James could smell blood, and quickly recognized it as Roxy's because it was similar to her scent. He noticed the cabin it was coming from, but noticed someone very suspicious near it, so he used the abilities of a shadow dragon to slip in through a small crack.

> "Not when the creepy people are paying them for the privilege of being here. There's the lunch bell you had better go." Roxy told them Kido was shocked by the news, but it only served to trouble him more. "Roxy...what is going on?" He looked up again, listening for the sound of the bell when she pointed it out, but he couldn't possibly care about food with this going on. "We...we just need a little longer. There has to be something that we can do now...at least block off the door until we have a plan...or..." He looked over to the door again, then back to Roxy. "Can we hide you? If someone distracts the man out there, can we move you from here and find a place for you to recover while we figure out what to do?"

Roxy smiled sadly at Kido and shook her head. "Please don't worry so Kido. I'll be fine. It isn't the first time I've been through something like this. Moving me would only cause more trouble. If it don't take the punishment I've earned then they will simply do this to someone who has no one to heal them. Its better if I just let them finish what they can here to do. Go tell Dante I will come as soon as I can."

James looked at Roxy. "Okay...I know I just got here, but I can't just let them do this to you...It's not right...Judging by the fact that there's also another smell...I'm guessing that the one who did this to you is the old bastard outside, right?"

> James looked at Roxy. "Okay...I know I just got here, but I can't just let them do this to you...It's not right...Judging by the fact that there's also another smell...I'm guessing that the one who did this to you is the old bastard outside, right?" "He was." Roxy admitted. "But please. Just leave it alone. Things will only be worse if you try to help." She wanted them all out of this. She hated her father for dragging these innocent kids into this. She should have never come to camp. She should have known something like this would happen. He was always doing things like this to keep her under his thumb.

James gave Roxy a very serious look. "Nothing will happen to me if I try and stop him. I'm the equivalent of every kind of dragon, remember? And I doubt anyone is dumb enough to piss off a dragon..." His eyes seemed to glow slightly as his pupils turned into slits.

> James gave Roxy a very serious look. "Nothing will happen to me if I try and stop him. I'm the equivalent of every kind of dragon, remember? And I doubt anyone is dumb enough to piss off a dragon..." His eyes seemed to glow slightly as his pupils turned into slits. "Im not worried about you!" Roxy snapped at him. "I could take that idiot with my knives. I don't need your help with taking out a mindless thug. I need you to leave."

James sighed. "I could force him to leave you alone...I wouldn't need to kill him for that...just scare him a little..." He clenched his fists, before mumbling, "I know what it's like..." He then just walked out the front door, not really caring if that thug saw him.

> James sighed. "I could force him to leave you alone...I wouldn't need to kill him for that...just scare him a little..." He clenched his fists, before mumbling, "I know what it's like..." He then just walked out the front door, not really caring if that thug saw him. "Please James don't." Roxy pleaded. She hated begging but he didn't know the damage he would do. "Like I was telling Kido and Eren stopping this will only make things worse. I am trying to protect someone."

James sighed. "Fine...I just...can at least persuade him to be a little easier on you...will that work? I have some things that are of enough value that I might even be able to pay him to not be so rough on you..."

> James sighed. "Fine...I just...can at least persuade him to be a little easier on you...will that work? I have some things that are of enough value that I might even be able to pay him to not be so rough on you..." Roxy smiled. "No one has ever tried to protect me before. It's alittle strange. Thank you for the thought. But he'll know if the damage he wants inflicted isn't. He always does. The counselors will heal me. They'll tell him if it isn't exactly the way it should be."

James sighed. "Of course the counselors are in on this...well, actually, a crystalline dragon's scales are considered one of the top ten most beautiful things in the world and sell for about 10,000,000 dollars per scale, so...."

> James sighed. "Of course the counselors are in on this...well, actually, a crystalline dragon's scales are considered one of the top ten most beautiful things in the world and sell for about 10,000,000 dollars per scale, so...." "I don't understand..." Roxy told him uncertainly. What did dragon scales have to do with the counselors.

James sighed. "He's paying the counselors, right? I mean, that's how thugs operate. They pay off any kind of authority figures. All I have to do is give them a few dragon scales, since I'm the only one who anyone can get a real one from, it'll work for paying them off. If any of them sell, oh, let's say about 10 or 15 of them, it'll be more than the one who's currently paying them to allow this is willing to pay."

Roxy considered it. Was it possible that he could get her out of the second half? Was it worth the risk? "What if he isn't paying them? What if he is blackmailing or threatening them? He could threaten the lives of the kids here. The counselors might be willing to let one person suffer to protect the others."

James gave her a serious look. "I can easily threaten him myself if I manage to piss him off enough to get him to come here," he said, a deadly glint in his eyes.

Kido looked between the two others, curious about James' plan. He was glad that someone had a plan, at least, because he really didn't know what he was doing himself. His ears perked for a moment at what Roxy had said about protecting someone. Who could that be? Was that why she couldn't fight back all this time? He pondered the thought for a good several seconds before a memory popped up in his mind. That picture...wasn't it...? "...Roxy...that person who's so important...that's not your brother. Or your cousin, is it? Are they...?" "...I've always wondered where my own mother went. Is he wondering the same?"

> "...Roxy...that person who's so important...that's not your brother. Or your cousin, is it? Are they...?" > > "...I've always wondered where my own mother went. Is he wondering the same?" Roxy shook her head. "It doesn't matter who he is. All that matters is that he needs protecting. This is the only way I can do that right now. He is too far way for me to protect physically. James threatening him would only make things worse. I cant and wont risk it."

James looked at her. "Then...I'll just have to pay off the counselors and that thug outside. And, actually, I shouldn't be calling that thug old. Because I'm a dragon, I was in an egg for 20 years before I was born just as I am now. We dragons just don't age..."

> Roxy shook her head. "It doesn't matter who he is. All that matters is that he needs protecting. This is the only way I can do that right now. He is too far way for me to protect physically. James threatening him would only make things worse. I cant and wont risk it." Kido sighed, frustrated with how hopeless the situation was currently looking. Everything seemed so tightly locked... *There are some things we can't heal...* "...Maybe there's another way...something tells me that there's already something else going on that we just need to work with. We know too much to let this go already, so the clock's already ticking anyway. So, how about this: I'm going to do exactly as you told me to. I'm going to tell Dante that you won't be able to assist him." The tiny boy turned to James next. "Roxy's right, we can't give them any reason to threaten something that we don't have access to ourselves, but maybe we can buy some time for now. Dragons are good hunters, right? So can you find a way to just remain undetected and monitor the situation here? The most important thing seems to be that the people behind this don't feel threatened, so we just need to make sure that they don't catch on to the fact that we know what we know. At the same time, though, we can't let them just do what they want to Roxy either. We can't fully stop that man from coming back here, but can you stop him if things go too far? We need to at least make sure that Roxy stays here until the counselors say that she can leave the cabin. I know that they're paid, but even they can't stop certain questions, and even the people paying them know that her disappearance is going to cause them problems since people already know her now, right?" He looked over toward the door again, trying to gauge how much time they had before they needed to worry about being seen. "Imagine the clamor that would go up if people knew that campers were disappearing. Nobody would be able to hide any secret operations for long if enough people get curious about what's happening to their kids, and all the blackmail in the world won't be able to help them at some point. But that kind of unspoken threat only works as long as we keep them thinking that we're innocent, so we need to just make sure that everyone's friend and fellow camper gets better and joins the activities tomorrow, right?"