"Is Muse big?"

    "No."

    "Is it great?"

    "No."

    "Does it have those really cool thingies that do those things?"

    Lucia paused, raised an eyebrow at the young winger following her, then sighed.  "No, Rinka, it does not have those thingies that do those things."

    "Drat.  Does it have those vampire things that suck out everyones' blood, hypnotize people, and prey on the weak?"

    Lucia slowly grinned.  "Close."

    Well, okay, wingers are annoying, dwarves smell, and elves whine, but lots of humans were downright evil.  Lucia figured that one thing that was common among the races were that they were all filled with assholes.

    "Oh.  I want to see Muse!"  Rinka beamed.  "Never saw it before.  I bet that Chako hasn't seen Muse yet."

    "That's nice."  Lucia shrugged.  "But we're not going to Muse.  We are simply taking a detour until we get back to Greenhill."

    Paineal chuckled.  "You know, I'd be talking right now but it seems that the winger girl's yapping enough for the both of us."

    "Don't you start on me now."  Lucia threatened.  "I am NOT in a good mood."

    "And I have that fact to thank for my new teeth collection!"  Paineal replied as he took a bag out and happily shook it.  Several rattling sounds were made.  "This could make a really good necklace back in the Grasslands.  Course, people might mistake whoever wears it to be a cannibal... or a disgruntled dentist... or maybe even a large tooth fairy.  Ah well.  Maybe I could sell it to a werewolf.  Too bad those guys are so rare nowadays."

    "Whatever..."  Lucia muttered, then paused as she felt a gust of wind fly by.  "Someone's following us."

    Paineal took a few anxious glances around.  "You think the Matilda knights are still after us?"

    "No."  Not worried about the mysterious stalker, Lucia took out one of Veeshara's maps of the Jowston province.  "We pretty much have sanctuary from Matilda here.  That lard-ass's power doesn't extend beyond Matilda's borders."

    "Muse, huh?"  Paineal glanced at the map.  "Does this mean we're in Hauser's territory, now?"

    "This is not General Hauser's territory.  He merely commands the armies that defend it."  Lucia stared at the spot marking the location of the Muse-Greenhill checkpoint.  Was it normal for the city-states to imprison officers from other city-states?  No wonder why this damn country had to have checkpoints for everything.  Muse-Greenhill checkpoint, Matilda-Muse checkpoint, SouthWindow-Tinto guard post.  Funny how the capital of the city-states most likely didn't even know what the other city-states were doing.

    An extremely powerful gust of wind almost sent Lucia's headpiece flying off, before being followed by Rinka screaming, "Eeek!!!"

    Paineal looked behind himself.  "Eh?  Obviously Hauser's not doing a good job since he can't even keep the Muse province free of kidnappers."

    "Paineal, that's not what he's supposed to do.  What are you talking about, anyway?"  Lucia turned around to see what Paineal was looking at and found herself staring at the sharp end of a young blonde female winger's spear.  She was more clean cut than other wingers and actually wore clothes that qualified as something better than rags.  After the initial shock of surprise wore off in half a second, Lucia's eyes narrowed and she calmly remarked.  "Whoever you are, please bear in mind that I do not enjoy having sharp objects lie an inch away from my head."

    In a quick motion, Lucia sent the spear flying through the air, but the winger leapt into the air and caught the spear before it could hit the ground, holding onto Rinka all the time.

    "I can't even say one word before you try to disarm me!  And I thought that hunter guy was rude."  The teenage winger remarked.  "But it doesn't matter.  I have what I came for.  Well, Rinka, we're going home, now."

    Rinka glanced upwards at the female winger holding onto her.  "Aaaaaah... gee... Neigha?  What are you doing here?  You're taking me back to Two River?  But I thought you left there!"

    "Well duh.  I'm doing this for the big reward that your aunt offered.  There haven't been as many traders to hijack around Greenhill as there used to be now that Greenhill instituted the closed-door policy."  Neigha shrugged.  "And I'm still annoyed that I didn't get a going-away party like Sid did."

    "That's because Sid's cool and you're just an annoying kleptomaniac!"  Rinka yelled.

