Tales of Xalthia

by xXGhostStalker

*DISCLAIMER: This holds no relation to Tales of VS. This is an original story* A mysterious lineage. An unimaginative power. Oblivious to Tsuki Himura, he defends his kingdom from evil and learns of a sinister plot. Forced to seek help, he travels the globe for much needed allies. Join him as he learns more about the world and about himself as something awakens inside him

25. Street Rat -3rd Revision-

Tales of Xalthia

Act 2: Kingdom's Torment

Chapter 24: Street Rat

The boat ride across the ocean to reach the shores of Ersheath was a relatively long one. Given the fact that their ship was on the small side and didn't come equipped with most of the upgraded systems and features that modern ships carry, that only extended the length of their trip. Under normal circumstances, a ship voyage from Cayhill to Ersheath should only take 2 days at best under pleasant sea conditions or 3 at the worst if conditions were poor. In their case, however, the voyage was predicted to take 3 days at best and 5 days days at worst. The ship wasn't exactly ready to take on poor sea conditions but with this time of year, they should be fine. At least, that's what they hope for.

Thankfully, their voyage so far was been pretty calm. It has been almost a day and a half since they left Basilwell. Sea conditions were a little choppy but nothing too crazy. In the event that sea conditions might get rough, some of the sailors that was handling the ship were prepared to use various Water Artes to make sure the ship stays safe and above water. Aside from some choppy seas, the voyage was going quite swimmingly. However, most of the group was going through a bad case of seasickness due to the fact that most of them haven't even rode on a ship before. There already have been several instances where Tsuki, Lynette and Ruko were heaving over the sides of the boat. The rest were relatively unaffected.

By the recommendation of the sailors, Tsuki, Lynette and Ruko pretty much never left the center cabin area. They told them to hang around the center of the ship until their bodies adjust to the motions. They were even given some medicine to help fight it. For them, the voyage felt like it had been going for ages and they still had, at the very least, another day and a half of travel. The thought of eating simple foods was enough to send their stomachs rolling. The three of them embraced the realm of the dramatic as they genuinely felt that they were going to die on this voyage.

Unfortunately, their worst fears would soon come to realization as their voyage soon found them in the middle of a storm. It was almost like fate was mocking them because the storm practically formed right on top of them which caught them off-guard. Navigating their ship through the storm and the rough seas was going to slow their progress down signficantly as the sailors had to prioritize keeping the ship afloat while the navigation is left up to the ship's captain and navigator. The faster they can get out of the storm, the better. This only made the rocking motions of the boat much worse for Tsuki, Lynette and Ruko. Tsuki's group were all in the middle cabin by orders from the sailors due to it being too dangerous to be out on the deck.

Lynette was sitting down at one of the tables, laying down on it as she groaned from feeling sick to her stomach. Her face was almost blue from the sick feeling. "Ugh...I can't take this much longer...my stomach is in knots..." she said.

Ruko had his head sticking out an opened window, heaving outside of it because he couldn't bear it anymore. He's never felt so horrible and sick in his life. He practically had no physical strength or energy at all. "I...think I would prefer...being beaten...to a pulp...than this..." he said. He quickly felt another wave coming up and threw his head back out the window.

Tsuki was sitting down with his back up against the wall and his head hanging back, looking up at the ceiling. He's heard the stories of what it was like to have seasickness but it would seem that he underestimated the symptoms. It's literally taking everything he's got to keep himself from heaving out his whole stomach like Ruko was. "Ocean travel...is brutal. I don't know how people can do this..." he said. His head was mildly spinning as he was doing what he can to try and get his mind off the motions of the ocean.

Cheria sat down next to him and put her hand against his back and gently rubbed it. It's been a very long time since she's seen him so weak and sick. It wasn't on the level of sick that he was on last time thenkfully but she could tell that he was feeling pretty awful. "Staring up at a moving ceiling won't help you. Here, rest your head on my shoulder and close your eyes" she said.

Tsuki normally would fight her and refuse but he barely had the strength and energy to keep himself in one piece. He ended up resting his head against her shoulder as he felt her hand gently rub his back. "How...are you...not feeling sick...?" he asked. He was curious why she wasn't feeling the effects of seasickness.

Cheria continued to gently rub his back as his head rested against her. "Probably because I used to go fishing a lot when I was younger. Mike used to take me out to fish on the lake with him. Back when he was still...Mike" she said.

Ramza came up from the lower levels of the cabin and looked around the room. He saw the poor condition Tsuki, Lynette and Ruko were in while everyone else sat around, feeling just fine. "Man, you guys look like hammered shit. I think this is the worst case of seasickness I've seen yet" he said.

Melphi, who was sitting in one of the lounge chairs, chuckled a bit. Seeing the three of them in their condition brought back some memories of her past. "If you think this is bad, you should have seen Em when she used to set out on ocean voyages. She would very strongly refuse to set foot on another ship every single time and every time that she did, she would heave her guts out for the whole trip" she said. She then looked over towards Cheria who, unlike her mother, appeared largely unaffected. "That's why, I'm kind of surprised that you're feeling fine" she said.

Cheria let out a slight nervous laugh. "To be honest, I've never once got seasick though I did used to get motion sick a lot when riding in carriages" she said.

Melphi held her hand up to her chin and had a look of contemplation on her face. "Sounds like traits you inherited from Tai. He was used to ocean travel but things like carriages and horseback was like his weak point" she said.

Elle scratched the back of her head as she looked at the tree of them and sighing. "This will be a long trip, I can see it now..." she said.

Ramza walked over to one of the empty lounge sofas and sat down in it. The storm had no signs of breaking anytime soon so there was no telling just how long they will be confined to this small space. "Best way to pass the time is to talk. It might also get your minds off the motions too" he said.

Ruko pulled away from the window, shutting it and then slid down to the ground. He felt like he had no stomach left to him with how much he's gotten sick. "What is there to talk about...?" he asked.

Nagi looked over towards Tsuki and Cheria and stared at them for a moment. Then, she had an idea pop into her head. "I kinda want to know the history between Tsuki and Cheria" she said. She's heard a very brief summarization of their shared past but never got a full story behind it. She's always felt that there was so much more to it than what she was told.

Tsuki put his hand over his forehead, his eyes still closed as he used Cheria's shoulder as a pillow. "Our history...?" he asked.

Lynette turned her head so she was looking towards them as she still laid down against the table. "I want to know too, actually" she said. She was always curious about the relationship they had and what their history was like ever since the events at Prophet Castle. There was just never a good time to ask.

Elle raised an eyebrow at Nagi's suggestion as she folded her arms in front of her, looking over towards them. Her suggestion immediately aroused her curiousity as well. "That sounds like a good topic to talk about. With the history they have, I'm sure that will be more than enough to get your minds off seasickness" she said.

Ruko shook his head. He didn't care what they talked about so long as it did the trick. "Why not? If it helps, then I'm all for it" he said. He wasn't particularly interested in learning about their past but since tehy will be together for quite some time, it gave them a good opportunity to learn about each other.

Ramza nodded to himself. "Well, how 'bout it? Care to divulge your history to us?" he asked.

Cheria scratched her cheek with her finger with a nervous sweat. "You make it sound like there's some deeprooted history...but, I don't mind talking about it. What about you?" she asked.

Tsuki shook his head slowly. "It's not exactly a thrilling story on my part but if you guys want to hear about it, fine by me..." he said.

Tsuki and Cheria then proceeded to tell the group about their shared past. Time skips back 9 years as the scene turns to an older version of Eresseas. Much of Eresseas at the time was going through a re-development phase to turn it into what the city looks like in the present. Back then, the city itself was more rustic than modern. The Recreational District was still under development and the Business District was almost half of what it was in the present day. The city was also far less crowded as well. The Residential District was a bit smaller and they even had the remnants of what appeared to be slums for those living on the street and the less savory folk. Back then, Eresseas wasn't a truly peaceful place. A large crime rate was still around that primarily came out from the old Slums District.

Back in the day, it was pretty common for people to get mugged by those living in the Slums. It was unfortunate for the Business District since the Slums connected to them so various businesses were targets for theft and burglary. There were even cases where wealthy people are abducted and go missing. Despite a thorough search of the Slums, no one seems to find where these people go. At the time, the Slums were ruled by what was known as the Viper Syndicate. The Viper Syndicate was a closed, tight group of people who used their position, power and money and held a stranglehold over the Slums. Nothing could escape the eyes of the Syndicate. It was widely believed that the Viper Syndicate were the ones responsible for the abductions but could never be proven. At the time, there were many things that preoccupied Taichi and Emma so they were unable to do anything about the Syndicate despite the bad reputation they had. There were even some people among the royal officials that were paid by the Syndicate so that made matters even harder for them.

Everyone living in the Slums feared the Syndicate. So long as they remained on their good side, they didn't have anything to worry. However, do one thing to set them off, even if it was something small, then there would be severe consequences. The Syndicate weren't afraid to show force and resort to methods such as murder. This meant that people pretty much were forced to obey them. This meant "providing" funds or various wares and even go so far as "providing" entertainment to the Syndicate members whenever they deemed fit.

Living amongst the people in the slums was a young boy with short, spikey brown hair at the age of nine and a half. The boy lived on his own in the streets and wore old, torn clothing with a small shortsword attached to his waist, hidden by other various old clothing. He had a broken, emotionless look to his eyes as if the boy had lost everything and had nothing else to live for. He didn't care for anyone but himself. This boy was Tsuki Himura. Long before he became Cheria's bodyguard and a member of the Royal Eight, he was a true street rat. He had all the looks of a child thief who had no regards for anyone or anything.

Tsuki was eight years old when Tomoha was razed to the ground by Draxus. He was discovered to be alive along with others when the royal knights finally arrived and was transported to Eresseas to have his wounds treated with everyone else but he was the only one to survive the trip. Prior to him being born, his parents were some of the finest knights in the Eresseas military. His father was one of their best marksmen while his mother was one of their best defenders, almost to the point where she was at a General's level. Because of his family history, strings were pulled behind the scenes and he was moved into an orphanage once he was cleared to be released. Unfortunately, Tsuki had pretty much closed himself off from the world. He didn't interact with anyone nor did he try to get along with others. Knowing that he was still going through trauma, counselors and others tried their best to help him but were unsuccessful. He wanted nothing to do with them or anyone else for that matter. After about a month or so, he left the orphanage and never went back. Fast forward a year and a half later, he was living in the Slums on his own. Due to the rather harsh environment, he taught himself how to wield a blade using the old lessons his mother used to teach him after he managed to secure a weapon for himself.

Tsuki had been living in the Slums for some time and learned how to avoid dealing with the Syndicate. Not having an actual roof over his head, he needed a place he could call his own while making sure to avoid the Syndicate. That's when he stumbled upon an old sewer access point that had a fairly big chamber. Access to the actual sewers were blocked by iron bars and the only entrance point was through a ladder from a manhole. The chamber, at one time, appeared to have some use to it as there were old crates and old bits of furniture piled around. At first appearances, it was the home of someone who once lived in the Slums but had been long abandoned. The food he discovered in there had long been expired and the clothes that were there were incredibly filthy. Despite it's condition, however, it provided Tsuki a place he could call "home". The place was practically untouched so it was safe to assume that the Syndicate didn't know about it which made it even better.

By the time he was nine and a half, he had grown used to being on the streets. Theft had almost became second nature to him as he would make it a common thing to steal from local stores and pubs. He would only steal what he would need though. He didn't target anyone for money. All he stole were basic essential goods like bits of food and other things. Most of the time, he was able to get away with it unnoticed but sometimes, people caught him in the act. Unfortunately for them though, Tsuki was rather quick on his feet and could lose himself into a crowd and throw off anyone chasing him. Because he carried a shortsword with him, people were reluctant to get involved with him when shop owners yelled for help to stop him. Combined with the cold, broken look on his face, that helped deter people even more. This was pretty much a weekly routine for him. He'd steal what he needed and store his loot in his hideout.

His days were pretty much the same. Whenever he wasn't off looking for things to steal, he'd hide away in his hideout. It wasn't a suitable lifestyle choice but for someone in his situation, it was comfortable enough. That would all change, however, on one particular day. It was in the early afternoon hours on a bright and clear day. Tsuki had just finished stealing some bread from a nearby pub in the Business District and had shaken off the owner that was chasing him. He was on his way back to his hideout to lay low when he noticed something going on involving the Syndicate. He was forced to hide so that he could remain out of their line of sight. He observed them from his hiding spot and watched as two men were walking down one of the old alleyways, dragging a young girl in expensive clothes with them. The girl was restrained and her mouth covered so, by all accounts, this was another act of abduction. He recognized the suits that the two men were wearing which belonged to the Syndicate. The girl had short, light pink hair and appeared to be around his age and was thrashing around, trying to break free from them but was unable to.

As Tsuki observed them from a distance, he overheard one of them men talking about how she would make a very high ransom while the other was talking about something far less savory. The man eyed the girl with a creepy expression on his face while the other guy had his own motives. As the two argued, Tsuki decided that it was best not to get involved. Living on the streets, taking care of himself was his first priority over all. He didn't care about anyone else. Especially when it involved the Syndicate, that was more of a reason not to get involved. He felt pity for the girl and was about to leave when the girl managed to get her mouth free and scream for help. There was genuine fear in her screams and he could hear her crying. Unfortunately, no one came to help her as the two men attempted to restrain her voice. Tsuki felt his body freeze over and wasn't able to move. For some reason, something inside him wouldn't let him leave the area and allow the girl to fall to whatever fate the two men had for her. As they attempted to bring her further back into the back alleys, Tsuki dropped the bread he stole, drew his shortsword and charged over towards the men. By the time the man with the creepy gaze noticed that he was coming, it was too late. Tsuki struck the shortsword through the man's left leg, causing him to drop down to one knee. He then quickly removed it and then stabbed him in the stomach, dealing the killing blow.

With one of the men now dead, the other person released the girl in a panic as she fell to the ground and backed away. The man took out a cheap-looking knife and readied himself to attack but by looking at Tsuki's stone-cold stare and expression and the fact that he killed a man without hesitation, he quickly lost his nerve and ran away in fear. Tsuki cleaned his blade by swinging it to the side to get the blood off. He noticed that the girl's eyes were locked onto him and he could see the fear in her eyes. It was understandable that she feared him. She just witnessed cold-blooded murder right before her eyes. Tsuki ended up taking an old, discarded tarp that was lying around and covered the dead man's body so she wouldn't have to see it.

