"Are you new here?"
Her eyes twitched with genuine curiosity.
My heart skipped a beat at her question.
"Uh... um... Yeah, yeah, we are new," Cody said, immediately stepping forward.
Though he stammered, his posture was surprisingly confident, enough to dispel any suspicion—for now.
Laelynn nodded slowly, as though trying to decide whether we were trustworthy.
"Oh, well. I'm not going to pry any further. Take care of yourselves."
Her hand tightened around Jayden's head as he slowly attempted to slip away.
Unfortunately for him, she noticed.
With Jayden still firmly in her grasp, she spun on her heels and began to walk away.
"Wait." Annabeth reached out a hand.
Laelynn turned around again, her gown twisting around her waist.
"Yeah?" She raised an eyebrow.
My eyes darted to Annabeth.
Her fingers were intertwined, and she wore a warm, slightly hesitant smile.
"Do you know where we could find work to make some money?"
A brief silence settled over us.
"We... um... lost everything on our way here."
It wasn't a lie. As Guardians, our only possessions were the clothes on our backs, and even those weren't in the best condition.
Laelynn glanced at each of us, seemingly taking in our appearances.
She readjusted her hold on her basket and Jayden before shrugging.
"I'm sorry. I can't think of anyone who's hiring. And even if I could, your number is quite discouraging..."
Disappointment settled over us.
"It's fine. I'm sorry. We shouldn't have put you on the spot like that."
I offered her a warm smile, but deep down, I knew we were in trouble.
We desperately needed somewhere to stay, food to eat, and money to survive.
Jayden tugged at Laelynn's gown, his left hand still clutching Mr. Ted.
"They can stay at the inn with us."
Our ears perked up.
The inn?
"Jayden, we're not hiring," Laelynn gently reminded her brother before giving us an apologetic look.
"We can't just leave them."
"Jayden..."
My eyes widened.
We had no money to offer, but that didn't mean we had nothing to give.
"You don't have to pay us. We'll work for you in exchange for food, shelter, and clothing."
I had no idea where we were going to get money, but we'd figure something out.
Somehow.
"Hmm..." Laelynn's eyebrows knitted together as she studied us once more. "I really can't decide..."
Oh.
"We'd have to talk to my dad first. Come along."
She turned and gestured for us to follow.
Excited gasps rippled through the group.
We walked some distance, stopping at a few stalls along the way. Apparently, Laelynn's shopping moment had been interrupted by Jayden's mischievous behaviour.
"This will be the last one..." Laelynn said, her eyebrows bending slightly upwards before she hurried into the store in front of us.
The store had a wooden frame and interior, with various household decorations arranged around it. From the outside, it was difficult to tell what it sold. Inside, however, it felt more like an extension of the owner's home than an actual store.
A middle-aged man sat behind the counter with a newspaper in his hand, leaning dangerously back in his chair without a single care in the world.
Laelynn walked through the store familiarly. As hard as it was to tell what it sold from outside, the inside was pretty empty... or perhaps it was sold out.
A rock-like figure seated beside the man caught my attention. It looked too lifelike to be carved.
A golem?
My doubts were erased when it looked up at me from its own newspaper.
I quickly avoided eye contact. Not out of fear of raising suspicions, but...
Because it was creepy.
"Mister... Say hi."
Jayden had been constantly tugging on Zayn, trying to get him to play with Mr. Ted.
Zayn stared at the lad with his arms folded, as if trying to send him an obvious message. I could tell he was seconds away from smacking him.
Before I could enjoy the situation any further, Jace nudged my shoulder, prompting me to take half a step to regain my balance.
"What?" I asked, trying to sound irritated as I turned to him.
"What if her dad says no?"
I stared at him, unsure whether he genuinely didn't know the answer to that question.
When he continued standing there, looking perplexed, I rolled my eyes.
"We kneel."
Jace's eyes widened in shock before he burst into laughter. He clearly hadn't expected that answer.
"Do you have a better idea?" I asked, completely unfazed.
"I didn't know you had a strong sense of humour..." Jace said, wiping away a tear.
Except I wasn't joking, but he didn't know that just yet.
I turned to Amanda.
"Y'all must be so excited. Must feel good to finally live in a land with no magic restriction. Y'all must be itching to test your limits."
She spoke excitedly, shifting her weight to one side.
"I do think that's one thing to look forward to, but girl... have you seen the fashion style here? I can't wait to go shopping."
Iris suddenly lit up. From her expression, you could tell she was already in la-la land.
"I noticed it too. But I'm more excited about the history of this realm, so there's a high chance I'll be visiting the libraries or bookstores."
Tyra tapped her chin and shrugged lightly.
"And I will definitely be right behind Tyra because, if you haven't noticed, this is not home, and I'm not missing out on the chance to gather information."
Cody immediately concurred.
Iris's face literally dropped.
"Oh? So now I'm the unserious one for choosing to have fun?"
"No, I choose to have fun too. But I'll be having fun testing my limits instead of the limits of my wallet. I know you couldn't be bothered because you'd never be able to break through yours."
Zayn let a sly smirk play at the corner of his lips as he brutally teased her.
"Someone's quite confident, considering his only strength is running around on wheels."
She immediately shot back, and that smirk vanished.
Poorly restrained snickers travelled through the group. For someone who was usually the one lighting the match, that was fun to watch.
"I do agree with Zayn, though... on the training aspect. If anything, I want to stand a chance when next we face him."
Katara clenched her fist, her expression determined.
We all understood.
"Ummm... y'all?"
Annabeth pointed at the young boy standing in front of Zayn, his mouth hanging open.
And I could've sworn that, for a second, even Mr. Ted looked shocked.
"Hopefully he's too young to understand English?" Jace asked, tilting his head with a worried smile.
Jayden remained frozen, staring at us as though wishing he hadn't heard anything we said.
But just like every other wish, it didn't come true.
"Are you from a different universe?"
His eyes lit up... literally.
He excitedly clutched his doll, unintentionally choking it, then leaned forward and began examining us as though we were newly discovered species.
Calm down, Hunter. He's young. Use his imagination against him.
I squatted down to his level and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Jayden... We are certainly not of this world. We come from a long line of intergalactic beings, and we are here to save this world."
...
I mean, if you rephrase it, I wasn't technically lying.
"You mean you have cool abilities? Cooler than everyone else's? And... and you have weird ears too?"
He grabbed my outstretched wrist and leaned closer.
Now, I don't know where he was getting these descriptions from, but...
"That's right, Jayden. And now you've been pulled into the mission. So keep this a secret, okay? Umm... Private Jayden."
He saluted on the spot and made a promise.
I've never been happier to see a kid with a crazy imagination.
"What are you guys doing?"
Laelynn's amused voice cut through our conversation.
"Nice try, sister..."
Jayden let out a low, sinister laugh, far too creepy for his age.
"I'LL NEVER TELL YOU!"
He yelled and bolted down the street.
Laelynn stared at us in cheerful confusion, but we all innocently shrugged.