Yukito and Celeste ran all the way back to the clinic with the boy breathing shallowly in his arms. They slammed the door open and ran inside. "Dr. Vernia! Come quick!" Celeste yelled.

A moment later the man came bursting out of one of the back rooms. "What's wrong?" he looked around and saw the boy in Yukito's arms.

"Oli! Yukito, get him into the exam room for me will you?"

Yukito nodded and took the boy into the room where he had first been treated and set the boy down on the exam table. The doctor was right behind him and rushed over to Oli who was breathing slower and slower. His face was bloody, and Yukito guessed that the kid's nose was probably broken. What the hell kind of monsters would do this to a little kid? I don't know what he did, but knowing the things I know about the piece of shit guards in this world so far, probably very little.

Yukito and Celeste left the room to let Vernia concentrate on his task. Yukito grit his teeth in frustration and punched the floor, making his knuckles red. "We need to do something about this, Celeste. These bastards in this country can't just continue to do things like this to people. It isn't right!"

His face felt hot with anger and he saw that Celeste, too, appeared to be shaken. Yukito assumed that she probably was reliving bad memories of when her mother was given the same treatment by the guards in the capital. She responded to him in a calm voice, however, "We need to think this through. If you're seen, then they'll send word to the capital and we'll have powerful enemies to worry about again. Even if you have been given power by the gods, you're still just mortal. Let's come up with a plan when we hear the full story, okay?"

Yukito nodded sullenly and Celeste showed him the clothes she had bought. "I hope that these fit. We didn't exactly have time to think back there." She handed over a bundle of clothes which consisted to two pairs of sturdy looking trousers, one green and one black. A long sleeved shirt that was a deep royal blue and a light green one that had short sleeves. Celeste looked down and seemed to be considering his shoes, which were just simple black tennis shoes. "Want to try those things on?"

He reached down and prodded at the long rip in his shirt before nodding. "I'll go change. It'll feel good to fit in when we're traveling." 

"Minus those weird shoes you're wearing," she giggled.

"Yeah. I guess you're right. They're really comfortable though..." he mumbled under his breath as he went to the room to change. Celeste must have had a good eye for these things as all the clothes fit good and were comfortable. He chose to wear the long sleeve shirt and the black trousers. That was when an interesting idea struck him and he went back out into the other room.

"You look really good!" She smiled at him and gave him another wink. 

It seems like she's coming out of her shell a little bit. Either that or she's trying too hard to act normal instead of allowing herself to be sad over her grandfather. He walked over to her and told her of his idea. He would need a scarf or something he could wrap around the lower part of his face and he would need a black shirt, but if he was properly covered and could blend in with the darkness, he thought he could deliver some justice in this town without anyone being able to identify him. Celeste agreed that it wasn't a bad plan, but again asserted that they should wait and see why the guards had done what they had done and maybe ask Dr. Vernia some specific questions about the state of things in the town.

"All right. You win," he finally agreed. 

She went back out of the clinic to get the clothes as well as some sturdy boots for travel for him and told him that she wouldn't be gone long. Yukito had a look around the small clinic and went to the bedroom to put his spare set of clothes and his black cloak into Celeste's bag. When he came back out, Vernia was waiting for him.

"I think he's stable. Another five minutes and he would've been beyond saving. Did you see what happened?"

Yukito replayed the day's events to Vernia and gave him what little information he could while leaving out the fact that he was the one who had dispatched the guards. He just said that someone showed up out of nowhere like a phantom and killed the guards before disappearing again. Vernia just listened silently, nodding here and there, until Yukito finished the tale.

Despite feeling that he could trust this man, he wasn't willing to throw everything on the line by divulging the truth about who he really was. "Can you tell me a little bit about what's going on in this town? Is it normal for the town guards to beat children to death in the streets?" he said with disgust.

Vernia's face mirrored his own and he replied, "Until recently... I would have said no, but the lord in charge of this town, Brandt, has suddenly had a change of personality as of late. His guards have become more violent and he's raised the taxes so high that many people cannot pay them. When the guards do their rounds to collect and people can't pay... well, they disappear."

"Why don't the higher lords step in and do something? Did he give no reason for the tax increases?"

"Supposedly, it's all to support the war, but none of the other small villages around these parts have been hit with higher taxes, so something doesn't add up. Unfortunately, there isn't anything to be done about it. As you must know, the Emperor turns a blind eye to these types of things and the high lords do the same so long as they get their cut."

The two of them continued talking about the area and he showed Yukito the other areas of the clinic. The back-end of the building was his personal home complete with two more bedrooms, a washroom, a study, and a sitting room. Vernia also showed him an old map that he had on hand when Yukito asked about where he could buy one, and he was surprised to see how big this world really was.

