When Sven and Eve came through the door, I was excited. I hadn't seen them in a few months and was glad to find them alive. Not that I'd ever assume them dead, they were just late this time.

When they brought company, I was confused. Syaoran, Fai, Kurogane, and Mokona were a mismatched group if ever there was one, but they seemed pretty close. I could tell they were all loyal, fierce, and hiding something. They were hiding something big and I wanted in on it.

After hearing that Echidna was taken, I started to think of who even knew she was a Taoist. It would have to have been an Apostle of the Stars. It was either the Doctor, or Deak Slathky. The Doctor's Tao was pretty weak so I guessed it was Deak. He had the power of ice; he could easily have captured her within it.

"It would have to have been Deak, don't you think? He knew about her power and had the means to capture her. Especially with her protecting Creed."

"That would be true, if I hadn't already checked. He's still in prison," Sven just had to shoot me down.

"Could it even be Doc-"

"It doesn't really matter who did it. We can find them if we know what Echidna looks like. Do you a picture or something?" Sven and I both looked at the peppy blonde like he was stupid, even though I had done the same thing only a few years ago. Everyone had a picture of her, she was a famous actress.

"Ok, now it's time for a full explanation. You never rode on a train before, you have no money, and now you don't know who Echidna is. She's famous. Where are you from?" Sven asked. I wondered why he hadn't asked them in the first place. Sure, they seemed trustworthy, but who could tell for sure?

Syaoran looked around before answering. The shop was closed for the night so no one else, besides Annette, was there, "W-well, we come from someplace very far away."

"Another dimension to be exact," Fai chipped in, elbows resting on the table with a cup of sake between his hands. Mr. Black, with equal drink, just shook his head.

"What? Are you nuts?" I said. There was no point in being polite, and it wasn't my strong suit anyway.

"Afraid not! We all came from different dimensions at the beginning of this journey with different wishes. Since then we've been traveling from world to world in search of the feathers. We can prove it to you as well, in multiple ways," the blonde gave Kurogane a cat like grin.

"Wait! No way in hell!" he shouted. Fai just laughed at him.

"Well I guess I have no choice then. Since Kuronpa," Fai poked his left shoulder, causing Kurogane to flinch, "won't show you, I guess I'll prove it. This world has no magic besides Tao, Correct?" Sven nodded, "Well, I do. Remember when I whistled and the boxes you were hiding behind fell? Or when the net fell in front of us? That was a type of magic I know, though not what I'm used to."

"Magic. That's your proof? That could be coincidence and bad luck," Sven wasn't believing any of this either.

"Oh, but there is no such thing as coincidence, only inevitability," he sounded like he was quoting someone much more serious than he, "Besides, how different is it from Tao anyway? Is it really so unbelievable?"

"Tao is a martial art. It has a rational explanation. Last time I checked, magic doesn't," Sven loved using logic. I went for a less tactful approach.

"Let me guess, vampires and werewolves exist too, right?" I gave a dull look.

"Hmph, never met a werewolf before," Kurogane mumbled.

"Oh, Kuro-puppy, you don't know that for sure. However, vampires are real. Though, they're different from most legends I've heard," Fai grinned sadistically. "Anyway, the question now is about magic. It has an explanation and a physical presence in most cases," he pulled his middle and index fingers together and held them straight. A small ball of light appeared at the end of them and he drew glowing symbols with it, "These are runes. They each have a different meaning to them, similar to a written language. The major difference is, when put together, they hold a magical force."

Eve looked a little scared of the three floating runes, and asked, "What kind of force?"

"It all depends on the combination. These," he waved his hand to where Kurogane was sitting, "are for Kuro-pippi's arm." They melded into his left arm and he visibly relaxed.

I was stunned, as was Princess and Sven. He had magic that wasn't Tao. I could feel the power of it, "If this is true, and not some light trick, then Echidna was captured because she opened worm holes."

Fai nodded his head, "It takes a great deal of power to cross dimensions. If I had to guess, the feather enhanced her ability and made it possible," his smile had faded and was replaced with a serious stare, "If I've guessed correctly, it's impossible for you to find her."

"Why can't we go with you?" Eve asked. She wanted to help in any way she could, but I had a feeling it wouldn't be that easy.

"Balance must be kept, so a price is paid in order to stabilize the dimensions. It's quite steep, though," Fai put on a somber look.

"We all had to pay a price for the ability to travel like this. I wouldn't ask you to give anything up," Syaoran's voice was overly caring.

