Something unpleasant had come up at the shop and it worried him. He’d seen someone who looked like one of those knights or senshi walking past his shop more than once today. It could have been a coincidence, but now that he’d been powering up and trying to take steps forward on that path, it came with some additional awareness that he hadn’t had before.

Closing up the shop, he stepped out into the night. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, not yet at least. A lot was going on here in this city, in a very different way than he was used to back home. Overall things felt peaceful most nights with people out walking or visiting bars and restaurants. By now he knew the best places he could drain without worrying too much about being spotted. Chalcanthite and Katya had been helpful in that regard, providing tips and knowledge about the infrastructure that only people who had lived here awhile would know.

A few blocks away from his shop, in the direction he’d seen someone or something wander after pacing near his shop. This was a night without Katya, without that extra bit of safety being hidden. Calling out quietly as he dipped into one of the alleyways that always had too much trash, he powered up and just focused for a moment. There was always a lot going on, a lot of different signatures all over nearby. It felt like his head would explode sometimes when the overwhelming signature of a General was nearby but tonight nothing that intense seemed to be close. What was close felt like order but not stronger than he was, at least he thought. What made him jump was how close it felt, almost as if they were on top of him.

There wasn’t much he could do in a fight yet, at least magically speaking but he knew he had height on his side and hopefully, he could talk his way out of something when it really came down to it. Just thinking about it reminded him of the case file he’d been sent by Chalcanthite about their sister, Aoede. There was an unease in his starseed and in his situation, he’d been just a few months away from never being involved in any of this.

That in itself had him torn because he wasn’t sure if things would be going as well with Alexandre if it hadn’t happened the way it did or how things would be if his magic wasn’t backfiring. Gritting his teeth, René stepped out of the alleyway and looked around for whatever order member was close. The only thing he saw was a flash and then a blur of browns and reds as someone scattered after taking a photo.

“s**t.”

This wasn’t good, especially if they put two and two together that he was the shop owner. Run, that’s what he had to do. He had to catch them, after that, he wasn’t sure but he needed to catch them before they figured things out.

The knight had seen that corrupt and noticed how draining had started a few months after a new shop opened in town. He’d even gone to check it out early on and noticed the door was trapped back when it was still snowing. Now he had a photo, he had proof that something was going on and he needed to get this back to the others.

The only problem was this part of the city was very different from where he patrolled and this corrupt that was now chasing him probably had a better idea of where he was.

“Stop!” Kafka called out as he started gaining on them, they weren’t a senshi from what he could tell so that could go either way if he could get them cornered. By the looks of things, they were lost so he just had to hope they ended up in one of the dead ends soon.

Heavy footfalls echoed on the pavement as the knight ran, starting to get confused as they scurried down alleyways until they ended up at a crossway that had multiple dead ends. It was s**t luck but he wasn’t going to go down tonight. Pulling out his weapon, he turned back to face the way he’d come, watching the corrupt as they slowed down to stand just in the center of the fork to block his way out.

Kafka stood, watching as the knight pulled something out he couldn’t really recognize. It almost looked like some sort of antique from his shop but it was hard to tell with how they had their hands wrapped around it. “Just give me that photo and I’ll leave you be.” Reaching out to them, he motioned for them to hand it over as he slowly stepped closer. This was a bad situation all over and without anyone else here to help him, he was at a loss on what to do. Deep down he knew that he couldn’t just leave them be but the only surefire way to deal with them sent a phantom pain through his chest.

“No, you stay right there where you’re at. I’m going to be getting this photo out there so that shop gets closed down and nobody else gets hurt.” Shifting, he channeled his magic and braced himself in a boxer's position to fight.

Cursing, Kafka stepped just close enough for what he needed to do. It wasn’t going to end well either way but he wasn’t about to lose what he’d worked hard on because of a misunderstanding. Pulling his hands to his mouth, that word fell from his lips before he threw his arms out towards them. That feeling came, the lightheadedness and hollowed-out feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Magic. Cursed magic. It felt like being hungover like he had been used up and wrung out of everything. His stance shifted as the edges of his vision darkened. “This is such a s**t show….”

Deciding on what to do, he powered down, made his way back to his car, and started to drive. What bothered him now was something different though, what bothered him was how easy it had been. How he’d just taken the thing because they’d known too much and it would have put him at risk. Sure he’d done some shitty things with people and burned through casual partners but this was different and he wondered if this was what Alexandre had meant about changing.

Clicking that piercing of his against his teeth, he’d already forgotten the face of that knight even if the mangled civilian he’d seen was still bothering him. So he drove now and wondered if Alexandre might have an idea of what to do because in part he’d done this for them even if he hadn’t come out of it completely unscathed.


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