The universe was telling a joke, and at the moment, Keira felt like the world’s most pathetic punchline. She had thought that doing some mindless physical work would be a load off of her back. That helping to clean up a campsite roughly thirty minutes from the village would be a small break, a true one where she isn’t concerned about getting good grades or existential horrors. But now she had something even worse to deal with. Awkward social interactions.

Naima had joined her Pioneer group and integrated herself into it in the weeks that Keira was missing. It turned out that she had joined this one as it was no longer feasible to go to her old one because she had moved a long distance. Apparently, the fact that Keira also went to this group had gone unmentioned as Naima was equally surprised at seeing Keira, as Keira seeing her. Naima had befriended a group of five or so guys and they had taken the picnic table beside the small hut situated at the top of the campsite alongside one of the camping fields. Another field was south of the hut, separated from the rest of the campsite by the gravel carpark. Beyond that was the forest, a steep hill downwards that had a few interesting rock formations on it, which then led to a pond at the bottom.

Keira ended up sitting on the wall beside the picnic table and chatting with some of the guys. It also led to her eavesdropping on what Naima was talking about. She was fiddling with some cards which had some beautiful artwork on it and talking in general about a nature religion which was native to the area with an air of admiration. This caused some of the people at the table to ask about her interest.

“How long have you been into this? Since you moved here?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Isn’t it difficult to talk about this or research since you live in a church?”

“Not really… Dad’s super supportive of everything, even though he’s a preacher of the Order of Azulmah.” Naima trailed off into a slight grumble at the end of her statement, although she generally seemed pretty enthusiastic about the conversation. The conversation swung back to what it was before as Naima began talking about the purpose of the cards.

“So anyway, what they basically do is provide a rough estimate on what your future is going to be.” One of the boys shuffled forward and tapped Naima on her shoulder.

“Can I have a go?”

“Sure! We typically draw three cards one for past, present an future, so have a go!” Naima fanned the cards out and the guy pulled out three. The first two seemed a little insignificant from what Naima was describing but the last one was a major one. “Oh, you got Morsemt’s flower, one of the ones that represent a major figure in Furda.”

“Aw… Doesn’t he have something to do with death?”

“No, actually. He represents peace in new beginnings.”

“That… makes no sense. He definitely has something to do with death in the other decks. Who designed them like this?”

“…The guy who owns the company, I guess? Which is AnnointAllure, in case any of you wanted a set.” The table dissolved into laughs, but they let the girl continue with what she was doing. Keira had lost interest after the initial reading as it was more of the same and she was under no social obligation to keep listening, so she threw herself into a casual talk with the people around her.

Eventually the time came for them to start the work on the campsite, with them splitting up into groups to help clear it up ready for the next camp. Most of the group was sent to clean up the area by the fire pit, raking up the pre-cut weeds and repainting the benches. Keira, however didn’t feel like dealing with that so she took one of the jobs that would provide her with some semblance of peace. Moving firewood from the hut at the top of the campsite, to the shelter next to the fire pit.

Due to safety rules she wasn’t allowed to do it alone, but as she was sixteen she didn’t have to accompanied by a leader. It was just her and another guy.

They moved the wood in relative silence, the only sounds breaking the quietude being whenever they stood on a fallen leaf or twig. That didn’t break Keira’s focus though, if anything it added to the natural ambience of the area. Coupled with the mindless physical work and it made Keira feel incredibly relaxed. It was her way of meditating. It was unfortunate that she had to share that time with someone else, she wasn’t too sociable after all, and it was truly not ideal when the mark on her wrist flared up. It wasn’t persistent though, which differentiated this situation from the previous ones. Not bothering to supress her scowl, she ditched what she was carrying and leant it against a tree. Then she waited.

A tinkling laugh filled the air. Akin to small silver bells being rang, echoing through the woods and her mind.

