The members of the ROMY Round Robin team would like to thank all of you who have taken the time to review our story. Unfortunately, we will not be responding to the reviews because there are so many members of the group and it would take too much time. This chapter is brought to you by the talented Chellerbelle. Enjoy!

For the umpteenth time in the last hour, Etienne checked his pockets to make sure he had everything. This was it. This was the night of his Tilling and he was as nervous as a rabbit in a lion's den. Actually, he felt a bit like a rabbit trying to break into a lion's den.

"Not helping," he muttered to himself.

He could do this. Remy thought he could do it and he was guild leader now, so that had to count for something, right?

Etienne took a deep breath and looked at himself in the mirror.

"You can do this," he said to his reflection. "You've been over the plans a million times already. You know exactly what needs to be done and how to do it. Okay sure, you're stealing from the Assassins Guild. That's no big deal. So what if some of those guys would kill you as soon as look at you? They're not going to see you. It's just going to be in and out again, nothing to it."

He swallowed hard.

"Nothing to it," he repeated.

Etienne clapped his hands together and looked towards the clock; time to get going. He began to make his way out, but then decided just before he got out the door that he really needed to hit the bathroom. He did his thing, checked his pockets again, told himself off for stalling and finally got out the door.

Refusing to let himself think about it again, Etienne pulled on his helmet and got on his motorcycle. As he headed off to the meeting place, he checked the fuel gauge. Plenty full. Okay, good. He didn't have to worry about the fuel tank going empty on the way back or something.

Twenty minutes later, Etienne was pacing back and forth at the meeting place waiting for Remy to arrive, wringing his hands with anxiety. Remy did realise it was tonight, right? He hadn't forgotten or anything... had he? No, Remy always remembered him. He was the one person Etienne could always count on. Remy wouldn't forget him. Well, unless there was a buxom blond involved... or a brunette... or, well with Remy it didn't really matter what hair colour she had, as long as it was definitely a 'she'.

Yep, that's why Remy wasn't here. He'd forgotten all about Etienne's Tilling and was shacked up with some gorgeous redhead with long legs and a chest you could—was that a motor he could hear? Etienne turned towards the noise just in time to see Remy coming into view. Remy parked his motorcycle not too far from Etienne's own.

"Early as usual I see," Remy said with mild amusement.

"Yeah," Etienne nodded and checked his watch. "Oh, it's earlier than I thought."

Remy chuckled knowingly.

"Ready whenever you are."

"Oh right. We should get going."

Remy clapped his hand on Etienne's shoulder.

"You'll do fine, Et. Just pretend I'm not even here."

"Okay."

Etienne took a deep breath and turned toward the direction of the Boudreaux Mansion.

"Okay," he said again, this time with confidence.

He knew that Remy, as his Registrar, was only with him to observe. Nevertheless, there was something about his older cousin that seemed to inspire confidence in him and he was grateful to have him along.

With Remy close behind, Etienne slipped silently into the swamp. Not even a twig snapped under his feet as he made his way towards the Mansion. Only a few lights glowed forth from the windows, illuminating the black of night.

Keeping to the shadows, Etienne closed the distance to the Mansion. Barely metres away, he looked up and scanned the wall before him. He did not look directly at the couple of lighted windows, instead scanning the insides for movement with his peripheral vision in order to keep his eyes accustomed to the dark. He continued to watch the grounds as well as he sought to know where as many of the Assassins were as possible.

Finally satisfied, Etienne pulled out his grappling hook, along with the launcher. He checked to make sure the rope was secure, stepped out from behind the tree and aimed it towards the edge of the roof. He pressed the trigger and with a barely audible whirr, the hook shot through the air and landed softly. Etienne pulled the rope carefully as he walked over to the wall, dragging the hook to the edge until it anchored itself. He gave it another pull to test its stability. Once satisfied, he began the climb.

It would have been easier if the tree had been taller and closer to the wall, but the Assassins Guild had been dealing with the Thieves Guild for centuries. They knew all sorts of ways of foiling them. The thought gave Etienne pause. What if there had been a guard on the roof? Aww man, he hadn't thought of a guard being on the roof, great, just great. His Tilling and he was going to fail before he even began.

Etienne heard a gentle cough beneath him and continued to climb. Well, if there was a guard on the roof he'd just have to be sneaky and blackjack him or something. That's the kind of thing the Thieves did to guards. He could knock out an Assassin... right?

