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Of all the years Blake had been fighting against Ires on her own, this encounter was probably the weirdest and creepiest of them all. She never expected to hear an Ire speak, let alone creep up on them in this manner with so much intellect. As far as she was aware, Ires were almost mindless and barbaric in nature. They were meant to only lust for destruction and chaos to people when they least expected it. Yet here was an Ire dressed like a civil human walking to them in a manner that fit that of a gentleman. For some reason, this Ire reminded Blake of Daniel, since their mannerisms were rather similar. In fact, it was so much so that it concerned Blake of her friend's well-being. Let's not think too much on that, Blake dismissed the thought immediately, Daniel wouldn't be gone so soon after he just helped to rescue me from Melody.
"I'm sure you must all be curious as to why I haven't attacked yet, hm?" the gentleman-like Ire (gentle-Ire?) asked, straightening itself. Hearing no response from all three due to their shock answered its question clearly. It laughed again, the hoarse voice echoing like a hyena being put through a tree grinder. Layla couldn't help but to feel her hands shaking, clenching them into fists in an attempt to steady her nerves.
"The thing is, I've been asked to find you three. You have been quite a problem recently, so I was captured and civilized to find you," the Ire explained itself, gesturing with his hands(?) towards himself.
"Civilized?" Amber repeated.
"What do you mean by that?" Blake asked. The Ire gave a toothy smile, clearly showing it's razor sharp teeth that it could use to easily rip and tear through steel. Blake's aura grew brighter with power in response; a silent warning towards the Ire's gesture.
"That will be for you three to find out soon enough," the Ire answered vaguely, "That is, unless you all die on the way there. Return to the place of the mad Guardian. Find me there, and I will show you the rest of the way." With that, the Ire vanished as though it was never there. The hostile air it created immediately dissipated with its disappearing act, leaving the three of them with riled nerves and nervous dispositions. They remained silent for awhile but not without slumping to the couch behind them first. The encounter had shaken them up quite a bit.

"What should we do?" Layla was the first to break the uneasy silence. Blake and Amber remained silent, wondering the same thing. They could go, but that could cost them their lives if it was all an elaborate ruse to be ambushed. Plus, the Ire had said to meet it at Melody's abandoned building where all three of them had rather... touchy memories. On the other hand, the fact that there was someone capable of "civilizing" Ires was an issue that had to be investigated.
"We have two options that I can think of," Blake said, "Option One: we do as it wants and worry of the risk along the way. There's a chance that it's a trap, but we still need to worry about the civilizing of Ires, and it's too big of a concern to just ignore entirely."
"Regardless of how serious the issue is, that's just suicide," Amber took note, "There's only three of us, and only two who can use aura on their own. To make sure that things can go smoothly, Layla wouldn't be able to come with us."
"It would be for the better, since the Ire - let's call him Ty since he wore a tie - mentioned that we may lose our lives on the way over," Blake mulled over, looking to Layla, "But knowing you and Layla, I doubt she'd be happy with just staying behind." The thought did cross Blake's mind, of course, seeing that it would be much safer for her. Looking at Layla's glare at the mere thought of it though made Blake's conviction waver a lot.
"W-well, it would also be good for someone to keep Daniel from asking where we are," Blake said in her defense, "He'll be concerned that another Melody incident would have happened if Amber and I are absent. He might call up Detective Stern and the police to go find us and that would be trouble." Layla gave an exasperated sigh. Blake had a point, but she still wanted to go with them. Knowing that both Blake and Amber were to be risking their lives while she painfully waited back at home was something she didn't want to do. Not when she herself had fought alongside them so many times before. Nonetheless, she nodded in understanding, although she found it cute when Blake looked flustered from trying to placate her anger.
"Then there's Option Two: form a plan with Maria and Ryne," Blake said with a clear distaste in her mouth. Layla shivered, recalling memories of Ryne trying to take advantage of her before either Blake or Maria blasted him to God knows where. It made sense as to why Blake was against Option Two; although the pair would be helpful, the thought of having to deal with Ryne again was a bit much. Amber cleared her throat. Blake couldn't help but to notice that she was not only really quiet the entire time, but she was also looking really nervous for some odd reason.
"Amber? What's up?" Blake asked in concern, drawing Layla's attention to Amber as well. Amber hesitated for a while before finally mustering the courage to speak.
"I think I might have an Option Three, but I doubt you guys would like it," Amber said shakily, fiddling with her thumbs.
"What?" Layla asked innocently. Blake looked to Amber in interest, hinting for her to continue.
"Well, it goes like this...," Amber began explaining.