After Tsuki covered up the body, he turned his faze to the girl who had her hands bound by rope behind her back and her mouth once again restrained by cloth. "Now then, let's deal with you..." he said in an emotionless tone. He then tried to approach her.

The girl was unable to get up because she was feeling weak in the knees from the ordeal plus being restrained. When Tsuki started to approach her, she attempted to scooch back from him to get away, shaking her head as tears ran down her face. True fear was written all over her face. With her mouth covered up, her light groans were muffled.

Tsuki saw that she viewed him as a threat to her safety. This was fine for him but he needed to get her unrestrained. He reached out to her and grabbed onto right arm to stop her from scooching away from him. He then brought the shortsword up behind her where her hands were tied together and this only made her squirm even more. "Quit moving around. I won't hurt you. I'm just taking these ropes off you" he said.

The girl was obviously reluctant to listen to him but a strange feeling came over her. For some reason, she felt like she could believe him. She didn't understand why. He was a total stranger. However, after taking a closer look into his eyes, all she could see was a void of sadness and pain. Despite him killing one of the men that tried to take her away, she could feel no malicious intent from him. This made her feel a little more relaxed.

Tsuki noticed that the girl was settling down and so he used the shortsword to cut through the ropes and release her arms. He then sheathed the sword and removed the cloth that they had put around her mouth. With the cloth removed, he stood up and took some steps back to give her some space. Now that he was able to get a good look at her, she was rather cute that any young boy would almost fall head over heels for. For him however, such emotions were lost on him. He could see that the girl was starting to calm down after a while.

After a few minutes, the girl stood back up and brushed the dirt off her dress. Her dress was a little messy but nothing that didn't require anything more than a quick wash. "U-um...t-thank you...for helping me..." she said. She was still feeling a little apprehensive around him. However, she locked eyes with him again and felt something come over her. It was hard for her to explain.

Tsuki shook his head and turned into the direction where he came from. "Don't thank me. I just happened to be passiny by. What were you thinking, coming into these parts dressed like that? You're just asking to become a target" he said. He didn't understand what compelled this seemingly rich girl to wander into the Slums.

The girl grew more nervous. "I-I wanted to explore the Business District...a-and I got kinda lost..." she said. She had an adventurous side to her and she didn't get the chance to explore the city so when she saw her chance, she took it.

Tsuki walked over to where he dropped the bread he made off with and picked it up before walking back over to the girl. Now that he got involved with her, he felt obligated to take her back towards the Business District. "It's too dangerous for you to wander around here by yourself. I'll show you the way back. Stay close to me" he said.

The girl nodded slowly. "O-okay..." she said.

Tsuki then proceeded to escort the girl back towards the Business District. Thankfully, they had no more run-ins with the Syndicate so he was able to get her out of the Slums without further incident. He was practically silent the whole time while the girl was too nervous to speak. It was a bit awkward between them for the whole way. After about ten minutes of walking, they arrived at the entrance to the Business District. Tsuki refused to go any further on the risk of running into the shop owner he stole the bread from earlier.

Tsuki soon turned back around once he made sure that she was safely back in the Business District. "Be careful next time you wander the streets and stay away from the Slums unless you want a repeat of what just happened" he said.

The girl walked into the Business District thanks to Tsuki's guidance. "T-thank you. I'll be-" she said.

Just then, she heard someone calling out to her from the crowd. "Your Highness, there you are! You had us worried sick!" the voice shouted.

Out from the crowd came a man in knight's armor. He was middle aged and had grey hair. He had a frantic expression on his face as he had spent a good amount of time running around the district looking for her after getting separated from her.

The girl let out a nervous laugh and didn't know what to say. "I-I'm sorry. I got...a little carried away with the sights but this boy-huh?" she said, turning around. Tsuki was nowhere to be seen. It would seem that he slipped away from her when she got distracted by the appearance of the knight.

The knight shook his head and let out a sigh. "At least you're unharmed. That's the most important thing. Now, come on. The King and Queen are probably wondering where you're at right about now" he said. He then nudged the girl to walk alongside him so that they could return to the castle.

The girl slowly nodded. "Y-yeah..." she said. She glanced back towards the Slums to see if she could see Tsuki one more time but was pulled along through the crowds by the knight that found her.

Time shifts to the following day where Tsuki was walking around the Slums. He had made off with enough bread to feed himself fed for a few days and with the muggy feeling he was getting from the sewers, he needed some fresh air. The weather was pretty nice out with a steady breeze blowing. It wasn't too warm out so the temperature felt comfortable. He did make sure to avoid anywhere that had Syndicate activity. Naturally, members of the Syndicate came to retrieve the body of the person he had killed the day before. By eavesdropping on some of the conversations that the various members were having, they were told to "be on the lookout of a young boy who is armed and didn't hesitate to use deadly force" and had orders to bring the boy in by any means necessary. This made getting around the Slums a bit more tricky for him because he had to make sure his weapon was concealed at all times. Based on the information they had though, they had no clear description of him. So long as he wasn't spotted carrying his shortsword, he would be in the clear. Overnight, Tsuki became a target for the Syndicate and a vilgilante of sorts among the ordinary people in the Slums. Not many dared to oppose the Syndicate, let alone going so far as to killing one of their members outright.

The next day was more hectic than the previous due to the actions that Tsuki took. The Slums were crawling with Syndicate members as they stopped anyone that might so much as look at them the wrong way because of the actions of this "vigilante". In particular, young boys were especially watched since all the information they had to go on was that a young boy was the culprit. The Syndicate spared no effort in an attempt to locate Tsuki. Unfortunately for them, however, Tsuki knew how to avoid them. He knew the Slums like the back of his hand and knew where all the tiniest crawl spaces and hiding spots were. Logically, he could just stay in his little sewer hideout since no one knew about it and wait for things to blow over. However, the air within the sewer starts to get muggy after a while and he needed fresh air. He knew that he would get a reaction out of the Syndicate for his actions but not one as big as this. He even noticed that among the normal Syndicate members, there were some of the main people in charge mixed in with them.

The Viper Syndicate was a closed, tight group of people that had a little over 100 people in it. The chain of command within the Syndicate is maintained by just four people, one of them being the main leader. The normal grunts that form the Syndicate's high numbers were mostly people who were forced into working for them from various things like blackmail and debt. These people had no choice but to obey them since they had nowhere else to go. There were also people who joined the Syndicate because they were, at their core, bad people to begin with and wanted to exploit people. It was all for personal gain for them and not much else. They thrived on that sort of work.

Dealing with the Syndicate should be an easy task for the royal knights to handle. However, with some of the royal officials being paid off by the Syndicate, a lot of their efforts to bring the Syndicate down were impeded. False information is provided which wastes time and manpower and other information is just not given at all in intelligence debriefs. The Syndicate has been a pain in Taichi and Emma's side for some time now. It wasn't just the Syndicate either. The entirety of the Slums has been giving Eresseas as a whole a lot of bad reputation since most of the crime that happens around the city portion comes out from there. To remedy this, they had been making plans to completely redevelop the Slums and either make it a completely new district or incorporate it into the Buisness District. These plans were one of the few things that those who are paid off by the Syndicate intervene with. Taichi and Emma know that these certain people are being paid off but they had no way to prove it. Without sufficient evidence to back up their claims, they can't go into action.

On this day, Tsuki was making his way through the streets of the Slums for a good part of the morning hours. He wanted to gauge what was going on around the streets and see what the Syndicate activity was like. Doors to houses were busted open and various amounts of shouting could be heard through the streets and alleys. Of course, none of the people living in the Slums didn't have anything to tell the Syndicate but were still met with hostility and threats. Some families that had young sons were even roughed up a bit to try and see if they would act in retaliation since the report they're going off on was that the boy would not hesitate to kill. Seeing their families suffer in front of their eyes, they thought they could force the boy to come out of hiding. Thankfully, Tsuki's overall presence was mostly hidden.

By the time the afternoon came around, however, he had let his guard down. To help conceal himself and blend in with other people, he wore a shabby, torn robe. Not only did it make it easier to blend in with the crowds, but it also helped conceal his weapon. None of the other residents aside from Syndicate members owned a weapon of any kind so he would stick out like a sore thumb if someone were to spot him carrying a shortsword on his waist. He was about to wrap up his little walk and head back to the hideout when he was stopped by two men in thuggish clothing. On their arms was the mark of the Syndicate so they were immediately bad news.

One of the men, who was very muscular and had all the looks of a brawler, looked down at Tsuki. "Hey kid. Where you off to?" he asked in a rough voice.

The other man standing beside him, who was more thin and carried a knife with him, examined Tsuki closely. However, because of the robe, he couldn't make out much other than his face. "We've already asked around this area but I don't recall running into you. Mind talking with us for a little bit?" he asked.

Tsuki needed to keep cool and act normal. He couldn't act like his usual, cold self because that would make them suspicious of him immediately. He needed to act like any other kid living in the Slums. "W-what do you want with me? I-I'm just trying to get home..." he said, trying to sound nervous and anxious.

The muscular man tilted his head a bit. "Home, you say? Funny, I know these streets and walk them quite often yet I don't recall ever seeing you here" he said.

The other man ran his finger across the blade of his knife and had an intimidating look on his face. "Where's your home, kid?" he asked.

Tsuki had a feeling that he wasn't going to get away from these two easily. The longer they interacted with him, the more risk it poses for him. He needed to shake them off somehow. "I-it's just down the street here...in an abandoned building" he said. He then tried to walk past the two men standing in front of him. "I-I'm sorry but I need to go. I wouldn't want to worry my family..." he said.

As he tried to walk past them, the man holding the knife immediately turned and reached out, grabbing onto his arm with a firm grip. "Hold it, kid. Who said you could leave? We're not done here" he said.

The muscular man folded his arms in front of him, letting out a light chuckle. "Relax. We just want to ask you something. Cooperate with us and we'll let you go..." he said.

Tsuki started to get a gut feeling that things were about to escalate. Despite that, he still needed to keep up this fake act of his. "W-what do you want?" he asked.

The muscular man stepped over in front of Tsuki once more and looked down at him. "I'm sure you've heard but we're looking for a boy wielding a shortsword. The punk had some nerve and killed one of our members yesterday. Our boss wants us to find him. Any ideas?" he asked. The fact that he couldn't see underneath the robe made him all the more suspicious. It was the classic trick to conceal something.

Tsuki shook his head at him. "A boy...wielding a shortsword? Doesn't ring any bells. I...don't go out all that often" he said.

The man holding the knife started to pull on his arm. "Why do you sound so nervous? You wouldn't happen to be hiding something from us, wouldn't you? You know what happens when you hide things from the Syndicate..." he said. He pulled up his other hand and pointed his thumb towards his throat and running it across his neck.

Tsuki tried to break free from his grip. Despite the lack of muscles, the man had a pretty strong grip on him. "Hide? I don't have anything to hide..." he said.

The muscular man watched as Tsuki tried to squirm his way out of his companion's grip. "You don't, huh? Then, you wouldn't mind us seeing what's under that robe of yours..." he said.

The muscular man then reached out and grabbed onto the lining of the robe and lifted it up. The shortsword strapped to his waist was visible for him to see so Tsuki had no choice but to drop the act and take action. As the robe was lifted up, Tsuki's eyes flashed a violet color as he quickly drew the shortsword from his waist and swung it with incredible speed. The muscular man was able to dodge the swing but the other man wasn't so lucky and got slashed across his his upper arm. Blood shot out as he released Tsuki and screamed in pain, dropping his knife on the ground. The man's screams would soon catch the attention of other nearby Syndicate members so Tsuki immediately bolted off down the street. The muscular man quickly gave chase to him and was soon joined by three other Syndicate members.

Tsuki used the various narrow alleyways to try and shake them off, using anything to slow them down. He needed to completely lose them before returning to his hideout. The Syndicate members that were chasing him ended up splitting up and went off into different directions to try and cut him off. As he ran through the streets and alleyways, he naturally caught the attention of other Syndicate members who tried to stop him. Tsuki wasted no time with them and easily cut through them using his strange burst of speed. At one point, he ended up running through the Slums Market where he was soon cut off by even more Syndicate members. He was forced to turn down into a narrow alleyway nearby but it came to a dead end. When he turned around, several Syndicate members blocked his only exit. They chuckled as they thought they had him cornered. He wasn't about to give up that easily, however. The alleyway was only narrow enough to allow, at most, two people in at a time side-by-side and he would use that to his advantage. When one of the members tried to reach out and grab him, Tsuki lowered himself to evade his grab and quickly slashed the man's legs, inflicting a deep cut which forced the man to drop down to one knee. Tsuki then jumped up when he was low enough and used the man's back to push himself off him. He then used the other Syndicate members as stepping stones to give him more height and managed to jump up onto a small roof which he then used to jump up to a higher one. He would then run along the various rooftops to get away from his pursuers.

After a lengthy chase, Tsuki soon found himself in the area where his hideout was. His goal was to head straight there since he had no one chasing him at the time. However, he noticed a familiar figure standing in a familiar spot which brought him to a halt. The person that he saw was the same girl he had saved the day before, only this time wearing slightly less expensive clothing. He didn't understand why she was there again and initially thought that she got lost again.

The girl heard a pair of running footsteps and looked over in the direction they were coming from. To her surprise and delight, the footsteps belonged to Tsuki. "Ah! There you are!" she said.

Tsuki came to a stop as he approached her. He was feeling slightly out of breath from all the running he was doing and sweating quite a bit. "You again. Why are you here?" he asked.

The girl saw that Tsuki worked up quite a sweat and was breathing heavily. "I was looking for you. Are you okay?" she asked. She could immediately tell that he wasn't just coming back from some morning jog. It was obvious that he was running from something serious.

Tsuki shook his head at her. He didn't know why she was looking for her. "You shouldn't be here. I told you, it's not-" he said. Just then, he heard shouting coming from a nearby alleyway. It would seem like the Syndicate were starting to catch up to him. Since the area he was in was a pretty small place, there weren't many places for the Syndicate to look. He needed to get to his hideout now but he couldn't leave the girl there by herself with a swarm of Syndicate members flooding the alleys. "Damn. They caught up quick. Follow me" he said.

The girl tilted her head a bit. She heard the shouting from the alleys but didn't know what was going on. "Huh? What do you-?" she tried to ask.

Tsuki quickly grabbed onto the girl's hand and the two of the took off running. His strange burst of speed from earlier had disappeared so he had to rely on his own remaining stamina. Thankfully, the sewer hideout wasn't too far from where they were at. After about another five minutes of running, they arrived at the manhole that led down into his hideout. The manhole was hidden away by various crates and boxes that served as a wall of sorts so you couldn't see it unless you were on top of it. Tsuki opened up the manhole cover and, with Tsuki's urging, the girl started to climb down the ladder. Tsuki would quickly join her as they made their climb down into the sewers, pulling the cover back over the manhole.

