One hell of a mess, at that.

There were certain penalties for disobeying orders. Etsu Hikane had once suffered through that, for example--temporarily without powers or access to Purgatory on her own until her probation was over. While it wouldn't have been too terrible for Eld, there was a good chance that he'd suffer something harsher than that. There was a difference between disobeying orders and going AWOL, both of which had two completely different types of punishment.

Of course, it was worse for operators. What if they contributed to it? That was a serious problem, operators that allowed their subjects to do whatever the hell they wanted. Scott had received a serious lecture last time regarding the situation with Etsu, and they weren't going to be lenient with him a second time.

I can't cover for you, if that's what you're asking, Scott replied; it was a little insensitive, but his hands were a little tied here. We have to record missions and shit like this. Write and send reports, you know. If I say you're out hunting, but I'm either giving no details or false details, do you know how much shit I'll be in? I can say this, though. You're investigating a paradox. Lelan, right? He's the source of that fluctuation earlier, right? You're investigating there. But it's not a high priority mission, so . . .

Scott knew the handbook front to back, and this was one of the main parts of it, mission priorities and the like. Low priority missions for non-amateur Reapers had a time limit. All missions had a time limit, even--but low priority missions for non-amateurs had a stricter limit. Etsu had actually been allotted two months for her mission to follow Eld, but that was because she was an amateur at the time. Were she a veteran, she'd have had a week.

Since you're not investigating a potential new Reaper or threat or anything . . . you'll basically . . . have . . . two days, max.

Eld remained silent for a moment. So Scott wasn't willing to cover for him, but he did offer something, a detail that slipped Eld's mind: Lelan may not have been an Ame Voleur, but he did cause a spiritual fluctuation, which was odd.

"Well...yeah, I guess we can just say I'm investigating him still. I don't know how he caused that spirit flux, and he even knew of Reapers, which is odd. He's answered questions so far, so I can probably just ask him, but..."

He sighed. He didn't like having to do something like this. He may have been more or less strong-armed into the Dirige, and he might not entirely agree with how they ran things sometimes, but he understood the value of what they did. Shades, Ame Voleur...he knew how dangerous such things could be first-hand, including how risky it was to leave even the most noble soul unsent for long...

"Two days isn't a lot of time, but I guess it'll have to do." He didn't tell Scott that he wasn't coming back until he recovered Kageko, though he probably didn't need to. He hoped it would be enough--opposite of what might be expected, Saqin was tougher on him than most...

Eld hadn't figured it to be the case, but what Scott was doing was essentially covering--as much as he possibly could, at least. It was reaching, really. Eld knew what Lelan "was," and he could have left it at that, mission complete. It would've been fine after that. Further investigation was actually unnecessary, and Scott was still probably going to receive some shit for this.

In the meantime, what'd you say about this Lelan guy again?

Scott could've sworn that Eld had called Lelan something--something in particular that he couldn't quite remember, just because the nature of this issue had him a bit panicked. He didn't want to deal with these kinds of issues. Not within the same year, at least . . .

Like--what'd you call him?

"A Collector. He collects Gaiasouls...the person who took ours is probably one too. It sounds like they compete with each other, and they each have their own reasons for wanting them."

Though he got the impression anything Lelan said had to be taken with a grain of salt. He didn't think he was lying, but his views on things were a bit skewed in Eld's opinion.

"Have you heard of them? I mean, it seems weird...aren't Gaiasouls supposed to be really rare?"

Collectors, huh? Scott asked. Just because of his inquisitive tone, Eld would have probably been able to imagine that he was currently scratching his goatee right about now.

Indeed, Gaiasouls were supposed to be rare. The rarest of rare items, in fact. How many could there be on this world? Or between worlds, rather. If there were more than fifty, Scott would have been surprised.

Technically there were five worlds on which Gaiasouls could be located--but only four could be accessed. Three could be accessed without one becoming an enemy of the Dirige. 99.99999999repeating% of people could access only one in their entire lifetime. If fifty or so Gaiasouls were spread out across five worlds, what's the chances that anyone would be able to blatantly attempt to collect them?

