Ariadne had the audacity to look stunned, in disbelief. As if she had done no wrong and Naymond was overreacting. Naymond had been angry a few times since coming to this world. Mostly, his emotions hung between amusement, intrigue, and fun.

Especially since he'd left the employ of War.

There weren't a lot of things that could keep him on his toes outside the chaos of Oaths. With the Oaths, his jovial personality hid his worries and fears. No one knew how to deal with you if you were always full of jokes and mysteries. Still, he hadn't gotten angry then. It was hard to get angry when your emotions were fear and worry.

In the police department his joviality and sense of fun were real. There were no high stakes, nothing capable of really pushing him. He saw problems from a mile away and thought faster than most people. He used his skills for fun and did whatever he had to do. Life was arguably boring, so he'd entertained himself by disturbing those with power. Heck, he'd once fallen asleep in the commissioner's office and not gotten a scolding.

Today, though, he'd been on his toes. The entire ordeal had been tense. He'd been worried. What would've happened if he hadn't been able to talk Melmarc down. The funny part was that he hadn't felt that way until Aurora had taken a step back, placed herself firmly out of the equation.

She'd given him a rundown on the drive here and he'd factored her into his negotiation. In the worst-case scenario, he'd been counting on her motherly control. She had been his safety net—a failsafe of sorts. Panic had set in when she no longer was.

So, yes! He was angry. He was infuriated. This dumb child had almost ruined years of hard work that he had put into becoming an important part of the higher functions of this world. And why? Because she wanted to bully a kid that refused to be bullied.

Naymond grit his teeth, his anger growing. His hand shook beside him, balled into a fist. Everyone was stupid to him. It was a side effect of his class and some of the skills he had. But in their stupidity, he watched everyone try to not be stupid. It was one of the few good things about people.

They didn't want to be stupid, they just often didn't know that they were. But you saw them logically moving away from stupidity, even if not very quickly.

But Ariadne?

Ariadne didn't even know in what direction stupid wasn't if you pointed it out with neon signs. She challenged stupidity for superiority and came out on top. Every. Single. Time.

How can someone be so stupid?

Naymond couldn't fathom it, couldn't understand it. And now she had the gall to be shocked by his reaction to her stupidity? As if he was supposed to pat her on the back and commend it?

It grated at him to know he housed a fool so stupidly incompetent at being human. Someone who lacked a proper sense of survival. Someone who didn't understand that fear existed to teach humans how to survive so that they lived long enough for courage to teach them how to evolve.

It just didn't make sense. Incompetent stupidity just wasn't…

FOR FUCKS SAKE!!!!!!!!!!

He slapped her again.

He threw his hands up in exasperated anger and turned away from her. "Why are you the wrong kind of stupid?" He kicked the couch he had been sitting on with enough force to send it toppling over. "Why can't you be proper stupid… or just plain old stupid."

She rushed him.

He turned with precision, [World of Insight] telling him everything he needed to know, and kicked her in the shin.

She staggered, thrown off balance, and fell to the ground past him.

"Tell me," he said, standing over her. "Do you even understand what just happened to you today? Do you?"

She was quiet, staring at him as if he had just betrayed her, completely ignorant of the fact that despite it all, she had just tried to attack him.

"This is not a rhetorical question, Ariadne," he said, trying to calm himself before he succumbed to the overwhelming urge to hit her stupidity again. She wasn't the cause of his ire, her stupidity was. "Do you even understand what you did wrong?"

The question seemed to shake her out of her confusion. She firmed her resolve and her face hardened.

"I did nothing wrong," she declared. "I wasn't the one at fault here. Maybe I started it, but he took it too far. Who goes this far just because someone tried to check their class?"

Naymond's eyes widened in disbelief. "For the love of the dead, Ariadne! You've lived in the slums! You get killed for JUST looking at a motherfucker wrong!"

She shrunk away from his raised voice.

"How?" Naymond ran a hand through his hair. "Just how are you still alive? How have you lived this long?"

"From being strong and smart."

"Smart?" Naymond chuckled even though nothing was funny. "You're as smart as poorly made sandwich cut incorrectly."

Ariadne scowled at him but didn't move from the ground. At least she had enough brain cells to know better than to attack again. Naymond wasn't good with monsters, but humans weren't on his list of problems.

