Wincing slightly from her screech, the guard kept his hand on Tiff's shoulder as he turned her to face him.

"Ma'am, If you wish to enter our city, then you need to go through inspection first. We can't just allow anyone to wander in."

He handled her relatively gently, talking to her in a calm and soothing voice, as if he was dealing with someone who was a little mentally disturbed. Mainly, that was because she was still staring at him with a shocked and bewildered expression, her eyes filled with fear and confusion as she slightly trembled under his grip.

Naturally, he took this as a simple sign of mental distress. It wouldn't be the first time he had seen it, after all. These poor folks had been through so much, but now that they would be safe. All it took was the warmth of His light, and they would be safe, so long as they showed the proper gratitude to their divine Light Bringer.

After a few minutes, Tiff eventually got over her shock and regained her composure, but there was still an air of confusion and suspicion in her eyes as the guard took her through inspection.

The fact he was treating her like some scared child didn't aleviate her suspicions, only deepen them. No doubt he was waiting for her to lower her guard before he pounced, like a true predator. A fact that was not helped by their inspection process.

They forced her to strip! Her! They dared to set their filthy, lecherous eyes on her gorgeous body, a body that belonged to her one and only love, under the guise of 'inspecting her for weapons.'

It wasn't exactly their fault that the system in place allowed them to store weapons as tattoos, but even still the feeling of their lustful eyes on her bare flesh utterly repulsed her.

Since she had expected to sneak in, she hadn't prepared a contingency for her weapons and thus had them confiscated, a process achieved by making her summon them and then storing them away.

They were unable to dismiss and re-summon without touching them, and it was unable to be stolen without contact between the owner and who they wanted to transfer it too. Although she was disarmed of her weapons, she was at least able to keep the contents of her duffel bag when they found it contained mainly food, spare clothes and random assortments of scrap.

As for the metallic collar around her throat, the fool never even bothered to question it. She was preparing a whole speech about it being a defensive charm gifted to her by her love, and that she would be heart broken to part with it. But no, the lecherous fool was too busy focusing his gaze on a region lower than her neck to bother with the collar.

As she was re-clothing herself, and resisting the urge to lash out at the guard who was standing outside the small tent used as a changing room, as he had his back to the tent flap. Not that having his back turned meant anything after his 'inspection' earlier, just another false sense of dignity and trickery to make her lower her guard.

"I apologise for screaming earlier. I'm simply... not used to being noticed. I've only survived this long by hiding and staying in the shadows. I didn't mean anything bad by it, I promise."

A few crocodile tears trickled perfectly down her cheeks, in well practised lines. Just enough to make her pretty eyes glisten with moisture and to tug at heart strings, but not enough to make her fully ugly cry.

The guard glanced over his shoulder briefly, his heart melting at the sight. His heart tugged at him, urging him inside the tent and pulling the girl into a soft hug, before pulling away and rubbing her shoulder reassuringly.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sorry for startling you, it's completely my fault. You must have been through a lot, I'm sure. You have some sort of stealth ability, right? Something that keeps you safe from those big scary monsters and all the mean men out there?"

Tiff nodded softly, letting out a gentle sniffle as her pink lip quivered as if she was about to burst into full, weeping tears. Instead, another single droplet trickled perfectly down her trembling cheeks, which she wiped away with practised motion that seemed so natural.

It was this same act that had gotten her out of 18 speeding tickets and kept many boyfriends from breaking up with her. Of course, she later dumped those boys, because the only reason they would ever want to break up with her was if they were snatched away by some filthy whore, and she didn't deal with cheating bastards.

But who needs those useless lumps now that she had her one true love?

"Well, Now that you're here you don't need to worry about a thing. Under the Lightbringers Light, all are seen and all are safe. He sees everything that goes on underneath his divine light and under that light, we are connected to him.

I'm sure you could feel it when that glorious light was basking on you, making this luscious skin glow like a radiant angel. Under that light, no one can ever hurt you and under His light, no one can hide.

Here, you are safe. Seek the light."

With a gentle smile, he wiped away one of her tears with his thumb before starting to lean in close to her. Quickly slipping from his grasp, Tiff smiled warmly at him and let out a playful, ditsy giggle.

"Thank you Sir, I really do feel safer already. Seek the light, right?"

"That's right gorgeous. Oh, you could also seek me out if you want extra protection. I'll keep you real safe."

"I'll keep that in mind! I'll call you!"

She eagerly waved to him, before slipping away and disappearing into the city. The guard chuckled to himself, looking down to find that she had left a T-shirt, a spare piece of clothing she had been carrying in the duffel bag.

He plucked it from the table, but just as he was about to call out to her, he paused and looked at the T-shirt curiously, before bringing it up to his face and giving it a deep sniff.

Smiling to himself, he stuffed the T-shirt underneath the breast plate of his armour, keeping it close to his chest, as he left the tent with a sense of smug satisfaction.

'Can't believe a girl like that is interested in me. Me! I should have my fun with her before his divine greatness finds that particular flower in his garden.

She'll call me... I can't wait!'

Beaming brightly, the guard returned to his post and watched the other miserable survivors being ushered through the checkpoint. Unfortunately for him, it would take him far too long to realise that she was in fact not going to call him, especially considering that she had not asked for any details to do so.

***

Slipping behind a ramshackle wooden hut, that looked like it could barely withstand a light wind, Tiff hid within the shadows that the pathetic hut cast and began to wretch in disgust. Her hand trembled, wanting to tear off the part of her face that such a wretched, lecherous foul dog dared to touch.

She furiously rubbed her cheek, trying to rub away any lingering traces that his dirty, disgusting hands might have left on her beautiful face. Only when her cheek was red raw did she finally stop, yet even still the feeling of disgust and violation never left.

Brushing her hair from her face, Tiff regained her composure and let out a deep, breath to steady herself. She could kill him later for his violation, he deserved that much at the very least. But it would have to wait, for now she had to carry out the mission that her Love had bestowed onto her, and an extra mission she knew he would just love. Even if he hadn't told her to do so, it would surely be a lovely surprise for him.

Perhaps even the gift he needed to finally realise his true feelings for her and stop bothering with that sparkle fingered bitch.

Pulling out her communication device, Tiff quickly sent out a message to the rest of her team members, especially to the ones who were avoiding the checkpoint and making their own way inside.

{Beware the Light. The blasphemous light exposes, acts as surveillance. Find comfort in the shadows.}

Sending the message, she stuffed her communication gift into the duffel bag before pausing. She ruffled through the contents with a frown, counting and double counting them before pouting in annoyance.

'That's odd. One of my Love's shirts is missing. I was sure that I packed ten of them, but only nine are here... I just hope that's enough to last me until I can get new ones. It's hard to sleep without his scent.'

Taking a quick sniff of one of Seth's T-shirts she had stolen and stuffed into the bag, she quickly returned it to its home, zipped up the bag and moved deeper into the city, walking like any other scared survivor as she had to keep up the act. The blasphemous light felt like it was burning her skin as she bathed in it, forcing her to feel its constant perception of her like a weight bearing down on her shoulders. A feeling she utterly despised.