“Hey Arthur! You know when your sister will come back?” The vibrant voice of the one and only friend of the Aurion siblings, Neo Cortoz, rang out across the clearing.

  “Well, she’s out in the main part of town doing an errand for Mother, so I guess it’ll take the usual time. C’mon, man, you know how long it usually takes us to finish errands,” Arthur replied effortlessly. This exact conversation had occurred several times before.

  Neo rolled his eyes as he collected another mandrake to add to his basket. The two of them had been out in the Sheltered Woods for an hour now, looking for a decent haul. Unfortunately, mandrake wasn’t worth much in the backwater port town of Cascades Edge. The only things worth noting around here were the remains of a wrecked warship from nearly a decade ago, and the people who had arrived on said warship.

  Neo let out a sigh. “I swear I don’t know what my mother’s problem is. I could easily trade magical ingredients to your mom for a helpful spell, but nooooo. ‘That family contains witches and the cursed!’ Like, sheesh, lady. I know you hate outsiders, but you have to give them a chance to see how awesome they are.”

  As Neo finished his rant, he shot Arthur a side-eye and noticed the faintest smirk.

  “Aha!” he exclaimed, pride swelling in his voice. “I got the Stoneface of Cascades Edge to smile! Mirrel owes me five bucks now!”

  Arthur’s eye twitched at the nickname, and the fact Neo bet actual money on something so stupid.

  “I’m fairly sure my sister is far less expressive than I am,” Arthur quipped, making sure to properly replant the mandrake seeds.

  Neo put on a faux look of shock. “Nay! Aurora the Steelmask has a far less expressive face than even the masks of the Mercenaries of Sol!”

  Arthur promptly knocked him on the head playfully, and they both burst out laughing.

  Unfortunately, a sudden chill overtook the duo as a lazy, teasing voice drifted toward them.

  “Steelmask, is it? Brother, I can’t believe you would talk behind my back about me. I’m astonished. Whatever shall I do for this emotional pain I’ve been smote with? Tell Mom?”

  Arthur hastily threw up his hands. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold your horses there, my dearest younger sister! I plead with you, do not pull your trump card this early! You know how Mom gets if she thinks we don’t get along!”

  Aurora simply blinked. “Of course I know. Am I that bad at telling jokes?”

  She touched her face and widened her eyes, though as usual, her expression didn’t change in the slightest.

  The waterworks began forming as Aurora realized, once again, that her problem had not been remedied.

  Neo and Arthur quickly spent the next few minutes calming her down and diverting her attention away from her failed jest.

  “So,” Arthur said, smoothly changing the topic, “what did Mom send you out to do? Fix the windmill? Go to town? Convince a Guard or the local Mage Orlen to train us?”

  Aurora snorted and motioned to her basket, which contained alchemical supplies and a pouch of coins.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Arthur’s eyes widened. “Someone actually asked for Mom’s services? I thought they were so far up their own asses that they’d only ask Orlen for magic-related things? Even if he’s far inferior to Mother.”

  Aurora shot him a glare. “First, language. Second, rude.”

  “It was old lady Martha’s grandson, Almos. He apparently saved up to get a remedy from Mom since he knows that old coot Orlen can’t help his ailing grandma. He came by the other day while you were away and got everything squared off. Hence why Mom was actually working for once.” Aurora smoothly continued.

  “Almos actually went to the Demon’s Lair?” The words slipped out of Neo’s mouth too quickly for him to stop himself, earning synchronized glares from the Aurion siblings.

  He raised his hands in surrender. “Sorry. You guys know that’s what everyone calls your home because of how your mom looks. No offense. It just slipped.”

  The lighter mood that had been building was thoroughly ruined.

  The three began moseying their way toward the town gates.

  As they approached, one of the three Guards stepped forward: Moray Wesley.

  “Halt! Who goes there?” Moray’s voice boomed toward the trio.

  “Who still talks like that?” Neo whispered.

  Then, louder—far louder—“Mr. Wesley, it’s the 20th century! People don’t talk like that anymore! We have electricity and innovation! Just because you can enhance yourself to be inhumanly strong doesn’t mean you’re some ancient Hero!”

  Moray’s face crunched up as he cringed. “Neo, it’s protocol! And you brat, you may be from the 20th century, but you are but fifteen! I’m ninety-seven, so you better show respect to your elders!”

  “So what, old man? You look as old as my mom, not some crony elderly like Granny, even if you are older than her by a few years.”

  As the verbal duel escalated, Arthur and Aurora quietly slipped to the side of the town wall and sat next to Moray’s apprentice, Ezekiel, who had motioned them over.

  The newly formed trio continued to watch the show.

  * * *

  It lasted half an hour.

  By the end, Arthur, Aurora, and Ezekiel were genuinely wondering if this was some sort of vocal training regimen. It fascinated them how Neo and Moray could keep belting banter at each other without running out of breath.

  The only reason it ended was because Ezekiel’s watch went off.

  “Master. It’s lunchtime.”

  The word lunch seemed to activate both combatants’ neurons simultaneously. They froze, shut up, and split without another word.

  Neo ran over to the siblings, panic written all over his face. “It’s already lunchtime?! Why didn’t you tell me?! Mom’s gonna kill me for being late!”

  He bolted off.

  Ezekiel took Moray’s post while the older Guard went on break, motioning the siblings inside.

  As Arthur and Aurora entered town, they scanned the market stalls to see if there was anything worth bringing home as a treat.

  “Arthur. Do you want to get some chocolate?”

  “Nah, Aurora. You know how crappy most of that mass-produced stuff is. Mom’s is wayyyyy better, and you know it.”

  “Yes. However, Mom needs her rest to recover. She probably pushed herself making that remedy for Martha. You know how bad her physical condition is.”

  Lightning.

  Screams of inhuman agony that wished to be free.

  An arm flying.

  “Arthur? You okay? Did you space out again?” Aurora’s voice cut through the memory.

  “I know today is the tenth anniversary of meeting Mom,” she continued softly, “but try not to do that in public if you can help it. The village elders hate us enough as it is.”

  “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right, sis.”

  * * *

  When the siblings left town and walked along the eastern beach, they saw their home in the distance.

  The former ship-of-the-line, HMS Dauntless.