The room went silent. Ariel was frozen holding Rukeewei's hand. She was facing Meesei with a blank expression. "You didn't just say 'ten thousand,' did you?" Ariel asked through her shock. "You didn't say what the reward would be before."

Sabine put her hands together on her lap and nodded with a small smile. "We need the antidote."

Ariel's bulging eyes wandered in front of herself. Her relatively level tone was an attempt to not be so bewildered. "You said you had organised. I never could have...[i]ten thousand...[/i]" Ariel lifted her arm to Meesei and gave her a worried look. "That's too much, surely. You know you don't need to. I'm helping as a friend and a sister!"

At this point, Ariel was so distracted that she had almost forgotten about explaining the rest of the situation to Rukeewei.