"Theleaus came back with an army. An organized piece of shit army, but they were a bunch of rowdy bandits that he used instead of his actual people."

Obviously, Emma was satisfied with that response. It was true that she hadn't the ability to kill him herself, but if she had to make good at her statement, she'd certainly try. It wasn't like she cared about her well being; the only reason she kept the bandages on her wrists, keeping the infections away, was because she didn't want to deal with the Tsukimonos lecturing her about it. And since they weren't going to release her anytime in the near future, she had no choice but to stay and try to keep her mind off of things.

"They trashed the place, made all the guys work like slaves, and didn't touch any of us. Theleaus made a deal with Mayako's pop to get him to give her over to him as a bride or some shit; Remmy and I knew what Theleaus really wanted, though, so Remmy stepped up his cause to push Theleaus outta here. He got Eld and the other guys up and ready to fight, and they took all these pot shots at the bandits--sabotage and all that, then finally got up and ready for a final standoff, where they kicked the asses of those bandits so hard they had some of 'em running without an order to retreat."

Talking about the bandit occupation would have been tough, normally. It had her angry to think about it, but enough emotion had already shown through her for the day: Fenix wasn't going to get any further emotion from her, only that strong veil of madness covering a normal teenage girl, as if those scars on her face were actually locks on a mask.

"Then Theleaus shot Remmy and left." With that, the momentum of Emma's relayed information came to a sudden halt, as if it had struck a brick wall and ceased further movement. "And that's all you need to know."

That...explained a bit, but it wasn't what he'd actually been asking. What he really wanted to know referred to that day, what happened directly after he was knocked out. What happened to Kaiser? To Theleaus? Obviously Theleaus wasn't killed, but it didn't sound like anyone else was at the time either, which was an outcome he figured wasn't possible.

There was a lot to pick up on all the same--especially the news about Mayako's father. Not that he was surprised; he didn't have a high opinion of fathers in general (the biological kind, anyway).

He'd slept through it all, too...he supposed it was lucky he survived it. Or maybe not. He had no idea what happened. He couldn't help but wonder what difference he could have made, had he been awake...but then he realized that if he were in any condition to fight, he'd have already left the village.

Her last comment, though, struck him. He wasn't good at reading emotions, but he was good at piecing together information from clues. "Remmy...he...died then?" This idea shocked him--Remington fought on the same level as Zach did, and a person like that was not easy to kill by any means.

"He's dead," Emma replied.

Her voice retained that hollow apathy, that veil of madness. She should have sounded sad, unhappy, or at least discontent--but she didn't try to muster that, and permitted herself to not care. Remmy was one more person in her family that was gone, the second to go. She never knew the first, her mother, who died before she could retain conscious thought. It was probably ten years ago or so, it had to be. Just one more family member missing in action. That being the pattern of her life, she figured it was only a matter of time before she, too, was gone--and she already felt at least half-way there.

"Theleaus shot him in the chest," Emma continued, "The bullet tore his heart, shut down his lung, and left enough internal damage that he couldn't possibly survive, even with an operation. He was in this room for a week, unconscious, his heart stopped, they couldn't bring him back."

The way she said that, too, was as if she was talking about someone who wasn't even related to her. Emma loved her brothers--both of them, the one by blood and the one by emotion. But they were gone, amongst the ranks of everyone who somehow found a way out.

"He's better off, where ever he is."

"I'm sorry hear that." This Fenix truly meant beyond a doubt. Even though he knew Remmy for less than a day, he made quite an impression on him. In many ways he'd reminded him of Zach. Such a man dying was a sad thing indeed.

Almost unconsciously, Fenix tugged his necklace out from under his shirt, clasping it one hand while the other made a gesture that would be completely unfamiliar to Emma. Even Mayako with her extensive religious knowledge would fail to recognize it, nor would she know the pendant itself: it depicted a beautiful, winged, angelic woman.

"Perhaps you're right," he said in regards to him being in a better place. "My friend would probably say no one is better off dead, but I'm not so sure. If there's a heaven of any kind, I'm sure Remmy went to it."

He paused before looking at Emma again. "You're his...sister?" he guessed. There was definitely a family resemblance, and that seemed the most likely. He wondered if the other redhead with them--Sarah, that must be, Eld was probably the boy--was her sister, then. If so, what happened to her? He wasn't going to ask Emma, but Mayako mentioned she had nothing to go back to...

Fenix's statement of remorse was almost completely disregarded. While Fenix may have come off as potentially insensitive for asking about Remmy, knowing the possibilities and the effects it might have on Emma, Emma was twice that with a complete lack of care--if it hurt his game name, or if it offended Fenix, or if Remmy was in heaven, disappointed with her.

"Heaven is anywhere that isn't this place," Emma remarked--an offhanded comment that would have offended most people if they heard her say it, but she was unapologetic with her beliefs, always, even before all this, "If he wasn't going to leave in any other way, it was best for him that he got out somehow. With a merciful, painless death. He wasn't awake for any of it. He died in his sleep. The perfect death, right?"

