Page 434 -- L.

~~Holiday Special (Day 3/7, Page 4/6)~~
“Are you going to give me a ride back to Atreya?” said Lynnette. “Or should I start walking?”

And again, Hector was quiet a moment. He looked at her intently. “Um. C-could you tell me more about that thing on your wrist, first?”

“What do you want to know?”

“How... are you controlling it, exactly?”

She gave a shrug. “It just does what I want it to do. Like an extra limb, I suppose. Except...”

“Except?”

She made the shadow disappear again. “It does also feel... alive. Somehow.”

“Hmm. W-what do you mean?”

“I’m not sure yet,” she said, frowning. “I’m still getting accustomed to it. But maybe that isn’t the answer you were looking for.”

He nodded uncertainly, but after a time, he motioned toward the bike. “Let’s go back to Atreya. You can, ah... tell me more later... you look pretty tired.”

She took a relieved breath.


Chapter Fifty: ‘O, strange guardian...!’
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He’d never seen the Lorentian countryside. Sunny skies and flat greenery as far as the eye could see. Not even mountains in the distance.

The motorcycle’s roaring engine made it impossible to have a conversation with Lynnette, but Hector didn’t mind so much. It gave him and Garovel a chance to discuss her unique situation. Hector did mind, however, having someone on the motorcycle with him for the first time. When it was just him riding alone, he didn’t have to worry so much about screwing up and crashing. He would survive. Having Lynnette here made him all sorts of uncomfortable, especially with how she had to wrap her arms around his stomach to keep herself steady. He’d never done very well with physical contact.

Still, he did his best to ignore it. If he just focused on the road ahead of him, it wasn’t so bad.

‘I don’t like this,’ said Garovel.

‘I know,’ said Hector. ‘But it’s Lynn. I’m not gonna just leave her out here...’