Bittersweet Reunion

Rhea's whole-body tenses just outside the window of the third floor, slowing her racing heart as still as she can. She never imagined a reality where she would follow the orders of a sailor, she'd sooner call herself an idiot if she ever met her past self.

But here she is, scaling the wall side as fast as possible in the fleeting time that is given by an intolerant pirate captain. He is lucky that she had goals that align to his strict expectancies, otherwise this partnership would never have existed. Her gaze flits towards the distance below, it is a far drop. A normal person will respectfully fear such heights, but Rhea relishes such feats. She loves feeling the wind glide through her curls, the warmth of the sun on her back stirs the fires beneath her skin. Dreading when the adventure will end due to obligation, her head peeks in the window. The room is extremely dark, even her high vision had to adjust with a few more blinks than normal. Rhea slides into this dark room when she finds no enemies, taking in the shadowy details of a few chairs, hanging portraits and plenty of expensive vases line up the walls. This looks to be the dealers' room. Last time she was here during the day, Kang-back then still alive- worked some deals with a few buyers of his drugs. In fact, he tried to buy her loyalty with the very same drugs. Being a drug addict is common lifestyle at Renuo. Life is too hard for the addicts, Kang spat about how Ranko's parents succumbed to what he called “ green stabs. ”

Poor Ranko..wait-? Her head tilts towards the sound of someone humming a prayer. There is no way any of Kang's loyalists are followers of the Church of Three Gods. It must be the Vicar. She crawls low, leaving this room with her right side pressing as close to the wall as humanly possible. Rhea didn't have a lot of time on her side, driving her to move with a purpose. Each hurry step is a risk that can give away her location. Rhea pauses right at the doorway of another hallway; a guard exposes themselves along the opening looking exasperated.

"Oh, the damn holy man is at it agun!?'

"We can cut off his tongue?"

"We can’t...sounds like a lot is happenin’ downstairs... Wonder if it has somethin' to do with the busty thief."

Busty!? She glances at her banded chest, angry that she felt self-conscious enough to even look. It isn't her fault that no one in this building can look past her assets. No one except for the three she grew acquainted with. Even the pirate captain had enough decency to keep his degenerate comments to himself. He will be a decent mortal man if only he is not such a brat and criticize her every move.

"Listen...it got all quiet....I dun't like that at all." The guard steps right out the doorway and stops right in front of Rhea. He looks in the other direction, away from where she crouches low. There are no other options, she must take down this these guards. Her palms burn hot, feeling the mana collect at her fingertips. She felt safe that no one she knew is watching her summon this power. She can’t deal with the questioning and the fear that came with the revelation. At least, now she can put her powers to skillful use.

"HEY! WE ARE BEIN’ ATTACKED!" The cries for help ricochet down the hall towards where the gang loyalist stare so intently.

"Bud! Leave the old man!" The goon ran down the hall. His friend pokes his head out, only to pause.

"Yar go right ahead. I wunt piss the boss off for leavin'" He rolls his eyes, then froze. He must see the smoke billowing from her mouth into the air. "What in the Anukrin cu-"

This goon won’t be able to finish his cuss. Rhea latch onto him with both her burning hands on his neck and her legs wraps around his waist. The smell of burning flesh is worse than the screaming, but she ignores her queasiness and tries to silence him by switching one hand to cover his mouth. The pain must be excruciating; the man ran full force into the wall to try to shake her off. The air in her lungs escapes in the form of smoke. He even punches her face soon after.

The force had her head spinning, teeth are jarring, but she still latches on. Her mouth tastes blood from the new cut on her bruising lip. Didn't matter, it only made her angrier and fire starts to dance behind her teeth. "You will regret that."

