<span style="color: Silver">"So, Akito, how long have you lived in Jenault?"</span><br/><br/>"My entire life; Jenault has been the name of this town since before the War!  As I said earlier, my family used to run an Inn.  After the Southwestern docks became unusable though... well, it's been a lean life."<br/><br/><span style="color: Silver">"Oh that's terrible!  I’m so sorry to inconvenience you for the night..”</span><br/><br/>“It’s nothing!  We have that whole inn to ourselves when it’s just me and Momiji.”  Both speakers turned to look at the laughing young boy being chased around by Valiar.  “It can get lonely sometimes.  I’m afraid Momiji might miss his mother.  I really wish there could be a motherly influence in his life.”  Akito confessed with a sidewards glance at the woman beside him.  Her gaze was still fixed on his younger brother and a smile played on her lips as she agreed,<span style="color: Silver">“Yes, mothers are such an important part of childhood.”</span>Her tone was wistful before she seemed to recollect herself.<span style="color: Silver">”I apologize, my mind wandered.  I hope Momiji doesn’t mind not being able to see Master Guilford?  Perhaps I can ask him to stop by later?”</span><br/><br/>“Oh no no!”  Akito shook his head at the thought, “That’s not necessary!  I’m sure Momiji is happy enough that you and your squad are staying over.”  He smiled awkwardly as if realizing his protests may have been too vehement for a normal response.  “I wouldn’t want to inconvenience Master Guilford.”<br/><br/><span style="color: Silver"> “Are you sure?  You’re already doing so much for us by letting us stay over.  I’m sure Gil wouldn’t mind stopping by.”</span><br/><br/>“Really, you’re too kind.  But it’s fine.  Master Guilford comes to Jenault plenty.”<br/><br/>Lethe blinked in surprise at the response but let it slide.<span style="color: Silver">“If you’re sure then..”</span><br/><br/>“Oooh! Magic!”  Momiji squealed from behind them, drawing both of their attention.  YunQiao was kneeling on the ground with a benevolent smile, holding up a hand.  A fire sparked in his palm and then took the shape of a horse charging in place.  The horse grew wings into a pegasus and then transformed into white light in the image of an angel.  The winged female settled on YunQiao’s palm, dress swirling around it as it twirled in place.  The dress started to lift, forming the petals of a flower and then a peony was spinning in his hand, slowly dropping petals to the ground.  Momiji seemed fascinated by the display, his large eyes slowly drooping as he stared at the flower.<br/><br/>Lethe suddenly jerked her head as if waking from a dream.<span style="color: Silver">“YunQiao! What are you--”</span>She was cut off by a surprised grunt behind her and she whirled around, wondering why everything seemed a bit hazy.  Deimos was holding an unconscious Akito by the scruff of his neck.  She really doubted that said unconsciousness had been voluntary.<br/><br/><span style="color: Silver">“Deimos. YunQiao.”</span>Her displeasure was obvious in her tone.  Deimos only grunted and nodded to the area behind them.  “Look.  The leaves are swaying with the wind.  So is the grass.  But here?”  He kicked at the terrain below him.  “It’s not moving.  We’re in a barrier of some sort.”<br/><br/>Lethe looked between the three examples with open mouth, disbelieving but unable to refute her Knight’s words.  Adair suddenly cursed behind her, a clear sign he had just realized the deception now as well.<span style="color: Silver">“I… What?”</span>She was immediately gnawing the side of her lips, mentally trying to wrap her mind around the fact.<span style="color: Silver">“Maybe.. there’s a good reason? To protect himself and Momiji…?”</span>She offered tentatively, clearly wishing her explanation was true rather than believing it.<br/><br/>Deimos shrugged his shoulders.  He, YunQiao, Cricket, and Leon didn’t believe that rationale at all but didn’t care to contradict the Captain.  She looked distraught enough for having missed whatever magic they had walked through.  He was reluctantly impressed by it, and thus all the more suspicious.  He had barely noticed the change himself and could only confirm it when he’d roamed out of the illusion and ran into a worried Cricket and Leon.  