Nnnhh . . . Kageko winced loudly.

He'd hear her cringing in his head, the shade girl feeling half of Eld's injuries crawling up her body. In her world, she doubled over onto her bed, clutching her stomach. Kageko tried to quiet her pain, but it she could only do so much. In the end, a scream was muffled by biting her lower lip and stuffing her head into a dark pillow. She'd already caused Eld enough trouble--she didn't need to make him worry about her again!

She was bleeding out from the inside; her dark dress was progressively stained with blood, the same blood that had disappeared from Eld's body once the scythe took its original form. On her belly, a deep crimson began to soak into her dress. On her shoulder, the same crimson began to seep out and trickle down her arm.

It was to help Eld, though. To save him. His wounds closed, but the pain would remain, and the wounds would easily reopen if aggravated, but he was safe. His body would work, it would carry him as needed, but pushing it in any way, shape, or form would be explicitly dangerous. Kageko knew she was helping him. She had no regrets.

The thief slowly began to stand. He had to gather himself from the ground; he'd been put down hard, stabbed straight through, and not like Eld had. Eld's injury had been an easy one. The thief caught only the viscous part of the body, the skin and squishy insides. Lelan had cut through and shattered bones, he had struck his lung and reduced his capacity for breath, he severed nerves that fired pure agony throughout the entire upper half of his body. Bone shattered and broke into muscles and removed all ability to use his right arm, and stabbed into the muscle with his own skeletal system to enhance the pain . . .

By the time the thief even got to his knees, Eld would be standing in front of him.

Now that his senses were functioning at more or less full capacity again, Eld could see just how badly the wound inflicted by Lelan was. It had struck through bone and organ, likely--without medical aid soon, the thief would be in serious trouble, though that could be said for any of them.

I'm sorry, Kageko.

That was all he could say; if there'd been another option for finishing things, he'd have taken it, but he was close enough to dying that even with the calming effect of the activated Gaiasoul it rattled him a bit.

But now he was in...well, not good shape, but comparatively he was better off than the other two. The thief's had only the one wound, but it was bad enough...Lelan was also looking the worse for wear. Eld would have to make sure he got medical attention too.

The thief was so bad off, in fact, that by the time Eld got to him he was only on his knees. Staring down at him, he went through his options. Part of him definitely wanted to kill him, another part wanted to kick him around for awhile and then kill him. For once, there wasn't any significant desire to spare him...

"Why?"

The question surprised himself; he'd been intending to say something else...he wasn't quite sure what, but something that would let the thief know how wrong he'd been, or how inferior he was.

But in the end, that was the question that remained burned into his mind, it seemed. Eld just couldn't conceive of doing the things that that the madman did to Kageko; he couldn't conceive of why anyone would do those things, not to someone who was helpless and kind...

It is . . . it is fine, Master . . .

Well, no, it wasn't quite fine--but saying that might make him feel better about it. She'd get over it, though. The pain there in her world was inconsequential. It couldn't kill her--though, it could effect her to the point where she couldn't respond to Eld anymore, and he'd lose touch with her powers. So long as she remained conscious and/or did not go into a state of shock, everything would be fine.

The thief stared up at Eld with a sneer. His mouth moved to speak, but nothing came out. He was bleeding from a number of places; both shoulders, now, though one tremendously worse than the other. Blood crept down and out both corners of his lips and his face was black and blue all over. His body tensed up as if he were going to attack, but Eld would feel nothing at all; no pending attack, just tension. He heaved with each and every breath.

The eyes that looked up at Eld were not ones of despair or hatred, though, nor malicious or violent as he seemed outwardly, but as something tainted. Something good gone horribly wrong, tainted to resemble outward anger, but in truth, nothing more than frustration with life and liberty in its entirety.

"yOU Do not . . . DERSERVE," the thief raised his voice, heaved back, and with his next words, screamed: "TRUTH. OF HER OF GOD OF HEAVEN AND HELL! likeeveryonewhostarestruthinthefaceandlooksandcannotseepasthisownfuckingpredispositions--!!!!"

The thief threw his right arm at Eld.

"YOU DESERVE DEATH."

