Henry slunk down into the pool of his guest home and, for the first time in what felt like months, he brought everything to a stop. All of his Octominds, the scouts, the clones, everything. For a few seconds, he basked into the silence that stole over his mind.

  It was one of the most beautiful experiences he’d had so far. But he should have given his companions a heads-up.

  “[Henry?]”

  The kraken opened his eyes and found the crab peering at him from the edge of the pool, and beyond, a large dolphin bobbed up and down in a nimbus of swirling water. The two of them being here with him, he didn’t have to watch over them with his clones, so he’d dispelled all of his regular clones and threw the blood ones in his storage where he couldn’t perceive anything from them.

  Henry hadn’t realized he needed a break this badly. And after the relief he was feeling right now, he resolved to take more breaks from now on.

  Or maybe the Octominds are a bit too much for me still. They never stop working. Not unless I tell them to, so maybe my main brain’s getting a bit overloaded.

  It was a possibility, and he would have to plan around it in the future, just so he didn’t put himself under an unhealthy amount of stress. But for now, there was no need to worry the others, so he waved an arm at the crab.

  “[I’m fine. Just needed a small break]”

  “[Oh! Okay! Do you need more time?]”

  Henry dipped his head under water for a moment then came back up. “[I’m okay, thanks. So. What’s up?]”

  “[We were talking about tomorrow’s fight. Are you two sure it’s safe?]” asked Stormsong as she extended a water-arm out of the pool to pick up Maurice, who clacked a pincer at the magical limb.

  Maurice had—of course—won his fight as well, and this time he hadn’t needed to use the Hug of Death. Tomorrow, Henry and Maurice were battling it out for first place, and aside from the barrel of Ambercrisp apples, the first spot would be getting a skill potion.

  Henry had no clue what the skill would be, or why exactly it was in a potion, but he was intrigued. Looking up at Stormsong then down at Maurice, he shrugged. “[We talked about it. We’ll be careful.]”

  “[We never fought for real! I wanna see how well I do. Stop that,]” he added, swatting at the water-limb poking him.

  Stormsong let out a series of clicks in amusement, and a wave of water fell down from her nimbus and swept Maurice into the pool. Henry chuckled at the annoyed crab as he beat his arms, trying to get back to the ledge, but then he detected something subtle coming off from Stormsong.

  A hint of apprehension?

  She clearly let it through on purpose. Her mind shield felt light. As if the blackout curtains had been replaced by lighter ones, and if he really focused, he’d be able to pick up more impressions from her. But that felt intrusive.

  Maurice scuttled up from the water, grumbling, and Stormsong spoke up. “[I’ve been thinking lately. Over the last few days.]” The impressions of anxiety and worry spiked, and Henry worried, but he said nothing and waited as the dolphin continued. “[I think I want to stay here. In Thalis. For now.]”

  The crab paused, and even Henry was a bit surprised. For a moment. Then he recalled everything he’d seen the dolphin had been up to since they’d arrived, and the statement made a lot more sense.

  The crab had a bit more trouble, though. Maurice fretfully clambered up the edge and approached the dolphin, arms waving.“[What? Why! You said you wanted to go on an adventure!]”

  Henry poked the crab. “[Easy.]” Then, privately, he sent one more message. “[She left her pod because they didn’t let her do what she wanted. Are we going to do the same thing to her?]”

  Maurice froze up, then slowly lowered his arms and sheepishly rubbed them together. “[Ah. Er. Sorry.]”

  Stolen story; please report.

  Stormsong let herself slowly drop to the water, and gave out a soft click. A deep sense of relief radiated out of her, and Henry sensed a little bit of sadness as well. In his own chest, he felt a little twinge. Had she been worried they’d try to force her to stay with them? Or give her a hard time?

  “[I like it here. Not that I didn’t enjoy traveling with you two, but being here, helping and teaching the little children and carrying them around is a lot more enjoyable than being constantly afraid of what could kill us. Plus… I feel like I’ve been a bit of a burden. Whenever things get dangerous, I can’t do much to help. I’m not stealthy, and I’m not as resilient as you, Henry. I just think I’m better here. I like it. I really do. So if they’ll have me… I’d like to stay. At least for a while.]”

  Henry listened and watched as Maurice scuttled closer to the dolphin as she spoke. When she was done, she approached the edge of the pool so the crab could climb on her back. Maurice did so gently, and slowly put his claw on her back, and all three were quiet for a moment, listening to the wind whistling through the treetops and around the building.

  “[I’m not sure if they’ll have me, though,]” she said after a while, and Maurice slowly turned to meet Henry’s eyes.

  The crab was a bit sad. Also confused. And Henry realized this might be Maurice’s first time saying goodbye to someone he cared about.

  “[We’ll ask Zerathstra. And if you ever change your mind, we’ll still be here. At least for another month or so.]”

  Stormsong bobbed her gently making Maurice sway back and forth. “[Thank you.]”

  ***

  “Aaand we’re back folks! For the big finale of the high C-rank tournament; and for the first time in a very long time, neither of the two finalists are natives! We’ve had guests participate in the past. Friendly awakened beings from the Pillars. The occasional humans our mighty guardians allowed, but never have our fellow citizens been beaten so handedly and so spectacularly! Our B-ranks better be ready for these two!”

  The presenter continued hyping up the crowd as always, and Henry noted that the stands were completely full this time. It seemed like every single inhabitant had decided they could just take the day off and come watch the fight. Even young students and children were in the stands.

  “[Henry! What are those?]”

  Henry peered at the direction the crab was pointing in, and his eyes went wide.

  “[… Banners?]”

  There weren’t a lot of them, but there was no mistaking the decorative banners and other stuff the crowd had come up with to show who they were rooting for. There were large claw-like gloves being worn and waved. Long, stuffed cloth with colorful suckers sewed to the bottom of the fake limbs—or maybe glued—and much more.

  “[What’s a banner?]”

  Henry looked away and found the crab already in place, facing him across the stretch of packed earth and stretched his limbs under him as he floated above the ground, levitating through Telekinesis.

  “[They’ve picked someone to root for, and they want you to see it—as well as the other spectators. It’s kind of a competition thing. If you win, the people wearing the crab hands will feel very happy, but if you lose, then they’ll be a little bit sad. It’s for fun. Usually.]”

  “[Oh. So I shouldn’t make them sad, then,]” said the crab, rubbing his pincers together as his claws pawed at the soil.

  Henry wiggled his arms with amusement. “[Looks who’s confident. But you remember what we said, right?]”

  “[No attacking with concepts, and first one to be knocked out three times surrenders?]”

  Henry stared at the crab, who slowly looked away, staring once more at the crowd. The kraken sighed. “[Nope. Not three times. That wasn’t what we agreed to.]”

  “[Two?]”

  “[Maurice.]”

  Maurice dropped his claws to the side, and his eye stalks drooped. “[Fiiine. Just once.]”

  Henry eyed his opponent, then the chanting crowd around. Everyone seemed ready, and the big final fight was about to begin. At any moment, the announcer would call the start of the bout.

  So. How do I go about this?

  Henry really didn’t want to hurt Maurice badly, but to be frank, the crab was a resilient opponent. Unlike the humans, the fight couldn’t be ended quickly unless he used everything he had.

  “The fighters are ready ladies, gents, and honorable guests! Are you ready? Are your bets ready? Well, it’s too late if they’re not! The fight begins in 3… 2… 1… Fight!”

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