Duval – Marketplace
As soon as Rhea boarded the train, Alvin focused exclusively on his work. He didn't want a chance for his mind to wander. He didn't want his emotions to once again overtake his judgment. Yurgen was very appreciative of him doing so, but he was working too hard even for him to keep up with. He was becoming mechanical. For two days straight, he did nothing but work. Not once did he consider eating or sleeping. His exhaustion finally finally caught up to him when he was looking over inventory in the middle of the night. He fell onto the floor with a loud thud as he simply passed out. Next day, Yurgen found his unconscious body. When calling him wasn't waking him up, he had to shake him with some effort.
When he finally did stir, Yurgen once again shouted, "Alvin!"
Alvin glanced at him, completely out of it and asked, "wha? What's going on?"
"I just got word that Kanbalar was just attacked. No one knows what the outcome was."
His eyes widened and he sat right up. After getting over the head rush, he asked him, "do you know of any casualties?"
"I believe there were a few, but it's middle of the night there right now. It's too difficult to tell."
Without hesitation, he pulled out his GHS and called Rhea. He knew that she could take care of herself, but not knowing the situation was putting his worry into overdrive. As the rings ran on, he got to his feet and began pacing similar to a cat trapped in cage. Even after a good minute passed by, he didn't dare to give up. His heart was pounding at the thought of her not answering. With his free hand, he was tousling his hair so much that it became a huge mess. All Yurgen could do at this point was stay out of his way as he watched him in concern. Even though she was no longer at his side, at least he was still working. If she were to truly disappear however, he didn't even want to consider what would happen to his partner.
"Rhea?!" Alvin exclaimed.
Even though she didn't respond right away, her voice came though loud enough for Yurgen to hear. "Hey..." she spoke.
"Where are you? Are you alright? Yurgen just told me about an attack at Kanbalar."
"I'm okay..." With a deep sigh of relief, he sat down right where he was standing. Even though she was trying to hide it, he could hear her crying. Before he could ask her what was causing it, she asked him, "how's work..?"
"It's going."
"The scarf's come in really handy..."
"Heh... Yeah, the weather there is a bit extreme."
For a good few minutes after that, not a word was exchanged between them. She was doing all she could to try stop herself from fully crying and he was trying to think of something to say that wouldn't push her over the edge. What he really wanted to know was what he was the most afraid to ask her.
"I can't stay here any longer..." she barely got herself to say.
His eyes widened at her words and he asked, "what? Why? Wait... Did he do something to you?"
"No... No... It's nothing that severe... I just don't belong here and the more I stay here now that more I'm going to hurt him..."
He couldn't believe his ears. He wanted to tell her to come back to Elympios, but he didn't feel like he had the right. So instead he asked, "what will you do?"
"I don't know... Maybe I'll do what I did before in Elympios but in Rieze Maxia..."
"You mean take pictures?"
"Yeah... And maybe along the way... Just maybe I can find a place I could call home..."
In not like hearing her say that, he told her before he over thought it, "if you don't, come back."
"... What..?"
"Your home is here Rhea..."
"But..."
"You don't have to. Take your time and explore Rieze Maxia. I'm just saying if you can't find a place that fits for you come back."
"Thank you..."
"And anyway... You know... Balan, he misses you..." he told her, rubbing the back of his head.
She chuckled softly, easily understanding who he really meant, and said, "well, you can let him know I miss him too..."
He smiled a bit before telling her, "it's good hearing from you."
"Yeah... Even though it was just a few days, feels like so much longer since the last time we talked..."
"Only thing really different is that you are too far out of my reach right now to tickle you."
After laughing a bit, she told him, "that's the only reason I don't mind being at such a distance."
"Oh really now? Such a statement makes me want to hunt you down and attack when you least expect it."
"But you have work silly boy."
"Yeah yeah..." After that, the conversation died. Neither of the two could think of anything else to say, but neither wanted to hang up either. After a bit if silence he heard her yawn and so he said, "you should get some rest."
"I guess..."
"Heh... I will call you sooner next time, okay?"
"Alright..."
"Good, now be a good girl and go to bed."
"Yes Daddy..." He burst out laughing at that which made her smile. Once his laugh settled, she softly spoke, "good night Alvin..."
"Good night."
