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"Sounds like a waste of talent," Mercy answered as she decided that they should try through a covered alley, "I guess if it was something that you love then there is no worry that you would possible forget how to do it, I mean, being able to run a ship and stay out to the water." She shook a moment as the cover was better then being drenched by the not so clean rain water.

"I wonder what the sea is like? Is it as salty as they say?" she had addressed the question a little low more for herself then for anyone else, but it was loud enough for anyone near could have heard.

The first thing that struck Valerius was the size of the room. It was about as large as the first floor and secon floor of the shop where he lived combined, perhaps a little larger.

As he gazed around the room, Valerius couldn't help but become jealous. The windows on each side contained scenery for the general to practice camouflaging himself in, while a cabinet was so full of weaponry that he had to exercise extreme restraint to keep himself from rushing over to it and talking in half-formed excited bursts of sentences.

Even with this, Valerius would have been quite impressed. However, the general had even constructed human mannequins for him to practice his techniques on. The dolls were very beautiful, the strategy behind which Valerius admired: the hardest enemy to kill was a beautiful one. The general was clearly trying to eliminate the weaknesses that hostiles could use against him. The entire room served as a training grounds.

Valerius heard the general's speech out, considering different parts of it as he formulated his response. "Sir, with regard to your earlier comments, I must respectfully disagree. Being in battle may taint you with the blood of your enemies and the weight of their murders, I agree with you there. However...there's something more to it. Fighting to regain the lost, to rescue the hopeless, there's something in that which can cleanse you of those evils and restore you to what you were." Val wasn't used to long monologues about his worldview--he liked to keep things sort and sweet. "If anything, it's a system of balance. A battle between the light and dark in a human soul."

"For those words, I will accept any reprimand you deem appropriate. It was a necessary insubordinance. As to your offer, I will join you on one condition."

Valerius had never received a medal before. His grandfather had received loads of them for saving lives, and Valerius still had those saved away in a cubby-hole beneath a floorboard back home. He'd taken those medals out and looked at them before, but this medal was different. Just seeing it sparkle in Grondax's hand was enough to make him want to leap up and hug the general. Given the seriousness of the conversation a moment before, though, he judged this not to be a wise idea.

Despite that, Valerius had slight misgivings about serving under someone for an extended period of time. The wound on his arm throbbed. The folded scrap paper he always kept with him was burning a hole into his pocket, searing the skin, reminding him about the last time...

He bit his lip, trying not to recall the incident. He always seemed to remember it at night, in his dreams and waking fantasies...

"My condition is as thus: I am no tool, no garden sheer for you to use against the rough bushes of this city. I would, though, be a comrade, an ally. I do not want equal rank; that would be absurd. With that in mind, I accept your token with gratitude. I will do all within my power to assist you honorably."

Valerius took the pin from Grondax's outstreched hand, and pinned it on. He accidentally stuck himself with the sharp end through the thin cloth of his shirt before closing the clasp correctly. Honor and pride could be painful.

Dr. Oddssen unconsciously bit down on one of the finger of his left hand, hard, trying to control the rising panic in his body and mind. Hikari could easily connect the other bitemarks that Sev had no thought to hide, with what he was currently doing. She would then realize how all the wounds were most likely self-alfficted.

The Doctor was sick in heart and soul, the infliction growing stronger over his years of solitude.

The hallucinations were small, and frequent, but he tore his eyes away from them and focussed on Hikari's face. He knew that if he kept his eyes still, the terrors of the shadows might leave. He dropped his hand to his side to speak, taking a deep, shaky breath, "I-I... I'm not well, Miss Hikari." He began, stating the obvious to stall for time. "Give me a moment and I shall be fine, it is nothing really.. Just a small fit, they, ah... come and go. Atleast they did with my patients.. Short breakouts, you see?"

During the time he had spoken, Severin regulating his breathing to help ease his own fluttering heart, until his pulse calmed and he was once more in control of himself. Averting his eyes to the ground respectfully, he set about looking to Yami. "I'll tend to your sister, now.. If it is alright with you."

"Psh..." he watched as they left. "...When do merchants have the callouses of a swordsman." he snorted out. He adjusted how the mask sat upon his face. He could still feel the coldness from it seeping into his face. It chilled him, hardened him. It was a sign that he did not make it through his past unscarred.

He gathered the last of the supplies that were left there and made his way out of the abandoned building. His steps carried him to the red rat and once inside his little section, he began to set up shop. Properly and as cleanly as could be managed in this filth ridden town.

With the shop set up, he locked the door and made his way back out into the rain. He did not care that he still had his mask on, it was like a shell to him. A shell he needed right now, not that there was anyone around. He made sure to keep to the paths that were devoid of life, all but his own as he entered the Lost District.

At that small moment, Yami began to stir. Moaning a bit, she squinted and turned, though the result of it all, still ended up as Yami still lifeless in front of her sister...and the doctor.

Hikari in her mind bitterly thought she couldnt have minded if right then and there the doctor was taken by the Peace Enforcement. But the truth of the whole matter was, she wasnt that kind of person and just seeing the doctor upset about not being able to help Yami made her feel bad.

Honestly, she wasnt sure why. She should have hated the man- after all the beast ate her father. But it was just her character she supposed that caused her to sigh out in distress before looking at the doctor carefully "go wash up..." she spoke softly, almost defeatidly "then could you bring me a bucket of water? I think we need to hurry up and take care of my sister, dont you think?"

And with that she knelt down besides the girl and stroked her bangs in an affectionate sisterly manner, not once glancing back at the doctor to see what his reaction would be

Annie's eyes snapped to the face of the man who addressed her, a wave of aggitation rising within her. She pushed it down with a firm resolve, and studied him. He walked with a limp, which increased her empathy for him. However, she had no reason to like the man, considering she didn't know him at all. But something about his lanky, almost trembling form forced a kind of grudging acceptance into Annie's cynical little mind, and she rose with a grimace. "Hand me my cane, will you?" She asked, gesturing to the wooden cane, which was within the doctor's reach. "And yes, there's just some water behind the counter. I'll have to get it, no one but employees, you see."

Her eyes darted past the man to the two girls sitting on the floor. She lowered her voice to a level she hoped only the doctor and herself could hear. "Hey, has she been giving you a hard time?" She asked. Annie wasn't blind, her handicap existed elsewhere, she could plainly see that for whatever reason, Hikari was showing aggression towards the man. Why? She didn't know, but that wasn't the point. After all, the man was trying to save her sister! Indignation rose in Annie's throat, but she squashed that emotion, as well. It would not do for her to lose her temper around so many people.

Annie accepted the cane with murmured thanks, and breathed a sigh of relief after she let the cane accept the weight of her body previously taken by her crippled leg. She moved towards the counter, gesturing that the man should wait in front of it. Annie swung herself down and under the counter, a move she practiced many times, using her cane as leverage, and stood up on the other side. She rumaged around the kitchen for a few moments before producing a cloth, and a large bowl of warm water. "Here." She said breathlessly, and slid back under the counter. She stood up with her cane, shaking slightly, and handed the bowl and cloth over to the doctor.

"Hmmph." She shook her head, pursing her lips as she thought over the doctor's previous statement, as if she didn't think a faux pas with a parent was enough to begrudge a man. "There's more water if you need it. Do you want me to help?" It was a tactful suggestion, considering that Annie privately thought that the man was too frail to stand.