Chapter 18- Yokubo’s choice

Enteico checked the total Bitma in his inventory. There was enough to pay Felix and Keith for their services. Felix had attempted to create a makeshift stall using his ability to terraform rock around him, but it hadn't worked out so well.

Most of the customers walking past the ruins of the Moonlighter shop were curious as to why there was a giant erect rock that had suddenly appeared from the ground. Enteico eventually decided to call it a day and went to the bar.

Splitting the pay he had received into three portions; one for Keith, one for Felix and one for himself, Enteico took a deep breath of relief once he counted up the total Bitma that they had left. At this rate, he would be able to make a decent stall for the shop. Then, once Keith would come back with the items…

"Hey, Enteico. You got a second?" The bartender asked him.

"Yeah, I'm off for the day." Enteico nodded.

"Ok, I've got something new I wanted to add. I got it from a friend bringing in new stuff from the Central Kingdom." The bartender said, disappearing into the backroom used for storage.

Enteico watched with interest as the bartender dragged out a machine that resembled a jukebox. He set it up onto a corner of the bar, shifting the tables around to make space for the machine. Set on top of it were a few additional albums of music to be loaded into the jukebox. Enteico walked over and whistled loudly.

"Nice rack."

"Chauvinistic pig!" A woman gasped in disgust next to Enteico.

"W…wh…I wasn't whistling at you! I mean, that's not to say that you're not pretty…like you are... but not in that way! Wait… not…" Enteico blushed as the woman leered closer at him angrily.

"I can't believe I thought you were cute…" The woman stood up, about to leave.

"W…Wait…you think…I'm…me…that I'm cute? I mean… you too! You look great…like I don't know much about you and I'm not saying that…you know…you don't have a great personality or anything…it's not that I'm only into looks! It's not like that, that's not what I'm saying! W…wait…where are you going?"

The woman left the bar and quickly closed the door behind her.

There was an awkward silence in the bar. The bartender tried looking around to seem like he was busy inspecting his establishment. Oddly enough, he saw a small straw hanging through the cracks of the ceiling. The bartender made a mental note to clean it up later.

"Smooth." The bartender patted Enteico on the shoulder

"Yeah. But, at least she called me cute. I've never had a girl call me that before. About time puberty gave me something good instead of voice cracks." Enteico smiled.

"So, what you're telling me is that you'll hook up with anyone who calls you cute?" The bartender asked.

"Well, no. I'm not going to hook up with them. I'm going to have a relationship with them. Something serious and not just a fling, y'know?" Enteico said.

The bartender locked eyes with Enteico, slowly and silently.

"You need some goddamn standards."

"A guy like me can't afford to have standards. We take what we can get."

The bartender shook his head and tapped the new jukebox machine he had recently acquired. Enteico peeked over his shoulder to see a small floating menu, similar to his inventory, pop up over the machine.

"Man, I'm really getting old. Where the hell's that instruction manual?" The bartender mumbled, walking behind the counter to search for it.

Enteico looked at the menu and the letters floating onto it. He could swipe and select options on it. There was a section labelled "Music."

The merchant set the jukebox to shuffle all listed tracks. A calm and soothing piece of music began to emanate from the machine. The track was listed under the lofi category.

The customers didn't seem to notice the music, but their heads silently began to bob and weave to the subtle beat echoing through the bar. Enteico fiddled around for a bit before he found another section that interested him.

He scrolled through the "Ambience" section. There were a few options already on the machine. Enteico selected "Rainstorm."

Suddenly, the world outside seemed to be struck by a heavy downpour. Water cascaded on the roof and dropped to the ground outside in large puddles. Enteico looked outside. It was sunny outside, with no indication of any rain.

The sound of rain was prevalent, but the noise came from the jukebox. It made the merchant feel cold and cozy, while the bartender was surprised as to how many people kept asking for a warm cup of coffee during this time of the day.

Keith entered the bar with Mantis. There was a small hint of smoke in the air once they had arrived.

