“Good, sometimes you just have to fake it. Give them a good show and have them eating out of your hands,” Simone gave her a smile and approved of her noble like attitude.

Once they had the daggers she chuckled a bit and held out the handle for her, “Lewis and I have been married a year~ I figured that he deserved something nice for putting up with me for this long.” Sometimes she still felt like a burden but when their hearts were one it felt pleasant and she liked that a lot.

“Careful with them like he said. They are hot.” She let Dala play with them a bit before she helped her tuck them into the basket. “Don’t lose them. Thank you again, Mr. Jameson.” He nodded to her and watched the two ladies leave his shop. He thought she was a bit of an odd duck but at least she was happier than most of the wives that came into his shop.

“How about we stop for some treats? I saw a nice little pastry shop here on my way to find the blacksmith,” she pointed it out to Dala. “We can have a nice little lunch and then go back to the island. I’ll show you all around!”

Finding a small table outside the shop she puffed her lips up a bit. “Dala, you are going to have to wait here at the table. I wouldn’t want anyone to snatch it from us. You’ll be alright, right?”

"If its from you he'll probably like it anyway." Dala said while she practiced some of her attacks with the daggers.

They were light weight but would damage whomever they stabbed. Once she was done playing around with the weapons she and Simone tucked them into the basket. The child gave the weapons man a wave goodbye, trying to remember this place for the future. Maybe she could convince the weapon smith to join her future kingdom one day? The thought made her smile as she walked by Simone's side.

"Do you think they'll have strawberry shortcake?" The child asked, "Last cafe I went to was all out. Couldn't even find any in their storage."

Never mind what she had been doing in the storage of a cafe shop. She followed Simone towards the cute cafe. The building was made out of birch wood and had a unique style among all the other homes. There were several tables but the cafe was a busy place. Nobles rushing in and out, carrying their own treats that they happily chowed down, in a delicate way of course! Almost every table had been taken up, they were lucky to find an empty one at all. Dala plopped down on the seat and observed all the nobles and their strange fashions.

"I'll be fine! Remember I'm the coolest most epic warrior princess!" Dala said with a confident smirk, "This table will have the best protection this city can offer."

She also wanted to look at the daggers again and play with them.

“He does seem to be like that, doesn’t he?” He liked anything she did… She hadn’t found something he disliked.

Simone tapped her chin and nodded, “They should. I’ll see if they can’t make it for you.” Once they got to the cafe Simone laid claim to a table even going so far as to glare at another noblewoman for trying to take the table.

“I’ll have you know my husband~”

“I’ll have you know that if you can’t stand on your own two feet you should find another table,” Simone put her hands on her hips at the woman.

“Are you threatening me?”

“Did you want it to be one?” Simone’s normally meek voice had taken a rather cold tone as her eyes narrowed down on the other young noblewoman. “Move along, you’ll scare my niece.” The noblewoman scoffed and Simone sighed a bit. “I never did like how catty nobles could be. It’s exhausting.” She made sure Dala was all set and took one last look at her before leaving her. “I’ll be back.”

A taller muscular man went into the cafe behind Simone. He wouldn’t have stuck out if it wasn’t for the fact that he wasn’t from the district. When it came to the noble district it was easy to tell who belonged and who didn’t and while Simone could blend in she was ever cautiously watching her back now. Something wasn’t right and her hair was standing up on her arms.

Adeluna, for the most part, was a fairly low magic city and as not to blow her cover and put Dala in danger she had to be careful. She also couldn’t let the Benin officials find out that it had been her that threatened them. It was putting her in a bind. Maybe though she was being paranoid as she ordered their cakes and brought it back out to Dala. “Here you go, I had them get an extra big slice for you to make up for the last time you couldn’t have one. It even has two strawberries~” She seemed mighty pleased about it.

Still, she was watching from the corner of her eye as the man had come back outstanding in the corner. The blacksmith did say that women like her were being hunted. She chewed at her lip. “Dala,” Simone was hushed as she reached over and touched her.

”Dala, listen to me very closely.” She let her voice find her way into Dala’s mind and made eye contact with her. ”I have a very bad feeling. If something happens under no circumstance are you to fight back. Do you understand? Go find Lewis. I’ll be fine.”

The last thing she needed was Dala being taken too and from the way, she was being watched she had a good feeling she was being targeted. “Stay put okay? I’m going to go to the wine shop not that far. The way we came should be good enough for us to get home so we’ll head back that way after we’re done here.” The context clues for her to get back to the island and she knew Dala was smart enough to figure it out. “I’ll be back in five minutes.”

