Chenzai the Soul Stealer

A/N: Lyrics in this chapter are from 'All Tangled Up' by the Barstool Prophets

Most every child has heard something of Chenzai the Soul Stealer, whether it was told to them by parents to frighten them into behaving, something like, "Make sure you're home before dark or Chenzai might steal your soul," or told to them by other children as a scary story like the ones so often told around the campfire. As children grow though, they tend to forget, or at least place aside the stories told to them when they were young, believing they're too old for such nonsense. I suppose no one ever truly forgets the stories, and so every one knows a little something about Chenzai if only they know where to look for it.
Chenzai the Soul Stealer.
An apt name if ever there was one. Chenzai, a term derived from the daemonic term 'chent en zai', meaning 'abandon all hope'...
The diary entry ended there suddenly and the book was slammed shut with a cloud of dust and a sigh from the reader.
Abandon all hope? Never.

"I never wanted anything
I could just as soon do without.
But then again, I've never had
So many things I cared about,
And simply couldn't do without
They say it pours when it rains.
I guess I'd have to agree.
Swimming in a sea of options,
Decisions are drowning me.
So I guess I would agree..."
Jabez paused, peering into the darkness at the back of the closed club in which the group was practicing. "Guys, let's take five."
The musical accompaniment stopped. "Don't you even want to finish the song?" But Jabez was already jumping from the stage and making his way to the back of the club where a lone, and perhaps familiar figure lingered in the shadows near one of the exits. But as Jabez approached the figure whoever was there decided suddenly to make an exit via the open door which led into a back alley. Jabez broke into a run, trying to catch up before the person disappeared into the waning light of a stormy evening, but as he exited the club into the pouring rain and looked about he saw no sign of anyone's passage. He paused, standing already soaked by the heavy rainfall, and listened intently, his keen elven ears straining to catch any revealing sound. But there was no sound to be heard besides the patter of rain; not even receding footsteps to reveal the direction the person had taken. It was almost as if no one had been there at all, but Jabez knew better. He also knew that the person couldn't have gotten far, and he could wait as long as needed until the person gave away their location.
With quiet patience Jabez leaned back against the faded brick wall of the club to wait.

He's still there. The message flashed across the screen of Id, the small computer designed to be worn like a half a pair of sunglasses.
I know, Keena replied, her thought picked up by the highly advanced Id. What's he waiting for? She stood impatiently just around the corner from where Jabez waited.
You, Id replied. For you to make just one small sound to let him know where you are.
Keena held back a sigh. I knew I shouldn't have come here. I can't ask him to help me...Id, why didn't you tell me not to come here? You should have known better...
"I should have known better?!" Id exclaimed indignantly. "I should have-"
Id! Keena interrupted. Shush, he'll hear!
"Good!" Id replied. "It would serve you right if he did..."
Keena clenched her teeth as she listened intently. There were footsteps approaching, and nearing quickly. "Damn you Id!" Keena growled under her breath as she turned to face the approaching footsteps, knowing that there was no way she'd get out of sight before Jabez turned the corner. She looked down at herself to give herself a quick once over, then realized the futility of it; she was soaked from head to foot and if her clothes hadn't already been black they would have been nearly so with dirt. It had been quite some time since Keena had paid much attention to her appearance; there had been more important things to consider. Just as Keena was wiping a strand of wet brown hair from her face Jabez came around the corner.
"Keena?" Jabez stopped in his tracks, looking at Keena with open surprise.
"Hello Jabez. It's been awhile."
"Nearly a year," Jabez confirmed slowly. Keena had seemed to pull a disappearing act that day nearly a year ago. She had covered her tracks skillfully and even Jabez found himself unable to find any trace of her when he had tried to find her months after she had left. "Where have you been all this time?"
"Oh, here and there," she said, carefully dodging the question. "How have you been?"
"Good. I've been good. You?"
"I've...been better," Keena admitted.
There was a long pause in the awkward conversation before Jabez spoke up. "How about getting out of the rain? We can talk inside."
Keena nodded, though somewhat reluctantly. Before following Jabez she put her fingers to her lips and let out a long whistle; within seconds Yuki, her imp companion, landed on her shoulder. Jabez, hearing the flutter of wings, knew who she had called without having to turn back. Following Jabez into the club Keena looked to Yuki uncertainly; it had been Yuki who had finally convinced her to return to Metronome to find Jabez. Yuki returned her uncertain glance with a reassuring, albeit slightly unsure, smile.
Upon entering the club Keena looked about carefully. She noted the presence of the members of the band, all of them lounging about awaiting Jabez's return.
"Hey Jabez," one of the guys called out upon noticing his entrance, "who's your friend?"
Jabez turned around curiously at the sound of a loud sigh form Keena. "I never get the respect I deserve anymore," she muttered. "People forget so quickly when you give them the chance."
A half-grin crossed Jabez's face as an amusing idea entered his mind. "I could tell you," he replied, "but then she'd have to kill you."
"Sure Jabez," the band member replied sarcastically.
"Perhaps...a demonstration?" Jabez turned to Keena, who caught the gleam in his eye.
"Sure," she replied with a shrug, deciding to play along with whatever Jabez's plan was. "Why not? I could use a little fun." She cracked her knuckles methodically, then went about removing her glove, the powerful, spell enhanced, dragon scale glove that had it's place on her right hand. The holes, Jabez noticed, had been repaired--probably at great cost to Keena.
The jeering band-member no longer looked quite so certain. "What are you doing?"
Keena looked up, as if surprised by the question. "Removing my glove, of course. Why, I wouldn't want to kill you by mistake. I don't think Jabez would be too pleased with me if I killed one of the members of his band."
The band-mate looked suddenly thoughtful. The black glove with fingers cut off at the knuckles, the strange item that resembled a half a pair of sunglasses, even the strange creature that sat on the girl's shoulder seemed somehow familiar, as if he had heard of all of it before...He gasped suddenly, his jaw dropping open.
Keena had slowly and carefully put away her glove in the magical pouch that was on her belt, the pouch that could hold far more than was possible for it's size. She looked up at the challenger, a slight grin on her face making it look as though she was surely going to enjoy this. "Are you ready?"
"No!" The other band members looked wonderingly at their band-mate while Jabez only grinned and Keena stood by without reaction. "I know who you are now. Never mind. I just..."
Jabez chuckled. "That's enough practice for today guys. Lock up on your way out. C'mon Keena, we'll go upstairs."
Keena nodded her consent and followed Jabez, throwing a glare the way of the band as she passed by. Following Jabez up the stairs and through a heavy door Keena found herself in a lavish apartment; Jabez's residence, she realized. As Jabez entered the apartment Keena stood at the door; she was soaked to the bone and dripping wet, uncertain about leaving the safety of the doormat. When he realized that Keena was no longer following him, Jabez turned round to face her. "You," he stated simply, "look thoroughly miserable."
Keena straightened her slouching posture and crossed her arms in front of her. "Well thanks."
Jabez shrugged. "It's nothing that a hot shower, a decent meal and a long rest wouldn't cure. Follow me."
Keena snorted at his back, but followed him anyway. She knew the falseness of his statement, but if he was offering her those things, well, she wasn't going to turn the offer down.

