I do not own Tales of Legendia. I do own some socks my grandpa left me in his will...but they smell like smoky beer. I also own...THIS HORRIDLY LATE CHAPTER! Four, NO FIVE, no, SIX weeks have gone by and then it just hit me after weeks of miserable school, family crapola, and two bloody periods, it hit me: Hey, don't I have an account on I do? Oh...'(()))(&monkey88))and the horse(&))))()(&Beetles&)))&((()(&()&( noodles()((&((!' So, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, SORRY! I am a like a blonde ditz, minus the attractiveness and blonde hair. And then it hit me again: Which one is my story? That crappy one there? Oh, (insert long string of multiple, crude, insulting to various people's momma's, and illegal in California, curse words). And I'm sure all forty or less of you will find out: I suffer from writingOsuckyohwhywritethiscrap? syndrome, no cure found so far. It's not writer's block...just a form of it. Big difference. ANYWAYS, all forty or less of you, if you have given up on me (which you probably did long ago) it's OK. I give up on myself too, mostly due to my second syndrome, where I can't talk and think at the same time. But alas, I dragged my lazy, non-blonde, non-attractive, booty up to my attic and sat myself down on my non-blonde, non-attractive, smells like rabbit pee, computer chair and decided to finish this non-blonde, non-attractive, also smells like rabbit pee, really horribly planned and late, fanfic. I hope, probably like ten of you (negative ten), have decided to look upon yourselves and say: "Wow, DragonQuester sucks, but we will give her false hope by giving her fake hits." And to those who do, thank you, thank you so much from the bottom of my non-blonde, non-living, heart. Now here, after about a MONTH, is chapter 12. Note: to those of you who are really nice you can give me more false hope by giving me reviews, that would boost my non-blonde, false, self-confidence so much. And you can be mean in your reviews too. In fact, go ahead and pick out horrid things in my grammar and writing. It will make you feel good, make me feel stupid, and make the review number go up. And the review number, is the only thing that matters. ANYWAYS, after a long horrid wait, here is chapter twelve. And also note that since it has been weeks since I have written anything (other than essays about the growth of mucus for science), my writing may be...sticky...and horrible. Mostly horrible. Also I had to use a text document so if there are any problems like some stuff isn't slanted or underlined or in proper paragraphs, just blame me. ANYWAYS, on with chapter 12.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The horses pawed the ground in anxious energy. They raised their mighty black heads and shook it when a fly zoomed in too close for comfort. Their midnight flanks rose with every breath as they tried to keep standing still for a few minutes longer. The short dwarfish driver of one of the two carriages took out a pipe and lighted it in the cool morning air. He puckered it to his lips and let out a tendril of smoke from the corners of his mouth. The other driver was as calm as his partner but consumed his time by staring at Jay.

Jay felt uncomfortable under the man's stare. He knew it would be rude to say 'what'cha staring at?', but it was also rude to look at someone unblinkingly and not say a word as the person being stared at squirmed under the unwanted attention. Finally, after a few more seconds of an awkward staring contest, Jay couldn't stand it any longer. "What do you want?" he asked brusquely.

The man blinked slowly before answering. He spoke clearly and slow, with his eyes still on Jay. "Nothing, nothing. You just look like you don't belong here, sir." He turned his head towards the stairwell behind Jay. "Normally people in front of here look...different."

Jay was utterly shocked. For the first time in his life someone had called him sir. But Jay wasn't about this new male pride tide over. He wondered what the man could be talking about. "Look different how?"

Before the man could answer, the driver with the pipe spoke out first. "Most young men who stand out in front of that house look like either male hookers or homosexuals." His voice was scratchy and his tone implied that he had seen so many male hookers and homosexuals, he didn't care anymore.

"He must be referring to the people Noyem brought before," thought Jay. "Male hookers and homosexuals...yeah the only men attracted to Noyem." Jay replied to driver's statement. "I don't think you'll be seeing anymore people like that." "Other than Makoto." Jay looked down the stairwell and at the door that led into the small house. The drivers didn't speak again and went back to smoking and having staring contests with random objects.

Jay had escaped outside after Noyem had practically attacked him by jumping on his arm. It had taken him four minutes to pry her fingers away and then, using Makoto as a human shield when going to the door, he had fled to the safety of the street. No one had come out to take him back inside so he presumed that it was better if he stayed where he was. The Lanrich household was too insane to put up with anyway. Senel, Will, Chloe, Norma, Moses, Shirley, Noyem, the Oresoren, and Jay had arrived there the night before. Everyone had worked the night away at the whim of Anne. And during dinner the boys had been seriously freaked out by Makoto's come-ons. When the party finally tried to get a well deserved sleep, they were woken up by Noyem's alarm call at a ridiculous hour. The group had to be prepared before going to Mercy's estate so everyone, except Will, the Oresoren, and Noyem, had to endure makeovers in the early dawn hours. So far Moses was the only who hadn't come out of the makeover room from hell.

Jay brought up a hand to rub sleep out of one eye. As he lowered his arm he stopped. He stared at the white sleeve of his shirt. His new clothes felt so strange to him. Gone were the stars and weird cast offs from some Mardi Gras drunken party shapes and designs. Replacing them was the design of a chain. It was so light and so interlaid with the white fabric that from far away the shirt looked pure white. But there were only a few white spaces, the gray complex chains almost covered every inch. But what Jay disliked about the shirt was that it was too tight against him. It wasn't one of those, freakishly-stretched-over-the-muscles-so-tightly-you-wondered-how-that-person-even-put-the-shirt-on tight shirts. It was simply loose fitting. Also Anne had opened the shirt collar just so much, but just so little, so that it left a girl with the imagination of what was under the fabric.

Jay put his hand back to his side and looked out at the quiet street. A mist hung over the air and the activity was nothing more than a mumble. Shops lit up their stores making the depressing atmosphere almost bearable, but the lights seemed to dim as time slowly dragged on. It was only eight, but there should have been more people about. The only people that were out shuffling through the street had their gazes averted from everyone else's. Something as simple as a sneeze or a cough could break through the air and echo for miles. A few people talked softly to each other, too softly, as if they were afraid of some unknown presence. The harbor street of Baltoga had the aura of a graveyard.

...or it did until the sound of someone banging a door open very loudly exploded through the air.

"C'MON PEOPLE! OUT, OUT, OUT, OUT, OUT, OUT! GET YOUR HOT AND ATTRACTIVE A DOUBLES S IN THOSE CARRIAGES!" Makoto stood, like a possessed male cheerleader, on the doorstep. He held the door open as wide as it could get. Then he grabbed whatever was inside and pulled it out. It was Senel. Makoto took him by the shirt collar and threw him, actually threw him, up the stairwell. Next were Norma, then Chloe, then Shirley. Each landed in a heap then scurried up before the next person was thrown out on their rump. Jay had to jump from place to place to avoid being hit by one of his flying friends (although when Shirley was thrown out Jay thought of catching her, to look all heroicy, but decided against it when Senel leapt to the position first). Lastly, Will walked out calmly and Makoto held the door open for him like a good little gay boy would do.

"Adieu, everyone," bowed Makoto, once everyone was thrown and standing. "I enjoyed meeting every one of you hot tamales (and you girls too). I will miss talking to you, seeing you, watching your backs (and you know which part) when you moved, watching you in your sleep, spying on you, looking through your things, smelling your things, and..."

"Please, stop, before I start understanding what you're saying," begged Senel as he shook from the chill brought on by Makoto's voice.

