Racing to the Rescue

But you know what to do (to do)

When it gets hold of you

~ Huey Lewis

Chapter 2

Revenge is fever in our own blood, to be cured only by letting the blood of another. ~ Charles Caleb Colton

"It's utter rubbish, of course." Leon concluded as he sat in his room, communicating with Larna Smith by way of video conference. "Keith is devoted to his sister, and very fond of his adoptive parents. If he wanted to avoid becoming the next duke he has many options other than running away."

"I'm not well acquainted with him," the director agreed thoughtfully. "But I do find the idea of someone in Katarina Rafa Claes' social circle trying to get away from her rather suspect."

"Just a little." The boy slouched. "Unfortunately, I do believe that he wrote the letter. I'm not an expert, but the handwriting looks exactly like examples of Keith's work I checked in the student council paperwork. So we're left with the possibility that I'm misjudging the situation, that I'm wrong about it being his handwriting… or that he didn't write it of his own volition."

Larna frowned. "Are you thinking that he might be drugged? Or…"

"I doubt drugs could work so quickly," Leon made a grim face. "Whether dark magic could compel him, I really don't know. I can't rule it out."

"Nor can I." Larna adjusted her glasses. "Did any of your clever toys - familiars, you call them - have their eye on him?"

"...I should have guessed you'd work it out."

"It's not hard: you clearly have two of these devices." The director indicated Cleare's drone. "So you could easily have more. And it explains how you detected Mason's spy so easily."

"A certain amount of luck was involved there." Leon's eyes narrowed. "Do you have Cleare spying on the other directors?"

"And on our new minister of magic," Larna agreed shamelessly. "Can I have some more? Or just one that I can examine and duplicate?"

"And deprive you of the chance to figure them out from first principles? Larna, I'm shocked!"

"I'm not hearing a no."

Leon laughed at her wheedling tone. "No cutting up my familiars. I need them right now."

The director sighed. "I can understand that. Politics are getting fraught and Marquis Frampton is stirring up problems. I'll try and get access to our captive dark mage and see if he believes he could coerce someone into writing a letter, but right now he's being kept secure as much by bureaucracy as bars and the minister is paying close attention to who speaks to Mr Brode."

"Is he now?" That knocked the laughter right out of Leon. Marquis Frampton was on a list of people who he would really rather not have exclusive control of a dark mage. Or vice versa, admittedly. "And who is paying attention to his own access?"

"Most of the directors," Larna admitted. "I hate politics. It's almost impossible to get replicable results. But right now, I don't think that even the directors and vice-directors in his pocket really trust him. Although figuring out who they are is confusing even with Cleare's help."

"Don't worry about it then. I do have a lead, but I'd rather not rely on just that. I don't suppose that you have anything to help track a person down, do you?"

"...have you been spying on my experiments?" she asked him suspiciously.

"I could, but as a professional courtesy I prefer not to."

The dark-haired woman nodded. "I've heard of that principle." She did not claim to ascribe to it though. "As it happens, Duke Stuart is concerned enough about the abduction and counter-abduction of two of his brother's fiancees that he requested something along those lines and I have a prototype ready for testing."

"Three fiancees now."

"Does no one in the kingdom understand basic pattern recognition?" Larna asked the ceiling.

"I presume the question is rhetorical?"

"Quite. Alright." She shuffled her desk. "I'll have Kyle bring it over to you, with paperwork declaring you're officially a Ministry of Magic tester for the purpose. What's your lead?"

"Keith has a half-brother… well, two. But pertinently, his eldest sibling Thomas Fia Coleman was in the port the same day."

Larna looked blank. "And? It's the capital's main port."

"He had a ship under contract - and Thomas was disinherited recently by Viscount Coleman, he doesn't have a pot to… well, he couldn't afford a ship."

"Not another half-elf?"

