"Don't worry, I won't kill him. It would be a very easy end for you." Emilia spoke behind her back and a white light enveloped her neck and back, healing the wound quickly while draining her strength. He tried to explain himself as soon as the wound healed, but a kick to the back of the head knocked him out.
Before passing out, he felt like something was dripping onto his back, but it was probably just his imagination.
*******
Finn woke up some time later, in an unfamiliar place. His vision was blurry and his head throbbed, but a right hook quickly brought him back to his senses.
"GAH!" Finn groaned in pain, his head was thrown back hard and his nose was broken. He collapsed without strength only to realize that his arms were trapped. The handcuffs that bound his arms were magic items that blocked the circulation of mana through the body, preventing the use of abilities. The same kind they used to trap the captured guardians.
Finn was sitting on the floor with both hands cuffed against the wall. His white fangs uniform was nowhere to be seen and he was only in the normal clothes he wore underneath.
"Where... where am I?" Finn asked in a confused, pained voice. His vision gradually returned to normal, and he recognized the man in front of him. "#5?"
#5 responded with a left punch, followed by a right punch and a knee to the chin.
"Okay, you sure are #5." Finn joked, after spitting out a mixture of saliva, blood and teeth. "Where is Captain Emilia? I need to explain myself to her, explain that it was all a misunderstanding-"
"No need to yell #1, I've been here from the start." Emilia revealed herself, looking coldly at Finn. She was wearing the white fang uniform and mask, so Finn couldn't see her expression, but he knew she was feeling angry, extremely hurt, and mostly betrayed.
"Emilia, I found a body of mana while I was in town, but he died. I needed to speak to an elder or else-" Finn wasted no time in apologies and tried to explain the situation, but Emilia cut him off again.
"I contacted the elder as soon as I defeated you. He's already updated me on the situation, so you don't have to explain yourself. I understand what you did and why. You had no choice, did you? You had no one to trust, so your only chance was to steal the communicator. And the only method you found was to use the captain's feelings and make her let her guard down." The more Emilia talked, the colder her tone became.
'Shit, Emilia only uses sarcasm when she's really angry. He/I is screwed.' Finn and #5 thought at the same time.
"#5, please leave us. I want to speak with #1 alone." Emilia spoke to #5, conjuring a dagger of light in her right hand.
"Are you sure you're going to be okay alone, Emilia?" #5 asked worried not as a unit colleague, but as a friend.
"Yes, I'll be fine, Gaius." Emilia removed her mask, looking at him confidently.
Seeing that look, Gaius knew he couldn't convince her to stay and sighed, silently leaving the room. He walked over to the wall and waved his hand, causing the wall to crumble and sunlight in, before redoing himself after he left. Emilia turned to Finn the moment he left and walked to stand in front of him. Finn quickly tried to open his mouth to apologize, but she was faster, swinging the dagger of light.
Finn closed his eyes tightly, but the blow never came. A sound of metal being cut echoed and Finn felt the shackles that bound him torn apart. He looked at Emilia in astonishment, thinking that maybe he still had a chance to explain herself.
"I'm not angry, Finn. I'm disappointed. If you had told me instead of lying to me, I would have spoken to the elder on your behalf. If you had trusted me, I could have used my family name to help you." Emilia looked into his eyes as she spoke, showing how serious she was and how betrayed she felt. "And if you hadn't used me, we could have been together." She added, before turning around.
"Wait, I know I faltered badly, but the elder didn't tell you everything! He ordered me to kill you, but I defended you in front of him, even though our deal was already complete!" Finn screamed desperately, trying to explain himself.
"The elder did tell me about it, as well as saying that I owed him a lot for sparing me and that he expected a lot from me. Not only will I be demoted, but I will also be forced to get involved in the order's power games." Emilia frowned, remembering the power struggles that took place behind the scenes of the order. She had run from her own family to avoid this, but now she would be forced to become a hostage or a spy against the Ripha.
"I'm not allowed to punish him so I won't attack him. I told #5 only because I trust him so don't get him wrong, he just got mad at me. The rest of the unit doesn't know what you did either. They believe you are unconscious after being beaten up for trying to advance on me, and I want them to continue to believe that." Emilia spoke up, remembering the scene when she returned with an unconscious Finn and the unit members asking how he had passed out, before giving the bet money to the person who got it right.
"After we get out of here, you're just going to be the idiot who wanted sex and got spanked for it, and I'm going to be the ice-hearted captain who doesn't let anyone near. servants of the elder and you won't be punished for it. After the quest is over, I'll be demoted and reverted back to being a unit member instead of captain and used in power plays until I'm likely dismissed as a nuisance, or forced to a political marriage to some old mage from the elder's faction. Anyway, we'll never see each other again. Goodbye #1." Emilia turned around after saying goodbye, not being able to stand there any longer.
Finn had been silent most of the time, unable to answer her, guilt weighing on his mind. He felt disgusted with himself, but something clicked in his head when he heard Emilia mention mages.
"Wait! We have a problem. I can't get in touch with the mages who have the corpse. They said they were going to hide in the woods, but they didn't respond on the communicator. I think something happened to them." Finn said hastily, before she left.
"And what does that have to do with me? Even if you don't keep your end of the bargain, you will be the one to pay for it. So why should I care?" Emilia turned to him, giving off a slight aura to keep him away.
"Because the elder is crazy and if the corpse doesn't reach Clastro in two weeks, it won't just be my head that will roll. The elder will demand answers and when he reads our minds and sees you refusing to look for the body, you'll be as guilty as I am. Now, do you understand why this is your problem?" Realizing he couldn't appeal to her feelings, Finn decided to make her his accomplice and force her to help him, even if it made their relationship worse.
'I feel bad for Emilia, but I've reached the point of no return. It's hard, but I can find another girl as nice as Emilia, but my life is one. I won't waste it here.' That's what Finn thought. He liked Emilia, but not to the point of sacrificing himself. He would rather live with the guilt of hurting her than die with a clear conscience.
"Tsk, you shit!" Emilia clicked her tongue, realizing she was already involved. She cursed for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and saying, "Alright. I'll have the team investigate the forest until we find these mages. I'll come up with something and force them to help us find the rookie mage unit in the forest.
Luckily, the elder of darkness is famous for ordering his teams to carry out side quests to benefit him, so no one will find it strange. When this is over, you'll have to request that the entire team's mind read be done by him." Emilia formulated a plan before hitting the stone wall three times for Caio on the other side to open it.