Go Away!

…

A few moments ago…

Marco, Nina, and Aily decided to disperse while sweeping the castle region.

Marco will go in a straight line going through the central palace into the throne room and then into the western tower and then move back to the eastern tower. He was aware that the guards might be on high alert so he'll take the dangerous path, hoping with luck, that he will also stumbles Queaz on his sweeping.

Nina will go on her own separately from the rest by going to base level and sweep the entire courtyard to find Queaz. The area wasn't much guarded due to the explosion they've caused earlier. Moreover, she had the knowledge of the courtyard better than anyone. That's why she took that path.

Aily and Pio will head into the same route that is the southern tower. The areas in there are only filled with peasants that served the prince and won't give any threat to them. Judging by the explosion happening in the northern tower, the peasants might've evacuated the palace already.

Right now, the four of them have gone into separate ways already.

"Listen, Pio." Aily stated harshly. "If you don't want to be caught, stay close to me." She said.

"Okay!" Pio agreed in a beat. Aily was a bit disgusted because of her actions. "Acting all cute like that makes me mad… grr…" she grumbled quietly.

"Miss Aily…?" Pio asked with her finger beneath her chin. "No! It's nothing, come along!" she said while continuing their move. Aily's feelings were mixed up. She wanted to save someone who was wronged meanwhile she disliked Pio for her adorableness in front of her sister, in other words, envious towards her. She wanted to strangle her, but was unable to due to her obedience to her sister. She wanted to dump Pio, but she was wronged and it hurt her sense of justice badly.

She can't focus on searching Queaz at all. All she was thinking was about whether to actually help Pio or to ditch her off during the mission.

"She was the source of this trouble…" Aily thought. "If you've never come to Marco, then this will never happen… grrrr…!"

…

..

.

Meanwhile, Marco slowly scouts through the bridge leading to the central palace. He battled against many soldiers and prevented all of them from calling reinforcements. "Heh! Mithril armors might be tough, but they're incredibly conductive, making my jolting blow much more effective to stun them," he thought while knocking out a big-bodied knight with his Shocker Hands magic.

Marco used as little mana as possible to avoid killing the guards. He thought it would be brutally immoral by any means meanwhile he himself was an infiltrator to the castle. The intended target was Queaz, but even that he wasn't planning to kill. Unless he's in the emergency of defending something dearly to the last drop of blood, he will kill his enemies, just like what happened during the Fortis invasion on Areda Island.

…

Nina on the other hand, swept through the courtyard with little to no problem. There are actually plenty of regulars in the area, but Nina managed to sneak in easily. How? Simple, she took possession of a reserved servant uniform and wore it. Even being spotted by many guards, she managed to stay calm despite her fishy movements. She successfully scoured the courtyard without rousing attention.

"Mr. Queaz was nowhere around the courtyard…" she mumbled quietly. "I watched the rooftops with my Mana Perception ability but there's no sign of him," she said additionally. Nina then enters the keep from the base floor. On her walking, she thought about Sean's description of the suspected assassin. "I wonder if Sean was actually wrong… no, I can't think like that. I have to think positively."

*Zrrrrr-ZAAASHHHH*

The sound of a thunder magic caught Nina's attention. It was Marco breaking through the defending guards. "Dear me, Marco… you better stay safe. With me out of your reach I cannot heal you or anyone else…" she then looked straight in front of her.

"Huff… I must continue on. Let's see, where this path will lead me to?"

…

While running, Pio watches her friend uncomfortably mumbling things that she barely understands. Her expression is grim towards her and felt like a time bomb that would explode at any time.

"People deserved to live under no oppression. If they're wronged, I wanted to be the first to help them. But in this case… aaargh…" she holds her head tightly. Her mind is wavering, not knowing what she should do. "If I dump her here, she'll no longer hold up with my sister. But… but sister… will not like it…!"

"….hrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaraahhhh!!!" she suddenly shouted long.

Pio was surprised by it. "Miss Aily… what's wrong…?" she asked carefully. Aily halted her steps, followed by Pio. She looked at Pio in a scary stare. Her enviousness has taken ahold of her, but in her mind also stated that she should embrace her to make Nina happy.

