Hey. Been a while, hasn't it?

Unless you didn't have to wait for this, but anyways. A whole five months' worth of waiting, huh? That's a bit unreasonable, and I do apologize for it. Bet most of you thought this was dead, hey? Yeah. But here we are, things have changed, etcetera, etcetera.

I'm not going to keep you waiting. Please enjoy.

Chapter 27:

In the city of Ultradimension Lowee stood a three story house that wasn't too different from any other typical house. It had the same Loweean architecture, the same orange and brown colour scheme, and the same semi-traditional air to it.

In this house stayed a blacksmith. A rather famous blacksmith known as Dusty. He wasn't too far away from work since he lived in the same district as his forge, so travel wasn't an issue for him. In his house he had the bottom floor that comprised of a lounge and kitchen, the second floor that he would have his bedroom on, and the third room which was used to house guests.

The top floor didn't often get too much attention, but things had changed. A group of four adventurers took shelter in this house as per Dusty's request. Something that he didn't give out lightly, or at all, really.

Dusty stood over his typical Loweean kitchen counter while looking into his lounge, where he spotted the adventurers he was housing talking amongst themselves.

"You feeling okay?"

"Yeah, Renna, I'm fine. I'm not hurt anymore. You don't have to worry."

Renna and Gil sat on the same couch, facing away from the kitchen. Renna was seemingly adamant about making sure that Gil was in tip top condition. That boy came to this house with not only some stabs, cuts and bruises, but with a damn bullet wound and some chemical poisoning.

Dusty sighed to himself. "It's pretty ridiculous how you can shrug off those wounds of yours as if they're nothing, boy. You know that people usually go to hospitals for those kinda things?"

Neptune, who was sitting on a couch opposite the siblings, leaned back on it with her arms out. "Gilly here's a tough one, ol' Dusto. He can shrug off things like that without an issue. No sweat!"

Uzume sat next to her, rolling her eyes while leaning her chin on her fist. "And you've seen him take anything like than that before?"

"U-Uhhh… no…"

Renna shot her eyes towards Uzume. "Gilly can take more than that. He can take much more than that."

Uzume waved a hand at her. "N-No, I'm not doubting it! Just tryna poke fun at Neptune, ya know…"

"Oh, right. Yeah."

Neptune crossed her arms. "As if you've teased me more than I have you. I'll have you know that my teasing tally stretches far and wide!"

Uzume scratched her head. "Why do you sound so proud about that?"

Gil, who had been listening in to the conversation, steered it back on course. "Didn't you say that Faust's people could be anywhere? Even in medical centers?"

Dusty crossed his arms and nodded slowly. "Yes, I did say that. But you still took substantial damage, enough to make a normal person be out of order for a good while. And yet here you are, fit as a fiddle." Dusty then leaned forward on the counter. "You're not normal, are you?"

Gil looked shocked, but before anything could escalate, Renna butted in. "You're pretty fixated on us being more than simple, run-of-the-mill adventurers, aren't you?"

Dusty thinned his eyes before smiling to himself. "Well, a little hoping for something different isn't too bad, is it? Sometimes I want to see something special. All the more better for me."

Renna turned in her seat to face the blacksmith. "Well today isn't the day for that. You're accommodating normal people, nothing more."

"So you say."

Gil looked out of a window, seeing that the sky was still dark, the clouds still covered the sky, and the rain still poured. As it had the day before, and the day of the incident. But beyond that, he could tell that it was getting dark. "Sun's setting."

Everyone followed suit, looking out of a window to the skies. Uzume stretched her arms into the air. "Yup, it is. You guys got nothing else to do before it's totally dark out, right?"

"Nope, nada, negative!", said Neptune, shaking her head. "Got all my quests handed in and my optional events out of the way."

Uzume looked at her with tired eyes before waving her off. "Yeah, the nonsense she just said."

"Hey!"

"I didn't really have anything to do today at all, but I'm up for it if there is anything else.", said Renna.

Gil nodded. "Same goes for me."

"Then don't cause any trouble.", said Dusty. "Don't want another kidnapping, and definitely not in my house."

