To Fight Monsters

by Nightfoot

A string of murders has left Zaphias in fear, and Flynn finds himself drawn into a deeply personal investigation that will test his resolve like nothing before.

4. Unforgivable

Chapter Four: Unforgivable

Tabitha Zimmerman was found on Newhaven Road the day after Judith and Rita arrived in Zaphias. She wasn't found right away, because the first snow of the season had fallen that night and the freezing temperatures prevented the body from decomposing and attracting people by smell. It was only when the young man working at the butcher shop went outside to throw away unused bones that he found her tiny body sticking out from behind the trash can.

Yuri sat on a create against the wall, feeling glum. None of the murders so far had been pleasant, but there was something particularly awful about the victim being such a small child. Tabitha was only seven years old. She'd lived on a street in the lower quarter, and Yuri recalled congratulating her mother when she was born. He'd seen her running around with her friends only last week, but now she lay on the frozen ground with her chest ripped open and tongue cut out. She had lost a mitten, so one hand curled in a fist while the other was covered in a knitted purple mitten. It was so small. Zagi was going to pay.

"Newhaven Road," Judith said, eyes on the street sign not too far away. "We were right about that, at least. This is the second N."

"At least we were right about that," Karol mumbled. He stood at the front of the building just around the corner from Yuri so he wouldn't have to see the body.

Knights milled around the scene, taking orders from Flynn. Yuri ignored them and tried to think things through. Why was Zagi killing these people? Maybe he was trying to lure Yuri out. If that was the case, it was partially his fault that people kept dying. Zagi wanted to fight him, so he needed to face him head on. If it was a fight Zagi was after, Yuri was going to give it to him before any more innocent kids got hurt.

Raised voices from the knights caught Yuri's attention. He glanced over to see Flynn having an argument with a civilian.

"For the last time, absolutely not," Flynn said firmly. He wasn't outright raising his voice yet, but Yuri knew from the set of his shoulders that he was only a hairbreadth away from losing his temper.

"And why not?" asked a woman with a shrill voice. "What right do you have to keep information from the public?"

Yuri glanced to Judith, who'd been paying more attention. "Who are those guys?"

"The woman is a reporter, and the man is a private detective. They want access to the crime scene."

The pair stood on one side of a rope that formed a semi-circle around the alley. The woman had frizzy orange hair in a tight bun and a notebook in hand while her companion wore a tan trenchcoat and fedora. It was like he'd seen a picture of what a private detective should look like in books and then made it his life's ambition to emulate it with a little creativity as possible.

"We are not releasing case information to the public," Flynn said. "Captain Leblanc will send you a press report as soon as possible."

"What about them?" The woman pointed at Yuri, Karol, and Judith with her pencil. "They're not knights. Who are they? What right do they have to be here more than us?"

Flynn glanced at Yuri and then back to the reporter. "The members of Brave Vesperia are working with the Imperial Knights in an advisory capacity. Now, would you please vacate the premise and allow us to get back to work?"

"What's the name of the victim?" the detective asked. "Looks like a kid."

"We are not releasing that at this time, Mr. Trout."

"Oh, but you'll tell guild members? This is, what, five murders in three works? How much longer are you going to let this continue before admitting it's out of your league?"

Flynn struggled to keep his calm. "I appreciate your concern for the victims, but any release of information could be damaging to the case. We cannot give out any details to the general public."

"But you're giving details to a guild!"

"Brave Vesperia has my complete trust."

"Hmph!" the woman sniffed primly. "I think I understand the situation. Come on, Jasper, the commandant doesn't seem to want to solve this case any time soon."

They walked away in a huff, and Yuri rolled his eyes as Flynn walked back toward him. "Finally got rid of them, huh?"

"For now. Scoot over." Yuri slid to the side and Flynn dropped onto the crate. "They'll be back. Now that we have a child victim, this case will rocket back to the front pages and stay there for a while. Everyone wants to know what we've found out, but we really don't know anything."

"We know she must have been dumped before around two," Judith said. "That's when it started snowing, and there are no footprints leading away from her body."

All that remained of the night's snow was a quickly melting coating on the streets, but Yuri remembered how vividly her blood had stood out against the freshly fallen snow when they first got here.

"Do you think you should tell the reporter about your name?" Karol asked.

Flynn shook his head. "The last thing I want is for people to think this has anything to do with me. I don't want to think this has anything to do with me, but until we find out more I'd like to avoid wild speculation in the papers." He sighed heavily, leaned forward, and rubbed his forehead. "Her mother still hasn't been told. I know Mrs. Zimmerman personally. I should tell her myself."

Yuri took one look at Flynn's face and asked, "Do you want me to go with you?" Yuri really didn't want to be there to tell Mrs. Zimmerman, but he didn't want Flynn to have to do this himself, either.

Flynn raised his head a bit. "If you wouldn't mind."