"Soooorry," said Makoto sarcastically. "Just wanting to tell you all bye before you go off."

"I'm sure we'll see each other again," said Chloe. She moved a strand of brown hair that had fallen on her face from her harsh landing. "You don't have to act like this is the last time you'll see us."

"Oh yeah." Makoto laughed nervously. "Of course, you guys will have to pass this place when you go...home." Makoto laughed again, but it was a faint, forced laugh. "Silly me, I take stuff too far. Like widdle NoyemCoyem."

"That seemed too fake," thought Jay as heard Makoto laugh. "Have people who come here before..." Jay stopped himself from finishing his thought. "No, he's just acting stupid like usual."

"Jay, is something on your mind?" asked a voice from behind Jay. The voice was as sweet as the fist sip of apple juice, the first rays of the sun, the fist spoonful of honey. A voice that made Jay's heart pound like it was suicidal and wanted to beat his blood so hard it would squirt out of his veins (what the hell is with these similes?-Jay.)

"Sh-Shirley," stammered Jay. Shirley moved right in front of him and was too close for Jay to think pure thoughts. "I'm fine, just..."

"Worried?" finished Shirley. "I'm sure everything will go just fine. If Mercy is your mother, everything will be great. But..." Shirley looked down at her feet. She fingered the end of her flawless white dress. "Jay, if you meet your family. Your real family...will you want to stay with them?"

Jay considered the question carefully. He knew he would have to give a Tales of Legendia monumental answer that deals with the very existence of life. But Jay was hoping that a certain someone would answer before him and give the simplest possible answer that would end the question in a second. Jay looked around. Now where was that certain stupid annoying someone?

Will noticed it too. "Where's Moses?"

"I knew it was too boring. Both Red and Yammy aren't here," said Norma. She was sitting on the top step of the stairwell, her hands on her knees supporting her head. Her yellow dress was made out of such a valuable material, it didn't even wrinkle when she stood up. "I wonder if Little Orphan Anne is still working on him."

"Poor, Moses." Senel placed a hand on Norma's shoulder. "I'm afraid you'll never see him again, Norma."

"Why?"

"The harsh reality of Annie may be too difficult for you to deal with," said Senel with a tear in his eye. "You see, she is very-"

"HERE HE IS!" screamed a terrifyingly commanding voice. The door once again exploded open. The light shone from the house, making the figure in the doorway appear to have a holy glow in the dark morning. The group froze in what they were doing and stared at the figure in awe. It was like a true angle, a saint in the midst of darkness, a Buddha in an endless desert, an All American Rejects concert in a boring sermon.

Then the holy figure thingy fell to its face.

"Get up, you freak." A cold hard voice that erased all of those happy thoughts from before came from the doorway. Frameless glasses on a hawk crooked nose below gray eyes came into sight. "I worked this disaster in ten minutes and I think I did a good job on Mr. No Shirt." Anne smiled her thin smile as she turned to go back inside. "I just hope I didn't use too much of my good tranquilizer."

Jay half laughed, half shivered from the memory, when he thought back to what Anne's special tranquilizer was named. Then he looked at the splattered thing that had fallen flat on the stairwell porch. "Wait, is that Moses?"

Will went down the stairs and looked at the fallen, drooling figure. "Yes," said Will as he lifted Moses' head, "it's our Moses."

Norma jumped next to Will and knelt down. "Ohmigod, it is Red! In CLOTHES!" Norma rubbed her hand through Moses' pink hair. "His hair is even brushed...Little Orphan Annie is a fashion goddess!"

Will picked up Moses by the arm while Norma took the other one. Together the two dragged Moses up the stairs into better light.

Moses was almost unrecognizable. Like Senel, he was wearing light black formal pants. His hair was brushed and parted and actually clean looking. Across his usual bare chest was a shirt, that's right, A SHIRT. The collar was unbuttoned and only a few were actually snapped at the bottom, so the tan chest was still shown off. But what was so different about Moses was that the bulky, large eye patch was gone. The eye patch that had made Moses' face look so thin had been replaced, by a gentleman's monocle. The monocle had a large gold rim so the scars around Moses' eye were hidden. The light from the rising sun and few shops were reflected by the glass so the scar sealing Moses' eye shut seemed obsolete. Moses actually looked like a normal, living human being...if it wasn't for the fact that he was so drugged up he could barely stand straight.

"Wow," breathed Chloe. "Sandor was slightly attractive without the eye patch before, but now he looks almost..." Chloe realized what she had just said. "I mean, Sandor looks, good."

Shirley giggled. "I think Noyem is influencing you, C."

Chloe brushed rapidly. "I have nothing in common with that man-chaser."

"Oh? So that time in the hallway looking in on the bathing who was complaining about that censoring mist? Huh, C? Huh?" taunted Shirley.

Chloe began walking away with her hands over her ears. "I can't hear you, Shirley, I can't hear you."

Shirley skipped after her in an over uppity, annoying to even a pixie, singing voice. "C is a pervert! C is a pervert!"

"All we need is the Oresoren and we'll be ready to go," stated Senel, apparently not noticing Chloe and Shirley running and skipping around. "Where are they anyway?"

"Hmph! Ask about the otters, not your super cool friend Noyem." A head peered around the edge of the open door. "You know how loved I feel right now? All of you having your sweet talk while I'm busting my beauty booty." Noyem walked out the door in a huff. She flipped back her auburn hair and blinked her alluring amber eyes. "It almost makes me cry."

Noyem stepped out of the doorway with two brown paper bags in her hand. "The otters and I were making you ungrateful bunch lunches, since no one ate anything for breakfast." From behind her, Pippo, Quppo, and Poppo walked out. They were back in their original clothes much to Pippo and Poppo's delight. Quppo hung behind his brothers, depressed that he wasn't wearing his collar anymore.

"Ors!" chipped Poppo. "You all look so fancy in your new clothes!"

"Except Moses," added Poppo giving a second 'ors' to his brother before saying, "he's drooling in Norma's hair."

"Really?" mumbled Norma, drool leaking off the side of her head where Moses' head was resting. "I hardly noticed."

Noyem and the Oresoren joined Senel, Will, Chloe, Norma, Moses, Shirley, and Jay in front of the carriages. Noyem handed one of her bags to Senel. Stream was rolling off the top and a heavenly aroma was wafting out. "Here, you hold on to this one, I hold on to the other. The bags have enough to feed a small army and since each carriage can only hold four passengers, we'll split. Three with you, three with me."

Senel peered into the bag and pulled out a mouthwatering hashbrown. "I didn't know you were so considerate, Noyem. I always thought you were a self-absorbed, lunatic, hare-brained, chick." Senel bit into his bleated breakfast while Noyem beamed from the halfway insulting praise.

"Hare-brained? I thought that was my name," said Chloe. Her running away from Shirley had led her back to Senel. She stood beside him with her arms across her chest. Senel shrugged and gulped down the hashbrown to take another bite.

The holy, smells-so-good-you-would-sell-your-soul-for-a-taste, scent drifted over to unconscious Moses. Moses' nose twitched. He lifted his head. His nose twitched again. Then he opened his eyes. He pushed Norma and Will away and lifted his head higher in the air. Nose twitched again. Then he howled like the starving, wild, pink haired, man he is.

"FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!" Moses charged at Senel and ripped the bag out of his hand. "FOOD FOOD FOOD!" He tore into it and began eating rapturously. Chunks of doughnuts, hashbrown, and muffins scattered everywhere in the battleground of The Food vs. Moses. So far Moses was winning, with the poor delicious brunch being thrown into the mouth of the still slightly drugged body every other breath. No one, not even Senel, tried to stop Moses. He wasn't human anymore. Moses' instinct to eat had taken complete control of his little mind.

"Quite a disgraceful eating habit, right Mr. Dick?"

"Hell yes, Mr. Rick. I miss the male hookers. At least they had manners, right Ricky?"

"Indeed, Mr. Dick. I so do miss those colorful sexually confused boys. These people here haven't even taken notice of us. Quite rude, quite rude indeed!"

"British? Who's using British humor? This place is too crude for something sophisticated." thought Jay. He searched for the British voices. Surprisingly it was the two carriage drivers. The one who liked staring contests, apparently Mr. Rick, was talking normally instead of the slow, I'm-afraid-my-vocabulary-is-too-big-for-you voice he had used earlier. The smoking driver, Mr. Dick, had put his pipe down long enough so his voice had lost the scratchy edge.

"Mr. Dick and Mr. Rick, why how lovely it is to see you two fine gentlemen today." Noyem had turned around and taken notice of the two British men. She bended her knees and took the edges of her skirt in a small curtsy. "I take it you two are to be our drivers to Madam Mercy's estate?" Noyem pursed her mouth into an elegant, aristocrat, smile. She spoke with a forced British accent that defined the word 'cheesy.'

"Watch yourself, girl," growled Mr. Dick. "Any of your usual antics and we'll dump you and your little gang in the middle of the street." He hopped off the driver's perch. He landed with hardly a sound.

Mr. Dick was a short, stout man with no outstanding features. His bald head looked overly shiny, though, shiny enough to reflect UV rays. He wore a blue suite that stretched over his chubby girth and a striped tie tucked in the collar. The short man looked rather comical, a chubby little man that stood only to about Jay's middle (so you know that is short). Following his companion, Mr. Rick hopped down as well. Mr. Rick was the exact twin of Mr. Dick. Both were of equal height and thickness. Only Mr. Rick had a spotted tie and his head was probably shiny enough to reflect gamma rays.

"Everyone," said Mr. Rick, "I believe you should all get moving. The trip is a rather long one and Mr. Dick and I would like to get moving immediately." As he spoke the two drivers latched open the doors to their carriages. "But we can't go without luggage, unless none of you have any belongings."

In an instant reply, the door of the Lanrich household flew open one more time.

"How much crap did you guys pack?" huffed Makoto. In his arms was half of the luggage Senel, Will, Chloe, Norma, Moses, Shirley, Jay, and Noyem had brought. Behind him, lost under an enormous pile of suitcases in her arms, was Anne with the rest.

"Will, load this junk into the back of the carriages with Makoto. And do it correctly please," said Anne in her cruel overly demanding as usual voice. She dumped her load outside the stairwell and looked at Will with a get-to-work-right-now-or-die expression.

"Of course," Will cleared his throat, "we've wasted enough time (and DragonQuester has wasted enough really bad jokes). Senel, take the food bag out of Moses' hand and push him into a cart. Everyone else pick a carriage and get in it." Will began picking up luggage as Senel wrestled the food out of Moses' firm, but drugged, hands. It took a good few minutes of grunting, drugged cursing, and hitting to finally recover the half eaten food. The otters split, Poppo and Pippo awkwardly stepping up the carriage side steps into Mr. Dick's coach, and Quppo sulking over to Mr. Rick's.

"Let's go with the nice man, C," said Shirley as she took the hand of her friend and began dragging Chloe to Mr. Rick's waiting carriage. Senel shoved Moses into Mr. Dick's coach then left to climb after Shirley and Chloe in the other gig. Norma and Noyem walked off, talking animatedly, towards Mr. Dick's coach.

Jay saw this as a well needed, well wanted, well really wanted, opportunity to spend more time with Shirley and ride in the carriage with normal people. Moses, Norma, and Noyem were all in one carriage and when Will finished Jay assumed he would join them to keep that zany bunch under control. Leaving Jay with Shirley. It was a perfect plan.

Jay began walking to the carriage held open by British little Mr. Rick, until Jay felt a hand, no a claw, latch onto his shoulder. The grip was cold and sinister, like the evil hand of death or maybe some really old person who smells like they should be dead. Jay remembered this grip. It was the grip of fear. The grip of pain. The grip he felt before 55 cc's of I Can't Believe It's Not Dead! tranquilizer was shot into him. The grip of feared Little Orphan Annie.

"Jay, if you could spare a minute, please?" Even when Anne added 'please' to her request it still sounded like the harsh bark of a command. Anne kept her grip on Jay's shoulder and pushed him away from the busy activity of the carriages. Anne pushed Jay to the front of the empty house beside the Lanrich's home. They were only a few feet away from everyone else, but the isolated building made it seem as if it were only Jay and Anne. Anne took her arm off Jay's shoulder.

"Jay, I have something I want to tell you." Anne's hard gray eyes looked up at Jay. Jay couldn't help but feel horribly uncomfortable, even more uncomfortable than when the midget driver was staring at him. Anne wasn't necessarily what you would call a beauty. Her cheek bones were too high and straight and her black hair looked greasy to the touch. Anne's skin was between being green and tan and despite her small stature her muscles stood out in sinewy branches. But despite all the imperfections, Anne held an unquestionable beauty about her. An unquestionable beauty brought on by her harsh persona. But Anne's typical facade had vanished as she looked at Jay with her stone eyes filled with...pity.

"Jay the Unseen...I was afraid the rumors I've heard were true."

"That's the name I used as an information dealer on the Legacy..." Jay darted looks at the surrounding scenery to make sure no one was close enough to hear. Then he whispered, barely audible, "How do you know that name? And what rumors are you talking about?"

Anne kept looking at Jay with sympathetic eyes. "If you keep your ears open at the right times, you learn more than you need to. But at this moment that doesn't matter. What does matter is that you protect yourself, at any cost."

Jay smiled. He thought that one of the Lanrich siblings would talk to him about this. "Are you trying to tell me to protect Noyem? Don't worry, Anne, everyone, me, Senel, Moses, will protect her-"

"This isn't about Noyem," hissed Anne impatiently. "This is more important than that ditz! There are people that want you, not her."

"People like Wyllon? That fool will be easy to finish. You're taking you're simple warning too seriously," said Jay, still smiling. "She must have found out my name from someone else who visited the Legacy," thought Jay. "And now she's trying to prepare me before going to Mercy's."

Anne sighed with the pity in her gray eyes. "You're not the same as they described. Your life has become simple, so your wariness from before has worn off... I guess even assassins can adept to a normal life."

Assassin. The word froze Jay's blood. Anne wasn't just giving Jay a friendly warning.

"You can forget about your past, Jay, but your past doesn't forget about you," whispered Anne. "It isn't coincidence that has brought you here, it isn't even Noyem who has brought you here." Anne smiled sadly, her eyes dull. "I'm sorry I can't finish, but your friends have been waiting too long."

Jay felt his brain pull out of an uncomfortable fuzziness. What Anne said had been too strange, too startling, too...did she pull that quote out of some movie?