The group’s presence was somehow being muted and it had tipped Leon off.  A word with YunQiao had the other Knight ready for an uncharacteristic magic show and here they were.<br/><br/>“Maybe…” Seraphim responded doubtfully.  “Well, let’s go find out?  Fall in formation?”  Lethe took up Cricket’s normal spot and the group walked forward cautiously.  At the door, Seraphim and Adair shared a glance, swapped spots, and then slammed the door open, Adair’s shield blocking all of them.  There was no response.  The group edged in slowly, only to be greeted by a perfectly normal room.<br/><br/>“YunQiao? Valiar?”<br/><br/>“Nothing.” “Nope.”  The squad fell out of its defensive position.  Deimos, YunQiao, and Seraphim were clearly confused while Lethe still looked worried.<br/><br/>“I’ll take a look around.  YunQiao, come with me?  Seraphim, can you bring in Akito and Momiji?”  Adair headed towards the stairs that led to the second floor.  Although he had his doubts about the others’ paranoia, he’d rather check everything then let the squad accidentally get injured from being careless.<br/><br/><span style="color: Silver">“I’m going to find some ice for Akito then.”</span>Lethe started towards one of the backrooms with Deimos shadowing her steps.  Valiar looked around, noting he’d suddenly been abandoned and threw his hands up.  “Okay! I’ll just sit here!”  He offered, taking a seat at one of the armchairs.  “Freaking paranoid kids.. Getting me all worried..” he grumbled, running a hand through his hair.<br/><br/>The first room they entered was a massive multi-use room.  There was a dining table, some bookshelves, and various toys scattered on a rug in a corner.  The chandeliers hanging from the ceiling suggested that it had once been a dining room until its conversion.  The adjoining room was a lounge of some sort.  Lethe backed out of that room and moved towards the other connecting room, its doorway partially blocked from sight by shutter-like doors.  A restaurant-sized kitchen greeted her delighted eyes.  The room even had two iceboxes!  She opened the closest one and found some basics: meat, cheese, milk.  There was a small ice tray, only half filled.  She pulled it out thoughtfully; there was enough for a cup or two of water, but nowhere near enough for a proper ice pack.  After being reassured the ice chest had nothing dangerous in it (really! what had he been expecting?  half a dead Sinner?), Deimos had wandered off to snoop around the rest of the kitchen.  Lethe placed the ice tray on the counter and then wandered over to the other ice chest.  She ignored the spark of static energy when she touched the lid.  It didn’t feel chilled but maybe there was something useful inside. She opened the lid with a grunt (why was it so heavy! The other one hadn’t been this bad!) and then screamed.  The lid fell back in place with a<span style="font-style: italic">thump</span>.<br/><br/>Deimos was at her side instantaneously.  Leon and Cricket came barreling in from the outer door (where had they come from?) and there was the heavy tread of boots on wood as the rest of her team trampled their way to her.  One finger shakily pointed at the ice chest in front of her but she quickly stopped Cricket when he went to open it.<br/><br/><span style="color: Silver">“Wait.”</span>Lethe gathered her magic for<span style="font-style: italic">Prayer</span>, feeling the rest of her squad follow suit.  Swathed in holy magic, she reached for the ice chest once more.  Adair’s hand joined hers and the two lifted the lid, ignoring the angry spark that bit their hands.<br/><br/>“Oh… Shit.”<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~</div><br/><br/>Lethe stared at the ground in front of her inconsolably, hands intertwined under her chin.  After catching sight of what was in the ice chest, the squad had retreated to the multi-purpose room.  Akito and Momiji were bound in a corner, kept unconscious by liberal use of YunQiao’s<span style="font-style: italic">Sleep</span>spell.  The caster was currently scouring the bookshelves for any clue.  Leon was meditating on the ground.  Adair and Deimos were both shuffling through the desk in the lounge room, looking for any other information.<br/><br/>“Hey… no need to beat yourself up over it.”  