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Chapter 11: A Fox's Reason

They reached Heliord about two hours after night had fallen. Somehow, Verius kept most of the monsters away from them as they traveled, which was a relief to Yuri because fighting while carrying an unconscious Rita on his back would have been difficult. But his foot was still throbbing painfully in his boot. He had been limping the last little bit but he was trying to hide it.

Just outside of the city, Yuri stopped and the others looked at him. "What is it Yuri? If you're getting tired, I can carry Rita."

"It's not that," Yuri told him. There was one last thing that needed to be settled before they reunited with Estelle and the others. He turned to face Ren and shifted Rita's weight around so he could hold her with one hand. He used his other hand to point at Ren. "Could you do something about you appearance?"

Ren rolled her eyes at him. "Seriously? If you want me to change clothes, I'm not doing it front of the two of you."

"You need to do something. I'm sick of people thinking we look the same," Yuri told her. There was no way he was walking into a city with someone who people could mistake him for. He maybe should be more worried about Rita. But she was still breathing and nothing seemed wrong so far.

"You are insufferable," Ren groaned. She gathered all of her hair in her hand then drew her knife. In one quick motion she cut through her long obsidian hair. Ren's hair now reached to her chin, though the back looked shorter. Then she tossed her long strains on the grass without a second glance. "You happy now?"

It was strange how hair length could change an appearance. Stranger still, Ren actually looked more like a girl with short hair that framed her round face. But Yuri just shrugged. "If you change your hair color I might be." But there was still a slight resemblance between them.

"This is my natural color," Ren shouted. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Why don't you do something about the way you look if you're going to act like this?"

Before Yuri could respond, Flynn stepped between them. "Can you two not have this conversation when one of our comrades is unconscious?"

Yuri glanced at the mage whose head rested on his shoulder. He quickly readjusted Rita's weight and started walking into the city. "Come on then," he said.

He heard Flynn follow him but Ren seemed to be holding her ground. Yuri glanced back and expected to see her still glaring at him. But instead she just looked at the city before them like she was on the verge of tears. But Verius was saying something to her and the girl just nodded before she walked on with them into Heilord.

That's right, Yuri realized, her grandfather is buried here. The city probably brings unpleasant memories to her.

The four of them didn't walk very far into the city before they heard familiar barks. After that they saw the young guild master running up to them with Repede right behind him. Karol stopped in from of Yuri and had both of his fists clenched. "What the hell took you all so long? We were just about to come back for you." He quickly noticed Rita on Yuri's shoulders. "Oh my gosh, what happened to Rita?"

"Long story, just point us to where Estelle and the others are," Yuri told him.

Karol led them to the inn and led them to the room they were staying at. He quickly explained that they got everyone back safely and the boy who had run into the city reunited with his parents. Currently, Sodia and Raven were questioning the caravan people about what happened. Estelle was in the room healing some of the injured they rescued.

When they opened the door to the large room that had four beds and an open balcony, they saw Estelle sitting next to the bed and healing a small child. Her head turned when she heard the door open. There was a very brief moment when she looked relieved to see them. But she saw the state Rita was in and she jumped up from her chair. "Rita. What's wrong?" Estelle cried out.

"We're not sure," Flynn told her as he helped Yuri lay the mage on the bed. Yuri sat down at the end of her bed because he couldn't stand to be on his foot anymore.

Estelle hurried over to her friend and quickly cast a healing spell. The familiar light covered Rita's form before it was absorbed into her skin, but nothing seemed to change with Rita. To Yuri's surprise, Estelle didn't cast another spell. "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her. Maybe her exhaustion just caught up with her," Estelle speculated. Yuri would have thought the same thing if he hadn't seen that Zane clearly did something to her.

Normally, if one of them were hurt then Estelle would cast healing spells until it hurt. Thankfully she seems be more aware of when she should use her healing artes. If Estelle wasn't going to worry over Rita then Yuri supposed she would be okay.

"I'm going to go get Raven and Sodia so we can all hear what happened," Karol announced before he took the little girl Estelle had been healing with him. She thanked Estelle before going with the guild master.

As they waited for Karol to return, Estelle asked Ren, "What happened to your hair?"

