"Hunter Heffernan. A word?"
The teal green-eyed boy turned to see who had called his name, it was one of the guys who was with Alex's dad when they arrived at the villa.
"Um ... Joe, right?"
"I heard what happened last night," said the brown-eyed boy.
Hunter narrowed his eyes. "And what could that be?"
"I heard you were with my girlfriend," he said.
"Your girlfriend being?"
Joe frowned. "Isn't it obvious? Lexa is my girlfriend," he said.
"Oh? I didn't know you two were dating."
"We're not dating."
"Then how is she your girl --"
"But it would be a love story for the ages! Joe Locke ... Alexandra Lewis, saying our vows under the bright moonlight in Paris, oh what a day it would be! Our children would lead the next generation of the Sprite Guardians!"
"Did you tell her this?"
"Not yet but it's only a matter of time. The moment I ask her, she won't be able to resist and her beauty good Lord, our children would be the eighth wonder of the world."
"Erm ... Good for you dude, I'm just going to go ahead."
...
"A very warm welcome to all the veteran guardians, new guardians, and intern guardians." He said the last part eyeing the Metropolitan School of Mysticism students. "Most of you must know this already but to refresh your memories, my name is Richard Lewis, and I am the leader of the Sprite Guardians - a real organization recognized by the Bureau itself.
"As any veteran would know, River Pot has been the home of our incredible organization since it was founded nearly four hundred years ago. We've come here almost every year to train, celebrate, or even rest after long missions away. Recently, however, we've received reports of people going missing in the area and that is the reason we're here today."
Alice stands up and continues to explain. "River Pot is a very big area and we've received reports from all over. We started questioning some of the locals but we haven't covered much ground. Thankfully, there are a lot of us here so we can divide and conquer. There are to be four groups, each covering a different region. The veterans would be divided into two, we have the sophomores, and finally, the rookies." Her eyes meet Hunter's and she smiles. "Joe would lead the rookies, he'd explain more about the mission in detail to you," she added.
"Alright boys and girls, to the garden!" Joe said already rising from his seat and heading out.
The Met school students all rise and follow the brown-eyed man. Hunter was about to make his way out when Alex taps his shoulders. "Come over here for a sec, there's something I want to show you," Alexander said.
The dark-haired boy turned and followed the yellow-eyed boy who led him to the room next to the kitchen. It looked like a storage room with different decors and posters all over the place.
"This is it," Alex said pointing to a table that had what looked to be a brain inside an object made of glass. "I told you I was going to find a way to save it," Alex said.
"Um ..."
"What a crazy night that was! I still remember the blood spilling everywhere!"
"Dude ... What the hell are you talking about?"
"The night we decided to harvest a random guy's brain. You don't remember?" He asked surprised. Hunter opened his mouth but struggled to form words.
"That's fine, one less witness," Alex stated.
"A- A- Alex ..."
"I'm kidding," the dark red-haired boy said slapping Hunter's shoulders. "Should've seen the look on your face," he said.
"Yeah, I'm sure it was hilarious."
"Heh. Seriously though ..." Alex turned his attention to a small pillow that had a long, thin, cone-like object on it. "... This is why I called you here he said pointing at the glittering object.
"What's that?" Hunter asked.
"A rare Sprite finder!"
"Huh?"
"Before the class wars, they existed animals that lived with sprites in the Sprite's kingdom. These animals were like pets and they attached themselves to sprites until the wars reached the kingdom and most of the animals were killed." Alex points at the cone-like object. "This, my friend, is the rarest creature in all the realms."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"That is a children's toy trumpet!" Hunter claimed.
"What? No!" Alex denied. "The sprite finder has just discovered ways to hide itself from predators," he explained.
"The sprite finder is not its actual name, right?"
"It is. It gained the name a few hundred years ago when it was used by some guy who claimed to be the King of the Sprites and wanted to locate sprites so he could reestablish the sprite's kingdom. All you need to do is pour some freshly extracted milk - less than 12 hours old at least - over it and make sure you have some fish, The Sprite finder loves to eat fish," he stated
"Huh."
