They always said that to teach was the best way to learn.
Liora had never really believed that.
At least, not until she actually tried it.
Aiden's sister, Canna, had been watching her for around an hour as Liora drew and practiced the magic circles she had copied all the way back when they were fighting the blood Trent.
Canna had been asking occasional questions and making small suggestions.
Not rude ones.
More like, "If you're trying to have the barrier expand and don't care about a specification of target, why not get rid of this part and reinforce this part instead?"
Which was annoying.
Because she was right.
They spent a good few hours working on it before turning to watch Jax and Aiden.
A part of Liora did the calculation for how long they had before the games, but the new increase in speed had given them a whole extra day to arrive, so it was not as much of a concern.
What did concern her was just how aggressive Jax and Aiden were getting in their sparring.
It had started innocently enough.
Aiden practiced his form.
Jax focused on dodging while making tap attacks to force Aiden to defend.
However, the two of them seemed to be getting more and more heated by the second.
It reached the point that Jax's normal white Ki aura had started tinting with a strange pink-and-gray swirl, while Aiden had so much heat rising off him that wisps of flame seemed to dance around his hair.
Both were breathing heavily as they stared each other down, as if waiting for the other to make the first move.
Even the ground around them was covered in gashes and small indents where they had slammed and sliced at it.
Abel stood to the side, an awestruck look on his face as he watched the two.
Looking at both of them, Liora wondered why Aiden had been so insistent that she not mention him being their brother.
While Liora was not exactly one to talk when it came to family problems, it still struck her as odd.
Regardless, she did not plan to say anything.
Then a familiar voice drifted on the wind to her ear.
Liora whipped around.
The wind began to gather around her.
"Canna," Liora said cautiously, "get behind me."
She expanded her influence on the wind, making sure it would catch Aiden's and Jax's attention.
From the edge of the treeline, two members of Ymer's group appeared.
With them was Beatris, who Liora could only assume was a hostage.
The two seemed to notice that Liora had seen them.
The gunslinger looked at her.
"Oh," she said. "It's the damsel-in-distress girl."
There was a moment of quiet.
Even the wind seemed to pause.
Then Liora roared.
"MOTHERFUCKER, THAT'S HOW YOU REMEMBER ME?"
The wind surged around her.
The two stopped.
To Liora's surprise, Beatris continued forward.
"Liora, stop," Beatris said. "They said they aren't being controlled by them."
She paused and glanced back, as if making sure she was not saying something wrong.
"Their players, as they called them."
Next to Liora, Jax and Aiden jumped up and looked toward the scene.
Jax was hostile.
Very hostile.
His hackles rose, and there was an almost manic look in his eyes, like a rabid dog held back by a single thread. His entire body shook, almost like he had to tense every muscle at once to stop himself from charging in.
Aiden, on the other hand, had an unreadable expression.
He took a few steps forward, jumped down, and asked a strange question.
"If what you're saying is true," Aiden said, "does that mean the others in your group are free from being controlled?"
The two shared a look.
Then the lightblood rabbit answered.
"Technically, we're free," she said. "But we were given objectives for the downtime, as they always call it."
She looked between them.
"For us, we were supposed to track your group on your trip and observe whether you made any big breakthroughs."
"Ah," Jax said. "So you were sent to spy on us."
His voice was too aggressive for the situation.
Even if he was being defensive of everyone, his claws were actively leaving gouges in the metal beneath him as his entire body shook with feral, barely contained energy.
"Why the sudden turn toward revealing yourselves?"
Before Liora could look over at him, Aiden walked closer.
Beatris made her way back over to them and sat down.
"Tell me," Aiden said. "Are all of your group currently freed, or are you two a strange exception for the time being?"
The pair exchanged a look as if debating whether to say anything.
Eventually, the gunslinger spoke.
"It's something called downtime," she said. "The players set a period and give us tasks. Our bodies do those tasks automatically. During that time, aside from when we are doing said tasks, we are free."
Aiden nodded as if any of that made sense.
Then he crossed his arms.
"So why exactly are you approaching us here?"
At that, a vein of annoyance bulged on the gunslinger's forehead.
She threw her hat at the ground.
For the first time, Liora noticed the way the woman's legs were shaking as if fatigued.
"Do you have the slightest idea how hard it is to chase after a FUCKING car while carrying someone for eight hours a day?" the gunslinger barked. "Just because I'm a Courier and can run fast enough to keep up doesn't mean I can't feel muscle fatigue."
The rabbit girl next to her averted her eyes in shame.
Everyone stared for a moment.
Liora broke the silence.
"What?" she asked. "You're looking for a ride so you can rest?"
"Actually, yes," the gunslinger said. "That's exactly what we're here for."
Another moment of silence passed.
Then the rabbit girl quickly added, "O-Obviously not for free. We are here to offer information in exchange."
"Hold on," Jax said. "You're spies offering to be spies against your own group because your legs are tired?"
He turned to Beatris.
Beatris, who had made her way onto the roof, shrugged at him.
"Hey," the gunslinger said, "remember the part where we didn't exactly choose this? Our bodies move on their own to follow you."
She gestured toward the A.T.V.
"Plus, it doesn't matter to us if we win or lose this tournament. We just need to participate."
"Really now?" Jax asked. "Then pray tell, why exactly are you participating in this tournament?"
The rabbit girl crossed her arms.
Liora's eyes darted to the small satchel on the woman's lower back, where she could just make out the glint of her gloves sticking out.
"Partially because we actively don't have a choice in the matter," the rabbit woman said. "But also because our players promised we could be R.T.F.'d if we participated, regardless of the outcome."
She hesitated.
"I think they made the deal so you all didn't keep getting stronger as the fights went on against us through your whole 'your soul stirs' thing."
Liora's stomach tightened.
Crap.
They even know about that.
So much for our trump card.
Beatris tilted her head, puzzled.
"Wait," she asked. "What does R.T.F.'d mean?"
The gunslinger grabbed her hat from where she had thrown it and dusted it off.
"It means Returned To Fate," she said.
Her voice was quieter when she added, "Basically, freedom from our players."