Holding Back Is Not an Option

The day was peaceful, or as peaceful as it could be between Lind and Akemi for extended periods at a time. Today they had come together to work out team strategies, specifically to establish safe houses in as many places as possible just to be as prepared as possible for future missions. Lind was attempting to list people who, though they may not be the most respectable bunch especially in their chosen professions, they would't snitch and were perfectly willing to help someone who has just committed murder or other equally illegal crimes. The pair sat in Lind's shop, a large map spread over the table as a reference point to make searching easier. Mercifully for Akemi, both Lind and his home were alcohol free for the day and the overgrown punk looked normal, for him anyways. Sunlight streamed through the sheer curtains, splaying a bluish light over both Knights and making patterns over Lindsay's white shirt. He pointed to a little corner of Oak Town saying, "Marcie lives right around her, brick apartment with boarded up windows and a hidden basement below the cellar. She's gone most nights for her... profession and doesn't tend to bring guests over so there's little chance of us being discovered. She'd have no problem hiding us, she specialized in acting during her one month stint at the arts Institute, but when she got kicked out for holding drugs she turned her acting on to seducing politicians and deceiving law enforcement. I think it'd be perfectly reasonable to establish a hideout there."

Akemi listened to the man with an amused look on her face, "You sure know your fair share of undesirables. Though, I suppose it does make our jobs a bit easier." Akemi said as she lightly tapped her finger on the wooden table, "Sorry that I can't be of more help on this one, I normally prefer the "hide in plain sight approach." After all, no one suspects such a small, fragile looking girl of anything." She said with a wink. She sits up a bit straighter, adjusting in her seat before pointing at a Shirotsume on the map, "Not far outside of town, there's a cave. It's not much, but it's well hidden. You wouldn't be able to see it unless you were looking for it." Akemi said, remembering the cave being the place she would go to practice her magic when she was younger. Her hand then moved up to Bosco, stopping about a two days walk from the boarder, "There's an abandoned cabin here, afew others and I used it back when I lived in Bosco. It should still be good, we left it in fairly good condition."

"People suspect me of everything, being an overgrown goth child as you like to remind me." He replied with a half smirk. As soon as she mentioned Shirotsume, Lind's face dropped and his face paled a bit. The location was oh so close to a place he hadn't been in over a decade and wasn't sure he necessarily wanted to get that close again. Clearing his throat he responded with,"Let's try to save that first one for extreme emergencies only. I'm not sure if a cave is, um, reasonable?" He knew he was floundering, but he really, really did not want to go back to that area even if it was for a safe place. Lind hoped Akemi hadn't caught his obviously uncomfortable aura about that place as he wasn't exactly in the mood to explain bad blood at the moment. Unfortunately, he was now on edge and focusing on the map was becoming problematic as distant memories whispered at the edges of his mind, familiar moments just out of reach as they tickled the surface. "Uh around here in Oak Town- ah shit, that's Clover Town... Over here in Oak Town there's another guy who has an underground trade business. If we ever got stuck somewhere, I'm sure he could get us out, um, you know, within the, uh, trade routes and all that..."

"Agreed, I never want to step foot in that town again. It was only a suggestion, just trying to help out the best I can." She said before letting him continue, his fumbling over his own words annoyed her greatly. "Gather your words before you speak. You're a grown man, not a child." She said adjusting her glasses before she turned back to the map on the table. She looked at it for a few moments trying to remember any other places that could be of use to them. Unlike Lind, Akemi was not known to make friends, even here in Crocus she spoke to very few people beyond Lind and Levina. All of the members mercenary group she was knew went there separate ways and she didn't have any friends that she could remember back in Shirotsume. She let out a sigh, "I'm at a loss." She said, rubbing her temple which caused her glasses to move up and down slight and scratch at the bridge of her nose only succeeding at annoying her further. She stops and looks back at the map, "Uh, here." She said pointing at the boarder between Pergrande and Iceberg. "A friend once told me there's a boarder town somewhere around here. He told me to avoid it because it was filled with lowlifes and criminals, I don't know much about it beyond that but if we're ever out that way I don't see why I would hurt to know it's there." Akemi said, realizing she really wasn't being any help at all. A cave she hasn't been to in years, a cabin probably taken over by nature, and a town she wasn't even sure really existed weren't exactly the best places to point out. "Anyway, on to other things. I heard there's been a recent increase in dark guild activities. Who knows, maybe we'll get to put some of them in there place soon?" She said with a smile as she tried to get off the topic of her uselessness in their current situation.

