Seika sighed as he rested comfortably in Hitomi's suite. He had spent more time here recently than he can remember with others in the organization that they worked for. He didn't quite understand why he had grown so attached to the woman. Of course they had spent some time together and had even grown as colleagues in their respective departments. But to have grown so close to someone who had not professed their life to Sol was... interesting. Not bad, but very different. It was so odd in fact that he had meditated on it many times in the past few days to actually see if something fundamental had changed within his person, but to his pleasant surprised, it had not.

His thoughts began to wander again as a knock came to the door, startling him from his moment of solace. Not immediately sensing Hitomi in the room, he arose from his seat and swiftly approached the door, his lack of sight no longer hindering him as he had grown rather intimate with the placement of her furniture by running into just about everything in the space in the past few days. Opening the door, he faced out into nothing as the small boyish messenger took a step back at the sudden appearance of the large black man. Stuttering meekly, the young boy announced his presence as a Page before handing the missive out to Seika who took it graciously. He would ask for more details before hearing something about a pest menace in the city. Not needing to hear anymore, Seika would dismiss the boy before turning around and closing the door. He guessed he would wait for Hitomi to finish up with whatever she was doing before opening the missive, seeing as he couldn't currently read it himself.

Hitomi sighed as she looked over the fruit choices, she didn't know what to pick and she didn't want to get too much of it in fear that it wouldn't all be eaten before it spoiled. Deciding to go with some pineapple she hurried back to her suit, nearly bumping into a small Rune Knight Page on her way up. The boy quickly addressed her in the most respectful way and explained he had given a mission to Seika who was supposed to be still resting in her Suite. Thanking the small child she gave him some chocolate and sent him on his way before making her way upstairs and into the suite.

Walking through the door with a bag of groceries, Hitomi was greeted by Seika's presence which she already knew was there. Shuffling to the kitchen to place the groceries down she made her way back to Seika, sitting down on the couch and looking in his direction. " I just saw a little page boy who said he had a mission for us. Let's see it. " Placing her hand out she didn't expect Seika to read it, he had blinded himself in the name of his god. She had a feeling she already knew what they would be asked to do but she knew she must read it anyway.

He had been left to his devices for a few more minutes allowing him to amble about the rather spacious locale that was the combined space of the living room and dining room. A smile covered his features as he moved over towards the radio that Hitomi had used days earlier to fill the domicile with soft jazz music. Using the dials and buttons, he eventually found himself onto a soft lo-fi hip hop channel and kept the volume relatively low as to fill the room with background noise. From there he would travel back towards the kitchen and found himself before the fridge. Deciding to open it, he'd allow his nose to guide him through the enclosure, while unfortunately he couldn't ascertain the contents of anything that was packaged as his nose wasn't that well trained, he was more accustomed to certain items like fruit and vegetables. Using their latent scents, he picked out a plum and a tangerine before closing the fridge and moving around the large central counter to sit at the bar comfortably as he peeled at his tangerine. He had grown accustomed and comfortable with his self imposed debilitation by now and was finding rather unique ways to test his now growing senses. He had found that he relied on his sense of sound the absolute most. While his nose wasn't too bad, it just didn't pick up on the finer details that came in on the wind as well as his ears could pick up on the various sounds that may or may not fill a particular area. Touch and taste were equally worthless in navigating the world around him, taste for obvious reasons, but touch simply because by time anything could touch him, it was already too late to figure out where or what it was. He would have to definitely hone his hearing abilities a bit more if he was to be an asset to the Rune Knights in any form but that would have to wait as his head snapped to the direction of the door after hearing the lock on the door click to the open.

Ears straining, he could hear the telltale sound of Hitomi's shoes clicking on the wood floor as she entered the suite. Smiling, he'd greet her with a soft and simple, "Welcome back Hitomi." Rising from his seat, he'd help her put away the groceries she had procured before following her into the living room. Hearing her demand, he wistfully pulled it from his pocket before handing it in the direction of her voice, his head still looking out over her form as he wasn't used to looking at objects that had his attention just yet. "Here you go."

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"Thank You. Have you been resting well? " Taking the letter Hitomi would sit down on the dark green recliner and sink into its plushness, kicking her feet up and letting her muscles relax. In all honesty, she could get used to this sort of thing and she wasn't opposed to having a least one suit in her name in every town she went to. Her mind wandered off to that thought as she lowered the paper in her hand. She made a good amount of money and had enough pull in a lot of areas that she knew she could get a pretty good discount. Looking over at Seika she wondered what his living arrangements were like when he traveled, she wondered if he had some sort of permanent residence or did he live in whatever living arrangement the Rune Knights set up for them.

