A tense return

He took a breath. Unlike the first time, the journey was nearly instantaneous. The scenery of the bizarre, overgrown forest in front of them was taken over by the room where he was interrogated by Aria. Still holding onto her, he felt the gravity seemingly reactive around them, pushing them onto the floor and causing them to tumble sideways. With a slightly pained groan, he lifted them to a sitting position.

He looked around the room a little. Everything looked the way he remembered before they were dragged into the Penalty Zone. He stole a glance at the window. The sky, which was deep dark when he last saw it, was now still dim, but there were signs of it brightening up somewhat. It seemed the sun was going to get up soon; the time still moved here when they were gone.

He felt Aria shaking in his arms. She hugged him ferociously, her head nudged against his chest.

“Aria… we made it back," he said slowly, caressing the woman's shoulder.

“…h-huh?" she made a surprised sound, her emerald eyes shooting up at him. "...W-we’re alive?” she asked, visibly confused.

“We're alright."

The white-haired woman immediately looked around with a confused gaze. However, as she recognized the place, she started sobbing.

“G-Gods, we-- *Sob!* --survived! Oh, gods! *Sob!* We’re alive!” she laughed with complete cheer. “T-Travis! We made it!”

He remained silent, unsure how to react.

“…I’m shocked, too. *Sob!*” she said as if answering a question that was not asked.

“Who goes there?!” they both heard a sharp voice come from the door.

Suddenly, a large guard, the same one who took Travis out of his cell, stepped into the room, hand on the hilt of his sword. Now that his face was not covered with a visor, the Apostle could recognize its square shape. His somewhat sleek cheeks gave him a strangely handsome appearance. Short, brown hair was neatly cut.

The man's brown eyes stared at the two sitting on the floor, the trio lost in the moment. He was the first one to break out of the trance, immediately unsheathing his sword.

“Get away from Inspector, you vermin!” he took a wide step toward them, no more than 4 meters of distance between him and them.

Aria’s eyes went wide as she realized how both she and Travis looked. Her lips parted in an instant, “W-Wait, Chris! WAIT!” she raised from her position hastily, lifting both hands in a little defensive gesture.

The guard flinched at her words, coming to a halt.

“...Aria?” he asked, his tone tinted heavily with hesitation. "What happened? Why do you look like this?"

Using the moment of stern silence, Travis got up, standing behind Aria. She took a stance that suggested she didn't want him to step into Chris's sight line completely.

"I..." Aria stared at the guard for a long moment. Her emerald eyes glanced at the weapon in his hand. Tears ran down her face. "...I-I came b-back after hours *Sniff!* i-in hell, a-and t-this is h-how you w-welcome me...?" her voice emanated bewilderment as she looked at her coworker. She looked like she was just barely withholding the urge to weep aloud.

Chris's hand shook. He stared at the two, his bronze eyes meeting Travis's golden. Then, looking back at Aria's green, he slowly sheathed the sword. The sense of confusion he felt was palpable.

"Aria, you... you've been gone for four hours... and you come back looking like this... how... exactly am I to take it?" Chris asked, a frown entering his face. "What did that man do? What the hell happened?!" he raised his voice ever so slightly, his features expressing anger.

Aria swallowed some dry saliva, gathering all the mental strength she could. Swiping the remnants of tears from her face, she took a few deep breaths before speaking, "Chris, I... I'll be honest, I don't really know what happened. The place we were sent to... the things we've seen... I..." she quieted down, visibly hesitant. Her eyes skimmed around, seemingly searching for something out of place. "But... what I know is this man saved my life. Multiple times."

"...Are you even-- how do you feel? Are you hurt?"

"I'm... f-fine," Aria breathed a deep sigh, her hands shaking as she ran them through her hair quickly. Turning her head to Travis, she looked over him. "Are you?"

He nodded tentatively, unsure of the situation. The tall guard eyed him with what could only be described as repulse. His hand, although not holding the sword anymore, was stationed close to the pommel, ready to draw the blade at the moment's notice.

For a long moment, nobody in the room said a word. Chris shifted in his position, taking a short step closer. His gaze appeared to soften a little.

"Aria... I'm sorry, I acted a bit harshly," he said, raising a hand and seemingly wanting to reach out to the woman. "Clearly, something beyond my understanding happened. Will you, at least, explain a bit?"

"I... I-I don't know how to," Aria replied hesitantly, rubbing her radius for a moment. "I'm really confused, too. I... I think what we all need right now is... some rest. I will do my best to relay everything first thing in the morning, but... this night has been pretty long for us all. And I really need some sleep."

