Interlude:

Right now, in a forsaken place in the middle of nowhere, a man crawls on his stomach across the dry soil, stopping, as he suddenly sees a pair of shiny, tall boots blocking his path.
He looks up, and the face of a smiling young woman meets him.

The young woman stands still like a marble statue for a moment, just staring down at him with a kind of careless smile, then shifts her position so the jewels on her long staff shiver and make a delicate chiming sound.

"Hello, Faust," she says calmly, and somewhat amused.

He squirms in the dust and looks down at her boots again.

"Oktava," he greets her with a hesitating nod.

"All seems to be well..." she says to him, waiting for his response.

"I could reply with the old 'not-for-long' frase, couldn't I? But that just doesn't have the same sting anymore...movie bad guys have used it up..." he laughs quietly and bitterly.

"Do you think you could get up? Things have been chugging along so nicely now, so I guess it's time for you to interfere again...I don't want to, of course, but there has to be balance..." she sighs and boots him carefully in his side.

"So, you got the honour of starting this time, huh, Oktava?" he gives the same little laugh again.

She drops down on her knees, and hands the staff over to him.
He slowly gets up on his wobbly feet and grabs the staff. She smiles weakly before she lies down on her back.

"I know, Oktava, it's much better to be here...where we can remain neutral...but we have our duties..." he says.

"Neutral. Such a sweet word..." she says dreamily. "Heh. And it's such a waste, too. I just began doing a project I've wanted to do for a while now...but there were so many other people who needed help, so many things to tend to...well, at least I got them started. I hope they can handle it from here...unless, that is, if you don't interfere..." she looks up at him.

"Oh, you mean, you finally did what you talked about earlier...with those who are unique in the world?"
He looks at with askance, and she nods solemly.

"You know I agree with you here...but out there? I only think of retaining the balance, and my part is...bad. Maybe I will forget about it, maybe they will make it after all...they deserve it...all alone in the world... like you and me, Oktava..." he grabs the staff tighter, and it begins to glow.

"Like you and me, Faust...free, but yet trapped..." she takes a deep breath and sighs as she watches the staff transform.
Black oils pour down from the top of it and engulfs it, twines around it. She watches her beloved jewels disappear, one by one. All there is left is a long, black, shining staff.

He leans down and kiss her gently on her forehead. She closes her eyes and reaches out to touch his cheek. Her fingers swipe over his rough skin, but just for a second.

"We've got to go now, Oktava...see you on Dust Day..." once again, he gives his well known, bitter, quiet little laugh.

She gets up, squints at the burning hot sun, dusts off her clothes, and then he gives her another long black staff.

"I know it's dirty, but I still love this place," she giggles, but soon becomes serious again."It's the only place where we can be ourselves..."

She concentrates hard, gripping the staff with both hands, and suddenly its starts to glow. Jewels materialize out of nowhere, and hang there dangling cheerfully from the now wooden staff like they have never done anything else.

"Why we have to switch staffs all the time is still beyond me," he shakes his head.

She gives him a mischievous grin. "Maybe because they're afraid of that one of us might cheat..."

"Me?" he says with mock surprise, " Never!"

She giggles and gives him a sad smile before they both vanish into thin air.

Part 3: Numb
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