Perry & the Prince

Throughout the next day—Evony found herself smiling more than usual.

She gave her father a hug goodbye, stopped by the same restaurant she did every morning, ventured into the woods, and handed off a few seal-ka-bobs to Aldric, just as she did every day. Then, she headed into Silver Peaks and began her day of work like usual.

The warm, inviting interiors of Silver Peaks always worked to calm her mind, despite the tedious amounts of work she did; today, she made numerous trips up and down the expansive back halls, vacuuming every inch of its dark green carpeting, the wooden panels of the walls and the occasional painting or mounted animal head gracing her with their nice, pleasant display.

During her time vacuuming the back hall—she glanced up several times over the course of an hour, noticing a lot of movement from the elevator at the end of the hall. Suited men in black were coming and going fairly regularly, presumably from a floor higher up—and Evony stared at them each time, feeling as if she knew exactly why they were here.

The prince of the British Empire was in the building now—and his servants were here as well.

Evony sighed, shaking her head and resuming her tasks—finishing the vacuuming and beginning the next chore, wiping dust off of every inch of the walls.

The longer she worked, the more annoyed she became with the entire process, a hint of a sweat beginning to break, making her scar burn with the slightest bit of an ache. She wiped her face countless times, her mind wandering as she ran the rag up and down the walls, along the rims of the paintings, thinking of everything…

Everything ran through her thoughts, everything she and her friends discussed, from the serious matters to the simple, fun memory of standing beneath the glowing night sky, surrounded by seals and laughing together…

Evony smirked at the memory, but her smile faded away seconds after, her mind seeming to land on Osric regardless of what other thoughts overtook her.

All of them knew that something strange was going on in Silverhollow—but Osric had to know more than Evony or any of her friends. And, the longer the day carried on, the more it bothered her; Aldric had done a fantastic job of decoding the situation by himself, but it still left him with many things unknown or unanswered, and yet, he and Evony were still tasked with seeking out whatever dangers were coming and planning some way of working against them.

It wouldn't be possible unless they knew more.

And—even if she garnered answers from spying on the conventioners—it wasn't enough.

If Osric was really their ally, and if he really did have the same goals, then Evony needed to communicate openly with him. She needed to know whatever he did, and then, she and Aldric could plan for these things with much more understanding and clarity.

Working in Silver Peaks and having the occasional small-talk conversation with Osric Azarias simply wasn't enough anymore; the time to talk seriously was now.

Evony let out a deep breath, lowering the rag from the wall and gazing down the hallway, staring at the elevator for several seconds.

After a moment, she nodded mildly to herself and turned away.

Evony unlocked the janitor's closet, slid the vacuum into it, and closed the door—then spun on her heel and began marching down the hall toward the elevator.

Then suddenly—the distant echo of girls' voices halted her mid-step.

A second later—three girls appeared from around the corner, just opposite Evony. Two of them were laughing while the third merely griped and complained.

"Uuugh—you guys!" Cally gasped, wheeling around and facing the other two girls. "I'm not supposed to tell you!"

"Come ooon," Bellura grinned devilishly, giving Cally's shoulder a shake. "Are you our friend, or not?"

"Yeah—just tell us," Trisha added with a sneering smile. "What number?"

"I can't tell you—it's a customer privacy policy thing," Cally insisted, glaring daggers at both of them. "Plus he's freaking royalty—so I'm pretty sure I'd get in some huge trouble."

"But he 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 me," Bellura told her in a voice she probably intended to sound friendly. "Donovan won't be mad if it's a friend showing up to his room."

Cally gaped at her, her eyes narrowing and her expression unmistakably caustic. "Bell—he doesn't—he doesn't—"

"He doesn't what?" Bellura rumbled, her fake smile vanishing in a second flat.

"He doesn't 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 you," Evony mumbled under her breath, turning away and resuming her task of wiping dust from the walls, hoping not to be noticed by the girls down the hall.

"I just don't wanna get in trouble," Cally conceded, sighing and frowning at Bellura.

"But we're friends," Bellura pestered.

"If we're friends, then why do you not care about getting me in trouble?" Cally challenged. "That's really not fair…"

"You're supposed to do stuff for your friends," Bellura told her. "Even if there's a risk—you're still supposed to. That's the whole point of having friends—and I'd do it for you."

Cally let out a loud scoff, laughing and quickly silencing herself.