”Wait those five minutes. Do you understand me? Calmly make your way back.” Her gray eyes were on Dala and there wasn’t any fear. She pushed herself up and headed off with the man following closely behind her.

Simone never did come back.

Dala was just enjoying the little cat fight between Simone and the random noble lady. It was always fun to see Simone bare her fangs and usually rare. The version that the child always saw was a sweet and kind lady. However, Dala was not surprised when the lady backed down. A pitiable noble had nothing against Simone. Dala waited until Simone was in the cafe before she started admiring the daggers again. They were just so shiny. The second Simone returned, Dala quickly shoved them back into the basket, completely unaware of the threat lurking in the shadows.

"Oooooh that looks so good." Dala said practically drooling.

She stabbed the cake with her fork and let out a mmmmm before gobbling the entire thing up in seconds. The child ate like a pig and had forgotten all about her manners.  The cake tasted like heaven itself. So fluffy and filled with the flavor of strawberries. The only thing she did remember was to clean her face with the provided napkin. Dala felt the touch of Simone's hand and looked at her with confusion. Simone would find herself easily in the mind of Dala, since the kid didn't exactly have any mental or magical mind protections.

-Tell me what's wrong. Who's making you feel threatened?- Dala responded back in a serious tone, well as serious as a child's mental voice could get.

Instead of telling her, Simone told her to stay put and that she was going to the wine shop. The way she phrased the way we came part was an obvious direction for her to go back to Lewis that way. Every part of the child wanted to fight with Simone. Letting her go alone was a stupid idea. But….. if she didn't follow orders she could get Simone killed. The child gritted her teeth and looked down at her plate, her hands curling into fists.

-I…I understand. Don't let yourself get hurt.- Dala mentally pleaded with Simone.

The child tried to calm herself down and started using her fork to pick at her plate, pretending to be occupied. Simone left the table and went off, never coming back. Dala obediently obeyed Simone's orders but after five minutes, she looked around the area with a panicked look. She walked towards the area that they arrived as slowly as calmly as she could. The alleyway seemed dark and silent without Simone. Dala's eyes grew wide as she realized the portal was barely there. The portal had started shrinking without Simone's magic nearby. It was such a small hole, about the size of her shoe.

"No!" Dala screamed as she ran towards it, dropping the basket with Lewis' gift.

She touched the portal but it didn't grow back. Only magic could make it grow back. Dala looked at her hands, closed her eyes, and began to concentrate. She could feel the warmth flow through her arms and reach her hand, but the magic only created a small spark of light. She reached out and attempted to use that light to reopen the portal, but it fizzed out, only powering the portal by a tiny bit.

"No no no no." She said panic growing in her voice before it turned to pure rage and desperation.

The child reached out towards the portal and started forcing the light magic through her arms. Forcing magic was dangerous and unnatural. Her old magic teacher once told her that. If she did this, there was no going back. But at that moment, Dala didn't give two shits. A burning light magic pierced its way through her flesh and powered the portal as she pulled it open. The scent of burnt flesh filled the air and her arms began turning a bright red. Dala's eyes were filled with sunshine as she screamed from the pain. The magic she forced through her body was slowly burning her.

Skin began peeling off and falling to the ground as her arms were covered in blisters and sweat. It wasn't enough! She needed more magic! The portal began slowly closing again as she was loosing momentum. She gave a final push, forcing as much magic as she could and let out an ear shattering scream, one that pierced the air and terrified anyone who heard it. Dala's arms were covered in blisters and horrible burn wounds that would make the sturdiest of people gag. Dala fell through the opened portal, onto the hallway floor exhausted.

"Lewis!" She shouted desperately as she shoved herself with her feet towards the wall, propping herself up in a sitting position.

Dala's arms were limp, unable to feel movement but she shoved them under her skirt to hide her injuries. Lewis needed to focus on saving Simone.

Simone didn’t answer Dala as she was preoccupied with watching the man from the corner of her eyes. It wasn’t the fact that Simone felt threatened by the fact that she had Dala with her. The last thing she needed was her getting kidnapped and her. Simone’s life flame couldn’t snuff out that easily and thanks to all the torture she had been through there wasn't much they could do to her that would phase her.

She figured that she couldn’t rely on her magic, at least that was what she planned for. If they were kidnapping women they had to have a way to sedate them just in case of magic properties. She hadn’t been wrong as she was grabbed and the drug forced into her system. There wasn’t even a chance for her to cause a massive scene. They had been doing this a while.

