Chapter 3: Unshakable Kindness ~ Elizabeth Arbor

On the outskirts of the Zahrah District of Nexus City, in a flower shop, situated in a field by the city’s outer moat, separating the people from the swampland that originally inhabited the area, lived Elizabeth Arbor. A young woman, with long, light brown hair, jade green dress and large sunhat, to keep the harsh Summer rays off her pale skin.

A quiet, relaxed girl who simply wished to care for and sell beautiful, perfectly grown flowers and plants in the hopes that they would bring happiness to whoever needed them.

Her older brother, Mason Arbor, on the other hand was not so calm. Always dressed smart with short cut brown hair, he was the brains behind their business. Elizabeth handled the plants and customers with her laid back charm while Mason dealt with finances and management behind the scenes.

While their shop seemed out of the way, it was once a popular stop for tourists visiting the city, on their way, to and from, the Nature Preserve. However, with the city’s rise in crime came a decrease in tourism.

Apathia’s activities repelled any potential customers as they refused to go anywhere that wasn’t heavily protected like the MacKenzie District, Nuan District or Nexus Point, the city’s central hub. Meaning, that with each passing month, the little flower shop by the river was finding it more and more difficult to stay afloat.

“What a lovely, sunny day…” Elizabeth smiled, sitting at the cash register of the shop, patiently waiting for any customers that might come by.

Business may not have been booming, but there was usually a handful of people still wandering around, sightseeing. However, today didn’t seem like one of those days.

“What a shame… not a single person.” She sighed, getting up from her seat. “Oh well… I guess I’ll check on the little ones.”

The shop’s interior was covered head to toe with potted plants, flowers and small trees. Elizabeth checked on them everyday. Watering them, trimming them and most importantly, using her Earth Magus to refresh the soil and speed up their growth to make them extra healthy.

After spending her whole life tending to these plants, Elizabeth was an expert at managing her Magus to produce the best results for her botanical babies.

It was a time consuming process, tending to everything in the shop, but she didn’t mind. In fact, it was all she ever wanted to do with her life. She loved nothing more than to watch over her plants as they grew big and strong, then pass her work onto her customers, hoping they would discover the same joy in botany that she did.

She was perfectly content. Her brother unfortunately, was not. Stressing over another phone call from the owner of the shop, he marched in circles, as he continued to plead his case.

“Of course we’re behind on payments, no one comes out this far anymore…”

“Honestly, Mason.” The woman on the other side, sighed. “Just move to the city, there’s plenty of potential customers out there.”

“No way! It’s too crowded and dangerous.”

“What if I sent you some new workers? I’ve got a few boys in mind who are just eager to help.”

“We can’t afford to pay for extra help right now…”

“By God, you’re stubborn. I was hoping supplying you with extra funds would help increase our profit margin, but at this rate, I might not make my money back at all.”

“What a shame for you.”

“Don’t get facetious with me. If you don’t turn this business around soon, I’ll be forced to take drastic action. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“We’ll talk again soon.”

“Who was on the phone, Mason?” Elizabeth asked, as he hung up.

“Just Miss. Purloin, living up to her name, as usual.”

“Are we still losing money?”

“Yeah… it’s not like when Mom and Dad were around. People rarely come out here anymore.”

“I know! We should hire more staff!”

“Weren’t you listening? We can’t afford to.”

“What about advertising?”

“Can’t afford that either.”

“What if we had a sale?”

“If we dropped our prices any lower, we’d be paying people to take our stock.”

“Well, what can we do?” Elizabeth pouted in frustration.

“I don’t know.”

“In that case, I’ll just go out to the city and-”

“No! You can’t! Not unsupervised! It’s too risky!”

“Right… sorry…”

“Just… go back to the register, Elle. I’ll figure something out.”

Elle did what she was told. She knew nothing about running a business and left everything to her brother, who was far more competent.

Mason returned to the back room, leaving Elle alone to tend to the counter. Just as she was beginning to feel downtrodden, a fidgety man in a black suit wandered into the shop, cheering her up immediately.

“Hello!” She waved, happily. “Welcome to the Arbor Shop!”

“U-uh, yeah, you sell flowers, right?” The man asked nervously.

“Flowers, plants and flora galore.”

“G-great! I was looking for some flowers… um… f-for a girl I like.”

“What flowers does she like?”

