Adventures In Babysitting

[Silence Sei]

((Closed))

Sei covered his head to avoid debris as yet another explosion was triggered. Clumps of soil and rock went flying in all directions, hitting the concrete median that the mute and his partner chose to hide behind. The telepath peered up from the top of the makeshift cover, ducking once more beneath the protection of the cement once he heard voices asking if the duo were still alive. The mute closed his eyes for a moment and reflected back on how he got here.

Another explosion, this one sending the mute to the ground, as well as his partner. The two of them scrambled off, Sei’s friend managing to distract their assailants with a few attacks of his own. The Mystic reached behind his back, grabbing the hilts of his Gemini Blades. If only he had enough time to concentrate, perhaps he could send his doppelganger out as a distraction.

Then again, with the series of traps that had been set off, coupled with the fact that Sei’s ally was the most wildcard character he could have been paired with, the chances of anything going according to plan were slim. Sei peered up once more from his hiding spot, noticing his doppelganger forming about fifteen feet away. Sure enough, he drew the enemy fire, and the Sei clone was soon running from arrows, bullets, and all sorts of nasty projectiles.

The laughter coming from the other man at these events caused Sei to form a smile himself. Though they were out to find the ronin warrior known as Taka, the two of them were having a good time. It was just like the old days. The merriment didn’t last long, as a third explosion finally blew away the men’s cover, leaving them ‘hiding’ behind a few small rebars protruding from the ground.

Sei’s eyes shot daggers at the man who he had thrown his lot in with. This was definitely not going well at all.

“Max Dirks,” Sei spoke to his friend while running for his life, “How do I let you talk me into these situations?!”

[Max Dirks]

“Oh shit!” Max Dirks called out as the third and final explosion took out their makeshift cover. But rather than run, Althanas’ most infamous criminal and ‘most badass godfather ever’, momentarily stood to admire his handy work. In the background, Drax Piston’s seven story casino–which Dirks himself helped the gambler to obtain –laid in ruins. The building was blasted down to its foundation. A hooker on the penthouse floor could open a door and plummet 70 feet to her death. In the foreground, most of their pursuers had been knocked cold by the force of the second blast. Sans the shellshock, Dirks figured they would be pretty pleased when they woke up laying on a bed of scattered casino chips and gold pieces.

“I didn’t get you into anything this time Sei,” Dirks responded to his friend’s thought aloud. “You can blame your lovely little angel-ling for that. Speaking of,” Dirks started looking around, “Where did Anita go?”

“Looking for this?” a loud voice boomed from behind them. Dirks jumped around and felt his heart drop. Fifty feet in front of them stood a battered and beaten Drax Piston. His clothes had been ripped and his face was full of soot. “I found her sniffing around in the vault, among other things...” Dirks felt his hand moving to his Beretta. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you Dirks. I can pierce your ear from 700 yards. Imagine what I could do from a few inches.” Dirks cursed, but lowered his hands.

The criminal took a moment to glance at Sei. The Mystic was lost somewhere between terror and fury because Anita apparently did not understand the meaning of stay home. Sei, Dirks thought to his friend. He’s using a bolt action sniper rifle. It’s powerful over long distances but it takes forever to fire. Tell her to duck and I can take him out. Just give me the word.

NO! Sei replied instantly. If you miss, or if you’re too slow I’ll never be able to forgive myself...I’d never be able to forgive you. Sei lowered his head and Dirks grit his teeth.

“Throw your weapons on the ground!” Drax called out. With one last glance to Sei, Dirks cringed but complied. He reached into his jumpsuit and pulled out both Berettas. He threw them to the ground. “The knife too.” Drax said. Dirks bent down and pulled his dirk from his boot and tossed it by the wayside. Sei's doppelganger disappeared and he followed suit by throwing the Gemini blades on the ground. “Put your hands on your heads.” Drax said, walking Anita towards them.

