A/N: This chapter contains spoilers for the Hot Springs Planet Tenrei episode. So if you haven't seen it - you really should, it's a helluva funny episode; who cares about the nudity and innuendo ^^ - you have been warned.

And this chapter is much longer. But so much happens in it.

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"Present fears,
Are less than horrible imaginings."
~ Shakespeare; Macbeth

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Six - Tenrei, Again!

The sun was looking down from a cloudless sky. Tenrei was bustling as always with a busy space port and welcome gate. And, yet again, on the other side stood a frowning Gene Starwind frowning while he glared at his Hawaiian print shirt. Beside him, Sebastian Delacour had the exact same expression on his face.

"All these beautiful women and here I am stuck working again." Gene grumbled.

"Are these things supposed to be like this?" Sebastian asked in a slightly shrill voice as he noticed that all he had on was a Speedo and a brightly coloured Hawaiian print shirt.

"It's regulation clothes for Tenrei," Aisha said with a shrug. "Besides, what are you complaining about? You've got plenty to show off." she gave him a leer with a grin. "Not that they're complaining."

Sebastian looked to see a bunch of girls standing and staring at him. "Hey! Stop checking me out!" he yelled as he glared at them.

Sebastian crossed his arms and stood there pouting. Aisha laughed as the girls tittered to themselves before they walked off; he looked extremely threatening when he was acting like a little kid. She looked around once she was done laughing, noticing they were short two people.

"Hey, where're Jim and Melfina?"

"Right here," Jim said as they stepped through the gate with a towel draped over his shoulder along with his shirt. "Filling out the paperwork for arriving with a dead body on your ship is far from fun to say the least."

"How come he gets a pair of shorts and I'm stuck in a Speedo?" Sebastian grumbled.

Gene gave a snort. "I think it has something to do with the girls who let us through the gate."

"There you are Sebastian," Melfina said as she walked in front of him. "On behalf of the crew I would like to apologize for the way you were treated. I would imagine that fresh air is much better than that stuffy cabin."

Sebastian looked at her amazed while everyone else found something else interesting to inspect. He cleared his throat, finding his voice again. "Um, thank you. The fresh air is a welcome change."

"Oh, the tag." Melfina murmured.

"Huh?"

Before Sebastian could say anything, Melfina reached around and tucked in the shirt tag that had been sticking out. Sebastian's face turned a bright shade of red in less than two seconds. The flush went all the way down from his face to his upper shoulders. Everyone looked at him in surprise before Gene cleared his throat and spoke.

"OK, what's the plan?"

"Well, you have to go looking for those guys again," Aisha said. "Me and Jim can look for that other scientist."

"So who's gonna stay with him?" Gene asked as he jerked his thumb towards Sebastian, whose face had returned to its normal colour. "Who knows what he might do."

"That's all right Gene. I can stay with him." Melfina said. "It's not too much trouble. Besides, Tenrei is always crowded with people. If something goes wrong, I can scream really loudly."

"I suppose." Gene said after a moment's thought. "Why don't you go to that ramen place just down the road?"

"We can do that." Melfina took Sebastian's hand. "Come on, it's not that far."

Sebastian's face went bright red once more and he gave a sharp squeak of surprise as Melfina took his hand, but he followed her with meekness. Jim and Aisha snickered while Gene shook his head in pity; Sebastian seemed to lose his entire personality around Melfina; or rather, when she touched him in any manner.

"All right then, me and Aisha are going to go look. I'd imagine you're off to find those dirty old men from last time, huh?"

Gene glared at Jim's smirk, wondering why he had decided to tell him what happened last time. "Only one of them is old. And it's a bloody long train ride and walk up."

"Better get going then. Later Gene!"

Gene watched as Aisha and Jim walked off, starting a conversation with Aisha. They were talking animatedly and drawing envious stares from the opposite sex. It looked like many girls were willing to take on the former officer of the Ctarl-Ctarl Empire. With a sigh, he started for the train station, realising that he still didn't have the talk with Jim and that maybe it was time. It was going to be a long trip.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"There's the place now."

