There was a group of men that eyed Nanami hungrily. At her display of power their eyes widened then narrowed in greed. Wondering what else that girl could do. Little did she know that in addition to the thugs there was another that had seen her spectacle and whose clear blue eyes wanted to know more.
Nanami smiled unaware of her audience and began to start down the road again leaving both the shopkeeper and the nobleman none the wiser. They struck as she passed by a dark alleyway.
"Let me go!" The land god struggled and kicked but to no avail. She was running out of options but then a plan formed inside her head and hope was once again restored. Letting her head and a few tears fall Nanami stopped struggling. The leader came up to her. "Have you decided to cooperate," he said in a menacing voice. The girl shed a few more tears as she nodded her head. The thugs looked satisfied buying into her charade.
I was getting ready to attend a party as a cover for conducting an inconspicuous inspection of Awa when I happened upon her. A young girl with brown hair that seemed to be listening intently to the arguments coming from a nearby shop. Her face was angry as she heard the shopkeeper's cries for mercy. The girl started forward moving like she could and would interrupt the fight herself. I was only a few feet behind her ready to intervene, not wanting to let someone so obviously fragile get hurt. However she didn't go inside curious I retreated farther into the shadows still watching her. The girl muttered something before taking out a small sheet of paper and a brush. Strokes flying, the character was hard to make out at first. Squinting, I was finally able to see it. 'Bloom.'
As soon as the girl set the paper upon the unblossomed buds they burst into color, their vibrant petals rich and full transforming them into perfect flowers. It was a shock to say the least. Looking around to see if anyone else had witnessed her miracle I groaned. There was a group of men staring at the strange girl, their intentions clearly less than honorable.
For her sake I decided to tail the little miracle worker. My judgment appeared to be correct when they jumped her, pulling the girl into a deserted alleyway. I was ready once again to intervene, wondering to myself how this girl could be so apparently careless. Didn't she know the streets of Awa were dangerous alone? She must have heard of the trafficking that went on around here even if she was a foreigner?
So-won advanced preparing to take down the girl's attacker when he saw the look in her eyes. There were tears but those were not the eyes of one who had given up. The girl had a plan. Seeing as how she had fooled her attackers already, So-won stepped back sure that it would work.
"Please don't hurt me! What do you want?" Nanami said in a wavering voice. She shifted minutely testing the strength of the hold her attacker had on her.
"We saw you magic the flowers with some kind of spell." At this Nanami blinked surprised but cooled her raging emotion she needed to stay calm. There was no Tomoe to get her out of this, She had to focus and relax. The leader continued not noticing her evaluation. "If you don't want to get hurt you are going to make us all rich." The land god nodded looking properly terrified. Confident the man holding her loosened his grip.
That split second was all she needed. Swinging around Nanami kicked her captor between the legs. He dropped like a stone and the land god started running. Thinking fast Nanami ducked behind a crate and applied the hastily written white talisman to herself. 'Invisible.'
She let out a breath as they ran past not seeing her. Only after Nanami was absolutely certain they were gone did she deglamor herself. Stepping from behind the crates the land god walked right into the unnoticed man who had been standing there.
"I think I found what we are looking for." Tomoe said looking down at the scroll. On it was a detailed illustration of the mirror Nanami and her familiars had traveled through. Hak leaned closer to see the picture more clearly. "You sure that's it? It doesn't look like much."
Tomoe answered back patiently, "Magic doesn't have to be big and flashy. Most commonly magic is found in non materialistic things such as bonds between people or small trinkets such as this."
The general nodded thinking and the fox familiar turned away to study the scroll once more believing Hak to be humbled by his knowledge. He could not have been more wrong. "If the most powerful magic is found in small inconspicuous places does that mean your over dramatic fire magic is really weak then?"
Tomoe closed his eyes and counted to ten reigning in his overwhelming annoyance. 'You will not lose your temper. You will not lose your temper. Remember this is for Nanami.' Releasing a breath Tomoe faced Hak and gave him a small threatening grin as a bit of indulgence before schooling his features into a once more blank mask. "Since we have what we are looking for I believe it is time to find the others." As they stepped out of the library they were immediately confronted by a familiar figure.
" It was sold a few days ago to the Lord Li-yun."
