Celeste grabbed onto Yukito's wrist hard and yanked him toward the rooms upstairs. "Hurry! We need to hide."

"Why? I don't understand," he replied as she dragged him along.

She took him to room #7 and pulled out a ring of keys. She fumbled around for a second, but found the key she was looking for and inserted it into the lock. "Get inside. I'll explain, but we need to hide."

Once inside the room, which looked more-or-less like any of the other rooms, she hopped up onto the bed and reached toward the low ceiling. She pressed in on a particular spot and it opened up a hatch. She pulled down a hidden ladder. "Hurry!" she whispered with urgency.

The ladder was dusty and didn't look to be in very good shape, but he did as he was told and climbed up into a small cramped attic. She followed him and then pulled up the ladder. "What in the hell is going on, Celeste? Why are we running? I thought he went to get the guards to tell them about the guy who got away."

"Everything around here is not what it seems. It is true that the members of the Temple of the Luminous Tower perform rituals each month to summon heroes to this world, but the reason for this is not as we had told you..." 

He waited for her to continue, but she seemed to be hesitating. "So what's the deal?" 

"We are all sworn to secrecy, on pain of death... but if it wasn't for you, who knows what those two would have done to us. I'm sure that's why Grandfather is trying to help you." 

Yukito could feel Celeste trembling in fear against him. He didn't have any idea what was going on, but he needed to press for answers. "Please. I just need to know what's going on. I don't want to endanger anyone, I will leave town if that will help."

"They won't let you leave now that they will know you have a power. If that thief gets to the guards first and tells them of what you did, then they will absolve him of his crimes; he'll even get a 2,000 Vin for his trouble. They'll come here and take you away to the dungeon."

"What? Why? I'm the freaking hero that THEY summoned. First, they kick me to the curb when I don't have any powers, and now you say that because I did something, they're going to toss me into a cell? This world is seriously fucked up!"

Celeste shoved her hand against his mouth and held it there. "Come now, Rudra, we know that the boy was here. People saw him here all day and now he's gone. You know the law.  If you don't tell us what you know, we'll lock you and your daughter away in the dungeon to rot away just like we will the boy," A muffled voice came from beneath them. 

He tried to process  what was happening, but it was clear that he had been summoned to this world by the bad guys. It wasn't clear how he had used his powers before, or if there were any limitations, so he just sat tight and hoped the guards would go away. 

"He must've stuck out the back when I went to get you. I swear, I don't know where he is," Rudra said.

"I don't buy it, captain. This one has always had a soft heart for demi-humans, and that boy apparently just saved his granddaughter," a third voice said.

"I guess we're going to have to beat it out of you, old man."

A grunt and the sound of a body hitting the floor were heard a second later. Yukito felt a drop of wetness hit his arm and although he couldn't see in the darkness, he knew that Celeste had begun to cry. He somehow doubted that they would spare the old man, even if he gave up Yukito's location. I can help him. I just need to use my power again. Tears continued to fall onto Yukito's arm, and he realized that he had to do what was right. He had to help if he could. He reached up and gently moved her hand away. "I will save him. Stay here," he whispered. 

Hoping that he could really back those words up, he gathered up all the courage he could muster and kicked open the trap door before jumping down onto the bed. A look of shock was openly visible on the guards' faces. This body is awesome! The guard who had been beating Rudra stood up and pulled his sword free and swiped at him. Yukito avoided the slash; easily jumping backward and landing on the floor. His reflexes and balance allowed him to land without a stumble, even though he hadn't been looking where he was jumping. 

"We need him alive," the guard with captain's knots said.

"How about you come quietly with us, hero? We can spare this traitor and his granddaughter if you do," the second man said. 

Yukito didn't believe for an instant that these men were going to show mercy to Rudra and Celeste. The old man looked like he was barely breathing as it was. On Earth, he never would've considered murdering anyone, but in this place, with people like this right in front of him, he knew that he wouldn't hesitate to do what was needed. "No," was his only reply. 

He charged the guard with the sword and concentrated on slowing time. It didn't work. The man swung and he lithely dodged under the blade and moved into a roll, coming back up just behind the guard. He did an imitation of a wrestling move he had seen on TV. In a quick series of motions, he reached up and put his arm around the man's neck, gripping him on the forehead and pulled back hard before slamming to the ground as hard as he could. He was surprised when he heard the man's neck snap.

"I'm going to need some help up here!" the captain yelled.

You won't be alive by the time they get here, you bastard! Yukito grabbed the fallen guard's longsword and stood up. He gripped it with two hands and held it out in front of him vertically. I hope those two years I spent in Kendo club in middle school won't let me down. The guard captain unsheathed his own sword and advanced and then slashed at Yukito from the side.

