So, Gus Washington. Scourge of my life. Human embodiment of nobody asked. First impressions were going very poorly. I kept giving him chances but I really only got the same content everytime, and I was ready to tear my hair out. Living with him was a nightmare, literally, I wasn't used to sleeping in a room with someone that was... him. I felt like I was constantly aware of very movement he made and every time it was like metal clamped between my teeth, buzzing uncomfortably.
   
     Yesterday had been a catastrophe. I had never in my life met someone with the audacity to wheelie through a cairn. Every time I reminisced on the incident I gained another grey hair, I could feel myself physically age another year, and this theory was only further sustained as I felt my limbs crackle when I rose the next morning. Signs of physical exhaustion and mental, I can't wait for the day when it's normal to wake up near Gus Washington. Wait no, that came out wrong. I mean I just want to be at ease with the fact that he's present in the same room, not- shut up. Whatever. Moving on.

   
     I was fully aware that it was Aitamah's job to upkeep the house and garden, but I had miraculously woken up before Gus (time change probably, though his internal clock was impeccable yesterday so I'm half convinced he's doing it just to mess with me). After sitting at our dining table for twenty minutes with a cup of tea that I should have probably had decaffeinated, I found I couldn't sit still. I had cleaned and dried all of our dishes when I realized Gus' partner Sheryl had sat down and trained her eyes on me. It effectively scared off all of my wits.

     "How long have you been there?" I asked, with as much respect as possible. "M'am."

     She took a long sip from a mug of what looked like pure black coffee and drummed her sharp red fingernails on the antique wooden table. "That's irrelevant. I thought you had a housekeeper. Does this family normally enslave fae for chores?"

     "Aitamah? She's more like a family friend, well her family owes us but-"

     Her eyebrows rose. "'Owing you'. Can you elaborate on that for me?"

     I gripped the marble counter to steady myself because I could the sweat droplets on my forehead. "Uh, I really don't think I should."

     "No, I insist." Sheryl pushed, leaning back in her chair.

     I opened and close my mouth like a goldfish, gasping for words like they were oxygen, when to my dismay and sweet relief, Gus walked in. His pyjamas had stars and stripes and I immediately wanted to punch him again. Did he own anything the wasn't emblazed with the flag of his country?

     He grinned upon surveying the situation, as if we were having a good chat here. "Good morning! I see you've met Sheryl, and you've met Asher. Isn't she awesome, Asher? You should see her in action. Once, she killed a minotaur just by--"

     That's it. "I'm going out."

     "I thought you didn't go out until nine?" Gus asked, throwing on a jacket and tailing me down the hall like a naturally condescending puppy.

     "I'll leave this house whenever I please. Why are you following me?" I demanded, glancing back at him.

     He closed his eyes to shrug, like a fool. "You're heading to the gates, right? I'm not missing out on anything. You know. Now that we're partners?"

     I shot him another glare. "You're not my partner."

     He smiled, eyes flicking between the two of us with this stupid, incredulous smirk. "Kind of looks like it."

     "I don't have a partner, nor do I want one."

     "C'mon, everyone has one. It's too dangerous to swashbuckle fae alone."

     "Why don't you shut and up mind your own business?" I snapped. "Are you really going to wear that?"

     Gus raised an eyebrow, like he didn't see what was glaringly wrong with traipsing through the fae realm in nothing but red-white-and-blue flannel and a camouflage windbreaker. I don't think he actually has temperature sensing nerves, maybe he was left outside too many times as a child. I like to think many horrible things happened to him as a child, every good villain needs a backstory. His motivation? Karma for all the times I've messed up finally coming back to slap me in the face.

     I ignored him and slipped on another shirt and jacket (because one of us has to look nice while simultaneously staying warm) and slipped my keychain into one of my pockets. Then we were off, even though I was growing increasingly miserable with each step alongside the country road leading up to my house.

      "You Brits are weird." he said, taking in the countryside.

     "What imbecile criticism could you possibly have to launch against my family, myself, and my country, and I now?"

     "Well... do you normally just leave whenever you want? Seems a little dangerous." he asked.

     "No. I normally stay inside." I sighed. "Unfortunately it looks like I can't go anywhere without some American breathing down my neck and giving me heart palpitations."

    "Dude." He mused. "What is in your tea?"

     "What are you referring to?"

