The Arks

Raiyen blushed as he raised his hands to shake them.

"Wait! I didn't even know she has feelings for me!" protested Raiyen.

"Well, it was plain obvious with the way she acts with you. You are the only guy she would allow to touch her. Even when the newcomers were trying to entice her, she kept saying that she had someone in her heart," revealed Gillian.

"Yea, I thought it was because she wasn't liking anyone and was trying to maintain a proper teach-student relationship[ with them. I didn't know the person in her heart would be me..."

"You two have been working together for about a century now. How could you not have realized that she likes you? From the moment she brought you home, we knew that our little Valkyrie had a crush. And you saved her. Usually, she is the one who does the saving."

"But I don't even know if I am ready to like her back. My head has been so wrapped up with dealing with my Domain's events and problems that I didn't think about settling down with her...Or the fact that she likes me."

"Do you want to be with her?" asked Baldwin, looking at the boy with dulled eyes.

Raiyen was hesitant to reply so he manage a nod instead.

"If you don't want to be with her, let me have a shot with her. She deserves way better than you, Time Mage," said a familiar, cool voice.

"If Minwoo's charm was annoying then yours would be unbearable, Fox spirit," complained Baldwin, grabbing the man by the tail.

The man yanked his tail out from the Angry Man's grasp and raised his eyebrows at the situation.

"Who told you to come back, Tomoe?" asked Raiyen, annoyed that his Familiar was here.

"No one. I just thought to come by for a visit. Seeing that you've got so many beautiful women here, I thought I might swing by to get some action," commented the fox as he came into the light.

As per the previous description of him, nothing about Tomoe has changed. But his appearance did stun most of the women. Half of the women from the Birthing Chambers had arrived. But Raiyen had to admit, in the competition of looks, Tomoe would win by a long shot.

"I want to be with her. So lay off your paws from her. And besides, it's been a few years since you came around. I don't think Mavislin would like a man who vanishes from her all the time," snarled Raiyen, against his Familiar.

"Hmph. We'll see about that. I trained with her more than you would've thought. The only reason why I keep coming back is because of her. She's the only one who went out of her way to find me," boasted Tomoe, giving his devious smile.

"That's because you stole her hairband, you dumb fox," shot Baldwin, annoyed with the fox.

"Language, Baldwin. There are children here. About thousand of little kids and we don't want to show to the ladies that we taught them cuss words," scolded Gillian.

Baldwin apologized as a child hugged his ankle. The Angry Man picked up the kids and placed them next to the other kids.

"I wanted something to remind me of her, so I kinda took it. She wasn't angry. She was the one who later asked me to train with her since all of you didn't allow her to use her Fire Element," argued Tomoe as he turned around.

He felt a little human tugging on his tail.

"Fluffy..." said the kid, who had a sunken look in her brown eyes.

She was fully human but unlike the rest of the kids, she dared to touch the fox's tail. She was the only one who had some expression in her eyes. The rest of the kids were looking quite lifeless even if they were moving about. Tomoe crouched down and patted her head.

"Let's see which one Mavislin would choose when she gets home. But now, I would have to ask Tomoe to help us out. I have a feeling that there are going to be more victims than this," asked Gillian.

"It would be my pŀėȧsurė to help Lady Mavislin with her mission. What do you want me to do?" asked Tomoe, looking quite happy to help out.

"That's rare to see, that you are willing to help. Anyways, we need you to find an empty building around here. Somewhere we can later take the children and women to," advised Gillian, pointing towards the opening of the Old Chapel.

"So, you are just going to toss them there? Seems like a very nasty thing to do to them, especially what they just went through," said Tomoe, placing a finger under his chin.