"Yeah, sure. If someone recognizes him, we might be able to find out where he lives. That's why we ask around, you know."

After awhile, Eld had been able to access the dark world on his own, with or without Kageko as the scythe. It wasn't like when he shared the world with her, but he could still do it--when sitting down and resting, usually, or closing his eyes. Or he could just talk to her. Then, though, everything just seemed like a daydream; not permanent, without much feeling, just images and words.

Usually when she was awake, Kageko answered him adamantly. She had very little to do in the dark world. Eld was essentially her only contact, and after awhile, there was only so much she could amuse herself by doing on her own--so it was just a waiting game for Eld to talk to her, or come see her at night, or maybe even bring her out in a complex way . . .

But rather than a direct reply,




And contact was lost.

Lelan had no idea what was going on there. He hadn't paid attention to what Eld was doing; he wouldn't see any trace of it in his face--he'd only know if Eld said something about it. But then, what? What could he do?

"Hey man, you coming?"

Eld was out of it for only a few moments, a dazed expression on his face as he was literally in another world. He didn't get any information from his brief trip, other than that something was very, very wrong.

When he snapped back, Lelan would see, albeit briefly, a look of absolute fury on his face. He'd wanted to wait, and try and take her back without a confrontation, but that was no longer an option. Somehow, the thief was in her world with her...and she clearly did not want him there.

The moment and passed and the feeling was suppressed, replaced by a look of dark determination. "Yeah."

Difficult as it was, he forced himself to be social--it was unlikely anyone would give them information if they were obviously hostile.

The rage on Eld's face was easily noticed, but Lelan figured that maybe he was just upset at the notion that they were going to have to search this city for their thief. They didn't have their work cut out for them, the city was huge. It was impossible for them to scour the entire thing in a single day. They needed two, at best, and that would've been glossing it over--even if Eld were to use Purgatory as a means of searching through individual houses, there were just too many houses to search. That was what Lelan hadn't anticipated, that their thief's hometown would be so large.

They started off small, asking people for directions to a market. There, they asked around. It was imperative that they ask people with something to sell, or people that dealt with money in any way. Those were the people, as Lelan explained, who remembered the most faces. If someone was cheap, they remembered. If someone paid well, they remembered. Their thief seemed like the cheap kind of guy.

They asked a woman selling clothes first. Nothing. Then a man selling pottery. Nothing. They started to ask older people in the market who were just there and seemed to have lived there for quite awhile, and they still came up short. The market was a bust; no one knew their thief there.

So they continued on--they hit banks, bars, shops, any place that dealt with money or food. Lelan added that part impromptu. People had to eat. Their thief had to get his food somewhere. At the grocer's market, they had a long talk with the woman who owned it, but it was a dud lead. She thought she knew who they were talking about, but the person she thought they were talking about was black. Lelan added shortly thereafter that "asking for a person of race specifically makes you look like an ass, so we're bound to run into this sometimes."

Lelan wasn't shooting in the dark, though. When they went to one of the pubs and asked the barkeep, they had received a positive answer. It was the late afternoon, Eld and Lelan were sitting on stools beside of eachother, and the barkeeper told a brief story. It was, however, all he knew.

"That guy? I never knew his name. I don't think anyone knows his name. Hell, I'll be surprised if he even knows his name. We're talking about the same guy, right? Tall? Long hair, glasses, smells terrible? He's a weird guy. Insane, maybe. I remember a few years back, he was standing in town square, ranting about how "The End is Nigh," and things like that. He was talking about how the world we know is light or something, and it has a shadow--and when they combine, they'll end. He was a laughing stock. No one there knew his name, either."

Others had recognized him by the description Eld and Lelan gave, like a young woman who claimed that she once found him rooting through her garbage for what she thought was food. It was unanimous that everyone who had encountered him thought he smelled absolutely terrible.

But none of them knew a name, or where he lived.

By the time it was too dark to find anyone worth questioning, Lelan had insisted that they retreat to a bar of sorts. It was a pub and an inn, a place Lelan intended to stay the night. It was cheap, and he had some money of his own that he hadn't told Eld about. Again, Lelan and Eld were perched on bar stools next to eachother, and it was unlikely that either of them were going to be buying any drinks. By how everyone described their thief, it was unlikely that he was going to show his face in any of these establishments.

"Damnit. Well . . ." Lelan sighed, "Tomorrow is another day. This guy lives here, so I doubt he'll be leaving here anytime soon, now that he got what he left for . . ."

