In the early dawn, a subdued group sat in the carriage that was taking them back down the mountain and away from the Village of the Gray Wolves. Kujo was nursing his injuries from his earlier tussle with Harmania after the woman escaped and attempted to flee her overdue punishment. Victorique sat beside the boy, staring out the window into the distance where they could still see the smoke rising from the village that Harmania had threatened to burn down in her attempted escape.

Kujo glanced out the window too, and he noted, "It looks like the fire went out."

Mildred Arbogast, the con artist Grevil had looped into surveilling Victorique, glanced across at him from where she had quietly been sitting in the opposite corner of the carriage while Victorique answered briskly, "They'll probably go back to living the quiet life now."

Grevil grunted from where he sat beside Kujo and Victorique, but it was on the last blond in the carriage that Kujo turned to.

"But, are you sure about this, Ambrose?" Kujo asked of Elder Sergius's former assistant.

The blond young man with shining emerald eyes looked up at Kujo a little miserably.

"I've always wanted to cross that bridge." Ambrose murmured, his eyes turning at last to stare out at the smoky outline that was all that could be seen of the only home he had ever known. "Ever since Brian Roscoe told me about the outside world."

Kujo stared at the man sympathetically. Ambrose was so gentle and kind, it seemed so unfair that he had been dealt such pain. He was forever cut off from his home now, not just because he'd refused Elder Sergius's orders and was likely banished for his disobedience, but because the only bridge leading into the village had been burnt down to ash. And as if that were not enough, the reason the bridge was gone was the same reason Ambrose had disobeyed Elder Sergius in the first place. In her madness and faced with capital punishment for her crimes, Harmania had destroyed the bridge as part of her vengeful destruction… only to fall from the collapsing bridge herself by mistake.

'The prophecy was made true through her own actions.' Kujo thought sadly, thinking of the insane housemaid and feeling only pity for her despite her near attempts to kill him and Victorique. How she must have lived in fear and suffering, all because of one prophecy.

Grevil finally broke the silence as he grumbled, "Anyway, it was a foolish village. What did that man call the place? Saillune?"

"Actually," Victorique interrupted softly. "There are many ancient, historical accounts that talk about people who were like gods. In those days, forest tribes conquered the lands of Eastern Europe. They had neither height nor physical strength, but because of their exceptional intelligence, they defeated all foreign invaders. However, near the end of the 15th century, they suddenly disappeared from history. Their name was the Saillune."

Everyone stared at her in shocked silence, each falling into their own thoughts. Grevil for his part wasn't sure how much of what Victorique had just said he could believe. It was surely impossible, he thought as he pictured all the blond and emerald-eyed people he'd encountered in the village. They didn't appear particularly intelligent or cunning. But then again, the village was where Cordelia Gallo had come from; was the ancestry of Victorique herself. And Grevil shivered when he thought about the cold way his father had always talked about the legendary Gray Wolves.

"Either way, that was a long time ago." Victorique murmured as she turned away from the window at last, leaving Saillune behind. "We're living in the moment."

"In the moment?" Ambrose repeated questioningly, lifting his gaze back to Victorique.

She stared back at him with eyes almost identical to his own, eyes that had marked her as one of their own even more than her resemblance to Cordelia had. But she was unlike any he had seen in the village. Her eyes were filled with a coolness that belied a warm heart, a fierce protectivity as she had exhibited around Kujo during her stay at the village, and a wisdom he had yet to understand. But there was no denying how it rang in her words and Ambrose couldn't help the small smile that appeared as he took her words to heart.

"I see." Ambrose murmured, closing his eyes and leaning back in his seat. "In that case, I can live on. I… I'll live… in the moment."

Victorique nodded, before glancing over as she felt eyes on her. Kujo beamed at her, looking as stupid as ever… but her expression softened at his smile and she leant back in her seat as well as she felt peace wash over her. Grevil watched them without a word, noticing the changes in his little sister but choosing not to voice his thoughts as they all made their way quietly back toward the civilization they knew.

They arrived at the train station as the morning sun rose. The others, wearied by the long night, yawned and slumped into the benches to wait for whatever ride was coming to pick them up. Kujo slumped into his own seat but Victorique remained standing as she watched the carriage that had dropped them off disappear. Grevil stood beside her, watching her carefully.

"You may never be let out again." Grevil finally spoke softly, his voice just a little bit chastising and warning. "Not after causing this uproar."

Victorique nodded once.

"Even so, I'm satisfied. I proved that Cordelia was innocent. A daughter must protect her mother's honour."

Grevil raised a brow at that, but Victorique said no more. And their moment passed as they saw and heard another carriage approaching from the distance. The others heard it too and turned to see the sleek, expensive carriage trotting their way. Mildred beamed.

"Oh! There's our ride!"

The carriage pulled to a stop not far from where they were all gathered. The carriage master jumped down elegantly just as the door to the carriage popped open and a long haired woman came tumbling out in a clumsy frenzy.