The heat in her fingertips increases till each of her digits starts to change her skin tone. From the regular brown to red and sizzles up what is beneath it. At this state of temperature, even the hallway got hotter, her fingers burn through skin and muscle till she reaches the bone, which is always harder to burn. She reaches both the neck bone and the jawbone. The nearly headless corpse drops on its back. She straddles it and breathes away the heat of her powers. Though none of it went unnoticed

"I-Is there a fire!?" The panicky voice cuts through from the other side of the door. Rhea checks this corpse's pockets and finds a set of keys. There is no meat left from the bottom teeth to its neck bone. The burns scorched the exposed bone black; the glassy eyes stain with tears now lost the luster of their life. Wherever her hot hands laid on, it left a horrifying trail of destruction. If she had not been used to this line of work, she might've lost her breakfast. Killing is easier when her own life depends on it, it is even easier when these people threaten the orphanage. Some will see this as callous, but there is nothing to it. The world already puts her at the bottom of the food chain; she refuses to lie on her back and let them take advantage of her.

"No fire Vicar. I am here." She rolls onto her feet, keys now in her cold fingertips. Padding towards the door, time is against them when the songs of chaos are down the hallway.

"Child. How-?"

Rhea unlocks the door and pries it wide open. To no surprise, the Vicar stands just on the other side. There is fear in those button eyes but no cowering. Even his religious regalia is clean from abuse. He claims the other day that his devotion gave him strength. This brought more peace to Rhea to see him unharmed and with his wits.

"We need to leave!" Rhea grabs his forearm and tugs him to run. He is older by two decades worth of birth moons, though he still finds his speed. Rhea just had to slow down for him. They ran towards the sound of chaos, having no other methods of escape and the Vicar won't know how to climb down a building.

"Keep close. We might be able to sneak by." Rhea insists, removing the bow from her back and ready to shoot.

"A-Alright." He may be confirming but doubt is clear in the quivering voice.

Rhea can reassure further but there is no clear sign what they will be walking into. The only thing she is certain about is that Connor is probably the cause of the screams and bellows of those men below. That man is the walking death provider with his sword skills alone. Connor made it truly clear he needs no added help. Despite that, she is still contemplating on how to help Connor.

"R-Rhea..." Vicar rips her out of her thoughts, she can hear why he is getting nervous. The footfalls pounds towards their way, and it isn’t noticeably clear who they belong to. Rhea raises the point of her bow towards the hallway.

"Get the Vicar!? That might stop that maniac!"

"A-"The two gang loyalists froze when they saw her and the Vicar. Rhea didn't hesitate this time, shooting one right in the neck. Then she charges, ripping out the dying loyalist's sword and using it to attack the other man. The sword is too big for her, so her one arm thrust strained. The tip of the blade went through the other loyalist's thigh, and she steps back to avoid the screaming man's attempts to grab her. The crumbling man reaches for his pistol; Rhea releases another arrow at the center of his face.

"By the gods, child!!!" Vicar Jal fell back on his rear, being an un-violent man makes him detrimental to his own safety. This is not the kind of environment for a Vicar.

Rhea let out a strain and guilty sigh, pulling out the embedded arrows and adding them back to her quiver. This only made the man more fearful of her. "Vicar..."

She didn't know what is worse, be seen like some meal or a monster ? Lately, this question had been bubbling up every day she stays in the orphanage. Rhea is counting the days till she messes up, and they saw her for truly what she is. Then she truly misjudged how long she had before that day because those pupils are shaking at the sight of her. Her jaw opens to speak, but she gets drowned out by the sound of an explosion. White smoke billows towards them from up the hallway, since she didn't react fast enough, it engulfs them. They are blind by the thickness of the smoke.

"Rhea! Where are you?" Stutters the Vicar.

Rhea blinks past the smoke, her sight is better than most and she can make out the shadows of the holy man. She moves towards him, hand outreach and ignoring the insecurities in her gut. "Take my hand."

He waves his hands around, till they find their way to her hand. He grasps hard, proving he trusts her enough to get him out of there. That is all that matters to her for now, pushing down her negativity that bubbles in her thoughts. This smoke is very thick; there is no way that she can even rush through it without tripping each other. It didn't smell or taste like anything in real life and kept forming despite the open windows. It sat heavy in the air, like some sort of fog, but not wet like one.

