The conversation lapsed into comfortable silence as Leanne and Ada sipped their wine. Ada gazed out at the balcony and saw that the sun was almost behind the highest building, a bell tower in the southwestern part of town. The evening was still a few hours away but the air already felt cooler. She felt a fine salty mist lightly graze her skin. Ada inhaled deeply and her mind drifted. She felt it odd on the ease of connection with someone in such a short amount of time. Growing up, she always felt excluded from peers her age which she suspected was due to her preference for computer obsession on her own than human engagement. There were a few exceptions but unfortunately none of her close friends decided to attend her university. At the university, she worked hard on her first semester and neglected making new friends or seeking a significant other. The second semester was proceeding along the same lines but now, plopped into an unknown world and segregated from her computer and academics, engaging with others has become a necessity. Perhaps she connected to Leanne so easily since the girl was easy to talk to and around her age. Speaking of age, she wondered how old Leanne really was. Ada broke the silence, "Hey Leanne. I'm just curious but how old are you?"

"Oh, I never told you? I am 22 by the standard Tesian calendar but I would be considered 24 here by the Exicozan calendar."

"What's the difference?" Ada asked curiously.

"The standard Tesian calendar starts at age 0 on birth and increments by 1 every 12 lunar cycles whereas by the Exicozan calendar here, the child turns 1 from the start of the naming day which is usually 3 months before pregnancy. The age according to the Exicozan calendar increases by 1 every 360 solar days."

"Very interesting. A lunar and a solar calendar. We have our differences in the Divine Land as well." Ada thought of the various calendars in the world with each having an unique complexity. By the Chinese calendar, for instance, she was 20 whereas by the usual calendar, she was 19.

"Yes, I know I am young and inexperienced but I am learning much."

If only she knew that I am not some timeless immortal but actually younger than her, Ada thought and said, "Don't sell yourself short. You're doing much better than anyone in this situation. How are you feeling now?"

"Honestly, not too bad. I miss Tesia a bit and my friends at the Temple but doing something of greater import has always been something I longed for."

"Well, the responsibility was thrust on me from my end by our dear friend God. I don't think I have filled in on the full details but I'll tell you more later. The walls have ears here."

"Ears?"

"I think I have decided that the next Divine Book I'm gonna give you will be one on Divine Language common sayings. Anyway, what I meant was that there may be people listening. I'm pretty sure we're being watched."

Leanne opened her mouth to reply but stopped when the door opened and the Gunder mom with the children in tow walked through. Ada suspected Mama Gunder must have given them a stern lecture for the children were well-behaved once again. There was a murmur of discontent from the older child but a glare from the mom hushed him immediately. The parents ate their stew in silence which has turned almost cold by now. Lewie came back and asked the Gunders a question which Ada interpreted as an offer for drinks. The parents shook their heads. They're certainly missing out but I guess they need to act as responsible parents, Ada thought.

"What do you mean?" Leanne whispered almost inaudibly after Lewie stepped back inside.

"No need to whisper. I doubt they can hear us. Have you not noticed the man sitting on the rooftop across the street intently looking at us every minute?"

Leanne glanced to her right. "I don't see anyone."

"Look closer. He's camouflaged on the flat roof of the third house from that street corner."

Leanne peered across and squinted slightly. She arched her eyebrows slightly. "I see him. His gray shirt blends well with the background stone walls. But could it just be happenchance of him dressed as such?"

"I doubt it. He wasn't there before Master Obar left. You want to find out? I hate being spied on."

"What about the Gunders?"

"You know I'm feeling like a mother duck with a bunch of ducklings behind her. The mom seems to be pretty good at handling the situation. I think we should just leave them here."

"That sounds reasonable. Let me ask them."

Leanne turned to the Gunders and explained the situation to them. Ada turned and looked at the man again. He was taking something out of a backpack that laid next to his feet. Her eyesight as a goddess has improved dramatically and she felt that she was looking through binoculars to the extent where she could even see the individual nose hairs in his large nostrils. That was an unpleasant sight and her vision quickly zoomed out to the man himself. He looked to be around her height -- in other words, short -- and of athletic build. With a grizzled scruffy beard and a full set of mangled hair, his age could lie anywhere between 25 and 40. He really need to see a barber soon, Ada thought. Would her hair still grow? Also, shouldn't she be able to change her appearance at will as many deities do in mythology? Questions of trivial importance to be figured out at a later time.

"Anything else you wish to order, ladies?" the waiter Lewie interrupted her thoughts. He had come back to take back the trays of the finished stew.

"No, thank you but will you kindly take the Gunders to their rooms? They are tired and wish to rest," Leanne replied.

"Certainly, I will lead the way," Lewie said. Ada imagined that if Lewie was not carrying three bowls and two glasses he would be bowing.

Lewie said a few words to the Gunders. They rose from their chairs and smiled at Leanne and Ada. A few words of apparent gratitude were expressed before they disappeared after Lewie into the inn.

"Now that the Gunders are being taken care of, how do you plan to catch the spy?"

"Catching him is the easy part. First is to make sure that he won't move," Ada smiled.

...

...

Ada looked at a flat part of the rooftop and thought

...

...

