Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“It’s such a cruel world out there…”

“In the thick of it, you’ll have nobody to depend on, and you gotta survive on your own, doing whatever it takes... Life will force you to make hard choices—whether that’d be forsaking an infant to save your own skin, or ignoring the pleas of a hungry man so that you can feed yourself for just one more day…”

The freezing breeze of the Hollow ruffled the pale man’s golden locks, his foggy breath dancing with the ether particles in the air, “New Eridu is nothing more than a kill or be killed world. It's ruthless, vicious, merciless… Not a man nor woman nor child could truly ‘live’ in such a world. But I am no mere man…”

He adjusted the armor pads on his shoulders, the Hollow denied his raspy voice its echo in the cold. Yet his protective equipment ensured that thermal shifts in the environment would not even touch his skin.

“Our society faces countless injustices, but in the face of that… I won’t just survive… I will win… I will face our society with resolve in my heart and fire in my soul. I will have what everyone doesn’t, and I will become the blade who shall rise—”

“Aetos…” A light and tired tone chimes in, clearly expecting something but sounds as if it were denied. A pair of blue triangular ears poke up from behind the monologuing individual, revealed to be named Aetos. “You said we’d be sitting around for a few minutes, waiting for those guys to show up, but it's been hours!” 

“...” The golden-haired, dark-suited man sitting at the edge of the building coughs into his fist, ignoring the pleas of his partner. “The injustice society faces… I shall overcome. Thus, I will become the blade, who shall—”

“Come on…” The small-sounding voice returns, a white glove poking the top of Aetos’ flaxen locks repeatedly. 

“You don’t expect me, New Eridu’s up and coming, to sit around while our target is about to be right there, do you?” It gets more excited, clearly eager to perform.

“...And thus, I shall become the blade who…” Aetos’ voice trudged on, heavily strained and suppressed, as if it was a volcano on the precipice of eruption. Yet, he relentlessly continued his dialogue, as if the childish, whiny voice was never there…

“Hey! Are you listening!?” The small, now deliberately persistent, voice interrogates, clearly irritated at Aetos’ obvious ignorance. 

The prodding of the man’s hair grows more rapid, now occasionally accompanied by small squeaking noises. Much to the blonde sniper’s dismay, it came from the person responsible for messing up Aetos’ golden hair as chops started to further ruin the sophisticated look he had a moment ago. 

“Nyeeh! You bore!” The voice exclaimed with a borderline childish tone, but something about the way he whined betrayed an underlying hint of mischief.

“Ugh—! Could you not ruin my perfectly executed monologue, Calyx?!” Having enough with his partner’s puerile attitude, Aetos stands from his perch to glare at him. 

Whirling around to glare at the culprit reminded Aetos of the pompous midnight-colored clothes that adorns his teammate, and a beautifully intricate fox mask that conceals his partner’s face.

“So you DO know I’m here!” Calyx—a Fennec Fox Thiren, giggles, hopping in front of his partner and into the splendor of the moon’s light. It takes no time at all for him to strut over to the nearby skylight, looking down at the warehouse interior with a mix of intrigue and anticipation. “I’ll let you continue your little speech, just let me have my fun…”

“While, yes, I am aware that you have been here the whole time, I would have much rather you gave me the luxury of finishing my words!” Ferocity infused his words, guttural and untamed. 

Calyx practically feels Aetos's glare at the back of his head, the smile on his face never faltering at the animosity that his partner expressed. “And the up-and-coming star of New Eridu? Who are you, Astra Yao?!”

The fox Thiren grasps at his chest dramatically, feigning hurt as he lets out a small, fake but rather pained, whimper. 

“You really know how to aim below the belt, birdy…” He laughs in the face of Aetos’ petty fury, walking in reverse with his back to the skylight, arms raising gradually.

“You…” If Calyx hadn’t known any better, Aetos would’ve been the name of an exotic tomato that has golden-colored leaves. 

“Bastard, you do not get to call me birdy…!” His mouth made a grinding sound, his words trapped against his own teeth.

“You are supposed to wait… A good sniper maintains patience under any circumstance. Waiting for their prey to appear… We are merely waiting for the guys to come in with our intended target, swoop in, and then steal it.” Aetos said calmly, “Do you not remember the plan?!”

“The plan, along with my patience for your eastern telenovela monologues, have long since gone out the window!” Calyx exclaimed, putting his hands onto his hips over the long coat.

“And besides, where’s the thrill in a calm and calculated heist!?” He continued dramatically, his fingers interlocked under his mask’s upturned chin as he looked back to his increasingly aggravated partner.

“There is no need for thrill! Efficiency is what we well-fucking need! And no, I am not addicted to manga or anime!” His voice rises further and further, but never reaching a climax. Aetos thrusts an accusing finger into Calyx’s face and said, “Why can you not just stand still and wait for just a couple more minutes, you theater-loving, muffin-munching son of a—!”

Calyx’ triangular and fluffy ears perk up at the sound of something other than Aetos’ rant, prompting him to turn around, his arms still folded from brushing his partner’s words off like grime on a used dish. 

“Save that thought, songbird! It seems… It’s showtime!” The fox’ voice grows giddier at the sheer anticipation of whatever showtime may be, now bouncing excitedly.

“Huh? I’m still talking to—what…?” A number of thugs dressed in rugged clothes, yet adorned in protective gear that prolonged their stay within the Hollow. Their ivory t-shirts were decorated with intricate symbols, revealing their mutual affiliation with one another—Hollow Raiders, equipped with a number of weapons, acquired through illegal means or poor DIY recreations of the real thing. They explore the Hollows, scavenging for whatever resources they can get their hands on.

These are the kinds of people you’d often see patrolling the Hollows—mainly to ambush unsuspecting Investigators or Proxies for their supplies and money. They aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty, either. But upon closer inspection, Aetos confirmed that they had what they were looking for.

“Calyx, no! I know what you’re thinking, you better not—” Though he raised his voice, Aetos did not scream to ensure that their enemies did not know of their location.

It was too late. 

The impatient thief fell back-first into the glass roof, giggling to himself as the glass shines like makeshift stars and its shatter ringing through the dead silent Hollow. He flips over to land feet first, looking down as he lands on one knee before standing up in a flourish. 

“Gentlemen! How nice to make your acquaintance!” He announces himself, now holding his arms open amidst the lunar light which filtered through the broken skylight.

The Hollow Raiders stop in their tracks, though Calyx is unable to see their expressions, he can clearly see the confusion through their body language. Now having a closer look at the group, they have a clear, organized structure—the toughest, most muscular are at the forefront of the group, meanwhile the skinnier, ranged thugs are at the back with their crossbows yet to be drawn. But Calyx’s entrance startled them greatly, one Hollow Raider who was standing at the back, nearly dropped the black suitcase from their arms.

The thug maintains his balance after nearly dropping the suitcase. He yells at the Fox Thiren with a glare, “Hey! What the hell was that for?!” 

He stomped the ground as the glass shards descended from the sky like rain and littering the ground. His movements are aggressive, furious—but not in the same, familial way that Aetos expresses himself toward Calyx. Rather, this is the kind of I-wanna-kill-you aggression.

“Hm-hm… You all seem to be confused, I am here to relieve you of your little possession, that briefcase held by the gentleman in the back!” Calyx retorts, his words dripping with excitement and flair, the rush of being in such imminent danger like a high he can’t get enough of. He walks forward carefully and tactfully despite his obvious anticipation, like an actor strutting across their stage. He withdraws a small pitch black dagger from the small scabbard on his back after a few steps.

“You’re not being funny at all, Calyx! Get the fu—oh…” Despite how so badly Aetos wanted to scream to the gods at him, he had no choice but to endure it.

“Now, will you be so kind as to hand it over? Do note that I will only be asking you this time...” he playfully twirls the dagger, despite his disadvantage in both numbers and size, the fox shows no signs of fear, let alone desire to retreat. 

“... Should you reject, and I’m aware you will…” With a sudden flourish of his long and dark coat, the same black briefcase appears by his feet as he continues with his playful banter “...I have my ways of getting what I want.” 

“What?! How did he—?”

“He stole the briefcase—!”

“Wait a minute… That’s..!”

Calyx laughs mockingly at their collective astonishment, picking up the suitcase with his free hand. “It's a shame that we have to part ways so soon, however, the first thing to keep in mind when dealing with one such as myself…” 

He ends his sentence abruptly, sheathing his dagger before twirling gracefully, a thready line ejecting from his wrist as he raises his arm toward the broken skylight. He salutes them before flying upward, an audible reeling noise zipping through the tense and astonished atmosphere. With a giggle as giddy as he was during his grand exit, he turns to the crowd below him and bows theatrically. 

As they moved to pursue the Fox Thiren, one raider’s attention was dragged down to the broken glass to find a small rectangular card with a fox on it. His fellow raiders gathered around to find him holding a card that was jet black under azure blue. A prominent font displayed the words that they then read aloud…

“Blink and you’ll miss it!” Calyx declared, word for word, the card’s message. The thugs realize that this wasn’t ordinary thief. He was…

“It’s that fuckin’ Phantom Thief!”

“The one makin’ rounds on Inter-Knot?”

“Who cares!? Get him!”

Calyx, revealed to be a phantom thief, ran away from the skylight and toward his partner with a mischievous expression under the midnight fox mask. 

Not even a second after the performance led by Calyx finished, the Hollow Raiders immediately sprung into action—one man alone, differentiated from the rest of his brothers with the crimson-colored scarf wrapped around his neck, barked orders to pursue the thief, snapping them out of their ogling.

Calyx, his adrenaline running a marathon through his veins, tosses the briefcase to Aetos while running past him before leaping off the warehouse’s rooftop. With a spin he ejects a wrist-mounted grappling hook that hooks the next building over and pulls him toward it. Landing with the expected grace of an acrobat, the fox Thiren looks back at his partner from the other rooftop, he waves his arm high and calls; “Come on! We have the thing, let’s make a break for it!”

The briefcase gyrated toward Aetos as if it were a fidget spinner. Though the edgy, previously monologuing blonde stumbled forward, he dove and caught the precious item, nesting it into his loving arms. His lips curved into a scowl as he ran for his life, the sound of gunfire echoing in the distance.

Aetos roared at his teammate, “Calyx, you imbecile! Why did you go in so much earlier than planned?! You could’ve blown the mission to kingdom come!”

This earned a nonchalant shrug from the fox as he spun around. Though Aetos could barely see his face because of the mask and his position on a different rooftop, he can picture the grin of pure mischief just making itself at home on Calyx’s being.

“Why that smug little…”

A shout from the back reached the duo’s ears, “There they are, at the top of the warehouses! Catch them before they get out of the Hollow!”

“Ahhh, of course it’s a chase scene… We always find ourselves in one anyway!” Aetos’ frustration was expressed in his voice as he catches up with his partner—he leaps toward a warehouse ladder, and, using the momentum from his jump, grapples on the guardrail. With an efficient, precise swerve, he propels himself and lands on the same roof as Calyx.

“We might as well record our heists and submit them to the movie industry so we can star in our show!” Aetos sarcastically squawked, evading gunfire that was scraping the edge of the roof and their mortal beings.

The fox’s ears perk up at the suggestion, a small and devious laugh emanating from behind the mask.

“If that’s the case, I’ll bring the camera next time!” He clapped his gloved hands together before leaning to his side, looking past Aetos. “... Though, perhaps we should lose the side characters for now…” He points before running off again. 

“I was being sarcastic, Calyx!” Aetos groaned, now in pursuit of his partner. 

The Hollow Raiders ran between the warehouses chasing after the duo. As they parkour across the rooftops, they find themselves at the edge of the last warehouse—where a large clearing at the front of the building lies, the Hollow Raiders already waiting for them there.

—Tututututututututu! Upon Calyx’ and Aetos’ arrival, wave after wave of bullets were unloaded from the Hollow Raider’s rifles, forcing both thieves on the defensive. With bullets polluting the air and their shells littering the ground, Aetos moves like a second spent too still would riddle him more than just humbled while Calyx pulls off evasive maneuvers that teeter on the border of dodge and dance.

“What now, songbird, mind dancing a bit more, or would you like to… call the curtains on this little show?” the fox asks lightly, seemingly unfazed by the storm of bullets that have all miraculously missed them thus far. His ears twitching every now and then in response to the gunfire.

“Ughhh… If you’re asking if I have a contingency plan, yes, I do. Because, fortunately for both of us, I take extra care so as to not forget to make a contingency in case that you mess things up. Again…” Bemoaned Aetos as he assumed a prone position, hiding his head from the bullets sailing across the air.

“How thoughtful! Now put it into action!” replies Calyx, audibly flattered despite the clear shade thrown by his partner.

“Shut up, let me focus…” the Eagle-eyed Thiren muttered, and used his superior eyesight to silently observe the number of Hollow Raiders. 

“Nn… Thirteen of them…” Then, Aetos’ gaze turns toward the spatial fissure behind them—their one-way ticket out of the Hollow and their entrance into it. “Based on what I know about the Ardent Hollow…”

Calyx finally dives behind a nearby vent just across from Aetos, rubbing his leg after dodging a stream of bullets which he now thinks is endless, “Could you maybe contingency faster? These piles of junk aren’t holding for long… and my feet hurt!”

“Patience is a virtue, you know.” Aetos reminded his partner of the philosophy while reaching into his knapsack full of equipment, bringing out a strange, spherical device that has a red button at its core. Pressing the red button, the orb begins to glow, unleashing a strange noise.

Aetos tosses it toward Calyx without a warning, only then instructing him, “Throw this into the warehouse through the skylight!” 

“Shiny… Let’s see what this baby can do!” Calyx remarks as he makes for the skylight, leaping over it and sending the device straight down along with the shattered glass, spinning like a drill bit. Rolling behind another vent, he looks back at Aetos, clearly expecting some sort of remark for his theatrics.

“....”

—Boom! A sudden electrical sound assaulted Calyx’s ears, forcing him to hold them down from the ear-piercing music. Sparks of electricity rattling the roof and frying the ventilation.

“Gah..!” the fox yelps, pushing his ears down harder as he kicked his little feet “Aetos, what was–” 

“Huh? Hold your fire!”, one of the Hollow Raiders barked, the words registering in Calyx’s ears only after the ringing sound subsided. “What the hell was that noise?”

The warehouse trembled as if it were struck by an earthquake, its shutter doors trembling as a result of the device that Aetos’ partner had thrown into the building. Or more accurately… what’s inside of it.

Bang! Bang! The sound reverberated through the night, doors banging as if a beast was trying to escape from its confinements… And then, the floodgates were busted down, various machines—forklifts, platform trucks, and motorcycles escaped into the clearing and rushed toward the Hollow Raiders like they were prey.

Still lightly rubbing his ringing ears, the fox pouts behind his mask, clearly frazzled by the loud noises.

“That answer your question, Calyx?”

“It does, but not any of the important ones!” 

With a dry chuckle, Aetos pushes himself up, kneeling on his left leg and hoisting the black briefcase over his shoulder. As he watches the sheer chaos happening below, he couldn’t help but let a smile appear on his face.

“Heh, serves you right.”

“I’m assuming that was our cue to leave the stage?” Calyx hops up, moving to rejoin his partner. His steps were slightly still wobbly from the disorienting noise, like a newborn fawn, but he managed to deliver a small and joking punch to Aetos’ arm.

“Oh no, that was our cue to start kicking every single one of their asses, and THEN we leave—”

Without even hearing the end of the sentence, Calyx leaps through the skylight to join the chaos unfolding in the warehouse.

“...I WAS BEING SARCASTIC, CALYX!” 

With his lips curled into a smile so wide it would be the bridge of his eyes, he lands heel-first on an unsuspecting Hollow Raider’s back, knocking them out cold.

Another Hollow Raider, hearing the sound of his ally go down, snaps his attention away from the mechanical havoc unfolding right on top of him. He catches a glimpse of what happened but before he could announce it to his group, the little perpetrator vanishes behind a passing forklift. 

“What the hell is happening?! Why’s all the machines goin’ haywire?!” A raider exclaimed.

“Ahhh! I don’t wanna die!” Another panicked.

It was pandemonium, simply put, some of the Hollow Raiders fleeing the battle outright while some were struck by the haywire machines. Their bodies soared into the air and one landed unceremoniously before Calyx, their crude rifle sliding next to them as they groaned. “Ughh, that hurts…”

“Get out of the way! Don’t get hit!” One of the taller, muscular Hollow Raiders ordered, easily tanking the motorcycles with their sheer endurance but failing to see the small rogue behind him.

Calyx giggles as he strikes, kicking the back of his knee forward before leaping back into the dark. With a distinct reeling noise, planting his foot on the back of his target’s head after reemerging knocks his target out cold. 

“Try to follow your own advice, yeah?” He mocks his fallen foe, slipping back into the chaos to obscure himself. 

Unfortunately, the phantom thief finds himself in a position with a pair of gun-toting Hollow Raiders who then raise their firearms. No cover, no convenient forklift this time, just him and the guns that were pointed right at him

The fox puts his hands up playfully, walking toward them with exaggerated and wide steps, occasionally turning his mask’s nose up to the black sky, much to their annoyance and confusion.

“This little brat’s the one that took the briefcase! Open fire—”, before the last word even left his mouth, a piercing crack akin to that of a whip-like sound boomed across the air. And in the next second, a bullet found itself lodged into the Hollow Raider’s helmet, their face kissing the ground in a terrifying skull-shattering experience.

His fellow scavenger stood straight at the scene, but didn’t have another second to spare before a subsequent shot threw him to Calyx’s feet. Ether particles seeped from the crater-sized hole left in the poor man’s helmet, revealing an ugly face, bubbles foaming at his mouth. To Calyx’s relief and amusement their boss had his partner use non-lethal rounds.

“You idiot—you could’ve handled those guys on your own!” Aetos screamed into the open field of cement.

“I’m just making sure you have some fun too… Unless you wanna resume your stupid speech, that is~” Calyx teases, drawing the small dagger from the scabbard on his lower back, dragging his gloved fingers across the blade as it comes to life with electrical energy. “Now, quiet down in the gallery, it is time for a spectacle!”

Calyx flips his weapon in his hands as he zips forward, stopping beside an unaware Hollow raider without so much as a sound. The phantom thief slowly raises his weapon with a giggle before gently tapping the goon’s shoulder with the flat side of the sparking blade, having him put his behind to the sky after being shocked to sleep.

The Fox Thiren laughs at the occurrence and leaps back into the chaos of haywire machinery, away from all eyes as he darts around the clearing once more.

“It wasn’t a stupid speech! I-it was just—uh, a practical application of what I learned from my research!” Aetos retorted, pausing to peer down the scope of his rifle.

“Yet your so-called ‘research’ includes scantily clad women and mechas?~”

—Bang! Yet another shot was fired from Aetos’ behemoth of a sniper rifle, striking a poor raider in the crotch. His scream echoed into the sky before ultimately succumbing to the greatest pain in all of mankind. “Not the point! I-I was just hyping us for the big gig!”

Calyx gently grazes the flat face of his dagger against several grouped up Hollow Raiders, each one spazzing before hitting the dirty floor over one another. Over the hill of the fainted and fried, the Fox Thiren exaggeratedly pretended to join them while clutching his heart in an act of mock offense.

“Wow, how believably honest, I might just pass right here for attempting to challenge such sincerity…” he cries vainly before springing back onto his feet, “...Admit you’re having a good time with how this turned out!”

“I am—” Bang! Bang! Bang! Thud! “—going to kick your ass!”

“Watch out!” A Hollow Raider shouted at his brothers. Looking toward the direction of the sound, the raider was on top of a forklift as it ran forward at impossible speeds, and taking heed to their brother’s advice, the others ran like a flock of chickens trying to avoid being taken to the slaughter house.

Calyx laughs heartily, still moving and striking the disoriented and panicking Hollow Raiders with terrifying efficiency. Each interaction sends them into the realm of unconsciousness with each graze, tap and slight bonk of his dagger.

“The way you’re smiling on the roof betrays you, Aetos…” The fox calls out while standing on top of a rather large Hollow Raider, pretending to look for himself amidst the cluster of wheels and metal. 

“Oh, and by the way…” He taps the large man with his taser-like dagger, hopping off before making him spasm and glow like a nightlight, “... I was up here.”

Landing in front of the large man who now has his cheeks to the moon, he struts around after brandishing his dagger, looking for any stragglers amidst the still malfunctioning machinery.

The machines eventually stopped malfunctioning, many of them falling to the ground or smashing into the environment—but Calyx’s sharp ears perk and twitch at the sound of something almost inaudible. Locating the source of the sound, he hears the leader of the Hollow Raiders climbing the warehouse’s ladder to reach the roof where Aetos is perched. 

“I’ll get it back… I’ll get our shit back! I ain’t gonna let you have it…!” They growled, the helmet providing an eerie echo to their words that would send chills down the spines of those easily daunted.

“Hey, Birdy…” Calyx tries to warn his fellow Hollow Diver, but before he could even finish what he was about to say—

“I know,” Aetos utters suavely from the intercoms.

Just as the Hollow Raider climbs the ladders, his face is met with the muzzle of a 51-inch custom-made sniper rifle. There was no attempt to move out of the way as the gun’s orifice was so close that it would fog the raider’s helmet if it could breath

“I was going to say to wait for meeee….” the fox whines childishly, zipping back up and through the skylight, only for a shot to ring out.

—Bang!

“If I did, you would’ve just bullied him. We should be finishing our mission as efficiently as possible, not doing whatever you want…” Only after the raider’s body drops to the bottom of the ladder does Aetos respond, the Eagle Thiren growling at the last part of his sentence, emphasizing his partner’s impulsive tendencies. 

Calyx struts past him with a pout, somehow having taken back the briefcase from Aetos’ side without him noticing and spinning it dexterously. 

“We could have done both…” he weakly argues, still trying to act like a victim despite his partner’s dead ringer of a statement.

“A good soldier follows their orders and acts on what is necessary for the circumstances he finds himself in. Now that’s over with—the fuck did the briefcase go—? Oh…” The bird wondered, pondered, but then realized, and was yet again reminded… of how big of a kleptomaniac his partner truly is. “Ughh…”

“Like you were saying…” He tosses the briefcase back, giggling victoriously, Calyx turns back to face Aetos, “... Let’s go, fun has been had and the briefcase was heisted!” 

Adjusting his sniper rifle’s scope, Aetos grumbles under his breath, “Fun has been had and heisted was the briefcase, blah blah blah…” 

The Eagle Thiren begrudgingly guides the Fox Thiren—leaping off the edge of the rooftop, he slides down the front walls, and lands safely on the ground. A spatial fissure flickers to life at the center of the clearing, etheric matter giving it a kaleidoscopic appearance—myriad of colors mixing inside a swirl of darkness. One that led outside the Hollow.

“Great, can’t wait to kick my feet up and go to bed!” Calyx states while taking his usually cocky attitude toward the fissure, finally sheathing the dagger he had been playing with. “By the way, your whole blah, blah, blah? Reminds me of a movie we should watch.”

Aetos deadpanned, “Calyx, I am not watching Motel Pennsylvania.”

“Your loss…” Calyx laughs with his head held high.

The duo finally step into the fissure, a dark blend of etheric colors devours the environment and envelopes their body—propelling them into the outside world at last.

Chapter Text

Cold… Dark… Yellow…

Mnnnhgh…. Guh-huh!? Ow, ow…. That beeping’s really getting— oh… Just the alarm clock… Myeeeh, why’d I make it a simple ring instead of something soothing… I should probably change it… after I do everything….

I get up and stretch my arms to the high heavens, a tingly sensation traveling through my body as I let out a yawn that brings a tear to both my eyes. Checking my beautiful face is a must for my morning routine so I bring myself to the mirror… Let me just roll outta here and…

—Wow, okay, I think I need a shower. The way my hair is tangled up just below my ears is definitely not just from turning in my sleep!

Ah, the bathroom, my favorite part of the morning… The hot water, the steam, the ability to annoy Aetos by taking too long because I have to brush my ears. The only thing that could beat out this kind of luxury is breakfast… Now to wait for the water to heat up…

I’m not sure if this is because of last night’s little boogie bomb Aetos had me chuck into the warehouse or if I’m hearing the water trickle down onto the floor of the tub… I’m definitely taking longer in here just for that. Damn songbird and his toys.

I’ll just put one foot in and— Eep! Hot, hot! Okay… a little cooler, don’t want my beautiful blue hair looking like it was dragged through powdered charcoal! I swear, my ears were straight as a board when I stepped under that rain of… not lava. More like freshly made, flavorless, and odorless soup.

Take two and… haaah… this is better… If the water was flavorless before, sign me up to be an ingredient, because this is… unbelievably relaxing, like using a heated blanket in a cold room. Except it's all wet… is water wet? Neeh, who cares.

Only a few minutes in and I feel like I just had a full night’s sleep… I should really get out now, but the way my eyes are drooping makes me sleepy…

I’ll just… One foot out now… then the second… I miss it already…! My eyes shift to the mirror, still half-glazed over from the warm shower—Well, hello you handsome and sapphire-kissed fox Thiren, you… Since when did you decide to grace me with your presence?

I feel my eyes relax as soon as I snap out of my self-absorption, grabbing the nice orange hair brush on the counter so I can get my hair and ears up to their naturally eye-catching and fluffy texture. A bit of brushing here… Just a bit of shaking there… Perfect! Nice and puffy! Just the way this little phantom fennec likey… All straight, glistening, and silky smooth…

Time to leave the sacred bathroom and get dressed! Old man Luenar’s gonna shoot me one of his ‘You got up late again?’ looks if I don’t bring myself down in uniform… If I were to compare them to something, it’d be nails on a chalkboard with these big ol’ ears of mine…

I look for what feels like forever in my room, all the while the sun keeps getting higher and the shadows in my room start shrinking. Digging through a bunch of clothes piles, blankets and uniquely placed keepsakes from the old capital sure gives me a nostalgic hit of my earlier and simple life as a kit… along with a nose-assaulting sign that I should probably ask the old man if I can get laundry done, bleh…

Here it is! Simple white polo shirt, brown khaki pants you’d maybe wear for school and a red waist apron! You know, I never thought of this, but I would definitely make fun of Aetos for wearing this if it didn’t carry Old Man Luenar’s weight on it. 

I put it on and turn to the mirror, admittedly checking out this cute little rascal in such dignified workforce attire… Sometimes, I think I could even pass in a dress with these looks. Though, zombie boy would probably beat me in that department… Now to fly downstairs before the old man flies up them! As I moved for the door, though, I guess I caught a glimpse of the briefcase from last night in the corner of my eye.

I stood there, back to the warm sun and hand on the cold doorknob while a thought formed between these ears of mine. I should probably give this to the old man… Let me just swing this door open and— oh… I see a very heavily annoyed birdy who seems to have cracked an egg or two looking down at me from my doorway.

“You sure took your sweet time in the bathroom, Calyx…” The songbird’s hands were on his hips, the scowl on his face was just the reminder I needed, I hadn’t messed with him today. With my mouth now probably resembling the number three on its back, I look back up to him with a slow, suspenseful raise of my left hand.

With a sudden flourish of my wrist, I had pulled out the briefcase. The way his face dropped in both annoyance and exasperation was nothing short of perfect. Unable to contain myself in the midst of his clear irritation, I toss him the briefcase with a giggle in my throat and a smile on my face.

“Just making sure I looked all fluffy for our patrons,” I replied, pushing up my precious cerulean locks while trying to be as smug as possible. 

He inspected the briefcase for some reason, probably to ignore my teasing. I watched as Aetos’ focus went from inspecting the case to looking at me with eyes that looked ten years older than who they were attached to, all the more reason for me to snicker as I walked by him.

I could practically feel his eyes rolling around in his head before they locked to the back of my neck. He groans in his usual I-am-completely-fed-up fashion before telling me one thing as I try to vault the railing and land on the unopened diner’s ground floor. 

“Sure, because they’ll just be head over damn heels for you,” Aetos said, sarcasm flying through the air like one of the bullets from his rifle, Incan-something-or-other. I, in my attempts to irritate him some more, decide to stand on the railing and clutch my heart through my white shirt with a mock smile on my face.

With an exaggerated dying whimper, I decide to let myself slip off the rail and into the diner proper, landing with my usual foxy thief grace. The place was as serene as Aetos’ face was uptight and looking down from the second floor. I give my head a slightly prideful shake, letting a breath out just as satisfied with my little performance.

My ears perk up at a familiar and deep chuckle, like the low revving of a truck’s engine. Looking to the side, I see the mountain of a man who took me in behind the diner counter, his glasses glinting in the sunlight while he read the morning paper with his deep violet peepers. 

Just above the rectangular old man glasses were locks that were ashy gray, like the remains of a bonfire with ends lightly painted in grape juice. That ashen do he had was messy but dignified, not too far from mine but way less fluffy and without the fox ears.

“Old man Luenar!” I exclaimed while strutting through the empty diner towards a relic of the past—a jukebox the old man managed to win at auction or something. 

Smooth oak outline and lights that draw eyes as easily as the sun draws the heads of sunflowers, almost makes me sad that I can’t snatch it for myself… I pop a denny in the coin slot and put on a song in my personal favorite genre. 

Can't go wrong with a bit of jazz rap while prepping for the day, right? 

I slide over to a seat by the counter and find a steaming plate of crisp, dark and sizzling bacon, all for me. To its side was another staple of my morning, apple juice, nice and cold with glass all foggy… Before I could even think of digging into my breakfast, though, the old man’s voice rang through the calm morning like a buzzer on a talent show.

Next thing I know, he looks up from the newspaper in his hands and sets it aside, pushing up those reading glasses of his before addressing me as casually as he put away the paper. “I take it the job went well?” he asked, putting his elbows on the counter as he watched me stop mid bacon-to-mouth raise of my hand.

I put my fork down as I felt my nerves fire between my ears, I wanted to ask him…

“Hey, Old Man, what was in the briefcase you wanted stolen?”

Luenar hums thoughtfully, a warm and gentle smile playing on his lips as the middle-aged restaurant proprietor gathers his thoughts for an answer. After a moment, his eyes return to Calyx, “A book…” he replies nonchalantly, killing not only the fox’s mood, but his interest along with it. 

“That’s it..?” The Fox Thiren abruptly replied, his ears drooping slightly in disappointment as he prods the bacon on his plate using his fork. His gaze lingering on the meal before him as if it were prison food.

With a small and apologetic laugh, Luenar pushes his elbows off the counter, “Disappointed, are we?” he shakes his head, amused by his worker’s deflating reaction. Calyx nods slowly, still visibly upset that his heist was for a simple book.

Short muffled steps cause the ceiling to judder slightly, a familiar face descending onto the first floor as a normal person should. His presence attracted the attention of one sly fox, who, momentarily forgetting the conversation with Luenar, shoots a smile full of mischief at Aetos.

“Not a word from you, Fox,” he said with such malice and edge on the word that Calyx believed that it would cut him. Not that it would with his effective yet dramatic agility.

“How mean…” Calyx pouts further, his ears now pressed against his hair as he takes a bite of the bacon on his plate.

Despite saying so, Aetos takes a seat next to Calyx anyway. The Eagle Thiren takes a pair of glasses from his pockets, and upon putting it on, brings the other plate of food next to Calyx’s meal near him. On the silver platter is a massive meatball sub sandwich, the melted cheese and hot sauce pouring out from the sides, lettuce, tomatoes, and other ingredients hidden between the bread.

“Hey, fox, can you—”, before the sentence had even finished, Calyx already slid the correct spice toward Aetos.

“That what you need, songbird?” he smirks, now having forgotten his disappointment about the anticlimactic macguffin.

“...” Aetos grips the bottle of salt with an unnecessary amount of strength—“Don’t break it!” Luenar intervenes, and after pouring a generous amount over his sub sandwich, he eats his sandwich in seething silence.

With a victorious grin, the fox impales his plated food, shoveling the strips of bacon into his mouth with a content sound.

“What’s in the book anyway, Old Man Luenar?” Calyx asks as he turns back to his employer.

“Ah—well, it’s kinda embarrassing to admit. But…” Luenar starts sheepishly, hesitating to spill the contents of the book. Aetos places the aforementioned briefcase containing said book onto the counter, gentle as a mother would carry her infant. The Eagle Thiren continues to devour his meal in precise bites, however, is otherwise engaged in the conversation.

“Oh, thanks, Aetos! Uhh… say, why don’t we get this thing open and I can… show you guys the book, but uhh, let’s keep it between us three, alright?”

Calyx practically starts vibrating, remembering that the inside of the book could have something interesting or valuable inside. Looking about as bright as a child receiving a gift on Christmas Day.

Aetos plants his hand on the fox Thiren’s head, subtly scratching him behind the ears to temporarily stop him from moving so much. He didn’t want the counter to be made a mess because of a possible accident caused by Calyx.

Almost immediately as Calyx tensed at the contact, he fell face-first onto the counter, narrowly missing his breakfast. Restrained noises came from the usually snarky fox but he managed one sentence.

“No fair… Open the case already…” The fox Thiren whined softly through closed eyes and a wide smile which betrayed the little resistance he made against Aetos’ petting.

As Calyx literally began trilling, Aetos followed up the request of his partner, “I won’t lie and say that I’m not interested in the contents of the book…”

Luenar sighs at the antics before him, clearly not expecting the eagle to resort to his patented Instant-Annoying-Fox-Pacification technique of scratching his partner behind the ears. With an amused head shake, he pulls the briefcase over to him and both boys immediately slide closer. One’s eyes light up brightly at the thought of hidden treasures, the other’s widen at the possible amount of secrets it could contain in its pages.

As the middle-aged man opened the briefcase with a click of the lock and the light of suspense beaming from its interior, both boys leaned ever closer. Calyx and Aetos watch with wide eyes as Luenar pulls out a book. It came with a firm and blue leather cover, Solerna’s Signatures etched onto the front in cursive. Those were home to numerous aged pages, all of them slightly yellow to show how old they truly were yet the handwriting was perfectly readable.

“So it was just a book…” Calyx points out, slightly deflated as he looks at the old book with keen eyes, trying to steal glimpses of what exactly was written in the book. 

“Fascinating cover. Nothing unusual, but the briefcase that contained it was made with very expensive materials. Likely to preserve this piece of literature for prolonged amounts of time under strenuous environments…” Aetos follows up, stroking his chin curiously to hide the fact that he was practically brimming with the urge to open up and read it until sundown.

Luenar nervously giggles, setting the book down as Calyx then takes it into his own hands. The pompous little fox walks around the empty diner’s floors, eyeing the piece suspiciously, as if it had offended him personally and it was his job to settle the score. 

Aetos turns to his employer with an eyebrow raised, “If I may ask, what’s the book for, boss? The title isn’t something that I’m familiar with…”

Pink pigments color the owner’s face, his voice unusually shaky as Luenar hesitates to confess, “You see, it’s actually…”

“Hey, the old man’s looking like he’s about to pass out.” Calyx interrupts, putting the book back onto the counter with the faint sound of its leather covers hitting the polished wood.

“...If you’re not uncomfortable with sharing, it’s quite alright, boss. We have no problem with it,” Aetos calmly assures this mountain of a beast. Luenar shoots the eagle an appreciative smile, his words seem to embolden his decision in telling his illegitimate children about the book.

With a sigh that confirms his newfound disinterest in the book, Calyx sits back onto the counter-side stool and helps himself to more of his breakfast. 

“Yeah, it’s fine. I wasn’t all that interested in reading anyway! Songbird, on the otherhand…” The fox teased Aetos while sliding the book back over to his boss, now with the signature mischievous grin on his face. The Eagle Thiren briefly glared at his colleague, and took slow, deliberate munches off of his sandwich; his eyes narrowing with every bite.

“Unlike the fox here…” Aetos began with barely concealed enmity towards the hyperactive ball of fluff next to him. “I prioritize learning as much as possible, whether what I learn is useful or not. Knowledge is—”

“—power, blah blah blah. You always say the same thing, Aetos! Try being more creative next time, ‘kay?”

Luenar receives the book gratefully with his firm, meaty fingers, and lifts it to eye-level. His thumb caresses the leather cover, sliding across the name written in cursive. He lets out a nostalgic breath, mentally preparing himself to share with Aetos and Calyx, a light shining from his glasses as he places down the book on the counter.

“My boys… the truth behind this book…”

At his employer’s serious yet leveled tone, Aetos gave his full, undistracted attention to him and briefly forgot about punting Calyx straight to the moon. The eagle’s eyes were so focused on Luenar that his sandwich threatened to fall out of his hands.

Calyx visibly perks up at the continuation of the topic, resting his hand on his chin as his elbows prop themselves over the counter, all with an expectant smile strewn over his face.

“...It contains an incredible secret that I have never shared with anyone… Not even my closest friends…”

“It is—... my mother’s cookbook.”

The room’s atmosphere could be heard by a deaf man and the earlier build-up couldn’t even be predicted by the strongest computer in New Eridu. The silence is broken by a small giggle from the fox that evolves into a full-on laughing fit, nearly causing him to fall out of his seat.

If the diner weren’t closed and if there was a customer here, save for Calyx’s laughter, they would have heard the loudest sound of a pin dropping to the floor. It’s as if you were using the toilet at midnight and you accidentally tilted the lid too far forward, informing everyone in the household about your late night ‘relief’.

“Haha… It’s truly embarrassing to admit, I apologize if it wasn’t to your expectations…” Luenar scratched his head sheepishly, the light in his glasses disappearing as he looked away from his employees in an abashed manner you’d never expect from someone so large.

“The old man just wanted his mom’s recipes? You could've just said so!” Calyx manages to say through his hysterical laughing, the sound akin to a snickering fox on helium as he finally loses balance and hits the floor, bringing his laughter to a grinding halt with a small yelp as he falls.

“I could never say something as revealing to the two of you, especially in a mission debriefing…”, The diner owner confesses, touching the tips of his fingers as he gradually hides behind the counter.

“...” Aetos is uncharacteristically quiet after the grand reveal, because usually he would always have something to say in any circumstance. Especially when it is related to the spontaneous “activities” of his partner, and even for Luenar, who rarely cracks a joke, the eagle will always have something to say. Yet despite that there is this ghost of a smile upon his face, that if you did not have the same enhanced eyesight as Aetos, you never would notice.

The fox, rubbing his back after having fallen from his seat, returns to his place atop it. With a mischievous grin he would often wear under his phantom thief mask, he pokes at his plated food. “There’s something about the book, isn’t there?” 

“...No…”, Luenar meekly replied. So it really was just a book of his mother’s recipes.

For the third time this morning, Calyx deflates at the shutting down of his snooping. Instead, he channels his disappointment into the shoveling of bacon into his mouth and chewing with a pouty expression.

While looking at his employees’ rather disappointed reactions, he gives a small sigh before addressing them, “Don’t look so down, you two… You really think that I wouldn’t compensate you guys for this? I’m doubling your pay for a successful job!” 

He clearly didn’t want to go through this embarrassment, especially when he had his only employees retrieve the briefcase for him.

The Fox brightens up immediately at earning a bit more on his salary, already mentally planning for his use of the extra Dennies. Calyx nearly salivated at the thought of buying more merchandise from his favorite T.V shows!

Before Luenar could continue, Aetos interrupted with the raising of his hands and spoke a few but meaningful words, “Boss, you misunderstand. I’m not disappointed in finding out about the true nature of the book. Quite the opposite. I’m actually quite happy that we managed to retrieve such an important object for you. You don’t need to double my pay for something as trivial as this.”

“Thank you, Aetos.” Luenar genuinely smiles. 

“The book’s really important to me, you know?” He slowly says, each word slightly heavier than the last. It carried a sort of nostalgia for the man, yet it didn’t feel like it would be a world-shattering revelation, but moreso reminiscence of a bygone past and happy moments before he had to leave home.

The Eagle Thiren offered a stiff but respectful nod, there was a sort of clariy—an understanding in Aetos’ eyes that reassured Luenar about his choice in sharing with his employees. Though when he saw the way Calyx’s eyes would furrow and the unnatural frown strewn on his face, the diner owner swiftly changed topics.

“...You know, how about we step away from all this sap and focus on breakfast? You two still have work later, remember?” Luenar softly laughs as he returns the book into the briefcase, clicking it closed and sliding it under the counter. Calyx begins eating his bacon with a renewed vigor after having been reminded of his later shift in the very diner he’s having breakfast in.

After taking yet another bite from sandwich, Aetos side glances to the clock hanging over the jukebox, its fluorescent frame softly reflected in the shadows on the checkered floors. Light seeping through the large rectangular windows that stop just before the ceiling, and on the glassy doors that lead to this cozy diner hangs a sign labeled “Open”, but on the opposite side of the frame facing toward the street, it instead says “Closed”.

With a hearty swallow that was a fifty-fifty coin flip away from going down the wrong pipe, Calyx finishes his plate of bacon and wipes his satisfied smirk with a nearby napkin. 

“A few minutes before we open, huh? I should get to work then. No one’s gonna sign the papers themselves…” Aetos sighs exasperatedly before finishing his sandwich.

“Leave the sign and the dining room to me!” The Fox Thiren hops off his seat, darting across the checkered floor with his waist apron flowing by his legs. With a swift hop up to the glass door, he turns the sign so the face with the words “Open” inscribed on it faces outward to the public. 

Straightening his apron, he walks behind the counter. The only thing indicating his presence was the pair of fluffy blue triangles sticking up from the counter. He climbs on top of a box stationed behind it, finally letting his usually mischief-filled face be seen by anybody who is to enter the diner.

Aetos enters the backroom with a crack of his neck, a small grunt being heard from the Eagle Thiren as he gently throws open the wooden door labelled staff. “Try not to wreck the place…” He scoffs as he waves over his shoulder before the door shuts behind him, leaving him in the back room for his diner logistics. One could only wonder who that comment was pointed to.

Luenar shakes his head as Calyx sticks his tongue out at the retreating Aetos. With a pat to Calyx’s back, Luenar ushers a soft and deep giggle, “I’ll make sure he doesn’t blow the place to kingdom come.” before walking through the diner’s kitchen door. Now alone in the dining area— his domain as a waiter and hyperactive ball of foxiness—Calyx decides to check himself and his nearby notepad for any problems before catching a glimpse of a silhouette approaching the door.

With the front door opening accompanied by the ringing of the store’s bell, Calyx’s ears perk up excitedly. Straightening his back and holding the notepad, pen in his other hand, he looks up to the patron with his best smile; “Welcome to Luenar’s! How can I help you today?”

The sun’s light grows brighter as the hours pass, Calyx hustles and bustles around the diner, serving patrons with a cheeky smile all throughout. Meanwhile, Luenar works in the kitchen to deliver his signature dishes. The sounds of food frying, water boiling, and kitchenware rattling accompany a steamy stream and enticing aroma bellows from the order window. 

By the end of the day, Aetos emerges from the staff room and stretches his arms to the ceiling, a tired yawn following his extended arms. With a rub of his sun-deprived eyes, he looks to his partner who was wiping down the tables with his usual upbeat attitude. Luenar follows as he hangs his apron with drenched hands, meeting his employees after another successful day of business.

With all of them reunited in the dining area, the jukebox continues playing the jazz rap records while the shadows stretch out amidst the orange light which now fills the room. Aetos takes his seat by the counter as the middle aged owner fixes all three of them a refreshing drink, the little waiter, just having finished his wipedown, joins them with his elbows against the hardwood.

“Good work again today, you two!” Luenar announces with satisfaction, setting a tray of soft drinks onto the service bar. The Fox and Eagle Thirens take their drinks with varying levels of energy. That is to say, Calyx swiped his and immediately started drinking like he was about to be abandoned in the Outer Ring, while Aetos gently took his and gave him a side eye so judgy it would qualify him as a judge at Eridu’s Got Talent.

