Hello everyone and welcome back to HellFall!

Well that was weird. I saved the chapter, then I went back to edit it and everything was written in some weird code or something. If the chapter turns out to be like that when I post it, tell me, 'cause that's really weird.

Anyways, hopefully the chapter is readable, so enjoy!

I arrived back at the military station as quickly as I could.

"Thunder!" I called, running out of the elevator. He was in the far room, talking to the file translators.

"What is it?" He asked, looking up.

"Cerberus Witch is alive" I replied, stopping in the doorway.

"What?" He asked.

"From the trials." I started, "Cerberus Witch. I talked to his mother, he's still alive"

"Really?" He asked.

I nodded.

"Well, can we talk to him?"

"She said to swing by tonight, so that's what I'm doing"

Thunder smiled, "Good. See what happens when you do your job, Void?"

I smiled, "Right."

He waved his hand, gesturing for me to enter the room, "Come in, check this out"

I stepped into the room. It was rectangular with cardboard brown walls and a single wooden table covered in paper in the middle. Four men sat around it, reading over various parts of the Plan H file.

"Find something?" I asked.

He nodded, "Locations." He replied, "The location of the trials was right under that building. I'm sure you know what I mean"

I nodded, "Yes, I believe so." I replied, "Speaking of locations, I know where the trials ended"

"Steel Cliff, right?" Thunder asked.

"Yes" I replied.

He smiled, "We're getting somewhere." He said, shaking his finger in excitement, "And now, see this." He showed me the file, "Aldbay, remember? Where you first found the file"

"Tell me something I don't know" I said.

"I was just getting to that." He said, looking over the page again, "Fairison. We haven't been there yet, have we?"

I shook my head, "I don't think so." I replied. "Anywhere else?"

"Cor Village." He said, "Um, Erio, too. That's it"

"That's it?"

He nodded.

"That's all you've gotten? Just locations?"

He handed me the paper, "Take a look for yourself" He said.

I read it over. Their base in Fairison, Cor Village, Erio, and Aldbay all came up. It also stated that Cor Village was the location of a valuable weapon, one that could supposedly remove someone's semblance. Azure mentioned that, I remembered. Apparently the location in Cor Village wasn't horribly important to the plan itself, but I still figured that it was worth checking out. Aldbay was their biggest base for non-Heishi soldiers, and was more used for revenue. The people who worked there were more gangsters than soldiers by the sounds of it. Fairison was the location of the newest cloning facility, and Erio was more of a meeting area.

"This is important" I said, handing the paper back to Thunder.

"It is." He replied, "We should get people out there immediately"

"I agree." I replied, "I'll take some people to Cor Village tomorrow"

"You got some people in mind?" He asked.

"I do"

"Part of the force?"

"Some of them"

He paused, "Sounds good." He finally said, "Who'll you need?"

"Team WRGE." I replied, "You can take anyone else if you want"

"You planning on bringing some outsiders?"

"I know some people who might want to see this"

"You know that Ember Bronze and Grizzlibear Karzen just got out of the hospital, right?"

"I hadn't heard, no." I replied, "But that's good to know. I'll let them know right away"

Team WRGE seemed fine with joining me to Cor Village. Ember and Grizzly had recovered completely, so they were ready to get back to work, despite the fact that they didn't really do much to begin with.

I contacted Azure, but no one answered. I figured that I should try in a couple hours, or the next day even.

That night I returned to the Witch residence. I knocked on the door, and Mrs. Witch answered.

"Good evening Mrs. Witch" I said.

"Oh please, just call me Demeter" She said.

"Demeter." I said, "What a lovely name"

"Oh thank you." She said, "Please, come in"

I stepped into her house, and she closed the door behind me. Before me was an open room with hardwood floors. There were two open doorways at the end of the room, and a set of stairs pressed against the left wall.

"Cerberus is just in the kitchen." Demeter said, "Come with me" She led me through the doorway on the left.

In this room were a round wooden table and four chairs which surrounded it. To the left was a wall, and to the right was the kitchen. I realized that the other door led to the kitchen, which was connected to the dining area.

