---

5.16am. The sun had just started to break over the many hills that surrounded the Satsumasendai area. The faint streaks of light bounced off the Sendai river that cleaved the city in two, projecting an aura of tranquility and peace. It was like the world had stopped still. For those unlucky few who had awakened at this hour, the light show and quietness was a worthwhile reward. It would be difficult to believe that this tranquil city was the epicentre of the Rebellion. The entire magi world had been turned upside down, and to the non-magi, a single stone had not been turned in their paradise. The silent revolution so to speak.

The sun continued to rise, light starting to flood between the tall buildings and narrow streets until suddenly as if on que, the entire city burst to life. The hustle and bustle had begun. Children had started the school run and the cities white collar workers were starting to clog up every car, bus and train to get to work.

The routine day however was about to get disrupted in a big way. A loud explosion came from one of the many small suburban streets, the echo of such a loud noise overwriting the normal soundtrack of the city bringing everything to silence, even for a second. Seconds later a column of fire rose from the black smoke, confirming to everyone that could see it that what was happening was really going on. The whole ordeal had sliced through the peaceful city like a knife, and for the rest of the day, it was all anyone could talk about.

On the other side of the world a learned wise man was watching the local news for Satsumasendai, watching the same clip and over again. While the media were speculating what could cause such an explosion, alongside the large column of fire, the man knew exactly what caused it. Fire Magic. The building that everyone was swarming over was the last remaining safe house of the Guild. The entire region was now officially overrun. The man would stare at the screen for a second, trying to figure out exactly what to do. Agents were already on their way to the province, now all that would greet them would be a smoldering wreck. This was going to take alot of calls.

---

The sun was now setting, the light once more reflecting off the water, but this time the sounds of crickets and late night birds had started to fill the silent void. It hadn't taken long for news of the attack to reach Melville. An email had arrived an hour after landing in Japan.

Safe house has been compromised. No more safe houses left. Go to this address instead.

Underneath was an address to a residential area somewhere in Satsumasendai. Where exactly, Melville hadn't a clue. It didn't take him long however to find a map detailing the different districts of the city. Turns out the house wasn't too far from the train station. A simple walk would suffice. Japan was most certainly going to take some getting used to that was for sure. He could not even begin to believe how some people drove down the roads. They were so tiny and narrow. One very quick observation he made was the large number of vending machines he had spotted on random street corners even in residential streets. He couldn't even imagine something like that existing in the US. Give it an hour and the machine would have been either looted or stolen.

Turning around the corner he had finally reached the location. Staring in front of him was a rather intriguing house. At least by his standards. It didn’t particularly look very big, There was no way the entire team was going to be able to fit into inside. He walked down the entrance way and to the front door and noticed a name written on the letterbox: Leighton.



Opening the front door, The room that greeted him was fairly spacious. It was a single room floor, with the living, dining and kitchen combined. The kitchen directly infront of him was small, but managed to fit every appliance it needs and even featured a small island in the centre. At least enough to function as an impromptu breakfast bar.The living and dining area were spacious for their size, a full dining set for six, and a sofa, chair and TV combo had all been smartly placed to give enough room to move around given the small amount of space.

Taking the narrow steps to the upper floor, there were two bedrooms, the master room with the double bed, and a second childrens bedroom, where the bed had been switched out for a larger one. The final room was the bathroom, which might as well have been a walk in cupboard, the shower toilet and sink were crammed together. This was going to be fun.

It was at this point that Melville had made a deduction. He counted at best 4 places to sleep. And there were far too many people staying than there was space. Well this sucked. Heading back downstairs he sat on the 3 piece sofa and noticed the TV remote was stuck between the cushions. Pulling the remote out he began to inspect it, noticing the four buttons at the bottom had custom labels. One of them had ‘Guild’ written on it. Curious to see what would happen, Melville spun the remote around and turned the TV on before pressing the Guild button. The picture on the screen jumped to life to show a video link of a young Asian-Caucasuian male sitting at a chair eating cereal. The sudden activation of the screen had clearly startled the male.

”Jesus Melville, do you mind not pressing buttons that you aren’t supposed to press?”

”Sorry Aloysius” Melville replied as he got comfortable on the sofa, looking at his watch he was expecting the others to be at the new address shortly. ”I just love making you jump. Keeps you on your toes.”