Leon snorted. "No, just a perfectly ordinary case of being a fat slob who came about as close to failing the academy as it's possible to… and also he turned twenty without being married. Any other year, it would be the scandal of the season, but it's barely notable this year."

"Oh yes, one of those. And I take it that a younger and more successful sibling would not be his favorite person."

"Precisely." He steepled his fingers. "This could be considered a direct attack on House Claes. Katarina's escapade was fortunately brief and she came to no harm."

"You're not wrong," Larna agreed. "I assume you'll be waiting until Prince Gerald returns in two days? He'll be quite concerned about being left behind by Lady Katarina again."

Leon smiled thinly at the implicit acceptance that nothing save force would keep Katarina from chasing Keith down. "I'd prefer to - if nothing else, Clarice will be justly annoyed to get back and only find a letter from me, but time could be critical. I'm planning to be gone by sunrise tomorrow."

Larna nodded. "Good luck. You'll need it - that's two fire mages you're leaving fuming." She turned towards the door of her room. "KYLE!"

"Please!" Olivia clung to Katarina's arm. "Don't just leave like this, Lady Katarina!"

The noble lady pulled her arm lightly, trying to dislodge Olivia but evidently not willing to put in enough force to risk harming the other girl in the process. Which was one more reason to admire Lady Claes, her kindness. "I have to, Olivia! He's my little brother and he's out there alone!"

"At least wait until Prince Gerald is back to go with us!"

"It would be nice if Gerald was with us," Katarina admitted. But then her eyes tightened with resolve. "But he'll understand. If it was Alan who'd gone missing, Gerald would be the first to set out looking for him." She pulled again, but then broke off. "Um. Us?"

Olivia nodded. "I'm going with you! What if Lord Keith is hurt? My light magic could be exactly what you need in an emergency."

"You know…" The brunette mumbled something to herself, at least no longer struggling to leave. Something about a 'white mage' and a 'party'. "I don't know exactly how long this will take, Olivia. Can you miss classes? It could affect your scholarship."

The other girl put her hand over her heart. "My studies will never be more important than my friends, Lady Katarina!"

She was suddenly enveloped in a warm hug. "You're such a sweetie, Olivia!"

Lady Katarina was hugging her! Everything went warm and fuzzy for a moment. On wait, that was loss of air. Fortunately, Katarina stopped squeezing her sides after a moment.

"Alright," the brunette declared. "We'll go together… but we should go now."

"So…" A boy's voice asked from just outside the academy gates. "Just out of curiosity, Katarina… where are you going?"

"After Keith!" Lady Katarina declared.

Leon nodded. "And more specifically?"

Olivia's dear friend's jaw flapped for a moment. "Ah… hahaha…"

"Typical Katarina." Prince Alan moved into view. "You weren't planning on leaving us behind, were you?" He was out of uniform, and looking quite unfairly dashing with his long coat and his silver hair flapping in the breeze.

"Eeeeeeh," Katarina shrugged. "I thought you might stop me."

"Perish the thought," Leon assured her. "But when jumping on a horse and riding off to the rescue, it's best not to ride off in every direction at once. We need some idea of where to go to."

"Oh." Katarina looked woebegone, so much so that Olivia returned the earlier hug and gave Leon a frown. She knew he was only trying to help, but he could have been nicer about it.

He cleared his throat. "Fortunately, the Magical Tools Laboratory at the Ministry of Magic has been working on a tool expressly for tracking down missing people, and I persuaded them to let me field test it."

"You silver-tongued devil," Alan said admiringly.

"And from you, that's quite a compliment," Leon assured him. "So what we'll need is something of Keith's, something he treasures."

"Ah…" Katarina looked frustrated. "I'm not sure what… I guess we should go back to his room then."

"Sounds like a plan."

On the way across the campus, they were intercepted by Angelica Rafa Redgrave and Mary Fou Hunt. "Lady Katarina!" the latter exclaimed. "Are you going on a rescue mission without me!?"

