Ugh, I have been just dang slow on this story that it is just unbelievable! I've been rather busy lately and I've been going to bed about an hour earlier than usual, cutting down my typing time, but I need the sleep! Sleep is good...and so is food...

And why does school have to start at 7:20? At least it's not six o'clock…

Altair decided when it was time to leave and the two stepped out of the bureau to the Madrasah al-Kalahsah.

It being Damascus, the day was dusty and dry and hot with a blistering sun and scorching wind. Why oh why, dear gods and goddesses of this world, must Syria be so blistering hot, with the only relief being the intermittently-planted trees that were deemed more as a mere decoration than a useful tool of that oh-so comforting shade? But no, no. Instead the only other source of shade were the buildings themselves, and one dared not to touch the walls of the buildings exposed to that brilliant, blinding sun, for no doubt you'd erupt into flames and incinerate the very instance that one, tiny, diminutive appendage made physical contact with the inanimate object.

But, with the white robes, Altair didn't feel quite as hot as the men and women wearing the dark-colored clothes, such as browns and dark blues. So with the protection of the robes worn soft over the years of use, getting to the destination was easy. Nemo may have been extremely uncomfortable but she wouldn't let herself be left behind.

The Madrasah al-Kalahsah reminded Altair much of Abu'l Nuquod's former palace. It was large and elaborate and obviously didn't want anybody inside, considering the sheer number of guards patrolling around it, as well as the ones on the rooftops and any other entrances. There was also a large plume of smoke rising from the building's inner courtyard that was similar to the other street fires all around the city.

Nemo balled her sleeve into her hand and rose her hand to her nose, saying, "I can't stand the smell of smoke."

"We've got larger problems than that," Altair said without looking at her, gazing up at the guards peering over the rooftops. "It'll be difficult to get up."

"It's always difficult to get up to," Nemo retorted and urged him forward. "But I think there's a spot in the back that has a current breakage of guards. I noticed it on the way over here."

"Are you sure?"

"No, I'm not sure, but it's worth checking. Guards may have just been trading places, but there's always a way to get up a rooftop. Or at least inside of the building."

"We could break in, but there's no telling who's inside."

"Again, I wish I could fly."

Once they reached the back end of the building, Nemo had been correct, and there were no guards on the eastern corner of the building. For precaution, Altair waited for any patrols to come around the back, and as he expected, a whole platoon of them did. He figured that he and Nemo had about three minutes to get to the top, which was going to be slightly difficult. On the adjacent buildings were more archers that would most likely spot them, and not only that, but the Madrasah al-Kalahsah had intermittently placed footholds that were already small to begin with. One slip and he'd have to be scraped up off of the desert floor.

He decided that it would be easier to rid the other buildings of their archers before scaling the Madrasah al-Kalahsah.

Quietly scampering up the building, Altair snuck behind an archer and slid his blade into his chest while covering his mouth. When the man went limit, he eased down his body and quickly dragged him out of the sight in case the second archer turned in his direction. Once he 'stashed' the body by dropping it into a cart full of hay, he returned to the second archer and threw a knife.

It hit the walking archer in the stomach and he folded over, staggering for a moment before collapsing. Altair picked the man up bridal-styled and threw him down into an alleyway to make it look as if he simply slipped and fell.

Altair stepped onto a wooden beam running from one building to the next and sprinted across it before stabbing another archer in the neck and catching up with another. He was successful with clearing one area and silently climbed down a ladder to make it seem as if he was simply just a man doing work on a rooftop. With nobody realizing the recent murders, he nonchalantly met back up with Nemo, who had a small amount of blood on the side of her face that she hastily wiped off.

"You should be good," Nemo began, "but we can't really do much about the guys that are most likely on the inside."

"We'll adapt," Altair said and began to climb the building.

