Ryomo gushed in amazement.
"That's so cooool!!" she yelled.
She'd never seen that type of magic before. The bag moving before was an experience for her. But the walking pushed it over the edge.
"I wish I could do that! Does it work on flowers too? Ooo! Can you make it talk?!"
She was, no doubt, thoroughly impressed with Onoki at this point.

Onoki couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm for his transformation. He gave her his best grin as he led them towards the posh side of the town.

"Unfortunately it only works on non-living items," he replied, "I could probably make a flower bed walk, just not the flowers. Moving living objects is more complex, moving more than one is a bit of a headspin. Making them talk can be tricky but I can do it."

He stopped in front of a large two-storey house with a neat white fence around it that held back a well maintained garden.

"Well, here we are..."

She became even more surprised at the idea of it talking. Being the overactive-imagination-daydreamer that she was, she instantly created scenarios of her having full conversations with inanimate objects, and playing with them.

"Wow! That's soo cool." she said.
She took a deep breath. "Well, let's go finish this."

She was quiet nervous. It was her first mission after all. She was worried she would say something stupid. Her hands begin to shake, but she continued.

Ryuu followed. Even though he was annoyed he still acted cool and collected. Hotaru still looked slightly pale. He stopped. "Hey guys... Hotaru and I have to do something alone... any chance we could meet up with you later?" he asked.

Onoki looked at Hotaru and frowned but nodded all the same. She still seemed pretty sick. He was worried. There was something about this kid that made his alarm bells go off and he didn't know why.

"Alright... but don't take too long. Ryomo was right, we don't know how well prepared this kidnapper is and I'd prefer if we stayed together in case of trouble." he said, turning around to knock on the door.

"See ya later!" Ryomo said to Hotaru with a wave. However, she felt uneasy about letting them go.

She then turned to Onoki.
"Since you're hiding your identity, shouldn't I call you something else while we're in town?" she whispered.

He shook his head and smiled, dusting off his clothes and straightening his jacket before the man opened the door. He was about to reply to Ryomo but the door opened and he forgot about it, going straight into action.

"Hello, we're here for a Mr Harwell," he said, dropping his usual accent for a more refined sounding voice. "We're from the guild Fairy Tale, we're here about the request he posted up."

The man's eyes lit up as he mentioned the guild and he ushered them inside. He showed them to the plush living area and told them to wait while he fetched the master of the house. Onoki didn't bother sitting and hovered beside the large fireplace in the room.

Ryomo looked around, taking as much in as possible. She was still nervous though.
"You know, when I was a kid, me and brother would through all sorts of stuff in the fireplace. Just to see the fire flare up." She laughed as she tried to reduce her tension, "A pyromaniac, water mage." she said as she looked deeper in the fire, reminded her of home.

Ryuu took Hotaru out into town. "Hm? what is it?" she asked. Ryuugave her a look. "What?" she asked. "I don't think I can the fact that I'm a grim reaper much longer. Not just that, but you could fall into a coma any minuye, permanent or not. It's even more dangerous for you being around a grim reaper right now. Shinigami and... well, you get it." he replied. Hotaru just tilted her head. It was clear she didn't understand or didn't care. Ryuu sighed and the walked back to Ryomo and Onoki. "Back..." he said.

"Don't be so nervous, just sit back and let me handle all the talking," he said softly, "We'll be out of here in no time."

Onoki patted Ryomo on the shoulder, nodding over to Ryuu as he returned with Hotaru. The butler returned not long after with his announcement that the master was arriving. A short man emerged from the hallway. He looked them over coldly before nodding his approval and sitting down in the large plush chair by the fireplace.

'My daughter was kidnapped, as you no doubt read from the flier,' he started without waiting to hear their names, 'She was just going shopping with her friends... and this man came out of nowhere and grabbed her. In broad daylight no less! The girls said he looked like a mage, he headed off in the direction of the jungle temple.'

The man looked hard at Onoki for a minute. Onoki nodded as he digested the information. So it was most likely some strange magical ritual he guessed. Why else would they go to the temple?

"Don't sorry, sir, we'll get her back safe and sound."