“Well, as far as I know… you’re the most interesting thing on this planet, boss,” Leocadies drawled, lazily nuzzling into the side of Kya’s shoulder while she gave a firm nod.

“That’s right. You’ve been causing a lot of trouble recently too, so it’s possible he’s looking for the cause of all that chaos.”

“I mean, just last month, you broke into a cursed, restricted dungeon that killed everyone who ever went in and completely obliterated it from the inside…” Leo trailed away, Kya quickly picking up after him.

“And then you portioned all of the gold you got from it out to the slums of different worlds and completely rejuvenated multiple planets' economies.”

“And before that, you fought a mythical whale, which is cool and all, but…”

“You killed it because it was eating people, even though it’s illegal to kill mythical beasts, and escaped detection and ran off to another universe as if nothing had ever happened…”

“Ugh, I don’t care about the law! That mythical beast was eating people, it had it coming!!” Feather’s voice bellowed loudly, stomping his foot on the ground in a childish tantrum as Kya sighed into her pale hand. Would there ever come a day when this overpowered man she served would show even the slightest bit of maturity? He was already five hundred and twenty-five years old, so since he hadn’t yet learned, now it just seemed unlikely. Although, putting those thoughts aside, all three of them had to freeze the moment Cirrus’ head turned to where the sound of his yelling had come from, and Feather and his subordinates were immediately as still as statues.

No way… had he heard that? Feather’s jaw was slack as he watched Cirrus squint at where his figure was standing, clearly registering that something was there, even if he couldn’t see it. Which, he supposed it wasn’t completely impossible to hear or see himself and his companions when Feather put this erasing effect on them, it was just very rare… a person would have to have exceptional mana detection to do so, or maybe a useful concept that enhanced their sight in general. But seeing that the meek and spineless Cirrus he had once known was now capable of such a thing made him do a double-take, though honestly, he supposed that if anyone could do it, it made sense that it was Cirrus Aixon, the chosen child of prophecy. He’d had not one, not two, not even three or four… but over ten thousand prophets from all over the Udimeia have the very same vision of his triumph. Perhaps he was just finally beginning to grow into those very big shoes.

Though, regardless of that, Feather still wanted nothing to do with the prince and wasn’t about to let himself get caught now. He’d worked too hard to evade all those influential planets and kingdoms within the Central Domain Alliance, all with the purest intentions of never having to talk to another snotty, arrogant royal for the rest of his life. So, very slowly and very carefully, he laid his hands on Kya and Leocadies’ shoulders, delicately moving the three of them backwards and into a nearby alley while holding his breath and refusing to make another sound.

“Hm? You okay, Cirrus?” Jayce asked attentively, noticing the way his friend was looking around behind him as if he’d heard or seen something weird. He could see the concern written all over his leader’s face, as being raised with someone since you were children specifically to be their bodyguard could really help you learn a lot of things about them, and Jayce could read Cirrus like a book. But, as for what he’d actually heard…

He really had heard something weird just now. The esteemed prince of prophecy could’ve sworn he’d just heard somebody scream that they didn’t care about the law, but the voice felt so distorted in his mind he couldn’t even recall if it had belonged to a man or woman. Yet as he continued to examine the space in front of him, he didn’t see a thing.

“Mm… yes, everything’s fine,” he was eventually forced to concede, turning around swiftly to lead his team deeper through the town. The mysterious voice now felt so blurred in his memory that the words were beginning to escape him, and the more he tried to remember, the more his head began to ache. But still, they’d said… they’d said that… they had said someone didn’t… someone cared… who cared? About what? Ahh, his useless thoughts were taking him nowhere, and as if on cue, Feather’s concept worked wonders and Cirrus suddenly forgot that he’d ever heard anything in the first place, merely continuing to move about the town unbothered.

“...you’re lucky you remembered to use the concept of memory distortion in time. He definitely almost caught you,” Kya calmly remarked as she peeked around the corner of the alleyway, watching as the group of four kept following the stone road deeper into town before eventually turning a corner to get to the center plaza. Feather, for one, was also glad he had remembered, and immediately let out the deep, heavy breath he’d been holding as Leocadies rubbed his arm with a purr.

“That was exhausting. I certainly hope that absolutely pathetic excuse for a man isn’t here to see me,” the blond seethed through gritted teeth, feeling so utterly enraged at this unexpected turn of events that he felt the dire urge to punch another tree, but unfortunately there weren’t any close by.

Though, when he zeroed back in on his surroundings, he realized that his two companions were still staring at him with concern, the loyalty and care in their eyes prompting him to say more of what he was feeling to ease their fears. And of course, he also refused to let some ugly rat decide his mood just because he’d crawled out of the gutter and onto his turf, choosing instead to proudly raise his chin high with his nose in the air, his haughty smile returning to his features while he crossed his arms and spoke with confidence.

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter! Even if he wants to catch me, he never will, because I’m far too amazing for him! So we’ll move along as planned, obviously. I’ll go to the next town, find the seed, cure all of the sick, and then continue my travels into the next world, all while acting like he doesn’t exist! I won’t let his presence control what I do or who I save!” he announced passionately, puffing out his chest with an assured smile, Leocadies bursting out into a laugh as he immediately started clapping.

“That’s right! You’re brilliant, boss, Cirrus is nothing compared to you! You’re too great!”

“Exactly, I agree. Thank you for saying so, Leo.”

“Of course, boss! I only speak the truth! You’re the most amazing man in the world!”

“Oh, well… heh. I guess I am pretty amazing…”

Watching this play out, Kya felt like she wanted to say something, something she didn’t quite know how to put into words. Leocadies was busy hyping Feather up again like he was so good at doing, and she was glad that he had the innate ability to comfort their leader and distract him from stress, which were areas she was personally lacking. But, deeper down, she sensed they had bigger worries. This encounter with Cirrus felt like only the beginning.

The burden and responsibility that she felt had been chasing Feather ever since the tarot reading only seemed to be getting closer, and seeing Cirrus Aixon here of all people was almost undoubtedly an important variable in that… and there was also the Six of Cups to consider… nostalgia, innocence, and the past coming to meet your present. Feather and Leo probably weren’t thinking about any of this anymore, the tarot reading already long forgotten in their impulsive, hyper minds… but she was certain now that Cirrus was who that card had been talking about. After all, Feather’s past with Cirrus was rather complex, although it wasn’t negatively tainted… Feather just didn’t like thinking about it because it had been mostly political, which he now avoided like it was the plague itself.

But when she thought about it, Feather had been running from his responsibilities for a very long time… so if Cirrus had always been the type of person to try and carry all of his many trials and burdens on his back alone while refusing to ask for help, Feather was the type of person to run away from all those burdens and the burdens of others as he chased freedom and never-ending euphoria instead. They were opposites— down to their personalities, their mannerisms, and deep into their cores. But when everything got laid down bare, Cirrus had never once meant to harm Feather, and Feather knew that very well… so in the end, Kya decided to think that reuniting with Cirrus could only be a good thing, and kept her mouth shut.