Someone was approaching.

Of course, just because someone was approaching didn't necessarily mean it had anything to do with him.

It could be anyone, not a pursuer.

Not necessarily, but...

After the spectacle he had formed in the middle of the city, he didn't think a normal person would quietly walk out into the woods. Alone. Without worrying.

Besides, it would be too convenient.

Desmond was already prepared to fight.

Because he had been fighting for a lifetime, and he didn't expect anything else from life.

In fact, he could hardly even imagine that peaceful, happy future with Abigail, with the person most important to him. Away from the world.

Couldn't imagine a life without having to fight.

He gripped the sword with both hands.

Desmond didn't need two hands to handle the sword as if it weighed nothing.

But, still, he gripped it that way.

Someone's coming, and when he does, I'll....

The underbrush parted.

Desmond swung the sword"

And stopped it with the same menacing immediacy, only millimeters away from making the biggest mistake of his life.

It wasn't a pursuer who had appeared.

It was not a threat to him.

It was a little girl. What's more, he knew her.

"Emerald." Desmond lowered his sword. "I'm sorry."

He had been this close to killing her. To break her in half.

Without checking if the person who was about to appear was a threat, without caring.

His instinct had won the inner battle.

And his instinct was that of a killer, not a hero. He felt indescribably disappointed in himself.

Despite what he had been about to do, there was strangely not a trace of fear on the girl's face.

As if she hadn't believed for a moment that the blow would connect.

She was standing there, firmly. Staring at him.

Anyone else's legs would be shaking, probably. But this girl hadn't even flinched.

"It's okay. I understand that you're... ready to jump at any moment."

"Yeah. Sorry, again. What are you doing here?"

It sounded a little rough, maybe.

Like he was kicking her out.

Like what?

That's what he should do. Her staying in his company was dangerous. Desmond didn't want her to pay for being around a criminal.

Emerald had stolen, besides. For survival, which made him more than justified.

But the guards wouldn't care about that.

Even though she was but a child.

And too many stories, too many, he'd heard about the guards as a child.

He hadn't lived in this city.

Still, people were the same everywhere.

He doubted the guards in this city were any different.

"I wanted to see how you were doing," the girl replied.

"Why?"

The girl blinked.

"What do you mean, why? You gave me money. You gave me food. I owe you."

"Ah, yes." He felt a sense of duty. She understood it, but hoped it wouldn't get her into trouble. But you don't have to feel obligated to pay it back.

"Oh, yes." The sense of duty. He understood it, but hoped it wouldn't get her into trouble. But you don't need to feel obligated to give it back. "Listen, I didn't do what I did expecting something in return. I told you that, didn't I?"

Emerald frowned.

"It doesn't matter. Not to me."

"... I see. You're a good girl."

Emerald took it well, for which he was grateful. It was an easy phrase to take badly, now that she thought about it.

The girl looked around, as if searching for something.

"By the way, who were you talking to?"

Oh, right. That.

Desmond deliberated for a moment. And decided it wouldn't do any harm to tell her the truth."

"With people far away from here, through magic."

Emerald nodded. Accepting his explanation without further ado.

He supposed that in the eyes of a child, magic could do everything. Or so much that the distinction between all and a lot was useless. An adult, more cautious, with greater knowledge of the world, would have refused to accept such a thing. Because it could not be. Because there was no such magic.

Yet it was the reasoning of a child that had led Emerald to the correct answer. So who was the truly intelligent person? Once again, Desmond silently contemplated how much was lost when one stopped being a child.

"Are they here? I don't see them, but you do?"

"That's right. "And they were. Abigail and Amy were silently watching this conversation, under the shade of the cave.

The girl nodded again.

"You should go."

Emerald looked hurt.

"You must have heard about it. Last night, in the port, I made a big mess. And on top of that just today I got into trouble in the middle of the city. I was hunted, I probably still am."

"I know. That's why I was looking for you. That's why I was worried."

"Then, you must understand that it's dangerous to be with me. I'm saying it for your own good."

"Yes. "Yes, but... "Emerald looked away. She took a deep breath, looked back at him, "I didn't come just to see how you were doing. You... you want to go to the Empire, don't you?"

