Gus flipped his eyes open at the sound of hearing the door open to his room. When he looked over, he could see Marin entering.

  “Marin! You’ve returned?” He asked.

  Marin confirmed as he walked in and shut the door behind him. Gus noticed the sun setting through his window in the room. The day was nearing its end once again.

  Gus sat up. It was a much easier feat than earlier that day.

  “How are you feeling?” Marin inquired as he sat on the end of the bed.

  “Much better.”

  “Color has returned to your face. You look to be recovering at a good rate,” Marin noticed.

  Gus nodded. He had gotten more sleep as Marin had been gone most of the day, and Eisen had done a fair job of taking care of him. He had been fed, and received several extra doses of medicine.

  The bathroom at some point was even prepared for him, after a noisy encounter with some life form that Gus could only hear about from behind his closed door. Eisen had yelled several profanities at the monster while liquid noises could be heard splattering about.

  He thanked God that he never witnessed whatever horror Eisen had created.

  Besides that, Gus gave a good report on the doctor.

  “That’s relieving to hear,” Marin stated.

  “What about you?” Gus started. “Did you find your necklace?”

  “I’ve made progress on that,” Marin was proud to report. “I have enlisted some help in recovering it. You’ll meet the man soon enough.”

  Gus nodded. “That cross pendant must really be worth all this effort, huh?”

  “Very much so. I have to get it back,” Marin responded.

  “What’s so valuable about it? You can’t just have it remade?”

  Marin thought for a moment.

  That’s entirely possible. Why can’t I have it just remade? It’s an ordinary piece of jewelry. Am I being this sentimental?

  ...No. There’s a reason why it’s so important… And I can’t remember. There’s something more to that pendant than I can remember. I… I have to figure it out. I have to remember what it is. I must get it back.

  Marin turned to face Gus in bed.

  “Not this one,” Marin responded.

  He refused to follow up further than that. Gus accepted that it was yet another thing that was not his business. If it was this important to him though, Gus began to think it was for a reason that was beyond sentimentality.

  Gus began to blame himself for this entire fiasco. Marin should have just left him at home. He hated seeing his King in such a predicament.

  Gus slammed his fist into the bed.

  “What?” Marin said.

  “It’s my fault. Everything this far has been my fault! Look at me! Look at how much I’ve impeded your mission! You should have never taken me!”

  “Gus…”

  “You’ve had to worry about me this entire time. I’ve been nothing but a liability this far. You would still have your necklace if it wasn’t for me. I’ve caused you so much distress and pain-”

  “Enough!” Marin declared in a voice similar to the one he used during the rogue encounter. It was quite intimidating.

  Gus fell silent.

  “You need to STOP blaming yourself for everything! I knew exactly what responsibility I was taking on when I chose you to journey with me. I knew I needed to protect you, and in return you’d-”

  “Protect me! Protect me because I’m weak, right?” Gus fired back.

  “You’re not a weak person, Gus. Why would you look at it that way?”

  “What other way is there to look at it? You explained to me what people are capable of! Compared to them I’m nothing more than a child.”

  “That’s also the majority of people. You’re looking at the peak of a mountain when you’re already at the base of it. That’s still higher than the rest of the world living in the valley.”

  Gus shook his head. He didn’t care for the metaphors Marin spoke in. There was only thing he wanted more than anything else.

  “...What if I want to climb the mountain?”

  Marin sighed. He knew exactly what Gus was talking about. The elements.

  “I’ve given you that opportunity, but you deny it.”

  “I deny anyone else guiding me up there besides you,” Gus pointed out.

  “What do you want from me, Gus?!” Marin asked forcefully.

  “I want you to teach me the ice element. I want to learn it from the best man I know. And if I knew it, maybe for once I could defend you instead of it being the other way around.”

  Marin stood up. He went for the door. Gus was really starting to try his patience. In his first thought, Marin was ready to leave the room and let Gus think about the way he had been rudely making demands.