Once he reached the top after slipping a few times due to the unnatural amount of sand that collected on the sides over the years, he and Nemo quickly got down into a sheltered area that was already five stories above the ground. It was a sort of enclosed balcony that gave a full view of the courtyard and was blocked off by a thin latticework with vines overgrowing on the edges.

Down below was, as expected, a huge roaring fire burning dozens and dozens of books all at once. There were people-scholars-dressed in blue robes with golden lining, along with indigo hoods that covered most of their faces. The men were throwing books into the fires as another man came striding at an amazingly fast pace. "Every single one of these texts must be destroyed!" he bellowed.

The men turned their gazes toward him for a moment, completely oblivious of Altair and Nemo watching and listening from the uppermost balcony. They were hidden by the latticework and vines and were in shadows, so they were practically invisible with their distance and height included.

"Please, my friend, you mustn't do this!" Some poor, poor yet brave soul stepped in front of Jubair and blocked him from walking any further. "These words and knowledge, our ancestors wrote them for good reasons."

Jubair, behind his hood, had an immediate scowl. He rose his hand as if he was about to hit the man, but stopped him at the last moment. He said, "What reason is this?"

"They're beacons, they're meant to guide us, meant to save us from the darkness that it ignorance."

"These bits of paper are covered in lies!" he extravagantly gestured to the fire. "You can't even hope to see the world as it is as long as these books exist." He walked by the scholar, but the man was persistent and went back into his path.

Altair watched with keen eyes and agreed with the scholar as he said, "How can you accuse these scrolls of being weapons? They're tools of learning, my friend."

"You turn to them for answers and salvation. You rely more upon them than yourselves. That makes you weak and stupid, 'friend.' You trust in drops of ink."

Damn right, we trust in drops of ink, Nemo thought to herself. You know what? We also trust in non-crazy people who think rationally and won't go around flaunting with their strange clothes. Seriously, when will I finally meet a guy who isn't a transvestite?

The two bickered for a while longer. Jubair was getting more and more frustrated at the tenacious man and once the scholar came around to block his path again, he relaxed and a strange smile formed on his face as he said, "So you love these books?"

"Yes."

"You would do anything for them?"

"Y…yes, my friend."

"Then join them!" Jubair roughly pushed the scholar into the fire.

The man screamed and flailed as the fire burnt his clothes surprisingly quickly. He died quickly after due to the inhalation of the fire and smoke that must have instantly burnt his airways.

"Anyone else who speaks as he is just as much a threat," Jubair said and addressed the other scholars that were wide-eyed with surprise. "Do any else among you wish to challenge me?"

As expected, his answer was silence.

"Good. Your orders are simple enough. Go out into the city. Collect any remaining writings and add them to the fires in the streets. We'll send a cart to collect them, that they may be destroyed."

All of the scholars left and Jubair followed them. The entrance doors were closed and the only way out was the way back in.

Nemo and Altair were both shocked at what Jubair just committed and now had another reason to rid him and his scholars. There had been five in total, including Jubair, though it now seems that Altair has several targets instead of just one.

"This is not going as I had planned," Altair stated.

"When does it ever? No freebee running I see," Nemo said and looked at the body in the fire that was now beginning to cook. She recoiled slightly at it. "So now that you have five people to get, what should I do?"

"Come with me. You're not totally useless, you know."

"Gee thanks, Miss Werewolf, one of the world's most rarest species of animals, at your disposal, Mr. Assassin."

Somehow her sarcasm brought a smile to his face despite the grimness of what just happened.

Altair knew that in order to find the scholars, and ultimately Jubair, he had to follow the smoke plumes. They were easy enough to find against the bright-blue sky but the scholars most likely had protection while they preached to people about the books.

Altair decided that it was safer to reach them by rooftop, and after a few minutes of sprinting, he found the first scholar. He was in an enclosed area that had two archers atop and two guards guarding the entrance. There was a crowd of people listening to what he was saying and didn't see Altair.

