"W-well . . ." Mayako turned around again to check the potatoes.

She lifted the cover and leaned forward enough to waft the smell over. It smelled just about right. These sorts of things required the right amount of ingredients to blend-- a perfect amount, even! too little bacon and you wouldn't even taste it, but too much bacon and it'd be too strong! --and the proper time to cook together, to blend all the flavors of the sauteed onions, broken up pieces of bacon, butter, and red potatoes, and the easiest way to tell was how they smelled. And indeed, they smelled as if there was only one singular smell, rather than four different smells at once! Next, she checked the potatoes by lightly poking one of them against the skillet with the wooden spoon. It was certainly soft enough.

"Wh-whenever you are," Mayako replied as she put the cover back over it and turned the heat down. But she had an idea! Today was Eld's training day, so he didn't need to be too tense. He could relax just a little! Mayako then suggested, "I-- I was g-going to surprise you with b-breakfast in bed-- b-but even though it's not a surprise anymore, you can still relax in bed with breakfast."

"Ummm...." There were a few moments where Eld wasn't quite sure how to reply. His first instinct was to point out it would be much easier to eat at the table, and that Mayako herself wouldn't be terribly comfortable in his room, unless she was eating all the way at his desk.

But at the same time, he realized Mayako had gone out of her way to do this for him; he decided it was probably best to accede to her wish.

"Okay, sure. I suppose I better go get in bed, then. Err...need help carrying anything?" he couldn't help but ask. Even though she clearly meant to serve him, he just couldn't leave without offering, even though it'd be inevitably turned down.

"No-- don't worry, I got it," Mayako replied cheerily.

Really, there was just something special about eating a meal in bed, even if it wasn't a surprise. It was ten times better when it was a surprise, but still! It was just comfortable to lay in one's own bed and have a nice home cooked meal. Especially for someone like Eld, who didn't do that a lot! He was too much of a neat freak to do that sort of thing, probably. So why not spoil himself before a big battle? It just seemed right!

Less than a minute after Eld went back to his room and laid down in bed, Mayako would come in with a plate-full of food, a fork, and tall glass of orange juice. Hopefully Eld like orange juice!

Nonetheless, his cuisine for the morning was a fairly balanced one. He had a nice helping of potatoes, three sausage patties that had been home prepared, with a slight mix of spiced veggies within (like onions, and a scant few stray specks of pepper), and last but not least, a breakfast staple: scrambled eggs.

"H-here you go . . ." Mayako said as she offered him his foot a little nervously. Even to this day, she worried about people maybe not liking her cooking as much as she hoped they did.

Of course, Mayako's concerns were always unfounded. Her standards of cooking were so high that even if she did make a mistake somewhere, chances are nobody but her family would be able to tell anyway; no one else got to eat food this good on a regular basis.

"Wow, this looks amazing." Even more than usual. It occurred to him somewhat belatedly that he'd hardly eaten anything at all yesterday.

Though he allowed himself to eat in bed, he couldn't help but be a neat freak still: he ate very precisely, making sure not so much as a single crumb fell onto his bed. "This is delicious," he assured her after a few bites. Though he couldn't help but notice something. "Aren't you having any?"

Mayako relaxed against Eld's wall, and slowly allowed herself to slide down and sit against it, with her knees lifted slightly, but not quite pressed up against her chest or anything. She was just relaxing. Truth be told, she had gotten up a little earlier than she was used to, in order to prepare this. Everything had been home prepared, after all.

"I-I'm glad!" Mayako replied with much enthusiasm at Eld's declaration of the dish's quality.

She always had her doubts-- always. But at her age, that was a fairly common thing; regardless of one's skills, one was likely to doubt them at sixteen.

"I will-- i-in a bit," Mayako stated aloud, "I-- I just wanted to make sure you had a nice breakfast, th-that's all. I-- I'm not too worried about me. I'm not the one who's got a big fight tomorrow, a-and training today! Th-this is just . . . it's just . . . h-how I felt th-that I could help. G-good food makes f-for good strength, you know?"

