"Eve, how could you?!"

"Sindri, shhhh!"

As if he wasn't already an exaggerator, Sindri face-palmed. "I can't believe you!" he announced, looking and sounding torn. "Why would you do that?"

Eve couldn't contain a laugh. "You already knew I liked him, didn't you?"

"For whatever dreaded reason, I guess. Alcoholism doesn't appeal to me as it does you, I suppose." Sindri answered, unintentionally avoiding Eve's fiery glare as he relaxed an elbow on the couch armrest. "So what did he say?"

"He kinda…blinked at me."

"Kinda blinked?"

"Ugh, Sindri, can't you make this easy?"

Sindri shrugged a shoulder. "Not a psychiatrist."

"Sorry, I don't feel the same way. You can go now. In a few more words." Eve clarified with a sigh. She decided not to mention the pros/cons of Caleb's revelation. It was not only embarrassing, but oddly painful. She hadn't even thought how much Minori and Kazuya had heard. After she ran out of their apartment, she managed to catch a bus back to Sindri's building and ran upstairs, trying to hide her face. Sindri asked her about her day and she spilled everything. Bizarrely, Sundance wasn't home.

"Ouch," Sindri said, cringing appropriately. "I've never been rejected, so I don't know the feeling. Sorry."

Eve looked away and managed to contain a laugh. "Okay, Sindri. Thanks for sharing." she answered. "Where's Sundance?"

"At a friend's house, I believe? I think we have real problems when a kid has more friends than us."

"Honestly."

"Okay, sorry to keep dragging the subject, but why did you tell Caleb that? You already know he doesn't like you, right? It's to be expected."

"I guess," she muttered, glancing away, vying for a better response. "I…I just wanted to take care of him."

Sindri narrowed his eyes. "In case your memory is slipping, he has two healthy parents, a trust fund, and I've seen him walk to the liquor store with a fake ID. That's not why you should be in a relationship."

"Here you go again, Sindri, I'm not in the mood to be criticized."

"Damn it, Eve. Stop pitying him! He is not–"

Eve covered her ears and headed back to her room, kicking her door closed.

"I can't be around Eve anymore. She's too depressing."

Chainz glanced away from the video game currently on the screen. They were playing videogames in Ishimaru's room while he was at soccer practice. On the floor, in the corner of the room, Itosagi was slumbering. "Really."

Sundance nodded. "Yeah, she's so…intolerable lately. Problematic, I don't know. She's going through things, which I get, and we're partners…but I don't know. I seriously can't do anything to help her."

"Some things take time." Chainz advised sagely. "You'll have to leave her be for a while, I guess. Whatever she needs to deal with, she might need to work through on her own."

"If only that was the case," Sundance confessed, considering Chainz's advice for only a second. If he refused to talk to Eve for a few days in hopes she could sort her issues out, she would get the wrong idea and accuse him of something outlandish. "We seriously have to spar soon. Since defeating Ophelia, I feel like I've been lagging."

"Not that you could possibly fight on par with me, but okay."

"If you think that, let's go right now!" Sundance announced, flinging the controller across the room.

"Alright, calm down. Save your excitement for another day."

Sundance crossed his arms, grinning smugly. "Yeah, I thought so. You obviously can't fight me. Or win."

"Okay, now you're getting annoying." Chainz answered, rolling his eyes. "Go get that controller and try to hide that dent in Ishimaru's wall. He's gonna blame me for it."

"Well, Phil. You seem to be in a great mood." Resh acknowledged, grinning.

"Glad to be back in Tokyo, really," he admitted, lifting his camera from his bag to film the ongoing street life. A dog-walker struggling to wrangle five dogs, a teacher leading a platoon of children across the street, an aggressive fruit vendor. "We're meeting Kyo and his friends for lunch."

"His friends?"

"He really didn't tell me much, but he told me they're good people. The girl works in an orphanage in her spare time. He's been a little distant since losing Amera."

Resh nodded. Amera's loss had been hard on all of them. "Yeah…"

"Well, here we are now." Phil announced, closing his camera and returning it to the safety of his bag. The restaurant was grand. Windows curtained in . A maître d' greeted them at the door. "Um. Party of five, I think? Just in case, our friends aren't here yet… we can still sit, right?"

The maître d' smiled cordially, leading them to their table. "Of course."

Only Kyo had arrived, but he greeted them like an old friend. He hugged them both. "Sorry about the others," he said, half-apologetic. "I just texted the girls and they're on their way now. Traffic."

"No worries," Phil replied with an absentminded shrug. "So. How've you been faring since the whole…you know."

