Naturally, it was a little weird for him to just say something out loud like that, and Sarah was about ready to call him out, but then she remembered the whole thing with Kageko. She talked in his head, and sometimes he forgot to think rather than to speak. If they all had things like Kageko around, she'd be able to say that it happened to the best of them-- but then she'd also be able to consider herself certifiably insane.

"Only a few times, huh?" Emma asked as she jotted down notes.

"Um . . . E-Eld?" Mayako glanced to Emma and then Sarah, a little awkwardly, "H-how strong is it? Wh-when you use it, th-that is . . .?"

Well . . . for her own curiosity, as well as being useful for the current predicament. That was kind of just a byproduct, though.

Eld looked at Mayako blankly for several moments, surprised by the question because...well, he'd never much thought about it. "I'm...not actually sure. I know I'm stronger, but that's about it."

"It might be easier to demonstrate." He looked around for a moment before spotting a rock that still seemed mostly intact, and he got up and went over to it. It would serve as a good measuring stick, anyway; he knew he didn't even approach Remmy's strength with his normal strength, but with the burst was another story, perhaps.

He leaned over, studying for a few seconds to find a relatively flat part of it, and then suddenly reared back and punched it with all his might. Normally it would be just a good way to break your fist (and judging by the blood on some of the rocks, Remmy may have done just that a few times), but using his burst it would be different.

As Eld stood up, the girls had their eyes on him, all with much anticipating. Only Emma had really seen him use this all that much, but that was a few weeks ago. He'd probably gotten stronger since then, right?

There was a hollow thud-- and then a crack.

Of course, it was going to hurt like crazy. His muscles could absorb the shock during a burst of strength, but that didn't mean he couldn't break his skin-- and he would. He'd break his skin open almost as if he were trying to make himself bleed. He'd find his hand a bloody mess, which all things considered, was perhaps making up for the fact that he didn't bleed all day today otherwise, despite the horrible beating he took.

"W-whoa . . . !" He'd first hear Mayako's gasp of awe.

And then Sarah's. "Goddamn, Eld . . ."

Emma didn't so much gasp as she made a note. "Well, that's definitely bound to be useful."

And if Eld were to look at the tall boulder, he'd find that pieces were falling off all around it-- chunks and flakes all over, as if it had been rattled to the core, enough to shudder it all over, and cause it to shed a couple of layers. And likewise, the area he struck was gone; it had impacted and caved in several inches beyond the initial area he'd punched. And that was just by using his fist alone, on an extremely sturdy, extremely thick boulder . . .

Eld let out a gasp as he hit. "Oh! Owwwwowowowowow..." he muttered, holding his hand. Perhaps that had been a bit overzealous; after all, punching stone was a lot different than punching flesh. But he still thought he'd be a bit better off than that.

Recalling that there was a well nearby, he went over to it so that he could wash the blood off his hand and use some scraps from his jacket to stop the bleeding. It was already pretty much ruined from the fighting earlier anyway.

"Err...go ahead and continue," he said as he tended to his hand. "I can still hear, I'll be just a minute." Whatever benefit their reactions might have had to his ego was balanced by feeling extremely stupid for cutting open his hand like that. Though, the fact that he didn't seem all that impressed with himself for doing that to a boulder may have said something about how much stronger he'd gotten overall in the last few months.

"O-oh my--" Mayako gasped again, this time less in awe and more . . . concerned.

It was only a little wound, but any wound on Eld concerned her! Besides, it wasn't so much a "little" wound as it was kind of a gaping wound. The skin over his knuckles, he'd find, would be damn near shredded. That was probably going to leave a scar. A really, really bad scar. More than likely, he'd want to wear a bandage over those for awhile, and maybe some antiseptic treatment from his parents later.

"W-wait a second, I-I'll help!" Mayako announced quickly as she got up and followed Eld. She wasn't at the same level as him or his parents, but she could still help a little with cleaning and dressing wounds. Sometimes it was better to have a second person to help out, after all.

Emma waited for a moment for things to calm down. Eld could hear out there, yes, but she had a few important things to say! Once she heard it all quiet a little, she'd continue on.

"All right. Discounting spiritual energy, I think we have all the facts now. But we all know how enigmatic that stuff is," Emma remarked, "So, here-- my initial thoughts . . ."

The corridor was small, but the windows were easily accessible-- yet to what, exactly? Miles and miles of fog, a perpetual expanse of gray that only worsened with time. Gestahl could barely fit in the hall. It wasn't built for a seven foot tall someone, but that didn't really matter to him. He was content where he was, sitting with his back against the wall, gazing out into the expanse of gray outside of the arched window. His emerald eyes couldn't see past it, but it didn't matter. He knew what was beyond it.

Nothing.

"Hey, stranger . . ." a female voice called out nearby.

