"Scasa!"

"Hokeigo!"

"Kuroguru!"

"Scosu!"

A trundle of running feet and shouted spells were the first things Sundance perceived through his conscious mind. The ink burn was still there in all its blistered and skin-damaged glory, the black eye that was expected to flourish shifted gears and became the color of contaminated drinking water, already the size of a grapefruit.

"I'm okay," he convinced himself. "I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm alive, I can fight. I can still fight."

Sundance opened his eyes and scrambled to his feet, trembling all the while. He couldn't see much in one eye but the other had fine observation of the battle deep in motion before him. Thompson the Scorpion fell onto his back, waggling his stubby legs in the air before popping back onto his feet like a graceless turtle. Another mamodo child with black eyes and black leather fired a laser from his mouth and hit Thompson point-blank, cracking off a final portion of his shell.

"Scasa!"

"Hokkado!"

He jumped into focus, watching an ink rocket soar over his shoulder and smash into a rotating gear shield, deflecting the blast over his shoulder back again at Thompson. The scorpion moved aside and the ink spilled across the wrecked concrete, soaking into the larger craters. The shield dissipated and footsteps clapped behind him.

Sundance made a face and Thompson glowered down at him. Maybe that scorpion thing had eyes but he couldn't see them. How else could he see without them? Unless, he didn't have eyes and could only fight by concentrating on smells and sounds.

"I got this!" he shouted to everyone and no one, arm wound back, hand in a fist.

"Scosu!"

Sundance braced himself to take the setback.

"Get out of the way!" the mamodo yelled, one of the two that saved his book and Eve's life. He grabbed his shirt and threw him across the field. His onyx eyes were depthless like the clouds in a sky after a hurricane's strike. Unexpectedly, Itosagi caught him and pushed him across the rock so he landed at the feet of the other book-owners. "Ishimaru, a spell!"

Ishimaru nodded and turned another page in his green book. "Got it, Chainz! Kai Lei!"

Sundance had spirals for eyes while on the ground, opening his mouth to laugh. "I feel…perfect."

"Burn in hell! Scasa!"

Itosagi launched himself back into game and sprung over Thompson, running on all-fours across the back of his enemy in direction of Aoki, unbeknownst to her mamodo. Sundance raised his head and an eyebrow, making a tiny groan at the pain that wormed through his body like an infection. The burn looked better but the impact of it was finally taking hold. There was no word to describe the picture.

"Scosu!"

"Is anyone else tired? No? Just me? Okay. Kuroguru!"

Itosagi was unnerved as he unleashed his clawed fists and shot them off his arms with the velocity of wolves dogging their next kill. Sundance stared in admiration as they hurtled into Thompson and unbalanced him, throwing him into a mound of concrete remains. Chainz tore the book out of Aoki's clumsy hands and threw it into the sky with all his might.

"Kai Lei!"

"Agh, what the–what…what's happening?"

Sundance missed the laser that soaked Thompson's orange book in blue fire but he did grin when Thompson's body became transparent, fading away moments later with a defeated whimper. Aoki didn't say anything else before she set off in a run, her snow-boots tracking dust. "Eve, you're okay!"

Eve nodded, clutching her forehead with the heel of her hand. "I believe I am."

She looked around to figure everything out. A rabbit with silver claws, aqua armor, and pointed fangs stood on his hind legs, a child with a gray Mohawk and pierced ears. Sundance's book cradled safe under her arm. Seiku was there and so was the guy she last saw with brown-black hair. The basketball court was no more. There was no word to define what it had become.

"Did I dream it?" Eve asked.

Seiku winked. "Not even a dream could come up with these good looks."

"I'm still here!" Sundance assured, smiling with the hole in his teeth. "Never fear!"

"Pretty sure I saw you pass out when Itosagi jumped over you," Chainz said, walking over. "Actually, the second you saw us. Your partner, at least, had the courage to stay awake for a second longer."

Eve deadpanned. "Sorry, I'm not used to fighting life-sized scorpions every day."

"That battle wasn't easy! Look at my poor tooth!" Sundance wailed, opening his mouth and pointing to the gap between teeth, blood on his gums and lower teeth. "Do you see it? No? Yeah, me neither because it's gone, gone! Try explaining that to your parents!"

"Try blocking your face next time."

"Poyu, poyu!"

Ishimaru smiled through their quarreling and looked at Eve. "Sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I'm Ishimaru Kamikatsu and this is my best friend–"

"We've met." Seiku answered for them and grinned when Ishimaru sent him a confused stare. "Long story."

At the memory of the story, Sundance turned to Itosagi. "I still don't like you."