Ren threw Yuri a glance and replied, "Someone felt insecure about their image."

"Now Ren," Verius said to her, "you finally find yourself some human friends. Try and be nice."

"They're certainly not friends," Ren muttered, which caused Verius to shake his head.

"Well, I think you look better with shorter hair. It looks nice," Estelle complemented.

Ren didn't reply but just readjusted her scarf to cover her mouth and Verius gave a small chuckle at her expense.

Thankfully they didn't have to wait long for Karol to return. With everyone together again, Yuri and Flynn began sharing what happened in Ghasfarost. Ren sat on the bed farthest from them hugging her knees to her chest while Verius sat beside her. The two of them remained quiet even though they knew more than the rest of them did.

Sodia had the same look Flynn did when she heard that Zane was behind the capture of the caravan people and even called him a monster. They all seemed to realize what this meant; if one member Holy Knights was behind this then there were bound to be others.

"But what about Vael?" Karol suddenly asked. "He was with Zalmon. What does he have to do with them?"

Yuri had almost forgotten about the krityan kid. He was half starved and Zalmon was hiding something about him. There was no telling where he was or what was happening. "Right now let's focus on some questions we can answer," Yuri told him. He hated to admit it, but Vael could be involved in all of this too. But they didn't know the krityan child. For all he knew his silence could just be an act.

The young guild master reluctantly nodded, so all of them turned their attention to Ren. She looked like she could have been sleeping against her knees. But her head shot up and looked slightly nervous now that all her attention was on her.

"We know what happened to you grandfather," Flynn began. "Could you explain why Alexei paid for his burial?" It was a simple question. One that would help them understand if Ren was on their side and hopefully help her trust them enough to tell all that she knows.

Ren took a deep breath. "That bastard just wanted me to owe him. After my grandfather was killed by the monsters, I killed the monsters by myself. I guess he thought I'd make a good experiment."

"For what?" Raven asked. The old man's tone sounded worried. The former commandant already tired playing god by bringing half-dead men back. What else could he have done?

Ren glanced at Verius who nudged her with his paw. "I didn't understand why, but he wanted to see if he could change a person's formula." She stood up and turned around so her backside faced them. She then lifted her black shirt up to her ribs. Ren had wrappings around her middle torso. But at the edge of her pants there was some exposed skin. It looked slightly green and there seemed to be a tattoo of symbols that were in formulas, but it looked like it was burned into her skin. Most of it seemed to be covered by the bandages. Ren quickly pulled her shirt back down and sat on the bed again.

Yuri remembered when Rita had to put extra formulas on Estelle so she wouldn't lose control of her powers again and hurt someone. But to actually change someone's formula? The formulas actually dictate how a person absorbed aer, or mana now. Yuri only wished Rita was awake. She'd have a better understanding of all that.

"Before you ask," Ren said, "I'm not sure what changing my formula accomplished. But it definitely did something to me. My eyes weren't always these colors."

It also did something to your skin, Yuri thought. "How about an easier one?" Yuri said to keep the conversation going. "How did you call Sylph?"

"Pure coincidence," she remarked. "Verius and I just happened to run into her during our travels. She seemed to know who I was."

"Do you know who Sylph was before she became a spirit?" Yuri asked.

"Should I?" Ren asked sounding slightly confused.

"I guess not, go on." Khroma had been by Alexei's side. There was no way in telling if she had any part in what happened to Ren and Yuri didn't feel like finding out how she would react if she knew. Khroma was Sylph now anyway.

"Well, another acquaintance of mine had a theory that since I could summon Verius from anywhere then I might be able to do it with other spirits," Ren began to explain. "Sylph was concerned about the mana cannon too. So we made an oath to help each other destroy it. She shared enough of her power so I could summon her wherever I was at. To be honest, that was the first time I actually summoned her. I wasn't sure if it would have worked."

It had been similar when they had summoned them to defeat the Adephagos. But none of them could have ever imagined that anyone other than Estelle could have done it. Unless…Could Alexei have been trying to get Ren's formula to match Estelle's? Yuri would have to bring that up with Rita when she woke up. She'd have a better answer.

"Why do you want to destroy the mana cannon?" Flynn asked this time.

