Leo’s throat feels the sharpness of the blade that weights his life. In contrast, his back senses a soft feeling pushing over.

-Do I have to repeat myself. Put the kids down.

Leo frees the kids as told, putting his hands in the air. Kids look happy.

-LIMA!

Feeling the grip getting weaker, Leo palm uppercut it the hand holding the dagger, and rollout from his aggressor. Looking at her for the first time, Leo notices a short hair brunette at her 30’s. Her black and grey tactical outfit made her feminine outlines stand out, even though all her skin is covered with exception of her face, due to her scarf.

-Who are you?

-I was going to ask you that, but I guess you’re called Lima.

-Jay, Kyle, get out of here. I will follow you up after I’m done with him.

-But Lima—

-Go!

Lima start gathering light green essentia on her dagger and on her feet. In a flash, she sneaks up on Leo’s back and slashed him. However, it was an afterimage of Leo, who reappears over her charging his hands with essentia to punch her. Just as he was touching her face, she smiled and disappeared.

-Nice reflexes, but not good enough.

Lima reappears at Leo’s right and grabs his head with her foot, slamming him to the floor with enough force to crack through two stories. Leo is clearly damaged, but before he could even move, Lima mounted him immobilizing him. She gathers essentia on her dagger again.

-Any last words, you Nation scum?

-Well, I guess that dying with a girl like you on my lap is not so bad.

-Such rude last words. You are disgusting, your life is now forfeit.

-But in other hand, I would leave to much stuff to do. «Ice Burst: Chill Touch»

Lima became enraged, and momentarily lose her concentration which was Leo’s plan all along. He grabbed that opportunity to froze the floor and punch it, breaking it and make them fall through the collapsed ceiling. Leo and Lima quickly get up and get in combat position again.

-I guess that Nation has sent some more capable people to Serpens City. Nevertheless, you still aren’t capable of beat me. Time to get serious as the ruckus you made will make more of you appear.

Lima drops her dagger and place her hands on her waist bag, behind her back. When she retrieves her hands, they show some claw gauntlets. This time, she gathers essentia over the whole body, covered by a yellow green energy.

«Echo rush: nullify cloak»

Lima claps her hands, exploding a little burst of her essentia and producing a noise cancelling frequency. She leaves her after image, disappearing on the air. Leo looks baffled, and couldn’t locate Lima. He jumped back, trying to create more space between them, but as he was midair, he was sliced on his face and chest. He then tried to switch his position, only to be kicked in the face, making him flew to the roof again. Leo gets up, just in time to be knee crushed on his jaw by Lima.

«Ice cover: Glacial Shields»

Before Lima could deliver her finish punch, Leo creates a 5 layer shield to protect himself, making her backoff. Her gauntlet punch stopped at the 3rd layer.

«Echo rush: good vibrations»

Once more, Lima clapped her hands, creating sound waves that crashed against the ice shields. Brack by crack, layer by layer, Leo’s shields break, leaving him exposed. Lima assembles a colossal essentia on her right gauntlet, and rushes to Leo.

«Echo rush: closing so-»

-STOP! He saved us from the Nation! And he’s also a wanted man, the Ice drifter!

Jay shields Leo with his own body, trying to stop Lima, succeeding in stopping her. Kyle continued to talk her out of proceeding in her assault.

-It’s true Lima! He got us out of trouble with the guards, as we try to get info about the heist. We got spotted and were caught when he saved us. We should thank him, not kill him!

Lima seemed to be convinced, and helped Leo get up.

-That’s it, huh? You are a tough lady.

-I’m sorry, I misinterpreted the situation. Why didn’t you try to justify yourself?

-I was bored in the alley, so I guess I just wanted to get something to do. Being able to trade some blows with a hot babe like you is not a bad pastime hehehe. And I’m sure that if I tried to explain myself, you wouldn’t listen, since you didn’t know me, am I right?

Lima seemed surprised by the maturity of Leo and his situation analysis.

-I think you owe me an apology, and a little compensation would make us even, since I saved your boys and all that…

-You are a cheeky fella, aren’t you?

-I could ask for a little smooch-smooch but I think you wouldn’t like that idea… so instead I would like to know about that heist.

Lima sighs, yet she was in debt to that guy. She puts away her gauntlets and dissipates all her essentia. She gets close to Leo, close enough to Leo felt her mint aroma on his face and feel anxious.

-I guess you are right, I owe you for the situation. Close your eyes if you please.

Leo does as he was told. He feels her getting even closer, her scent was getting stronger. Before he knew, he felt a solid touch on his chest, and hears paper curling up.

-Here take it.

-What?

-Read it, you’ll know what heist we were talking about. -says Lima before teasing Leo- Were you expecting something else?

Leo seems perplexed, as he grabs the paper that Lima gave him. It turns out to be a ripped piece of a town’s newspaper. Even torn apart, the news reports the robbery of Serpens City Nation monthly tribute. It says that the culprit are the rebels, in order to finance their movement against the regime. The tribute is collected with the town people taxes, however due to this situation the taxes are once again asked to amass a new tribute in time for its delivery.

-So this was the heist… why did you do it?

-Are you really asking that? Do you think we are terrorists? Do you believe that we are the bad?

-I don’t know…

-That’s right, you don’t know. You don’t know how much we fight for the cause; you don’t know how much sacrifices were done to get here. Even thought that we are trying to knock down the Nation, we still care and try to keep from harm the people we swore to protect.

-What people?

