Kilik never imagined there'd be a day where an inebriated Maxi would prove beneficial to anyone but himself. But there he was, corrected and entering a hot spring with food in his belly and a roof, although temporarily, over his head.

Before and during the night that Kilik could only describe as simply unforgettable, the Ryukyu pirate had treated himself to one too many hard drinks and began facing the consequences---which Kilik now realized was a blessing in disguise. The alcohol slowly escaped Maxi's system and not too long before Kilik, Xianghua, and Seung Mi Na caught up with him again, his hangover began.

As time went on, Maxi's throbbing headaches and fits of nausea increased and the trio showed no sign of returning from their impulsive dash into the forest. It didn't take long before he grew impatient with that unresolved love triangle, deciding he was better off heading back into the German town once dawn was on the horizon. Alone.

Maxi didn't travel very far before he was spotted by a young German woman named Mirna who was instantly smitten by his exotic and handsome features. Maxi laid his cards out on the table and smoothed talk the plump lady so well, she went so far as to offer free lodging to him and his friends at her family's pride and joy: a large inn dedicated to visiting foreigners.

"Maxi, you're one lucky guy," Kilik murmured as he slowly sank his body into the welcoming waters of the spring; the water, not scalding but comfortably hot, came to shoulder-level. Almost immediately, his tense muscles were relaxing; the road to relief was seemingly just downhill from here.

Good, he thought. He really needed it, considering the events as of late. The traveling, reuniting, separating, running, kissing, arguing, walking… It was becoming too much for him to bear. He sighed heavily, taking in the steam of the spring as he stared at the cloudless sky above him. Maybe things will finally go smoothly. Maybe we'll find Soul Edge and Astaroth and destroy them. Maybe I can rid myself of the evil within my soul… Maybe Mi Na and I…

Kilik made a tiny splash of water with a flick of his thumb on the surface. Too many maybes…

But a little wishful thinking never hurt anybody. It surely worked for him whenever it came to Seung Mi Na.

Mi Na…

He wondered how she was doing. It had only been a few hours since he last saw her and already he missed her. I hope she's getting along with Xianghua. Maybe I should go see her…

Another tiny splash. There you go with the maybes again, Kilik.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to see her---

"CANNONBALL!!!"

With that roar as his only warning and with just a towel draped about his waist, Maxi sprinted toward the spring and tucked himself into a ball as he jumped in. He fell in with a hefty splash---a splash felt mostly by Kilik, to be precise.

So much for things going smoothly…

The Ryukyu pirate resurfaced. His sable and once-coifed hair stuck to his face like wax yet failed to mask his jubilant grin. "MAN! That felt go~od!"

"Oh yeah, having hot water rain down on you unexpectedly has got to be the best feeling in the world," Kilik said with a roll of his eyes after wiping them free of water droplets and wet strands of hair. The sounds of splashing water died down, leaving only silence.

Maxi swam over to Kilik's silent little corner, frowning slightly. "Who peed in your breakfast this morning?"

Kilik sighed exasperatedly. "No one. I just didn't want to be bothered right now."

Maxi's bare shoulder lifted with his shrug. "I'd say I was sorry if I really was, but I saw no harm in hopping in… Especially to get away from Mirna. Did you know she waited at my door until I worked the nerve to get out of my room? And do you know how long that was? *Six* hours! Talk about obsessed!"

Resisting the urge to remind Maxi that if it were not for the 'obsessed' Mirna, the group would be without the luxury of free lodging and meals, Kilik simply shook his head and added: "Seems like you're *real* comfortable here, though."

"If this is going to transform into one of those conversations where you beat around the bush while at the same time you subconsciously whine about not going along further in our quest, save it. I already have a plan."

Kilik snorted lowly. He wasn't a whiner… "And that plan is…?"

"Simple. We're going to stay here for that semi-annual festival they've been talking about; it's in two days and it'll be a good time to wind down. And then, when it's over, we can head to wherever our clues may lead us," Maxi replied, confidently.

"That plan is…"

Maxi's intricately cut eyebrows raised when he smirked. "Genius, isn't it?"

Kilik blinked. "It's actually kind of stupid," he said. Maxi's smirk faded so Kilik continued on, "Have you not noticed how we're short on money? And how we have *no* clues right now? I doubt we'll meet someone as kind as Mirna in the next town we stop in, *if* we manage to find a town."

Attempting to save face, Maxi folded his sinewy arms. "We have a free day before the festival; we can use that to ask around and whatnot. And if we're as short on money as you say we are, we'll just sell and trade some supplies," he replied.

"Sounds good, right now anyway. What about the girls?"

"What about them?"

"Have you asked them what they thought of your 'plan'?"

"…No."

"Were you going to?"

"…No." Maxi shrugged and used his hands to slick all of his sleek hair back, ruining the hairdo he was infamous for…for the time being, anyway. Then with a grin he added, "well, at least that gives you *something* to do today."

Kilik slapped his forehead with one hand and used the other to keep his towel at waist-level as he trudged out of the hot spring. He mentioned something along the lines of drowning under his breath.

"You'll thank me in the long run!" Maxi called out to Kilik's departing figure, but the latter didn't seem to hear or care. Kilik simply raised a lazy hand and exited the spring area after sidestepping one of the lodge's patrons, a man to be exact. Well, at least Maxi had someone new to talk to.

He took a gander at the man entering the hot spring. The stranger, feeling eyes on him, glanced to Maxi who lifted his chin toward him in greeting. The stranger nodded back silently and settled comfortably into the spring.

"Adolescents," the Ryukyu pirate said as a sort of conversation igniter, "to them, everything that is not in their best interest is not worth doing."

Judging from the man's countenance, he agreed with Maxi, perhaps completely, but he did not say anything.

The pirate wrinkled his nose. Not much of a talker, huh… Maybe he doesn't understand me? I know he's not German… Looks very… Asian. And familiar. Very familiar… Unlike his memory when it came to women, Maxi's memory in terms of men was pretty lousy. The only ones he remembered were the only ones that mattered. Everyone else was just another face in the crowd.

But still. A man like this stranger, a fellow traveler from the East, wasn't very common back home or in any of the countries he'd passed through in the last couple of months. His maple colored hair was thick and spiky, rather unkempt looking (Maxi inwardly recommended a week with combs at first sight). Designs made with black war paint (or perhaps they were tattoos themselves?) were scattered across his upper torso, favoring the clavicle and shoulders. Though the stranger's eyes were closed, he bore a grim expression.

Maxi could have *sworn* he'd seen this man before…

But Maxi also figured if this man was important in anyway, he would have remembered him.



* * * *

A/N: Been a while, huh? Thank Soul Calibur 2 for this! ^_^

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