Neptune looked around the lounge. It was what you'd expect from a Loweean house. The interior wasn't too different from the hotel, although it felt more personal. "Hey, Dusty? Did you get the third floor specifically for guests or what?"

"No. There's always been three floors. You're not the first to use that upper floor."

"Oh? Please do go on…"

"What, now I must tell you my life story?"

"Yup!"

Dusty looked at Neptune with questioning eyes before seeing that the others also looked interested to hear more about him. Renna hung onto the arm of the couch, Uzume tilted her head to face him, and Gil turned to face Dusty as well. "Well I guess some small storytelling would be fine." Dusty walked into the lounge, sitting on a single chair that was in the corner of the room.

"My family used to live here with me. But that was years ago, and I have no reason to remodel, so the house has stayed the same since it was built."

"You had a family?! I took you for the "live alone" type of guy!", said Neptune.

"I did take you all in, did I not?"

"Right."

"My wife used to live here with me, but she has already passed. Happened years ago, I've already done my mourning. But the third floor was used by my sons and daughter."

"How many children did you have?", asked Renna.

"Three. Eldest was my girl, two youngest were my boys. They've all grown up, moved around the place, and now I don't really see them that much anymore."

Renna's face dropped. "That's kinda sad…"

Dusty shrugged. "Such is life. Can't expect them to stay with me forever. I'm glad they're out doing their own things with their life, being successful in their own right."

"Any of them take up blacksmithing?", asked Uzume.

"The youngest. Runs his own place in Planeptune. Makes some quality stuff if I do say so myself."

Neptune perked up. "Ooooh, Planeptune! We'll be heading there next Maybe we'll meet him there?"

"Yeah, that'd be a mighty coincidence, wouldn't it?"

"What're their names?", asked Renna.

Dusty sighed. "Enough about me." He looked towards Neptune. "You mentioned that you'd be going to Planeptune next? And when would that be?"

Neptune looked around at her companions. "Um, I dunno. Probably within the next few days. That means that you only have a small amount of precious time with us left, Dusty! Better make the most of it."

Dusty looked to the floor with somewhat down eyes. "Yeah. That's true. Only a short time left."

Neptune leaned over the couch, placing both hands under her chin. "Hmmm, all sad, are we?"

Dusty huffed. "Maybe in your dreams. I did say that something different happening isn't too bad, didn't I?"

"Yeah, yeah, I can tell that you care."

Dusty got up from his chair and walked towards the kitchen again. "I'll get supper ready, you all go do something else."

"Aww, do we have to-" Before Neptune could finish, Uzume grabbed her by the cheek and stood up, leading her towards the stairs to the upper floors. "We'll get outta your hair for now. Make sure it's good, alright?"

"It always is." Dusty then looked towards the sibling who were getting up from their seats. "Hey, boy?"

Gil turned around with a slightly confused expression. He raised an eyebrow while Renna stood at his side. "Yes?"

"Come over here, will ya? Gotta take some time from you."

Gil briefly looked around before walking forwards. "Alright then." Renna followed suit.

"Not you, Renna. Just myself and Gil. Gotta have him help me with the food."

Renna protested. "But I could also-"

"You go have your fun with the others. Or go relax. Whatever's better for you."

Renna opened her mouth to retort, but she could see that Dusty wouldn't budge. She looked up at Gil before turning to leave. "Alright, alright. Don't be too strict on him."

Gil glanced backwards before noticing Dusty beckoning him forward. He walked to the counter and stood opposite Dusty. "What do I need to do?"

Dusty took a small, casual smile. "I need you to look through the cupboards for some pans and other such things. And get some utensils to boot."

Gil nodded and went to work. He scoured throughout the kitchen, opening cupboards and sliding open drawers. He listened to Dusty tell him what to pick up and placed the utensils in front of him. He then stood next to Dusty. "Is this fine?"

"Yeah, now we can get to work." Dusty had picked out all the required ingredients while Gil was busy. They both started sorting out their cooking space, when Dusty spotted something that intrigued him. While Gil was bending down, Dusty looked at him and saw a peculiar looking shape sitting on the right side of his neck. "Oy, Gil. Look at me for a second?"

Gil looked up, perplexed, but stood up and faced Dusty. "Yes?"

