The Four Broken Souls Of Atera.

by Sylif Daring Doo

Troubling circumstances.

_____*The City of Atera, later that day.*_____

Syrin felt like a third wheel right now, it had been two hours after they had left the bar and frankly, she was concerned about Karak.

They were outside of a local library, which was little more than a twenty feet wide store that was twenty seven feet in length, Seth claimed that they were there for something important, but when asked, the rabbit refused to reply.

"Is Seth always so secretive?" Syrin asked Ren as they waited for Seth to come outside.

Ren nodded and looked up at the sky, it was dark but that was expected, seeing as it was nighttime and the Slums always looked dark, as though someone had forgotten the day time. "She doesn't mean to be rude, if that's what your implying, she's just adjusting." She chuckled. "It took me about three months to earn her trust, and that's not including everything else that got in the way." She replied.

Syrin looked at the library. "Do I even want to know?" She asked.

Ren looked at Syrin. "Not really, private stuff, personal problems and petty disputes, beyond that it isn't my place to say." She replied calmly, her tone indicating no hostility or evasiveness.

Seeing as they had some time to themselves, Syrin decided that this was a good time to learn about the fox. "So Ren, what do you do?" She asked curiously.

Ren chuckled and leaned on the wall. "Really? that's the best icebreaker you could think up?" She shook her head with grin. "Believe it or not, I'm a private investigator." She replied.

Syrin looked at Ren with a surprised expression, the fox didn't seem the type. "I don't appear to be the type, that's what your thinking right?" The fox stated knowingly.

Catching Syrin off guard once more, Ren simply crossed her arms. "I get that a lot, I actually know that thought process by sight now." She added.

Syrin took a break and looked up at the dark sky. "I'm curious.......have you ever suspected Seth of doing something stupid?" She asked.

Ren smirked. "Oh yea, I have suspected her of being the Hooded Maniac a lot of times......proven wrong." She stated, her tone was oddly cheerful.

Syrin raised an eyebrow at that. "How were you proven wrong?" She asked.

Ren looked up and smiled. "Let's just say that the maniac struck while me and Seth were.......busy." She said the last part quietly.

Before Syrin could even reply, Seth walked out and was holding a black duffle bag over her shoulder. "Alright, let's go back home." She said simply.

The three began walking to the apartment, and along the way Syrin got to thinking. 'If Seth isn't the Maniac, then who is it? and why was Seth talking to them?' She wondered.

Ren spoke up as they passed the grocery store. "So Syrin, what do you do for a living?" She asked.

Syrin looked at Ren. "Believe it or not, I'm a mechanic, I mostly fix up machines." She replied.

"Cool, you can take a look at the fridge, it's been getting warmer for weeks now." Seth stated.

Ren sighed. "You've had that fridge ever since you moved there, of course it's dying." She replied easily.

Syrin watched as Seth looked at Ren with a glare before looking forward. "Just so I know, is there anywhere I should avoid?" She asked curiously.

"The docks." Both Ren and Seth replied quickly. "It's run by a powerful gang, they keep things quiet so long as no one bothers them." Seth continued.

"And by bother them? that means don't beat them up like Seth did. " Ren translated.

Syrin looked at Seth who unconsciously rubbed her right hand, which had a bandage around it that she never noticed before. "You beat up a gang?" She asked.

Breaking out of her silence, Seth huffed and crossed her arms. "If by 'beat up' you mean pulverize? then yes." She replied.

"So uh, what are your other roommates like Sethy?" Ren asked, changing the subject.

Seth turned around and started walking backwards. "Well, aside from throwing the door open at ten in the morning, Karak isn't that bad of a guy, Shade is quiet and keeps to himself mostly, personally I see past his little charade, he's bothered by something and is intent on keeping it quiet." She replied before turning to walk forward.

"I wonder when someone will show up that isn't a Broken." Ren muttered.

Syrin raised an eyebrow at Ren. "A what?" She asked.

"It's a term." Seth answered. "A Broken is a person who suffered so much that they come to live here in the slums for one of two reasons, the first being that they have no choice, and the second is to get away from that pain." She said.

"So, what does that make you two?" Syrin asked curiously.

Ren pointed to herself. "No choice." She answered easily.

Seth grumbled. "I'm not going to talk about it." She replied with an aggravated tone, she then sped up her walk.

"I messed up didn't I?" Syrin asked.

Ren sighed and shook her head. "No you didn't, Seth just doesn't like to talk about it, just don't bring it up again, she won't hold this against you." She said reassuringly.

The two then followed Seth as they headed for the apartments.

