Annabelle
I returned home from my errands and felt ready for the day. "Master I'm home!" I ran to the place my master usually was, his bed. "Sir wake up! I finished what you asked me to finish." I saw that my dog was still sleeping in the living area, he would find me later so I left him to his own devices.

He slowly opened his eyes, "When I said do these things tomorrow, I didn't mean before the sun rose!" He rolled onto his side, "Heavens help me, what time did you wake up?"

"Well I woke up an hour ago and saw the moon, then I did all of the filing of our expenses, then I went out and the sun was almost up so I went to get some food." I counted the things I did on my fingers.

"And how did you find a store that was open at this time of day?" He groaned.

"I didn't." He groaned even louder.

"You're going to have the swords on us!"

"No, no my best friend is a sword remember, and anyways I left a note..." I said happily.

"Take the money on my nightstand and go payback any stores that you took from please. And don't wake me until I can see the sun!" He mumbled.

I complied and took his money, skipping out of the room. "See you later!" I skipped happily out of the house and dropped the money in the mailboxes of the store owners. Then I looked up at the mansion, "I bet Tobi is awake! He will want to play, I bet it." I was so excited to be able to play that I almost fell off the wall I was climbing.

Last year I was accepted into the family, and at first I lived in the big house, but my master began to get older and need my help more, so now I live with him. I still have a room in the mansion, and they always make sure to lock it and make it challenging for me to break in.

Anyways I broke into the house like any other day to see my friend Tobi, sometimes I break into his window, but usually when I do that I get scolded. I snuck through the corridors going straight to his room. There were some early maids up, but otherwise it was very silent. I pounded on Tobi's door, "Tobi, do you want to play? Hey are you awake?"

At the sound of the vigorous pounding of his door Tobi jumps up startled and subsequently Simon, his boisterous housecat springs up from his position on the night stand.

"What in the world??" Putting his book down and tossing away his bed sheets Tobi trudges to his room door, only night clothes on, and opens it to see Annabelle as giddy and impatient as ever.

"Morning!"

"Anna?! How did you get in-", he stops himself as she gives him a look, "Right, silly of me to ask... Um, Good Morning?"

"You too. Cmon, the sun is shinning and I thought today we could have some fun.", Tobi could tell she was serious although he couldn't fathom why, at this time of day.

Tobi yawned after looking out his draped window. "Well yes, but today is the day of the ball and we gotta prepare. Do we have to go now?"

Annabelle intentionally adjusted the tone of her voice to make it seem as if she took offense to the response. "Yes! Common, we don't have much time to loose!"

"Alright, alright I'll be right back." Realizing there's no point in contesting any further, he sighs, closes his door and starts to get ready to go out. After 10 minutes Tobi exits his room with his casual attire, his sword and scabbard, and Simon in toe."Ok where to?"

"Hmm...I was thinking the garden. It's shady and the birds are always chirping in the morning."

"Sounds like a plan then." After they venture down to the dining hall and have a light breakfast prepared by a maid, they head out beyond the courtyard and start to have a gentle stroll, with Annabelle of course leading a conversation.

All of a sudden a royal guard comes dashing from around a hedge, almost out of breathe but he manages to conjure up the strength to speak. "Sir Tobi, and Lady Annabelle! Some thieves have stolen from the island's vault! I've been sent for your immediate assistance!"

Annabelle smiled and added, "Good thing I woke you up then?"

Tobi frowned slightly annoyed at the comment, "Not now Anna. I sure they'll be over by the ports seeing as that's their only means of escape." He motions the the guard, "I need you to go alert the others ASAP!"

The guard salutes, "Yes sir!", then dashes off to the mansion as Tobi and Annabelle make their way to the docks with haste.

Xoxaa Illiphia

The High Priestess

Xoxaa's morning training was complete for the day. It was exhausting work, sparing against the other trainees at the dojo, but it was satisfying and made her a stronger warrior. Since she had a bit of spare time, naturally a session of training must be promptly followed up by consuming body building sustenance. Her morning favorite would be the delicacy of choice from one of her favorite food stops. Some egg, cheese and ham placed between pieces of bread provides the hefty sum of protein and other energy building nutrients that keep her strong and growing, accompanied with a bottle of fresh, cold water kept in her blue bag she has strapped over her left shoulder. Nothing could make her quite as happy as a scrumptious meal after a rigorous training session. With her sandwich in hand, she decided to take a stroll while enjoying her meal, her body still coated with a "fresh" layer of salty sweat and wet clothes, skin tight and darkened by sweat but comfortable and form fitting for ease of movement, but with an unfortunate side-effect of showing a little too much skin and revealing her hourglass figure and her large "rump and bumps" as she would comically call them. Her destination on her stroll would be obvious: the island's harbor to feel the calm ocean breeze and watch the beautiful waves crashing against the docks and shore.

"Quick, stop those men!" a voice uttered, the sound of a man nearby.

Boots stomped in a frenzy as a squad of guards raced in the direction supposedly of those they're to stop. In mid bite, Xoxaa glanced at the situation blankly, unaware of the crisis at hand. The guards wasted no time in abandoning the scene, piquing the girl's curiosity. She started gobbling her sandwich at a quicker pace, being careful not to waste a single crumb, as nothing upsets her more than perfectly good food going to waste, especially when she had intended to eat it, anticipating the need to take action depending on the circumstances. Xoxaa makes it to the intersection that the guards passed by, and looks to her right, seeing the squad hustle towards the supposed wrong-doers, given what the one man had stated.

"What could this be about?" pondering to herself regarding the event she just witnessed.

Just as she was about to check out the situation, her eyes caught sight of someone else. Someone was by the end of a pier, a taller woman with dark hair from the looks of it. What was more substantial, however, was that the harbor was eerily absent of activity.

"The harbor... There's nobody there except for that woman. Normally the docks are bustling with activity in the morning. Was business shut down due to whatever those guards were shouting about?" she contemplated, slowly piecing together the scenario. "Wait... That woman... She looks familiar. I think... Is she that older woman from the Famiglia? I think she's from the Sword sector too... What was her name again?"

It was an embarrassing moment, granted it was personal, but not recognizing people in her own sector only made Xoxaa feel awkward, still feeling somewhat distant from the people of the Famiglia, most importantly her own sector of all things. Still, she had more important things to do at the moment, like see what the guards are up to, and of course, the most sacred of obligations: finishing her mid-morning meal. No good meal must go uneaten in her world, and she wasn't about to veer off that path anytime soon. However, jumping into action immediately after eating would only make her feel ill, and she would much rather have her food stay inside of her body. The solution? Eat faster, and with bigger bites! Drinking more frequently to wash it down would also assist in her consumption process. It was settled then: she would quicken her pace, both of the eating and of the feet, and meet up the guards, except that she had one more concern. As she had turned towards the direction of the guards, she tilted her glance to her left, back down at the pier where the woman was at. It puzzled her. Why was she standing there? Couldn't she hear what the guard was yelling? Surely she was close enough to hear him as he was pretty loud, as Xoxaa had heard his bellow from several blocks away.

"I best not worry about her," thought Xoxaa, shying away from the idea of confronting the woman after becoming flooded with anxiety that caused her stomach to churn, deciding instead to focus solely on the activity oriented around the guards. "I'm sure she knows what she's doing. Plus, I doubt she'd want to deal with me anyway."

Her course would take an abrupt turn then. Still, she wasn't about to abandon her meal or eat it too quickly, as she still wanted to enjoy her food. Thus, she quickened her pace, heading in the direction of the guards, gobbling the rest of her sandwich and drinking from her water bottle. Xoxaa wasn't expecting action this early in the morning, but this was the kind of stuff she trained for.

Marcus, Camellia, Flint & Beck de Telarius - Strength, Judgement, The Chariot & The Hermit

Camellia moved the food around her plate, her eyes glazed over as they focused on a different reality. Images moved rapidly across her vision; too quick and blurry for others to realise but making sense to her. Within moments these images dissipated to reveal the vague images she had made with her linguini. Immediately she scraped her fork across the bowl, producing a sharp noise that made the others cringe while also obscuring the image.

"Camellia? What's wrong?" Beck asked, looking up from his own plate. He preferred not to dilly dally with small talk. "Did you... see something?"

"Yes," she said rather bluntly, "it was quite interesting, too!" she added, grinning. Anything else she was going to add was completely derailed by the entrance of their more rambunctious sibling.

"So where's the pizza?" Flint said, kicking open the door with a cloud of smoke around him. It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was doing this morning.

"You're late," Marcus said to Flint as he stumbled through the door. Marcus didn't bother to even glance in the direction of his brother and instead turned his attention back to his Capricciosa Salad, although he could smell the faint odour of herbs hanging about Flint's person. "As usual," he added, spearing a small tomato with his fork and bringing it up to his mouth.

"And you're ugly. But you don't see me pointing out the obvious," retorted Flint sarcastically as he fell into his seat and kicked his legs up onto the table. Marcus replied with a death glare towards Flint's, but didn't bother retaliating verbally. He had come to expect this kind of behaviour from Flint by now.

Camellia suppressed a giggle to herself. Their constant power plays with each other always made her laugh. “Silly boys,” she muttered to herself, elbowing Beck in the process. “How is the research going?”

"Okay, I guess," he said, returning to his plate. "Right now, I'm studying renaissance Italy between the 16th and 17th century. I mean, I've already done work on it before but, well..." He ended the sentence with a shrug, putting a slice of carrot into his mouth.

"Beck, for the hundredth time, take your books off the table," Marcus said to his younger brother sternly. "This is not your study. This is the dining room."

"Sorry." Beck pulled the book off the table, placing it in his lap.

"Marcus, relax," she ruffled the remnants of Beck's hair affectionately; "let him study at the table if he wants." She wound her fork around the bowl, gathering a small amount of pasta and eating it.

"I'm not being unreasonable, Camellia," Marcus replied, digging into his salad once more. "The boy has all day to study in his room, which he does. I only ask that he avoids doing so during family gatherings."

"Sorry," Beck repeated, lowering his head further into his plate.

"Marcus. Pull the stick out of your ass. Seriously," Flint said, fiddling with the food on his plate. There was a sharp knock at the door prompting an end to their brief discussion.

"What now?" Marcus sighed. Camellia got out of her chair, skipping merrily over to open the door for their visitor. After a brief exchange of words, Camellia turned to Marcus, "I think you need to come and hear this, Marcus."

Marcus picked up the napkin from his lap and wiped his mouth before promptly standing up and walking towards the door. Camellia stood in discussion with one of the Family's private guards, who looked quite flustered and out of breath. His brow was furrowed and he spoke to her in hushed tones. At the sight of Marcus appearing behind her he quickly bowed in respect and switched his attention to the eldest de Telarius sibling.

"What's going on?" Marcus asked the guard. Beck stood up to get a better look at the newcomer, placing his book back on the table.

"Sir, it seems a dozen thieves have made off with a rather large portion of coin from the island's bank."