Altair told Nemo to stay were she was and he perched himself on a beam high above the archers that would think to look anywhere but up. He threw a knife and disappeared out of sight before it hit the blue-robed scholar. When he heard a large choir of screams, he signaled with his hand for Nemo to come and they hastily started to make their way to the next plume of smoke. But, with the man assassinated while he had four guards on patrol in a secured location, news was going to spread quickly and patrols were soon to increase.

They couldn't waste any time, and with more and more books being burned, Altair ordered Nemo to seek out two of the scholars on the eastern side of Damascus and kill them silently without arousing any suspicion. She took off quickly and they both started to run in opposite directions. Altair hated it whenever he had to rush to do a mission. And to think, instead of rushing to save someone's life, he was rushing to save books. Definitely not something on his 'kick the bucket' list.

Altair found a scholar that he was looking for and took out a throwing knife, watching it sail straight through the air and stick itself into the man's back. He let out a yelp before falling to the ground, and the crowd began to flee from the scene. He escaped before the guards looked in his direction and now decided to go to the last man, whom was most likely Jubair. It was the last smoke signal in western Damascus and he sprinted to it, seeing that it was an open area this time. There were at least fifty people surrounding the area while Jubair, as Altair saw, addressed the crowd and spoke loudly to them. Three guards were standing around a burning cart, to the left, and the center to protect Jubair. Three more archers were above him, and two where Altair was heading.

Altair dove into a roof garden and waited for the archer to pass. When he saw a shadow against the cloth covering the garden, he reached out and swiftly grabbed the man around the waist, stabbing him in the back while he dragged him into the garden out of sight. He waited in silence to hear if the other archer saw or her heard him, but upon there being the repetitive noise of human footsteps, he got out from the garden and approached him from behind. When he was close enough, he stealth assassinated him and kicked him off the roof into a secluded street to get him out of the way more than to avert attention elsewhere.

With the other three archers not being able to see him due to the fact that he was now hidden behind a crane that supported a few piece of wood near a scaffolding, Altair took out another throwing knife and sent it flying through the air. As he had expected, it hit the Jubair straight in the gut.

At first no one seem to notice until Jubair let out a funny-sounding noise and gripped the knife. When they did notice, they all evacuated, and the guards went onto high alert. The other three archers got their bows ready and the guards below stood in a defensive stance.

Altair nearly jumped when he heard loud barking from a distance. The guards below and the archers all started running in one direction and Altair grinned to himself. "Nemo, you wolf," he muttered, thinking it rather clever of her to cause a distraction for his convenience.

With the once-busy area now empty, he leapt down and walked to Jubair, whom was now laying on the ground on his back with a large pool of blood beginning to form. He was still alive and was in shock with a wide-eyed expression, his hands were suspended in the air around the knife as if he wasn't quite sure what to do. He managed to squeak out the word 'why.'

"It isn't right to punish someone for thinking what they do, no matter how much we disagree," Altair responded, kneeling down to the man.

"Then what?"

"You of all people should know the answer," he said and now heard distance yells of people. Nemo must have gone into the streets, either that or collected half of the city's guards. "Educate them; teach them right from wrong. It's knowledge that frees them, not force."

"They don't learn…they are naïve, fixed in their ways…" he started to cough up blood and was having difficulty to stay awake.

"You're wrong," Altair replied.

"Am I not unlike these precious books you seek to save? A source of knowledge in which you disagree, yet you're rather quick to steal my life."

"A small sacrifice to save many."

Jubair smiled a bit and started talking about the Crusaders and their books, and how they 'leave death in their wake.' Quite frankly, the assassin was surprised that Jubair could even talk as much as he was. After a moments, he said, "It doesn't matter now…your deed is done, and so is mine…"

"Hang on a little longer. There is something else I must ask you before you go."

"What is it?"

"Do you know anything about wolves? About wolves being guardians?"

He coughed up a little more blood and grinned a toothy smile, saying, "Wolves? Heh, you'll see on the night of the lunar eclipse…when your precious guardian makes the bond…."

