Arising Light

"Brr, it's cold up here." The young man said as he walked out into the cold mountain. He appeared different from the folk that live in the nearby village, due to his clothing, his red hair and the glasses he's wearing. There was also the book he was carrying as he walked down towards the village itself. "I'm in the Land of Dragons. This is exciting!" David said, psyching himself up to distract himself from the cold.

Entering the village, he simply passed through it after a quick look around and went into the mountain pass. Once he reached the pass, he let out a sigh of relief. "I don't know how people can handle the mountain cold. At least winter cold is easier to get used to." David commented, looking down at his clothes and frowning. "Although that was more my fault for not dressing properly." He opened the Goecia, his book and read it. The only filled page was the one with Ose, whom he bound into a pact with him while the rest were partially blank.

The pages that would show individuals were bereft of information, in words and pictures. But the other information on demons in general were filled with some knowledge, mostly on how to deal with them and binding them to a pact or sealing them away. "Well, I hope I can learn more about this."

A ways ahead of the demon binder, another individual was sitting against a rock on the path. He was looking over a small slip of cloth, then glancing past it to the ground, then back to the cloth, turning the thing over and over in his hands.

The client down below in the town, one who was decidedly unwilling to go out to meet him due to the recent disappearances, was a good enough of a source for information. The target was easy enough to find for him now that he knew what he was looking for. Given the sheer amount of blood in the area behind him, mostly hidden behind a rock, he had done his work well.

The hunter's ashen-gray hair belied his relative youth at his mid-twenties, even as he put the talisman away, the remains from the corpse of a jiangshi taken care of just out of sight. He had taken what he could from her, the mana drain of her abilities not dealing too much damage to him now that he had dealt with the source. Of course by "dealt with," the meaning could be seen to be "executed, then dissected postmortem," but who's keeping score, anyway?

The fact that the hunter himself had clothing splashed with a rather large amount of blood, along with his bloodied hands, perhaps would put off some people, but he wasn't really in much of a mood to care. He had taken his fair share of hits, but most of it wasn't his. Plus, his state could be used to his advantage.

Finally, Isaac Zivaku saw the newcomer, an older teen by the looks of things, still several years younger than himself. The hunter took to leaning back in relaxation. He could go back down some time soon, but that book... interesting to think about. "It any good?" he asked sarcastically about the book, his voice rather monotone as usual.

"Well, it's interesting." David replied, not looking up from the book. So he didn't notice the owner of the voice was covered in blood and looking completely nonchalant about it. "It is still incomplete, of course. Still, I have an idea on how to fill it, just an idea. You se-" He froze as he looked up and finally noticed the blood on the man's hands and his clothes covered in it. He dropped the book, staring wide eyed at what appeared to be an utterly nonchalant serial killer, or some sort of butcher.

David turned pale, still frozen, for a moment. Then he collapsed and looked up at the man. "Y-y-y-y-you're covered in blood!" He yelled out, his voice finally returning from the shock. The last thing he had been expecting was to run into a blood covered person in the mountains of a Disney world in a crossover game between the former and Square Enix. "My childhood's ruined..."" David thought to himself.

"Who are you anyway?" He managed to question, looking at the stranger. He still felt weak at the knees at the sight but started getting up. The last thing he wanted was for Heartless to attack while both he and the man were distracted with each other.

The man on the rock didn't let his smirk down as he watched the bookworm freak out over his appearance. While he knew it was odd, he wasn't about to apologize for doing business. Instead, he focused on things that he assumed would be more important to the man before him. Judging from how he had talked about the book, it appeared to be some form of spell book. And considering the level of focus, he seemed to want to know more about it, so Isaac looked there first. "You might want to clean that off before you write into it."

Then he went on to less interesting topics. "Don't worry, it's not mine. Well, most of it isn't mine. You can trust me, I'm a doctor. I was doing some surgery nearby and had to rest after the fact, so don't you go pretending this is the worst thing possible." That seamless lie off his lips, he decided to give his favored name up front. Better than trying to keep up an alias for no reason. "Isaac Zivaku's mine. Yours?"

David simply looked at him incredulously. "Surgery? In the mountains?" He looked around, a bit stumped. But then remembered the Heartless tended to appear here and that had him a bit confused. He kept thinking while he bent down to pick up the book he dropped earlier in shock and looked it over. David let out a sigh of relief, seeing nothing happened to it. Placing it under his arm, he looked at Isaac. "Oh, my name's David. David Solomon Almadel."