“I-I don’t know… I was thinking… r-roses maybe?”

“We’ve got plenty of those. Come with me, please.”

Elle directed the man over to the rack of roses.

“I-I had no idea there were so many different colours. Now I don’t know what to pick.”

“Well, red roses are traditionally used to express love and romance, but pink ones can be used to express gratitude and appreciation, if you want to take the more subtle approach. Oh, but these beautiful white roses are perfect for showing how truly committed you are to your relationship.”

“How committed?”

“To marry, of course.”

“Marriage!? I-I think I’ll just take the pink roses, for now.”

“Oh my, you seem rather stressed and your eyes are darting all over the place and you’re sweaty. Perhaps you should consider purchasing some lavender or primrose to help calm your nerves. It may even help when you’re around your special someone.”

“M-maybe next time.”

Something about the man’s behaviour seemed off, like he wasn’t being honest, but it wasn’t Elle’s place to criticise a customer, she was just pleased to see someone finally buying the flowers she had spent so long nurturing.

Elle never cared for the finances, advertising or bossy owners. All that mattered was seeing her hard work bring joyous smiles to her customers.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything else?” Elle asked, still smiling. “We’re not exactly short on stock.”

“N-no thanks… this’ll be fine.”

The man wasn’t used to seeing such genuine sweetness. She was practically brimming with kindness, it was almost unnerving. But, there was nothing sinister underneath her warm expression. This was just the way Elle was. The man couldn’t help but smile awkwardly in return.

“ELLE! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?” Mason yelled, rushing into the room.

“Look, Mason. A customer’s buying my roses!” She replied, unaware of his anger.

“Elle! We don’t do business with Apathia punks!”

“Apathia?”

“What’s the big idea!?” The suited man yelled. “Can’t a guy wear a suit and buy flowers in peace!?”

“Forget the suit! It’s that scent of bitter darkness! I’ll never forget it as long as I live and you reek of it!”

“Since when was it a crime to have Dark Magus!?”

“Apathia is not welcome in my store! Get the hell out of here!”

The man stammered for a moment before slamming the roses to the floor in anger, storming out. “Fine! I’ll just get my flowers somewhere else!”

“My roses…” Elle sadly muttered, looking down at the beat up flowers, dirtied on the floor.

“Forget them, Elle. He wasn’t interested, he was just staking the place out. Still, how did you not notice he was from Apathia?”

“It didn’t matter… he was just another customer… he looked so happy with those flowers…”

“Elle, you can’t be so naive, that’s what got our parents killed. Please be more careful.”

“I-I could have defended myself…”

“Maybe, but who knows what kind of damage that might have caused! I can’t afford to lose you or this shop! Please don’t put yourself in a situation where I could lose both.”

“Okay…”

Seeing his sister so upset, along with the sorry state of her discarded roses, forced Mason to back off and take a deep breath.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? Everything’s gone to hell and I don’t know how to fix it anymore. The last thing I want is for you to get hurt, too… let’s just close up for today.”

“Okay…”

Elle looked over at the tattered roses with their petals dispersed across the floor. It seemed like such an insignificant spot, but to Mason, it was where he experienced the most traumatic sight of his life. The discovery of his deceased parents.

Six months ago, on an average morning for the family business, instead of being greeted by his parents, tending to the plants like he expected, Mason entered the room and immediately stepped into a warm liquid, frozen in fear.

There, laid before him, were his parents’ lifeless bodies, bleeding out on the floor, with a black hand mark branded across his mother’s face, an imprint left behind by Dark Magus.

Just outside the shop he could see black suited individuals casually walking away from the shop, laughing to themselves over a job well done. He desperately wanted to confront them, but was too terrified and shaken to even speak, let alone move. It was on that day that Mason experienced the true terror and cruelty of Apathia, first hand.

Yet, despite the trauma and danger, Mason refused to leave Nexus City. Their parents worked tirelessly for their shop. It was the family business and he wasn’t going to abandon it, he would do everything in his power to keep their dream alive.

Even Miss. Purloin pledged to keep the shop running for as long as possible, but as the crime rate increased and tourism plummeted, so did the shop’s profits and now, after these murders, they were on the verge of shutting down.

Throughout the whole ordeal, Elle slept soundly that morning, unaware of the tragedy that unfolded until she was awakened by the sound of police sirens outside. Ever since, she’s done everything she can to support her brother, but knowing nothing about business, all she could do was tend to the plants and watch the cash register, like she always did.

