Xeno Casino

By : Tsubasa Caligrapher

Chapter 2

DIsclaimer : I don't own Xenosaga ... yet.

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" What a way to start my new part-time. Oh well, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. " and as the shrouded figure creeped onboard, Shion waited 2 minutes before she followed.

She still kept the enemy in her sight as she stalked behind through the winding corridors.

" God, how the hell am I going to work here ? " she whined quietly to herself. Snake Charmer started to slow down and that relieved her but made her a bit more worried.

' Dang it ! I'm getting tired already, whew. But does that mean that he or she, or whatever is about to release the machines ? Oh god ! ' the culprit suddenly turned back to check around but she was able to duck behind a corner.

Then the Charmer seemed to shrug and went on to an elevator and walked in.

" Oh damn. " and she walked over to the elevator door. She was thinking about whetheror not to push the elevator button next to it. But before she could react to the sound of metal clanging from above, she already sensed someone behind her.

" You little bitch ! I knew someone was following me ! " Shion tried to move but realized that there was a switchblade pressed against her neck.

" Damn. "

" What was that you little wench ? Speak louder ! " the woman yelled ( Shion realized it was a female's voice ) as she pulled back Shion's hair. She started to press the knife into Shion's throat which started to bled and make Shion nervous.

" Just shut up already ! " and Shion stepped on her opponent's foot which gave her a little room to swing her head back and knock the lady a couple of steps back.

Shion took this chance and ducked under the knife and tumble rolled forward and then handspringed into safety.

" I'm going to take you out you little- " but Shion just jabbed her palm into her face. Shion was in her fighting stance now. Legs apart and bent, arms bent and raised.

The Charmer wiped off the blood that appeared at the corner of her mouth. ( She pulled off the mask that she was wearing ) She slashed left to right and left and center while Shion moved side to side and dodged all of the swift attacks.

Shion leaped back, spun, and kicked the blade out of her hands. She got really angry and started attacking with her fists. Shion couldn't dodge anymore and had to block them with her arms.

Then she threw a kick and Shion moved to the side but not in time and it grazed her side. She gripped her side in pain and started to slowly walk backwards.

The Charmer smirked and kicked Shion straight in the stomach and sent her towards a long screw, sticking out of the wall. Shion looked behind her and saw it.

She moved to the side so she missed the screw but it stuck through her sweater and she was stuck ! Shion frantically tried to unhook her sweater but she was really in there !

The Charmer slowly walked over and picked up the knife. She stared at it and then at Shion, smirking. She slowly walked over, obviously trying to scare Shion, and it was working.

As she leaned closer, Shion leaned further back until her back touched the wall. She now had no where left to run now. The Charmer was only 3 feet away now, and Shion closed her eyes, knowing that she had no escape.

She could hear the approaching sisters and just waited until ... BANG ! BANG ! BANG ! BANG ! Shion opened her eyes and saw the Charmer dansing around wildly, trying to avoid the bullets that were striking the floor.

Shion looked to where the shots were fired and saw ... a little red-headed boy ? He was aiming the guns at the floor, on purpose, it seems he didn't want any blood shed today.

" Mary, go arrest our culprit. Shelly, go report to Gaignun . "

" Yes Little Mastah. " said a blond with a texan accent.

" Yes sir. " said a beautiful lady with violet hair. Shion was just staring in awe at how well the young boy was handling the situation.

Ten or eleven maybe ? Twelve at most. '

After seeing that the Charmer was taken into custody by the girl named Mary, it seemed that he finally noticed little old Shion stuck to the wall.

" Oh ! Hey there ! Who are you ? " he went over to where Shion's sweater was stuck and in one swift movement, he was able to un-hook it and gingerly took her hand and pulled her up.

" Well ... uh ... thanks...Who are you ? " she said back, with the same accusing tone.

" Oh ! Well, I guess you can call me Jr. ! But let's leave it at that for now. And you ? " just then she remembered where she was supposed to be.

She rushed off, but not before yelling out, " Shion ! That's my name ! Come swing by the Moby Dick Cafe later ok ? " and she rushed around blindly, trying to look for where she's supposed to be.

She searched around some more and finally found the restaurant area. Shion ran around the spherical room, but all she saw was only fancy restaurants and cuisines and buffets and all that good stuff.

" O...K... " and she went a little further, into a darker spot. In the shadow, she could make out a room with the Moby Dick Cafe sign hanging above it.

" Mr. Johnsen ! " Shion could hear crashing around in the darkness and then a figure emerged, covered in dust.

" Oh ! Hello Shion ! "

" So ! What happened here ? " she asked questioningly.

" Oh, um, this ! " he pointed to the dark spot. She nodded and he went inside and pressed a switch beside the door.

" Oh my god ! " now that the light was on, she saw that it was horrible ! There were boxes and dirty silverware everywhere ! She even saw a horribly disgusting patch of mold in one of the corners.

" Well, I see that this place needs a lot of work. And I think I liked it better in the dark... " Shion walked in beside him and switched off the light.

" Hmm, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then ? " Mr Johnsen asked.

" Yeah. Maybe. " and she left him to clean up his restaurant. After 5 minutes, he could see her rushing back.

