I'll Be Damned - Here Comes Your Ghost Again

[Anouk Ueda]

The charred remains of the Green Dragon Tavern sat rotting on the lot, its decimated insides partially exposed to the open air as though the building were trying to silently voice Anouk's echoing screams. The yellow police tape still wrapped around the open parts, even though they were hardly a deterrant. There was nothing left worth taking, the corpse of Anouk's heart already picked clean and her soul still Takatori's prisoner. Anouk pushed the tape aside and slowly stepped up to the stoop as though at any moment someone might pop out of the wreckage to kill her. Surely by now that fucker knew she was on his trail; surely he noticed her killing his men one by one and carving the letters of his name into their chests. She was already done his name and was on the second word in her message and could only wonder when he would choose to make contact with her.

Even though she had considered the help of the Black Company, the representative she had met with had been the cockiest, unsympathetic asshole she had met, and she was meeting more of them every day to get closer to Takatori. He had wanted too much in payment, wanted too much to get involved, and took too much pleasure in killing. He was a monster, and though a monster to hunt a monster was needed, his attitude reeked of trouble. He wouldn't have cared if he put her or her children in more danger; sure he probably wouldn't have let her die before she was done, but she got the clear impression that he really wouldn't have cared so long as he got his money from her kills or her corpse.

She sighed as she stepped up and lingered in the doorway. She could hear the ghosts of yesterday echoing their laughter. Kitaro taking his first steps on that porch. Kenta sitting on the bar while customers ate and drank, saying "Mama" for the first time. The biker gang that kept so much trouble away from them during the day. caving to pressure to dance a slow dance with Ryosuke on New Year's in front of all their customers - their family.

Anouk's knees shook as she collapsed, unable to walk into the tomb, sucking in heavily shaking breaths that refused to cry. She couldn't. Not yet. That anger was what she needed to harness to help her hunt and stay sharp. She took no pleasure in her kills, but in the end she was doing something good. She was willing to swim in blood if it meant the freedom of her children and ridding the world of monsters that even the Devil would reject. She knew she would never be the same, no after killing so many already and knowing she still had so many more to hunt down. Her place in Heaven was gone. But... for her sons and for the memory of her gentle husband, she would give her soul and sacrifice.

Light lavender eyes threatened to mist over as she swallowed it down. She had come back here to see if she had missed something, anything. the trail here was cold as death, but she knew criminals often liked to revisit where their crimes happened to relive the glory, the thrill. Sick fuckers. Takatory wasn't that stupid, but perhaps one of his men would come creeping. Maybe tracking her, maybe looking for a souvenier. That bastard had told her to give his regards to Ela. Takatori was many things, but foolish wasn't one of them. He knew Ela, somehow, even if she hadn't seen her little brother since they children. But... How? How was he possibly involved? Her fingers twitched as they gripped around her shotgun, ready for any of Takatori's men that were probably hunting her down by now.

Elastor...Why... did this happen? Her voice passed her lips and died in the stagnant air, Anouk trying to steel herself enough to stand back up and walk inside her own shattered remains without breaking completely.

[Elastor Ito]

It...it was burned? He stood there as a part of the scenery, looking on at the Green Dragon Tavern that once stood in all its glory. Now, it was a charred foundation of Ela's failures, standing still under a grey winter sky that spoke volumes of the sparse life left over in his soul. Frigid blue eyes followed the moans of croaking wood, blackened against the contrast of cold and stopped at the figure of a broken woman: his sister. Anouk... Why are you here? He had initially expected her to be there, but since seeing the wreck of her tavern, had thought that she would certainly be elsewhere. No, no...she was right there about to go inside--about to enter the bowels of hell and look upon her ruptured life--ruptured because of him. He thought...he thought he could lead the danger away--let it chase him to the ends of the Earth instead of to her doorstep. She...she deserved to be happy. That night he spent in the ruins of their home was the same night he found out about the existence of RIOTE and of...Takatori. Takatori... the man that had ruined the lives of so many people--an evil that needed to be vanquished from this world. By Ela's blade, he thought he had the ability to end him, but...he nearly died himself. "Honestly kid, you should be blaming your parents for this. If they had kept up their end of the fucking deal, then maybe I wouldn't have had to give them a dance of death. I wonder if your sister will be as understanding when she realizes you are the reason her husband and children were taken from her." No, he would not blame his parents. Their debt... was for their sake. Elastor took responsibility for that; Anouk never had to know. She could be happy...for both their sake's she could continue smiling. His smile...belonged to her. She why...why wasn't she able to smile?! Why...why had this happened?

