Lamentable Nights: Act 04.1 - "You've Got a Friend in Me"

[marcien]

/resurrect
*martia is now alive*
martia is writing in script format because i actually wrote finish this post once, and then the firefox crashed as i posted. then i got so unmotivated and didn't post anymore. until now.

i also wrote this post over 3 months. i am a super procrastinator. (sorry, wasn't feeling so good previously.)

Date: 6 Jun, Sunday
Location: Pebbleton and beyond
PC: Lilia Auen
NPC: Rivai Auen
================

____________________________________________________________

INT. MATERION TOWERS - AFTERNOON

LILIA AUEN speaks with a receptionist (NOCO SUE BERRY) at the counter-top. She fills up a form and hands it back to NOCO. They exchange pleasantries and LILIA leaves through the automatic glass doors.


EXT. TOWN OF PEBBLETON - EVENING

LILIA takes a walk around the streets, going past the park, the shops, the houses, and the station, familiarising herself.


EXT. OUTSIDE PEBBLETON SUBWAY STATION - LATE AFTERNOON

Her mobile phone rings. LILIA smiles upon seeing the name of the caller (RIVAI AUEN). She answers the phone.

LILIA

(putting phone to her ear)

Hey.

RIVAI

(cheeky tone)

Guess where am I?

Lilia does not respond and remains silent.

RIVAI

I happen to be in the area, so, here I am, to pick you!

LILIA

There's no way you can be "in the area", this is about a 60 minute's drive from--

RIVAI

Wrong answer! Again, guess where, exactly, am I? If you get it wrong, you're driving!

LILIA sighs, and chuckles. She is used to this. She switches her phone to speaker mode, and closes her eyes. Her ear glows in a deep green hue. The background noise is muted and the sound from the phone amplified. Water splashes, cars and traffic are heard.

Walking over to a map of the town at the subway station, LILIA's fingers searched for all spots of blue on the map. She then flicks gently at the areas away from the roads and and rests her finger on one spot near a traffic junction.

LILIA

You are at Materion Square, aren't you?

RIVAI

Wow, bingo.

LILIA

Thanks for driving.

INT/EXT. IN A CAR ON THE HIGHWAY

RIVAI

Disappointed you couldn't find your Rooftrellen?

LILIA

I am here on a recce mission.

RIVAI

Lies.

LILIA

I wasn't expecting to find anything.

RIVAI

Hahaha.

Beat.

RIVAI

'kay, I'll stop.

The journey continues with both parties remaining silent. As they turned out from one expressway to another, LILIA spots figures in the forest.

LILIA

Wait! Rivai, stop. Did you see that?

RIVAI

No I can't stop here, Sister. And my eyes are on the road, so I don't know what "that" is.

LILIA

A beast.

RIVAI

(sarcastic)

Yup, forests have animals.

LILIA

It was big! And another creature was riding on the beast.

RIVAI

Really? Woah cool. It's like we're in a fantasy movie. And then I'll be the friend who doesn't believe the protagonist, and later when you get kidnapped and I have to jump into another world to save you, you'll be all "Do you believe me now?"

LILIA

I'm pretty sure the one with a higher chance of being kidnapped is you.

RIVAI

With all your psychic magic powers, okay, true. But no, I'm not a shitty deuteragonist. I believe you. Which means that it's a good thing I didn't stop the car when you told me to.

LILIA

(pauses for a while)

Ah.

Pause.

RIVAI

Hey. Try to stay safe in your new town okay? Don't get involved with too much shit.

LILIA

Mm.

____________________________________________________________

now that backstory post is done, i'll be posting what happened after the bonding post later. which was also, written concurrently over the span of 3 months.

[marcien]

Date: 8 Jun, Tuesday
Time: 07:02pm
Weather: Still raining, yes
Location: 4 Peddington Lane
PCs: Lilia Auen
Other PCs: Lazarus, Threads, Alkane
================

Lilia ended up walking home. She wasn't quite sure she wanted to make two strays come onto a public bus with her, even if Leuel said she liked sitting on the roof of the bus.

Once she was in her house, Lilia gave the strays a short tour of the house. She then gave Threads his own room, something he appeared to be grateful for. Leuel, however was very excited and insisted on exploring the neighbourhood and marking out potential "dangerous arena". (She means families with kids.)

Meanwhile, Lilia took a shower and prepares dinner.

That was when Leuel and Threads return. Lilia found it strange that her stray was being strangely quiet. Oh, Threads was looking grumpier than when he was first pulled out of his new room. And had his hand on Leuel's bear mouth.

"Lilialilialilialilialililialilialia!!!"

Lilia stifled a laughter.

"You don't have to call me that many times. I can hear you just fine."

"There's a dog! The neighbour IS A DOG!!"

"You mean to say, the neighbour has a dog."

"No! I said THE NEIGHBOUR IS A DOG."

Knowing that she would not be getting any coherency out of Leuel, Lilia turned to Threads.

"There was a woman in the house besides yours. Then she turned into a dog and left."

It definitely was not like Threads to make up such a story. Lilia's mind flashback to the figures she saw in the forest two days ago.

"What happened then?"

"Leuel here, wanted to go and take a closer look."

Leuel clenched her fists and huffed in irritation. "But Threads won't let me!"

"When she left, she turned and sniffed in our direction. I am certain that she was looking at us."

Lilia pondered the words of her brother.

"Leuel, listen. Threads is right. The dog may be dangerous."




it ended up being so short. because i originally want to write in graciel, but graciel's now home with his family and alkane is in his house.

sent: i don't know, if threads know what panzers are. if he does, then i will correct my post.

also, it's been so long since i LN-ed. if anyone's OOC, please let me know too.

[Pictor]

Date: 8 June, Tuesday
Time: 11:10 pm
Weather: Cloudy, clearing skies
Location: Warehouse Lot
PC: Jacket
Other PCs: Lanette
================

Our mask-faced hero jolted awake with a start, causing a disturbance that echoed off the surrounding walls as he nearly fell on his side. Except he wasn't exactly sure why.

There was a loud noise. Maybe.

Or perhaps he just had another bad dream. He'd been getting those more and more lately.

"Nnnngggg...." Jacket groaned as he rubbed at a dull soreness in his neck. That's what you get for sleeping in a shipping container with cold, corrugated walls. Raising himself to his feet, he stumbled toward to the entrance, making sure to grab his coat off the wall along the way. The thing was hung on a protruding rivet to dry, but it didn't seem to do any good.

Whatever. He threw it on anyway.

With one hand idly tussling his already-messy hair, he raised the other and gave the container door a careful shove, opening it just enough for him to peer out unnoticed.

Jacket was pleasantly surprised to discover that the outside world was no longer being assaulted by a blanket of rain. There were a few clouds still lingering the skies, but aside from that, it was safe to say that the storm had passed. Sticking his head out a few inches, he double-checked to make sure the area was clear before swinging both doors wide open. The faint light of the moon flooded into the chamber.

"Haaaaa..!" Taking a deep breathe, Jacket stretched himself out and drew in the warm, summer-night air. Even in this grubby old storage lot, the downpour seemed to have washed the atmosphere nice and clean. As convenient as it was moving about under the cover of the rain, he was getting a little sick and tired of constantly being soaked.

The dusty concrete floor of the yard ground against his soles has the Stray made his landing. He was careful to pick a shelter that was stacked off the ground. That way, he'd be aware of any trouble before it hit. Though he was pretty sure that not many people would be visiting a place so shady and out-of-the-way at this time of night.

*Clunk!*

... Then again, he could be wrong. That certainly wouldn't be anything new.

Jacket's first instinct was to slip into the shadows between the containers.

*Ka-Shunk!*

Another sound. The sound of someone, or something thumping against a metallic surface. Perhaps he wasn't so alone on the property after all. In that case, it's a good thing he woke up when he did.

*Clunk-Clunk-Clunk!*

Whatever was making the sound seemed to be shuffling around quite a bit now. Though, it was almost impossible to tell which direction the commotion was coming from through the maze of massive shipping crates. The containers all rattled against each other. Any noise seemed to come from all directions.

*Clunk. CLUNK. KA-SHUNK.*

... It did seem to be getting closer though.

"...."

"......"




"........?"

Huh. It seems to have stopped. Did they leave? In any case, there's no reason to risk being discovered. This seems as good a time as any to make an undetected get-away.

Jacket gave one last glance around the corner, then turned around and--

"Oof!"

"Oof!"

-- Wound up smashing into something and landing flat on his ass.

"...Gah! What the-" Having been knocked off his feet, Jacket quickly struggled to regain his composure. When he finally did, confusion turned to shock and dread as he discovered what -or rather, who- he had very literally run into.

"Ow ow ow ow...."

The other person seemed to share his sentiments as she suddenly stopped rubbing her behind and stared back, eyes wide with surprise.

"W-Wah! Y-Y-Y-"

Both parties recoiled and threw a trembling finger in each other's direction.

"YOU!"

"YOU!"

[Sentrovasi]

Threads cannot get used to the idea of someone naming someone else. Therefore Lazarus.

Date: 08/06 Tuesday
Time: 6:33 PM
Weather: Light rain
Location: 4 Peddington Lane
PCs: Threads
Other PCs: Lilia, Leuel, Alkane

The house had just been moved into. Threads could tell even without the cardboard boxes stacked haphazardly about the main hall; the house seemed so devoid of sympathy for the woman he'd only just met that it was alien: he felt as though they were trespassers.

"Well! Here we are. I'm sorry I haven't unpacked everything yet: my things were just brought here two days ago."

She took them on a tour of the house. The fact that a tour was necessary was already indicative of one fact: the house was bigger than Threads had expected her to have. Did she have a roommate? No. That was a relief, because any more suspicious people and he'd have gone back to the mansion.

In fact, she gave him a room of his own. A small but serviceable room, already furnished with a bed (that he would never use), desk (that he would never need) and chair (sitting was more of a habit than anything; interacting with the chair was tiring). None of them, of course, had any sympathetic link to their current owner. But that was fine.

He appreciated her tact, even if he didn't trust her.

Yet a question sprung to mind: why such a large house? There were five rooms in total: enough for herself, him and the bear, and she didn't seem to be expecting any visitors or roommates. Was she in the business of regularly inviting strangers to her house?

Her reply was nonchalant. "Well, it was for rent, and I could afford it."

But to Threads it seemed strange, and a little bit lonely. Had she planned to take care of the whole place on her own? The way she spent her money seemed rather callous, as well. Despite himself, he felt a bit sorry for the woman.

Lazarus, on the other hand, was a lot more straightforward about it.

"Whoaa, your house is huge!"

As she launched herself into her room, Threads walked calmly out of his and continued to explore the house. As a precautionary measure, he locked the door from the inside and then stepped through.

