Killey opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a somewhat ornate bed and modestly decorated room. He was still in the same cloths he last remembered to be in, but his boots, jacket, bags, and weapon belt were tossed into a pile next to the bed.

"Why do I have a gut feeling that I'll be waking up and seeing unfamiliar ceilings for sometime to come." He thought. "But what on earth have I been doing to wind up here?"

Killey tried to remember all that he did to wind up here. Being imbedded with that odd rune and getting those weird blades, wandering into Tinto, saving Lilly, everything; Everything that is up till passing out.

"I should find my way out of here and get something to eat. I don't need to be here anymore." He said.

As he was getting his boots back on, the door to the room opened and a Tinto trooper walked in. He looked Killey over and leaned back out as if whispering to someone outside. The trooper steps away from the door and a young woman in the world's universal white nurse's uniform with a purple and gold bow in her hair walked in. She adjusted her wire frame glasses and flipped a strand of her long brown hair back out of her face. She walked up to Killey.

"Good morning Mr. Killey. My name is Mrs. Leftwich. I gave you a check out to see if you were all right when they brought you in last night. You seem to be in good spirits today, but how are you feeling now?" She said.

He gave out a yawn and rubbed his face.

"I could use a shave and something to eat. A bath wouldn't be a bad thing ether." He said.

He gave her a grin. She smiled in turn

"I understand, the guards will take you to the bath room so you can wash up. Then they will take you to the kitchen for something to eat. The mayor of Tinto, Lord Gustav, will like to speak to you then." She said.

Mrs. Leftwich turned to walk out of the room but stopped at the door and turned back to Killey.

"Oh and don't worry about your bags, we'll keep them safe here for now. I will see you later." She said.

With that, she walked out. The guard motioned him to go out of the room. With out having any reason to protest, he followed him out and down a hallway. The bathroom Killey was led to was more then adequate and he took a bath that was a long time in coming.

"I wonder if this Lord Gustav has any information about any Sindar activity or ruins around here?" He thought as he scrubbed his hair.

After cleaning himself up, Killey was led to a supriseingly small but well stocked kitchen. The chef in there immediately jumped at making him breakfast. A few minuets pass and Lilly stagers in wearing PJs and clutching a teddy bear. She hopped into a chair at the table Killey was siting at, too drowsy to realize that he was there. Being in a far better mood than average, he cleared his thought to remind her of his presence at the table. Lilly rubbed her eyes and looked at him with a smile growing on her face.

"Good morning, did you sleep well?" Killey asked her.

She nodded. The chef put a plate in front of her and she digs in. Lord Gustav soon walks in as well adjusting his neckline of his dress suit.

"Good morning Mr. Killey, I assume that you have had a good rest." Gustav said as he sat down at the table as well.

"Yes, it was. I haven't felt this good in ages." Killey said.

Much to his surprise, all the pain Killey felt yesterday had completely vanished. He started to dig in to his breakfast. The chef placed a plate full of food in front of Lord Gustav.

"You saved my daughter's life, I owe you so much. I don't have as much of freedom financially to give you money as Muse could, but I will do as best as I can to…" Gustav said before being dismissive, but politely cut off by Killey.

"I'm not interested in money, I'm looking for information. What do you know or what information do you have about the Sindar?" Killey said as he sipped his coffee.

Lord Gustav had the look of surprise on his face but recovered quickly. He closed his eyes in thought then reopened them.

"We don't have any Sindar activity or ruins in this area, but I do know that there should be files of such things in the Jowston city-state capitol. Mayor of Muse, Annabelle would be the only one who could access those files." Gustav said.

"Looks like I will have to see her personally. Hopefully the wait won't take too long." Killey said.

His voice was a matter of fact as he normally was, but as he said it, Lord Gustav eyes went wide. He broke into a giggling fit and almost spilt his coffee onto his pants. Lilly giggled too as she watched her dad, but continued eating.

"You actually think you can walk into capitol building and get an appointment in a day? Even the heads of the merchant houses have to wait months to get to see her. Annebelle's meeting schedule is legendary in its long waits." Gustav said.

"Don't worry, I'll find a way. In any case, I am rather new in the area, is there major event or goings on I should be aware of while I'm in there?" Killey asked.

Lord Gustav sobered up in a hurry and slowed his eating.

"Both Annabelle and I have excellent 'information gathering network' but anyone in a tavern know about this by now. The arch rival nation of Jowston, the Highland Empire, is going to attack and invade Jowston in an attempt to wipe it out of existence. I haven't got word of any major moves just yet but the Highland's army has been building up at a freighting rate. The first attacks could come in a few weeks, or even days. What ever you are going to do in Jowston, you better do it quick and get out as soon as you can." Gustav said.

