They head out to the mall, after a while walking, it was possible to see the mall tower. The city where the Red Castle resided was not a metropolis, it was a big city, but still in development. Only in the last year, it got its own Cavaliers Comand Castle; before the saints discovered in the town needed to go to the Yellow Castle, which is the nearest CCC. The city does not have many forms of entertainment so the mall is, usually, the place where the inhabitants take refuge against boredom. Built seven years ago, the East Mall was a marvel of architecture. Six floors made almost entirely of glass and wood, with yellowish lights that pleases the eye and ramps and stairs that invite you to get lost in another maze of flashy stores and impressed people.
At the entrance, a giant flow of people going in and out. Valon was surprised by the amount of people in there; he knew how popular that place was but, during a weekday, he thought that it would not be so full. They entered and started to walk through the hall of the first floor. They instantly become the center of attention, kids and adults start to stare at the giant group of teenagers on Cavaliers uniforms. Valon and Prospounae felt slightly embarrassed, Mikael and Laylah did not care at all, they ran from side to side, getting distracted by every new shining thing they saw. One of the stores near the entrance sells mugs, decoration and souvenirs; Mikael laid his eyes on a small notebook with a black leather cover and charged inside the store, leaving everyone behind. With intense eyes and a scary voice, he screamed. \\
—How much for the book? \\
As he reached the notebook, Onami entered the store. \\
—I'm... sorry everyone. My friend here got a little carried away. He forgets good manners when he gets excited... — She whispers to him — Stop scaring people like that. \\
—I wasn't trying to scare everyone. Just that dude over there, it looked like he was going to buy my notebook. \\
He goes to the cashier and buys the notebook for almost a quarter of his current net worth.
After Onami and Mikael rejoin the group, the cavaliers continued walking through the first floor until they reach the stairs that lead to the second floor. When there, Thysíla showed Valon that the floor of that hallway was transparent in one direction, so from the second floor they could see everyone in the first one without them being able to see it from below. She told him that at this specific part of the mall, all of the floors, except for the first one, are transparent looking from above, which means that in the sixth floor they can look down and have quite a view. Valon looked excited to see it with her. \\
Prospounae was outside of a pet store looking at the rabbits when Onami approached in silence and startled him. He jumped and scared the rabbits too. \\
—Sorry — She laughed — I could not resist. \\
—It is alright — He also laughed. \\
—Do you like the rabbits? \\
—No... their teeth kind creep me out. \\
—What?? Why? — She laughed again. \\
—I don't know... Maybe is the proportion "teeth/head". \\
—Proportion "teeth/head"? \\
—You know... the size of the teeth in... \\
—I know what it means, but why does it creep you? \\
—I don't know... it just does... Look at the way their cheeks move... Creepy. \\
She laughed once more. They started to walk towards the other ones.\\
—So... do you know what are you going to buy with your money? \\
—I was thinking of saving, at least for now. What about you? \\
—I was going to buy a shoe but saving also seems pretty cool... \\
—Wanna go look for a shoe? \\
—Like... right now? \\
—Yes. \\
… \\
—Yes... \\
—Let's go then.
Laylah was going in every single store of third floor, even Mikael was getting tired of visiting all of them. When she stopped by her house, she took a lot of money out of her piggy bank. So far, she bought one dress, two jeans, two skirts, one watch, one pair of sneakers and a mug. When they were almost done with the third floor, she saw a decoration shop and sprinted inside. The others followed her. \\
The store was very beautiful; with a lot of wooden objects and orangish lighting, it had a pretty moody sensation, almost creepy. It had a lot of clocks and lamps for sale, other thing too but, those specifically, occupied most of the available space. Laylah searched through the lamps and found one that pleased her, while she was on the cashier the other ones started to walk around the store and look at the things for sale. In a small table near one of the corners, Adam found a collection of music boxes; each one of them was unique, some big, some very small, some the crank, others the battery. He opened and listened every single one of them. He liked all of the melodies he heard except for one of them; it came from a small box with a symbol on the top. The music that it played was confused and with an agonizing melody; the tone was soulless and the notes were dissonant. The symbol it had on top was a spiral with two turns and three cuts in the middle; Sanael had never seen a symbol like that. He approached the shopkeeper with the box in hand and asked. \\