No, I haven't heard of 'em. replied Scott, But I'll do some research--maybe ask Zaki if he knows anything about 'em.

"I'd appreciate it." If someone like Lelan could find a way to lure him out, others would probably find ways as well--people who might not have a problem with trying to kill him outright. As if he didn't have enough reasons to look over his shoulder already.

He could reduce the risk by not bringing Kageko along, but that left him at a disadvantage if he ran into a genuine Ame Voleur. Not that he still couldn't handle himself, but if it was a particularly dangerous one...

Of course, he still had to get her back first. "So, what the heck happened? I should've only been out of contact for a few seconds, but I couldn't get through at all. Did something break?"

No idea. I'm going to ask Zaki about that, too. I couldn't even find you on the map anymore. I, uh, had to alert the others that I couldn't contact you, but no one was sent out just yet. I'll call off the dogs.

Call off the dogs--essentially meaning that Reapers might have gone looking for Eld for two potentials: that he went AWOL or that he was killed. If the former, then he'd have to be hunted down. If the latter was the case, then the reason for his death/defeat would have to be found. Either way, it wasn't pretty--it wouldn't have been a rescue mission. Rescue missions worked differently than this. A rescue mission entailed that the individual could still be located on the Dirige's systems, but wasn't going anywhere, was moving slowly, and couldn't be contacted. This usually suggested that something was seriously wrong.

In any case, go back to searching. I'm going to do some research. I'll contact you when I know some more.

"Okay. Lelan doesn't seem to know about operators, so if I don't respond it's probably because he's within earshot." If he was serious about trying to steal Kageko again, the less he knew of Reapers, the better, as far as Eld was concerned.

"And could you tell Etsu I'm okay? If you told people I went missing, she's probably worried."

Etsu would know if was killed or went berserk, but otherwise she'd be just as clueless as the rest of them. Of course, that was assuming she was even there--if she was on a mission, she wouldn't have heard any of this.

"Tsukimono out." And with that he'd enter the inn again, and look for Lelan.

It was true--Eld didn't know how Etsu was reacting at the moment. Scott paused for a moment; he didn't say anything, but that silence in particular was enough of a suggestion, just the same as if he had come right out and said it.

Will do. She'll be relieved, that's for sure. Scott replied. Good luck.

Lelan was at the bar, sitting next to a young woman he seemed to hold no interest in. It was odd; Lelan was about Eld's age, and this young woman next to him was scantily dressed enough to merit at least a bit of flirting--especially since Lelan was drinking at the moment. But instead, he was simply staring at the counter, essentially disregarding everyone else in the establishment. They weren't important to him, just by virtue of what they were. It wasn't enough--not enough for Lelan Jericho the collector, that is.

Next to his tall pint was a key, though. Obviously a room had been obtained, but only one. Eld hadn't given him enough money for two. He had given him enough money for one and a pint, though . . .

Indeed, Eld could imagine what Etsu was going through, because it was something he experienced not long ago himself. Etsu had gone missing during a mission, and though he could tell she was alive, he had no idea what happened to her. It was a nerve-wracking experience to be sure; neither was particularly level-headed when the other's safety was in question.

Eld would have taken notice of Lelan's lack of interest in the girl next to him, but Eld hardly paid her any attention himself. He had a girlfriend, and...well, enough experience with girls to know the potential trouble they could cause him. He also knew that, those things aside, now wasn't the time to be flirting.

It wasn't the time to be drinking, either, though. "I hope you found some of your own money for that," Eld said sourly as he approached him, not exactly hopeful that he did. "And should you really be drinking now?"

Are you even old enough to drink? That was also on his mind, but if he wasn't, they obviously didn't care here.

"Helps me think," replied Lelan.

He did not report that Eld's money or his own money had been used for the purchase of the alcohol. Likewise, Lelan hadn't given Eld any change--and even if Eld asked for it, he would've just ignored him. Just because of this, Eld would probably be able to guess where his change had gone. It was definitely dishonest, but Lelan didn't care. He had another couple of pints coming, too. He was going to care even less what Eld thought about it here within the next hour--and if all went well, he'd care even less within the hour following that.