"I'm sorry!" Katarina apologised. "But I was a bad sister and I need to make it right."

"I'm sure you really weren't," Olivia assured her.

Angelica nodded. "I've only known you and Keith for a few months but it's clear he's devoted to you. The idea he'd run off and leave you behind is ridiculous. There has to be something else going on."

"You think so?"

The three girls clustered together around Katarina. "We know so!" they chorused, to reassure their friend.

"How are you going to find him?" Mary asked once Katarina had been cheered up.

"Leon has a magical device."

"Of course he does." She shook her head. "Is there no end to your duplicity, Bartford? The old 'your brother is abducted and I know how to find him ploy'?"

"Mary," the dark-haired boy told her seriously. "I would never steal your ideas. If anyone has dibs on kidnapping Keith to lure Katarina off to a private retreat, it is you."

There was an awkward silence.

"But that would be wrong!" Olivia protested loyally.

"And because only Mary is allowed to do it, and she never would, Keith should be safe from kidnapping," the dark-haired boy claimed.

Alan shook his head. "That's really shaky logic."

"It helps if you don't give people time to question it," the adventurer admitted as they entered the dorm. "Come on. We need something to pick up Keith's… well, magical scent I suppose."

"I forgot to ask for the key," Katarina realised once they were on the stairs.

"It's not a problem," Leon assured her. "And there's no need to disturb the concierge further."

When they reached Keith's rooms, the boy proved himself correct, pulling a couple of pins from his sleeve. With just a little fiddling, the lock snapped open. "The security here isn't very good," he criticised. "Someone should do something about that."

"Why do you know how to pick locks?" asked Angelica suspiciously.

"I'm an adventurer. Sometimes treasure is in locked chests."

"Ah, I suppose that makes sense." The braided girl nodded approvingly.

Inside, Katarina dug around on Keith's desk and pulled out a small casket. "He brought this from home. I think he keeps personal things in here." She hesitated before opening the lid.

"I'm sure I speak for everyone here, that we wouldn't dream of mentioning the contents to anyone…" Leon offered.

Olivia nodded with everyone else and Katarina flipped the lid open.

"...unless it was funny," Leon finished.

"W-what?" Olivia exclaimed. He couldn't possibly mean he'd be cruel to Keith about personal and private matters they'd only intruded on because of the emergency.

"Really funny. You know, funny enough that Keith would find it funny and not intrusive," he clarified. "Not to embarrass him. Seriously, stop making those betrayed eyes at me. It's not fair."

Olivia looked around and saw that she wasn't the only one who was glaring at Leon. Only Katarina remained focused on the contents of the box.

"Oh," the girl said softly. "These are… these are all gifts that I've given to Keith. I'd almost forgotten about some of them."

"It seems," Angelica told her reassuringly. "That what Keith treasures most is his sister."

A tear formed at the corner of Katarina's eye. "Thank you, Angie. Do you think that anything here will work, Leon?"

The boy leaned in and examined the items. "Yes," he decided, reaching in and carefully removing a handkerchief. "This should be good enough. I'll try it now though - it'd be a pain if there was no reaction."

"So what is this device?" asked Alan.

Leon sighed. "Do you really need to know?"

"Is it a secret?"

"Well… no."

"And if anything went wrong, we should all know how to use it."

"...that's much less shaky logic than mine," Leon admitted.

"I know." The prince looked smug.

Somewhat reluctantly, Leon reached into the satchel he was carrying and produced an adorable stuffed bear.

"..." Alan stuffed his fist into his mouth.

"Yeah, yeah, get it out of your system."

"I really don't see what your problem is," Angelica said, though she didn't appear to be meeting Leon's gaze.

"How cute," Katarina decided. "How will this find Keith though?"

"According to the instructions," Leon told them, "I just need to let it smell the sample." He offered the bear the handkerchief.

To Olivia's amazement, the bear began moving and gripped the embroidered cloth in its soft paws, lifting it to its nose. Drawing its head back as if it was inhaling, the bear twitched its button nose.

