Whoops... I told everyone yesterday you were getting another double today? I lied. I spaced and didn't realize that in posting yesterday's double and then this part today, I'd be all caught up. Oh well.

It is November, peeps! You know what this means? No? Okay, here's a list then. (As of right now. I may add more later.)

NaNoWriMo – Let's see if we can't get my word count from 150k to 200k.
Double Updates – Every Wednesday and Saturday, as opposed to the usual Wednesdays.
New Artwork – The Council drawing will be finished and I'll be starting on cdpict's request once it is. (The requests thing is still open, by the way.)

Anyway... Eh, I'm done for now.

Enjoy!

"You know, Dark, pranking emissaries of peace usually isn't the best way to start off negotiations." –Natalia

Chapter 2.12 – Race, Double Agent!
Part 21

Dark's POV

Mohs is a bastard. A rotten, slimy git of a bastard.

But I knew this already.

I should have expected him to pull something. Talking Ingobert into calling an emergency assembly without Natalia (and therefore without me to call his bullshit)? Completely believable, for him.

So I really shouldn't have been surprised when Natalia said we would be gathering in the audience hall to discuss the letter the next morning. And really, I wasn't surprised he had done it.

More that he had managed to do it so quickly.

I flipped the switch on my gun and smirked as it whirred to life, before I obediently put it away in the holster on my leg. Much as I'd love to shoot Mohs right through that inflated head of his, I don't think Natalia would appreciate the blood and brains smeared all over the floor that would come as a result.

"Ah, Jade. Enjoy your sleep?"

The withering glare he sent me only served to improve my mood... which was a good thing, since it plummeted every time I thought of Mohs. And to think, he'd probably be joining us in a few minutes.

"You know, Dark, pranking emissaries of peace usually isn't the best way to start off negotiations," Natalia said quietly.

I chuckled. "He's Kairi's brother. Besides... it's fun, watching him lose his cool," I replied just as quietly.

Jade's glare never shifted, and I just gave him my best attempt at an innocent smile.

All things considered, it probably looked like some evil demon had possessed me. I've been told many times that 'innocent' just doesn't get along with my face.

"Ah. Luke."

I glanced up and the smile faded into another glare. This time, the reason was obvious. Mohs.

I'll admit it. I spent most of the meeting lost in thought. That doesn't mean I didn't pick anything up, though.

I'm not sure what was up with Mohs and Ingobert, but the minute Natalia's father claimed there had been a request for aid in the letter from Malkuth, I had to stop and wonder.

I don't remember much of Kairi's explanation of Tales of the Abyss, but I do know one thing. Akzeriuth is where everything goes to hell. It's what Kairi, Asch, and Sync were trying to prevent... I think.

That worried me. No, I wasn't certain if whatever was going to happen in Akzeriuth was really what they were trying to stop. But if it was...

Kairi was currently playing double-agent.

Sync was somewhere in Baticul, probably with no idea how close we were to the upcoming disaster.

Asch was trapped onboard the Tartarus.

That meant that the only one of us free to act was me.

"Father, I really think I should go as an ambassador as well," Natalia said, breaking me out of my thoughts. I frowned. If Natalia went, I'd at least have a damn good excuse for going.

"No."

I raised an eyebrow. 'Any more forceful and I'd have to call you out on it, Your Majesty,' I commented in my head. 'As it is...'

I noted the look on Natalia's face. I knew that look. That was her scheming look.

A scheming Natalia is a dangerous Natalia.

Which meant we'd probably be going anyway.

"You become a lot more cooperative when Van is involved."

"Shut up."

I smirked, even though I was really starting to regret not paying attention. Because really, what did Van have to do with anything? I'd know if I hadn't decided to think instead of listen.

"Very well. Luke, who do you wish to take with you? You should take Guy with you as your personal attendant." Duke Fabre said.

Luke glanced up at me, and I nodded to Natalia ever so slightly. He sighed and shook his head. "If Guy and Master Van are coming, I guess there's really no one else to ask for. Dark needs to stay with Natalia," he said. Mohs nodded.

"The Order wishes to send Tear and Van with you as well," he said.

I crossed my arms. "Give me an hour. I'll see if I can't get Reighn and Sync in too," I said. My own way of trying to stall the leaving group.

Mohs turned to me in surprise. "Sync?"

I ignored him. Thankfully, so did everyone else.

"Alright, then. I'll inform everyone to meet outside the inn, on the lower levels. Is that alright with everyone here?" Ingobert asked. I nodded along with Luke, Jade, and Tear.

