Lamentable Nights: Act 02 - "Welcome to Pebbleton"

[Johker]

Date: 2 Jun, Wednesday
Time: 10:30 - 10:45 AM
Weather: Clear
Location: Beneath Dawnview Walk, in the sewers
PC: Cassius
Other PCs: Graciel, M, Sophia
NPCs: N/A

~ ~ ~ ~

And so, two Panzers and two Strays meet in the sewers. The familiarity between which they treated each other with was akin to being reunited with an old friend. It gave Cassius a warm, happy feeling. This happiness, however, was coupled with a peculiar, urging feeling. Cassius tried not to notice it too much and remained cheerful.

"If there's anyone to blame, it's that Blight! Tell you what, let's go find that Blight and get some payback for what he did to Jacket!"

"Yeah! Let's do it!"

Cassius watched, awe-struck as both Strays bumped their fists together.

"Psssst. Hey, that looks kind of fun. Can we do that too?"

Graciel shot him an incredulous look, and Cassius wisely decided that they should try that at another, more appropriate time.

"We need to return to the surface soon, Noco is still waiting for us there. We'll be receiving a new mission."

"Ehhh... I really wanted to follow those two. But I guess a mission is more important anyway! Let's say goodbye to them and be on our way!"

Cassius turned to the Strays and spoke.

"I'm really, really sorry you guys, but we have to go now! We have some important Panzer business to attend to!"

"It was nice meeting you two," said Graciel, who then waved goodbye.

"Alright then, we'll get started on looking for that Blight. Ready, Sophia?"

"Ready!" replies Sophia with a smile.

"Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye! Glad to meet you, Mister M Sir. And it was a pleasure to meet you too, Little Miss Oriole!"

And with that, both Panzers, in their half-human forms, started to run and make their way toward the manhole through which they had come from.

"Interesting. He called you the same thing Jacket does. You told him your old name or something?"

Sophia then wore the most confused look upon her face.

"Sophia? What's wrong?"

She remained silent for a few more seconds, and finally broke the silence in a trembling voice.

"Did... I ever tell Mister Cassius that I was called Oriole...?"

Meanwhile, back on the surface again, Cassius and Graciel transformed into their full animal forms and made their way to the park. It was an odd sight, a cat and a dog, walking alongside each other. Cassius was, as usual, feeling happy. This happiness, however, was coupled with a peculiar, urging feeling.

Urging him to remember.

[Pasonia]

(The aftermath of a rather devastating lowblow... is devastation?)
Date: 2 June, Tuesday
Time: 10:45am
Weather: Clear
Location: Dawnview Park
PC: Martin Chang
Other PCs: Alex Diamond, Graciel, Cassius
=====================

After 30 minutes, Alex Diamond wondered what on earth allowed her patience.

To be precise, it was the patience of watching Martin still kneeling on the forest trail, clutching his jewels.

Still, there has to be a limit to everything, and finally the tomboy spoke up.

"How fucking long do you intend on keeping yourself crouched there already?!"

Martin, meanwhile, had never experienced such deep pain. Normally, a male might think the pain from a low blow like this would go away in a jiffy. In Martin's case, however, the kick was so hard, it was a wonder his jewels were still in his pants.

The deep pain was so bad that he crouched there trying to get rid of the pain, only to have himself unable to get up because his back was frozen in place and couldn't move. But it took Martin really long to even muster the courage to tell Alex:

"Uhh... miss... my back..."

Alex gritted her teeth. She really would give this man a kick in the behind for putting her through the wait for this long, so she mercilessly booted Martin in the behind while he was still crouched, leaving him sprawling onto the grass on either side of the trail.

"Ow... ugh... thank goodness..."

Thank goodness?! Huh...?!

"...My back's frozen from the crouching," groaned Martin. "Thanks for the push..."

"Eh... whatever."

Alex decided that Martin was not worth any more of her time, so she was about to walk away and leave the ex-salaryman behind when suddenly, a pair of eyes glinted at her from somewhere in the forest trail, leaving her mouth agape in surprise.

"Wha... what the hell?"

"What's up now, missus Laxie... wait, is that actually your name?" At this time, Martin slowly pushed himself upright from the grass patch, punching his back lightly to try and get rid of the annoying pain from crouching too long.

"Name's Alex," she blurted, "and for the record, I don't like that bitch crow much either. But we've got a bigger problem at hand now..."

Martin looked at her quizzically. Alex, exasperated by now, walked to Martin's side and pointed him in the direction of the suspicious eyes. Martin snapped wide awake, almost as if the shock of the eyes staring at them was a panacea to his back and c*ck pain.

"Holy. What the hell's that?"

"I know what it is. It's the Dog-plus-lamp-post Blight."

Martin groaned aloud. "You've got to be kidding me..."

"And it's going to try for us... we're unlinked Crossers, which means he'll have a relatively easier time with us compared to the Strays."

Just then, Alex spotted two figures moving at high speed from the other end of the trail. Martin noticed that too, but he was the first to realise instantly what the two Crossers are stuck between.

"Those two... the same animals from the pictures!" Exclaimed Martin, somewhat surprised that it was the Panzer pair that the bitch crow told him about. "Shit, I don't know what business they have with me."

And it was at the same time that, suddenly, the monstrous Blight roared so loud that it nearly threw Alex and Martin onto the forest trail. Struggling to keep balance, Martin couldn't help but fall over the concrete path, earning himself a few more scratches as he rolled on the path.

"This is so not good," mused Martin. "I'm wanted by both a supersized Blight, and a pair of animal thingys called Panzers. I can't even press the concede button if I want out!"

"What the hell you babblin' about, man?" Gulped Alex, noticing that the Blight was headed towards them dangerously. To say it had noticed the Crossers was a bit off, it'll be better to just say the Blight wants them. The same could definitely be said of the Panzers, but to Alex the Panzers were a better option than the Blight, while the same could not be said of Martin.

Martin couldn't give a shit anymore. Ignoring nature's rules of escape that you cannot just run away even if you're being preyed upon, he made a mad dash in the opposite direction from the Blight. He tried urging Alex to run along as he bolted at the fastest speed possible, only to see that she was actually bolting towards the Panzers.

What the flying fuck...?

"I can't give a shit anymore! AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

From behind him, he could totally feel the Blight running for him - it's like the rumbling on a subway train amplified several times, yet only the back was shaking.

He somehow needs to run somewhere to hide, at the very least. If it was a Blight, it may be able to phase through buildings, but Martin betted that it will still take time for it to find him, during which he could sneak out and get away from trouble.

"This is even worse than trying to make two eyes in deeply enclosed territory! Come on, Martin, run, run!"

Martin had never ran so much in his life, but somehow, the basic instinct to survive kicked in so hard that he was forced to keep running. Behind him, he could imagine the Blight drooling for him - and possibly his Ether ---

"Wait a minute, if I fail this, wouldn't I be in the same shit as that kid in the train yesterday?"

Martin's thoughts went very wrong all of a sudden, and he was forced to shake it off in mid-sprint.

"Hell no, I do NOT want to be gripped by unknown black tentacles! I'm not into kinky shit like that!"

Martin noticed a building in front of him, which he almost immediately recognised as the Herston Public Library and Museum. While going to the library was one of his favorite acts in his school days nearly a decade ago (particularly because he loved going there to remember the texts in one single day to cram for tests), in this case he could not be happier to be inside the safety of a museum- something one would probably associate more with police stations and the likes.

Meanwhile, as Martin exited the trail and ran at full speed, Blight behind his sorry ass, several picnickers out in the open of the park's sprawling fields were wondering why a salaryman - in full uniform and the likes - was running a marathon-like sprint from the inside of the forest trail.

What they did not see - or could not feel - was the rumbling of the ground that Martin felt more and more intensely as the Blight's roaring and chasing boomed through the Park.

"God damn it! Librarylibrary comeon-comeon-comeon-comeon-comeon-comeon librarylibrarylibrarylibrarylibrarylibra-wryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

One girl was unfortunate enough to stand in front of the museum entrance (the library entrance was at the main road) as she saw Martin made a comical dash for the doors. All she could do was yelp at a mad salaryman, apparently going to nosedive into the doors.

"Kyaa!!!!!!!"
"Sorry girl this is life and death! Hoooooooooooooooome-Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!"

Dear viewers of this particularly insane situation, please picture this scenario clearly in your head:

On one end, a salaryman is making a mad dash for the museum doors, open or not it didn't even dawn on him.
Right behind him is a really, really tall and large Dog-with-lamp-post Blight growling and roaring hard at him, which no one else could see but fellow Crossers, Strays and Panzers;
Dear Martin Chang literally leapt towards the library entrance - never mind that he was actually crashing into the glass doors because he didn't watch where he was running into;
The Blight was so irritated that it attempted to swipe him away from the library, an act that, had it succeeded in throwing Martin into the field right beside the entrance, would certainly perplex anybody (particularly, said screaming girl whose bag was knocked away by Martin in his haste) who had been studying Newtonian physics, or indeed science itself, because Martin's homerun touchdown trajectory would be drastically altered into utter, utter scientific nonsense;
And right on the monstrous Blight's ass at the other end, was a large-ass caliber Panzer sniper-rifle round that was designed to explode, exploding the very moment the Blight attempted to swipe Martin.

And then there was a very loud
CCRRRRAAASSSSSSHHHHHHHH~~~~~~~!!!!!!!!!!

[marcien]

Date: 2 Jun, Wednesday
Time: Morning
Weather: Clear
Location: back to Dawnview Park
PCs: Sophia (Oriole), M, Graciel, Cassius, Martin Chang, Alex Diamond
================

"Mister Cassius! Mister Graciel!" Sophia was surprised to be seeing the two panzers again that soon.

"Yes, that's right, we're here to help! We'll finish off that blight together, shall we, Little Miss Oriole?" chirped Cassius. He looked happy to see the strays again.

"Well, your help would definitely be useful now," M gestured towards the dog-lamppost blight heading towards a bespectacled man and a boyish-looking girl.

"Mister Martin!! Madam Alex!" Sophia wanted to rush to her crosser's side immediately, but was stopped by the cat panzer.

"You'll get eaten instantly if you go. Follow me, Cassius!" Graciel beckoned, and Cassius followed, "Aye, Senior Graciel, sir!"

-- -- -- -- --

For some unknown reason, the crosser named Martin appeared unusually frighted of them.

Cassius was puzzled. "Is seeing a dog and a cat walking together a sign of bad luck or something?"

"I don't think so. Oh look, the female crosser is coming this way. Woah--" gracefully, the cat swerved aside, prevent the girl from tripping over him.

"Ah! That panzer from just now!" she greeted the pair of animals.

"Meow, yes. Please find yourself somewhere safe while we take care of the blight, 'kay?"

Alex did just that.

-- -- -- -- --

Sophia and M watched the dog-lamppost blight move from being just plain threatening to outright chasing Martin through the park.

"No...! Mister Martin! He's in trouble!"

M kept his hold on her. "You heard the panzers. Us two would be fresh meat for the blight if we went out there."

"But...!"

-- -- -- -- --

Graciel had already transformed back into his almost-human form and was readying his rifle. The blight would be finished will be finished here and now.