"What eclipse? What bond?

But Jubair died before he could answer. Altair closed the man's eyes and smeared the bird feather in his blood, then recognized his own frustration and put a scowl on his face.

The new visage was soon wiped away when Nemo came sprinting back and, as usual, she grabbed him and flung him on her back again.

Altair was troubled, to say the least. He wouldn't confront Nemo with whatever this strange new matter was, no; he would save that for later. If she knew something about a 'lunar eclipse,' no doubt she'd have told him. She's also never hinted anything about anything special, such as the bizarre mentioning of a bond, or a guardian. Sure, Nemo was protective of her friends and would do practically anything to save them-such is the nature of canines among their close ones-and she has bonded very closely to her friends, but Altair knew that Jubair meant 'bond' in a different sense, with a different purpose. But what he and Sibrand meant by their strange words baffled him. Maybe Al Mualim knows.

That Piece of Eden Al Mualim holds to closely to himself…if it really does have all of the power he claims it to have, then maybe he knows something about wolves. Should he ask him when he returns to Masyaf this time? Should he ask him after all of the targets are destroyed? There is only one more; Robert de Sable. He wouldn't have to wait long, surely, but even with the amount of patience that he's learned to gain over the past four months or so, he wouldn't know how long it would be for it to really irk him. He knew it was important, he knew that it was something special. He knew that werewolves are more than Nemo knows, but he doesn't know why. Altair realized that every time he kills, only more and more questions pile upon each other. The more he asks for answers, the more confused he is. Al Mualim made riddles, difficult ones, at that, and hesitates to answer. It took him three months to get one answer out of the man, and he might not even know anything about wolves or the matter. That only frustrated him even more as he ate the couscous that the rafiq served.

While they ate dinner, even though the rafiq and Nemo were speaking, Altair only heard their voices, not their words. He was too lost in thought to think about their sentences. He even missed Nemo say his name three times while he drank from his cup.

"Yo, Alty!" Nemo said and flailed her left arm extravagantly at him.

He flicked his eyes to her.

"Wow, talk about oblivious. You okay?"

He gave her an odd look. "Of course I am alright. Why?"

"Wow, I didn't know you get that absent-minded. I just called your name thrice." She leaned back in her chair.

"I was just thinking, that's all," replied Altair as he took another sip from his cup.

"Eh, that's typical," the werewolf said and spooned at the couscous.

He hesitated for a moment before saying, "Nemo, where you ever a…guardian?"

"A guardian of what?"

"Markoh? The other dogs?"

"Markoh was my guardian, technically. If I didn't have parents he'd eventually become my legal guardian. The dogs were just my friends. Why?"

"I was just thinking about something, that's all."

Her gaze narrowed at him. "I don't believe you…again. You always look like you're troubled about something." She spooned at the couscous again.

Altair paused in thought.

"Well? Are you?"

"I…never mind." He saved himself from even more awkwardness than the situation got him into by serving him a couple more spoonfuls of the rice-like food.

Nemo rolled her eyes and continued with the meal. She switched her thoughts to their next inevitable target; Robert de Sable, in Jerusalem. From there, things will either go uphill or downhill. She was already beginning to have the thoughts about Al Mualim after Robert falls, and what he will attempt to do to Altair. She was thinking that she'd probably die in the process of the entire last boss-battle. That'd be scary.

The corndog played a violin to hundreds and hundreds of bottles of ketchup and mustard while a T-bone steak was screaming something in Finnish at a gothic-dressed waffle. The chicken nuggets in the corner were head banging until all the crusty goodness was shaken off of them and nothing was exposed but white meat as the marinated pickles flaunted around with their mini-skirts as the nightclub's 'fog,' made from dry ice, filled the floor. Blue strobe lights caused the psychotic salami to put on a hockey mask while starting a chainsaw and he started sawing all of the tables in half, in doing so causing the nightclub to really have its name apply to itself; Pandemonium (it was a dream). But alas, just as the FBI-as in Federal Bacon Industry-broke down the doors to deliver pancakes to all of the shrimp, there was an earthquake, and the ground sudden fell beneath from everything's…bottoms. And, just as they were all descending into the pits of a fiery inferno…

"Wake up," Altair ordered, shaking her a little harder.

