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Takes place after Northpoint.

Ephesus glanced toward the others as they reached the quieter end of the street. Where the city’s lights in the distance began to fade further, and the shadows of the abandoned district stretched longer between the cracked buildings. The noise of the main group had already faded behind them, leaving only the hum of wind through broken glass and the steady sound of their own footsteps.

He tried to sound cheerful when he spoke, even if his shoulders were a little too stiff and his hand tightened around Amarynthos’s.

“Um, so…” he started, glancing between them. Amarynthos first, then Halle, then Lyon. “On the way in… did anything catch your eye? Anyplace that looked interesting? I figured it might be good to pick a direction before we start wandering.”

The optimism came out a little forced, but he smiled anyway, trying to make it as genuine as he could.

His eyes lingered for a moment on Halle. “Um… also, I never really got to thank you. Back on Tempesti, with your shield. If you hadn’t done that, I don’t know how well we would have gotten out of that last part.”

He hesitated, as if trying to decide if he wanted to ask more, then added a little sheepishly, “Lisse has always been nice to us when we’ve run into him, but… I don’t think I ever asked about you. Is there, um… well, anything we should know? I mean,” he paused, trying to figure out the best way to ask. “Um, I guess I want to know more about you. If that’s okay.”

He turned toward Lyon then, offering him a small, grateful smile. “It’s nice, though. Being near someone who can shield. Makes it feel a little safer, doesn’t it?” he said, before glancing forward again toward the dark street that awaited them. “Hopefully we won’t need it… but, you know, just in case.”

Lyon tilted his head when he felt Halle’s eyes on him and met his gaze with ease. His eyes were half-lidded, like he was in a perpetual lazy complacency, but the smirk he wore seemed just as natural. He crunched on the lollipop, which was otherwise just resting at the corner of his mouth. Not enough to shatter it, just enough to crack it a little.

He didn’t recognize Halle’s quote, but he could tell they were someone else’s words.

A voice in the back of his head told him to say ‘Prevenire è meglio che curare’ but a louder voice told him shut up!

The lollipop cracked again between his teeth and he flashed Halle a lazy smile. “Cute. You sound smart.”

“Which we could definitely use more of,” Amarynthos laughed. Not that he had anything bad to say about their friends, but anyone with a good head on their shoulders was welcome company. “Analytical is good. We should butt heads sometimes,” Amarynthos said brightly, like a well-meaning debate was his idea of fun. “Maybe we can go running in the morning some time. Do you race? I like a little competition. Anyway, Effie and I have been Knights for a few years, too. I think Lisse’s closest to Dering,” obviously, “But we haven’t gotten to spend a ton of time with him. You guys are more than welcome. We’re a big enough group that I don’t think there’s a lot of toe-stepping if you want to share friends? Or,” he scratched his chin. “I guess I don’t know how that works. I’m an only child so I never had to share anyone or anything. I’m pretty spoiled, to be honest.”

Halle’s smile shifted and his eyes narrowed a bit at the not-compliment from Lyon. Not bad. “Thanks, I love sounding smart.” Which was, to be honest, true enough.

Hearing Amarynthos take it as a potential invitation to debates had Halle huffing with a soft laughter that faded off when once again, he thought he sensed something moving just outside of his periphery. “Debate while running sounds like exactly the sort of training knights need to do.” Be it with an enemy, ally, or a particularly offended brother, it was really true!

“I think it’s fine now. He’s had time to figure things out and be himself without me messing up the picture, and there’s well,” he gestured to the creepy section of the city looming all around them, “...priorities.” He and Lisse were, admittedly, off to a rough start since Tempesti. But it was surely just a phase. Hopefully a short one.

Hearing that Ephesus not only had parents who were powered, but one was of the senshi who came from space, had Halle shooting the boy a wide-eyed and wondering look. Then shook his head, “I’ll keep it to myself, but it must be really like…nice but different? Growing up with an experienced knight and senshi for parents. And I guess that means they have even more to worry about than say, my mom, who just has to hope we don’t get caught in whatever we’re sneaking out for.” Her last theory was that her sons were trying to start some kind of YouTube prank channel, which resulted in a vague talk about not being Mean or Cringe. Thank god Lysithea had been able to heal Luke’s injuries last time, who knew what she’d come up with if there’d been an ER bill.

Thinking about it, he had to admit there was a bit of envy in him, to live with people who had so much knowledge and experience. It was, to be honest, the sort of thing he’d been hoping for when he’d finally talked to Lysithea. A guide and authority to look toward. But still, he’d been fine in the end, and even if he didn’t exactly have a mentor getting here, there’d been plenty of experienced knights and senshi that had fought alongside Halle and showed him by example, given him the grace to make mistakes with their strength and numbers.