    "What?!"  Neigha crossed her arms and glared at the girl.  "Sid was given a goodbye party because everyone was so happy he was finally leaving for good!  And we're ALL annoying kleptomaniacs, remember?  Geez!  Shouldn't you be more appreciative of what I'm doing for you?  I mean, that kidnapper is mean!  She nearly killed a bunch of kobolds and wingers at Two River, she's an evil human, and from what I hear she was a complete bitch.  And she has a stupid hat."

    Lucia's eyes twitched for a brief second.  "I have a stupid hat?!?"

    "She's not a kidnapper!"  Rinka pushed herself away from the other slightly older winger.  "She's Teresa, mayor of Greenhill by night, substitute teacher of Greenhill by day!"

    "You're joking, right?"  Neigha grabbed Rinka again.  "I'm sure she's one of those Temple of the Silver Moon people that I've been watching.  It was a good thing that I tracked their last Greenhill 'shipment' of kids to this area, or else you'd probably be being beaten by that whip of hers and forced to do whatever they make those kids do by now."

    "Um, excuse me."  Paineal tapped her on the shoulder.

    Neigha quickly flipped away from Paineal and glared at him.  "What!?"

    Paineal smiled.  "I'd just like to thank you for contributing to my teeth collection."

    "Huh?  What are you talk..."  Before she could even finish her sentence, Neigha recieved a nasty whip slash across her face.  Before she even had a chance to feel any pain from that, she found herself grabbed by Lucia's whip then being slammed to the ground.  And before she even hit the grass on the ground, a huge beam of fire blasted directly onto her, resulting in a huge explosion.

    "IT'S A HEADPIECE, YOU GOD DAMN BIRD!"  Lucia screamed as Rinka freed herself from Neigha again and ran over to her.

    Paineal glanced around.  "Didn't knock out any teeth?  Drat."

    "I'm pissed."  Lucia remarked.

    "I'm hurt."  Neigha muttered.

    "I'm dissappointed."  Paineal sighed.

    "I'm on fire."  Rinka commented.

    Neigha flipped back onto her feet and spun her spear around.  "Jerks!  I won't be caught of guard next time!"  She quickly ran away, jumped high into the air, then flew off.

    "Wow, a winger that doesn't need a high perch to fly."  Paineal stared at the winger flying away in the distance.  "I never knew they could do that."

    "Yea, well, Neigha's wierd."  Rinka looked at the flames that were consuming her.  "Anyone have any water?"

    "No."  Lucia looked at her map again.  "We'll get some at Muse.  It would appear that we will be going there after all.  That stupid bird mentioned the Temple of the Silver Moon, and a shipment of kids from Greenhill.  I have some unfinished business with them."

    "Great."  Rinka sighed.  "Good thing I keep a fire emblem equipped for cases when my microwave rune backfires."

    "Can't we just let Hauser take care of it?"  Paineal asked.  "Oh wait, I forgot.  You said it's not his job to deal with kidnappers."

    "No, in this case Hauser's just an incompetent idiot."  Lucia put the map away.  "Terrorists are another issue from kidnappers entirely."

    General Hauser must be losing his touch.  Letting that silly little temple of samurai running rampant through Muse like that.  Course, he couldn't even keep Karaya from infiltrating Muse without the help of a traitor.  And the people of Jowston think he's a great general?  Psh!

    The walls of Muse surrounded the entire city, and created a formidable barrier to wall-up the city from the outside world.  It was similar to the walls of Greenhill, which was logical seeing as to how Greenhill used to be nothing more but an academy of Muse.  As expected, the city of Muse also had adopted the same closed door policy as its now independent Academy, Greenhill.  Hiding away from the outside world hoping that it could ignore the turmoil happening in the countryside around it.  To Lucia's dismay, she found that the outside world included the other city-states.

    "What do you mean that I can't enter?"  Lucia shoved her pass in front of the gate guard's face.  "I'm a Greenhill official!"

    "I don't care if you were Teresa, herself!  No unauthorized entry!"

    "Don't you get it?"  Rinka chimed in.  "That IS Teresa, herself!"

    The gate guard wasn't amused.  "Even if she were, we can not risk any security leaks into the capital."

