“Can I go now?” Wyrfena asked the chef in the kitchen.

    The chef ate another spoonful of the dish she just prepared. His eyes were closed as he savored the taste.

    She had been trying to convince him to let her go earlier today because she was worried about the safety of her new friend—as she had decided to call him already. He left a bunch of those extremely rare flowers for her and promised a hundred, of course she’d call him a friend.

    “So?” Wyrfena repeated. Watching him take another mouthful of the dish she made with the flowers.

    It was a gamble. She wanted to keep the flowers a secret. She didn't know if Aqueo would like it if she spread the news about the rare flowers. She had no choice but to use it as a bribe to let her go earlier even just this once.

    “What's the ingredient you put in here?” the chef eyed her intently.

    “I-uhh—have a secret ingredient—”

    “And you didn't tell me?”

    He sounded a little upset. She only put the tiniest amount of flowers in the food but it managed to enhance the taste of the dish greatly. If she served him the same dish she made for Aqueo, she was certain he would be really upset.

    “I-uhh just discovered it—not that long ago—been testing it again and again to—make sure of the quality,” she lied.

    The chef just stared at her, quite certain there was something wrong at the way she just responded.

    Wyrfena smiled awkwardly, “Please?”

    The chef just sighed and motioned his hand.

    “Thank you so much!” Wyrfena celebrated and immediately ran outside while clutching Aqueo’s bag together with his lucky beast head, still wearing her waitress uniform.

    If the chef hadn't threatened her that she would lose her job, she would have been outside already, looking for Aqueo to check if he was fine. There was a customer earlier that was talking about a student defeating the slave traders. When she heard the mention of slave traders she immediately went suspicious. They were here a while ago, when Aqueo vanished. She thought Aqueo might've lied to keep her from being involved in his situation. The customer said no one knew what happened to the student because the whole street was suddenly filled by the dreaded pink gas and everyone who wasn't caught fled from the scene.

    Wyrfena ran until she found the mess on the street which she was sure was the product of the incident. She started asking the people around for clues. Nobody knew the exact location so the rumors had not spread already, but they were all pointing in the same direction based on what they saw.

    It was a hot day and she was already sweating but still, she ran.

    . . .

    It had been a while and Wyrfena was feeling a bit tired now, but she still kept on running, although a bit slower this time. She asked more people and eventually found someone who told her new information.

    Suddenly, she heard someone shout “wait” and she felt someone pull her arm that made her stop and almost fell on the ground.

    “I-I’m sorry!”

    It was a maiden wearing a maid uniform. They were both panting.

    “That hat. And that bag. Do you know who owns it?” Hermina asked quickly.

    “You know Aqueo?” Wyrfena asked.

    “Yes,” Hermina exclaimed. “I'm looking for him. How did you know him?”

    “I-uhh—he left his things to me. We met a while ago. I think the slave traders are after him.”

    “That's definitely the case. Do you know where to find him?”

    “They said down the Port, west Downtown. But I don't know where exactly,” Wyrfena answered.

    “Let's hurry,” Hermina said and they both ran through the messy street.

    When they reached the port they started asking for directions again because there were a few streets here leading to different locations.

    The first three groups of people they asked didn't know which street the fresh rumors were exactly referring to until they ended up approaching a group of four people at the edge of the port where the sea met the edge of the stone ground.

    “Ohh? You're also looking for that student, aren't you? Everyone’s talking about it,” a guy said immediately when Wyrfena and Hermina reached them, he saw them asking around and thought it must be about the current news.

    “Uhm. Yes, that's right! Do you know which way the pink gas spread? They said west Downtown!” Wyrfena asked politely.

    “It wasn't Downtown anymore actually. They went there,” he pointed, “but you can take a shortcut there,” he pointed at the farthest street from them, “four intersections forward, then two intersections to the right.”

    “Thank you,” Wyrfena responded and they both started running again.

    On the way, they talked about how they met Aqueo.

    . . .

    Rinoan finally came back with the food ingredients. He found Aqueo sitting on the chair beside his bed drinking a glass of water.

    “I’m back!” he said quite cheerfully.

    Aqueo turned around. “Uhm. Wel-come back.” He felt awkward responding like that. Nobody had ever done that to him. Was that even the right response? They were just strangers. But even so. Aqueo felt somehow emotional about it.

    It was one of the kinds of interactions Aqueo saw in others or learned that he was hoping and wishing to experience someday aside from escaping from his captors. His idea of home. Saying ‘welcome back’ or ‘I’m back’. A family. A real one. Those simple gestures and greetings. He never experienced those. He was just watching others from afar as he lived under the control of human traffickers. So to experience something he had been wishing for—from someone who definitely wasn't affiliated with his abusers—was somehow touching to him. Just a normal interaction, not an act to gaslight him or manipulate him or anything of the sort. He was just a stranger but it still felt like his wish was fulfilled.

