After a relaxing tea break full of conversation and revelations, Cindy and Kai found themselves running for their lives not long after. They were dashing through the city at a breakneck pace, enhancing the aura in their legs, and running faster than they ever thought possible. Luckily, the duo picked up on Aria's lessons rather quickly. They were now using those same lessons to evade the enraged woman; a twisted sense of irony, it was. But, they had no choice except to escape Baldimore as quickly as possible, for Aria had vowed to kill them if they did not leave soon enough.
So, you're probably wondering how I wound up in this situation... Yup, this would be a catchy hook to a movie or something.
"Fucking Kai! Why'd you have to go and tell that stupid story?!!" Cindy yelled as she ran desperately, panting heavily.
"Hey, what the fuck are you blaming me for? You're the one who wanted to hear it so bad, idiot! Besides, how was I supposed to know Director Aria was batshit crazy?! Shit, is she really gonna kill us??" Kai said, his breaths also accompanied by heavy pants.
"L-less talking, more running! We gotta preserve all the energy we can, and get far away from this city as soon as we can!" Cindy replied.
"Shouldn't we call Amy or Ben? They'll help us out, won't they?" Kai suggested.
"Ah, good thinking, Kai. You call Amy and I'll call Ben. One of them has to pick up, surely!"
Cindy and Kai both pulled out their phones frantically, trying to get a hold of Amy and Ben. In a panicked state, Cindy ended up dropping her phone while searching through her contact list.
"No, my phone!" Cindy yelled, slowing down her pace.
"We gotta keep running, Cindy! There's no time to stop and pick it up. We're gonna fucking die if we stop for even a second!"
"Dammit, you're right!" Cindy said, her face reddening from frustration and tiredness. "Just hurry up and call them, please!"
"I'm on it! I'm calling Director Ben right now!" Kai said as his phone started to ring. Unfortunately for him, Ben did not answer his call. "Dammit, he didn't pick up! I'm calling Amy now!" he said, his phone again being met with a voicemail. "Fuck!!! Of course, they won't answer right now! Well, Cindy, it was nice knowing ya!" he said while tears started pouring down his face.
"We can't give up, Kai! I refuse to die now, after making it this far! We can make it, we can make it... We still have some time left before Aria starts following us!" Cindy screamed, her breaths becoming faster and more ragged, after each push of her legs.
"W-what the hell are we gonna do if we manage to escape, anyway? We don't have any experience or education... We're just a couple of damn thugs without this job!" Kai said.
"I-I don't know, ok! We'll figure it out after we're in the clear! Just keep running and stop talking!" Cindy yelled.
Shit, this aura increases my speed, but it's also draining me quickly going this fast. I don't know how much longer we can keep this up.
The city goers looked on at the duo in confusion, as they raced their way out of town. They passed through the harbor area, downtown, and midtown in minutes. Eventually, the pair found themselves running along a desolate, dirt road, before they finally tired out, exhausting most of their aura.
"I-I can't go on anymore," Cindy said, her hands and knees planted to the ground.
"Huff-Huff, it's not looking good for me either," Kai said, laying on his back. "Cindy... we're out of time," he said with mountains of sweat dripping down his head.
The duo was drenched from head to toe with an unnatural amount of sweat, due to the exhaustion of their aura from running so quickly, as well as the immense fear of Aria, who would soon be right on their tails.
"I-I'm so scared! I don't wanna die! Kai continued, wailing like a newborn baby.
Cindy started to grimace and let tears fall from her face as well. All the exhausted pair could do, was just huff and puff, and try to regain even a bit of energy in order to keep running, before Aria could find them.
"Mother... please help me. God, please help us! I swear, if you let us live, I'll be a good little Kristian girl and go to church every weekend!" Cindy screamed, clasping her hands in prayer.
"Yup, we're definitely fucked," Kai said as he looked on at the desperate Cindy, his eyes still flooded with tears. The exhausted youth was so tired and afraid, he did not even notice the vibration coming from his left pocket.
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"Huh, that's weird. Idiot calls me like twenty times and doesn't even have the decency to pick up when I finally call back!" Amy said, her feet kicked up on the desk in her office. "Well, whatever. I'm sure he was just desperate to hear my voice… Yeah, that's definitely it."
"Amy, what the fuck!" Ben screamed, barging into the elf's office. "I told you to keep an eye on them! I got about ten calls from Kai, and now he's not answering!"
"Heh, he called me twenty times," Amy said proudly.
"That's... not the point here. Our little assassins could be in danger right now! What the hell were you doing, anyways?"
"Playing Bubble Crush. Oh sweet, I just got a new high score!" Amy said, twiddling her thumbs around her phone. "What were you doing, mister sassy pants?"
"I was actually working, unlike you. I had my phone on silent, so I'm just now seeing this. This isn't looking good." Ben said worriedly.
"Look bro, everything's probably fine! I looked out my window earlier, and I saw those two idiots skipping around like schoolgirls. They seem to be getting along just fine with Aria, so there's nothing to fear... I think."
"Sis, Kai called both of us a bunch of times and now he's not answering. Aren't you at least a little worried?" Ben asked.
"Eh, he probably just wanted to hear my angelic voice."
"Then, why would he call me for that?!" Ben said, becoming more frustrated than he was accustomed to.
"Because, I didn't answer. Duuuh!" Amy said, mockingly. "Besides, Cindy didn't call us."
"Maybe she left her phone?" Ben questioned.
"What young adult goes anywhere without their phone? Now, that's just blasphemous," Amy said.
"Well, I'm concerned for their safety, and you didn't keep an eye on them like I asked! So, we're gonna go track them down, now!" Ben yelled.
"Yeah, yeah. Just let me finish this lev-,"
"Amy, now!" Ben said in a stern tone, his eyes becoming razor sharp, as he cut off the young elf's sentence.
"Ok, ok. Stop looking at me like that, jeez!" Amy said, lifting herself up from her comfortable position. "You owe me twenty bucks if they're fine, though."
"And you owe me drinks if they're not... A lot of them."
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Back at 'Jasper's Tea shop,' Aria was sitting quietly by the window-side table, sipping away at the remainder of her tea. One minute remained before she started to pursue her former students. The woman was calm as she sat there drinking her beverage, twisting her curly hair repeatedly with her fingers. Her eyes, however, painted a different perspective, as they burned fiercely with unfiltered rage.
"Well, time to clean up my family's mess once again," Aria said as she stood up from her seat. "I can still sense their auras within the city limits... How unfortunate," she said as she started to walk. "The tea was so lovely today, as usual. Thank you so much, Aisha!" she said, giving one of the workers a bright smile with her eyes closed.
"It was so nice to see you again, Aria!" Aisha said. "What happened to your friends you were with not too long ago? It looked like you guys were in some skirmish, and then they just ran off so quickly! A little co-worker drama, I presume?
"Oh, yes! You know how these young pups can be! So quick to speak out of line and whatnot," Aria said, keeping a perfect smile on her face. "It was so lovely speaking with you, Aisha, but I must hurry back to work soon. I'll have to give those silly chaps a proper punishment for their insubordination!" she said as she exited the small shop, taking off in a mad dash soon after.
Aria began the hunt for Cindy and Kai, her aura focused sharply on her legs, as she ran so fast, a small gust was left in her wake.