Taking a sip of his own drink as he dons his reading glasses, the diner owner takes out and begins taking a read of his mother’s recipe book, reminiscing on a few of his favorite childhood dishes. This catches the attention of both employees who lean over the counter to take a peek at Luenar’s face—a smile full of warmth as he holds his glass up to his lips.

“Never seen you so happy before, Boss.” Aetos commented, reading the recipes and silently taking note to try them later. The Eagle’s particular preference for food was not greens or sweets, but knowledge.

“Must’ve been some dishes, huh?” Calyx adds, still cupping his glass while he tiptoes on the chair to check out his boss’ face.

Whilst taking a sip from his soda, Aetos chastises the fox, “Calyx, don’t be rude.” With light reflected in his glasses, he raises his other hand in a chopping position, and executes the perfect strike on the fox’s head, parting the ears as if he were Moses splitting the sea.

Within a split second, Calyx’s fox features bristle before he takes the hand off of his head and throws it back at its rightful owner. “Cut that out! Also, excuse me for taking an interest in the old man’s history!” He retorts, his pout comparable to that of a child was caught stealing from a candy bucket.

“You gotta be respectful, at least. ‘Must've been some dishes’ is not a nice way to ask about our boss’ loving memory of his mother.” Aetos softly reprimanded him, not being overly aggressive despite having struck his friend on the head.

Calyx steadies himself on the service bar’s chair before donning a mischievous grin, a clear storm warning Aetos is too familiar with for his sanity’s own good. “Tell me then, songbird, you got a memento yourself?”

“...According to New Eridu’s Humanitarian Laws, Article 7, Page 229; All citizens of New Eridu, when under the scrutiny of being interrogated, have the right to remain silent,” Aetos explained thoroughly, adjusting his glasses before bringing his soda to his lips as he finishes his words. “Therefore, I will remain silent.”

“...” The Fox Thiren sports an uncharacteristically deadpan expression, his ears flattening against his head as he mutters the word “nerd” under his breath. “This is why I do the serving…” He pointedly adds before taking another sip of his drink, now looking at Luenar's face again.

“Now, now, boys. Let’s not have any of your banter for today. We’ve had an amazing day at the diner today, so many sales! And while I appreciate that you are being respectful, you shouldn’t suddenly hit Calyx on the head, Aetos.”

“At least the old man’s on my side.”, says Calyx through a wide grin, his ear flicking reflexively as he relishes in this small victory given to him by his boss. The Eagle Thiren simply rolls the golden nuggets he calls eyes, petty but lacking any sort of edge toward the both of them.

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much, boss. Despite his fragile frame, the fox can take a considerable beating. Besides, if I was being serious… he’d be kissing the floor right now.”

“Oh? Is that beef I hear from you, Mr. McChicken?” Calyx challenged the Eagle Thiren, who didn’t back down from the Fox Thiren’s declaration of war.

“Haha…” Luenar’s nervous chuckle goes unnoticed by his two employees who were currently staring daggers into one another. The tension was so thick between interlocked eyes that a sudden shift in the jukebox’s tunes would set two very different scenes; A bloodied battlefield or a dimly lit bedroom. (Careless Whisper or Devil Trigger. Pick your poison.)

“You know, Calyx did pose an interesting question. I’m also curious if you’ve got a memoir of your own parents or not, Aetos.” Thump! The diner owner shut his mother’s cookbook close, and as he gently places it on the counter, leans in toward the Eagle Thiren. At the radical shift in topics, Aetos shrinks in his place, looking down as if trying to hide the awkwardness in his eyes behind his soda.

Calyx, emboldened by his boss having his back in this soap opera of an argument, presses further, “So? Boss wants to know, Aetos…” He says through a cheeky grin, eyes narrow and brow raised suspensefully as he ever so patiently awaits his partner’s response.

“...Ugh, if you must know, then yes, I do.” Without having any other choice, Aetos eventually gives in to Luenar’s and Calyx’s pestering about his past. He rolls his eyes, clearly not happy about sharing, yet he did not seem to exactly hate it either.

“Mm…” He sets down his soda, his gaze following the beverage to the counter. Aetos’ reflection stares back into his eyes as he reminisces, “Mama always gave me a lot back then, she never once settled on giving her son a single gift. She always said that it was just her way of expressing her love.” A smile finds its way on his face, eyelids heavier than how they felt when he woke up earlier.

“Hohoh… Is that it? Aetos’ legendary, super rare smile?” Calyx teases his partner, though his words are devoid of any real intention to belittle.

At his partner’s words, the smile promptly disappears. Luenar lifts a finger toward the Fox Thiren, wordlessly telling him to be quiet as the six feet tall human was genuinely invested.

“Hmph. It isn’t anything fancy, but I do have a few keepsakes from ma—ahem, mother,” a brief pink tint finds its way to Aetos’ face, but he hides it with a cough. “One of them is a vintage videotape that contains the first movie I ever watched… I’ll never forget it. But, that’s all you’re getting from me!”

The Fox Thiren pouts jokingly, “Well, that’s the most we’ll see of his mushy side for… A month? I get that right, old man?” trying to sound sorry but failing miserably due to his natural snark.

“Don’t sound like that, Calyx. I think it was wonderful that Aetos is coming out of his shell and sharing it with us!” Luenar heartily exclaims, flashing his massive signature grin.

“Yeah, you’re right… ‘Least we got it out of him.” Calyx replies contently, taking another sip of his soda as he thinks about both of their possessions. Noticing the conversation’s passed now, he walks to the kitchen to dispose of his cup, setting it in the sink full of foamy water Luenar had used before closing.

Just as Calyx was about to leave the kitchen, he is stopped by the menacing figure of Aetos standing before him. His middle finger pressing against his glasses as a shadow is cast over the short Fox Thiren, and with a menacing, low voice, he declares, “It isn’t over… Seeing as how the Boss and I have shared our piece… How about you?”

With a slight and curious narrowing of his eyes, Calyx attempts to walk past him, “Don’t have one, I guess…” before being promptly blocked by his partner.

“If I’m gonna suffer through this humiliation, then so are you!” Aetos wasn’t gonna let Calyx walk this one scott-free, he’ll make sure he gets embarrassed too. One way, or another.

“I-I don’t have one, at least I don’t think so…” Calyx retorts, growing increasingly defensive as he once again tries to sidestep his partner, looking past him as he now blatantly attempts to avoid the conversation.

“Come on, I know you’re just lying to save yourself the embarrassment. Don’t worry, I won’t judge you for it…” Aetos is just going to tease him, ensuring that his partner will feel the shame that he felt as well.

A small sigh comes from the fennec fox as he sits himself on the counter, legs hanging off the floor as he taps his chin thoughtfully. Looking back, the only thing he can find noteworthy is something he wears almost daily, “My mask, maybe..?” he says rather nonchalantly and in stark contrast to the other two’s confessions.

“...Maybe…? What do you mean by maybe?” Aetos presses, but Luenar steps in. The man places his hand on the eagle’s shoulder, stopping him from resuming the thought process.

“Don’t push it. While I understand why you wanna get back at your partner for making you confess like that, it isn’t any better to bully him into doing so. And…” Luenar glances at Calyx whose ears are droopy, and his face scrunched up in mild efforts of reminiscence. “It looks like he really doesn’t know.”

Surprisingly, despite now being the center of attention, Calyx remains silent, as if something occupied his thoughts to a degree where it deprives the room of his usual and childish sass. 

“...That isn’t like you to be thinking so much, peabrain. Your ears might catch on fire with how long you’ve been working that brain of yours,” Aetos remarks, hoping it would lighten the mood. Crossing his arms over his chest, he nudged his head toward the stairs leading to the second floor. “Your favorite show starts in a few minutes, you know. You’ll miss it if you keep pondering over there like an idiot.”

With a pointed look over to Aetos that would be considered a whiplash hazard, Calyx does his best to mask his defensiveness with his usual, more juvenile demeanour. 

“Whatever, songbird,” he replies, hopping off the counter where he sat and stretching to the point of his ears flicking. 

“But, no thanks, I’ll be turning in early... This whole sappy talk’s got my ears smokin’…” He adds, now making for the stairs without looking back to his boss and partner.

“...” Aetos stares at the Fox Thiren’s back as he ascends the staircase, his unusual demeanor unsettling both him and Luenar. Calyx’s normally upbeat and standing ears are sadly furled against his hair, further adding to their speculations about his unnaturally dismissive attitude. Luenar exchanges a knowing, concerned glance with Aetos, knowing that he would never pass up a chance to watch his favourite show, “Visage V: Noble”.

“What kind of fuckin’ stupid am I?” Aetos sighs tiredly, easily admitting to his own wrongdoing once Calyx was out of earshot. Behind his eyes is barely concealed regret at his actions.

“I have to apologize to him. But how do I cheer him up…?” The Eagle Thiren mumbled to himself, placing his elbows onto the counter and leaning his face into his palm. His gaze falling onto the empty soda can that he finished as if it contained all of the answers in the universe. 

Luenar analyzed Aetos’ expression, cracking a small smile at the Proxy. “For someone who unashamedly throws their frustrations at the little man, you sure put a whole lotta effort into helping him”, Luenar remarked, obviously intending for it to be heard by the Thiren at the counter.

“Huh? Did you say something?”

“Maybe a talk through the door if you can’t face the guy?” Luenar clarifies, making it abundantly clear he wishes to assist Aetos resolve the fox’s silent troubles.

“Ah, that could definitely work…” At his boss’ pointed look, Aetos quickly explained. “Don’t misunderstand, boss. I’m not doing this because I’m concerned or anything. I’m simply doing my obligation as a member of your establishment to ensure that there is no bad blood among the troops. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Luenar shakes his head at the Eagle Thiren’s denial, a small chuckle welling from his throat, knowing of his actual intentions. “Sure, Aetos, just make sure you actually apologize… for the troops.”

“Hmph. Copy, boss.” He stood straight like a soldier freshly out of the bootcamp, salute and all. Aetos proceeded to dash toward the stairs, mumbling half-hearted profanities under his breath about Calyx, but Luenar couldn’t make out what he exactly said.

Now taking the cookbook back into his hands, he listens as Aetos makes his way up to the second floor, a smile creeping onto his face. 

“Those boys…” Luenar remarks as he dons his reading glasses, the downstairs becoming the ideal reading space. Silent with a gentle jazz song now playing from the jukebox as the shadows grow longer amidst the setting sun’s ochre light streaming through the windows.

Chapter Text

As I walked up the stairs, I could hear that damn conversation in my head along with my steps thumping against the hardwood. Mementos, keepsakes, all that mushy stuff… What do I have to say about any of those? 

Not much, admittedly.

Has the staircase always been so long? I feel like walking up it this time is off…

On top of the staircase now and these walls’ve never seemed so… weird, almost different from what I wake up to every morning. I’m telling you, it’s not just the setting sun that’s throwing me off and painting them orange, it’s more than that, like it’s… unfamiliar.

I felt a shiver run down my spine and to my arms, like I was just run through by a ghost, or maybe just a cold wind. Putting my hands to my upper arms and gently, nervously trying to warm myself up, I hear something behind me. Footsteps, from someone larger than me, probably the old man or Aetos…

Honestly, I don’t think I want—no, more like I can't face them after acting like such a baby… My room’s right there, I probably should rest for now.

Click.

Door’s locked now and I have my room all to myself. Never thought I’d see this room as anything else except for mine. As I slouched back against the door, the wood hard against my clothed back, I began to wonder as I held my knees up to my chest. Can I even call this my room if I don’t know who I—

Knock knock… A gentle tapping made itself known against the door I’m sitting behind. My ears perk up as I make out a muffled voice, “Hey, something the matter?” 

Aetos… I could practically see him from behind the door’s oak and knob, arms crossed and averting his eyes from the doorway… Do I respond? Do I have anything to say aside from snark right now? I’m feeling more awkward than I’d like to admit, honestly.

I take a deep breath, sitting here on the floor, hoping he didn’t hear it as I give my reply. “Yeah…” Gosh, I sound so much like a gloomy teen, the thought of me sulking seems off to myself but somehow it feels fitting?

A slight pause from behind the door leaves me to the scene of my room again. Clothes and miscellaneous items strewn about messily, my mask and dagger on the nightstand by my bed’s side, the dark long coat of my other self hanging comfortably in my closet, all bathed in the retreating sun’s dimming saffron glow.

“Good to know…”,I could hear a long breath, almost a sigh, from behind the door, “As much of a ‘little perfectionist birdie’ you think that I am, even I cannot avoid making mistakes. I suppose… I went too far in our conversation earlier.” 

Color me surprised… Aetos apologizing? I never thought I’d hear it myself, much less if I’d be the one he’s addressing…

With the back of my head and my ears against the door, I felt like opening up some more. There was a sense of security in my abode, like I could… talk about it. I took a short breath before the words “You think..?” escape through a small, tired smile of mine. 

While waiting, I see my mask leaning against the lamp on my nightstand, looking like it's staring at me… Unsettling, sure, but oddly comfortable in a weird way to me…

“Maybe. Do you wish to talk about it?” comes through the wood all muffled. Hesitation mixed with formality? From my partner? This day’s more bizarre than any heist I’ve pulled off already, almost bizarre enough to lift my downed spirits. Do I get up? Open the door and face the guy, maybe?

Maybe, but not now… I’d feel like I’m being too much. 

 “We could…” I replied, my voice smaller than I thought it would be. I shoot a glance over my shoulder, waiting for the songbird’s response. I push one of my legs forward, laying it straight on the floor while resting my upper body on my raised knee.

“Before you say anything, you have no obligation to tell me. I am aware that I have crossed a line with you. Think of it as a…” He hesitated again, clearly trying to understand my problem, “...A bad habit of mine to solve other people’s problems for them. I hate to see my comrades be so low-spirited.” 

“Good to know… This is more sappy than I thought I’d ever hear you talk.” For the first time since I sat on my floor, I feel my shoulders unwind and my ears stand straighter. The tail I remembered I had crept its way into my lap, letting me stroke the nice, silky blue fur. I keep this thing under my coat too much…

“And it won’t be the last, if you want it to be. I’m not all cold and calculating, you know? I’m as human as you are—er, well, as human as we Thiren can be…” The presence behind the door feels warmer now, I could picture him leaning against my door with his hand fixing his glasses, but without the weight of earlier on either of us. 

The relief of the easing tension hit us both like cold air on a white winter day. To be fair, in the two years I’ve been here, it’s kind of nice to speak with Aetos like this, kind of like a brother I never knew I wanted.

“Thanks for that, then.” I stand from my seat on the floor, feeling slightly better about this whole thing. I contemplate for a bit before ultimately deciding to just leave the door closed, walking over to my bed and telling him from there, “I’m turning in for the night! Thanks again!”

“Wait—!” The voice exclaims through the door, a newfound resolve and certainty weaved into that one word. 

Admittedly, I was surprised by that. Who could have thought of Aetos shouting through my door so insistently and pointed at me like a weapon. I decided to reply with a tired huff as I lay down, “Yeah?”

“If you ever feel down…” He began, but he sounded unsure of what to say after that. After a moment of silence, he continued.

“If it's something you can’t handle alone, let me handle it. Let’s say, for example—you couldn’t perform your job as a waiter, I’ll try to pick up the slack.” He sounded more confident, like his earlier stammer didn’t happen. Then, he quickly added,  “You can rely on me. Or Luenar, for that fact.”

Step, step, step… Yeah, there he goes. Now it’s just me, my room, and the setting sun. A sigh of relief manages to fill the silence of my room as I look to the ceiling. 

“I needed that…” I mutter to my lonesome, shifting my view to my nightstand where my dagger and mask rested. Why do I always feel so weird when I look into its empty eyeholes? Like something should be there and yet…

Another shiver shakes me uncomfortably, like somebody put ice down my shirt. Should I be having thoughts like this? Why am I asking so many questions? Why do I feel like I’m being held?

It’s probably some speck of food or something I got on me while serving earlier. Wouldn’t be the first time I plopped down onto bed with a shred of lettuce in my sleeve or something… I should check the mirror. The one on my wall works, let’s see…

Ears still fluffy, hair still true, tail all blue. Nothing patched onto my uniform, which I should probably change out of soon. The running hands under my shirt and apron led to squat too…

Wait, what?

The realization hits me like a good scare out of a horror movie, I could feel my shoulders tense and fox tail bristle defensively. We spent a few hours in the Hollow yesterday but I know that isn’t enough to give me any signs of Ether corruption… I find myself inching toward the nightstand and reaching for my dagger, this is in no way a normal food-in-my-clothes thing.

I dart my eyes around the continuously darkening room, my eyes catching on the several clothing piles and strewn about boxes of stuff I leave open in case I need them… 

“Who’s there?” I ask myself, both dreading and wanting a response as if it would do anything to calm these nerves.

“I assume you don’t know of me?” chimes from somewhere in my room, making me jump like a cat that had landed on tinfoil. It echoed in my head for a moment. It was surreal, almost like it was mine, recorded and played back to me.

In place of the subtle shame of what I thought was hearing myself talk was the abundantly clear panic in my tail. It resembled a feather duster as I crept my way to the center of the room, dagger gripped so hard that my hands’re gonna be marked later.

Much to my relief, I was sure nobody else was in my room. Adding to that easing tension, my eyes get caught on my TV. It was playing my favorite show, Visage V: Noble. 

I’d recognize this episode anywhere. It’s in the middle of a heist where the series’ leading phantom thief, Jester, is sneaking around a museum and evading capture after having sent his calling card. I move closer to it and try to make sense of the situation. Jester’s debonair and extra way of speaking is a big inspiration for my voice under the mask, so I guess that’s how I drew that conclusion.

Since it was just the show, I guess I could sit and watch to get my mind off of… whatever that was. Let me just make my little self comfortable, put the dagger down by my side and lose myself in tonight’s showing…

 Ah… This show really scratches my need for a good thrill! Not to mention he should be… Yes! The treasure of the target’s in reach! Now, he’s gonna swing over all those guards and lasers using his fancy grappling wire and…

I watch with wide eyes, leaning forward onto my knees as Jester hits a stylish spin to launch the wire to the high-hanging exhibits. My tail swishes behind me excitedly as I watch him clear an impossible gap, now swinging toward the camera. 

I thrust my arm into the air as he flies above the security measures, imagining myself in such a situation. The wind in my coattails, ruffling my hair and ears, it’s making me impatient for our next job...

I was so into it, my head didn’t register that I fell backwards! 

Sitting back up and shuffling on my knees closer to the screen, I grab the remote next to the TV and hit up the cable schedule, “He’s so close to the treasure! I suppose could treat myself to tonight’s showing of—”

I felt my very small being quiver, tantalized by the sight that was the show scheduling for the night, my mouth moving to resemble a perfect O-shape under wide eyes as a commercial began airing. I had to turn my hand into a makeshift muzzle to prevent an overjoyed squeal from calling either Aetos or the old man to my room. 

“...An all-night marathon of Visage V!?” I excitedly whispered to myself, holding the remote up to my chest as I sat forward with my tail happily swishing behind me. Oh right, I should change before the commercial ends! Quick, quick, where are my pajamas!? Ahh… I need to hang this uniform too..! 

Whatever, I’ll just throw them onto my bed and hope they don’t scrunch up, no way am I missing this! I move as quickly as I can around like a cat around meticulously organized cucumbers. Can’t imagine what I sound like from behind the door or downstairs…

In my sleeping clothes now and… Yes! Just as those dumb promos ended! Now it’s me, my show and the willpower to stay up all night!

As the morning sun rose above the horizon and flooded the Fox Thiren’s room, illuminating his face as he drools onto his own shirt, clearly having failed to stay up all night but probably having seen his show through to its conclusion.

An advertisement played from Calyx’s television, the boy having forgotten to turn it off during his impromptu marathon last night. Its soft, dim backlight illuminates his small face, a man’s voice escaping through the audio and announcing—”A sensual new release by the authors behind the fantasy-action thriller, Mask of Conflict! Allow us to introduce…”

Fluttering his eyes open and sitting up, his hands tap around his for the TV remote. Finding it to his right, he clicks the power button with a tired groan resembling a fussy dog’s high-pitched whining. 

“Worth it…”, he smirks, slowly rising to his feet as the clearly groggy fox tells himself. He tries to fight the urge to drop back down onto the floor and pass out again.

One stretch and yawn later, he scratches his neck, remembering that he, in fact, has things to attend to aside from the consequences of his late-night watchthrough of Visage V. Moving to brush himself and his features puffy again, he moves to his window to take in the city’s early morning look.

By the classic framed window, two green curtains hung at its sides, subtly swaying back and forth. Numerous plushies sat at the window—many of them reminiscent of Calyx’s favorite characters, but there were also stuffed Bangboo toys sitting with them—it was as if they were watching the Fox Thiren and judging his every move.

Looking down at the assortment of memorabilia and novelties, he gives a soft smile as he turns to set his brush down on his windowside desk. The rising sun shining on his back like an inviting message to descend onto the diner like the glorious fox that he is.

“Adult, I may be, but I’m only nineteen—not ancient like Aetos or the Old Man. Besides, I do love my show~,” he remarks to himself, a small giggle escaping his throat as he then moves to grab his uniform.

One of the plushies rolls onto its back as if it were laughing—this one resembles one of the first two aids that Jester first encounters, a girl in a red latex suit with cat-like features.

“Tigress never could stand on her own…” he jokes to himself, a hint of amusement and nostalgia filling his words as he continues to his bedside. He sets it back, momentarily distracted by the fallen plushie,

Slipping into his uniform, which had been callously thrown onto the bed the night prior, he struts his way to the mirror; making sure all that brushing by the window made his hair, tail and ears as fuzzy and bushy as he wanted. Pushing up his cerulean hair and huffing proudly, he takes to the door and swings it open.

As Calyx takes the first few steps out of his room, his ears suddenly start twitching and they instinctively face the direction where the sound was heard. The Fox Thiren then swerves his head toward Aetos’ room.

“This early in the morning?” Calyx asked himself as he strides toward the source of the faint noise of clicking and clacking from behind a door. With a knock as small as his hand was, he addressed his partner.

“Hey, Aetos, you in a flame war or something? Need help with comebacks?~” he adds the last part mischievously, partially hoping his guess was right. He’d love to put his natural snark to use! For the greater good, of course…

He snapped himself out of his musings thanks to the familiar scent of Coconut Milk Latte, Aetos’ favorite drink from Coff Cafe. Due to the Fox Thiren’s amplified senses, he has an acute understanding of the aroma in the air escaping from the crevices of the door—sweet and slightly nutty, with a creamy, milky undertone that evokes warmth and comfort within Calyx, despite never having tasted coffee.

“Someone else’s been staying up! Want me to tell the old man you’ll be a minute?” he remarks through the door, waiting patiently for Aetos’ response while simultaneously debating whether or not to barge in and see what exactly he was up to.

“If you bust down my door again I’m using your salary to repair it,” Aetos monotonously responded, although muffled through the door. Calyx heard it clearly thanks to his ears, but he could tell his voice was without its usual displeasure, and instead it was more calculating, like he was deep in thought. 

But it’s the norm around here, at least for the Fox Thiren.

“Hey now, angry bird, just checking in on my bestest buddy! From the sound of it, you seem to have… found something interesting on Inter-knot?” Calyx replies, his usual mischief returning to his tone.

“At least your intuition didn’t die with your last brain cell from your midnight endeavors…” Aetos idly snarked, the sound of his keyboard clicking accompanying his words.

“I could say the same for you and your sociability!” The fox snickers from beyond the door, probably to his partner’s silent annoyance.

“You gonna keep yapping or are you gonna get inside?”

The door lock clicks itself undone, Calyx letting himself in and pulling up one of Aetos’ chairs to sit by his desk which holds an impressive six-screen display. 

“Whatcha find?” The Fox Thiren playfully chimes, spinning on the chair.

While rotating on the chair, Calyx is reminded of how physics works—Thud!—and falls off the chair, showing his magnificent behind to the ceiling. 

“Ow, ow…” he rubs the base of his tail over the uniform, looking back up to Aetos with an expression that can only be described one of two ways; amusing or pitiful.

Aetos pushes against his desk, his chair quietly creaking from turning until it was facing the poor Fox Thiren who looked as though he spilled his lunch all over the floor. The Eagle Thiren’s eyes gleamed under the soft white LEDs that accented the matte slate grey walls—reduced to provide illumination but not painful to one’s eyes. Behind him, six ultra-thin monitors glowed ominously, displaying streams of code, websites, decrypted data, and programs.

“...Really?” Aetos crossed his arms, his eyebrow raised at the unceremonious display of his friend.

“Not my fault that spinny chairs are so enticing. Get on with your debriefing before I walk out and tell the old man you jammed it with your leg.” Calyx threatened him, trying to salvage his pride as he sat back in the desk chair. Though he was tempted to start spinning again, he was promptly shut down with a glare from the Eagle Thiren.

“Could’ve started the morning better, but whatever…” The Eagle grumbled, turning around to face the many computer screens and typing away at his keyboard, the bottom-most left screen’s display changing to an Inter-Knot post.

While his partner took his sweet time gathering info, Calyx himself takes out his phone and begins browsing the Inter-Knot. He’s not browsing for information, rather self-satisfaction, as he puts his own name and the words “Phantom Thief” and “Heist” into the search bar.

Almost immediately, several articles appear about the heist he and his partner pulled off two days ago among other heists done by the phantom fox. [Calyx Fineses Outlaws, Steals Case Right Out From Under Hollow Raider Group! “He was like a damn phantom!” States Raider Following Arrest.]

A smirk of gratification tugs at his lips as he scrolls past numerous posts containing his calling cards, fan art, and security snapshots of him either evading capture or posing dramatically over crowds—all made by the posters of the web. 

Namely, his oldest heists show up as the most popular posts under his name; [New Phantom Thief? Ornate Dagger Stolen From Exhibit, Calling Card Found!], [“Blink And You’ll Miss It!” Another Heist From Calyx, New Eridu’s Upcoming Phantom Thief!]

Calyx snaps out of his egoistic browsing to the sound of his partner’s own snapping fingers. He giggles as Aetos rolls his eyes, sliding back over to the keyboard on his desk chair.

“There were a lot of commissions circulating and a lot of them were really shady. And I don’t mean that rhetorically…” Aetos explained softly, then brought his coffee to his lips for a short sip before continuing. “So I filtered all of them, and eventually stumbled upon a few promising requests. With our respective schedules and circumstances taken into consideration, I’ve chosen this one.”

The fox gave a thoughtful hum, clearly trying to wrap his ears around his partner’s words. He leans forward with his center of balance actually centered so as to not fall off the chair again. “Let me take a look.”

The article read, [Missing Person’s Case: Help Wanted!] by the @InterKnot_Official Account, with a short paragraph written below its headline and above the comment section. Calyx, being who he is, did not focus on the strange opinions that Inter-Knot people would say… Not for now, anyway.

[Fellow Proxies, this is an urgent request! One of the moderators of the site has been reported missing. Fearing the worst, we have decided to reach out to anybody who may have information regarding his whereabouts or current state. We appreciate any and all attempts of assisting us and hope to hear from you all regarding our issue…

- The Inter-Knot Team.]

“So, any leads, oh great proxy partner o’ mine?” Calyx inquires excitedly, already liking what he sees—the potential for their next heist.

“Though it may seem like a trivial case that’d usually be left to Public Security, we can’t let this one float about. The missing moderator could spill extremely important data about the Inter-Knot and its users, which includes our, yes our, information as well.”

The Fox Thiren gasps dramatically, his hand poised on his chest as he hops off the chair and stands behind his partner. Cracking his neck in anticipation, he replied, “Can’t have that!”

“With a little bit of digging, I managed to narrow down the missing person based on the recent activities of the Inter-Knot administrators…” Aetos’ lithe fingers danced across his console, inputting a string of letters into the website’s search engine. It was as if he was playing on a piano—the instrument, his keyboard; the music, a name.

“Lynx Carmine… Based on what I’ve found, his most recent post was over five months ago, which was basically a harangue about his severe lack of charisma and terrible love life. Comparing his Inter-Knot activities with the other admins… we can safely assume that he’s the one missing.”

Calyx coos, “Sounds lonely. Any guesses as to where he is?”

“Normally, no. We wouldn’t be privy to his personal information. But, we’re not exactly upstanding citizens of the law, aren’t we?” Aetos’ lips curve upward as he works his magic. The monitors flicker to life as numerous piles of data and images flutter from one screen to another.

“That, we are not, but that makes us a force to be reckoned with~” Calyx snickers behind his partner, looking intently at the displays with building interest as Aetos gathers mounds upon mounds of data. Namely, the kind that would incriminate anybody else less experienced than himself with alleged cyber-conspiracies.

“The information on Lynx’s biographies across different social platforms aren’t enough for us to accurately determine his place of birth or current residency. So we’ll have to do a bit of digging… That is to say, I’ll be tracing him through his IP address.”

“Where would we be without our resident proxy, I’ll leave you to-”

Ding!

“Found it.”

“I was going to go downstairs but, now, my interest has been reborn!” Calyx immediately took a 180.

“Janus Quarter, good. He’s in the same quarter as us… First Street? Looks like he used to live near August Avenue. We have an accurate lead on Lynx Carmine’s location. What say you, Calyx?” Aetos glanced at his partner with a small smirk on his face.

“I say we get heisting!” Calyx claps his hands together before his eyes lock onto Aeto’s digital clock.

As easily as he was excited about their new commission, the time shown on the Eagle Thiren’s clock had him to freeze on the spot. Calyx then sputtered nonsensically, a single bead of sweat trailing down the side of his usually and now-missing mischievous face, much to Aetos’ confusion.

“Aetos…” Caly weakly and shakily points to the numbers displayed on the screen; 7:50.

“Perfect—wait, what?”

Chapter Text

“...” A shocked silence flooded the room, Calyx and Aetos stood side-by-side. Both their faces drop to resemble some sort of exaggerated horror reaction cliche. 

The lack of words led to both of them turning to each other. The realization that they’re about to face a fate worse than Ether corruption shared between terrified eyes. They share a nod, and in a mutual understanding of what might happen before making a synchronized dash out of Aetos’ room.

Without even a second of delay the duo take to the diner downstairs. Calyx leaps off the railing with a beautiful swan dive leading into a stylish roll in front of the counter, a move that could only be expected of somebody who moonlights as a phantom thief. Aetos, meanwhile, runs down the stairs then on the wall which curved the lower staircase to divert his momentum into the diner proper.

Both of them stand straight beside each other, equally as tense but nowhere near the same height. The Fox Thiren looks like he’s about to pass out while The Eagle Thiren seems uncharacteristically shaken. A force of pure, indescribable and unrelenting pressure emerges from the kitchen doors, nearly bringing Calyx to his knees and almost causing Aetos to choke on his own breath. The wave of unimaginable pressure moves to loom over the counter whilst cleaning a glass.

“I see you both decided to pull all-nighters…” Luenar softly reprimanded them behind the service bar, causing them both to stiffen and to avert their eyes, unable to bear the unrivalled weight of the words thrown at them. 

Stammering to push out an answer, Calyx begins frantically waving his hands while incoherently spurting excuses. Aetos, with his pride on the line, decides to remain silent like a child who was caught playing games instead of doing homework. Luenar sets the glass down firmly, a small sigh escaping his lips and his expression softening as he finally notices his employees’ troubled demeanours.

Setting his elbows on the counter with a less intense but still stern frown, Luenar continues, “Look, boys, I get that you two probably have things you want to do at night, but remember that this old man still needs help down here…” 

This prompts both Thirens to feel a hint of guilt, still listening intently to the diner owner. “...Not to mention, I don’t want both of you getting sick. I’ll let this go, but just remember to sleep, got it?”

With a pair of nods, the waiter and logistician finally meet their employers’ eyes, the tension now alleviating. Luenar smiles, “Good, now what’s this I overheard about a commission, Aetos?”

“Of course, boss. I may have pulled an all-nighter, but unlike him—” Aetos pointed at Calyx with his chin, “—I was doing something important. After surfing through the Inter-Knot, I found a suitable commission for us to take.”

“At least I was doing something entertaining!”

Aetos completely ignores Fox Thiren’s comeback in favor of debriefing Luenar about the commission he found. This only emboldened Calyx into further annoying his friend. With a skip in his step he tip-toes toward the eagle and, with extreme difficulty due to the height difference, pulls on Aetos’ face. However, he could not provoke the desired reaction from him.

“...And that’s about it,” his voice was practically forced out of him, conveying a messy string of sentences that Luenar somehow managed to understand despite Calyx’s repeated attempts to grab his partner’s attention. Aetos’ cheeks began to turn as red as the diner’s Tomato Soup dish in the Grilled Cheese Combo meal.

Luenar crossed his arms and summarized, “I see, so if I’m getting this right... It’s a missing person case of the forum’s moderator coming straight from the people behind the Inter-Knot, and all you gotta do is find the guy? Not to mention, the reward is a whopping 300,000 dennies.”

Luenar placed Aetos’ and Calyx’s breakfast on the counter—a simple waffle meal with their favorite side dishes. He’d normally make more fulfilling meals rather than a light breakfast, however, these two stayed up late and only just came down a few minutes ago.

“Mhm, precisely.” Aetos nodded, only just now noticing the slight stinging and red tint on his face. This prompted Luenar to give them a thoughtful hum, all the while the boys began munching on their waffles, the sounds of eating and contemplation filling the quiet morning atmosphere.

“Well, you guys can think about the commission later. We’ve got a diner to run! Chop, chop! Get to it, boys!” Luenar urged his employees to get to their stations as he adjusted his apron and returned to the kitchen.

The pair practically inhale their breakfast before standing at attention like soldiers on the other side of the counter. Aetos, realizing he’s been playing along with some sort of in-spur-of-the-moment bit, sighs and begins walking to the staff room door. Calyx, meanwhile, took his post behind the counter, grabbing his little notepad and pushing up his hair, getting ready to serve.

After flipping the diner’s sign close under the late afternoon sun, Calyx runs his hands over his apron with a smirk growing with each step he takes toward the counter. Aetos, emerging from the staff room, stretches his shoulders and glances at the kitchen door. From behind them, emerged Luenar, his apron lightly dabbed by bits of food and kitchen-related wetness.

“Phew, quite the hustle today! We had a lot more customers to deal with than usual, ey Calyx?” Luenar laughs it off, as if dealing with all sorts of customers from different parts of the city was as easy as breathing. Although in this case it wasn’t the diner owner dealing with them, it would be the only server in the establishment.

“Sunday rush is always a good test of endurance, old man!” The Fox Thiren snickers to himself, now moving to wipe the counter.

“I wish you had that kind of endurance when you’re supposed to study,” Aetos idly comments as he grabs a glass and fills it with water from the water cooler.

“You treat me like a high schooler, Aetos. Remember, I’m only a decade younger than you are!” Calyx replied sassily, his face threatening to resemble a pout.

“You barely pass the qualifications to be a middle school student, let alone high school. At best, I’d consider you a kindergartener.” The eagle squawked at the fox, his eyes narrowed and cheeky. The smug grin evoked a bristled tail from behind Calyx as he then motioned to throw the wipe he used to clean the counter.

“Why I oughta..!” He stops himself, remembering that Luenar was watching, and with a cough that swallowed his pride, he replied softly, “This kindergartner’s got legs sprier than you at least…”

“...Really? Have you already forgotten that I am, quite literally, an Eagle Thiren?” Thirens possess a varied number of characteristics from the animals they share their genes with. In Aetos’ case, he has the eagle’s eyesight and although he does not have talons, he does have incredibly powerful legs.

“For a Bird Thiren, your voice is more annoying than those screeching machines down by that construction sight…” Calyx grumbles under his breath, raising the towel again.

“Why you…” Aetos struggled to keep a stable hand on his cup of water, the constant shaking threatening to spill its contents. However, Luenar finally puts a stop to their banter with a clap of his hands.

“Alright, you guys. That’s enough. We have more important matters to be discussing, you can bicker later.” He reasoned, standing behind the counter as he loosened his apron. The adult in the room is the only mediator between these two, always has been, and always will be.

Both employees immediately shift their attention to their boss, still stealing murderous yet familial glances at each other every so often. With a nod of shared understanding, Aetos lays out a neat little yellow folder on the countertop. “This, right here, is all the info I managed to scrounge together on Lynx…”

Luenar has this pondering expression, his eyes gleaming with intrigue. His larger-than-average fingers delicately open the folder as if he were unraveling a gift. The diner owner processed the information laid out before him, analyzing every sentence written on it. It had no pictures of the missing person, but seeing as how Aetos was the one responsible for the data, there’s no denying its authenticity.

“Good job there, Aetos.” He softly claps the folder closed, “Seeing as how we’ve all got things to do this afternoon, I guess we can call an end to this little meeting.” 

The pair of employees look to each other concerning Luenar’s supposed after-shift activities but decide not to ask.

“Copy.” Aetos easily agreed, standing firm and cleaning after himself.

“Yes!” Calyx excitedly exclaims, hopping toward the stairs with a skip in each step.

Without any further delay, Aetos follows after Calyx with a subtle yet excited attitude, but not on the level of the kleptomaniac.

“We won’t let you down, old man! Let’s get our gear and put on a show!” The Fox Thiren practically flew up the stairs after striking a dramatic pose, seeming to have already assumed his phantom thief persona.

With a chuckle, Luenar folds his apron and returns to his quarters. Meanwhile, Aetos swiftly rushed into his room grabbing everything he needed for this commission—primarily his all-black combat outfit, a sidearm, technical equipment, and his bag.

Calyx, in his room, throws his long, dark coat over a comfortable turtleneck sweater with his gloved hands. In a single swift motion, he spins his sheathed dagger onto his back and slots his mask onto his face with an eager giggle coming from behind the black fox visage.

“Fox, I know you're doing your fancy shit over there, but hurry up! We can’t miss this opportunity!” Aetos yelled from his room, Calyx immediately picking up on the Proxy’s words and suppressed the urge to sigh.

“Don’t rush me, songbird! Looking this dashing takes a bit of effort!” The Fox Thiren replies, bursting out of his door into yet another pose before hopping down from the second floor with a landing as pompous as his getup. “Now, let’s go make sure that guy’s not dead!” 

After getting ready and an hour passing by, they later arrived at First Street where they would wisely spend their time meticulously searching for any information related to Lynx Carmine. They eventually discovered his place of residency, and while Aetos was diligent in the task, Calyx was the opposite. Not to the Eagle Thiren’s surprise—the Fox Thiren’s terribly bored.

“What are you even looking to find in that place?” Calyx asks through sheer boredom.

“Possible leads to where Lynx Carmine could have been taken. Although I doubt we’ll truly find anything concrete here, it’s still a lead.” Aetos answered cordially as they waited until the streets were empty so they could infiltrate the Carmine residency. Calyx nearly groaned as he sat cross-legged next to his partner. He reaches into his coat, taking out his phone to check the time; 5:48 PM, it read. “Though, I do wish we had Ren now.”

“You know that zombie boy isn’t always available, right? Why don’t I just do my thing? Nobody’ll know I was even there…” The phantom thief hopefully suggests, getting up to stretch while taking a few steps forward, trying to put an end to his boredom.

“Mm. You could…” Aetos mumbled to himself, thoughtfully considering the suggestion. While Calyx has his flaws, he is extremely efficient when it comes to the things that he does best—being a rogue-ish phantom, unnoticed even by the most advanced security systems. The only problem that he has is his tendency to be dramatic and flashy during infiltration missions… Or so Aetos thought.

“...Alright,” he agrees through a sigh. “You can go. I’ll keep watch to make sure no one sees what we’re doing. Keep your ear piece on so we can keep in-contact.”

Calyx’s ears perked up at his partner’s agreement, and with a smirk, adjusted his gloved wrist. With his eyes locked onto the window, he hits a graceful twirl and ejects his wrist-mounted zip wire. Performing a mock salute with his index and middle finger, he flies towards the apartment window, expertly perching on the windowsill before sliding the window itself open. Now inside, he taps on the earpiece…

“Phantom to Songbird~ Come in, Songbird.” he replies playfully, a bounce in each step he takes in the apartment.

“I hear you loud and clear, Phantom,” Calyx could imagine the look of exasperation on Aetos’ face as he rolled his eyes. “What’s it look like over there?”

“Like your average apartment. Couch, TV, A few pictures of himself and what I think is family… Gotta say, I was expecting something better for an Inter-Knot mod.” The fox replies with a clear disappointment, the apartment clearly not living up to his expectations for a heist. 

“Even though I know this isn’t important, the fact that nobody saw me fly through and onto the window was pretty suave, wasn’t it?” he asks with a smirk behind the mask, moving to inspect drawers and cabinets for clues.

“If you’re looking for validation, you’ll have a better time asking the boss. Look for anything that might look suspicious. Check every nook and cranny.” Aetos smoothly answers while surveying the streets on top of a building, the shadows of the setting sun hiding his position from any potential onlookers.

Calyx mumbles mockingly before stopping abruptly, his attention seemingly drawn somewhere else.

“Does a conveniently drawn schedule on a calendar sound good?” He asks with just as much validation seeking in his tone. The fox traces the calendar, looking for anything promising.

“Better than nothing, talk to me. What does it say?”

“How long was he missing again?”

“Based on what I discovered, five months, give or take.” Aetos immediately answered.

“So… I’ll look back five months. Sound good?” Calyx replies, flipping the pages of the calendar.

“Copy. Tell me what you see, I’ll guide you as you do.”

“Dental appointment… Inter-Knot clean-up… Birthday party… Any of these sound promising?” Calyx replies, his voice still dejected from this expedition’s lack of flair or thrill.

“Nothing too promising. It sounds like a normal schedule… Wait, birthday party?” Aetos had to double-take from the last part.

“Were you not invited? Sucks, I know,” the phantom thief replies with a hint of amusement.

“No! I mean, yes—ugh. Tell me when the birthday happened, cause a thought just came up,” the Proxy pulled out his trusty laptop. Though technology in New Eridu is quite restricted due to the Hollow Disasters and corrupted corpos, Aetos ensured that, as a Proxy, he would have access to the highest quality equipment for his activities. “If I’m right, one of his posts on his social media was about a birthday, the date should be…”

“Let me see… March 8th… got anything with that?”

“Bingo. It’s his birthday, right?” Aetos confirmed, and followed it up with another question for further validation.

“Spot on, Songbird! So… why’s it so important?”

“...I—actually don’t have an answer for you there. It looks normal, and it’s the last post he ever made. But… Ugh, damnit. Nevermind. Keep investigating.”

The faint sound of what was probably Calyx darting around could be heard through Aetos’ earpiece. After a bit of radio silence, the phantom thief chimes in, “Got somethin’... A receipt for groceries, toilet paper, a few game-related things… Oh! And an address!”

“A receipt and an address…? Looks like that’s all we’re gonna find. You can back out now. Nobody’s lookin’. We can discuss our next move afterward,” Aetos instructed before cutting comms.

“Got it! Try to divert your eyes from the window, I just dare you!” Following those words, the phantom fox leaps out of the window and twirls mid-air to eject the zip wire once more. With a reeling sound, he flies over the edge of the roof where Aetos was stationed, landing with his usual pompousness and prideful snicker.

Clap, clap… Slowly does the eagle clap with feigned praise, his signature resting bitch face greeting the young phantom thief. 

“Harhar, what a brilliant performance from the best thief in all of New Eridu. Oh, how could I ever compete with you?” Aetos exclaimed with the most monotony he could muster in his being.

“Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all evening~” Calyx rubs the fake praise back into his partner’s face.

“Alright, enough bitching around. Show me what you got,” he hurried the fox into giving him everything he stole—’retrieved’, from the apartment.

