Olivia was starting to regret not going to the rollerblade race, because whatever she and Ericka were doing right now, there wasn't a whole lot of 'finding Hydra or Centaur' involved.

As Ericka stood on the roadside, squinting at her Liaiser while holding it up against various backdrops, Olivia leaned back against one of the planter boxes, rolling the wheels of her rollerblades back and forth across the ground.

They'd been at this for what felt like hours. Hours. They hadn't found Ericka's "friend" who'd taken the photo, despite Ericka insisting that they were, indeed, friends when Olivia called it into question. Instead, Ericka had come up with the idea of trying to figure out where the photo was taken from, which had led them here.

If Olivia were being honest, they were completely out of place. Sylrael--especially central Sylrael --was where all the official government stuff came out of. Everyone who walked past them wore suits and held briefcases, hurrying along the sidewalk with their heads down and a frown creasing their forehead as they looked to their Liaisers. Had any one of them bothered to look up, Olivia had zero doubt that she and Ericka would have been accused of loitering.

Ericka nudged Olivia to get her attention. "Okay, but look, doesn't this building kinda look like the one in the back corner of the photo?"

Olivia flicked her fringe off her face, glaring at the overhanging branch of the tree in the planter box she was leaning against when her hair caught in it. She sighed and ran her fingers through to fix it. "Rikky, all these buildings look the same for the next two blocks."

"Look though, there's three windows here instead of two, which would mean..." Ericka turned ninety degrees to the right, angling her Liaiser with the zoomed in photo still on the screen, "...This photo was taken from somewhere over there! He must live or work or something over there!"

Olivia gave her a look. "You realise how close this comes to stalking, right, Rikky?"

Ericka waved her off. "It's not stalking when you're friends."

"You're friends, yet you don't know where he lives, what he does for work, what his name is--"

Ericka lowered her Liaiser and narrowed her eyes at Olivia. "I'm starting to think you don't want to find out about Hydra or Centaur."

"Ah yes," said Olivia, gesturing around the streets with an exasperated wave. "Because we're finding out so much right now."

"I never said it was going to be easy!" said Ericka. She pushed off and rolled a few metres, then rolled her eyes as Olivia didn't move from the planter box. "Fine. You stay there. I'm going to go talk to him and find out if he knows anything."

"What," said Olivia. "You're just going to knock on some random house and ask if they took a picture of some Luminaries the other day? Do you know how many temple people live in this area? Do you realise how much trouble we'll get in if they think we're trying to find out Luminary identities?"

"Well they aren't Luminaries anymore!" said Ericka, just a little too loudly. Olivia winced, glancing around to see if anyone heard. Ericka just laughed. "Is Olive scared that she's gonna get in trouble? You're the one that always wants to sneak around and go in races, and the first time this actually might be interesting you're just--"

Mid-sentence, the sound of bells cut Ericka short.

Ericka's eyes went wide with excitement. A spike of nerves shot through Olivia, but in spite of herself, she found herself looking at Ericka as at the exact same time, they said:

"Manifested!"

The sound of bells was familiar to anyone who'd lived in the City, but it was rare that they were this loud. Loud meant close--and as the chime ended, Olivia began to realise exactly what that meant.

"Rikky!" said Olivia, glancing down the streets, half expecting a Manifested to be charging straight towards them. "We gotta go! Three block rule, remember?"

"Three block--are you kidding?" said Ericka, throwing a hand out to the side. "Liv, we can see the Luminaries in action. Like, we can be the ones recording the videos, not the ones watching them!" She was already moving down the street before she finished the sentence, pausing only for a moment to yell back at Olivia. "Come on!"

"Rikky--Ericka!" called Olivia, but it was like trying to keep a Goblin away from something shiny--it was never going to happen.

Olivia turned to leave. The last time she'd seen Luminaries 'in action', she'd been thirteen and had spent the following months in and out of hospital for her head injury. It wasn't like keeping Ericka out of trouble was her responsibility. It wasn't even the first time Ericka had ditched her to try and go Lumi hunting--but it was the first time that Olivia had been in a position to make Ericka didn't get into additional trouble.

Olivia glanced back. Ericka had rounded the corner, and Olivia could no longer see her friend.

Ericka wasn't her responsibility, no. Yet Olivia knew that if she left and something happened, she'd spend the rest of her life regretting that decision.

Olivia pushed off and sped down the street, the same way Ericka had gone.

She didn't have to be a hero, didn't have to do anything that would change the course of history. She just had to keep her friend out of danger, convince her to back off a block or two if things got too dangerous. She'd seen enough Luminary interviews to know that the Lumis appreciated those civilians who helped indirectly, the ones who helped keep the streets clear during a battle, the ones who ensured doors were unlocked and nearby buildings were evacuated.