Remmy had fought for Mayako, and felt terrible for such. He had been staging a passive aggressive rebellion, but not an all out battle that would cost any sort of lives. If he had the time and opportunity, he'd have embarrassed the bandits and sent them all staggering away via some sort of systematic booby-trap that hurt, but did not kill, their troupe and left on Theleaus there, alone, unwilling to charge in and raise hell on his own. Remmy was a smart man, smarter than most gave him credit for; he knew that if Theleaus hadn't charged in yet, that he wasn't going to charge in at all. Then, the issue with Mayako came up, and he had to escalate the rebellion for full-out combat.

He wasn't fighting for the village, he was fighting for Mayako.

"Yeah. I'm his sister."

"As good a death as any." He wasn't sure there was really a good way to die. While he wasn't certain he agreed with Zach's view there wasn't anything better after this life, that didn't mean he felt it should be given up on either.

He died defending the people he loved...too many people die like that, though.

He merely nodded in response to the confirmation that she was his sister. The sympathy and brief sadness left him, and he was neutral once more. He stopped clutching the pendant.

After a pause which would have been awkward had Emma cared and Fenix any sense of what was socially awkward, he asked, "What happened right after I was taken out, though? That's what I really want to know. What happened to Zach...moptop." He used the name Remmy called him so that Emma would know who he was talking about.

"Dead, probably," replied Emma, again unapologetic and without regard for the possibility that Fenix might be severely hurt by the notion. If he was, then he'd voice his opinion, and she'd likely disregard that, as well.

Truth be told, she wasn't there for the entirety of the event. Explaining that seemed superfluous, though, and if she brought it up, it was likely by complete accident. Nonetheless, she did know a little bit about it, enough to draw her own conclusions, as pessimistic as they might be.

Fenix had been there with two people, back before everyone lost something good in their lives. Shin Shiden and Zach Kaiser--one, she had information on, the other, she knew absolutely nothing about. Emma didn't study martial arts or practical combat; she didn't desire to know or care about the Tenken or his importance in the field of martial arts, otherwise she might have recognized him and had a little bit of backstory on the man to tell Fenix. Fortunately, Mr. Black wasn't asking about Shiden.

"Remmy explained a bit to me after it all. He told me that he and Zach Kaiser and this guy Sturm and this lady Usurii, and you, and some blue haired guy, fought Theleaus and eventually Kaiser and Usurii brought him down. From there, I have no idea, 'cause Remmy left a little while after. But he was worried about Zach Kaiser's safety, saying that he was bleeding everywhere from the inside out, probably all over the place on the inside, and had lost a couple of limbs. He told me that Sturm took Kaiser away to give 'im intensive care, but I doubt it worked. We would've seen him months ago if it had."

Fenix didn't react to the idea that Kaiser was dead, but he was surprised by the extent of his injuries described. If he'd lost limbs, that must truly have been an intense fight. Part of him wished he could have lasted long enough to aid in it, but his more practical side realized he'd just have gotten in the way.

"Maybe," he replied, though he didn't believe for a second that he died. That man, he was certain, couldn't be killed. If Kaiser's injuries were to the extent she said, he might not be able to even make it out here. Even he'd have difficulty recovering from losing a limb or two.

In any case, all signs pointed to one person he needed to seek out. "Any idea where I can find this Sturm?" he asked. In addition to treating Kaiser, he was paying for Fenix's own treatment. He wondered what kind of man he was, who conclude that killing an innocent girl was the best option in a situation and then proceed to try and save two people he hardly knew.

"None whatsoever," replied Emma.

Emma shrugged her shoulders before sitting up in bed. She reached down for her book, lifted it back to her lap, and opened it to the middle--around the area that she quit reading because of Fenix's intrusion.

"I s'pose you'll have to get outta here if ya wanna find 'im," Emma shrugged her shoulders.

Not that it mattered much to her. If he wasn't there, she'd be fine reading, undisturbed by the necessities of food and rest. Mayako had a habit of sleeping with a lamp lit, anyways--some unfounded fear of the dark, and it took her awhile to get to sleep. Emma was absolutely fine, there, getting minimal sleep, and going through these large studies on engineering, psychology, and science in just days; reading obsessively, but gathering very little. She had either read them all already, or in the case of new books, she was just occupying herself. The book she had been into, the study of engineering, was fiarly new; she had bought it a few months ago and never had the chance to read it.

Fenix nodded. He couldn't afford to stay bedridden forever, though it would take some time before he was well enough to travel. The situation here didn't seem too great, but he could hardly help--he was an outsider to them.

"One last question for you," he stated as she started to become absorbed in her book again.

He kept the same neutral, stoic expression that he wore when he asked all the other questions. "Do you know what happened to my shirt?" he asked with utter seriousness.

I'm gonna throw this fucking book at you.