He moved over to another couch and sat down. He ran his hands through his hair.

"You have no idea how much trouble you've caused," he muttered.

Ariadne got up from the ground, dusting herself. The painkiller was still working. She moved awkwardly but she showed no pain. But the absence of pain was not the absence of damage. She should know that.

If she did not remember it, Naymond certainly wasn't going to remind her.

"I don't see why you're so worried," she said after dusting herself off. "You were able to talk him out of doing anything stupid. You saved me, and no matter what you just said, I am grateful for that."

Naymond snorted. "You're, like, stupid, stupid, aren't you?"

"Nay—"

"Are you so stupid that you do not understand?" Naymond looked up at her, looked into her eyes. He chuckled darkly as realization dawned on him. "You don't."

"You talked him out of it," she huffed. "I might not have understood what was happening, but I know what you did."

Naymond shook his head solemnly. "You do not live by my colorful sense of persuasion, Ariadne. You live because the boy spared you. Know this…" He stood up and walked up to her, looked deep into her eyes. "You live. Because. He. Willed. It."

"I'm not scared of him, Naymond. You can't make me scared of him."

Naymond turned away from her. If he could have a headache, she would be giving him one right now. He walked over to the back of the chair and placed his hands on the back rest.

He shook his head once more. He wondered what food they had in the house. It was not important.

"You should be scared of him," he told her. "It's common sense."

"I may spend my time in the slums, Naymond, but don't underestimate me." She pointed an angry finger at him, practically shoved it at him. "You seem to forget the that the dregs aren't the only ones you find in the slums. I've got friends in high places."

Naymond chuckled.

She was always a fool, wasn't she?

"You've got friends in high places?" He shook his head. "The people you almost messed with today are the high places. Let's hope you get smart as the days go by."

Ariadne paused. It seemed a modicum of sense had slipped into her brain. Then it was gone, replaced by her stubborn expression.

"I know that look," Naymond said simply. "I empathize with it. I really do. But you'll have to stew somewhere else."

She paused, stunned to silence. "Somewhere else?"

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"Yes," Naymond answered. "I am no longer willing to house you, Ariadne." He shooed her away with a flick of the wrist. "Return to wherever I got you from. Your days under my protection are over. Leave."

"Wait. You're kicking me out?" She looked befuddled. "Because of that kid? You can't, Nay."

Naymond shook his head. "I can't but I have. Go to the door and keep walking. Send Anji your location and he'll have your things sent over to you."

"What if it's not on the map?" she said in a weak voice. Her voice cracked. "What if it's not somewhere a map can get a courier to?"

Her eyes were soft. Worry stained her face. Her lips quivered but she stiffened up her upper lip.

Naymond closed his heart to her pain, to her fear. "If that's the case, then Anji will bring it to you himself."

Ariadne stepped back. Her stubbornness warred with her need to plead. Naymond hoped her stubbornness would win. No amount of pleading would make a difference. All her chaos in the past had affected the lives of others. This time it was going to affect his.

He could not have that, not with the fate of his world tied to it.

"This isn't fair," she said, walking towards the door while still facing him. "I've done nothing wrong."

"You always do something wrong, Ariadne," Naymond disagreed, growing tired of the entire conversation. "The problem is that you don't learn from them."

She was at the door now. She stopped there, hesitant. After a moment, her stubbornness won and she left.

Naymond said nothing, did nothing. He counted to ten in his head before speaking.

"You can come out now, Anji."

The boy obeyed, stepping out from a corner of the house.

Naymond gave him a kind smile. "You had to know that I was aware."

"I'm more worried about how you could be so easily harsh," Anji answered, standing where he was. "I've been begging you to kick her out for ages. Why was this any different?"

"Would you believe me if I said that it's because she almost got you killed?"

Anji chuckled awkwardly. "You really think Melmarc can take the both of us?"

"Didn't he already do that?" Naymond raised a brow. "You were struggling to keep your eyes open when I came."

Anji shivered visibly. "One moment I was attacking him, the next I was on the ground. He didn't even touch me." He shook his head as if dispelling the thought. "Never seen the likes."

