I quickly contacted Nine and the others through a simple communication spell."Anya? What's going on?" Eli's voice crackled in my ear, urgent and steady."I've got a little situation on my hands," I replied. "I need you to pick up some... well, some suspicious individuals. I'll give you the details later.""Got it," Eli said, his tone firm. "We'll be there soon."I turned back to the girl, who was sitting on a nearby crate, her face streaked with tears but calming down. "My friends will come by and handle these guys," I said, pointing to the restrained men. She nodded hesitantly, still wary but trusting enough to stay put. "Okay... but... do you think they'll come back for me?"I gave her a reassuring smile, though the worry gnawed at the back of my mind. "We'll make sure you're safe. Don't worry."Within minutes, I met up with Eli, Rhian, and the rest of the team. Rhian's brow furrowed when he saw me approach, his gaze quickly scanning me for any signs of injury or trouble."Anya," Rhian started, his tone sharp. "You went off on your own again?"Eli's deep voice followed, filled with concern. "You really need to stop doing that. We told you not to go running off without us."I could tell they were trying to hide the concern, but it was obvious—my spontaneous decision to handle this alone hadn't exactly set their minds at ease."I'm fine, seriously," I said with a half-smile, trying to ease their nerves. "I just saw the situation and acted. Besides, it was just a couple of masked guys. Not exactly a full army."Nine crossed his fragile looking arms, his face hard. "That's not the point, Anya. You could've gotten hurt, or worse, and we wouldn't have even known. Don't do that again.""I won't," I said. "Promise. I just got caught up in the moment." "You're lucky it wasn't something worse. But next time? We go together. Got it?" Rhian said."You guys are so overprotective. I'm not some fragile porcelain doll.""Yeah, well," Eli muttered, "you're a little more like a ticking time bomb sometimes."The brief exchange was enough to ease the tension in the air. I wasn't going to change my spontaneous nature, but I'd have to be more careful."Thanks for coming," I added, changing the subject. "They're all tied up and ready to be handed over to Sir Denise."We all walked up to where Sir Denise was waiting, and as soon as we stepped in, his sharp eyes locked on me. Then he looked over at the masked men, now stacked like a pile of potatoes on Nine's shoulder. They didn't look dangerous anymore—just like a big mistake."Are these the guys you told me about?" he asked Eli, who had let him know we were coming.Nine didn't seem to care, holding them like they were nothing.Eli nodded. "Yeah, there's something off about all this. The girl they were after—she's not just some random target. They mentioned something about her specifically being their mission. And they're not working alone," he said.I motioned to the little girl, sound asleep in Rhian's arms, completely wiped out from everything she'd been through. Poor kid—she looked like she was carrying the weight of the world in her tiny hands.Sir Denise's face grew darker. "I suspected as much. We've been getting reports of kidnappings near the capital, but nothing concrete. I'll send a team to investigate further. If these people are operating in Frasha..." His voice trailed off, the weight of the situation settling over us all.I nodded. "We'll help however we can. But for now, we've got a girl to take care of, and answers to dig up."The room fell silent for a moment, each of us thinking about the growing threat. Sir Denise took a deep breath, breaking the silence."I'll arrange for the assailants to be taken to prison," he said. "I'll gather more information, and we'll get to the bottom of this."-I decided to let the little girl stay with me for the night, so I took her up to my room and made sure she was comfortable. I even offered her a bath as soon as she woke up up from her nap, to help her relax after the stressful day. As she disappeared into the bathroom, I took a deep breath and tried to focus, but my enchanted staff had other plans."Are you some kind of hero or something?" the staff asked, floating lazily in front of me. "Why do you keep saving people? What's the deal with that?"I sighed and gave it an unamused glance. "Because I have nothing better to do than save people and deal with you," I muttered. But it wasn't having any of it."Come on, what's the real reason? You've got a whole group of people who do this with you. And you just—" it continued to protest, but I interrupted.I snapped my fingers, and the staff was sucked into my spatial dimension with a sudden "Whoosh!" It grumbled inside the dimension, but what could it do? It was just a staff, and it wasn't like it could fight back.A few moments later, I heard the water from the bathroom stop. The girl came out, her long brown hair dripping wet. I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. She looked so tiny in the fluffy towel I had given her, and the water droplets were making tiny splashes on the floor. I reached over and gently towel-dried her hair.She let out a small noise—something between a squeak and a giggle. Was that... an "ehe"? I paused for a second, blinking. Was she trying to act all shy and cute on purpose, or was it just me imagining things? Either way, I wasn't complaining.Once her hair was mostly dry, I guided her to the bed, pulling the covers back for her. As I tucked her in, I realized just how young she looked—probably about seven or eight years old. Her long brown hair framed her face, and those emerald green eyes of hers... they were so familiar. I stared at her for a moment, trying to place where I had seen them before."Hey, what's your name?" I asked casually, hoping it would jog my memory.She looked up at me, her eyes wide and shy. "My name is Heaven Farhan," she whispered, almost too quietly to hear.Heaven. The name hit me like a jolt, but I couldn't put my finger on where I had heard it before. It was so familiar, like it was on the tip of my tongue, but the memory kept slipping away.Before I could dig any deeper into my thoughts, there was a soft knock at the door. I stood up to answer it, surprised to see Tafi standing there in his pajamas. He was holding a pillow and a blanket, looking uncharacteristically serious."Can I sleep with you tonight?" he asked, his big round eyes wide and pleading. The cuteness was almost unbearable.I didn't even hesitate. "Sure, why not?" I said with a smile. He was just too adorable to say no to."Taaayyy!!" he squealed, jumping in the air and fist-pumping in celebration. He immediately darted past me and hopped onto the bed, practically