Author's Note: Hey, everyone! Sorry that it's taken me a while to update. My work schedule really got in the way of when I could and could not write. It's going to be the same for a while now too, but at least I was able to get this chapter written. As always, I ask you to read and give me critical reviews.

Think I've heard your voice before.
Think I've said these words before.
Something makes me feel,
I just might lose my mind.
Am I still inside my dream?
Is this a new reality?
Something makes me feel that I have lost my mind.
All my hopes and expectation,
looking for an explanation,
Coming to the realization,
that I can't see for sure—

"Dream of Mirrors"—Iron Maiden

Darkness and Light

Chapter XI

For the rest of the evening, Johnny struggled to go back to sleep. He tossed and turned, but nothing would work. Ultimately, when Johnny thought he was tired enough for sleep, Anastasia entered the room, and added a stick of wood for the fire.

Turning to Johnny, she noticed that his eyes were open. "So, you're awake?"

Johnny raised his hand flat, and waved it back and forth. "More or less."

Anastasia chuckled. "Is there anything in particular that you'd like for breakfast?"

"…No, not really."

"That's good, because I'm not much of a cook."

Johnny chuckled.

"I wouldn't take that as a joke, Johnny," Kurando said, entering the master room.

"Kurando?!" Anastasia said.

Kurando laughed. "Oh, come now, Anastasia. You know how much I love you, but cooking just isn't one of your strengths."

"Hmph!" Anastasia said, while she turned away and crossed her arms. "I'll have you know that when Nicky was a baby, he always asked me to cook him grilled cheese."

Kurando laughed. "Yes, yes, I know. And come now, with that face!" Kurando placed his arms around Anastasia's waist, and began to dance with her.

At first, Anastasia's expression was changeless, but then she started to laugh. She kissed Kurando and said, "It's all because of all those years I spent as a grand duchess."

"Of course," Kurando said with a smile. "But you know, Alexei spent all those years as a grand duke, and he's actually quite a good cook…"

"Damn it, Kurando!"

Kurando laughed, and placed his hands on Anastasia's arms. "But you do cook some very good bread."

Anastasia smiled. "Yes, but it takes me a while."

"I'll tell you what. We do have some fresh eggs. Let me cook them."

While Kurando was certainly no gourmet, he had learned through his mother how to cook for himself.

"I'm just curious," Johnny began, as he stood next to Kurando—watching him cook. "Is Anastasia really all that bad of a cook?"

Kurando chuckled. "That she is. She's a great wife and mother, but cooking has never been one of her strengths." Kurando smiled, and looked at the ceiling. "But, I must confess, she was right about Nicky enjoying her grilled cheese, when he was a baby. I can still remember him pulling on her clothes and asking for grilled cheese. And Anastasia does make some good bread, like I said earlier."

"So do you usually do most of the cooking then?"

"Not really. Usually my mother does, and occasionally we visit the local tavern. By the way, Johnny, how do you like your eggs?"

"Scrambled."

Kurando nodded. "All right. No problem. I'll have them fixed in a little while. Why don't you walk around the house some? It'll be a good way to kill time."

Following Kurando's advice, Johnny made his way around the Inugami home. Most of the house he had seen already, except for the upstairs. The upstairs contained mostly the family bedrooms. Johnny could tell which rooms belonged to the children, due to the size of their beds. Akiko's was obvious. It was the nursery. However, he was unable to tell which room was Nicky's and which room was Yuri's. But regardless of which room was which, Johnny did notice similar features in all the rooms. Above each bed was a Byzantium crucifix, and to the left and right of the crucifix were icons—one of Christ and one of Mary.

Further down the hallway, Johnny came across the room that he could tell was the master bedroom—due to the larger bed. One of the first features Johnny noticed in the master bedroom was a night stand on one side of the bed that held a statue of the Buddha. Johnny assumed that this was Kurando's side of the bed. The other side of the bed, along the wall, was adorned with icons. Obviously this was Anastasia's side. Johnny could tell the icons of Christ, the Virgin, St. Peter, and St. Paul, but the other saints, he could not identify. Also on the wall were a large portrait of Tsar Nicholas II, and a smaller portrait of Empress Alexandra. Near the portraits of the tsar and tsarina were photographs of three small children. The children were, of course, Nicky, Yuri, and Akiko. Akiko's photograph was recent, but the pictures of Nicky and Yuri were taken quite a few years ago—when they were toddlers. For Johnny, the photograph that stood out the most for him was of Nicky pictured with a white wolf. At the base of the photograph was written, probably in Anastasia's handwriting: Nicky, age 2, with Blanca. In the photograph, the two-year-old Nicky, dressed in a sailor suit, rode Blanca just as though he was riding a horse.

"This must have been the white wolf that Jeanne told me about earlier. Considering that he looks pretty old in that photograph, I doubt that he's still alive."

"Master," Lenny called from the stairs, "the food's ready. Come and get some!"

"All right, I'm coming!" But as Johnny left the master bedroom and returned the hallway, he stopped at the top of the stairs. "Lenny?"