Tsuki was now safely back at his hideout and could rest easily. Thankfully, no one should have gotten a real good look at him because the robe pretty much covered everything but things were going to be more difficult now. He couldn't risk wearing robes anymore so he wasn't sure how he was going to conceal his shortsword. That was a problem he could think about at another time, however. Right now, he wanted to know why this girl came looking for him, full knowing that she was walking into a dangerous area for her. The girl was understandably confused about what was going on but, unlike the previous day, she wasn't scared. The fact that she wasn't scared despite being dragged by him through the Slums without any warning and being urged to enter the sewers was strange enough already.

Tsuki walked over to one of the old sofas the he had in his hideout and sat down on it, removing the robe and tossing it onto a pile of junk nearby. "I'm sorry for making you come down here. This probably isn't exactly a pleasant sight" he said. What did one expect? This was part of the sewerrs, after all. He did do his best to make his hideout feel like a home though.

The girl shook her head as she looked around. Tsuki's hideout was connected to the sewers but cut off from the main part by iron bars. There appeared to be some form of passage way but by the looks of things, it had collapsed in on itself some time ago. It was an interesting place and made a perfect hideout. "N-no, it's okay. I-is this where you live...?" she asked. She was almost worried about what his answer would be though she had a gut feeling of what it was already.

Tsuki nodded at her. "Yep. Been living here for a year and a half. It's not the comfiest place but it serves it's purpose" he said. He then leaned back in the old sofa, taking a deep breath. "So, why were you looking for me?" he asked.

The girl looked at Tsuki, cupping her hands together and played with her thumbs a bit. "I-I never got to thank you...for yesterday" she said.

Tsuki tilted his head at her with a confused look on his face. It seemed like a stupid reason for her to willingly return to a place she nearly got abducted herself. "I told you, didn't I? You don't have to thank me. It's not necessary" he said.

The girl shook her head, stomping her foot lightly and puffing her cheeks out a bit. "But, it is necessary! If you don't come and help me, who knows what would have happened to me" she said. She then walked over to Tsuki and stood in front of him, giving him a courteous bow. "Plus, I wanted to know the name of the boy who saved me. My name is Cheria Tsubasa. What's yours?" she asked.

Tsuki tilted his head a bit when he introduced herself. The name 'Tsubasa' was familiar to him but he couldn't quite make the connection. At the time, Tsuki was very much unaware of the royal family. The royal family, and anything else that had to do with Eresseas outside of the Slums, was something he never really cared for. "...Tsuki Himura. Nice to meet you, I suppose..." he said, scratching the back of his head. Obviously, he had no clue that the person he was talking to was, in fact, the princess of Eresseas and daughter to King Taichi and Queen Emma. As a result, there were no formalities coming from him that she would expect from others.

Cheria blinked a few times at his rather non-chalant and very informal introduction. She was so used to being treated like a princess by others that casual and informal speak towards her threw her off. She didn't mind it though. In fact, it actually made her smile a bit. She knew right away that he didn't know who she really was. This gave her an opportunity that she has never gotten before. He was the first person to speak to her with such a casual and informal way. Because of this, she didn't need to act like the kingdom's princess. She didn't need to have this royal air about her. She finally found someone where she could potentially be herself. This made smile more and, although she didn't show it as much, made her extremely happy.

Tsuki looked at Cheria who had been staring at him with wide eyes for a few minutes. For some strange reason, she looked to be quite happy with a smile on her face despite her current situation. "What?" he asked.

Cheria continued to smile and shook her head. "Oh, it's nothing. Just thinking about something good, is all" she said. She then walked over beside him and sat down on the sofa. "So, what happened out there? You looked like you were running away from something..." she said.

Tsuki wasn't sure how to say it. If he told her that he was on the run from the Syndicate because of what he did the previous day, that would cause unnecessary worry for Cheria. "The Syndicate were...in a frenzy about something while I was in the Markets and I wanted out of there before things got too crazy" he said.

Cheria tilted her head a bit at his response. It was clear as day to her; what he said was an obvious lie. With the way he was acting and how riled up he was, it was clearly something else. However, she got the feeling that he wouldn't tell her even if she tried to push the matter. He obviously wanted to hide what really happened from her. Strangely enough though, she wasn't upset or anything. "Oh? That's not good. Hopefully, everything is alright" she said.

Tsuki glanced towards the ladder leading up towards street level. He could hear the echoes of Syndicate members giving out orders. Judging by the sounds, there was quite a few of them nearby. Thankfully, the echoes themselves were rather faint so that told him they didn't find the manhole cover. "Unfortunately, I think we're stuck down here for a little bit until things calm down" he said.

Cheria shook her head with the same smile and laid back against the sofa, looking down as she lifted her legs up as if she were stretching. "That's okay. I should have a few more minutes anyway..." she said.

Tsuki heard her mumbling about something near the end but didn't catch what she said. "What was that?" he asked.

Cheria shook her head once more. "It's nothing...hey, if it's not too much to ask, can you...tell me a little bit about yourself? Where's your family?" she asked.

Tsuki felt a jolt strike through him when she asked about family. Anything relating to his family and about what happened in Tomoha, he tried to block out of his mind. Unfortunately, there were just some things you can't ever forget. "I...have no family. We were...attacked by a group of bandits a year and a half ago. Me and my sister attempted to run away while our parents protected us. In the end, my parents were killed and I ended up getting separated from my sister. I...don't even know if she's still alive. I've been on my own since then" he said.

Cheria looked at him with wide eyes. She felt her heart sink when he told her about his family. It almost made her cry, thinking about what he had to experience and go through plus everything else that came afterwards. The loss of his family would definitely explain the cold, broken look to his eyes and personality but something still felt off to her. She felt like that wasn't the full story as it seemed to run far deeper than that. However, it wasn't wise for her to dig up any unpleasant memories. "I-I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked..." she said.

Tsuki shook his head slowly. It all happened a long time ago and he's mostly moved on from it. He blocks out anything he remembers that's remotely unpleasant so it didn't bother him as much as it used to. "It's fine. Don't worry about it" he said.

Cheria knew that there was something about Tsuki. She felt like she was drawn to him the moment she laid eyes on him. She didn't know what it was and is still mostly unsure of what exactly has drawn her to him but she soon came to a conclusion. She wanted to do something to help him. Deep down, she could feel that he was an earnest and caring boy but due to a number of bad experiences, his overall personality has changed in order to protect himself. "Alright, it's settled then..." she told herself. She then stood up, pumping her arms close to her body and looked down at Tsuki. "You helped me and now I want to help you. If there's anything you need, please ask" she said.

Tsuki tilted his head. He didn't know what exactly Cheria was trying to imply but he had a feeling that it would cause nothing but headaches for him. "O...kay?" he said with a confused look.

The two of them continued to talk about various things. Tsuki kept much of his past hidden from her and only told her about minor things. He didn't want to get involved with Cheria anymore than he already has. Yet, Cheria was determined to see things through on her end. After several more minutes, they decided to leave the hideout as they had heard nothing coming from the surface. Tsuki climbed up the ladder first and opened the manhole cover slightly to take a peak outside. The surrounding area was dead silent and there weren't any signs of Syndicate members. It appears that they have long moved on from the area. Tsuki opened up the manhole cover and pulled himself out with Cheria right behind him. Once she was out, he closed the manhole cover. With the area clear of Syndicate, he needed to get her back to the Business District. The two of them proceeded down the same alleyways that they took the previous night while being extremely cautious and aware of their surroundings. For Cheria, it felt like they were playing ninja and were trying to infiltrate an enemy stronghold so it was a pretty thrilling experience for her. After what felt like an eternity, they arrived at the Business District once more. Tsuki stood by one of the old buildings and watched to make sure that Cheria was safely back and out of the Slums.

Cheria ran out towards the Business District as people walking by took notice of her. Some didn't seem to notice her but many did and obviously, their eyes shifted over to Tsuki. It was a very bizarre thing to see for them. The princess was interacting with some kid in rags from the Slums. Naturally, there was some big concerns but judging Cheria's overall mood and reactions, they felt that there wasn't all that much need for alarm. She then took in a deep breath. "I don't know why but it feels so good to be back for some reason!" she said.

Tsuki was starting to feel all the looks that people were giving him. Many of which were looks of suspicion which he didn't truly understand why. "In that case, try not to-" he said.

Cheria quickly turned back to face Tsuki, giving him a bright, soft smile, holding her hands behind her back. "When can I hang out with you again?" she asked.

Tsuki was thrown off by her sudden question. It made him speechless for a few moments as he didn't know how to react. "Never. Need I remind you of the dangers the Slums has?" he asked. He really didn't know what was going through the girl's head. She would willingly endanger herself just to hang out with some street rat like him. He didn't understand her reasons why.

Cheria shook her head, waving a finger at her. "I can't accept that. You're my friend so I have to come hang out and visit and I won't take 'no' for an answer!" she said. She was very adamant about what she was saying. They were only together for a short time but she genuinely wanted to see him again and to get the chance to talk and hang out. After all, he was the first friend she's ever made.

Tsuki continued to be thrown off by her words. "Friend...? Me...?" he asked.

Cheria nodded with the same smile she was giving him. "Yep! So, I'll definitely come visit again!" she said.

Before Tsuki could turn her down, she had turned around and started to run off into the Business District. These events were a lot for him to take in. The concept of friends and being able to hang out with someone his age had almost been lost to him. Naturally, Tsuki ended up thinking that she was just saying those things just to be nice. He then proceeded to return to his hideout since it would be too dangerous for him to be out in the open for a while with the Syndicate still roaming around. As he walked back to the hideout, he couldn't stop thinking about Cheria and everything she told him throughout their short time together. He felt a faint warm, fuzzy feeling inside of him that was almost nostalgic and convinced himself that he wouldn't see her again after these events.

Of course, Tsuki would come to realize that she was serious in what she said. In the following days, Cheria would make it almost a daily thing at that point to visit his hideout. Now that she knew where she could find him, it gave her the opportunity to visit him. Getting away from her knight escorts and sneaking out of the castle was a challenge for her at first but she eventually learned how to do it with ease. This caused Tsuki a lot of trouble in many ways and had told her repeatedly that she didn't need to come to visit. Of course, Cheria refused to listen. There were sometimes where she would even try and bring him some food so that he didn't have to resort to stealing. Her actions caused a lot of trouble for the knights as well as she quickly started to become a handful for them to manage and they didn't understand why or where she was sneaking off to. Over time, she got pretty good at shaking off her own escorts.

The days that she would sneak off to visit Tsuki slowly turned into months. Eight months would soon pass as this became routine for both Tsuki and Cheria. Tsuki became more of a threat to the Syndicate as he would have a lot more run-ins with their members over the next eight months. However, Tsuki was able to shake them off each and every time. It was nothing short of a miracle that he was able to get away from the Syndicate and keep his hideout a secret for this long. Meanwhile, Cheria grew accustomed to the dangers of the Slums to the point where not even Syndicate members frightened her anymore. A lot of Tsuki's influences ended up rubbing off on Cheria.

Eight months had passed since Cheria started making frequent visits to Tsuki and by this point, the both of them were able to develop a sense of normalcy. Much to Cheria's delight, she was slowly starting to see changes in Tsuki's overall attitude and personality. In the beginning of things, he was rather cold, emotionless and standoffish. However, as time went on and the more the talked and hung out, she could see that his expressions and vocal tone were becoming softer. The once lifeless, broken look he had in his eyes started to show some revitalized life and vigor in them. He wasn't as stubborn and uncooperative as he used to be and it made her happy to know that her gut instincts about him were right. Beneath that cold, hard shell he wrapped himself up with was a boy who was earnest, caring and kind. All he needed was someone to reach out for him to take his hand and guide him along. The fact that she was the one that did it brought her joy and happiness. She even managed to bring him out from the Slums every once in a while, which he was very reluctant to do. An unlikely couple, a girl with royal blood who's beloved by all and stands to be the future Queen, and a street rat in rags with no money to his name. The two of them ended up forming a close bond with each other that it was almost to the point where they were inseparable. All of that would soon change for them, however, that would lead them both to where they currently are in the present day.

It was on a gloomy day as dark storm clouds formed over Eresseas with little warning. The predicted storm was so bad that officials expected almost typhoon-level weather. It was very abnormal to receive that kind of weather in Eresseas during that time period and the fact that he formed out of nowhere baffled many Skywatchers. Skywatchers were a group of scientists that monitor the local weather patterns and predict when storms occur. At this time, Tsuki and Cheria were hanging out in his hideout when they heard echoes of a city-wide typhoon alert that was imminent. Tsuki needed to get her back to the Business District so that she could hurry home so that her family wouldn't worry about her. Tsuki was still unaware of her true identity but had came to the conclusion that she was from rich family. Wanting to hurry, they made their way back to the Business District. Unfortunately, by the time they got there, a torrential downpour had started. With the only umbrella that they had, Tsuki gave her his and told her to hurry home. He would then run back to the safety of his hideout to weather out the storm. By the time he returned to the hideout, he was absolutely drenched. The sounds of water dripping through the manhole cover echoed through the sewers as the pounding of the rain could be heard. This caused the temperature in his hideout to drop dramatically. Not having much else for clothes, He had to undress and hang his soaking wet clothes out to dry. Meanwhile, he practically laid down on his couch, naked and used an old blanket to cover himself up to try and keep him warm.

The typhoon weather persisted for two whole days. Many of the streets in Eresseas were flooded and several businesses and buildings had windows shattered from flying debris. The damage from the typhoon was quite extensive. The Slums took the worst of it as many of the already unstable buildings had collapsed from the high winds. Throughout the two days that the storm persisted, Cheria could do nothing but worry greatly for Tsuki. All she could do was look out from her room in the castle towards the Slums. She could see the damage that the city had sustained. The fact that Tsuki ended up running back to his hideout during the torrential downpour was worrying enough but his hideout offered nothing in terms of providing warmth. She was extremely worried for his health.

