"Hey!" yelled Conrad as he made his way towards them, aura activated and sword on hand. "What the hell was..."

  He stopped, taking in the scene before him, and both his sword and aura were lowered.

  "...What the hell?"

  Kurt found himself resonanting with Conrad's words. What the hell had just happened?

  Before them was one wyldfae by the name of Ruth Watlin, on her knees and with her arms hanging limply a either side of her body. She was leaning back a bit, and her face was pointed straight to the night sky.

  Her eyes were half-lidded and her jaw slack. Kurt barely took notice of this though. He was considerably more interesed on the fact that she had eyes and a mouth at all. Where mere minutes ago a blank slate of wood had acted as the woman's face, now something very different was being framed by her verdant locks.

  A womanly, rather beautiful face that seemed to be made entirely of moss or lyquen, if its green coloration and somewhat granular texture were of indication. She had big eyes that managed to seem expresive despite being entirely made of the same material as the rest of her face, a small, graceful nose, and full lips.

  "Ruth?" Called Mila, her tone soft and careful. "Are you okay?"

  "Okay?" Repeated the woman tiredly. She turned lazily to look at Mila. "I don't have the first idea of just how or what I'm feeling. It's like... nothing makes sense anymore. At least before this I had the hatred I felt for that man and his family, but now.... now what do I have?"

  "You have the happy memories of your love back, now that they are not marred by a misunderstanding." said Mila without hesitation. "And also, you got some of your old self back."

  "Uh?" Asked the woman, her brow furrowed. "What do you mean now?"

  Mila's own brow furrowed in confusion for an instant, before her eyes widened slightly. "Just take a look." she said, pointing at one of the buildings at their side; some kind of boutique with a large storefront that, given the darkness that dominated the building's interior, acted as a mirror for the street.

  The wyldfae turned, and gasped. "What in the...?" She muttered, and crawled her way to the building, until her face was all but pressed against the glass. "Is that my face? It's been so long since... I-I had forgotten how I..."

  She was hyperventilating now. Her head turned to the neares lightpost to her. She grabbed the thing and, with no visible effort, bent it towards her and the building, using it as a lamp.

  "This is how I looked." she said while staring at her reflection. "This is how I look! Oh my God..."

  She slumped forward, falling on her hands, and her newly rediscovered faced was promptly covered in it entirety by the mass of vines that was her hair. And the she began sobbing, muttering something or the other between cries. What it was, Kurt could not tell, but the sheer emotion the woman was displying was more than enough to convey the message.

  "You, uhm, you look great." He found himself saying, and the woman's sobs receded a little. Kurt hoped she hadn't taken his awkward tone for one of insincerity, because he had actually meant it. It wasn't that he found her attractive per se, though he definitely wouldn't describe her face as ugly by any stretch of the imagination, but rather the humanity and expresiveness that new semblance of hers conveyed that he was refering to. Compared to the uncannily plain mask she had before, which remained the same no matter what she was feeling, this actually human face was a massive step up.

  "He's right!" Quickly agreed Mila. "You look amazing! No wonder that Walter was head-over-heels for you!"

  Kurt tensed at that last comment. "Mila." He whispered to her. "Maybe we shouldn't be reminding her of certain stuff now that she's so... sensitive."

  "It's fine." said Ruth as she rose to her feet, and turned to look at them with those green, expressive eyes. "Thank you for your kindness, darlings. I really appreciate it."

  Kurt raised an eyebrow in puzzlement. Darlings?Plural?

  "So... what now?" he said. "What will you do now?"

  The woman sighed, and offered him a small smile. "I don't know." she said, with a voice far to serene for what she was saying. "I don't wanna go back to that forest, and be all by myself another sixty years, that's for sure. But I have no idea of what to do besides just that."

  "Well... you can do what ever you want!" Exclaimed Mila, before a flash of worry crossed her face. "So long as you don't hurt anyone. Or try and kidnap them." She quickly added.