That night, sitting in his office, which was just his bedroom with a desk planted in the middle, Mason pondered what to do about his money troubles. The fact that Apathia had the audacity to show up to his store after what they did, six months ago, made him consider moving.

“If we move to the city, there'll be more competition, but we’ll also be closer to the population… but we’ll also be closer to Apathia, too. We can’t just abandon this store, our parents lived and died for it, but if I don’t do something we’ll lose everything anyway. No jobs, no money and no home.”

Mason’s phone suddenly vibrated on his desk. “Who the hell’s calling at this hour?”

He answered, greeted by an angry, obnoxious voice.

“Hey! Remember me!?” The caller shouted, before Mason could say a word.

“Um… no?”

“What!? I’m the guy you kicked out this afternoon!”

“Oh.” Mason pressed a button on his phone and put it back on his desk.

It started vibrating again and he reluctantly picked up.

“Don’t hang up on me, asshole!”

“What do you want? How did you even get this number?”

“None of your business, but speaking of business, I heard yours isn’t doing too hot lately.”

“Your point?”

“As a member of Apathia, I might be able to supply your shop with a little extra funding, to increase your profit margin. Just as long as we get a slice of the pie, of course.”

Mason immediately hung up again, but as expected his phone violently rattled on his desk.

“Hang up on me again and me and the boys will burn that stupid flower shop to the ground! Understood!?”

“Why the hell would I make a deal with the organisation that killed my parents?”

“Because you don’t have a choice.”

“I have plenty of choices.”

“Yeah, move to the city and get assaulted by us, or stay here and go bankrupt.”

“You’d seriously assault us, just because I kicked you out of my store?”

“No one pushes Apathia around and gets away with it.”

“I’m not scared of you.”

“What about your sister?”

“What about her?”

“I don’t know… what do you think we should do with her?”

“Leave Elle out of this!”

“Looks like I struck a nerve, so here’s the deal. You work with us and in return, we leave your sweet little sister alone, alright?”

“How did you know she was my sister?”

“I-I have my sources, okay!”

“Who are you?”

“A very pissed off individual looking for compensation. Look, we’ll transfer funds into your account, you use those funds to fix your dying business and we get a slice of the profits. This isn’t hard to understand. Me and the boys will even give you a helping hand. So we got a deal?”

Elle woke up the next day, but there was no sign of her brother. She went downstairs into the shop, still wearing her nightgown, half-asleep, as Mason suddenly entered through the door, already up and working.

“Oh… Mason.” She yawned. “I slept all the way through to the afternoon again… Why didn’t you wake me? You know how much I love to doze off in the Summer.”

“I had some business to attend to this morning, that’s all.”

“Without me…?”

“I had to go into the city. I mean, how else are we supposed to hire new staff, you know?”

“New staff? Oh, that’s wonderful. It gets so lonely out here, I’d love to meet some new faces. When are you hiring?”

“Actually, they should be arriving soon.”

Just as Mason predicted, a car pulled up to the shop, with Elle rushing to the door to greet the new employees. “Welcome… oh, you’re not what I expected.”

Three rough and gruff men in casual shirts and jeans waited for her at the entrance.

“Whaddya mean by that?” The bald man asked. “You gotta problem with guys wanting to grow flowers?”

Elle paused for a moment, still a little shocked. “Not at all! Anyone who’s a friend of flowers is a friend of mine. Come in, I’ll show you around!”

“Did you just wake up?” The shorter, red headed man asked.

“Oh my, how embarrassing…“ Elle blushed. “Oh well, please, this way.”

The men followed Elle inside, in awe at all the plants surrounding the shop.

“So, what are your names?” She asked them.

“Chuck.” Answered the bald man.

“Frank.” Answered the black haired man.

“Nick.” Answered the short haired, redhead.

“Nice names. Easy to remember. So, what made you boys want to work in a flower shop?”

“Oh, our boss told us to.” Chuck replied, as Frank’s hand swiftly smacked the back of his head.

“Watch your mouth, stupid.”

“Your boss?” Elle questioned.

“Yeah… you know?” Frank answered. “That Mason guy. He came to us and we needed the work, so here we are.”

“Oh, I see.”

Oblivious to their deception, Elle continued the tour until she suddenly questioned them again.

