Old friends

"Hey, hey, you're joking right?" Ezekiel asked, his eyes looking doubtfully on the guy. The guy never spoke to answer the question, still continuing to be scared and anxious, but calmed himself for the sake of the prince. However, with his silence mean that he wasn't lying about what he said.

"No...." Miranna replied, as she checked through her armband, which is colored in dark pink, while the timer itself is cyan. It continued to tick, the seconds going down.

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// 020 : 01 : 07 : 10 : 7 : 30 : 16 //

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"He isn't lying, they're coming here" She continued, putting the fork with the grilled cheese sandwich on Evan's plate, her eyes looking seriously at the panel above her armband. "Ah, sorry" She stretched the panel on top of her armband using her left hand, making the screen larger than it was before, meaning that everyone could see what was going on. A horde of Scorpix coming at their direction.

"Guys, I got good news and bad news" Miranna said.

"Good news first, Mirmir" Ezekiel replied, watching eagerly at the screen before him.

"AHHHH, THE PRINCE CALLED ME BY MY NICKNAME!!" Everyone glared at her for joking around in the dire situation they are in. She faked cough as a reason or a leeway to change the topic. "As I was saying, the good news is that only the Scorpix is heading towards the direction of this town, and the rest headed of to wherever they were going"

"And the bad news?" Evan asked, looking at her with great interest with the topic at hand. As by resolving this, they can get a ride to the Celestial kingdom.

"First, their are a lot of Scorpix heading this way, and we can't hold them off with the little people we have....".

"Can't we send a message to father to send reinforcements on protecting this town?" Ezekiel said.

"I already did" Miranna replied, sipping a cup of hot coffee while analyzing the monsters on the screen. She spoke afterwards "But it seems they are too busy to answer my message, most likely trying to attack the horde head on while its course is still unknown. I'll tell you when they reply".

"This girl is actually an oddball with skill" Evan thought to himself. "So" He spoke to them "How did you know about all of this anyways, Miranna?"

"*BEAT*, it was...Super effective..." She said, while a nosebleed dripped down her nose.

"I take back what I said" Evan regretted what he thought about her.

She wiped the blood on her nose with a handkerchief, and returned to the topic at hand. "Since you kindly asked me, Evan, I'll answer if you give me a reward...."

"Whaaa..."

"Just answer Mirmir" Ezekiel said in a deeper, threatening voice.

"Fine, fine, you killjoy little prince" Miranna replied, which led to Ezekiel getting a bit angry, but calmed himself for the information she'll give.

"I sent an observer to the horde's direction, since after all, I'm a scout!"

The two both tilted their heads, giving of a "What is that crazy woman talking about" type.

"Scout?" She looked at them both in disappointment. "Haven't you heard about it anywhere?" She looked at Ezekiel "Especially you, young prince?"

"Oh no, not me" He waved both hands in disagreement "I only focused on the sword, that's all"

"I mean, this should be basic knowledge, knowing the story of the five heroes and all"

"Five hero....Wha?" Evan said, while Ezekiel has a look in his eyes, like how his face shined bright like the sun on how excited he is to be talking about this topic.

"Listen closely, as this will be one big tale" He leaned closer on the table, unable to keep his excitement. "Once upon a time..."

"There were five heroes, and malevolent emperor who ruled the whole continent centuries ago. The heroes banded up and formed a rebellion, defeated the emperor, created nations that specializes on the weapons they used, and settled down." The guy said. "That brat over there" He pointed his index finger to the red haired brat who is very angry because his thunder was stolen "Is a descendant of one of them, the one who specializes on swords, and such" He then pointed at Evan "By the way, the name's Pierre"

"Well that was quick" Evan replied in amzement.

"You know how I longed to tell that story to someone...."

"Yes, Ez, we know" Miranna answered, patting him at his head while Evan didn't realize that she already stood up and went to Ezekiel "But, we can't spare anytime on a tale so long ago while a horde of Scorpixes is now coming there way".

"How much time do we left?" Pierre asked, finishing the last bits of food on his plate and drinking a cup of hot chocolate. She looked at the three people with a frightful look, making the atmosphere in the room more tense by the minute.

"The time we have left...." They all leaned closer towards her, their hearts pumping in anxiety, wanting to know the truth.

"Is six months!" They all dropped from the chairs.

"Six months!? You made us wait to say that we still have six months!?" Ezekiel said, annoyed for letting the atmosphere all tense up for nothing.

"Yeah, isn't that a bit too long for them to move?" Evan replied, letting his stiff body now relax, even for a little while.