"Where are the rest of Swords?" Marcus quickly asked.

"Scouting through the town, sir."

Camellia stumbled to the side, raising a hand to her head as a vision flashed across her mind's eye, "Marcus, Oda has spotted a handful of thieves over at the docks. You should send some Swords over to help her!" Her sight remained slightly blurred as she rested her back against the door frame.

Marcus placed a hand to his chin and thought briefly to himself. With a glance at his family an idea popped into his head. "Inform the other Swords to engage the thieves at their own discretion. I will direct my family to trap them on the island."

"But... the ball! The ball is tonight! Who's going to be there looking after the guests if you're gone, Marcus?" Beck stepped over to join the conversation amongst his older siblings.

"If we can deal with this quickly enough, we should be back in time. Come on," Marcus said determinedly, "We have work to do."

"Aww. I was planning on not doing anything today. Do I have to go?" Flint said with his mouth full, spitting the remnants of half chewed food everywhere. He had just woken up and couldn't be bothered working already. Especially not with Marcus ordering him around.

"Flint, this is not the time! We are apart of La Famiglia. Whether a member of Swords or Cave, our duty is to the service of Regalo. And as a member, you will fulfil your duty and do it proudly."

"Fine. Whatever." The moment Marcus turned away he rolled his eyes and pulled a face.

"Are you sure that is wise, sir?" questioned the guard.

"Don't worry." Marcus replied, grabbing his dress jacket from its coat hanger. "I've got an idea. Camellia, I need you to locate something to me."

She looked up from her palms, "do you mean the thieves?"

"No. Better. Find me that carrier ship."

Camellia bit her lip, thinking it over. "I don't know. I mean, I can do that, it is not out of my reach, but I have no idea as to how clear the vision will be, much less how clearly I will be able to describe it." The limitations of her ability annoyed her somewhat.

Marcus walked over and put an arm over her shoulder. "Stay focused. I know you can do this. Trust yourself."

"There is no doubt that I trust myself, it is this ability that I am wary of."

"Yeah, Camellia," Beck assured her. "I've seen you track lost socks in seconds. A boat is bigger so it should be easier, right?"

The guard's eyes flicked from each one of the de Telarius siblings to the next before taking his leave, running down the hall to alert others of the situation.

Camellia took a deep breath as she returned to her seat at the table. If only her ability were as thoughtlessly easy as breathing or walking. Taking another deep breath she closed her eyes, feeling her body slowly grow heavy as if she was in a pool of quicksand. From the neck down her body felt heavy and immovable, but her head remained clear and airy as she felt herself slip into a state where she could properly witness her visions. Numerous scenes flashed across her mind's eye too rapidly to follow, unless she willed herself to focus on that unfolding timeline. The more she delved into the visionary world, the more disconnected she felt from reality.

A flicker caught her eye and she saw through the eyes of a thief crashing through bushes. Similar clips overlapped and soon she saw the dizzying image of four different people running through different terrains, all overlapping one another. She followed them through their combined paths until her vision opened up into a premonition of their future destination.

Camellia woke with a start, gasping for air. "In the eye of the bow, freedom awaits. The moon as a guide, safety in its risen state," she stammered, repeating again once her breathing had returned.

Marcus pondered this for a moment, but his eyes were trained on Beck, whom he expected to be the first to figure out Camellia's cryptic words. His hunch wasn't wrong as when he looked to Beck, the youngest sibling's eyes were darting back and forth, searching through his mind for an answer.

"The eye of the bow... The moon..." Beck began, murmuring to himself. He reread encyclopaedias in his mind, their words flashing past him, until...

"I've got it!"

* * *

Breathing hard, Adrian stumbled over the crown of the hill surrounding the bay. Three other shadows emerged from the bushes, each sweating profusely and panting. Smiling in anticipation of their departure from the island and, with stolen money in hand, they all slid down the side of the hill.

Once on the boat, they sank into fishing nets and onto crates, anything that would support their weight. Congratulating each other, they shouted to the Captain.

"Hey, Captain! Let's get this boat moving!" Adrian yelled.

"Oh I'm sorry," A voice said from the wheel, Marcus appeared carrying the unconscious captain over his shoulder, dropping him onto the ground next to him. Flint and Beck appeared on either side of Marcus, Camellia hovering just behind him. "Captain's not in at the moment." Marcus said to the thieves, adjusting the gauntlets on his arms. "And you're not going anywhere."

We arrived at the docks in time to see another member of the family, "Oda!" I shouted happily, "Hey Oda it's me Annabelle!" I triped on my way over in fell into the water landing flat on stomach, needless to say it hurt. I resurfaced immediately and climbed on the docks gasping for air while trying to talk. "There are... Twelve... And then... So me and Tobi... Play!" I was coughing and choking on water while trying to talk fast, it was pretty hard for me. I saw that nearby, one of the brothers were capturing four, "Quickly! We have to go get at least two, otherwise we will lose the game!"

Adam Randi - Justice Arcana

Footsteps were heard not far off. There appear to have been quite a bit of them, actually. It was the middle of the night, so it was a little odd to hear someone so many people out and about at night. Adam didn't really care, though. He knew that if there were some sort of crime going on, Sword would handle it, and if it wasn't a crime than it was even less of his concern. Besides, what could he do? He was one person -of Coin, no less- against several people; they'd probably have taken him down in no time flat...or at least, that's the excuse he gave himself to justify not doing anything about it. Around this time, Adam was sleeping on the roof of a nearby bread shop (which was one story high, so it wasn't all that difficult to climb). He was far too tired to go home, so he slept there. It was actually a nice rest up until the hooligans interrupted his sleep. It didn't take long after they left for him to return to rest

"Adam! Adam where are you!?" Someone seemed to be yelling off in the distance. It was too quiet for Adam to hear. "Adam Randi, where are you!?"

Hay dios mio...can't a guy ever get some sleep around here? Adam thought to himself. He opened his eyes only to be blinded by the sun. He'd forgotten that he was on the roof, expecting to see the ceiling of his room. He quickly shut his eyes and looked away from the sun, covering his eyes with his hand. He stood up and quickly lost his balance. A roof makes for a great sleeping place, slanted as they often are, but walking on one while still disoriented and mostly unable to see is a chore. Actually, as Adam quickly learned, it's almost impossible. His legs started moving him off of the roof. He tried to stop himself, but when he did, he started to slide. It seemed futile.

Adam yelled as he plunged toward the hard ground below. Strangely, he heard another scream, a feminine one that he'd definitely heard before. Even stranger, the ground was a lot softer than he thought it'd be, he was sure that he would have at least broken something, but it barely hurt. He looked beneath him and saw that he had fallen on top of someone. He couldn't really tell who they were, but he quickly stood up and backed away. As his vision started to become clear and vivid again, he looked to see that the person was none other than Mina Cortez. Mina was an eighteen year old girl who used to be good friends with his little sister before she moved. She was also the daughter of Ingrid Cortez, the owner of an embroidery shop not far off. She's well acquainted with Adam due to him making his rounds at various stores and businesses to collect money for La Famiglia.

Mina picked herself up from the ground slowly, grabbing her aching back as she did. Still, she had quite a bit of energy and was pretty pissed off. "Wh-what the heck were you doing on a roof? Are you stupid?"

"I won't dignify that last statement with an answer. Though, I really gotta thank you Minata, you did just save my life, after all." He said with a smile.

"Did you just call me Minata? What does that even mean?" She said, wiping the dirt off of her dress and looking at Adam with a dumbfounded expression.

"Oh, that was the sound you made when I landed on you. 'Ta!~' It was pretty cute, actually; made my heart flutter."

"Oh, shut up." She said back, slightly pissed off but chuckling a little. "O-OH! This is important!" Mina hit her fist into her hand as if she just had an "Aha!" moment. "You were called by the Famiglia, they want you to read this message." She reached into a pocket that was a part of her dress and pulled out a letter she wrote, now wrinkled due to the boy that fell on her from a rooftop. She looked at it and read what it said aloud. "Ahem!" She started. "Adam Randi, last night the bank was targeted by several individuals and quite a bit of money was taken. It is of the utmost importance that it is retrieved. Seeing that you're a member of Coin, and of the Justice Arcana no less, this is undoubtedly an important task for you to take care of. Find one of these individuals and stop them. They seem to be trying to escapee the island, so you should probably head to the docks, first." She looked up at Adam and said, "Well, that was in my own words, the real message was too long to write down completely..."

Adam let out a large groan and said, "...I guess that's what it was that I heard last night..." Mina slightly tilted her head in confusion, but Adam disregarded it and went on. "Well, thanks Mina. I'll be heading out to find whoever these guys are."

"Um...don't you only have a knife?" Mina asked with her hand on her hip.

"A dagger, actually. And yes, that's all I have, but I probably won't be using it." He then started towards the harbor, waving to Mina.

"Wait you idiot! You can't be serious!" Mina yelled to Adam, but he ignored her, continuing down the path towards the harbor without giving her a second glance.

Annabelle
I cocked my head, wondering how she could question my confidence. "I'll show you confidence!" I said hotly, "I'm confident enough for the whole family and I'll prove it by taking out all of the thieves!" I crossed my arms and gave a taunting face while sticking my tongue out, "I bet you think you can tell me what to do too, since you're and adept? Well I'm a coin to Nyah!" I ran away laughing maniacly, "I'll capture them all and rub your face in it!" I yelled.

The first thing I did was return home and get my dog, "Hey, get up!" I poked him until his eyes opened. "We have to find some criminals!" The dog stretched then wagged his tail as I pet him on his head. "Master I'm going hunting!"

A delayed mumble shouted from upstairs, "Go on then! I'm trying to sleep."

"Okay bye!" I ran out laughing, "Where should we look first?" The dog stood there wagging his tail as usual, "Yeah you're right, I think we should sit and think it over." We walked to my usual cafe and sat at a table. "Can I get a coffe?"

The waitress sighed, "Last time we got you coffe you broke seven plates, a table, two chairs, and an old man's back. We have specific orders to never give you coffe again." She was very stern about it, and didn't look like she could be convinced. "Why don't I just get you warm Cocoa and a bowl of milk?"

"Okay!" The waitress walked away toward the manager who was watching from his office, his face red. "Hey doggie! Any ideas now that we are sitting?" The dog rolled on his back panting, "Okay, now I get it! We should wait here until I come up with the plan! You have great ideas dog." I wrote on the children's menu they handed out, "So we have twelve baddies, with no cards. They would be traveling in a group." The dog barked happily as the waitress placed a bowl of milk down, "No wait! They would be split up, so it would be harder to catch them yes. Thank you kind waitress!" The waitress asked if she needed anything else, "Coffe?" She shook her head no, "Well I'll take a pancake if that is alright!" The waitress walked off again.

"Okay so if they are split up then it should mean they are waiting for an escape..." I took a sip of the Cocoa, but it burned my mouth causing a loud squeal, "Isth fvery hoth!" I said loudly. Now my tongue was stinging, "Okay, so ith I cuth them off from major roadsth then I can catch them!" The waitress came up with a bowl of ice and pancakes, "How did you know to bring me isth!"