Yuri felt cold standing in front of Mrs. Zimmerman's door for reasons entirely unrelated to the weather. As Flynn banged on the door, he found himself hoping Mrs. Zimmerman wouldn't be in. He hoped Flynn was prepared to do the talking, because Yuri was awful at this sort of thing.

The door swung open and a very tired and worried woman answered it. Yuri had seen her on the street corner selling flowers for years, and she generally wore a smile brighter than he most vibrant flowers. Today, though, her face was heavy and her hair wasn't up in its usual bun. "Oh… Flynn." There was an edge of cautious hope in her voice.

Of course she already knew something was wrong. Yuri had been stupid for thinking of this as bringing horrible news completely out of the blue. Tabitha had been killed last night, so surely her mother would have noticed that her daughter didn't come home. She was probably hoping Flynn and Yuri were here to let her know they'd picked Tabitha up safe and sound. The longer Flynn hesitated before speaking, however, the thinner the hope became.

"It's about Tabitha, isn't it?" she whispered.

Flynn fidgeted, and then took a deep breath. "Mrs. Zimmerman… I am deeply sorry to have to inform you that your child is dead."

She slumped against the doorway with a gasp and Yuri quickly reached forward to grab her before she continued dropping to the floor. She leaned against Yuri's shoulder and he awkwardly patted her back, looking to Flynn for advice. Flynn gave him a tiny nod to say he was doing fine.

"What happened to her?" Mrs. Zimmerman asked, turning her head away from Yuri's chest enough to look at Flynn.

Flynn glanced around the street. "Why don't we go inside to talk?"

"Tell me what happened to her."

Flynn hesitated, so Yuri braced himself and said, "She was murdered."

Mrs. Zimmerman heaved for breath. "I knew it. I knew it. When she didn't come home last night… it's been all over the news, hasn't it? It was him, wasn't it?"

Flynn reached over and gently rested his hand on her shoulder. "Mrs. Zimmerman, please, we should go inside to talk."

She struggled to pull herself upright. "Yes. Ok. Right." So took a few more deep breaths and rubbed her eyes. "Come inside, boys."

Her house smelled like flowers. Yuri had never been inside before, and found himself unsure where to go. She waved them to the floral-print couch against one wall and then said, "Let me get you some tea."

"That really isn't necessary," Flynn said quickly. "If you need something, perhaps I can-"

"Let me get you some tea," she said a little more firmly. Searching for a feeling of normalcy, probably.

Flynn relented. "Yes, thank you."

Yuri was about to decline because he didn't like tea, but a quick glare from Flynn shut him up.

"How do you take it?" she asked.

"Plain is fine, thank you," Flynn said.

"Milk and three sugars, please." If Yuri was going to stomach tea, he'd drown it in sugar until it was edible.

He and Flynn sat on the couch while Mrs. Zimmerman shuffled off to the kitchen. The house was sparsely furnished and everything looked second-hand, but that was to be expected of a home in the lower quarter. Crayon drawings were tacked to the walls, with sloppy signatures like "bY TAbiThA, AgE 5". These drawings made Yuri's stomach tighten and he found himself subconsciously edging closer to Flynn for comfort. The whole room was so painfully mundane; it wasn't a place for such horrible discussion.

Mrs. Zimmerman came back with a tray, a teapot, and two mugs. They rattled on the tray with her shaking hands. She set the tray on the coffee table and sat across from them, clutching a mug of tea of her own. "Where did you find her?"

Flynn picked up his mug. "On Newhaven Road."

"I see." She stared into her mug with glassy eyes.

"Mrs. Zimmerman… I know this is hard for you, but can you tell me where she was last night?"

"I d-don't know." She took a sip and then took a moment to compose herself. "She went out to play yesterday after lunch. She was supposed to come home for dinner, but she didn't." She took another deep breath and Yuri worried her hands would shake so much the tea splashed out. "I figured she had just gotten caught up playing a game. That happens sometimes, you know? It wasn't until it started getting dark… and she hadn't come home yet…. I thought maybe she and her friends had decided to build a fort and camp out in it. But I want to her friends' homes and they were all there… they said they saw her going home around six. They said goodbye to her on Canal Street."

Yuri couldn't stand to watch her. Zagi murdering innocent people was bad enough, but now he'd gone and killed a child. He was going to murder that bastard. He gripped the handle of his mug so tightly it almost hurt and took a sip. He immediately suppressed a gag; she'd forgotten the sugar.

Mrs. Zimmerman raised her fearful eyes. "Flynn… tell me the truth. She didn't… did she suffer greatly?"

Flynn's Adam's apple bobbed, and Yuri could see him wavering between the truth and comfort. Ultimately, Flynn couldn't bring himself to hurt Mrs. Zimmerman further. "No. I do not believe so. Tabitha died quickly, likely before she even knew what was happening." He shot Yuri a quick glare, daring him to say otherwise.

She let out a sigh. "Oh… that's good, at least. You're going to catch the person who did this, aren't you?"

"Yes," Yuri said, speaking for the first time. "We've already got a suspect. All we need to do now is flush him out."