This was his chance. Once Dirks could grab Anita and keep her out of harm’s way, he would unleash his own version of Mystic wrath –Silence Sei –on the gambler. If the criminal was shot at least his goddaughter would live. But before Dirks could unleash his plan, twelve heavily armed goons emerged, fully conscious, from the rubble. Two pushed their swords against Dirks and Sei, while the others collected their weapons and blocked their escape.

“Take her,” Drax said, pushing Anita to one of the goons. She screamed and Dirks jumped at the gambler. He was met with a sword swipe across the stomach. It barely punctured the skin, but it was enough to keep the criminal at bay. “Now Dirks,” Drax said, punching him in the stomach and throwing him to the ground. “You’re going to tell me why the fuck you blew up my casino or I will kill you where you stand.”

“Go to hell,” Dirks weezed.

“You know what? Have it your way.” With that, Drax took the butt of his rifle and slammed it against Dirks’ forehead, sending the criminal instantly into unconsciousness. Then Drax turned to Sei. “Your call, fairy. Are you going to answer my questions or am I going to pluck your feathers too?”

[Silence Sei]

He could have saved himself the trouble and told Drax Piston everything. He could have explained that one of his Ixian Knights, the ronin warrior Taka, had been out of the cave for several days now. While this was a normal thing when out on mission, Taka had not such a condition for his leaving. Anita Orlouge, Sei's daughter and Taka's complicated love interest, suspected kidnapping after the first three days. He could have told Drax that his investigations had lead him here, and that his meeting with Max Dirks was a pure coincidence.

But Sei did not tell Drax Piston any of this.

"I share my companions sentiments ," Sei sneered at the casino owner, "Albeit in a less vulgar fashion." Drax's hands formed into fists, and his arms were trembling with anger. Obviously, Drax Piston did not like being left in the dark.

"Then so too shall you share his fate!" The man yelled before Sei felt a blunt pain at the back of his neck, and everything went dark....


"....Sei? Come on cherub, get up."

Sei's eyes opened from their closed position. He looked to the leaning over Max Dirks while grabbing the back of his neck. The Mystic sat up, looking around the dimly lit room. All sorts of magnificent treasure lay before the duo. Gold coins scattered the ground, several priceless paintings hung on walls, and there were even some artifacts Sei had no idea still existed hanging on pedestals.

"They locked us up in the vault?" Sei questioned his comrade, who simply nodded.

"Well, you blew up Piston's casino, which is where he had a place to detain his 'criminals'," Max told his friend, "Where else did he have to put us?"

"I did not blow up the casino!" Sei shouted at the man, a bit peeved that he would insinuate that the telepath intentionally destroyed the establishment. "I was trying to save your sorry rear end! There were seven guys on you!"

"First off, I'm Max Dirks. Seven on me is nothing. I won the Cell."

"You shot at people from an adamantine tower until nobody was left!"

"Same thing. Secondly, you’re the one who shot the propane tank, Cherub, not me. You didn't even know how to use that shotgun."

Sei growled a bit at his friend. Apparently, in their time together, Dirks had yet to pick up any of Sei's humility. Furthermore, the gunslinger always seemed to bring out the more childish side in the Mystic. So it was no surprise that Sei lunged at the man like a rabid animal. The two rolled around attempting to strangle one another for several minutes before each fell on the ground, heavily panting from near exhaustion.

"Draw?"

"Fuck you, cherub. To be continued."

"Agreed. When we get out of this, I'm going to kill you."

"That's what you said in the Cell."

"IT WAS NOT!"

[Max Dirks]

Five days ago…

“But Daddy, I haven’t seen him in a week!” Anita cried out to her father. “What if something bad happened to him?”

Anita, Taka is an Ixian Knight. In fact, he’s one of the best. Sei thought responded. He was chopping some vegetables for dinner. He’s probably out finishing up one of his assignments.

“No, he never goes this long without sending a message. I know something happened to him. Please Daddy, please go look for him. You’ve got to go look for him.”

Sei stopped chopping. He was getting visibly irritated with his daughter. I don’t have to do anything. He’s a grown man; he can take care of himself. Furthermore, when you turned 18 I told you I would give you more freedom, but you know I don’t want you seeing him. He’s too dangerous.

