“Looks like some highbrow business got robbed. One of the employees is posting about it. The thieves disappeared.” He summarized from what he was reading, and my nervous feelings only grew. I couldn’t say what was causing it, just that my hand steadily drifted toward the satchel on my hip. I briefly remembered what Jett said, that it wasn’t just coincidence that I wind up in the line of danger. I decided not to take any chances.

I grasped the hilt tightly inside the satchel without removing him just in case I really was being paranoid. I took a sip from my cocoa with my other hand, trying my best to appear calm. I stood, I had to get my older brother out of here.

“Hey, let’s get out of here. I gotta get back to work soon.” I told him from where I stood, still looking about.

“Really? Already?” He clicked his tongue, and stood up as well. He tossed his empty cup into the trash can beside the bench and began to follow me back to the car. Unfortunately this meant walking with our backs turned to the source of my anxiety. I made sure to walk slightly behind Jeromy, so that he wouldn’t see me glancing back as much.

“Are you okay, man?” He asked after a second, I had my head turned the other way, watching a jogger who had entered the park a ways behind us.

“Hm? Yeah. Just twitchy…” I trailed off after I looked back to him with an apologetic smile. I glanced back again, the jogger was getting closer, but it didn’t look like they were running for us.

“Really? You seem kind of weird suddenly.” Jeromy sounded more concerned now, I really wished I could have reassured him. My mind however, was occupied by the jogger. She had her hood pulled up high, over her face, which already wasn’t a good sign. She was getting closer, I realized she wasn’t jogging, she was running away from something.

“Fin. Stop her.” Jett spoke up suddenly, and I could tell this was serious.

“I know.” I responded, I kept my head turned away until just before she started passing us by.

“Finlay- What?” Jeromy startled, just before I kicked my leg out as the woman passed. I was more prepared this time, and I removed Jett from the bag as she went sprawling for the floor. Whatever had been in her hand was flung from her grasp, and I could see it rolling across the pavement.

“Finlay oh my god!” Jeromy shouted from beside me, he covered his face with his hands. “Ma’am are you okay? Finlay what was-”

“Go, Jer.” I avoided using his full name. “Go to the car. Don’t get involved.”

Something about my tone must have freaked him out, because instead of yelling at me more, or doing as I said, he just took a few steps away. The woman had finished struggling to her feet, and she turned to look at us. She looked at me, at Jett in my hand, and then that grin lifted itself to her face.

“She’s gonna make a run at Jeromy.” Jett announced, and I adjusted my stance, as Jeromy’s eyes flashed toward the sword.

“What?! She-” He started to shout, and the woman ran at him. I shouldered my body weight into her, knocking her backwards and nearly tripping myself.

“GO.” I yelled at him now, and finally he took several steps back before jogging a safe distance away. Good enough I guess. I recovered my stance and stood before her as if the blade were already activated.

“Alright Jett, let’s try this again...” I spoke lowly as the woman took her own stance. Odd. Most of the time they were just numb and puppet like.

“Yeah.” He agreed, and shortly the spark of light between the prongs of the hilt spread and sharpened, forming itself into the sword shape I remembered from Professor Bruno’s office. The woman charged.

I swung the blade towards her head, clumsily. My mind flashed back to when AAAAA had called me weak, and she ducked below it. As she slid across the ground, her hand grabbed at my ankle and I got pulled roughly to the pavement. I could smell my spilled cocoa a few feet away from where I lie on my belly, between the struggled breaths from getting the air knocked out of me.

“Finlay, turn around.” Jett commanded.

“On it.” I grit, once I had some breath, and I whirled around and slashed the blade out with my body as I turned. I didn’t exactly kill her, but she backed away. She had been reaching for me and the blade sliced off her hand, and ash crumbled away from the stump before it turned into smoke. That unsettling grin fell away, into a crazed anger. I got to my feet just as she began her next attack. She didn’t get far as I ran through her torso with the blade and her movements halted. Over her shoulder I saw the old woman who was feeding pigeons picking the item up from the ground. She turned and looked at me, and I saw her matching grin.

“Are you serious?” I hissed, and as the woman on the sword crumbled and smoked away. I began my sprint for the old woman, who began to run away. She was definitely much faster than she should have been.

The old woman passed by a group of pigeons, still pecking at the crumpled bag of crumbs. With a quick movement she bent and scooped one up, I watched the bird struggle in an attempt to escape. This odd decision slowed her enough for me to catch up, and I sliced at the woman through all the layers of her coat. Even as she died, she turned to me with that insane grin.

“What the hell?” I noticed something weird happen as the ash turned to smoke. It’s like it drifted directly towards the bird, and it dropped to the ground instead of immediately flying away. It landed in a flapping heap of smoke and feathers beside the object that the HEARTLESS seemed to be running away with. It looked almost like an obnoxious ring but the gem was over the hole rather than on top. I bent down to pick it up...