"Tilt your head to the left a bit?" Gil did as he was told, pulling on his collar to expose more of his neck. He had an idea of where this was going. Dusty took a few steps towards Gil and leaned his head forward before pointing. "That there. What's that scar from?"

Gil sighed to himself, looking out of a window before answering. "Got it a long time ago. Happened because of an accident. Been with me for most of my life."

"An accident? What kind of accident would cause that kind of scar? It's shape is... nothing like a monster claw." Dusty could see that the scar was a line that ran horizontally along the right of his neck, and it wasn't too large. In the center was a circular shape that had a dot in the middle. It looked very clean, as if it was man-made.

"You... could say that it was because of a monster, but not due to a claw. But it was an accident. Never should've happened in the first place."

"You're explaining this in a very roundabout way, boy. Makes me very intrigued."

"It's nothing too important. You don't need to worry about it."

"At the very least it proves that you can keep scars on your body. And yet a bullet leaves nothing..."

Gil pulled his collar back up. "Can we... not talk about this kind of thing now?"

"Fine, fine, I'll drop it for now. Still mighty intrigued about you and your sisters background, but I'll leave that for another time. Right now, we need to get supper going."

"Before Neptune comes down telling us how she's so hungry..."

Dusty chuckled to himself. "Exactly." They then fully invested themselves in cooking, with Dusty not asking anything else about the siblings.

Meanwhile, upstairs, the three girls all sat around for a chat. Uzume wanted to know exactly what happened during the rescue, so she asked Neptune to tell her. She also asked Renna to join her, since Uzume figured she'd want to know, too, which she did. They sat in a triangle formation on an orange carpet.

Neptune rubbed her hands together. "Now I can tell you both WITHOUT leaving out the juicy bits!"

Uzume raised an eyebrow. "You gave us a brief rundown of what happened anyway, so I think there's more to tell than just "the juicy bits.""

"Yeah, guess you're right about that one." Neptune looked to Renna. "Ready?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I'm ready. Just got lost in thought."

"Cool. So where do ya wanna start?"

"At the beginning."

"Duh.", chimed Uzume.

"Shush, you. Okay, so I'll still make it quick. You good with that?"

"Yup.", nodded Renna and Uzume.

"Cool." Neptune clapped her hands together. "So, Gil woke me up after reading a letter left by Faust. He rushed me to get ready and whatever and then we headed off to Dusty's place after I suggested it. Dusty then gave us a speech about how danger and blablabla. He gave us some places to visit, and then I had the bright idea of using Croire…" Neptune pointed to her Nep-note. "…To take us to them."

"Pretty convenient.", said Uzume.

"Yeah, right? So after multiple attempts, we found the one. And then we commenced the rescue operation." Neptune struck a dramatic pose.

Uzume leaned back on her hands. "This is the part that I'm interested in. How'd you guys get in?"

"Yeah. Was it stealthy or action packed?", asked Renna.

Neptune shrugged. "Some of each. The former at first, and the latter later. We came across these three guards at the entrance, and we convinced them that we wanted to join them."

Renna tilted her head to one side. "Really? How'd you do that?"

"I told them that I'm this super good spy person who found out about their location, and they believed it. With Gilly, it was a bit tougher."

"Why's that?", asked Uzume.

"I told them that he was a good bodyguard and fighter. But we had no proof. Didn't help that this one guy seemed like he wanted to pick fights with Gilly."

Uzume and Renna both looked at Neptune suspiciously, with Uzume talking. "And how did that happen? 'Cus of you, I'm guessing?"

Neptune scratched the back of her head. "Ehehe… How'd you know?"

Uzume sighed.

"So anyway, this one guy seemed to like me, 'cus he tried hitting on me a few times. Must've riled Gilly up, since the guy said that Gilly was giving him the eyes or something."

"And how'd that end up?", asked Renna.

"I had to cover for him. Told the guy that Gilly was super protective of me." Neptune glanced towards Renna. "Oh, and I also had to pretend to be Gilly's girlfriend."

One of Uzume's hands slipped, almost causing her to fall backwards. "You did what?!" Renna didn't say anything, instead staring forward with wide eyes.