"Other than the fact that it won't be used for what they say it is?" Ren remarked.

"About a year ago," Verius started to speak, "the two of us ran into a being, one that is similar to that of a spirit, who saw the damage it caused during the human's test shots. They were lucky if they could kill a monster with it back then. But it was still enough to harm this powerful spirit. Imagine what a stronger cannon could do."

"What spirit are you talking about?" Estelle asked.

"One none of you would know," Verius said. "He was a spirit long before the spirit conversion two years ago. He has been here since before the Adephagos first appeared in the sky."

"I don't suppose you would want to give us this spirits name?" Yuri asked out of curiosity. He wasn't sure if what the fox said was true or not. He didn't know that spirits had existed before the conversion.

"He certainly wouldn't be happy if I told you his name. He likes his anonymity."

"That's way I've been destroying the labs," Ren began to sum up. "If they can't gather mana then they won't have enough for the cannon at full power. We also hoped to find the location of the cannon as we destroyed the labs. But we haven't found anything."

The world needed spirits. If the cannon was harming them then that could be a problem.

"Are you willing to repeat all of this to the Emperor?" Flynn asked.

"The Holy Knights now know about me. I don't really have much of a choice," Ren said. She didn't sound like she was too thrilled with the idea and to be honest neither was Yuri.

What Ren did under his image still bothered him. He also still had a feeling she was hiding something from them. At least they'd be able to keep a closer eye on her.

"I think that's enough for tonight," Flynn announced. "We've all had a long day and it's going to start early again tomorrow. Everyone, get some sleep." The commandant stood up and left to go to the other room.

Everyone silently agreed. The guys were about to leave when Estelle grabbed Yuri's arm. "Let me heal your foot first."

Yuri wasn't sure how she figured it out but he wouldn't complain. She probably noticed him limping into the room. He sat back down on the bed and pulled his boot off, which turned out to be more difficult. With his boot gone, he saw that his foot was badly swollen.

"Yuri," Estelle gasped. "How could you let it get this bad?"

"Well I wasn't going to let Flynn carry me back," he replied as she cast another healing spell. The swollenness didn't go down but he felt relief in his ankle. When she was done, he began to put his boot back on his still swollen foot. "Make sure you get plenty of rest. You've used a lot of healing artes today," he advised her.

"I will when I know Rita's okay."

"Just make you don't go overboard." Yuri glanced over at where Ren was to see that she had already fallen asleep on the bed. Verius had grabbed a blanket and was pulling it over Ren with his mouth before he curled up next to her arm. "Also, keep an eye on her. She may be working with us but who knows how long we can trust her."

"We're on the same team. If we can't trust each other than how are we going to stop the Holy Knights?"

Yuri scratched the back of his head. "I know. It's just for some reason every time I look at Ren there's just something about her that's just…I don't know. Maybe it's like when we first met Raven." He couldn't explain it and he definitely didn't understand where all this paranoia was coming from. Yuri stood up and walked to the door. Without looking at her, he said, "Just stay safe."

"You too," Estelle said as he left the room.

He had planned to go to the other room so he could get some sleep, but Flynn and Sodia were in the middle of the hall having a lover's quarrel, as Yuri liked to call it. It seemed like they were arguing over whether Ren should be arrested or not. Sodia seemed to be on the side of throwing Ren in jail and having her shackled as they traveled back to the capital.

If Ren couldn't fight, then it would be a big hassle trying to protect her against monster attack. She could handle herself and, honestly, Yuri didn't care what they did with Ren. As long as she didn't escape then it wouldn't be a big deal. But Yuri wanted no part in their argument and, because the two of them were blocking the path to the other room, he walked down to the lobby.

When he reached the bottom he happened to noticed Karol leaving the inn. Out of curiosity, Yuri followed the young guild master outside. Yuri didn't try to hide from Karol and the kid didn't seem to notice at all. Maybe he'd find out why Karol didn't seem to get enough sleep.

It was growing late and most people had already returned to their homes when darkness fell. Karol had certainly grown braver over the years but it still surprised Yuri to see him leave the city alone. But he also didn't like that Karol was going out of the city by himself.

