Baron, with his back leaned against the smooth mirror on the elevator's rear wall, kept his head low toward the ground, and his bandages, appended to his clothes, partially covered him. Though nothing could hide the damage to his face, he could already imagine Rose's disapproving look before she never spoke to him again. And as the elevator's bell chimed, his anxious thoughts held him back, making him hesitate as the gap between the doors widened.
Sliding open, Baron forced himself to step forward, hopeful that he would manage to get into his dorm without gaining any unwanted attention. The door started to slowly close as he stood frozen.
Dragging his feet with each step, Baron interrupted the elevator by exiting before it could take him to another floor, where he saw Xavier, one of the people in the dorm neighboring his own, seemingly waiting for something. Xavier's interest was visible as he waved to him with a cocky smirk and swept back brown hair; his expression grew shocked as he appeared to notice the bruised swelling on Baron's face.
"Damn bro, what the hell happened to you?" Xavier asked as he covered his mouth with a closed hand, his concern almost coming off like amusement. Unreactive to Xavier's crude behavior, Baron forced himself to smile as he got a scent of the unfamiliar, earthy smell of burned weed from one of the locked dorms they passed.
"Uh, it's a long story," Baron said, his gaze shifting downward to the stained tile flooring—which had a mixture of mystery fluids permanently fused to it—while he continued toward his dorm. Deciding to join him, Xavier slung a heavy arm over his sore shoulder, the pain making a wince escape Baron as he tagged along for the short walk.
"Shit, well, I gotta hear it sometime. It's not every day someone soft and innocent like you gets a shiner like that," Xavier mentioned in an overly friendly tone, his arm tugging on Baron's neck lightly.
"Yeah…" Baron responded hesitantly, his mind preoccupied with thoughts of Rose waiting for him and the nervousness it gave him. As they walked, the two passed beneath a broken light that flickered on the hall's low-hanging ceiling, which people could jump up into if they tried hard enough.
"Wait, you aren't being fucked with, are you, like bullied, maybe extorted, or something like that?" Xavier said as he spoke faster; the thought seemed to excite him.
"What? No. Do you think I'm getting bullied?" Baron asked, the thought making him feel small, like he was that lonesome kid in high school again.
"I mean, yeah, don't get offended or be embarrassed by it, but you're kind of an easy target," Xavier said, obviously not meaning to sound demeaning, though he did. But Baron knew he couldn't help coming off as rude, so he tried to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"I'm not getting bullied…" Baron affirmed, the idea of him being an easy target sticking with him. But as Baron responded, a group of guys from the rooms down the hall—guys that Baron recognized for bringing up a shopping cart to their floor—playfully smacked Xavier’s arm and gestured for him to follow with their mischievous snickers. But Xavier waved them off as he walked further with Baron.
"Well, okay then; I'll trust you, bro. But if someone tries to mess with you, let me know, and I'll show them what's up real quick," Xavier postured, the hand on Baron's shoulder patting him. Instinctively, Baron groaned, his shoulders and body rippling with pain as he flinched; Xavier chuckled at his reaction.
"Thanks," Baron said plainly; the interaction only distracted him from his impending conversation, which he believed was going to end horribly for him.
"Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask you: are you really talking to that fine-ass blonde chick? Or have you already bagged that? Well, either way, I'm pretty sure Abel let her in to wait for you," Xavier boldly said, the objectification of Rose raising a deep, unfamiliar rage that made him seethe in his silence. Though it cooled quickly as it rose up, Baron felt a moment of surprise at his internal reaction.
"We're talking," Baron said, quieter than before. He wished that he could have put a bit more of a defensive bite into his tone, but it didn't feel right for some reason.
"Good for you, bro, but hey, if anything happens between you two, let me know," Xavier jested with a crude smile that Baron failed to find amusing. "I'm kidding, bro, I'm kidding," he laughed, Baron not joining him before Xavier released him and started walking down the hall to the group of boys from before.