He sighed as he ended the call and put his GHS in his pocket. Before he could go into deep thought, a hand came into his vision. He looked up seeing Yurgen handing his hand to him. He took his help and stood up. In knowing his partner was feeling better, Yurgen patted him on the back. Alvin rubbed the back of his head feeling bashful. He had forgotten that he wasn't alone. Yurgen laughed at his pouty state before reminding him about work. After glaring at him for the laugh, he agreed.
Kanbalar – Castle Gaius – Guest Room
Rhea woke up feeling the most energetic she's been in days. Even so, she felt a dark cloud hanging over her head. Before she did anything rash, she knew that she first had to talk to the king. As she was finishing changing her clothes, there was a knock at her door. She simply assumed it was the maid bringing her breakfast. So when she opened the door and saw Gaius, she was surprised. His demeanor was setting off flags and so she quickly moved out of his way. He silently came into the room and crossed his arms. She held her breath as she watched him carefully. It was obvious by how he was acting that he knew more than she thought he did, but she didn't know how much.
"I eavesdropped your conversation last night," he told her, keeping his back to her.
"Oh..." she whispered.
He walked over to the window and looked outside of it asking, "when do you plan to leave?"
"As soon as possible."
"So you mean now, right?"
"If possible."
"You should get your stuff together then."
"I kind of already did before going to sleep last night."
"I see. Allow me to walk you out then, if you're ready."
"Erston..." He glanced over his shoulder, seeing her giving him the deepest bow she could muster. In a softer voice she apologized, "I'm so sorry..."
He uncrossed his arms and approached her. In seeing him come closer, she stood up straight and looked up at him. She frowned at the hurt look in his eyes. He growled and held her tightly. Her arms were pinned between them. If he held her any tighter, he would have snapped a number of her bones. Even though she was in pain, she couldn't just tell him to stop. She felt so horrible for hurting him.
"Must you leave?" he asked quietly.
"Yes..." she barely got herself to answer. Reluctantly, he let her go. She walked over to her materials. As she double checked to make sure she had everything, she told him, "you will find someone Erston, I know it... I didn't want to tell you, but even though I've been here just a few days I already have cabin fever. You will find someone that can be your queen." She rubbed the back of her head, thinking about what she just said. "That sounded really cheesy huh?"
He smiled a bit and admitted to her, "to be honest, I did see this coming. I just didn't really want to admit it."
She thought of something and reached into her pocket. She took the sleeping creature out and handed it to him saying, "here."
He took it surprised and asked, "are you sure?"
She nodded and said, "it's the least I can do. It likes you more than me anyway."
The animal woke up from the exchange and looked up at him tiredly. He stared right back down at it. Once it was more awake, it let out a small bark and began wagging its tail. He smiled and held it against him. Once it was closer, it licked his face happily. The sound of a click confused him however. He looked over at Rhea, seeing that she took a picture of him. She ignored the confusion and just smiled. After a moment he shook his head.
"I guess I should give you something too," he told her.
"Huh? Oh no, not at all," she responding, waving her arms. "I'm still completely in your debt for everything you've done for me."
He moved the creature so that it would sit on his shoulder. He then reached into his pocket saying, "even so, take this. You might need it."
He handed her a dagger. Before she took it, she asked him, "are you sure?"
"Very."
She nodded and took it from him. It looked plain enough until she took off its sheath. It was obvious just from appearance that the blade was incredibly sharp. She put the sheath back on and thanked him for it. She dropped it in her own pocket and picked up her backpack, ready to leave. He nodded in understanding. She followed him out of the room and down the multiple hallways that she would still get lost in if she were walking solo. While walking, they ran into Rowan, who was looking for her. He gave her a knowing smile and handed her a thick paper that was rolled up. She took it and unrolled it seeing that it was a map of Rieze Maxia. She gave him a thanks before he went back to prime minister affairs. After a few minutes, they reached the audience chamber. He knew that she knew the rest of the way from there and if he went any farther, the civilians would take their situation completely wrong. She gave him one more thanks before going over to the door.
Before she opened it, he told her, "let's have a drink again sometime."
She smiled back at him replying, "I look forward to it."
Marksburg – Rieze Inn
Alvin yawned loudly as he sat down on an empty couch. He just got out of a meeting with the Skylark Exchange that lasted for more than two hours. He didn't want to go home quite yet, but also didn't want to be found if possible. After stretching a bit, he took out his GHS. After scrolling through the saved names, he found hers. He instantly remembered the dream he had when he passed out. He sighed once more before calling her. As he listened to the ring, he fiddled with an object that was in his pocket.
