Chrono Cross Second Journey

Fan Novelization

7   The Intrusion

A clear day brought about a bright, warm morning and weather excellent for their daily games in the yard with her playmates. Time flies when one has fun. And so the joyous moments ended quickly at the call for lunch. Reluctantly, everyone headed back to their home in which they shared, after they promised each other of another anticipated session in the afternoon.

Kid was the first to walk through the door while she laughed. But her laughter was silenced by the sight of a strangely dressed man. He held an unpleasant conversation with Sis that soon became a heated argument. Kid became frightened and confused, for she had never seen Sis speak with a tone so enraged, so grave.

The man turned to stare Kid with a face she could not see. However hard she tried to focus, his features remained a constant blur, as if they were clouded behind a thick fog through which only his baleful eyes peered. Kid retreated helplessly, as the fearsome man rushed to her and lifted her up effortlessly by her blouse.

"Sis! Help!" Kid screamed for help in fright as she tried desperately to free herself of the grasp.

"Release her!" Sis cried. "She's only a child, you despicable cat! I know what you seek! But I will not let that artifact fall into the wrong hands!"

"It belongs to me. You chose to keep it behind lock and key."

"It was never yours to begin with!"

"Is that so?" said the man, unfazed by the show of courage.

He released Kid, who fell hard on the floor. Kid screamed in pain and burst into tears.

"Kid!" Sis shrieked and rushed over to Kid to help her up. "Kid! Are you hurt?" Sis examined her arms and legs and then hugged her tightly. "Are you all right?" she sobbed.

"Sis!" Kid wailed as she rubbed her tears against Sis' arms.

The man walked past them to the door. "I have no wish to force you," he said as he disappeared into the brightness of the day. "When I return, I expect a favorable reply."

"Sis...," Kid mumbled in tears as she opened her eyes. She sat up on the bed and wiped her cheeks of the tears. It was another dream, one that she had everyday without fail. Everyday never ended either, without Kid thinking of Sis, the only kin she had in this world. But Sis was no longer around. And Kid was left alone to raise and fend for herself.

For five years, she had lived out her life as a wanderer. For five years, she slept under the stars when she found no roof and ate frogs, insects and venison in the raw when she found no other food. She knew of life as running like a fugitive from lands that did not accept her. She knew of homes that were leaves and branches and of family that were birds, tigers and lions. But things had not been all that bad. At the very least, she had sought shelter by the temples' and churches' compassion and had sought many more comfortable ones in the warehouses of filthy rich merchants and secret vaults of top ruling officials.

But after five long years, it was time to recover all that she had lost.

Kid glanced at her newfound teammates, both who were sound asleep. The mid afternoon sun that streamed through the window signaled the beginning of her mission. She jumped out of her bed, left the room, descended the stairs into the lobby and then walked out of the inn.

Stalls had closed and music had ceased by late afternoon, leaving behind a quiet town of stray animals that scurried across streets, scavenging the last of food on the floor. A layer of dust that settled over the lower part of the town brought on an enchanting view of the jungle of concrete white. Children relished the final moments of the day and the long stretches of empty streets, playing catch and running away from each other and from their parents. Dinner tinted the stifling air with an aromatic blend of home-cooked delicacies as the population gradually retreated to their residence.

Kid bolted for downtown and to an items storehouse. She knocked on the door to make sure no one answered and to discover that it was locked from within. She walked to an open window, studied its size and studied the interiors. She scanned both sides of the streets and made sure it was clear before she jumped effortlessly through the window. She landed silently on the inside and rolled upright. She stood to her feet and headed swiftly to the wooden window to shut her presence to the world outside.

In the dim lighting that stole through holes in the rotting window, she examined the shop and its collection of worn-out weapons and of old, dusty miscellaneous. She went over to the shelves and helped herself to a heavy rope whose thickness and coils indicated to her it was just less than thirty feet. After she slung the heavy coil over shoulders, she gifted herself with a sturdy three-pronged hook and some short, steel wires. Finally, she withdrew herself some savings of gold pieces from a wooden box at the store's counter, but she took no more than what she needed for the day's payments. Kid took a final glance for better offerings and when she found none, she headed for the door and left the storehouse clean and neat.

Kid strode down the streets calmly, back to the inn and into its lobby. She checked out at the receptionist and paid the cash she had conveniently taken from the storehouse. She hurried up into her room and flung the door open. She kicked her foot into both beds with a crash that jolted the two sleepyheads awake.

 "Oi!" she hollered at her loudest voice as she shook the two vigorously. "Time to wake up!"

