It had been a few hours since the incident with the dragon and it was now midnight. Everyone was sleeping peacefully at the inn at the late hour. A shady figure, wrapped in a black cloak, made his way from the roof of the inn, to ground level in one graceful jump. He stealthily moved through the doors to the inn, his hands resting on a diamond embedded sword in its sheath.
It was quiet inside, the atmosphere filled with snores from its occupants. The staircase, made of marble, was next to the receptionist's desk. The cloaked man was up the stairs in a flash and within a few seconds was walking down the gloomy, narrow hallways. Pictures of previous inn owners hung on the wall, looking down upon the figure. Yellow eyes glared back at the portraits as he moved through the halls, stopping at a door near the end of the hall.
Placing his icy hands on the doorknob, he turned it.
"Locked," he hissed. Words were muttered quietly in an unknown language, and a small click was heard. He noiselessly pushed open the door.
The gentle scent of peppermint wafted to his nostrils. He covered his nose with a sleeve and made his way over to Ansem.
Shenter was sitting in the chair beside Ansem's bed, his foot resting on his knee. He'd fallen asleep reading a fairy tale book. For being a book about dragons and such, it was quite a huge book.
The man pulled out a silver chain. The one he'd stolen from Sephiroth earlier. He muttered a few words, and the chain split in half. One half was glowing a dark, misty black color. The other half was glowing a misty, bluish color.
With ease, he wrapped the chain of light around Shenter's left wrist, and the chain of darkness around Shenter's right. His victim's eyes snapped open just as he finished tying the second.
"Gah…" Shenter slid down to the floor, completely drained of energy. The cloaked man made his way over to Ansem, pulling back his hood with gnarled hands.
"Ansem..." Shenter said, his voice barely above a whisper, "Wake up!"