Lydell throws a glare back to make sure that they are following. Elias tenses, his own glare ready as they walk down the long hall. He looks around, trying to see if he could get a visual clue of where they are geographically, but to no avail. “So, are we still in Logi?” he asks.

The redhead scoffs,” Of course, we are.” Her blue eyes narrow at him before glancing over at Aria. She hurriedly turns back to the front, her red hair whishing around in its tight ponytail.

Ignoring the snide tone in her voice, Elias continues,” Is it possible that we are on the outskirts? Across the trams?”

She stops, spinning on her heel to face them. “Your attempt to get information out of me won’t work, beanpole. Now hush before I actually break your arm.” Normally, Elias would be unnerved by the threat but this insinuation that he is a spy has him heated.

“Oh, shut it, stiff. If anyone is untrustworthy, it’s you, your father and this whole plan since you followed us and basically kidnapped us.” He straightens his back, preparing himself to get his butt pinned to the ground. Again.

Before Lydell could even get a word out of her mouth, Aria sighs, annoyed. “Can we stop this bickering? And you show us where we are going, since you’re our babysitter, red.” she crosses her arms, and Evritt who is nodding along with her, follows her lead, pouting adorably.

Lydell rolls her eyes, not saying a word. She turns to face the door next to them and places her hand on the wall. The outline of the door lights up and then it slides into the crevice, revealing a room that is large enough to house all three of them comfortably. “This is where you will be housed for the time being. After you are settled, I will lead you to the canteen. That is where all of the food is distributed throughout the post.” With a nod, she lets them walk in and then turns to leave the room.

The door closes behind her, leaving the three of them alone. “Elias, don’t pick fights you know you cannot win,” Aria snaps, annoyance filling her voice. She tugs off her jacket, revealing the pulsing mark on her skin. It has been partially visible because it flows across her cheek, but it is rare to see the full tattoo. Evritt’s eyes widen as he gazes at it in awe. “Stop staring,” she huffs, not even sparing them a glance. Both whips their heads away, surprised she could sense them looking at her.

“Um, why is it flickering?” Evritt asks. She glances over at the little boy, a sigh escaping her lips.

She then shrugs. “I don’t know.” It has been pulsing with light since she has woken up and it is strange. It has never happened to her before and she doesn’t know what to think of it. But right now, that’s the least of her issues. This is the second time that she has gotten out of control. Thankfully, neither Elias nor Evritt saw it happened. And it doesn’t seem that anyone of these… “resistance” people know that she is the lanai. Which is great. She needs to get it under control before she hurts someone important. And it’s becoming very clear that she is part Umbram and needs to tell them. But fear is literally squeezing the thought from even leaving her lips. What if they look at her with fear? She doesn’t know if she would be able to handle it if they were scared of her.

Don’t tell them that you’re the guardian of the Eliari clan, Elias’s voice rings through her mind. She glances over at him to see his brown eyes looking at her, seriously. There is a worried glint in his eyes that she isn’t used to seeing. Especially in someone who always has a plan somehow. She nods at him before glancing at Evritt who gives a toothy grin.

Aria sighs,” Are we ready?” she grabs her jacket as Evritt moves closer.

He nods, happily,” I am.” Then they both turn their attention to Elias, who is adjusting his lens. Feeling their gazes, he pauses and then bobs his head in agreement.

“I’m fine. I won’t start a battle I can’t win,” he reassures.

The three walk to the door and it opens to reveal Lydell standing against the wall with her hands clasped behind her back. She moves away from the wall, a frown on her face. “Let’s go. News has gotten around already that we found an Eliarin, so expect some staring.”

They follow her down the hall, passing by some open rooms that look similar to theirs and then seeing some people ambling down the hall past them. Some pause to stare, but others only spare a distrusting glare and then move on.

Evritt looks around, awed at everything he is seeing. Since he hasn’t really left the house often due to his… natural abilities, he couldn’t really see many things outside. So everything is new to him. It’s all exciting.

Lydell stops in front of a wide open door, that reveals a large canteen area where there are a lot of people seated around different tables, eating and chatting loudly. Aria winces at the loud noises, not used to everybody talking at once. She glances over at Elias and Evritt, who just look hungry and uncaring at the noise. She then takes a peek at Lydell, who seems to have noticed her discomfort. She smirks, amused and steps into the canteen.

As they follow her, the noise dies down as eyes begin to land on them. Elias tenses, seeing all the people begin to turn to observe them as they enter into the canteen. “Come on, they distribute the food over here,” Lydell advises, waving them over to a counter where there are servers with trays of food.

