I didn´t recieve much reviews for the first chapter, but I don´t care... even though I could use them, and then I´d know that someone was reading this... but anyway... here goes....



Chapter #2

//A heir //

When Blank and Ruby entered the main hall they saw their friends (and their friends´ friends) standing in the middle of it, only Garnet sitting in a golden chair and Vivi wandering about with Eiko, exploring the paintings on the wall of the royal family. They heard Beatrix finishing off a sentence as they entered.

'...and the north part of town has already been searched, but no sign of her, my Queen.' Beatrix was saying to Garnet, who nodded seriously.

'Heya!' Ruby called and waved to the crowd, running towards them. Blank closed the door behind them and walked more slowly to the pack.

'Good! You´re here!' Beatrix exclaimed as she spotted them. 'How did it go?' she asked Blank.

'It went well!' he answered. 'Were you expecting it to turn into a bloody fight?' he asked her with a strange look on his face, both sarcastic and plainly surprised. Beatrix acted as if she had not heard him.

'She can´t get out of the city, your majesty! We´ve sealed all the entries!' she stated, again like a very real and important general.

'What if she´s already gotten out of the city?' Amarant asked, his head pointing down as if he was not speaking to anyone but himself.

'What if she´s got friends in high places?' Marcus asked.

'Friends in high places? What are you implying?! Bribery!?!?' Steiner stated, obviously offended. 'Here?! In ALEXANDRIA?!' he practically screamed towards Marcus.

'Sorry, man! I´m just saying we shouldn´t block out any options...'

'There is no one rotten enough in our ki.,' he paused looking at the newlywedded royal couple, 'the Queen´s and King´s kingdom to take bribery!' he stated as if it was final. Marcus just let out a small sigh, not bothering to take this conversation any further. He had made his point.

'What if she´s not blonde? What if I didn´t see her well enough?' Blank asked. 'How are we going to find a woman in a kingdom the size of Alexandrie with this small amount of information we have about her?' His tone of voice was completely expressionless, not revieling anything he was thinking, rather than usual.

'Enough of 'what if'´s, alright?' Ruby said, swinging her arms to emphasize. 'We´ve gotta find this wom´n,' she paused. 'You sure it´s a woman though, aren´t ya?' she asked staring at Blank with one eyebrow raised.

'Yeah,' Blank answered. 'I´m definetly sure ´bout that!'

'Yeah, we gotta find ´er b´fore she killes ´nother one!' Ruby stated, only saying what all the others were thinking.

'Then we can not linger here!' Steiner exclaimed. 'Shouldn´t we move out!?' he asked Beatrix, who looked very thoughtful. Then she sighed, looked up at Garnet and asked.

'What do you say, my Queen?'

Garnet looked puzzled. She had not really gotten comfortable with all this responsibility over the past three years, and was quite glad that now Zidane would have something to say in the matters of the kingdom. She looked imploringly at him.

'I think we should continue the search, even though we don´t have many clues. And tell your men to keep their eyes open for mortally wounded women!' Zidane said to Beatrix, sounding exactly like a king. The members of Tantalus looked at each other with amazement and ill conceiled joy. Cinna even slapped Zidane on the back, in a gesture of congradulations. Blank only grinned.

Beatrix saluted and turned towards the door, a grim look on her face. Steiner also saluted, but then paused because Beatrix had not really told him to follow her. Halfway to the door Beatrix turned around and yanked her head towards the door looking at Steiner who, obviously relieved, ran after her. Blank thought he looked rediculous, like a broken down husband.

'What about the rest of us?' Freya said and Amarant nodded. 'We should do something, shouldn´t we?'

'We´ll do more good than these armour-clad goonies!' Blank added looking directly at Garnet, but she did not really know if he was looking at her. She had never gotten used to his strange appearance or his silent nature. He kind of scared her.

'Well, um... yeah, you should.' she started, really not knowing what to say. Then Zidane came to her rescue.

'Just go out there and investigate on your own. It´s probably for the best to travel in small groups. Just don´t get yourselves killed, all right!' he said, looking thoughtfully on each and everyone of them. Except for Blank, of course.

They all nodded and started for the door. Freya and Zidane convinced Eiko that it would probably be best if she stayed in the palace with Vivi, Zidane and Garnet, for their protection, which was of course a false reason, but she did not need to know that. Quina only asked where the kitchen was.

'When you come back from woman-hunting, me give you good food!!' Quina said excited.

Blank only shook his head and went to join the Tantalus gang.

'We shouldn´t be traveling in this big a group so,' Baku said 'we´ll just split up!'

Well, duh, Blank thought.

The Bereno brothers had not made it to Alexandria there were only Baku, Cinna, Marcus and Ruby there beside Blank.

'Ruby, you stay behind!' Blank told her without even looking at her. She looked at him angrily. 'Why?' she asked him, irritated already.

'You won´t handle it!' he answered her plainly.

'What?! Shuddup Blank!!' She was quite angry all of a sudden.

