Lucid stood on the busy Sky-Dock, the endless, star-filled void stretching out behind him like a vast, silent tapestry. The wild thrill of swinging across nothingness was finally fading, leaving his body tired and his mind facing the boring, complicated truth of travel. He needed to get them on a train to Vex. It sounded simple. It never was.
He watched Ayame. She stood tall and still beside him, her dark eyes moving over the crowds and the glowing rails. She looked like she knew this place, but from far away, like someone remembering a dream. When she winced and put a hand to her temple, a sharp worry cut through him. He hated seeing her hurt, especially by something he couldn't fight. He moved to stand in front of her, looking up at her taller form.
"You okay?" he asked, his voice softer than he meant it to be.
Ayame noticed his look. She gave a single, short nod. "I am alright," she said, her usual flat tone holding something else, something he couldn't quite name. Her expression, usually a blank wall, seemed to soften just a fraction around the eyes.
He managed a small smile she couldn't see. "Let's go," he said.
He reached for her hand. This time, he didn't just hold it out for her to take. He took hers. Her fingers were cool and firm in his grip, a solid point in the middle of all the moving people. A silly, warm feeling spread in his chest at the touch.
A sweet, chiming voice spoke in his mind. "My chosen one initiates physical contact. I observe a curious spike in your internal chemistry. Is this gesture one of reassurance for your companion, or a more... primal display of claim?"
"Oh, wonderful," Lucid thought back, his mental voice tired. "Now you're reading my body chemistry too? Isn't being in my head enough? I'm just being nice. People do that."
"I am intimately familiar with the concept of kindness, Lucid," Alice replied, her tone like a patient teacher. "I am merely curious about its application when both parties are perfectly capable of walking and no danger is present. The action seems... theatrical."
"For crying out—" He stopped the thought as they reached the wide, black stone counter. A human woman in a neat blue uniform stood there, looking bored until they approached.
Lucid put on his best "polite traveler" face, the one he'd been practicing. "Hello. I am a traveler heading to Vex. I have a stamp of passage from the House of Valerius."
The change was instant. The woman's eyes went wide. Her professional calm vanished into open surprise. "The... the House of Valerius?" she stammered.
"Ah, presenting the noble sigil," Alice noted, her mental voice playful and light. "Seeking to impress the official, perhaps" Or maybe a certain tall, quiet someone beside you? Your internal temperature is rising... Are you feeling unwell, or merely... flustered?"
"It's just the stamp Karmen gave me!" Lucid shot back silently, keeping his face calm. "And I'm not trying to impress anyone!"
"Denial is such a charming, human trait," she mused. "Your physical state suggests a different story. Shall I list the fluctuations? Your heart rate alone is—"
"No!"
The woman got hold of herself. She checked the stamp with great care, then handed him a single, beautiful ticket with silver designs on it. Lucid felt a wave of pure relief. Step one, done. He turned away and couldn't stop himself from doing a little, happy stomp on the stone floor. *Thump.* It felt good.
"A percussive celebration," Alice observed, her tone gently teasing. "How delightfully basic. Shall I expect a triumphant roar to the heavens next?"
"I'm happy, you heavenly busybody," he thought, a real smile hidden under his mist. "Let me have a moment."
He took two steps before he realized Ayame wasn't with him. He turned back. She was still standing by the counter, frozen. The attendant was now looking at her with the blank, judging stare of someone who sees a problem.
His good mood vanished. He hurried back.
"Excuse me, miss, she is my companion," Lucid said, pointing to Ayame.
The woman didn't blink. "Your travel companions are not exempt from requiring their own valid ticket for passage," she said smoothly, like she'd said it a thousand times. "One ticket per person."
"What...?" Lucid's mind went blank for a second. He hadn't thought about a ticket for her. Karmen had given him plenty of money, but... he looked at Ayame. He couldn't leave her here. Not after everything. Not after what he'd done back in that awful town. Whether it was guilt, or something softer he didn't want to name, he knew he couldn't walk away.
"Okay then," he sighed, his hand going to the coin pouch on his belt. The victory felt sour now. "How much is it?"
"For a three-day journey on the express line to the central Kingdom of Vex?" The woman's lips tightened. "That will be three gold coins."
"Three gold!" Alice's voice was a chime of pure scandal in his mind. "Lucid, that is an obscene amount! That is not a fare, that is daylight robbery with a polite smile! You could secure modest lodging for a year with that sum! This is—"
"I know!" he screamed back inside his head, anger and worry mixing. But he was already doing the math. He had about fifteen gold left from Karmen. He'd already spent some. This would use up a whole quarter of what he had left. But for Ayame... his fingers found the heavy coins. He started to pull them out.
Before he could, a cool hand closed over his wrist.
Ayame's.