______*Meanwhile, apartment 192.*______

The inside of one nine two was quiet as the television was shut off, Shade was asleep on the couch and Karak was awake sitting at the small table.

The hybrid held a small silver locket in his left hand, he pushed the small button on the locker and it opened, there was a photo of him on the lid half, and a photo of a mare on the other, her hair was blue and her fur was pink, he closed his eyes as he recalled a memory.

"Your a funny guy, what's your name?" A female voice asked.

"I'm Karak, but everyone calls me Storm, what's your name?" He had asked.

With a smile, the mare answered him. "I'm Firefly, and I'll see you later demon boy." She replied.

Karak opened his eyes and closed the locket, he tucked it away in his pocket and sighed shakily.

He got up from the chair and walked to his room, once inside he walked to his bag and looked through it, he found the bottle of pills and grabbed it.

Entering the bathroom, Karak walked to the sink and opened the bottle, he took several pills out, he stared at them with a grim expression closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, then in one motion, he tilted his hand and the pills fell down the drain.

Karak opened his eyes and closed the bottle, he then returned them to his bag and walked to the living area, he sat down on the chair and closed his eyes, seeking to get some sleep.

It did not take long for him to fall asleep, and when he did he experienced another memory, one where he was on a grassy hill with Firefly, just sitting in eachothers company.

"Why do you hide your demon half?" Firefly asked.

"Because people have the wrong idea about my kind, they hate wolves, and fear demons, at least if they only see the wolf I can try to live a normal life." Karak replied.

Firefly stretched out and leaned into Karak's side. "You can't hide who you are, what you have is a gift, you shouldn't hide that because some random people think so." Firefly said.

Karak ran his fingers through Firefly's hair gently and breathed steadily. "I'm not sure having the most hated species on the planet in my blood is a gift." He replied.

Firefly stretched her wings out and sighed. "I like your demon half just as much as your wolf half, and you know why? because no matter which way I see it, it's still you inside, same soul and spirit." She said.

Karak smiled and closed his eyes. "Thanks for that, if only everyone else could see that." He muttered the rest to himself.

Firefly looked at Karak's face and smiled. "You have a good heart demon boy, but let's just enjoy the quiet time?" She suggested.

Karak nodded and closed his eyes as he rested his head on the tree.

_______*three minutes later*_______

Seth walked up to the front desk and rang the bell, soon enough, the bear walked up. "Hello Seth, how can I help you?" He asked.

"I have your package Jack." She said as she handed the bag over.

Jack looked through the bag and then set it down. "Thank you Seth." He said with a nod.

"It's fine." Seth said as she walked to her apartment.

She was joined by Ren and Syrin, who were curious as to what she gave Jack. "So, what exactly was that about?" Ren asked curiously.

"Doing a favor for Jack, that's all." Seth replied easily as she unlocked her apartment door. "You coming in Ren?" She asked.

Ren shook her head. "No, I have to meet Carol, see you around Sethy." She replied as she left.

Syrin followed Seth into the apartment and they both saw Shade and Karak asleep on the couch and chair respectively.

Seth sighed and looked at the clock, she noticed that it was nine ten. "I'm going to bed." She stated simply as she walked to her room and shut the door.

After Seth entered her room, Syrin looked at Shade and Karak, she sighed and walked over to them.

"Hey, wake up guys." Syrin said as she shook them with her magic.

Shade grumbled as his eyes slowly opened, he rubbed his eyes and looked at Syrin tiredly. "When did you guys get back?" He asked.

"Just now, help me get him to bed." She replied.

Shade nodded and stood up slowly, as Syrin picked Karak up with her magic, Shade opened the door to the room and pulled the covers back.

After Karak was on the bed, Shade sat on his bed and looked at Syrin. "Why didn't you tell me about Karak's pills?" He asked.

Syrin stiffened but answered regardless. "I guess I didn't know if I could trust a stranger, how did you find out about them anyway?" She asked.

"I saw the bottle sticking out of Karak's bag, it looked like it was almost full." Shade replied.

Syrin raised an eyebrow. "That can't be, I've seen him take them for past few weeks." She stated.

Shade shrugged. "I don't know, I'm just telling you what I saw." He said as he laid down.

Syrin walked out of the room and closed the door, she went into her room and laid down on the bed. 'I need to keep an eye on Karak, if what Shade said is true of course.' She closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep.

_______*Seth's room, 5 hours later.*________

Seth's eyes opened sleepily, she grumbled and rubbed her eyes.

Standing up, Seth turned on her rooms lights for once, the dim light illuminated much in the room, most noticeable was the mound of clothes on the floor.

