The city streets of Alcacia were busy as always, with the midday sun shinning from high above. Amidst the rushing crowd a single boy slowly meanders forward with a dopey smile on his face.
"So that was called a kiss huh." Reid's mind was an absolute mess, much to Amadeus' dismay.
"If our social customs match, then yes. Now focus! We need to head over to the guild now that Anna's awake. In addition to the chat with the vice guildmaster, we can turn in the quest items and the monster core. With that we can-"
"So what does it mean if someone kisses you. Do they like you or…?" Reid asks while cutting him off.
"…It depends. It was just a kiss on the cheek so it could mean she likes you, or it could just be her way of thanking you, I don't know. Now-"
"Wait, just on the cheek? You mean there are other way's to kiss?!"
"Yes, lovers tend to kiss each other on the lips to… Wait, why am I explaining this? We need to be talking through our next steps! Deciding what magic spells to buy, what quests to take, how to improve your spirit skills. There's a lot we need to do, understood?"
"So you kiss each other on the l-lips?" Reid gulps as his imagination runs wild.
"…This is why I hate teenagers…" Amadeus says in resignation.
The rest of their walk home was done in silence.
Reid's daydream was harshly interrupted as he approached the orphanage only to see guards standing around the door. As he got closer, he noticed they were talking to Mary. She appeared to have a small bloody wound on her forehead.
Realizing something was wrong, the boy ran to her side.
"Mary! Are you alright? What happened here?" He asked while pushing his way past the guards.
"Oh, Reid dear, you're back… I don't know how else to say this, so I'll be blunt."
She pauses for a moment, preparing herself to reveal the heavy truth.
"The twins and Cynthia… were taken."
"What!!!" Her statement stops him in his tracks.
An arms gently falls on his shoulder from behind. "It'll be alright kid. Just calm down while we figure this out."
Reid turns toward the familiar voice to see Aron standing behind him. The guardsman gave him a reassuring nod before he continued.
"Now Mary, can you tell us what happened in more detail? We need as much information as we can if we're gonna find the people responsible." His voice was calm and collected, in spite of the situation.
"Okay. It started a little after Danny left for his apprenticeship. I heard a knock at the door and went to go answer it. As soon as I started to open the door, it swung open and hit me. It appears I passed out, and when I woke up, I was gagged and tied up. There were two of them in front of me while two more were coming from the back, carrying the twins over their shoulders."
She takes a small pause to regain her composure before continuing.
"They were just about to leave when Cynthia walked in. She was just about to scream for help when one of them used some kind of sleep magic to knock her out too. Then they took all three and left. If Aron hadn't come by I still would have been tied up."
Her face was left in horror after recalling the events.
"These men... were they wearing dark blue cloaks?" Reid asks.
"Yes, they were. How did you know that?" She asks as all eyes turn to the boy.
Reid's face shifts from shock to frustration.
"Since I arrived in town, there were a couple times I felt like I was being watched. Both times when I tried looking around, I saw men in dark blue cloaks. I thought I was just being paranoid but if I would have just… Damn it!" Reid's frustration with himself caused him to bit his lip in anger.
Aron kept the situation moving.
"That means it wasn't a spur of the moment crime. They planned this… Waited for you to be alone… Devon go warn the gatehouses to be on the lookout for men with dark blue cloaks!"
"Yes Sir!" The young guard sets off on his new mission.
"John, you're with me, the rest of you fan out and take these." He hands the rest of the guards red sticks. "We'll work out of the orphanage until this is done. If you find them launch your flare immediately. There are at least four men, one of which is a known magic user, so engage with caution!"
"Yes sir!" The rest of the men salute him before turning around and beginning their search.
"Now lets get you inside Mary." Aron's voice shifts back to its normal, gentler tone. "Just sit down and take a breath. You can leave the rest to us." He starts to escort the older woman inside when Reid suddenly grabs his hand.
"Wait!"
The guard looks back at the boy in surprise.
"I can find them." His words were surprisingly intense.
Seeing the determination in his eyes, Aron couldn't help but hear him out.
"Alright kid, how exactly are you gonna do that?"
"I can use my enhanced senses to track them."
"And you think you can find them like that?"
"Yes, just the other day I used it to find gilded lilies in a flowerbed hundreds of meters away."
Aron took his time processing this new information. Either he can ignore Reid and follow protocol, or he can put his trust in the boy, taking a risk to find the woman he cares for.
In his head he thinks on the cold reality of the situation. He knew from experience that when someone is taken, if the guards can't find them within the day, the chances of finding them later are slim to none. If they did find them, their state wasn't exactly... healthy.
He knew what he had to do.
"John, stay with Mary. I'm leaving you in charge of the scene. I'll go with the kid."
