-•-

"My, my..I am indeed a lucky man for a beauty to rescue me" Linthéa heard him sigh happily while waking back to the saucer like vehicle.

'Gods, this is unbearable!' a tick of nerve bulged from her forehead as her lips made a flat smile. In her mind, she's thinking of a hundred ways to shut him up and hoist him back to Rulin's prison.

"Hey, angel!"He called behind her back, "Mind if I get your permission to-"

"Ughh enough with your flirting!" Linthéa lost it and grabbed his shoulder forcefully but the guy only gave her a smirk.

"Who said I was flirting?" Embarrassment. How could she lose composure? Her eyes widened at the realization as heat crept to her cheeks.

Linthéa closed her eyes and heaved a deep breath before glaring at the stranger with a scowl who wisely backed at little from her expression of death.

"Listen here Mister whoyoumightbe!"Linthéa pointed her finger repeatedly on the boy's black shirt looking at him eye to eye with a glare, "I'm done with your acting! Atleast thank me respectfully you pathetic piece of shit! ......you think I don't see through your flattering words?" She drawled, pointing a finger to his face although she has to stand on her tippy toes.

"Awww"He cooes but as seeing her unchanging expression, he cleared his throat, "Ahem, thank you, miss?"

"Linthéa"

"Linthéa, for your kind gesture of saving me" He gave a courtesy bow that left her stunned for words.

"Ahm.. that's enough.."She covered her mouth watching as he held her hand and gave a fleeting kiss on skin. A soft smile then grazed his handsome features as he looked at her.

Linthéa quickly took her hand away and hid it behind her back, surreptitiously wiping it.

"Hmp. Finally a proper form of gratitude..... What's your name?"

"I am Kale, pleased to meet your acquaintance--milady" He finally said his name, giving a hand to shake while he unfolds his ink black wings to its full glory that was never there before.

It was pretty dramatic of him actually.

"And what is the full name of the beauty who saved me?" Linthéa scoffs at his words but couldn't deny the awe she had to see the last surviving individual of a dead race.

"Linthéa. Linthéa Seiju" She shook his hand with a sweet smile.

"Suiting name for a fair beauty" Kale gave a clap, "Your parents gave you a good name"

At the mention of that, the fan apprentice's expression suddenly soured which Kale picked up as cue to change the topic.

"Oh! You're the famous fan apprentice right? Oh I've heard about you so many times...we even gave you the title: "Lady of the Phoenix", He caught up with her pace, telling anything he thought would amuse her.

Linthéa gave a demure chuckle at her given title, Kale looked pleased at himself for saving another awkward conversation.

'Maybe he's not unbearable after all'

"Now..mind to ask you how you ended up with the pirates?" She broke the long silence to ask him the most important part of her report before boarding back.

"Hm... it's hard to explain."

"Please, take your time"

"I am just a mere citizen of Kayunta" The white haired man started while Linthéa attentively listened.

'You don't look like one' She thought, eyeing him up and down.

"Long story short, Lingayen Udtohan tasked me to look after this stone for her in the shrine. Rocio and his men, paired by a group of demons, tried to steal the stone so I fled the scene and got here rescued by you" He fished his coat's pocket and showed her a glistening rock.

"I can't go back to Kayunta" Kale cuts her off, "This stone is a precious artifact from Goddess Alunsina before she was locked away."

"Hmm...I see, once we go back to Icycilis, you'll stay at our place; it's safe there and I'll report back what you've told me" They stopped right in front of Linthéa's ship and Kale opened his wings.

"No. You're under my jurisdiction now and I won't let you out of my sight" She declared so boldly, forgetting that the man will never stop being flirtatious.

He chuckled. earning a light slap on his arm., "Alright princess, I'm yours" Kale gave her a light pat on the head and winked.

'The sheer audacity!'

"Now, now, let's go" She ignored the interaction as if nothing was said and heard, flicking away his hand over her head and turned her heels to the ship where he followed suit.

—

Kale sometimes asks himself.

Why is it always the crazy ones that attract his attention?

This girl he was was indeed one of a kind. She's beautiful, fearless and quite the fight but....out of all people it was him who got stuck in this world with a sadistic girl who always looks so smug and unpredictable.

It would take a lot of his charm and way of approach to par with her.

And here he was, it could've been Makisig, guy knows how to approach girls ever so kindly or Nikol from Strandethorn, man knows he's shy with women and doesn't even try to approach them or Kuroyasha, though he already pursues the Meishu of the Security Patrol of Jadetown. But it's him who has to endure this crazed type who flies a ship recklessly and the worst part: his motion sickness is really showing up due to the speed she's deploying.

They flew past trees and large rocks that only looked like a line of colors to him. Kale kept a silent prayer at the Gods that he'll survive all of this crap, who could blame him since after it's the only thing that could put him down.

"Can you please slow down!"he frantically ordered the girl beside him, Linthéa innocently turned her head to see him narrowing his red eyes at her with the look of puking any second.

Despite everything he tried to say, Linthéa dragged him in the ship in distrust that he would fly away if she'd let him fly with the ship just like he suggested.

She replied with a laid back expression, "Dear me, do you have motion sickness" she chuckled as she taunts him and fastened the ship a little, Kale looked alarmed at the sudden change of pace and went for something to grab, his face turning white while Linthéa looked at him, "Ironic for a birdman" She mused, he flashed her the look of annoyance as she gave him cheeky one.

'Ironic for a birdman' The same line that echoed in his mind as if someone had said it to him before.