He still kept some distance from Isaac. Doctor or not, the man had just called out to him without keeping his guard up in an area where Heartless could attack, simply sitting back. That meant, overconfidence, stupidity, or that he was more guarded than he let on. "So what brings you here, Mr. Zivaku?" David asked. He did his best to ignore the blood on the guy. It was a really hard thing to do, to ignore blood on someone.

Okay, that was a fair point about him being up in the mountains. However, it was an on-the-fly call, so he wasn't going to make any attempt to say anything one way or the other in that regard. Instead, he just shrugged to the comment. "If someone needed help, sure." Technically speaking, his comment did not refer to doing surgery, but rather his hunt and, more importantly, himself as the one who might "need help," but his relative monotone would make that nigh impossible to figure out unless people were aware of what he was truly like.

In any case, David, as this person was known (oddly identifying himself by his full name, but whatever worked), was at least interesting enough to follow for a bit before he went to finish up his deal. If nothing else, finding out what kind of person he was helped to start work on how to neutralize him if necessary, not that it was too likely at present. Still, it was in his best interest to clear up any possible misunderstandings, at least enough to get by on his cover story. "Just traveling. Decided to go for a walk, saw someone needed help, what have you." He waved away the likely incredulity. "If you're worried about me, don't be. I've seen what's around and can handle myself. Someone walking up a rocky pass with their nose in a book, not keeping an eye out to their surroundings, probably would want to be more worried about himself, especially if they're jumpy at things they find unusual."

He stood up from his seated position, stretching a bit. "And what about you, Almadel? Doing something others shouldn't go with you for, or are you just jumpy at me in particular?"

On the one hand, his comment was meant to get an answer to see if he could follow along. On the other, it was to gauge a reaction. He liked to know what kind of people he was working with before he went along.

David blushed a bit at the jumpy comment. "W-well, I was distracted, so you surprised me. Although I should've known better. Heartless could jump out at you at any moment... You do have a point about needing to keep my guard up better." He nodded. "Also, you're still covered in blood and regardless of the circumstances, anyone would be shocked immediately at the sight."

"As for why I'm here, it's my first time in this place." David answered. "I wanted to explore it and look around, so I started up in the cave near the mountain village and walked down. Then I found a man covered in blood asking me about my book and me getting surprised at him." He didn't need to state that he was obviously talking about Isaac. "Um, a-are you going to clean up that blood eventually? If anyone else saw you, they'd jump to conclusions about you because of your appearance."

So he wanted to explore... while having his head in a book. Eh, I've heard worse excuses. Isaac shrugged to his continued concern over the blood. "Eventually, sure. But I could just as easily been part of a fight and won it or at least survived it. There aren't exactly a lot of places around to wash off without magic, anyway."

He glanced back and forth as he spoke next. "Already been up that way," he noted, motioning up the path toward the village. "Have to take care of something, but if you're headed anywhere interesting back down the mountain, you might need someone around to make sure things don't get worse for you."

Of course, he didn't really care one way or the other, but it was a good enough reason to follow and figure out this apparent wizard. If he felt he knew enough to get a general gist, perhaps saw some damage, he could go back to finish up his own assignment here. Plus, while he was interested in the possible hunts he could go on alone, he needed to find a way to get rid of the body so he wouldn't be spotted, and just leaving Almadel would allow him to figure things out too easily.

He was a liar in many cases, but Isaac wasn't stupid.

"And if you're worried I'll get hurt, let's just say I can handle myself well enough."

(You can skip ahead if you want, Shine. Possibly have David talk about his powers on the way down, or something? Unsure.)

"That's too bad. I can't help you there either. I only know a healing spell and a defensive spell." David replied. He was still inexperienced in combat and if Isaac knew something about it, it would be good for him in case of running into Heartless. It would also be good practice for him in using his magic, especially since he had no offensive spell. He still had his book in case of emergencies but that was something he didn't want to do for any battle. "Okay, I'll lead the way."

---------

"We're close to the bottom." David commented. While he had been going down the mountain with Isaac, he had tried asking him how he fought. He got some story about him having been in a circus as a fortune teller but learned to fight from a sword swallower. When David gave the man an odd look, he replied it was a joke, it was really a sword dancer while he was the doctor. That sounded more believable to David, who imagined the circus could be quite strange to most people.