Leena moaned, "It's time to leave?"

Serge opened his blurry eyes, sat up on the bed and started groaning.

"Get out of the bed, you lazy blokes!" Kid demanded impatiently. "We've to be at the manor before dark."

"What are those you hold?" asked Leena as the weary eyes of hers fell upon the coils of rope around Kid's shoulders. "Where did you get them?"

"Mountaineering equipment I bought with toil and sweat," Kid replied as she dragged Serge and Leena out of the bed. "Come on! Let's get those lazy arses moving."

Serge and Leena dragged themselves back. "Hold it! Wait!" they both resisted wearily. They grabbed their belongings just in time before Kid forcefully pulled them out of the room, down to the lobby and out into the evening town.

Kid led the small party of three towards the outskirts of the town where the river flowed. The ferryman waited as promised at the edge of the now quiet town. Armed with his wooden oar and pacing the coast restlessly, he seemed impatient for his customers and his earnings for the day. His eyes lit up with a glimmer of hope when he saw Kid and her comrades approaching him, a glimmer that shone like gold pieces did. He greeted Kid with a sense of eagerness as he waved his customers over.

"It's you!" the ferryman yelped. "I've been waiting!"

"Here's the fee," Kid said, slapping into his palm exactly sixty gold pieces, again courtesy of the storehouse.

The miserable price must have reminded the ferryman of the bargaining earlier in the day, for his shoulders sagged and looked as if he fell into a state of defeat. He shook his head while he counted his meager salary and made sure every cent was paid. When he finished counting thrice, he invited his customers up on board his wooden boat.

The wooden sail boat was two-hulled, one of which served as a sitting area, while the other, as a buoy. Connected by means of poles hammered into the hulls and a wooden deck across, the flimsy sail boat looked almost ready to fall apart.

Kid took her stand on the wooden deck at the starboard side, while Serge and Leena took their seat at the main hull and placed weapons on the base of the hull. The ferryman boarded. When satisfied that his customers were secure, he dipped his oar into the river and began to row the boat out skillfully through the Termina River into the sea. As soon as the winds were strong enough, the ferryman lifted the sails and let nature powered the boat into the seas.

Karsh was a member of the Acacia Dragoons, a Deva so to speak. The Four Devas of the Acacia Dragoons were the elite commanders of the military, chosen by the general after a series of grueling training and rigorous tests.

The generations of Devas were comprised of four elites who answered to no one but the general of the Viper family himself. Among the Devas, the best would be crowned the leader of the Devas and the leader of all their subordinates. In a sense, he could be considered the second in-command to the general. During an absence of the General, the leader of the Deva was the acting command and his orders were as good as those spoken from the general himself. The leader of the previous generation of Devas -- the thirteenth generation -- Garai died in an accident. His death, till today, remained a mystery.

When the previous generation of Devas descended, fresh blood took over. In the fourteenth generation of Devas, there were three elites, one of whom was Karsh. The fourth elite, the leader of the Devas by the name of Dario, son of Garai, had passed away some four years ago, again in a mishap of the unfortunate that seemed to befall on the family of Garai if they took the post of the leader of the Devas.

Rumor had it that the Deva Karsh was with him at the time of his death, and was said to be the only one who had witnessed everything, if anything at all. Rumor also had it that Karsh seemed reluctant to speak of anything that happened on that day. Suspicions rose and his credibility as a Deva dove. Many speculated that Karsh had his eyes on the post of the leader of the Devas, while others attributed it to his jealousy.

Dario had been engaged to Lady Riddel, princess of the royal family, daughter of General Viper. Lady Riddel was considered an angel descended from heaven among all levels of society, Dragoons and non-Dragoons, high-ranking and the average man alike, for she was not just pretty in looks, she was beautiful in all aspects: intellect, charm, personality. Her suitors were aplenty, among which, Karsh was believed to be a likely suspect. Shortly after the announcement of their engagement, Dario died.

"So, you see. It's obvious Karsh was the culprit," the ferryman concluded. "But charges haven't been formally brought against him, even after three years."

By the end of the long history lesson, eagerly conducted by the ferryman at the request of Kid, Serge was dozing off.

"Oi! Serge!" Kid yelled.

"What?" Serge snapped.

Leena giggled as she shook her head.

Kid kept her cool, for she knew better to infuriate a teammate prior to a mission. "So what's your story? Being a ghost and all that."

"I don't know," Serge said reluctantly with a shrug.

"You kidding, mate? You don't know?" Kid asked as she glared at Serge, irked by his obvious pettiness.