It was strange how quiet the place was (sans the muffled thumps coming from Lazarus's room); he had quite gotten used to the howling winds, dripping roofs, and creaking floorboards in Fukami Mansion. He knew he should have felt safer, but instead he felt a lot more vulnerable.

And then Lazarus came running out of her room again.

"Liliaa! As your Stray, I think I should help look for dangerous threats in the area!"

Threads stifled a sigh. The bear was getting far too excited for her own good. Sure, it was something that he'd have done himself, but Lazarus seemed better at getting herself into trouble than out of it.

Lilia looked bemused. "Sure, I guess. I have to get a few things ready anyway. Threads, go with her."

He'd known of course that the woman was astute enough not to let Lazarus run around on her own. Nonetheless he felt just a little put upon, but he tried not to show it.

"Sure, I'll keep her in check. Be back soon."

This, of course, provoked the expected reaction from Lazarus. "Ehhhh, really? That's great, Threads is coming! Come onn let's go!" She took off at such speed that Threads was obliged to actually expend effort to run after her. He supposed she must have been feeling a lot better now that she no longer had to worry about her energy reserves.

Threads caught himself at the thought. He still hadn't found a way to replenish his energy: Lazarus hadn't been lying, after all. He could sense the strong sympathetic link between the two of them. From just a name? He didn't believe it was that simple, nor that innocent.

"So, Lazarus?" Threads finally caught up to the bear, who was now standing under a lamp post, looking up and down the street.

"Hmm? It's Leuel now, call me that instead." She seemed to be preoccupied with spotting something.

"Right. Leuel then. I thought you were frightened of Blights, so..."

She jumped. "Blights? Where...! Oh, no, I'm looking around for children!"

"Children?" They were obviously at cross-purposes here. The fact that the bear was talking to him now while hiding behind him was proof that she hadn't actually lost her fear of Blights.

"Uh huh." Now that it became apparent that Threads hadn't actually spotted a Blight, she began to slowly step out from behind him. "They might be innocent and cute-looking, but you don't know what terrible things they're capable of!"

Threads turned to face her, looking less than impressed. She obviously noticed.

"L-l-like! They'll compare you to a cartoon character and make you fight bad guys!"

"Okay, but couldn't you-"

"Except that the bad guys are Blights!" She didn't seem to have heard what he'd said.

"In that case-"

"BIG BLIGHTS!" It seemed to have been something very real to her.

"Well-"

"SO BIG THEY COULD SWALLOW YOU WHOLE THREADS!" He could almost hear the tears in her voice. While he found the whole episode ludicrous, he felt just a little sorry for the bear regardless. While it was obvious that she'd had a traumatic past, to be afraid of children seemed so ridiculous it was almost adorable.

Mostly annoying, though.

"It's fine, you have Lilia now, don't you?" He tried a half-hearted consolation, unsure if he was referring to the Blights or the children anymore. "She'll keep them away from you." Privately, he didn't trust either of them to keep anyone safe, but they had done nothing to warrant extra suspicion... yet.

"She seems a lot more rational than..." anybody else I've met today, he almost said, "those children you're talking about, anyway."

Slightly more heartened, Leuel nodded. But before she could say any more, Threads had pulled her into the shadowed alley beside Lilia's house.

"Whaa?" was all she managed before Threads put a hand over the bear's mouth. Miraculously, she seemed to quiet despite the fact that it couldn't possibly have made a difference.

"Hold on, I could've sworn that woman heard us."

Lazar mumbled something.

"I've been watching the houses from here; I know most of them can't see us, but that one woman... your shouts about the Blights seemed to have drawn some kind of reaction from her."

Another mumble, this one more like a question.

"It's the house right next door. Her silhouette behind the curtains seemed to shift each time..." Cautiously, Threads looked around the corner again, with Leuel close behind him.

A dark-haired woman stepped to the window, looking out as though searching for something. The visors she wore clearly reflected the street lights. Up close, Threads could sense something... strange about her.

That was when she turned into a dog.

Leuel behind him gasped, which he quickly stifled by putting his hand back over her mouth. Stunned as he was by the transformation, he couldn't help but remember everything that had happened today: one more phenomenon into the mix didn't seem like that much more of an incredible coincidence than it already was. What was more important now was that dogs had an incredible sense of hearing... and smell.

They withdrew behind the corner, although it was really Threads pushing Leuel back into the alley. Could she smell or hear them? Threads knew that his presence did seem to affect animals on occasion. And the woman... dog, he wasn't sure which, had reacted to their conversation before. He counted to five, then turned back around the corner.

The dog had gotten out of the house through a small cat door. He watched it for a moment, wondering if it had been his imagination.

It was at this point that the dog turned so it was staring directly at them. He froze for a moment, one small part of his mind wondering why he was so afraid of a dog, but the rest of it on high alert. Then it barked, as though taunting him, and scampered away into the night.

"... Threads?"

Strangely enough, Leuel was quieter than he'd expected after the initial gasp. "... W-w-w-wuh-whut did I just see?"

He knew the question was rhetorical, but it was curious how she was asking the person who had spent the entire day as the least-informed one. "Well, a human just turned into a dog. Was that surprising? I mean, considering we're incorporeal and just ran from a horde of giant monsters..."

"Humans can turn into dogs? That is SO COOOL!" She had obviously missed the point.

"Look, at this point I think we should go back and tell Lilia about it. It's obviously something..."

"I have an idea! Let's follow her! Maybe we can keep her too!" Threads was barely in time to grab on to her collar and pull her back.

"No, you don't know what that thing was." He tried to use as stern a tone as he could manage. "You do not chase after things that could potentially kill you. Okay?"

"But what if-"

"No. What if she was going to a place full of Blights? Or children? Or worse, blight children?" He was talking off the top of his head at this point as he literally dragged Leuel back indoors.

"But it's so coool! She can be like a-"

But Threads didn't wait to hear what the dog-person could have been at this point, because his hand went back firmly over the bear's mouth, and stayed there until they arrived.

[Pictor]

And thus we continue with the bizarre time warp that martia insists doesn't matter.

Date: 8 June, Tuesday
Time: 11:20 pm
Weather: Cloudy, clearing skies
Location: Warehouse Lot
PC: Jacket
Other PCs: Lanette
================

"What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I asked first!"

"I asked fir-" Jacket heaved a quick sigh and threw a hand up to halt the conversation. "Tch. Look, we're not gonna keep doing this."

Unfortunately the red-haired girl didn't seem the settle down just yet.

"Sh-shut up! How are you even here? You're still alive?" It took Lanette a second before she realized the silliness of her question. "Um, I mean, undead... again. Re-dead? Whatever!"

Jacket simply shrugged. Not only was he not in the mood to re-tell the day's events, but he wasn't exactly sure how it all went down anyway. So he gave the girl the gist of it.

"... Got lucky, I guess."

The girl gave a small huff, as if she'd been expecting that sort of answer all along. She picked herself off the ground and got to work at patting the dirt and grime off her clothes.

"Hmph, well it's not like I care or anything. Mirto seemed pretty bummed out though. At least now she can rest easy."

"Geh!"

Jacket caught himself wincing audibly at the mention of Mirto's name, but it was too late. Lanette had noticed as well; her raised brow suggesting a very clear suspicion.

"She does know right?"

"..." Jacket glanced away guiltily, unable to say anything.

"Are you SERIOUS?!" The girl exclaimed furiously, her eyes were wide with disbelief. "Did you even go see her??"

"Um... well... kinda... She... didn't really see me though..." Lanette leapt forward and snatched Jacket buy the collars, pulling him down to her height so hard he nearly lost his balance again.

"Dumbass!! Do you have any idea how worried she was?"

By now, Jacket was starting to get a little peeved as well. He turned and brushed the girl away firmly.

"H-hey, be quiet, alright? It's not that simp-"

"Yes it is! How could you not have even let her know you're safe? That's like, common sense!"

"SHUT UP! Who asked you?!"

"...!"

Lanette flinched slightly as Jacket spat his words more forcefully than he'd intended. He wasn't about to take it back though. No one asked for her opinion, anyway.

The girl bit her lower lip like a wrongfully scolded child, tugging tightly at the hem of her shirt in frustration. This moron was unbelievable.

"... Be like that then, idiot." Her tone was steady and cold, lacking any of the emotion she had shown before. Jacket stood, unmoving, even as he heard Lanette's footsteps steadily retreating away.

Darnit. Maybe... he was being a bit too-

*THWAM!*

"--GUEHGH!"

Suddenly, an explosive impact from behind sent Jacket careening out from the cover of the containers. He ended up smashing upside-down into a pile of crates out in the open lot.

"Ooooaaaagh....."

When the world finally stopped spinning, he managed to pull himself out of the debris only to be greeted by the sight of Lanette standing a few yards away, fist extended.

After making sure Jacket was able to see her, she pulled her arm back, blew on her knuckles, and flashed a cocky grin.

"Arrrrrrgh!! What the hell is WRONG with you?!

"Silence, villainous scum!" The girl placed one hand on her waist and shot the other one out in Jacket's direction, pointing dramatically. She clearly wasn't paying attention to what he was saying at all. "I, Shadowbuster Lanette Hindfell, hereby find you guilty of being an extreme jerk, and for toying with a girl's feelings. For that, you'll be receiving the capital punishment of having your ass kicked really hard!"

Jacket limped forward and slapped a hand to his face.

"Augh... Not this nonsense again. Didn't we go over this already?"

"Ho? What's the matter? Are you scared? Now that I think about it, all you ever did was run away from me, huh? You never once tried to put up a fight." Her smile twisted mischievously as she continued. "Once a coward, always a coward, I suppose."

Jacket thought he felt something snap inside of him. What was it that they called it? Oh right.

The last straw.

"You know, I was having such a good night before you showed up. " The Stray's words seethed through gritted teeth. "Kinda makes a guy upset."

Lanette kept on smiling. As if this was exactly the kind of reaction from him that she wanted.

"Boo hoo. You're not the only one who has bad days. Ever since I came to this stupid town, it's been one miserable thing after another. Maybe I'll finally get to blow off some steam! Hehehehe..."

Jacket's fists were clenched so hard that his knuckles began to pop.

"Fine. Have it your way then. I've a bone to pick with you as well. Four months' worth of bones!"

[Sentrovasi]

Date: 08/06 Tuesday
Time: 9:40 PM
Weather: Dark and cloudy
Location: 4 Peddington Lane
PC: Threads
Other PCs: Leuel, Lilia

Threads had watched as Lilia had her dinner. It wasn't something he had to be there for, really, but watching her, he could feel a part of himself he'd lost: not hunger, but its gnawing absence. It was strange, not having to eat, sleep, or even breathe. Instead, he was living on what was essentially borrowed time: and it had been her who had given him even this much to live on.

