When she woke up, Nashi was lying on the cold ground of stone, her hands tied behind her back. The side of her face was sore and all she could smell was earth and the scent of people that she didn't know. Soon, her eyes adjusted to the darkness to find the dim glow of torches on the walls.

She could hear talking from a distance down the hall and recognized the voice of the guy who'd grabbed her. She tugged herself up, sitting with her back against a stone wall. Her eyes scanned the room. She had to find a way out of here and she had practiced this kind of thing a lot. When she spotted the vent just above her, she smirked. Easy.

She tilted her head up and said in a loud whisper, "Fire Dragon's Roar!" The heat spewed out of her mouth and hit the vent, blowing a hole around it and it rattled to the floor.

"Whoa, now, girly," said a sarcastic voice.

As the dust cleared, she saw the speaker in the dim light of the flames. A woman.

Oi, someone looks self-entitled, Nashi thought.

The woman was tall, her hair was a jet black and she wore a dress the same color, grabbing at her every curve. She held a feather quill in her hand and twirled it in between her fingers. She gave Nashi a condescending smile that the flame mage responded to with a sneer.

"Oh, touchy, are we?" She said with a tinkling little laugh.

A couple of guys and a dog had gathered to stand behind her and they laughed too.

"Who the hell are you?" Nashi said simply.

"Now, is that anyway to start a conversation?" She asked, tapping Nashi's nose with her quill.

"Oh, and I suppose tying someone up first is?" The pink-haired girl shot back.

The woman laughed. "I told you she'd have spirit. Just like her father."

"And what do you know about my Dad?" Nashi asked.

She shrugged. "Old friends, I guess you could say."

"You're the old friend that jerk brought up?" Nashi asked, nodding toward the thin guy with his odd smile. The one that had made her sleep.

She nodded. "That would be me. But, you wouldn't know me. I'd forgotten you weren't even born yet when I met your lovely parents. Your Mom was such a sweet girl."

Nashi sat up straighter. "You don't know anything about my Mom."

"And I suppose you do?" She asked, raising an eyebrow with a thin little grin. Her men chuckled.

Nashi glared at her. She was right. She didn't know much about her mother. All she knew was stories, but how the hell did this woman know that?

"I only met her once, but she was way more charming than your ... How do I put this... Coarse father," she said as she paced in the small room, her heels making little clicks as she stepped. "Why, now that I think about it, I met them the same day I found about your parents expecting a baby. Now isn't that nice?"

Nashi didn't respond, but her eyes grew into thinner slits.

"Actually, I wish I had been there the day you were born. I heard it was a very... Eventful day," she said, looking straight into her eyes with a grin that held nothing but contempt. No guilt. In fact...

Nashi ran this woman through her memories. She didn't know her at all, but this woman knew her. She knew a lot. She knew her Dad, her Mom, about the day she was born... Wait...

"What the hell do you mean by eventful?" Nashi said, her mind finally settling on one idea of who this woman could be.

"Why, I wish I had been there to see my handy work. Was her death as sudden as I had written it to be?"

There it is! The plot twist we've all been waiting for. I hope you guys all enjoy this chapter. I thought very carefully of how to put his part together, so I'm hoping it came out great.

The next chapter will be up before you know it.

Thanks for reading.

-J