That phrase echoed in Jae-ha, Mizuki, and Kija's heads. So close and yet so far away. Resigned the trio left the shop and began to search for their companions to relay all the information they found. As the three walked around looking for their fellows it came as a great shock to them when they saw Su-won. He was walking down an ally that went away from them but none of the group wanted to take the chance of being seen. As a result Jae-ha, Mizuki, and Kija hurriedly walked in the opposite direction.
Yun, Shing-ha, and Zeno were frustrated, they hadn't been able to glean any pertinent information. What good was the news of some noble's party to them? It wasn't as if they were going. An echoed sigh ensued from the disheartened trio. Chased by guards, locked in jail and all for naught.
They perked up at the thought of reuniting with the others however. The three set off looking for any of their fellows that they might run into. It was not long before they spotted Jae-ha, Mizuki, and Kija. They seemed to rush towards them at a brisk walk that could almost pass for a run. Having recently been chased by guards themselves Yun, Shing-ha, and Zeno looked behind the other group for danger seeing none however. It was Jae-ha that first noticed them, steering the rest of his group to the other trio. After exchanging pleasantries Yun asked the other group a question. "Why were you in such a hurry to get away from there," he gestured with his hand at the way they had come, "were you being chased by someone."
"No, but we didn't want to take the risk of being seen by Su-won," came the answer.
At that the six began to wonder. Why was Su-won in Awa?
Yona had never been more worried. Watching the crowd sweep Nanami away the princess could only imagine the worst. The land god reminded her of how she used to be before taking up a weapon in battle; innocent, carefree, and a little bit reckless. However Yona did know that Nanami had magic and could take care of herself for the most part but still..she worried. The land god was lost in one of the biggest port cities in Kouka kingdom in a different world than her own.
Trying to follow her newfound friend Yona stepped into the flood of people. She followed the tide searching for any trace of Nanami as the crowd thinned out. When the herd of people finally dispersed Yona found herself in front of the library. Spying Hak and Tomoe, the princess hurried over to them. She explained the situation when Tomoe asked where Nanami was and immediately the fox familiar took off in pursuit of his mistress. Yona wanted to follow but Hak maintained that they had to find the others first if they wanted to launch a full scale search. Also pointing out that when lost the land god may have returned to their camp. Agreeing somewhat reluctantly Yona joined Hak beginning their search for the others together.
Stepping from behind the crates Nanami walked right into the unnoticed man who had been standing there. "Why were you behind there?" he asked.
"I did something I shouldn't have," she said sheepishly, "and I guess some guys saw and chased me down here so I was hiding." The man's blue eyes glittered with faint amusement. "Anyways," the land god continued, "what are you doing walking down a deserted alleyway looking like that?" Nanami was pointing at his pristine white cloak with gold tassels.
"I actually saw you at the flower shop and tried to follow you when I noticed you were being chased," he replied with a bright smile. Now Nanami was starting to get scared she began to think rapidly. 'Was this man part of the earlier group? No his clothes are to nice. But what if he still saw me using the white talisman. He looks much smarter than those thugs I don't think I could trick him. What am I going to do?'
Noticing her shift in behavior the man introduced himself. "My name is Won I'm a traveling merchant. That was a neat trick with the flowers are you a performing magician?" Su-won could see her instant relief.
"My name is Nanami, and yes I am a magician." She was relieved Nanami now had a straw to grasp to conceal her powers. Won didn't suspect a thing. Relaxing into a less defensive posture the 'merchant' and the land god walked back down the alleyway into the open air of the market. They chatted about trivial matters such as Nanami being lost and the party that Su-won was attending. Won had just offered to help her find the group she had been with when she heard a familiar voice.
"My lady," Tomoe said looking relieved, "I am so happy I found you, you gave the others quite a scare." Turning to Su-won he bowed quickly, "Thank you for helping her," he said. Purple eyes blazing the fox continued, "I would have done anything to get her back."
Blue eyes met violet in a silent threat, a challenge to see whose facade would break first. Su-won could tell by the fire swirling in the young man's eyes that he was just as irregular as his mistress and probably possessed magic of his own. Likewise, Tomoe had recognized Su-won from Yona and Hak's descriptions. It was a face off tensions building until Nanami butted in completely unaware. "Well Tomoe and I should probably get back to the others it was nice to meet you Won." Immediately the dark mood dissipated. Su-won's eyes and actions friendly once more and Tomoe gone back to his usual aloof cold self. They left without any further happenings to join the others back in the forest.