Helo left for town soon after he got his new outfit on. It was past noon by the time he left. His hair was still unkept and long, but his clothes looked great. He got two new outfits for working at the Club. The one he was wearing today was simple black pants that fit him well and a dark pink button-up shirt. He also had enough money left over to buy a new pair of black sneakers. Putting on a black belt with a shiny green buckle that matches his ever-present necklace Helo went on his way.

  Putting his hair into a ponytail Helo left to go walk into town. He and Lelai are having a nice time walking through the wood heading toward town. The walk gave him time to think about all that he learned yesterday. Plus, his gift from Mr. Bernard made him incredibly happy. Putting the gift out of his mind for a few minutes Helo thought about magic and how he can do it. The idea of him doing magic was just crazy.

  “What do you think beautiful. Are we going crazy or did I see myself doing magic on camera last night?” Lelai looked at him before letting out a loud yip. “Huh so you think I’m crazy. Well, I guess we will see next week. After this weekend ill have some food and cash saved up so we can spend time testing.”

  Continuing down the trail he feels the wind in his hair and his eyes keep moving and checking the woods. Even though it’s a beautiful day his instincts won’t let him be unaware with his surroundings. For the rest of the walk Helo thinks about how he felt when he cast magic. He came to the conclusion that it started with Ms. Accleas’s teachings on meditation. A calm a focused mind seems to be a large part of the process. After that what does he do. He focuses on his heartbeat. Does that have anything to do with magic? Was the heart where magic comes from?

  Huh. I guess I should ask Mr. Bernard when I see him next. “Hey Love, how much help do you think I should ask Mr. Bernard for?” Looking down at the fox, Helo concludes that she thinks he should figure it out himself. Okay I guess I can wait to ask. So, after meditation and focusing on my heart what do I do… I just will it. Is that enough. Just wanting it to happen. If that is the case, then magic is OP.

  Finally, making it to town Helo and Lelai first head to Wendys shop as they open the door Lelai does her usual thing and jumps on the counter. The problem with today is that the town is a lot busier. Not only is there a line, eight people long. All the tables are taken up inside and out of the coffee shop.

  “Woah is that a fox?” “Who lets a fox into a coffee shop!” “Woah that fox is so pretty!” “Is she wearing a bandana?”

  A lot of people noticed them as they walked through town but going into the shop together really brought a lot of attention. All of them turn toward Helo as Lelai bolts toward to counter and jumps on top of it. Most people are intrigued or find her cute. There are a few people who are annoyed, but watching the cute fox basking in the attention is enough entertainment that most just shrug. The man at the counter is mad though.

  “What do you think you’re doing! Wild animals shouldn’t be in the store! She almost spilled my drink! You’re going to have to pay for it!” The very angry man says. He is wearing nice clothes, and his jacket has the crest of the Starhaven clan. In his head he is thinking What a jackpot! I can feel some energy within this fox. If I can take it from the boy, it will bring me a lot of praise from the clan.

  “I apologize sir. We have never seen the town this busy, and she is just doing her normal thing.” Helo apologizing expecting this whole thing to blow over.

  “Were not finished here boy! You still haven’t paid for my drink.” Helo is about to respond but the man keeps talking. “That’s fine, to keep this town safe I’ll take this wild animal out of here.”

  Lelai by this point has left the counter and is standing between Helos legs growling at the man. As the man reaches for her neck to grab her, she bites out, flickering forward in a confusing movement, surprising the man and catching him on the hand. The man now has two small bite marks where Lelai’s canines dug into his hand.

  Starting to actually get angry because of the injury and the fact a kid and a fox are defying him the man says. “Do you know who I am. I’m with the Starhaven Clan. Give me the fox or I’ll make it painful.”

  Now Helo is really confused along with everyone else at the coffee shop. There are a few magically perceptive people that realize what is going on. These people already have their phones out and are reporting to their bosses. Looking at Wendy and seeing her worry, Helo decides to leave. Backing up, turning to leave the man reaches forward to grab Helo’s shirt only for a man to appear and grab his hand right before it touches Helo.

  “Wow. You must really be desperate. Honestly, I am thankful for your actions. Because of you I can pressure your Elders, and I just laid out your boss today.”

  The man looks at Micah’s face with surprise and then growing horror. “M. M. Micah… Sir I’m sorry please don’t tell anyone.”

  “Huh. Nah. I’m also going to let Bernard know that your clan is harassing his townsfolk. Now Scram.” Looking at Helo Micah waves away his thanks. Seriously kid why would you bring that fox here.”

  “Mr. Fetch told me to. He said that when I am working it’s okay, because you all are eccentric.” Helo says with innocence in his gaze.

