Black Mist walked into the living room, expecting the haunting voices to say more, but they said nothing. He saw his Hachi playing happily with the other children while Hope kept an eye on them, and instantly every thought of the curse was erased. A smile spread across his face; of course that curse nonsense was silly! All that fear and doubt was stupid. There was nothing to be afraid of.

"You seem awfully chipper for someone who just heard the voice of one of the dead orphans," Numerronius commented. "Maybe the curse is going away?"

"That's got to be it," Black Mist muttered so he wouldn't be heard as he sat down on the couch to relieve Hope of his duties. "I won't let anything happen to him."

"That's a nice resolve. Let's hope it's strong enough."

Mist ignored Numerronius's cryptic tone, keeping his eye on the children until they grew tired and took a nap. These were small children; they tired easily. Once they were asleep on the floor, Black Mist grabbed each one gently with a tentacle and took them to their rooms so they could sleep peacefully.

With that done, the Flying Race came to the forefront of his mind. Who would he take? How many? There were too many children to take all of them, so his best bet was to post a sign-up sheet somewhere where everyone could see it and hope that not too many kids signed up. It was a slightly awful thought, but he couldn't have too many.

I should have a specific number set, he thought. How many children are there?

"About nine-hundred," Numerronius replied. "I kept track. This place is as big as a town, so it shouldn't be surprising. Actually, I'm more surprised there aren't more."

"Well, Papa likes to be ready for anything. So, if there are nine-hundred kids, I'll want to take maybe a quarter of them." Black Mist began pacing the halls, wandering nowhere as his thoughts ran. "So I'll have to ask if I can take two hundred twenty-five kids to the Flying Race next month."

"You'll have to reserve that many tickets. I'm sure it won't come cheap."

"I'll see how much they cost, then." He hurried to the front door, calling out in hopes that Hope would hear him, "I'm going out! I'll be back!"

"Where are you going?" Hope asked, coming out of one of the rooms.

"I was going to reserve some tickets for the Flying Race next month. Do you want to go?"

Hope smiled gently. "I've gone more than enough times in my life. You take the children and don't worry about me. I'll stay and take care of things here. I have a lot of work to do anyway."

Content with that, Black Mist nodded and stepped outside, not even bothering to throw on the cloak that turned his own Dark Energy into Light Energy since the town he was going to didn't care. The walk was a little long, but he didn't care.

The thoughts came back, though. So did the voices.

"When are you going to kill him, I wonder?"

"What about her?"

"You like them both!"

"Double whammy!"

Black Mist did his best to block them out; it helped a little that they started to get excited and their voices overlapped. He couldn't hear them when they talked over each other. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Just hold it together until I get to the town. Then maybe they'll shut up. He didn't have it in him to tell them to shut up, not right now.

"It would be faster if you traveled through the shadows," Numerronius finally said, though his voice was muffled and barely audible.

Black Mist nodded and slipped into the shadows, swimming through them in the direction he knew the town was in. The voices still overlapped, but somehow they were stronger here. When he was nearly at his destination, he resurfaced; the voices muffled again.

"Your reasoning is faulty," he grunted, but I at least got there faster. It's not far from here now."

Numerronius didn't respond. Not surprising since the children were once again drowning him out. Black Mist somehow managed to ignore them, and after a few minutes of their continued taunting, they got bored and left. He breathed a sigh of relief once they were finally gone. He walked the rest of the way to the town.

As soon as he entered, he swept his gaze around and looked for the booth. It wasn't hard to find; the brightly dressed Number 7 was energetically promoting the next race, one that would take place a week from now. Behind her, the racing ring was presented tantalizingly, bringing more and more people in to buy tickets.

"Buy them now while they're cheap!" the woman, a young woman now that Black Mist was really looking at her, announced excitedly. "Half off now, full price racing day!"

"Excuse me," Mist called as soon as he was near enough. The woman whipped around to face him, a big smile on her face that actually looked genuine.

"Yes? How may I help you?" she asked, seeming unfazed by his surprised expression.

"I was wondering if I could reserve tickets for next month's race."

"Planning far ahead, eh?" The woman giggled and stepped behind the booth, pulling out a piece of paper. "How many?"

"Two hundred twenty-seven."

Her eyes immediately widened. "So much?"

"Yes. I'm bringing children from a nearby orphanage I help run, and I wanted them to see this."

This immediately brought a smile to her face. "What a lucky set of kids then to have such a thoughtful brother." She scribbled the number of tickets he wanted to reserve and told him the price. It was a little expensive, but Hope seemed to have an unlimited supply of money that Mist could borrow from. He paid up front, earning a bright smile from the woman. "Thank you, and I hope to see you next month!"

Black Mist allowed himself to smile back at her. "Thank you." He walked back to the orphanage, reservation receipt in hand. He slipped that into the shadows for storage so he wouldn't lose it. Miraculously, the three dead children were silent.

"Well, now that that's done, we just have to wait."

"Yes. And we have to find a way to get two hundred twenty-five kids to come without playing favorites."

"Maybe a raffle," Numerronius joked. "Or drawing out of a hat. Maybe Anuenue can help you with that. It certainly wouldn't hurt to get her help."

"Y-you're not wrong..."

"Is there something wrong?" His voice took on a teasing tone. "Do you like her? Is that making you uncomfortable?"

"No!" Black Mist shouted, earning confused and rather curious stares from others. Blushing with embarrassment, he hurried along, silent until he got to the edge of the city limits, where there was hardly anyone. "I don't like her like that, idiot."

"But you certainly like her."

Mist didn't reply. He was afraid that verbally confirming that would put Anuenue in danger of the curse. But why think of the curse now? It would get in the way.

There I go being reckless again. That's what got me in trouble in the first place.

"You know, she could be the key to breaking the curse. Her and Hachi."

"You may be right...but I'm not willing to put her in danger."