“But…”

No buts. I might not be able to stop you from seeing him, but I’m definitely not going to actively inject myself into your relationship.

“Hmm, Uncle Dirks would.”

That hit home. Sei grew noticeably furious. He had to set down his knife so Anita wouldn't see him shaking. Before Sei could interject further, Max Dirks strode into the kitchen snacking on an apple.

“Would what?” Dirks asked.

“Help father find one of his Ixian Knights. He went missing a few days ago and we’ve heard nothing since.”

“Probably. Though it would ultimately depend on how long goodie-two-shoes over there decides to keep overlooking my, ugh, ‘business activities’. Home cooked meals are a plus too...”

It’s her boyfriend, Dirks.

“Oh. Huh? Wait a minute...you’re dating now?” Dirks asked, looking Anita up and down. “But you're only 13.”

“I’m 18, and he happens to be a very charming young man. He's only dangerous because he protects Althanas from danger.”

Dirks paused for a moment and then shook his head. “Protect Althanas from danger? I don’t like it. He sounds like a little Dudley-do-right. Come on, I thought you had a little Dirks in you. A Dudley-do-right and a little she-Dirks will never work out. Case and point, look at papa smurf here.” Dirks pointed at Sei. “I hate that guy.”

Before Dirks could finish, there was a loud scream outside followed by a loud bang. “Wow Sei, next time we have dinner, we’re doing it at my estate. You live in the Radasanth ghetto.” But this time there was no glib thought reply from the Mystic. Dirks glanced over and saw that Sei was genuinely concerned. A moment passed and Sei took off towards the door, prompting Dirks to wander over to the vegetables he was cutting. Dirks ate a couple of cucumbers then looked up to find Anita starting at him with a mix of “well aren’t you,” “disbelief he hadn’t”, and “you’re a badass, father is not.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. I just started eating.”

Anita didn’t say a word. She didn’t have to. Beneath that Dirks exterior was an Orlouge. “Damn it,” Dirks swore. “Wait up, cherub.” He grabbed another handful of cucumbers, shoved them in his mouth, and chased after Sei. Of course, he had no idea what saving sister Mary from a purse snatcher in the Radasanth ghetto would lead to.

[Silence Sei]

Sei had to ignore Dirks' comments for now. The mute was more focused on the scream that they had all just heard not seconds before. In Sei's experience, screams were rarely a good thing in Radasanth. Why couldn't the carnival come by more often, or a scary story be told more than once a year? Why could say, just once, go to see the source of a scream to find something good instead of bad happening? Sei heard Dirks from behind catching up to him, the Mystic smiling as he looked to his 'partner in crime' so to speak.

"Always a sucker for a woman, huh Dirks?"

"Yeah, you should try it some time," the gunslinger grinned.

A masked man, about six feet tall, sped past the two carrying a pink purse. A good fifteen feet away was the original owner of the purse, calling for anybody to aid her in her mugging. Sei answered the call, turning and chasing the man down the street. Though the telepath was fast, the taller man was quickly covering more ground with his long legs. Sei grimaced as he allowed his two butterfly wings to sprout out from the slits in the back of his gray karate gi. He leapt into the air and began his pursuit anew.

His wings gave him a clear advantage over the man. The mute reached out and was just inches within grabbing the purse snatcher by the collar when the mugger dropped to the ground. Sei sped past the crumpled foe and slowed himself down to a halt. Turning around, the Mystic could barely make out the gray colors oozing out of the barrel; of one of Dirks' Berettas. Sei glared at his friend, who was leisurely approaching the would-be thief at his own pace.

"What did I say about tact, Dirks?!"

"What? I caught him and you didn't. Some Protector of Radasanth you turned out to be." Dirks grinned as he kneeled down towards the strange man, who was still holding the exit wound at his right knee and howling in pain. "I really don't think that purse is your color. It'd look better on my friend."

Sei was sure that by the end of the night, he would tire of Max Dirks insinuations that he was homosexual.

