A surge of emotion rushed through Eld. He didn't know the Krigensons that well, but even so they'd tried to protect him, even with whatever they did to the two women. They didn't looked harmed, but something was off, as though it wasn't just that they were knocked out.

He didn't even think of what they might possibly want with the scythe. Given that it was otherwise worthless, they must have known about Kageko, but how or why was a mystery.

Etsu had given him a signal, indicating that the massive spirit had left--Eld could feel it too, though not as well. Now it was safe to make a move. The Krigensons had risked their own safety to protect him from these people, and he wasn't going to let things lay as they were.

Seems like they're interested in you, Kageko, he thought coolly. I think we'd better introduce you.

Moving quickly and quietly, he moved to beside the door of the barn, waiting just until the azure-haired man stepped out, at which point he feel his arm grabbed and, more importantly, a blade at his neck.

"Whatever you did to them, undo it," he ordered, letting the man feel that, old though the scythe looked, it was still plenty sharp.

For . . . me?

The azure haired man stopped as soon as he was captured. His heart skipped a beat, and for a brief moment he was surprised. But he calmed in just a moment, and rather than displaying fear or dismay, he could only feel irritated with the situation already. He watched as the other Reaper, a girl whose hair, although azure all the same, was much darker than his, turned the corner and held her weapon, a naginata, forward, it's blade just under the blade of Eld's scythe, and just as close to the man's throat.

"No," he replied-- holding back a growl.

Eld would notice something as he held onto the man, though. He was cold to the touch-- so cold it hurt. It was like holding onto an ice cube that never melted or diminished in temperature-- and it wasn't just an abstract feeling, either. The edge of his and Etsu's blades would gather frost, as Eld's body would become progressively colder and colder, on the inside and out . . .

"Ts-- Tsukimono!" Krigenson shouted from within the barn.

"Ah. Well, that was quick," the man remarked quickly, disappointed, "Perhaps I should not have sent Illorex away so soon. Perhaps he would have obliged your request . . ."

Eld let go the man's arm, but his blade remained where it was. It was an odd thing, that his hand would get so painfully cold when he touched his skin, but he didn't dwell on it; he'd seen a lot of strange things lately.

"I wasn't asking." He pressed his blade a little harder against the man's skill--frost or not, it would still cut. "Now, let me tell you: I'm really tired of dealing with people like you. So, either you can get them back to normal, and then we can talk about whatever you want like civilized people, or I can kill you and deal with your friend, seeing as how he's apparently more agreeable."

The killing part was at least a bluff--as things stood, he'd rather just knock him out instead, given that the girls seemed to be unharmed at least physically; but the man didn't need to know that, and it felt silly to say he'd knock him out when their blades were at his throat anyway.

Even by letting his hand go, Eld would find that just being in his proximity would stir a chill throughout his body. Etsu noticed, too. It was subtle, but she had stepped back a few feet, and compensated for the distance by holding her arms out a little further, and thus the blade, to keep the blade of her naginata at his throat still. Because her blade was below Eld's, though, she couldn't see that it, too, was frosted over.

"I apologize for your luck, Tsukimono-san--" he began as he took a step back, intended to press himself up against his captor, "But that isn't my jurisdiction. After all, this is all Illorex's work . . ."

Whether or not Eld backed up, as well, or allowed the man to back into him, he'd be greeted by the same cold. It was painful-- horribly painful, yet numbing all the same. A topical numbness with agony beneath-- a frozen chill all over.

"But if it helps your resolve . . ." he paused; from that point, he spoke with a calm sort of confidence-- not arrogance, but confidence, ". . . I'm the one who told him to."

Master-- move!!

"Etsu, get back!" he shouted; the man wasn't just unnaturally cold, he was using it as an attack.

Rather than simply get away from him, Eld decided the better option was to move him away from them. He pulled his scythe away, but rather than just that he pivoted on his rear foot, spinning all the way around so he could hit the man with the back of the scythe, right in the side of his head. Not facing Eld--and in fact moving towards him--it was unlikely he'd be able to avoid it, and even if he saw it and tried ducking, Eld was ready to aim lower if necessary.

At the very least it would probably stun the man and send him reeling away from them--it might even knock him out, if he took the full blow.

Etsu did just that. If Eld thought putting distance between them and the azure haired man, then she was going to put a mile of distance between them. Physically, Eld was a much better fighter than she. Skill wise-- well, that was a bit of a discrepancy. With any other weapon, Etsu could defeat Eld if they fought sans Qi. When Eld had Kageko, though, she didn't stand a chance. And currently, Eld had Kageko.

And intended swipe barely missed. Once Eld had completely released him, the man ducked-- but not to intentionally dodge anything, nor did he really know that an attack was coming. In fact, the duck itself wasn't what helped him at all, it was the fact that he was ducking close to the ground to push himself forward quicker.

