As Duodecim dismounted in front of the hidden grove he felt Lisa slip off behind him limply he turned quickly but wasn't quick enough. However a branch from nowhere caught her before she fell completely to the ground. He glanced up to see Novem and gave an exhalation of relief, but upon noticing his expression he attempted to make an explanation, "You know…"

"No."

Duodecim flinched at the harsh reprimand. "But…" The dark-haired other glared at him as if challenging him to try and persuade him. "Look, Novem, she's sick—swooned from all of the excitement—can't we let her stay until she's well?" Novem narrowed his eyes. "Come now, be reasonable."

Novem turned, indicating to Duodecim that he could bring her in for a bit. He gently picked Lisa up from the branch and carried her inside.

Duodecim waved his hand over Lisa's face as he drew black smoke from her lungs. After he had finished this task he turned back to Novem who sat with his hand propped under his chin, watching him. "She inhaled a good quantity of smoke and was completely soaked to the bone," Duodecim said as he dispersed the smoke and water from the atmosphere; he smiled at his partner, "She should be well soon, but she needs rest and calm."

"And how long do you think she needs to reside in our abode? She was accused of being witch, so you said. What if they come to look for her?"

"You know as well as I that the Law-Takers couldn't hope to find this place," replied Duodecim with confidence, "Your conjures are simply too strong for ordinary humans."

"Duodecim," a look of concern resonated in Novem's countenance, "I don't believe I need to remind you that anyone having anything to do with us will only share our fate."

"Again and again I've told you, I know this to be true, but…" Duodecim averted his eyes from his friend's face, trying to find the right words to explain his thoughts. Novem waited a moment then stood and grabbed a forest-green cloak and clipped it around his shoulders.

"We must buy more ingredients if we are to feed a third, I am going to the market," with a wave of the hand he disappeared into the thicket. Duodecim stepped out likewise to go brush down the mare from the soggy journey.

Lisa woke to an empty living area filled with papers and curious objects. She moved slowly from the bed of leaves and grass and looked around the place; she turned to see a shelf full of vials of clear and colored liquids and a table covered with papers with strange and unknown words to her. At the very end of the table lay an hour glass and a small purple orb streaked with an icy blue and speckled with deep red. Lisa was mesmerized by the small marble and reached to pick it up but stopped when she heard someone enter the room she glanced up to see both boys enter. Duodecim's eyes widened with dismay as he quickly ran over to Lisa and covered the orb with his hand. "Did you touch this?" he asked presently, eyes keenly watching her every movement.

She shook he head, "No! I didn't…"

"Good," sighed Duodecim, "Because if you had then you'd have gone, 'BAM'! and disappeared forever!" at the BAM Lisa started fiercely and fainted straight away. "Oh dear," he glanced up at Novem, "Too much for a sick person?"

Shibasaaki had a hunch, but until the as-of-yet-unknown perpetrators moved he couldn't be sure, however he knew with confidence that these were not mindless acts of terror. When the next letter appeared at the sight last described, the hospital, he decided to do further research into these places that were and had the potential of being targeted. The next letter was expected to be as a normal one, pleasantries followed by the riddle and some enigma about fire at the end, however, this letter was different. Rather than having letters appearing like fire, a cold, sharp wind blew form the letter and gave a simple riddle: "a wise man looks at the trees for a forest, a fool the forest for the trees. The wise man built his house of wood, the fool out of straw. Listen to the words of the wise man."

Shibasaki wasted no thought on the meaning of the letter but rather in the peculiar way in which it was written. "This has no heart, no soul. This mustn't be from them." But the other Law-Takers paid no heed to this and upon being given the answer rushed off to find the criminals. He sat and looked at the curve of the letters, "This is written by a woman, not these men. Something is amiss…"

"Lisa, our request is that you never near a fire or cook wear again," Novem sighed. "We couldn't possibly eat this…stuff."

Lisa frowned. "It can't possibly be that bad!" she cried looking at the black-brownish mass offered on a plate.

"Well, perhaps you should try it!" Duodecim replied, dropping his utensil onto the plate dramatically, "This is not how food should really taste."

Lisa brought a mouthful to her lips and tasted it, repulsion and regret filled her mouth at the taste of the matter, but somehow she swallowed it. She covered her mouth in an attempt to keep the food down.

"Leave the cooking to us," Duodecim said standing and stretching. He put out his hands over the plates of food and moved his fingers up like a puppet-master, immediately the black was drawn from the substance and the food re-ordered into what looked like real food: boiled lamb with gravy and vegetables.

"So that's what she was trying to make," Novem muttered under his breath, taking a true bite of the food and silently thanking Duodeim for his ability to remove such substances. Lisa watch in amazement as the black mass drawn from the food was form into a small orb that was blue in color then he coated it in water until it turned into a metallic blue. It fell into his hand as he finished forming it and he placed it inside of a box along with the earlier purple orb she had seen. After the lid of the box closed he suddenly gasped as if he had just finished running several miles at a fast pace, he breathed heavily and perspiration gathered on his forehead.