Natalia and I left with the others, and once we were out in the lobby, Luke stopped us all.

"I'm going to go see Master Van. Dark... Were you being serious about Reighn and Sync?" he asked. I nodded.

"Yeah. I can't really leave Natalia... but I'd been planning on tracking them down anyway," I said. "Besides, green and blue hair should stand out in a crowd."

Jade adjusted his glasses. "I'm going to go look into something. Do you all mind if we meet up in twenty minutes to discuss it? If I'm right, it shouldn't be a problem if Sync and Reighn don't hear it," he said. Luke shrugged.

"That's fine with me. I'm going to go see Master Van now," he replied, before turning and walking off. I huffed at his impatience, only to have Natalia catch my sleeve as I attempted to walk away myself.

Jade and Tear made themselves scarce, thankfully, and I looked over at the blonde I was supposed to protect.

"I'm going to try to talk Luke into letting me come with him," she said quietly. "There's a box under your bed... with an early birthday present in it. You might want to go look before you leave. I'll meet you down on the lower levels."

I sighed, a little over-dramatically. "I'm not talking you out of this, am I?" I asked. Natalia smirked, and I chuckled. "Sorylle? Stay with Natalia, and stay out of trouble."

Sorylle growled back, and I stuffed my hands in my pockets before nodding once to Natalia and heading back up to my room.

My birthday was still a couple weeks off, yes, but Natalia probably had the right idea. We'd still be in Malkuth by the time it came around, so she was trying to make sure I didn't feel forgotten.

Honestly, it felt weirder knowing I had a present.

It didn't take long, rooting around under my bed, to find the box. Rather large, all things considered, but when I opened it up, I understood why.

And had to resist the urge to break down crying.

The white coat and blue turtleneck combo I'd been wearing since becoming her bodyguard had been a matter of her telling me to buy something that wasn't completely black, or else. And Alpine and a lot of others thought it was wrong that the Princess' bodyguard wouldn't wear even an officer's uniform.

Natalia must have ordered them months ago, but the clothes in the box meant a lot more to me than most would guess.

I started changing automatically, stripping off loose black pants to exchange them for form-fitting white before pulling my boots back on, over them. My worn black holsters and straps were replaced with new, more comfortable brown. A light blue button-down shirt got tucked in so it wouldn't get between me and my guns, which slipped into their new holsters like they'd always been there.

But it was the coat that really had me on the brink of tears. It was black, sleeveless, long, had a hood and pockets, and best of all?

Stitched on the back in gold was the insignia of House Lanvaldear, the symbol of Kimlasca.

I donned the coat with pride before frowning at the long sleeves of my shirt and rolling them up. Then, after tucking the box away back under the bed, I headed back out, passing Natalia on the way.

And stopped just inside the doors to eavesdrop.

"I've been informed of the situation. When do we leave?" I heard Van ask. This is the reason why I stopped to eavesdrop.

"Jade says he has a proposal about that," Guy said. Probably something to do with what he mentioned earlier.

"I'm a little uncomfortable telling Dorian General Grants about it, but... Oh well." Yeah, oh well. We're stuck with him. "Oracle ships are watching the Central Ocean. It's likely an attempt by the Grand Maestro faction to interfere."

I frowned at that, even as Tear seemed ready to argue.

"It's a fact," Jade said, cutting her off. "Well, we don't know it's the Grand Maestro faction. At any rate, going by sea would be dangerous."

"Then what do we do?" Luke asked. I crossed my arms. What, indeed. Wait...

"Let's send a ship out as a decoy while we head to Chesedonia by land. The Rotelro Sea past Chesedonia is under Malkuth's control. It won't be difficult to head for Kaitzur by ship," Jade said. I frowned. By land... And Sync was mentioning the factory? Damn...

"What?!"

I turned my attention outward again. "It's been announced that I'll be part of the aid team, yes? The Oracle Knights are more likely to consider the ship to contain the true group if I am onboard," Van was saying. I frowned.

"That's fine with me. We have no choice but to trust you regardless of what we do," Jade said. I wasn't comfortable, though.

Van's argument seemed to be a good one, but... What if it was just an excuse to reach Akzeriuth before us and set up a trap?

Somehow, that wouldn't surprise me.

I stood there thinking about it long enough that Natalia came down and stood next to me, just in time to hear an interesting bit of tease material for later.

"Hey, don't give people the wrong idea. I love women!" Guy cried in response to something Luke had said.