It was heavy; too heavy, so heavy he could barely lift it, but he let forth one attack at Eld at point blank range, one final attack to end his opponent's life with a hook shot into his chest at direct proximity, with a speed that could rival, if not immediately overshadow, the power of a firearm . . .

It was an answer that was not an answer, not truly. Perhaps Eld would never find out why people did terrible things to strangers; perhaps it was best if he never knew. Revenge, justice...those concepts he could understand. Those he struggled with himself. Even if he didn't agree, he could at least understand.

But this was nothing of the sort. He'd initially pegged the thief as someone who was simply taking advantage of a situation; a man who discovered a way he could act out all his destructive impulses without consequence, on a girl who most of the time did not physically exist.

It wasn't even that, though. It was madness, or something close to it. The thief passed judgment on the world for crimes that were only in his head, not caring that he'd never met Kageko, or himself, or Lelan...for merely existing, he wanted to punish everything.

"Our fate..."

Eld was already in motion, having started to move only a fraction of a second after the thief flung his arm at him. It wasn't a matter of dodging, and it wasn't precognition--it was a matter of perception. Humans were especially easy to read--sometimes, using Kageko to watch a person's movements, he felt like he could practically tell what a person was thinking, simply from observing the minute movements that went unnoticed by anyone else.

By the time the thief actually fired the chain, Eld was no longer in front of it, but still so close that the his clothing was ruffled by the pressure of the hook passing.

"...isn't for you to decide on a whim!"

It wasn't just a movement to avoid the attack, though--he brought up the scythe at the same time, holding it in both hands, and with one last burst of strength, hopefully the last of the day, he brought it down just near the thief's elbow. His aim was nothing short of severing the limb, and thus his connection to the gauntlet.

It took a moment for it to register with him. A fraction of a second earlier, he had his arm held out towards Eld; he could see down his arm, and past it, the Reaper. In a split second, though, it was gone. It felt like slow motion as he watched the lower half of his arm sever and tilt down towards the ground, drug down in an instant by the immense weight that the gauntlet had amounted. His eyes grew wide and mouth fell agape as he stared at what remained.

The thief scrambled to clutch what remained of his arm. The stump seeped blood out from between his fingers in great quantities, spilling the thief's crimson life blood down his clothes and upon the ground. From his shoulder, too, he was bleeding profusely. This was a brand new pain than that, though. The agony spreading throughout his body made him wanted to die. His chest began to heave and he let out a deep scream.



He thrust his head down into his lap, clutching his irreparable wound to his chest, his cry of pain yet to stop; he paused at times, only to shout again in agony and disbelief.

However, after a fleeting moment, the thief's gaze locked up at Eld's face, his face contorted with pain and anger. It was a silent challenge--an unspoken question from a defeated man, who saw the end coming, and though he wished not for it to happen, it may have become inevitable. In the end, it seemed he couldn't decide his own fate.

"APOCALYPTICBEAST!!!"

"Scream at me all you want," Eld stated coldly. Even with the void he felt quieting his emotions, he could steel feel the anger swell to almost unbearable levels. After all he's done, that the bastard had the nerve to look up at him as if he was the bad guy.

"I didn't force you to steal Gaiasouls out of a police lock-up. I force you to try and kill the rightful owners when they tried to get them back."

He reached down and grabbed the thief's collar, hefting up so they were at eye level. He wanted the man to hear his words, so that there was no question of why he was angry enough to sever his arm and possibly kill him.

"And I most certainly did not force you to torture and rape a helpless girl."

It was fortunate that the barrier was still suppressing his Qi--the small whirlwind that suddenly formed around him would have likely been a raging tornado otherwise...

The thief was lifted from the ground, and for a moment, he was completely silent. He didn't look Eld in the eyes, and instead stared at the ground. Though, Eld couldn't necessarily hold him that far off of the ground. Eld himself was only five feet and six inches tall, and the thief was six feet tall. At best, Eld could only get him an inch or two up, but only for a moment. His body was still in ruins, after all.

It was one thing Lelan was afraid of--that the thief had been abusive to Kageko. Ever since he saw her--and eventually spoke to her, personally--he recognized the potential for someone to physically and emotionally abuse her.

