• tab Reyn and Trisa came out of the bakery store, each holding a full bag of breads. They were at the center of Mills, the largest marketing town in the whole country. The streets were crowded with people. Entertainers had their own street corner where they perform at. Balloons and colorful small strips of paper got released though the air, everyone cheered and clapped. Today was the towns sixtieth birthday, also the busiest day of the year.
    tab “Oh, that store just opened!” Trisa squealed. She pointed at a small, white store that’s been closed till now. It was rumored to have the best perfumes in history. They say if you use their bottles your whole life, luck will be by your side on your time of need. “Oh no, I have to go get me a bottle before it’s sold out!” she tossed her bakery bag onto Reyn and charged through the crowd, making her way into the store.
    tab Reyn almost lost balance. He held the two brown bags in his arms. “This isn’t what I wanted” he grumbled. People started to bump into him so he started walking.
    tab The sky was cloudless and the sun was shining its brightest. Kids ran around without supervision of parents. Teens laughed as they teased and ate in a big group. Adults walked around usually in pairs, only wanting to buy things quickly without delay. Reyn stopped by an outdoor coffee shop. He sat down on a chair and set the bags on the ground right beside him.
    tab “What will it be today, sir?” one of the workers asked, holding a notepad and a pencil. She smiled her prettiest smile, showing off her pearly whites. Her long blond hair was tied in pigtails.
    tab What a cutie. Reyn grinned back, a bit freakishly. He loved girls that had a cute face, not the girls with a sexy body.
    tab “Sir, what will it be?” she asked again.
    tab “Uh” he cleared his throat. “Cappuccino, please”
    tab She wrote it on the notebook. “Coming right away” then she left.
    Reyn watched her leave then let out a breath and turned away. “What the heck is wrong with me? I got to cool down…” he clasp his hand together and put it on his lap. He hated it when he gets like this around a girl. Two men came and sat at a table next to him. They were carrying on an interesting conversation that Reyn just had to eavesdrop.
    tab “…he’s famous” the man with a white mustache says.
    tab “Why won’t he show up? If he did, then he’d be almost as rich as the king himself!” the other man says.
    tab “They say the Guardian is a spirit that only shows in a time of sorrow”
    tab The blond haired waitress came with Reyn’s cappuccino, set it on his table, and left. Reyn was too hooked in the conversation to even take notice. He’s never heard of this Guardian before. Maybe it was because he and Trisa have been studying in the mountains for the past two weeks. They’ve just come back today and came to Mills for some celebration—Trisa also lives here.
    tab “Aye” the other man nods. “Eyes as light as silver, hair as dark as night, and skin fairer than lily petals”
    tab Reyn picked up his cappuccino and took a sip.
    tab “I wish I could have seen him slay those beasts” they said at the same time, laughed, and went to order some coffee.
    tab What was that about? It sounded like they were describing a god. Reyn sighs, in no mood to drink coffee anymore. Screams in the street scared him. He stood to see what the ruckus was about. It was easy to tell where it was because people were scattering back, an empty circle formed revealing a person on the floor. He looked to be about eighteen. His whole body was soaked with brown and yellow liquid. Reyn saw some kids from the scene scatter like rats. There’s no doubt that it was a practical prank.
    tab “Hey, you alright?” Reyn shouts as he shoved his way through the crowds of people. When he reached the soaked person, he held out a hand. “Let me help you. What’s your name?”
    tab “Allester” he says, taking Reyn’s hand.
    tab Reyn pulled him up and looked around. Everyone was already going about their business as if this incident never happened. “Let’s take you somewhere to get cleaned up. What is this stuff, anyway?”
    tab He doesn’t say anything for awhile. “Hair dye…”
    tab Reyn was baffled. The stuff is hair dye? Allester is an unlucky guy then, to have hair dye spilled on every each of his body. He was wearing a cloak with a hood, so most of his clothes didn’t get stained. “I hope your hair is naturally brown and blond, then”
    tab “It isn’t…” he shakes his head. “It’s black”
    tab Ugh, what bad, bad luck. Reyn grabs hold of Allester’s left arm and leads him somewhere, anywhere but here. Allester’s eyes were shut closed because of the hair dye. Reyn couldn’t even tell what color his skin was.
    tab “Where are we going?” Allester asks a few minutes after they started walking. People where staring at them strangely.
    tab “To…well somewhere” Reyn replies. He doesn’t have a clue on where he was headed. He couldn’t go to a bath house because they’ll just dirty up the place, and they couldn’t wash up in the river outside of town because that’s just poisoning nature. “I have a friend that lives here. We’ll go to her house and get you umm…cleaned up”
    tab “Why? You don’t even know me”
    tab “I know your name”
    tab “That—”
    tab “Just shut up and follow, unless you want to walk around here like a blind mouse”
    tab Allester wipes off some hair dye around his mouth. “I can still see where I’m going. I’m not like you people”
    tab Reyn was about to say something but then stops. What does he mean by that? He sighs, continuing walking, not bothering to argue with someone five years younger than him. He’s just a brat.

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