Growth

Nia looked onto the clear surface of a bucket with water three hours later. Her silver hair was hidden below a layer of dye that made it look almost black. There was a hint of blue to it, because her hair didn’t have a normal base color, but it was better than nothing at all. She just had to avoid looking someone directly in the eyes.

“Are you content with the new color, saint?” asked Mother Clemens from behind her.

“Yes.” She’d definitely stand less out in a crowd. Now she only needed to get them to refer to her by just her name. She took a deep breath and hoped that this would work as easily as dyeing her hair. “Please just call me Nia. If anyone of you calls me saint, then all the effort with the hair was moot.”

Mother Clemens looked at her wide-eyed. But she nodded after a short moment. “You’re right. I’m sorry for not thinking properly, sai-” She stopped mid-word, cleared her throat, and then finished with “Nia.”

The twins behind her looked at each other. Then they both spoke up at the same time: “You can count on us, Nia.”

“Good.” She smiled. “I have one more request. Do you have any weapons for my companions?”

“But of course,” the twins shouted. “What do they need?”

“I guess a sword, a bow, and maybe a dagger?”

Or maybe a pistol, a semi-automatic rifle and a flame thrower, she added in her mind. It would be nice to bring a gun to a sword fight. Like Indiana Jones did. She grinned as she imagined a surprised Qiin.

“This saint can look really scary,” one of the twins whispered to the other.

Nia shook her head and wiped the grin of her face at the same time. “Please ask them what they could use best in order to keep us all safe.”

“Sure thing, miss.”

Nia sighed at the twins’ answer.

Besides weapons, I need to find another way to stack the odds in our favor.

She had to try the strengthening magic again, although with more control. It wouldn’t help if she gave herself or the others supernatural strength and collapsed a minute later with the effects fading.

“I suggest that you use the rest of today to get ready for the voyage tomorrow.” Mother Clemens folded her hands in front of herself and smiled. “I’ll help Rena clean up here.”

“I can help,” Nia blurted.

“We can’t possibly have the saint help us,” was Mother Clemens’ immediate answer, and Nia got the feeling that there was no way she could change her mind. Especially not if they kept calling her ‘saint’ while protesting.

For now, she left the house, and was immediately followed by the twins. Sonja, Tina, Ralf, and Tom stood at the nearby well, talking in hushed voices to each other. They fell silent as she approached, and all of them opened their mouth.

Nia shrugged. “They had to apply the dye three times,” she explained. Dyeing her hair had taken longer than expected, but then again, it seemed their discussion had taken a lot longer, too. “Have you settled on what you wanted?”

“Yes,” Sonja said and gave Tom a hard glare, “we’ve decided that we don’t have a leader and will decided everything democratically.”

“And we decided to follow you to Drakar,” Tina added.

“We had decided before, that we would go with your plan of meeting Luaria,” Ralf said. “So this decision won’t really change anything.”

“But you won’t be able to singlehandedly decide, what we’re doing.” Tom glared at her. Maybe he had lost the bid to be the leader himself, but felt still victorious since she hadn’t won.

“Good, good.” Nia nodded. “Then we should get ready for our voyage tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Tom asked. “We haven’t decided, when …”

“Mother Clemens has, and I agree,” she answered with a shrug. “By the way, if you need any weapons, then you can ask the twins for them.”

“I thought we made it clear, that you aren’t the leader,” Tom said, almost growling.

Nia sighed. “Wouldn’t you agree that meeting Luaria is a time-sensitive objective for us? Or would you rather want to go right now?”

“Well, she has a point. Once again.” Ralf put his hand on Tom’s shoulder. “But we would like to be included in these decisions from now on.”

Nia shrugged. “As I said. It was mother Clemens’ idea.” She crossed her arms. “But we can hold a vote right now, whether you want to stay in this world longer than needed.”

Nia found herself in a staring match with her so-called retinue.

“Fine. I give you this one,” Tom finally said. “I really want to leave this world as soon as possible, but traveling at night is also not a good idea.”

Nia nodded at him. “Thank you.” Then she took a deep breath, reaching out with an olive branch, even though it wasn’t easy. “I promise I won’t make any decisions for the group, if there is time to discuss it.”

“I guess that’s the best I can get.” Tom sighed with a nod.

“Well, I don’t have any idea how I teleported us out of there, but it would’ve been a bad moment to discuss things first, wasn’t it?”

“That’s different …”

“No, it’s not. We can get in such a situation again. We will all need the freedom to make split-second decisions.” Nia forced herself to smile. “And I trust that you will make the right decision in such a moment.”

Tom stared at her wide-eyed for a moment, then he crossed his arms and looked away. She thought she heard him mumble a “whatever,” but it seemed that her approach had changed something in him. Even if it was just a little.

“I suggest, we get ready for tomorrow. If you need any weapons, the twins will provide them,” Nia reiterated.

Tom was the first that moved, Tina and Ralf followed shortly after.

Sighing, Nia leaned against the well next to Sonja. The girl looked at her as if she wanted to assess her.

“Tom has changed,” Sonja whispered. “Or maybe you were right, and I never really knew him.”

Nia nodded, then looked back at the large planet on the horizon.

“I don’t know, what to think about him,” Sonja admitted. “He was nice, but then he tried to get on with other girls and now … I think he’s only just now growing up, trying to become more reliable.”

“Since I’ve never been in a relationship, I’m probably the wrong person to talk to.” Nia looked at Sonja. “But that sounds as if its worth waiting.”

“Why are you saying this?”

“I’ll be blunt. I didn’t like Tom from the beginning. How he behaved, how he behaved toward you, or me, after my change. Going by that alone, I would say it’s better to leave him …”

“But you’re seeing the change, too?”

“Yes. He’s become a little more accepting, and he’s learning to take responsibility. I’d say that’s worth waiting for.”

Sonja fell silent, and looked at her feet. When she finally spoke up, she had a wry smile on her lips. “I can’t get a read on you either. At first I thought you wanted to take him away from me. Then I noticed how he treated you and wanted to end the relationship myself. But I was unsure. He was changing. And now you, out of all people, are telling me to wait and see.”

Nia chuckled slightly and looked back at the planet in the distance. “He’s not the only one that’s changing. I am changing as well. As are you.” She felt Sonja’s gaze on her, but didn’t turn to her. “I needed someone to acknowledge was I was doing, too. I guess I am seeing something of me in him.”

“I see …” Sonja pushed herself off of the well. “I guess, I’ll give him another real chance. Thank you, for being honest with me.”

“Don’t mention it.” Nia looked back at the horizon. She could only hope, that meeting with Luaria would get them out of Saesquar’s hands. After all, she had no desire to die a second time. Or a third time, if she counted the lightning.

How were the odds for that?

I really should’ve entered the lottery …