A New Dawn

Eltheca, Dormitory, Morning

After a long night of celebration Kiizu was exhausted, she had gotten to know her new teammates along with a newfound love for the type of fish served then. Rising from her bed, she groaned as her eyes squirmed from the cool floor though taking her steps towards the mirror provided, she realized something.

"E-Eh?!"

"Morning."

Falling to the ground, she puffed her cheeks at the figure looking down at her with his arms crossed. What surprised her more was the hand stretched out to her as by instinct she took it as he pulled her off the floor.

"T-Thank you..."

"It's time for us to leave, we have a long journey ahead of us."

Taking his leave, Kien closed the door behind him as she fumed with anger at what just happened.

'T-That idiot! Barging into a girl's room like that! Who does he think he is!'

After taking a breath, she stood up and proceeded to get herself ready but then took a moment to vent her stress.

"I'll show you that I can do better than you!"

Eltheca, Courtyard, Morning

Taking her steps outside, Kiizu yawned with the radiant sun bearing down on her kindly then realizing her group was waiting for her outside she happily ran towards them.

"Mornin!" Nashi shouted with a grin.

"Good Morning Kiizu!" Ringo spoke waving.

"Hey! You finally showed up!" Kaki jeered.

The Hooded Girl sat silently against the wall though acknowledged Kiizu with a silent nod.

"Sorry for being late!" Kiizu responded sticking her tongue out.

"Good, you're all here." a voice spoke as they all turned to the sound.

Kien approached them as they exchanged their pleasantries then falling in line, they awaited his instruction. Taking a moment to clear his throat he took a moment to observe each of them. Noticing that the girl leaning against the wall didn't bother moving he merely smirked and proceeded.

"Today's mission will require you to follow my orders to the exact word. You will die if you do not obey them. Do you understand?"

Startled by this response each were unsure as to why they were suddenly thrown into a challenging task on their first day.

"Y-Yessir!"

The remaining members turned to see that it was Kiizu who responded rather firmly to this request from Kien. They could see the fear in her eyes, yet she was still determined to respond to this as they soon turned to Kien for their response.

"Yessir!"

Crossing his arms and observing their response, Kien could only smile then turning towards the transporter waving a hand towards them. With a sigh of relief, they looked at each other and nodded confirming their decision and quickly followed him into the portal then being transported soon afterwards.

Ellenore City, Outskirts, Midday

The buffeting sounds of their arrival startles the nearby wildlife as the portal opened with each of them coming out one-by-one. Stumbling to the ground, Kaki ran towards the nearby stump as the sounds of retching put faces of disgust on his teammates with Kien simply looking.

"Oi, Kaki...you alright?"

"Just...give me a minute...HRK!"

"That's gross..."

"Yeah..."

"..."

Walking towards the city entrance Kien took a moment to ponder upon the city. Its walls stood relatively high and displayed the symbol of The Southern Benedia Kingdom as its capital city it had a reliable amount of guards that were stationed there despite Bellatos's influence threatening it's freedom. Turning back towards the group, Kien began his briefing session.

"Right, today's mission involves us disposing of a certain member of The Senate here. His actions against The Kingdom have been made aware to The Chase and while we cannot publicly execute for his crimes, we are to do what he has done. Work in the shadows."

"Wait, we're supposed to kill him?"

Ringo frowned at the thought of taking the life of someone to which Kien immediately reprimanded her brandishing a blade to her throat.

"This is what you've signed up for, if you cannot see the intended result then leave."

"Hey! There's no need to threaten her like that." Nashi spoke up pushing the blade aside.

"Yeah, we're still novices compared to you. Doesn't mean we can just kill whenever we like."

"I tell you this now because when the time comes you must be ready or die."

"I have a plan."

Speaking up, Kiizu interrupted the conversation as she took a deep breath then looked at Kien to at his surprise went silent returning to his usual mood sheathing his blade and resting against the tree.

"Go on."

Calmly walking towards the view of the city Kiizu pondered briefly as if lost in thought.

'Plan? What plan you idiot?! Come on...think...think!' Kiizu thought biting her nail.

Noticing a caravan in the distance she suddenly came up with an idea and turned back towards the group happily as their puzzled expressions built her confidence whereas Kien's face lit up for a moment in response to this newfound courage.

"The plan is simple; we take refuge with the caravan and slip in without raising suspicion. Afterwards, we would rendezvous wherever Kien goes and move forward."

Walking up to her, Kien gazed at her then took a moment to ponder himself concerning this plan. Silently nodding, the group sighed with relief as they each exchanged a quick notion of congratulations for Kiizu's quick thinking.

"It's not a bad plan, we'll rendezvous at the Church Building near the city center. Once we enter the city, you will have five minutes or be left behind."

"Wait, what?!"

"Don't worry Nashi, we can do this man!"

"Yeah! Let's make our first mission a success!"

As the trio exchanged their words of courage, Kiizu felt the other girl walk up beside her.

"?!"

"Good luck."

Kiizu was surprised, this was the first time she heard her speak to which then taking a moment to look at her hand she noticed a soft glow as she looked towards her team. She knew there was a lot at stake and failure was not an option here. Quickly running up to them they proceeded towards their objective.