Her.

"I don't suppose you're familiar with the town?" His question was abrupt, and Lilia had to pause to swallow her forkful of salad before she could reply.

"No, I'm rather new here. I have however, heard rumours of high ethereal activity in this area though."

He nodded slowly. Of course she would think that the first thing he would be interested in was their theories of spirits and ghosts. But that was hardly his point at all. The book that was now in his hands remained blank.

"So I don't suppose you would know anyone who lives around here personally?"

"No, not at all. Unless my colleagues at work count for anything." She finished the salad immaculately, her fork clattering on the plate punctuating the conversation. There was nothing to be learnt from her there.

But there were still other problems nagging at him. He hadn't talked to anyone who seemed normal at all since he'd got here, so he figured now was a good chance to start. "Any idea on what that... dog might be?"

"I'm afraid not, Threads. But it is something that I will find out. Before that, though..." She put the piece of bread she was eating down.

"Leuel, I can't eat like this."

Threads groaned inwardly. The bear had been remarkably quiet the entire time, and had been watching Lilia eat just as Threads had. The only difference was her gaze which was, even through the bear suit, palpably intense. The effect, he admitted to himself, was rather unnerving.

"B-buuut... you two were just talking, and I didn't want to interrupt!" The bear seemed a little panicked now that all eyes were on her.

"It's fine, I was almost done anyway." Lilia stood, clearing the table and busying herself with the sink. Threads noted as she did that the plates, at least, were hers. She had obviously begun unpacking while they'd been out. A large majority of her things, though, still remained in the boxes pushed haphazardly to a side by the door.

"Are you going to need help unpacking your things?"

Lilia looked up at that, a little nonplussed by the unexpected offer of help. "Well, I-"

"Hey, Leuel, why don't you help Lilia unpack?"

The bear seemed to light up at that. She got off her seat and immediately ran towards the boxes. "Sure! How can I help, Lilia?"

Threads felt a slight twinge of guilt as the overenthusiastic bear began to dutifully open every single one of the boxes even as the older woman told her it was quite alright not to do so. He had something he wanted to do, and it wouldn't do to have either of them following him, for their sakes as well as his.

"Ah, where're you going, Threads?" He faltered at the steps for a moment, wishing that the bear was just a little less observant.

"I'm just going to my room for a while. I'm... a little tired." He wondered if the lie would work on either of them.

Fortunately, Leuel didn't seem to have noticed. "Ohhh... it's fine then! I'll take care of everything down here!"

Threads had to smile at that. Quickening his step slightly he made his way up the stairs and through his room door. The window he'd left open blew a gust of cold wind through the room: he hadn't felt cold in a long time, but it at least made the place feel a little less enclosed. Moving to the window, he looked out, noticing the house they'd seen the dog-woman leave just a few hours ago.

What else was there in that cold night air? The dangers of the town seemed a lot more real to him now. He needed information, and quickly. He clambered out the window with an alacrity born of weightlessness: another few seconds and he was on the roof.

He watched the shadows as they moved about him in the moonlight, his eyes searching, as though trying to find something beneath them. Somewhere out there was that man, and the day's events made him wonder how close he was.

Silently he touched the hem of his scarf to his face, and then he was off.

[Sentrovasi]

Date: 08/06 Tuesday
Time: 10:00 PM
Weather: Dark and cloudy
Location: Peddington Lane
PC: Threads

He couldn't enter other houses without having the door opened for him; he'd known that since his third day. Nonetheless, finding out as much as he could about the strange phenomenon could at least help him prepare for whatever it was happening in the town.

And there was no doubt in his mind that something was happening.

The lights in the house were still on, which helped him ascertain that there was definitely no one in the house. He hadn't been able to get close enough to the dog to trace any sympathetic links from her, but he supposed she could have been the owner. But why leave the way she did, then? And how had she been able to sense him?

He stalked about the house for a little more: nothing looked disturbed, which meant that the woman probably hadn't been trying to burgle the place. Dissatisfied with his abilities, he returned to the rooftop, channeling a small amount of Ether from his scarf to wipe his traces from the vicinity. If the owner of the place was involved in all the strange events that had happened, then all the more reason to cover his tracks well.

A movement from the corner of his eye distracted him. He turned in time to see a few dark shadows skittering away. Had they been following him? They couldn't sense him now, he was fairly confident of that, but having them so close to the house was worrying, to say the least.

Threads looked at the two rings he wore on his right hand. They were probably enough.

He approached the creatures, a shudder of fear passing through him for a moment as he contemplated his scarf failing to conceal him. He was fairly sure the creatures couldn't see; at least, from past experience that had been the case. Silently he approached the far wall of Lilia's house. The window to one of the empty rooms was right above him. Fortunately, it seemed as though Lilia and Leuel were still in the front room, so he didn't have to worry them.

Nonetheless, he did have to worry about himself. He had only a second to activate the ring, since he couldn't conceal himself and exert his power at the same time. He looked between the shadows that now were wandering aimlessly in the alleys between the houses. They were mindless, but that didn't make them any less deadly if they managed to get him. Now that they were aware of Ether in the vicinity, he wasn't sure he could wait for them to leave, either.

Silently, Threads concentrated on the pattern of the ring he held. He had only one of this particular pattern left, and it was hard enough to find an article of clothing that had such a sympathy that he wondered if using it here was wise.

Malice.

He couldn't have used it in the house, nor did he want to use it at all. But if those monsters were this close, there was no other way to prevent them from returning every night, even if Leuel was enough to handle them.

Clutching the ring close to himself, he released his hold over his scarf, the unnatural void of Ether around him instantly being replaced with the much more familiar atmosphere. He tensed as the shadows jerked as though pulled by some unseen thread.

The cruel snake in shadows birthed
Seeks the unworthy in their dreams

He felt the cold anger in the ring spread over him, and he struggled to fight the surge of emotion that poured through him. As the ring's substance began to unravel from his fingers, a dark pallor fell over the already dark alley. Shaken, Threads stepped back and wrapped the scarf about himself as it fell to the ground with a clatter, then sank into the stone path, black symbols spreading out in ripples where it lay.

The shadows continued to advance for a moment, but as the ground beneath them turned dark, a chill seemed to come over the place: a moment later and they melded back into the darkness. As though honouring some supernatural agreement.

The dark runes faded away, leaving a small sigil in the ground and a now entirely ordinary ring beside it. Threads sighed as he picked the small bauble up. It never got easier to deal with. He'd drop it off at the police station, although he doubted that its owner would bother looking for it.

He stepped out into the bright streetlights and looked down the road where the dog had gone. If there were shadows around here, perhaps they could lead him to wherever the dog had gone. He started down the road again. So many questions, so few leads, and no time at all.

[Pictor]

Date: 8 June, Tuesday
Time: 11:25 pm
Weather: Cloudy, clearing skies
Location: Warehouse Lot
PC: Jacket
Other PCs: Lanette
================

Jacket might be a bit rough around the edges, but that doesn't mean he was about to beat up a little girl.

Nah. He'll just be teaching her a lesson in manners.

"HaaaaAAAAA!"

The Stray kicked off against the ground and shot himself toward his target. Lanette stood on the spot and rolled her eyes, as if to say 'how typical'. She waited until he was inches away from her before stepping ever-so-slightly out of the way.

*Crash!*

Jacket's fist ended up wrist-deep in the concrete ground.

"Oh wow, you actually put power into that? Tsk tsk tsk. What if you actually hit me?"

Her taunting was met with another furious assault of fists, this time, a little dustier.

First a right jab.

"Missed me!"

Then a left hook.

"No cigars!"

Then a straight.

"*Hehehe, where are you aiming?"

The next attempt was a low kick, but that also failed to connect. Lanette quickly vaulted over Jacket with a front flip, making sure to leap-frog his head on the way. As she landed, she turned and stuck out her tongue.

"Nyeeeeh. Is that all you can do? Weeeeak. My turn, then!!" With surprising flexibility, the girl raised a leg near-vertically into the air. "This is how you make a dent!"

*KA-SLAM!*

The instant Lanette brought her foot to the ground, a mighty explosive force shattered the concrete foundation, sending large chunks of debris flying toward the sky.

"Heeyaaah!" Spinning herself around, she delivered a reverse kick to a particularly large piece of falling concrete, sending it flying toward Jacket.

"Gah!" The Stray managed to rolled out of the way just in time to avoid the projectile, but Lanette wasn't finished just yet.

"--And a few more!" Another volley, slightly smaller in size, but no less deadly. Jacket scrambled to avoid them as Lanette fired the falling debris off one by one like missiles.

The last of them blew past his shoulder at an alarming velocity before finally embedding itself deep into a steel container with a loud metallic crunch.

Jacket couldn't help but imagine the damage it'd do if it had hit him instead.

... Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

"Yoohoo~! Don't get distracted"

While Jacket had his attention one the wreckage, Lanette had already closed the gap. By the time he realized his folly, a punch had already been delivered to his face.

"Guwaaaah!!"

The attack packed enough force to send him tumbling along the ground like a rag doll. Digging his heals into the floor, Jacket was able to right himself before he crashed into anymore of the environment.

The Stray came to a skidding stop, and collapsed on on knee. It frustrated him to find out that getting back up again was actually getting quite tough.

"Haaaah.... haaaah...."

Damn it. He didn't want to admit it, but he was already giving it his all. Lanette, on the other hand, didn't even seem to have broken a sweat. She bounced around enthusiastically with a big, dumb grin plastered on her face, like some sort of athlete stretching out before a match. It was as if the entire fight had simply been a warm-up for her... if even that.

"Hehehe... Well? Give up yet?"

"Don't be dumb. You're the one who picked a fight!

"Yea, and you were dumb enough to take me on!"

"Grrrrr... Shut up!!"

Jacket stepped forward and lashed out and arm like a whip, sending a flurry of tendrils hurling from his palm in Lanette's direction.

"Wha-?" Lanette's startled expression suggested that she hadn't anticipated an attack like this. Long, obsidian cords arched back and wrapped themselves around her like a makeshift mummy, rooting her to the spot.

"Ha! Gotcha!"

"Argh... new tricks, huh?" Lanette closed her eyes, with a concentrated grimace. "Don't get cocky just yet!"

A loud, high-pitched hum emanated from the coils around Lanette's body. Slowly, they began to glow a bright, neon violet. Jacket's expression wasn't so confident anymore.

"...Uh oh"

Suddenly, an eruption of energy burst outward from the Crosser girl, completely shredding apart the bonds constricting her. Without missing a beat, she dashed forward and grabbed the frayed tendrils, the other ends of which were still attached to her opponent.

