The worst part about the silence was that Rin couldn't ask her questions.

Oliver's temper died down as he stared at the smoke curling out from the trash can, and he looked to be lost in thought. Rin was just plain lost.

She barely understood what he had just told her, but from what she could guess, this kid was now going to follow and serve her just because she touched and used something of his. Normally, people would ban her or even call the police on her if she even dared look as if she was about to steal anything of theirs. She couldn't believe that Oliver was a sea spirit, or that she was now going to be able to give this kid demands.

As a homeless orphan trying to live on the streets, she had her run-ins with crazy people. Some were out to get the money she managed to work for, or they genuinely believed their ridiculous shpeels. One man told her that she was the princess of the starry sky, and that she must return to her kingdom. She just avoided that street for a while, and she never saw that man again.

But now, Oliver wasn't leaving this spot, and that spot was wherever she went. Rin wondered if he was out for her money or actually believed he was her servant now, but either way, she was stuck with him. Even if she believed him, that he was a sea spirit, then why would he even be here in the first place?

I'm just someone to be leeched off of, Rin told herself. I can't just trust this kid outright. He needs to give me some explaination at least.

Rin sat down next to Oliver, his gaze not breaking from the smoke dispersing in the sky. She wondered what was going on in his head. Maybe he was just mentally ill and believed that he had to stay here with her. But the look of sadness in his eyes told her that he didn't want to believe it at all.

"So, you're not leaving anytime soon, huh?" Rin spoke, breaking the silence.

Oliver didn't look at her. "Nope. That's how this works. I'm bound by contract to stay with you. Unless you want me to leave you alone, that's also an option. Just tell me, and I'll go. Like you said, we won't have to see each other again."

She could do that. Rin knew she could've just told him to go away, and he'd gladly leave her. It would just save them both from trouble. They could go back to their everyday lives.

Rin could go back to spending nights like this one by sitting in her home, wondering if she'd be able to eat another day or if the man owning the building would kick her out. She'd spend every night all by herself, worrying about life all by herself, and sing quietly to comfort herself when she cried.

All by herself.

Maybe I don't want him to leave yet, Rin thought.

Just by having Oliver next to her, having the sense of being next to someone, somehow made Rin feel less scared. Maybe it was because she had never been with someone who hadn't been at her throat within five minutes. Or, maybe it was just because...

"I don't want to be alone," she blurted out loud.

The crackle of the fire paired the sparkle of the stars in the sky.

Oliver turned away from the smoke to look up at those sparkling stars. "Then, I'm not going anywhere, am I?"

Rin shook her head, hugging her knees like Oliver had. "I'm sorry."

"What is there to be sorry for?" Oliver sighed. Rin could tell he was having a hard time accepting her choice as well. "I was stupid to think you wanted nothing to do with me and wouldn't even consider being served by me. That's all I'll ever be, a stupid little dog following orders. It's how I got here in the first place."

Rin didn't know what to do about the sudden mood shift with Oliver, but she saw it as a chance to understand what was going on. "How did you get here, in the first place?"

Oliver sighed. "Well, you see, when a mommy sea spirit and a daddy sea spirit love each other very much-"

"I mean here, as in this town!"

"Oh." Oliver scratched the back of his neck. "By boat, of course. The very one you rode in just now. I was on a mission that I took on, and they told me to scout out this region. I happened to encounter a sea storm, and I ended up arriving at this town in a mess. I had, to put it nicely, borrowed some clothes from a random guy and bought something to eat. Pretty sure it looked like meat, but didn't taste like it."

Rin blinked. She hadn't expected this kid to be journeying all by himself in order to follow a mission of his. But, then again, she hadn't expected to meet him either.

"What's your mission?" Rin asked.

Oliver shook his head. "You wouldn't understand it. Some spirits like me don't even know why it's such a big deal, or why I'm doing this."

Rin crossed her arms, unsatisfied with that answer. It sounded too much like those crazy old kooks down the other alleyway. "Then make me understand it. After all, aren't you one of those sea spits or something?"