Serge grunted noisily. "I fainted then everything seemed to have changed. It seems that I died ten years ago."

"What? You died ten years ago?" Kid yelled in surprised.

Kid recalled the beginning of her life as a wanderer when she slept amongst the wild. The slightest of sounds startled her who was then only eleven years of age, for she feared for the likes of ghosts and spirits that she imagined had come to haunt her. She ran for her life and she kept running every time until she learnt how to dispose of the sound by scaring off and killing what made it. Soon, she came to realize that even the most horrific and gut-churning of mortal sounds must come from mortal beings. Ghosts and spirits did not exist, unlike the fanatics of such superstition loved to claim.

"Look at you. You are as fit as a fiddle," she dismissed. "So what exactly happened to you ten years ago? You don't remember?"

Serge shook head, eyes still fixed on the ocean.

"I thought so. You were just a little squirt ten years ago. Of course you don't remember. But it's perfectly normal."

Serge grunted, turned back to his view of the sea and kept stubbornly wordless.

"Cheer up, eh?" she counseled. "We'll find out what's going on soon enough."

As Kid spoke those words, she realized she could not wait. Soon enough was still too long for her, just as those five years were. She turned back and gazed upon the seas that rolled off the horizon, and began to imagine the vast ocean as a vast desert, where its waves were its dunes of sands. She had thirst for company and concern as she dragged her feet forlornly across the uninhabited plains. The rains of love had never fallen upon and refreshed her skin, but instead she found that the heat of despise and betrayal of her fellow humans had constantly sapped her spirit. The lonely road through the desert plains had been long but her thirst for blood and revenge, and her hunger for all she had lost to be returned to her had kept her forging ahead.

Finally, the road was about to come to end.

She drifted out of her thoughts and focused back on the horizon. She drew a long, silent breath and then exhaled.

"Kid, there's something I feel you should know," Serge said softly but seriously. "I remembered this while I rested at the inn earlier. Yesterday morning, before all these changes occurred, I woke up from a dream, a very strange dream."

"What?" Kid asked, surprised by his change of attitude. "A strange dream?"

"I saw you in that dream, exactly the way as you look now. But yesterday morning, we haven't yet met each other. That is why I sense something about this dream, like an ill omen. I don't know what this dream foretells, but I want you to be very careful, especially of me."

"And why's that?"

"I might" -- he paused -- "hurt you. I saw you, in the dream, lying in a pool of red. I held in my hand a dagger stained with your blood."

"Get off it! Don't make me laugh! I'll be alright, mate!" She pointed her thumb at her own face fearlessly. The talk of ghosts and spirits could not scare her, and neither could that of dreams of the ominous. She knew that if she wanted something, she would not wait for them to fall from the heavens, for they never did. She had to seize it, even if it meant she had to pluck the stars and the two moons from the sky. She knew that if she did not want something dreadful to come to pass, she would not sit around and pray for the best. She would take steps to prevent it from happening at all costs, even if it meant she had to cross the fine and always wobbly line that they called "law."

"I don't go down that easy. Besides, I'm pretty sure you aren't thinking of stabbing me at me back, are you?" with a smile Kid added, as an afterthought.

Serge kept silent and all comments to himself.

To Kid, the world was one of nonsense. If she put it crudely, the world had on it piled full of dung and feces. Man waded arduously through the muck like they raced to mountains that permitted them to stand above all things that smelled foul, things that included man himself. To achieve such grand goals, man pulled friend and foe down, threw dung at each other or forced another to swallow handfuls. Everyone did what the other did, as if such were customary rites that all must follow.

Kid had been caught in such miserable situations before. The best of friends in best of times became the worst of enemies with a turn of the back. He who knew too much was as helpful as he was dangerous, for knowledge of one's self was a sword whose edges cut both ways. She had learnt such lessons the hard way: her comrades had snitched on her, had divulged her secrets and had informed the authorities. She had been thrown into the prison cells courtesy of those who had been once sworn siblings, of those who had once sworn to see each other through thick and thin. She had escaped sentence by fleeing from the trials, but ever since such wounds had been dealt upon her, she had learnt never to trust people again.

From her experience, she would have seen a man of such quiet pettiness such as Serge as a threat to her well-being. Yet, she had faith in this stranger, as if he were a true friend. She didn't know why she would have even suggested teaming up the first time they met and she didn't why she trusted him. She just felt that way, as if she knew him a long time ago.