Enteico turned to look at the two, covered in blood and soot. Their clothes were dirty and Mantis was trying to use his lighter but to no avail.

"Seems like that stunt used up all the juice this thing had," Mantis said, throwing the lighter away.

"Sorry bud, but this is a no-smoking area. You know the rules." The bartender said, grabbing the cigarette from his mouth and throwing it as well.

"Ah come on, man. I could've used it later. Also, when did it start rain…"

Mantis realized the noise came from the jukebox, along with a subtle string of harmonic beats.

"We had a little run-in with the Assassins camp in the forest," Keith said.

Enteico rushed over to the two of them. "And?! What happened?!"

Keith and Mantis seemed to reminisce about something, looking up at the ceiling with a blank expression. The music from the jukebox shifted to a classical piece as the two men remembered the camp going up in flames along with most of the Assassins, flailing and screaming above the roaring fire caused by the two men.

"Oh, things got a little heated," Keith said while Mantis nodded in agreement.

"That long pause was a little suspicious," Enteico stated.

"Ahh, something got in my eye," Keith said.

"I see. For both of you? At the same time?" Enteico raised an eyebrow.

Mantis and Keith nodded. "Yup. Don't worry, we took care of it."

The three of them sat down at the counter. It seemed that the default playlist on the jukebox was under lofi. Another track started up while the three ordered their drinks.

"I like what you've done with the place, Ted." Mantis nodded approvingly.

"Thanks. Thinking about spicing up the place with a few decorations for the upcoming Frost Fiesta. I can't believe a whole year has passed already." The bartender said.

There was a low rumble from the jukebox that imitated the distant hum of thunder. The rain sound had slowly begun to lose its intensity. A few birds started to sing over the droplets falling into the puddles.

"Yeah, better get some warm clothes in. All my cold resistance armor was destroyed with the shop." Keith nodded.

"I'll come with. I'll need some things to sell for the season anyway. Maybe I'll upcharge the prices for the things everyone's looking for. Like some trophy heads or some Cocoa Beanstalks." Enteico said, slurping his drink through a long straw.

"You and a friend of mine would be excellent at scamming people for this season." Mantis chuckled.

"I'm not a scammer, but I think I'd like to meet him."

Mantis and Keith filled Enteico in on the details of the camp nearby. They had burned the area down, forcing the Assassins to retreat all the way back to their headquarters, which Mantis revealed, was not in the greatest condition post-heist with all the explosions caused by Merc's Boomstick.

"It's a good thing you're on our side," Enteico said.

"Oh, about that. He was hired by the Assassins to gain intel on us." Keith mentioned.

Enteico spat out his drink, choking on a piece of mango fruit pulp. His sword turned into a shield reflexively and he fell off his seat from the unexpected weight in his hand.

Keith and Mantis didn't seem to notice Enteico's kerfuffle and sipped once again on their drinks.

"Though to be fair, I'm no longer working for them now, since they were a bunch of cheapskates. I had to break into their headquarters and everything. Bunch of jerkwads." Mantis grumbled.

"You mind giving me a hand here?" Enteico asked the two of them, lying on the floor.

"Oh, hey. How'd you get over there?" Keith asked in confusion.

"It's a long story," Enteico said sarcastically.

Keith helped him back up to his feet. "Good, I don't like those."

The bartender returned. "I overheard you boys took care of the Assassin's camp."

"Yeah, we did. They should've run back home when they had the chance." Keith said.

"But, hey. At least this way, you guys don't have to worry about them attacking the town again. I think your friend in Kleise can handle herself." Mantis said, taking out a handful of Bitma to pay for his drink.

Keith felt the rhythm of his heartbeat disappear. "W…what did you say?"

"Your friend in Kleise? You know, the Tournament Champion? The Assassins had an operation listed that they were going to attack Kleise soon, but I think she's got it cover…" Mantis droned on.

"WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOU MENTION THAT EARLIER?!"

"Oh. I thought you knew already." Mantis said.

Keith growled in anger and threw some Bitma on the counter for his drinks. He grabbed his jacket and slung it over his shoulder.

