Unfortunately, Jun didn’t know where the garbage heap was.

He gave us a plethora of rumors and a list of people we could ask, but that was all. Newly determined to discover this hidden garbage, we wandered all corners of the city. We talked to quite a few brokers - tsukigami who had made a living by negotiating with their brethren to get back lost and mistakenly disposed of objects - and got nothing but some unpleasant looks. Many of the other people he recommended were about as helpful as he - which is to say, not very. We ended up at an ungodly number of dead ends and shady alleyways, and in one case, a very small shop entirely dedicated to enchanted pickled vegetables (which, surprisingly enough, turned out to be delicious).

We eventually ended up near where we started, settled on a set of benches in varying states of frustration and exhaustion. Nadrire scanned our map of the city, her lips pressed together with determination, while Ella, Abi and I applied pain sigils to Shei’s back. They had started using their wheelchair part of the way into the trek, but due to the crash, everything had started to hurt.

I was still in awe of the genius of their wheelchair - they’d built it themself. They had used the same Khalastaerian technology that was used to make trains float to make the chair, and, because it had no wheels, it could fold down small enough to be carried in a backpack. It now floated alongside the bench Shei sprawled out on.

Nadi brought the map over to me and tapped a specific spot. “I think we should try here again.”

“Wasn’t that the one with the garbage and the bridge goblin? No way in hell.”

“Aw, I thought the goblin was nice,” Ella said, sticking another pain sigil sticker on Shei’s back.

“He was,” I said. “But he smelled really bad, and it was bothering my nose. Does Shei need to check your olfactory glands?”

“Most likely,” I heard Nadrire murmur.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

Since we had come back to the marketplace, I had noticed something… odd. The Grand Market District, which had been bustling when both when we’d wandered in originally and when we had trudged in after our search, had rather suddenly began to clear out. I glanced at the sun. It had begun to set. That’s odd. Normally markets like this get busier at night. Because of the sudden lack of people, I was now able to hear a clear, bell-like voice across the square.

“Excuse me, sir. Have you seen a present anywhere? It’s white, with a blue ribbon.”

“No,” the other voice was gruff and low, and they sounded noticeably rushed. “It’s probably gone. Someone probably took it.”

“It- it had a strong anti-theft charm on it-“

“Then the tsukigami took it.”

I had looked over to see who was talking. The second belonged to a tall man in dirty overalls with bright red skin, a potbelly, and short, pointed horns. He was hurriedly loading crates into a cart. The first voice belonged to a pretty young woman in flowing clothes. Her cream colored dress had floral designs at the waist and across the collar, and she had a silky looking teal scarf wrapped around her hair.

“Are- are you sure? I thought-“

“They definitely took it.”

“Oh. Um- Do you know where I could-“

“Nobody finds the tsukigami, sweetheart. If you need to get something back, go to a broker. You’ll probably get it back in a couple weeks and it’ll smell disgusting. That’s if you get it back at all, of course. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to get home before moonfall.”

“Sir- wait-“

By this point, I had walked over to the young woman. As she reached after the merchant, I tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped. Her hands went to her hips, where I noted the existence of a number of cleverly hidden pockets. They were concealed by the elaborate flowers and vines embroidered on her dress, which I had noted from afar. Up close, it was clear that there were spells woven into the embroidery, and a lot of them, too. Hm.

“Miss?” I said, soft enough that the vendor could not hear. “I couldn’t help but overhear: are you looking to get something back? From the tsukigami?”

She was studying my face. Her gaze was sharp and assessing, and while her eyes were dark, there was something… wrong there. I know a glamour when I see one. After she stared me down for a moment, contemplating, she seemed to come to some sort of decision.

“Yes.”

“We are, too,” I indicated my party members. “I can’t say that we are much closer to finding the tsukigami than you are, but as the old Gereckian proverb goes, ‘a hydra with many heads is wiser than a hydra with one.’ Would you like to join us?”

The young woman looked at me and tilted her head. Her gaze was not quite as hostile as it had been before, though it did still contain a few kernels of a suspicion.

“Sure.”

“I’m Velia,” I rested a hand on my chest and bowed slightly to her. “What is your name?”

There was a brief paused as she repeated the gesture. “I am Hallya.”

Nadrire had stopped looking at the map to watch us. She arched one eyebrow at me as we approached the group. I gave her a look that said I’ll tell you later. She gave me one in return that said you better.

“Folks, this is Hallya,” I announced. “She also needs to get something back from the tsukigami, and thus, she’ll be joining us.”

Ella had brightened, like a dog who had seen an exciting new person. “Hello! I’m Ella!”

Shei slowly sat up, then froze as soon as they made eye contact with Hallya. Their cheeks, oddly enough, turned a little pink.

“I’m- I’m Shei,” they stammered. “I’m sorry, I, um, have back problems and Ella was helping me…”

“Oh,” Hallya blinked. “I see.”

Abi had glanced slyly at Shei. Although the features on their mask hadn’t change, they laid a hand on Shei’s arm, looked at them, then at Khallya. “And I am Abi.”

“So, um,” I cleared my throat. “We have checked out a couple different leads regarding the tsukigami and their hiding place, and although we haven’t found anything yet, we do still have a few more we could check out-“

Hallya, Nadrire and I all ended up clustered around the map, discussing the leads we had not investigated. The sun had begun to cast a deep orange light across the marketplace before we heard another voice. This voice was sweet, and childish, and slurred in such a way that suggested that its owner had partaken too freely of alcoholic beverage. The voice also seemed to echo oddly. Who would give a child alcohol?

“I can take you to the tsukigami.”

Nadi lowered the map. There was, as a matter of fact, a child of indistinct gender grinning up at us. They were wearing a multicolored robe similar to a yukata that had an ungodly number of visible sigils embroidered into it. If that wasn’t alarming enough, the child had wild black hair, pale skin, and… glowing eyes with no visible irises or pupils.

Holy shit it’s possessed!