Itosagi glared at him. "Poyu, poyu, poyu…"

Seiku extended a hand to Eve, smiling. "Are you actually gonna take my hand this time and not make me look like a total idiot?"

Eve stared at her hands. They were scraped and there were cuts that weren't there earlier. Risk of infection. She thought of Caleb dropping her hand while they were amongst the tree leaves, watching and doing nothing as she lost her balance and fell. "You wouldn't want to take my hand."

"Don't be so sure."

She smiled. "It's a little more complicated than that."

"Evvvvveeeee, help me! Itosagi won't let go!" Sundance yelled around them, tears in his eyes, sobbing her name. Even though his spell had worn off already, Itosagi possessed a sick dog's hold on Sundance's hand, not looking as if he'd budge anytime soon. "Help me, help me, help me, help meeee!"

Chainz lifted an eyebrow. "What? Why are you all looking at me? I didn't do anything."

"Where are you going?"

The man was missing, she knew. She couldn't remember his name. His face was plastered across news channels and Missing Person flyers were glued to the windows of supermarkets and pharmacies from Tokyo to Osaka. The authorities must not be looking hard enough. He was wearing a big jacket that hid his arms and neck, a beanie, sunglasses, and jeans with knotted shoelaces as a belt. For someone who should be undercover, he was fearless. He stared her straight in the eye.

"That's personal," he said and dug a hand into his jacket, revealing his photo ID. He held out the picture of himself not even a second before placing it away. "You've seen my ID. May I go?"

"I also need your confirmation number and the answer to my question. Where are you going?" she said. Her hair was brown, a deep color like dark chocolate. She had green eyes and an icy smile.

He read out his confirmation number from a notepad paper and smiled through her last question. "Lithuania. That's all I'll say. Can I go now?"

"Your flight leaves in forty-five minutes. Enjoy."

The corner of a blue book was tucked in his suitcase. It wasn't entirely closed but she didn't see much in there. He offered her a bitter smile and went on his way. A child with pink hair that sat in a waiting chair ran after him, making it to his side, jabbering, beaming. She didn't see them sit among the people as he plugged his ears with headphones and ignored the babbling girl, pretending to listen.

Under her desk, she touched a chartreuse book. She would need to phone Viola and explain the situation. What were the odds that the missing guy was traveling with a mamodo?

It was unthinkable, unimaginable.

But it was sadly real.

"Will my tooth grow back?" Sundance asked whoever was listening.

Eve sprinkled her yogurt with chopped strawberries and pineapple. The healthiest thing she ate all week. Since meeting Sundance, she's been eating with him at donut shops, pizza parlors, and ice cream huts everywhere. His abnormal appetite didn't help because he could eat hot sauce as a topping to pancakes and not get sick. When she got out of the shower, he was ripping through the garbage bag to eat the food that remained.

"With your weird food habits, I sure hope so," Eve washed a spoon in the kitchen sink before dipping it in the plastic cup.

"Oh." Sundance responded, wiggling the tooth beside the one that was knocked out. His hand that was bit by Itosagi was wrapped in bandages. "Eve, I have a question."

"Shoot."

He blinked. "Shoot what? Eve, that–"

She picked a strawberry out of the container and ate it. "What's the question, Sundance?"

"When we go rescue Caleb, would you want to talk with him? I don't know, ask him something or plead with him not to fight because when Sindri yells at you, he calls him a lot of words you tell me not to say in public and you always defend him. He drinks a lot and you defend that, too. Why?" Sundance whispered, forming a thinking face.

Eve played with her yogurt. Hunger eliminated. "I'll answer one of your questions as bluntly and quickly as I can. My boyfr–Caleb was and never will be a good guy. He scared me to death but he grew on me. If you hadn't shown up when you did, he probably would've killed me. I know this from…personal experience. Talking to him won't do us any good. He'll listen but he won't care. If I actually had the chance, I would kill him. No, I'm serious. I would and I wouldn't regret it. I do want to help him but there is no easy way, he's done terrible, terrible things and as much as I hate being the bad guy, we have to fight back and sometimes you have to learn that the hard way. We stayed together until one of us lost it, I cared but he didn't. It makes no sense if you think about it."

Sundance became serious. His heart entered a lethal place. "Why did you…?"

She turned to him and smiled, looking sad and angry. "Because he said he would break me and he succeeded."

I made my deadline! For once! Can anyone believe that? I'll be celebrating with some eggnog, it's holiday season and the only time I could drink this without looking stupid. I wouldn't be able to take myself seriously by drinking eggnog in August. 2013, so close yet so far. Expect the next update then! R&R!