It?d been nearly three weeks since the Reaver?s assault. To her satisfaction, her luck to a much lesser extent, she hadn?t heard from it. Had it been a fluke? An accident? Those skeleton monstrosities were not known for leisurely strolls or wild killings at random. It was after something

?The Visssssssssscount wantsssssssss you himsssssssssself?? she could remember it stating to her. Had that been true, the attack at the market was a finely tuned, devised plan meant to draw her out from hiding.

Toby was unharmed from the ordeal. She couldn?t say the same for the hundreds of others that were caught in the blast, as well as the few that died as a direct result of her obliviousness. Toby was safe? was it that which counted most? She wasn?t sure. It felt right. She had the remnants placed in her to protect her friends. Without the ability to heal them when they?re hurt, she could at least protect them. Every last one of them.

All her friends.

The injury sustained on her right arm, a result of wild Remnants use, wasn?t healing. Without the bandage, what originally were spidery webs along her arm grew immensely, becoming full-fledged scars that grooved deep in her flesh, endlessly connected outlines in the form of pentagons. They consumed her arm, straight up to her shoulder blade, and across the narrow protrusion of her collarbone.

Whatever damage she had, it was worsening at a pace she couldn?t keep up with.

She originally had hoped to keep the injury a secret from those at the Order. They already were unhappy to hear she both engaged a Reaver without calling for assistance. Doubly so for the use of her Remnants.

Now she wasn?t so sure.

?T-Tracy,? she called for her Lunar Rabbit guardian, who breached reality, swirling onto the scene at the mentioning of her name. She was putting the final touches of her business suit together, the zipper on her skirt still unfastened. ?Do you think you could escort me somewhere nearby??

?Of course,? Tracy obliged, tightening her long-tongued tie into a perfect knot. ?Where would you like to go this afternoon??

The streets were still busy with evening shoppers, being only past seven. The stalls still had several hours to go, and her fears of drawing danger to those was immense should the Reaver be on the lookout. It was why she chose to remain locked away with her crew and Toby in the new home.

?I need to make a call??

--

Not too far from her home in the Old Temple District, she?d discovered several pay phones that could be tapped into. Her Antigon was a device not only for scanning and record keeping, but a communication mechanism so long as she had a phone line she could tap into. Much like hot wiring a car, jacking a line into the back of the flying eyeball enabled her to reach the Congregation. All without paying a dime for long distance.

?Ahoy~? a cheery voice blared through the phone once Mayu plugged the pay phone's wayward line in. ?Is that you, Angel? We haven?t heard from you in some time!?

The girl glanced over to Tracy, who remained just out of standard listening distance yet was eavesdropping unabashed.

?It?s me,? Mayu confirmed, cuffing her hand over the receiver to mask her voice as best she could. With only a single arm to contend with, she held the phone pinched between her shoulder and cheek. ?H-How is everything going there, Chief??

?MAAAAAAAAAAAYU!? the phone blared a second time, zagging lines of sound waves striking the air like bolts of lightning. It was enough to startle even Tracy, who dropped to the fetal position, rumbled rabbit ears squeezed between her hands. ?I told you to check in with me at least once a week! Twice a week--no--EVERY DAY!?

A thick shadow crossed over Mayu?s features. She saw Tracy?s reaction to Conrad. And about half of the block. It didn?t matter where he was or what he was doing: He was capable of embarrassing her to no end.

?Li-Listen Chief??

Conrad had not moved an inch since he'd set the receiver down. His young face bore a drawn, shadowed look that was rare enough to Marsden it could only mean one thing. Something had happened.

"Boss?"

Steadily, the the shuffling of papers and patter of footsteps came to a full pause, the lab's inhabitants turning curious looks onto their coworkers and finally their statuesque Chief.

"Chief..? What's the matter, what's happened to Mayu?" Marsden set a sympathetic hand onto Penelope's shoulder as she asked, her giant brown eyes confused.

"Marsden," Conrad ordered. He stiffened. "Take this phone and do not stop trying to get a hold of both Officials Nella and Creighton. If you are successful, with either, implore them to return to Headquarters.

"Penelope," he continued. The small nurse jumped and saluted Conrad's back. "Prep examination dome four." He straightened and swept toward the door of the lab, his white coat denoting him as their Chief billowing behind his powerful strides. "I will be in my office contacting Official Zenny personally."

"Personally?" Marsden sputtered out the burned out butt of his cigarette as he fell on the phone Conrad had abandoned. He eyed his Chief sideways, the receiver held up to his ear with his shoulder. "Whatever's happened to Mayu's that bad?"

Conrad frowned. "I just don't want to be the one she comes after when she finds out that she wasn't informed." He slammed the door, leaving the laboratory personnel to their duties.

**********

"Official Zenny? Hello. Hello, Official Zenny. ...Oh, I think I hear static, Miriam's on. That's a start.

"There's been a situation with Mayu concerning her Remnants. As you may recall in the report that was sent to you, there was a confirmed Reaver attack in the Market district of Rhy'Din that she was present for. It seems that she has activated her Remnants against our given warnings. A hex grid has--"

Static.

"A hex grid? I will indeed be returning immediately. Thank you for keeping me informed, Conrad."

Hiss, squeak, click.

Conrad blinked at the receiver in his hand.

"Well, what do you know? That was easier than I thought."

Toby Aradam's player for this post!]

?Are you sure you?re going to have everything you?re going to need?? Tracy stopped off at the front door, lowering a pack of supplies. She was carrying a light load for the journey, as Mayu already explained how she had most of her requirements present at the Order. The journey wasn?t long enough to warrant the need of a camper?s supply of gear.

Glancing out the window in hopes of spotting her assigned Seeker, Mayu nodded in response. ?I do. Just make sure you two are packed. I can?t say with any certainty they?re going to be able to accommodate.? She withdrew from the window, giving her neck a chance to relax. Since she?d returned home, it was the first time she took herself off of watch duty.

?You should relax,? Tracy suggested to her small leader, lunatic ruby eyes rising to the door in slight expectation.

Toby looked up from the line between his folded arms, his eyes sliding from May to Tracy and back.

?I?ll be able to tell when he?s arriving. Judging by the current waves of sound, there?s only one faint source currently moving this way. If it?s him, I?d say he?s still five minutes off.? The lunar rabbit?s impeccable ability to sense sound had its uses. And whatever this Seeker was, it was blazing fast.

?Maybe less,? she corrected immediately.

Mayu followed Tracy?s sight line, watching the door with less enthusiasm than seconds prior. ?I was originally assigned a Seeker some weeks ago, but we had a change in plans.? Lost kittens often do not require the need of the Order?s so-called ?detectives?. She straightened, allowing her focus to go anywhere but on the location of her exposed, glowing arm, ?I?m not really sure what to expect from them. I know they help seek out potential Remnants shards, or guide us toward our assignments. They?re also knowledgeable of said assignments?