When the storm finally passed on the third day, Cheria took the first chance that she got to sneak out of the castle. Obviously, given the damages and the levels of flooding, many knights tried to stop her but to no avail. She eventually arrived at the entrance to the Slums and saw firsthand at the heavy amounts of damage the whole district sustained. Her worries grew even more as she rushed into the Slums with no regard for her own safety. Tsuki was her first and only priority. When she arrived where the manhole was, she noticed that the manhole ended up being completely covered up by the crates that served to hide it from view. This would have prevented Tsuki from being able to leave his hideout. With all haste, she quickly removed the debris from the manhole cover and opened it up to climb down the ladder, closing it as she made her descent.

When she got down into the hideout, the first thing she noticed was the freezing cold temperatures. She quickly made her way over to Tsuki, who was dressed in damp clothing and laying on the sofa. "Oh Tsuki!" she said. She could tell right away that something was very wrong with him.

Tsuki's head felt extremely hot and the aches of his body were the worst that he's ever felt. It almost hurt to move around even the slightest. His head was spinning and he wasn't all with it as he heard the muffled voice of Cheria calling out to him. He opened his eyes to see a blurry figure of Cheria kneeling beside him. "Ch-Cheria...? W-what are you...doing here...?" he asked.

Cheria shook her head at him when he tried to speak. "Shh, don't talk. Save your energy" she said. She looked around to see if there was anyhting she could use but there wasn't much. She noticed that the water levels that channeled through into the sewers had rose quite a lot and almost spilled over into his area of the hideout. She put her hand on his forehead and couldn't believe what she felt. "You're burning up...!" she said.

It was obvious that he had an extremely high fever. His whole body felt hot to the touch. It was only to be expected with him wearing damp clothing in an area with freezing cold temperatures. By taking a look around, she noticed that some of the water ended up getting in which answered a few of her other questions. He had no food with him or anything warm to change into and she didn't know how long he's been in this state. His health was now his primary concern. Throughout their whole time together, her parents had asked her where she runs off to on her own and she would always give them vague responses. She kept her visits to the Slums and to Tsuki a secret because she knew that they wouldn't allow her to do it anymore if they knew. However, she couldn't do it anymore. Tsuki needed immediatel medical attention. She also started to notice how thin he had gotten. She was starting to see signs of malnourishment which set off even more red flags for her. She hated herself that she hadn't noticed it until now. She was so absorbed in enjoying his company that she didn't notice the changes to his health. She had been thinking about telling her parents the whole story but was afraid of how they would react but now, she resolved herself into telling them.

Cheria stood back and looked down at Tsuki. "Wait right here and don't move! I'm going to go get some help!" she said. She then ran over to the ladder and climbed up it, leaving the hideout. She then took off in full sprint back towards the Business District. She intended on telling her parents everything and to get help sent out for him.

Meanwhile, Tsuki laid there in a painful daze. He could barely move around and when he did, he felt his head spin more. Even the slightest movement was enough to put him into a dizzy spell. He truly felt that he was going to die there. "Is...this it...? The end of this...sad tale? Perhaps...it's for the better. Not like I...have anything to live for anyway..." he said. He couldn't help but remember the faces of his parents. A male with light brown hair with a scar across his cheek and a woman with violet hair and a loving voice. He also recalled the face of his sister. A young High Elf with short, pink hair and violet eyes. It had been a while before he had thought of them and they brought comfort to him. "Maybe it's not so bad. My family...we can be...together again" he said. He felt his consciousness starting to fade. Suddenly, the face of Cheria popped up in his head and all of the times that he's spent with her through the last eight months filled his thoughts. His first friend since he lost everything. "Cheria..." he said. Out of nowhere, he suddenly started to get a bad feeling in his stomach. He wasn't sure what he was but he could sense that something had happened to Cheria. At that moment, he heard heavy footsteps coming down the ladder. This put Tsuki in full alert mode as he forced himself to stand up from the sofa, grabbing onto his shortsword. He immdiately felt dizzy and weak to where he almost fell over on himself from his unstable balance.

He made his way around towards the ladder and his worries were confirmed. Standing in front of the ladder were two familiar figures. The muscular man and the thin man wielding a knife. These two had always been on the lookout for Tsuki ever since their first run-in all those months ago. Every time they would encounter him, Tsuki wouild somehow slip away with ease. This time, however, he was going to have great difficulty. Because of his high fever and malnourishment, his body was incredibly weak. He had little energy to move around and any of his previous fast movements of his own will would basically be impossible in his condition.

Tsuki drew the shortsword, tossing the sheath aside and held it close to him. His balance was very unsteady as he suffered from various dizzy spells which destroyed his focus. "Well...if it isn't Brawn and Brains..." he said, mockingly.

The muscular man chuckled as he looked at Tsuki. "So, this is where you have been hiding. How approrpriate for a street rat to make his home in the sewers..." he said. He then kicked a nearby barrel towards where Tsuki normally rests, knocking down the junk pile which ended up burying his "living space". "It infuriates me that we never found this place when it was right under our noses this whole time!" he said.

Tsuki chuckled a bit, trying his hardest to stay strong and keep himself standing. "Sounds like a personal problem to me. Maybe if your brain was as useful as your muscles were, you would have figured it out a long time ago" he said.

A couple veins could be seen sticking out of the muscular man's head as he stomped his foot on the ground. "What was that!? Say that again, I dare you!" he shouted with anger.

The man holding the knife put his arm to stop his companion. "Now now, don't let the words of a street rat get to you. You'll only play into his little game" he said. He then took a closer look at Tsuki and formed a grin on his face. He could see that Tsuki was in no shape to fight let alone to be moving around. His stance was unsteady and looked like he could collapse at any moment. "Besides, I don't think he will give us too much of a problem this time. The boy can barely stand on his own two feet" he said.

Tsuki shook his head at them. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to deal with these two jokers. They may seem intimidating but they were actually rather weak. "I would love to play with you but I got places to be so if you would be so kind as to move aside..." he said. His body ached all over but he needed to power through it. He had a feeling that Cheria was in danger.

The muscular man chuckled a bit before letting out a loud laugh. "If you're talking about that girl that left, I wouldn't worry about her. By now, she's probably being pursued by other Syndicate members" he said.

Tsuki's fears had been confirmed. Cheria once again became the target of the Syndicate. "What!? What are you talking about!?" he asked.

The muscular man pointed up towards the manhole. "We saw her run out of here in a panic and since she's been spotted with you a number of times, it was pretty easy to figure out what her panic was. We sent word out to the nearby Syndicate members to apprehend the girl. After all, she'll pose a nice ransom piece" he said. It was obvious that they knew who Cheria was.

The man holding the knife ran his finger along his knife, letting out a creepy chuckle as he glared at Tsuki. "And if that doesn't work out, she'll make for some good, fresh entertainment, if you catch my drift" he said.

Tsuki felt a nerve being struck at his statement. It was weird because the last time she was in a similar situation, he felt nothing when the man that he had killed all those months ago made a similar comment. This time around, however, was different. For a brief moment, the air around Tsuki had changed.

The same man saw that Tsuki had become visibly upset at his comment. "Oh? Did I strike a nerve? Well, too bad because you won't be joining her. Oh no, our boss as something...special in store for you" he said.

The muscular man took his right fist and used it to hit the palm of his left hand as he did some light stretches as if he was gearing up to fight. "That's right. You've caused the Syndicate enough headache and it's time for some payback. I'm sure the boss won't mind if we rough you up a bit first" he said.

Tsuki remained silent as the two of them talked before he assumed an offensive stance. The unsteadiness in his balance and stance seemed to have suddenly disappear for some reason.

The man holding the knife held his knife up close to his face and leaned in to charge at him. "Think you can fight in your condition? You'll be living this place with-" he said.

Suddenly, Tsuki shot off like a bullet with an incredible amount of speed as his eyes briefly changed color from azure blue to violet. This caught the man off-guard which left them wide open for attack. Tsuki was within striking distance of the two men in a flash. Without hesitation, Tsuki thrusted his shortsword out and stabbed the man holding the knife through his lower right hip. The man didn't understand what just happened nor felt any pain for the first few moments. It was like time at stopped for him. Then, in one swift motion, he circled his body around, pulling the shortsword out from the man's hip and kicked the muscular man with an inexplicable amount of force that knocked him back and crashing into the ladder that connected to the street, breaking it in half. He then dashed towards the man and using his head as a stepping stone, he jumped up and pushed himself up, giving himself just enough height to grab onto the remaining parts of the ladder. He quickly pulled himself up out of the manhole and looked down at them. The two men were now trapped in his hideout with no way up. It was a brief exchange but it was more than enough to break their guard and stun them.

With Tsuki now back up on the streets, he used the nearby fallen debris from the typhoon to jump up to the nearby roofs. She said she was going to get help so his instinct told him to head towards the Business District by jumping from roof to roof. He wasn't sure where he was getting all this energy from all of a sudden but he wasn't going to question it. The energy he was feeling didn't feel like his own but if it was going to be enough to help Cheria, he was going to use it. After a little bit of roof travel, he found Cheria running through some side streets that led towards the Business District. It would seem that she was trying to use shortcuts to get back but she had a swarm of Syndicate members chasing after her. He needed to quicken his pace to get catch up to them.

Meanwhile, Cheria ended up taking a wrong turn down a side alleyway out of panic from being chased and wound up at a dead end. There was no other way for her to go and when she tried to turn back, she discovered that her only method of escape was blocked by a wall of Syndicate members. She soon found herself with her back up against the wall with nowhere to run or hide. The Syndicate just stood there, eyeing Cheria with unsavory intentions as one of the people who looked to be in charge stepped out from the crowd. He was a man carrying a whip at his side in a ripped suit. He had short, silver hair with an eyepatch covering his right eye.

The man took a few steps towards Cheria, giving her a slight bow. "Well, if it isn't Princess Cheria. Pretty bold for one of your status to come waltzing into the Slums without a guard. Bold and reckless" he said.

Cheria did her best to put on a brave face to hide her fear but it was hard for her to conceal it all as it showed through her body language. She could feel her body tremble with fear as she tried to stand her ground. "W-what do you want with me!? If word of this ever gets to my parents-" she said.

The man waved a finger out to her, shaking his head. "Naive little girl. Your parents, the king and queen, won't be able to do anything if they don't know what's happening. Look where you are, my dear. No one around here is going to save you and no one can hear your screams..." he said. He then gave Cheria a closer examination, looking at her from head to toe.

Cheria felt a little violated from the looks he was giving her which instinctively made her cover herself up with her arms. "W-what are you going to do with me...?" she said.

The man chuckled a bit, taking the whip off his side and cracking it down against the ground next to him. "Well, at first we were going to use you to squeeze out as much money from the royals as we possibly can. However, if you come with me, I can give you some...other purpose" she said.

Cheria shook her head at him. There was no way she would ever agree to what he said. Besides, Tsuki was in bad shape and needed immediate medical attention. She couldn't allow herself to be captured by scum like the Syndicate. On her back, she was carrying something that was concealed. She reached back and pulled out a small bow and revealed a quiver of arrows. She took out one of the arrows and attached it to her bow and pulled the string back. "I've got better places to be than dealing with the Syndicate!" she said. She then let loose the arrow and sent it flying at the man.

The man shook his head with a sigh. "Well, I tried. So much for negotiations" he said. He then used his whip and swung it at the oncoming arrow, knocking it away from him before it got close.

Cheria proceeded to repeat to process a few more times by shooting off more arrows but the man would counter them each time as if they moved in slow motion to him. At this point, Cheria was still very much a novice when it comes to archery. She's only ever used her bow in real action a number of times and that was with her trainer. With her current level of skill, she was no match for any real threats, much less the Syndicate. After a while, she felt her body give out on her as she dropped her bow and fell to her knees.

The man approached her and stopped a few feet away from her. He then pulled up his whip close to his chest and glared down at her. She was well within striking distance of the whip. "Given up already, have we? Allow me to retaliate then and show you what it means to cross with the Syndicate" he said.

The man then swung his whip down at Cheria. As a reflex, she tightly shut her eyes as she could do nothing but wait for the whip to hit her. At that moment, Tsuki came jumping down off the nearby roof. By the time the man noticed, it was already too late for him to react. As the whip flew across the air, Tsuki grabbed onto it with one hand, not even reacting to the sting of the whip hitting up against the palm of his hand and used his shortsword to slice through the whip, cutting it in half. In retaliation, Tsuki used the part of the whip he had cut and swung it back at the man. The man quickly dodged it and took several steps back towards the other Syndicate members.

The sudden appearance of Tsuki threw the man off-guard. "Well now, a young boy wielding a shortsword. You must be the one giving us so much trouble lately" he said.

Cheria slowly opened her eyes when the pain from the whip didn't reach her. To her shock and surprise, she saw Tsuki standing in front of her. "Ts-Tsuki...? Why...?" she asked.

Tsuki looked back at her for a brief moment. "I told you. This place is dangerous for you. You can't be running out here by yourself" he said.

Cheria noticed that the color of his eyes was different for some reason but it was definitely Tsuki that stood before her. She shook her head at him, greatly concerned for his health. With how his condition was, he shouldn't be moving like this. "No, Tsuki! You're too sick to fight!" she said.

Tsuki chuckled a bit to himself. He started to feel his body catch up to him as he was starting to feel weaker and the aches and pains of his high fever. Yet, he refused to back down. "What kind of person will I be...if I can't protect a single girl?" he asked. He started to have some flashbacks pop through his head, mainly of his sister.

Cheria didn't want to hear any of this. He was in no condition to be doing this. He was putting himself at risk in more ways than one by doing this. "Who cares about that!? Tsuki, if something were to happen to you, then I-!" she said. It almost made her teary-eyed thinking about it. If the effects from having a high fever on top of malnourishment weren't going to do him in, then a fight with a fully armed mob will. She didn't want to imagine that.

Tsuki held his shortsword close to him and assumed an offensive stance, preparing himself to fight off the Syndicate and protect Cheria. "I failed to protect someone I cared about before. I'm not about to repeat that mistake again...!" he said.

The man chuckled at Tsuki. With his whip being slashed in half, he was rendered unable to fight himself but he had plenty of bodies to do that for him. "I commend your spunk, kid. Unfortunately, this is where your luck runs out. Get him, men!" he said, commanding the Syndicate behind him.

Several members of the the Syndicate charged at Tsuki with knives and daggers drawn. They had fully intended on killing Tsuki in cold blood and weren't afraid to do it. Tsuki felt a surge of power well up inside of him as he soon charged at the Syndicate members. He was the first to deal the first blow by dodging on of the incoming attacks by sliding against the ground and using his sword to slash a couple of the men at their knees which made them drop to the ground. Another one of the members that charged at him held a barrel up over his head and brought it down over him but Tsuki jumped back to dodge it as the barrel slammed against the ground and broke into several wooden pieces. Tsuki grabbed onto one of the wooden fragments that shot out that had a bit of an edge to it and threw it at the man, piercing his left shoulder. Another member of the Syndicate got behind him and thrusted his dagger at him in an attempt to stab him in the back but Tsuki slid off to the side to avoid it and countering him by doing the same, slashing the man across his back with his sword.