"What is it?"
"I just find it remarkable how the story about the brain earlier was more believable than the sprite finder one," Hunter said.
"You know what they say: lies are more believable than the truth," Alex stated.
"Huh. Who said that?"
"You know ... 'They'."
Hunter shakes while the dark red-haired boy places his hand on the teal green-eyed boy's shoulders. "Seriously though, I brought you here to show that even though the Guardians might seem silly sometimes, we take our missions seriously, and this room is a sign of that. I could start to tell you about the histories of the artifacts around us right now and I don't think I'd be able to tell everything by the end of the week. We put our mind on this and I'll really appreciate it if you officially join our organization," Alex said.
"It's a tempting offer that I want to accept. So far everything's been really cool and sure, the familiar faces help but even the people here I'm not familiar with have been nice to me ..."
[Except for Joe]
'Except for Joe.'
"... But?"
Hunter raised an eyebrow. "No buts, I just want you to wait until the end of our stay before I give you an answer."
"Oh wow, that's ... Promising."
Hunter smiled. "I have a question though: the brain ... What's the story behind it?"
"Oh, that? I don't know. I don't think anyone knows except for the sprite that founded the Guardians."
"Huh."
"Moving on, how are you feeling? Nervous?"
"What? About the mission? No," the teal green-eyed boy shook his head in response.
"Not that, today is grading day. The grading office announces everyone's new grade. Increases, decreases, no changes, and new grades for unranked students like yourself," Alex explained.
"I didn't know. Are grades really important? I haven't really thought much about it but I don't think they're any good outside of school," Hunter said.
"You're kidding, right? Grades are very important! The Bureau only considers Grade S students for internships, many other organizations also have similar requirements. Additionally, lower graded mystics who do not join an organization are monitored and added to The Bureau's watchlist," he stated.
"Why?"
"Because their low grade indicates their inability to control their powers - whatever the ability may be," Alex explained.
"I feel like the Bureau's got that backward. If anything, shouldn't higher-graded mystics with no organization be the ones placed on a watchlist, aren't they the real threat?"
[It's no wonder people like Merlin and Joseph George are not stopped until the damage is done]
Alex shrugged. "I'm not one to talk politics so how about we head to the yard?"
"Sure."
The duo went out to the yard where the Met school students, Lexa, and Joe were, the latter's face hardened once he saw the two of them arriving. "Finally decided to join us?"
"My fault," said Alex.
"Whatever, you both missed the briefing but I'm sure your partners would explain it to you." He turned to the others. "Onto the teams: Yui and Alexander. Oliver and Thomas. John and Meghan. Hunter and Petra and oh ... I guess that leaves Lexa and me as partners."
Hunter sighs and shakes his head. "Come on partner, let's go," Petra said leading the way. "Don't worry about the briefing, you didn't miss too much; he just told us that we needed to talk to a few locals and ask about the disappearances," she added.
"Got it."
They continued for a while in silence until Petra spoke again. "So? Are you not going to say anything?" Petra asked.
"I don't think there's --" He looked at her and saw that she was frowning at him. "How was your night?" He asked.
"It was amazing, that bed is just so comfy," she replied. "What about you?"
"Barely. I stayed up all night talking to Lexa, Alex's sister," he stated.
"Look at you! How come we've known each other for so long and we've never held a conversation longer than two minutes?"
"Because every other time we've spoken to each other it is restricted to a sentence and we're having an argument about something," said Hunter.
"That's true but it's your fault we argue, you keep saying silly things that always lead to an argument. Back at the tr --"
Hunter raised his eyebrow at her. "And somehow it's my fault," he said.
"Fine. Let's talk then; what's something about me you wish to know?" She asked.
"Hm," Hunter said using his index finger to scratch the back of his ears.
"Seriously? You have to think about it?" She frowned.
"I mean ... Yeah."
"Did you just call me boring? You know what? Forget it. Let's just ask the people the stupid questions and get out of here." With that, Petra picked up the pace, walking faster and ahead of the dark-haired boy.