?I believe they?re sent out on all kinds of investigations for the Order so we?re properly prepared when we, Exorcists, need to step in. I think they?re looked down upon by most of the Exorcists, actually?? A saddening thought to speak aloud. They were the only members of the Order that took to the field and didn?t have Remnants backing them up. Knowing that, Mayu had a quiet respect for them; she herself could barely fathom the thought, and that was with her materialized weapon inside her already.

?We had something similar,? the Lunar Rabbit interjected, a hand smoothing the underneath of her chin, ?Sold to act as guides due to our exceptional hearing. Because of our status, we were nothing more than tools. I?d feel sorry for this? Seeker of yours, if your claim is true.? Tracy added, pausing only long enough to give the lasting impression she was sincere. ??if I cared enough to,? she finished with, proving that she hadn?t the heart of gold she was letting onto.

?A-Ah? y-yeah,? Mayu laughed nervously, feeling awkward all of a sudden.

The rapping at the door came with a peculiar metallic sound. Since the door was wooden, it was perplexing. Mayu, being one of the two present household owners, was quick to answer. Shrouded in a khaki cloak and hood was a tall, lanky gentleman, his face boyishly young. Younger than Toby, at first glance. Several rings donned his otherwise naked fingers, the source of the metallic sound, and wore an oversized phone attached to its cradle on his back.

Was that? his backpack? Mayu hadn?t time to consider her question further, the Seeker raising a hand in greeting to the three gathered at the door. ?Sorry for being so late?? he paused, eyes lowering to Mayu. The sleek black and glistening silver of her uniform attracted his gaze like a shark smelling blood. The long, slender exposure of her legs, what little was present due to her thigh highs, was thoroughly drank, unabashed that she was currently looking back at him, dumbfounded.

?A-Ah? hello?? the girl asked, snapping the Seeker from his intoxicated stare.

?Mmph..? He leaned away from the wall, briefly pressing two fingers into his forehead. He could feel irritation gripping him and he hadn?t even seen the guy yet. Why did they need an escort this time..? They hadn?t had one when they?d visited after their return from Shamanista.

?Excuse me!? he exclaimed, standing tall and at the ready. ?Miss Exorcist! My name is Bak. I am here on order of the Congregation! I was informed that you will be requiring passage from the city to the Order immediately! Am I correct!??

Tracy was the first to give rise of a single brow. ?You?re mighty? exuberant, aren?t you?? She hadn?t missed his lengthy fifty-over glance. ?Never seen a woman in a uniform where you work?? Tracy was without the ability to feel jealous. Her question, however, did give the indication that she, who was similarly exposed like Mayu, could have felt that way were she any other person.

?Yes! I am very excited to be assigned to you all this afternoon!? still possessing a rambunctious burst of emotion with each passing syllable. ?I have never had the opportunity to be assigned to working along side an Exorcist before! Especially one with a history such as Miss Exorcist here! I am a huge fan!?

Mayu lifted a finger, asking permission to interrupt. She didn?t have that luxury.

?You?ve never been-- are you some kind of rookie?? Tracy was perplexed. Blown off her feet with surprise. If there was a single pet peeve of Tracy?s, and she had an awful lot to her name, it was a greenhorn. The more he talked, the less enthused she became over the circumstances. ?Don?t be absurd. Certainly, there are others that will be joining us along the way.?

Bak shook his head with the same excitement felt in his voice. ?I wouldn?t call myself a rookie. I?ve been sent on several investigations to handle high-profiled Reaver attacks in various cities across the globe. Normally, I?m off the scene prior to even seeing an Exorcist arrive to handle everything I?ve set up for them! This is a genuine, proud moment for me!?

?Excuse me, Mr. Bak?? Mayu chimed in, finally having a chance to do so, ??you mentioned? you?re a fan? Of me?? She?d only been in the Order for several months. To gain a following was practically impossible. ?For t-that matter? history? The only m-missions I?ve managed up u-until now is handling cats?? Mean ones.

Maybe that?s what he was referring to.

?A huge fan!? he corrected obnoxiously. ?I was told that you were personally trained by Official Zenichiro. She?s rarely had any personally trained by herself! It?s my understanding there aren?t any even on record. To be taken in by her, you must be something special! I?ve looked into everything surrounding you. I must say, bold as it may be, I?m highly enamored!?

Mayu?s cheeks felt hotter than the humidity that swelled around them due to the summer heat. Her eyebrows furrowed inward. It took her a moment to regain composure, and sanity, in her head. ??Official? Zenny-sensei?? She found out quickly, long ago, never to call her by her full name. She was surprised a blade didn?t spawn from the Order?s far off distance and cleave the Seeker in two immediately.

Tracy stepped forward, hauling the pack up in an arm. ?Pleasant as this all may be, I believe we have walking to do? The sooner we get started, the more ground we can cover before the sun starts to set.?

They had arrived some time ago and for a prolonged period, Conrad merely stared at the trio that flanked him down the labyrinthine stairwell leading from his office. So rare was their physical presence, all together, that there were in fact still staff members of the Congregation that had yet to meet the elusive Official and her two associates.

Masaru made up the tail end of their group, following stiffly behind them, one hand curved loosely around the hilt of his katana, the other hooked into the belt of his hakama. His sandals made next to no noise on the stone floor save for the occasional slip and scrape, easily disguised by the exclamation of the raccoon riding the shoulders of the Official to his immediate left.

Her dark head was slightly inclined over the modest packet of papers in her hands, her silver streaked banks fluttering as she flipped through them quickly, stoically, as if she was looking through a shopping list. The raccoon on her left shoulder seemed to be the embodiment of her emotions.

"Ohhh, PikaPika-chan, why did you not follow instructions," he whined, waving a paw at the papers. His head hung at a dramatically painful angle. "This is why we should have not let her out of our sight, twenty-four hour constant supervision at the compound, nothing less. And I shall take the first shift and see to it that she performs all of her morning bathing duti--agh!!"

If Zenny had not struck the raccoon herself, Conrad knew that he would have. He withdrew his thumb from the button of the remote hidden into his breast pocket, coughed into that hand.

Masaru, by Conrad's own experiences with the teen was characteristically silent, but as the seconds dragged on, the Official's lack of speech was beginning to add to his already heightened concern. It was in moments like these that, despite the volumes of information he possessed on the woman at his side detailing her cruelty, he could not believe a single one of them. She showed no outward evidence of anxiety, her expression soft and politely curious, her movements fluid. But her haste in which she returned to Headquarters told a completely different story.

She was just as worried as he was, as they all were. And rightfully so. It had been a month since--

"This incident occurred on a the tenth of June and yet the severity of these events was indeed greatly misinterpreted," Zenny remarked suddenly. She held the pages back out to Conrad, who took them with a grim nod.

