"...what just happened...?"

Lily stood with her back to a wall in her room, still out of breath because of the hasty manner in which she left the Tailor's Guild, two of the three dresses cradled in her arms. After they had been made, she only stayed around long enough to throw one of them on and hastily thank the tailor before walking at a _very_ brisk pace back to the inn. She tried to force herself to relax, but she was still a little freaked out by what had just taken place. Still shaking, Lily sat down on her bed, gently laying the remaining two dresses out beside her. She took another deep breath and placed her hands over her face. A deep sigh later, she had begun to calm down.

Her hand slowly began to trace the form of her delicate face, stopping on the cheek on which that... tramp... slapped her. She had half a mind to go back there and have a few words with that scantly clad little such and such, but soon realized that was exactly what she was using -half a mind. It really wouldn't solve anything to go back, and there was no telling what that Candle psychopath would do if she returned. It just wasn't worth it. Besides, she already had her list of priorities set up, and neither Mr. Candle, or that hoochie, were on it.

Lily took another deep breath as she bent down and began to unstrap her sandals, setting them beside the bed after finally getting them off. It was still relatively early in the day, but the young lady was tired -sleep suddenly went up a couple of notches on her list of priorities. Not wanting to mess up the new lavender dress she was wearing, she opted to remove it before pulling her long, black hair into a ponytail and crawling under her covers.

She sat in silence for a moment. The sounds of the Brightsand streets could be still be heard, but it wasn't to the point where she wouldn't be able to sleep. It wasn't the most comfortable bed she had slept in, but it was soft enough. Lily shifted under the covers in an effort to relax, but it really didn't seem to help. She continued to toss and turn for several minutes, finally settling for simply just lying on her back. Satisfied, she found herself gazing at the ceiling, absently clutching the now-contorted sheet in her arms, almost as if she were embracing it warmly. Another sigh escaped her lips.

"...if you're here," she gently whispered. Hearing her own voice was an odd experience -she seldom talked to herself. The silence of the room made it sound all the more alien. "If you're here," she finally repeated. "...I'll find you. I swear my love, I'll find you..."

* * * * * * *

This was so cool.

Milon grinned broadly as he stood before the massive window of the office, admiring the view below. He could see the streets of Brightsand below, along with the denizens of the city walking along varied trails of ants, each heading towards his or her own destination. It was an awe-inspiring view -the day was beautiful (or at least as beautiful as it got in the desert), his hangover from the previous night of partying wasn't bothering him (much), and he had woken up next to that busty barmaid he had been hitting on all night (of course, she wasn't nearly as cute as he had remembered, but after a few shots of that Shinkyo rice wine, he wouldn't have been surprised if he had woken up next to a mule...).

And most importantly, The Guild was under his control. Well, at least for the time being.

The red-haired youth plopped down on the chair behind the desk, taking a moment to lean back as far as he could. With his father away on business, and The Guild under his control, who was going to tell him that he couldn't? As far as he was concerned, he was the man.

"Milon, you really shouldn't be leaning back on the chair like that..."

Milon immediately sat up in the chair and reached for the rapier at his side, but calmed down after seeing who it was. Standing in the doorway was a tall dark-eyed man, his black hair cut closely to his head, a well-trimmed goatee on his chin. He wore a pair of baggy brown pants and boots, a white tunic, a dark vest rounding out the ensemble. A katana hung idle at his side.

"Aw, c'mon Reuben, loosen up some!," Milon declared, leaning back a little further. He motioned for his guest to take a seat.

Reuben sat down in one of two chairs set up before the desk, as he had done on numerous other occasions. The Guild had been his employer for several years now, but never had Guildmaster Gandeus left his son in charge while he was away on business. "So tell me," he began, pausing until Milon finished maneuvering in his seat. "Your father apparently has had some sort of change of heart," Reuben remarked with a raise of his brow. "He's never left you in charge before..."

"Yeah, well, I guess he began to realize my talents and skills were going to waste, so he decided to give me a chance..."

Reuben snickered. "Omar must be out of town too."

"Yeah..." Milon silently cursed to himself. Reuben was right -every other time his father went out of town, he would leave Omar in charge of The Guild's dealings. He had nothing against the man (heck, Omar was very close friend of the family, his Godfather in fact), but it did irritate him that his father never left him in charge. He was his son, damn it. Milon shook his head a little, but not enough to disturb his delicate balance in the chair. "Reuben," he remarked. "We've got a chance to make some easy money... lots of it..."

Reuben sighed. One of Milon's many flaws was his greed.

"Something that isn't earned is rarely worth having," he casually remarked.