"You do this every time we give you something hot, I figure I'll skip the tearful begging for ice." She walked away again rubbing her head.

I plopped a cube of ice in my mouth and sucked on it until my mouth numbed out, "So now that I no longer have pain in my mouth, I can continue." I drew out a rough sketch of the island, well I improved upon the color in one on the kids menu, "So if Oda is blocking these docks, and the brothers are around this area..." I circled the best hiding places from my own experiences, "Let's see, twenty locations that are easy to hide in, I can't do that all at one time! Let's see if we can narrow this down. They would want to be close to docks, to see their escape vessel." I crossed out all places in the center of the city, "Thirteen left. Now I can cross out anywhere that can be seen from the main roads. Down to ten. Hm" I taped the colored wax writing utensil in my hand against my head, "Okay if we cross out anything that is near the main docks, we are down to seven. And they are all at the same district." I sighed, it was on the other side of town.

Suddenly there was a scream, and the waitress ran out from the back, "Quickly! Some man just made off with all of our money."

I tied the map to the collar of my dog, "Take this to Tobi!" The dog lapped up the rest of his milk and did the trick I taught him a few months ago. I ran to the back, which led out to the alleyway. One of the hiding spots I had expected, though it was a bit farther out than I thought. "Hey stop!"

"Try and stop me kid!" He sneered.

"That's what I'm trying to do!" I said running after him. I gained ground but he escaped into the crowd. "Aww! Let's think, he just escaped with money, meaning he would want to go hide somewhere." I looked around, and eventually saw the perfect spot, a house under construction. The builders were off for a few days so the building was half built and abandoned. I ran inside quietly , "Let's see," I whispered, "There is no way he could have escaped yet, there's no back door yet." Admittedly this was one of her escape routes. "He isn't in here, thus he must be." I looked up, a half made roof with a ladder leading to the top. "Agh, why didn't I think of rooftops before! They can see the ocean and not be easily spotted." I banged my hand with my hand chanting the word stupid.

"Oh my god!" I suddenly said, "There is a ball tonight and I don't have a person to dance with!" I shook her head, "Wait, get the bad guy first." I scrambled up the ladder, I could see the figure of the man hopping rooftops. "If I call out he may choose a different route, maybe I should follow silently until he leads me right to his group, and then I'll strike and show Oda that I'm just as good as the swords in confidence!" I ran behind him, careful not to slip and accidentally die, I hadn't really perfected energy shields yet.

He eventually hopped into another abandoned house, "Jesus, how many houses are left unattended!" I laid on the rooftop listening, two voices.

"Demetri already hightailed it, what were you doing!" An angry voice rasped.

"I had to get some more loot before leaving, don't worry I made a clean getaway." The thief laughed, "Anyways we are already almost in the clear!"

"We can drink when we are completely out of the frying pan." He grumbled, "I bet they will leave without us if we don't hurry."

"It is a good thing we split up huh! Genius idea from the boss." I had heard enough, I called the thief Idiot, and the other guys Grump because they one was painfully stupid and the other needed a hug.

"Tell me, what is the first three digits of PI?" I yelled down.

"What the hell, who are you!" Idiot said.

"Answer the question, and I won't take you to the authorities."

Grump laughed, "Okay we will play your game." He had a smug laugh, I was soon ready to wipe it off, "3, 1, and 4!"

"Close but you forgot the decimal after 3! So close" I jumped down in between them, "I think it would be better if we started with the basics!" I said cheerily. "Count how many punches it takes to bring you both down."

"Ha! You are nothing but a child, I will hurt you so bad, and then when I'm done you can work as a maid for the boss." If you guessed that this was Idiot talking, then you are very intelligent. Needless to say, I punched him so hard with an energy shielded fist that I think he lost a few teeth. He rolled on the ground in pain.

"Well that is an easy number to work with, just one!" I turned to the other guy, "Please tell me you are the sensible one?"

"You stupid girl, I won't give you the chance to be a maid." He pulled out a pocket knife, "I know what you are, a pathetic Arcana Family member, I will kill you and be honored for taking out someone with as much power as you swines claim to have." The cocky man stabbed at me, and the only thing I could think was, what dress should I wear?

I easily dodged the knife, and picked up a rope on the ground. He lunged at me again, "What is the matter too scared for words?" He leered, I kept focus, dodging and looping the rope amoung objects strewn about and hanging wood planks. "I'll gut you like a pig!" I finished weaving my way around the room and waited for the inevitable lunge. When it happened I had the rope between my hands, swiped down, and disarmed him from the wrists. I calculated a 2% margin of error, thus my timing had to be perfect or I would have been lethally wounded. "What the hell!" I kicked him in the groin, making him do that silly whining noise men do when that happens. A second latter he passed out.

I had several cuts that I didn't notice before, although my calculations to avoid his attacks were perfect, my execution was not. I counted twelve cuts, two deep, all pretty painful. I cut strips off of my own clothes and wrapped the deep cuts on my arm. The rope trap I had built had been for good use, I hung them both from the roof. I walked out to the street and found a guard, "Go into that house, arrest those robbers, and return the money to the Cafe in the Economy district."

"Yes ma'am." He walked to the house, I went to the mansion to find clothes.

The guard caught up to me about halfway through, "One of the criminals escaped, the one missing teeth is still there." I sighed.

"Take it to another member please, I have wounds to clean up, and I have to get changed. If you really must get him, ask one of the members near the dock." I really wasn't in the mood to deal with the Grump again, so I abandoned the guard and painfully climbed up into my room. "Should I wear the red, green, or blue dress?" I said aloud, I wanted to look like the best dressed girl at the party in any way possible, "I suppose the red one will hide any blood if I stain it..." I took the dress to a maid so that it would be cleaned and properly prepared. "Time to go take a nice hot bath!"

Xoxaa Illiphia

The High Priestess

Xoxaa barely had her opportunity to escape the scene, passing behind a row of buildings on the road the guards took, pursuing whatever mayhem was afoot. A sharp noise, similar to the sound one makes to get a dog's attention, was heard coming from the harbor, startling the girl and sending chills up her spine. He stopped walking, paralyzed.

"What was that...?" she contemplated, unsure of exactly where the sound came from or what it was about.

Uncertain of the situation, all she could do is guess what course of action to take. Her thoughts then returned to that woman. The scene earlier looked as if the harbor was mostly vacant save that one woman that looked familiar to someone she recognized in La Famiglia's ranks, and what appeared to be two late entries, one of them being quite boisterous, as she was turning the corner. As for the guards, they were in hot pursuit of someone, and would be too far away to make a noise that loud, and it certainly didn't come from town, as the sound was from the harbor.

"I guess I can check it out..." concluded Xoxaa internally, turning around towards the past intersection to check the harbor once more.

She had almost forgot her sandwich, cooling in her hand, although only a small portion was left so she shoved the last large piece of sandwich between her jaws and devoured the tasty breakfast meal. Looking over from behind a building at the intersection corner, the woman she saw earlier was gone.

"Where'd she..." questioning to herself, moving away from the corner and looking back to her right, in the direction that the guards had gone. "I'm wasting time here."

With her food sliding down her esophagus, her pace could quicken, withdrawing her bottle from her bag, taking a chug out of it, capping it and shoving it back into her bag before taking off in a solid run, chasing after the guards and the commotion. It didn't take long for her to catch up with the guards, still charging towards their prey, running this time towards a far pier in the harbor. It appeared as if whatever they were after would be on a ship in the harbor, as the guards were yelling and pointing in that direction. She decided to pursue behind, avoiding contact with the guards but instead listening in on the commotion, picking up intelligence on the situation.

"Thieves who stole valuable assets it seems..." reaffirms Xoxaa, having fully absorbed the data she heard uttered by the guards. "Judging by the criminal's actions, their numbers, and their directions, they managed to split off, likely to find cover, wait for their ship to pick them up, and take the criminals away, making a clean getaway."

Deducing the situation, Xoxaa then began calculating the next move, however still lacking information on where the other criminals might be located. Only a lone thief made a beeline for the ship, but he could still prove to be a valuable source of data on his cohorts. Apprehending him would be the ideal first move in this scenario, so the girl picked up to a run, going after the ship that the thief boarded. Just as she approached the intersection that the guards, another person, racing forward as was she, moved into Xoxaa's path at the last second.

"Sh!t!" alarmed Xoxaa to herself as her eyes widened in surprise, moving at a speed too fast to adjust for the newly present obstacle, her body hurling into the other woman.

Thud! Collision and unstoppable momentum threw Xoxaa back, landing hard on her back and just barely avoiding a head collision with the hard street. Still, she recovered quickly, getting up into an extended leg sit, glancing back towards the position where she spotted the woman at the last moment.

"Oh sh!t, it's her!" she thought to herself after recognizing the appearance of the woman she crashed into, a "vet" of her own sector no less, although she could not recall her name. "This isn't going to turn out well..."

Oda watched as Annabelle skipped off to do her own thing with only a nod before she began her sprint across the harbor; while the attitude would need to be worked on, as somebody like that working with money rarely turned out well, but she could admire the enthusiasm. Before she could ponder about her own beginning days working for the Famiglia, the woman reminded herself there were thieves to be caught with the sound of the town guard marching through the streets of Regalo's harbor.

The Adept of Sword's coat danced wildly in the air behind her as she ran, not going fast enough for it to stay uplifted nor slow enough to drag between her legs like an unwieldy tail. One of the students leaving without being present to take care of the thieves on the boat would make things slightly more dangerous, especially for the present guards, but she would be able to take at least one down if she went for whichever thief seemed most dangerous in close-combat. That was where her fighting style worked best.

Unfortunately for the rushing woman, her fighting style didn't adapt for colliding with suddenly-appearing Apprentices, as her form collided with yet another. The fall was brief as she came tumbling over the Apprentice's form, and she barely managed to land in a position that wouldn't leave her in an ungraceful standing. With one palm pushed flat against the ground and her legs kneeling on the ground, she shot a glance to the other member of the Sword Sector.

Oda's eyes were slightly panicked as she saw Xoxaa, for fear of having injured one of Sword's students, but relaxed upon sight of her sitting plainly on the sidewalk. Her interaction with other members of Sword was minimal compared to most other ranks in her sector, but she recognized the young woman from dinner in the manse; the look she got in return was ever so slightly unsettling. Perhaps it was the fact that the coat marked her as one of the higher ranks.

In an attempt to satiate her need to calm the young woman, Oda pulled up to her feet and swiftly offered her han to help Xoxaa up, along with a smile at the corner of her lips. "Xoxaa; I see you're eager to get to work." She jested in an attempt to calm the fallen woman's potential nerves. They were meant to be sisters, in a sense, after all. "Sorry for running into you, but the matter of thieves is still present..." She added, with a glance towards the lit-up boat by the pier.