At the table sat a very large man with long red hair that shined with gel and other hair products. He wore a black muscle shirt and black pants. He certainly wore the shirt for a reason, as he had extremely muscular arms bulging out from the sleeves, or lack of. A black and violet striped coat hung over the back of his chair. Two brown gloves covered in straps and clasps sat on the table next to him. The man himself had lightly tanned skin, eyes as red as his hair, and a rectangular chin.

He looked up as I entered, and I almost flinched.

"So you're the reporter?" He asked. His voice was deep and intimidating. I got the feeling that he didn't use it often, and felt slightly honored yet a little terrified to hear him speak.

"Uh," I stammered, trying to find my words, "um, no. I'm with the military. We're investigating a case"

"Mm" He grunted, then gestured with his eyes to the seat across from him.

I hesitated, then took a seat.

Demeter came by and dropped a cup of steaming tea in front of me. "Thank you" I said. She smiled, then dropped a similar cup in front of the large man, whom I assumed to be Cerberus.

I didn't speak for a while, and neither did Cerberus. He picked up the teacup between two of his giant fingers and took a sip.

"So?" He asked.

"Oh, um, sorry." I started, clearing my throat. I needed to focus, "I understand that you were part of some trials a few years back? With Rocco Trask?"

He nodded.

"And I understood that you died in said trials"

"You're wrong there"

"I figured." I replied, laughing a little as I spoke, "But other than that, am I right?"

"Sounds right" He replied.

"So how is it that you survived the trials?" I asked.

"The ceiling caved in," He replied, sipping his tea, "and I dug out"

"I'm sorry?" I asked. "You dug out? What does that mean?"

"I dug out." He repeated, "Like a mole"

"Ah," I said, suddenly more confused, "How?"

"With my hands"

"Through rock?"

"Yes"

I almost asked how, but then I noticed his arms again.

"It's my semblance." He replied to my unspoken but obvious question, "I can dig out of pretty much anything"

"Ah." I said, much more satisfied with the answer. "That makes more sense"

He didn't say anything.

"Anyways," I continued, wanting to avoid any more awkwardness with him, "why did you leave the trials?"

"Because they were stupid." He replied, "And I didn't care anymore. Simple as that"

"You know that you were actually the first choice next to Dennis Soldier, right?"

"No"

"Were you also aware that everyone died except for Dennis Soldier?"

"Yes, I was aware" He replied.

"And you didn't try to help?"

"Not at the time"

"At the time?" I asked, "What does that mean?"

"It means that at the time I didn't do anything"

"Why?"

"Didn't know what to do"

I paused, "So, are you doing something now?"

"Yes"

There was yet another awkward silence. I caught it quickly, "D-um, what are you doing?"

"I'm hunting down all the Heishi"

"What?" I asked.

"I'm hunting down the Heishi" He replied.

"How do you know about the Heishi?" I asked.

"Reading" He replied.

"O-kay." I said. Clearly he'd been conducting an investigation of his own. "Why, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Because I'm the last of the candidates." He replied, "So it's my responsibility"

I tried to think of something else to say. He was doing this more for personal reasons, it seemed. "Do you know what threat the Heishi pose to us?"

"Somewhat." He replied, "I know they aren't good"

"So you've taken to hunting them all down?"

"Yes"

"I take it you're a huntsman by trade"

"Yes"

"Are you any good?"

"I've won the Hunter's Tournament before." He replied, "And like you said, I was the first choice next to Dennis"

I felt a smile curve my lips, "Would you be interested in joining a military taskforce dedicated to stopping the Heishi?"

He smiled slightly, "Go on."

So there you have it. Cerberus is alive and well, and he seems interested. Plus the locations which will likely consume a few chapters after this.

This'll hopefully be one of the last Crimson II chapters for a while. I mean, there's 14 of them and only about 5 for everyone else. There's a new objective though, which will bring the characters together finally.

By the looks of it some of the font is different after the split in the chapter, so I apologize if that shows through. This whole thing has been a bit wonky today. I have no idea how to change the font on here, if it even makes a difference. Anyways, that's not important.

And as usual, favorite, follow, review, tell your friends, tell your enemies, or don't if you don't want to (but I'd appreciate it) and I'll see you all in the next chapter!