It was a wide, expansive area, with quite possibly fifty feet between each main wall. Cobblestone comprised the massive sweep of space, perpetually empty, yet always lit from above-- from way, way up high, where large lamps over gargantuan bulbs dimmed the bright lights enough to make the eternally gray hall bearable-- perpetually gray and eternally lit. Dust covered the cobblestone, over long forgotten footprints that used to traverse the Great Hall day in and day out. But the crowds were gone, now. So long since gone that the Great Hall had completely forgotten them.

On each side of the Hall, there were doors into the outer rim of the structure, and balconies wrapping around the entirety of the hall on the second, third, fourth, and fifth floor, respectively. The structure was enormous. Dozens upon dozens of people could have fit upon each wrap-around balcony, and hundreds could have stood comfortably within the Great Hall itself.

Gestahl had not set foot in this place for some time. He remembered once, before there were names and titles and all the like scattered about. So many names, now-- so many people to be remembered. It seemed there were less than two dozen left, now.

Back before there were any names here, Gestahl could remember enjoying the Great Hall. Now it was just a hollow shell. A holy place, perhaps. A hall of remembrance.

But there was a reason to return to this place. That reason called out to him as soon as she saw him enter from the northern door. "G-- Gestahl!"

The first thing he saw of her was her elaborately designed and flowing dress. But that wasn't the most eye catching thing about her. The woman's most prominent feature was hair that not only danced like a wildfire with each step, but maintained the same colors-- oranges, reds, yellows, and even the slightest hint of a blue, a dark root perhaps, all mixed in together in a familial pattern. Her hair was long and braided into an elaborate pattern-- yet it still looked like a dancing flame.

She wasn't a tall woman, but she wasn't a short one, either. At average height, five feet and six inches tall, she lunged into Gestahl with open arms. She had a pretty face-- mature, with age lines somewhat evident, but no one could deny how gracefully she had aged.

"Oh, my Gestahl . . ." she whispered as she buried her face into the middle of his chest, "You've come back!"

She was practically in tears. Utterly joyful tears. Gestahl, however, did not present her with a verbal reply. Instead, he placed his hand upon her shoulder reassuringly.

"I've missed you so . . ." she whispered as one of those tears fell-- and the smile upon her face brightened even more.

In the Great Hall, there were benches on either side of the floors, all of them-- numerous benches for one to five people to sit and relax, and socialize accordingly. The woman pulled away from Gestahl gently, and clasped his hand with hers warmly-- and quietly bid him to join her. Before, she had been sitting upon a bench to the far south, enjoying the quiet, and the pleasant warmness she ascertained from the Hall of Remembrance. Gestahl obliged and held her hand, and joined her. Time passed in silence, with the woman happy to simply sit with Gestahl, and rest her head upon his bicep and feel the warmth of his body.

"Have you gone to see the children?" she asked, eventually.

"The children?"

"Yes-- Toushikyo, Akizets, Oboreru."

"They are not children, Katalyna."

Katalyna simply shook her head, the smile never fading from her face. It couldn't-- not when she had Gestahl with her, home at last, "They'll always be my babies to me."

In acknowledgment, Gestahl nodded. "Akizetsumei, last night. I have not seen Oboreru. And Toushikyo today. He is recovering well."

Katalyna tilted her head to the side, "Recovering?"

"He was hurt."

The color faded from her face a little. "Wh-what?"

"Do not worry. He will recover well. Toushikyo is strong."

"B-but how! How was my Toushikyo hurt? Who would ever do that to him?" Katalyna pleaded.

Gestahl's replies were as gruff and deep as ever, despite what the situation may have denoted. "During our task. You may find him in the infirmary."

"Oh-- my poor Toushikyo. My poor, poor Toushikyo . . ." Katalyna lamented, before declaring with prompt confidence, "We must go see him, right away!"

Breakfast was soon over; as much as Eld would have liked to linger and talk with Mayako a bit, he needed to get started. He gathered up all that he needed for the day, and soon was on his way. With the sun up, finding Remmy's training grounds was much easier than finding his way back in the dark, now that he knew the way.

The place really was perfect. It was an open area, but secluded enough that he could practice using all his abilities without fear of someone seeing him who wasn't supposed to. He imagined what Remmy must have felt like, practicing here, planning, preparing, all for the sake of the village...and in particular, for Mayako's sake, who faced a danger no one else had known of, not even Eld himself at the time.

