I had just stepped back into the hallway of the inn when I bumped into Justin. I quickly gave thanks to God for my impeccable timing for if I had been a few seconds late, he would've gotten himself into an unnecessary hunt for me and then scold me for a good hour.

"Morning," I smiled.

He eyed me warily. "Why do you look like you just came back from running?"

"Do I?" I frowned.

"Yes, you do," he firmly said. His eyes carefully trained my movements; I quickly glanced away from his hawk eyes.

"I just took a quick walk outside," I said.

"You...nothing happened, right?" Justin asked hesitantly.

"I'm fine," I scoffed. Just as those words left my mouth, loud footsteps stomped down the hallway.

"Hey!" Catherine gasped, appearing from around the corner. "We need to get up! Today is the sale!"

"Wait Cat—" I started, stepping aside just in time before Catherine barreled through the hallway, barging into the others' rooms.

"Ack!"

Tristan's yell echoed down the hall, signaling Catherine had probably reached his room first. Justin closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "They're going to wake up everyone in the inn."

In just a short moment, everyone was up and dragging themselves behind Catherine who, out of all of us, looked the most alive and was happily dragging a half-dead Yuri behind her.

Tristan and Jake shot us a questioning glance to which we shrugged in response. Tristan scratched his messy hair and asked Catherine nervously, "So...what's the occasion?"

"There's this old man who I was bargaining with!" Catherine exclaimed. "He wouldn't bring down the price so I have to argue with him again!"

"Right..." Tristan tried to bring Catherine's attention away from sleepy Yuri and to him again. "So what's that got to do with us?"

"Cause you're going to help me carry them, of course!" Catherine sniffed.

A cloud of despair immediately rained down on us. When it came to Catherine bargaining or shopping, she took forever. She says that she's going for one thing, but before you know it, you're there for hours.

"I actually have to—" Justin spoke up quickly before getting shut down by Catherine's sharp glare just as quickly.

"What?" she snapped.

"...never mind...." Justin muttered.

"Great!" a smile immediately illuminated her face. "Let's hurry then!"

                                                                                              ...

The market was as busy and noisy as ever, but before I knew it, we had arrived in front of a run-down stall. A frail looking man was yawning widely behind his stall before his eyes landed on Catherine, and he immediately blanched.

Catherine pulled up right in front of the man and held out five fingers. The man flinched away from Catherine; something told me Catherine didn't bring him the happiest customer memories. Behind me, I heard Tristan mutter to Jake, "I hope he has enough balls to confront her cause he looks like he's about to pee in his pants right now."

"Ten Yuans...I told you already," the man muttered.

"Five Yuans!"

"Girl listen—" the man started.

"Old man, please!" Catherine whined. She began stomping her arms and flailing arms, drawing wary attention from passersby. I could see beads of sweat begin to trail down the man's face.

"...fine! Fine! I'll do eight!" he snapped.

"Six Yuans!"

"Eight Yuans !"

"Six Yuans!"

"Eight Yuans!"

Catherine frowned. "Sir, your pots look so old and rusty no one will want to buy them from you. For days, I have seen just flies around your stall. You might as well sell them to me!"

The man bit his lip and seemed as if he was about to give in but shook his head. "No..."

She rose an eyebrow. "Fine then...let's leave, guys."

"W—wait alright, alright! I'll give you six Yuans!"

"Yay! Thank you so much, sir!"

We shivered in fear and amazement as we watched Catherine bargain down on the flustered man. She came back with a big smile on her face and an armful of cooking materials which she separated by putting them each in everyone's bags.

"Why the hell do we have to carry your stuff for you?" Tristan whined as Catherine stuffed a pot down his bag.

"Shut up. This is nothing," Catherine sniffed. "Besides, I need this to cook. Do you want good food or not?"

"Oh ho," Jake snickered. "She got you there."

"Here Sakura," Catherine dropped something that felt like ten pound stones into my backpack. "You can carry these."

I winced as I adjusted to the new weight, leaning backward for a second.

"Wait a minute..." Tristan narrowed his eyes at Catherine as she slung her satchel over her shoulder. "Why don't you have to carry anything?"