Perhaps it was because Kid saw in Serge none of the foul-smelling personality that she was familiar with. Those eyes of blue did not steal glances from its corner, and did not peer through squinting eyelids like he would if he harbored vengeful intentions. Those same eyes were indisputably troubled by the events that had befallen its owner even if the owner chose to hide his emotions behind a sharp, bickering tongue. For his report about the dream, she was certain Serge could be even likeable. If only he continued to speak his mind often, like a real (good) man did.

For the next quarter of an hour of the ride, only the sounds of the boat slicing through the waves could be heard, until Leena broke the silence.

"Kid?" said Leena.

"Yes."

"Do you always talk like that?"

"Like what?"

"You sound a little boyish," Leena said diplomatically.

"Why?" Kid glared at Leena, who seemed to wince.

"Why, it sounds terrible coming from a girl!" she explained with a smile.

"I think I'm starting to like you. You are one frank lassie!" Kid gave a thumbs-up at Leena while she cast a disdainful glance at Serge. "But that's just me," she admitted, patting her chest. "Been speaking like that for a while now!"

"Are you not afraid you will scare away your other half?" Leena asked again.

"Hah!" Kid yelled. "I don't need no other half!"

"But it's lonely," Leena said, looking over at Serge, who paid no attention at the ladies' conversation, lost in his own world while he gazed blankly into the distance. "Besides, everybody needs someone to accompany her throughout her life. How about..." -- Leena pointed subtly a thumb at Serge.

The boat jerked a little for the ferryman almost lost control of his footing. Everyone except Serge stared at the ferryman and he apologized under pressure.

"This Beachbum?" Kid continued, pointing to Serge. "He may have an arse of a face, but he does seem adorable."

"Who are you calling Beachbum and arse?" retorted Serge who had pulled himself back into reality from his daydream.

"I'm surprised you even listened," Kid said sarcastically.

"Stop it, you two!" Leena ordered.

"If I ever wanted an other half, you won't stand the best chance," Kid tested him as she observed his expression and waited for some pleasant reactions.

"That's a relief," mocked Serge. "You'd be the last on my mind. Perhaps I should say, you'll never be."

Kid clenched her fist tight, restraining the urge to smack his arrogant face. But the ferryman found it hilarious and burst into uncontrollable laughter. The boat shook as hard as he did.

"What's so funny?" "What do you think you're laughing at, you skinny bones!" Serge and Kid barked at the same time.

Leena, who watched the event with amusement, burst out in soft giggles.

The ferryman stopped laughing and the boat stopped shaking. As he returned to his task of steering, he said with a smiling voice, "Nothing! Nothing at all!"

"Keep those eyes of yours on the water, you bloke!" Kid roared furiously, wondering what in the world could have tickled this other detestable being.

Just when Kid began to change her impression of Serge, he destroyed all the good of it with the insult he just hurled. She decided he was doomed to be a hypocrite for the rest of his life. She could only hope that his lips that did not speak the heart would not speak the words that would land her in hot soup, like a traitor would.

Kid thanked Serge in her mind that reminder. She would be careful.

The setting sun left the sea in a saturated blaze of orange. The cloudless sky was like a canopy of striking orange, smoldering flames before the night took over from the east and doused them out. The sea winds that powered the sail boat were fiery and suffocating. Such was the heat worse than anything Kid had experienced beyond the continents of El Nido. It continued to sting her skin as if she were being bitten by red ants of an army in tens of thousands. Her skin had tanned much in these two days of travel than it had in the last five years in the world outside, as if El Nido had above it a lens of monolithic proportions that directed the sun's rays onto its lands and its people.

As they approached, they saw Viper Manor, the headquarters of the only military force in El Nido, graced the peak of a steep, seemingly insurmountable cliff of at least two hundred feet tall. The manor's front faced southwards into the lands of the central continent while its back faced the ocean and the incoming intruders. Fortified with walls of stone, the Viper Manor was said to be an impregnable fortress, guarded by watchful sentries and armed patrols. If caught, the perpetrator would no doubt be thrown straight into jail, or hung without a trial convened and judgment passed. No single being were known to have broken into it successfully. Perhaps, no one ever dared try.

Not until tonight.

The hour-long ride brought the intruders to the base of the cliff, directly beneath their target. Kid alighted eagerly and began sizing the vertical obstacle while her teammates unloaded their belongings.

"Thank you for the ride," said Leena to the ferryman.

"It's my job," the ferryman said. Then he pointed his finger to Kid who was studying intently the cliff. "Hey, you! Ms. Kid! You'd be careful, now."

Kid raised a hand in gesture without a word and paid no heed to the untimely concern. The ferryman picked up his boat oar and began to row his boat away.