Anne put a sympathetic hand on Jay's shoulder. "I know you have questions, but you must go-"

"AnnieLannie, have you been hogging Jay-Boy this whole time? Well, give him a goodbye kiss and shove him in here, we need to go!" Noyem hung out an open window in Mr. Dick's carriage. Mr. Dick was tapping his fingers impatiently against his horse's reins with his stout behind on the driver's seat. Noyem waved her hands. "C'mon, Jay! There's enough room in here for one more, there's a pretty little seat right next to me."

Jay's eye twitched. Not only had he been freaked out by Anne's 'cryptic' message, but he had missed his perfect, great, superb, once-in-a-pale-freak's-lifetime chance to sit next to Shirley. Instead he had to sit...with...oh, why were the fates so cruel?...with Noyem. Noyem and Norma and, the probably still drugged with I Can't Believe It's Not Dead! tranquilizer, Moses. And t/ top it off, his driver was the smoking, British street talking, mean looking midget Mr. Dick.

"Lucky you, Jay," shouted Senel from his seat in Mr. Rick's gig beside Will and across from Shirley. "e3BYou get to ride in the fun carriage."

"Lucky, lucky, me," grumbled Jay.

---------------------------------------------------

Sway to the left, sway to the right, sway to the left, sway to the right...Jay squeezed his eyes shut ...sway to the left, sway to the right, sway to the left, sway to the right...A ship could sway less in a storm...sway to the left, sway to the right, sway to the left, sway to the right...Jay's stomach clenched...sway to the left, sway to the right, sway to the left, sway to the right...Good thing Jay hadn't eaten anything in the last 9 or so hours...sway to the left, sway to the right, sway to the left, sway to right...The smell from the bag was delicious, yet nauseating...sway to the left, sway to the right, sway to the left, sway to the right...But what was more nauseating was watching Norma, Noyem, Moses, Pippo, and Poppo eat so much food while the entire carriage lurched from left to right, right to left, left to right, in such a way that could drive anyone insane! Or inzane! Or crazy! Or worse! Or like me! Muhaheheahehehehe...

"JJ, you okay? Looks like you just saw a ghost or Michael Jackson's Neverland," said Norma. She bit into a donut and, from her seat diagonal from Jay's, kicked his leg with the toe of her boot.

Jay bolted and took his arm off the window pane he had been clinging to. "Ow!" With his eyes off the window the wobbling of the carriage seemed less queasy. But that didn't help Jay with the sudden pain from Norma's harsh trademark kick. Jay put a hand around his injured ankle. "You didn't have to kick me that hard."

"But.." Moses paused to swallow and rip out another bite of bacon, "...you looked..." pause, bite, swallow, "...like you were about..." another bite, munch, swallow, "...to heave chunks," finished Moses, finally, after eating two practically foot long strips of bacon. Moses had fully recovered from his lethal tranquilizer dosage after minutes of being tossed into the carriage. And, as a result from being under the influence of Anne's special tranquilizer, Moses had completely lost the memory of his past actions, i.e., drooling in Norma's hair and eating half the bag of Senel's group food.

Jay noticed his seat lurching more than usual. He looked to his right to see Noyem moving the carriage from her giggling. "I didn't know Jay-Boy could get motion sickness," she snickered. "Who wouldn't in this horrible thing?!" thought Jay while he threw Noyem a shut-the-MJ Neverland-up look.

"Jay gets motion sickness easily," said Poppo from his spot in Norma's lap. "Remember that time when ,you, Pippo asked him to help with repairing the gears controlling the heating system for the cave?"

"Uh-huh," nodded Pippo as he sat down more comfortably in the area between Jay and Noyem's seats. "The gears started spinning while Jay was still on it and it kept going round and round. Then I noticed this green stuff shooting into the air from the gears and-"

"No one needs to know the rest," said Jay in a tone he rarely ever used on the Oresoren. Pippo gulped and hid his face behind his paws.

"Aw, I think it's cute how shorty Jay has a weakness," smiled Moses. He popped the lid off a water bottle he pulled from the brown lunch bag and gulped down the liquid deeply. He placed the bottle down and smiled wider, tapping a finger to his head. "So how could we all exploit this weakness? Hmmmmm..."

"Wow, you used a big boy word, Moses. 'Exploit,' did you learn it from your special classes or did you, after years of hearing it, finally understand its meaning?" quipped Jay, but not in the way he usually did. Jay almost sounded cruel saying it. But Moses reacted in his usual manner. By throwing more insults. Soon both Jay and Moses were at each other's throat, insulting height, ethnic background, hygiene, and individual intelligence.

"Men, men, men. Relax. Don't you know it's rude to argue in front of dignified ladies?" Noyem set her back straighter. She gave Moses and Jay a fake haughty look from her joking amber eyes. Norma mimicked Noyem and put a finger to her lip before saying, "Such acts of violence scare us!" Moses and Jay halted in mid-punching action. They stared at each other before staring at Norma and Noyem. "You two are dignified?" asked Jay and Moses at the exact same time.

The inside of the lively carriage had a simple, but comfortable set up. The seats were blue comfy cushions that sprung whenever someone shifted their weight. The windows on the right and left were large enough to stick yourself out of and only a small latch kept them locked. The floorboard was cramped, though, no one had enough foot room. Also the motion of the two horses pulling the carriage made traveling a queasy experience. Adding to the uncomfortable assents was a thin black sliding cover that separated Mr. Dick from the passengers. By itself the cover was harmless, but with Mr. Dick on the other side, opening it whenever he wanted, made traveling in the carriage a lot worse.

"What the hell are you doing back there?!" roared Mr. Dick, violently sliding the cover. He glared at the group. Moses and Jay were standing on their seats, Moses bending over because of low head room, Jay just standing because the headroom was exactly his size. Both were still frozen in their fighting position. "Stay in your seats or I'll throw you out, you stupid bunch of misfits!" finished Mr. Dick. The cover slid back abruptly, leaving Moses, Jay, Pippo, Poppo, Norma, and Noyem alone again.

"What's his problem?" asked Norma after Moses and Jay had flopped back down into their seats.

"He's always been like that ever since I met him," said Noyem. "Some people just can't change. Like Makoto for example. Poor guy, he'll be after balls instead of boobs for the rest of his life..." Noyem sighed like saying that had caused her to become empathetic. "Such a pity too. He's too hot to be gay."

Norma nodded in agreement. "You got that right. Are you sure he can't be brought to the other side?"

"Positive, the force is too strong within him," answered Noyem sagely. "No persuasion can bring him to our side."

Jay sighed miserably. Either Noyem and Norma had watched StarWars too many times, or a force out there really did cause people to be gay (which would explain many, many things). "Why are women so weird, Moses?" Jay turned to his older, not really wise but somewhat in specific areas, brother for guidance.

"Hehehehe, Noyem said 'boobs,' " ...that was all Moses could say as a reply.

Jay sighed even more miserably and slammed his head on the window pane. Mr. Rick's carriage was right beside them, so Jay could see what was going on inside the carriage with 'normal people' in it. Senel, Will, and Chloe were laughing apparently at something Shirley had said. Shirley was blushing and smiling her gorgeous smile. Quppo was sitting on her lap dozing as Shirley absentmindedly stroked his back.

"Lucky Quppo..."

"Jay-Boy...what'cha doin? Huh? Why are you looking at Blondie, huh? I'm right here and you're paying attention to a girl so far away... "

Jay jumped from his seat and flattened himself against the window. Jay touched his burning right ear, the ear Noyem had been whispering in. Noyem was resting her head on her hands, lying across the blue cushion seat. Pippo, whom Jay had deliberately placed between himself and Noyem as a barrier, was between Moses and Norma. All three, and Poppo, were looking on curiously.