Letting out a frustrated puff, Baron continued onward; the distraction only irritated him in the end as he neared the door to his dorm. His heart raced faster the closer he got. Maybe it was the thought of Rose leaving him, or the idea that she didn't like him in the same way anymore, that made him not want to open the door and run away.
And again, Baron felt helplessly ridiculous, just as he had back at Jen's party. How could he have the guts to be Spriggan, or the courage to consider going after the scarred man who outskilled and nearly killed him, but currently, he felt completely overwhelmed and choked up by the fear caused by this beautiful girl whom he admired.
A step from the door, Baron paused. Beads of hot sweat ran down his face as he grabbed the doorknob. His worries and doubts pulled against him, making it feel nearly impossible to enter his own room; the thought of running from his own dorm even came to mind.
But he could never do that. Baron wiped away his wet face with his long sleeve before he pushed through the door, his eyes closed tight as he swallowed the lump in his throat.
And before Baron could fully close the door behind him, he was rushed into a firm hug that, despite his injuries and the tightness of his aches, gave his body comfort with her own pressed into his chest. With her tender touch, the familiar floral scent of perfume sweetened the air Baron could manage to breathe through his damaged nose, as Rose silently held him close.
In the quietness, his worries of her rejection, his concerns of missing too much school, his fears of the scarred man he faced, his unease of the danger his two friends could go through because of him, and the constant self-doubt that plagued him every day faded from the forefront of his psyche while in Rose's cherished embrace.
Their bodies held closely together, Baron could feel the warmth of her soft skin through the bandages that wrapped around his bruised and tender skin; some of the pain and fatigue faded away with the comfort Rose brought.
"Oh my god... Baron," Rose said, her tone filled with worry as she raised her hands to hold onto his face to get a look at the damage. "You look so roughed up," she frowned, tears welling up on the sides of her puffy eyes with darkened bags. "But at least you're okay," Rose said as she hugged him tight again.
Unable to find the words, Baron simply allowed himself to enjoy this moment with her, as he wrapped his frail arms around her, their bodies pressed against each other—Baron believing this was the closest they'd ever been, or could be.
"I was so worried; then Dawn told me what happened, and I haven't been able to think of anything since," Rose said, the guilt returning because he had caused this turmoil for her.
"I'm sorry," Baron said, the statement only capturing a fraction of his guilt-ridden sentiment.
"It's okay, I understand that you had to leave…" Rose cut herself off as she separated herself from him before guiding him to take a seat in his chair. "I just wish you had told me what had been going on, and what led to you getting beat up," she finished with a nervous gulp. Baron was tempted to use Manifest to read her emotions, though it felt wrong to do so intentionally.
"I'm sorry… I promise that I wanted to stay and spend time, but…" Baron froze, his dad's advice playing through his head. "My dad… He had a medical false alarm. I just sort of freaked out at the concert," Baron lied. Though the subtle doubt in her expression made him lose confidence in the path he'd chosen.
"Oh," Rose said hesitantly, the words she clearly still needed to say seemed like they couldn't escape her lips.
"Rose?" Baron asked, her doubtful look shifting away from him toward the dim natural light cast from the window - the few potted plants he could bring over reaching for it with their green vines, the foliage making it feel more like home despite the clear differences.
Without an immediate response, she picked at the edge of her thumb's fingernail with the same hand, as her gaze slowly returned to his own. "It's just… I didn't do anything wrong, did I?" Rose meekly asked.
"No! What!? Of course not, you've been absolutely perfect," Baron said, his fingertips grazing the outside of her fidgeting fingers. Feeling her relax at his mild touch, they interlocked their fingers—Baron felt his worries melt away while her tender hand rested in his own.
"Do you really mean that?" Rose, though appearing shocked by his statement, seemed to either doubt him, the validation of his statement, or, like Baron, maybe she lacked the self-esteem to believe someone could see them in such a way.