“Someone’s in a foul mood today.” The voice came from behind her, and when she turned to look at it, she was surprised to see a woman standing not five feet away from her. She hadn’t even seen the woman approach. Keira wanted to snap back, to tell her that no wonder she is in such a foul mood all the time when there are things like her breathing down her neck at every corner. She didn’t know how big of a threat she was though, and while the mark had dulled to a faint throbbing, she had no faith in Palotl anymore. She didn’t trust it to look after her. Instead of playing whatever game the woman had in mind, she just gave a withering look which Keira hoped conveyed her feelings accurately.

The woman smiled back.

“That look is unbecoming dear. So is that.” She gestured to where the symbol on her wrist was. This surprised Keira slightly as she had been keeping it covered with her sleeves, and she had been hiding the wrist behind her since the woman showed up. Keira eyed the woman more closely and noticed a few abnormalities. First and foremost was that despite the fact that they were in the middle of the forest, she was in full formal dress. Grey pants and waist coat with a vibrant blue silk shirt, a shade that almost matched her eyes. Though Keira doubted anything could accurately depict the vibrance held in her gaze.

“How do you know about the mark?”

“I can… smell it on you. Most can, if they’re the right sort.” The woman gave a pause. “And competent.” The woman wasn’t making any aggressive moves, in fact her body language was open and casual. Keira felt comfortable pushing for more detail.

“And what does that mean.” Her smile widened slightly, but she didn’t elaborate further. Another avenue then. “What do you want from me?”

“Hm. Getting straight to it? How uncouth. In the most basic terms, I want your contract with the entity.”

“In more complicated terms?”

“You cannot possibly imagine the sort of consequences releasing it will have. Leave it to someone more competent, someone who knows what they’re doing.”

“I am well aware of the consequences.”

“Then you should know that this needs to be handled properly.”

“It does. And I’m handling it. I’m not going to trust every random thing that pops up and claims to have the solution to my problems.”

“Handling it?” The woman’s smile hadn’t slipped from her face, in fact it had widened a little from genuine amusement. “All you are doing is merely stalling. It will help with nothing. Even without the steady clock of age, you cannot put off your end of the contract forever.” That pulled the wind out of Keira’s sails.

“Why not?” The woman didn’t answer, all she did was smile. Another question that the woman wasn’t willing to answer then. What would be one that she would answer? Maybe the diplomatic option of asking her name. “…Who are you? Why are you here?”

“You can call me Gastele. As for the why, well, I am merely someone who has a continued interest in survival.” Keira felt like that was a good reason. It seems like whatever Gastele was, she wasn’t linked to Palotl, and actually appeared to be against it. Was she the ‘sickness’ that Palotl was referring to, or part of it?

“Do you know the terms of the deal?”

“No, nor the exact entity with which you made the deal. All I know is the type of entity, and what you made a deal with is usually extremely dangerous.” So she didn’t know about Palotl’s plans, but this pretty much confirmed that they were different ‘entities’.

“This deal was made almost a week ago, why are you talking about it now?”

“I simply had other jobs I needed to finish. That, and I wanted you alone.” Keira was about to point out the poor boy who had been helping her. Then she paused. His routine had not broken since this conversation started. He was not usually blind, so Keira had to come to a certain conclusion.

“What did you do to him?”

“Oh nothing. He’s merely seeing what I want him to see at the moment. It’ll pass once I’m done here.”

“Are you doing it with me?”

“Not at the moment. We are digressing, answer the question.”

“I am not going to have you kill someone for me. That’s almost as bad as doing the deed myself.”

“Why ever so? It would be very easy to hand it off to me and never think about it again. You wouldn’t even know who I chose.”

“No! It’s not a- a guilt thing! It’s a moral thing. I’m not going to be responsible for someone else’s death.” Keira decided to hold off on the information that she had seriously considered it.

“Not even the one who attacked you?”

“You would have to know who it was first.”

“I do.” This gave Keira pause, not even Palotl had known the person responsible. Although it had explained it away as not knowing the names of ants, so if Gastele was operating on a smaller scale perhaps she would know.

“That won’t change my answer.”