“Right… Here you are!” The Fox Thiren holds up a pair of papers between his gloved fingers, pointing them toward Aetos. Much to the Proxy’s surprise, something other than the shopping list was in the little kleptomaniac’s hands.

“Is that a photo? It looks really old,” Aetos stretches his arm forward to first accept the photo in order to examine it. 

From what the Eagle Thiren could gather from looking at the picture, the focus was a man who looked like they don’t go out much unless necessary. Square glasses were stationed just over the bridge of his nose, no facial hair under those glasses. From the angle the photo was taken, the black hair matched the eyes he had; it was neatly cut, a short and classic style for someone who lives everyday like a normal everyday man.

“So this is who we assume to be our man. It almost looks like he’s trying too hard to be normal. And as for that address you mentioned…” Aetos takes the receipt and gives back the photo to Calyx.  The eagle’s bespectacled eyes quickly scanned over every letter and word with a hacker’s precision. 

Calyx takes and looks at the photograph himself, his eyes taking in the sheer monotonous note that was the person in the picture. 

“We’re not exactly ones to speak on normal, you know. I’m a blue foxy diva and you’re a golden eyed sniping canary.” Calyx teases, tucking the paper into his coat’s breast pocket.

After pocketing the receipt itself, Aetos turns his attention to the laptop, its light glimmering in the reflection of his glasses. After inputting the address on the receipt, he shoots victoriously, “Another lead. Looks like the address points us to the 141 Convenience Store on Sixth Street… and this invoice was recently issued a few days ago. Don’t you think that it’s a tad suspicious?”

“Yeah, our kidnapped guy either came back or somebody else decided to use it. And I’ll tell you now, somebody did, in fact, use the apartment. Fox-Nose-Certified!” Calyx confidently validates, stepping toward the fire escape. “Anyways, Sixth Street right? Let’s mosey on over and pay them a visit! You know… After we change out of… all this.” 

“Mhm. I agree… Right now, our current goal is to investigate where Lynx Carmine could’ve possibly gone. If we use the receipt you got, we can figure out the identity of the person who recently used our target’s apartment…” Aetos bites his index finger, an odd habit of his when he’s in thought.

“Say…” The Eagle Thiren asks slowly, turning toward his partner with a smirk. “You got any Public Security uniforms?”

“Do I have any?” Calyx feigns offense before giggling, “I may have borrowed a few from a bunch of careless officers~”

“That’s concerning. But I wouldn’t expect anything less from my partner. Let’s go!”

Night fell on Sixth Street, a nice little street where numerous small businesses flourish and make the place feel like its own tight-knit community. Along the road were alleys in between the numerous buildings, a small noodle shop run by a little red man with an extra pair of arms made of bamboo. On the roof of the stand is a sign which in Eastern characters read: “Waterfall Soup”.

To the left side was a quiet yellow store with TVs playing snippets of movies and series from behind the large rectangular window. The door was closed and the insides were too obscured by the TV displays to make out but the sign which resembled a movie reel proudly held up the name “Random Play” just above the entrance.

Across from Waterfall Soup was a nice orange building with a singular arcade machine outside. It was turned off for the evening but obviously showed signs of use and the occasional gamer rage. Many a person spent their time here, at Godfinger Arcade, to pass time, blow off steam or socialize through the tried and true method of video games. 

To the left of Godfinger was a humble yet modern convenience store painted in a nice blue. The fluorescence from inside shone through the windows and brought light to the darkening streets. Aside from the multitude of merchandise like food, drinks and the occasional tech part, it bathed three little Bangboo in its gentle glow. 

One had a ledger on his head tied with its rabbit-like ears, wearing little glasses and a cute white shirt. It held a clipboard in one hand and a ballpen in the other—Ask, the Answer Bangboo, is the one responsible for tending to every patron’s inquiries. To Ask’s right is Buy, who’s wearing the same uniform as his brother but the difference is that they’re carrying a box-shaped register with a mahogany texture. And finally on the left of Ask is Give Change, while it wore a white bandana around its head, it carries a small package under its arm, which is full of Dennies.

These three Bangboo handle everything at 141, their other cousins, Ask, Buy, and Give Change are also situated in different branches across New Eridu. Whereas Buy gives the product that the customer asks for, Give Change distributes their change after purchase—they are the perfect team.

It was around 7:41 PM according to Ask’s system clock, while being such an incredibly short automaton is inconvenient, the pros to a Bangboo far outweigh them. They only have less than five hours until they change shifts with their human colleagues.

“Eh-nah, Eh-nah!” Ask informs his brothers of their time left on the job, which elicited cries of elation from them. Their personalities are just as bubbly and round as their bodies.

“Ehn-nah-nah!” Give Change and Buy cheered, knowing they’ll be off the clock in a few hours. 

“Ehn-neh. Ehn-nah, nah, nah?” Ask points toward the store and all of the unorganized products, then swings its body toward the open street, where no customer seems to be in sight. Should they turn in early, they wonder?

“Nah-nah. Ehn-nah-nahn.” Give Change protested, thinking about the customers they might fail to serve should they leave their posts earlier than specified. They weren’t made to be lazy, after all!

Just then, a pair of prominent looking Public Security officers walk through the evening streets. One short and having blue hair, his ears poking out from under the oversized black helmet which nearly covered his eyes. The other was tall and blonde, the outfit actually resembling a normal person instead of a child dressing up as a PubSec officer like on “take your kid to work day”.

“Ehn, nah…?” Buy questions suspiciously, alerting their brothers. While it isn’t unusual to see PubSec patrols, they don’t usually find them around Sixth Street at this hour.

“Ehn-nah? Eehn-nuh-nah Ehn-nah…” Ask replied cautiously, trying to calm his brother’s nerves, unsure if this was actually a pair of PubSec officers on patrol or a father taking his son on a horrendously off scheduled trick-or-treat outing.

The unfamiliar officers approached the Three Bangbooteers, the moonlight illuminating their figures ‘ominously’ as they stood tall before them. Aetos, in disguise, musters his best efforts of acting, “Fine evening today, gentleboos.”

Calyx, in his oversized PubSec outfit that barely classifies as a disguise, begins pushing the dangling sleeve up to his mouth in reaction to his partner’s performance, his smile threatening to spoil their “covert” operation.

“We’re… uh, here for business. That is, if you don’t mind answering a few of our questions?” Leaning down to their levels, the Eagle tries to appear as professional as possible. Not to appear intimidating to the Bangboo, but to convince them that he and his foxy partner were, in fact, PubSec Officers.

Despite that, the Bangboos were quite intimidated to comical degrees, much to Calyx and his partner’s surprise. They exchange baffled looks before Aetos returns to the act. He brings out the picture that the phantom thief retrieved from Lynx’s apartment and shows it to the Bangboo, before asking, “Have any of you seen this man recently?”

The store Bangboo eye it nervously, clearly unsure of what Eh-nuh hell they were looking at. They didn’t seem to recognize the person in the photo, their visors displaying eyes that show uncertainty, their little voices supporting this fact as they gather around and begin humming thoughtfully.

While the two of them watch on as the Bangboo process their information, Aetos continues his questioning in character, “Uh, I take it that you do not recognize him then?”

“Nah.” Ask replied, his response straight and to the point for fear of upsetting the good ‘officer’. Give Change returns the photo to the blonde officer, his lips curving into a frown as he takes out another piece of paper—this time, it was something that the Bangboo recognized, a receipt.

“Ehn-nah?!” Buy questions suddenly, taking the piece of paper into its tiny arms and scanning it. Aetos nods with confirmation.

“Then how about this receipt? Can you tell me anything about it?”

He allows the store clerks to inspect it closer, looking at them while Calyx stifles hysterical laughter to the best of his abilities, shoving his face into his oversized helmet to hopefully conceal his amusement.

“Nuh… Ehn-nah-nah… Nuh-ehn-nah.” Buy suddenly interjected to inform them. Telling the duo that, with the receipt’s data, Lynx actually was here before. The Bangboo explained how the man was buying anything edible.

At the mention of their target’s name, both Aetos and Calyx exchange a curious yet knowing look, already silently planning their next move behind a simple nod. Turning back to the devoted store Bangboo, Aetos retrieves the picture from Ask, stuffing it into his pocket and tipping his helmet to him, “Thanks a bunch, consider yourselves a-okay in the book of public security.” 

“Nuh… Ehn-nah Ehn-nah?” Give Change inquired nervously, not recognizing them from any patrol route that’s ever visited Sixth Street. 

Calyx steps forward to clarify with a brief clearing of his throat. “We’re from Luenar’s—”

Donk! Aetos swiftly bops him over his helmet, shooting him a warning look, as the headpiece leaned forward over his face. This causes the Fox Thiren to stammer and quickly patch up his slip, “—Lumina Square! We do patrols mostly in Lumina Square!” 

A final attempt is made by the fox in the form of a nervous smile accompanied by an anxious giggle whilst he readjusted the helmet.

“That’s right!” Aetos added, his facade crumbling slightly at the slip up. While he prioritized the impromptu cover identity for himself, he was one more minor inconvenience away from using the patented Instant-Annoying-Fox-Pacification technique.

This answer elicits a few strange looks between the three little attendants who, much to both of their astonishment, reply, “Eh-nah.” in unison. It was some form of agreement, most likely, but the underlying judgement and weirded-out tones were definitely more prominent than the apparent understanding.

Walking down the road to the metro station, the pair take their time disappearing down the dark streets, leaving the trio of 141 alone to attend to their business of making the convenience store a little more convenient. They overheard the sound of Calyx laughing hysterically once they were out of sight, followed by Aetos threatening to shoot him square between the ears. With a few confused glances at each other, they decide to continue manning—or, in this case, boo-ing their post outside the store.

“Nah… Ehn-nah… Nuh! Ehn-nah-nuh!” Ask suddenly turned to his fellow store clerks, a hint of realization behind the yellow eyes on his visor. The little Bangboo had heard the name which Calyx had let slip before via a few customers that would talk in line, the name of Luenar’s Diner came to his speech recognition’s logs.

“Nah-nah-ehn-nah.” Buy interjected, clearly apprehensive about leaping to conclusions. “What good would accusing a pair of PubSec officers do?” was written all over that visor of his which displayed a pair of worried eyes.

“Nah-nah, Uhn-nah-nah!” Give Change chimed in, clearly trying to calm his brethren. Even if they were a pair of PubSec officers who brought up a diner’s name, so what? It was no cause for concern, they could just frequent it for all they know. Besides, Ask was just pointing it out because a group of patrons were discussing that restaurant earlier, and it sounded incredibly appealing…

The night finally drifts into a comfortable silence with the three of them assuming their post until they can clock out, with the Bangboo occasionally glancing at the street where the pair had walked off to… 

“Aw man, those two are gonna love what I’m bringing back!” Luenar cheerfully affirms himself, an unusual skip in his step as he embraces the cardboard box in his arms. New Eridu shines beautifully beneath the gaze of the moon, not a single inch of it untouched by its glow. At this hour in the evening, a myriad of different faces roamed the streets—no matter if it were a human salaryman returning home after a long day at work, a Cat Thiren high schooler striding with her group of friends, or the occasional Bangboo.

This city will accept anyone into its walls—it is humanity’s salvation, after all.

The middle-aged diner owner wore a small and satisfied smile, his glasses glinting under the streetlight as he approached his beloved diner. He placed his package down to retrieve the keys in his back pocket, and moved to unlock the door as they jingled in his hand.

“Hm?” Luenar’s movements stopped abruptly, his eyes widening slightly at his door. To the untrained eye, the door appeared only slightly open. While cause for concern in of itself, Luenar found this to be more than a simple slip of the mind. 

It was far too unbelievable for Aetos to have left the door unlocked, much less opened, as someone Luenar entrusted with his spare keys. As for Calyx, while not allowed to have one for “reasons”, he would be proficient enough as a thief to not need the door, so why would he touch it?

On top of that, the three of them unanimously agreed that they would turn on lights in the diner should either Aetos or Calyx return home before Luenar.

And right now, the lights are all off…

Despite the obvious and poorly done break-in, Luenar decided to act normal, 

“Oh, honey! I’m home!” He saunters into his diner as if the possibility of uninvited guests sneaking in was a mere pipe dream, his hands on his hips like a girl boss from that 7 PM late-night drama, Oh~ Monica. “I hope you and the boys have been doing well, cause I got you a bunch of presents! Yay!”

This action drew the eyes of the assortment of hidden intruders. They stood in place, shocked at his admittedly unnerving confidence. The bulbous helmets on their heads refracted some of the light from outside, be it from the moon or the numerous streetlights, hiding their looks of pure astonishment. 

They concealed themselves—some hid underneath a table, another behind the counter that Luenar was directly facing, their hands tightly clutched their weapons in preparation for a brawl. This was the worst time for the owner to return, but it's alright. As long as their brothers can crack the code in that safe inside the kitchen, then they can skedaddle out of here. And if push comes to shove?

They wouldn’t mind adding another man to the killcount.

Luenar calmly hopped over the counter, vaulting like a cop from an old capital melodrama chasing a criminal, he took a few steps and… click! The diner’s lights come to life and brighten the tense atmosphere, revealing seven men with varying builds and thuggish clothes. 

“Ah! Patrons!” The owner stated with his elbows on the counter, seemingly relaxed despite the break-in situation.

The instincts of the raider hiding behind the counter compelled him to raise his weapon at the diner owner. With an intense war cry that shook the glass cups beneath the counter, he swung his baseball bat at the tall man with the expectation that he couldn’t possibly fight back. He was just a mere diner owner, there was no way that he could fight back—

Almost reflexively, the owner shoves his knee into the raider’s shoulder, stopping him in his tracks while the impact rang out sickeningly. Pulling him up by the shirt and planting the raider on his knees as he groans, he palms his head and bashes the back of it against the counter’s edge, sending the raider to the floor and into a not-so-sweet dream.

After breaking both that man’s expectations and parietal lobe, Luenar removes his glasses, gently placing them on the counter. 

“How can I serve the rest of you, gentlemen? Apologies, but my usual server is out right now, so I’ll have to do…” Luenar remarks in a cold, dangerous tone—a contrast to his rather indifferent expression.

“...” The tension was palpitating, a stomach-twisting sensation filled the invading thugs’ being. The fear in their eyes is revealed under the diner’s light as a raider points his sword at Luenar, his fingers openly trembling on the handle.

From behind him, the other Hollow Raider stands from the table he hid under and aimed his crossbow at the diner owner. Their reactions varied, but the consensus was simple—fight.

The gang of thugs paced carefully, their steps softly resounding inside the establishment. They watched the owner’s every move, waiting for him to do something. Anything.

Luenar’s brown sandals clacked on the checkered floor as he made his way through the service bar’s hip-height gate like a desperado. His posture upright and his hair resting in its messy, ashy and wavy appearance, a single strand straying down onto his nose. Glancing around at the raiders that confronted him, he runs a hand up through his hair and gives them a small frown. 

“Well, looks like I found what my employees dealt with the other night…” he remarks, his eyes narrowing as their amaranthine pupils bounce from raider to raider.

As the counter’s gate swung open and closed like a saloon door from Luenar’s passing through them, they made a small, almost inaudible creaking. Luenar stood still just beside another raider who shook like a leaf in a hurricane, his bat trembling along with him. 

Bam! As the gate stopped swinging, Luenar fed the poor raider a backhand which he then followed with a kick that sent him to the floor. The diner owner bounced as his foot made contact with said floor, ready to launch another strike if need be. Looking to his right, he found another raider rush at him from across a table.

Almost like clockwork, he kicks over said table, sending it hurtling toward the charging raider. While he dodged the table, he was unaware of Luenar’s fist flying straight for his abdomen, causing him to keel over. Unfinished with the intruder, he shakes off the tingling in his hand and uses the chair from the table to bash the raider over the head, letting him lie in the chair’s remains as they clattered onto the floor.

After having dealt with this thug’s attempt, a pair of intruders rush at Luenar. They took this opportunity to throw a simultaneous attack at the diner owner—one held his bat as if he were at a baseball game, and—Wham! It struck him square in the chest hard enough for it to be considered a home run as the other raider immediately slid down to grapple the middle-aged fighter’s legs.

Despite receiving a direct hit, Luenar cleared his throat, as if a minor inconvenience had just happened. His position was unchanged, his brow scrunched and his fist tightened before flying unto the raider who struck his chest. 

The sound of the helmet being struck rang throughout the diner as the raider’s head flew back. Luenar, however, didn’t allow him to hit the floor just yet, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and slamming him down onto his fellow raider. A face-turning thud echoed through the floor as the pained sound of the grappling raider’s body took the brunt of his thrown ally escaping him.

“Goddamnit! Come on, we’ll—” Whatever the raider across the dining floor would’ve said was interrupted by a flinch as another pained cry came from the two who just tried to bring Luenar down.

 He and another thug that had yet to join the conflict finally stepped forward—one was of a shorter stature yet had a muscular build, and the other possessed a lean, slender figure. The latter equipped his pistol and took aim, however, his fellow raider put a stop to it, “You idiot! We don’t wanna alert Public Security!”

“Tch, to hell with this...!” He throws down the sidearm and instead takes out a knife. Together, they rush at Luenar with danger in their eyes—they wouldn’t leave without at least bringing this bastard down a peg.

Cracking his neck as well as his lightly bruised knuckles, Luenar steps toward them with an unfazed glare. He slips past the knife wielding raider before parrying the second one’s barehanded strike with his elbow, making them cradle their hand from the botched blow. The knife holding raider immediately follows up on behalf of his partner, swinging the blade wildly and forcing Luenar to back up to avoid a good slash.

Step back after step back, Luenar spots an opening to stop the raider’s arm with his own body. The diner owner steps in deep, locking the raider’s arm in the air as he takes a firm hold and throws him back at the raider whose hand he had broken, both grunting as the sound of the knife hitting the floor rang out.

Luenar marched forward with his fists raised at chest-level, shaking off any stinging that he might have caught in his hands. However, the sudden creaking of wood and jingling of a bell interrupted him. 

Glancing to his left, the normally closed kitchen’s batwing doors were swung open by a small group of raiders—Luenar counted three; two skinny, and one with a Herculean build. But that wasn’t what he was focusing on.

It was instead the familiar book held in their grasps.

“We got the damned thing. Now, let’s scram!” The leader, or so Luenar assumed, wore a red helmet as opposed to his goons. He screamed orders at his group as they immediately ran for the entrance like they were cockroaches who were found under the fridge.

“Tch…!” Luenar immediately began moving to pursue the escaping raiders, dead set on retrieving his stolen property.

However, the diner owner would stumble forward after being struck in the back of his legs. A bat chaotically bounced off the ground when it accomplished its intended purpose. One of the thugs that he had yet to finish yells from behind, “Oh no, you won’t!”

A surprised gasp escapes the diner owner as he holds the back of his leg. Refocusing his efforts on getting the book back, he tries to get off of his still shaking leg. As the raiders made to leave, the leader felt something constricting his waist. Luenar had somehow sprung at him from where he knelt, his teeth as clenched as his fists which wrapped around the red jacket of the raider.

The lead raider began trying to pry the diner owner off of him—his sole focus at the moment was to dislodge the vice grip that was Luenar’s grapple.

“O-ouch! T-that hurts! Damnit, how strong is this guy?! I thought he was just some old dude!” He felt his insides compressing in an uncomfortable manner, like he’d been coiled around by a boa constrictor out for blood. This feeling only grew alongside Luenar’s desperation. He screamed, “Get him off me!” 

Luenar grunted while slowly rising to his feet, the threat of crushing the raider’s organs growing more and more apparent as the other thugs tried to pry him off their leader. The downed goons who were beaten to hell suddenly rose, a new surge of energy reinvigorating their being as they clutched onto the owner’s legs, while the others grabbed his arms and pulled with all of their might.

Eating numerous strikes like a pinata, Luenar’s grip never wavered. It was only with a strike to the back of his head that his grip faltered briefly. Noticing the development, they start to target the back of his head repeatedly, each brutal impact gradually loosening his clutches on their leader’s midsection. 

Bam! Wham! Pow! The seventh hit finally gives the leader and his lackeys enough leeway to pull Luenar off.

“Argh, shit… This hurts like hell…” The leader falls to the ground like a poor man seeking change, but unlike him, Luenar did not kneel. Though he was staggering, he refused to fall to the ground like a firm mountain that could not be scaled.

Just then, the pair of raiders that held back his arms pulled him up, not even giving him the luxury of respite. The diner owner struggles to break free before he catches a glimpse of the other raiders rising in the corner of his eye.

“A-ah, this guy almost killed me!” The leader of the raiders stood up from his spot, though with considerable difficulty. His red helmet had a few cracks in its visor, revealing a pair of crimson eyes. “Hold him tight, boys. We’re gonna pay him back…”

Like hyenas, they began swarming as soon as they smelt even a hint of vulnerability. They relentlessly tried to get his blood out of him, smacking Luenar across the face with bats, using those bats to crack at his body and occasionally throwing punches to his being while laughing mockingly at the now restrained Luenar. 

After it looked like they beat him senseless, a bit of crimson finally trickled down from his hair onto his forehead as his head began to droop. It streaked past his nose and dripped off of his chin as he stared at them through swollen eyes. Behind that swelling was something they really couldn’t understand, despite being restrained, the look on those violet eyes gave off an unimaginably heated fighting spirit.

“Still being stubborn despite taking the beating of a lifetime, huh? Well, why don’t I get in on the action and show you how a real man fights?!” The leader boasts gleefully, a dangerous glint in his eyes. He tucks the cookbook into his jacket as he got closer with his fists raised.

But in the moment that he approached Luenar, his fate was sealed.

Like his legs were about to give out, Luenar sways his body slightly and subtly, unbeknownst to the raiders that he was building momentum and setting a rhythm before suddenly throwing his head forward to meet his attacker’s. The impact was so staggering and spontaneous that it sent the large man stumbling back with pained groans despite his helmet.

“Stubborn? Yeah… Guess you could say that…” He smirked as the raiders who restrained him began to debate whether they should keep hold.

With renewed vigor, Luenar feeds the raider to his right a taste of what his boss just  had sampled, stunning him enough to free his arm. Now able to punch, he shoves his hand behind the neck of the remaining raider and plants his knee directly into his midsection, letting a pained yelp come from him as he folded onto the floor.

He cracked his neck and wiped his brow of his blood. A sinister grin appeared on his face as the sound of his joints loosening emulated the sounds of the fallen raiders’ broken bones. The diner owner raised his hands before stepping deep with his right foot, throwing his fist at a raider who held a bat.

The raider had instinctively put up the bat to block but—Pow! He felt the cold wood of his own bat strike him clean on the nose, Luenar having opened his palm to shove the weapon square into his face. Ripping the weapon out of the raider’s hands, he uses it to dispatch two more charging assailants with compact and devastating swings, knocking them clean off their feet like some sort of Major League Player in a female-populated sports bar.

While on the floor, the leader commands his remaining thugs to attack Luenar. As he gradually regains his bearings, he is treated to the brutal sight of his men being annihilated by the owner. 

His teeth grind together as he pulls out a gun, forgoing the guaranteed possibility of PubSec picking up on tonight’s raid. He’s going to puncture a hole straight through that old man’s—!

Luenar stepped forward with a spin of his bat, and pitched it straight at the gun as he began running after the thrown weapon. Bang! The gun went off, but not before it was sent to the floor and was pointed nowhere close at the encroaching diner owner.

As the crimson-clad raider scrambled to retrieve his firearm, Luenar bulldozed through his unfortunate allies. One was grabbed by the throat as he ran and was used to throw another raider over the counter. 

Throwing his human shield at one of their allies, the diner owner sends both of them to the floor with a mean and soul evicting dropkick—both heels digging into the unlucky foremost raider’s back.

Another raider tries to capitalize on his grounded state but Luenar props himself up on his hands to strike him clean in the shoulder with his foot, swinging his body back down to immediately follow up with a sweep to the legs. As the last of the lackeys fell, the brawler used the momentum of the leg sweep to get back up to his own feet and walk to the terrified leader.

“H-hey, hey! W-we can talk this out, right?” He throws down his crimson helmet thinking it would placate the man’s ferocity, the floor stained with the blood of his fallen brethren. He couldn’t stop his body from shaking as the behemoth towered over him.

Luenar, with his steps deafening to the cowering raider leader, raises his hand before taking him by the collar. With the same cold glare he slowly raises his other hand…

“P-please! We were just hired to do this shit! We d-didn’t mean for any of this to happen—!”

The owner plunges his hand down to finish the job…

With the cookbook now back in his possession, he lets the raider leader fall with his back onto the floor. 

“I’ll be taking this… As for you and your boys… We can talk it out like gentlemen, right?” Luenar struts to his counter, ensuring the cookbook’s condition was still good.

“A-ah! Y-yes! W-we can work it out! Perfectly! We won’t do this shit no more, just don’t kill us…!” The leader of the Hollow Raiders squeaked out, performing a perfect dogeza—or more accurately, a more exaggerated version of it. However, the last few words of the raider fell to deaf ears as Luenar delicately held the remnants of his mother’s memories in his hand.

He goes silent, his labored breaths evoking an uncomfortable pain as he takes a seat at the counter.

“For you guys to go after this little book left by a man’s mother… I wonder, what exactly did you hide in here, ma?”

Chapter Text

After a long evening of chasing clues, the duo finally return to Luenar’s. Only to feel their own hearts drop when they see the door wide open and a hand sticking out of it.

Racing to the doorway prepared for the worst, the fox nearly falls over, only brought back to an upright stance when his partner pulls him by the back of his collar. Calyx darts his eyes around the room with a dagger drawn and Aetos aims down the scope of his rifle just behind him, chamber loaded and finger near the trigger.

“You in here, Old Man!?” Calyx exclaimed, the grip on his dagger tightening instinctively as he processed the sight before him.

“Boss, what’s going on!?” Aetos added, his shoulders tense and expression grim while he held his rifle with calm contrast to his clear distress.

Although they prepared for the worst-case scenario, they didn’t expect to see numerous people wiping the floor clean with mops and rearranging the tables. The blood that stained the floor was being gradually erased, leaving it in a pristine state. Meanwhile, the windows were cleaned from top to bottom in a series of scrubs.

They worriedly and simultaneously flick their eyes to their employer and feel each other’s temper flare when they see his current state. He had blood and tatters on his clothes from the scuffle two hours ago, his hair messier than it usually was with some of the wounds exposed on his face and clothing tears still trickling scarlet while he was patching himself up. 

Upon their arrival, the de facto janitors paused and stared at the duo who just entered. Some of them wore their helmets, albeit damaged to an extent. Aetos can see the fear flashing over their eyes as he held his rifle, but his arms went limp at the ridiculous scene.

Calyx’s reaction was a mix of bewilderment and slight amusement stored within a simple head tilt as he returned the dagger to the scabbard on his lower back. The people who would kill to steal a balloon for whatever reason suited their fancies were reduced to mere janitorial work.

And apparently, the hand that stuck out of the doorsteps was just another man wiping the bottom sides of the walls near the entrance with a wet towel.

“Ah, boys! Glad you could join us!” Luenar chimed amidst the rather odd sight of the diner’s new workforce. “It’s alright, you guys! They’re my boys, you lot just keep on cleaning, alright?!”

Luenar barked out orders to the thugs he had defeated hours ago, and at his instructions, they immediately went back to work. A chorus of “Yes, sir!” resounding in the diner. 

“W-what…? What even is this—how do you—?” Aetos had no words to convey how he was feeling, nor how to describe the circumstances. He was quite literally—speechless.

“No… Old man, it can’t be… You’re replacing us?!” Calyx dramatically yells as he falls to his knees like a fox in faux sadness, but genuine confusion and stupor coats his words. 

“Replacing you?! No, no! I would never!” Luenar is quick to placate his employee’s distress, seeing the mixed emotions on Aetos’ and Calyx’s faces. He gestures for Aetos to lower down his weapon and for them to come closer.

Both employees relax visibly, their shoulders dropping to a less tense resting position. Aetos and Calyx decide to carefully make their way to the counter, still wary of their new “coworkers”, and take their seats, waiting for their boss’ next words.

“Can we… Get any sort of explanation here, old man…?” Calyx asks puzzledly while looking around the diner, still trying to wrap his head around the whole thing.

“I’ll… uh, get to that. But, first, where were you boys all night?” Luenar questioned them as they took their seats, and slid them glasses of water. His gaze tore from one Thiren to the other, and expected an answer from either of them.

The fox cups his glass of water with both hands before looking pointedly at his partner, his face moving to resemble a grumpy cat as his partner clears his throat.

“Somebody took their sweet time in the apartment we’ve cleared out… twice!” Calyx emphasizes the word somebody and then takes a sip of his water after muttering something about spending two hours doing nothing.

“...I make no excuses. Had we wrapped up our investigation much sooner, then we could’ve gone home earlier and prevented… whatever happened here,” Aetos laments, taking a short sip of his cup before continuing. “I apologize, boss. But, if you could shed some light on the questions we have…”

“Yeah… What’s with the goobers here?” Calyx points over his shoulder at the myriad of hollow raiders cleaning and repairing the damaged diner under store and moonlight.

“I see, I understand,” Luenar’s lips straightened as he stroked his chin, and at the Thirens’ collective inquiry, he gestured toward the “janitors”.

“Oh, right. These guys busted into the diner while I was out buying something. When I came back, I thought it was the two of you, but the lights were off. So I decided to teach them a lesson, though they did land a few good punches on me, it was anything that I couldn’t handle.” Luenar clearly explained to his employees while gently rubbing an ice pack over the back of his head, a sheepish smile finding its way on his face.

“Wait, I recognize these guys… They’re the Hollow Raiders we fought inside the Companion Hollow…” Aetos spoke with such disdain and animosity that it made the cleaning raiders freeze. “And you expect us to just, what? Let them go and forget this farce?”

“For now, yes. I don’t think they’ll be doing anything dumb after what I did to ‘em. And if they did…” Luenar’s warning did not go unheard. The Hollow Raiders gave a slew of responses that flew over Aetos’ head, but the general consensus was that none of them wished to fight again.

“Well, now that that’s answered, I have another question…” Calyx nudges his partner’s arm, something clearly playing on his mind. “What’d you go and buy, old man? Is it something good?”

Though neither Luenar or Aetos could see it, his tail was swishing in anticipation under his long coat.

“Hm…” Silently, the golden-haired eagle did not push his thoughts further and simply accepted the explanation, but Calyx had no doubts that Aetos would require elaboration afterward.

Luenar relaxes at the familiar antics of his workers, suddenly remembering that he had left his purchase outside to cater to their unwarranted guests. After stepping out briefly, he returns with the cardboard box that he’d left sitting by the front door and sets it onto the counter. “This, right here, is gonna make work a ton easier! Especially for Aetos!” 

The diner owner cuts the box open with a piece of broken glass from earlier, tossing it safely into the nearby rubbish bin after it serves its purpose. Reaching into the box lets a few packing peanuts fall onto the counter, eliciting an interested lean forward from both Calyx and Aetos.

“What is… that?” The Eagle Thiren cautiously asked as if the question itself would bring calamity.

Pulling out the contents of the box to set it on the counter reveals a rather familiar looking and jellybean shaped little robot that comes to life; a gray Bangboo with the signature white top, red apron and black bottom of the Luenar’s uniform topped with a dark smoky little flat cap over the visor’s yellow eyes.

He pats the new Luenar’s member on the head before introducing him with a bright smile which he uses to try and lift the mood, “This is Comet, our new Bangboo! Comet, these are your friends, Aetos is the Eagle Thiren on the left and Calyx is the Fox Thiren on the right.”

“He’s… awesome! He’s even got a little uniform! This is the best purchase you’ve ever made, Luenar!” Calyx practically leaps out of his seat like a child on Christmas morning upon hearing their parents call their name while unwrapping presents, resisting the urge to scoop Comet up in his hands. Although it would probably be too heavy for him to lift anyway…

“A Bangboo? Incredible… It looks to be of the latest model too!” Aetos couldn’t help but gush over the new addition to Luenar’s Diner, his hands reaching forward but never going beyond the boundary to actually touch the Bangboo. His inner mechanic nearly clawing out but he reigned himself in, he didn’t want to scare the poor rabbit-like machine.

“N-nice to meet you! My name is Aetos, I hope we’ll get along great…” He introduced himself slowly, stuttering on the first word but gradually speaking fluently. Aetos shakes Comet’s hand gently, but the smile on the Thiren’s face is as wide as the Outer Ring’s wastelands.

“I’m Calyx! I hope Aetos doesn’t scare you away with his grumpy face and stuffy attitude!” Calyx leans over the counter with much more energy, gently grabbing at the little Bangboo’s ears while he snickers.

“Ehn-nah?” Comet inquired, but Calyx can’t actually translate what they are saying without a Bangboo Language Translator. But knowing that his partner can translate for him, the Fennec Fox Thiren looked over to the blonde assassin.

In response to his partner’s look, Aetos responds with a sigh, “It just wanted to know if what you said is true—wait a minute! I do not have a grumpy face or a stuffy attitude. I’m meticulous and strategic. Hmph.”

“Eh-nah!”

Before the Fox Thiren can retaliate, Luenar laughs heartily; a nice and smooth chuckle despite his gruff voice. Setting his elbows onto the counter with a small wince, he finally remembers his injuries. “Ack– Nice to see you both already took a liking to Comet!”

“Hm, you should get yourself patched up, boss. But, yes, you’re right.” Aetos agreed with the owner’s words, the Proxy clearly taking a great liking to the Bangboo, and Comet reciprocated.

“I guess I had it coming. The boss sided with me last time, anyways.” Calyx shrugs, his attention returning to Comet like a cat being drawn to a laser pointer. Comet’s “eyes”, its visor, transitioned from its normal donut-like shape to question marks.

“While I am quite happy that Comet's with us, but…” The Eagle Thiren glances to the side where the defeated raiders are mopping the floor and organizing the tables. Despite his casual manner, Aetos was cautiously watching their every move, preparing for the worst in order to minimize the potential damages. “Can we address the elephant in the room? You know, these guys? Have you already interrogated them, boss?”

“I tried, but… You know how good this fossil is at discussing things other than business…”

“Hm. Very well. I’ll personally use the Defense Force’s… ‘methods’ to thoroughly interrogate them.”

“Are you gonna sing for them or something? You don’t have the best track record in karaoke, you know.” 

The thugs briefly jerked their heads toward the group, having overheard their conversation, but quickly returned to cleaning due to the fear of being put through the ground by Luenar again. During the discussion, Comet jumped to the floor to clean up the mess with them, picking up any fallen packing peanuts and returning it to the box. 

The Bangboo’s amber-colored eyes flicker happily as it bounces around. After finishing its work, it approaches the janitors and offers its help. Though they nearly fainted on the spot, thinking it was Luenar, they graciously accepted Comet’s assistance.

“Would you look at that…” Calyx points out amusedly, watching as Comet keeps up the contents of his own package and helps the raiders.

“Singing? No, I’ll do something… else.” Aetos says slowly, takes his glasses off, and cleans it with his sleeve.

“Let’s all calm down now. I’ll leave the interrogation to Aetos, but don’t go too far, alright? And I’d like to know why they’re so adamant about getting ma’s cookbook…” Luenar gently claps his hands, drawing the attention of both Thirens back to himself. 

“Copy,” after ensuring that his glasses are squeaky clean, Aetos returns it to its rightful place and stares at Luenar in the eyes. “I can ensure that none of them will die… And I’ll personally get what we want out of ‘em.”

“Aetos, you’re sounding like Syn Shadaloo from that edgy Patriarch in Shade show…” The Fox Thiren then leans on the counter, remembering the book as nothing more than a chronicle of Luenar's late mother’s recipes. Despite his comment, Calyx easily agrees with his partner. “But you're right. What do these goons want to do with the old man’s book?” 

“Mm… That’s something that I need to tell you two about,” Luenar confesses, his hand tapping on his bicep as he crosses his arms. While it was a secret that there’s more to his mother’s cookbook, he knows he can’t do much to hide it from a phantom thief and military grade sniper. “My ma’ had some secrets, the kind that warranted this sort of riffraff.”

At the very least, he considers this knowledge something he can entrust to his two most reliable, and only, employees.

“We thought so… I’m no proxy like Aetos but, even I thought something was weird with that book.” Calyx nodded in acknowledgement, his finger finding its way to his chin as he pondered possible reasons for its value.

“Sharp, Calyx. How’d you figure it out?” Luenar queried the Fox Thiren, his eyebrow slightly raised at his kleptomaniac employee.

“I know value when I see it, and the grapevine concerning the fishbowl troupe over there seems to be bursting with juicy little details.” Calyx retorted proudly, once again showing that he’s more than a flashy and pompous fennec.

“Hah, yes, it’s been on my mind for quite a while now. I trust the boss’ judgement and didn’t question it further, but with repeated attempts on recapturing his mother’s cookbook…” 

The blonde then fixates his gaze on the aforementioned thugs who are still cleaning with Comet. Most of them pretend to not hear their conversation but some of their less keen allies give the eavesdropping away. 

Seeing that his boss and partner’s attention was on him, Aetos continued, “I reckoned the boss would eventually explain it. Though I wish it wouldn’t be under such unfortunate circumstances.”

“Mhm! Some regular old cookbook wouldn’t draw in raiders like this! Besides, they’re not the only ones dying to know what’s so special about it…” Calyx continued, his curiosity just as peaked as everyone else’s.

Luenar looked at both of them with a hint of uncertainty then let out a slightly disappointed sigh as he took the cookbook into his hand, “Hate to disappoint but even I have no clue what ma left in here… All I can ever see is a collection of her best dishes and that’s about it. However, I do know that there is something inside here. Pops said so himself. It’s just that I haven’t deciphered it yet.”

“Wish zombie boy was available right about now.” Calyx’s ears twitch slightly in annoyance of, once again, being denied any sort of info of the book. Almost as soon as he finished his pout, his eyes snapped to Luenar with a hint of suspicion before he leaned forward. “Say, old man… You know basically all there is to know about me and Aetos, right?”

“That depends on your definition of it, but generally speaking, while I am aware of your circumstances, I don’t know everything about the two of you.” Luenar explains unhurriedly, not commenting on the suspicious stares from his employee.

The Fox Thiren softens his questioning gaze before huffing, “No offense, old man, but we know almost nothing about you. You’re our boss and a diner owner but, aside from that, we’re pretty much in the dark...” 

Calyx turns to Aetos, looking for any sort of agreement in his partner’s expression or mannerisms.

“...I trust Luenar fully. It’s not my place to doubt our leader right now. If we were in a different situation, maybe. While I do agree it is… suspicious, I’m only repaying him for the years he’s spent helping me. Nothing more, nothing less.” The Eagle Thiren finally answered.

The middle-aged man sighs and gives them a resigned look, “I’ll tell you both in due time, but I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves… We have this book problem and that missing persons case to focus on.” 

“I can get behind that. Now then, how do we go about interrogating the raiders?” At Aetos’ suggestion, the thugs tore their attention from their duties and fearfully stared at the Eagle Thiren. Luenar gives him an appreciative nod for understanding so quickly.

Calyx’s mood picks up almost instantly, his previous tensions and skepticism thrown to the wind as he suggests, “Again, and I’m just throwing this out there… zombie boy?”

“Maybe I’ll give him a call… Though, I’d feel pretty guilty for pushing something onto Ren when he has so much to do…” Luenar entertains the possibility but the most capable person for gathering information out of these thugs is most likely busy. The leader of the raiders who wore that red helmet, stops scrubbing the window as he overhears the conversation.

“Hey, guys, you listenin’ in on them too?” The leader asks his goons, all of them nodding one by one at his question. “If they aren’t gonna hire someone to get us to talk, then who will…?”

All of the thugs collectively looked at Luenar, and suddenly, they were on their knees in front of the man. The collective sound of their helmets hitting the floor in a loud Dong!

“Ack! Did you guys have to hit the floor with your faces so loud!?” Calyx nearly squeaked in surprise, his ears suffering from their sensitivity.

“What the hell—?” The Eagle Thiren nearly jumps out of his seat at the sudden confessions of the thugs. At the back, Comet waves his towel toward them as if asking if they’re gonna keep cleaning or not. When they receive no answer, the Bangboo returns to its duties.

“W-we’ll do anything! We’ll tell you everything that we know! Please, just don’t hurt us, boss, sir, aniki!” The raiders’ various panicked reactions get a laugh out of the fox as Luenar looks mildly baffled.

“W-we’re sorry, b-but we overheard your conversation!”

“We can’t help it!”

“Please! Just don’t torture us, boss sir, we’ll do anything!”

“...What? I didn’t even mention anything about interrogating you guys myself. Wait, torture?” Luenar points to himself confusingly, the big burly man was unsure of what face to make at the moment. The sight of the poor raiders who he disciplined with his fists kneeling before him is too ridiculous to words.

“That solves our methodology! Take it away, songbird.” Calyx points out and gestures for Aetos to do his usual thing, contemplating whether or not to place his legs on one of their helmets while smirking as payback for assaulting his ears.

This prompts Aetos to look down at them despite his own confusion, moving his golden eyes toward the prostrated group of raiders. Now standing above them, he crosses his arms and hums thoughtfully before stating his first demand, “Well… For starters, tell us who sent you. I want every detail...” 

The raiders trembled with their helmets on the floor, their breaths audible through the fogging glass of their visors. They look at each other from behind their headpieces, desperately trying to push out a satisfactory answer before the old man that humbled them decided to do more than just put them to work.

Among the terrified noises rumbling from the group, one raider gathers the courage to speak over his allies’ symphony of groveling and whimpering. 

“W-we were sent here by a proxy for the book! H-he promised a big reward if we manage to get it to him!” The raider sounded close to tears and he was trembling like a wet waffle made to stand on its edge.

“Someone hired you baboons? If I were the Proxy, I’d find better mercenaries… What’s this Proxy’s handle?" Aetos follows-up.

“H-hey! Rude..! But… If you want his name, I-I’ll have you know we don’t got nothin’ on him!” The raider shakily responded, taking mild offense to Aetos’ pointed comment but knowing he struck the truth with those words.

“I see… How did he get into contact with you, and why did he want you guys to steal the cookbook?” Aetos turns around on his seat, now staring at the goons in the eyes.

“He met up with us in a hollow! The one near those towers, The Ballet Twins!” Another of the raiders spoke up, putting his tush higher while his forehead remained plastered to his helmet on the floor.

“He didn’t give us no reason why, but the reward was too good to pass up just to steal a book!” The former Hollow Raiders affirm the Eagle Thiren out of fear. They decided that in order to save their own skin, they’ll cooperate properly with Luenar’s Diner. “We thought it was easy money! If we knew that you guys wanted it so badly, w-we wouldn’t have gone after it!”

“Hmph. Very well. Last question, what did this Proxy look like?” The ex-raiders shared a look with one another and returned their gaze to the judgemental eagle, before confessing.

“W-we don’t know what his face looks like under that hoodie and weird mask of his, but I—we remember that he has green hair! Green hair! And he’s short! P-probably as short as the Fox Thiren there!” They replied, still shaken from the imaginary threat of the diner owner hopping over his counter and beating them senseless… again. It seemed that these poor saps had lost their touch of reality, but it worked in the Luenar Boy’s favor.

Calyx, clearly offended, as present in his tiny, aggravated mannerisms, retorted; “Hey! I may be short, but that doesn’t mean I can’t kick your sorry behinds back to the Hollow where you came from!”

“Green hair, huh? And what was the mask like?” Aetos inquired again, his patience as deep as the ocean’s depths.

