Author's Note: Chapter 15 has arrived! And only a week later than I intended! …I'm sorry. But, hey, compared to the last wait, this one wasn't so bad, was it? … Okay, maybe it's still a bit too soon to joke about that. Sorry again. On another note, wow, so many reviews! You all really didn't give up on this fic! For that, you are amazing. Love you all so much. Hope you enjoy chapter 15!

Disclaimer: Ammy doesn't own Fire Emblem 7. Which, you know, is probably a good thing. Not that she thinks of it that way.

Dedications: To Gunner, Dark Lord Snuggle Flowers, for being understanding about me taking a week longer than expected to get this chapter up. For cheering me up, too, which isn't always easy. And to Ceolsige, for the fanart.

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Something Wicked

Chapter 15

By Amethyst Bubble

---

Ninian had a bad feeling that morning. Something wasn't right. Something had happened, or was happening, or was going to happen. But whatever it was and whenever it happened, she wasn't going to like it.

Restlessly, she brushed her long hair away from her face as she slid on her sandals. "Nils, I'm going out for a while," she called, peering around the doorway. Her brother was stretched out on the bed, enjoying the cable TV in their shared hotel room.

"Where are you going?" he asked, putting down the remote and sitting up.

She shrugged, shouldering her bag, "I want to see how everyone else has settled in over at that apartment complex."

Nils glanced at the clock on the bedside table, then looked back at Ninian. "It's barely 8:30," he stated with a raised eyebrow. "You don't actually expect any of them to be awake, do you?"

Laughing lightly, she held up her hands in a helpless gesture. "By the time I get there, I'm sure at least Rath will be up. Fiora, too and maybe Lyn."

"Good luck," Nils snorted, resuming his channel flipping. "Why're you taking your cards?"

Ninian blinked down at her bag, "Oh... I hadn't even realized. I suppose it's more habit than anything at this point. Why, do you want me to leave them for you?"

Nils made a face. "No, thank you. I prefer runes and stones." he gestured airily to the bedside table where an assortment of small velvet bags lay. Ninian let out a disappointed sigh and Nils rolled his eyes. "Geez, you and your insistence that I marry my Rider-Waite deck. Next thing you know, I'll be getting angry phone calls in the night from Hannah, yelling at me to use that crystal ball she gave me last year."

"Might want to reconsider those words, Nils," Ninian said, narrowing her eyes and placing a hand on her hip. "I don't believe Hannah knows that you've been using that crystal ball as a paperweight... just imagine how disappointed she'll be-- well, her and her cane..."

Nils gulped, "Yes, ma'am. I'll be quiet."

"Anyway," Ninian changed the subject, "do you want to come with me?"

"Not really," Nils answered, flipping onto his back and staring at the TV screen upside down. "I'm kind of enjoying my freedom here. We've got about fifty channels, none of which Hannah would ever approve of me watching. Except maybe that weather channel, because she finds it funny when her predictions contradict the five day forecast. Have a good time. Try and bring me back some bootlegged action movies."

"I will, I won't and don't eat anything in the mini-bar." Ninian instructed, "Bye, Nils!"

"Bye!"

Ninian closed the door neatly behind her, tucking her room key into her pocket. She opted for the elevator instead of the stairs and was outside before she knew it. It was sunny, though not very hot yet and she found the temperature to be just right. Deciding she'd rather not take her chances with the subway-- she didn't like underground spaces-- she began walking in what she hoped was the right direction. With any luck, her seer's intuition would guide her in the right direction.

Waylaid by a few interesting bookstores and herb shops, she arrived a half an hour later then she planned to with her bag considerably heavier. Still, few people were awake. Fiora was on her way out to the library and Lyn was doting on the various houseplants in the lobby. The new boy, Wil, was standing over her, listening to her explanations.

"You have to learn how to listen to the plants," Lyn said patiently, sprinkling water on a wilting fern. "Of course, sometimes you can just look at them and diagnose what's wrong... this one here obviously needs more water, and a little more sunlight. I don't want to risk moving it, though, who knows what the landlady would say." She laughed and Wil joined in.