"Absolutely, my time with you has been amazing in every way I could have ever imagined, and I'm not sure if it's cheesy, but I feel like I'm always thinking about you," Baron said honestly, despite the self-doubt that threatened to restrain his words.
Suddenly, Baron stood to pull her into another warm hug; Rose's touch encapsulated him, though she teared up, as she gazed toward Baron, their eyes meeting from this intermittent distance. From his arms, she looked at him with the words she held back on the edges of her lips.
"Then please, you have to promise me you'll never leave me like that again, at least not without a good reason. Or... or otherwise, I'll have to stop talking to you like we've been," Rose finally said, her honest words sending a cold chill down his spine - Baron not needing to use his Manifest to realize that she didn't want that either.
"I promise. I promise, you'll never have to worry about that happening again," Baron swore with genuine conviction. Though it may be tough, with Abel and Dawn's help, he believed it would become easier to balance his responsibilities with his life, and most importantly, this newly formed vow.
With their hands still interlocked, Baron continued to hold her, his face nearing Rose's as they had the previous night. Though before he could consider kissing her, his willingness to withhold the truth from her weighed heavily on his mind, making it feel wrong to take the chance no matter how much he desired it. Deciding only to hug her tighter, the warmth of Rose's cheek against his own, despite wanting more, felt like that was all he deserved due to his guilty conscience.
Though as they parted after minutes of embracing, Rose looked up with a smile, her joy-filled blue eyes of boundless beauty satisfying him. "I'm happy. Leaving you is the last thing I'd ever want to happen, because I've really, really, really enjoyed being with you and getting to know you," Rose assured him.
"Me too," Baron paused, an unexpectedly pleasant reality seeming to come true for him, but he needed to make sure it was actually what he thought it was. "Does this mean that me and you are officially boyfriend and girlfriend?" Baron asked, the uncontrolled smile he got around her returning as he spoke.
"Only if you'd like that as much as me," Rose teased, though she waited for his response with an adorable look that made Baron feel like he could melt.
"I really would," Baron said honestly, his cheesy grin growing wider as she continued to look at him with a bubbly smile.
"Then I think we have our answer," Rose finished for them. A true feeling of joy, excitement, relief, fear, exhilaration, passion, joy, anticipation, and many intense emotions rushed through him—and while it was scary and overwhelming, it made him feel extraordinary for the first time in his life.
Slowly pulling apart from their embrace while smiling at each other, their fingers lingered interlocked together as their bodies parted. Separated, yet still connected, neither seemed to want to let the other go or lose this moment to time. But they had to eventually, Rose's grasp slipping from his own.
"I should start heading back to campus; my next class starts soon," Rose noted. To Baron's surprise, she leaned in to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. The softness of her pleasantly lush lips planted against his round cheek, her lip-gloss sticking to him as she pulled away toward the door. "And I'm really happy we had this conversation," she finished.
"Me too," Baron said, while standing frozen in the middle of his dorm—the room feeling less colorful and alive as she started to leave. "I'll call you later, assuming that's alright since we're, you know, dating now," Baron awkwardly noted, unsure how to act just yet.
"Of course you can, silly. I'll always anticipate hearing from you," Rose made him feel secure. "Bye Baron, I'll be waiting for you to call me," she said, before winking at him as she left.
Waving to her as she exited, his smile faded when he realized he was alone again, and the words of his dad replayed through his mind. His dishonest decision left a sour taste in his mouth, but what really bothered him was how much he enjoyed the temporary relief in that moment, Rose, despite him understanding just how unfair the situation he put her in was.
But he didn't want to worry about that right now; the problem of the scarred fire mage being pushed to the front of his mind, as he thought of where he and his friends would begin their search for him. And Baron, despite having a bad gut feeling about where this could possibly lead them, couldn't let that stop him from keeping that stranger from harming anyone else – nor would he let even him break the promise he made to Rose.
