Unsurprisingly, the taxi wasn't able to drop them further into Roxas Boulevard. Cars were so close to each other that they were nearly pressing to each other, while traffic enforcers were already standing and trying to continue the flow of traffic lest it would become worse. The street was always busy and bustling, especially since it was a highway. But even then, it was never this noisy or crowded.

Lucinda placed a hand on Greyson's back, pulling him closer to her. His ears kept switching between pointing up and down, while his brows matched the frown on his face. The sound of the horns made him jump up numerous times, and his grip on her tightened even more.

The sight of it made her frown, but she kept it inside. He was always sensitive to loud noises, and it seemed like he became more sensitive as he grew. Her chest felt heavy; it was as if a rock had replaced her heart and dragged it down. It wasn't like she could fully blame Viktor for it, either. At the end of the day, she still agreed to bring Greyson along.

A sigh left her lips. Hopefully, Tayla could wait a little longer.

She pulled Greyson aside, stopping until they were just near an alleyway. Before he could ask, she knelt down to his height. She smiled and poked his nose. "How do you feel?"

His ears flopped downwards. "It's noisy."

"Are you scared?"

Almost immediately, he shook his head as his ears perked upwards again. His brows furrowed down as he frowned—something he always did when he tried to look determined. "It's not scary. I'll be fine."

"Such a brave face." Lucinda giggled as she kissed his forehead. "Chuchu, before we continue, there's a set of rules that you need to follow. They're for your safety, so you need to follow them, alright?"

Greyson nodded.

"Rule number one." Lucinda raised a finger in the air. "We might have to go inside one of our victims' gadgets. Which means you have to use your powers. When that happens, don't force yourself to do work you can't do. Is that clear?"

"It is."

"Repeat what I said."

"Don't force myself to do work I can't do."

"Good. Second rule." She raised another finger. "If I tell you to cover your eyes, cover your eyes. There are things that you aren't allowed to see, so make sure to do it. Okay?"

"Cover my eyes if you ask me to cover my eyes."

"Third and most important, so you have to remember this. Never, ever, leave my side. Understand?"

"Never leave your side."

"Roxas Boulevard can be dangerous. There are lots of cars, and you might get run over. Apart from that, there are bad people here that might take you away from me and hurt you. So if someone tries to get you, don't be afraid to scream as loud as you can until someone comes for help. Got that?"

He nodded again. Somehow, that seemed to have lifted his spirits. He placed his hands in front of him, and his ears flipped up and down. "Scream as loud as I can until you kill the bad guys."

Lucinda managed to laugh alongside him. She kissed his forehead again, then to his nose, before standing up. "I appreciate the enthusiasm, but promise me you'll stay close. What happens to promise breakers again?"

"They don't get cake."

"It's a good thing you still remember."

She wrapped him in for a hug. Before she parted, Lucinda took off one of her gloves as fast as she could. One of her nails scratched her fingers, letting bits of her blood drop. She clenched her hand into a tight fist, making the wound quickly heal and crystalizing at the same time. As she parted from Greyson, she placed her hand on his hip and slipped the crystal inside his pocket.

"Alright. Hold my hand and don't let go."

Once Greyson held her hand, Lucinda continued walking down the street. Almost, her grip on him tightened, but she loosened it immediately before he would think he was hurting her.

It didn't take long for her to find the source of the accident. Just like what Viktor said, the accident was a little big. Apart from a police car, two ambulances were parked next to it. Two cars had crashed, though fortunately there was no fire. Two of the paramedics slowly picked one of the victims out of the car and placed them on the stretcher.

A police officer stood near one of the ambulances. Once Lucinda was close enough to her, she cleared her throat. "Officer Tayla."

Tayla stood straighter as she turned to her. "Ah, Miss Saffirus. I can't really say it's good to see you again."

"I can say the same. I hope we didn't keep you waiting too long."

"Not really. Another ambulance just arrived, too. In fact, I thought you'd be late because of the traffic."

"Can I get a rundown?"

Tayla nodded. "It was a hit-and-run. From what witnesses said, a car immediately stopped when the victims got run over, which caused another car to hit it. We're in the middle of investigating who the driver that hit the victims is and where they went. One of the victims is sixteen. Unfortunately, they..."

Lucinda placed a hand on her chest. "May the Guardian give them peace."

"The other one has major injuries, but she's still alive," she continued. "The paramedics are making sure she stays up. We managed to get some info from her. It seems like the hit-and-run was intentional, and she was supposed to be the target since witnesses said the car was heading right to her."

"Do you know why?"

"That's why we called you." Tayla paused. As she looked around, her brows furrowed down. "Sir Draconis told me that you'll be arriving with a member who can enter gadgets. Are they...?"

Lucinda hummed. So Viktor didn't even tell her that Greyson was a child. She tapped Greyson's shoulder, nudging him forward. "This is him."

Tayla blinked. Usually, she did a good job of hiding her real thoughts behind a blank face. But when she lowered her gaze to meet Greyson's eyes, her own eyes widened from surprise.

"This is?"

She placed her hand on his shoulder. "Introduce yourself."

Greyson gulped. Still, he stood tall and stretched his arm out, offering a shaking hand to Tayla. "G- Greyson James Saffirus. But- but you can call me Greyson."

Tayla paused, but she shook Greyson's hand. "It's nice to meet you, Greyson. I'm Officer Tayla."

