"Took ya long enough, Bello!"

Jason huffed as he made his way over to Cecilia. The crowds of normal people parted when they saw his jacket, giving him a wide berth.

"There was no stipulated time limit."

"Bleh, yer no getting off the hook 'cause of fancy words."

"I'm sure," Jason said, rolling his eyes and catching a few gazes that lingered on the two of them. He saw a couple of men who hung around corridors closest to the elevators turn away when they caught sight of his Delver jacket, and the teen knew that Cecilia's red coat couldn't hide his revealing clothes.

"Did you wait long?" Jason asked, taking a sniff of the air around the elevator. He frowned. There was a familiar scent other than Cecilia that hung in the air. "Was there someone else from the… company who came to help?"

"How cold, Bello, ya forgot me so quickly…"

"Cecilia." Jason stressed her name, knowing how to deal with her from Luciano's many rants on the girl.

Cecilia pouted, crossing her arms. "What s'it take fer a girl to get some appreciation 'round here… And no, I saw no one. Lucio only wants us on this."

Jason frowned, looking around for a little while longer.

"Smell someone ya know?"

"Yeah, I recognize them from somewhere, but I can't remember where."

"Is it that important?" Cecilia asked, placing one hand on her hip and leaning to the side. "Like, s'it really matter? Ya smell everyone."

"No, I smell…" Jason pursed his lips in thought. He knew that the scent was due to someone messing with the atmospheric mana, but at the same time, he wondered if he should reveal that to Cecilia.

"What?"

"Nothing." Jason said finally. "Let's just get on with this mission."

"'Kay, follow me! I know where to go!" Cecilia said, dropping the topic. She grabbed Jason's wrist, and while he flinched from the sudden contact, he let the redhead drag him away from the elevators of the floor.

Jason committed their path to memory as he was pulled along. Though, it wasn't like there was much to see. The trash-filled corridors all seemed to meld together at one point, and it was only when they passed through the points of intersection that things changed.

Many times as Cecilia guided him, several small groups loitered around in the darker corners of the intersections, hiding away from the fluorescent lights above. Jason matched their glances, but the supposed leaders of each group stalled the second they saw Jason's jacket. Instead, they hurriedly got out of Jason's way.

Jason just mentally noted the colors that they wore, referencing which gang he thought they represented.

The teen wrinkled his nose as they passed another intersection of corridors. As he took another whiff of the fifth floor's stale air, he wondered if there was a problem with the atmospheric stabilizers or if the floor just smelled this bad in general.

"Bad, right?" Cecilia asked as she dragged him through another alley.

"A bit. By the way, those several groups we passed…"

"Its probably what yer thinking."

Jason hummed. "Only probably?"

The redhead shrugged. "Not like I know e'eryone who joins the Calderones. 'Sides, with the amount of kidnappings," Cecilia seemed to stress that word through her teeth, startling Jason. That was the first time he saw her get angry with anything. "They might just be normal people who are using our names to protect their homes. 'Round this area, the Calderones are one of the better gangs to pretend to be."

"And what happens if the Calderones are the ones doing it?"

Jason frowned as the grip on his wrist grew tighter. Cecilia whirled around and glared at him. "They're not."

Jason raised an eyebrow, hearing her teeth grind against each other. He met her burning red eyes with an impassive stare.

"Let go."

Cecilia clicked her tongue but relented. "Yer not being cute right now, Bello…"

"Let's just get this mission over with." Jason said, rubbing his slightly red skin. "I let you drag me around, but where are we going anyways? Do you have any information?"

"I know a couple of people… I was going to ask them."

"Okay." Jason said, but Cecilia continued to pout in his direction. The teen sighed, suspecting that she had already forgotten how she had tried to kill him not even two weeks ago. "I was just talking randomly earlier. Luciano was getting on my nerves during trainings."

"Hmmmm?" Cecilia leaned closer to him, scanning his face as if she could tell he was lying. Her lips then broke into a wide smile. "Okay! Apology accepted. Lucio was like that fer me too! I wanted to non-romantically blow him up so many times!"

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

Jason ignored the urge to ask what constitutes "non-romantic" explosions, knowing he'd get an equally absurd answer. He just silently motioned for the girl to guide them again.

This time, they didn't have to travel for long before they reached their supposed destination.

An old woman stood outside in the alley of the nearest housing block. Her scent lingered around the area, telling him that she had probably been pacing around while she waited for them. His guess was proven correct when the old lady perked up when she caught sight of Cecilia.

"Miss Cici, its good to see ya well."

Cecilia smiled and skipped over to the old woman, wrapping them in a hug. "Good to see ya too, Grandma Mari!"

"I'm not yer… well, nevermind. Who did ya bring with–"

The woman paused as she saw the Cloudstrider Industries insignia on his chest, and Jason pasted an awkward smile on his lips in response. This low in the Blues, the only good thing about his jacket was that he wouldn't get accosted all the time.

"Hello, Ma'am. Sorry to be a bother to yo–"

"This is Jason!" Cecilia cut in. "He's a little mean sometimes, but he's pretty good! He can survive my best bombs!"

"Is that so?" The woman asked with a wry smile.

Jason palmed his face. "Don't listen to her. We just need to ask you a couple of questions."

"Oh! I should go say hello to Grandpa and the little ones!" Cecilia butt into the conversation again, running off after she said her piece. Jason could only watch as the excitable psychopath started to bang on the entrance to the housing block that the old lady had come from.

"I have a few questions to ask you." Jason corrected.