Sebastian felt a surge of relief wash through him as he spied the stand just up ahead in the distance. The short walk to this place had seemed like an eternity. He was acutely aware of Melfina's hand holding his; her skin was just as he imagined it. Soft to the touch, though a bit pale and her grip gentle but firm enough. He gave a swallow, closed his eyes and prayed that they reached the stand in the next few seconds before he embarrassed himself horribly. When Melfina let go of his hand, he opened his eyes to see a tall stool in front of him, which he sat on gratefully.

"This is the best place for ramen on Tenrei," Melfina said with a smile. "Gene brought me here a few times before we left Tenrei the last time we were here."

"I see." Was all Sebastian could manage in a straight voice.

Melfina nodded. "There's beef, chicken, miso, seafood ramen; Jiao can make any sort you want."

"Hm." Sebastian grunted as he nodded his head.

"You're not very talkative, are you?" Melfina asked with a chuckle.

"I'd recognize that lovely voice and laugh anywhere," a short sandy haired man came out from behind a cloth flap. "Melfina, it's a pleasure to see you once more at my humble ramen shack. And with no Gene in sight, that's even better; no accusations of me trying to poison him."

"Hello Jiao, how have you been?" Melfina said with a slight blush. "This is Sebastian Delacour."

"Nice to meet you," Jiao said as he offered his hand. "I've been pretty good Melfina; business is booming, so I can't complain. But you guys came on a slow day."

Sebastian managed a smile as he shook Jiao's hand; jealousy was rearing its ugly head and he was doing his best to not let it loose. Maybe all those years of wishing, hoping and dreaming had a negative effect that he couldn't see. But at least he wasn't as obsessed as Harry MacDougall was.

"So what will the couple be having today?" Jiao asked, looking between the two of them.

Melfina giggled. "Sebastian and I aren't a couple."

"Really?" Jiao looked between the two of them carefully. "Hm, could have fooled me. So what are your orders?"

"I'll have the chicken ramen," Melfina said. "With some leeks and mushrooms, please."

"The usual for Melfina. And what about you?" he looked at Sebastian.

"Beef; I don't really care what vegetables you put in, so long as they're crunchy." Sebastian said.

"One beef, one chicken with leeks and mushrooms. Both want crunchy vegetables." Jiao looked at them and when they didn't correct him, he moved to the stove in the back. "Beef and chicken ramen coming right up."

Sebastian stared at the countertop, as silence came. 'Say something to her, anything.' He cleared his throat. "So, you like crunchy vegetable?" he winced at how high his voice sounded.

"Yes; so do you apparently." Melfina smiled, her eyes fixed on him. "Is there a reason why your voice changes like that?"

"It's the heat." Sebastian fibbed. "Makes my voice change for some reason."

"Ah. Do you mind if I ask you something?" her smile disappeared. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Sebastian looked at her from the corner of his eye before he shifted on the seat to look at her. "Yes?"

"How well did you know Khujesta?"

"I knew her somewhat." Sebastian replied after a few moments. "Why?"

"I can't figure out why someone would come after her so relentlessly. What did she do to deserve it?"

Sebastian didn't say anything, as he weighed the options. He could simply tell Melfina the truth but that was bound to trickle back to Starwind and Sebastian had no inkling to piss him off again. Melfina seemed attached to him for some reason and him bloodying him up wouldn't do anything if Sebastian wanted to get closer to her. And the truth was a bit too harsh now, since Khujesta has skewed her true role in Project Rebirth. And if he told her, there was a good chance that it might come after Melfina. He would rather die that let that sadistic creature get its hands on Melfina. That thought alone had terrified him as he had sat in that stuffy cabin on the XGP and he'd be damned if it came true.

"Everyone does something they regret to some degree. I'm sure someone as sweet as yourself has," Sebastian began. "Khujesta seemed to have plenty of regrets."

"But a regret that would make someone want to kill her?"

"It would seem so." Sebastian said. "Have you ever wondered why Khujesta is…was so scared of lyres?"

"Somewhat. We found on in our offices on Earth before we left and she…" Melfina trailed off.

"Lost it?" Sebastian closed his eyes as Melfina nodded her head. "She lost it because it almost killed her with a lyre once. It ripped it apart, grabbed a curved end and almost drove it through Khujesta's throat."