I jumped back, the pigeon recovered just in time to snap its beak at my fingers. It grabbed the gem in its claws, and it shook itself before spreading its wings.

“Kill the bird.” Jett demanded, as it begun to take off.

“What? I can’t, it’s flying away.” I began chasing it on foot.

“Then shoot it.” He said it like it was the obvious course of action.

“And how am I supposed to do that?” I began, failing to notice the way the hilt’s weight shifted in my hand. “I have nothing to shoot it with!” The bird seemed weighed down by the gem, so it didn’t fly very far, but it was still trying to escape.

“Look at me, dumbass.” He growled, and when I glanced down what I saw was definitely not a sword. I only had a few moments to act, I had no clue how to use a bow.

“Since when could you change shape like this?!” I asked, frantically lifting the bow up to aim at the bird. I had to stop running in order to aim. I had no arrows, but I took a gamble in assuming that's what that trademark spark of light was for at the handle of the bow. I drew the string back to fire my first shot as Jett answered, and a beam of light in the shape of an arrow followed my fingers.

“Just shoot the damn bird, please.” he pleaded disdainfully. Of course, I missed the first one. I tried again, and again missing each time. Jett grunted in annoyance as I had to run to catch up again.

“Okay, how about we try firing the exact moment I tell you to.” Jett tried as I ran. I was getting worried we were getting too close to the street. I stopped, pulled the string back.

“Left. Left. Down just a little bit… NOW!” He guided me with his words, and I released the light arrow on command. Mostly because I was startled he had shouted so loudly.

It zipped through the air, and struck straight through the bird. Who, due to it’s small size, poofed into the air in a cloud of ash and smoke. The item it had been holding fell into a snowbank below. I was out of breath, but I didn’t want anything else to come and snatch the gem, so I jogged over to the snowbank. I glanced into the traffic, I could see people had been watching. With haggard breath more inspired by panic now, I still retrieved the item that had fallen into the dirty crunchy mush of the snowbank by the street. I returned Jett(who had gone back to the default hilt), and the item both into the satchel, while I pulled the collar of my coat up to sheild my face.

When I looked up, my brother was still there. Watching. I felt miserable on the walk back to him. The walk of shame. I had returned to looking down at my feet by the time I was in front of him again.

“You-” I heard the waver in his voice. “We are gonna get in my car. We are going to drive. Then you are not going to get out of the car until you explain to me just what the FUCK that was.” He sounded destroyed. Confused, angry, sad… most of all, scared. I nodded, and wordlessly walked back to his car. I only hoped that the police weren’t called, and that no one snuck a photo of me. Or worse, someone filmed the whole thing.

It was a while before I explained the whole thing, Jett inserted himself into the conversation, now that it was all out in the open. Jeromy never really stopped flinching whenever he spoke until the very end of the conversation.

“So, you’re- fighting the forces of evil. Okay. Alright.” He was gripping the steering wheel with this look on his face. We were sitting in the car in front of the antique store. I nodded.

“You gotta- you know this is absolutely insane, right? He asked, and I nodded again. “Okay. Alright… Take me with you then. Inside. To meet with them. I wanna help.” I shook my head, getting faster when I spoke.

“No. No. I need you to protect mom. You already know how to fight, she needs someone with her. Please Jer.” I put my best pleading face on, he looked hesitantly between me and the shop, before sighing with a grimace.

“Yeah. Fine.” He relented, glaring at the road now. I nodded, before starting to open the door. Then I remembered something.

“Jer?” He looked at me again. “Do you think dad only had us to pass this off of himself?”

Jeromy went quiet for a while, thinking I assumed. We stayed like that for a while, looking at each other, myself half-way out the door. Eventually he spoke, after far too long. I already gathered the answer from his expression.

“Probably. He was that kind of guy.” He shrugged. I nodded, and turned away.

“I’ll keep you updated, if I can.” I slid the rest of the way out the door, as he thanked me. He sped away, likely to spend time by himself to process before likely going home and watching over our mother like a hawk. I stared after him on the curb for a while, before returning inside.

Later that night, as I was lying awake in bed, I recounted the day in my mind. I remembered how I didn’t lock up, I kept fighting even after I got scared.

“I think… I’m doing better?” I said to the quiet room. Jett didn’t answer.

“Like… I feel less helpless? That maybe I might be able to do this. You know?” I added.

“... Did you forget how badly you got your ass kicked literally yesterday?” He finally spoke, I sputtered slightly.

“W-well. No of course not. I just thought-”

“Shut up, Fin.” He said, derailing me completely. I sighed, and turned to face the wall.

“... it is a nice thought.” Jett added quietly, after a while. I turned my head to acknowledge it.

“Did you-” I began.

“I said shut up Fin.” He refused to let me comment, it seemed. I laughed lightly, used to his antics by now.

“G’night Jett.” I closed my eyes, and tried to let myself fall asleep. Of course, sleeping on command is easier said than done. I assumed Jett thought I was already asleep when he responded after a long silence.

“Goodnight, Fin...”