The old lady chuckled, but her genial smile flipped into a sneer. "I forgot how excitable she was. Cici's a good child, but what s'it got to do with some damn cog, huh?"

Jason blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"Sorry, huh? Pui–" she spat to the side. "Only reason I'm giving you any of my time is 'cause of Cici and the missing little ones. Yer one of them fancy killers fer those corporations that sit in their shiny castles up in the Clouds, so can't ya sniff out who the damn bastard who's running 'round here like he owns the place?"

"Ma'am, did I do something to you?"

"What? Are you going to kill me because I said something ya don't like? Go ahead!"

Jason took a breath, held it in for a few moments, and then released it to the side. He supposed this was one of the first times that someone completely disregarded his identity as a Delver. Memories of similar times before he was a Delver filtered into the back of his head. How had Oliver dealt with situations like this?

He frowned as the memory of his friend passed by. Then, he turned his attention back to the woman. Jason didn't say anything, and just calmly took off his Holo. He tossed it behind him, remembering where it was for later.

For now, he went with Oliver's patented "scare the shit outta them" tactic.

"Ma'am. I have been tasked with finding and rescuing those kidnapped victims. Of course, I can always go back home to my place in the Clouds. Which is a shame, since from what I've heard and seen," Jason looked behind the woman to see a frantic Cecilia bound out from where she entered the housing block. "Those little ones have probably been taken as well."

"Grandma Mari! Where are Callisto, Angelo, and Milana?! I can't find them anywhere in the house!"

"This…" Grandma Mari clenched his teeth, and Jason watched the old woman's mind war against itself. Finally, she sagged as if the hot air that propped her up had been expelled. "Fine. Come inside, Cici. You can come too, cog."

Jason and Cecilia followed the woman, and she was more collaborative with Cecilia nearby. However, Jason was disappointed to find that the woman didn't hide anything from him. She knew next to nothing about who could have kidnapped the children. The most he was able to confirm was that many people had experienced similar situations all over the floor; almost everyone who walked alone in the later hours had ended up going missing.

Now, while it wasn't that odd for people to go missing on the lower floors, the magnitude of people going missing was something Jason grew concerned with. Such a situation had traces of Delvers all over it.

Those worries were put to the back of Jason's mind as he left the irritating woman's housing black. He was able to get clothes of the missing children, memorizing their scents.

Yet, the second he stepped outside, he frowned.

"Something wrong, Bello?" Cecilia asked when Jason froze at the doorway of the housing black.

"Bello…" the old woman chuckled at Cecilia's nickname.

Jason paid the two no heed as he inclined his head, taking deep breaths. His head snapped upwards, and the teen saw the shadow of something scurry across the side of the building, disappearing around the corner. He narrowed his eyes to see that there were various marks along upper parts of the walls.

"Those are… claw marks?" Cecilia followed Jason's gaze, squinting as she saw what concerned him.

"It appears so." Jason said, lost in thought. "Let's go after them. I already have their scent."

"'Kay!" Cecilia went over to hug the old woman again.

"Cog!" Jason inclined his head toward the old woman, finding she was smiling at him. "Take care of Cici fer me. I'll break my bones on yer skull if I 'ave ta!"

Jason chuckled, shaking his head. He waved goodbye to the woman who seemed to flip moods at the drop of a hat, chasing after the familiar scent. However, as they grew closer, Jason's face tensed and he felt his heartbeat quicken.

As they gained on the shadow, he wanted his nose to be wrong.

It didn't take long for Jason and Cecillia to catch up. It had the advantage of leaving earlier, but between the two of them, it lacked the speed and endurance of a Delver. Jason frowned as he crossed off that theory in his head when they turned another corner to find an odd sight.

A burly man pressed a hissing humanoid rat against the concrete floor. Jason pursed his lips as he and Cecilia drew close. He studied the humanoid rat that reeked of the scent they had been chasing, trying to understand the situation.

The humanoid rat was roughly the size of a teenager. Probably a little taller since it looked like it walked with a perpetual slouch. Matted and bloody fur covered its body in a mismatch of patches, and Jason wrinkled his nose as a foul stench clung to its fur like it had been taking a shower in sewage. What caught the most of his attention were the blackened claws that extended from their fingers and toes.

Their face, though, was human. Beyond the thick fur and dull, purple pupils, Jason bit his lips as he realized his fears were proven correct.

"Callisto?!" Cecilia yelled in a panic, rushing over the second she recognized the humanoid rat's identity.

Jason caught the redhead before she ran off, easily holding her back. The burly man finally turned to look at them, and Jason smacked his lips in realization.

"You're from the lobby…" Jason said aloud, studying the man. He knew there was a familiar scent around the elevators earlier, and apparently, he wasn't the only one who had a mission to find the kidnappers.

"What are ya doing to him?! Let 'em go, ya big idiot!"

"Sorry, Bomb Hound, I can't do that." The burly man spoke, getting up while pinning down the mutated Callisto with his foot. "On my name as Elliot Nikos, heir of the Tower Corporation, I will lay down justice on this scourge that threatens the good men and women of this City Pillar."

"Oh… Okay, sure, whatever, man." Jason spoke slowly, as if to coax a child. "And what exactly are you doing to an Abyss-infected?"

"Infected? Sure, they are infected with something, but not the Abyss." Elliot shook his head. "This is the work of an Eurithos. Since it has gotten to the point of infecting humans, it must be a rather old one."

Jason frowned. If it was as Elliot had said, things had just gotten more complicated.