"You said blood was natural every time you got in a fight. Does that mean you get hit a lot?" David asked, glancing at Isaac's blood covered self once again. As he said before, it's not common sense for someone to come out covered in blood. "Although you already said that blood's from the person you did surgery on."

Isaac shrugged. "A decent amount. Hard to tell what 'a lot' of getting hit means."

As they had descended, he had been listening as well as telling his tale (or the version of it he had decided upon). He did find it interesting that he could talk about fighting in spite of being a doctor, but figured it was an oddity of the worlds around them. In any case, he wasn't one to look too closely into something that was already helping him, at least so far as this case went.

During their conversation, he had been thinking on his next moves. Once he had all he needed, he was going to need to go back to the village to deal with the end of his assignment. Given the sheer distance, it was most reliable for him to try and leave Almadel distracted for an extended period of time. However, that would be for later.

Instead, he focused on the young man with the book. "If all you know are healing and defensive tactics, how exactly do you survive? Just hiding, running away? Or is there more in that book?"

"Umm.... There is. But it's complicated to explain." David replied. He was hesitant on telling him about what his book actually is. It wasn't like he could simply tell an utter stranger he was holding a book that let him summon and bind demons after all. David didn't know how'd Isaac would react to the knowledge.

He suddenly stopped as something landed in front of them and lost his balance, falling to the ground. "What..?" David asked as he looked up and saw the cause. It was an Assault Rider, but it looked different from it's own type of Heartless. For one thing, it was twice as big, also the skin was less black and more reddish, and the cape was more orange colored with stripes. Finally, it was wielding a two handed halberd instead of a spear. The Assault Rider lifted up the front legs and stomped on the ground, calling three more Heartless, three of the tower shaped Bolt Towers, spherical heads at the base, surrounding the two.

"Oh dear." David said as barriers of darkness blocked the ways out of the area. "I think you may have a chance to see instead of needing an explanation." He added then noted the Assault Rider was glaring at Isaac. "I think he's angry at you."

Isaac listened to the excuse, deciding to look into what he could do later. Not for explicit hunting purposes, nor for aid, but mostly just to see what he was working with. Demons, spirits, what have you, he had seen a lot of things that could be done. This person wasn't an enemy... as far as he could tell.

When the Heartless appeared, he glanced from one to another, then to another in turn. The larger ones seemed to have a very stabbable face in front of their towers, but likely used a lot of magic through the bulk of the entire thing. Good for mages or very up-close-and-personal fighters. However, Isaac was more concentrated on the one before him, the centaur of sorts. As Almadel had indicated, it seemed to be focused on him in particular. Perhaps it saw him as more of a threat, or as an easier victim?

The first thought was flattering. The second? Well, he just saw that as faintly amusing.

As the Assault Rider charged forward, its halberd held out, he stood relatively still as it slashed hard across the gray-haired young man. The opponent just barely dodged a serious injury, but did get a cut on across his forehead, one that bled down the right side of his face, barely missing his eyes, but still looking severe, though not too bad for him. He stumbled backward a bit, making a show of it... and smirked a bit wider than before.

"You done?" Isaac asked, crackling black energy coming to his grasp. If David were close enough, he could have smelt something akin to the stench of death and rot, if he had even had experience with such things to know.

The Heartless horseperson roared, and charged in his direction, this time spinning its weapon back and forth, flourishing it in a windmill pattern to try to get a stronger hit in.

"Good." The crackling power coalesced into the form of an odd sword. It was dark brown, nearly black, and appears to writhe in a manner more similar to a wielded tentacle attached to a hilt than a blade in and of itself. There was a violet stone in the pommel that looked akin to an eye, which seemed to almost blink momentarily on appearance. As the beast came closer, he moved to the side, faster than before, and held the blade behind him, over his shoulder, as if sheathing it in some invisible location... and raked it across his back, drawing a thin line that began to bleed. As he did, it sparked to life, beginning to glow with a bright, white light across a channel along the blade itself.

