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[u][b]Thaum: The Azure Sea[/b][/u] 

Estelle didn’t even Abatheo’s Guild secretary to ask her to assist Dr. Dream before she jumped at the chance. All she needed to do was lock eyes upon and see the good scientist’s adorable little hedgehog companion riding atop his head to immediately jump at the chance without even wasting time to consult her companions. As soon as the question was asked she bellowed a loud and proud ‘yes!’, leaving the rest of her friends dumbstruck and sighing as they followed. Not that they would readily refuse anyway, once they heard the nature of the man’s predicament. Some foul demon had been awoken by a madman, and was leeching upon peoples’ emotions in order to grow stronger and stronger. It didn’t require any real discussion for Estelle to know she wanted to put an end to the demon and rescue those whom had been harmed. And she would do it, no matter what. 

But first, they needed to rely on Dr. Dream and his research, written upon documents he had hidden within his lab in Thaum, and safeguard him from a number of crooks who wanted to steal it. After they were safely recovered and the man could do his work, then… then they got to hunt the Dream Eater and put an end to him. But before even that…!

FOOD.

“Thish, om… nom… thish is delishous Mishtuh Dream!” Estelle shouted inbetween giant mouthfuls of food stuffed within her cheeks. To think that they could dine in a restaurant as fanciful as this, that rivalled even the Hell’s Kitchen, and do it for free was simply beyond words. It was definitely a perk of the job, as would the monetary rewards on top of the people they’d rescue. She knew she made the right decision, nodding in self satisfaction as she took another bite of fish. Estelle had to be careful how she looked at the scientist. So far she’d be lost in a daze for several minutes, overpowered by little Isaac’s cuteness and be paralysed into doing nothing.

“Yes, this is very generous,” Marcus added, raising a cup of tea to his lips and savouring the smell before delicately drinking it. “However, if we could also focus on the mission, I have a few questions of my own… unless we should save the explanations for Lute to appear first?”

“Lute?” Estelle’s ears twitched, and she lifted her head from her plate to stare at Marcus, Atlas and Dr. Dream, with pieces of fish poking out of her mouth. “Wait. Lute, Lute?”

Marcus stifled a short laugh. “I think it might be the same man.”

Estelle paused in consideration, before a bright smile stretched upon her features. They had been to Thaum before, in Estelle and Marcus’ journey to Clocktown so many months ago, and had run a mission with an entertaining swordsman called Lute that had… been an experience. If it was the same man they knew of, then this would be a fun reunion. And hopefully this time, the mission wouldn’t involve as much property damage as they had inflicted the last time. 

[img]http://i.imgur.com/QLodCtj.png[/img]

Meanwhile, as Estelle and Marcus both listened and discussed around the table with Dr. Dream, Atlas and the rest of their friends, Don had his face pressed against one of the aquariams, his cheeks squashed against the glass. It had been a couple of weeks since the end of their mission in Los Paraisos and his tearful second goodbye to his bros and his sister, and whilst he was recovering slowly, his body was still not up to one hundred percent thanks to his injuries. The doctors had said it’d take him months to recover, but Don ignored it all, giving the physicians a mighty thumbsup and telling them that he was ‘alright, bro’. If need be, he said, Amy could just help him, since her healing powers were so strong. This caused both a blush and a twitch of the stunning blonde’s brow. He’d be lucky if she didn’t kill him herself for that remark. 

Right now, Don was eyeing an aquarium filled with lobsters. The restaurant’s policy was that you could pick one to have the chef then cook and prepare for you, and Don didn’t know which one to pick. He’d never had lobster before, and he wasn’t even sure if he should go for one or not. At the moment, he was simply interested in how the little creatures were skitter and swim about. 

“Hey, hey, feather sis,” Don’s cheek squelched further against the glass as he turned his head slightly towards Aria, Feather Sis being his current nickname for the illusionist based of her fluffy black scarf. “Which one do you think I should pick? This one, or that one?”

As Aria turned to watch, her eyes bulged slightly to find that Don’s hand was already deep in the water, his finger outstretched and pointing between two of the many, many lobsters inside.