Opening his mouth to ask more, Halle was cut off by a sudden cry in the distance. A coyote? No, closer to a fox. The abrupt sound in the middle of so much emptiness and silence left him feeling like an iron rod had been jammed down his spine. Looking around, he tried to focus his senses to seek out any stray energy signatures. “A youma?”

“Oh--” Ephesus started, almost too quickly, shaking his head a little. “I didn’t-- uh… actually--... grow up with them.”

It came out halting, his instinct to explain tripping over itself. He glanced between Halle and Lyon, then down at the ground, where the weeds cracked through the concrete. “I’ve only known my dads for a few years. They, um--... They adopted me. Things were… pretty bad before that. They and Mary kind of saved my life.”

He tried for a small smile, hoping it would make the admission feel lighter. “So yeah, it’s different, but… I think I got really lucky.”

Whatever else he might have said died in his throat when the sound came. The kind of sound that didn’t echo so much as pierce through the air.

Ephesus froze. Every muscle in his body went tense, his breath caught in his throat. His hand was already tightly in Amarynthos’s, but he reached over with his other, clutching tightly to his arm. Close enough that he could hide against Amarynthos’s side if he needed to.

“I don’t--” he started, but had to pause as he choked on the words that were too unsteady to come out clear. “I don’t think that was an animal, either.”

It wasn’t entirely unheard of -- there being creatures that lurked in Destiny City without the same auras as a youma. They’d crossed paths with them before, and those they hadn’t seen in person, they’d heard about from friends. But that didn’t mean he had to like it.

Lyon made a face when Halle clapped his shoulder, glad it was his good one. It wasn’t that Halle’s touch was too much–it was pretty gentle, actually–but Lyon was taking great effort to make sure that they didn’t figure out who he was before he figured out who they were.

If he could resist his Italian proverbs, he could resist all the dramatics about a should-be-healed shoulder, too.

“Oh–wait, no, don’t count on me to send a message,” Lyon blurted. “I haven’t found my ring yet. I’m still working on that. I only got this,” he held up his spade, “like, a few weeks ago. I can scream really loud though.”

“Ah…yeah, that’ll work,” Amarynthos reassured Lyon, who nodded firmly. “We’ll be fine,” the Moon Knight added. But, he still stayed on the outside of the group, letting Halle take the other side so Lyon and Ephesus were in the middle, safely boxed between the two of them.

He had felt that strange pulse of energy, and caught Halle’s gaze briefly before studying Ephesus’ expression.

“That was weird. But maybe it was a fluke. I mean, this place is spooky, so–”

No, it happened again–twice, in quick succession, and though he couldn’t make out much about what it was, or where it came from, it was obviously from two different sources.

“...Okay, never mind. I take back what I said about it being a fluke. I don’t think I’ve ever felt anything like that before.” It wasn’t a youma–not in the way he’d ever felt one. “I think we should check it out. Or at least move in that direction. Are you good with that?” he asked, mostly Ephesus, who he knew was easily shaken, and Lyon, who was at a disadvantage.

Jiminy Cricket echoed in Lyon’s mind, a perfect impersonation of Halle’s earlier exclamation. He couldn’t think of anything better, so he nodded.

With Lyon’s consent, Amarynthos looked to Halle, too; he might not know the Lysithea Knight well, but he knew he had good instinct, and apparently a good head on his shoulders, too. It was easy to want–and trust–his read on things.

Halle felt he was pretty restrained in limiting himself to a raised eyebrow instead of giving a full lecture as to the vital, actual life and death importance, of getting their ring. It was fine now, since they had a pretty good sized group, but after this…

Another brush of energy and Halle’s mouth twisted up. They weren’t alone. The distant cries really made sure they didn’t forget that fact. “Yeah I’ll…” And again the sense of something shifting nearby. “Oh for Pete’s sake!” He hissed, turning to march over to the nearby gutter and… “Oh. Huh.”

He leaned close to the patch of plants and then abruptly leaned back. “They moved. The weeds.” He looked back the way they came and finally noticed the patches of growth here and there. Then looked the other way, in the direction they were heading, the dark patches of plants and growths climbing up building walls growing denser.

What had seemed like a simple matter of nature taking over an abandoned area was beginning to gain some ominous overtones.

Ephesus squeaked when Halle hissed, the sudden motion making his heart leap to his throat.

“...They moved?” he echoed weakly, his voice barely more than a frantic whisper. “Plants aren’t supposed to--”

But then he saw it, too. The faintest rustle across the cracked pavement, like the weeds were shrinking back from Halle’s approach.

“Okay. Okay, it’s-- it’s fine,” he said quickly, although it very obviously wasn’t. He stepped half in front of Lyon, half beside him, shrinking back from where Amarynthos walked confidently out front towards Halle.

“Maybe… um… maybe they react to movement? Or… noise?”