'Baku, back me up here!' Blank asked Baku looking at the ground. He knew Ruby was angry at him and did not want to look at her.

'He´s right, ya know!' Baku said thoughtfully. 'Sorry kiddo, but you were shaking in there over the body! Don´t think I didn´t notice! I´m surprised you didn´t break down and cry on the spot!' he added. Blank saw that Ruby´s eyes suddenly found the floor very interesting.

'Well, I wanna go!' Ruby kept on without looking up.

'But you won´t!' Baku protested. 'And that´s final!' Ruby looked up with dead-cold eyes on Blank before turning away, stomping to the door. She was obviously mad and Blank feared that she would keep that mood for several days. But it was for her own good, he thought to himself. She would not have handled it. Just minutes before she was shaking with fear over one dead body. It could turn messy out there. She would only get herself killed. Blank also knew that deep inside he did not want Ruby outside while this women killer was loose. She could get to be the next victim, if she was lucky.

Blank pushed that thought out of his head and started paying attention to Baku´s plan. Well, it was not really that big of a plan, really. Marcus and Blank would search the northen and eastern part of town together while Baku and Cinna would scout the western and southern part.

'Great plan, ya?' Baku asked.

'Great! Outstanding! Utterly, unbelievable fabulous! I´m out of words that could possibly describe this fantastic plan!' Blank said with a completely monotone voice, filled with sarcasm. Baku frowned at him and nipped Cinna, gesturing him to follow him out, and he did.

'Come on, Blank!' Marcus said to Blank and they walked out of the castle.

*~*~*~*~*~*

The city was quiet. Most people stayed in their homes, orders from the general, and the only sound that could be heard was the clinging sound of the law enforcement running around in their clumsy armour. Marcus and Blank were hiding in the shadows, looking suspicious, but were not spotted by the military.

'Idiots!' Marcus exclaimed when they had passed them by without noticing them.

'They´re never going to find her' Blank added shaken his head. 'She´s pretty good at sneaking around. Probably a thief or an assasin.'

'You think she´s left town?' Marcus asked curiously.

'No, I don´t think so, jugding by the letter she left!' Blank answered. 'But I bet she has a hideout somewhere, that´s difficult to find. I think you´re right! She probably has some friends in high places!' he said looking out over the street.

'Well, then, lets get started! We´ve gotta find this hideout soon.'

Blank nodded.

*~*~*~*~*~*

That nights search did not show any results. Or the next. Or the next 24 to be precise. For a whole month they did not find the woman, and she did not strike again. Slowly, Beatrix begun to slacken her lookout over the city and things got back to the form they were before the wedding. Zidane was getting quite comfortable with the situation the 'king' title put him in and he and Garnet were shining with joy. And Baku was thinking about going back to Lindblum with Tantalus.

'No point in hanging ´round here when ya can be working back home!' he told Zidane when he asked them not to go. 'Ruby´s gonna stay, ya know! With her mini-theatre an´ all! And we maybe coming here next fall to help her out with one of her shows! Not like we´re never gonna see ya again!' he said to Zidane with his great voice, slapping Zidane square on the back, like always. Zidane, who had not needed to do anything more then stand up or sit down for the past month was nearly blown off his feet, but managed to keep his dignity, though barely. Blank, who was standing behind Baku chuckled a bit. Zidane gave him an evil eye over Baku´s shoulder. Things had begun to grow better between them now. The tention long gone.

'We´ll be leaving tomorrow!' Baku said, and walked away, waving his hand at Blank, who followed him out.

'You´ve had any business propotions back in Lindblum?' Blank asked Baku as he half-ran beside him, trying to keep up with his big steps.

'Naaaw,' Baku answered. 'Just homesick, really!'

*~*~*~*~*~*

That night Blank did not sleep at all. His head, that had been nearly acheless the past month, was about to explode. Blank could feel his heartbeat pound up into his head and all the blood getting stuck up there, refusing to go down again. He felt numb and could not move, not even to stand up and walk to the bathroom to get a glass of water. His eyes were about to burst out of his head and the belt was getting really tight, Blank thought. Maybe he ought to take it off, for the first time in years. He reached to unbuckle it, but then he heard that the alert horns blown. It was a frightening sound, and Blank yanked down his hand when he heard it. These horns were not used unless all the military inforcement of Alexandria was needed on duty. Blank knew right away that another woman had been killed. He hurried out of his room and made his way to the main hall, the hallway blurred from the pain and his feet not responding as they should. When he finally made it to the main hall he was soaking wet with sweat, but then the ache suddenly stopped and he was able to see clearly again.

It was still early morning and the sun had not even begun to rise, but the hall was lit and Blank could see the whole 'gang' present in the middle of it. Only Quina had returned back to it´s home, Quee´s Marsh. Blank found that rather sad because when they had returned from the search a month before Quina had given them a feast like none other. Pork and lamb and foal and beef all in the same dinner, and it had been the greatest meal Blank had ever had! It was obvious that Quina loved to cook.