Isaac slashed out with the weapon, hitting one of the legs of the Assault Rider with the power of light itself. It stumbled, angered ever more, and tried a thrust in his direction. This time, he was ever more ready, and muttered something under his breath in some arcane tongue. He could feel the blood coming from the marks on his body, those hidden by his clothes, but did not care overmuch about that.

What did matter was that whatever he had been doing, it had no effect on the creature before him.

"Damnit," he muttered under his breath, and concentrated harder, muttering again. The drips down his back fell faster, the glowing blade in his hand stiffening to a normal appearance of a sword, as the wounded Heartless turned to face him once more. It came forward, hooves pounding the stone as it charged...

...and some kind of fluid, perhaps blood from such a bloodless being, fell before its eyes, rendering it momentarily blind. The confused Assault Rider kept running forward, slamming into a rocky outcropping as it swung the halberd back and forth in its confused blindness.

Isaac took the opportunity to lash out with his weapon, the Scion. Instead of acting as a sword, it lengthened, becoming more in line with a whip as it twisted around one of the creature's legs. Using it for leverage, he yanked back on the same one he had once damaged, causing the Heartless to fall down on one knee, and quickly scrambled up its backside, ending up on its back. Twitching his wrist once more, he turned the whip back to a sword formation, and twisted it in one hand, turning it blade down as he grasped the fur of this creature and stabbed straight down, hitting the point where the humanoid portion met the equine one.

The hunter was damaged, but his pride was more at issue than his body at present. Furthermore, he was not happy with having made such a mistake as to think this creature had blood of its own.

(Up to you if this was all enough to kill it. And how much, if any, of this fight David actually saw.)

David watched as the Assault Rider went after Isaac, the Heartless charging at him with the halberd. He was worried when the strange, blood covered man got a cut on his forehead, but the smirk on his face and the slight scent he could catch a whiff off, for he was a bit far away from him due to the Assault Rider, was a stench of sorts.

However, that was all he could see as two of the Bolt Towers wet straight at him, both of them smacking down on him at the same time. David was sent flying away and landed on the ground again. Groaning, he made to get up then rolled out of the way as one launched an electric bolt at where he had been a moment ago. Getting up, he focused and casted a spell as the second Bolt Tower came down on him. "Oremus."

The spell emanated a wave of force from David, doing minor damage to both Heartless. It also interrupted the attack from one of the Bolt Towers, giving him an opening to open his book. "Ose! Come forth!" Above him appeared an anthromorphic leopard wearing a green cape, dual wielding a pair of golden swords. The being swung his swords at both Heartless, damaging the towers hard and David felt a surge of energy going through him, letting him move faster. It was then that he noticed where the third Bolt Tower had been the whole time.

The Heartless had just floated over to Isaac, who was mounting the Assault Rider and had stabbed it in the center. The Bolt Tower then smacked him right off the Assault Rider, the latter reaching back towards the weapon that had been left in its body, pulling it out and tossing it aside. It then made to stab down at his target, only for David to have managed to pull him back enough for the tip to miss him.

"Mercy." David said, casting a spell that healed Isaac's forehead injury. As for the other two Bolt Towers, they were contending with the leopard man, who was slashing at both Heartless.

Isaac grunted on hitting the ground, rolling back to his feet. The damage was relatively soft, but he got back to his feet by the time the sword fell aside. He didn't bother to call it in, but let the blind Assault Rider stay back, though still injured.

The hunter rolled his eyes as the cut on his forehead was solved. "I had that," he noted in his customary monotone, and snapped his hand out to his side, seeing his sword disappear from where it had been dropped, then reappear in his hand. Apparently this other boy was a demon-binder of some sort. He would need to look more into it, but figured it would be something related to pact warlocks.

He ran at one of the two wounded Bolt Towers, and slashed down on one of them, cutting down, down, down again... and finished with a stab straight into the center of its ball-shaped head, causing it to disappear into a flash of light and a heart floating up into the air.

Just after, he turned to the side, and the blade of the sword extended into a collection of blades, which he whipped out at the other, latching on to its head. Yanking, he pulled himself closer, using the momentum to tighten around the ball at the bottom. As he was close enough, he grabbed the other end of the whip, and yanked back and forth between the two ends, sawing again and again as his hands began to bleed.

A bolt of lightning struck just next to him as the Heartless swung back and forth in an attempt to let him loose, and he winced, but was glad for it. He needed that damage, the blade glowing with light magic once more. Within a few second more, he had cut it deeply enough that it, too, disappeared.