They had worked together, had plenty of conversations, been in each other presence so often that she thought them friends, but still she had very little information about him that he gave to her himself. Her thoughts branched off into this lack of information. Yes, she could have just pulled it up herself but she rather he gives it to her. That was the kind of trust she wanted between them, where he could tell her anything without having her go snoop around. Hitomi could remember the days when Seika hardly said a word to her, hell he hardly said a word to anyone. His reason now that she thought about it didn't make much sense to her, he hadn't said anything that she didn't like so what exactly were people talking about when he said they didn't like what he had to say? Looking at the mission again she saw that it was a lot going on, with quite more than just slaying. They had to collect information, set traps, interrogate a few cult members, and of course, slay rats. It looked like they would have a few busy days ahead.

"Mmm, we are gonna be busy. It seems to me and with the contents of this letter that the rat problem has been amplified by some overzealous cult members. We've been tasked with a few things, most notably collecting information from a town just outside of orchidia near the forest about some missing children. We have also been tasked with setting up traps to catch more cult members once we've interrogated information out of a few members of that same cult that had been captured. It sounds like they've been using the children as a sacrifice to summon a demon who is turning the rats into abominations. " Letting out a deep sigh of frustration she placed the letter on the coffee table in front of her before rising out of her chair and moving over to the kitchen. Pouring herself some water, Hitomi stood in silence for a moment as she mulled over their task. " This is going to be such a pain in the ass. " The words slid from her mouth like a whisper as she spoke them between sips. She hated people that hurt those who couldn't protect themselves, and she hated it even more that children were involved. At this point, the thought of the children being harmed was starting to fester in her heart. She knew those interrogations would only end in the deaths of those cult members if she was going to get to them.

Looking up from her drink she turned her attention back to Seika. How in the world was this man supposed to see the task ahead of them? Would she need to take extra special care of his blindness? Or maybe she could just give him the tasks that didn't pose any danger to him? Yes. That was it. She could let him do the interrogations. If he did it she wouldn't be in the position to kill the cult members and the job gets done. Thinking it over more she already began placing the non-combat portion of the work on him in her mind. Hitomi figured he could take over questioning the village folks and setting the traps down for the capture of the cult members. She could just leave him in the village as " protection " while she cleared out the rat and cult dens. Yes, Seika could make sure that no more children were whisked away or at least allow his presence to be a deterrence. This was of course all wishful thinking as she hadn't actually asked him yet what his stance was on the jobs she wanted to give him. Hitomi could only hope he agreed with her once she did ask though, or this might be a harder job than it needed to be.

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After handing her the missive that he had been given by the messenger, Seika went back towards the kitchen to collect the groceries that Hitomi had brought with her after her day out in the cities markets. He laughed at her question before answering with a simple, "Yes I got a bit of rest", before he let the muted white noise of lo-fi fill the air as Hitomi read through the details of their task. Reaching the marble topped counter, he'd feel out slightly for the bag before grasping the rough paper like material firmly and hoisting it up and towards the fridge. Placing it back down on the counter next to the appliance, he'd open the package to begin reaching into it and grabbing ahold of various items. He'd allow himself to get into a rhythm as he did this, his body moving rather smoothly as he flowed from one item to the next, deftly cracking open various cabinets and doors to place items in the areas that they belonged. It went to show that he had become rather familiar with the placement of cabinets and objects within Hitomi's suite, something that most people would find rather odd, but Seika didn't dwell on these things. He had accepted Hitomi's offer to house him after he had willingly blinded himself, but he did so out of gratitude instead of relief. He wasn't too worried about his ability to manage in most scenarios. People didn't know how to be quiet if he were terribly honest. So there was always some sort of noise, some sort of tell that let him know where he was and where he was going. It also helped that he had a metallic staff when he left the house that he could use to sort of find his way along, he wasn't completely helpless.