"Sea spirits," Oliver corrected, obviously not going to let that slip by.

"Right, sea spirit," Rin repeated. "Just tell me what this mission of yours is."

Since it was a command, Oliver had no choice but to tell Rin. He looked at her with a tired look. "Okay, so, you know how there's three main areas in the world: the land, the ocean, and the sky?"

"If you want to be super simple about it," Rin said. "I mean, just the ocean is a bit vague. There's the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, a couple others... And there's a bunch of other lands in the world."

"But they're all part of a certain region," Oliver clarified. "There are three main regions in the world, and I, a sea spirit, happen to be part of the ocean region. You're in the land region, since you live here on land. All humans belong to the land region."

Rin nodded, a bit happy it wasn't as complicated as most stories she had heard. "Okay, so what does this have to do with your mission or whatever?"

"I'm getting to that." Oliver adjusted his hat, his face dimly illuminated by the orange glow of the fire. "In each of these three regions, there are, as you said, other parts to them. The land has islands, states, countries, yadda, yadda. The ocean has, well, you already listed them. The sky has the times of day: dawn, morning, afternoon, evening, and night. In these parts, we have, what do you humans call it? Oh, kingdoms. Like a monarchy, or something. There's at least one most powerful and well known kingdom in each region, and that kingdom has a lot of influence in their own area and communication with the other two regions."

"Okay," Rin nodded again, her head starting to spin. Now it was starting to sound a bit more complicated. "Let me guess, does your mission have to do something with finding the lost underwater kingdom of Atlantis or fighting a vicious kraken?"

Oliver shook his head. "No, we found Atlantis a long time ago. You humans just haven't found it because we found it first. And kraken are actually pretty nice, I've met a couple before."

Rin blinked. He either didn't see the joke or was joking right back at her. "Oh, okay then."

"This mission doesn't concern the land or the sea," Oliver explained, ignoring Rin's expression of confusion. "I'm doing a mission for the sky kingdom. The Midnight Province is ruled by a happy couple of king and queen who are all for their kingdom, but their son is a different story. The prince, Allen, is next in line for the throne since his father plans on retiring soon. But he doesn't want to because he misses his sister, whom he lost a long time ago. He refuses to be king unless his sister is found."

The stars in the sky suddenly meant a bit more than just balls of gas. Rin gazed up at the sky, wondering which star was holding this kingdom Oliver was talking about. That is, if it even existed.

Maybe I'll just go out on a limb and believe him, Rin decided. Who knows, maybe this will be more exciting than stealing some bread from the local bakery. Besides, he really looks like he believes it.

"So, you're trying to find this princess?" Rin asked.

Oliver nodded. "Yeah, I am. I'm doing it for my own personal reasons, but there's a bit more complications than that. This kingdom is one of those powerful ones I was talking about. If the prince doesn't want to be king, his father will probably either die of overwork or leave the province without a ruler. And that means there won't be a strong connection with the sky, and that means there will be chaos, and that means Allen's going to..."

Stopping mid-ramble, Oliver held his head. "Sorry, I just... This entire thing just makes my head spin."

"Your head isn't the only one spinning," Rin muttered, trying to process this entire story.

"Not that many people are even searching for her," Oliver said, squeezing his knees, "not even from the sky. The prince is getting really stubborn and depressed too. The last time I visited him, he wouldn't let anyone mention his sister's name because he'd burst into tears if he heard it. I decided to scout the sea, but with that storm, I ended up here. And after that nap, I've been thinking about a couple of things..."

Rin sighed with relief. At least now there wasn't anymore exposition that she'd have to endure, and maybe she could have a normal conversation with Oliver. "Like what?"

In the faint glow of the fire, Oliver started to look a bit better than he did before. The conversation must have lifted a bit of weight off his chest, which made Rin glad.

Crossing his legs and sitting up straight, Oliver said, "Well, the only reason why I fell asleep was because I stuffed my face with food and sat by the beach. I was sitting exactly where you found me when I heard singing."

