In the morning Mihel was groggy after his strange experience in the middle of the night. Riche and Vinelyn were already awake, freshened up and were putting on their Exousia coats.
Seeing Mihel awake, Riche walks up to him and pushes his open palm in front of his face. Mihel smiled weakly before knocking on it and slowly getting out of bed. 'Damn it…Couldn't work out in the morning today.' He groaned silently as he greeted Vinelyn.
"We gotta find some way to get Mihel out of bed. He's literally always sleeping and yet appears so tired." Vinelyn teased as Mihel walked into the washroom to freshen up. He washed himself quickly, got out and hurriedly wore his coat, not wanting to be the reason they were late to duty.
Before leaving he rummaged through his personal pack and pulled a small silver dagger. Carrying Chamynos Fios was unnecessary but if he had some unusual ideas like the previous day, then some kind of weapon would be useful. He strapped the sheath to his thigh, within arm length if it was needed to draw out quickly.
The five of them headed out of their apartment and decided to have some light breakfast before going to the Citadel. Riche volunteered to go alone to Granny Mui's bakery as he had made a good impression on her the night before and the others were quick to agree. They slowly walked to the familiar red building. On the way the girls, who had missed the action of last night were filled in by Vinelyn.
After a tale with considerable exaggeration and suspenseful pauses, the girls were complaining about why they couldn't also be a part of such incidents.
"I could have shot the suited man in the leg from the rooftop. He wouldn't chase after Mihel then." Halise said straightforwardly.
"And…uh…I could- I could do something alright!" Midia joined in.
Mihel chuckled as they reached the entrance of the bakery. 'They will not understand the danger of something until they are in the situation themselves…' he said to himself.
Riche was pushed in as the five of them waited outside. Around them people were rushing here and there. Going to their various workplaces in a hurry. Small children ran around, trying to enjoy every last free moment before their tuitions in the Skola.
Mihel almost wandered to the alleyway he had explored yesterday but was quickly stopped by Vinelyn.
"No Mihel. You stay here. We get into trouble every time you go off somewhere. So stay put." He said firmly.
Mihel grinned as he shook his head. "Alright alright…this on-"
Suddenly he felt a tug in his mind. He twisted his head down. Something was pulling at him but it was very faint and weak, as if very, very far away. Suddenly everything went quiet. Not just in his head, but all around him.
Mihel started panicking as he stared at the lips of his friends moving, yet no sound reaching his ears. He felt his legs give out. He lost his balance and fell to the ground, the earth slamming into his body. His muscles started aching and his head was buzzing. He opened his eyes and suddenly everything was blurred and distorted.
Vinelyn quickly grabbed his shoulders and brought him to his feet, shouting things undiscernible to Mihel. The pain in his head grew more and more until he was sure his head would explode. Mihel clutched his ears as he sunk to his knees once more. And in a flash the pain was gone. His head cleared immediately and all the sounds around him rushed back in within a second.
"-at happened? Get up Mihel!" He could hear Midia's desperate cry.
Mihel pushed away the arms trying to help him up and got back on his feet. He slightly wobbled as he took a few steps but he stood upright.
"I'm fine now…no need to worry." He said lightly, trying to dismiss the events from their minds.
"What happened, Mihel? We were simply standing…what made you fall down like that?" Vinelyn voiced the question shared by both Midia and Halise.
"It was just a small headache…nothing major…" he said quickly, "Oh look, Riche's back with our breakfast." He changed the subject quickly when he saw Riche walking towards them holding a brown paper bag.
Riche opens the bag and pulls something that resembled fluffy bread, twisted in a spiral. He handed one to each of them and they continue walking while nibbling on their food.
The spiral pastry had some kind of fruit jam filling which made it taste slightly sweet. The bread was also very soft and easy to break. Riche said that it was called croissants here and were a popular morning snack with Kaffe.
Vinelyn didn't mention what happened to Mihel to Riche yet, maybe allowing Mihel himself to explain what had happened in detail. After a while they reached the familiar gate of the Citadel, the massive doorway, embedded with plates.
A familiar figure stood outside waiting. Hair neatly slicked back, Exousia coat tightly worn across his lithe body. Sharp eyes flitting around and finally resting upon the five of them.
Reaching him, Vidoria Kidt spoke up, "Good, you bought your own food. Now lets get straight into this." He leads them to the same shed where the coal was stored. He pushes open the wooden door and pulls out a bucket, some rolls of cloth and jug of alcohol.
He explained how they were supposed to remove the burnt clothe from the pole and replace it by wrapping the alcohol dipped cloth. And with that he sent them on their way, alone once again.
There was almost no conversation between the five, all of them working hard to get their morning duty over as quick as possible. Midia and Halise dipped the cloths in alcohol and the boys would climb the poles and replace the blackened cloth, some barely having any remains.
The Sun was shining brightly, making them sweat profusely under the open sky. An occasional cold breeze was the only relief from the otherwise hot and dry weather.
The group efficiently made away through each street and completed their task before 1: 30 Astra. By the time they were done, everyone was soaked in sweat and desperately hungry for something to eat. They quickly wrapped up their work and walked back to the shed to return their equipment.
The door was left ajar and inside they found a small note by Vidoria addressed to them.
'Soldiers of Compartment Twelve.
Your food will be arranged at your residence, along with your payment for today's duty. Please arrive in front of the Citadel at 5 Astra.
Salutis Exousia
Decurion Vidoria Kidt'
Content with their good work, they strolled through the city for a while before turning back to their quarters. It was only on the way back Vinelyn popped the question.
"So Mihel…explain what happened at the bakery."