Valiar patted her shoulder comfortingly.  “I didn’t suspect anything either.”<br/><br/><span style="color: Silver">“I know! It’s not! It’s just…”</span>She tried to make sensible words but everything was just tumbling over themselves in their haste to get out.<span style="color: Silver">“How can I protect you guys, if I can’t even recognize such a simple trap?  I just said ‘okay!’ and I led you all--we could have been...”</span>She paused, unable to even voice what might have happened.  Frustration with herself colored her next words.<span style="color: Silver">“I just.. trusted him.. even though we know this place isn’t as safe as Gless or even Lindela.. He was just some friendly, overeager stranger and I trusted him just because…”</span>She trailed off before whispering,<span style="color: Silver">“just because Gil said this place was safe..  If I can’t trust his words…”</span><span style="font-style: italic">whose can I?</span><br/><br/>“Deimos didn’t know it was a trap either.”  Cricket spoke up from his place on the ground, a toy block in his hand.  “We happened to stumble across him when he was rambling.  I think he was easing up a bit too because of Master Guilford’s words.  And honestly, if Master Guilford hadn’t mentioned that they use this route to remain undetected, we wouldn’t have thought it was weird that there were what felt like a group of Advocates.”<br/><br/>“Besides, it was your idea to keep us on the sides.”  Leon spoke up unexpectedly, drawing all of their attention.  The newest squad member was usually quiet around the Captain, seemingly still shy in her presence even though it had been almost a year together already.  “If you hadn’t come up with that idea, we would have all been caught.  If you hadn’t drilled the importance of formation into us,” He smiled at the reminder of the training Lethe was always putting the squad through, “We would have gone running off like Master Guilford and Brynhildr did once we got in sight of this place and then we’d still be caught.”<br/><br/>Cricket spoke up again, voice oddly soft.  “It’s because you’re a good person, Captain, that you can’t see this badness the rest of us are always spotting.  You try to see the best in everyone and, well, that’s what the rest of us are here for.  Except Valiar!  He’s as blind as you are unless it’s a hot chick!”<br/><br/>“Hey!”  The named Knight protested before threatening, “See if you get healed next time!  You can limp along in pain for all I care!”<br/><br/><span style="color: Silver">“Thank you. Everyone.  But… we need to address. That.”</span>Lethe broke the squabble before it could go further.<span style="color: Silver">“Adair, Seraphim, Valiar, Deimos.  I’d like you all to return to Jenault proper and keep Gil’s squad busy for the rest of tonight.  Please beg our apologies that we wandered off and have all gone to bed early.”</span><br/><br/>“What?” “It’s only four o’clock…” “We’re not informing Master Guilford?”<br/><br/><span style="color: Silver">“YunQiao, Cricket, Leon, and I will stay here to investigate.”</span><br/><br/>“Lethe… I’m not sure that’s wise..  At least Adair or I should stay here, just in case.”<br/><br/><span style="color: Silver">“If something should really happen, I have Cricket here as our tank.  YunQiao has the knowledge needed to decipher what we’re looking at, Leon can sense in case something’s awry, and I’d hope I’m enough firepower to keep us safe long enough to get out, <span style="font-style: italic">if something should happen</span>?”</span><br/><br/>The dismissed squad members did not look happy at all but knew there was no chance of the white-haired Knight changing her mind with that frigid tone.  She was probably beating herself up for her mistake and trying to remedy it now.  Adair sighed heavily but ordered:<br/><br/>“Alright, you heard Captain.  Let’s go.  No telling Master Guilford?”<br/><br/><span style="color: Silver">“Let him enjoy the reprieve while he still can.  Clearly I still have much to improve.”</span><br/><br/>Lethe turned to face the kitchen even as Adair strode towards the door, beckoning the other three to follow.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Don’t be too rash.<br/>We’ll keep her safe.<br/>Light, lend me the strength to keep these loved ones safe.</span>