Kid stepped back to the edge of the base and then into shallow waters for a view of the cliff at a best angle. Her gaze shifted about the rocky cliff, surface to surface, rock to rock, ledge to ledge. The setting sun cast shadows of rocks against the cliff and indicated to her the footing of each protrusion. She drew a path in her mind that linked from one safe ledge the simplest path that reached the summit where the manor awaited. She watched out for ferns and growth that were loose and mentally noted those that should not be stepped upon if unnecessary. She identified where they would rock climb, and where the rope would come into use.

Kid turned to look and Serge and Leena and studied their expressions. "You blokes fine with this?"

"Yes," Serge said monotonously.

"I-I think so," Leena said shakily.

"Okay, listen up. The first seventy feet or so, we would have to climb on the rocks up to that ledge over there," she directed as she pointed to the appropriate parts of the cliff. "No choice, it's too bloody far for the rope to reach. Once we hit the first ledge, I alone will climb onto the second ledge over there, plant the rope, and drop it down for the both of you blokes. Then you climb up on the rope. Understood?"

Serge and Leena nodded.

"It's only about forty, fifty feet. After that we have to climb on the rocks again from another fifty feet until we hit that small ledge over there, can you see?"

They nodded again.

"After that the slope eases up and the rest of the fifty feet should be easy. But when we climb I don't want no noises, no chatting, no screaming and no looking down, you hear? Nobody pisses until I do."

They nodded again and then Serge looked up blankly at the steep cliff.

"Oi!" Kid yelled at Serge and caught his attention. "Your swallow's dangerous if it falls. Disassemble it, buckle it to your. Leena and I will go up first, so that if it falls and you do, it's not going take any of us with it."

Serge nodded and did as he was told.

"You're below us only because of your swallow. I don't want you to get no dirty ideas, you hear, mate? Look at only where Leena steps and no where else."

Serge ears flushed a red that made the orange of the evening sky pale in comparison. His eyes darted about in embarrassment from Kid's chest to Kid's bare thighs and then into the sea as he fumbled with his swallow.

Kid glanced at Leena who was blowing breath anxiously into her tensed, clasped hands. Kid laid an assuring hand on Leena's shoulder. "We'll be fine," said Kid. "Keep your eyes open and keep you mind focused. Just hold on to what I do, and step on where I step."

Leena nodded feebly.

"Are we ready?" asked Kid. "Take a deep breath. We'll be up there by the time you know it."

Serge and Leena nodded again.

Kid took the lead and climbed the rocky cliff. Her hands grabbed and her feet stepped as she looked up ahead another fifteen feet to find the next best route to take. She had scaled far tougher cliffs and far taller mountains than this, which was of little trouble to her. She was only concerned for the two inexperienced who seemed struggle with every move. She proceeded slowly such that Leena could see where she should step, for one miss of the foot would send her plunging down along with Serge. If they were fortunate, they would splash into the water and might still escape unscathed. Otherwise, they would crash into the rocky coast below and their journey would end there. The climb could have been faster, for the abundance of rocks and natural ledges made holding and footing easy. But Serge's and Leena's irresistible need to check their height slowed everyone down.

"Are we there yet?" grumbled Leena.

"Wow, it's really high," added Serge.

"I don't think I can make it, Kid," insisted Leena.

"What did I say?" Kid whispered. "No talking! No looking down!"

They passed one ledge after another successfully, until they reached the last fifty feet that sloped but sloped steeply, that provided no flat ground for standing, only jagged rocks to hold one's footing. When Kid ascended up the top of the slope, she directed Leena and Serge to confined, but comfortable spaces. As they panted furiously, they were both contented to flatten themselves against the walls of stone that fortified the Viper Manor grounds.

Kid found a small protrusion from the slope on which she comfortably rested her left foot and placed the other on another rock set against the stone wall. She crossed her arms and looked down directly below her where the waves of the sea that crashed into the cliffs. She did not fear the heights and could walk on a plank thousand miles in the air as if she walked on the ground. She only feared for the two who might, in haste and terror, pull each other down. Kid signaled them to stand further from each other apart while she kept a good, comfortable distance from them.

Kid gave the thumbs up as she smiled at them. "Chicken feed?" she mouthed quietly. "Take deep breaths. Enjoy scenery."

From where they stood, the sky and the ocean of burning orange encompassed their field of vision. Lone islands and land masses stood scattered in the middle of the sea and merged with their own reflection in the sea to form a splendid visual of mountainous rocks that seemed to float in mid air.

