When both groups arrived back at the temple, Wren and Ari, were in critical condition and close to death. They had been poisoned by an unknown assailant on their way back from their missions. It was found that the poison had a similar composition to that which was used to poison Rian and Serena when they were on their mission. A meeting was held with the remaining members that took part in the mission, to discuss anything that did not sit well with them and anything that may have seemed strange. According to Wren's group, the Southern Territory is still recouping from the attack which was staged to look like members from the outlying tribes in the North were the perpetrators. However, when they went to investigate closer, there were many signs pointing to the Tradeland's Military being the real culprit. Lord Valen's group noted the strange behavior of the people when the Military was around as well as the increasing number of missing person's flyers, posted to the work board. All the potential leads of the assailants have been followed up with and more research has been done on the poison they managed to extract from both Wren and Ari's blood.
2 weeks have passed since the groups arrived back; Wren and Ari's condition has since been stabilized, but the poison caused muscle and nerve damage, making it difficult for them to walk even small distances as well as moving their limbs. "Ari, can you please stop pouting?" Vivi said in an exasperated tone. Ari was sitting up on her bed in the medical ward with her arms crossed. Vivi, who was sitting in a chair near her bed sighed, "Look, I asked Camila to come, as per your request, but if the girl doesn't wanna come, she doesn't have too...you big ole baby," she stuck her tongue out at Ari, who had a seemingly blank expression and didn't respond. "Hey, wait...Do you have a thing for Camila? I mean, she is pretty cute but y-Oh stop with the glare!" Before Viv finished her sentence Ari turned and glared at her, "I would just like to see her is all...keep your nose out of my affairs," Ari said before turning her head away once more. Before either of them could say anything, there was a soft knock on the door.
"U-uh, excuse me, c-can I come in?" Camila asked meekly from outside the door, Vivi looked over to Ari who now had a slight smile on her face, "Oh girl, you got it bad, hehe!" Vivi said as she quickly ran to the door to avoid a strike from Ari. "Yes yes, please come in and pacify this cranky girl!" Vivi ushered the nervous Camila inside and ran out before she could argue. Camila was startled but when she turned to look back at Ari, she couldn't help but smile. She took a few steps forward and sat down in the chair next to Ari's bed. "Thank you for coming," Ari said in a light and hushed tone, almost as if embarrassed. Camila smiled, then suddenly tears began pouring from her eyes. Ari was taken aback and unsure what to do, she quickly put her hand out to Camila's shoulder. "I-I...y-you were *sniff sniff* So frail! I-I was s-s-scared!" Camila struggled to say between her crying and and sniffling. She covered her eyes with her hands in efforts to block Ari from seeing her face. "Camila, it's okay. I'm alright now, see?" Ari pulled back the covers, exposing her thighs, Camila, who didn't realize what Ari had done, uncovered her eyes out of curiosity, "G-gosh! Ari s-s-cover your, your," Ari chuckled at Camila's reaction as she fumbled to cover Ari's legs, "I'm just teasing, sorry. I am okay, honestly, even better now that you're here." Camila coyly peeked her eyes over her fingers and saw Ari leaning back in bed with a smirk.
In one of the other rooms within the medical ward, Wren was also talking with visitors. "Long time no see Jayce! How is everything?" She asked as she stood up and began taking small steps around the room. "It's been great Madame! Everything is-blah blah blah!" As Jayce was talking and Wren was trying to walk around, Michael was sitting off to the side with his arms crossed and a frustrated look on his face, 'Why is it always him interrupting?' He silently thought to himself. After a few more minutes Jayce finally left, leaving only Wren and Michael in the room. Just as Michael was going to talk to Wren, there was another knock on the door and Naya burst in without waiting for a response. Michael groaned slightly and went back to his seat, where he watched the two of them talk happily as if he did not exist. "...Michael, are you mad at me?" Hearing his name suddenly, he came back to his senses and noticed Wren was looking at him with a concerned and confused look. "W-where is Naya?" Wren rolled her eyes and slowly sat down on the bed. "She left a while ago Michael. More importantly, what is bothering you?" She motioned for him to come sit next to her, he quickly obliged. "Sorry My Lady, I just have a lot on my mind as of late."