"Hey… please answer me…" Pio conveyed in a frail voice. "What's wrong…?" she added.

And finally, her mind has gone off.

"You act like you're the cutest around here, huh?" she angrily said. "Do you think by spreading your kindness and affection to my sister would make you loved more than me?"

"What are you talking… about… Miss Aily…?" Pio asked frailly.

"Don't pretend like you don't know, you snatcher! You just want my sister, don't you?! Just because you're stronger than me, probably you're secretly housing a powerful magic that someday might took away my sister's care and all only for you."

Pio shook her head, "No… I…" her petite foot slowly steps back in a scared face.

"By acting like a weak girl and trying to get all care you can from her, how do you deny that?!" Aily's eyes are cracking up in her wrathful expression. "Your way of stalking Marco and following us and even got my sister to care to you makes me sick."

"Miss Aily… please…" Pio's eyes became teary.

"ENOUGH! Stop calling my name you snatcher! You're a thorn to my side. To my sister as well! Go away! Throw yourself off a cliff or something. You're better off being caught anyway…

…I knew we should've left you alone the day our eyes met."

Pio's soul is crushed upon hearing her saying that. It felt like the world around her stop ticking, the breeze air froze her in place. Her tears ran down unstoppably. She didn't expect the person she cared about said something so harsh, so tearing, so deadly to her tiny heart. She fondled her chest in a grieved face. She turned around and runs as fast as she can from Aily. After far enough… Aily heard her grievous scream and cry.

Upon hearing that voice of weep, Aily dropped on her knees and held her face.

"…yeah… go away… go away… go away from me and my sister… *hic… *hic…"

…

..

.

Sean and Scias tried to search for the prince. Even till now, they could not find him.

"Where. The hell. Is that bastard?!" Sean shouted in his fury of not able to find the prince. Scias, on the other hand tried to track down his allies. He brought a spotlight that has a button that flickers the light. He will use it to communicate with his friends to regroup. He mainly tracks both Marco and Queaz.

Marco can read morse code, but he was a bit airheaded to realize a series of flickering lights as a morse code. On the other hand, Scias didn't really know anything about Queaz, but he expects the man to know something about the morse code. But he also fears one thing: his flickering of lights might attract many guards that knew about morse code.

"You go on ahead, Sean." Scias stated.

"Huh? We need to go together, mate. If we cannot find the prince and defend him, we're doomed—

"—IF we let Marco and the rest of the party kill an innocent man, it will be much of a trouble to me."

"You still call him an innocent man? Ah, whatever. The soldiers from the north are wiring up around the castle's outskirts."

"Hmph, suppose it's better to let one free than both caught, huh?" Scias commented.

"Wha? The hell with that, just go already!" Sean spurs Scias to go. "We'll meet back at the eastern tower at 3 AM. Don't be late!" And with that, Scias left Sean and now begin tracking his friends.

"Damnations…" Sean grumbled. "If that hat masked man dies, I'm more than just relieved. Scias and the rest just don't know the truth he upholds."

"If I cannot find the prince," Sean said while drawing his sword out. "Then, I must find that man. And silence him forever. I am sure he is here. I feel his presence a couple times, before finally concealed entirely."

…

..

.

One hour later…

Marco got into the central palace. Around him, there are four gates that lead to each respective compass towers.

"Oopsies… I got lost." He said shamefully. He lost the direction he's supposed to go to due to him fighting numerous guards before.

"Dammit, which path should I go to?" he thought in a bit of panic. He's running out of time. The castle will be garrisoned by guards at any rate now. A few minutes ago, he saw hundreds of soldiers returning back to the castle to reinforce the royal palace. If Marco stops now, he'll wind up with the soldiers and it'll be a huge trouble.

"Ah, fridges! Random pick, go! Eenie, money-moe, where shall I go… …THERE!"

Marco then sprints into the direction he randomly picked, hoping it was the right one.

…

Somehow… as he goes, he noticed that the wind around him blows in a rather odd way. It is gradually strong and weak. He thinks of it whilst running, what could've caused it. In his knowledge, should the wind flow goes haywire it could only mean one thing: wind magic user.