"Oh my." Melfina said in a small voice.

"Ever since that day, the lyre has represented death to Khujesta and it uses it as its calling card." Sebastian said. "The irony is twisted."

"Irony?" Melfina asked in a curious voice.

"The lyre, the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice; have you ever heard it?"

"No, I haven't. This will be a first."

"All right, one beef ramen," the bowl was placed in front of Sebastian. "And one chicken ramen." Jiao smiled as he placed the bowl in front of Melfina. "If you two don't mind, I have some things to take care of. If I'm not back by the time you finish, you know where to leave the cash Melfina."

Melfina nodded as Jiao disappeared behind the flap of cloth once more. She looked back at Sebastian. "Can you tell me the myth?"

Sebastian didn't reply for a moment, looking at Melfina. Until it was caught, this entire trip would be like navigating through the Underworld itself. "I don't normally tell tales, but I can make an exception."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Okay Jim, we've been wandering around here for a couple of hours now. Just where are we going?"

"I'm not too sure yet. We'll poke around and see what we find. We've only been looking for half an hour. What are you," Jim trailed off, noticing Aisha's tail flicking from side to side rapidly. "Aisha?"

"Yes?" Aisha suddenly sounded innocent and unaware.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing." Aisha suddenly found the sky interesting.

"Aisha…"

"Well, maybe I did one small, teensy thing." She said with a somewhat sheepish smile

"What is it?"

"I kinda called my friend in from the Ctarl-Ctarl Empire."

"When did you do this?"

"Remember when that girl and Sebastian crashed into the room. Well, after things cooled down and we started to leave, I snuck back and made a quick call."

Jim closed his eyes and rubbed his face briskly. "OK, I'm guessing they're going to meet us here?"

"Yeah. She's always on time."

"More than I can say for someone." Jim muttered.

"What did you say?" Aisha bristled slightly.

"Well, what does she do?"

"Oh, she's an assassin." Aisha said with a shrug.

"A what?! Are you out of your mind?" Jim yelled. "You have got to be kidding me!"

Aisha dragged Jim to a bench and made him sit down as some people started to stare at them. "You saw what we were up against in there. We need all the strength we can get from someone we can trust. I don't know about you, but I'm not so sure about this Sebastian guy. So what could be better than two Ctarl-Ctarl?"

Jim sighed as he hung his head. "I suppose you have a point. Man, things are crazy enough with one, why the hell do we need another?"

"Like Aisha said, you need the brawn from someone else you can trust."

Jim whipped around to see a slim purple haired woman hanging off from the streetlight. She was wearing a red bikini that accented her figure with a sarong wrapped around her waist. Cat ears peeked out from her sleek hair and moved every so often, as they captured all the sounds from around her. She stepped down from the post lightly and stood in front of them with a serious expression.

"Ariel Pri Pri of the Ctarl-Ctarl Empire, at your service." She said in a strangely purring voice.

"Nice to meet you; I'm Jim Hawking." Jim said as he rose and offered his hand.

Ariel inclined her head. "I came looking for you since you were late." Her eyes flashed at Aisha.

"Hey, I was gonna tell him. We were gradually gonna get there!" Aisha said in a defensive voice.

"Late as always, no wonder you failed." Ariel said as she rolled her eyes.

"I was not always late!" Aisha said. "Some people don't know the difference between a few seconds and a few minutes."

"Funny, the clock seemed to know perfectly well the difference. And it was always minutes."

"You have a lot of nerve, you know that!" Aisha snarled. "I helped you out so much and this is how you show gratitude? You throw things back in my face?"

"I didn't need your help; I was always fine by myself." Ariel said with a snort.

Jim watched the furious exchange between the two cat women. The last thing he wanted was to get in the middle of this feud. "Um…I'm gonna go look now. You two can just find me when you're done."

"Fine fine," Aisha said as she glared at Ariel. "You know what; you're still the same pompous bitch you've always been."

"Funny, it seems you need my help again." Ariel said with a smirk.

Jim winced as Aisha let out a string of expletives as he hurried away. There was already a crowd forming and he was more than glad to get out of there. He walked along the street, trying to think of where to look next. So far he and Aisha had visited four spas, three bars and fifteen lounge spots with no luck.

