A/N: AAAND, I AM BACK PEOPLE! Just started high school about a few months ago and I could not find time to write a chapter, good God, especially this week. I'll have to expect a crapload of exams to come my way. And that, my friends, is not an understatement.

Well, here I go!

*warning and disclaimer in the first chapter *can I stop writing this now?*

Enjoy~

Chronicles of the Drowned City

C.7: Meeting the ninja

The supplies in the ship have finally run out. Oh man, how glad Heinrich is. Finally, finally they can head back!

He will never make that mistake again.

'Next time, your going, Yuki..,' he thought. Both Adisa and Cia started chuckling behind him.

While back in the inn, Yuki already rented a room for all of the Guild members.

This room looks a bit better.

Just a bit, mind you.

The sheets looks cleaner, and the furniture didn't look like it would collapse at any second. The room smells of something rotton, though, like something just died.

"Um... guys?" Everyone turned towards the Farmer, who's crouching in front of a desk, holding a...

A dead rat...?

It looked hacked up, too. It's body is torn apart, and there are cuts deep enough for the insides to spill out of.

Oddly enough, Yuki didn't wince at all. He was used to this, after all. Training with his katana required him to do these things.

The same can't be said for the Zodiak though.

You know the theory of "when one of your senses is broken, the others intensifies"?

Well, Zakharia has a surprisingly keen sense of smell. It's her second best sense that she uses to see.

She dropped onto the floor, trying to hold back her stomach from spilling out it's contents. The smell had gotten worse. Soon, the others smelled it too, and even Yuki covered his nose.

Rudollf got sober from the smell, and walked towards where Guad is, shooving him gently from under the table where the dead rat's carcass was and peered inside of it.

Oh man.

There are more dead rats shooved under the desk. The bodies all looked hacked up, maggots crawling out of their bodies.

Ok, just who the hell stayed in this room before?!

"I'm no expert in psychology or whatever the hell it is ya call it, but I know the person who stayed in this room is some psychophatic person," said the Buccaneer. Yuki was surprised the man could speak that way.

Oh wait, he's sober. No wonder.

"I can't take it anymore...," said Zakharia weakly. Yuki went over and grabbed the nearest thing he can use as a container.

An empty vase.

Which turned out to have dead, hacked up birds in it, insides spilling out, maggots crawling everywhere.

This is just getting more disturbing by the second.

"H-hey...? You guys know what this is?" Again, everyone turned to Guad, though this time he's holding...

Bloody scissors.

They then heard the sound of puking. Zakharia finally passed her limit.

"Well..." Guad looked at the others, waiting for a response.

"L-let's just get out of here..." Zakharia weakly uttered. Yuki nodded, grabbing hold of her hand and lead her out of the room, the others quickly following.

Just what the hell was the innkeeper thinking?!

Meanwhile, Heinrich and the other two girls have made it close to the inn, while running.

While the sky is pouring.

Great. Just great. First puking because of sea sickness, now being soaked in rain?

This is not his day at all.

A girl then caught his eye. She's wearing a pink, eastern looking clothing, but not like that of a Shogun's. A mask is perched on the side of her brown hair, her eyes looking at him as she sat there on the ground, taking shelter from the rain.

He went straight past her though, as he needed to find his own shelter from the rain.

What he didn't know is that the girl suddenly dissapeared, following them.

Yuki didn't really file a complaint for the inn's service, but he told the innkeeper of the situation in that room.

"Well, uh... honestly, we didn't know what it was like in that room. A girl stayed there, sure, but she didn't look shady in any way."

'Didn't look shady in any way?' Yuki though ,'I helped someone who didn't look shady at all and apparently they were carrying dead bodies.'

"Well, we'll make sure to clean that place up now!" The innkeeper then called one of his co-workers, tasked with cleaning. He told him to immediately clean said room.

After a while, Heinrich and the others showed up. They noticed how pale Zakharia looked. Did something happen?

"Hey, what's wrong?" Cia decided to ask, stepping closer to the Zodiak.

"You don't want to know what it's like in there," Guad inquired. Heinrich raised an eyebrow at this.

"Why?"

