A SLIGHT PRELUDE

PROLOGUE: A Walk in the Dark

Saki apprehensively pulled her jacket tightly together, her hand lingering on her collar as she took in her surroundings. The street lamps had disappeared a few blocks back, and she was trying to avoid looking too far into the shadowed alleys. I must be crazy. Coming out here at this time of night. I'll be lucky if I make it out of here alive, much less with my wallet in tact.

Her fears were not unfounded--she was, after all, in the Waterward Slum District of Windbloom City.

Close to the river and (for the other citizens) comfortably out of sight, this decaying industrial sector of town is home turf to the Sechasi Nation, the notorious Windbloom crime syndicate. And, if my information is correct, I'm tracking down one of their most valuable agents… God. Maybe I should just go back… No. I have to do this..for Imeli.

---one week earlier---

Saki had been surprised to say the least when she first saw the shifty blue haired girl checking out at the grocery store. The child looked out of place with her dingy jeans and tight leather jacket, but it was her countenance that had caught Saki's attention…

…Natsuki-chan? The cute little Natsuki who often came in to work with her mother had obviously inherited her charm and beauty, but now after eight years the resemblance was stunning. It was as if a sixteen year old Imeli Concordia had just come back from the dead.

Well maybe, Saki thought, taking a second and more scrutinizing look, if you took away the dirty clothes, the leather, the military style boots, and oh my god is that a tatoo?! She gasped as she stared at the inked mandala featuring a stylized wolf peaking out between the bottom of the girl's white tank-top and the back of her pants. Wait a minute…I-isn't that a gang symbol?! But by the time she thought to take a closer look she realized the girl had disappeared.

Doctor Saki Minuette, current head researcher at the Guarderobe Otome Academy, had little reason to know about the Windbloom underworld. However, years ago during her E.R. internship on the east side of town, she had stitched up many rough looking men whose flesh bore Sechasi markings. They were all circular mandalas whose center contained differing symbols, however she had never seen this wolf one before. Maybe that's a good thing?

When she returned to Guarderobe, she sketched what she could remember of the symbol with the technical accuracy gained from years of med school, and promptly went to talk to the Headmistress. The Headmistress, who also had an interest in recovering the daughter of her former researcher, gave her the name and meet-up location of an informant called Yamada.

Two days and one phone call later, Saki found herself sitting in a back corner table with a man whose face seemed to be frozen in an expression of apathetic boredom. It was a good face to have as an informant, but it made Saki a little uncomfortable as she wanted him to react to something. She handed him the sketch.

"Well?"

"Well, what all do you know about the Sechasi Nation?"

Peeved that she was apparently paying him to ask her questions, she tersely replied, "Only that they are the most powerful and likely dangerous criminal organization in Windbloom."

"Try the world."

"Eh?"

"The Sechasi Nation is headquartered here in Windbloom but it is a syndicate organization."

Saki stares blankly at the man. "…Meaning…"

He sighs on the inside and launches.

"Meaning that it is a crime "collective" of sorts, with gangs from different countries all pledging allegiance to one single powerful group. They give up some autonomy in exchange for two things. The first is security. A smaller gang won't want to be without alliances because it could be easily slaughtered without the protection of the syndicate. It also gives them access to an underground network for money and goods to be smuggled across borders."

"So what does the powerful group get out of this?"

"Well, the leaders of the syndicate usually get a cut on all profits, and they get to sit back and make decisions while others do all the dangerous grunt work. Plus it is a lot easier to have your potential enemies join you than risk having them all join against you."

"So it's a 'talk softly and carry a big stick' kind of deal."

"Exactly."

"Now onto the tatoos. You mentioned you had seen Sechasi markings before?"

"Yes, when I worked in a hospital."

"Well then, as you know they all have a basic design encompassed by a tri-band circle. The outer and innermost bands are thinner and usually of a darker color. In between is a thicker band of red. The circle represents the syndicate itself--an enclosed bond that one can only cross by shedding blood. What is on the inside depends on that person's individual affiliation and their position within the syndicate itself. For example. You have probably seen the one with a red scimitar."

She nods.

"That is the symbol for the Red Knights of Eastern Artai. Nothing but honourless murderers and troublemakers, the lot of them…"

"So what about the wolf?"

Yamada actually fidgets. "Well, that is a symbol that will strike fear into even the most arrogant of Red Knights…it is the sign of the Sechasi Wolves… They answer only to the highest leaders of the syndicate. To become one you must be hand picked by an established Wolf and pass a sort of apprenticeship with them. Although we understand it is an elite force, their exact number is unknown due to the fact that they are so isolated--even from each other. It is rare for a Wolf to know a fellow other than their mentor or mentee. While receiving respect from all members of the syndicate, it is a respect born out of fear since Wolves take care of internal "problems" as well. It is a friendless position…thus the lone wolf inside the circle. In short they are your "big stick"."

Saki stared in mild disbelief.

"And there is only one young female I know of who carries the mark of the wolf and that's Kuga. The ice princess of the Sechasi."

-----

Kuga--it was Imeli's maiden name. It just can't be mere coincidence. Well…this certainly looks like the place. She thought as she approached an abandoned warehouse.

I just hope she doesn't shoot me before I can explain myself. Tucking the folded coral uniform further into her jacket, she slowly walked into the dank and decrepit building.