Whoops. Meant to post 16 about a week ago and never got around to it... So here. Triple update a little more than a month early! (Well... Technically.)

Also! Uh... I had a train of thought... Oh! If there's any artwork you'd like to see for this story, like you're having trouble imagining someone's outfit or something, tell me! I will draw it! I'm currently working on a drawing of the Council, by the way, so requests regarding Zion, Star, Danté, Seth, Rhunön, Ryndor, and Flick will probably be ignored. Feel free to ask anyway, though. Some of these characters I do actually enjoy drawing. Though, some I don't. -pointed glare directed at Ryndor- Also, the Re:AST cover will be started on as soon as I've finalized Selenia's outfit.

Um... I think that's it. Enjoy the chapter!

"You're as bad as Sync. Spit it out." –Kairi

"Funny, but I've got the liger." –Kairi

Chapter 2.6 – Race, Double Agent!
Part 17

"Kairi? Where are you going?"

I glanced over my shoulder and shrugged. "To find a carrier pigeon, probably. I need to send a letter to Noir," I said as Luke fell into step next to me. Twilight was on the other side, Valkyria sitting on his head, which made for a rather cute sight if nothing else as we made our way up to the deck.

"You don't mind if I come too, do you? Tear's... confusing," he said. "I don't think she believed me at first when I said I didn't remember anything. And she always acts so... cold."

I sighed. "Count on soldiers to give you the cold shoulder, Luke. They see death a lot more often than the common folk. You have to build up walls against that... Asch, Sync, Jade, Dark, Tear... Anise is a bit young, but her outward cheer is just another defense mechanism. And me... I acknowledge it, and then push it away. I refuse to let it poison my mind, even if I end up locking it away to fester elsewhere," I said after a few minutes. "Sync and I always joked that Asch's temper burned hot enough to incinerate everything... even his guilt. Sync worried me at first, too, because he didn't even have names for half the emotions he felt."

Luke refused to meet my eyes. "I don't get it. Soldier or not... How do you sleep at night, knowing you're the one who cut their lives short?" he mumbled.

Ah. So he was still have difficulty coming to terms with killing.

I wrapped an arm around his shoulders, trusting Twilight to warn me when Van came too close. "You don't," I said simply. "Your own will to live simply powers through it. If it doesn't, you die. Maybe not physically, but you still die."

"I don't want to die..." I heard Luke murmur. I smiled a bit and let my arm drop.

The four of us made it up to the deck, finding Jade and Guy already there. Jade adjusted his glasses.

"Check in at the Kimlascan consulate before you board the ferry," he ordered. "That way, we'll know if you've made it back before us, or you'll know if you're the last."

"I suppose that goes for me, too?"

I turned and raised an eyebrow, and Dark scowled as he stopped next to Luke. "I'm getting worried about the situation in the Northern Woods. I probably shouldn't, but I'm sending off letters to Rhunön and Ryndor, maybe Seth. They might be able to work something out," he said. I shrugged.

"You'll probably still make it back before me," I admitted. "If Noir is in Chesedonia, which she might still be, heavens know I'll have my ear chatted off before I can even tell her the good news."

Were it not for the fact that Tear, Anise, and an Arietta-toting Van chose then to walk up, I'd have attempted to knock the smug smirk off of Jade's face with my frying pan.

The ferry docked not a moment later, and we all wandered off to stand outside the Malkuth consulate. Van stopped us a moment.

"You all go on ahead. I'll catch up later. I have to send Arietta back to Daath," he said. Luke looked like he wanted to argue, but the redhead forced it down.

"You'll be back in Baticul soon, right?" he asked instead. Van nodded before heading into the consulate building. Ion, in the meantime, kept giving me looks, and I huffed, putting my hands on my hips as soon as I was sure Van was out of earshot.

"You're as bad as Sync. Spit it out," I grumbled.

Ion looked suitably chastised after that comment. "Oh, um... May I come with you?" he asked quickly.

"Ion!"

Anise, of course. I crossed my arms. "Let me guess. You want to talk to the Dark Wings about the bandit thing."

Ion ducked his head in a nod, and I looked the other direction to think, making sure not to look back at Ion while doing so. Sync had somehow mastered the cute and innocent look, even if I knew he was everything but. Ion?

Yeah. No looking.