…
With his attention on a set of notes on a cleaned-up metal prep table, he could smell garlic and sizzling beef while in the back of St. Joan's soup kitchen, where he studied and caught up with the schoolwork he needed to get done before focusing on other things. After all, he'd already had to come in and take a test after falling behind by a day, so he tried to work harder to not let his time as Spriggan ruin his grades.
Luckily, though, for Spriggan, he still found a way to help people while he'd been recovering and preoccupied with school. Miss Valentina was letting him aid with the preparations and service of food to the less fortunate who came in for a free meal. Luckily, not many people cared about or even appeared to notice the Spriggan disguise.
After finishing the last part of a long equation, Spriggan could feel the gentle tugging on his magically supported uniform. Looking down, he saw the undersized brunette girl, whose front teeth were missing, pulling on his side with an innocent smile.
"Are you ready to play yet?" Claire asked, her little voice excited at the prospect of running around to play, even if she'd begun to struggle with enunciating her words. As they spoke, one of the volunteers squeezed by them with a dirty pan, Spriggan ushering Claire to the side with him to help make space.
"I'm sorry, Claire, but I don't think I'll have the time to play today," Spriggan gently said while gathering his homework into the folders he put in his bag - his name not written on it until he got to the dorm later to finish the assignment. "Me and my friends need to check some stuff out," Spriggan said, with a further explanation when he saw the disappointment in her wide, childish eyes.
"Could maybe me and Ez come?" she sincerely asked, her eyes glazing over as she looked up at him from below her short height. Miss Valentina passed by them with a focused look and a kind smile while talking to another volunteer, who appeared to have fae ancestry with the proud set of glowing antlers on their head, about something relating to their schedule.
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"I don't think that would be a very good idea; neither would it be fun for you two," Spriggan noted, attempting to tell her no gently, as he'd never allow these two kids to get involved with the dangerous parts of this identity.
"But we've been having lots and lots and lots of fun with you around," she said with her squeaky voice, her sadness evident in her tone and gloomy face.
"Me too, it's been a good time being able to hang around this week, but now I'm all healed up and there may be other people out there that need my help," he said, lowering to his knee to level himself to her eyes. "Besides, I'll make it up to you and Ez. Sometime soon I'll bring you two out for an adventure," Spriggan teased, the glints of joy tugging on her lips to form a jovial smile that made him happy himself.
"Really? You promise," she sounded hopeful, though she still double-checked to make sure it wasn't too good to be true.
"Of course, I promise to take you both on a trip outside of the church whenever I've got a free day," Spriggan reassured the young elementary school girl as she joyfully jumped around—one of the volunteers with a pot of water managing to avoid her. And without a proper goodbye, she skittered off to find Ez, the other child of St. Joan, who'd been missing for today's service.
Smiling to himself as she ran off, Spriggan grabbed his bag before heading toward Miss Valentina, who was the only other person in the small kitchen besides the people who came to help. Stepping through a musty puddle over a drain, his foot remained dry, thanks to the cloth shoes sewn into the Spriggan outfit – the entirety of the suit enchanted by a professional to be water and damage resistant, with tiny runes that lined the inside of its seams.
"Hey, I've got to start heading out, but I wanted to say thanks for letting me help out after class while I healed up," Spriggan said, as he slung his bag over his sturdy shoulders.
"No, there's no need for that. It's been a pleasure to have you around this often. Just please come to visit, even if you only have enough time to say hi to the kids. They really are fond of your visits," Miss Val said, her purple mascara-coated eyes meeting his as she smiled. Her kind, genuine expression reaffirmed his hopeful beliefs in people with how effortless it was for her to show compassion for her fellow person—Baron hoping to grow up into an adult like her one day.
"Definitely. I love visiting, so I'll be by as soon as I can. I'll even take the two kids out to see some of the city," Spriggan said, the ticking of a nearby clock on the wall reminding him that he needed to be somewhere soon.
