Waking up from his drowning dream, Thames was greeted by familiar chirping and sunlight casted through his half-opened window.
The words of Ren hung in his mind, tugging at his heart. He wondered if there was any truth in his words, but he had no way of knowing.
He wasn't able to leave the house unattended now so he couldn't investigate Lino himself, and if there was any truth in Ren's words, he doubted Ode would let him leave.
Regarding spells, Thames had quite a few ideas for new ones, but he was fixated on the idea of making a body double. This was only an idea because he imagined that Mother Trem viewed mortals as art, so he would be able to create them.
Pointing at the ground just before his door, he thought up a spell name.
"[Body-double?]"
O' Painter... So be it.
Just as the harmonic collection of voices spoke to him, someone identical to him was generated, first as a puddle of paint, then shaped into himself.
Eagerness and pride filled his heart as he smiled brightly at the creation.
Suddenly, a knock jolted him back to reality followed by Lin's voice.
"You alright, Thames?"
"Y-yes! I'll be right out."
"Mmmmkay'."
Her footsteps could be heard leaving as he changed into different clothes.
The body-double eventually vanished as he left his room, moving downstairs to the kitchen.
So, it doesn't last very long then...
He thought to himself as he entered the kitchen, Ode and Lin were sat at the table enjoying coffee.
Lin had a patch under her right eye and bandages on her right hand.
"What happened??"
He asked quickly, staring into Lin's eyes.
"A-ah." She stumbles out while hiding her hand. "Nothin'! Don't worry 'bout it."
Ode just glanced at the two then spoke up.
"We're all goin' to the magic conference tomorrow."
Lin nodded as he said it.
"What are we doing today?"
Thames asked, taking a seat at the table.
"Recon!"
Ode quickly responded, clearly excited, but Thames was just confused.
"The conference is happenin' in the Central District, so we'll check out the buildings 'round there."
"Oh okay!"
Ode smiled brightly, then looked at Lin.
"Y'all will go togetha! Also, Lin, check if ya can see who's gonna be there!"
"Got it."
With that, Ode got up and left the house, leaving Thames and Lin in the kitchen.
"Thanks again... For rescuing me."
"Mhmmm! No problem, Thames."
With a smile, she got up and brushed past him, trailing her hand across his shoulder.
He watched her walk a bit down then quickly joined her.
Today she was wearing black pants and a tucked in white dress shirt with a black tie. The shirt tightly fit around her figure and drew Thames' attention greatly.
In fact, it appeared to draw most people's attention. As they walked down the street, Thames noticed that many people were staring at Lin.
The sun splashed on her grey face like it was full of love and perfectly highlighted her features.
"So, Lin..."
He finally cut the long silence.
"Where are you from?"
"Curious?"
She looked back, a smirk appearing on her face as she winked.
"Hell, obviously." Rolling her eyes, she looked back to the front. "Where else would it be, Thames?"
"Oh, I don't know...! I was just trying to make small talk." He finally admitted after no pressure.
"You stink at small talk."
He grumbled in response but continued to follow her as he let his mind drift.
After a few turns, the busy streets gradually grew emptier and emptier, until it was just Lin and Thames walking them.
"Where's everyone?"
He asked as he bumped into Lin, who had stopped moving without him realizing.
"Sorry...!"
He instinctively said while backing up.
"Find somewhere to cover, Thames." She quickly said as her great hammer appeared.
"Huh...??"
Looking past her shoulder, he noticed three cloaked figures in their way.
"Magicians." She said flatly as she raised the hammer above her head.
Noticing this, Thames quickly backed away, allowing Lin to handle it.
Instantly, the three magicians appeared before Lin, but she reacted fast and slammed her hammer down. Upon impacting the ground, a wave of energy spat up from the destroyed road, knocking the cloaked figures off their feet.
"[Guide these fools to comfort.]"
She said with pity while spinning, a flame appearing around her hammer, then hitting all three back.
Fast!
But just as fast, two of the magicians reappeared before Lin, this time muttering something under their breaths. As they finished speaking, which was almost instantly, the road around Lin began to rise, forming into a makeshift cage.
This, however, didn't hold her very long as it quickly crumbled under the might of her hammer. Crouching down with her hammer leaning on her shoulder she quickly spoke a spell.
"[Cleansing Space.]"
From her feet, a wave of warm energy spread across the street, causing the approaching two to pause in their tracks, allowing Lin enough time to sprint to one.
Where's the third???
Thames thought to himself as he panned across the battlefield. Lin quickly hit one of the assailants straight in their chest, a crunching sound following the whistling air as they flew into a nearby building.
A look of panic crossed her face as she looked just past Thames.
"Behind you!"
Hu-
As he became confused, he rolled forward out of pure instinct, the ground where he once stood being impaled by a shadowy great sword.
Following it up immediately, the third person swung down on him with a longsword, and he quickly took the dove feather from his pocket, feeling it call to him, and as he lifted it towards the descending longsword, the feather transformed into a short sword, blocking it.
Occupied with the second person, Thames is left to defend against the third magician. The cloaked figure's eyes shined through the shadow, a crazed look as he waited for Thames to make the first move.
What do I do???
Bringing the short sword down, he ran at the person.
"[Body-double!]"
The person is taken off-guard as a second Thames appears, allowing Thames to slice his side, but it's too shallow.
Turning back to him, he quickly raised his blade, preparing to block, but Lin comes out of nowhere and crushes the cloaked figures side, launching them into a nearby wall.
"New spell?"
She asked as Thames looked past her, noticing the other two people lodged and crushed in different walls.
"Yeah..."
His voice trailed off, but then he snaps back to Lin.
"What's going on???"
She looked around and then up at the sky which, although clearly being day, lacked a sun.
"We got stuck in a trap!"