---

---

The blinking of a damaged sign reading 'No Board' is what captivated Kairo's attention. When not on duty and in a crowded location, such as a bustling airport with hundreds of potential flyers, Kai liked to lose track of the world for a little bit. A stark contrast to the constant head-turning, crowd checks, and contingency plans when he was on duty. It was the lack of work that had made him nervous in the first place, he had just been assigned to his assigned VIP, and not even a month later he was forced to separate to another flight so as to, 'not draw suspicion'. With a soft yawn, Kairo stood and gave a stretch and smoothed his hair on its left side above the ear. He was a mix of bored, frustrated, and relaxed and all of them were new emotions more or less. He made his way to his gate and plastered a fake smile onto his face as he greeted the ticket collector who blushed and looked down as she checked his ticket and then gave a wink when she noticed he was in first class. Briefly, Kairo considered flirting back but the gravity of the situation in Japan had ruined his mood and so he just widened his smile a little and started heading onto the plane proper.

Truth be told, Kai was lucky he had been allowed first-class. The Guild kept things simple, off the grid, but he had managed to get the ok after casually mentioning that he would have more time to prepare in a first-class seat and have a semblance of privacy instead of being locked shoulder to shoulder with a stranger that could be anybody. The guild relented and here Kairo was, settling into his seat and smirking softly as he brought out his laptop and typed in a coded phrase into a chatbox, 'Passing Herod.' There was a moment of quiet before a gentle ding informing of a message and Kairo glanced down to see a response. 'Copy, passing Herod. The package was delivered successfully. Safe flight.' Kai smirked and exited the chatroom before breathing out a sigh and closing his eyes. When he opened them next he found that the trip was already halfway over and that it was dark outside. With a large stretch and a stifled yawn, Kai took stock of his surroundings and decided to stretch his legs and use the little agent's room. As he was passing by other sleeping first-class fliers he took note of the time and chuckled a bit, he must have been more tired than he had thought. It didn't really matter, the trip was going to be spent doing nothing anyway so catching up on missed sleep was a blessing really but still, Kai didn't like succumbing to any weakness and the need for sleep was one of those.

In the end, however, after taking care of other mortal needs such as the bathroom, Kairo returned to his seat and once again passed out and didn't wake again until he felt hands gently shaking him. Coming out of his sleep he froze, muscles tensing and eyes dilating as a rush of adrenaline ran through him until he managed to gain control. He had to relax each muscle slowly and let himself wake before opening his eyes and forcing a smile when he noticed the same attractive blonde attendant hovering over him. She seemed hesitant and apologetic for startling him but Kai just poured on the charm and made sure to ease the situation to not make a scene. He also quietly cursed his exhaustion and for not waking earlier. He could just hear his old instructor in his head. 'Don't you DARE ever lose focus, at any time!' With a sigh, he gathered his belongings and after the plane touched down and began taxiing to an available gate, Kairo opened his laptop and opened a chat program and winced as he noticed the latest message. 'Safehouse has been compromised. No more safe houses left. Go to this address instead. Equipment stash secure.' The situation had deteriorated quickly then which meant that the rebellion was far more organized than most and that the local guild was more or less out of existence. Kairo and the team he was with were alone with no Operating Base and no support.

With the situation so hostile, Kairo was looking forward to retrieving his supplies and making contact with Melville. He knew that his charge's plane would have already landed which meant that the Louis was in the area with no one to help should he need it and if he was being honest with himself that put Kai on edge. He hurried through the luggage line to pick up his other bag, passed through inspection and customs, and then headed to the vehicle rental service. Inside was a black Lexus GS with his name on it, and Kairo once again had to smirk at the reach his family and the Guild had. He turned the ignition and patted the dash as the vehicle purred to life and as the car came to life the viewscreen went instantly to the map mode where coordinates had been programmed in. Kai nodded and took a few breaths before making his foray into Japan proper. He was a seasoned driver, the skill being one of many that had been ingrained into him by the Ahmedi family tutors and trainers who wished to ensure any of their members assigned to a Louis family member would be able to engage in vehicular skirmishes and knew defensive driving techniques. It was a bit different to be in a country he was unfamiliar with, but in the end, he made it to the address and peered at the unassuming warehouse.