Cassius bounded about anxiously. From such a distance... will it be all right? There are people and trees in the way too. Senior Graciel has to take it down with one shot! But will one shot be enough? Then, for reasons he could not comprehend, he thought of how to make that one shot work.

-- -- -- -- --

"Wha...?"

The large dog had pushed his body under Sophia's such that she was on his back. "Ride on me now, we'll go over to where Senior Graciel is!"

-- -- -- -- --

Graciel was surprised when his partner snatched up his bullet from his weapon.

"Put your ether into this, Little Miss!!" he said to Sophia, and then, to him, "You will fire just one shot, Senior Graciel, so let's make this one shot count, shall we?"

Sophia did as Cassius instructed. She decided that she could trust him. Trust him to protect her crosser.

"Pretty nifty, that," commented Graciel as he loaded the gold-coloured ether-charged shell into his rifle. "And here we go!"

At exactly the right time, right place, the bullet hit the blight, which exploded into non-existence.

(the first combo attack, used here! inflicts massive damage and burnt status on targets. too bad this case was a one-hit-KO)

-- -- -- -- --

M's heart did a jump. Just what was that loud crash about?

"Hey Sophia! I'll go check on Martin! You stay here with the panzers okay?"

Sophia nodded back.

-- -- -- -- --

Sophia heaved a huge sigh of relief. Mister Martin should be safe now. Thank goodness. "Thank you, Mister Cassius, Mister Graciel, that was so cool!"

"If anyone was cool, it was Cassius nya," said Graciel humbly, "How did you know that we could do that?"

Cassius did not know the answer to that himself. So he thought very hard before replying, "Because Little Miss Oriole seem like a bird sort, maybe a firebird or a phoenix?"

"Huh? Do you mean... like a panzer?"

"I am a stray!"

And your answer still doesn't make sense, Graciel thought.

[Pictor]

Date: 2 Jun, Wednesday
Time: around 10:30 AM
Weather: Clear
Location: Riverside Walk
PC: Jacket, Mirto

============

"UGWAH!! OW! S-STOP! I'M ACTUALLY GOING TO DIE!! GWEH! Actually I'm already dea-OUCH!!" Jacket kicked and squirmed in vain as a fuming Mirto squished his tiny body with both hands.

"Y-You were SPYING on me?! You little--- why I oughta---!!"

"I told you, it wasn't-- *Cough cough* -- Just lemme go, will ya?!" Her face still flushed, Mirto loosened her grip on the miniature Stray, but maintained a firm hold. He wasn't getting way from this one. Finally given a reprieve, Jacket gasped and panted.

"Oh please. You don't need air."

"Hmph. How do you know that?! Anyway, like I said, it wasn't spying... per se. I just used our bond to figure out where you were. It's not like I could see anything! You used it to find me, didn't you?" Mirto paused for a moment and vaguely recalled her journey to find Jacket. At first, after dashing madly through the front doors of her school, Mirto had no clue as to where she would even begin to look for the troublesome Stray. Then, when she managed to compose herself, the Crosser girl was able to just... inexplicably pick up on his whereabouts.

"Hmmm... well, I guess you aren't lying. I couldn't explicitly see where you were... it was kind of like a sixth sense."

"Ha! See? Now I think someone owes me an apology." With half his body still sunk into Mirto's hands, Jacket gave a tiny huff and crossed his arms irritably.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Are you happy now?."

"Simply delighted." Mirto rolled her eyes as she stuffed a smugly grinning little imp back into her backpack. Returned to the coffee-scented environment, Jacket stumbled about sorely as he muttered to himself. "Psh. Accusing me of peeping? If I wanted to, I could do waaaay better. As if there's anything to look at anyw- GAH!!"

Mirto gave the bag a good shake as she readjusted its position on her shoulders. A satisfied smile spread across her face as she imagined Jacket's whole world becoming a scramble of clothes and books.

Huhuhu... what was this feeling of power?

[Pasonia]

(So... just how much in public damages will this be?)
(edit: Sanae's color code will be #FF40FF)
Date: 2 June, Tuesday
Time: 11:00am
Weather: Clear
Location: Herston Public Library and Museum (museum sector)
PC: Martin Chang
Other PCs: M, Sophia (Oriole), Cassius, Graciel
New PC: Sanae Fujiwara
=====================

Martin couldn't believe this. A Blight train ran all over town just yesterday, and now it was a Dog Blight that tried to get him. Blood slowly streamed from his head, a result of banging his forehead smack into the wrong side of the glass sliding doors and shattering it completely.

"What the bloody hell..." Martin growled, looking back at him. He had noticed two simultaneous crashing sounds, one of which sounded more like an explosion. It was then that he realised that the monstrous Blight had suddenly disappeared.

"What happened... to the dog? Ow, god fuck my head hurts..."

Smarting from the blood flowing down his head, he picked himself up, careful not to accidentally touch any glass shards, before going back out the exit with a limp. His knees nearly gave as he walked out of the museum past where the sliding door once was, a testament to the amount of insane running.

"God, my inner thighs... ugh... what a bitch..."

As a direct result of over-exercising, his inner thighs contracted painfully and he had had no choice but to stay put right outside the museum, gently patting his inner thigh in an attempt to stave the pain away.

"エト～すみません。。。あなたは大丈夫ですか？"
"Eh... what?"

Martin swung around quizzically.
The petite girl whom he had just avoided earlier, blurted out her concern... but isn't that Japanese?

Instantly, Martin searched his head for the Japanese language dictionary he had forced himself to read during his high school years for a Japanese language module, and was able to translate what she just said... in a rather patchy manner.

"Oh... uhh... atashi daijoubu... ugh, I'm not good at speaking the language, miss, do you know how to speak English?"

The girl then covered her mouth.
"Oh, I'm sorry... I spoke in Japanese just now, didn't I?"

Martin noticed she was wearing in a formal manner that doesn't really fit a museum-goer. "You work an afternoon shift or something... uhh... Miss..."

"あ、はい、私は藤原早苗です！よろしくお願いします！"
"Ack, again... Your name is Sa...nae, Sanae, was it?"
The girl nodded rather shyly. Martin couldn't help but be infected by her shyness and anxiety, and began to blush himself.
"Uh, um, well, nice to meet you... my name is Martin Chang. Just call me Martin."
"Eto... okay..."

Martin continued scouring the skies. Still no sign of the gigantic Blight anywhere.

"Um, Martin-san, what are you... umm... looking for?"

"Oh, uh, well, you see, I, uh... I'm kind of bird-spotting now. It's summer now, so I guess some of the tropical birds should be stopping by here by now."
"Ah... I see..." Her mouth replied so, but the expression on her face was another thing.

Martin knew his excuse was so paper-thin it tears way too quickly; given how he had his working clothes on, there was no chance on earth that he would've been bird-spotting. Before the lady could speak further, Martin interjected the conversation.

"Umm, well, you know, I kind of... I kind of took off from work... umm... I gotta go now... maybe I would see you---"
"What is that... on the grass?"
"Eh? What?"

Martin turned his head towards the grass patch right beside the trail that he had just dashed on. There was, indeed, something that looks like a dog collar.

"Hmm..."

Martin noted was how contorted the dog collar was. It was almost as though someone had physically abused the dog wearing the collar, for it to be twisted this way.

Then, before Martin could even let out a yelp, the dog collar leapt from his hands, bending itself back to a much more proper shape. Then, as if playing back from a video, Martin witnessed strange images casted from the collar.

The images were pretty... low, as though someone had hung a camera to the eye level of a dog. It took a while for Martin to realise that it was most probably a dog's point of view that the collar was showing.

The images displayed were initially quite normal, as though a dog was just scooting in and out of motorways and going into alleyways. Martin even recognised a few buildings the dog went to, the last of it being his alma mater.

Wait, the Public School?

Martin watched kids wearing familiar-looking outfits stroll casually towards the dog, and then, the whole vantage point suddenly turned nasty and twisted as the dog struggled. Martin deduced that the dog must have been abducted very roughly.

The next image after a while of blackness was a fixed view, still from the dog's eyes. Martin turned his eyes away when he realised that the dog was being belted, kicked, basically tortured in inhumane ways. Then the dog's vision began to fade after being repeatedly splashed something that the dog initially resisted fiercely, but couldn't respond to after a while.

"Hey, buddy, you scored a bald dog on a lamp-post there!"
"Haha! Pretty nifty doggy fireworks, don't you think?"

These kids... they tortured the dogs for fun!
Fucking wankers!

Suddenly, from the dog's view, the boys were holding a lighter. They repeatedly sparked it on the dog, each time causing the already-injured dog to wince and howl. They did it for many more times until they were bored with the dog, and when they were done, they torched the dog, engulfing its vision in fire until it was no more.

Martin's anger slowly simmered. Instead of the fear he had for the monstrous dog, all he had left in him was an overwhelming sense of pity, and a desire to redress the dog's grievance.

Then he noticed something fairly odd; something like a choke-sob. Martin recognised that voice profile because Sophia did just that in a subway the previous night, but...

"...uhh... Miss..."
"U...uwah.... that dog..."

Then there was a heartrending howl emanating from the collar; the collar then slowly disappeared in Martin's hands as it - kind of - dissolves into sparkling particles until no more was left of it. Martin could feel his eyes well up a little.

"This dog... became the way it was because it was tortured to death..."

Then Martin snapped awake once he realised that Sanae was crying. He didn't want to believe it, but he most definitely stumbled across another new Crosser... another of his type, literally speaking.

"Umm... Sanae, did you just see the dog's..."
"Yes... yes... uwah..." Sanae couldn't help but cry, though she had tried her best to stifle it.

Martin had his eyes shut close in deep thought. Here he was, going to be the blindfolded leading the blind. Unless he was mistaken, there is only one recourse of action left to seek more information... and that is Redmist, the person who emailed his reply.

Suddenly, Martin felt his world become increasingly dark.

He faintly remembered stumbling over into the grass, face-first, and then his world was just... black.

"Grouchy dude... whoa, grouchy dude!"

========================

"Ugh... uhh... god damned... huh!?"

Martin felt himself still on the grass patch, but... there's something on his head now.

"Whoa, what the heck!"

Martin bolted up all of a sudden, knocking Sanae out of balance as she was about to give Martin a bottle of water. The bottle of water slipped from Sanae's hands, and it ended up feeding the grass water.

"Ah, sorry Sanae..."
"Iya... umm, I mean, no, it's okay."

Then Martin's heart sank as he realised the people and things hanging around himself. There's no running for him.

Firstly, M. Now that was a relief, because that most likely means Sophia and this ghost punk is alright. Behind him is his link, who began pawing playfully with two animals that made Martin's hearts sank.

"Hey, punk kid... how long has it been since I collapsed onto the grass patch?"

M noticed that the grouch was awake, and was also slightly disturbed to see the young lady beside him looking at himself.

"It's been about twenty minutes. When I found you here with the girl, you're already down with blood on your head. It was the Panzers that administered your first-aid, though."

"Panzers...? You mean..."

On hearing those words, the animals' ears pricked up. Martin spotted them by the corner of his eyes, but chose to pay them no heed.