He looked at her, startled. "Hey, what is it? Will you not come with me? It's alright, let me—"
She shook her head. Her dark eyes held a strange, calm certainty. Then, to his complete and total shock, she stepped back from the counter. In one smooth, deliberate move, she lowered herself to her knees on the polished stone floor. She bowed her head. When she spoke, her voice was utterly changed—soft, timid, trembling. It was a voice he had never heard from her.
"He... he... he is my master..."
Lucid's brain stopped working. He stood there, his mouth hanging open behind the mist, the coins forgotten in his hand. He felt his whole face turn burning hot with a blush of pure, absolute embarrassment.
"...Well," Alice said after a moment of stunned silence. "That is certainly one approach. Brutally efficient, if morally questionable and socially ruinous for you. I must admit... I am impressed by her practical mind."
"Impressed?!" Lucid screamed inside. 'She just called me her master! In front of everyone!"
The attendant blinked. She looked from the kneeling Oni to Lucid's horrified, mist-shrouded face. Understanding washed over her features, followed by clear disgust. From the line of people behind them, whispers spread like fire.
"An Oni slave?"
"Does he have no shame?"
"He said he's from a noble house... how barbaric."
"Oh, do listen," Alice murmured, her tone now one of faux, gentle sympathy. "Your standing among mortals is crumbling before your very eyes. This is even more entertaining than your little flight through the void."
"I'm going to strangle someone," Lucid thought, not sure if he meant Ayame or the laughing goddess in his skull.
"I must have misheard you earlier," the attendant said, her voice now cold. "Could it be that she is your indentured servant? Your property?"
Lucid tried to speak. All that came out was a choked, "Whaa... ah, ah..."
"Eloquent," Alice noted, her voice the picture of serene amusement. "Truly, the silver tongue of a noble's agent."
Ayame stood up smoothly, her face going back to its usual blank mask as if nothing had happened. She took a plain metal chip from the counter—her "tag" and pinned it to her tunic. She looked at Lucid and gave one slow, deliberate blink.
The message was clear. *Problem solved.*
Lucid felt like his head might explode. The embarrassment was a physical heat under his clothes. He was a fake, a borrowed agent, and now everyone thought he was a slave owner. Karmen would have his head for this.
He finally found his voice, leaning toward Ayame to whisper harshly. "What. Was. That?"
"I believe it was a flawless, if unorthodox, use of transit regulations," Alice offered helpfully. "Section seven, sub-clause twelve: "Declared transportable assets, which may include indentured sentients, may accompany a fare-paying passenger at no extra charge, provided they are properly documented and controlled." She documented herself. You, by your stunned silence, accepted control. It is, in its own way, quite elegant.'*
"It's not elegant! It's horrible!" Lucid raged silently. 'And since when do you memorize train rules?'
"Since the day my chosen one began to contemplate spending a quarter of his resources on a single ticket," she replied, her tone gently chiding. "Someone in this partnership must be the voice of practicality."
Lucid was so flustered he accidentally muttered out loud, "You're not being practical, you're being a— a bureaucratic gremlin!"
Ayame, who had started walking toward the boarding arch, stopped and looked back over her shoulder. Her head tilted in that familiar way, pure confusion on her face. "Lucid?" she asked, her voice back to its normal, flat tone. "Are you mentally alright?"
That was it. Deep in his mind, Alice burst out laughing. It wasn't her usual calm, instructive tone. It was a clear, beautiful, utterly delighted sound, like bells ringing in a sunlit temple. It echoed through his thoughts, sweet and completely mocking.
"She asks if *you* are mentally sound!" Alice managed between peals of mental laughter. "Oh, the poetry of it! The one who just committed social suicide for your sake is questioning your stability! This is the most amusement I have had since our fates became entwined!"
Lucid took a deep, shaky breath. The blush wasn't fading. The humiliation was total. He had a "slave" who was worried about his sanity, and a divine maiden in his head who was laughing at him.
He pointed a finger at the empty air in front of him, a useless, frustrated gesture. "You..." he whispered fiercely, "just you wait. When I gather enough fate essence, I will restore you fully, and then I will find a way to choke you!"
He wasn't sure if the threat was for Alice or the universe in general.
Ayame just stared. "Who are you talking to?"
"Tell her!" Alice urged, her laughter calming to a warm, amused hum. "Oh, please, tell her about me! I wish to see the look upon her face!"
"Never," Lucid thought with finality. He straightened his coat, cleared his throat, and stomped past Ayame toward the glowing archway, every bit of his dignity left in pieces on the dock floor.
"Nobody," he grumbled to the open air. "Let's just get on the damned train."
He marched forward, the perfect picture of a grumpy noble with a very strange, socially catastrophic "servant," followed only by the sound of Alice's gentle, mocking laughter that echoed in a place only he could hear. The three-day journey to Vex was going to feel very, very long indeed.