Milon snickered. "You know, you've really got to loosen up sometime, you're gonna give yourself an ulcer or something..." When he was sure that Reuben wasn't going to throw another quote at him, he continued. "A visitor came by here a few days ago," he began. "She asked us to do a simple little job for her, and gave us a NICE little advance payment..."

"How nice?"

"Well, after taking my share and partying heavily with a couple of friends last night, I've still got better than half of it."

"Wow..." Reuben was genuinely impressed.

"Interested?"

"Why not... what do we have to do?"

Reuben could see Milon smile broadly from his reclined position, absently wondering how long would it be before the youth actually fell. "Allrighty Reuben, he's the deal... all we have to do is grab a, and I quote, 'relatively harmless young lady', making sure not to kill her of course, and turn her over to our employer. Now how simple is THAT?"

"'Relatively harmless'?," Reuben repeated.

Milon shrugged. "OK, so she can fight a little, but that's about it." Further and further he leaned back. "I've already got Lamiki on that part of the contract. Our esteemed employer mentioned that there may be some sort of repercussions, so that's why I need you."

Reuben raised a brow. "You sent Lamiki?," he wondered out loud. "I thought you said we were supposed to take this girl _alive_ ..."

"Aw, Reuben, I'm surprised at you!," rang a feminine voice from behind. Reuben smiled broadly, but didn't turn around.

"Hi Lamiki."

Milon, on the other hand, stared closely at the dark haired elf woman that was slinking into the office. More specifically, the dark haired elf woman that looked as if she had smuggled in two melons from the market place underneath her shirt. He silently hoped that through some strange anomaly that it would begin raining in the office (or at least drop a few degrees in temperature...) so he could see if she was wearing anything under that tight, form fitting, white dress of hers...

Lamiki sat down beside Reuben, who finally turned to acknowledge her. The two were friends of the non-romantic sense, having worked together on a number of jobs in the past. Granted, Lamiki did have a reputation for killing an awful lot on missions, but she could be counted on when needed the most.

"So let me get this straight," Reuben began, leaning forward slightly. "We're kidnapping some 'relatively harmless' girl who can fight a little, and I'm supposed to make sure there aren't any repercussions..." Reuben shook his head. "Milon, it sounds like you're trying to kidnap Don Sinister's daughter... if so, Ms. Ketarina doesn't quite strike me as being 'relatively harmless'..."

"Oh no, nonononononono, HELL no!" Milon put up his hands defensively. "There's no way I'd try to pull THAT off! What kind of idiot do you take me for?!"

Reuben chose not to answer his query. "So what kind of repercussions are we talking about here?"

"Her boyfriend."

Reuben raised a brow. "Anything I should know about him?"

"Ninja. Slight temper. Fairly young, but still dangerous, I'm told." Milon grinned. "I figured that you'd be perfect for this job, with you being one of those martial arts freaks and all..."

"Spending a few years in Shinkyo doesn't exactly qualify one as being a 'martial arts freak'," Reuben made known, returning the grin. "I prefer to think of myself as being... enlightened in the field of unarmed combat."

Lamiki snickered. "A martial arts freak."

Milon caught himself staring at the dark-haired elf's abundant cleavage for a moment, but fortunately (for his sake) she had not noticed. There was no telling what that woman was capable of... actually, he had heard stories, but chose not to recall them in graphic detail at the moment. "So Reub, you in?," he finally asked.

A slight nod from Reuben's direction. He was in.

"Ah, most excellent!," Milon responded, a grin threatening to consume his entire face. "Your little protege' Randal is already here, getting briefed by Diamonos. Talk to him, he'll give you the details."

"Right."

Reuben stood to his feet and began to make his way out of the room. Lamiki was about to follow, until she heard Milon clear his throat.

"Yes?," she wondered, a slight edge in her voice. Milon ignored the tone and continued smiling like some mad jack-o-lantern.

"I'm a man with power now, Miki," he casually remarked, leaning back even further. Lamiki cringed slightly. She hated being called 'Miki'.

"...and?"

"Well... doesn't that make me just a _little_ more desirable?"

Lamiki slowly raised a brow as she looked the young man up and down. A wicked smile slowly worked its way onto her lips. "Actually," she remarked. "It does."

Milon nearly fell out of his chair. "Wow, really?"

Lamiki began to slink her way towards the desk, the grin on her face more suggestive now. She planted both of her hands upon the desktop and leaned over towards him. As Milon found himself staring at the twin smooth, ivory-toned mountains before him, he didn't know whether to shout 'ECHO!!!', or to continue fighting every masculine urge in his body. He decided to go with the latter. "Do you want to know what would make you even more desirable...?," she purred.

"Wha... what's that?"

Lamiki's expression suddenly soured as she shot Milon an incredibly harsh glare. "How about a personality?!," she shouted, her loud voice echoing through the office. "Or maybe if you stopped being so damned annoying?!"