     "I'm wondering if you honestly wake up like this."

     "Like what?"

     He looked taken aback, perhaps even a little nervous. Did I finally have Gus Washington, killer of moods, on the ropes? "Cranky."

     I glanced over at him and watched the corner of his mouth twitch. He probably thought this was funny. I bit my lip and looked down at my feet, ignoring him. Maybe I should try and wind down a bit. It was exhausting always being this angry, but Gus just made it so easy. He bent down as if to get a good look at my face, I frowned at him. I don't like it when I can't tell what their intentions are. All of a sudden his eyebrows twisted up with a delighted smirk, on any other boy my heart might have skipped a beat, with Gus it was the kind of look that told me I would detest his next words.

    "What are you looking at me like that?" You'll be delighted to hear I managed to keep most of the wavering disgust out of my voice.

    "You've got husky eyes." He cracked another grin.

     I blinked at him slowly. I was born with a condition known as heterochromia. It was quite possibly the only hetero thing about me. My eyes were two different colors, one brown in one blue. I had heard many different exclamations of surprise and wonderment at my eyes, to the point where I was kind of sick of it. All my life I had never, ever, been compared to a dog.

    "That's.... true..." I said slowly.

    "Ladies and gentlemen!" He called out into the woods. "I've done it! I've rendered Asher Northcott completely speechless."

    "Sh!" I insisted, and shoved him playfully. "You're going to render every other human speechless walking around dressed like that."

    "This is how everyone in America dresses."

    "That's not true."

    "How would you know though?"

    "Contrary to popular belief I don't live completely under a rock." I rolled my eyes.

    This made him laugh, I don't know why. I don't have the headspace to reason out his actions half the time. It was almost kind of nice, because I guess in this moment he wasn't being completely infuriating. Of course I didn't expect that to last long.
   
    I wasn't originally planning on heading into the gates. I would have wandered in eventually, because I wanted to just... look around. I had thoroughly scanned everything within the limit of how long my parents were willing to tolerate me dragging them around the countryside. I didn't want to have Gus with me, but I suppose in a way... it was better than nothing. Maybe I could figure out some way to have him help me without putting putting my family's reputation at liberty. No... he was too smart for that, and I was too obvious.

    "Do you have a daily quota to fill or something? What wonders are you showing me today, good sir?" Gus asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

    I frowned. "Uh, we can do another sweep, check our out posts for messages from our alliances-"

    "Let's do that." He decided, with the ease of someone ordering conveyor belt sushi. "I want to know more about your alliances."

    "Really?"

    "Uh. Yeah."

    I frowned and my shoulders hunched up defensively. Gus was so laid back it was hard to remember he was here because of all the 'horrible misconducts' committed by the Northcott family and Friends. Thankfully, in case I forgot, he did seem to like reminding me of the fact. (Rude.)

    The outposts were statues built in honour of the different factions, usually deep in the woods, usually shrines. I was hesitant to bring Gus to one, due to his flippant behavior last time I took him to a place of respect. With any luck he would irritate something larger than him and I could simply walk away, problem solved.

     Gus put his hands on his hips. "Alright, bud, not to be 'that guy', but I have... no clue what's going on here."

    "It's a brilliant piece of architecture representing a minor goddess. It's culture." I sighed, lowering my crossbow.

    We were now standing in a very small courtyard of sorts. Looming over the two of us was a twenty foot tall, lichen covered, stature of a feminine figure with a canine mask. Two ears poked out from under her smooth stone hair and two streams of water poured out from the eyes and into a small pond at her feet. We had to enter gate two to see the shrine, and a distinct level of faerie dust floated around, along with the luminous forms of lesser fae, like jellyfish. A deer-shaped fae with two heads and a fine layer of moss growing over its body pranced away as Gus slammed a nunchuck right into one of the jelly-fae's flowy bodies.

    "Now she's a vixen." he decided, whistling appreciatively. "I wouldn't mind 'offering some tribune' here, if you get my drift."

    I gaped at him.

    "C'mon, man, haven't you ever watched anime? This is super hot." He shot me a smirk and a pair of finger guns. "So. What's the deal?"

    "We check here at certain times during the week. Sometimes there will be messages or clan leaders wanting to talk to us. We've helped settle disputes, carry supplies, pledge protection, in exchange the fae stay out of the human world. It's not useless and it works quite well." I explained.