Irritation filled her veins as she lost consciousness. The muscular man heaved her up over his shoulder and made his way out of Adeluna. Most of the people stayed out of his way and the guards were too busy panicking at another kidnapping to even get their shit together.

Taking her back by horse the man arrived at an estate. Simone had gained and lost consciousness several times so she had no idea where they were. The only thing she did know was that time had passed considerably. The sun was now high and by the smell of the air they were in a familiar place to her but she couldn’t place it.

Her vision blurred and she passed back out from the man administrating another dose of the drug. When Simone finally came to she instinctively pulled on her arms and flexed her legs. Her legs were free but she was tied to a chair that was more or less forced to be stationary. The room was dark and damp, she could smell the earth and recognized the smell of a cellar right away.

As her vision focused she looked around calmly and found that there were many women down in the cellar. Some of them were beaten badly, others were crying, and most of them were tied up. There were some that were just too weak to move. The fact they all looked close to her made her hair stand up but it wouldn’t be the first time that she had been part of some sick plot like this.

Her glare tuned in to the sound of people approaching. When they finally rounded the corner Simone just started to laugh. “Oh, this is fucking precious,” she said it out loud as her laughter got harder.

“What’s so funny woman?” The man stared at her, “You look like her.”

“That’s because you fucking moron I am who you are looking for,” the poison dripping from her lips was thick. “I never thought I would see you again Duke Emil Gaston Somerset~” She cooed.

His eyes got large and his breath got held up in his throat, “Si-Simone…” The bravado he had was all but lost as their eyes met. For everything that Emil could have been Simone had always known him as a coward. He had even been married to her because she was meek and wouldn’t boss him around much. “So… The assassin didn’t kill you… He just stole you then.”

The smile that Simone had died down as anger set in, “Emil.”

“Yes?” He was enthralled just by the sight of her.

“Come here, let me show you how much I’ve missed you since that assassin stole me~” Simone pouted at him and gave him those meek eyes he knew so well.

“YES, yes of course!” Emil was happy as he came to her and bent down to greet his once dead wife.

Simone’s eyes turned a shade dark and a pissy expression laid on her face as she shot her leg right up into the duke’s crotch. The duke fell over holding himself, “Let me out of this fucking chair right this instant Emil! If you know what’s good for you you’ll let me go and we won’t speak of this ever again.” She was screaming and throwing all holy hell towards him. “If you keep me~ Well I don’t know what he will do.”

“Hector,” the duke groaned as he held himself on the floor. The big muscular man who had kidnapped her came over with a thick club. “Don’t kill her but… shut her up.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to kill you in particular,” Simone spoke calmly with deep-seated anger up at the man. “When Lewis finds out~”

The duke held up his hand to the man before he could strike her, “Are you telling me you are with a lowly assassin? You could have had me.”

“I did have you or have you forgotten it was you who hired him to kill me? I have no need for a coward of a man who backtracks just because he is scared. That’s all this is. It’s a way for you to think your dick is bigger than it actually is,” Simone’s words stung and it showed as the duke threw his hand down. Hector hit her hard with the club. Her blood spilled lightly as she was knocked out.

“Keep the drugs in her. We’ll obviously have to recondition her. I don’t care what you do but get rid of the others," Emil finally pulled himself up off the ground and took a look at his lost wife. "He's poisoned you… That's all this is. Right? Please, don't make me hurt you more than I have to." The duke left Hector to figure out what to do with the other kidnapped women as he decided that leaving no evidence was the best route.

Lewis had been waiting for Simone to return. As it turned out, his job for the day hadn’t been too terribly difficult, leaving him ample free time to work on clearing out weeds from the front of the castle. It wasn’t an elegant job by any means, but he knew that Simone would enjoy doing something with the front of the castle. He could hear Kalina hard at work on the interior, which was a good thing. The faster she finished, the faster they could move forward with the plan to open the orphanage.

It’s a scary thought. That happened to be the emotion of the month. As they neared the completion of the whole project, Lewis found himself more and more nervous about the prospects of actually taking care of other children. It was one thing to help run the old thieves’ guild…this was an entirely different kind of beast.

Hm? As Lewis’ arm extended down to reach for a weed, he noticed something peculiar. Hairs. His arm hairs were standing on end. I don’t feel anything here though. It took him a moment to recognize what it was. The resonance with Simone was mixing with his own feelings. But why? What exactly was she feeling? It was subtle at first, but Lewis realized something else was wrong. His vision was swaying. Once again, he wondered if someone had managed to sneak up on him….

“Simone…” The resonance was creating a strange sensation. There was no drug in his system, yet the feeling of something powerful was coursing through his senses. He fell forward, suddenly hyper aware of his own weight. “Fuck.” He fell forward, and lost consciousness.