“His mask… it looked like a gas mask, you know, the ones that those dudes at the power plants wear. The visor covered his eyes too…” The raiders visibly relaxed while they gathered their thoughts, trying their best to cooperate.

“I see…” Aetos made an appreciative gesture. He pondered, “To summarize, our culprit is the same height as Calyx, has green-colored hair, and wears a mask… I’ll be sure to remember that.”

“They don’t seem to be lying…” Calyx points out from his seat, fidgeting around with his hair and mask as he tries to connect some of the dots.

“And, I assume he didn’t tell any of you bottomfeeders about his goals?” The thugs look at one another, eyebrows raised and fingers scratching at their helmets as they try to think of a satisfying response for the Eagle Thiren. At their silence, Aetos relaxes and swings his head toward Calyx, a knowing look on his face that his partner recognized immediately.

“Looks like something good came from keeping their teeth in after all, ey old man?” Calyx spun around to face Luenar, snickering victoriously as Aetos turned to face him as well.

“Mhm! Well, it looks like I’ll have to compensate you folks for graciously giving us such valuable information!” The big man declares, despite his towering frame and intimidating posture, the massive smile on his face somehow alleviates the thugs’ fears.

“Erm… can we… Leave..?” The red-dressed raider cautiously asked, slowly getting off of his knees and gesturing for his underlings to rise as well.

“No… Not yet, at least!” Luenar had a smirk on his face. At that, the thugs went pale.

“Before being subjected to whatever our boss has in store for all of you, where in the Ballet Twins did you meet with this mysterious client of yours?” Aetos makes a follow-up question, briefly distracting the thugs from their imminent fate.

“Uhh, where was it again? It was…” Their leader tried to remember, but he didn’t seem to have an answer. Just as he was about to speak again, one of the other raiders pitched in; “Ah, I remember that! We met him on the 10th floor where there weren’t as many Ethereals. I think… in the second tower?”

“Alright, then. Our destination’s set.”

Luenar takes out his phone and dials in a number while going to the kitchen, but before entering he announces to his boys; “I’ll dial up Ren to look into this guy for us while you two are out there. Be cautious, boys! This isn’t like our regular run-ins, you know?”

“Thanks, old man! Try to worry more for the saps who try to stop us, we’re not exactly amateurs~.” The phantom thief debonairly responds, ears flapping with a flair that showcased his theatrical side.

After getting the lead that they so desperately needed, Calyx kicks off from his seat, his partner already moving to the second floor of the diner. 

“Well, Aetos, ready to hit the Ballet Twins?”

“You bet I am, Calyx.”

After preparing for their commission, Luenar’s Boys later arrive at a moonlit scene where two skyscrapers are engulfed in a massive Hollow, and take their first steps toward their target’s supposed location. As they feel the Ether density in the air shift into something familiarly weird, the duo make last second adjustments to their gear and outfits, making sure they're not caught with their metaphorical pants down.

Calyx strut forward with steps as exaggerated as the raven-colored fox mask on his face, the accessory’s teal highlighting streaking on both its cheeks and down the bridge of its nose. His sapphire-toned ears twitch with barely contained excitement at the prospect of this job, ruffling in the wind like the midnight and lavish magician-like coat that adorned him. Under said pompous garb—a matching black turtleneck that comfortably hugs Calyx’s scruff and throat, along with a complementary and sleek pair of form-fitting pants over dress shoes one takes to in for only the most sophisticated of events. On the back of his little waist; a small scabbard housing a dagger. Crude and obsolete as it may be for firefights, his dexterity and agility assures that underestimation leads to quite a shock.

Following the Fox Thiren through the spatial fissure is the tall, slender figure of Aetos—sniper rifle and bag slung over his shoulder, he fiddled the straps with his lithe fingers. Replacing his glasses are military-patented protective eyewear used for Outer Ring ops; the equipment’s functions were modified to help regulate the Eagle Thiren’s sharpened eyesight. His body armor nearly made him invisible in the night, created with layers of kevlar to stop bullets. There were enough plates to cover all of his vital points, yet it didn’t seem to hinder his mobility in the slightest as he marched next to Calyx. His pockets are full of extra magazines, with a sidearm by his waist-holster and a hidden knife underneath his sleeves.

The blonde assassin and phantom thief took their first steps into the Ballet Twins Hollow, and observed their surroundings.

Concrete streets led into the myriad structures that remained in the Hollow after its expansion, ether crystals growing everywhere in the precinct—stop signs are tripped over, debris from deteriorated buildings filled the road inclines, and smoke billowed from undoused fires. A nearby traffic light that was caught in growing ether crystals shimmered ominously, rather than its ordinary red, green, and yellow light it laid dark, dormant—dead, almost, with a lack of any of its usual displays.

There in the distance, overlooking the avenue are the Ballet Twin towers; easily one of the tallest landmarks in New Eridu. The desire of the constructors was simple; to build the tallest towers in the precinct. Though devoured in the Companion Hollow, they continue to face toward the road that they were built upon. They were once fully engulfed, but the Hollow had shrunken in recent years, allowing one skyscraper to be visible from the outside, and leaving its peak untouched by the Hollow.

Still, it truly was a shame that it was lost to the Hollow that it now shares its name with.

“Hm. So this is the Ballet Twins. It’s colder than I expected,” Aetos states, following his partner to the Hollow’s landmark. His eyes are always wandering, looking for any sign of danger.

“Yep! This is our stop! Now, where would our guy be…” Calyx adds, taking in the sights without as much caution as his partner but with his senses still ready.

The steps from both Thirens echo through barren and desolate streets but never return to their ears, not even Calyx’s hypersensitive ones. Through corrupted growths they passed—sounds from ambient and passed chaos mixing with distant Ethereal activity that, thankfully, the Fennec Fox Thiren confidently declared to be nothing but ‘background noise’ in terms of posing a threat to their expedition.

It wasn’t long before their eyes were set on a staircase that led up a grand glass wall that connected to the base of both towers. The moon’s light shone past dark marble walls, through both glass and empty window frames to provide the only source of light that revealed a pair of Bangboo statues in the lobby. Grandiose; it would be, were it not so eerie. Shadow on the floor creating dark, patterned, lines that streaked uniformly in the forgotten foyer.

The duo ascended the steps, and entered through the dust-stained glass doors. The lobby was enormous, the Ballet Brother’s company symbol proudly displayed behind the receptionist’s desk. The parallel steps that led to the upper floor looked worse for wear, what with all of the ether crystals polluting the floor. And yet the lobby still appeared as luxurious as the day the Ballet Twins declared its doors opened.

“Came straight outta Old Eridu, I’ll tell you that much. If this wasn’t under such terrible conditions, I would’ve been impressed with the architecture.”

“Man, if this wasn’t a Hollow, I’d be hitting this place up non stop… Just look at all this stuff I could’ve gotten my hands on!” The Fox Thiren spun around like he was a child taken to a toy store, his blue eyes and their green highlights catching on all the rundown valuables decorating the entrance hall.

“At least try to remember that we’re here on business. Always keep your eyes peeled, or in your case, your ears—” Aetos responds while taking point, doing a follow-up check on his tactical gear as his golden eyes reflected the strange colors of the nearby crystals. Just as he was about to ascend the flight of stairs to the next floor, Thud!

Aetos stopped short of the loud noise that reverberated in the lobby. The blonde assassin instantly dropped to a knee and aimed his rifle. Calyx mirrored his partner’s action and leapt next to the sniper, back-to-back as they scanned their surroundings.

“...”

“Whoever’s there, you can come out! We’re not scary, y’know? Well, not yet at least…” Calyx quipped, his ears twitching every now and then in the direction of every sound. His gaze scrutinized every inch of the lobby, until they landed on the twin Bangboo statues at the front entrance to the building.

Where one of the statues that was supposed to be standing, now laid on its side; its lifeless, sculpted eyes staring back at Calyx’s.

“...Nothing on my side, what about you, Calyx?” Aetos quizzed, his finger inches away from Incandescent’s trigger and eyes trained on the environment around them.

“Aside from what we just heard, nothing. Statue’s messed up, though…” Calyx responded, relaxing slightly.

“Huh? Elaborate.”

“It tripped, if you want my explanation.” 

Aetos had a double-take and glared at his partner through his goggles, and yakked, “Of course I need an explanation! Be more specific next time. You say it tripped…?”

He glanced past his partner and saw what Calyx was talking about. Aetos’ lips contorted into a frown as he pondered silently.

“Tripped. Fell over. Copied zombie boy’s narcolepsy catching up to him.”

“An unnecessary comment but nevertheless true. Anyway, something must’ve knocked over that statue. You sure you didn’t catch a whiff of anything when it was knocked over?” Inquired Aetos, who stood tenser than before, as if he would jump at the drop of a pin.

“I don’t know if you know this, but Ether reeks… I have a hard enough time sniffing something out without reference, but blocking it out with even the slightest amount of the stuff is just too much…” Calyx said after a sigh, his guard still raised and hand still near the scabbard.

“Worth a shot. Alright, let’s keep moving. Whatever it is that moved that statue can’t be far from us. And if it shows up, assuming that it’s sentient, we negotiate; or…”

“Recreate that one scene from that really violent manga you think I don’t know about?”

“Recreate that one scene from that really violent manga that I think you don’t know about—wait a minute… Calyx!” Aetos screamed at his partner, his glare burning into the Fox Thiren’s skull.

“You and your Eastern media… Guess I’m not one to talk about pastimes, though.” Calyx teased, his hands inside his coat’s pockets as he strutted up the stairs. Each of his steps clack under the flowing tail of his clothes, bringing a single echoing sound to the silent atmosphere. Aetos mumbles some not so nice words under his breath and follows his partner to the next floor.

“Based on what we got from those raiders, they made contact with their Proxy on the 10th floor. Apparently it’s because there aren’t as many Ethereals up there,” Aetos debriefs his partner after a sigh, he ducks under an ether crystal that was poking out from the wall. “Although I doubt anybody would be treading the Ballet Twins right now, save for maybe a raider or a poor treasure hunter looking for loot. We have a lead, at the very least. A very flimsy one at that.”

Hopping onto the crystal Aetos passed under and pretending to look around, the phantom thief falls back off of it with a sigh and rejoins his partner as they walk through the eerie halls. “We’ve had more outlandish things happen, haven’t we? Remember that afternoon we took? The one where a little girl threw a car into the water in Lumina Square?”

“I remember… It was such a comical sight that it reminded me of a cartoon. That little girl doesn’t look strong, but I’d say that she has the strength of a Farbauti Ethereal.” As Aetos steps onto the second floor, he spots an elevator nearby. But as he moves to inspect it, none of the buttons seem to work properly. He sighs, “Figured it wouldn’t be that easy. It seems that the electricity was cut off from the elevator.”

“Well, at least nobody was in the car… I’m not one for getting wet, especially when looking so dashing~” Calyx then realizes Aetos was fidgeting with the buttons to the elevator with little to no success and shoots a suggestion, “They seem pretty done and dusted… Wanna go climb the stairs for like twenty minutes? Maybe go find some collapsed floors and use those?” 

“Why bother? We quite literally have the best solution on hand right now,” the Eagle Thiren shoots his partner a knowing look, expecting a witty yet perfect response to what he was implying.

“A… crowbar and battery?” Calyx puts his hand to his chin over his mask, tilting his head slightly as he ponders, much to Aetos’ disappointment of his cognitive capabilities.

“...No. Your W-Engine, Calyx,” facepalmed Aetos, the fox’s ears suddenly perk up as his mouth makes an ‘o’ shape under his mask.

“Oh, right…” Calyx unsheathes the dagger and holds it up to his face, remembering he had used it as a taser just a few nights ago.

Weapon Engines—or W-Engines for short, are modifications or weapons made for in-Hollow combat. In order to match the strength of Ethereals, humanity developed these as a way to defend themselves against them. They empower an individual’s combat capability through a variety of means, such as amplifying a firearm’s firepower or in Calyx’s case, bestowing him the ability to generate electricity through his dagger.

“And you still complain to me about why I call you ears for brains…” Aetos sighs exasperatedly and steps away from the elevator controls, giving his partner the chance to do his magic.

“Leave it to me to solve our problems, then!” He spins the blade before jabbing it into the elevator buttons, causing the elevator lights to flicker on and bring a bit of functionality to the lift. He turns to Aetos with hands to his hips, clearly expecting some sort of affirmation, “Heheh, going up?”

“You know what? The stairs are a lot more appealing now.” His lips flattened and eyes rolled at his partner’s little pun. Aetos crossed his arms and waited patiently for the fox to operate the elevator.

“Suit yourself.” The phantom thief threatens to press the button, finger hovering and twirling dangerously close to the one looking like an up arrow before pressing it with a smug look under the fox mask.

The elevator opens with a mechanical hiss, sparks of electricity running through its metal frame. A cold air emanates from its interior, a light escaping through the door landing onto a twitchy, rigid surface from which a low growl came from. The silhouette, as if reacting to the light, turns around hunched over, showing a polychromatic orb enveloped in a bright green and almost flowery formation. Under that was a large crystallized and verdant blade attached to an ashy humanoid body. Noticing their presence, the flowery bloom behind the orb furrowed as it let out a rebounding and echoey shriek.

“Aetos… Was he just..?” Just before Calyx can even finish his sentence—Blam! Following the reverberating sound of a high-caliber weapon being fired is the impactful crack of the Ethereal’s Core being shattered into a million pieces. A gaping hole is left in its orb, kaleidoscopic colors flickering desperately as its body writhes in death throes. When finally, the monstrous flora trips out of the elevator, etheric particles billowing from its decomposing carcass.

The sound caused the Fox Thiren to duck reflexively with hands on both ears, complaining, “Hey, easy there, trigger happy! I only have two of these!” 

Calyx gently rubs them as he rises with an annoyed look locked on Aetos. The Eagle Thiren slings the smoking hot sniper rifle over his shoulder, a weird pinkish color glowing out of the W-Engine embedded into its body.

“Trigger happy? No, if I was trigger happy, I would’ve shot more than once,” Aetos walks over the dissipating Ethereal, his boots squeezing a sharp protest from the elevator.

“At least give me a warning! These babies are too valuable to lose and you know it…” The phantom thief follows his partner into the elevator, still trying to manage the ringing in his ears while they twitch uncomfortably on his head.

“I’ll keep that in mind. My bad~” Aetos teased with a smug grin on his face. He did not feel sorry at all, it was clear in the sarcastic tone in his voice. “This elevator feels more fragile than I thought. Let’s hope it doesn’t crash on us.”

“For your sake anyway…” Calyx adds begrudgingly, ears flicking in both annoyance and discomfort, ‘Besides, this place was wrecked by a Hollow. I’d pay to see something look good after that kind of thing… You know, before I put it on my list of things to take…”

“I’m sure you’ll find something here. It’s a treasure trove of invaluable resources.” Aetos tries to placate the phantom thief’s growing desire to tap him with the dagger and possibly jeopardizes his plan. 

“Let’s hope so… I need something to take my mind off of the tinnitus you just gave me…” The fox says while crossing his arms, clearly not impressed by Aetos’ hot patch of his issue.

“I’ll tell you what, we can make a detour on the 6th floor and continue from there. How about that?”

There was nothing but a small grumble from behind the mask, Aetos could make out the words “lousy bird” but nothing else, he assumed he was using some made up profanities or something but who was he to say for certain.

“...Mm, by the way, how about that other commission of ours? You know, the one where we’re supposed to find that Lynx guy? We’re not just going to leave 300,000 Denny up for grabs, are we?” 

“You’re asking about that now? Forget about it. You do realize that the diner and by proxy, no pun intended, our livelihoods are quite literally at stake?” Aetos responds and catches Calyx’s near giggle at the unintended Proxy pun. “Though it did promise a hefty sum, Luenar and the diner take priority.”

“Hm. I guess I can’t argue with you there.”

The elevator rose up through the shaft as the pair took their positions inside it. Calyx took his place leaning against the wall and began spinning his dagger to curb his growing boredom, meanwhile, Aetos took another one over on his gear like the meticulous eagle he was. The elevator lights turn on one by one as they ascend but are halted by a rough shake that causes the Thirens to stumble, and the electricity to flicker ominously.

“Ugh, what the hell happened? We stopped moving?” Aetos remained calm and began pondering the cause of the shaking.

“Beats me… Let me just…” The phantom thief makes his way over to the buttons after steadying himself and taps the crackling blade of his dagger onto the panel.

The electrical energy travels into the circuitry, the power returning to life as the light shines healthily and the elevator ascends once more. Calyx has a smile on his face and Aetos squints his eyes skeptically. But not even a minute passes as the electricity goes out again accompanying another shake, preventing them from using the elevator any further.

“Dang, this junk box is older than the old man!” Calyx childishly slaps the panel like it had just talked bad about him, getting more irritated when that accomplishes nothing.

“You just gave it another dosage and it still malfunctioned… Move, let me take a look at the panel.”

“Work your magic, then. I’ll be over here.” The phantom thief huffs, crossing his arms and leaning onto the wall.

“I’m not the Houdini here, Mr. Phantom Thief.” Aetos kneels before the control panel, taking a military-issued knife out from his sleeves. He stabs the serrated blade into the interface and removes it, revealing the intricate circuit board.

“You know I could always leave through the ceiling, right?” Calyx threatens jokingly, knowing he won’t do it out of the goodness of his own foxy heart. “Anyways, you think you can get this thing moving? I’m all for climbing but I can only imagine how long it’ll take you to catch up.”

“Oh, whatever would I do if you had left me here all by my lonesome. The agony…”

Calyx remains silent and kicks off the elevator walls to latch onto the ceiling, he pushes the emergency hatch open and flips through it, leaving Aetos alone, but not before calling back, “I’ll take that as a yes~ I’ll see you later!”

“...What an annoying partner of mine.” With a sigh, the Eagle focuses on the panel board. All of the parts seem to be in place, albeit dusty and considerably old. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong at first, but thanks to Aetos’ incredible eyesight and knowledge, he quickly identifies the problem with it, “Looks like the wires aren’t connected properly. No wonder Calyx’s W-Engine couldn’t make this thing move. The Input Power External looks to be corroding… from Ether corruption?”

Before Aetos could even think of continuing the repairs, Calyx drops back down with his dagger drawn and sparking, eyes glued to the hole he came from before darting around at the ceiling as he takes a few cautionary steps with squared feet and obvious alarm.

“What, I thought you were gonna go first? Spot a ghost or something?” He didn’t even bat an eye to his partner as he continued to inspect the piece in his hand.

“With that tone, I’d rather take my chances with the ghosts, yeah!” The fox replies with a sense of urgency, gaze still fixated on the ceiling.

“Please, Calyx, you’ll do better scaring me with your impulsive stealing than telling me a horror story. Now, it does look like we’ll just be walking from here on out. The circuitry is busted—” As the Eagle drops the corrupting control board, he stands up, turning around to face the phantom thief.

Calyx throws the dagger at his partner, nearly shaving a few strands off the top of his head as it then sticks into the wall.

“Hey! Watch where you throw that thing! Are you starting something, ears for brains?!”

“I’m not!” The fox Thiren leaps up to reclaim his dagger from the wall, revealing the ethereal that he had impaled with the throw which falls lifeless onto the floor. 

“Same can’t be said for them, though!” He points back up to the hatch where strange sounds could be heard from beyond, his other hand flipping the dagger back into position. 

“What the—an Ethereal? But where did it come from…? Oh, Intangibility!” 

“You know the ghosts I was talking about? Yeah, them!”

“Looks like I owe you an apology. But we can’t exactly talk when we’re being interrupted by our rather rude intruders. What say you, Calyx?” Despite the banter Aetos was grateful for the save. After the enemy revealed themselves, he assumed a combat stance, bringing his knife forward and facing the wall opposite to Calyx. Their backs lean into one another, although the height difference made it more like head to middle-back.

“Hehehe! I have plenty to say… But I prefer action, as you know!” The blade of Calyx’s dagger begins crackling with both his anticipation and W-engine’s electrical energy as he grips it tight.

“You good to stay in the elevator? I’m hopping back up to pay them back for their unexpected appearance.” The phantom thief poises himself to leap up through the hole, waiting for his partner’s words as confirmation.

“Go for the shaft, then… It’ll clear everything out way faster.” Aetos sighs as he chambers his rifle, gesturing toward the ceiling hole with a flick of his head. His W-Engine whirs on the body of his firearm, etheric  energy coursing through the cool metal and implanting itself into the firing chamber.

Calyx springs back up to the elevator roof through its hatch, his dagger gleaming with electrical energy as he readjusts his mask and turtleneck. He looks up to find a number of Ethereals screeching as they fly down the elevator shaft—there’re seven of them.

Four have sharp golden blades protruding from their arms which match with the ornate visages that conceal their core, like some sort of twisted statues. The robes which flew behind them were snowy and viridescent, colors that made anyone uncomfortable in Hollows as they—Ahriman Ethereals, descended unto the suspended elevator.

The other three were even more grotesque and ghastly. Spectres, Ethereals with their cores fully exposed while their arms were shifted by ninety degrees. While appendages were protruding from their collarbone and back, their shoulders held up the same white and green robes as they floated close behind the rushing group.

The phantom thief darts his eyes between all seven of them, trying to figure out a plan of attack. 

“Seven, Aetos! Four up front and three at the back!” He barks to his partner the info, giving him a rough observation of the enemy formation. 

“Roger!” The sniper replies almost immediately, aiming his rifle up past the open hatch to get a good view of the targets.

The three ghastlier Ethereals stop in their tracks while the four draped in gold barrel down to the elevator with a clear intention to slice and dice both Thirens. 

Shing! Screech! The sound of their gilded blades scraping through the air and striking through the metal of the elevator while nearly missing Calyx bounced harshly off the shaft. 

“Fast...!” The fox thought to himself, springing backwards with his hands as he suddenly felt his foot come into contact with the wall. Noticing that he has all the things he needs to unleash what was otherwise an uncontrollable ball of foxy energy, he kicks off against it to return with his own electricity infused slash.

The Ethereal that missed its attack screeched at him as it went limp, struck directly in its core while cerulean sparks flew and brought a few shadows to the dark shaft. 

“One down!” Calyx declared proudly, while his ears twitched at the sound of another ghostly wail, prompting him to look up. Another of the golden ones tries to impale him with its blades but misses as the fox leaps off its fading companion, instead making it stick through the roof where Aetos stood inches away from the skewering.

Despite the near shish-kebabing, Aetos’ eyes never left his scope where he peered at the ghastly Ethereals who had stayed back. Bam! The elevator itself shook at the recoil of the eagle’s rifle as a bullet launched with pure ether rips through one of them and sends their body tumbling down the elevator shaft with a dying throe. 

“Two…” He followed up with his partner but then, in the corner of his eye saw the resplendent edge of another Ethereal’s bladed appendage heading for his neck.

He, with a sharp breath, rolls away mere moments before blood was drawn but the monster was relentless, swinging at him wildly all the while a mortifying scream escaped the aureate visage covering its core. 

Aetos, having finally gotten to his feet, aims his rifle down behind him and—Blam! Fires another shot into the elevator floor. To the untrained eye this would be a waste of a perfectly good bullet, but to Aetos? It was the perfect way of delivering a buttstroke so strong it cracks the golden visor and staggers his pursuer.

The gun bounces off the Ethereal and back into the eagle’s arms where it lets out another deafening bang, sending his attacker to the floor where he could take the time to watch it fade away had it the luxury.

“Three!” He announces to his partner, returning under the hatch. Wasting no time in aiming his rifle back through the shaft, he let loose another shot which flew past the Fox Thiren. Calyx swung with his wire, and danced through the chaos of battle with how acrobatic he was.

Pow! The sound of another Ethereal hitting the wall due to a bullet accompanied the dying screech falling past the ascending phantom thief. It ended by the sickening thud of a lethal fall. The fox kicked off the walls to strike the last of their backliners and—Swish! He cuts past it like a hot knife through butter, the satisfying electrical crackle drowning out the sound of its last noises.

“Five…” He remarks, looking down to see Aetos already engaged with another Ethereal with gleaming blades with its ally rushing up to him with its own. He smirks under his own mask as he falls back off of the wall, twisting mid-air to eject his zip wire. It latches onto its golden face and kicks the Ethereal back down to the cold metal where he dives blade-first onto its polychromatic core, sticking it through the eyehole of its ‘face’ as he continues, “...And six!”

Aetos’ enemy strikes with a murderous cry but he steps forward, blocking it with his knife as he delivers a kick to the Ethereal’s mask to send it toward a wall. Calyx hops down just in time to watch Aetos’ bullets fly straight through its core and send it to the equally disheveled floor. 

“Seven… And that’s that.” Aetos finishes with a quick adjustment to his protective eyewear, looking back down to his partner’s masked face as they both keep their weapons. The barrel of the eagle’s rifle is still pulsing with etheric remnants and the fox’s dagger humming with energy.

“Oh, I love it when we can cut loose in a good scrap~” Calyx points out with a stretch and flicking ears, his voice somewhat giddy, almost euphoric as he turns toward his partner. 

“Mhm… Now, back to the job.” Aetos replies with his usual cold tone, his breath slightly labored from the brawl that just happened but ultimately calming down as he turns to the fox.

The sudden light peeking through the elevator doors catches both Thirens’ attention as they finally see something other than the inside of the elevator and its shaft. 

“Looks like all that rumbling opened the doors!” Calyx chirps happily, already skipping out of the elevator with Aetos following behind him. 

“Let’s see now… it seems that we’re on the sixth floor. Just four floors shy of our main destination,” Aetos points out, a golden-plated embed on the wall displaying the floor that they are on. Calyx surveys the area ahead, skipping his way across the mandala tiled floor. Old chandeliers hung from the high ceilings, a pair of staircases to the Fox’s right leading downstairs and upstairs. Ether corruption was especially prominent here, there’s likely a higher chance of Ethereals appearing.

“Huh, no wonder we were attacked in the elevator. We passed right through a nest of Ethereals.” The Eagle Thiren approaches his partner, slinging his rifle over his shoulder. The heat that permeated the barrel cools down slowly, yet Aetos’ Weapon Engine continues to vibrate in anticipation of the next fight.

“As much as I’d like to kick their butts too, you’d be all…” Calyx clears his throat and begins speaking in a grumpy manner, “We have a mission, don’t be too forward, ears for brains, myeehh…” before laughing at his own impersonation.

“That’s not how I sound like…” His lips curve down as he looks over the vast amounts of Ether Crystals polluting the floor. The hallways, the lounge areas, and even the windows are full of these corrupting substances—it was horrid.

“My impression was perfect, excuse you~” 

“Well, don’t come to me crying later if you won’t get your lauded treasures...” Aetos turns his back on Calyx and walks toward the stairs, leaving the fox to stare deeply into the back of his head, his ears standing as tall as a Bangboo’s.

“Oh, right! The sixth floor’s gotta have something for me to swipe, right? Right?” The phantom thief runs around his partner like a child high on sugar, his kleptomania on full blast. “RIGHT?!”

“Is that so? That’s quite nice, Calyx, but we’ve got a job to do… That is, assuming you don’t take back what you said?” Like a peacock arrogantly spreading its tail feathers to exert pride, the slowly-forming smirk on Aetos’ face made the phantom thief stop in his tracks.

Calyx looks at him through the eyeholes, his opal eyes narrow through the openings as his ears flick twice. 

“Nah, you’re still a bore. I’ll meet you at the stairs~” He waves over his shoulder, running off into the sixth floor’s hallways.

“Heh. Looks like this job will be faster than any of the last ones,” he almost couldn’t contain himself, but had to repress his urges to laugh maniacally at the ‘victory’ he has over Calyx.

As Aetos steps toward the staircase, he nearly trips over something. Looking to his feet, he finds his partner hunched over and holding what looks like a disc. 

“Nice stumble, birdy. Look at this!” the phantom thief holds the disc up, clearly proud of himself for finding it.

“...And here I thought I had my silence…” Aetos’ eyebrows furrow as he approaches his partner, leaning down to his level to take a look at what he found.

“This thing looks like it’d go for a lot! What do you think is in here? Government secrets, someone’s audio diary, maybe even a lost movie!” The possibilities get an excited chuckle out of Calyx, his ears threatening to float him off the ground with their constant flapping.

“Hm? It looks to be some sort of record. I think we can play this back at home with the diner’s vintage player, but it’s too big… We can use mine when we get back home to check it out.” Aetos’ fingers gently caressed the disc, a myriad of colors shining from the beautifully crafted gems embedded into it. He observed, “Huh, it’s been made to specifically withstand winter and decay. Whoever made it really wanted to keep it alive. I’m surprised it hasn’t deteriorated yet.”

“And now it’s mine— Ours! It’s ours… Yup!” The Fox Thiren fixes his slip while standing, putting the disc into the inner pocket of his long coat, clearly battling with his desire to pocket it and the money it could fetch him and him alone.

“Uh-huh…” Aetos scrutinized the peachy Calyx with eyes as sharp as a predator, passing judgement on whether to kick him out a window or down the stairs.

“Come on. We have a couple more floors to go.”

“Right, right… Lead the way!” 

Meanwhile, on a higher-level in the Ballet Twins building…

“I hope you know that this gig is really putting my life at risk. There isn’t anybody dumb enough in New Eridu to stay in this damned, sorry excuse of a monument just for a quick buck!” In the reflection of the broken glass, a middle-aged man holds a phone to his ear, a scowl present on his face. His other hand slams on the sink, the threatening tone in his voice reverberating in the lonely restroom, “I hope that 300,000 Dennies you offered me for this gig wasn’t a farce!”

For over a year or maybe less, he and his partner have been colluding together to make this plan work—from pretending to be the administrators of the Proxy Network, weaving make-believe stories into reality, and staging this performance that required an “abducted moderator” for the purpose of letting the enemy’s guard down. If tonight’s plan doesn’t work out, he can kiss the rich life goodbye!

“You’re one to talk about farces… Now, I’ll send the money once you tell me you’ve made progress on our deal…” A conniving tone chimes from his phone, distorted by a filter to conceal whoever was on the other end.

“Gah, you and your little schemes. I’m not just putting my life on the line for a wad of cash…” He leans toward the cracked mirror in front of him, his broken images scattering across the web of reflections as if he were watching a hundred computer screens displaying the same advertisement. His square glasses shine under the faint light of the stalls, and his obsidian-colored eyes are the same shade of the dark spots under them. He wipes the dust from his torn clothes, but it did nothing significant to change its dirty appearance.

“Yes, yes, you want to get back at that damn kit… You’ve made that abundantly clear, you know.” The voice replies nonchalantly, clearly unimpressed as the man clenches both teeth and fist.

“Yes, which is why I don’t want you or your damned goons interfering with my vengeance!” He angrily exclaims, pushing off the sink and pacing around the black and white tiles, “You hear me?! That guy’s mine. The money’s one thing, but if you mess this up, I’ll be sure to rat you out to Public Security!”

“Look, Lynx, all you need to do is trust me… Your vengeance will be had and both our goals will be met.” There’s a brief pause followed by an exasperated sigh before the mish-mashed voice continues, “Either that or you can stay there… Don’t forget who has the carrot data to get you out if they fail to show.”

“I’ve got it, I’ve got it. Besides, I have more than enough Anti-Corruption Serums to last me in the Companion Hollow for a month. On top of rations and water which should last for about the same amount of time. Hell, it’s like I’m living the life of a king here,” Lynx reassures his accomplice while moving toward the door. The doorknob twists with a subtle squeak, the begrimed man pushes it open and walks into a more spacious room.

“Let’s hope you do, for both our sakes… Now, do you remember what I’ve been trying to drill into that petty head of yours?”

“Act like a damsel in distress, have them take me back to their damned diner, nab that cookbook as an extra for you cause those dumbasses you hired couldn’t do the job, blah blah blah…” He recalled, to a certain extent that is. Lynx then adds, “And you sure that they’re here? I doubt that they’d genuinely take the bait. Hell, those raiders probably gave my identity away.”

“Well, first let me say that you’ve gotten more observant since I put you there, they were sent to that eatery to do just that, to spread misinformation… As for if they’ll show…” A prideful snicker can be heard from the phone before they continue, “Would I really have such accurate predictions and then fall flat with the peak of this plan?”

 Lynx walks through the numerous furnishes, but stops by a couch. He reaches behind it and snatches a snack from the hidden box of goodies. A myriad of potted plants and luxurious amenities are arranged in a symmetrical pattern—every corner or pillar has a pot of flowers with miniature statues of Bangboos on display by their sides.

“How very theatrical of you. By the way, that escape plan of yours gonna work out the way you said it would? I’m not the most athletic guy in the world.”

“Hm? You have a concern for my plan? That’s rare… Why bring it up now?”

“Ah, of course. A concern for a plan that involves the escapist to jump from roof to roof, running from that bastard phantom thief who’s known for his acrobatic talents… Nope, totally not concerned or nothing!” The sarcasm in his voice was so juicy and sour that if it were a drink, it would be a poorly fashioned lemonade. With a roll of his wrist, the wrapper in his mouth was torn off, allowing Lynx to munch on a protein bar.

“Oh, right… I forget you don’t do much. Don’t worry, on the off-chance you do somehow mess up the second easiest thing besides existing… I have a few people stationed nearby that can help cut you some slack…” Despite the voice’s distorted sound, the caller couldn't have conveyed a more monotonous judgement.

“Shecond eashiest? Man, if it were that easy to avoid him, you wouldn’t be doing this shtuff,” he rudely spoke with the protein bar still in his mouth. But made an approving noise at the last part of his accomplice’s words.

“Unfortunately, it’s far from the case… Why else would we both be here? Now, just sit there and keep doing… Whatever it is you sound like you’re doing…”

“I’ll be the best damsel in distress that’ll even put those fairy tale princesses to shame.”

“Mhm, sure… Knock ‘em dead, Rapunzel…” The call ends abruptly but Lynx could tell that his accomplice was happy to put down the phone and free himself of the banter.

“Let’s just keep using each other, I guess. I won’t be complaining, I’ll get what I want after all.” He affirms himself whilst striding to the security room on this floor. Unlike the other rooms in the Ballet Twins, security facilities are outfitted with reinforced bulletproof and soundproof walls, making them impenetrable safe rooms in the case of emergencies. Though they aren’t exactly helpful anymore due to the Hollow, the camera systems that are installed in them continue to persist.

Click. Bzzzzt. Beep! After making himself at home, he takes a seat in front of the monitors and plays with the buttons. The cameras flip through several different views from a multitude of angles. He continues snacking on the protein bar from earlier, his eyes darting around the screen for any sign of the phantom thief and his plus one. 

Due to the enormous building and infrastructure, it was quite a struggle to establish these security systems to oversee every part of the tower. Instead, they have a security room every five floors, connected to the camera systems by an intricate web of wiring and circuitry that allows any high-ranking individual to access the security cams in these floors.

“That multi-faceted bastard better be right about all this…” Lynx remarked to himself through bites, clicking the button to continue dialing through the feeds of each camera.

The black-white scenery reminds Lynx of old-timey horror movies. While being aware of the haunted tales and supernatural stories about the Ballet Twins after its fall into the Hollow, he isn’t exactly terrified of such childish things. So what if the Ethereals resemble ghosts or wraiths? 

They’re still just Ethereals, and are very much vulnerable to bullets.

“Cam 203 has nothing, Cam 204 still has that weird untouched golden Bangboo statue… And why the hell is Cam 100 still not fixed?”

After flipping through several cameras, he stops when he notices movement by the stairs which led to floor nine. It was Calyx and Aetos, both unaware of the active camera as they caught their breaths. Calyx was resting his hands on his knees, hunched over while his partner held his head up with hands on his hips. Both of them were panting like dogs running a marathon, the exhaustion from flying up numerous staircases evident for both of them.

“Ah, they’re here…” Lynx rubbed his hands together at the sight of the Thirens entering his view, but his focus wasn’t on the golden-haired sharp shooter. No, it was on the Phantom Thief whose reputation was as notorious as Mockingbird’s.

“That damn proxy was right after all… Well, I’m no makeup artist, but it’s worth a shot…” the man steps away from the security console, set on finally putting his accomplice’s plan into motion

Lynx goes into the storage area inside the security room, finding a mirror and pulling out some extra makeup. He checks himself out in his reflection, ensuring that his ragged clothes look authentic, and that the exhausted dark bags under his eyes he painted don’t look off.

“Hm… Lookin’ like a real victim for sure… Is this good enough, I wonder?” He touches his face where the newly applied dishevelment makes him look like he’d been here for weeks, if not months, without all the assorted supplies he’d prepared himself with.

Though his skin is considerably healthy, perhaps he should cover up his complexion with a pale tone? That way, it’ll really appear like he’s been here for days without food nor water. With that thought in mind, Lynx proceeds to fiddle with the disguise kit.

“Oh yeah, this is gonna work… Just you wait, Calyx, I’ll get you, hehehe…”

Meanwhile, on top of the ninth floor staircase of the Ballet Twins…

“Hah..! First..!” Calyx exclaims through gasps, holding a finger up victoriously.

“First? I’ve climbed up more steps than you!” Aetos rebukes, a competitive frown on his face he catches his breath.

“If it’s climbing stairs, I win at that too! You see how short these legs are, birdy?” The fox Thiren kicks his leg out to the side, emphasizing that he was, in fact, tiny.

“Says you. You can’t even reach the top shelf in the kitchen! Haha, guess who hid all of those snacks of yours, Fox?!”

“They were delicious, actually! Had to use your rifle as a step stool to get them!”

“The one that I haven’t used? Nice try, but you can’t get your hands on my Incandescent so easily,” brags the proud Eagle Thiren, he turns around and sits on the stairs.

“So that’s what it’s called… I always just called it your favorite pillow!” 

“There’s always a name for every weapon, or gun in this… Phew,” Aetos wheezes through his teeth, holding the aforementioned weapon that was over his shoulder, the straps tightly hugging him. “Mine just happens to be called that way because I like it.”

“Hehehe… Better lungs than—hrk!” Calyx is subjected to a coughing fit, a result of failing to maintain a proper breathing rhythm.

“Hmph. I won’t even laugh at that. Simply pathetic.” Aetos wipes his face of the pouring sweat, his chest heaving with every breath he takes.

“Alright, alright…! Stop quoting Program Taboo before I end up choking to death…! I can’t have my legacy end like that…!” The phantom thief waves his hand behind himself, he was clearly trying to stifle a laugh between coughs, only more incentivized to hinder his already inconsistent breaths.

“Legacy? As if you’ll even leave someone behind to remember it,” sarcastically remarks Aetos, and with a roll of his eyes, stands up and stretches slightly. He grunts at the satisfying cracks that his body made.

The Thirens stand ready despite their earlier dispositions, dagger drawn and rifle chambered. They both take a step closer to the bottom of the stairs with Calyx taking point as Aetos hangs back to provide his ranged assistance if needed.

“We’re close to the Tenth Floor. Remember, we’re looking for traces of that mysterious client of the Hollow Raiders. I don’t expect we’ll find a person here, but—”

Bang! Ding! Rattle! Something tumbles down the stairs while screaming, prompting the Fox Thiren to hop back as it hits the wall behind them with a loud thud. Stepping closer to whatever it was revealed disheveled clothes, unkempt black hair, bruises here, eyebags there, and a shaken demeanour of some person who just ran for his life. 

A quiet, painful grunt escapes from his lips as he claws forward with a desperation that a starving man would have. His face wrinkles like he was drained of sustenance, and even as he tries to use his arms to get up, he tumbles forward into the floor again like a doll.

“Is uh… This our guy…?” Calyx inquiries, considerably shaken about almost being hit by a stray side character.

“Questions later! We gotta tend to him—” Cutting his partner off, Aetos kneels down next to the man with an efficiency and urgency that the average person wouldn’t normally possess. Throwing his bag next to the suffering man, he brings out an emergency medkit and proficiently unlocks it.

“Well, excuse me for asking…” Calyx positions himself on the other side of the man, becoming unusually quiet as he watches Aetos work.

“Are you injured anywhere? Tell me now, I’ll be providing basic medical assistance.” Alcohol and bandage in hand already, the Eagle Thiren helps the poor man to lay on his back.

“My… My leg...! Hurt it while falling...!” He exclaims through labored breaths, hands trying to reach his leg.

“Looks like you hit yourself on the hip joint and knees. It isn't fatal at least. Hold still. It’ll be difficult for me to help you otherwise…!”

“Don’t worry, birdy over here’s a natural.” The phantom thief sits cross-legged, watching with a hint of amusement as Aetos administers a splint to the civilian’s thigh using whatever he had available in the medkit.

A minute later and Aetos is wiping the sweat off his brow, now having applied a firm but not uncomfortable splint to keep the dislocated joint from worsening. The Eagle Thiren backs off and allows for the man to carefully adjust to the support, all the while his partner does the same to give him some room.

The black-haired man pants heavily, a struggle in his movement but he manages to sit upright. Resting his back against the wall, he breathes a sigh of relief as the pain subsides. He turns his gaze toward the pair of Thirens standing before him and gives a thankful nod.

“T-thank you… I-I didn’t know that anyone would still be here. You saved my life. Thank you!”

“So, what now? Take him and his busted leg down the infested tower..?” Calyx asks, tapping on his mask’s cheek.

“H-huh?” The man who had been showering Aetos and Calyx with gratitude looks at the latter with his eyes as wide as dinner plates and mouth agape.

“What? I was just shooting a suggestion…” Calyx adds, seeing the stranger’s reaction.

“N-no. It’s just… I didn’t think that I’d be free from this place. With no carrot data or anything to navigate the Hollow, I thought… I thought I’d be trapped…”

The phantom thief giggles slightly, gesturing for Aetos to take it from here as he moves to sit on a piece of rubble on the floor.

“Your leg is fine now, correct?” At his inquiry, the injured man slowly nods yes. The Eagle Thiren makes a sound at the back of his throat, pondering quietly before shooting another question, “Okay. We’ll get you out of this place. Civilians shouldn’t stay in the Hollow. What’s your name?”

“Lynx… Lynx Carmine.” The response came shakily as the man, revealed to be Lynx, seemed to shrink under the direct question.

Both Thirens froze on the spot. His response was like having cold water poured on your body. Aetos and Calyx exchanged looks, a silent conversation taking place between them. This elicited a strained smile from Lynx, who looked at them with hope in his eyes.

“...”

“Guess he is our guy. Well, one of them, at least… Aetos, let’s get him down and cash in the payout!” Calyx hops off of his seat on the rubble as Aetos slings his packed gear over his shoulder.

“P-payout? What do you mean?” He asks stiffly, and Aetos immediately answers.

“The Official InterKnot Account had issued an urgent request of your sudden disappearance, so we decided to take on the commission due to the reward.”

“O-oh! They noticed! Thank god… I couldn’t imagine spending another day in this dump!”

“Mhm, I’m sure he’s been here for a while, Aetos… Can’t blame him for not knowing.” Calyx sighs, “We are in a Hollow, aren’t we?”

“But I didn’t blame him though? I was just answering his question!”

“You had that grumpy grump voice about you, birdy, not my fault that you sound like you always drop your ice cream.” Calyx giggles, already heading toward the staircase while Aetos steadies Lynx over his shoulder.

“I— but I don’t—! Gah…” He gives up and simply follows after his partner, being careful to not worsen Lynx’s injury any further.

After what feels like a few days spent going down stairs, they finally return to the familiar yet haunting lobby of the Ballet Twins. Nothing changed aside from the atmosphere, now less tense that three actual people had broken the eerie silence with idle chat and occasional Thiren related banter.

“So you’re telling me that you’ve been here for weeks without food or water, and only surviving on Anti-Corruption Serums?”