But—Bellura and Trisha were both glaring fixedly into her now, as if her brief laugh had deeply offended them.

"I just find that really hard to believe," Cally chided. "You guys wouldn't risk your ass for me—you can't even keep secrets for me. And—"

"Whoa," Trisha yelled, raising a hand and snarling her face at Cally. "Can't keep 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴 for you? That's a load of 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵, Cally—I never told Javari that you have a monster crush on him, now did I?!"

"Shut 𝘶𝘶𝘶𝘱!" Cally whisper-yelled, waving her down and grimacing. "Jesus!"

Evony glanced down the hall at them, smirking and shaking her head as she ran the rag down the frame of a large mountain painting.

"Ewww," Bellura breathed, ogling Cally as if she was an alien species. "Do you really…?!"

"Oooh—great," Cally griped, tossing up a hand and nodding at Trisha. "Great, now Bell knows. And now the whole town's gonna know. Thanks, Trish. Thank you 𝘴𝘰 much."

"Why do you 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 him?!" Bellura gasped. "He's fat!"

"He's not—he's—can we not?!" Cally stammered in frustration, turning to Trisha again. "And the only reason you never told him is just because you never freaking 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 to him!"

"That's not true," Trisha countered. "I go to the Silver Hollow every day—"

"You only started going there a few weeks ago—and that's just because you wanna catch him doing something wrong," Cally argued. "Because God forbid he just gets to keep his fucking job, Trisha! You and Bell both just—can't leave people alone!"

"Cally—you're being 𝘴𝘰 overemotional right now," Bellura stated snidely, folding her arms and cocking her head. "We just wanted to visit Donovan, and we wanted to visit you on your lunch break. But now we're the bad guys?"

Cally stared at Bellura as if she'd never seen anything quite like her before. "Are you kidding me right now? You never visit me all year. You just started 'visiting' when Donovan showed up here. Don't make it out like you're being a friend, Bell—because you're not."

"Oooh—𝘐'𝘮 sorry," Bellura snarled, her eyes narrowing into slits. "I'm doing you a favor, letting you be best friends with me. I'm the mayor's daughter. Have you never realized that before? That's a powerful connection to have, Cally. It's a 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳 I'm doing for you. But that makes me the bad guy? Okay. Sure. I guess you like hanging out with 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘩 instead."

Then—Bellura leaned out to the side, glaring directly past Cally, her eyes burning into Evony from a distance.

Evony sensed her stare, doing her best to ignore it and continuing to wipe down the wall.

Cally glanced back at Evony, then faced Bellura again. "Why are you even 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 right now?! I told you, I can't show you where Donovan's staying—so why don't you just go home?"

Bellura tilted her head again, flashing an icy little smile. "For your information—I'm meeting my father here, and I'll be leaving with him."

"Oh," Cally mumbled, then made an odd face. "Why's he coming here…?"

"He's probably already here," Bellura said smugly, trading nasty smirks with Trisha. "And he's setting Osric straight after the little stunt he pulled yesterday."

Evony slowly stopped moving, lowering the rag and staring into the wall with an emotionless visage—listening much more intensely now.

"What?" Cally uttered. "What did Osric do…?"

"Oh—he decided to fire an actual gun right at Trisha's 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 yesterday," Bellura replied as-a-matter-of-factly. "He literally tried to kill her. Thank God he's a terrible shot."

"That's not what happened."

Bellura blinked, peering past Cally again—seeing that Evony was now facing them fully, her eyes locked onto them with a hot, stern glare.

"That's 𝘯𝘰𝘵 what happened," Evony repeated, taking a brisk stride toward them. "He just busted a vase to get you guys to shut the hell up."

"Oh… is that right?" Bellura sneered. "Weird… because that's not what I told my father."

"Fucking bitch," Evony growled.

"Bell," Cally uttered almost urgently, giving Bellura a worrisome look. "Your dad's not bringing his freaky Mafiosos here, is he…?"

Evony glimpsed over at Cally in confusion—and Bellura smirked at both of them, giving them a nonchalant shrug.

"No idea," Bellura grinned. "But… knowing my father… then yeah."

"What the f—what is—are you serious?" Evony griped, rounding on her. "What—your dad has freaking 𝘮𝘰𝘣 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴?"

"Ohh—who's to say what they are?" Bellura replied playfully, shrugging again and twirling her hair. "My dad just has a few Italian friends with mozzarella breath and lots of scars. But that doesn't mean they're the mob. You really shouldn't make prejudgments like that, y'know."

