Clancy and Yoi exchanged a brief glance before running outside and heading for the collapsed figure.

A messy shock of brown hair covered the man's face, obscuring who it was at first. His blue shirt was torn, ripped almost to shreds, the pants were the same way. The dull gleam of something shone through the ripped shirt. Blood droplets specked his back, along with a few smears on his chest.

Clancy reached him first, followed​ closely behind Yoi. "Be very careful Yoi, whoever this is, he's very hurt." Clancy said, taking note of the bleeding slashes all over the man. Her expression was one of indifference, but inside she was fuming. She knew exactly who it was, and as much as she hated him, she wouldn't just leave him out here to die.

"W-we n-need t-to g-get h-him i-inside." Yoi stuttered, her voice on the edge of panic. "W-we h-have t-to h-help!"

"I know." Clancy sighed and looked at Yoi. "Go back to the house and get the couch cleared off, I'll bring him in." She watched Yoi scramble off, then turned back to the figure on the ground. "You'd better have one hell of a reason for showing up here." she muttered.
Lifting the man with her magic, she started walking back to the house. "Whoever you pissed off this time did a number on you, that's for sure."

She reached the house and walked inside, headed for the living room. After she put him down on the couch she turned to Yoi, who was hovering anxiously. "Yoi, you should probably go up to your room, I don't want anything to happen."

"No!" she shouted, not stuttering for once.
Clancy raised an eyebrow. "No?"

Yoi shrank back a little bit, taking in the look on Clancy's face. "I-I s-said n-no. I-I w-want t-to h-help. I d-don't c-care w-who i-it i-is."

Clancy sighed. "Fine, whatever. Go get the scissors from the sewing table, and a bowl of water and a soft cloth. We need to get his shirt off before it sticks to the wounds, and we need to clean off the blood."
Yoi nodded and raced off to gather the supplies.
"You've got one hell of a story to explain when you wake up." Clancy muttered to the man on the couch.
When Yoi came back with the scissors and handed them to Clancy, she started carefully peeling off the blood soaked blue t-shirt, cutting the shirt when she needed to. It was a painstakingly long process, but when she finished she took the bowl and cloth from Yoi and started cleaning up the blood.

"Hey, Yoi?"

"Y-yes C-clancy?"

"Do me a favor and get the extra guest room ready. There's linens in the closet, I'll bring him up when I'm done cleaning everything up." She said simply, turning back to cleaning the wounds.
Yoi nodded silently. "O-ok. I-I w-will."

Yoi headed upstairs and opened the linen closet, looking for the blue sheets. After pulling them out, she went to the extra bedroom and made the bed. Then she sat at the edge of the bed and waited for Clancy to come up with the man.

Removing his amulet as the last step, she lifted the man in a ball of magic, and carried him upstairs. Yoi had pulled back the covers already, so all she had to do was lay him in the bed. Yoi covered him up.

"W-what n-now?" Yoi asked, concern clear on her face. She didn't want to leave him here alone.

"We've got a couple of hours before dinner, maybe you should go back to your room or outside. Do something enjoyable for you, I know that doing stuff like this for the first time can be hard on someone." Clancy replied, sitting down in the chair next to the bed.

"B-but..." Yoi started to protest, remembering that this wasn't the first time.

"Yes?" Clancy replied, looking up from the piece of paper in her hands.

"N-nevermind.." she mumbled. "I-I'm g-going t-to m-my r-room..."

Clancy nodded. "I'll call you down when it's dinnertime. I'll keep an eye on this guy until he wakes up, I don't want you near him alone ok?"
"O-ok..." Yoi said quietly, the disappointment​ in her tone evident. She went back to her room and lay down, hugging her squid plushie close. She started drifting off, the stress of worrying about Cassia and the fear of her getting her taking its toll. When she finally dozed off, she dreamed.

~Dream~

Outside of the small house she lived in was always the same. Squids came and went, always passing by, never stopping to chat. To the young 7 year old Yoi, this was upsetting. She didn't have anyone to talk to besides her plushies, and they couldn't talk back to her.

She was lonely.

Days passed, then weeks, then months. Everyday she'd wish for something to happen. Then one day, she finally got her wish. But it wasn't anything like she had imagined.

"SOUND THE ALARMS!" came the sharp cry from the guard towers. Yoi scrambled out of her room, and headed toward the small group of squids gathered around something.
She pushed through the crowd until she reached the middle, and stopped in shock.

A girl, only a little older than her, was curled up on the ground, her eyes squeezed shut. She had short, choppy brown hair. Her purple shirt was rumpled, her blue jeans covered in dust. When she opened her eyes, they were a brilliant blue.

Yoi knelt down in front of her and offered a hand. "A-are y-you o-ok?" she asked quietly, helping the girl to her feet.
She appeared dazed, understandably though. "I... I don't know..." she mumbled. She noticed the squids for the first time and flinched.
Yoi looked around the crowd of squidd surrounding them, then at the girl cowering in fear. "I-i'll t-take c-care o-of h-her g-guys."
The squids left gladly, not wanting to have anything to do with the human.
"W-what's y-your n-name?" You asked the girl quietly.
"I'm Cassia..." she replied quietly.

That was the day Yoi made a new friend. For a few months, she wasn't lonely anymore. The two of them did everything together, and became fast friends. But one fateful day, it all changed.

Cassia had vanished one day, and noone could find her. Yoi searched frantically, but it was all for naught.

She had simply vanished.
And Yoi was left alone again.

~dream end~

     Clancy knocked on the door, startling Yoi awake. "Yoi, dinnertime​! I made some pasta for tonight, along with the meatballs you love."

     Yoi sat up and yawned, the memory of the dream already fading. She had a feeling it was something important... Unable to hold onto the memory of the dream, she sighed and got up off the bed. "I-I'm c-coming."

_______________________________________
Heyo peeps. 😜

Betcha y'all are bursting with questions about this particular chapter, but lemmie tell you, xD this is just the TIP of the drama to come.
I hope y'all enjoyed ^-^

Until next time,
~©@$$/@

kawaiiKiya29