"This person has to be somewhere on Tenrei." He muttered to himself as he let his feet take him somewhere.

He looked up, finding himself at the top of a flight of stairs. Off in the distance, he could see a snow capped mountain. He remembered Gene telling him about the hidden place that was exclusively for women at the peak. ''She resides on Tenrei in an exclusive resort for women.' It's been staring me in the face this entire time!'

"All right, it looks like I'm going up that mountain," Jim murmured to himself. He looked back, hearing a particularly loud growl before he started for the train station. "And not a moment too soon, apparently."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gene took a deep breath as he finally reached the top of the stairs; they seemed to be a lot more than when he first came here. The doors of the building stood in front of him. At least they hadn't changed. He walked in, the familiar ceiling stretching above his head.

"Hello, anyone here?" he called as he walk towards the statue in the middle of the room.

No response greeted him. Puzzled he started searching for a door; he was half expecting to see Hadul or Ark out here attempting to sell the cheap merchandise, like last time. The sound of his sandals against the smooth polished floor sounded like whisperings. Gene paused at that; feet didn't exactly whisper; Shuffle, yes; whisper, no.

He stopped beside the wall, hearing the faint sound of voice echoing around him. So they were here, probably in a back room. The voices became louder as he walked along. Just up ahead, he spied a door, sunken into the wall. Walking up to it, he knocked gently before he opened the door.

"He he, someone's been a naughty girl."

"You're telling me; really naughty."

Gene smirked as he leaned against the doorjamb. "Hadul and Ark Manaf; the infamous wizards of Tenrei and the universe; this is how you spend your time?"

The two people who had been bent over a picture whip around, faces flushed with guilt. But they scowled somewhat when they found themselves looking at the expression on Gene's face.

"Gene Starwind, here again, let me guess" Hadul simply looked at him. "More Caster shells?"

"No actually," Gene said. "All I need this time is some information."

"I don't know, we were in the middle of something," Ark mused as he stroked his chin.

"Hey, don't you think I wish I was anywhere else but here and surrounded by beautiful women?" Gene asked. "You two got more action looking at that picture than I've gotten in…about a month."

Hadul and Ark gaped at him for a second before shaking off their shock. They regarded Gene for a moment before they cleared their throats.

"Well, then there's just a small matter of payment." Hadul began. "Now-"

"Forget it old man," Gene growled. "I am not climbing back up Mount Nyobi to take dirty pictures of Urt for you; as much fun as that that was I'd rather not get pummelled by booby traps, beat on by women with washing sticks and blown up by rigged videotapes."

"Fair enough," Ark replied before he grinned. "But that tape was worth it."

"It was," Hadul agreed with something of a dreamy look on his face. "And you did help us after the tape blew up…"

Ark glanced at Hadul before he sighed and gestured to a chair. "All right, take a seat. Now what exactly is this about?"

Gene nodded as he sat down, resting his elbows on his knees. "My Caster shells, in a way. They are made of magic right?"

Ark nodded. "Tao magic."

"So technically, when they're fired at someone, they should injure the person?"

"Yes." Ark had a growing look of confused impatience. "You do remember what we told you about using Caster shells?"

"Yeah yeah," Gene said with a wave of his hand. "So how could someone take a direct blast from a Caster gun and not show any signs of damage?"

"What?" Ark's expression became shocked. "A direct blast with no damage?"

Gene nodded his head. "A direct blast. Right to the midsection."

"Right to the midsection…" Ark shook his head in amazement. "What do you make of it Hadul? Hadul?"

Hadul had been occupying himself by looking the dirty picture with a grin on his face. Ark closed his eyes as he snatched it away.

"I heard everything!" Hadul said as he snatched the picture back. "There's only one explanation."

"And that would be?" Gene asked.

"Absorption."

Ark and Gene looked at each other puzzled, while Hadul started looking at the dirty picture again. "Absorption?" they both said at the same time.

"Yes, absorption," Hadul said in a mildly irritated voice as he looked up from the picture. "It's a very hard facet to Tao magic. The training for it usually kills a person."

"She absorbed the shot?" Gene asked after a few moments thought. "How so?"