"She'd throw a fit if she noticed someone had moved it," he agreed.

"Good morning," Ninian greeted. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Lyn straightened up, wiping her hands on the leg of her pants. "Morning, Ninian. I was just telling Wil a little bit about plant magic." She smiled, "How's your stay in the city been so far?"

"Enjoyable," Ninian answered, returning the smile. "And you? How have you been?"

"Oh, fine, fine. No trauma as of yet," Lyn said with a playful roll of her eyes. "All though it was quite a pain getting in here in the first place."

"Is that so?" Ninian asked out of politeness more than curiosity. She only half-listening as Wil and Lyn took turns explaining exactly what had happened and how annoying it had been. Good, she thought to herself with a small sigh of relief. Then nothing's happened yet.

---

Blinking as the sunlight filtered through the windows, Heath glanced at Legault's watch, conveniently located on the arm slung over him.

"9:30," he muttered sleepily, tipping his head back. If he left within the next five minutes, he wouldn't be horribly late for Vaida's proposed meeting. Carefully removing Legault's arm from around his middle, he sat up and stretched. "Lucky thing he's a heavy sleeper…"

Still dressed in yesterday's clothes, Heath grabbed a shirt from one of the open suitcases that lay on the floor. Changing his shirt quickly and not worrying about his jeans- they were clean enough-, he dragged his fingers through his hair and stuffed his feet into his shoes all in one hasty movement.

His hand was on the doorknob when he hesitated, glancing back at the bed and, more importantly, Legault. Heath realized he was being stupid. He shouldn't be meeting with Vaida after both he and Legault had worked so hard to get him away from her and Eubans. It was idiotic.

He was going to do it anyway.

"Goodbye," he said quietly, slipping out the door. I'm not worried, he told himself as trudged down the stairs, and it was the truth. He wasn't. Actually, he was almost looking forward to seeing Vaida again. There were some things he wanted to ask her.

"Morning," he said as he reached the lobby, smiling at the few people scattered around it. Lyn returned the smile and Wil echoed him with a "morning" of his own. Ninian was there too, but when she smiled, it was shaky and pained. He shrugged it off without a second thought as he stepped outside.

Deciding to walk rather than take the subway, Heath glanced at the address on the note before heading off. Despite the fact that he hadn't wandered the city in ages, his memory of it was clearer than it had ever been before. He even made better time than he had expected to.

Heath found her sitting at an outdoor table. There was a newspaper in her hand, but he could tell she wasn't reading. Her eyes scanned the crowd in a critical manner and there was a half-empty cup of espresso in front of her. He shook his head before clearing his throat.

"Hello, Vaida."

---

"Well, I'd better be heading back upstairs," Lyn excused herself. "Florina wanted me to go over a few spells with her this morning and I don't want to keep her waiting. See you later!" She trotted up the stairs, flashing Wil and Ninian a grin right before she slipped out of sight.

Ninian was paler than usual and noticeably shaken. She nodded at the spot Lyn had occupied a moment before, seemingly not noticing that the other girl had left.

Wil took a step closer to her, concerned. "Are you okay? You look pretty green… are you sick?" his hand hovered near her elbow, ready to grab her if she should waver. "Should I get somebody? A doctor, or healer, anybody?"

"I'm… I'll be fine in a moment," Ninian said, closing her eyes. "I just… have a bad feeling. I've had it since this morning, really, but when that man just walked by..."

"Heath?" Wil guessed, hoping that was the right name. He'd been working hard to memorize everyone's names. "Something about him?"

Ninian nodded solemnly, finally opening her eyes. "Something's going to happen…" she said it quietly, almost too quietly for him to catch.

Wil hesitated, a rare thing for him, before going with his gut instinct. "Well, we should follow him, then."

"…What?" Ninian blinked and looked up suddenly, an odd expression pasted over her face.

"Okay, I'll admit it sounds stalker-ish, but if you think about it, it's not entirely a bad idea. This way, if something does happen, we'll be there to help! Or, at least, run away and get help! And if nothing happens, then nothing happens and we'll just feel silly! One way or another, it's a no-lose situation!" he explained cheerily. "I mean, unless you're one of those people who really hates feeling silly…"

She bit her lip, "Well… I don't know…"

"The way I see it," Wil said, sounding unusually serious. "If something does happen and we just sit here and do nothing, we'll regret it forever. There's not a lot that's worse then regret."