Kyo exhaled heavily, examining his drink as if it was something scientific. "One day at a time," he said. "I'll get through it, though. Eventually."

Phil and Resh exchanged a wistful glance.

"Hello, hello, we've arrived! I am awfully sorry for the delay. Geese were cordoning the street. Not a myth."

Along with two girls, Lilja and an always-mute Viola pounced into the empty seats. Kyo blinked. The new girls, Kyo's friends, were smiling quietly. The oldest of the two had short, wavy brown hair and heterochromic eyes, one of which was red and the other was yellow. She was dressed in a black dress shirt, which was enclosed under a plaid blue vest, a knee-length plaid blue skirt, white leggings, and gray Mary Janes. Meanwhile, the younger girl had snakish yellow eyes, white hair knotted into a bun, and a pale complexion. Instead, she wore a pink Western-style dress over a purple Chinese tabard, and brown lace-up combat boots.

"Um, I don't remember inviting you?" he said, scrutinizing Lilja.

"Fuuma and Superbia are old friends of mine," Lilja informed, waving as if it was old news. "This restaurant is owned by a family friend of mine as well. I dine here often. Has anyone ordered? The shrimp sashimi is my favorite."

Fuuma grinned. "Actually, we just met outside a few minutes ago, but that's very nice of you to say."

Kyo sighed. "Yeah, I figured as much."

"Well, it's nice to meet you both," Resh announced, giggling from across the table.

"Same to you." Superbia answered, narrowing her eyes in cynic humor. "And maybe we can face one another in battle? Just for fun."

Resh hesitated. She sensed the aura off Superbia the second she and Fumma arrived, but she was curious to why they were so casual. Formal with them. Kyo hadn't exactly explained their entrance either. "I'm looking forward to it!"

"Sundance."

"Eve," he repeated, hesitant.

Eve was at the desk in her bedroom, arms crossed, expressionless. Sindri was in the other room. Studying, he assumed.

"I heard you were at Ishimaru's house today."

"I was…"

"And you were talking about me."

Sundance's eyes widened as he stared at her. Eve's expression didn't change. "You said I was depressing to be around. But seeing as you're living with me and we're partners–" she said menacingly, pointing at him from the doorframe. "It actually kinda hurt. Chainz relayed your little gossip back to Ishimaru, and in turn, Ishimaru told me. They were worried. How do you think that makes me look? What have I told you already? I do not need to be worried about your trivial bullshit."

"Trivial?"

"Again, you're not listening. Don't worry, this won't take too long. I gave my all to Caleb, but apparently he never gave his all to me, so I have to restart my life yet again. But what else is new? If you cared to listen, I may've told you sooner. I'm gonna try to take the bar exam to re-qualify as a high school senior, seeing as I dropped out two years ago. I can't sit here, crying over how a little kid is calling me depressing and intolerable. If you wanna live somewhere else, go right ahead. You're becoming nothing but an eyesore."

A little kid. An eyesore. Eve remained unfazed by her own revelation. Sundance was stricken by it. "Eve–"

"You can go now."

"But–"

Eve slid the desk chair across the floor and closed the door harshly in his face. Had he been standing an inch closer, it would've hit him. Sundance stared at Eve's door, half-expecting a joke or an apology. Neither of which came.

"Eve called me. Did you know?" Kazuya informed. "She was worried. Asking about you."

"Tch. What else is new? Did she also tell you she confessed her love for me? How choreographed. The second I leave the hospital, she's suddenly pining for me like a little kid."

Kazuya hesitated. "Hey, be nice."

"Right," Caleb said, sounding disgusted. "Do you have anything alcoholic? This tea is doing nothing for me. It's like drinking hot water."

"That's Minori for you." Kazuya answered, glancing fiercely over his shoulder as if she'd heard. "I have tequila in the fridge. I'll add some to your tea. Follow me, lazy."

Caleb followed Kazuya to the kitchen. Kazuya opened the fridge, retrieved a medium bottle of tequila, and poured a cap-sized amount into the tea. Caleb stared at him like he committed a fatal sin. "Really."

"Still my house, buddy."

"Okay, whatever. Get me a soda, then."

"Um, don't have that."

"Any kind of soda? Juice?"

"Don't have those either."

Caleb leaned over to glance in their fridge. They only had two plastic cartons of grape juice and the bottle of tequila Kazuya was keeping fierce guard of. "The tea was made with tap water,"

"I hope my disappointment is enough of an answer."

"Have you spoken to your parents?"

"Is that a trick question?"

