The next three days at the Asola's home were both fun and relaxing for Bryce. Sleeping in a more comfortable bed and not hearing others talking or moving things through the halls made it difficult for him to want to get out of bed. Only the smell of a delicious breakfast could do so, which is what Aliana had prepared for everyone in the household.

Around the afternoon, she and Adrian would leave to run some errands and later return to go to work. The weekends were the only days of the week they had off which were soon approaching. But until then, Silas kept him company and the two young Dreamkeepers found plenty of ways to pass the time.

The first day they played with Silas's action figures and the second day they played some games on his datascroll. The third day would be met with the same activities, but first, they decided to just have a nice friendly talk like Bryce enjoys. Silas was the one to begin their talk while they sat in the living room on the couch. “So Bryce, anything you want to talk about specifically?” He had told him that be generally just likes to talk, and that it could be about anything.

“Just stuff in general.” He said tiredly, still digesting the breakfast he had eaten. “Usually talking about something leads to talking about something else and then so on and so forth. It's why I enjoy talks. You never know what will lead from one thing to another.”

Silas bobbed his head in understanding. “Makes sense, and it sounds fun too. What do you want to discuss to get that ball rolling?” Silas was always a little insistent towards what people be befriended enjoyed. It was his way of learning and experiencing new things as well as showing them he was okay with their hobbies and interests.

Bryce pondered for a few moments on what to talk about first. They had already played with plenty of Silas's things so he already had a good idea of what his hobbies were. Then he thought back to what Aliana had told him on their ride to the house: that Silas had a couple of other friends the same age that he hung out with. “Oh! Your mom told me that you had a couple of other friends. Who are they?”

“Ah!” Silas said with some excitement as he gently slapped his forehead. “I can't believe I forgot to mention Valina and Robbie!” Bryce was mildly intrigued to hear that one of his two friends was a girl. His adolescent mind even told him to believe that Silas could have a crush on her or if Robbie did, but he shut that part of his mind off and politely stayed quiet while he listened to what Silas had to say about them. “I met them both in preschool here in Norvondire. Valina, she likes be called Val by her friends, lives just outside the city in the farmlands. Her family grows crops to sell in markets. I hear they may try raising kerricks next year.”

“Well that sounds cool.” Bryce turned himself around on the couch and sat with his legs crossed under him. His interest was piqued and wanted to hear what was going to be said about Robbie next.

“Right?” Silas said astonishingly. “I've seen kerricks before and even petted them a few times, but I never got the chance to ride one. If Val's family does try raising them, maybe I could finally get my chance to do so. Have you ever wanted to try to ride one?”

“Of course I have.” Bryce said casually. “Of all the creatures we use for transportation, I think they're the coolest.” He was getting a little excited to meet Valina and see what else she's like. “What about Robbie? What's he like?”

“Well,” Silas said awkwardly, “He's a pretty shy guy for one thing. Robbie's actually his nickname, his real name's Robert but he doesn't like that name. Thinks it's too 'mature' for someone still his age. I think he only wants to be called that when he's like eighteen or something.”

Bryce chuckled. Robbie sounded like someone he feels like he'd get along with. “What's HIS family like?”

“About that,” Silas said a little more awkwardly than earlier, “It's a bit of a sad story really.” He wanted to tell him but didn't know whether or not he'd make him feel uncomfortable. Aliana had told him not to bring up anything regarding his mother or anything related to the subject for fear of it causing Bryce distress. “Is it okay if I talk about someone else's parents?”

Bryce knew immediately what he was asking of him. Although he did have memories of Naylene enter his mind, no pain or negative emotions presented themselves. Perhaps the past three days of peacefulness and fun have helped keep such things at bay. At least for the time being. “It's alright. You can talk about them.”

Silas was glad to hear that. “Great. Well, I can't promise if what I'm about to tell you WON'T upset you in any way. But, best to get it out there now before you meet him, you know?”

Bryce held up his one hand. “I completely understand.”

“Alright.” Silas took in a calm breath. “See...his mom died a while back.” Bryce figured it might be something like that, but he kept his composure and let him continue. “There was an accident involving a collapsing building. I don't know the whole details on how that happened exactly, but a lot of people got hurt. Some made it out okay, but only she died. It's just been him and his dad ever since.” Bryce could feel sorrow building up in him. He felt like he could imagine what that's like, but also could not imagine it at the same time. The positive vibes were starting to falter and he felt a little queasy in his stomach and tried to block the thoughts out. “He was originally a police officer, but he transferred into the CCA and became a Safety Trooper for better pay. But don't let that fool you, he's a really nice guy both in and outside the CCA. You'd like him too.”

“What's his name?”

“Vincent.” Silas said not noticing Bryce's sudden surprise. “He and Robbie's last name is Decker.” Only now did he notice the surprised look on his face. “What?”

