The Curse of Arcadia

Dinner that night carried the same easy rhythm as the past week and a half — nobody exhausted past the point of conversation, nobody nursing something Ana needed to fuss over. Just five people eating together, the kind of ordinary that still felt a little new to all of them.

"So," Eric said, halfway through his second helping, "what's next? Another wolf den? More hares? I could go for something with actual teeth, honestly."

"Careful what you wish for," Ana said. "Last time someone said that, we ended up with three ogres instead of two."

"Fair point." Eric raised his hands in surrender. "I take it back."

Tatsuya, cleaning Moonlight with his usual quiet devotion, spoke without looking up. "I wouldn't mind something that actually tests us. Yami's drills only go so far. Real fights teach differently."

"There's a difference between 'tests us' and 'nearly gets someone killed,'" Ana said. "I'd like to stay on the right side of that line for a while longer."

"No arguments here," Aria said. "I'm enjoying not being exhausted. Ruin it if you want, Tatsuya, but count me out of it."

Kaelid mostly listened, content to let the debate happen around him while he worked through his own plate. There was something almost funny about it — a few months ago, the idea of having the luxury to choose between easy jobs and hard ones would have seemed impossible. Now here they were, arguing over it like it was any other dinner conversation.

"We'll see what's on the board tomorrow," Ana said finally, settling the matter the way she settled most things — calm, practical, final. "No sense deciding tonight what we can't control until then."

Nobody argued with that either.

Dishes cleared without much fuss, everyone drifting off toward their own version of rest at a reasonable hour for once. Kaelid found himself lingering downstairs a little longer than the others, restless in a particular way that came from a good day rather than a bad one — too much energy left over, nowhere obvious to put it.

He ended up on the mansion's front step, just looking out at Avalon's quiet evening streets, breath fogging in the cold. The city had a different sound to it this time of night — fewer voices, more distant, the occasional laugh spilling out of some tavern a few streets over.

Three months, he thought, turning the number over like it still surprised him. Feels like a lot longer. Feels like no time at all.

He heard the door open behind him before he heard footsteps, and didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"Couldn't sleep either?" Ana asked, settling onto the step beside him without waiting for an invitation.

"Too much good day left in me, I think." He glanced over, found her already looking mostly at the sky rather than at him. "You?"

"Same, more or less." A pause, comfortable rather than heavy. "It's strange, having a stretch like this. I keep waiting for something to go wrong."

"Maybe nothing has to, for once."

She huffed out something that wasn't quite a laugh. "Optimistic of you."

"I contain multitudes."

That got an actual laugh out of her, quiet and real, and the two of them sat there a while longer in the cold evening air, neither particularly in a hurry to go back inside just yet.

They sat in silence for a while, the kind that didn't ask to be filled, just the two of them and the quiet hum of the city settling into night around them.

"Can I ask you something?" Ana said eventually, voice pitched low, almost hesitant in a way that wasn't really like her.

"Go ahead."

"Do you regret it? Leaving your village, I mean. All of this." She gestured vaguely at the street, the mansion behind them, the whole shape of the life he'd built since walking away from everything he used to know. "Some nights I wonder if you ever think about what you gave up to get here."

He considered the question seriously, mostly because she'd asked, and it deserved better than a quick, easy answer.

"No," he said finally. "Not really. I think about my family sometimes — my sisters, mostly. Wonder if they're doing alright, if my mom's stopped being mad at me yet." A faint, wry smile. "But regret's a different thing than missing something. I don't regret any of this. Not the training, not almost dying twice, not even the debt I somehow always seem to be in."

"That's a low bar for happiness."

"Maybe. But it's mine." He glanced over at her, some of the usual deflection dropping out of his voice. "What about you? You ever think about going back? Wherever back is, for you."

Ana considered the question for a long moment, gaze drifting past him toward the dark street rather than settling on his face.

"Sometimes," she admitted. "Not the way you'd think, maybe. It's complicated." She didn't elaborate further, and Kaelid didn't push, sensing there was more there than she was ready to give tonight.