"Please do, it'll be good for them. But stop worrying about that now; I'm sure you're quite busy and need to get going," she said, encouraging him to leave as she got back to mashing together some potatoes in a mixing bowl.
"You're right. I really need to get going. I'll see you guys later," Spriggan said, while waving to the antlered volunteer and the others who reliably showed up to help, as well as Miss Valentina. However, the two kids were nowhere to be seen for him to give his farewells to. Revitalized and rested, he pushed his arms through the church's rear entrance, the heavy door swinging open harder than he intended with his returned strength.
Now, with a pretty orange sunset cast over the open sky, Spriggan effortlessly grew two vine bracers around his forearms as he looked toward and admired the sky - the freedom he found in flight making his heart race with anticipation.
The end of his vine rapidly whipped out, until it efficiently bound itself to the busted-up window seal. The familiar support of the vines catapulted Spriggan through the sky in a series of acrobatic flips and twists, an excited smile growing under the tall collar he pulled upward to cover his face.
Soaring past the run-down district barely maintained by the loose government that took care of the city from the nicer districts that overshadows the others. The tall tower of spiraling gold, built on a modern skyscraper and known as The Haven's monument of Cognizant achievement, cast the biggest shadow of all. While Spriggan had only visited The Golden Spire a few times, he knew that it was the tallest building in the world. Many of his fellow Cognizants took pride in this achievement of technology and magic.
But he didn't need to worry about that part of the city, since it was actively patrolled and populated with some of the most renowned names in the business of Mercs and Mages. Spriggan often thought about going out there to see if he could meet people like Titan, The Gale, and the many other legends that helped inspire the identity of Spriggan.
Snapping back to reality as he dove toward the ground, he then used the momentum to launch himself over the shorter buildings of Hairemont. Gracefully gliding through the sky, the cool air bit at his face and nose as Spriggan's black hair flapped in the wind that pulled on his flowing cloak; he quickly approached the meeting point - Dawn and Abel on the rooftop ahead of him.
Confidently falling through the air, Spriggan allowed himself to freefall before he snapped a vine upward to the corner of the building's edge. Then, narrowly avoiding a plummet onto the concrete flooring, Spriggan intentionally waited until the last moment to swing upward in a slow, controlled ascent. Boosting him over the building's top, the vine tossed him upward with enough force to add a double backflip before landing in front of his friends.
From her leaned position against the rooftop's rusted railing, Dawn applauded the flashy display with an entertained smile as she nodded approvingly. Abel, looking up from the journal he had been sketching in before his arrival, smirked, though he wasn't as outwardly impressed as Dawn was—not that Spriggan expected anything else.
"Impressive," Abel noted before standing up from the steel vent he'd been resting on while they waited for him. "So I'll forgive you for being late," Abel joked, with a subtle smirk.
"Sorry about that; I just fell behind while at church during homework," Spriggan apologized, as he pulled down the collar that covered his lower face.
"The soup kitchen, right?" Dawn asked, her body leaning against the rusted railing. As she spoke briefly, Spriggan noticed her shoeless, draconic feet, which had a sharp talon for each long toe.
"Yeah, they've been letting me help out so I could still be useful while recovering," Spriggan said, his beliefs in the doctor's skills growing more confident by his rapid recovery, despite the things he heard that made him uneasy.
"Why have you been doing it as Spriggan instead of Baron?" Abel probed, curiosity in his quiet tone.
"Well, it only makes sense. I met them as Spriggan a while ago, so they've only ever known me as that," Spriggan answered as he took out his phone from his bag. "And you two don't plan on using alter egos?" Spriggan asked, hopeful to hear that they came up with some cool names for when they work together.
"I'm alright," Abel answered plainly. Though Spriggan would be lying if he said he didn't feel a hint of disappointment before looking toward Dawn, hopeful that she'd join him if Abel wouldn't.