[Max Dirks]

“Erm,” Dirks finally said. “So now what? I’m not really used to this hero bit.”

You know, I’m not too sure. I’ve never actually bagged myself a petty thief before. I tend to aim for Althanas’ more ruthless.

“Wait, was that a compliment, my angelic friend?”

Don’t flatter your… But before Sei could finish, at least a dozen armed men walked out from the shadows. Some of them carried typical thug weapons: brass knuckles and tire irons, while others carried more deadly knifes and swords. Dirks immediately withdrew his ‘twin’ Beretta and aimed both of his guns at the nearest intruders.

“Do you usually talk to yourself, freak?” One of the assailants asked. He was clearly the leader. Rather than the basic leather armor that the rest wore, he was knee deep in metal. “I don’t know what the fuck you were thinking, but this is my block. You mess with an Angel, and you’re going to hang.”

Dirks grinned and looked to Sei when the thug said ‘angel.’ “That’s pretty much what I was thinking. You know what. You guys aren’t even worth the bullets.” Before Dirks finished, he was already on the attack. He dashed at the nearest assailant, landing a pistol whip into his nose. Blood gushed immediately and the thug jumped back. Upon witnessing Dirks’ assault, the rest of the gang jumped into the fray. At one point, Dirks was fending off three goons. He landed a kick, then headbutted the leader before slamming a skinny kid into a fat one. The two of them fell to the ground.

Sei watched intently, but did not immediately join the fray. Eventually Dirks finally was struck by a hard blow to the head. Then he was hit by another, and another. Soon the thugs had overtaken the criminal, beating at him with iron rods and sticks. Those with the knives had temporarily backed up. Seeing enough, Sei moved into action. For some ridiculous and unnecessary reason he thought MYSTIC PROTECTION and projected it into everyone’s mind. Glass spew from the angel’s body, striking everyone, including Dirks.

Dirks let out a howl and dropped to the ground. He rolled onto his stomach and pulled a glass shard from his rear. “What the fuck, Sei.” He cried out. But the Mystic’s spell had been effective. The gang members ran off, leaving their fallen brethren behind. Eventually Dirks stood and looked to Sei. “Tact? Seriously.”

Furious, Dirks turned his attention to the purse napper. He climbed to his feet and hobbled over to the knee blasted assailant. Then he kneeled on the robber’s ribcage while pushing his ‘patented’ Beretta into the man’s nostril. “Purse robbing? You know in Fallien the punishment for theft is disembowelment. An eye for an eye, if you will. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t shoot you where you stand.”

“Please don’t!” the purse robber cried. “I’m just doing my job.”

“Your job?” Dirks repeated. “Stealing from teenagers is your job? When I was your age I had a paper route. Well here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to give that woman back her purse and apologize otherwise you’re going to end up with a bullet in your head.”

“I…I can’t” the robber replied. Dirks was slightly taken aback by this. “She owes money to the Entrepreneurs. If she doesn’t pay she’ll die. If I don’t collect I’ll die.”

When the robber finished, Dirks grabbed the purse from the man and opened it. “I don’t really think it’s going to help you much. It’s empty.” Dirks retorted.

“The Entrepreneurs?” Sei interjected. Then Dirks made the connection. He momentarily lifted his knee off the man’s chest.

“Yes, the Illicit Entrepreneurs. We do some collection work for them. Kind of a if you scratch our back, we don’t destroy your neighborhood in Radasanth type of work. Look, please don’t kill me, I’m just a grunt doing what I’m told.”

“That’s impossible,” Dirks whispered. The criminal looked to Sei, shocked. The Illicit Entrepreneurs were Dirks’ former clan, but no one knew that except for the cherub. The IE, as they were more commonly known, became famous for taxing battles in the Citadel. Dirks was the group’s chief financer. He received Dirks received a large percentage of the tax in return. Furthermore, the former leader of the IE, Khariss Sevrath, knew things about Dirks that the criminal did not want publicized. No one else could know about his involvement. This man, this petty thug, would have to die. “Well, I’ve heard enough, time to die.”