He wasn’t out for long, though. It was the smell first. Burning flesh. That was never a good smell. The assassin rolled over, groaning. Then he heard Dala call for him.

Fuck.

The world came rushing back, and Lewis scrambled up, nearly falling as he tried to regain his stability. “Dala!?” His words were slurring, but he managed to get to the girl. “Where is Simone!? What happened!?” Despite her trying to hide it, Lewis could smell her wounds.

“Kali! I need help out here!” Lewis yelled. “Bring healing shit, and fast!” He looked back to Dala. “Speak. Now.” The tone of his voice was murderous, but it wasn’t directed at her. Lewis was going to get to the bottom of this, and no one in the world was going to stop him. If someone so much as made an attempt to slow or stop him, he’d silence them without a second thought.

"Adeluna at the Octane Coffee shop noble district. Simone noticed someone was watching us but she didn't tell me who or anything else. She said she was going to the wine shop nearby and gave me instructions to stay calm, wait 5 minutes, then go back. When she didn't come back I raced to the portal. Her magic was fading and it was too small. I had to rip it open myself." She explained as fast as she could without stumbling over words, "The blacksmith we visited before the cafe mentioned girls like her were going missing in that area."

Dala wracked her brain for any other useful information. She just should have followed Simone! At least then she would have better info like any appearances or something. But that was all she could offer. The child didn't let herself cry and pushed down the feelings of fear. Instead she let herself be angry. The anger helped distract herself from the pain of her arms. Looking up towards Lewis, she knew he was furious and would tear the world apart for Simone.

"If somebody's kidnapped her, give em hell for me." The child said, her voice shaking with fury.

If it wasn't for her arms, she would've tried to jump into the fight herself. Relying on others to save her friends wasn't normally her style but in this case, she had no choice. Moving her arms out from underneath her dress, she finally had a look at them. From her shoulders down, the skin was blistered and bright red with patches of black dotted around with some of the old skin already falling off.

"I caused the wounds." Dala said, "Forced magic into the portal to get here."

This was why her old teacher never allowed her to use large spells before she was ready.

Kalina came out with a variety of medicines and was ready to help Dala once she got a hold of the situation. Meanwhile, Lewis listened to every word that Dala said, taking in and memorizing the details. He didn’t interrupt her at any point, instead trusting the girl’s input. If Lord Raith trusted Dala, then there was no reason for him not to trust her either.

“Kali, take care of her,” Lewis said as he stood up. Whatever drug they had used on Simone had started to wear off, leaving the assassin with some focus. He reached into his pocket and thumbed the ring that Raile had given him, and a portal opened in front of him. Before he stepped in, he awkwardly paused, and took a quick look at Dala.

“…thanks.” It was a half hearted, barely audible word, but he said it. If it hadn’t been for Dala, he wouldn’t have a shot at finding Simone. “Kali. Send Rhen when you’re done.” He was an idiot, but he was a useful idiot. And with that last though, he took a step into the portal.

The moment the gate closed behind Lewis, he felt a strange, almost smug sensation followed by a sudden shock hit his system and he started to see stars. They hit her. Bloodlust exploded in his heart. I’ll fucking dismember them alive… He shook it off, and then started through the back alley of Adeluna that he had appeared in. Not moments later, he started to feel whatever drug they had used on her earlier. Not this fucking time. He pulled out the bone dagger, slicing his hand open with a swift cut. Blood poured onto the blade, coating it. The sharp pain kept his focus.

The blade started to frost over with his blood, and he wrapped his wounded hand around it, gripping tight. The ice froze over his wound, as well as coating his hand. The pain was intense, but with a wicked smile, Lewis was able to bear it.

First. Coffee. Octane. It wasn’t a spot he had ever been, but he had passed by it a few times during a few jobs he was doing in the area. It didn’t take him long to navigate the streets.

Onlookers eyed the strange, sweaty man with a murderous look as he went by, but not a noble in sight was courageous enough to confront him over it. Instead, they went about their daily business. Lewis knew that he wouldn’t be completely clear; someone would likely attempt to summon the guard. A problem for later.

The door of the coffee shop slammed open as Lewis walked in. The entire shop quieted down, looking at the maniac silver haired boy.

“I,” Lewis said as he glanced around. “Could use a cup of coffee.” He waltzed up to the barista, a wild look in his eyes. “I would like…a cup of Midnight.” There was silence in the room. To most, it made no sense. There was no brew known as Midnight. But to a few, including one of the baristas in the back, they knew what it meant.