Paranoia caused him to park the Lexus in the back, a tarp covering a pallet of supplies also being placed over it. He didn't necessarily think he could be compromised but one could never be too careful. After ensuring that his habits were followed he made his way into the warehouse and began searching. After ten minutes of searching, he came to a room marked with the Ahmedi crest and within a locked closet door. For Kairo, that door didn't stand a chance after having been taught Ahmedi locks and after a short time, the tell-tale 'click' of a lock opening followed by the 'clang!' of it hitting the ground was heard. Kai smirked and opened the closet to see a large black box standing up in the closet. It was about six feet tall and about as wide as Kai was and all total it had that 'heavy' look to it. Kai drug it out and then let it fall, the box making a loud boom throughout the warehouse and he mentally kicked himself for being so careless. His inner paranoia made him do a quick check to make sure no one heard before returning and typing in a four-digit code on the front. A hiss of compressed air was given before the locks clicked open and Kai had a wide grin on his face as he opened the box and revealed the treasures inside. Those 'treasures' included an HK MK23 side-arm complete with a flashlight, laser dot sight, and speed-loading magazine, an HK 416 Assault Rifle with full attachments, a shoulder holster, a hip holster, a tactical knife, high-powered flashlights, a black watch, pliers, extra magazines, his kevlar, and a tactical kit.

Kairo kept his smirk and went ahead and placed his shoulder holster on under the sports coat and as soon as he placed the MK23 and felt the familiar weight he breathed much easier. The rest of the gear he stowed away into the large unassuming grey backpack that was placed in the back of his car and once finished stood and took a deep breath. He pressed a button on the watch and a secure network was setup which he used to send an encrypted message from his phone while connected. 'Passing Jericho.' He disconnected from the network, pressed the button again, and then walked out of the warehouse with much less paranoia. He had heard horror stories of Ahmedi Agents being ambushed at an equipment drop site and with how this mission was turning out Kai wouldn't have put anything out of the frame of mind. As that thought passed by however it made him want to reach the residence as soon as possible. He secured his bag in the back, jumped into the driver's seat and sped off after inserting the address of his new home away from home.

All in all, the trip didn't take to long but would have been faster had he taken the train. He wasn't used to the traffic in the area and as such he hit a few jams that he notated for future information. He memorized what roads he could, and took in the landmarks he passed. He was in full mission mode and even his eyes had slightly narrowed as the serious face took over his face. Upon arriving, Kai passed the home twice to scope out any potential vehicular surveillance, and only when he was sure that things were clear did he park the Lexus in the driveway. He locked the vehicle down after exiting and then took a good look at the house. It actually wasn't terrible, and much better than Kai was expecting. He glanced around before sighing to himself and performing a full perimeter patrol... Three times, taking in escape routes in the adjoining yards, which roads went where, and the general escapability of the house overall. When he was finished he had four working full retreat options and defensive siege positions. Only then did he permit himself to return to the Lexus, haul the bag onto his back and make his way to the door.

He didn't bother knocking but tested the door to see if it was unlocked and sighed to himself when he noticed that it was, in fact, unlocked for any average joe to walk in on. He gently opened the door and crept in, locking it behind him. When he wished, Kai could make his footsteps quiet as a mouse and he glanced around the home for a moment and nodded, impressed at the size and relative neatness. Not half bad for a rapid job, and once again flexing just how much reach the Guild had around the globe. Part of him wanted to put his defensive plans into actions and start mapping the home, but as he heard Melville's voice from further inside Kai's smirk grew into a playful one and he crept further in. "Sorry Aloysius, I just love making you jump. Keeps you on your toes." Kai then took a deep breath, placed his bag down beside him, and then charged the couch, activating his anti-magic on his charge to make sure no accidents happened before yelling out.

"YOU LEFT THE DOOR UNLOCKED AND ARE NOW DEAD!" It was fast and meant to startle and perhaps make Mel fall off the couch or scream. Oh, that would be good.

Melville was just about to reply to Aloysius when the sudden yell came from behind. On instinct, he went to raise the nearest object he could see but realized that he couldn't. Turning around fully he could only see the blur of the figure approaching him. It was at this point he realized exactly who it was. "Nice try. If I really wanted to I could have smashed you into the wall." Melville commented as he crossed his arms. Aloysius in the background however couldn't help but stifle a laugh.

Luckily for Kairo, he was good as stopping quickly and so he simply flipped over the cough and landed beside Mel with a growing smirk and shrugged. "You could have tried yes." He gave a wink and then noticed Aloysius and grew a bit more serious. "Ah, sorry about that. Was just trying to shove home basic home defense. You know how it is these days with getting people to lock their doors." He gave a shrug and folded his arms behind his head.

"It is fine. Just don't trash my childhood home. I do still occasionally go there." Aloysius commented as he finally got around to putting his bowl of cereal down. Melville didn't respond, instead deciding to go back to sitting on the couch. 2 I left it unlocked so that you guys could walk right in. I highly doubt that the rebels even know this place exists.

