The Mission Begins

"Then I suppose our first order of business is to find an inn. So we'll walk around and choose one first, rent rooms, then we can go and get a meal before we head back to plan what's next. Sound good?"

Alice and Ryoko nodded.

"That work for you Celine?"

"I will go along with the plan Master. But do remember that Ava is with you."

"Of course I remember." Vance said, revealing Ava in his inner coat pocket. "She's safe with me."

Seeing that Ava was okay, Celine nodded.

"Then let's get going." He said before walking down the road.

Walking on the main street of the city, Vance, Celine, Alice, and Ryoko looked around at the buildings.

"Oh? I wonder what they have in the library. Since it's the capital they should have a good collection." Vance said.

"Can I check out the library while we're still in the capital Mr. Vance?"

"Of course Alice. A big part of why we're here is to explore. But let's finish what we were doing first."

"Okay."

After twenty minutes, they found an inn that they liked and walked in.

As soon as they came through the door, they saw a large lobby with a doorway leading to a dining room. Directly in front of them was a desk with a young woman standing behind it.

"Welcome to the Silver Tide Inn, are you here to stay or to eat?"

"Both."

"For how long?"

"Hmm. I think we'll pay up front for at least two weeks."

"Shared room or separate rooms?"

"We'd like four separate rooms."

"It's one silver per night per room. So four rooms for fourteen days is..." She wrote it down on a piece of paper. "Fifty six silver." She said politely.

"Works for us." Vance said as he once again pretended to reach into his pocket. "Do you have change for a gold coin?"

"Ah? Yes we do."

"Perfect." He said as he created a gold piece and handed it to her.

As she reached out with the silver in hand, Vance paused. "Actually, just keep that in case we decide to stay longer. Consider it a tip of sorts if we don't."

The woman smiled. "Well thank you in advanced. I hope you enjoy your stay."

"We will." He responded. "Is it possible for us to get a meal now?"

"Of course, just head to our dining room and one of our servers will be with you."

"Fantastic. Come on girls, let's get something to eat."

The girls looked at each other and nodded.

The group then walked to the dining room and had their meals.

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An hour and a half later, Vance and the girls walked into one of the four rooms they rented and sat in various spots.

Vance took the lead in speaking.

"Well then. Now that we're fed, it's time to get our mission underway. I think we should split up and search individually to cover more ground."

"I agree Master."

"But how will we know if one of the others finds something or gets in trouble Mr. Vance?"

"Well, while we were eating I was also thinking of ways to do this. What I came up with is."

He held out his hand and created four identical black dots.

"Earpieces."

Celine, Alice, and Ryoko all took one.

"These can just be stuck by your ear. No need to go in." He said as he took the remaining one and showed them how to stick it to their head. "Well I suppose not technically earpieces if they go on the side of your head. But you get the point. Anyway, this will allow all of us to keep and contact each other if need be."

They stuck the dots to the side of their heads. Vance snapped his fingers and they all disappeared.

"I've camouflaged them with magic so no one suspects the four people with identical black dots on their heads. This way, we can go without being stopped or questioned, and if someone gets into trouble, the others can go to back them up. If it comes down to it I'll just teleport to them, but I think that for the most part you can all handle yourselves."

"What a fascinating ability." Ryoko said.

"It truly is, isn't it. Eventually we'll have to analyze how it works you know Mr. Vance." Alice responded.

"Yes yes ,the ability is interesting and yes we need to try and figure out how it works, but now we have a job to do. AH! I almost forgot to mention, to communicate simply have the intention to communicate with the group. Whether you speak out loud, mumble, whisper, or simply think, the group will hear it as long as you intend to be heard."

{Like so} His voice played in their heads.

"Although people might look at you strange if you speak out loud to no one. Now everybody split up and get to it. "

"On it." Celine saluted.

"Library here I come!" Alice whispered with a sparkle in her eye.

Ryoko simply nodded and left the room.

When everyone else had left, Vance simply sighed and mumbled to himself.

"I suppose I'll start with a walk."

And with that, he walked out of the room, locked, and closed the door.

Leaving the inn, Vance looked around and began to choose a direction to wander in.

"Hmm." He said looking around. "This way looks good." He pointed to his right and started walking in that direction.

After thirty minutes of wandering, Vance heard noises coming from a nearby alley. Not noises of pleasure or camaraderie, but violence.

"Oh? Seems like I've stumbled across something interesting."

Saying this, Vance walked into the alley.

In his view was three people assaulting one man. The people were dressed in all black and the man was curled over, almost as if he was protecting something.

"Hmm." Vance said, walking closer.

As he got closer and leaned to the side, he noticed that what the man was protecting was not an object, but a small child. A boy, about five or six.

"Oh? An attempted kidnapping gone wrong?"

Wondering out loud, Vance began moving to intervene.