"Our knowledge spans only as far as what we are told and when." Zenny slid him a look and a chill trickled down his spine. He felt instantly uneasy about the safety of those at Headquarters, particularly the ones assigned to follow up on the events of that city.

"Indeed," Zenny said, lacking any sort of hostility. At least for now. He exhaled. "And that only leads me to believe that her initial report was intentionally without certain detail.

Conrad choked and sputtered. "My Angel? A deceiver?! Certainly not. There, why there is nothing that she would not tell me. Us. Me!

"Well, there was that one teensy little issue with her marriage to the Ruler of Shamanista and all of those missed check-ins, and how could I forget those shopping trips she always spoke of. You're buying lingerie, aren't you?! Oh Mayu, my sweet pure little gem, why didn't you tell me that you were kissing bearded women too?!" Conrad's ear piercing squeals echoed painfully in the narrow corridor. He bellowed and cried and tears exploded like geysers from his eyes.

"That's it. There is only one way to solve this! And that is to restrain her and feed her a dose of the latest batch of Conpeki truth serum! I knew that carrying vials of it with me would prove beneficial. Just you wait, my Angel, I'm coming to--!"

Zenny's hand had slipped in tot he collar of his coat during his speech, the crackling energy he felt from the nearby fingertips barely enough to keep him from barreling down the rest of the stairs to meet Mayu who had yet to even arrive.

"Most likely she had done so to prevent our concern, or because she indeed tried to heed our warning, found it impossible to do so and did not wish to risk the consequences." She didn't release him, but felt him trying to reign himself in.

Conrad sagged and began to trudge rather than walk down the stairs.

"Likewise," Zenny continued. "It has indeed been an entire month and hex grid has only now begun to show itself."

"What makes you think that's the case?" Conrad's voice was well on its way to regaining its normal tone, only cracking once with barely contained hysteria. "What if she wanted to keep everything from me just as she did her rhino babies?! It's most certainly terrible enough that she had that eyeless boy tailing her every move like some sort of criminal stalker--"

Masaru snorted from behind them. Zenny rolled her eyes.

"Why must it be that any and all men that come in contact with my apprentice indeed lose control of all of their faculties?"

"Why can you not grasp just how dire of a situation this is?! At this rate, my pure, little flower will be--"

"Indeed, I do not know whether or not you are attempting to mask your actual concern with this ridiculousness, or if you are just stupid, Conrad, but I will ask you once and only once to cease immediately," she ordered. "Is that understood?" Her voice was hard and rang with the same urgency and authority held within an officer's command. Conrad felt the unstable energy crackling like electricity through Zenny's fingers. He could hear it sizzle, smell the faint trace of of ozone permeating the air around them.

There was silence from them all, they continued their descent. Even the raccoon had made no comments.

Conrad had no sooner thought that when Jirobi spoke, his gravelly voice solemn as if it was coming from the mouth of a grieving middle aged man.

"Go easy on him, Zen-chan, he's worried like the rest of us."

Zenny's hand tightened in Conrad's collar. He stiffened..and stayed tense until her hand, warm and comforting and alive with energy rested on his shoulder.

"Yes, I know."

"Hex grid's appearance now as opposed to earlier can only mean she's been lettin' the injury run its course," the raccoon said. "She's had no reason to use her Remnants, she hasn't or she's incapable."

"She did say on the phone that her right arm was in pain."

"S'to be expected. Generally why I'm glad that, if we're every sorry to witness a Descension at all, it's always quick and easy for the victim."

Zenny's blue eyes flicked aside at the strong spike of indignation shooting invisibly from Conrad. She drew her hand away to avoid any further exposure to his rampant emotions.

"I indeed will not tolerate such talk when we are reunited with Mayu," Zenny warned. "She does not need any further reason for alarm."

Jirobi gaped at her with his beady eyes.

"Zen-chan, I'm surprised..! Keepin' secrets is one thing, but one like this--!"

"The moment we inserted the Remnants into her body, it indeed became too late for this conversation. Not that I would expect her determination to waver in the slightest, but.." Zenny trailed off, frowning.

"What do you plan to tell her?" Conrad asked carefully.

"Indeed, I am not yet sure. I must assess the situation thoroughly. If Jirobi is correct and the hex grid has just recently formed, then we have a slightly larger window of time to work with. But we shall proceed post haste."

The door to the skyway connecting Conrad's tower with the rest of Headquarters burst open, revealing a disheveled Marsden, annoyance twisting his face around the burnt out butt of the cigarette in the corner of his mouth.

...Until his eyes landed on Zenny. He gulped, cleared his throat and squared his shoulders. She watched him expectantly, a dark brow curved upward on her pale forehead.

"What is it, Marsden."

"Chief," he began, "there was no answer in your office. She's here, they."

"They?" It was Conrad's turn to lift a brow.

"They. Bak, Mayu, Toby and a tall woman with rabbit ears and lavender hair that they say is named Tracy."

Marsden stumbled out of the way as Zenny took point for the group, brushing past him with a gently touch to his shoulder. Masaru followed silently.

"Penelope's all ready to go, I left them in dome four."

Conrad nodded curtly, his face drawn.

"Chief, this thing that's happened to Mayu. We can fix it, right? I mean, hex grid's aren't--"

"Of course we can. If not us, Official Zenny will be a great asset. Let us go."

Conrad did not wait for Marsden as he marched into Headquarters' interior and began the equally lengthy journey into its bowels to examination dome four.

Zenny frowned, an uncharacteristic expression on her usually stoic face.

The journey down to the examination domes provided her time to ponder. There were a select few occasions during which a hex grid would present itself. Of the first, an Exorcist would exceed the limit of their synchronization and force their bodies to endure power that they are not capable of wielding. Such was an option.

The second theory, and the one she was leaning toward, had to do with the Exorcist herself and her Remnants, and how well they coincided together. In order to synchronize properly with a certain Remnants, the fledgling Exorcist, her reason to use the Remnants' power, and the desire of the Remnants itself must match absolutely. For Remnants were not just the reserve of energy the Exorcist channeled through their chosen weapons, but shards of the souls warriors lost in the First and legendary war. They were alive once, living and breathing beings, whose will has carried down through the ages, as strong today as it was in ancient times.

But Mayu was a special case. Several steps in her infusion had been improvised and skipped altogether. She was, after all, an--

"Official Zenny?" Penelope's timid voice cracked into her reverie.

"Yes?"

"I think you're going to break the Chief."

"Hmm?" Zenny glanced down to Conrad who would have hung limp and lopsided were it not for the vice grip keeping him upright. His whines, whimpers and fruitless tugs at her hand had gone unnoticed. She chuckled and let go. "I do apologize. Thinking. Indeed, I tend to get lost in my own mind more often than not. ...However, I believe I do have a plan."

Penelope shrieked in excitement and fumbled to flip the intercom back into action. "Listen up everyone, Official Zenny's got a plan!!"