Tsuki continued to engage with several other members as they joined in and the longer he fought, the weaker he felt that he was becoming. His balance was starting to become unsteady again and the power burst that he's been using has started to fade away. The Syndicate members that he's already engaged were only injured and wounded. He hasn't even killed any of them so their numbers weren't getting any smaller. After a while, he was pushed back towards the back wall of the alley with Cheria as the Syndicate closed in on them. It was a losing battle for him at this point. He started to lose the energy even lift his arm up as the aches and pains from the fever started to take over and his focus was deteriorating from the dizziness. His breathing became heavy and labored.

The man that had the whip saw that Tsuki was starting to crash and burn. "It's quite impressive that you were able to fight like that in your condition. You're not looking well at all, my boy. To fight off so many of us in that state definitely deserves some credit when it is due. However, it looks like you've gotten to the end of your ropes. What say we finish this, shall we?" he asked. He then waved his arm forward, giving the signal for the other Syndicate members to move in on him.

Cheria couldn't stand this anymore. Tsuki's condition was getting worse by the minute and him overexerting himself was only making things worse. She had tears running down her face as she held onto the back of Tsuki's shirt tightly. "Please, enough! I'll go with you, just please let Tsuki go! I'll do anything-!" she said, crying. She didn't care about herself. All that mattered to her in that moment was Tsuki. She didn't want to see him being killed right in front of her.

Tsuki shook his head, somehow maintaining a defensive stance. He had taken a few cuts and minor injuries from the previous scuffle so he was lightly bleeding from his upper right arm and left cheek. "I can't...let you do that...I promised...to protect you...and I'm not about to break it...even if it costs me my life!" he said. Truth be told, he knew that he wasn't going to get out of this. He was determined to protect her for as long as he could.

The two of them were pushed all the way against the wall as the Syndicate members closed in with their weapons ready for a brutal slaughter. Tsuki made sure to keep himself in front of Cheria at all costs. Just as things were about to hit their peak, the sounds of men shouting out in pain and metallic clanking came from the other side of the Syndicate.

Everyone came to an abrupt stop as a loud, commanding male voice came shouting out from behind the Syndicate group. "Alright, that is quite enough! Lay down your weapons and surrender at once!" the voice said.

The people of the Syndicate turned around and what awaited them made them freeze where they stood. Standing behind the Syndicate were several squads of royal knights that were led by a 38 year old King Taichi and was aided by his bodyguard and Royal Eight member, a 28 year old Jula Haru. The unexpected appearance of the knights with the king and one of the Royal Eight threw the whole group of Syndicate members into disarray.

The man with the whip didn't understand how or why the knights were there. They weren't anywhere near the Business District at this point so no one should have heard them and there were no signs of knight activity prior to everything starting. "W-what!? Why are the knights here!?" he asked.

Cheria immediately recognized the voice and looked around Tsuki. She saw her father and Jula standing off in the distance with knights behind them, ready to act. "Father!" she said, tears still running down her face.

Taichi had his Odachi resting across his shoulder as he stepped forward from the group, glancing over towards Cheria. He was relieved to see that she was unharmed despite the circumstances. "Why? That's a funny thing to ask when you've endangered my daughter. Do you know it's a capital offense to target royal blood? One the deserves the swiftest judgment?" he said, staring at the man with a cold, piercing gaze. You could tell just how angry he was by the look in his eye.

The man grew very anxious as the knights confronted them. It seems that the tables had turned on them. Now they were the ones that were cornered. Just then, a thought came to his mind. He could use the safety and well-being of Cheria to his advantage. "N-not so fast. If you care about the safety of your daughter, then you'll-" he said.

Just then, the Syndicate members that had surrounded Tsuki and Cheria were all struck down at the same time by a barrage of arrows. Standing up on the rooftops above them was a middle aged woman wielding a bow. She had long, brown hair and blue eyes and wore armor that the Royal Eight did. From her skilled use of a bow, it was obvious to tell her remarkable skills with it.

With the Syndicate members struck down, he leapt down from the roof and landed between the Syndicate members and Tsuki and Cheria. She stood there with several arrows attached to the bowstring at the same time with it pulled back ready to let loose. It takes an exceptionally skilled archer to be able to fire off multiple arrows accurately in the same volley but she made it look so easy. "You'll...what? I hope you know that your actions here will spell the downfall of the Syndicate. Not even those crooked officials will be able to deny things now that you have multiple witnesses to your actions, one of them being the king himself" she said.

Cheria looked up at ther archer woman standing in front of them with delight and relief. "Instructor Malana!" she said.

The woman glanced back at Cheria and nodded at her. Meanwhile, the man leading the Syndicate group was trying to figure out what his options were. Unfortunately, there was only one way out. It was either to be killed or captured and apprehended. He wasn't going to go down without a fight and he wasn't going to allow himself to be captured that easily. He took a spear away from one of the Syndicate members and then charged at Taichi with the tip of it pointing out. Taichi saw the sloppy work in his attack and easily blocked it. He then used the blunt side of his Odachi and swung it as the man, slamming it against his side and knocked him back against the wall. There was enough force behind his attack and ensuing crash to knock the man out cold.

With the leader of the group taken down in one shot, the Syndicate members all dropped their weapons and gave up one right after the other until they were all disarmed and down on the ground. The knights behind Taichi would then quickly move in and restrain the Syndicate members. After restraining the members, it took most of the knights to take them away. They were to be brought to the castle dungeons and interrogated later on.

The woman archer relaxed her bowstring and put the arrows back into her quiver and placed the bow onto her back as she approached Taichi. For as much as the Syndicate boasts, she was expecting them to put up a bit more fight. "Well, that was easier than I thought. A little disappointing too, might I add" she said.

Taichi looked at the woman that approached him and nodded at her. "Excellent work, Malana. You did great" he said.

The woman archer was named Malana Faust. She was a member of the Royal Eight and led the kingdom's archery units. She was 48 years old and had been in the service of the royal family for over almost two decades. She would come to retire from her position when she hits 50 years old who was then replaced by her successor, Lydia Stanton in the present day. After retiring from service, she would then act as the private instructor of Cheria over the next few years and show her the ways of the bow.

With the Syndicate members being dealt with by the knights, their focus then shifted over towards Tsuki and Cheria. The fact that Tsuki was still brandishing a weapon put some of the other lingering knights on edge as they held ther spears out towards him, thinking that he was still a threat.

Jula looked at Tsuki and saw that he wasn't going to relent anytime soon. Cheria's safety was their number one priority so they needed to disarm Tsuki somehow and get him away from Cheria. "Your Majesty, the boy is still armed and dangerous. Shall I use a bit of force to subdue him?" she asked.

Taichi stood there in silence as he stared at Tsuki. Cheria was unaware of this herself but Taichi had been keeping a close watch on the two of them for quite some time. Since she never gave them a solid answer about where she sneaks off to on a daily basis, he took it upon himself to follow her wherever she went. He had already been aware that she has been sneaking out to visit Tsuki at his hideout for almost 4 months now. At first, he was extremely wary that she was running off into the Slums by herself to visit some boy living on the streets. He took particular interest into Tsuki as well due to a more personal matter of his own. He wasn't sure just what was going on between the two of them but one thing he did know was that he harbored no malice or malicious intent towards her and his display against the Syndicate proved that to him. When Cheria was being chased by the Syndicate, he quickly took action and called in for the knights to assist. When she got cornered, he was about to interfere when he saw Tsuki jump right into the middle of it in an attempt to protect her. He knew that Tsuki was a good kid.

However, when Cheria heard Jula ask if she should use force on Tsuki, that sent her into a slight panic. She left Tsuki's side and ran up to them but staying within distance of Tsuki. She didn't want to Tsuki get even more hurt than he was already. "Father, wait please! This is all my fault! I know I shouldn't have snuck out of the castle! I know I shouldn't have came here by myself and I'm sorry! You can punish me however you want but please, don't hurt Tsuki! He's not well! He needs medical attention! I don't care what you do to me but please help Tsuki! I'm begging you!" she pleaded. She had tears running down her face uncontrollably. Her heart ached badly and didn't want to see Tsuki suffer anymore. He's already suffered long enough. She's been able to endure the torment and suffering he's had to deal with all this time but seeing him in such a weakened and pained state pushed her too far to where she could feel her heart break.

Her overreaction stunned Taichi and the other knights. They've always seen Cheria as a bright and cheery girl. She would hardly ever get upset about something and was an earnest, hard-working girl. It was a very rare thing to see her cry, even for Taichi and Emma. She was always a strong girl that had the tolerance to take on anything. To see her in such a panicked, overexaggerated state threw them all off. It was even more evidence for Taichi at just how deep the bond the two of them had formed. What she was feeling was genuine. She cared about Tsuki deeply to where her own well-being was no longer her own concern. She had put his before her own and expressed that strongly.

Jula wasn't sure what to do in this situation. Even though Tsuki was brandishing a weapon, he was still a child. She couldn't use excessive force on him and Cheria would prevent her from doing anything. "Your Majesty, what-" she said.

Suddenly, Tsuki started to stumble over towards Cheria. He had been silent this whole time. His vision had become very cloudy and his strength and energy was quickly leaving his body. Each step he took closer to Cheria was uneven and unsteady. This caused the knights to ready their spears. Tsuki was still holding onto the shortsword as he stumbled over towards Cheria.

Cheria turned around as Tsuki started to stumble his way over towards her. "Tsuki, are you-?" she said. Her sentence came to an abrupt stop as her eyes widened with a light gasp. Tsuki had dropped his shortsword from the lack of energy in his body as it clattered against the stone ground as he fell forward while he stumbled over towards her. She quickly reacted to the sight and rushed over to Tsuki, catching him as he fell but ended up dropping down to her knees because she couldn't fully support his full weight being dropped onto her as she held onto him. "Tsuki!? Hey, are you okay!? Tsuki!" she shouted. She was in full-on panic mode.

Tsuki had fallen unconscious as all the adrenaline that fueled his tired body lifted from him like a blanket. His breathing was far more labored than before and was drenched in sweat. His whole body was very hot to the touch as his fever got so much more worse from him overexerting himself the way he did. He looked like he was in great pain and discomfort. Taichi saw the serious condition he was in and motioned for one of the nearby clerics to check up on him. Malana walked over towards Cheria and gently pulled her away from Tsuki as he was handed off to be examined by the cleric. Just from a brief examination, his condition was pretty serious.

After spending a few minutes examining Tsuki and checking his vitals, the cleric looked up at Taichi with a facial expression that screamed urgency. "The princess is right. He's not well, Your Majesty. I've never seen a fever this high before. His whole body is burning up and hot to the touch. He needs immediate medical attention otherwise we might lose him" the cleric said.

Cheria covered her mouth and was horrified when she heard what the cleric had to say, This made her even more hysterical and harder to calm down. "No...!" she said into her hands rather sharply.

The cleric took another look at Tsuki. His case of malnourishment was also a thing to be concerned about. "Not only does he have an extremely high fever, he has a pretty bad case of malnourishment. It's a miracle he was even to perform the feats that he did without his body giving out on him" the cleric added.

Taichi nodded at the cleric's quick diagnosis. Things were more serious than he thought and he needed to act now. "Right then. Get him back to the castle immediately and get our clerics working on him pronto. Take a couple knights with you" he said.

The cleric saluted him. "At once, Your Majesty!" the cleric said.

The cleric quickly pulled out a stretcher from his things and with the help of a couple knights, they carefully moved Tsuki onto the stretcher and lifted him up. Once he was secured, the knights and cleric took off past them and rushed back to the castle with all haste. Meanwhile, Cheria had grown quite hysterical. To hear that his condition had gotten so bad and that the malnourishment was worse than she thought made things worse for her. She tried to wipe her tears away but they just kept flowing. Malana had been trying to calm her down but with little success.

Taichi glanced back at the remaining knights that were on standby. "Jula, Malana. I want you to take the rest of the knights and lockdown the Slums. Apprehend any Syndicate member you come across. Use force, if necessary. Try to take the leaders in alive, if you can" he said. The Syndicate had gone too far this time and he wasn't going to sit and wait for some bogus report from the crooked officials that would attempt to stand in their way. This was his kingdom and it was time he brought down the hammer that he had been holding back for so long. He felt partially responsible for everything that's happened because of his long inaction but that was going to change.

Malana and Jula both saluted at Taichi, responding to him at the same time. "At once, Your Majesty!" they said in unison.

The two of them then took the remaining knights and went off into the Slums District, leaving just Taichi and Cheria behind. Taichi reached out towards Cheria as she was rubbing her eyes, trying to stop herself from crying. She wasn't just crying from what was happening with Tsuki. She was also really scared from the whole ordeal. She tried her best to put on a brave face against the Syndicate but deep down, she was so scared that she could cry. She was going through several different emotions right now. It pulled at his heartstrings to see his daughter in such a hysterical state. He's seen her cry before as she grew up but this was completely different. He's never seen her in such a mess.

Taichi set his Odachi down on the ground and gently placed his left hand against her right cheek. "Alright now, that's enough. Everything will be okay now. You're safe..." he said in a soft, gentle voice.

Cheria felt her father's hand on her cheek but she still couldn't get a handle of her own emotions as she covered her eyes with her hands. "I...I was so scared...! I tried to be brave like Mommy! I tried to be strong like Daddy! But I couldn't...! And then, Tsuki...he...!" she said through her crying.

Taichi raised his hand up and gently ran it across the top of her head, giving her a soft smile. "You were definitely strong in my eyes and I'm sure Mom would agree that you were just as brave. You did a great job, standing up against a group of scary men. You did your best and that's all that matters" he said in the same soft, gentle voice. As her father, it was his duty to be there for his daughter during her times of need. In most cases, that would be a pretty normal thing. With Cheria, however, she's always been more on the independent side so there weren't many opportunities where he could be there for her. He had almost started to believe that she no longer needed it but seeing her like this reaffirmed in his mind that she was still a young girl with lots more growing up to do, no matter how much she tries to be brave and act mature.

Cheria shook her and pulled her hands away from her eyes to look at Taichi. Her eyes were red from all the crying she was doing. "But Tsuki...he protected me even in that state...! I failed to notice how bad his condition had gotten! If I had noticed earlier and said something, then he wouldn't be suffering like this!" she said.