John knew exactly how much trouble Aron could get in for abandoning his post, yet he didn't try to talk him down. All he asked for was a simple confirmation.
"Are you sure?" He asked plainly.
Aron flashes his friend a wry smile.
"Aren't you the one always telling me I have to take more risks when it comes to Cynthia?"
John just shakes his head.
"You know that's not what I meant. Alright, go ahead, I'll try to keep the mess back here to a minimum."
"Thanks."
The two men hit the back of their fists together, the city guards gesture of loyalty, before he turns back to Reid.
"I'll follow your lead."
"Right, Mary, I need you to take me to the twins room." Reid states.
"That's fine dear, but what for?"
"I need some of their dirty clothes."
Mary's mouth hangs open, unsure of what to say.
"Or something they wear often, maybe even a toy. I know it sounds weird but I need something that has their smell on it so I can track them." The boy fumbled through his explanation.
Reid wanted to do more to clear up his weird phrasing, but he pushed back the urge. Time was of the essence after all.
"Oh, I see. Then this should work."
She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a flower shaped cloth hair ornament. It was the one Faeth wears everyday to keep her hair tied in the back.
"It must have fallen off when…" She couldn't bring herself to finish the thought.
Reid gently grabs the ornament from Mary before running back inside to grab his spear. He emerged fully prepared in his hunting gear.
Reid wasted no time and brings the flower to his nose while closing his eyes. After a moment of intense focus he memorizes the scent and pulls the cloth flower away from his face. He slowly turns left and right, searching for a trail. After a short while his eyes snap open.
"Found it!" He turns while getting ready to run. "Follow me!"
And so their wild chase began.
He ran down the back streets, cutting in and out of alleys as he desperately pursued the scent. They make their way through half of the city, dodging pedestrians as they went. Eventually the pair found themselves in an open courtyard next to the city wall.
They both slow to a stop while looking around. The only thing in the entire space was a single bench facing a Large tree growing halfway in the stone wall.
"Where to now?" Aron asks, a sliver of doubt creeping into his voice.
"…I'm not sure, the trail ends at the tree."
The pair walked through the courtyard, looking for any indication of where their targets could have gone. Seeing the route had ended in a dead end, Aron's doubt started growing.
"Reid go over to that tree, I want to check something." Amadeus chimed in.
The boy did as he was told and walked straight to it. He put his hand on it gently and noticed a weird sensation from the bark. To him, it didn't feel like an ordinary tree.
'Analyze'
"Reid, the tree died long ago after it was hallowed out. Nature magic is being applied regularly to make it appear alive. Find the hallow section, that should be our way forward."
Reid hesitates slightly before removing his head wraps and putting them in his bag. With his ears out he begins knocking against the wood, paying close attention to the sounds it makes. Aron looks at the boy skeptically as he starts knocking all over the tree. Just when he was about to say something, the sound changed.
"Here!"
The boy shouted as he started to pull on the bark. As he does, a section on the far left that sat against the wall opened up like a door. Looking through the hole in the tree, he realized it led all the way through the wall, ending outside the city limits.
"I can't believe it. A smugglers passage!" Aron was dumbstruck at the discovery.
"We should hurry." Reid says while looking up at the cloudy sky. "There's a storm coming soon, when the rain starts falling I could lose their trail."
"Alright but before we go I need to ask you something." Aron gives him a serious look.
"Okay?" He answers, confused by his change of demeanor.
"These people are most likely slave traders. They're horrible people who plan to do horrible things to Cynthia and the twins. Since they're already outside of the Alcacia, they're either going to sell them today, or transport them far, far away. Either way we don't have much time."
"Exactly! So we should-"
"Wait. Let me finish." He holds up his hand.
The boy stops, giving Aron his full attention.
"They're outside the city walls. We'd need the local lord's approval to send soldiers out there but we won't have time for that… What I'm trying to say is, if we go, we'll be all alone out there. Just us and them, and they are extremely dangerous. Are you still prepared to go knowing the risk?"
"Yes."
"I know you're still young but something tells me you're strong. You beat that shadow wolf after all. Look, I know I shouldn't ask this, but I will anyway. Are you prepared to fight alongside me?"
"Yes."
"Truly? For some people you barely know?"
"Yes. It might seem weird to you, but these are the first people I've ever met that have shown me genuine kindness. The first ones to accept me for who I am." He says, pointing at his ears before continuing.
"It was the same way with Lance and Anna. I knew it was dangerous, but I just couldn't help myself. It's like... it's like now that I know this feeling, I don't ever want to lose it."
"I see… that explains a lot" Aron thinks for a second before a wry smile appears on his face.
"Well, I guess it's our chance to go be heroes!"
"Yeah!"