Travis looked at the woman. The long curtain of white hair hid her face from his sight, but he was sure the exhaustion made it difficult for her to even stay awake at this moment. His own muscles didn't feel ready to run much anymore, either. He let out a small sigh, eyeing Chris's posture. The tension in the air appeared to rise as the guard shot a glare at him. However, this did not continue for long. Aria turned slightly to him. Their eyes met, and he immediately noticed that her green orbs gained some grit within.

"Speaking of," she faced Chris. "Get this man to the reception and give him back his belongings, and a shirt from one of the outfits."

"...are you saying we're letting him go?" the huge man raised an eyebrow, visibly taken aback.

"We have tested him with the Orb of Truth," Aria nodded. "This man is not a Hexer or a Psion. His MID was made by our offices. On top of that, I have questioned him while we were away. While I don't know the nature of the glitch that appeared, I'm certain it didn't appear of his fault."

Chris frowned. "Even so, that's no reason to just let him go. What about the disappearance? For all we know, he could be responsible for that," his eyes shot another glare in the golden-eyed man's direction. Travis tensed up slightly, feeling his heart beat stronger.

Aria gritted her teeth momentarily. "You-- Chris, what in tarnation are you spouting?!" she raised her voice. "That was not something a level 1 could do. Hell, I'm sure you'd need at least 3rd advancement Mage class to do that."

"But--"

"Enough!" Aria's voice turned to a shout. "You were not where we have! If Travis were responsible for what happened, he wouldn't have thrown himself into that hell with me!"

'I did expect her to be on my side, but this seems like a little much...' thought Travis, feeling a bit of a heavy feeling stir atop his heart. 'It feels really bad, not telling her, but I can't be exposed.'

Chris's stare emanated a perceptible amount of tension and uncertainty. It appeared as though an internal conflict was taking place within his senses.

"Aria, list--" it appeared that he was attempting to say something, but Aria did not allow any leeway.

"No, Chris! You listen!" she retorted in an instant, slamming a foot on the ground. The pressure stemming from her, although not grand, sent shivers down Travis's spine. "I understand you're concerned, but Travis isn't our enemy! We need answers, but accusing him won't get them!"

The room fell into a heavy silence, Aria's declaration hanging in the air as she inhaled sharply. Chris, still processing the intensity of her words, took a step back. She held the stare for a moment longer before her shoulders slumped. She seemed to be wrestling with the emotional toll of the ordeal. Her posture began slightly leaning to one side, her tiredness palpable.

Chris hesitated, his gaze shifting between Aria and Travis. The room's atmosphere hung on the precipice of resolution or further conflict. Using this moment, Travis formed a <Suggestion>.

<I should listen to Aria. She's an Inspector.>

The spell was fired toward Chris's mind in an instant. For a moment, it circled the structure before launching forth. Quite surprisingly, however, it bounced off at the first impact. Travis felt the spell's power decrease as it attempted a second ****, which was promptly deflected as well. It was only on the fourth strike that it connected. He could sense his magic having less than a fifth of its original strength. 'This spell attempts to break inside a mind multiple times...' he conceded internally. 'And his mental strength appears somewhat high...'

"So, if you have a shred of conscience, at least let the man sleep in his own bed," Aria's voice quieted down slightly.

The huge guard glanced upon the two once more. Visibly hesitant to say anything more, he reluctantly nodded. The white-haired Inspector let out a sigh of relief.

"I will go and get changed. Take Travis to the reception and give him back his belongings. That's an order."

"...yes, Inspector," Chris nodded his head hesitantly, still visibly conflicted.

"Travis," Aria turned to the man. "Please wait for me in the reception. I won't take long."

“…alright,” he replied and started walking toward Chris.

The man looked like he wanted to punch Travis on the spot, but he slowly guided him through the building. Going through some corridors and down the stairs, he was gazing back and forth at him as if he was expecting an **** from him.

Getting into the reception room, Travis noticed that it was somewhat larger than the interrogation room. A large desk stood strong, separating the working station of the receptionist from the rest of the room. A young man sat in a chair, flipping through some documents. Immediately, there was a glance of wariness emanating from him, noticing who led Travis into the room.

“Sergeant Beler,” said Chris bluntly. “Go and fetch this man’s things. And get him a shirt from a uniform. Inspector’s orders.”

“What happened? Is Inspector Brinn alright?”

“Don’t ask unnecessary questions and go.”

“…yes, sir," the man got up from his seat and walked away into one of the corridors.

Travis stood idly, deciding not to say anything. Chris was standing 3 or so meters from him, a hand on the desk's surface. The air appeared filled with a mix of wariness and tension. As the tall man glanced into the corridor the two of them came from, he got a hold of his sword's pommel.