  When his hand rested on the door knob to leave, though, he didn’t open the door.

  Marin sighed again, and raised his head up in thought.

  Gus stayed silent.

  After a short moment that felt like a long one, Marin turned around, and sat back down on the bed.

  “Why me? What do you see in me, Gus? What’s so special about me? I wear this mask, you’ve never even seen my face. You know almost nothing about my past. Who am I to you?”

  Gus stayed silent for a moment as he thought.

  “...You’re powerful, you’re wise, you care about me and all the villagers of Heroca. You saved us all from a raid, you used your wealth to rescue us and give us a home, even though we had never met you before in our lives. You’re a defender, not an attacker. You are a benevolent person, not one of selfishness.

  Whoever you are… Whoever you were… Whatever true reason you wear that mask, even if it’s because you’ve done some bad things in your life, that’s all not a King Marin I know. And because of that, I don’t care, I see past that all. You’re my role model, I’ve decided. And I wouldn’t accept anything less than the best person I know to teach me.”

  Marin sat with his head down, unresponsive.

  There was silence for a while. It was a lot to reflect on. Marin had impressed too much on Gus, and he weighed it with himself if that was a good thing or a bad one.

  “You’d be a hedge elemental. You’d have no certification of elemental status. No official-”

  “That’s just a word to me, Marin. I couldn’t care less what people think.”

  Marin finally took a sigh after another long pause. He grasped Gus’s leg over the blanket with his glove covered hand.

  “Alright Gus. I will teach you. I will… But there’s a deal that must be made. You must do one thing for me if you want me to become your teacher.”

  Gus couldn’t believe it. He had finally convinced Marin. “Yes, yes, my King. Anything!”

  “I want you to make peace with your father. You must see him and make amends. That is my one requirement,” Marin offered.

  Gus sat back in shock. That was the furthest stipulation that he could have imagined Marin would make. Why was that so important to him? He began to think if he could possibly swallow his pride enough to do it.

  Gus began to slowly nod. Marin stared back with his expressionless mask.

  “...Alright. Okay King Marin, we have a deal.”

  “Very good.” Marin released his grip, and stood up.

  “What’s next?” Gus asked.

  “For you, nothing. Nothing but continuing to recover. If you are looking even better than you are by this time tomorrow, I’m sure Eisen will give a thumbs up on you being well enough to be back in action. Just try to get more sleep.”

  “I will.”

  Marin nodded, and went to leave. “Are you hungry? You said you’ve been fed well, but…”

  “Not hungry at all, the doc fed me right before you came back.”

  “Good. Alright then. Sleep well.” Marin opened the door and left, shutting it behind him.

  Gus waited a moment to be sure that he was gone, and then raised his fists in the air.

  He had done it.

  He was going to become an elemental, and on his terms.

  He pumped his fists several times in silence, ecstatic about what had just unfolded.

  Marin walked down the hallway to the kitchen. Eisen met him halfway.

  “Marin, I did not approve more house guests!” The doctor said. He was already adapting to having two new people come and go from his abode, but three was crossing his line of comfort. Seeing as he had isolated himself for so long, Eisen was not in any peaceful situation with other people wandering his home.

  “Relax, doctor. He is necessary, and won’t be here long,” Marin tried.

  “Three days, Marin!” Edward Eisen held up three gnarled fingers. “No, two!” A finger dropped. “You get two days of having an extra person in my house.”

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  “I will not waste your hospitality,” Marin replied.

  “Also I’m going to a need a few samples of you,” Eisen announced.

  “What?!” Marin responded.

  “Very small ones. Just to study your cells. I need some from your skin and muscle.”

  Marin had almost forgotten that he was a failed experiment to Eisen, his newest puzzle to solve.

  “...I’d be far more willing to give you these samples if you’d be more willing to having Travis here.”

  Eisen crossed his arms and tapped his foot. He began to realize Marin wasn’t obligated to do everything he demanded. He also couldn’t force the King, Marin was just as strong as Eisen if not stronger. This was going to be a give and take situation.