"Aura skills aren't very popular, but there are people who have them at his rank."

"But you said she almost got me killed," Anji clarified. "You think he had it in him?"

"That kid probably has everything in him. That's what makes him worrying."

Naymond moved around the chair and sat down. He hung his head back against the backrest and sighed.

"You know she's not just going to take this whole thing lying down, right?" Anji asked, still not moving from where he was. "She's going to lash out, try something."

"I know." Naymond pinched the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger. "She was always like that. Her older brother never liked it, bless his soul. But I've got you for that."

Anji paused. "Me?"

"Yes, you. She will reach out to you to bring her things. You will take them to her and befriend her."

"You do remember that I've been an advocate for kicking her out, right?"

"Right. But you're going to bond over the fact that I almost kicked you out, too."

"And why didn't you?"

"Because the boy told me not to, and you don't like the fact that you were almost kicked out when you didn't do anything wrong. You are okay when I make decisions, but not when someone else is making me make decisions."

Anji's expression looked a little worried. "All this is just a story… right? That's not what happened."

"Of course not." Naymond waved his worry aside with a gesture. "Melmarc's not cruel. And I'm not stupid."

Anji sighed in relief. "Thank God. So what happens after that?"

"After that, you keep in touch with her, check up on her. Tell her you're here to help."

"Am I?"

"Yes," Naymond answered. "You'll help within reason. Within your reason. Eventually, she'll ask you to help outside your reason."

"Why?"

"Because it will be about Melmarc and trying to hurt him."

"What do I do then?"

"Everything she asks while reporting to me."

"And Melmarc?"

"Obviously, no harm should come to him."

"And in the end?"

"I'll probably have to talk her out of her madness or send her off somewhere," Naymond said with a sigh. "I hear Romania is not a nice place this time of the year. I'm not sure, Anji. What I know is that she can't cross his path. If she manages to, then I'll have to ship her off to another country. That is something I'm capable of."

Anji shook his head. "That's harsh."

"We live in a harsh world," Naymond said simply. "We don't expect kindness from it, that's why we are kind to people… until we are not."

Anji's phone vibrated in his pocket and he took it out.

"She just sent me her new location," he said, holding the phone up.

Naymond said nothing. In his silence, Anji turned and headed into his room. He paused before disappearing out of sight.

"Nay?"

"Yes, Anji?" Naymond had a lot on his mind now. He'd known Ariadne for years. She had grown on him, even the terrible aspects of her. He would be lying if he said that he wouldn't miss her.

"Who were those people?"

"High places, Anji." Naymond smiled sadly. "High places."

Anji turned and left.

Decisions, decisions, decisions, Naymond thought now that he was alone. There were different ways this could play out in the end. Multiple possibilities. Only one looked conclusive with complete certainty.

I might have to kill her.

…

The car ride was tense. Aurora wasn't sure how exactly to navigate what had just happened. Melmarc had called her asking for help. When she'd gotten to him, he had been in the middle of killing a woman. She had seen it in his eyes. They were just like David's, clear, empty. It was the seriousness of focus.

If they had been later, the girl would've been dead. There was no alternative.

He asked if he should release her and you didn't answer.

She had known that the decision would haunt her when she'd made it, but she had still made it. The mother in her had told her to stop him. He was young. Too young to have the death of someone on his hands.

Melmarc sat in the passenger seat next to her as she took a turn. They'd been driving for five minutes, and he hadn't said a word. Aurora didn't know if he even deserved to be punished. This was not covered in the 'Mother 101' that mothers tended to panic through when they had kids.

"Mom."

Aurora almost started at Melmarc's voice.

"Yes, dear," she answered.

"Why didn't you stop me?"

There had been a part of her that had been hoping that he would not ask that exact question. It was a simple yet complicated question. Why hadn't she stopped him? Because he was his father's son and his mother's son.

Why didn't she stop him? Because she understood him?

Was that even a viable answer to give your own child?

"Did you want me to stop you?" she asked. "In that moment, not now. In that very moment, did you want me to stop you?"

Melmarc didn't answer for a while. He was her thinking son, much unlike his brother. Ark thought a healthy amount, maybe not enough. Melmarc thought an unhealthy amount, definitely too much.

