Disclaimer applies.

Notes: First, I'd like to say thank you to all those who've been reading/supportive of this fic so far! I was sincerely surprised to find more than one person interested in this fic, when I hadn't expected an audience at all... So THANK YOU! It makes me happy. :D

And now, dropping right into the scene of action...

Elegy
Chapter Two
(Rinslet)

Rinslet Walker, thief-for-hire, was not having a good day.

Early that morning, on a lonely stretch of road on the way to the location of her next target, her car had broken down for mysterious reasons. Rins, being what could be termed a "car person" only to the extent of cooing over sleek convertibles and cute little Beetles, had kicked the damn thing in hopes that it would somehow respond, breaking off the heel of her shoe in the process. When it became apparent that all her cursing would neither revive the car nor get her where she wanted to be (or even glue her heel back on), she plopped down on the hood of the car in vague hopes that someone might pass by and offer a ride to a lovely young damsel-in-distress such as herself.

No such luck.

Not a terribly patient person to begin with, Rins finally had her last straw when an hour later, a dusty old truck came sputtering past -- without even slowing down.

Deciding that she absolutely would not stand for this any longer, Rins grabbed her suitcase and purse from the back of the car, slammed the door shut, and began limping down the road, wishing she had thought to bring more practical shoes.

It was nearing high noon now, and despite the season, the sun still blazed hot in a cloudless sky. Sweaty, tired, and hungry, Rins swore to herself that she would personally beat up the bastard at the rental agency who'd rented her the car, as soon as she got back. After a shower and a meal at the next town.

If she ever got to the next town.

Were there even any towns in this place?

At least the heel of her other shoe had broken off too, by now, making for easier walking. After all, Rinslet believed in thinking positive.

Except when she was pissed.

She kicked at a rock and watched it skid across the dusty road. And then suddenly, she caught sight of the broken sign hanging by the side of the road. A slight feeling of hope ignited. She trudged over with more energy than she'd thought she had left.

"Town of Lork. Population, twenty thousand. Five miles," she read.

She stared in disbelief.

"... Aww, shit!"

She continued staring at the sign for a few more seconds, hoping her eyes were deceiving her.

And then she sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"Well, damn," she murmured. "But it looks like I don't have a choice."

- - -

Lork, at first glance, was nothing like she remembered. The town had grown through the years, slowly, but surely. The first few buildings as she walked into town were charming and quaint, painted crisply in pleasant pastels. One of them, from the sign outside, was a cafe, which Rins gratefully stumbled into.

No one else was inside but a tired-looking woman behind the counter, who gave her a funny look (surely she didn't look that awful in her current sweaty, tousled state?), and a man with thinning, sandy hair sitting in the corner and muttering in a morose, almost bored tone, "Ah do hate pepper. Ah really do."

Rins ordered an iced mocha, then collapsed into one of the chairs, sipping contentedly with her suitcase at her side.

"Things sure have changed around here," she said after a while, to no one in particular. "I mean, was it always this quiet before?"

The town had always been more dead than alive, but still, in her memories, it had been anything but quiet. Perhaps she had merely grown too used to the noise and bustle of the big city. She hadn't been back here in years, after all. And yet still, she remembered -- the streets at this time in the afternoon had always been filled with people: gossiping neighbors, laughing children...

She realized then what had felt so off when she'd first arrived.

Today, the streets were empty, with a pervasive silence that reminded her of the intense calm right before a mission.

Or a battle.

"Ain't the place that changed, missy," drawled the woman behind the counter. "It's the people changed. Young people nowadays, there ain't nothin' can satisfy them. They all want what they can't get, and when they do it's never nothin' like they've expected. Anythin' bad happens to them, they blame it on everyone but themselves. Anythin' bad happens to anyone else, well, hell, they musta deserved it! They've grown mean, they have. There ain't nothin' but a loada hate in this town these days."

Rins pondered the woman' words, then slowly shook her head. "No... it's always been there, I think. The meanness, and the wanting."