Taichi brought his other arm around Cheria and gently pulled her into a hug, using one hand to gently and slowly rub her back. "You really care about that boy, don't you?" he asked.

Cheria was pulled into a hug as she buried her face into his chest. She didn't reply to his question but instead, nodded her head against his chest as she held onto him tightly.

Taichi continued to rub her back, feeling her nod against his chest. He couldn't help but smile a bit. Throughout her time growing in the castle, she didn't get very many chances to mingle with people around her age. Given her status as a royal princess, that made things a bit difficult for her. Not many kids knew how to approach her whenever she did get the opportunity to hang out with others. Others found it difficult to approach her just because she was a princess. As such, she's never had anyone whom she could call a friend. She was on good terms with all of the knights and Royal Eight members but they didn't count in the same way as a friend would. Seeing her react in this way was oddly comforting for him because he knew that she found someone she could call a friend. Tsuki was someone that she could truly be herself with. As a father looking out for his daughter, it was probably one of the greatest wishes that had finally come true after so long. If she cared this much about Tsuki, then something needed to change, however. He could no longer allow her to go running off into the Slums but witnessing Tsuki's unrefined talent in combat as well as his own family history, he had a few ideas go through his head about how to proceed from here.

Taichi looked up towards the sky as he gently held onto Cheria. "Don't you worry about a thing. Daddy's going to fix him right up. He's going to be just fine, I promise" he said.

Cheria continued to cry into Taichi's chest for a good while after this. As the rest of the day went by, knight presence in the Slums increased almost tenfold. The entire district was combed by the full force of the Eresseas knights and the entirety of the Syndicate was apprehended within the next few hours. Most didn't go without a fight, especially the leaders. However, Jula and Malana were more than enough to bring the leaders down which allowed the knights to restrain and apprehend them. Seeing the leaders all brought down and captured, the remaining Syndicate memebrs would surrender to the knights. By the time the early evening hours came by, the Slums was put under new management by the knights. The people in the Slums all rejoiced because they were finally free from the Syndicate. Seeing the extensive damages the Slums were dealt by the typhoon and the already bad shortage of food supply, a combined effort with the knights and the businesses in the Business District was put into effect as tons of food, water and clothing were given out to the people of the Slums. Because of the Syndicate's presence, not many dared to enter the Slums but now that they've been removed, the healing process could finally begin.

The sun would soon set as the day turned to night. The scene shifts over to the castle in one of the guest rooms where Tsuki laid in one of the beds. Due to the poor condition his clothes were in, they were thrown out and was dressed in a light shirt with shorts. He looked to be sleeping in relative comfort as his breathing seems to have calmed down a little. He was still asleep and showed no signs of waking anytime soon though. Despite not showing signs of waking up though, his overall condition seems to have made an improvement. Thanks to the powerful medicines that the clerics gave him, his fever has gone down quite a lot and his bod wasn't so hot to the touch anymore. Sitting on the floor next to him, Cheria was laying down against the bed, who was also asleep. She had been through a lot today and was understandably exhausted from it all, both physically and mentally. They urged her that if she was going to sleep that she should do it in her own bed but she refused and said that she wanted to be by Tsuki's side. They had no choice but to listen to her so she let her do as she wished but put a blanket around her after she had fallen asleep.

Outside of the room, Taichi was talking with the cleric that had attended Tsuki along with Jula. After they got Tsuki back to the castle, they were able to run a lot more tests on him to make sure that there was nothing else going on with him that they weren't able to do back in the Slums. Thankfully, it was only the high fever and malourishment that were the problems. The cleric finished giving his report to Taichi, bowed to him and then left, leaving Taichi and Jula to think about the information they had gotten.

Taichi held his hand up to his chin as he thought about everything that happened in the last few hours. "A severe high fever and malnourishment, huh? Given what we saw, it's almost hard to believe..." he said.

Jula nodded at him. It was definitely a strange thing to witness now, thinking back at it all. "You can say that again. A fever like his would be more than enough to weaken an average healthy adult but then you have malnourishment on top of all that as well? A combination like that would cripple someone, indefinitely. Yet, he was able to fight with such speed and ferocity for a good while while being outnumbered" she said. It baffled her. She didn't know what to make of it. She almost questioned if what she was actually happened.

Taichi had a look of contemplation on his face as he rubbed his chin. "I wouldn't expect anything less from the child of those two but this far exceeds my expectations..." he said.

Jula tilted her head at his curious response. "Oh? Do you know something about him?" she asked.

Taichi glanced over at the door beside them. "He's the son of two former knights and old colleagues of mine. Varys amd Alta Himura. You may be able to recall them" he said.

Jula had to think back. The names seemed familiar but she wasn't able to put a face to their names no matter how hard she tried to think back. "I recognize the names but I can't think of their faces" she said.

Taichi shook his head at her. "It's alright if you don't. Varys was one of the best archers we've ever had while Alto showed incredible skill and potential as a frontline fighter. I even tried to promote her to General status but she refused" he said.

Jula was able to remember who they were based off the last bits of information he had to say about them. They were talked about a lot among the knights and were an inspiration to many. When news came that they would be both retiring, it came as a great shock to many. "Ah, I remember now. They caused quite a scene when they left. I think many beers were drank that night, if I recall correctly..." she said. She hasn't heard about them ever since they left the knights so she was a little curious about how they were doing. "How are they doing now?" she asked.

Taichi fell silent for a few moments before answering her. It was a bitter memory for him to recall. "They died, unfortunately. Actually, I suppose the better term is that they were killed...during the events that took place in Tomoha a year and a half ago" he said.

Jula's eyes widened in surprise. "Tomoha!? That would mean...!" she said, looking back at the door.

Taichi nodded. "That's right. That boy is the only survivor from that tragic event. When he was brought back to the city to have his injuries tended to, I used my connections to get him into one of the nearby orphanages. When he came of age, I had intended to make him into a knight but then I learned that he had fled from the orphanage" he said. He spent a good amount of time of his own searching the city for Tsuki. He was the last connection to Tomoha and the living legacy of Varys and Alto. He wanted to honor their memory by making him into a knight and when he had learned that he had fled, he desperately wanted to find him. He didn't expect that he would make his home in the Slums, of all places though.

The hours slowly started to crawl by. Before anyone knew it, the sun had started to rise the next day. The sounds of birds chirping could be heard from outside the closed window as the sun's morning rays shined through it and hovered over Tsuki. He would soon start to slowly open his eyes as the sun's rays almost blinded him at first. His vision was still pretty fuzzy but after a few moments, he started to get clarity back. He found himself look up at a strange roof and slowly sat up. He felt every bone and muscle in his body ache as he did so. He couldn't bring himself to sit all the way though so he held himself up with with arms. He looked around the unfamiliar room and didn't know where he was.

Tsuki was still feeling rather out of it. "Where am I...?" he asked himself. The last thing he could recall was facing off against the Syndicate members. This made him think that maybe he ended up passing out and was apprehended by the Syndicate but those thoughts were quickly erased simply by the elegant design of the room he was in. Not only that, but he he heard the sounds of light snoring near him. He looked down and saw that Cheria was kneeling over the bed, sleeping. "Cheria...? What is going on here?" he asked.

Cheria would soon be awokend by the glare of the sun's rays shining in her eyes. She would open her eyes and rub them gently as she let out a yawn. Her gasze soon lifted up as her eyes would soon lock onto Tsuki's, who was fully awake. "Tsuki...?" she said softly.

Tsuki wasn't sure what to say. He felt a bit awkward, being in this situation. He let out a slight nervous laugh as he scratched the back of his head. "H-hi there. Good morning..." he said.

Cheria reached a hand out towards him and touched the side of his cheek. She could feel an immediate difference compared to the day before. His fever appears to have gone down significantly. The malnourishment problem would take longer to fix but the more immediate concerns appeared to be past them. This brought tears of happiness rolling down her face as she quickly stood up and threw herself on top of him, holding onto him in a tight hug, "Tsuki...! You're fine now, right? You're not in anymore pain, right?" she asked him, her voice muffled as she spoke into his shirt.

Tsuki ended up being pushed back down onto the bed, feeling the pain surge through his body from her sudden tackle. "Ow...! I'm fine now though I can't say much about the pain" he said.

Cheria rested her head against his chest as she laid on top of her, holding onto him. "I'm so sorry...if I knew the full extent of what you were going through, I would have done something sooner..." she said.

Tsuki was still feeling very confused about his circumstances. If Cheria was there with him, then that means that they're not with the Syndicate. "Done something? What do you mean?" he asked.

Cheria closed her eyes and tightened her grip on him. "I would have tried to give you the proper aid that you needed. Seeing you live like that in the sewers became too much for me to bear. I knew your health was on a slow decline but I thought I had a good handle on it..." she said. In the days before the typhoon, she had noticed that he was becoming more thinner. As a result of this, she tried to bring him as much food as she could make off with. She thought that she had a good grasp on his malnourishment problem but it would seem it ran deeper than she thought.

Tsuki had slowly been trying to stop himself from stealing from local businesses. Being spoiled by her kindness on a daily basis, he started to feel guilt and regret for his actions. Because of that, he hadn't really been eating much aside from what she brought him. "It's not your fault. I was the one that didn't say anything" he said.

Cheria shook her head and pushed herself up from Tsuki and stood up. Tsuki may not realize it himself but being with him has helped her out in more ways than one. Now, it was her turn to return the favor. It was her turn to be the one to help Tsuki. There was just one other thing she needed to admit to. "Even so, I can't let you go back to how you were. Not anymore" she said.

Tsuki tilted his head a bit and looked at her with a confused look on his face. "What are you-?" he said. He then heard his stomach growl the loudest noise he's ever heard.

Almost as if they had waited for their cue, the door to his room opened as Taichi walked in, carrying a hot, steaming bowl of rice porridge along with a few other snacks that would be easy on the stomach. "Right on time, I see. Excellent" he said. He walked over to the side of his bed and placed the tray down with the bowl on Tsuki's lap along with the other snacks he brought him. There was also a glass of milk for him to wash it down with. "Sounds like someone is famished. Eat as much as you like. There's plenty more where that came from" he said.

Tsuki was speechless by the events happening. He looked down at the bowl of rice porridge sitting on his lap and then back up towards Taichi. His confusion was clearly marked on his face. "U-umm...what's going on...?" he asked.

Taichi tapped his chest with the side of his fist. "Building your strength back up, what else? Think of it as repayment for helping my daughter when she was in a tight spot" he said.

Tsuki tilted her head a bit. "Your daughter...?" he asked, looking at Cheria. Much like when he first met Cheria, he didn't recognize Taichi. That's how far out of tune he was when it came to matters outside of the Slums District.

Cheria cupped her hands and played with her thumbs a bit. "Umm...there's something I need to tell you. I've been keeping it from you this whole time but..." she said. She then took a few steps back and gave him a formal bow. "I'm not just some rich girl. I'm actually...the princess of Eresseas..." she said with anxiety and nervousness.

Tsuki stared at her for a solid few seconds after she told him her real identity. At first, it didn't register in his head. Then, it all hit him. He knew that he recognized the name 'Tsubasa' but he could never figure out where he had heard it from. It was a name that was spoken often all around Eresseas. Finding out that the girl that he had been hanging out with these past eight months was actually the kingdom's princess sent him into a bit of shock. It finally became clear to him on why she became so heavily targetted. "Huh!? Wait, the princess!? T-then, that would make you...!" he said, flustered.

Taichi nodded at him with a slight chuckle at his reaction. "Yep. I'm Taichi Tsubasa, the king of Eresseas" he said in a rather casual way.

Tsuki felt his mind spinning at these revelations. He knew that Cheria was from some rich family based on how she dressed and acted but this was something that he wouldn't have expected in a million years. "W-wait, so that means...I've been dragging around the princess through the Slums!? Bringing her down into the sewers!? I-I'm so sorry, I didn't realize and yet I was so disrespectful to you and-!" he said. He was then cut off by a bad coughing fit.

Cheria kneeled onto the bed, putting her hand on his back as he let out a pretty nasty coughing fit. "Tsuki...!" she said with concern on her face.

Taichi shook his head at him. His reaction was understandable but he was in no shape or condition for such an overexaggerated response. "Easy now. You're still rather unwell. It'll be a while before your health is back to normal. Try to take it easy until then" he said.

Tsuki managed to get his coughing fit under control which caused him to sweat a little bit. He could feel the pain from the coughing in his chest. It did not feel like a normal cough at all. By the end of it, he felt short of breath and got slightly dizzy from it. "I-I'm sorry..." he said.

Cheria took a nearby rag and got it a little wet before using it to wipe the sweat from him. It pained her to no end to see Tsuki in this state. "No, I should be the one to apologize. I knew you didn't recognize me from the very beginning and yet, I chose to keep my identity from you. It's just...I was too afraid to tell you..." she said.

Tsuki looked at Cheria and saw the worry and guilt on her face. He was curious to why she kept such a big secret from him for so long. "Why?" he asked.

Cheria looked down with a gloomy expression as she gripped onto the bedsheets, her body lightly trembling. "Because...I was afraid you might treat me differently if you knew. No matter how hard I tried to make friends, people would treat me different because I was the princess. They would avoid me or try to be nice in order to garner favor. All people saw was a princess. They didnt see me for who I was. You were the first one to treat me like a normal person. You were cold. You were rude. You weren't afraid to speak your mind" she said. There were a lot of things that Tsuki has said to her that, in the eyes of many people especially the royals, would be deemed extremely rude and disrespectful. For her, however, she didn't mind it at all. It was like a breath of fresh air for her to be treated like a person and not some pampered girl.

Tsuki felt arrows strike him as she commented about some of his previous behaviors that he had towards her. He couldn't tell what she was trying to imply. "I-I'm sorry...I didn't..." he said.

Cheria shook her head at him and placed her hand on top of his that was resting on the bed. "No...you don't know how happy it made me when you treated me like that. From the moment we first met, I knew that you were someone I could truly be myself with. That's why I kept going back there despite the dangers. I wanted to see you and play with you" she said. She looked up at him, giving him a soft smile.

Tsuki didn't know what to say to her. Whenever she gave him that signature look of hers, it always stopped him in his tracks. It made him feel a little embarrassed. He ended up scratching the back of his head. "I-I really didn't do much..." he said. He then took the spoon sitting next to the bowl of rice porridge and scooped some up before putting it into his mouth. His eyes lit up as he tasted it. It was rice porridge which was a pretty simple dish to make but it had been so long since he's actually had freshly made, hot food. He then proceeded to take a few more bites out of the porridge as he could feel his body warm up a little bit. Within minutes, the big bowl of porridge was gone along with the snacks that Taichi brought him. He soon set aside the tray on a nearby table and looked at Taichi. "Um...so, what's going to happen to me now...?" he asked.