He would be almost half way through the groceries when Hitomi finally spoke up leaving Seika to assume that she had finished the missive. Lifting up his head and turning it in her direction, he focused his attention onto her as she began to go over the accumulated details of the mission. From what she was saying it was a pretty hefty task as well. Multiple objectives, multiple targets, multiple scenarios. The both of them working side by side in this situation would not be ideal if he were honest but it was necessary that they handled each part as sufficiently as possible to reduce the eventual fallout and potential deaths that may come from it all. Of course in the end it all lead back to the rats that they would inevitably have to remove from a location. He wasn't such about the last time he had encountered the rodents, but he was certain that he had a better grasp on the situation now that Hitomi had summarized it for him.

Returning to his self imposed task, he began to mull over all of the details again in his head as Hitomi went back to the missive leaving him with his own thoughts. He grimaced as he realized that a good portion of this quest was going to deal with sensitive subjects such as children and the like and it was going to require a bit more of a delicate touch, something that he had learned Hitomi lacked when children or those she perceived as children were in harms way. Finishing up the groceries, he'd ball up the bag before depositing it in the trash and walking over to the couch.

"What are your initial thoughts? How should we tackle this in your opinion?" He spoke up form beside her as he settled into the couch as well, his body relaxing into the posh cushions. He tried to not think of the suffering those children were likely going through as he relaxed however, removing such thoughts from his mind for now would allow him to focus on the end game.

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Although he was blind Seika had proved to be very helpful. He learned the lay of her suite quickly and even helped her with the basic chores. Her choice to let him stay with her was a good one. She enjoyed his company and he wasn't a lazy slouch. Hitomi hadn't put much thought into it before but she hadn't really had companionship as close as this before. Her time with Eternal Nightmare allowed her very little interaction with her rather busy guildmates. She often found herself alone though she wasn't really alone, not with the presence of Asmodeus inside of her. Odin was always pleasant to her but he was always busy as well, she didn't expect anything less of her guild master of course but still, it felt more lonely than anything now that her mind wandered to those thoughts. Even now with knowing what she knows about her family and even meeting them, she feels their presence waned. Her grandfather sent her five brothers to look over and protect her. Hitomi, of course, rejected them but they wouldn't leave and at some point, she grew a connection with them and them with her. They would have been here now but something happened with grandfather back in Joya and they were called back. It's been months since she's heard anything from anyone and the worst thing is she's been sending letters with no response. Hitomi didn't want to think about the worst. She didn't want to lose another family. Her life had been filled with so much loss she was starting to think she was cursed, that perhaps Asmodeus really did curse her after she purged the demon from her body. These thoughts were mindless ramblings in the back of her mind but Seika's words brought her attention full and center.

" Well our tasks seem simple enough, there are just a lot of them and the best way to take care of them is to split some of them up. I understand you are capable but some tasks I will do alone. I'll ask you to take part in the interrogations and once it's over I'll take the information given and capture the rest of the cultists. We need to reach the head of this thing. In between all of that, we'll start taking out the rats around that town we'll be stationed in. Our top priority is the protection of the people and their children. We can take care of the rats together once we've gathered all the information about what the hell these people were up to. How could rats be this much of an issue? " Laughing to herself as she rose from her seat and took a stretch she knew she had about a day to prepare. " Do you want something to eat? It's about lunchtime and we don't have to make any moves until tomorrow. We can plan out what we need to as we eat. "

1,547/2,5000

Seika relaxed comfortably on the couch as he listened to Hitomi break down the tasks at hand. He nodded along slowly as he understood each and every point that she made about the situation and what their work would entail. It seemed that the situation itself was far more dire than the two had encountered before hand. In particular, it seemed the source of the rats themselves were not nearly as benign or natural as it would have seemed. Of course Seika already knew this, but it was rather hard to explain spiritual information like that to others who could not also experience it. Of course Hitomi had shown a bit of interest into Sol but it was more than likely a cursory interest into Seika himself, and that was something that Seika understood and accepted. He wasn't going to force a love and worship of Sol onto others. Sol would never want him to do that.

Giving a final nod to the plan and understanding his role within the matter, he would sigh and give a soft smile. "It seems that the fates have once again given us a rather heavy job. Hopefully we can complete everything without issue. There are far too many lives at stake for us to mess up here." Turning to face her even if he could not see her face, his smile only seemed to glow, "I appreciate you giving me the easier tasks for your concern of my disability, but I assure you, it won't be an issue. Time is of the essence if we are to complete all of the tasks before the children are harmed."