"Well?" Leon asked, after a moment.

The little bear shuffled around and then extended its hand to point at one of the walls. More or less westwards, if Olivia had her directions straight.

"Very good, Alexander," the boy said with a straight face.

"A-a-alexander?" Alan gasped, almost doubling over.

Both Leon and the bear gave him unimpressed looks.

"He's adorable!" Olivia asserted. "Could I… could I carry him?"

Leon wordlessly extended the bear towards her and Olivia plucked the stuffed toy from his hands. It clutched affectionately at her uniform, then caught hold of the epaulette, climbing onto her shoulder.

"So we head in that direction?" asked Katarina, pointing at the same wall.

"I can't go with you," Mary told her. "I'd love to, but my idiot… she's not my sister anymore, hurrah… but Lilia and her husband have made such a mess that I've got to be available to my father."

"I'm going," Olivia repeated.

Alan nodded. "Me too. Gerald may not be here, so someone should represent the Stuarts."

"So will I," Angelica declared. "The Claes are my friends. It's time I acted like it."

Leon nodded. "And since I'm the only one of us with a ship, that makes five of us - six with Alexander. Mary, could I prevail on you to deliver a letter to Clarice for me? I really do owe her an apology for not being here when she gets back… as well as a couple of other things, and while a letter isn't great, it's better than nothing at all."

"Of course I'll deliver your letter," Mary told him with a smile. "And as you're helping Lady Katarina, I'll help her to plot revenge on Deirdre."

"Oh god, not more revenge?" he sighed. "Does no one ever get tired of that?"

Holfort did have decent maps, with clocks and astronomical instruments sufficient to establish latitude and longitude. Unfortunately, the maps faced one fairly notable issue in precisely placing the location of a given island: the fact that they moved.

Not quickly, but they did move - even the continent. And thus, the relative positions changed, and not always in easily predictable ways.

It wasn't a major issue for navigation - islands large enough to be habitable were visible from quite a distance so once you got into the right general area they weren't really hard to find. But it did mean that even with Luxion's help, getting an exact bearing using a map involved quite a bit of guesswork.

After turning the map fractionally back and forth until the AI was satisfied, Leon had Alexander point again and then marked the direction very carefully. "Okay, we can go now."

"Was that really that fiddly?" asked Alan.

Leon pointed at the wall. "If I'm a degree out and Keith is just on the other side of the dorm building then I'd miss his location by about an inch, right?"

"Sure."

"I'm fairly sure he left the capital by ship. If he's at the far end of the continent, I could be out by fifty miles. Precision matters." Leon folded the map and put it into his satchel. "Do you want to keep hold of Alexander, Olivia?"

"May I?" the blonde asked.

"Sure, he seems to like you." Why Larna had made the tool somewhat sapient, he wasn't sure. He wasn't going to argue, since it was better to have a way of tracking Keith than not to.

The little group headed out and Leon led them towards the airbike track. "We'll ride out to the port on airbikes, it's the fastest way," he told them. "You've got an airbike, Alan?"

The prince nodded. "But I can't really take more than one passenger if we have luggage."

"Same here." Leon glanced at the girls. "Can any of you ride one?"

Olivia shook her head, while Angelica looked ambivalent. Katarina looked excited. "I've ridden Keith's a few times."

That wasn't all that reassuring - Katarina's first attempts at really using knight-armour after the same level of experience had been problematic. Leon didn't want to spend a couple of days getting her up to shape before leaving to chase after Keith. He gave Angelica a questioning look.

She shook her head. "I'm in about the same position as Katarina."

"Wait," someone called, running up behind them.

For a moment, Leon didn't recognise who it was - long silver-blonde hair, but wearing practical pants and shirt under armour. She had a sword at her side and a pistol strapped to her belt on the other hip. "Ah, Violette?" He wasn't used to seeing Katarina's cousin outside of her uniform or a ladylike gown.