His fist clenched, anger searing deep within him. Fire was his enemy...money their savoir, Takatori the devil. To kill the devil would be to gain freedom. His other hand wrapped loosely around the bandages against the healing bullet wound, still sapping the strength from him. Listing to one side, he found himself approaching his sister still. It was better to turn back. After so many years...what would this meeting accomplish? I'm sorry for failing. I am the reason your family is gone. Were they dead? They had to be... One payment...one war was the reason why he had been late. Still, the money had reached him so...so why? Why such an extreme punishment? Kill me instead... Ela wanted...at least someone in their family to find happiness. All that time he had been labeled as mentally insane, he took it and swallowed it whole behind the bars that clanked down upon any hope he had for his own life. It was over. He was living now for the sake of others.

"I...I abandoned my family for the sake of their happiness." His voice rose up like a wave about to crash, the sheath of his katana scrapping carelessly against the wood stoop. His boots worked hard to make it up those steps until he stood right beside her. Dejected eyes obscured by long, red hair fell closed with a heavily inhale of air that still smelled of flames. "Evil men like Takatori must be destroyed. The day our parents died I swore to be the one that did just that." He paused, studying her, getting lost in the changes of his sister. She looked different, older, ravaged, depressed. This...this wasn't the sister he remembered. The faded Christmas card locked away in his drawer showed a smiling face--the embodiment of happiness. Now...that was all gone. No, he hadn't wanted this! It was wrong. What had he worked so hard for--dedicated his whole life to!? He shouldered the whispers--the blame of his parents death so she could forget about him and lead a happy life. So why...why had that all been taken from her? Because of him...one small slip-up.

He blanched, sweat gathering on his forehead as he slumped against a pillar and let his eyes remain shut. He couldn't look upon the ruin built in the wake of himself any longer... A drop of blood slipped from his black-clad form and soaked into the wood under them. Under his clothes, his body was littered with no longer just the one bullet wound, but another and a few other nicks, gashes, and bruises. He hadn't given his body a chance to heal, hadn't thought about himself or his own well-being for a moment. Instead, he had gone to South City to meet with Csilla one last time. He thought maybe he wouldn't come back... Somehow he was still alive. Right now, breathing...unlike his parents--unlike Anouk's family. How many had he killed after returning to Creta? He found a Men In White Hideout and butchered its entire contents. Men with guns, swords, machine guns, bombs, everything he faced and overpowered. One man against a dozen. And despite that... he discovered nothing. He tortured them, punched their faces in until not even their own mothers would recognize them and they still said that they didn't know... Didn't know...

"I...I failed." He let himself slide to the ground, back against the pillar, leaving a swipe of blood behind. "I...I'm so sorry."

[Anouk Ueda]

The wood beneath Anouk's feet creaked slightly as additional weight bore down upon it, almost obscured by the sound of the trees nearby moaning listlessly. Someone was there. Her fingers gripped around her Remington, her body instantly tensing, ready to spring. She was sleep-deprived and running on adrenaline, but the thought of someone else coming to the ruins of her life to attack her buried any sense of tiredness or brainfog. "I...I abandoned my family for the sake of their happiness." Shit! He got right beside me! In one fluid motion, Anouk sprang back and away from Ela by several feet, whipping around as she pumped her shotgun. her body came to a halt, the barrel of the 12-gauge aimed right for the young man's head.

Wild violet eyes burned, studying the young man only feet from her. She had damn good aim with Mr. Blasty, but at this range? She was a fucking surgeon. He was holding something. Something long and black. her eyes slid down to the katana, blood dripping from its sheath onto the stoop. Busy assassin, aren't we? But if he'd gotten so close to her and was armed to kill, why hadn't he struck her down? He had an opening to before she caught wind of him. Or did he prefer a fair fight and an honoured kill? Anouk's eyes narrowed, her breath slow and steady, body preparing itself to fight. "Who sent you," she growled, her voice dripping with disdain.