"So it's back to 'My Lady' again huh? *sigh* I thought we could move passed that and you can just address me by my name." Wren looked over at Michael with hopeful eyes, 'Oh, those eyes. I've missed those eyes,' he thought to himself. "Of course My-uh Wren. It is just a hard habit to break. I am still expected to address you in this manner when we are around others so I-" Michael was surprised but quickly surrendered to Wren's sweet kisses. 'His lips are so smooth and warm,' she thought to herself as her hand trailed along his back underneath his shirt. Michael shivered slightly in excitement making sure not to break the kiss, 'It feels so good when she touches me,' he slowly and cautiously put his hand on her hip, then moved his hand under her shirt as well, causing her to let out a small sound in response. Michael immediately pulled away from the kiss with a slight blush; he saw Wren was blushing as well. She chuckled softly, "I'm sorry for that, I uh...it's been a wh-heh, never-mind. Just ignore...I was NOT expecting to feel your hand on my skin. It um, it felt good," she said with a smile before turning her head away. "Ahem, anyways I uh...ugh, I can talk to thousands of strangers yet clam up when its you," she shook her head lightly and took a deep breath. "Please meet me by the Western border by the end of this week. Dress casually and bring Echo. For now, I'm regretfully asking you to leave. I need to speak with Lord Valen, but I need to collect myself first", she said with a coy smile, "Goodnight Michael," He turned brighter red after her words and quickly stood up and walked to the door, "G-goodnight Wren."
..."You may enter now My Lord," Wren said as she felt his presence nearing her room. "I see you have already taken measure to seal the room. Must be an important conversation." Lord Valen said as he opened and closed the door in one swift move. "I don't think I have enough energy to speak with you as we usually do, so this is the next best thing. I was hoping you would also put a barrier around the room to give the impression of a different conversation." Lord Valen looked over to Wren, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, drying her hair, with a questioning look. He nodded then quickly put a barrier around the room so those outside would hear a seemingly unimportant and random conversation they were having, without becoming suspicious of the silence. "We may speak freely now Wren. What is troubling you?" Wren sighed, then told Lord Valen about her going into the pond that led to the cave and all the weird things that happened following. "At the end, I couldn't see anyone but I heard the name over and over. Kota, Master Kota, find Kota; it was never ending. When I finally came too I am still unsure of what really happened, but I know others were within the same area. I heard other voices then and I heard the same voices when we were in the Southern Territory. I could be wrong but I think this leads back to Abena."
Lord Valen had been silently listening to Wren, while munching on her fruit that she hadn't yet gotten to eat. She made a face and rolled her eyes, "You're welcome for the fruit by the way," Lord Valen coughed slightly, "...I hadn't eaten. Back to the important items, I believe you are right. I have noticed Ekleipsis is being more bold with their movements lately. I picked up on at least three that were tailing us in the Tradelands. You said you felt that many as well?" Wren nodded, "The problem is, I couldn't pick up their aura or "Reach Out" to try and identify them. They stayed just beyond my reach and when they were close enough, it seemed like they were blocking me from getting through." They both stopped talking and thought for a short while, "I am not sure what is going on but whatever they're planning, it's going to be big. To have that sort of tech, they must have connections within the Tradeland's Military. Given the fact they stole our technology during the war."
Lord Valen pondered her statement, "It could be, they have some prototypes of the technology we once held near and have modified it to their advantage. I believe they have an incredibly gifted mechanic in their side. It would be within the realm of possibility that he could modify the different items." "You're saying he's with them too now?! Since when?! Why didn't you-" "I only recently came to the conclusion myself. I wanted to test my theory, which is why he was present in my company for this last mission. For now, gather as much energy as you can. We have many things to discuss and we need to have another good sparring before I take you to meet Master Kota." Without another word Lord Valen left Wren there with a confused look on her face, as she sat quietly on the bed. "Well, *sigh* Naya's going to be crushed..."she said out loud before turning off the small lamp and carefully getting under the covers.