Lind scowled at Akemi for her comments on his stumbles, but nodded as she mentioned the boarder town. Even if it took some searching, it was good knowledge to have. He hadn't realized his hands had been fidgeting until the woman mentioned the possibility of attacking dark guilds. Due to the area's previous mention, Lind's eyes couldn't help but lock onto the town just past Shirotsume and stare a bit, praying the name would vanish from sight. Of course it wouldn't since magic didn't exactly work that way, but Lind thought it didn't hurt to try. He sighed and began rolling up the map before responding to Akemi. "Maybe we will, depends on how big of a problem they become. I have to admit that I am a little anxious, it's been quiet for longer than average. I'm not complaining about the break, but I almost get an eerie feeling, you know? Something is going to happen, but Hell if I can tell what." He didn't want to dwell on the thought of what dark guilds might need to be put in place, but now that the nagging feeling was brought up it wouldn't find peace. Lind's twitchiness had started up again causing him to pop out of his chair, quickly walk over to the window to peer outside for only a moment, stride to a counter and lift himself onto it to sit, pop off that as well, and finally just resort to aggressively wandering around his main floor while babbling. "What else did you hear about these guilds? What are they doing to need our involvement? If it's a large mass gathering then you'd think the Council would step in before us unless it's all happening amongst the underground which would definitely leave them in the dark longer. Do you have any information about the guilds, their sizes, or the amount of people involved? There's got to be- ow!" He was cut off by running his head into an open cupboard door, one he had opened in his frantic pacing to be exact. Pausing longer, he rubbed his head and checked that he wasn't bleeding though the only wound he seems to have attained is to his pride.

Akemi watched as Lind began pacing around the room, babbling to himself. She watched for a bit, more or less out of curiosity at first but she sighed as he kept going on and on, becoming annoyed as he bombarded her with questions. "Dear lord, a day without alcohol and he's already lost his marbles. Calm down, Lind. I've only heard rumors. I don't know why you've got your panties in a wad over something like this, you scared or something?" She teased before getting down to trying to answer at least the questions she had been able to hear, "Just dark guilds doing their dark guild things, Lind. Thieving, murdering, the works. I don't think they're all moving at once toward some nefarious goal or anything like that so no, I don't think the council will get involved. In fact, While normally I'm not the type to think so, I think it's just a coincidence that they're going about their plans at the same time. Dark guilds don't have the structure and order that the legal guilds have so I highly doubt they'd be able to all work together. Taking a few of them out would be no more than an intimidation tactic to scare the others back into hiding for awhile." Akemi explained before lightly biting on the tip her pencils eraser. "Coincidence or not, it's still an interesting coincidence none the less. To have them all going about their own business in a noticeable enough manner to draw attention. They probably don't even know what they're doing is being noticed. They're like a fly caught in a wed unaware of the hungry spider inching toward it, having no idea that it is their own foolish struggle to stay hidden that is telling the spider exactly where it is. It's almost humorous if you ask me, but I digress." Akemi said, shaking a bit in excitement at even thought of possibly being able to play the role of that hunger spider. "I don't honestly care though, so long as I get to kill something that doesn't want to be killed." She continued, regaining her composer. That's when she noticed the small communication lacrima buzzing in her pocket, "Well look at that, speak of the devil and he shall appear." She said as she pulled it from her pocket.