She'd met plenty of Takatori's men since that night. While some were chattier than others, they all seemed to have that same smug air about them, that haughtiness that made them think that just because they worked for that bastard meant they'd won the fight already. But no matter how close a call it was, in the end, Anouk had been the one to walk away from those fights from the men she'd hunted down and the ones who were just out looking for trouble. But this young man was different. He didn't exude those same feelings. So who-- "Evil men like Takatori must be destroyed. The day our parents died I swore to be the one that did just that." Wait... What? He wanted Takatori dead? So did he work for him and simply agree that Takatori was an evil fucker that needed to be put down? Or was this a trick to get her to lower her guard? Certainly wouldn't be the first time.

"Who.... are you..?" Mr. Blasty didn't lower from Ela's face as Anouk looked closer at him, even though her finger did relax on the trigger. He was having a hard time standing, sweat clinging to his brow and small drips of blood falling from his body onto the porch. The blood on the sword she assume was someone else's, but the blood falling from him she would guess was his own. He couldn't have been there to kill her; he hardly seemed in shape to dress a chicken to drinner, let alone skewer her. So if he wasn't there to kill her and he wasn't there to stop her or deliver a message, then who was this man?

"I...I failed. I...I'm so sorry." Wait. HE failed? Mr. Blasty lowered slowly, things starting to click in Anouk's over-tired mind. He abandoned his family and swore to kill Takatori the day their parents died. THEIR parents. The shotgun began to shake slightly in Anouk's hands as it lowered all the way to the ground, her eyes catching his and meeting their mirror. Lavender blue. The same as hers. The same as their mother's. Her eyes moved to the column he leaned on and slid down, her attention caught on the smear of red. Oh God...

"....Ela?!" Her hand moved around the shotgun to turn the safety back on before she put it down entirely, stepping closer to Elastor. Anouk's thoughts were racing and her head was spinning. She hadn't seen Elastor since they were children. She didn't even know what he looked like anymore or if this really was him. If Takatori knew enough about Anouk to know where to find her and mention her brother with them never meeting before, it'd be easy to tell someone else what to say. But.... "Elastor... I-Is it really you?" Anouk knelt down beside her little brother, her hand moving up to hold his cheek to look at him again. That same bright red hair and lavender blue eyes. That same anti-smile. The icy, venemous ferocity in her eyes was being replaced with tenderness and concern for the little brother she had always said she would trust and do anything for, no matter what. She dug into the pocket of her brown leather jacket with her other hand, digging for a handkercheif. She swallowed hard, trying to keep her tsunami of emotions from rising to the top and drowning her, the pained notes littering her voice. "You're a mess... Ela, what happened to you?"

[Elastor Ito]

Suspicious drew it's wary hands away from where they covered his eyes through the spout of a gun. He didn't care. Either way, he deserved to be shot by his sister. He caused this--this pain to a girl who wouldn't have even considered touching the cool metal of a weapon they stripped away lives. Killing...was wrong, but Ela had become a demon to ensure her happiness. Even doing all that he had failed. What more could he have done? Had been joining the military been a mistake from the very beginning? He couldn't answer that, contemplating it did nothing. Elastor could only embrace his fate and swallow all the shit that cam with his. His anger wasn't enough--his strive for revenge was only scrapping at the surface of a frozen river as the current carried him further away and drowned his sister in his flawless mistakes. Takatori deserved to die--no, Ela would drag down all his ideals as well--destroy the very foundations of his hopes for the world. RIOTE, he spat in his head, hissed the name with wintry breath that summoned the snow to fall and bury it and everything that it had ever been in snow. "Are they alive?" He breathed, red hair whipping uselessly at his cheeks in the strong winds. Today was windy, aim was off, he had used that to his advantage when facing all of those many men. He let his head fall back, realizing then that she had spoke and said his name after all that time that transpired. So she hasn't forgotten her little brother... That was who he was and who he would never admit to be.