"Hey..." Rhea spoke to him through the phone as soon as she answered it.
"How's it going?" he asked her.
"Currently? I'm freezing my ass off."
"Now why would you do something like that?"
"Because after not really doing so much for awhile now, my stamina has gotten bad. I couldn't get nearly as far as I anticipated."
"Wait... Did you really leave?"
"Yeah..."
"Wow... So, where are you now?"
"According to the map Rowan gave me, I'm about half way through the Mon Highlands. I'm in some small cave system."
"Have you explored it yet?"
"No, I just got here. Right now I'm just trying to build a fire so I don't freeze to death."
He frowned and tried to think back to when he went there. In remembering something, he told her, "there should be some tinder somewhere near you if you are where I think you are. Hopefully it'll still be dry."
"Well aren't you mister survivalist."
"Just take a look around. Jude was the one who made the point of putting some to the side in case of emergency."
She chuckled and said, "I can't even imagine traveling with anyone, let alone the number that you did."
"It was a challenge many times..."
"You totally had fun."
"Aw, what do you know?"
"Found it."
"Still dry?"
"Yep."
"Good."
"You sound tired."
"Yeah... Just got out of a meeting that lasted way longer than it should have."
"Did something go wrong?"
"Nah, just very boring."
"There we go..."
"You got the fire going?"
"Yeah, thanks for the help. I guess you could thank Jude for me too."
"So is it night there now?"
"Yeah."
"Can you do me a favor?"
"What is it?"
"When it's light again, go deeper in the cave. You should find an exit that goes to a small area surrounded by the mountains. Elize used to live there. If you can find these large pink flowers, get one for her."
"You really are a kind man, despite what you try to make others believe."
A light blush appeared on his cheeks as he pouted, "ah shut up."
She chuckled a bit before asking, "do you want me to get anything else? I don't mind collecting materials again like I did before."
"Are you serious?"
"Of course."
"That would be amazing."
"Then you got it."
"You really are too good to me."
"I know."
He laughed at how aware she was before he asked, "you must be tired, you going to sleep soon?"
"Yeah, I guess I should."
"Silly girl."
"Yeah yeah."
He smiled and told her, "good night."
"Night..."
He took the GHS away from his ear and ended the call. He sighed as he put it back in his pocket. Before he could even consider what to do now, a familiar floating object came face to face with him. He jumped away, not expecting that at all, and ended up falling onto the floor. As he rubbed the back of his head, the purple item floated to his face again.
"What are you doing here spud?" he asked annoyed.
Teepo grinned as he told him, "we heard everything Little Buddy."
"What do you mean by, 'we'?"
Teepo floated over to the couch next to the one he was sitting on. He frowned deeply as he saw three very familiar females smiling at him. Before he gave them a chance to interrogate him, he stood up and left the inn. He made a beeline straight for the Bridge of Unity. He was hoping, with the amount of people that are always there, he would lose any chance of them finding him. Teepo made things very challenging for him with his ability to float over everything. He knew that there was no chance that he could shake off the puppet with this tactic, but he was hoping that they would eventually give up if he walked far enough. However, the more he tried to get away, the more intrigued they became.
Teepo plopped down on his head telling him, "come on Little Buddy, slow down. You know you won't get away."
He growled and smacked him off his head saying, "leave me alone."
In retaliation, he bit his hand. Getting annoyed now, he shook his arm furiously. Teepo held on for dear life. In wanting to put his full effort into freeing his hand, he stopped walking. In seeing her companion flying around, Elize's eyes widened and she ran up to them. She held onto his arm tightly to stop him. He looked down at her annoyed while she looked at him angry. Leia and Elize shortly caught up. Teepo let him go and floated next to Elize. Alvin tried to get away again, but he couldn't free his arm without hurting her. He let out a sigh of surrender. Still holding onto his arm, Elize led him through the rest of the bridge to the Elympios end. He then brought him over to a bench. She sat down on it which made him do the same.
He groaned lightly in annoyance and muttered, "what do you want?"
"To know what exactly is going on," Leia answered, standing in front of him.
"Don't you have articles to work on snoops?"
"I'm considering writing one on the complexities of love."
"Oh really now? Then shouldn't you be talking to Jude instead?"
Her face burned and she looked away. She couldn't help but stutter, "that's not what I me- this isn't- I mean..."
He looked up at her annoyed and said, "worry about yourself."
"Hey Alvin," Elle called out, walking over to them. "I think you dropped this."