Taichi was glad that he was able to put down the porridge with little issue. With him still recovering from the fever and with a long road ahead to rid his malnourishment, he wasn't sure just what he would be able to consume. "We'll keep you here until your health has returned to normal. We can't have you going around in your condition and not doing anything about it. Which brings me to the next thing I want to say..." he said. He folded his arms in front of him and stared at him in silence for a few moments. "I hate to be the one to say this but the Slums District is scheduled to be completely demolished, rebuilt and used to expand the Business District. As such, I'm afraid I cannot allow you to return to wherever you called home" he said.

Cheria hadn't heard any plans like that being discussed as she turned to look at Taichi with shock and surprise. "D-daddy!?" she shouted.

Tsuki let out a heavy sigh. It was honestly a good thing to get rid of the Slums District. That place had nothing but bad repuation and harbored many criminals. It was a stain on Eresseas in the eyes of many. After the whole situation with the Syndicate, it was of no surprise that they finally decided to get rid of the district in its entirety. "I see. That's fine. I wasn't going to be able to return to my hideout anyway. Guess that just means I'll have to find someplace else to stay" he said.

Cheria shook her head in protest. "So you can wind up in the same condition again down the line!? No!" she said. She definitely didn't want Tsuki out on the streets anymore. He has already been through too much already. "Daddy, isn't there something you can do!?" she asked.

Taichi scratched the back of his head. "Well, if you'd let me finish what I was saying...anyway, returning to your home is no longer an option. I've also heard from various shopkeepers around the Business District that many of their goods had been stolen at a pretty consistent rate by a young boy. I'm sure you don't need to tell me who that is. I had thought to punish you in some way but after seeing how much Cheria cares for you and the great lengths you went to protect with complete disregard for your own safety and health, I decided on something else" he said. He then clapped his hands which prompted the door behind him to open. A knight came walking into the room, carrying a mannequin with a small, child-sized set of armor. "The council didn't approve but after discussing matters with the Queen and several other close colleagues, it has been decided that we will be taking you in under our care as a sign of appreciation for protecting Cheria. To repay the debt you owe for all the times you've committed theft, you will work and train hard to become a knight worthy of your family's name so that one day, you can serve as Cheria's bodyguard. How's that sound?" he asked.

The proposition stunned Tsuki. He didn't know what to say. All he could do was look at Taichi and then stare at the child-sized suit of armor. "Me? A knight...?" he asked himself. As he stared at his own reflection through the armor, his thoughts soon came to a stop as he had mentioned something about his family's name. "Wait, you said my family's name?" he asked.

Taichi nodded at him. "Yes. Your parents were former knights and old colleagues of mine. Varys and Alto Himura. Two unlikely people that came together and found love. I was deeply saddened when I heard that they had lost their lives in Tomoha by the hands of that cult. It felt like I had failed them when I couldn't get reinforcements there fast enough. They didn't deserve to go out like that. Which is why, I decided to make amends by making sure their son has a fulfilling live. I was planning on scouting you out when you came of age but you ended up running away from that orphanage..." he said. There were some unexpected things that happened and a lot of headaches were suffered through but in the end, he was able to keep to his own promise. It didn't go exactly as planned but fate had a funny way with having things play out.

Tsuki had some flashbacks of his parents pop in his mind. There were from a time when he felt true happiness and that nothing bad would ever happen. They were happy memories and it made him nostalgic a little bit and sad at the same time since they were no longer around. He stared at the armor set for a few more moments before nodding. "Alright...I'll accept your care and...train to become a knight" he said. He had nowhere else to go besides here. It was either take his offer or go back to living on the streets which Cheria was very much against him doing.

Cheria's eyes lit up brightly as profound happiness could be seen on her face. "S-so, does that mean that he gets to live here with us!?" she asked with excitement in her voice.

Taichi looked at Cheria and nodded at her. "Of course. His room is already being prepared as we speak. We had to make use of an unnused room though so it may be a little small though" he said. He then got down on one knee so that he was eye level with Cheria. "And, it just so happens as if by pure coincidence that the room in question is right down the hall from yours" he said.

Cheria felt a rush of excitement and happiness go up through her body as she quickly threw herself at Taichi, hugging him. "Really!? Oh, thank you!" she said. She couldn't have received better news than that. Not only was Tsuki going to be living with them now but his room was right down the hall from hers. She could visit him anytime she wanted to without having to sneak out of the castle anymore and put herself into danger.

Taichi hugged her and patted her back as he chuckled a bit from her excitement. Truthfully, he knew that she would still sneak around the castle to visit Tsuki whenever she had the chance to do so. This would end up being an inconvenience to many so it would be easier to put his room next to hers in the long run. After a few moments, he released Cheria and stood back up, looking towards Tsuki. "With the agreement being met, all you need to worry about is getting healthy again because once you are, your knight training will begin so you'd best ready yourself" he said. He then walked over to the bed and picked up the tray with the empty bowl on it and started to walk towards the door. "In order to do that, you need food in your stomach. I'll be back with more so sit tight. I'll even pack in a little extra this time" he said. He soon walked out of the door with the knight that came in earlier following him, shutting the door behind them, leaving just Tsuki and Cheria in the room.

Tsuki was still trying to come to grips with what just occurred. This was like getting the deal of a lifetime. For a brief moment, he questioned whether or not this was truly happening. "Is this really happening...?" he asked himself.

Cheria could hardly contain her excitement. She skipped back over to his bedside, taking hold of his hand as she looked at him with unbridled excitement and happiness. "Isn't this amazing!? Now, we can always be together!" she said, giving him her signature smile.

Tsuki couldn't match her level of excitement but he did feel a warm feeling inside of him. He wasn't sure what it was but it felt good. "Yeah..." he said.

With that, Tsuki has been taking in under the care of the royal family. Naturally, the fact that there was a child that hasn't even came of age yet training to become a knight caused a lot of debate and controversy among the Eresseas council members but Taichi was adamant in his stance. After a while, the council started to back off and had to accept the king's decision, no matter how difficult it was for them. The recovery process for Tsuki to get his health back on track and stable took about three weeks. Every night, Tsuki and Cheria would end up staying up way past their bedtime and talked about various different things. There were even times that they've slept over in their respective rooms in each other's beds. Many of the maids and knights were still unaccustomed to having Tsuki around even after fully recovering but as time went on, he started to find his place within the castle. After about a few months of living there, he would come to be fully accepted by the knights, maids, butlers and other officials.

After recovering, Tsuki's training to become a knight started immediately. It was a very difficult thing for him at first and it remained that way for a good while but once he started to get the ropes of it and the motions that went with it, he started to adjust better in his training. He would have a number of different people training him in the arts of combat. Since his specialty was a sword, he was taught by the Royal Eight member, Stahler Tokesu in the art of swordsmanship. He had already knew how to wield a sword because his mother had taught him when he was younger. With the help of another member of the Royal Eight, Aya Kazuma, he learned and studied up on the history of Eresseas and the various other historical things that knights would need to know about. His time in training was long but fruitful.

After years of training went by, he became a full-fledged knight at the age of 15. It was an achievement that was the first of its kind because he would become the youngest person to ever become a knight in the history of Eresseas. Throughout his whole time in trainig, he had been earning a salary wage. He would then use that salary wage and donate it to the various businesses that he stole from to pay them back for all the food he had stolen and paid them even more in restitution to make up for any damages they might have incrued. It was an unexpected gesture for the shopkeepers when they saw the former street rat in rags come into their stores dressed in knight attire and donating them money. At first, they couldn't believe the drastic change but they welcomed his gesture nonetheless. After becoming a full-fledged knight, his salary increased significantly and he would make it a routine thing to use half of what he earned and donate it to businesses and other charities that were in need. Doing this gained him significant positive appeal amongst the citizens of Eresseas which caused some local writers to make documentaries of him, titling their works things such as "Street Rat in Shining Armor". He would quickly become the talk of the town for a while. Then, two years later at the age of 17, he would officially be appointed to a position in the Royal Eight where he would be given his duty to serve Cheria as her bodyguard.

Time jumps ahead back to the present day as Tsuki and Cheria pretty much wrapped up telling their whole story to Lynette and the other. They didn't realize but they actually spent a few hours talking about their past which helped Tsuki, Lynette and Ruko forget about their seasickness. They were still feeling under the weather but not as bad as they were prior to them telling their story. The motions of the rough seas have died down a bit but there were still in the middle of the storm. The loud, muffled booms of heavy thunder could still be heard from within the cabin.

Lynette was pretty amazed by their story. By looking at Tsuki now, one wouldn't expect him to have a past like that. "Wow...that's quite a story. It's pretty crazy" she said.

Nagi felt her heart ache for him after hearing his story. She almost felt a bit relieved to know that she wasn't the only one to have a rough time growing up. It wasn't anything like she had experienced but it was still a difficult time for him. "It's hard to imagine the kind of place Eresseas used to be. It's such a beautiful city now. There's not even a trace of the old Slums District anymore" she said.

Elle glanced over at Nagi. "From what I heard, demolition of the Slums District came swift. The whole area was practically leveled in a matter of days. The rebuilding and expansion efforts took about 2 years to finish" she said. She remembered the day when the newly expanded area of the Business District opened up. The number of various shops increased in number while some of the already established ones moved to bigger, newer buildings.

Ruko was sitting down in one of the chairs, his head leaning back against the top of it with his arms folded in front of him. "I think I recall the Commander talking about the Syndicate. Supposedly, the big boss behind it all turned out to be one of the royal officials who had a number of other charges to his name. Battery, assault, fraud and embezzlement to name a few of them. It's just hard to picture people like that under the current rule" he said.

Ramza sighed a bit while shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head. "Well, you know what they say. Sometimes, the nastiest demons can be found right next door. Unfortunately, corruption lies in every kingdom in some form or fashion. You don't think it's there but it is. People are just that good when it comes to concealing it" he said. That's not just true for royal settings either. That happens everywhere whether if you're in a small business trying to get by or running a big, corporate firm.

Lynette couldn't help but stare at Tsuki and Cheria. He wasn't using her lap as a pillow anymore but they were sitting awfully close to each other. This was probably the firs ttime she's seen them act when they're both together and she has trouble with reality. "Still...a knight and a princess, huh? You wouldn't think it when you look at the two of them. More like brother and sister. Or even lovers. You're way too friendly with each other" she said. She was almost jealous of their relationship.

Cheria brushed her comment off with a nervous laugh. She had gotten so many comments from people pretty much saying the same thing. "Please don't start that here. It was already troublesome to deal with at the castle..." she said.

Elle shook her head and pointed at them. "Hard to do that when you two go off into your own little world like that" she said.

Tsuki had a feeling that they probably spoke a little too much about their relationship. Unfortunately, it was all out in the open so nothing could be done about that. "Our own little world...?" he asked.

Ramza shrugged and adjusted himself so that he was laying across the sofa he was sitting on. "Well, nothing wrong with keep healthy relationships but try to keep it in moderation when we're all together. You two are free to do whatever lovey-dovey business you want when you're by yourselves" he said. He closed his eyes and had a smirk on his face.

Cheria's face turned slightly red when Ramza decided to poke fun at her. "L-lovey-dovey!? We aren't even at that stage!" she said, slightly flustered.

Nagi looked at her with a grin on her face. "Oh? Is that suppose to imply that you will at some point?" she asked, teasing her.

Ruko couldn't help but laugh a bit at her expense. "Sure sounds like it to me. Looks like the ship has already set sail for those two" he said.

Cheria's face grew more red as she stood up and stomped her feet on the ground. You could almost see the steam coming out from the top of her head with how red her face was. "Enough of that already...!" he shouted.

Melphi couldn't help but laugh a bit at her expense. "Well, can you blame them for teasing you? I mean, you seemed to be pretty bold even back then when you were 9 years old" she said.

All Tsuki could do was let out a nervous laugh from the whole exchange. If they were to expect conversations like this, then their group is going to become a lot more lively than their last journey. After Cheria had settled down, the group continued to talk amongst themselves for a while. As for their voyage, they had finally made it out of the stormy seas about an hour later where they Tsuki, Ruko and Lynette could feel more at ease. They were still dealing with light seasickness but it wasn't nearly as bad. It would still be a while before their bodies got used to sea travel, however. The voyage through the rest of the day continued on with not much else excitement.

The days of their voyage across the seas continued on. They were starting to think that their end destination would never come. Thankfully, they had hit a stroke a luck as their voyage went into its 4th day. Because of the sailors efforts, they were able to pick up some much needed speed that they had lost from the storm. As a result, they could finally see their destination coming up over the horizon. They were finally drawing close to Ersheath. As the ship started to get closer, the tiny speck off in the distance became a giant landmass in front of them that stretched far and wide. The scale of the landmass far exceeded that of Cayhill.

The landmass that would serve as their next destination was divided into two sections. The northern portion of the landmass that were more flat with a few mountain terrains was Ersheath while the southern portion, which was all primarily mountains and ravines was Nargelond. The two sides of the landmass were connected by a border down that cut across the center, similarly to how Cayhill had a border town that divided the Northern and Southern Regions. The territory within Ersheath is ruled over by Esseand, the Kingdom of Staves while the territory within Nargelond is ruled by the Realm of Dolothlond.

Their voyage was starting to come to an end as they appeared to pulling into a small portside town similar to Basilwell but much smaller. If anything, it looked like a port that you would just come and go through without stopping. What seemed to be off about it though was that there were no boats docked and there didn't appear to be much going on in terms of outgoing or incoming traffic. For a port, that was immediately strange. Things would get even more strange as they got closer.

Lynette, who was standing on the deck of the ship, saw movement on the docks. "Um...guys? You might want to come take a look at this!" she said.

Tsuki and the others walked over towards Lynette as she pointed over towards the docks. They were still too far away to be able to see exactly what was going on.

Cheria's eyes started to glow green as her field of vision grew sharply. What she was using was a skill that marksmen learn during training. It was one of their most essential skills. It was called Eagle Eye. It allows marksmen to briefly have an increased field of vision and depth perception. Basically, it allowed marksmen to see further away than others. Unfortunately, they were still too far away to see anything. "I...can't see" she said.

