By the time he reaches his house, nightfall is approaching with the first drops of rain beginning to fall. Hoping that his mom is not too worried from him being away longer than he anticipated, Nyx drops down from the rooftops into the street. Glancing down the path a bit he catches a glance at a passing cart, oddly similar looking to the one he had attempted to rob. Dismissing the thought and longing to see his family after the long day, Nyx opens the door to his home and goes inside.

“Hey mom I’m back! Sorry it took so lo-” Nyx calls out. However, rather than being met with a swarming of his siblings and a response from his mother, Nyx sees an alarming scene. The modest, yet comfortable setting of his home is completely ruined. Tables and chairs are broken into pieces across the room, the pot of food his mother had cooked has fallen with the contents spilled onto the wooden floor, and the whole place looks like a tornado had come through.

“Mom?! What the hell happened?! Mom?! Alana? Zora?” Nyx calls out hoping to hear any kind of response from inside the home. A few moments later he finally hears, not from inside the house, but out in the street the shout of his younger sister Alana.

“Nyx help!”

“Alana!” Nyx yells out, rushing into the street. Frantically looking around in the night rain for his little sister, Nyx quickly remembers and peers down the street.

“Shit the caravan! Slow down! Wait!” Nyx shouts after it trying to chase it down. While Nyx was in top shape, there was no way he could match the speed of this horse even as it carried a cart behind it.

“Shit, I’m not going to catch them on foot.” Nyx says as he bends down to catch his breath.

“Hey, isn’t that...” Nyx mutters to himself as he looks down and in the corner of his eye sees the shine of a jewel poking out of a puddle. Reaching down and picking it up, Nyx instantly recognizes the jewelry.

“Mom’s necklace! They must have been kidnapped. Mom would never leave this behind. It’s her only thing left from dad.” Nyx thinks as he lifts the necklace up to his face. Nyx starts to wrap the string around his neck to put the necklace on, not noticing the faint blue aura emanating from the lavender gemstone at the end of the necklace. As he ties it up at the back, Nyx sees the glowing aura as it quickly grows larger and stronger.

“W-woah!” Nyx shrieks as the aura expands in an instant and blinds his vision. Nyx is suddenly knocked backwards and sent flying into the wall behind him. The force of the impact is so strong that the wall seems to break and come crashing down with Nyx. Moaning in pain, as Nyx opens his eyes back up the aura has disappeared, and he discovers that he had in fact not hit a wall but a woman in a coat who had been coming down the road. Nyx quickly gets up after realizing that he was laying on top of her.

“Sorry ma’am!” Nyx says as he gets up on one knee. “Hold on…” His eyesight coming back into focus after being blinded, Nyx looks closely underneath the hood of the woman’s fur coat and once again sees the same elven woman from before.

“Aren’t you that princess?!” Nyx bellows, full of anger. Jumping up from his kneeled position, Nyx knocks Askari back down to the wet ground, placing his foot on her arm to prevent her from getting up.

“I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you! WHERE THE HELL DID THEY TAKE THEM?!” Nyx roars, his vision now blurry not from light but from rage. The much larger now rainclouds pour down on the two as Askari tries to plead her case.

“Wait! Just wait!”

“Give me ONE reason why I shouldn’t just kill you right now!”

“I-I might have been following you, but I had nothing to do with that, I promise!” Askari cries out, putting up no resistance to try and call him down. “My dad is an asshole, but he would never sell off slaves or anything like that! Those people have gotta have been from someone or something else!” Still looking down at her with fury, but concerned that if she was right, he was losing precious time, Nyx loosens his grip and lets her go. Standing up Nyx shakes himself off and clutches the pendant at his neck, confused at what had just occurred.

“Ugh, fine. Just get out of my sight. I need to find a way to catch up to them.”

“Let me help you!”

“Now what in all of Dunia makes you think that I would trust you?” Nyx says, trying to hold back his tongue.

“Well do you really have much of a choice? I don’t mean to be harsh but I don’t think you look like you can afford to get a horse.”

“Don’t you have like noble duties you need to take care of or something?” Nyx says, at this point just done with the conversation.

“Honestly, I’ve been looking for a reason to leave for a while. I’m not really suited for that lifestyle.” Ari says putting her arms crossed behind her head, knowing how silly she sounds.

“How nice that you have that choice…” Nyx replies. While the anger that filled him still had not completely subsided, Nyx couldn’t help but chuckle inside at how frivolous the noble girl seemed. “Fine. Just don’t get in my way. What’s your name again princess?” Nyx asks with a sigh.

“Please don’t call me princess.” Askari says, seemingly grossed out at the concept of being royalty. “Just call me Ari. Ari Sylverwin.” Nyx had never had an actual relationship with any nobles before, but Ari struck him as possibly one of the only good ones. She had rescued him from prison after all. Extending his hand forth to shake hers, Nyx gives her a partially forced smile.

“Okay princess. I’m Nyx Leones.” Nyx looks behind him at his house and then back towards the direction the caravan had headed, completely out of the city towards the South.

“So, you think you can find us a ride? Show me I didn’t make the wrong decision letting you come.” Nyx tucks his necklace back into his shirt, not wanting to concern himself with it or bother Ari about it now.

“Of course I am, what kind of ‘Princess’ would I be if I couldn’t even get a horse.” Ari says with distaste at using the word princess to refer to herself. “Just follow me, I’ll help you get them back.” Ari says, ready to lead Nyx towards what she claims will provide them a means of transportation and an easy way to track the caravan. Nyx follows behind her, as he feels the dread hit him for not being there to protect his family.

“I don’t know who did this. But Alana, Zora, Mom. I’ll save you.