"I heard about Keith," she told him and looked at Katarina. "I want to go with you. He's my cousin as well."

"Can she?" Katarina asked Leon. "Is there room on your ship?"

"I think we can fit someone else in." Dreadnought wasn't really going to be challenged in that regard. "Can you ride an airbike, Violette?" He'd have not been surprised if Scarlet volunteered but she'd set out on a self-imposed mission to beat Keith's location out of the capital's underworld before he (or the constabulary) could stop her.

She looked embarrassed. "My mother encouraged me to learn. I gather my father was quite the racer back when they were both at the academy."

"Nice," Alan looked her up and down with evident admiration. "I thought Katarina was a tomboy, but I guess you got a share of that heritage somewhere. Is it an Ades thing?"

The girl flushed, which was quite evident on her pale complexion. "I don't know my father's family well."

Katarina reached over and gave her a big one-armed hug. "Well this is your chance to spend some time with us. Mother would love it if you and Scarlet visited us one holiday."

"You might not want to wear trousers though," Alan teased. "Even Katarina can't get away with that."

"Enough about clothing choices," Leon told him. "Anyway, Katarina, go see if you can get Keith's airbike out of storage - three will be enough for us to get out to the port."

"Can't you just unlock it?" she asked.

"Yes, but I'd rather not be chased for theft," he explained.

The minute she was out of sight, he turned to the others. "Alan, Violette and I will be flying the airbikes since we have the most experience. I can manage most essentials on my ship, but if anyone has anything that they need to take then get hold of it right now. I don't want to have to turn back because someone forgot something."

Angelica opened her bag and started to do a quick inventory. Everyone else seemed confident that they had what they needed. He'd figured as much, having asked them earlier while he was working on the map.

"Okay, figure out who is riding with who," he continued. "I'm going to get my airbike."

Fully repaired after the race for the festival, his airbike still visibly outmassed Alan's sleeker model. Both were large enough to carry saddlebags and a second rider - they'd not make the sort of speeds used within a race, but they would still be faster than using carriages and ferries to get to the port.

Katarina couldn't have needed too long to talk the security into letting her take out Keith's airbike since she returned quickly. Hopefully she wouldn't abuse the privilege. It was more like Alan's than Leon's, but it was definitely more reinforced than the former. Leon wondered if that was because of Keith being an earth mage or if he'd just been aware Katarina was going to use it and chosen the model accordingly.

Violette seemed to have understood Leon's reasoning so she went over to her cousin. "Thanks, Katarina. I'll be flying you over, so watch what I'm doing and I'll give you some pointers."

"Thank you!" Katarina said brightly. She waited until Violette was mounted and then hopped on behind her, holding onto both of their bags.

Mounting his own airbike, Leon checked that Alan and Olivia were ready to go. Seeing that they'd mounted up, he looked back right as Angelica settled herself, putting her hands either side of Leon's waist. "Let's ride," he ordered and opened the throttle, following the paths only until they were off the campus. After that the three airbikes rose rapidly and arrowed across the sky, heading directly for the port island.

Even with the burdens, the riders made good time. The sky had grown dark, but the port was illuminated at all hours and ships had their own lights precisely so that no one ran into them. Leon had prepared his own chemical light and had handed others off to his companions so there would be little excuse for anyone knowing that they were in the sky.

Not that Leon was likely to run into anything, as his helmet had night vision built into it. He still kept his head on a swivel - looking not just for any ship running into them but also for any sign the other two riders had gotten lost.

Fortunately, neither of those circumstances arose and Leon led them down into the streets once more. However tempting it was to lead the group directly to Dreadnought's berth, that would just be begging for an accident in the darkness. Besides, he had to stop at the harbour master's to get permission to leave and a slot in the queue - there was too much traffic for airships to just come and go as they wanted.