"'Sup, sir!" The woman gasped, almost tripping on the last step of the carriage before she righted herself.

"Anne." Grevil sighed as he walked up to her. "For the last time, it sounds ruder when you put a casual greeting together with 'sir'."

"Sorry, sir!"

"Eh? Miss Anne?" Kujo asked as he peered around Grevil as best as he could to get a glimpse of the young woman.

She didn't look like the neat, pulled-together woman he was used to seeing as her long, light-brown hair spilled around her like a cape, flowing down her back to her calves and almost to the hems of her rumpled yellow dress. Without any makeup, her pale skin was more like porcelain it was so white and her emerald eyes seemed to glow more without the eyeshadow she normally wore - so much so that Kujo wondered why she wore it in the first place. She was also in flat shoes, putting her height shorter than Kujo's by a couple inches whereas he was used to seeing her more at his eye level when she wore heels. But what was stranger was that, for how much wilder this woman looked, she somehow seemed more reserved than the whirlwind of excitement he was used to.

And then Anne opened her mouth.

"When I received your call, sir, I meant to leave immediately but I couldn't remember the exact number for your personal carriage and I was afraid to walk out in the night to the station to find it so I rung around until I finally reached the right number, and then I couldn't find a clean dress and I didn't think you'd want to see me in my nightgown, sir, no matter the earliness of the hour, but when I finally found a dress I could wear, I couldn't find my house key and no matter how much I hunted, I couldn't find it, sir, so then the carriage master came looking for me and the landlord thought I was sneaking a man inside and, oh, sir, it was the most embarrassing thing to explain and of course I couldn't tell him who your driver was, sir, not without dragging your name through the mud and it was-"

"Anne!"

Grevil finally cut into his secretary's ramblings, wondering why he hadn't done it sooner. A part of him thought it must be because he was just too tired to initially realize she was jabbering at him. Nothing she'd said had really registered in his head anyway. The other part of him was convinced it was because he had been word-vomited at, and his mind was too shocked to recover faster.

"It's fine, now just get in… the box!"

Grevil suddenly and very hastily corrected himself as he spotted his half-sister and remembered that Victorique was right there. Currently, Anne couldn't see any of the others, short and slim as she was. His much larger frame completely obstructed her view of the others but if Anne stepped around him…

"Huh?!" Anne protested. "Sir, I realize I've disappointed you but-"

"No, that's not it, Anne, I promise." Grevil answered, sweating slightly as he tried to think of a reasonable excuse. "But there are many of us, so I'm afraid you and I will sit out in the box to allow the others room in the carriage to rest on their ride home."

He'd hoped that the knowledge that her boss was going to be with her would convince his assistant to go quietly; sadly, Anne Claire didn't seem to exist in the same universe as that word.

"Eehhh?! I can't allow that, sir, we can all fit inside or else I'm sure the younger folk like Kujo can sit out here with me-"

"NO! Now get in the box, Anne!"

"Eeehhh?!"

The group watched curiously as Grevil began to push and shove Anne toward the box while she fought and protested the entire way. Well, most of the the group were curious.

"Kujo."

"Hm? What is it Victorique?" Kujo asked, looking down at the diminutive blonde beside him.

Victorique's face was a cross between pained and highly annoyed as she stared with emerald green eyes toward where Grevil was ushering his assistant to the front of the carriage.

"I will never complain that you are noisy ever again. I think I even feel sorry for Grevil."

"Hm?" Kujo asked before he understood. Then he chuckled. "Heh, she's not that bad when you get to know her, Victorique. Maybe you'll even like her one day."

The look Victorique gave him would have once chilled his bones but Kujo just smiled brightly back at her. Somewhat put out, Victorique's eyes glanced toward Anne again as the woman noisily fought with Grevil. In that instant, for just the briefest moment, Victorique glimpsed a part of the other woman around her tall and broad older brother. Most of Anne's face was still hidden behind her brother's hand as Grevil squashed Anne in his attempt to get her up into the box while she continued to loudly protest. But for a split second, Victorique could still see the woman's hair as it lifted up in the wind… and for that tiny moment, she thought that the woman's hair was blonde in the early morning sunlight.

And then the moment was gone, and Anne was up in the box as the last of her light-brown hair whipped up behind her. Grevil grumbled the entire way as he followed Anne up into the box at the front while he gestured at the others to get into the carriage.

"Oi! You want to get going or not?!"

As the others hurried to get inside Grevil's private carriage, he glanced back at where his assistant had settled into her seat beside him with a huff. She was staring out into the distance, an unusual blank expression on her face as her thoughts seemed to drift. He cleared his throat to get her attention and her eyes snapped back to him questioningly.

"And just so you know, I appreciate you coming here so early. It's not really part of your job, so-"

Anne suddenly beamed at him. "You're thanking me, sir? Thank you, sir!"