"Noyem, what the hell do you think you're doing?" asked Jay still pressing himself paper flat against the window. Noyem stayed comfortable in her position, looking at Jay with her eyes half opened.

"Nuthing," answered Noyem sleepily. Then she began crawling towards Jay. "It's just that I'm soooo bored and you look so cute sitting there all depressed. And I have a perfect way to cure both my boredom and your depression..."

"Go away," warned Jay slowly as he stuck his foot out to keep Noyem from crawling closer. Noyem grinned wolfishly and pushed his leg down while talking in a low lascivious manner.

"So widdle Jay-Boy has a cute widdle stomach problem. I wonder if he has a cute little turn on? Maybe it's nibbling on his ear, tickling his back, talking dirty, or... maybe you're turned on by stomach problems. Do you want me to throw up on you?" Noyem was on her knees with her hand along Jay's back. Her 'chest' was a bit too firmly pressed against him. "So Jay-Boy, what turns you on, huh?"

"A lot of what you said earlier turned me on," commented Moses like a student watching an interesting documentary making observations. Norma smacked him with the back of her hand and shushed him, like she was a moviegoer watching an interesting movie, silencing someone who had interrupted the best part.

Noyem either ignored them or liked the attention. She slid her hands further down Jay's back. "Just tell me when I've hit the mark, kay, Jay-Boy?"

Jay thought back to a few nights ago, that seemed like such a long time to him now, when Jay had first met Noyem. Jay had ACCIDENTLY fallen on Noyem. In defense, Noyem had kicked Jay off by placing her foot on his stomach and pushing him away. As a result Jay had flown across the room. Jay wondered if that same strategy would work again but vice versa. The area was smaller and the carriage would probably rock from the impact. Not to mention Mr. Dick would probably scream his midget head off...but it was either that or lose his purity. To Noyem. In a carriage.

Jay knew which choice he would have to make.

Within seconds Noyem had launched from her position on Jay to the other side of the carriage. The carriage was knocked off its wheels, precariously balancing on its right side. The horses' whinny sounded for an instant before a whip could be heard cracking against their backs. The black cover was slipped open once again, this time it was almost torn off. "What the hell are you doing now?!" thundered Mr. Dick, red in his overly chubby face.

"Just having fun," insisted Norma happily as she reached over and shut the cover herself. Then she knelt on the floorboard and put a hand on Noyem's shoulder. She began shaking Noyem. "Yammy, Yammy! Speak to me! Yammy!"

"Ow...ch..." breathed Noyem. "Jay-Boy...sure acts hard to get." She straightened herself out of her crumbled postion and rubbed her sore head. "You could have pushed me off, Jay. No, you had to kick me clear across the freaking carriage!"

"Yeah, Jay!" said Pippo in defense. "That was mean!" "Yeah!" agreed Poppo. "She was just acting nice! We disown you, Jay!" "We know no Jay," said Pippo.

"Yeah, Noyem was acting...really nice," sighed Moses dreamily. Then he shook his head sadly and patted Jay's shoulder. "You poor boy, no girl will probably ever do that to you again."

"Shut up, Moses," mumbled Jay.

The next hours passed on with everyone still commenting on Noyem and Jay's behavior. Norma couldn't believe that Noyem could act so sexy and demanded that she be taught the ways of the wanton. Moses couldn't believe that none of those 'positions' and 'dirty talking' had turned Jay on. Moses commented that he had been panting in his seat. Noyem thanked him for the kind comment. Pippo and Poppo completely ignored Jay and whenever Jay tried to talk to them they simply pouted and turned the other way. They told Moses to tell Jay that they weren't going to speak to him ever again unless he apologized to 'sweet little Noyem.' Jay just decided to never talk to them ever again. Hearing that the otters panicked and decided to go back on the deal, choosing Jay's companionship over Noyem's hurt feelings (and even more hurt skull.

Finally after a few hours Norma interrupted Noyem's sermon on 'How to Sexy Talk while Sexy Walk.' "Hey, where are we? It's past noon and we've been in here since 5 am. Are we close to JJ's Momma's house yet?"

Jay stopped eating the remaining food Moses, Norma, and Noyem had unexpectedly saved for him (Jay was finally past the motion sickness). He peered out the window with his half-eaten apple pastry in his hand. The passing scenery was completely different than the dull street the group had left hours before. The Victiorian style buildings shone off the bright sun's rays that hung overhead in a light blue sky. People bustled on the sides of the street wearing beatuiful different hues of clothing. Women walked along, heels snapping against the clean cobblestone, with sweeping dresses hovering above the ground. Men held their heads up with every step, their black coats and jackets trailing behind them. Children skipped alongside their parents, laughing and giggling and looking for a chance to escape their parent's eye for at least a second. The center of the street was a mass of black carriages either going forward or turning back. Horses trotted briskly with drivers slapping the reins against their necks. Jay looked for the carriage belonging to Mr. Rick but couldn't differentiate one carriage among seemingly thousands of others. But along with carriages traveling on the road, there was another type of transportation Jay had never seen driving by. No horse pulled it, but it was the same black color and had the same large wheels of a horse drawn coach. No driver sat outside the cart and smoke snaked out from a pipe on the back of it. Jay watched the new vehicles pass by curiously. He knew Gadoria was on the verge of an industrial revolution, factories could be seen dotting the background of the city. And a key detail was that the only people walking along were wealthy people. No poor people slumped in the background of the street. Jay could guess that the city had taken them away, to work as low paid workers to build machines to keep up with the city's higher born growth.

Jay yawned loudly. Thinking about work reminded him of how little sleep he had gotten the night before. Beside him he heard Noyem yawn. Then in the chain reaction Norma yawned, then Moses.

"Geez, I forgot how tired I am," said Moses. He settled in deeper in his seat and took off his golden monocle. He placed it on the armstand and laid his head against his shoulder. "If ya'll don't mind, I'm gonna take a nap."

"That doesn't sound so bad," added Norma. She took Pippo in her arms. She snuggled against him like one would with a plush toy. "Wake me up whenever we get to..." Norma interrupted herself with a long, exhausted snore.

"You lazy butts sleep," said Noyem. She gathered Poppo in her arms and looked out through her window. "I'm going to keep an eye out."

Jay leaned his head against his seat. Everyone nodding off made him feel even more tired. He looked once more out the window and let his eyelids droop. As he began to fall asleep, a sudden thought passed his mind. 'You can forget about your past, Jay, but your past doesn't forget about you.' Jay turned over so he wasn't facing the pane of the window. He let his eyes close while he stared at the fabric of the seat cushion. "How could anyone know about my past? It's gone, not forgotten." Jay's eyes fell shut and he went into a deep, deep, sleep.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rain splattered against the tiles of the roof, each droplet splitting and flowing down in rivulets. Each droplet of water melted into the other before touching the ground, creating a quiet symphony of falling liquid beads. The whole rain itself held a thin haze over the pitch black night. The sky had just split into the slow shower, but everything was already slick to the touch.

Jay didn't dare let go of his handhold, a wet tile that dared to slip under his grip. The house he was on was old, as was every other building in the district, and the soft wind of the storm caused the three story structure to shudder. Jay was perched on the right side under the outline of a balcony, the side closest to the alley. His legs were lengthen out to the edge of the second story roof, holding his entire body in a strenuous leg muscle stretch. Jay had been there for half an hour, but he didn't show any signs of movement. He was completely motionless, even his breathing couldn't be seen or heard.