With a sigh, Ninian conceded, "We'd better hurry."

"Right!" Wil brightened immediately, catching her hand and dragging her through the doors and down the steps. "Err… I don't see him… I guess we took to long."

"Give me a moment," Ninian said, taking a deep breath. After a second, she said in a strong voice, "He went left."

Wil glanced at Ninian. Her eyes had a glassy look to them, like she had a fever, and for a second he was afraid that she was going to collapse after all. Then it struck him that she might be in some sort of a trance. He'd never seen anyone in a trance before, besides that one time with Guy, and that was pretty different. But when he was little he had seen someone do something similar in a movie… there was no reason this couldn't be a trance. If she collapsed later, though, he was going to be in trouble.

"You're a psychic, right?" he peered down at her, biting his lip. "So I guess I'd better trust you… Left we go!" He began to walk forward, quickly, keeping an eye on Ninian the whole time. She was keeping up with him, but her gaze was still unfocused.

"Turn right at the next corner." she suddenly instructed, startling him. "Just walk straight after that. It isn't very far away."

For once, Wil decided to keep his mouth shut and not ask any questions.

---

"Uncle Legault," Nino trilled, peering around the edge of the door. "It's time to… get up…" she finished sheepishly upon seeing that he was already awake and looking just a bit agitated.

"Morning, Nino," he greeted, raising a hand in acknowledgement. She stepped into the room and shut the door behind her. Glancing around the room, she noticed that someone was missing.

"Where's Heath?"

"Gone," Legault replied simply, shrugging his shoulders. Nino gaped.

"Gone?" she echoed, tilting her head to one side. "Where would he go?"

Legault sighed and rolled his eyes, not so much at her but at the missing man. "To meet an old friend." The way he accented the word "friend" made Nino suspect that this person wasn't actually much of a friend at all. She envisioned some shadowy figure briefly before clearing her head of such thoughts.

"He told you that?" she asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed. He shrugged in reply and she narrowed her eyes. "Uncle Legault…" her tone was suspicious and her eyebrows were raised.

"He was visibly nervous yesterday and when I questioned him he said nothing was wrong," Legault explained, meeting Nino's gaze. "So when he fell asleep last night I rummaged through his pockets and found a note. I have my suspicions about who it's from."

"You went through his things?" Nino scowled, "Uncle Legault, that's dirty."

He gave her a look. "Well, if he wasn't going to tell me…"

"Oh, I know, I know," she gave him a lopsided smile. "So, what're you going to do now?" Nino looked up at Legault expectantly, as if awaiting some complicated but no doubt brilliant plan of attack.

What she got instead was rather disappointing. "Nothing."

Her jaw dropped. "What do you mean, nothing?"

He shrugged and repeated what he had said before, "Nothing. Contrary to popular belief, Nino, I'm not going to stalk Heath. Obviously, he didn't want me to know about this meeting, so I'm not going to follow him and I'm not going to ask him about it. If he wants to tell me, he'll tell me. And if not, he won't."

"Wow," Nino murmured in awe. "Love has totally brainwashed you."

"It has not," Legault objected, looking rather offended.

"Has so," Nino retorted, sticking her tongue out. She stood up and grinned up at him. "I give it two hours before you start tracking him."

"Give me a little more credit than that," he teased, reaching out to ruffle her hair. She clucked her tongue but left the subject alone.

"I'm thinking about going for a walk," Nino announced, rocking back on her heels. "Want to come with me?"

"No," Legault shook his head. "I've got a few errands to run myself."

"Oh, I'll come with you!" she smiled eagerly, "I didn't really have anywhere to go myself- I just wanted to get out!"

"Nino," Legault said evenly, placing a hand on top of her head. "I'd like to go alone, if you don't mind." She blinked up at him and he decided to elaborate, "I'm sure you've realized that this place is very close to…" he trailed off as her eyes lit up in recognition.