"....Ela?!" Ela. The nickname that Csilla had used on the beach under the searing sun. Remember that warmth? No, he couldn't recall it now. It was just cold. ...So cold... A shadow poured its darkness over him, and he raised his dull azure eyes to study her. She was so...motherly. She looked like mom. He wanted to hug her, but he never would; that was something he never deserved again, that happiness. He hadn't died though. Csilla would be waiting like he said to... Maybe he had wanted to tell someone in case he died... At least someone would have known--at least someone was waiting that he may actually be able to make happy. Not until Takatori was destroyed. Takatori has to die. A minute hiss escaped his mouth as he tried to move slightly, eyes so still on her face that they could have been frozen there from the cold. Behind her, flakes began to fall, gathering on the tips of her auburn hair as more and more began to pillow on Ela's. He barely had noticed... "You're a mess... Ela, what happened to you?" Did she really need to know? He'd rather not say. His reply was the stubborn crossing up his arms against his chest or the struggle for warmth against the dry screech of cold. No, he wouldn't answer; he had already apologized and that was all he had come for. Both their lives were ravaged now when really all he had wanted was for her to be able to lead a normal, happy life.

How could such evil men exist in this world? Didn't he even begin to imagine what pain felt like? This aching, searing, dull croak of a pain was nothing...nothing compared to that sadness washed over the debris of his family's life. Burned and burned again. Why not his apartment? Why not go after him? He existed to pay that debt; it was not the responsibility of Anouk's mirthful family. He couldn't grasp that--couldn't grasp that other people had to suffer for the failures of one. It was his fault. Now her children were ruined if not dead and her husband surely breathed no more. If they touched her... Ela attempted to quickly stand up, stumbled, and nearly took her out on his way to the ground. When he gathered his breath, he barked out. "They didn't touch you, did they?!" When was the last time he had let the brushings of anger show in his voice...?

[Patience Vinrouge]

Home, sweet home. There was no place quite like it. But... did this downtown apartment even feel LIKE home anymore? Patience lay in her bed, ankles crossed and an arm tucked under her head as she stared at her ceiling. She had recently had a mural painted across her ceiling, a dark night sky. It was calming now, helping to rest her whirling thoughts. It was scary to think how quickly things some changed and how some things never did. She could hear the children playing in the next room. They had settled in quickly enough. The young one... Kenta, sooner than Kitaro. But that was the way with small children. He was in a safe environment with toys and yummy treats. What more would any toddler want? Well, perhaps his mother. But at this point, that was still a ways off. But... Patience rose from the bed, opening her bedside drawer. She had a few things scattered around but a folded piece of paper was the thing that interested her the most at this point. Kitaro had even grown to appreciate her kind presence, although he still asked daily if they could go home. And each time Patience had to tell them that until their uncle did what he was supposed to, they couldn't go home.

The time was coming soon though. Patience could practically smell it in the air. The end of Takatori was coming and in a way, she relished it. And what was the harm in giving that end just the tiniest push. Resolved, she went out of her bedroom, over to her desk. In one drawer lay an array of pay-as-you-go cellphones, all signed to various aliases. The Men in White did have its uses, after all. She sat that the desk, facing the locked door where behind the children played some game. She unfolded the piece of paper in her other hand and slowly dialed in the numbers. Staring down, she let a smile slip across her lips.

Ring...
Ring...
Ri-

The ringing ended, which meant that someone had answered. Patience waited a moment for a voice. But there was none. Guess it was up to her again. “Mrs. Ueda? I have a proposition for you. Would you like to speak to your sons?”

[Anouk Ueda]

The softness of washed cotton caressed the harshness of Ela's features, crimson jewels seeping into the fabric like blossoming flowers. The hardness of Anouk's eyes had melted to bereplaced by a nurturing warmth so like their mother's as it held his face, his eyes, ignoring that tehywere as hard and cold as the world around them. Snow was hard and cold, made you wet, numb, frozen, dead. But it was also gentle and soft. Why... couldn't all deaths be like that? The world? Anouk leaned forward, dabbing at his wounds with the utmost gentility. She'd asked what happened to him. He'd been in a fight obviously, and hopefully won considering how hurt he looked even though he walked away. "Don't get into fights. But if you DO, don't come home and say ya lost!" The words of her old fat neighbor chimed in from the recesses of her mind, the long-forgotten memory of the painter with the massive beer-belly now very bright. Ela was only small and probably didn't remember Mr. Bobbert. But the advice he'd given her when they were small had made an impression, on her at least, and maybe him too.

