“Your gun,” Thalia said to Jon.

Right. Oops.

“Gun?” Hector looked at Jon. “Jon, where’s your gun?”

Jon didn't want to embarrass himself with an answer, so he swiftly walked back to the store.

He found it thankfully without too much effort. When he arrived, his gun was still on the table. However, standing at the table was the waitress, who looked like she hadn’t moved from her spot.

Standing next to her was a man wearing all black and an apron. They both hovered over the gun on the table, staring at it.

“Excuse me…” Jon said, pulling out his money.

The waitress looked up. “It’s you… you… this gun…"

“Hey, Jon what’s this?” Hector wasn’t too far behind. “Wait, did you leave your gun here?”

He looked at Jon’s money pouch. “What’s that?”

“Money,” Jon said.

“Did that woman give you that?” Hector’s eyebrows arched. “Don’t spend that woman’s money!”

Hector swiped at the bag, but Jon swiftly pulled his hand out of the way.

“Mine,” Jon said. He hadn’t expected his own actions.

Hector was mildly taken aback. “I…”

Jon frowned. He had forgotten that he didn’t wanna work with that woman in ther first place. He looked at the bag warily.

Did she get me to do what she wanted? Like Hector warned?

Hector checked his hips. “No, hold on to your money…”

“Here.” Mallory, who had caught up to them, tossed a bag to Hector.

Hector caught it and held it out to the waitress. “Here you go.”

“Thank you…” The woman took the bag, but her gaze stared on the gun.

Jon pulled the gun off the table. Life flashed back into both the woman and the man’s eyes.

“Sorry,” Jon said. He and Hector left.

“Look, Jon,” Hector began as they walked down the street. The sun was setting, and the crowd had mostly dispersed. “You keep your money you earned. I know you haven’t gotten your money yet. So, as long as you’re around me, you can use my money, alright? You won’t have to use anyone else’s money again.”

“...Alright,” Jon said. He remembered Hector telling Jocasta that he didn’t have much in the ways of money. Jon thought about investigating this thought further, but he decided instead just to accept that it was Hector’s kindness.

Mallory came to their side. Thalia and Milo also came by. They walked in silence back to the library.

“Jon?”

‘Hmm?” The whisper came from his right. Thalia had come to his side.

“Hector,” she began. “Is he… your friend?”

“Yeah,” Jon said simply. “He’s my friend.”

With that, Thalia jogged up to Hector’s side.

“How long have you and Jon been friends for?” she asked.

“Huh? I dunno?” Hector shrugged. “We’ve been friends a while.”

“About a month?” Mallory suggested.

“What? That’s it?” Hector looked at his friend. “It hasn’t even been a month? It's felt like years.”

“Yeah, Jon’s infectious like that,” Mallory shrugged.

Hector looked back at Thalia. “Yeah, well, Jon’s my friend, and I’d trust him with my life. That’s it. Anything else?”

“Nope. That’s it.” Thalia switched forward.

Hector looked at Mallory, and they exchanged glares.

“What?” Hector asked.

“The girl obviously is trying to get to know you!” Mallory said

Hector sighed. “You’re with the Antique family, right? In the region.”

Thalia nodded quickly. “Yep.”

“And you… why are you here?” he asked.

“Because I want to be able to defend myself. Like… Jon… I mean... You.”

Hector raised his eyebrow. “It was your choice?”

“Yes!”

“Hmph.” Hector grimaced. “Wow. Okay. Uh, congratulations. You know Jon well?”

“He saved me,” Thalia repeated. Jon felt awkward every time she repeated that. He still believed she saved herself and he just helped more with cleaning up.

“Wow. Jon is definitely a capable guy. When did he-”

“On the mission!” Mallory called.

“Huh. Yeah…”

“Well, I’m glad you’re living by his example,” Hector added. “Has Callach proven a capable teacher?”

“Ehh…” Thalia wagged her hand. “Callach is old. Sometimes, I don’t think he knows what century he’s in. The library is pretty cool, though.”

“Right?” Hector gave a smile, catching Jon off guard so much eh nearly drew his gun. “They have some pretty epic fighting manuals. Not the same as practical experience, but…”

“He told me about when he was training you,” Thalia continued. “He said that you had very strong mana, but you would set him on fire-”

“Hey! That was an accident!” Hector replied. Mallory was already laughing out loud, though.