She let a small smile twitch at the corners of her mouth. "Give him hell for me, Yuri."

They left not long after. Yuri left half his tea still in the mug, but Mrs. Zimmerman was so distracted she didn't seem to notice. They walked down the road town Canal Street to see if they could find any clues around the area where Tabitha had been abducted.

"I hate that part," Flynn muttered.

"Can't say I blame you."

"Every time I have to write a letter to explain that one of my knights has been killed, I feel like such a failure. I'm the commandant; I'm supposed to protect people. The citizens of the empire are under my protection, and yet…"

"Hey, you can't blame yourself." Yuri punched him lightly in the shoulder. "You're doing everything you can. You can't hold yourself personally responsible for every nutball with a knife."

"Maybe Trout is right, though. Maybe there's some massive clue right beneath our noses and we're just not seeing it?"

"Then I doubt that guy would be able to see it, either. He's just talking out of his ass."

"I hope so."

They reached Canal Street and paced up and down. There was no snow left by this point, which was a small blessing.

"Look, over here," Flynn said, crouching next to an alley. Yuri hurried over and found Flynn analyzing a red and white polka-dot ribbon between his fingers. "Do you think this was Tabitha's?"

"Could be." Yuri ventured down the alley, hoping for another clue. All he found were frosty crates, some old rags, a rusty wheel, and bags of trash. When he kicked one of the bags to see if anything was behind it, a pair of rats darted out. Flynn yelped and jumped backward before they disappeared into a storm drain, and Yuri laughed.

"Admit it - the reason you got a cat is because you're afraid of rats and thought she'd fight them off for you."

"I am not afraid of rats," Flynn said firmly. "I merely find them disconcerting. Did you find anything?"

Yuri scowled and pushed the trash back. "Nah, just some rubbish someone really ought to throw out in a proper trash heap."

"I'll take this back to Tabitha's mother and see if it's hers." Flynn pocketed the ribbon. He notably stayed away from the alley, and Yuri was certain it was because he was afraid of more rats popping out. "Not just now, though. She needs time to grieve and I doubt she wants to talk about Tabitha anymore."

"Yeah. If it is her ribbon, that means she was probably grabbed around here. Then Zagi took her… somewhere. We still don't know."

"Right. There's no blood around here, so she wasn't killed in this alley."

Yuri walked back to the street and looked around. "So… where did he go? How did he get her away? You'd think someone would notice a maniac carrying a struggling child away."

"She may have been drugged. I don't know."

"When we catch Zagi we can ask him."

"But first we have to catch him."

"Yeah, actually I have an idea about that. Zagi's after me, right? So if I act as the bait, you can have all your knights lying in wait to grab him." Yuri didn't like planning to rely on Flynn's knights rather than deal with it himself, but having an entire force to back him up would be the best chance of success. There was no time for second chances when little kids were getting killed.

"No, absolutely not. We're not using you as bait."

Yuri put his hand on his hip. "Fine, I'll do it on my own and trust Brave Vesperia to back me up. I was hoping to get more reinforcements from you, but if you're not interested…"

"Yuri!" Flynn's fingers twitched like he was considering smacking Yuri. "Don't be so reckless. I can't let you use yourself as bait. What if something happens to you?"

"I've taken on Zagi before. It'll be fine."

"What if something goes wrong? It's too risky."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take. Think about Tabitha's mother. Do you want to have to go to someone else's mother and deliver the news? Flynn, let's end this. Anything is worth it if it will help us stop Zagi from hurting anyone else."

Yuri glared at Flynn, daring him to protest further. Yuri had made up his mind. All that mattered now was whether Flynn would be willing to help him.

Flynn hung his head and let out a frustrated sigh. "All right. I don't like it, but I'll help. We'll do it tonight."

---

"So… how's it going?" Estelle leaned over Rita's shoulder, trying to see what she was doing.

Rita's shoulders tightened. "Estelle, for the last time, I can't work with you looming over me like that."

Estelle backed up and then sat at the table next to her. Estelle had gotten her a room in the castle to use as a lab while she was visiting. Rita had only been using it for less than a day, and it was already a chaotic mess. For now she'd shoved all her books and folders from Halure off to one side so she could focus on studying the evidence from Abigail Bogs. She was hunched over a microscope, which couldn't be good for her back since she'd been in that position all morning. She'd brushed off Estelle's offers of a shoulder rub, though.

The door opened, and Estelle noticed Rita tense up in anticipation of frustration. Estelle ignored this and turned around with a smile. "Hello, Gill. How are you?"

"Oh, I am excellent! I presented my paper on aersickness in invertebrates this morning and successfully secured additional funding."

"That's wonderful!" Estelle didn't understand exactly why Rita hated Gill so much. He seemed like a nice young man.

"Yes! With this, I will be able to research small vertebrates, too. Just think of the fascinating things we can learn about how aer affected mammals."

Rita sat up and twisted. "Nobody cares about aer anymore, Gill. All the real research is being done on mana, now."

