"...I see." Hal mumbled.

"That is... disturbing." he said.

"I certainly hope that she is... well, being dealt with, if necessary." he commented, before looking at her oddly.

"Also, are you all right?" he asked.

"You seem... confused and distracted." he commented.

Hal looked over towards the receptionist for a moment, then towards Jasmine, and after a few seconds, he seemed to start piecing some things together.

"Shut the door." he told the receptionist.

"Tell him I'll buzz him in a minute." he told her.

She nodded and just as she was about to shut the door, Levi forced his head in.

"Sir, we may be under some kind of attack!" he declared.

"Levi, please!" Hal responded sharply, gesturing to Jasmine. Levi was silent for a second, before looking EXTREMELY guilty and withdrawing, allowing the receptionist to close the door.

Hal then reached into a desk drawer and withdrew a pair of strange looking earplugs.

"Put these in. Now." he told Jasmine, handing them to her.

Hal just sighed quietly.

"Best HE explain it." he said, before buzzing the receptionist.

"Send him in." he told her.

About 10 seconds later, the door was opened, and Levi poked his head in reluctantly, hesitantly.

"It's fine now." Hal assured him. "Come in and sit down." he said.

Levi did so, shutting the door behind him, and looked at Jasmine.

"S-sorry if you heard them..." he apologised.

Levi just sighed and nodded.

"Yeah." he replied.

"A damn good one." Hal commented. "One of the most talented we've seen." he said further.

"Always been this way, from what I remember." Levi then told her.

"And yeah... it's... it clear you know how good of a one I am." he then murmured, looking away from her a little.

"But... well... I deal. I cope."

"I'm so sorry." Levi apologised again.

"All right, all right." Hal said. "Now what's this about an attack?" he asked.

"I... something foreign entered my body." Levi responded, remembering why he was there in the first place. "I've always been a... well, a scared, nervous, paranoid person. But ever since finding this place and the people within, I've been getting better at it." he continued. "However... recently... it seemed like something entered my body and was forcing that part of me to come out to the surface, and... amplify it." he went on.

Hal just narrowed his eyes as he heard that.

"It got to the point where I was starting to freak out over anything and everything, but... they stepped in and essentially cleansed my body of it, ridding me of whatever it was." Levi then said.

"Hence the incident a few days ago." Hal commented.

"Yeah..." Levi confirmed.

Hal then looked at Jasmine, allowing her to have any sort of commentary, if she had anything to say.

"Gems?" Levi asked, before shaking his head.

"A-anyway, yeah. Yeah, I did." he said. "I went to pick up an order for Ally, and while I was there, I was going to buy a book from the place." he told them. "When I got it, I saw a weird blue gem that looked like a sapphire, and figured it was supposed to be where the jewelry was." he went on. "When I picked it up, it seemed to just shatter and disappear and dissolve, so I thought I broke it." he continued.

"But the woman there said she didn't know what it was, and then said that... well, as a first-time customer deal, or because Ally's order was decently priced, I could take the book as a gift of sorts, and... well, looking back on it, it seemed like she really just wanted me to leave." he finished.

"Possibly to investigate the gems." Hal commented, before looking back at Jasmine.

"It DOES seem like your sister is complicit in this, though her willingness is suspect." he concluded.

Hal just sighed.

"I'm not saying your sister is guilty." he told her.

"The fact that she came to you and..." he started to say further, before realising who this Marc may be. "...to you and Marcus..." he went on, taking a bit of a shot in the dark. "...and how she shooed Levi away when she saw what had happened with the gem is already saying a lot for her." he assured her.

"We don't intend to take her in or persecute her for things that aren't her fault." he went on.

"That's not what we do." he said.

"...I can testify to her being genuinely shocked and concerned about the presence of the gem." Levi interjected.

"I know." Hal responded.

"Wait..." Levi then said.

"Yes?" Hal asked.

"Hunters? You and the woman that run that shop are hunters? And sisters?" he asked Jasmine.

Hal just chuckled silently at Levi's delay in his realisation. He guessed Levi was a bit tunnel-visioned and overly focused on what he'd had to say.

But rather than say anything, or make too many statements about what Jasmine said about 'taking care of their own' or confirming it was Marcus, he decided to let her answer Levi first.

Levi was silent again, some questions filling his OWN mind, but she was the first to ask, so he would answer.

"Oh, I have protection." he told her.

"It's all right, you can be more specific." Hal assured him.

"A... well... a circle, or 'ring' of souls." Levi then told Jasmine. "They act as a sort of barrier to their 'voices', and help me drown them out." he explained further.

"...unless I'm having a bad day." he then said. "Then... well... they won't be ignored." he sighed.

"But how can YOU hear them?" he asked.

"Just because you're a hunter, doesn't mean you should be able to hear them, especially since you're not... well... connected to them, via mana or anything."

"Oh... oh, wow." Levi mumbled.

"Hence why those earplugs don't fully block them out." he said.

"Exactly." Hal commented. "Izea can hear mana, so those are tailored specifically for her, and I keep backups just in case." he said. "While they're not a 100% solution, I figured they'd at least help." he reasoned.

"That's fair..." Levi admitted.

"Anyway, is there anything else, Levi?" Hal asked.

"No... no, I told you what I needed to." Levi responded. "I'll be going now." he said further, looking to Jasmine again.

"Sorry once again." he apologised once more.