"rApE?" the thief groaned.

He couldn't sustain a laugh. No matter how much he ached all over, as if he was going through his own personal hell, he couldn't keep himself from echoing a guttural laughter. It was brief, and subsided only because of the pain he was experienced. Remembered his situation, the thief again reacted out of anger.

"youthinkIwouldtouchamonster?" the thief growled as low as he could, "ShE is WOrsE tHAn any oF US cOUld dream OF . . ."

--which gave Lelan something to think about. He didn't say anything, only continued to watch Eld, to see what he was going to do. He was tempted to call out to Eld and warn him about killing the thief, but he'd just have to wait and see about that. If it became fairly evident that Eld was going to do it, he'd speak up then.

"so then . . . youwillkillme to aVEngE a BEAST?" the thief snapped at Eld. "PATHETIC."

Eld couldn't help himself; he tossed the thief hard to the ground. He was upset about the monster comment; she wasn't, but what good would it do to argue it? The man had already passed judgment on all of them; chances were it didn't matter what Kageko was, the thief would have acted the same either way, and simply justified it differently.

After a moment of seething, he replied, "So, torturing or killing someone who's helpless is okay if they're a monster, is it?"

In a flash, the blade of the scythe was pointed at him. Whether he intended to hurt or outright kill the thief would be difficult to say, but it was clear that Eld wouldn't be able to restrain himself much longer.

"Then explain to me why I should feel guilty for killing you," he finished, the last syllable injected with every ounce of venom he could muster.

The thief hit back first and let out a grunt of pain, but no louder than his groans of agony that broke in and out every second or so. For a long moment, he laid there, completely silent, saying nothing at all until seconds passed after Eld's threat. Or promise, it seemed.

"NOthInG," the thief uttered as he stared up at the orange sky, "everyonesamonsternow. WHAT GUILT IS LEFT TO FEEL?"

It was the boiling point. Lelan couldn't let it go as is.

Shit, time to intervene.

He was weak and couldn't get off of the ground just yet, but he wasn't going to let this become bigger than it already was. Official involvement with Reapers wasn't necessary, and would only hurt everyone in the end. Especially he and Eld.

"ELD!" Lelan shouted.

Tsukimono was serious. There was no doubt about it. He was ready to cleave the thief into bits, and while Lelan couldn't necessarily blame him--he, too, had killed a man earlier today--but as far as Lelan was concerned, the benefits to this didn't outweigh the repercussions. Certainly, Eld would feel good about it at first, but the shit he was going to have to go through soon after would be hell on earth.

"Step back, man," he tried to sound diplomatic, but that really wasn't Lelan's best quality, especially since he generally didn't give a damn about people, and the closest thing he had to "liking" or "caring" about someone was simply giving a little more of a damn than he would have otherwise. Sarrevous was a perfect match for him.

"You can't afford to kill this guy."

As the thief replied, Eld pulled his scythe back in preparation for a swing. He wanted this man dead, there was no denying it. The only question was whether he wanted it to be a slow or quick death.

Upon hearing Lelan's voice, he hesitated. He was right, unfortunately; killing this man would at best cause him to face a very severe punishment from the Dirige, and at worst he'd be marked as an Ame Voleur.

"...So what should I do?" Eld asked after several seconds. "Let him go? A man who sees everyone as monsters, who'll torture them if he thinks he can get away with it?"

Revenge was his driving force when he thought Kageko was dead; the second it seemed she'd passed away, nothing had mattered to him but tearing into her killer. But for reasons he beyond his comprehension at the moment, she hadn't really died.

What he wanted most, what took precedence over even revenge, was making sure this never happened again. But what he'd done wasn't something he'd be arrested for; Eld and Kageko were ghosts as far as the rest of the world was concerned, and he doubted Lelan would want to stick around and press assault charges, especially since it would require him to present his Gaiasoul as evidence, most likely.

What would you do, Remmy? If it had been one of us, would you have killed the guy who did it?

He had no way of knowing, of course. But thinking about his deceased friend calmed him down, and let him think more clearly. For a moment, he closed his eyes...it was sort of a futile gesture, given that he could hardly see anything in Kageko's darkness anyway and his other senses more than made up for it, but it was a habit.