" Aagghhh ! My consciounce won't let me let you work here all by yourself. So, I came back. "

" Why thank you Shion. And you don't really have to do this you know. Even with your help, this is still a lot of work. It might take even weeks before it starts to compare to the other spots here. "

" Yeah, I see your point. " they all were in thought when Shion suddenly had an idea.

" Give me 30 minutes and I'll be back with some help ok ? "

" Sure, do whatever you want. "

" Thanks ! " and she rushed outa there. Shion was able to find her way this time and quickly ran past Jr. - who watched her amusingly - and out of the Durandal.

She quickly ran back to park because she knew that Miyuki and Allen were working on a project there. Shion herself was supposed to help but it was easy enough, just something for art class. And Miyuki and Allen knew she got a job so they let her off the hook.

She ran around the center fountain, looking for her friends. Then the sun shined brightly and lit up the fountain with a rainbow of colors and she stopped and realized the beauty of the park.

Something caught her eye in the water and as she approached, she felt something strange from it. But before she could actually clearly see what it was, she heard someone calling her.

" Chief ? " she turned around and behind her was Allen and Miyuki.

" What are you doing here ? "

" Yeah Shion ? Aren't you supposed to be at your new job ? "

" Well yeah, I need your guy's help for something. " they exchanged glances at eachother nervously but they decided to anyway when she looked at them skeptically. They owe her one.

For some strange apparent reason, Miyuki and Allen are always paired with Shion and everytime something hard comes up, it's up to her to do all the manuel labor while the others just watch in amazement.

As they left the park, a cloaked figure came and fished something out of the water, a golden cross.

Shion started running back to the ship and her friends followed suit, forgetting all about their assignment.

" Don't you think Shion looks nice ? " he whispered to Miyuki while Shion was still far ahead.

" Why don't you just hurry up and ask her out already ? " she yelled in a hushed tone.

" Well, you know as well as I do that she only thinks of me as her friend. " he said, still with a blush from Miyuki's comment. They neared the dock and were wondering where Shion was leading them.

They stopped and stared in awe when the Durandal appeared.

" Come on you guys ! Hurry up ! " and they realized that she really did get a job on the legendary cruise ship and they hurried onboard, though carefully, as if they could break it at any moment.

Shion went through the winding halls and Allen and Miyuki had to sprint now to even keep her in site. Finally they rounded off and went past all the nice spots into a dark hallway. They collapsed next to eachother, panting.

" I ... told ... you ... we ... should ... have ... taken ... those ... martial ... arts ... classes ... together ... with ... Shion ! " Miyuki said, all out of breath.

" Shut ... up ... Miyuki .. " he responded, also out of breath. When they finally regained their energy, they saw Shion talking to someone.

" So, uh, Chief, what did you want with us ? "

" This. " she motioned towards the messy cafe and Mr. Johsen turned on the light. They gaped in shock but Shion dismissed this and threw them a cloth and an apron.

They looked at them questioningly so Shion had to show them. She sighed and grabbed a cloth. Shion folded it and wrapped it around her head and lifted the flap above her hair.

She then put on the apron and tied it around her waist. She looked at them and they knew they had to do some work. They copied Shion's actions and put on their cloths and aprons.

She smiled and gave them their equipment, Miyuki a bucket of soapy water and a sponge, Allen a cloth, and a dister, and herself a mop and a broom. She gave everyone a pair of plastic gloves and off to work they went.

After an hour or so, it was already 5 o' clock and they were almost done.

" Allen, come over here and help me. " Allen came over with a dustpan and Shion sweeped the rest of the dust into it, and they were done !

" Hey you guys ! Great job ! This place looks ... ok. " he put away the last of the dishes he was cleaning up. They looked around and saw that yeah, it was much cleaner but it was just really plain afterall.

" Well, yeah. But we can come by tomorrow ! " said Shion, looking hopefully at her friends who looked at her back sadly.

" Sorry, I have to go somewhere. "

" Yeah Chief, me too. Sorry, I have plans that day too. " Shion sadly sighed and made a sorry face towards Mr. Johnsen who understood and nodded.

" It's ok, I have a solution for this problem. "

" Really ? Great ! Ok, see you tomorrow ! " and she shooed her friends out and followed. Mr. Johnsen waved them off and then went to his telephone.

" ( Ring ), ( Ring ), ( Ring ), Hello ? "

" Hey, is that you Ziggy ? "

" Johnsen ? Don't ever call that. So, what makes you call my dear friend ? "

" Well, I kind of have to ask for a favor. "

" Hmm, I see. So, what could it be ? "

" I just need some help fixing a place up, that's all. "

" Really. I guess I can help with that. I'll be around by 8:00. "

" Great ! "

" But I have one condition. "

" Sure ! What is it ? "

" Don't ever call me Ziggy again. " , " Ziggy ? That's so cute ! " yelled a small voice in the background.

" Who is that ? Don't tell me... YOU GOT A KID ! Why didn't you tell me ? "

" She's not my kid. I'll tell you about her later. " and he hung up.

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Hey ! Another chapter done ! So, please review and I'll update soon !