Pressing the button after sighting the familiar name on the screen, Akemi holds it up to her ear without saying a word. "Hello Venus, it's Sun. I have careful instruction for you in regards to recent news I have come across," His voice was stern yet had a sense of secrecy, denoting that he was not alone in his call to that of his comrades. The sound of background chatter could help those deduce that he was traveling through a marketplace or town of some sort. "I have just confirmed movement of the guild Salamander Tongue in their endeavors to take down a nearby dark guild that has been stirring up trouble in the nearby towns and villages. Their marks include that of burglary, murder, mutilation, and arson most of all." The noise in background ceases as the man's voice now ring clear. "The reason I am telling you this is that the guild that Salamander Tongue is going after is located in Joukamachi... Pheasant's Eye is the name. Now I know of Pluto's past, and his ties with this guild, but I command that you do not intervene in these affairs. The dark guild activity as of late has upset the balance of this world in favor of that which is dark. We mustn't let it continue in such a way to where it will be too heavy to restore the scale to it's fluctuating equilibrium. We must put aside our instinctive ideals to save those of our own blood; for if Pluto fights to protect those ideals, those ideals is all that will remain in the end. Interference on the behalf of that which he calls family will only further allow the darkness to spread. Do you understand Venus?"

"Mhm, I hear you loud and clear." Akemi said in a cheery tone before the lacrima call cut out, a satisfied "good" being his only response. "Did you catch all of that Lind? He put me in charge, that means no yelling or back mouthing, one hour of tv after dinner, desert if you've been extra good, and then a bath before bed at ten O'clock sharp." Akemi teased as she turned around in her seat, crossing her legs and leaning back to place an elbow on the table. Her face becoming a bit more solemn, "Sun said some...interesting things I wasn't unaware of, mind filling me in on what he meant when he said you had ties to this dark guild?" Akemi asked as she adjusted her glasses, "You don't have to if you don't want to though. It would be unfair of me to force you to tell me your past when I've revealed so little of my own." Akemi said as she checked her nails nonchalantly as though she really didn't care either way.

As Lind heard mention of Pheasant's Eye he swore he felt his heart stop only to pick up ten times faster upon hearing he wasn't allowed to interfere. One of his hands gripped the edge of the counter as the arm began to shake. He had stopped listening then, brain overwriting what he had just heard to begin planning for a trip to Joukamachi. The bright silver of Lind's eyes had dulled and it was clear he was only half listening to Akemi as he bolted into his room and slammed the door behind him. From Akemi's perspective there was probably just a bunch thudding and crashing noises, but in the room the artist prepared for war. Azrael had been out for cleaning and sharpening, his armor out for its own inspection and maintenance, and there were various chunks of metal he could use his ferrokinesis on lying about his room. As he placed things back from where they were summoned he reexited the room, stalked past Akemi, and unrolled a different map. He began muttering coordinates, weather conditions, and other things that would have to be factored into choosing the quickest route to his ex-guild. "I gotta get there before they do, I gotta save her. I can't let her die, not like this, not before I get to see her again. There was rumor of a giant storm here... and here was where those pesky prey birds tried an attack before. Let's see, I can go through here, past there, around that town so I don't get bothered. It shouldn't take more than a few hours by flight." Lind continued his rambling as he changed shirts, switching from his white shirt to a deep green one and adding a leather jacket. He looked directly at Akemi as he asked, "Would you mind scooting over just a bit? My flying goggles are behind you."

Akemi's unamused face quickly contorted into one of anger. "Don't you dare ignore me, Boy." She states in a tone that conveyed authority and commanded attention, her eyes conveying something that one might describe as nearly demonic as she stared directly into his eyes. "You're not going anywhere. I was given the mission of seeing to it that you remained here and as I'm sure you're very aware, I intend to complete it." She said, sliding a knife from her sleeve and twirling causally in her hand. Her eyes flickering from his to the knife in her hand, "at all costs of course." She said, her voice carrying little to no emotion, being vastly different from the authoritative one she had previously used. Her eyes flickered back up to meet Lind's, lips curling into an almost sinister smile. "Now, I do believe I asked a question. Story time?"