With a scowl, Nemo opened her eyes at him. "I'm awake, you moron," She said sluggishly and took in a deep breath, sitting upright. She began thinking of a line from 'The Simpson's' and decided to relate it to Altair, thinking, 'I'm going to kill you, bury you in a shallow grave, then raise you from the dead so that I can kill you again. That was such an awesome dream that I was having.'

The sun was barely beginning to rise. She yawned and pinched the bridge of her nose as Altair threw her a piece of what she guess to have been uncooked mutton. She quietly thanked him and tiredly ate the bloody meat, and they both left the bureau with the rafiq probably still asleep upstairs.

The plus with leaving as early as they did was that nobody was out in the streets, and all of the guards were on the rooftops, so they were allowed to quickly make it to the front gates. They snuck by the guards and voila, 'tis freedom on the range, granted Crusaders don't try to march over them.

Or chase them, in that matter.

They reached Masyaf at what must have been about seven at night. Altair actually looked confident; there was a strange straightness to his stride. He must have felt much accomplishment after successfully killing eight of the nine targets. With one left, there was probably nothing that was going to stop him now. He had gotten too far and would hurdle himself through sharp-pointed obstacles if he had to. But maybe one of the main equations in that would be the undying loyalty he has towards Al Mualim...

Al Mualim usually looked wide awake whenever they saw him, but today he looked really bashed up, complete with dark rings underneath his eyes. He seemed to glare at Nemo for a moment before looking at Altair, and stood up. The man looked beyond tired, but at the thought that one of the names could be scratched off of his list, his visage changed to one of a proud father. "My student…my boy…we are close," he said. "Robert de Sable is now all that stands between us and victory. With him dies the knowledge of the Templar treasure, and any threat he might pose."

"I still don't understand how a simple bit of treasure could cause so much chaos," said Altair.

"It is temptation given forth," Al Mualim said and walked around his desk to its front. "Merely look at what it's done to Robert; once he tasted its power, the thing consumed him." He looked at Nemo and kept his gaze on her as he continued saying, "It is not a dangerous weapon to be destroyed, but a tool, one that would help him realize his life's ambition…and something much more."

"He dreamed of power, then?" Altair asked.

Al Mualim took his gaze off of Nemo. "Yes, I know…he dreams and he still dreams…like us, of peace."

"But this is a man who sought to see the Holy Land consumed by war."

"No, Altair; how can you not see when you're the one that opened my eyes to this?"

"What do you mean?"

"He and his followers want a world in which all men are united. I do not despise his goal, I share it, but the means are the issue. Peace is embraced, my boy…"

"He'd force it," Altair said.

"And rob us of our freewill in the process."

"Strange…to think of him in this way."

"Never harbor hate for you victims, Altair; such thoughts are poison, and will cloud your judgment. I spoke to him in my way, through you and Nemo, but he has chosen to ignore us."

"Then there's only one thing left to do."

"Jerusalem is where you'll find and face him. Let this final offering give you strength…and tomorrow, you shall go. It's time to finish this."

This guy really is an idiot, Nemo thought to herself. The looks that he gave her definitely indicated something. Did he mean that Robert wanted her as a weapon? That the Templars knew something about werewolves and wanted her on their side? Or was he hinting something else…that he was using her as a weapon? She wanted to slap herself in the face. Of course she was being used as a weapon! Altair was the pawn, and so was everybody else. Altair used her as a weapon too, which she didn't mind considering how useful she could be at times…except the 'side effects' of her personality…but Altair was different. He was her friend, but Al Mualim…well, things weren't going to go very good, that was definite. After this next week is over with, she'd get to see who killed who.