“What? You mean he ate and drank them too? How’d they taste, Mr. Carmine?” Calyx reminds them of his presence with a mischievous giggle. The Fox Thiren takes point as Aetos continues to support Lynx on his shoulder.

Their steps click through the foyer of the once luxurious pair of skyscrapers, calling back to attention the dreary atmosphere and physical dereliction. All the corrupted growths and pieces of torn up structure which they had passed by earlier remained. Maybe the crystallizations and spread of etheric matter had exacerbated while they were taking time on the higher floors looking for their target, the raiders’ employer.

“Well, regardless of if he did or didn’t, we found one thing on our list, as unintended as it is.” 

“Yeah, our missing person! Although wasn’t it you who said to forget about the commission?”

“To be fair, he did just jump out of nowhere.”

“True, he did fall from the sky… Er… stairs in our case…” 

A brief silence fills the air almost as well as ether did, the three of them being bathed in moonlight following their first steps out of the Ballet Twins. Calyx takes this opportunity to start up some small talk, not comfortable with the distant sounds of Ethereals and electrical discord filling the Hollow.

“So, how’d you avoid getting ripped to ribbons? Those Ethereals in the elevator were a real pain, weren’t they, Aetos?”  The Fox Thiren looks to his partner while walking slightly behind them now, scanning with both ears and eyes to make sure they weren’t being tailed by the Hollow’s more corrupted inhabitants. 

“A pain they were, but we’ve handled worse, haven’t we?” Aetos rebuked as they descended the front entrance’s steps. The Eagle Thiren releases his hold over Lynx, the man finally standing on his own. “Anyway, if you take this path and head that way, you’ll find a spatial fissure. Take it, and get outta here, Lynx.”

“...H-huh? But what about you guys?” The man they saved inquired, slightly afraid for his saviors. Though that was unknowingly an act he made. These two are too gullible, Lynx thought to himself.

“Relax, we’re professionals! We know everything about Hollow Diving! Well, Aetos does, at least…”

The aforementioned Eagle Thiren huffed, but didn't immediately rebuke his partner. Instead, he took it as a compliment and puffed out his chest pridefully. “Naturally. We simply escorted a civilian out of the Hollow as per regulation—or, err… Per our regulation. I trust that you won’t rat us out, Mister Carmine. Otherwise…”

The look that Aetos gave him was more than enough to intimidate the poor man. Though it looked way too exaggerated to feel… real. Or Calyx thought so.

“O-of course! I wouldn’t dare expose my saviors!”

“Hey, Aetos, ease up a bit! He’s clearly shaken…” Calyx crosses his arms, looking slightly annoyed at the scene.

“I just have to ensure that our safety is not jeopardized. Hmph.”

Lynx meekly asks, his eyes looking at anything but his saviors’ eyes, “I-I implore you, please, can you take me somewhere safe? I don’t want to go alone! A-and it’s terrifying to leave without an escort!”

“Well, we have a job to do and Aetos just mapped you a route… You can take it from here, right? I mean, you did survive this long, what’s one more little walk gonna do?” Calyx waved before Aetos could respond, pulling him back up the steps to the Ballet Twins.

“Ughk—!” He staggers back, clearly unprepared for the Fox Thiren’s rebuttal. While Lynx tried to beg for Calyx to reconsider, he had other plans to discuss with Aetos. The injured civilian took a step forward, despite his appearance, he managed to move with almost zero problems. Though he quickly fixed his blunder by stumbling slightly, it was not unseen by the blonde sniper who narrowed his eyes.

“If that’ll be all, buh-bye~! We have business back on the tenth floor!” Calyx once again threatened to pull Aetos back up the stairs and away from him, jeopardizing the plan that his co-conspirator had laid out.

The Eagle Thiren easily allowed his smaller partner to drag him against his will, though his eyes never left the civilian, he muttered to Calyx, “Something’s weird with him, isn’t there?”

“Nah, just a bit of the good ol’ weird. Then again, we are Thirens.”

“That is—ugh. Whatever. What do you suspect?” Aetos inquired, finally looking down at Calyx.

Calyx failed to give an answer, his ears twitching twice as a question came to mind. “You do the suspecting here, Aetos. Anyway, I just wanted to ask about the guy who the raiders said hired ‘em. What’d they say he looks like again?”

“Green hair, as short as you, and wears a mask,” he answers without missing a beat. The blonde sniper raised his eyebrow at his partner’s inquiry but didn’t ask.

“Man, sounds like a real character. Doesn’t that sound a bit extra for appearance?”

“I find it hilarious that you of all people would point that out.”

Eyeing the civilian behind him, Calyx huffs in faux annoyance, “At least I rock my look! But I need your opinion on that. Don’t you find it odd how stand-out that is AND that it’s basically me with green hair?”

“You often see a lot of folks in New Eridu—of differing lineages, of unique circumstances, and of fascinating appearances. It isn’t weird to find coincidences here and there,” Aetos rebukes, but just as Calyx was about to say something, he was beaten to the punch. “But I digress. It does sound a tad strange on how the description is a near perfect match of your appearance. Mask included.”

“And do you remember what you said a few nights ago? When we found that photo of Lynx?”

“He looked like he was trying too hard to blend in—...”

“And don’t you find it weird that he’s right here? Where the supposed lookalike of me was supposed to be? And that he’s capable of following us up the stairs when he needed you to walk a moment ago?” Calyx’s voice rises with a teasing lilt, turning his masked face over to Lynx who had overheard most of the conversation.

“I noticed the latter… but you make compelling points. What say you, Mister Carmine?” Aetos directs his attention to the man himself just as his partner did.

“What’s that supposed to mean!? I was stuck here for who knows how long, and now I’m being accused of something!?” Lynx scrambles for a defense while Calyx takes a few steps down the stairs to more clearly continue speaking with him.

In his debonair tone, Calyx answers, “And who, pray tell, is accusing you of anything? Pretty suspicious, Mr. Carmine…”

“I-no—! Aetos was—no, your partner—I mean…!”

“Did you forget your line? Ad-lib, while appreciated, does require some practice.”

At his words, Lynx Carmine stood glued to his spot. His mouth opened to rebuke only for the words to die in his throat. His act falling apart at the seams, with every syllable emphasized by Calyx, it seemed like a heavier weight was placed on his shoulders. His legs trembled briefly, the facade he placed breaking but he stubbornly pushed through.

“W-what are you even saying? I was just voicing my opinion. I apologize for the outburst, let’s dial this back up—”

“And let you try again at deceiving the professional deceiver?” Calyx snickered and wagged his finger, “Oh, good heavens, I’ll have to decline~. Apologies, but I believe my confidant has seen all he needs to see…”

Without a word, Aetos stepped toward Lynx who stumbled back. The ominous shine in the Eagle Thiren’s eyes nearly had the man soiling his own pants.

To emphasize his point, the Fox Thiren drops his accent, “Now, this is all on a hunch. A phantom thief’s one, at that. I could be wrong. Rarely happens, but it's possible… You look a bit heavy for someone who claimed to be so stranded in a Hollow for weeks… Someone in your state should be… peckish.”

“What are you doing—!?”

Suddenly, Lynx’s body was pushed toward the ground, his eyes shutting as his body met with the cold stone. Aetos’ advances are met with an unexpected defiance from Lynx as his body instinctively shoves the Thiren back. He struggles—kicking and grunting as he tries to stand back up, but surprisingly… easily pushing the sniper off of him? 

Strange, didn’t his information say that Calyx’s partner is the strongest when it comes to physical strength, second only to the diner’s boss...? Realizing his folly, Lynx opens his eyes, staring into the scrutinizing gaze of a predator.

“Interesting, you moved so much despite your supposed ‘malnutrition and leg injuries.’ You must have quite a lot of energy to struggle like that.” Aetos observes while rubbing his chin with his thumb and foot repeatedly tapping at the ground in a sporadic manner.

“I knew it.” The phantom thief sauntered over, crouching near the human to confirm his suspicions. “While he’s hurt from that stair drop stunt, that’s about it. Try as you might, you can’t beat a fox at his own game… I had you pinned at your claim of being here for weeks, Mr. Carmine.”

“W-wait! I can explain! You misunderstand—”

Calyx interrupts him with a simple shake of his head, like he was commanding the attention of a dog. “Drawn-out lines, sorry excuse for a wardrobe, your breathing’s just now picked up… If you wanna sell your character, maybe do it to someone who can’t lie as easily as they breathe.”

“Hmph. If I didn’t know any better, you were building up suspense for your grandiose reveal to take the spotlight for yourself…” Aetos gave the Phantom Thief the side-eye treatment, but the smirk on his face was more than enough to convey what he truly felt. “Nevertheless, good job on ratting his ass out.”

“Maybe~ But I had to reason with you somehow, Mr. I-help-everyone, had we gone any farther, we might’ve walked into a trap or something.” 

“I—...” He sighs, and reluctantly admits, “Well, it isn’t entirely wrong… I have my reasons. Can’t shy everyone away.”

With a victorious flick of the ears accompanied by an equally prideful hum, the Fennec Fox Thiren turns back to the human, “Now, let’s set the scene… What’s your game, Mr. Faux?”

Lynx’s hair casts a shadow over his eyes, an eerie quiet rolling in like the soft fog of dust and ether particles. He stands in a deliberately slow manner, his hands reaching for the bandages that are wrapped around his legs and ripping them out aggressively. His lips curve into an evil smirk as he thrusts his arms open, “Tch, so you think you have it all figured out? That you got everything in the palm of your hands, you little shite?”

“I suspected you since you fell conveniently onto our stage… Now, fess up or we’ll have to resort to something rash…” 

“Hahaha! Let’s not be too hasty now. Though I gotta agree with you on my bad acting part, which… really is conflicting for me, cause I really fuckin’ hate you, Phantom Thief Calyx…”

“Well, Aetos, let it be known, there are two sides to fame~ Now, let’s get this jerk!” Calyx’s signature dagger scrapes against the scabbard on his back as he draws it, the blade already buzzing and sparking.

“Hm, you don’t need to tell me twice!” The Eagle Thiren whips it out—a double-barrel shotgun, and aims it at Lynx’s head, who lazily raises his arms. Despite the precarious situation he finds himself in, his fists are clenched and the grin on his face does not falter.

“Oooh, I’m so afraid… But unfortunately for the two of you, you already fell for my trap!” At his words, a loud clicking noise reverberates through the area, as if forewarning an oncoming omen. Catching onto the noise, Calyx’s ears stand completely straight and Aetos’ smirk falls, his eyes widening in realization.

“A grenade?! Do you wanna die—”

“Hehe, yes, yes! Anything to get my vengeance on the phantom thief… For the years of torment, humiliation, and my girlfriend leaving me because of you! I’ll kill you—!”

“Sike!” Unclenching his hand, he reveals the small cylindrical object hiding within—Thud! Tossing it to the ground, it immediately releases smoke into the area, Aetos and Calyx’s figures are enveloped into the cloud eventually disappearing into the thick haze.

“Damnit, he got away!” Coughing, the Eagle Thiren waves his arm to no avail, the smoke bomb performing its role successfully. His goggles shield his eyes from the gases, giving the sniper a perfect view of the running figure of Lynx Carmine. Just as he aimed his weapon to shoot, the perp took cover into the city’s labyrinth. “Damnit!”

“Okay… Now it’s on...!” The phantom thief declares through his mask, the accessory managing to help somewhat with the thick cloud’s suffocating effects. He whipped his head around, eyes squinted as he tried to peer through the veil with no success.

“Calyx, he charged into the streets—! He’s probably on his way to the spatial fissure now. Get his ass!”

“Oh, you can bet on it!” The phantom fox adjusts his wrist before ejecting his zip wire in random directions. After a few attempts, the feeling of the hookhead latching onto a nearby street lamp thrums the wire. The smokescreen is sliced in a clean cut, unveiling the starry sky above and the darkened streets of the Ballet Twins Hollow.

Aetos’ partner flies out of the dark cloud, the tails of his midnight-colored long coat flapping like banners being waved behind him as he lands onto a disheveled rooftop, his aquamarine eyes darting around the Hollow for any sign of their escaping target. “Damn, where is he…?” 

The Eagle Thiren held back the urge to sigh and angrily yelled at Calyx while treading through the smoke. “The path we used to get in here! The spatial fissure we used!”

“Right!” The sound of the fox’s zip wire ejecting again cut through the air as he began his pursuit.

Lynx, now being chased by a phantom thief, takes sharp turns that nearly throw him off balance as he struggles to keep the fox at a distance. Aside from his own labored breathing and hard steps on the stone, he could hear the reeling and ejecting of Calyx’s grappling wire. 

“He’s a damn fast one...! No matter, I’ve got a route thanks to that dumbass bird! Gotta hope that my partner’s got his guys ready to intercept…” He grumbles to himself, feeling his own body burn up at the extensive physical activity.

He runs past an intact window that reflects Calyx flying past the moon, landing on the streets and breaking into a mad dash that results in a no-holds-barred chase through the Ballet Twins Hollow. The distance between them shrinks gradually as Lynx stumbles around more corners, his path calculated and deliberate despite his frantic sprint. 

As his target comes within arms’ reach, the fox’s ears stand upright to the sound of a bassy and rippling opening of a spatial fissure. The myriad of colors briefly illuminate the road as they both run into it, spitting them both out into the familiar and bustling night streets of the outside world. The human and Thiren fall onto each other after being teleported, the former quickly pushing the latter off and scrambling to his feet.

Calyx springs back up onto his own feet and resumes his chase, scanning around with his eyes to find any leverage to use his zip wire on. Despite his best efforts, and to his frustration, the Fox Thiren can’t seem to find anything to latch onto and swing from. 

The road named after the Ballet Twins was an asphalt strip lined with tall buildings on either side, were it not for the sheer flatness of the walls facing the road, the distance would be nonexistent between the phantom thief and his target.

 Furthermore, there weren’t any suitable poles nearby to grapple to. The ones that were there curved just enough so that the end hook on the end of Calyx’s wire would slide off to one side. 

This chase was grounded and they both knew it, both straining their legs as they ran through the crowds who became increasingly aware of the notorious Calyx’s pursuit.

The public’s excited murmurs filled the air as they saw the ongoing action, doing very little to hide their growing fascination.

“Is that who I think it is!?”

“Long black coat, fox mask, short stature, triangular blue ears… It is!”

“Look! He’s chasing someone! Is this the next heist?”

All the eyes, all the talk about him gave the fox Thiren his greatest pleasure, albeit at the wrong time and place. His ears flapped with the wind as he ran for Lynx’s figure, their shadows dancing across the lamplit streets as the crowds grew thicker, hoping to catch a sliver of the chase on their phones.

Despite the unfortunate timing of the crowd’s gathering, Calyx only smirked under his mask. The attention from the audience was pointed at him and his chase. He felt himself slip into character, running faster as if pushed by their focus on him to close the gap and catch the fleeing fraud. The Fox Thiren revelled in the thrill of the hunt—the legendary chase scenes, the close-calls with Public Security, the roar of the crowd…!

He loved it all!

A mistaken glance at his pursuer had Lynx looking like a chicken caught trying to escape a dingo. The phantom thief’s eagerness to catch him emboldened the man’s pace to something desperate. Light flashes from the lenses of cameras as their chase draws out, the crowd growing more enamored by the minute.

The fox’s newly found vigor fed Lynx’s renewed desperation to escape, leading them both to a waterfront road where boats sail by cars. The meeting point of artificial land and natural cascades was a popular spot for the commonfolk of New Eridu to relax, but there was something there that Lynx had his eyes on... 

The other side of the waters had a circular plaza where a statue stood in pondering, the orb in place of its head often drew the eyes of passersby as it glowed from its sitting position. But the fleeing man had his sights set on something closer, a boat that was sailing precariously close to the guard rail, taking its time as if aligning itself just for his escape.

“Don’t disappoint my fans, now!” Calyx shouted at him with his debonair tone, stopping in his tracks at the sight of a fire escape.

Swish! Zip! The wire flew from the fox’s wrist and snags itself on the protruding emergency passage. With a quick lunge to build the momentum for his feat, Calyx reels in the wire—flying forward with a velocity that narrows the distance between him and his target significantly.

The phantom thief flew over numerous heads, the crowd parting and in cheers as they watched their favorite thief commit a heist in real-time. He and Lynx continue sprinting through the streets. Anything the fleeing man tipped, tossed or pushed into his way was met by a flashy, evasive maneuver that maintained his relentless pace. 

“Argh—!”, despite his exhaustion, Lynx struggles toward the railing by the waterside park, the fox still hot in pursuit, trying to reach the large body of water as the crowds converge enough to hinder even Calyx’s spry movements. 

“Hey, hey...! Hands off the merchandise...!” Calyx exclaimed indignantly as his coat was pulled, his mask was grazed, and his fox features were subjected to pull and prod alike.

“Please, let me get your autograph!”

“Don’t leave yet! Let me feel those cute ears!”

“Calyx, take my children!”

Their voices united as a cacophony of chaotic noise. Their praises were far from unwelcome, but the sound was so loud that the fox’s ears nearly bled. The distance between the bystanders and Calyx was reduced to mere inches as they got in his personal space, every word spoken more fanatic than the last. Their bodies blocked him from moving and their hands reached for a piece of the phantom thief, some more keen than others.

“Damn…! Get back here—Eh!?” Calyx felt his spine straighten and tail bristle under his coat. Despite the deafening cheers, his ears stood straight before drooping against his hair. He felt his legs lose their stability as he stumbles onto his knees, his entire body relaxing involuntarily as he struggles to even crawl at this point.

It was unmistakable. There was only one thing that could have happened to allow his target to gain this much distance under all this recognition, a move that was done unintentionally—the stroking behind his exposed ears; Luenar’s patented Instant-Annoying-Fox-Pacification Technique.

While his pursuer is trapped under the siege of admiration and idolization, Lynx smiles victoriously knowing that his path to escape is all but guaranteed. 

“Yes! Hahaha!” He cheered to the sky as he ran in the opposite direction of Calyx’s devoted followers, a vessel sailing close to the guard rails of the waterfront. The ripples caused by the ship run through the moonlit body of water, Lynx’ eyes lock onto it, his sprint coming close to a halt. However, just as he reached the edge…

—Bump! A stranger firmly collides with him. The passerby nods apologetically before disappearing with an adjustment of their red-framed glasses.

“Watch where you’re going, pal!” He shouted at them angrily, before returning his attention to the encroaching boat. His right leg was already stepping onto the rail, “That’s right, walk away! Can’t you see that I’m trying to do something here—ungh?!”

“Legs… Giving way…! Stop… I’m not… Adorable...!” Calyx objected despite being reduced to a pliant puddle on the floor. Fighting back pleasured fox noises became secondary to the way he focused on clawing his way forward. The crowd only grew bigger with more fans joining the fray, the entire street full of people despite the late hours. “Must… Resist… Headpats… Not… Stopping here!” 

The phantom thief’s actions grew more controlled and deliberate—he actually began moving from his spot on the floor as his feet planted themselves into the ground, the concrete threatening to break under the weight of the crowd.

Calyx finally manages to break out of the crowd of Fennec Fox Thiren stans, much to their disappointment. They look amongst themselves to hopefully continue offering their adoration, unaware that their beloved Calyx is running full-speed at his target. With one final lunge, Calyx outstretched his arm to grip the back of Lynx’s shirt. 

“Caught you, you slippery—Wha!?” Calyx’s sentence was cut off by the sensation of his glove’s palm dampening, the white fabric sullied by a red deeper than crimson the longer his grip lingered on Lynx’s clothes.

The phantom thief urgently retracts his hand, spinning the man around so he could get a grip of what the cause of his stained glove was…

Only to see a prominent stab wound on the left of Lynx’s chest. If Aetos were here, he’d say it was a clean cut straight to the lungs.

“Blood? But who—!?” His words are cut off when he feels around on his lower back for his dagger, trying to arm himself in case the assailant returns only to feel nothing where the hilt should be. 

His heart dropped to see his weapon coated in the same red substance, lying eerily still on the ground next to Lynx as the man fell over, onto his stomach.

“No way… When did… My dagger…?” The fox Thiren stammers, his eyes locking to the now crimson glove as he struggles to even make sense of what happened, falling and shuffling back in a state of shock. His glance momentarily flicks to the bloodied weapon on the ground, his own breaths now louder than the crowd behind him.

“Where did he go?! He’s gone!”

“Wait, there he is—! What?!”

The crowd that was happily applauding him mere moments ago gathered around the phantom thief, their eyes as wide as the moon hanging in the sky. Their collective gasps and murmurs filled the dead silent streets. The gap between them and the icon that they so fervently praised slowly stretched out, revealing Calyx on his rear with bloodstained gloves. The dagger laid there, enveloped by the crimson puddle that expanded from Lynx’s corpse.

Calyx, now feeling a different type of attention, could feel himself shrink amidst the tense glares. It wasn’t even close to the once awestruck gazes that he was used to seeing; instead, the look in their eyes told him that he was unwelcome, unrecognizable as the star he was in their eyes a moment earlier. His heart sunk deep into a pit of despair like he had suffered the wound that Lynx was inflicted with.

He shakes uncontrollably, unable to look up and meet the eyes of the public nor whatever contorted faces they may sport in lieu of what happened. His heart races as fast as his mind, his face burning and his body trembling. In that moment he felt looked down on, not in the literal or condescending senses that he would usually brush off with his pompous attitude…

—Rather the kind that crushes you like a bug for even daring to think you can do anything to deny that you deserve it.

“Oh, oh no…”

Chapter Text

Eyes everywhere. Body held down. Like I’m being forced to witness his death.

  Let go of me! I have to stop it! 

Guh!

Legs shaky, but I can move now—A-ah! Too late…! He’s bleeding out already...! Dagger is right there, coated in blood, just like last night. Next to his body. I think I’m gonna be sick…

“Oh, god!”

“He killed him!?”

“Someone, grab that murderer!”

“Call Public Security!”

No… No, no, that’s not me, I swear… His death… Jabbing him with my dagger… I didn’t do it… Why do I keep seeing that..? Why do you all keep saying that..? Stop it… Please..!

“—Stop!”

I spring up with a cold shiver, breathless, as I dart my pupils around the room, expecting to see some sort of monster from the Hollow. It’s dark and colder than usual. My bed feels gross like I’m lying in dirt and dust… My entire body feels heavy, hard to move even. I could barely sleep, so I’ll just… chalk it all up to sleepiness.

Clock’s flashing 6:00 AM. The old man’s gonna be on my tail if I’m late. Did Aetos tell him about last night? About Lynx? I hope he didn’t. Last night’s extraction was a mess... Scrambling for the dagger, avoiding the crowds, Aetos’ scope flashing from a roof to give me his location. The voices… I can’t stop thinking about their words…

Getting up, I find it hard to even want to put on my uniform, especially after last night. My hand still feels sticky, wet from the glove I wore from when… when… Ugh! I can’t even say it!

I take a step toward the mirror and how do I look? Like I didn’t even sleep a wink… My blue hair is ruffled, my face feels dirty, and my entire body feels covered in sweat.. I wanna wipe it all off but I know it’s not there. I guess you can say I feel awful… eugh…

Come to think of it, my reflection today is different… Like looking at myself while I’m all dressed up for heisting… Despite how much I love that attire… After what happened, I can’t help but feel uneasy looking at it. Like I wanna rip up my outfit if it were really on me while I look in the mirror.

In said mirror, my long coat is ragged, aged, dirty… Everything I don’t want it to be. The mask is cracked and dusty, eyeholes whited out in some sort of haunting glow. It’s a scene from some sort of relic you’d find under the rubble of those temples in movies… Hate to say it, but I think this spooky sight of me in the mirror is gonna make me put the mask aside for a while… Until I can get this feeling of being… Whatever I’m feeling… Out of my system…

I wonder if last night’s events were posted on Inter-Knot… Pulling out my phone, I realize I’m hesitating for real… for the first time since forever…. Do I—no, can I handle what they might be saying there? I pride myself as an unshakeable rogue, sure, but… Am I really in a position to call myself that right now..?

Against my better judgement, I unlock my phone and punch in my own name and the word I don’t ever wanna be associated with… “Murder…” 

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised… Inter-Knot dwellers are a fast bunch… Both in terms of spouting happenings and shifting their attention to whatever catches their eye… I count like a dozen posts…

[“Phantom Thief, Calyx, Caught In His Latest Heist… Taking Someone’s Life!”]

[My Hero… How could Calyx Kill Someone?]

[An In-Depth Review Into The Murder of A Poor Man: Phantom Thief At Fault.]

I could feel my fingers tighten around the edges of my phone like a snake would around its food… I’ve been pacing around so much, staring at posts that read the same dang thing, the same accusations, the same words that are making me lose my mind…

“Criminal… Fall from Fame… Killer…” I’d gotten so into reading all the hate that I didn’t even notice I was next to my door… Before I knew it, my phone was shaking in my hand and I had thought several times about throwing it across the room.

“It’s not worth it,” I sighed to myself, pocketing the thing as I turned the door handle, revealing the hallway I’ve passed through a thousand times to get to work and back to my room. It definitely feels off again… Just like it did two days ago, right before that sappy talk I had with Aetos. 

Speaking of Aetos… I should probably, finally, head down… I don’t want him and the Old Man worrying any more than they already might be…

The diner, once bustling with noise, is drowned in a sea of uncertainty. As Calyx descends the steps to the main area, sunlight shines against the morning dew on the windows. Tenth Street is slowly unraveled after last night’s sudden rain, neighbors opening up their doors to welcome business and working employees heading to the nearest Coff Cafe to get a cup of joe for their morning routine. The checkered floor is clean as always, spotless like the stainless steel lunch counter where patrons would often be served by either Calyx or Luenar.

Chairs rest on top of the tables, the diner booths were devoid of the life that it was meant to serve, the closed sign on the front door prevented entry to everyone, be they Thiren or Human. Eager patrons who would have arrived early in the morning now have to leave in disappointment knowing that Luenar’s Diner is not open for business today. 

Calyx’s heart is struck with guilt at the circumstances, seeing as how they had to close business after the scandal to avoid any further trouble for him. It was for the greater good, or so he wanted to believe—after last night’s incident, the Fox Thiren wasn’t exactly in the mood to be the adorable serverboy everyone was used to being greeted by. 

When he was reading the hate messages by the fans that once adored him on the Inter-Knot… it made him feel like his world was crumbling. Being a phantom thief was all he was ever good at, and all he ever wanted to do. To spread his fame across New Eridu, be renowned for his grandiose heists and theatrical techniques.

His ears drooped and his expression fell, each step that he took shouldered more than just the guilt of his circumstances weighing on his colleague and boss, but the accusations, the blame… He knew he didn’t do anything.

“—Or did you?”

“Shut up…” Calyx nearly snarled, the sudden voice in his head whispering a terrifying, accusatory thought. That one question was a haunting reminder of the nightmare he suffered and a shocking realization to his current reality. He shouldn’t be thinking about these things. Instead, he should start preparing for their next move… Whatever that may be.

The Fox Thiren wandered across the diner like a ghost—stripped of purpose yet barely hanging on to a thin thread that threatened to snap. He aimlessly searched for the two people he can truly trust, only to turn up with nothing.

“Where are they?” He asked himself, finding both relief and dread at the thought of confronting his friends. What would they think of him now? Would they resent him? Would they be disappointed in him?

Would they leave him?

…The kitchen looked untouched for the morning, the bathrooms were probably unoccupied, and there was clearly nobody else in the dining room.

Realizing that they might be in the Employee’s Only Room at the back corner, Calyx immediately dashed toward his destination in a hurried yet silent pace. The ghost of a smile flickered on his face, his tail subtly wagging behind him as he reached the navy-colored entrance.

As his hand made contact with the cool wood of the door, his ears perked up at the familiarly gruff voice of his employer, which was then followed by a serious, flat, somewhat hesitant response from his partner. It was slightly muffled, but he could make it out clearly…

“...it is unfortunate that they escaped your radar, but I can’t exactly blame you considering the abundant amount of people in the open…”

Aetos’ normally breathy voice was more exasperated than usual, Calyx could picture the eagle’s disappointed face, “We would’ve risked endangering their lives. But our greatest mistake was taking that commission in the first place, damnit…!”

Calyx’s touch on the door faltered as his expression fell to that of a reluctant frown. A dash of hesitation crossed his face and features, unsure of whether or not to make his presence known. Instead, he stood idly by the door to do one thing he knew he was good at—eavesdropping.

“You shouldn’t blame yourself for it, Aetos. You couldn’t have known, you did your best. We should be focusing on the present. I’ve already contacted Ren to look into this Lynx Carmine, so what we should be doing is…” In contrast to the blonde assassin, Luenar’s voice was softer and gentler, but there was a subtle hint of frustration and anger that Calyx normally wouldn’t hear from his boss.

“I understand. I do remember vivid details of the perps’ appearance, but by now they’re probably hiding, sweeping themselves off our radar.”

“That man who you were chasing, had he any connections to Calyx in any way? They murdered him right in public. If I were them, I would’ve silenced that man in a less crowded area,” Luenar mused, their voices peeking through the crevices in the door like rays of dim light.

Hearing his own name come up only made him question if he should interject some more. In his head, the thought of joining the conversation would be like putting a wrench next to a machine hard at work. It could help fix anything the tool was made for, or it could be tossed into the perfectly working system and mess it all up

“Unless it was staged. A deliberate trick to put us on our toes and make us overthink… We mustn’t trust everything that our eyes see, not even mine.”

“But we can’t disregard these details either… I think it might be related to my mother’s cookbook.”

This caught the attention of both Thirens. Aetos, with his analytical mind working overtime, immediately began drawing lines, the mindscape he was in resembling a detective’s corkboard. Calyx, meanwhile, connived with himself. He was nowhere as near as analytical as either of them, but he was hoping that maybe he could see something they couldn’t with his knowledge on scheming and all things phantom trickery.

“That could explain it. The enemies are targeting one of our vital agents. Even if they were to successfully steal it again, Calyx is more than capable enough to take it back. Assuming they even manage to steal it again with you, him, and I protecting the diner,” the Eagle reasoned, to which Luenar responded.

“Right. Without Calyx, retrieving the book… Actually, it wouldn't be that difficult for you or I, but if we left the diner would be defenseless. It also looks like they’re specifically targeting Calyx for his fame, using it against him. The mastermind is cunning. But we won’t fall so easily, will we?” Calyx’s ears twitched at his employer’s words, a surge of confidence rising in his chest for a brief moment.

“But why? It doesn’t make sense. He’s just a phantom thief who’s doing all of this for thrills and clicks… He shouldn’t even be a target.”

The fox’s hand moved back to the door, as he braced himself to face his allies after such a scandal, only to stop when his ears picked up another sound, his curiosity winning briefly over newfound resolve.

Meanwhile, inside the room which served both as stock and logistics, Luenar and Aetos stood just before a desk that held up a monitor with a visible light over a small partition that separated it from shelves and supplies used for diner upkeep. An everpresent frown found itself on the sniper’s face, his bespectacled gaze sweeping over the data on the screen.

“After we interrogated those Hollow Raiders, we have a possible candidate for the mastermind, or at least someone associated with them. We can safely say that our missing man, Lynx Carmine, was not missing and was rather working in-secret with the orchestrator of this whole debacle. Unfortunately, that is the only lead we have, so until we get a response back from that workaholic—”

Suddenly, without even so much as a warning, the screen shut off and gave way to static. The pattern twitched and the white noise filled the room until ultimately getting replaced by an eerie silence and a simple image that showed a monochrome face adorned in tophat.

“—?! The firewall is being hacked by an unknown entity!”

“What?! You can stop it, right Aetos?!”

“Not without risking all of our data!”

As they scrambled to counteract this hack, a distorted and multi-layered voice came through the pc, introducing itself after a laugh that was nothing short of sinister.

“Looks like we finally got through… May I ask how you are all doing today?” 

Luenar leaned closer toward the monitor, his hand resting on the chair his employee sat on. Aetos’ eyes lit up in recognition at the symbol—as only one Proxy across all of New Eridu would use it as their brand, signifying his status as navigator whose skill and reputation can even rival the likes of Phaethon. 

“Null_Face…”, he muttered under his breath, the weight behind that name equivalent to heavy weights chaining down the Thiren's body.

“It seems our little birdy has a record for doing his homework.” The voice replied, its voice dripping with an infuriating amount of condescension, almost taunting Aetos to try and do something about their intrusion onto the diner’s logistics computer.

Despite his initial surprise, he angrily responds with scorn at the man behind the monitor, “So it was you who orchestrated this whole act?! Ruining Calyx’s image, killing a man in public over a book!? What’s the point of all this?”

The voice comes back with a short, amused laugh, Aetos and Luenar could practically see the hacker crossing their arms and smirking. “Oh, don’t be so full of yourselves, I have my agendas. You just so happen to provide me with a way to get your attention.”

“Why you—!” 

Luenar’s hand reaches out to the Eagle Thiren, halting him from taking out his anger on the monitor.

“...”

“Calm it, Aetos. Breaking a screen won’t fix anything. It’ll only give us an extra chore to do later.” The diner owner assured him, his eyes going from his employee’s frustrated face to the monitor like a blade through the air, fluid and definitely pointed. “As for you…”

“So you’re the boss of this little establishment, are you? You’ll have to excuse me, I have a few choice words for you.” The screen-dweller interjected again, their voice somehow getting Luenar to pipe down despite his obvious attempt to reign in the situation.

“I’ll hear you out, but I have to warn you. You are walking on thin ice, Null_Face… I’m more than aware of your notoriety, but that doesn’t mean I’m scared of you.” His voice rose with a powerful defiance that resonated deeply with the Eagle Thiren next to him, his employer’s words eliciting a confident smirk on Aetos’ face.

The room then falls into a brief silence before a small sound comes from the logistics computer. It was short but unmistakable, a chuckle which then grew into a resounding, almost mocking laughter. “Oh, don’t flatter yourself! I’m giving you enough of an honor just by putting myself on this sorry little screen.”

“The honor is all ours, princess. Need us to bring you a cup of tea while you’re trying to act all tough?” Aetos rolled his eyes at Null_Face’s statement, the Thiren’s frown now resembled a hyena’s grin. The unusual sarcasm from his employee elicited a knowing look from Luenar.

“Seems you two’re getting along. Sharing a sense of humor now.” to which the blonde Eagle simply shrugged his shoulder, offering not a word at the comment.

“I’ll give it to you both straight. I want that book and I get what I want. Nothing more to it than that. If you refuse, well… Let’s say that mask of his or your connections won’t be enough to stop me, Mr. Luenar.”

‘And he goes so far for a mere cookbook…? Just what kind of information is hidden behind those covers?’, Aetos pondered and briefly glanced at his boss, questions plaguing his mind regarding a certain piece of literature and its relation to the diner’s owner.

“While I’m sure you’d like to know why, I think your boss’ face says it all. I know things he doesn’t and that? Oh, that drives him up more than enough walls for me,” the snarky response from Null_Face earned him the ire of Luenar, who strongly responded with barely concealed anger and frustration.

“You know stuff about my mother’s book, do you? Ridiculous. If I haven’t deciphered even a single line hidden behind the recipes, how could you?” The response from the diner owner came out, not as a yell, but as a low and dangerous tone that resembled a tripwire that had been stepped on, waiting for the pressure to release before it sprang a deadly trap.

“Oh, well. I don’t particularly care if you trust my words or not. All I want is that woman’s possession in my hands. I’ll give you… Hm, until sunrise to make a decision before I leak your serverboy’s information and his connection to this little establishment of yours. Meet me in the Ithacan Hollow by that time, and maybe… I’ll reconsider.” They already know what would happen if they didn’t appear, warning them of the consequences of being absent is unnecessary at this point.

“...Bastard. What will you get out of this? You’re tormenting that boy, and for what?!” Aetos couldn’t hold back the words that he had wanted to say, his anger unleashed at the suffering of his friend, yet seemed to stem from a greater depth in his being.

A small chortle found itself out of the speakers, Null_Face’s nonchalance seemingly unfazed at his retort, leaving Aetos seething even more and Luenar gripping the chair to the point of nearly breaking the backrest. “Aside from immense satisfaction, I get something… Well, I know this sounds like a cliche villain line, but something more valuable than you could ever know...”

“Well, I guess I shouldn’t keep you both from deciding. Say hello to that damn kit for me, will you?” And with that, the screen faded to black and the static noise gradually grew out of hearing range. Luenar raised his fist and nearly pushed Aetos out of his chair, his arm blurred but before it could even touch the monitor, the Eagle Thiren’s pale hand grappled onto the six-feet tall giant. Astonishment colored his expression, surprised not at the act of preventing from taking out his anger, but rather at who did it.

“Boss…” Aetos didn’t warn his employer, but rather reminded him to reign in his emotions like he did to him mere seconds ago.

“Sorry… I know I said punching the monitor would be more trouble than productive, but can you really blame me!?”

“No. Not at all. In fact, I wanna shoot Null_Face’s stupid face off with Incandescent…” A grunt escaped the Eagle Thiren’s lips as he released his boss’ arm from his hold. Luenar held his wrist, gently rubbing it to alleviate the stress it was put through.

“You got a mean grip there, Aetos. Though I shouldn’t expect anything less from a soldier trained from birth…” His words were met with silence, but the irony was not lost on the Thiren. His keen eyes, of which no man nor Thiren can deceive with tricks and obstructions, scans the computer screen.

“Ex-soldier,” Aetos corrected. But his boss was right to a certain degree—his attention to detail was second to none, remembering nearly everything about everyone he has encountered throughout his service to the Defense Force. Despite that, even the genius sniper found himself at a loss when regarding the mysterious Proxy known as Null_Face.

“We have to make a decision. But I think we should tell Calyx first—”

Before even getting to the actual parts of his plan, the faint but audible thumping of feet against the tiled floor permeated the door. It was to Aetos and Luenar’s realization that they saw from the corner of their eyes, a small line of light peering through a small opening between it and the doorframe.

“Was that…?”

“No!”

The thumping became more noticeable yet grew further away, prompting them to trace the source of the sound with their eyes as they heard it go to the diner’s second floor. They scramble out of the door and fly up the staircase in hopes to talk the Fox Thiren out of whatever he might’ve planned. 

They reach his room’s door and swing it open, only to find his window ajar and the curtains flapping in the morning breeze. His long coat was gone, his dagger was nowhere to be found, and they presumed he took his mask with him too.

Horror struck them as if a bucket of cold water was dropped on their heads, the heartcrushing truth of reality slowly setting in. Were they horrified by the fact that their mutual friend had eavesdropped on their conversation earlier? No, far from it.

Rather, they were afraid of what the Fox Thiren would do now.

It hasn’t been that long since last night’s incident and Calyx hasn’t recovered from it yet. There wasn’t a chance that he’d recover after a few hours of sleep, and now they stand, frozen, the outcome that they neglected to consider has finally come true.

The thief swings from roof to roof, mask practically glued to his face, the tails of his coat dance behind him as he makes a getaway that he never wanted to make. After having fled from Luenar’s, he took to the high points of Tenth Street to avoid catching any attention.

His reputation was soiled, so he knew he couldn’t risk any eyes following his figure as he leapt and bound across the morning rooftops with his grapple wire zipping from and back to his wrist. His only safe space was, to his knowledge, compromised. It was as if he felt unwelcome in his own room, let alone the diner, since last night.

As he ran, his heart pounded against his chest as it worked overtime, giving his legs the power to make his way from one building to the next. If Aetos was here watching him move, he’d probably make a sarcastic remark about his movements resembling a Rabbit Thiren rather than a Fox… He shook those thoughts away, overwhelmed with guilt and shame for something that he had no control over, yet could not help but blame himself for.

It wasn’t simply the morning air that made him shiver through the pompous coat. The fox dropped to his knees after having, hopefully, gotten far enough from the diner to where Aetos and Luenar couldn’t possibly catch him. He grasped his chest with a gloved hand as it heaved, prying his mask off to properly catch a breath.

“Agh..! Guh..!” He made strangled noises as his body desperately tried to get him to breathe properly, his shoulders rising and falling erratically while he propped himself on one of his elbows, slowly but surely managed to stabilize himself.

He fell to his side then rolled onto his back, his eyes catching on every cloud, bird, and the occasional plane drifting across the sky. Aside from his own thoughts, the only prominent sound was his heart beating so loud that it muffled the waking city below him. 

“Gotta… move… Get away… Run… Oh god, what have I done…?” He pleaded with himself in a voice as shaky as his body. Rolling back onto his side to prop himself up, hot tears began to stream down his face. In spite of how he wanted to get up and keep running, it was beyond both mind and limb, he was exhausted both physically and mentally and he could only stay still to recover. 

The morning breeze brushing past his hair as if trying to offer him any semblance of comfort, but even as he wiped his tears away—nothing could save him from his own feelings. The wind caused another shiver to run up his spine, the noise of the rooftop’s running vents only adding to the list of things that would cause him to dart his eyes around for fear of being seen in this sorry state. It was when his gaze brushed past the vent next to him that he instinctively shuffled back, reaching behind for the dagger on his lower back.

Gripping his weapon’s hilt like a lifeline, the fox almost felt relieved that it was not something or someone who had caught him acting like a scared animal…

—But his reflection on one of the ventilation shafts. It forced him to see how terrified he was. Color drained from his face, the haunting image of himself on its metallic and drab surface stared back at him the longer he looked.

“My reflection…” Calyx uttered under his breath, talking to himself in an attempt to calm his own nerves. Slowly retracting his hand from his lower back, he finally realized what he was staring at.

“Yes, your reflection…” He heard, the voice replying almost ghostly and audible in his head. 

This supposed response nearly caused Calyx to jump, like a kick straight to his system as he resumed flicking his startled gaze from each object and entrance to the roof that he could see from his spot. 

The Fox Thiren’s body was quivering, to a point where his legs could no longer hear his brain—like he had just been frozen in place by a fear no one should experience.

Finding nobody else on the roof made him no less tense, stoking more questions than answers as his gaze went back to the one thing he knew for sure was there. Laying eyes on his reflection again, he inspected it closely as it did himself. Each movement was perfectly mirrored like it should have been, each feature looked like it should have, yet there was something unsettling about that response he heard—the thought that seemed to answer his rhetorical question.

It was when wind brushed Calyx’s face again that he felt something out of place. He closed his eyes for a moment and immediately returned his focus to his own masked face staring back at him. 

The Phantom Thief looked to his side, he found his actual unworn mask laid on the concrete, and realized only now that he tossed it there during his episode.

Another wave of uncertainty and a tinge of discomfort hit Calyx as he moved to touch his own face, trailing his finger down his cheek. His reflection followed suit, albeit over the surface of the mask it wore.

Testing some more, he stuck his hand out cautiously to touch the vent shaft, oblivious to the sound emanating from it despite his hearing. 

“It’s like… I can just grab myself…” Calyx uttered in a mix of fascination and anxiousness, testing the feeling on his fingers while the coolness of the metal permeated his gloves.

The vent rattled but Calyx found himself lost in the eyes of his reflection, who stared back at him as if wishing to tell him something. As the shakes grew more noticeable—so did his interest in the masked face staring back at him.

To Calyx, his fingers were no longer touching the metal which his reflection stood in, it was as if he was grabbing the hand of another. His hand then interlocked tightly with theirs, a moment of contact so ephemeral that he felt like he could pass right through.

Yet it felt like it never intended to release him.

The rooftop is blown over by an intense gale as the vent finally settles down, the air that came out of the exhaust fan that was connected to the shaft where Calyx stared at himself spewing a bit of steam. The force of nature billows his ears and hair back as the reflection’s features are pushed forward…

Calyx didn’t notice the reflection’s interaction with the wind nor its slight push against his hand. It crawled forward, keeping the phantom thief on an unconscious backward shuffle until the reflection was no longer a mere image.