"Blimey," another voice muttered from nearby.

All the girls turned their heads—seeing that the elevator was standing open, and three new people had suddenly appeared on scene.

Two of them were the suited men in black that Evony had seen a few times earlier—but the one in the middle was a stark contrast to them, a young man about the same age as them, with a sleek white suit, a jet black undershirt, and the straightest, smoothest hair Evony had ever seen on a guy—bleach blonde and divided perfectly down the middle, allowing his silky bangs to drape over his bottle green eyes.

Bellura's expression and demeanor seemed to change in milliseconds; she reeled back, straightened up, and stood perfectly before him, smiling broadly and giving him a welcoming little wave.

The young man—however—appeared rather unmoved by her, stepping out of the elevator and giving her a distant sort of stare, seeming almost disappointed by the mere sight of her.

"Y'know what," Donovan said, sighing and frowning at Bellura. "Every time I leave here, I wonder why I never give you a chance… and every time I come back here, you never fail to remind me."

Bellura looked as if she could've shattered into a million pieces, staring at him in mortified dismay, her mouth hanging stupidly agape.

Evony could've laughed at her.

Her eyes filling with tears—Bellura whirled around and sprinted away, vanishing around the corner with Trisha close behind her.

Evony, Cally, and Donovan stood alongside the royal bodyguards, merely staring at the corner for a moment after Bellura and Trisha's departure. Then, Evony found herself gazing into the open elevator instead, wanting to step inside of it…

"Well. That was fun," Donovan said whimsically, turning and smiling at Evony. "So… who're you, then?"

"What? Oh—Evony," Evony replied distractedly, attempting to return his smile and glancing at the elevator again. "Sorry, I—I kinda have to get upstairs."

"Evony," Cally said warningly. "Don't."

"I'm not just gonna pretend nothing's going on right now," Evony argued, stepping past everyone and marching into the elevator. "Screw that. I'm not afraid of a freaking Mafioso."

"Ah, yes… the Pendleton family strikes again," Donovan sighed, returning to the elevator with her and motioning for his bodyguards to follow. "Back in the lift we go."

"What're you doing?" Evony asked him, her finger hovering over the button for the top floor, giving the prince an odd look. "You heard what's going down right now, right? You don't need to get involved—"

"Neither do you," Donovan observed. "Do you?"

Evony paused, glancing out to the hallway and reading the conflicted look on Cally's face.

"Well," Evony mumbled. "I feel like… anyone who can do something should."

"Mutual." Donovan smiled, nodded, and reached past her, pressing the top floor button for her. "So—off we go."

The bodyguards positioned themselves just behind Evony and Donovan, and the doors began to slide shut, making Cally disappear from their sight.

Evony felt the small room shift and move around her, as the elevator began carrying them upwards—and the ride felt longer than she anticipated, her heart beginning to pound, wondering if she'd find a real situation of danger, or just a simple conversation between a mayor and an inventor. She couldn't know just yet.

Then, she glimpsed over at Donovan—handsome, smiling, and seemingly unbothered by everything happening around him.

Truly, she didn't know how she would introduce herself to him, and she'd been mulling over it all day—but now, that moment had come and gone in a flash, and she hadn't spared it a single extra thought. This wasn't the way she expected to meet the prince of the British Empire—but, at the very least, meeting the prince was no longer the source of her anxiety now.

Evony stood in silence, wondering what she ought to say, if anything.

But seconds later, she thought of something, turning to him with a curious look.

"Pendleton," Evony mumbled. "Who's the Pendleton family…?"

Donovan perked his brow at her. "I thought you knew? That girl you were just arguing with—Bellura—she comes from the Pendleton family. The family that pretty much runs this town."

"Oooh," Evony nodded with understanding. "Sorry, I'm still kinda new here. I didn't know her last name…"

"Ah… I see," Donovan replied. "Well… hopefully, Perry is keeping his temper in check today."

"Perry…?"

"Yes… Bellura's father. The mayor."

Evony stared, her mouth drifting agape. "The mayor's name is 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘗𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘯?"

Donovan nodded.

Evony continued to ogle him, her mouth unraveling into a grin—and she let out a string of breathless laughs, shaking her head and running her hand down her face.

Donovan watched her devolve into laughter, cracking a smirk and chuckling along with her.