Raising an eyebrow, Kai peered towards the screen and nodded. He had assumed the house was a quick back-up plan and supposed that it still was but still, knowing Aloysius had a personal attachment to it made Kai like the man all the more as he was willing to let them use it for the mission. He then glanced towards Mel and sighed a bit and nodded. "We can't assume anything with the local guild losing all of their holdings. Just, do me a favor and wait for me to arrive before losing protective habits eh?" He tried to brighten his facial structure but probably only succeeded in looking weird. It was still a bit awkward talking to Melville, the two having only recently been forced to spent time together as Kairo was assigned to him. He was still figuring the Louis heir out and was forced to guess on most interactions how to react.

"I still find it funny that an heir to one of the four great families needs a bodyguard." Melville said in a whimsical tone. He was about to speak when Aloysius interrupted him.

"At least you get a bodyguard. Me and Salem don't"

"Yeah, but you have a literal arsenal of weapons and Salem has her father."

"Just because my great grandfather started a weapons business doesn't mean I let it go to my head"

Kai opened his mouth to respond and just remained quiet instead, he also didn't really understand. It was one of the biggest questions he had as a child going through the regimented training and constant tests. He supposed it was mostly about appearances, having Anti-Mages guarding you tended to at least give potential Assassins pause, throw in a childhood of martial arts, weapons, and tactical training and you have yourself a pretty decent guardian. His father however told him that there was more to it, it allowed the heir and then ruler to have someone they trusted to carry out orders. A friend when everyone else wanted for power. Kai could understand that, and so that was what he was striving for with Mel.

"We're more than just bodyguards you know, and you not worrying about yourself lets you focus on throwing things at the enemy. And either way, neither of us have a real choice. It's a tradition at this point. Besides, I'm not that bad. Right?"

"You aren't bad in any way shape or form. You are an extremely helpful person." Melville remarked, making sure to focus on Kai rather than focus on the television screen. "You wouldn't have been chosen for this if you weren't good enough."

Kai opened his mouth to respond and then just nodded. He needed to hear that honestly but wouldn't let it go to his head. He gave a half-smirk and nodded over to Mel in thanks before standing and rolling his shoulder. "Er, thanks. I'm going to go and park near the door and verify everyone coming in. Let me know if you need anything?"

It wasn't a secret to those who had magi blood running through their veins and that were closely in tune with the world of magic that Japan was currently in the middle of a huge turmoil. Resistances always existed against the harsh isolationist rules of the Guild and it was always known by everyone that the situation on Japan was a keg of powder, just waiting to explode. What no one expected was that when it finally exploded, it would be as big as it is being right now. The guild who always enforced the rules and was a very powerful organization in the world of magic was being driven into a corner, it's presence in the province of Satsuma being almost completely erased. The conflict between the resistance and the guild though wasn't just something local. The entire magic community had it's eyes turned towards it. The outcome of that conflict could start a wave that would change the world, both the magic one and the non-magic one and could even lead to another world between the mages and the non-mages. That said, there was a person who couldn't care less about the conflicts, despite being currently in a plane going right to the center of said conflicts...

Faye was honestly surprised when the guild had contacted her. She knew very well that they saw her as a very problematic individual due to her using her powers without restrain, the repeated warnings and the many reprimands from the guild, but she never expected that they would ask her help, out of anyone. In fact, she was expecting her sister to be called, not her. Being the perfect child, the heir of the Hayward family and a powerful Cryomage, it was almost certain that if the Guild needed the Hayward family's help, they would request for Victoria, not her. The fact that her attitude made of her someone that would more likely support the resistance against the isolationist rules of the Guild made their choice even more strange to her. No matter their reasons for doing that though, Faye was excited of being able to go to Japan. Since she was requested by the guild too, the Hayward family couldn't do anything at all against her. Of course, she didn't care nor gave even the tiniest bit of importance to the situation that was happening on Sastuma right now.

The flight was long and honestly, very boring for Faye. Without anything to do other than watch some movies and sleep, she had to find excuses to get up from her chair and walk a bit for the entire flight. According to the instructions that were given to her by email, there was going to be someone waiting for her on the airport to take her to the guild safe house. Faye herself didn't need to specifically ask for a driver but the Guild knew that it was either that or leave her to her own devices in a foreign place. A curious Faye that didn't know how to speak Japanese and had no problems in using her powers in public, in the middle of Satsuma who was the center of the rebellion, wasn't a good idea at all. The moment Faye got out of the airplane though, she received a message on her smartphone. According to it, the guild safe house had been compromised and the location of the place she was going had been changed.

