A  signpost is buried into the ground a few meters ahead of me. I allow myself to feel a little happiness when I read the poorly painted words on it; Bayton. Seeing the sign, I increase my pace, pushing myself forward towards the town that stands between me and Vita.

Unfortunately, my body refuses to co-operate with me, and I fall onto the ground before I reach the signpost. When I try to stand up, my legs begin to wobble, and I end up right back where I started.

Feeling drained, I decide to lie down for a moment. I throw my body to the ground a little harder than I should have and close my eyes, giving the sun full access to the front side of my body. On any other day, its rays would be perfect for taking pictures, making my skin look golden and warm.

After some seconds, my mind drifts to Daphne. However, as a tear slides down the side of my face, I try to push out the last image I saw of her. That's not how I want to remember Daphne.

I only want to picture her walking into the kitchen wearing a floral dress and carrying a tray full of scones. I want to hold onto the Daphne that sneaked sweets out of the kitchen and slid them under my door.

However, I can't remember that Daphne now, and it frustrates the hell out of me.

Sitting up, I look around for shade. When I spot a tree a few feet away from the Bayton signpost, I attempt to stand up again. Luckily, Nova arrives in front of me and helps me with the task.

After grabbing onto Nova's arm, she hoists me up. "Thank you."

I look at the water bottle in her hand and sigh when I see it empty. Nova crunches up the bottle and throws it across the dirt road. However, it hits Zeke's leg, causing him to frown at us.

Zeke's been in the worst mood out of everyone here, but I can't blame him. He had to carry Leo most of the way here. Well, he actually chose to. Leo tried jumping down a couple of times, but Zeke wouldn't allow it.

Nova and I make our way towards the tree, slumping against the bark as we wait for Zeke and Leo to join us. When they reach us, Leo, with no protest from Zeke this time, jumps off of Zeke's back.

"Are you passing through Bayton?" Zeke asks, motioning to the signpost before dropping my bags onto the floor.

His hair is flatter than usual, but that's probably because of the sweat I now notice dripping off of his body.

"It's the shortest route to Vita. That's where I'm heading."

"What for?" Nova notices my hesitation. "Come on, Mora. We've come all the way here and you can't tell us?"

When I remain silent, Nova angrily stands up and starts to walk away from the group.

"Where are you going?" I call out to her.

"Back to the City of Vessels. Why do you care? You don't want us here anyway." Nova looks at Zeke and Leo. "Come on, guys. We'll explain that only Amora wanted to leave. They should have...calmed down by now."

When no one follows Nova, she stops walking and crosses her arms.

"Uhhh," Zeke begins, "You can take Leo with you. I'm going to rest before heading back."

I'm not sure if I'm the only one that notices Zeke's hand shaking when he tries to shove Leo towards Nova. Regardless, Leo doesn't budge. Instead, the child firmly grips Zeke's side.

"It's safer for you back at the house, Leo." Zeke sighs as he tries to loosen Leo's grip from him.

"Come with me," Leo demands.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

Nova huffs as she grows tired of the cute show of affection in front of us. She then turns around and continues her journey alone, not even glancing at me before storming off.

"Nova."

"What, Amora?" For a moment, I think she's angry, but when I take a closer look at her eyes, I believe she's sad. "You don't trust us, right? Is that it?"

She sniffs as she waits for my reply.

When I don't give her one soon enough, she tries to turn away from me again. However, my voice stops her.

"I know how to help Vessels."

Her eyebrows furrow, and when I look at the boys, I see they are just as confused as my ginger-haired friend.

"I don't know if you'll believe me, and I don't care, either. But Hades' clutch and Pandora's Box is in Vita. I need the clutch to extract the evil from me, and the box..." I sigh. "Well, that's obvious."

They all look at me in silence. Zeke and Leo, in a freaky sort of way, both scratch their hair at the same time. Nova's eyes widen, and she nods her head slowly.

"It's all here," I pull my blue bag towards me and show them the papers Granddad left for me, "and in here." I probably look even crazier when pointing to my head.

Shoving the papers back into the bag, it's my turn to storm off. I don't even wait for any of them to say anything before heading deeper into Bayton. When I don't hear footsteps following me, I start walking faster.

Walking into the small town, I see small, orange houses lined up next to each other. The grounds are uneven, but it's definitely more fertile here than at the entrance. It also doesn't seem like many people live here, but the few people I see stare at me.

Looking away from the curious eyes of a group of children and an elderly man, I make my way down a narrow path. If my memory is correct, Bayton has some sort of hotel here. As much as I want to get to Vita as soon as possible, I know I'll collapse if I don't rest now.

"Hey!"

A stranger slams into me and gives me the dirtiest look I've ever got before. Before I know it, his friends are pushing their way past me, and considering I don't take up much of the road, I know it's on purpose.

It's been a while since I've been around people so childish. Some part of me wants to confront them, but I know I don't have the guts for that. Instead, I let the group of boys walk away.

Suddenly, I feel a hand grab my arm, and everything in me tells me to run. I can't deal with some angry child right now.

"Get off!" I scream, hoping to draw some attention to whatever is happening here. "Let go!"

"Wait—"

I harshly pull my arm away and try to run, but the guy just won't let me go, and my legs end up tripping over his.