Silence was all that answered her, and folding his arms over his chest. The corner of her mouth tried to smile, tenderness welling up.God, Ela.... You don't change. So many times when they were little... So many times Ela would be asked something and he'd cross his chest and dig in his heels, give a little pout and say "No." So many years had pased, so much they had lost to time, themselves, each other, Takatori. In a fleeting moment of falling snowflakes amidst the burnt riuns of a childhood haunt, the man and charred porch vanished, and for just a moment, just a fleeting second in time, Anouk saw her baby brother as she remembered him. Still stubborn. Still sulky. Still grumpy as all shit no matter how long of a nap he'd had. But he was hers. Her hand reached out to take the hand of the little brother she'd brough here so often when they were small, only for another flake to fall and the memory have melted away into nothingness again. The hardened, snow-cold man that outwardly projected her own freezing fire from the innermost circles of hell. Ela knew she hurt. He must have, why else would he have come here? How else would he have known..?

Ela stood up, pushing against the banister and moving a little too quickly, falling forward only to be caught and held there by Anouk. Maybe... Maybe the upstairs is still okay, we can at least be a little warmer... Yes he nearly fell on her and brought her down to the porch with him. Yes it was accidental. But... Just as her arm reached upard to try and continue holding Ela, just for a hug, just to try and make something in the ravages of her soul feel better, he'd caught his breath and was pulling away. "They didn't touch you, did they?!" That sudden flash of anger, hard and bright as lightning. Anouk shook her head lightly, keeping her arm around Ela's shoulders for support.

"Nothing.. that didn't heal up," Anouk replied quietly, violet eyes moving down to the porch. Her external injuries had been pretty minor, but how did one put a bandaid on a bleeding soul? At the moment she couldn't have recalled which healing injuries and bruises were from whom or when. She wasn't as much of a wreck as her brother but she had been plowing through Takatori's men slowly. "Come on... Let's go inside, get out of the chill. The flat upstairs should still have some salvagable-"

Sakura~ Sakura~
Yayoi no sora wa~

The words were high pitched and computerized, speeding the tempo of the song up to be used as an 8bit version for her ringtone. Anouk hated plain ringers, but everyone in her phonebook had a special one; this one was for numbers she didn't have. Keeping her arm on Ela, Anouk moved her other arm to fish the phone out from her pocket. Unknown Name. Unknown number.

Sakura~ Sakura~
Yayoi no sora wa~

Sakura~ Sakura~
Yayoi no-

With a caution as though the phone in her hands might explode then and there, Anouk answered on the third ring, yet remained silent for a moment. Of the people who had obtaine her number, she'd found it was best to let them initiate the conversation; they would state what they wanted up front and where to meet her, and most of the time she didn't have to say anything at all. “Mrs. Ueda? I have a proposition for you. Would you like to speak to your sons?” when the caller didn't say anything on their part for a moment, Anouk was about to answer in Aerugese; people who knew her so well over the years knew that even in Creat and far from Aerugo, she still answered, even at the bar, with moshi moshi. But now, words failed, caught in her throat as a choked gasp, violet eyes wide. It was chilly out, but she hadn't been shivering before; now she was beginning to tremble as the blood drained from her face.

Her sons. They were still alive. She could talk to them. "W-Who is this? Let me talk to them, please. Please, I want my children." There was a good chance this was simply bait, Takatori telling someone to dangle her sons on a rope to see if she'd bite now that the Men in White knew she was hunting them down. But on the off-chance the offer was legit? Anouk would take it, struggling to keep her voice calm even though her words came rushing out.

[Patience Vinrouge]

Patience clicked her tongue, a smile spreading over her lips. She could almost taste the power she held in her hands over this woman. But she couldn't exploit it; whether or not Anouk realized it, Patience's life was essentially in her hands. She knew that Elastor would spare none of the Men in White for what role they played in destroying his family's life. But Anouk... she had a reason to keep her cool. Two reasons, in fact. Which had now started to watch some kind of movie, if she was hearing the whispers of the tv through the door. Patience stood and began to walk towards the door slowly. “Now, Mrs. Ueda. We both have something each other would like. You give me what I want and I can give you what you want. And more.”

