Legend (Addict 3)

1: Blame Game

NOW, LET'S GET THOSE ENGINES RUNNING!

Legend

Chapter One: The Blame Game (What a Tame Name!)

It was almost shaping up to be a well-planned day.

Which, given the chaos Our City has undergone the past few weeks, should really not be any sort of surprise to me. But there's something about calm, groggy mornings and sleepy conversations that never fails to momentarily cover my internal alarms.

Oh, and what a shame.

"May!" shrieks a voice, shocking even in its familiarity. Her bob of signature pink hair whips around her with the furious force of her transportation magic, and I reflexively press against the wall of a nearby building, casting a quick spell to make myself invisible.

"Looking for yourself?" Ty, who is sitting at a Center Park picnic table and reading a book, speaks up as he glances towards her. "I recommend a journey through the wilderness to reconnect with nature."

Jason, beside him, snickers quietly, and the child he was tutoring sees his laughter and giggles along. "Been a while, May!" Jason greets her, waving two fingers.

May huffs to herself as she lands, causing a ring of dust to billow up around her, and her nose wrinkles in frustration. "You two," she sighs impatiently, marching closer. "Lead me to May."

"I think I understand who you're trying to talk about, and I think I don't really like it," Jason says, a tone of warning in his voice, and Ty's fingers tighten on the pages of his novel.

"Well, dearie, it isn't really my problem whether or not you like it, is it?" May asks, and Ty slams the book closed and drops it on the table.

"Say it," Ty threatens, standing up and jabbing a finger toward Miss May. "If it's not your problem, not something for you to bother with, then say it to my face."

May narrows her eyes, clearly trying to calculate the odds of a victory in her favor, and apparently comes up short. She hums, forcing a strained smile before speaking. "I'm so sorry," she says, and I begin to approach the table.

"I think you maybe owe us—him—a little more than that, huh?" Jason asks, already preparing to shield the kid, and I sigh as I sit down next to the poor child. No one seems to hear me except the boy.

"Uh-" the child begins, and I snap my fingers for the drama of it as I end my invisibility spell.

"Gah!" Jason yells, literally falling off the park bench. "Jeb, Seto- Come on, man!"

"Apologies," I say tersely, my eyes trained on May. "What do you want?"

She flips her hair back—not that there's all that much to flip anymore—and glares at me. "I woke up surrounded by fallen idiots and without any idea of where you were. Terrible, don't you think, dearie?"

"Holy Jeb, tell me when something like this happens!" Brice screeches, teleporting into existence next to me quite suddenly and taking Jason's place on the bench. Jason pouts as he stands. "Why is she here!?"

"I was just about to ask that exact same question," May says lowly, still staring at me, and Ty straight-up punches the lady in the face.

"Watch your mouth," Jason chuckles uncharacteristically darkly as Ty shakes out his hand proudly and calmly sits back down. "It's not like Ty didn't warn you."

"No violence," I plead, subconsciously entwining my fingers with Brice's. "As truly rude as that was, we can talk this out, I'm sure."

"Are you...?" Ty mouths to me, nodding towards Brice, and I shake my head as subtly as I can.