Gill's face fell, and Estelle gave Rita an admonishing look. "That's not true, Rita. The effects of aer are still very relevant to our world."

"What are you working on, Rita?" He crossed the room and leaned over her shoulder.

Rita shoved him away. "I'm inspecting material found on a corpse. It's actually pretty important, so go back to your aersick worms."

"Let me see." Before Rita could stop him, he leaned over and peered through the microscope.

"I haven't identified exactly what it is yet, but I found it on her fingernails. I think it might be-"

"Oh, this is black mould." Gill pulled back and smiled as Rita gaped at him. "It's a mould that grows in damp places."

"What would mould be doing on Mrs. Bogs?" Estelle asked, while Rita struggled to find words to deal with the fact that Gill knew something she didn't.

Gill shrugged. "I don't know. I doubt it would have time to grow on her."

Estelle rested her hand on Rita's shoulder. "Rita, you should show Gill your other evidence. He might be able to help."

"I have everything under control," she said petulantly.

Estelle frowned at her. "Rita, your speciality is in aer, mana, and chemistry. Gill works with biology and he probably knows a lot more about bodies."

Gill smiled innocently and hopefully at Rita, and after a long standoff she finally relented. "Fine." Rita crossed her arms and scowled. "Work with me if you want."

"Thank you! This will be fun!"

Estelle had seen less excited puppies.

The door opened again, and this time Flynn appeared in the doorway. "Forgive me for interrupting."

"Hey, Flynn," Rita said. "Find the victim from this morning?"

His face darkened. "Yes. She was a seven-year-old child."

Rita dropped her flippant attitude and Estelle's heart shrivelled. "Oh, no…" She leaned against the table. "That's horrible."

Flynn nodded, his face heavy. "Her name was Tabitha Zimmerman. Yuri and I knew her mother, because she's from the lower quarter. I wanted to tell you that Yuri has a plan for catching Zagi. He's going to use himself as bait to lure Zagi out, and I'm going to have my knights ready to capture him. I thought you'd want to be there with the rest of Brave Vesperia."

"He's doing what?" Rita rolled her eyes. "That idiot. He's going to get himself seriously hurt one of these days."

"Of course we'll be there!" Estelle already knew it was useless to try to convince Yuri not to do it, so she'd make sure she was nearby to heal him in case things went south.

"I'll be there, too," Rita said.

Gill glanced at them nervously. "Should I come with you?"

"You can't even fight, Gill," Rita snapped. "You couldn't cut open Zagi unless he was a euthanized frog."

"I - I just want to help. It sounds dangerous."

Estelle smiled comfortingly at him. "It's ok, Gill. You can stay here and keep looking through the evidence. I'll make sure Rita doesn't get hurt."

His face turned pink. "N-no, that's not - I'm not worried about Rita." He spoke a little too quickly.

"I need to go organize the ambush party. Lady Estellise, meet Yuri at his home in the lower quarter by sundown."

She nodded firmly. "We'll be there."

---

Flynn jumped when Yuri kicked his door open. He couldn't be mad at Yuri for barging in this time, though, considering they were at Yuri's place. "Hey, Flynn, you see the paper?"

Yuri's mission to capture Zagi was planned to start in less than half an hour, so Flynn had camped himself out in Yuri's room while getting final preparations ready. Everyone was in position, so all he could do now was wait and try to stop worrying.

"I read the paper this morning, yes," Flynn said. He paused, and then added, "Well, I skimmed the headlines while rushing through breakfast. I think Kat enjoyed eating the leftovers."

"The evening edition just came out." Yuri slapped the paper down on the small round table in the corner where Flynn sat. "Take a look; you're the star."

Already dreading what it was going to be, Flynn pulled the paper closer and took a look. The headline read, Commandant Scifo Trusts Guilds More than Citizens?!

"Oh, great," Flynn grumbled. "I can already tell I'm going to like this article."

Yuri rested his arm on Flynn's shoulder and leaned against him to read over the article. Feeling Yuri's body pressing so close against him sent a fuzzy tingling through his chest, which he pointedly ignored. Why did this always have to happen every time Yuri was around?

"Lovely." Flynn scowled at the paper. "Apparently I'm 'insensitive'. I didn't show proper remorse while dealing with the death of a child. Heaven forbid I maintain professionalism in the face of a tragedy. And they're questioning my loyalty to the empire? Oh, of course, because I let a guild help on this case and not a 'good imperial citizen who only wants to help his home city' - and reading between the lines I'm certain they mean Trout - I have questionable allegiance to the empire. Trusting you more than Trout obviously means my true loyalties lie with the Union."

Yuri jabbed his finger at the next page. "My favourite part is the picture."

At the bottom of the article was a simple line drawing of a figure with dramatically spiky hair labelled 'Flynn' yelling at a simply-dressed man labelled 'Zaphias Citizens'. Behind him were shadowy figures with evil grins labelled 'Union Members'. There was a speech bubble coming out of 'Flynn's' mouth, saying, "I am only trying to protect the citizens!"

