Chapter 8: An Unexpected Visitor

                                    

                                          
CAERA DENOIR
"Why hello there, Caera. I've been waiting for you."
My body tenses up as I draw my sword from my dimension ring. 
"Who are you? What are you doing in my room? Have you come to kidnap me, Agrona?" I spit, assuming this must be a personal visit. 
"Perhaps I have," the figure says, standing to reveal a hooded form wearing a mask with a blue streak over the left eye. "You can call me Note. I'm here to ask you a few questions."
I don't even respond and instead swing my sword at him. He reaches an arm up to block it, but doesn't even use mana to reinforce himself. He just lets my blade sail right through his arm. His left arm falls to the floor with a resounding thud. 
"Well that wasn't very nice, Miss Denoir. What am I supposed to do now?" he asks playfully, as if I didn't just cut his arm off.
Just as I begin to bring my sword back around to swing again, he puts up another arm to block my sword, still not using mana. His left arm falls to the floor with a resounding thud.
Wait, it does?
I take a quick glance at the two left arms at my feet. My eyes go wide as I turn back to my assailant, but I'm met with a different man than I was expecting. 
Here I was expecting to see huge elk-like horns with red eyes and black hair. But before me is a handsome man with wheat-blonde hair and piercing golden eyes. 
"I missed you, Caera," he says. 
"G-Grey?!" I shout as he hurries to cover my mouth with his left hand. 
"Not so loud, dummy. I'm a wanted criminal here!" he whispers loudly in front of me. 
My face begins to heat up at his presence. I can feel his breath hitting my face as he stares into my eyes with his golden irises. He seems to be oblivious of how this scene would look to an observer. 
"Grey, what are you doing?" I hear from my left.
Who the hell it that?
I turn to see a woman with gunmetal hair and radiant teal eyes. Her elven ears point towards the corners of the doorframe she's standing in. The beautiful seafoam green runic tattoos on her exposed arms glowing ever so slightly in the darkness of my apartment. 
It's her...
"Wahs schee doi heer?" I mumble with Grey's hand still over my mouth.
"Oh, sorry. Can you repeat that?" Grey apologizes, removing his hand.
"What's she doing here?" I reiterate. 
"Oh, I need your help real quick. Other than that I'm in town for a while to visit you and get a few things. Not that I can go outside, so it's now your job to get said things," Grey says. 
I roll my eyes not once, but twice and let out an exasperated sigh. 
It's only been two minutes since I got home, and now I have more shit to do....
"Don't worry, Caera. It isn't very time sensitive. Oh also, I don't have anywhere to stay so..." he trails off. 
"Yeah sure, whatever, fuck it. Stay here. You're sleeping on the floor for the shit you pulled though," I demand. "I thought I was going to be kidnapped, and now I have two more mouths to feed and two left arms on my floor!"
Despite my anger I pull Grey into a hug, heaving out one final sigh.
"I missed you, too, Grey."
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