"Well, this is a surprise. When I wrote 'soon' in my letter, I didn't expect you to come right after the twins' departure."

I vaguely see a figure resembling an old count Dracula in front of me. I still can't think about anything other than Aki's abs! Kyaaaa~~~(Fanboy Moment, let me have them, damnit!)

Igor, impatient, nodded in towards me. In one swift motion, Theodore was at the back of me, grasping my shoulders. Slowly, I look around to see Theodore's smiling face. Not his normal one, either.

One promising pain.

Suddenly, he clamped his hands on both my shoulders and my eyes tear a bit from the sudden pain.

Wait…WOW THAT'S A RELAXING MASSAGE…

Theodore's really good at it! Oh god, the tension is leaving me..

Am I moaning?

Sure enough. Igor looks quite…amused. What's his hand doing now? He's tapping a finger hard against the table…what could that mean?

Theo's hands are gripping harder now! Shit! I wiggle free from his grasp, holding my shoulders and shielding them from further kneading. Both Igor and Theodore are laughing. LAUGHING, Damnit!

"And now, to business," Igor said, snapping his fingers with a sense of finality. He motioned towards the table in front of him, where a leather bound contract now sat. My contract. I took it from the table, and looked at the signature at the bottom, my name for this year.

"I have something to bring to your attention, and that is the rule that my master has erected."

What? I need to live by rules here? Damn! But I guess that it was a really important one.

"So, are you ready to hear the rule?" Igor asked. Of course I was. I nodded, and he started to talk.

"You may not kill any humans. Not even Jin, Takaya or the chairman, although I myself really want to as well, but that was the rule given by my own master, so we must follow it."

I nodded. Although I was a bit disappointed, I had to follow that rule. I guess that if I didn't, there wouldn't be a story.

Igor continued, "Other than that, you can do anything you like."

I nodded. Anything I like, huh? There's just one thing left I have to ask him…

"Hey, Igor, do I have a persona?"

Igor smiled. "I was wondering when you would ask that, my dear guest"

Beside him, Theodore held out the compendium. I took it out of his hands…and immediately, I sank to the floor. What the fuck? Why is the book so heavy?

"How the hell do you carry this!?" I screamed at Theodore. He was smirking!

"Forgive me, I seem to have given you the velvet room assistants' version of the book."

He took the book off my hands, as if it was as light as a feather, and produced another compendium with a cruel smile on his face.

"This is your compendium, Master," Theodore said. "I never said that the last one was yours."

So Theodore's a smartass. huh? Interesting.

I take the book from him and flip through the pages. There's nothing here! I get to the last page and find…a single, empty card. The Universe?

"I believe you know this card as the Universe," Igor says….

CLIFFHANGER