Aspen, a recently declared city, isn't heavily guarded because it boasts one of the largest market areas in the country. It's because of its laidback security that Andrew and Melissa were able to get into the city without much notice. Drew thinks that the news hasn't traveled to Aspen, but soon enough it will and that's why they can't afford to stay in the city for long. Past Aspen is a world unknown to Andrew, and he doesn't know where to go from there.
He has no idea how to save Melissa from the persecution, much less himself. He does his best not to show it, hiding it behind a cheery smile as he trusts Melissa with the Liras Miya gave him. He tells her to find an inn they could stay in and buy some ingredients in the market tents while he puts their horse on a stable. Drew ends up giving himself a moment to breathe and talk to the horse that's peacefully eating grains from a bucket.
"What am I going to do? I know I talked pretty big but am I just going to have to keep running away until the problem solves itself? I'm worried." He can't help but think about those people he had left, even though he promised himself that he would only look forward from now on. Dread still fills his heart at the thought of Azure and Miya being persecuted in his stead.
Feelings of doubt and regret did start to coil around his heart, pulling it down to his stomach. However, he can't help but feel disgusted with himself whenever those thoughts plague his heart.
In the end, Drew puts his hands together and closed his eyes. He quietly prayed for Miya and Azure's safety, as well as Erize and Cecil's well-being.
"That's all I can do right now. Alright, you rest here buddy. I'll come to get you in a week," Drew said to his horse before petting it on the head and leaving the stables.
He then realized he forgot something critically important. He didn't know where Melissa is and he never really gave her instructions on where they would meet each other. He doesn't have much Lira on him since he gave most of it to Melissa so he decided to just window shop as he walks across the bustling streets of Aspen.
On his little stroll, he came across a lot of small tents that sold everyday necessities to magus-oriented goods. He honestly feels pretty overwhelmed by all this, more-so when he thinks that it's like this every day in Aspen.
"It only gets this busy in Mires during festivals and gatherings."
Drew continues to look around and he finds himself at the heart of Aspen, it's large open market area that looked like a maze of stalls. The streets were large enough that it can occupy some passing carriages and still have room for people to walk around and look for whatever they're buying. Drew could see families shopping together, eccentric folk finding themselves in equally strange stalls, and some people are by themselves like him.
"I think Melissa and I are going to be looking for each other all day." Drew pinches the bridge of his nose while thinking about how careless and stupid he is.
While contemplating his options, which was to either look for Melissa or hang around a spot in the market until she stumbles onto him, Drew hears Melissa loudly yelling at someone.
"Come back here you! Give that back!" Melissa screeched as she chased down what Drew could make out as a witch's hat with spider legs.
"Is that a hat with legs or a bug with a hat?"
"Man do you know how pathetic you look right now!" The witch's hat spoke which confused Drew even more.
"Why is it speaking? Why is It also insulting Melissa?"
Melissa doesn't even notice the confused Drew in the crowd as she runs after the scuttling hat, not until Drew lifted his foot and stomped the hat flat like it was a bug -he even looked at it like it was a bug.
"Drew! What're you doing here? And you caught the hat!" Was the sentence that Drew didn't think he'd hear from Melissa today.
"Uh, -yeah, can you fill me in on what this thing is?" Drew asked while grinding his heel against the hat, which made an odd jingling sound like the inside of the hat was filled with coins -Liras.
Melissa's face turns red, realizing she needs to explain her embarrassing situation. As if being eyed by the crowd around them wasn't embarrassing enough.
"S, -See here's the thing, I was doing what you told me which was to buy ingredients" Melissa holds up the two paper bags she was carrying whilst she chased the hat around. "And while I was on my way to the next tent, that hat just lunged and took the pouch of Liras you gave me," She continues and now Drew knows what's inside the hat. But he still has no idea why the hat seems to have a life of its own, and why it decided to steal.
Drew grabs the hat by its conical crown and started shaking it while his other hand was held out beneath it. As if by magic it spat out the pouch of Liras it stole from them and Drew hands it back to Melissa.
"Now, I'm going to have you to explain a few things to me because I'm definitely confused-"
"F, -Finny!" A girl's voice called out and it made the witch's hat writhe, wanting to get slip away from Drew's grip.
"A, -Aranea! I'm over here!" Finny, the hat, answered the call while continuing to squirm.
The girl calling out to Finny runs up to Drew and he sees a woman with long white hair and ruby-red eyes which looked up at him with anticipating eyes. Drew couldn't tell whether this woman was anxious or exhausted, since she's out of breath.
"Were you-" Andrew is interrupted by Aranea's rushed response.