He hurried along when he saw that Karol disappeared through the trees. Yuri was glad that he had his sword. When he finally found the young guild master in a very small clearing, he saw Karol with his hammer out.

Karol held his weapon above his head and it started glowing yellow. "Destroying Rock!" Karol shouted as he slammed the weapon down on the ground. It didn't cause as much radial damage as it used to but Karol's form had improved greatly. Karol had the most physical strength out of all of them, but before Karol's weight was thrown around when he swung his weapon and his footing was off. Now it seemed he had more control of his own strength. He swung the weapon, not the other way around.

"Damn it," Karol muttered. "How come it's not working?"

He was so distracted that he didn't hear Yuri approach and then young guild master jumped when Yuri called out his name. "What the hell are you doing Karol?"

"Y-Yuri. What are you doing here?"

"I just asked that. What are you doing out here?" Yuri asked. He happened to noticed that the area had other marks from where Karol had practiced his artes before. They were probably made the previous night.

Karol kicked at the ground. "I know everyone's been having trouble using artes. But…" Karol paused for a brief moment, "I guess after our first fight with Ren I was just worried about not keeping up with the rest of you. I mean, she was able to use her artes just fine. It was like she was using a blastia."

"Well something is strange about her," Yuri joked. But it has no effect on the young man. Yuri had one hand on his hip and let out a tired sigh. He then slung the sheath off his sword to get in his fighting stance. "Well it's been awhile since we've spared together. Let's go a couple of rounds before we head to bed."

"I won't be losing to you Yuri," Karol said with a smirk.

Yuri let out an amused laugh. "We'll see about that."

/~/~/

"Mt. Temza was crawling with members of the Hunting Blades. We didn't even know there were that many in the guild. But we knew what this meant if they were all here; Judith was in danger and they had to get to her first before she was hurt, or worse." Estelle wrote down in her note book. She stopped to remember their struggle to fight both monsters and members of the Hunting Blades so they could save their friend. "Of course most of us were still worried about what Yuri planned to do with Judith. She did break Brave Vesperia's laws."

"Excuse me, but who is Judith?" A voice brought Estelle out of the past.

She looked down beside her to see that Verius was sitting next to her on her bed with a clear view of what she was writing. Estelle's face felt hot and she quickly shut the book. "Oh, Judith is just a friend of ours," she told him very quickly.

"I see," he muttered. "So are they true stories about you're previous adventures or are they stories you're making up with real people?"

"They're true," she answered him. "How long have you been reading it?" Estelle still felt her cheeks burning. Rita was the only person who had actually read it and she wasn't sure if Yuri had caught glimpse at it the previous night. Now a spirit had read her writing.

"Not very long," he told her and Estelle breathed a sigh of relief. But then Verius said, "You were talking out loud the whole time and I just grew curious about the story you were telling. I'm honestly surprise Ren didn't wake up."

What? How did I not know I was doing that? Estelle covered her face with her hands. "I'm so sorry for waking you."

"I'm a spirit composed of mana, I don't need sleep," he reassured her. She was glad no one woke up because of her but she would have to be more careful about writing around others. The last thing she wanted to do was read what she was writing in front of the others. And if Yuri heard her…

Verius continued, "I'm glad Ren is still asleep. She normally wakes up at the slightest sounds. Recent events don't allow her to get the proper rest you humans need."

"I'm sorry," Estelle said. She just felt the need to apologize seeing as she was part of tracking Ren down. She was probably on the run the whole time if she managed to stay that ahead of them.

"Don't apologize. You did what you had to do," Verius told her. "But if you really want to make it up, then would you mind telling me more about your adventures? From what I heard you're a good story teller."

"Sure, but can I ask you something?"

"Very well."

"How long have you and Ren known each other?"

"Ever since you and your group preformed the spirit conversion." At first, Estelle was going to question how he knew that. But it wasn't a secret. If anyone wanted to know what they did then it wouldn't be that hard to find out. "I was an apatheia under the care of Ren until I finally became a spirit. Ren did take good care of me while I was in that state but it's nice to be able to move on your own. I was created through Ren instead of that formula you and the others made. But if you hadn't have done that then I would still be an apatheia. I was in that state for so long. Ren may not be happy that we've teamed up, but I am. I've always wanted to give my thanks to you. So thank you."

