Epoch[8]- New acquaintance
The early morning had dawned and the last peaceful night, of cold and stormy rain, was now behind it. Faint fog still lay on the streets of the still half-sleeping city. Nevertheless, there was already lively life in the individual houses, which were completely angled to the side of the winding streets. Shops, bistros, pubs, restaurants and schools were particularly affected, without any exception, which the stout woman in her work clothes seemed to be very aware of. Her skillful hands slid in rows over expensive fabric to tame the remaining folds of the clothes. Concentrated, she looked again at all the new pieces that she had recently hung up.

A satisfied smile formed on her narrow mouth and gradually her brown eyes wandered towards the stairs from where she could make out shuffling steps. Her daughter's sleepy face blinked at her, but not for long and the girl had already turned into another room, behind the cash register. “Good morning, my darling.” The woman called after the much younger woman with a big grin, but she only got an indistinct murmur as an answer. Like every morning before school started, this scenario happened here in this little shop. But today it was a little different than usual, the shop owner noticed, which is why her eyes darted to the stairs again. No more sleepy figures? “Are the rest of them still sleeping?” Another incomprehensible murmur sounded through the lower floor. "I beg your pardon?" Then the woman also moved into the room in which the brown-haired girl had disappeared. It was a bright, small kitchen that simply consisted of the most essential utensils.

Vera sat at a white table that had exactly four people on each side. Almost in slow motion, she bit into her homemade jam sandwich and stared out the window, which was directly on her right side.Somewhat amused, her mother leaned sideways against the door frame, which finally caught her daughter's attention. She looked at Vera with a raised eyebrow. "And? Shall I prepare breakfast for you or are you still slumbering up there?" "They'll be right there, they woke up when I came down." "Then I'll make some tea for now, do you want to?" " Yes, rose hip. "

With a murmur that came from the mother's side this time, who whispered something about a spoiled child, went to work. Vera seemed to have noticed, which is why she snorted. "Nina and the others are worse!" it came back rudely and turned its head again demonstratively out of the window, which was slightly shadowy through the fog. A little more actively than before, she rummaged through the lower streets for people she might know, which is why a smile suddenly formed on her lips, just as thin as her mother's.

A graceful figure ran along the narrow street, which is why she had to constantly avoid other people from the oncoming direction. She had reached her destination, it was her house. Shortly afterwards the brown-haired turned one more time to her mother and in the next moment she seemed to be completely awake. "Tell me, do you know when San will be back?" "No, I don't know. At the moment, I think she has a lot to do. You know about all the incidents." Jerk jumped the little one from the chair and moved to the door, but she paused again briefly. “But a student shouldn't be involved in these cases, right?” “No, don't worry about that, you probably just have to help out.” The girl was still standing on the same spot and looking through through the door where she could see the person who had just entered the shop.“I'll go then, say good morning to the visitors.” The girl turned the corner to leave the house with only the person who had arrived, another girl her age. Whether she had seen it or not, the mother nodded in response plus a fat grin on her face. She could be proud of her daughter, because she knew very well about politeness. Satisfied, the shopkeeper washed the small table, which was still stained with the remaining breadcrumbs, to be able to offer the place due to the next hungry guests.

Her house was quite a small and old place to stay, but until now it had always been enough for her and her daughter. Even if, like today, there were visitors here, the building held out without protests. What more could you want. Ah, the visitors had to be awake. Smiling, the woman whirled around her own axis to immediately greet those waiting in a friendly manner. Handy if you had some magic left so that you couldn't be surprised. However, she was actually no longer allowed to call it real magic, but rather to have a feeling of what she had been taught earlier. That sounded more relative. Briefly she looked at the woman and the man behind yawning. “Good morning, I've made breakfast and fresh tea.” The blonde immediately greeted them warmly and accepted the invitation in a good mood. Her hand immediately moved to the warm cup filled with fragrant tea and brought it to her lips. Shikamaru did the same, and so did the woman, Ilka. Now all three were sitting at a small white wooden table that was covered with delicious things. Fresh rolls, fruity jam, nutty cream, freshly brewed tea, butter and, finally, homemade pancakes. All of this placed closely next to each other on the small table, decorated. Ino looked delighted at the bright kitchen, which looked very much like the ornate table.Everything here seemed very secret and cozy. Colorful flowers stood next to her right by the window. The only thing she didn't like about this whole harmonious picture was the fog outside, behind the pane of glass. This room also had the summer light, which would warm everything up again. Speaking of fog. With a bread roll in hand, Ino looked out at the now lively streets. The people were probably on their way to work. Which they should do soon. In addition, her colleagues were missing for the mission.

