He dragged his feet forward, barely moving despite his large strides. Simply because with every step he took forward, he took one backwards. Anything to annoy his dearest Willow.

"Willow! I’m trying to go forward, but it is as if the world doesn’t want me to move. I keep coming back to my original spot. At this rate, the poor girl might die."

Leonidas made a pained expression, as if it hurt to speak the words, "But it is okay. I understand that you may have to leave me in this twisted jail of space in order to save the poor lass. Go ahead, I won’t blame you."

For a second, even he believed himself. His acting was just that good.

Goddamn, I could easily be a professional.

Willow walked by him, feet light as she moved wordlessly. Leonidas immediately followed after her, his curse broken.

Willow leaned beside the girl, while Leonidas walked over to her brother. Despite coughing blood, her hand had never left his. If anything, her grip had only tightened. He could see veins popping all over her hand.

He gently wrapped his hand around the girl’s—who didn’t notice— and tried to pry it off. Her strength was unexpectedly high, and when Leonidas applied a little more pressure, he suddenly found a white circle over his hand.

He raised his head to see a blur of white heading straight towards his head.

What the..

His shock didn’t last long, as he tried launching himself backwards, but the barrier was simply too strong, despite being made in a hurry. With no choice left, Leonidas quickly circulated his Insenium into the idea of a rose.

His hurriedly formed flower had no sharp points; he had made sure to round every edge in order not to hurt the girl’s leg. The white blur crashed against his signature shield, which, unlike his recent encounters, didn’t burst into crystalline glitter.

For perhaps the first time, the shield held firm, unyielding despite the deadly force behind the silver-haired girl’s strike.

The girl’s face changed into confusion, which then shifted into determination. She tried to pry her hand free, maybe to make some distance, but Leonidas was done playing.

His fingers slipped into the girl’s, and he locked hands with her in her moment of weakness. Their palms connected, and Leonidas pulled with all his might.

She flew forward, crashing into Leonidas’s flower. Her glare was so full of anger that it would have frozen an ordinary man in place, but Leonidas wasn’t ordinary, and more importantly, he had finally seen the color of the girl’s eyes.

They were a wonderous violet, the color of lavender, a flower that held fond memories for him. Leonidas paused for a moment, staring into their innocent expanse.

Despite the palpable emotions swirling in her eyes, Leonidas could tell the girl was kind at heart. She held that peculiar type of body language saints held, but then again, it could all be an act to lower Leonidas’s guard.

"Whoa, little one, why so violent? Especially after I saved you from certain death."

As if understanding dawned on her, the girl slowly relaxed and looked around her. A dead monster with a massive hole in its eye, onyx blood flowing in rivers, the huge block of meat, Willow, and more.

Her eyes trailed over everything, taking in every detail, then they landed on her brother, and she immediately collapsed. Her legs turned to noodles, losing all their strength, the barrier around her and Leonidas’s hand fading out of existence.

He caught her before she hit the ground, his single arm wrapping around her waist, whispering sweet nothings into her ears. The stuff just came to him naturally, even though he had never done it before...except once.

"There, there. Everything’s gonna be alright. Hush...relax, nothing is going to eat you." He pointed to Willow, "You see that mean lady, she is actually a glutton and will eat anything that tries to harm you... What’s your name?"

The silver-haired girl sniveled, rubbing into Leonidas’s chest. "Ahh, sorry. My name is Rani, and that over there is my little brother... he’s Barbossa by the way."

Rani took a step back, then spoke again, her voice a little hesitant, holding that touch of innocence.

"What about you, mister...and the scary lady over there. What should I call you?"

He smiled at Rani’s words, pleased that someone shared the same opinion as him. Willow was indeed scary...no, she was terrifying. Leonidas held no doubt that she would kill anyone without blinking, but then again, he would do the same.

"I’m Art, and that over there is Willow. Though be warned, she has more mood swings than a pregnant nun."

Willow, who hadn’t spoken till now, silently watching the exchange from her knees, spoke with a distant look in her eyes:

"Everything he said is true, and I especially love stabbing people. Why don’t you ask him how he lost his arm? I’m sure it will make for a fun story. We might even get a recreation."

In a single sentence, Willow had effectively taken over the situation. Not only did she reinforce Leonidas’s claims of her being a scary demon, but she also gave birth to a misinformed hypothesis in poor Rani’s mind.

How devious...Not that I’m gonna let that happen.

Before Rani’s discombobulated thoughts could form a coherent opinion, Leonidas spoke; after all, communication was key to a healthy relation.

"Don’t listen to her, Rani, not only is she a devil, but she also has a mouth on her. She did nothing to my arm; it was like this long before I ever met her."

He scratched his cheek. "As for the stabbing...that is true. She threatened to stab me a dozen times when I first met her, then she stabbed a couple of poor birds because she was bored, and even stabbed someone’s eye, very recently at that."

It wasn’t a lie, Willow had been gleaming with murder during their fight with the...murder of crows, and the eye...it was pretty self-explanatory.

A look of pure horror slowly formed on Rani’s face as she took in the implications of Leonidas’s words. She looked at Willow like she was some sort of...villainess. And Willow herself made no attempt to fix her misconceptions.

She pointed at Rani’s brother, Barbossa, and then pointed towards the dead, leafless jungle. " Let’s go, other pilgrims will soon be here, attracted by the sweet scent of death and blood." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

She glanced at the slab of meat, "Art if you will."

She wanted him to make a hollow flower so that she could store the meat as gas and easily transport it. Now he could do that...or he could delegate the work to someone else...someone much better suited to the job.

"Rani dearest, it is time to pull your weight in this group. Honestly, it’s been so long since we’ve been traveling together, and yet you do nothing."

Leonidas clicked his tongue twice and pointed towards the slab of flesh. "Now make a barrier around that."

If it concerned work, Leonidas was the most shameless person alive.