"Ow, ow, ow. They can hear you in China, I'm sure!"

"P-Plan?" she asked generally, looking between Penelope and Zenny with a surge of anxiety that brought a quiver to her voice, words laden with that sickly, over-reactive emotion. "W-What are-- w-wh-what... What plan?" Immediately, she examined the bed between her legs, then off to either side.

Already, Mayu's mind flickered back to the past when she originally was set down on this very bed when implementing her Remnants into her arm. The whole ordeal was supposedly quick and painless. The scars were still fresh, emotionally. "I-It doesn't have to do with..." she trailed off, rising to Zenny with the expectancy of an ill mother about to hear the horrific news of her deceased child.

"Don't you worry about a thing, Angel, as I said, the greatest hands!" Conrad's voice was pinched with pain, but he smiled reassuringly over the edge of the bed.

Briefly, Zenny shared a momentary glance and a nod with Penelope. Who immediately burst into action. The thick, leather and buckle restraints that Mayu had no doubt been searching for were flipped up onto the hospital bed from their hidden compartment beneath, one such tie fixed to Mayu's left ankle with expert swiftness to avoid letting her escape.

Zenny stepped forward, reaching to smooth Mayu's ocean locks away from her worried face. The touch was warm and assured, brimming with comfort and gentleness. It was meant to relax her, calm her, allow her to see the benefits of laying back against the bed so that Penelope could restrain both wrists as well. As soon as she was finished, the nurse stood a the ready, her hands behind her back. Zenny drew her hand away, the soothing comfort retreating with it. She regretted having to do so, but she wanted Mayu to pay attention.

"What I do indeed believe we are dealing with here is a conflict with your synchronization," Zenny said, still smiling serenely. "This issue is most definitely common and one we had prepared for should such a complication arise. What I will be doing is reassessing your Remnants and its connection to your existence and performing the necessary recalibration.

"You will feel nothing and most likely remember nothing, as before. This process should not take longer than a few hours. Do you understand?"

Conrad seemed to release the sigh that Zenny did not, but the shadow of relief was heavy on her features as well.

"O-Official Zenny, what was that..?" Penelope chirped as she finished cinching the restraints around Mayu's wrists and ankles. It was a chore to do for the buckles had been warped and nearly torn open.

"Something that neither of you need worry about." She leaned forward and smoothed her fingertips over Mayu's face. The after effects of the girl's rage and fear caused blue sparks to crackle and hiss around her hands. Penelope followed her motions with a cloth that was wetted with alcohol, swabbing at the spots where blood had dribbled and collected.

"That was quick thinking," Conrad said softly, placing the empty syringe in his hand on the edge of one of the surgical trays. "I had wondered what you were going to--"

"Masaru," Zenny ordered, her eyes cutting aside to Conrad with the sharpness of a blade.

"Hai, Katsutoya-sama," came the response. Masaru's hand tightened on Toby's arm. The boy couldn't even try to throw it off anymore. His body numb to his brain's orders, he slumped forward until his forehead met the warm glass of the dome. He watched, his breath forming a steadily growing cloud before his nose.

"You may release him. This task is more important than the restraint of those close to Mayu." Zenny pulled a single hairpin from the braided bun at the back of her head with deceptive slowness.

And then she suddenly spun in a rush of loose silk skirts and sleeves, the beads and charms dangling from the ornaments still in her hair clinking against one another. Her arm whipped through the air, fingers rigid after their release of the blunt ended hairpin. Its trajectory was invisible, it hit its mark silently, the button allowing communication between the dome and those outside it clicked, severing the connection.

"You are indeed careless, Conrad. Speaking about such things when those outside the dome are able to hear us."

"You flipped the switch?" He squinted, adjusting his glasses on his nose to inspect the intercom that was too far away. He cleared his throat afterward. He did not expect anything less from an Official, now a little more aware of how closely he was standing to her.

"Part of my goal for this operation was indeed to not only provide Mayu with an anxiety free procedure, but also to allow those close to her the same courtesy." She folded her arms. "Neither party need know of the true seriousness of this situation."

Conrad's face flattened immediately. They had seemed to have already failed in that venture. He turned to face Mayu in the bed, his back conveniently to the onlookers. "What have you concluded?"

Zenny sighed. "I have severe doubts that she exceeded her limits of synchronization. To even possess such limits, an Exorcist must be attuned to their Remnants and able to control their manifestation without issue. Mayu did not even have such an option."

Conrad mirrored Zenny's sigh. "It's to be expected, I suppose. Her infusion was completely experimental," his words were grave, each syllable dripping with regret. But Zenny could feel the underlying disappointment that he was trying to mask. "We were not even certain that she would make it through the attunement procedure unscathed. The mere fact that she woke up afterward was grounds for a celebration. Forced synchronizations were always unstable. But it's rare to find someone so determined, it was a chance we could not pass up.

"And that's why we gave her such warnings! Oh, Angel!" She rolled her eyes as she listened to him whine. "...And you still used your Remnants anyway. Do you know what that would have done to your lovely, perfect existence?! You could have been torn asunder! Rent! Shredded and scattered to the winds like feathers!!" He paused to suck in a grating inhale and turned away, the back of his hand to his brow as if he couldn't bear to keep looking at the bed.

"O-Official Zenny," Penelope murmured cautiously. Zenny's attention shifted to the nurse. "Wh-why don't you want to tell them? They have a right to know, don't they? How bad it is?"

Zenny exhaled. "A key component to procedures like these is hope. You could indeed have all of the medical, technical and supernatural advances, but if you do not have hope, your condition will deteriorate regardless.

"You know exactly what a Descension is, correct?"

Penelope nodded fervently, her finger in the air. "It is when an Exorcist's Remnants and the Exorcist themselves clash in their desires and the reasons for the use of their power!"

"That is indeed what we are dealing with." Zenny turned back to Mayu, her arms folded. "Somehow, somewhere down the line, Mayu's desires and that of her Remnants began to go their separate ways. As a Remnants' desire never changes, I am left to assume that certain events in her life have caused a change of heart. There are myriad possibilities. We must find the exact cause."

"Will you be able to fix it? Her?"

"I indeed know of several methods, each one more dangerous and violent than the last." She paused, selfishly allowing that to sink in until the waves of despair wafting from both Conrad and Penelope began to feel oppressive. "However, one of those methods may indeed work and is within the grounds of my own individual ability."

Conrad perked and looked aside to Zenny in surprise. "On your own? It isn't that I'm questioning your ability, but..is that wise?"

She provided him with a curious look. "Do you see anyone else in this dome with the capabilities? We do not have time to debate methods, nor to give Mayu a chance to change her heart once more. Something must be done, and it must indeed be done immediately. ...Penelope, if you would be so kind as to wheel that stool over here?"