But now was no time to think about that so Blank pushed that thought aside and ran to the others.

'.was discovered in the southern part of town, my majesty!' Blank heard Beatrix saying when came into earshot. Great, he thought. I´m always late!

'What took you so long?' Baku asked him and hit him with his elbow but Blank just sent him a quick look and then turned his attention to the conversation between the royal couple (he had now gotten used to the idea) and Beatrix.

'Is she still there?' Zidane asked Beatrix with a faint expression of sorrow on his face.

'Yes, and she is still untouched! We didn´t look for any clues on her! We thought you might want to do it yourself.' she answered. 'But the murderer is long gone! We are searching the city as we speak! If she´s still in the city she won´t get away this time!!' Zidane nodded and they all went out to the southern part of town to have a closer look on the woman.

*~*~*~*~*~*

On the way Blank inspected the faces of his companions. Some, like Vivi and Ruby, were frightened, and others, like Amarant and Freya, were expressionless. Blank thought it was a stupid idea to let Vivi, Eiko and Ruby to come along, but he was not going to say anything. It was not his problem.

The woman lay on the ground in front of a small house. Beatrix told them that she had lived in that house and had just gone out to shoo the straycats from her garbage can, and when she had not come back her husband had gone searching for her and found here dead on the street. She was blonde with long, shiny hair. She was not old, probably in her mid twenties, and was very beautiful. She had been done the same way as the one before her. Her throat was cut, her head barely attached to her body. Blank shuddered a bit with horror as he saw her and shook his head. Ruby covered her eyes and Amarant slowly walked towards her, looking at the cut.

'It´s done exactly like the other one!' he exclaimed, one of his hand playing with his beard and the other placed on his hip.

'Vivi. Eiko. Let´s go get ourselves a cup of hot chocolate!' Blank heard Garnet say, her voice shaking a bit.

'ok..' Vivi answered and turned his back on the woman with a sigh of relief.

'But I wanna see!!' Eiko shouted, but Garnet forced her to follow. Why did they have to see this, Blank asked himself, not getting any answers, of course.

When the three were out of sight Zidane knelt down beside the woman looking for clues, most preferably a letter like before. He looked inside her mouth, where the other letter had been before, but it was empty. Then he rummaged through her clothes, checked her hands and even her ears and nose. Nothing!

Strange, Blank thought. The letter clearly said that she would contact Zidane again. Just killing a woman would nott really say much. There just had to be a clue of some sort. When Zidane finally stopped, after looking in every place he could possibly think of, Blank positioned himself directly over the victim´s head. He looked over the body, thinking of possible places to hide a letter, but they were few and Zidane had checked almost everyone of them. Except for one. He knelt down and, hesitating a little to beg the poor woman for forgiveness, stuck his hand inside her dress and in her bra he found a letter.

'What a weird place to put a letter,' Marcus said sounding suspiciously pleased.

Blank unfolded the letter, after looking at the King for a permission, and read it aloud:



Ninny, ninny, sonny dear Can´t you feel your kin draws near Disappeared but back again Never known, not now nor then

We will hunt you, we will seak Gazing through the flesh so weak You cannot hide, you know it well We´ll drag you out of your shell

We are getting impatient, we need our heir. Come see us soon, or you will be sorry!! You know where we hide!



This letter was much shorter than the one before it but was written with the same handwriting. These smooth, uncharactaristic, perfect letters.

Blank looked up at Zidane and saw that his eyes were troubled. Of course they were, who would not be troubled after hearing something like this standing over a freshly killed woman! A murder that had been done because of him. Shocked was the right way to feel.

'A ninny, huh?' Cinna chuckled a bit. Baku stuck his elbow in Cinna´s side and gave him an icy look. Cinna shut his mouth.

' 'your kin draws near' ? What´s that supposed to mean?' Freya almost whispered.

' 'your kin' ? Strange.' Amarant agreed.

'They´re talking ´bout more monkey men?' Ruby asked. Zidane looked at her a bit hurt. 'Sorry. Genomes.' she added, putting on a faint smile.

'You know where they hide?' Baku asked Zidane curiously. Zidane shook his head.

'I don´t even know who they are!!' he said with a hint of despair.

'Well, I guess we better look for them though...' Blank said in his monotone voice. 'That´s all we can do for now! I think it´s quite clear that this woman is deadly serious, and she isn´t going to stop on her own!' The other nodded silently in agreement.

They started back to the palace and Beatrix yelled some orders to nearby guards indicating that they should take care of the body. Blank stood over the woman for just a moment, angry about this pointless murder. Then all of a sudden he heard a thud from above him. He turned around quickly but couldn´t see anything, the sun still down, and the sky dim above him. The sound had come from the roof of the house, and it had sounded as if someone was jumping between two rooftops. But Blank couldn´t see anything and try as he might, he couldn´t hear any more sounds (except for the clinging in the guards´ armour...).

Maybe it had just been a bird...

Who are 'they', Blank thought to himself before walking away.

*~*~*~*~*~*