"So Jade," Luke followed the colonel and the rest of the group as they disembarked at Kaitzur for a break while the ship loaded some more passengers. "why couldn't we just take the Albiore?"

"It seems Noelle is in Keterburg at the moment," Jade adjusted his glasses knowingly. "She'd be gone by the time a letter reached her."

"Oh," Luke glanced down at the concrete ground. "Why's she in Keterburg?"

"How should I know? It's none of my business," Jade's voice took on a mocking tone. "And gentlemen don't pry."

Luke decided to leave it at that; Jade was trying to tell him to shut up in his subtle way. He still wondered how Jade knew she would be in Keterburg by now anyway. Maybe it had something to do with his plan. Jade always had a plan, and he may have been carrying it out right under their noses and they wouldn't see it until he had Cantabile under lock and key, which he would soon, no doubt.

The group walked off to the side a bit before forming a circle and discussing their next move.

"What's the plan after getting to Chesedonia?" Tear asked Jade, as he was now leading the operation, though no one really noticed or minded, for that matter.

"We follow Cantabile," he said simply.

"I know we're following Cantabile,"

"Then why ask?" Jade shrugged indifferently.

"Colonel, would you please just tell us what it is you're up to?" Natalia tried her luck with the difficult colonel.

"Yeah! You told Luke something, and if he deserves to know, then we do, too!" Anise put her hands on her hips.

"What I told Luke had nothing to do with our current need to catch Cantabile," Jade gave them the minimal amount of information while still technically answering their questions.

"It's not like you to trust Luke with something before trusting the rest of us with it."

"Hey!"

"I'm surprised you caught that, Luke," Jade sneered joyfully. "But I'm glad Asch did."

"Okay, would you stop doing that?!" Luke folded his arms. "It's bad enough you never stop making fun of me, but do you have to mention Asch every time I say something?!"

"Every time you say something intelligent," Jade continued to keep Luke at the tip of the sword of his contempt.

"Yes, Colonel, please..." Natalia added, her hands held up to her chin daintily.

"Oh, look, it's time to get back on the ship. We'll have to carry our conversation inside, children," Jade began walking back to the ship, threatening to leave them behind.

"Seriously, where does that guy pull those kinds of lines from?" Guy reluctantly trailed behind the colonel with the rest of his companions.

"I don't think I want to know any more than I do about him, anyway," Luke shuddered.

"Yeah, he can be pretty creepy sometimes," Anise agreed with Luke. "but he can be fun sometimes, too."

"Only for you, it seems," Tear observed. "He likes to amuse you at our expense, doesn't he?"

"He's a valuable weapon," Anise bounced her eyebrows slyly at the others. "You know... 'Stay back! I've got the Colonel!'"

Luke, Tear, Guy, and Natalia recoiled slightly at her statement. Surely she was joking?...

"'Sic 'em, Colonel...'" Anise muttered to them. Surely, right? Anise could seem as demented as Jade sometimes. Maybe that was Jade's fault himself by making all but Anise keep at a distance. Luke resolved not to think about it anymore; he would prefer not to get between Jade and Anise, no matter how strange their companionship may be.


By the time Cantabile was given the one beautiful opportunity to get herself away from Astor and his tax issues, the ferries had stopped running and she was forced to find an inn for the night. She didn't bother asking whether any ships had gone out to Yulia City today; all that would be useful for is to keep in mind while she was getting her revenge on Astor. Though they had settled on a tax raise, it was only up by thirty percent, which was far too high, but Cantabile didn't really care how unpopular this would make Chesedonia as a marketplace. It was still too low in her opinion, or maybe for her purposes, and she would have greater revenge at another time. For now, Astor was not her main problem, so it could wait.

She booked a room at the Malkuth-side inn, wanting to escape the desert night as soon as she could. Like most deserts, Chesedonia's daily temperatures fluctuated wildly, ranging from a heat index of over one hundred ten on good days and about sixty degrees—just cold enough to bother her—during the night. How anyone could bear to live here was anyone's guess; she wouldn't stay here longer than two days for any amount of gald.

She acted out the usual practice of inquiring about room, paying for the night, taking the key, and finally locating her room on the second floor. There was absolutely nothing enjoyable about Chesedonia as far as she was concerned. Not only was the place suffocated with idiots, its place on the border line made it that much more popular for idiots of both nationalities to swarm. And there was nothing Cantabile hated more than dealing with idiots.