"...I know you did that," words left his mouth quietly. In an instant, he began exerting significant pressure that made Travis almost forget to breathe. His brown eyes were full of anger as he took a strong step toward him. The room shook under the weight of his boot; Chris's pressure was at least thrice as powerful as Aria's. "I don't know how you did it, but I will find out."

[Warning! **** bloodlust detected!]

The notification sprung in front of Travis's nose at the same time as he felt the cold shiver wash down his back. It was an instinctual feeling requiring no help from RALS to decipher - a sense of a prey being stared down by a much stronger predator. Something that did not even happen in Penalty Zone... how could it be?

"I... I got sent into h-hell, and you want to pin it on m-me...?" Travis asked, slowly backing off. The weight on his shoulders made it difficult to keep his composure.

For a short moment, it appeared as though Chris was going to unsheathe his weapon in a silent confirmation. However, Sergeant Beler came back inside the room, and the huge man breathed a short sigh, releasing his bloodlust.

Travis accepted his things quietly and stepped over to the other side of the room, far away from Chris's stare of animosity. Sergeant Beler left the place quickly as though he were giving them some space. Travis felt his body shudder as he put on the shirt. For some reason, a sixth sense came warning, saying that had Chris had a free hand to act right now, the Apostle's head would already be on the floor.

Checking the state of the bag, Travis confirmed that everything was in order. He was short of what he wanted to buy in the traveler's shop, but he could always go and get the items again. At the end of the day, the amount of money appeared the same as it was before. Now, he needed to go…

"There," he heard Aria's voice as the woman trekked into the room. The weariness of her expression was easily discernible, but she was making a valiant effort to stay awake. Glancing at her, Travis took in the suit she was wearing.

She was wearing a uniform consisting of a wide jacket of khaki color on top of a white shirt, both of them outfitted with buttons, a few still not done as she had clearly put in on in haste. Her legs were covered by long, brown pants, which seemed a little too long for her height yet ever so slightly too small for her prominent hipline. On her feet, a pair of shoes were present, tied in a semi-orderly fashion. All in all, safe for her still dirty and disheveled hair, she already looked far more presentable than just five minutes ago.

“Let’s go," she said toward Travis. However, as she moved, Chris stepped right behind her, seemingly acting as some kind of a bodyguard. Aria snapped at him, “This is a personal matter. Leave,” there was a glint of anger in her voice as she turned to the man only halfway.

Chris looked at her, a bit of uncertainty in his gaze, but relented after a second or so, stepping backward. Yes, she might’ve not been a real Inspector just yet, but she sure did seem to hold the aura of authority already. Or, perhaps, there was another reason for that? The Apostle could not shake off that feeling, but he decided not to ponder on it.

Travis stepped outside of the building, the woman quickly following suit. He took in a breath of somewhat chilly air and glanced at the dimly lit streets. Tall metal poles were spaced out by roughly 30 meters each, fire spells trapped on their tips to serve as light sources.

‘...I didn’t expect to miss this.’ he formed a small smile. Glancing at Aria, he saw her complexion bear a similar expression to his; she felt the same about this scenery.

“Come with me,” she pulled him by the sleeve of his shirt a little, prompting him to move along her.

“Where?”

“You’ll see.”

‘…should I worry? What does she want?’ he brooded momentarily, unsure of his situation. However, the uncertainty was thrown outside quickly. If she had something bad in store for him, she'd have not protected him from Chris nearly as ferociously as she had.

The walk took them a little over five minutes. Aria dragged him between some buildings, and then, after they emerged on the other side, she went over to some kind of an apartment building. In mere seconds, both of them were walking up the stairs, and after some more time, they were standing in what seemed to be the small apartment she lived in.

Its main room was barely 5 by 4 meters, with a bathroom to their right roughly half the size. On the opposite side, there was a small arc going into a rather modest 3 by 4 or so meters bedroom. A large bed stood by the wall, roughly a meter or so of space on either side. All in all, Aria's apartment was very small, but for just her, it was surely more than enough.

Travis looked around with curiosity, not exactly sure what Aria meant to accomplish by bringing him around. However, she seemed to quickly answer that. She pointed to her right.

“Please go and wash yourself up. I’ll prepare something for you in the meantime,” her voice carried a soft edge to it, and her eyes appeared focused on the room opposite the bathroom. Was she looking for that 'something'?

Unsure how to respond, Travis said the first thing that came to his mind, "...thank you."

“Use any towel you want. Water should be warm,” she added as he started going to the door.

-10 minutes later-

Travis stopped the water and grabbed a towel. The bathroom was rather small, but he liked its style. It was… comfy, in a way. The crystal-blue tiles on the floor, combined with white ones on the walls, gave this place a somewhat refreshing look. But he didn’t intend to think about it too much. He was already taking his time in the shower to make sure he scrubbed off all of the dirt that got everywhere.