"Singing?" Rin repeated. "A lot of people sing everywhere, Oliver. You would've heard singing on your way to get your mystery meat!"

Oliver shook his head. "No, it wasn't any normal singing. Have you heard of Sirens?"

Oh, joy, Rin thought, more crazy stuff. Just goes to show you, I'll never have a normal conversation with this kid.

"I've heard of them," Rin shrugged. "They lure sailors to crash on rocks by the shore by singing, right? At least, that's what I've heard from stories."

Oliver nodded. "Yeah, that's basically it. I haven't met any since I heard they're really crazy, with killing innocent sailors and all, but their singing is a major reason."

Rin found it rather easy to chuckle at that. "Well, if you need to crash your boat everytime you wanna visit, I'd see how that would be a problem." 

Although he shook his head, Oliver let a small smile on his face. "No, I'm not affected like how humans are by their singing. You humans get all dreamy eyed and crash your boat in order to follow their voice, but I just get really drowsy. Like, super drowsy. So drowsy that I think I took a nap for a hundred years."

"Ah," Rin nodded. "Well, that's a-"

Then she blinked after his words were completely processed in her head. She almost thought she heard him wrong, but she was pretty sure her ears were working properly. She could hear the crackle of the fire dying down, the yells of the other homeless people in the alleyways and streets, and she was pretty sure she heard him right.

"Wait, a hundred years?!" Rin exclaimed. "Are you serious?!"

Oliver nodded. "Give or take. I was pretty stiff when I woke up, and like you said, my clothes look old and smell. At the very least, I probably slept for ten years. That's the absolute minimum. But I'm pretty sure it's around a hundred."

"When you say drowsy, I think you mean comatose!" Rin shouted. "How are you alive if you didn't eat or drink for all that time?"

With a shrug, Oliver tugged at his coat. "I don't exactly need to eat or drink as much as you do. But, hey, at least you're listening to me. I've been rambling for who knows how long, and you haven't called me crazy yet."

Well, just because I don't say it doesn't mean I don't think it, Rin thought to herself. But he doesn't need to know that.

As much as Rin wanted to say she believed him, as much as she wanted to believe in such a fantasy like that, she couldn't. She just didn't know if it was worth the risk. Why would something like this happen to anyone like her, anyway? Someone who had to steal food and work for money when they didn't even have a home or family?

"It's a bit too much to take in." She gestured to the cold and dark alleyway she lived in. "This is all I've been living in. I go in the streets every once in a while to get food and work for money, but other than that, I've never seen anything else in this place. All I've known is that there's nothing for someone like me unless I take something from someone. So this whole thing about you serving me and a star princess is just a bit too much for me. Although what you're saying sounds pretty cool and awesome, I just have a hard time believing it."

At that, Oliver was quiet. He looked away from her, his hands in fists. The fire finally died out, leaving the two blonds in a cold darkness. Rin knew that he had pretty much poured out all he had into explaining this to her, so having her have doubts must have made him feel as if he wasn't being respected. After all, the whole thing about him following all her orders must have been a major hit to his pride. And she wasn't even believing him.

They both were quiet when Rin went into her little shelter. She wanted to offer Oliver some room to sleep too, but after thinking about how he said he slept for around a hundred years, she decided he wouldn't want to sleep another wink for a while.

Rin lay on the old mattress she had been lucky to find, feeling restless and uneasy. Her head plopped on her pillow, sending a cloud of dust into the air. She looked at all the particles float in the air, just like how her thoughts were all scattered.

She didn't know what to believe. What he was saying sounded amazing to a girl like her who had never dreaming of anything fantastical like that, but she didn't know if it was real or just another ruse that almost everyone she met tried to pull. If he was lying, then he probably would be gone by morning. If not, then she'd just have to go along with what he was saying. After all, it was better than being alone.