All he had to do was wait a little longer...

Faint footsteps could be heard echoing against the walls. They could be heard rounding a corner to enter the deepest part of the alley. The footsteps were quick and paced; whoever it was, was in a hurry. But the footsteps were too quick; whoever it was, was afraid of the unseen entities that could almost be sensed in the cold air.

Jay didn't need to wait anymore.

In complete silence, Jay slid down from his hiding place and landed on the mud and dirt of the alley. His falling made the softest of sounds but Jay held his breath as he quickly darted into the empty space between two buildings.

The footsteps stopped. The form of a person could be seen as a shade through the veil of rain. It was a thin, shaky man. He thought he had heard a very faint noise, nothing too significant, but that was enough to make him wary of continuing forward. But the center of the backstreets was the meeting place, he couldn't possibly stop now. He stuck a quivering hand into his grey coat. Just feeling the weight in his hands made him feel confident enough to keep going. A few more steps forward and everything that he had been told would be just fine.

A few more steps and Jay would be ready to do what he had to.

The quick footsteps started again. This time slower, more deliberately. The man kept his hand in his coat, scratching against the surface of the weight. He was close to the meeting point. How foolish, the man thought he was, to get so worked up over a little sound.

Finally Jay was ready. He reached for the dagger at his side and griped it so that it could scarcely be seen in his hand. Jay stepped out of the cover of the houses and into the open alleyway. He griped his dagger harder as he looked at the back of the thin, shaky man. The man had definitely heard Jay's footsteps this time. He began turning his trembling head to look behind him.

Before the man could even complete that action, Jay had rushed forward and put the dagger to his neck. In a single stroke Jay slit the man's throat.

The blood didn't even spew; it flowed down the man's chest along with the rain. When Jay felt that it had been finished he took his dagger back and let the body fall to the ground. The crevice in the middle of the blade captured the blood and ran it off the tip. Red droplets hung off the edges of it. Jay leaned down and wiped his blade off on the man's coat, careful not to make the stain look too out of place. When it was discovered, or if it was discovered in the abandoned alley, people would think the man was attacked by an animal. Jay knew how to cover up his actions.

Suddenly a hand grasped Jay's wrist. It was pale and shaking violently in the small puddle of blood that pooled around it.

The man wasn't dead, yet. He was on the point where it was impossible to save life, but he had enough of it left to move for a few seconds longer. Jay tried to pull his hand away, but the man held a grasp as impenetrable as the grasp of death over himself. With the other hand, the man took out the weight from his coat pocket. In the small sliver of the crescent moon, Jay could make out what the object was. A gleam shone off its metallic surface and danced off in the dark night. In the man's bloodied, shaking hand was a gun.

The man tried to mouth something but his white lips couldn't form the words. So the man just raised the gun and with his quivering hand pointed it at Jay. Jay felt his heart accelerate as he looked into the black eyes of the pistol. But Jay didn't let any emotion show on his face. Fear was pointless. Fear would only cloud up his mind. The man began pulling the trigger. His hand was shaking horribly. His whole body began shaking horribly. The hand clutched to Jay's wrist began weakening its hold, at the exact moment as the finger began pulling the trigger farther back. Jay felt the grip weakened, and without hesitation, yanked himself out of the man's hold. Then Jay moved out of the gun's path swiftly and kicked the gun out of the man's hands.

The pistol clattered away uselessly on the muddied pavement.

The man let out a last quivering shake that raked through his body. His eyes rolled back and his hands went limp. And finally, he died. Jay watched the man succumb to the fate Jay had caused him to face. It was over. Jay had accomplished what he had been sent to do. A well worked machine, like the gun still clattering down the alley, had carried out a task that its master had ordered it to do. Jay lifted his head and scoped the dark alley. Jay hadn't sensed anyone else following the man. No shapes shifted in the shadows, no heartbeat could be detected. So the man hadn't hired anyone to cover him. How foolish. Jay took his dagger out and inspected the body carefully. Jay knew the man was dead but he didn't want to be surprised again. The body's skin was completely cold, from the slowly falling rain and the lack of warm blood. Good, thoroughly dead. No more surprises.

Silence fell over the alleyway. An unnatural silence.

Jay looked up. It was strange; he could feel that something was missing. An uncanny feeling told him that something wasn't right. But what could be missing in an uninhabited alleyway? Nothing was there already, nothing that could be seen. Or heard.

The pistol, it had stopped clattering.

With the strength Jay had kicked it with the gun should have kept going until it hit a wall or finally lost momentum from the powerful lash. But it was too early for it to lose momentum and the sound of metal hitting against a hard surface hadn't rung out. Someone had taken up the gun. Jay backed away with his dagger, still bloody, in his left hand. He watched the area where the pistol had slid towards. He kept his dagger low, in case he needed to make a quick slash across the newcomer's throat. How could Jay have not felt the presence a body gave off? Jay was too well trained to let a simple pedestrian pass by without notice. Whoever had stopped the gun was as well trained as Jay.

"Haven't you been taught the guidelines yet, Jay? Or does that idiot keep you locked away in a closet then take you out when he needs to? Wait, forget I said that, it has a gross double meaning." A man in clothing as dark as the night itself appeared seemingly out of nowhere. He tossed something out of hands. "Here, Jay, you dropped this. Remember to never leave a weapon out. Don't know when an enemy will take it." The gun fell near Jay's feet with a hard 'clank'

No emotion showed on Jay's face as he looked at the arrival. But recognition from that uppity deep voice stirred him enough to speak. "I was warned to never to speak to you again, Hieu."

"Oh really?" Hieu stepped closer to Jay and let down his hood. In the darkness Jay could still see the features of Hieu's face. His jaw was square with set light blue eyes. Most of his hair had been shaved away. There was only a knot of silver hair that hung from a line that went straight down the middle of his head. "But I thought we were friends, Jay. Don't let that half witted Solon get the better of you with his words. Anyway, how long has it been? Haven't seen you since you were four foot. Now you're...four foot and an inch. My, how kids grow." Hieu cocked a smile from his thin line of a mouth. It was difficult for Hieu to smile. A large scar separated the right side of his lip from the other. The scar began at the end of his nose and ended at his chin. The portion under the lip had been a particularly bad cut, stitches held together the broken skin. Red tissue could still be seen underneath the wire.

"Solon will not tolerate your presence here," spoke Jay monotonously. He picked up the gun and placed it in the dagger holster strapped to his leg.

"Solon doesn't give a rat's ass. But alas I have to see that asshole tonight. Need to have a chat with old Solon. Had to miss work to come all the way out here. But this matter is very important." Hieu strode towards Jay. He put his arms on Jay's shoulders. "It involves you. And all your other ninja friends."

"I'll take you to Solon, then, after I finish this." Jay turned and bent again to the corpse of the man. He took his dagger and began cutting wild but patterned slashes on the man's shirt and chest.

"Who's the lucky one there? One slice and you killed him nicely. Usually takes my trainees a couple of swings before they hit an artery. And from the behind too." Hieu kicked at the dead man's head. It rolled over, the eyes staring directly where Jay was crouched, masking his attack. "You're good, Jay," whistled Hieu. "But who is he?" Hieu kicked the dead man's head again.