Neptune interlocked her fingers. "Well I had to convince them somehow! It was just pretend, okay?! Pretend! Make believe!"

"You coulda said that you were best friends or something!"

"Saying he was my boyfriend was more believable! It let me really sell it, since I hugged him and stuff!"

Renna looked really tense at that point, although she still didn't say anything. Uzume placed a hand to her face and leaned on it. "You really are ridiculous, Nepsy. Absolutely ridiculous."

Neptune crossed her arms and looked away. "Well I didn't think I had any other choice at the time. And I don't think it was a bad idea at all. We got away with it, didn't we?"

Uzume put her hands on her knees. "Y-Yes, but still! You didn't…" Uzume sighed. "I don't know how you do that sorta thing without getting embarrassed."

Neptune put her hands behind her head. "Hehe, it's just the way I am."

"How was he?", asked Renna.

Neptune lowered her hands. "Hm?"

"How was Gil?"

"Oh, uhh… His usual self, I guess. Wasn't too comfortable at my sudden hug attacks, but he understood why it had to happen. We were there to save you guys, after all."

Renna closed her eyes and smiled to herself. "Yup. You were, and you did. And we're both grateful for it."

Neptune gave a toothy smile. "You betcha! Would do it again in a heartbeat.'

Uzume rubbed her cheek. "I think I'd prefer to not have another rescue mission, ya know?"

"That is true.", nodded Neptune. "But anyway, you guys brought me off track. Where was I… Right! I pretended to be Gilly's girlfriend!"

"Nepsy…"

"Kidding, kidding… So I convinced the three guys to let us in, and they did. Never dropped their guards, though. We walked through the factory and entered a room. It had a secret staircase that reached a lower level, where you guys were!"

"Neat.", said Uzume.

"Kinda. We fought those three guys in that room. There was one point where I was ganged up on by two of them. One of them held me while the other started hitting me."

"Oh, wow.", said Uzume.

"How'd you get out of that?", asked Renna, taking a concerned face.

"Well that's where your brother came in. He must've seen me from across the room, because he rushed to me and…" Neptune angled her eyebrows upwards and held an awkward smile towards Renna. "…I've said it before, but Gilly really can be extreme."

"What… do you mean?"

"Oh… you know… Broken arms, broken legs, probably broken faces, too."

Uzume leaned forward. "Geez, okay."

Renna also took an awkward smile. "Yeah… He can get like that sometimes…"

"Yeah. He didn't even notice that he'd been stabbed and cut. But anyways, we moved down the staircase and got into another fight. This time, there were four people with guns there. Gil got shot almost immediately, but I devised a clever plan to take them out."

"It's probably ridiculous.", commented Uzume.

"So I asked Gil to distract the enemies, which he did. He took one out while I was preparing, too. I then got Croire to teleport me closer to the baddies so I could take them out. I landed on one and disarmed the other. And then, Gilly and I dealt with the other three."

"Yup, ridiculous."

"Anyways, we moved into the next room, where you all were. Faust had his goons attack us like a typical boss character, and he shot Gil with some chemical… thing. Gil collapsed, but shot out his light magic at Uzume's chair. You know the rest, Uzume, care to explain?"

Renna turned her attention to Uzume, who was taken off guard. "I… I suppose, yeah. So I woke up and looked around, and there I saw Gilsy on the floor. Before I did anything, he asked me to transform and take care of the bad guys. So I did just that and knocked Faust away. And that's when, uhh… umm…" Uzume looked to Neptune.

Renna looked between the two confusedly before Neptune spoke. "That's when Gil closed in on Faust in a really… threatening way. Like he wanted to kill him."

Renna upturned her eyebrows. "Oh…"

"Luckily for us, Uzume's CPU strength came in handy! Her and I held Gil back until…" Neptune gazed at the floor along with Uzume, confusing Renna.

"What? Until what?"

Neptune lifted her head. "Until he said that he'd killed someone before."

Renna was stunned. She briefly stared forward before looking down at her lap. "Oh."

Nobody spoke for a few moments, before Uzume looked up. "You… Did you know about that, Renna?"