Faye already was someone hard to ignore where in the UK. In Japan though, she did draw even more attention, as it became evident due to the stares that she attracted the very moment she passed the customs and effectively got in Japanese soil. She even had to stop a few times in order to take selfies together with a few people, which she did without any problem at all.

"Miss Hayward." a male voice suddenly called her, with a small sign with her full name written on it.

"Oh hey! Are you from the-" She began, with a cheerful tone and smile that seemed to be the complete opposite of the serious expression the man had on his face.

"Yes. If you could come with me now, I would be grateful" The man said, interrupting her in a silent but firm tone, obviously reprimanding her for her almost having mentioned the guild.

"Ooh, right! Sorry!" she said, with an awkward smile.

"It's fine for you to call me Faye by the way. No need for the miss or to be overly formal." Faye said as she got inside the silver Nissan Note that was parked outside.

"We are going to this new place, right?" she asked as she sat down on the back, with her bad on her lap as she made a small portal on top of it, reaching inside and grabbing a small bar of cereal.

The driver looked at her in shock, almost not believing in what the girl had just made. Not due to her magic but to the fact that she was clueless and an airhead to the point of using her magic like that in the presence of someone who worked for the guild and being in the worse places in the world right now to do that.

"You are really incapable of taking anything seriously, aren't you?" he asked, finally dropping the formal tone as he sighed loudly, putting his hand in his forehead and shaking it in disapproval.

"What? I am hungry!" she said, protesting as she gave a bite on the cereal bar.

It did take a while for them to get to said house, especially since the location changed. When they arrived though, the driver simply dropped her off in front of the house with her baggage with a small indication that that was where she was going to stay before leaving with the car again.

"I wonder why he was so grumpy..." Faye said to herself as she approached the house, knocking on the door without a care in the world.

---

Wheels on tarmac, the great metal dragon finished its descent, slowing, slowing, down to a crawl, prowling now through crowded pathways to its lair. A beast of marvelous construction disgorged its passengers upon the ramp, and among them was one minor magi with business here in Satsumasendai.
Well, Gus liked to think himself just a minor magi, even if he had the necessary talent to be a proper member of the Guild. And given the crew that had been put together, he was absolutely a no-name. Which might well be his best asset here. Between names like Louis, de Silva, and Ahmadi, a little Mallory would go completely unnoticed.

Right now, past customs and looking a little lost, he wasn't going quite so unnoticed. A check of his phone however very quickly gave him direction. Things had apparently been developing quickly while he'd been in the belly of the beast, to no one's surprise. The only reason they'd called this team in was because things had spiraled wildly out of control.
He started walking, his first destination, the train station.

Honestly, though, it was probably a blessing they hadn't been earlier. The safehouse going up like that meant it wasn't quite so safe after all. Hopefully because this new place wasn't expected by the Guild, it also wouldn't be expected by the troublemakers. Hopefully that meant things would be quiet.
Loud would be bad.

The train station was a short walk, which he was thankful for in as the sun was so close to setting. Onboard, things were quiet. And along the way, that simple fact stayed true.

---

Walking around Satsumasendai was certainly better than walking in New York last time he'd been there. Sure, not as idyllic and free of traffic as his own hometown, but it was still mostly calm and serene. Though, to be fair it was really only Gosling's surroundings that were serene. He himself tromped along exactly the way that might be expected of any random tourist, boots on concrete, tap tap tap.
He checked his phone again. It was just a few more houses down. A car had driven away from the building just a second ago.
A car had driven away just a second ago.
Now that certainly had Gosling just a little bit on edge. Was that an ally or an enemy arriving here now?
He tapped the power button on the phone, bringing it down to his side as he approached the door himself.

Another mission to Salem was just another test. Going on this mission was supposed to help their fellow Guild sector, and Salem could live with that. Being a part of the Guild was to protect all of it - not just where you lived. This became even more important when you were the future leader.

Settling into the first class seat of the plane, Salem was quickly joined by Remi. Neither of the girls knew who all would be on the team, but it was clear from the way they smirked at each other that they were glad the other had come along.

”So… Do you think we’ll be the most badass people on the team?” Remi asked as she shoved her luggage into the overhead compartment.

Salem shrugged her shoulders. ”I feel like there’s a lot of powerful mages my father could have sent.”

”And none of them would be anything compared to you.”

”Even the strongest need help sometimes, Rem.”

”You’re too modest,” said the older woman.

