Patches of baby blue peek behind the green leaves that shelter us like umbrellas, and some leaves occasionally soar through the air and fly right past our heads.

Twigs snap under my heavy, black boots; the only pair of shoes that were available in my size. It might be a little better than the slippers Nova chose, because bugs can't help but crawl between her toes and every thorn we walked past pierced her foot.

"This is it." Kwami holds up Hades' Clutch, and we all gather around in amazement, watching the item shine brighter than I thought it would.
"The last turn."

A part of me knew we would reach this point, but experiencing this moment feels more unreal than anything I've ever been through in life. All that's left is to head west and carry on walking straight until we reach the portal; however that looks.

"We're here." Nova drops her shoulders as she stares at the clutch. "We can actually do this."

Luca doesn't look as amazed, but he hasn't seen everything we have to realise just what an achievement this is. Then again, he has been through his own journey; one with tales I'm sure would leave me with nightmares.

I'm so happy to be here, though, and I can feel freedom at the tip of my fingers. It's all we've fought for. It's an inch away, and all I have to do it reach out and grab it.

"This is where I leave you, Amora." Kwami turns to me, handing me the clutch with one hand. "There are things I still need to do here."

I take the clutch, making sure to avoid the sharp points.

"I know," I smile, "and what you're doing here is so...incredibly amazing."

I can't keep count of how many times my compliments made Kwami feel proud, but I'm glad to have this effect on him. Considering someone in a situation like his—one definitely filled with so much burden and pain—things like this might just make his days a little better, and that makes me feel good.

Kwami takes off his straw hat and fits it onto my head. I chuckle as he holds onto my arms in a way a proud father does when his daughter does something great.

I pull Kwami into a hug; one that's a little awkward with me holding Hades' Clutch. I don't want to poke him.

"Thank you," I whisper and pull away, pulling the straw hat further down onto my head.

He nods and turns to my friends. "Good luck."

Nova walks over to Kwami. I'm a little surprised to think that she wants to embrace him, but everything makes sense when she takes the water bottle out of his hand.

"Thank you," she says, not waiting for a reply before pouring the liquid onto her face. "And good luck to you, too."

"Tell Seb I'll see him around," Luca says, more hopeful than I'd be if my friend was still in Fate's Cave.

"I will." Kwami smiles and shakes his head. "Just go straight from there."

We watch as Kwami disappears behind a large tree, picking up a branch along the way to shove leaves out of his path. He doesn't look back once.

I hope he makes it to the treehouse okay, but seeing as he has guards stationed all over the forest, I'm sure everything will work out.

"What now?" Luca asks. "We walk until we see some portal?"

"Yep."

"Which can take days?"

I look at the brown bag slung over my shoulders. Kwami stocked it up with food, water, money, a phone, and a phone number.

"Yep," I repeat.

If this journey is longer than we hope, we'll end up in Shai; a small city in Western Rahm. If that happens, Kwami has sent word to a friend to help us with the rest of the journey.

He's been really helpful, and although he shouldn't feel any guilt for what happened to my grandfather and not trying to find me after, I hope this eases his mind. It's one thing to save my life, but it's a whole different thing to free me, and leading me to Pandora's Box is doing just that.

"Let's go, then." Nova is the first to move, keeping her hand squeezed around the water bottle and occasionally glancing at my hat.

"You're not taking it," I say, opening my bag to slip the clutch into it.

"Mora," she whines.

"I'm hot!"

"I'm barely covered."

Nova motions to her bare arms and legs. Sure, she'll get a little more sun than she likes, but the shorts and vest was the best option. Anything else and she'd be drenched in sweat. We all would.

"So are we." I turn away from Nova and hop over large roots, nearly tripping when I try to.

Nova raises her head as if to say I deserve it, but I chuckle and ignore my nagging friend.

Hopefully, the journey doesn't take long, because the anticipation is killing me. I wonder what the portal will look like, and I wonder if there will be any more beasts I'll have to fight. If that's the case, we should probably turn back now.

