CHAPTER ONE—

"You don't know why," Akio said, looking over at the doorway where Shii was sitting there, flicking her dead and bony tail. Akio reached in a drawer and pulled out her gloves, putting them on and going to the table. Faust was much taller than she was and the table in his lab was thusly bigger than she. She grabbed a stool and slid it next to the table with her foot before climbing up and looking down at the body before her.

Shii, meowing once, clacked across the floor- glowing with a slightly hazy light glowing around it's joints- and pounced up on the table.

"Actually," Akio said, looking at her. "I don't know why either."

The dead cat snapped it's jaws together before looking at the body and flicking it's tail slowly.

"This is no one…" she said, pulling a small scalpel from one of her pockets. "Just someone I found."

Shii turned her eye-less skull to look at Akio, Akio looked at her. "What? I'm telling you the truth, aren't I? I mean, you don't know who it is and you really don't need to know who it is—do you?"

"I do," Blaze, Akio's husband, said from the entrance to the lab. Blaze never came in the lab, nor did Akio think he liked the lab at all.

Akio looked up at him for a moment and watched his eyes darken slightly. "Why'd you get her?"

Shii hissed and stood up, small bones in her back arched as she swiped her paw through the air. Blaze looked at her darkly and Akio picked her up and stroked her. "Get whom? Shii? I've had shii since before I ever came out to Faust's lab."

Blaze glared silently before turning around- not going to press the subject more.

Akio ran to the stairway, remembering something. "Oh, Blaze, I'm due in Milan tomorrow—I may not be here when you get up."

"What? You're not going to bed again?"

Akio's attention had drifted over her shoulder at the table. "Depends on if this is any thing interesting—I never messed with my first one…"

He snorted and didn't look at her as he kept up the stairs. "First one?"

"Horo, he was the first thing I necromanced. It's a long story…It was…very sudden." She put Shii on her shoulder before bounding up the stairs after him. Shii hissed and clamped her claws into Akio's shoulder to keep from falling off. "So, I'm going to be in Milan for two days and then I'll come back."

"It's not like it matters- I never see you anyway…I never saw you when we lived in Australia either…you were always gone."

Akio paused mid-step and thought of something to say. "I was always busy," she stared back after him. "I was always with the family and you used to always be gone with your profession."

"I wasn't gone all the time."

"But you were gone a lot, I couldn't help the fact that the family wanted me to help them.."

"You could have said no."

"I don't often say no to people who need me to take care of them."

"And what if I need you to take care of me."

Akio stopped walking, hurt by the fact that she hadn't seen that, and went out to Faust's old room. She opened the window and climbed out of it, hanging her feet off the edge of the narrow German house and kicking her feet for awhile. She hadn't thought that Blaze was a dependant, though she knew he was, up until now.

She looked up at the sky- bright blue strewn with clouds as the sun glimmered brightly. She had had some of her happiest designs here in Germany- she had felt so full of love here as well…why had it all come crashing down today? She looked over as Shii scratched at the open door and came in, jumping up by her on the window. "Oh Shii…" She said, giving the small cat furiyoku ears and fur to cover her bones. "Warum beschlo ich, zu kommen sie?"

The cat tilted her head and meowed to her and Akio looked at the small roof below her. Barely a few feet away and thought about jumping off it.

She looked at the message she had left herself on the phone she had bought- she had decided she needed a phone. "Blaze? I'm on my way to Milan, get some sleep koi." She leaned back to grab her bag then leapt down onto the roof below her and then on the road, landing like a cat as Shii jumped- slipped and broke as she hit the ground. Akio collected her in a pocket and went down the road.

"Akio!-" someone called, she turned around to see Marik- she hadn't seen Marik in a long time.

"Hey—I'm on my way to the airport."

"Let me come with you?" he asked, catching up with her.

After a moment of thought Akio agreed, walking quickly down the streets to the airport. She grabbed some cover up out of her bag and put it under her eyes before smiling and climbing in the plane. "Alright, you can come with me."

"Thanks," Marik said, climbing in the plane and sitting by her.

They rode awhile until they reached the crowded city of Milan, Italy. Akio headed happily for her hotel, her hotel- the one she always went to when she came to the city. She got her key from the clerk and then went up to her room, Marik following. She threw her bag across the room as Marik sat on the couch, his new bed, and looked at her.

Akio dumped Shii out of her pocket and necromanced the cat—giving it two small furiyoku ears and letting her flick her tail before yawning.

"You need some sleep, Akio…" Marik pointed out from the couch. "You go to sleep- ok?"

