"This stupid bar should have closed by now..." a young man irritably looked down at his pocket watch, slamming it shut before stuffing it in his pocket again. Carrying his jacket over his shoulder, he approached the entrance of the bar and swung the door open. Most of it was empty, except a red haired man leaning over a table trying to flirt with a girl while holding a half full bottle of wine in one hand.

"And as I was saying little lady-" the man came over and took the bottle from the drunk and dumped it on the floor in frustration. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Marian," the man tried to control himself calmly, "its too late for stuff like this. We should have been gone already! The boat is already gone, which means our tickets were for nothing. Now, we have to trade someone for some train tickets!"

"Boy, there's no point in fighting when there's a pretty lady nearby," Marian smiled to the girl across from him, who returned the smile.

"WE ARE LATE." he said though his teeth.

"Late for what again?"

"In your drunk state you've forgotten the important business we must attend to?"

"Um, Cross," the girl said sweetly. "If there's something you must do, don't let me get in the way-" and she she started to get up, Marian grabbed her arm and replied,

"Don't mind my idiot apprentice over there, of course I can stay for a while longer!"

"That's it." Clenching a fist, the boy landed a blow to Marian's side and watched him fall to the ground in agony. "Have a nice day," he said to the woman as he carried the drunkard's body over his shoulder. The girl stared and said nothing. Opening the door once more, the man stomped outside and threw Marian on a bench that was wet from the rain.

"I told you to stop calling me that..." the man grumbled, sitting next to him. "an idiot apprentice,"

"Oh come on, Winston, lighten up," Marian leaned back and slumped down in his seat. "anything for the ladies,"

"As if- you know we have important stuff to get to." Remembering his friend's confusion before, Winston continued. " The Campbell Brothers are waiting for us."

"Ah! That's what we were doing...how did I end up here then?"

"You said you had to use the restroom, then ran straight into that bar. That was over three hours ago."

"THREE HOURS?!" Marian sat up and suddenly tugged on his friend as he put on his coat. "We've got to go now. We'll be lucky if nothing has happened to them yet,"

"Now you're talking, Cross. Let's get going- maybe we can sneak on one of the trains instead of paying for new tickets,"

...Flash forward...

Racing through a booth, the men made their way onto a busy ship and hid behind some cargo before the security could find them. Cross had a sneaky smirk on his face, while Winston glared at him and held a fist to threaten him. Keeping quiet, they waited until they started moving to go to the upper deck, where people crowed and talked to each other.

"This beats the train," Cross said, pulling out a cigarette. Smacking it overboard, Winston reminded him,

"You can't smoke on board, you idiot! You're gonna get us caught!"

"Excuse me, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't mind me having a good smoke." He pulled out another one and lit it, putting it in his mouth. Not even a minute later, a crew member came and nearly threw Marian overboard. Winston promised to keep an eye on Cross, who already fumbled in his pockets for another smoke.

"This is gonna be a long trip..." Winston thought to himself, elbowing Cross in the side as he walked by.

...Flash forward again...

"Pit stop!" Marian paraded across a busy street to a diner that was already crowded with people.

"Don't you think we should be avoiding crowds? We're trying to hide from the Black Order anyway," Winston mumbled next to him as they entered the building.

"Don't be such a bummer, Win. Even hideaways like us need to stop for a quick break!" Marian approached a stool and quickly ordered some wine. He winked at a young woman who took a shot next to him and was quick to start flirting again.

Outside, Winston leaned against the building and crossed his arms, knowing he'd be waiting for his friend to finish his drinking break. Slowly, it started to rain, and it picked up quickly. He was getting soaked, but he only stood there, his eyes closed as his mind wondered in thought. He thought of Neah and Mana. There was something that brought him to them that one day when they were only children. He and Neah were fast friends, and Mana became his best friend in due time. Cross came along when the times started to get difficult. After some time roaming together out in the country, they split up for answers- Cross kept Winston with him for unspoken reason.

"Much time has gone by, Cross. What will we be able to do when we're late for his greeting? He is making his return very soon- we've seen the clues. No one will be safe if we're not there to stop that 'special' greeting." Winston said under his breath, the heavy rain making it barely audible.