Ari sat bedside where she occasionally made a glance at the brightening sun, in the small-framed bed beside her laid a frail man. Her hands tucked under his, it was clear she didn’t have the courage to look him in the eyes. After all they weren’t close and hadn’t been for six long years. His lavender eyes seem to perfectly matched to hers as if she had stolen them for him. She let go of his cold, pale hands and stood up to brush off the crumbs of an early morning snack. Now, as she stood at the edge of the bed a flicker of sadness and guilt entered her eyes. Her mouth opened to speak but like always the words remained stuck in her throat. Crossing the room Ari grabbed a spare blanket and tucked it in around the man’s body. A quick tug was made on each of the four restraints that held the man down to the bed. It seemed like a cruel measure to do to a rather defenseless human being.

“Bye Pa,” Her voiced croaked as she exited the room as if a starting pistol had sounded telling her to leave. Her heels dug into the soft dirt that surrounded the entire house, a secluded home that dwelled within the forest on Regalo Island. No one in the Arcana Famiglia knew that she came here every morning. Since she was the Head of her sector there was no one she needed to check in with. Faint sounds, like a man screaming, made their way to Ari’s ears. They came in five seconds intervals until she reached the outskirts of the town. With house behind her, which kept her father a prisoner, Ari walked with purpose and a determined look on her face. The wind blew her new hairstyle in the wind; she enjoyed the breeze that pushed against her body. Luckily her form fitting dress was too tight to be blown in the wind because she absolutely hated when they did that. The dress gave off a shimmer of light as the sun beamed its rays off her metallic, gold dress. Soon she arrived at her favorite place, Regalo’s shoe cleaning shop it had some fancy name but Ari couldn’t be bothered to remember small details like this.

“Ms. Terranci, you’re early,” A man with a large belly chuckled as he looked her over. “Please, please sit down.” Ari nodded and sat crossed leg, left over right, in her personal chair. Carefully the man bent down and plucked Ari’s shoes from her feet and disappeared into the shop. She always had preferred the outside view rather than the inside, plus it smelled horribly in there. In this moment the town was at ease there never was much trouble during the day.

“Are you wearing these to the ball?” A sight in the window that displayed the inside of the store delayed her response, which the burly man came to expect. Ari rarely spoke more than a few words to him and he rightfully respected it.

“Aren’t you the curious one? Let me ask you something, Domencio, are you aware your apprentice swipes a few coins every time you leave him be?” The question didn’t phase the man in the least bit. He even smiled at her, a sight Ari would erase off his face.

“A question for another question, if I may?” The man called Domencio continued anyway, “Are you aware that thieves have stolen from Island’s bank? Aren’t you Arcana Famiglia required to stop them?” If the man was expecting a bewildered look on Ari’s face he was surely disappointed. Her famous smirk reared it’s delightful present, this is why she liked this man. He supplied her with information without her having to pull teeth, the town gossip but this one was strictly under her thumb.

“I’ll be back then,” Her bare feet braced the warm, brick pavement. She was eager to test her newest illusions on the next victim that came across her path. Their screams would give her the happiness she needed after her daily morning disappointments. One thing tugged at her mind, how did the thieves’ get anywhere near the island’s bank? Obviously Swords, the sector of the Famiglia dedicated to defense can’t keep nitwitted thieves out of their banks!

Her brain began to formulate different ideas and she divulged into the information she had previously processed from thieves. Typically they split the theft money and themselves to reach an end destination. Usually along the way one or more got especially greedy and try to snatch a purse or two. Instantly, it clicked where she could find one thief for sure. Her feet became the source of pain a pain that she would unleash tenfold onto whatever one she stumbled upon. Ari came to a stop in front of the most famous restaurant in all of Regalo, thieves got hungry too especially ones that just came into quite a bit of cash. Her quick eyes surveyed the restaurant watching for people who appeared to be more nervous than the rest. A table toward the back of the building sat a woman. This woman constantly tapped her fingers on the wooden table and swayed her black boots to and fro. Her eyes locked onto Ari’s but fortunately for her her fate had already been sealed by the time she did that. Uneasiness came over her face, the woman quickly back out of her seat and turn to run. Her body smacked right into Ari’s who was now in front of her and put one finger to her lips. The red haired woman didn’t hesitate to pull out a knife and swing it toward in Ari’s direction. A small tap on the thief’s shoulder caused her to check her behind her for a second, a chilling recognition stopped her dead in her tracks.

“What, what’s going on here?! Stay back!” The confused woman wrapped her arm around a nearby man’s neck dragging him with her, “I have a hostage and I will kill him!” Her shaky hands somehow managed to hold the knife almost steady next to the man’s head, his eyes lacked pupils yet were wide and he was grasping for breath. He gave one final wheeze and his body slowly turned into dust. The man’s remains swirled at her feet this locked them in place. As much as the woman budged her feet wouldn’t come free from the dust. Frantic with fear she swung her knife every which way but her target wasn’t in sight, she was all alone in the restaurant. Ari flickered to life in front of the girl and without delay snatched her knife from her.

“I want to hear you scream on the count of three, okay? 1… 2…” Much too excited for the outcome Ari plunged the knife into the woman’s chest over, over and over again. Blood coated Ari’s face like it had just been freshly painted. The thief hadn’t stopped screaming, every time the knife went deeper and deeper into her chest the louder and louder she yelled. Her eyes were squeezed shut then she opened them to realize she was still in the restaurant. She was standing upright and her mouth was gagged with a cotton towel. There wasn’t any blood on her clothes but she was still restrained but it was only her hands.

“Boo!” Ari waved her hands in front of the girl’s face. “That was fun wasn’t it?!” In reality she had summoned her Arcana Power the moment she locked eyes with the girl who began to run away. She quickly created an illusion that only affected the girl and no one else in the restaurant. Despite Ari’s eagerness to hear her beg for her life she had to suppress the fun otherwise the other customers would have their lunch ruined. Normally she preferred to have space to do her craft but crowded areas worked just as well in unusual circumstances. She’d much rather do a thorough illusion where she could retract information from the person in custody but this was just an inconvenience. Petty thieves wouldn’t further her intellect and she knew she shouldn’t have to deal with it anyway. Ari latched onto the towel that tied the red head’s hands together and pushed her forward causing her to walk out the store.

“Let’s say good-bye here!” She shoved the thief to the ground and retrieved the money that she had stolen by digging through her pants pockets. As soon as she saw that she had only gathered a very minimal amount Ari laughed, “When you wake up, I hope your friends haven’t left you.” The tattoo on Ari’s back lit up once more and simultaneously the woman became entranced. She’d released the illusion once she felt as if enough damage had been done. Now, she needed to gather her shoes and head back to the mansion after all it was partying time!

Xoxaa Illiphia

The High Priestess

The older woman placed her gaze on Xoxaa, the clumsy teenager who intersected her. Xoxaa's face was blank, anticipating the woman's next action. Her rear remained firmly planted on the ground, while the other woman rose herself, approaching the girl casually and extending her palm to her, smiling in a friendly manner.

"Xoxaa; I see you're eager to get to work," the woman chuckled slightly in her speech.

The woman's reaction was unusual, at least according to what Xoxaa was used to. Normally, making unsolicited physical contact with another person was something others would get deeply offended by, and she could understand that sentiment, not wanting to grace her skin with the embrace of another's in most circumstances. Her head shifted upwards towards the woman, her warm reaction causing Xoxaa's cheeks to redden a little in embarrassment, as well as her being unaccustomed to and not well adapted to someone's direct hospital acknowledgement of her. She was also placing her eyes directly upon her, a pressurizing gesture to make towards someone, even if the acknowledging has only the best of intentions. Xoxaa couldn't help but look away slightly, unable to meet the woman's glance, so she focused on the woman's hand, politely offering her a convenient means to return to her feet. She rose, accepting the hand, meeting the woman at full height, who was at least a few inches taller than her. Xoxaa inspected the woman carefully with her eyes so as to not be caught performing unusual behavior, absorbing the appearance, mannerisms, posture, and other discernible details about this woman, further familiarizing herself with this woman that she had only seen occasionally and didn't really know her too well.

"In fact... Wait, who is she exactly anyway?" questioned Xoxaa internally, still unacquainted with the woman's real identity.

"Sorry for running into you, but the matter of thieves is still present..." uttered the older woman, causing Xoxaa to jolt, startled as she was torn out of her mental realm of thought and analysis.

Sighing, Xoxaa contemplates what has happened thus far, pondering, "She probably thinks I'm a nervous wreck now. I ran into her, I couldn't make eye contact with her, I spaced out and she probably noticed that fact, I got startled, and I don't even know her name!"

Blinking a few times in a second, she looks up to assure the woman that she's paying attention, only to find herself cut off from speaking, unable to conjure up a response. Struggling for a few moments, Xoxaa couldn't held but shift her gaze slightly to the ground. She effectively became a mute for a few moments, mentally paralyzed by an odd compilation of events. Finally, she stutters, struggling to offer up a response to the best of her ability.

"S-sorry..."

Altering her glance towards the pier beyond the woman, the ship up ahead, after a few moments to reflect on it gave Xoxaa a reminder. The thief the guards had chased had boarded that ship, and seemed poised to soon depart from the harbor if nothing was done. Normally, Xoxaa would've bolted in pursuit of the enemy, but the presence of this woman forced her to remain still, unsure if the woman would accept her abruptly and rudely ignoring her presence to take care of a worsening problem occurring behind them. She was immediately torn, knowing that someone has to stop the criminal, but she was helpless, accidentally trapping herself in a complicated social obstacle with no win-win solution that Xoxaa could determine. All she could do was wait for the woman to act somehow, Xoxaa remaining still, her glance looking away while her hands held each other behind, both hands resting softly on her rear. Despite having reached a point of independence in her life, Xoxaa still could barely outmaneuver such obstacles like the one she stupidly got caught up in.

Tobi inspired by Oda's challenging words starts to patrol of the docks out to the of the coast. He figured all the thieves that haven't made it to the awaiting vessel must be on their way utilizing the quickest route. He kept a watchful eye for anyone that could be lurking around a corner as a means to allude the young member of the Sword. But honestly he hadn't had a mission this unorganized before. Tobi was used to be given orders and carrying them out to the best of his ability, but of which didn't apply now as he had to make his own decisions.

However, Tobi's wandering mind abruptly descended back down to Earth as a sudden barking erupted from behind causing him to instinctively clutch the handle of his sword. To his relief it was only Anna's dog barking with glee at the sight of the familiar person he was sent off to find. Kneeling down Tobi caresses the panting dog's chin with his palm. "Hey! What are you doing here?? You're making too much noise...". Tobi's voice trails off when he spots a letter attached to the collar. Taking the rugged parchment and unfolding it, the appearance of some sort of map was drawn of his general location. Not knowing exactly what to do with it he issues the dog do walk alongside him as he ventures down the wide streets following of what he thinks the directions are instructing him to go.

