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Neko slouched at the bar in the inn they had decided to stay at for the time being. His mood had not quite improved since the whole ordeal. At times he would turn around expecting Hitsu to be there...but she wouldn't be. It was an illusion, a sick fabrication his mind had made up.

It was hard to imagine a month had passed already, it didn't seem so long ago that the greatest tragedy they had yet to experience befell them.

Seated in the corner in one of the rooms, Mitsu sat quietly, fingers tracing over a small black piece of fabric. It was all that remained of her plush dragon Scales. She seemed to remember the toy rather fondly, but her memories of the past few months with the group were rather sketchy at best. At times she seemed to realize the adventure they had been on...other times she barely knew who they were.

From time to time she would find herself feeling sad, lonely, and missing someone, but she wasn't always sure who she was missing. Images were blurred, memories distorted, and what had been real seemed like a dream at best.

It was a bit of a lose-lose situation for Blade at the moment. When he tried to take his mind off of the strange thoughts in his head, he was reflecting on what happened at the lab and what happened afterwards. And when he tried not to think of those, the other thoughts returned. He couldn't tell which of the two were the lesser evil he'd rather deal with. His clouded mind made it rather hard to really be able to focus on gathering supplies, and that in itself was odd. Normally his stealing sprees could distract him from just about anything.

"Come along children of the gods! Today is the day thy souls shalt be blessed and freed," announced some holyman in front of the town church. It seemed it was about time for a sermon of sorts to begin.

"You there!" he exclaimed while pointing to Blade as the thief was passing by, "I sense a man with a troubled heart. Why don't you come attend today? It may enlighten you and ease some of the burdens within you."

"I don't think it'll help me all that much," he replied calmly, "Thanks for the offer though."

"Now now, don't be that way, come on in," the priest said while reaching out to take Blade's hand to try and lead him into the church. Nearly immediately, the thief's dark red eyes widened and he gave a shout as he felt a searing pain shoot through that very hand. Both men recoiled, though for slightly different reasons.

"Demon!"

"I'm not a de-"

"Get away you foul creature. I take back the offer; leave before I send the guards after you. Your kind are not welcomed here."

Looking up as Riyo started to take her leave, Mitsu got up from her spot in the corner to follow her like a little lost duckling. Sometimes she was fine on her own and others....she was terrified. This seemed to be the moment she was scared as she followed Riyo out the door without her shoes, her bare feet barely making a sound against the flooring.

Letting the door fall closed Mitsu followed silently behind the feline, the small patch of black fabric clutched tightly in her hands. Her dull red eyes focused on Riyo trying to keep her in her sights so that she didn't get lost.

It had been a while since Neko had drank, mostly because every time he did something bad happened to him, but he currently found himself downing his second drink. Thankfully he was taking it slow but the long absence of alcohol apparently had knocked down his tolerance level. He could already feel his body temperature rising.

Looking around from his seat at the bar he started to wonder where the others were. Blade had gone out for supplies....but that had been a long while ago. Usually the thief was rather quick about returning even if he was stealing or buying.

"Look. I'm not a demon," Blade insisted with a frown. Though, because of what Suto had done to him, it was very hard to prove that he wasn't. The only thing that really was different was that he didn't physically burn.

"See? My hand. It's not burnt up."

The Priest still didn't buy it. He had dealt with a number of demons in the past so he felt that he could tell one when he saw it.

"This is your last warning, demon."

With a sigh, the thief wondered if they should just leave. While he might not be a demon, Riyo was and if this town was so touchy about that it may be better to get out before things should escalate. But then he quickly dropped that idea. He looked towards the holy man with a strange gleam in his eyes. If they thought him to be a demon...

"You're all pathetic."

That said, he drew out his sword to strike the Priest. Within the next moment, the man's head was rolling several feet away from the body. Oh that was far more satisfying than it should have. A few people who witnessed this screamed and called for the town guards for help. Some of those who did soon found themselves on fire as Blade hurled several fireballs at random individuals.

Taking the steps carefully, Mitsu followed Riyo through the Inn, pausing as Riyo had to look at Neko. He appeared to be busy making his drink disappear. Mitsu had never really seen him smile lately, though she seemed to remember he used to fairly often. In her staring she lingered a bit too long and when she looked up Riyo was nearly at the door. Picking up her pace a little she shuffled passed a few people and exited the Inn as well trying to keep close to the feline, though she failed to say a word.

Looking up from his glass, Neko spotted Riyo heading out the door with Mitsu close behind. Maybe they were heading out on a stroll? Shrugging he downed the rest of his drink and ordered another. The new glass of liquid sat in front of him untouched as he stared at it wondering when things would get better....or if they ever would. He was about to lift his glass and take a drink but Poke thundering down the stairs drew his attention away as he snapped his head around to see her run out of the Inn, her bow staff in hand.

As she yelled out at Blade, Neko had to wonder what was going on. Curious he stood from the stool he was on, placed some money on the counter, and moved outside to investigate.

Looking around, Blade seemed to be contemplating what his next move would be when Poke called for his attention. He was about to answer her, but Riyo came up and spoke as well.

"I just thought the people here would look better covered in their own blood. They seem to think I'm some horrible demon, so why not?" he replied to them both rather calmly, though there was something odd in his tone. Looking at them and Mitsu individually, he soon grinned with that gleam still in his eyes.

"Come to think of it... you guys could use a little extra red yourselves!" he added before rushing right for Poke seeing how she was the closest. Before he came up to her, he went on to stab someone on the ground who had stumbled at first while fleeing. Might as well, he figured. Once that was taken care of, he continued to charge at the Otter girl, looking to run her through with his sword.

As Mitsu trailed behind Riyo, her eyes took in the panicked crowd as they approached, the fur on her tail bristling up feeling the tension. When her eyes settled on the headless body her pupils constricted to tiny dots taking in the blood. Vision turning up to look at Blade she flinched a little as he turned in her direction with that look in his eyes. It was similar....to someone else.

Yelping as he lunged forward toward Poke, Mitsu huddled close to Riyo, one of her hands reaching out to grab hold of the feline's jacket. Her other hand continued to cling to the fabric she had, her eyes wide and full of fright.

Just as Neko headed outside and saw the panicking crowd, his eyes were wide with wonder. It was hard to see what had happened, people were moving and fleeing but it looked like Blade had his sword. "What in the hell..."

Picking up his pace he moved down the street only to see that Riyo and Mitsu had made their way here was well. It wouldn't have worried him if he hadn't spotted the headless body on the ground and Blade lunging forward stabbing some poor schmuck as he stumbled and fell. "What the hell is going on?!"

He would have liked to hope Blade was defending himself, the guy didn't appear to have a bad streak in him, but no one looked like they were out to start a fight with him. "s**t! Blade, get a hold of yourself!" He yelled as he struck out at Poke, barely missing. It seemed he was out of his mind. "******** wasn't exactly in the best shape to be fighting...he was partially drunk, but he couldn't just stand back while Blade tried to kill everyone. At least...he could take a beating if nothing else. Moving forward Neko tried to determine the best course of action. It would be better if he could just restrain the guy, but he wasn't so sure how able he would be to do that in his current state.