“Do you boys use any types of Magus?”

“Yeah, we use Dar-ow!” Nick responded, before he too, got a fist to the back of the head. “None. We don’t got nothing.”

“Okay…?”

Suspicious, Elle got in Frank’s face, glaring at him like an angry mother.

“W-what?”

“Why do you hit your friends over the head?” Elle asked, sternly.

“Because they’re idiots.”

Elle’s fist suddenly slammed down on Frank’s forehead. “Ow! What the hell!?”

“It’s not very nice when someone konks you over the head, is it?”

“No, it hurts!”

“Then don’t do it to your friends. I won’t tolerate such mean bullying in my shop, you hear me?”

“Yeah, sure, okay…”

The others stifled a laugh as Frank looked on in confusion. He thought for sure she had them figured out already, but instead Elle just scolded them like a mother dealing with her bratty children.

“Wait a minute.” She suddenly announced without warning. “Have I seen you somewhere before?”

Frank started sweating. “I-I don’t think so…”

“Your sweatiness is definitely familiar.”

He didn’t understand why, but this girl had an intimidating aura. It triggered an instinctive fear of being grounded if he answered incorrectly. “L-lots of guys are sweaty.”

“Yeah, but you got it real bad, Frank.” Nick taunted.

“Shut your face!”

“I got it!” Elle cheered. “You look an awful lot like the man who bought my roses yesterday.”

“Oh…? Oh! This is the flower shop I was in yesterday!? I-I’ve been to so many I must have forgotten.”

“Well, I think it’s wonderful that you put that awful Apathia job behind you for more honest work. It’s always nice to see someone turn their life around for the better.”

“Better?” Chuck chuckled. “I guess Frank’s upgraded from an asshole to just an ass.”

Angered, Frank raised his fist, only for Elle to quickly grab his arm, scolding him once more. “Ah, ah, ah. No hitting.”

“Alright, alright. You can let go now.”

“Good.”

Elle brought them to the back of the store where she instructed them on what their job would entail.

“Watering plants, fertilising their soil, clipping their branches and other general maintenance. You’ll also have to deal with handling stock and speaking with customers, just like any other store clerk.

And don’t worry if you’re a beginner. I already have a detailed timetable showing the schedule of who needs attention and when. I even have different watering cans and sprinklers so you don’t have to worry about over-feeding them. Just follow the plan and everything should be fine. I’ll be around if you need any help.”

The boys looked over the plan. It was surprisingly in-depth, a spreadsheet with information on everything in the store, it was a little overwhelming.

“You’ve been doing this all by yourself?” Nick asked.

“Of course. I’m not very good with business stuff, so I just take care of the plants.”

“Yeah, with how detailed this thing is, I can’t see how you have time to do anything else.”

The boys were quickly put to work, under Elle’s supervision. She watched them water, trim, add and remove soil and fertiliser, following her routine to a tee.

“Oh shit!” Chuck cried.

“Oh dear, what happened?” Elle asked.

“I only meant to trim some of the bonsai tree’s leaves, but I cut off the whole branch.”

“That’s a shame. Here, let me see it.”

The tiny tree’s branch had completely snapped off, leaving an awkward bald spot in the center. “I can fix this.”

Elle put her hands to the tree, as it glowed in a faint hazel aura. The snapped branch suddenly started to grow, returning to its original length.

“There, that should do it.”

“Woah… I had no idea you could use Earth Magus like that.”

“It takes a delicate touch to heal plants with Magus.”

“But, can’t you use it to bring the leaves back, too?”

“If I did that, I’d risk shortening the tree’s lifespan. I’ve already given it the start it needs, it’s up to the tree if it wants to turn over its new leaves.”

“Turn over new leaves?”

“It’s a metaphor, dumbass!” Nick interjected.

“Oh, I hate those.”

“Hey, Elle. Can’t you use your Magus on an apple tree to grow fruit real fast? You’d make a killing off of that.”

“I could, but the fruit would be tasteless and devoid of nutrients. Even with Magus, there’s no taking shortcuts when it comes to nurturing something you care about.”

Mason soon checked up on Elle’s progress with the new staff, hoping nothing had gone wrong.

“Sorry, I disappeared like that, Miss. Purloin called and… what?”

To his shock, the men he brought back were following Elle’s orders without question, while she watched over them like a doting caretaker.