"He'll be joining us investigating this case," Lucinda added, "though I'll be here to aid him as his partner."

"If I may, how old is he?" Tayla asked.

"He's eight."

"I've heard that the DUO allows children under twelve to work there, but I've never seen it for myself before. I feel terrible now for asking a twelve-year-old to solve a potential murder case." She cupped her chin and hummed. "Saffirus, huh? I'm guessing he's your boy."

"Am I allowed to ask anything after that?"

"No." One of Lucinda's ears twitched. "Never."

Tayla's eyes narrowed as she lowered herself to Greyson's height. Her eyes scanned him from head to toe before stopping to meet Greyson's eyes. "He looks... familiar. I guess he looks so much like you."

"So we've been told." She waved a hand in the air. "Anyway, Tayla. Shall we?"

"Alright. Follow me."

Tayla turned around. Before they could take a step, Lucinda turned to Greyson once again. "Chuchu, it's time to cover your eyes."

Greyson nodded. While one of his hands held hers, the other covered both his eyes. His fingers parted, allowing one of his eyes to look ahead. Lucinda closed his fingers before guiding him through the area.

A single, stained white sheet covered a figure lying down. But apart from the bloodstains on the sheet and the trail of blood leading to it, there wasn't anything else that indicated who or what kind of person they were.

It was... a sight. She wasn't sure if she could call it pitiful or sad, but it was a sight. There was a right word there somewhere. She just didn't know what it was.

She mentally shook her head and looked away before her thoughts would drag on. Perhaps it was only appropriate that she couldn't feel anything while looking at a corpse. Even if it was covered.

Her eyes trailed over to a stretcher, where two paramedics stood next to a young woman. Like what Tayla said, her injuries were major. A bandage already covered her head, but her face was bruised. One of the paramedics was a wielder, and her eyes were closed while her hand was on the victim's chest.

The other one placed his hand on the victim's face and tapped it twice. "Hey, hey. Don't close your eyes. Look at me, okay? Don't fall asleep."

It was subtle, but the victim nodded. She placed a hand on the female paramedic's chest. As soon as she did that, she took a deep breath and sighed. That seemed to help with her breath's pacing.

As soon as she reached them, Lucinda placed a hand on the victim's other hand. She was wearing gloves, but she could feel how cold her skin was. "Is she in a responsive state?"

He nodded. "But it's not much. We're stabilizing her heart's beat and her blood flow, but after that we might have to take her to the hospital. But she can respond."

"I see." She turned to the victim. She looked young, perhaps had just entered her twenties. "Miss, my name is Lucinda Saffirus. I'm a detective from the Investigation Squad, and I'm here to help your case. Do you perhaps have any evidence to prove that this hit-and-run was intentional?"

She nodded. "Ph- phone... in my bag... Recent messages..."

"I see."

Before she could continue asking, the female paramedic opened her eyes as her ears perked up. "She's good to go for now, but we may not have a lot of time. We need to get her to the hospital."

"On it. Excuse us, miss."

Lucinda stepped backwards and let the two place the victim in the ambulance. Once they were inside, one of them headed to the driver's seat. The siren wailed, and the sudden loud noise made Lucinda's ears flop down. In an instant, the ambulance drove off, heading to the hospital.

She turned around, where another pair of paramedics stood next to a young man in a stretcher. It seemed like they had just taken them out of the car. One of the paramedics shook their head, while the other sighed.

On the stretcher, the young man sighed before they fell still.

Lucinda wasn't sure what surprised her more: the fact that she didn't feel anything, or the fact that she was still expecting to feel something.

Then again, he was a stranger. And unlike the one she was talking to earlier, he wasn't a part of this mess. He was just someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe she felt... pity? Bad? She didn't know.

She turned away from them and turned to Tayla. "If I may, do you have the victim's bag?"

"It's in the—Saffirus, where's your kid?"

"Greyson?"

Lucinda turned around. She stepped back, looking around the remaining ambulance, back at the first deceased victim, behind the police car parked not far from them. Greyson's hair was something that should stand out. No one else in the city had the same split hair with the same curls as him. No one else had the same gold and silver color his eyes had. He was easy to spot anywhere.

And yet, he was nowhere in sight.

She clenched her hand into a fist. When did she lose him? Was it when she let him go? Did he open his eyes?

No, deep breaths. She could find him.

She turned to Tayla again. "Can you please pardon me? I need to find Greyson."

Tayla nodded. "I can radio a few people who might be nearby to look for him, too."

"It's fine." Lucinda shook her head. "I think he'll be more scared if he sees someone else.

"Are you sure? There's a lot of sick people here."

"Trust me. It's for the best."

With one last nod at her, Lucinda turned around and headed out of the area. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She placed a crystal of her blood in his pocket. If he didn't go too far, or if he wasn't taken, she would be able to detect her blood and find him.

She lowered her ears, blocking out all of the sounds around. Almost immediately, her ears perked up. Somewhere, she could feel her blood, almost as if it was trying to return to her. It wasn't moving, either. It was faint, but it was still there.

Lucinda opened her eyes once again. Once she was sure where it was, she headed in its direction.

Word Count: 2182
Total: 9717

do you have any idea what kind of emotional damage i went through trying to find where my milestone word was because wattpad doesnt know how to count its own word counts

I love the ONC but right now I hate them for using the Wattpad word count. Please just let us use the word counting Website you gave before. No one likes the Wattpad word counts they're so inaccurate.