    "Found it!"  Paineal held up a card, then handed it to the soldier.  "There ya go.  My law student pass.  Now, if you mind, I have a project to complete.  And of course I need my supervisor and my... ah... long-lost twice removed half-winger cousin to go with me."

    The guard frowned before finally moving aside as the gate opened.

    "Law student?"  Lucia watched as Paineal handed the guard his pass.

    "It's Veeshara's other major.  You got her secondary, philosophy."  Paineal replied.

    "Philosophy major?"  Lucia paused for a moment.  "What the hell do philosophy law majors do?"

    "Um..."  Paineal stuttered.  "Draw cartoons?"

    "....."

    Behind its walls, the capital of the city-states was protected.  To make sure this security wasn't compromised, they had effectively shut themselves off from the rest of their country.  Was Greenhill annoyed with this?  Did Two River even know?  Did the other city-states even care?  The answer was probably 'no.'  If Matilda can do something as much as imprison an officer of Greenhill for no reason other than that officer was annoying, then obviously the city-states needed some work on the lesson of unity.  What difference would it make to Matilda if Muse were to fall to Highland?  Well, Gorudo did come to Muse's aid quickly enough when Karaya attacked eleven years ago, but Karaya and Matilda have been at war since before Lucia was even born.  It would be interesting to see how Matilda assists the rest of the city-states against an enemy that it has no reason to care about.

    Lucia glanced around the city-hall building as several employees scurried around.  In their hands were stacks of paperwork, in their conversations were talks of politics, and in their eyes there was only deception.

    "Lawyers!"  Paineal beeped.

    "Vampires?"  Rinka asked.

    "Rats..."  Lucia muttered, before being handed a button by a politician who happily chimed, "Vote for me!"

    A voting system.  That was funny.  Anabelle's family had been mayors of Muse for much longer than Teresa's, even.  There was no true electoral system.  There was no wonderful republic where the common people got what they wanted.  It was just all an illusion, concocted by the rats of the city-hall to keep themselves in power.

    Or at least that was the impression Lucia got from Veeshara's history and law books.  Any idiot who wasn't so disillusioned by notions of city-state unity could see the farce behind Jowston's democracy.  Greenhill hadn't had a real election in years, Mayor Granmeyer has ruled over South Window for almost his entire life, two-thirds of Two River had absolutely no say in who their mayor would be despite their supposed "parliament," the people of Tinto were too rugged to care about politics, and Matilda wasn't even a republic.  Or, even a government that was CALLED a republic.  She had to give the devourer of worlds credit for not bothering to disguise his domain as a democracy.

    Hmm... that was the job of the politician, wasn't it?  To make the citizens think that they were the ones in control.  To look good in front of the people.  To appear that they do everything for the people, by the people, and from the people.  When in reality, all they were doing was making sure that no other rats could steal their cheese.

    And of course none of the generic ignorant morons knew anything about the Temple of the Silver Moon.  After seeing another moronic idiot stare in confusion at her question, Lucia realized that she'd have to ask one of the higher-ups.  Unfortunately, the clerk didn't know, the vice-secretary had no clue as to what Lucia was talking about, and the actual secretary wasn't much help either.  The main information broker was too busy being blackmailed in some dark corner of the building by some Faleena guy with two talking knives to give Lucia any information (which was once again a testamount to Hauser's wonderful security methods), and she came to a dead end when she couldn't find the assistant secretary clerk of the vice-assistant-mayor chancellor type-person or whatever the hell "Maddy's" position was.  Only rumours that she skipped town, as did the man she worked for, which would be the vice-mayor chancellor politician guy.... Lucia figured that she'd just refer to him as Scuzz Rat for short, since that was the impression that she got of him after breaking into his office and finding that... he wasn't there.  Or more specifically, he hadn't been there for some time.

    "His name's Jess."  Paineal remarked as Lucia brushed some cob-webs off the file cabinet..  "And the second half of his name is Stanton."

    "They call it a last name.  You need to get your foreign customs right."  Lucia slid the junk papers back into the cabinet, then locked it up again using a hairpin.  "Hmm... I wonder what our scuzzy friend is planning, anyway..."