The way she stared at him at that moment screamed her thoughts, too.

"I'm sorry, I was too caught up with a bandit invasion, my brother dying, and everyone going batshit insane around me," Emma replied with no discernible change in tone, "No, I don't know what happened to your shirt."

She had no idea why he'd ask something like that, and somewhere along the lines, before she even became this bitter, she stopped caring about the man's misplaced shirt. He was never going to get it back, and that was that. Maybe he could replace it, but it was misplaced in someone's wardrobe, and not one in this house. There was no chance.

"Want to say anythin' else? Maybe sound a little more retarded?" Emma snapped at him, although there were no particular inflections in her voice that suggested that she was all that angry . . . but she certainly wasn't joking. "I swear, you're really startin' to fit in here, beyond the obvious insanity."

Again, he insults and sarcasm didn't seem to phase him in the least. "It seems no one grabbed my pack, so all that I own is what was on me when I was brought in," he explained calmly. Which included clothes on the lower half of his body, his necklace, dagger, and coin pouch. And that was it.

So while a shirt was certainly not a big deal to Emma, who no doubt had many, to him it was rather important to have at least one. Seeing as he didn't, and the person who likely possessed it couldn't be told why she might have it, he'd have to some of his rather meager funds to purchase a new one.

Of course, living frugally wasn't new to him, but it made it that much tougher when he lost things he owned.

"Anyway, thanks for the information. You can go back to your book if you want." Though is body was still tired from all he had to do in the bath, he started to go through the exercises he could to by himself--at least, those that were practical clad only in a towel.

It was tempting to reply with a snide, sarcastic remark about how thankful she was for his permission to read, but Emma refrained. Such may have got him talking again.

Not long after, Mayako was making the rounds again. Wearing a dark blue tank top (also quite form fitting, but much longer than the last one she was wearing; the one came down to the top of her thighs) and a pair of tan shorts, she was checking through all of the rooms, seeing if patients needed anything to eat--and though most of them weren't hungry, they still wanted something to eat. Mayako was offering to cook for them, and for the elderly especially, if they had the potential for a last meal, they'd prefer it to be cooked by that young girl who volunteered every day at the clinic. Eventually, Mayako popped into Fenix and Emma's room.

"H-hello?" Mayako called out as she stepped into the room.

As expected, Emma was quietly reading. This rarely changed with her; she generally maintained that apathetic demeanor and rarely said a word. Mayako liked being there, though; she remembered the time when her friend hurt herself on purpose, and didn't want that to happen again, even if that meant that she were in the room with Emma, neither of them speaking a word.

What surprised her was Fenix. He was still in a towel, and trying to exercise! Mayako stared for a moment, blankly, with her brow furrowed. She knew that something was wrong with this picture, but couldn't placed her finger on exactly what . . . until she took a survey of the rest of the room. Fenix was in the bed right next to the bed of a twelve year old girl. Regardless of Emma's mental and emotional condition, Fenix still shouldn't have been half naked in front of her! Especially if he was moving around in his bed and risking indecency before her. It wasn't Fenix's fault, but still . . .

"A-ah! I-I thought . . . I thought Tsukimono-sama would have . . ." Mayako whispered under her breath, truly surprised. "I-I will be right back! I'll get a new hospital gown for you!"

Fenix turned to see Mayako entering the room, a bit confused by her reaction. Truthfully he didn't see much of a difference between the gown and the towel--both were single layers that were barely adequate as clothing. The towel might actually have been better, as the way he tied it it covered more of his legs than the hospital gown had.

"Okay," he said though, not really caring either way.

If Emma was concerned about Fenix keeping his promise not to say anything, she needn't have worried. He didn't appear to have any particular reaction one way or another. But whereas Emma seemed to think he was a bit simple, the truth was he just like playing things close to the vest, not letting people guess what he was thinking.

Contrary to what Fenix presumed, Mayako didn't return with just a hospital gown: she also arrived with a pair of scrub pants hung over her arm. Because Fenix was in a room with a member of the opposite sex, who just so happened to be quite young, she was able to justify getting use out the scant few scrubs that they had available. Usually, these were handed out only in extreme cases where modesty was an absolute necessity--and Mayako felt like this was one of them!

She was a bit protective of Emma, much more than she ever once was, but with good reason. There was no one else available to be protective of her--no older brothers, no older sister, no father, no boyfriend. The only person left in Emma's life was Mayako, whether Emma truly acknowledged this or not.

"All right, I-I managed to get a clean set of clothes for you," Mayako stated as she set them down upon Fenix's lap, "I-I'll shut the curtain so you can get dressed."

Emma glanced up at Mayako, watching the girl pull the curtain around Fenix's bed. It was an idle observation; Emma doing nothing more than taking a mental note of how much like a nurse Mayako really acted. Emma didn't see it often, but when she did, she always came to the same conclusion. If Mayako's specialty wasn't philosophy, she should have been training to be a nurse by now.