“Wait!” a voice rang out from the alley. Sei and Dirks turned to find Anita running towards them. Sei looked panicked, but Anita keep running until she reached the forefront of the group.

“Have you seen this man?” She asked, showing the thug a picture of the samurai, Taka.

“Wait? What?” He responded. Dirks was also confused. He was ready to pull the trigger to keep his allegiance a secret when Sei thought into all of their heads, ANSWER! Obviously Sei knew Dirks would do whatever he could to mask his involvement. The cherub didn't want the man to die in front of his daughter.

“Yeah, the ninja right? Yeah I’ve seen him. He used to come by the store every week to repair his equipment. At first we charged him a load for cheap fixes, but he kept coming back. The boss took a liking to him and some of the Angels started talking to him.”

Cut to the chase. Have you talked to him recently? Sei asked. The mugger looked freaked. He kept looking at Dirks as though he was the source of the thought barrage.

“He said something about heading south to Underwood. He said something about facing the greatest choice of his life. But I swear, that’s all that I know.”

“Not enough…” Dirks said, though he truly had no interest in what the man was saying. However, Sei boomed Let him go.. Dirks paused for a moment, contemplating pulling the trigger, but he didn’t want to seem cold blooded, especially in front of his goddaughter. With a frown, Dirks stood up and released the man from his knee grip.

Meanwhile, Sei was looking intently at Anita. Though he didn’t want to get involved, he was about to cave. Dirks he thought, I hear the Silver Tavern reopened in Underwood. Maybe we should go take a look. Anita beamed.

“Wait, what?” Dirks responded. There’s no way I’m going to Underwood.” Then Dirks made the mistake of looking at Anita. She wore her typical get whatever I want puppy dog stare. “No!” Dirks said, but like her father, the criminal was no match for his goddaughter’s desires. “Ugh, fine.” Dirks said. He began to walk away, but noticed that Anita hadn’t followed. He turned around to the same damn stare.

“He needs money, uncle Dirks. Can you help him.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Dirks replied. “No!” But of course, Anita would not take no for an answer. After several minutes of the silent treatment and other typical teenage antics, Dirks caved and gave the purse snatcher 200 GP to turn into the IE. Satisfied, Anita finally followed them. “Some ‘angel’ you’ve raised,” Dirks said to Sei as their started their journey to Underwood.

[Silence Sei]

Sei and Dirks spent the entire day chasing down leads. Going into some of the worst bars Radasanth had to offer, asking around on the sleaziest street corners. Of course, most of the people they questioned thought the duo were some sort of pranksters in costume. For who would truly believe that the Hero of Radasanth was paired with the Althanas Rouge known as Max Dirks? As such, they weren't really taken seriously whenever Sei did the asking.

After about the fifth rejection, Sei began to give up hope. The mute did not particularly like being in the smoky bar. The dimly lit establishment provided good cover for anybody willing to sneak up upon the two. Just as the Mystic turned to leave, he felt Dirk's hand on his shoulder. Turning to face his friend, Dirks smiled a little.

"Let me try asking the bartender," Dirks said. Sei shrugged his shoulders and turned his whole body back around. What was the worse that could happen?

The head of the bartender slammed against the oak bar. The sudden clicking of Dirks' 'patented' berretta against the face of the bald headed bartender echoed throughout the room. "WHAT THE FUCK MAN?!" the drink dispenser asked. Dirks simply stood with his weapon pressed against the head of the stranger for a moment, his other hand still pushing the man's face down.

"Samurai. Black tattoo. Talk." Another click from the gun before the bartender began to cry out for help. If he knew something about Taka, he was willing to take it to his grave. When Dirks realized the man was wetting the wood of his bar with his own tears, he released his grip on him, and left the bar. Sei apologized to the bartender before running outside with Dirks, pleading with the gunslinger to use a bit more tact.

Of course, the mute knew that such a request was far beyond Max Dirks.

