Like a Knife in the Back
Day and night passed with little to no problems whatsoever, and the wandering group of misfits had long since retired, awoke, and gathered themselves together again to continue their arduous journey. Ryō had disappeared rather early in the morning and returned before lunch time with the rest of their belongings. Both paid and original from their respective places. When they ventured out into the late morning light, they had passed the quaint little clothing shop and had noticed a different air flowing between the stalls and shops of the marketplace. People were laughing and joking, all the tense atmosphere from before had vanished and in its place, instead, was a wonderful hum that settled warmly in the hearts of their little group. The lady they had spoken to the day before waved at them cheerfully as she watched some labourers start work on fixing the sliding screen at the front of her shop. The siblings were extremely curious to know their next set destination, but both Ryō and Mizuki were keeping their lips firmly shut. The only urgency they had was that they needed to get as far away from Mizuki's twin as physically possible with no explanation as to why, just the remembrance of that same uneasy feeling they'd felt from the day before. Especially in concerns to the look that had flashed in his eyes the moment the lookalike had laid his hand upon her person. It was also quite staggering the difference the two of them had, when she thought about it. A chill quickly shot down her spine as she recalled something her father had said to her. Something about curiosity, as it was…
"Many people are curious my dear child," the tall figure of her father sounded. Her little hands were clutching a very fragile thing that was as old as the dirt beneath their home. "There are many things in this world that interest us, but there is a very fine line between interest and obsession." He turned around and smiled at his daughter, then knelt down to peer into her wondrously coloured eyes. He folded his hands over her smaller ones and gently caressed the canopic jar, almost as one would a loved one. He did not doubt that she would understand, for a child's mind was so much more than adults could ever comprehend.
"What is..o-ob-obseshion?" He smiled even more and gave her forehead a gentle kiss.
"Oh my dearheart...to be obsessed is to not be able to live without something. To love something so much or to want to have it in your possession..."
"Oh! Like I love pizza?!" Her father spurted out a shot of laughter and gathered his sweet little child into his arms.
"That's one way to look at it sweetheart." His deft fingers plucked the fragile artifact from her fingers and placed it among the rest of his antique collection.
"Let's go see how your mother and brother are doing with dinner, eh?" Little Evelyn nodded her head and squirmed out of her father's arms to race towards the kitchen, leaving behind the many secrets and curiosities of her father's mysterious private office.
It was often that Evelyn lost herself in memories of her parents, and even more so now as her brain was trying to cope with the so-called reality that they had landed in. She had always had difficulty in dealing with things, for the death of her parents had laid a heavy burden across her shoulders and all at once she could easily relate to the titan Atlas. This new perception of the world around had so many questions firing through her synapses to reach for answers, and she felt very much like a fine piece of rice paper about ready to tear into pieces. She had been so lost in her memories, in fact, that she had unknowingly started to lag behind. Each step she took brought her closer and closer to danger, right up until she felt something sharp graze her cheek. A stinging warmth spread from that spot, and as her numb senses finally caught up with everything around her, her fingers went to inspect her face and those sea foam blues widened as she saw red painting the tips. In the next moment she was on the floor with a boot pressed harshly into her middle back, and pain shooting down every nerve.
"Rin!" and "Evie!" was the only thing beyond the blood rushing through her ears that she could hear. She tried to twist her head in the direction of the others, but a slow warning crush to her spine caused every single muscle to freeze in place. A rather pitiful whimper reverberated in her throat, one that had an answering call not far away. All she could think of was how [stupid] she had been to let this happen.
Mizuki had been careless. The deep rumbling in his chest alerted the attackers that they had his attention, but all Mizuki could see was fire. Michael had tried desperately to jump to his sister's side and had taken about two steps before his limbs were frozen. He could not quite understand why his body would not move, so he tried and tried until he caught the briefest flicker from the trees around them. His eyes met those of familiar forest green and his body relaxed unconsciously. As he did so he felt control return to his side and instead of barrelling headfirst into the fray, he took a few tentative steps backwards behind the now bristling Mizuki. He still did not understand, but he trusted their new friends to help them and keep them safe. The next page that flickered passed his eyes made his entire world spin.
"You're gettin' in tha way, stranger." The voice of their attacker was deep, harsh, and fractured in some placed from overuse and a small amount of fear. Mizuki could [smell] how it rolled off him in waves. "Our Master wants you captured fer buttin' in with those bald monks. You and tha'" here he made a strange face "Walking Shadow fella." He scanned the area and frowned. "Where is he, eh? We know you travel together..." He took a slow inhale, which inadvertently made his foot press just that little bit harder down on Evelyn. She took a wheezing breath and focused on counting the blades of grass beneath her left hand. "OI! Yamagashi!! You find anything yet?"
A rustle on the opposite side of Ryō's last known location signalled the arrival of this new person, who upon closer inspection, looked rather familiar to the rapidly breaking Mizuki. His good eye never left the foot he so wanted to rip clean off this unknown target. Blood lust settled and festered, bubbling until all he could see was a messy stain on the ground. Limbs torn to shreds and the ground dying a deep dark red. Yamagashi shrugged his shoulders sullenly, making his way to his fellow comrade.
"Not a thing. He's around here somewhere, though. He won't have left them to deal with us alone. With these two," he gestured to an increasingly irate Michael and an almost silent Evelyn. If it wasn't for the wheezing and general inaudible whimpers of pain, both men would have assumed she had fainted by now.
"Ah, well…we can wait. We av' our hostage, an' if he don' come," He grinned crookedly "We take 'er!"