"Yeah, I don't mean to be rude, but I'd feel kind of lame dressing up to run like we're in some kind of superhero movie. Not that you aren't pulling it off, you're killing it in your own way. I just don't think it's much my style. Besides, I don't think people will be able to recognize me if I make myself more dragon-like," Dawn said, her tone remaining direct and honest, but not inherently rude or discouraging.
"Pretty much how I feel, except I did bring something to cover my face, since I don't have a magical way to disguise myself like you two," Abel said, as he pulled out a folded-up black handkerchief from his back pocket. "Anyways, I've found some places around The Haven that burned down, in ways sort of similar to what you described," he got them back on track, Spriggan choosing to ignore his disappointment at learning that they weren't going to be a team of code-named vigilantes.
"Alright, yeah, we should be able to cover that in the spare hours we have tonight; just let me send something to Rose real quick," Spriggan said before typing out a quick message, 'Hey, going to be hanging out with Abel and Dawn for a while tonight, but I'll message you as soon as I can :),' Spriggan told her so she'd know he didn't run off again if she messaged him.
And after sending the message, Spriggan stuck the phone back into his bag before pivoting his head around to find a good hiding spot. Snatched from his relaxed hand, a small cluster of owls came from Abel's sketchbook before flying away with his bag.
"They'll be back after putting your stuff in my car, then we'll head out to check these places out," Abel decisively said. Spriggan felt more certain that they'd find something meaningful after Abel spoke and seemingly took the lead. The cluster of owls returned as the rest of its dense cloud emerged from the sketchbook.
"Since you seem to have this all figured out, I trust you'll know the way," Dawn said, her height notably increasing with her longer arms and legs that gleamed with reflective scales on the exterior of her hardened body. And while her baggy jeans became tighter as they only came down to her shins now, her shoes were assumedly in the car already with his bag.
"I know most of the way, but Baron'll… Sorry, I meant, Spriggan'll have to take over when we get close," Abel said, quickly correcting himself. Spriggan hoped that they'd not let that become a habit; it would defeat the whole purpose of trying to help people when he believed Baron was unable to.
"I've got it; I know my way around most of the city," Spriggan said, not letting his excitement to work with his friends get hung up because Abel got his name mixed up. After Spriggan finished speaking, Abel stepped over the railing, and before he could plummet to the ground, the cloud of owls swooped up from below to carry him into the sky.
Standing atop the shifting cloud of owls like a platform, Abel hovered in the sky before he took flight in the opposite direction from which Spriggan came. His body tilted forward as the owls propelled him onward, his balance secure as he kept a grip on his sketchbook.
Following after him, Dawn, with only a powerful stride, her eyes becoming reflective as she leapt stories through the sky, and before she could begin to lose her speed before falling to the ground. Unable to see which of her many reflections she used to teleport, Spriggan watched as she vanished from her spot in space and reappeared in the blink of an eye at the end of the block, where Abel only had a short lead on Dawn. Her momentum carried into a sprint across the rooftop with supernaturally strong strides - that grew more potent the more draconic she was, from what Dawn told him - before she bounded skyward again.
Not wanting to be left behind, Spriggan swung after them with a twisted flip before he quickly caught up with them. The three of them soared through the tall heights of The Haven as they soared stories over a rundown street of brick and mortar buildings, Spriggan sharing a laugh with them.
"This is incredible!" Dawn yelled over the wind to them, as she teleported through the air with the group. Spriggan could barely hear what she said despite her loud voice, while Abel's cloud pushed him forward in a controlled flight. And as Dawn flickered across the skyline, she leaped from another rooftop. Spriggan, following with a similar pace, pivoted through the air with his vines to keep up with Abel, who led the way.
Then Dawn appeared in the air beside Spriggan, the two sailing through the darkening dusk sky with a shared laugh before she yelled out again: "Let me try something; shoot your vine to me!" she said. Spriggan noticed a blurred motion of Dawn's reflection in the glass panes of the building on their right until she teleported to match her mirrored images on the wall.
