And the World Shall Forget You

[Nayt]

With the stick, Etsu was confident that nothing would happen. Now, with reason and logic on her side, she was even more confident that nothing would happen. So when Eld wrapped his jacket around the dagger and grasped the hilt, she didn't expect him to faint even in the slightest. More and more she was doubted the warning, but the scenario was still interesting to her. She watched Eld's face the whole time, though. Deep down on the inside, there was some part of her that wanted to believe in the warning, and that part right now was frightened for Eld.

And when Eld took hold of the dagger and pulled it from the ground and the crossbow it set within, he'd experience an overwhelming sense of . . .

Nothing.

At first . . .

"Tsukimono-san?" Etsu asked, trying to get his attention. "Are you . . . faint?"

What would follow in the next several seconds would be horrible feeling in the pit of Eldridge Tsukimono's stomach. A natural feeling of guilt, as if he'd just taken something that was never meant to be removed, and separated two spirits that did not deserve to be separated-- a feeling, and perhaps fear, that this headstone was meant for two, not one, and he may have done their memory a grave disservice in separating them . . .

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld was about to shake his head when he felt it. He did not know why he felt it; it defied all common sense. All he knew is that he'd just done something very, very wrong. Etsu would receive no response from him, other than the way he paled suddenly.

He hurriedly set the crossbow/dagger combo back in its place. "G-Gomenasai," he whispered, slipping into Cizokian before corrected himself. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean...I'm just trying to find out what happened to my friend."

Whether or not this would appease the spirit, or if such a thing was even possible, he didn't know. He could only hope that somehow he'd be understood and forgiven for what he'd done...

[Nayt]

Etsu wrinkled her brow when she saw how pale Eld's face became. For a second, her minimal fear that he'd faint skyrocketed and, tensed all over, Etsu prepared herself to jump out there and catch Eld before he fell over. Then she'd have to take him home and deal with her own guilt on the matter.

But alas, it wasn't to be-- fortunately. Rather than faint, Eld merely apologized for some reason and slipped the dagger back into the ground, back where it was cradled within the space between bow and string, almost as if it were being held and forever comforted by a stronger will.

Once the dagger was back in its place, the guilty feeling that struck Eld slowly faded away until his heart and soul felt were normal and at ease once again. Perhaps it defied all logic, but there was a small rationality to what just happened. This was a graveyard, and even if there were no spirits haunting it, these items were all that remained in memory of these fallen few. Attempting to dislodge or take these makeshift headstones away was just as bad and disrespectful as grave robbing, for all intents and purposes . . .

"What was that?" Etsu asked quickly, her tone bordering on outright demanding.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld turned to her with a startled look, as though he'd forgotten she was there. "I-I...ummm....I don't really know." He frowned and stared at the ground for a moment while he reflected. "It felt like...moving it was a very wrong thing to do, like I was somehow harming...something...by doing it. It went away when I put it back."

Is that what Akizetsumei had felt? He could see how a shock like that might cause her to faint. It didn't explain the dreams, but perhaps they were just nightmares in the end.

Something occurred to him then. Oboreru said she was still out of it...and when she fainted she dropped the fans. He quickly walked to grave Akizetsumei had touch, to check and see if the fans were on the small dirt mount or if they were still where she'd dropped them.

[Nayt]

"Nani . . .?" Etsu whispered.

There was a small tone of concern in her voice-- though not quite for Eld's safety. It was a mixture of two things, really. Eld's safety and Eld's sanity. She wasn't fond of the idea of him being terribly harmed or him going completely insane. Then again, though . . . he was a pretty weird guy . . . maybe he'd always been a little bit crazy?

Eld would find an oddity when he double checked the fans: they were back in their place, perfectly set where they were before Akizetsumei even touched them.

Etsu stood behind him and looked over his shoulder, trying to get a good look at the fans, too. She didn't know what the deal with those were, either, but if they were a pair, then it was probably for the best not to touch them, right? Or else Eld would feel all guilty and such.

This was incredibly strange.

[Zach Kaiser]

"It's hard to explain, but it wasn't normal. There was definitely a...presence of some kind." That much he was sure of; two presences, even, and it felt like by moving it he threatened to tear them apart.

Curiously, the fans were back in their initial positions. Why was that? He'd figured that Akizetsumei's condition was due to her not putting the fans back, and he thought if he put them back for her she'd get better. But if they already were replaced...