Penelope sprung into action as Zenny unfastened the buckles that kept her detached sleeves in place on her arms. Without them, the permanent cuff of black runes scribbled from the middle of her biceps down to the middle of her forearms were revealed, most of which resembled grotesquely shaped demonic faces in various scenes and stages of battle and evisceration. She set her garments on the floor atop her blades and began to sit. Penelope shoved the stool into place moments before she hit the floor.

"What exactly is this going to entail?"

Zenny exhaled smoothly and curled her legs up onto one another on the seat of the stool. Her skirt hung over her shins, pooling on the floor in an ocean of navy silk. She drew another decorative pin from her hair. Thin and silver, it glinted in the glow of the dome's spotlights. She touched it to her skin, tracing the pin's tip along nearly invisible, intricate swirls as she answered. Thread thin, black marks were left in its wake.

"I will indeed be traveling to the Remnants core that has been implanted into Mayu to assess the problem and subsequently rectify it."

"Into.. Into?!" Conrad screeched. "You are going to be going into my Mayu?! Certainly not, that's absurd. Certainly..certainly you're joking, ha-haha!"

"Who indeed said that you will be here for this?"

He gasped, thrusting his arms across Mayu's unconscious figure and glared at Zenny, his face twisted in horror and disgust. The dome's lights reflected off of his lenses, turning them pure, blazing white. "Violation! I'll protect her fragile innocence with all that I have!! I don't care if you are an Official, you will regret even that mere suggestion!!

"We will find another way, that's it!! That's all there is to it!!"

Zenny's eyebrows rose. She held out the hairpin to Penelope and directed her to the runes that she needed traced onto the backs of her shoulderblades. She wound her hair out of the nurse's way, regarding Conrad with patience.

"Did I not indeed say that we are short on time? I can see that you will be nothing but a hindrance to this. Fortunately, I have the perfect task for you."

"And you think I am just going to leave?!" Conrad laughed obnoxiously. "And leave her in your hands, when I return she'll be nothing but pieces. Never, I won't, I won't allow it!!"

Zenny's mouth formed a line as the hairpin in Penelope's grasp skittered across her back. Silently, she raised a hand. Conrad only had enough time to glance toward the motion before Masaru's hands scooped beneath his arms and hauled him back. He kicked and screamed and fought, his bellows and hollars becoming more intelligable by the second.

"There should be an item known as a Casque in one of the displays within Conrad's tower. I have no doubts that he will indeed be helpful in your search." She lowered her hand. "If he is not, you know what to do."

"Outrageous!! Let go of me immediately. Maaayuuu!!"

"This method requires the utmost vigilance and all of my concentration," Zenny said firmly, her voice hard and steady. "If I lose it, for even a moment, I could indeed inflict irreparable damage upon her pysche and cause severe mental deterioration if I do not kill her outright." She paused and was only slightly surprised to hear silence. Even Penelope's hand had stilled.

"Mishandling her emotional core may result in an instant Descension. The power I will be utilizing is enough to level this facility in half a moment. Break my connection to her early, once it has been established, and you may indeed doom several of us to an unnecessary demise. I advise you to appreciate the circumstances that we are dealing with. Bring me that Casque."

Her last words rang in the heavy air, the only noise following them the hiss and slide of the glass panels as they opened, allowing Masaru to drag Conrad from the dome.

Emotional fibers split and spliced, charging in all directions. Colors so vibrant and astounding as to not have even been named bent about her an a tolerant warp, beckoning her along.

She was no longer in control of her own journey. Like an autumn leaf she rose and fell, tumbled and sailed. She gave herself over to the waves, instilling infinite trust to the consciousness she was inhabiting.

What began as an emerald hued evening followed two children running along a hilly valley outside of the city's vicinity, the two hand in hand as they ran toward their favored tree. It was their secret meeting place when their parents weren't keeping a stern lookout. Or when they needed a place to get away from the rules, the shouting, and the constant abuse that went on behind closed doors.

The girl was heavily bruised along her arms and her legs, but when she was able to be a free bird in the valley, those wounds were superficial. They refused to exist in her mind, for her heart was what beat strong and pushed her to see that the world wasn't so glum as she was made out to believe.

Nothing mattered. Whether she was a defect to the world, or if her parents encouraged her to put an end to her life or simply run away from home.

Nothing mattered.

She came to a halt at the tree, which overlooked a natural river. The heavy rains over the past few weeks brought unnatural currents to the water flow, invoking peaceful sounds that nature was known for. It only encouraged the girl and her young brother to take part in watching it, for so few cared to take for granted everything life had to offer them.

"Thanks for helping me get out there, big sis," Takuya said while taking a seat beside their tree.

Their initials were carved into the side of the bulky trunk, forever a reminder that the two were of a bond that was both rare and special in its own right. Their parents saw them as two different species. The siblings would not. They were of the same blood, shared a similar life, and saw each other as the strength they didn't have.

Even if their lives were to take two entirely separate paths, they knew that in each other, they had a home. And a place in life.

Mayu took considerable value in that. It was why she willingly took Takuya out when he asked her to. He was so young, so full of life, he had to see the world with his own two eyes. Not everything was a large textbook. Even if he was only five years old and able to read beyond a fifth grade level.

Even if he was the reason her parents abandoned her and took their frustrations out on her, becoming nothing more than a physical and emotional punching bag.

"Don't thank me, Takuya," Mayu lilted, a smile full of lively energy and good cheer plastered on her face. "You shouldn't be inside so much. Even if Father and Mother demand it."

The girl approached the hulking tree, clasping a large branch and hauling herself up onto it. It was only a few feet higher than her, but granted the best view of both the river and city alike. "I heard them arguing again last night..."

Takuya looked up, following his sister closely with his eyes. "You did? What were they saying?"

Mayu pinched a twig from the branch she was settled on, tossing it into the river dejectedly. "They're thinking of sending you away to a private school so you can get tutored by some person..."

A prestigious scholar, were their exact words.

"Where...?" he asked, a little afraid.

"America," she answered immediately, the frown on her face deeply etched.

"...A...merica..." he repeatedly slowly. It took him several seconds to scour his tiny brain for the answer. "That's across the Pacific Ocean... eight tho-"

"You don't need to do that with me," stopping her brother from reciting his knowledge like she cued him for a pop quiz. "I'm not Father."

The boy smothered his face in a hand. "Sorry. I didn't mean to, sis..."

She smiled down to him, motioning with a hand for him to follow. "Why don't you come up here with me? You've never seen the view."

"Aw, do I have to?" clearly whining and not interested. Still he got to his feet before his sister insisted.

"Yes. There's only so many more times we can do this before you have to go away. If they're being serious," watching him as he stood beneath her at the base of the trunk. "Grab that branch there and use it to pull yourself up to this one."

Takuya did as his sister asked, grabbing the first, stubby branch that was more of a knot against the side of the tree, and pulled with all his little body could in order to grab the second branch Mayu was seated on. She scooted over enough for him to join her.