It wasn't so much of a plea as it was a statement to Hitomi. Like he had said, he greatly appreciated her care and comforts as she had provided them, but he wasn't unaware of her feelings about him and the motherly way she dotted over his person, especially after the incident in their last mission. He wasn't too familiar with what had happened himself, and he damn sure was certain she had so many questions, but he just couldn't answer them.

And so he turned back to face the front, "Since we'll have to leave out soon I will go ahead and prepare. We should tackle two tasks at once. Since you want me to handle information gathering, how about I go and gather information on the cultists under the guise of helping the town folk while you eliminate the rat menace. That way by time you're finished with that, I should have a good idea of where the cultists are hiding out. And then we can take them out, together."

He'd turn and give her yet another bright smile before rising from the couch and heading towards his room in the abode to gather his things. It was going to be a long day.

1,974/2500

Great all was coming together and quite nicely. Seika had some input on how he could be more useful and allow this to go much more smoothly and much more quickly. They shouldn't even have to wait until tomorrow to get this done. The sooner the better right? There were too many people's safety at stake to wait a whole day when they could get it done now. They honestly wouldn't need much but it was probably best to eat and get a little rest before tackling a task like that. Even though Seika told her not to worry she did. He crippled himself for his god's favor or something and though he said he'd be ok she wasn't so sure. Watching him get off the couch and into the room she let him stay in, Hitomi made sure he was out of sight before dropping her head back on the plush cushions. She was tired of working these sorts of jobs. Honestly, she didn't know how much longer she wanted to stay within the rune knights. Yes, the perks were amazing and the money was good but her life was starting to feel dull, she was just going through the motions.  

A sigh slipped from her lips as she quickly raised herself off of the couch and dragged herself into the kitchen to whip up a few sandwiches of varying kinds, cutting up a few fruits and putting out some water. It didn't take long for her to plate it all up and set it out for Seika to take once he was ready. Enjoying a few of the sandwiches herself, she made her way to her own private area which had a full bathroom attached to it. With what was about to happen she wasn't going to deny herself the luxury of a bath and perhaps some wine. With the thought of wine, she doubled back into the kitchen to grab a bottle of red wine and a cup. Slipping back into her room she started her bath and began to pack some essentials for the trip. Things that included first aid, maps of the area, flares, and other little but important things. Placing everything neatly in a small bag that she could place on her back she made sure to pull Kusanagi from the holder it was on. She wouldn't forget the sword but she liked everything already set up for her so she could grab it and go. With everything set up she quickly slipped into the bath, sipping her wine and letting her body relax into the hot bubbly water. Hints of fresh rain and a pine-filled bathroom soothed her mind and senses. Hitomi let herself enjoy the bath for about an hour before she drained the tub and got out to dry off and get dressed. Taking a look outside from her room she could see the sky darkening and made note that they would probably be better leaving as soon as possible.

Slipping on some comfortable clothes to travel in she left her room and knocked on Seika's. " Whenever ya ready we'll leave. The sooner this is over with the better. I think we've earned ourselves a vacation honestly. " The last sentence was followed by a light chuckle as she made her way back to the platter of sandwiches and began enjoying one. If there was on thing Hitomi learned about herself was that she loved food, making it more than eating it but both were still highly enjoyable.

2,147/2,500

Entering the room quietly he'd close the door behind himself and sigh. This situation had grown worse and worse ever since they had arrived. It almost seemed as if it were caused by their presence in the area rather than any actual issues that the region had naturally. The thought of them being the cause of the hardship for the people of Orchidia left a sour taste in his mouth as he moved forward to gather his things. He realistically didn't need much for his part of the plan, considering he was going to be within the cities walls gathering information for him and Hitomi to use later to locate the missing children. Maybe a few essentials here and there, but it would primarily be the clothing on his back and his staff to aid him in navigating the throughways of the city. He could understand Hitomi's apprehension on letting him go out a lone but he had been exploring the city quite extensively enough to know how to get to each section without much issue.

Dressing himself rather quickly after a short hot shower, he stared ahead in the darkness that was his room. It was odd if one were to consider the fact that the first few days he had turned on the light to sort of try and gain clarity only to realize that he actually couldn't see the light coming from the lamps overhead. Once he had gotten used to this eternal darkness he had subjected himself too, he had grown rather close to his staff. The lamp up atop the metal and wood structure being the only light he could actually perceive aside from Sol's own gracious blessing. The world seemed that much colder and darker without a constant light source but he was able to make do without it as he navigated a life of eternal darkness.