"Wait, Keith!"

Keith whistled using his fingers, eliciting a high-pitched noise. A few seconds later, Yurgen came galloping from around the corner.

"Keith, where are you going?!" Enteico asked as he raced to catch Keith before he got on the horse.

"I'm heading to Kleise," Keith said, not willing to waste any more time.

Not again. Never again.

"Keith! KEITH! Stop!"

Before Keith could register the shock, Enteico trans-morphed his sword into a mop and swung it against Keith, knocking him off Yurgen before he could pull the reins and dash towards Kleise.

"URgh! What the hell is your problem, dickhead?!" Keith asked, tempted to use the Blades attached to his arms.

"Keith, use your head. This is their last chance to capture you, or worse. Do you honestly think you can take them on alone?" Enteico asked.

"I don't care how many of them come at me. I'll take them all on."

"But do you think you can do all of that while they're holding the Champion hostage?" Enteico asked.

Keith was about to answer but held his tongue.

"Damn it. You need to stop being right about things these days, man. It's getting annoying." Keith grunted, dusting off himself.

Enteico let out a breath of relief. "Keith, they're prepared to take on the entire Foundation's security and one of the most talented Gifted they have at that place. No matter how good you are, I doubt you'll be able to save the Champion on your ow…"

"Zimmi."

Enteico looked at Keith, confused. "What did you say?"

"Her name's Zimmi. Just so you know. She's a little kid that likes ice-cream and making people happy. About yea-high and ties her hair into a ponytail. Calling her "Champion" makes her sound like Psoli." Keith mumbled.

"R…yeah. Right." Enteico nodded.

"I take it that you didn't just whack me with a broomstick handle to stop me from leaving without having another plan in mind?" Keith asked, menacingly.

"N…no. I do. We'll be distracting the Assassins, while you find Zimmi and get her…"

"We?" Keith asked, stopping Enteico.

"There's no way that I'm going to be able to take on all of those Assassins on my own while you get Zimmi to safety," Enteico said, folding his arms together.

"I don't know if you've been hit with an amnesia potion, but the people you have in mind would rather dance in a shit-stained diaper than help me out," Keith said.

"I've got one of them covered; you just need to convince Yokubo."

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

________________________________________________________________

"You're supposed to keep rotating them! They'll burn otherwise, numbskull!"

"Don't call me numbskull, Brinjal-head!"

"Hey, hey! That's enough! Settle down and make some room for Francy."

"Are you sure we're allowed to be up here, Shujin?" Francy asked, meekly.

"It's the council tower. I might not be able to control everything that they decide on, but I think, being their leader, I'm allowed to roast marshmallows on the top roof." Shujin groaned as his bones popped.

The old man looked at Yokubo holding Keith's hands around the small stick lined with marshmallows. The two were huddled around the fire while Francy unfolded his sleeping mat.

"See, like that. Nice and slow." Yokubo said, slowly rotating the stick at a steady rhythm wrapped around Keith's hands.

"You've got nice hands," Keith remarked.

Yokubo withdrew her hands from Keith's in the blink of an eye, her face turning beet red as she made a coy whimper. Francy began to hum an old folk song usually played at traditional weddings before Shujin whacked him on the head with the packet of marshmallows.

Keith took the small kettle of green tea boiling over the fire and poured it into four cups. Francy dropped a few frozen milk cubes into the cups while Yokubo cut the jambu fruit they had brought along.

Shujin took a deep breath and spread his arms out to feel the cold night air. The sky glimmered with stars, peeking through the vast cover of darkness beyond the clouds.

The four began to eat the jambu fruit and roasted marshmallows and sipped on their tea. They had also worn warm, comfy sweaters tonight.

"When are they going to come out?" Francy wondered out loud.

"Pretty soon."

An owl hooted in the distance. The sound echoed through the quiet town. Most of the Assassins had gone to sleep since it was nearly half an hour past midnight. Keith shifted closer to his grandpa as Yokubo and Francy laughed at some recent event during their training earlier during the day.