Returning to the base of the stairs, Lenny replied, "Yes, sir?"

"Could you come here a sec? I want to ask you something."

"All right," Lenny said, before he ascended the stairs. Meeting Johnny at the top of the stairs, he said, "Yes, sir?"

"There's something I want to show you. Please follow me."

Johnny directed Lenny to the master bedroom and to the photograph of Nicky and Blanca. Gesturing to the photograph, Johnny asked, "Is this that same white wolf that you told me about in Domremy?"

Looking closely at the photograph, Lenny concluded, "Yes, it is."

Johnny nodded. "I just wondered. Jeanne told me about seeing the white wolf in Japan, but I wondered if it was the same wolf."

"I seriously doubt that wolf's alive anymore. All of this took place almost fifteen years ago, and I doubt wolves live that long."

"Probably not." And turning to the hallway, Johnny added, "Well, I suppose that we should have some breakfast, before it gets too cold."

Anastasia and Kurando created some extra space at the dinner table for their guests. But it was not necessary. Nicky and Yuri Inugami inhaled their breakfast, left the dinner table, and began to put on their coats.

"I want you boys back inside in a few minutes," Anastasia said. "We're going to have Orthros soon."

"Orthros?" said Johnny.

"It's morning prayers."

"Ah, you mean Matins."

Anastasia chuckled. "Yes, that's how some people in the West call them. I can certainly tell that you're not Orthodox."

"No, I'm Episcopalian."

"What?"

"Anglican."

"Ah! The Church of England."

Johnny nodded. "Yes."

"That's the faith of my English relatives."

"Oh, you have many relatives in England?"

"Certainly, my great-grandmother was Queen Victoria."

"Oh," Johnny said, coming across as a person who was not very scholarly. "Well, that makes perfect sense."

"Kurando, Grand Duchess Anastasia," Lenny began—trying to turn the attention away from his not so scholarly master, "I want to thank you for your hospitality. And I especially want to extend my thanks to the grand duchess, because we were enemies the last time we met."

"That's all in the past, Lenny," Anastasia said.

"Lenny," Kurando began, "are you going to see Yuri soon?"

"Yes. We're going to stop in Domremy, before we go on to Wales."

"Yuri. Jeanne," Johnny said.

"Good," Kurando said. "Can you do me a favor?"

"A favor?"

Kurando nodded. "I have something to give him." Removing a letter from inside his kimono, Kurando said, "Will you please give him this?"

Taking the letter, Lenny replied, "Certainly."

"Thank you."

The journey from Japan to Domremy would be at least fifteen hours, and by the time the party touched French soil it would be nightfall. To kill time, Lenny tried to start up a conversation with Johnny and Roger about any particular subject. But for Johnny, all he wanted to do was sleep. Yet he could not sleep. His dream, or nightmare, from last night remained on his mind. So Johnny just sat in his seat, occasionally looking at a window to stare at the sky.

"You sure are quiet, Master," Lenny said, as he took a seat next to him. "Are you thinking about where we have to go?"

Johnny shook his head. "I'm thinking about how I'd like to sleep, yet I can't."

"Why? Didn't you get enough sleep last night?"

Again, Johnny shook his head. "No, I didn't."

"How come?"

"Well…as silly as this sounds, I had a dream last night that I simply couldn't get out of my mind."

"Dream?"

"Actually it was more like a nightmare."

"What was in this nightmare?"

"I was in St. Jehanne's in Domremy, and I was with Jeanne. And then Shania appeared. She snapped at me for abandoning her, and running off with Jeanne."

"And did something bring this dream, or rather, this nightmare on?"

"Huh?"

"You ever heard of Dr. Freud's theory on dreams?"

Looking at the floor, Johnny said, "Dr. Freud?" And returning to Lenny, he added, "No, I guess not."

"Freud said that dreams are caused either by what we're guilty of or what we want." Lenny briefly looked at the ceiling before he continued. "I don't know if it's true or not, but it is something to think about." Returning his focus to Johnny, he added, "Did anything happen to bring this dream on?"

Folding his arms over his knees, Johnny replied, "Well, there are times that I have felt that I'm betraying Shania."

"How so?"

"Well, you know that a month ago I would have called Shania my girlfriend…"

"Even though she never technically was, right?"

"Right. I guess…I guess I've just felt that I haven't been honest with the whole situation."

"You've been honest with me."

Johnny nodded. "Yeah."

"Have you been honest with Jeanne?"

Johnny looked at the floor, before he returned to Lenny. "Maybe not as honest as I could be."

"And do you think that's your problem?"

Returning his gaze to the floor, Johnny said, "I don't know."

"You like Jeanne a lot, don't you?"

Turning back to Lenny, Johnny replied—short and to the point—"Yes."

"Then tell her how you feel, and tell her why. You need to do this, Master."

"Why?"

"Because where we're going in Wales, you can't have anything distract you. We're practically going to enter Hell itself, and you don't need any regrets on your mind to distract you."