"Thank you." Nova smiles when Luca catches her from falling, and it's my turn to give her the 'you-deserve-it' look.

I, extremely bored, pick up a pile of leaves, crunching them in my hand one by one.

"Let's sing a song," Nova suggests, "like people do on road trips."

"Can I pick the song?"

"Nooo," Nova's eyes widen, "and you cannot sing, either, my dear, dear friend."

I pout, knowing I'm about to be insulted for my so-called terrible voice. Well, not so so-called. I'm not a girl of many talents.

"I'll keep my voice low."

"I'll let you beat box? Leave the singing to us."

"Us?" Luca chips in, looking worried that he might be forced to sing. "I can't sing."

"No, Amora can't sing." Nova takes a sip of her water. "I'm guessing you just don't want to."

"Then Amora and I have something in common." Luca kicks a pile of leaves out of his way. "You go ahead."

This reaction isn't surprising. I'm sure I'll ride a unicorn before I hear Luca sing, and I don't believe in unicorns.

I fall over a brunch, landing harshly on the ground and scrapping my hand against something.

"I got it." I hold my hands up, stopping Nova and Luca from coming to help me. After standing up and dusting dirt off my knees, we continue.

"Are you still drunk?" Luca asks, raising an eyebrow. It isn't my first fall after all, or my third.

"No," I defend, "just clumsy."

This explanation isn't much better, but I'll have to settle for it.

"Good," he says.

"Good?"

"There's no telling what you'd do drunk." He looks away from me, but I'm able to catch his smirk.

I can't tell if he's flirting with me or teasing me. Either way, I want to crawl into a whole thinking about how I tried to kiss him last night.

"Am I missing something?" Nova being around makes his tease-flirting even worse.

"No," I reply a little too quickly.

Luca glances back at me, still holding that same smirk. "No," he says, contradicting his expression.

"And you both keep secrets." Nova rolls her eyes.

"Another thing in common," Luca says.

"You have more than that in common."

"Like what?" I ask, not sure what Luca and I can share apart from our apparently bad voices and keeping secrets.

Nova smirks and moves closer to Luca, making him stop walking as she reaches him.

She stands on her toes to reach his ear, but she lowers herself when he bends down. I watch as his lips curve into a smile, making him look younger and innocent.

Luca laughs as he continues walking, and Nova backs away from him as she nears me.

"What?" I nudge Nova, wondering what she just said that has him wide-eyed and smirking. It's probably something I'll add to my 'why-I-hate-Nova list'.

Nova ignores me, locking our arms so we walk through the forest together.

"Nova?" I press, but she doesn't give in.

Luca, a little ahead of us, shakes his head and looks back at me.

"Never expected that from you, Amora." He laughs.

I hit Nova's arm, now one hundred percent sure she didn't tell him anything good.

Nova separates herself from me, taking a small jog to bring some distance between us. I don't match her pace, remaining a few feet behind her as I fold my arms.

"What if we're eaten by a lion? Do you want me to die knowing my best friend said something about me?"

"Don't be so dramatic, Mora." Nova rolls her eyes. "There aren't any lions around."

"Okay, but we're trying to find a magic portal," I change my approach, "so something can happen, and I could still die."

Luca glances at me, but I ignore it, unable to make out what he is thinking and a little embarrassed from whatever Nova told him.

"How about we race?" Nova suggests. "First one to find the portal wins."

"Have you always had such a short attention span?"

"It's been a long journey, Amora." She sighs. "No singing, so we race."

She looks at Luca and me for approval, but neither one of us say a thing. Instead, we look at each other before looking back at her.

Honestly, I'm tired, and I know my boots will make the race a little harder for me. I'm also not sure Luca is in the right shape to be running through a forest; he still has some injuries from fighting in Fate's Cave. Although he tries to play it off, I can see this walk hasn't been the easiest for him.