"Even I'm not too sure. But I believe it requires someone with an unusual aptitude for Tao magic."

"Great, even more comforting." Gene muttered. "Is there any way to stop it?"

Hadul shrugged. "Don't fire your Caster gun at the person."

"Gene, just exactly who is this person?" Ark asked.

"I don't know. Some girl created by Styx."

A deathly silence filled the room as both men went shock still, their faces paling slightly. Gene looked between them; that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach wasn't doing anything to relieve any of his worries so far.

"That's not exactly what I wanted to hear." Hadul said after a few moments.

Gene grunted an unintelligible response before he spoke clearly. "Are you going to tell me why this is so bad?"

"Styx was reputed to be infusing Tao magic into humans." Hadul began.

Gene stifled a curse; quite a few curses actually.

"But they stopped when many of the scientists protested that testing on humans was unethical. So, since Styx was just a fledgling corporation, they heeded their workers' concerns. And then, after the Kei Pirates and scientists split, it was said that they started back with the Tao magic. This is the first I've heard of it succeeding."

"You don't want to know how well," Gene grumbled. "Just how do you know all of this?"

"I was offered a job at Styx once, but I refused it. Something just didn't seem right at the time. And when these rumours started to circulate, I made sure I paid attention."

"I see. So, do you have an inkling of what I'm up against here?" Gene asked in quiet voice.

Hadul nodded his head. "Are you sure you don't need any more Caster shells?"

"I could use some more," Gene admitted. "But as long as it doesn't involve Mount Nyobi or Urt, I'll do whatever you want," He stopped, thinking for a moment. "Short of dressing in drag."

"Interesting you should say that," Ark said as he smiled at Gene. "Because there's something we need done."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Aisha sighed as she scratched her head absentmindedly. So far, she and Ariel had combed over half of this port town and come up with nothing. It was nice to see her cousin again and there was no one that she would trust more to be with her searching. But Ariel always drove her insane with her know-it-all attitude. Not to mention she constantly rubbed in the fact that she was a highly decorated officer of the Ctarl-Ctarl Empire and graduated in top of her class.

"Aisha," Ariel's voice sounded irritated. "Are you sure you have no pertinent information?"

"I'm sure," Aisha said, crowing gleefully in her mind; Ariel always seemed to get impatient really fast. Besides, we're going on what Jim told me."

"I see." Ariel paused. "And just where is Jim?"

"What are you talking about," Aisha sighed in exasperation as she turned around before she screeched at the top of her lungs. "Shit, Jim's gone!"

"Calm down Aisha," Ariel said as Aisha started pacing back and forth with a growl. "We'll find him."

"Cripes, Gene's gonna kill me! How could I lose him like that? Oh yes, I gotta remember to stop bickering with you so damned much." Aisha stomped back in the direction they had come.

"Where are you going?" Ariel demanded as she started after her.

"Where do you think?" Aisha said in an impatient voice. "I'm going back to where he last was to see if I can get a scent."

"You're going to track him through Tenrei?" Ariel snorted. "Good luck there."

"I've known Jim for a whole year. You don't forget a scent like his." Aisha muttered. "Now shut up and help me."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The loud sound reached Sebastian's ears through the soothing music playing in the room. He sat up, looking around, wishing he had his gun on him. Using your bare hands to defend yourself was tricky and people tended to fight dirty when it came to utilizing hands; a fight could easily be lost that way.

"Is something wrong Sebastian?" Melfina asked as she tilted her head to the side to look at him.

Sebastian didn't say anything for a moment, thinking. The sound hadn't come again and if some one had been looking to kill him, they would have been in the building by now. But his hackles were gone, only the cool air tickling the back of his neck.

"No, nothing's wrong, I thought I heard a sound." He mumbled as he lowered himself back down into his bathtub.

Melfina smiled at him as she leaned back against the porcelain tub. "Isn't this mud bath wonderful?"

"I don't see what so special about it," Sebastian said as he wrinkled his nose. "It's just mud."

Melfina didn't answer him; she was already gone, a small smile on her face. Sebastian snorted as he started up at the delicate geometric designs on the ceiling. They had started looking after finishing off their ramen. They had walked so much that Melfina was complaining that her feet were achy. Sebastian hadn't even thought to find a bench; he just helped her walk into the nearest building, figuring it would have a place to sit.