And now here was here, training for a similar reason. He was fighting only one man, not an entire cluster of bandits, but that one man was far stronger than any bandit could hope to be. All the same, though, the life of someone he cared about was on the line--he would work himself until he dropped today, so that he could see her safe and sound tomorrow.

"Alright, Kageko," he said aloud, drawing the scythe from the holder on his back, "let's get started." And so his training began...

And hours passed, with Eld completely alone-- off in Remmy's training grounds. The notebook was still there, there for his convenience. It wasn't ever going to be removed, either, as far as Emma was concerned. That notebook belonged there. It was something Remmy specifically kept in his private sanctuary. For that reason alone, it was going to stay in his private sanctuary. Removing it would have felt like defiling something sacred.

Nonetheless, for those hours, Eld remained alone.

It wasn't until evening was beginning to fall that he'd gain any company. A second person walked the forest path of memory.

Emma wore only a vest and a pair of slacks-- formal wear for men, but these ones fit her pretty well. This was unlikely to merit any thoughts from Eld; he'd already seen this outfit before. She liked to wear it every so often. More important was the fact that she had a bag with her, one that seemed to exude steam still, and a very pleasant smell.

"Hey, Eld?" Emma called out as she entered past the trees, in search of her surrogate older brother.

Concentrate...concentrate...

At first and even second glance, the clearing would appear to be empty. Eldridge Tsukimono was nowhere to be found, but traces of his presence remained--a glass filled with well water, an apple core, and a few pieces of removed clothing. And perhaps a bit more worrisome, a few towels with a bit of blood on them.

Don't...lose...focus...

Which begged the question where he went; after all, there wasn't much else in the area, no place where he would have conceivably gone except back to town, in which case Emma would have no doubt seen him. Or at the very least, he would have taken his things back.

No matter...how good...that smells...

"Up...here..." he replied breathlessly at last. His voice came from, of all places, above her--though perhaps not surprising given what he was supposed to be practicing, few people were prepared to look up when looking for someone, especially in the middle of the woods.

The sight was something unusual, to be certain, even by the standards of Hillcrest at this point. Eld was a good ten feet above her, shirtless and dripping with sweat, and more importantly floating. He held his weapons in his hand, but they were not in use. He was simply...there. In the air.

Though, not perfectly. He was steadily losing altitude, and over the course of the next thirty seconds would descend until his feet touched the ground, upon which he leaned heavily, hands on his knees, and gasped for breath.

Naturally, she spotted the particulars, and wondered about them. Of course, he had water to drink and an apple to eat, and maybe he got a little sweaty, so he took his shirt off. But the bloody towel? Just as Emma saw this, though, she heard Eld call out to her. She looked around again, and then directly up, before nearly jumping out of her skin.

"A-ah--" Emma laughed nervously, "Y-yeah-- uh, th-there ya are . . ."

Yes, she knew he could exhibited bursts of strength. Yes, she knew he could use spiritual energy to elicit wind-like effects. Yes, she knew that-- in theory --he could utilize both of these, and more, to be airborne for some length of time. They had even talked it all over last night. Emma knew all of these things very well--

But that didn't mean actually seeing him in the air was any less shocking. Emma wasn't afraid or anything; of course not. Eld wasn't going to fall on her or anything. At least not on purpose. And she could always just move out of the way or something! But still-- it was just so weird, seeing him like that . . .

Once he was on the ground, she set her bag down and walked towards him, this time actually a little bit concerned. She had a bit of a push in her step, caused directly by this unconscious worry of hers. Just what if Eld was pushing himself a little too hard? Emma would kneel down beside of him, and set her hand upon his shoulder.

"Hey-- Eld-- a-are you okay . . .?"

"I-I'm okay," he replied breathlessly. Whether or not that was true was up for debate; upon closer inspection, he was covered in small cuts and bruises. Nothing major, especially considering some of the injuries he'd sustained in recent memory, but the sheer number of them merited some minor concern, even if none of them were actively bleeding.

As he caught his breath, he stood up straight, making his expression a more easily visible. It was one of frustration. "It's still no good...no matter how hard I try, I can't stay aloft. I still float down."

He couldn't help but smile wryly. "And even the floating took a lot of work." Ultimately, that was the problem with this kind of practice: Eld may have taken to combat quickly--some might even call him a bit of a genius, given six months ago he hadn't known so much as how to throw a punch--but even he didn't succeed instantly. If you were trying to stay in the air, failure meant falling to the ground.