"Oh… I hadn't… Is it really that close?" she finally asked. He nodded grimly.

"Don't go too far south," he instructed. She nodded blankly, eyes wide. Satisfied, he turned to leave, quickly slipping out the door. With a shake of her head, Nino followed him, jogging until she caught up.

"Nino, I told you, I'm not taking you with me," Legault began but Nino quickly cut him off.

She shook her head. "I wouldn't even recognize the place anymore. I just wanted to tell you to be careful, okay?"

He glanced down at her with an exasperated exclamation on the tip of his tongue. Then, upon seeing her pleading expression, he couldn't help but laugh. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're worried for me? Nino, you should know better by now! But I'll try and stay out of trouble all the same. I was only planning a bit of investigative work anyway. For all I know, they're long gone by now."

"You think so…?" she asked, doubtful. Legault sighed, raking a hand through his hair.

"To be honest?" he began as they as the exited the building. "No. I don't believe they're gone. At least, not in the sense you were thinking. It's more than possible that they moved to a different location after the… incident. Other than that, though? Not a chance."

"I didn't think so," Nino said with a sad little sigh as she took the steps two at a time.

Legault decided there was no harm in their taking the first few blocks together; as soon as they got close enough, he'd send Nino in the opposite direction. "It's inconvenient," he announced suddenly. "Figures that we'd be placed so conveniently close to… that." He made a vague gesture.

Nino nodded agreeably before a thought struck her. "You could've gotten us farther away if you had wanted to, Uncle." She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye suspiciously, as if she were trying to piece together his true motives. "You could have gotten us into that hotel some of the others are staying in."

"That would have been even worse," he said, though he didn't look her in the eye. "Much too close to the place Heath came from. I didn't particularly want to take him back to that area."

Nino didn't buy it. "Well, you could have gotten us into some place between the two. There are plenty of hotels in the city." She continued to watch him. He never flinched, but she could tell she had stumbled upon something.

"I didn't think of that possibility," Legault lied.

"Oh, please," Nino responded, giving him a look that stated that she saw through his act as if it was a sheet of plastic wrap. "You wanted to be this close. You planned on investigating all along."

Legault couldn't mask the prideful smirk on face, obviously glad that Nino had figured it all out. He didn't affirm her suspicions, however, simply saying, "Of course not." He ruffled her hair. "It's almost time for us to split up," he changed the subject, nodding towards the end of the block. "I'm going south. You're going north. Once we part, don't even look back."

Nino pouted a little, but listened to his words. Right before they reached the point where they would go their separate ways, she threw her arms around his middle in an impromptu hug, saying, "Be careful, Uncle Legault."

"I'll see you in a few hours, Nino," he replied as she let go. "If you happen to meet Heath anywhere, stick close to him. He may not be a witch, but I know from personal experience that he can throw a nasty punch."

"I bet you do," she raised an eyebrow. "And you're the one chasing after danger, not me. I'll be fine!"

"All right. I'll see you in a little while, Nino." Legault turned, waving over his shoulder. Nino headed in the opposite direction and it was only a moment before an overwhelming curiosity overcame her. She glanced back, trying to catch a glimpse of Legault, but he was gone. Not lost in the crowd (there wasn't really a crowd at all), just… gone. She thought glimpsed a shadow that resembled his along the sidewalk, but the next thing she knew it too had disappeared. Deciding not to let it bother her, she set off in search of something fun to do.

She didn't find anything. There were a few bookstores and she did like books, despite having learned to read rather later in life than most. Legault was many things, but he wasn't a great tutor, especially when it came to reading.

Nino quickly discovered that she wasn't going to find anything to read in these stores. She wrinkled her nose as she browsed through the titles. Were they all about herbs? That wasn't much fun.

"No novels at all," she murmured dejectedly to herself as she stepped out of yet another store. She glanced around the sunny street, wondering where she should go next. The area ahead of her was getting increasingly residential. The area behind her had no good bookstores. The area to her left was a dead-end. The area to her right, however, might lead somewhere. It was an alley, though, and a dark one at that.