Now, with her talons embedded into the building's grooves, Dawn held her position on its side. As Spriggan, trusting his friend, even though he didn't know what she had planned, lashed out his vine toward Dawn without hesitation, the end of it being grabbed with her spare hand.
As Dawn twisted her body, she launched Spriggan forward toward Abel with the aided force of her draconic strength. Quickly understanding what she had planned, Spriggan smiled. With the power she effortlessly generated, his body swung forward, his vine working to keep control of his body's torque. And releasing her grip at the apex of the assisted swing, Spriggan rocketed through the sky, before quickly passing Abel in a blurry blast forward.
Almost struggling to keep control of himself while flying, Spriggan roared out as he flew at speeds he'd never before felt—a feeling Spriggan could only describe as freedom rushing through him. The sight of another pair of Cognizants flying through the sky below them, one propelled by insect wings while the other used a stream of orange energy to maintain flight with their friend.
Spriggan, slowing as he lost momentum, used his vines to gently bring himself to a halt, both of his friends quickly catching up. Dawn's laugh was audible as she flickered into the space beside Abel, who passed up Spriggan with an amused smirk as he flew forward; the three, on the fast track to a faded building with a tall needle on a cracked dome.
The first of them to reach the towering structure: Spriggan caught his vine on the top as it swung him around the needle with a powerful, momentum-gaining rotation before launching himself forward; Dawn, leaping up from where she appeared in the sky with the momentum of a fresh jump, landed on the rounded base before leaping forward again, her mirrored reflection emerging from the gleaming metal of the needle beside Spriggan; and Abel simply raced by it in a painted flutter of tiny wings that maneuvered and shifted in unison, though he did reach out his open hand to graze the metal structure before he caught up with the other two.
"Alright, you know where Harper's Hardware is?" Abel asked, his smooth voice carrying over the wind more efficiently than Dawn's somehow.
"Yeah, I've been by it before; it's on East Bridgestreet. It wasn't far from the city's river, and some of the other kids would head to a diner near there after school," Spriggan mentioned, as he remembered that he never actually got to go, or had the courage to ask if he could go with a group, before he took the lead to guide his friends. The rest of the trip took only a few more short minutes of travel through the city skyline until they arrived.
Spriggan, the first to land onto the musty-smelling, litter-covered streets of Hairemont, where the homeless hid in the shadows away from observant eyes, stood in front of the burned-down hardware store. Its once-maintained sign was blackened by ash, like the rest of the structure that had survived the ravaging fire. Though the damage that destroyed the window and almost any recognizable feature reminded him of the terrifying inferno the scarred mage had used to burn him.
"We're here," Spriggan said plainly, the memories of his nasty, hole covered hands coming to the forefront of his thoughts with a reminiscent heat only he could feel - Dawn's grip on his shoulder bringing him back into the moment.
"Then let's get to work," Dawn said, her voice steady and reliable despite the carefree attitude she tended to have; at least that's how Spriggan saw her. But wasting no time, Dawn walked in first through the open space where a double door used to be, Spriggan and Abel following after her. Stepping over crackling shards of glass, they began to search through the soot-covered remains of alleys, shelves, and a back room that was little more than a pile of ash in a room that barely stood on its own.
Not amounting to much, they moved onto the next location Abel had found, hopeful that they'd find something with a potential lead for the scared arsonist. Then the group traveled to a run-down cafe, not far from where they were, that burned down a few months ago without explanation; there, it was a similar experience of burned debris, this building already collapsed when they arrived.
Next, they moved to the constantly smog-ridden Vinport—the district used for industrial manufacturing and the city's utilities, like water, electricity, and the other many necessities. Similar to their last stops and the place where he almost died, Spriggan, Dawn, and Abel explored the darkened remains of an old warehouse, the pungent smell of smoke bringing him back to his time beneath the hot rubble. But despite their efforts, they found nothing of particular interest in this place either.