Eld had hoped to have Kageko returned shortly, but the town was much larger than he expected. The scale of cities on this continent was simply too large for Eld to comprehend--living his life in a small farming village, he couldn't actually appreciate the difference between here and Emain Macha in size.

The day dragged on, and while they found people who recognized the man, no one knew where to find him or where he might go. And the more they heard about him, the less he liked. A smelly man, potentially crazy, not well liked wherever he went.

In his head, the sound of Kageko faintly sobbing echoed, and the knot in his stomach grew tighter. Lelan, of course, was in no great rush--he thought they were just looking for a thief and collector. He'd get rest. Eld, on the other hand, wouldn't be able to sleep even if he tried. He was taking a break to rest his legs, but Lelan could have the bed, as otherwise it would go unused.

Lacking anyone who knew him, he went over what they knew, forcing himself to remain calm, to fight the urge to go running through the streets, desperate to do anything even if it wasn't productive.

He was smelly, and probably all there in the head. People didn't seem to appreciate his presence at all, and he was seen at least once rooting through someone's garbage.

Then it struck him; why this wasn't working, and what they needed to do. "We're not going to find him by asking people where he lives," Eld stated suddenly, "because he doesn't live anywhere; he's homeless. Which means during the day we probably wont' find him; he'll be out and about. But right now he'll be somewhere he can rest and be relatively warm, where people aren't going to bother him or kick him out."

Indeed, they had been at the bar simply to get the key to a room. Lelan took the bed and Eld the floor, and while Eld couldn't sleep, Lelan could--in time. He was a little wired at the moment, too, but not for an influx of energy. No, it was the general irritation he was feeling about this whole mess. He couldn't find the guy, and not for lack of trying. They'd scoured the place all day. Lelan was great at finding people. Eld, a Reaper, could have been anywhere in the world, and Lelan found him. Someone being able to go under the radar that well was just irritating.

Which was why he was wide awake by the time Eld proposed his idea to him.

"You think so?" Lelan asked quickly as he sat up in bed.

Truth be told, it wasn't a bad idea--not in the least. In fact, Lelan could see it perfectly. He should've thought of that earlier--Lelan, that is. All the clues were there, laid out in front of him, that their thief was homeless.

Perhaps he just didn't want to acknowledge the possibility that anyone could be a Collector, even a crazy homeless guy. A crazy smelly guy that rummaged through peoples' trash was one thing. If he had a home, that was fine. Feasible, even. Sometimes a person had to be insane to go into this sort of trade. But homeless? That was pushing it. How the hell would a homeless man know about Gaiasouls?

I can ask when I meet 'im.

"Well, we've been everywhere on this half of the city," Lelan thought aloud, before asking: "Where do you think he might be hiding his hat right about now? Barkeeps don't know him, so it can't be there . . ."

Eld frowned for a minute as he thought. Though he'd been to some cities since joining the Dirige (though none as large as Emain Macha), the fact was that he grew up in a small country village; his knowledge on anything pertaining to city life was limited to the few months since his departure from Hillcrest and reading.

"I'm not sure...are there slums around here? An abandoned building would be my best guess." It was pretty clear that the thief wasn't exactly popular with the locals that knew of him, so he doubted he'd be staying any place where there were a lot of other people.

"In any case, somewhere out of sight for people. It sounds like he stood out even before, and now he's also carrying a large scythe, and we haven't heard anyone mention that yet."

That didn't leave them with a small supply of options. Something less vague would have left them better off--but Lelan supposed he could only ask so much. The only specific here was that their thief was somewhere to be unseen by others--but he could always just be a squatter somewhere. It might take them another full day to investigate all the abandoned houses.

"No," he shook his head, "This close to Emain Macha, there are only middle and upper class residents. It costs too damn much for anyone not raking in a godawful supply of income to consider living here."

Which was probably why their thief was especially looked down upon.

"Every town's got old run down shacks and places for squatters, though."

Lelan sat up in bed all the way, figuring it was about time he got up anyways. Eld was suggesting that they go out again looking for this guy, after all . . .

"Well, guess we're heading out again, huh?" Lelan asked as he stretched his arms out.

It would've been nice to get another night of sleep in, seeings how he'd been on his feet and in search of since he woke up this morning, but this could work. If they found their thief tonight, then he'd just be one step closer to a fairly epic sleep tomorrow . . .

"Yeah." Eld was up and ready immediately. Even if Lelan decided to wait until morning, he would have gone out himself--he knew he wasn't going to get any sleep anyway, so he might as well do something useful.

If there were no slums, though, likely places to search were going to be scattered all over the place. It would take time, and the more time passed, the tighter the knot in his stomach grew.