"Because I'm the one cooking and you're the ones eating!" she declared, turning her back away from us and walking away.

"Does that even make any sense?" Tristan muttered.

"No it doesn't," Jake mumbled. "But if you want to eat, this is what you have to do."

"Oiiii! Come on everyone! It doesn't matter," Yuri cheered. "We got food! Food! Yummy tummy food!"

"All you care about is food, you blonde half-wit," Tristan rolled his eyes.

Yuri stuck his tongue out at Tristan who in return head-locked the blonde.

"Heyy! What are you slowpokes doing back there? Hurry up and help me carry these pots too!" We turned around and paled to see Catherine holding another armful of materials out of nowhere.

"I'll give up my dinner today if someone carries those things for me," Jake proposed under his breath.

"I'll give up today and tomorrow's dinner if someone carries those things for me," Tristan claimed.

"You guys are all just being big babies," I muttered. "Look at Yuri."

Unlike everyone's sour and impatient temper, Yuri was already opening his backpack for Catherine to put her utensils in. He stood so obediently and grinned so widely, I couldn't help but crack a grin. In my opinion, he was a little too happy to be carrying materials for someone else.

"He reminds me of a big blond dog," Justin smirked.

"Yeah and his green eyes are so big," Jake stretched the skin around his eyes. "Like you know when the dogs are trying to convey something to you? That's where puppy eyes come from."

"C'mon guys! Geez, you guys are all so slow when it comes to shopping around!" Catherine pouted.

"She yells at us for just walking slowly in the market but who takes the longest when we're traveling through the forest?" Justin muttered.

"She isn't ever going to stop complaining if we don't go to her right now—" Tristan was saying when someone in the crowd suddenly collided into Justin.

Immediately, I was annoyed and frustrated that yet another woman had flung herself at Justin. But as I turned around to pull her off, I realized it wasn't a woman.

A man had grabbed Justin's arm, and judging by Justin's expression, he seemed to know this man.

"Mr. Hungh!" Justin exclaimed. "It's great seeing you—"

Mr. Hungh pulled Justin in and leaned to his ear to whisper something. Justin's friendly smile suddenly dropped, and his face paled. He glanced at Mr. Hungh and demanded, "Where'd you hear that?"

"One of our men were in the front and saw him himself," Mr. Hungh breathed. "You better take your friends and go!"

Justin whirled around and grabbed my hand before turning towards the others. "We need to get out of here—"

But before Justin could continue, we froze, for in the distance, we could hear something. Something loud. Something noisy. Something familiar.

"Fuck!" Justin spat.

Justin grabbed all of us and pushed us behind an empty stall. People wandering in the roads were suddenly pushing themselves and rushing off the streets as the sound of marching grew louder. 

"What's going on—" I started before Justin slapped a hand over my mouth and brought a finger to his lips. I recognized that look in his eyes. It only came on when a certain someone was around.

"Make way, make way."

Goosebumps immediately rose along my arms. I could recognize that voice from miles away. I heard that voice countless times in my dreams. He was the certain someone that brought out that murderous glint in Justin's eyes.

But this didn't make sense. Why was he here? Did he even know where we were in this big town? Was he going to take me? Was he trying to take someone else away just like he did with Hayden?

Shaking, I glanced over at the others and realized they all had the same dreaded look on their faces.

Slowly, I glanced around the stall and flinched when I recognized the Royals' boots among the people's legs. I watched in bated breath as I waited for them to pass by the stall we were hiding behind.

Suddenly, the sound of marching stopped. My blood turned cold. Did they find us? Did they see us hiding behind this stall? We had to go—

Tristan snatched my wrist and squeezed it tightly as he gave me a warning look. I took a deep breath and nodded. He was right. I had to be careful. One wrong move could get all of us tied up.

The town, for once, seemed to had fallen quiet as they watched the crowd of soldiers stand in the middle of the road.

"A plan would be nice now," Catherine uttered low enough just for us to hear.

I peeked above the stall and flinched as my eyes found Guren. 

A prickling feeling began to boil in my stomach, and suddenly, the urge to drive a sword through Guren flamed up inside of me. I didn't even realize that I moved forward before I felt a strong grip on my shoulder.