The three moved onto the City Outskirts next, where they again found the destroyed remains of a cheap mechanic's garage. And Spriggan, from beneath a flickering street lamp, started to notice the growing fatigue of his friends as the sun set and the moon rose higher.
"You guys alright to keep going?" Spriggan asked, hopeful that they'd find something of use if they stayed out with him for a little more time.
"Not gonna lie, I'm getting pretty tired after all this running around, especially since we haven't found shit yet," Dawn responded, as she leaned against the broken light post.
"We can check out the next spot and call it a day," Spriggan offered, his head shifting back and forth between them to gauge their reactions.
"I'm alright to continue. I've just run out of places to check out," Abel said, his monotone voice carrying a steadier energy than Dawn seemed to have currently – Spriggan thinking that his nocturnally favored genetics made it easier for him to stay up.
"Then what're we going to do?" Dawn asked, as she looked between the two. Before a set of police cars zoomed by them with their loud, wailing sirens of flashing reds and blues, Spriggan recalled the memory of police and firemen surrounding the burning motel he'd swung by a few weeks ago on his date with Rose.
"I may have thought of something worth checking out. But don't get too hopeful; it was just some motel that I saw burning down, and if I recall correctly, the place was said to be into some shady stuff. Not that I'd actually know; the story came from rumors surrounding one of our classmates' disappearances," Spriggan said, the memory of the missing student making him sad despite never actually knowing them.
"Alright, lead the way," Dawn answered, confirming her readiness to head that way despite it starting to get late for them, all of them needing to go to their classes and handle their responsibilities tomorrow morning. Abel nodded with her as his cloud of swarming owls scooped him into the air, then Spriggan took the lead as Dawn teleported to keep up with them.
And after a short trip through the dilapidated, almost abandoned border between the Outskirts and Hairemont—a small area where the two poorest districts in the Haven met—the three landed in front of the mostly intact motel, its balcony of second-story rooms still intact despite the fire damage.
Peering around the emptied-out parking lot, they walked across the cooled pavement until they reached the remains of another fire, though this one was stopped before it could do too much damage. Splitting up, the three explored different parts of the motel: Dawn headed for the second story of ruined, once-rentable rooms, as Abel inspected the base level of charred living areas, while Spriggan went through the remains of the mostly intact office building, where he found a blackened desk and office chair behind a small waiting room.
Spriggan, going through the ash-covered metal desk, noticed the files and contents of the drawers all burned to ash. Wasting his time, he went through the charred room, nothing standing out of place amongst the blackened surroundings, and as Spriggan grew frustrated by the fruitlessness of their search, he stepped back with his manifest activated. A faint, nearly indistinguishable from its surroundings, black and red trail seeped from the cracks beneath the desk.
Dropping down to investigate, he ran his gloved fingers across a slim crack that he traced to form a wide square beneath the desk. As Spriggan continued to investigate, he quickly found a hidden metal latch that he could pull free from the flooring with two fingers—his vine thrusting outward to push the desk away and create space for what he'd found to open.
"Hey! I think I found something!" Spriggan called out, two twinges of their trailing auras shifted into bright, interested greens. Dawn appeared in the room beside him with her prismatic eyes, as Abel walked through the opened doorway, both of them looking down toward the latch he flicked up.
Pulling the slim handle upwards, the engraved square in the floor flipped open to reveal a shadowy stairway obscured by darkness a few steps downward; his nerves were on edge as a wave of ash slowly flowed through the trapdoor. Abel and Dawn stood by him; the two shared a quick look between themselves and Spriggan before Abel took the first step into the unbearable darkness. Hints of horrified blacks and resentful reds, littered in the air like a light dust that threatened to fade away entirely, highlighted the encompassing shadow of isolation that suffocated the passageway.