-Everyone. Jay, Kyle we lost too much time already, we have to go.

Kyle runs straight away to Lima, ready to leave. Jay on other hand turns back to Leo and grabs his hand.

-Come with us. I want that you join us, we need more people like you, who fight for what they believe in. I want you to see who we are for yourself, not what the rumors say about us. At least see what we are all about.

Leo looks to the innocent eyes of Jay, before looking back to Lima, who looks to wait for his answer.

-I guess I don’t really have anything to do now, I have to flee from here too and I don’t know the town.

*****

Jay smiles and guides Leo along the way with Kyle and Lima. They jump down and walk across the dark alleys, trying to stay out of town soldiers’ radars. After crossing half the town, they enter an old building, where the walls are signalized by its plastic sheets that are under construction. They climb the stairs to 2nd floor, and Kyle turns on the light, shedding the darkness away. Leo looks around the room, where there are three dirty sofas and an oak table surrounded by 4 chairs. Aside from them, no one is present there. Lima seems unsettled.

-This is what you wanted to show me?

-This is a safehouse. We are going to stay here until the Nation guys stop patrolling around. We need to lay low for now.

-So, what do you wanna show me?

Jay goes to the next room for a moment.

-Kyle, did you see Stacy? She should be here.

-I didn’t see her today, I was with Jay trying to get new clues. Last night she was here, but before dawn she already had left.

Lima and Kyle were getting anxious when Jay came back, carrying a board with different information about sites and people, with connections made by strings, like an investigation board. He then proceeds to explain Leo.

-A week ago, the Serpens City’s tribute was stolen the night before they start the trip to deliver to the Nation’s HQ. It seems that it was a flawless job, leaving no trace of it. This happened at Serpens City’s gates. The guards related they didn’t see the attackers, but they announce they were doing it in the name of the rebellion. The cart where the gold was put has disappeared that time, and was found undamaged in front of Serpens City gates once again the day after.

-Hmmm, and you are saying that you are not the ones who made the heist?

-Of course not, we knew the repercussions of it! We only attack specific target that harm the Nation power, not the community itself.

-Then who was it? Who robbed them?

Jay became silent. Kyle grabbed the board and put it down.

-We don’t know, that’s what we are trying to figure it out. We ruled out local thugs and even some bingo folks. And we have to discover it as soon as possible. This is hurting us and the movement.

-How so?

-The town folks since the beginning are secret backers of the rebellion. The way Nation sees them as profit machines, and the discrimination the common feel towards the noble one made it that way. But the support the rebellion receive is only viable when exists a rightful symbiose relation between the two parts. This incident made this city population to turn their back to us.

-What you are trying to say is that this robbery made the trust between the city habitants and the rebel movement to be severed. This is due to their need to make the payment once again of their taxes thanks to you, so it is said. And with that they cut up their help to you and you are on your own now, is that it?

-It’s a little more difficult than that.

-Huh?

-The Nation issue this. -says Kyle pointing out to a piece of the newspaper on the board – It says that the help in the arrest or report of rebel members reduce drastically the taxes for the next 6 months, including the payment of the new tax for covering the theft. With it, not only we were left on our own without the popular help, we also are being hunted down for their greed. Only a few believe in us.

-Then why are you still here? You should run before you get caught.

-Why would we do it? We didn’t do it!

-We would never run from this. Our mission is to help out those who need, and not runaway when they are in the need.

-It’s nice that you say that Miss Lima.

From the door appears more than a dozen people, led by a bald old man in his 60 years, with a short white beard. As he walked inside the room with his cane, other two men throw a little familiar brown hair freckled girl in shackles, clearly injured on her face and on her arms. The girl was crying ceaselessly.

-I’m sorry guys, I couldn’t take it anymore. I’m sorry, I’m sorry!

-Stacy! What you have done to her! You will pay for that!

-Pay for what? For your reckless criminal activity that condemn this city people? You rebel scum do the deeds, and expect not to deal with the consequences of it. This girl was trying to escape from us just as the rest of you rats! Why do we have to suffer for you?!

-I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

-Stacy was trying to help to figure out where the tribute is, and look at what you’ve done to her!

-She should just have said were the rest of you traitors were. We have to do something like this to get to you. If you really cared about us, you already turn yourself in.

-But we didn’t do it.

-Don’t lie to us, and accept your judgment and punishment for all your wrong doings!

-We…

-If you don’t want to come with us peacefully, we will resort to force, and this girl will be taking more than she already have.

«Ice Burst: Beartrap»

Before anyone could react, Leo froze everyone’s feet and swiftly take Stacy in his arms.

-I think I get the gist of your situation. -says Leo while emanating more essentia, making the room get cold- But resorting to harm a little girl, how can you live with yourselves?

The city folks were getting scared as Leo got closer and closer. Yet the old man didn’t see spooked.

-You are just like all the others; abuse the power you have to oppress people like us. The Nation, the rebels, none of you care about us. We have to do what we have to do to survive. The people behind me decided to do something about it, no matter the cost, to protect their families. And right now, the only thing that can do it is to capture you rebels. We have no other choice.

-How—

«Echo rush: low bell»

Lima clapped her hands, creating sound waves that broke all the ice traps in the room, freeing the citizens of Serpens City. Lima proceed to remove her bags and walk toward the angry crowd, kneeling down in their front.

-You are right. You didn’t have other choice than to resort to this, even do that to an innocent girl. But the fault lies on others, not these kids. I will pay for my sins and atone for what I’ve done, so you can take me instead.

*****