Estelle just looked down at the spirit. The spirits they had talked to had been glad about their new life, but they had also taken them away first. Not to mention a lot of the people were blaming them for the way life was because of the spirit conversation. Now there was someone who was thanking them for their actions. Estelle couldn't help but smile at the spirit. "You are quite welcome."

"There's also another reason why I'm glad we've teamed up," Verius added. "Maybe Ren can finally make some more human friends."

"I wouldn't mind becoming friends with both her and you," Estelle told him.

An amused sound escaped Verius' mouth as he rested his head on his paw. "I hope you can keep that up. Ren is quite stubborn."

Before they could continue, Rita seemed to be waking up. The mage muttered things Estelle couldn't understand until she finally sat up gasping for breath.

Rita didn't have a chance to recover before Estelle jumped from her bed and wrapped her arms around her friend, "Rita, you're okay."

"Estelle?" Rita said sounding unsure as she tried to free herself from the princess. "What the hell happened? Where are we?" Estelle finally released her so Rita could catch her breath.

"I'm glad to see you're awake," Verius said. Rita looked for the voice and found the fox spirit sitting in front of her.

Rita stared at the spirit for a brief moment before she quickly jumped up and stood up on the bed. "What the hell is that?" She cried out.

"Are we seriously going to do this again?" Verius mumbled.

Estelle grabbed her friend's arm to calm her down. "This is Verius, don't you remember?"

"Verius?" Rita repeated. The mage happened to look over at the bed Ren was somehow still sleeping in. The fire returned to Rita's eyes. "What the hell is that fox mask wearing freak doing here?" Rita shouted.

Ren looked like she was about to wake up. But she snuggled underneath the blanket and mumbled, "Five more minutes." Then she seemed to fall back to sleep.

"She really was tired," Verius commented.

Estelle walked around the bed so she was between Rita and Ren. "Ren and Verius joined us so we can stop the injustice the Holy Knight have done. We're working together now so no more fighting between you two."

Rita was about to start yelling again but Estelle put a finger over her own mouth. She didn't want to wake Ren up. In a softer voice, Rita started to ask, "The Holy Knights? What are you talking about?"

"You know, when the knights captured the caravan people and were draining their mana," Estelle summarized for her. But the mage just gave her a questioning look.

"Do you even remember fighting Zane?" Verius suddenly asked.

Rita's eyes widen. "Zane? Where was he at?"

It started to dawn on Estelle what was wrong with Rita. "What's the last thing you remember?" She asked.

The mage paused to think. "Flynn told us that we needed to get some sleep because we're heading to the mana lab first thing in the morning. Yeah, the mana lab is in Ghasfarost," Rita answered.

She's lost a whole day's worth of memories, Estelle thought sadly. Just what did Zane do to her?

Verius spoke before Estelle could. "You'd best sit down. We have a lot we need to tell you."

/~/~/

"Thanks so much miss, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't gathered those scales," a blacksmith told the blue haired kyityan. "If you want, I could make you a new set of armor with these materials."

"The gald is just fine," the kyityan answered him. "Save that material for someone who really needs it."

"You know, I was actually a little nervous when only one of you Brave Vesperia people showed up," the blacksmith said as he gathered her payment.

"We're pretty strong, even on our own."

"Obviously." The blacksmith handed her the gald they agreed on. "Thanks again Judith. If I ever need more martial I'll be sure you call on you guys again."

Judith let out a small chuckle. "We're happy to help," she said as she accepted her payment and left his shop. Night had fallen fast and thankfully that meant the end of the day for her.

Ba'ul had been working so hard that Judith had told him to go get some rest after he dropped her off at Nor Harbor. It hadn't taken long for her to hear her partner's sleeping thoughts. The two of them were supposed to head back to Dahngrest to meet up with Yuri and Karol but they had gotten sidetracked with other request. They probably weren't even in the guild city anymore. She should probably check to see if they were in Halure or Zaphias. Yuri may say he wanted to check on the people of the Lower Quarter but Judith knew who he really wanted to see. It had become a new game for her to tease him about Estelle. Sometimes he caught on and said it meant nothing and then other times when it just went over his head.