Kazuya chuckled immaturely. "Just wondering. Idle talk," he said. "But I wanted to get serious. Eve and I were talking…"

"I like you, Kazuya, but you're starting to piss me off."

"Why the hell? In talking to Eve?"

"Okay, since you apparently talk to Eve so damn often, tell Eve to mind her own business. She has motive for this constant pestering and I'm not here for it. I already told her how I felt. So if she'd like to hear a repeat response, tell her to come back and I'll gladly provide her one."

"Okay, okay, calm down. The only reason I'm telling you Eve called was because she's worried. We're all worried about you, but you know that already."

"Well, you've inflated my ego by ten points."

Kazuya frowned and Caleb stormed past him, muttering lowly to himself. Kazuya hesitated again before following him back into the living room. Caleb sat on the couch, sipping his tea hesitantly. "The apartment above mine is free. Well, not free...but the tenant recently vacated. I know more than anything The Oshiro Complexes suck. The one upstairs is yours if you want it. I can toss a good word in."

"I appreciate that, Kazuya. I do. My parents don't really give me a monthly allowance anymore. Not that they should. Around the time Eve and I broke up, your parents were threatening to evict me."

"Wait, my parents? Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, shocked. Caleb didn't answer, remaining expressionless. "Caleb, we've been best friends since elementary. I have the kanji for friend tattooed on my goddamn neck. I'll help you score this apartment and a job and whatever else. You've always been there for me. It's my turn to be there for you."

Caleb snickered. "Getting that was the biggest mistake of your life, no offense. You should've gotten it on your arm like I did." he informed, displaying the matching dark lettering on the underside of his wrist.

Kazuya chuckled. "Wow, we were such losers in high school."

"We still are, man. Can you tell Minori to get off the phone already and make us rice? I haven't ate since yesterday."

"I know you're not human, Sundance."

Sundance jumped. He was watching a rerun of Praying Mantis Joe–on the couch again, Eve locked him out–to help fall asleep when Sindri appeared in the living room. Lacking his nose ring and glasses, he looked bizarrely young. In his hand was his sketchbook. Sundance nearly breathed a sigh of relief. He thought it was his spellbook.

"An average six-year old does not draw like this," Sindri continued, opening the sketchpad to show him his own work. Waterfalls and pear trees and museum statures from the mamodo world he copied from memory. All drawn with pencil, but every detail accentuated to its highest degree. He closed the book and tossed it on the coffee table. Sundance said nothing. "I'm sorry for looking. I thought it was mine…but this is like museum artwork. You just can't be human."

"That's because I'm not," he answered. Sindri's eyes widened and he took a step backward. "It's okay. Eve knows. Um, don't be scared."

"That's why you had that black eye, isn't it?"

"Partially."

"What are you?"

"A mamodo. A demon. I'm one of a hundred. I came from my world–well, Makai–to take down ninety-nine others in a battle for king."

Sindri stared at him in total disbelief. "God, I'll be right back." he instructed, raising a hand to Sundance as he walked back to his room. Sundance watched him, eagle-eyed. He worried he was going to wake Eve or call the police to remove him. Anything. Sindri returned a moment later, shaking his head as if the shock had yet to hit, holding a lit cigarette. "Are you sure Eve knows about this?"

"Yeah. She reads my spells. Paint-infused, you know. Well, you don't, actually…never mind. I came with a spell book. To battle other mamodo, she needs to read them…but she's not into it. It's complicated."

"No more complicated than being from another world."

Sundance laughed.

"So what? Everyone fights with paint-themed spells?"

Sundance grinned. "That would be boring, wouldn't it?"

"I still don't know anything about you."

"There's not much to know," Sundance remarked, shrugging.

"Before you stepped into our lives, believe me, they were far more ordinary," Sindri countered, taking a drag from his cigarette. "Tell me about yourself."

Sundance stared at Sindri and could've cried. Because he cared. Because Eve never asked him about himself. He was always listening to her and her problems and trying to comfort her. Sindri willingly asked him about himself without issue.

"I was abandoned by a river as a newborn. Because my eyes were considered abnormal. Everyone in my birth clan has eyes the color of onyx or bluebird feathers. They're also said to control metallic fire. When mine appeared this color," Sundance explained, making a halfhearted gesture toward his eyes. "It was…blasphemy. People were scandalized. My biological mom wrapped me in a blanket and tossed me aside, then ran. Two painters with no notable element and never calling one place their home found me, they took me to the Refuge, which is our local orphanage and raised me till I was five. Taught me their ways, painted the sunrise–hence, my name–and told me to never consider them my parents. I did, anyway. Stupid me."