"Calm down," Tristan muttered, tightening his grip. "Both of you are emitting some crazy bloodlust right now."

I glanced over my shoulder and realized Justin was being held back by Catherine and Yuri. His harrowed eyes, that glinted dangerously, didn't leave Guren, even though Catherine and Yuri both had their heads clamped on his shoulders.

Closing my eyes, I tried to take deep breaths but even then, the hot feeling didn't leave me. Wiping my sweaty hands against my knees, I nodded my head towards Tristan to indicate that I was okay now.

"Rezin," Justin suddenly muttered before turning towards the bird on Yuri's shoulder. "Rezin, bring her to Eugene and Gray."

"Eugene? Gray? Who's that?" Jake hissed.

Justin ignored Jake's question and turned towards me. "Princess, sneak along the stalls. There are only a few after this one before you can sneak into a different route. Once you're out, go to the hideout."

"Uhhh, I think not," I hissed. "I'm not leaving you guys while Guren's here. Let's just all go together—"

"Bring Jake with you," Justin cut me off.

"But what about you and the others?" I pressed.

"We'll get out safely after you," Justin peeked above the stall for another glance before ducking down and motioning for me to leave. "Go!"

I stumbled a few steps back and looked back, anxious. My worried eyes caught Catherine's shaking hands; I glanced at her and realized she was still trying to put on a strong smile.

I couldn't be hesitant now. I had to be strong. If not for me, do it for her at least.

Reaching out, I squeezed Catherine's hands and met her surprised eyes. "Make it out safely, and I'll see you soon, alright?"

Catherine nodded quickly as she squeezed my hands.

Tearing my eyes away from Catherine, I took one more glance for Guren's boots before quickly streaking off from one stall to the next with Jake close behind me. Justin's directions were accurate; after the fifth stall, we were able to sneak off into another street and took off running with Rezin leading the way. 

"Here?" Jake panted, looking suspiciously at the dirty thin alley when we arrived.

I nodded. Jake started forward when I put my hand on his shoulder and shook my head. "No. You go back and make sure that they're still fine."

"Sakura," Jake stared at me. " There's no time for this—"

"No," I clutched Jake's shoulder harder. "I'm serious, Jake. I won't be able to handle it if someone gets hurt. I've already arrived. Go."

Jake looked torn as he opened and closed his mouth. Before he could make out a word, a man appeared behind him and clapped their hand on Jake's shoulder.

"Gray!" I exclaimed, relieved.

"What?" Gray squinted at Jake. "Who's this man?"

"I'll be fine, Jake," I pleaded. "I have Gray by my side now. Go!"

I pushed him away. Jake stumbled back and balled his hands into fists. He glared up at Gray and asked, "You sure you can protect her?"

Gray snorted. "Who's this twig?"

I whirled around to Gray. "Now's not the time. Jake—go now."

Jake took one last pained look at me and shot a stern one at Gray before dashing off. Gray frowned as he watched Jake take off.

"What's wrong with that midget?" he asked before turning towards me. "You okay? You managed to escape the demon from the palace?"

"Information travels fast, I see," I said.

"I am in charge of the information network around here you know," Gray said proudly.

"Where's Eugene?" I asked.

"In there," Gray scratched his head. "Not many people are inside right now, but he's probably still drinking. Where is Justin?"

"I'm going back for him," I responded. I glanced down the road and made sure Jake was long gone before taking a step back from Gray. "Alright. I'm going—"

Before I could take another step, Gray snatched me back. He shook his head. "I can't. There's a reason why Justin sent you here, and it's probably because the Royals are hunting for you."

My breath disappeared, and I looked anywhere but Gray's eyes. "I have to go back. I can't leave them there by themselves."

"If I were to let you go back by yourself," Gray grinned, which was the last thing I felt like doing right now. "Justin's going to hunt me down and throw my dead body for a group of hungry wolves to get eaten. You can go back inside."

I knew there was no arguing with Gray. I slumped my shoulders and loosened my body. "Fine. I'll go back. But you have to go help Justin and the others."

"Heh. That'll be fun," Gray grinned wickedly. "Not everyday you get training with the head of the Royal Army. Go straight to Eugene and make sure not to end up with any of the other men."

