“Aha!” a priest shouted, running up. “Your coming was foretold! Come, we must take you to the prophetess!”
Maki and Luke shared a glance, then a shrug. This was new.
They followed the older neko to a door, up some stairs, down a corridor, and into a room where the head priest was having tea with a fairy who had golden hair.
The head priest stood, staring at Luke. “You have arrived! We have been waiting for you.”
“You have?” Luke asked.
“Um, yeah, hi,” the fairy said, getting nervously to her feet. “I’m Echo. We met once, in the presence of the- the Goddess.”
“We did?” Luke asked, confused, then his ears twitched up. “Oh, right. Ok. Yeah.” He looked her over suspiciously.
Maki held his hand out to her, offering a charming smile. “Hi, I’m Maki, Luke’s guard.”
“Nice to meet you,” she said, shaking his hand.
A passive skill activated in his periphery.
- You are in contact with a disguised changeling.
- Turn notifications off for this disguise? Y/N
The fact that it hadn't activated when he entered the room meant she was higher level than him. The fact that the skill activated at all meant she wasn't more than twenty levels over him.
Maki let go of her hand, mentally selecting No. He kept the smile up, returning to his normal Guarding stance as the conversation moved on.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
From how Luke was acting, Maki guessed he knew. Or at least suspected.
The Goddess had apparently told Echo she could join their group in traveling around. Luke wasn't too sure about that, but was willing to put it to a group vote with the girls. Echo agreed, and wanted to meet them. After all, if they had to be convinced to let her in, she’d be better off traveling alone.
Since Echo had already told the priests about the end of the world, they had nothing more to discuss in the church. Echo thanked the priest, and they left for the Traveler’s Guild.
As soon as they were back on the street, Luke’s hair and tail faded back to blue. Echo’s hair turned white, and her wings lost all saturation.
“Ice magic, nice,” Maki said conversationally.
Echo glanced at him, touching her short hair. “Oh, um, yeah. As a kid I was always cold, so Mom said if I took it I’d be immune.”
“Did it work?” Luke asked.
“No,” she answered with a slight roll of her eyes.
“Well, it was worth a shot, I guess,” Maki said, stretching. “So, should we tell the girls you’re a changeling, or do you want to keep that a secret?”
She stopped, staring at him.
Luke glanced at her, then looked at Maki. “Guard skill?” he guessed.
“Yep.”
“No, that can't be it,” Echo said. “Unless you’re over level 80, you shouldn't be able to tell.”
Maki shrugged apologetically. “83. How old are you? I thought you were about our age, but if you’re in triple digits you can't be under 20.”
That got her to smile. “I turn 19 in two months.”
“Damn. Impressive.”
“Thanks. I worked hard to get there.”
Luke’s tail flicked. “Back to the main question. Do you want to keep what you are a secret?”
Echo hesitated. “No. If we’re going to be traveling together, they should know.”
Luke nodded. “Do you want a name change? If you’re hiding from someone, might be good.”
She smiled. “Going by a different name is the first rule of changing who you are. If I keep mine, that’d be such a stupid thing to do no one will believe it’s really me.”
“Not that I disagree, but are you sure?” Luke asked.
“Yeah. Trust me, no one will look for me here,” she said, starting to walk again.
Maki shared another glance with Luke. They shrugged and followed her.