  Ruth chuckled lightly, and brought her palms in a defensive gesture. "Okay, okay. I think I deserved that one." Her smile turned warmer. "But you are right. I can do what I want. That was the whole point of me being turned into a fae after all, right? Getting a second chance. Well, I think I'm done wasting mine."

  She looked to the horizon, to the edge of the town opposite to the one her forest met with.

  "I've spent far too long in this crummy town, and for far too little reason." She continued. "I think I'll go somewhere else. Try and see the world beyond this miserable place. Put some stuff behind."

  Kurt found himself half-smiling at her words. "Gonna have to see a lot of world for that." he said.

  "That I do!" said Ruth happily. "But I'm looking forward to it! Heck, it's the first time I look forward to something in sixty-something years, so that alone is something!"

  She spared them one last, sympathetic look. "Thank you, kids!" she said chirply, and her smile turned just a bit sardonic. "I'm really glad I tried to kill-slash-kidnap you! That sure worked out neatly!"

  "Yeah..." said Mila. "Don't try it again though!"

  "I'll try!" Responded the woman, her entire frame twitching like a rubber band about to snap. "Byeee!"

  And the her entire body fell apart in a pile, leaving behind a glistening cloud of green energy with leaves floating around its edges. And then that cloud flew into the horizon, as if carried by the wind, and they soon lost track of it.

  "Uh." said Conrad, eyeing the pile of inert wood that had once housed the wyldfae's soul. "You... sure made the most of those five minutes."

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  "So, what now?" Asked Kurt to either of his two companions. They were sitting in the curb right besides were Ruth had shed her physical form, the light from the bent streetlight raining down on their forms.

  "I guess we could go back to the train." Offered Mila. "Where was it that it was its last stop?"

  "Somewhere in Texas." Answered Conrad. "And I'm pretty sure we're somewhere on Georgia, so..."

  "Yeah." Interjected Kurt. "If we assume that woman was saying the truth about where the Red Aura was being taken to, something which, despite everything that's happened, I have no argument against, then the train is gonna leave us rather far away from our destination."

  "Closer than where we are now, though." Pointed Mila. "We could take the train until it reaches its final destination, and then take like, a bus or another train or something."

  Conrad hummed and, without saying a thing, hoppen on his feet. "That is an option." he said. "But not one I want to take. No offense Mila, but after literally getting my back blown off, make no jokes you two, I really don't feel like sleeping in a cattle wagon." He turned towards them. "And I'm pretty sure you guys don't want to either. Plus, now that we know where we have to go, it would be much faster to just grab a car and riding there directly, instead of on a train that makes a million stops a day."

  "Grab a car?" Repeated Kurt. "Care to elaborate on that?"

  "Steal it." said Conrad bluntly. "Use that telekinesic lock pic trick you used on the warlock's house to get into, and then start, a car, which I then would drive towards Phoenix, Arizona with you two in tow." He shrugged, and gave Kurt a quizical look. "Pretty simple stuff."

  "Conrad," Called Mila softly. "We can't just steal a car..."

  "Why not?" Interrupted Conrad. "Look, I know you guys don't like the idea. It's not like I'm thrilled by it either. But we have to get to our destination as soon as possible because, unless I lost something while I was in that coma, we don't know what that woman's group is planning to do with the aura, or when are they gonna do it. Which means that we should be trying to get there ASAP, and the train is simply not that option."

  "There are buses." said Kurt. "I'm pretty sure that we can find one that goes to Phoenix. Maybe not on this town, but if we can reach the nearest city..."

  "Same problem as with the train." Cut in Conrad. "Takes too long, too many stops... plus the fact that we would be surrounded by regular people all the time. No offense man but, have you taken a look at yourself? Or a sniff? You look exactly like someone that was dragged by a horse. And Mila looks like... she had a rather bad nosebleed." He shook his head. "Look! My point is that, morally reprehensible as stealing is, right now we have a duty that superseeds that by a lot. Do you guys think that the guys in the Solomonic Order had a permit when they built that cavern back in Boston? Or that they went through the proper channels to put that extra wagon for us in the train?"