The map was worn and showed the nations that had apparently been annexed as the Empire expanded. In all, there were twelve kingdoms before the expansion, and now, according to some corrections marked on the old map, there were only 6. Their destination was much farther away than he would have ever expected. They were near the center of northern Cyrulenthia and judging by the scale of the map, they were only a tiny distance from the capital. They would have to pass through two conquered countries and one other to enter the country of Gilldive. 

A long while passed and Celeste still hadn't come back. Yukito was beginning to get worried and just as he was about to go look for her, she opened the door and came inside. She was carrying a new pack that looked to be fairly full already and some food that she said was for dinner in a burlap sack. "Jeez... did you buy the whole town, Celeste," he joked.

She laughed and shrugged off his comment. "Come help me carry this stuff to the kitchen and I'll show you what I found for you."

He walked over and took the bag of food from her and followed her to the kitchen. They sat the food on the counter top and she showed him what she had bought. There were some more food supplies inside the bag, along with the clothes he had requested and a pair of boots. So long, comfortable tennis shoes, hello, uncomfortable looking boots.

He sighed and thanked Celeste for going through the trouble. He switched out his shoes and was surprised that even though the boots were a bit stiff and rigid, they weren't exactly uncomfortable.

They went back to the sitting room and chatted with Vernia over the next several hours. The doctor went to check on Oli's condition periodically, but the boy hadn't awoke even by the time that dinner was ready. Celeste had prepared a stew, and it was delicious.

Afterward, they were on their way back to the sitting room, when Oli awoke and was yelling for Vernia. All three of them went to check on the boy and saw that he was sitting up. He was bandaged all over, and sobbing. "They took my mum and dad!" he wailed.

"What happened, Oli?" Vernia asked.

"They said pay more money, but my parents didn't have enough... and then they took them away. I just wanted to know where they were going and they beat me while dragging them away." 

"That's awful!" Celeste exclaimed. She ran to the boy's side and gave him a hug, letting him cry onto her shoulder where he sat on the exam table. 

The doctor had a sorrowful look on his face and wiped away a tear. "I'm so sorry, Oli... I want you to stay here with me for a while, until we can figure things out, okay? Maybe your parents will be let go and this will be a big misunderstanding."

"No one ever comes back..." the boy cried even louder.

Yukito had heard enough talk, it was time for some people to get the beat down they deserved and he was just the guy to give it to them. He stepped out of the room and got into his 'superhero disguise' and opened the front door, a gust of wind came in and blew his cloak backward heroically. 

"So you're going?" Celeste asked from behind.

"I have to. This isn't right, and I'm going to get to the bottom of it. From what Vernia told me of Brandt, something just doesn't smell right about all this. Stay here and be safe. I'll be careful, okay?"

She ran up behind him and gave him a hug. "I can't stop you, and it's good that you want to do the right thing, but I don't want to be alone. We're all each other has, you know?"

He turned around and gently ran his hand across her cheek. "I know... and I'll be careful. Be ready to go at a moment's notice when I come back." It was odd, but even though he had only known Celeste for a couple days, he was sure that he was beginning to have strong feelings for her. He pulled his hand away from her cheek slowly and turned to leave.

He turned back and saw that she was watching him from the lit doorway. He waved and positioned his scarf so that it covered the lower portion of his face before he continued to walk off into the dark streets of Barebury alone.

The moon was still fairly full and provided plenty of light for his enhanced cat eyes to see by. He walked in the shadows with his cloak wrapped around him. There weren't any people on the street this late and only about half of the windows were still lit. He skulked around and made his way toward the lord's estate. A few times he had to stop along the way as patrols of guards were walking around. I don't want to be seen if I can help it. When he got close to the gates of the manor he saw that there were two guards standing in front talking. He listened to their conversation with his cat ears and was shocked with what he heard next.

"Five of our number were killed today, by some human it seems. Yari will not be pleased." the one on the left said.

"It matters not, we will bleed this town dry and leave nothing but an empty husk. Humans are fools and only believe what their eyes tell them. We will not be found out and don't need to worry."

What the hell? Does this mean what I think it means? Oli's parents... am I too late I wonder? He grabbed a large rock off the side of the street next to him and tossed it into the alleyway across from him when the two 'guards' weren't looking. 

"What was that?" one of the things hissed in an inhuman voice.

"Something heard us? Let's go check," the other replied.

Thank you, video games! He thought to himself as the two foolish guards went into the dark alleyway with their backs toward him. He activated his power and dashed toward them. Their heads started to turn in the few seconds it took him to get within striking distance, but in the end they both fell silently without ever having caught a glimpse of their murderer. Quickly he deactivated his power and let the bodies fall to the ground. He had used up 9 seconds of his ability. He ran over to the gate once he was sure no one else was looking and scaled it, entering the lush garden of lord Brandt. 

Now for the hard part. he thought as he crept deeper down the dark pathway leading to the manor.