Which he did without a thought. By the time Eld swung the back of the polearm (and missed), their aggressor had already lunged forward, and was propelling himself towards Etsu. She was directly in front of him, and as Eld had a weapon, he may have been trying to get a weapon, himself-- or, perhaps, he saw Etsu as an easy target. One of two targets, and potentially the weakest link of the two.

Either way, Etsu immediately stopped backpedaling and planted her left foot. She shoved the blade forward defensively, but it seemed he was expecting something similar, as the man who ran close to the ground, and at an exceptional speed, broke left, but still towards her. She swung left instantly, but then he stopped: stopped on a dime, with one hand upon the pole of her naginata.

Etsu didn't let go, but she didn't fight for control over it again. They both had a strong grip on it. In fact, his was probably stronger, but he wasn't attempting to take it from her. Fighting for control would have just tired her out far too much. The azure haired man stood up straight again. The two weren't going to have the opportunity to surprise him again. This he was content with.

"Put the scythe down, and the both of you can live," he declared as he turned his head and body a bit, to glance behind him at Eld.

"Yeah, I'm going to believe a guy who attacks innocent people just to find a scythe," Eld countered, charging forward after him as he finished his spin. He may have had a grip on Etsu's weapon, but that was far from a huge advantage, not when he was facing multiple opponents.

In fact, it would be a huge disadvantage if he didn't let go, as he'd have no way to avoid Eld's downward swing, and Eld's reach was long enough that if the man tried to move closer to Etsu he'd still get hit. Though truthfully, given how fast the opponent was, he wasn't expecting to hit him, and he didn't want to kill him anyway; not yet, at least.

Rather, he swung with one hand, leaving the other open so he could summon Qi to it. When the man inevitably dodged, he'd release the Qi at him. He wasn't good enough at controlling his Qi to do anything fancy, but he could release it small bursts, which to those who couldn't see Qi tended to seem like a sudden blast of wind.

If hit with it, it wouldn't hurt him so much as send him backwards, and off his feet if he was light enough. It would give them a chance to regroup, and for Eld to call forth the true power of his weapon...

Etsu tightened her grip to the best of her ability, yet she couldn't help but feel it slipping. Strange-- that shouldn't be happening. And, for that matter, it was getting colder. The more she tightened her fists around it, the colder her hands became. It even started to stick to her skin a little. She shifted her hands just a bit-- but that became a dire mistake.

The probational Reaper barely even saw it coming. With just a twist of his wrist, he pulled the naginata out of her hands. It was freezing to the touch and hard for her to keep a grip on. As soon as he had it in hand and continued to twist his body around to face Eld, Etsu, dumbfounded, realized what the man had been doing: he was disarming her without her even knowing it, by freezing her weapon to the point that she couldn't hold onto it anymore. Worst of all, it didn't take any time at all to freeze it!

The twist of his wrist and the twist of his body all occurred at once, all simultaneous to Eld's charge. With Etsu's polearm in hand, he spun it quickly to strike Eld's scythe just as he brought it down towards him, to literally smack it off towards the left of him with the backside of the naginata, whilst he prepared to follow through with a forward swing into Eld--

Which was quickly averted. What felt like a single hurricane wind struck him, and the man stopped, taking a fraction of a second to brace himself. His feet locked onto the ground, and his body skidded back, leaving a trail of dirt dug up where his feet dragged. He remained standing, however, with one arm and the naginata over his body. Eld managed to put some distance between them, though-- about ten feet of distance.

"What . . ." he stammered. He hadn't fallen over or taken that much damage, but he was still surprised to no end. "What was that?"

Damn! Etsu had been disarmed, and with her Qi still sealed that meant she was more or less out of the fight, and his opponent was now armed. He didn't blame her, though; with someone with such an odd power, predicting all he could do would be impossible.

He...can't see it?, surprised by...well, his opponent's surprise. True, this one didn't give off much Qi, but his partner had, so he assumed that they could both see it and use it, or at the very least knew about it.

With that, perhaps he had a chance to end this before things got out of hand. "I can do that, and I can do more. Look, I don't want to hurt you, I just don't want anyone else to get hurt, so let's stop this nonsense. If you can promise me you won't hurt anyone and your friend gets the Krigensons back to normal as soon as he returns, I have no reason to fight you."

"I see . . ." he trailed off.

He moved a bit, digging his feet into the ground as he slid the naginata out before him, now holding it with both hands. The blade faced the earth, and the pole was out horizontally before him, much like he was holding a sword. More than likely, he didn't know how to use it nearly as well as Etsu did. That method of holding it was supposed to be defensive, with the blade facing the sky, not aggressive, with the blade facing the ground. That way was too slow to be aggressive, style-wise.

Etsu didn't feel like she was out of the fight, though. Rather, she moved-- slowly each time, to position herself behind the man. She kept her hands open and before her, as if ready to attack in some form of judo--though she didn't know it--but not yet. That was just a comfortable defense, in case he noticed her, whilst she slowly edged closer and closer to his back.

