Bounty

"Weird guy, calling these jars 'his' babies," Minnie said and took one last glance at him before entering the compartment area of the wagon.

"So where was I?"

"Ah! I need to fall asleep!" Minnie said and set in action as soon as she put her mind to it.

But not even a minute passed and she was already distracted by the same note that she found lying on the floor under her blanket which was emitting gold specks of dust that were similar to its origin.

"What is happening?" Minnie's face turned curious as she watched the contents of the letter disappear and then be slowly replaced by the same magical gold ink, only with different contents that she could not seem to be able to read anymore.

"Ugh! What is it with fantasy worlds and their sudden language barrier?? Hello, Aphrodite? We were just doing fine earlier, weren't we?" Minnie said and rolled her eyes before shoving the scroll down onto her little short's pocket.

"Huh, shorts? No wonder you froze to death, Mingzie. Why are you even wearing short shorts and crop tops in a freaking winter?" Minnie talked as if she would not do the same if only she landed on the wrong job instead of becoming a detective.

"Oh, you have a nice pair of watermelons, I see… good for you," Minnie's face turned sour while taking notes of the big differences that her new body has to offer.

"No wonder she was desperate to switch places with me immediately," Minnie said with a dry laugh before shaking her head to get her focus back to her original mission.

"Right, memories. I need to take a look at your full memories again, sister, and see just what exactly I need to do in order to bring us both back into our proper places," she said with determination.

"Please show me exactly just what I need to know so I can plan my next step immediately-"

"Oh, and no need to be too detailed about it, just the basics will do!" Minnie excitedly said before shutting her eyes.

And then, straight to sleep she goes.

***

"Could it be…?"

"Nah, that would be too farfetched, that girl was already declared dead ten days ago, there's no way for a corpse like that to look as healthy as Minnie is right now. And besides, when I found her, her heart was already beating just fine. I think she just got hypothermia after getting hit by a rock or something on her head because she couldn't move," Lyionel debated with himself while pacing back and forth in front of the grill he made where he was cooking their breakfast.

"But getting hit by a rock and laying down in the cold normally wouldn't be enough to knock out someone, right? Especially someone with powerful magic like her. So what exactly happened back there? And who is she to even own powers that can easily surpass mine?" Lyionel's lips turned upside down as he felt his heartbeat starting to race faster on the inside.

"The banished blue flame. You're suspecting it's her, right?" a little boy's voice swept across Lyione's shoulders.

"Geez, Norman!!!" Lyionel greeted after being spooked by the animal spirit's arrival, "Where have you been?!"

"That's not important," the cheeky baby panda said and flew to his embrace.

"What do you mean not important, of course it is! Your master here almost died three times while you were gone, you know?"

"But you're still here, Master," Norman said with a serious expression that made Lyionel look like a whining kid to his companion.

"Tsk, you're still stuck up as ever, I see," Lyionel rolled his eyes.

"And I see that you have found yourself yet in another trouble, a big one judging from the size of her mana, am I right?" Norman said while staring at the overly concentrated force that was seeping through the wagon.

"Is it really that bad?" Lyionel asked with concern while letting his embrace go.

"Only enough to put a bounty on our heads, I believe," Norman shrugged as if it was not a big deal.

"B-Bounty? What is she? A supernova or something!?" Lyionel laughed nervously while thinking about how bad it would be for his image to get blamed for kidnapping a star.

"Could be. But her lack of control is taking me out. Maybe she's just an aspiring star from a great family, who knows," Norman sighed and went to rest on Lyionel's left shoulder.

"O-Or blue flame! She has blue hair, you know?" Lyionel suggested hastily.

"Not every blue-headed girl is the blue flame, Master. And if even she was, why do you think she's not hiding her magic?"

"Because she forgot how to?" Lyionel insisted.

"Or because that girl just doesn't know how to control it in the first place," Norman shook his fluffy head against his owner.

"So what are we going to do now?" Lyionel said with a defeated pout.

"You can either return her or train her or use her powers if you want, but if you choose the latter you should be prepared to face the worst."

"Getting bounties, I know. But that's too bad. I can't return her just yet. I just gave half of my energy to her because she was dying."

"You did what?!" the usually calm Norman suddenly snapped at his master, "You know you're going to lose half of your lifeline to her if you do that, right?!"

"Yes, and she might die without stable support if I take it out of her immediately!" Lyionel answered in a panic.

"Hmm, that's right. Her mana does seem a little too unstable as of the moment. And that is also exactly why she could not possibly be the blue flame, Master," Norman calmed down and said while staring at him proudly, "She's obviously an amateur with magic."

"Makes sense," Lyionel approved and patted Norman's head quickly before proceeding back to his duty of cooking their breakfast.