"Gramps?"

"Yeah, kiddo?"

"What were you guys screaming about in there?"

Shujin sat in silence, motionless for a while. "Nothing too big. Just some ridiculous mission that the council wanted to take up."

"What was wrong with the mission?"

Shujin looked at his sleeping bag. "Everything."

The two didn't talk about anything else for a while.

"Did you speak with the council about…that thing?"

Shujin chuckled. "Yeah."

"What did they say?" Keith asked with hope in his voice.

"Same thing as they always do. "We can't do that, the council is a fundamental part of our society and the contracts that we take are necessary", blah blah blah…" Shujin muttered.

"Why are they so reluctant to disband our clan?" Keith groaned.

"Politics," Shujin said.

"What's that?"

"The worst thing to ever exist that was spawned from the anus of the Demon King himself below the deepest pits of Tartarus."

"Sooo…very bad adult thing?" Keith asked.

"Yup. Very bad adult thing."

"Look, look! I can see something over there!" Francy pointed upwards.

Before their very eyes, an entire section of the night sky began to move with the stars. Then another. Then another. Soon, the sky seemed to split into pieces that seamlessly floated graciously across the night.

"They're here! They're here!" Yokubo clapped happily.

"Grandpa, how do we make them…" Keith began to ask.

Shujin stood up and started howling at the sky, cupping his hands to make the sound louder.

"Come on! They aren't going to be here all night!"

Yokubo grabbed Keith's hand and tugged him near where Shujin and Francy stood. All three teenagers looked at each other, smiling briefly before they howled along with Shujin.

The sky began to dance with a mesmerizing, soft blue light.

The small sections of the sky began to take shape as they continued floating. The light gave shape to a small group of flying creatures. They had a long, thin body that seemed to gleam brightly with color, stretching into a long, thin tail at the end of it.

They looked like the manta rays Keith used to catch and play with, back when he was 10 years old.

"How many Night Rays are there?" Francy asked in awe.

"I can see seven…eight! I can see eight of them!" Keith said excitedly, looking at Yokubo and Francy, who were both just as awestruck as he was, their mouths slightly open as they stared at the creatures flying above.

Shujin chuckled. "Nine."

All three teenagers looked at Shujin. "Nine?"

Shujin pointed directly above him.

The sky tore itself apart as a gigantic Night Ray, nearly twice the size of the Council tower, began to float along with the rest of its group. The wind caused by its movement caused a large gust of wind to blow above the tower.

Shujin told the teenagers to lie down and hold onto the roof of the tower as the wind whipped against them. It felt like they were on a joyride at an amusement park.

Shujin began howling once again. The teenagers took the cue to start howling once more collectively at the giant Night Ray.

The giant creature rumbled a low, scratchy sounding hum before it lit up similarly to the rest of the group, except it glowed with a scarlet red light that slowly changed colors as it floated away.

The teenagers looked at the creatures, breath taken by the astounding and serene Night Rays.

"It would be so cool to ride on one of those things." Yokubo sighed dreamily.

"Yeah! It would be like a dragon, except without all the uncomfortable scaly bits." Francy said.

"Or the fire," Keith added.

"Especially the fire," Shujin said, giving the boys a stern glare.

There was another rumble, making the teenagers look at the sky once again.

"That was me," Shujin said, raising his hand.

The three turned once again, looking at the old man, holding his nose shut. They did the same, laughing along with Shujin once they caught his expression of brief embarrassment.

The Night Rays floated into the distance, their glowing light disappearing into the starlight once more, gone, but not forgotten.

________________________________________________________________

A flock of geese flew overhead, looking for a cold body of water to cool off after a day of flying in the scorching heat.

"We're headed off to Kleise and you're coming with us. End of story." Enteico said.

Felix shook his head before glaring at Keith. "Look, I get that you want to help out those kids, I really do. But I'm not going anywhere near another Assassin for the next century or, god forbid, help one that's a massive piece of shit."

"How about this Felix? Consider this a new job requirement." Enteico said.