  “Dammit kid. Either he is an idiot, or he set you up. Luckily, I was let out of my meeting early. Follow me.” Getting outside he asks, “when you are going to work and why are you here so early.”

  Following him outside Helo answers the questions. As they walk out, he picks up Lalai in a protective manner. “I have to be to work when its busiest around six and I need a haircut. I also wanted to show Wendy my new outfit. She is the manager at the coffee shop.”

  “Alright I'll walk you to the barber, but you need to listen closely. Do you remember what we told you about Fuzzball. Why people were after him?” After getting a nod from Helo he carried on. It is the same thing for your Fox.”

  “Lelai.” Helo states.

  “Huh.” Micah is getting confused. “What is Lelai.”

  “It’s her name. Lelai.” Helo states again.

  “Really kid. Whatever, it’s the same for Lelai. The difference is that foxes are more prized than bears due to them naturally having higher magical potential. Their bodies can be used as focuses to increase magical strength. It’s like those daggers Bernard gave you. Plus, she is small and can easily be carried away unlike a bear.” Arriving at the barber he says. “Now I must go but I hope you understand kid. If you want to protect her you need to keep an eye out. After what happened earlier, nobody should try to grab her again this weekend. But once all the families are gone, they will send people to try and catch her. Be careful.”

  Helo looks at the man with a little bit of Hero worship. “Thank you, sir. I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Right. Now scram kid.” He says this while pushing Helo to the door. Helo enters the barber shop with Lelai on his heels. She is sticking close to him.

  Leaving the barber shop around five pm Helo feels great. Almost enough to have forgotten about what happened earlier. He decides to go try and visit Windy again because they didn’t get to say hello last time. She is also probably worried due to what happened earlier.

  Getting to the coffee shop Lelai isn’t leaving Helo’s side this time, she is sticking close to him. Looking down, Helo feels better with her this close. “Keep in mind that while we are working you should stay this close as well.” He gets a nod in reply, and they fully enter the door.

  As soon as they are inside Helo is enveloped in a hug. He freezes and isn’t sure what to do because his head is shoved into Wendy’s chest. Finally getting released Wendy grabs up Lelai next. Talking far too quickly to answer anything Wendy starts rapid firing questions. “Are you okay? Who was that man? He was so mean? What is the Starhaven Clan? I bet they are mean. Who was that other guy? He was like HOT.”

  She doesn’t stop until he finally blurts out. “Were fine but I just came to stop by I have to get to work.”

  “Ahhh that’s too bad. Anyway, you look super cute Helo. I love the haircut.” Helo’s hair went from a long shaggy mess to a short clean cut that falls nicely over his head. The sides are short and clean while the top was left a bit longer and falls nicely while styled.

  As he leaves the shop Helo shyly says. “Ah. Yeh. Thanks.”

  What Helo doesn’t realize is that news about what happened, who was involved and what Lelai is has already spread. Multiple clans who don’t have any issues sending in operatives to other clans’ territories are already preparing their people. The Russian Bathory, New York Starhaven, Italian Carbani, and a few other clans are looking forward to their getting their new pet.

  Helo felt very uncomfortable by the time he got to work. There was so much attention on him and Lelai as he walked through the town toward the Backroom. He got there a bit early and rushed up to Mr. Fetch’s office feeling a little weird. Mr. Micah mentioned that Mr. Fetch might have set him up and Helo isn’t sure what to feel about it. All he can do is be sure that Lelai stays by him all night. Reminding Lelai again to never leave his side he knocks and enters the office.

  “If it isn’t the wild child. Huh. You clean up well kid. The town might stop calling you wild child. Tonight, I’m having you buss the second floor. Every table on the floor is filled with important and wealthy people. So don’t mess up.” Turning away Helo takes that as a dismissal. With Lelai following Helo he goes to check on everything he might need for the night. After getting cans, a cart, and cleaning supplies he heads to the second floor.

  Helo has worked for Mr. Fetch on multiple occasions, but never once has it been this busy. It feels like every server and busser is working today making everything feels chaotic. It also feels like Mr. Fetch served him and Lelai up on a silver platter. Almost everyone on the second floor has benn staring at Lelai on one or more occasions. A few of those gazes made his scin crawl. So, this is what Mr. Micah said when he mentioned there would be people interested.

  During the first half of Helo’s shift, he spent most of his mental focus on thinking of the best way to get home safely. The second half got a little better, the attention he and Lelai felt got more friendly and Lelai got her fill of basking in the adoration of her fans.