throwing his pillow onto the mattress with excitement.But then, his gaze shifted. He stopped mid-air, eyes narrowing. He turned and looked at Heaven like she was some sort of rival—like she was about to steal his toy. Heaven, on the other hand, gave him a sharp, almost challenging look, as if she wasn't about to let him get away with anything.They stared at each other for a moment, each trying to size the other up, both of them acting like they were in some sort of silent standoff. It was honestly too much for me to handle, and I couldn't help but laugh.Tafi gave a dramatic huff and pouted, throwing himself back onto the bed. "Well, okay. Fine. We can share the space." He threw his blanket over his head, but I could still see his eyes peeking out, constantly darting back to Heaven like he was keeping an eye on his new "competition."Heaven, still a little shy, had her arms crossed, but she didn't seem as upset. She just gave Tafi an intense look, then quickly turned back to me with a slight tilt of her head, like she was saying, "Who's this?"The entire scene was absurdly cute, and I couldn't help but chuckle. I Hoped in bed in betweent he two of them and I pulled the covers up for both of them, one on each side of the bed. I tucked them both in, trying to make sure no one felt left out or awkward—though Tafi's pout was hard to ignore."Alright, you two. Get some rest. Tomorrow's another day," I said, grinning at the two of them. They were both quiet now, though I could tell Tafi was still side-eyeing Heaven every now and then.It was nice, in a weird, chaotic way. The warmth of their presence, the quiet snickers, and the occasional shifting in bed. It felt... kind of like family.-The next morning, we sat down with Heaven to ask her exactly what had happened. It was important to get the full story before we went to get information from the assailants that Sir Denise had locked down.Heaven was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking a bit more relaxed now that she had a full stomach and a place to stay. She had a bit more energy, and she seemed like she was ready to talk. I sat back in my chair, gesturing for her to tell us everything.With a little puff of pride, she started, "I'm Heaven Farhan. First year at the academy, my major is wind magic, and I was top 3 during the entrance exam," she said, her voice filled with a kind of childlike bragging. Her eyes were wide, and she was almost waiting for me to say something to acknowledge her accomplishment. She looked at me expectantly, like she was waiting for me to offer a compliment or a flattery.I gave her an exaggerated, wide-eyed look. "Wow." I smiled at her, not wanting to completely burst her bubble. That seemed to make her happy, as she grinned widely."Valerie and I are roommates," she continued, the pride still in her voice. "As part of our final exam, we were all given a task. Valerie and I are the youngest first years, so nobody really wanted us in their teams. It was a little embarrassing, honestly. But the mentors let us team up and bring escorts for our mission. We were assigned the easiest one, though—gather information about what happened in Frasha. You know, investigate the monster behavior."She paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "My father even let me bring along our family mage to help us. We were going to be fine. It was supposed to be a simple mission. We arrived here yesterday afternoon, and Mathilda, Valerie's escort, and the other guard were held up at the entrance for inspection and identity confirmation. So, Valerie and I were left alone in a cafe near the gate to wait for them."I nodded, understanding the situation. "But something went wrong, right?"Heaven's face darkened, and her hands twitched nervously in her lap. "Yeah," she continued, her voice a little quieter now. "After a while, they still hadn't come back, and it was getting dark. We waited and waited, but we couldn't just stay there. We decided to go to them instead, you know, figure out what was taking them so long. But, uh... we got lost."She sniffed a little and wiped her eyes, and I could see the tears starting to form again. "We tried to ask people for directions, but I guess they were pointing us the wrong way on purpose. We ended up in this... sketchy neighborhood. I didn't realize it at first, but when we tried to ask for help again, a bunch of masked men suddenly ambushed us. They grabbed Valerie, and she lost consciousness. It all happened so fast. I... I couldn't do anything at first. They tried to grab me too, but I managed to use my wind magic to knock them back a little."Her voice wavered, and tears began to fall from her eyes as she spoke. "I ran as fast as I could after that. I didn't know where I was going, but I couldn't just stay there and let them catch me. I kept running. I thought they'd find me, too. But you... you saved me. I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't come along."Her sobs were soft now, but the relief in her voice was obvious. I could see how much this had shaken her, and I didn't want to push her any further. She had been through a lot already.Rhian, Nine, and Eli exchanged looks between themselves. Nine scratched his chin, his eyes thoughtful. "Sounds like a well-coordinated operation," he muttered. "Kidnapping students? Those masked men weren't just random thugs."Eli nodded, his arms crossed. "And the fact that they targeted you specifically... that's no coincidence. They must have been after someone with connections. But why you, Heaven? Why Valerie?"Heaven sniffled and looked down, her gaze uncertain. "I don't know. We were just supposed to gather information. We didn't think anyone would be targeting us."I couldn't help but feel like there was more to the story, but now wasn't the time to push. She'd already told us a lot."We'll get to the bottom of this," I said, trying to offer some comfort. "You're safe now. And we'll make sure nothing like this happens again."Heaven gave me a small, relieved smile, the tears finally stopping. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you for saving me.""Of course," I said. "Now, let's go see what we can get out of those assailants Sir Denise has locked up."We all stood up, and Heaven looked at me with a mix of gratitude and uncertainty. "You're really going to make sure they pay for what they did, right?"I smiled at her, giving a reassuring nod. "Don't worry. We've got this. They won't be going anywhere."The weight of the situation was heavy, but there was no way I'd let anyone else get hurt. Not while I was around. And with that, we made our way to Sir Denise's to find out more about the people behind the attacks.