Of course, Rin told herself. That's the only reason why I'll play along with his little delusion. Because I don't want to be alone anymore, even for a little while. If he says he's going to follow my every order, then I'll make sure I take it.

Still feeling a bit uneasy, Rin fell asleep with Oliver's sitting silhouette in the night blurring in her fading vision.

***

In the early morning, Rin woke up and noticed that she had been tossing and turning in her sleep, drool in the corner of her mouth. She was facing the brick wall of the bakery she was living behind.

She sniffed the cold foggy morning air and rubbed her eyes. She turned around and saw that Oliver wasn't there.

For a moment, her empty stomach felt heavy, keeping her in place from all the weight. She started to sweat in the chilly air. Then, her initial shock died down. She immediately got out of her shelter and stepped into the bright day, searching everywhere to find any sign of him.

But, he wasn't there. The trash can had been put to the side, black inside. The same alleyway they had talked in was cold and empty just as before. With the fog hanging in the morning sky, Rin felt more alone than she ever had been before.

Her knees shook, but she grabbed them to stop their shaking. She should have known this was too good to be true. How funny was it, that she had known it was all a prank, and yet she still gave it a chance? And now, she was the one disappointed.

How funny. And cruel.

"Damn it," Rin cursed under breath, a mixture of bitterness and a laughter in her voice. "He put a real good act too. Guess we really will go to our normal everyday lives."

Rin's stomach rumbled at her words. She rubbed it, wondering when was the last time she ate. Two days ago, at most. Oliver had distracted her from getting any food last night.

"Well, time to steal some breakfast, then," Rin muttered to herself.

Her cold feet that were covered in what could barely be called shoes started to move down the alleyway, her head low and gloomy. Of course, she had been hoping it was true. Now that she knew it wasn't, she'd have to get over that disappointment and embarrassment of believing it.

The narrow walls closed in on her, but she barely noticed. Her feet started to grow numb from the cold water pooling at the ground, but she was too busy trying to get last night out of her head.

It wouldn't take long, though, Rin assured herself.

That's right. It wouldn't be long until she reminded herself she was just a little girl with no home, parents, or anyone else to depend on other than herself. After she ate something and maybe even tried to get another easy but low paying job, she'd probably forget all about-

Bam!

Rin stumbled back after bumping into someone. She expected it to be another homeless person like her, wandering the alleyway and looking for either some shelter or something to eat. She ran into them all the time. With the fog and her head down, she must have not been paying attention to what was in front of her.

The person she had bumped into dropped the plastic bag they were holding. They hadn't been expecting the sudden collision either, it seemed.

Oh joy, Rin thought. I get played, and now I bump into a total stranger, probably gonna ask me for money. This day is off to a great start.

"Oh, sorry," she apologized quickly, looking up. "I wasn't look-"

Her eyes widened as she came face to face with the person she had bumped into and nearly stumbled backwards. Water infiltrated both her shoes as she stepped back, chilling her literally from head to toe.

"You!" She exclaimed. "You're still here?"

The person she bumped into leaned down and grabbed their bag. They fixed their hat, which was faded with age.

"Good morning to you too, Little Miss Sunshine," Oliver grumbled. "I obviously see that you enjoyed my time away from you. Unfortunately, I'm still stuck with you."

"That's not-"

Rin wanted to admit she had actually been terribly lonely after finding him gone, but she didn't want to say it outloud. After all, they hadn't spent much time together, and the chance he was tricking her was still there. He probably wanted to scout the area to make sure he knew where to run. It was kinda sad by how much she knew all this was possible, but still wanted to be with him.

Oliver raised an eyebrow at her unfinished sentence. "That's not, what? That's not what you want? I'm not tricking you, Rin, I literally can't leave you. I tried testing how far I could go just now, and I could barely reach fifty kilometers before feeling like something's pulling me back. I'm just saying, if you tell me to leave you right now, we could just-"

"No!" Rin cut in. Then her face burned as she realized she sounded desperate.