"Gah! Let go of me, you octopus woman!"

Two weeks later

"Excuse me," Anne began as she slid open the door to the train compartment. "This seat isn't taken, is it-?!"

Anne ended her question with a tiny shriek as the train rattled on the tracks and she lost her balance. She went sprawling to the ground while her companion grunted as he lurched forward as well, barely avoiding the same fate as Anne as he grabbed onto the nearby train seat.

"Ouch… That hurts..." Anne whimpered before she looked up… and she blinked. And she blinked again.

"Kujo Kazuya…." Anne greeted as composedly as she could from where she was at the boy's feet and she tried hard not to laugh as she stared at the way Grevil's drill-like hair had stabbed Kujo's forehead when he fell over.

Kujo blinked at Grevil's crazy hair piercing his forehead through his own bangs before he looked down at Anne's greeting.

"Ah… Miss Anne… Inspector..."

"Fancy running into you here, Kujo." Anne grinned while the boy hastily pulled back from Grevil's hair attack to help her off the ground. "Oh, thank you, you're a wonderful young gentleman, aren't you!"

"Are you quite alright, Miss Anne?" Kujo asked worriedly as Anne got up with his help.

"Don't worry, baby squirrel." Grevil answered as he settled into the seat across from Kujo. "It'll take more than a fall for Anne to be silenced."

"Er..." Kujo sweatdropped while Anne huffed at her boss.

"Ignore him, he's in a bad mood because he's been summoned to police headquarters in Saubreme." Anne confided in Kujo in a stage-whisper. Kujo sweat-dropped again while Grevil glared.

"Miss Anne… He can hear you..."

"But it's such a coincidence that we ran into you once again, Kujo." Anne went on, ignoring him and her boss's irate glare as she tossed herself down into the seat between Grevil and the window. "How are you doing? All recovered from your excursion a fortnight ago?"

"Yes." Kujo answered unenthusiastically. Her words had just reminded him of Victorique, whom he had left behind at the school, sick. "So, what takes you to Saubreme?"

"Oh, police work." Anne waved her hand dismissively.

Grevil seemed to refrain from rolling his eyes and he took over explaining to the boy.

"It seems that several works of art stolen during the Great War are appearing on the black market recently. And so, a VIP at headquarters called for someone possessing superior intellect, namely, me..."

Anne noticed that Kujo had lost all interest in what Grevil was saying possibly from the instant Grevil opened his mouth. He was staring a bit vacantly out the window while Grevil rambled enthusiastically, giving Anne a run for her money. She smiled to herself before peering out the window, leaning out just slightly as she felt the light breeze against her cheek. They were all hypocrites, she knew that well; and she and Grevil were too good at pretending to hide the weights in their hearts.

"And it's not just illicit trade. Lately, there has also been a string of disappearances in the capital. The missing are young women and children, who, for example, go out shopping one day and-"

"Why?"

Grevil paused in his story at Kujo's soft murmur. "Hm?"

"Why are you the one who's here with me, Inspector?" Kujo sighed, although he sounded more like he was talking to himself rather than Grevil.

Still, Grevil bristled.

"That's my line!" Grevil shot back, annoyed.

Huffing, he folded his arms and turned his head away before he noticed Anne sitting up on the train seat and leaning out the window… with her skirt bunched up around her knees. With a sigh, Grevil let his hand sneak over without Kujo noticing and he pulled her skirts across so they covered most of her calves. Anne blinked and glanced back at him but Grevil kept his head turned pointedly away. Glancing down, Anne smiled ruefully before she went back to leaning partially out the window, the wind blowing across her pale cheeks.

"Well, baby squirrel, be careful not to get swallowed up by the darkness of the city!" Grevil called as he and Anne left Kujo outside the train station.

"Thanks..." The boy's voice trailed off as the door to their carriage closed behind Grevil and soon they were off toward police headquarters.

Anne glanced out the window to see Kujo still standing where they had left him on the street corner.

"I do hope he'll be okay." She mused aloud, making Grevil glance at her briefly. Realizing who she meant, he turned away again.

"He'll be fine." Grevil answered absently, his mind already on his approaching meeting. "The city isn't that exciting anyway, I'm sure he'll leave soon enough and well before we are done for the day."

"I don't know, sir." Anne answered thoughtfully. "I think he'll make our visit very interesting."

Grevil glanced at her curiously, but Anne seemed to move on as she dug around in her pockets.

"All this talk has made me hungry."

"No, you're always talking and you're fine. I think you're just hungry." Grevil deadpanned. Anne just grinned before producing a pair of golden fruit from her pockets.

"Sir, would you like a pear?" She offered him one of her treats and Grevil shook his head at her with a sigh.

"You really like your pears, don't you? I swear, Anne, sometimes I just don't understand you."

"Thank you, sir!"

"It wasn't a compliment!"