Before I can reject Nova's request, she bolts, jumping over tree roots and finding flat ground to take off from.

"Nova!" I call out, not wanting her to go out there alone. "Aghh."

I turn to Luca, looking apologetic for my friend's actions.

"I'll bring her back." I go after her, feeling the bag slam against my back with each step.

Surprisingly, Luca passes me, sprinting straight ahead and almost catching up to Nova.

"Wait!"

I don't know why the both of them have this much energy, but I need to pick up the pace before I fall behind. Desperate to catch up to them, I don't even stop to pick up the hat when it flies off my head.

Their figures get smaller, indicating just how slow I am. I'll just have to blame it on the bumpy path and my heavy shoes.

Having enough of the boots, I stop by a tree to remove them, tugging at the laces before yanking the shoes off. I appreciate Kwami's hospitality, but I'll get nowhere fighting against gravity every time I move.

Leaving myself in socks, I continue down the path, a little worried when I don't see Nova and Luca. However, we're both heading in the same direction, so I'm bound to meet them sooner or later.

Suddenly, someone grabs me from behind, and I'm lifted from the ground. I try turning around, ready to fight my attacker with the little strength I do have. However, Luca stands behind me, and I allow myself to breathe once again.

"Don't do that." I playfully shove him away, using my hands to push my hair behind me.

Luca steps closer to me, taking a loose strand of my hair and pushing it behind my ear. He looks down at me, making me want to shy away but stay where I am at the same time. The whole feeling is strange.

"Ahem," Nova clears her throat, looking at us from a tree a couple feet away. "Just checking you aren't too far behind."

She turns away, so slowly that we know she doesn't really want to.

I chuckle, stepping back from Luca to continue down the forest. "We should..."

I point in Nova's direction. However, Luca closes the gap between us, pulling me into his arms and walking until I'm right against the tree trunk.

I gasp, surprised by his actions but wanting to stay like this forever.

He doesn't do anything, only looking down at me with concerned eyes, but I use his shirt to pull him closer to me. Our foreheads touch and shivers run down my spine when his fingers gently move up my back.

He cups my face with his hands as I wrap my arms tighter around his waist. A thousand butterflies swarm my stomach, moving faster than they ever have before.

"Maybe we both need a distraction," he says, leaning in and closing the gap between are lips.

His voice is gentle, and what he says is true, but a large part of me doesn't want things this way. Spending time with him has made me feel things I haven't felt in forever and way faster than I'd like. It doesn't seem right for anything we do to just be a distraction. At least, I'd like to be more.

It's my turn to pull my face away, sure I'll hate myself for ruining the romance of this all.

When I look up at Luca, he seems confused, and I know a million thoughts are running through his mind.

I'm relieved when he kisses my forehead, and I feel him smile against it. I look down, trying to hide the smile on my face as I drop my hands and wait for him to do the same.

Luca steps back, letting me move away from the tree, and we walk side by side towards Nova. I try to steal a glance at him, but the fact that he is already looking at me makes me feel more embarrassed than being caught.

Nova looks back at us, but she doesn't say anything. For once, I wish she would, because I'm starting to feel a little awkward.

As if she can read my mind, Nova starts humming, and it's much better than the silence.

I look at the ground, watching my feet move in front of each other. However, I look up when I remember I should be looking out for a portal.

My eyes scan our surroundings, but I stop in my tracks when I notice Nova is no longer ahead of us.

"Where's Nova?"

It seems like Luca wasn't paying much attention, because he looks just as confused as I am.

"Nova!" I call out, running forward to find my friend. "She was just here."

I get the shock of my life when a part of my body disappears into thin air. I look behind me, and from the look on Luca's face, I'm not imagining anything. It's as if half my body has slipped into a portal.

Suddenly, I start to laugh, realising we are exactly where I want us to be. However, my laugh is cut short when I'm pulled further into the portal by someone I hope is Nova.