. It can't just be because he'll be a little above the norm, which he must be, if he's going to be a part of my team.

For a couple of hours, I wander around the City. At some point, I spot Max playing tag with a bunch of other beastborn in a park while receiving uneasy looks from a few Adventurers, and at another, I find Luca wandering around the abandoned area, and I'm pretty sure he's just aimlessly walking around.

I don't blame him, he needs time to think about things, to process things. He's always been a quiet, thoughtful one, and after the events that have happened… he needs to process things. The walk will help him with that.

He stops walking on a bridge and starts staring at the water, and I feel uncomfortable and head home, making my way to the bath. After stripping down, I take a good, long soak, closing my eyes and resting.

When it's time for dinner, I climb out of the bath, dry off, dress, then get started on dinner. I'm just finishing up when Max returns, and he immediately starts setting the table.

"No Luca-friend?" He asks, head tilted to the side.

"He's nearby," I tell Max.

"Okay!" He nods, then finishes setting the table with his tail wagging.

Luca arrives, and he looks somber. I have to resist the urge to not enter his head, I'm getting better at controlling that. His thoughts right now should be his own, after whatever he's processed on his walk.

He walks right up to me and gives me a hug, which overrides my ability to resist entering heads and sensing minds, and I know why he seems so somber. He found it. He found a place that shouldn't be easy to find.

I wrap and arm around him and give him a light squeeze.

"Let's eat dinner," I tell him, and he nods.

The three of us sit and eat, then the two of them clean up the table and dishes before taking a bath. Jackson stops by while they're in there and hands me my armor, looking a little amused.

"Max stopped by," he tells me.

"Oh?" I ask. "He doesn't have the money to commission anything, much less something from you."

"He saw you leaving, looking upset," Jackson chuckles. "He now thinks I'm evil and am forcing you to come to me, and that I make you sad. I think he threatened me over it. He said 'Max not let you win. You wait.'"

"Maybe," I shrug. "That does sound like a threat, though I wouldn't worry about it. It's not you that's making me sad."

"I don't think he understood that," he says.

"Max is Max," I shrug. "He's more like a thirteen-year-old than I am."

"He's more like a little kid than Luca is," Jackson snorts.

"The physical and emotional abuse he received as a slave stunted his mental growth," I shrug. "He's gotten some maturity quickly, though. Thanks again, Jackson."

"You're welcome," he tells me. "If the armor isn't right, drop it off in the morning, okay?"

"Will do."

"Have a good night."

"You as well," I tell him, and he leaves.

Luca and Max will be awhile yet, so I pull on the armor and send my sword and tunic into my Inventory, before triggering Demon Form. My wings stretch out without a problem. If there was one, I'd head across the street and convince Nathan to heal me.

Turning, I face his property and wave, and his head appears, peeking at me from over the wall surrounding his property, and he waves back before vanishing again.

Yeah, he was watching me to see how it worked.

When Demon Form ends, I remove my armor to put my tunic back on, then strap my sword onto my back once more before taking a seat and resting.

After dinner, I have Luca and Max play marbles and chess, then they head to bed. I join them, changing into nightclothes and snuggling Luca. He's not comfortable sleeping alone, and if I don't, Max tries, which only upsets the little guy.

Max has claimed my bed as his 'while Boss no sleep it', as a way to ensuring no one else steals it from me. He promises to let me have it back once Luca's feeling better.

When sleep comes, so do the visions, as always.

The final member of my team, the ranger, stands before Big C, listening to the offer of assisting in the Boundary and the fight against the Shadow of Life. When the Crystal finishes, the ranger accepts the offer, then appears beside the tree in my yard, dressed in a simple tunic and pair of pants, plus a pair of simple leather boots. The team is complete.