Kura smiled gently when he saw the ones he had called came to his office one by one. Well, they sure were fast. He didn't even have to wait that long. It was a good start. He put down the report on the table and took another sip of his tea before beckoned them to come inside. Contradict to the crossed's belief, he was not a heartless man or a cruel tyrant. He had his flaws, that was true but he wasn't merciless. He only acted when his community could have the benefits out of his actions.
He gestured them to sit down in front of him and said warmly "Good morning, Cassie, Amzy, Jake...how are you today?" He pushed a cookie tray forward and offered "do you want to eat something? my assistant has been very kind and made us some cookies..." He drank his tea and sat there in silence, observing their reactions.
Dahl or Jake, one of his most talented assassin, the one Kura had rescued from the fate of being a slave was...curious to say the least. He's very easy to befriend and eager to finish his job. Kura considered him as a son and a very useful asset to his plan. Of course, if it wasn't necessary, he would never want to take advantages of the man since to Kura, it would be like he was taking advantages of his own family, a thing he just couldn't stand. He nodded his head and greeted Jake. He asked him kindly "so, Jake...how did your last mission go? any complications or new, powerful enemies that I should know about?..." He grinned and poured a cup of tea for him "...I heard that you stayed up late last night...sharpening your sword if my information is correct..." He scowled worriedly "I thought I have told you not to stay up late before, haven't I? I will be very worried if you're sick, you know..."
He turned his head and faced the next person. Amzy. His daughter-like figure. He shrugged his shoulder and gave her another tea cup. "...what about you, Amzy? anyone gives you troubles lately?...the crossed have been quite restless since your last attacked, my dear...good job..." The longer Kura observed Amzy, the more he realized that she was still mourning for her brother's dead. The poor dear. He touched his heart and sighed softly. Well, he guessed losing a family member was never an easy thing to cope up with. Even until now, his heart was still bleeding for his dead loved ones.
He shook his head slightly, trying to clear his thoughts. He needed to focus on the task at hand. He couldn't lose his focus now. He gave a Cassie as smile, realizing the boy must be very nervous about meeting him and so, he would try to make the boy as comfortable as possible. The boy was a part of his family now. "Do you have troubles adjust to this island, Cassie? I know that some of the fallen might find it difficult to live such a hard life like we're living...no good food, no warm bed and...stuffs like that" He shrugged his shoulder and said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood. He offered once again, trying to be the kind leader the boy needed "if you have troubles, you can come to me or any other skulled...we'll try to help you as best as we can..."
He leaned back against the chair and turned serious finally, his eyes became sharp and calculated. He began and put three files in front of the teens "...you see, Jake, Amzy, Cassie...we might have some troubles...I just received an urgent message from our stealers yesterday...they're facing a very powerful enemies...a crossed that can cancel a skulled's power and therefore, they haven't been able to steal any food for the past 3 weeks no matter how hard they tried...I become...quite worried about it...in the message, they stated that they had lost some people..." He stopped, leaving a slight pause, a way of paying respect for the lost. Finally, he continued "...food is never easy to find and thus, with this new enemy, our people might be hunger, sick or death...the injured might not have the precious food they need...the Academy children might be starved...simply put, this matter cannot continue any further...we have begun to suffer because of the new crossed..." He gritted his teeth and said firmly "He needs to be put out of this game. I will not allow any harm to befall upon my people because of a crossed...He needs to be dead..." He said finally.
Searching for their interactions, Kura allowed his body to relax slightly and he began again, this time his tone had softened and dropped into a sad tone "...it pains me greatly because of our lost...our children...our brothers, sisters, friends, family are dying out there...this is a war...a war that can bring us to our true position....we cannot afford to lose it...we need to survive...we need to show this world our strength...we need to make this world acknowledge us and our true position..." He turned to face Cassie and asked "I do not want to force you to do this, Cassie...you must know that you always have a choice in taking part in this mission...however, your help will be greatly appreciated...for you see...our enemy can only cancel our skulled's powers, not our crossed's powers...if you don't want to be a part of it, I understand and I will find another fallen...but I will still prefer your help, Cassie..." Well, he had tried his best. Now he just needed to wait for the boy's decision.
Turning his head to look at Jake and Amzy, Kura said "you always have a choice, too, Jake, Cassie...I will not force you to do what you don't want to do...this is not a fair battle...this enemy might capture you...might kill you...and they have better advantages than us...you cannot use your power when you face him..." He raised a hand to stop them from saying anything and pointed at the files in front of the three of them "...before you give me your decisions...please read the reports I laid in front of you...you will be able to understand our situation better that way...and when you finish reading it, give me your final words..." He folded his arms in his lap and waited for them patiently to read it.