The Pearl

Stage 20: What Of the Male Race?

blend by @Ethereal29

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I awkwardly stand in the small parlor room with Jett, Manda, and Mura waiting with me. We hadn't brought anything on our journey - quest, mission; whatever it is - so we didn't need to pack. Lynn and Stina however had lived here for around four years, so they had their things here already.

There's also the fact that they're barely even teens, and they'd need more than their talents to get them through our adventure.

After ten quick minutes of waiting, the two of the three daughters emerge from the doorway, a black backpack around Lynn's shoulders and a satchel of the same color hanging across Stina's body.

"You guys ready?"

"Y-"

"Wait," Stina abrubtly blurts out. Her eyes dart to Thalia's, who's hold the expression of a proud mother. "Thalia. I want Thalia to come with me - with us."

The motherly affection fades from Thalia's face.

"No," she says firmly. "I have a duty here; you know that Stina. I can't...no." At the sight of Stina's oncoming tears, she whispers, "Sorry babe."

"Please?" Stina wipes her eyes subtly to make the tears vanish from her cheeks, but not showing weakness.

"Stina..."

"Thalia," Lynn says softly. They sadly smile at each other, like they knew some sad secret - an inevitable, sad secret. "Please. For her."

"Fine. But let's leave right now; I don't need anything."

Stina smiles, too sweetly. "Alright. Whatever floats your boat."

The three of them wave to the other muses as we walk farther and farther away from the hideout. Stina had wetness surrounding her eyes once again, but no one acknowledged it. Lynn finally had a smile gracing her face, and Thalia was brimming with joy. Her hand waved wildly over her head, saying a goodbye.

"Can you people just hurry it up? We don't have all of eternity." Manda rolls her eyes.

Stina whacks her as she passes by, and just as Manda tries to hit her back, she disappears in a cloud of black. "Hey, where'd she go?" Manda whirls around quickly as an attempt of catching a glimpse of Stina. When she stops, she gets extremely dizzy and accidentally (or so it seemed) bumps into Jett's arms. "Oh sorry Mura," she mutters dismissively. Mura, who was standing next to Jett, giggled and looked mischievously at him. Jett, however, hadn't spared her a glance and was instead helping Manda up.

"I guess that tonic they gave you didn't work that well, huh?" Jett has his signature smirk on.

I frown. "For what?"

"My dizziness," Manda says in a daze.

Ohhh. That. "You okay Manda?" Iimura crouches next to Manda, right next to Jett, and puts her hand on her shoulder. There's hurt in her face, but she seems focused on Manda at the moment.

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks Mura."

"What about me?"

"What about you?" Manda cocks an eyebrow while Jett holds in a laugh.

"Fine then Ms. Bitch." Then to us, "So where are we off to, ladies?"

We laugh. "Oh my gosh; I didn't even notice you were the only guy here," I say in hysterics.

"What guy?" Manda chirps. She pretends to look around cluelessly; her gaze flows right over Jett.

"Ha ha ha; you guys are so funny," Jett mumbles.