"Aw crap."

A sharp tug sent him stumbling forward.

Before he could regain his balance, his legs were swept out from underneath him.

Then, for all but a nanosecond, he felt a palm hover above the back of his head. The familiar humming of energy rumbled against his cranium.

"I win."

*KA-PEW!!*

A massive, concussive blast crashed into Jacket's skull at point-blank range, smashing him down into a faceful of cement. Somewhere along the way, there was a sickening crack, like the sound of bones breaking. Then, with an undramatic thud, his legs fell straight as his entire body went limp.

Complete technical knockout.

A slight breeze blew through the lot, sweeping away the dust. Silent and smooth, as if to offer its condolences to the defeated.

For awhile, Jacket remained motionless on the floor. A pool of black ichor had slowly gathered at the impact crater, carrying shards of white with it as it spread.

Lanette shuffled back around and knelt down beside him.

"Why didn't you go to see her?"

The Stray remained silent with his face buried into the ground.

"C'mon, I know that's not enough to finish you.

Again, no answer.

"H-Hey. Um..."

There was a hint of increasing alarm in the Lanette's voice as she prodded Jacket's body.

"H-Hey! C'mon, don't mess around! This isn't funny! Just because you lost..."

Slight panic overtook the teen when it occurred to her what she might have done.

"Oh... Oh shoot."

After a bit of struggling, Lanette managed to dislodge Jacket's head from ground zero. As she rolled him onto his back, the sight was enough to make her wince.

There was a large crack jutting straight down the right side of the Stray's mask, cutting through the eye-hole. Smaller cracks had splintered their way off, and the entire wound was seeping with opaque ooze. The lack of the familiar glow in his left eye meant he had definitely lost consciousness.

A-And that's all, right? He wasn't really...

... Was he?

Lanette found herself fighting back tears. 'Over did it' were the first words that popped into her head. Sure, she meant to teach him a lesson, but obviously she hadn't planned on killing the dumb bastard! Er, kill again? Re-kill? No, wait, this wasn't the time for that! At this point, the girl was pretty much ready to have a breakdown.

"Young Miss!"

A voice cuts through the air, accompanied by quick and light footsteps.

What was the term called? Lanette had remembered briefly encountering it during her studies... or perhaps during the negligence of. The term dictating the philosophy that the worst situations will invariably arise at the worst times. Kramer's Rule? Murphy's Rule? Her thoughts were too much of a mess to recall.

"At last, I've finally found y-- Ah."

The footsteps came to an abrupt halt behind the girl as their owner was offered a full view of the scene.

Slowly, Lanette turned her head toward her caretaker's gaze. Lin's eyes were wide with a mixture of surprise and confusion.

Unable to contain the torrent of events, the young girl broke down into tears.

=======

Several kilometers away, on the other side of town, Hailey Geminesca woke groggily as her bedsheets were pull off of her. An annoyed Redmist held the bundle tightly in his hands, as if any more contact with the Panzer woman would taint its precious folds.

"Yo... what's wrong with you? What if I'd been naked under here? Were you prepared to take responsibility?"

"That obviously was not the case. And I think the question should be what is wrong with you? Your crazy pet project even is not here anymore. Should you not be keeping an eye on it? Perhaps prevent it from trashing anymore apartments."

Hailey yawned and snuggled deeper into the sofa, unmoved by the frustration in the man's voice.

"Meh... outside world is dangerous... too many cunts with guns. Dun wanna deal with it. Besides, I told the thing that I had a tracking device on him, so he should keep out of trouble."

Redmist raised an eyebow, unconvinced.

"... And you think that will be a sufficient deterrent?"

Another yawn.

"Eh... maybe. Worth a shot."

"... There is no tracker at all, is there?"

The answer came muffled through seat cushions.

"Whatever, those things are expensive...

"Get out of my apartment."

[Sentrovasi]

Note: This is all I've got presently; it's time to leave for Chinese New Year dinner

Date: 08/06 Tuesday
Time: 10:33 PM
Weather: Cloudy
Location: Materion Square
PC: Threads

What was wrong with Materion Square? Threads wondered. It didn't seem to be mere coincidence that almost every major event he'd been through seemed to involve or originate, in some way, with the place. It could have been coincidence, or just selective memory on his part, but he couldn't help but feel that if he wanted to get into trouble, Materion Square was the place to go.

Traditionally, Threads wasn't the kind of person who would ever walk into trouble. Perhaps one of the chief issues between him and anyone he'd ever met to date was that while he did his best to keep himself alive, they seemed to take running jumps into Olympic-sized pools of trouble on what seemed to be every possible occasion. Even more surprisingly, they seemed to make it out with only minor injuries. It wasn't particularly reassuring, but if he was looking for suspicious characters, the only word he could find to describe it was certainly "trouble".

He flipped through his book as he paced the rooftops. He could just as easily have taken the streets, or just floated across to the Square, but he wanted quiet: wanted not to have to periodically get distracted by accidentally walking through people. He stopped flipping after a moment, already aware that the page under his thumb was exactly the page he needed. It was something about the particular book, but he didn't mind; it was useful.

Materion Square, he had written, was a very impersonal public area, where despite a nice plaza, was fairly unpopular as opposed to Dawnview Park, even to some of those who worked at Materion Towers. Apparently the place had been built on the remains of an old graveyard, but that was as much information as he had.

As he looked up from the book, he found himself along Riverside Walk. There was something unnatural about floating across the river; it didn't feel comfortable to him. Neither was he in any real hurry; the dog was three hours away and had left no real trace. All he had was his triangulation and the faint idea that trouble was not far off. He walked, taking in the view, or trying to, anyway.

Materion Square was less empty than he'd expected for this time of the night. A few dark figures lay across benches, and the light from the lobby of Materion Towers still shone across the plaza, illuminating the fountain in its center which burbled somewhat eerily in the breeze. In the distance, the ever-present sound of the waves against Pebbleton's shores reminded him that this was still very much real.

"Well, if something's going to happen, I should expect it to happen now." He spoke to himself more to reassure himself than anything. Despite himself, he was tense; it might have been the fact that he knew there were monsters in the shadows. He kept to the lighted pathway just in case as he approached the fountain.

A movement out of the corner of his eye; he turned to see a figure standing in the shadow of Eden Organization's main entrance. He paused, then relaxed as he realized it was just someone locking up. He'd heard from Lilia over dinner that there was going to be a festival in a few days time, although he suspected she'd just been trying to involve him somehow. Nonetheless, at present the plaza looked less friendly than a pack of wolves on a reality TV show, and it didn't help that the buildings around him were closed in preparation for the festivities.

Neither did it help when he noticed a thin, black tendril of Ether seeming to trail behind the figure as he finished locking up and turned around.

[Pictor]

Date: 8 June, Tuesday
Time: 11:40 pm
Weather: Cloudy, clearing skies
Location: Warehouse Lot
PC: Jacket
NPCs: Lanette, Lin
================

"Oh my! This is..." Lin stared at the baffling scene before her. Young Miss, what sort of trouble did you get yourself into this time?

"L-Lin!" The young girl, bright-haired girl was choking her words through sobs and sniffles that were steadily growing in frequency. "I-I didn't mean to. I was just... waah... waaah..!"

Gently, Lin took the girl into her arms and gently stroked the back of her head.

"Now, Young Miss, calm yourself. A lady of Hindfell staunchly takes responsibility for her actions, no matter how... dire they may be." Her words seemed to have a miraculously instant effect, as Lanette struggled to compose herself right away. The caretaker reached into her pockets and pulled out a handkerchief and worked to dab away the girl's tears before holding it to the girl's nose. "Now, blow."

*Snrrrrk*

"Good girl. Now..." Having solved one crisis, Lin directed her attention to the crumpled figure a few inches away.

"Is... is he...?"

"No, Young Miss."

The woman's voice was confident. Lanette's heart was set at ease the moment she heard those words

"Strays and Blights do not know the concept of death as living beings do. They're destroyed only when they vanish completely. You should know this as well."

Though, in this case, it might be better if that were true.

"B-But I can't sense his presence like I usually do!"

"Hmmm..."

What the Young Miss said was not entirely false, and it was a peculiarity that Lin herself had noticed ever since she had arrived. Usually, a sufficiently disciplined, Ether-sensitive individual can detect traces of other Ether beings nearby. However, for this one there seemed to be some sort of a strange interference. The Ether traces were so slight and hazy that Lin herself could just barely pick it up. For someone in Lanette's panicked state, those traces might as well have not been there at all.

"Young Miss."

"Y-Yea?!"

"Not 'yea', please, practice proper etiquette in your language"

The Crosser girl sulked a bit at being chastised.

"Hmph... I mean... 'Yes? What is it Lin?'"

"You are not focusing hard enough. Concentrate, and you should be able to detect it"

"Ah! Ok...!"

Ever eager to show off, Lanette immediately closed her eyes and clenched her fingers on her knees.

Focus... just like she was taught. How did it go? That's right--

-- Clear your mind's eye.

-- Block out all external obstructions

-- Step out of the bounds of the material

-- Cross over into the Ethereal...

Every single living thing exists by the almighty power known as Ether. And just as every organism is unique, so, too is the Ether that composes their being. To a Crosser, a living creature who can sense that which is beyond the threshold of the physical plane, these unique Ether signatures are perceived as a fantastical array of colours.

Colours that are now flooding into the whitened mind of the young Lanette Hindfell. When she succeeded in her first exercise, the young girl was stunned by how beautiful they were; flowing like glowing ribbons into the dreamscape beneath her shut eyelids. She could feel them, all the living things around her. The trees dotting the area around the lot, insects buzzing in the air, birds flying overhead, and a few human passerbys wandering the streets during this late-night hour.

Red, orange, yellow, green... all the colours of the rainbow, all the hues betwixt, and some more than didn't even seem to exist, but actually did.

And then, within that rainbow sea, as thin and inconspicuous as a single mote of dust floating amongst a million others, she found it.

Pitch Black. Deeper and darker and more infinite than anything the material world could offer the human eye. In fact, once she had sensed it, it was impossible for her to imagine how she could have not detected it before. After all, it was almost embarrassingly familiar. A scent she had been tailing for close to four months.

"Oh!" Lanette's flew open with surprise.

"There, do you see?"

"Yea--... Er, Yes..! I saw it!" Lin gave a smiled that mixed hints of satisfaction and pride. The Young Miss has become quite capable.

"The world of Ether can be stubbornly prude and excessively subtle. If one is not careful, something like this can be easily missed."

Lanette gave a confused frown and put her hands to her chin.

"But he wasn't always like this before... His aura used to be so loud and obnoxious it was almost annoyingly easy to pick up."

