"Hah, stubborn like the rest of them."
Harkal sighed as if he were exasperated at Uteu. He held out a fist, a mini tornado wrapped around his arm, growing larger slowly.
He looked ready to fully finish off Uteu.
Uteu, on the other hand didn't pay too much attention to him, bringing his eyes back to the door.
Just as it looked like Harkal was finally ready to attack, someone smashed through the front door.
The wooden door splintered and shattered. Harkal had to use his tornado to protect himself from the flying debris instead.
Uteu couldn't bring himself to be surprised when he recognized the gruff man at the entrance.
An aggravated sigh escaped Welton's lips as he took in the image that was presented before him. He cracked his neck, a trail of blood at his lips.
"You fucking bitch. You almost had me." The corner of Welton's lips turned upwards into a twisted smirk.
Uteu turned back towards the door that he had seen, what he thought, was Judith.
The sound of Harkal and Welton fighting entered his ears over the roaring of his blood.
"Give me a good fight, pet! Come at me!" Welton yelled before the sound of something being smashed and a curse from Harkal entered his ears.
Just then, something shifted from behind the door. Frightened brown eyes peered at him through the cracked open door. He found himself smiling, as he thought, he really had seen her.
Her eyes widened when their eyes met. Right at that moment, he suddenly felt like he could only see and hear her. Despite all the noise beside him, he could hear her very clearly.
"Gr-grey eyes!" He heard her say under her breath. She squeezed herself through the heavy door and did her best to crawl over to him. She hid behind the nearly destroyed couch and reached out for him.
"Papa said people with grey eyes are kind people." Suddenly he felt hot all over his body as she pushed her energy into his body. He let out a small whine at the feeling, he couldn't even utter a scream at the invasive foreign energy.
"Grey eyes, let Judith help you!" He felt himself relax opening himself up to her. Suddenly her energy filled him entirely.
Two dark grey rings circled around them and onto their wrists. It tightened and then, he could feel like something unlocked.
Judith's eyes widened in surprise and looked down at her hands questioningly. She didn't see the ring, but she definitely felt something. Even though she was a temporary link, her ability seemed to have helped him improve his links to the others. He pulled on Harvet's ability and closed off his wounds to prevent himself from bleeding out.
A very strong wave of a refreshing energy filled him, relieving his fatigue. Even Grello's healing seemed amplified by Judith. He could feel his more life threatening wounds heal at very rapid speeds.
Three chains jingled. A brightly glowing silver chain finally looked incredibly clear in his mind's eye. Two dark grey chains clinked together beside it.
Closing his eyes, he called upon Grello's buffs and Harvet's energy, they wrapped around him and Judith. Judith looked at him with big wide brown eyes. She clutched onto his shirt, unsure of what to do. He held out a hand and she didn't hesitate to take it.
He took a breath and patted the top of her black hair to comfort her. He smiled gently and picked her up. He eyed the entrance and he darted past the two monsters still fighting each other.
He needed to take this chance to get away from the two men before they decided to come after him and Judith instead.
He looked down at Judith who looked like she was tiring fast in his arms. He could feel that her abilities were very limited. She wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer. Especially after he felt her reserves. She had been using her abilities quite a few times already with what she did for Uteu, she was running on near empty.
He could guess that she was being forced to use her abilities on Harkal. It didn't seem normal for his abilities to be so strong to defeat Welton so easily.
He would need to find Harvet immediately so that they could make their way to Uti. He would need to find her before Judith passed out.
Tugging at one of the two grey chains, he let it guide him to Harvet. He was pleasantly surprised to feel that she was nearby in the same building.
He went back down to the first floor. People quickly parted out of the way when they saw someone from the second floor descend. He yanked open a door further down the hall and nearly ran into Harvet who was taking down a person from the Guild and taking some type of card off of him.
He looked into her hazel eyes and was relieved to see that she looked a bit more normal now. Her eyes no longer dead looking. Her complexion even looked a bit healthier thanks to the minimal amount of healing being done to her.
He pat Judith's head and she relaxed, letting out a breath of air. She closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep in his arms. Abruptly his connections to everyone became muted.
He could no longer use Harvet's more advanced ability. Luckily his wounds mostly healed over. A few still bled but it was nothing a bit of gauze couldn't fix.
Harvet quickly took the girl out of his arms and set her aside so that she could tend to his wounds. She pushed a cool water bottle into his hands and a few snack bars.
Uteu drank and ate to regain more of his strength and Harvet didn't immediately say anything, just quietly wrapping his wounds.
He opened his mouth and closed it. Not really knowing where to start talking. He was surprised when she was the one to break the silence instead.
"I left you for no more than half an hour, how did you get into such a state."
Uteu managed a shrug and then pat Judith's head again. This little girl had truly saved him. He would need to make sure to take care of her properly.
He didn't question Harvet about Jude and she didn't question him about Judith. They didn't need to. A sense of trust grew slowly and steadily between them.
As soon as she had finished bandaging his wounds, she stood and pulled out the card to show him.
"This is the key to the Madame's room at the basement floor. That guy on the floor is the one that cleans up after the Madame. I figured he'd have a copy and I was right. Let's get going."
Uteu nodded, he picked up Judith, cradling her to his chest and followed after her. She went into a room by the reception desk, everyone was quick to get out of their way once again, minding their own business. Harvet yanked off a panel in the wall, revealing a hidden elevator. As they got on, Uteu told her about the two monsters that he had met.
Harvet's face looked grim by the time he finished recalling the two men.
"Well, I did know that this wasn't going to be easy." She said with a sigh and a gentle smile. She ruffled his hair and he found himself smiling a bit back at her.
The elevator dinged, they had arrived at the basement floor.
Woo! Thanks for making it this far with me. This marks 40k+ words! I hope you're all enjoying the story so far.