As Serge and Leena spent their terrified moments gazing into the seas, Kid scrutinized the environs and calculated their movements. Judging from the height of the wall, she could make it to the top if she jumped. She spotted trees on her left planted within the manor grounds that stood out above the top of the fence and would cover her ascend.

Kid drew the charts in her mind and laid the steps for the break-in. She got Serge's and Leena's and attention and began signaling with her hands and mouthing her plans to them.

"I give you two one end of the rope. When sun sets, no light. I tug rope twice, then I jump and climb up onto wall behind trees there" -- she pointed -- "I anchor the other end of rope inside. When I'm ready, I tug rope twice, Leena climbs, Serge hold end of rope. Then, I tug rope twice, Serge climbs. Once you are over, hide behind tree. No noise. No move until I say so. Understood?"

Serge and Leena nodded. They seemed contented to just follow, and seemed astounded at her strategic forethoughts. Kid gave the thumbs up, handed Serge and Leena one end of the rope and waited eagerly for nightfall.

Night fell and darkness blanketed the lands.

Kid tugged the rope twice as she had instructed and readied them for the intrusion. She felt her blood rush with anticipation as she leapt swiftly on to the ledge of the stone wall with the rest of the rope coiled around her neck. Using the momentum from the jump, she swung one leg across the wall to secure her position at the top. She inspected the other side of the wall for silent landing. When she found a suitable spot, she glided off the ledge and landed softly in the manor's grounds.

Kid tied the rope around the tree and tugged it. The rope tautened. It grazed the top of the wall and quivered wildly until Leena finally came into sight over the wall, much to Kid's relief. Leena jumped and Kid caught her to cushion her fall. She gave the tug again and Serge quickly found his way up the wall. He jumped in and Kid caught him. She untied the rope, carefully hid the heavy coil in the bushes behind and took a quick glimpse of the settings.

The moons of mystic silver and crimson red hung in the clear, starlit night sky and cast its soothing light upon the grounds of the majestic palace. The manor spanned an entire mile on all four sides and never looked so big from afar as it did now. The yard, where the threesome now hid, was a hundred feet wide garden. Its grass and bushes were neatly trimmed into decorative hedges that lined against the side of the walls of fortification. The manor stood against the back of the fortified wall as its characteristic gold, domed roofs reached to the skies and reflected a polished gleam even in the pale moonlight. A balcony extended from the manor's rear tower and overlooked into the northern seas of the archipelago. A few low watchtowers overlooked the poorly-lit yards with a searchlight that swept across the ground, a searchlight controlled by sentries on the alert. Guards patrolled and covered the ground as they moved from checkpoint to checkpoint within and without the manor.

As the three laid low, in the cover of trees and the darkness in the manor's yard, Kid studied the environment and etched the layout of every door, every window, every corner, every stone and every patrolling soldier into the blueprint of her mind. She inspected those windows that were closed but skipped those that remained opened but grilled. She discovered that there were no doors accessible from the yard, and planned the move to enter the manor from its front entrance. She identified which stalk of grass would rustle if she brushed through and where on the ground sand would scrape and notify the guards. She knew which hedge, wall or stone provided cover and which revealed her whereabouts to the sentries. She watched each and every guard's movements, behaviors, their pattern of patrol and their timings.

After an hour of patient observation, Kid learned of two patrolling pairs of guards, each alternating between the front and the side yards. She timed their patrols that each took about half of an hour to complete one cycle and was aware that she could sneak past their sights easily in this window. It might prove quite a challenge, however, in getting her two inexperienced fellow members across.

An archway that formed a divide between the front and the side yard more than a half mile from where they stood also formed a cover for the group's next position. An old tree and its wide canopy provided the excellent shade and the strategic view of the front yard. In the moonlight, Kid turned to Serge and Leena and signaled with her hands to ready themselves for a dash to their cover. Kid would go first, and as soon as the coast was clear, she would signal them to cross.

Serge and Leena nodded obediently.

As soon as the guard's had their backs towards the three, Kid seized the chance and crept swiftly across the long yard in five minutes. She reached the arch, rested her back against the tree and turned to observe where Serge and Leena were still at, where they remained sufficiently invisible to the unwary eye. Satisfied with their hiding, she observed the position of the moons. With that fixed in her mind, she turned her attention to the guards. When she noted the path to be clear, she unsheathed her dagger to catch and reflect the moonlight at Serge and Leena, and then quickly sheathed her dagger. At the signal, she saw the two scurrying clumsily over to where she was. Kid held her breath not for herself, but for her two teammates, whose five minutes across the yard seemed to take thrice as long to pass. By the moment they reached her, they were panting from the overflow of panic.