And the hate, she added mentally, except it wasn't something she liked to admit.

The woman snorted. "Well, they sure hid it a damn lot better than they do now."

Rins frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Times've always been hard in these parts, missy. All ah can say is, you sure picked a damn helluva time to drop by."

"What's going on --" Rins began, but before she could finish, the sound of shattering glass drew her attention to the window as she leapt to her feet, drink forgotten.

A gathering of about twenty young men and women stood in the street outside, throwing rocks.

"You damn Chronos-supportin' fools!"

"Yeah, you old hag! Which one a' the mayor's brothers was it you been fuckin' lately?"

"'Cause we jus' gone and stoned 'em all!"

Laughter.

As a particularly large rock whizzed past her head, Rinslet felt a sudden surge of anger.

"You assholes!" she yelled. "Cut it out!"

One of the girls outside hooted. "Oho! One a' the city bitches come down to play!"

"Get lost, city bitch! This ain't no place for you!" cackled a young man as he tossed another stone through the window.

In the corner, the sandy-haired man continued to mutter about pepper ("Makes me sneeze, all the time. Always makes me sneeze --"), but Rinslet did not notice. She reached into her purse, trembling with rage, not really thinking. But then she tensed. She had heard the unmistakable click of a safety catch being released.

"Get the hell outta here," said the woman behind the counter, coolly pointing a shotgun at the steadily increasing crowd outside. "Ah'm runnin' a business here."

The crowd shifted and fell silent, eyeing the shotgun uneasily.

Rins stared, somewhat relieved, but did not move her hand from her purse.

"Get the hell outta here," repeated the woman. "This place ain't got nothin' to do with Chronos or your crap."

Angry muttering. Rinslet could feel the waves of fury sweeping over her, and she shivered. Memories of crazed laughter echoed through her mind...

It's like Creed all over again, she thought wildly, though the crowd outside was nothing like what Creed Diskenth and his followers had been.

They stood there, locked in a stalemate for what seemed like ages, but must have really only been minutes.

There was a sudden shout. Rins saw that two conspicuously armed policemen and a few men in dark suits and sunglasses had appeared, shoving through the crowd.

"Police! Break it up!"

Those who had been throwing rocks were swiftly arrested and cuffed, as well as a few others. Most of the stragglers who had been watching at the edge took the chance to run or slink away.

One of the policemen came in through the door.

He nodded a greeting at Rins, who was feeling more than a little overwhelmed, and approached the woman at the counter.

"Sorry, ma'am, but ah'm gonna hafta arrest you too --"

The sharp report of a gun.

Exactly what happened next, Rinslet would never be certain. Screaming, shouts, more gunshots --

The only thought that ran through her mind that instant was "Run."

And run she did.

Pushing, shoving, sweat and blood and dust -- where had all these people come from? -- she tripped and scraped her knees on the pavement and climbed up again and continued running, until at last she found herself in a quiet, dark alley.

She paused, shaking, gasping for breath.

A whistle. "Wow, you look like you've been running a marathon, Rins-babe!"

She grabbed her gun from her purse and whirled around.

There weren't many things (people) about which (whom) Rinslet didn't know what to think.

Train Heartnet, former Chronos Time Guardian No. XIII and current Sweeper, was one of them.

Janus Hazard, Chronos Time Guardian No. VII, was another.

She did know one thing about Janus, though: of all the people she had ever met, he was the one who got on her nerves most easily.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she exploded.

She hadn't expected she would ever meet him again. Certainly not in this place, under these conditions.

He grinned apologetically. "Actually, I was just wondering the same thing of you! Surely there's nothing worth stealing in a dinky backwater town like this for a thief of your caliber? Although, I have to say..." He ogled openly at her heaving breasts. "I kinda like you with the hot and sweaty look."

Any other time and she would have smacked the perverted look clean off his face. But this time, she did not even deign to reply.

For one thing, she had noticed that he too was looking rather disheveled. His face was scratched and dirty, and his usual dandy black suit was ripped in several places.

