Travelling

[X/Ash]

The cart bumbled along the stones that were scattered across the dirt path. Up at the front of the cart, Tessa and Evans were catching up with each other leaving her and Sephil alone in the back.

She looked at the trees; they resembled the type of trees that they had seen on the island. Also similar, it seemed as though the forest stretched on forever. It had been a few hours since they had first entered; over that time, she had only seen a few towns that looked as though they had been built on a whim and then forgotten about.

"X, we need to come up with an actual plan. The blowfish just finished explaining it to me. There are these "optional" tasks that the previous teams have done to help themselves succeed. The first one is in about a month."

"Yeah. It's concerning Marquess Sterham's daughter."

"Right. Isn't it so interesting? If what team 42 theorized was correct, then it's a real love triangle with the addition of family drama."

"Is that so interesting?"

"Of course. The crown prince fell in love with her when they were a child; however, due to a close kidnapping incident, she fell in love with her savior, a future supporter of the illegitimate prince. How dramatic is that? And there is so much family drama: she has two older siblings from her father's affair before his loveless marriage to her mother. Even so, the previous groups said that her family treats her well, but I bet you that there is something going on."

"Seventeen, stop treating this as a game."

"I know, I know. These are real people." Seventeen slumped over before muttering, "Of course, you wouldn't want to have any fun."

X sighed. Seventeen was right though. They would have to figure out a way to fight off the assailant within the next month or so. The timelines provided by previous groups could not be fully trusted because their movements could affect something. Red had said that the one time where the crown prince was successfully seated on the throne, Sterham's daughter had been killed by him in private before his suicide. Her death definitely played a large role in his suicide.

"Why don't we just solve the love triangle?" Seventeen mused aloud, already over her small tantrum against X. "If we save her instead of the other kid, won't we become her savior? And then we can just claim that we were sent by the crown prince. Then she'll fall in love with the crown prince instead."

"It's not that simple. People's feelings can't be predicted so easily. Also, we shouldn't lie." She paused, lies would always be uncovered. "But we should at least prevent her from meeting the other boy for a little."

"That's good enough for me. Did you hear about how he treated her? He not only flirted with others right in front of her, but also had the audacity to insult her and demean her in the name of love. He's a scumbag."

"I agree. He is a scumbag." X replied.

"No way."

"What?"

"I just never imagined you would insult someone like that."

"Then what would I do?"

"I don't know, just kill them silently?"

"Who do you think I am?" X laughed.

"I don't know." Seventeen grinned. "There were all sorts of rumors about you back at the organization."

"Really?"

"How did you not know? So oblivious. Literally everyone talked about you everytime you passed by. I don't think you understand. You were one of the three Legends."

"Legends?"

"You, One, and Three were the legends because each of you were so mysterious. You especially." She raised her hands, gesticulating wildly. "You were so young, yet everyone knew that you were the best. Even so, you didn't take the title of One, and instead insisted on staying as X. What made you even more strange was the fact that only three people could claim that they had ever talked to you, no one knew where you had come from, and there was rumor than since a few years ago, you only took a three high-risk missions a year to meet your quota and that was it - you didn't do anything else."

"Interesting."

"So where did you come from?"

"Where do you think?"

"There were a few rumors going around. Some claimed that you were a science project that was made to be a weapon; others said that you were just an eccentric reclusive genius who loved the letter "X". The most ridiculous one I heard was that you were a devil whom the organization signed a contract with. Which, to be fair, does seem like something they would do to stay at the top."

"Are you supposed to tell me all of this? Aren't you afraid I might be offended and kill you?"

"Are you go- wait. Was that a joke? By the X?"

"Anyways, to save the girl in a month, we'll have to be stronger than the kidnapper."

Seventeen nodded, "This incident also broke her connections with her family, which was the main reason why she ended up relying on the other boy so much. The other groups claimed that by the time they had rescued the girl, she was alone at the scene with the kidnapper and severely injured."

"So we have to be there from the start of the incident."

"Right, the only issue is that we don't know the exact time or place of the scene because our actions may have changed the timeline slightly."

"And we can't just waste a month waiting for it to happen, especially because we have to periodically return to the mansion to create an alibi for the future," X added.

Seventeen sighed. "So, we just have to be lucky." She laughed. "If that's the case, then we're not going to do well with this quest."

"Let's first train. I'm not strong enough to take on a hired kidnapper right now, especially because they will have magic. And I know that you're even worse off than me. Then we can worry about the timing issue."

"Fine." Seventeen sighed, "All my training reset. How depressing is that?" She looked over at X. "And I'm a doctor too. Well I guess by the time I died, I was killing more people than I was saving. Still, shouldn't I be focusing on studying herbs in this new world?"

"You still have to protect yourself. If you get hurt, I can't heal you like you can for me. And to use your poisons-"

"I know, I know. It's just a distant wish. I truly hate running."

---

The cart slowed to a halt as they reached a sign. Through the wall of trees, X could see a few wooden houses just ahead.

"Well, this should be close enough." Evans stopped the cart, allowing the three to jump off.

"Wait, Evans. Before you go, when will you come back this way?" Seventeen called out.

"I have to come by this way about every three days to refill supplies at around this time."

"Okay, then in six days, can you give us a ride again?"

"Sure, but don't come out at this time. Come out when the sun sets. I first have to stop by a village past this one for the job."

"Thank you, Evans." Tessa patted him on the back. "See you soon."

"Of course, and don't forget to visit. My family misses you." He boarded his cart again. "Good-bye."