"Get some sleep," she said after a moment. "Dawn's going to come fast, and I'd rather not carry you the first mile out of the gate."

"No promises," he said, echoing himself for what felt like the tenth time that month.

Eventually the cold won out over whatever reluctance either of them had to end the night. Ana was the first to move, stretching out the stiffness of sitting too long on stone steps, her breath fogging thick in the air.

"Bed," she said, catching Kaelid before he could pretend otherwise. "Now. Not tomorrow, not after one more thing. Now."

"Bossy."

"Observant." She nudged him toward the stairs without much gentleness. "You want to be useless for another two days? Keep pushing it."

He didn't argue further, mostly because she was right and he was too tired to pretend otherwise. They climbed the stairs together, quiet in that comfortable way that didn't need filling, until they reached his door.

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"Thank you," he said again, quieter this time, meaning it more than the words probably showed. "You're always taking care of me."

Ana studied him for a moment, quiet, before she let it soften into something closer to fondness. "You'd do the same for me."

"I would." No hesitation in it at all. "In a heartbeat."

That seemed to catch her slightly off guard, like she hadn't expected him to answer that fast, or that plainly. She recovered quickly, waving it off with a small, tired laugh. "Get some sleep, Kaelid."

"You too."

She lingered a second longer than the moment strictly required before turning down the hall toward her own room, and Kaelid stood there watching until she disappeared around the corner. Only then did he let himself into his own room, dropping onto the bed fully clothed, too worn out to bother with anything else.

Sixteen cores. Everyone made it home. And her.

He was asleep before he could finish the thought.

Morning came without the usual dread of Yami's tower waiting at the end of it — a small mercy, given how thoroughly he and Tatsuya had earned a lighter day after the week before. Kaelid woke well-rested for what felt like the first time in ages, sunlight already climbing high enough through his curtains to suggest he'd slept later than intended.

By the time he made it downstairs, the smell of food was already thick in the kitchen, and most of the party had beaten him to the table.

"Morning," Ana said, glancing up from the stove, tone easy and unhurried. "Sleep well?"

"Really well, actually." He settled into his usual seat. "What's on the agenda?"

"Guild," Ana said. "See what's actually worth our time this week."

They made their way over not long after, and it was Emma who greeted them with a posting she'd clearly been holding for exactly this kind of party — an escort contract, a caravan bound for Raichas, needing five capable hands for the road.

"Raichas," Tatsuya said, reading over the details, something unreadable flickering behind his usual composure. "Been a while."

"It's a good route for a party your level," Emma said. "Mostly safe road, established patrol presence most of the way, but caravans still like extra hands given how things have been near the mountains lately." Her gaze flicked meaningfully toward Kaelid, clearly remembering exactly whose fault "how things have been near the mountains" mostly was. "Good pay, low real risk, and you'd get to see another fortress city. Might be a nice change of pace."

Ana studied the posting for a long moment, brow furrowing slightly. "Three days there, presumably a few days in Raichas before the return trip. That's the better part of a week away from Avalon."

"Problem?" Eric asked.

"Not a problem. Just noting it." She looked up at the rest of them. "What does everyone think?"

Kaelid looked around at the others, weighing it. "I'm in. Never seen another fortress city. Figured we'd be stuck in Avalon a while longer before something like this came up."

"Same," Aria said. "Change of scenery sounds nice, honestly. And it's about as low-risk as jobs get around here."

Tatsuya shrugged, characteristically unbothered either way. "Fine by me. Wouldn't mind seeing how another city's smiths compare to John."

"Don't let him hear you say that," Eric said. "He'll take it personally."

"He'll survive."

Ana was quiet a beat longer, running through whatever mental checklist she kept for these things — supplies, timing, making sure the mansion was secure before they left. "Alright. I don't see a reason not to. Just means resupplying before we leave, and figuring out what we're bringing for a week on the road instead of a day trip."

"I can help with that," Kaelid offered.

"You can help by not losing anything important this time." She said it without much bite, more habit than actual accusation, though it earned a small laugh from Aria anyway.

