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a Lucy is born in Geb
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Cool. They can start heading back, then. 

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Since they already have a pretty good idea of what the route they took down looks like, Seelah leads them on a slightly more westerly path back towards the defender's heart. It probably won't make that much of a difference, but it's probably not particularly more dangerous than the alternative and she doesn't want to halve her chances of coming across someone who needs help. Eventually this leads to them coming in on the market square itself from the south; they're not too far from the temple of Iomedae where Luzai tried to take shelter, actually, but even from this distance the structure looks to be in a lot worse shape than it did two days ago.

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Luzai hisses semi-involuntarily. 

"I hope the children are all right..." 

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"They would have been the first ones out in an evacuation, but other than the Defender's Heart I'm not sure there's anywhere in the city that's all that safe to evacuate to."

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"It can't be impossible to get out of the city entirely. We haven't seen enough corpses for the reduced population density."

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"Let's hope they managed it, then."

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As they make their way through the square, it becomes apparent that not all the children in the city managed to make it out. Thankfully, in this case the realization comes from a young elven girl laboriously trying to pick her way through a pile of rubble nearby what used to be a bakery.

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!!!

"Are you alright?" Luzai calls. She wants to run over, but after glancing at her brother she does not break away from the group where any invisible demon could take a swing at her unprotected body. 

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"I'm not hurt, just a little hungry."

As if on cue, her stomach rumbles, and she carefully continues digging.

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"You should come back to the Defender's Heart with us," Luzai coaxes. "It's safer there, and there's food." 

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"I don't have any money, so I can't buy food at an inn."

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"That's okay. I have money, I'll buy it for you." She's not going to blow all the money from Horgus Gwerm on spell scrolls and other tempting tidbits--if she saves up enough, she might be able to buy a headband eventually--but it is a lot of money, and even with the city under siege if not outright occupied, food still isn't that expensive. 

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The girl looks at Luzai with an odd intensity, but whatever she sees seems to satisfy her since she stops pushing aside rocks and stands up. Now that they're no longer occupied with digging her arms and hands are obviously badly burned, but the scars are old.

"Thank you."

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"--What happened to your hands?" It was probably a demon. 

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"They got burned when I was younger."

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"I'm sorry to hear that." And she is not going to probe any further! There is absolutely no need to make this weird! "My name is Luzai Seshka." 

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A crow flutters over to land on her shoulder.

"I'm Ember, and this is my friend Soot."

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Thoooooose are sure some interesting names given the burn scars. "Hello, Soot," she says, nodding politely to the crow. 

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Soot nods slightly, as though she understood Luzai's words, but the only response they vocalize is a caw.

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Camellia is also mostly paying attention to Soot, but her expression is mostly that of someone trying to figure out a puzzle.

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"Hm? Is something the matter?"

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"I don't think that's an ordinary crow."

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“—Seelah, is Soot evil—“

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"I'm not sensing anything from either of them."

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“Okay good. —If a demon had killed and impersonated your friend, that would obviously be very bad,” she explains to Ember.

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