That surprised Faith. They'd never stopped people from entering the city before.

"That was weird," she commented once they were through the checkpoint and into the city.

"That's a bad sign," Corey said quietly. "Very bad."

Still feeling uneasy, he walked further into the city, looking around. People looked scared and uneasy, which was never good. What the hell was going on?

Faith noticed the unnatural tension in the air as well.

"...I'm thinking we should stick together," she said after a moment. "My parent's place isn't far... How far off is your sister?" She looked at Corey.

"Sticking together sounds like a good idea," Ryan agreed.

"Not far, but in the worse part of town," Corey said, frowning as he glanced around. This was almost making him nervous.

"Maybe we should go see your parents first, stop at the tea shop, and then go stop by to make sure my sister's okay."

Faith nodded.

"Alright," she said. "This way." Turning, she started to lead them towards the neighborhood her parents lived in.

The walk wasn't all that long. Soon enough Faith led them up the driveway and to the front door. She decided to knock this time, rather than letting herself in with the key. It took a moment, but soon enough, the door was opened.

A few hours later they'd all decided to go try to get some gems cut, and they went to the nearest jeweler to see if they could get things cut. Corey had decided against trying to get his few things cut this time, instead just following the other two over.

The jeweler looked up, beady eyes darting between the three of them. "Yes? What do you need?"

Faith stepped forward when they were at the jeweler.

"Well..." she said. "See, I got a few of these, as a gift..." She dug into her bag and pulled out one of her fist-sized sapphires. Somehow, she got the feeling that admitting she was a dragonrider would be a bad idea. And besides, technically they were a gift. "I was wondering if I could get them cut properly?"

Ryan hung back with Corey. He had the opal/moonstone that Xander had thrown him, back on the shore by the forest, but he wanted to see what kind of reaction Faith got, first. People tended to indulge women more than men, so if she got refused, then he wouldn't even try.

The jeweler took the sapphire, looking it over critically.

"A gift, eh? From a dragonrider, no doubt." The jeweler scowled at the jewel. "What did you have in mind, young woman?"

Faith nearly sighed in relief. The jeweler hadn't rejected the commission on principle. That was a good enough sign.

"What can be done with it?" she asked in return. "If nothing else... Can I just get it cut as-is? Or does it have to be broken down?"

The jeweler turned it over a few times. "I can cut it this size, I can make it into several smaller pieces, or I can take chips off and leave it almost the same size." He shrugged.

"What would you prefer be done with it?"

"Maybe cut it at this size, so we can see how it turns out?" Faith asked. "I have another one... Like I said, I was given a few." Now she just prayed he wouldn't ask too many questions.

The jeweler's eyes narrowed and he looked at them all suspiciously.

"Alright. This will take at least a few hours. Go get dinner and see a movie. Come back later."

Faith nodded.

"Thank you so much," she said. Turning, she went back to Corey and Ryan. "Come on," she murmured, "before he changes his mind."

Ryan nodded and followed them out the door.

Corey nodded and walked out, glancing around.

"Well. What do you want to do while we wait? Anyone hungry, or do we want to do something else?"

"Let's head to the tea shop," Faith suggested. "They always have good food there, and the tea is always amazing."

"Sounds good to me." Corey led the way to the tea shop, taking a seat in the corner. He handed a menu over to the other two, in case they needed it, but he didn't need one. He already had it practically memorized.

Ryan accepted the menu and looked through it.

"Is this place really called 'Queen of Tarts'?" he asked, glancing at the menu.

"Not really," Faith replied. "It's a tea shop and a lunch place in one, and the lunch place is called Queen of Tarts. The rest of it is literally just the Tea Shop." She didn't need a menu, either, she already knew what she wanted.

"They're good, though," Corey said with a shrug. "Why I always liked coming here."

Not to mention it was close to the bar, so he could get away with going out to eat without taking too long. Which was good, because it got him away from his former boss.

"I worked here," Faith admitted. "From the time I was sixteen till the time I was seventeen. It was a nice place to work, and I always got the deformed pastries from Queen of Tarts that they didn't want to sell." She grinned. "The peaches and cream tarts are amazing."

"It kind of makes me wish we had a place like this back home," he said. "What's good around here for lunch?"

"Um. Everything." Corey grinned. "I think I've had almost everything on the menu, and it's all good. Same with the tea."

Faith grinned.

"Alright, get this," she said, pointing to one of the sandwiches, "and get this tea to go with it. That's a fantastic combination any time."

"Alright, I'll trust you both on this," Ryan replied.

[clor=blue]Corey grinned. "Good call," he said, to both of them.

He ordered his favorite tea and sandwich combo, sitting back expectantly to wait.[/color]

Faith ordered her own favorite combination as well and sat back to wait.

A while later, after they'd eaten and killed time for a while, it was time for them to go back to the jeweler to see what he'd been able to do with the sapphire.

The jeweler looked up when they entered. He looked them over suspiciously again before he held up the sapphire for inspection.

He'd gotten several chips off it, and had cut it so it was faceted on every side, refracting light and sparkling even from a distance.

Faith looked at it adoringly.

"It's perfect," she breathed. Lapis was just going to love it.