Despite the surreal nature of the event, the Fox Thiren kept his movements steady, cautious, and ready to reach for his dagger.

For a brief moment, he saw the eyes of the killer within his own reflection, his willpower wavering as did his hand over his weapon.

 When he saw the reflection move, so did he.

It didn’t feel like he was in control of it. It wasn’t a reflection, that much is certain now. Slowly, they rose to their knees, fingers on the back of each other’s palm. After a brief moment of silence, they each planted a foot forward, eventually standing up with their eyes locked in a tense staredown.

Both foxes take a moment to examine the other. Calyx himself was draped in his usual attire for Hollow diving and phantom thievery. Black long coat and turtleneck, gloves, dress pants, and comfortable yet stylish shoes. The being in front of him was dressed similarly, from the coat to the ears, only with the added mask, the eyes obscured by a pure white smoke that seemed to gather around the eyeholes. A haunting image seemingly plucked out of a horror movie.

The figure in front of Calyx was, no doubt, him. Both in appearance and stature. A manifestation of himself that looked almost like the true phantom thief that he always idealized as a child.

—The man who he wants to be.

“Will you stare much longer? I am flattered if you will, but I do have some things I wish to get to~” The voice that came from behind the mask sounded confident and familiar, unsettlingly so, a perfect recreation of the Shakespearean accent Calyx uses during heists.

The very same one which annoys that ‘bird-brained’ partner of his to no end.

“You’re…”

“...A phantom thief?” He cuts Calyx off, words laced with an abundant flamboyance that would no doubt make Aetos cry in exasperation. Releasing his hand with the flick of the wrist, he walked back toward the vent shaft with a stride that could be best described as a mix of confidence and arrogance. “Mm, yes. That does seem to perfectly describe me. With a dashing presence such as mine, it would be natural to assume so. I do not blame you for it, in fact, it’s more than welcomed!~”

…And why does he talk like that? Calyx believed that, yes, while phantom thieves are supposed to be extravagant and truly sophisticated in their ways, but this… This thing just didn’t sit right with him, like looking at an extra puzzle piece that didn’t belong there.

The Fox Thiren watches his double hop onto the metal object with practiced ease and grace, scaling up to the top of the exhaust fan it was reflected in a moment prior. 

“And who might you be, my dear fox? I daresay you seem rather… frazzled.” The phantom thief atop the vent flamboyantly pointed at him while his other hand rested above his collar.

“I’m… Calyx… and you’re… me..?” Calyx responds in evident stupor, unable to fathom that he was laying his eyes on something that so closely resembled himself, much less that it was speaking to him in his own accent.

“Calyx..?” He asks slowly, before delivering a giggle that was made with mock amusement. “Oh, don’t be absurd! Calyx is a thief of status, of cunning, of unimaginable flair and grace!”

It wipes an imaginary tear from the cheek of its mask before clearing its throat, laughter barely subsiding. 

“Y-you barely fit the bill! But… If you want to see Calyx, dear boy…” He uttered dramatically, mask clutched against his face as he bowed in a way reminiscent of how Calyx would over crowds and pursuers alike.

Calyx couldn’t believe what he was seeing, a one-to-one recreation of his mannerisms and persona. He stepped forward in anticipation, fully aware of the next words that would come from his masked copy. The fox looks up at Illusory Calyx and prepares to say the same thing…

“Blink and you’ll miss me.”

Chapter Text

Blink and you’ll miss me…? Did he just—? That was my tagline! The line on all my calling cards!

“Our calling card. Mind you, you were only capable of coming up with that thanks to my flair.” The other me, no, this… faker! Not only is he taking the credit for himself, but he’s also talking smack about me… err… him—us!

Ugh… Great, now that I think about it, he can read my thoughts too. Hm, let’s put that to the test…

“Thinking about that little cartoon again, are we? While I do find it entertaining, we have more pressing matters at hand.”

As much as I love that show, I can’t help but loath this guy for saying something that actually makes sense. I can already imagine the face that jerk has under that infuriatingly handsome, yet smug mask of mine.

But that didn’t mean I’d simply roll over and stick my belly out for him like a good little puppy. A snarl nearly escaped my lips as I clenched my fists till it felt sore. If the other me noticed my body language, he didn’t comment on it and continued to talk.

“Wow, a tadbit petty, aren’t we? But not to worry. Now, please, hold your breath as I give to you—the next step you should be taking…” His delivery reminds me of my own… Pompous, sure, but I can tell he won’t take no for an answer. His exaggerated yet subtle body language told me about how sure he was of himself, that everything was just wrapped around his finger. And to be perfectly honest?

I’m not in any mood to deal with this guy…

But I wouldn’t show him that side of me. So I briefly pushed my feelings aside, crossed my arms and turned around, “Whatever you’re gonna say to my face, I’m not having any of it! I’ve already had a pretty bad day and just standing here with you is making me go insane! And what’s worse, you’re not even real!”

I could feel the ears on my head twitch slightly as I walked away from him. I quickened my pace whilst aiming my grappling hook—there’s a perfect ledge for me to grapple onto. If I shoot it at this angle, it’ll be too short. I gotta get a bit closer.

“—Your redemption.”

I stopped, dead in my tracks like a criminal caught by PubSec. When the other me yelled, I peeked over my shoulder in time to see his gloved finger pointed to the heavens—or a passing flock of pigeons from my perspective. His white pupils peeked through my mask’s eyeholes, revealing a glimmer of familiar mischief, “Caught your attention, did I? Try not to be too starstruck, my fellow fox! For the true substance and thrill has not shone through just yet~ Non!”

“This will be something that you, dear fox, will need to pull off so you may recapture not only what fled those ears of yours, but the image you had of yourself, as well…” The other me further explained when he saw how quiet I was. After a brief pause that, admittedly, had me leaning forward despite my skepticism of my illusory self looking down on me. Literally and metaphorically, might I add. It was clear to him that I was interested to hear the end of it, “Of course, it will not be so easy to merely earn redemption for someone such as us. Therefore, it will be appropriate for us to use… a more familiar term for your transformation.”

I couldn’t even hold my breath long enough for the next part to come—it was like watching the climax of my favorite show, leaving me with a memory that will last eternally.

The other me, in his exposition, rose to his feet, the vent acting as a platform made him seem taller than he should be. And then, he proudly exclaimed;

“Our magnum opus—the greatest scheme in all of New Eridu, which shall become your greatest work ever since the day you began Phantom Thievery! Our Grand Heist begins today!”

…

That… That was a lot to take in. Even if the guy in front of me isn’t real, his words felt real. I can’t immediately wrap my head around all of the mumbo jumbo he’s been spatting out, but that was intense.

“Hm, indeed, perhaps I was TOO intense with it. Next time, I shall have it toned down for my younger audience~” His words and mannerisms made me clench my fist. I could practically see the grin underneath the infuriatingly beautiful mask. Ugh… seeing as how he can read my mind, I wouldn’t be surprised if my reaction is exactly what he intended. I won’t think about it too much, it’s hurting my head!

Sigh. After calming down, I brought my finger to my chin as I began pondering on his “plan”. Image of myself? Does he mean my reputation? That sounds… tempting, to the point of calling it awesome. And maybe it’ll throw off the bad rep that the old man and bird brain would receive when that nutjob of a Proxy called Null_Face doxxes me. Grr, I held back the snarl that threatened to break out of me.

But, I have to admit, Illusory Calyx, the… me who isn’t real but is actually here talking to me is right. And I oughta figure out what to actually call him, if anything, to make it less confusing for me…

“It’s quite disrespectful for you to think about another person that way, you know?~” He exaggerated his words a lot to my chagrin, but seeing as how it's me, I’ll let it slide. “Thank you, my dear Fox~ And as for what I prefer to be called by, hm… Calyx—but for your convenience, I shall have you call me Phantom. How about that?”

“Phantom…” It was simple, and rolled off the tongue too. Guess I won’t complain about it now since I know what to call him. But I have a question that stuck to my mind like an annoying, catchy song. And if he’s reading my mind right now…

“...” Phantom stayed quiet, but I can tell that his attention is on me. He doesn’t look like he’ll interrupt me. He just sat there, one knee propped up and an elbow lying on top. Even if I couldn’t see his expression, I can one-hundred percent say with confidence that he was deep in thought. I want to believe that this strategy’ll help me. But I can’t completely trust it.

So, let’s not keep my audience waiting. With an exhale that felt like the world was thrown on my shoulders, I asked.

“—What are you?”

It was an easy question, pretty simple to answer if you ask me. Knowing him, or us in this case, a phantom thief’s introduction always begins with a one-liner that grabs the audience's attention. Then with a dramatic pause, you exclaim your name with an extravagant hand wave. All good and bad phantom thieves start with an inciting incident, enrapturing everyone with their presence alone.

And I expected that. In my head, I could already see Phantom leaping off from the vent and standing before me. In true phantom thief fashion he’d treat the rooftop as a stage, and from there he’d probably smugly re-introduce himself with my name and everything…

I’d be lying to myself if I said that I didn’t want to see that.

As I thought, he hopped down debonairly, coat ruffling in his descent. He took a few steps that had me mirroring his strides in sheer anticipation of his answer. He then crossed his arms and tilted his head before he responded simply with a monotone voice that would even have Aetos running for his money; “I don’t know.”

What.

“Y-you… you don’t know?!” Frustration leaked through my voice as I took one stomp toward him, my gaze zeroed in on that smug (Eridu Profanity) as I slowly listened to the urge that told me to strangle him! I didn’t know what I was looking for, but I know that I didn’t like the way he said it or his answer! All casual and blunt, leading me on with that show of theatrics and flamboyancy.

It was… it was preposterous! 

Phantom shrugged his shoulders and shook his head like he was rolling his eyes. My mask concealed whatever expression he would’ve had in the moment but I bet he was feeling like a know-it-all as he explained, “Are you deaf? Don’t repeat yourself like that, Calyx. I think I was being rather clear on my answer, no? And I even gave you the time to ask your question instead of answering it beforehand.”

“In fact, you should be grateful to this phantom of yours for even answering in the first place. If you will always be so mean to me, I might shatter. I’m fragile, you know?~” And then returned the pompous attitude and dramatic tone of voice that can best be described as Shakespearean.

I’m in disbelief… No, not even just that, I just… I can’t accept this!

“You cannot accept it, or you do not want to accept it, hm?”

“Can it, Phantom! I’ve had just about enough of your metaphors and Shakespearean accent,” I managed to say through gritted teeth. I took another step forward, trying to maintain any semblance of being peeved beyond belief. His pupilless eyes stared into my soul without any sort of emotion whilst I glared at him, the unspoken desire in my heart had my fists clenched tightly. “Forget about this Grand Heist of yours. How am I supposed to believe in something like that when I can’t even trust you in the first place?! I asked you a simple question that even I could answer, and you say that you don’t even know who you are? Hah! Like I’ll believe that—!”

He cut me off, this sly, pompous, infuriating Thiren just had to interrupt me by correcting my words, “Ah, but you asked me, ‘What are you’? Not who you are. If that were the question, then you would’ve received an entirely different answer… I jest, I actually would’ve just said the same thing.”

That was the final straw. I didn’t even hesitate nor think about what I was doing as my fist flew straight at his face. But once again, Phantom subverted my expectations as my hand simply flew through him, the illusory image of myself vanishing like it was the air itself.

Whoosh! A sharp sound made my ears twitch as my fist struck absolutely nothing, the words were already on my tongue and before I knew it—a high-pitched noise came from my throat, forced out by my frustrations. “Stay still, you pompous, slippery, son of a—(Eridu Profanity)!”

“Do mind your language, dear fox. And watch your etiquette during discussion with another. Should this be how a phantom thief acts? I must say, I’m disappointed,” Phantom just added more salt to my wound now. Urgh, I just wish I could punch that guy in the face and… Ahh! Why can’t I hit you?!

“Because I’m not even real.”

Ngh! Nyeh! The noises repeated, I was like a broken stereo that didn’t have any sign of stopping. Time and time again, I threw my hands with, and hitting, nothing except the thought of putting him down a peg. My voice began to strain from all the oxygen I was using.

And not another thought came to mind…

“...”

“Hah, hah, hah…”

“Are you finally done with your little temper tantrum, dear fox? Or shall we waste yet another hour before you finally realize just how worthless chasing your own tail is?”

“Shut up…”

How long was it since I started going ham all over the rooftop? No clue, nor do I care to find out. My arms are tired, my fingers red from being clenched into fists, and sweat trickled down my forehead. I tried to calm my nerves with some good ol’ breath in and breath out, but it didn’t do squat. And Phantom was just making everything worse. The whole time, he was just sitting there without even moving while all of my attempts at hitting him have royally failed. At this point, I looked like a maniac swinging his arms like I was shadowboxing… and losing!

It’s all so frustrating, like being at the edge of your seat but the movie ends at a cliffhanger… I don’t have it in me anymore to move my arms, so I just sat there in front of him. My gaze fell on the concrete rooftop floor, unmoving.

I can’t believe this guy. Giving me a vague answer with a straight face—er, mask, I don’t care anymore! Ugh, I know that there’s more to him than what he lets on. Why’s he even here? What’s he trying to accomplish?! I’m starting to believe that this is all really in my head. This is driving me nuts! Why can’t he just give me a straight answer?!

“Because the answer you seek might not be one you’ll be happy with. Ever thought of that?” Phantom starts, but just as I was about to rebuke, he lifts his hand and places it on my shoulder. When did he—nevermind. It sure didn’t feel like he did, but visually speaking? Yes. Yes, he did. “May I finish my words before you decide to throw yet another metaphorical and physical jab at my feelings, Calyx?”

Hmph. I’m too tired to say anything else anyway. I still have enough energy to run a whole marathon, but I'm exhausted in the head, I guess.

“Thank you. I shall clarify some things for you, my dear fox. Firstly, while I did say that I am not real, I meant that in the corporeal sense. Seeing as how I’m unable to interact with anything other than you. It may be in your head, but I’m as real as you are.”

I guess that makes sense. Phantom, the other me, makes a fair point…

“Secondly, you have already made your point and, quite literally, showed me that you do not trust me in any shape or capacity. I understand why, but it is quite moot in the grand scale of things. Counterintuitive, if you will. After all, we’re the same, but in a different way. It should come naturally that you should… trust yourself, or me in this case.”

…I sighed, my hand instinctively finding my nape to scratch. “Yeah, I probably should start trusting you—myself, more. But you didn’t answer any of my questions.”

“In due time, they shall be answered. I will admit to you, my answer to your earlier question was… rather unpleasant. I assure you it was no lie. I truly do not know what I am,” Phantom says softly, the playful tune to which he dances on is subtle, but it was still there. Bummer to know that. Maybe I was kinda being insensitive about it.

“I appreciate your sentiment, dear fox. But there is no need for it. I completely understand. And as for why I’m here… The very least I can do is tell you this; I’m here because I need to be here.”

What for? And how? That wasn’t any better an answer than “I don’t know”, but somehow, it felt… right. Despite my earlier frustrations with the guy, Phantom is kinda growing on me.

I stopped staring at the ground, my gaze brought to the familiar mask that I always wore. The surface, the color, the meaning it carried… It was like staring into myself. I literally was.

Somehow, it kinda felt like I understood more of myself in that brief moment.

Phantom’s eyes stared straight into mine, but this time, I can tell what he was feeling from the white peeking through the mask. He was being honest, albeit reluctant, but to be fair, that’s how I would act like too when being so vulnerable.

“I won’t act ignorant and say that I don’t know why I’m here, but you will find out one way or another. Now that we’re done with our, dare I say, intimate introspection, let’s get to the thick of it. Shall we?”

…He was right. There’s still one glaring problem at the moment. And that’s deciding what to do. Calmly, I said to my phantom, “I gotta admit it, your—”

I paused as he gave me a pointed look, so I quickly corrected myself. “I mean, our Grand Heist definitely sounds more tempting after all of this. But I gotta ask, what’s the game plan? And I just wanna make sure—”

“That your dear Old Man and Songbird are not going to be deep in trouble for this? No, not at all. In fact, it will surely benefit them in the long run. Especially that birdbrained partner of yours~ He should learn a thing or two from us, you know?”

I chuckled at Phantom’s words. It caught me off guard, but, at the time, I couldn’t care less and couldn't help but agree with the guy. Aetos should be taking notes from us!

“But on to our main point of discussion… Remember that little piece of info we heard from when you eavesdropped on Luenar and Aetos? You know, where Null_Face decided to show his ugly fangs to us?”

Null_Face… A Proxy, pretty infamous, though they’re more known for being a hacker than anything else. Some guys on the Inter-Knot said that they even rival Phaethon. I don’t like that guy, not one bit. Not only did that jerk threaten to dox my identity as the old man’s employee, he also endangered my friends!

And if Phantom’s words haven’t egged me on, then…

“Ding, ding! You are correct, my dear fox~ We will, in fact, go to the Ithacan Hollow and vanquish the malevolent foes who dare to put our friends in harm’s way!” At his words, my ears suddenly stood straight and my tail wagged intensely. He laughed as he leapt from the vents—his body danced across the rooftop in a precise, orchestrated manner. “Moreover, we shall find evidence that will no doubt save your reputation from being dragged into the mud where it does not belong!”

“It’s not just some heist where we can breeze through security like we always do in search of a mere object! This, dear fox, is an adventure—no, an odyssey! To where the path of fate shall be ventured! Rediscovering our past while we rewrite our stained future!” He exclaimed dramatically, his moves bringing him right in front of me.

“So, what say you, my dear fox?”

He stretched his hand out to me, and I found myself reaching for those ethereal white gloves.

…Rediscover the past, and rewrite the future, huh?

It’s finally clear to me.

“I think I know my answer.”

This is bad.

No, this wasn’t just bad. This is completely—and utterly disastrous!

I felt like pulling on my hair and screaming bloody mary into the street, but that wouldn’t change a damn thing! Calyx’s room is so unusually quiet now… The annoying theme song of his favorite series that used to play on repeat is gone, and any semblance of his presence within the diner? Erased, as if he was never here to begin with. The morning sun bursted through the open window, the curtain’s silhouette ominously dancing across the laundry-littered floor.

How did it all lead to this?

First, Luenar and I were discussing our next plan of action whilst Comet was cleaning the bathrooms. We—or I was gathering necessary data on our enemy’s previous movements, trying to predict what they’d do next. The boss would hit up his old contacts for some very much needed reinforcements while I would’ve headed off to Ren’s place.

But none of it went according to plan at all.

Because the moment that Null_Face infiltrated our computer systems—everything went to hell. Forget figuring out how he managed to bypass the firewalls that I developed, we gotta find out where Calyx went ASAP!

That pathetic fool—he hasn’t even fully recovered after last night. The guilt was too much for him, even though he wasn’t the one who murdered Lynx Carmine, the public still pitted all the blame on him. Ugh, when I get my hands on Null_Face, I swear to god I’m going to…

No, none of that matters right now. Without delay, I turned on my heel and rushed out of the room. The corridor blurred, undulating before my keen eyesight as I rapidly approached the stairs. Luenar yelled behind me, voice reminiscent of an Ethereal’s roar. “Aetos?! Where are you going?!”

His words—didn’t even register in my mind. There was still some time. Calyx may be fast, but he couldn’t have gotten that far. I’ll go after him. It’d take too long for me to grab my equipment, so I have no choice but to use these legs of mine to catch him on foot.

My heart throbbed painfully against my chest as I ran down the stairs to the first floor. Comet, who was now peacefully sweeping those floors, raised his tiny little hands to greet me, but I didn’t even give him a second of time. I could feel my own anxiousness and fears overwhelming my rationality—but I didn’t give a damn!

The only thing on my mind was making sure that my friend was alright.

But before I could even grasp the handle of the front entrance and run a marathon to find Calyx—

“Gukh—!”

Pain. I may be flesh and blood like everyone else, but I’m no slouch when it comes to handling it. But to this magnitude? It was as if I was struck by a cannonball. My knees buckled and my body protested, my hands instinctively shot forward to push against the floor, trying to find balance. Had I not done so, I felt like I would’ve fallen straight through the diner floor…

The pain’s right below my shoulder blade, barely missed my spine—argh! It stings like a bitch! I felt like my soul got forced out of my body, like I was exorcised... Misaligning the subscapularis and the serratus anterior with a strike that hard is definitely gonna earn me a place on the chiropractor’s patient list.

My custom-made glasses fell on the ground, and with a hand as shaky as my spirit, I took them back to prevent my eyesight from working against me. But as I squinted my eyes at the front door, the surface revealed the reflection of the one responsible for my pain. A sense of tension permeated my being, and although it shouldn’t have been a surprise to see him, I felt… confused.

“Gonna listen to what I have to say now? And don’t worry about your little injury, it might hurt, but I could’ve had you out cold if I wanted.”

“B-boss…?! What the hell are you doing?” I croaked out, slowly rising to my feet and using the door to support myself. I sighed, fully expecting what he’ll say. “Please don’t talk to me about some bullshit of not going after him, I know what I’m doing—”

Luenar interrupted my words, and softly explained with a small grin on his face, “I was about to tell you to hold your horses and wait for me. You’re not the only one who needs the little guy back. You should know better than to think I’d let you guys shoulder this on your own.”

“...” I had to double-take from his response—I take back what I said. I did not expect that reply at all. Maybe Calyx was right, the years I spent in service to the Defense Force has definitely rubbed off of me. Usually, my superiors wouldn’t let me do something like this, they’d considered it AWOL. But the boss…

Too stunned to speak, I looked at him with skepticism, but I couldn’t find any underlying motive or any of the sort in his words—just the truth.

I don’t want to doubt him, but…

“Get up and meet me outside when you’re ready, I have something that might help us catch our scampering little thief…”

“...Copy,” I nodded, albeit slightly reluctantly and shakily. But I can’t help but feel like the inner turmoil was alleviated, to a certain degree. Knowing that my boss, who is a very capable chef and fighter, will help me find our mutual friend? That really sets my mind at ease.

Without another word, I stand-up straight; shoulders and feet positioned equally, and freeing myself of any doubt or emotion by silently reciting the military’s mantra. I walked past my boss and approached the stairs. I had to get a couple of things for this escapade, but before I ascended the steps, I uttered under my breath, “Thanks, boss. This really means a lot to me.”

“Don’t mention it. He’s a friend of ours, after all. Not just a phantom thief or an employee,” the boss brushed it off, he’s probably still smiling, but I appreciate his help.

I urged myself to hurry—I practically skipped the stairs with an extended step, my room was at the end of the corridor. Rushing past my partner’s abode, I reach for the handle and bust into my chambers. My keen eyes scan the room for the single item that I’ll bring on this trip; Incandescent, my personal sniper rifle that I made after joining Luenar. Its beautiful frame laid against the suitcase that I concealed it in, the resistant alloy composed of Porcelume and steel which made up the parts is ideal for withstanding the pressure and recoil of Etheric Energy. Due to how experimental Ether-empowered firearms are, the necessary materials are required for forging the parts that can sustain prolonged usage without succumbing to corruption—for both the user and the gun itself. Furthermore—wait, no. Stop being a tech nerd, this is exactly the kind of stuff Calyx makes fun of you for!

That did not mean that it was cheap though. Gah—not again!

The dimly lit room cried in protest at my heavy march as I quickly took Incandescent into my arms, strapping it around my shoulders. There wasn’t enough time to suit up for the occasion, leaving me in my casual wear. Though as my fingers touched the metallic surface, the W-Engine I embedded into it glowed with an ominous rainbow light, the sound of rock music briefly playing.

“Just you wait. You’ll have your time to shine, but let’s roll out, soldier...” I whispered to the weapon, which did more than enough to quell the D-Disc from going overdrive. The words are simple, and people’ll probably think that I’m just saying this to sound cool. But there’s way more to it. I also took a couple of extra magazines with me, just in case.

And with that out of the way, I moved out of the room and left the diner under a few seconds—standard Defense Force drills. Always be ready and alert.

But just as I stepped into the streets, the sight outside Luenar’s Diner left me feeling flabbergasted.

 “Get in, Aetos, Penelope is ready for us to hit the road.” The boss’ sleek purple car emitted a low rumble as it pulled up in front of the diner. The engine practically begging to roar down the streets and show the rest of New Eridu its sleek, aerodynamic frame, its intricate paintjob that reminds me of spilled wine to an extent, and its modern flair that damn fox would be more than happy to be compared to… Hey, wait a second…

“Boss, I know I’ve been questioning you a lot lately, especially with your mother’s cookbook. But, genuinely… Where the hell did you get this?!”

“Call it a perk of being good at business, Aetos. Now come on, he could be getting further while we’re here talking about Penelope.” He responded while propping his elbow against the backrest, a move that shot down my question like a hunter shooting down a… deer… I struggle and refuse to say bird in this context. The only thing that would complete this scene would be sunglasses to replace his prescription lenses…

Not that I’m going to complain much though. He’s got one impressive vehicle—the hood looks brand new, outfitted with an unfamiliar symbol, and there’s a ferocious, intimidating Tiger ornament that sat at the front. The windows appear to be of a high-quality glass, and I can tell that those window deflectors are from the Donda company. Holy, and the side mirrors are foldable too! The tires are in pristine condition and you can tell the paintjob’s new. And wait, is that a tail on the trunk?! It’s like a racing car from Initiative A—this baby’s aerodynamic!

“Well, it seems that Penelope’s caught your eye there, Aetos!” His gruff voice reminds me of the gravity of our current dilemma, being both amused and impatient.

Without even noticing it, my hands and eyes were scrutinizing every nook and cranny of the boss’ wheels. Crap, I instinctively reached out for anything interesting and machines again…! I swear, if Calyx catches wind of this when he comes back, I’ll never hear the end of it…

“Sir, sorry, sir!” I stood straight like a flute would—only this flute lacks the capacity to sing in any shape or form. I tried to hide the growing blush on my face, the boss’ words serving to heighten my embarrassment.

“No sorries needed. She's a beauty, isn’t she? I’d be happy to tell you more about her when we get our little fox back.”

“...Roger,” I would rather undergo the Defense Force’s training drills than admit that I was happy to hear that. Fortunately, I’m not like a Dog Thiren who’d be wagging his tail excitedly at that information.

…Probably.

The sun’s rays reflected from the front windows of numerous businesses, illuminating the streets of the Janus Quarter. From shadow to shadow, from rooftop to rooftop—swings, leaps, bounds and every other flashy technique up his sleeve, Calyx makes his way through the city alongside Phantom. Dozens of buildings undulate beneath them as both Fox Thirens move quickly, like a blur in the peripherals of those oblivious to their passing through. 

It’s been an hour or so since they’ve properly met, and it’s been getting quite tiresome to frequently move from building to building. So, they take a short rest stop on the next roof over to catch their breaths. Calyx takes this brief reprieve to scan the lower area of Fourth Street from his perch on the rooftop entryway. 

“So… Remind me…  Where are we going again? We’ve been running in one direction for the last hour.” Calyx asked through his panting, shooting a sour, almost fed-up look over to his more composed and masked self

His mirage—who can only be seen and heard by Calyx, as proven when the Fox Thiren saw his copy swing right above crowds without anyone noticing him while he had to stick to less conspicuous routes—raised his index finger, waving it at him and responding cheekily.

“To Hollow Zero, dear fox. It is there where our Grand Heist will take place. Only the most grandiose setting can serve as a stage for the excursion of a lifetime~.” Phantom mused as he sat cross-legged on the railing.

The sound of his voice echoed in Calyx’s mind, as if he were right next to him as opposed to being a few meters away from him. It really cemented the fact that all of this—the existence of his other self, is really just an illusion in his head.

“Do you know how far that is!? I’m faster than anybody I know, sure, but I can’t run all the way there!”

“Which is why we need a form of transportation! A bus, a train, or even a bike… Whatever have you—” Phantom replied, seemingly unbothered by the stress on his counterpart’s face as he began kicking his feet like a child. His tail sashaying to the momentum of his legs.

“Yeah, yeah, I get the point already!” The Fox Thiren interrupted him, groaning all the while kicking a nearby watering can straight into the sky. A resounding thud came from below the street, followed by a man’s pained moan.

“Transport, huh?” Calyx pondered, and began reminiscing the conversations he’s had with Aetos on public transportation and safety.

“Hate to break it to you, but I can’t exactly waltz into a vehicle and tell the conductors…” He clears his throat before resuming with a more animated expression, “Hey, I need a ride to Hollow Zero because an invisible version of myself that only I can hear told me I have to go there!”

The phantom thief drops the act to shoot a judgemental glare at himself, who was sitting oh so happily on the railing and offering mock applause. “Well, your acting could use some work, but I see your point…”

There was literally no way anyone would directly drive anywhere near Hollow Zero or its Companion Hollows, much less directly toward them. According to Aetos and PubSec, the original disaster which caused the Fall of Old Eridu is under the heavy scrutiny of the Defense Force. The military’s manpower may be a far shot from its prime, but it's still a powerful force within New Eridu. They fight on the frontlines as the city’s steadfast guardians and heroes, with combat capabilities that make even the Fox Thiren shudder at the thought of facing their most competent warriors.

Hence, no civilian or unauthorized personnel is allowed on the Defense Force’s outposts, much less Hollow Zero itself.

“So, what plans do you have now, me? Gonna sit there like a Bizney princess or actually offer some advice in a song?”

“Well, if you must know, my voice is heavenly. Besides, I do have a song to tell you that you might want to seek the help of a certain… Post-mortem looking, workaholic confidant of yours~”

“Post-mortem…” Calyx echoed, stroking his chin thoughtfully as his ears twitched twice, as if to put the words of his spectral self together. They stand straight as it clicks in his head, his eyes flicking back to the white-filled eyeholes of his copy’s mask.

“Zombie boy…” They both say in unison, Calyx’s face turning into a smile at the reminder of the workaholic part-timer Luenar had hired. 

“And what a surprise, I just so happen to have his address after a bit of… snooping,” the phantom thief snickered to both his copy and himself, forgetting his earlier concerns about transport.

“Spoken as if you were a true phantom thief, dear fox~. Nowhere close to my degree, but you resemble one.” 

“You (Eridu Profanity)! Just as I was starting to like you, too!”

Phantom had both his hands over his heart as if experiencing a heartache, and dramatically exclaimed, “Oh, you wound me. Whatever will I do without your companionship…”

“And don’t steal my tricks against the birdy, either!” The Fox Thiren pointed at his copy, evidently frustrated at how well he gets under his own skin.

After a step back to compose himself, Calyx suddenly realizes that Phantom’s plan might not be so solid after all. “Wait… Aetos and the Old Man might’ve already told Zombie Boy to look for me… How do I know he won’t just take me back to the diner?”

“While I have no answer for you, shocked, I’m sure… Is it so wrong to trust a confidant of yours? I may have to retract that statement about you acting like a phantom thief.”

It’d be the equivalent of putting all your eggs in one basket; while Calyx is all aboard for this crazy Grand Heist of his, it doesn't mean that everything will simply go according to plan. Based on what he remembers from that workaholic, besides the obvious, he’s also a very meticulous and sleep-deprived individual. He always looks like he never gets enough sleep. And knowing that he’s also a devoted detective with a rather successful agency… Calyx doubts that he would help him, especially after being labelled as a criminal.

It’s akin to putting faith in a deity that you weren't sure existed.

But Calyx didn’t really have an option at this point. By all means, he is the farthest thing from being socially inept. A lot of the diner’s patrons often call him an extrovert due to his lively attitude. Despite that, he isn’t used to seeking aid from his colleagues or Luenar, much less strangers. He’s never truly found a genuine connection with people other than the full-time staff of Luenar’s Diner…

It’s difficult for the Fox Thiren to put his faith in someone, especially after the events of last night.

“So, what will it be?” Phantom asked with a curt tilt of his head, clearly impatient.

“Ugh, you… Fine, I’ll ask him. I’m going to call it that he’s not home though… Probably deep in another case or something.” Calyx poises himself to leap from the roof, looking for the building which Ren had put as his residency in the folder Luenar had kept about his employees. His eyes landed on a maroon building, not standout by any means, but Calyx recognized it as the one which held the address in Luenar’s records. 

“Gotcha…” The Fox Thiren smirked, more than ready to dive off into the alley between his rooftop and the next so he can make a move for Ren’s place.

“Try not to be seen, yes? As humorous as it would be, it would also be more than humiliating to see myself get apprehended because of a simple yet botched dive.” Phantom advised sarcastically, resting his chin on his gloved palm.

In spite of his copy’s words, Calyx hops and dives down into the gap between buildings. His coat drapes around planted foot and knee as his landing goes without so much as a sound. The phantom thief immediately checks the sidewalk for any witnesses before he ejects his grapple wire with a spin. It latches onto the outer windowsill with an inaudible click, the wire almost invisible, even in broad daylight. 

With a running leap, the wire pulls him toward the window to the satisfying reeling noise that came from the small mechanism on his wrist. Without even a second’s delay he lockpicks the window and invites himself in.

The apartment was simplistic, untouched by any self-made efforts to alter the interior designing of the landlord—spartan, even. It was obvious to Calyx that work was the one thing ever-present in the part-timer’s head, but it killed him inside to see that he didn’t even do much to decorate his abode apart from the numerous Galaxy Fight memorabilia strewn about. At least it was spotless, save for the stack of papers he assumed to be case files on the nearby coffee table.

The phantom thief slowly rises to feet and looks into the mirror hanging on the wall.

“How’s that, hm~? Flashy enough?” Calyx asks Phantom as he walks out of the glass with his arms folded across his chest.

“Fine, I suppose. Do you want a scratch behind the ears for it?” Phantom teasingly responded, momentarily removing his hand from his arm to mimic the motion of the Instant-Annoying-Fox-Pacification Technique. Instead of provoking the Fox Thiren into agitation, his words instead brought a sly smirk on his face.

“Shut up, you’re impressed~” The phantom thief dismissed Phantom’s sarcastic remark, walking over to the table for any clue as to where his junior could be. 

Each paper callously tossed after the other only served to tell Calyx that he was right… Albeit partially. Ren was nowhere in his apartment, yes, but the way the papers were all stacked and untouched before he threw them around was a clear indication to the fox that he might not be on duty, as hard as it was for him or his double to believe.

“All of these are marked as done… Strange, where could he have gone? Ugh, if only finding him was as easy as finding a needle in a haystack.” Phantom pondered, bringing his index finger up to tap the chin of his mask as his ears twitched instead of Calyx’s for a change.

The Fox Thiren in question was crouched next to the flatscreen television. As clean as Ren’s apartment was, there were some things even a meticulous zombie like him would overlook… Things like a movie tape labelled “Galaxy Fight; Revenge of the Synth” on the floor rather than in its box which is laid next to it. Picking it up, Calyx stares at it for a moment as he tries to reason why it would be there instead of on the shelf next to the TV stand.

“Not like zombie boy to just leave his valuables on the floor… Unless…”

“Oh? Have you a conclusion to make, dear fox?”

“He went to get the next installment of the series!” He exclaimed, eyes wide in realization as he shoved the tape back into its box with a small clap. His copy’s head tilted slightly in place of a brow he would raise had he one at Calyx’s conclusion.

“So you mean to tell me that he left this tape so frivolously because…” Phantom started but only to be cut off by his more physical counterpart’s finger being pointed at him, causing the illusion’s ears and tail to stand.

“... He wanted to watch the next part!” Calyx continued, relishing the moment he gets to interrupt his apparition for a change. 

Phantom paused for a moment, as if surprise made itself comfortable behind the expressionless mask he wore. Calyx smirked triumphantly, a semblance of his usual self breaking through in spite of his recent actions and stress. His copy’s ears twitched twice before he sighed, giving a slow clap that had Calyx torn between thinking it was sincere and mocking.

“Well, I suppose this round of banter goes to you, dear fox. I daresay you look quite proud of yourself~.” The double admits, his tone annoyed yet somehow congratulating, like it wanted to avoid saying those words as he walks over to Calyx.

Phantom offers him a pat on the back before pointing and strutting to the window. “So, shall we go make contact with him, or do you wish for me to tell you how great you are some more?” 

“Hold on, I have to see where this thing was rented from… You know how many video stores there are in Janus?” The phantom thief huffs, looking at the tape’s box for any sort of store licensing.

A bit of rotating the box showed a small sticker that was in the form of a reel ribbon—one someone would find sandwiched in the metal plates of a movie reel. On the box, a familiar name was displayed.

“Random Play… Where have I seen this sign before…?”

Ding! The doorside bell chimed as the Fox Thiren entered his destination, a humble video store on Sixth Street that he knew pretty much nothing about other than it had Ren as a customer. The last time he saw this place was from the outside while he was dressed as a PubSec officer for the sake of gathering info with Aetos.

“So this is where zombie boy gets his Galaxy Fights…”

It hadn’t been that long since he departed for the video rental business. It’s been half an hour since discovering clues that’ll lead him to Ren’s supposed location. Random Play has a cozy atmosphere—the calming jazzy music playing from the speaker at the counter, where a Luckyboo figure is perpetually waving their tiny little arm back and forth. The receptionist was no man, but a Bangboo with the number 18 on its scarf.

It was considerably spacious, a small yellow barrel was made into a seat, the checkered cushion that resembled the diner’s floor appeared comfortable to sit on. Next to it, a healthy potted plant trembled slightly at the conversation happening between two identical Bangboos. Above them hung a television that played one of the videotapes that the store displayed, Coffee Mate, a romcom film about how a customer fell in love with a coffee machine.

It was an interesting flick, Calyx supposed. Not as interesting as the rather tempting employee’s only door behind the counter, but he wasn’t here to steal… Not this time, at least. 

Calyx, having stopped to leave his mask and coat on a roof somewhere, walked to the counter in only a dark turtleneck and his dress pants. He felt uncomfortable in this new space, almost alien as his eyes flicked from one movie shelf to the next. He seemed comfortable enough to engage in conversation, but the recent events involving his image left him with a subtle frown. 

In his head, he thought that the smallest slip into character could spell disaster.

Calyx cleared his throat, doing his damndest in attempting to sound casual, “Hey, little guy… Uh… You running the counter?”

“Eh-nah!” The bangboo eagerly replied, the sound light and friendly—the perfect tone for anything behind the counter and serving as a face for any business. Honestly, it reminded Calyx a bit of himself whenever he had to work as the dining area’s server boy.

“You are? Good to know!” Calyx smiled, possibly having found his way to Ren in the form of this chubby little orange scarf-toting robot. He takes out the Galaxy Fight tape box he found in the part-timer’s apartment and puts it on the counter he could barely see over, “Anyone come by to rent this movie, little guy? Maybe… in the last few days? Came here earlier to rent a sequel to it?”

“Ehn-nah… Eh-nuh,” the orange-scarfed machine replied softly, its eyes gazing at the tape before communicating once more to the Fox Thiren. He was, indeed, aware of who rented it but was unable to say for certain where he is or if he visited today, having taken a small break to charge.

Calyx tilted his head and tucked the box away, seemingly puzzled by the bangboo’s answer. “So if he’s not here… Where could he be?”

As he pondered, Phantom crawled through the corner’s wall-mounted TV screen, groaning languidly before falling with a thud only Calyx’s ears picked up. Dusting himself off, he struts over to Calyx himself with another groan that was moreso a sound of embarrassment and slight pain.

“Who in their right mind hangs a TV that high..?” His copy stretches his arms, trying to recover from his little crash landing. “It ruined a perfectly good reference to such a classic thriller!”

“We’re not in a horror movie. And you do realize that we have something similar back at the Diner, right?” Calyx responded to his ideals, eliciting a confused reaction from the receptionist Bangboo. If Phantom had irises, they would be doing flips behind the eyeholes of his mask. 

“So what if we do, it won’t change the fact that zombie boy isn’t here.” He pointed at Calyx over crossed arms, as if urging him to continue playing detective. Ironic.

“Ugh… No luck here so let’s—”

“18! Who’s there?” Called out a female voice, the sound coming from the stairs nearby. 

The sound of footsteps and creaking wood approaching them caused the ears of both foxes to turn toward the flight of stairs that was past the employee’s only door. Descending was a feminine figure, her short blue hair swinging as she swayed down with a hop to her gait. Her orange hair clip complimented her fresh fit, a black shirt with writings in a familiar yet unreadable language, the Random Play branding on her large jacket that appeared really comfortable, not to mention fashionable. 

Calyx wonders if he can get his hands on something like that. Assuming there’s a male version, one that suited a Thiren of his size. If not, then he’ll settle for the Bangboo’s scarf!

Her dark aquamarine eyes brightened at the sight of the new customer. Calyx looked around to see if there was anyone else, but as his gaze returned to the sharply dressed employee, he pointed his finger toward himself, and she nodded her head excitedly.

She approaches him, the camera by her hips swaying slightly as she waved her hand at Calyx. “Good afternoon, dear customer! How do you do? Can I take it that this is the first time you’ve been to Random Play?”

“Uh… Yeah. I’ve passed by a few times and I was hoping you could tell me something.” The Fox Thiren turned to face her, his copy echoing his movements.

“Of course! Anything you might need. Oh, by the way, I’m one of the managers here. You can call me Belle. It’s nice to meet you.” Common etiquette observed when serving customers. It seems that the manager is quite experienced with negotiations, Calyx observed.

“I’m—” Calyx starts but is cut off by his apparition, which shushes him with a finger.

“Hush, you fool. Are you really going to use our name when introducing yourself!?” He scolded his more physical counterpart, speaking in a hurried tone to avoid drawing the manager’s suspicion, even though he was both invisible and inaudible to her.

He pondered his other self’s point for a moment. All this time, he’s never properly told anyone his name aside from the banter he has with security and raiders during his heists. Not to customers nor his coworkers. They call him Calyx for lack of a better name to call him by. It  brings several questions to his mind which he quickly decides to push aside for the sake of his cover. 

“…Glad I ran into you, Manager! I was actually looking for a friend that might have rented uh… Galaxy Fights!” Using his acting prowess, the phantom thief backpedaled to turn his self-introduction into a problem statement which he then gave to Belle.

“You’re looking for a friend who previously rented Galaxy Fights? Hm… That sounds oddly specific, ah, but wait…” If the manager noticed his momentary pause, she didn’t comment on it. Belle folded her left arm under her chest and lifted her finger to cup her chin, her eyebrows furrowing in thought.

“If it helps, I can tell you what he looks like…” The Fox Thiren shrugs, trying to recall the appearance of his junior. 

“Ah, no need! Let me guess… this ‘friend’,” the manager emphasizes with air quotes. “Of yours, happen to have pink-ish hair, sharp-looking eyes, and look like he’s always ready to pass out at any given moment?”

With his ears perked up at the fitting description of who he was looking for, Calyx eagerly nodded, his features flopping over his face like banners with every other head movement. “Yeah! That’s him, alright! Was he here earlier?” 

“Hey! Cool your jets, little guy. With how fast your ears are flapping, I’d think you were about to fly away.” Belle’s friendly smile widens, as she places her arm on the counter and begins talking cooly. “It’s awesome that you know Ren! He’s actually a friend of mine and my brother here. Although he does visit regularly, he didn’t visit today. He only comes in on every other…-ish week? He’s a really recluse guy.”

This information elicits a frustrated and whiny squeak from the Fox Thiren, causing his phantom self behind him to palm his mask in a show of secondhand embarrassment.  Having just heard his easy ticket to the Ithacan Hollow be crumpled up and tossed away like moldy bread, he exclaimed; “Dang it!”

