"I shall commit my thoughts to paper, it is true; but that is a poor medium for the communication of feeling. I desire the company of a man who could sympathize with me, whose eyes would reply to mine."

Chapter 2 – A Nier-Death Experience

It was a pain in the ass but he should probably get up now, even if it hurt all over. Lost in a dream about his past and how he eventually made his way to this place. It took a surprising amount of effort, but Ragna finally managed to open his eyes only to be met by the crimson gaze of a girl looking down at him.

He knew her, barely. The girl who was doing battle with the vigilante from some time ago. She probably woke up earlier than him and now that he could focus on her features a little more, he took notice of the fluffy ears above her head. A beastkin then?

"Y-you're finally awake…" the girl said in a whisper. "I was worried my healing wasn't good enough."

He breathed out a sigh of relief and closed his eyes again. The response from the Azure Grimoire in his arm was weak at best. The Nox Nyctores had wounded him pretty badly but at least the girl was trying her best to heal him. Though he wasn't about to tell her that regular forms of healing wouldn't be of much use.

"Adept at many things aren't you?" he chuckled before coughing a little. Yep, the recovery wasn't complete yet. Looking back on it now, there was something curious about her too. Especially when it came to…

"For one whose heart is shrouded in darkness, thou art more curious than every other inhabitant of this realm. Who are yoo?"

There it was. Ragna opened his eyes again and looked up at the taller figure standing behind the girl. That one had gone berserk last time he remembered before he eventually lost consciousness. Right now though, it radiated an otherworldly calmness.

"That's a dangerous question to answer," Ragna frowned and forced himself to sit up to get a better view. "I should be asking you the same thing," he looked up at the being. It wasn't a mechanical monstrosity like the Nox Nyctores that had attacked them. But while it had a humanoid figure, it was definitely beyond any such notion of humanity. Any normal person would have been intimidated but then again, none here had much sense of normalcy anyways.

"I…" the girl murmured looking from Ragna and then to the being. "Promise you won't get upset?" she asked him.

He shrugged. "I don't really know you or anyone else. Trust me when I say there isn't much you can say that would upset me. Besides, I can't exactly get mad at someone who's trying to save my life." Ragna continued.

The girl's eyes seemed to light up, ears twitching at his words as she composed herself. "Call me, Nier. And this…" she gestured at the taller being standing over them, "…is Death. And, I wasn't really trying to save your life. Not originally at least…" she trailed off.

"Yeah, I figured as much." He shrugged, "Still, when you say Death…" he looked up at the taller figure. "You don't mean it literally do you? Metaphorically? Poetically maybe?"

"I am the Primal Beast, Death. No more, no less. The safety and happiness of my beloved is paramount. So if yoo would think of harming her in any way…" the figure leaned forward, its masked face directly in front of Ragna now, "Then I shall grant thee ten times the pain yoo would think of inflicting."

"Death, please…" Nier murmured, the Arcarum Primal returning to stand behind her once more.

"Good to know…" Ragna said, shuddering inwardly at the Primal's threat. It had its own will, that much was certain and he had never encountered anything quite like it before. "So what now? You don't have a place to head home to do you?"

Nier shook her head.

"No place in this entire Hierarchical City? At all?" Ragna continued.

Still a shake of her head. "I was hoping… m-maybe… I could travel with you for a bit? If you'd let me?"

In the back of his mind, something screamed at him to reject the offer. This was too weird, even for him. He didn't sense much malice coming from Nier, but there was also the fact that what he was about to do in this city wasn't suitable to have a travelling companion with in the first place.

"…Why?" he asked, "I don't think that's a good idea. I'm involved in dangerous things. Really dangerous things."

"Oh, that's okay! I've seen through your memories when I was healing you. I'm involved with plenty of murders too." she smiled at him.

"….!" What the hell? The way she said it so casually was so unnerving and the more she stared at him, the more he could see the hint of madness in her eyes. And now he was nervous about how exactly he should respond to that.

He gulped in nervously and breathed in deep. Tell her 'no,' and then get as far away as possible. Easy enough, right? He winced in a bit of pain, wait… still injured. Damn that Nox!

"Hold on, what do you mean looking through my memories? Wait, how much did you see?" he frowned.

"Enough to find intrigue. Sorrow to last a lifetime and the desire to take back what is owed from the world…" Death spoke up. "Thy dreams… and the lives you took. Exquisite! Wonderful!"

"My dreams, huh?" Ragna sighed and shook his head. If she had been looking through his dreams, then that just meant it was mostly just his recurring nightmares of that dark time in his life. The burning church and how his arm was removed. "Can't say you're totally wrong. But ask permission next time if you're going to look into someone's mind! That is a really invasive action."

"S-sorry! I promise I won't next time!" Nier replied, waving her hands in front of him.

He grunted putting more effort into standing up though he couldn't quite manage it just yet as he found himself on his back once more. At least it's safe here, relatively speaking. Wherever 'here' is.

"Meow…"

Ragna turned his head. From the corner of his eyes, he spotted movement and a pair of ears. Different from those of Nier but still meant one thing. Beastkin down here in the lower levels of the Hierarchical City.

"You can come out. I don't want to be stalked yet again, especially not when I'm like this." He called out.

Almost immediately the being revealed itself. Attired in a bright, beige-colored outfit with a hood that seemed to completely cover much of the beastkin's face. The only thing that could be seen were a pair of red, beady eyes and a tooth filled grin. A contrast to the gloomier-looking Nier, but similar in some regards. Mostly due to the ears atop the newcomer's hood.

"You're in my napping spot for so long, meow. I'm not even sure if you're moving anytime soon." The beastkin said, sniffing the air. "You smell familiar though. But you…" she moved over to Nier, the girl stumbling back in surprise while Death looked on, "…you don't smell like you're from around here, meow."

"I'm…not…" Nier replied as the beastkin moved back towards Ragna.

"Well, you don't seem like bad guys like the squiggly so I guess it's okay. But you don't look so good, not-so-bad-guy!" she exclaimed, looking Ragna over.

"No, really? I haven't noticed." He replied dryly.

"Well, you know what they say. When you're like that, you should head to the doctor's!"

"There's a doctor even down here?" Ragna wondered.

"What's a doctor?"

"You just said it! Argh…" Ragna grunted. Raising his voice definitely made him feel a sharp, stinging sensation in his chest.

"Doctor, doctor… oh! Boobie Lady!" the beastkin exclaimed. "We should take you there! Gloomy lady, help me carry him!"

"Eh?" Nier blinked, looking from the Beastkin and then to Death. "But I'm not strong enough to… w-wait! Don't just drag him like that!" she called out as the beastkin began pulling on Ragna's foot.

Death moved towards Ragna, picking him up as if to cradle him in her arms instead. "How sad. So sad. My beloved has taken a fancy to you. Happy. So happy. But also sad. So sad."

What an odd sensation, being picked up and carried off like this. Still hurts a bit, but Death's movement as they travelled were surprisingly graceful and elegant. He could only hope she didn't just drop him by accident. Whether he survived or not, it would be really inconvenient and painful.

Still… taken a fancy, eh? His eyes briefly moved over to Nier as she followed her Primal companion, all being lead by that Beastkin who apparently knew where a Doctor was located. What an odd bunch they all were.

"Well, I won't hold my breath." Ragna shrugged and closed his eyes again. Seems the schedule he had intended to follow would be delayed for a bit as he drifted off into slumber once more.