The boy meets his smile with a look of determination, and just like that, the two take off again.
⁘⁘⁘⁘
Reid and Aron run through the thin wood line. The dark clouds in the sky keep the world dark, despite the time. The path they were running on was just far enough off of the main road to not be seen by regular caravans or foot traffic.
The 'smugglers pass' as Aron had called it was finally coming to an end. In the distance they could make out a cave built into a steep cliff with two rugged looking men lazing about the entrance. One man stared off into the sky, while the other was looking at the rocks in front of them.
Aron quickly pulled Reid into the bushes.
"Get down." He says in a hushed tone. "They have guards posted out front, so we'll stop here and make a plan of attack."
Aron walks up to a tree as he peaks around to look at the guards.
"Are their scents coming from inside that cavern?"
"Yeah, and with the way it's pooling, they're definitely still inside."
"That's great! It means were not too late. We'll have to scout them out and try to get an idea on their numbers. I'd rather not have to wait until they try to move 'em, since it'll put the girls at risk, but depending on their numbers we might not have a choice." Aron goes back to hiding behind the tree. "Think you can smell how many there are."
"I'm not sure. I've only recently started to focus on my sense of smell so I'm not that good yet. I think if I get a bit closer I can try to listen in, and see what they're talking about."
"Alright but stay low and go slow. If anything happens, I'll take care of it."
With a gentle nod of his head, Reid sets off. He walks at an unbearably slow speed as he maintains a crouching stance to stay below the bushes that separate him from the guards. Inch by careful inch he sneaks forward. As he finally nears the bush, he hears a loud crack below his foot.
He looks down to see a stick snapped in two under his foot. His blood runs cold as he stays as still as he possibly can.
"Oi piss off!" One of the guards shouts as he throws a rock straight at the bush in front of him.
"Eiik"
A creature shouts from the bush and seconds later, Reid sees a purple rabbit-like creature burst forth, running for its life.
"Damn Toxic Serbas, if I gotta see hundreds of them things every day, they should at least be edible." The man gripes.
"Nah, what are you talking about? Of course they're edible… Once! Hahaa."
"Shut up, idiot!"
"Who are you calling an idiot!" The two guards get into each others face, shouting back and forth.
Reid uses the opportunity to get as close to the entrance as he possibly could. He makes it to the edge of the wood line as he lays down and closes his eyes. After taking a moment to focus his sense, improving his hearing drastically.
"Reid, I have an idea. You keep focusing on listening for quieter and quieter noises. I'm going to take advantage of our linked senses to filter out the background noises. That way you can listen in for specific conversations."
"You can do that?" The boy answers, surprised by the new ability.
"Yes, but not for very long, a minute at the most."
"That will be enough, let's do it!"
As Reid starts he hears the guards continue to argue.
"YEAH??!? Well you have a face only a mother could love you ugly b-"
The conversation suddenly ends as Amadeus filters out the noise. Amadeus mentally winces in pain. What Reid didn't know about this technique was that every time he focused deeper, the noise Amadeus heard got louder. Exponentially louder. But it was working.
Without the distraction, Reid was free to focus deeper and deeper, eventually hearing voices from inside the cave.
"Gods, are those two idiots still fighting?" A high-pitched male voice asks.
"Yeah, maybe we shouldn't have put the two of them out there at the same time." A second voice, this one much deeper, answered him.
"Yeah, but then we'd have to deal with those idiots. I sure as hell don't want that. I swear, once the boss gets back, we should kill the both of 'em. Then we only have to split it between us three and the boss" The high-pitched voice making such twisted plans sounded almost comical.
"We can't do that, they're the fall guys. If we didn't have them, then we'd be the ones to get sacrificed if things go south. By the way, is he still entertaining our guests?"
"Yeah, we should go check on him soon, make sure he doesn't damage the goods."
Reid ends his concentration and signals Aron over. The man moves with an unexpected amount of silence as he makes his way over. In no time at all the two are side by side in the bushes.
"There are five men here and one more they call 'boss' that's not here right now."
"Good work, and the girls? Do you know if they're restrained or shackled?"
"I don't know, let me see if I can find out."
Reid closes his eyes and focuses once more. The filtered noise blasted with deafening volume in Amadeus' head, but he endured. To him, every noise sounded like fireworks exploding directly in his ear.
The boy focused deeper and deeper until he finally heard a familiar voice.
"Please, just take me. Let these two go, they're too young to be useful anyway. Please!" He could hear Cynthia's voice desperately pleading with someone.
"Oh you want me to take you? Maybe that's not such a bad idea." The new voice spoke with a sickening amount of glee.
"N-No that's not what I- Stop that!"
"Reid, you need to go now!" Amadeus shouts in his head.