The next morning, the group gathered in the living room of the house. Around the table, the atmosphere was tense, as if everyone was anticipating an intense day of research. But that was without counting the spark that would trigger the storm: Aletha and Caden.
"Well," Caden said, sitting up straight. "I'm going with Bella. We'll question the locals. Old ramblers love telling legends."
"Excuse me?" Aletha shot back, raising an eyebrow. "Since when do you make decisions for everyone? Are you the leader now?"
"No, but at least I have a plan. You'd rather wait for the stars to whisper their opinion?"
"The stars are more reliable than your sense of direction," she replied sharply. "You got lost three times in the same hallway yesterday."
"That was because I'm not used to this huge house yet! And you spent half the day staring at a wall, saying it had a 'strange aura.'"
Zetch and Bella exchanged a weary glance.
"We should just let them fight," Bella whispered to Zetch. "The loser goes out to get bread."
Zetch smirked. "Or… we make it simple. I'll go with Aletha. You go with Caden."
Aletha opened her mouth to protest but thought better of it. She shot a deadly glare at Caden, who responded with an insolent wink.
"Great. I'll take that as a 'thank you,'" he chuckled.
"And I'll take this as a 'good luck, you'll need it,'" she retorted, turning on her heel.
Shortly after, the two pairs split up. Aletha and Zetch headed toward the town's small library, while Bella and Caden disappeared into the city's bustling alleys.
In the hushed silence of the sacred place, Aletha turned the pages of a dusty book. Zetch, on the other hand, was watching Aletha more than the books.
"Are you planning to keep treating Caden like an unwanted parasite?" he finally asked in a low voice.
Aletha looked up, surprised.
"I don't trust him. He acts like everything is owed to him, like he knows better than everyone else."
"What if he acts that way because he's just trying to find his place here?" Zetch countered. "He doesn't mean us harm. Honestly… he could be an asset. But not if you keep pushing him away every time he speaks."
"He seems… unstable."
"No. He seems hurt," Zetch replied gently. "Like you, sometimes."
Aletha stayed silent, staring at the book without really reading. She didn't say anything more, but her fingers stopped nervously flipping the pages.