"Not if this big guy causes a lot of holes" She pointed at Pierre "Will the Scorpix actually go for six months".

"What do you mean by me? Miranna?" Pierre asked, interested on how his name got in into her plans.

"Yeah, since looking at the Scorpix's path" The screen changed from a Scorpix horde to a layout of the terrains surrounding the town "The terrain of this town holds to an advantage, because of the mountains that can be used as a strategical location, as Scorpixes will have a hard time climbing these because of their heavy bodies, giving as a bit more time to gather the manpower we need to deal with it".

"What's the real estimation anyway if I didn't interfere?" Pierre asked again, seeing the plan seems fun in his mind.

"Well, three to four months tops".

"I'll go along with your plan, Miranna" He agreed, winking at her for he knows another part of her plan that the were oblivious of "Just, please hold of your bitterness and not steal something that's not yours to be given".

She silently laughed and smiled.

"We'll see, Pierre" She turned around to man the counter and opened the door to downstairs. "For now, I'll try to contact the guild to give them the heads up". She closed the door.

"I'll be going" Pierre said as he stood up and went to the door as well. He closed the door with a *BAM*

"So, want to train or something?" Ezekiel asked, hoping to be relieved by the boredom slowly creeping on him.

"How about the uncleaned dishes?" Evan asked.

"Don't worry, a maid will come clean it up"

"Wha-What?" Evan asked in bewilderment "There's a maid here in this run down inn!?"

"Yeah" He stood up "After all" He walked to the door and opened it as well "This inn's outside is only a cover for unwanted guests" He looked back to Evan "Let's go?"

"Sure" He followed him to train at the nearby forest.

>:T

"Are you sure this is the place?" The buff man asked. Standing beside him is a thin, weakly guy.

"Ye-YES!" He said, his voice shaking in fear.

"Alright then, now go"

"How about the money you said you'll give..."

"I SAID SCRAM!" He picked up the thin guy "OR DO YOU WANT YOU TO DIE?"

"RI-RIGHT, HOW INSENSITIVE OF ME..." The guy replied. The buff guy let go of him out of mercy and disgust.

"Now" The buff guy looked at the inn again "SCRAM!"

The thin guy hurridly ran away from the buff guy and ran to a nearby alley.

"Why don't we spice up your life a little" The thin guy transformed into a man wearing a black coat and a tuxedo, with black glasses concealing his eyes, and he wore a black cadets cap. "Evan" He said, as he walked further into the alley, then...

He was gone.

>:T

A week has passed since then.

The two were training at the nearby mountain, hunting monsters in the day, and sparring in noon. They never broke out even once, determined to be strong enough to face the horde of Scorpix and the load of time given to them if they succeeded in killing one.

"Have you heard?" Ezekield said, while tying up a lot of what seemed like fat, striped animal in white and brown. "The guild in charge of this town issued a request of 2hr per Scorpix killed, and there are atleast five thousand of them based on an estimation".

"Isn't that a bit too much?" Evan replied, carrying a long green animal with yellow, red lines in the head and the tail. He has been carrying it on his basket since he started, he has ten now. "I mean, we both killed it easily that one time".

"You mean the time where I almost got devoured because of you?" Ezekiel answered in an annoyed tone, remembering how he almost died because of him. "Before I got saved by your arrow cheat?"

"What do you mean by my arrows are a cheat?" He said as he counted the monsters he killed and the truffles he got for dinner.

"After all, an archer would shoot a whole arrow case and the monster is barely scratched" He said, then he looked at Evan's catch, he left the animals he caught and immediately came over to his side. He slapped one of the monsters carcass away.

"What the he..."

"DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT KIND OF MONSTER THAT IS?" Ezekiel shouted as he grabbed Evan's shirt "THAT MONSTER IS CALLED VERMITE!"

He analyze the *Vermite* he caught and looked back at Ezekiel again. "What's so bad about it?"

"BAD ABOUT IT!?" He shouted, annoyed by how foolish and simple minded his friend is. "A VERMITE CAN MAKE SOMEONE PASS OUT INSTANTLY, PARALYZING THE VICTIM FOR THREE HOURS WITH ITS BITE".

Evan stared at the Vermite he was holding, and back at Ezekiel again in a nonchalant manner "Oh, cool"

"DROPPED THEM OR I'LL SKIN YOU ALIVE" He shouted while he grabbed one and threw it away on the bush, making Evan a lot more cautious than before. He grabbed what he could and his basket and hold it pretty tight.

"Drop it"

Evan waved his head.