    "Who cares?"  The ignorant boy tried to read one of the files before quickly putting it away to prevent his head from exploding.  "How do you understand these things, anyway?  I thought we were only looking for information on those Harmonian Samurai."

    After checking around to make sure no one was watching, Lucia and Paineal exitted the room, then Lucia shut the door and relocked it.  "We were.  But I find it odd that I couldn't find any original documents on Jowston's current situation regarding their war with Highland.  Someones' been stealing information..."

    "It's odd?  We generally don't keep many documents, either, with a few exceptions."  Paineal glanced at his law student ID card.  "Oh... well, I guess it is odd for Jowston.  Veeshara told me that Greenhill has an entire vault with the sole purpose of storing these things."

    Paperwork was overkill.  One didn't need a billion sentences to describe how Joe Bob's pet pig belonged to him, or Scuzz Stanton's cheese was rightfully his property.  Details were what lawyers craved, so they could scrutinize them to their needs and bend them when it suited their purpose.  Stacks of files were produced by accountants to feign that they were actually working.  And report card records were simply nice ways of saying "You failed, moron" or "Good job.  Now for your hard work you get to be rewarded by having us write the letter 'A' in this space instead of the letter 'E'."

    Really, all she needed was a needle and some bolts of cloth then Lucia could probably take all of the documents and files in the cabinets of Muse combined and fit the gist of what they said into one quilt.  Bah.

    Lucia sighed as she began to search through the files which were more available to the public.  "Well, I suppose we're done here.  I'm dissappointed that we didn't find either Wakaba or Connell, but in the end it probably won't make any difference seeing as to how Gorudo's even less obligated to Greenhill than I thought he was.  It's too bad that we couldn't find Biochis, though.  I would have loved to wring his neck..."

    "I'm sure Lord Biochis has a good reason for doing whatever he's doing.  Maybe he had orders from the council or something.  He left me behind to keep you company, didn't he?"

    And she was getting really tired of her officers playing sick jokes on her.

    "Don't you understand, Paineal?  He puts our entire mission at jeapordy."

    "How so?"

    Lucia was about to answer him when she instinctively noticed that someone started observing them.

    "Can I help you, m'aam?"

    "Oh!"  Lucia quickly turned around, feigning surprise at the big dark tank-stick of a man, for lack of a better description.  "I was merely helping a budding Greenhill Academy student here do some research on the wonderful system of cheese... er, politics that Muse incorporates."

    There no emotion in the man's eyes, save for the experience of a veteran.  His blue military uniform easily gave his identity away.  Although Lucia probably didn't need to know about it to realize that she was speaking to General Hauser, himself, at the moment, mainly because he seemed to be the only man with that dark of a skin-tone in the entire Jowston area.  Besides herself and any other Karayans, of course.

    Wait... that wasn't good.

    Veeshara and Camus could get away with not being known because they held sheltered lives away from the hot sun of the Grasslands, but neither Lucia nor Paineal did.  Of course, seeing as to how no one else in Jowston besides Boris recognized her anyway, it probably wasn't too big of a deal.  It could just be taken for a really really nice tan.  Besides, a soldier like Hauser wouldn't go around asking someone about their skin-tone anyway.

    That and she could always counter by asking Hauser what the hell an important commander of the Muse army was doing bothering to talk to a random lady like her in the middle of a Highland war.

    What the hell Tinto was doing cooped up in their mountain range.

    Why the hell Granmeyer was thinking wasting all his resources to chase after a now insignificant sixteen-year old boy.

    How the hell Two River is supposed to get anything accomplished when it's too busy fighting with itself.

    What the hell Teresa was doing sneaking around outside of Greenhill when she obviously had more important matters to attend to.

    And who the hell Gorudo thought he was to have the ability to throw random Jowston officials in prison.

    Lucia found herself holding a stack of books that Hauser helped her pick-out when she was done with her train of thought.  "Well, it's not Crystal Valley but I suppose these will do."

    Hauser did some sort of wierd salute bowing motion.  "Lady Tereace, pardon my asking, but what relevance does renegade groups have to do with the study and pursuit of law?"