    Gus nodded, although his gaze betrayed he was more than a little dubious. (See? I can deduce what you're thinking from staring at you too, Gus. You're not that clever.) "You've... never been backstabbed before?"

    I scratched my head. "Not in my lifetime. I used to do this with-"

    I blinked suddenly and cut myself off, feeling the wave of panic and longing come back. Gus was staring at me with such an intense focus, I thought he might explode. I bit my tongue and glanced quickly at the ground.

    "With who?" he asked, his voice dark as Sheryl's.

    "Nothing. The fae have never gone back their word because we've never gone back on ours. They're actually very complicate." I continued, taking a deep breath and not looking him in the eye.
   
     "I've never met a fae that didn't want to immediately turn me into a frog."

     I rolled my eyes. "You'd make a better frog."

     "Asher." he says with fake sincerity, staring up at the shrine with a dire stare. "If at any point under you care I'm turned into a frog, you have to kiss me. It's a law as my host family. I don't make the laws."

     I mocked myself vomiting. "Disgusting."

     "I'd make a handsome frog."

     "Oh shut up. We have work to do."

    He laughed again, then paused and his attention focused on something behind me. I turned to see what he was looking towards. It was the fountain. Lily pads and cattails had begun to quiver and shake as the water bubbled threateningly. From the murky liquid sprung up a form, melting and dripping upwards, completely defying the laws of gravity, until the water took its shape and solidified into a young woman with pale grey skin, spotted like a seals hide, draped in flowing silver robes. There were still strand of weeds hanging in her dark hair as she opened her eyes, which were a striking green color, and stepped onto the bank of the pond and stood near us. She raised an eyebrow as she looked Gus up and down.

    "You look different." She noted, with little interest.

    I frowned. "This is Anahita. She's from a clan north of here. Anahita, this a transfer gatekeeper from America, he's visiting. You... you haven't met him before."

    Gus nodded. "Yeah, I've met a few undines before. Pleasure's all mine, Anne. You don't mind if I call you Anne, right?"

    Anahita snarled at him gently, revealing her multiple rows of thin shark-like teeth. "I don't like him."

    I glad we can can agree. "We're acquaintances. She's actually a monarch where she comes from--"

    "Is this what you meant by messages?" he asked, interrupting me.

    I shot him an annoyed look. Maybe I could convince Anahita to take a little chunk out of his legs, or somewhere else equally or more unpleasant.

    "I require your assistance." Anahita continued, ignoring him. "There's a troll hibernating on a path that's crucial to my clan's trading route, and I don't want to exhausted my warriors with a task that's so far below them."

    Gus' face lit up. "A whole troll? Anne, you shouldn't have."

    I'm thrilled that he's mentioned this because I wouldn't have taken on something like this without my parents, but if Gus thought it was merely fun, then I had to treat it like child's play. I took a deep breath, clenched my fists, and tried not to get upset.

    "We'll do it." I proposed.

    Anahita gave me the slightest of nods, then walked slowly back into her pond, where she turned and held out her hand.

    "Oh no!" I realized. "You can just tell us where it is, we'll walk-"

    "I don't have that kind of time, Asher Northcott." She replied coldly. "Frankly, I don't believe you do either."

    I let myself sigh internally, so much for staying warm. Gus watched our exchange with growing interest, obviously very excited to see where this was going. It was the weirdest version of a kid in a candy shop I've ever seen.

    "What's she doing?" He whispered into my ear.

    "She's taking us there herself, directly." I watched as he hiked up his long legged pyjamas as we wadded into the pool. "Don't bother with that really."

    Anahita looked just as excited as we were to hold hands (well, less excited then Gus). She grabbed onto my wrist--her hands were freezing--and Gus'. It was only a moment before I felt my whole body go cold and we ducked into the pool. I had traveled like this a few times, I hated it, because it doesn't feeling like swimming. You can feel the entirety of the body of water like it's your own, which I will never get used to. Then all of a sudden we were standing upright again in the bank of a large river. I was soaking wet from head to toe, and my legs were covered in mud up to my knees. Behind us, I heard the distinct roar of a waterfall. Anahita flicked her hands in annoyance, splattering water off of her skin, as if washing us off. Gus was gasped and stumbled before resting his hands on his his knees for a second, thoroughly soaked as well, with his blonde hair plastered to his head. He looked up at me and then, as if he couldn't help himself, snorted.