"I'll give you cheese if you want"

He dropped the Vermites and the basket onto the ground.

"Wow, that was quick" Ezekiel said while burying the Vermites on the ground, putting a pile of rocks, and gone back to tying up his loot.

"By the way" Evan asked, pointing at the roundlike animals Ezekiel is tying up on the feet using a rope. "What's that?"

"Oh this" He raised one of the animals he hunted "This is what they call a roupig, known for being a delicacy in the low and middle classes for its tasty, delectable meat"

"Can we put cheese on it?"

"No, you can't" He finished tying up the last roupig and proceeded on carrying the bamboo where it was tied. "Let's go then, since its the sun's falling down"

Evan followed, after grabbing the second roupig, and headed down towards the mountain to the town, excited about the new food he will taste and scared by how he will be violated, and what strategies and tactics he'll use to evade her.

>:T

"Mirmir, open the door" Ezekiel shouted from the door, putting one hand vertically near his mouth for his voice to be a little louder.

"Ms. Miranna, please let us in" Evan said, knocking hardly at the door to get the roupig off his back and can rest after a long day. After knocking for a couple of minutes, he kicked the door open and went inside. Leaving Ezekiel speechless at the door.

"Why did you kick the door down?"

Evan looked back at him "I got no time for that, and besides" He paused, listening closely at the surroundings "Its eerily silent for some reason, as knowing that Miranna will never be gone during the night for we will be coming home at that time".

"Wow" Ezekiel replied, covering his mouth using hand and has a smug face. "Hehe, never knew you were worrying about her after all, tsun tsun"

"Hey, stop that...."

"OYYYY, WHAT HAPPENED HERE!?" A guy screamed upstairs, which led for both of them to put the roupigs down and ran hurriedly upstairs.

They opened the door and were greeted with a messy room. Kitchen utensils all over the place, chairs scattered and destroyed, the rooms forcibly opened, the table broken in two, and a few corpses with a pool of blood beneath them, were in the kitchen, table, and one was crawling out of a room, its head smashed in pretty horribly. Pierre is standing near the broken table

"Who-who did this" Evan asked, his voice shaking and stuttering. His dark blue eyes lifeless and cold from the sight he's seeing. Ezekiel pushed him aside and went to Pierre and looked him dead in the eyes.

"Where's Miranna?" He asked coldly, trying to hold down the anger that was boiling up his head, his voice being the proof of that.

"I don't know" Pierre replied, looking down at the table, trying to evade on breaking something as he might destroy the house in the process.

"YOU MEAN THAT YOU JUST STOOD HERE WHILE MIRANNA WAS MISSING..."

"WE CAN'T ACT RECKLESS KID!" Pierre shouted at Ezekiel "MIRANNA IS A BATTLEMAID WITH A LOT OF YEARS OF EXPERIENCE" He punched the already broken table and split it in to dust "THERE'S NO WAY SHE WOULD BE BEATEN THAT EASILY"

They both looked down at the table, while Evan started seaching the place, till he found a paper in the kitchen walls. With blood on the corners of it while a knife was stuck on the top.

"Guys" He called them "I think I found something".

It immediately caught both of their attention and hurriedly went over to Evan's side. They read it aloud, hoping that it might release some tension.

"Come meet me, Ezekiel Reige, to a place we used to meet years ago.

You only have one week."

>:T

"Are you sure he is coming boss?" The buff man asked, looking up high above the piles of junk where on top, his boss was seated in a throne.

"I'm sure he will come" He removed the his white coat and place onto his throne, then slid down to the floor. He walked to the side where his hostage is placed, lifting up her chin. "After all" He removed the blindfold on her eyes. "We caught a big prey this time" He also removed the cloth that is restraining her to talk "Isn't that right, Miranna?"

She spit on his face and spoke.

"Don't you think you'll ever get away with this, A....."

He kicked her in the stomach over and over again until she lowered her head, groaning in pain, as she was tied onto a big iron rod that is part of the building. Afterwards, he grabbed a handkerchief on his pocket and cleaned his face.

"My, my, what manners you have Miranna. Don't you miss your old friend?"

"I don't have a friend, who's a traitor" She said while trying to hold in the pain she is feeling.

"Well, that's up to you" He said, while he walked towards his throne, he stopped "Tie him up men"

"Yes sir" They replied, as they tied both the blindfold on her eyes and mouth.

"Well then" He sat on his throne on top of unidentifiable junk. "How long will it take for you to remember?" He looked up towards the warehouse's ceiling

"Ezekiel Reige"