"I'd like to think I want justice...but maybe I just want revenge. I don't know. But...if it's the latter...I'm not really the one who was wronged. I'm not the one who deserves to judge."

He opened his eyes, and stared the thief in the eye one last time. "So, I'll let her decide."

She would know before he'd even have started speaking what the plan was; he thought too heavily on what to do for her not to.

His fate's in your hands now...whatever you decide, I'll accept it.



And with that, the scythe would revert back to its original form, an old farming instrument, and Eldridge Tsukimono would no longer be the one holding it...

Kageko's response was not one of sympathy or thanks. Her voice had become exceedingly dark; she was in no way sinister, but she had bad blood with the thief. She'd have been lying if she said that she didn't want to see him hurt more than he currently was.

. . . I . . . will be brief, Master . . .

No appreciation, nor suggestion that he should not do it, but acknowledgment as if it were meant to happen--as if justice was actually being served on a silver platter, and Eld was the judge and jury and she was to become the executioner.

The very instant that Eld finished the chant, a cloud expelled from around him. It seemingly seeped out of the scythe itself and flooded the world around it, enshrouding Eldridge Tsukimono in darkness, eclipsing him entirely, fazing out any possibility of an outline or shadow. The radius was large and it seemingly bridged the gap between Lelan and the thief. Both covered their faces, but Lelan coughed. The smoke was stronger than cigarettes ever could be.

As the dark mist began to lift, it became evident to Lelan and the thief that Eld was no longer there. The cloud of darkness parted from the feet up, slowly uncoiling from around thin obsidian skinned legs, and further up to reveal a knee-length skirt of the same color of her skin, and up to a thin waist, modest breasts, and smooth shoulders--with her torso covered by a dress, attached to the skirt and strapless, held up by just pressure around her chest alone. The shade, Kageko, stood where Eld once did, with a simple farming scythe clasped under-handed behind her back.

". . . yOu . . ." the thief whispered as he tried to force himself to sit up.

"He-- Eld just--" Lelan whispered in disbelief, "No one . . . no one does that."

What the hell kind of idiot is he?! Switching out with a Gaiasoul like that--Jesus, even that madman knows better than that! Fuck--fuck--fuck! What if she doesn't want to go back? Of course she won't want to-- what if she makes a mess of this place?! A bigger one . . .

Eld coughed; it was the first time he'd released the third seal, and while he wasn't sure what would happen smoke was not what he was expecting. But even more surprising was where he was when the smoke cleared. He expected to simply be in the dark world; failing at that he didn't know where he'd end up, but...

It was just as he remembered it; a more gentle slope going up on one side, a steep drop on the other. Only the view changed; rather than fields and trees stretching to the horizon, it was just a gray misty haze--as though the entire world was covered in fog, and only his hill rose above it.

Where I always went to be alone...how appropriate.

He couldn't really tell what was going on outside, unfortunately; he could hear Kageko's thoughts and voice, but nothing else, which was odd. He knew that she could hear others, after all. All he had was a vague sense; Qi, he realized, but only the vaguest sense--possibly because of the barrier that was still up...

He was also no longer injured. Here in the mental world, of course, his physical body had no bearing, not unless Kageko called upon his power, and he wasn't even sure how that would work.

All he could do now was sit down and cross his legs, and keep quiet. He tried his best not to distract Kageko or influence her decision. He simply paid attention, and it seemed he'd only know what happened by her own thoughts and voice...

Without a word, Kageko glanced back to the scythe in her hand. Her brow furrowed as she thought hard about it. Both the thief and Lelan watched her closely, not knowing exactly what she would do next. Coincidentally, Lelan was actually more concerned than the thief was. He'd never seen someone release the third seal of a Gaiasoul--because every Collector knew damn well how dangerous that was, not just to one's own well being, but to the world in general . . .

Kageko shut her eyes and said nothing for some time. Her thoughts were blank, but there were voices. Distant and audible like a wind, just like a slight wind that seemed to carry and sound like a human whisper, so slight, and was, in the end, nothing but a cold breeze.