Oliver blinked at her, confused. "I guess it was worth a try," he sighed, shrugging. He reached into his bag, pulled out something wrapped in paper, and shoved it in her hands. "Here."

Looking down at the object in her hands, Rin felt her palms warm. The paper was slightly peeled away, revealing something tan and shiny. The smell of freshly baked bread filled her nose. She squished it, and she could feel something inside it. It didnt take more than one second for her to figure out what it was.

"Food?" She asked. "Where did you get this? And where'd you get that hat?"

Oliver pointed back where he came from. "I went to that bakery you talked about living behind. He was making some bread buns filled with beef stew or something, so I asked if I could buy some. And I found the hat somewhere in the alleyway. Thought it was a waste, it's not ripped or anything. Just old."

"I'm pretty sure that hat has lice or something," Rin said. "But, you bought some food? With money?'

Oliver shrugged, self-consciously adjusting his old (just old, definitely not lice infested, he told himself) hat. "Well, I have three more just in case one of us is really hungry. But I was only able to buy that many because the money I have is from the guy who had this coat."

He flapped his coat pockets to let Rin hear coins rattle. Rin had never heard such a beautiful sound come from someone flapping like a chicken.

"And as I said before," Oliver continued, his flapping ceasing, "I slept for a pretty long time. Those coins had actual gold in them, appearently. The baker said coins are made with cheap metal nowadays, so he took the coins, exchanged it for updated money, and gave me food without any argument. I still have one though. Here, you should have it."

He digged a coin out of his pocket and handed it to Rin. It was partially muddy and dull with all the years it had endured, but a yellow shine that anyone could see was hidden under all that.

"The coin also has a date printed on it," Oliver explained, "so yeah, I can confirm it. I slept for a hundred years."

Rin took the coin from Oliver and rubbed off some dirt. Her eyes squinted to see the date, and then they nearly bulged after reading it.

She gaped at him, seeing his young appearance. "Just how freaking old are you?!"

Oliver shrugged, taking a bun out of the bag. "Well, I missed around a hundred birthdays, so I can't say exactly how old I am. The baker called me a twelve-year old kid, though, so let's just say I'm twelve."

"Yeah," Rin scoffed, "sure, let's go with that. I can say I'm older than you."

Rolling his eyes (although only one was visible), Oliver started to walk back where he came from, gesturing for Rin to follow. "Yeah, yeah, I'm twelve now, so you're older than me, whatever. Let's get going."

Rin stepped alongside Oliver, holding her bun and coin in her hands. "Where are we going, exactly?"

"Well, last night you said you only know the alleyways and the streets, and nothing else," Oliver said. "So, seeing as I'll probably be here a while until you finally believe me, I want to explore this place a bit. And you have to come with me since I can't leave you."

"You're still insisting on that?" Rin asked.

"Yes, I am," Oliver nodded. He turned to face her properly. "I'm hoping that you'll believe me after this. I know what you're thinking of me, Rin. You probably think I'm just some rambling homeless kook wanting to get a kick out of you, or just some beggar hoping you'll pity me. But I assure you, Rin, everything I told you last night was true. And I could tell you more on how it works, but you don't believe me. So, I'm hoping after I spend sometime with you, you'll come to understand how serious this is."

Rin didn't know how to respond at first. He seemed too dedicated for this to be an act, but then again, there was always a first for everything. But still, he hadn't abandoned her after she turned down his explanation last night, and that must have meant he was being serious. Or just persistent.

It didn't matter. Rin had been alone for her entire life, scavenging and stealing for survival, and even though she had met so many people in that time, this was the only person who was willing to spend time with her, willingly or not. The only person she had wished to see again, even after he rambled on nonsense.

I'll take it, Rin told herself. Fake or not, I'll go with it.

"Fine," Rin said after a while, "whatever. As long as we don't get killed, I'm fine with it. You're going to protect me, right?"

Oliver gave her a curious look, but eventually sighed, walking forward. "Sadly, I've got no choice. Let's get going."