The air hung heavy with the scent of metal and rain. Flat on his back, next to the mouth of a yawning chasm, laid a man with rust colored hair. He wore nothing but a pair of pants with a hole in one knee. In his left hand he crushed a small carton full of little white tubes and in his right hand he loosely held a strange metal device. He opened his emerald eyes and turned to look out across the Chasm.

There were only two thoughts in the man's head.

'I don't belong on this side.'

and

'I don't want to go back.'

*

Minima dragged her feet as the two started back on the road, kicking up dirt with each shuffled step.

Abiss walked as many feet as he felt was safe to be ahead of her, hands in his pockets and eyes downcast but keeping an ear out for any approaching people. It wasn't likely that Shard hunter would return but there could always be more attracted to the treasure trove on his charge.

After what felt like an hour of walking in silence, the jingling of the trinkets hanging off Minima's bag suddenly got louder and faster as she jogged towards Abiss. He slowed to a stop, turning back to her, his eyes scanning for a threat that might've made her run.

He saw nothing of note, so he looked down at the blinding white top of her head. She got right up in his space and reached for his arm, miscalculating slightly the first time and only snagging his sleeve before she tried again, tightly grabbing his forearm. "Abiss." She said very sternly, staring at his chin.

Abiss raised an eyebrow, "is something wrong?"

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Her hands tightened minutely around his arm, "I wanted to apologize for raising my voice at you earlier."

"I really don't care-"

Minima cut him off, raising her voice to do so, "but! You have a strange and dangerous weapon. I don't feel comfortable knowing nothing about it."

Abiss shook her off without even taking his hand out of his pocket, "get used to feeling uncomfortable, little lady, that's life."

He started walking again. Behind him, he did not hear the jingling of her trinkets again. Once he had gotten a little too far away for comfort, he stopped and called back to her, "aren't you coming?"

"Aren't you scared I'll decide not to work with you anymore?"

"Not particularly."

Minima crossed her arms. Abiss sized her up for a bit, wondering how hard it would be to carry her before looking up to the sky and groaning. "It's called a gun. I don't know where it came from and I barely know how it works. Happy now? Let's go."

Abiss raised his foot to take another step down the road when Minima shouted, "you're lying!" at him. "How can you not know?"

Abiss shrugged, "lost my memory a few years back, already had it then."

Her eyes widened, "oh… I'm sorry I-"

"It's fine." He cut her off and started to walk and a moment later so did she.

They were silent for a few minutes, then Minima asked, "are there more?"

"No."

Visibly, Minima relaxed. "Thank you… for saving Mimi."

Abiss rubbed the back of his neck, "well, it is what you're paying me for."

Minima suddenly beamed a smile so bright it made him flinch, "still. Thank you."

*

Her eyes snapped open and immediately focused on him. Kesi flinched, hugging Lark closer instinctively. The girl sat up slowly, her brilliant sapphire eyes not leaving Kesi. Her pink hair was thin, barely chin length, with split ends. Her skin was creamy white, so pale her veins showed through clearly. She was almost skeletally thin and her eyes were a bit too large for her face, bulging out. She finally stood up, wobbling slightly on too long legs. The eight Shards in her stomach, arrange like a cross with a smaller x intersecting with it, in the space between her highly visible ribs and protruding hip bones, began to glow. Her eyes moved from Kesi to Lark and Kesi took three large steps back.

The girl's eyes widened even farther in fear, "Null? No, no, no." She tried to back away, her legs hitting the cot behind her, sending her down on her butt. The glow got brighter. She drew her knees to her chest, grabbing the sides of her head and screaming.

The Crystal Shards grew brighter and brighter until suddenly they flashed, blinding Kesi.