Nino shuddered. It was such a cliché, but it was creepy all the same. Then she pulled herself together. She wasn't afraid of any alley-- and she'd prove it, too. Even though the alley was completely empty, making it yet creepier.

Clenching her hands into fists, she strode forward confidently, reminding herself that she could always teleport herself somewhere else, so long as there were puddles.

Nino glanced around. There weren't any puddles. There wasn't even a drop of water. She walked on anyway. Halfway through, she stopped, a shiver running down her back. She knew this feeling.

Someone was watching her. She looked behind her; nothing. Frowning, she looked up. She caught a flash of black cloth and red eyes. And then it was gone.

Nino began to run back the way she'd come. Combat wasn't her specialty and she was all alone, in a dark alley. Running was her best option. By the time she'd reached the alley's mouth and had dashed back out into the sunshine, she realized that the feeling was gone- she was no longer being watched.

Nino kept glancing over her shoulder all the way home.

---

Farina had never expected to meet a vampire. Sure, she'd heard of them, and the fact that they existed had registered faintly in her mind, but she'd never expected to actually meet one. They were an endangered species, after all.

Fiora would be so jealous, she thought to herself with a wicked grin.

And a full-blooded vampire at that, she added, her grin widening. A full-blooded vampire looking for another full-blooded vampire. It just got better and better! She couldn't wait to tell Fiora!

Then she sobered up. She couldn't tell Fiora, could she? That was the injustice of it all.

"You make one little mistake," she said aloud to break the insufferable silence. "And then you can't rub the fact that you met a vampire in your sister's face. Thanks, fate, that was real nice of you."

She got the distinct feeling that fate was pointing and laughing at her. Laughing so hard, in fact, that it was doubled over in mirth, pounding its fist against the nearest solid surface and making all its friends wonder what the heck was wrong with it.

Farina wanted to hit something. She really did.

---

The silence that passed between them was a little more than awkward. All Heath had said besides the greeting he'd given was, "coffee, please" when a waiter asked him what he'd be having.

He fidgeted.

If it was possible for Vaida to fidget, she would have too. Instead, she took a long sip of her own cup of coffee. Finally, she put down the cup and spoke, "I suppose you want to know what happened."

"Not really," he said genuinely. "Things have come back to me. I've figured most of it out."

On the inside, Vaida sighed with relief. On the outside she gazed at him with stony approval. "I suspected you would remember. The hex was on the room, not you."

"Oh," Heath said simply. "That makes a lot more sense."

The silence settled over them once again. Heath cradled his cup in his hands, watching the steam rise. "So… you… aren't going to be taking me back, are you?"

She snorted and a feeling of relief spread through him, the knot of panic in his chest coming undone. "Don't be stupid," she said forcefully. "If anything, I'm glad you managed to escape. Your rescuer is another matter. You had better hope I never see him again or I will tear that man limb from limb. Anyone who locks me in a closet with Eubans goes on my hit-list."

"I'll, uh, relay that to Legault," Heath muttered, glancing at the street out of the corner of his eye.

"Good." Vaida said. Then she reached into her pocket and thrust a small scrap of paper at Heath. Confused, he took it, unfolded it and made a small noise of acknowledgment. "You worked hard to remember them." She leaned back slightly, looking him over. "I imagine it was difficult."

Heath shrugged slightly, "I didn't want to forget them."

Vaida nods, before narrowing her eyes. "And you worked hard not to forget that man." The way she said it made Heath fear for Legault's safety.

"More like he was one determined bastard," he muttered under his breath.

"Heh," Vaida sneered slightly. "Felt that way about you, did he?"

Heath, who had been conveniently taking a sip of his coffee at that moment, nearly spit it out. He hadn't expected Vaida of all people to say that to him. He managed to swallow and panted out, "What? No! I mean, it's not, we're not, he's not… all right, you win, yeah." He flushed and looked away, deciding that the building across the street was particularly fascinating. Vaida's sneer widened.

"Had to have been frustrating for him," she said with something Heath would have liked to believe was not glee in her voice. He tried to ignore the sneer, too, but it was difficult.

