"You seem different," Clara spoke as she held on to Fishy's back.
The two of them rode slowly back to their city on the only horse they had. After the alliance with Rynad was accomplished, Fishy had no reason to stay. In fact, he wanted to leave as quickly as possible. He didn't even give Clara the time to get changed fully, and she instead wore Fishy's dark hoodie that she had quickly made before leaving with Sebastian. Luckily, it was large enough to go all the way down to her knees.
"What do you mean?" Fishy asked as he guided the horse with the sun setting ahead of them.
"It's just that, you seem more mature. Maybe mature isn't the right word."
"You can't always act childish and ignorant. I've learnt that now."
"I see…" Clara held onto Fishy's back as the bumpy white horse continued to ride through the fields.
Fishy asked Lilith for the same deal as before. Using her magic to give the horse enough energy to walk nonstop for 2 days, so they never had to rest.
"Why did you propose the alliance?" Clara asked.
"Allies are important. Plus, we need riches to throw at others until our food situation is sorted."
"Hmmm…" Clara tried to look at Fishy's face to see if she could get a tell from his expression, but it was pointless as his stern face never changed.
"I guess that's fine," Clara spoke. "Shall we stop off for the night? It's getting dark?"
"Sorry, I'd prefer it if we got back as soon as possible. It may be uncomfortable but we'll ride through the night. The horse will be fine. You can sleep if you want."
"Hmmm…" Clara was still worried. From what happened at the wedding to the way Fishy acted, it all felt too different to her. "If you say so…"
She rested her head on Fishy's back and attempted to fall asleep. She closed her eyes but the rough journey made it impossible for her to even think about sleeping.
"How are the two girls?" Clara asked but didn't receive an answer.
"Fishy…?" She repeated herself, but after a second time, part of her thought that maybe it was better not to ask. Even without seeing his face, his faint heartbeat that she was feeling through his chest was enough to tell her something was wrong.
"I couldn't save them…" Said Fishy, "I tried to save them but I was too weak… I couldn't do anything."
"I see…" Clara continued to rest her head. "Well, I won't ask any more questions. I just hope, that whenever the time is right, you'll tell us."
Their conversation ended shortly after. Clara managed to fall asleep and Fishy stayed up for the entire night whilst the horse charged along, high on caffeine that Lilith was giving him by using her own energy to keep Fishy and the horse awake.
Their two-day journey quickly came to an end, as the city was now in sight.
"Welcome back, Master Fishy, Master Clara." A member of Ziu's spy team waited by the boarders to greet them. It was early in the morning and almost everyone was still asleep.
"I'm going to go to bed…" Clara said jumping off the horse, "I miss my bed…"
The sleepy pink-haired Clara started walking off, not fully knowing where she was.
Despite Fishy's back being covered with drool, Clara didn't sleep well, and Fishy hadn't even slept since leaving for the kingdom almost 5 days ago.
"Actually, Clara," Fishy said stopping Clara who was reluctant to turn around and hear the dreaded words that she knew was coming. "We need to have a quick meeting, gather all the executives. Wake them up. We need the greatest forces of this village awake and active."