Lisa saw this and stood and stepped shyly toward him, "Are you okay…?"

Duodecim stood up straight and gave a faint smile. "I am well," said he, "Doing things like this takes a bit of energy…"

Novem sat across from the two and observed their conversation then added that Lisa should remember not to touch those orbs. Lisa nodded obediently and sat down to eat the newly cleansed food. So many inquiries wandered through her mind as Duodecim seemed to recover from his earlier act, but she didn't want to be rude and inquire such foolish questions of those who were gratefully giving her shelter. As she watched Duodecim, Novem also watched him and Lisa, a feeling of dread expanding in his mind about future circumstances.

Suddenly and without warning Novem heard a high-pitched noise invade his mind along with a strong message from an unknown source. He doubled over and pressed his hands to his ears to try and stop the ringing. Within a split second Duodecim was at his side.

"Novem! Novem!" he heard Duodecim call while Lisa stood helplessly confused.

An image grew in his mind of a woman with violet eyes and snow-white hair. She was smirking in an alarming way and reaching out with a hand towards him just before the vision vanished. As the image faded he fell back on his seat and pressed his hand to his forehead slowly.

"Lisa, get some water from the stream just around the corner," Duodecim commanded swiftly, she nodded and stumbled off to find it. Duodecim crouched next to Novem, "What happened?"

"Quinque," he whispered under his breath, then looking at Duodecim Square in the eyes said, "She's found us."

"That's not—" he stopped and sighed, "Alright, but Lisa doesn't' have to know."

"She needs to leave before she tracks her down!" Novem hissed, glancing up as Lisa returned with a bucket of water, he closed his eyes and murmured, "Don't get her involved."

Duodecim didn't hear the last words, but took a cloth and busied himself with draining the water out and putting it on Novem's forehead. Lisa looked around and clenched her hands tightly to her dress. "W-what's the matter?" she asked in a low voice.

"I've told you how I can read minds, right?" said he, he turned back to her after making sure his other was cared for. "It's not so easy for him." He glanced over his shoulder then stood with a smile. "Shall we stroll for a bit?"

After many hours of research and traveling to the darkest corners to the town, Shibasaki thought he had finally found a lead on these mysterious villains and their aim. There had been a special group that knew of people who could manipulate materials such as wood and metal, these people were dispersed because of the hatred for people of unusual talents. They were thoughts to be witches and sorcerers—which is perhaps true. Shibasaki had tried to make contact with these people, but was without success.

The next building described was, in fact, a target of the two; it was the abode of a famous wood carver. However, Shibasaki couldn't help but carry misgivings about this set up withheld in his mind. He walked up to the place as the Law-Takers were surrounding the premises of the house. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a small woman with pure white hair standing with her arms crossed, surveying the situation. He wondered, but didn't worry, about her. He walked up to the building and pressed his hand to the side of the structure and felt the wood. The last few places hadn't fallen down like the tavern, but this was a simple one to take down for those two boys. He stood with his hand against the wall when he suddenly began to feel a small vibration deep within the wood. He quickly moved back and looked around him. He expected the building to drop at any moment when suddenly there was a bright flash near the top of the building like the sun reflecting off metal. He backed up and noticed that there almost seemed to be a large orb around the building. The orb vibrated and light bounced off of its surface, bowing as if it were being compressed by some force. Shibasaki ran back around to the front of the house and noticed that with the exception of the mysterious woman with white hair, everyone was in the same place. The woman had moved closer to the house and had her hand on the doorknob of the front door. While from a distance she looked to be calmly standing, drops of sweat and accumulated on her brow and all of the muscles in her body had tensed; she was concentrating extremely hard on something. Shibasaki stepped forward to speak to her but before he said anything she snapped a quick, "Get back!", he ignored her command and waited for her.

He sensed someone walking behind him and turned to see a young man in the Law-Taker's uniform with his hat pulled down over his eyes. He glanced at Shibasaki as he walked past the disappeared around the corner of the house; he was going to follow him but was distracted by a huge ripple effect over the clear orb and heard a cry from the woman. His attention turned toward her as she made a swift jump back from the house and held her hand, but rather than tears of pain, Shibasaki noticed tears accompanied by a malicious smile. The woman laughed suddenly and stepped back further from the house then turned and began walking away. Not even dismayed by these strange actions Shibasaki followed her around to where the rest of the crew stood. But she had vanished as mysteriously as she had appeared. He wanted to turn back and find the young man, but he had disappeared as well. It was at this point that Shibasaki was assured that these were not ordinary people with whom he fought.

I really hate bugging you all, but it seems you only remember to comment if i remind you. so I'm reminding you again...