After the tete-a-tete with the prince, his guards led me back to the house were my team and I was staying.

I just offered help to that prince didn't I? Why am I this vulnerable to anyone?!

Dahan-dahan akong pumasok sa loob ng bahay.

"It seemed that you came from a fancy place."

Nagulat akong nang makita ko ang isang pares ng lumiliwanag na mga mata. Am I seeing a ghost?

"W-who are you?" I asked.

Kaagad na lumiwanag ang paligid nang makita kong umilaw ang lamparang hawak nito. Siya yung lalaking humawak sa akin kahapon upang hindi ako mapatid.

"It's you." mahina kong bulong.

"Saan ka galing? Sa palace?" I immediately tilted my head in denial of his claims.

"Don't make me dumb. You're wearing a gown! And you rode a carriage coming back here so why deny?" I saw him smirked.

This guy...

He's annoying!

"Ano ngayon?" I stand tall. I will not be intimidated by his cold stare.

"You snucked outside in the middle of the night. Quite a wild girl to begin with."

Labis akong natakot nang tumayo siya at umikot sa palibot ko. What is he doing?

"If you're going out somewhere, tell me. I'm not gonna let you out of my sight again."

And then he stormed off. That totally weirded me out. Like literally!

---
After that night, my team and I went outside to have a glimpse of the Ivara Festival. It wasn't like any other festivals na sobrang gara at grabe yung pagdiriwang pero base sa tradisyon nila, halos lahat ng mamamayan rito ay sumasayaw at nagsasaya sa gitna ng quadrangle. Halos lahat ay may partner at nagsasayaw.

"Hey. Do you want to dance?" napatingin ako sa humawak sa kamay ko. It was this sweet looking guy in our team. He is tall, had blue eyes.

"I don't exactly...dance."I said as I smiled in a sheepish way.

" Nonsense. Just groove. Here. "He started grooving as he held both of my hands.

I can say he is a smooth dancer. Wala pang lalaking nagtanong sa akin na kung pwede akong maisayaw. This was the first time someone asked me.

" I'm Lucas by the way. You're Elle right? "he asked.

" Yes. Paano mo nalaman? "

He chuckled."I know everyone in my team."

"You call us a team? We're not even working together." I laughed.

"Yeah. But maybe soon, we will."he smiled.

He's kind of optimistic as he talked to me about things mostly about his life. How I wish I'm this optimistic as him.

After the dance, he excused himself and went to some members of our group and talked to them.

" We have 4 days left. What do you plan on doing?" Halos malaglag naman ang puso ko nang may bumulong malapit sa tenga ko.

It was this pretty girl in our group na minsan ko lang mapansin. She have also a nice figure and her face is just too perfect for her figure.

"I'm Rhiannon. Riane nalang for short. You are?" tanong nito at inilahad ang kaniyang kamay.

Natakot ako bigla nang maalala ko ang nangyari noong isang araw kung saan may alam yung lalaking nagngangalang Gray, sa pagkatao ko.

"Elle." I shook her hand not keeping in mind the risk.

"So Elle, ngayon lang kita napansin rito sa team nang makita kitang kasama si Lucas."

It's normal an hindi talaga ako madaling mapansin. Ganoon naman lagi, kapag nasa isang lugar ako kung saan madaming tao, ako yung isang taong hindi makikita kahit pa nasa harapan na. I'm just not attractive to begin with and just an average wild adventurous girl.

"I'm used on not being noticed." I smiled at her.

She gave me a smile in return, "Do you want to know our team? I just got information on them."She averted the topic.

"Yeah. That sounds fun to hear."

"So you see, we're of 9 members right?" she paused...

"Our leader is Gray Fulester. As we can see, he's interested in cards. I think he's a psychic. Napakacreepy niya kasi minsan kausapin kapag dalawa lang kayo."She pointed at the man named Gray which I met the other day. He's talking with Lucas and laughing.

"Yun naman ay si Hyacinth Warren—" Itinuro niya yung sexy na babae sa grupo. Feeling ko nga model ito sa kurba ng katawan niya. "She's a freelance model and also not good at keeping good relationship with the team. May pagkamataray kasi siya."

"Next is, Erza Red ..." I looked at the girl who's been glaring at people. She has a strong build for a woman. I must say she's tough looking."Her strengths are archery and martial arts. Among our team, I think siya yung pinakamalakas compared sa boys natin."

"The guy Lucas is been with is Reid Fauston. Sikat siya sa region natin as a survivalist. Aside from his good looks, he's good at survival skills." Napatingin naman ako sa lalaking kinakausap nila Lucas.  That Reid guy is wearing glasses which totally made him look hot.

"The shy one is Elysa Marquez. She's fond of looking at everyone sensing if they're staring at her. She don't want to be stared at." I looked at the girl she's been referring to. Isa itong babaeng nakaponytail at may salamin na sobrang laki para sakaniyang mga mata.

"You know Lucas Hertfila. He's a good fellow. I can say he's friendly to the team and very much optimistic." She looked at Lucas.

"Lastly is our mysterious man. Sébastien Michaels. Hindi ko pa nakausap ang lalaking 'yan pero its seemed na wala talaga sa plano niya ang sumama sa trip na ito. He's as if mad at the world for leading him here!" Tiningnan ko ang lalaking tinutukoy niya.

It was the guy yesterday night who was so weird. Kapag tinitingnan ko siya, para siyang model sa ganda ng posture niya at ng kabuuan niyang mukha.

"So that's our team! Sana lang ay maging close tayong lahat no? Kahit iba-iba pa man ang ugali natin... I just hope that we can work as a team in our remaining days." I smiled with what Rhiannon said.

"I hope that would happen."

~

If you didn't noticed, some of the names of the team are a wordplay of characters from animes that I've watched. Wala lang skl...