"Hey, dude, mind me asking something? Is that girl..."
"Yea, she is a Crosser. She can see something that a normal human should never have been able to. Cursed, like me. Sophia, come over here!"

Martin waved for Sophia, who quickly floated over to Martin, happy that her link was awake and well.

"Are you alright?"
"Yes, Mister Martin, I'm alright!"
"Now, don't you run away from me like that again anymore. I was worried sick when I saw the news about that Jacket thing. It took my taxi ride out, so that was the only way for me to know you're at the Park."
"Sorry, Mister Martin... Mister Mad Hooder and I just wanted to... just wanted to tell you there was that huge dog..."

Martin noticed Sanae was a little apprehensive, most likely because Sophia had literally floated towards Martin, like a ghost.

"Sanae... it's fine. There's a lot I would like to learn too, but Sophia is harmless. Sophia, say hi to Miss Sanae."

"Hello, Miss Sanae!" As expected, Sophia cheerily greeted the slightly surprised lady.

"よ、ょ、よろしく。。。お願いします。。。"
"You're welcome, Miss Sanae!"
"You understand her, Sophia...? Oh yea... her thoughts..."

Martin is slightly exasperated at Sanae's tendency to suddenly drop back into Japanese whenever she has an anxiety attack.

"Sanae, don't be so anxious. These are the good ghosts... if they can be called that. They don't harm you."
"O...okay..."

The Panzers were not as surprised about Sanae as I would have imagined, Martin thought upon realising his revelation of Sanae being a Crosser doesn't even interest them in the slightest bit.

So why am I the one being chased, and they don't chase people like that kid from the train, or that superhero-wannabe girl? If they're as advanced as the bitch crow tells me they are, why am I the only one that they want...? What on earth is mysterious about me?

So many questions to answer. Martin's head hurt again from all the thinking.

He stood up slowly, and decided to walk towards the animals, whose eyes never left Martin. Sophia was worried that Martin would be angry towards them, but Martin really is angry at the animals for having caused him so much distress.

"I know who you guys are; you're grunt Panzers, or should I say, half-human half-beast freak shows," he growled, thinking of Hailey as he uttered 'freak shows'.
"Stop pretending you're cute little puppies and kitties when you aren't. That's kind of bothersome... and disgusting."

[marcien]

(and someone... pressed sophia's berserk button. oh martin, why do you have to piss off an old hag and a little girl in the same morning? an angry sophia, huu~ this will be interesting to write)

Date: 2 Jun, Wednesday
Time: Late Morning
Weather: Clear
Location: outside of Herston Public Museum and Library
PCs: Sophia (Oriole), Martin Chang, M, Graciel, Cassius, Fujiwara Sanae
================

"... grunt Panzers, or should I say, half-human half-beast freak shows. Stop pretending you're cute little puppies and kitties when you aren't. That's kind of bothersome... and disgusting."

If one remembers, when Sophia was first called Oriole, she was living with panzers up until her ether started running low and she was forced to search for a human crosser to bond with in order to continue existing. That means that while she may be a sweet little child most of the time, she does not take anyone insulting the people she considers to be her first "family", directly or indirectly, very well. In fact, not well at all. Not even if offending person is her crosser whom she currently shares an ether link with.

-- -- -- -- --

"Sophia!" M backed away quickly from the little stray. She was glowing a little in gold, and the brown tips of her hair had turned into a neon blue. And she was producing so much heat, that being near her felt like being beside a giant burning campfire made from piles of logs.

Martin stopped walking and turned to see what was causing the sudden increase in temperature behind him. Oh... what the fuck...?

The floating campfire caught up with Martin. M noticed the the grass beneath her had turned brown and dried up. He winced when she grabbed the front of the ex-salaryman's dress shirt. Free sauna for you, Grouchy.

As Sophia came within such close distance from him and clung on to his shirt, it became drenched in the sweat evaporating off his body. His head was spinning like mad and his vision was foggy, but amongst all that, Martin made out Sophia's words.

"Panzers are not freaks, and they are not disgusting, Mister Martin. It is not nice to say that about them."

She released him suddenly and stepped backwards, tears welling up in her eyes.

Martin collapsed to the ground. Heat stroke. You deserved that, thought M.

"Ahh... I'm so sorry, Mister Martin! I didn't... expect to... Uh... I'm sorry!!" Sophia bowed a few times and apologized profusely to the crosser slumped on the ground.

Right now, Sanae was looking at the little stray in petrified silence. "Umm, Sophia's not usually like this..." said M in what he knew was going to be a failed attempt to mitigate her fears.

"I... I am... very sorry, Miss Sanae!" Sophia said to Sanae with tears still in her eyes, "I really... don't intend to... scare you... Umm..."

Realising that she was not helping her situation, Sophia moved away from the two crossers. "I'M SORRY!" she cried. And melted into underground for the second time the morning.

Cassius got up immediately. "I'll go with her, okay? Don't follow us!"

-- -- -- -- --

Graciel groaned. Umm... Leave me to deal with this situation myself now, did you?

[SavviG]

(#4000BF)
Date: 2 Jun, Wednesday
Time: Late Morning
Weather: Clear
Location: outside of Herston Public Museum and Library
PCs: Sophia (Oriole), Martin Chang, M, Graciel, Cassius, Fujiwara Sanae
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sophia sanked through the ground.

Cassius bolted up and away the moment her head disappeared.
"I'll go with her, okay? Don't follow us!"

Graciel watched him run off. "Umm... Leave me to deal with this situation myself now, did you?"

The K-goatee'D man was on the floor, moaning now and then. Mean while M, tried to calm down the new comer.

Graciel turned into his humoid form and stood by Martin. Looking down on him. Sigh, some ugly Panzer must've pissed him of to have a go at us like that. Graciel bent down and dragged him somewhere out of view from passer-bys. Both him and himself mustn't be seen. Once out of view, he checked his MPUD for cool items, nothing.

M, Sanea approached. "How's his grouchy sorry ass?"
"Nothing too major, just passed out in a sudden heat stroke I suppose." Still searching for something cold. "Can you guys look after him while I pop down the shops or vending machine?"

"はい！ We'll look after him." And Sanea crouched by the body keeping a close eye. M rolled his eyes. "Well, I guess its no harm in watching a ped-" He cut his word short and wave Graciel off.

Graciel hid his ears and tail and took off. Whilst running, he thought back what Sophia said. She knew Panzers, and she defended them. She must know a few good Panzers.

From across the road the a glass pane window was smashed in and onlookers gathered around to see what might have happened. He ran up pushing through the crowed, "s'cuse me, coming through, need to the vend - ow - s'cuse"

Graciel made it into the foyer and walked up to the machines. The machine was humming away and he chose 3 chilled water bottles. The machine next to the drinks machine was a snack machine. "Maybe chocolate would help as well?"

He put in some changed and picked the biggest chocolate bar he can see. The hold twirled, and twirled then stopped. "GRAAAAH! NOOOOO!" A few people looked around to see what has happened, the moment they see the vending machine they have guessed that something must've stuck.

He put the bottles on the floor and held the machine by the sides and shaked it.
It was hopeless, he couldn't make it budge.

"Here, try this" A hand came into view, putting in change to the machine and then keyed the numbers for the same bar. The holder twisted and turn. Two bars came out. "See, there ya go." Graciel turned around to see a young lady. She was slightly short. "oh, thanks, I'll pay you back -" "No worries, it was your money. It fell when you were um..."

Graciel grabbed the bars and drinks, "Thanks er," "Lain" "Thanks Lain, Sorry, I'm in a hurry, see ya!" He went off hurring back to Martin and Lain waved him goodbye.

=================

"He sure is slow. Maybe I should've went instead."

" ... Neko~san will bring something back, I'm sure."

Martin groaned again.

"Martin-san! You okay?!"

Nothing. Martin was still out.

M looked around away from Martin and sees Graciel running back to them with 3 water bottles and something else he could'nt quite make out until he got closer.

Graciel stopped catching his breath "Here's something cold for his face, forehead or whatever" He handed one to Sanea and then another that slipped out of her hand which then thumbled to smashing into Martins face.

M, Graciel and Sanae jaw dropped.

. . .

Graciel handed one chocolate bar to Sanae, "one for you and one for sleeping beauty when he wakes up."

"What about me?" M pointed a finger to himself.

"You Strays eat and drink?" replied Graciel.

(Didn't mean to drink a water bottle on your face Martin, misfortune just keeps on going for the morning.)

[Sentrovasi]

Date: 2nd June, Wednesday
Time: 4.20 PM
Weather: Cloudless
Location:
PCs: Randall Kayne
Other PCs: -
NPCs: Tethys

"Huh. It's late."

Randall Kayne woke from a dreamless sleep to feel the most refreshed he'd been in... a very long time. He'd reached home in a daze, having to be practically dragged into his room by Noa and Tethys, but sixteen hours of rest had changed that. He wasn't completely awake, no, and he definitely had to change out of his clothes, but at least he felt a lot better than he had before. It was almost as though the past few days had been a dream.

Only the strong presence of his Ether pool told him otherwise. Perhaps it was because he had been almost completely sucked dry, but he could feel the power running through him: it was as though a plug he never knew existed had suddenly been removed. He was almost tempted...

He shook his head, reminding himself that it'd been the careless use of his Ether that had led to his ordeal in the first place. Being a Crosser meant he now had the power to help others in ways he couldn't before. But to do so, he had to make sure he didn't draw unwanted attention to himself. Blights were a real danger.

"Hmm. Maybe I can find a new job that way, too," he mused. "Speaking of which..."

His current employer, the museum curator Kate Herston, had covered up his disappearance by telling the landlady that she'd sent him on an errand to the next town. Fortunately, the good madame had been asleep when he'd come back, and the twins had seen to his condition, but the fact that his employer would provide such an excuse at all seemed strange, to say the least. Was she just trying to comfort the old lady? It seemed uncharacteristic of the young but cold woman who had interviewed him.

Regardless, he was thankful. It meant no trouble with the police and a seamless transition back into a peaceful life. The Blight had been taken care of, his own wounds were just about healed, and he still had his job. Those were enough to be grateful for now.

Taking a fresh change of clothes from his (small) closet, he noticed his white bag sitting on a dressing table. Had it been there when he'd returned last night? Perhaps. Miss Herston must have brought it along, or else one of his housemates brought it back. He did a cursory check to ensure everything was there, then left for the shower.

It didn't take long for him to finish, but when he came out again he noticed Tethys had come into the living room as well. She seemed to be expecting him.

"Hey, Randall?" She seemed a little unused to talking to him, which was probably the case. "Are you alright?"

Slightly surprised at the question, he paused for a moment before breaking into a smile. "Sure, good as ever. It was the long ride home that got to me." He was going to have to play along with Miss Herston's story. "Do you need anything? I think I'll be heading out of the house soon."

Tethys seemed to perk up almost instantly. "That's good to hear. Well, if you're going out, would you mind getting the groceries on your way back? Noa and I weren't sure what the Madame needed in the time you were gone."

"You got it." Randall knew just how esoteric the Madame's weekly groceries were. He was glad the girls had at least managed in his absence. "Where are Noa and Jerome, by the way?" He'd expected at least the other twin to be here around this hour.