* * *

Upon reaching the state of feeling utterly lost, Tobi approaches a vacant market of which its material lie in numerous barrels. Sighing heavily and inhaling the air with a notion of failure, Tobi makes a turn back down toward the bay but Anna's dog remains at the market-stand sniffing the barrels seeming intrigued. "Come, we don't have time for this...". However the persistent canine wouldn't budge and instead prodded his snout into one of the holes on a barrel. Followed by murmuring noises, dog promptly snags a bit of cloth in his teeth causing whatever was in the wooden container to shake madly until collapsing over, shattering, and revealing the ugly mug of one of the thieves(who was gorging himself apples within the barrel).

"Gah?!" The man sputtered, as he scrambled to his feet and unsheathed his sword. "You good for nothing kid! You'll pay for ruining my outfit!"

Composed, Tobi quickly reveals his own sword from his scabbard as well. "That's all your worried about? Sigh, people like you make me sick."

"Your gonna be allot worse then that when i'm through with you!!" Upon uttering his last word, rather unintelligently, he makes a wild swipe with his sword that clashes with titanium of Tobi's blade. The obvious difference in skill was painfully apparent as the duel wore on. Each attack the man made was swiftly parried and deflected followed by a fierce counter-attack by Tobi. The counter strikes, not lethal yet nipping at the thieve's clothes seeming to taunt him, making a mockery of his sloppiness, and take advantage his building rage. "You think your funny HUH?!". His blade plunges down overhead like a madman, the serrated edge glints against the sunlight.

Tobi taking a deep breathe empowers his blade with vigorous energy of his arcana and as his sword meets with its adversary's, it crashes straight through the metal of the opposing sword leaving it in clanging tatters, and its owner completely dumbfounded and terrified. "Enough...I'm taking you in." Though his words were brave, he did not now how the man would react now put into a desperate position.

Sure enough, with a low grunt the man pulled a throwing knife from his back pocket and glared it in front of Tobi, as an animal bares its fangs. "D-Dont make me hurt you!". The man stuttered has he ever so slightly took a step back. Tobi then smirks and takes two stances forward cornering the man. At that point the pathetic vandal was glancing in all directions for a way out. Then, out of the corner of his eye he sees Anna's dog(who was gazing from afar), the one that exposed him, but more importantly, a way out of this predicament. He then raises the knife in aim for the canine.

Tobi, ready to deflect the blade of which he thought was aimed at himself until he follows the cowardly man's eyes to the direction of Anna's dog. With split second thinking he extends the sword to the full length of his arm deflecting the airborne knife with the tip of his blade, and in one swift motion does a 360 spin and reels around to deliver an energized knockout punch to the hurler. "Huff...Huff..." Catching his breathe, Tobi sheaths his sword and is greeting by Anna's dog who starts to sniff the unconscious man on the ground up and down. "Yea...we'd better get going." Cuffing, then grabbing the collar of his target he starts his walk back to the dock. However his pride in catching the villain was quickly replaced with anxiety of the events taking place not within his presence.

Oda's critical gaze continued to watch Xoxaa even after she had helped the young woman rise. It was merely a reflex honed from her years working in Sword, and a memento of the times when she wouldn't slip into intangibility when any danger came. She needed to be aware of everything around her, from the falling cartridge of a spent bullet to the way her maid peeled an orange. It was inappropriate when it polite company, but the woman's wariness only grew with each passing year.

The subtle body language that would have escaped a casual observer let Oda know that something was upsetting Xoxaa, though she had little idea of what. As the wind picked up and flung her braid to the side, Oda's focus was once again drawn away; this was no time for getting to know other members of the Famiglia, no matter how quickly she'd collided with them. That could come later, perhaps when the duo of Swords didn't have escaping thieves.

"Let's continue, yes?" The taller woman asked with an arch of her eyebrow. She made a motion to pat the blank-faced Apprentice on the shoulder, a gesture of camaraderie often shown amongst the more established members of the sector, but caught her slender fingers mid-air and slipped it down the hilt of her sheathed blade instead. With a nod, she resumed her sprint towards the charged ship with the intent of capturing the criminals before any of the regular guards were murdered.

With that awkward situation over for the moment, Oda's feet were swift across the pale sidewalk and she stood upon the boat's deck within seconds. It was eerily quiet before the guards busted one of the doors open with a shuddering crack. Oda remembered the design of these boats from a few of the more paranoid citizens, when she'd been invited on-board to investigate a curious noise in the storage or from the engine room. Directly below where she stood was a single hallway that lead to the control room.

Beneath the moonlight, Oda's form simply slipped through the pearl hull of the yacht. To any bystanders, it would have looked painless, but it was most disorienting to Oda herself. When passing through air, any injury whether by bullet or fire felt like nothing; an emptiness that left nothing to ponder for even a moment. Phasing through thick objects was far worse; it began with pushing against the current of the ocean with only one hand. Being forced away by nature itself, letting her know that she wasn't meant to be there.

Until she got halfway through. Thousands of hooks crisscrossed her skin and tugged, without a chance to pull back or anchor herself to the world beyond. It was possible to, but it wasn't pleasant and often left Oda shivering for a few days. This time was no different. Still, she pushed and slipped away from the night's embrace to land with a thud on the carpeted yacht floor below. Her arrival was punctuated by the march of boots and yells of guards as they searched the ship for the thieves.

There was no need for Oda; as she listened to guards rounding the corner into her hallway, dark brown eyes met the muscular form of one of the thieves. His visage was just as she could expect. Grizzled and dirty, like one would expect a pirate to be, but with a vicious will that spoke of all the people he'd killed and a gaze to match. The man was a mirror image of squad commanders within Sword, and the cool barrel of his revolver was already staring her down.

Not even a moment's hesitation, as the thief pulled the trigger. Were this any other life, Oda would have feared it, but danger to herself was the last thing she feared. The burning metal passed through the Adept of Swords as if she had never stood before him, sped through the air, and collided with the head of an arriving town guard. His cry was only brief before collapsing in the doorway and blocking the entrance of his own comrades. Oda would be hearing that for a few days yet.

The thief glanced at the sights of his revolver briefly before it dropped to the ground and drew the blade loosely hanging from his belt. The brand was that of the Famiglia and likely stolen from a warm guard's corpse. Oda drew her own blade to match her opponent's, though she had no intention of running him through. It was just to reinforce his assumptions about the opponent he'd heard in the hallway; likely having expected her to be sneaking up on him.

Luckily for Oda, people always saw things and took Occam's Razor to it; it was a key part of her fighting style. First came the parries, as the thief struck at her with blows trained by a hand less thorough than the Sword's, letting them slip away just far enough for him to believe he had a chance of breaking her defense. Then, with a feigned grunt of exertion, Oda made a clumsy feint that the thief took full advantage of, as the point of his blade was driven through where Oda's stomach would be.

The length of the blade passed through the air, as the thief stumbled forward. Oda looked into the man's panicked eyes for only a moment, as battle was no time for gloating, before she dropped her weapon and brought each of her fists to bear on the sides of the man's head. He crumpled to the ground in a heavy heap of wrought muscle, along with his stolen weapon. He would only be knocked out for a few seconds, but it was all the Adept needed before straddling his back and cuffing his wrists together.

The guards would be more equipped to bring the thief onto the island proper, as a group of them poured into the hallway after moving their deceased comrade out of the way. The party would be soon, Oda realized, as she walked past the solemn men to wait upon the deck of the ship; she suspected Xoxaee was already on board in the time it took to subdue that thief, and the Adept wanted to speak with her before attending the ball. With any luck, the night wouldn't become longer than it already had.

Beck de Telarius: The Hermit

"Four of us and four of them. Spread out!" Marcus said once the theives realised who was draped over his shoulder. Without a captain, there was no way they could leave the docks unless one of them knew how to sail a ship and command a crew. Even then, they still had to be pretty peeved about losing their potential ticket out of Regalo. Beck heeded his brother's words, spreading out so that each sibling was facing a theif each. Though he was somewhat combat trained, being in an Alchemist led him to take part in very little 'real' combat. He saw what people could do to their foes, but this was different, right? Beck could rely on his siblings for back up, couldn't he?

"Here goes!" Beck said to himself. If he was armed with a bow and arrow, all he could really do was keep his distance. Of course, he could try and confuse the theif but what would he buy? Maybe a little bit of fighting would show how dumb he was.

So, how scared was he? Beck pulled back an arrow and fired it at the theif's feet. A pleasant reaction would have been him screaming and running away. Of course, things never worked like that.

"You SQUIRT! ARGH!" the theif, obviously angered, pulled his incredibly large sword out of its sheathe and began to swing it wildly. Beck quickly fired another arrow, hoping to hit him in the shoulder, only for it to be deflected by the incredibly large sword. If it wasn't for Marcus' presence, Beck would have been the one to scream and run away. "C'mere, you!"

With a deft step or two, Beck jumped off the small balcony and managed to do an extremely sloppy safety roll on the way down. The theif didn't actually realise until he was at the top of the stairs that his target had moved. Never the less, he was fast and trudged back down the stairs as Beck fired another arrow (only for it to be deflected. Again).

So, he was a beserker. Beserkers, though unusually tough, angry and violent, weren't excessively smart. He was skilled, yeah, but not smart. There were two things possible; make him so angry that he would slip up and maybe fall off deck or try and confuse him with logic. Since making him angry didn't sound like a really good idea, maybe he could outwit the brute.

"C-come and get me!" Beck said as bravely as he could, his voice cracking mid-sentence not helping a bit. The theif didn't reply, instead roaring like a mad man and chasing the young de Telarius. Beck ran around a corner, catching his hand on the corner to help him spin around and held his breath. The theif yelled some more but when he followed Beck around the corner, he was met with nothing except fighting in the distance from the other siblings.

"Where are you boy!? I'll gut you where you stand! You can't hide from me!!" he kicked down a barrell, expecting Beck to roll out. He was extremely disappointed to find only smelly fish hit the deck and expelled his anger with a stomp and a roar. Just as he was about to kick down another barrell, a wooden plank made contact with his face and the theif fell back, falling into the fish guts. He was disorientated for a few moments before he picked up the lone plank from the ground. "Show your face! Show your face and fight, boy!!"

One of the fish magically (well, not quite) floated in front of him and threw itself at his face. The theif, though quite flabbergasted, was not quite as dumb as Beck had thought him to be and grabbed the empty space in front of him. Of course, it wasn't empty space. It was an invisible Beck.

"Ah! A Famiglia family, are we? Well ghost boy, just because I can't see you doesn't mean I can't strangle you!" his hands quickly made his way to Beck's esophagus. He didn't hesitate to start squeezing at the young de Telarius' neck. As his airwave was crushed, Beck felt his visibility return but managed to splutter out a loud enough squeak to his siblings.

"M-marcus!! H-help!!"