“Are you okay? That was quite the reaction, I didn’t expect you to be that frustrated. Must’ve been looking for him all day, huh?” Belle was quick to calm the Fox Thiren down, the other patrons looked at him weirdly for suddenly being so loud, but otherwise returned to browsing for videotapes. “Let’s not jump the gun yet! Just cause he wasn’t here today doesn’t mean that I don’t know where he should be…”

“Thanks for the help, Manager, but zombie boy’s always got something on his mind! If he wasn’t here today, he could be halfway across Janus Quarter...!” The small fox complained, both looking and acting like a toddler much to his apparition’s dismay. Though his actions only brought an even bigger smile to the manager’s face.

“Trust me, my guy! If I know anything about Renny, he’ll always be at the Godfinger Arcade! Whenever he’s got nothing to do at his workplace, he’d spend some downtime trying to beat his own highscore everyday. And!” She said with an enormous grin, puffing up her chest in pride at knowing more about her friend than his other friends. Lifting her index finger on her chin as if she were the wise scholar in those fantasy movies she’s watched. She continued, “Knowing how he literally has nothing to do everyday because of his terrible habit of finishing everything at once, he’s definitely at Godfinger! He doesn’t have anywhere else to go if he’s got nothing to do.”

Calyx’s ears fluttered a bit as he processed Belle’s words, an action mimicked shortly after by his mirage behind him. Belle was confident, almost sure of herself, that Ren was just across the street that it made the Fox Thiren and his double look to each other as if to confirm that they both heard her right. After feeling slightly hurt that he didn’t know Ren like he thought he did, Calyx returned his focus to Belle.

“Really, now? Well, that makes this a LOT easier!” His tantrum immediately subsided, making way for the eagerness that came before it. Honestly, it was jarring how fast his mood swapped.

“Well, I’m glad that I was able to help you. Any friend of Ren is a friend of mine!” Belle finished her explanation with an exaggerated finger snap, winking at the Fox Thiren whose name she has yet to catch.

“Thanks again, Manager! I’ll tell him you sent me his way!” Calyx practically readied himself to fly out the door, his spectral self dissipating, presumably to reappear beside him later.

“Of course, ah—but before you go find him, can I ask you a quick question? It won’t take too long,” she quickly reassures him, the caution in his eyes vanishing just as soon as it appeared and he relaxed. He briefly nodded, giving Belle the signal to go forward with her inquiry. “Since you know Ren, how did the two of you meet?”

A simple question. Calyx was worried for nothing. He’s been getting more restless lately… And a lot more impatient. But he should answer the manager’s question. It’s the least he can do, out of courtesy.

“Hmm…” He pondered, stroking his chin with his thumb as he recalled their brief history together at Luenar’s. 

“I found him hanging around the place I worked. Started as a patron, then he apparently became a part-timer.” The fox’s answer was as simple as the question given to him, straight and to the point.

“Hm, hm. I see. That’s pretty cool! What’s the name of the place that you guys work at? If I’m free, I’d love to visit and see how he’s doing!”

“If you really wanna visit, then you’ll find him on Tenth Street in a diner named Luenar’s. His schedule’s a bit wonky, but I know for sure he works Fridays!” Calyx responded with an energy that matched the bubbly personality of Belle. Her body language gave away her healthy physique and cheery character, making her really easy to talk to.

“Hah~ Of course it's gonna be a bit wonky… Although Ren has enough dedication to put even the devoted Defense Force soldiers to shame, he’s too much of a workaholic to actually put it to use! Ugh, he’s such a doofus. It’s a miracle how he hasn’t passed out yet.”

“Exactly why I call him zombie boy. If he’s not working himself dead, he’s probably sleeping like he is!” The phantom in disguise snickered, recalling how Ren always looked ready to go limp and start snoring at any given moment. Suddenly, the two shared the general consensus that their mutual friend is the most worrisome person in the world.

And so, somehow, a mysterious force had miraculously pushed the two of them to clasp their hands together in a high five.

It wasn’t because they shared the same sentiments of harboring concern for the continued deterioration of Ren’s health. Though their current interaction said otherwise.

“Well, I’ll be off then! I have to catch him before he slips back into his coffin!” Once again, Calyx prepared to bolt out of the door.

Without even another word on his end, he launched himself forward and slid past and under an entering Random Play customer, disappearing from the snug little video store.

“Wait, I don’t know your name yet—! Ah, whatever, I’ll just ask Renny when I see him again. They are friends, after all...” Belle mutters in a barely contained whisper as a tinge of sadness briefly gnaws at her. She had just made a new friend and he immediately went away! Not that she blames him at all for rushing, nor did she question it. He must have his reasons. Though she would’ve liked to keep talking about Ren and learning about what he’s been up to. It’s been awhile since they’ve caught up.

“Belle? Who was that?” The employee’s only door opens, revealing a rather handsome young man, wearing an outfit similar to his sister. Despite having dark bags under his eyes, it strangely complimented his appearance.

“Ah, Wise! You wouldn’t believe this, but this Fox Thiren earlier dropped by, and he actually knew Ren!” After name-dropping the other manager of their shared establishment, Belle hops over to her brother. They resemble one another quite a lot—save for his sibling’s dyed hair, they possess the same-colored eyes, skin, and similar face complexions.

“Oh? Not something you hear about everyday. Who would’ve thought that a guy like him finally broke out of his shell and made a new friend?”

“I know, right?! Oh, we're so gonna use this against him. I can already picture the face he’ll have as I learn of his deepest, darkest secrets from his colleagues! Mwahaha!”

A sigh escaped the silver haired manager’s lips as he shook his head, unable to prevent a smile from breaking through, “Always quick to gather blackmail, aren’t you, Belle?”

A playful grin spreads across her face as a brief, diabolical giggle echoes in the room. “Hehe. Why, it happens to be my life’s work to finally break through Ren’s defenses! He never fell for any of my pranks or jokes back then, it’s actually ridiculous! So this time, I’ll be using a different method…”

“Well, maybe your life’s work can wait. We’ve got a commission lined up and I need you to pilot Eous.” Wise crosses his arms, putting one up to point at the Employee’s Only door 

“Ah—sure! Let’s go and make that sweet moolahhh~ Alright, you guys better man the fort, alright?” Belle pats Bangboo 18’s head, the little receptionist happily accepting the contact of their beloved manager as their visor displays a pair of gleeful, green arches.

“Ehn-nuh!”

“Alright. What’re we waiting for? Let’s go!”

Godfinger Arcade, the place where people go to burn both denny and down time while they lose themselves in the world of high-scores, blinking lights and retro beep-boops. Even outside, Calyx can hear the mixed happy and angry—the overall competitive yet casual sounds of people playing on the many machines. Frustrated groaning, hype-induced cheers, the sound of buttons being mashed and sticks being slammed against their sockets, all the things one would hear in this sort of place were clear to him even though he was a fair distance away from the door.

Standing alone outside was a machine meant for display purposes. One that Calyx’s other self happily used to manifest once more, leaping sideways through the screen as the Fox Thiren passes it and landing next to his more corporeal self. 

“Well, here we are…” His double comments from behind his mask, his ears immediately turning to the doorway as they pick up several sounds much to their dismay. “And how loud do they have to be? I understand having fun, but this is absurd.”

Calyx peeks his head through the door to reveal a number of people, both young and old, enjoying their time. A grating juxtaposition, it was, to see these people being so carefree— to see them so relaxed. It made him seem almost out of place with both what laid on his mind and what stood just behind him. 

“Well, at least they’ll be too busy to notice us—uhh, me. I forget they can’t see you…” Calyx mutters under his breath, trying his best to remain inconspicuous.

To say it was hard for this phantom thief to act natural is like saying that Aetos would finally take a joke and not go crazy over it… And the chances of that happening are uncomfortably close to zero.

Calyx’s steps through the arcade’s floor were almost inaudible under the bystanders enjoying themselves. It felt like hours searching for Ren inside, all the while the noise was starting to leave an irritating ringing that also seemed to affect his double. He comes out deflated after roughly ten minutes of circling the arcade’s machines and patrons, rubbing his ear to hopefully rid himself of the retro sounds which still lay fresh in his eardrums.

“Well, that was pointless… I don’t think he was in there…” The phantom thief complains, shooting a glance at his copy which was stroking his own ear as well.

“Excuse me, sir, you dropped this,” a voice that did not register in Calyx’s mind spoke from behind him. Due to his growing frustration and unease, he suppresses the urge to sigh and yip defensively at the stranger.

“Happy thoughts, Calyx. Happy thoughts…” The words repeated in his head like a mantra, doing very little to calm him down but propelling him to finally respond to the voice behind him. “Drop what—? Sorry, it’s been a really bad day and—Oh woah, it’s you!” 

Calyx’s worry and heat washed off of him, like a well-needed wave of relief just crashed into him as he looked up at the person who addressed him.

Holding the Galaxy Fights videotape box he apparently dropped was a pale man who was almost as tall as the arcade machine next to the both of them. His hair was colored and looked like a decorative pink marshmallow, locks dangling a little past his shoulders in a messy yet charming way. He wore a faux smile under hot pink and baggy eyes, both features seemed soft but lacked any sort of warmth. In place of it, a hint of curiosity and dash of scrutiny as he looked at the Fox Thiren.

No doubt about it, the person Calyx was looking for went and slipped under his nose, just to return the video tape that he, himself, rented to the befuddled Thiren who found it on the floor of his apartment.

“And where were you, Ren?” The fox pointedly asks, hands on his hips like a sassy TV show aunt despite his earlier disposition of frustration. His eyes lock onto the box for a bit before pushing it back toward the blankly staring zombie.

Ren tilts his head, the video tape now being held only just in front of his white shirt while a hint of recognition flickered in his lazy magenta gaze.

“Calyx? What brings you to Godfinger? Uh, are you looking for something to do too?” He asks the Fox Thiren, casually putting the video tape into his chest-mounted fanny pack and rubbing his finger against his head.

Calyx murmurs something about zombies and terrible timing before a small sigh escapes his lips. Phantom’s amusement, evident even from his static spectral mask of a face, takes a seat on the nearby arcade machine, his legs crossed regally as he watches the unfolding interaction.

“No, I’m not. I came to ask for a favor…” Calyx said quietly, the phantom thief’s eyes darted around subtly, as if to look for any potential eavesdroppers. Ren immediately took note of the strange reaction from the Fox Thiren. It was a stark contrast to the upbeat fox he knew whenever he would brag to his junior about Hollow Diving or even simple conversations about their days.

Ren, seemingly deciding to let the detail slide, softly gestures with his hands for his senior diner worker to relax. “Hm… if it was just a little favor, there’s no need to be so… shy? Ehrm, is that what I’m seeing here?” 

The part-timer asked with a hint of amusement, clearly not used to seeing the phantom thief so quiet. A bristled tail and ears made themselves at home on the Fox Thiren, possibly from embarrassment as he got called out for his uncharacteristic behaviour.

“Shut up!” Calyx whined despite himself, putting balled hands up to his collar defensively in an attempt to save his, admittedly diminished, dignity. To Ren, though, it just looked like the average flustered reaction that one would see in a shoujo story, a reaction that was less helped by the fox’s small stature.

“Ah, tsundere!” Ren concluded, nodded his head with certainty as he placed his hands in his jacket’s pockets. “Aetos taught me a bit about anime culture, so…” 

Ren starts musing, only to be cut off by smack to his leg that felt like getting hit by a throw pillow.

“Not the point, Zombie Boy!” At this point, Calyx’s ears were straight up and his tail began to resemble a feather duster. It was only when Phantom cleared his throat from atop the display arcade machine to the side that the phantom thief took a deep breath to compose himself, reminded that he’s been thoroughly distracted from why he was looking for Ren in the first place.

“Are you gonna do me this favor or what?” His ears became more relaxed as he spoke again in a hushed tone, arms folded over one another as he braced himself to convey his request.

Ren didn’t give Calyx an answer yet. He was stuck in thought, the Fox Thiren realized. An odd habit of his whenever he was deep in contemplation by biting his finger, or thumb in this case. Ren had no knowledge what was going on in the Fox Thiren’s head, but he could definitely tell something was amiss. Following his instincts as a detective, his mind went into overdrive. The silence made Calyx squirm in the presence of the pale human, whose gaze lingered on his senior.

“Uh… H-hey, Ren? You good there?” Calyx inquired Ren, who, after a brief moment, finally snapped out of his thoughts.

“Ah, nothing to worry about. Just thinking, the usual… Anyway, what do you want me to do, specifically? And why?”

To Ren, any problem was just that. A problem…. One to solve and nothing more. Earlier, he had thought something was amiss, hence his prolonged thought process. But he finally brought his attention to Calyx’s prior question. A favor? And what for? He’d question the Fox Thiren’s intentions to quench his caution and curiosity. Though he had no real attachment to Calyx nor his underlying motives, that didn’t mean he was without a code to abide by.

But this could be a good way to kill his down time…

“Ithacan Hollow…” the phantom thief whispered, “I need you to take me there… For… For…” 

He trailed off, seemingly unable to finish his words. Calyx’s apparitional self peered over his shoulder from atop his seat on the recreational machine, those whited-out eyeholes lacking detail but abundant in scrutiny. It was as if Phantom’s presence chained his tongue down until Calyx himself was sure of what he would say.

“A heist.” Phantom directs the Fox Thiren’s words, arms now crossed like his legs, devoid of his past extravagance or flair. Rather than witty lines or snarky remarks, his line came out as a command that, as it sounded, would have consequences if not followed. 

“A heist…” Calyx echoes to Ren, who was unbothered by his senior’s sudden request. The diner’s part-timer ponders for a moment, the finger on his chin brushing in a small rising and falling motion that seemed to stoke his brain’s ability to think. What business would Calyx have in the Ithacan Hollow? Furthermore, why was he coming to him instead of consulting Aetos and Luenar?

Despite this thought process, though, Ren would never go do something on a mere whim or word. As a detective, he needed something more to ascertain Calyx’s sincerity—One word or mannerism to sway his analytical mind into believing his coworker.

“So you need a ride to the Ithacan Hollow for a heist? But… there's something more to it, isn’t there? We may be part of… the same company, but I can’t help finding it suspicious that you want to enter that specific Companion Hollow, especially one that’s as heavily guarded as Hollow Zero itself…” The detective softly scrutinized his Fox Thiren senior. Ren’s eyes sharpened as he began looking Calyx up and down for any semblance of mistruth or deceit. As a phantom thief, it would be natural for him to mess with the detective as easily as he drew breath, as much as that would prove to be a detriment if Ren considered that for even a moment.

With the eyes of both Phantom and Ren locked onto his figure like a pair of spotlights, Calyx decided to double down, forcing a smile after what felt like an eternity of mental bracing.

“I don’t feel comfy talking about this at all… But I was framed… for murder…”

“I am aware,” Ren nodded, urging for the Fox Thiren to continue.

“...It’s unlike me to ask you something in general, even less so about this… I don’t expect you to believe me at all, but here’s to hoping.” Each word spoken was softer than anything Ren had heard from the fox before, including his earlier whispering. Despite the softness, though, the detective could more than make out the resolve behind each word.

The thought of Calyx being humble bounced around his head like Etheric matter would in a Hollow. The scrutiny on Ren’s face softened ever so slightly, much to the growing hope that festered in the fox’s chest.

The chugging train of thought in his head is brought to a screeching halt by the buzz in Ren’s back pocket. He pulls out his phone, eyes narrowing slightly as he puts it in front of Calyx’s face. His irises flick back and forth from the corners of his eyes, clearly reading something that elicits a sigh as he then pockets his phone.

“It was nothing important, sorry,” Ren apologizes, now considerably more relaxed after having heard the phantom thief’s testimony, “If you just needed a ride, then why didn’t you say so? I’m free for the time being, anyway…”

Ren’s response earns him a small gasp from both foxes, the more spectral one hopping off of his arcade machine. He accepted to take Calyx to Hollow Zero’s companion Hollow just like that? It was hard to believe for either of them, honestly, but what else could they reliably count on if not the unsettlingly easy ride to the Ithacan Hollow.

“Just… Just like that?” Calyx stammered, still in disbelief despite the obvious relief that made itself evident in a smile that slowly grew on his face. 

“Yeah, well, I’m done at Godfinger and you just brought me my video tape… Saves me the hassle of going back to my apartment to look for it… Call it a thanks, I suppose.” Ren nodded, motioning with his hand for Calyx to follow as he began to walk behind the arcade. Despite the rather mundane answer, the little fox knew that there was more to his intentions, but he didn’t bother to pry. He was just happy that Ren was taking him. Phantom, knowing they’ve reached a good point in his plan, vanishes with the weak pulse of his being once more.

The Fox Thiren suddenly stops in his tracks and begins to pat his turtleneck sweater subconsciously. It was then he remembered that his thieving outfit and dagger was left somewhere on the roofs of Sixth Street, the video store specifically.

“I’ll grab my stuff and meet you back here… I kind of left it all on the roof of the video store while asking around about you.” Calyx backtracks, jogging backwards to the street.

“Hm? Wait, you ran into the managers? Belle and Wise?” Ren asked, his lazy smile growing a tad at the mention of Random Play and the thought of the duo that ran it.

“I did! One of them, at least… Yeah, Belle! She's a cool gal…” The Fox Thiren mused, momentarily distracted from getting back the rest of his outfit. 

Calyx leaves Ren to the thought of him interacting with the manager of Random Play, the part-timer’s smile just a bit more genuine than the one he always wore. It takes the phantom thief a few minutes but he returns with his mask bundled in his long coat, dagger already resting on his lower back.

Following his junior, the fox turns the corner to find a modest, boxy white car bearing the Tomoya brand on its grill. On the center of its roof, held just above the windshield, was a little sign whose words were visible from either side of the car. Walking to the passenger door to mirror Ren entering his side of the car revealed bold black text on the sign that said “Taxi” as well as the small checkered line that was just under the door handles.

Bam! The car doors close as both of them take their seats.

“Work?” Calyx asks, not even sparing a glance at Ren as they both click their seatbelts into their places.

“Work.” Ren replies seamlessly, the engine sputtering to life as the car’s AC starts blowing cool air directly into the Fox Thiren’s face. They pull out of the small strip of road behind Godfinger as they take to the streets.

After what felt like hours of being on the road, the little taxi stopped at the outskirts of a city that’s seen better days, just within view of an expansive fissure that looked like a sea of dust and dirt. Ren steps out of the car first, his tired eyes first drifting to the islands that were seemingly uprooted from the earth itself. After squinting at the nearby ruined city, confirming that this is, in fact, where they needed to go, Ren glanced back at Calyx who was still unbuckling his seat belt, “Here we are… Just outside the entrance of the Ithacan Hollow… See that, over there? The huge Ether ball eating the city? Is that really where you wanna be going?”

The Fox Thiren stepped out of the car nodding, slipping his hand through his coat’s sleeve as a faint yet ominous breeze brushed past him and Ren. His eyes immediately landed on the city that surrounded a massive Hollow and was partially responsible for the collapse of a whole civilization. “The Ithacan Companion Hollow… My heist’s stage…”

Looking around to where Ren was gazing before pointing out their destination, Calyx found several steely spires atop floating islands, reminiscent of beacons that were spewing a purple light skyward. Despite how close he was to his destination, his curiosity got the better of him and he pointed out toward them with a question in mind. “What’re those huge towers? Those ones there, on those floating cities…”

Ren shrugged as he glanced over at Calyx, his expression still languid but with a tinge of amusement. “You guys Hollow dive but you don’t know what a Shiyu Pillar is? Think of it as a… leech of sorts. Sucks the Ether right out of the Hollow… Takes the ideal condition for Etheric beings and gives it to us as power… How? Beats me…”

“Aetos is the nerd... I like to focus on the more engaging parts of our little outings.” Calyx retorted but, despite his claim, his tone came out more serious than it should have sounded.

Walking to the front of the taxi had the back of Calyx’s figure reflected on the hood as the sun stood high over the ruinous city they came to see. Despite how apocalyptic the sight before them was—ruined buildings, spires shooting Ether into the heavens, and the possible rampant Ethereals, Phantom couldn’t help but chortle as he pulled himself up from the fox’s likeness.

The illusory Calyx took his time strutting along the hood and sitting flamboyantly next to his more physical self. “Quite the macabre sight, is it not? Think of how many lives were taken for this kind of stage to be set…”

To his own surprise, Calyx felt unable to even muster a thought in response to the remark of his double, his face scrunching like he had a bad taste in his mouth. Was he finally at his wit’s end, or was he simply showing respect for the possible casualties of whatever happened? Regardless, he shook the question off like he shook his head, mask in his hand as he began trekking to the derelict city and its Etheric core.

“You sure you don’t want me to take you to the edge of the Hollow—?” Ren offered, only to be cut off as he was halfway through the driverside door.

“You don’t need to… You did more than enough for me, Ren… Thanks.” Calyx, for once in his life, had given a thank you that was neither fabricated for show nor sarcastic. The fox shoots him one last grateful look before slipping his mask on and shooting his grapple wire at the remains of a nearby dilapidated structure for a vantage.

Knowing better than to argue with the phantom thief, Ren slumps back into the driver’s seat of the Tomoya and pulls out his phone. The sound of his on-screen keyboard clicking briefly filled the vehicle’s insides before he tossed his phone onto the passenger seat beside him. 

On the device’s screen, are words displayed in a familiar font.

“—I brought Calyx to the Ithacan Hollow. You’re welcome.”

Chapter Text

Swish! Bzzzzt! Calyx’s grappling wire zipped to and from his wrist as he flew above forgotten streets toward the Ithacan Hollow. His coat billowed and the breeze brushed past his mask. Only this time, a sense of underlying dread replaced the thrill he wished he felt as he hooks and unhooks each weathered protrusion.

As part of the capital of Eridu, this city was once the prosperous home to mankind before the emergence of Hollow Zero, it failed the test of time and lost the war of attrition as evidenced by the rise of the Etheric cancer at its core. The air itself reeked of a musty, upturning, and sulfuric odor that had Calyx’s nose scrunched under his mask—each and every building taken over by either the life of overgrowth or giving way after so many years spent abandoned.

As far as the Fox Thiren could see, it was a reminder of how helpless people were at the time of crisis, one that gave birth to New Eridu as well as the dread of another massive Hollow appearing right out from under them.

The fox’s coattails ruffled as he landed, now staring into the void he would be walking into, the stage of his ‘Grand Heist.’ In front of him opened a void-like maw which hummed ominously as it shifted and warped in a misleadingly alluring fashion.

He checked his outfit and weapon, the last inspection he’d make before stepping into the Ithacan Hollow. Just as he was about to step into the limelight which his double so meticulously goaded him into…

—He stopped. Hand frozen in front of him.

Hesitation crossed Calyx’s own features that he was barely able to see in the black dome of the Hollow, as if he were being held back by what little he still knew he had. He was alone, save for Phantom, the hand he extended to test the Ether concentration like Aetos had taught him suddenly curling. The sound of his heart beating and breaths escaping deafened him to the low buzz of the spatial fissure right in front of him.

Despite his now shaky breathing and the pounding chest in his ears, the Fox Thiren could make out a clear and unsettling sound. Phantom giggled as he, once again, manifested. From behind the kaleidoscopic rift came the shadow of Calyx himself, slowly taking the fox’s hand into his own while leaning forward, their masks’ eyes locked in a tense stare.

“Dare not say you’ve found fear before the truth, dear fox…” Phantom mused, his grip tightening on the black and white glove of his physical counterpart. “How tragic would it be for our hero to shy away from redemption…”

“H-hero...?” Calyx managed, his fingers twitching between the folds of his shadow’s hand. 

Phantom nodded, his lilt now with added amusement as he spoke, “Yes… Hero… After all, what is a phantom thief if not that?”

He can feel the cool, comforting touch of his phantom on his hand, separated by the gloves they wore. The wind caressed his face and gently whispered into Calyx’s ears, the Ithacan Hollow’s size a daunting sight for the thief, even with his experience of Hollow Diving.

“What’s in there...? What exactly are we supposed to grab that’ll save my image, Phantom?” The Fox Thiren asked his incorporeal self, subconsciously clinging onto his hand while doubt still plagued the mind behind those ears.

“My dear fox, let it be known that the journey is as important as the destination itself… You’ll never learn if everything was given to you on a silver platter, after all.” With those vague but meaningful words, Phantom tugged the rather confused Calyx into the spatial fissure. The ephemeral grace of the fox’s illusion somehow propelled him into the Hollow’s gate.

“Hey, what is that supposed to mean—”

Before the final syllable of his words were spoken, the sound of his voice was drowned by the spatial fissure’s bassy noise.

Not even after a second since the Etheric matter graced his being, Calyx shuddered as he stumbled forward, the odor of the ruined city permeating his mask—this time, more intensely. Clutching the accessory closer to his face hardly did anything to dull the smell, its metallic and throat-itching stench lingered in the fox’s throat for longer than he wanted it to.

His eyes are set on the derelict remains of what was once a bustling residential district, buildings either torn down or left ravaged by Ether. The distant echoes of Ethereal and Hollow-related activity sent more than just a shiver down Calyx’s spine—it had him look around cautiously, his hand instinctively moving up to the sheathed dagger on his lower back as he took in the sight of such a thoroughly destroyed area.

“So~” Phantom’s voice cut through the tense atmosphere like a knife through butter, causing Calyx to jump slightly, much to his spectral self’s amusement, “My, how jumpy you are, dear fox, it is only me, you know…”

“I knew that…” Calyx muttered, almost to himself, as he watched his shadow take the scenery in stride. He kept his hand ready on his dagger’s hilt, surveying the area while Phantom took a whiff of the air and let out a sigh. “You seem comfy for someone in the Ithacan Hollow… A Hollow that broke off from THE Hollow Zero…”

“Tsk, tsk, dear fox.” Turning to face his more corporeal self, Phantom studies the eyes behind his own mask. A low snicker escapes his own mask as he opens his arms, seemingly embracing the desolation that plagued the air and the pure, unfiltered scene of chaos long past. His arms rise as the giggles slowly evolve into laughter, Phantom’s head cocking back as his shoulders rise and fall to the rhythm of his cackle.

“Hah… Our stage… The one where we shall clear our name and have the chance to right the wrongs so callously thrown at our confidants.” The illusory fox’s laughter subsided, giving way to his usual flamboyant words. He turned about face and began walking toward the inner ruins of what the Ithacan Hollow had swallowed, leaving Calyx with a sense of unease as he watched himself waltz directly into the unknown.

“H-hey! Wait up!” He called out, hurriedly walking back to Phantom’s side while his eyes continued to scan the area, his nerves getting the best of his usual dauntless self. 

Through decrepit streets they walked and under clouded afternoon skies did they see just how damaged the stage for their supposed Grand Heist was. It was undoubtedly worse than whatever Calyx saw outside. Amerynthine Ether crystals were sprouting from rubble and the once green foliage was being leeched off of, the air itself had small purple dots dancing around each growth and eyesore as if to signify just how much of this godforsaken substance lay in the air.

The streets laid barren and empty, neglected for years and only now disturbed by the pair of foxes that seek the macguffin to their heist. The sounds of Ethereals in the distance created an atmosphere that was as tense as Calyx’s shoulders. “So… W-what are we looking for again? You were too vague with your description…”

“Just one thing, dear fox… A little yellow strip of information that will tell you all you need to know about that pesky proxy, Null_Face…” Phantom replied, hands behind his back as he led through the Hollow’s streets. 

“A… Strip? Like a thumbstick or something?" Asked the puzzled Fox Thiren, trailing behind himself while scratching the side of his head, “Do we even know where to look?”

Phantom, seemingly in response to this question, stops and places his arm in front of Calyx. The latter was about to dig his fangs into his apparition before something catches his eye just beyond his spectral form…

—A ruined playground stood out to the foxes among the Hollow-ravaged city. The monkeybars stood dented, the slide’s paint was chipped, and swings had been torn from their frame. Funnily enough, it wasn’t the sad state the place was in that caught the fox’s attention. Rather, it was the damaged monkeybars which left him with a strange sense of calmness.

 Despite his earlier disposition of being uncomfortable inside the Hollow of Hollows, Calyx felt his shoulders relax and he found himself questioning it. He looked to himself beside him, wondering why he felt this way, only to receive a nod that barely answered anything—begetting confusion.

The confused scratching of his head slowly turned into the lax grip of his mask, Phantom turning to look at his eyes through the mask. Calyx’s pupils waded within his illusory self’s lack thereof, as if looking for a semblance of reassurance that he hoped he would get. Instead, Phantom spoke with an undeniable intrigue, “Head hurting, dear fox? Can you bear to stomach such a somber sight?”

“Somber? What makes this sight sadder than the dead city we just walked through?” Calyx mumbled, removing his hand from his mask to better look at both his double and the mysteriously intriguing ruins. 

“Well, let us say that once upon a time, this place was one for laughter and make-believe. To see all these tools made to bring smiles so broken and beyond recognition… Does it not seem a tad melancholy?”

“Sad for sure, but what’s this got to do with our heist?” Calyx argued, albeit half-heartedly. As far as the phantom thief knew, it was just a playground that stood derelict, so why was it that it garnered his attention?

A pat on the shoulder from Phantom snapped Calyx out of his trance. With a sigh that seemed impatient, the spectral fox pulled the sleeve of his more physical self. “You will learn in due time whatever it is you are feeling. Dawdling only fuels my impatience, dear fox, for I share your curiosity yet wish for the expedition of our heist.”

“And why’s that?” Calyx asked with growing suspicions, suddenly growing more wary of his situation. From his perspective, Phantom suaded him into Hollow Zero’s Companion Hollow in search of a mystical item that could just wipe his name as a phantom thief clean. He had his doubts when the spectral fox first crawled out of the vent shaft and gave him that whole speech about this being an odyssey, a revelation, a so-called solution to the problem he so desperately wanted to be solved.

But he didn’t give an answer—not yet anyway. A brief silence found itself wedged between them as Phantom began walking further into the city. Grumbling, Calyx, quite literally, chased his own tail through the assortment of building remains that were being corrupted more severely the deeper they found themselves within the Ithacan Hollow. The air itself felt as if it were pressing against the outermost layer of the phantom thief’s coat, practically oozing Ether particles with how much purple Calyx could make out in each ominous wind and subtle glint in the distance.

“As I have told you, dear fox, answers will come when you find them. Now, come. Our next destination is at hand.” Muses Phantom, his hand rising to point at another sight that stood forgotten in the civilization’s remains.

The Fox Thiren followed the gesture of his double, finding a large overgrown building. The windows were in a state anyone would’ve expected; shattered, while the insides were as lifeless as the streets they looked up at it from. Polluted vines made themselves comfortable on the disheveled walls, some hanging down like curtains that spare both Calyx and Phantom the sore sight of whatever state the walls were in.

Despite how simple it seemed, Calyx felt another wave of discomfort wash over him as he laid eyes on the ruins. It hit him harder than the feeling he felt at the playground, the lax grip on his mask he had then turned into subtle clutching it against his face as he scanned the multi-story building. Phantom rested a hand on his shoulder, clearly ready to provide a few words of vague insight.

“As somber as the playground was, many lived in this apartment building… All of them just scraping by, you know? No luxury, but enough to keep shelter over their heads while they worked under… Well, what or whoever it was that contracted them. In this case, the holders of our little treasure kept it on the fourth floor.” Phantom told the Fox Thiren just as he began scaling the overgrown walls with acrobatic and foxy grace.

Shaking himself out of his stupor, Calyx followed with the same practiced ease, albeit more shaky than he cared to admit, even slipping occasionally when he lost his grip on the vines. It elicited a sigh from his illusory counterpart who was already sitting comfortably on the windowsill that was a few floors off the ground. “Don’t slip now, that would be unbecoming of a phantom thief.”

Grumbling some more, Calyx hops up and clings to the windowsill, his legs kicking off of the wall in front of him so he can flip through it and take in the apartment. 

Broken. It was a shell of whatever home people made of it. The floors were stricken with holes and heavy Ether corruptions that also plagued the walls. Bookshelves laid rotten and barren with papers strewn about callously. The apartment seemed almost alive, much to the contrast of the lifelessness that was so blatantly obvious, with noises coming from elsewhere in and around the building. Some of these noises even caused Calyx to shudder, thinking they were footfalls or whispers about him.

 Through a small hallway, Calyx could make out a pair of rooms parallel to each other, with one door resting slightly open at the end of it. 

Shooting a look to his spectral self offers no reprieve from the sudden surge of discomfort he felt when looking down into the dim passage. Calyx’s chest rose and fell irregularly, his breathing rhythm now erratic as the heart in his chest began beating against it like it wanted out. His eyes nervously took in every detail of the hallway, from the debauched and flaking white paint on the walls to the framed and rotted pictures that adorned them…

—Yet, in spite of this all, he took a step forward. Followed by another. And another.

“The door on the right, dear fox.” Phantom instructed, walking just behind Calyx with hands above his lower back. The spectral fox’s strides contrasted Calyx’s steps, calm and poised despite the dead household they found themselves in. 

As Calyx pushed the door open, it was accompanied by the low groaning of the hinges. What little light from the late afternoon sun peered through a singular broken window onto a bed that was as dirty as it was unused. Beside the bed was a broken lamp that offered no value as it laid lifeless on top of a damaged nightstand. However, something caught the Fox Thiren’s eyes beneath the ruined furniture.

On the nightstand, under the lamp was a small piece of paper that seemed to withstand the Hollow’s corrupting effects, by some miracle. It was slightly ripped and was folded in on itself, held closed by a yellow ribbon neatly tied around it.

“Is this it…?” Calyx pondered, knowing that Phantom was watching his every move. Without needing further confirmation from his shadow, he tried to take a step forward, but he paused. His ears and tail stood as still as a frightened animal, hands reaching out but only ever remaining at his sides. Why was it so difficult for him to even move…?

He felt his spectral self’s hand shove him forward, giving Calyx the small but necessary push toward the nightstand.

The Fox Thiren gets down on one knee to get a better look at the little folded paper and its yellow ribbon. His touch when undoing the knot of the ribbon was tentative, almost as if he were scared of damaging whatever it was wrapped around. 

Calyx briefly forgot that he was in a Hollow as his breathing suddenly hitched in his throat, shoulders tensed much like his brow—his eyes widened behind the eyeholes of his mask. He slowly slid said mask up to show Phantom just how much astonishment was on his face. The blue eyes of the Fox Thiren darted around the contents of the unfolded sheet of paper with each erratic mannerism more alarmed than the last…

It was a photo. A simple photo that focused on a family of three Fox Thirens, all with navy hair. One father. Tall, sharp-looking and smiling from ear to ear. One mother, vibrant, gentle, tail affectionately wrapped around her small child whose smile and shining opal eyes so unsettlingly matched Calyx’s…

—It was almost like looking into a mirror.

“Is it hitting you now, dear fox? The truth that was so lost to you for all these years?” Phantom hinted at with crossed arms, an underlying mix of amusement tucked into each of his words. 

“I– I don’t… It can’t… I’m not...! That’s—!” Calyx stammered while his head snapped to his phantom, revealing eyes that glistened, struck with unmistakable panic and grief. The yellow ribbon used to keep the paper folded was clenched in the phantom thief’s hand as the paper molded around his grip’s pressure.

“But you are… And what do you plan to make of it?” Phantom challenged, all the while Calyx sat distraught from his place on the floor, clutching the photo and ribbon like they would disappear the moment he let go. 

Before he could even retort, Calyx’s ears turned to the sound of the building growing louder. As much as he wanted to ignore it, it persisted to the point he had to release both ribbon and photo to cover his ears. 

The weight of the truth just dropped on his head had him cowering on the floor like a kicked puppy. Calyx crouched there, trembling with his hands over his ears and wishing this was just a bad dream. The photo and its wrapping was dropped at his feet—he tried to reach out for them, however…

Bam! The Fox Thiren was sent forward onto the floor following an impact to the back of his head. The perpetrator, a man dressed in black tactical gear toting a rifle, aimed down at the limp body of the phantom thief, searching for any sign of consciousness. 

After ascertaining that he was, in fact, out cold, he picks the pliant Calyx up by the back of his collar and slings him over his shoulder. Another similarly outfitted man picks up both the ribbon and the photo.

Right before tossing it back onto the bed like junk.

Aetos was no stranger to surprises. Ever since he could walk on two feet, he underwent grueling and intense training that put him through the wringer. It brought about many unpleasant memories from his past, but the lessons he learned through them are irreplaceable. The Eagle Thiren went through hell and back, shedding his sweat, blood, and tears to become one of the best soldiers in the Defense Force.

It was rare for him to be genuinely caught off-guard. He’s always ready for the unexpected, after all. It was what he was brought up to do. Waking up early in the morning during a terrorist raid?

Child’s play. 

Recovering data piles in the Hollow whilst running low on anti-suppressants? 

Hardly a challenge. 

Even the lives that he was supposed to protect is a burden that he is fully prepared to carry. Unshaken was he in his resolve, that even the toughest of Ethereals could hardly phase him.

But when the lives of his friends and loved ones are endangered? Then he’ll care. More than that, rationality and logic are thrown straight out of the proverbial window the moment that someone important to him is threatened.

So naturally, he’d be worried after he and Luenar’s mutual friend holed himself up in his room for being accused of murder. Knowing the loose cannon better than anyone else, Aetos saw how much Calyx valued his fame as a phantom thief, and his code of honor made it impossible for the young man to murder someone, much less hurt them beyond what is necessary. 

At first, it wasn’t so terrible that the Fox Thiren couldn’t handle it by himself. But when the young man barged out of the diner after eavesdropping on their spontaneous discussion with Null_Face, Aetos had never felt so distraught in his life than back then. He can recall several moments that he’s felt like this before, though…

“Tch, I swear when I find Null_Face, I’m going to shoot him straight through his skull!” He snarled with barely concealed animosity for their enemy. Luenar, on the other hand, is much more subtle in his feelings about the opposing Proxy. But the way his fingers slightly tightened on the steering wheel told a different story.

The diner owner sighed, his violet eyes gazed at the afternoon sky with an unbroken expression. He parked Penelope in an empty back alley after hours of searching, the building’s shadows a comforting shade that protected them from the sun’s heat.

“We’ve been searching for Calyx since the morning, and we still haven’t found him,” Luenar fretted. His eyes flickered with a complicated emotion as he continued. “It’s almost been half a day. Knowing Calyx…”

“We won’t be able to track him anymore. He’s known as a phantom thief for a reason.”

Loathed as he is to admit it, Aetos felt the need to praise Calyx’s cunning and agility for a thief. His run-ins with the authorities have often resulted in him escaping without a hair on his body touched. He's been on PubSec’s radar ever since the Museum Incident, and the Fox Thiren has always found a way to throw them off his trail.

It was how he first garnered the attention of so many people, and his popularity only grew since.

“True.” Even Luenar agreed. “I can always call up on my connections, but it’d take too long for them to respond.”

Aetos pondered on the matter at hand. While using the diner owner’s rather extensive connections will undoubtedly prove useful, such as when Luenar reassured the Eagle Thiren that he called a “friend” to watch over the diner in their place. He does agree that time is not on their side.

“We have less than 12 hours left before the promised meeting,” noted Aetos. At Luenar’s nod, he asks. “To clarify, you did bring the book, right boss?”

The aforementioned cookbook was swiftly taken out of the glove compartment. The thick, blue leather cover of the recipe journal is subtle but noticeable. After the chain of events which lead them here, the item in Luenar’s hands felt more significant than before. Aetos narrowed his eyes at it, his lips curving into a frown at the thought of what their enemies could possibly want with it.

The giant sitting in the driver’s seat was careful with the recipe book, though more subtle about it.

“Yeah. I got it. Better to have it with us than leaving it at the diner. Who knows when they’ll strike us again?” Aetos acquitted to the much older and experienced man, his wisdom proved to be the most optimal path he should follow. Or at least, that’s what the blonde sniper thought.

Frustratingly, he slammed his arm on his thigh. “Damnit… Hah, figures. Then the only option we’re left with is to give it up then? Roll on our backs and show the hunters our bellies?”

“We don’t have much of a choice now, Aetos. We have to give Null_Face the book.” Luenar grimly retorted, his gaze sharpened at the street before them. Just as the blonde sniper opened his mouth, his employer interjects. “If we don’t give him what he wants, the dissemination of Calyx’s identity will be inevitable. Forget about how my diner will be dragged through the proverbial mud, Calyx’s life is at stake here!”

Rarely does the leader of Luenar’s Diner speak loudly, but when he does, his voice becomes intense, downright demanding even. His tone is laced with an authority that makes even the normally rebellious Fox Thiren bend the knee.

“I can’t imagine what he’ll go through if the worst comes to worst, Aetos…”

Aetos can’t see it. No, he didn’t want to see it.

He didn’t know what he’d do if his friend fell into that pit of despair. The sight of a Calyx who lost the light in his eyes appeared in the Eagle’s mind.

It was a haunting vision. A thought that he wouldn’t entertain anymore than he already has. It reminded him greatly of the victims of Eridu’s Fall…

“Hah… I knew that guy really cares about his rep, it’s borderline obsession with how often he checks the Inter-Knot for news of his exploits…” Aetos attested to his friend’s behavior, and although Luenar agreed, he didn’t exactly see where this was going. The diner boss placed down his mother’s cookbook and allowed his employee to continue talking, “So, after seeing him feel so down after receiving backlash like that… Really surprises me, I’d have thought Calyx was prepared to face the heat of criticism for his actions, he is a phantom thief after all. But now, I realize…”

“—He’s still just a kid.”

Luenar softly grunted in agreement, “Looks like super–vision isn’t your only ability. You’re right. Even though he’s legally an adult, he still has the soul of a child, brimming with curiosity and energy.”

The eagle saw the exhaustion concealed in Luenar’s eyes in the corner of his eye. Aetos couldn’t help but feel the same. Despite that, they knew what they had to do.

“To the Ithacan Hollow, then,” he reluctantly agreed. “I know a hidden path that’ll take us into the Companion Hollow without being noticed by the Defense Force.”

“Good. I’d be questioning your skills as a Proxy if you didn’t have at least something up your sleeve,” Luenar commented, his hand reaching out to start Penelope’s engines, but just before he could turn the keys—

Bzzt… The familiar sound of his phone rang, effective in interrupting the duo that were just about ready to set off for the Ithacan Hollow, their promised destination. They still had some time before the deadline, and Luenar had a feeling that this was important.

Redirecting his arm he grabbed his phone, the screen came to life and dimly illuminated Luenar’s face. A single message—a text from a certain detective was all it took for the normally stone-faced boss to be gobsmacked.

“Aetos, it’s Ren!”

“—!”

Without another word, Luenar plays the message, and the Eagle Thiren eagerly listens.

The familiar punctuality and no-nonsense methodology of Ren was evident in the way the message was worded. It simply read;“—I brought Calyx to the Ithacan Hollow. You’re welcome.” 

“What?!” Their reactions were immediate. The ashy haired man in the driver’s seat placed down his phone and turned the car on. He slammed his foot against the pedal, steering Penelope into the road at top-speeds. Luenar ignored the complaints of the people he swerved past, their destination clearer than ever. Aetos tuned out the noise from the outside mentally replayed Ren’s message. Subsequently, another message was sent to Luenar’s phone from the same man. The blonde assassin wasted no time and took the device and read the message outloud;

“I won’t get into details regarding how I found him, knowing that you’ll already be heading straight for the Companion Hollow, so I’ll keep this brief. Lynx Carmine… is already dead. The man who died that day pretending to be him was just to bait Calyx into the open—he was using the name of a young boy who already died during the Fall of Eridu.”

What? Aetos couldn’t believe what he was reading.

But if it was coming from Ren of all people, then…

“And, coincidentally enough, his last known location was in the Old Eridu Janus Quarter…”

—Where the Ithacan Hollow now stands.

Aetos knew there was more to it. Why would they choose a name such as Lynx Carmine, who is already deceased? Maybe it was simpler than he thought.