"They really got your nose right, I think."

"This is ridiculous," Flynn said. "Who wrote this drivel? Angie Klapp? No doubt she's that woman we saw this morning." Flynn crumpled the paper into a ball. "Repede, catch." He tossed it across the room, but Repede turned his nose up at it.

Yuri laughed. "Repede knows not to put that kind of shit in his mouth."

"Sorry. She said some nasty things about you." He wrinkled his nose and couldn't wipe the scowl from his face.

Yuri shrugged and sat on his bed. "Why should I care what some reporter says about me? You're the one with politics to worry about."

"Yes, I'm fairly irritated. So far I have high public opinion, but that won't last much longer once everyone gets over their excitement of me supposedly stopping the Adephagos."

"I'm going to find another copy and cut out that picture of you, though. They got your expression of pompous superiority just right."

"Repede, give me that newspaper back. I need to throw it at Yuri."

Repede gave a little grunt that could only be interpreted as "seriously, humans?"

Someone knocked on the door, called, "Hey, it's us!" and then Karol led the rest of the group in. "Hi, Yuri. Are you ready?"

"Yeah. Let's take this bastard down."

Damn, was it time already? He still didn't like this. He understood it was important to catch Zagi, but the idea of offering Yuri up as bait like a worm on a hook didn't sit well with him. He didn't have a lot of experience with fishing, but he knew things didn't usually end well for the worm. Yuri was committed, though, so he'd be as supportive as he could. He stood up and looked down at Yuri. "I've already sent knights around to warn the residents to stay in their homes tonight."

Yuri shifted on his bed, anxious to get up and go. "Good."

"And every building around the square will have knights."

"Yeah, that's the plan."

"We'll be nearby too, Yuri," Karol assured him.

"Thanks, Captain, but really, I'll be fine."

Flynn hesitated for just one more moment. "All right… you're sure about this?"

Yuri met Flynn's eyes for a long moment. "I'm sure, Flynn." Yuri stood and punched his shoulder. "Stop being so worried. I'll be fine." Before Flynn could worry further, Yuri left the room, his friends in tow.

"We're assuming Zagi is on the prowl for you," Judith said. "Stay in the main square around the fountain. You'll be clearly exposed, and he knows you live around here. Once he arrives, you need to drive him to the covered area under the arches. That's where the knights will be ready to arrest him."

"We won't come out of hiding unless it looks like you're in a lot of trouble," Karol said when they reached the bottom of the stairs. "If Zagi sees an overwhelming force about to attack him, he might flee to come back when you really are alone."

Estelle hurriedly added, "But if you do look like you're in trouble, we'll jump out right away to stop him."

They walked the rest of the way to the square, which was deserted. Yuri strode forward while the rest of the group retreated to the arched walkway to stay out of sight. All they could do now was hope Zagi noticed him. Flynn followed Yuri's friends and hid behind one of the arches. Behind every wide pillar was a pair of knights, all waiting for Zagi to get close enough to subdue him.

"What if he doesn't show up?" Karol asked, glancing around the pillar.

"He's gotta," Raven said. "He's tracked Yuri all over the globe for a fight - no way he won't come out now."

"I almost hope he doesn't," Estelle admitted.

Yuri sat on the edge of the inert fountain. They hadn't gotten it running again since the blastia disappeared, so the square was absent of the familiar splashing. Yuri leaned back on his hands and stared up at the sky, so his hair almost trailed in the water.

They didn't have to wait long. About ten minutes had passed when Flynn heard a voice. "So, Yuri Lowell, we meet at last."

Yuri hopped up and turned to the slope leading down from the public quarter. "Meet at last? What are you talking about? We've met loads of times before."

"And this shall be the last!" Zagi ran at Yuri, his blade already swinging.

Yuri met him easily, and a fierce battle began. Flynn's hand twitched for his sword, every instinct telling him to rush in and help. Yuri could take care of himself, but it drove Flynn nuts to stand back and do nothing while watching his friend fight. A quick glance at Yuri's friends showed that they felt the same way. Judith had a tight grip on her spear and Karol chewed on his lip while fidgeting with the handle of his axe.

"Yes, Yuri!" Zagi screamed as they whirled around the fountain. "This is what I've been waiting for! This shall be our final battle!"

"Yeah, that's the plan." Yuri grunted and glanced to the arches. He was doing all right at holding Zagi off, but manoeuvring him into position was more difficult. Zagi zipped around like an angry hornet, and his unpredictable movements made it difficult to force him to a single place. Zagi landed a blow, slashing across Yuri's shoulder. Flynn winced just from watching. Yuri tossed his sword to his right hand to continue the battle with blood soaking through his sleeve on his left.

"I just want to help him," Estelle whispered.

"Me, too," Flynn replied softly. "He'd be furious if we messed this up, though."

Zagi laughed while hitting Yuri's sword so hard there were almost sparks. "Yes, bleed for me, Yuri Lowell! I want to see your blood!"