He squeezed the branch he was seated on, looking over the vastness of the city itself. Never in his life had he an opportunity to view such a sight. The books he read, and the pictures that accompanied them, did not hold a candle to the sight of a real live city, with moving cars, flashing lights, and the blaring sounds of sentient beings.

"Wooow..." he quietly gawked, one hand moving to rest atop Mayu's head to keep his balance. "This is... Hokkaido?"

Mayu giggled, a hand to her mouth, "For reading so many books, you're a little stupid, huh?"

Takuya looked down to his sister, frowning, "Hey. That's not nice, sis." He inched away from her, moving to the trunk. "I wonder how much higher you can get?"

In the process of moving away, Takuya released his sister. She was able to clamber up to her own feet, steadily. "Um... I don't know how much higher you want to get. Can't you see everything already?"

"Nah... I bet the view is even greater higher up!" He grabbed a branch and started to hoist himself up to the next level.

"T-Takuya, maybe you shouldn't..." reaching for him, fingers rolling around his ankle. He shrugged her grip free, disappearing into the thick brush of leaves as he prepared another level. "If Father finds out I let you climb a tree, he's going to do more than just hit me..."

Her brother's voice rang through the leaves. "Don't worry about it! I'll tell him I snuck out when you were taking a bath and only happened to come out after me. He won't be mad. That worked once before, remember?"

Mayu's head shook. "Takuya, I'm being serious. Get down here!"

She started after him, reaching up with one hand to grab the branch that he used to climb up. There was a snap when she started to pull herself up, and froze immediately. Glancing to the branch she had in hand, it wasn't her own.

It came from higher up.

"Takuya?!" she shouted up to him, already encased in anxiety and losing her footing on the limb she was on.

"I'm all right!" he called back to her. Most of the leaves on the large tree were shaking and rustling to his shifting weight, but she couldn't see him to confirm that. "I stepped on the wrong branch!"

"...don't do that... just come back down..." pleading with him now. Her voice was full of terror and angst. "Please!"

There was another snap just as her pleadings drew to a close. A thick branch slammed into the bough shielding her immediately above, crushing her hand that was using the limb as support. She jerked her hand down, yelping in excruciating pain. With nothing to balance her, she fell backwards from the six foot height, hitting the ground with a sharp thud.

The limb that crushed her hand crashed down on top of her, jagged points and sprouting buds coming within centimeters of impaling her. Thorns from the branch scratched her face and tore several large holes in her stomach and legs, stunning her greater than just the mere fall had.

Everything slowed down in the instant she realized she was no longer in the tree. The size of the branch cradling her was enough to keep her pinned, a hand lifting against the branch to try and shrug it aside. Trees weren't known for shedding their branches because they felt like being vengeful toward children that wanted to climb them.

"Takuya!?" she called out for him again, eyes scouring the trees for any sign of life. There was no response.

Nothing but the limp tumble of a small figure, no greater in size than herself. Dyed blue hair, like a tumbling sapphire from the heavens, streaked past her gaze. It collided, head first, into the rough terrain below, a sickening snap accompanying a lifeless roll that started following the angle of the hill toward the rushing river only yards away.

"TAKUYAAAAA!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, fighting with the branch that weighed down on her and prevented her from running after her brother. "TAKUYA! CAN YOU HEAR ME?! ...get off of me, tree. GET OFF OF ME!" she shouted, a frantic motion of flails and shoves.

It didn't abide by her wishes, only becoming more entrenched in the earth the more she fought in an attempt to get it off of her. Looking over toward her brother, she couldn't see him anymore beyond the roll of the hill that separated them.

She felt herself snapping. Every bone in her body cracking and turning into fine dust as she twisted underneath the large bough. Reaching, she drove her uninjured hand into the thorn-laden limb, jagged points effortlessly rending flesh and penetrating her all the way through, starting a fresh, blotted river of crimson. There was no pain in the brash action, only hefty fears that made it difficult for her to breathe and impossible to see, eyes full of surging water.

"TAKUYA, PLEASE SAY SOMETHING..." she continued to shout as she started to get the branch off of her. Once she could find movement in her legs, she flopped them around to gather momentum throughout her body and force herself free from the natural prison that barred her. She rolled closer toward the hill's summit, bloodied hand forming trails in the lush green grass as she gathered herself to her feet. She stumbled over the apex, slumping onto her knees with all the forward momentum she possessed, frantically looking for any signs of her brother.

His own, lifeless roll was slow and without resistance, continuing on a steady course toward the rushing current of the river.

"TAKUYA!!" she called after him, beginning to lose sensation in her legs. The possible concussion, the several broken fingers, and an impaled hand that bled profusely was all beginning to weigh her down. She collapsed after finding the power to get to her feet, hitting the ground with enough force to punch the wind right out of her.

Helplessly, with a waver in her consciousness, she looked on. Her brother, with an arm rolling disjointed from his body, and his head lolling all the way back to the point that it resembled him looking directly to her with an agonizing, frightened, final expression of desperate plea, was clutched by the river's rapid strength, and became nothing more than a plaything to its whim.

He swirled a single time in the mass of water before it sucked him underneath, disappearing as though he never existed. She reached, worthlessly, after the image that was burned in her memory.

In the course of a single minute, the brother that she looked up to despite being his older sibling, who was the sole person that had her love, and loved her in return without a shred of doubt, was gone.

Her fingers burrowed into the earth, the last ounce of strength that she had, in an attempt to pull herself across the sweeping grass and closer toward where Takuya's final moments on land was. It failed miserably.

"T... akuya..." she wept into the ground, strewn out like a distubed batch of discarded hay.

He was... gone.

The memory swelled and ruptured like a popped bubble, disappearing in a swirl of vibrant threads of white light.

Loss was not a new concept to her, that feeling of utter misery. Like a disease, it eats away any and all without discretion until there is nothing left but a tender, hollow carcass of what once was.

Mayu's despair was no different. It roiled and surged, clouding the vibrancy of all other emotional strands. Zenny was not but a lone buoy trapped in the tumultuous ocean waves, at the mercy of their strength and power. No longer an easy, effortless ride, she was buffeted along ever further toward that spiraling epicenter that she could no longer see.
She felt the strain of her protective barriers hardening into action, like skin that has been stretched too tightly.

Never before had she expected such sadness from her apprentice, whose smiles and good cheer were like the sun's rays, sudden and bright and never fading. However, the anguished vortex that continuously sucked her down with it was just as endless and absolute.

Zenny closed her eyes, a laughable defense against a force that she need not see to be affected by. It was endless, the pressure upon her mind growing, and growing uncomfortably. When then barest hint of a separate colors glimmered in the distance, she lunged for it and held on tightly.