Everyone heard a yelp of surprise as the ground underneath the man liquefied and he struggled to get out. Half of the roof has been transformed into a colloid of sand and water with the man in the middle. The more struggled, the worse it was for him.

"That was spectacular!" Leanne exclaimed.

"Well, if he was smart enough, he would realize that he could easily escape by moving his legs to increase the viscosity of the liquid and then rotate his body to float horizontally with his face and torso up," Ada explained.

"I know little about it except there are places where it is common. He seems completely unfamiliar with it. His ignorance is good for us."

"Uh, here is a problem. The roof is collapsing," Leanne gasped and pointed at the roof.

"Oh, damn! I should have realized that this was taking a risk. The building can't sustain the weight of stone suddenly turning into a giant pile of heavy mush."

...

...

...

...

Ada observed that the quicksand has disappeared and was now replaced by a steel cube with an open top. The box enclosed the man on all four sides. With the box having an open top, the man would not die from suffocation.

"I hope the sound did not attract any attention," Leanne said.

"Now the question is on how to get there," Ada mused. "That's one of the things we are seriously lacking. Something which allows us to fly."

"We should be more discreet in a city," Leanne pointed out.

"True, I was just thinking in general. We're probably going to have to just barge into that building. Hopefully it's a public building and not somebody's residence. Let's go!"

The two girls quickly arose from their seats and hurriedly left the inn. They saw no one they recognized and no one stopped them. Despite the deluge of lumbering wagons and squawking ostriches, they darted across avoiding being run over as the drivers yelled at them. After only a minute of light jogging, they arrived at the small building. The edifice looked dilapidated with vines growing amongst cracks. Even among the old architecture of the city, it was in worse condition than its neighbors. Yet, despite its haggard looks, the ancient beautiful pillars and molding with the ornately decorated steel doors still shone through. There was no one there and the door was wide ajar.

"Does this look like a trap to you?" Ada paused at the front door and did not go in.

"What else can we do except go in?" Leanne shrugged her shoulders.

Ada looked around and saw no one was watching them.

"Good point," Ada said as she led the way and walked in.

Inside, it was quiet and dusty. Clearly, no one has been here for a while. There were cobwebs covering old wooden barrels in one corner. Broken shelves and stained pottery dotted the other sections of the walls. The stone steps in the back, crumbling and dangerous, led upward. It was dimly illuminated by the rays of the afternoon sun through a large crack in the ceiling lending it a ghostly air. If Ada was still mortal, she would have shivered like Leanne did.

"This place gives me the heebie-jeebies," Ada said.

"Heebie-jeebies?"

"It's giving me the creeps. It's unnerving. It's giving me shivers down my spine. Hopefully, you get one of these synonyms."

"This appears to be one of the abandoned buildings yet to be reclaimed by anyone since the last war," Leanne observed. "Definitely a convenient spot for him to observe us."

Ada nodded. Seeing nothing to note in the room and no other means of ascending, they walked to the staircase and climbed up. Though some of the stones were missing, there were enough stones for the staircase to be sturdy. There was a soft thud on dust with each step. She noticed that there were recent footsteps here with footprints that had cleared the dust. This was likely from the man that took these steps to get on the roof. Ada felt that they were on the right track.

"Once we're on the rooftop, can you ask the questions? I'm gonna keep quiet. I don't know if he's related to the Galacia Club but I don't think I want to reveal to him that we can speak the Divine Tongue."

Leanne nodded in agreement. They proceeded the rest of the way in silence. The second floor was a similar jumbled mess and so was the third. Due to missing stones, they had to watch their steps making the ascent seemingly interminable. The place was well-lit since there were cracks along the walls allowing enough light to stream in. Upon reaching the roof, they looked around and noted no one else in the vicinity. The rooftop itself was small and the box occupied most of the flat floor. Ada stepped aside and Leanne approached the box. The footsteps were clearly audible on the stone floor.

"Sdiojhkesdfli jhksednf?!" the man said in fright or at least that's what Ada interpreted him saying. God damn local tongue, she thought.

Leanne replied in similar gibberish. The man retorted back in a tone of disbelief. Ada decided to make up the conversation in her head again since that was just fun.

"Who are you?!" the man said.

"We are big bad people," Leanne replied with a smile.

"Are you going to let me go?"

"No, since we are bad people."

"Please let me go."

"No, not unless you tell us who you are."

"Then, will you let me go?"

"No, we're still bad people."

Ada carried this conversation in her head a little while but stopped when she realized Leanne had stopped asking questions. The girl was standing there seemingly in deep thought. She wanted to ask Leanne what was going on but didn't want to reveal her hand. Instead, she gestured at the girl downstairs to see if she walked to talk in private. Leanne shook her head. She turned back to the man and said something. There was silence.

"What the hell is going on?" Ada muttered.

"Wait! Don't do anything yet!" a voice from behind them said in the Divine Tongue.

Surprised, they turned around to look at the staircase and saw a short redheaded girl taking deep breathes as she gripped her knees. The girl looked like she had been running for a good while.

"Who are you?" Leanne asked. "And how do you know the Divine Tongue?"

"I'm ... I'm Ruciella and .. well, Master Obar sent me to make sure that all of you are doing alright. I can tell you who this man is," the girl spoke haltingly as she caught her breathe.