The afternoon sun's rays beat down on the hammock as it swayed to and fro in time with the crashing waves on the shore. A slight breeze blew on the black suit jacket that was placed across Aerous' face, much to his frustration. Ah, this is pleasant anyway. Oh wonder what this guard wants. Finishing his thought he saw a guard come around the corner of the building that was protecting him from most of the wind. The guard was yelling “AEROUS!” and looked rather worried. Sitting up, than leaning back in the hammock, turning it into a seat he lent his head back and watched the waves come in as the guard stopped in front of him.

“Aerous, there's been a robbery and you're needed to catch some of the thieves.” This doesn't really interest me, I'm sure that there's other family and sword members who could easily do this.
“Also, you can-”
“I can stop them however I want as long as I don't kill them?” Aerous finished the guards sentence, sitting up excitedly. “They don't really let me do this that much do they!”
“Ah.. I guess they usually do restrict you don't they.” The guard replied looking a little bit nervous.
“So where are they?” Aerous asked, tilting his head slightly as he looked at the guard.
“Uh- Marcus said they should be getting to the harbour soon.”
“Well I'm off then! Thank you!” With that Aerous swung forward and leapt from the hammock and began sprinting towards the harbour, leaving the guard in awe.

Sprinting through the streets he passed many people, quickly running past them without taking much notice. Every now and then he'd take a short cut through a back alley in which sometimes he had to jump and run along the walls or jump over fences or crates. Getting closer now, wonder where I'll find them? Wish I didn’t have to run from the other side of the island to get here. Bang. The sound of a bullet rang out, pointing Aerous in the direction in which he should go. Jumping up and pushing off a wall to change direction he began off in the direction of the sound, running past crates.

Seeing a man he didn't recognise with a gun drawn slowly approaching a boat from behind a shipping container in his mind's eye he quickly began slowing down, quieting his footsteps as he turned around the shipping containers edge to see the man's back. Now walking up to the man he tapped him on the shoulder to which an eek was let out. Aerous was smiling as the man spun around pointing his gun at Aerous smiling face. “DIE BASTARD!” The man screamed pulling the trigger at point blank range. Aerous dodged the bullet with ease, as he had already began moving before the man had a chance to pull the trigger, moving in close.
“Let's have some fun yes?” Aerous said bringing his hand up and flicking the man in the middle of the forehead, sending him stumbling back before the man had a chance to react.
“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?”
“You're one of the thieves aren't you?” Aerous said, again closing the ground between the two in a second as the thief tried to regain himself.

Pulling out a knife the thief slashed upwards at Aerous' head, again it was easily dodged as Aerous dropped down and flicked the man on the side of the knee. Jumping back after flicking the thief's knee a groan of pain followed. “Don't worry, only hit a pressure point, didn't break anything...” The thief was now down on one knee clutching his knee with his hand that had the knife and now pointing the gun at Aerous again. “.. Yet.” Aerous finished his sentence as the thief began unloading his gun as fast as possible. Dancing to dodge the bullet shots Aerous slowly got closer to the gunman, standing over him as the clip became empty. “You're out of bullets now, you won't be able to use your gun anymore will you?” Aerous taunted as he clapped his hands over the man's hand that was holding the gun, with extreme force. A loud crack, followed by a blood curdling scream of pain.
Foreseeing the man, now blinded by pain swing the knife at him haphazardly, he preemptively stepped to the side to dodge the attack. Aerous watched as the man looked shocked at how easily his attack was dodge, the pain clear in the man's now bloodshot eyes. With a flick under elbow the man's arm dropped violently, gravity now taking control of it. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?” The thief screamed in pain trying to push himself away from Aerous with his shattered hand and good leg.
“Well, I shattered your right hand and shut down your left leg and left arm.” Aerous replied grabbing the man’s arm. In one smooth movement he pulled the man in close and embedded his right fist into the man's stomach, hitting his whole body into the air. When the man's torso got to Aerous eye level he let jumped up and kicked wholeheartedly, feeling the man's ribs crack along his leg. The kick sent the man crashing through a group of stacked crates and pallets, landing in front of the boat that he was originally approaching.

Walking over to the now knocked out thief, Aerous looked up onto the boat to see guards rushing around and a familiar face restraining another thief. I know that body and hair style! “Hello Miss Oda!” Aerous yelled in greeting to the female who was now handing the handcuffed thief to a guard, and began waving to her smiling happily. Leaving the unconscious thief to the guards he made his way closer, still waving.

With her name called from across the harbor, Oda's gaze flicked over to the young man with inhibition problems. She'd heard the screams upon stepping onto the deck, and chided herself softly for forgetting that Aerous was likely the cause. The pretty boy seemed to exemplify just what his appearance would imply to a stranger; somebody without much care for due procedure or strategy, but he had a good heart when he put his mind into it, from what Oda had seen. And, despite her personal reservations about his effectiveness in becoming an Adept, he'd proven useful for the bulkier issues on Regalo island.

Though she could not leave the boat for the moment, Oda raised her hand and waved Aureous over to allow him to gloat over his victory. "Hello, Aerous." She called out, her voice firm but not particularly loud. Her thoughts were in part concerned for the owner of the boat she stood upon, which had no doubt suffered damage from the stray shot and blood pooled into a carpet. One would have expected the island to be a place only for the sensible, but there was always one person worrying about an orange tree. "Are you getting ready for the ball soon?" She continued as he got closer, reminding herself not to worry about island politics.

Xoxaa Illiphia

The High Priestess

"Let's continue, yes?" uttered the woman, drawing Xoxaa's eyes to her hand as it seemed to reach out towards her, only to interact instead with the hilt of the woman's sword.

Nodding, the woman redirects her attention back towards the ship, acting as the hideaway of a desperate thief. Meanwhile, guards rush aboard the ship, searching for the concealed criminal. The older woman was prompt, pursuing the villain alongside the guards of the island. This was the sign Xoxaa was waiting for, although her reaction is delayed. She follows suit and rushes to the end of the pier, only to have the woman already aboard... sort of. Her body had sunk into the ship somehow, like an apparition. It's a strange and mysterious power, one Xoxaa had always thought would be a real nice one to have for a variety of reasons.

"So... She's the intangible woman I heard about... Why was I able to hit her then? Or must she consciously activate it?" ponders Xoxaa as she stands at the pier's end, oblivious to the action on board that she's absentmindedly missing out on, again lost in her thoughts.

Before she even realized it, the woman reappears outside, standing atop the ship once more as the other guards vacate the ship with another guard, apparently deceased in tow. Suddenly, the situation then dawns on her, realizing she had done nothing at all to assist in the chaos.

"Sh!t! I was supposed to assist her!" recognizes Xoxaa, frozen up once more by the inconvenient circumstances.

Authority was never something Xoxaa was too fond of, but she still would do her best to follow along in the name of self-preservation, but it never served her well when she was expected to be immediately responsive and unquestioning. She could never be the perfect soldier in that respect. Her mind is always curious, questioning the merits and morals of her actions and the motivations and desires of high command. It has given her a sense of skepticism towards people, especially those in power, so it's only natural for her to be nervous of the woman's reaction to her supposed lack of duty and responsibility. Rather abruptly, her thoughts shattered in an instant, allaying her concerns for the moment as the voice of a young man boomed across the harbor.

“Hello Miss Oda!” shouts the voice of an energetic man of his youth, rather upbeat and energetic, perhaps due to the prospects of meeting up with a good friend?

"Oda?" Xoxaa shifts her gaze towards the man, ignoring her previous concern over the woman she was mentally occupied by.

It was a man, relatively youthful, and quite chipper. A bit unusually so, according to Xoxaa's perspective.

"Well HE's quite the flamboyant guy, huh?" a crooked, awkward smile on Xoxaa's face as she examines the man's attire and build while simultaneously reflecting on his demeanor, perky as he is. "Maybe he's waving to his 'girlfriend' up there..."

She giggles softly to herself over the situation, amusing herself while secretly passing judgment on the man's appearance, silly and "boyish" as she sees it for a man clearly in his twenties. Although she's seen him before, it was brief and they had never met. She isn't even sure of his name, although members not of her sector weren't too important to the tasks Xoxaa's designated to. Speaking of names, however, Xoxaa's focus quickly returns as her giggling stops and the smile slips from her face.

"By the way, did he call her Oda?" contemplates the impish young woman, turning around to spot the older woman, immediately freezing up once again upon realizing the circumstances. "Sh!t!"

Perhaps the woman's kindness is a constant and the girl's situation wont be seen as anything serious. However, life is rarely forgiving from Xoxaa's experiences. She played no role in apprehending the criminal, and worse yet, she didn't even appear to assist in the operation. Again, all she can do in her present circumstance is to await the woman's impending judgment down upon her. All she can hope for is that the woman will be forgiving and understanding as Xoxaa stands there, her glance fixates toward the ground nervously as new sweat rolls down the left side of her face. Fortunately, that moment has the woman's attention averting instead to the young man who alerted himself to this woman's sphere of awareness.

"Hello, Aerous," she states clearly with a calm, open tone, still clearly audible from the man's more distant position. "Are you getting ready for the ball soon?"

"Aerous?" ponders the still skittish girl, cocking her head towards the flamboyant man, examining him once more, but only briefly recognizing him. "And... the ball!? Oh sh!t!"

The woman begins to disembark the ship to meet the man, seemingly occupying the man's attention instead. Still, her actions, although diverted, would undoubtedly return to Xoxaa soon enough, the woman's redirection failing to dissolve the trepidation Xoxaa still bears, and there's the matter of the ball that the woman mentioned. As always, circumstances always spiraled out of control, just like this one is now. She remains paralyzed, contemplating her embarrassing lack of preparedness for the ball tonight, while also still apprehensive about how the woman might react to Xoxaa's supposed irresponsibility.

Annabell
"What do you mean I'm out of control!?" I yelled at a guard of the swords, "Who put you up to this!?" I had been stopped in my house clothes by some stupid guard

"Nobody Ms. Annabelle, simply put, today you have broken sixteen rules." He said sternly, he was a fat, ugly, meat head, "Six accounts of stealing, two accounts of breaking and entering, three accounts of disorderly conduct, and four accounts of assault."

"Ha! You can't count! You stupid guard, that was only fifteen accounts." I got him there, he looked like a fool, "Why don't you scurry on back to your post." I said sticking my toungue out at him.

"There it is, sixteen, insulting a superior." He wrote in a small notebook.

"Hey! That isn't fair, that isn't even a law, and I'm a coin, which means rank is irrelevant!"

"I'm going to take you in to see Marcus, your misdemeanors have caused too much trouble." The man thought I would go without a fight, clearly he was new.

"You see the problem with that is," I kicked him in the stomach, "You have to catch me first!" I laughed maniacly. "Ask your friends why I always get away, hahahaha." I grabbed the rope I hid under my bed and tied it to my bed post. The guard had begun to recover, "Oh crap!" I jumped out the window and shimmied down the wall. The guard leaned out the window confused, "Remember this next time you come to me to take me in!" I laughed with a taunting manner, "You'll never get me! NEVER!" I ran through the garden, careful not to step on any flowers.