  Kurt and Mila took a quick glance at one another, before they both shook their heads.

  "There is a difference though." said Mila. "We would be hurting a specific person if we do what you say. What if they don't have insurance? What if something happens and we can't give the car back? Or, even if we leave the car in a pristine state, what if they don't find it? We would be leaving it like three states across from here."

  This seemed to give Conrad some pause. He seemed to ponder for a moment before answering. "What if we don't steal the car from a person?"

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  "Hey! What about this one?" Called Conrad, patting the side of the Ford Expedition's side. The car, which was painted navy blue, was just one in a line of identical models where color was the only variety.

  "I feel like we agreed to this far too easily." said Kurt as he and Mila crossed the parking lot, the light of a "ASK FOR OUR SUV OFFERS" casting a red light upon them. "This is still stealing."

  "Yeah..." Agreed Mila in an embarrased tone. "But he did make a good point about hasting up. And we technically are not taking the car from someone. Technically."

  "The fact you had to say 'technically' twice in that sentence alone tells me all I need to know about how convinced you are of that." he said as they reached the car in question, upon which Kurt made a gesture, and the glamour shrouds covering both Conrad and the couple melded. "I seriously hope that you are right about glamour screwing up with electronics, man."

  "I promise you it does." said Conrad, not bothering to look away from the car. "The psionic energy it irradiates scres with the circuitry of anything around it. Its pretty mild, but more than enough for some cheap security cameras."

  "How do you know so much about that?" Asked Mila. "About sorcery, I mean."

  "Sorcery and its criminal uses." Kurt added.

  The smile Conrad was sporting was wiped out, replaced by a mild frown. "It's from...my time before joining the order." He took his eyes away from the car, and placed them upon the couple. "I really would like not to talk about it."

  They both complied with the request, as it was custom. I don't want to talk about my life before the order was a very common sentiment amongst its members. The entire organization was essentially an orphanage for those with in-born magical talents that had no other place to go, so the life stories that ended up with 'Joining the order' -which was pretty much an euphemism for 'I have nowhere else to go, so please acept me."- tended to be quite dark. Mila was a shining example of this. So, the unspoken rule of 'Don't ask, don't tell' had been put to use when it came to what led someone to 'join the order'.

  Even though, Conrad had always been a bit of an outlier. Most children that ended up in the order had no knowledge of the supernatural, or the true nature of their gifts, or even the existance of the order itself, having either stumbled upon it through sheer luck-Like Mila- or directed to it by one of the order's associates, most commonly the Departament of Unexplicable Phenomena.

  This had not been Conrad's case. At all.

  He had joined the order a scant two years ago, when he had been 18, after crossing paths with Anderson in a joint operation against a group of diabolists. He already had his sword which, like Kurt's Silver Demon, was cast out of mithril, and was perfectly knowledgeable about what his Aura was and where it had come from, as well as to how to use it in combat.

  This had made him one of the biggest testers of the whole 'no talking backstories' rule in the whole order, if not the biggest, simply because of how unusual everything about him was. The mistrust this level of mystery generated had actually been one of the things that had made Kurt dislike him at first, alongside the fact that a swordsman slightly stronger than himself had joined the order.

  He really didn't feel proud about that second reason now.

  "Fine then." said Kurt with a sigh, trying to downplay the whole thing as much as possible. "It is a nice car. Now let me do my thing."

  Conrad walked away from the driver's door, and Kurt soon took his spot, conjured wand in hand. One quick application of his Dynamancy unlocked the door in a moment, and Kurt opened it with his free hand.

  "That was easy." Kurt said, to no one in particular. "The one back at that woman's lair was way harder."

  "The lack of wards probably helped." said Conrad, smiling wryly.

  "Brilliant observation, mate." Shot back Kurt, sporting a smile of his own. He stepped away from the car, and gestured at the now open door. "Care to hop in, Mr. Colburn?"