[Max Dirks]

Max Dirks yawned as he walked out of the pub. “Look man, I don’t think Anita’s boyfriend is here. We’ve hit every pub in Underwood and not a single person has seen him. I’m going home.”

Yeah… Sei began, but then he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Wait Dirks, what’s that? The cherub pointed to an alley across the street.

“What?” Dirks scanned the alleyway for a moment but didn’t see any movement. “What do you see? I can’t see anything. Oh…” Dirks said. Suddenly a man dressed in black appeared from nowhere. He was walking quickly between shadows, but the weapon on his back was unmistakable. It was a long katana, the weapon of choice for Corone’s local samurais.

Do you think it’s him? Sei asked.

“Well, there’s one way to find out. TA..” Dirks coughed the rest of the samurai’s name when Sei placed his hand over his mouth. When the samurai disappeared back into the shadows, Sei released his grip. “What the hell was that for?” Dirks asked, throwing Sei’s hand away.

Anita told me that even on long missions Taka would find time to message her daily. If that’s him and he’s walking freely through the streets it means he wasn’t captured and he intentionally hasn’t contacted her. Maybe he doesn't want to be found. Sei conveniently forgot to mention that the Ixian Knights were also currently involved in a number of covert missions. If this was one of them and Dirks blew Taka’s cover, then he could, and likely would, be killed.

“Point taken,” Dirks responded. “So we follow.”

Sei nodded in response and the two of them followed after the mysterious samurai. Along the way it became clear that stealth was a lost art with them. Between Dirks’ clanking katanas and Sei’s Gemini blades, the two of them must have sounded like a parade in the middle of the night. The constant bickering to one another didn’t help either. No one but Dirks could hear Sei, but Dirks didn’t exactly have an indoor voice, even when he was whispering. However, the samurai made no indication that he knew he was being followed. He never looked over his shoulder, nor did he change his course at all. Eventually the samurai took a left around a corner.

Seriously Dirks, I’m surprised those damn swords haven’t woken up the entire neighborhood.

“Shut up Sei. It’s not like we’re following a ninja. Samurai’s aren’t exactly stealthy either. They’re tactical and efficient.” Ironically, when Dirks peeked around the corner to catch sight of the samurai, he was grabbed by his coat and slammed against the nearby building. Before he even knew what was going on the edge of a katana was an eighth of an inch away from his neck.

“Who are you?” the samurai asked. “Why are you following me?”

“Excuse me?” Dirks retorted. “I ask the questions here.” The samurai was caught slightly off guard with Dirks’ statement and proceeded to jam his leg against Dirks’ knee in response. “Ouch, what the hell do you think you’re doing Taka?”

“Taka, what does that mean?”

“Seriously, get off me or I will beat your fucking ass.” Dirks said, pushing the samurai away. He gave way a bit, but then slammed his weight back towards Dirks’ neck.

Dirks, Sei said, projecting his thoughts into both of their minds. That’s not Taka. Sei stepped around the corner and into the light. Sir, please excuse us. We thought you were someone else, a friend of ours. He is a samurai warrior with the Ixian Knights. Perhaps you’ve heard of them? I am their leader, Sei Orlogue.

The samurai did not immediately reply, but he did fix his gaze on the Mystic. “I know who you are,” he said while releasing his grip on Dirks.

Samurais are rare this far west of the mountains. Perhaps you’ve seen another in your travels? Sei asked, hopeful that the entire evening wasn’t a waste.

“No, I haven’t,” the samurai responded. Then he turned and took a step into the light. Though the light did not reveal the samurai’s face, Dirks did notice something unusual on the man’s arm. Between his right shoulder armor and his bracers, the samurai had a tattoo of a double sided long sword with angel wings and a red kite-shield drop border. “If you follow me again I will kill you.” He then turned and walked away.

Dirks brushed himself off while Sei watched the samurai walk away. When he was out of sight Sei thought, There’s something fishy going on here. Come on, we need to keep following him.

“No we don’t, I know where he’s going.” Sei gave Dirks a puzzled look, but said nothing. “Did you see the tattoo?” Sei shook his head. “The samurai had a tattoo of a doubled edged long sword with angel wings on his arm.”