She went over to the door, pulling the key that was safely tucked in her bra. She twirled it her fingers, listening to the strains of something. Winnie the Pooh? Eh. It didn't matter to Patience. All that mattered is the kids were occupied until she called for them. “Are you willing to explore your options, Mrs. Ueda? Or would you prefer I hang up?”

[Anouk Ueda]

There are few feelings in the world that can really equate to knowing that there's a stranger on the phone with you that is holding complete power over your soul and the reason your heart beats. Upsetting that stranger would be to deny your heart from beating and refuse breath. Anouk had been thrust headfirst into Hell for no discernable reason, and since then had been clawing and shooting her way through it. The Devil had what she wanted, and she'd kill anything in her way to send a message. Clearly, someone was reading her little love-note and finally reaching back to her, but now that the moment had come that someone finally made a move to break the ice? It shook the woman to her core, leaving her to feel as empty and powerless as she had the night the nameless men came and destroyed her world.

“Now, Mrs. Ueda. We both have something each other would like. You give me what I want and I can give you what you want. And more.” Something... she wanted? When Takatori had come, he hadn't demanded any payment. Hadn't made any requests or claims. In fact, murdering her husband and taking her children seemed to have only been an afterthought to them, something unplanned done on spur of the moment. Hell, she wouldn't have even known who to start looking for if he hadn't said that Takatori sent his regards. “Are you willing to explore your options, Mrs. Ueda? Or would you prefer I hang up?”

Lavender eyes went wide, Anouk not even aware of the desperation that rose to her voice. "No! No, please, don't hang up!" Trembling fingers held the phone tighter, as though it were a lifeline back to her soul. Anouk's voice quieted, even though there was nobody in the neighbourhood who would care if it rose, and for a moment had to concentrate to continue speaking in Cretan. "I don't have much of anything left, but please, just tell me what you want. Please, they're just babies... Give them back to me." Her breath was beginning to shudder as Anouk took in a deep breath, trying to keep herself calm right now. She'd fought so hard to keep from crying, from feeling as horribly guilty as she did killing those horible men and letting the sin of their blood mingle and stain her own. Her eyes began to shine in desperate need. "Please..."

[Patience Vinrouge]

The sorrow and desperation in Anouk's voice caused something to flutter in Patience's heart. Something akin to... pain? Want? Loss? Whatever the feeling was, it stilled Patience in her sardonic smile. So it seems that some parents actually cared for their children. It was a refreshing realization for a moment. But it was fleeting. Her own reverie could come later. She had business to conclude and her own neck to save. She did feel the tone of her voice soften ever so slightly as she spoke again into the phone. “You will get your children, Mrs. Ueda. Not soon enough as you would like, but you will see them again. But first, to business.”

Moving away from the door again to keep her head on straight, her voice grew serious. “They call me the Lady in White and I know more about you and your brother than you would think. Your brother is a loose cannon, as is the man I work for. Yet I grow tired of these petty games. Ensure me that your brother will not know of my involvement in my little organization and I will not only give you your children when this is all said and done...” She took a pause for a moment, glancing into her bedroom. If she said these next words, it was treason to the Men in White. Treason against Takatori, whom she had so faithfully served and lusted after. But when she served him, she was also serving herself. Takatori had worn out his welcome for Patience. His path was too chaotic and did not offer the power she so craved. In order for some stability and greater power in her life, Takatori needed to be eliminated. And she knew that Elastor Ito and Anouk Ueda had the drive and the strength to manage it. So be it then. She spoke again, “...I can tell you how to get to Takatori.”

There was silence on the other hand for a few long moments as Anouk processed what Patience had said. Clearly this had not been what the young mother expected. When the agreement had been reached, Patience smiled. She went over and unlocked the door to the large guest room the children occupied. She sat down on the edge of the bed where they sat watching Winnie the Pooh, as she had guessed. She reached for the remote, pausing the film. “Kitaro, darling. Someone on the phone wants to talk to you. But remember what we discussed before... best behavior?” She watched the older boy nod slowly, reaching out for the phone. She handed it over as she took the toddler into her lap. She would need to keep him amused while Kitaro spoke to their mother. She would also remain to listen carefully because if Kitaro let anything slip... well, he knew the consequences.