"Then, that is mostly likely due to this." Lin pointed toward the device lodged into Jacket's chest.

"E-Eh?! What is that! Was that always there?"

"Panzer technology, if I am not mistaken. And by the looks of things, it seems to be emitting a very neutral Ether. The same as that found naturally in the air."

Now it makes sense. The neutral cloud emitted by the device was obscuring the inherent Ether signatures. Like a dense veil of fog covering city streets. To anyone who hasn't had the training to see through that veil, this Stray can be considered invisible. In essence, this thing acted like a makeshift cloaking device for the Ether sensitive.

It's highly unlikely the Stray acquired it by itself. Whoever attached it to him seemed to know what they were doing...

"Uh... doesn't it seem a bit lop sided though? I wonder... if I knocked it loose somehow..." The young girl examined the device curiously. One side of it did seem as though it had been wedged out of place. "Like this, maybe..."

"Wait, Young Miss! We do not know what that thing--"

Too late. Lanette had already reached a hand out and gave the thing a firm push.

*Click*

*Ether levels below safety threshold. Deploying backup Ether supply now.*

"Wah! It talked?!" The girl jumped back as the device began to glow a faint green, pulsating in luminosity.

Lin's eyes were focused on something else. As soon as the Young Miss had "activated" the device, the wounds on the Stay's face had begun to heal rapidly.

"... I see... so that's the real purpose of this device."

"Wow! It's fixing him..." It seemed that Lanette had noticed as well. The two watched as the various scuffs and cuts on Jacket's body slowly stitched themselves back together. Eventually, it seemed as though he was never hurt in the first place.

*Restoration process complete. Returning to collection mode.*

When the feminine, robotic voice finished speaking, the device ceased its glowing and seemed to become dormant again.

"I.... I didn't know Strays could do that."

"That would be because they cannot. After all, it is impossible to attach such a device to an immaterial spirit. It looks like this one owes it to the strange composition of his body." Lin turned to face the young girl and placed a gentle hand on her head. "So, the Young Miss can relax. She has not commited any atrocities today."

Then, as quickly as it had come, the caretaker's calm expression faded into a stern seriousness as she returned her gaze to the body lying before them.

"... Though, it would not be so unforgivable if you did." There was an odd, underlying aggression in her voice that made Lanette a little nervous.

"L-Lin... why did you say that?"

Without adverting her eyes, Lin replied with a cold tone of voice.

"Young Miss... do you know what this thing is?"

[Pasonia]

[ ed note: I lied. I'll use Martin just once more before the arc ends. ]

Date: 8 June, Tuesday
Time: 11:30 pm
Weather: Cloudy, clearing skies
Location: Martin's home
PC: Martin Chang
Other PCs: Sophia (inactive for this post)


===========

Martin lay idly by the window, where the sea breeze is most likely to cool his gruff skin, his head a mixture of boredom and utter aimlessness.

For Martin, he had never felt a sharper form of ennui than right now.

"So I guess the time has come when even Go doesn't do anything to help anymore," he remarked under his breath, a little tinge of sadness seeping through his own forced inward smile.

Maybe he did not want to explicitly admit it, but the only reason he was a Go nerd in the first place was because he had wanted a sense of accomplishment; a feel-good thing about being able to secure the fort in a part of his life. But that didn't mean anything anymore, not presently.

On a practical note after calculating his finances carefully, though his finance management had been very disciplined for the past few years on the desk slave job, losing the job now effectively means a window of at most six months before he starts having to sell his own assets, chiefly the apartment, which still commands a good price on the market.

If nothing really matters anymore, Martin had thought, might as well just get away from the city and maybe lead some farming lifestyle or something.

And then there was Sophia, who is sleeping and slowly floating into the middle of the living room. As she strayed past Martin's lazy gaze, Martin decided it'll be better to guide her back to the room, so guide he did, pushing the lass by her shoulder, while feeling like he's trying to guide an object in the International Space Station.

I cannot leave this lass alone, still. Martin knew that when he bonded with Sophia, he hadn't given much thought about the circumstances and the responsibilities. But now that there were too many ether-related events suddenly popping up into his life, the least he should do is to be someone responsible and answerable to the local crosser community, at least, insofar as to help the people he knows are in the good side of the fight.

Martin channeled his thoughts again to the forefront, this time wearing a surgical mask, and in his mind, slowly flipped the pages of the introductory document.

***

...it says here, "to determine the role you are best suited for in the event that you are been unaware of your inherent powers prior to this, please follow these steps...

Martin diligently followed the steps. "First, check if you can generate a ball of ether naturally in under 60 seconds..."

Martin tried, following the steps given intently, but after thirty minutes of trying, he was only able to produce 3 clumps of ether; none of them are shaped anywhere remotely close to a ball. Martin had a rare chuckle at himself, smiling in half-disgust at his inability to be a Ranged guy.

"Check if you able to change the intensity of materials. For different elements, the steps are as follows..."

Martin tried to turn water into ice for another five minutes, but nothing happened. The same goes for the ember on the altar's joss sticks, which didn't burn out faster even after five minutes of channeling ether.

Seriously, am I that useless...? "Finally, if none of those helps, find the most useless piece of rock you could find in the vicinity, and give it a punch. You will either break your arm or break the stone in the process. Likely both."

Huh. I guess I'll try something a little less destructive then.

Martin had forgotten to "switch off" his powers, as he casually "smeared" one clump of ether onto a stray Go stone in the living room, and then flicked it hard. The stone suddenly took a life of its own, shooting out of his finger at incredible speed and embedding itself deep into the wall. The loud thud that reverberated through the block made Martin wince in embarrassment, totally not expecting that and totally not wanting to wake the neighbors up.

The fuck was that?

Thankfully for him, no one is likely to know where the thud came from.

***

So I gather a little bit of ether, and then I coat it around something that's a little light... hmm... okay, let's try this.

Martin decided he'll go all the way downstairs to test his newfound projectile technique out, using the little pebbles as a test. To his surprise, though, recreating the steps didn't work out for him.

Eh.

Martin suddenly realised that it was almost two in the morning, and decided he'll call it a day. He casually picked up the pebble and kicked at it; in a shocking moment, he witnessed the pebble being miraculously propelled into the starry night sky, almost dancing its way across the moon as the pebble makes an arc around it.

...Oh gawd, why.

Martin, realising that it might be an ether flow consistency problem thing, felt that it would do injustice to his earlier efforts to just stop there and then, so he had no choice but to shelf plans to get back to his apartment.

He quickly began to run his head through the multitude of permutations and possibilities.

***

Could it be that I'm not channeling it right? "Make sure you feel a tingling sensation in the base joint of the limb you want the power to be at, you just need to will it to be there for it to work..."

He kept trying. He tried his ankles - the base joint for his feet, but the pebble wouldn't fly higher than over his head even when his feet is buzzing with the same strange energy. He then tried shifting it a little higher, into the shin area, with similar results. After about another hour of trying, he shifted the power towards his pelvic area, and then, finally, it happened again.

The stone he kicked in this attempt overflowed with a strange, magical sensation, and flew for quite a distance; the stone ruffled the leaves of a tree some one hundred meters away from himself, thereabouts.

Whew, at last.

But Martin wasn't about to stop there. Like a researcher on a newly discovered lead, he kept pushing the limits. He knew he was able to throw, rather than kick the pebble with force earlier, so he sought to replicate that too. Following the same logic, focusing on the wrist or the elbow wouldn't work, so this time he concentrated a bit more Ether into his shoulder region, which he hadn't previously thought of.

And that was when a Eureka moment flashed through his tired head.

When the muscles swing an object around, the Ether will naturally expel itself away from the shoulder, following the bloodstream or some Ether-vein-thingy within the body. The result is that the Ether gets expelled forcefully onto the material at the exit point, which is the entirety of the palm area. Not allowing the flow means the Ether simply becomes a blockage rather than a point of energy-channeling.

Once he came to the conclusion, though, he suddenly felt a sharp loss of breath, almost tripping himself onto the hard concrete floor as he struggled to find somewhere to hold his balance up.

Whoa, the heck?

Martin wished he could continue, but he could feel that the energy he had mustered earlier had dissipated, leaving him out of much spare energy. He frowned a little, but eventually accepted that there are limits to his body that doesn't allow him to perform the same feats as the lass Lanette or any of the other Crossers.

"I'm twenty-eight acting like an eighteen-year-old kid, huh?"

***

"I'm getting too old for this," Martin grumbles, slowly trudging his foot along the aisle of the brightly-lit, yet rather dull-looking lift lobby. Martin liked the block a lot, but lately its age is really beginning to show, the paint slowly chipping off in ugly chunks, despite the apartment block management saying they'd do something about it a few months ago.

"And this apartment block is getting old, too. Sheesh."

Martin then suddenly remembered that he hasn't collected his letters in two days, so he slowly jogged towards the mailbox area and fished his keys out in a sharp cacophony of metal on metal.

"My mail's stuffed with junk as usual... Festival Day stuffs... hmm... coupons I could use... hmm... what's this?"

Martin's eyes opened wide, half in surprise and half in trepidation.

Out of all the mail he had expected, this white, plain-looking one certainly wasn't one of them. The letter didn't seem to eke out any ominous signs - Martin chided himself for thinking like this - but it was certainly intriguing that the letter was addressed to "Curious Crosser."

"This is pretty strange. I wonder what the heck this is."

[Sentrovasi]

Note: Figured I'd just submit this first rather than wait until I got around to finishing the whole scene. Largely because while I have a rough idea of what might happen, I'm not entirely sure what I expect Threads to do, himself.

Date: 08/06 Tuesday
Time: 10:48 PM
Weather: Cloudy
Location: Materion Square
PC: Threads

He watched as the person walked away from the building, as the wisps of dark Ether seemed to settle on his frame and into his pattern. Black tendrils rarely bode well, and Threads was aware that this case was no exception.

Trouble, it seemed, was easy to find if you knew where to look.

Threads trailed the man as he walked to the car park; he seemed agitated, muttering to himself under his breath, his fist clenched about the briefcase he carried. The man was dressed in a business suit, and walked with a slight swagger that suggested he was used to suits. In his free hand he held a Blackberry that he was furiously typing on. The man seemed very ill-at-ease, although Threads was unsure if it was the confirmation bias talking.

But in another moment the feeling of unease had died down enough that Threads was aware something was wrong. The man visibly relaxed as he opened the door of his car and stepped inside, tossing the Blackberry into the passenger seat. He had sent a message, presumably: what the message was, however, was something that Threads wanted to find out. Steeling himself, he stepped in front of the car as the man stepped on the gas; he felt the car rush through him and his hand tightened around the sympathy of the phone as he grabbed at it in passing.