"Janus, just what the hell is going on?"

He opened his mouth, then eyed the gun in her hand (which was still pointed steadily at him) rather apprehensively. "Uh, can we maybe do it without the gun?"

Rins obligingly tucked the pistol back into her purse.

"I'm not really too sure myself," Janus began when he was certain Rins was really not about to shoot a million holes in him. "It all happened so fast... You've heard about all the recent rioting, haven't you?"

"Yes... but here? In Lork? Backwater town, population twenty thousand?"

"Well..."

Rins raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

Janus sighed. "There've been rumors lately, about another revolutionary group beginning to build up around this town... Sephy sent me in to investigate, and try to keep things from boiling over."

"Another revolutionary group..." murmured Rins.

"Yeah, well, I guess the townspeople kinda weren't too happy with my presence... Though I thought things were going okay... But then this morning it all just kind of exploded. It's been spreading throughout the entire town since then."

"Knowing you, they probably weren't too happy with you flirting with every single girl you came across," Rins said dryly. After a pause, she added, "... Couldn't you have just roped them all up with your wire things?"

"Exelion doesn't have that many wires attached!" protested Janus. "I knocked out a bunch of them, but Exelion's a mid-range attack weapon -- it's hard for me to maneuver in such close areas without killing anyone, and they just kept coming... They were gonna rip me apart, I swear."

"I believe you," she said, eyeing his torn clothing. "Well... what are we going to do now?"

"Dunno. I lost my cell phone and my communicator somewhere in the crush. I'm not sure what's happened to my backup team."

Rins looked away. "In all probability, most of them are already dead by now."

"What? They were all armed --"

"One man with a gun can't do anything against a large, angry mob. Not unless your name's Train Heartnet," she amended. She softened her voice slightly. "Believe me, Janus, I saw..."

Janus slammed his fist against a building. "Shit!"

And then he looked up, his face contorting strangely. "Shit, Rins, we've gotta get out of here."

She had smelled it too. Smoke.

"They're burning everything down," Rins said, in disbelief.

He grinned fiercely. "Yeah. Let's get going."

He grabbed her hand.

"Wait, Janus -- but where?"

"We can figure out something later. Come on!"

They broke out into a run.

"Because I think I know a place," she shouted into the wind. "This town... the Bagil Lakefront properties are just a few miles away. I know someone with a place there!"

"A lake? Oh good, that means I'll get to see you in a swimsuit --"

And for the first time that day, Rinslet broke out into a genuine smile.

Tsuzuku

Whew. I knew exactly how I wanted things to play out, but it was kind of hard to actually write. Obviously first of all, the tone is very different from the last chapter, since Rins and Sephiria are very different women, and in very different situations at the moment. I tried to handle it as realistically as possible... esp. the overall feeling of chaos and confusion, but still kind of worried about how it turned out. Riots are NOT easy to handle. Also tried not to go overboard on the accent, though I'm not sure how successful I was there. :P

And uh, "Rins-babe" was the cheesiest equivalent in English I could think of to "Rins-chan." XD (And here I just cannot resist adding: Rins and all the other girls were so much hotter in the manga... XP Same goes for the men, really, but they're at least tolerable. Snort.) Janus was surprisingly not as easy to write as I expected; it's something I never really noticed before, but I think it's because a good portion of his characterization actually depends on his facial expressions and body language, which is harder to express in a faster-paced/dialogue-dependent scene in writing.

Re: Exelion and Ecthelion -- Not sure what the correct spelling is, but I chose Exelion because calling a weapon by a Tolkien Elvish name is just plain weird. To me, anyway.

Also, a quick note: as much as I dislike the anime, I will be using the names Wikipedia lists (that were apparently made up for the anime) for Nos. III, VI, IX, and XII, who were never shown in the manga. Not the characters themselves as they show up in the anime (for instance, XII in my story is NOTHING like Mr. Wise Old Mustachioed Dude), but just the names, because I'm terrible with making up names, and these are fun names to play with.

Anyhow, next up is Eve!