"Ah, Jerome left yesterday; his ship was leaving port early. Apparently there's going to be some stormy weather off the coast in the next few days that they wanted to avoid." Tethys' eyes seemed to flicker towards the window as she said that. "And Noa's still at school. She's trying out for the sports team."

Randall frowned. He wished he'd had time to at least talk to the sailor before he'd left, but that was that. Going back into his room to get his bag, he walked out again to see Tethys now channel surfing while seated on the sofa.

"Alright then, I'll be back in a bit with the groceries. If you need anything else, call!"

"Mmkay. Bye!"

And then he was out the door. Outside, Randall's pace slowed, a nagging thought at the back of his mind. With a start, he took his phone out of his sling bag, read the latest message, and then deleted it.

[AYC]

Date: June 2, Wednesday
Time: 10:45 am, Morning
Weather: Clear
Location: White Waters Condominium
PCs: Mirto, Jacket
================

"Hey, nice place you have here, princess!"

Mirto makes a disinterested sound at his comment, and watches him walk across the glass tabletop, eyes wide and scrutinizing. Without so much as a warning, she tosses him his jacket and hat from the depths of her bag, and retreats back into the hallway with a nonchalant wave of the hand.

"I'll be putting my stuff away, make yourself at home."

Jacket tumbles off the coffee table in his short skirmish with the heavy folds of his clothing, and hits the carpet below with a soft, but still painful, thump. On his head.

"Ow!"

By the time Mirto returns a minute later, she's not completely surprised to see Jacket back in his usual size, jacket-hat combo and all, but she gives him a puzzled look at the way he's massaging the back of his head.

"What happened to you?"

"Fell on my head, thanks to a certain someone throwing clothes all over a mini Stray."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Quite the host, aren't you?"

Mirto rolls her eyes in response. "Hn. If you were any ordinary person, I would offer you something to drink or something, but since you're techically a ghost, I don't think you'd need it." Then, with some uncertainty in her voice she adds, "Or do you?"

"Course not. Why would I?"

"Oh. I thought it was because you were actually material and all..."

"Nah, don't need it. It's one of the perks of being dead!"

Despite his straightforward answer, Mirto's curiosity apparently knows no bounds. Jacket is flat out taken aback when she asks with the most bewildered expression on her face, "But what would happen if you ate something?"

"Uh, I dunno."

"Have you ever tried?"

"Does it look like I can just walk into the nearest food place and grab a bite whenever I want?"

"Oh, you're right."

Jacket is torn between being stunned or amused at the surprising amount of docility Mirto's showing at the moment. For once, there doesn't seem to be any skepticism or irritation coming his way... just... fascination?

Mirto, on the other hand, is almost tempted to try it out just to satiate her curiosity. Although it's very likely that nothing will happen, the worst case scenario would be that Jacket blows up or gets hurt in some way, but that last aspect isn't particularly reassuring. Even though she could technically heal him with her ether supply again should it so occur, she wouldn't be doing a particularly good job of watching his back. Especially after her long-winded lecture earlier, reprimanding him for his recklessness.

It wouldn't really be fair, acting on a whim like that. Not to mention, Jacket would probably never let her live it down, even if it was at his own expense. Knowing him, he would probably pounce on the opportunity to make fun of her. It's almost just like her aunt and uncle.

Ugh.

With a sigh, she brushes past him into the living room. "Well, there's no point on dwelling on that now, I was just curious. If you don't need anything, I'll go get myself some water, and then we can talk about what to do next."

Jacket drops himself onto the couch as Mirto disappears into the kitchen, and stretches out a few muscles while he waits for her return. He doesn't have to wait long though, as less than a minute later, he hears a short, "UWAAH!" and dull thump followed by a softer "Ow..." from behind the wall.

"Mirto!"

It takes Jacket less than a second to barge into the kitchen, metal fist and intimidating badass pose at the ready for any enemy could have possibly been in the room. It doesn't even occur to him that it could have been just an ordinary human - that would've no less been scared shitless at the sight of a "monster" crashing in from around the corner.

Luckily, all there seems to be is Mirto sitting on the floor, back against the refrigerator and hands cradling the back of her head in pain. Jacket's jaw drops slightly in both confusion and disappointment at the lack of anything threatening in the room, and he scans the kitchen for anything that might resemble a Blight or anything out of the ordinary.

Nope, everything seems perfectly... clean and spotless. Definitely normal. He lowers his fist and reverts it back to its ordinary form just as Mirto looks up at him with an oddly pained expression.

Wait. What's that thing moving by her leg?

"Woof!"

[Pictor]

Date: 2 Jun, Wednesday
Time: around 11:00 AM
Weather: Clear
Location: Mirto's Aunt's and Uncle's Place (lots of possessives)
PC: Jacket, Mirto

============

"His name is Caputain Pressolatte? Hahahahaha! Holy crap, that's awesome!" Jacket sunk his hands into the dog's fur as the excited little creature busily danced about in his lap. "Hehehehe... who's a good boy? Whoooo's a good boy?"

Mirto, having inched herself across the kitchen, stared at the engagement between her two pets as a sickened expression slowly creeped across her face. Unbelievable... it was almost too perfect. Jacket, a dog lover? Slapping her face into her hands, Mirto grumbled miserably.

"... What's wrong now? You can't be saying I'm not even allowed to get along with your dog."

"Augh... it's nothing. Nothing at all." Without another word, Mirto snatched up a glass of water sitting on the kitchen counter and marched out toward the living room. Jacket looked down at a clueless Caputain, who sat in his arms panting away, and gave a confused shrug.

"Dude, is she like this all the time?"

*Kritch, Krack, Cling!*

Jacket's ears perked up as he detected a strange clacking and jangling of metal. But before he could ponder what it was, Mirto suddenly came sliding back into the kitchen in a storm of footsteps, nearly colliding into the refrigerator again.

"Hey Cap-U-Tain! Look who's ba-" Jacket's smartass-ity was abruptly interrupted by a panicked Mirto throwing her hands around his collars and yanking him past her, into the connecting hallway. During the commotion, Caputain wormed his way from the Stray's arms and waddle to places unknown.

"Shut up! Into my room, now!"

"W-Whoa-! Slow down, girl... I mean we've only just met, you kn-" With strength coming from nowhere, Mirto leaned over and executed a perfect shoulder throw. The surprised Jacket barely had time to realize what was going on before he ended up sliding across the hallway, and tumbling into another room. Dashing up after him, the girl seized the doorknob and yanked the door shut behind her.

"What the heck was that for?! How did you even-" Quick as lightning, Mirto threw a hand over Jacket's mask-mouth, reducing the rest of his sentence into incoherent muffles. Placing a finger over her own lips, Mirto hissed an irritated "shush".

"I said shut up!" No longer knowing what was going on, Jacket simply consigned to defeat and complied to the issued order. Mirto, still covering Jacket's mouth, sighed in exasperation.

"My... uncle just walked through the front door."

"W-What?! I thought you said--"

"Yea, I know what I said!! He... he probably just forgot something..." Lifting her hands from Jacket's face, Mirto slowly made her way to the door and silently opened it to a crack. Sure enough, across the hallway, there were sounds of someone fumbling about. Breathing deeply to compose herself, Mirto turned her head back toward the Stray on the floor.

"... Okay, listen. I'll go see what's up... like I said he probably just forgot something and came home to get it. You stay put in here. This is my room and both my aunt and uncle know better than to barge in for no good reason. It probably wouldn't hurt for you to turn into that 'mini' form, or whatever... if you can do it silently." Sliding herself through the doorway, Mirto shot one last death glare at the befuddled Jacket.

"Don't. Make. A. Noise."

Raising one hand in oath, Jacket motion an imaginary zipper across his slit of a mouth. With that look on her face, there was no need to tell him twice! The girl spun around, and closed the door as softly as she could manage. Suddenly left alone in an awkward silence, Jacket took a second to composed himself, then got to his feet. Before he realized, something shocking and urgen suddenly dawned on him...

"... Whoa.... I'm in a girl's room." Taking a while to wallow in the mystifying experience, the Stray quickly shook off whatever unmentionable thoughts that might have come with that epiphany. This was no time to be fooling around. "Alright, time to do as I'm told."

Taking off his hat and jacket, the ghost hastily stashed his clothes under Mirto's bed. Once again, he lifted his hands, pressed them against his chest, and focused.

"... Hope she doesn't mind a bit of pollution..."

[Johker]

Date: 2 Jun, Wednesday
Time: 11:40 AM - 12:00 NN
Weather: Clear
Location: Below Herston Public Museum and Library
PC: Cassius
Other PCs: Sophia
NPCs: N/A

~ ~ ~ ~

Cassius ran up toward the nearest manhole cover and, transforming into human form, used his hands to pry it open and once again descend downwards into the sewers.

I seem to be having so much more adventures in sewers lately!

As Cassius made his way to approximately where Sophia had sank through the ground to, he thought about what Martin said.

Am I really not cute at all? I'd always thought I'd looked at least a little adorable when I was a dog...

Cassius felt ever so slightly slightly more self-conscious about his appearance thanks to Martin's words.

Poor Little Miss Oriole, she got so worked up because Mister Goatee Sir said unkind things about us. Maybe I accidentally did something to offend him. I should probably apologize to Mister Goatee Sir. If I tell Little Miss Oriole that I didn't take his words to heart, maybe she'll feel happier! Or maybe then she'll just feel like she got angry over nothing and get even more mad. Oh nooo, consoling people is really difficult. I should have asked Senior Graciel Sir to accompany me, he'd know what to do.

Soon, the path through which Cassius was walking through started to feel really hot. Sophia was nearby. He was on the right track.

"Little Miss Oriole! Are you there? Ummm, there's no need to be angry! What Mister Goatee Sir said didn't hurt me at all! I'll just have to try to be more adorable next time!!"

Soon, Sophia came into sight, looking as forlorn as a child lost in the woods.

"Oh, Little Miss Oriole, I've been looking for you, are you okay?"

"Mister Cassius..."

Tears welled up in Sophia's eyes once more. Cassius, not wanting to make her cry again, tries his very best to console her.

"Ahhh! Please don't cry! I now know that I'm not cute at all, b-but please don't cry on seeing me...!"

"It's not that, Mister Cassius, it's just that when Mister Martin said such mean things about Panzers I got so mad and then..."

"It's alright, you didn't mean to cause any of that! I'm sure Mister Goatee Sir will be fine, and that other Crosser girl will understand if we just take some time to explain everything."

"O-okay..."

"It really is quite alright, Little Miss Oriole! Both Mister M Sir and Senior Graciel Sir are taking care of Mister Goatee Sir now, so there's no need to be sad! Thank you for standing up for us Panzers, Little Miss Oriole! I really appreciate it!!"

Cassius finished saying this with a slight bow. Sophia, embarrassed, blushed slightly. Feeling better, Sophia stopped emitting as much heat and the sewers started to return to its normal temperature again.

"Would you like to head back up together, Little Miss Oriole?"

