21 Reunions

As the guard ran back to the gate to speak with the leader of the approaching army he couldn't help but lament being chosen for this task. Not only did he not have the stamina to keep running back and forth but The Misfit Toys were entirely too unreasonable and abrasive.

Once he returned the guard found his fellow guardsmen all talking to 10 members of the army that had come to the gate to find out more information. He easily recognized that these were not ordinary men, they all wore expensive clothing and armor that was embroidered with family crests.

After repeating the message from The Misfit Toys, 9 of the 10 men all agreed they should return to the army and storm the building. How dare someone be so bold as to threaten to kill all of them! They were the best soldiers of some of the strongest families in the kingdom they hadn't ever been treated this way before.

"Let's go speak with them before we do anything." The single man who hadn't voiced his opinion finally decided to speak. Although he was outnumbered in his stance he held a higher rank among the group so they were forced to listen. "Let me say this once, none of you are to draw your weapons once we enter."

The men all nodded their heads in agreement before setting off down the road towards the guild hall of The Misfit Toys. They didn't need any guides or directions, they could see the massive building from outside of the town. It was the only one of its kind anywhere in Bedel.

After arriving at the guild hall the men were surprised by what they saw. The doors were open, just like they had said, The Misfit Toys were true to their word. Standing just inside the door were three people who they all knew the names of Rotnam, Hesa, and a demon that they assumed was Eura. Although they weren't in a battle stance, they had all their gear on and were clearly ready if anyone got hostile.

"How can The Misfit Toys help you today?" Eura was the one to speak to the approaching men as he leaned on his sword.

One of the men who had wanted to storm the building spoke from near the back, "leave this town at once, you don't belong demon!"

"Actually he does belong here. It's you who is intruding, unless of course you would like to commission our guild." Hesa was the one to speak this time.

The man at the front gave a slight bow before speaking, "it's good to see you again, there was a request to come to exterminate the demon Eura from Redgate. However, if he isn't a threat we can leave."

After this man spoke, the other men around him looked completely taken aback. He was just going to leave a demon in a human town and that was that? How could a man of his stature just be okay with this.

"This isn't acceptable. This demon has to die for what he's done." Another man had shouted and drawn a sword in the process. Before he could take a step forward a dagger appeared thru his throat from the back.

Everyone's eyes went to the culprit and most were surprised to see a young woman standing there. The only person who wasn't surprised was the man in charge, he could feel her presence even if he couldn't pinpoint her location. What truly shocked him was he could see Mikax on the third floor but couldn't feel him at all, this was far more worrying in his eyes.

"Arlyne, it's good to see you've improved since we last saw each other." The man at the front walked towards Arlyne and gave her a hug. Arlyne smiled and returned the hug as well.

"Glad you approve, Dad." Was all Arlyne said, breaking off the embrace before she backed into the shadows and disappeared again.

Duke Quintas pointed at the body on the floor, "pick up the corpse we're heading back." He then left the guild hall. The other 8 men obeyed and grabbed the body before scurrying out of the building.

Mikax watched from the third floor with pride. He hadn't even instructed Arlyne to do anything. He had been working with her in what little free time he had so clearly he had been rubbing off on her.

"Mikax, do you think they will be back?" Mr. Akkar was standing beside him with worry written on his face. He knew antagonizing noble families always had a cost.

Laughing Mikax replied, "I'll be disappointed if they don't come but seeing as Arlyne and her father seem on good terms I wouldn't expect it." Everyone who had heard this reply was sweating bullets. The man had no fear and everyone else's lives were in the balance as well. No one doubted his ability to make it out alive but what about them? Would they now be considered accessories to this blatant insubordination?

As the afternoon turned into night time the 8 other founders had decided to set up a watch for the evening just incase the army did come for revenge. They did not want to be caught off guard.

It was shortly after this that they had seen Zed stir inside of the cube suspended in the air. None of them were surprised when Mikax didn't acknowledge the demonic fox and let him sit in darkness bound inside. They were beginning to understand that crossing Mikax's bottom line was the equivalent of a death sentence and the demonic fox had been flirting with it when he tried to attack Hesa.