Shortly after—the elevator made a ding, and the doors slid open, revealing the long, elegant hallway of the top floor.

Evony walked out and started down the hallway with a brisk stride, Donovan and his bodyguards following closely behind her. They all stopped at the big, impressive doors that led to the office of Osric Azarias.

"Huh," Donovan uttered. "No doorknobs…"

"Open," Evony yelled at the door.

And then—it creaked loudly and began to shift, opening down the middle and expanding, revealing the room beyond.

Osric was seated in his large rolling chair, slacked back with his feet propped on the desk, his goggles on and his fingers intertwined—and in front of his desk stood three large men, two of them in flashy white leisure suits. The man in the center wore a dark suit, slightly pudgy with a silver mustache, wearing a hat to match his attire and puffing lightly on a cigar.

All of them had been entertaining a conversation until the doors suddenly opened—then they all fell silent, turning and watching as Evony marched into the room.

Osric's brow raised, gazing past the mayor and eyeing her. "Yes, Evony…?"

"I just… needed to talk to you," Evony replied, glancing over at Mayor Pendleton and his two sinister companions. "And it couldn't really wait. Sorry."

"Oh—yes it 𝘤𝘢𝘯 wait," Perry Pendleton spoke, shooting her a scowl, his voice rough and grating. "Go away."

"Oh, now, Perry… could you not speak to my employees as if they're yours?" Osric asked, tilting his head. "Be civil."

"𝘉𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭…?" Perry rounded on Osric, slapping his meaty hand loudly onto the desk. "After you shot at Trisha Alavari… you tell 𝘮𝘦 to be civil?"

"That's not what happened," Evony told him, raising her voice. "Your daughter lied to you."

Perry rolled his neck and grinded his teeth, clearly agitated by her presence—and he whipped around and jabbed a finger at her. "Could you kindly mind your own damn—?!"

He stopped dead—just spotting Donovan Windsor standing right beside her.

"Oh," Perry mumbled, withdrawing his hand. "Hello, Mr. Windsor."

"Pleasure, Mr. Pendleton," Donovan replied politely. "And… I did happen to overhear your daughter ranting certain truths about this situation that she might've kept from you."

Perry stared at him, and—much like his daughter—his entire attitude seemed to have transformed in a split second, simply because the British prince was now in his presence. He stood still, fidgeting with the sleeves of his suit, seeming to fester silently in his frustration.

Then, he glimpsed between everyone else in the room, sighing and throwing up his hand.

"What actually happened, then?" Perry grumped.

"Well…" Osric replied with a shrug, sliding his fingers together again. "You don't seem to be willing to take my word for anything, which is fair enough… and the only other person who was there was Evony."

All eyes in the room landed on her.

Evony swallowed, forcing away any sensations of nervousness and speaking on.

"Bellura and Trisha were kinda… arguing with me yesterday," she informed. "When me and Osric walked inside, I ended up in an argument with them, and… Osric busted a ceramic vase just to make everyone shut up. It was like ten feet away from Trisha, too. He wasn't shooting at her. He was just… being… Osric."

Perry's eyes narrowed at her, Osric smirking and releasing a single faint laugh.

There was a long pause.

Perry's eyes seemed to fix onto Osric, still looking angry and unfinished, appearing as if he wanted to say or yell more—but he repeatedly glanced over at Donovan, biting his lip and remaining silent.

Evony observed him, seeing that the mayor was apparently unwilling to act out in the presence of the prince, which made her feel a touch of relief.

"Fine. But this isn't over," Perry said in a low, conclusive grumble, thrusting a finger at Osric before turning away from him. "This 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 over."

He walked away, waving for his two Italian friends to follow.

Everyone else watched as Perry and his companions marched out of the office.

Evony and Donovan stared after them, then glimpsed at each other, then turned to Osric.

"I didn't know you two had gotten acquainted already," Osric remarked, still wearing his smooth half-smile. "That's quite nice to see."

Evony and Donovan traded eyes again.

"It just kinda happened on the fly," Evony shrugged with a laugh.

"Yes… and it was a pleasure meeting you, Evony," Donovan added, gingerly taking her hand and giving it a shake. "But, I was just heading out to the Silver Hollow. I do quite like that place during the day hours. It's not as obnoxious as it is the evening… and I'd like to do my sightseeing before the town is completely packed full."