Shrugging her shoulders, Salem pulled her headphones over her head before starting up her playlist. Somewhere along the trip, she managed to fall asleep. Meanwhile, Remi kept watch for anyone who dared look at either of them for a second too long in between reading pages of her book. Once the plane had landed, Remi woke Salem up before they departed from the plane.

”I got a message while you were sleeping. The original safe house was destroyed. We’re going to a different spot now.”

”At least dad managed to arrange transportation,” the blue haired girl mumbled.

Loading their luggage into the car, the girls didn’t make much conversation as the driver took them to their destination.

It was funny how the Guild used non-magi people from time to time. Taxi drivers, chefs, lovers, things to torture… and at the end of the day, the human would have their memories erased by the higher council. No matter how much the Guild did or didn’t want to realize it, they needed non-magi people. Perhaps one day they could work together again.

Arriving at the house, both Remi and Salem grabbed their bags from the trunk before saying goodbye to their chauffeur.

Walking up to the door, Remi nodded in greeting towards Kai, as Salem rolled her eyes at Faye. ”Jesus. Just open the damn thing. Don’t stand there,” she said, twisting the knob and throwing the door open.

Once inside, Remi took a place on the couch beside Melville, as Salem walked towards the kitchen to see if there was anything to drink. On her way there, she realized that she recognized the person on the TV screen.

”Why is his gay ass on the TV? Don’t they get cable here?”

Faye didn't need to wait too long for someone at the door before she heard steps coming from behind. A blonde man approached the door from behind her. Faye didn't lose any time before greeting the man, whom apparently was going to be one of her companions that would stay on the new 'safe house'. Seeing him arriving made her wonder how many people would stay on that house with her. Not that she disliked company, in fact she loved having people to talk with, but she couldn't help but to wonder if it wouldn't be too complicated for too many people to stay in a house that wasn't that big.

"Hi there! Are you also staying here? I'm Faye, nice to meet you." Faye asked, waving to the man with a cheerful smile.

Before she could say anything more though, two more people arrived in the house, getting out of a car and getting their bags from the trunk, clearly indicating that they would also be staying at the safe house. The amount of mages arriving at the safe house made Faye realize that the mission that the Guild had for them was indeed, quite serious. Not that it would change how much she cared about it though (which honestly was very little...). One of the girls who had arrived had a beautiful blue hair, which immediately distracted Faye from the blonde man, making her turn towards the girl with her usual energetic and cheerful behavior.

"Hey! I loved your hair color! I..." Faye began, before she was interrupted by the same blue haired woman, which simply walked past her and opened the door without any ceremony, asking why she didn't open it sooner.

"Well... People often get mad at me when I enter places without knocking first so..." Faye said, shrugging as both girls passed by her and the blonde guy.

Quickly figuring out that it would take too much time for her to greet everyone due to the amount of people that were arriving, Faye simply followed behind just as another two girls arrived, one entering the safe house without talking too much and the other, carrying a lot of food with her. Judging by how the others who arrived interacted with each other, they already knew themselves. She seemed to be one of the few, if not the only new person around... Which wasn't a surprise given how much the guild seemed to dislike her due to her... 'antics'. One thing was certain the moment she entered the house though, Faye was one hundred percent certain that the house was far too small to house everyone that was on the living room already.

"Are you guys sure that this house will be enough for us all?" Faye asked as she entered the living room, looking around. While it was spacious for two or three people, there were a lot of people in there and she had no clue if there were more yet to arrive.

Walking until the middle of the living room, Faye let her bag rest against the wall on the corner of the room before blinking to the second floor almost as if was the most natural thing in the world for her.

"Hey everyone, we have a problem... there are only two rooms..." Faye's voice was heard downstairs from the second floor.

"and a small bathroom with a bed inside." she continued, appearing downstairs again with a rather disappointed expression. While she didn't mind in staying in the children's room, she absolutely wouldn't accept staying in that small, cramped room.

"Just getting this reeeal quick~ Don't mind me..." she said as she walked to the corner of the room, grabbing her bag.

"I don't really need the big room but I certainly won't stay on the bathroom." Faye said, with a mischievous smile as she disappeared, appearing downstairs again after a few seconds, having already left her things (and her shoes) upstairs.

"Sooo... I'm Faye, glad to meet you guys! Please take care of me." she said with a cheerful and carefree smile, looking to everyone.

---

It seemed that everyone had practically arrived almost at the same time and Melville didn’t have time to react to everyone entering. He didn’t notice many of the people who were entering the house. He naturally noticed Salem enter, How could anyone not notice her?