The-

Threads reeled as he felt a sharp pain lance through his body: it was all the worse given that he hadn't felt any such sensation for quite a while: even Lazarus' death grip had nothing on the sudden, searing feeling that caused him to stagger away from the car, the phone falling back into the material passenger seat.

"What..."

He flexed his fingers as he watched the car speed away, examining his hand for signs of burn marks that he was half-convinced would be there. His palm felt as though it had been cauterized. But there was nothing, and Threads was well-aware that the acute pain he had felt meant that the meaning attached to the phone was no longer merely a person's.

It was definitely trouble.

He turned back to the quiet facade of Eden Organization. Despite his observational prowess, he realized even before opening his book that he knew close to nothing about them. They were into green energy in a big way, apparently, and had come to Pebbleton for a quiet place to fund their research, including testing of offshore wind farms, but that was it. It wasn't even definite.

He approached the foyer of the building, lit only by two pinpricks of light which were its smoke detectors: most of the light came from the lamp posts in the park some thirty meters away. He disliked darkness almost as much as he disliked the rain. The edge of the lamps' dim glow might as well have been a wall against which he had no real desire to cross over. The simple glass double doors belied the tendrils he'd seen just a moment ago; it would be more prudent, on the whole, he thought, not to enter at all.

With that in mind, he decided to see what he could glean without going in. As he circled the building, he realized that not all the lights were turned off: specifically, there were three windows, each on a different level and different facing, where light still streamed out. Carelessness, but it also meant that Threads was now afforded some other means of gathering information.

Threads didn't like to fly, or even float. It wasn't like he felt the ground beneath his feet, but they still tended to the ground out of habit. Floating in the air, unsupported, reminded him of his abnormality and the problems he had with it. Among those, of course, was the thought that he was dead. But then why would he care about anything?

If he was dead, there was nothing he could live for; certainly not the sacrifices others had made for him, and that probably hurt most of all.

But now he was floating up the side of the building, doing his best to ignore the distance between himself and the ground. It was unnerving every time, regardless of how he knew he wouldn't fall, and that it would be of little consequence if he did. The windows that passed him on his vertical ascent loomed at him, and the one motivation that kept him going was the one question.

Why-

Threads was cut off mid-thought as a writhing tendril of shadow reached out of a window and wrapped itself about his arm with alarming alacrity. He gasped in surprise, then in pain as its touch seemed to corrode his flesh. For only the third time in his life, he panicked, instinctively trying to pull the whip-like appendage off of him, then recoiling as his other hand came away with the same burning sensation.

"Aagh! What is-"

As he noticed more whip-like appendages snake out the other windows around him, he felt a cold sense of fear through his frame. There was something big here: something he hadn't ever noticed because of all the people. As his mind struggled to function, he channeled Ether into his scarf, which apparently excited the tendrils as they shuddered and moved in closer on his location.

Though dark burdens regret does bring
The soul's faint candles hold at bay

As a ripple of energy washed over his frame, the tendrils flailed for a moment, as though the entity controlling them had suddenly gone blind. Threads hastily took the opportunity to pull himself away from the walls, then watched as the tendrils probed the air a moment more (one of them actually coming within feet of him) before sinking back into the darkness of the building.

Hovering some forty feet from the building, Threads was panting, only partly aware of the fact that he didn't actually need to breathe. At this point it was more of a coping mechanism than anything. This was more trouble than he'd bargained for and then some. There was something terribly wrong with Eden Organization.

[Pictor]

Date: 8 June, Tuesday
Time: 11:50 pm
Weather: Cloudy, clearing skies
Location: Warehouse Lot
PC: Jacket
NPCs: Lanette, Lin
================

"Lin--!!"

"Yes, Young Miss?"

"Every you just said... all of that was true?! All of it?!"

"I do not know the full details, but as far as I am aware, yes. It is all true."

"Wha...? That's...!! Nnnngh...!" Lanette Hindfell was at a loss for words. She grasped at the hem of her scarf so hard that her knuckles turned white. She shook and fidgeted on the spot.

All of this information... all of what she's just been told. All at once... it was too much! She couldn't bear it. Her heart was becoming more exasperated by the second as she listened, but now... now...

"That's. So. Cool!!" The young girl exploded with excitement. She simply wasn't able to contain it any longer. "Too cool! Waaaay too cool!!"

Lin gently closed her eyes and gave a silent sigh. The Young Miss is as predictable as always. Even though her running away had caused a catastrophe back at the Hindfell estate, Lin bore a deep, secret hope that these past few months might have engrained some maturity in the teenager. She couldn't bear to look at the pieces of those dashed wishes.

Lanette danced a circle about the lot, pumping her fists into the air. When she returned, she threw a hand on her hips and rubbed an index finger proudly along her nose.

"Hehehe... to think, my arch nemesis had that kind of history! You sure do know how to pick 'em girl! Hahaha, yep!"

It's hard to believe that only moments ago she hysterically drowning herself in tears.

"... Arch nemesis?"

"Ah! I-It's nothing. I'm just... rambling... got excited. Hyperactive."

Although it was more than evident she was hiding additional details of her escapades, Lin decided not to pursue the matter any further. After all, there were more pressing matters at hand.

"A-Anyway, Young Miss. Now, do you understand the sort of dangers you are facing? Please, forget these idle fancies of yours and --"

"-- Hey, Lin?"

"--Ah.... y-yes, Young Miss?"

"That Festival you mentioned in your story... it's coming up soon isn't it?" Lanette twirled around to face her caretaker. Although her expression seemed as carefree was before, Lin knew that wasn't the case. "I'm wondering... wouldn't something like that be fun? "

Another surprising thing about Lanette Hindfell was how quickly her tone could change. For a brief moment, as she spoke, it sounded as if the girl's voice were coming from somewhere far away. Lin had to remind herself that the Young Miss was, in fact, still standing in front of her.

"Young Miss..." Lin swallowed hard before summoning to resolve to finish her sentence. "Please... Come home with me."

"Who sent you to look for me? Was it father?" The question was hard, and matter-of-fact. As if Lanette didn't actually care about the answer.

"Young Miss... you know Master Verdon is a very busy man. I am sure he--"

"-- Heh. I knew it. He probably doesn't even care." The girl scoffed, but it's easy to see there was no real malice or resolve behind it. It was the softest scoff in the world.

"Young Miss...! How can you say that? You know that is not true."

"Whatever." Lanette simply turned around. "I'm not gonna go home! And even if you do manage to drag me back, I'm just gonna run away again. Eventually."

A statement. There was no whimsy in her voice; it was exactly what the girl intended to do. By then even Lin's patience, which had been galvanized from dealing with Lanette's antics for years prior, was starting to wear thin.

"... Young Miss... why can you not realize I am doing this for your own good?"

"Oh... but... I do." The girl picked up the frayed ends of the scarf and tugged at them idly. "You're my only friend in the world, Lin. So... out of everyone, you should understand best!!"

Her words were seethed through gritted teeth. It was obvious from her trembling voice that she was choking back the emergence of something awful.

"You should know exactly why.... exactly why I don't want to go back to that place!"

It was becoming harder and harder for Lin to keep herself composed. The Young Miss had been cross with her before. She'd seen the girl through almost too many tantrums to count. But for, this was a little bit different.

For the first time in awhile, Lin wasn't really sure how to proceed.

"I..." So, foolishly, she did the same thing she did when Lanette had threw all her other tantrums. "... I cannot accept that!"

So, come what may. What was it going to be? The usual waterworks? Flailing? Kicking and screaming? Name calling? Lin was sure she'd seen it all by now.

But there was none of that. Instead, Lanette replied with a reaction she had least expected.

The young girl simply returned a smile. The most desolate smile the caretaker had ever seen.

"Then... I guess I'm all alone." Again, that tone. The same, foreign tone of voice that Lin wasn't even aware the girl could muster; one that came from another world.

Lanette walked over to Jacket's limp body and, with an amazing amount of effort, actually managed to pick him up and sling him over one of her shoulders.

"Young Miss... what are you doing?" Lin tried to say something. Anything.

"Well, it's my fault. I can't just leave him here."

"... Please, put it down. Were you not listening befo-"

"He's not an 'it'. His name is Jacket. The Phantom Jacket of Pebbleton."

"... Young Miss..."

"I'm going."

"... I don't understand. What do you expect of me?"

The footsteps began to trail.

"Why do you insist on running off by yourself?!"

---The girl has every right to correct it by herself if you couldn't even intervene in something that must be so easy for you!---

Just then, an interjection.

"Tch.....!!"

Lin dug her nails into her palm. Why was this annoyance in her head at a time like this?

---But you know, everything I said was nothing but the truth.---

What's more... it didn't seem to want to shut up.

"Kuh... I..."

---Would you spare a second to even listen to anyone who just wants freedom?---

The footsteps were getting farther away.

"W-Wait..."

Lin felt a calm breeze beginning to pick up around her.

"Wait!!"

"Ah."

The woman huffed in relief when Lanette had actually stopped and turned around. She took the time to catch back up with the girl.

"Young Miss... I..."

Lin gave a deep bow.

"I am very sorry."

"Hah??" Lanette was so shocked that she almost dropped Jacket straight on his face.

"I was out of my place. My behavior was absolutely deplorable."

"Er... Well... Ah..."

"I do not expect you to forgive me. But if you will allow it..." Without raising herself, Lin brought herself down on one knee. "Please, let me remain by your side as your caretaker."

"Pfff...---"

"...."

"Pffffffftttah hahahahaha--!!"

Lanette burst out laughing.

"Hahahaha!! Y-You're so serious! What's with that act? You're like a prince or something...! J-Just get up! Hehehe..."

Ah. Now, this was something that Lin was able to anticipate.

"Oh geez. I almost dropped this guy again!" Lanette set Jacket gently to the ground. To be honest, her shoulder was already getting a bit sore. "Er, well... you didn't have to be all dramatic like that."

The Crosser girl averted her gaze a bit and scratched at her cheek.

"And... I guess I was also being a bit of a brat. Um... I'm sorry for that, too."

"So... I take it that I am forgiven after all?"

"That depends... does this mean you'll nagging me?"

Lin stood back up and crossed her arms in front of her.

"I still do not consent to what you are doing. At all, for that matter. But... as I have realized, it is not my place to judge your personal decisions. I will have you back the estate. Eventually. But for now..."

She relaxed her pose and smiled.

"... A caretaker's duty is to stand by her charge, no matter what that might entail."

"Oh... Lin..."

*Whumpf!*

Lanette threw her arms around the young woman's waste so fast that she nearly lost her balance.

"I knew it! I knew I could count on you! Hehehe! Hehehehehe~!!"