Seeing Akemi had no plans on moving, Lind gave an exasperated sigh and plopped back down in a chair, pointing out Joukamachi, and setting his face in a light scowl towards her. "Here. This is where, for the first fourteen years of my life, I was born, raised, and trained. This town was taken over by a dark guild that once only resided outside its borders known as Pheasant's Eye. And that guild is the one where my mother and father both still live, my mother acting as the ace and my father a standard level mage, but an amazing blacksmith. Azrael was forged by my father and handed down to me by my mother when I left. I left them sitting there, they watched me leave and thought that it was something they did wrong as if I didn't love them or couldn't wait to get away. That guild held everything I could ever really need; a multitude of books both rare and recent, the materials and space to create whatever you dream, and the artifacts and treasures that have been corrected over many lifetimes. There's more knowledge and history in that building than anyone could ever fit in their head." Lind's face had dropped the angry look for a soft, reminiscent smile as he talked. Even basic mentions of where he once belonged took him back through some of the happiest memories he had. "But it didn't hold much for mercy. They lenient when it suits them, but sometimes it's not so necessary to kill someone. I know you hate it when I spare people, but I still believe that death requires a balance, not a massacre. So, Akemi, maybe I want to go back to make sure it doesn't end this way. Pheasant's Eye's strength thins and swells like the tides, but unfortunately right now they're smaller and no matter how strong they are, a legal guild of that size would wipe them out. I need to help them, I have to make sure my mom knows that even though I didn't come back for almost a decade, I still love her. I didn't intend to not come back, but it's hard to look someone who cared for you for so long in the eye when you tell them you are a failure. I would rather my mother know that than die thinking I could hate her. I don't see how you referring to me as someone of the male gender and pulling out a knife is supposed to change my mind. What are you going to do? Kill me?"

A genuine smile of amusement appears on her face, entertained by Lind's sudden courage in standing against her. Normally such a thing would infuriate her, but his willingness to stand up to her was a true testament to how strongly felt about the situation and in a way she felt proud of him. That being said, her mission remained the same. "You're trying to act before thinking any of it through. Legal guilds do things differently than us or dark guilds, they don't kill, Lind. If anything they'll be beaten and then arrested, the likelyhood of anyone from Pheasant's Eye dying is very low. You must know that, right?" Akemi said with a shrug, "I mean sure, Pheasant's eye will be no more, but no one is going to die and that's what you were worried about. You can visit mommy dearest in prison whenever you like, and tell her how sorry you are from behind a magical barrier." Akemi said before falling silent for a few moments, "and for your information, I had no doubt that a stern talking to and a knife wouldn't change your mind. No, they were simply a deterrent meant to discourage you from doing something foolish without listening to me first. And as to whether or not I would kill you? Well, let's just hope it doesn't come to the point where I have to make that decision, for your sake of course." She said, still casually twirling the knife. She sighs and puts the knife back where it belonged before turning back toward the map. "It is our job as Solis knights to maintain the balance between light and dark, there are cases where we will have to sacrifice the good for the bad and vice versa. It is what we signed up for, what we all knew we were getting into when we joined. Surely you knew this day would eventually come, Lind."

"My mother would sooner burn herself from the inside out before being taken prisoner by law. She could very well incinerate herself trying to fight to her last breath. And of course I knew what I was doing when I became a Knight, but I can't lose people who mean so much to me anymore. When I took this position the thought that I would have to remain stationary while my parents burn themselves into oblivion never quite crossed my mind. But you're right... as a Knight it's not my place to disrupt the balance. I hate that you're right, but this is my job, isn't it?" Lind's voice had dropped to a low murmur as he slumped forward and let his head sink into his hands. His posture looked utterly defeated and his eyes locked on the wood of his floor as he continued, voice cold and sharp. "I hate not being able to do anything and I hate losing people, but if this job requires me to remain neutral while my family is lost then so be it. I should be better at handling death by now, shouldn't I? I'm not in the right mindset to continue our planning so please, just leave. "

" I can't say that I relate or know how you feel, the having a family thing. My mother left when I was young and I killed my father when I was fourteen." Akemi said, feeling it was only fair for her to reveal a bit of her own past seeing as how she forced Lind to reveal his. "But I'm glad you understand the position you're in. We are the grey in a world so set on separating itself into black and white and therefore we mustn't lean too far to one side or the other, lest we become tainted and lose that balance." Akemi explained as she got to her feet, "As my partner I am supposed to trust you, but I'm not satisfied with words alone." She said holding out her pinky finger, "Swear to me on your life that you won't do anything stupid."