"NOPE! NOPE! NOPE! Amber Calliger you are NOT going to go through with that plan!" Layla nearly shrieked. Amber flinched every time Layla's voice peaked. I knew she'd be the most angry about this, she thought solemnly.
"I, for one, am not willing to put my Guardian in that kind of danger," Blake said, angry but much more calmly, "That's worse than Option One! Why would you even consider that?!"
"Well, for one, you aren't in much shape to really be rushing into combat, are you," Amber countered, "Blake, you just got out of the hospital like a few weeks ago. There's no way I'd make you fight again in your current condition; that's actual suicide." Blake clicked her tongue in frustration. Amber was right; she was in no condition to fight. Then again, Amber was also in no condition to go meet with the Ire alone and unassisted by either herself or even Layla. The latter was especially furious with that plan of Amber's and she was generously vocal about it.
"I swear if you head out there by yourself and not come back," Layla's voice became dangerously low, "I swear I will find you and end you right where you stand or my name isn't Layla Rodriguez-Marta." Amber fought hard to suppress her urge to yelp in fear. You never, ever, EVER tried to piss off Layla Rodriguez-Marta; you may never come back alive. Even Blake muted herself in fear of saying something wrong and having Layla's wrath directed to her.
"Think about it this way, guys," Amber calmly explained, "Blake is currently in serious condition and still taking time to recover from all the pain and trauma Melody put her through. Then there's also the fact that Daniel would be highly concerned if Blake were to disappear again, especially in this state. For Layla... someone has to stay behind and watch Blake and keep an eye on Daniel. There's also the fact that we are dealing with Ires. Apparently civilized ones, at that." Amber paused to regain her thoughts. Blake gritted her teeth in frustration. She was angry that Amber's words were truthful. She knew for a fact that she was in no condition to be taking on anymore burdens like this. Yet, at the same time, she felt obligated to do this since she was the most experienced of the group. She was Amber's Knight, and the fact that her Guardian was suggesting to go alone was something that worried her greatly. She knew Amber would be fine, but she still felt the need to follow through with her responsibilities. It was something that she was tasked to do naturally.
"Don't think I'm going to be okay with this just because you gave us that," Layla said angrily, albeit much more calmly since she had time to cool down. Amber gulped, "I know. And it's especially not fair and extremely selfish. You can remain mad at me, but that's the idea I want to go through with. It's a legitimate option." Layla and Amber stared each other down, each one not wanting to back down. Blake sighed; something told her that this would take awhile. A shame that we have to choose now instead of wait, she mused quietly. She stood from the couch and faced the two girls.
"We are going through with Option Two," Blake announced, pausing for the surprise that both Layla and Amber showed her at that moment, "I'm going to contact them right now, so you two best prepare yourselves. I'll tell them everything when they get here."

Maria and Ryne didn't take long to reach the dorms. Rather, it took them five minutes to reach the dorms but twenty minutes to drag an unconscious Ryne through it just so that he wouldn't pray on any of the other girls living there. By the time they had reached the room, Blake, Layla and Amber were exhausted. Maria had used her aura to create barriers around all the other rooms for the time when Ryne would wake up and actually try to hit on the girls so the aura protection was deemed extremely necessary. When all else was finished, the four girls sat on the couch and began to talk about Ty's appearance and its message for them.
"At the place where that Guardian took Blake and gave her those injuries?" Maria clarified. Blake nodded, recalling all the bandages that wrapped around her beneath her school uniform.
"We aren't in much of a state to really be heading off to such a place in our current condition," Layla went on, gesturing to Amber, "Amber here is still in the midst of recovering as well from her fight with her that day. Out of the three of us, I'm the only one in good shape to go, but I'm also the only one who can't use aura like the rest of you. That's why Blake called you two out here - to see if you guys can help us somehow."
"Hm... I have never really heard of a civilized Ire before. How interesting," Maria mused. Turning to Ryne, who was tied down by Maria's golden aura, Maria looked at him with questioning eyes.
"Well, I haven't heard of anything like that either," Ryne admitted, "Now can I please get up? Why did you knock me out once we got to the dorm entrance anyway?"
"I didn't want you to attack any of the other ladies here."
"Yeah, well I'm a hot guy who just wanted to introduce himself to the ladies. Is that wrong?"
"Are you even listening to yourself, Ryne? Of course it is."
"Oh come on! I just-"
"CAN IT YOU TWO OR I'M GOING TO LOSE MY GODDAMN MIND!!!!" Blake exploded from the frustration. Amber and Layla both sighed in exhaustion; they were also getting really tired of it and they just wanted the two experienced Ire-fighters to focus back on the task at hand. Maria cleared her throat as Ryne began mumbling to himself about why he should be fine to court every lady that he saw, to which Layla walked over, kindly punted him football-style in between his legs, and returned to her seat on the couch as Ryne sang a new octave higher than the last time he was kicked five months ago when he tried to court Amber and herself.
"First things first, we need to do something about your current conditions," Maria said, eyeing Blake and Amber, "You two clearly need to be a in a much better state in order to go into something like this. And since you two will be gone, Ryne and I need to stay behind and clear any Ires here at home base. It will only make sense that way."
"Why don't you two go then and let them recover naturally at school?" Layla asked curiously. Maria smiled.
"Layla, injuries caused by Ires and fellow Guardians or Knights can't be cured that easily," she explained, "When Ires attack and inflict damage on a Guardian or a Knight, they directly strike at their soul where their aura is from. The soul can't be healed using modern medicines and practices. It can only be healed a certain way that Guardians learn naturally. This is why Knights and Guardians usually have contracts with one another, since only the Guardian can heal both parties from soul-inflicted wounds." Layla nodded in understanding, although it was frustrating to hear. Maria turned to Amber, her golden aura surrounding her like a cloak.
"Now Amber, watch carefully," Maria said, raising her hands, "This is one of the things only we can do."