    Lucia scowled as she thought to herself, "What right do you have to bother me, you stupid moron..."  Instead, she had to resort to more diplomatic matters as Hauser escorted her and Paineal out of the building.  "We're exploring the psychology of the fugitive mindset.  That is why our student here has a philosophy professor such as myself accompanying him."

    "Eh?  I don't remember philosophy having that much to do with psychology..."  Paineal muttered before Lucia stomped his foot.

    Lucia ignored him as he struggled to keep from screaming in pain.  "I am sure that the esteemed General Hauser knows much more about lawless cults and groups in Jowston than simple books could contain."

    "I am not at liberty to divulge that information, Lady Tereace."  Hauser's reply lacked any emotion whatsoever.

    "Surely just a generalization, then?"  Lucia asked, unwilling to give up even though she was quite a long distance from city-hall.  "Or else we'll have to rely on rumour and heresay.  Hardly a fitting source of information..."

    "The security forces are doing their best to handle the situation of interior-threats to the state such as the supposed Temple of the Silver Moon, Highland Hawks, and trespassing Karayan Unit.  Unfortunately, they have all managed to elude us and thus these matters will take time to resolve."

    Oh please.  Biochis might have been an able-enough war veteran.  And he was skilled at manipulating troops and taking opportunities as they arised without hesitation, but...

    "For the honor of the Karayans!"

    He was about as stealthy as an elephant.

    Lucia listened to the clangs of metal and stared at the mass of runic lightning bolts and flying weaponry criss-crossing around as several Karayan and Muse soldiers fought each other.  She sighed and put her hand to her forehead as Hauser drew his sword.  "If you will pardon me, Lady Tereace, I have matters to attend to."

    "Hmm... think we finally found Lord Biochis?"  Paineal asked as he and Lucia watched Hauser usher several soldiers to the Muse Jail, where the battle with several Karayan soldiers was already taking place.  Paineal's eyes lit up as he saw one of the Karayan warriors use his lightning rune to generate an electric whip.  "Oooooo, I really like that lightning-whip attachment. Yeouch!  That's gotta hurt."

    Lucia twitched.  "Is... he... INSANE?  He's starting an attack right here in broad daylight!"

    "Well, a long time ago in the twenty-third invasion by the City-State, he DID stage a suicidal attack on Muse..."

    She already remembered that, since she was there, but this was still ridiculous.  Lucia realized that whatever Biochis must have had a strong reason for being in Jowston to do something as stupid as this.  "He must be desperate again.  What the hell could he be planning, now..."

    At least it made for a good fireworks display watching all those fire and lightning runes go off.  Although Lucia didn't recall Biochis' unit being equipped with magical runes.  He definitely didn't have the money or connections to buy them from the city-state.  And the people of the Grasslands didn't use magic very often either, with the exception of the Chisya tribe.  Hmm...

    Three... four... five casualties before the Karayans fighting in the distance either got what they wanted or gave up and retreated.  Not bad for a suicide mission.  Hauser must be losing his touch, to let them escape so easily.  Karaya certainly wasn't able to escape eleven years ago...

    "Teresa!!!!!!!!!!"  Rinka crashed in front of Lucia then hopped to her feet.  "Did you see that?!  Wasn't it cool?"

    "Perhaps."  Lucia answered as she, Paineal, and Rinka inconspicuously walked away from the scene of the battlefield.  "Rinka, you wouldn't happen to have seen whom those people were after, did you?"

    "....."  Rinka's cheery demeanor quickly soured.  "It's stupid."

    Lucia raised an eyebrow.  "Oh?"

    The winger girl frowned.  "I was watching.  There were a couple Highland soldiers near the jail, then those wierd people attacked, then those Highlanders screamed something about political sanctuary."

    Political sanctuary?  Maybe they were leftovers from Jilia's now-broken peace-treaty with Anabelle.  If that's the case, they sure took their time to get back home, didn't they?

    "It sucks!"  Rinka yelled, catching the attention of several people around her.  "Those were Highland guys!  It's bad enough that when those volunteer kobolds and humans left to start a volunteer mercenary fort to protect the border against Highland, all of the wingers chickened out, but now the Muse vampire people are actually PROTECTING those Highlanders!"