Without looking back to Eld, Lelan held the key up and handed it to him. He didn't look away from the counter for a second. His eyes were half shut, the grin turned sneer vacant from his lips.

"We have room nine, upstairs," Lelan stated, lacking much of the bravado he had before, "I'll be up later. I'll crash on the floor or something. Whatever, wherever . . ."

"Of course it will," Eld muttered. He would have rather started going after the culprit right now, but Lelan seemed to determined to not do anything productive for the remainder of the day--unless his point was that whoever it was would go get drunk right away.

He didn't like just sitting around, though--he was used to staying up late, and was too agitated to get any real rest at the moment, however much he knew he needed it.

Eld pushed the key back to Lelan. "Keep it. I'm going for a walk." It wasn't as though he'd need it to get inside the room, unless his link to Purgatory got cut off again for some reason, but it was stable right now.

He was still the first one back into the room, but despite getting the bed he'd receive little rest. When he finally fell asleep, it wasn't long before nightmares brought him out of it, ones that felt so real that it took a few minutes to realize they didn't actually happen.

Even when he was asleep, it was fitful sleep, with frequent tossing and turning. When Lelan finally decided to sleep, he would likely notice how little rest Eld was getting...

M-Master . . .

Once before, Eld had heard a girl's voice in his mind whilst he slept. During those times, he hadn't been resting well--but whenever he heard her, he did sleep well. He slept perfectly fine, because he was allowed the REM sleep that resulted from meeting her, even if their meetings at first had been extremely short lived. After awhile, he even started to get used to it, and the satisfaction of sleep was back; it was again a mentally, emotionally, and physically healing process--and part of it was thanks to her, for helping Eld sleep . . .

Or had that been another girl?

. . . where . . . where are you, Master . . .?

It was dark again, but he wasn't on a mattress. He was elsewhere, strewn somewhere in the inky blackness, once again devoid of light; he'd be able to hear her breathless whimpers, her soft stutters, and whispers so minute they couldn't be understood.

The light was gone, that light they shared which illuminated the dark world of Kageko's mind was gone--to whose fault?

Master . . . And this time, she sounded like she was crying.

Kageko?

One minute he'd been turning restlessly in bed, and the next he was in total darkness. Unlike the time he spent with her recently, now it was pitch black like the first few times they met.

Kageko...I'm here! I'm right here!

He wandered desperately through the black, but there was nothing there...just the echo of a distant voice. It was that voice that was most heartbreaking, because despite everything they'd been through, despite the fact that when he called upon her she shared his pain, he'd never heard her cry, not even once.

Kageko! Hold on, I swear I'll find you! Kageko!

"Kageko!" He sat up with a start, finding the morning light blinding compared to the darkness he'd just been in. He was drenched with sweat and breathing heavily, and there were dark circles around his eyes.

He pounded the mattress in frustration. He would find her; no matter what it took, no matter how long, even if Death himself came looking for him, he would get her back.

Cradling his head in his hands in an effort to calm down, he was oblivious to any other presence in the room. Lelan would have to be sleeping pretty hard if Eld's shout didn't bring him around.

I can't . . . I can't see you . . . I can't see you anymore, Master . . . where are you?

Indeed, Kageko had never once cried after she and Eld fought together. She had suffered so many injuries, but they were all temporary. Once Eld was rid of his own wounds, so was she--and that was just how it went. So long as it didn't bother Eld, it could only bother her so much. At most, she became too tired to stay awake, and slept for a good twenty four to thirty six hours after such overexertion. After this, she was normally fine. Only a couple of times had she ever teared up in pain, but she never cried. Not like this.

In the morning, though . . .

"Holy--!!" Lelan jumped from where he lay upon the floor, "What the hell, man?!"

Lelan had come back shortly after Eld fell asleep, and slept fine on the floor. He didn't sleep fine in the morning, though, when Eld practically woke up screaming. That was a surprise he wasn't expecting . . .