Hunter places his hand over his face and sighs.
[You suck]
'I know.'
...
"Sir, we just want to know if you've seen anything," Petra asked.
"And who are you? Why do you want to know about where I was three nights ago?" The old man asked. He had grey hair, a wrinkled face, and droopy eyes. "If you're not here to buy fish then get out of my shop," the man dismissed the duo.
"We already told you, we're investigators," Petra said. "We are investigating the recent disappearances," she added.
"Why didn't you say so? Did you say you were investigators? Aren't you too young for that?" He queried.
"We're junior investigators," Hunter said.
"Interns," said Petra.
"... A lot older than we look," said Hunter. Petra grunts and rolls her eyes at the teal green-eyed boy.
"Ah. Three nights ago, where was I?" The man asked himself scratching his gray-haired head as he thought about his response. "That's right! I was with Fiona, my wife. Are you two married?" He asked the duo.
Petra turned to Hunter with a frown and scanned the teal green-eyed boy's face. "No, we're not."
"A shame. Fiona is the reason I wake up from bed every morning. The reason I come to the market --"
"That's enough," Petra cuts him off. "The last person to go missing, did you know them?"
"Daphne? She was a good friend of my wife ... My wife; the reason I --"
"You're going off track again mister," said Hunter.
"Am I?"
"Yup. Can you remember what happened that night?" Petra asked.
"Well, Daphne doesn't usually stay open up to midnight but she wanted to that day because some guy showed up the other night and bought all the clothes in her shop. He paid half and promised the other half when he comes with a truck to get his things," said the man.
"Isn't that suspicious? Someone buying an entire shop."
"Err ... Not really. We get all types of people here in River Pot and this one was normal by those standards. It's not the first time someone has come from the big cities to buy a lot of materials; things are a lot cheaper here. He even bought some fish before he left. I sell the best fish in River Pot, really affordable and taste well on the tongue."
"Sorry, we're not here to buy fish," Hunter said.
The old man frowned. "Then why are you here?"
"We just want to know what happened three days ago," Petra said.
"And who are you? Why do you want to know about where I was three nights ago?" The old man asked. "If you're not here to buy fish then get out of my shop," the man dismissed the duo.
'I swear it's like living in a loop!'
The teal green-eyed boy shifts his gaze to find Petra's face holding a frown. 'Seems I'm not the only one that thinks that.'
"Sir, I'll buy some fish," Hunter said.
"Why didn't you say so? What is the amount you're willing to spend?" The man asked.
"I don't know ... I assumed they were fixed prices for these things," Hunter replies.
"There are ... There are a lot, ranging from a hundred to a thousand, and even five thousand," the man said.
"Five thousand for fish? Is it a shark?" Petra queried.
"There's been some misunderstanding ma'am. Judging from your accent, I can tell you're not from here, maybe the United Republics or Ingleland? Regardless, your money is worth five hundred times more here."
"Oh! Oh wow ... That's some really cheap fish, is it a tuna?"
The old man laughs. "I like this one, she's funny and looks smart. Unlike my dumb son who dropped out of college for no reason and wasted good money."
"What was that last part?"
"Nothing," said the old man with a very obvious fake smile. "So, which fish would you like?"
"Uh ... Ten of the ones worth five thousand," Hunter said.
"Ah, you won't regret it!" The old man claimed.
"So what happened to Daphne afterward? Did the guy who promised to buy the clothes return?"
"You heard about that? Yes, he came back with a truck as he said, and took all the clothes from her shop. The joy on her face - she couldn't control her emotions she promised everyone free drinks. I couldn't join because I'm too old for that but most of the marketeers closed to enjoy the free drink." He shakes his head. "Youth. The bar is close to her house so she just went inside after a while - everyone there said they saw her go in. Police suspect she was taken but I think she just left to start a better life, after all, it isn't every day someone appears in front of your shop offering to buy all your things for 200 percent more than their actual price."
[Hm]
'What is it?'
--------