'Kal, there's someone watching us.'

"Nmm…sleepy time," she mumbles, rolling over in her bed and hugging her pillow. "Go to sleep, Bel…talk in the morning."

'Kal. There's someone watching us. Wake up.'

"No one is here," she whines, pushing herself up and raking her fingers through her messy hair to pull it from her bleary eyes. She gestures to the empty space in her room, before seeing the shadows in the furthest corner shift. "What the hell-?"

'I told you someone is watching us.'

"Who's there?" she calls, pushing her blankets off and swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. She stands up, rubbing the heel of her palm into her eye as the old sleep shirt she has from the church hangs down to her thighs. "Finral, I swear to the gods, if it's you again-"

'It's not Finral. The mana is different.'

"You have until the count of five to show yourself," she says, her voice cracking as her legs shake underneath her weight. Being half asleep and it being so dark in her room made her paranoid, her heart racing in her chest. She feels so out of breath just standing there, tears pricking at her eyes. "One, two-"

Without another word, the mana signature fades. She grabs the bed's footboard, struggling to catch her breath and to not burst into tears. She feels like a child again, sobbing in her wardrobe when Vanica would come looking for her to play test subject.

'You're safe, Kal. A glass of water should help. Breathe, okay?'

Yeah…yeah a glass of water sounds good…maybe some of Charmy's black velvet cake if there's any left…

She takes a deep breath, patting her chest with her free hand as she heads towards her bedroom door and starts down the hall. The closer she gets to the main hall of the hideout, the more she can hear two voices. The first is the obvious rumble of Captain Yami, the other one she didn't recognize. Instead of walking into the main hall, she stays against the wall just before the entrance. Yami didn't sound too happy, but he didn't sound mad either.

I shouldn't intrude…what if it's someone from the capital? I don't want to upset anyone.

"-seems someone is listening."

She stiffens, her eyes widening as footsteps start towards her makeshift hiding spot. They were light, barely there except for the slightest click of a heel. Her hands shake as a shadow bleeds into the hall where she stands, the same mana signature from before coming back twice as strong as a figure comes to stand to the side of her, wearing a black cloak.

"I've not seen you before," he says, tilting his head as she looks up at him, seeing a pair of pale blue eyes that make her heart skip. The same blue eyes skim over her, his head turning away as a slight blush comes across his face at the sight of her bare thighs and legs.

"I-I…"

"Nacht, can we not terrorize the new recruits please?" Yami sighs, rubbing his head as he strides over. "What's wrong, Kal?"

"N-nothing, I-I just…I came out for some water. If you're in the middle of something, I can wait," she says, feeling more sheepish than she had before, looking down as she tries to pull her nightshirt down a bit more.

"Nah, get what you need," he says. "Me and him were almost done anyway."

"Okay," she mumbles, keeping her head down as she walks past them and towards the bar area. She can feel a pair of eyes burning into her back as she gets her drink, her hands shaking. Despite her being right there, they continue to talk, and she hears the mentions of Spade and the Triad, the glass slipping from her hands before she can catch it.

Crap-

The crash of glass doesn't come, a shadow holding it up without a drop of water spilled. Her face burns as she looks up, seeing the same blue eyes staring at her as Yami sighs and shakes his head, looking at her. She shakily takes the glass and starts to drink, the shadows bleeding away.

"So you are the runaway bride of Dante then," he says, watching as she chokes on the water, smacking the side of her fist into her chest as their captain groans. "What? She's simply proving my point."

"Could you at least introduce yourself before you make her choke?" Yami says, eliciting an eye roll from the other man. "I know you have manners."

"Perhaps. Perhaps she should sleep with more than a flimsy shirt and a thin blanket."

"That was you in my room?!" she coughs, her eyes wide as horror sets in. "What the hell is wrong with you!"

"I sensed a mana signature I wasn't familiar with. You can't blame me for wanting to assure it was a safe one. By the way, you do know you snore, correct?"

'Kal, he's just trying to elicit a rise out of you. Don't give him-oh fucking hells.'

"Maybe you shouldn't peek in on someone sleeping," she grumbles, walking over to the men with what was left of her water still in hand. "What if I hadn't asked first? What if I had just speared you through without a second thought? And who the hell gave you the right to judge what I wear to bed in the comfort of my room?"

"Alright well, I guess now's a better time than never," Yami mumbles, interrupting the other man from opening his mouth and inserting another foot in there. "Kal, this is Nacht Faust. He's the vice captain of the Black Bulls."

"Good one, Captain," she says, starting to laugh and cover her mouth with her free hand, much to Yami's amusement and Nacht's irritation. "This perverted asshole, our vice captain. You might as well promote Finral."

"Nacht, this is Kallsi," Yami continues, chuckling a bit at her reaction. "I'm sure you don't need a rundown on her, given your mission."

Wait, mission? Is he not actually fucking around?

"Of course not. I almost didn't recognize you without the long hair," Nacht remarks, tilting his head. "Or with Dante attached to your side."

Her giggles die off with it finally sinking in that they weren't kidding with her. After she calms down, Yami relaxes and lights up a cigarette, waving the smoke away from them. She takes a sip from her glass as Nacht watches her, his head tilted with his eyes looking her up and down.

"If you two can be civil enough for five minutes," their captain starts, Nacht breaking his eyes away from her long enough to look at him. "Kal, I already know you are."

Fuck.

"I can't really lie about it now…Does anyone else here know?"

"Just us," Nacht assures before Yami can reassure her. "I only know because I've been in and out of Spade as a spy for a few years now. Yami knows because I've been reporting to him."

"Julius knows as well," Yami corrects him. "But he's been good about keeping it quiet. It's why he agreed to let you become a magic knight. He tasked me with scouting you that day I found ya fighting those jackasses."

So my choice to join the Bulls wasn't even my choice…

"Is that why you haven't sent me on missions?" she asks, her voice soft. "Or if I leave there's always someone with me?"

"Princess is mad she has body guards?" Nacht remarks, getting a glare in return. "You're strong, and have a decent amount of brain cells, but you're not the best at trying to keep yourself a secret or even remotely safe."

"I haven't used even a large portion of my magic since being here," she protests. "And I stayed at the church in Nairn for the longest time! Who are you to tell me-"

"I think you should be nicer to the man taking you on your first official mission," Yami remarks, getting a look from both of them as he takes another drag of his cigarette. "What? It's a simple retrieval mission down south. Julius got word of some pearl or something in a cavern on a lake. He wanted me to send Kal by herself to get it, but as Nacht and I discussed, it's not the safest. And since he's in town for a few days before heading back to Spade…"

Oh fuck me.