There was a half sigh of relief from Jon when they stepped onto the grass plaza. It was like being in safe territory again.

“How was your day, Jon?” Mallory asked, finally getting closer to Jon’s side. “Crazy day, huh” Are the kids a lot?”

Jon nodded furiously.

They hadn’t made it inside when Milo flew in front of the group, stopping them approaching.

“Fight me!” Milo yelled.

Huh?

“No.” Hector walked past him.

They followed Hector into the library entrance. Milo flew in front of Hector again.

“Fight me!”

“No!” With his voice a little louder, Hector tried to trudge on through.

This time, Milo dropped himself, landing on his feet right in front of Hector. Much like Hector had done earlier, Milo stood without fear in front of the man.

“Fight me!” Milo yelled again. “Why don’t you fight me?”

Hector muttered something under his breath, but easily pushed Milo out of the way.

Milo grabbed Hector’s arm. “Look at me when I’m talking to you!”

Hector turned around and whipped his arm out of Milo’s grasp. Jon hated that being inside of the building didn’t mean they were safe to relax.

“This isn’t a conversation,” Hector said simply. “I’m not picking on a kid.”

Hector set off towards the center of the library.

“...Don’t patronize me!”

Hector stopped.

“Don’t act like you care about me!” Milo stepped up towards Hector’s back. “If you actually cared-”

“Fine!” Hector turned. “You want to fight me?

“Yeah!” Milo yelled.

“You wanna get hurt again?”

“I wanna get stronger!” Milo yelled.

“Getting hurt isn’t gonna make you stronger!” Hector yelled back. “Getting hurt is getting hurt!”

“Then teach me!” Milo hovered barely above the ground and moved until he was in front of Hector once more.

“I can’t teach you to be… stronger…” Hector scratched his head. “It just… happens.”

“Hector,” Malloy crossed his arms. It was the first time he had spoken up. Jon had expected Mallory not to say anything at all.

“You, of all people, are saying this? Now I think I’m disappointed?”

“Don’t you think if I knew how to get stronger I would-” Hector stopped. “Why do you wanna get stronger? You’re surrounded by-”

“None of these people can do anything!” Milo cried. “Nobody here can fight! If we get attacked, do you know who’s gonna step up and protect the library? Callach?”

“Uh, no…” Hector began. Milo didn’t let him finish.

“Me!” Milo yelled. “Me! Just me! Just me stands between all of these rabble and sure destruction! Why wouldn’t I want to be stronger?”

“Why don’t you ask Mallory?” Hector began. “He-”

“Uh-huh.” Mallory shook his head. “That’s all you bro. He’s not asking me. He’s asking you.”

Hector groaned. “I…-”

“Can I join?” Thalia ran up to Hector and saluted. She was so quiet; Jon had forgotten she was there.

“You?” Hector asked. “But you’re just a-”

“Hector, you have 4 sisters who can kick your ass, so shut up!”

Hector sighed. “Fine. Um… go eat dinner or something. We can train tomorrow.”

“Yeah!” Thalia pumped her arms.

“Why do you want to be stronger?” Hector asked.

“Because I want to be with-” Thalia stopped talking. “I mean, I need to be able to protect my family too. They almost died just a couple of weeks ago.”

“Alright.” Hector bobbed his head. “Well, get some good food and rest. We’ll start early tomorrow. Like… uh…”

“Meet us at the circle right before noon,” Mallory said.

“Right!” They both cried. Milo flew off to dinner. Thalia hesitated.

"Jon," she said.

Jon raised his eyebrow.

"I'm sorry... if Jocasta made you... do things for her."

Jon shook his head. "It's okay. It's fine."

"Okay!" Thalia went off after Milo.

Jon sighed. He looked at the two men.

“Dinner?” Mallory asked.

Jon shook his head. He was tired.

“You can take the bed in my room,” Hector said. “We’ll set you up. Just go through those doors.”

He pointed to a tall set of double doors. Jon nodded. He was too tired to be anxious. He kept going until he found what looked like the room he needed.