  “I need you to be reasonable if you want me to be,” Marin added.

  “Fine, your plus two can stay for however long you need him.”

  The two of them entered the kitchen where Travis had been sitting, who at the moment, had still not come to terms with the state that Eisen kept his house in. There was noticeable distress coming from Travis, who did his best to keep himself composed.

  The remains from the ooze monster that Eisen battled earlier still had not been cleaned up, and Travis dared not touch the globs of suspicious liquid that dotted the household from what it had squirted.

  Upon seeing Eisen again, Travis became repulsed.

  “I can’t believe you live like this,” Travis stated.

  “I never asked you to come here!” Eisen replied.

  “Alright, calm down everyone. Wait in the basement for me doctor, I will be down there later to give you my samples. I need to discuss some topics with Travis.”

  Eisen wasn’t happy, but agreed and hobbled down the basement stairs, talking to himself in rants.

  When Eisen was out of ear’s reach, Travis began. “This is where Frankenstein was made! I’m telling you! That dude’s nuts! This is not a place where anyone should be living. Why are you working with him?!”

  Marin gestured for Travis to lower his voice.

  “It’s not like I had much of a choice. My friend was dying. I had nowhere else to turn,” Marin explained.

  Travis shook his head.

  Marin cleared off a part of the table Travis sat at and produced paper and a pen. He rested it in front of him.

  “What’s the plan?” Marin asked as he sat beside him.

  Travis shook off the rest of his imaginations of Eisen, and refocused himself. He grabbed the pen, and started creating a rough sketch of the city.

  Marin watched as he drew lines that separated the districts. The shapes were specific, as Travis showed off the intimate knowledge he had of the city.

  “There are two entry points into their hideout. One is here, at King’s Row.” Travis made an X in a district.

  “There’s also one in the trade district. Auctions of stolen wares are conducted in this building.” Travis continued drawing shapes and X’s as he described the operations of the Scarlet Eye.

  “Based on the time your pendant was stolen, it will still be in processing, meaning it won’t be auctioned yet,” he explained.

  “Where is it?” Marin demanded.

  “It’s going to be in their stockpile at headquarters.” Travis removed his paper he had been drawing on, and rested it to the side. He began on a new piece.

  “Now, we can enter at the trade district, but there’s a good chance we’ll be spotted early. Seeing as there is two of us, our best bet will be entering at King’s Row, despite the fact we will have more underground passage we need to travel, and they are notorious for their booby traps.”

  Travis worked the pen, drawing passage ways, and marking potential spots for a trap. Marin couldn’t believe how well Travis knew their hideout. Seeing as he regularly stole from them though, that would be natural. This was his job, after all.

  “Traps?” Marin repeated.

  “I can do this alone, if you want,” Travis offered, hearing the anxiety in the King’s voice.

  “No. I’m going to get payback. We’re doing this together.”

  “Suit yourself. Well with you there to help me, my tactics will be changing. Can you guarantee your ice skills can consistently freeze any opponents?”

  “I can indeed,” Marin assured him.

  “Fine. So in that case, we take passage B to their front doors. There will be a guard installed. When we round the corner, you ice him. Freeze, coat, I don’t care. You just need to render him immobile.”

  Marin nodded.

  “From there, I’m going to pick the lock in three minutes or less. Due to the fact that the guard does not keep keys on him,” Travis continued.

  “I can freeze the door.”

  “Come again?”

  “I can remove any door in my way,” Marin offered.

  “I… This is not an ordinary door! This thing is reinforced steel, five inches thick, it comes with-”

  “I can remove any door.”

  Travis leaned back in the chair, dropping the pen in front of him. He rubbed his face with both hands as he tried to figure out what Marin truly was.

  “That’s going to create too much noise, Marin!” He finally said. “I can appreciate the power you seem to have, but all that power won’t help you in this situation! Do you want the entire hive being alerted to our presence?!”