As the night stretched on the guild had closed its doors but didn't lock them as was tradition. This place was home to those who needed one at any hour of the day. Everything was quiet until around 3 in the morning when Arlyne was on duty for watch. She could have sworn she heard the sound of a knocking but only faintly, as if it was in another portion of the building far away.

Arlyne stood and walked the halls double checking that no one was awake or someone had snuck in under her nose. Once she returned back to the main hall she could swear she had heard it again. This time she would bet anything it was coming from the front door, yet it still sounded so faint and distant. Without hesitating she made her way to the 2nd floor and went onto the balcony to peer over and check the door itself.

Arlyne immediately jumped over the edge and onto the ground. Layingface down in front of the door in a torn and tattered cloak was a young beastkin girl that was moving only her fingers to tap the door. Arlyne could tell that the young girl was using what little strength she had left just to do that much.

Immediately Arlyne picked up the girl and noticed that she was wearing almost nothing beneath. It was clear that her clothing had been ripped from her body as she was being beaten and probably tortured in more ways than one. Making sure the young girl was covered Arlyne shoved open the door to the guild hall and made her way to the third floor where Mikax was staying. Although they wanted to test the healing properties of drinks Lyra was working on this girl was much too young, this left either Mikax or Hesa to help the girl. With it being such a unique situation Arlyne had opted for Mikax.

Arlyne kicked the bottom of Mikax's door with her foot as she held the beast kin. Within seconds the door was opening and without hesitating Arlyne pushed her way in. Thankfully, Mikax could tell it was her or else someone barging into his room would have been met with death. She laid the young girl on the bed and turned to Mikax with a worried look on her face.

"She needs our help she's in really bad shape. I found her laying in front of the guild hall, it looked like she used the last of her strength to make it here." Arlyne was clearly in a little bit of panic mode, to her it was clear that this beast kin had been used as someone's stress relief and left for dead. To her that was unforgivable.

Mikax didn't say anything in response. He was staring at the young beast kin girl on the bed. That was because he recognized her, of all places to see her though he wasn't sure how she ended up at Redgate in this condition. 'What happened to you Phup?'

Mikax snapped out of his thoughts as he removed a vial from his pouch, "tilt her head back some and open her mouth." Arlyne didn't hesitate to follow his orders. She trusted that he would help her even with his twisted personality.

It only took a few seconds for all the wounds to be healed across Phup's body.

"She should wake up in the next few minutes. We can find out what happened then." Mikax then moved his blanket to cover her body completely. He walked towards the foot of the bed and lifted just the corner over her ankle where a <Slave Bracelet> was located. What was interesting to Mikax was that the symbol marking the owner of the bracelet had changed from what he remembered.

If Mikax was right then he guessed that Rammir probably owned Phup and when Mikax had fried his brain his slaves were then sold off. That would mean that one of the families that had come with the army owned Phup and had treated her this way since earlier in the day.

Without thinking much more about it Mikax snapped off the <Slave Bracelet>, this time he didn't bother keeping it and broke it in half directly. He was never a fan of slavery, the only reason that he did it to the two princes was because of how unlucky they were to be descendants of the moron King.

The seconds turned into minutes as both parties waited for the young fox to wake up. Nearly 10 minutes had gone by before she began to stir. As she opened her eyes and saw that she was in a room Phup began to panic. She whimpered and pulled the covers closer to her body and backed into the corner of the bed away from the people she had noticed in the room.

"It's okay, you made it. I found you outside our door, you're safe." Arlyne had thrown away the cold assassin she had been earlier in the day and was talking in a soothing voice.

Phup's eyes peaked over the blankets and examined the woman who was speaking to her. She seemed to be familiar to her but she wasn't sure where from, that made her nervous as she only knew nobles, royals, and other slaves. Once she looked at the man in the room tears began to form in her eyes, she knew she had made it. The only person she really thought that could save her from her fate. Seeing Mikax sitting in the room with her made her burst into hysterics. She might finally have a chance to be free.