Nariko-san, you were supposed to remind me to post this on time! >P Never mind. This marks what is essentially the halfway point, ladies and gentlemen, all three of you who read this fic: there are six parts after this, and this is part six itself. I'm a goodly way progressed with this, and it looks like it'll actually get finished -- oh rarity of rarities! But nobody panic, because Walks Among Thee and Crash and Meridian have NOT been abandoned.

In the meantime, here we go! Introduction of canon character number four...

THE THEATRE
where it's another world
by Kay Willow

It's another world here
And somebody is singing
I was only wishing
For a bit of cash



Erts was not having a good evening.

One wouldn't expect it. After all, he had everything he'd asked for. In the month following his act of so-called heroism, he had managed to secure himself not only the title of 'established lord' but a position above and beyond merely having a clique of his own. He was respected and adored in everyone's clique. There was no noble in the Theatre who would not have been proud to claim Erts Virny Cocteau of the Free Cities to be his friend and confidant. Countesses and duchesses giggled over something so simple as a charm bracelet that he had gifted them; barons and princes boasted of compliments that he had awarded them on their horsemanship.

He had stolen from each and every one of them in return for the status boost of his name, and some of them more than once.

But there was still, in the Theatre, one noble whose heart he had been unable to touch.

The most widely-believed rumor stated that he was a marquis, but nobody knew for sure. Others whispered that he might be a prince, and others simply dismissed him as a minor lord. And that last rumor did seem to have the most evidence behind it. No wonder, they said, he spends no money and has no friends! He has no money to spend, no influence to grant!

But Erts didn't believe that rumor. He knew the truth of Hiead Gner's vast riches, and he wanted them.

Gner was not only a legend among the aristocracy -- the bums knew of him as well. Erts remembered his own days on the streets, hearing endless tales about the young lord, with his icy color and burning eyes. Although they were not generous, most nobles could be relied upon to occasionally spare a coin or two, if only for an exceptionally compelling beggar. But not Gner. That gentleman had never once given a single copper penny to the poor, never once shared a drop of his wealth with any other soul.

Azuma was not one of the most respected of the beggarfolk for nothing: he had contacts high in the hierarchy of the Theatre. He said that he had seen a copy of Gner's tax forms, and that it was quite possible that the man was richer than anyone else in Rashville Duchy. Yet he spent practically nothing -- even when he went out on the town with the other members of his clique, the outsider's clique, he insisted that others pay FOR him.

Erts had seen him once personally. He had accidentally dropped his wallet, and a single silver coin had spilled out the top and rolled away. A beggar girl, no more than ten, scurried to catch the gilded coin. A single silver wouldn't even buy Gner a fresh apple in the areas he shopped, and yet the man ran after the girl, grabbed her by her hair, and threatened to turn her in to the police for petty theft if she didn't return the coin to him immediately. Rare though it was for Erts to feel anything more than his usual dislike of the aristocracy, for he was a sensible soul and believed that every human had his own faults, that the nobility was only allowed to get away with more of theirs -- he remembered with startling clarity how furious he'd been, how outraged.

How dare he? How DARE he?

This was his chance! This time, his time amongst the aristocrats, blending flawlessly with them, the blessings of all his people upon him as he acted as a messenger of justice -- he could take their revenge. Erts wanted to take Hiead Gner for every penny he was worth, and give that money to the little beggar girl and her family.

But Hiead Gner wouldn't approach him. It almost seemed as though, every time their eyes met across a room, a trace of a sneer would cross that fine mouth.

It was infuriating.

"How do I approach Hiead Gner?" he asked Darla.

She laughed shortly. "You have to have a lot more money, a lot more foolishness, and -- if you'll pardon the crudity -- a lot more testosterone to approach Gner. He's a bully and a beast. He'll eat you alive."

"How do I approach Hiead Gner?" he asked Jessibelle.

She gasped at the very mention of his name, kohl-rimmed eyes flying wide in shock. Her fan fluttered nervously about her face. "Oh, oh, oh," she murmured. "He likes the casinos... But he almost never loses a game. You could ask the others of his clique but... well... they don't talk to him much either, that I've noticed. Raquel said that even though her cousin is in Sir Hiead's clique, well... The last time they exchanged words, poor Vince wound up with a broken nose."

"How do I approach Hiead Gner?" he asked Geoffrey.

"I wouldn't, if I were you," Geoff said absent-mindedly, not even taking the question seriously. "It's a wonder he hasn't been expelled from the Theatre yet, savage that he is."

Erts would not take "no" for an answer.

Hiead has arrived! It's good to see someone who is still determinably in-character, isn't it? ^_~

Next chapter will be released Sunday, I swear to God. ^_^

--Kay