”Hey!” Aloysius chimed back at Salem’s remark. ” You probably wouldn’t understand most of the stuff on TV anyway. Besides, you should be more thankful, the alternate solution was to put you in a warehouse with sleeping bags.” Aloysius was about to speak more but Faye had decided to chime in and comment on the upstairs situation.

”Bed in the bathroom? Are you sure you are okay? There are two bedrooms and a small bathroom up there. One was my old childhood room and the other is my parents old master bedroom. Though, I do understand the issue regarding lack of space. Which is why I have something to show you. Melville, be a darling and look to the wall on your left, see there is a photo hanging? Twist it to the right and then push.”

Melville looked slightly confused as he walked over to the photo frame. The photo in question was one of both Aloysius and Salem when they were young teens. Being so close in age they practically ended up being glued to one another for childcare and education processes. Taking the frame Melville rotated it to the right until a click could be heard, it was then he began to push. As he pushed a door-sized segment of the wall pushed in, revealing a small landing and a bunch of stairs to the right.

” Down there you will find that there are a bunch of bedrooms, meeting room and a training area. The area is padded very well and enchanted so you can scream down there and no one on the outside will hear. I would recommend that at least one of you sleeps in the master bedroom though, just to give the house the illusion it is being lived in. But that is your choice to make as to whom. The only other thing I ask is don't go into my childhood bedroom and start messing with shit. Got a lot of memories in there I don't want to lose." With the door now revealed Melville went back to sitting on the sofa.

”Anyway back to the mission. Normally we would have more information for you to work with but with the last safe house gone our entire network is dark. I wouldn't advise going to investigate the wreckage of the safe house. It might still be under watch by the Rebellion. However, I do have two leads for you to look at. First one: There is a nightclub in town which is run by a mage, who stereotypically is called Sakura. She isn't part of the Rebellion but a few of them do drink there. She might be open to talking or at least wanting to co-operate. You probably wanna catch her in the afternoon when she is setting up, as opposed to in the middle of the night when everyone is there.

” Secondly, we have, sorry had, an old warehouse out in the industrial part of Satsumasendai. We used it to house supplies for the safe houses, stuff like that. It might be worth having a sniff around and see if you spot anything. Maybe the Rebellion took it over rather than just steal something. The bigger they get, the more supplies they are going to need. Either way, both of those jobs will probably require your attention tomorrow, so I suggest splitting up into two groups. But again, totally your call. With that, I am going back to my cereal. I will send the rest of the details over shortly. For now, get yourselves settled in".

With that done, Aloysius closed the call and left them all to their own devices. Standing up, Melville turned and looked around to everyone who had now entered. There most certainly was a lot more than he imagined there would be.

” Well that was something. Though it's Aloysius, so I would say that was rather good. Anyway, I suppose I should introduce myself, Name's Melville, Heir to the Louis bloodline. But I don't really care about the whole bloodline thing. I am thinking that we should perhaps get our stuff moved in and then meet down in that meeting room to discuss what we are going to do. Sound good?"

---

Getting into the house had become more of a crowd activity as more of the team had arrived simultaneously, though that also reassured Gus that nobody here was a threat. These were the right people.
The sight of de Silva kind of set that one in place after all. Isolated he might be from the Guild's more active politics, there was no way to really not know who Salem was. Hopefully that wouldn't grow to be a problem here on this mission. But she wasn't the only big name in the room. After all, one of the others had just introduced himself as heir to the Louis name.
He himself had just stayed by the wall during the informal little briefing, of course. It was a quite one-sided introduction to their base of operations, but that was just as well. The secret passage was a nice touch, and at least that meant they wouldn't be squished in to the main house. There were certainly too many bodies just in this room.
The better question then was, how were they going to keep this place under wraps with so many people living here...
But that would have to wait for a later date. There were more priority issues to deal with. Local contacts and a potential supply cache. Though chances were that cache wasn't going to be a safe bet. The Guild had already lost all their official safehouses in the area, so it was doubtful that where they kept supplies was still a secret either.

"Excuse me, ladies and gents, but think I'll go next. Short and simple though." he spoke up next, before the crowd could all start filing down to the meeting room, or heading out to the cars as Miss Boukhary seemed to indicate, "Gus. Gus Mallory. If the name's not memorable, then that's probably why I'm here. Small town, out of the way. No big bloodlines or anything. And if we're going to try and pretend this place is normal, we've got too many cars out there and too many people who need to go in and out. Any way we can hide just how many people we have coming and going?"