Once they stepped foot in the doorway, some loud music had started playing, streamers and confetti raining down on them. Suddenly, he found himself being whisked away by three female attendants, the same happening to Melfina. The place they had walked into was a posh couples spa and they were the millionth 'couple' to walk through the doors; which explained the facial scrub, the full body scrub, the shiatsu full body massage and now the mud bath in which he was currently soaking, though it seemed more like slow baking to him.

"Actually, it's a mineral mud bath." Melfina said after a few moments. "Aren't you enjoying yourself?"

Sebastian looked at her. The mint green towel wrapped around her head made her skin look flawless. Puffs of steam floated by in the humid air, causing a slight flush in her cheeks. And her eyes shone with content and bliss. His lips curved into an awkward smile; he never really did smile much.

"Yeah, I am."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The biting wind lashed down on the mountain path. Jim shivered slightly as he trudged up the path to the summit of Mount Nyobi. So far, the only hard part of this trek was actually going up the mountain. The bobby traps and such were easy to avoid. But, trudging through all this snow was not his idea of a nice climb in any manner.

"Ah, finally!" he sighed in relief as he stepped onto the top of the mountain. "Now, to find this…resort."

Jim looked around seeing only a curved rock wall and an old wooden sign that said "No men allowed!" That was all that graced the top of the mountain. Jim blinked and rubbed his eyes, unsure if there was something he missed. But all he saw was the exact same thing before.

"You have got to be kidding me," Jim muttered darkly to himself. "I climbed up all this way to find the resort and there's nothing up here at all! Nothing!"

He stamped his foot, hearing a dull thud. Pausing, he looked down, to see the hard snow beneath his foot. He stamped his foot once more, hearing the dull thud, but there was also a slight creaking sound. Puzzled, he stamped his foot a bit harder, hearing a definite creak. Maybe there was some sort of trap door he had to activate. Taking a deep breath, he started jumping up and down as hard as he could, the creak growing louder and louder.

After a few minutes, he stopped, hearing a low groaning sound. He looked at his feet before he jumped again once more. The ground gave out beneath him and he plunged down, catching glimpses of people and painted walls through the snow before he crashed down into a pool of water.

He floundered for a moment before he swam back up to the surface. A look up showed him a large hole in a ceiling ringed by snow and fragments of glass. And standing all around the edge of the pool, holding long washing paddles were many women, all with extremely displeased expressions on their faces.

"What is it now?" a dark haired woman pushed her way through the crowd. "That window again? Ever since he fell through it, it hasn't been the same."

Jim blinked the water out of his eyes as a woman held out a hand to help him up. He took it ad hauled himself out of the pool. He wrung the water from his hair and stood there, water dripping from his shirt and his swim trunks. The dark haired woman looked him over with amusement before she murmured something to the girl beside her. The girl disappeared and came back a few moments later, carry a robe with her.

"Here you go," the dark haired woman said. "I suggest you take it before you before you freeze."

"Thank you," he said gratefully as he took and shrugged into it. "I'm sorry about the…window."

The woman waved her hand. "Since Gene crashed through it, it's always given us a problem. What's your name?"

"Jim Hawking."

"Jim Hawking? You're Gene's little friend, aren't you?" there was a smile of amusement on her face.

"Yes. May I ask your name?" Jim asked.

"My name is Urt. Gene didn't mention me?"

Jim shook his head. "He mentioned something about a video."

Urt chuckled. "I imagine he would. So, to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"Actually I'm looking for someone," Jim said. "Someone from Styx."

"Styx?" Urt raised an eyebrow. "Well, there's-"

"That's all right Urt," a voice said from the back. "I know what he's here for."

Jim turned to see a rather tall woman step forward from the crowd. She had to be taller than Gene; he was craning his neck to look at her properly. The green haired woman looked at him before she smiled a wistful, sad type of smile.

"It's been so long." She murmured.

"I beg your pardon?" Jim asked in a wary voice; if there was one thing he hated, it was cryptic sentences.

The woman's eyes misted slightly. "I was wondering when I would see you again."