For some reason, I try to hold onto the person to steady myself but end up pulling him down with me.

The mystery boy stands up quickly, outstretching an arm to lift me up. Given our awkward meeting, I don't accept his help, choosing to stay and the floor and, hopefully in a discreet way, search for a stick I can use to hurt him if needed.

"Are you okay?" The boy clearly sees I'm uncomfortable and retracts his hand. "I'm sorry. I'm Nico."

I don't answer him.

"You're new here, so I just wanted to help."

He's a tall, dark skinned guy with black, short hair. His eyes are light brown, and there's a tiny beauty spot near it. He's also dressed in a black suit that's way too fancy for a town like this, and his rimless, rectangular glasses look better on him than they have on anyone else I've seen wearing them.

I start to laugh, not really sure why I am doing it. However, my laughter turns to cries in a matter of seconds. Maybe he wasn't trying to hurt me. Then again, he should rethink how he approaches people.

"You're..uh...are you lost?"

"No?"

Nico turns his focus to my shoulder; not hiding the fact that he is staring at the flame indicating I'm a Vessel. Obviously too late, I stupidly cover my shoulder with my hand but drop it after some seconds.

In the rush of leaving Pandora's House, I forgot to wear a top that would cover the mark properly. If I don't get the mark covered soon, I'll be the perfect target to pick on. The people that have seen my mark already probably think I'm selfish for being out of the City of Vessels. Maybe the group of boys saw it.

"So that's why people are staring at me."

"It could also be the pyjamas," Nico suggests, and we both laugh as we look at my outfit. "They won't let you stay at the hotel, though. The manager asks to see everyone's shoulder."

This time, I accept his hand and let him help me up, rubbing my butt when I get to my feet. It's definitely bruised.

"I'm Amora." I try to smile at him, but he ducks his head so fast that I don't think he sees it. "Thank you."

I sigh and slowly turn away, hating to figure out where I'll be staying for the night. However, I don't get very far before Nico calls out to me.

"I have a place you can stay."

I raise my eyebrows, not really sure about staying in a stranger's house.

"No," he clarifies, "not at my place. I mean...I guess you can if you want, but my older sister isn't a big fan of..."

"Vessels?" I complete his sentence.

"Sorry," He scratches his neck, "but there is somewhere you can stay if you need; an old church. It has beds and everything."

Not wanting to seem too eager, I take my time before answering, even though it's the only option I have. "Sure."

Nico jogs towards me and places one hand on my bag before raising an eyebrow. "I can carry that."

I smile at him gratefully as he takes the bags off of my shoulder and swings it over his. Honestly, my whole body is aching, so even removing that little weight off of me helps.

"You're in a suit."

"I came to Bayton for my grandma's funeral. I stay in Vita, though."

"I'm so sorry."

"Thank you." He smiles. "I'm okay, though. I wasn't really close to her. Not to make her passing seem light."

Not knowing what else to say, I nod my head.

It doesn't take long before we're presented with two pathways, and we take a left and end up on a road covered in white petals. Looking up, I see the source of the petals, and I smile as I remember seeing a tree like this in some cartoon I watched some time ago.

"It's a White Dogwood." Nico continues when I raise my eyebrows, "The tree."

Smiling, I look away from the tree to continue walking down the path.

"We're here," he says and gestures to a grey, rundown building I never noticed in front of us. "No one has used it in years."

"Why's that?" I ask, and he tries to look away from me, seeming hesitant to answer my question. "Nico?"

"Uhh...well, a Vessel entered the building a couple years ago. People said 'the holy ground is tainted' and closed down the church."

"That's rich." Nova's voice makes me turn around. She stands with Zeke and Leo. "We followed you and the hottie."

I have to hold in my laugh when she winks at Nico, and he waves at her.

"I told you I need to sleep," Zeke defends. "Although I'm not in a rush to head back to Pandora's House, so I might crash here for a while. Maybe visit places close by."

Zeke scans our surroundings, turning in a circular motion to get a good look at everything. Seeing as there isn't much to look at, I'm not sure why Zeke would want to stick around in a place like this. Then again, his choices have always been a little questionable.

"And I'm coming with you," Nova adds.

"No." I quickly turn to my friend, surprised to even hear these words leave her mouth.

"If there's hope for us, I'm coming with you."

Nova's eyes light up in a way I've never seen before, and I don't have the strength to turn her down. Either way, I'm not sure if she'll accept my rejection.

"What about Leo?" I panic, not liking the idea of bringing a child along with me and not sure when Zeke will be heading back to Pandora's House.

The three of them look at each other, but none of them are able to give me an answer. I look at Nico, thinking about asking him to make sure Leo will be okay for a couple of days in case Zeke's little adventure might not cater for a child. Although, that may be a bit too much to ask a stranger.

"No," Nico, as if reading my mind, replies. He then pushes his glasses further up his face. "I'm sorry. I'm not good with kids."

Suddenly, Nova bursts out laughing and Zeke follows her lead while tapping Leo on the shoulder.

"You're hanging with the big guys now, Leo." Zeke laughs.

Leo doesn't seem impressed. Unfortunately for the scared child, there's nowhere else for him to go unless he plans on walking back to Pandora's House by himself.