Once Vinny and Devin dropped down into the sewers, they quickly found the lit path the girl was referring to. Along the walls there were small illuminated dots. From the looks of it, they must use this passageway frequently. What she had said to them, that this was their job, she must've meant rescuing people. Which meant that incidents like today, where a criminal just attacks in the middle of the day, must be common.

They both knew there were some things Lolli said that didn't add up. An awkward silence fell between the couple as they rushed through the sewer system. If they were really going to walk all the way to the next major city, it was going to be a long trip. Eventually they had to talk about it and Devin decided to dig up the courage to speak first.

"What happened back there?" She asked, "Why- Why did he call you a traitor?"

The fact that a secret like that had gotten out had him pissed already. His fists were tight at his sides and his body rigid. Why did she have to ask? Why couldn't she just act like it never happened? Yeah, he knew she couldn't, but damn it... He was hoping he could somehow go his entire life without telling her of his shame.

Vinny gritted his teeth, "What'd he mean when he called you a member of The Oath?"

"Don't turn this back on me." She quickly snapped back at him. As women tend to do, she started walking a lot faster when she got mad.

He grabbed her wrist to make her stop, "'m'sorry. It's jus' that... I guess I was always hopin' I could protect you from my fuck ups."

Devin sighed, ashamed they let their hatred for their enemy get to them, even if it was just for a second. She started walking alongside him again, slower this time. "We all have our crosses to bear. You don't have to hide it, especially from me. I wasn't really a full time member of The Oath. Neither was my brother, but Elliot and Kuza were.

My Arcadia may not be useful in battle really, but it is in mob work. With one touch, I can convince someone to do anything I want them to. I was a valuable asset to them, and they gave me a huge cut of the money I stole for them. I'm not proud of it but it was better than rotting on the streets. We all knew it was wrong, but we still did it. I was never on the front lines like Kuza was."

"That ain't nearly as bad as what I did, babe." Vinny muttered.

☤ ☤ ☤

It was raining, absolutely pouring in Eris. A city like this could use a good washing, though. It seemed the only place with lights on and people in it was the prison. That wasn't true of course. There were other people living in this city, but they remained hidden. They didn't take too kindly to outsiders. While Deysa went inside to talk to the Warden, Kuza and Chris found a nearby abandoned building to take shelter in.

"Camping out in an empty city like this, it brings back memories, doesn't it?" Chris stated.

"Hm, yeah, it does. At least there's no snow. I'd like to go at least a year without seeing a single snowflake... knock on wood." He scoffed.

"I don't mind the snow. It was the whole, the entire world being destroyed thing that depressed me." He replied.

"You don't see the snow as a reminder of that, though?" He asked.

"Just because something is around during a depressing time doesn't mean it should be associated with it. Deysa was around during a time in your life that you hated, but you don't see him as a bad reminder. The snow is no different."

"You gotta go and be such a philosopher, don't you?" He laughed. Kuza glanced out the broken window, seeing Deysa walking back from the prison. What Chris didn't know was that Deysa does remind him of the bad times, but they weren't all bad. That's why Kuza was happy to have his old friend back. He brought back good memories too.

Deysa took his hat off as he finally got under a ceiling. He shook off all the water before placing it back on his head. "That is one scary woman." He said.

"But did you get any information out of her?" Kuza asked.

"Yeah, she was surprisingly open about it with me. Unfortunately, my suspicions were correct. She said the Wiccan did visit her and bailed out four members of Hera." He replied.

"Four isn't that bad... right?" Chris hesitantly questioned, trying to dig for a little hope. He didn't receive it. By the looks on their faces, he knew this was going to be a huge problem.

"It really depends on which four it was." Kuza said.

"The only ones that matter, of course." He responded, "Ammonia, Guillotine, Autopsy, and Heart. The Warden told me she overheard their plan as they were leaving. Heart and the others are headed back to Ascella to take back their headquarters. The Wiccan is going to Regulus to find the Eclipse. If we want to catch them, we better get going. Regulus is fucking far from here."

Kuza pushed himself off the wall and grabbed his bag off the ground. Chris stood up, following his lead. They let Deysa lead them out, considering he was the only one that really knew where they were going. The whole thing continued to bother the couple. If they really were chasing Ricky and Ryan, which they were pretty damn sure they were, why on Earth would they do this?

What do they have to gain by helping Hera out? Knowing Ryan's history, surely he's aware of how dangerous and evil they are. And the Eclipse, why the Hell would they want anything to do with them? Aside from it being foolish to go after a member of Demon's Card, they didn't know exactly who the Eclipse was. Not like Deysa and now Kuza did.

Deysa led them to the nearest train station. It wasn't too busy, thankfully. None of them were really in the mood to deal with people. He stopped at the counter, asking for tickets and everything. While Deysa dealt with that, Kuza and Chris sat down at a bench inside. It was nice to be somewhere kind of clean. It wasn't that great, but it was better than the rest of Eris.