Fortunately, Etienne didn't need to find out. The rooftop was free of guards. He waited for Remy to join him, then pulled the rope and grappling hook up and put them away in his clothes. This done, he made his way to the door and inspected the lock. It looked simple enough. Or was it too simple?

With narrowed eyes, Etienne pulled out a pair of goggles from his clothes, set to see the infrared spectrum. Ah ha! A couple of red beams across the door, both neatly covering top and bottom of the lock. He'd have to break them to pick the lock. Once again he reach into his pockets and pulled out a couple of beam diverters, which were really just sets of three or more mirrors used to reflect beams around where you wanted your hand to go. He measured the distance between the beams with his hands then configured the diverters so he could hold them both with one hand.

Slowly, carefully he moved the diverters towards the beams. Etienne stopped abruptly when he realised his hand was shaking and he glared at them, willing them to stop. He couldn't position the diverters with shaking hands! He took another deep breath, chewed his lip and tried again. The diverters slipped into place and he paused a moment, but no alarm sounded.

With his free hand, Etienne pulled out his lock picks, unlocked and pushed open the door. As there were only two beams it was very easy to slip through the larger gap at the bottom, which he did as soon as he moved the diverters—carefully—away from the beams and back into his pocket.

Etienne crept down the stairs. He was halfway down the flight when he heard a noise and froze. There were people talking, but the words were muffled and Etienne decided they must be in another room. He continued down the stairs until he came to another door. Not seeing any further beams, Etienne put his goggles back into his pocket and pulled out his listening device—a circular object, which he pressed between his ear and the door.

Behind him, Remy watched while Etienne listened out for any noise on the other side of the door. Evidently he hadn't heard anything of interest, for his cousin soon put it away and opened the door. The next room—a hallway—was empty. Remy followed Etienne down the hall to the room he knew Bella Donna stored the family heirlooms in. The door was locked, but Etienne picked it easily and a moment later he was stepping inside. They closed the door behind them.

Etienne looked around apprehensively; so far, so good. Question was, where exactly in here would Bella Donna be keeping the chalice? All around him was antique furniture, cabinets, tables and chest full and covered with all sorts of knickknacks that would no doubt fetch some nice prices on the black market. Etienne's face lit up as his eyes fell on one cabinet in particular: in amongst the delicate tea set on display stood the prize.

The lock on the cabinet was pathetically easy, even insulting considering the valuables within. Etienne slid the door open quietly, reached in and with a growing grin on his face, wrapped his fingers around the coveted chalice. With much delight, he placed the chalice securely into a little black pouch he had brought for this purpose and put it in his pocket. He had done it!

Seeing the circular, dust free patch on the shelf reminded Etienne that the job wasn't over yet. He reached into another pocket and pulled out his jar of dust. He twisted the lid, turned it over and shook a little dust onto the clean patch. A little at first, then a little more, there! That should be enough.

Etienne closed the door again, then exchanged his dust jar with his spray on dirt. He locked the cabinet up again and sprayed over the patches wiped clean by his glove. Satisfied he'd covered his tracks, Etienne put the spray away and turned around. There was no hiding the huge grin on his face.

Remy resisted the urge to grin back. This was not yet the time for celebration. Instead he moved over and inspected the cover up. Yeah, that looked good. He gave his cousin a nod and Etienne headed for the door. Once again he pressed his ear up to the door with the listening device. Hearing no one, Etienne and Remy stepped out into the hallway and made their way back to the stairs.

They locked the second door on their way through and then locked the outside door from the inside after opening it. Etienne donned his goggles again. He slipped through the gap, waited for Remy to follow and shut the door, mindful to keep his hand away from the beams. The door clicking back into place made Etienne wince at the loudness of it.

At the edge of the rooftop, Etienne pulled out his grappling hook and rope again. He looked down making sure the rope wouldn't land across any windows and set the hook in place. After a check for sentries, Etienne dropped the rope, double-checked to make sure the hook was sturdy, and began his descent. After Remy joined him at the bottom, Etienne pulled out the remote, pointed it at the hook and pressed the button. On the rooftop, the spikes of the grappling hook retracted, causing it to fall from its place. Etienne caught it neatly and put hook, rope and remote back into his pockets.

Etienne and Remy moved stealthily away from the building and back into the swamp. Their eyes adjusted to the dark in front of them as they moved quickly and silently towards their meeting place. It wasn't until their motorcycles came into view that Etienne finally gave into his building excitement.

"Remy! I did it!"

Remy chuckled.

"Yes, yes you did," he nodded. "Don't sound so surprised. Didn't I say I knew you could do it?"