  Marin didn’t respond.

  “If you are confident in yourself enough to take on the entire crime organization on your own, by all means, I’ll bring you to the entrance, and you can run wild! If that’s not the case though, I need you to allow me to make the decisions here.”

  “...Continue.” It was all Marin said.

  “Alright. Now, where was I?” Travis picked his pen back up and continued to draw.

  The two of them resumed the plans for the operation. Travis talked about who would be where, and what distractions needed to be made. Eventually he made it to the stockpile room. Travis had Marin describe what the cross pendant looked like, and give a rough estimate of its value.

  The value of his item would determine if it was in a lock box or not. Travis explained several more actions that would need to be done. As he did so, he wrote down all the instructions he said. Marin asked a few more questions, and eventually the two of them had ironed out the plan they would stick to.

  After all was done, Travis asked for his payment. It was his policy to always collect before the deed, since he had been burned several times before on bad deals. Marin nearly emptied his coin purse paying him the twenty gold coins. He had hardly any money left.

  Travis nodded in satisfaction as he studied the coins. He opened his leather jacket and secured them into a pocket. When that action was done, he picked up the papers he had been drawing on.

  “Do you want to hold on to these to study?” Travis asked as he folded the papers.

  “Yes, I will be looking over them through the night.” Marin grabbed them, and placed the several folded plans into his pocket.

  “Look, um, I’m not staying here overnight,” Travis stated as he got up. “I’m sure I don’t have to explain why.”

  Marin nodded.

  “I’ll be back here sometime at noon tomorrow. It will be best if we infiltrated tomorrow in the afternoon. Most of the order will be out doing their rounds, as that is peak foot traffic in the richer parts of the city.”

  “I will be here waiting,” Marin responded.

  Travis headed down the hallway and out to the living room. He said his farewells to Marin, and wished his friend who he knew was healing in the bedroom a speedy recovery. With that, Travis took off, and made his way back onto the streets of Tarenfall.

  His head turned side to side, looking to see if he was being followed. He currently held a large amount of money, and needed to get back to his base before anyone became wise of it.

  Marin grunted as he placed the door of Eisen’s house back on the door frame. With that done, it was time for him to meet the doctor in the basement as he had promised earlier.

  He stepped down into the basement, where Eisen could be seen preparing a microscope, his back turned towards Marin.

  “You’ll be happy to know that Travis didn’t have much a desire to be a house guest here,” Marin tried. “He just now left, and won’t return until tomorrow to pick me up.”

  “Good,” Eisen responded with his back still turned. “I’m not much of a hospitable guy.”

  “And you call yourself a doctor?” Marin asked.

  “I never gave myself that title. It’s what others call me. I believe myself to be a number of other things, though. A scientist, biologist, chemist, list goes on.” Eisen turned to face Marin, he had a scalpel and tweezers in his hand. “But I never cared for doctor.”

  Marin eyed the surgical tools in his hand. “I suppose you’re ready for my samples?”

  “Indeed.”

  “I hope you’re not taking too much off of me.” Marin sat in a chair close to the doctor’s workstation.

  “A negligible amount. You won’t even notice anything different,” Eisen promised.

  Eisen sat besides Marin, and rolled his sleeve up. He adjusted his wire framed glasses, and with skilled, precise fingers, made a small incision onto his decayed arm. As expected, there was no bleeding whatsoever. Marin had dried up years ago.

  Using the tweezers, Eisen extracted the smallest sliver of muscle fiber. He placed it onto a sterile dish. He then removed a top layer of skin from his arm, and placed that into another.

  “That’s all I need,” Eisen said.

  Marin was relieved. It was far more minor than he thought. He rolled his sleeve down, and Eisen wheeled the samples over to his desk, which was lit by a bright overhead lamp. He placed the samples underneath the microscope.

  “What are you looking for?” Marin inquired.