So she'd heard about that.

Well, he wasn't surprised.

Desmond nodded.

"It's a ship that goes almost every day on a trip there. You could sneak on."

"Almost every day? What for?"

If they went almost every day, this could be important beyond his rescue mission. He wasn't a soldier of the Empire. He was a soldier of Abigail. Of his savior, of his mother, of his goddess. Of his... of his... everything, everything, everything! But...

"They go to whores," Emerald answered, without a second thought.

It was shocking to hear a word like that from a ten"year"old girl, but not surprising.

It didn't surprise him because she had insisted over and over again that she wasn't selling herself, seeing that he was being nice to her, in her eyes, for no reason.

Evidently a girl in a situation like hers knew the meaning of some words that shouldn't even ring a bell.

She was well aware of how stark and harsh reality was.

"Whores?"

"To have sex," the girl explained as if he didn't know what that was, looking at him strangely.

"I know. I know, but... With women of the Empire?"

Emerald stiffened up.

"I'm telling you the truth! I wouldn't lie to you!"

"Don't worry. I believe you, it just disgusts me that they're... fraternizing with the enemy. So to speak."

He would never enjoy, or even think about, laying a hand on someone from the Empire.

It would be like lying with an animal.

Something only the insane would do. A disgusting crime.

"What's the name of the ship?"

"The Gorgon."

Gorgon. A mythological female monster that turned people to stone with her gaze.

And they used that boat for whoring.

Of all things.

Maybe he was thinking too hard, but maybe he wasn't. Maybe it was a dirty joke. And in bad taste.

The more I hear about this, the worse it gets, he thought.

"I thank you from the bottom of my heart, Emerald. Really, thank you so much."

He didn't know what to do, but now he had a clear objective.

Was he just going to trust her?

Emerald had no reason to lie to him. On the contrary, he had done nothing but help her since she arrived in this city.

Even killing Roman had been helping her, in a way.

Freeing her from being under the power of a man like that.

And giving her the means to get ahead on her own, if she used them well.

Desmond had no reason to doubt Emerald.

So now his path was clear. No, he had a path in the first place, when before he had had nothing but fear and dark doubts.

So he could not be more grateful, naturally.

But Emerald looked at him as if she couldn't even begin to understand his reaction. She wasn't upset or even angry, just confused. For some reason.

"Why are you thanking me?"

"Because, well. Because I'm grateful." It sounded like he was mocking her, almost.

Or at least it sounded like it to him.

But he hadn't found a better way to express the point. I mean, it was that simple.

"It doesn't make sense. You've given me plenty of food. It might last me months. And the money... More than I could ever have dreamed of. I haven't done enough yet, not nearly enough, for you to have to thank me for anything. It's..."

She frowned, concentrating on finding the right word.

"Natural," she said, and returned to the expression from before.

Like her words, her face reflected adoration.

An expression of adoration that he found...

Uncomfortable.

"So this is the girl you gave my money to, in the end," Amy said as soon as Emerald left.

It didn't sound like an accusation. It wasn't.

Nor was it a question, for that matter.

"Yes." But Desmond answered as if it was.

"I'm glad. Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm glad it happened that way."

He paused.

"So am I."

——

"What are you going to do now?" Amy asked him.

"The only thing I can do. Wait for the night. Then I'll sneak in and... Stealth may not be my thing, but the ships are big, I'm sure I can find a place to hide. Until the time comes."

"Yeah. I wish you luck."

"Thanks. "He paused. He ran the back of one hand over his face, wiping away the sweat. "I love you. Both of you. I love you with all my heart. Tell her."

Amy smiled.

"I'll tell him. But we both know, okay?"

"I know. But it's good to hear it, even if you already know."

"It's true." Amy bit her lower lip. "I'll stay with you until night."

"That sounds great."

——

And so they did, and it was good. But all good things came to an end. That was the truth of this world.

Whereas when it came to evil, he wasn't so sure.

But well.

The time had come. The night had arrived.

Desmond stood up, took a deep breath.

Amy's expression had changed as soon as it got dark. The smile disappeared from her face.

