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07/2/2023 - [I'M BACK. DAILY CHAPTERS. ONE A DAY AT THE VERY LEAST BUT I WILL TRY AND DO TWO]

My first instinct was to kindly turn down her offer, but then I realized that this was a way of gaining more knowledge of this world and taking a break. This woman at the very least seemed like she'd know more than the villagers. Her dress was clean, and miles above anything I'd seen in the village, and the way she held herself, reminded me of lady Aeverie, though nowhere near as elegant or refined as her.

"Find, but rather than gold or wherever, I'll take my payment in the form of answers for any questions I ask."

"Only if you don't ask anything too personal," she said, her eyes moving up and down my body. My libido stirred, but I pushed it back down. How could I think of things like that when all my lovers were scattered about in this unfamiliar world?

"Deal," I agreed. "I'm Aiden."

"Tilly," she replied.

She waited to see what I would do, but when I did nothing she frowned. Was there some sort of greeting in this world that I wasn't aware of?

Tilly turned and nodded to the driver who took up his position. He glanced warily at me but made no comments. I didn't blame him for being wary. I'd just decimated a group of what I assumed had been magically enhanced, humans. They could have left without me, but what would they do when another group came along? Their guards were dead and so the only option they had was me.

I followed Tilly into the interior of the carriage which was tight, but cozy. Or it might have just been that I was used to things being bigger on the inside. Something like this would be normal for the northern plains. I felt a twang of pain as I thought of home. I needed to find the others and then figure out a way to get back home.

"So, Aiden, where to hail from?"

"Far away," I replied curtly, my mind wandering to Aneva who was still dormant. I was really starting to get annoyed. If she was doing this on purpose then I would need to do something to make her stop. I needed all the help I could get and it was clear she knew things.

"Your accent is odd," she said. "I've heard it a few times, but not from anyone born in Marik. You're not from one of the city-states down south are you?"

I shook my head. "Farther. I doubt you've heard of my birthplace."

"Try me," she said.

I turned to stare into her green eyes and found them brimming with curiosity. She had many questions, that much was clear, and I wasn't really in the mood to be interrogated at the moment. I was feeling better than I had, but I was still out of sorts. I was in a different world without those closest to me. No ambient aether and the one current source of information was doing their best impression of a tortoise hiding in its shell, refusing to come out.

My emotions threatened to boil over. But with a deep breath and a force of will, I was able to push it down. It wouldn't do for me to get like this. It was just that I wasn't used to being alone. Ever since I'd left West Vale, I'd had at the very least Zirani and soon after, Sandra and Misty had joined. We'd never been far from one another. Now, all I had was the bond. A bond that only told me the direction they were in? Not if they were struggling or who knew what else. Deep down I knew they could handle themselves, but of course, I was still going to worry, as they no doubt worried about me and the others.

"Sorry," I told Tilly. "If you could give me some time, then I'll be more than willing to indulge your curiosity and you can indulge mine."

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She nodded slowly. "Of course. You aren't… injured are you?"

I snorted. "Those idiots who attacked you couldn't make me sweat let alone injure me. I'm just out of sorts."

"Far away," she said.

I nodded. "Yes. Very, very… far away."

We lapsed into silence after that, and I closed my eyes. I wasnt planning on sleeping. I just wanted to calm myself and sort of the mess of emotions I was feeling. I'd already been feeling a ton of emotions on the way to save Sandra and they hadn't gone away. Only been added to.

"Aiden?"

I blinked, and for a moment though it had been TIly who'd spoken. But then I sensed that Aneva was finally awake.

"Finally," I said to her mentaly, not holding back my anger. "You just up and disappear huh? I thought we were finally getting somewhere with that last deal we made, and then you do this?"

"You handled things," she replied.

"Yes, I did." I felt my anger rise at the clear lack of care she had. SHe sounded unbothered. It pissed me off. She must have felt my anger because a moment later she said, "Calm down, it's not like I'm gone."

I took another deep breath and shot a glance at Tilly. Her eyes were closed and her chest was moving up and down in a steady rhythm.

"Listen, Aneva, as much as it pains to say it, I need you," I said. "At least, I need your knowledge and listen here. Before I said I wouldn't force you to do anything, but things have changed. They're out there somewhere, alone in this place. If you don't start helping me or at the very least putting in some effort, then I will do what I must."

I felt her anger in response to my words and her indignation, but I didn't really acre. And I let her sense that.

"We can do things the easy way or the hard way. Your choice?"

I expected more anger, but then surprisingly, she seemed to deflate. "Fine. I'm… sorry. What do you need help with?"

I was so shocked by the apology that it took me a moment to take the other words. "Hmm, oh. Well, to be honest, I sort of need help with everything."

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