Author's notes: Hello everyone, it's been a while! A very...very long while. I haven't had time to write in a long while, I entered college which took up a major lot of my time. Summer break now though, so I'll have time to write.. (if anyone still reads this. ;P) The main reason I decided to update is because I got a fav on my story, and well, I figured I might as well continue writing now that I have time. :)

This chapter gives a little bit of information on Mizuki, and a bit of information about the young man she met in the previous chapter as well. So, enjoy. :D

Confusion

"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them."

The boat ride didn't take as long as it had seemed in the game, but Mizuki still got rather sick from having to get on the small ship. They had arrived at the place where, apparently, the supersoft was supposed to be.

"You must know that I am severely against this!" Steiner was jumping around so much that Mizuki was wondering how long it'd take before the nobles upstairs would wake up.

"Oi Rusty, calm down! You might wake up the nobles if you continue to jump like that!" Marcus sneered. Steiner's expression looked as if he could kill someone, and if glaring could do that, Marcus would've surely died at that moment.

"Alright, so how are we supposed to find the supersoft in this pile of boxes?" Steiner mumbled after a moment.

Marcus shrugged. "Just find it."

"Why you!" Steiner sneered in reply.

A noise from the stairs caught Mizuki's attention; it must've been one of the nobles that woke up from their yelling. She groaned. "Why must you two always fight with each other? Can't you just, like, shut up for a moment? We're here for a reason, remember?" rolling her eyes, she moved behind a barrel in the room. She wondered why there were any barrels in the room, anyway, although she thought it was because this room was just a storage place for the shop above them. Marcus and Steiner soon noticed what she was doing, and moved behind some crates as well. Dagger hid under a table.

~Melody~

A short man moved down the stairs and the first thing that Mizuki noticed were the small glasses that he was wearing. 'A scholar?' she thought. The man let out a sigh. "Oh, I can't believe I ran out of ink on a night like this. I must find more ink and go back to the observatory…"

Marcus looked at Mizuki for a moment. "Should I take care of him?" he whispered. Mizuki was about to nod when she heard Dagger's soft voice from under the table. "Wait…"

"Princess, no!" Steiner whispered, but Dagger moved away from the table and ran in front of the short man.

"Hmm?" the short man looked at Dagger in surprise. She remained quiet and awaited his response, when he suddenly jumped up. "You…you're!"

"I've missed you, Doctor Tot!" Dagger replied to him.

"P…princess! Princess Garnet!" the short man replied in surprise.

"Doctor Tot?" Steiner muttered, moving away from the crate he was behind as well. Marcus stared at him. "You know him?"

"Doctor Tot is the highly respected scholar who tutored the princess", Steiner answered.

"Ah, Master Steiner. You must be quiet, or you will wake the shopkeeper. But, princess, what on earth are you doing here?" Tot asked.

"It's a long story", Mizuki stated as she moved away from the barrels. "Sir…uh, Doctor Tot. We are currently looking for a supersoft."

"There is a proper reason for this! We are not here to steal, or commit any form of crime…" Steiner started, but Mizuki hissed a quick "Rusty!" at him and he stopped talking.

A new voice caught Mizuki's attention. "Is somebody down there?"

"Run along! I will give you the supersoft later. Go left from the Treno entrance, and continue until you find a large tower. The tower is my home, but I shall unlock it and await your arrival", Tot said. Mizuki and Dagger both nodded a quick 'thank you' at him, and then they left.

~Melody~

The tower was huge, and it was a lot bigger than Mizuki had expected. As Tot had already told them, the door to the tower was unlocked and they decided to go in.

When they moved to the top of the tower, Tot was already waiting for them.

"Princess! Thank you for coming. Welcome to my humble abode", he said, pushing his glasses back on his nose.

"This is your home?" Dagger asked.

"I traveled quite far in search of a sponsor for my research after I departed Alexandria. I finally found one here in Treno", Tot explained. "You have grown into a fine young woman. I am pleased to see you again."

"Tot! You look quite well!" Steiner mentioned.

"Ah, Master Steiner! Are you escorting the princess?" Tot asked.

"Yes, sir! I deeply regret my earlier actions!" Steiner replied.

"Still a straight arrow, aren't you? I'm sure you had your reasons, but I won't ask why", Tot said calmly. "The supersoft is in the box right there. Please take it."

"Don't mind if I do!" Marcus said and walked to the box. Mizuki let out a sigh as Steiner started yelling at him again. "Have you got no manners? Thank the good doctor!"

"It's quite alright.. master Steiner", Tot said.

Mizuki walked to the globe in the room. "So this is what Gaia actually looks like, huh?" she wondered out loud. She had never actually seen a globe this big, and especially not of a world she'd never been to before.

"Yes, miss…this is indeed a globe of our planet, Gaia", Tot said.

"I remember your lessons, Doctor Tot", Dagger said with a smile.

Tot chuckled. "You remember the ramblings of an old fool…"

"How long has it been? Eight years?" Dagger asked. Even though Mizuki was looking at the globe of Gaia, which was, apparently, broken at some places, she was still paying attention to the conversation.

"Time passes quickly. But I haven't changed. I continue to collect and research these items", Tot said calmly.

"Where did you find this globe?" Dagger asked him. He pushed his glasses back on his nose again. Mizuki chuckled at the question that popped into her mind; just how often a day did he do that?

"It's an antique. It's broken, as you can see, but I use it as an observatory deck. Ironic, isn't it? I look at the stars from inside a globe", Tot explained.

