"You are from the Gaia household, aren't you?" A middle-aged lady smiled at Reed. "What did your cute little lady send you for this time?" She asked.

In the past, Gaia had often sent Reed to different homes on errands. Reed could no longer remember what the errands were about, but he remembered the humans in the house he had met. Mindless humans who needed to be set free—if he could just find the gem that subdued their consciousness and controlled their minds, then they would be free.

'cute?' Reed tries to control his expression as his smile stretches out even more. 'There is nothing cute about that brat.'

"Can I please get a cup of tea?" He asked politely. Since he stupidly knocked at the door of the house without a proper plan, he had been making all sorts of demands to state the reason why he had come so far, from 'Please let me in' and 'Can I sit down and rest a while?' to a cup of tea. The only reason Reed hasn't been caught yet is because the lady of the house was used to seeing him around; she's yet to take notice of his clear eyes that reflected his clear state of mind.

"Oh goodness." The lady gasps softly, looking through one of her kitchen cabinets, checking thoroughly. "I can't believe that I'm out of tea."

Reed breathed out in relief, lucky that there was a way for him to get the house to himself for a little while. "The shop down the street where you can get a new tea supply is open. I don't mind waiting, not when you are kind enough to offer me a cup of tea."

"Right…" the lady said nervously. She was about to offer Reed a cup of water but stopped immediately after his suggestion. "I will be back soon." She steps out of the house.

Getting to work immediately, Reed begins to search around the house for any gem similar to the broken one in his pocket. He couldn't find any exit to the village like Lucian wanted, and he didn't know where the dungeon king was. Reed thought that the best way to stand against the beast in the village and escape the dungeon without the help of the dungeon king is only if the humans who were captured were free; that way, they could all fight against the beast together.

The 3 mindless humans in the house did nothing as Reed searched around for a blood-red gem.

'I can't find it.' Reed was running out of time.

The door to the house aggressively slammed open. Reed's heart skipped a beat. The house was still messy due to his search, and he hadn't found the gem yet. How was he going to explain himself?

"You little witch." Reed spoke in a menacing tone. The one at the door wasn't the lady of the house; it was Gaia.

"You rebellious slave, to think that I was considering forgiving you for attacking me with your sword after we met. I even told my mother that I'm going to make you my elder brother, since you are so obedient. But forget it; you are better off dead. I will ask the chief for another human to replace you, one who's more friendly this time." Sharp claws grew out of Gaia's hands; she set her predator gaze on Reed, who looked around for anything he could use as a weapon. There was nothing.

Gaia jumped up, ready to give Reed a quick death, but her claws pierced wood instead of his skin. Reed took two pieces of firewood to defend himself.

Reed let go of one of the pieces of firewood in his hand. Gaia's hands were stuck in the wood thanks to her claws. In a fast motion, Reed swirled his leg, giving Gaia a back kick that made her hit the floor, and then with all his strength, he used the wood in his hand to hit her head. Gaia screamed in pain.

"Stop screaming, you little witch." He hit her head again and focused all his attack on the back of her head, pounding hard on it without a stop, even after the wood had cracked Gaia's skull and she bled out. Reed still didn't stop and continued hitting her. He got lucky by having her hand stuck; he wasn't sure if she was capable of rising up from the dead once again, but he was still going to try his best to make sure that the brat stays dead this time, even if it was just for a few hours.

Reed broke Gaia's joint and then locked her up in a room. He was worried that a simple wooden door won't be able to stop her once she wakes up, when the lady of the house opens the front door.

She stopped as she saw how scattered her house was. Reed didn't get the chance to put everything back in place because of Gaia's attack. He could only clean up Gaia's blood.

"your children." Reed lied, "I lock them up in that room. One of them suddenly started acting strange and asked me if I knew where a red gem is."

The lady quickly checked the purse she took out with her; the gem Reed has been searching for was with her.

"I didn't know what he was saying; he mentioned words like 'danger' and 'control,' which frightened your other children, so I had to lock them up in that room for their own safety. Please, is there any way you can cast a binding spell on the door for their own safety? Usually when anyone like this has an epistle in my little lady's house, they usually return back to normal after two to three days. It's best you make it a spell that cancels out noise, because they scream a lot, and I don't want you to suffer, my lady."

The lady of the house hesitated but did what Reed instructed. "Are you sure that they are going to be okay?" She asked in concern.

"Yes, just don't check on them until tomorrow or next." Reed was surprised with the level of magic use; he had seen Gaia use magic a few times and only guessed that all the beasts in the village were able to use magic, but to be able to use two different spells at once, he wasn't sure that the lady beside him would be able to do it.

"My children." The lady fell on her knees and cried. Her tears shake Reed's heart; he didn't want to believe that she actually cared about humans, not when she treats them like dolls.

The door she had actually cast a spell on was the one Gaia's body was locked in. Her mindless humans were locked in another room; it creeps Reed out how the three trapped humans followed him and obeyed him without complaints.

Quietly, Reed left the house. The tea was forgotten along with the gem he was trying to break. It won't take long before the truth is revealed.

"Why are you here?" Lucian asked, annoyed because of his wounds, and Reed was supposed to look for the dungeon king, not pay him a visit.

"Is there no lock attached to this cell?" Reed asked; he didn't have the keys, but he knew how to pick locks. "I don't know why, but there are no guards in front of your cell." Reed raised his head up; his eyes went from Lucian's scowl to the blood covering his body. Finally the scent of blood was hitting his nose. "It looks like the village chief isn't interested in keeping you alive anymore." He had wanted Lucian to die when they first met, but now he wants Lucian to survive. If Lucian died, he was going to be alone. He was going to be the only conscious human in a village full of crazy shape-shifting beasts.

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