Killey let that information soak in as he finished off his breakfast. Lilly didn't even pay attention to what Killey and Gustav were talking about as she finished eating her breakfast.

"Thank you very much, but don't worry. I can handle any thing Highland does. Besides, I'm not planing on being moving around a lot. Oh yes, I have one more request of you." Killey said.

As he said that, he fished out of his pants pocket a locket. He opened it and looked at it. He knew the picture of the woman inside it all too well. The long jet-black hair, the deep blue eyes, the smooth lines and curves of her, yes, Killey knew her well.

Killey showed the picture in the locket to Lord Gustav.

"I have been looking for this woman for along time as well. Her name is Lorelai. She has the same interest in the Sindar as I do. I know this picture is a bit out of date, but she should look very much the same. Have you seen or heard of this woman recently around here?" He asked.

Lord Gustav looked at the locket and then leaned back in his chair, deep in thought.

"Lorelai. I have heard of her. She played a part in the forming of the new Toren republic in the south. She didn't stick around afterward. But the last I've heard of her is that she headed off to somewhere in Muse. I'm sorry, but that is all I know of." Gustav said.

Killey closed the locket and put it back in his pocket. The thought of possibly running across Lorelai once again made him feel like he could run to the moon and still have a smile on his face. He stood up and started walking around the table.

"Thank you so much, but I should get going. I have what I need. It's going to a long hike to Muse." Killey said.

He walked over to Lord Gustav and shook his hand.

"Well, if you want to take off now, it's all right by me. But if you ever come by this way again and need something. Just give me a call, I'll help you as best as I can." Gustav said.

Lilly was out of her chair and walked quickly over to Killey and gave him a hug. Her arms wrapped around his thighs and she rested her head on his side.

"Thank you Mr. Killey. Please come back soon!" Lilly said excitingly

"Don't worry, I will some day." Killey said.

He pet her on her head and releases himself from her grip. Walking back to his room, a strange feeling passed over him again. He opened the door and saw Mrs. Leftwich waiting for him with a large, empty hiking backpack.

"Hello Mr. Killey, I've noticed that you have been carrying your luggage in these bags. Those are not exactly good on your back, so I decided to get you a decent backpack." She said.

Killey raised his right eyebrow in curiosity of Mrs. Leftwich.

"It's nice to know that someone has some concern for me. Well, if you don't mind, I will repack my stuff into the backpack now." Killey said.

Mrs. Leftwich gave Killey a smile and she walked out of the room. Killey sighed.

"Another dead end here, but at least I got a good lead onto where to go to next. Maybe I could run into Lorelai in Muse. … But what is it about that Mrs. Leftwich that just keeps making me feel strange? I shouldn't worry about it though." He thought

After Killey repacked his luggage into his backpack, he went to the front door of the city hall and let him self-out. He made his way though the city rather easily this time. And before he headed to Muse, he stopped at a general store and bought a map of the Jowston city-states just to help keep him from losing his way around. The old shopkeeper stopped him before he left the store.

"So are you heading out of Tinto? Just be careful of going though the Drakemouth pass you hear. Killer rabbits and giant flying squirrels have been seen filtering into the area." The old man said.

"Thanks for the warning." Killey said.

"Yea right, the poor old man must be getting senile or something. Giant flying squirrels and killer rabbits my back side." Killey thought. "But the Drakemouth pass seems to be the quickest route to Muse from here."

The road from Tinto to the pass was clear and well used. Except for a couple of caravans that passed him by, the roads were empty. Even still, Killey couldn't shake the feeling that there is someone following him.

Killey didn't see her, but Mrs. Leftwich peeked at him from a clump of bushes as he walked by. She smiled and her form and color rearranged themselves until it became the body of Achika.

"Well, you're all ready to go Killey. Let's see if you can get though the pass intact." She said quietly.

Killey walked though the pass without any problems, until he reached the midpoint of the pass. He noticed huge shadows of something flying over head. He looked up and saw the most bizarre sight of his life. What he saw was 5 large flying squirrels, flying in a V formation. They turned and dove at Killey. He jumped out of the way as they swooped down in an attack formation.

"This is crazy!" Killey yelled "Flying squirrels trying to kill me, what's next?"

As soon as he said that, Killey regretted it. A sound of a massive high-pitched roar came from behind him. He turned around and saw a two story tall squirrel rose up from the bushes and screeched at Killey again.

"Ask ye shall receive…" Killey said with irony.

Killey pulled out his weapons as the truly giant squirrel charged at him with impossible speed…

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"Killey" and "Suikoden 2" are (C) Konami This chapter was posted February, 2000