A favor.

The barista that had a knowing look came up, and excused the others, making a specialty brew on the spot. Lewis took the cup, and walked out. He sipped the coffee, and walked three streets down, and into the alley. Good. No witnesses… It wasn’t long before the barista and three others joined him in the alley.

“Well?” the barista asked.

“Medium height woman. Fancy clothes. Dark blue and black. Lots of jewelry. Had a kid with her, wearing a purple dress.” Lewis was straight to the point.

“Didn’t see her,” one of them said. The second shook his head. “Saw the woman leave the girl. A shady guy followed her. Big fella.”

Lewis narrowed his gaze to the barista. “Talk.” The man seemed nervous. “Talk, or I’ll make you talk,” the assassin said as he took a menacing step forward.

The barista was sweating now, shaking his head. “I can’t. They’ll maul me. Kill my family. I can’t!”

“I’ll kill you and everyone you’ve ever associated with if you don’t give me a fucking name,” Lewis said as he drew and tossed a dagger into the man’s leg. The barista cried out and fell to one knee.

The other two seemed not to like this, and produced weapons, moving to protect the barista.

“Oh please,” Lewis said as he produced more daggers. “I don’t have fucking time for this.” He threw the first dagger into one of the man’s skulls, ending him instantly. The second seemed to rethink his choice, but in the end decided wrong and moved to strike Lewis. It was over before he made his second step, and he collapsed with a gaping neck wound.

“Now…where was I?” Lewis asked as he approached the barista. He leaned down so that he was eye to eye with the man. “I ‘m going to need you…to tell me what you know…”

“I-I-I.” the barista stammered, shaken to his core.

Lewis sighed. This was going to take much longer than he wanted.

Her head hurt. It was throbbing and she could taste the iron in her mouth. Letting out a groan she straightened herself out in the chair the best she could. They had tied her legs and she wiggled a bit more. The drugs were keeping her magic at bay but just barely. She could feel Lewis’s murderous intent. Good, Dala got to him. It would only take a short time, but a short time to Simone was a long time for the average person. It didn’t matter how long it took in the grand scheme of things. They didn’t know she could die and the only thing they could do to her was try and recondition her.

That would be an issue they would come to find out. She tilted her head as Hector came back with a set of pliers. “What kind of torture are we doing?” She didn’t sound scared and it unnerved the man.

Hector looked back at Emil and looked for an order, “It’s not having any effect on her.”

Simone looked down as Emil gave the order allowing Hector to tear out one of her finger nails. The phoenix let out a muffled noise as she held it in. “God fucking damn it, if you are going to fucking torture someone do it properly. You aren’t even holding the god damn pliers the right way. You are doing it like a fucking pussy.” She was in pain but still she kept the insults coming as she thrashed in the chair.

“It’s not working. We’ve been at this for a while,” Hector sounded displeased.

“I will not be broken by a miserable shit bag of a duke and his stumpy ass henchmen,” Simone growled at him. “It sure as hell will take a lot more than what you have to dish out to get me to cave in. If he couldn’t make me cave you sure as fuck can’t.”

Emil wasn’t sure who he was but this wasn’t the same Simone he had married… and he knew she had memory issues. Did she somehow recover them? “Skip her meals see if that helps. Under no circumstances are you to kill her. We went through all the trouble of finding someone like her and now we have her. There’s no way a simple woman like her can withstand torture for long periods of time.”

Only, they had no idea that she had survived seven years of intense torture and she wasn’t about to let them know.

Kalina, the tall beautiful lady from earlier, brought medical supplies and began spreading some sort of salve all over her arms. The scent of the mixture reminded Dala of aloe vera and calendula, both herbs that her mother worked with in the temple. The salve was cool and relieved some of the pain on her arms. Lewis was about to leave when he turned back and gave her a half hearted thanks. The kid just gave him a nod in return, knowing that showing gratitude was difficult. Besides, this moment was probably something neither of them wanted to talk about another other time.

Kalina was wrapping her arms in bandages after treating them to protect the open wounds from any diseases. The entire time the child was strangely quiet. Half of her was worried about Simone while the other half was trying to reassure herself that everything was going to be fine. Lewis was a smart guy, he would be able to figure out what was going on. Once her injuries were wrapped, Kalina helped the child up and Dala began walking towards the living room. Until Simone returned, the child was determined to stay at the island.

"We should really keep a tracking magical thing with Simone." Dala quietly joked to herself.

Eventually the girl fell asleep on the couch, growing tired from the day's activities and the stress from earlier.