  Conrad scoffed lightly. "Sure, Ms.Daisy"

  "Ah! One more thing." Suddenly said Kurt as he extended his free hand. "I'm gonna need the glamour amulet of your sword. To conceal the car. Well, just both plates, I mean."

  "Yeah, sure. Good idea." said Conrad as he reached for the sticker-like plate on his scabbard, handing it to Kurt.

  A quick observation told him that the amulet was at a 83 % capacity.

  Uh, higher than mine was. Thought Kurt with curiosity. Is it because Conrad's saber is smaller than Silver Demon? Or maybe because I stored it in my inventory. What happens to the stuff I put in there either way?

  "Kurt?" Softly called Mila. "You okay? You have been staring at the amulet for like half a minute now."

  "Uh?" Mumbled Kurt. "Oh! Yeah, no, I'm fine. It's just that Conrad's amulet had more charge than mine had, and I was wondering why that is."

  "You can feel the difference?" Asked Conrad. "Even if mine has more, it should be very minor difference either way. It's kinda weird that a sorcerer with less than a week of... well, being a sorcerer, could tell."

  "I didn't exactly use my Aetheric Attunement to tell." Answered Kurt. "It's an ability that... well, it's kinda hard to explain."

  "Does it have anything to do with that trick of making stuff dissappear and reappear?" Asked Conrad, a slight edge to his voice. "You started doing it back in Boston, and I didn't ask because I didn't even know what to ask you, but I really would like to be know, if only because I don't like being the only one in the dark of us three, because there's no way in hell you haven't already told Mila everything you know about it." He turned to the girl in question. "Am I right on that front?"

  "...yeeah." She awkwardly said, scratching the back of her head. "We talked about it right before the Director came back with the quest."

  "Since the beginning, uh?" said Conrad, sounding almost amused. "So, may we have that same conversation, Kurt?"

  Kurt did not know if they could. It was a bit silly, after all the three had already lived, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to share the details of his new gift just like that. He didn't know why, exactly. Maybe it was because he himself barely knew a thing about it, but he had a strong inclination to keep it as secret as possible. He had even tried to hide it from Mila at the beginning-it hadn't lasted long though. She knew him way to well for him to convincibly lie to her- and he only told Anderson in the hope of receiving some information about what the nature of the gift could even be in the first place, which hadn't even worked.

  But, if there was so little to tell, why was he so reluctant to do so? Why did he feel like he had to be so wary about letting others knowing about it? It was an unusual skill, sure, and one that had proven to be very useful, but it wasn't like everyone else at the order wasn't like that too; Conrad and Mila were excellent examples of this, and they were not unique: Mila's bunk buddy (What was her name? Malia?) was basically the Wolverine as a fifteen year old girl, that kid Marcus had the blood of the greatest of Magical Beasts running through his veins, Odebayo had been blessed by an actual god....

  The truth of the matter was that this ability, as unorthodox and slightly silly as it sounded on paper, and as interesting as the implications some of its aspects brought (The whole 'Level up' and 'increasing-stats-through-training thing' in particular came to mind. He really would have to properly test just how big a difference the levels and stats he had already gotten had made. In a controlled environment, not fighting a half-crazy wyldfae.), it was still not all that special by the standards of the order. Keeping it a secret would likely be way more trouble than its worth.

  And if he had to start spreading the truth about it, then kurt guessed that Conrad was as good a recipient for it as anyone else. He was the second genuine friend he had ever made, after all.

  "I guess we should." Kurt finally admitted. "But, as I said, it is a bit of a mouthful so... you mind if we hope on in the car and I tell you on the way?"

  Conrad shrugged."So long as you tell me."

  And so, after Kurt had made sure both amulet's were charged and had stuck them to either end of the car, the group of three embarqued their new ride, Conrad on the wheel with Kurt as the co-pilot.

  "So..." Began saying Kurt as they made their way out the parking lot. "It all started the morning of my birthday, when a weird screen appeared before my eyes."