Vibrant gray sent a cool glow over the construction of a newly discovered memory. In it, six figures with indistinguishable features surrounded a girl huddled on the ground in the fetal position, covering herself from the lashings of those around her. There was pouring rain, saturating the dirt until it was slick mud.

Of the erected threads, one possessed an amber array of features, her skin, hair and eyes a matching array of both beauty and strength. She pointed at the huddled girl. "Whoever makes her bleed first gets my lunch!"

The declaration only riled those around the girl, their lashings becoming more vicious and with the use of small stones and sticks. A precise hit from one sent the girl to the mud she was curled in, crying out in agony.

"Hey, Wakana!" one shouted from within the small mass of children, "I think I did it! She's got a huge gash on her arm!"

Wakana lifted a hand to the air, asking those that were beating the girl to hold their assault. Moving in for inspection, she stuck her thumb out, confirming the boy's claim. "Ibuki's got it!"

There was a mix of cheers and groans, the few gathered quickly running off. In the distance, a hazy figure, tall and gorgeous beyond the wildest dreams began to hurry toward the girl and Wakana, the only two still there. The fallen girl was bleeding from several other places, thick globs of red massing in the darkness of her hair.

"That's what you get for thinking you could play with us, new kid," Wakana hissed. "Quit thinking you're part of us. You'll never be our friends, stupid. Go back in the hole you came from and get lost!"

Wakana hurried off as the distant woman in a white uniform ran onto the scene. She quickly assessed the girl's injuries, everything in a motion of panic.

"Good lord..." she quietly swore under her breath. She fidgeted during the collection of her radio. She jammed the transceiver button and shouted into the device, "This is Sagisawa Yohko. I'm in the front yard of the Academy. I've got an injured girl here. I need two from my staff here and a stretcher, immediately. Hurry, damn it!"

The image began to fade.

Zenny had no time to gather her bearings before?

?The gray transfigured along with the setting, a yellow glow overtaking the scene. There was no switch in the setting, the front yard of the Academy remaining intact and still. Weaves continued to construct persons of interest, one of a big boned boy, and a young girl trapped against a wall and unable to make her escape. She was timid and gave the impression of fright, shaking uncontrollably.

The large boy grew closer to the girl. "Come on, Tsuzuki, you have to know that I'm not like those other guys. I really like you. You're so quiet and sweet. Give me a chance to show you. You won't ever have to worry about all the kids bullying you again."

She didn't have anything to say. She made no attempt at fleeing either, holding position with eager glances all around her. No matter which direction she'd try to go, she'd have to run through his proximity, giving him enough of a chance to grab her and keep her from getting away.

"Say something, Tsuzuki," he pleaded, hands clapping together. "I really care about you! Just let me--"

"She heard you the first time, fatty," a newly constructed feminine voice called. It was full of vigor and life, unlike the girl was shrinking like a violet into the earth. "Why don't you get out of here? Can't you see she's not interested?"

The large boy turned to the one interfering. Full of gusto and prepared to defend his actions, he immediately started to approach the new girl. "Oh, yeah? What're you going to do about it?" He charged directly at her, gigantic hands rising in the air to clobber her.

The girl of amber shades lifted a fist as he ran within her reach, driving a well-timed fist into his overly round stomach. He buckled and collapsed to the ground in the matter of seconds, his heavy load only hastening the fall.

"I heard what you were giggling about with your fellas at lunch, fatass," the girl declared. Amber shades continued to enhance until it became clear who she was. "Placing a bet to see who can lay her first? You're lucky I don't hit you with a really large book and see how long it takes for your skull to crack."

"G-Gnn! Bitch... you'll pay for t-this!" the boy spat, crawling on his hands and knees, tumbling every few feet due to his heavy weight and hurry to get away from Wakana before she do what her word had every intention to.

The black haired girl looked to Wakana. She winced and shrunk against the wall when the amber girl approached. "...you all right? He didn't touch you or anything, did he?"

"N... N-No... " the timid girl fumbled in her answer. She was unscathed minus the dirt and grime from what appeared to be a frantic attempt at getting away from the boy at one point.

"...that's good. Let's... get you inside and cleaned up a little." She held out a hand to the girl. The gesture held more intention than merely an offer for help. "...and maybe you can give me a chance to pay my debt for everything..."

The mental image of the two wavered when the raven haired girl looked on in awe. She reached out to accept Wakana's offered hand. The image froze, becoming a snapshot that held more sentimental worth in it than any other fragmented memory could offer. It had no cost.

It was priceless.

The shadows between the girl?s hands glowed an intense, electric green. Beams of light pierced the air one at a time from between their knuckles. All at once, the image shattered, acidic hued sparkles falling like snow only to form a winding, defined road.

It moved on its own, she found, when she was set down upon it. Despair gave way to strong, uncomfortable unrest. She felt like a foreigner in her own mind, a hand that did not fit the glove it was being forced into.

She was no longer aware of just Mayu?s emotional currents. Beneath them, riding in their shadows, another ancient presence lurked, waiting to be discovered. It tickled her senses and clung to her. When she silently called out to it, it answered in exaltation. In relief.

It knew that something was coming for it. It knew that it, finally, was going to be listened to.

"I found you," she said. At the sound of her voice she was hurtled forward, headfirst, and into the last Seed.

Meanwhile..

"Heart rate excellerating ten percent, twenty." There was a pause. "...Back down to ten." Marsden sounded bored. It hadn't been the first time he'd had to make a report like that. Toby doubted that there was anyone around who even understood what any of that meant, he knew he didn't, so he wondered why Marsden had to keep doing it. "Breathing still normal, Remnants activation level..still only at zero percent? Then what's with all that light? It can't all just be her spiritual power."

His eyes were glued to the storm of crackling green and blue making the whole lower half of Zenny's arm and most of May's look like they weren't even there. With each flicker, every shiny surface in the dome gleamed painfully, shadows grew and shrank too fast to keep up with. He couldn't tell if Zenny's swaying back and forth was real or just a trick of the light.

"Agh, damn it," Marsden said suddenly. He lurched aside and punched buttons into the keyboard while he grabbed a device out from beneath the consoles. It was square, attached to a spiral cord and he held it to his mouth, speaking angrily in it.

"Penelope, what the hell's going on in there? Mayu's heart and respiratory rate just went off the charts, it's like she's having a heart attack!"

Toby gripped the glass dome, his own heart seizing. His movements were painfully slow, no matter how much he tried to make them faster.

Penelope floundered to the intercom and punched the button with her whole palm. Shrill whirring and screeching sounds grated on his ears, lazily drowning out the sound of the nurse's panicked voice.

"I don't know, all of a sudden there was this terrible noise and it's getting worse!!"

"Didn't you two talk about it beforehand? You have no idea what she's doing?"

"Official Zenny needs to recalibrate Mayu's synchronization level!!"

Marsden scoffed, slamming his hand down into the console. "I know that, what is she doing? How is she doing it? Don't tell me she's screwing around with the Remnants by hand!"

