Despite his former aspiration to be a doctor, a hospital was not Eld's favorite place to be--at least as a patient. This went double for one in the middle of foreign country. At least he had plenty to occupy his mind.

When he was informed they were leaving him here, the first thing he did was send a message to Etsu (or more accurately, to Scott to read to Etsu). No doubt she'd be worried if she heard he was taking an extended stay to recover from his injuries.

He also received a description from Lelan of what happened to the thief. Shortly after finding out (as well as the the thief's name, once that was discovered as well) he spent much of his time simply in thought. He wondered if he did the right thing by having Kageko decide; if not, what was the right thing? Even though he had a stronger sense of justice than most, even he couldn't be sure.

Time asleep was spent with Kageko, but that time was sporadic; sleeping schedules in the Dirige were already inconsistent at best, and as he was still healing he was often in and out of sleep during the night. The hospital staff wasn't too keen on letting keep the scythe by him, either, but relented when he proved he was no danger to himself or others and made it clear if he wasn't allowed to keep it in arm's reach at all times he'd take his chances walking out.

Slowly, though, he came out of his melancholy mood; it was in no small part due to Kageko trying to keep his spirits up, but also he took an interest in the treatment he was receiving. He was familiar with traditional methods, of course, and he tried to learn more about Qi healing (which he was quite terrible at, as it required much finer control than he could accomplish), but this was an entirely new method.

When he discovered his powers, he sort of assumed that all the legends of magic was simply how Qi seemed to people--it's certainly how it would have seemed to him, before becoming a Reaper. But as it turned out, magic was in fact just as real of a force, and as far as healing went it could do much more. It still took time, however; it made things easier, but it seemed it wasn't a total shortcut like in some of the novels he used to read.

The magic treatment also prevented him from being a bad patient. Like most people who'd studied medicine, Eld tended to think that he was perfectly capable of diagnosing himself, especially when it came to judging when he was capable of moving around on his own. However, he was totally ignorant of magic; he didn't know what it was capable of, nor what side effects it had, so he was much more inclined to listen to what the experts had to say.

Initially, Kageko had been extremely reserved. She didn't say or do much, and her world was extremely dark to Eld, but over a few days, it brightened up, but it was only by so much. Her reservations inevitably halted, and she became warm around Eld again--just like she had been before, and spent long nights in Eld's "dreams," just laying on his chest and listening to his heartbeat. It wasn't the same as hearing his heart in the real world, his real heartbeat, and she could claim that as a personal experience now--but it was still pleasing to her.

After a week passed, with no permitted visitations from fellow Dirige members (Eld was, after all, perfectly safe), Eldridge Tsukimono and Lelan Jericho were released on the same day. Both were mysterious patients, but they paid up. Even Lelan had money set aside in case he was damn near irreparably screwed.

In the end, Eld and Lelan stood outside of the makeshift hospital, Eld staring ahead, and Lelan behind. Some people just couldn'tffot the past . . .

"Yo, Eld?" Lelan asked as a means of getting Eld's attention; he had a little to say before he had it in in mind to leave. They did, after all, have two completely separate ways to go . . . "What if Grear was right? And he really was preaching the end of the world? And not a damn person listened to a word he said?"

It was a metaphorical question, truly. There wasn't a damn thing either Eld or Lelan could do about the thief anymore. Still, though, he was curious--and now, about his psychology in particulsr.

"That doesn't excuse what he did." Eld closed his eyes for a moment, remembering...that single page, the silent confession...a person whom was so trusted that not a single person thought to question him--no one living, that is.

But that was a closed book, now. "It doesn't matter what you preach...if you don't set a good example, no one will follow you." The way he spoke suggested it wasn't the first time he said those words.

"Or...are you genuinely worried the world might be coming to an end? Because...well, you know so much about Reapers; don't you think if something that big were happening, a god would know?"

Eld wasn't talking about the "gods" that were trapped in most Gaiasouls, either; he meant the leader of the Dirige, Saqin Rasche--better known as Death. Surely if the world was on the brink of destruction, he'd know about it--and do something to stop it. He might be cold, but Eld doubted he'd just sit idly by if there was a threat of that magnitude.

"Nah, not really," Lelan shook his head, "I don't know if he's right or wrong, and I really don't care either way."

That was a problem that could just be dealt with when the time came. Whether or not the thief really had heard the voices of gods, or some monotheistic deity that circumvented what popular polytheistic religions called gods, couldn't be proven. The thief certainly would have believed it, and most likely did.

And in the same light, the man they had fought was completely unjustifiable anyways. He was psychotic and could have easily wound up hurting more people than Lelan and Eld combined. Putting him down was a necessity. Lelan wasn't trying to justify the thief by any means, but . . .

"It's just that . . ." Lelan paused, taking a moment to organize his thoughts a little better, "If God dictated the end of the world to me, and no one listened to a word I said about it, and even tried to hurt or kill me when I'd just be . . . well, trying to save their lives-- well, I think I'd go a little crazy, too."

--and perhaps, over time, believe that all human beings deserved to die--

"Well, Eld. It's been real, man," Lelan completely detracted from his philosophical thoughts in just seconds, passing Eld a glance and a nod of acknowledgment, all before he turned away from Eld and started to walk, "I'll catch you later."

Lelan's final word was punctuated by his lifting his hand up to wave good-bye to Eld, despite the fact that his back was turned and he was already walking away from him. Shortly thereafter, Lelan stuffed his hands into the pockets of his new hooded jacket, and continued off. In what direction, it didn't matter. Lelan Jericho had no direction, only whims--and currently, his whim was to go West, where that large, bright orange ball in the sky was sitting on the horizon.

"Yeah. I'll see you around." Truthfully, it wasn't likely; it was a large world, and neither was the type to be in one place for very long. But destiny had an odd way of making unlikely things happen to Eldridge Tsukimono.

The entire event ultimately left a bad taste in Eld's mouth. He was starting to deal with it and take his mind off of it, but he wouldn't truly feel comfortable until both he and Kageko were safe at home once more...or what passed for home these days.

And so he walked off, and before long the reaper simply vanished, returning to the world of gray...