—Excuse me, is this box broken? \\
—Oh... this one is a special box. \\
—Why is it special? \\
—The owner told me that this box can sing the "Song of the Sirens". The legend says... \\
—Oh, there is a legend — Adam was not believing it. \\
—Ages ago, magical creatures know as Sirens, reigned over the northern continents. They were giant creatures, full of power and extreme beauty; they enchanted some men and scared others, so much that they were hunted down, every and each one of them. When they were close to their last breath, this was the song that they would sing, to warn the other ones of the species that the danger was close. — Adam was unamused. \\
—Let me guess... since the box comes with a little history, it is two times the price of the other ones. \\
—Well... — She giggled — Kind of... This one costs five silver pieces. \\
—WHAT?? Are you out of your mind? Five sil... This is nonsense. \\
—Sorry but this is a legendary piece from our collection. We can't make a price better than this. \\
—Of course, you do. No one will ever pay five Hundred bronzes for this... this ugly, old box that play a Horrendous music just because it comes with a made-up history. I'll pay one silver for this... \\
—Look, the best offer I can make for you is four silvers, other than that my boss kills me. \\
—Aren't you hearing me? If you don't sell this to me now, no one will ever have interest in this again. If your boss wants you to sell this, this is your only opportunity. You can tell him that you made him a favor today. One hundred and fifty. \\
—Three hundred and fifty. \\
Adam deeply stared at her. \\
—Two silvers. \\
—Three hundred and fifty. — She firmly said. \\
—Two hundred and fifty. \\
—Three... Hundred... and... Fifty. \\
They stared at each other for a couple of seconds. \\
—Fine then.\\
When Adam gave to her half of the money he had, the girl asked. \\
—Why did you buy this box? No one never wanted to even get close to it... \\
Before Sanael could express his rage, Mikael sneaked behind him and scared him; he silently appeared wearing a wooden mask. The mask was made of a very dark wood, with eyes, nose and mouth hewn and some details on the cheeks. He just wanted to buy the mask.
Thysíla and Valon went ahead to the next floor before the others. They want to go to the sixth floor to eat and look at the floor. The fifth and sixth floors have food courts, the one in the fifth has a lot of different fast foods and places where you can have a snack or eat something light. The sixth floor is full of big restaurants, some fancy, with immersive atmosphere, smooth lighting and live bands; others with ample space and things to distract the children while the parents try to take a rest. Thysíla wants to take Valon to her favorite restaurant, a pasta house in the sixth floor, she claims that they make the best food in the entire world. Valon is excited to go eat with her. \\
When they were reaching the stair to the fifth floor, someone behind them screams so loudly that everyone in the floors above and below could hear it. Valon was turned around; when Thysíla turned around, she saw a girl running towards them and hugging Valon. Soon after a boy and another girl came running after her. \\
—Usually, people start with hello — Valon said smiling. \\
She released him and slapped him in the shoulder. \\
—I can't believe that you are here. \\
—Well, I was kind of forced... \\
The other two came closer and greeted him. \\
—We haven't seen you in so long. — The other girl said. \\
—Nice to see you man. —The boy said. \\
The first girl stared at Thysíla. \\
—Well... I can see that you already traded us for new friends. — She got closer — Hi I'm Helena. \\
—Hello, I'm Thysíla. \\
All three of them looked confused. \\
—Are you foreign? That is so cool... — Helena said with enthusiasm. \\
—No... — Valon laughed — That is her armor's name. You guys need to call me Valon from now on. \\
—Valon... So fancy, I love it. — The other girl said — By the way, Julie. And this is Kain. \\
Thysíla greeted them, but before the conversation could develop, all of the other cavaliers came in running to the fourth floor. Mikael came in wearing his armor. \\
—Is everything alright? What happened? — Prospounae asked. \\
—Oh... sorry. — Valon — I just met with some school friends and... we got a little too excited. \\
Helena's eyes dazzled when she saw Mikael. \\
—Wow, all of you are Cavaliers? — Kain, who was quiet until now said. — I have never seen an armor so close before... \\
Mikael got closer to him and spoke. \\
—Pretty cool isn't it... — He started showing off and posing so people could admire the dark night in his armor. \\
—Ok, that's enough. Take it off. — Valon stopped him. \\
—Do you have an armor too? — Kain asked Valon. \\
—Yes, everyone here has one. — Mikael answered — If you think mine was cool, you need to see Valon's. He is the only one of us who has wings. \\
—Really? — Helena — Show us. \\
—No... we are in the middle of the mall. \\
—C'mon. I used mine here with no problem... \\
—Well, I'm not you... \\