Emma slid the contract details across for Ana to look over properly — departure point, the caravan master's name, payment terms. "You'll want to meet the caravan master today if you're taking it. He's staying at the Gilded Stag, arranges these details personally before departure."

"We'll head over after this," Ana said, tucking the paperwork away. "Thank you, Emma."

They found the Gilded Stag easily enough — one of the nicer inns near Avalon's merchant quarter, the kind of place with actual glass in the windows and a sign that didn't creak in the wind. A man in traveling leathers sat near the hearth, papers spread across the table in front of him, looking up the moment the five of them walked in with the particular sharpness of someone used to sizing up potential hires at a glance.

"You're here about the escort contract," he said, not quite a question.

"We are," Ana confirmed, stepping forward as the group's usual point of contact for anything requiring actual negotiation. "Ana. This is Kaelid, Tatsuya, Eric, and Aria."

The man gestured them toward the empty seats around his table, gathering his papers into a neater stack. "Gerald. I run this caravan — six wagons, mostly textiles and preserved goods heading to Raichas, a few passengers besides. Guild vouched for you, which is good enough for me, but I like to meet the people guarding my cargo before I hand over a contract."

"Fair enough," Eric said.

Gerald studied them a moment longer, gaze lingering slightly on Kaelid's Cocytus Plate before moving on. "Nice armor. That's custom work, isn't it?"

"John, over in Ring 2," Kaelid said. "Made it himself."

"Good smith. I've bought from him before." Gerald nodded, apparently satisfied, and slid a folded contract across the table. "Standard terms — you're paid on departure and on arrival, split evenly, plus the bonus if we make it to Raichas without losing so much as a bolt of cloth. Road's usually safe this route, but 'usually' isn't 'always,' especially this close to the mountains."

"Any specific concerns?" Ana asked, scanning the contract's terms.

"Nothing concrete. The road runs close enough to Gravewood that a stray monster's more likely trouble than people are — this world doesn't leave much room for organized bandits to operate long. Get the occasional brawl between wanderers or adventurers who'd rather settle something with fists than words, but that's more a nuisance than a real threat. Beyond that, standard road hazards. Weather, terrain, the usual." Gerald spread his hands. "Mostly, I want capable people who won't panic if something does happen. Guild's word on that means more to me than a fancy weapon."

"We can handle ourselves," Tatsuya said, flat and certain in the way that usually ended arguments before they started.

Gerald studied him a beat, then nodded, apparently satisfied by whatever he saw. "Good. Departure's at dawn, two days from now, from the north gate. Pack for a week — three days there, at least a couple resting in Raichas before the return trip, weather permitting."

Ana signed the contract on behalf of the group, the others adding their names beneath hers, and Gerald tucked the paperwork away with the brisk efficiency of a man who'd done this a hundred times before.

"Pleasure doing business," he said, standing to shake each of their hands in turn. "See you at dawn."

They left the Gilded Stag with two days to prepare and, for the first time in what felt like a while, absolutely nothing urgent hanging over their heads.

The two days before departure passed in a blur of practical preparation — packing, resupplying, and, in Kaelid and Tatsuya's case, one final brutal session with Yami that left neither of them particularly eager to complain about anything for the rest of the week.

Ana spent most of the two days doing what she always did — organizing, planning, making sure nothing important got left behind. She restocked her healing supplies twice over, packed enough dried rations to make the road less miserable, and spent a solid hour lecturing Eric about not overexerting his still-recovering arm on the journey, a lecture he endured with the long-suffering patience of a man who knew arguing would only make it longer.

Aria spent her free time fletching new arrows, methodically working through her supply until December's quiver sat fully restocked. Tatsuya, predictably, spent his obsessing over Moonlight's edge, sharpening a blade that was already sharper than it strictly needed to be.

Kaelid found himself oddly restless the night before departure, packing and repacking his bag more times than was probably necessary, some anxious, excited energy buzzing under his skin that he couldn't quite place. It wasn't fear, exactly. Just the strange, unfamiliar thrill of doing something entirely new.