As a result, getting from the edge of the port to his ship took as long as crossing the gulf that separated the island from the continent. Finally they reached the gangway and Leon saw another, smaller airbike was waiting for them there.

"What took you so long?" Kyle complained sleepily from where he was sitting on the vehicle.

"Traffic," Leon replied, dismounting and stretching his legs. "How are you?"

"Sleepy. My mother is going to be worried about where I am."

"Emotional blackmail. You're learning so much around the Ministry of Magic."

"You again?" asked Alan. The other boy dismounted and then tousled the little elf's hair, uncovering his ears. "Oh, did you hire him as a henchman Leon? Is that the new opening for unemployed elves?"

"Stop that!" Kyle batted at the hand.

"He's a ministry official's aide. So, what brought you out here?" asked Leon. "As opposed to being tucked into bed with some warm milk by your mother?"

Kyle yawned. "Director Smith had me ask some people if they'd seen your missing lord."

"Did you?" Katarina crouched slightly so she could look Kyle in the eyes. "Have you found him?"

To her evident disappointment, the young elf shook his head. "No, but I did find a lead. Apparently after he'd sorted out some luggage, a woman accosted him on the street."

Angelica blushed. "What woman?"

Kyle shrugged. "Older than him. The witness I found thought they might be family, similar hair and eyes."

"When you say older than Keith, how much older?" Leon asked thoughtfully. Keith's biological mother was probably in the same general area - she'd been Viscount Coleman's mistress and he lived in the capital.

"Hard to say, women wear make-up to hide that sort of thing. Why?"

"Just a theory," Leon concluded.

"Where did he go?" asked Katarina intently.

"She led him off into an alleyway," Kyle admitted. "From there, I don't know. I did a sketch that my witness thought was pretty close. I don't know if that helps."

"Thanks." Leon accepted the picture. It didn't really suggest anything to him. "Good thinking, Kyle."

"Can I go home now?"

Looking at the bike, the dark-haired young man shook his head. "Isn't it a bit late for you to be riding that far?"

"I wouldn't be here so late if you'd got here sooner," Kyle grumbled. "I can look after myself."

"Luxion," Leon asked subvocally as Kyle mounted the airbike and started it up. "Can you spare this drone to make sure he gets home safely?"

"That won't be necessary, master. Cleare's drone is already escorting him."

"Larna looking after her staff, or some sort of experiment?"

"Both," the AI declared. "I prefer not to inquire as to the twisted priorities of that deviant AI."

Leon nodded. That was probably wise. "Ride safely then, squire."

"I'm not your squire!" Kyle told him, and zoomed off into the sparse night streets of the port.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen." Leon gestured to the Dreadnought's massive hull and then across at a pair of heavily laden ships that were leaving their own docks, recognisably the vessels ahead of him in the departure queue. "All aboard, we're leaving as soon as those merchantmen there get clear of the route out."

"Maybe it's just me," Alan observed the next morning, with the Dreadnought cruising away from the Holfort continent at a deceptively fast pace. With no islands in easy view right now, Leon figured it was unlikely that those with him would realise just how fast they were going. "But wasn't your friend Alexander pointing westwards last night?"

"That's right," Leon agreed as they ate breakfast. It was fairly late - they'd gone to bed in the small hours, so perhaps it would be better to call it brunch. Though if that meant no lunch then Katarina might have protested.

The silver-haired boy pointed at the window. "Then why are we heading south-west? The sun should be behind us by more than that."

"We don't know how far west they've taken Keith," Leon explained. "Or if they're going to keep going the same way."

"But why go this way?"

Leon cleared his plate. "Just a moment." Leaving the table, he returned with the same map he'd used the day before - as well as a pencil and a ruler.

Everyone crowded around to watch as Leon set the ruler down, aligning it with the mark he'd made yesterday. "So, yesterday Keith was somewhere along this line," he explained, drawing on the map, linking the mark with the location of the academy. "Now at the moment we're…" He moved the pencil until Luxion confirmed he'd found it. "...just about here. So if Alexander would give us another line…?"