Renna deliberated over what to say. Yes, it was true that Gil killed someone before. And there was no way to convince these two of otherwise. And even if she tried, they wouldn't believe her. And that... wouldn't lead to a very good dynamic in the group. Nothing good would come of it. Renna, frustratedly, decided to tell the truth. Even though it would raise more questions. "...Yes, I did. He has killed someone before, and that was a long time ago."

Neptune held her hands together. "Do you know, um… Why? I know it's a touchy subject, but-"

"Yes, I know why."

Another few moments of silence passed. "Could you maybe… tell… us?", asked Neptune, still holding an awkward smile.

Renna glanced at her and smiled, shaking her head all the while. "I'll give you a very brief summary."

Neptune was shocked. She didn't expect to get any sort of answer. "O…kay… Yeah, okay, that's good enough for me."

"Same.", said Uzume.

"When Gilly and I were younger, we were sorta taken in by this man after… ya know, our parents…"

Uzume nodded slowly. "Yeah."

"Yeah. We stayed with him for quite a long time. And after all that… We killed him."

Uzume fully fell over this time, landing on her back. Neptune managed to compose herself, but looked on wide-eyed. More moments passed with nobody talking.

"You killed him?", said Neptune.

"Why'd you do that? Didn't he care for you guys?", asked Uzume. She looked very surprised.

Renna nodded slowly. "Yes, he did. But he asked us to do it when he didn't have too much time left. He asked us to finish him off before something else did."

Uzume looked to the floor. "So that's how it happened…" She felt conflicted at first, but now she felt… less so, at least.

"Yup. Not much more to it than that. I know it might seem... heartless, but it was a very, very strange time for us."

Neptune looked between her two friends and shook her head. She slapped her knees and stood up. "What's done is done! We can't get too caught up on the past, or we won't be able to move forward! So let's not get down over this, okay?"

Uzume and Renna looked at her. "I don't know how you stay so positive all the time, Nepsy…", said Uzume, getting up from the floor. "But I'm with ya."

Neptune nodded at her and looked to Renna, stretching a hand to her. "Same goes for you, right?"

Renna looked into Neptune's eyes. She was so bright, so positive. Always. She took her hand and was pulled to her feet. "Yeah, same goes for me."

"Then let's go check up on supper, alright? See what the boys are getting up to!"

"Sure. They shoulda made some progress by now.", said Uzume.

"Yeah. Probably.", said Renna.

Neptune raised a hand into the air. "Then let's go!"

Later that night:

Renna leaned over a balcony on the third floor which overlooked the city. Her necklace hung from her neck, changing colours all the while. Through the darkness of night and clouds, small rays of moonlight shone through. She gazed out at the multiple buildings, darting between the rainbow of lights in the streets and marketplaces. Even now, with this rain, many people still went out at night.

"Stupid… Boyfriend? Really?" She heard a door opening and turned her head to face it. She spotted her brother standing in the doorway. "Oh, it's just you…" She turned back around and gripped onto the wooden railing. She could hear Gil walking towards her and saw him lean on the railing besides her while also looking out into the city.

"Hey."

"Hey Gilly."

"I noticed that you started calling me that again."

"Yup."

"Why?"

"No real reason."

"Alright."

Renna narrowed her eyes at the sky. "Can't even see the stars anymore."

"Or the moon."

Renna looked to Gil. "What'd Dusty want with you earlier? Was it really just for preparing supper?"

Gil shook his head. "No. He saw my scar and started asking questions."

"He's very curious... And? How'd it go?"

Gil looked up to the sky. "Better than I thought. I told him it was an accident that happened a long time ago due to a monster."

"Did it work?"

"For now."

"Cool."

"What're you doing up here? Thinking?"

"You know me."

"What about?"

"Some stuff. Don't worry about it."

"I'm always here to talk."

"I know. What'd you come up here for?"

"To see where you were."

"What's going on down there?"

"Neptune and Uzume are watching TV. Dusty's dealing with them."

"Got out there while you could?"

"You could say that."

Renna giggled to herself, pausing momentarily. "Sorry for putting you through having to rescue us."

"It's fine Renna, it's not your fault."

"Thanks."

"Helped that Neptune was with me. Might've been different if she hadn't."