I nodded and slipped my way inside the tiny alleyway. When I was halfway in, I heard footsteps pound away. I paused for a few seconds before sliding back out back into the open, peeking around the corner to see if Eugene had really gone before sliding out completely.

"As if I was going to stay," I muttered to myself.

Racing down the streets, I was about to turn the first corner when something wrapped around my waist, and I was suddenly lifted off the ground.

"Woah!" I cried, startled.

"Stop struggling—it's just me."

I recognized Gray's voice and stopped flailing. "W—what are you doing here? You said you were going to help Justin and the others!"

"And you said you were going to stay in the bar," Gray snorted.

"H—how'd—" I asked.

"Justin warned me about your tendency of not listening to people and being rash," Gray chuckled. "Seems he was right. Good thing I listened to him or else he would've chopped off my head..."

I kept struggling to escape Gray's strong grip, but Gray, not wanting to risk a chance of losing me, tightened his grip and jogged lightly back to the dark alley as if I weighed nothing. He put me down and gave me a slight push into the alley. I stared up at him expectantly, but he just stared back without expression.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Following you into the alley," he responded.

"You need to be helping them!" I said.

"I have a feeling I'm the one who's going to need help if Justin catches me letting you out on the field again," Gray sniffed. "If you get hurt, just thinking about what Justin will do to me will give me the worst nightmares..."

"No! Guren's there, and he's going to—" I started.

"Wait, how do you know the name of the head of the Royal Army?" Gray's eyes narrowed down on me. "That man doesn't give his name away very easily. Not even to his own soldiers."

I pressed my lips together. Shoot. 

"Justin told me," I quickly said.

"Did he?" Gray rose an eyebrow. "Doesn't seem like Justin to bring up the past."

I tried to come up with a response but was quickly shut down as Gray grinned down at me with a mischievous smile. "Who are you anyways? You never even told me. Justin doesn't go around making friends with random people. And I know you didn't—"

"Gray! Now's not the time for questions!" I shook my head. " We have to help them—!"

Gray suddenly pushed me deeper into the alley and looked over his shoulder. I winced as the scaly wall scratched my cheek, but braced myself, expecting a Royal to walk by any moment. Instead, Gray suddenly relaxed and waved.

Curiously, I poked my head out and saw a group of people running in the distance. My knees almost gave out in relief when I recognized the person in the lead. But before I could celebrate early, I realized something was off.

One, two, three....

When Justin was within arm's reach, I popped out of the alleyway and looked up at Justin, expecting him to give me a genius plan where there was a reason why Jake and Yuri were missing. But when Justin just looked back at me with a pained expression, I felt my heart collapse.

By then, Tristan and Catherine had arrived as well and with one look at them, I knew the whole story already.

"I—I'm sorry," Catherine broke down into tears. "I'm so sorry, Sakura. I—"

"Let's talk inside," Tristan looked back, panting. "They might have seen where we were going. Where's the secure place you were talking about, Justin?"

"Gray, go first," Justin nudged Gray, who was staring at the group with a confused expression, into the alley.

"Sure," Gray blinked and slipped his way inside.

"Princess," Justin bent down to my eye level. "Let's go. Talk inside."

"B—but," I breathed.

"I know. But right now, there's nothing to do. We're just going to hurt ourselves if we rush into the situation right now," Justin said.

I gulped and looked back at the now empty street before tearing my eyes away and sliding myself through the narrow alley. When everyone had entered the room, Justin locked the door behind him and collapsed on a seat.

The room was pretty empty with almost no one in it except for a few men and women. And of course the passed out man on the ground with empty bottles of beer littered around him was Eugene.

"Where is this place?" Tristan glanced around skeptically.

Justin grimaced. "Don't worry about them, Gray. They won't tell anyone about this place—"

"What happened?" I finally found my voice. "Where's Jake and Yuri?"

~~~~~

uHHHhh I don't know what to say anymore in my little greetings down here because like it's summer now, and I don't do anything except watch Youtube and sleep BuT I hope you guys are all doing well and are safe at home <<<333

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Anyways, make sure to comment below and hit the star if you enjoyed!! I'll see you guys next Sunday :))