Bʀᴏᴋᴇɴ Hᴀʀᴍᴏɴʏ || Tʜᴇ Cʜᴏsᴇɴ Eɪɢʜᴛ: Fᴀʟʟ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ Bᴇᴀsᴛs Bᴏᴏᴋ Oɴᴇ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ sᴇᴠᴇɴ || ᴛʜᴇ sᴇᴀʀᴄʜ

Lucia

We disembarked at the port of an Amayan coastal city that I'd forgotten the name of.

"I've received word from one of my contacts may have a lead," Tyler waved a scroll in the air as he walked.

We were headed toward the city centre, cobbles uneven under my feet.

"So, which contact is it?" Niko skipped ahead to walk beside the guardian. "Do we know them?"

Tyler chuckled and raised a brow. "Oh yes, you know her very well." He looked around, then pointed ahead. "She said we could meet up at that cafe."

"Can we also get something to eat," Sasha butted in dramatically, "I'm starving!"

I rolled my eyes, but honestly I would've been lying if I said I didn't expect it. My stomach rumbled as well, reminding me that Sasha wasn't the only hungry one.

"That's the plan," Tyler jogged up the steps and pulled open the door to the cafe.

We filed in, and I was hit almost immediately with the aroma of sweet pastries and coffee. The smell only amplified my hunger, and a glance at the others told me I wasn't the only one.

Tyler shot a cursory look around the cafe. "I'll grab a table," he decided. "You guys can go check out the menu."

I followed Sasha and Niko as they joined the line up to the counter.

"Those sticky buns look really good," Niko said, practically drooling.

"Hmm, I'm impartial to the savoury ones, myself." A familiar voice chimed in.

I spun around, pink hair flashing in my vision.

"Hoya!" Sasha exclaimed, identifying the person before I could.

The woman grinned, shaking her unruly hair out of her eyes. The pink had faded a bit, brown roots starting to show. "Hey, strangers. It's been a while."

"It has!" Niko was grinning so wide it looked like his face was going to crack. I could tell he was restraining himself from throwing his hands around Hoya's neck.

"Uh, Tyler grabbed a table over there," I pointed toward where the rest of the team had gathered. "If wyou wanna go say hi."

"Ah, that's where they're hanging out." Hoya clapped Sasha's shoulder. "Grab me something, wouldja?"

He nodded and she walked away toward the table.

We bought a bunch of pastries– and a coffee for Tyler, of course– and returned to the table.

Hoya had taken her place beside Tyler, leaving the rest of us to draw up chairs and dump our purchases on the rather small table. The looks out group got suggested that parties of nine were rare, and clearly not very appreciated, in the cafe.

"The lead I got was gossip. Nothing but word of mouth, about a kid." Hoya was saying, "this kid– a street urchin, according to my informant– was in the middle of stealing from the market when the whole world went still and a spider appeared. My informant tracked them to their hiding place, but has not seen the kid leave since."