" Do you sense them yet?"
Philomel questioned as she widened her eyes, trying to see through the mist. Her legs dangled from the top of the catacomb's entrance.
" Nope, nothing Holy so far."
Darzirak scratched the back of his ear while he sat next to her.
"You sure they are coming this way? What if they take a different path?"
Amon pointed out as he climbed up the rocky terrain and joined Philomel and Darzirak at the top.
" They won't, I spent yesterday making sure of that. I made signboards indicating the shortcut to Dalelry is through here. When Darzirak can sense them, he will release dark energy that will catch their attention. Lenny being a Holy Knight wouldn't be able to resist to purge a demon. He definitely trust Estrella to be able to handle well enough on her own for awhile. She is a powerful mage after all. "
Philomel inform with a calculated grin.
" Hey! Hello! What are you guys doing up there?"
Joey questioned as he gaze up at the catacombs entrance while Little One rode on his shoulders.
"Joey?!"
Philomel's eyes widened in shock when she saw him below with Little One.
"Oh! Hi, Joey! What brings you here with Little One?"
Amon questioned as he leaned over to see them.
"Gale told me Little One missed you and it was lunchtime. So I thought why not meet up with you guys and we can have a picnic lunch together."
Joey informed as he raised the basket full with food and showed them.
"Ai!"
Little One agreed with a raised waving hand.
" Ooooo nice idea! I was getting bored of looking at mist, fog and more mist."
Darzirak nodded as he leaped from the roof of the catacombs onto a tree and landed next to Joey.
" Looking?! You're supposed to be sensing! And Little One couldn't have missed us that fast. He was exhausted from yesterday's birthday party and asleep the whole morning. He probably woke up not too long ago."
Philomel huffed as she crossed her arms, not buying into Joey's story.
" He woke up, ate breakfast and started fussing. Gale had to make a deal with him. Lunch with you guys then he'll play with Gale until dinner without being sad or making a fuss. Don't ask me how Gale made a deal. I don't even know how they could communicate with one speaking and the other squeaking."
Joey shrugged. Amon appeared next to Joey, taking Little One off his shoulders and greeting the toddler. Philomel looked behind her just to confirm Amon was gone before looking back down at Amon. Flabbergasted at how quickly he climbed down but took forever to climb up. Little One squealed in delight as he hugged Amon and burry his little face in Amon's chest.
" Come on, Philomel! It's just for awhile! I can sense them miles away, we definitely have enough time to climb back up and get ready to initiate the plan."
Darzirak persuaded as he dug through the basket of food Joey brought.
" Oh! This is better than the sandwichs in the other basket!"
Darzirak wagged his tail as he pulled out a sweet potato wrapped in wax paper.
" * Sighs*..... Fine...."
Philomel huffed as she uncrossed her arms and stood up. With ease, she climbed down and picked up the basket full of sandwiches that was hidden within the bushes before joining Joey and the others.
" You better have enough food for yourself in there. We only have enough sandwiches for two in this basket."
Philomel informed as she showed her basket to Joey.
" No worries! I had Aella pack more than enough for two since I already know you have your own packed lunch. I even have a bottle of milk for Little One just in case he gets a little hungry."
Joey patted the basket in his hand as he followed Amon and Darzirak to a nearby clearing. The perfect place for a picnic if it wasn't for the mist.
" Milk? Didn't he eat cake yesterday? Can't be handle solid food already?"
Darzirak questioned through a mouthful of sweet potato.
" He can eat some solid food but not so much. We are feeding him like 80 percent liquid and 20 percent super soft food. We'll probably increase soil food gradually but for now, I doubt Little One can handle too much."
Amon clarified as he stood next to Darzirak while Joey spreads out the picnic blanket.
" Sounds sad. There's so many delicious things in this world and all he can do is drool while waiting for another few months or even years."
Darzirak commented through greedy mouthful of sweet potato.
" Says the demon who can't taste."
Philomel teased with a smirk as they all say down on the blanket.
" I can for now. Amon paid me with his blood for helping out with your plan for today. I still can't digest but better than nothing. That reminds me, thanks again for saving a piece of that birthday cake for me. It's been centuries since I tasted any."
Darzirak smiled at Philomel.
" Oh... you're welcome. I didn't think you would be able to taste it though. Amon told me that you like the texture of food and since you been helping us a lot. I figured why not."
Philomel shrugged with a grin and took the sweet potato that Joey offered.
"Squeak!"
Little One added with much enthusiasm as he raised his hand.
" So much energy after hearing the word, cake? You must really love it, don't you?"
Amon chuckled as he patted Little One on the head.
" Squ!"
Little One nodded.
"Seriously though, is that his first word? Does it count as his first word? Or just a sound?"
Joey questioned with a pointing finger.
" Does it matter? Either way it would make adoption even harder. At least I managed to read my book to him last night. Hopefully he would pick up on some new words."
Philomel said with a sigh.
" What?! You read to him that story again?! You're encouraging bad judgement!"
Amon glared.
" He's a baby! He doesn't understand the words! How do you expect him to understand the whole book?! It's just to let him see and hear new words. There's no way he can understand the situations. And stop calling my book dumb! It's romantic and sweet! Loving someone to the point you're willing to die for them and never asked for anything in return other than staying by your side. That's what it means to be a true hero! That's what it means to prove your love to another!"
Philomel snapped back.
" Love shouldn't have the be proven through death!"
Amon argued with a growl.
" Well it does for me! If someone truly loves me then that's the way they shall prove it! Any other way is flawed!"
Philomel yelled back in the heat of the moment.
" Children, children. Both of you are annoying, ugly and dumb, please shut up and eat already."
Darzirak informed with an exhausted sigh. Philomel and Amon being used to Darzirak trying to turn their anger from each other to himself, they ignored him. Knowing that this argument would drag on if they don't solve it. Joey feeling uncomfortable with the situation decided to step in.
" We'll she does have a point. It would take years before he can fully understand the whole story. Amon is right as well that death shouldn't be the only way to prove true love but if that's what Philomel choose to believe that it's up to her. Just as Philomel has the choice to choose, Little One should have that choice as well. Therefore, let Philomel read to him whatever book, let Little One learn the language and the words and when he's old enough teach him the many possibilities. Let him explore it himself and choose the right one for himself. Sounds fair?"
Joey hesitantly asked as his gaze switch back and forth between Philomel and Amon. The two of them glared at each other awhile longer before eventually nodding and shaking hand to seal the deal.
" That birthday party was real madness, huh? Children running around and screaming. Joey definitely had his work cut out for him!"
Darzirak laughed as he recalled the expression Joey had as he lay dead- tired on the ground.
" He definitely did! He won all the children over with just a swing of his little wooden sword."
Philomel teased.
" It was extremely entertaining how he screamed ' Oh! You got me! How did I ever lose!'"
Amon acted out with the same amount of exaggeration that Joey did last night. Causing Joey to blush at how ridiculous Amon looked since it was a mirror image of himself last night.
" Hey! Why am I suddenly the centre of attention?!"
Joey whined causing the rest of the team to laugh. Suddenly Darzirak became stiff as he stopped laughing, his ears perked up.
" I can feel the blessing of the Goddess Asil Luna like 20 minutes away.
Darzirak quickly informed. Philomel stoop up and dusted her hands.
" Well then, let's go steal us a miracle."
Philomel grinned.
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