How To Beat the System

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   Somehow, Wisteria was dragged inside of a dark carriage and before she knew it, the horses hurriedly dashed off right into the cracked ground. She tumbled backwards into the cushioned seat and managed to peek through the curtains, glancing at how immediately the ground closed off above her.

Her eyes turned dull with a scowl permanently sticking. How come she ended up in this situation?

Wisteria turned over to the man beside her, slightly surprised to see that it was Daegel who pushed her in.

"Daegel..."

"My lady," The man bowed respectfully, somewhat feeling a little nervous. "I-I—um, the master said he has a gift for you."

"And he couldn't have just magically made it appear in front of me?" Wisteria grew irritated at this sudden kidnap. "I have other matters to attend to, Daegel. That little brat cannot just take me whenever he wants."

The river guardian seemed to pale a little at her words. Indeed this girl was bold, it was a wonder how the god could tolerate her temper. "I apologize for disrupting any plans you have, but my lord insisted-"

"Are you alright, Daegel? You keep fidgeting in your seat. It's not hot inside yet you're sweating." Wisteria noticed the luster of sweat forming on his face. Her temper immediately settled as she flicked her hand, grabbing a handkerchief out of thin air. While dabbing the material on his forehead, she glanced at his nervous form.

"I haven't... I never knew," Daegel stammered with a flushed face. "I didn't realize that the surface was pretty."

Wisteria faltered and furrowed her brows at him. Pretty? It was only winter, there was nothing but snow that covered the ground and the branches of trees. She didn't understand why he seemed a bit in awe... until she remembered that Septimus never let Daegel go above his realm.

There was a pain in her chest and she clutched at it, feeling pitiful for the man.

Instantly, the blonde gathered the male into her arms as she sniffled. "Daegel, when we finally get you that vacation you deserve, let's go play up above my brother's realm."

"Ah?" His eyes sparkled. "Play? As in running around to push each other?"

What sort of game would consider people pushing each other? "You mean tag?"

"I don't know what that is but it seems—what's the word, fun?" Ack! How pitiful indeed! Wisteria held a bit of a small grudge against the Death God for holding such a soft person to look over a river.

The girl nodded. "We'll play tag. We'll play whatever you want!"

"Thank you, my lady. It's an honor." Daegel seemed to be looking much more in spirit than she had ever seen before.

Wisteria clutched at his shoulders and looked at him dead in the eyes. "No, Daegel, it's my honor."

When the two of them finally arrived to the river, not once did the river guardian lose his beaming small as he began to talk about the many things he heard of humans doing. There were times when Septimus came over to explain the changes of humanity and different things that they learned to do, but Daegel couldn't understand that much about humans even if Septimus explained it to him a thousand more times.

He didn't see why hiding from other people was exciting, nor did he understand the point of going about in the outside world. Daegel was simply lost in why humans do these things. He seemed like a child to Wisteria, it made her look at him in a new light.

Before leaving the boat, she handed Daegel her leftover snacks from Zeena. Wisteria gave a few pats on his head as the man curiously inspected the tiny cupcakes, wondering why one was blue and the other yellow.