“Unfortunate. Especially given the situation you are currently in, and that she will strike again. Alas, I cannot force you make the deal, so I shall let this stew within you. We have a few… we have time, anyway. If you ever have a change of heart… well. Burn this.” The woman handed over a card that had her name imprinted on the front in bold letters.

Gastele Lichter

She looked up to ask about the last name but found the woman to be gone. With nothing else to do, Keira slipped it into her pocket and carried on with transporting the wood. While the offer seemed to at least partly solve her issue, there was the other, slightly larger, issue. Accepting this deal would be exactly that. She would be getting into another ‘contract’ with another being and considering her previous experience, she didn’t trust the woman to not try and screw her over somehow. This was supposed to be her time of relaxation! But no, it seemed like the universe didn’t want her to have a break. She didn’t even know what she did to deserve this colossal middle finger! Did she step on the wrong bug or something and then set off a chain reaction? It was fucking ridiculous.

At this point she had ditched the wood in the shelter next to the campfire circle and had almost started to go up the hill again, but she came to a stop at the edge of the pond first. She pulled the card out of her pocket with jerky motions and felt the overwhelming urge to destroy it. Those letters on the front only fuelled that desire more. It was stupid to think that they were mocking her, but she still felt that way. Keira crushed the card in her hand and almost threw it into the pond, but then she stopped. It might come in useful, despite how against using it she was. She still had no idea what she was going to do, so having a backup plan wouldn’t be a bad idea. So, pressing the incredible urge to get rid of it, she slowly slipped the card back into her pocket. Then she picked up the wood she had set down and continued to move as she had before. The card felt like it was burning a hole in her pocket, she knew why. Over the past week she had been thinking of a way to fulfil her deal with minimal damage, and then a supernatural being comes out of nowhere and offers her a compromise. She didn’t trust it. And she won’t settle for a compromise.

With the impulsive anger in her mind being supressed, another emotion reared its head and allowed her thoughts to clear. Spite. She didn’t need Gastele’s help, and she wasn’t going to let Palotl terrorise her. So, she started a list in her mind.

There were a few things that needed to be done. First and foremost she needed to find what could replace a human in the ritual, but as she had no idea where to start with that, she needed another point to start from. Keira felt herself reflecting on all of her encounters with these entities, on all of them. Palotl had mentioned that something prevented the initial ritual from going forward, that someone had protected her. Maybe if she found this person, she could get the information she needed. She only needed to covertly ask everyone she had ever had contact with whether or not they knew magic… Okay, maybe she had no idea where to start with that either.

Although… It had been a few days since she and Morgan had witnessed the interaction between the delivery woman and Archer, and they hadn’t really spoken much after. Which was why it was a pleasant surprise when he and Iris asked to meet up tomorrow. Keira had decided that when they meet up she was going to tell them about the small caveat to her ‘kidnapping’ case, or at least try to, but she was nervous. She liked spending time with her friends, found it relaxing, but they might think that she was insane, and Keira couldn’t really ignore that possibility. Hopefully it goes well though. They were her friends after all, so they might help her regardless of their opinion on the legitimacy.

The camp clean-up came to an end and they all sat around in the positions they were sat in at the start, and one by one the parents came to pick up the kids. Keira didn’t pay much attention to this though; she had been busy mulling the interaction over and over again in her head. When she finally resigned herself to think about it another time, as now was time for her to relax despite the fact that she wasn’t feeling too relaxed, she noticed that there were only two people left. Her and Naima.

Most of the leaders had already left, and the one who had stayed behind was looking a little antsy. Looking like they wanted to go home as soon as possible. Naima didn’t look too fussed about it. She was shuffling through the cards she brought, occasionally pulling one out to look at, and then scowl. A car that Keira didn’t recognise pulled into the car park and out came a middle-aged man.

“Naima! How was Pioneers?” She didn’t respond though. She merely huffed and walked past his open arms and into the car. The man seemed disheartened by this but entered the car after her quickly.

Her plan to have a break before tomorrow had kind of failed. It looked like she would have to face her friends without being mentally prepared for it. Keira was pulled out of her lamenting when her father finally arrived. She went home that night with a lot on her mind.