"You know," Yuri paused to take a breath, "maybe you should see someone." He took a few steps back, going on the defensive. "I feel like this obsession of yours-" he jumped back again and twisted to the side to block Zagi's erratic attacks, "indicates serious mental health issues."

It looked like Zagi was gaining the upper hand, with Yuri backing up and barely launching any offenses of his own. Flynn was just about ready to charge in and put a stop to this fight before Yuri got seriously hurt when he realized Yuri was edging steadily closer to the arches. He went slow so that it wouldn't be obvious and let Zagi think he was winning, but slowly and steadily Yuri was backing toward the ambush spot. He'd given up trying to drive Zagi there and now worked on luring him in. Flynn prayed Zagi wouldn't land a serious blow before Yuri got him into position. Being on the defensive was dangerous, since Yuri couldn't see behind him while backing up and risked stumbling.

They were close enough now that Flynn could see the sheen of sweat on Yuri's face and the puffs of fog from their panting breaths. Zagi's eyes were locked on Yuri, while Yuri glanced backward every chance he could to see how far he still had to go. He bled from a few injuries, but Zagi had as many and none looked life-threatening. They were so close now; Yuri just needed to take a few more steps.

Yuri crossed into the shadows of the arches and Zagi's grin spread. "Running out of room, Yuri. I'm going to spear you to the wall and watch your blood drip to the ground!"

Clang! Yuri's arm shook from exertion at the force of Zagi's strike. "Ugh… get a hobby!"

Yuri glanced sideways, met Flynn's eyes, and leapt to the side. Flynn shouted, "Now!"

Zagi ran toward Yuri, just as a dozen knights burst from concealment. It only took seconds. Zagi flailed and thrashed his sword around, but a dozen knights and Brave Vesperia pointing their weapons at him was more than enough to subdue him.

"You cheated!" he screamed while his sword was pried from his grip. "This was supposed to be our fight, Yuri Lowell!"

"I've told you before, Zagi." Yuri got to his feet, one hand going to his bloody shoulder. "I don't have time for your stupid games."

Zagi shrieked and thrashed around, even after one of the knights managed to get handcuffs on him. "This isn't over, Yuri! I'll get you! I'll cut you up and watch you bleed!"

Flynn passed him to get to Yuri. He gave Zagi an irritated look and said, "Take him to the dungeon."

As the knights took Zagi away, Flynn turned his attention on Yuri. "Are you all right?"

"Fine. I've had worse."

Estelle pushed Flynn aside to get to him. "Let me heal you."

Before Yuri could get any more words out, golden light folded around him, closing the wounds. He rotated his shoulder and said, "Thanks, Estelle." To Flynn he smirked and said, "See? Told you I could do it."

"You did get hurt, though."

"Barely."

"The next time you did something reckless like this, you might not be so lucky."

Yuri waved his hand. "I'll deal with that when it comes."

"We did it!" Karol exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. "We finally got Zagi!"

"I actually feel better if he's imprisoned," Judith said, watching the knights lead Zagi up the hill. "Every time we thought we left him dead, he showed up again, more tenacious than ever."

Raven grinned. "I think this calls for a celebration."

Yuri matched his grin. "For once I think you're right, Old Man."

"Why thank you, I - hey, wait, what is that supposed ta mean?"

"Let's go to the Comet," Yuri said. "I think catching a serial killer is cause for a drink."

Rita crossed her arms. "You should probably at least change your shirt, Yuri. You're covered in blood."

"Oh, right." He glanced at his arms and then crossed his arms with a cocky smirk. "That's just proof of the battle, though, isn't it?"

In a flat voice, Karol said, "I think it just looks like you can't afford more than one shirt."

"Yuri, you really should change before going out," Estelle said with a worried frown. "Walking around with blood on your shirt isn't very sanitary."

"Ok, fine, I'll change. I'll meet you guys there, then. You coming, Flynn?"

"I need to go back to the castle first and clear everything up with Zagi's arrest. I'll meet you later."

"You'd better. You deserve to relax away from work sometimes, too."

"Yes, I promise."

"Oh, Rita," Estelle glanced between Rita and Flynn, "do you think we should invite Gill?"

"No," Rita said bluntly.

Estelle pouted. "But he's so far away from home and you're the only person he really knows in town."

"It was his idea to stick around in Zaphias after giving his paper on worms or whatever. Besides, he's busy investigating Tabitha's body."

Estelle looked to Flynn, "Flynn, when you're at the castle, invite Gill to come down, will you?"

Rita glared at him and said, "Invite him and I'll knock your lights out."

Flynn glanced nervously between the girls. He didn't want to disappoint Lady Estellise, but he also didn't want to risk incurring Rita's wrath. "I, uh… I'll see what I can do." Before he could get further drawn into their argument, he hurried after the knights.