It was now the second day of their arrival in Venedia. There were six of them. Now their group consisted of only three people. Neji, Hinata and you, Sakura. Her nose wrinkled in disgust, as if she smelled something nauseating. She didn't like being separated soon after arriving in such a strange place. Especially Naruto. When they caught up with Neji last night, who had stormed after this shadowy guy like a hunting dog and then found his body on a fairly large street, they first ran back together to get Naruto. But this one had disappeared and had left all his things in their common place. Now they were back on this great street, which was so wide that stalls had been set up on both sides. The morning had dawned and the eerie fog was immediately taken with it, and the summer heat exchanged instead. Single drops of sweat slowly formed on people's foreheads. She herself was no exception. With keen eyes they had been walking down the street for two hours now, but there was no end in sight.

“As if nothing had ever happened, no creepy figures at night, no corpse on the street, no intimidated faces here, just nothing.” The pink-haired one mumbled and looked inconspicuously at the many strange faces that came towards her."Also no Naruto, no Ino and no Shikamaru in sight," added the male Hyuuga. Hinata, however, remained silent and focused on her surroundings. "So we now have to look for suitable clothes ourselves. We wake up too much attention, the way we perform here." "You're right, Neji. There's a shop here." nicely decorated shop.
Colorful masks hung in rows behind the shop windows and behind them the matching capes. Everyone nodded in agreement and entered the house, whereupon a bell on the door began to ring. Immediately a stocky woman came out from behind the cash register and smiled warmly at the group. "Hello my friends, what can I help you with?" she asked at once in a friendly manner. The ladies looked around the room full of beautiful things. Both of them could suddenly no longer suppress an enchanted smile until they could perceive a throat clearing sideways. Neji looked at them both strangely, but turned back to the saleswoman. “We are travelers and we need clothing that would be appropriate for this city,” he said curtly. The saleswoman smiled and wanted to say something, but was interrupted by someone behind. “That won't be necessary, because we've already taken care of everything.” Shikamaru had to grin when he saw the surprised face of the Hyuuga for a brief moment. "Shikamaru!" shouted Sakura as she turned to the voice. Shortly afterwards Ino appeared, who came up to them relieved. “I'm glad you're okay.” It came from the blonde and hugged Hinata and Sakura at the same time. “Where's Naruto?” Shikamaru asked the crucial question and looked seriously at the Hyuuga. He just sighed and looked briefly at the floor. "We lost him when we were attacked by unusual dark figures last night. A young trader, as he looked, stormed into the pub and shouted that something had happened to the queen."Explained Neji and now looked at the Nara seriously." That can't be! The queen is guarded by the best of Tirnias! There are obsessive people running around every night just to give the guruthos a chance to create an uproar in the city! "Immediately the tension between the two men was split and they stared at the older woman in horror. Ilka shook her head. She finally understood that her guests had no idea or really came from a very different world." What are the'Guruthos'and'Tirnias'? "Neji had recovered first and looked at the woman intently.

What was going on here. So this guy from last night was obsessed with these shady figures. And he hadn't recognized any of this. Was that the reason why nobody thought about it anymore because it happened every day? The woman's strong voice woke him from his brooding. "The Guruthos are magicians, so to speak, who have turned to dark magic and thus contaminated their souls. They want to destroy everything in their path, but have now become too weak since the