Melphi patted Cheria's shoulders as she stepped next to her. "Allow me. A dragon's sight is far superior to that of a Human-based skill" she said. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath as visible steam could be seen coming out of her nose as she breathed out. When she opened her eyes, they had turned from a dark sharde of red to piercing yellow. Using her dragon sight, she was able to clearly see what what going on at the docks. "It appears that knights are forming up in a large group around the docks with their weapons drawn. They don't look too happy either" she said.

Ruko folded his arms out in front of him as she said what was happening off in the distance. They were the only ship to be going into the port so obviously it was meant for them. "What do you make of it?" he asked.

Tsuki shook his head. "I'm not sure but if they're forming up on the docks that we're heading towards, we're probably not about to get a warm reception" he said.

Ramza started off into the distance with a heavy look on his face. He had that look that said that there was something wrong. "Before we make landfall, there's one thing that you all need to remember" he said.

Tsuki looked over at Ramza and saw the serious expression on his face as he gazed out towards their soon-to-be destination. "What is it?" he asked.

Ramza glanced over at Tsuki before shifting over towards the others. "Me, Nagi and Lynette are fine. For the others, it's best that you keep the fact that you serve Eresseas a secret from the public" he said.

Cheria tilted her head a bit. "Why's that?" she asked.

Ramza shook his head. "Things are a little hectic around Ersheath lately with the ongoing problem with Dolothlond. Foreigners are met with a certain degree of scrutiny. It'll be worse for us since we're going in on an unmarked, unidentified ship. Although Eresseas is a neutral kingdom, if anyone finds out that you serve the royal family there, that might cause some problems" he said. He wanted to avoid any unnecessary trouble. He was normally the cautious type but this time around, he needed to step up his game considering where he is going.

Elle nodded to herself. "Makes sense. So long as we don't say anything, we should be fine. We're not carrying anything with us that would show them the truth otherwise, in any case" she said.

Lynette was in agreement. Besides, they weren't coming here for official Eresseas business anyway. They were here to get Phi some help. "All we need to do is say that we're seeking medical help for Phi. Hopefully, that'll be enough" she said.

Ramza looked at the two of them and nodded as they were in agreement with him. "You can say you're from Eresseas but nothing else more than that. If it comes to it..." he said, trailing off at the end.

Tsuki tilted his head at him. "If it comes to...what?" he asked.

Ramza shook his head and tapped his chest with the side of his fist. "Just leave it to me" he said.

Tsuki looked at him with a confused look and wanted to know what he meant but he refused to elaborate further. They had at least another 30 minutes before they were to make port so they took the time they had left to get their things together. The time flew by rather quick because before they knew it, they had arrived at the port as the ship came to a complete stop. Everyone was starting to gather up on the deck as the ramp to get onto the dock dropped onto the side of the deck. After about an additional 10 minutes, everyone but Ramza had gathered by the ramp. Tsuki was carrying the unconscious Phi on his back. Thankfully, her condition was unchanged so the medicines that Melphi had given her were still working. Because of the bad reputation Ersheath has with dragons, Melphi had to use a robe to conceal her dragon horns and tail.

From the pier, the knights appeared to be on edge about something as the large group blocked their way. Stepping out from the group of knights was a man in unique-looking armor that made him stand out among the other knights. He took a few steps forward towards the ramp and stood there in place. He waited for Tsuki and the others to come down the ramp. Compared to the other knights behind him, the man looked pretty composed and calm.

When everyone gathered near the ramp, Tsuki looked around and saw no sight of Ramza. "Where's Ramza?" he asked.

Nagi shook her head. "He said he was just about finished getting his things together and will be with just in a few minutes" she said.

Tsuki nodded at her and looked over towards the man waiting for them on the docks. "Well, it's best to not keep them waiting. Shall we?" he asked.

With that, Tsuki and the others started to walk down the ramp and onto the docks. They then started to approach the man on the docks and stopped within a few steps of them. By getting a closer look, the man had armor that a commander type would wear. He had long, red hair with blue eyes. He looked to be middle aged but also had a young look to him. The man carried a large, heavy-looking hammer on his back. When Tsuki and the others approached him, he gave each of them a good, hard look.

The man continued to look at Tsuki and his companions for a few more moments before breaking the awkward silence between them. "Well, this is a rather interesting group of people. Welcome to Velika, your first steps into Ersheath. My name is Caz Tanix, I'm the one in charge of this fair port" he said, giving them a light bow.

Tsuki did his best to return the bow but couldn't do much with carrying Phi on his back. "I'm Tsuki Himura. We come from Cayhill on urgent business" he said.

Caz folded his arms in front of them as he stared at him. "And what business would that be?" he asked.

Tsuki tilted his head to glance at Phi. "My friend here got struck with a deadly poison. We heard that there may be someone here that can help us" he said.

Caz looked over at Phi, raising an eyebrow for a moment when he saw her face. "What kind of poison, might I ask?" he asked.

Tsuki looked back at Caz. "Deixide" he said.

Caz held his hand up to his chin and rubbed it a bit. "Deixide, huh? I see. Unfortunately, there are some things we need to work out still before I can clear you guys to leave. Such as the fact that you came in on an unmarked ship with a Dragonkin amongst your little group" he said. He then lifted his hand up and within moments, a group of knights approached and stood beside him.

Melphi looked over at Caz with a surprised look. From where he was standing, he shouldn't have been able to see her concealed horns or tail at all. "You caught onto me pretty fast. For a Human, I'm a little impressed" she said.

Lynette shook her head and waved her arms in front of her. "W-wait a minute! It's not what you think it is!" she said.

Caz glanced over at Melphi. "How long do you think I've had to deal with your kind? I can spot a Dragonkin from a mile away" he said. His gaze soon shifted over to Lynette. "If this is all a case of misunderstanding, then everything should be fine. So long as you cooperate with us, no one has to get hurt. Seize them, men" he said.

The knights soon surrounded Tsuki and his companions with their spears held out towards them. They slowly closed in on them with intentions to disarm and restrain them. However, the knights came to abrupt stop when Ramza's voice could be heard shouting out from the deck of the ship.

Ramza walked up to the ramp with his things as the knights surrounded and closed in on Tsuki and the others. "That will not be necessary! Everyone is to stand down immediately!" he shouted.

Everyone heard Ramza's voice and looked up toward the deck of the ship. There, they saw Ramza standing there, wearing an expensive-looking robe with what appeared to be various types of medals attached to it. The knights immediately lowered their weapons and stepped away from Tsuki and the others as Ramza walked down from the ramp and joined Tsuki and the others.

Ramza stood alongside Tsuki and looked at Caz. "These people are with me. I trust that won't that won't be a problem now, will it?" he asked with a commanding voice.

Caz saw Ramza and immediately stood at attention, saluting him. He felt his body almost freeze over from his unexpected visit. "G-General Tokatsu, sir!? W-we weren't told to expect you today..." he said.

Ramza shook his head. "Not surprising, considering this was an unplanned trip. I apologize if we caused you any alarm by coming in on an unmarked ship but our situation is...unique" he said.

Caz continued to hold his posture. "What brings you here to our small port...?" he asked.

Ramza glanced back at Tsuki and the others and could see the looks that they were giving him. He let out a sigh before looking back at Caz. "This is all about to be exposed anyway so might as well come out and say it. We're here to seek out a man named Russell Sykes. It's urgent that we meet with him as soon as possible. His Majesty should know where he is so we need an audience with him" he said.

Caz nodded at him. "Of course. I would be honored to guide you to Esseand, sir. But uhhh..." he said, glancing back as Tsuki and the others. He wasn't wary much of Tsuki and his companions but more so of Melphi. "I uhh...assume all of them are coming with? Even that Dragonkin girl?" he asked.

Ramza nodded at his response. "Yes. They're all good people. I can personally vouch for them" he said. He was starting to have some annoying and unpleasant memories pop up in his mind of his past. He was being reminded why he no longer wished to associate himself in this type of field.

Caz was only just a low-ranking commander. He had no grounds to question or challenge his authority so he had to follow orders. "...As you wish, sir. If you would all follow me, I will take you to the carriage and we can be off" he said.

Tsuki and the others stood there in silence and in total confusion. They had no idea what was happening. Judging by how Ramza was ordering around royal knights of Esseand, it was obvious that he wasn't just an ordinary mercenary that he had claimed himself to be. It was clear that there was some history between Ramza and the Esseand knights, especially if they were calling him a General. They all looked at Ramza with the same look. They all were wanted to know the exact same thing.

With their brief introduction done and after a shaky first meeting, Caz led them towards the port entrance and onto one of the carriages where they wasted no time at all and left through the front gates of the port. Based off their earlier discussion, the carriage was heading out towards Esseand as Ramza took the lead with things. There was more to Ramza that met the eye as he expressed a lot of familiarity with Ersheath as a whole, particularly the royal family. As they rode the carriage to whatever destination they were going to, Ramza took the time to explain some of the things that were happening. Ramza had a plan in mind and in order for that plan to work, he needed to reach out to an old friend of his. He hopes that this old friend can point them in the right direction where they might be able to secure help for Phi. There were many questions that Tsuki and the others wanted to ask Ramza but he would refuse to elaborate on them until they arrived at their destination and met up with his old friend. Tsuki and the others were forced to wait in anticipation as the mystery of Ramza only grew bigger.

Meanwhile, the scene shifts back to Cayhill, in a wrecked Eresseas. By now, most of the citizens have all fled the city and reached relative safety. The city portion was in complete ruins as the fires have long been extinguished. Eresseas had sustained extensive damage to its town and castle from all the fighting. The Anti-Arte Field was still up and in effect as the entire city and surrounding area was covered in a thick, purple haze. Strange entities roamed the ruined, empty streets like mindless zombies. Inside of the castle was no better. In the audience hall, Caius could be seen sitting on one of the destroyed throne chairs. The castle had sustained heavy damage most likely from Taichi, Emma and Shana as they made their escape attempt after Tsuki and the others fled with the help of Melphi. Kneeling before Caius was Mike, who was badly wounded, a heavily bandaged Stahler and a man with thick, black hair, red eyes and ripped sleeves. He had a bit of muscle to him and had the looks of a ruthless fighter.

Caius was sitting on the throne chair, leaning back against it as he tapped the armrest. His gaze soon locked onto Mike. "So, those three got away?" he asked, referring to Taichi, Emma and Shana.

Mike bowed to him in shame. "Yes...Your Majesty. It would seem we underestimated them. We didn't expect them to have Wayward Stones. The appearance of that spearwoman didn't help much either" he said. That woman's strength was abnormal. Nothing he threw at her even got close to her. She predicted all of his moves, even before he himself was able to do them.

Stahler remembered his very brief encounter with Shana. Thinking about it only angered him. The fact that he was taken down and injured so severely in a single blow was a huge blow to his pride. "Having her around will be a nuisance. She alone melted through all of our defenses like it were child's play" he said.

Caius leaned forward on the chair. "That woman is of a caliber that far surpasses your own and anything you throw at her. It's of no surprise that she threw you around like yesterday's trash. What about the three commanders?" he asked.

Mike was silent for a few moments. "Delvin was shown no mercy whatsoever. He was practically crushed alive by debris. There's not much that remains of Lily aside from a charred, burnt corpse. Utaru was the only one to get off easy with only moderate injuries" he said.

Caius held his hand up to his chin and rubbed it. "I see. What of those Eresseas fools?" he asked.

Stahler shook his head at him. "We had them on the run but then lost track of them after they left the Anti-Arte Field. Word has it that they've regrouped with the Royal Eight but we don't know where they're currently hiding. Our scouts are working on it as we speak" he said. They've had nothing but bad news to bring to Caius and it made him feel like a failure.

Caius grumbled a bit to himself before standing up and stood next to the chair, looking out the gaping hole in the wall behind that exposed the audience chamber to the elements. "And what of the princess?" he asked.

The man with black hair bowed to Caius. "Based off what Mike said, the princess and her little entourage flew off on the back of a dragon, right? Our people report seeing the dragon flying southwest before disappearing through the mountains" he said.

Caius thought to himself for a moment. "The mountains, huh? Then, she's most likely fled to that port town..." he said. He then turned around and and looked at the black-haired man. "Draven, I'm putting you in charge of the princess. Head over to Basilwell and find out where she went. I want her captured alive and brought to me. Feel free to kill anyone who tries to interfere" he said.

The man bowed to Caius once more. "As you wish, My Liege" he said.

Caius held up his hand for a moment. "One last thing, according to what Mike said, a young boy knight is with her that serves as her bodyguard. He's going to be a threat so use whatever means to deal with him first" he said.

The man nodded at him, saluting him afterwards. "Don't you worry. That boy won't stand a chance against me" he said.

Caius shook his head and then removed his armor and underlying shirt, revealing a deep, nasty scar that went down the entire length of his torso. "Arrogance will be your downfall, Draven. Lest you want to end up like this" he said. The scar that went down his torso was from when Tsuki let out that explosive burst of power in a single uppercut slash that rocked Basilwell.

The man looked at his scar in silence for a few moments before bowing one final time. "Of course, My Liege. If that is all, I'll be on my way then. I've got prey to hunt" he said. He then turned around and walked towards the broken down chamber doors, glancing down at right hand as he made a tight fist. "Just you wait. My tonfa thirst for blood..." he said. He then soon left through the broken doors and disappeared around the corner.

Mike watched as the man walked off. He was unsure if he could be trusted with such a task. "Your Majesty, are you sure this is wise? That man is a loose cannon with his own agenda" he said.

Caius chuckled a bit. "Don't worry. If nothing else, he's a useful pawn. Ever since the loss of his teacher, he's fully succumbed to the darkness. Even if he doesn't succeed, his influence will surely spread" he said. He turned and walked over towards the gaping hole in the wall, stretching his arms out to his sides. "They don't call him the Black Fighter for nothing, after all. A corrupt, twisted man that leaves nothing but death and destruction in his wake. There's no other perfect pawn than him to manipulate" he said. He chuckled a bit more before breaking out into a loud, maniacal laugh as it echoed through the ruined halls.

The darkness that overtook Eresseas may have came to a standstill but from it spawns a whole new wave of threats. With an unknown target now in pursuit of Tsuki and his companions, their journey is going to become much more difficult. So much was happening behind the scenes that Tsuki and his companions were completely oblivious to. When one curtain of one act falls, another one rises to introduce a new act. The dangers that await Tsuki and his companions were great and menacing. Many obstacles and struggles await them as they walk along this new road, ignorant of it all. Only time will tell what fate lies in store for them as the venture towards either a new, bright horizon or total oblivion.

To be continued...