Renna tightened her grip on the railing. "Yeah…" She looked down to the ground three stories down. "I just got worried about it. That's fine, right?"

"Yes."

"Let's try to never leave each other's sides again, okay?"

"Okay."

Renna smiled to herself. They spent a few minutes watching the city sprawl throughout the land before they were interrupted by loud noises coming from downstairs. "They're quite rowdy, aren't they?"

"Yeah…"

"Wanna go check up on them?"

"Sure."

Both of them slowly walked downstairs to the first floor.

"What do you think of my hair, Gilly? Think it's time for a haircut?"

"If that's what you think."

"Maybe you can get one too!"

"Only if you get one as well."

"New haircuts it is!"

They both reached the first floor, turning the corner to enter the lounge…

"Get 'em."

Gil saw Renna drop to the floor, grabbing her as she fell. He looked up and saw a bat rush towards his face. He fell to the floor and was struck across his chest multiple times. He could feel Renna being taken from his grasp as he tried gripping onto her.

That's when he felt a foot smack across his face and a boot kick him in the stomach. He was kicked onto his back before someone sent a syringe into his neck. He tried getting up, but he felt weak. He saw someone kneel next to him and smirk.

"Hey, what's up?", said Faust.

Gil grit his teeth as he was punched across the face. He was then dragged into the lounge and thrown on his back. He looked around and saw Dusty in a similar state, seated on his corner chair without moving.

"Don't worry about Dusto, he'll be fine. Just a little tired."

Gil rolled onto his stomach and faced forward. His vision was slightly blurry, but he could see Neptune, Uzume and Renna lying on the floor in front of him, along with some other figures standing over them. Gil started breathing in and out slowly. He'd be able to recover from this. He'd done it before. Just a little longer, and he'd be able to get up.

He placed his hands on the floor and tried lifting himself up. But… why couldn't he lift himself up? He'd recovered from paralysis before. Come on, come on…

"Trying to get up, are we?", said Faust, before he placed his foot on Gil's back. "Go on, get up. If you do, I'll let you all go."

Why wasn't he recovered yet? Why?! He had to get up! He had to! He couldn't let…!

"You can't. You simply can't."

Come on, come on…! Get up, get up, get up! You have to! You HAVE to!

Gil saw Faust kneel besides him. "Wanna know why?" He flicked what Gil could only assume to be a syringe. "Stronger stuff."

Gil tried as he might, but he couldn't lift himself from the floor. Why? Why?! He had to get up! Hadn't Renna just said that they shouldn't leave each other again?!

Faust could see Gil try his hardest to get up. But he couldn't. Just as he'd wanted it to be. "Sooooo sorry, but I did say that I always get what I want, one way or another. But I'm still gonna have my fun." He dropped a piece of paper on the floor. "Come find me. Come have some fun. I know I will."

Faust got up and turned around, heading towards his goons. He looked down at the three girls in front of him before turning back around, looking to Gil. He saw Gil look up from the floor, still trying his hardest to get up. "Gimme a sec." He pulled out his syringe and filled it with a see-through substance. He once again walked to Gil and kneeled besides him.

"See you later."

"I'll kill you."

Faust injected his syringe into Gil's neck again before getting up.

"I'll kill you…" Gil reached out his hand, trying to crawl towards the three on the floor. "I will… I will…"

Faust signaled for his men to pick the three girls up. "You will try."

"I'll kill…"

The last thing Gil saw was them walking out the door. The last thing he heard was the door shutting.

And the last thing he thought of was him killing Faust.

Morning:

"…up, boy. Get up, Gil! Come on, get up already!" Gil could feel his body being shaken. He felt dizzy. His head hurt, and he could tell that he was bruised. He lied on his back, gripping his stomach and opening his eyes. He could see Dusty leaning over him, being equally bruised. "You're… awake. Good." Dusty leaned back out of Gil's vision.

He felt sick. Not just from what he'd been poisoned with, but from the events of last night. He looked up at the ceiling while thinking over the events. Again and again, he thought about them. Renna had been shot, poisoned by Faust using that gun of his. Gil was sure that she'd been injected later on. There was no way she wouldn't have gotten up if she hadn't been.

