Occasionally Noth would head into town to look for the children he’d saved. The idea that they’d been chased after and caught once meant that they’d obviously be sought after a second time. Noth hated the thought that those kids whose trust he failed to receive might just wander into another kidnapper’s clutches just because he didn’t know how to interact with children. Besides, his curiosity was screaming in his ears to find out why Serris had deigned to notify him about them, and he wouldn’t find any clues if they weren’t accessible.

A tiny piece of Noth’s mind would also sometimes wonder whatever became of the bug he’d tossed away, but he’d always quickly stop caring about it a few minutes later.

At least twice a week for the past month, Noth had been patrolling the streets during the tiny bit of time in which the crowds slightly let up. At first he was apprehensive about going out without taking Elillith along, thinking that he needed her as a sort of security blanket for this kind of expedition into the densely packed roads. He even considered that she might somehow know how to better connect with the kids, considering that she’d previously had a few siblings. But, in the end, Noth knew there was no way he could bring her along. If the confrontation he had with the thug was too dangerous to bring her along to the first time, then any subsequent times would be no different. Besides, in one way or another, this was an issue pertaining to his [Gift], since his angel was the one who’d started everything. There was no way that he could tell Elillith why he was doing this without her freezing up at the topic of [Gifts] again. Even worse, since the children were targets for kidnapping and slavery all because of their abilities, it might even be a very damaging topic for her to hear and possibly relive. No, letting Elillith know a word about this was definitely not allowed.

But even without his friend nearby, Noth would never truly be alone.

That thought comforted the boy, just as it always had, even from the very first day that he'd met his angel.

Noth made sure to stick to the walls, doing his best to stay out of the thick of the still quite bustling crowds. He’d learned that he’d feel claustrophobic no matter what in this environment, but at least having a nice still wall on one side gave him a small sense of security. Whenever he’d come across the alleyways that branched out from the streets, he’d search them for the children. Sadly, the paths usually only contained garbage, forgotten items, the occasional drunkard, or the much more common rogue looking to steal some quick cash. The boy had gotten pretty used to attempts on his life as of late, so he didn’t bat an eye at the thieves threatening him. The ones that seemed to lack any kind of bloodlust were treated mercifully; Noth would merely put them to sleep for a while using his wishes. But the ones who were ready and willing to kill him, however…

Sometimes he’d turn them into a pile of stones.

Maybe he’d collapse them into sand.

There were times he even turned them into trees.

Some thieves would be casually tossed off into the distance, just like the thug had been.

Or if they really managed to offend him, he’d simply erase them, not even leaving a speck behind.

It all just depended on what Noth was feeling like on the day.

In the end, he couldn’t help but be a little grateful to them all for being such great practice.

This time around patrolling he was actually a little hopeful about finding some new assailant in the alleys; He had a certain ability that he’d thought up that would need some practical testing, and the usual alley-thieves seemed like the best test dummies he could find on such short notice. But as he sauntered along near the path that he’d first found the children, something unexpected happened. Serris, who’d been flying around above the buildings, landed behind him, loosely rested her hands on his shoulders, and eerily whispered into his ear.

Noth was always on alert while he roamed these backroads, but now he could feel every one of his hairs standing at attention. There was something important going on? Did that mean it was something related to the kids he’d been looking for? Or maybe did the angel just give up on them and move on to the next of her ‘favours’? Noth desperately hoped that she hadn’t; He still needed to redeem himself for the previous failure! And more importantly he needed to know why the children were so important in the first place!

After a quick wish for invisibility, Noth quietly made his way into the waiting alley. Before he even turned the corner, he could hear the sounds of a man mumbling to himself, and even though the boy was invisible, he carefully peeked around the corner as if he might be caught at any moment. It paid off to be careful, especially when you didn’t know what kind of [Gift] you might encounter. For all he knew, this man he was peeping on could see through his invisibility, or some other similar ability that could expose Noth’s presence.

The lean man swept his shoulder length hair out of the way as he inspected something. Noth had to really squint to try and see what the man was looking at, but even that didn’t really improve his eyesight enough. With his curiosity fueling his courage, Noth took a few tentative steps closer, his breaths coming out as slowly and cautiously as he could manage, even despite the frantic beating of his heart. After a moment that felt like an eternity to the boy, he finally managed to get close enough to make out what the man was looking at, but the view was so unexpected that he almost took another step forward just to make sure that he was seeing it right.

In front of the mystery man was a pile of bodies that Noth easily identified.

Everyone in the pile was someone that Noth had sent flying for attacking him.

Each corpse in the pile was in varying states of decay, which made sense to Noth, considering that he’d sent them away on different days. Honestly, it made sense that they’d died, considering the sheer amount of force that had launched them away in the first place. Noth felt a tad bit guilty that they’d died, though, since he’d rather thought all this time that sending the people away had been on the lighter side of his punishments. What didn’t make sense about all this, however, was the fact that all of his victims were gathered in one place; Noth had distinctly seen them go flying in random directions, and never in the same one twice in a row. Had this man gathered them all here from their various locations? But why? The boy refocused his attention on the man, listening hard to the words he was mumbling.

