13 Infiltrate, Lorea! (1/2)

”Mercenaries! Here we go.” Rey said while walking into another luxurious room. He took a couple looks around, and noticed that the people in the room were all rugged and aged, giving them a sense of fierceness. He then quickly spotted the clerk and waited in line.

”NEXT!” The clerk shouted as it was Rey's turn. ”What do you need done?” She said in an uninterested voice.

”I need to destroy a soul, but keep the body intact. Is there any mercenary that can do that?” Rey asked.

”Haha,” she laughed, ”Anything is possible, for a price. How strong is this person's willpower? What law do they cultivate? What race are they? Do they have any protections against soul attacks? When...” the woman kept asking more questions as Rey answered each one, albeit changing a few details such as his race. As time grew on, the woman's face began to turn more and more depressed.

”From what you are saying, this 'Soma' seems very powerful, and with strong willpower...there is only one person I can think of who could annihilate his soul without harming the body that you can get in contact with. Gray Kioko is your best bet, he is a novice stage 12 in the soul law. He is a little hefty priced though. You'll need at least 10,000 points, and he still may decline the request.” She said.

”10,000 points?!?! That's so much!” He blurted out. ”Okay, I'll come back when I have the points.” He said while waving goodbye. That was another custom within Sanctuary, instead of throwing ones fist to the ground, they waved with an open hand.

Rey did the math in his head. ”If each hour of work awarded about 5 credits, and there are 24 hours in a day, then it will take me...78 days of continuous to be able to hire Gray Kioko.” He thought. ”With some sleep in between, I'll do it in three months!”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

”Keep your eyes alert! For his Highness!” A commander shouted in a high-pitched voice.

”For his Highness!” A surge of voices responded in the same pitch.

”Hmph!” Riza said in disdain, ”A pack of Lychni dogs.” She whispered as she was crouched behind a wall, staying away from their field of vision. ”It's time to get some retribution, you damn bastards!” She said. As she was thinking of her family and having to leave them behind, fury began to boil and erupt within her.

She headed for her first destination: Home.

Creeping alongside the edge of the town wall, Riza snuck around and cast an illusion ability that she had learned through the light fruit. She could create perceived invisibility that would forcefully block the user's ability to see that she was there. The problem was that if the subject was too keen, or if there was more than one person, then the ability would ultimately fail to keep her hidden; it could only fool one person's sense of sight at a time. Luckily, after a long time of observing the guards, she finally learned their routines, and that there is only ever one guard on the eastern gate of the town of Lorea during the evening.

”Hmmph, seems that they're a lot of Lychni around Lorea after the Princess's death. I'll have to be more careful.” Riza thought.

The guard on shift was a tiny woman in comparison to Riza. She cast the ability and walked out in front of the guard. She waited a few moments to confirm that it was working. Seeing the guard unfazed by her presence, she heaved a heavy sigh of relief and walked into the shrubbery.

Sticking to various walls, plants, and other structures, Riza was able to remain mostly unseen. The closer she had gotten to her house, the more guards she ran into. It was not long before she had been seen. She turned the corner and was startled to see a guard, who was similarly startled. The guard was not as strong though, and Riza was able to quickly jab them in the throat and puncture their lungs, preventing the guard from calling out and ending his life.

”For the humans,” Riza said to herself with determination.

She arrived at her house and found it empty. Then she too felt empty. ”M-maybe they're just outside??” Riza thought, her mind struggling to come to that conclusion. But no matter how long she waited and paced around, she didn't find them. 5 minutes. 20 minutes. 1 hour. 2 hours. After 3 hours of waiting, her anxiety took over as she covered her face and put on clean clothes. She went out the back of her home and blended in with other people walking on the dirt pathways.

She walked to one of her parent's friend's house and found them.

”Riza?!? Where have you been?? Nevermind that, I don't want to know.” A man said. He had darkish skin, brown hair, and gave off the perception of life and vitality.

She disregarded his comment and got straight to the point. ”Sonalius, where are my parents? Have you seen them at all?”

”I...Riza, they were...” He paused, ”They were executed right after you left...” Sonalius said solemnly. ”King Sig'car killed them.”

Tears streamed down Riza eyes as she dropped to her knees. She found hope in the darkest situation and drew strength from the chance that they were still alive. Now that she knew they were gone, that hope and strength were shattered.

”Where are their bodies?” Riza quietly said as she slowly got back to her feet. ”I need to see them.”

”Riza, you don't need to see them like that. Your parents were good people, and they cared so much about you. That's why...you need to leave.” Sonalius said with haste. ”If any of these Lychnus soldiers learn you're here, king Sig'car will rush over, and that's bad for everyone here.”

”No, I need to see them, Sonalius!!” She almost shouted, ”I...I want to bury them.” She said.

Sonalius paused for a moment. An awkward silence formed before he eventually sighed and said, ”Okay, but if we're doing this,” He said while moving his finger in a circular motion on Riza's forehead. He then pressed his finger into that circle on Riza's forehead. ”You won't be implicated” Sonalius gave a weird smile.

”W-what did you...do?” Riza mustered out. She felt something invade her body before falling to the ground.

Plop!

With Riza's vision waning and tranquility flooding her mind, her consciousness faded.

”This is not your battleground, Riza.” He said as he hoisted her up and set her down on a bed made of straw. ”To tell you the truth, I wanted to stop the abuse done to your parent's bodies before, but I was too scared...” He said aloud, despite knowing that she could not hear him.

”Johnathon and Teresa were some of my best friends,” Sonalius realized, ”No, they were more like family. When king Sig'car killed them, I held the grief and pain that death brings. But when he then decided to string their broken bodies up for all of Lorea to see...he went too far.” He spoke with ferocity, ”Nobody deserves that treatment, especially your parents.” Sonalius concluded. ”Having you come here and express your own sorrow and anger helped me recognize this.”