  As the second half was finishing up the last round of tables was sat. The restaurant was a lot less chaotic at this point and that is when Mr. Bernard came in with Mr. Micah, a man that looks similar to him and a beautiful woman with massive breasts. Staring for a moment Helo got broken out of his trance as Lelai nipped him in the shin. “Awe… Uh. Thanks”

  As the four people started to talk Helo got to hear a lot of the conversation they spoke about. One piece that stuck was the name “Alli” kept popping up. Helo felt like he remembered that name somewhere. After stopping and thinking about it a pretty girl who fell off a wall came to mind. He remembered her quickly, giving her name and it was Alli. Ahhh they must be her family.

  Heading over to their table to clear away some of the dishes, Helo get sucked into the conversation. “Hey wild child, I wanted to apologize about what happened earlier today. You can rest assured that nothing like that will happen again while they are here.”

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  Bowing lightly Helo thanks the man and continues to clear the table. As he walks around the woman says excitedly. “She is just the cutest thing. Did you get her this scarf she looks adorable. You both match so well! Honey! Look at this, don’t they look perfect.” Getting a sigh and a nod from her husband she continues. “I hear your what 12? We have a daughter that just turned 13 I heard you met in passing.” The woman says this all excitedly, but the man looks like he is slowly growing frustrated.

  “Ah…” Helo says awkwardly as Lelai twirls around before hopping into the womans lap and getting the attention she deserves. “Yes. I met Alli. She fell off a wall in front of me. But. I must get back to the kitchen.” Helo hurridly says as he feels to aura of the table shift as the man looks even more annoyed than before.

  “Oh, stop that, Honey.” She says while smacking the man’s chest. “It’s okay dear. I won’t keep you any longer. Is it alright if she stays?”

  Looking at Lelai she lightly nods her head, and he says, “If she feels comfortable with you than it is her decision.” Leaving the table the last thing he hears is Bernard speaking to Micah.

  “I was so jealous of you today. You got to knockout that prick. Leave the meeting early and catch one of the pricks lackeys”

  “Well, my friend, some of us are just born lucky.” Micah says while leaning back with his hands behind his head.

  Helo leaves the room not sure how to feel. One last look over his shoulder and he decides that if Lelai feels safe then being near Micah and Mr. Bernard is probably the safest place for her. Finishing while finishing his shift Lelai reappears and lays down on a wall in the back of the building as Helo is cleaning.

  Finishing everything Helo takes a breath before deciding that it is time to go. Not feeling safe, or like he can trust people at the BackRoom, Helo leaves before telling anyone. Sneaking to the second floor Helo opens a window on the side of the building. Looking around all he can see is the shadows cast by the streetlights and the darkness of night. Standing in the window for a moment, Helo relaxes his body and lets his perception range outward.

  He can hear the sounds of people cleaning the third floor, the muttering of Mr. Fetch in his office and someone walking up the stairs to the second floor. I’ll have to be quick. Looking out, the next building over is close. It is a one story and shorter than the BackRoom.

  Taking a deep breath, he leaps out and barely makes it onto the roof of the building. Looking back, he turns in time for a fox to crash into his face and cause him to trip. He can hear someone on top of the BackRoom exclaim. “Woah, what was that! Hey guys come look a this I saw something move.”

  Quickly turning back Helo looks over the back of the building and finds retaining wall sticking up from the back of the building. Smiling softly, Helo lowers himself onto the wall before looking up and catching Lelai. Like the two in a back ally behind the main street they quickly head deeper into the side streets of the city.

  Hearing a noise Helo quickly dips into a corner between a trash bin and an allyway. He hears the sound of multiple people moving together. As they draw closer, he is able to make out what they are saying. He softly shushes Lelai so he can hear better.

  “How did we lose a child.” A man says with an African accent. He was a block away and coming closer. Helo assumes he is the leader of the group. This man is short but very large “We literally were waiting outside the building the entire time. Nobody saw him leave.”

  A tall and thin man next to the the stout on says, “We had people on the front and back. Either or men weren’t paying attention, or he left another way.”

  The two men continue to walk past, they are complaining more than looking by this point. As Helo continues his way out of the city he must stop four more times. The people all have different accents and seem to be employees of many of the different clans. This is ridiculous. I don’t even know what a clan is, and it seems like they all are after me.

  As Helo makes his way through the woods, he is moving slowly while keeping his senses trained around him. Finally getting home he collapses into his bed and lets out an exhausted sigh. “We are going to have to do that all over again tomorrow. This is ridiculous.” Looking at the fox he comes to a decision. Tomorrow he is wearing a jacket and bringing his knives.