". . . ."



". . . ."



". . . ."



Kageko kept the scythe behind her back, and reached back with her left hand to take it. With a slight nudge of her left hand, she sunk the blade into the earth. It pierced the ground with ease. Even unreleased, the blade was perfect; a true Reaper's blade, but one she had no intentions of wielding. Not right now. Not ever, more than likely. But . . . she was fine with that.

The moment that she let go of the scythe, however, Eld would feel a momentous emptiness. He couldn't actually see that she was holding the scythe or not--but the distance between wielder and spirit was noticeable at the very moment it was established--and the emptiness felt when Kageko's Master was very far away from her was actually momentously stressful. She always felt as if part of her world had been ripped away, and that she was empty inside. It wasn't pleasant.

The shadeling turned her attention to the thief. Her expression fell from one of thoughtfulness to anger. Her eyes narrowed and her upper lip rose ever so slightly in the form of a sneer. The thief did not look like the same monster as when she saw him in her world, but appearances were just superficial. He was a monster to her, a beast deep down on the inside; an unjustifiable creature that sought only to hurt and maim, who took advantage of anything that could not fight back. Kageko took a step forward.

". . . stOP," the thief commanded.

And another.

"i SAid STOP."

And another.

"STEPAWAYSTEPAWAYSTEPAWAY!!" the thief resorted to shouting, and as soon as he saw that Kageko still did not halt her approach, he added: "aS yOUr MASTER, icommandyoutostop!"

Kageko stopped dead in her tracks, settling where she stood. Though the girl continued to stare at the thief with hateful eyes, she took no further steps towards him. Her long pause came to an abrupt end, however, when she bent down to the ground, and placed her hand upon one of the bricks that culminated the road. A dark flash had her claws flicked out in an instant, and retracted just as quick, leaving a shattered brick behind. One piece was taken, and she rolled it between her right thumb and index finger.

"WhAT aRE--"

Coldly, she interrupted him with a raspy whisper so quiet that it was a wonder the thief could even hear her--let alone Lelan; but both did, loud and clear: "I have only one Master."

At that very instant, the thief knew that he had no control over her. Eld's act had been affirmed: this was the real Kageko, her real body. That which she expressed in her mind was a perfect copy of it; she had no inklings of self loathing, nor any sense of vanity. Her own self worth was measured in neutrals.

The thief sat up; it was easier to back away that way. Slowly, Kageko stalked forward, one foot after the other, walking with a subtle feminine sway, far from barbaric or beast-like. With his remaining hand, the thief grasped the bricks upon the street and pulled himself back, doing the same with his feet, digging them in and pushing out to further the distance between himself and Kageko--yet, however much distance he thought he made, and it felt, to him, as if he had cleared a mile, the street always looked the same, and the living shadow continued to make ground on him effortlessly.

Lelan didn't see the thief move at all; he saw him scramble to try and pull himself back, but without making any distance at all.

As soon as Kageko was close enough, enough to stand right above the thief, he began to swipe his left hand at her. It felt as if he was striking her; it truly felt as if he was jabbing her in the side and he leaned forward to swing and punch at her stomach, and he saw it connect. He felt his knuckles against her soft belly, he felt a recoil, he sensed it all--

Lelan watched as Kageko stood next to the thief, and the thief leaned forward and frantically punched in front of him, hitting the air with all the strength he had left in his body . . .

It ended in an instant. Kageko leaned down, and without saying a word, placed the now rounded piece of brick against the thief's forehead. Immediately, he could see her standing beside of him, bent over. He could feel her whole palm against his forehead, and the hard rock within her palm pressing up against his skin roughly. He lifted his arm up at her, intent to grab at her throat now that she was in range, but he stopped. In mid-lift, his left arm froze. He no longer looked up to her.

His eyes began to fall.

His arm fell.

His shoulders fell.

His breathing calmed.

His heart beat nominally.

The thief slumped forward.

Kageko removed her palm from his forehead, and the former piece of brick with it. For a second, she examined it. All hate and anger left her face, and was replaced with nothing at all; an expressionless visage as she examined the piece of rock, which was now somewhat discolored.