"I want to help! It's my job to help those in need!" she argued.

"What do you value most? What's most precious to you? That's the price," Kurogane finally spoke.

Eve was thinking about the question. What did she find most important? Probably Sven. He was the one who rescued her, after all. What did I find most precious? It used to be Saya, but she was gone now. So, what could it be? I guess it would be my freedom. Could I give it up? I don't think so, not after all I went through to acquire it. "What exactly did you guys pay?" I asked.

The atmosphere took a drastic change. Fai looked down and wouldn't speak. "My price was time. Seven years to be exact," Syaoran was the first to answer.

"The damn witch took my sword!" Kurogane barked.

I looked at Fai and waited for an answer. When he looked up he wore a sad smile, "My price… is a long story meant for a different time."

"So you cared most about a sword, and you cared most about time?" Sven asked.

"It was a family heirloom," Kurogane mumbled.

"Sure. What's your reason?" Sven continued, looking at an uncomfortable Syaoran.

"In a way, Syaoran paid more than we did. Don't take his payment so lightly," for a change, Fai was almost glaring.

"So you're saying you can travel worlds, but we can't do a damn thing?" Sven was getting pretty worked up over this. To be honest, I was too. Whether we had fought in the past or not didn't matter, Echidna was from this world and should be saved by us. We're sweepers, our job is taking out the trash. Whoever had the guts to kidnap her is definitely class A trash!

"Of course you can travel with them."

A projection of a young boy appeared out of the white thing's jewel. The boy had black hair, one blue eye, and one brown, "Who else is going to show up?"

"Don't be so rude! I'm the one who can grant your wish." This got me to look up, "You want to travel through worlds because you feel it's your responsibility to get the woman back. I can make that happen."

"How exactly can you do that?"

"Simple, you pay the correct price and you can travel with them," he motioned to the trio.

"Tch, just like the witch," the boy looked royally pissed off at that comment.

Before he could go off on Kurogane, Syaoran stepped in, "Kimihiro, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Syaoran," he smiled, "It's not my call. It's his," he turned back to me, "What's your choice, Mr. Heartnet?"

-`-,

Train looked suspiciously at Kimihiro and said he would think about the offer.

For the night, we shared a room in the sweeper's hideout. Mokona was already asleep in my arms. "What do you make of this?" Fai asked me.

I had no idea how to answer. I may have been the newest addition, but I had been watching through my clone's eye the whole time. It seemed like an easy transition for all of us. Except Sakura, of course, but she already knew that I was searching for someone else at that point, "Honestly, I don't mind it. Then we'll have someone who knows the woman. He might even know the guy who did it. If nothing else, he'll give us an extra hand in battle."

"Right, and we're just supposed to trust him? I don't think so," the ninja commented.

"You trusted me," Fai pointed out, "Besides, he doesn't seem like the lying type. I don't think he has it in him to lie about something serious." His judgment seemed to stop Kurogane from arguing his point.

Suddenly, Kurogane looked agitated again. At the same time, Fai put on a knowing face and glanced to the door. "Would you have said the same thing if he weren't standing right outside the door!"

The door opened to reveal none other than Train Heartnet. He looked a bit more relaxed than before, but still had a determined face. I couldn't tell what he decided, but he had thought hard about it.

"Mind if I use Mokona?" he asked.

"Of course not," Fai said with a smile. "However, we need to wake him first."

I woke him and he jumped up onto the dresser. "Okey dokey! Watanuki!"

"Oh, that was fast. So you've chosen?"

Train looked dead serious, "Say I wanted to go, what's my price?"

"Same as theirs, your most precious possession. In your case," he pointed, "It would be your freedom."

He cursed, "How would you take it away?"

"It can be done a number of ways. It all depends on your choices."

Train thought hard for several minutes. "I can't do that," he finally answered. "I can't just throw it all away. I'll help you while you're here. I can take you to the house where Echidna lived, but I won't go with you."

All Kimihiro did was nod and fade away. Something didn't sit right with me. The way he just disappeared without a word, he had never done that before. He knew something we didn't, something we would probably never know.

We were all silent for a moment as tension filled the room. Fai was the one to break it, "Well, to begin with, Mokona? Can you sense any feathers here?" We had nothing else to do but get straight to business.

"Hmm," Mokona concentrated before answering, "Yep! It's close too!"

I turned to Train, "We can't leave until we find it."

