This chapter is brought to you by Hollow Moon by The Crane Wives.

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Rowan couldn't help but scream as the light consumed him.

His stomach made an unpleasant flip, and he almost wanted to vomit.

There was one thing Rowan detested more than the claymore and that was magic.

He inherited his extreme sensitivity from his father. The direct descendent of his House's bloodline couldn't handle magic energy as well as others. Bel might have been the only exception to the rule, his resistance having come from his mother's side.

"Are you sure he's ready?"

The light cleared and he was suddenly in another room.

Rowan had no time to admire the decor. He saw a bucket in front of him and he immediately leaned over it.

"Are you sure he's ready?"

He heard a familiar voice ask. There was a hint of concern that made Rowan want to flush with humiliation as he puked into the bucket.

Once he finished emptying the contents of his stomach into the bucket, he looked up and saw that the person holding the bucket for him was Tobus.

Emerald green eyes stared down at him, almost judgementally, and Rowan wanted to do nothing but curl up and cry.

"Sorry..." he said, ashamed of his actions.

Tobus sighed.

He pressed a wet handkerchief against his mouth and Rowan gratefully took it.

"We never said he was experienced," Mercury winced when Tobus turned to him.

"Puppy."

The familiar endearment made Rowan look up.

Tobus patted him on the head.

"Be good. Stay close."

Rowan didn't know how to answer. He didn't have time to when Bel was suddenly cutting in between them.

"He doesn't need to be coddled, Tobus."

Love you too, cousin.

"Not ready," Tobus answered.

Oh no.

The room simultaneously went silent.

Bel was glaring at Tobus.

"What is the matter with you?"

Tobus didn't answer.

"Rowan is more than ready. Sure, he can't use a blade to save his life, and his introduction might have gone better if he hadn't puked but could you cut him some slack? Not everyone has a talent for murder, Cat!"

Oh, Bel.

Rowan thought sadly.

There was a minuscule flinch in Tobus' gaze, a crack to his demeanor, and a momentary shift to his demeanor.

He stared at Bel, eyes wide with... something. The emotions that flickered across his face were unreadable. Then he blinked. Once. Twice. And finally looked away.

Someone coughed.

"I'm still here."

It was then that Rowan realized he was in an office.

Not just any office, but Lord Eartha's office.

The man was unimpressed by the display before him.

I puked in front of the city lord.

Gods, take pity and kill him now.

Lord Eartha rolled his eyes. "Forgive Cat for his earlier statement, Rowan. He is under the impression that you were still inexperienced, considering this is your first mission outside the city."

Ouch. Well, that hurt.

Now he had a broken heart and a broken pride. It seemed nothing could wound him further.

"Nonetheless," Lord Eartha continued, "Your skills will be valuable to the Tower. We welcome your presence among our ranks, Apothecary."

Rowan swallowed and approached Lord Eartha. He bowed his head respectfully, "It is an honor, my Lord. I will do my best."

The man nodded and stood up from behind his desk. "Come, we must begin the briefing."

They left the office and made their way towards a room with a round table and papers all over the walls.

"Now that everyone is here, let us introduce the novice agents. Rowan Mattevi and Julian Calypto," Lord Eartha called his name along with another.

It was then that Rowan noticed another boy in the room, similar to him in age. He was plain and didn't look like much. There was nothing spectacular about his appearance, nor was any part of him memorable. Rowan thought of himself as someone with an eye for detail, but even he hadn't seen the boy until Lord Eartha spoke his name.

"You have all met your seniors, I assume. Cat, Peacemaker, and Dreamer will be with you during this mission. Your handler shall be Pluto. He has situated himself within the handler department and will meet with you all post-mission. Questions?" Lord Eartha explained.

Julian raised his hand. "What are the objectives of this mission?"

"Infiltrate, steal, and kill."

"Location?"