That's what she'd do. She'd help by making sure that Ericka didn't.

Olivia turned the corner at a speed that would probably give her parents a heart attack. Her blades skidded on the starstone street. She kept them under herself easily, balancing out and dodging the small crowd streaming out of the nearby buildings.

One of the women in the crowd stepped in front of Olivia, catching her by the arm. "Did you not hear the bells? The Other has--"

"I have to get my friend!" said Olivia, pointing towards the frizzy-haired figure of Ericka. "She's--um, going the wrong way."

The woman's mouth set in a hard yet understanding line. "May Skypillar watch over you."

"I don't see why he'd bother this time," Olivia muttered after the woman released her and rejoined the crowd.

The second chime of the bells rang out by the time Olivia caught up to Ericka. She'd stopped by a corner, her Liaiser out and pointed at the far end of the street.

"Ericka--" began Olivia.

"Livvy, look!" squeaked Ericka, cutting her off. She grabbed Olivia's shoulder, nearly pulling her over in her excitement. "I think that's the Manifested!"

Olivia squinted through her glasses, trying to figure out what Ericka was looking at. There was a small group of people who could have been cornered by a larger, vaguely humanoid figure, but she couldn't be sure, especially when Ericka kept shaking her every few seconds.

"I can't hear Golem yet, so we might get to see DragonFae!" said Ericka. "Imagine her just gliding in, that pretty violet glow--or maybe it'll be Wyvern swooping in, stinging that Manifested with his tail!" Ericka swung her hips, mimicking the way Wyvern whipped his tail. "Or--or Harpy! I think I'd honestly just die if Harpy comes! Imagine how majestic she'd be, with those feathers, and--"

By now, Olivia was pretty sure that was indeed the Manifested, and it was closing in on the cornered people. As Ericka rambled on, one of the trapped people attempted to flee. The Manifested locked onto the runner, pouncing with such speed that Olivia barely realised it'd started moving. It pinned the runner to the ground, leaning in close as the screaming faded into a terrified gurgle.

Olivia grabbed Ericka by the shoulder. "Ericka, we need to--"

Ericka clucked her tongue and tapped the screen of her Liaiser. "Ugh, the zoom isn't clear enough. I can't see what's going on. We need to get closer."

Ericka pushed forward. Olivia tried to pull her back, but only succeeded in being dragged along behind her friend for a few metres before Ericka shook her off.

"Ericka!"

"Stay there if you're worried!" said Ericka with barely a backwards glance.

It didn't take a genius to realise that Ericka wasn't leaving when there was an experience to be recorded--so Olivia changed her strategy. If she couldn't get Ericka to leave willingly, she'd take her Liaiser and force Ericka to chase her. By the time Ericka realised she couldn't catch Olivia, the Luminaries would be here and everything would be under control.

Her plan set, Olivia bladed forward. She didn't move too fast--it'd drawn the attention of the Manifested when its other target had run. She stayed slow, predictable, almost, constantly flicking her gaze between Ericka and the Manifested, which was still crouched over the fallen runner in the streets.

Olivia cursed under her breath as Ericka kept moving forward. It was a small miracle that her friend didn't call out to the Manifested and ask it for an interview, but if left to her own devices for too much longer, it was a bigger possibility than Olivia wanted to admit.

The Luminaries should be here soon. The third chime of the bells was ringing through the air in a vibrant, urgent call to the protectors of the City.

Help, they cried.

We need you, they rang.

Yet as Olivia glanced around, there was no violet glow. No rumble of stone. No telltale screech that signified the heroes had arrived. Only the strange glint of light from the starstone buildings in the corner of her vision that was gone before she could see where it'd come from.

The Manifested finished with the runner.

The runner lay on the starstone street, convulsing in an all too familiar way as the Manfiested stood up and turned its attention to the rest of the group, still cornered. One of them had tried to inch away, but they'd remained, trying to convince the younger girl in the group to come with them. As the Manifested's gaze turned on them, the girl panicked, and in a flash of movement attempted to run to safety.

Olivia saw the Manifested's posture change. She saw it and knew exactly what would happen next if someone else didn't intervene. Another civilian down, another body convulsing in the street, unconscious but alive.

Save them, the bells called.

And before she knew what she was doing, Olivia Lydiasdaughter rollerbladed out straight into the middle of the street towards the Manifested.

*+*+*+*

A/N - The real question now is, did Olivia do Banshee things, or does Banshee just do Olivia things?