The Four Of Them

"Mom, look! There's a dragon!" Exclaimed a child while tugging his mother's hand to go to the village square, where there were already many people who had gathered to join in watching a street magic show.

'Legend of the Moonstone', was the title written on the small sign on the side.

"Then the water dragon and fire dragon had a big fight over the moon." The narrator exclaimed suddenly, causing every kid who heard it to have a slight heart attack--also got the heat and splashed with water too because the two dragons that were mentioned were indeed circling fabulously in front of them.

While the moon, who sits sadly beside the scene, actually looks very… fake. Contrary to the real magical dragons, the cheap costume for its character was not so well made.

"But seeing his two friends fighting over him, even the moon felt very sad. So he decided to go far into the sky." Said the narrator again.

"If you look up at the sky, you should know that I'm always watching you two--" Said the moon, though he stopped for a moment because he seemed to hear some kid saying that his costume was ugly.

"...Because the three of us are friends." He forcefully continued. "That's why I want you to have this stone. So that if you need anything, I promise to lend you my strength. Any time."

"And so the moon finally left, while the two dragons could only sit staring at the sky every time they missed him. Finished."

Clap, clap! Then everyone started clapping. Though the story was a little questionable, real magical dragons were already enough to impress all the kids.

"Thank You! Thank You!" Said the man who's going around to collect money.

"Mama, but how come the moon looked so weird?" Said a child.

"Ssh! Just quickly give the money to that big brother." Interrupted the mother.

But the man chuckled and then knelt down slowly in front of the child. "Then next time you come to watch again, I promise you we'll bring the most beautiful moon you'll ever see!" He said, trying to cheer him up.

"Then I'll come again! Right, mama?" Said the kid to his mother. And after the mother smiled, he finally put the money into the pouch. "Bye!"

"Hh, look at Mika." Said Arran, the moon who had been resting on the side already. "He definitely made a nonsense promise again to the kids."

"Why? Just leave him be." Leyna replied, the narrator who actually looked happy by the result. "That way we can have more motivation to make a better story... And better costumes too." She continued, while glancing at the moon costume that had been draped without the wearer.

"That's why I said that instead of a doll like that, it's better to make a casual god costume." Arran replied. "Why the hell did we make a doll when none of us can make good costumes?!"

"Well, because most kids like dolls." Mika answered, the man who collected the money earlier. "Plus, wouldn't the kids like it better if it looked cute?"

"Yes, if the costume is really cute. This one is definitely not." Replied the actor bitterly. Although in the end he could only sigh, because he already knew there was no point in talking about humor with Mika. Their humor clearly doesn't match.

"But where is Aria by the way? Wasn't she collecting money with you?"

"There." Leyna replied first, while directing her gaze towards the woman who was crouching in front of the fountain. While smiling happily, she looked like she still enjoyed showing her water magic to some little kids.

"Come to think of it, do people who can do magic all like kids?" She suddenly continued to Mika. "You and Aria are like that."

"But you like them too." Replied Mika.

"Not as sincere as you two. I just like them when they're happy, but not when they're being noisy."

"Or when they say something hurtful with their innocent faces." Arran added as well, remembering the children's comments from earlier and all of them laughing bitterly altogether.

But after a few moments, Arran continued again, "But Mika, by the way your fire dragon was also less good than Aria's dragon. Rather than a dragon, yours was more like a snake. A fat one even."

"Hey, you can't compare my magic with Aria's." Mika replied slightly laughing. "You know Aria is very detailed in handling her magic."

"Yeah, he's right." Added Leyna too. "Even though Mika's magic is stronger, Aria is always better at making it look… What's the common term the nobles like to use? Artistic?" She said, which was then followed by Mika's nod.

But after that, Mika was busy counting the money again from his pouch. And as expected, there really wasn't much. "Speaking of nobles, we'll do it again tonight, right?"

"..." Leyna and Arran were silent at first, but then Leyna answered first. "Of course. We've already prepared everything after all. I even fixed your clothes."

"How about my shoes?" Mika asked again.

"Sure, sure. I've glued it."

But while Mika and Leyna were talking about that, Arran took a while to join in. "Hey… When are we going to tell Aria about it? We can't hide it forever, you know."

"..." And this time it was Mika and Leyna who were silent for a while. "Well, as I said, when we are convinced Aria would join us, then we could tell her." Mika finally answered.

"In my opinion, even if she doesn't join us, we should still tell her." Said Arran again. Because of his careless nature, Arran is actually the person who suffered the most when he should be hiding a secret like this. Even Mika, who is not an actor, looks better at putting on a poker face than him.

"It's not like she'd say it to anyone else anyway." He added. "We've known her all our lives!"

For a moment, Mika and Arran looked at each other as if arguing telepathically. But then Mika turned her gaze to Leyna, asking for a confirmation. "You think so too?"

Being asked that, Leyna looked back at Aria who was still playing magic around the fountain. Even though they all grew up together, for some reason only Aria could still smile like that in such a harsh life.

But if Aria got involved in their secret activities too, Leyna was afraid that her smile would disappear, like the three of them did.

"Whether you're aware or not, Aria did realize that we're hiding something from her, you know. So before she catches us--in the worst case timing, I do think we should tell her first." Leyna finally said. "But just tell her. Because I don't want her to join us."

Not happy with her opinion, Mika furrowed his brows sadly. "But… But if we tell her and she doesn't come, do you think we can still do our magic shows? We most likely won't!"

"...Then maybe it really is time to end it." Replied Arran sourly. "To be honest putting on shows like this isn't fun anymore."

"What…?" Mika immediately had a shocked expression on hearing that, so he turned back to Leyna, expecting a different reaction. But it turned out that Leyna was silent and did not deny that.

"...There isn't much money either." Leyna said.

"But… I thought we're not doing this for money." Mika said in a sad voice.

"What? How could it not be for money?" Arran replied who then stood up. "What are thieves like us for--"

"Ssh! Stop it!" Cut Leyna suddenly. "Aria is coming here."

"Sorry guys, I ended up taking so long." The girl with long hair said cheerfully. Unlike the others, her brown hair looked so shiny under the sunlight. Though maybe it was also because of her moony hair clip. "The kids just kept pulling my clothes."

"Ah, this is the money…" But not even a second later, Aria then realized that the atmosphere between Arran and Mika looked weird. "...Is there something--"

"Here, add everything." Leyna immediately interrupted while quickly grabbing Mika's pouch and closing in on Aria. "We'll just count them all while looking for dinner." She continued, then pulled Aria away from the two boys.

"Did they fight or something?" Aria whispered quietly.

"Just the usual. Mika makes fun of Arran's acting, and Arran makes fun of Mika's magic." Answered Leyna with a laugh. "They'll make up somehow."