It was after Keena was back in her now clean and dry clothes, Id placed with her glove in her pouch, and after a filling meal that she sat down rather thankfully on the couch and closed her eyes; Yuki lay on her lap, a reassuring presence. It wasn't long before she felt Jabez sitting down beside her and she reluctantly opened her eyes to look at him; she knew that questions would be forthcoming.
Jabez was looking at her curiously. "When was the last time you had a decent meal?" he queried. He had noticed the eagerness with which Keena had eaten a large amount of food and the fact that her already slender form had undergone a definite loss of weight. "And a decent sleep? You look exhausted."
Keena sighed, thinking back and trying to remember the last time she had had the money to buy a filling meal, or the last time she had felt safe enough to sleep soundly. The memories weren't easily recalled. She shrugged her answer to Jabez. "It's been awhile since I've done any jobs. No money means no food and no bed to sleep in." Her efforts over the last year had cost her much more than the price of fixing her wrecked glove.
"Why haven't you done any jobs? Certainly there's no lack of people looking to hire someone like you."
"Would you believe I haven't felt like it?" Keena answered half heartedly, knowing that her answer wouldn't suffice.
"It's more than that," Jabez said certainly. "You have the wary look of a fighter who is playing a difficult game. Who are you fighting this time?"
Keena sighed in resignation. This was why she had come to Metronome after all, to try to enlist Jabez's aid, wasn't it? "Chenzai," she said.
"Chenzai?" The name brought back to Jabez stories from his youth, frightening stories of a force that could steal a person's very soul, and warp it until it was barely recognizable as the person it had been. "But surely you don't mean..."
"Chenzai," Keena confirmed. "From the daemonic term chent en zai, meaning 'abandon all hope,'" she quoted form the diary entry she had recently read, the entry that had ended all too suddenly.
"But that's just a story...a legend."
"All legends have a basis in reality; this one's all too real. It's what Legion was working towards; him and more like-minded individuals. The revival of Chenzai. I've spent my time trying to hunt them down, but when I finally found them it was already far too late. They were all dead, and Chenzai..."
"Is loose," Jabez finished for her, not able to doubt her words. "But how can you be so sure?"
Keena lowered her head sorrowfully. "You wouldn't know; it hasn't reached this far yet, but it will." She looked up again, her eyes wet with tears she refused to let fall. "It's absolutely horrible; there's chaos in the streets and murder among families. Chenzai's passing through towns and leaving destruction in his wake. It has to be stopped...I can't do it myself but I will die trying if I have to..."
"And so you came here with what motive?" Jabez asked, as if he didn't already have his suspicions; she was looking for an ally.
Keena opened her mouth to retort, but snapped it closed once again. "No particular motive." Seeing the obvious disbelief evident on his face she added, "I heard you were in a band...I didn't believe it, so I decided to come see for myself; I was already nearby so it's not like it was out of the way or anything. It's still hard to believe you've turned singer, even after seeing the proof." A rueful smile crossed her face, but she said no more, and Jabez asked no more questions.
Jabez stood. "Follow me; you can have the bed. I'll sleep on the couch."
Keena shrugged her shoulders and stood, sending a half-asleep Yuki tumbling nearly to the floor before he regained his senses enough to spread his wings and save himself a collision with the floor. Grumbling all the while he followed as Jabez showed Keena to the bedroom.
As soon as Jabez left the room and the door closed behind him Keena practically collapsed onto the large bed; she was asleep before her head hit the pillow, feeling safer and sleeping more soundly than she had in recent memory.