—What's the problem? — Kain. \\
—Show us please. — Helena. \\
—No... Not here. \\
—Are you shy? — Mikael. \\
—No that's not it. \\
—I think he is embarrassed of you guys meeting his old friends — Julie said giggling. Thysíla also laughed. \\
At that moment, a lot of people started to stare and surround the group of cavaliers, causing a commotion in the mall; as if their presence there was a big event. Mikael noticed and immediately said.\\
—Look. You even have an audience, anxious to see your armor. \\
Valon started to blush. \\
—I'm not going to do it. — He could hear the swarm of people around him. \\
—Was he this shy in middle school? — Mikael turned to Helena. \\
—Well, I guess people don't change that easily. — She responded. \\
—This kind of taunting Does NOT Work with me. \\
They laughed. As he was walking towards the stairs again, Valon started to look at the people who was staring him and his friends. There it was a lot of families around, a lot of them with little kids; he looked to the top of the stairs and saw a mother with a little kid in her arm and holding the hand of a slightly bigger child. The small one turns to the mother and asks her if he could see a cavalier; the mother responded by saying that she could not ask them to see their armors, "Cavaliers are not clowns" she said. Thysíla was walking right beside him, and behind them, Mikael and Helena, followed by the other ones. Mikael rushed to his side and whispered to him. \\
—It is alright to be a clown, if that will make someone smile. \\
Valon stopped walking, turned to Mikael and spoke. \\
—I hate you... \\
He claimed his armor and his giant black and gold wings inhabited the whole place, delighting the eyes of everyone who admired the transformation. For one of the first times, he was using the hood of his armor; when it was one his head, the crown would disappear and so would his face, as if a thick smock screen was in the way blocking the view to those wanting to see him. The eyes of the little kid at the top of the stairs were enchanted and a beautiful smile opened; Thysíla looked at that and that made her happy. Suddenly, a mall guard pocked him in the shoulder and told him that armors were not allowed in the mall except in emergencies. Valon was extremely embarrassed, he took out his armor and apologized to the guard many times; Helena and Mikael kept laughing the whole time. They finally went to the fifth floor and Adam went back to the Castle, for his internship would start in that afternoon.\\
—Hey, I visited your mom a while ago... \\
—How was she? \\
—Haven't you seen it yet? \\
—No, today was the first time they let us go out of the castle. I will go see her tomorrow. \\
Thysíla was near them and hearing the conversation. She turns to Julie who was right behind them and whispers. \\
—You guys know Valon for a long time. \\
—Well, we studied with him in the last two years of middle school. Kain is, actually, the one that met him first. Me and Helena only met him a couple of months after. But once we all met, we became pretty close. How is he going? Will he become a Cavalier? \\
—Oh, he is going... Amazing I would say. He is probably one of the bests of our class. \\
Kain, who was on Julie's side, started to overhear. \\
—He and Mikael... — She pointed at Mikael. Julie and Kain looked at him — They are probably the only ones who still go to all of the classes. I think they have a really big chance of becoming Paladins. Asphela too. — She pointed at Asphela — They are extremely strong. \\
—Take care of him please... When he starts to focus on something, he tends to overdo things. During school, he studied hard, more than anyone; but sometimes he went too far, forgetting to eat and sleep while studying for eight hours non-stop... — Thysíla looked worried to him. Julie continued — But don't worry too much, just remember him that he is a human too — She smiled. — The fact that he is here at the mall today show us that you guys can be a good influence for him. We never convinced him to come here with us... \\
They kept on walking until Kain turned to Thysíla and spoke. \\
—Excuse me... I don't want to meddle but, I heard you say that you have classes. \\
—Yes... \\
—Can you tell me how does this work... Like... How is the training to become a Cavalier? \\
She thought for a while and then said: \\
—Well... it is kind of strange. The first day they send you to a pool in the basement and then, when you get out of it, you are super strong. Then we start to have a bunch of classes, some of them are cool, like three of them, and the rest is just a pain in the ass. \\
—Which classes are you going to? — Julie asked. \\
—I'm going to Spells and Curses, Body Enhancement, Melee Weapons, Dueling and General Infantry. \\
Kain made many more questions until they reached the sixth floor. There, Helena, Julie and Kain said goodbye to the cavaliers. They all went to eat in Joan's Chamorro, Thysíla's favorite restaurant. After that, Valon and Thysíla went to see the transparent floor corridor while all of the other ones left the mall.