But he feared that it might be connected to a certain Fox Thiren.

Chapter Text

Where… am I…? It’s dark… It’s cold…

“Mommy… Daddy… Where are you..?” My voice got caught in my throat only to escape shakily and my eyes felt kinda watery… My head—owie! I open my eyes and…

And… get up…

As soon as I opened my eyes, mister sun was shining down on my face. It was really bright, I had to close my eyes again… After a bit of rubbing my eyes, I stay on the ground and hold the back of my head.

 “Hng...!” I whined as I tried sitting up, my hand went straight to the back of my head, just behind my ears. It feels like I just… just… Ow... Like I just got bonked on the head…

“Lynx…” A calm voice called from somewhere… Lynx..? That’s me… Who’s… calling my name? Mommy? Daddy? Is that you?

“Lynx...!” It’s calling me more now… It sounds kinda worried… I look around, getting on my hands, all shaky… I was never the strongest and I feel like there’s a crack in the back of my head, it wasn’t exactly easy holding myself up… 

Let’s see… On my right’s a slide… On my left’s a swingset… Where’s that voice coming from…? It just looks like a playground… The playground I usually play in… Did I fall down again? Maybe one of the bigger kids pushed me…

Before I could look around a bit more, I felt something wrap around my waist. I jumped and started trying to pull myself free despite my ouchie… only to find out that being held didn’t feel so bad… It was relaxing… Before I knew it, I was relaxing in what I thought was an attempt to hurt me…

I looked over my shoulder to see whose arms were around me and smiled. I saw the familiar yellow ribbon of my Mommy that tied her dark blue hair into a ponytail… Her ears were droopy and she looked scared… Is it because of whatever’s causing my head to hurt right now…?

“Lynx!? Are you okay!? You fell from the slide again! Let Mommy see! Are you hurt!?” Her hands cupped my face and her face was all panicked but her touch was as gentle as it always was… My head was turned and my ears were moved around. The whole time, I could feel her shiny green eyes look all over my head, looking for any sort of booboo like they expected the worst…

Behind her worried face was the smiling face of my Daddy, a pretty tall Fox Thiren with blue eyes that was the same as his hair… He looked like he just got done telling a joke, pushing his glasses up and all the while his own ears were twitching… 

“Looks like our Lynxy’s gone and hurt himself again, Fiona…” He told Mommy, sitting down behind me to push up the back of my hair.

Mommy held me closer as I hugged her tighter, feeling safe in her being there. She hissed at daddy, “Not funny, Finn! Our little boy could’ve gotten hurt!”  

Finn, my Daddy, put his arms up like he was a criminal, shaking them before he touched something on the back of my head…

Eek…! It hurt when he touched it… I could feel my tail puff up and my ears stand straight… 

“Do… Do I have an ouchie in my hair..?” I asked sheepishly, my hand moving to my head but worried about touching whatever he touched. My tail that was all puffy immediately wrapped around Mommy’s arm as Daddy looked deeper into my hair.

“Not a big one, but we still need to patch it up… We’ll do it at home later, okay?” Daddy said that with a calm and serious tone… He’s always so cool when he gets all doctor-y… No wonder Mommy loves him so much… He’s always taking care of me or her when we get sick… It’s hard to take care of him when he’s the one who gets sick, but he always told us how to help him feel better.

“How bad is it, Finn? Do we need a clinic?” Mommy said while holding me in front of her…  She turned to me right after she suggested it to Daddy, her face all puffed up like she was doing her best to look angry. “What were you thinking, scaring us like that on your birthday trip to the playground!? You’re lucky you’re adorable or else I’d… I’d… Mnnngh!” 

“Ow, ow! Mommy, stop! My head hurts enough...!” My face feels like it's being stretched! Mommy’s grip is too strong…! Her fingers are gonna make me look more like a Chipmunk Thiren…!

Daddy’s laugh saves my face from being squished by distracting her, but I feel like the places she squeezed are gonna look red for a while… Mommy gave him a smile that looked tired but I could tell she wasn’t really angry at him… Not yet, anyway…

“Give the little guy a break, Fiona, it ain’t his fault... I saw some kid push him off the slide’s tower… Do they… Do they do that a lot, Lynx?” Daddy asked me, his voice was all cool and serious again, like one of those detectives in the TV shows he always watches. 

I don’t think I could’ve looked him or Mommy in the eyes… I gave them a nod yes as I gripped on Mommy’s shirt tighter. It feels like they’ve been doing it forever, but I could never tell them… I was always so scared… 

Daddy sighed as he helped Mommy lift me off the sand… I watched the playground get smaller behind us as we walked. My ears were turning to every single other sound in the city while they talked about something adults talk about… The city streets are always so loud but I guess that’s what happens when it's as super big as Eridu…

I suddenly remember I’m being carried like a baby and try to wiggle my way out of Mommy’s arms. I’m not a baby anymore, I’m already five! That’s big enough to not need carrying! My head doesn't hurt, I think… mostly, so I shouldn’t be in her arms anymore. I’m a big boy now! I push against Mommy’s arm and it’s like trying to move a boulder in a training montage! “Put me down..!”

“Alright, just don’t—Hey…!” Whatever Mommy said, I didn’t hear it. I was free and was committed to hopping out of her arms.

Hup! Ah…! I land on my feet but wobble a bit from how far I was falling. I forget how small I am sometimes… Even though the bigger kids won’t stop reminding me... Wait, no thinking about that! I look back at my Mommy and Daddy, putting my hands up like I just did a super cool backflip. 

Huh? They looked super happy, even Daddy was clapping! Is it because I stuck my landing? I shake my head since it doesn’t matter, I got them to smile, even after worrying them! This feels great, all I did was a little jump and l made my parents so happy! Let me just put up my fist to say, “Eat that, bigger kids!”

“Really sticking it to those bullies, huh?” Daddy said with his eyes looking somewhere else. I tried to look where he was looking, but he put his leg in front of me. Is Daddy hiding something from me? I tried to think, but I guess I got distracted by how Mommy grabbed my hand. 

“Fiona, how about you get started on the little guy’s birthday at home? Turning five is quite the accomplishment and I’ll be right there, I just need to check something out in that store...”

I wanted to say something, but Daddy was already across the street. That store looks so fun… I wish I could go, but if Daddy’s already going in, I guess I should just ask the question on my mind to the person who knows him better than anyone… “Why’s he going there?” 

Mommy looked down at me with a smile that made me feel all warm inside… It's so cool how easy it is for her to make me so happy, how? I wanna know how to do it so I can make her happy! And Daddy too! She gave me her answer with a small and smiley head shake, “I guess your dad has a plan, my precious kit… Do you want to help me pick your cake?”

“Cake? Really?” My tail waved super crazy while I started tapping my feet. I’ve only really had cake once and it was the sweetest thing I’ve ever eaten! Now she’s telling me I can have some on my special day? “Yes, please!” 

I skipped down the sidewalk with Mommy right behind me. The streets were super~ busy! So many people were out today, and I could see my face inside the windows we passed by if I tiptoed. It’s like my clone from another world is staring right at me… Woah, my ears are huge now! As I touched them, I wondered if they compare to Mommy’s or Daddy’s… I wanna ask them if we can compare them after we eat my cake. Maybe I should pick one that’ll make me big? Or maybe the one that tastes the sweetest? There are too many choices and—..!

“Neeh!” I squeaked, something made a noise, I walked into the bakery’s glass door, nose-first. Mommy wasn’t slow to check on me, brushing my nose clean with her thumb while giggling at my oopsie. 

“Careful there, Lynx, that’d make it twice in one day you’ve hurt yourself.” She said as she finished cleaning my face, her finger booping my nose to get a smile from me right after. I took her hand and listened to the shop’s bell ring as we walked inside. That didn’t last long, though, since I was distracted by all the cakes on display just in front of the counter.

Wow...! Look at all of them...! I don’t care if I look funny for pressing against the glass like this, it all looks so good...! Which one do I get? It has to be special! I turned to Mommy, all excited as I rested against the display case, “It has to be the best one!”

The baker lady laughed with her, maybe because Mommy told her it was my birthday. I can smell something really sweet from this side of the glass… Is it that brown one over there?

“I see he’s found the chocolate, Miss! Would you like me to get it for you?” She asked my Mommy… and she nodded! Is she really going to get it for me? This is gonna be so good! I ran over and gave her leg a big hug, exactly what she deserves for treating me like this!

The hand she placed on my head is exactly how I wanted her to react, so I topped off my affection with a happy noise of my own! No more worries about me falling off the slide tower, just being happy that we get to eat the cake that the baker lady’s grabbing for us!

I wonder where Daddy is though… We can’t eat this without him! Where’d he even go?

Something that sounded like ringing distracted me from thinking. The next thing I see is Mommy holding a pink box. She’s got the cake! I walk with her out of the shop and see someone outside that has my tail wagging like one of those feather dusters Mommy uses.

I take off and run into Daddy’s leg. He bends down to pat my head too but that’s when I notice something in his arms. It’s a small brown bag, is it for me?

“What’s this?” I asked, trying to nab it but Daddy stood straight before I could get my paws on it. I looked up, a bit mad that he was keeping it from me, only to squeak in surprise when he got down again and I got scooped up. 

“Just something for later, little guy. I think you’ll enjoy the gift I picked out,” Daddy smiled. I looked over to Mommy and she was smiling too, the cake box resting in her hands like another kid. A gift? It is for me! This day just keeps getting better! Sure, I fell off the slide, but this is way more exciting to think about! I throw my arms around his neck and give him the tightest hug ever!

“I see you have the cake, Fiona. Let’s get home so our little kit can enjoy it and his gift.” Daddy laughed, kind of shaking me in his arms a bit. Mommy joined in with his laughing, so I did as well! No way I’m being left out of this! It was when my nose was poked that I started laughing harder while trying to swat away Daddy’s hand, “See? He can barely contain himself!”

After a bit of walking, we finally got back to our house. A bit after that, we get to our door after going upstairs. I watch as Daddy pulls out the key, turns it and pushes the door open, giving me all the room in the world to run right in!

I do a little spin in the living room before running down the hall and into my room. I have to give them time to set up the cake, after all!

Hup! Hehe… A dive into my bed is exactly what I needed, the sheets are always so warm and soft from when Mommy did the laundry… Rolling around in my bed is so comfy. I might just fall asleep. Mmm… It’s hard not to start making noises when I feel so good being wrapped in a warm blanket.

Wait! I can’t fall asleep yet! Are they done setting up? Should I peek? Would I look too excited if I did? I can’t wait any longer, the cake smells too good!

I slide out of my room and run down the hall to see the cake on my favorite red plate. Mommy and Daddy are there with huge smiles, they even have birthday hats ready! I bounce my way to the table, climb up the chair and sit in front of my candles.

The chocolate smells so good… The candles give off that smoky smell… I can’t sit still knowing that the paper bag at the end of the table has something for me… Just waiting to open it is…! Huh? Is that a camera?

“Alright, Lynx, my little kit, smile for Mommy!” Click! Bright… But I wanna see the picture! Do I look good? 

I lean over the table, standing on the chair to get a good look at the photo that Mommy’s camera made but it was all dark. She giggled when she saw me trying to peek and started to shake the photo. I followed it with my eyes and it started to show colors… Hey, it’s me!

The me in the photo looks so happy, just like I am—!

—Wah! I guess I got too excited to get a better look. It was almost enough to knock the chair over, it was a good thing Daddy whooshed behind me like a superhero. He let out a sigh as I tried giggling my way out of trouble, “Don’t go falling on your head again, Lynxy! You still have that present to open!”

This birthday is the best! Cake and now a present! Daddy’s boss must be paying him so much money!

The sound of something sliding on the table catches my attention. It was the bag Daddy had! Mommy was sliding it over, so I tried reaching for it. The chair almost fell over again, but I got it, I finally got it! I take a peek inside and it’s…

“A box?” A red one too… One with a funny looking guy on the front… There’s a word, but it looks too hard to say… Fish… Vi— Village… “Vee-sa-gi?”

“Visage, Lynx. This is the fifth installment of the series, chock full of phantom thieves like Jester and their flashy heists! It’s one of Daddy’s favorite shows. I thought I would introduce you to it so we could spend more time together when I’m off work!” Daddy smiled, pulling me off the chair and taking the box from my hands. He skipped all the way to the couch and sat me beside him while Mommy followed us with a slice of the cake. “I put the tape in so we can get right to watching!”

“Get ready, my little kit. Daddy can be quite excitable about his favorite show… His nerdy charms are the reason I stick around.” Mommy sounds all dreamy. She sat on my other side, smooshing me between both of them, but I’m small enough for her to lean on Daddy. Ew, they’re getting all lovey-dovey!

“What she means is…” Daddy stopped himself, holding the remote forward and clicking the button. There’s swingy music, masked people jumping around on the screen and stealing stuff… I don’t know what Daddy is saying anymore, or what he’s wrapping around my head right now, but the words from the cool looking show… From Jester, the phantom thief… It finished his words for him…

“Get ready for them to take your heart!”

It’s been years since I first watched Visage… The flashy moves, the witty lines, the stylish masks they all wear when stealing stuff… It's all so cool! And guess what? I get to watch it again with Mom and Dad tonight for my eleventh birthday!

I threw our apartment door open and tossed my bag of spare clothes and used towels to the side. I can hear my mom in her room, hopefully she heard the door fly open and thinks I’m back from gymnastics practice. This eleventh birthday dinner is gonna be the best! Just me, my parents, and a night-long watchthrough of Visage V like we did every other birthday before this!

Dad’s been really busy working at the clinic lately, so I’ll get the show ready. He must be super important, they keep calling him like they have his number on speed dial and they’re hitting the button on accident. No worries, even though it's my birthday, I plan to make Dad relax, even if just for the night. Now where’s our remote…

Let’s see… The coffee table’s clear, save for some paper mumbo jumbo I can’t understand. The TV stand’s only got the TV on it and some books in the spaces below. Did it fall into the couch? Ech, digging my hand around the couch makes it feel all fuzzy. Not like my tail or my ears kind of fuzzy, the dirty and gross kind… I really should stop eating here—

“A-ha! Got you!” I cried victoriously, pulling the remote out and holding it over my head like I just took a treasure from the display cases in Visage.

Speaking of Visage, Dad should be home any minute! Hurry up, Lynx, gotta rewind the tape before he gets back! Can’t have him all stressed on the couch without the show ready to watch!

The sound of a door opening distracted me from rewinding the tape. It was my mom. She came out here and sat herself right next to me. She seems excited for Dad to get home too, all fidgety and excited to watch the show!

Tape’s all set, Mom’s right here, all that’s left is to wait for Dad! Maybe I can even talk to Mom about what happened at gymnastics today! What should I tell her about though…? Hm… Oh, I know!

“I did a full flip today, Mom! The coach said I’m really good at it! Wanna see?” I tugged at her blouse’s sleeve, really wanting to hear a yes. Even if she said no, I would do it, mwehehe…

“Maybe tomorrow, Lynx… I’m a bit tired from… cleaning today…” She said, sighing softly. Oh, well, I guess it can’t be helped. With me going to school and Dad always at work, it’s hard to keep the house clean. I’ll help her tomorrow since it's the weekend, maybe I can help her clean the higher spots to show off a bit of what I learned to do!

After an hour of me using the stool to peek through the door’s peephole, we ended up watching the show without Dad for a bit. As much as I don’t want to say it, Dad missed the opening episodes and he’s running late… He’s been coming home later and later, but this is the first time he’s been out until sunset…

The turning of the door’s lock caught both me and mom’s attention. It was Dad! He was finally here! 

Wait, someone’s behind him… I could barely make out his looks from where I sat but he had white hair… He looked as old as Dad and had some pretty cool, red glasses. Did he just tense up? All I did was look over, and I could see him narrow his eyes before smiling. He patted Dad on the shoulder with the same smile before he walked off. Weird, for sure, he didn’t seem like one of Dad’s friends… Maybe he’s someone Dad met on the way home? He was always good with people.

“Sorry I’m late, guys... My, uh… good friend took me out for lunch and… we lost track of time.” He told me and my mom, looking slightly embarrassed that he even had to say that… Lost track of time? On my special day? That… Mmm, no, I’m sure Dad has his reasons… 

The silence while Mom glared at Dad pretty much muted the TV… To think Dad would rather be with a friend or something on my birthday…

Oh! Uh… I think they noticed my ears drooping… I should… Um… Hey, what’s that in Dad’s hand? A… little white bag…?

“I thought I’d drop by the store and get you a little something as an apology… Lynx, close your eyes… please….” 

As per my dad’s words, I close my eyes. Next thing I know, I feel his hands slip something over my head, folding my ears back for a moment. The moment they spring up, I’m feeling my own breath blow back up my face. Speaking of my face, it does feel a bit warmer… Is this…?

“Ta-da! A mask! I thought that, with how much you like Visage V, I would get you a mask of your own, my little phantom fox!” My dad laughed, stroking his chin as I sat frozen on the couch cushion.

I can’t believe it… My own mask… Is this… I touch my face… It’s real… It’s really real! Throwing my arms around my dad’s neck, I squeak the only words I can think to say at the top of my lungs, “I love it!”

“A black fox mask seems a bit on the nose, doesn’t it, dear? Especially for Fox Thiren with ears as big as ours,” Mom sighs, shaking her head before moving to hug me and Dad. She’s acting all pouty again, but I know she’s as over the moon as I am! And on the nose? That’s exactly what a great phantom thief would be into! Besides, Dad tells me I’m a Fennec Fox Thiren, so my ears are way bigger than the ones on this gift!

This mask is the greatest day ever! Hmhmhm~! I don’t even remember hopping down from my dad’s arms and running around our living room! 

Time to make my grand entrance… One as a phantom thief of my own… How would Jester and his troupe do it… Oh, I know! Arm up with a pointed hand! Trail it down and trace my mask’s nose before swinging wide like I’m throwing open a coat! Now that they’re definitely starstruck, I need a cool codename… Maybe…

“You may call me Calyx! The finest phantom thief in Eridu’s Janus Quarter!” I exclaim, pretending there’s some sort of cape waving behind me in the wind! As expected, both Mom and Dad are clapping their hands in the presence of my… err… What’s a good way to put it...? Suave entrance? Am I using that right?

“Calyx? That’s quite the codename, Lynx… What made you think of it?” asked my dad. A tough question, sure, but I’m one step ahead of him!

“Well… For starters, we learned about something called an anagram where we shuffle letters around. Calyx shuffles both Lynx and Carmine, so I think it’s pretty cool!” I told them with a well-deserved stroke of my own chin, ears twitching twice as I snickered to myself at how clever I am.

“Well, you know that’s a word too, right, my little kit?” I paused mid-snicker, looking up at my parents like they just revealed the biggest truth this side of Eridu. It was a word? Here I thought I was just being clever… I guess they found my surprise amusing with how my mom decided to explain it, “It’s the outermost layer of a flower. The one that protects its petals from danger before it blooms.”

“Quite the fact, honey…” Dad smiles, ruffling my hair and ears, “Then what does this little kit steal for? Every phantom thief’s got some sort of motive.” 

I pause. What do I steal for? I can already deal with myself… Any bullies I run into can hardly keep up with me now that I’m taking gymnastics… I don’t think I’m that hung up on items either… Is there something that a phantom thief fights for specifically?

Maybe not, but… I do know what I wanna steal for…

“Family… Why’s that keep coming into my head… Not like anybody’s had my back since the day I woke up with that bad headache… Thieving for the sake of someone other than myself… What kind of phantom thief does that?” I pondered, clutching my mask as the evening wind brushed against faux face, sirens blaring and search lights blinding but not unbearably so. No, I don’t think that’s a good reason. A phantom thief steals for one thing and one thing only…

Ripping me from my train of thought was the laser light show pointed at my chest. PubSec really does love making their hold-ups as flashy as the heists I hold, don’t they?

Oh? A man with a megaphone steps in front of the fray. As if to answer my question of what he could possibly say, he spoke, “Drop that dagger, Calyx! We’ve been tailing you for weeks now, you won’t get away this time!”

“And what makes you think this will be my curtain call?” I mused, flipping the blade I had stolen from the New Eridu Museum of Bits and Bobs—a nice little pointed dagger that seemed too good to leave in some dull display! Not to mention, it seems pretty useful to me.

“The fact that we’ve got your pattern down despite your lack of motive! Hand the dagger over and put your hands up, now!” The sound of all those gun-mounted laser pointers clicking as they’re raised is a pretty scary thing, sure, but I’ll get to that once I finish the thought I just remembered I had.

With a mock raise of my hands, and dagger shown to the crowd of kind officers, I take a step forward.

Right, now that I have the time to saunter over, I should finish my thoughts… The one reason a phantom thief steals is for thrill. Pure, unadulterated fun under the feeling of risk and the threat of getting caught! Just the feeling of these lasers on my chest has me itching to try and scamper away, but I’ll behave…

—For now.

I let them get close, a little too close for my liking, but close enough to take the dagger. They take it far into the back of their little posse as I put my arms out and practically beg them to cuff me, cheeky eyes behind the mask and all. The looks they all shared were priceless, all of their movements nervous as if doubting my oh so very genuine intentions. For good reason, mind you.

The cuffs click shut around my wrists, pushing my coat’s sleeves onto my skin, feeling cool through the fabric. I let them guide me toward a cruiser but suddenly point at the street lamp over yonder while shouting, “Well, hello, my accomplice! Fashionably late I see?”

The dorks made the mistake of looking at where a phantom thief is pointing. Let me just casually slip these off like so… Now to weave through their ranks, easy peasy… Perch onto a nearby streetlight, making myself look like a real phantom and re-enter their focus. Now to end this the only I know how, a bow to my audience.

“Damn—! He’s getting away! After him!”

“Sir, we still have the dagger, we still accomplished our mission!”

They still have it, sure, but the question is… For how much longer? With the flick of my wrist, I pull the dagger right out of their hands! The way their eyes popped out of their head as the dagger practically teleported from their possession and into mine? Nothing short of hilarious!

“You should know better than to trust the words of a criminal.” I emphasize the title with air quotes, flipping the little blade into the air to do so. Catching it, I trace the edge with my gloved hand while I continue speaking, “ Especially one as slippery and conniving as I~.”

“You little–!” The megaphone man started, only to be shushed by my rather sassy finger being pointed at him.

“No need for your input, I’m already going!” I wave over my head, hopping off the pole and taking a few stylish steps that lead into a dash down the evening street! I look back and they haven’t started chasing yet. Too stunned, hm? Well, let me just spin on this lamp pole to call back, “Oh? And what are you all waiting for?”

“Oh! I know!” I snapped my fingers, realizing I’ve left out one key detail to a successful heist—My calling card!

I flick it over and what do you know? It seemed to have snapped them out of their star stricken state! The megaphone man started barking at his fellow officers who immediately started gunning it toward me. What’s a heist without proper chase, I say!

Unfortunately for them, I did a bit of snooping around the museum beforehand. Next corner, in the alleyway, is a Hollow! Now, I’ve been in a few to make my getaways, but this is my first time entering one so blatantly! 

“Brace yourself, Calyx, Ether incoming!” I tell myself, one arm in front of my face as the weird and pressing feeling of the Hollow welcomes itself onto my coat and black shell swallows me whole.

A bit of running later, I sit on a rooftop to bask in the marvel of my latest treasure. This baby’s exactly like the one Jester uses! Sleek, dark, two edges that merge down to the single point where the blade ends! I wonder if I can paint this to look more like his and—!

“Hnngh...!” I winced, hands immediately moving to the back of my head. That pain’s back again… I guess all that running’s got it to flare up… 

How long has it been since I woke up in this… New Eridu, again? I think it’s been a year or two since March eighth, the day I woke up… This headache’s been getting more manageable but I still can’t explain why it's happening… Or why it hurts so much, even though it’s been so long since it started… All I remember is shaking… Then it got really warm before everything went dark…

Funny that being a little nuisance for these PubSec guys gets me all the gossip I could ever want… Something about Eridu’s Fall seems to be a really big talking point for these guys. It’s all I’m ever hearing on the streets whenever I slip into more casual clothes. Honestly, it’s a bit jarring to keep hearing about a disaster that happened a year ago… I can’t even imagine what it might’ve been like to be there…

Hmm… Blech… It brings a sour taste to my mouth thinking about it. All this negative thinking’s gonna give me wrinkles under the mask and I, for one, prefer to keep my spry foxy appearance.

Speaking of appearance, I can hear someone moving closer, like they know I’m here. PubSec? Nah, they wouldn’t chase me this far into a Hollow. The chances of it being one of those independent investigators? More likely, but I don’t think that’s it either… The way they move sounds trained and disciplined too… This isn’t some random proxy, no, it’s like a soldier’s shuffle…

Well, seeing as how I’ve got nothing much to do and this could be my only chance to work up this level of excitement for the foreseeable future, I might as well enjoy my time here. You can do this, Calyx, this is what you live for!

I dive off the roof and land with grace, met with a pair of striking golden peepers that I might just steal for myself if whoever owns them isn’t being careful. What else do they got on them? Tactical gear means many pockets, not that I think I can get close just like that… He’s pretty built too, not to mention the scope on that rifle telling me he has sharp aim. That makes it hard to use my usual tactics, but when has that ever stopped me?

His gun made a weird buzzing noise as he chambered it. Not the most unusual sound I’ve heard in a Hollow, but definitely new… Ho-hoh? This is getting me fired up… He’s aiming it right at me and I’m still crouched… This dagger could use a test run and who better than a clearly upper tier Hollow Diver...? Could I dodge the bullet, I wonder?

—Only one way to find out!

Splash! Clang!

Calyx is rudely awakened from his comatose state with a bucket of water straight to the face, making him shiver and cough up whatever breaths he had yet to take from his lungs. His gaze, impaired by both the fact he was knocked unconscious and the grayed out sky that provided subpar lighting, stared with a lack of focus into the mess of ashy hues in front of him.

“Where… Am I… Where’s—?” Calyx started, only to stop as he was assaulted by a myriad of sensations. Firstly, when trying to wipe his face off, he felt his wrists struggle against his own coat’s sleeves as they were bound by thick rope, secured to something behind him. The water he was drenched in was frigid, enough to pull him back from whatever realm of unconsciousness he was in and left him with a faint chatter behind his slightly parted lips. 

The splitting headache was not subtle on him either, feeling as if something was driven straight into the back of the phantom thief’s skull. His legs kicked against the concrete floor he was sitting on as he couldn’t do much else in reaction to the discomfort. 

Minutes later, he settles down with shallow breaths, his eyes starting to focus on what little he could see in front of him… 

“Phantom… Phantom, where are you…?” Calyx called out silently, to and for himself, his voice weak and shaky like the buildings he passed by in his Hollow Diving endeavors. 

The response Calyx was met with was deafening. The sounds around him were of no sparsity, not with his ears that were picking up all peeps regardless of their subtlety, but the fact that his spectral self left his words hanging in the air was jarring, scary even. There were the Ethereals and their gross cries in the distance, telling him that he was definitely still in the Ithacan Hollow.

“Who are you squeaking to, kit?” A voice cut through the evening, eliciting a flinch from Calyx. A masculine and gruff texture with a low tone, hostility etched into every word he spoke. 

Suddenly, footfall. The heavy kind that would make even the likes of a dauntless proxy shuffle back on instinct thinking it was some sort of beast from the Hollow. The Fox Thiren’s eyes slowly focused on the encroaching figure, giving Calyx the blurred outline of Hollow Diving equipment, most notably, a black chestpiece fitted with a matching metallic collar. It was standard but effective for prolonged exposure to Ether, something comparable to PubSec’s gear. 

“Who—?” Calyx started, only to be cut off by the same low and harsh voice.

“Not important. You’re not supposed to be here, Lynx,” he continued, crouching down to the Fox Thiren’s level.

His hands brushed against the phantom thief’s face with an unsettling level of care. The mysterious figure’s hands trailed over the fox’s cheek before giving his ears a quick tug. After that impromptu inspection, the figure finally gave Calyx his personal space and room to blink himself straight “You’ve grown. If only your parents could see you now…”

“My… Parents..?” Calyx managed to say, finally getting his vision straight enough to start noting the features of his supposed captor.

“Mhm. Fiona and Finn Carmine. Ring a bell?” Calyx’s captor replied curtly, finding himself a seat on a piece of rubble.

“You…” The realization hit the Fox Thiren like it was about to knock him out again. He struggled to get free of his restraints but it was pointless, the ropes were fastened to a piece of exposed rebar and they showed no signs of snapping anytime soon. 

The man in front of him was muscular yet rather old, one could say in his late-fifties, with styled silver hair. Under the Ether-resistant armor was a decent amount of black tactical gear Calyx could’ve sworn he saw before but couldn’t quite recall. But that wasn’t what drew his attention…

—It was the captor’s crimson-framed glasses, his dreary eyes speared through Calyx’s very spirit.

“So you remember me? Don’t even think of bluffing, I know you saw me behind your daddy that day.” He stated matter-of-factly, crossing his legs as he sat on a piece of the ruined building. 

Calyx glared at him from where he sat, an undeniable hostility behind his opalescent eyes. His captor shook his head in response to the young Thiren’s expression. “Don’t look at me like that, I’m sure you don’t even know who I am, much less why I have you restrained.”

As much as he wanted to fire back with a witty and defiant line, Calyx could only clench his jaw and bare his fangs. He was right, the only thing the phantom thief knew for sure is that the man in front of him was familiar. He had nothing to go off of except for the memories he had just uncovered.

“What do you even want...?” The Fox Thiren snarled, his restrained hands balling into fists behind his back, infuriated and clearly ready to snap at a moment’s notice. 

“Not your business.” The man in red glasses responded to his captive. “Just know I need you as a bargaining chip in case your little friends decide to try anything funny. If I didn’t, well…”

The mere mention of Luenar and Aetos caused Calyx to thrash against his restraints, much to his captor’s twisted amusement, as evidenced by the smirk he had on his face. After realizing he had no real way of leveraging the situation into his favor, the fox settles down with a sour look, legs flat against the floor and ears twitching in annoyance. 

A tense silence wedged its way between both the man and the fox, Calyx glaring at his captor with a hatred he didn’t know he could even muster all the while he sat nonchalantly on the pile of rubble in front of him.

Seeing that his company’s tantrum had supposedly subsided, the man raised a curious brow. A smirk suddenly made itself home on his face as he then pulled out Calyx’s signature fox mask and started examining it. He ignored the phantom thief's steadily growing growls as he set it down and returned his focus to the restrained fox, “You care a lot about this little trinket, don’t you? Is this what Finn had in that bag the day I walked him home?”

“And if it was?” Calyx replied with an uncharacteristic coldness, all previous traces of flair and theatrics hurled out the proverbial window as his eyes darted from the silver-haired man and the mask that was taken from him.

“Then I see that he wasted his money instead of paying me back.” The gear-toting man crouched, elbow resting on the knee as he lowered himself back down to Calyx’s level. “You see, Lynx, I’m not one to forget a debt. Not from your dad, not from your mom, and especially not from you.”

“Debt..? What debt? They’d never get into shady business!” The phantom thief snapped at his captor for daring to talk about his parents, before adding, “Especially not from some nobody like you probably are!”

His captor’s face tensed at the remark before his hand shot out to grip Calyx’s hair and pulled his head toward him, making the Fox Thiren wince in pain. His eyes were narrow and dangerous behind the lenses of his eyewear, clearly not pleased with being called a nobody. “Don’t talk like you know what I do or who I am, kit… I used to be the finest damn debt collector in the Old Capital!”

“Heh, used to be...? That explains… Why you were after my parents…!” Calyx manages through his pained expression, finally deciding to forego decency in favor of defending his loved ones. “You’re petty enough to go after me, their son, when you’re nothing more than a hasbeen now! You sick ba—!”

“Mock the integrity of Vince Lionel at your own risk, you damn kit, I get what I want!” The captor and debt collector, known as Vince, snarls, slamming Calyx’s head back against the concrete and getting a pained squeak out of him. With a satisfied smirk directed at the reeling Fox Thiren, he adds, “And right now, the book your damn boss is holding is mighty appealing…”

Adjusting his armor’s collar, he leaves Calyx to recover from the impact issued to the back of his head yet again. The phantom thief whines as he presses his head against the rubble to try and keep pressure on the area of impact. 

Suddenly, his breath hitches as he remembers a crucial detail his dreamlike revelations only partially touched on. His breaths were as shaky as his whole being as tears welled up in his eyes, the truth of his amnesia finally revealed to him.

The shaking he recalled during his remembrance of the dagger heist… It was the emergence of the Ithacan Hollow. The disaster that swallowed most of the Old Capital’s Janus residential district. The one that tore apart his home. The warmth, the final embrace of his parents before they hid him in hopes somebody would find him, all the while they lead Ether Mutants away from their pride and joy. The dark? It was the last thing Calyx, or Lynx Carmine, saw after being buried underneath rubble, only to be found, nursed and awakened as the phantom thief he believed he always was.

Calyx, as he now knows, is nothing but an identity he made for himself. He was never a phantom thief, just a Fox Thiren who could barely remember himself or his life, so he clung to the one memory that persisted. A memory that, at the time, was his happiest; the manifestation of his ideals and aspirations that were brought up by a show following phantom thieves. A memory that, now, has Calyx—or Lynx, doubting whoever or whatever it is he was.

—The fox’s facade had shattered, and with it, everything he thought he knew.

A series of whimpers and incoherent muttering escaped the desolate face of the phantom thief as he sat still. Calyx remained motionless, overwhelmed by the revelation all the while Vince returned to his seat on the nearby rubble. The fox’s shallow breaths and unnervingly steady heartbeat drowned out every outside sound, he could feel a cool streak run down his cheek while Vince held the mask over his face from where he sat.

“Crying? I expected more from a phantom thief. No complaints from me, though… The exchange’ll happen in an hour. With you as a bargaining chip, it’ll be much easier to make the trade.”

Calyx’s eyes, now devoid of anything but anguish, locked onto his captor. Through gasps and breaths, the fox managed to say the one word on his mind. “Why..?”

Deciding to humor the broken Fox Thiren, Vince sets the mask aside and prepares to tell Calyx his view of the story.

“Well, your parents were never really well off, kit. When you look for money to send your child to, oh I don’t know, school and extracurriculars… You tend to end up in bad places… Poor old Finn just wanted you to be happy, and where’d that get him and his wife? Indebted to me—to us… Working at the clinic didn’t do much for him. And Fiona? She was in no condition to work considering her reaction to this whole arrangement… The poor girl always looked on the verge of fainting, always so tense…”

Calyx’s head dipped and the byproduct of his sadness dripped onto the floor, all the while Vince continued his story, “But why am I here, hm? Well, my higher-ups said I needed to guarantee that this trade goes to plan.”

The man stands, pushing his glasses up all the while he stares at his open palm, “I’d be lying if I said I did this on order though… No, this… this is personal. Your folks lucked out the day they died in the Hollow’s expansion… Escaped their dues… Got me in trouble… Ruined my perfect collection record! But you? Now that you’re here? I can finally say that I have the chance to get that damned Carmine stain off my record!”

He pauses and lifts Calyx’s chin with the toe of his boot, meeting his devoid expression with a wicked grin, “And all I need to do… is make the exchange for the book… And you, my little fox friend… Are going to help me.”

Vince swiftly removes his foot from underneath the Fox Thiren’s head, causing him to slump over without so much as an attempt to keep upright. With one last adjustment of his glasses, the debt collector checks his armor and takes the black fox mask before stepping out into the dim light of the cloudy afternoon. He looks back at Calyx, who is staring absently into the floor, and speaks with a hint of finality, “One hour. One hour until you get a chance to do something good for once.”

The retreating footsteps of his captor falls onto deaf and drooping ears as Calyx is left restrained and alone with only the sound of his sobbing and the overwhelming feeling of guilt in his head. 

“Mom and Dad… Because of me.. They… And now Aetos… Luenar… It—It’s all…” He trailed off, unable to speak coherently at the mere thought of being that big of a detriment to everybody he held close.

Minutes passed in a tear-stained blur, Calyx sat motionless save for his heaving chest as he breathed through choked back sadness and guilt. The pressing feeling of the rope on his wrists barely registered between his drooping ears, his mind haunted by the faces of his parents and coworkers. 

As much as he told himself it wasn’t true, Vince had a solid argument. If he hadn’t gotten so obsessed with Visage and phantom thieves, his parents might not have gone into debt, working themselves to the bone just to cater to his childish whims. Aetos and Luenar weren’t exempt from this sort of thought either, with Null_Face’s threat to doxx him and tank the diner still beating him over the head with an unsolicited feeling of responsibility.

What’s more? He doubted himself. All this time, he was playing make believe as a character that existed no more than his current level of self-esteem. With that, he remained slumped over, facing the ground as the helplessness truly made itself at home in his head.

Just as he was about to close his eyes and count down the minutes until Luenar would have to trade his mother’s precious possession for a phantom thief whose weight in value is, at the moment, nonexistent, a familiar voice chimes from behind him, “Are you really just going to let this happen? How disappointing.”

Calyx’s ears perked up at the voice but he made no effort to move, Phantom’s words doing little to console as it was not even their purpose. With crossed arms and disappointment radiating from his masked face, the illusory fox spoke with contempt, “Look at you, deflated like a balloon pricked by needlepoint. Show some backbone.”

“I can’t… If I do, I’ll just make everything worse…” Calyx refuted weakly, all his usual spryness and confidence gone. “I’ll wait for the trade… And when the Old Man—when Luenar gets me back… I’ll leave… for good.”

“For good? You’re not making much sense, dear fox.” Phantom asked, his head tilting as he stared down at Fox Thiren. If he had eyelids, they would be so narrow that they would have less space between them than each shallow breath Calyx took.

“It’s the right thing to do… My wet encore to this stupid Grand Heist…” Calyx smiled bittersweetly. He knew there was nothing he could do to get his restraints off, much less stop the exchange that’ll happen in less than an hour. “I can't believe that, all this time, I thought I was some flashy rogue… I’m just a kit who never grew up… Who makes things worse for everybody…”

“Yes, you are.” Phantom agreed with himself, taking strides toward the Fox Thiren. “A kit that causes trouble wherever he steps foot… A kit that clings to his mask like a child their mother… A kit that made me on a whim.”

Calyx nodded somberly, “Yeah… I’m just Lynx… A dumb fox who had the bad luck of surviving the Hollow expansion… I made you because I wanted to be… more. I wanted to be someone who could do something for someone… A phantom thief of my own…”

Phantom scoffed, eliciting a flinch from his physical counterpart, “And what does this phantom thief pursue? Robin Hood fought oppression. Arsene tickled his wit. And then there is you—us, dear fox… Calyx… Look me in my eyes and tell me what he fights for.”

“I… Thrill… I was nothing more than a hyperactive little—...” Calyx started, only to be shushed by Phantom’s gloved finger.

“If you do not even remember your motive, then let me remind you. I doubt you recall these thoughts from the day we got our mask, but do feel free to join me in its delivery if otherwise…” Phantom uttered in a stern yet oddly comforting voice. 

The spectral fox cleared his throat and slowly began speaking in a tone so normal and reminiscent of his own that the Fox Thiren could barely believe his own ears, “I can already deal with myself. Any bullies I run into can hardly keep up with me now that I’m taking gymnastics…”

Calyx’s face tensed with confusion and an underlying curiosity as Phantom continued to speak without his accent, “I don’t think I’m that hung up on items either… Is there something a phantom thief fights for specifically?”

A silence filled the air as both foxes looked at each other. Phantom’s expressionless face met Calyx’s, which was flooded with recognition. Calyx, the phantom thief he was masquerading as for his whole life, never fought for himself nor material wealth. It was always only for one thing that he thought was thrill but was really…

“Family…” Calyx muttered, almost to himself, completing his ideals’ speech for him.

Phantom nodded, a mixed flicker of relief and pride flashing even in the empty white voids of his mask’s eyeholes. “Yes, family. We, as Calyx, steal for our family. The one we lost then and the one we have now.”

Calyx felt the urge to scream at himself internally for forgetting the reason he became a phantom thief to begin with. Thrill was what made his heists fun, sure, but in believing that was the main reason for his actions, he never got to ride its high to its fullest. Satisfaction was something he felt whenever he was chased, yelled at, or even scolded but it never lingered for very long. 

No… The reason he started thieving was for the family he wanted to support.

“Mom… Dad…” Calyx called out, surfacing memories of his first ever heist as a child, heart swelling in his chest and tears threatened to fall again. It was as simple as taking lunch from the bigger kids who bullied him, but it meant so much to him that he did so because it saved his parents a little money instead of handing him Dennies for his own food.

 Of course, he never told anybody why he would act like such a kleptomaniac, it would be absurd to believe that such a young and small Fox Thiren would steal just to help his parents save a few Denny. Thus, it was masked behind the thrill of potential capture and punishment. At least then it would eliminate all traces back to the people who cherished him the most.

Phantom adjusted his masked face as he got down to Calyx’s level once more, “They loved us very much. So much so that they kept us safe at the cost of their lives. What would they think if they saw their little phantom thief so utterly defeated?”

“D-dad would probably… scratch my ears… like he always does! While Mom would… would pull me into a hug…!” Calyx finally breaks down, tears flowing freely as he sobs with his head hanging down from his shoulders.

Phantom places a hand on his shoulder. A gesture, while tentative at first, turned into an embrace which Calyx wished he could reciprocate as less inhibited sobs escaped him. Despite Phantom’s lack of physical presence, Calyx felt a much-needed warmth course through him thanks to his double’s arms around him. 

“Fight, Lynx...” The spectral fox uttered with his chin on Calyx’s shoulder. Phantom pulled back. Calyx imagined that a smile would be there, if he had a mouth. “Our family will need our support.”

With a sniffle, the Fox Thiren stared at the cracking mask of his ideals, a conflicted expression replacing his earlier anguish. He knows Phantom is right but could he really do anything at this point? The exchange will happen soon and he’s still tied down like a dog.

As if to answer Calyx’s internal question, Phantom spoke slowly and deliberately, “The show is not yet over, dear fox. If you really want to show yourself the true essence of our phantom thievery, then the encore to this heist must be nothing less than fate-defying… A spectacle for the ages...”

“Something you accept for its entirety.”

Calyx’s brows tensed as his ears twitched twice. Phantom’s words seemed to have kindled the fire of mischief in the Fox Thiren’s heart. As the sound of Ethereals in the distance reminded him of their presence, a small smirk made itself home on the phantom thief’s tear-stricken face.

“Don’t be ridiculous… It’s over…”

“Excuse me? You can’t be serious, after we’ve gone through—!”

“Shut it! I don’t wanna hear it! So what if I’ve remembered myself!? It only makes this hurt more!” Despite being roped to the rebar, Calyx thrashed around, kicking up dust and debris away from him. Desperation was evident in the way he moved—how he struggled to tear his restraints off, as if he could actually do so. He yelled—nay, screamed to the world itself; “To know that not only my mom and dad died, but my own friends who’re suffering trying to save some kid they don’t even know the name of?! You’re telling me to suffer through the same things again… To have them die because of my own existence?!”

All this wasn’t so he could put into action a retaliatory strike, rather so he could make good on what he told Phantom earlier—

“—I’m not endangering my family anymore! I have to get out of here! I’m done with this! ALL of this! No more phantom thieves; no more being a burden!”

Phantom, stunned, didn’t dare to move. His face, if he had one, would have eyes as wide as the gaps in the derelict remains of the Old Janus Quarter and a mouth that hung slightly open in pure shock. With a huff and crossed arms, he decided, seemingly, to accept the unrecognizable words escaping from his own lips.

“...I see.”