"Wh…What's that supposed to mean?" Felix asked.

"It means I'm going to Kleise with Keith and you're going to get off your sorry ass to come along with us, or you're fired. Good luck paying off Psoli's debt then." Enteico said.

Felix noticed that Keith was trying hard not to laugh, but ignored him to try and find a way to talk Enteico out of risking his life once again.

Of course, it was useless. Enteico had "goody-two-shoes" built into his DNA.

"There's no way I can convince you otherwise?" Felix asked exasperatedly.

"Not unless you want to keep your job," Enteico said.

Felix nodded. "Fine. I guess someone else needs to watch your back anyway."

Enteico looked at Keith. "I've done my part. Now it's time to do yours."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll do it." Keith grumbled.

"Great, because she's on her way here right now," Enteico said, pushing Felix forcefully behind a clump of bushes behind a tree.

"Wai…what?! Hold on, where are you goi…"

"Keith?"

Keith turned around to find Yokubo, dressed in a long purple haori with a white t-shirt underneath. She had let her hair loose and uncurled, swaying gently in the wind. Keith could smell the honeysuckle shampoo she always carried around with her. It seemed she had just taken a shower before arriving.

"H…hey," Keith said.

The two stood silently, each waiting for the other to say something

"Enteico told me to meet him here. I guess he tried to make us talk it out again or something." Yokubo said.

"Yeah. Stupid Enteico." Keith nodded.

A small stone hit him on the back of his head.

"Anyway, I'll just be…" Yokubo said, turning to leave.

"W…wait, Yokubo." Keith quickly said.

Yokubo stopped and spun around immediately. Her face scrunched up as she internally chastised herself for stopping so easily upon Keith's request.

"What? I thought that we said everything that we needed to already." Yokubo said.

"Y…we did. And I'm sorry I can't give you the…the truth. But…"

Keith found himself climbing a mountain with each word that he tried to speak. He took a brief look behind him to see Enteico nodding in support.

"I need your help. Please."

Yokubo seemed disarmed at the straightforward nature of his request.

"You…why on earth do you think that I would help you?" Yokubo asked.

"No…no, don't think of it as helping me. The Assassins are going to attack Kleise because…because of me…because I fucked it all up again. I made a town of innocent civilians become the target because of my stu-stupid fucking mistake that I…"

Keith gritted his teeth. He felt out of breath and his hands began to quiver once again.

He felt Yokubo's hands clasp his shaking fists.

"Tell me who they're going after. Slowly." She soothed him.

Keith took a deep breath. "They're going to attack the Monarch Foundation and take a girl that I know hostage because she was spotted in town with me. Her name's Zimmi Smolders."

Yokubo withdrew her hands in a downcast manner. She avoided looking directly at Keith.

"Oh…I see." She mumbled.

Keith, oblivious to Yokubo's discomposed expression, continued to tell her about how Mantis had found out the details for an operation to capture Zimmi from the Assassin's archive room.

"Enteico said that I can get Zimmi out to safety, while the rest of us distract…" Keith explained.

"I'm not going with you."

The wind howled through the empty clearing they were on, making the lone tree behind them rustle. A few leaves broke off and flittered past their faces.

"Wh…why?" Keith asked.

"You don't need my help. You said it yourself." Yokubo said.

"No, no. Look, please. Yokubo, you can hate me all you want, but there are innocent people about to suffer for our mistakes…"

"You mean your mistakes."

Keith let out a cry of frustration. "Why are you being so irrational about this?! There are people about to be killed because they got caught in the crossfire between me and your people!"

"They were your people once as well. But you seem to forget that."

"They stopped being my people the moment they decided to harm innocents to get what they wanted!" Keith growled.

"Since when do you care about innocent people getting hurt?! You never cared about me, or Francy or…or anyone else! For fuck's sake, you never even sent me a letter telling me or anyone else that you were gone!" Yokubo yelled.

Keith stayed silent. He didn't respond. His expression was unreadable.

"Do you know just how much shit you put me through?