Kid had her eyes sweep the front yard that was almost twice as huge as the side yard. She set her sights on a low water well, close to which stood a lone Acacia guard. His position covered a peripheral scope of the yard -- front yard and side -- so if the eyes of the security must be severed and replaced with eyes of their own, this lone guard had to be taken out. After signaling her intention to her teammates, she readied herself for the next sprint.

When all watchful eyes looked away, Kid stepped out of the shadows and sprinted to the well furtively. She crept up behind the unsuspecting guard. In a swift motion, she cupped the guard's mouth and struck a silent elbow at the guard's neck, rendering him unconscious instantly. Kid stood behind him and supported his waist for she knew the front yard patrol would come into view this moment, and so they did. Her heart pounded against her ears as the guards patrolled the front yard some hundred feet away. But the hefty build of the soldier, the long distance and the poor lighting shielded her well from their sights.

After a long quarter of the hour, the patrol finally cleared the grounds. She rested the guard on the well and its wooden supports and rearranged his limbs to make it look as if he had fallen asleep on the job. Then, she ducked into cover behind the well and scanned the rest of the front yard from this angle, and the entrance to the manor as well with keen interest.

Light from within the manor stole through a slit in the two entrance grand doors of red. Two thick and round columns that beautified the porch provided another, perhaps one too many, easy cover for Kid.

Catching the moonlight, she signaled Serge and Leena over to the well. Once they arrived, she signed again the next step that would finally bring them into the manor.

Once the yard was clear, Kid flitted to the entrance and pushed the doors, only to find them locked. She retreated in reflex behind the porch pillars, cursing beneath her breath that the manor that stood before her still seemed a distance away.

Kid drew a breath and regained her composure. She had the timing of the guards memorized and she slowly counted for the moment. When the appropriated moment ticked, she drew her steel wires and started digging her way slowly into the lock. The lock stopped troubling her in less than a quarter of an hour, when it clicked softly and released.

Kid retreated against the column and counted again. As soon as the time was right, she revealed herself and signaled Serge and Leena over. The two scurried like across the long front yard like nervous mice that ran from ferocious cats. When they were about twenty feet away, Kid pushed the entrance door ajar for their convenience. Just as she did so, Leena tripped over a stone and fell flat onto the ground with a yelp. Taking no chances, Kid darted to Leena, hauled her up to her feet as she whispered, "Hurry inside!" The three bolted for the manor doors and shut it tight behind them.

Footsteps shuffled outside as the patrols rushed to the scene for an investigation. As Kid stood back to the door and eavesdropped on the guards' conversation, Serge and Leena stood nervously beside her. Leena had her mouth shut with her hands as tight as she shut both eyes of hers, as if she were about to burst out in tears any moment. Serge was panting furiously with beads of perspiration rolling down his eyes and cheeks, as if he were already in tears. Kid gripped Leena's arm firmly, to hush her and calm her tense nerves.

"Did you hear anything?" the guard outside asked.

"I'm certain I heard someone shouting. But I don't see anyone, or anything here!" said another.

"I've heard such strange noises on my other duties as well. I don't know what's going on, but I'm sure that beast has something to do with it."

"Strange things have been happening these years," said a third voice. "It happens so often it's no longer strange."

"Hey!" cried a fourth nervous voice. "Don't scare me like that. Come on! Let's get back to work. I want to this detail to end at the earliest chance."

The patrols left and returned to their duty. Fortunately, they had not yet discovered their comrade who had fallen asleep on the job at the water well.

A break-in was easy alone but tricky with two infants who tagged along behind, who need constant care and protection, and someone to hold their hands at every single step. Had Serge not needed a ride into the manor to meet his problems in the face, she would not even have considered taking them along. The journey into the manor suffered minor hiccups along the way, but things seemed to have turned out better than Kid had expected. Her two teammates were stunned stiff, but they got to where they wanted without being discovered, and that what was counted.

"That was close, eh?" Kid whispered with a smile. Kid patted Leena on her shoulder, and said, "Don't worry about what happened just now, mate. You did well."

The tension had eased for Leena, but not subsided, for she still smiled nervously as she said, "T-Thanks."

"Kid, just who are you?" Serge asked.

Who was she? A query of such nature came as no surprise to Kid for she had heard similar ones a thousand times before. But a query of such nature came at wrong time, for it should have been asked before one accepted into a team another of an unfamiliar face. Until this moment, she was never questioned. Yet, it was at this moment she came to ascertain that Serge and Leena did not look upon her with distrust but with reliance and confidence; they looked upon her as a friend, like she did to them.