"Lead the way." He saw no reason to change this part; Lelan was still more streetwise than he was, and would have a much better idea of where to look from here.

Truth be told, Lelan was sort of hurting at the moment. Having walked constantly with only a short rest last night, his limbs were a little sore. Perhaps he wasn't as physically capable of Eld, but damnit, he could calm down at least a little! Well--so Lelan thought. He didn't know the emotional attachment that Eld had for his "Gaiasoul." Even if he knew it, he wouldn't have understood it.

"Yeah, yeah," he sighed as he motioned for Eld to follow.

We catch him tonight, I sleep all day tomorrow, Lelan kept telling himself.

Out in the city, though, Lelan again found himself surprised by the difficulty they were faced with. There were a ton of alleyways here, most of them untraveled at night. Trash cans were everywhere, always by houses. Their thief could easily find food and a place to hide from the rest of the city here--and they'd have the opposite luck with finding him. Lelan couldn't tell where their thief was; Sarraevous wasn't about to contact him. That god was a selfish one, a terrible trickster, but a completely selfish bastard in every way. Lelan being there was nothing more of idle interest for him.

Their thief could probably interest him just the same. But still, Lelan did want to find Sarraevous. He was, at the very least, useful.

After awhile, though . . .

"Ugh. All these alleyways are starting to look the same . . ."

Dammit, if only I could feel Kageko the way I feel Etsu.

The only saving grace in their search was that Eld could more or less sense if there were any souls inside a building; unfortunately, identifying them was another matter, so they still had to enter and see the person if there was one.

It wasn't difficult, but there were a lot of places to check. It was beginning to look like they'd spend all night looking around, something that was far more of a problem for Lelan than for Eld.

Getting frustrated, he tried once more to reach out to Kageko, though after the last time he wasn't sure if he'd even get anything.

Please, Kageko...I need help. A direction, anything...I want to find you...

And then there was darkness.

She wasn't crying anymore. She couldn't. The only thing she could do was breath, and those hollow breaths sounded more like whimpers now than anything else. She didn't feel like moving. That hurt. And it hurt to know that, too--that if she moved, there'd be pain, and not direct pain, either. No one was applying direct injury to her, she was just . . . sore . . . all over . . .

Kageko didn't answer Eld, not verbally. Trying to make contact with her let Kageko find him, though--and then, she could bring him here. Never did she do it forcefully, not until the last time. When they fought together, he experienced both worlds simultaneously, but that wasn't anything she forced upon Eld.

Unfortunately, Eld wasn't blind this time. He wasn't upon Kageko's bed--his bed, it seemed, just in a darker form, but distant from it. He could see, though. It was still much darker than it had been when Eld had her, though; this was perhaps the most visibility available. Eld and Kageko's bond made this world a brighter place--but that was distant, now . . .

Kageko lay upon the bed, curled up, knees to her chest. She was barely clothed. The girl's dress was ripped up, as far as Eld would be able to tell from a mild distance, torn to where it no longer covered her chest and ignored near the waste. She didn't get up to greet Eld, but she had made contact with him, going so far as to bring him here.

M . . . a--ster . . . Kageko was physically weak and in great deals of pain; she couldn't talk well, which might have been a surprise. Even when she was injured after they fought together, Kageko could still move around and talk . . .

"Kageko!"

His gut wrenching in ways he didn't think possible, he ran as fast as his legs would carry him to the shadowy bed. He could hardly see anything now, the world was much dimmer than it used to be.

"Kageko, what--" But he didn't ask. Even as naive as he could be sometimes, he could assume something. How it happened was another matter; that he had no clue. It shouldn't have been possible.

He dropped to his knees. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...this is all my fault. If only I hadn't been so careless, I..." He shook his head. He couldn't break down now. "I'm coming, though...I'm trying to find you."

A single, shaky hand reached out to gently lay on her forehead. She sounded so pained, she looked so beat up...she never looked this bad, not even after the most brutal of his fights.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, "but...if there's anything you can tell me...anyway you can help me find you...please...I can't stand this."

He had no right to be this upset--it wasn't happening to him. But even so, just seeing this, he was on the verge of tears. It tore at his heart, at his very soul...

Close up, he could see her better--and the details would have in no way made Eld feel any better about this than he already did. Kageko looked beaten and agonized from far away, but it wasn't until Eld was close to her that he'd be able to see exactly why she was so weak.

The bleeding had stopped some time ago, but it still cracked and dried upon her lips. Red blood, awkwardly enough--the second time Eld ever saw that she could bleed. The first time, however, was a bit more personal. Her lower lip was cracked and puffed out unnaturally, bruised. Her nose was just the same; it had been bleeding a lot, too, before--but now that blood was dried upon her cheek, having flowed down and soaked into the bed. It was broken, noticeably so. Eld didn't have to be the son of doctors to tell that much.