It's such a shame being the Fon Master was such a sociable job. It forced her all over the world, going to one meeting or another concerning legal issues, law, public social activity or something else on another equally boring topic, but at least she had power. Political power was nothing to discount; she was head of the Order of Lorelei, the religion that controlled the world. Maybe she could further her control by using something else, as well. Something like the masses of replicas wandering between the towns and cities or perhaps even a new Score, her own Score that she could persuade the people to follow. Oh well, those kind of things were not her place to think of now; but one thing was certain: she hated dealing with idiots almost as much as she hated Chesedonia. Maybe a even a little more.

The room she'd taken was one of the higher-quality ones; she could spend the Order's money however she pleased, and for now, she did everything she could to make her stay here a bit more bearable.

After a much-needed shower, she settled herself for bed, thinking of her past again. She thought about her current dilemma of getting to Yulia City. The Malkuthian army was looking for her at the least, but word hadn't made its way all the way here just yet, and the Oracle Knights may be after her as well. She cursed herself mentally, remembering what she'd done to worsen her situation...

"Anise Tatlin, correct?" the new Fon Master glanced up from the list of current positions within the Order that needed to be filled.

"Yep, that's me!" the far-too-cheery girl spoke casually to her boss.

"Please don't say things like that in the presence of your employer, little girl," Cantabile scowled. She was all ready sick of the kid, and they'd only been here a grand total of five and a half minutes.

"Fine. You're no fun,"

"My job is overseeing the Order, not entertaining little brats like you,"

"You!--"

"Okay, so you're definitely no longer a Fon Master Guardian, that's what I'm thinking," Cantabile ignored Anise and scanned the roster even further. "I'd go nuts if I had you following me everywhere. Nope, that won't do." She drew a line through Anise's name under the Fon Master Guardian section.

"Hey!" Anise whined.

"Oh, shut it," Cantabile blew her off. "It looks like nearly all the positions for God-Generals are empty. How's that?"

"Anything you say, Your Highness," Anise grumbled unhappily.

"God-General it is, then." Cantabile scribbled in Anise's name on the line for Commander of the First Division. "And you might get to be Adjutant Commandant of you ask real nice."

"I'm fine with the First Division," Anise turned to leave, and, when she was out of earshot, mumbled to herself. "As long as I'm not your Guardian, ya stupid prissy chick."

Well, that went relatively well, Cantabile thought. God-Generals rarely had to receive orders from Fon Masters; there was the Commandant, Tear, to give orders, not to mention the Grand Maestro between them as well. And since the Grand Maestro held Cantabile in high regards, it was easy to order him around.

She continued examining the list. Someone would have to become her Guardian. Who could she stand to have with her all the time?...

Ah, that's it. That helpless Florian kid. He didn't know Guardians were supposed to always accompany Fon Masters, much less anything else useful, and she'd keep it that way. Don't have to bother asking him, even. He'd do anything anyone told him to, and that was just the kind of person she needed. Let the little fool think he's useful. It's not like I care either way.

Yes, certainly she and Tear had soldiers ready and searching for her. Kimlascan soldiers were the only ones she could trust. If they didn't...

She shook her head. She hated dealing with idiots.


Cantabile either had godly luck or the planets were aligned or something, but there was a boat leaving for Yulia City that morning.

Words could not express her relief. She snatched the ticket from the vendor and thanked him vigorously, but he only gave a meek "you're welcome" in reply. Who was this mad woman, anyway?

Cantabile waited inside the inn until the ship was ready to depart (she didn't even try to stay outside that long). Then, just as instantly as it had happened, the cosmos shifted, and Dist hovered through the door. Cantabile refrained from groaning at the sight in hopes that he would pass her up and ask the receptionist about the whereabouts of a certain Fon Master, but alas, the damned idiot spotted her and floated over.

"Fon Master, just where have you been? I've been looking for you--"

Cantabile really didn't feel like communicating with Dist, even if that meant insulting him, so she just swept past him and out the door. Her ship was leaving; if he couldn't catch up it was his problem.

"Fon Master! Come back!" The pitiful man was left alone in the hotel. "Don't make me put you in my revenge journal again!"


"Chesedonia..." Luke glanced around the city.

"Luke, I thought I told you to stop stating the obvious," Jade walked past where Luke had halted his steady pace.

"You know what? I'm not even going to bother defending myself," Luke folded his arms, but followed the colonel anyway.