It left me with a bit of a problem, though. On the one hand, I wanted as few people as possible to find out that Sync was still alive. Also, I knew that if Noir had something else to do, there wouldn't be any stealing of anything other than information most of the time. Ion would also be slowing me down, because while Valkyria was small enough to slip through crowds, Twilight wasn't, and I'd already planned to leave him behind.

Then there was the report I was supposed to send to Dist.

That having been said...

I sighed, shook my head, and brushed a few loose bangs out of my face. "Anise?"

The younger girl looked thoughtful. "Well... So long as you promise to look after him, I'll okay it," she decided. I nodded, then patted Twilight on the head.

"Alright. Looks like you're coming after all," I told the liger, gently pulling Ion over and helping him up onto Twilight's back before hopping up behind him. "See you guys later!" I called, giving Twilight directions via my telepathy.

Now, here's a question for the people with good memory. Where in Chesedonia is Din's shop? Just past the Malkuth consulate, right?

In reality, it was further than that, located behind a few stands in the bazaar. But, in keeping with the game events, guess who was standing around in said bazaar?

"Hey, Noir!"

I guess it helped that the crowds mostly avoided the liger I was sitting on, because the woman spotted me almost immediately, her eyes going wider than I'd ever seen before. I held up my right hand, first finger extended and the others curled, then put it down and extended my pinky, then tucked my thumb under my first and middle fingers.

Noir nodded once before turning back to the stall she'd been hovering by. York, who had also seen my sign language, ignored me, while Urushi was doing his best to hide the utter shock on his face.

I counted it a good thing that we managed to disappear past the crowds before he regained his senses.

"What was that all about?" Ion asked. I chuckled.

"I know three alphabets, four if you include sign language," I told him. "Noir, York, and Urushi know sign language, because I taught them, and Noir can read English, barely. There's a maid in Keterburg who is extremely fluent in English. And I taught Asch and Sync my runes. Well, I taught Asch. Sync picked up most of it without me realizing."

"So, you used the hand signs to tell her something?" Ion guessed. I nodded.

"D, I, N. Din runs a little shop back here, so Noir knows where to come meet us," I said.

Twilight growled softly, and I looked up and nodded, slipping off his back and opening the door. Ion managed to get down without too much trouble, and the green-haired kid followed me through, Twilight following him with Valkyria still curled up on his head.

"Ah, Kairi-sama!"

It never ceases to amuse me, the way Din talks, mostly because she seems to like speaking Japanese, with a hint of the valley girl accent she has in the game.

"Sama?" Ion echoed. I shrugged.

"It's an honorific for someone you respect or who is higher in rank than you. So, pretty much everyone would call you Ion-sama if they spoke the same way Din does," I explained before turning back to Din. "Konnichiwa, Din-san."

"Ohayou. Are, like, others following?" she asked. I nodded.

"Noir-sama and the boys are coming. Twilight should be able to fit," I said. Din nodded and moved a tapestry, showing a hidden door. I waved Ion through first, then Twilight, since Din had snagged my sleeve. "Something wrong?" I asked.

"Like, ask Noir-sama about her most recent escapade," she said, in that knowing way that I'd come to get used to. I sighed before following Ion into the back room.

"Four, five, six... Why would she have six cots back here?"

I glanced around, double-checking Ion's counting. Sure enough, there was the cot I figured was Din's near the door, one that had Noir's spare daggers peeking out from under the pillow, one that was so perfectly neat it had to be Urushi's, and one with one of York's spare coats thrown across it.

But there were two others. It looked like they'd been straightened up, but they'd definitely been slept in recently. I raised an eyebrow as I walked over, sitting down on one of them when no clues presented themselves immediately.

Twilight growled and nudged me, and I looked up at him, connecting to his mind.

*Yes?*

*The other nesting place smells like the green-furred... but not...*

I blinked a few times. "Huh?" Then my eyes widened. *It smells like Ion?*

*A bit, yes... But the scent is wrong. More...*

*Masculine?*

*How...?*

If I hadn't already been sitting down, I'd have slumped onto one of the cots in shock, not only because of what Twilight and I had been discussing, but due to something that had suddenly connected a lot of dots in my head. As it is, enough must have been showing in my expression because Ion looked worried.

He didn't get a chance to ask me about it though, because a certain trio of circus performers walked in.

"Well, look at what the cat dragged in. You're a far cry from a grave in Grand Chokmah," the lone female of the group teased. I smirked, poking at Twilight.

*How long?* I asked.

