After some research, I had settled on a small ‘Wild Park’ located right on the outskirts of the 17th district, in Clichy. According to reviews, it was well-guarded, clear of monsters, and only occasionally experienced unnatural phenomena like sudden weather changes or irregular day-night cycles.

At first, Cain had been super excited to finally be outside. He’d run around exploring every alleyway, and checking every bush (what for I had no idea), but after nearly getting hit by a car, then a bike, he started walking closer and closer to me. By the time we arrived at the border of Paris proper, the only thing that would have made us look more like siblings or cousins on a walk was holding hands, which neither he nor I were too keen on.

“Next!” A bored clerk called us, as we reached the cordon that ran around the city.

Building a wall around Paris would have been a very ambitious and costly project. But this city was home to so many cultural landmarks, as well as our dearest president, so some measures had to be taken. A ring-road had been built on an elevated bridge around the whole city. It not only facilitated transport in and out of the city-proper, but also served as the perfect foundation to build watchtowers, and expand runic barriers.

Here, MP was still expendable, as many workers were eager to get paid thousands for sitting in a chair all day, or walking small rounds around the motorway while their magical power was slowly drained away by the barrier. These types of barriers also existed in peripheral towns. However, as the roads spread out like cobwebs further into the countryside, these MP-powered barriers became rarer and rarer, as they got replaced with the cheaper alternative of single-use shield artefacts. Many more remote places, like the town Cain had come from, didn’t even bother with that.

“We’re both S rankers.” I told the clerk as I approached their desk.

I hadn’t been here before, but thankfully instructions were printed out on a banner above the desk. They simply said: ‘State rank’. A smaller font told us that this gate was closed between 10 and 6, and that if we needed to cross, we would need to go through a larger gate, but that these rules did not apply to local residents.

The clerk looked at us with a bored expression. One of their eyes lit up with green energy. Their eyebrows moved upwards ever so slightly as they let out a small, surprised ‘huh’. Then, they gestured for us to go through.

Getting into the Wild Land itself didn’t prove to be much more difficult. The guards tried to give Cain a small tracking bracelet, in case I’d lose him. He didn’t verbally protest, but his expression told me enough that I found myself convincing the guards that we didn’t need it since we were both S rankers. Of course, I did not specify that I was a courier, and would not know what to do if Cain got lost, nor did I go into details as to why I thought it was virtually impossible for him to get lost.

In the end, the guards gave up, after being laughed at by the two grandmas who were waiting in line after us. We passed the security gate, and after crossing under the wall surrounding this Wild Land, we found ourselves in a lush park-like forest.

I had to stop to catch my breath, as it was hard not to feel impressed. The pathway we’d followed opened onto a plaza with a flower garden in its centre. Each flower was more colourful than the next, with yellows, reds, oranges, blues and greens growing along one another to form the image of a ship surrounded by lilies.

Four roads, including the one we had just come from, ran from the plaza. Two of them dove deep into a pine-tree forest, while the other ran up a small, clearly artificial hill.

“Are you just going to stand there?” Cain’s voice snapped me back to reality.

“You should take some time to admire the view.” I answered sarcastically. “Look at those pretty flowers.”

“Eh.” He shrugged off, before heading down the more empty-looking of the two forest roads.

“Wait!” I called out. “Let’s go the other way.”

Although I had braved my fear and entered a Wild Land, I was not going to walk right into this dense forest where a monster could easily hide. The image of one of the trees morphing into a mandrake suddenly appeared in my mind, and I shook my head, trying to forget it.

“Are you scared of trees?” Cain asked as he returned to my side.

“How did walking in the city make you feel?” I retorted.

Cain looked away, with an annoyed or upset expression. I put a hand over my hip, patiently waiting for an answer.

“At first it was alright. But then it became too unpredictable. There were too many threats to keep track of, and it just seemed to never end. Every time I got a second of – never mind that!” He suddenly interrupted himself with an angry exclamation. “What does that have to do with you and trees.”

“I also find them unpredictable. Easy to hide behind, especially for a monster.”

“But you navigated the city so easily, you never stopped to think about your route, or the dangers around you.”

I expected his tone to once more be one of annoyed, disgusted or arrogant. But instead, Cain sounded genuinely curious. I relaxed my position, and gestured for him to follow me down the third road, as I explained:

“I have lived all my life in that environment. It is extremely familiar to me. To the point where I register ‘dangers’ as you put them without having to directly look at them. I know spots where cars are likely to go fast, and I know when to give way to other people and when they need to give way to me. It’s a lot of small things that you get used to over time. You will stop noticing them, and perceiving them as dangers after a while.”

Cain nodded, seeming to understand.

“You have skills that help you then.” He concluded.

“No! Did you not listen to what I have just said?”

“But that’s impossible! How can you ever get used to that feeling of being constantly followed and never alone? There were always eyes on me. They were all watching, scrutinising. It’s just like back at that lab, except there they were fewer, and always the same ones.” He pressed his lips together and shook his head.

I nodded sympathetically. It always felt like that in crowds. One could get used to it, but this feeling of being watched and judged for the smallest mistake never went away.

“People aren’t looking at you as much as you think.” I tried to comfort him. “Everyone’s way too preoccupied with their own problems. Plus, if they do look in our direction, they will be much more likely to notice me and my stunning looks.” I joked.

“Yeah, as if.” Cain scoffed but failed to conceal a faint smile on his face. My plan seemed to have worked.

While we were talking, we had walked a fair bit away from that plaza. This path ran along the wall delimiting the edge of the Wild Land, with a few benches scattered here and there. I could see trees starting to pop up along the path further ahead, but thankfully it branched off before that. Worst case scenario, I could always take a seat at one of the benches and let Cain run around in the forest because he of all people didn’t risk much.

A large butterfly flew up from a neighbouring bush, and towards me.

“Aww,” I let out a surprised noise. I hadn’t expected there to be regular insects in a place like this.

But, that had been the wrong move, as the butterfly noticed me and flew in my direction. As it got closer and closer, its wings unfolded on themselves, like fractals, until it was almost the size of my face.

I yelped and jumped back.

The insect changed its trajectory, and headed towards the other side of the path, as it slowly shrank back in size.

Right by my side, Cain scoffed at me with an amused expression.

“Is this what you meant when you said you needed protection?” He added with a bemused tone.

I shook my head and ignored him, as I continued walking. But a shiver did run down my spine, as I imagined the insect eating my face off. That was the moment I decided that unless I really, really, have to, I will never step foot in a Wild Land again. But unlike me, Cain didn’t seem to be over the incident.

“No, wait up. I’ll take care of it for you.” He said, with that same mean tone.

I turned around and watched him run off the path, after the butterfly.

“Don’t go killing off random animals they-”

I paused, as I saw him stop in his tracks.

He kneeled down and ran his hand over the grass. He had that same expression on his face as when he'd come to the apartment and stared out the window. I couldn’t quite place the expression, but it did make my chest feel tight. It made me feel bad for him. I wondered how long this poor kid had been stuck in that horrible prison of concrete and glass.

“It has rained not long ago.” He said, still crouching over the grass. “But I didn’t see the rain.”

“It didn’t rain outside.” I confirmed. My voice came out uncharacteristically quiet and flat. “Wild Lands are like isolated biomes, they don’t always follow the rules of the outside world.”

“Strange…” He muttered.

Then, he got up, as if he suddenly got filled with purpose. Before I had the time to tell him to leave that butterfly be, he had already run off into the part of the park where the grass hadn’t been cut, and the bushes hadn’t been trimmed.

I watched disapprovingly, as I thought about all those grass stains that wouldn’t wash off.