"I guess I'd be the bad guy if I mentioned Asch again, now wouldn't I?..." Jade muttered just loud enough for him to hear.

Luke gave him an aggravated sigh and pressed on, staying closer to Tear and Guy. Jade glanced after him and raised an eyebrow.

"Odd," he whispered to himself. "That didn't go very well..."

"So we're supposed to catch up to Cantabile here, huh?" Guy tried to start a conversation as they headed to the Kimlasca-side port. "What's she doing in Chesedonia?"

"She won't be here long," Jade said placidly. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if her ship was just leaving."

"Oh, come on, be serious for a change!"

"I'm always serious, mind you, but according to this schedule..."--he took one of the papers a guard was offering to the people who were just leaving the ship-- "that ship is headed to Yulia City."

"Don't tell me," Tear turned to Jade, her hand covering half her face in distress. "she was going to Yulia City, and you knew it, and you stalled us for whatever twisted reason you could think of?"

"I have a very good reason for forcing her to Yulia City," Jade nodded knowingly. "As I had a good reason for giving her the Key of Lorelei."

"Will you please tell us, Jade?" Natalia was growing tired of Jade's keeping secrets from them. "We're your friends. Can you not tell us?"

"I really don't feel like explaining, but I guess if I don't tell Natalia sooner or later she'll lose her temper in public," Jade shook his head, sighing. "I'll tell you when we get to the inn."


All six gathered in Jade's room at the inn. He reluctantly told them of his plan. Long explanations were so tiring for a man of his age.

"I've told Noelle to meet us at Yulia City. Cantabile will have nowhere to run if we close off the dock area."

"I see. That makes sense," Tear commented. Luke scowled; if he'd said that, Jade would have been on him in an instant.

"And," Jade continued, his grin growing ever wider. "I think you'll be quite pleased to see this." He dug through his personal traveling bag and pulled out a long package that was loosely wrapped in brown cloth. He unwound the cloth to reveal--

"The Key of Lorelei?!" they gasped.

"But I thought you said you gave Cantabile--"

"It was a replica," Jade's eyes reflected his glee at having them worry over nothing. "I made a replica of it while I was in Belkend with Luke. It was good enough to satisfy her, so off she runs with a false Key, never giving a further thought as to how I might have tricked her."

"Jade, I don't think anyone could ever realize you're tricking them until it's too late," Luke touched his weapon fondly, murmuring to himself. "Asch... I'm glad you're safe."

"But can Cantabile still summon Lorelei with a replica?" Natalia wondered out loud.

"No, she can't," Jade's expression suddenly grew gloomy. "but if she learns the Second Hymn, she can summon if she gets close to the sword. We'll have to get close if we are to kill her."

"Colonel! We're going to kill her?" Anise was astounded.

"And she doesn't know the Second Hymn..." Tear traced a gloved finger down her jawline. "She's going there to find books on it, isn't she?"

"Yes," Jade looked back up happily. "Making her think she had the Key, therefore forcing her to Yulia City, was the easiest way to trap her."

"Jade...I'm glad you're on our side," Guy confessed rather spontaneously. "You're already three steps ahead of Cantabile and she doesn't suspect a thing."

"See how good it is to be an old man? I'm so wise in my old age, I don't need the Score to tell me the future!"

The other five gave him strange looks of fear. You never could tell with Jade.


Luke had trouble sleeping that night. He rolled over and over in his bed, but he just couldn't get comfortable enough to induce sleep. After an hour or so, he gave up and decided to go for a walk around the city. He grabbed an extra coat; Chesedonia was wickedly cold at night, despite being a desert.

He walked slowly, not really sure where he was going, but was eventually drawn to the dock area, as that was where he usually went on midnight strolls. He thought about what Jade had told him about Asch. Could he really be brought back? Would he go back to being stupid old Luke? He didn't know what to make of that. It was a strange problem, if anything.

But he'd promised Jade he wouldn't do anything rash. If he screwed this up, Jade would never believe anything he said again. And that was not an exaggeration; the colonel had an extraordinary way of keeping records about everyone he knew carefully documented in his mind. Though he wouldn't dare even think of it with the colonel around, he enjoyed the thought that this was similar to Dist and his revenge journal.

And speak of the devil, if the bastard didn't just appear behind Luke.

Luke was caught off guard, as the eerie armchair and its owner made no noise as they hovered over to him. Luke reached for his weapon, but he had foolishly left it at the inn.