[Anouk Ueda]

The silent pause that hung over the air could have filled a chasm, Anouk clinging to the nothingness after begging for the return of her children. So many people killed,k so much blood on her own hands now, so many people who knew useful things but in the end didn't know what she needed them to tell her before the life went out of their eyes... Finally, one person in all of Creta could help her and knew something, and Anoukd was more than willing to cooperate to have her heartbeat return to her. Finally Patience's voice returned, the tone somewhat softer than before. "You will get your children, Mrs. Ueda. Not soon enough as you would like, but you will see them again. But first, to business.” Anouk took several slow breaths, trying to remain calm. Her sons. She could have them back. She could have them back. She could have them back.

The slight gentility melted to make room for the serious tone once more, commanding and steering the conversation to however she wished it; whateer it was the woman on the other end of the line wanted, she had complete power over Anouk. “They call me the Lady in White and I know more about you and your brother than you would think. Your brother is a loose cannon, as is the man I work for. Yet I grow tired of these petty games. Ensure me that your brother will not know of my involvement in my little organization and I will not only give you your children when this is all said and done...” Heeey, Ela was not a loose cannon! So he just happened to show up at the remains of her tavern and flat, covered in blood, wounded and armed after having not seen each other since they were kids. Could happen to an...er.. yeah. But this woman wanted her safety from Ela? Anoukd glanced to her brother. Given how he looked, it stood to reason that he'd gotten into it with at least a few someones before coming here, and odds were, he was the only one still breathing. So in the end that was a fairly valid concern... even if she hadn't asked for protection from Ela and only asked for it from Anouk herself, that would have been a fair trade. “...I can tell you how to get to Takatori.”

Anouk nearly choked on air. For her safety this Lady In White would give Anouk her children back and the monster who was behind all of this? DONE. It almost felt like her mind had to reboot. She'd been offered a lot of sneaky promises by a lot of shady people in order to get from one slime to the next, but of all the offers and promises... this was the one she'd been waiting for, the only one that meant something, and the only one that didn't ask for more money that Anouk could ever hope to get. That one mercenary wanted whatever money each hit had handy plus his own fee for helping her... which would have left her completely broke and probably stranded, if not dead. "Yes.. Yes, I'll make sure you're left alone. You have my word."

"“Kitaro, darling. Someone on the phone wants to talk to you. But remember what we discussed before... best behavior?” Anouk's heartbeat thudded heavily in her in her ears. It no longer mattered that it was cold as shit out there or that flurries continued to drift down from some unseen flour bag above.

"Kitaro?

The little boy holding the cell phone lit up. "Mama!" Tears gathered in the woman's lavender eyes, her body shaking as she felt herself slip to the porch beneath her. It was like talking to a ghost, and the dead were calling from Heaven.

"Baby, where are you? Are you okay? Is Kenta okay? Is she feeding you?" The slew of worried questions came out in a rush of Aerugese, Anouk's brain not even stopping to think when it came to talking to her child; they always used Aerugese at home. Kitaro sat cross-legged on the bed, holding onto the phone with both hands and looked up to Patience.

"Mama.. Mama, you have to talk in Cretan, Kitaro replied slowly, holding the phone like he was scared he'd accidentlly end the call. "We're ok, Mama. We're not with the bad man anymore, and Miss White takes care of us."

Anouk bit her lip, trying not to sob on the phone. Kitaro wouldn't say where they were or what the woman's name was. she'd probably told him not to, but oh dear God Anouk wanted to know! Her soul was screaming for this information. her babies were being cared for by a woman she didn't know who worked for Takatori. Anouk was so grateful that someone was taking care of them and that it wasn't some freak, but how could she not worry? She sucked in another deep breath, trying to steady herself even though her voice was just barely above cracking. "Alright Kitaro..."

"Mama? When can we come home? We miss you." Tears dripped off Anouk's cheeks and stung in the cold air, the simple question shooting her heart.

"..S-soon, baby. Mama's working things out right now, and we'll all be back together again soon. You, me, Kenta and your uncle. I promise, things will be okay, Kitaro." All of us but your daddy... The boys had never met their uncle Ela, but they'd heard a few stories and seen a few photos. Mostly heard about how much she loved Ela and how things were when they were little. And about their grandparents.