Sophia nodded once in agreement, and then they both started to make their way out of the sewers. Meanwhile, Sophia grows increasingly curious, and cannot help but to ask:

"Mister Cassius, how did you know my name was Oriole? I only told you my name was Sophia, and Oriole was my old name before I was linked, so..."

On hearing this, Cassius seemed slightly confused too and furrows his brow.

"Ehhh? Really? But I was so sure your name was Oriole... Oh well! I guess it was a lucky guess on my part! Even a broken clock is right twice a day!"

Now, Cassius's curiosity got the better of him, and he decided to ask Sophia a question of his own.

"Little Miss Oriole, don't mind if I ask, but why did you get so mad just now? I-I mean, I know that I'm not cute now, so there wasn't any reason to get mad if he said that I wasn't adorable, since it has to be true!"

"Well, I can faintly remember that once, some really friendly Panzer children let me stay with them. They taught me everything I know about Ether and Crossers and Strays... I'm really thankful for them!"

"Wow, really?! What were their names? Maybe I know some of them!"

"I-I don't remember their names any more... I'm sorry..."

"Oh, that's quite alright! I have a terrible memory too! So I understand completely."

The rest of the walk back, the two did not speak and made their way back in silence.

For the third time today, something deep within Cassius called out for him to remember.

[marcien]

for those of you who have yet to do so, please read the discussion thread for timeskip info.
================

Date: 2 Jun, Wednesday
Time: 1655
Weather: Clear
Location: Block 44 #12-108
PC: Z. Redmist
Other PCs: Martin Chang, Graciel Flay, Noco Sue-Berry
================

When he checked, he discovered a mail from the three people he mailed earlier. When he read Graciel's mail, Redmist skipped forward to Sue's. As for Martin's mail, it would appear that Hailey did not provide him the answers he was looking for.

Redmist wrote three quick replies.

So for tonight, his schedule is as follows:
2100 - meet Chang at Block 43
2230 - meet Sue and Flay at 33 Renfield Road

[marcien]

i thought to try writing in first-person. it is hard na.

Date: 2 Jun, Wednesday
Time: Noon
Weather: Clear
Location: outside of Herston Public Museum and Library → Martin's home
PCs: Sophia (Oriole), Martin Chang, M, Graciel, Cassius, Fujiwara Sanae
================

"Welcome back," Mister Mad Hooder said.

When Cassius and I returned back to where Mister Martin and the others were, we found him sleeping on the ground with blood on his face.

"D-did I do that to M-Mister Martin?"

"Ah no... That was... me, I'm afraid," replied Mister Graciel, "An accident. I was clumsy, nya. Sorry!

He then called Cassius over to talk with him.

Aw? I can't stay with Miss Oriole?
... we have report back to Noco after this...
... the goatee salaryman she asked me to find, right?

While the panzers were discussing, Mister Mad Hooder talked to me. "You should really fix that, your habit of running away whenever stuff happens..."

"Sorry, Mister Mad Hooder... My powers... didn't used to be like that. There's a lot of ether in me now, so, I'm trying to get used to it... control myself..."

"It's fine, you'll get used to that," Mister Mad Hooder placed his hand on my head and ruffled my hair. It was reassuring. I touched his hand on top of my head. It felt cold. Mister Mad Hooder is still unlinked, so compared to me, who has the privilege of a lot of ether, he is... not as strong as me. Despite that, I am always making him worry, and he always has to look after me...

"I understand! I will become good at controlling my powers. Thank you, Mister Mad Hooder! Until Mister Mad Hooder finds a crosser, I will try to be independent! I will protect him! I will not let him be concerned about me anymore!

Miss Sanae beside was still looking at us warily. I think that she is afraid of us the same way I am afraid of humans. I am sorry for making her more afraid.

Mister Mad Hooder must have noticed me looking at her, for he said, "Sanae's cool with us now, don't you worry, Sophia."

"Umm, I am sorry that you are afraid of me. I will be less scary in the future!"

Miss Sanae smiled and nodded meekly. Now that she isn't creating all of that heat, she looks more like a zashiki-warashi...

"All right now," said Mister Graciel. The panzers seem to have finished talking. "M, could you lead the way to Mister Martin Chang's home?"

"Sure."

Cassius had changed into back into dog form, which is very adorable and has beautiful fur. I run over to him and hugged and ruffled his back. It feels nice!

"You can ride on me if you like, Little Miss Oriole!"

"Um! Thank you Mister Cassius!" I got on and put my arms around his neck. So fluffy, so soft...

Mister Graciel had slung Mister Martin over his shoulder. Mister Mad Hooder and Miss Sanae were surprised that he could do that because Mister Graciel does not look very big and strong. Mister Graciel pointed at the belt that he had tied around Mister Martin's waist. "That's a moon-gravity belt - panzer technology. Makes you weigh like you're on the moon."

"Do people become smaller on the moon, Mister Cassius?" I asked.

"Nu-uh, that's not it. The force of gravity on the Moon is a sixth of that of Earth's, so you'll weigh 1/6 of what you will weight on Earth there, even though your mass will still be the same!"

"Ah! Then the panzer belt makes that happen on Earth too! So Mister Martin becomes six times lighter, and Mister Graciel can carry him!"

-- -- -- -- --

Miss Sanae followed us to Mister Martin's home. After Mister Graciel had placed Mister Martin in his bed, he left along with Cassius.

Miss Sanae stayed with us. She seems uncomfortable, but she took care of Mister Martin while he slept. Sometimes, when she walked into Mister Mad Hooder or me, she would be shocked and a little frightened. So I try to stay near the ceiling so she won't run into me. Mister Mad Hooder did not like floating, so he sat on the sofa.

[SavviG]

[#4000BF] [Using #004000 for Noco]
Date: 2 Jun, Wednesday
Time: Late Noon
Weather: Clear
Location: outside of Herston Public Museum and Library → Martin's home
PCs: Graciel, Cassius, Noco
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Graciel and Cassius closed the door and proceeded out of the building. Graciel is still in his human form and Cassius in his dog form. Walking out as if taking a dog for a walk. Cassius ran ahead and the pretend owner called to slow down.

Some kids were still out, they stopped Graciel and Cassuis so they can pet Cassius. They rubbed him, hugged, kissed and wouldn't let go. It took Graciel 10 minutes to save his partner from being smothered by a grouped of furry loving girls. Cassius wanted to be petted a bit more longer but Graciel managed to get the move on and promised the kids he'll bring Cassius back to stay longer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At Dawnview Park, a bench facing towards the sea sat a young lady. She tapped furiously on the MPUD. She has been in the park from the morning. Now and then left to the nearest café for a drink or had a snack. A couple passed by and moved on from seeing how angry Noco looked when tapping on a something that resembled a PDA. She has driven many other people away from being so furious at Graciel and Cassius. She had many other reports to do and she did them in the park or the cafe toiletries.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Outside of Dawnview Park, Graciel and Cassius enters. Graciel checks his MPUD to see if there were anything. It was now 14:38 and Graciel has many messages, even ones that had many "!!!!!" marks. All from one sender.

Cassius checked his MPUD, he had the same messages. "Don't worry Graciel sir, I've replied to her that we'll be late, and why."

"Good job Cassius, but we did make a lady wait for a few hours. She might be mad still ... and we may get punished."

They both gulped in unison.
"She wouldn't would she? I mean, she's a nice person she is."
"I ..." Graciel was lost for words to respond.

They walked in silence till they got to a bench with someone waiting. She turned around to see them. She didn't look pleased.

"Sorry, wrong person, come on Lassie, lets go." They turned around.

"You, and you, are very late!"

The guys looked at each other before turning back to face Noco who didn't look surprised to see them.

Cassius spoke up first, "We had a few problems you see. I did contact you, also on Graciel sir's behalf."

Noco stayed silent for a minute, then looked back at the two. "I'll let you go this time. Don't make me wait next time. I am busy you know."

Cassuis and Graciel exhaled for relief. No punishment for now. They dread to think of the punishment, they could get recalled back to HQ for preparing Tea for a month or worse duties.

She pulled out a thin A4 size codec from her MPUD. It was clear all round, round tipped corners and thin. The bottom left corner held a small casing that had the power button and small power pack. The clear board when off was Pink and when she turned it was it was displaying different coloured blocks of white and grays filled with images and text. Technology that surpasses the iPad. Graciel himself has one but 3rd gen and pale lilac. "I need a new one! That looks like the seventh generation model."

She flicks through menu upon menu to get to the mission log. She stops her rapid finger swipes and taps at the board. Now facing back at the two she spoke in a still monotone.

"I'm here to explain your mission (Martin Chang) and Cassius, your partner from now on Graciel."

"Yes ma'am."
"Yes ma'am."

[Pasonia]

Date: 2 June, Tuesday
Time: 4:00pm
Weather: Clear
Location: Martin's Home
PC: Martin Chang, Fujiwara Sanae
Other PCs: M, Sophia (Oriole)
==============

"...Will Mister Martin be okay?"

It has been quite a while since Martin had collapsed from that Sophia-induced heat wave. Given how Martin had been pretty much knocked out and not waking, she was worried that she had injured her link, somehow.

"あ、目が覚めるか！"
"Mister Martin!"

The two persons snapped around and found Martin slowly climbing up from his resting pose.

"Ugh... ahh... I feel dang thirsty... ouch, what the, did something hit me while I was out...?" Martin could clearly taste the blood from the edge of his lips, where the bottle had struck him.

Sanae flushed red; she had indirectly caused the bottle to smash into his face.

"So... what's the time now? I feel like I've been knocked out for a long while."

Sanae snapped to her watch.
"It is... gogo yoji -- I mean, four in the afternoon now."

Martin then suddenly creased his eyebrows.

"Um, don't you have work or anything, Miss Sanae...?"
"Ah, no, sir, I was... umm... iya, how do I explain...?"

Having been afraid to speak to anyone, but having no other point of reference because she was the only human in the vicinity, Sanae had to wait for Martin to wake up before she could explain why she was here, and to seek help.

As it turns out, Sanae is from Osaka, but moved to Tokyo with her family when she was little, at the advice of a Shinto priest in that area. She had been plagued by problems of being able to see what she shouldn't be able to since she was very young - Martin took that to mean she can see Strays.

Not knowing what to do, she went back to her hometown, and this time the priest had told her that her ghost-watching innate powers have advanced too rapidly for the priests of Tokyo to be able to remotely disable it, and only a place called "Koishi-mura" can help her.

"Um, why here, then?"
"Because... the kannushi... the priest, he said it's not in Japan."
"But Madam Sanae, this is a town... not a village..."

Martin laughed, suddenly remembering from what he read, that 'mura' meant 'village', which combined with 'koishi' for pebble, meant "pebble village".

"If you thought this place was a village I wouldn't be surprised. Pebbleton used to be a village community south of the stadium. The current Pebbleton is a combination of the original village and this whole uptown area to form a town, so it's relatively new."

Martin found enough energy to make himself clamber up into a sitting position, as he actively averted Sophia's gaze. Sophia, however, didn't need to look at Martin in the face to know that Martin was wary of her.

"Sophia, I guess you should at least understand this," Martin spoke as he invoked a memory playback from around the time he met Hailey. He intentionally fast-forwarded the playback to some time before he got the cock-kick.