"Err, it was," he allowed and silently prayed that Vaida and Legault would never meet face-to-face. He had a feeling that that would not be a fun experience. There would probably be arguing. And then blood. And he'd end up being an idiot and getting in between them.

Vaida nodded the sneer still evident upon her lips. Then, she demanded, "How long did you know him?"

Heath bit his lip and looked up at the clear blue sky, "I'm not certain. The more recent stuff still isn't very clear."

"Give me an estimate."

"I don't know… a few months to a year. About that, I think." The way she raised an eyebrow made him flinch slightly. He had an eerie feeling that this is the calm before the storm.

"That long?" she hissed. "And neither Eubans nor I noticed?"

Heath nodded slowly, "Legault's, err, very..." he searched for the right word, "Calculating?"

"Sneaky," Vaida all but spat. "Like a weasel." Heath had no problem seeing Legault as a weasel, which made him feel a little guilty. The guilt was quickly countered by amusement.

"That… works too…" he admitted slowly.

The sneer slowly dissolved from Vaida's face as she changed the subject. "So… you know why--"

Normally, Heath would not have dreamed of cutting off Vaida. This, however, was a special case. He didn't really want to hear what she was going to say next. "I know," he interrupted, meeting her eyes evenly. When she looked slightly taken aback, he elaborated, "I said it before. I remember. Some of it's still a little blurry, but… I remember pretty much everything."

Her eyes fell on his arms, bared by the rolled up sleeves off his shirt. "The scars are gone," she observed.

"Huh? Oh, those," he smiled slightly. "Some sort of magic healing stuff. Legault insisted. They're still there, actually, just a lot fainter now."

She scrutinized his arms for another moment before looking up at him and asking gruffly, "Does he know?"

Heath groaned, leaning back in his seat. "I've got no idea. Sometimes it seems like he does, but he hasn't said anything." He sat back up, gazing at the sky. "I get the feeling he's waiting for me to tell him."

"And will you?" Vaida asked in the tone of someone who didn't really care but was asking anyway because there wasn't much else to say.

Heath shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe."

Vaida nodded. She decided to leave shortly after that, wishing Heath good luck (though not so much in words) and placing her half of the check on the table. He watched her go, expertly weaving her way into the crowd, before paying and leaving himself. He felt a little relieved that nothing had happened; he hadn't thought that anything would, but it was still a relief.

At least, it was, until something actually did happen. He noticed the car trailing him a few moments too late.

---

Ninian and Wil noticed the car while Heath and Vaida were still talking. It had been parked on the street, but the people inside hadn't got out. Wil didn't find this particularly suspicious.

"People sit in their cars sometimes," he said, making a complex and rather confusing hand gesture. "Doesn't mean anything. Sometimes they're eating lunch, or doing work, or sleeping, or…"

Ninian, whose trance had broken after a short while, tuned him out and focused on the people inside the car. There were three of them, she determined, squinting. One of them definitely had bad intentions; they rolled off him in waves, so thick she could almost feel it. The other two only had money on their thoughts. Ninian had learned not to trust people who only thought of money long ago.

"I don't like this," she said, shaking her head from side to side.

"It's probably nothing," Wil said.

They continued to watch. Ninian's bad feeling remained exactly where it was; she was certain that something was going to happen. She told this to Wil, who frowned and chatted absentmindedly about how maybe nothing really bad would happen.

Forty-five minutes later when he was tied to a folding chair in a dimly lit room, Wil thought that just maybe he had spoken too soon.

---

"Hey, Guy. C'mon, get up," Matthew shook the sleeping boy by the shoulder. "Rath wants to talk to you."

"Mrr," Guy swatted ineffectively at Matthew's hand. "Go 'way."

"I'm not telling that to Rath," Matthew replied, yanking on Guy's braid. "Get up before he kills me."

Guy scooted away from the other man, pulling the blanket up over his head. "Fine," came his slightly muffled voice. "Let him kill you. I'll make sure you have n-nice funeral."