"Well, yes, but this is my Tilling. I'm allowed to be excited."

"Can't argue with that. So, we going to stand around chatting, or are we actually going to leave?"

"Hmm, I vote for leaving."

"That's leaving 2, staying 0," Remy joked. "The leaving has it."

"By a landslide." Etienne nodded. "Hey you wanna stop somewhere to celebrate?"

"The celebration comes after the ceremony is over."

Etienne gave Remy a pathetic look. Remy raised an eyebrow.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Remy said, smirking at Etienne. "That stopped being cute years ago."

"So, you admit I'm cute," Etienne replied as he stroked an imaginary beard.

"Sure, and then you grew up. If you're lucky, you may one day meet a fille who'll call you cute. She'll be lying but—"

"We gonna stop for drinks or not?"

"Yeah, sure."

The following morning, Etienne reached into the pocket of his trench coat. He figured he should put the chalice somewhere safe until his formal presentation. He frowned to himself when his fingers touched nothing but cloth. Okay, maybe he put it in another pocket. He'd been pretty sure he'd put it in that one but obviously he hadn't.

Etienne tried the next one, then the next and the next. Before long he'd started cleaning out his coat, his thief tools strewn all over the bed, pockets pulled inside out and a bunch of old receipts and other rubbish decorating carpeted floor. No little black pouch. No chalice.

Maybe he already put it in a safe place. Maybe he did that as soon as he came home last night and just forgot. That could have happened… Right?

Etienne started searched through his drawers, in the wardrobe, under the bed. Clothes on the floor were lifted (in some cases for the first time in months). He moved his search out of his bedroom and into the rest of his apartment. He checked over and under tables, opened cupboards and pulled up the cushions from the lounge. His panic rose with each failure.

Again he went through his apartment. Double checking. Triple checking. Looking in crazy places like the dishwasher and places it would never even fit, like his cutlery drawer. It had to be here. He knew it had to be here. He was so sure he had it with him when he got back last night. Well, closer to early this morning, but details!

Etienne ran down to the garage, his eyes scanning the hallway in the event he might have dropped it there. He took the elevator down and continued to scan all the way to his motorcycle. Neither the chalice nor the black pouch was in sight.

Behind him he heard a wolf whistle and whirled around. One of the neighbours was grinning at him.

"Forget something Et?" she asked, grinning at him.

Etienne looked down. He was still in his pajamas. He blushed furiously and ran back for the elevator, the woman's merry laughter following him. In the elevator, he ran his fingers through his hair. This was not good; definitely not good. The chalice had to be around here somewhere. He couldn't have lost it. His entire future rested on it.

Ten minutes later, Etienne was on his motorcycle, properly dressed and on his way to the bar that he and Remy had celebrated at. He was certain he had it when he came home, but as he couldn't find it there, a retracing of his steps was in order.

Remy sighed, put the paper down and made his way to the kitchen and his beloved coffee machine. Being the leader of the Thieves Guild was not all it was cracked up to be. For one thing, there was far more paperwork than actual thieving. Where was the fun in that? He just wanted to get out there and steal stuff. Imagine being a Thief and wanting to steal things. What a shocking concept.

Remy leaned on the counter and waited for the coffee machine to do its thing. Maybe he could start stealing things around the office. Coffee mugs, perhaps. Or he could start stealing pens. Yes, it was the perfect plot. Everyone knew pens always went missing. He could steal pens, and then when his went missing he could just use one of his pre-stolen pens. Brilliant! Remy laughed at himself. One of the best Thieves in the Guild, if not the best, and he was plotting to steal pens. It was a sad, sobering thought.

Just as he started pouring his coffee, Remy's phone began to ring. With his free hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out his mobile phone. Etienne's name flashed up on the screen and he smiled as he answered it.

"Morning Et," he greeted.

"Hi Remy, umm… I… I kinda have some… Well, see, the thing is…"

"Okay, Et, calm down. Breathe some. You remember breathing? It's slightly important for doing this thing called 'living,'" Remy replied as he put the coffee jug down. "What's wrong?"

Etienne took a deep breath. "You remember last night right?"

"Yes…"

"And we did my Tilling?"

"Yes."

"That wasn't a dream was it? That actually happened?"

"Yes it did. I remember being there. What's this all about?"

"You did see me put the chalice into my pocket, right?"

"Yes. Etienne, what's going on?"

For a moment there was silence, then Remy heard Etienne mumble something he couldn't quite catch.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that," Remy said.

Almost weeping, Etienne spoke louder: "I lost the chalice."