He stepped inside and saw the familiar large room, trudging through until he tipped over onto the bed.

He didn’t remember going to sleep. When he woke up, the room was dark. He looked up and saw the night sky through the window.

He wondered how long he slept. The sun hadn’t even been fully down when he landed. He was worried if he had thrown off his sleeping schedule.

Since he wasn’t able to go back to sleep, he stood up and left the room. He guesstimated his way back to Mallory’s workroom. Sure enough, the mage was there, writing.

Mallory looked back over his shoulder when Jon entered and put finger on his lips to shush him.

Jon was kind of astonished, as he was about to say "hi" and didn’t think he was interrupting.

Mallory pointed to the side.

Jon looked in that direction. Hector was leaning back in the sack seat. Jon was amazed that Jon didn’t hear him snoring.

Mallory beckoned him to join him at the table, and so Jon did, sitting across from Mallory.

“He decided to join me tonight,” Mallory said quietly. “I think he noticed things have been weird too.”

Jon nodded and grimaced.

“Those kids tired you out, didn’t they?”

“Yeah,” Jon said. He hadn’t actually done that much exercise.

“That’s normal,” Mallory said, continuing to write. “You’ve ever had to babysit before?”

Jon shook his head. He was used to being the youngest person in the room.

“Yeah. They just… something about them. They can get themselves hurt at any time. Especially when you have mana wielding hotheads like these ones.”

“Hmmm…” Jon simmered with that thought.

“What do I do?” Jon asked him.

“You learn to trust them,” Mallory answered. “It’s that simple. Doesn’t mean it’s easy.”

Jon nodded.

“By the way, that girl, Thalia.” Mallory looked up from his book. “She has a weapon, doesn’t she? She’s like you?”

“Yeah,” Jon said. “Dagger.”

“Huh. Okay.” He looked back down and continued writing. “Be careful with her.”

Jon’s forehead tightened. “Why?”

“Why? Because, Jon,” Mallory looked back up and saw Jon’s bewildered expression.

“Oh yeah. I guess… “ Mallory bobbed his head. “She’s fond of you Jon. Quite fond. You guys have a lot in common, you saved her life. I guess… she wants you to think highly of her, Jon.”

Me? Jon didn’t think he was worth impressing.

“I can already see it in your face,” Mallory said. “She looks up to you, and because of that, you gotta be careful. She’s throwing a lot into your hands.”

“Okay. I will.”

Mallory smiled. “I know you will. Now, is there anything else you want to talk about?”

Jocasta.

“That woman…” Jon began.

Mallory chuckled. “Yeah. About that… you know how Hector won that tournament. To get his armor?”

Jon nodded.

“Hector used to go to tournaments all the time. It was a big thing. He would travel. Heck, sometimes, he even went by himself. This was before he joined the King’s Guard. He, uh…”

Mallory nodded. “He was this legend. He would come into a village, do good at a tournament and leave. Sometimes, he faked a loss so that he didn’t get too much attention. Sometimes, he just got his ass kicked. I was spending more time around the house by then, but he rarely brought me along.”

Jon was intrigued in this retelling of Hector’s younger self. It sounded weird to think that Hector was having fun. Fun wasn’t something Jon equated with Hector.

“Yeah. He never stayed around to enjoy them. But listen…”

Mallory leaned in. Jon leaned in as well.

“The first time he brought me with him… He… uhh… He won, and then I jumped up and cheered. I uh…” Mallory scratched the back of his head. “Everyone else started cheering. And then… He was there, keeling on the ground, and, uh, smiled. And then we spent the night there. And then he was carried away somewhere. And…”

Mallory cocked his head in Hector’s direction. “I’m not saying he had a little bit of fun that night. But I think that’s what happened.”

Jon raised his eyebrow.

“When we came back, he promised me not to say anything, and then that’s when he really started trusting me. I think the reason he feels bad is because this was the same time that he and Cecilia…”

Mallory folded his hands together.

Jon kept waiting for Mallory to explain.

Mallory sighed. “Hector and Cecilia would spend time together. First training, and then, other things. I walked in on them making out. I don’t know how far they got. Hector assured me that he wasn’t going to go that far. But I know Hector was scared to make anything official, because any royalty-wise gets complicated, but…” Mallory nodded. “I’m pretty sure he did something at that tournament, and because of that, he cut himself off from Cecilia completely.”