She nodded slowly, smiling weakly before climbing on her bed and curling up. "Thank you, Marik."

"No problem…" He said as she went to sleep and Shii jumped up on the couch to curl up by him- he decided he'd need some sleep too and he closed his eyes to go to bed.

The phone went on vibrate the next day as Akio looked up at her reflection in the mirror and she fumbled in her pockets to find it, grabbing it out and reading the text message from Faust.

Akio

New project--help?

-Faust

She wrote back that she would before putting the phone in her purse. What did he need help with on his project?

"You going to wear something nice?" Akio asked from the closed door of the bathroom, as she got ready. "For my showing?"

"Are cargo pants ok?" Marik yelled through the door.

"Cargo's are fine I guess…" she said, putting on a business dress she had designed. She adjusted the sea-blue dress top and slung her bag over her shoulder, putting the last touches on her makeup. "Is it ok if I come out- you decent?"

"Yeah," He said- she came out and smiled. "You look nice, now, I have to get to the showing- let's go.."

She watched, pleased, as her showing went down the catwalk. She had been to showings before and each few months it was something very different- her style kept changing and changing and she loved it.

Akio looked over at Marik before she tapped him on the shoulder. "I'll be right back," she whispered- not wanting to cause a problem by leaving in the middle of the show.

"Alright," he said as she stood up and left the large auditorium of people.

She walked into the lobby and dialed back to Faust's phone. "Hello?"

"Faust? I got your message."

"Really?" he asked, sounding surprised at her.

"I'll help—what do you need?"

"You will—good. I need a body, a female human body."

Akio thought about all the people where she was. "I can do that."

"And bring it to the lab."

"Can do." She said brightly. "I'll bring you one."

"Thank you—goodbye." He said as the two hung up and Akio went back to take her seat again.

"You ok?" Marik asked as she sat down.

"Yeah, I just had to take a call."

"Hn, alright…"

They went back to watching the last few people in the showing- Akio paying special attention to some of the models she could use to help Faust—there were many and he hadn't specified the few things he wanted, just that he wanted a girl.

Akio had a good hunch that it would be for Eliza and decided to start picking out women who were close to her likeness that she had seen- spotting a model she knew rather loosely as one of her employees that she would see after the showing.

With a small cough Evadine collapsed in her chair. "Oi- she wants us to work for her and the woman doesn't even contribute to thes showing of these clothing!" She tossed her hand casually- her olive-bronze skin shimmery with the light. "You do not think that Aakio should be up'a there?"

A girl next to her who was being dressed shook her head. "Na, I don' think'a so—she does fine sitting there watching us."

"Evadine?" Akio said, looking at her from her perched spot on a chair behind the tall model.

Evadine turned around, her blonde-gold hair spilling on her skin. "Oh! Aakio- you caught me off guard!"

With a small smile Akio nodded. "Are you feeling any better- I'm surprised that you actually came to this showing—I thought you were sick?"

With a cought and a small pound on her collar she looked at her and smiled. "Oh…Oh yes—De docter says I shouldn't be here but I think that it is a good thing?"

"Hn, I'm glad you decided to come out—you did well with my clothing today—promoted a lot of dresses that I had designed special—thank you."

"Like'a murder—" she said with her thick Greek accent. "To be working like'a this! I should be home," with another cough- Akio didn't know if it was real or not- she stood up and looked down at her small promoter. "I thinks that I shall go home…if that is not a problem—do you need me for anything else?"

"Actually, I do, would you please come with me?"

Akio's stomach plummeted, feeing as if it was going to hit the floor as she led Evadine away from everyone, smiling pleasantly. "Do you really feel that sick, because, I shall let you go if you wish."

"Let me go as 'fire'?"

"No, as in, you don't need to work for me tonight."

"Oh, -- will I still be paid—I mean…for sickness?"

Akio nodded. "For sure you shall be paid something."

With a smile and another cough Evadine nodded. "I feel so sick, Aakio—Thank you."

"Then I shouldn't make you sicker." With a quick motion Akio sprung her move out- Shii springing lively from her pocket and attacking the model as Akio forced the cat to grow larger- mauling her. She turned away as Evadine screamed- her screams falling silent as Shii pushed her head against Akio's hand.

Akio scratched her skull and then shrunk the cat and turned around to see what it had done, she paled slightly and pulled out something to hide her in before making Shii and letting the cat pick it up and carry it.

"Alright, I'm ready…" Akio said as she met back up with Marik. "My showing is over- we can go home." She smiled and put her backpack onto Shii as well. "We can go back…"