"Sana, don't look at them, keep your head down, we're almost there," the brother said to his sister with his voice quivering under his ragged breath as he urged her to look at her feet. "If what the sweet lady said to us earlier is true, we only need to turn right at this corner and we'll be there."
"Are you sure about this Mave?" Sana asked, breathing in and almost choking at the stench of metal and oil breaking through her clogged nose.
"We have no choice, there's no one else that can protect us from them."
Just like what he asked of his sister, Mave lowered his head even more so at the moment he felt their eyes on them, especially his sister. The lingering smell of dried blood mingled with the rancid smell of sweat and the overbearing odor of perfume amongst almost every house they've passed was something that he had managed to get used to, but he wasn't sure if that's the case for the one walking beside him under the sky that seemed to be as bright as ever.
"Even though… there's a chance of it being a lie, I'll take my chances on what we've heard and besides, we could run as long as both of us are together, right?" Mave whispered once again, peering through his ragged black hair to see a group of old men at the side who were losing a limb or two, begging for alms with nothing but a sign that says that they've served in the army. Then, he turned to force a smile upon his sister once more."I know that they're afraid of them too, everyone is."
The sound of a hammer striking a piece of metal soon got caught up in their ears and just as they planned, they turned right and that's where they saw a run-down shack with what looked like a beaten old man lying down in front of its porch, and with a sign right on top of its door saying,
"The Melbrine Tea Shop, we're here." Mave looked at Sana who had her brown eyes fixated on the building in the distance.
Sana nodded and they continued to brave the path in front of them, not minding the sudden chill at the back of their heads as the eyes of the people around them became a little stronger than before. They kept walking with their faces colored with fear and hope until they were welcomed by a small stair where they were forced to tiptoe their way around the old man lying on the floor. After a moment, they found themselves standing in front of the shop's door with Mave's hand planted at its surface in silence.
"What's wrong?" Sana tilted her head and looked at her brother.
"It's just… we have no other choice. Turning to a group of criminals that even that vile congregation fears off is…" Mave bit his lip and with his heart filled with regret, he glanced at the body of her sister before looking into her eyes."We have nothing to give too… so I-"
"I understand." Sana gave him a nod as she clasped her hands over her chest as though she was about to pray. After letting out a bitter smile, she whispered, "As long as both of us are safe right?"
Mave didn't give her a reply and instead, he down and pushed the door open. The small bell over them rang as they stepped in with their eyes closed and what welcomed them first was the sweet smell of wood and flowers. It made them open their eyes without much thought and both of them froze at what they saw in an instant.
The walls were made out of wood, the same with the ceiling and the floors, and what snagged their attention first was the man with purple hair giggling at his weapon sitting by his side at the corner of the tea shop. Sana stepped in closer to hide at the back of his brother, while Mave found the courage to look at the counter at his side where he met the gazes of three men piercing at him. The one behind the table was an old man with a long gray beard and with a brown wizard's hat, and the two in front of him wore the same brand of rusty armor over a dark green long-sleeved tunic, to which one was bald and the other one looked younger than the other with his black permed hair.
"Uhm… excuse me sirs…" Mave walked forward, tightening his jaws as he hid his sister from their view. "Is this the home base of the Melbrine Tea Shop?"
The bald man looked down at him with a grin. "Kid, I have to admit, most… most of us were treated as criminals during this mess of a year and we must've packed some kind of reputation for someone like you to find us like this, but, I'm pretty sure that slave trading ain't one of them."
"No please, we're being chased. Sir, can you please tell me where your leader is? I know that we can't do much but we-" Mave stopped to look at her sister who stepped by his side, revealing her short brown hair and underdeveloped body under her cloak to the men in front of them. He knotted his brows as though he was about to cry and after a deep breath, he followed, "We're prepared… we're prepared to do what you ask of us… so please, let us join you."
"Oh, that's sick," the man with permed hair said with a playful tone but his smile faded at the next second.
"Jerry, you're scaring these kids," the bald man said at his back before squinting at the part of her thighs dotted with bruises right below her shorts. "Mr. Breen, do we still have a… I don't know, maybe a little bit of milk?"
"I think we do," the bearded man replied. "Do you want me to-"
"Please, and make it hot."
"Aye, Aye," Mr. Breen said before taking his hands from the counter to head to the room behind him.
"Well, you're in luck kid. The name's Melvin, so to clear things up and before we go any further, you two will have to help me later. I can't have Maya beating the shit out of me if she walks and sees me talking with two kids who I don't know," he said before leaning forward with a reassuring smile. "Well, what's your story?"
"We… we came from the village of farmers near the capital," Sana replied before hiding behind his brother once again. "I… we haven't seen much but it seems that we're heading from town to town and we're making stops here and there…"
"We've heard about our guards talking about how we're approaching Tinora for their final mission and how they're feeling shaky because of a group called the Melbrine Tea Shop was there. That's how we heard about you..." Mave added. "We did our best to escape last night… when… when…"
Melvin looked Sana who seemed still in pain before turning his head towards her brother. "Jerry's right, you're pretty sick you know that? I don't even want to confirm if I'm right... What about the guys who took you away?"
"We… we don't know. We were half asleep and we just saw our house burning and mom… m-"
"They kept telling us… even while they took me out last night for... something… they kept telling me that it's all for the greater cause, to sacrifice only the impure for the sun god and I-"
"Alright," Melvin interrupted Sana without taking his eyes off of her and with his grin slowly becoming stern. "Jerry, please be a lamb and put up a sign at the door that we're closed for the day."
"Sure," Jerry replied and followed his instructions without a word.
"Lock it after and go through the back door to get Azer and Mr. Tom for me. Agatha should be safe since Maya's there but if you get to see Roland, tell him to take her here."
"What?" Mave asked. "What are you doing!?"
"If I'm correct, I'm pretty sure that they know that you're already here and they're coming," Melvin said as he walked over to the door where he crossed his arms. "Sana, tell me, by chance, have you seen a dream about the sun turning black?"
"Y-yeah… how did you know?"
Just then, Melvin sighed as he looked into Mr. Breen's eyes who just came in while carrying two small mugs of hot milk. "You're in luck. We're handling the same case right now and we have every reason to not let you go so Mave, head over there to Mr. Breen and drink your milk and you, Sana, I need you to do something for me."
"What?" She asked, sharing the same perplexed and scared reaction with her brother. "What is it?"
And with his voice sounding stern and commanding, he replied, "I need you to go to the guy in the corner and ask if you could be his little sister."