What really woke him up was the sudden shadow that fell across his face.

Sitting up with a shock, Seifer realized that he must have been asleep for hours. The tide was coming in, and had already flooded his boots and soaked his pants to the skin. It was tugging at his trenchcoat--tattered and ragged from heavy use--and was lapping at his armpits. Had Fujin not decided to check on him, he probably would have stayed asleep until he either drowned or was washed out to sea--in which case he'd either wake up in Hell or the watery depths, neither of which options sounded particularly inviting.

"UP," Fujin said imperiously.

Seifer stood up, feeling the sandy coat weigh heavily on him. He was well aware that as he was--soaking wet and covered with sand and salt, not to mention dripping and sloshing when he moved--he didn't exactly command respect. "Where's Raijin?" he asked, hoping that his larger compatriot wouldn't be around to see him like this.

"BALAMB." That's what he loved about Fujin--quick, short answers, concise and to the point. It really was a marvelous gift--especially when your other choice for companionship was the chatterbox Raijin, who in all honesty had the tact of a subaverage rock.

"Oh." Trying largely without success to brush himself off, Seifer grimaced. "So what's the plan for today?" he asked.

"NONE."

Should have expected that, he thought. "All right. What do you want to do?"

"APATHY."

Seifer shook his head. "All right, then," he said. Going to be another lazy day.

Fujin turned, stalking some distance away. Staring out into the water, her features arranged into a fierce scowl. "...MESSAGE," she said at length.

"What? For me?"

"AFFIRMATIVE."

Seifer was confused. To the best of his knowledge, no one knew that he had taken up residence in Balamb. "Who's it from?"

"ANONYMOUS," Fujin growled. Seifer shook his head.

"Who wants to write a letter to me?"

Fujin's eye narrowed, and slowly Seifer got the point.

"Okay, okay. I'll come back and read it."

"BETTER."

Turning on her heel, Fujin stalked back toward Balamb and trusted Seifer to follow her. Leading the way through the small town's few back alleys, she came to the smallish house that Seifer had obtained for them with the remnants of his Knight's riches. Raijin was nowhere to be seen, and the only thing amiss was the envelope on the otherwise bare table. It was making quite a dent in the layer of dust that had accumulated.

Picking up the envelope, Seifer turned it over in his hands. There was his name and address, neatly printed in small but unfamiliar handwriting, and nothing else. Seifer glanced at Fujin, who raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Turning back to the letter, he tore open the envelope.

The letter he retrieved was folded neatly into thirds, warped by the former dampness of glue. The text itself was the stereotypical ransom-note style; letters and sometimes entire words cut out and pasted on:

wE know wHO you Are... n0 MORE glORY?
pleaSe...!

"Fujin...?" Seifer asked, holding out the letter to her. The albino took it, looking over it critically.

"TRASH," she proclaimed.

Seifer shrugged. "Some prank the Balamb kids are playing?" he asked.

In response, Fujin took the envelope and held it up. In the upper-right corner, where the Paid Postage mark should have been, there was a smallish icon stamped in green ink. It read Nicha Pala Estharreni, and was surrounded by a faded-out Esthar logo.

"Esthar?" Seifer asked. "Who wants to send me letters from Esthar?"

Fujin shook her head. "MYSTERY," she said.

"Yeah." Seifer tossed the letter back onto the table. "Well, I'm sure as hell not going to figure it out. Hey, if any more of these weird letters come, feel free to read them before you drag me in. Okay?"

Fujin nodded curtly. "AFFIRMATIVE."

"Fuj?"

Fujin's eyebrow jumped again, but she said nothing.

"Can I ask you something?"

"ACCEPTABLE."

"You can speak normally, right?"

Fujin nodded, very cautiously.

"Then why don't you, ever?"

Fujin's eye narrowed instantly. "REASONS!" she snapped, and stalked out the door.

Great, Seifer wondered. What did I do this time?