"It sure is.." Dagger muttered.

"I don't mean to meddle in your affairs, but… I am on your side, now and forever. Please tell me if there is anything I can do", Tot said to Dagger.

"Is there a way you can get us to Alexandria?" Mizuki asked. Even though she already knew about his secret passageway, she didn't want to show that she did. Before Tot could answer to this question, Dagger started explaining what had been going on.

"So the queen's forces have already grown quite powerful…Okay, then. It may be dangerous, but I will see that you will get to Alexandria", Tot said after listening to Dagger's story. "Perhaps you should all get some rest before you go, there could be monsters."

"Nothing we can't handle", Mizuki muttered. "We're running out of time, Doctor Tot. We must go to Alexandria as quickly as possible."

"Very well then", Doctor Tot said as he opened the passageway. "There is a gargant down here that can bring you to Alexandria."

"Thank you very much, Tot!" Dagger bowed slightly.

They went down to Gargant Roo, and Mizuki instantly raised an eyebrow as she did. "Oh, you weren't kidding when you said there are monsters down here…" she muttered in annoyance, instantly summoning her weapon. "Fire!" She grinned when she killed the monster in just a single blow.

"Just pull the lever and the gargant should be here soon, it will bring you all the way to Alexandria", Doctor Tot stated.

"Let us go then…" Mizuki said.

"Actually, miss Mizuki…I have a request to make", Tot started. "Please stay behind a little longer, it's important that I talk to you."

"Me?" Mizuki mused. "I suppose that's alright.."

"We will wait for your return, miss Mizuki", Steiner said, but Mizuki shook her head. "Oh no, please don't. Both the queen and Blank are waiting."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Marcus stated calmly. Mizuki smiled at them one last time before heading back with Tot.

~Melody~

"So what is it that you wanted to discuss with me?" Mizuki asked.

"That weapon you summoned earlier…I would like to see it again", Doctor Tot replied.

Mizuki raised an eyebrow. "My staff?" She summoned her weapon and Doctor Tot looked at it in surprise.

"So it is indeed the Twilight Bell. Where did a peasant like you get such a weapon?" At that moment, Mizuki noticed the change in his voice. "You're not Doctor Tot…who are you?" she snapped at him.

A swirl of dark lights appeared in front of her and the appearance of the fake Tot changed into that of the young man Mizuki had met earlier. She raised an eyebrow. "You? You're a shapeshifter? Where is the real Doctor Tot?"

"Don't worry, I just knocked him out. He'll come back here later without knowing we were here", the young man replied with a grin. "Don't misunderstand, peasant girl. I'm a demon, not a shapeshifter. I did, however, take a shapeshifter's power in the past."

"Okay, so why did you pretend to be Doctor Tot, then? What is the meaning behind showing Dagger and Steiner that passageway…and why didn't you let me go along with them?" Mizuki asked.

"Geez, you sure like asking questions, don't you?" he replied. "I was merely following orders…or helping out a friend, whatever you wish to call it." He grinned at her last question. "Because, miss Avanquilist, he's interested in you. I can't let you die there like the rest of them."

Mizuki rolled her eyes. "I am so confused…I can't take in so much stuff all at once!"

"Well, you're the one that asked so many questions", he retorted and she rolled her eyes. "Point taken…" she muttered. "Alright…one question at a time then. Who are you?"

"What makes you think I'll answer?" he said calmly.

"If you want that question bomb to end today, I'd answer", Mizuki answered with a grin.

He let out a sigh. "Eye for an eye. If I answer your questions, I want an answer to mine, too."

"Fine", Mizuki hissed.

"My name is Rikazu", he answered. "You're not from Gaia, are you?"

"Well, at least you're getting straight to the point…" Mizuki muttered. "No, I'm not from Gaia. How do you know?"

"Because the Avanquilist race doesn't exist on Gaia anymore", Rikazu said calmly. "And to answer your next question, because I know you're going to ask it…An Avanquilist is a mage who can master any type of magic, including summoning magic. They can combine a lot of different types of magic into one single spell. It's quite fascinating, really."

Mizuki blinked a few times, wondering if he was being serious or not. "Dude, isn't that just a regular red mage? I can only use black magic, and even that I can only use barely."

"No, you see…red mages have restrictions on how far they can go with their magic. An Avanquilist can master anything she wants. The people on Gaia thought they were dangerous and since the only Avanquilists lived in Madain Sari, they got destroyed along with the summoner tribe", Rikazu stated. "One of them fled to the Earth, along with her daughter."

"How do you know all this?" Mizuki asked, still as confused as ever. Her head was starting to pound and any answer she got from this man only raised more questions.

He grinned at her. "Now, now. I think I've answered enough questions. You're going to come with me know, I can't let him wait much longer, now can I?" He reached out his hand to grab her arm, but she backed away. 'I really don't want to find out who he was talking about…I have to either get to Alexandria or find out where Zidane and his group are right now…probably headed for Cleyra…I can't go with this demon guy, there's too much I still have to do…' she thought. She closed her eyes, waiting until he'd grab her arm and drag her along to whatever place he had in mind, but it didn't happen. Instead, she heard birds chirping softly and she opened her eyes, only to find out she was at a completely different place. It was light outside and on top of that, there was a sandstorm surrounding the area where she was at.

"You're kidding…I just teleported to Cleyra?" she muttered. "Great…now what?"

~Melody~

A/N: Well then, please review if you have time. :3 Reviews will make me want to write more because then I know people actually read the story. :)