“So, are we there yet?”

Aurora ignored the question as she drive away in the car. There was no point in answering this question since it had been asked thrice in the past fifteen minutes.

“No Mary. We are not there yet and we will not reach our destination until a few hours have passed.”

Rita answered the question with the same tired sigh that Aurora wanted to give. She was tired of that question and the child’s endless energy. Did Mary never get tired and fall asleep?

Aurora wanted to wake up Astoria and hand the driving over to her but the elder looked too peaceful to wake up. It made Aurora not want to disturb her.

And the result of that decision was to curb the child’s curiosity about their destination.

“Alright. I understand.”

Finally, it seemed as if Mary was willing to listen and be quiet now. But the silence was not to last long.

It was a mere five minutes later when Mary opened her mouth with a familiar question.

“Sooooo, are we there now?”

And the conversation begins anew. Personally, Aurora was sure that the child would calm down and not ask this question if she was ignored one or two times.

But Rita was not one to ignore anyone talking to her. And she was not above carrying on a one-sided conversation either.

And when she was egged like this by a child then there was no chase of Rita staying quiet.

“Rita, come over here and take up driving. It will be good practice for you since the road is empty anyway.”

Since they had left at an awkward time, the traffic on the road was non-existing. Maybe that was why Aurora felt as if it was safe to hand the car over to Rita.

“A-Are you sure this is something we should be doing? I am not the safest driver we have and -“

“You are also the only driver we have. Just come here and drive. I want to take a nap right now.”

It has been a long time since Rita had shown this fragileness about herself. Aurora was surprised to see herself this shy in front of a stranger.

But Aurora was bone tired right now as well. She did not know why she was feeling lethargic. The longer she drove, the more tired Aurora got.

“Do you want me to try driving? I am sure I can-“

“No. I’ll drive inside. I’m afraid your feet will not even reach the paddle if you decide to drive.”

Mary gave an angry huff but she settled down quietly. Even the child knew what kind of ridiculous offer she was making in front of the two elders.

Aurora quietly changed seats with Rita and settled down into her seat. It was just comfortable enough for Aurora to fall asleep but her head was at an awkward angle.

It was sure going to hurt when she woke up but her body chose sleep over the pain it was potentially going to feel.

Everything felt alright for a few minutes. Sleep was catching up with Aurora when she felt the car jolt and her body went crashing into the front seat.

“Sorry, my bad. I accidentally pressed the wrong paddle and stopped the car. I just wanted to slow down and change gears.”

Aurora rubbed her nose against the seat. Why had she trusted Rita with driving again?

“Rita, get out of the seat. Let me take over driving now.”

Astoria was awake as well and her eyes had a mean look. Aurora wanted to stop her from taking the wheel but one look was all it took for Aurora to change her mind.

Well, none of them were going to die even if the car crashed so it should be alright for Astoria to drive.

No matter how bad her mood was, surely Astoria would drive respectfully and not try to crash them-“

That was the wrong thing to think. Aurora felt her body jolt due to the new speed their car had picked up.

Forget being careful, Astoria was breaking at least breaking 5-6 laws by going at her current speed.

“I…am…feeling…dizzy.”

Mary’s complaint was not out of the blue. The child did look sick and on the verge of hurling her breakfast. This fast speed did not agree with her stomach.

Neither did it agree with Aurora’s but she knew she had to hold it in. Astoria was not sane right now and agitating her any further would not be a good idea.

“Just sit back and endure it for now. It will be over soon.”

Rita assured from the other side. She looked green in the face as well but she was also enjoying this speed.

Aurora felt her eyes close due to exhaustion taking over her. She knew she should not sleep but her body made that decision for her.

The next time she opened her eyes, they had reached their destination.

===========================

Aurora opened her eyes carefully, her hands reaching out to touch her surroundings.

It took Aurora a second to realize that she was reassuring herself that she was still alive and well. Things had come down to that, huh?

‘To think that even the abyss didn’t scare me this much. Note to oneself: Do not go on a car ride with Astoria when she is in a bad mood.’

“So you are finally awake Aurora? I was afraid that we lost you back there for a second.”

The first person Aurora saw after waking up was Rita. The younger was sitting at Aurora’s bedside, her eyes almost vacant of any light in them.

The car ride seemed to have taken a toll on her as well.

“Looks like we are alive and made it to our destination. Where are we right now?”

The first thing Aurora did after waking up was to get check on the situation. It was important to know how things were progressing with them being here and all.

“We were stationed in a nearby hotel. Noctus wanted to take us to the royal palace as soon as possible but I declined the invite on your behalf. I don’t think it is safe to move around when we have Mei after us.”

Rita was right and the decision was also right on her end.

A person could give away a lot by their facial expressions. And it was even more dangerous to lie in front of a goddess.

If Mei interrogated the royal family and the court about Aurora and the others, lying would not work.

“You did well. So, where are our other two members?”

Aurora asked, only to be met with a mischievous grin on Rita’s face. This was one Rira usually had when she was thinking about sexual stuff in her mind.

“Rita, no. I am not in a mood right now.”

“Awww, come on and let me play with you for a bit. Astoria and Mary are just outside but I’m sure they won’t mind us doing some kissing and-“

“Don’t you sare. I am not in the mood to see you both being gross right now. Don’t forget that we are sharing living quarters right now.”

“Right. And you cannot do this in front of a child as well. I am a kid and I don’t want to see you being gross.”

Aurora pushed Rita away as soon as she heard the young voice.

Aurora had no problem being close to Rita in front of Astoria since the elder was used to it. But Mary was a separate case.

The child was too young and innocent to be seeing these things.

“Tsk, stop ruining my fun with Aurora whenever you want to. You could just have waited outside for me and let me have my fun first.”

Although Rita complained a bit, she did back down pretty easily after those complaints. Aurora could see that Rita was in a playful mood which meant that things were going alright for now.

“Yes, I heard you Rita but fun time is over. First of all, someone gives me a summary of what happened and what we should do next. Then, we can discuss our next course of action.”

Aurora laid out what she wanted to hear and it did not take long for Astoria to recap what had happened.

They had arrived in the Eastern Capital not long after Aurora had fallen asleep. The person they were supposed to meet had given the option of the royal palace or outside.

Astoria had chosen the ‘outside’ option since Mei was an ever-present threat to them. And now here they were, in their temporary abode in a foreign land.

“So, what should we do next? I did ask the man to pass Noctus a message but it might take a long time before we can meet him.”

Aurora knew that it was a possibility. But there were a few more things one who visited the Eastern Continent the first time should do.

“Well, I think we should enjoy ourselves for now. How does a trip to the temple sound to you all?”