Just as Faye had finished presenting herself, that much to her disappointment was completely ignored by everyone, the guy in the television began speaking, showing his confusion as Faye mentioned a bed in the bathroom.

"Hey! I swore I saw something inside the bathroom. It's not like I was paying attention on it as well. Bathrooms are bathrooms. Just not interesting at all..." Faye said, protesting as she sat on the back of the couch, dangling her legs in front of it as she looked to the guy in the television.

Much to her surprise, the moment he finished speaking and asked for Melville to twist and push the photo hanging on the left wall. Just as he did so, despite his clear confusion, a door-sized segment of the wall opened, revealing a bunch of stairs to the right, which apparently led to a secret part of the house. Interested by the development, Faye was about to teleport downstairs when the guy in the television began speaking again, explaining them what they would find downstairs and solving the problem regarding space for everyone in the blink of an eye.

"That is quite a cool house! I wish my mansion had some cool secret passageways like that..." Faye said, wondering.

That said, with the interesting part of the conversation done, it was finally time for the boring one as the TV guy began discussing about their mission. Faye wasn't exactly interested or making any effort to pay attention on his boring explanation but she ended up getting at least the overall situation they were. The guild had literally no presence in Satsuma anymore after their warehouse was destroyed by those so called 'rebels'. Their only possible source of information was a mage called Sakura which had a 'neutral' nightclub. The other issue that needed their attention regarding the 'mission' was an old warehouse that the guild used to have. He wanted them to check that warehouse for possible rebel activity.

"Anyways, that was the room you used when you were little?" Faye asked, curious.

"It is so cute~ I loved it! Promise I wont make a mess on it! At least not one I can't clean up by myself~" Faye said with a mischievous expression and a teasing smirk to the TV guy. Unfortunately, it seemed like he was already gone before he could reply to her as the call closed.

"His cereal is probably really tasty for him to be so eager to go back to it." Faye said as she shrugged before she began calmly walking downstairs to inspect the rest of the house.

When she was about to get down the stairs though, everyone started to introduce themselves, which made Faye stop and pay attention for a moment. The least she wanted to do was knowing everyone's names.

---

Melville politely listened to everything that everyone spoke. He could tell there was still some uneasiness in the room. That was to be expected though. After all, Most people in the room had only just met and they were expected to perform an entire mission together. No one could reasonably expect the group to gel together and become comrades at the drop of a hat. The Guild did have some rather bizarre practices that didn’t always make sense.

Still, Melville had things to do. He had to go get the documents from the printer and start to think of a plan. Everyone else could just go do their own thing. He had wondered how many of them actually thought they were on vacation? It didn't pay to think like that however. It would ultimately lead to resentment of his newfound allies. Walking off, Melville would make his way down the newly revealed stairs to investigate. The underground facility seemed to revolve around a single central corridor which had been painted rather unimaginatively white. To the left were all of the dorm rooms: small units that still managed to fit in a full sized bed and a ensuite somehow. On the right housed the gym, meeting room and a second kitchen/mess hall. It seemed entirely plausible that you could love down here with no one upstairs ever being aware of your existence.

Walking into the meeting room, Melville surveyed his new surroundings. The room was dominated by the table in the center. There was a TV and a laptop mounted to the far wall with a printer in the corner. The sole light in the room was based above the table and really helped to give the room that 'underground' vibe. Walking over to the printer, Melville noticed that the print light was flashing, something was waiting to print. It must have been the documents that Aloysius had promised to send. He must have finished eating. Releasing the print job, Melville watched as the printer spat out sheet after sheet of printed paper. Once the job had finished Melville scooped them up and took a seat at the table. His fingers stroked through the pages subconsciously as he began to digest the rest page of information.

It become apparent quite quickly that Aloysius had sent over alot of information. Realising he wasn't going to be able to digest the information in one go, Melville began to skim read instead, spending time looking at pictures and titles instead of the small print. As he was done with each piece of paper he would slide it into the centre of the table, creating a neat grid of paper.

"Well. There is certainly alot of information." Melville muttered. Mostly to himself, but also to anyone who had joined him in the room. "So the nightclub that Sakura runs ended up becoming an impromptu hang out for the Rebellion it seems. Sakura may be afraid to talk. We will have to be careful. As for the warehouse. I doubt anyone is even there now. It is probably picked clean, but it is worth a look, just incase they left anything behind." Letting out a soft sigh, Melville slowly raised his hands and ran them through his hair. He wasn't stressed out at this point. More tired. Travelling had taken a lot out of him.