"No," he said in the end, voice resigned. "I didn't."

"Why?" she asked him, treading carefully.

"Because she needed to be punished," he said. It was as simple as that.

"Did she need to die?"

Melmarc frowned. "Possibly."

"But not certainly?"

Melmarc shook his head.

Aurora sighed, paying attention to the road. This was a conversation for her to have, but Dorthna would navigate it better. He had a better understanding of the situation. Still, it was her burden to bear. Whether she liked it or not, whether it was comfortable or not, she was a mother. Come hell or high heavens, it was her burden as well as her joy to bear.

"You want to know why I didn't tell you to stop?" she asked after a while.

Melmarc nodded. "Yes."

"It's because you are slowly becoming more than a child. A parent's job is to lead their children until their children reach a certain stage. When their children reach that stage, their job becomes to guide them. As subtle as it might be, there is a difference in both tasks."

"You were guiding me?"

"I was allowing you make your decision, hoping that you would not make the wrong one." Even as the words left her mouth, she didn't know if she was right or not. "You have become something great, Melly. Something powerful. If your uncle is to be believed, you will one day make decisions that shape worlds."

"I don't want to shape worlds," Melmarc muttered. "Not like this."

"Good people never do," Aurora agreed. "But sometimes, humans are granted positions because they are the best fit for it. When a mother has a child who becomes the owner of a company, they do not hold their hands and tell them what to do. Every mother wants to do that, to take the burden away from their children. It is natural. But sometimes, you wait and watch and let them make their decisions by themselves. It helps them grow into who they are. I could've stopped you, but I didn't."

Aurora was winging it at this point, stringing words together in hopes that they would make sense.

"Why didn't you?" Melmarc asked.

"If I had," she answered slowly. The traffic light turned red and she brought the car to a halt. "You wouldn't know the kind of person you are in such a situation. What you should learn today is that you are not someone trying to kill people, you are someone handing out justice in all fairness. Your inexperience told you that she deserved to die."

Melmarc seemed to shrink at the last sentence.

"Your logic," Aurora pushed on, "when listening to Naymond, told you that there were alternatives. You were faced with difficult decisions, and you chose mercy."

"It doesn't feel like mercy."

"But it was," Aurora said, the remnants of the Oath of War in her peaking out. "The position I found you in told me that her punishment needed to be severe."

"She's not a person that changes for the better."

"That is possibly true, but you made a decision when shown your options." Aurora kicked the car back into drive. "I would've stopped you if I had to. Parents allow children to make their mistakes, but not life changing mistakes. If you had made the wrong choice, I would've stopped you. Trust me on that."

"So, no hand holding anymore."

"For you and your brother," she confirmed. "You two have become important people. The kind of people that need to be able to make decisions by themselves no matter how dire the situation is."

She didn't want it for them, but it was important. It went against every instinct being a mother told her. But while Melmarc was her son, he was something else, something greater. It had taken a while for her to accept it, but she had seen him at that moment and accepted it.

She couldn't raise her sons to be the men she wanted them to be. Not anymore. Those men would not be enough to fill the roles they now carried. She needed to raise them to be the men that they needed to be.

She just had to do it without bringing the world to an end.

Melmarc turned and stared out the window. "What am I becoming?"

Aurora had the answer to that question, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. Her son was becoming something that seemed to be scaring him. She wasn't going to be the one to imply that he suck it up and become that person, even though she felt it was the proper answer.

Proper or not, she was not a mother who would do that.

So, she summoned the person who would. She pulled out her phone with one hand and dialed a number. The call connected.

"Please don't talk," she said to the person. "Just listen and answer." To Melmarc, she spoke softly. "Melly."

"Yes mother." His eyes remained outside.

"Can you ask that question again?"

Melmarc took his eyes from the world outside and looked at her. They were red, but he was not crying.

"What am I becoming?"

There was a beat of silence before the person on the phone answered.

"An [August Intruder]," Dorthna said. "Protector of worlds."

…

Inevitability, looked down at his phone. He knew the number even if it wasn't saved. The very sight of it did not scare him, but it did, in fact, worry him. Why? Because it was something that had never happened before. Not to him, and not to the other Oaths.

Why, he thought to himself, is Madness calling me?

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