Just because he stood up, though, didn't mean Emma was going to move away from him, or remove her hand from his shoulder, or anything like that. The man was a mess! All the cuts and bruises . . . he was doing Gestahl's job for him!

"G-good God, Eld . . ." Emma whispered-- thinking aloud, truly-- and then directed to Eld just a moment later, "You might just want to settle with floating. It's just . . . I mean . . . what good are you going to do tomorrow, if you've broken all your bones, huh?"

"Look-- I'm have Mayako come and patch you up," Emma declared as she stood up, "She asked me to deliver dinner to you 'cause she was busy cooking for her pop tonight-- but hell, Eld. She's more medically trained than I am--"

Oddly enough, considering how many different things Emma studied and got good with, all in her free time. Medical practices outside of pharmaceuticals, however, was not one of those things.

"--and-- and-- and . . . yeah. Yeah, you just stay here, rest, eat a little . . ."

Emma wasn't even going to let Eld get a word in, not if she could help it.

Eld looked on, rather confused--Emma was far more worried than he thought his condition warranted. He had no injuries that were remotely permanent or dangerous, and he'd been washing off his cuts and scrapes as he got them, to reduce the chance of getting infected.

Though perhaps I should have brought more than one towel, he thought belatedly.

"A-Ah, E-Emma, I'm fine," he tried to say, but she was already heading back and wouldn't have listened to him besides. He sighed; yeah, he was a little beat up, but the way he figured every cut today was one less broken bone tomorrow. It was a small miracle the one hit he did take from Gestahl didn't break anything; if took too many, he may very well end up in his parents care even if he won the fight.

And losing wasn't an option. It wasn't just his life on the line, this time--if he failed, Etsu would likely be killed, and Kageko would be forced to be used as an instrument of murder.

"I guess I'll take a break, though," he muttered to himself. He toweled off some of the sweat before sitting down and looking to see what Emma brought him...

In the bag, Eld would find a helping of delight. Something likely to delight him, at least. The smell would be familiar, of course-- but smells could mean a variety of different things! There was a medium sized bowl in the bag, covered in tin foil, with a canteen of water tucked in the bag next to it. It was a hefty canteen, so he wasn't going to be sans water anytime soon. A few napkins, a knife, and fork were also tucked away inside. And if he were to inspect the contents of the bowl . . .

Beef. Beef, sitting in a dark brown bath of gravy, homemade, with diced carrots and onions celery, and small portions of potatoes, oven roasted to absolute perfection. It wasn't 100% fresh out of the oven, having required a good ten minutes to deliver, but that wouldn't matter in the end. The beef roast was likely to fall apart with just a light stab of his fork, too-- and there was enough to fill Eld up, to boot. Mayako had taken into consideration how much of an appetite he might have worked up, training so hard.

And within fifteen minutes, Eld would have company again.

This time, it was the three of them-- Emma, Mayako, and Sarah --with Sarah leading the font, charging in like a bat out of hell.

And before anyone else could even reach the clearing, Sarah already had-- charging in, sleeves rolled up, fists clenched like she was ready to beat the snot out of someone. "Eld! Goddamnit, are ya pushin' yaself to death?!"

"Oh...wow!" Eld was quite pleased to see the meal inside; roasts were some of his favorite meals, and ones he got far too infrequently. His parents didn't have that much time to cook, and he didn't quite have the skill necessary to make one come out well. It was edible, and even good, but certainly not spectacular. Definitely not like Mayako's. He knew she was trying to help him prepare in her own way, but at this rate she was going to spoil him.

It was a testament to just how much she cooked that Eld was still in the middle of eating when they returned. But while he wouldn't quite say he was displeased to see her, Emma had brought her sister back as well as Mayako, which brought on its own set of complications.

Namely that some habits died hard, and reflexively flinching before the sight of your best friend (who, until recently, was stronger than you by a wide margin) rolling up her sleeves as she approached you was one of them.

"I-It's really not as bad as it looks," Eld replied nervously. Even though Sarah had mostly grown out of hitting people (thanks to a certain incident with Etsu), Eld still couldn't but wonder if sooner or later she'd hit him if only because she knew he could take it.