He failed. He could've done more. He should've done more. He felt angry. Why couldn't they have just left them alone?! He felt sad. He didn't want any of them to get hurt, not again... He felt hopeless. He had to do something. Renna had been through so much for him before, all by herself. He HAD to do something. He had to do anything he could. Anything at all to get them back.

He felt a murderous urge. He let Faust go because Neptune and Uzume asked him to, and this is what happened because of that! He should've gone through with his intentions and killed Faust when he stood over him. He wanted to find Faust, find his people, find their base, tear it apart, tear them apart, rip them apart, rip him apart kill them kill them kill them kill him.

Gil propped himself up, moving across the floor and leaning against a couch. He saw Dusty slowly walk towards him and reach down. "Get up, Gil." Gil was helped to his feet before he sat on the couch.

Gil had to keep calm. He had to. When he and Neptune had rescued the others before, Neptune had helped calm him down. He breathed in and breathed out. Slowly, repeatedly, until he was calmer than before. He looked at the opposite couch where Dusty now sat. "...How'd it happen?"

Dusty furrowed his brows. "They barged in and quickly shot me and the others with chemicals. They shot the girls multiple times, but they let me get up from my chair. They only shot me again when I was within striking range. Then…" Dusty looked at the bruising on his arms. "…the guy with the bat swung at me. Did what I could, but one of them injected me and must've set me on the chair." Gil looked to the floor. "But you're feeling alright, boy?"

"Yes. I feel fine."

"Good. We'll need to recover."

"Faust… dropped a piece of paper."

Dusty reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of parchment. "Got the address of where he's going."

"Do you know where it is?"

"Yes, I do."

"Could you tell me where to go?"

Dusty narrowed his eyes. "We have to recover, boy, and it's not like we got any other help. As if the police'd do anything."

"Can you show me where it is?"

"I'm gonna go with you, so you'll have to wait."

"I'll go alone. You're in no shape to fight."

"Could say the same thing about you."

Gil stood up from the couch, clenching his fists. "I'll go by myself, and I'll come back with them all."

Dusty smirked at Gil. "Why? Because you're not normal?"

Gil widened his eyes in anger. He clenched his fists harder, digging his fingers into his skin. Clam... Stay calm. "Please, Dusty. I NEED to know where to go, and I NEED you to tell me."

Dusty could tell how angry Gil was, no matter how hard he tried to cover it up. "You're playing a dangerous game, boy."

"I know."

"What would you do if I didn't give you the location?"

Gil thought for a moment. "I'd try to find it myself. Ask around, look around, walk around."

Dusty huffed to himself. He wouldn't be surprised if Gil tried to take the paper from him by force. "Always so determined… Well, couldn't say I'd do it any different if I were you." He then got up, showing no signs that his injuries tolled on him. He held the piece of paper in one hand. "As much as I hate to say it, I'll let you go alone. They know me, but they don't know you as well. You could surprise them, since you're not normal."

"I didn't say-"

"You didn't have to. Can't get through me, Gil." He reached his hand out, offering the paper out. Gil grabbed onto it and pulled it, but Dusty gripped onto it. "Tell me more about you and your sister when you're back, will ya?"

"I'll… think about it." With that, Dusty let go of the paper and let Gil take it. After that, he explained to Gil how to get to the location. He had Gil recite the directions three times in a row before he was satisfied.

"And I'll be joining you later when I'm recovered.", said Dusty. "Have to help somehow."

Gil nodded at him and turned to the door. "Thank you, Dusty. I'm going to go after them now."

Dusty placed a hand on his shoulder, patting him twice. "Be careful."

"…I'll try."

Dusty let go of Gil and let him walk to the door. Gil turned his head and nodded at Dusty before leaving, closing the doors behind him. He walked through the rain. Gil was determined to find them. He was dead set on his goal.

He would find them. He would find them and he would get inside. He'd save them. He would, he had to. He clenched his fists again, looking at the grey clouds.

He had to.

Thank you for reading. I apologize again for the unreasonable amount of time this has taken. Next one won't take so long, I promise.

Feel free to leave a review if you'd like. What're your thoughts on it?

But anyway, that's it this time.

Goodbye for now!