But who replaced them? Remmy might have, or if Toushikyo knew about this place like he suspected, he might have too. More importantly, if Akizetsumei was being haunted, then putting them back should have stopped that. Was there something else that made her case different, or did she go through something different entirely to begin with?

Eld sighed. Every time he thought he had answers he just raised further questions...

[Nayt]

Etsu said nothing. She still didn't want to believe that there was anything special about these things, but she wasn't quite willing to disbelieve enough to actually touch them. She folded her arms over her chest and retreated to the entrance to the clearing, where she could get a better look at the layout.

Even if she didn't believe there was anything special about this place, Etsu felt as if she was missing something here that was right in front of her face. It was a sobering and bothersome feeling, one that made her all the more willing to camp out in the whereabouts of this place for awhile . . .

She passed a glance back over at Eld, though, and began to wonder exactly how much more they could learn right now. Without finding someone that knew about this place, they might very well be SOL on leads. Still, the long walk here was worth it, if only so she could see this place herself.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld let out another sigh; he had come hoping to gleam some answers, but so far only managed to acquire more questions. With only vague guesses on what this place was even about there was apparently little he could learn from it. At best he could find a translation of that title, and he still wasn't sure what to make of the presence he felt--was it real, or had he built up so many preconceptions about this place that his mind was playing tricks on him?

He shook his head; he needed a break for now. Thinking about this was only leading him around in circles at the moment. He turned towards Etsu, who was now standing at the entrance. "Ready to head back?"

They couldn't stay too late anyway, not if they wanted to get back before nightfall. It was still fairly long hike back to his house.

[Nayt]

Etsu nodded her head. It was about time they gave this graveyard some peace. For now. Chances were they were going to be back. Soon, too . . .

---

The walk back was eerily quiet, as both Etsu and Eld were locked in their own thoughts. It would've benefited the both of them to share what they were thinking, but that was not how these two kids functioned. They had a horrible habit of not speaking much unless the other started it.

Once home, Eld learned from his parents that Toushikyo had actually come by looking for Eld, but Eld was nowhere to be spoken for. Unfortunately, it was high time for Toushikyo to not be home, so though he visited, nothing could be done about it until tomorrow. Without being outright rude to the Terra clan, that is.

Etsu took control of Eld's bed and Maya's book and contented herself with silent reading. She was interested in this story of his, which meant Eld probably wasn't going to get this book back until Etsu had sufficiently read it cover to cover. That was how she spent the rest of her night, except this time she was up later than Eld, reading all about how Dagan saved this kid they were calling the New Arrival from some crazy zombie-like guys. Spirit zombies. A member of the undead which fed not on your body, but your soul. It may have been a fantastical thought, but Etsu could picture them clearly enough that she fully expected to have nightmares that night.

And nightmares she suffered, indeed . . .

They weren't too bad, but she did an awful lot of tossing and turning, and by afternoon she didn't feel rested at all. But it was a new day, and she needed to get on with a few necessary things. Like drilling Eld about what he planned to do about the Graveyard of Memories.

"Tsukimono-san . . ." She caught him during his waking up ritual, sometime between brushing his teeth and figuring out if he needed a bath now or later. "Do you have pr-ran for graveyard?"

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld was still slightly out of it when Etsu asked him a question. He stared at her with bleary eyes for a bit before shaking his head. He had not slept well that night either, but rather than his nightmares being induced by a novel they stemmed from his experience touching the crossbow dagger thing. If it was all figment of his mind, his mind was doing a pretty good job of acting like it was real.

"I'm not sure what to do about the graveyard; honestly your idea is the only one I can come up with: camp out there for a few days and see if we can't spot the caretaker." He was not terribly thrilled with the idea of camping out in any graveyard, let alone one with apparently discontent spirits that wanted to be left alone, but he didn't have any other plans.

"Other than that, I guess I can just hope Toushikyo comes by again today so I can talk to him..." He could try and translate the title of the book, but he didn't see a title providing him with any particularly insightful information no matter what it was. His only other lead was Remmy, but from he could tell no one's seen him since the day Akizetsumei fainted.

[Nayt]

Etsu nodded along with him. So he was going to take her up on the idea, then? Well, that was good. It was the only way she could think of to find someone that knew a thing or two about the graveyard, but Etsu wasn't about to go asking Eld over and over again if he wanted to go camping. That would suggest that she sincerely wanted to go camping with him, and that was just a preposterous notion.

"When?" she asked.