He looked over seeing that she was handing him a decorative fox head. His eyes widened and he quickly took it from her. The three watched him curiously.
Elize spoke out curiously, "that looks so familiar..."
He sighed and just told them, knowing that they'd force the answer out of him one way or another anyway, "it was Presa's."
"That's right..." Leia said. "It was part of her outfit. Wait, how did you get it?"
He looked down at the fox head in his hand and explained, "a couple nights ago she talked to me in my sleep and when I woke up I was holding it."
"Little Buddy!" Teepo cried, rubbing his head against his.
"Come on now, none of that," Alvin said and he moved his head away.
"But you were talking with Rhea just now right?" Elize asked. "Does that mean everything will be okay now?"
"Who can say?"
Leia smiled and messed with his hair saying, "come on guys, let's leave him alone now."
He hit her hand away and fixed his hair saying, "hey, don't mess up my hair."
"But wasn't it already messy?" Elle asked.
"That's his 'style', no getting through to him that it looks bad," Leia told her.
Getting annoyed, he asked, "can you leave me alone now?"
"Yeah, come on Elle."
Elle looked up at her and asked, "can we get ice cream?"
Leia's eyes glowed at the thought and she answered happily, "yes! That sounds amazing right now!"
The two walked away, talking happily. Relieved to be free, he leaned back against the bench and sighed. After a moment, he looked down at Elize asking, "why don't you follow them princess?"
She looked up at him and answered, "I just wanted to thank you."
"For what?"
"For thinking of me. I heard you talk about the Princessia with her. Thank you."
She smiled as she watched him look away from her. He scratched his cheek with his index finger as a light blush appeared on his cheeks. She finally freed his arm and kissed his cheek. After that, she jumped off the bench and caught up with Leia and Elle.
Xian Du – Dargu Subterranean Passage
Rhea breathed out a sigh of relief. She was enjoying the snow in the beginning, but was so happy to be out of it in the end. She took the scarf off her face and just draped it over her shoulders. As she brushed the remaining snow off of her, she walked down the dirt path. Once she was free of the white powder, she looked in the direction she was going in. About midway through, she nearly ran into a large group of people. They gave her a bad vibe so she slowly backed up before they noticed her. She tried to listen in their conversation but she could barely hear them. She could only hear certain key words such as 'Yurgen' 'traitor' 'revenge' 'Isla'. In getting a horrible feeling, she wanted to call Alvin immediately, but she couldn't risk getting caught. After a few more minutes, the group broke apart. In trying to be inconspicuous, she calmly walked through the tunnel. A couple of the group members watched her carefully, but didn't think too much of her. Once she reached the center of Xian Du, she felt much more comfortable. While looking around, she took out her GHS and called Alvin.
"Hello..?" he answered half asleep.
"Alvin, does the name Isla ring any bells to you?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah, she's Yurgen's wife. Why?"
"I don't know for certain, but I just heard some guys talking. From what I could gather, it sounded like they were going to attack her because Yurgen was a traitor."
"What?!"
"Where does she live? I can at least keep an eye on her until something is done."
He didn't like the idea of putting her in harm's way, but there was nothing else they could do at this point. He told her exactly what to do and ended the call after telling her that he'd let Yurgen know the situation. As she put her phone away, she made her way to the apartment. She quickly found the key and entered it. As soon as she got inside, she locked the door behind her. She put down her stuff and entered farther into the apartment. She looked over at the bed, seeing the one she suspected as Isla was lying on. She could tell that there was something off about her, but couldn't figure out what. Not exactly worrying about it, she walked over to the window and carefully looked outside. For now she didn't see anything suspicious. Even so, she didn't want to take any chances. She took a seat at a table and rested her head on her arms. Just a moment later, she was fast asleep.
She woke up a few hours later to a bang at the door. She jumped off the chair and grabbed onto the dagger. She silently walked over to the door and looked out the peephole. She took the sheath off the blade when she saw the men from the tunnel. She could tell that it wouldn't be too much longer until the door simply broke. Just to be cautious, she went over to Isla after putting down the dagger. She did her best at picking her up. She was struggling a bit but she was able to get her off the bed. Just wanting to hide her, she somehow got her under the bed. After that, she fixed the bed so that it looked like no one had been in it. As soon as she picked the dagger back up, the door broke. She knew that, for the most part she could take care of herself. But when the number of men coming into the apartment continued to increase, she began to get scared.