He shifted his glance to the left, in direction of her call. And there she was, a woman of five feet and five inches tall. She was thin, yet shapely, with curves and a body that most women dreamed of. It was shown off, perhaps, by the dress she wore. It was an oriental dress, yet not of Cizokian make, it was from another country. It was red and clung to her body, yet it showed very little skin.

Yet that wasn't the first thing he saw. Indeed, the first thing he noticed about the woman was what he recognized. Platinum blond, cut very, very short, with two long strands elevated just a bit and slicked back, almost like tendrils. She had a youthful face, fair skin, and scarlet eyes-- eyes which stared at Gestahl with much interest.

Gestahl looked back into the sea of gray.

"I heard you were back," she mused as she drifted on, ever towards Gestahl, walking as if she were as light as a feather.

Gestahl did not reply.

And still she drifted, until finally reaching him, whereupon she sat down next to him. He didn't stop her, nor commend her for it, but she sat close, and almost leaned against his arm. Yet it wasn't a seductive way that she did it-- it was . . . affectionate. Genuinely affectionate.

"Mother has been worried sick," she whispered as she leaned her head upon his bicep, "You haven't been home in weeks."

"I know."

"Why?"

"I've tasks to fulfill."

The young woman shut her eyes briefly, before opening them once more to pass a dejected stare out into the passionless gray.

"You always say that," she whispered, "But you haven't much time left, Father. You should spend it here . . ."

"If all is well, Akizets," Gestahl whispered just as well, as he shut his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall, "I will have all the time in the world."

Eld mumbled to himself that he was fine, but of course Mayako wasn't going to have any of it; he let her help, if only because it was easier than trying to convince her otherwise. What he really wasn't looking forward to was going home and explaining to his parents why his hand was busted up. As much as he hated lying to them, he'd almost rather try than tell them he injured himself punching a rock...

********

They spent a long time talking about how Eld should fight; ultimately, there was one unavoidable conclusion: if his opponent could use the very ground against him, the only option for fighting him was to take to the air. Specifically how to do that was the subject of much debate.

He had some options available to him: he could get into the air by baiting Gestahl into using an attack like the earth pillar he'd hit him with earlier, or he could also use a strength burst to jump very high. The problem was staying in the air for any length of time. He was good enough with his kusari-gama to potentially wrap it around branches and the like to swing from it over the ground, so that was worth trying. There was also the possibility that he could use his Qi to keep himself aloft somehow, but he wouldn't know whether or not that would work until he tried it.

While it was still iffy if an of these ideas would actually work, at least he had some now, and after some practice he'd know what he could and couldn't use. Emma had been taking notes the entire time, and it was when he looked at the notebook and realized he could hardly see it, let alone the writing, that he became aware of just how dark it was. The only illumination left was moonlight shining through the trees...

"It's pretty late," he noted. Normally he wouldn't even think about sleeping yet--he stayed up well past dark most days--but he was exhausted from the day's events. He needed a rest before he even started training, let alone went to rescue Etsu.

They could have lit the oil lanterns and continued on for the rest of the night, really. It wasn't like anyone was going to find them out here-- and Sarah and Emma's father was fine with them coming back late or staying the night at someone's house, so long as they were safe, which as Sarah once explained to Eld, had a vast number of different meanings. Mayako was a little different, though. If it were getting late and she didn't have permission to stay over somewhere else, she would need to get home rather quick like! Her parents were fairly strict about those sorts of things and all. It just so happened that the necessity of what they were talking about denoted a lack of care for those sorts of rules. Which was kind of amazing.

Mayako didn't even think about that when Eld said he was going to go home and get some sleep, either. She was tempted to offer to go back to Eld's with him and try and psyche him up best she could, but he probably wanted to be alone.

Incidentally, Sarah had the same urge to go and hang out with Eld for a little while longer, for the same purpose of psyching him up, and opted against it for very similar reasons. Emma, on the other hand, was thinking a little too logically at the moment to consider the possibility that Eld might not be all that emotionally prepared at the moment.

"All right," Emma replied as she closed the notebook and clipped the pen back onto it, "I'm going to leave this here, okay Eld? Just come back and read over what we all talked about tomorrow morning or something, before you start."

"Alright," Eld replied with a nod. Even though he didn't mention it, they seemed to understand he was tired. He stood up, feeling the need to say something to all of them. "Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me, that you're all supporting me...it's thanks to you that I have a chance."

If it weren't for them, it was entirely possible he'd have spent this entire time moping about his situation, not doing anything productive, just worrying about Etsu. With their help he could keep focused without sinking into depression.

"Hey, it's no problem," Emma waved off Eld's thanks.

At which Sarah added, "We wanna see Etsu safe as much as ya do, y'know?"

"Y-yeah! Sh-she's our friend, too . . ." Mayako interjected-- happy to just be able to come out and say that sort of thing.

And truth be told, this might have been the most they could do, really. Fighting wasn't really an option for them. Emma might have practiced with Eld and Etsu every so often, but that didn't mean she it was fair game for her to go running out into battle with some sort of supernatural foe-- particularly because she had no such supernatural abilities! That only ran with her brother, and nothing more. He was the only one to inherit their mother's gift. Emma might have been the only one of them here to know that, though . . .