“Oh, hi Mason!” She greeted. “Those new recruits you hired are great! It’s so nice to have the extra help, especially with moving the heavier plants during closing time. They’re such hard workers.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“What? Is something wrong?”

“They haven’t been causing any trouble have they?”

“They can be a bit rowdy, but they’re very sweet once you get to know them.”

“Sweet?” Mason looked over to Frank, he glared back for a moment, but returned to work.

Mason wasn’t fully convinced. “Yeah, well it’s closing time, so maybe they should head home now.”

“Is it closing time already? That went quick.” Chuck replied.

“See you tomorrow, Miss. Arbor.” Waved Nick.

“Oh please, just call me, Elle. See you later.”

“Oh, and maybe get dressed next time.”

Elle suddenly realised that she was still wearing her nightgown from when she woke up. “Oh my! I’ll try to remember! Bye-bye!”

Mason had no idea what was going on, but was glad his sister was somehow able to tame such dangerous men.

Over the rest of the week, under Elizabeth’s guidance, the boys helped run the store and drum up advertising, drawing attention to the scenic flower shop and bringing in more customers. It wasn’t a massive leap in revenue, but it was a solid start.

Elle couldn’t have been happier to see more people coming from the city to purchase her work, unaware of the troubles Mason was dealing with behind the scenes.

At the end of their first week, Elle waved the boys goodbye for the evening when they suddenly remembered they had business to attend to.

“Where are you three going?” Elle asked, as they headed into the living area.

“Oh, we’re just going to have a chat with your brother.” Frank replied. “You know, about payment? It’s been a week and we ain’t doing this for free.”

“Oh, okay.” Elle smiled, heading back into the storage room.

“Wait, you’re coming over now?” Mason asked, exiting his room, phone in hand.

“Of course.” Miss Purloin replied. “Those new boys you hired have done wonders for our shop. I want to personally congratulate them.”

“Our shop?”

“Could you keep them busy until I arrive?”

She hung up, as Mason looked from his phone to find the boys already waiting for him.

“I take it you heard all that?” He asked.

“Yep, we ain’t leaving until we’ve had a little discussion about payment.” Frank asserted.

“You’ll get your paycheck when it’s ready. I still have to figure out how to properly manage all this extra revenue.”

“When it’s ready? You’re not trying to weasel out of our agreement are you? Because, there’ll be dire consequences if you are.”

“Hold on, I got a call to make.” Mason dialled a number only for his phone to be slapped out of his hand.

“No more distractions. Chuck, grab him.”

As commanded, Chuck got behind Mason and restrained him, covering his mouth as they carried him away. Dumping Mason outside the shop, they pinned him to the wall, like a cornered rat.

“Remember the deal we made over the phone? We lend you money to fix your business and we get a slice of the profits. So, where’s our profit?”

“In your paycheck, where else?”

In response to his disrespectful tone, Frank’s hand conjured up dark energy that flew past Mason’s shoulders, embedding into the wall. Black tendrils shot out of the black spots, wrapping around Mason’s arms, locking him to the wall.

“Alright, smartass, I’ll ask again. Where is our profit?”

“How much money are you expecting me to give you?”

“Whatever you’ve made, we’ll take half of it.”

“On top of your paychecks?”

“Of course, they’re our cover. Makes us look more legit, you know?”

“Between you, Miss. Purloin and business expenses. Me and Elle won’t have any money to live on.”

“If it weren’t for us, you’d be homeless already. You should be a little more thankful.”

To assert his authority, Frank swiftly punched Mason in the gut.

“The only thing I’m thankful for, is that this time, there’s a witness to your cruelty.”

Frank was confused, until he realised that a car had stopped just outside the shop, with a figure already stepping out. “Oh, great. Here we go.”

A woman in a business skirt, shirt and heels with a long black ponytail, waltzed over to the group, completely unfazed by the thuggery on display.

“What are you idiots doing?” Miss. Purloin questioned.

“Getting our money’s worth, what does it look li-” Frank’s impolite tone was swiftly punished with a slap across the face, knocking him to the ground, his cheek burning from the impact.

“Stupid, impulsive bastards! This is why you’ll never move up the organisation! How are you supposed to work with these people if you assault them! This isn’t the Veritati District! You need to be more cooperative!”

“What…?” Mason asked, looking down at Frank, writhing on the floor.