"Ohmlet. Intel has gathered that there would be a masquerade ball tonight. Your target is Gianni Puadu, the birthday boy. It is his thirtieth birthday, tonight. Cat, see to it that it be his last."

Tobus bowed his head at the order.

"Peacemaker, we found evidence of trafficking underneath the compound. Puadu has been using his home as a middle point. Persuade them to work with you. Assure them of their rescue within a fortnight and find some solid evidence of Puadu's wrongdoings. Anything that could implicate and shut down the business must be brought back to the Tower."

"Yes, my Lord," Bel answered.

"And this should be obvious, but do not, under any circumstances, bring anyone back with you. You find them? You leave them. The Imperial Family will handle it. Is that clear? Cat? Dreamer? Do I need to pull up the seminar again?"

"No, sir," Mercury answered quickly.

Tobus looked away.

Something didn't sit right with Rowan when he heard the way Lord Eartha emphasized: "You find them? You leave them?"

Were they really not going to rescue the victims?

"Sir, what type of trafficking are we talking about?" Julian asked, his voice devoid of emotions.

Lord Eartha paused.

He looked at Tobus for a long moment, and then answered, "Children."

"Sir," Tobus started.

"No, Cat. You are not to interfere. Just do what you are told."

The temperature in the room dropped. Rowan shivered.

Holy shit.

Between Lord Eartha and Tobus, he didn't know who was scarier.

"We are not a city of lost children, Lord Arcadia. Are you not satisfied by the hundreds of cats within our walls? No? I will give you Pluto."

Did Lord Eartha just offer up Mercury's cousin?

Tobus remained silent, but the temperature rose back up to bearable once more, so perhaps he was appeased by the suggestion.

"Venus is going to be so pissed..." Rowan heard Mercury mutter under his breath.

Lord Eartha rubbed the bridge of his nose and then continued on with the briefing.

"Apothecary, Happy Dagger, the two of you will be assigned to take out a few individuals. Pluto will guide you on who to silence, but please read the intel documents thoroughly. I am assigning Dreamer as your leader while Cat and Peacemaker finish off their respective objectives. The three of you will infiltrate the ball as participants and create a distraction if anything happens. Questions?"

In an instant, Mercury's hand shot into the air, "Why am I suddenly babysitting? No offense to you kiddos, but I don't think I'm ready to look after children so soon. Can I switch with Cat?"

Lord Eartha looked as if he was ready for this question because he immediately answered, "You are not skilled enough to get through the target's security team."

"Then Bel--"

"Again, the security team."

"What kind of security team is this Nini guy even hiring if they're that good?!"

"Agents of Mantle City."

"..."

The mention of Vesna's rival city stoke a fire in everyone's chest.

"Cat, Peacemaker," Lord Eartha calmly turned to them, "You have my permission to humiliate those Mantle agents as much as you like. Please assure them that they are the inferior city."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Anything else other objections?"

Lord Eartha was about to adjourn the meeting when Tobus spoke, "Arrays."

"Oh, yes. Happy Dagger, Apothecary, the two of you might have just discovered this from your first experience with the Luxostium--"

Was that what the glowy table thing was?

"--But the Tower has gotten a few upgrades due to some extra funds. We will be incorporating more magic into our missions."

Nooooooooo!

Rowan wept internally.

"Also, Apthocary," Lord Eartho said, "I heard about your... sensitivity with magic energy. Um, were you aware that all agents are required to wear communication implants?"

Excuse me, what?

"Excuse me, what?"

Oh, he said that out loud.

"Implants, sir?"

"Did Peacemaker not inform you?"

Rowan slowly turned to his cousin, but Bel refused to look at him.

"No," he said, gritting his teeth in annoyance. "Peacemaker did not."

"Well, it's your lucky day," Lord Eartha deadpanned. "Cat found some magic stones with less energy output during his last mission. I wouldn't consider them as reliable as the implants, but they work and you only need to wear them during missions."

Tobus handed him a necklace with a magic stone on it without a word.