She wondered what the boys would think since her appearance had changed since the last time she had seen them. Because of the constant jobs she had to do, she finally decided it was time to cut her hair. When it was up in a bun and she just decided to cut it off her head. Her hair was probably shorter than Karol's now. She had even incorporated some of her old white armor in her attire, but only on her arms and legs that only went up to her elbows and knees. Everything else was the same.

As she was heading to the inn for a bath and a bed, there was some commotion by the port town's entrance. She heard someone shouting, "People of Nor Harbor, now that your Holy Knight isn't here anymore the Whiteskulls will now be taking your town." There was a large group of people who were wearing bones as armor. The sight of them seemed to cause worry for the town's people. Even the few knights looked unsure in their skill to defend the people.

"Oh my," Judith said as she let out an exhausted breath. Just when she was just about to relax someone just had to make trouble. She counted twenty people, and, while she was outnumbered, if she just took out the big, shirtless bald one then the rest would probably run away. Though if some decided to fight then that was just fine with her.

She was just about to confront this new group when another krityan beat her to it. This krityan had on a dark red robe that was too big for him and even had his head wrapped up. The krityan mumbled, "Not this again, Lyall."

The sight of the krityan made at least half of the Whiteskulls to flee in terror like they just saw a dangerous monster. Judith felt a little jealous at that. The rest of the members looked to their leader who literally looked like he was trembling in fear. "Zalmon, what the hell are you doing back? I thought you had to go eliminate a monster the Erealumen Crystallands?"

"I came back," the krityan told him sounding very threating because his voice was very raspy. He came closer to the man named Lyall and said, "Now, if you don't leave this instant I will kill you this time. You're obviously not learning your lesson. In nature, those who don't learn to stay away from predators die." The krityan raised one of his arms and gray smoke started to escape his giant sleeves. The smoke started forming above his head and was slowly taking the form of a spear.

Lyall's legs actually started shaking. The rest of the Whiteskulls fled like the rest. When he saw that he was alone he pointed at Zalmon and said, "You may win this round, again, but you won't next time." With that, the last member of the Whiteskulls ran from the city with their tails between their legs.

The krityan dropped his arm, almost like it was lifeless, and the gray mist began to disappear. But then he suddenly fell to his knees and two knights in yellow tabards instantly came to his side. "General Zalmon, are you alright?" One of them asked.

Some of the people looked like they were concerned for the krityan but Judith noticed another krityan standing by the inn. It was a child with dark red hair but what really caught her attention was that the white sleeve of his coat was red. Judith walked over the child and gave him a smile. "Hello there," she said. But the child didn't react at all to her presence. In fact, he just stared right past her.

She was curious to see if the child was hurt or not. So Judith asked him, "Would it be alright if I look at your arm?" Again, the child didn't say anything. So she took that as a yes and lifted the boy's arm up. She rolled up his sleeve with care and saw how boney his arm was. But the wound had been well tended to and bandaged with the upmost care. The blood on his sleeve was dried.

Suddenly the child pulled his arm away and walked away when they heard, "It's time to move on, Vael."

Judith looked behind her and saw that it was the krityan named Zalmon who had said it and who the child was standing next to. Even though she could only see one of Zalmon's eyes, it was easy to tell that he was running with little energy. He looked exhausted and moving around in those baggy clothes probably wasn't easy.

She and Zalmon made eye contact and that made Judith feel like she should either fight or flee. Regardless, she tightened the grip of her spear. She couldn't explain it; only that there was something unnatural about him.

But it wasn't long before the krityan turned and started walking away with the two knights and the child. Judith watched them walk up to the magistrate's mansion and she happened to hear one of the knights advise Zalmon in a low tone, "General, you should really let Zane the Seeker look at you again."

She was unable to hear the krityan's response or if he even gave a verbal answer, but his head shook. While she was curious about what Zalmon really was, she couldn't help but still wonder about the boy next to him.

My, what a strange child, she thought. Even among krityan he would be considered strange. She felt like she should be more worried about him. He was quite small and skinny. But someone had made sure his wound was properly taken care of. The bandages were clean and it seemed to cause him no discomfort. Right now she needed to worry about the other jobs Brave Vesperia had to deal with. For now that child would be alright. There was at least one person who cared about him.

