“So, let me get this straight. Last night you broke into the Administrative building, and not only did you get caught, but now a dwarven inquisitor believes that you're spies for the Silverian empire. And you want Leah to go with Eliza to piss off Gary, so he doesn’t give us Citizenship because of this… letter?” Leo asked, pinching the bridge of his nose with his right hand, his left hand supporting him as he leaned on the food area table.

“Technically, I wasn’t caught; I showed myself.” Demitrus corrected, holding up a finger as he leaned back on his log.

“You brought Eliza into the Administration building to get her pendant back, got caught because of it, and for what? to put us in a worse situation than before?” Leo snapped.

Eliza felt her face flush when he said it was her fault. She didn’t like it, but it was true. They had been caught because of her. She looked down into her bowl of food, which was noticeably fuller than she had been getting before. Daryl hadn’t been serving the food. Kolgit worked fast it seemed.

“That's one way to look at it,” Demitrus said, smiling.

Leo let out a long-suffering sigh as he sat back,” Please tell me it was at least worth it.”

Demitrus’s smile widened, “ I know how to disable the marks on our arms now. So long as we can avoid suspicion and ‘citizenship’ before the next mission, we can fake our deaths and make a run for it.”

“And how do you suggest we do that? Even if we go on the mission and fake our deaths, we still need to get out through the gate. Maybe you haven’t noticed, but the guards pay a lot of attention to us, no thanks to a particular someone.”

Demitrus smiled and glanced over at Eliza; an uncomfortable silence settled over the campsite Tension was in the air as all eyes turned toward her.

Eliza wasn’t sure what he wanted her to say, and she stared blankly at Demitrus.

“What happened before you got here? He said, prompting.

Before? Before she got here, she had been in the caravan that Demons had attacked from Grimhold… ah, that's what he wanted.

“If it's about getting out of Grimhold, we could do it the same way the Demons got out,” Eliza suggested,

“What do you mean?” Leah asked.

“When they were transporting us here, the caravan was attacked by a group of Beastman Demons. They must have gotten out somehow.” She said,

“And there you have it,” Demitrus said, tilting his head towards Eliza.

“So you potentially want to fight through a tunnel full of demons to escape?” Leo asked incredulously.

“By the time we get to it, it should be clear, or the Demons will have other things to worry about.” He said and left it at that.

“Why would it be clear?” Eliza asked

“Well, we're launching an attack against it later today. Killing them seems like a good way to clear it out.” He said, taking a drink of water

“You mean the waterworks?” Leah asked.

“Think about it; the day before they attacked the caravan, something they hadn't ever done before, they took the waterworks and launched an attack on the caravan. They must've gotten through somehow; I bet that's our way out.”

“And we need to make it to today's attack. But because of the fiasco last night, you want Leah's help to piss off Gary to alleviate the inquisitor's suspicion.” Leo said,

“That about sums it up,” Demitrus said with a nod.

“Sorry, but I won’t al-” Leo began to say.

“I’ll do it,” Leah said quickly, interjecting, cutting Leo off. Everyone looked at her in surprise; she usually didn’t jump in when they seemed to be fighting.

“But-” Leo began to say, but Leah cut him off again.

“I’ll do it.” This time she said it much more firmly.

“Are you sure? I can handle it by myself.” Eliza asked, concerned. At this point, she was too far in to escape from whatever Demitrus was planning; at the very least, she could spare Leah.

“I’m sure I’ve been feeling useless for a bit now. If there’s something I can do, I want to do it.” She said, brushing Eliza’s offer aside. Eliza felt her gut sink, and she looked away. At least she had tried, she consoled herself, but that didn’t make her feel any better.

Demitrus clapped his hands with a bright smile, “Wonderful, seems like we have a plan. If there’s nothing else. I have a few preparations to make. You two girls go do that, and Leo can heal.” He said as he stood up to leave.

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“We'll, reconvene in the evening for some training. If we're going to do this, we need to be prepared; You better be there.” Leo said bluntly with a stern look in his eyes.

Demitrus paused for a moment. “Very well, if there's nothing else, I’ll see you all in the evening.” He said and then walked away.

Once he was gone, Leo let out a long sigh and leaned forward onto his knees, massaging his forehead.

“Don’t worry; we’ll be fine.“ Leah said consolingly to Leo as she put a comforting arm on his shoulder.

“I’ll be nearby in case anything happens. I promise.” He said, raising a hand to place it over hers.

She smiled sweetly at him. “And do what? Attack him if he tries anything? You know the mark won’t let you do that. Besides, you're still recovering.”

“Still, I can’t just sit by when you're going into danger,” He insisted, but she shushed him.

“Think about that before blowing all your ki in one attack; just focus on healing, and we’ll be fine.” Standing up, she pulled her hand away and looked at Eliza, “You ready?” Eliza saw Leo clench his fists.

Eliza looked down at her almost empty bowl. Her stomach clenched up; she hadn’t had an appetite for a while. Still, She scarfed it down. She didn’t know when Daryl would return and didn’t want to impose on the others for their food. She got up, and Leah started walking away.

Before Eliza could follow, Leo’s hand lashed out and grabbed hold of Eliza’s wrist. She looked at him in surprise.

He pointedly looked at her with his blank eyes, “ Don’t let anything happen to her, you hear?” He said with a gruff voice.

“Of course,” Eliza promised, and he let her go. She walked a few steps away and looked back to see him bent over, hands balled into tight fists. She turned around and followed after Leah.

=====================================================================

“How do we want to go about this? Any ideas?” Leah asked.