  Bernard steps up to the front of the room. Looking out over the other 31 faces he claps his hands. “The auction went well earlier. I know that a lot of you were hoping to win but the person who won was looking into the long game. Spending 3,200 mana stones is a lot for a tier 1 bear. But if plan on breeding it in this pre-initiation world there is a lot of profit to be made. Now we are going to the next part of our meeting. We had some issues yesterday. But thankfully both participants have chosen to drop all allegations.”

  Graham looking over at Victious can’t help but sneer. Fucking idiot. He would have been able to get a lot out of us in reparations but because of his over eager subordinate he had to drop everything and just take the fee. Looking back to the front of the room Graham zones out until the end of the meeting.

  As the meeting ends Bernard says, “Well we will have breakfast tomorrow before everyone departs. Thank you everyone for the fruitful weekend.” Bowing lightly everyone else bows back and starts to depart.

  Graham walks up to Bernard with Micah and Akira in tow. “Well how about we all get together and have a drink tonight. Our girls are going to the BackRoom tonight. The club is putting on a dance/dinner for the younger generation.” Looking at his friend Graham asks, “Akira-san did Hinata-chan tell you, her plans. My daughter told me to stay out of it. Broke my heart.”

  Akira looks at his longtime friend and can only shake his head. “No, but my daughter is a proper young lady. Everything will be fine.”

  The men head back to their houses and Graham gets home only to find his house in disarray. Running through the room a maid is chasing his daughter carrying three different dresses. “No. I don’t want to wear any of those. I need to look perfect. I can’t go out wearing such pitiful clothes.”

  Walking into the room his wife says, “Love, what has gotten into you? Your usually not like this.”

  Turning to face her mother who clearly does not understand the situation Alli says, “Mom what is he is there. The boy from that night. I need to make a good impression!”

  “Why Love, what about this boy has you so worked up?” Cheyenne says while guiding her daughter to a seat and calming down her daughter’s hair.

  “He is obviously impressive. He scolded a bear. Plus, his eyes were super pretty!”

  Laughing lightly Cheyenna finds this whole situation hilarious. First her husband is obviously furious about his daughter growing up and she finds his actions cute. Second, she met this young man, and her daughter is going to be in for a surprise when the boy is serving at the club not there to join. But she can admit that what she has heard about the boy is quite impressive. “Okay love, I’ll help you. But you need to remember that you have other people trying to gain your hand in marriage and you don’t even know this boy.” Cheyenne feels like she has to say it but she can admit that she would rather die than let her daughter marry into the Starhaven or Carboni families. In the end they choose a white skirt that goes to her mid-thigh and a pink top. All her accessories match her eyes or hair.

  “Hinata-chan!” Alli yells while seeing her friend step out of her compound that is next to hers. They have a car ready to share and it is being flanked by two other cars filled with guards and servants. Hinata wears a traditional flowing kimono. It has a cherry blossom design with black accents. The whole kimono compliments and contrasts her features. “You look beautiful! Come let’s go!”

  Getting in the car the two girls compliment and giggle about the others looks as the car drives into the town. “So Alli-chan who is it that you are looking for? You seem anxious. My mother mentioned that the Starhaven and Carbani family are looking to wed you.”

  “Ugh don’t even mention them. Luca Carbani is way too old. The fact they even think I should be with him is gross. And Dorimer Starhaven is our age, but he inherited all of the bad elven traits and the only thing going for him is that he is attractive. No, I want to meet my mysterious guy again.” Alli says while continually raising her expectations of Helo.

  “Alli-chan you’re such a romantic. But what you want and what is true might be different. Just keep that in mind.” Hinata says this as they both exit the car. As soon as the are at the front door a man walks up to them and bows. “My young misses its lovely for you to join us. Would you like to have dinner on the second floor or go straight to the third.”

  Not really feeling like meeting everyone while trying to eat, the girls decided to go to the second floor. The first floor is full of whispers, it is filled with the employees of the families. Everyone notices them walking toward the second floor. As they get to the second floor and look around Alli sighs, “Huhhh, thank the Divine Canine.” Smirking slightly at her phrase and seeing a smirk on Hinata’s face she continues. “I was worried we were going to be stuck eating with those annoying boys.” The room is lacking any of the Starhaven or Carbani heirs.

  “I agree, it is something about those two that make all the other boys turn into pricks. But when they are absent everyone is so much more… nice.” The two girls get led up to a table and order their food.

  As the two girls are finishing up, they hear the sound of music and talking. Looking up there is a group of girls ranging from 12 to 18 walking down the stairs. Leading the group is Camilla Carbani. She is the child of Enzo and twin to Dino. Their cousin is Luca who is 18 and trying to marry Alli. Camilla is 15 and has brown hair with blond accents. She is taller than most girls in the group. She is talking loudly and gesticulating with her hands as she talks about how her brother fell while trying to get into a boat.