"No time for chit-chat, now," she reminded. "We still have work to do."

The spacious, grand hall of the manor impressed upon their visitors with its architecture of royal design. Two chandeliers hung from the ceiling and cast a light of yellow on the polished, checkered marble flooring onto which a huge crest of a dragon of gold within a dark circle of gray -- symbol of the Acacia Dragoons -- had been incorporated. Paintings of the contemporary and the classic that ornamented the walls of vanilla beige added nothing more or less than the look of affluence to the regal ambience. Corridors that stretched from the grand hall and doors that opened to other parts of the palace were aplenty, but one in particular had caught Kid's keen eye. With a splash of royal red, gold-crafted handles and two heavy doors, it seemed as if it beckoned Kid towards her enemy.

Indeed, she found herself walking obediently towards its calling. But when she pushed into the heavy doors, they refused to budge and refused to grant access to the area beyond it.

"Wishful thinking," Kid said and grunted.

"What are we going to do now, Kid?" Leena asked nervously.

"I'm working at it!" Kid whispered.

Affixed on the wall at the door's side was a control carved from gold into the emblem of a venomous cobra. Its menacing eyes of dark quartz stared into the eyes of those who looked, its tongue and its fangs of cold silver stuck out from its mouth as if it were hungry for one's flesh. Its fiery body of gold below the head flattened into a panel on which four buttons protruded; buttons that must open the red door to a restricted area.

Kid had climbed the cliffs, leapt over the walls, sneaked through the yard and picked the entrance successfully, but this stumped her. She had never fancied the likes of combination buttons as locking devices and had found most to be proofed against the pilfering hands. Keys could be mimicked with steel wires until the innards adjusted to allow the latch to unlock. Knobs of dials could be turned and clicks could be listened out for. But buttons offered little clue to its inner, and often complex mechanisms of chains and gears, levers and hinges. In some systems, they had to be pressed in order; in other systems, groups of buttons had to be depressed simultaneously.

And after she had demonstrated to Serge and Leena all the talents to bring them in, it would be quite embarrassing if she failed to open this.

"This is tricky," Kid mused, fingers rubbing her chin. "Oi! Serge!"

"How can I be of help?" Serge whispered humbly.

Kid startled at his attitude. "Well, you say you dream of omens. Can you dream of how to open this bugger?"

"I'm not sure I can," Serge said. "I only had one such dream. I don't suppose another one will come when I wish to. Can't you pick it?"

"Not when the whole panel is built into the wall," Kid replied, defeated.

"Then what do we do?" asked Leena.

"We guess," replied Kid. "We can only guess and see where it leads us to."

"Why don't we look around the place?" suggested Leena.

"In our uniforms like these?" said Kid, pointing to each of their striking civilian dressing. "The door should lead to the throne room above. Castles and palaces and manors are all built this damned way. If we look around the place at this level, we won't find anything except for maid's rooms, mess, quarters and a hell lot of guards waiting to pounce on us. So I say we might as well go for the panel, then decide later if it hell refuses to work.

"So are we for guessing?" asked Kid.

Serge and Leena nodded.

"Okay," said Kid. "I'll do it, even though I hate to rely on luck. And if anything shoots out -- anything at all -- run. Run for your own lives."

It had been a while since she said something like that. "Run for your own lives." Those were the days when she was younger, when she shared dreams with her fellow comrades-in-arms and protected each other as if they were part of one whole.

Kid cracked her fingers. Without thinking further, she pressed the four buttons in order from bottom to top.

Chugging sounds rumbled through the walls and floor of the hall like the trains that chugged along the rails. The mechanical magic was in motion as the huge doors slowly pivoted on their hinges. The pleasant sounds took Kid by surprise, but her instincts told her something was amiss. She stepped back, studied her surroundings and scanned intently for trapdoors that might open, for volleys of arrows that would pierce their flesh, for throws of flames that would consume their body. She pulled Serge and Leena cautiously back to the grand hall entrance, ready to haul them out of the manor should the need arise.

The two heavy doors opened wide and the rumbles ceased. But no traps were released.

Serge and Leena gaped at Kid in surprise, as if they were once again astounded by her talents. But Kid was not impressed at herself for achieving such a feat of guessing. Ninety-nine times out of hundred times she had gotten the locks' combination wrong; this was the only time she had it right.

"Either I was plain lucky, or some bloke's leading us in," Kid explained as she walked towards the flight of stairs. "Come on! Let's go!"