They were standing near the tents, looking out over the field. In the distance, they could see Gary speaking with a couple of officers. Even now, he was still wearing his fancy suit of armor. They looked to be discussing the contents of a few pieces of paper. Kolgit stood next to him. Most of the guards were eating breakfast, so the area was mostly deserted.

“You were so confident; I thought you had a few ideas,” Eliza said, observing the pair.

“Do you think we could demand it? Think that would annoy him enough? Or should we insult him?”

“It would certainly be a start; whatever we do, we need to decide fast.” Eliza said, her eyes meeting Kolgits’. She saw him say something to Gary, and Gary turned to look over at the two of them. He said something to the officers he was talking to and started walking toward them. His long wavy blonde hair flowed in the wind. Kolgit followed behind him.

Eliza looked to Leah to see her shifting uncomfortably at the elf's approach.

“Don’t worry, be as rude as you want to; I won’t let anything happen to you,” Eliza murmured as he got closer.

“Well, well, well, what a surprise Eliza.” he turned to look at Leah and said while looking her up and down, “it's good to see you too, Leah.” Eliza stood in front of Leah, drawing his gaze to her. He stared at her for a moment before speaking.

“You’ve been here, what two days? And you already have a lieutenant recommending you for Citizenship. I must say that I’m impressed; no one has achieved such a thing before.” He said, flashing a bright white teeth smile. Eliza’s gaze flicked to look at Kolgit, who did not attempt to hide his suspicion; he was scrutinizing her.

“So? what do you want?” She said dismissively.

“Considering the nature of your origins and the squad you're in, I would normally say its impossible. But certain parties have expressed an interest in you. With Captain Kolgit's recommendation, I could give it a chance, so tell me, why should you receive Citizenship?” He asked

Eliza’s stomach dropped. Was his superior the ‘magnificent’ Lord? Why was he expressing an interest in her, of all people? This wasn’t good; things were already going south. She needed to do something; maybe she could give an impossible condition.

“Sorry, but I'm going to have to refuse; I quite like my squad. I won't go anywhere without them.” Elize said in a demanding tone; she set her stance and folded her arms, staring the elf down.

Kolgit’s brows furrowed, clearly confused at her actions.

Gary paused for a moment. His eyes glazed over as he turned to look out into the distance, thinking about it.

“I’m afraid that would be… quite difficult to do, considering the nature of your group's crimes. I won’t be able to do it, recommendation or not.” He said, sighing and sadly shaking his head. Inwardly Eliza felt a sense of relief, but that quickly evaporated by what he said next.

“Unless, of course, your party was to perform a few small ‘favors’ for me.” He said, his gaze shifting over to Leah as he said it.

“No,” Eliza said firmly, giving him a deadly glare.

He looked back at her with an amused grin and raised an eyebrow, ”Oh? And what are you going to do about that, hmm?” He leaned forward until his eyes were almost level with hers. “You may be an impressive fighter, but you're still a brat. A kid like you should stay out of things like this.”

A surge of anger rose inside her, and before she could stop herself, Eliza reacted. She grabbed his head with both hands and pulled it down. At the same she brought up her knee and slammed it into his nose. Eliza let go as he reeled back from the impact of the blow.

He stumbled back a couple of steps, tripped over a rock embedded into the ground, and fell backward, his armor clanking as he landed hard.

For a brief moment, Eliza felt a sense of satisfaction, with emphasis on the brief.

The familiar searing pain lanced up her arm from the mark, pulsating, each pulsation sending a fresh wave of pain crashing over her. Eliza clutched at her arm and staggered back a step. Immediately Leah and Kolgit rushed to her side, Leah to stop her from falling and Kolgit to restrain her. With their support, Eliza managed to keep herself standing.

She gritted her teeth and withstood the onslaught. Finally, it began to subside, and Eliza could think again. She glanced at Gary and saw blood flowing out of his nose, which was most likely broken, and tears forming in his eyes. Despite that, the creep had a sneer on his face.

Eliza felt an intense desire to beat the look off his face, regardless of the pain it would cause her. Feeling some of her strength returning to her legs, She tried to push off from Leah, but Leah held her back.

“Eliza, Don’t. We didn’t come here to do that.” She said calmly.

Enraged, Eliza turned her gaze to look at Leah, but something in Leah’s gaze stopped her cold. Seeing her stop, Leah let go of Eliza and stepped around her to stand in front of Gary.

She made a show of deliberately looking him up and down like he had done to her. And giggled.

Eliza looked at Leah in shock; Leah started to push Eliza in the opposite direction, “As if you could get any ‘favors’ any other way. Sorry, but we wouldn’t accept Citizenship from the likes of you even if you were the king.”

Gary burst out laughing. No, cackling would be a more apt description, and it sent shivers down Eliza’s spine as they both came to a stop.

His laughter died, “Fine, ‘Citizenship,’ was it? I’ll make sure every one of your little party receives Citizenship!” He declared as he wiped the blood from his nose and stood up. “Before, I would’ve done it as an obligation, but now, it's personal, prepare yourselves.” he threatened before storming off.

Kolgit watched him go for a moment before speaking to Eliza, “‘Lass, ya had me in da first half, I‘m not gunna lie, how antagonizing him convinced him ta give ya citizenship is beyond me.” he said, shaking his head in disbelief, “Anyways, I should get ta followin ‘im. I'll be watchin.”

“We’ll, we succeeded in antagonizing Gary and convincing Kolgit at least,” Eliza said, watching them leave.

“Should we go tell the others that we failed at avoiding citizenship?” Leah asked,

“Yeah, we probably should,” Eliza said as she reached up and pulled her pendant out from her shirt. She closed her hand around it. With her pendant back and her clean hit on Gary, it seemed like some cosmic imbalance had been restored, and she felt better. “ Let’s go.” She said, smiling at Leah.