As soon as the word was leaving his lips the door suddenly opened just a bit and Lorelle slipped her head back inside. Her head was tilted just a bit and while her eyes were wide with curiosity it was her smile that told him the truth of the matter. He audibly gulped as she began to speak.

"Did you say something guild master? Is there something you need?"

"Oh! No I'm fine thank you!"

"I see. Well if you do need anything simply... speak out."

With that her head slipped away and the door was closed a second in a matter of a minute. Owen let out a breath and was about to make a comment but stopped himself before quickly looking around the room. He hugged himself instead and felt a shiver go down his spine, a sensation he absolutely hated. Shaking his head from side to side he began to work on the needed paperwork for the evening's mission.

Outside Lorelle held a genuine smile, happy that she was able to trick Owen like that, though the situation they were all in gradually caused the smile to fade. She looked down at Ethan who was walking beside them and considered his possible emotions throughout all of this. She was about to ask, just for the sake of conversation, but just as her lips were parting and her chest was rising from the preemptive inhale of breath, a gentle hand softly grasped her shoulder. Her body stiffened just a bit and she turned to see Cecelia smiling at her, though there was a single digit pressed to her lips and her head was slowly shaking side to side signaling that she shouldn't say anything. Lorelle's eyes widened just a bit, mostly because of the insight Cecelia seemingly just had, but she quickly recovered and smiled with a nod. Cecelia, who had seen Lorelle's eyes go wide pouted a bit and looked away with a "hmph" but not before she gave Lorelle's underarm a pinch in retaliation. The pinch wasn't horrible but it made Lorelle gasp a little as she grabbed her arm and began to rub the offended area. Thankfully Ethan was too far gone into his own world to notice their little exchange, however, Lorelle was left slightly annoyed as Cecelia moved just far enough away that any retaliation on her part would be enough for Ethan to notice. It would seem that Cecelia knew this as well for when Lorelle looked at her with a glare she was met with a cute little "teehee" face from Cecelia, her tongue sticking about halfway out of her closed mouth and her eyes closed. Cecelia knew she would pay for the pinch and "teehee" face later, Lorelle was always good at giving what she got, but for now she was enjoying her small victory, if for no other reason than to take her mind off their current situation, even just for a few seconds.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

It had been about an hour and Ethan was sitting at one of the smaller tables by the bar, absently snacking on a plate of cheese, crackers, and chicken chunks while Lorelle and Cecelia got everything prepared as fast as they could. Much to Ethan's annoyance Owen had been right about the number of people willing to volunteer in the end, his numbers only off by one or two people. The number of people more than doubled once it was announced it was now a special mission from the guild and there would be payment involved. Ethan smiled a bit when he saw more than a few annoyed glances from the first group toward the second group, understanding the reasons behind the glares.

"At least they all would get paid in the end," he thought to himself.

He washed down another mouthful of food with cool water before switching to the mug of smooth, and equally cool, milk. He did love his milk, though he also seemed to enjoy fruit juice just as much. He could live without vegetable juice though, that stuff tasted horrible and gave him a stomachache for some reason. The oddest thing was he didn't have any problem eating vegetables. They weren't his favorite but whatever happened to them between being whole and then liquid really just didn't agree with him, or him it. He knew he should be lying down, or at least sitting in a more accommodating chair, mostly because Cecelia and Lorelle had told him so, but he just couldn't relax. He hoped that his inability to calm his nerves wouldn't affect him later. Another half hour had crawled past before he finally heard the words he had been waiting for.

"Everyone who has signed up for the "Sanctum Children Rescue" mission please prepare what you need and meet in the first examination hall in 30 minutes."

It wasn't the nicely worded mission name, nor the fact that they would finally be on the move in just another half hour, that caused him to suddenly stiffen at the announcement. A wave of uncertainty and dread suddenly crashed down on his body as he finally realized he had a major problem. What was he going to do!? He jumped to his feet abruptly enough that he rattled his table with enough for to knock over his mug of water and milk, though thankfully both had been empty for about 10 minutes now. He chastised himself under his breath as he righted the mugs and returned some of the left over bits of food to the plate.

"Mr. Kipley?"

Ethan froze when he heard Lorelle's voice and realized she was walking toward him, his gaze slowly turning to face her with a "oh no" expression written clearly on his face. Much to his confusion though she giggled at him and smoothly shook her head from side to side.

"Oh Mr. Kipley, you are such a darling."

"Huh?"

She had seen his reaction when she made the announcement, so with that, paired with the look he had just sent her way, she was pretty sure her assumption was on the mark.

"Is something the matter?"

"Um.... yes."

There was a long pause before he mustered the courage to explain his situation.

"I don't have any equipment...."