Souls of the Fallen

Childish Things

Whew! That was an eventful day... It's been a while since I've had the chance to speak casually with you. They were fairly busy during the beginning of their journey as you can see. Remember, these are windows in time that I am revealing to you. Everything I've shown you is for a reason. Relevance for future situations is the purpose. Maybe you can even add to the understanding that I have relative to their cause.

You seem worried. Shina? Well, yeah... She's something to be worried about. It's a shame she couldn't avoid her fate. Throwing herself into the fray to protect the orphaned boy she calls her brother. Naru is also one to worry about. Her attack against Luu put her in a very vulnerable state. The sorceress' spell the corrupted her shard. She suffered a major illness after that confrontation. The boys reconnected with Myra to get her some assistance but Myra could not heal the damage dealt by the dark magic.

The skin near her shard darkened and the veins turned as black as tar. The shard seemed to have been fine but Naru refused to use it. She fell ill and Myra recommended she stay in her care until she figured a way to restore the child to her former condition.

As for the city itself, the citizens have come together multiple times to restore the peace between Eons and humans. They have agreed to have two leaders. A spokesman for each race. Taj has taken on that mantle as a leader with Myra as his counselor. Sol and Ein left shortly after the boys left the city, days later. Their intentions were not discussed but you should expect to see more of those guys.

The original trio head out to the next city that their parents visited during their deployment. Warren didn't give them any clues about their disappearance. Despite the distractions, their initial goal remains the same. They've only added saving Shina and Teru to their growing list of things to do.

Let's get into the city of Harrington. A fairly different place compared to Franklin and Warren. The streets are damaged and the conditions of the buildings are in disrepair. Graffiti covers the walls of most of the buildings and tattered billboards. Trash has piled up so much that the black bags spill out from the alleyways onto the sidewalks. There is way more foot traffic than in Warren due to there being way fewer cars. The businesses that still exist all have bars on their windows and factories are all gated off. Apartment complexes are more common here than homes but there is an apparent high-class sector that is away from this mess.

The boys are escorted to the entrance of the city by Casey. The officer that Riku saved after dropping a ceiling on her. She sports a neck brace but is happy to be alive. She parks her truck and Riku leaps over the hatchback and lands on the gravel with a crush. Lucas rolls over the side as Reno opens the passenger side door.

"Thanks, Casey," Reno says while adjusting his clothes.

"No hard feelings, right?"

Reno smirks. "You should've let me drive but, yeah... No hard feelings." He closes the door and gives her one last wave. She pulls off as he joins the others as they look into the dirty city ahead of them.

"Can we go back?" Riku asks. "This place looks like a death trap."

"If you wanna save your bald headed crush, then we gotta go through this hell hole, " Lucas says.

"What do you have against natural hairstyles?" Riku folds his arms and awaits the answer.

"Dude... You two literally had the same hair, almost the same chest, and she was only an inch or three shorter than you. How do you know she didn't have a dick?" Lucas waves his hands around to emphasize his point. Riku looks on at his friend unfazed at his antics.

"So, you're only into girls with typical features... Good for you. I have broader preferences. And besides, I'm cute as fuck. If she looks like me then you can't get much better," Riku says with a big smile.

"Are you two numbnuts finished?" Reno joins their discussion.

Lucas puts his index finger up to halt Reno's intrusion. "Let's make a bet!" Riku raises an eyebrow at Lucas. "First one to get a kiss or better gets to pick a punishment for the other."

Riku shrugs. "Deal! It won't be nice when I win."

Reno shakes his head and walks away from them. They follow without ending their banter. The sidewalk begins and Reno follows it along the increasingly busy streets. They weave through the crowd as they get deeper into the city. Riku and Lucas are too busy arguing about the bet to realize they are passing attractive women left and right. Reno stops Riku for a moment to dig in his bag. Riku continues his fuss as Reno pulls out a postcard. He steps away from the two and holds it up in the air.

People bump into him as he steps up. He apologizes but gets no response. The postcard matches up with his target, minus the damaged billboard and fading neon sign over the diner. It reads 'He ri' but the place is Hendrix on the postcard. "You guys hungry?" Reno says while lowering the card.

"Always," Riku says.

"Yeah, I can eat," Lucas says. Their argument fades away instantly. "What's on the menu?"

"Diner food." Reno returns the postcard to the bag. He turns to the diner across the street and makes his way towards it. They cross the street with no issue and reach the ramp of the diner. The door flings open as an angry patron exits.

"You disrespect me, you disrespect the family!" he screams. The railing catches him as he drunkenly stumbles away from the door. "I'll be back, you fat bitch! For you AND your staff!" He tries his best to make it down the ramp as the boys try to avoid him. Riku catches him as he flails about in an attempt to keep his balance. "Get off me, chump!" The drunk yanks away from Riku and disappears into the flow on the sidewalk.

"Close my damn door!" a voice yells from inside the dinner. A woman reaches the door at the same time as Reno. The waitress grabs the handle with her back to the group walking up. She tries to close the door but he stops it.

"Excuse me," Reno says softly. The curly haired woman slowly turns her brown hair to face the voice speaking to her. She releases the door and cups her hands near her chest.

"So sorry, sir!" she says humbly. Her voice is as soft as her appearance. Her caramel skin is the only thing shinning in this dreary city. Her hair hides the right side of her face. The young waitress' figure is hidden by the blue apron on her lighter blue shirt. "Please, come in. Welcome to Hendrix!"

She moves her long hair behind her back as she motions them inside. Reno nods slightly and enters the metal trailer that serves as the building for this restaurant. Riku and Lucas grin at each other. Lucas walks up to her and extends his hand for a shake. She shakes his hand and Lucas tilts his head. Her skin has a patch that is a pale tone. After the shake, he looks back at Riku and does the cutthroat motion.

Riku looks at him with a confused frown but advances forward. He stops before the lady in blue and gestures for her to enter. "Ladies first," he pauses to read her name tag, "Akira."

She smiles and appeases him. "Thank you, sir." The inside of the diner is cleaner than expected. It doesn't resemble the city it's parked in. The bar is full except one seat and the red booths are nearly all taken as well. "I'll seat you over here. Follow me please." The chef watches them closely as Akira walks them to an empty booth.

"Is that trash bag gone, Akira?" the chef asks.

"Yes. He ran off into the streets, sir." She gestures towards the booth and they sit. "Please pardon the disturbance, may I get you started with drinks?"

"Lemonade," Lucas says.

"Water, please," Reno says.

"I'll take a lemonade too. Quick question though..." Riku says. "Are we safe here? That guy threatened to come back." A loud thump is heard across the diner. Riku turns to look at the spot the sound came from.

The chef is holding a shotgun on the countertop. "Anyone challenges me or my workers will get this treatment," he says. Riku gulps and looks at Lucas with fear. Lucas makes the cutthroat motion more vigorously and discretely points at Akira.

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine! I'll be right back with your drinks!"