"Hey, if it isn't the Blade Dancer"

"Long time no see, Celica"

"Trevor, don't call me that." Celica had an annoyed face on while talking to the two guards.

After leaving her family, Celica made it to the entrance of the employee's area of the district. As the name implies, the area was used as a place where the performers would gather before their shows to relax. The area was directly behind the giant tent so that performers could be grabbed at a moments notice. Celica being a regular, as she would come to see Luther from time to time, was always welcomed.

The two guards standing in front of her today were Trevor and Collin, who guarded the entrance to the staff area taking care not to let any curious fan slip by.

"My bad," Trevor had a giant smile on his face as he was teasing her.

"So, here to see Luther today?" Collin calmly asked as Trevor had a big grin on his face.

"Honestly Trevor, you are exactly like my Brother."

"You've been coming here since you were a kid, I can't help it." He said as he started to laugh.

"Anyways, I am here to see Luther but on official business."

Both of the guards' eyes perked up as they heard the word 'official'. Knowing that she was a part of the King's guard, the word official held weight. And without warning, Trevor readied his weapons and pointed it at Celica while she took a step back in response.

"We will not let him be dragged to the palace again," Trevor said with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Trevor, relax," Collins said.

After a moment, Trevor hesitantly put away his sword.

"Sorry about that Celica but..."

"It's okay, I understand."

Celica knew that Luther had many acquaintances from the war, which included the two in front of her. She never truly knew how much Luther suffered from the war and he never brought it up in any conversation. However, she knew that there were people who saw Luther during the war and most of them had the same attitude of keeping him away from the palace.

"I just had to tell him about an errand I ran, that's all."

"Okay, go ahead"

"Sorry about that Celica"

"It's okay" she replied as she went in to find Luther.

A few minutes after she left the guards turned to each other again.

"Trevor..." Collin gave him a sad stare

"I know but you know what he went through because of that..."

"You can't point weapons at people without cause, especially people you know."

"Yeah..." Trevor said as they returned to silently watching out for any miscreants trying to cause problems.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

"Put these on her." He commands the large man.

"Yes, sir!" The man said as he chained the girl's arms to chains that left her hanging in mid-air as she could not stop crying.

"Dirty rats don't deserve to live," he said as he pulled out a wooden rod that was filled with nails that made it into a sort of club.

"Hey you, close the door." He directed to another man standing by the door.

"Please..." the girl squeezed out with all her might as the door closed.

Then a violent scream that could not be heard was let loose inside the small cage.