  Next to her is Layla Al-Katib. She is from Egypt. She is taller than Camilla even though she is 14 and has dark skin with honey-colored eyes. She is the granddaughter of the clan head and is a skilled swordswoman. On Camilla’s other side is Maria Carvalho from Brazil. She has caramel skin, dark hair and eyes with very petite features. Her last name wasn’t always Carvalho. She was labeled a genius in magic and the Carvalho family gave her their last name to tie her to them. She is supposed to be marrying into the family as a mistress to their youngest heir.

  Following behind those three are other girls, this group of girls is from all the different families. As she steps into the second floor Camilla sees a wave of silver-white hair and exclaims “You’re here!! Ciao Alli and Hinata! We have been looking for you. Well… More specifically Dorimer and Luca are looking for you. They almost got into a fight about some rumors going around. But well, we were all wondering where you were.”

  “Hello Camilla, Hi Layla, Hi Maria. That is kind of the reason we decided to eat down here.” Alli says. “I don’t really feel like talking about it. I don’t even know why they are obsessed with me.”

  The girls all look at Alli in shock. Maria steps up, “Alli… You’re beautiful, like gorgeous. I’m sure they think you're going to turn out as curvy as your mother as well.” That statement upsets Alli a bit. She is still tiny, she can’t ever see herself getting as big as her mother. “On top of that your father is one of the Unstoppable Snarling Duo. Your father is a feared fighter and a clan head. Marrying has massive political benefits.”

  Trying to keep her face from turning red Alli turns away and mutters, “Yeah whatever. Not like I wanna marry them anyway. I just want to meet that pretty glowing eyed boy.” She says at a whisper. At this all the girls start asking her questions about who this boy is. Alli not knowing anything about him diverts their attention. “So, anything interesting happen upstairs?”

  At this the girls start to tell her and Hinata about how they were dancing and who was trying to dance with whom. They told her about how this cute busser is working that has a little fox that stays near him. They told her about how he kept getting mobbed by girls, so the boys started harassing him to buy the fox and how everyone got distracted by Dorimer and Luca almost fighting. “And that’s when we came downstairs.” Camilla ends the story.

  After hearing about what has been happening all the girls get ready to head back upstairs, Alli must steal her nerves because she knows that she will have to deal with her two suitors. She is also very nervous about finding the glowing eyed boy. Heading up to the third floor of the backroom it truly is a beautiful location. There is an overhang with a bar and tables leading to a patio. The patio has colorful lights and room for dancing with a clear view of the sky above. The view is filled with forests and mountains. Truly making it breathtaking to behold.

  As they walk onto the patio Camilla leads them to their table. All 12 of them sit down and start chatting over the music. When they entered the floor, the room stilled for a moment, taking in the new arrivals. It is like the third floor was bracing itself for the drama that was going to arrive. Things got back to normal after the girls sat down.

  Both Dorimer and Loca were planning on going to the table but got interrupted as a little red fox with a pink bandana jumps onto Hinata's lap. Looking at the fox both girls let out light, “Awwwwwwsss” and start petting her.

  At the arrival of the fox the others at the table started telling them about how it was with the servant boy and how she never left his side until now. Curled into Hinata’s lap the fox was having a great time with all the affection. Then they hear a young voice from behind them, “Lelai, you cannot run away from me like that. Especially while I’m working.” As he walks up Lelai jumps from Hinata’s lap into his arms. “I’m sorry about her I hope she didn’t bother you.” Helo says while bowing lightly.

  At the sound of his voice Alli freezes and refuses to turn around. Hinata, seeing this comes to the conclusion about who the boy is based on her friend’s reaction and the boy’s eyes. “Don’t worry, she was just saying hello. Excuse me but what is your name.”

  “Thanks, we have been having some problems this weekend, so I have been worried about her. And Helo. Nice to meet you.”

  “I'm Hinata Kashiwagi, heir of the Kashiwagi clan.” Seeing Helo’s surprise and slight apprehension Hinata continues. “I think we will be good friends in the future. Call me Hinata-San.”

  Bowing lightly Helo looks to Hinata’s left and his eyes widen in recognition, Hinata continues. “I believe you have met my friend before, this is Allisandra Brightmoon, of the Brightmoon clan.”

  At this moment Alli turns around to stare right into the eyes of the boy from the day before. Everyone around them seeing the interaction between the three can’t help but wonder who that servant boy is. Dorimer and Luca both have much different reactions.

  “Ahh. Hi.” They both say.