Her hair was matted on one side with blood and she was having a difficult time keeping her eyes open. Kageko's breathing was hollow, but each breath sounded agonizing, as if every time her chest expanded, she was in pain--and when it compressed, it hurt again. It sounded even as if there was only a single hollow tube that she was breathing out of, and it was clogged with liquid.

Broken ribs, perhaps. And fingers. A few of them were gnarled and bent and she couldn't move them. Her legs, too, were in bad shape. It was a wonder that she could even lift them to her chest.

Eld touching her cheek caused the girl to weakly lift her arms and try to take his hand. Every finger shook, and her arms shook twice as much. It was difficult to lift them. She was so badly injured that a normal human being would have died hours ago. As it was, though, she was immortal . . . here. This was her world; she could not die in her world. Kageko could be hurt, though--and beaten, and abused--and she had. Terribly. The abuse wasn't restricted to just a physical beating, either. Just as her clothes were torn, she was missing her underwear.

Kageko tried to focus upon Eld's face, but her eyes kept threatening to close. Just seeing him, though . . . it made things just a little brighter . . . she almost smiled as she reached out and tried to touch his face--the faintest smile imaginable, but a smile nonetheless.

It . . . is not-- your . . . fault, M . . . aster . . . Kageko whispered, her voice filled with pain and weakness, I . . . cannot b--blame you . . .

Having medical knowledge was not always a blessing--it was nice to know how to heal people, but knowing just how bad someone was having it was not

"Shh...j-just rest, alright? If I can talk to you like this, you must be pretty close...I'll find you, I swear."

He had an idea--it would be difficult to pull off, and he didn't have the concentration to explain it to Lelan, but it just might work. But it would involve doing something he'd always found difficult if not impossible: controlling himself in both worlds at the same time.

Removing his hand from her forehead, he clasped her hand with it, gently. At the same time, he focused...and a bit awkwardly, his body in the real world moved.

The plan was simple--if could be in both and once, and their connection faded over distance, then if he walked in the direction that made it stronger he'd find her. Or, so he hoped...

Mas . . . ter--I . . . I . . .

Kageko was finding extreme difficulty talking, now. The more she tried it, the harder it became. If she tried too hard, she was afraid that her throat might collapse, and even though she couldn't die here . . . well . . . having experienced all these new pains, she didn't want to know what it felt like to suffocate to death without actually dying. Constant suffocation; it would have been the worst agony anyone could have ever experienced.

So, she let her eyes shut, and though she winced in pain when Eld clasped her hand and touched (accidentally, of course) her broken fingers, it wasn't the worst thing she was experiencing right now. Kageko could live through that.

But it wasn't just a few seconds after Eld tried to control himself in both worlds that there was something new here. Someone was here--someone else, someone that shouldn't have been here. The feeling of there being more than one person here might have brought him out of this strong state of concentration, especially when he'd inevitably experienced the feeling of weight . . .

"Hah," the voice boomed, "I knew you'd bring him here, you whore."

Kageko's eyes weakly opened and she reached out to grab Eld as if she were scrambling--scrambling the best she could, painfully pushing forward to try and hold onto Eld, the only peron now that she felt could help her--she tried her damndest to get closer to him, but in the end, she could not. Physical forces at work kept her from doing so. That physical force was a hand upon her throat, and a strong tug across the bed.

Kageko let out a weak cry as she was lifted, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. She didn't have the strength to fight back--even if she fought back at all.

What held onto her barely looked like a human being. No--it looked nothing like a human being. It was a monster, a tall, wide, beast of a man whose thinly arms looked like pincers, with seven specific arms to boast and five massively muscular legs, defying symmetry in every way. What little of a face it had was obscured by the shadows of this world, but it may well have been eight feet tall. A hooked tail swayed back and forth, flicking with little thought provided. It had frail ribs that looked like they were going to collapse at any moment, but its seven arms could give it the benefit of defense.

Kageko hung limply in the beast's grasp. She could still move, she had shown Eld that she could. She was weak, but Kageko could still at least function. But she didn't move now--she gave in, she let him lift her and didn't lift a finger to fight back. It was just the same as so long ago, when Eld could have abused her when he thought about what she did to his village, and she wouldn't have fought back at all. She wouldn't have fought back then, and she didn't fight back now.

"You're the one, right?" the beast bellowed, "The one she still clings to so dearly?"