Do you know many times the council interrogated me and everyone else, day in and day out, reminding us that you were gone? Reminding us that you were no longer the person that we all thought you were?"

Yokubo let out a broken hysterical laugh. Her eyes were brimming with tears that threatened to fall at any second.

"And now, years later, I find out that you've been living in blissful ignorance. That you've been living contentedly with your boy band of pre-schoolers." Yokubo pointed at Enteico and Felix's hiding spot.

"W…How did she see us here?" Enteico asked Felix.

"A seven-year-old could find a better hiding spot than that," Yokubo said.

Enteico and Felix came out from behind the tree, awkwardly standing in silence.

"I told you we should've hidden behind that house," Felix whispered.

"Shut up," Enteico grumbled.

Yokubo turned back to Keith, forcing her heartbeat to slow down. Her lungs felt heavy and crushed. Her lips were dry and she bit on her bottom lip to bring back her composure forcefully.

"Yokubo, I need to save them. I have to do this." Keith repeated.

Yokubo looked at Keith with a blank stare, until she finally hit her limit.

"But why?! Why do you suddenly care?!" She snapped.

"BECAUSE I CAN'T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN!"

Keith's words echoed through the town, carried by the wind blowing around them. Keith felt cold despite the jacket he wore. The sun was now blotted out by the dark clouds looming overhead.

"I couldn't…I couldn't do anything…I had my chance…but I screwed it up. And it all went to shit. I failed him, Yokubo."

Yokubo looked at Keith. The man she looked up to, the man she respected, the man she…that man was broken. An empty shell. And at that moment, it was never more evident in her life.

"This is my second chance-my chance to make things right. That day, everyone…everything was taken away from me. Everyone lost faith in me. Everyone stopped believing in me. So I need to do this. To save the one person who still does, despite the terrible shithead that I am." Keith said.

Yokubo saw Keith's pleading eyes and forced herself to stick with her mindset.

Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't…

Keith looked directly at her with his jet-black eyes, clutching his jacket around him as a foul breeze rippled through his clothes.

Nnnn…fuck.

"Give me an hour. I'll grab my stuff and meet you at the town square."

Keith looked up at her, relieved. "Thank you."

"I'm doing it to make sure no one innocent gets hurt. If you get knocked down, I'm walking over your corpse, so don't expect me to have your back."

She merged with her shadow and darted into the forest.

Enteico patted him on the back. "Great job, dude! That was one hell of a…"

Keith flicked Enteico on his forehead. "The next time you make me do something like that, I'll set you up on a date."

Enteico looked at Keith, confused. "That…sounds great, to be honest."

"With Liliana."

"Oh. Actually, I-I think I'll pass on that." Enteico went pale immediately.

"When are we heading out?" Felix asked.

"I've stored a bunch of gear from our recent dungeon raids at an old workshop nearby. It should have some materials as well for us to upgrade our stuff." Enteico said.

"Alright then. Keith, I'm going to need your Blades." Felix said.

Keith laughed, instinctively hiding his gauntlets behind his back. "I said I needed your help, but I don't want your fingers fidgeting over my weapons, you goblin."

"A goblin? I don't agree with that." Felix said.

"You don't have to. Your nose speaks for itself." Keith said, tapping his nose.

"My nose isn't long and I don't look like a goblin! And I'm trying to upgrade your Blades, not destroy them!" Felix exclaimed, hiding his nose with his hand.

"Ok, ok. Everyone calm down. We don't have much time. Mantis told us that the record was filed recently in the archives, so we need to act fast. Keith, just give him the Blades." Enteico said.

"I don't even know what he's going to do to them, so I won't be giving it to the sniveling, conniving son of a…" Keith said.

"I'm going to make a modification to your Blades by adding retractable chains to them. You'll be able to use the same trigger on your gauntlets to activate them." Felix said.

Keith's mouth zipped up in an instant. He removed the gauntlets in a flash and handed them over to Felix with a charming smile.