Sundance paused, stared at the television. His voice cracked. "When I got back from the market, they were gone. They packed everything – paintbrushes, easels, bottles of oil paint–and left. No goodbye note or anything. Gone. I…I was so upset, I slept outside for weeks, waiting, hoping for them to come back. They never did."

"When you reach a certain age, your element comes in. Some of us have teachers. Some of us are self-taught. Tournaments. Yada yada. My element never came. The metallic fire? Nothing. The elementless painters must've had a heavier impact on me than I thought. I heard from the older kids at the Refuge, there was a lake called the Lake of Wishes. Made of pure acid. It's said to grant wishes. If you didn't like the element you were born with, dive in and hope for a better one, and you just might receive one. It can fix the deadliest injuries, infertility. Anything and everything. But if you don't believe, you'll burn slowly to death."

"Nice," Sindri remarked, snorting.

"So I hiked to find it. Not the easiest hike, just so you know. I ran into a lot of bats. But guess what? It was real. Bubbly, acidy lake with a siren woman watching over it. She said a few cryptic things, but I mostly ignored them. Whatever, lady. I dove in and returned to the surface with a mouthful of paint. A week later, I got back to the orphanage. They were raffling a ticket for the mamodo battle and I won it. You and Eve should be lucky I'm here. I almost burned to death. Can I get a juice?"

"Wait, so your element is manmade?"

"Technically, I wished for it. Weren't you listening?"

Sindri shook his head, still disbelieving. "I just can't believe any of this. I have a feeling I'll go to sleep and I'll wake up tomorrow morning, thinking this was all a dream."

Sundance offered a shrug and a grin. "Probably not!"

"Okay, but you definitely have to tell Eve this. Have you? That's wild."

In a moment, Sundance's whole demeanor soured. Shoulders slumped, disheartened expression. "She won't care."

"I think you're thinking that because of how she's been lately. She's not a total monster. Don't stress."

"I try…"

Sindri squished his cigarette in a nearby ashtray and waved the air with a hand, as if that could somehow clear it. "I'll get you a few pillows and a blanket. That couch is murder on the back," he informed. "Final question."

"Go for it."

"If you were to become king of your world–God, I still can't get over this–what kind of king would you aspire to be?" he asked.

Sundance hesitated and he knew it wasn't his best answer. "A smart one?"

"Maybe you should rethink that," Sindri directed, lighthearted. "I'll get your blanket."

The dive wasn't scary.

Being underwater (well, submerged in acid for more than a few seconds) was more than terrifying. It was murky and heavy and un-acidy, ironically. Sundance couldn't see anything. He struggled to swim through and broke through an unseeing surface. He was choking. Unexpectedly breathless.

Sundance raised his hands to his mouth and coughed into them, sputtering. When he regained his sight, he found them stained red. Levitating above the lake was the nameless siren woman, a translucent form. He tried to speak, but he continued coughing and coughing. His eyes had become watery and he decided not to linger in the lake, in the case of any lasting side-effects, so he swam to the edge, grabbing a hanging vine hastily and crawling onto the dirt ground.

Sundance coughed finally. The siren woman watched expressionlessly. It was her lake, after all. She either granted wishes or let people freefall to their death. It was nothing new to her.

"What…what did you do to me?" he asked, eyes still watering.

The siren woman did not approach. She remained at her post. "Per your request, your element is no longer related to your clan. You wished to dissociate from your birthright and I have granted you that."

Sundance glanced at his hands again. The smudges of red on his hands had blossomed into bright blues and vivacious yellows and greens. Paint. Exactly what he'd asked for. A change in his element. He grinned. He felt no physical change, but having a new strength was enough.

"Wait, wait! I have one more favor…I'm not sure this is allowed. Do I get three wishes? Can I get a house?"

The siren woman didn't blink. He assumed the answer was no. Sundance rambled, anyway.

"I wanna change my eye color. I want my eyes to look…normal. Is that okay?"

"That is a wish I cannot grant. Your eyes are not a defect. They allow you perfect vision. Leave my lake, Sundance."

"You know my name?!"

"Leave this land, Sundance."

Sundance nodded, grinning into the sky as he dashed home.

Ending the Caleb/Eve saga and the first arc officially! This also marks the final appearance of Caleb. He'll probably be mentioned a few more times in passing, but that's it. I have a lot of information about the second arc, which I'm so excited about. We're going to be seeing a lot less of Eve and Sundance and their relationship is going to face a deterioration. Various histories will be explored and numerous characters will be introduced with varying intentions. R&R!