He nodded, "Well, if that's the case then we should start early tomorrow. This is a huge city and easy to get lost in. Plus, I have to catch a criminal for a friend. I won't be able to stay with you all day."

"That's more than enough," I told him, "We just need a good start, then Mokona will lead us to it." With a final nod, he left us to sleep.

-`-,

A few hours later, Fai strode down the stairs. He was perfectly silent and looked far more serious than before. "May I speak with you?"

"Whatcha need?" I asked. I was only awake to clean my gun. Sven and Princess had just gone to bed.

"Earlier today, when we first met Sven and Eve, she said something that troubled me. I was wondering if you could tell me what she meant."

"Maybe, but why don't you just ask her?"

"Were you paying attention?" he said in a teasing tone, "I doubt she would explain it to me. Eve already has no trust in me." He sighed, "Anyway, she said 'He isn't human.' Care to elaborate?"

I could understand Eve's fear of him. The way he moved reminded me of a deadly assassin ready to attack. It reminded me of my old self, "Eve's… special. My guess is she reacted to your magic, and felt you were different than a normal human. I can tell from experience that it felt nothing like Tao, or anything else on this world."

He looked up, slightly relieved, "That child can sense magics?"

I shook my head, "Not really. You saw her change her hand, right? She has nanomachines in her. My best guess is they reacted weirdly to your magic and that's the only conclusion she could come up with.

"Eve… she's been through much, hasn't she? Even though she's so young."

"Hmph, not as young as Syaoran, and I can only imagine what the three of you have seen."

Fai chuckled, "I suppose you're right."

We stayed silent for a moment before Fai spoke up again, "Now that that's cleared up, may I lend you a hand? I won't be much help but you know what they say, two heads are better than one."

"You should probably sleep. Like I said, this is a huge city. Traveling it won't be easy," I suggested. He didn't look tired, but he was also good at hiding.

"I don't need much sleep," he assured with a wry grin. "This is a projectile weapon," he said examining Hades, "How does it work?"

"It uses explosives to shoot a metal bullet like this one," I explained, holding one of Sven's burst bullets. "This chamber holds six bullets at a time. After they're fired you have to reload like this," I pulled out the chamber and loaded it. Snapping it back in, I looked at Fai, "Wanna try it?"

"Not really. Weapons aren't exactly my thing. I bet Kuro-chi would want to, though," he replied. "May I see it?"

I hesitated for a moment. Giving a perfect stranger an orichalcum gun freshly cleaned and loaded with newly made burst bullets… well I've had worse ideas. I handed Hades over, "Gun rule number one: don't point it at anyone you don't wanna shoot." He cradled it in his hands as he inspected it, "Did your home have guns?"

"No, the closest I had was a cross-bow. It wasn't has technologically advance as this world."

"Past tense? Did you give up your home?"

"Do you really want to know my price that bad?" he showed a mischievous smile.

"Is it really that big of a secret?" I matched it.

He laughed at my question, "If I were to ask why you murdered so many, would it be easy to answer?"

I shifted a bit, "It's that obvious to you?"

Fai nodded, "I've known many killers in my time… There is always something in their eyes, and I won't ignore it. My price… has a long story behind it. Without that, it seems more than meaningless, but I gave up a phoenix tattoo that spanned my back."

"I don't suppose that tattoo was an heirloom?" we both laughed this time.

"Not at all! It actually means nothing to me now, things changed while we were traveling," he passed Hades back to me.

"How long were you traveling together?"

He thought for some time about this question. "Well, it depends on who you ask. Kuro-papa and I were traveling for a little under two years, Syaoran was technically with us for six months less. He'd tell you less than a year, though. That's just how he is."

"Why would he lie? He definitely doesn't look the type."

"You ask difficult questions. He's not technically lying, he's just," he sighed, "not giving himself credit? How would you put it?" he turned to look behind him. Kurogane was leaning against the wall at the base of the stairs. I had no clue when he got there.

He shrugged, "I'd say he's being an idiot as always."

Fai laughed, "Now that's just mean, but I won't deny it. He can be foolish about it."

"Yeah, except that answers nothing I've asked. What happened to make him say that?"

"It's not for us to tell, ask him later," Kurogane said. They really didn't want to open up. I guess it was understandable, considering how I refused to travel with them.

"We should all get some sleep now. No point in wearing ourselves out, right Kuro-rin?" Kurogane motioned upstairs and started in that direction. "Good night, Train." Fai followed.

"G'night," I answered. Well, that got me nowhere.