    A volunteer mercenary fort?  Yea, like that'll last against Ruka's Highland juggernaut.  Considering that Jowston built no previous fortifications at that border area before, leaving the small towns there to keel over and just DIE, the darn thing at most probably had walls made hastily out of wood for crying out loud.

    Lucia sighed.  "The willingness of Jowston to bend over to Highland continues to astound me."

    Several people began muttering to each other.

    "But Teresa, you have like a really really high position in Greenhill.  You'd do something about Highland, right?" Rinka pleaded.

    A smile slowly crossed Lucia's face.  Allow Ruka to have Greenhill?  Of course not!  Greenhill would be hers!  Whether or not Greenhill were to be burned down and the people of the city slaughtered, it would be her decision to make.  "Greenhill will not fall to Highland.  I am making sure that ample forces will be there to protect it from those psychos.  Ruka's wave of destruction will stop at Greenhill."

    Rinka blinked.  "Mayor Teresa's starting a true force dedicated to opposing Highland?"

    "Heh, yea.  Highland will be no match for us."  Paineal bragged, forgetting that he was talking about Karaya's forces and not Greenhill's.

    By now, Lucia noticed that several people were listening to her intently.  Annoyed, Lucia addressed the crowd.  "Pathetic, isn't it?  Here I am preparing Greenhill for Highland's invasion while your military general spends time protecting Highlanders instead of tracking down child kidnappers like the Temple of the Silver Moon, your scuzzy chamberlain skips town abandoning you for greener pastures, and your mayor makes peace treaties only to have them be broken in less than a few months!  Elect better people next time!  Now stop staring at me, damn worthless slackers!"

    The grumbling crowd quickly dispersed.  Stupid moronic idiots.  Now back to business.  "Rinka, before I waste time tracking down those 'wierd people,' you wouldn't happen to have seen where they went, did you?"

    Rinka smiled.  "Oooooo, recruiting them since they know who the real enemy is?  Well, of course I know where they went!"

    "Head straight for your objective and do not be distracted."

    A dark alley filled with rats and assorted trash, in what was otherwise a clean city filled with rats and assorted trash of another form.

    "Never lower your guard or you are allowing the enemy in."

    He had long cut dark hair, which contrasted with his light-colored tanned-hide pants and light brown-tanned hide jacket and hat, signifying the uniform of the most elite Karayans of the tribe.

    "Do not get too caught up in the diversion to the point where it becomes the main objective."

    He slowly advised the commander as the rest of the war-worn veterans watched.

    "Do you understand what went wrong, now?  Next time, do not waste time attacking the men in front.  Pay attention when confronting her.  Do not waste so much time fighting the guards.  The primary objective is above all else."

    "And about shouting, 'For the honor of the Karayans?'"  The commander asked of the leader.

    "Huh?  The shout?  Oh, that's all right.  You're free to do your little acts that increase your morale so long as it does not endanger the mission."

    Lucia cursed.  "Shouting that you are one of Jowston's many enemies in broad daylight doesn't endanger the mission?"

    "Dunno."  Paineal remarked.  "Maybe I should ask.  Lord Biochis!!!  I have a question!"

    "A question?  I thought I was clear on the subject, Paineal."  Biochis answered.  He paused for a moment before squinting his eyes and looking at the dark corner where Paineal was sitting.  "Wait... what are you doing here?  Didn't I leave you back with Lady Lucia to complete your training as an assassin?"

    Lucia whispered under her breath, "Even my stealth abilities wouldn't balance out your crazy kamikaze tactics, you moron..."

    "I'm practicing my infiltration tactics."  The young man answered his superior.  "I already made it this deep into Jowston without a hitch... er, generally speaking."

    Hardly something to be proud of considering that Biochis managed to get his entire freaking unit this deep in whereas Lucia had to cut hers off just to be safe.  She elbowed Paineal, deciding it was time to finally make her presence known.

    "Ack!"  Paineal coughed.  "Oh yea, um... I guess I should mention that I still am with Lady Lucia."

    "What are you talking about?"

    "As in, here with her now."

    "???"

    "As in, she's here with ME now."

    "Wait... you mean..."

    "Yea, she's HERE now."

    Lucia walked up from behind Biochis and yanked him to face her.  "Commander Biochis, and I use that term loosely now, what the HELL are you doing?"