As she felt the girl giggling into her bosom, Lin suddenly became infuriated with herself. How could she have allowed herself to bring the Young Miss to tears?

Right now, holding Lanette close in her arms, she decided would never see that kind of expression on the girl's face ever again. It was an expression too dangerously distant. It was a kind of distance that put her commitment to the Hindfell family to shame. Idiotic. Unpermissable.

Never again.

"-- Hey, Lin?"

"Yes, Young Miss?"

"-- Can we go to the Festival?"

"... Alright."

"Thanks.... -- Oh!"

"What is it?"

"We probably shouldn't leave him lying around either."

"... Yes, I suppose you are right."

Somehow, it seemed as if another disaster has been avoided.

Though Lin couldn't help but notice... that maybe the Young Miss had grown up a bit after all.

[marcien]

Date: it's a tuesday
Time: it's bed time!
Location: at home. Lum's bedroom!
NPCs: Lum "Peach" Berry, Palmarr Berry
What: a Bedtime Story told by a father to his daughter
================

'But I don't like wearing shoes, Papa!'
'Is that so? Well let me tell you a secret, little Peach: I don't like shoes either!'
'Hahaha! Really?'
'But don't tell that to your Mama! She may start hitting me with the boots she bought me!'
'Hehehe. Okay!'

Lum Berry stretched out her long toes as she pulled the socks off her feet. She has not been able to disguise her rabbit half as efficiently yet. Her toes are webbed and padded with brown fur. She had never had to wear any footwear before, but the coming Saturday was special.
It was the Pebbleton Festival. During this day, panzers can mingle with the humans, and not even needing to disguise their beastly traits! What a fun event.
'I don't get it, Mama,' Lum had complained to her mother earlier, 'If I can go about not wearing a top hat to hide my ears, then why can't I go out barefeet?'
'Because, while you can pretend your ear is a costume, you can't explain fur and claws on your feet, dear.'

So Lum had to put up with wearing those extremely uncomfortable shoes that Noco bought. But it will be worth it. She would get to go to a human festival! Lum is all right with feeling all stuffy in her feet, because festivals are awesome.
Not like she has ever been to one, anyway. But the way Papa described it, it sure sounded AWESOME. Actually, everything from Papa sounds AWESOME.
Like the story he is telling her now while he sits on the side of her bed as she lies snugly under her blanket.

'Long long ago, once upon a time, well, whichever. Us panzers lived together with the humans in Pebbleton. Not us us, per say, but our ancestors. And everyone really got along!
'But some beings weren't too happy about that.'

'The bad bad reapers?'

'Yes! The big, bad, mean reapers!
'The reapers really didn't like us. "These filthy animals, this ridiculous technology, it is bad enough that they are doing this to themselves... But sharing them with the humans?! Outrageous! I must rid this town of the Panzers forever!" '

'Reapers are stupid!'

'Of course they are. You know what's worse? They didn't just decide to wipe out all of us, but also attack the humans who were our friends!'

'Oh no...!'

'Then amongst our ancestors, four of them were the bravest and strongest! They were Marshall Dog and his close friend, Admiral Fish, and their comrades General Hawk and General Monkey.'

'I know I know! The Dog Marshall is the one Mama's family are children from right?!'

'Exactly! Smart girl, you.
'So the four generals stood against the reapers courageously, and fought their best. Unfortunately, men or animals were not a match against nature. Imagine one side armed with claws, knives and guns, and the other with earthquakes and hurricanes and thunderstorms. And many blights. You can't exactly call it a fair fight!
'So our ancestors were forced to retreat and the humans forced to stay away from them or be similarly crushed. The four generals held off the reapers in order to let the rest of our people escape. In the end, when every one of our people were safe, the four generals breathed their last.
'Marshall Dog was killed at the north-west of the town. A short while later, his best friend, a man, built a mansion there.
'General Hawk was shot down above the hills in the north, and General Monkey was cornered on a cliff facing the sea.
'Admiral Fish was slain a short distance away from her safe ocean. The road there was named "Admiral's Walk" in her honour.'

'Oh.
'But Papa, I thought anyone with the rank of "General" was really strong. They can't die right?'

Palmarr ruffled his heavy hand through his daughter hair.
'Strong people can be killed too, Peach. Everyone will die some day. You don't be to be sad though. Because you will always leave something behind for others when you die.'

'How?'

'That's what the four generals did. When they die, over their bodies sprung forth trees. Trees that bear fruits of ether. These trees protected the town, stopping all of the destruction of nature wrought on by the reapers.
And Pebbleton was finally at peace. Even though panzers can no longer live openly amongst the humans, the ethereal presence of the four generals live on in the town and protect the humans in it from disasters.'

'Are we still friends with the humans?'

'I'm afraid not as much as it was before. You see, the truth of this story is, that it was a human in the first place, who had alerted the reapers to our ancestors. So we can't really trust them either. Some may be all right with us, but others are jealous of our kind and bitter about it.'

Lum thought hard about her father's words. This is some complicated history.
'So there are nice humans and not nice humans, and we should be careful about all of them anyway.'

'Hahaha yes!' Palmarr laughed loudly, 'So don't go too wild on Saturday all right? The humans now don't remember anything about panzers at all, but that doesn't mean they can be trusted. So don't you get out of my sight, you hear?'

'Yes, Papa!'

'And would you look at how late it is. Time for you to sleep, and me to work!'

'Goodnight!'

Palmarr planted a kiss on Lum's forehead and gave her a loving lick. 'Goodnight to you too, Peach.'

[Pictor]

I hope I did this right. Let me know if I messed anything up.

Date: 08/06 Tuesday
Time: 11:20 PM
Weather: Cloudy
Location: Materion Square
Other PC: Threads
NPC: Lisken'Pell

"Tch." Threads clicked his tongue in minor annoyance. After having composed himself, he had spent the last ten minutes or so milling around the base of the building. The endeavor proved to be a fruitless one. Whatever those vile tendrils belonged to had already recovered from the shock he'd given during their tussle. The only difference now was that it seemed to be actively aware of his presence. He could feel a disgusting amount of bloodlust whenever he attempted to approach the building.

Threads did learn something, though. Whatever that foul thing was, it was confined to the building. Despite how carnage-hungry the thing seemed to be, it hasn't -or wasn't able to- come after him. At least not yet. A tinge of curiosity pecked at him to test the limits of this 'tether' on the beast, but thankfully his better judgement urged him against it. Nearly being monster food even once was more than enough for the night. Though, admittedly, pondering from afar wasn't exactly yielding exciting results either.

Threads crossed his arms in thought as he scanned the exterior of the building bottom to top. From the outside, it appeared as inconspicuous as any other building in the business district. The darkness was disturbing, but it wasn't all that unusual for an office building to be unlit at this time of night, and especially in a town as small as this. He wondered briefly at how many workers this particular establishment would employ; for a structure this size, an upwards of hundreds wouldn't be a surprising statistic.

That fact in itself was a peculiarity that had been bothering Threads for a while. Pebbleton wasn't a particularly tiny place, but to his knowledge it wasn't exactly a very large place either, population wise. At least, compared to the next city over. This particular Eden establishment had also popped up fairly recently in the town's history. If it was truly for research, then the employees here would have to be a little more than your run-of-the-mill white collars...

Indeed, the more he dwelt upon it, the more out of place the Eden Organization seemed to be. Ideally, it would be fantastic if he could somehow get himself inside, though he knew it was impossible... given the rules.

Threads allowed himself one more investigative stroll around the perimeter of the building. At first, he thought it was going to be as pointless as the last couple of laps he did, but as he came around the last side of the building, he noticed something had changed.

"Have they noticed? I wonder..." One of the windows which had previously been lit was now completely dark. It was on the same facing that he had flown up along, as well. Mere coincidence? It's hardly possible to dismiss it as such. If it wasn't, that would mean someone inside had noticed the commotion he caused outside.

No. More specifically, it meant that someone inside was capable of noticing his activities. Interesting.

"Hmm, if this keeps up, I'm going to end up a trouble-maker myself."

"My, now that be a terrible thing, would it not?"

Threads whipped around to discover that he wasn't alone. The slim-looking man was dressed in formal attire from head to toe. His long, silvery hair trailed down to his waist. Threads' immediate impulse was to be on guard. His fingers flew quickly, but calmly, to the hem of his frayed scarf. Perhaps detecting his apprehension, the man cooly threw his hands up beside his face.

"There is no need for any hostile tricks. I am not here to do you any harm."

"So you can see me."

"Yes, that I can."

Threads managed to relax himself a bit, but he wasn't any less wary of the new individual. For one, the man somehow knew about his own abilities, seeing as how he went out of his way to bring up the use of 'hostile tricks'. Could he be... another player? Or, what was the term Leuel and Lilia used... 'Stray', was it?

"... Have you been watching me?"

"Ah, you've noticed? Ha ha, my apologies." The silver-haired man smiled rubbed his head repentantly. "I have only arrived a moment ago, but could not help but notice you milling about the base of that building. It is quite rare to see someone else out at this time of night, after all. I was quite curious to see how many times you could bring yourself to walk in circles."

The man chuckled. But it seemed he was the only one who found his own joke to be amusing.

"I... see. So, may I ask what you're doing out here then?"

The maintained his smile and slid his hands into the pockets of his pants.

"I sensed a disturbance in the area, so I came to investigate."

It was hardly a mystery what the 'disturbance' the man referred to was, but... 'sense', did he say? What kind of senses did this person have...?

"I don't mean to boast, but I'm usually pretty good at telling when others are nearby. I didn't even notice when you showed up, though."

"Hmm hmm... perhaps I am simply good at hiding myself."

It didn't seem like the man was going to give a straight answer any time soon. On top of that... Threads was getting an unsettling vibe just by being near him. He wasn't able to preemptively detect the man before, but now that he was aware, he couldn't help but feel a strange...

... 'Pressure' was the only way Threads could put the sensation into words. A pressure that seemed to drive everything straight into the ground, including Threads himself. The disconcerting thing was there was not hint of anger or malice like the beast within Eden; it was an aura of pure and simple intimidation. It was as if the man's very presence was simply, and infallibly superior to that of everything else around it. The more he acknowledged it, the more Threads felt its potency.

So, instead of beating around the bush, he decided to get to the point.

"Who are you?"

"Oh my! Have I forgotten to introduce myself once again? It is an incredibly reprehensible habit of mine. Terribly sorry about that. My name is Lisken'Pell. I am a Reaper. A custodian of the dead."

"Reaper? A... custodian?"

"Indeed, Stray-kin. Do you not know of Reapers?"

There was that term again. And another new one. Evidently, there was some sort of common language among the 'players' that he wasn't specifically told about. Then again, Theads has no idea how much of that man's words could actually be trusted. It would most likely be for the best if he could cease to rely on them at all.