    He approached Aqueo who was awkwardly holding the glass. “I- took some glasses of water. I hope you don't mind,” Aqueo said meekly, still hadn't regained his strength.

    He smiled as he approached him. “Of course you're welcome to do so.” He pulled out some fruits from his shopping bag and placed them on the table. “It’ll take some time for me to finish cooking,” he said as he observed Aqueo's skin again. There were less patches of darkened skin on his face now than when he left him a while ago.

    All of the fruits were quite familiar to Aqueo, thanks to Aquifer’s memories. He took one with an orange skin, “Uhm, thanks a lot for doing this for me.”

    Rinoan smiled at him. “No problem at all. Come with me to the kitchen and watch me cook.” He took the fruits on the table and started going to the kitchen. Aqueo had no choice but to follow. Aquifer stayed in the bedroom and kept on looking at the thing on the shelf.

    The kitchen wasn't that large too. The stove and sink were in the middle of the kitchen connected to a wide wooden counter, separated by a low wall of wooden plank. There were a couple of chairs so it must be functioning as the dining room as well. There were shelves around that contained kitchen utensils and what looked like spices.

    Rinoan pulled out the ingredients from his shopping bag and neatly organized them on the counter. There were fruits, vegetables, fish and meat. Aqueo recognized most of them because of Aquifer's memories.

    “You don't have to cook everything. I'm leaving half of the ingredients to you as … my way of thanking you. Thanks for saving me,” Aqueo said sincerely while holding the half eaten orange colored fruit. It had a juicy pink flesh inside that was a bit sweet. This fruit was one of the most common in this kingdom, he recognized, but foreign to his tongue. This fruit didn't exist on Earth, as well as most of the ingredients.

    Rinoan smiled. He thought that the student in front of him must've felt so grateful to keep on repeating it, so he said cheerfully, “You are so welcome! You don't have to feel so indebted to me. You defeated them all on your own.” He paused preparing the ingredients and said, “But if you really do, then you have to make me your friend,” he paused and thought for a bit, and said, “No, I'm not asking you. It's my demand as your savior. From now on, I am your friend whether you like it or not! I’ll help you with your situation.”

    Aqueo’s eyes widened, stunned by what he just heard. He was the very first person to ask him directly to be his friend in his whole life. He had friends before—or rather people who he considered friends. They were his fellow orphans. Nobody ever explicitly told him that they were friends. He was just thinking that it was a mutual understanding that they were already friends. It was something he learned the hard way while growing up. Under the control and manipulations of the human traffickers, he had people who he considered friends even though they never really told him that they were friends. He was just disappointed in the end to learn that they were part of the organization that was manipulating him. His fellow orphans that he lost were the only people who he ever believed to be his real friends even though they barely interacted with each other because of the human traffickers. When their captors took them—because of him, as he had always blamed himself—he depressingly resigned to the thought that he would never have one ever again and he would never be able to escape after trying so many times. His eyes started to feel teary so he gulped and tried hard not to.

    He opened his mouth to say something but closed it immediately and looked away. “I—. I’m a slave,” he said weakly.

    “I don't care if you're a slave. I'm your friend now whether you like it or not,” Rinoan said firmly.

    Aqueo looked at him. “I don't want to put you in danger.” He didn't know why the student in front of him saved him. When he was running, people were shouting ‘cage him’ or ‘catch him’. He knew there were people who gave him a look of wanting to help but no one actually did anything to help him. There must be a reason for it. And the most likely thing he could think of was they would be putting themselves in danger if they did.

    Rinoan remembered the things Aqueo said in his hallucinations and tried to reassure him, “I will not be in danger. Nobody saw me carrying you. People were so afraid of the smoke. They all fled when they saw it. And nobody knows you're here so you don't have to worry.”

    “I—,” Aqueo just stared at him.

    Rinoan knew why he was hesitating, and in his obviously weak state right now, he didn't want to put that pressure on him. “We can be friends in secret. You're already here. I already saved you, so,” he trailed in a knowing tone.

    Aqueo's eyes brightened a bit, looked at his fruit, and said, “That, that makes sense,” He nodded awkwardly while saying, “Nnn, we can be friends then.”

    Rinoan saw how he smiled while looking at his food and he too smiled.

    “Then, Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Rinoan Archem. How about yours?” he said smiling.

    Aqueo smiled as well and said, “Aqueo Harp. My name is Aqueo Harp!” He felt so happy.

    “Aqueo Harp,” he said, remembering the things he was saying while hallucinating, “You don't have to feel alone from now on! I will always be here for you! Just eat there while watching me cook!”

    Aqueo couldn't describe the joy he was feeling right now. He smiled widely and nodded, “Nnm!”

    Aquifer, who had been in the bedroom the whole time, entered the kitchen and swayed joyfully around Aqueo and Rinoan. Aqueo wanted to play along with Aquifer but refrained himself because Rinoan couldn't see the spirit. He decided to tell him after getting to know him further.