"Y, -Yes, he's mine! P, -Please don't hurt him … I'm sure what he did was wrong but I'll take responsibility for what he did!" She stuttered a bit from what Drew thinks is a response she's rehearsed in her head just now.
Drew smiles and dusted the shoeprint off Finny's cone before holding the hat to Aranea. The spider-legged witch's hat turned around and it seemingly stared at Drew, dubiously. As if it wanted to ask him something.
"Don't sweat it. I was just asking if you were looking for this guy. I'm not going to hold anything against you for what he did," Drew says as Aranea puts Finny back on top of her head.
"I, -I'm so sorry …" With her head hung low, she quietly apologized to Drew and Melissa for inconveniencing them before turning around and walking away.
"Are you sure it's alright to let her go? She seems suspicious," Melissa pointed out but then she noticed some people locking their gaze to Aranea and she saw the fire in them quietly burn with anger. She also saw parents pulling their children close when Aranea walked pass them.
Witch. Was the first thing that Melissa thought since nobody would look at a mage with the same level of hostility.
"Did you know?" Melissa asked Drew, using her other hand to hold Drew's sleeve.
"I had a hunch. Also -Melissa." Suddenly Drew changed the topic and his hand grabbed onto Melissa's and he hinted at soldiers coming their way.
"Do you think they're after us?"
"I don't know, but I have another guess that we're not the only ones they're looking for. C'mon, we need to follow that girl."
Hearing that from him, Melissa smiles and holds his hand tighter as she follows him through the tents, slipping away from the soldiers.
The two then went into the alleyways and there Melissa sees that some of the bystanders and even the shopkeepers were giving the soldiers directions to where they last saw Aranea. It also helps Drew as well in looking for Aranea as he eavesdrops on a conversation with two soldiers and a shopkeeper.
He finds that the soldiers are only looking for Aranea and they're talking as if this is a regular occurrence.
"It's that damned witch again, walking around and startling customers away from our businesses! I thought you folk took care of her?!" The shopkeeper ranted to one of the two soldiers.
"Look, old geezer, it's not that easy. Just tell us where she is and we'll deal with it," the soldier replied, annoyed at the old shopkeeper who didn't take the soldier's tone kindly.
"Are you giving me lip? Listen here I don't know what kind of arrangement you folk and that witch have but she's a bad omen here. If you won't deal with her, we will!" The shopkeeper thrust his cane at the soldier's plated chest and that's when the said soldier grabbed the cane and snapped it in two.
"Who's we then? I'd love to know every single one of your names so I can personally-"
"Captain! I think you're taking things too far with that, you're going to scare everyone with that glare," the soldier next to the captain spook up to which the captain placed his other hand on the young soldier's head.
"Ah, -thanks, Squire. Okay, listen here grandpa. I'll pretend I didn't hear what you said about the witch if you just ignore her and cooperate with us," The captain said as he kept petting the top of his squire's head.
"C, -Captain, I'm not a kid stop rubbing my head!" The squire whined.
"Fine, but you're going to have to pay for my new cane Hagurd!" The old man shopkeeper replied.
The conversation between the soldiers and the shopkeeper ended with Captain Hagurd agreeing to the old man shopkeeper's demand.
Drew and Melissa came out of the alleyways and followed Captain Hagurd and his squire. It's at this point that Melissa started whispering to Drew that she thinks that these guys aren't as bad and that they're like Erize and Cecil in her eyes.
She also assumes that the deal the soldiers were talking about is the witch will protect the city and in return, Aranea gets to live in Aspen, and that's why the soldiers are as lax as they are because Aranea is doing the heavy lifting for them. True, Captain Hagurd and his squire seemed laidback as the city described the soldiers here to be. But as lazy as they're rumored to be, Captain Hagurd shows a cunning side to him by striking an agreement with a witch.
A deal that he's willing to maintain even if it meant risking his own character. But can a timid witch like Aranea offer to protect a city for Captain Hagurd? That's the question that's in Drew's mind right now as he follows the two soldiers.
But it seems that Andrew took Captain Hagurd too lightly as the soldier turned around and placed his hand on the back of his neck. Hagurd locked eyes with him and Drew realized that he couldn't feint his way out of confronting the captain and his squire.
"Do you need something?" Hagurd asked tiredly as his red eyes seemed to lazily look about, but Drew can see through that ruse. This man's scanning him. "I'm a bit busy so if you're just a visitor with his girlfriend, maybe ask a different knight to help you out. C'mon squire."
"Captain, I don't think these two are-"
"Look here kid, you've been getting a little too cheeky today. Can't you trust your captain?" Hagurd asked as he pinched and pulled his squire's cheek.
"I, -I'm so sorry!"
"Good. Then let's go have a talk with Aranea -Ah, you two … you are just visitors, right?"