/~/~/

It had been awhile since Ren had been able to have a full nights rest. She didn't even know if she was capable of sleeping for more than four hours. Now she had managed to sleep until the sun was up. Verius had said he had both poked at her and shouted out her name for almost an hour (although she thinks he's over exaggerating). But it surprised her more that she managed to sleep so soundly in the city where she watched her grandfather die. Ren just slept. There had been no dreams.

It was just her and Verius in the room. The other girls were already gone to eat breakfast when she woke up. She took that opportunity to change into the clothes she had bought at Torim Harbor since that Yuri guy would complain again if they wore the same thing. But it was nice not having dried blood on her clothes.

She had on her plain green shirt and dark shorts. She also wore long, thick stockings that she had even when she was disguised. She also kept the boots. They didn't look like Yuri's so he shouldn't complain about that. Even after she had cut her hair, Ren still had the annoying strain that rested against her nose. Ren also decided to keep wearing the green scarf. It was strangely comforting having something around her neck to replace her bell. Plus it had what looked little crescent moons on the ends.

As she was putting on her arm guard, she happened to look out of the balcony. She could easily climb down and get away from everybody. Ren wasn't sure why but she didn't want to work with these people. She didn't know who they are and she didn't trust them. Maybe she should leave so she could hide better from the Holy Knights. If she stayed with this group of people then they would find her.

"Don't even think about it," Verius said as he hopped onto the bed. He had stayed in the corner while she had changed.

"I wasn't thinking of anything," Ren denied. She strapped the belt to hold her knives around her hip.

"I know that look Ren. And like I said, I think we can find the mana cannon quicker if we have allies." the spirit explained.

Ren just let out a frustrated breath. The mana cannon needed to be destroyed. That was all she knew. They're chances were better if there were more people on their side. Maybe if they just kept their eyes on those people then it should fine.

Suddenly the door opened and Ren looked to see that the pink haired girl had entered the room. "Good, you awake," she said. For some reason she had a smile on her face and was holding something behind her back.

There goes my chance to escape, Ren thought, though she was sure she could take her out if she really wanted to leave. Ren didn't say anything to girl. She even turned her back to her and was checking her bag to see if there were any other supplies she needed.

But the pink haired girl kept talking to her. "Verius told me what kind of spare clothes you had. Since it will be getting colder I went ahead and bought you this jacket." The girl came to face Ren and placed some green fabric in her hands.

Ren held it up and saw that it was actually just a green crop jacket with unusually long, think sleeves. There was a belt went around the chest area and the ends were gray. It didn't look like something for combat but then again Ren should be grateful it didn't look more formal considering the pink hair girl who bought it was wearing a dress.

"Um…" Ren started, "…thanks. What do I owe you?"

"Don't worry about. We're traveling together. We need to look out for one another," she answered.

"Look, I already owe you for healing me, I don't want to be more indebted to you," Ren said. The reason her formula was changed was because she owed Alexei for paying for her grandfather's funeral. Ren wouldn't let anyone hold that kind of power over her again.

The girl's expression changed to a neutral expression. "I don't heal anyone so they'll owe me. I do it because they need help. We're a team now Ren. We've got to work together."

Ren glanced over at Verius and saw that the little fox was nodding toward the girl. He was probably enjoying seeing her squirm in this situation. So she let out a sigh and said, "Thanks for jacket, umm…" Ren knew the girl had been a candidate for the throne at one time but her name escaped her.

"I guess we were never really properly introduced," the girl held out her hand. "I'm Estellise, but everyone calls me Estelle."

Ren didn't accept the hand at first. She examined the hand and even the girl. Her sword wasn't tied to her belt and she didn't seem to have any alterative motives. But for some reason the hairs on the back of Ren's neck always stood on ends when she was around Estelle. Ren also wondered if her hand would melt if she touched the girl. But Ren was willing to admit that it sounded foolish since it looked like the pink haired girl was incapable of harming anyone.

Reluctantly, Ren finally shook the girl's hand, but only for about a second. As soon she let go, Estelle said, "Try it on and make sure it fits."