"Unfortunately, that is not an option. We're here for that scythe, Tsukimono-san. We are not going to leave until we have it. The Krigensons are not alone. The entirety of the Lattes family currently belong to Illorex-- as well as numerous merchants of Galaens. You are not currently in the position to negotiate."

Etsu...what are you...? But he was worried that if he called to her, the man would notice her and attack her; instead, he'd just have to trust that she had something in mind. But what she could do without her weapon was a mystery to him...

"I'm sorry...I can't give it to you. It's something very important to me." Whether the man knew it or not, handing the scythe over to him would be akin to handing Kageko over to him, and that was not acceptable.

"So, when your friend returns, I guess I'll just have to make a deal with him; in exchange for putting everyone back to normal, your safety." He didn't know for sure what the man called Illorex had done to everyone, but he assumed that he was the only one who could undo it. Which meant negotiating with this person any further was pointless.

"Infusco orbis terrarum," he intoned, holding the scythe in front of him. "Kageko."

"That won't be an option, either," he remarked under his breath.

The naginata was brought back and up as Eld chanted. Still holding it much like a sword, he held it lifted rather than close to the ground, closer up to his shoulder, but had his hands spread apart. There was a style of swordplay that used the exact same stance, which couldn't possibly be used correctly with a polearm-- let alone a naginata, which was built much differently than most other polearms of the world. The straight pole-- the curved blade-- it didn't match well with anything short of tactics not otherwise built for naginatas. Granted, this made them extremely impractical weapons outside of war, when cavalry needed to be eviscerated, but it worked to Eld and Etsu's advantage in this case.

He focused on the scythe of Eld's for now, discounting the idea that Etsu would do anything further without a weapon. The way the scythe changed into something almost completely different after such a short and simple chant . . .

"So-- that's the true form of it, then?" he asked rhetorically.

Yet before either of them could attack, the man let out a shout of pain and stumbled forward, reeling from a barefisted punch to the back of his head. He nearly dropped the naginata in the process. A glare was passed back to Etsu, who stood now with her arms by her sides, idling back to stoic and passive-- as if she weren't fighting at all.

"Hai," she declared with a nod, replying to the question originally intended for Eld.

"Duck!" Eld shouted just after Etsu struck; she'd be quick enough to react, but his opponent was still regaining his balance, and would have no such luxury. Eld shot his arm out as he dashed forward, sending another burst of Qi at the man, intending to further throw him off balance.

Closing the gap between them, he skirted around the naginata's blade and with his free hand grabbed it. Rather than swing his scythe at the man, though, he launched a straight kick at his gut, intending to pulling the weapon from his grasp as he did so.

Whether or not he succeeded in disarming him, if his kick landed he'd be sent reeling back further, right into Etsu's range for her to continue the chain of attacks.

With the man's feet already planted into the ground, despite being somewhat off balance already, Eld would have a hard time knocking him over with a weak Qi blast. He did, however, knock him off balance entirely, causing him to stumble once more. This gave Eld the perfect opportunity to dodge around the naginata and kick him straight in the gut.

"Gah!" he coughed as Eld's kick landed square in his stomach.

He stumbled back even further, coming in close to Etsu once again-- who had ducked when Eld told her to. And already, she was standing back up.

Of course, taking the naginata from him would be a completely different story. It was so cold by then that it would burn Eld's fingers just to touch it. Without using a cloth or anything along those lines to minimize contact with the cold, he wasn't going to be wrenching it out of his enemy's hands. That didn't mean his grip couldn't be broken, though . . .

He let out another grunt as he felt a shin smack into his hand. Instinctively, he let go. As soon as he was close, Etsu had kicked him in the hand. She brought her leg down to plant into the ground, right in front of the man's foot, as she grabbed at the back of his head and pushed forward with all of her weight-- which, although it wasn't much, was enough to push him forward, into her foot, and finally topple him over.

He landed face-first in the dirt, already having let go of the naginata, and didn't say anything, nor did he move. He was breathing, but it was likely that Eld or Etsu would speak or do anything before he did . . .

As soon as Eld laid he hands on the naginata he realized why Etsu had dropped it: it was freezing cold and incredibly slippery. He let go as he kicked, worried that without a firm grip he'd slice off his fingers.

Fortunately, Etsu was ready, and not only disarmed him but brought him to the ground as well. Eld quickly closed the distance, giving her an appreciative look, and reminded himself never to count her out just because she lost her weapon.

As for their downed opponent, Eld placed his foot on the back of his neck, but didn't yet put much pressure on it; just enough to keep him from getting up. "So, tell me: why do you want my scythe? And if I so much as feel chilly," he warned, "it's lights out."

With the scythe in its double-ended form, he'd feel not only any physical movements he made, but also even minute changes in temperature. The chances of him surprising Eld with an attack were slim.