“Oh, don’t you start, Mason. As soon as these jackasses started acting on their own, the whole operation was bound to be put in jeopardy sooner or later. But, I didn’t think it would be this soon. Good thing I came.”

“Operation…? Who are these guys to you?”

“These boys are my subordinates. I was going to hire them on your behalf, but it seems the three stooges wanted to be ‘impressive’ and do things their own way. When they’re supposed to follow my orders! Just look at this sorry scene! I was right to not trust you idiots!”

Mason went silent, fixated on Frank’s cheek. Once he finally removed his hand from the burning flesh, Mason’s suspicions were confirmed.

“No way…” He muttered.

“Oh, don’t worry yourself.” Purloin replied. “As long as you keep doing what you’re doing and pay up, Apathia won’t touch you. Promise.”

“It’s the same…”

“I thought you’d be more vocal about this, not that anything you say really matters. At least I don’t have to put on this charade anymore.”

“The mark on his cheek… it’s the same mark I found on my mother. It was you! You slapped my mother, right before she died!”

Miss. Purloin clasped her hand in shock, angered by her own impulsiveness.

“That reaction confirms it! You were there! But, you didn’t just slap her, you were the one who killed them, weren’t you!?”

At this point, Purloin had already revealed her connections to Apathia and so felt she had nothing else to lose. “Well, aren’t you a big brained boy? What are you going to do, convict me? Good luck.”

“Why!? Why would you help our parents, only to betray them!? Why would you kill them!?”

“Because they were in the way. They didn’t like that their profits were being used to support Apathia and broke off contact with me. So, I killed them in response and used their children to generate revenue instead.”

“You monster!”

Purloin didn’t care for Mason’s outburst, as she looked over the business that had been a thorn in her side for far too long.

“Honestly, now that I think about it, I never liked this place and you knowing the truth is only going to complicate matters further. I think I’ll just burn this whole building to the ground, along with the rest of the Arbor family and wash my hands of this whole affair.”

“No! You can’t!”

“Why? Who’s going to stop me?”

“Um… what’s going on out here?” Just outside the entrance was Elizabeth, having stumbled onto the scene. “I heard yelling and came to see if everything was okay.”

“Perfect timing.” Purloin snickered. “Nick, deal with her, will you?”

“You mean ‘deal’ deal with her?” Nick asked.

“Yes. Prove you’re a man and kill that young girl.”

“Wait! Don’t fight Elle! Please!” Mason begged, but was ignored.

“Nick, what are you doing?” Asked a frightened Elle.

“Sorry, Elle. I don’t have a choice.”

“I don’t want to fight you, Nick.”

“Doesn’t matter what any of us want. I can’t refuse an order from my boss.”

Nick charged at Elizabeth, his hands engulfed in Dark Magus, but just as he was about to get close, a giant tower of stone burst out of the ground, blocking his path. The massive monolith of earth towered over him, leaving him awestruck by its size.

“Holy crap! That’s huge!”

He attempted to run around it, only for more towers to burst forth around Elle, preventing him from reaching her.

“Will you just force your way through them, already!?” Purloin ordered.

Nick darkened his fists and prepared to beat this way through the rock, but the stone in front of him shook in anticipation.

Before he could figure out what was happening, square stone blocks jutted out of the tower wall, ramming themselves into Nick’s body, retracting in and out at incredible speed, like fists pummeling his body, after which a final large stone cube slammed Nick through the air, landing at the feet of his comrades. He was down.

“I-I’m so sorry, Nick!” Elle cried, as her stone towers retracted back into the earth. “I was just defending myself!”

“Told you not to fight her.” Mason remarked. “Elle’s Earth Magus is ridiculously strong. It’s why I don’t like her going to the city alone. If she gets in trouble with Apathia thugs, who knows what damage her Magus would cause and the last thing Elle would ever want is to hurt someone.”

“This is unbelievable.” Purloin complained. “Frank, Chuck. You’re next. Go finish her.”

“What are you? Nuts!?” Frank yelled. “There’s no way we can break through that!”

“Stop whining and do as you’re told!”

The two men, scared of disobeying their boss, rushed toward Elle, only for her to summon another stone tower, this time below herself. She rose high into the air, away from danger.

“Don’t just stand there, gawking!” Purloin reprimanded. “Climb!”

Just as the two were about to grip onto the tower, the earth shifted again. This time Elle’s tower retracted back into the ground, while the earth beneath the boys shot into the sky.