"Tch, tch, incapable fools are incapable of anything but shouting at swearing, eh? Don't you admit that you are incapable of comprehending what I am? Didn't Ratmist tell you anything about what I am?"

"WHY DO I NEED TO KNOW HOW AWESOME YOU ARE, BITCH? YOU'RE JUST SOME RANDOM OLD WOMAN WHO CAN TURN INTO A CROW FREAK SHOW AND IS SINGLE AND UNMARRIED, BECAUSE NOBODY WANTS YOUR SORRY MIDDLE-AGED ASS!!!"

Sanae remains oblivious to the playback but is horrified at the drooling likes of Martin; Sophia shrieked a little when she realised Martin had been kicked in between his legs.

"I... I'm sorry Mister Martin... I didn't know this happened, Mister Martin..."
"And you never asked either, Sophia," sighed Martin in mid-drool.

As Martin stopped the playback, he quickly wiped his saliva off his sleeves, showing slightly improved awareness than before.

"I'm terribly sorry, Sanae, this is my ability to play back my memories, but only me and Sophia can see this. I don't know why I can do this, and why I look so horrible doing this too."
"I... I see..."
"...and Sophia, I told you before. I have my reasons for every thing I do. Stop looking at everything on the surface, if I could just please... ask of you..."

Martin wasn't quite sure how Sophia would take it, but it didn't matter any more. After all that asking, critical questions to this whole business is still not being taken care of.

"...where are you going?" M, who had been watching by the side, suddenly blurted.

"Hmm? It's four-plus now, and I have a Go lesson to conduct."

Sanae's ears pricked up slightly upon hearing something about Go from Martin.

"Unless you're going to tell me my class is inundated with Crossers, Strays and Panzers, I suggest you guys stay here until I come back."

More than that, Martin decided he will also email Redmist and have him explain things to him better.

No matter what, the anger from receiving Hailey's groin kick just wouldn't go away, and Martin decided quietly that he will not let Redmist get away with putting him in harm's way.

"I make sure he sees stars," growled Martin. "Miss Sanae, umm... would you like to---"
"Uso... You are kingchang?"
"EH?" Outside of the Go server, very few people in real life are aware of his kingchang identity.
"How did you..."

Martin stopped in his tracks, stunned, as she pointed at a printout of his victory at an online tournament from nearly a year before.

"Sanae... who... are you...?"
"I... I am the finals player, sa-ga-getu..."

Martin nodded his head in un-containable amusement. The coincidence soon got to him, and first he, then Sanae, burst out in laughter at the coincidence.

"Ahahahahaha... what a coincidence! Well then, would you like to join me at the Community Center? We could teach together, you know, and, um, my relatives would gossip if they saw you in my home."

Sanae nodded her agreement. She knows how bad gossip can get when it comes to matters like these.

M then stood up to take a casual walk to the kitchen, which made Sanae yelp a little.

"Whoa, Sanae, what's wrong?"
"Iya... I mean, he... just walked right through me."

Martin sighed. If only Sanae wouldn't be this jumpy.

"Don't worry, Sanae... they're not exactly harmful. You saw the big one that nearly got me? That's a bad one. If they don't look close to humans to us, they are the bad ones... at least, that's what I guess is the case."

"I... I see... but the kannushi said once before... if I speak to them... they will curse me."

Martin stared at her as though she spoke Martian, but replied her rather matter-of-factly.
"Well, you might be half-right there," he remarked. "Since I realised I could saw ghosts - and that was just yesterday - I've been bumrushed by a train, I've been knocked out by random things, bumped into all sorts of random people and even half-humans. So yea, we are a little cursed here, but not quite... in the same manner as Sadako."

Sanae giggled a little at the Sadako reference.

"Well, if you would give me a few moments to settle my personal business," Martin blurted, close to taking off his upper clothing when he suddenly snapped to realisation that Sanae is in the house.

Quickly buttoning his clothes back up before Sanae realised anything amiss, Martin hastily made for the shower with only his towel.

"Eh, um, you two try... talking to her a little, get her accustomed on my behalf, will you?" Blurted Martin as he jogged his way to the shower.

[Pictor]

(For the purpose of convenience, Noco will temporarily assume this color while Hailey will remain black)

Date: 2 Jun, Wednesday
Time: 20:30 AM
Weather: Clear
Location: Sunrise Spiral (Small cafe on Dawnview Walk)
PC: Hailey, Noco Sue-Berry

============

*Ching-a-ling ling ling~*

A certain black-haired woman peeked up from behind a magazine as her expected company walked through the cafe doors, setting off a small bell above the entrance. Waltzing over to the opposing seat, the newcomer plopped herself gently onto its cushions and gave a single-word salutation.

"Hailey." Setting aside her literature, Hailey leaned herself onto the table, propping up her face with one hand.

"Huhuu... Noco, you're late. This is pretty unusual. So's this meeting place, I might add. What's the matter, don't wanna get wasted?" Noco reached up to brush a tiny bit of something-or-other that had become caught in her hair before returning to look at her acquaintance.

"It's a week day, Hailey. I, for one, have had a pretty busy day. But I'm sure you've already done your fair share of eavesdropping to know that much. Ah--!" Raising a hand, Noco flagged down a passing waiter and dictated her order for the night. After scribbling her order down on a small pad of paper, the young man turned toward Hailey.

"And uh... will you be having anything tonight, Miss?"

"Hnn? Oh, uh, yea. I guess I'll have the...." After taking down the second order, the waiter smiled cheerfully informed the two women that their orders would be prepared shortly.

"May I get you ladies anything to drink in the meantime?"

"Ah, just water please!"

"Water."

Nodding courtly, the waiter departed to service other tables. When the coast was clear, Hailey chuckled and stretched her arms out behind her head.

"You're telling me, huh? Busy, busy, busy. Running around with a bunch of younger guys all day. You're making me jealous, girl." Noco rolled her eyes at the comment and waggled her ring finger, flashing a fine, jeweled wedding band that glittered prettily by the illuminated window.

"C'mon dummy. Or maybe you forgot? They're just subordinates, Hailey. You would probably have been assigned a few dozen or so had you stayed with HQ."

"Yea. Well, it's a good thing I left then. Babysitting's not my thing."

The young waiter returned lemon-garnished glasses of water and left once more. Snatching the beverage, Hailey sipped on the straw before setting it back down firmly.

"... Naw, my fetish is guys with goatees and glasses. Preferably salarymen." Noco seemed to tense up a bit, but then heaved a light sigh and swirled around the ice in her glass.

"So, you know about him, then?"

"Know him? I've met the douchebag! Left him a parting gift, to boot!" Noco, who had been drinking from her glass, nearly spat a mouthful of water across the table.

"D-Don't tell me... you and him...?"

Hailey gently lowered the pointed finger of her friend.

"I kicked him in the nads."

"... Oh." Hailey simply laughed and leaned back, crossing her arms.

"Aw please, Noco! I have standards, too." The dog-Panzer huffed gently. She didn't know whether to feel relieved or foolish. Once again, Hailey leaned forward, this time crossing her fingers under her chin as she smiled calmly. "So give me the low-down, Noco. Is he a dead man?"

"Hailey!"

"What? He's a Concealer, right? There's no need to beat around the bush. Orders are to kill those suckers on sight."

"That's ancient history, Hailey. You know as well as I that HQ doesn't meddle with human affairs unless they need to."

"Oh? Then I guess that includes all the ruckus yesterday, right?" Uh oh. Noco knew that look in her friend's eyes. Beneath the composed facade, Hailey was beaming like a child on Christmas Eve. The thrill of hunting for new data... and this time it looks like she is the prey.

"Hmph. Someone's done some snooping around, I see." Hailey said nothing, and only continued to stare down her cornered fellow Panzer. It was, perhaps, the only time that the raven-Panzer's abyssal eyes seemed to catch a bit of illusory glimmer. Noco knew she wasn't going to be let off the hook now. "You know, communications with a rogue is against protocol. Never-mind information exchange. I could be thrown in for life... or worse."

"So you say every single time we meet. Yet you can't resist, can you? Besides I'm still technically a registered trooper. One hundred-percent legal, babe." Noco rolled her eyes, but what Hailey says is truth. The name "Geminesca" is still listed in Panzer records. Word of mouth claims that the Higher-Ups kept her around for their own convenience, but Noco knew better. They didn't have the balls to label the this raven a rogue.

By force of habit, Noco scanned her surroundings, then lowered her head to Hailey's level.

"Now, let me make myself clear, Hail... I don't know much about the truth, and most of it is word of mouth." Hailey didn't budge an inch, and continued to listen intently, so Noco continued. "There's been a series of... incidents that have the High Command in a tizzy. Raids... sabotages... even assassinations of entire squadrons. They say it's all been one person."

"... And let me guess. This maniac's a Concealer?" Noco nodded quietly in confirmation.

"They've even given him a cute nickname: 'The Faust'. Romantic, huh? The entire upper echelon has been on high alert, but to be honest, it's been kept rather hush-hush. Only us sentries and up have gotten any sort of information... and even then we're in the dark about most of it. Still, it's gotten to the point where they're no longer letting field cadets go solo anymore."

"Oh ho... I see. That's why the Cassius kid's been called in, huh?"

"Yea. He kind of came out of the blue, but I suspect that's precisely why he's here. Anyway, they're not leaving any stones unturned. All sighted Concealers are priority one, at least until it's confirmed that they're not the perp." Noco slid her finger absentmindedly along the rim of her glass, tracking the condensation along. "A lot has changed since you left, Hail..."

Hailey watched as her friend turned toward the window. Her melancholy face glowing softly against the lingering evening light.

"People... are getting uneasy. Protests and riots are becoming more frequent. More troops going AWOL, talk of gag orders and conspiracies... Honestly, that operation yesterday? Just a little something to appease the masses. But it's not fixing things... if anything it'll just rile things up even more." Hailey laid back against the soft velvet of her seat as she listened to her friend speak.

"So people are finally smartening up, huh?" Noco didn't reply. The two women sat without a word for awhile, basking in the scenery of the nearby window. Light traffic periodically whizzed by, breaking the silence and jittering the bundled silverware on the table. At last, Noco turned back towards her fellow Panzer.

"By the way... I was thinking about whether or not I should tell you this but... it's something you deserve to know."

"Oh?"

With a concerned look on her face, Noco cupped her hands firmly in her lap and lowered her voice to a serious tone.

"That Concealer... the one they're calling The Faust... there's rumors going around that he used to be in cahoots with... him."

"... Who are you talking about?" Hailey furrowed her brows and looked at Noco suspiciously. The dog-Panzer's eyes were furrowed with unease.

"The Croc."

Hailey's entire body stiffened at the name. Its very mentioned sent adrenaline blasting through her system.

"Hahaha... well fuck me runnin'." Calming herself with another sip of water, Hailey reached up and rubbed the space between her sleepless eyes. "For a dead guy... that bastard sure keeps poppin' up a lot..."

"Hail...--"

"Order's up, ladies!" The cheerful young waiter returned once again, this time with the orders. Hailey sat in silence as Noco warmly thanked the young man for his service. The two friends finished the remainder of their meal in silence.

