Split Apart

"Good morning, wanting to talk to your friend again or heading straight out?"

"We'll leave him alone for now and bug him later. I asked for most of the things I wanted too yesterday so I'm not in a rush this time."

"Sounds good, thank you for helping us out so much and I'm sorry to keep asking you to do this."

"Eh, no worries."

Waving it off like nothing, Xilo talked a little bit more with Relda before going out to the city to explore. The past couple days the two of them had explored all of the districts in the city. They hadn't really been looking through the main parts though. So today's plan was to do a little sightseeing while they walked around. They would still be checking out the Alleyways and dark corners just in case as well. He had just gotten a bit tired of broken walls and the smell of garbage. "We might pass some Soaring Blades members too." There weren't a lot of them but they were out there every so often.

"Aight, I'll let you go now."

"see you later Relda."

"...Bye..."

Heading towards the merchant district this time around, it was their least explored area. They were the richest and most well off district so Xilo gave it less of priority then the others besides a few easy checks. He had never found anyone when he was looking there though, he sort of hoped a deeper look would change that. "There's no way people aren't there." Crossing the line that separated each district Xilo failed to notice the pair of eyes that watched his departure. Ever since he arrived they locked on to him and watched every move.

"Split up into two groups, follow them and send the rest to where they are staying. I'm paying you to get that damn fox and return it to me without it being injured. Other than that I really don't care what you do. Do your job well and maybe I'll even promote you."

Mason was tired of all the waiting, it was finally the day for action and he wouldn't tolerate failure. "The boy isn't weak but he's alone now." His scouts had watched him fight in the alleyway so he knew some of his strength. After that he had followed them to where they were staying. Once that was all done he made sure he hired people at an appropriate level. "If I wasn't stuck here I'd go." His initial

plan was to join the group capturing the fox but he had been blocked by Relda. She had asked him to stay here today and look after some people. Since she had been watching him closely lately he couldn't refuse or slip away.

"What if the fox isn't there sir?"

"You return empty handed and I'll personally kill you."

Snarling, he looked at the crowd of people in front of himself. Twelve men all ranging around the Eighth Stage that he had picked and one Ninth Stage he prepared just in case. It was almost impossible for them to fail so he didn't even want to hear about any what if's. Sending them off quickly after that, Mason walked to the tents where the sick people were being treated and entered one. Inside was a pretty normal looking group of people until his eyes landed on one man. "Hmm?" Raising an eye, he walked over and looked the man over.

"Who are you?"

In this crowd of people he stood out.

Rolling around in her bed Xelfia tried to shake her nerves as Tearia ignored her. "I knew I told her to go...however." Each day whenever Xilo left she felt her anxiety fly through the roof. She wasn't even able to stay still for more than a minute. Most days she would end up more tired than normal when going to sleep and she wasn't even doing anything. "Ahhh." Like a child she slammed the bed before turning over and looking at Tearia. If Tearia could actually talk to her she was positive it wouldn't be so bad. Sadly, she couldn't disturb her.

Feeling Kirel rub up against her body she looked down at the fox who had recently joined their group. "At least you understand me." The past few days she only had the fox to help alleviate some of the boredom. She had tried talking to her a few times but Kirel hadn't really shown any signs that she could understand yet. "Maybe she's too young?" Whatever the case was she had quickly given up trying as she gave her a few pets on her back. Hearing her gentle purring, Xelfia lost focus as some presences approached. Barely registering that she felt her body move on it's own as she sat up.

"I don't mean to disturb you Tearia but I think we have some company."

Stopping everything she was doing Tearia searched around the building as she tried to find them.

"How do you know they're after us?"

"They've locked their energy around this Inn and after Xilo's little story I have a feeling anyone coming here isn't looking for others. They're a little far away but they'll be here in less than a minute and they really don't look friendly."

Monitoring them Xelfia watched as they arrived in front of the Inn and stared directly at their floor.

"Careful!"

Within seconds a fireball broke through the walls and came straight for them. Instantly creating a barrier of water to protect them, she watched six men jump up in front of her. Tearia had quickly put everything away as she arrived next to Xelfia along with Kirel. Looking around the room, the man in charge spotted the small fox that they were suppose to grab. "There it is." Charing up energy, he didn't waste any time on words as fire scorched the entire room. The other men with him also attacked as two rushed forward with large swords.

"Five Eight Stage's and one Ninth, this is going to be a pain."