Everyone looked at Olivia, who picked up the stuffed bear from where it had been sitting on her lap. Placing it on the map, she asked: "Please point out Keith, Alexander."

The magical device stood up, orientating itself, and then extended its paw.

Moving around, Leon made sure the map was correctly aligned and then made another mark to indicate that direction. "Alright, thanks."

The device scurried back to Olivia, batting away Katarina's hand as the other girl tried to pet him. The notional leader of the quest gave him an offended look.

Ignoring the byplay, Leon drew another line on the map. "Darn."

"What?" asked Violette. "Ah, the lines don't meet?"

"What does that mean?" enquired Angelica.

"If the lines converged then Keith might be somewhere they met," the other girl explained. "Is that right, Leon?"

"It's not perfect given our last vector was hours ago, but basically. And he's probably moving." Leon measured the distance between their current position and then the places where the two lines reached the edge of the map. "They are converging, but not much. Either he's been taken southwards to an extent or they're further west than this map shows."

"So you need a larger map?" concluded the other boy.

"And then another reference check," Leon agreed. "But in the meantime, we can go west and try to make up some ground."

The Dreadnought heeled over very slightly and began to turn west.

Everyone looked at him. Dammit, Luxion. There's such a thing as being too efficient.

"Ah!" Katarina exclaimed and pointed at Leon. "Do you have a crew of ghosts!?"

"...that's where you went with that?" asked Alan.

"How did you manage to tell your crew to change course without us noticing?" asked Violette. She reached over and patted Katarina on the shoulder. "I'm sure Leon's ship isn't haunted."

"That's… not exactly true," Leon told them. The cat was out of the bag, but he could still obfuscate the matter. "However, I can assure you that only one of the two ancient and vengeful spirits haunting her has any actual control over the Dreadnought. And I've asked that one not to hurt anyone I invite aboard, so you're entirely safe."

"What about the other one?" Katarina demanded urgently.

"She's less co-operative, but she should be contained." Leon smiled reassuringly. "If you happen to see a cloud of blackness, scream for help and run."

"Run where?" Olivia was clutching Alexander as if he was a token of protection.

"Away. Don't worry about where you're fleeing to, that's an amateur mistake when you're under threat. Escape means getting clear, however you must. Destination can be figured out once you're not in imminent danger."

"Leon, stop teasing people," Alan said with a groan. "It's not funny."

"That's entirely a matter of opinion."

"Your familiar is relaying information, aren't they?" suggested Violette. "Scarlet said that she hears you whispering to him sometimes."

He raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, you've got me. Luxion's pretty much always monitoring what I say and when I said we should go west, the instruction was passed on."

"Luxion?" Olivia loosened her grip on the bear a little. "Is that your familiar?"

"Something like that."

"Can we see him?" she asked curiously.

Leon shrugged. "Can you? I don't see them myself, right now. Luxion can be quite… private, shall we say? I'm not going to force them to talk to people they don't want to."

Katarina nodded in acceptance. "Can you say hello to Luxion for us?"

"Luxion, Katarina says hello," Leon repeated clearly for her benefit.

"I don't want to talk to the new human," the AI declared. "And since I'd rather let the goal of her mission die, I don't think she'd like it if I did."

Leon shrugged. "Sorry, they're being shy. I'll let you know if they change their mind, Katarina."

"Are there no end to your secrets?" asked Angelica. "This ship, your knight-armours, the airbike, now a mysterious familiar…"

"As long as I have a secret in reserve, I have less to fear from any enemies I make," he told her seriously. "I don't think I have any serious enemies at the moment - but, life being what it is, there could be someone hiding their intentions. Or perhaps I'll make an enemy."

Even Katarina nodded in understanding. Although Leon supposed that she had more reason than most to think she might have people who could unexpectedly turn around and pose a threat to her.