It wasn't like she was planning on doing anything in the near future. If it wasn't going to be for awhile, then maybe she'd go see if Sarah wanted to hang out or something-- and if not, she'd just be sitting around reading for the duration of her wait.

In hindsight, maybe it made perfect sense why she'd get so wrapped up in Eld's wild goose chase like this. Excepting a few particular outings, this whole stay in Hillcrest had been spent reading, and that was bound to get boring eventually, especially when she was reading without purpose.

[Zach Kaiser]

"Hmm..." Eld gave this some thought. On one hand, camping in a graveyard was not something he was terribly looking forward to. There was no guarantee they'd run into the caretaker, or that they wouldn't encounter Batou out on the prowl. On the other hand, he couldn't think of much to do other than finish the book and talk to Toushikyo; assuming he came by today, there wouldn't be much else for Eld to do, so...

"I guess I wouldn't mind doing it pretty soon. Even tonight, if Toushikyo stops today." He got the impression that Etsu really wanted to camp out. It probably had less to do with the investigation and more to do with her being bored and liking the outdoors, but that was fine by him. It was her idea, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to do it by himself even if he wanted to.

[Nayt]

Tonight? That was fine. She could deal with tonight. Then they'd be out for a few days. They'd only need so much, though. A lot of things could be obtained on site. Etsu went silent as she devoted all of her thought processes to this subject. She needed to figure out what to pack . . .

A tent. They were going to need a tent. And animal repellent, too. Eld said something about wolves in the area, so they were going to need some sort of repellent. The urine of some sort of huge animal or something. Sarah would not only know what they'd need for that, but she'd probably have some on hand, too. She'd also probably know how to apply it to an area for maximum effect. Yes, Etsu would definitely need to visit Sarah today. And probably catch up and hang out over at her house for a few hours while she was there.

Etsu kind of just wanted to see Sarah.

But anyways! They'd need a tiny bit of food. Not much. Etsu could catch a majority of their meals. Fish for a few days would be just fine. They also had a body of water very close to their proposed location. Eld would probably insist they bring soap, too. Hmmm . . . what else?

"I wir-rr pack," Etsu declared promptly. "If Toushikyo-san does not stop, you shour-rd find him."

[Zach Kaiser]

"Alright. I'll get ready too, and tell my parents we'll be out." Of course, he wasn't going to tell them they were camping in a graveyard...just near the lake. And that was true, technically.

Hoping that Toushikyo would come by, he stuck to making preparations he could while around the house. He packed some food that wouldn't spoil in the short time they were out there (though if necessary one of them could always run into town to get some food, so he wasn't all that worried), clothes, soap and other hygienic amenities.

And if Toushikyo hadn't come over by the time he finished, he'd have to just go over there. If Akizetsumei wasn't feeling well she probably wouldn't be the one to answer the door, so simply going to their door should have been fine.

[Nayt]

In the end, Toushikyo never showed.

It was getting late by the time Eld finally went to visit the residence of the Terra clan. The sun was beginning to set, and in a couple of hours, the moon was going to be out and their little town of Hillcrest was going to be cloaked in nightfall. Fortunately, Eld and Etsu already planned to be out during night . . .

Only a moment after Eld knocked on the door, there was a twist of the doorknob and a gentle tug upon the door. The person in the doorway was not the one Eld expected, though. He was a terrifying man. Six and a half feet-- perhaps even closer to seven feet --tall, three hundred seventy pounds, and made entirely of muscle. Gestahl of Terra was a walking mountain. There was only one person taller than him in all of Hillcrest, but no one was quite as physically strong as him. On top of being frighteningly large, he also had a scary sort of demeanor about him. He rarely smiled or even showed the slightest bit of emotion. With thinning hair, a strong chin, and a strong brow, his regular stoicism made him seem like a constant threat to the life of anyone that didn't know him well enough.

It also didn't help that there were no clothes in the world that could fit him right, and even a casual t-shirt and slacks were a bit tight on him.

"Can I help you?" he asked, his voice deep and bassy, as if it the earth itself were speaking for him and he was only moving his lips.

And were Eld to do the improbable and see past what little space was left behind by this man who took up almost all of the doorway, he'd be able to catch a glimpse of Akizetsumei of Terra, lying across the couch at the end of the room, hands folded over her belly and eyes shut in sleep. She was still wearing her pajamas and just didn't look well, even from a distance. Like someone who was so obviously down with a seasonal cold . . .