Eld nodded. Of course, he wasn't the only one who wanted Etsu back, and remembering that made him all the more determined to rescue her. He wondered if she, who once thought the world would hardly notice her absence from it, knew just how much she meant to those around her now. Etsu...your existence is valued plenty. I hope you can see that.

"Thank you," he repeated, before yawning and stretching his arms. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to get some sleep."

He looked around before asking, a bit sheepishly, "Umm...Emma? You know the way back from here, right?"

"Ah! Yeah-- I do," Emma declared as she stood up, and then motioned for the others to follow, as if rounding them all up, "Follow me."

After all, this was supposed to be a secret place. Remmy's secret place-- that only she and Remmy knew about. It was really difficult to find, and was about a ten minute walk right into the forest, off paths and everything. It was just a matter of walking in the right direction. That's how Emma learned how to get there. It was something along the lines of going due northeast for awhile until reaching a familiar place, going due north for a bit, and then due northeast again. Or one could go northeast for awhile and then straight east-- but that was a little harder to memorize, actually. A couple of trees this way were marked, while a more direct route entailed no marked trees of any sort. Subtle marks, of course, but they weren't natural. Notches in trees made by a pocket knife, really. She had seen them enough to recognize them even in the dark.

Without any difficulty at all, she'd lead them out.

"G-goodnight Eld," Mayako remarked sheepishly once they were out, and it was time to go their separate ways.

"Yeah-- sleep good," added Sarah.

Eld was glad Emma had the path memorized; while he could probably find his way during the day, now that he knew roughly where to go, at night he'd more than likely just get lost.

"Good night," he replied to his friends once they were out of the woods. It was time to head home, and even though he'd left it just earlier that morning it felt like he hadn't been back in ages. A lot happened today, he mused as he entered his room--his parents were fortunately in bed already, so there was no need to explain either his hand or Etsu's absence at the moment.

Not even bothering to change into sleepwear, he flopped down onto his bed. He was exhausted, and had plenty on his mind to boot: worrying about Etsu, being shown Remmy's training grounds and notebook, wondering if he could beat Gestahl...would he have to kill the man, he wondered? Even if he beat him, if they wished, they could continue to harass him, again and again...he wanted to convince them to just give up, but that might not be an option.

Absorbed in thought though he was, he couldn't help but be conscious of Etsu's absence. Truly, it was lonely to be the only one in his bed; he'd grown so accustomed to her being next to (or rather, on top of) him. He tossed and turned for quite some time, attempting to get comfortable, but eventually sheer exhaustion drove him into slumber at last...

And like most nights, Eld was visited by a familiar girl-- a girl who was shrouded in mystery just as much as she was shrouded in darkness.

It was different, though. Everything was different. Eld wasn't bathed in darkness, nor was he bathed in light. It was different. So much different. It was . . . gray? No. No, there were only hints of gray. That was all in the fog. A gray, misty fog that seemed to go on forever, a familiar sight for Eldridge Tsukimono-- but this gray did not rob the world of color. Above them, there was a sky, but it was not night, nor was it day. It was a brownish orange, the distinct sign of the twilight.

And around them, there was something, but the fog shrouded it. Whatever it was. A landscape, perhaps? Mountains, fields, oceans? It was all a blur. Some, a dark green blur. Others, a dark gray blur. It was such a contrast to what Eld knew of her-- of an eternal night, shrouding all hope of ever seeing anything beyond his and her bodies. In the end, that was all that really mattered. But now . . . it was different.

And so was Kageko.

Melancholic-- and for reasons that had very little to do with Eldridge Tsukimono himself. This view, even, had little to do with him.

She stood behind him, her back facing him, much contrary to how it usually went here. Usually, they were on a bed, a bed like Eld's own-- but it wasn't here, not now. There was no bed here. There were no items here. There was only the flat earth under their feet, and their backs pressed against one another, and unless Eld decided to turn and look, he wouldn't see that Kageko's dress, now, looked much different. Similar-- yet it looked like something designed for a funeral.

This was...different, to say the least. Very different. In the entire time he'd known Kageko, in which he'd visited her world almost every night, it was always dark to various degrees, decorated only with a single bed. But rather than the night he was used to, it was twilight, and rather than the lone bed they were on the ground outside somewhere, though the scenery was too encased in fog to make out clearly.

It took him a moment to realize that she was behind him, that they were back-to-back. He looked over his shoulder at her, noticing another change--her attire was different, much more somber than her usual green dress. It was another that thing that hadn't changed since they'd met...well, since she started wearing clothing.

"Kageko...is something wrong?" She'd tried to tell him something earlier, and afterward had been a bit distant for quite some time...and now the world she'd inhabited was vastly different than before. There must have been something on her mind.