Rowan nearly dropped it upon contact. He reluctantly placed it around his neck and cringed when he felt the uncomfortable tingle of magic energy wash over him.

"Thank you, my Lord," Rowan said with some amount of discomfort.

"You'll get used to it." He felt a hand on his head and saw it belonged to Tobus.

"Adapt." Pat. "Overcome." Pat. "Improvise." Pat.

As much as Rowan appreciated him and his cats, his questionable advice did nothing to ease his discomfort.

"I thought you said he wasn't ready," Bel suddenly said, eyes wide with a hint of disbelief.

Tobus frowned. "Not ready."

"Yet you went out and got him this?"

"Not ready. Make sure he doesn't die."

A small smile abruptly began to form on Bel's face. He placed his hand on Tobus' shoulder.

"About earlier--"

"Later."

The smile didn't disappear. "Promise me."

"Okay."

Lord Eartha coughed.

"Again, we are still here."

Bel quickly stepped away from Tobus like his feet were on fire while Tobus merely tilted his head in confusion.

Lord Eartha rolled his eyes.

"As I was saying before. You need to wear the stone during missions. Magic stones are not to be spoken about outside the Tower, nor used for any purpose besides missions. Happy Dagger, I was informed you've already been given the implant. Is that right?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"Good. The stones are a state secret and must remain so. Please do not be like Dreamer and try to use it for a prank."

Lord Eartha glowered at Mercury.

Mercury winced.

"I still think sending me to the Benevolent Brothers was an overreaction."

"You should be happy I didn't send you to the Capitol."

"Yes, uncle."

The briefing was quickly finished, and they were ordered to get ready.

Everyone stood up and started to make their way out of the room. HHowever, Rowan stopped Tobus just as the man was about to leave.

"Um, Tobus?"

"Hm?"

Rowan stiffly brought out a puzzle toy from his pocket like an offering.

"I accidentally grabbed it when you were, um, holding the bucket. I am so sorry!"

The room went quiet.

Rowan flushed red in embarrassment.

He was sure Tobus would easily forgive him for the bad habit. Rasa had taught him how to pick pockets when he was, like, eight, and he just... never stopped the habit.

This was his first time stealing from Tobus, and he didn't even mean it.

"You're going to be a cute little kleptomaniac in the future, aren't you, Rowan?" Rasa said, smiling like a thousand suns as she ruffled his hair and accepted his gift of rings and bracelets he had stolen from some people he was walking by on his way to the city square.

There was a soft laugh that erupted in the silence.

It belonged to Julian, who was chuckling into his hand.

"Is something wrong, Julian?" Tobus asked.

Julian shook his head. "No, no... It's just..." He made eye contact with Rowan and grinned from ear to ear, "No one has ever gotten close to stealing from Toby before. The specialists at our estate would use him as the final exam for the trainees, but not a single one of them was capable enough to take from him. You are the first!"

Then, the most unusual thing happened.

Tobus turned to him with an unreadable expression and said, "I was mistaken."

Rowan was taken aback by this admittance.

But then again, perhaps in Tobus' eyes, he was always a puppy to him. Just a silly kid who wanted to play with the cats and chase Rasa around like a tail.

Being acknowledged by someone like Tobus felt... good.

"Keep it. Reward." Tobus gave him back the puzzle toy and patted his head one last time before turning on his heel.

He left the room with Julian trailing after him.

The other boy shot him an encouraging smile before he was out the door.

"He kept it." Standing there in a trance, Bel muttered those words and left in a daze-like state.

It was now only Rowan, Lord Eartha, and Mercury in the room.

Mercury smiled at him wryly.

"Welcome to the team, kid!"

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The author has something to say:

Did you know Rowan's original name was supposed to be Romante? And Bel's was supposed to be Basili? And Lord Eartha was supposed to be Elladio. Also, Nine was supposed to be an asshole in the original version of this chapter, but thanks to kids and cats, he got mellowed out.