  “I want to study your cells. You see, Sullivan. Despite the fact that your body is ‘switched off’ in the biological sense, you’re still in operation. A major contradiction, as you could imagine. And I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”

  Eisen dialed in the knob of the scope, and he removed his glasses. He peered into the scope, and fell silent as he adjusted the settings.

  Marin waited in anticipation.

  “Annnnd, just as I thought… your skin cells are dead. Yup, they’re absolutely dead. Completely useless.”

  “Then how am I-”

  “Well, hold up now. Now we move to the muscle cells. This is what gives you your movement. This is what will be the deciding factor.”

  Edward Eisen switched the dishes, and he readjusted the lens. A minute passed as he got the focus just right.

  He fell silent once again.

  Marin waited.

  More time passed. Eisen gasped quietly.

  “What is it?” Marin demanded.

  “Hold on!”

  Eisen slid the dish ever so slightly, in the eyes of the microscope, the tiny sliver of muscle fiber was a massive kingdom of cellular activity. Marin’s interest was piqued more than ever. Eisen was his only chance of ever solving the mystery of what had happened to his body.

  “...They’re alive,” Eisen muttered.

  “What?” Marin asked.

  “They’re ALIVE!” Eisen pulled away from the microscope, and threw his hands up. He grabbed his glasses, and put them back on.

  “Your cells are ALIVE, Marin! Somehow, some way! I-I don’t know how it’s possible!”

  “What does this mean?” Marin stammered.

  “It means… it means… it means I need to do more research! I don’t have a conclusive explanation! I have some theories, of course, but I don’t want to ramble on with ‘maybe this’ or ‘maybe that’. I need time, I need to study your cells.”

  This was the most excited Eisen had been so far. Marin had pushed the boundary of what was considered possible, and it wasn’t until some two hundred years later that his effects were finally being studied.

  “Turns out you’re not so ‘switched off’ as we thought!”

  Marin was satisfied that progress was being made on his condition. If his cells were still living, there was a good chance he may be able to reverse his state, and become a normal person once again.

  “What else do you need from me?” Marin asked, fully ready to help in any way he could.

  “Nothing, right now. I need to run some experiments on your cells. I’ll take good care of ‘em, I promise. At the moment, we don’t understand if you have any regenerative capacity, so I’d hate to slowly pick you apart, heh heh.”

  Eisen wheeled back in front of his table. “Just do whatever you need to do right now, I need time.”

  Marin nodded, and left him to it. He walked back up the stairs from the basement and to the kitchen. The place was still a mess from the monstrous creation, if you considered the previous state to be in clean condition, which it wasn’t.

  Eisen had never found the time to clean. Based on how his house looked, he never had. The doctor could really make use of a maid. They would keep the place clean, but Marin guessed how long it would be before he tried experimenting on them.

  Once again, it was night, and Marin had nothing to do but wait for the morning. Wait for Travis to return so they could recover his cross pendant.

  With all the time on his hands, he had to keep himself occupied doing something.

  “Doctor Eisen,” Marin yelled from above.

  “Huh?” He didn’t sound thrilled to be disturbed.

  “Would you mind it if I took some time to clean the house?”

  “You what? You wanna -” Eisen chuckled a bit. “...If that’s really something you’re interested in. Clean, but don’t move my stuff around too much. I still want to know where everything is!”

  “Understood!”

  Well, Marin now had something to keep his mind off of his worries. He took no time to explore what the mad doctor had throughout his house, with a goal of finding some sort of cleaning supplies. He was determined to get this done without bothering Eisen again.

  In some way, it felt like Castle Nocturne all over again. During the early days of him being alive once again, he spent quite a bit of the night hours doing cleaning himself. He wondered how everyone was doing. At some point, he needed to check the post office in Taren Heights to see if his return letter had arrived yet with an update on everyone.

  Marin eventually located rags and soap in one of Eisen’s packed kitchen cabinets. He was determined to see this place in orderly condition. As determined as he was to get his necklace back.

  This house will be cleaned, and I will have back my cross.