"There's a train in about an hour that'll take us to Regulus." Deysa spoke as he walked up, holding three tickets in his hand. He handed over two of them to his companions. On the wall, there was a silver framed screen. With a sigh, he touched it to turn it on.

"What is that?" Chris asked curiously.

"A phone, pretty much. People here don't have things like smart phones, even though technology is very advanced. Hand held devices, for the most part, are banned because bitchface thinks they contribute to stupidity. A hub like this has important information, too, like weather reports, newcomer reports, and death reports."

The last two words came out of his mouth a lot more melancholy than the others. As Deysa scrolled through the day's death reports, he was very heartbroken to see the members of his order that had lost their lives. Thankfully, they were all sent to a nicer prison. Even though it's supposedly random, it does seem that those with more heroic deaths are sent to the places that aren't complete shit.

3:12PM | Knox Skiver; The Silent Crow | COD: Pierced lung | L: Porrima / T: Theta

3:19PM | Joy Widow; The Silent Crow | COD: Stomach hemorrhage | L: Porrima / T: Theta

3:24PM | Felix Skiver; The Silent Crow | COD: Pierced heart | L: Porrima / T: Theta

"Fuck." Deysa scoffed, kicking the wall. He turned away for a second to take a deep breath.

Kuza leaned over to look past his mate and cautiously asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah," He sighed deeply, "I guess I can't be too upset over deaths, because we'll eventually get them back, but it just pisses me off. A group was killed in Porrima today. Two of them died from pierced organs, which most likely means an archer killed them."

"And the only archer I know with enough skill to do that is Lolli." He responded.

"Exactly." Deysa muttered. He turned back to the screen, continuing to scroll down. "Hm, interesting..."

5:09PM | Guillotine Katto; Hera | COD: Slit throat | L: Ascella / T: Eris

5:17PM | Jack The Ripper; JTR | COD: Ruptured stomach | L: Ascella / T: Eris

"It seems Hera made it to Ascella and killed Jack The Ripper, along with all their men. They lost Guillotine in the process, but they're probably relieved about that. He was a pain in the ass, even to them." He explained.

"And it's one less person for us to have to worry about." Kuza responded.

"Remember when I said I wanted a chart of all your enemies? Can I please have that now?" Chris requested.

"It's a long trip to Regulus from here. At least a day, so maybe you could use the time to draw sketches of them all like you used to do. It'd probably help Chris remember a lot better." Deysa suggested.

"That's not a bad idea." He wrapped his arm around Kuza's shoulder, pulling him in closer. "I am more of a visual person, after all."

"Stop it." The bloody eyed creature giggled uncharacteristically as he felt his mate's breath tickle his cheek.

It was so different for Deysa to see him this way. Not bad, per say, but unusual. He felt a warmth in him that quickly turned hollow. What he wouldn't give to have that type of love with someone. Those who search for something typically never find it. It's when you stop looking or stop hoping that it falls into your lap.

He picked up the phone on the wall next to the screen and muttered unhappily, "I have to call my supervisor. He's not going to be happy about all of this."

Kuza rested his head in the crook of Chris' neck. He batted his eyelashes a few times while giving a blank stare, then said, "Our thoughts and prayers are with you."

All Deysa could do was sigh. If Chris wasn't there, he probably would've decked him. His sarcasm has gotten him in trouble plenty of times, but it's not enough. While the two lovebirds continued to be grossly cute, Deysa dialed the number of the man he loved yet dreaded. He had endless respect for all the generals. They put their lives on the line to protect others, but they all had their own quirks that could be hard to bear.

Chris and Kuza stayed quiet while they listened to him explain everything. He really didn't get more than five words out at a time before there was yelling on the other line. It sounded like he was talking to a mental patient.

Suddenly he became frantic, quickly saying, "No, no, no, we can handle it- General Eckerström, I really don't think it's necessary-" Deysa was cut off quickly. As his supervisor spoke, he started to hit his head against the wall. Tiredly, he eventually just gave up and stayed in that position. "Yes, Sir. I understand." He muttered. Deysa hung up the phone and let out a groan. He turned around and aggressively kicked a can on the ground. "Goddamn it."

"Everything okay, over there?" Kuza asked.

"Not really, no." He sighed, "The group I mentioned died, they were from my division. With them locked up and me preoccupied with you guys, we're a little low on manpower. General Eckerström figures the best way to deal with that fact is to get this whole situation settled as fast as possible. So, he decided to meet up with us in Regulus."

"Strangely, that doesn't sound like a good thing." Chris responded.

Deysa slid down the wall next to them and sat down on the floor. "It's not. He's pretty much The Joker as far as insanity levels go. All the generals are insanely powerful, though. It will be a good thing to have him with us, as long as you can stand his lack of a stable mind."

"I've lived with Mike this long. I'm sure I can handle one more psychopath." He smiled smugly down at his love.