~The flame is yours—
Smiley jolted and woke up almost traumatized to find himself in the cart with Ananke nowhere to be found.
He looked around the cart to find it completely empty before taking a breath of relief.
Smiley lifted up the cloth of the cart and peeked outside where Ananke was talking to someone and noticed Smiley as he waved back.
Ananked told Smiley 'Well I was about to wake you up. Anyways, here we are.'
Smiley stood up and walked out of cart as Ananke said 'Welcome to Town of Paria'
He looked around, glancing at the town building. Houses were made of wood and stones such as that from medieval times.
As they walked through the town, Anne stopped at the house with a garden around it and told Smiley, 'There are many things you need to do but first meet my group.' As Ananke opened the door to the house.
…
No one was there.
Smiley said with pity, 'I see. Very lively…' thinking his "Delusional" talks were maybe just his call for help.
Ananke said 'Hey. I do not need your pity. They rarely come here except for that devil—'
Just as he was speaking, a shadowy blurry figure flew right past Smiley. Ananke put up a small wind shield but it broke as he was hit and went flying out of his own house.
Smiley was not able to keep up with its movement at all as he consciously turned his face around to find a woman with medium dark grey-ish blue hair and eyes. Her build was lightweight but wore dark clothing like assassin type which alerted Smiley of a possible assassination.
She yelled, 'CAN YOU STOP MAKING A RECKUS EVERYTIME YOU—'
She stopped and looked down upon Smiley who was just standing there helpless.
Smiley tried to grab onto his sword but it was missing so he tilted his body to show he might have a weapon he was reaching for.
She leaned forwards and reached her hand out towards him which scared him, causing him to flinch and close his eyes feeling completely hopeless.
Smiley thought 'That speed… it was closer to Ignis if not any faster. I am going to—'
She spoke instantly with a smile across her face 'Oh who is this?'
She just took down "The so called 'Strongest' person" with a single kick so what can the boy even do without his weapon.
She patted him 'Where did you come from? Sorry for scaring you', There surely stood a dark shadow before him or that is what he thought. She was smiling and even patting his head while apologizing to which Smiley naturally let his guard down.
Ananke walked through the door again and she turned back 'And you!… Where did you run off again without telling me a thing.' The tone was completely different, reminding him of how Rhina talked to him and others.
Ananke smiled, calming her down 'Haha, Sorry about that. I went to get him. Remember I told you about the boy who awakened?'
It was not effective.
She spoke up 'At least tell me before you leave so suddenly. We are married now—'
She looked at the boy and thought 'Oh I forgot about him… why is his presence constantly wavering' while still patting his head.
She asked 'Hello there, what is your name?'
Smiley glanced at Ananke before answering 'I– am Smiley'
'I am Ayla, nice to meet you. You will be staying here with us for some time so you can get comfortable. Do you have any questions'
Smiley spoke 'Is this what you meant by kidnapping—' but mid speech, Ananke covered his mouth and said 'Haha, children sure say random things.'
Ayla looked at Ananke angrily, 'Did you try to scare him too by saying you were going to kidnap him?'
Ananke defended, 'No no no, trust me. It was not me this time. That old man spoke out of character'
Ayla sighed and said to Smiley 'He is a bit lose in head so do not take anything he says seriously. If he annoys you, just tell me. I know how to deal with him.' as she posed her hands with distance between fingers.
This reminded Smiley of Rhina who said something similar. Smiley saw there were thin strings wrapped around her fingers and extending out to the ceiling. She was threatening Ananke with strings that were wrapped around her fingers.
Ananke just gulped, accepting his fate.
Smiley questioned 'So much for never getting hit. Are you really the strongest as you claim to be?'
Ayla asked 'Wait, you do not know who Ananke is?'
Smiley said 'All I know is he kidnaps children and talks big about being the strongest— but he doesn't seem like a bad guy.'
Ayla 'Bad guy?' and looked at Ananke 'Hey, what did you tell this poor boy' looking in pity.
'Why do you always assume that I am a evil monster'
Ayla acted helpless, 'Says the so-called mad hero. First you ran without telling me anything. You did not even come back for days, leaving your poor wife all alone. At this rate, I swear, you will forget me.'
Ananke said 'Calm down. I had a good reason.' Ayla responded uninterested, without even looking back, 'Sure whatever you say.'
Ananke excused 'I need to take him to the bazaar and registry so he does not need me as guardian to move in and out of the town.' as he grabbed Smiley and took him out. Only after closing the door he took a breath of relief, 'That was close'
Smiley turned to Ananke and said 'By the *strings that try to kill you… Did you mean…'
^* Reference to Chapter 23: {Ananke just smirked and proudly responded, 'Someone tries to kill me with the string of hers. I just have gotten used to them.'}[1]
As he glanced towards the door before whispering to him 'I will not snitch if you do not.'
Smiley spoke 'That only works when you have something on me…' sighing 'I only want my wasted pity back~'
Ananke said 'How about I will buy you something you want in return for keeping it a secret?'
Smiley said 'No need for that. I have a feeling you might be sleeping outside if I tell her that.'
[1] I will be adding '*' for reference point and '^* Note:' for reference for some things that were not easy to caught instead of built in note.