The little boy fidgeted slightly, moving his hand away from the phone to wipe his eye with his palm and gave a small sniffle. "I love you Mama." Anouk could hear it. The pain in her little boy's voice. That wasn't the hurt sound he made when he was ready to cry from being cranky and needing a longer nap. That wasn't the starting to cry and trying to be a big boy and not when he took a dive off that porch and tore his left knee open. This wasn't even the little heartbreaking sobs that had soaked her chest when his fish died. This was something much, much deeper and Anouk wondered if he believed her that everything would be alright. Hell, she didn't even know if she believed herself. Kitaro had watched his father die and was taken away from his mother and forced to stay with strangers and everything depended on someone else. How could it ever be alright again? Her body was shaking more now, trying to not go to pieces right there.

"I love you too, Kitaro. I love you and Kenta very, very much..." The world was falling apart and blurring. Anouk's face burned with tears as she tried to muffle the sounds of her own crying and failing, feeling her heart break as the little boy holding onto the cell phone stopped making the same effort, low mournful sobs filling Anouk's ears.

[Patience Vinrouge]

The little one was crying, big crocodile tears. She could feel Kenta shifting in her arms, staring as his brother sobbed. She gingerly took the phone from the boy's hands, slipping an arm around his shoulders and hugging him to her body. The boy sobbed into her side and she somehow managed to keep the look of annoyance off her face as the fleeting moment when she worried about her shirt being mussed was gone as quickly as it came. She cooed quietly, rubbing his back. “Come down, darling. We can't have little Kenta start crying as well.” Kitaro seemed to take this message to heart, being the strong older brother. He sniffled a few times, wiping away his tears. He smiled at his brother and reaching for the remote control, put their film back on. Kenta resumed watching Piglet run frantically across the screen as soon as he was assured his brother was better. Patience shifted Kenta off of her lap and stood, taking the phone and herself out of the room.

She put the phone to her ear, listening for a moment to the sound of Anouk's tears. It was touching and she felt something pull at her heart again. “Mrs. Ueda, I'll be in touch. And... your boys will be okay. I assure you.” With that, she clicked the bright red “end” button on the phone, watching the call signal drop. She turned the phone off and placed into a locked drawer in her desk, saving it for the next time she would be calling the young mother. Which would be soon. She returned to the guest room and sat down onto the bed again, smiling fleetingly as Kenta immediately curled up into her. Kitaro was a bit more hesitant but his sadness led him to eventually rest on her other side. She kept both arms wrapped around the boys, watching as the drifted to sleep as the movie played on. She sat there in the dimly lit room, gazing down at the children. The horrible things she had done to be where she was today and yet these innocents clung to her as a well-appreciated (if not entirely welcome) caregiver. It was... strange. And... it still stirred at her heart. And that stirring scared her. Scared her more than anything had in her life.

[EXIT THREAD]

[Anouk Ueda]

The sound of her baby crying on the other line was heart-breaking as the world around Anouk had melted and ceased to be. It no longer mattered that she and Ela were both still on the porch as snowflakes drifted down and tangled in her auburn waves. She wasn't feeling the cold creep in through her leather coat or the wind start to bite through her jeans. The urgency to get into the remnanyts of her life and upstairs to try and sift through what was left of her family's things had all but washed away with the tide. The only thing in her universe right now was Kitaro's soft sobs. Her babies were alive, and they needed her.

"..Kitaro... Kitaro?"

“Mrs. Ueda, I'll be in touch. And... your boys will be okay. I assure you.” The phone had been taken away from Kitaro and was back in ghe hands of Miss White. Anouk's hand went to her mouth, another muffled sob breaking past her lips as she tried to steady her breathing. There was a soft click, followed by three gentle beeps as the call ended. The small phone slipped from her hands as Anouk doubled over on her knees as sobs openly wracked her body, pouring from her soul in painful chokes like a wailing ghost that haunted the living through a body that forgot to die. The proud, competitive fighter was broken and crumpled on the burnt remains of the porch in the snow.

"Ki..ta..ro... Kenta..." She coughed as she sucked in a painful breath of freezing air.

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