Later that night, after his parents had fallen asleep, Erik gathered the things he would need for his little quest tonight. He draped a long, dark cloak over his shoulders and fastened his scabbard to his belt. Erik made sure to wear dark clothes tonight. Even though he didn't have a mask to cover his face, Erik figured keeping his hood up would be enough.

As he walked out, Erik past the door to his parents' bedroom. If they knew what he was doing . . . Erik brushed away the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. This was something he had to do. Tonight, The Ripper's reign would end.

Once outside, Erik chucked a few pebbles at Jean's window. Within a few rocks hitting the shutters, Jean opened the window, waved at Erik, then headed downstairs. Like Erik, Jean was dressed in dark clothes and a dark cloak. As the two traversed the back alleys and side streets to the brothel, Erik laid out his thoughts to Jean.

"I'll be the one to actually fight," Erik said. "You stay back. I don't want you getting hurt."

"If I'm not going to help," Jean countered, "Why am I coming?"

"Well, if something happens to me," Erik said, "You gotta run and tell the guards. This guy's killed a bunch of people, and you aren't trained to fight. You could get hurt."

"Nothing's going to happen to you," Jean murmured. "I'll make sure of it."

Erik sighed and ignored Jean's comment. In all honesty, bringing Jean with him was risky. Still, even though Jean didn't know how to fight, Erik needed someone to fall back on in case he, well, lost. To put it lightly. Erik's father had trained Erik how to swordfight since he was a young boy, but The Ripper had defeated Erik once before, even if Erik couldn't remember it. He'd have to depend on the element of surprise.

Erik brushed his hand against the hilt of his sword to activate its power. The spark traveled up his fingers and gave his arm a slight jolt. It had been a while since Erik last used his sword's power so the jolt of energy felt good.

The closer the two got to the brothel, the farther forward they pulled the hoods over their faces. Jean wasn't very well-known in the community, but almost everyone knew Erik's face. His father was one of the most famous merchants in Meryl, and he was his oh-so-darling son. In order to keep hidden, Erik slowed their pace to the point they were basically crawling.

The brothel smelled like spices and flowers. Even though they were outside, Erik felt the smell bombard his nose like strange tendrils. Did it smell bad? Good? Erik wasn't quite sure, but it was strong. A few sounds escaped the brothel too. Some . . . worldly.

"You know what she looks like, right?" Jean whispered.

Erik nodded. "She's the one with the red hair and white streaks." Many women working at the brothel had unnatural hair colors. Some people said that it was a sign they had signed their bodies over to the brothel. Erik's father, always the voice of reason, said it was a ploy to play on men's depravity.

Oh, the lashing Erik would get if his father ever found out he had stepped foot near a brothel.

"So how are you going to find this woman?" Jean whispered.

Erik's face grew hot. As of now, the two boys were hiding under one of the brothel's windows. Unless the lady decided to walk out now, they would have to sneak inside. More . . . noises escaped through the window.

"Um," Erik stuttered, "might have to go in."

Erik turned away so he couldn't see the look of disapproval on Jean's face, which the full moon would make all to clear.

"How else are we going to find her? I can't exactly track her with magic powers," Erik muttered.

"Your sword's basically magic, I don't see why not," Jean said.

"I'll go in first then pull you up," Erik said.

Erik gritted his teeth and prepared to pull himself up through the window. After taking a deep breath, Erik jumped in and landed quietly on the floor. Luckily, the bedroom he landed in was empty. Once Jean got inside too, Erik held up a finger to his mouth to tell Jean to stay silent. If they could hear the other women through the walls, they might hear the boys if they made any noise. Erik mentally sighed. With no other way to find the lady, it really seemed like they'd have to peek into each room. He prayed that they wouldn't catch anyone doing any unsavory acts.

Out of the corner of his eye, Erik noticed Jean grab something on his belt. He figured it was the knife Jean talked about earlier.

Erik cleared his mind of any worries or distracting thoughts and focused on the task at hand. They had to find the lady and follow her without being discovered. First, they had to check that she was even here. Erik stuck his head out the door to check the hallway then motioned for Jean to follow him.

The first door they came across was cracked open. Erik peeked inside. Empty.

Jean checked the second door and shook his head.

Before the two could check the third door, a couple of shrill laughs floated down the hallway followed by footsteps. Erik glanced out of the side of his eye and noticed the long shadows on the wall showing that someone was about to turn around the corner.

Erik grabbed Jean and shoved him into the empty room.

As he eased the door shut, Erik's composure broke when the lady and her customer stopped outside their room. It was very apparent they were about to come in. Not knowing what to do, Erik looked to Jean for any ideas. Jean pointed at the bottom of the bed, and the two boys rolled under the wooden frame just as a woman walked in.

Erik wanted to bang his head on the floor when the two started copulating.

Erik laid his face on the floor and tried to hide his embarrassment. This was the worst. This was the worst. After putting Erik through the most grueling experience of his life, the pair left with laughter. Jean frantically tugged at Erik's cloak.

