Balthazar didn’t show up on the next story world, or the one after that. By the time they arrived in the third story world after she had sent Atria Silverspear to whatever fate awaited her, Aquila had begun to feel like she could start to relax.

    “It’s another fantasy world,” Cap said, gazing around the busy street. A woman in what appeared to be a leather vest and jeans walked past a man in a Medieval tunic. “Quite a mix of clothing, though.”

    “That makes it Japanese,” Kasumi said. “We like variety.”

    “And here I thought Japanese creators just couldn’t make up their minds,” Aquila said with a grin. “Anyway, everybody keep your eyes out for some abandoned cart or a large rock. I’ve got something I want to try this time.”

    Kasumi poked her in the ribs. “We are very good at making up our minds.”

    “I’ll remember that next time you take twenty minutes deciding on dessert,” Aquila said.

    “It is so nice to be able to enjoy travelling again,” Yuri declared, taking hold of Cap’s arm. “I’d started to forget what that was like.”

    “Don’t enjoy it too much,” Aquila said, starting to walk down the street with the others following. “If Balthazar shows up, we’re going to have to lose him. We won’t be able to stop camping as far outside of town as we can until we’re safe.”

    A young man wearing leather armour over a green tunic wandered past, followed by six young women similarly armoured, talking with excitement about raiding a dungeon. Each of the women had a leather collar around their neck.

    “There are dungeons to raid here?” Yukari said. “Now that’s just cruel.”

    “What’s cruel about it?” Sayori asked.

    “That I’m not going to be able to raid them,” Yukari replied. “This world looks like a lot of fun.”

    Behind Aquila, Natsuki said, “Wait, are they wearing slave collars?”

    Aquila stopped and took a look back at the young man and his party. “Appears so. Probably the protagonist and his harem.”

    “Well, that’s creepy,” Sayori said.

    “Remember when this all started and I said that harem antics were kind of entertaining when you’re not in the middle of one?” Natsuki asked. “I’m taking that statement back. That’s just wrong.”

    “Yeah,” Kasumi said, standing beside Aquila. “The whole collar thing isn’t fun if you can’t take it off when you’re done.”

    Aquila glared at her. “Seriously?”

    “What?” Kasumi asked. “We haven’t had some proper recreational alone time in days. I’m allowed to be preoccupied by it a bit.”

    “Yes, but in front of everybody?” Aquila protested. “I mean–”

    “Can we get back on the move?” Cap said. “This place creeps the hell out of me too.”

    Aquila sighed. “Cap’s right. We need to be getting out of town. Let’s see if we can get a ride somewhere. And remember to look out for a large rock, or something like it.”

    “Pick a direction and go?” Cap suggested.

    Aquila nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

    “Let’s go south, then,” Cap said.

    It took them half an hour to find somebody with a cart who would be willing to take them out into the countryside. As the cart rolled down the cobbled street and the others engaged in pleasant conversation, Aquila stared down the road, lost in thought.

    “What’s on your mind?” Kasumi asked, snapping Aquila back to the present.

    “I’m just looking for a rock,” Aquila replied.

    “No you’re not,” Kasumi said. “I’d know that far away look anywhere.”

    Aquila nodded. “I’m thinking about what we should do if this works and we get clear.”

    “You mean, should we keep travelling as we have been?” Kasumi said.

    “It’s been a long time since we’ve been home,” Aquila stated. “There’s been so much to see that there hasn’t been time to think about it much, but...I miss our little house, and the cherry blossom trees.”

    Kasumi gave her a wistful smile. “Me too.”

    “Wouldn’t it be nice if they all came home with us?” Aquila asked. “We could make them their own houses, and spend our days with our friends while we create and add to our world.”

    “Is that what’s best for them, though?” Kasumi asked. “Our world is still pretty empty.”

    Aquila sighed. “I don’t know. I just know I want all of them to stay in our lives.”

    “I think that rock you were looking for is coming up,” Cap said. “It’s probably just out of sight for you right now, but we should be there in a few minutes.”

    “Good,” Aquila declared. “Have the driver let us off once we get there.”