But of course for his sake Thea slowed the ship down a little.

—

"I'll just bring this baby back to the building and ride back home with my bike...I do hope it is good for the two of us" Linthéa announced as she parked the space vehicle inside the flyway and jumped with a big thud as her heels came contact on the metallic ground.

"The what?!"Kale repeated in disbelief as he climbed down the flying saucer, trying to walk straight but ended up staggering from dizziness. Linthéa scoffed and caught him, putting his arm on her shoulder to guide him to the exit of the flyway while laughing at his misfortune.

She soon saw her master walking towards her with a new attire, a pair of boots clicked on the beige colored floor. Shigemi lightly chuckled at her unconscious companion, motioning her wisteria accented fan with blades by its edge to cover her mirth.

"You've done well Thea, now off you go and take your rest" The peach haired woman light pinched her apprentice's cheeks with a smile before sparing a glance at the man next to her.

"Hmm poor thing...will you have him checked?"

"He looks fine to me....Anyways, where are you going master?" Linthéa nonchalantly entertained her question, evidently showing her dislike to the man and instead asked a new question.

The woman ran a hand to touch the rolled coiffure of her scintillating white hair while holding both of her fans on the other hand. She wore a heavily modified peach colored yukata with the color's darker variant as the skirt's shade. Linthea eyed her get-up once more and noticed that her opal shaped pendant is not around her neck as where it always is.

'Surely that necklace was very important'

"Maxiane and I are assigned to Strandethorn... specifically in two of the villages there, reports of a homicide calls our attention. Apparently, their special elite force is on the case but the killing won't stop as if it's a disease that spreads. This caused the demons to plague the surrounding areas which is where we come by. " Nobutaka stated, looking around tapping her sandals impatiently, Linthéa could note her jaw clenching, "But Mikazuh is nowhere to be found here...tardy woman, I should go and look for her around" The Fan Shijo sighed and turned around to find her partner.

"Goodbye Thea!"

"Goodluck!"Linthéa bid, although her master can't hear her now. She almost forgot about Kale until he groaned in pain beside her indicating that he's waking up, "Hey? Can you walk? Or do you want to rest for a bit here" She asked in worry and held up his cheek.

"Of course I can! N-no need for you to adjust sweetheart" Kale replied, suppressing his embarrassment by making a cheeky remark and turned away from her touch. Linthéa suddenly unslung his arm around her shoulder causing him to fall back a little but regained his bearings "Well now that you're okay, let's go home!" She exclaimed and passed Kale his satchel, leaving him to catch up.

-•-

"Jiejie?" a girl jerked her head up upon hearing Théa's bicycle land on a green well trimmed lawn in front of a two storey cream pink mini mansion with all sorts of plants and flowers aligned beside tall wooden fences.

"Sis! Did you bring something for me?" The short little girl stood up from her seat by the short stairs and ran to hug her sister upon arrival.

"Sorry dear but unfortunately I didn't" Linthéa smiled sadly as she stroked the girl's head. The latter soon noticed a boy beside her sister and eyed him with pure curiosity.

"Jiejie.....who is this new friend of yours?" she asked inspecting the new guest, tilting her head to the side while Kale confusedly narrowed his eyes. Linthéa coughed nervously, "Oh! He is...Kale, he's from Kayunta and is now under my watch. Well, to add, he's also a Niâo Ren, last of their kind I guess?" she left the last phrase in question mark as the girl dislikes saying something she isn't sure of. The youngest sibling's eyes turned into stars upon hearing what her sister said, smiling as she searched for Kale's wings.

"Kale, my little sister, Xiuying" Linthéa stated as she introduced the two, watching Xiuying shook Kale's hand without hesitation which caught him by surprise, something changed in his gaze which seemingly hides an intention but his smile was kind thus Linthéa called herself delirious for assuming that way.

'He's just a common nobody'

"Pleased to meet you, Xiuying" He returned the shake while unfolding his sudden appearance of wings that made Xiuying jump around excitedly and tried touching it.

"OH! I'm glad my sister has a new friend, come on let's go inside! I'll show you around the whole house!" Xiuying exclaimed, clapping her hands together and grabbed Kale's hand, dragging the shocked guest to the porch but Linthéa stopped her before she got carried away.

"Ying" She started softly, "He's tired and needs rest, I'll take him to stay in the guest room. You can take him wherever you want tomorrow, if it's fine by him" Linthéa walked up to the porch of the house and took the white haired man's hand from her sister's grasp.

"Aww, fine!" The little girl whined in defeat and trudged inside the house but her name was soon called.

"Ying? Where's Soren?" Xiuying turned around to reply, "Ah....um, errands".

"I see, I'll meet you down later to make dinner".

—

Linthéa motioned Kale inside the Seiju mansion, climbing the lacquered stairs to the second floor as he followed while checking out his surroundings, whistling at how clean and beautiful their house is.

"You must be a powerful Niâo Rén"

"Why'd you say that?" He smirked behind her.

"You managed to keep your wings from human sight for a long time"

"Don't worry, I'll undo my spell when I'm in inside your home and recast it outside and yes, it does take a lot of my energy"

The woman hummed in agreement.

"How do you know about this?"

"...I have a friend once, he mastered that technique at such a young age..I guess you reminded me of him" She simply answered, her waist length dark brown hair swaying as she climbed the stairs. He noticed how regal her posture is and how she walks depict royalty which draws him to incline his head up upon knowing who she is.

"I'm surprised that you've been acquainted with my people...after what your family did" he muttered behind her back, knowing she can't hear it.