"So, Felix, buddy boy, my dude, my man. Tell me more about this new upgrade you plan to make." Keith said, walking with him to the abandoned workshop.

"Done."

Felix handed the gauntlets back to Keith. Pulling down on the trigger, the Blades of Alysides shot out, attached by two long chains to the gauntlets.

"Hey!"

The Blades had ripped through Enteico's gear bag and had caused a large tear, making a variety of potions, weapons and items spill out.

"Ahh, it'll be fine. You can just buy another sack, right?" Keith asked.

"Y'know, suddenly I can get why Yokubo really doesn't want to help you," Enteico muttered.

Keith laughed and smacked Enteico on his back. "C'mon man, don't be like that."

Enteico tested a variety of weapons to be able to trans-morph the sword into a spear, dagger, nunchucks and a claymore.

"You seem to be getting the hang of that," Keith smirked.

"Yeah, better watch your back. I might just become stronger than you." Enteico smiled.

Keith rubbed Enteico's head and ruffled his hair. "You wish, dumbass."

________________________________________________________________

Yokubo tapped her foot, waiting for the others to reach the square. Anyone who walked by would wonder who the calm, confident and mysterious woman was.

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

She facepalmed herself repeatedly, angry at both herself and Keith.

There are 7 billion people in the world. You just had to choose Keith, didn't you?

Yokubo wanted to tear her eyes out. She wanted to go back home and snuggle under the covers, all wrapped up and cozy and…

The image of her cuddling next to Keith popped into her head.

She turned around and banged her head against the stone monument behind her repeatedly.

Yokubo heard voices nearby. She composed herself once again and fixed her hair, slapping her cheeks lightly to get rid of the stupid grin on her face.

Keith, Felix and Enteico appeared with Yurgen and three other horses.

"About time you guys showed up." Yokubo scoffed.

"Sorry, we had a little…umm…accident." Enteico apologized.

"Accident?! He nearly took my head off with the Blades!" Felix said.

"I was just trying to show you my gratitude for the amazing work you did on the Blades so that you can appreciate it firsthand." Keith shrugged.

"There are other ways to do that than trying to decapitate me!" Felix said.

"Well, that kinda seems like it's your problem, not mine. You should have made worked on the accuracy of the chain trigger mechanism a little bit more. Then, I might have actually taken your head off." Keith snickered.

"That's the last fucking time that I help you out!" Felix growled, making the horses stomp around and whinny.

Yokubo went up behind the two of the men and shoved their heads together. "I'm not here to watch an old married couple fight."

Enteico handed her the reins to her horse, looking up at the night sky. "Let's move. We have a long ride ahead of us."

"That's what I said to your siste…" Keith snarked.

"SHUT UP!" Enteico, Felix and Yokubo yelled.

Felix made a small piece of rock stand out to act as a table. Enteico divided the potions, items and secondary weapons amongst the four of them.

Felix practiced his manipulation of the earth for a while before applying status buffs to each of their weapons.

Yokubo tied up her hair with a hairband before fitting the potion vials into her belt, along with her butterfly knives.

Keith double-checked the chain trigger mechanism on his gauntlets, making minor adjustments before they set out.

All four of them mounted their horses with their weapons. Enteico clutched his sword tightly and took a deep breath.

Keith put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Nervous?"

Enteico smiled at him. "I'm always nervous."

"Must be a huge loss to use all those items instead of selling them," Keith remarked, looking at their item bags on the horses.

"Yeah, but we're doing it for a good cause. Still, who knew saving people would be so goddamn expensive?" Enteico sighed as Yokubo and Felix joined them with their horses.

Keith suddenly felt something clutch inside his stomach as he looked at his three companions. They all had serious expressions on their faces.

"You know…you don't really have to do this…it's fine if you want to…" Keith stammered.

Enteico shook his head. "Keith?"

"Yeah?"

"Do us all a favor and shut the hell up."

Keith let out a small, brief laugh. "No chance of that happening anytime soon."

The four rode out of the town on their horses under the pale glow of the crescent moon above, shining against the dark night sky.