====//====//====

*Ching-a-ling ling ling~*

As the door swung shut behind her, Hailey fingered a pack of cigarettes out of her pockets. Sliding out a smoke, she slid it between her lips.

"Hey, you got a li-"

"No. And I never will. Stop asking me to help kill you."

"For fuck's sake, you drink like a fish, but you can't stand a lil' smoke?"

"Why not just keep a lighter on you, then?"

"Duh... how else would unfortunate souls call out for my salvation?"

Noco decided to not pursue the frustration of trying to solve this catch twenty-two. Rolling up her sleep, Noco took a quick glance at the time.

"Got somewhere to be?"

"Funny you should ask. I'm supposed to meet Redmist somewhere at Ten-Thirty."

"Whaaat? It's only, like, Nine!"

"You know him better than I do, Hail. When it's with him, you're always supposed to be there an hour early." Hailey rolled the unlit cigarette around in her teeth.

"Psh... frickin' house rat."

"Aw, no need to be a witch. We all know you have a soft spot for him." Slipping a hand out of her pocket, Hailey ceremoniously flipped her teasing girl-friend off.

"As. Fucking. If."

"Sounds like you wanna come with! Who knows, you might even work up the courage to ask him out this time!"

"You're lucky you don't have balls, girl. There'd be a shoe in them by now." Noco could only laugh. It's almost cute how bitter and uncouth she is. Almost. "Anyway I'm not sticking around for this shit. Cya later, hater!"

Whipping around, Hailey began to saunter off in the opposite direction before suddenly being stopped by Noco.

"Hey, wait!"

"...Yea?"

"Uh... I saw you reading a girly digest back there. Y-You're... not really interested in that stuff, are you?"

"What? Hell no! I got bored waiting for you so I started scribbling over the models' faces with a marker."

[AYC]

(At Paso's request, M post. Hopefully Sanae is characterized properly.)

Date: June 2, Wednesday
Time: 4:05 pm, Afternoon
Weather: Clear
Location: Martin's Home
PCs: M, Sophia, Sanae
================

... Well, this is awkward.

As per Martin's request, the two Strays had decided to... "talk" to this new Crosser girl. The only issue was that they had nothing to talk about, and said Crosser still looked rather terrified, despite the Grouch's reassurances.

As a result, the trio's so-called conversation thus far had consisted of nothing but a few scattered coughs around the tense table, and the young woman in particular mumbling to herself from time to time in what M suspected to be Japanese.

None of which he understood, by the way.

Sophia looks up a few times, and offers the Crosser a timid smile, but fails to gather the courage to say anything. M, on the other hand, is bored out of his skull.

The woman - Sanae, was it? - gives him a meek look, but averts her eyes everytime he catches her staring. When he catches her doing it for the fifth time, he lets out a half-hearted "Boo."

Although he's grateful she doesn't scream in surprise, she does flinch visibly. M yawns lazily, and fixes her with an exasperated look. "Honestly, woman, what's with you? Martin's said it himself, we're harmless, so stop looking at us like we're freaks. We might be dead, wandering souls, but that doesn't mean we can't get offended if you think of us as monsters."

Sanae flushes in embarrassment at his direct words and looks down at her lap apologetically. Sophia doesn't take well to his rudeness either, and pinches him in the side with a small pout on her face.

Ouch.

"Aa... I'm sorry. I didn't know..." Sanae mumbles, her head still bowed. With a sigh, M rubs the back of his neck wearily.

"Ugh... though, if what you told Martin earlier is true, then you know absolutely nothing about this Crosser Stray business to start with anyway..." He sighs again, and exchanges a tired look with Sophia.

Great. It's explanation time again - what is this, the second or third time they've had to explain the whole world of ether stuff? At this rate, he and Sophia might as well publish their own Guidebook for Newbie Crossers to save themselves some of their energy, ugh.

But at least they have something to talk about now.

"... S-so... you two are... su- Strays?"

"Yep!"

"Yeah, those priests of yours weren't that far from the truth. We're more or less ghosts."

"A-and I'm a Crosser?"

Both of them nod in response to Sanae's wide-eyed question. "Yup. Unlike Martin though, I wouldn't exactly call it a curse. But that might be because I'm not a Crosser," M adds, stretching his arms above his head. "Sure, you get chased around by Blights and get involved in some crazy shit sometimes, but it can't be all that bad."

He flinches when Sophia suddenly pinches him again, this time from his lack of subtlety. Sanae blinks, raising an eyebrow curiously at the sudden movement - of course, she can't see Sophia silently reprimanding him under the table. Ow.

Dammit, I've got two women teaming up on me here. Hurry it up Martin, how long does it take for a guy to take a shower?

"It's true though. I mean, you get some cool powers and stuff - I haven't met other awakened Crossers yet, but there are probably some out there with powers more amazing than Martin's. Or at least, other Crossers that don't drool and make blanked out faces when they're using said powers." Despite the small smile on her face, Sanae looks slightly perplexed at the memory, but Sophia giggles, and M leans back in his chair.

"And besides, it's not like it's a bad thing to meet Strays," he continues nonchalantly, waving his hand dismissively, like it's just a small perk. "Most of us are just like ordinary people. We can be as cute and endearing as Sophia, or as bitter as grumpy old men, and everything in between. You can almost say we come in a spectrum of colors!"

With a sudden movement that throws even Sophia off guard, he leans forward in his seat, and props his chin up with the palm of his hand, a bored expression countering his semi-serious, semi-joking tone of voice.

"And for the record, there are Strays out there that are even bigger jerks than me. Better watch out, Miss Newbie Crosser."

[Pictor]

(Lanette's color is #FF4040, just in case anyone is wondering)

Date: 2 Jun, Wednesday
Time: around 7:00 PM
Weather: Clear
Location: White Waters
PC: Mirto
NPC: Lanette Hindfell

============

*DING!*

As the elevator doors slid open, Lanette nearly collapsed right out onto the floor. 'Nearly' meaning she instead stumbled awkwardly into a nearby vase stand, almost knocking the entire display over. The sudden task of having to ensure she didn't end up making yet another mess of things effectively woke her up.

"... Phew. That was close. Hey wait a second..."

Looking up, Lanette spied the giant sign panel which indicated the floor number.

.. T-This isn't even my floor...

It wasn't until after Lanette composed herself that she realized... not only was she on the incorrect floor, but she wasn't even in the right building. The White Waters property was composed of many buildings ranging from hotels and apartments... this one was definitely not hers.

"Oh... darnit. What the heck am I doing?" Just another one to throw on the list; it seemed that Lanette's entire day had been about running around to places for no reason.

First of all, she thought she'd go and thank the goatee's guy from yesterday. After all, she was not only a super heroine, but a Hindfell... and there was a level of courtesy to uphold.

"This town's small enough... Besides, how many places could a grumpy salaryman like him even find work?" Lanette had remembered thinking. As it turned out, there were many such places, and even finding one man among a whole building of similar employees proved to be an overwhelming task. At the very least, she knew he didn't work at Eden Organization... a lesson learned from nearly three hours of loitering that eventually resulted in getting her own butt kicked out by a security officer even grouchier than the person she was trying to find.

After scraping the bottom of her wallet, Lanette managed to dig up enough cash to buy a small meal combo at the local mall's food court. Of course, before she even managed to take a first bite, a newsflash on a television in the mall's lobby caught her eye.

"This just in! A mysterious figure was just spotted in downtown Pebbleton... eye witness reports state that the figure was wearing a grey newsboy hat and a yellow sports jacket... roughly 175 cm tall..."

"Kuh---!!"

Lanette had nearly choked on her beverage. Obviously there was only one person in the entire universe which matched that description. The Shadow Buster's former arch-nemesis... what was he up to? Was he evil after all? Wolfing down her meal, Lanette then dashed for the nearest mall exit. Villain or not, Lanette had decided that anything having to do with that Stray was her problem.

... And yet, it wasn't. At least not today, as fate would have it. When Lanette had finally arrived on the scene, it had seemed all the excitement was over. There were a few police personnel milling about in the aftermath, but other than that there was nothing.

However, a Hindfell must remain vigilant! And it was that principle which lead Lanette to spend her entire day combing the whole town. By the time she would admit to herself that she had no idea what she was doing, the sun was already beginning to set. For the second time in one day, the self-proclaimed super heroine had failed to find what she was looking for.

"... I guess... defeats are part of the job as well."

*DING!*

As the elevator opened, Lanette triple-checked the button panel to make sure that this time it brought her where she actually needed to go... which was to say the ground floor, so she could actually make her way to the right building. But before the young girl even took a step through the doors, she caught a sudden flash of something vivid. It was brief. Extremely so. Like witnessing a lightning strike inside of one's mind. But her finely honed, Hinfellian senses caught it clear as day.

"... Hmmm, 'green?' No, more like...'minty!'" Lanette didn't know why she chose that particular word to describe the Ether stream she had just picked up, but it was the only articulation which seemed to fit. And she recognized this one, too. "I-It's her! The one from yesterday! Errr... what was her name...? Did she even tell me?"

Straining as hard as she could, Lanette poked her head this way and that, like some sort of bloodhound tracking a scent. Yes... it's faint, but there's no doubt she's here! Uh... this way! And now... around the corner...! Finally her senses lead her to a particular apartment door, which she nearly bumped into in her anxiety. Huh, pretty fancy... it wasn't of the highest class suites, but definitely up there.

Lanette wasn't sure what prompted her to knock. How sure was she that it was the right person? And what was she to say even if it was? Judging from how her day went, Lanette wasn't exactly the most confident person in the world at the moment... but it's too late to back out now! For awhile, not one answered, and the teen was about to gulp in relief. But just before she could set her fears aside, the door creaked and flung open faster than she could gather herself.

"..."

Sure enough... in the door way stood the very same girl that Lanette had met in the park just the day before. The very same girl who claimed she had bonded with the Stray which was formerly her arch-villain.

"Y-YOU!"

"Uh... h-hi..."

Mirto stood with her mouth half agape and finger pointed at a fidgeting girl in the hall, who attempted to avert her eyes. There was a long, drawn out, and horribly awkward silence as neither parties spoke a word. Finally, Lanette nervously looked back to the older girl and broke the silence with an anxious voice.

"Um... I-I... uh..."

Mirto was about to say something, but her voice was drowned by another, much rowdier one booming from somewhere inside.

"Mirto? Who is it?" From the depths of the apartment, a slightly rotund and jolly-looking man emerged.

"Ah, who's this? A friend of yours?"

"Well uh... yea, I gue- Wait! No, I mean, not exac-"

"Ho ho! What perfect timing then! We're just having supper, would you like to join us, young lady?"

"Huh?! Oh! U-Um... I..." Lanette was about to say "... don't want to intrude", but it seemed her grumbling guts had other plans. The orange-haired girl blushed profusely as she held her whining stomach in embarrassment.

"I'll take that as a yes! Mirto, let's get your friend inside!"

