The soles of his shoes clacks on smooth stone as he descended down the steps. He had never been here before, a place not generally visited unless for a purpose. It wasn't his section, it wasn't his place, and now it wasn't anyone's concern without the two entities that were held here gone. Now, it was just vacant. Vacant of any presence – aside from the Lifer who continued slowly down.

Overall, it reminded him of those wide caves you heard people go on trips, and he looked up at the high celling expecting to see bats but as it rose up into the dark, he felt his balance slipping and looked back down.

He borrowed a lantern from the Mist division and used a runic stone to power it, the place a faint blue as he walked down. Even the sound of his footsteps sounded too loud for the place, and soon the silence was suffocated. He cleared his throat just to hear it echo and fill the space – making it seem even larger.

He half expected stalactites to fall.

Once he hit the ground floor, he looked at the stage that rose up in the center, a place where a certain artifact once stood in hopes of being planted for all time. He hadn't been there to see it himself, but he knew the gist of the system that had been in place. Without it, they had clear skies and titans.

He moved closer, looking at unpowered runes and touching them with his hand. Even as a novice runic carver, he could appreciate the skill and work that went into them even if the understanding was beyond him at the moment.

Turning around, he held the lantern up and continued to move past power-downed equipment and other unused workstations, looking for anything that still might have power. He brought a few stones with him in case he could charge anything, but there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary that gleamed any hint of being linked to what he was looking for.

Then again, he wasn't sure what he was looking for. That was the problem. He had to find a door, but he didn't know what kind of door. Physical door? Morgue door? A portal? A trapdoor? A Stargate for all he knew!
He couldn't' seem to get any information Clarice aside from what people knew or gossiped about, but she was now considered an old event that shew as hard to bring up with his associates. Lifers would regard her with mixed emotions and seemed uncomfortable. He didn't know enough people to pry much further, and he was pretty sure they didn't know much more – or at least not anything tied with doors.

Sighing, he leaned against a workstation and checked his phone.

Her name was still in his contacts, and he dialed the number, bringing it to his ear.



The number you have called is unavailable or no longer in ser-



He let it go, listening to the recording as he usually did, half expecting that it would cut off and he'd hear her again.

"I don't know what to do, Rin." He whispered to the darkness.

"I'm trying……..." But his trying wasn't enough. He was still on square one, and she was – he wasn't sure. He wanted her help, but saying he needed it when she needed him more felt wrong.

He hanged up, pocketing his phone. He sat down and looked at the powered-down station. He went over that night. The words he tried to recollect and memorize by each syllable to the best of his ability. He tried to pick apart any clues he might be missing.

Feeling under his sleeve, he touched the faint scar on his arm. A real reminder. Regardless of what Rep said, it was there, and he had no account of him otherwise going to the morgue. He had been brought there for a reason, whether it started as sleepwalking or not. He had ended there, and he had ended with a clear mission – one not given to him by someone that didn't care if he lived or died. Not some rushed 5am, get your a** to the lighthouse, collect rocks and watch the world turn on its side again.

It was more than that. It wasn't obligation. It wasn't "Because I'm a hunter" to excuse why he had to go.

It was her.

Quiet, he got up, and went back to where Excalibur was once held, touching the stone base and looking up.

"Seems everyone wants off this miserable rock." And he was here trying to bring something back home. Home to this, but more importantly, home to where the spaces were unfilled. Back to the unpowered shell of a body he was and back to light and functioning. Back to normalcy – no matter how strange it was. He needed that power.

He needed that light.

He needed Her.

Sighing, he walked away, his fingers extended to touch the base until he walked too far and his fingertips slipped away. He headed back up, away from another dead end to look elsewhere.