However, the ground they were standing on became slanted. They lost their footing and slipped off, grabbing onto the edge of the pillar and clinging to it with their Dark Magus, to prevent a nasty fall.

“I’m so sorry!” Elle cried toward them. “If you promise not to fight anymore, I’ll bring you down safely!”

Suddenly, the sound of police sirens filled the air, putting Purloin on edge. “Police!? Out here in the boonies!? How!?”

“About time…” Mason complained. “I called them right before your goons grabbed me.”

“What!? Sly bastard! I’m not dealing with this!” Purloin rushed to her car, to make a hasty retreat.

“Boss, wait!” Chuck called. “What about us!? What do we do!?”

“Take the fall, obviously!”

“From all the way up here!?”

Purloin promptly retreated, as Elle’s stone pillars brought her goons back to earth. The officers on scene soon arrested the abandoned subordinates, who turned themselves in, knowing full well there was no way of escaping with Elle around. All five of them were then brought down to the station for questioning.

After gathering information about the incident and confessions from the three Apathia members, it was clear that Mason and Elizabeth were just two more victims of Apathia’s reckless greed.

Elizabeth sat in the reception area of the station, with her brother, Mason, waiting for word on what would happen to her employees.

“Excuse me.” Asked an old black man, wearing a dirty coat and cap. “You’re Elizabeth Arbor, right?”

“Um, yes. Hello.” She replied, shaking the man’s hand.

“Hi, name’s Akachi Quaero. You heard of me?”

“I’m sorry, I haven’t.”

“Darn, I just got done dealing with one clueless troublemaker and now I’ve got another on my hands?”

“Am I in trouble?”

“Nah, but someone filled me in on the confessions of a certain trio of Apathia goons that just showed up. Apparently, you’ve got some crazy strong Earth Magus at your disposal.”

“I try not to use it, since all it does is hurt people. I’d rather just tend to my plants.”

“But, what if you used that power to tend to criminals? To defend people, instead of hurting them?”

Akachi handed Elle an employment contract.

“Magus Defense Agency?” She wondered.

“Yeah. I’m forming a group of Magus users to help defend the city. We could use someone as strong as you. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to learn how to properly use your Magus, so the only people you hurt are the bad guys.”

“Hold on!” Mason interrupted. “My sister isn’t a fighter! And she’s not a tool to be used by some old geezer, either!”

“I ain’t some old geezer! I’m one of the founders of this damn city! Show some respect! Besides, she isn’t going alone, she’ll be part of a team!”

“I don’t care how much authority you have! There’s no way Elle would agree to this!”

“Sure, I’ll give it a shot.” Elle immediately agreed.

“What!?”

“What? According to the contract, we’ll be defending the city from the likes of Apathia, so that innocent people like our parents won’t have to suffer at their hands.”

“But, what about the shop? I need you, there.”

“Mason, I don’t know the first thing about running a shop. You practically do all the work. With this, I can bring in extra money, without being a burden on you.”

“But, you’re not a burden. What about the plants?”

“Oh don’t worry, I’m sure they can handle them.”

Elle pointed to the three Apathia members that were brought in by the police officers.

“No way! Those guys are going to be locked up for a very long time.”

“Not if we don’t press charges.”

Frank and his men were confused. “What are you talking about?” He asked.

“Please, Mr. Officer.” Elle explained. “These boys were being used by an evil, Apathia woman. I’ve worked with them this past week and I know deep down, they’re not bad people. They deserve a second chance.”

“You’d really give bozos like us a second chance?”

“Of course. You can stay and work at our shop and leave those awful gangsters behind. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?”

“You’re the best, Miss. Arbor!” Chuck cried.

“If I wasn’t still in pain, I’d cry too.” Nick wheezed.

“See, Mason.” Elle cheered. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

Mason couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Elle had these hardened criminals wrapped around her finger.

“Fine.” He begrudgingly accepted. “As long as they don’t assault me again.”

“They would never do that, right Frank?”

“N-no. Never again. Besides, if I was sent to prison, Rebecca would kill me.”

“Outstanding.” Akachi thought to himself. “Her Magus may be strong, but her real strength is that unshakable kindness just beaming from her. Anyone capable of befriending Apathia goons with such ease will be an invaluable asset to the team.

Elizabeth Arbor… She’s perfect.”