*Late last night... very late.*

"Ah, but you already knew that, didn't you? Sync knew I wouldn't stay down long," I shot right back as I stood up. Then I crossed my arms. "And while we're on the subject of not staying long, where'd they get off to last night?"

York chuckled. "They, who?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Funny, but I've got the liger. Sync and Reighn were here yesterday, weren't they?"

Noir nodded once. "Caught the first ferry to Baticul as soon as Sync was sure he was completely healed. Something about assassins and factories? I'm not sure, honestly," she admitted. "It left late last night, almost ten."

*That would match up,* Twilight said. I nodded once, while Ion glanced between me and Noir.

"I thought Sync was..."

I sighed. "The riddle Cantabile left in St. Binah was written by Sync, for my eyes only," I said. "After all, Asch doesn't know enough about riddles to figure it out, and he's the only other person with the knowledge needed to be able to unlock it."

Noir sighed, digging around in a pouch for a moment. "Speaking of riddles... Here. Sync said to give this to you before the month is out, but I don't think he planned on you getting here so quickly after he left."

I raised an eyebrow, taking the paper and unfolding it.

This time, instead of Cantabile's handwriting, I was met with the sloppy script that I'd always associate with Sync, and my heart almost broke again.

Memories scatter with the valley's end
But heart does not so easily forget
That when one's life shatters instead of bends
All of the bigger glass pieces are set

I blinked, then sighed. "I taught that boy too well," I muttered. Then I pulled my legs up to sit cross-legged and think. Somehow, I was getting the impression that Noir's comment was as much of the riddle as the words were.

Then it struck me.

This wasn't so much riddle as a reminder.

Akzeriuth...

I folded it up and put it with the other one, glancing up at Noir. "You said they went to Baticul, right? Fine. We're headed that direction too," I said. Then I sighed and stood up, turning slightly toward Ion on the other cot. "I'm sorry. I brought Ion here because he wanted to talk to you. Also, I've got something else I've got to do... I'll leave Ion and Twilight to you three."

Ion opened his mouth as if to protest, and I shook my head. "I'll be back, and I don't want to attract attention for this part. Don't worry, I trust these three more than I trust Anise," I told him. He took a deep breath and nodded, and I looked down at Valkyria, who was, predictably, rubbing up against my leg.

The two of us left before anyone could argue, and I waved to Din before exiting her shop altogether.

I cringed when I spotted Luke and Tear wandering around nearby, and after ducking around them and managing to find one of the two messenger pigeon services in Chesedonia, I pulled out a pad of paper (making a mental note to grab another as soon as possible), and wrote up my report as best I could, since I didn't have a solid surface to work with.

"You can deliver that in person instead of wasting your Gald."

I glanced up and then snapped to attention, saluting before looking around and relaxing again. Oddly enough, Dist was walking around instead of flying around in his chair.

"Honestly, I haven't got a lot. He seems to be rather paranoid about replicas though," I said. Dist crossed his arms.

"They haven't mentioned anything about the last mission with you?"

"Nope, not that I'm aware of. I was trying to avoid Van, really, so if they mentioned anything around him, I wouldn't have heard it."

"And what's with the cat at your feet?"

I sighed. "Apparently it was given to 'Kairi' before I tried to fake her death. It refuses to leave my side now," I said, sounding appropriately annoyed by this development. Dist watched me cautiously before he adjusted his glasses in a very... Jade-like fashion.

"Unfortunately... Jade managed to find my back-up files and has saved them onto a fon disk, which he's having read here to get the information on paper. I need to get those files back."

I scowled, for more than one reason. "You want me to grab them without him noticing?" I asked, throwing in enough skepticism to get the point across. Dist crossed his arms.

"I don't expect you to be able to do it, no. And if I attack the ferry, I'd rather have you fighting on my side. Either way, we'll be blowing your cover and the entire point behind putting you in this position will become obsolete," he said. I sighed, just sounding tired this time.

"And I'm sick of lying to him. I'm good at reading people. If I have to watch his heart break one more time, I'm going to do it properly."

Dist raised an eyebrow. "You want to tell him it was all a lie?"

I shrugged. "He's broken already. Might as well smash him to pieces in the process."

Dist chuckled, an evil sound, and I had a feeling I knew what was coming next.

"I'll see you on the ferry then, Mirage."

'Sorry, Jade.'

Fun Fact: When I first started writing this... I completely forgot that Zion had broken Sync's ribs in Re:ARitA. So... I rewrote it. They ended up staying longer in Chesedonia than I'd originally planned while waiting on Kairi.