He toweled himself and dressed in fresh clothes from his bag. Everything was fine and all, but his pants were severely torn, and the shirt from the uniform he received appeared slightly too big for him.

He stepped outside of the bathroom and noticed how Aria bolted out of a chair and stepped closer to him. She seemed half-asleep yet **** herself awake as she asked, “Done?”

“Yes… sorry I took so long.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she replied, fidgeting with her fingers for a moment. “I…” but she stopped, clearly unsure what she wanted to say. Or, perhaps, how she wanted to say it?

He decided not to push her. If she couldn’t say it, she couldn’t, that’s just how things were. To begin with, he wasn’t expecting anything from her. Just being able to wash in a place that wasn't a public bath counted as a reward to him.

“I… Travis,” she parted her lips eventually. “I… t-thank you. I mean it. You… you saved my skin more times than I can count,” her eyes watered a little. “W-Without you…” she didn’t finish, her tone trailing off into sobbing as she lunged at him. "Thank you... *Sob!*"

A little startled, the man took a second to answer, “I... wouldn’t have pulled through without you, either,” he replied, gently hugging her back. He felt the dirt from her hair get into his nose, but right now, he didn't care. It wasn't just empty words; he was sure that Penalty Zone was a place he was not planning on visiting again any time soon.

Aria rubbed her nose on his chest momentarily. "I... I wish there was something I could do to repay you...*Sob!*" she sniffled. "But... nothing will ever be enough. But... I... have something I want to give you," she took an item out of her pocket and handed it to him whilst making a small step back. “Here.”

Travis got hold of the object. It was small, round, about 5 cm in diameter, and had blue inside, completely still as though frozen in time. Suddenly, a notification sprung forward.

[Obtained item: Communication sphere.]

[Small communication sphere

Rating: Rare

Durability: 33/33

Current/maximum mana: 2523/2523

Effective distance: 96 km

Uses mana to create a link of communication between two spheres attuned one to another. Mana drain depends on distance.

Weight: 70 g]

‘A communication sphere?! Those things cost at least 300 gold a piece!’ A thought rang loudly in his mind.

“It’s a communication sphere,” Aria explained, oblivious to the man's eyes reading lines of text as she looked at the ground. “We can use it to communicate over long distances."

“…I see… but why?”

“If you ever need anything… anything at all, don’t hesitate to call me. It’s the least I can do.”

“I… thank you, Aria."

"...being on the topic, I will also do my best to handle your case. I'll try to cancel the case, but just in case it won't work, I'll pay the fine you'll be given for not having an MID. And I'll help you get a new one as quickly as possible."

"Aria, there's no need to do that--"

"No," she cut him off, her eyes staring at him with determination. "Please, accept it," a heartfelt plea emanated from within her green eyes. She appeared ready to cry if he so much as rejected her gratitude.

"...thank you," he relented, a small sigh escaping his mouth.

The white-haired woman looked at her feet for a long moment. She blushed whilst intertwining her hands. Her fingers seemed to tremble ever so slightly. She looked conflicted as if she was unsure what she wanted to ask.

"...c-can I... have a small request?" she eventually inquired, glancing to her side in embarrassment. "Can I... hug you one more time?"

A small jolt of electricity went through Travis's body. The request was... unexpected, but not in the wrong way. Something in his mind told him to seize the moment, using it to its fullest. He pulled her in without answering the question. His lips touched her forehead, giving her a tender kiss as though he wanted to reassure her that everything was going to be alright. Visibly surprised by his gesture, she almost yelped but did not fight his hold.

“Sorry,” he said. “It just felt like the right thing to do.”

“I-I see…” her cheeks became even redder. “I… I think you should go for now. I need to wash and rest. Later, I’ll have to report what happened in that accursed place...” she felt her heart sink. Just thinking about that place was traumatic. "I'll... do my best to not have it all disrupt your life."

A slow exhale through his nose was quiet. Gathering his thoughts, Travis parted his lips, “Don’t worry, Aria. I'm sure that you won't ever end up in that place again," he said, caressing her shoulder for a moment.

She shuddered. Unable to meet his gaze, the small woman looked to her side. She appeared to want to say something but did not speak up.

As some seconds passed by in silence, their hold weakened. Eventually, the two of them parted from one another whilst saying short goodbyes. He soon stepped out of the apartment, and within a minute or so he was on the streets, going toward the eastern gate. What just transpired was surely nice, but he needed to keep his head on track.

‘After I finish Teacher's quest, maybe I'll come around and ask Aria out...’ he thought, soon standing in front of the traveler's shop’s door. It was closed, as it was about 5 in the morning by now, but he didn't fret. After all, there was a Daily Quest for him to fulfill.