"Oh… yeah, go ahead," Evony replied with a smile. "And thanks for the help. Nice meeting you, too."

Donovan returned the smile, gave them a wave, and marched out of the room, his bodyguards trailing along behind him.

"Close!" Osric called, waving fancifully over his head—and the giant green doors began to ease closed right after, sealing firmly shut.

Evony faced him again, sighing heavily and feeling as if numerous immense weights had been lifted off her. No danger had transpired—she'd gotten her meeting with the prince over with—and no consequences from yesterday's transgressions seemed to have arrived.

The atmosphere of the Azarias office suddenly felt much more peaceful now.

Osric gazed up at her, slowly reaching up and peeling the goggles from his eyes. He gently removed them, allowing them to hang around his neck—and then, he stared up at her with his brilliant silver eyes, flashing his smile of whimsy yet again.

Evony met his gaze, only just realizing that she almost never saw his eyes on a regular basis.

"You know what, Evony," Osric said in a soft, kind voice, his smile seeming to grow. "I am so… 𝘴𝘰 glad… that you are who you are."

Evony said nothing, gulping and managing a shrug.

"Don't shrug at me," Osric laughed, straightening up and removing his feet from the desk. "I have been racking my brain trying to think up a way to judge your character further… but that's really rather unnecessary, isn't it? We both know what kind of person you are… and me trying to judge whether or not I can trust you… well, I'd say that would be rather insulting at this point."

Evony nodded mildly, pocketing her hands and feeling as if the conversation she'd been waiting for was finally about to unfold.

"You're the only person in Silverhollow to spare that lonesome soul in the storage shed such time and care," Osric knew. "And don't think I haven't noticed how you tend to keep tabs on me when you feel the need to. I really do appreciate that, by the way. And… that's also why I suspect that a mere conversation isn't the only thing that brought you up here."

"I'm not afraid of a Mafioso," Evony told him. "And I'm not afraid of a crooked mayor or a reptoid conspiracy, either."

Osric's eyes narrowed with intrigue, slowly reaching his feet and leveling his eyes with hers.

"What exactly do you know?" he asked in a low, softened tone.

"Not enough," Evony replied. "That's why I needed to talk to you. Me and my friends know there's something going on… but we have no idea what it is. I think you do, though."

"I see," Osric said. "And… how do you know there's something going on?"

"Some reptoid freak attacked me and my friend out in the woods a few weeks ago," Evony stated. "Out in the middle of nowhere, in a town where no reptilians live, and in a climate where none of them could realistically survive on their own."

"Oooh," Osric mumbled with a nod. "Yes… it's quite perplexing when you give it a little thought. How they could appear out here, without any warmth, or help…"

"They have to have help," Evony determined. "That's the whole problem… and that's why I figured you were being so suspicious of everyone else. Somebody has to be helping the reptilian extremists get here… and to transport them, and house them, and keep them warm some way or another… it has to be somebody with money. Money and power."

"Well… you're not alone," Osric told her. "You're right. I have come to much the same conclusion. And… for quite similar reasons, too."

He rested his arm on the desk, easefully rolling back his sleeve and revealing his forearm—which harbored a thick, reddened scar, two jagged lines that had been sliced deeply into his skin, presumably a while ago, as the wound seemed to be mostly healed now.

Evony hunched over the desk, surveying the scar, then looking back to him questioningly.

"Sufficed to say… I don't go on many walks anymore," Osric mumbled, pulling his sleeve back down. "Not after nearly being assassinated on my own grounds."

"When did that happen?" Evony asked.

"Oh… months ago," Osric answered. "Nobody seemed to be interested in hearing the story. Not the mayor, not the media, and not any of my regular convention attenders. When I came to that conclusion… the conclusion that reptilians couldn't arrive here without help from humans… then it became clear why nobody wanted to hear my story. It's because some of them, or all of them, had a 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 in it."

"But you don't know which ones," Evony guessed. "So you can't trust any of them."

"Essentially," Osric agreed. "I do know that people tend to turn a blind eye to big and unpleasant problems like this. Most people wouldn't want to hear it simply because they're afraid of ever dealing with it—but these people with power, as you put it—they could deal with it 𝘧𝘢𝘳 easier than your average regular civilian. Fear shouldn't be dominating too much of their judgment on the matter. And the only other thing that could dominate their judgement so deeply is their own involvement in the problem at hand."