So?

“That’s Akashima’s official seal. All of their military officers are given that tattoo with a serial number when they join the protectorate. It’s kind of a like a permanent dog tag for the higher ups.”

Wow, Dirks actually knows a thing or two about Althanas’ history? I’m impressed.

“Don’t be,” Dirks replied. “I only know that because I ran into some problems there when I was running the Façade scam.” Sei lifted an eyebrow at this. “Don’t worry about it. They were a legit clan. Well, semi-legit, their leader Robert was an idiot, but that’s neither here nor there.”

Well. We need to get to Akashima right away. I have a feeling Taka found something big and got in too deep. Let’s go.

“I’m going home man.” Dirks yawned again. “I’m tired, cranky and I need scotch. Besides, this whole day has been nothing more than a series of off kilter coincidences. The purse snatcher, the bartender, the samurai; these people have nothing to do with one another.”

Dirks started walking towards his horse on the other side of town. “You can stay at my place if you don’t want to go all the way back to Radasanth tonight.”

No, I’d better get back to Anita.

“Always a pleasure, old friend.” Dirks said.

[Silence Sei]

After the two had parted ways, it took no time at all for the Protector of Radasanth to get back to his Tomb. There, he found Anita pacing back and forth at the cave's entrance. When she looked up and noticed that her father had returned, the teen hurriedly rushed to him, he face littered with worry. Sei closed his eyes, not wanting to answer the question he knew that his little girl was going to ask.

"Did you find him?"

Sei shook his head. Opening his eyes, he saw the worried face of Anita change to one of sadness. The sight was something that broke his heart. He did not mean to upset Anita with his bad news, but he did not know what else to do. She had to know, and if she did not find out now, she would from somebody else later. No, this was clearly the best way to break it to her.

"All of our leads were red herrings. While we did encounter a samurai in Underwood, it turns out that he was not Taka. An odd thing though, to encounter one from Akashima so late in the night. Especially once you consider that we happened to be searching for an Akashimian samurai."

The last words seemed to change Anita's expression yet again. Her eyes perked up and she stood up straight. "That's it!"

"Akashima! Taka must have returned home for some reason! Papa, you're a genius! Now if we leave now maybe we ca---"

"---I am -not- going to Akashima."

Anita froze as she looked to her father. The man had a serious look on his face, but there were clear bags under his eyes. "Anita, I have ran myself ragged trying to locate Taka for you. Taka, who not only has his own personal issues to deal with, but could be out just as well with another one of the Ixian teams. You are my daughter, and I love you, and no task is too great that I will not at least attempt it..."

"But...?"

"But it is three in the morning, and I've spent the past fifteen hours on a wild goose chase. I need some rest, and if you are still as passionate about going to Akashima in the morning, we shall. Until then, good night."

Sei brushed by his daughter, Anita now showing the makings of a depressed teenager. What could she say to change his mind? He had a very valid point, after all. "Yeah....Good night Papa," was all she could manage to get out before hearing the door to Sei's room shut close.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sei awoke to the sound of ravenous beatings upon his door. Raising up from his bed, the mute quickly got dressed and answered. He was caught off guard when he did not find himself looking at Anita (as was the custom every morning), but his confidant and elven warrior, Tobias Greenleaf. Quirking an eyebrow at the trainer, Sei looked either direction of the young woman.

"She's not here, Sei!" Tobias quickly blurted out, "Anita never came to bed last night, according to Kyla! It's noon and nobody has seen her all day! Where is she?!" Sei could understand the panic, Anita was a miniature itinerary for all the Ixian Knights, without her, nobody really knew what to do other than their own things.

Sei sighed and closed the door. He knew where the girl had gone. It would take a fool not to know. He quickly got dressed, told Tobias what to tell the others, and left to go see Max Dirks. After all, he was part of the reason this whole mess started, Sei would be damned if he did not feel his buddy was responsible for Anita's attempt at running away as well.