Flynn enjoyed the walk to the castle. Putting Zagi behind bars was a huge weight off his shoulders. The past two weeks had been some of his most stressful since taking the job, what with the horrific murders and constant pressure from the Council. He couldn't wait to see the look on Trout's face when he announced the killer had been caught. This was of course an incredibly petty reason to be glad a murderer had been apprehended, but after dealing with so much tragedy lately he felt he deserved a chance to be petty.

At the castle, he double-checked that Zagi had been secured in the dungeon. Leblanc was filling out the arrest papers and assured him that Zagi was taken care of, so he made his way to Ioder's study to give him the good news in person. After knocking, Ioder beckoned him in. Despite the late hour, Ioder was still working by candlelight. He was possibly the only person in the castle who worked longer and harder than Flynn did.

"Good evening," Ioder said from his desk. "How are you, Flynn?"

Flynn stood at attention before the heavy mahogany desk. "Good evening, Your Majesty. I am well. I wanted to tell you in person that we have apprehended the Heartbreaker."

"That's excellent news." He smiled with relief and leaned back in his chair. "I'll be able to rest easily now without having to worry about that. I'll be sure to tell the Council first thing tomorrow. I'm sure you'd like to get them off your back."

"That would be nice, yes." He cracked a smile even though he was trying to remain at attention.

"Who was the criminal?"

"An assassin known as Zagi. He encounter Yuri Lowell's group during the Adephagos crisis."

Ioder nodded slowly. "Ah, yes, I remember him. He was on the ship with Barbos and Ragou before Yuri rescued me. I thought he died?"

"He seems to have recovered from his wounds sustained at Tarquaron."

"What a shame. I'll be happy to see him tried and executed for all the deaths he's caused. It's good that he's finally behind bars."

Flynn nodded stiffly. "I agree."

"Is there anything else you need?"

"No, I just wanted to deliver this news."

"Very well. Thank you for telling me. You are dismissed."

Flynn left the office, and was about to head back to the lower quarter before remembering what Estelle had said about Rita's mage friend from Halure. On second thought, perhaps 'Rita's friend' wasn't the right description for him. In any case, he did feel bad for the kid being left alone with a dead child while the rest of them were off celebrating. Besides, now that they'd apprehended Zagi, gathering evidence wasn't needed.

He entered the lab room and tried not to look at the body on the table. Mrs. Zimmerman had agreed to give the Knights Tabitha's body if it would help them catch her killer, but Flynn couldn't get used to the idea of a little girl being cut open and examined instead of buried and at peace. She lay on a table with a sheet draped over her. It would almost be enough to make it look like she was sleeping, except he could still she the slash across her throat.

"Oh, Commandant Flynn!" Gill jumped up from the desk across from the table. "I was just writing up the results of my findings. Would you like to hear them?"

Flynn didn't have the heart to tell him the killer had already been caught after he spent so much work with a dead child. "Yes, go ahead."

"Ok." He crossed to the table and looked down at Tabitha's face. "I've found a few interesting things. First of all, based on the bleeding patterns, I'm pretty sure the cut through her chest and abdomen occurred after she was dead."

Flynn shot him a confused look. "Pardon? He killed her first?"

Gill nodded. "I'm pretty sure the cause of death is the slash across her throat. He killed her before cutting her open."

"That's odd… he didn't even take anything out of her chest cavity. Why would he cut her open if his goal wasn't to cause pain?" This was confusing, but also a relief.

Gill shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just telling you what I found. Another thing is that I found traces of ether in her bloodstream."

"Ether? As in the anaesthetic?"

"That's right. Usually doctors use it to knock people out before surgery. She was probably knocked unconscious with ether and then transported to wherever he killed her."

Flynn analyzed Tabitha's face. She looked so small. There was still snatches of blood in her hair. It was probably too much to hope that she'd still been unconscious when her throat was slit, but he would really love to believe she never realized what was happening to her. "Is there anything else?"

"I found traces ash on her pant leg, which is identical to some ash found on a scrap of hair Rita pulled from Abigail Bogs."

"Ash? What kind of ask?"

"Tobacco. Probably from a pipe or a cigar. I think this indicates the perpetrator is a smoker."

Flynn thought this over and slowly nodded. "Thank you for your help with this case."

"Oh, it's no problem! I'm happy to help. Anything I can do to help this poor little girl."

"Right… I'll leave you to it. Good work so far." Flynn left, unease trickling back into him. His relief at capturing Zagi had satisfied him for all of half an hour. It was great that Zagi was behind bars… but now Flynn wasn't so sure he was the Heartbreaker. Everything Yuri had told him about Zagi indicated he wasn't the kind of person who would discreetly drug his victims and then slit their throats before causing them further pain. The few times Flynn had met him, at least fifty percent of his conversation had been screaming about blood and killing. Why would he kill his victims before mutilating them? Besides, they had no indication that Zagi ever touched tobacco, let alone be enough of a smoker he wouldn't put a cigar down while murdering someone.

He worried about this all the way back to the lower quarter. He'd already informed Ioder that the killer had been caught, but what if he was wrong? When he reached the Comet, he felt out of place among the celebrating crowd. The room was warm and bright and the smell of good food filled the air, but he found it hard to feel festive when the fear of making a horrible mistake loomed over him.