"I'm not sure shouting declarations that you're a womanizer is much better..." Tear said, though it was a little difficult to hear. Natalia and I exchanged looks before we broke down into laughter.

"Come on, we've still got half an hour before we meet the others. We should go see your mother before we leave," we heard Tear say. I nodded once, then waiting for the voices to go away, before I turned to Natalia.

"They're splitting up," I said immediately. "Van's going by ship to draw the attention of the Oracle ships in the Central Ocean. The rest are going by land."

"You've only got half an hour to find Sync and Reighn now, though," she said. I shrugged.

"I'm getting a bad feeling about all of this. If I'm right, they'll be waiting for us," I said. "Let's just get going."

The two of us left the castle then, heading down to the lifts and going straight down to the bottom level. Where I immediately noticed something wrong.

"Hey, Natalia. I might not be the brightest liger in the pack, but I'm pretty sure God-Generals on the bridge means we're not going that way."

Natalia huffed. "And which two God-Generals are those, again?" she grumbled. I frowned.

"The one in pink is Arietta the Wild. We'll have to be careful, she's got an entire liger clan behind her. The other... I'm not sure. She's one of the new ones, though. Let's see... Flick the Phoenix took over the fifth division after Sync left... I'm pretty sure Kairi said her uniform was purple, not blue. Um... No one's reclaimed control over special operations... It's got to be the girl they've put in charge of the Intelligence Division, then," I said, thinking out loud. Then I frowned. "Why does she look familiar...?"

"Because she's my little sister."

Natalia and I turned to the intrusion, and had to stop and stare. Rather than the light blue coat, lighter blue pants, and dark blue half-cape he'd been wearing the first time we'd seen him, Reighn was wearing a dark blue coat, dark gray turtleneck underneath, and... light blue pants. Well, at least that didn't change.

"You're... Reighn, was it?"

The man raised an eyebrow. "When did you...?"

"Kairi," I said simply. The sharp intake of breath that followed that almost made me frown.

"Then, she is alive?" I nodded, and Reighn let out a relieved sigh. "Good. Because I need to sit down and start apologizing."

Natalia and I looked at each other before we looked at Reighn. "What do you mean?" Natalia asked. Reighn stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"It's my fault Kairi was kidnapped. Also, my fault Sync got beaten to death, literally, by his original. Which means Asch's capture and imprisonment is also on my shoulders. Add to that the fact that I never realized my little sister was reporting on me to Mohs... Yeah. I've got a lot of stuff to fix," he said, not once making eye contact with us.

And not because he was lying. I knew that tone of voice. That was shame. That couldn't be faked, not easily. But still...

"And what makes you think all of that is your fault?" Natalia asked.

This time, Reighn looked up, somehow managing to look her in the eye even though it was obvious he didn't want to. At all.

"I was known for three things during my time as an Oracle Knight. Becoming the youngest Head of the Fon Master Guardians, being a perpetual pessimist, which, in addition to my preference for artes that use the fourth fonon, earned me the nickname of 'Raincloud,' and..." he paused, taking a deep breath. "If anyone wanted information on anyone else within the Order, I was the one to go to, because I'd give it freely. If you wanted information on someone outside the Order, you'd have to pay for it, but I'd get it."

Reighn stopped, let his head drop, and took a few moments to just breath before he looked up again. This time, at me.

"I was reporting on Kairi for months before Van suddenly decided he had enough. Exactly two weeks before Kairi was 'assassinated.'"

Natalia and I were quiet for a while, Natalia in shock and horror, and myself?

I knew the kind of position he was in.

"It was for her, wasn't it?"

Reighn nodded once. "Aerith's all I have left. And then to find out she was reporting to Mohs all along..."

I crossed my arms, looked out at the two girls on the bridge, and nodded to myself. "Well, I guess that settles it. We'd better head for the factory," I said. "Where's Sync?"

Reighn shrugged. "He's waiting for us in the factory. Not sure why, since Aerith and Arietta didn't show up until about twenty minutes ago, but... oh well."

I chuckled. "It has to do with Kairi."

Reighn snorted. "Somehow, that doesn't surprise me in the least."

Natalia sighed. "Nor me."

"Guys? Factory?"

Reighn nodded, pulling out a wing pack, probably to grab a weapon. "Lead the way."

Fun Fact: Dark's new outfit was a culmination of 'I want him to have something new' and 'What should Natalia give him for his birthday?' The sad part is, everyone's had their outfits for so long now that I'm getting tired of them and trying to make new ones... Except for Kairi's, because I've got another two or three already drawn up for her, she won't need a new one until AETT.