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"Hey, bro, hands off the goods, okay!? I get the point! I'm walkin'!"

"Ma'am! Here is the other prisoner." Two guards entered with Zek, their gun barrells digging into the Teru's back. "Awaiting orders, Ma'am!" They stood stiffly at attention.

"Ah, there's a sight for sore eyes. Hey, cutie, why don't you and I... huh?" Zek's trademark flirt greeting was forgotten when his eyes fell upon the redheaded woman's face. "W-wait a minute. I'm seein' things. Oh, yeah, Goddess, I'm seein' things! There's no way you can be here right in front of me. Unless you're a ghost and I don't believe in 'em! I'll close my eyes and you'll vanish, just watch!" He closed his eyes and waited, then re-opened one to peek, startled again to find Tessia standing there. "Aw, damn, I swear I'll never cheat again just let me keep my sanity..." He rambled. Obviously, the sight of this particular woman rattled him quite a bit.

A slight smile touched Tessia's lips as she listened to the ramblings of the man in front of her. The last time she'd seen him was just before she was cut down. He'd come to warn them that the soldiers were coming.
So, because of his word, they'd left the safety of their home and gone out into the open. They'd run so fast and for so long that she no longer had any strength in her body. She couldn't catch her breath, let along sing to attack or defend. And that's when it happened. A pain so unbearable, she lost all rational thought. Losing control of her body from her waist down. Crashing to the ground, not being able to move. The last thing she saw before the blackness of death overtook her was the sight of the man she loved standing over her, blood dripping from his sword.

The scene played over and over in her mind in just the few seconds that the Dive Shop operator stammered and spoke to himself. Here in front of her was one of the people responsible for taking away her very life. Her smile grew wider as thoughts of what he would endure flashed through her mind. "Why, my dear Zek, you look like you've seen a ghost! Maybe you should sit down?" Though the words were spoken as a suggestion, the tone in her voice suggested otherwise. "It's been so long, we've so much catching up to do! But before we get to that, unfortunately, I've a job to do, and we're running out of time. If you could help me by answering just a couple questions, then I can get this report submitted and we can chat. How's that sound?"

--Aaron Leon Cecil--

"Right!" The human agreed and took off after the Teru, cape whipping behind him in the wind. He kept low and followed behind Gannon, although he had to admit that the Teru was rather quick on his feet. Aaron would have to keep on his toes to keep up. He came to an abrupt halt behind a building to catch his breath. He paused before darting over to the next building. Luckily the Inn was in sight, though far off. He stopped again and peeked around the corner of a house at the Inn, frowning. "There are troops outside of the Inn too? Just what's going on over here?"

--Aaron Leon Cecil--

Aaron ducked quickly at Gannon's warning and made sure to keep quiet, though the look on his face was asking for an explanation. He stared when Gannon pointed the prisoner being hauled away and squinted, staring harder at the young man. That guy... His expression remained calm and collected, however Aaron's mind was racing.

That young man grew up next door to Aaron's family when he was young and was good friends with his little sister, too. On occasion even Aaron would join his younger sister and he to play. "We can't leave him like this," the boy muttered more to himself than Gannon.

When the Teru called to him he nodded and followed after him, using the icy steps that Gannon made. The rain made the holds nearly impossible to hold onto. He'd almost made it to the top when he slipped and took a sharp intake of breath, anticipating the fall. Aaron wasn't concerned about the pain of falling. He'd had much worse, and he knew how to fall so that he took little to no damage. But the noise it would make was another story. Everyone nearby would hear and it would attract the attention of everyone around them, making Nereus' rescue and their mission a complete waste. Damn it! There's no way outta this one!

--Aaron Leon Cecil--

At the immense pressure around his throat from the other end of his cape being caught by the Teru, Aaron momentarily blacked out but came to as he was being pulled to the top. He coughed and gasped for air and struggled to stand but made too quick a motion and ended up kneeling. After a few bouts of heavy breathing, he rasped, "I suppose I should thank you..." It was about as close to a thanks as the Teru was going to get for that. After all, it hurt like hell.

Gannon…

The Teru chuckled a bit. "Don't mention it. After all, if ya ever need ta be choked out again, I'll be there. Alright. Let's get moving again." The Teru crept to the edge of the building and glanced around. It didn't look like they'd attracted any of the guard's attention. An idea occurred to him. Gannon moved to the edge of the building facing the Inn. It was too far to jump, but there was another option. "I'm gonna make a bridge. We gotta move fast. If they see it, we're screwed." He called on his magic again, this time forming the ice into a platform spanning the gap between the two buildings. He spent a few extra seconds making sure it was thick enough to support their weight. "Let's go." He set a foot on the bridge and almost lost his balance. The rain instantly made the ice extremely slippery. Well, why fight it? The Teru took a few steps back and then ran at the slab of ice, dropping down to slide across on his stomach. As soon as he was on the other side, he stood and motioned for Aaron to cross.

--Aaron Leon Cecil--

Hesitating a moment, Aaron took a deep breath then bolted toward the bridge, skidding across the ice on his boots and using his blade to steady himself until he got to the other side. Whew. Didn't know if I woulda been able to pull that off... Now on the other side he sheathed his blade and nodded to Gannon. "Wasn't so hard."

He hadn't thought of that. That other F.P.D. was there, wasn't she? Biting his lip nervously, he regarded the woman before him carefully. It made sense that she was concerned for Gannon of course. There was only one thing that she hadn't explained that bothered him. "After everything that's happened, why would you join these guys?" He half-pleaded the redheaded Reyvateil for an answer. "You know what's going to happen to those girls when they catch them. You yourself told us a lot of the things they did to you! Yet you're working diligently to capture them and subject them to exactly the same treatment as you once recieved? Those girls... Call me old fashioned but I don't want any harm to come to them!" Zek clenched his fists and sighed. Maybe there were circumstances that were going on that he was unaware of.

Wait, why is this so hard? This is Tessy. I trust her. We could always trust her. There's got to be a good explanation for this! Guilt over being unable to protect his friend in the past was winning over the need to protect a girl he had just met. Trust for an old friend began to outweigh the distrust in the C.P.G. "Okay... I trust ya, Tessy. I owe ya that much at least don't I? They came into the Dive Shop with another Reyvateil and Teru. The first time they came in, that girl, Hikari was unconscious because of some trauma to her Cosmosphere. So they did a Proxy on her. They came back a couple of days later and dove again. Resonance and that girl left before the other two were done. That's when that other F.P.D. girl went nuts and blew up the building. They dug me up from the debris and left town. That's all I know." He gestured to his injuries. "I wasn't exactly completely conscious when they dug me up, y'know..."

He looked down at his feet sheepishly. "Nothing bad will happen to those girls, right? When they get into your care you'll save them, won't ya, Tessy?" Tessia was his dear friend after all. She deserved his trust. Zek didn't know how she'd survived this long but he knew without a doubt it was her and that she must have suffered. After all, she and Resonance had been seperated for so long and he hadn't been able to be there for her to protect her. Zek only hoped that he could make up for lost time for his two friends. "When you see him, I know he'll be happy to see you. Especially since he thought you were dead all this time."