What...is this? She won't get the answers. They find themselves in a dining facility and this is where she can make out the silhouettes of many people. Panicked movements mostly, it is hard to tell who is friend or foe with normal eyesight. Rhea can tell that these are mostly bandits, squabbling for their own safety.

"THAT DAMN PIRATE DID THIS!?"

"WHERE IS HE?"

Pirate? Rhea's ears perk at the mention of Connor and, for the first time in that full day, her heart is at ease and elates to hear it. Stop that, we are in the middle of a battle!?

Smushing her confusing and strange feelings at the bottom of her chest, she drags the clueless Vicar away from the stumbling bandits. They knelt behind the chairs, the Vicar following her every change of position and trembling while they move through the enemy line. It's very possible for them to get hurt by the confusion and if Connor had anything to do with this, he is just as blinded by it like them. To avoid getting struck down by any of them, she must avoid them all equally.

Dragging the holy man again, she crawls away from what she can assume is the other side of the dining facilities. This is where she heard it, the blood-curdling screams of more of those loyalists being taken down by someone. The sounds are getting closer.

Go away vishka! Rhea wants to yell out, even then that will be a foolish attempt to protect them. It will just make the loyalist notice where and who she is. She must take advantage of the confusion. Instead, she cusses Connor out mentally for making this more difficult than it had to be. Her attention is on their path ahead and the thickness of this smog is thinning by the time they reach another side of this dining facility. They should be a few breaths away from the door now based on her memory.

At this angle, she can see one silhouette flitting through the smoke with ease. Taking down one person at a time, this person's poised silhouette and the calculative movements show her who it is. The grace in his stride, as if the smoke didn’t faze him, and the seamless pinpoint accuracy of his sword swing gave his identity away. It reminds her again of a male Starpecco, standing on one leg as it spins to strike and dance around its foe and fanning its wings to disorient and distract. Stabbing their foe with its beak or ripping their bowels out with its serrated talons. This avian creature is something she avoids due to its quick reflexes and confrontational front. It isn’t a carnivore, nor did it have a lot of meat in its body to make hunting it even worth it. They often scare away her prey.

It is like this man is a reincarnation of one with the way he moves around this room. He cuts from one bandit to the next, confident enough not to check his work. Too damn confident for his own good. He is the confident type that will get himself killed due to his arrogance someday.

It looks like that is going to be the case when more bandits fill the room from other hallways. The smoke clears up to the point that Connor can’t hide behind it any longer.

"There he is!"

"GET 'IM"

In the motion of brandishing her bow and arrow, she stands back on her heels and shot at the bandit to his right. Connor shakes his head her way, not showing gratitude but not slowing down. He had to deal with more of the bandits that are filing in, now Rhea and Vicar are easy targets.

"Stay by me Vicar."

The holy man nods, keeping close to the woman. She protects the Vicar Jal every way she can, shooting down any that dare to come close to them. She will kill one, Connor will make up with two more deaths. The death count kept piling up, the Vicar is starting to shrink behind Rhea, this is a blood bath she knows he can’t stomach. She can’t in her right mind force him to.

When the number of bandits seems manageable enough, she hollers to Connor. "Mister! I am going to take Vicar straight to the stables!"

"You should've done that by now." Connor gifts her a look of disbelief, his eyes shimmers with the warmth of his annoyance. Rhea felt confident that if he had the time to glare at her that meant this captain can get himself out of this predicament. Rhea grabs Vicar Jal with her free arm and bounds down the entrance. The Vicar nearly stumbles on the steps with the speed that she kept up. If they slow down, there is a chance that the goons will get to them. They saw Ranko at the end of these steps. The boy at once ran up to Vicar Jal and hugs the older man hard.

"Oh, my child!" The Vicar's eyeballs doe up with tears, and he hugs the boy back equally as hard. It is a reunion well waited for...

That is why it hurt so much to say this, "Follow me to the stables."

"Okay." Vicar Jal sniffles with the boy as they separate. They follow Rhea closely as she finds her way back to the stables. The stables had about ten keldios in their little rooms. Now there are only two available. What she recalls seeing is the carriage parked right outside.

And the plan is…