"Hey, Flynn!" Karol said. "Glad you made it."

He forced a smile. There was no point dragging everybody else down tonight. Many people from throughout the lower quarter had come out to celebrate, and they all deserved a chance to let loose after the fear that had gripped the community tight for the past two weeks. Flynn got himself a drink from the bar and found a corner to sit in.

A few minutes later, Estelle slid into the seat across from him. "There you are! I was beginning to think you were going to stay at the castle."

"No, I promised I'd come back, so here I am."

"Did you invite Gill?"

Dammit! With all the distressing information he'd completely forgotten that that was the reason he'd gone to see Gill in the first place. To placate Estelle he stammered, "I - uh - I invited him but he said he was busy."

Estelle frowned, seeing through his lie easily. "You should be nicer to him, Flynn. He doesn't know anyone else in town."

He smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry. It slipped my mind. I'll be more mindful in the future."

She patted his hand. "That's ok. I'm pretty sure Rita will thank you."

"What does Rita have against this boy?"

"She thinks he's annoying. I think he has a crush on her."

Flynn nodded slowly. "Ah. That explains much."

"Speaking of crushes…" Estelle leaned forward and lowered her voice like she was passing state secrets very poorly, "do you have a crush on anyone, Flynn?"

The question took him off guard and he fumbled for an answer. He briefly thought of his confusion upon seeing Yuri shirtless the other night, but that was dumb. That was nothing. He just thought of it now because he was worried about it. "I - um… no, I don't."

Estelle watched him skeptically. "Are you sure?"

"Quite sure." Not sure at all. "Why do you ask?"

She shrugged. "No reason. Oh, look, Yuri's over there."

Flynn turned his head and saw Yuri leaning on the bar talking to Hanks. He had a grin on his face and a drink in his hand. "Looks like he's enjoying himself."

Estelle smiled and nodded. "He's always so happy when things are working out in the lower quarter."

"The lower quarter has always been Yuri's number one priority. He doesn't have any real family of his own, so he's adopted the whole neighbourhood as his family." Flynn couldn't help the streak of pride when he talked about Yuri. Everything that Yuri had done to save the lower quarter and ultimately the world just proved how great a man he was and Flynn was honoured to call himself Yuri's best friend.

As the hours passed, Flynn let himself relax. He didn't know for sure that Zagi wasn't the Heartbreaker. Maybe there was more to Zagi and his methods than they'd given him credit for. And even if he wasn't the killer they wanted, he was dangerous and putting him behind bars could only be a good thing. Flynn enjoyed the night drinking and socializing with the lower quarter, although he made sure he didn't have too much to drink. Some folks had brought instruments and dancing was happening, and if Flynn wanted to maintain any semblance of dignity he needed to keep himself from drunkenly deciding he actually knew how to dance.

And then something happened. Flynn sat by the wall and watched the open area in the middle where the others danced, and then Yuri grabbed Judith's hand and pulled her forward. Unlike Flynn, Yuri actually could dance without looking like he was having a seizure, and with a few drinks in him and friends all around, he took advantage of this ability. Following the beat in a way Flynn had never been able to figure out, they whirled around each other with graceful movements and Flynn couldn't tear his eyes away.

I'm watching Judith, he told himself. All the other guys had their eyes locked on her as her barely-contained chest bounced with each movement. That's what he was looking at, like all the other guys… except he couldn't focus on that because in the heat of the crowd Yuri had rolled his sleeves up. Muscles flexed as he picked Judith up by the waist and whirled in a circle. His hair swished, his body twisted, and he had that carefree grin on his face that was just so Yuri. Flynn couldn't tear his eyes away. His face grew warm.

It's just the alcohol, he said to himself.

Yuri and Judith twisted around and Flynn caught a flash of Yuri's chest through his unbuttoned shirt. Another voice in his mind said, It's not just the alcohol.

Yuri's my best friend, he insisted.

Lady Estellise is your other best friend and watching her dance like this doesn't make your whole body feel hot and tight.

He really needed Yuri to stop dancing right now. Flames from the lamplight glinted in Yuri's eyes and Flynn's heart beat even faster than the music.

Admit it.

No, no, no, no.

He took a big swig of beer, hoping this would drown the surge of thoughts. It didn't help. He placed the glass back on the table more firmly than necessary and looked back to Yuri as the music reached its end. Yuri finished with a twirl and dipped Judith almost completely horizontal. They both came to a stop and took deep breaths after the dance. Yuri's tousled hair framed his sweaty face, his chest moving up and down with each breath, and Flynn couldn't stop himself from feeling envious of Judith's position in his arms.

Yuri pulled her up and they left the dance floor as the musicians picked up another song, but it was too late. Flynn's head was already muddled from just enough alcohol to make him tipsy, and he fell forward so his forehead smacked the table.

Shit. I've been falling for him, haven't I?