I had a list of hiding spots, by my favorite was on top of the roof, nobody looked there, and I hid another rope up there so I could get down if needed. I climbed a tree near the mansion, then kept onto a small ridge under the roof, then all I needed to do was pull myself up. I figured I'd stay up there until the guards forgot about my misdemeanors. I mean come on, I paid all my debts, and the four guys I attacked were all saying how small I was. Not to mention I only broke into that store because I wanted to buy some candy, but they were not open.

I sat on the roof for a bit, until I saw a ladder, a curious sight indeed. Though I soon found out what had propped the ladder, that stupid guard had followed me up here! "Hold it right there! We must take you in for disciplinary action."

"How did... Never mind, I will never go to your leader, I'm not even a sword, so he isn't in charge of me!" The guard sighed.

"Don't do anything rash girl, just come peacefully with me." He slowly climbed by, treating me like a dog that was about to attack because it felt threatened. He wouldn't be too far off though.

"What exactly qualifies as rash?" My rope was hidden near where he stood, "Like kicking you in the stomach again or pushing you like an old man and skidding down your ladder?" I probably wouldn't be able to sneak attack him again, but I had practiced softening my falls with energy shields, well rather energy absorption shields. It works by taking physical, potential energy and negating it. It took a lot of reading to actually relate my. Skills to science and math, but I had succeeded. I looked over the edge, quite a fall. "Would jumping count as rash?"

"Don't jump, I'm sure your punishments won't be excessively severe." He said with a red face.

I calculated that if I jumped I would either break my legs, or absorb the fall. Oh well, first time for everything! "Haha! I guess you'll never find out." I jumped while yelling and laughing. Right before I landed, I prepared the shield, it somewhat worked. I didn't break anything, though I did feel a sharp pain, along with the still open deep cuts on my arms. "Crap! I forgot, I'm probably heavier than the last time I weighed myself, I completely forgot to account for a mass increase..." I layed on the ground a bit winded, my pride hurt more than my body. "Maybe I should try again, and this time with the new weight."

"No no," The guard was very out of breath, clearly he had run to check and see if I was dead or crippled, "Just come with me."

I really wasn't in a position to run again, my legs hurt, as did my arms, though he was way out of breath, so I guess we were on even ground. "You. Will. Never. Catch. Me."

He walked up and layed down next to me panting, we were in the garden. "Well lets rest and then we can try this again." He said this in a much kinder tone, so I didn't attempt to punch him in the side. I will should retract my earlier statement about him being ugly and fat and a meat head. He really wasn't all that bad looking, he was still stupid, but he certainly was a sight to look at. I think he was older than me by a few years though.

"Well you should catch me now while you can, because once I'm better, you won't catch me." I said, a bit less enthusiastically than before.

"Well what is your name?" He asked.

"Well you're an idiot, you already said my name earlier." I might add meat head back in actually.

"Well I am being polite, you know formal introduction and all. My name is Steven." He said, a little less tired now.

"Well my name is Annabelle, but if you call me anything but Annabelle or Anna, then I will beat you up." I made sure I was always called by my first name, and not the second half of it. "And why do you care? Your just a swords member, and not even a good one."

"Well we are laying in a flower bed, together." He must think he is s smooth, "I mean isn't it better to be taken in by someone you know?"

"Are you implying that you are going to take me in and you know who I am? Because neither of those are right, and if your leader wants to talk to me, he can attempt to catch me at the ball tonight."

"Here is an idea! Why don't I escort you to it, and bring you to the leader, then if you want you can punch me in the gut and run again. If you do that, I'll leave you alone until then." I couldn't really decline that offer, he practically asked me to punch him in his abdomen.

"Deal, now carry me to my room, I need to change and my legs hurt because of you!"

He sighed, "It was you that jumped. You could've easily followed me down the ladder and ran if you wanted." Silly normal people always think of normal ways to do things, so I ignored him. He stood up slowly, now back to a normal heart rate. He then picked me up like a baby. Now I am not very tall, only standing at 4"11 but, I still can't say I am the lightest person. Well he must be pretty strong because he didn't even struggle to pick me up. "Can't believe I have to carry you to your room because you were stupid enough to jump off the roof."

"I miscalculated! I forgot the my weight was higher than the last time I took it." If I could cross my arms without them hurting, I would. "Get a maid, I need someone to put my dress on."

"So you need to get dressed like a little girl too?" He laughed.

"Shut your mouth, for your information, I have problems with my arms because I stop real bad guys. Get Sharon, she always gives me cookies and puts bubbles in my bath!" The last part was a slip of toungue, I was slightly embaressed. "You know, with my bath of blood and evil tears!" He simply laughed and placed me on my bed.

"I'll be here to pick you up right before the ball, if you run away I will send more guards after you."

"Whatever." Steven laughed and walked out, a few moments latter Sharon the maid walked in.

"I was sent in by a handsome young man, is he your date?" Sharon was an old lady, with a lot of history in the house, she was like a grandmother to me.

"Sort of, he wants me to turn myself in at the ball." She slipped of my house shirt and asked which dress I wanted, "The red one please!"

"Pretty nasty cuts dear, tell me can I convince you to see a nurse?" She said in the most fragil, caring, and nice voice I've heard. She slipped the dress on carefully, and began brushing my hair.

"No it is fine, I'm way too strong to seek medical help. I'll be fine." She brushed all of the knots in hair away, a very painful process I hated. "I need to sleep a bit before the ball actually, do you think you can come later and redress me? I'm so sorry if it is inconvenient."

"No no, it is fine. Even the strong a beautiful have to sleep! I'll wake you with enough time to change." She slipped my dress of, but me in a night gown and left the room.

I laid in bed for some nice, relaxing sleep.

Marcus de Telarius- #8 Strength

As he gave the order, his siblings dispersed and engaged with their selected opponent. Marcus squared off with the thief on the far right. The others should be able to handle a single thief. Even if they didn't belong to the Sword sector, and for the most part weren't fighters by trade, there was no sign that their opponents had any real impressive skillsets. Besides, they were of the de Telarius family. Even Flint, whom Marcus held so lowly, was probably leagues ahead of any of these criminals.

The thief he squared off with was probably a good head shoulder than Marcus, and not particularly muscularly developed. He was probably in his early twenties, maybe even a bit younger. He didn't seem like much of the fighter type to begin with. Yet despite this, his face was marked with a grin of overconfidence and poise. Marcus found the gesture interesting, mainly for the reason that he had become quite intimately known to most criminals on Regalo for his...strict, borderline dictatorial observance of the law (particularly with matters concerned of his sector of defense), and harsh penalties he imposed on those who did not comply to the rules. But of course, Marcus concluded that perhaps and most likely, these thieves weren't even from Regalo, hence the destination overseas.

For those that did know of Marcus, his most recognizable feature was that of his golden gauntlets. He wasn't exactly sure what first compelled him to put them on those many years ago. They were a gift from a distant family relative intended for the de Telarius armory. Besides being of the most durable design, they held no significant complementary power to his own Arcana card. Yet for many since his initial debut with the gauntlets, they have become a symbol of his sense of justice and strength, despite the source not coming from the gauntlets themselves. They have also added a heightened dimension of fear to many enemies, as no way in hell did anyone want to be punched by Marcus while he wore those. In other words, the very appearance of the gauntlets upon the hands of Marcus that became frightening. Many have since come up with many telling tales involving the gauntlets, including the perception and comparison of Marcus to that of a knight in medieval times, some going as far as giving Marcus the moniker of the 'Knight of Regalo'.

Marcus seemed to have been able to wait forever for the thief to make his move. He didn't like much to strike first (unless the situation demanded for it), preferring instead to give his enemy a sort of symbolic one last chance to turn around or to surrender. As the thief stepped forward and prepped himself to attack, any chance he got was thrown out the window. Armed with a rather long knife, the thief approached Marcus and began swinging the knife around wildly, probably as a scare tactic, before extending his arm forward and thrust to knife at him. Marcus took a pace to the left and sidestepped the knife with such a effortlessness, it almost appeared comical. Before the thief even knew what happened, Marcus lifted his left arm, and connected his gauntlet-covered fist with the man's face. At the point of impact the deep snapping and cracking of bone was heard, and the force of his punch sent the man straight onto the deck. He didn't make a sound of protest, nor did he whine, screech in pain, or cry. He simply lay right where his body had dropped, blood oozing from the point of impact on his face, and any expectation of an extended fight was ended in a few mere seconds.

Marcus walked over to the thief, lingering over his unconscious for a moment. He wondered what compelled someone so young, perhaps so promising he did not know, to commit a crime. He couldn't understand it. Strict observance of the law wasn't so difficult. Yet once greed, desperation, or anger kicked in, most senses of duty, uprightness, law-abiding nature was suddenly put aside. This was the inevitable result. Marcus firmly believed that. Eventually, all criminals were caught, and all crimes were punished.

As Marcus turned his attention to his siblings, one of them, Beck, shouted for his aid.

"M-marcus!! H-help!!"

The eldest de Telarius sibling immediately reacted, coming to the aid of his youngest brother. As the larger thief choked Beck, Marcus came in from behind, grabbing the man by his shirt, and, using his superior strength, tossing him off of his younger brother. The man let go of Beck's neck, and was hurled about two meters to the adjacent side of the ship, crashing into a few barrels on the top deck. Marcus did not say anything to Beck, but merely gave him a look. It wasn't exactly one of disappointment, well perhaps it partially was. It was a look Beck was accustomed to seeing from Marcus from time to time, in it he could say everything that could be said in much more words. Most perceptibly, it was a look that said to Beck that Marcus expected more out of him than this. Yes, he wasn't in the Sword sector of La Famiglia like Marcus was, but Marcus set a higher standard upon his siblings to perform at a peak level he never placed on anyone else. Being of the de Telarius family meant that such high precision was expected of them, in Marcus's opinion, and he expected them to adhere to that.

As the larger thief recovered from Marcus's initial toss, Marcus turned away from his sibling to engage back with the man. He seemed angry. Pulling out his rather large sword, he charged forward. Marcus held his ground. The man swung his sword wildly, hoping some of his hits would slash at his opponent, but as he got closer, Marcus lifted his fists and prepared to engage back. The first clank of metal was heard as his gauntlets met with the man's large sword. The larger man tried to use all of his might to try and force the blade down, but Marcus's gauntlets didn't budge. He was confused, but continued to try and force it down, sweaty protruding off of his body intensely. Marcus, on the other hand, maintained a look of dispassionate tranquility. Inhaling a deep breath, he force his gauntlets forward, now meeting the forward push of the thief, causing the blade to break in half, much to the wide surprise of the thief. Before he could give any other reaction, Marcus lifted a fist and connected it with the man's face, the resulting sound of a crack to follow, followed by blood from his nose. A second punch was brought to his ribs, producing an equally potent, if not more so, crack, and this was followed by a third punch as an under hit straight at the man's chin, elevating him off of the ground and hurling backwards, causing all manner of broken items on the ship. With both of his opponents no doubt down for the count, Marcus took out a small handkerchief and extracted any blood or dirt that found its way onto his gauntlets. Wiping away any marks on them, he returned them to their shining, flawless form, and watched to see if the others had dealt with their part. He took out his pocket watch in his pocket, always mindful of events ahead, keeping an eye on the time to make sure they weren't late for tonight's ball.