"Her hair," Jean whispered.

Erik lifted his head just in time to see the head of red and white hair leave the room. Before Erik could follow her out the door, Jean pulled him back. Erik flinched. Jean had the strangest look on his face. His normal smiles and frowns were gone. Instead, Jean looked like he could kill someone without a care in the world.

Erik had never seen his friend like that, not even when Jean angered and raved about his mother's affair partner.

"Wenches like her usually have their own room to do their business," Jean explained. "She probably sleeps here too."

Erik looked at Jean rather stunned.

"How do you know?" Erik managed to get out.

Jean ignored his question. "The man she was with. I knew him. He's my father's friend. He's got a wife and two kids."

Erik fiddled with the edge of his shirt, unsure of how to respond. Affairs were always a touching subject with Jean. A few years ago, Jean's mother had an affair. Jean, unfortunately, was the one to discover his mother and her lover in bed. His father's bed. From that moment forward, Jean's father ignored the mother for her infidelity. The arguments, the fights were so loud the sounds even traveled into Erik's house. Chris was too young to remember, but Erik did.

He remembered letting Jean into his room to run from the noise. He remembered going to the plaza with Jean and his sister to shield her from the awful things going on in the house.

Eventually, Jean's mother and father reconciled, just barely. The secret of the affair stayed within the house walls. No one ever found out, and no one was punished by the guards. Jean's mother stayed with the family for the sake of the kids, but Jean never forgot what she did. It took a long time for Erik's friend to return to his cheerful self.

"Hey," Erik said and laid a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "You're okay. You're good."

Jean shrugged Erik's hand off. "I'm fine. I just wish all this evil would stop."

Erik just stood there not knowing what to do. It was obvious Jean was hurting. No matter what Erik did, he couldn't help his friend. Jean had been there for Erik through all the fights and the trouble he had fitting in when they moved to Meryl.

Not knowing what else to do, Erik gave Jean a small hug with a pat on the back. Jean just stood there motionless.

Whether they waited an hour or just a few minutes, Erik wasn't sure, but the lady finally returned to her room. Unfortunately for them, she didn't make any shrills laughs or sultry remarks before she entered.

Instead, she and her lover walked into the room before Erik and Jean could hide.

Erik locked eyes with the lady's lover. The man, just as shocked, stood frozen. He was one of the guards under Erik's uncle. Worse still, purchasing a lady's services was still very, very illegal in Meryl.

Of the four stunned people in the room, Jean reacted first. The boy lunged for the door and slammed it shut. Erik joined Jean by the door and prepared to unsheathe his sword. Thoughts of capturing The Ripper were gone. Either he and Jean needed to run or they needed to apprehend the guard.

In all the confusion, Erik forgot to pull his hood back over his head.

"Erik," the man muttered.

"You know him?" The woman, still confused asked. "If you're trying to pull something on me--"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it," the guard replied. When the guard unsheathed his sword, Erik drew his in response.

"If you leave now and never speak of this, I won't kill you," the guard said.

"You'd think I'd leave you here," Erik replied. "You broke your oath as a guard. Filthy liar."

The guard let out a laugh. "I know you won't hurt me. No backbone. But what's the townspeople going to say when I spread word that William's oh-so noble son is in a brothel." He smirked. "You see, I caught you here and arrested you. No fault on me."

Erik frowned and readied his stance.

Before either swordsmen could react, Jean leapt forward with his knife in hand and held it to the guard's temple. Erik heard the unmistakable zap of lightning.

"Time to sleep," Jean muttered.

He did the same to the lady before she could scream.

Seeing the lightning scars on their foreheads made something click in Erik's mind. Those scars. That pattern was from The Ripper, the very murderer he and Jean were hunting. Still stunned, Erik just stood there while Jean looked apologetically at him. His friend gave Erik a dead half-smile.

"I'm sorry. I just couldn't stand him talking like that about you, the creep," Jean said. He turned to face Erik. "I guess you know now."

Everything had to be a dream. Erik couldn't believe what he was seeing. Jean leaping at the two people and knocking them out. Jean wasn't from the Decapolis.

Even though he was still dazed, Erik managed to dodge Jean's attack when the boy leaped to zap him to. Erik fell to the floor and rolled over so he was facing up. Before Erik could get up, Jean pinned him down. Erik's arm blocked Jean from reaching his head with the knife. Erik's other arm was pinned at the wrist but still held onto his sword.

"Jean, why?" Erik choked out.

"Meryl is corrupted," Jean said. "And I can't stand to see it continue on like this." He brought the knife closer to Erik's head. "I only kill the guilty. It hurts when I have to attack the innocent, but I can't have them finding me. Not yet."

Jean caused the knife to flash with electricity. Erik flinched.

In that opening, Jean brought the knife next to Erik's head. As the knife zapped and sparked with the intent to wipe Erik of his memories, Erik activated his sword's power out of reflex. It was a little too late.

The lightning raced through Erik's head and knocked him out.