"No faaaair," Matthew mock-whined, making Guy wince from beneath his blanket cocoon. Matthew sat down on the bed cross-legged, reaching over and tugging the blankets away from Guy. "He's your cousin. If he's murdering anyone, it should be you. I'd prefer to be just an innocent bystander."

Guy snorted.

Matthew poked him, hard. Guy squirmed and managed to kick Matthew in the shin. Scowling, Matthew grabbed at the blankets again and pulled, sending Guy toppling over the bed. He squawked as Matthew leaned over, leering down at him.

"So, now that you're up…"

"I hate you." He lifted himself up onto his hands and knees, his face burning. "N-now shoo. Get out."

Matthew obeyed with a spring in his step. As soon as he had gone, Guy dragged himself back onto the bed and buried his face in the nearest pillow. "I really hate him," he said aloud, well aware of the fact that he wasn't kidding anybody.

Rath was waiting in the hallway when he walked out of his room minutes later. Matthew was conspicuously missing. Guy figured that he must have left as soon as he heard Rath approaching. "Morning," he said to Rath, trying not to yawn.

"Have you seen Wil…?" Rath asked, looking up and down the hallways.

Guy pressed a hand against his mouth to stifle another yawn. "Not since last night, no," he replied, blinking. "Why?"

"…Nothing," Rath replied, beginning to walk off. Guy watched him go with a raised eyebrow. Then someone clasped his shoulder from behind and he nearly jumped a foot in the air.

"You h-h-have to stop doing that!" he hissed, glaring over his shoulder at Matthew. The other shrugged, peering down the hallway. "Were you hiding in the wall?" his question went ignored, not that Guy wasn't used to that.

"So, another one's missing?" he murmured to himself, absentmindedly tightening his grip on Guy's shoulder.

Guy twisted around to look at Matthew. "What're you talking about…?" he asked, giving him a mildly worried look. Matthew gave the hallway another conspiratorial glance, before looking down at Guy.

"Good couple of people left early today without saying much of anything," he said in a low tone. "Some of them have got reasons, I know, but still..." his eyes narrowed a bit. Guy's, in comparison, widened.

"What are you getting at?" he asked, a tad suspiciously. Matthew's hand lingered on his shoulder for a minute before he let it return to his side.

"Nothing, nothing," he said. "Don't worry about it. C'mon, you want breakfast, don't you?" he threw a glance over his shoulder at Guy as he started to walk away.

"…Yeah. Sure." Guy said distractedly, following Matthew. He decided not to ask any questions. Not yet, anyway. He'd bring them up later.

Something was definitely not right.

---

Even a young boy could only watch so much television before he started to get bored with it. Nils had just about reached his limit. He lay on his back, his head dangling off the end of the bed as if he hoped that looking at the screen upside down would somehow make the programming more interesting.

It wasn't working.

He groaned. At least the blood rushing to his head distracted him slightly from the utter boredom that the shopping network was generating. He sighed. Daytime television wasn't exactly the most exciting thing around. At that moment, Nils' options consisted of infomercials, really horrible cartoons and the shopping network. Perhaps unwisely, he had chosen the shopping network, figuring it would be the lesser of evils.

Twenty minutes later he figured that he might have been wrong after all.

Sitting up, Nils looked over at the clock. How many hours had it been since Ninian left? A couple, at least. He frowned. His sister never left him alone for that long. Though he told himself not to, he couldn't help but worry a little bit. He wondered if he should go looking for her. At the very least, he could wander down to where the others were staying and meet up with her.

Well, he didn't have anything better to do and if he kept watching the shopping network he did believe he would go insane. He hopped off the bed, turned off the television and fetched his shoes. Within a matter of moments he was out of the apartment and in the elevator. Another few moments and he was out the hotel door and on the streets of New York. Now, if could only remember where that apartment building was…

---

Chapter 15- End

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Alright, I'll be the first to admit it-- this chapter is filler. Necessary filler, yes, because I needed most of this to bridge the gap between this and the next chapter. Hopefully, though, it was enjoyable filler.

Reviews are, as always, very appreciated. Hope you all enjoyed! Thanks so much for not throwing rotten vegetables at me for the late update last time. Could we keep that up, please? If not… okay.