"Wha- W-Wait! Grrrr.... Uncle--!!!" But Mirto's exasperated pleas went unheard; the man was already lost to la-la land, humming happily to himself as he sauntered back inside the apartment. Sighing deeply and scratching her hair, Mirto looked back at the flustered Lanette. "Well... don't just be standing there. Come in... I guess."

[Sentrovasi]

Date: 2nd June, Wednesday
Time: 4.50 PM
Weather: Cloudless
Location: Telston Mall
PCs: Randall Kayne
NPCs: Noa Blue

Randall had to admit, walking around Pebbleton had gained a new charm when he was no longer being pursued by creepy manifestations of negativity. On the other hand, he now knew enough about the world of Ether that he couldn't help feeling a Blight was going to jump out at every corner. Negativity? That wasn't difficult to find at all.

Least of all in a crowded place like the Mall. Even in Rosen Queen's dairy aisle he was able to sense something familiarly dark in the shoppers that passed him by. People dealing with everyday problems, people like himself: they all possessed that same darkness that could well form a Blight, if concentrated enough. Of course, it was perfectly human to do so, and Randall couldn't help thinking that perhaps Blights were as part of their humanity as Strays were. Had he not been exposed for three days to the Blight's own taint, he probably wouldn't have been able to recognize it in the people around him.

So what were Crossers? Arbitrators of some cosmic scale, making sure good won over evil? Randall liked the sound of being a hero, but he was smart enough to know that there wasn't ever only one side to a story.

Besides, there were too many things he didn't know. Every revelation of his seemed to bring several more around the corner. It was easier just to do what he could, and not to sweat the details. To that effect, he'd given some of the more moody characters he'd encountered little Ether boosts to pick them up: not anything too powerful, but enough to brighten their day just a little.

Having bought the groceries (cashiers seemed to be among the more depressing people, he noticed), Randall left the mall with a smile on his face. It was something to be able to actually do something about the situation without aggravating it, as he had previously. It wasn't a job, and to be honest, he hadn't done much at all. But it was something, at least.

And it didn't expend much of his Ether, he found. It'd be a nice thing to do of a lazy weekend, just walking around town and perking people up. Some small part of him realized that it might seem a little creepy to be randomly messing with others' Ether flows, though.

As he was exploring this train of thought, he noticed a familiar figure loitering in the mall's atrium, close to the entrance.

"Noa? Is that you?"

The girl turned at his voice, the look of surprise on her face quickly turning to one of recognition. She lowered the cup of iced tea that was halfway to her mouth before responding.

"Oh, Randall. Are you alright?" Her eyes looked him up and down appraisingly. "You didn't seem at all well yesterday."

Randall waved it off. "I'm fine; staying in the house would've bored me, anyway. What're you doing here? Tethys said you were joining the sports team." Judging from her uniform, she did seem to have come from school, but the Mall was a little out of the way, especially considering she could've taken the bus straight home.

"Ah, Tethys," she inclined her head a little, an unreadable expression on her face. "I was put up to it; don't think I'll be joining the team, though," she shrugged. "I came here to relax for a bit before going back." At this, she lifted the cup of iced tea to him before taking a sip through the straw.

"Right then, once you're done here, I'll take you home."

Randall decided to wait with her. He didn't have anything else that needed doing, and they were going the same way anyway. Not that she needed protecting: it was daytime, and Gurren street was free from dark alleys, but with his newfound knowledge of Blights even a short walk seemed fraught with potential dangers.

Although... they couldn't affect regular humans, could they?

The girl frowned for a moment, as though trying to discern Randall's motives, then shrugged again. Finishing her iced tea, she dumped it in a nearby trash can before turning back to him.

"That's fine, too." She stepped towards the large sliding doors which were the entrance and exit to the mall. "You don't mind if we walk, right?"

Randall grinned. "I'd be more worried if you wanted the bus; walking's great this time of the day." After all, fresh air was what he'd come out for. A short walk under a Pebbleton sunset was just the ticket for post-Blight therapy.

The two of them left the mall, Randall in the lead. As he made to turn into Renner avenue, he was stopped by a sudden pull at his wrist. Surprised, he turned to find that Noa was taking him in the direction of the pedestrian crossing instead.

"You don't mind if we take a shortcut, do you?"

The look on her face suggested that she would've gone ahead even if he did mind. Reluctantly, Randall agreed, although the satisfied look on the girl's face was some small comfort. She seemed to want him to follow, although he didn't understand why.

As they crossed the street and cut through the carpark, Randall began to get a sense of creeping unease. Was it the lack of people here? The sports stadium was generally empty on Wednesdays, which may have been part of it. As they made their way through the abandoned sports shacks, Randall couldn't help but feel that they were being watched. Paranoia? That wasn't it...

He paused a moment as Noa continued ahead. As if on cue, the girl turned around, a quizzical look on her face.

"Is there a problem? Arnold Lane is just ahead..."

But Randall was no longer looking at Noa. The shadows were wrong, he was sure of it now. As though in response to his realization, the shadow cast by the shed seemed to writhe as dark forms moved within it. He moved away instinctively, looking up to notice Noa's puzzled gaze still on him.

She doesn't see them...

The shadows began to take shape: a cat, a dog, a few pigeons... were they all animals? As Randall tried to rationalize what he was seeing, he found himself surrounded by the small animals, each of them watching him, unnerving him.

"Hey, Randall?"

The older man turned to her, unsure what to say or do. Noa, however, seemed completely oblivious. She pointed to Arnold Lane just a few hundred meters away, still smiling despite the Blights which surrounded Randall.

"I'll race you there."

The Blights had started to move; not just towards him, but her as well. Would they feed on their negativity, or were they actually going to corrupt them? They weren't attacking yet; were they waiting for something? Randall had no wish to find out, for both of their sakes. Hiding his mounting worry behind another careless grin, he flashed a thumbs up at Noa before vaulting over the first wave of Blights.

"You're on!"

[Pasonia]

(major rewrite of certain sections. I am extremely sorry for any continuity errors, I cannot excuse myself for this mistake.)
Date: 2 Jun, Wednesday
Time: 9:00 PM
Weather: Windy
Location:
PC: Martin Chang
Other PCs: Sophia (Oriole), M, Sanae Fujiwara
NPC: Z. Redmist
============

Martin is not one to take too much shit from other people. As far as he is concerned, he is not at all a willing party in this whole fracas that began since yesterday.

Apart from having to look at the Daily Pebbleton for interim odd-jobs while he continues exploring the option of making his instructor job a full-time job, he has to make sure that Sophia and M at least have a reasonable roof over their head (or whatever a Crosser's duties should be in taking care of Strays). On top of that, he now has a new female friend who's just as clueless as he is.

"Uh, Miss Sanae, do you already have a place to stay in?"
"Yes, yes... home-stay at, umm... 35, Reinfield Road..."
"That's quite a distance down, Miss Sanae. You'll probably need a taxi."

It was then that the posse noted a figure waving at them from a distance. Martin looked at Redmist strolling his way down with much disdain as the bandanna kid sat himself on the bench.

"Evening, Mister Chang. Name's Redmist."
"So you're Redmist? Yea, I'm Martin Chang. This is Miss Sanae Fujiwara, and behind me---"

Redmist, a guy perceptive to Ether, decided to take a photo of the posse - entirely without being noticed, a surreptious technique honed by years of practice. It is never bad to keep track of the people you're talking to, especially if they're Crossers.

"I can tell. So let's get down to business."

Martin chortled in his head. That kid doesn't know what's gonna happen to him.

===============

"So, normally that is how Ether is channeled. You need to come up with a focusing keyword in order to channel your Ether more effectively. Just thinking of it barely works, but doesn't make the ether flow smoothly. It can take quite a while to get the keyword, but it will eventually come to you."

"So that's how this... umm.. Ether... is channeled."

Sanae tried to practice her Ether channeling a little, but wasn't quite as successful. This whole Ether thing is entirely brand new business to her. It's almost like walking, all over again.

"By the way, Redmist, I got something to ask you," Martin spoke, in a relatively lower tone.
"What is it, Mister Chang? I'm supposed to get to somewhere else in about half an hour."
"Well, uh, this is something important I have to ask you, that I don't want to ask in front of the rest. I'll prefer to, um, keep it really private."

Redmist pondered what could have been so secretive that the rest couldn't know. He then casually inserted his Ether while looking at the images he had taken from his small camera, and he noticed something alarming.

Everyone had ether signatures all over their bodies... but Martin's signal was so weak, it was like a broken lightbulb to his Ether-sensitive vision.

"This is rather surprising."

"Okay, uh, Sanae, you said you got something on, right?"
"Umm... the landlady will scold if I returned after 10.45pm..."
"Gotcha. I'm calling the cab company for a taxi. Hang on."

Redmist waited for Martin to finish his conversation before he jumped in.

"For the record, are you aware that you're a Concealer...?"

"You are an information guy, right? You just said it yourself; Blights only look at people with Ether, right? I definitely got a pretty huge stare-down by that Train yesterday, then -- oh, hi, hi, call center? I need a taxi at umm, Block 43..."

Redmist paused for a while. It's true that Blights really only look at Ether-laced beings, as that is their only form of identifying who's beneficial and who isn't.

It's a primal, predatory instinct - really, the only thing that's left of their usually corrupted sanity.

"Okay, Sanae, I booked you a cab. It should arrive in about five minutes. You know how to contact me on the Go server, right? Give me a PM there, I'll tell you the rest."

"O...okay. Thank you so much for everything, kingchang-san!"

Martin laughed. That's a really weird thing, to have people call him by his online handle. "Just call me Martin already!"

"Okay... thank you again, Martin!"

"With pleasure; we're in this together. Do come down to the Community Center tomorrow, okay? The kids seem to love having you there."

"Hai!"

"Sophia, M, please do me a favor if it isn't too difficult for you. Escort her to the main road until the taxi arrives. I want to have a private word with Mister Redmist here."

"Okay, Mister Martin!"
"Aight."

When the three of them were clearly far from sight, Martin stood up suddenly from the bench. Before Redmist could ponder what Martin would say next, though, Martin had him firmly in seat, grabbing Redmist by the shoulder and locking the bandanna kid's ass down.

Try as he might, Redmist couldn't get away.

"So... tell me why."
"Tell you why, what? Your Concealer status is a birthright."
"Wrong answer to a question I did not ask."
"Say what?"
"Tell me why on earth you linked me up to a bitch."
"Linked you to a bitch...?"
"Let me rephrase myself - could you not give me the information I wanted in a clearer manner than a fucking PDF file?"
"The PDF file is a completely comprehensive guide compiled by--"
"The latent question is, were you the one who set me up against a stupid bird bitch?"

That could only mean that bird, thought Redmist.
Something bad must have happened between the two, most likely against Martin.
"Why am I the one you're getting angry at then? You should be---"

"Because you knew who you were setting me up against. For that, you alone bear the consequences of your rash, stupid move."

Martin then momentarily released the grip on Redmist's shoulders. Redmist thought of bolting, but before he could do so, he was spun around so quickly that he nearly lost his footing, only to really lose his footing when Martin treated him to a really hard slap on his left cheek.

"That felt good!" Martin growled, but his face was happy. "That ought to teach you!"

Martin then paused. "Did I hear you call me a Concealer?"