"What's the status?" Conrad's sharp call cut into the vicious feedback. He hurried down the small staircase leading toward the dome.

"Boss! With all due respect, if we don't get Official Zenny out of there soon, she's going to kill Mayu!"

"WHAAAT?!" Conrad's squeal was indiscernible from the angry, screeching intercom. "That can't be true! That beastly woman, she's going to murder my precious angel! It's all my fault, I should have protected you better, I should have fought harder, I should have--Masaru, what the devil do you think you're doing?"

Masaru strode forward confidently, pausing outside of the sliding glass panels. His hands were curved in a protective cup around an object that Toby couldn't see, but emitted a gentle, golden glow.

"Open it."

"What?!"

"Are you insane? I know we have to get her out of there but," Marsden glanced down at the consoles at the same time that the sound of a small explosion rocked the air within the dome. Penelope shrieked and ducked, huddling up against the glass with her gloved hands over her head. She chanted to herself in a weak attempt to stay calm.

"I have to stay here!! A good nurse stays with her patients until the e-end, I have to stay here and--EEK!!"

"The Official's throwing around so much wild power it's frying the Antigons just to manitain a proper reading," Marsden said. "That's what the explosions are and you want to go in there, kid? Are you nuts?"

"Open it," Masaru repeated, unperturbed.

"Like hell! Do you know what that much power would do to someone?" He didn't give Masaru any time to answer. "That's right, no one does. Even if it ends up killing them outright, it'll be contained long enough for us to dispose of it properly. Those Antigons could be your head, you know!"

"I need to get this Casque to Katsutoya-sama," Masaru said firmly. "If I do not, she will be handling that much power without protection and even she cannot keep that up for long!"

"I don't care what kind of boner you have for that woman--" Marsden said, his head snapping aside to Conrad. "Or whatever you have for Mayu, Boss, but I'm not endangering even more people just for that. We need to think of something else and fast, she could blow us all to bits if one of us even breathes wrong!"

Conrad sputtered. "I do not have anything but the purest intentions for my budding flower, my innocent Angel, my--"

"Everyone, shut yer yaps and let Zen-chan work!" Jirobi's voice was firm and solid, its sudden authority silencing all but the screams and squeals of Penelope and everything else within the dome. The raccoon gripped Masaru's shoulder and cast its beady eyes to every face. "She wouldn't do anything she didn't have complete confidence in and didn't trust her own abilities to perform so sit and be patient! She won't let us down.

"That includes you, Masaru. Disrupt the flow of power now and you very will could kill us all."

"Told ya."

The air around the dome was tense with quiet anticipation, broken only by Marsden's rhythmic reports of Mayu's vital signs, Conrad's whimpers and the continuous shriek of raw power circling through the dome.

...Then all at once, the noise stopped. Toby's ears rang in the sudden lull.

He held his breath like everyone else around him and together they watched the searing blue and green light spread and intensify until it bleached white hot. It stabbed his eyes, making them water. He grimaced and turned his head away at the exact second a high pitch scream ripped from the intercom.

"Penelope!

Several eruptions shook the glass of the dome one after the other, their shockwaves too much for the speakers to keep up with. It sounded like thousands of claws all scraping across stone. The consoles smoked, sparks flying from the now blank screens.

"We can't take much more of this! Get the medics down here now, we've got to be ready," Marsden hollared over the onslaught of noise.

The glass shuddered against his palms and the backs of his eyelids went dark in unison, the pain in his eyes beginning to release its hold.
"It's over," Jirobi called. "Get in there, kid, open the door!" The raccoon's voice was quiet, but it rattled the brains of the listeners.

The glass panels hissed and jerked aside, allowing plumes of white smoke and the smell of ozone to leak from the dome. Masaru rushed in first, followed closely by Marsden and Conrad.

"Zen-chan!

"Katsutoya-sama!"

"Penelope, where the hell are you?"

"MAAAYUUU!!"

Toby grunted, fighting to straighten his legs enough to get his feet under him.

The partially functional intercom popped and crackled like a fire. He whipped his head around at the sound of soft voices.

"Official Zenny, are you alright?"

"Zen-chan!"

There was a quiet, weary chuckle.

"It is done."

May!! ]

"Do not be alarmed," Zenny had said, "if you indeed notice certain changes in your friend. She has been through a great ordeal and you must give her time to process and recover. As all wounds, this is temporary and too shall pass."

Her voice had been thick and hoarse, like she'd cried. When he'd tried to look up at her, she was gone. That was hours ago.

He sat in a rickety chair at the right side of a simple bed. There was a pitcher and a glass of water that was half full on the nightstand next to his knee. His fingers were folded before his mouth, he chewed on the outside of his knuckle until it stung. His eyes refused to leave the sleeping figure who somehow made the bed look giant around her small body.

This wasn't the first time he'd sat, waiting for her to wake up..and he couldn't breathe around the cluster of anxiety in his chest now any more than he could then.

When her consciousness first returned to her, she was still fighting off the feeling of straps and buckles that were no longer present, vividly reminded of the final moments before she succumbed to the sedative they injected her with. Her flails quieted when she realized she wasn't restrained.

There was a burn in her chest, fierce and with all the rage of an inferno. She took a shallow breath, lungs wheezing to absorb the oxygen she was sucking in. You'd think she'd just been resurrected.

Sputters accompanied coughs and the vertigo of rising up from where she was laid out. The dim glow of the ceiling lamp was welcomed; already tired of bright glows of lights that the medical dome had. She wasn't alone, however. That was not quite as welcoming as everything else.

Glancing toward whom decided it was wise to remain by her side, she groaned out loud. "Agh..." a hand stretching over her forehead, not able to believe what she was seeing. "...of all the freakin' people that could have been in here with me... you're who I wake up to?"

It could be said she was extremely displeased. That would be putting it mildly.

He when she flailed, his hands jerking apart. He clenched his teeth and his fists, watching, waiting until--

He couldn't quite believe it. He never thought that Zenny had lied to him, but it wasn't like he took what she'd said seriously either. He gulped, the obvious movement of his throat hidden by the scarf around his neck.

At the same time, he doubted that he would be in a good mood if he had just gone through what she had.

He smoothed on a smile, whatever else he was feeling stuffed down into that special place inside his mind where he could start forgetting about it.

"Good morning.. Are you okay..? There's water there," he said, nodding toward the glass on the nightstand. "I didn't drink any, promise."

She gave a general look to her surroundings, double checking herself to ensure she was in one piece and he hadn't violated her in some fashion while she was underneath the effects of the sedative. Content that she was in one piece and not affected by his taint, she fell onto her bed and curled away from him so he was speaking to her back.

"...you can go now. I prefer to sleep alone."

He blinked, swallowing, watching her back. He told himself that it was just because she'd woken up to early. It couldn't stay like this forever.

He couldn't let it.