He easily blocked the blow and reset his stance. The captain began slashing more furiously, but Yukito found that with his superior reflexes he could easily follow the strikes. He couldn't be sure how good this guy was with a sword, anyway, but he knew that he could win this fight. He just needed to finish the fight before he was overrun. He could hear the sound of footsteps running up the stairs. It was time to go on the offensive. He stepped forward carefully and performed a series of overhead blows, knocking the guard off balance. Then he had his opening; he stabbed the blade straight through the man's neck and pulled it free. 

His opponent fell to the ground with a resounding thud. Three more guards reached the top of the stairs and he saw them bunched up at the doorway. Damn. I wish that there was more room in here. I just needed some more time to check if Rudra is okay and find a way to escape this room; maybe from the window. Sweat was running down his face and his arms were beginning to tire.

That's when he noticed that the men in the doorway were moving extra slow, just as the thieves had earlier. What the hell? I just have to think about needing time for it to activate? Good to know. He rushed forward and stabbed the helpless guards in quick succession, just as he had done with the last one; they began to fall in slow motion. He ignored them and ran over to Rudra, kneeling down next to him and the ability stopped working. 

Three more thuds behind him spelled the end of the battle. About 30 seconds. That's how long it gives me. He tried activating it again the same way, but nothing happened this time and he got a huge headache. Reflexively he raised his hand to the side of his head and let out a groan. I guess there is some sort of cool down. I need to use this carefully.

"Y..ukito..." Rudra rasped.

"I'm here. You're going to be okay! Celeste, get down here." He gently rolled Rudra onto his back. Once he did, it was clear that the old man was a goner. His chest was caved in and he looked as though he had suffered several broken ribs. Purple bruises covered the man's arms and he was sure that beneath the man's clothes there would be more massive bruises as well.

Celeste lowered the ladder and climbed down as quickly as she could. Once down, she ran to her grandfather's side. "Don't die, Grandfather. I don't want to lose you, too!" she wailed and then leaned over onto his chest crying.

With a bit of a struggle, Rudra raised one of his hands and touched the back of her head. "I'm sorry... I never wanted you to be in more pain..." 

Yukito could tell the man was struggling to get out his last words. He wished that he could do something, but he couldn't, so he went to the door so he could keep watch. He glanced down the stairs and then back toward the two kind strangers who had tried to help him. Celeste continued sobbing and her grandfather continued speaking.

"Yukito... please.. take her to Mallon, a city in the south.. her aunt is there... she married a demi-human and left the country years ago...." Rudra said and then began coughing up blood. 

The guards had been brutal. They were ruthless and didn't care that they had possibly been dealing with an innocent innkeeper. He decided that he would see this country fall one day. Anyplace that treated their people so callously would get no mercy from him. "I will keep her safe."

"Thank... yo⁠—" he coughed up more blood. "Celeste... I love you..." his arm fell limply from her head and thudded on the floor. The light went out of his eyes and he had passed away. 

Celeste wept and hugged her grandfather. "I don't want to be alone! I already lost mother and father! I hate this place, these guards! I hate them all!" she pounded her fist on his chest.

"I'm sorry... but we need to go." He went over to her and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Celeste, he wouldn't want you to stay here and die. We need to do as he wished and get out of the city. You can grieve, but it has to be later."

She sniffled and looked up with him. Tears streamed down her cheeks. "The empire has taken everything from me. Everything. I will do as Grandfather asked, we'll have to get out of the city and somehow cross the border. That will be the easy part of the journey. You'll come with me, right?"

"I will. I promise you that if I ever have the power to do something about this place, I will come back and make sure that the people responsible for things like this pay dearly. Take a minute to gather some supplies. We need to move fast." Yukito reached down and unclasped one of the guard's sword belts and put it on, while Celeste wiped away her tears and ran down the stairs. He knew that he probably looked kind of silly wearing a hoodie over his school uniform while wearing a sword, but he wasn't trying to win any fashion contests; he just wanted to survive.

He ran down the stairs and found Celeste in the kitchen. She was grabbing some food for the road and had thrown on a dark green cloak with an attached hood. "Is there anything you want me to grab?"

"No. I'm almost done. We should sneak out the back, through the wash." 

"Okay, sounds good to me." 

She finished packing the bag full of food and he saw that she had also thrown some clothes in there. Maybe if we get out of this mess alive, I can find some new clothes at the next town. I need to blend in a bit better than this. Celeste finished packing and tossed the pack on; flipping her cloak up and then over the bag. "I'm ready. Follow me."

The two of them ran to the laundry room and out in the darkness. It was a cold night and he could see his breath puffing out in front of him. This door had lead to an alleyway, behind the inn and it connected to the main cobblestone street as well as a dirt one that ran parallel to it. He looked up and saw a pale green moon that hung just high enough that he could see it over the buildings. It seemed brighter to him outside than he would have thought and then he realized it must be his cat-like eyes giving him better night vision. Can't complain about that. 

Celeste tugged on his wrist. "Come on. We need to go. Quit stalling." 

He allowed himself to be pulled along and the pair soon disappeared into the darkness of the back streets of the city.