Evony nodded along with him. Then, she made a curious face.

"How did you get away?" she wondered.

Osric perked his brow. "From the one that attacked me? I don't know. But look."

He reached up, removing his hat and combing much of his wavy hairs back—revealing a rounded, blotchy scar just at the edge of his forehead, bordering his hairline, another old-looking wound.

"I do know I hit my head," Osric told her, patting his hairs down and placing his hat back on. "And when I came to, he was gone."

"Really?" Evony uttered. "The reptilian just walked off and let you live…?"

"He did," Osric affirmed. "And I still don't know why."

Evony paused for a moment, mulling over this and thinking of only one possible answer.

"Maybe he realized who you were," she mumbled. "So he stopped…"

Osric squinted thoughtfully at her. "You think that their plans rely on me being alive?"

"I guess," Evony shrugged. "That's the only thing that makes sense. When me and Aldric fought one, he was seriously trying to kill us. I don't see why they'd treat anyone else any different—unless it was someone important."

"Aldric," Osric murmured, pausing for a second and giving her another interested stare. "The green man's name is Aldric…?"

"Yeah," Evony replied. "And… while we're on that… I planned on letting him stay in my room throughout the convention, if that's okay."

Osric sank back into his seat, stroking along his chin and gazing distantly past her, seeming strangely distracted all the sudden.

Evony stared at him. "Is it…?"

Osric blinked and glanced up at her. "What? Oh… yes. That's perfectly fine by me."

Evony read him for a moment, nodding and sighing. "I figured you knew who he was… more or less. I also kinda figured you cleared that shack out for him when he first got here."

"Ah… yes," Osric muttered with a nod, scratching his face and gazing into one of his portraits. "Yes, I did. I just didn't know his name…"

He pushed off the desk and reached his feet, sauntering over to his wall and examining the portraits, his eyes landing on his gigantic map of Concordia.

Evony walked over to him, joining his side and staring up at the map as well.

"Oh… what I wouldn't give to never let this world fall," Osric breathed in a faint, sighing murmur. "It really is our last stand, all in all."

Evony hesitated, turning and eyeing him with curiosity.

Osric glimpsed at her, facing the map again and releasing another breath.

"Do you know why we live on the continent of Concordia?" he asked her.

Evony made a thoughtful face, pondering on this and sliding her hands into her pockets. "Ah… history class always said it was a giant natural disaster, and the colonizing project pretty much saved everyone. It all sounded kinda vague to me, though…"

"That's how lies tend to sound," Osric mumbled ominously, his eyes still lost in the map. "The disasters weren't natural… and there were far more than just one. The disasters began with economies… evolved into government crackdowns… and ultimately ended in worldwide war. Oh, you wouldn't 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 how big the world used to be…"

Evony stared at him.

Osric tapped on the top of his cane, his eyes venturing between the various territories on the map, from nation to recolonized nation.

"Ultimately," he exhaled. "It all got out of hand, and it all ended in disaster… because of a 𝘧𝘦𝘸 corrupt people… in a 𝘧𝘦𝘸 of the same pockets… in a 𝘧𝘦𝘸 powerful places. That's how it all happened before. That was the great big alarm clock that awoke reptilians from their underground slumber. And that… that kind of giant, terrible, catastrophic thing… is precisely what I'd like to keep us all from repeating now."

Evony continued to gaze into him profoundly.

"This place we call Concordia," Osric said softly, meeting her eyes again. "Used to simply be known as Antarctica."

Evony nodded silently.

"And it's so ironic…" Osric shook his head and turned back to the map. "It used to be the only continent that was uninhabitable… the only one that we couldn't live on… and now, it's the only one we can. We can't wreck it. We simply 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 wreck our last stand. And I can't shake it… I just can't shake this deep, dark feeling… that we're falling 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 down that same path."

"Osric," Evony said.

Osric faced her.

Evony took in a breath, feeling a sense of resolve like she'd never felt in Starrylake.

"I'll help you make sure we don't," she told him definitively.

Osric gently nodded, his smooth, knowing half-smile slowly making its return.

"I know you will," he disclosed, planting a hand on her shoulder and gazing up at Concordia once more. "We will."

Evony nodded in full agreement with him, thinking of Aldric, Cally, and Javari—and knowing for certain that she didn't intend to let her new life with them fall, just as her old one had, and just as the world once did long ago.

"Yeah," she said firmly. "We will."