She would also see Altair's heart break.

Altair began to walk back to his room with his newly-cleaned clothes bundled up in his right arm. He was wearing brown pants tucked into leather boots and a green tunic with a red sash tied around his waist. He eyed a bird that fluttered nearby and listened to it chirp before it flew off with another bird and out of sight. He sighed and put his eyes back on the ground. Something just wasn't right.

'Something just wasn't right?' Of course, none of this seemed right. Only from the start did the killings seem just. Through time, his target's words made him really contemplate. Now he was utterly confused and in a turmoil over everything. Several months ago he had just been executed in front of the entire Brotherhood by Al Mualim, and somehow Al Mualim either brought him back to life or did one of his weird tricks. A week later he met a creature that honestly really shouldn't exist. A week after that, he started to become troubled by his target's words. A week after that, things began to go out of control in a sense. All of his targets claimed that what they were doing was right, and that they were both the same since both believed in what they were doing. At first he didn't believe it-he didn't want to-but he slowly began to realize that since he and his targets do believe that what they're doing is just, they are the same.

So that would make him a hypocrite, but if he was saving hundreds and possibly even thousands of lives by killing a few, wouldn't he be better? Wouldn't he be the one who is just? But no, the Assassins and the Templars had the same goal; peace in all things, end of all wars. But 'violence begets violence,' does it not? How can peace possibly be achieved through war, through murdering, through bloodshed? More importantly, who's going to be the winner in the outcome? If the Assassins win, they'll have their way, and change won't go in the direction that the Templars want. But if the Templars win, then what? What change would they bring? Would Altair survive the change, or would he have to flee, or stand and fight? Would Masyaf-the home of the Templars' main enemy-fall, and if Masyaf was wiped from the world, then what would he do? Escape and live elsewhere?

But that didn't seem right. They were working to stop the Templars from having their way, for if they did, then thousands upon thousands of people would die, and their freewill would also be killed in the process. At least that's what he believed.

There's was too many things to think about and far too many variables in every single situation that his brain just shut down and he pinched the bridge of nose, leaning back against a wall. He opened his eyes and stared at the wall adjacent from him, imagining it burning or broken to the ground, possibly with a few bodies beneath it. Yes, that is what he was preventing. That was precisely it.

So Robert was in Jerusalem, that's where he'd go, and that's where he would find out the truth about everything. Go there, listen to Malik bicker with him, and this entire thing would be over with. That's the plan now.

And the following morning, while preparing Seema, he couldn't help but notice the fact that he almost didn't want to go. Oh, how he had grown in the past few months. He realized his past arrogance, the haughtiness that he had blind to, and he finally saw all of it. How his damn pride had cursed him. Maybe things would be better now, when he breaks the Templars, and when he can have a normal life.

Pft, normal? What part of any of this is normal?

Seema neighed loudly and attempted to rear, startled by a rat that scampered by her hooves. Altair shushed her and spoke to her in a quiet voice, gently stroking her snout to calm her. The frightened expression in her eyes subsided and he let out a sigh of relief. He didn't want to be kicked by a horse ever again. In fact, he had several bad experiences with horses, including being bucked off, kicked, stepped on, nearly trampled, eaten by (why did they like assassin hoods?), and a few other unthinkable things. At least, after he punched Seema, she never tried to eat his robes again…

The white stallion didn't waste any time in walking out of her stall and followed Altair into the blinding sunlight. Fath and Nemo were behind him and were apparently having a full-fledged conversation with each other. They walked to those gigantic wooden gates of Masyaf and quickly rode off to Jerusalem.

Altair caught himself becoming distracted again and focused on the hilly path. It was always a long haul for the horses, but they always managed to get through the tough terrain.

So this is the last man? Fath asked.