    "L... Lucia!"  Biochis backed up nervously.  "What on earth are you doing here?"

    "I asked you the question first..."  Lucia slowly replied as her eyes narrowed.  "Pray tell, Lord Biochis, why have you decided to infiltrate Jowston without telling me and taken along your men without my authorization?"

    Lucia stared for a few moments to watch Biochis nervously squirm, but it surprisingly only took him a few seconds to regain his composure.  He straightened up his cylinder cap before coughing.  "As it is, Lucia, I am on a mission by... the council... to catch a certain... fugitive from the Grasslands."

    "And which members of the council gave you this authorization?"

    "Er... just Leila."

    Lucia stopped her angry look to blink for a moment.  "Leila?  That's not enough!  That's just one member!  Well, perhaps three since she also represents two other tribes besides Chisya, but still..."

    "Actually, thanks to recent political maneuvering and unification by Chisya marriages, she also represents the tribes of Mientos, Freish, and Makera."  Biochis cooly replied with a grin.  "So that's six groups.  Enough for me to get emergency authorization even without your support.

    What the hell!?  Leila managed to get even more support for Chisya?  Dammit!  Biochis might have survived test one, but she wasn't through with him yet.  "And why the hell do you have to use MY men?  It might be your personal unit but they are still members of the Karaya, alone!  This is the type of task for the Free Knights of Camaro to handle."

    "The Knights of Camaro are currently unable to afford to expend any resources for this mission.  They have been having a rather large... werewolf problem."  Biochis answered after some thought.  "As thus, emergency procedures allows me to act without your approval for the better of the Grasslands, and thus my personal unit had to be used."

    "....."  They still didn't take out that stupid wolf that's been causing havoc for three years?  Well, there was still the third question.  "Well now, obviously this matter is important enough for much of the council to worry about... or at least one of its most prominent members, yet not important enough for the Knights of Camaro to dedicate resources away from their current situations.  So explain to me, Biochis, why it is so important that you will pit your small force against the entire army of Muse in a crazy suicide mission just to catch a simple fugitive?"

    Biochis paused and thought for a moment, but couldn't think of an answer.  Of course, Lucia realized by now that he was lying to her about something anyway, but she couldn't figure out what.

    After a rather long period of silence, Lucia finally spoke up.  "That's it.  I'm taking you back to the Grasslands."

    "What?  Wait!"  Biochis tried to quickly figure out a response to Lucia's question.  "The fugitive in question is of extreme political importance to Chisya!"

    "Chisya?"  Lucia grinned.  "I thought you were working on authority of the Grasslands council, and not Chisya alone."

    "Well, ah... I..."

    "Tell me her name."  Lucia interrupted.

    "Damn.  Well, you might not remember her.  Do you recall a person named Eilie?"  Biochis complied, probably realizing that he made a mistake and there would be no back-peddaling.

    The name didn't strike a bell.  "No, I do not."

    "Hmm..."  Biochis thought for a moment.  "Well, I'm sure you remember Rina, then.  She's..."

    "So it's Rina, is it?  I've heard enough.  Leila still wants her back?  Bah!"  Lucia motioned to Paineal.  "Paineal, BIOCHIS, we're leaving."

    "Wait!"  Biochis yelled.  "That's not..."

    "I SAID WE ARE LEAVING!"  Lucia exploded back, causing several of the Karayans to stumble backwards.  "You can leave some men behind to continue your pursuit, but I have other plans."

    The war veteran sighed.  "Your Greenhill plan was perfectly fine!  Stupid and pointless and something only that moron Shaleem would think of, but foolproof nonetheless.  Please don't tell me that you personally sneaked into Jowston just to check up on the status of everything.  That's even more insane than what I'm doing."

    Lucia blinked and had to do some thinking of her own before answering.  "Well....... of course that's not what I'm doing!  Right now I'm... er... investigating... a certain Harmonian samurai cult as pay back for invading the Grasslands."

    "Eh?  You mean the Temple of the Silver Moon?"  Biochis and all his men gave each other quick glances before he turned to Lucia again.  "Um... you're only paying them back now for their conflict with Shaleem?"

