Everyone froze when Freya knocked. After a few seconds, Jett stepped to the door, glanced at everyone, and said, "Not. A. Word."

Everyone nodded and watched silently as he opened the door, letting Freya in.

"You're all all here?" Freya asked, surprised at how everyone was already gathered. She paused, then pouted as she noticed something. "Wait a minute... You started without me? I can't believe you guys."

No one replied. Everyone was too tense, unsure what to say.

"Anyway... what's so important that we had to gather this time? So important that you had to start without bothering to wait for me." Freya asked again, clearly frustrated but was slightly annoyed. To think they would call for a meeting and then start without her.

Silence followed. Jett opened his mouth, but Aiden spoke before he could say anything.

"Apparently the guards are some kind of demon worshipers in disguise," Aiden said, lying back on Finn's bed in a relaxed tone. "And get this, their destination is Laxen. So basically, we're still in the same world as last time."

'Damn it Aiden you bast..." Jett sighed with a face palm, 'what was I thinking trusting Aiden to go with the plan anyways?" He had forgotten to account for Aiden's unpredictability and instead allowed his emotions to dictate his actions. But why though? He wondered, 'Was it because it involved Freya?'

Aiden hadn't planned on taking the warning seriously at first. But seeing everyone hesitant, he decided to take the lead, fully aware the others would get annoyed.

'What's with them all of a sudden? They're being weird for some reason.' Freya noticed the sharp glares aimed at Aiden from the others. Truely of looks could kill, Aiden would have already been six feet under. But she chose to stay silent, letting the tension simmer without adding to it.

"Hmm, demon worshipers, huh? And the destination is Laxen?" she said thoughtfully. "Then they're coming from Vond. Doesn't explain everything, but at least we have a starting point. But it does beg the question of was it before or after we appeared or maybe was this somehow our fault?"

The others were quietly surprised at her calm reaction. Everyone, that is, except Aiden, who had expected her reaction smiled as that was the reaction he wanted anyways but ultimately, he didn't really care, even as he noticed the others were silently considering beating the crap out of him.

"If that's the case, the plan doesn't really need to change," Freya continued, turning to Jett. She had concluded that the poison from the Lyk herb would still be strong enough to take out even a demon, and if anything went wrong, her Holy attribute would serve as a backup. Jett nodded subtly, thinking the same thing. "If anything goes wrong, there always the holy attribute."

"A plan, huh?" Rosa asked, her expression serious but with a hint of excitement. She trusted Jett to keep things interesting and to challenge the trial's expectations. But that wasn't something she would openly admit, "You mind sharing this plan with the rest of us?"

Rey stepped forward and laid out the plan. He spoke fast and direct. The room stayed quiet while he explained each step. When he finished, most of the group traded uneasy looks. The idea sounded risky. It also sounded exactly like something Rey and Jett would come up with.

Jett raised both hands slightly gesturing for them not to worry."I know you have doubts, but trust me. I've done this before. It works. We'll just have to do this one on a larger scale."

Jett had a sly smile as he turned to face Finn. He could boldly read Finn's expression on his face saying 'DON'T YOU DARE' but he acted like he didn't notice. "Ask Finn. He was there and he can even explain better."

"YOU BASTARD!" Finn lunged, but Marcella slid in front of him. Her eyes lit up. She looked like she had stumbled onto a rare discovery.

"Tell me everything. How did it happen? When and where? Where there any abnormalities? Any odd signs? What did you test it on? If Jett is sure it works on people, then the test subject must have been a..."

She stopped. Finn's face turned a deep shade of red.

"Wait. No way. Did you... He didn't... Right?" Marcella tried to laugh of the thought that came to her mind, 'No way he's that crazy. Yeah, no way."

The other looked at them wondering what Marcella was talking about.

"Pfft..." Aiden tried to keep a straight face but be failed. A short laugh slipped out, then a louder one.

"Don't you see it? He was the test subject."

Everyone shifted their gaze from Finn to Jett to Finn again. Eyes widened one after another. Some looked stunned. Some confused. Some amused. Finn, now bright red, tried to hold his composure. Jett looked away and whistled like he was not responsible for anything.

"You asshole. At least tell them the full story." Finn grabbed Jett by the collar.

"Alright, alright. I'll explain." Jett raised both hands, trying not to laugh.

He went through the events that had occurred at the secret shop some years back when he visited Lagia for the first time. The group listened in silence but when he finished, the tension slowed dropped.

"Everything made sense now. I always wondered why my sorry always had it out for you." Aiden, though, still let out a quiet laugh at the back. Finn turned to him with a glare.

"What?" Finn asked. "We already cleared it up. No need to drag it out."

"True," Aiden said with a small sigh as he got the laugh under control. "But it still means something." He pointed at Finn with a relaxed look. "In a room where everyone has died once, you're the only one who has died twice."

Finn's eyebrow twitched as Aiden grinned. He finally snapped as he pushed off the bed, ready to jump Aiden, but his legs refused to move. He looked down and froze. His lower body sat inside a solid block of ice.

"Eloraaaa," Finn whined like a kid begging for sweets.

Aiden kept laughing at him, running his mouth until Elora finally acted. She grabbed him by the back of his shirt and slammed him off the bed. His face hit the floor with a dull thud. The room fell silent.

"That should do it," Elora said while tightening her fists. "So where were we? I'm tired of these stupid distractions."

Everyone stared at her expression and prayed they would never push her to that point.

Asher stepped forward. "The plan will be modified just a bit. If you meet a guard, take them out. Hide the body. No noise. No trail."

Everyone agreed. It made sense since everyone one of the guard was in on it them it's best to terminate them before they became an even bigger threat.

Matthew raised his hand and spoke. "I have a question. How is Freya supposed to cast a spell to cover this entire ship?"

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Thanks for reading