    "What now?" I asked, peeling off my jacket.

    "It's not important. Where's the troll?" He shook his head (like a dog) spraying water everywhere, then slicked it back with a hand.

    Anahita pointed down river. I had mistaken it for a mound of dirt and rocks at first glance, but I could obviously see there was an adolescent troll passed out on our riverbank, leaned comfily up against some trees. It struck me as strange because this wasn't somewhere you would find a troll like this. I would guess it's natural habitat was a mountain, and we were somewhat distant from the nearby mountains. I swallowed dryly as I began to realize relocating this thing was going to be near impossible, and far too much effort than I should be putting into a job like this. I glanced nervously over at Gus,who was swinging his nunchucks around, obviously making an effort to show off for Anahita, who watched him with little interest. Gus would expect me to just kill the troll. It was part of his rules to kill the troll. This... might be more than I can handle, but I didn't have any other choice then to pretend I was ready for this.

    "C'mon Asher." Gus beckoned, taking the first lead.

    I followed him silently. Anahita watched us for a moment before dissolving back into the river. The troll itself was only bigger than a human by a meter or so, but that just meant it would tower over me. Instead of focusing on that I watch Gus as we walked around to face the thing. He got this distant look on his face as his eyes jumped around and gathered information.

    "You're thinking what I'm thinking, right? It's weird for a troll to hibernate in a river? I mean it's not even winter." Gus said. Even the tone of his voice had changed, more resembling that dark, ominous voice he had used earlier.

     "Yeah."

     He crouched down next to its face and lifted up its lips to reveal a line of sharp teeth. The fangs suggested this troll was male. The teeth were covered in a dark substance and Gus followed the slow trickle and that's when I noticed the dark stain in the river, creeping along the bank. Gus bent down and inhaled, only to yank his head back in disgust.

     "Just as I suspected." He tapped his chin methodically. "This bad boy's poisoning the river. We're going to need to wake him and draw him away before we start-"

     "Poison?" I frowned. "How?"

     "The blood." Gus looked up at me. "He's been in a fight. Probably knocked out, which explains the weird resting place. Although we haven't passed many mountains on the way here, which leads to our final mystery. How did he get here?"

     Gus carefully stepped over one giant arm and rested to of his fingers against the troll's wrist. He looked really tiny next to the giant human-like figure. It was somewhat comforting. All of a sudden Gus frowned, and looked up at me with a quizzical expression.

     "There's... no pulse. Asher, I think he's dead."

     A cold chill settled over me. "Wh-what?"

     Gus stood and and brushed his hands off on his soaking wet pyjamas. "That's... strange."

     "Yeah, that's more then strange." I sputtered. "Trolls are generally on the less-organized side of of the gnome faction, nobody usually has the motivation or gall to mess with them. Who...?"

     I didn't actually know how to finish that sentence, because a horrible thought came to mind. What if... ? No, he would never. He wouldn't kill someone. There was a funny taste in my mouth, and Gus was staring at me with his bright blue eyes, waiting for an answer. I glared at him, feeling the spines of defensiveness climb back over my shoulders, like a drawstring that's too tight. 

     "Are... you good?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

     "I'm fine." I replied, too harsh.

     "That's good, cause I mean, we're still going to need to move this thing. Who knows where this river leads, and if somebody drinks it-- where are you going?"

     I had spotted something clinging to a branch a few yards down the river bank. As I climbed over there, I realized it was a cloth knapsack, though it was tremendously larger than practical. I could have used it as a sleeping bag, so it obviously belonged to the troll. The only thing was, it had obviously been ripped to shreds by... something.

     Another uncomfortable chill ran down my spine.

     "Asher?" Gus called again. "You can't duck out of this little man, I'm going to need your help."

     "Right." I turned back to help him.

     I had more questions than answers now, great. At least it was something I guess. I really wasn't expecting my moring to go like this, otherwise I wouldn't have left the house. I would have rather sat down and endured Sheryl's piercing glare then drag a troll carcass through the mus, soaking wet, with Gus Washington, but I don't get to have nice days like that.

     The troll's limp body is even heavier than expected, and as we move it, I can't help but look for signs of shortblades or daggers, both which would indicate that he might still be...

     Well. I just really hope I'm wrong about this.