“-dren said they didn’t know anything, so then… And this one is twisted but… I’m sure they’re all from the same… Should I ask father? No… The kids might… Perhaps after…”

Noth could only pick up bits and pieces, but the fact that the man was studying the bodies so intently, on top of the fact that he mentioned ‘kids’, seemed to mean that he knew that the two things were linked. Or, at least, Noth hoped that the kids he was mentioning were the same ones that he had been looking for. Did he know the children? Was he an investigator looking for them? Maybe he was looking into who was to blame for all these corpses, instead? Or perhaps, was he in league with the kidnapper thug from before? Noth did his best to burn the image of the man’s face into his mind, just in case he lost sight of him somehow and had business with the man later, for better or for worse. But just as he was scanning over the mystery man’s features, the man suddenly seemed to come to a decision and nodded. He turned around and walked resolutely in Noth's direction.

The sudden movement towards him scared the boy, and he quickly pasted himself against the wall, covering his mouth and praying that the man hadn’t noticed him all the while. He had to fight against the relieved sigh that threatened to flow out from between his lips when the man finally made it past him. It took him a few moments to collect himself and calm his raging heart enough to start after the leaving man, but the unexpected determined words that the man suddenly uttered made Noth immediately stop in place again.

“I’ll just have to interrogate those damn kids again before father gets to them.”

Noth’s mind went blank instantly, and only one thought filled the now free space; This man knew where the children were? He could find their location if he asked this man! His impatience and curiosity overflowed even more fervently than before, and his mouth opened unbidden. However, just before the first word fell from his mouth, the hand of his angel clamped it shut.

Serris waited a few moments until the riled boy calmed down and nodded, then moved her hand away with a giggle and smile. She gracefully beckoned for him as she floated away in the direction the man had left in.

The angel turned and led the way for her beloved boy, not letting him see the twisted smile that was growing on her lovely face.

~~~

The hall was dark and damp. Whimpers and groans echoed through the air. At first when Noth had followed the man into the unremarkable looking building, he didn’t know what to think, but now? With the obvious cells and the chained up prisoners? Unless the constabulary had a habit of locking up rare animals and children, then this was most definitely a dungeon, meaning these poor trapped people had all been stolen with the intent to make them slaves. A weird, sick feeling bubbled up from the pit of the boy’s stomach. He had to desperately struggle to not throw up and break his invisibility. He couldn’t just ruin things when he still didn’t know for sure where the kids he was looking for were, or what the man’s exact connection with them was.

Serris fawned over him, weightlessly hanging off of him as she hugged his shoulders and whispered to him of her love, and how he’d be okay, that he was strong enough for this, and that it was a necessary labour. She peppered him with kisses all over his ears and the side of his face as she talked, even as Noth continued to follow after the man, and even though the nausea in his stomach and the general disgust he was feeling at what he was witnessing was making him terribly upset, he was actually very thankful for how distracting she was being. He desperately needed the calming words and actions she was flooding him with right now; If not for them, he would have thrown up and attacked the suspicious man long ago.

After making his way almost to the end of the long holding hall, Noth’s prey finally stopped, coming up to a dimly lit cell and opening the door. Noth’s eyes trembled when he caught sight of the children who were lying defenselessly inside. He’d had his suspicions since coming here, and he’d hoped desperately that they were all wrong, but no, his horrid thoughts were correct; The children he’d saved had just ended up captured anyways. What’s worse, they all seemed to be far worse for wear than the last time Noth had seen them. Their clothes were practically in shreds, the boy had bruises and welts puffing up all over his face, and the two girl's arms and legs were in much the same state, even though their faces seemed to have been spared. The disgusting implications of why they made sure to keep the girl’s faces ‘pretty’ disturbed Noth just about as much as the fact that the children had been hurt in the first place. He trembled with self loathing at the thought that he’d let this happen, that it was all his fault that they’d ended up like this. If only he’d done a better job talking to them, if only he knew how to win their trust, they wouldn’t have had to go through all this. What was the point of any of this power he’d been working on if he failed on such a simple task?

“Alright, we’re going to try this again. Which one of you wants to tell me about who killed Piall?”

Noth weakly looked up at the man’s question, noticing the mean looking branch that was being smacked menacingly in his hands. Was he the one who’d hurt the kids? Was it him and that stick that did it?

“We told you already, we don’t know! Why do you keep asking us?”

The sobbing and strained voice of the gorgeous girl on the floor tore at Noth’s heart. He wanted to reach out and free them all right now, but the moment he tried to move, his angel’s oddly strong arms held him back. He looked back at Serris incredulously, but all she did was slowly shake her head and whisper that it wasn’t time yet. Noth bit his lip, trying to understand why it was that she’d make him wait. He struggled to force himself to calm down and follow along with her will, all while the confrontation in front of him continued.

“Oh really? But I don’t believe you at all. It’s amazing how unwilling you all are to talk, there must be some incredible secret you’re all trying so hard to hide, right? Cute though that may be, I suggest you tell me the answer sooner, rather than later. I’ve been nice so far and only roughed you up, but it would be easy for me to turn you over to my father’s clutches instead. You don’t want to end up like that thing, do you?”

The man pointed with his stick at the cell next door, and the children’s frightened whimpers suddenly grew louder. Noth hadn’t looked inside that cell at all, having had his attention completely stolen away by the children he’d been so worried about, so the sight inside of it caught him completely off guard.

There was the majority of a child inside.

The child was still alive, although barely.

One of their ears was missing.

A hand was gone.

A leg had been messily severed.

One of their eyelids drooped down as if it wasn’t covering anything anymore.

The slight stench of rot was drifting out from behind the hastily bandaged wounds.

The vacant looking child seemed like they would pass on at any moment.

Noth’s lungs burned; He’d stopped breathing the moment he caught sight of the atrocity.

His blood felt cold as ice.

It felt like even his heart had stopped beating.

What type of monster could have possibly done such a thing?