Now Ren was going to be forced to wear it. But it would be better than no jacket. So Ren slipped it on to find that it was a size too big and the sleeves covered her hands and even her arm guard. But it was so soft and surprisingly warm.

"I'm sorry, it's too big," Estelle said, looking a little disappointed.

"No, no. It's fine…I don't like clothes that are tight anyway," Ren lied. She turned away from Estelle because she felt her face heating up. The jacket was really soft and she had never worn anything like it. Plus she really liked how the sleeves covered her hands and that they were wide on her arms. She could easily hide a few knives up these sleeves. But she wouldn't be telling any of this to the girl. She glanced at Verius to see that he had a smirk on.

"I almost forgot," Ren heard the girl say. Suddenly she heard a familiar sound that Ren had thought was lost. Her head quickly snapped around and saw her bell in the girl's hand. "I believe this is yours."

Ren didn't hesitate to snatch the bell away from her and hold it like it was made of glass. The girl had put new ribbon on it so she could wear it back on her neck. "I can't believe I have it back," Ren said to herself and almost felt like crying.

"I knew that bell was important to you. Is you memento?" the girl asked Ren.

"Maybe," Ren muttered. "I've always had it and Grandpa always said it's the only thing left of our family."

A smile appeared in the pink haired girl's face. "I'm glad you have it back. Anyway, everyone will be ready soon so you better hurry down."

The girl started to leave the room after she picked up her sword and it wasn't until she had opened the door that Ren stopped her by saying, "I'm terrible with names, but…thanks. It may just be a bell but it means a lot to me."

Ren didn't turn to see the girl's expression. But she heard her say in a gentle tone, "My name is Estelle and you quite welcome," before the door closed.

Estelle, Estelle, Estelle. I've gotta remember that name for next time. Ren repeated in her head. Maybe her instincts were wrong about Estelle. There was no way she could really be that much of a threat.

Verius then climbed up on her shoulders and said in a low tone, "I'm starting to have the same feelings you have about that girl. But remember Ren, her power is poisonous to Entelexeia. She may not seem like much but she can still be dangerous to you."

Ren was just about to pull the scarf off and put her bell back around her neck. But she stopped and looked at it. If she were to lose it a second time then she probably wouldn't be lucky enough to get it back. So instead she tucked it safely in her bag. Just having it with her was enough. Then Ren said to her friend, "I know. But I'd rather have that power with us then against us. At least her healing artes didn't seem have any negative effects on me."

"You'll hear no argument from me on that. But in the future try to avoid her healing. I fear what multiple exposures to her powers could do to you," Verius said.

Ren thought about the new formula that had been put on her back and shuddered at what Estelle's power could do to her because she was so different now.

/~/~/

Skit: Misunderstandings

Flynn: Ren, I need to apologize for before.

Ren: Huh? Oh you were the guy who almost cut my arm off in Zaphias's lab. We were enemies then and Verius healed my arm so it's not a big deal.

Flynn: That's not what I'm talking about. But I suppose I should apologize for that too. I'm talking about when you were a mage's assistant.

Ren: …

Flynn: Oh, I guess you weren't doing that because you wanted to, huh? Since Alexei…Yeah this isn't going as I planned.

Raven jumps in: Look, he wants to apologize for thinking you were a boy and a perve by walking to the women's bath during that time.

Flynn completely red: Raven!

Raven: Well am I wrong?

Flynn: Not…entirely. You could have worded it differently though.

Raven: But then we'd be here for a while and old Raven would get bored.

Ren looking confused: Huh?

Flynn: You know, I was helping escorting the mage…and we stopped at the hot springs…

Ren: Huh?

Raven to Flynn: You sure there wasn't another girl you mistook for a boy and called a pervert?

Flynn, still red: I never said that to begin with!

Ren: Look, a lot of people mistook me for a boy during that time. You can't expect me to remember everyone who said that. I'll accept your apology if that'll make you be quiet. *Ren leaves*

Raven: Looks to me like you struck out.

Flynn: It wasn't like that. I really did feel bad for calling her a guy at the time.

Raven: I doubt she really cares after what happened.

Flynn: Yeah…