"We are, and we're looking for a place to stay the night," Drew replied to Hagurd's question, realizing that he's being told to keep away from the situation.
"Is that so? Well like I said I'm a little busy so-" Hagurd cuts his own sentence off when he sees Aranea running towards him. A sudden feeling of anger came over him and he grabbed the handle of his sword, preparing to take it out.
But then Aranea runs pass Hagurd and he sees no one chasing after her. He turns around and Aranea was talking to Drew and Melissa.
"I, -I never got your name, but … you're the one who put this in Finny right?" Aranea holds out a small pouch containing Liras, to which Finny argues with her.
"Are you daft, woman!? Can't you tell when a guy's trying to be kind to you!?"
"It's not right Finny!" Aranea argued back to her hat and grabbed Drew's hand, placing the pouch of Lira back on his hand after he had secretly stashed it inside Finny. "H, -Here. Thank you, but I'll manage by myself. I don't want to inconvenience you."
"The world isn't right in the head either, so take advantage of it!" Finny sounded like devil's advocate but the hat seems to be speaking for the good of Aranea rather than his own self-interest. He's concerned for its wearer.
"Wasn't she timid?" Drew asked himself, wondering if he mistook her shyness for something else. But when he looked down at his hand, he can also see Aranea's are shaking.
"Ah, she is timid. But where's this courage coming from that lets her do things she normally wouldn't do?" When Drew looked at Aranea in the eyes, they quickly darted them off to a different direction. She is timid -no, she's anti-social.
Just as Andrew was about to open his mouth, Hagurd appeared between him and Aranea.
"Mr. Hagurd … Oh, I'm so sorry. You were called in because of me, right?"
"Ah if it isn't the sloth of Aspen! What got you out of your hammock today, Hagurd?" Finny taunts the captain to which Aranea shushed him for.
"Don't be mean! I'm really sorry about him Mr. Hagurd. I don't know why he's in such a sour mood."
"Maybe 'cause it's on its period?" Melissa chimes in with her hand on her mouth, stifling her giggles.
"Wasn't it just clarified that I'm a MAN?" Finny stood on top of Aranea's head and it looked like he was preparing to do something.
"Oh, you are? I'm sorry, it's kind of hard to tell- AGH!?"
"How about now, is it hard to tell now!?" Finny who had lunged towards Melissa was now stuck to her face using all eight of his legs to keep himself on.
Melissa's muffled screams were ignored by Andrew and Hagurd. The only ones who seems to be worried are Hagurd's squire and Aranea.
"Aranea, we're going to have a long talk alright? For now, I'm going to take you back home. As for you two." Hagurd turned to Drew and Melissa, who had just pried Finny off her face with one hand. It left her hair haggard and her face sweaty.
"H, -Hah? What about us?" Melissa asked, momentarily letting her guard down that Finny wriggled out of her grip and latched onto her face again. Screaming begins again.
"You two are coming with me," Hagurd says and then ordered his squire to walk with Drew and Melissa while he and Aranea walk side-by-side.
There's a fair distance between them that Andrew couldn't eavesdrop on whatever Hagurd's saying to Aranea, not that he really needed to. At this point knowing why the Aspen soldiers are holding an agreement with a witch is something Drew is only curious about.
He does begin to think that Aspen might be a better place than he thought since if the soldiers here would hide a witch from the capital, then it shouldn't be much to hide two wanted criminals.
"Right -as if. That's too selfish, and it'll just lead to unnecessary problems here for someone who shouldn't get involved with us," Andrew says to himself as they enter the white forest that surrounds Aspen.
Aspen's forest was a wonderful sight to behold, it's white trees made everything looked sterile and clean while the red canopies gave a warm and vibrant color to bask in -even the ground where the red leaves fell and where orange shrubbery grow gave a general warm feeling about this forest -a stark contrast to its low temperature that Melissa feels but Andrew seems to just shrug off like it's just a cool breeze.
The trail they're following leads them to an old house hidden in the forest, detached from the rest of the city and it's what Aranea calls home.
Taking a seat on the porch, Hagurd lets out a sigh and looked at Aranea.
"What were you doing outside, hm?" He simply asked.
Meanwhile Drew and Melissa were being told by Hagurd's squire to sit down on the one picnic table located outside of the old house. The three of them are far enough to not hear Hagurd and Aranea talking.
"I, -I ran out of this month's supply … so I wanted to buy-"
"Didn't I tell you that you just need to ask me whenever you run out? I visit you once a week, don't I? Why didn't you say anything?"
"It's- Because-" Aranea was stumbling to reply, the words are caught in her throat that Finny stepped in for her.