Nemo was talking softly to the horse to prevent Altair from hearing. He was thankfully riding in front of her as they ran towards Jerusalem, which was now coming into view. "Yeah, just this guy, but what he doesn't know is that it won't be him."

Why? Will someone replace him?

"Yeah." Nemo slowed down Fath as Seema went to a walking pace. They all put on low profiles as guards and small groups of soldiers walked past them. Masses of people were leaving Jerusalem all at once and made swerving around them rather difficult.

When they reached the stables, they managed to sneak past the guards by blending in with a group of merchants that were entering. The guards were wary of everyone and were being careful with whom they let into the city or not. One of them even started bickering with an innocent scholar and made up quite a scene when he threatened to kill him and took out his sword to show that he was serious.

Nemo felt somewhat excited at seeing Malik again. It'd been a few weeks and he was probably still working on his maps, which to Nemo, always seemed like a strange hobby. Since the loss of his arm he couldn't possibly work as an assassin, so being a bureau leader and a cartographer is a good fallback.

The moment they strode in, Malik surprised both of them by saying, "Safety and peace, Altair and Nemo."

"Upon you as well," Altair replied.

"It seems fate has a funny way with things."

"So it's true, then? Robert de Sable is in Jerusalem."

"I've seen the knights myself."

"Only misfortune follows that man. If he's here it's because he intends ill. I won't give him the chance to act."

"Do not let vengeance cloud your thoughts, brother. We both know no good can come of it."

"I've not forgotten. You've nothing to fear; I do not seek revenge, but knowledge."

"Truly you are not the man I once knew," Malik said and made a gesture with his hand.

"My work has taught me many things, revealed secrets to me…but there are still pieces of this puzzle I do not possess."

"What do you mean?"

"All the men we've laid to rest have worked together, united by this man. Robert has desires upon the land, this much I know for certain, but how and why, when and where. These things remain out of reach."

"Crusaders and Saracens working together?" Malik said and started to slowly pace back and forth behind the counter, how he and the other rafiqs usually do. Maybe their lack of open space made them want to move around a bit?

"They are none of these things, but something else; Templars."

"The Templars are a part of the Crusader army," Malik said, almost reasoning.

"Or so they like King Richard to believe. No, their only allegiance is to Robert de Sable and some mad idea that they will stop the war."

"It's been a strange day."

"You have no idea, Malik." Nemo said, loving the look she got from Altair. She loved taking the exact words right out of his mouth.

"Can you tell us where they've been seen?" Altair asked. "We should be after him before he slips away."

Okay, so another three places; a hospital, a church, and a guard tower. They should hopefully be easy enough to find, but probably not nearly as easy as gigantic plumes of smoke. Those nice little indicators are going to be greatly missed.

"We'll be as quick as we can," Altair said.

"Stay safe, my friends," Malik said and looked back down at his map.

Outside, Altair asked Nemo, "How did you do that?"

"How'd I do what?"

"I'm pretty sure there's been more than one encounter I've had with you saying precisely what I was about to say, even thinking."

"Eh, I just do that sometimes. It tends to freak people out."

"How do you do it?"

"Maybe I just know you too well."

He looked at her. "Well, quite frankly, it does…'freak' me out."

"All in a day's work," she said and made a gesture with her arms. "So, where to first?"

"We'll try the church southwest of here. Once this is all over, well…"

"Well what?"

"I don't know what'll happen after this."

"Ugh, when do we ever?"

Altair walked into the street and looked around for a moment. He could see the very tip of a church in the background and started to make his way towards it.

Again, another seriously late chapter. BY A MONTH AND A HALF. I apologize.

And I especially apologize for this rambling chapter. Some of them, instead of going in a straight line, just seem to bounce all over the place like a kangaroo high on sugar. I think I need to work on my plot-inventing and not-making-chapters-so-flippy-floppy, I'm sure most of you can agree. I'm just a mere novice! Waaah…

P.S. Isn't that awesome dream that Nemo had? XD