"A royal messenger for the Crusand Empire. The prince of Crusand is trying to keep up a blockade off the coast of Gadoria's main port. This man was to deliver the strategies to keep the blockade up to Crusand's navy generals. Solon sent the man an offer though, give up the strategies for money. He agreed and then I was sent in for the rest," Jay informed bluntly.

"Been doing your homework, Jay? So Solon's siding with Gadoria for once. Last month it was Crusand. That idiot just likes keeping the fire brewing." Hieu bent down and reached into the man's coat. Papers were rolled up in tight bundles. Hieu chuckled and placed them back in. "You couldn't have been told all that. If Solon finds out that you got information on you, he'll be as mad as hell. Although that fool is always as mad as hell..." Hieu put his hands on his knees and stood up gradually like an elderly man would. "Well, finish up quickly. I want to get out of this rain." Hieu shivered as a blast of wind beat down harder than the soft gusts of before. The storm was beginning to turn fierce.

Jay stood up and slid his dagger down next to the gun in the holster. "We can leave now."

"Goodie, now take me to that son of a mutt."

Jay led Hieu out of the winding streets of the alley and towards the more lively (ha, unintended pun) part of town. No one was out but guards posted out among streets. They stood statue still outside the town's entrance, in case an attack came from the warring country. Jay and Hieu slipped past the guards and into the forest beside the town's front wall. Jay didn't slow down in his hurried dash of mad speed to ever check on Hieu. Hieu was able to keep up fine in the foreign surroundings.

During their run Hieu kept talking. "Want to know how I found you? Well, I found that shaky little excuse for a messenger back there and noticed a haunted look in his eye. And I know that haunted look, the look someone has after seeing Solon's pug ugly face! HA!" Hieu crackled in laughter. Pulling the stitches on his lips even farther apart. "After trailing him for awhile I picked up your energy. You keep it well hidden but someone like me could pick up a taste of it. You've come a long way, Jay."

During the whole run Jay remained absolutely silent.

The rain had picked up and began coming down in sheets once Jay had halted outside an abandoned building. A tiny chapel that had been burned years ago in a violent fire. Strangely, the chapel's bell tower looked untouched by flames.

Hieu furled his upper lip when he saw Jay approach the weather beaten door. "You're all staying in a church? I thought churches were too pure for demons."

Jay didn't reply as he undid the bolt in the door. He put both hands on the door and pushed it open.

Moonlight filtered in from small holes in the ceiling, but lighted candles lit up most of the dreary insides of the chapel. At first glance the church looked devoid of life; scattered, broken pews laid everywhere, vines curled in from smashed windows, and the once wooden floor had been reduced to dirt. It looked like nothing more than an old cathedral that someone had chosen to light the remaining candles for. But subtle changes had been made. Some areas of dirt were bare, no plants, broken glass, or wood chips covered the areas. Those areas were resting places for the assassins living there, for the moment.

A figure stirred at the head of the pulpit. It had been bending over reading a faded newspaper. In the candlelight only its hands could be seen. It stirred its shadowed head when Jay and Hieu entered. The newspaper was delicately put under the pulpit. The hands folded together and a thoughtful cruel voice broke through the church's atmosphere. "Look what the cat dragged in."

"Master," Jay swallowed before continuing. Now he was showing fear. "Hieu asked me to lead him here. He-"

"Shut up and come here," ordered Solon, his hands still not moving from their spot. Jay obliged and tripped his way towards the steps of the pulpit. He went and stood with his back at the wall, to the right of Solon. Solon took no further notice of Jay and angled his eyes to Hieu. Hieu was standing near the door looking about the church like a not too curious tourist.

"Hieu, why what a pleasant surprise it is to see you," said Solon with false camaraderie.

"Solon, why there you are. Couldn't see you in all this ugly dust and gloom. You blended right in." Hieu smiled the stitch wrenching grin. He began walking forward lazily. "But enough formal greetings. I guess you know why I'm here?"

The upper part of Solon's lip twitched. His sunken eyes closed to open again, with more malice in them than before. "Of course. Your trail is board enough for a limping monkey to follow." Solon paused before delivering his next statement. "You want to stop me from going to the Legacy."

"Correct, Solon. You always were to smart for your own good. But what gets me is why does a smart man like yourself want to take on something so suicidal?" Hieu clicked his tongue against the top of his mouth, making a 'tsk tsk' sound. "When I worked under you it seemed like things always made sense. Now, though, all of your moves seem so pointless."

"What I plan to do will not be 'pointless,'" Solon hissed. "The single person who escaped my hold deserves his death. He is far too powerful to keep alive." Solon unfolded his hands. His thin pale fingers grasped the end of the worn podium in suppressed rage. Jay watched this from afar. He had never heard of someone running away from Solon. It was either live out a restricted life or die. And Solon liked it that way. "He has too valuable information anyway," Solon went on. "If it gets in the hands of an enemy some lives could be at risk."

"Like you care about lives. You're just mad because he outsmarted you and now that you've found his whereabouts you want to kill him. You're really too predictable." Hieu made the pity 'tsk tsk' sound again. Then he smiled. "But I know that whatever I say won't stop you brazen fool from going. I'm here instead to offer up...an agreement."

Solon raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. "Really? Then do go on." Solon's hand swept back into their folded position.

Without Solon's arms covering the back of the podium, Jay was able to see the newspaper tucked away in the first shelf. It was from Gadoria and looked to be at least a few months old. Stamped out on the single sheet with bold letters was the headline: 'Widow Gives Up Proud Family Name.'

"I...will join the attack," said Hieu stoically. "But for only one purpose."

This caught Solon's interest. Hieu was a valuable assassin. Especially with his abnormal extra talent. "And the purpose is...?"

"You give me Jay and a few other of your little ninjas. Or in fact..." Hieu smirked. His grotesque scar splitting far enough to show the pulsing skin tissue beneath. "...just give me Jay."

Solon barked out laughing in a piercing burst. "Why would you want this brat?" Solon took Jay by roughly by the head and pulled him forward. He kept a hand tightly against Jay's head. "He's possibly the worst I've had to train yet! Constantly whining and crying. He's almost useless!"

Hieu's eyes almost seemed to soften before he spoke. The scar closing as Hieu opened his mouth to talk softly. "He doesn't belong with you Solon, that's why."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jay bolted awake. He looked around, seeing that he was in the safety of the crowded little carriage. Jay put his hand to his forehead. "Just a dream..." He looked out the carriage window. The sun was sinking towards the western part of the sky. The memory of Hieu surfaced recollections that Jay would have preferred to keep under. Jay had seen Hieu fall in the brutal attack...just before Solon grabbed Jay and threw him in as a shield to escape.

There was a murmuring coming from beside Jay. He looked over to his right so see Noyem curled up asleep. Poppo was under her head, as a brown furry pillow. Her eyes were fluttering in her sleep, a sign that she was having a dream herself.

Jay poked her in the arm. "Noyem, wake up. The carriage is slowing down. We must be close to...Noyem, just wake up." Jay kept poking her until finally he resorted to the most probable solution in the situation.

"NOYEM! OH MY GOD! GIANT SHRIMP PEOPLE ARE ATTACKING THIS GOOD LOOKING BUNCH OF GUYS! MAKOTO IS THERE TOO! HE'S BEING EATEN BY...um...A GIANT RED LOBSTER! HELP!"

"Where, where, where?" Noyem sprang up, knocking Poppo to the ground. She looked around frantically. "Where's the guys? Where's Makoto?" Poppo rubbed his eyes on the floor and asked sleepily. "Where the shrimp and lobster?"

