Harvet's Choices - Part 2

With so many members of both the Guild and the Association out battling against each other without any care to their surroundings, Harvet found it difficult to slip past without anyone noticing her.

With herself still clad in Guild colors, she found herself more often then not, having to fight against the Association more than any members of the Guild.

Just as she made her way out of the middle square, she attempted to slip in between two buildings, hoping to stay out of sight.

Unfortunately, two men and a woman from the Association caught sight of her and we're quick to prevent her from escaping.

With a click of her tongue, Harvet found them annoying like cockroaches. Despite her heavy hits, the two men would bounce back up, pacing around her and watching her wearily. With Judith in hand, she couldn't easily kill them either. She couldn't even put her down because the people from the Association kept their eyes mostly focused on Judith.

The two men in black and white surrounded her with quick assured steps. She dodged one of them who aimed a kick at her from the left just to run into another kick on her right from the other man.

With a grunt she was forced to remove a hand from Judith in favor of blocking. With her arm, she knocked the man off balance and further away from her. Feeling a tug, Harvet found herself punching away the woman she had nearly forgotten about, she had nearly managed to pry Judith from Harvet's grasp.

That was when it clicked. The reason why they were so adamant about stopping her, why they seemed so determined and how they kept their eyes focused mainly on Judith. With the colors of Harvet's clothes and Judith in hand, out cold, it looked like she was kidnapping her.

From all of the stories she had heard about them, the people from the Association were all, for the most part good people. They were the more heroic group, taking upon missions that helped people versus how the Guild took on missions that usually killed people instead.

"We've found one of the children!" The woman reported as she called someone through her phone.

"A woman in the eastern part of the Guild has one, we're going to question her to find the location on the others. Dispatch Yori's group, if we can't find out more information from this woman perhaps their group can comb this location to find all the missing children."

Harvet couldn't help the dry laugh from her throat as she blocked a few attacks from the men. Where were all of these people when she needed them? Why now, when she had already gotten her brother out?

She clenched her fist, she put down Judith for a second which quickly caused them to become distracted. Taking advantage of the three trying to get to Judith, Harvet was able to quickly knock out the three people in front of her. Part in bitterness and part in annoyance, she might have broken a few of their bones. The phone clattered to the floor, the screen shattered and the light fizzled out.

Scooping up Judith, Harvet turned around a corner and headed into a small flower shop to change out of her clothes.

After making sure there was no one inside of the shop with her, Harvet entered a closest, closed the door behind her and turned on the light. She put down Judith in a clear spot before tugging at the bag at her side.

She pulled out some clothing and briefly hesitated. She only had two different sets of clothes to choose from. Her uniform that she wore for the Guild, and her maid outfit that she had gotten for her infiltration mission at the Mandelton Mansion.

Looking inside of the closet, hoping to find some clothes, Harvet was only able to find some clean black leggings, a red apron with a flower mark at the bottom corner and red scarf.

Without much choice, she put on the maid uniform with the black leggings and her boots. She eyed the red articles and shrugged, deciding to put them on as well. She tied the scarf around the collar of her uniform and smoothed down the apron on her front.

The longer Harvet stared, the more she liked the red additions. It somehow made her feel like she was one of Uteu's people. She felt a tug at their connection and sent her energy through it. Uteu was fighting right now to save his sister, she would need to accomplish her mission as well.

Harvet thought back on Uteu's words to her before they separated.

"I need you to take Judith away from here.... Wait, actually..." Uteu had said before he leaned in and whispered into her ear, "I've seen where they keep the Psyche children. Do you remember the isolation cells? The cell warden has another place on a lower level, deep down, past even where they keep all their most dangerous prisoners. They keep the Psyche children there to power up that dome." He paused to let Harvet absorb the information.

"Can you get them out of there? Don't let them suffer anymore. The Association, they've got to be here for a reason right? If you can determine that they'll be able to take them in, that the children will be safe in their hands, let them know where the children are. You have to be sure they can be trusted."

"Judith, while our connection snapped, she can still amplify your abilities. I don't know what you plan to do with her, but if you don't want her taking part, leave her with the Association, a woman preferably. I hate having to rely on them but we don't have any other choice. We don't have enough people on our side right now." He paused again, "I know you're afraid of the warden. I know how much you hate that place but... Can you do this for us?"

Harvet clenched her fists. She would do this. It wasn't because Uteu was asking this of her, though it did play a part in her determination, it was because she had always wanted to get those children out. Thew children were given a choice to become part of the Guild. Psyche children were not given such a choice in the least. Ever since her brother was taken from her, she had wanted nothing more than to find him. Every day of her life, she tried to find this place to rescue him.

She wanted to do this, not just for Uteu, not just for her brother, but for herself. It was the most fitting closure she could get and the best way for her to leave the Guild. This would leave her without any remaining regrets.

Tidying up and looking around for more rations for herself, Harvet paused when she was about to scoop up Judith.

What would she tell this little girl when she woke up? About her father?

Harvet hesitated on whether or not she should take Judith with her or leave her behind. She was no longer connected to Uteu or herself. There was no real reason to take her along. So many thoughts crossed Harvet's mind, all of them telling her that bringing Judith along was more trouble than it was worth, and yet she still found herself pulling Judith up and securing her within her arms.

Perhaps, until she at least fully determined whether or not the Association was trustworthy.

Until then, she would keep Judith close.