"It is done," Kageko remarked aloud, her voice--at that moment--absolutely devoid of emotion, and though it was still somewhat raspy and quiet, Lelan could still hear her as if she were right there beside of him, whispering in his ear--though, in reality, he was a goof twenty feet away from her . . .

Nonetheless, Lelan barely noticed a change in the thief. "What? What did you do?"

"He is dead."



"But he's still breathing . . ."

Kageko turned back from the thief, still holding the small stone in her hand. It was like a marble, now. Harder to break; much harder, but not like scythe. It wasn't absolutely impossible.

"He is without mind or feeling," Kageko announced, for Lelan's sake.

". . . what?"

Lelan looked to the thief, and examined him to figure out what Kageko was talking about. At first, he hadn't noticed any difference--but on a second examination, he could see it clearly. The difference was enormous. The thief no longer clutched his bloody stump, nor did he grown in pain. He simply stared down at the ground, quietly, and breathed. His heart beat, but there was no life left in his eyes. They were hollow and all color within his irises had blurred into a single color.

Lelan didn't feel enough for the thief to justify a moral dilemma--but that didn't make it any less frightening. Lelan's brow tightened in on itself as he looked back up to Kageko. "For how long?"

Kageko's lack of response was more of an answer than if she had explicitly came out and explained it to Lelan. Forever. Perhaps even beyond death. She had done much worse than taking his life. That . . . that would have been mercy.

Unable to see the way the thief sat lifeless, breathing, nothing but a vegetable, Eld was unable to grasp the full extent of what Kageko had done. All he understood was that thief was alive but not; it was difficult to imagine the kind of fate she'd bestowed upon her aggressor, but he did not doubt that he'd no longer be a threat.

But even without the full knowledge, Eld still felt a mix of feelings at it. On one hand, it sounded like she found the perfect solution, a way to eliminate the thief without killing him and thus marking Eld as an Ame Voleur...but he regretted that it had to be Kageko that did it. He did not know whether or not she was satisfied or hated having to do it, but even worse than the thought of killing out of vengeance was the thought that he made someone else do it for him...

He could only pray that Kageko would never do something like that just because she thought he wanted it.

Now that it was over, though, there was another thing to take care of. Lelan was in desperate need of medical attention, and Eld would need treatment before too long as well, once he was back in his body. Which, since Kageko didn't have his earpiece, he'd need to be in order for them to get back to the Dirige headquarters.

If Lelan had grabbed the gauntlet in the meantime, he could call upon his partner's power to reduce the severity of his wounds, but like Eld he'd still need treatment shortly. The bigger question was whether he should go to a hospital in town or wait until he returned to headquarters...

Inevitably, Eld and Kageko were switched out, and Lelan retrieved Sarrevous--and before they did anything else, carefully gathered all chains back into it, to avoid collapsing structures and the like. Then, after the field was taken down, they were promptly admitted to a hospital.

The Dirige decreed that Eld was going to stay in that town and recover before returning to headquarters, as the health care he was being provided with was more than sufficient. It did, after all, entail mages and daily treatments with mana flows--which the Dirige lacked. Qi, after all, could only heal so much. Mana was much better for that.

Over time, Lelan had done a little more research while he and Eld were in the hospital. His curiosity about the thief had grown over time; someone who could instantly bond with a Gaiasoul, in ways that no one else could. It was unlikely that Lelan would ever bond with Sarrevous enough to create such a massive amount of chains, and give them no defined end, just like Eld would likely never be able to change the physical nature of his scythe to fit whatever he wanted or needed, from gas to liquid.

In the end, though, Lelan heard a lot of the same. That the thief preached about the end of the world to crowds, was often kicked and beaten for disrupting the peace, and was generally loathed throughout the city--but he always kept coming back here. That aside, though, he had learned of one new thing, something Lelan regretted. The thief's name.

Joseph Grear.

To identify someone by name was to consider them human. It was easier to look at the catatonic thief as nothing more than a monster. There were no regrets that way. But to look at him and call him Joseph Grear was to identify him as a human being--and accept some degree of regret. In the end, though, there was nothing that could be done for him. Kageko had no intentions of reversing his condition, even if she could.