From hers too.

"Goodbye. No, see you later."

Amy smiled again. But a smile as small and fragile as glass.

A pale reflection of the smile before, while the three of them had been having a conversation.

"See you later, Desmond."

——

Under the cover of night, Desmond stepped back into the hated city that, so far, had brought him little more than bitter disappointment and terror.

He hoped it wouldn't happen again.

He hoped he wouldn't arrive at the harbor to discover that The Gorgon wasn't stranded there, but had already departed.

Or that they hadn't yet made the return trip.

That the merrymaking was continuing, because the night was young.

It had been difficult to make the decision to wait, but in the end he had done so because he had no choice really.

In fact, it would be difficult to do what he wanted.

For the day, however...

For the day it would be completely impossible.

So he had to wait. Whether he liked it or not. And despite the disadvantages.

It was not like that.

The boat he was looking for was where it needed to be. It wasn't hard to spot it since, living up to its name, the mast was a gorgon.

It didn't show much imagination. But then again, what else could it be?

——

Sneaking onto the boat presented no major problems.

There weren't many people to begin with. Neither inside nor outside. But he also had an advantage that no normal stowaway would have.

That was, of course, Abigail.

No one but him could see her. But she could move and see normally.

She could get ahead of him, observe and guide him based on what she encountered.

Thus he reached the hold of the ship. He settled into the darkness (though nothing was true darkness to him) and waited. He didn't have to wait long. After a few hours, perhaps, or maybe longer, if he had fallen asleep, which was always possible... In any case, within a time that didn't seem long to him, he heard and felt the ship get underway.

It could be early morning.

It could still be night.

In the hold, he had no way of checking the passage of time. But the ship's march over the waters was a sure thing. He trusted Emerald, that the ship was used for such a thing. And he had already been through the worst of it. So now he just had to stay where he was and wait to be taken to his destination.

"Here I come, mom," he whispered into the stillness of the darkness.

Abigail's smile was like the sunrise.

"Yes. There's less and less to go. Soon it will be... the promised moment."

They both wanted that moment with the same intensity. How could they not? After all, their hearts were beating as one. When the ship stopped, he sent Abigail to check the situation. After all, just because they had stopped didn't mean they had reached their real destination....

"They are disembarking," Abigail told him, literally entering through one of the walls of the hold. Like a ghost.

But, in this case, it was. So he got moving. Despite his best efforts, and Abigail's help, he didn't manage to remain unnoticed for long. Just as he was about to leave the deck, someone put a hand on his shoulder.

"I don't know if it's because I'm already too drunk or what. But I have no idea who this turd is."

Turd? Son of a bitch. Many heads turned in his direction. Desmond pulled his hand away from his shoulder. Although he hadn't done it with much force, the man staggered, almost ending up on the ground. It would be comical if he wasn't in a situation like this.

"Listen. I don't want any trouble. If you don't tell anyone I'm here, then...."

"Trouble?"

A man approached him.

"Captain, you never told me you had a twin brother," said the other guy next to him, by way of greeting.

So it was the captain.

"Yeah, sure. Anyway, kid. Trouble? Why?" He put an arm around his shoulder. "I understand you."

"You understand me?"

He was too confused to feel threatened, at the moment.

There was something he wasn't understanding here.

Or... maybe it wasn't him who didn't understand.

"Of course. You're young, full of energy. And you want to know how a woman feels. Everyone was like that. In fact, some had only recently stopped feeling that curiosity."

There was a chorus of laughter.

"So you fit right in here, kiddo. Fuck, it's on me. What do you say? Come with us to get your dick wet?"

Did he really have to talk like that? Desmond stifled a grimace.

"Sure. And thanks."

The captain gave him a vigorous pat on the back. Energetic enough to take his breath away.

"You're welcome, kid, you're welcome! Come on, by all means." He headed toward the crowd. Without letting go yet, "Come on, lads! We've got a new cabin boy on board today. You'd better behave yourselves. But, you know, not too well. Gotta keep up the image."

They got underway.

He did the same, letting himself be carried along.

This...

This was not what he had expected.

He would find a time to slip away. For now, he just had to play along.