"Where' what?" asked Jay innocently.

After a few moments of sleepy blinking Noyem finally understood what Jay had done. "You freaky MJ look-a-like, you ruined my dream! There were chocolate rainbows and chocolate clouds with chocolate trees and banana chocolate muffins with sugar. And there were cute men prancing in the chocolate meadows with chocolate ponytails...I mean chocolate, um..." Noyem shook her head. "Never mind."

Jay rolled his eyes. "Sorry I interrupted," he said without being sorry at all. "I thought you would be able to tell me if we're close or not." The carriage was on what seemed to be a private road. Mr. Rick's carriage was lined up behind them. There seemed to be a weird gut feeling turning inside Jay, like he should know where they are.

Noyem rolled over and grabbed Poppo off the floor. "I don't care, I just want a few more minutes of sleep..." Then Noyem stifled a yawn and reentered her chocolate and men filled dream.

Jay glanced out his window again. Farther ahead he could see a gate standing in the road. Jay squinted to see better. The gate was covered in chains, but not literally covered in them. The chains were a pattern on the gate. Golden replicas as decorations that sat along with the metal bars. At seeing them Jay looked down at his sleeve. His chains were in the same pattern as the gate's.

Without being told, Jay knew they were there.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AFTERWORD: SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY EVERYONE! I have been so lazy over this Thanksgiving break! I had to go shopping with Mom for Thanksgiving dinner (genetically transmuted cow taste just like turkey) and then deal with...shiver...grandparents. But I know what you're thinking. "But DragonQuester you had all those other weeks to write too!" Well, you're probably not really thinking that because you're not really reading this...but to answer your question little person in my head I was busy with school. The horrible thing had taken over my mind...and the scary part was...that it wasn't all that horrible. Lori (the leader of my social group: The Anime Freaks or better know as Those People Who Read Those Backwards Books and Laugh at Nothing All the Time) has finally accepted boys into out inner circle. Hallelujah! HALLELUJAH! Although their pasty skinned freaks who probably don't even have balls but hey, losers can't be choosers. ANYWAYS, I was going to Drama class one day (yes, I'm a drama nerd, hail Shakesbeard) and my drama teacher, Mrs. Moustache to keep her idenity safe, gave out the most hell bent project of all time:

Sewing.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I HATE SEWING I HATE SEWING I HATE SEWING! STUFF FIRE IN MY EYES! I HATE SEWING! Anyways, we have to make a puppet and in order to do that I have to SEW. I. Hate. Sewing. And that is totally ignoring the fact that I suck at it.

Jay: Bad at writing and sewing. Wow, you gotz no skillz.

Me: YES I DO!!! I gotz skillz!

Jay: What? Burping your ABC's?

Me: (Mumble how did he know? mumble) I can...play video games for ninety-nine hours straight without suffering long term eye damage!

Jay: Really?

Me: Yeah, once I get by the burning pain in my left pupil I'm just fine.

Well, along with the burning pain in my left eye I also have the pain of feeling horrible. I let all forty or less of you down. And since I killed my guilty conscience years ago I guess I'll pretend I have one by writing a shorty.
Tag, You're It

(Moses walks up to a can of Tag Bodyspray) Moses: MUHAHAHA! With this, all women everywhere will find me irresistable! (gets the Tag Bodyspray and sprays it in his armpits)

Chloe: You're as irresistible as a old man in a frat house. In fact- (sniff sniff) Mmmmm, what smells so good?

Norma: (sniff) I think it's Red.

Shirley: (sniff) Suddenly I want to...hug him.

Chloe: NO! My body isn't listening to me! It's going towards Moses! Someone stop me!!

Moses: MUHAHAHA! My plan is working all the babes want me! YAY!

Norma: Wait a minute, Noyem isn't reacting to the spray.

Noyem: Huh? Oh Moses has Tag Bodyspray on? Sorry, I have an immunity to it.

(Jay walks up while Shirley, Norma, and Chloe all jump on Moses. Looks at the Tag Bodyspray)Jay: What's this?

Noyem: Oh..it's, um, super MJ defying potion. Spray it on and everyone will stop calling you MJ Jr.

Jay: Okay (sprays it in his eye) AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! IT BURNS!

Noyem: Oh Jay! You smell so good! Let me hug you! (throws herself on Jay)

Jay: MY EYE IS MELTING IN ITS SOCKET!

Noyem: You must have sprayed yourself to attract me! Aw, you're so sweet, Jay!

Jay: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! THE HORRIFIC PAIN! MY EYE IS DYING!

And that's why you should never buy Tag Bodyspray, kids, thank you. Anyways, I have an important note to say. The real reason this came out late is because something was wrong with my account on For four days I wasn't able to log in and then the next day I wasn't able to post any documents. If a problem like that ever happens again I will alert all forty or less of you by...and this is gonna be lame...by posting a review. I can't think of any other way and I don't have all forty or less of you's email adress. And using up a whole chapter to say I'm gonna be late on the next chapter is really kinda lame too. So if you don't see a chapter for awhile go to reviews and check to see if there are any messages from me. Hopefully I won't have to use because now I'm gonna try to post these chapters up every two weeks or so. Thanks, and since I still feel really bad about being late here's a mini story I made up when I was burning all of my sewing equipment.

Fairy Tale Most Foul...And Gay

Once upon a time in a land we'll never know, because the damn government ruined the enviorment, there was a boy named Makoto. Makoto was a very sweet boy. He cleaned up after himself and never complained when the village idiot threw crap on him. But when Makoto started going through something called puberty, (you know, that thing we all want but once we get it, it sucks), he began to change. Superly change. One day, when Makoto was strolling down the street he noticed two magazines laying on the ground. One was labled PlayBoy (you know, the one with those pictures of women you wish you could be) and the other PlayGirl (you know, the one that you keep under your bed). Makoto noticed that he liked staring at PlayGirl more than PlayBoy. ThAt WaSn'T rIgHt! Then Makoto realized it, he was homosexual! Makoto hurried home to his sister.

"Sister, sister!" he cried. "I have a problem!"

Anne stopped refilling her tubes of I Can't Believe It IS Dead! tranquilizer. "You have had a thousand problems. Ever since you started sniffing paint."

"NO! This has nothing to do with the sniffing! I-I think I'm gay."

"Good for you," mumbled Anne. "That's not my problem."

"But..I thought you would try to help me, Sister Dearest!" said Makoto earnestly.

"I don't care," mumbled Anne again. "That's not my job."

"BUT IT IS OURS!!!!!!" Suddenly the wall to Makoto's kitchen caved in and a girl and dot walked in. "My name is Amanda! And this little dot is Emo Ant Emma!"

"Hello," said Emo Ant Emma.

"Our job is to help cute gays like you find other cute gays (and pick up some guys on the way for our needs ahem). Together we are. AMANDA AND EMO ANT EMMA ALLIANCE TO HELP CUTE GAYS!"

...And since I sent the rest to my friend (Amanda) and didn't save the document when I wrote it, I will leave you at that exciting part! The rest will be posted at the end of chapter 13. Well, that's all I can write out of carpal tunnel for now! But...THANK YOU CELECHAN FOR THE PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE HOW YOU DREW MAKOTO!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel like I should give you twenty dollars or something for drawing it, but I don't have that much and I have no way to send it to you. Anyways, THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!! And thank you to anyone who read this chapter! Sorry it came out so late! Bye bye, from Emo Ant Emma.