A feeling of accomplishment settled in Ari, one that she didn’t feel too often lately due to lack of work. Her mind wondered places and so her feet carried her ahead without too much of a second thought. Pebbles lodged themselves between her bare feet as she hastily walked the streets of Regalo. The people around her hesitated to look her in the eyes because they feared her reputation. Once or twice she had traumatized innocent victims for the sake of fun. Ari wore a smug look on her face as she recalled the memories. When someone is either surprised or dying that’s when their screams became pleasurable to her. Above all else was when one pleaded for their life to be spared as if Ari cared enough to listen to their words. Her mind focused on the sensation of breaking them down into emotional wreckage along with the physical torture. Unfortunately she was under strict orders to spare their pitifully lives from Nova but driving them to the brisk of death and back had satisfied her, for now.

“Ms. Terranci?” Ari wiped her head in the direction of person who daringly spoke her name. If her minacious glare had the ability to kill someone this person had been exterminated, her state of mind still rolled in the memories of her sadistic past. Instantly Ari relaxed as she realized it was only Domencio but he had done the exact opposite. His whole body immediately tensed and his eyes shifted to the ground as if he were being scolded. In his rather large hands he clutched her shoes for his miserable life. The simple power she had from her reputation was truly an astonishing feat. Yet the public thought she got her power of illusions from her menacing eyes. A rumor that she hadn’t properly corrected in fear that it might do irreparable damage to her notoriety.

“Thank you, Domencio. Here!” She whispered as she crept closer to the man until there wasn’t any space between their bodies. Her breath tickled the man’s skin as a chill ran down his spine. She watched his Adam’s apple go up then down as if he had swallowed his words. She, in a flirty gesture, walked her fingers down the arm that held her shoes. To put the final touches on her rather perfect manipulative scene she moved down to his fingers where she fiddled with his worn silver wedding ring. Then she stuck her hand slowly into his pocket where she placed the money she took for them thief earlier in the day. He reluctantly in return met her eyes clearly responded more pleasantly this time. Ari erupted in laughter and snatched her shoes and disappeared into an alley. Her feminine wilds had never worked on anyone better than a middle aged, married man whose wife no longer had an interest in him. She casted a glance over her right shoulder to make sure he still watched her every movement, which he most certainly was, and with hands positioned on her hips walked with such confidence it demanded all attention be attracted to it at once.

Right away Ari regretted her strides as she stepped in the remains of dead rat and sewer water. At least she hadn’t taken the time to put on her shoes, which would’ve caused uproar and a vast wardrobe change for tonight’s ball. She muttered her distaste for her current uncouth environment, as she not as confidentially strutted back to the Famiglia’s mansion. Fate had timed her appearance perfectly as she watched the scene of the day take place in front of her. Ari in a short moment noticed the Arcana Mark before she took note of her the girl who displayed her self in a tacky manner. Her distant placement from the conversation hadn't hinder her as she assessed the situation in a cruel yet reasonable way. The girl clearly was new to the Arcana Famiglia and had yet to learn respect, which by Ari’s standards is intolerable. Ari silently strolled forward and continued to watch the girl climb a tree to escape inevitable capture. The rest of the ordeal unfolded in a rather predictable way with the newbie on the roof and then stupidly jumped. She questioned how the girl made it with seemingly no scratches or severe injuries. Eventually the guard carried the girl into the mansion; Ari traveled across the garden in order to lurk in the background to find out where he dropped her off at then patiently waited outside the bedroom for the maid to vacant her room where she heard the last tidbits of conversation. Before she entered the room in a fashion that seemed to demand attention she slid on her fancy golden heels that boosted her height to a staggering 6'.

“Did you just ask a maid to redress you? How pathetic.” Her voice filled with disgust and her words of venom but she hadn't wasted any time to wait for Annabell to respond. Ari carefully leaned her body against the doorframe so her elegant yet teasingly seductive dress hadn't snag. “You’re new here so that means you should be speaking when spoken to. When I commit your name to memory is when you are allowed to talk but I haven’t got the slightest clue of who you are.” Her lies spun a web so convincing it couldn’t help but be taken as the truth. The girl’s named was Annabell Belizaire, she was eighteen years old, holder of the eighteenth card titled The Moon, which allowed her to draw out people’s memories, and a member of Coin. Her control over her so-called Arcana Powers was laughable and she had a mangy, yellow mutt that followed her around. Ari had a file about every single person who was a contracted cardholder and within the Arcana Famiglia. “Grow up, kid. This isn’t fun and games anymore if you want that go play in your bubble baths back at the bank and stay there.” She kept her trained eyes on her, ones that seemed to be swirled with hatred as she glared at the vile human being on the bed. In case of the need of emergency reinforcement her Arcana Mark came to life on her back unknown to Annabell.

Camellia de Telarius – #20 Judgement

”Four of them, four of us!” Marcus said to Camellia and her brothers as the thieves scrambled to their feet; noticing the slumped figure of their captain at Marcus’ feet. While the three boys made their motions to intercept and face off against a thief, Camellia took the chance to walk backwards to the bow of the ship, hoping to separate herself from the fighting going on. However while the others had engaged their opponents, Camellia’s began walking towards her, tapping the pipe he had picked up off the deck menacingly. She winced every time he struck the pipe; the reverberations passing through the air making her shiver.

Camellia withdrew the knife from inside her jacket, holding it out shakily in front of herself. Having never used it for anything more than decoration, she didn’t know how to fight with it, much less fend this man off. She continued to back up, feeling the front of the boat draw near; the end of the line. With every two step she took, the thief matched it in one stride.

“Little girl with a little knife, doesn’t even know how to hold one,” a raspy laugh escaped his throat as he drew nearer to her; almost within striking distance.
“I-I-I can, you don’t want to hurt me!” She stammered, hoping to catch the guard out.
He smirked, “Why would that be, missy?”
“I-I have an Arcana Card!” Almost anyone knew of the famiglia’s affinity with the Arcana Cards and were equally wary of the people who held them as the power the cards imbued.

He lunged for her, swinging the pipe wildly, giving Camellia enough time to duck as it sailed past her head; brushing against the top of her ponytail. Again she stepped back and again he swung at her, but Camellia saw the attacks coming only moments before they were executed; giving her the upper hand and ability to dodge any coming her way. She silently thanked her Arcana Card for giving her even the briefest of visions as she used it to dodge any swing the thief aimed at her; but it couldn't go on for much longer.

There still remained the small matter of her lack of space as the next volley of swings brought her to the bow of the ship; wooden skirting separating her from a metre drop into the crystal clear waters of the bay. He knew she was out of room, sprinting forward and slashing the pipe in a downward motion. She tried to sidestep the strike, hoping to appear just outside of his swing, but Camellia forgot the wet skirting that lined the ship. At the wrong angle, her foot twisted, sending a sharp pain up her body as she fell backwards into the cool waters below.

The waters around Regalo sunk into the ocean quickly, making it a great place for sea trade and ships to dock. With clothes on, Camellia struggled against the weight bearing down on her as well as the current that threatened to drag her out into the sea. It didn't help that, in her last inhale, she had drawn in a large quantity of water. She continued to struggle, disorientating herself even more as she fought with her restricting clothing and tried to push herself to the surface.

Aerous Oxus

Oda's gaze feel on Aerous as she turned around to see his smiling face. A look of frustration quickly passed over her face when she saw him, before recomposing herself, the look easily brushed off by Aerous as she was annoyed with having to deal with the thieves. A slight breeze had come through, making his jacket ruffle slightly at the bottom, which he also took no notice of. As he got closer Oda, returned his wave, which he had continued. He stopped where he was and waited for her to say something but she continued to wave, in her own direction. Oh she must be waving me over as well. He thought, continuing to walk towards the ship to talk to her.
“Hello, Aerous.” She said this in a firm voice that Aerous dreaded, I'm definitely about to be scolded again.
“Marcus said I didn't have to hold back as long as I didn't kill anyone, so its okay Oda!” He said, already defending himself. She didn't even reply to this as she looked ad the blood that had pooled into the carpet in front of her. Looks like someone got shot. He thought, waiting for a reply as he got closer to her.
“Are you getting ready for the ball soon?” She said, completely ignoring what he had just said.

Now feeling safe he smiled as he replied. “Yes! Marcus put me on Nova's bodyguard duty for the first half of the ball.” Aerous was looking rather proud as he said this. Oh no, I gotta get ready! Oda sighed a sigh of relief as she heard this.
“Sorry I just remember I have to get back and get cleaned up and a new suit! Sorry again Miss Oda see you tonight!” He spoke, ignoring anything she said as he turned and began running to the main mansion to get ready.

The street's were busier now than when he had gone to the harbour earlier, much to his confusion on why there was more people around. Brushing off the fact he didn't understand he continued to run, easily avoiding anything and anyone who got in his way, even if it was a building, which he just climbed up and jumped over like he was Altair. Ah such a lovely place to run around this city is, he thought while jumping over a fence in a back alley that was only a block or two away from the mansion. Approaching the gates he saw Ari, a fellow member of the family hiding in the garden. What is she doing? He stood in the middle of the gates looking on in wonder as she proceeded to go into the mansion. “Hmm.” He said out loud, beginning to walk towards the main entrance of the mansion. The guards at the entrance of the mansion greeted him as he opened the doors and began to make his way to a room he regularly used that had a shower and a few spare suits stored in it.

As he was walking down the main hallway of the bedroom quarters of the mansion towards his regular room he her a woman's voice. As he got closer he recognised the voice as Ari's and decided to pay a bit more attention to what she was saying. “Grow up, kid.” She's belittling someone again, I hope it's not a new member. He wasn't a fan of the way Ari treated new member's as she seemed to treat them as they weren't part of the family, which frustrated him greatly because in his mind once accepted into the family they were a part of his family.
“..back at the bank and stay there.” Hatred was clearly present in Ari's voice as she came into Aerous view, apparently finishing her sentence. She was leaning against the door way blocking the entrance so the person inside couldn't leave if they wanted to without smashing through the windows. Quieting his footsteps he approached her and tapped her on the shoulder, making sure to avoid eye contact as she turned around, clearly looking angry.

He had already seen that she'd try to use her powers on him if they make eye contact so he just continued to walk away while speaking. “Miss Ari, don't pick or try and intimidate new members of our family please.” His voice was firm and piercing, though lost a bit of its effectiveness as he wasn't looking at her as he spoke. He continued onto his room, ignoring anything she may have said in reply as he was more focused on getting ready and looking presentable enough to stand next to Papa Nova at the ball later that night. “Ah tonight will be a great night.” He said to himself as he threw his clothes off and got into the shower.