“You never told me you had a friend here, Mezolas.” Olivia said to her floating eye familiar on their way out of the alleys.

Mezolas gave a little bow. “My apologies, my Lady. I assumed he was in prison.”

“Prison!?” Olivia was shocked.

“That man is a great ally but a dangerous enemy.”

“I… I see…”

After Olivia overcame her initial shock, she realized that this business of curses came close to criminal activity anyway. Only, the law didn’t cover witchcraft. She guessed that fear must have kept the government from tackling this issue.

“Let’s check on Leonel.” Olivia walked towards the direction of the sandwich stand. The eye of nightmare beside her quickly disappeared once they drew close to the crowded marketplace.

Upon arriving at the sandwich stand where the girl’s mother and little brother were selling sandwiches to passersby, she heard a loud voice from inside the house behind the stall. She moved closer to the door. The girl’s mother looked at her and gave a nod of permission to enter their home. She then let herself in.

“Brother!”

The girl hugged her older brother who was starting to feel better. The young man smiled and thanked Leonel quietly.

“Thank you so much!” She smiled brightly at Leonel while she was still hugging her brother.

Leonel grinned. He looked like a smiling lion. “Don’t worry about it. It’s my job.”

“It worked?” Olivia was relieved to witness the scene.

“You probably destroyed the right jar, but a lowly dark spirit was still hanging around him. My familiar and I took care of it. He seems to be fine now.”

The mother of the two entered the house. She covered her mouth and smiled upon seeing her son recover from his plight. “How could we ever thank you? We don’t have much, but would you two like to stay for dinner?”

Leonel appreciated the invitation. “I’d love to, but I have to report back to the union about what happened here. The sooner this gets reported, the better. We don’t want this happening to any more people.”

“It would be terrible if this happened to other people too,” said the girl.

The family members then looked at Olivia for her answer. Olivia wanted to stay, but she knew she couldn’t keep the pastry shop lady waiting any longer.

She had to excuse herself. “I have to go back to the pastry shop too. The owner is probably already wondering what’s taking me so long.”

Leonel’s stomach growled. He blushed slightly. “I forgot to eat lunch.”

The rest giggled.

“How about taking home some sandwiches then?” The mother suggested. “You can eat them along the way.”

“That would be great,” Leonel replied.

Leonel and Olivia walked out of the house carrying a basket of sandwiches each. They didn’t want to take too many with them because the family relied on sandwich sales to live, but the mother insisted. The whole family was grateful for their help and wanted to repay them as much as they could.

“This is too much for me to finish alone,” Olivia commented. She wondered whether Mezolas fancied a nice marketplace sandwich.

Leonel was already munching on a sandwich. “I’m sure the Belaria twins will be happy when they see these sandwiches. I gotta tell them to leave some for the others too. Their stomachs are like black holes.”

“I guess I’ll share these with the people at the pastry shop. The sandwich stall might get more customers that way.”

Leonel swallowed. “Why are you working there anyway? You should join our union.”

Olivia laughed awkwardly. “I don’t think Adrian wants me to be in the union. He made that perfectly clear.”

“Why not? Aren’t you two friends?”

Olivia had to think for a moment to determine whether or not she was really ‘friends’ with Adrian. “I suppose.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll put in a good word for you.” He took another bite off the sandwich. “Hey, this sandwich is pretty good. You should try some of yours!”

Olivia took a sandwich and ate it. He was right. It was good. “Delicious.”

If a warm home had a taste of its own, that sandwich was probably the closest to it.

“Right?” He took another sandwich.

Olivia glanced at the large man walking beside her. “I’ve been wondering. You seem pretty familiar with the witch doctor stuff.”

Leonel laughed. “My grandmother was a witch doctor. She taught me spells from an early age. Don’t get me wrong though. She wasn’t like those witch doctors who liked to curse people. She was a healer and exorcist. She was great at undoing curses. She always said I got her talent for it.”

Olivia was happy to see Leonel talk so fondly about his grandmother. “That’s pretty cool.”

“She made the best stews! She even taught me her special recipe. Oh! Tell you what. I’ll make you some stew next time you visit the union headquarters. You’re going to love it.” Leonel looked happy talking about his grandmother. She was probably someone dear to him.

When they reached a fork in the road, Leonel announced that he would be going the other path. He bid Olivia goodbye and walked on ahead of her. Mezolas waited until Leonel was out of sight to appear.

“Are you really joining that union, my Lady?” asked Mezolas.

“I don’t know,” replied Olivia.

The eye of nightmare shrugged. “It would certainly be easier to move about in the absence of a union, but I will accept whatever my Lady chooses. I shall be satisfied as long as I see my mission fulfilled.”

“What exactly is this mission?”

“In time, my Lady. In time…” Mezolas disappeared once more.