Seth walked over to the pile and knelt down, she pushed most of the clothes off and revealed a small brown footlocker, she looked at her door for a moment before standing up and walking to her dresser, she opened the second to the top drawer and fished through the pockets of one of her pairs of pants.

Seth pulled out an iron key and walked to the footlocker, she glanced at her door again and then unlocked her footlocker.

With care, Seth slowly opened the footlocker and looked at the contents, there were some photos and a pouch or two of bits, she moved things around a little and grabbed two holes, she pulled it up and looked at the hidden contents.

Inside were some items that are strange to keep for most, it was two iron shackles, but what made these ones strange was the fact that there were no chains, or anywhere for chains to go for that matter.

There was also a small necklace, it was silver with a small silver skull in the center, Seth stared at it for a few moments before putting the fake bottom back on and closing the footlocker.

Seth locked it and then put the key back, she turned off the lights and was about to go back to bed when she heard shuffling out the door.

With caution, Seth approached her door and quietly opened it, she peeked out the door and sighed in relief when she saw that it was just Karak.

Seth walked out of her room and cleared her throat loud enough for Karak to hear.

He jumped a little and looked at Seth with a surprised expression. "Oh.....its you." He breathed in relief and rubbed his eyes. "Why are you still up?" He asked curiously.

"I work the night shift, I'm usually awake at this hour anyway, this week has just been a nightmare for my sleep." Seth replied calmly.

Karak watched as Seth sat down at the dining table and looked at him, she gestured for him to sit and he did so. "So what about you?" She asked. "Why are you awake?"

"Can I trust you to keep a secret?" Karak asked quietly.

Seth chuckled. "Trust me, I've kept my fair share, consider this confidential." She replied.

Karak sighed and nodded. "The truth is, I'm trying to get rid of these." He pulled out a pill bottle and placed it on the table.

Seth took the pills and looked at them. "I'm going to guess anti depressants?" She asked.

"I see Syrin told you." He replied.

Seth put the pills on the table. "Look Karak, from what I heard, you did something stupid before taking these, and I'm not a big fan of corpses in my home." She stated.

Before Karak could speak, Seth held a hand up. "However, I know what it's like to be on these specific pills, so let me ask you a question." She looked directly into Karak's eyes.

"When was the last time you took one? and don't lie to me." Seth asked.

Karak took a breath and thought on it, he blinked and shook his head. "Like, four weeks or something." He replied.

"Then how do you explain the screaming?" Seth asked.

Karak rubbed his left eye. "Fake, keeping up appearances and all that, in all honesty? I'm coping just fine now, I just need to find a way to tell Syrin so she'll get off my back." He replied.

Seth shook her head. "Look, I won't tell you how to deal with her, but I'll keep your secret, so long as you stop throwing my door open at ten in the morning." She stated.

Karak nodded. "Deal, it was getting old anyway." He said as he stood up. "One zero three." Seth said out of the blue.

The hybrid blinked at that. "What?" He asked.

Seth tossed Karak the pill bottle and crossed her arms. "The best way to get rid of the pills, put them with everything else in front of apartment one zero three." She stated.

Karak looked at Seth oddly. "Why is that?" He asked.

Seth chuckled. "Nothing dangerous if that's what your worried about, go rid of the bottle and I'll tell you." She said.

It took about ten minutes for Karak to find one zero three and then get back.

When Karak got inside the apartment, he locked the door and saw Seth on her chair drinking a soda. "Almost thought you weren't coming back." Seth said with a chuckle.

"And miss out on the nonsense that happens here? no way." Karak replied.

Seth smirked. "The resident of one zero three has connections, he uses the stuff people leave outside his place and depending on their status or purpose, sends them to different places, old clothes and blankets mostly go to the homeless, medicine gets delivered anonymously to pharmacies or hospitals, after removing evidence of prior owners of course." Seth said reassuringly.

Karak nodded and took a breath. "Thanks for letting me know." He said.

Seth held a finger up. "One thing I should mention." She said quickly. "Only put stuff there on Thursday and Monday, trust me when I say you don't want to know why." She added.

With that said, Karak went to his room and went to bed.

Seth sighed to herself as she stood up and turned off the lights, she walked to her room to go to bed.

When she entered the dark room, Seth simply undressed and threw her clothes onto the large pile, she then got into bed and under the covers.

Then she closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep.

'I really will kill him if he throws the door open again.'

Author's Note:

Been a while right? I know, well here's another chapter for you all to read, a little backstory, but not much.

Hope you enjoyed this one.