“I met him at the hospital.”

“You met him already?”

“Yeah. He was the trooper who brought me and my mom to the hospital.”

“Wow. Well I guess I don't have to introduce you to him whenever you meet Robbie then.” He chuckled playfully. “He and I like to go out to see Val every other weekend we have off of school. Since tomorrow's Monday however, it'll be a while till then. I don't expect mom and dad to have you attend school so I doubt you'll meet them there. But don't worry, you'll meet them next weekend at Val's farm if my folks are okay with it.”

“I'm sure they would. They've been awfully nice to me and I think getting to hang out and play with a couple others my age would be something they'd allow.”

“I completely believe you on that.” Silas felt glad that they've been able to talk for this long and to lead up to them having something to look forward to. Silas felt pity for Bryce. His compassion for wanting to help others, that he clearly got from both his parents, made him want to do all he could to keep his fellow teenage Dreamkeeper happy. He wanted to introduce his friends to him as soon as he could, but it was almost eating him up inside that he had to wait almost a week to do so.“I'm sure we'll find plenty to do by the time Saturday comes around.”

The boys started to find anything they could to pass the time to make at least the first day go by faster. The first thing they did was simply watch some scrollcasts. The day was still young however and a few hours in front of a datascroll wouldn't necessarily bring next Saturday any closer, but it was a start. They later made themselves a lunch and played with Silas's action figure toys while they continued to let the scrollcast play.

Before they knew it, Aliana had returned home from her shift. Time did indeed fly by from the fun they had and they both knew that they would do this again whenever they could. By the time Adrian had returned from his own shift, Aliana had a nice dinner prepared for them. When they had finished, Bryce felt so full that he asked if it was okay if he could go to bed early. Silas asked if he could as well, even though he only wanted to so so the day would end sooner. He really was looking forward to introducing Bryce to Val and Robbie.

The next day, Bryce found himself waking up in the afternoon and meeting only Adrian in the living room drinking a cup of coffee and watching a newscast on the datascroll. Silas had left a few hours earlier for school, and Aliana had dropped him off on her way to work. Adrian informed him that he would be leaving shortly to go to his own shift, but said that he would be home about four hours later. He had a short work shift today so Bryce knew he wouldn't be home alone for too long.

This would be a normal routine for the young fox where Silas would be at school early in the morning, and either Aliana or Adrian would be there to greet him whenever he woke up. True to what Silas believed, the Asolas thought it best to not have Bryce attend school until his condition improved and his mother woke from her coma. Until then, he'd wait at their home until one of them returned, which would be another part of his daily routine while staying with them. This didn't upset Bryce nor did it make Silas feel jealous that he still had to attend school.

By the time Friday came, both Aliana and Adrian had to work the same hours leaving only Silas and Bryce home by themselves until later tonight. The two had bonded more over the past five days and neither felt like they would never not be friends after his amnesia recovered and Naylene had awoken. Each new day felt warmer than the last and Bryce no longer felt like he would feel unhappy, even with his mother still comatose. He had a strong sense of hope that she would wake up and that no matter how long that would take, he would have an amazing family of new friends to be there for him. Whatever the days ahead would have in store for him, he didn't care at this point. All he cared about was looking forward and knowing that someday his old life would be pieced back together and that he would share it with his new one.

***

Elsewhere, in Theophanies, outside a tavern late at night, a hooded figure came strolling up to the entrance and leaned up against the wall right next to it outside. A few minutes passed as they remained in their spot not moving, clearly waiting for someone or something to appear. Once they saw a green female two-tailed jackal exit the tavern, they made a fake cough to signal her over. The two then began to walk down the street lamp lit sidewalk as the jackal spoke to the hooded figure while not looking at them directly. “So, I take it you're ready to go?”

“Yeah.” The hooded figure was revealed to be female and had black fur on her arms and tail. “The knossus fiasco only yielded two results. No one died, thank the Spirits, but a few got hurt. That really upset her this time around since that didn't happen the first time we tried it. I'll keep it shelved as a backup, but hopefully this next incident we cause will present far more results. I think we've laid low long enough and should move on to the next phase.”

The jackal's ears stood straight up. “Then does that mean you're ready to use HIM?”

“Yeah.” The hooded woman pulled out her hand and looked at her palm. She then gripped it into a fist. “And if it works, then we'll be that much closer to preparing Anduruna and her people.”

The jackal scoffed a little. “I take it she was against it again though right?”

“Of course she was.” She put her hand back in her pocket. “She still doesn't want to be involved in any of the dirty work that you and I are doing, but she still believes in the cause. Once Anduruna understands we won't have to do this anymore...and I hope that day comes soon.”

The jackal looked out towards the Sabbaton Towers. “We gonna hit Norvondire again?”

“Yes.” The hooded woman looked towards the Towers as well. “And then soon we'll move on to them.”