.

CHAPTER 8: MYSTERIOUS TRAIL

.

Julius was walking back to the tower with his hands full of bags with food and supplies when he saw smoke in the distance and Ace coming out of an alley completely covered in blood. The knight was alone.

"Ace!"- The mortician called outwith both annoyment and slight worry.

The knave turned to see Julius with a happy grin- "Oh!? Hi Julius. You two went shopping from food so fast?" :)

"Two? Weren't you with her?"- Julius was not exactly surprised to figure out that Ace had ended up alone. The idiot had probably gotten lost.

"Oh yeah. She took me to a dark and private place so that we'd be alone and then we were having an awesomely romantic date in a nice restaurant when some people interrupted us, so she went back to the tower."- Ace then noticed that Julius was alone too – "Didn't she arrived at the tower?"

"No. I went out to get supplies a little after you left." - Julius got a bad feeling- "You shouldn't have leaved her alone. She was hurt."

Ace noticed that Julius stiffened and that wasn't normal either. Something must have happened in the past to cause Julius to unconsciously react. - "Hey Julius?... Doesn't it seem strange that we get worried about her running away alone?"

Julius didn't caught on Ace's deeper meaning or the fact that Ace included himself in the 'worry' statement. He was too troubled by the fact that she was again running around in a bad condition.- "Didn't you noticed that she was falling on her feet?"

"She seemed fine while sneaking around in dark places with me"- Of course he had noticed, but it had been too fun to wait and see if she would at least stop down to rest or ask for his support. She never did and that was fun to watch too.

"She's a foreigner Ace."

"Awwww! :3 You are worried so much about her already. Did you too do something very naughty when I found you two earlier" :) - Ace teased – "You should have waited for me and then we would have done something even more naughty" ^u^

Julius groaned – "It's not that I'm worried. It's just the game"

"Is it?" – Ace smiled in a conniving way.-"How far do you think her game was before this?"

"I don't know Ace, but let go back to the tower. She'll go there, right?" – Julius didn't want to waste time his time and energy on Ace's games. He wanted to go back and see if she was at the tower so he could scold both of his 'assistants' for being so careless and idiotic.

"Somehow I'm not sure about that."- Ace had some doubts himself about her actions.-" It feels as if she wouldn't mind not going at all."

Ace trailed behind Julius and when they came back to the tower, the first sign that something was not right was the blood stains on the door's handle. They saw at each other and entered. Once inside they saw more trails of blood.

Ace kneeled and took off one of his gloves to touch the blood- "It's not that fresh. But it must be her's" – Had it been from a faceless it would have turned to darkness here in the tower. He smiled, thinking that she was far more resilient than he had given her credit for if, although being a foreigner she had been able to reach this place by herself in a bad condition. But how bad was her condition was something he wanted to see.

Julius didn't waited more and followed the dark trail with a pace slightly faster than he intended.

The trailed blood stains ended in his office, the door was dirty with blood too.

They entered and when they turned on the lights, they saw that the office was in disarray with clear signs of a struggle. Clocks were scattered on the ground, tools and papers were blown everywhere around and the desk looked like something had crashed with it, by the blood marks, it was more like someone had been tossed over it.

Their gaze soon turned to a backpack tossed in the floor along the executioner's cloak and a bloodied and broken mask. Besides it, one of Gray Ringmarc's knives laid.

Ace picked up the knife from the floor and examined it. There was no doubt that it belonged to the incubus' aid.- "How naughty of Mr. Lizard to come and play with our minxy assistant."- Ace tossed the knife in the air making it do a few twists and then caught it with ease.- " That was naughty. " – He threw the knife up again with a calmly maniacal grin on his face and he saw Julius expression was deadly serious.- " It wouldn't be very knightly if I don't give him back his toy, would it?"

.

.

.

.

Oh oh... Ace is already interested and that might not be so good , but he at leasts has a valid reason to go and 'practice' with Gray. And Julius still hasn't noticed his own reactions. How cute XD

But what happened to Aria meanwhile?

5 reviews for releasing next chap.

.

.