    "What?"  Lucia recalled how the Temple of the Silver Moon only left for the Grasslands a short time after she passed the Tinto region.  "How the hell do you know about the Temple of the Silver Moon's battle with Shaleem?"

    "Obviously!  I'm surprised you knew, myself, since that was nearly seventeen years ago and we... hmm... how did you find out, anyway?"

    There was another awkward moment of silence as Lucia slooooooowly raised her eyebrow.  "Wha.....t  the hell?"

    "Well, anyway, but if you really want to pay them back, my scouts discovered one of their outposts nearby."  Biochis coughed.  "It's pretty suicidal to go there, though..."

    "Ha, just as long as you keep quiet, then you'll probably survive."  Lucia smirked.  "But I know I'll be fine.  You might want to take along some of your men in case you need them to save your sorry ass, though."

    "Great..."  Biochis muttered.  "You know, sometimes you get too caught up in your ideals of vengeance.  Your father had that problem."

    "Just shut up before I decide to relieve you of your command anyway for pissing me off."  Lucia muttered.

    Biochis, who was slightly too tall for Lucia to drag him by the ear, simply opted to cooperate and follow Lucia as she left.  He stopped for a brief moment to talk to one of his commanders.

    "Stick with the mission.  I trust there will be no mistakes from you anymore."  He whispered.  "I'll be taking some men with me, but you'll be left with the majority of the force."

    The commander nodded.  "So... we head straight for the target, always be prepared, and shout 'For the Honor of the Karayans' all the time, right?"

    Biochis returned the nod before Lucia finally got impatient and cracked her whip in the air, prompting Biochis to quickly catch up to her.

    "So, what do you think?"  Paineal asked as Lucia examined a ruined Harmonian samurai helmet left lying on the floor.  "I personally don't like hanging around the city-states.  I'm not used to it.  I just hope we get this over with so we can get back to the Grasslands, finally."

    "It'll all burn down soon enough.  Sadly, I'm not sure if even Jowston deserves what Highland will probably do to them but looking at their current situation, the fact that even their internal security is completely dead, how they can't seem to unite behind anything, and how they all are simply just morons, it can't be prevented."  Lucia remarked as she glanced at the dead corpse of a samurai in front of her.  "Hmm... whoever was here before us certainly wasn't playing around..."

    Biochis didn't say anything.  He simply continued to stare ahead into the forest that he was leading everyone through.  His men grumbled among themselves about general musings, being somewhat annoyed at getting sidetracked from their previous mission.  Not that they really had any real reason to be angry.  If the men that Biochis left behind to continue their pursuit were any bit competant, they should be successful, anyway.

    One of Biochis' men whispered something to him, upon which he nodded then said to Lucia, "This particular division of the Temple should be right ahead in that direction."

    Right as he finished his comment, a huge explosion in the distance rocked the earth, sending everyone stumbling as the ground shook beneath them.  After regaining her balance, Lucia looked confusedly at the flames in the distance.

    "Er..."  Paineal finally spoke up after everyone had been staring at the large forest fire in the distance.  "Is the Temple of the Silver Moon's headquarters supposed to burst into flames like that?  Should we go see if that Wakaba food holding girl survived?"

    "Nevermind!  This is just getting stupid."  Lucia motioned to the boy.  "Paineal, go find Rinka so we can return her home to her lousy city.  This tour is over!"

    "Being cooped up in the city-states finally causing you to crack?"  Biochis mocked.

    "Just shut-up!"  Lucia muttered.  "I still have a good ass-whipping to give you when we get back."

    Biochis simply rolled his eyes, knowing full well that Lucia's threats to him were always empty.  Not that it mattered.  Jowston was doomed anyway, so even Biochis couldn't sour Lucia's good mood.  And yes, that sadly WAS her good mood.  So Jowston managed to utilize the fact that temples of the Silver Moon could spontaneously combust.  That still wouldn't save them.  Tinto was too tired, South Window was too incompetant, Two River was killing itself, Greenhill would be Karaya's, Gorudo was actually counterproductive, and Muse was basically a combination of all the flaws of the other five.  With the exception of falling to Karaya, of course.  It would be nice but Lucia didn't really care for Muse that much.