"Just imagine a psychopath's room...," Yuki said bluntly. Heinrich's face darkened at the thought, while Adisa and Cia winced and shivered a bit.

"Alright, the room's clean!" As the innkeeper made his way back to the counter, the others rushed back into the room. Well... those who hadn't been in there beforehand.

"What's so bad about this room?" Adisa asked as they entered the room,"aside from the smell that is." Guad then pointed to the table.

"You see that table?"

"Yeah. Why?" Adisa asked.

"There were dead rats under there."

She stayed silent. As did the others.

"I actually killed those rats."

They all turned to where the voice came from. Heinrich immediately recognized who it is.

It was the girl he saw taking shelter from the rain just now.

She had a slight scowl on her face. Is it because they got rid of the rats just now?

"Why did you get rid of the rats?" She asked. Adisa swallowed a lump on her throat. Is this girl crazy or something?!

The girl then turned to look at the empty vase right next to her. Peering inside, she noticed that the birds are also gone.

The look on her face intensifies.

"Why did you get rid of them?" She asked again, a dark shadow falling on her face.

"We decided to have this room cleaned," Heinrich said curtly,"what were you thinking, storing dead animal carcass in here anyway?"

"Because I wanted to mix them up."

"Mix them up"? What the hell did she mean by that? The girl then turned to look at the desk again.

"I wanted to see if a combination of rat and bird would work," she explained, her eyes suddenly shining with life.

"A... 'combination' of rat and bird...?" Hesitantly, Adisa asked.

"Yeah. I wanted to combine the bird's feathers with the rat's skin, replace the bird's feet with the rat's, and I just wanted to look at how they look like inside." Okay, she is getting more and more disturbing by the minute.

"Say, you wouldn't mind if I... joined you, right?" the girl asked, her eyes turning empty again. Heinrich though about this for a minute.

Should he? Well, she'd be a good asset, considering the fact that the girl looked somewhat like a ninja to him.

But she also has something wrong with her head, so is it really okay to have her in the party?

...Eh, he's not so sure.

"I'm not really intrested in humans, so don't worry. I hear the animals are exotic in the Labyrinth-"

"You don't need to say any more!" Cia cut in. Really, what is wrong with this girl?!

"I guess... you can join in. If I catch you trying to disect one of us, though, I will kick you out immediatley," Heinrich strictly said. The young lady nodded. Her eyes then turned to look at Zakharia, who surprisingly let go of Yuki. She stepped closer, then reached out a hand for her to shake.

"Chitose. Nice to meet you." Zakharia hesitantly reached out, trying to find Chitose's hands. Chitose grabbed hold of her hands and shook it.

"Alright, come with me," said Heinrich. Chitose nodded, and both she and Heinrich started walking out of the inn, heading towards the Explorer's Guild.

'What are you thinking Heinrich?' Adisa thought. She's... not really sure if this is such a good idea. They then heard gagging noises again. Adisa rummaged into her bag. Does she still have some of those... Ah!

"Here," she said as she handed her a paper bag she carries around in long voyages, just in case Heinrich had to throw up right there and then.

Zakharia grabbed it (after some groping around in the air), and started throwing up. Yuki crouched beside her, rubbing her back. She then finished.

"Better?" He asked. Zakharia nodded.

"Good... now let's find something to get rid of this smell," said Cia, plugging her nose.

"So... a ninja, Chitose was it?" Chitose nodded as the Guildmaster scribbled on the parchment. The Guildmaster could feel something wrong with this girl. But, hey, it's their Guild. If they want to screw themselves over by adding her into their ranks, then suit themselves.

"Alright here you go," said the Guildmaster as he rolled up the parchment, handing it over to them. Stowing it in his bag, Heinrich nodded and started walking out of the Guildhouse, Chitose following suit.

What have they gotten themselves into, I wonder?

-To be continued-

A/N: Ugh man, finished this at school. Why is it that I'm most productive when at school and not when I'm on vacation? Ugh.

Anyway, as I said, I'm not making anymore promises, so yeah, just... wait for the next update *collapses*

And now I shall draw *creeps into sketchbook*