"No... I haven't heard the term before."

The man nodded, appearing to understand.

"Ah. That is no surprise. We are not exactly common knowledge among the Strays. In short, Reapers are as our label seems to imply..."

Threads had noticed that this "Lisken'Pell" had never once stopped smiling since he'd shown up. It was an expression that Threads could clearly tell was false in nature. Coupled with his dominating presence... it almost felt as if the person was mocking him.

"... Our primary duty is to facilitate the natural cycle of life and death in this world. However, the job goes as far as to protect anything that might threaten to upset that natural balance as well."

His description was as vague as vague could get. It seems straight answers really were hard to come by these days. Threads tried his best to derive a proper conclusion from the riddles spouted from the man's mouth.

"... In other words, you weed out misbehavior in the system."

"Ah, yes! What a brilliant way to put it. Explanations are not among my greatest of skills. I am glad you understood Stray-kin!" Lisken'Pell seemed to brighten up, but the emotion was every bit as empty as his smile. Was anything about this man sincere?

But at least his words made some lick of sense now. If there are 'rules', then there also ought to be 'rule keepers'. He had wondered about that himself, in the past. It was only natural to assert such a thing to be true.

It occurred to Threads that if there was anyone he could ask, he could do worse than a 'rule keeper'. He'd have to watch his words carefully, of course.

"Are you here to deal with anything tonight, then?"

"Certainly."Lisken'Pell simply took one hand out of his pocket and pointed nonchalantly past Threads toward the Eden building. "That would be a rather large problem, would you not say?"

Lisken'Pell's sudden bluntness caught Threads off guard. One moment, he was acting all cryptic, but suddenly he get right to the subject. Were all 'Reapers' this eccentric?

Threads decided to probe his luck just a bit further.

"I've been wondering just what that building contains."

"I'm sure you have. Otherwise, you wouldn't have spent as much time as you did staring at it." It also seemed that this man wasn't going to stop getting on his nerves anytime soon.

"... Can you tell me what it is?"

Lisken'Pell withdrew his hands back into his pocket, and smiled. And this time, there actually seemed to be something behind the gesture. Threads couldn't tell if it was mischief or deviousness.

"I could. But I'd better not."

"Would that be breaking the rules?"

The man gave another light chuckle.

"Hm hm hm... no. I don't suppose it would. However, it's for your own good. The irregularity that exists within that building isn't something to be recklessly tampered with. It's quite dangerous."

"I see..."

"Perfect. If you truly understand, then you would do well to run along for the night, and leave this matter to those who can safely handle it. It would not be very pleasant if you got yourself hurt."

So it was no good. It didn't seem as if this man could be persuaded to change his mind. At the same time, Threads wasn't sure if he could stand to talk with him for a minute longer. It looked like he'll have to concede his little investigation for the night.

As things are now, he didn't expect anymore results anyway. At the very least, the night turned out to be much more interesting than he had anticipated.

"Well then, I'll do as you suggest, mister rule keeper."

Lisken'Pell leaned forward and gave an ever-so-slight bow.

"Then have a good afternoon, Stray-kin."

Threads breathed a soft sigh and adjusted his cap, then began to make his way out of the parking. All the while, he could feel the man's gaze stabbing into his back. What a completely uncanny fellow. If all the other rule keepers really were like him, then Threads hoped he'd never meet another one again.

...

Lisken'Pell moved not an inch until Threads was finally out of sight. The moment he did, the Reaper turned casually around and faced the building.

"Now... I wonder who should be blamed for incompetence of this caliber...?"

[SavviG]

Date: 8 June, Tuesday
Time: 11:00pm
Weather: Dark
Location: Flay's ~ Train
PC: Graciel Flay
~~~~~~

Gliding along the dark street lit by yellow and white lights, Graciel is making his way back home, Pebbleton. He had just left his parents home after a nice home cooked dinner, for once, a whole family at the dinner table and a new addition, imposter.

Dad offered a lift back to the station but I declined. I haven't worn these skates for a awhile, since mom/mum wanted to get rid of some stuff I left behind, why not take them along?

Graciel attemptin to jump the curb but had'nt realised that he was also carrying a heavy load, the jump was low and Graciel pulled up as much as he can before he stack it.

*Fffrrrooooocchchkkkssshhh...*
*Puh-cllaaaanngg*

'Ach!'

A metal bin got knocked over, Graciel rolled himself back to pick it up then came a voice from the home it belonged to.
'Ah! careful you! You knocked over my ...'
Graciel quickly popped the lid back and made off, leaving the old turtle screaming.

Time: 11:10pm
Weather: Dark
Location: Graciel's home, 2 Peddington Lane
PC: Blacky
~~~~~~

For the past few hours, Blacky had been creeping around the house, window to window. Looking out for the woman who tried to capture him. At most, her device zapped just a tiny bit of ethereal.

Exhausted, Blacky leapt onto Graciels bed, snugged into the pillow and fell asleep. 'Maybe she did get me good...' murmured Blacky. '...fish...' zzZ

~~~~~~

By 11.30~ish, Graciel is on the train back heading back to Pebbleton. There was a short delay at the change from Panzer station to people station, someone shot out some windows of a train and it was still sitting at the station. This was his own actions hours earlier, shooting at a Blight. With regret, Graciel waved for a cab instead.

[SavviG]

The bear head continued to stare, another figure's shadow pop's up from the curtains, and then the lights went out, the head was still staring, then, a pair of hands dragged the bear away. A slight muffled squeal leaked out of the window glass.

Graciel, stood on the same spot for another minute. In the verge of falling asleep, "Did I... imagine that?. He twitched a cat ear, then skates to his front door. When he got in, he kicked off his skates, slowly waltz up the stairs to his room. He crashes into his bed and notice that Blacky was fast asleep on his pillow. There wasn't really enough room for another head, tired, he changes into a cat and sleeps by Blacky.

[Sentrovasi]

Date: 08/06 Tuesday
Time: 11:20 PM
Weather: Cloudy
Location: Materion Square
PC: Threads

Out of sight, out of mind.

The Reaper, as he’d called himself, was certainly a threat. Even as Threads had obligingly chosen to walk away, he could feel an almost palpable intensity from… Lisken, had he called himself? – his gaze, stabbing into his back and practically driving him away.

Of course, he had no real intention of leaving. He had made a habit of not trusting anyone, and it had served him well so far; he certainly wasn’t going to stop on the account of some strange figure: the last time he’d trusted someone with such a talent for words, the consequences had been…

He pulled himself together as he rounded the corner. For a moment he thought he could still feel the Reaper’s gaze through the stone wall, but then the moment was past, and he visibly relaxed. Now to see what more he could learn.

His mind had been subconsciously trying to form links between the events of the day; he’d been trying to find clues to the secret of this world for so long that to have them so conveniently – even forcibly – falling into place in one day seemed to suggest either some immense coincidence or a trap of some sort: the two ideas together put Threads in mind of him, but even with his limited understanding of Ether, he knew that that man couldn’t have come up with anything like that so soon after being drained of almost everything he had.

With that limited understanding of Ether, he also knew that this Reaper was on a level far beyond anything he’d had to face thus far. He wasn’t even sure that he could have stood against Lisken with the full power of his scarf… which only made him all the more curious as to the motives of such a monster.

No, he reflected as he reactivated his scarf and slowly approached the back of the building, there was one other option: what if the coincidence was not his own, but had happened long ago? What if everyone he’d met today was all part of the same story, and he’d just been on the fringe of it for this long?

What if? he smiled to himself mirthlessly. Then nothing’s really changed, has it?

It meant that he could have asked Lazarus, or Lilia, or the suspicious masked creature, or the equally suspicious raven, and they might have gone “Oh, right, so you didn’t know?”

For some reason, that prospect bothered him. At the same time, though, he knew it didn’t matter. Their story was not his story; he had a mission of his own. He didn’t need to know what they were going through, or what their life stories were: he just needed to know what he did to survive; to understand what threatened him, personally, and what he could do to avoid those threats.

Right now, Lisken had provided him an easy option to avoid the threat: walk away. But he wasn’t content with that. Part of it was because he’d yet to learn what the threat was, but another part was because he couldn’t help but feel that Lisken himself was part of that threat, if not bigger than it.

And there was one last part he didn’t really want to admit to. Despite himself, he was beginning to feel some real sympathy with the town. For such a small town, it seemed to have attracted a lot of evil. He couldn’t help but identify the town with Lazarus: to him, the people seemed superstitious, clumsy, overly-optimistic and generally oblivious to the unseen dangers about them. He wasn’t compelled to help them in the least – they weren’t real to him the way the characters he’d met today were – but he did feel an odd sense of pity for them.

And even if the town wasn’t real, some evil agency was out to manipulate it; there was no doubt about that.

Lisken was no longer at the foyer of the building as Threads carefully rounded the corner. What he noticed, however, was the door of the building sliding closed again. Carefully, he picked his way around the shadows, his scarf still making sure that his form would be undetectable to any monster hoping to feed on his Ether: not least the horror in the building itself.

Had the Reaper entered the building, then? Threads frowned to himself even as he reviewed the encounter in his head. It was more than likely that Lisken was aware of the secrets of the building; could he be in league with whatever agency was behind it? It seemed, at the very least, that Lisken was working with selfish motives of his own that he had no reason to respect.

Not to mention he had something of an intolerance for smooth-talking men with false hearts.

He could feel his scarf sapping at his strength even as he stood before the sliding doors, their glass facades revealing little of the gloomy depths of the building. He didn't have a lot of time to work with, and the danger of the strange dark tendrils was something he didn't exactly relish.

It was then he heard a car start. Surprised, he turned to see bright headlights flash as the engine sputtered into life. So the sliding door had been someone leaving the workplace. A sudden suspicion seized Threads, and he ran to see if the man was indeed Lisken.

He arrived in time to see the car pull out of the parking lot. Its sole occupant, the driver, had his face turned away from Threads, talking on a mobile phone, but it was enough for him to know that it certainly wasn't the Reaper. He felt just a little disappointed, but mostly relieved. He didn't need any more complications with all the crazy things going on. As he watched, the man turned towards him, a strange smile frozen on his face. Threads looked back, nonplussed.

“Don't tell me...”

He had just enough time to wonder if the man could see him before the car slammed straight into the wall in front of him. He barely moved as shrapnel and debris flew past and through him. The acrid smell of kerosene stung as he thought that perhaps his definition of 'crazy' just wasn't going to cut it anymore.

Deliberately keeping his eyes off the driver's crushed frame, he turned, and didn't look back until he was safely at Lilia's again.

Act 4. Fin.