Tiana took the photo from him, holding it with careful hands like it was a magical artifact. She traced her fingers over Spectral’s face.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” she said, her voice subdued with wonder.

“Yeah. I know. It’s, uh, a long story.” Crimson cleared his throat and tried to reclaim his stoic demeanour. “It’s called a photograph. They’re quite common where I’m from.”

“And where are you from, exactly?”

“Far away,” he said. He wanted to trust her with the full story but he wasn’t ready yet. And now, with Spectre possibly knowing he was here, he didn’t want to put Tiana in unnecessary danger. Conquering ogres and mountainsides were one thing. Facing Spectre was an entirely different league.

“Must be far,” she snorted. “Haven’t even heard of a resident hero before.”

“Well why don’t you educate me?”

She gave him a look that seemed to say why should I tell you things if you aren’t telling me anything? But the moment passed. She couldn't resist the opportunity to show off.

"Resident heroes are the predestined protectors of the towns and cities, each one born in their destined city. Some of the smaller villages can produce heroes too, but less frequently. That's why I'm overseeing three villages. Not enough heroes born but I'm enough hero for all of 'em." Her voice was almost casual but the pride shone through. 

"So… you were born to protect those village?"

"I mean, I was born to protect people." This correction wasn't said with the same glowing pride; it was just a matter of fact. "Resident heroes can leave and work for other cities if they want to. A lot of them do cuz the bounties in small towns aren't as big. But the Council will always arrange a new hero to a town if the current one leaves."

"Why haven't you moved on to a city?"

"Doesn't interest me," she said. "I like solving problems. In the city, they only care about killing off or locking up anything troublesome. Out here I have more free reign. I can investigate. I can negotiate. I feel like I can help prevent issues rather than just dealing with the symptoms."

She stopped herself and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry! I know people get awful bored of me rambling on about this stuff."

"No, no! I find it really interesting. I feel the same way."

"Really? You do?"

"Yeah, of course!" Crimson said, blushing but not knowing why. "I'm- I'm kind of a hero myself."

"Oh wow really?! I should have known! This must be your city's hero uniform." She reached over and plucked at his cape.

He tugged it out of her grasp, not wanting the unfamiliar material to raise more questions. "Sort of. More like my individual uniform."

"Huh," she said, "well I'm not one to pry when someone clearly doesn’t want to talk about something. But I do hope I'll get to hear the story of this strange city someday."

The warm fire and night air were making him tired. Despite the cold, hard ground, he found himself drifting off to sleep. "Yeah," he mumbled, eyes closed, "maybe someday I'll tell you all about New York."

He must have fallen asleep after that because the next thing he knew, he was waking up to a mouthful of slime.