"It's 'cause she didn't want to trouble you! How's that so hard to understand!? Has your brain calcified or something!?" Hagurd ignores Finny's attempts to rile him up -or rather he's gotten used to the hat's taunts that it doesn't faze him.
"Alright, then why are you two back empty-handed? And why did you steal from someone you raggedy-ass head accessory?" Hagurd's reply stumps Finny and startled Aranea. One didn't want to say the reason and the other was just simply taken aback by Hagurd's insult.
"Listen here! I'll have you know before being reduced to this I was a proud cloak of an Arachne!"
"But you're now a raggedy-ass head accessory. Get on with your point."
"I would if you didn't cut me off, you deadbeat! The reason we don't got anything and the reason I snatched Liras from that redhaired cavewoman, is because any tent me and Aranea went in doubled their prices so we couldn't buy anything that'll last us a month -we might not even have enough for a week's worth either!"
Hagurd looked down from the hat and straight to Aranea, asking if what Finny's saying is true. Aranea nodded.
"You might not understand, but I'm visiting you every week to look out for you. What you do for this city is no small thing, but right now, the people here won't appreciate what you do. I do though, so-"
"-so you'll look after me and make living a little easier for me and Finny. To at least show me that what I do is actually appreciated," Aranea finishes what Hagurd was going to say. She's heard that line plenty of times before from him. It's what he says to comfort Aranea, or at least it's what he says that makes him think it comforts her.
"If you already know, then why go through all this trouble?"
"I, -I don't know. I'm sorry, I seemed to have caused more problems for you. I won't do it again." Aranea walks into her house and immediately climbed up the stairs. Hagurd hears a loud thud of a door slamming close, which made him slump his head and let out a heavy sigh.
Hagurd then gets up from the porch and approached the picnic table with Andrew, Melissa, and his squire Basil.
"Oi, you two." Hagurd once again refers to Andrew and Melissa like they're a pair.
By this point, Melissa's gotten sick of being called 'you two'.
"I got a name, it's Melissa, and he's Andrew," Melissa points at herself and then at Andrew who looked at her like she had made the biggest blunder in her life.
The soldiers of Aspen might not have been looking for them, but they could've been informed of the wanted criminals' names.
"Alright." Relief! It was the immediate feeling Drew felt when Hagurd didn't catch on. It does clear things up for him, that Mires hasn't made a move to spread the awareness of a convicted witch and a renegade Anti-mage.
"You two said you were looking for a place to stay right?" Hagurd asked, still calling Andrew and Melissa as a pair. "I'll let you two stay here if you do me a favor."
Andrew and Melissa looked at Hagurd strangely, wanting to ask if he was serious -especially Drew who knew that Hagurd was telling him not to get involved in their business.
"What's with the change of heart?" Drew asked.
"What do you want us to do exactly?" Melissa followed up, slightly annoyed that she knows Hagurd is going to refer to her and Andrew together again.
"Simple really, I want you to keep an eye on Aranea while Andrew handles my shopping for me." For once Hagurd refers to the two of them separately which somehow ticked Melissa off rather than making her feel better.
"Do that and I'll let you two stay here in Aranea's house," Hagurd said, and now Melissa has considered murder as an option. "Do we have an agreement?"
Drew looked at Melissa and she was smiling back at him. The two already have their answer and they agreed to Hagurd's terms.
"I'll be back before evening then. I'll see you later," Drew says to Melissa
"Come back soon, I'll make dinner with the ingredients I bought this morning. So, get back before it gets cold," Melissa replied back sweetly.
Andrew then leaves the forest with Hagurd and Basil, with Hagurd explaining to Drew everything he needs to buy and handing him a list.
"You know, I heard the exchange you two had. Are you a couple?" Hagurd asked.
"Please don't misunderstand, Melissa and I just became good friends. Anyways, I'll start checking this list." Drew was about to part ways with the two soldiers until he remembered something that he wanted to ask Hagurd. "And oh, I have a lot of questions that I want you to answer. Maybe we can talk it over dinner?"
"Depends, is your wife's cooking good?" Hagurd sarcastically replied with a smirk, but he quickly loses that smirk of his. "Sorry, I can't. I'm pretty busy at night you see."
"Alright, then I'll just ask you when we see each other again." Drew had realized a conflict in Hagurd. He wants to keep his agreement with Aranea but he also wants to keep his distance from her. He wants to protect her from the people of Aspen but he's never strict enough to tell her to stay put.
Is it fear that drives Hagurd into having conflicts with himself or something much more? These thoughts circulated inside Drew as he goes shopping, occasionally looking at the list Hagurd had given him, and he can't help but remember how Miya would also make a list whenever she goes grocery shopping. The same care and detail were put into this list as someone who genuinely wants to look after a person -someone who feels responsible to take care of a person.