"I promise I won't do anything reckless." Lind swore, hooking his pinky with hers. He made sure to look her dead in the eyes as he said it so she could see that his own did not tell a false tale. Akemi was smart but he hoped she didn't catch just how carefully he had chosen his words. To be reckless was to take action without thought, but to Lind he had done plenty of thinking. As Akemi left he whispered a soft 'I'm sorry' before the door closed and mentally locked the door behind her. He would wait, it would throw off his time, but he would give it a few hours before he disappeared. During that time he cleaned up the mess he had made in his hurry to leave by reorganizing his materials from the map work, finishing maintenance on his equipment, and then took the time to strap it on by hand. After pulling his aerial goggles over his head, pulling up the half face mask, and grabbing the intricately designed skeleton key of a hook by the door, Lind exited his home. If he had wanted to simply lock up he would have used ferrokinesis to bolt the door, but when he placed the key in the lock and turned, his entire shop disappeared with a slight pop. From there the Knight got atop a neighboring building, took a running leap over the edge, and snapped out his tattooed wings to take flight. Akemi could be dealt with later, but now he had to save Pheasant's Eye.

Akemi returned to her shop, spending the rest of the day there until close which to her surprise came much quicker than she had thought it would. She exited the store, turning the sign and locking the door behind her. Akemi sighed, remembering her conversation with Lind earlier that day and how distressed he seemed. While she had hated both of her parents she knew that was not the norm for most people and the thought of possibly losing those people would probably burden them greatly. It was then she decided to go against her own instincts of letting others sort out their own problems and she would visit him in hope of possibly being lessen the burden he bear. She checked her watch to see it was just a quarter past six. She knew it would be pushing it a bit to think that he hadn't eaten dinner yet but she decided to stop by a nearby store she picked up something to eat anyway, hoping that seeing that she was at the very least trying would help get him out of the rut he found himself in.

The street lights began to come on as she walked down the streets of Crocus, the sun barely peeking over the horizon as she entered the neighborhood Lind's shop resided in. He'd better not be crying, I don't need to deal with that kinda crap she thought to herself as she turned down Lind's street. She stared wide eyed at the vacant lot when she found herself in front of Lind's shop. Or at least, where Lind's shop should have been. She lowered her head, clenching her teeth hard as her grip on the bags in her hands tightened to the point her hands turned white and she began shaking. "That bastard..."She mumbled under her breath several times before throwing the bags on the ground. "I trusted you, you bastard!" She yelled angrily as she stopped the bags into the stone road. "You promised," she said before falling silent. Feelings of betrayal overcame her as Lind's actions once again reminded her of why she didn't trust others. "You promised on your life!" She mumbled under her breath as black wings sprouted from her back and she took to the sky. Once she was high in the air she took a moment to calm herself, remembering everything Lind had told her. Once she remembered the exact location of the town he had pointed at over the map she requipped her featureless mask as well as he mission gear and flew off in the direction of said town at an astounding speed. She had no idea exactly when Lind had left so she flew as fast as she could with a single thought in mind, "Find and ki&mdash;stop Lind before he reaches Pheasant's Eye."

Lind wasn't sure what made him turn around. He had been making good time towards Pheasant's Eye other than the minor hold up with a flock of angry geese, but other than that all storms had been avoided and the air currents were working with him. However, a dreadful feeling settled in his bones and after trying to shake it off for a few minutes he gave in and turned around. There was something else behind him, too large to be a normal bird and the physique looked more humanoid. Whatever it was, it was coming towards and it was closing in quickly. Deciding that he could either hide out in the woods until the thing past or would at least have a better chance of ending a battle quicker on the ground, Lind dove headfirst towards the mass of green below, tucking in his wings to get there quicker. He snapped them out just before he hit the foliage to slows descent and dropped to the earth, rolling to displace momentum since he hadn't had the space to do a running stop. His wings disappeared as he rolled forward and Azrael was ready to be summoned when he came back to his feet. The Knight tucked himself behind a tree and prepared to face an attacker. He wasn't prepared however, to see Akemi drop into the forest behind him. His brain didn't register her expression until he had already stepped out and asked, "Akemi? What in the name of Hell are you doing here?"