Standing once again, he retracted the Scion into its sword form.

They were nearly done, and it seemed that the remaining targets were hurt enough to deal with quickly. He focused on the Heartless again, prepared to let loose another curse. He wanted to get this finished as quickly as he could.

He had a contract to fulfill.

"I'm sure you did." David replied, moving away from Isaac. Watching the latter run towards the two wounded Bolt Towers, he recalled his demon back and had him distract the Assault Rider. David, moving fast due to the surge of speed from Ose's summoning, went straight for the third Bolt Tower. He managed to get close to the Heartless and with another casting of Oremus, damaged it by hitting the head with the wave of force.

The Bolt Tower responded by smacking him with the side of its body, sending him flying away a bit. The Heartless then spun around to try to crush David against the ground. The latter tried to repel it with another Oremus, but the spell couldn't repel it. It still took enough damage that the attack didn't have as much force, so while David took some damage, it wasn't serious enough. "Ow..." He whined, doing his best to focus and managed to heal himself with his Mercy spell.

Still, he was worried, knowing that he would run out of magic eventually. David simply brought out his book, ready to open it. But before he could make the command, the Bolt Tower shot a bolt of lightning right at him. Without thinking, he blocked the bolt with his book and was sent up into the air. Struggling, he started pushing the bolt back with his book, the Heartless also pushing back. There was a brief stalemate, until David's book started also crackling with electricity and sent the bolt right back at the Bolt Tower, damaging it greatly.

Landing on the ground, he opened the Goecia and called out. "Finish it!" The demon, who had been keeping the Assault Rider at bay, nodded and swung his swords, a circular wave emanating from it. The wave struck both centaur Heartless and the Bolt Tower, slicing the latter in half before it dissipated into black mist. The demon then vanished and David collapsed, the surge of energy gone. Now he only had to hope that Isaac could finish the Assault Rider, since he was now out of magic.

The hunter looked as the apparent binder controlled his demons. Or did they control him? It was always unclear, but he did not care too much at present. The book appeared to be the source of his powers, perhaps some kind of arcane tome. Would damaging it hurt him in turn? Questions, questions.

However, that was all just for precautionary measures. At present, he had a job to do. Seeing the blood substitute clear from the Assault Rider's eyes, he put two fingers in his mouth and whistled, trying to get its attention.

The Heartless roared once more, charging his way... but Isaac was more than ready for him. Judging the speed of the centaur and the distance, he held back his blade, glowing with some kind of internal light... and threw it, blade first. The top pierced the Heartless directly in its chest, causing it to roar once more in agony, it’s speed slowing, falling toward its side... and collapsed mere inches from its target, disappearing in a burst of smoke, the heart floating away.

Isaac picked up his sword casually from the ground, resting it on his shoulder, and shrugged to it all. Business as usual. If Almadel needed a break, whatever. He had other concerns that were more pressing.

David watched as Isaac easily finished off the Assault Rider. He took the lull of after combat to catch his breath and looked at the blood covered man he had accompanied down the mountain. He watched the way he fought and how despite his injuries, ignored them to focus on the Heartless themselves. "You're not a doctor." David stated the obvious as he got up and placed his book away.

On the other hand, he had shown his own skills to Isaac. And revealed to him his ability to summon demons in full view. David simply sighed and looked around, noticing the barriers blocking both ways had vanished. He still remembered the glare that the Heartless had given Isaac and a question had sprung to mind. "Just how many beings have you made enemies of or angered?" He asked, emphasizing the word beings.

Isaac rolled his eyes, his weapon disappearing once more. "I'm a lot of things. Just like how you're more than just a bookworm." Then he heard the question about the angry Assault Rider. "I don't really keep count of things like that. Not really important. But those things were feral, so why even bother asking why they would be focused on me when you could easily be holding them back on your own?"

He crossed his arms casually. "I figure you weren't going to go out and tell me you're a binder, so why put it on me to tell you everything either? I've got more important things to do than answer some kid about anything that comes to mind, so you gonna go down to the bottom of this mountain or not?"

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't put words in my mouth. I never said to tell me your secrets." David answered. He wasn't going to lie, he was annoyed he fell for a lie like that. Especially when it was because he himself jumped to a conclusion so easily without verifying it. "And you're wrong, I'm not a binder. I'm a demon summoner." He corrected him. "Yes, there is a difference. But I doubt you care about it very much. Also, I'm 18, mind you."