Mallory folded his arms. “I think about that day a lot, and with some distance, I wonder if it was my fault.”

“It’s not your fault.”

Jon and Mallory jumped in their chairs. They turned to Hector. He still looked like he was asleep.

“That’s enough fun stuff for tonight,” Mallory said. “How about you make a journal?”

Jon raised his eyebrow.

“Yeah! Right now. Grab one of those books. They’re blank!” Mallory pointed to the bookshelf nearby. A bunch of books were lined up, not completely filling up the shelf they sat on.

After some reservations, Jon walked over and reached up, shifting though the books. He found one with a blue spine and pulled it out.

It was nice and thin, so that it wasn’t overwhelming, but full enough to where it felt suitable for hdolind memories.

Jon brought the book back to the desk.

“Good. Materials are underneath the desk.”

Underneath?

Jon leaned over to look underneath the table to the floor.

“The table, Jon.”

Jon sat back up and patted the bottom of the table. He found a handle, then pulled.

A drawer came out the side, and a whole bunch of writing utensils rolled around inside as he opened it.

He shuddered. Writing was always Ben’s thing.

“What do I write?” Jon asked.

“Anything. Just leave a record.”

Jon didn’t know how he was going to write everything that happened. He stared into the drawer until he realized that some of the utensils were colored.

Huh.

He pulled out several colors and put it on the side of his journal, then closed the drawer back.

Mallory looked back up to see Jon picking up a colored utensil.

“Yep. Of course.” Mallory shook his head.

“Huh?”

“Nothing. You do you.”

Jon nodded and began coloring. The first thing that came to memory was the giant monster. Jon started with the pitch-black pencil, which was different from the usual pencil for writing. He made a large general outline before just scribbling lines back and forth to color it in. When he finished, the monster took up most of the page.

Right.

He flipped the page.

Mercy. Black.

Jon began coloring again. He started with the legs, as that was the most concentrated part of black. Once he colored what seemed to be a pair of pants, he made some space and drew what was partially resembling her top. With some thought, Jon realized that Mercy’s top, while cut off of her midriff, wasn’t anywhere near as revealing on the top half. He was glad, as he didn't want to have to think about having to avert his gaze. He then blushed when he realized that he was thinking about her chest, and just continued with his thoughts.

Hair. Yellow.

He grabbed a yellow pencil and colored long hair around a non-existent face. After that, he took up the black pencil again and colored it in a small block representing her tool.

He took the yellow again and drew lines representing her midriff between her pants and top. However, he didn’t know what to do.

I can’t draw faces.

Jon was also embarrassed that he had never looked at Mercy’s shoes. It wasn’t a detail he ever sought to find out. Black would probably be a safe option.

“Is that Mercy?”

Jon smiled before he looked up at Mallory.

“Rad. Uh, no face?”

Jon shook his head.

“It looks cooler that way, anyways. Go to the next one. Hector?”

Jon nodded. “Hector.”

After adding the black that were her arm warmers, Jon was satisfied and moved on to Hector. Hector was easy enough. Jon went strength for the gold armor, hoping Hector would forgive Jon for starting as such.

After drawing the large “t” that was Hector’s upper body, he drew the pants, and then he took a red pencil and colored in Hector’s hair.

“Is that me?”

Jon jumped up once more and slammed the journal.

Hector was standing over his shoulder.

“I really look that bright?” Hector asked.

“Dude, you’re a walking sun,” Malory said, eyes not lifted from his book. “Everyone turns to you whenever you walk in the room.”

“Yeah, but…” Hector looked down at his legs and sighed. “Yeah, they’re gold too, aren’t they?”

Jon figured he was done for tonight anyways. He stood up.

“You should talk,” Jon said. “To Mallory. About your feelings.”

“Feelings?” Hector said. “I feel fine."

Jon shook his head. “You feel responsible.”

Hector’s throat cracked. “Thanks, Jon,” he whispered gratefully.

Jon nodded. He then turned off back to Hector’s room, not worrying about the time anymore before throwing himself to bed.