[64] The "BOND" Fire

"Hey there, grumpy," Faye said, taking a seat beside Ethan. "Why so glum, chum?"

Ethan couldn't look at her.

"You haven't spoken a word to me since we got here -since we left for this mission. What's wrong?" Faye asked, concerned.

Ethan stared into the bonfire. He looked around at the large circle of Guardians around him and sulked -the fire was a prettier sight. He didn't know most of the people here. "This mission is laced with newcomers," he told her. She looked around after him. "Whatever the Muses were doing, they wanted the newcomers to be explicitly involved. Usually this doesn't happen."

"So I'm not the only one?" Faye asked, wondering if she could befriend someone who hadn't found their field yet.

"It's not necessarily that they haven't found their field yet," Ethan said, making her frown. "It's just that I'm ... seeing faces I never saw before. I've been on way too many missions for this to be normal."