Grasping his staff gently, he'd lift it before sitting down on his bed as he held the weapon firmly between his legs and merely basked in the ethereal glow and warmth that emanated from the holy weapon. It's bright torch burned with some semblance of ferocity that was unheard of as it perfectly encapsulated everything that Sol had given to those who walked the face of the earth. It was these musing however that were interrupted when Hitomi had knocked on his door and announced that they could leave once he was ready.

Time wasn't something he could readily perceive anymore, especially now that he was prone to spacing out into meditative bouts. And thus he hadn't realized that he had sat on his bed mediating for going on thirty minutes now, more than enough time for Hitomi to prepare everything for their mission. Nodding to himself, he rose up from his seat and exited the room so that he could leave out with her. He made sure to grab one of the sandwiches he could smell on the counter while he was passing it. Stepping into the elevator with a series of soft clicks from his staff on the ground, he'd wait beside Hitomi as the elevator took them down to the ground floor where they would split up to complete their separate tasks.

Seika would head towards the south side of Orchidia, the location of where most of the kidnappings had occurred. He wasn't sure that he would get a lot of information out of the people there, but someone would know something about the situation. It wouldn't take him long to begin questioning the folks of the shanty town, the claustrophobic building codes no longer affecting Seika due to his lack of sight. He could hear the graciousness in the vocals of those he spoke with, many parents expressing gratitude and hope that they would locate their children. Seika could feel for them, his heart wishing for the children's safety just as theirs did. It was one of these meetings however that granted him the most fruit for his labor.

Sitting down with the family, he was told of a strange group that had come to the family with the request that they handed over two of their children in exchange for favor. While he wasn't able to see properly, the fact that what he sat on was rather hard and uncomfortable as well as the dingy smell and stagnant air, but from these details he could tell that these people weren't struggling even more than the usual. So he understood why they had wished for favor and why they had been so ready to hand over their children, and why now that they were hearing about the kidnappings they were a bit more worried about the fate of their children.

Going over the details some more, he was even able to be pointed in the right direction to get more information for his trouble, but before he could leave a package was placed within his hands before he could properly exit the abode. Apparently it was full of precious jewelry that the woman had collected and would not accept not paying Seika for bringing her children back. Feeling a bit torn, he would pocket the package and leave, intent on locating these children before something bad happened. He would hate to return with more bad news.

[Exit]

[WC passed.]

She didn't have to wait long before Seika was out of the room. The time the two had spent together was forging a bond that Hitomi was happy to have. She knew he couldn't see her but she smiled when he took the sandwich and she began wrapping up the rest of the food with a plan to give them to Seika to give to the children. Before leaving for the elevator she quickly grabbed the things she packed and her prized possession, the sword Kusanagi. Once the two were outside it began to rain, quite hard at that so much so it ruined the food even though it was wrapped up. Sucking her teeth she threw the food out and followed Seika until the two came to a part where they had to depart. Her task for the day was much different from her companions as she would be dealing with the rat menace that had been plaguing the area as of late. She didn't know if Orchida always had this problem but it was very odd that it ramped up while they had stationed themselves in the town. Hitomi couldn't wait to leave this place, she was tired of being placed on rat duty. It felt like every day she was bathing in the blood of some damned rats. This wouldn't have been so much of an issue except these rats were not even normal but something much worse due to some crazy cult.

Once Hitomi was far enough away from Seika and deep into the forest she began to notice an uptick of rats. Her boots were stained with the blood of the rats she trampled and her shirt and pants splattered with that same blood as her sword cut through their bodies like butter. The deeper into the forest she went the more rats she cut down until she found the den they were going in and out of. It looked like a growing wriggling mound of bodies, the hole barely able to contain the rat horde. Lifting her sword in the air the storm raged ever stronger and without another second wasted a booming sound killed the mound of rats, leaving the forest with silence. Hitomi kept on walking though as those rats who were not caught in the blast began moving in one direction. Following the rats, she found that they led her to a run-down village of sorts. Sneaking her way around Hitomi hid in the shadows, the storm letting up enough for her to overhear some voices from a cabin From what she could gather she had found the cult she was looking for. Heading back she jumped into the mound where all the rats were and it led her to the sewers which led her to a building that had even more rats. Killing the rats she found and pocketed treasure that she found inside before reporting that her task was complete.

[exit]

2644/2500