“Everyone, this is Annie.”

A chorus of warm greetings rang out, as Theo gestured to the pile of anxieties and insecurities that stood next to him.

Her hands gripped onto each other, white knuckled. It was partially being introduced to this many people, but mostly being in this part of town.

They were in the park, which Theo didn’t think twice about at this point, but she was definitely stunned, to say the least.

He chuckled inwardly, remembering how grand the College District was the first time he’d laid eyes on it.

Still, he brought her here for a reason. If she was going to be involved in this whole prophecy mess, she needed to know Francis and everyone else. And from what he could tell by talking to her over the past few days, she could use a bit of social contact in the daylight hours.

Annie took in a deep breath, and squared her shoulders. She looked more like someone getting ready to fight than socialise. Her eyes hardened, and Theo wondered if this was the way she dealt with…security issues at her work. Then she pasted a smile on top, and if she was hoping that that would make her friendly she missed the mark by a battlefield or two.

It was awkward at first, with her almost clinging to his shadow. With the way she was looking at people, it was more like she was his bodyguard than someone he was introducing to friends. But again, given her line of work it wasn’t too surprising. It still wasn’t close to what he was expecting, although he would be lying if he expected her to be a social butterfly.

“How’ve you been?” Jenny made the first move, for which Theo was infinitely grateful. She pulled Annie into a small conversation with her and Rowena, and things went from there.

---

“How do you do it?” Annie asked as soon as they’d walked out of earshot of everyone else.

“Hmm?” Theo was still trying to figure out where she fit into this greater narrative, to no avail.

“How do you not get angry at the money wasted, when people like us are barely surviving?” Theo slowed down, considering what she was saying. “The Colleges are so incredibly detailed, and the mansions we walked past are spotless. A chunk of stone from any of those could buy half my neighbourhood.”

He shrugged. “I mean, we still survive. The College of Prayer hands out enough to get us by.”

“But why does it have to continue to be that way? Why do we have to rely on their charity? We were surrounded by monuments of wealth, and now we just go back to dirt streets and barely standing shacks? Does that sound fair to you?” She angrily kicked at the ground, sending a loose cobblestone rattling along the Commerce District.

They got some dirty looks, but she sent equally (if not more) dirty looks back.

“You know, I’ve never really thought too much about this.”

Her head snapped back to look at him so fast Theo wondered if she just gave herself whiplash. “How?”

“The same way all of us survive. Don’t think about it too hard. Keep your head down. Just make do and enjoy what you have. Otherwise it’s all that you can think about and consumes you.” Theo shrugged again. He looked over at her deadpan stare. “Ah.”

“Yeah.” She harrumphed.

The silence stretched on past the horizon, until they reached the Outskirts once more and Annie visibly relaxed, movements less stiff and controlled than they were a moment ago. Still, there was something bundled up in her chest.

It finally came loose when they were almost out of the Outskirts, sunset tinting the grey sun-bleached wood a warm gold.

“You said I was destined for some great thing, right? You don’t know why, but I know you’re trying to figure it out. Let me ask you the same question now. You’re also destined for something great, but why? Why you?”

Theo fell silent, mulling over questions that were harder than all his end of year exams combined.

“…sorry, that was a bit much. It’s just- that was a lot for me. And I know I’m ‘prophesised’ for some reason, but I don’t want to be special. I just want people to be fed and housed and warm in winter. I want to make sure people are protected. It’s…” Annie sighed. “It’s why I joined the gang. To protect the neighbourhood. That was before it became a gang, but I live with what I’ve done.”

“Well, I think you’re starting to answer why you’ve been chosen.” Theo neglected to mention that he had no idea why he’d been chosen, and thankfully he didn’t have to.

“We’re at the final place I wanted to take you today.” They entered The Woods.

Her anger melted away, leaving behind the curiosity of a child.

Theo never got tired of seeing people enraptured and in awe. The Woods tended to have that effect, especially on those not familiar with it, and Annie was clearly one of them.

Annie stared at the trees moving out of their way and forming a path, and started to wander. ‘Started to’ being the key words, as they stopped moving out of her way, and started making it abundantly clear to follow Theo, blocking off every direction except his with a wall of trees too thick to see through.

Theo chuckled. “This is The Woods. They are the magical entity that protects our borders, and rather intelligent after so many centuries of being alive. But, this isn’t where I wanted to take you.”

Annie looked at him oddly, continuing to follow him almost entirely out of a desire to see what could be more interesting than The Woods.

“Welcome to the place beyond the outskirts, the Guild of Magic!” Theo held the door open, and let her walk in first.

It was a quiet day, without Askavel or many of the other regulars around. Just Eva.

“That there is Eva. And upstairs is where therapy is held, and I’ll help you get sessions for that. I highly recommend it.” Theo had continued his therapy weekly, as did most others. Including Finn.

Theo waved to Eva. “Eva! This is Annie. She’ll be helping me with things around here.”

Eva nodded curtly to Theo, and her face was calculatedly neutral.

“Theo. Have you heard the news?”

His heart started beating faster in his chest. “What news?”

She spoke carefully. “It’s Sparrow. They’ve accused them of being a spy, and have taken them as a political prisoner.”