"What do you want?" Luke snarled aggressively at the scientist.

"I was just coming to contemplate how I was going to get my revenge on Cantabile," Dist grumbled.

"You didn't come here to fight me?" Luke relaxed and let the fonons he'd been preparing for a fonic arte disperse. "What are you doing, then?"

"I couldn't sleep," He droned. "It's horrible; I need my beauty sleep!"

"Oh, I'm sure," Luke laughed, no longer sensing any danger from the eccentric man.

"Don't make fun of me!"

"I didn't mean to," Luke gazed out across the see at the Ispanian Peninsula's blurry smudge on the horizon. "It's just odd that you're not plotting something."

"I'm not worried about you kids right now!" Dist pouted indignantly. "I'm searching for the Fon Master, but she'd gone off to Yulia City and the last tickets were bought out earlier for the next ferry."

"They were?!"

"Yes, I'm stranded here between a crazy wiggly man in a huge brown suit and one with atrocious facial hair," Dist turned to Luke, making sure he was still listening. "And not to mention you six."

"Oh, we mean you no harm, if just for now," Luke couldn't help a grin.

"I remember what you did to me on the ferry! Don't worry, you and Jade are in big trouble!"

"I'm terrified."

"You should be!" Dist hmmphed into his folded arms.

"Well, thanks for the information. I'll be heading back now," Luke stood from where he had been dangling his legs off the cement edge of the dock and brushed off his coat.

"Thanks?! I have no intention of help--" Dist ceased his rant when he noticed Luke was gone and the night air gave no response. "Another for the journal, that is..."


Luke had no more luck falling asleep than he did before his walk. His mind kept wandering over how he could possible revive Asch. He would have to sacrifice the Key of Lorelei, but that was nothing to have his friend back. As much as Asch had denied it, they were friends, whether he liked it or not.

Whether I like it or not, huh?

Oh, Asch. You heard all that?

Stupid dreck, of course I did.

You want to come back, don't you? Luke knew it wouldn't be long before Asch contacted him again; it had been almost every night since their return to Belkend he'd heard his voice again.

I guess so. For Natalia.

Not for me or anyone else, huh?

The connection had broken. Luke could no longer feel the glaring presence of Asch's consciousness in the back of his mind any more. Why couldn't he just accept him, give in, and be nice? Luke knew he could. He certainly seemed calmer around Natalia, if he also acted that mush nastier toward Luke at the same time. Maybe one day, if Jade's plan did work, he could be a bit nicer to him. Asch was just so difficult.

Jade could hear a rustling sound coming from the next bed over. Of course Luke couldn't sleep; it was all his fault for giving the boy such vague ideas so recklessly. He rolled over and Luke found himself eye to eye with the Necromancer.

"Luke, what did I tell you?"

"I'm sorry, Jade, I just..."

"It's all right," the impish colonel shifted his pillows around a bit. "I never said you couldn't think about it. Just remember not to do anything or tell anyone."

"I know... I just miss him so much..."

"You still hear him, don't you?" Jade was a veritable mind-reader.

"Yeah," Luke sighed, flipping on his back, his arms folded behind his head.

"But it doesn't hurt, does it? No headaches?"

"No," Luke paused, his eyes counting out every detail of the ceiling. "He misses Natalia."

"I'm sure he wants his body back, huh?" Jade whispered back to the redhead.

"I guess so."

"I may be able to help him," Jade rolled on his stomach, the pillows between his arms and chin. "Maybe this is the start of a long list of good things we can do with fomicry."

"You did say you were going to raise the status of replicas, didn't you?"

"I've had so many things to think about, it hasn't been top priority, but yes, I did."

"I hope you can, Jade. When things settle down, I'll stay in Grand Chokmah to help you."

"Coming out of your shell now, I see?"

"I have to make up for the two years I've been gone," he said resolutely. "I have to help you. Any way I can, I'll try to help."

"Excellent," Jade smiled a little too cheerfully.

"Um..." Luke just left him alone, his mind all ready at work imagining the horrible things Jade would inflict upon him, holding him to his promise...

"It won't hurt a bit, Luke, just close your eyes..."

"Jade...Jade?! What's that needle for!?"

"Would you rather take the medicine by mouth?"

"What is it?"

"Hmmm... I'm not quite sure. I accidentally mixed up some of the chemicals I had been using."

"J-Jade?!"

"Now, which one could this be?..."