Cap had been right. The rock was indeed exactly the size Aquila had hoped for. She smiled as she walked around it, inspecting it. As she did, she heard the cart make it’s way back towards town.

    “So what’s this plan of yours?” Cap asked.

    “I’ve been thinking about what happens if Balthazar actually does catch up with us,” Aquila said. “If he knows we’re here, he’s not going to leave until he finds us, and as soon as I start screening worlds for our next jump, he’ll find us. And, if all he’s got is an information stream energy signature from our arrival, he’ll know we’re still here. But what if he can’t be sure?”

    Cap’s eyes widened, and then he smiled. “Damn, that’s good. Send something out of this world so he sees two energy signatures, and so long as the signature is the right size...”

    “...then as far as he knows, we’ve been and gone,” Aquila declared, motioning to the rock. It disappeared in an inrush of air.

    Aquila grinned and looked at the others. Most of them looked pleased, but Natsuki was frowning.

    “Natsuki, what’s wrong?” Aquila asked.

    “I hope it’s nothing,” Natsuki replied. “This is a good idea and all, but if he finds this world once we leave, he’ll see three signatures, and he’ll know we’re leaving a false trail while we’re here. And, the more worlds we do this on, the more likely it is that he’ll find one after we’ve left.”

    Cap scowled. “That would give it a pretty short shelf life.”

    “Okay ladies, we need suggestions,” Yukari declared. “How do we make this work on more than one world?”

    Aquila traded a confused look with Kasumi. Then Kasumi turned to Yukari and said, “You four don’t need to worry about this. Figuring this out is our problem.”

    “We need to pull our weight too,” Sayori stated. “We could try doing it on just a few random worlds...but then if Balthazar finds us on a world where we didn’t do it, we’re dead. Never mind.”

    Yuri glanced at Yukari and then Natsuki. “Did I miss a decision or something?”

    Natsuki nodded. “You were spending time with Cap, and we didn’t want to disturb you.”

    Yuri scowled. “You should have.”

    “Sorry about that,” Sayori said. “It was my call. I didn’t mean to leave you feeling left out.”

    Yuri sighed. “Well, I do. I’m still one of us – dating Cap won’t ever change that.”

    Yukari grinned. “I’ve got it! On this world we leave one false trail, but on the next one we leave two or three. We make it a different number on each world, and we send each rock, or whatever we’re sending, to different worlds.”

    Cap looked at Aquila and smiled. “That works! He’ll never know if we’re still there for certain.”

    “Okay, then,” Aquila declared. “We have a plan. And now, we need to pick a new direction. The last thing we need is Balthazar showing up and being able to find us by just heading in the direction of our false trail.”

    “Let’s go east,” Kasumi suggested. “That way, the sun won’t be in our eyes as we walk.”

    Aquila nodded. “Sounds good. We should try to get at least two hours away from here before we set up camp.”

    The sun was low in the sky by the time they stopped walking and pitched their tents. They camped at the base of a hill, on the side away from the direction of town. The town itself was barely visible, a speck of light in the distance as the sun set. Aquila allowed herself a smile as she and Kasumi hammered their tent pins into the ground, and Cap and Yuri got the fire started.

    “Think we’ve actually given him the slip?” Cap asked, Yuri leaning happily against him, as they sat around the fire after they had finished eating. The moon sat low in the sky.

    “I’m starting to hope,” Aquila replied. “If we can go unnoticed for a few more worlds, it might start being safe to make limited use of Kasumi’s sketchbook again.”

    “Some creature comforts would be nice,” Kasumi said.

    “We should be, what, a week away from safety now?” Sayori said.

    Aquila placed a new log onto the fire. “The dice are giving us some pretty long jumps, so about a week to a week and a half.”

    “When do you suppose we’ll know who won?” Yukari wondered.

    “We won’t,” Aquila said. “The information stream is instantaneous, and the temporary streams I create when we travel are the same, but the story worlds are all light-years away from each other, and light in the multiverse still travels at the speed of light. Our world – the place Kasumi and I call home – is hundreds, if not thousands, of light-years away from here. If Balthazar wins, we’ll be centuries gone by the time the light from the explosion reaches our world.”