Another sigh and David started walking. "Yes, I'm going to the bottom. And you?" He looked at the blood covered man, waiting to see if he was going to follow or if they were going to part ways here."

So he wanted a reason why he was covered in blood, didn't check to see if he was a liar, and claimed not to have asked him to spill his secrets? Sure, that made complete sense to someone, presumably.

Great, one of those self-deluded kids.

"Oh, how foolish of me. You're not a binder of demons. You just summon demons that are bound to your will through arcane means that you control," Isaac said, raising his hands in mock surrender of the point. "My mistake. And I clearly do not care at all about the difference, as you absolutely would not put words in my mouth by pretending that I care or do not."

To the question, he just tilted his head in curiosity. Why would this teenager say he still wanted him around, or imply he would tolerate him? "Considering you have your helpers, I don't see why you'd bother, but sure, I'll follow."

David was completely put off by what Isaac had just said. He knew he wasn't good at picking up sarcasm, but what the blood covered guy said was so dripping with it, he'd have to be blind to not notice it. David wondered if what he said may have come across as hostile or insulting to him. So he turned to face him and bowed his head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have insulted you and acted like that, nor should I have put words in your mouth. And you're right about the demon binder and demon summoner thing not being different."

David raised his head after giving his apology. He didn't like having someone hate him, even an utter stranger. "As for my demons, I only have one and I can't summon one I already summoned. I don't know why it's like that though." He resumed walking out of the mountain. The Checkpoint was simply a short distance from where they fought the Heartless.

Once they had arrived, he moved away from Isaac. "We're here. I'm going to go look around in the city. You?"

The gray-haired man waved him off. "You go off to whatever royalty you want. I have to see a man about a snake."

With that, he just walked back up the way he had come, heading back to the mountain trail upward without a word. As he did not see any blood lost by Almadel, he had no reason to stick around to find more of what he could do. Besides, while he was distrustful at times, he knew when someone was telling the truth to a fault. If that was all he could do, then there wasn't much else to learn just yet. And if his power came from the books, he would have needed to take it anyway.

On the way up, he remained relatively quiet. Nobody to really talk to anymore, anyway. This kid was gullible enough, but he knew he had to work on his cover stories going forward. Not that he cared about their feelings, but that he wanted to avoid questions. Something closer tied to his bloodworking would probably be better. A doctor was good, but maybe something else. A taxidermist? No, something else...

More than anything, he was bored with dealing with such a mark. He needed other stimulation at present, and going to get his money was the best call.

Making his way back to the village, he came to the home of his client, sliding the talisman under the doorframe. There was silence for a moment, and the door was opened.

"So, can I come in?"

A nod, and the gray-skinned man moved backward, letting him through.

There was silence outside as the door closed, remaining there for several minutes. Suddenly, there was a crash within, something hitting wood, and a crack of wood splintering.

Isaac finally left some time later, wiping his hands clean with a small piece of cloth before carrying it out with him, closing the door behind him. He had his payment.

Money, and parts. Having a jiangshi's mystically-created son's blood and eye would help him in his work, to say the least. He had lied about what was the threat, though. It was worse than he had thought, the Nightwalker he had told of, and for that he had to go. It was for him as much as for anyone else who could hear of his lies.

In any case, the demon-blooded hunter was ready to leave. Isaac Zivaku walked off, leaving the world at last. He had other things to look for.

(And he's done.)

David simply stared at Isaac as he left. "Umm, I did say I was only going to look around the city." He said, despite no one else being there to hear him say it or see him talking to himself. With a shake of his head, he went the opposite way from Isaac. Now that he was in the city, he would look around and take in the sights. But while walking, he glanced at the book he was carrying on his side. David had summoned a demon for the first time, something he hadn't expected to happen so soon. Still, since he only had one, it meant he'd need to be careful when to summon Ose. At least until he could find another demon to bind.

However, he couldn't sense one in the city and that wasn't the reason he wanted to come here. David looked back up and decided to simply enjoy the sights. After that, he would travel to another world and continue his journey. "No red cloak nor scarf though." Was the last words he said for a while and put any further thoughts about what happened today away.

(Done.)