Aria can see Evritt’s eyes widen at the food. He’s practically drooling after having gone the past two days with no food. That is probably why he hasn’t been the most talkative as he was trying to conserve energy.

Quite honestly, she is feeling hungry herself. even though she has been used to eating very little, after spending a week getting fed and cared for by the brothers, she already became accustomed to eating full meals. At least she was before that blew up in their faces.

The scrutiny in the eyes of everyone around them is almost overwhelming and Elias has to take deep breaths, calming himself down. He adjusts his lenses, finding something else to focus on as they near the counter.

“Three extra trays, please,” Lydell requests, an air of authority taking over as she tilts her chin higher. The servers, two men both glance at her with narrowed eyes before giving her for trays.

“What if we end up not having enough food?” one asks, snarky.

She huffs,” We’ll make it enough. I’ll send for more supplies from Arashe.” She then turns to face the three newcomers, an expectant look in her eyes. “Well? Get the plates or go hungry. We definitely can give the food to someone who is in more need than you.”

At that, Evritt quickly grabs his tray. Elias rolls his eyes, but hurriedly grabbed his tray. Aria gulps, not used to seeing this much food yet and takes it.

Elias turns,” So where to, babysitter?”

Holding in a growl at the nickname, Lydell sighs,” I see my partner over there.” She begins walking at a fast pace, leaving Evritt and Elias to lengthen their strides to catch up. Aria easily catches up, rolling her eyes at Lydell’s pettiness and dismay.

They reach a man with dark olive skin who is laughing loudly at something the women next to him is saying. She appears to be attracted to him with her demeanor and actions. The twirling of her thick straight black hair and the red tint on her fair skin. Aria notices the huff that escapes Lydell’s lips and tilts her head in confusion.

“I wouldn’t trust this man, Tila. I don’t know why you keep entertaining him,” she smirks, sitting down right next the tanned man. He raises his eyebrow, before resting his chin in his palm.

He smiles cheekily,” Sorry, Tila. My date is here. And it looks like she brought me some new people to meet.”

Tila only giggles, her eyes crinkling as if he said the funniest thing in the world. Lydell rolls her eyes, impatiently waiting while her… acquaintance scampers off like some kind of deer.

Aria tilts her head in confusion, not knowing how to process the interaction. The two brothers just watch, kind of bored at the scenario.

Elias inwardly smirks at Lydell’s situation. How fitting for someone as stiff as she is. He glances at Evritt, whose eyes widen as recognition pass through his eyes. “You’re the one with the shadows!” he says, excitedly.

The man turns in his seat, surprised at the correct assumption. He reveals golden brown eyes. Just like Evritt’s eyes and he smirks,” Of course. You’re ajin, ain’t ya?” A little twang in his voice has Aria blinking. She hasn’t experienced other accents or other dialects before and this is all new to her. She moves to the other side of the table and takes a seat, gingerly.

Elias and Evritt sit on either side of her and immediately begin digging in. The man grins, an amused glint passing through his eyes. “Nice to meet ya’ll. I’m Kial. Lyddie’s partner.” He runs a hand through his wavy black hair, a move that seems to make a lot of the girls around them swoon for some reason unknown to Aria.

“And a pain in my butt,” Lydell interjects.

In response, Evritt grins around a mouth full of rice. “I’m Evritt! the glasses wearing guy is my brother Elias and she is Aria!” Both Aria and Elias glare, annoyed at his willingness to spout their business everywhere.

“Ev, a bit too eager, aren’t you?” Elias mutters, before glancing at Aria, who seems to be enamoured by the bread. “Uh, do you need alone time?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.

Aria, who has stars in her eyes currently as she takes a bite, sighs. A rare look of contentment flies across her face and she could just eat the bread all day. Just bread. “I am in the heavens of Liyano,” she states, all of her worries flowing away with each bite.

Kial raises an eyebrow, amused at the girl,” So what makes you so special, silver eyes?”

Aria barely takes a glance at the man, her attention fully taken by the bread. She hasn’t had bread in so long and she never had the chance to really enjoy it when she was resting at the brothers’ home, but now? She will give her whole life for bread!

Elias watches her, becoming a bit worried. He waves a hand in front of her, trying to get her attention. “Aria? Are you conscious?” he asks.

His voice causes Aria to blink out of her reverie,” Hmm? Oh! I apologize.” She places the bread back on the tray and rolls her shoulders back,” I am Aria. And I am of the Eliari clan.”