Out in the hallway, Reuben had to force himself to keep from laughing out loud. He didn't know what was funnier, the way Lamiki always shot Milon down, or the loud thunk he had just heard, indicating that Milon's chair had finally given way.

* * * * * * *

It had been a good couple of hours worth of sleep, but Lily knew that she had to get up.

She slowly managed to pull herself away from the bed's gentle embrace, trying desperately to ignore its sweet call for her to return. She glanced out of the window. It appeared to be early dusk -the streets weren't as crowded as before, and it looked like the cruel sun had decided to call it a day and turn in. The sky was tinged with orange as it set in the horizon, distorting and elongating the numerous shadows throughout the city. Lily sighed as she took a moment to watch the sky, enjoying the beauty of such a sight. She loved nature -she recalled times of how when she was but a little girl she would spend hours lying on the clearing behind her home, doing nothing more than watching the stars in the sky.

She thought back to more recent times, that night she and Mani spent together ("Correction -almost spent together," she thought with a grin) in Hamir Tobei several weeks ago -the moonlit sky, the gentle desert breeze flowing from the opened window, her lover holding her almost as if he was afraid she would slip away somehow, and of course, Phantom's cruel interruption before things really got interesting... <Oh, that night was turning out so nicely before SHE showed up...>

Lily pulled herself out of the fantasy, shaking the thoughts back into the recesses of her mind to be brought back during another moment of loneliness. She had come to this strange new world ("...or would that be 'Nu' world...?," she casually wondered) with a purpose, and that purpose was simple in theory, yet could possibly prove to be quite difficult in execution. The chances that Mani was actually in Brightsand were probably next to nil, but she had to start somewhere. With all of these thought floating through her mind, she nearly forgot about the one thing she had that might be able to help.

Still in undergarments from sleep, she made her way across the room to the small dresser where she had placed her belongings before dozing off. She began to sift through her bag, a laugh escaping her lips as she found what she was looking for. It was one of the trinkets that she had not sold, and for good reason. In her hands she held a tiny pendant on a thin chain of gold. The pendant itself was in the shape of a heart, with a small purple gem in the middle -a gift from Mani. But more importantly, because it was a gift of love, Father Sardax had no trouble enchanting the pendant before she left.

'Because this was given by one who loves you more than anything,' Sardax had explained, 'it has, in essence, a part of his soul in it. Once this is enchanted, it will serve as a sort of homing device -if you are ever in his presence, or if he is near you, you will know it...'

With that in mind, Lily fastened the pendant around her neck, taking a brief moment to adjust it before getting dressed and fixing her hair. Finally satisfied with her appearance, she strapped her sandals on before making her way back out to the streets of Brightsand.

* * * * * * *

Outside of the taverns, there wasn't much of a nightlife in the city. Not that she was looking for a party or anything, but Lily thought it was odd that after a long day, more people weren't running about. Malstron would always have people running around at this time in the evening, but then again, Malstron was also much larger than Brightsand.

Lily had been walking around the city for at least an hour or so, and in that time her pendant had not reacted any. She asked around town some, but it would seem that no one had seen anyone that matched Mani's description. <Ah well, it was a long shot anyway>, she figured as she walked alone through the streets of the city. She seemed to be in the local drinker's district -there were several taverns in the area, along with the occasional drunken patron stumbling out, a few drawing an irritated glare from her because of a lewd comment or two. <Perverts...>

"Excuse me... milady?"

It was a welcomed change to be addressed with some sort of decency, Lily thought as she turned around to see who was trying to get her attention. "Yes ma'am?," she responded, turning towards the young woman who had addressed her. It was an Elven woman, as was apparent by the pointed ears. She had a look of innocence about her, her green eyes shimmering with life, her fair skinned complexion enhanced by her dark hair. She wore a simple blue tunic, the garb of a simple woman.

The woman smiled as she regarded Lily in a way a relative does after not seeing you for several years. "Excuse me milady, but... is your name Lily?," the girl wondered.

"Yes it is," Lily responded, curiosity beginning to work its way across her face. "How did you know...?"

The woman's smile broadened even further as she slowly reached out and grabbed Lily by her hands. "I've been looking all around town for you," she made known, smiling as if she didn't notice Lily fidget slightly. "Mani asked me to get you," she finally said.

Lily stopped. "Huh?"

The woman quickly nodded as her face lit up. "It's true, milady, he's here!," she remarked. "He asked me to come and take you to him..." Before Lily could say anything else, she suddenly realized that she was being led through the streets by the strange elven woman, who seemed either excited by the prospect of reuniting the two, or a tad bit soft in the head. "He's told me so much about you, milady," the woman eventually said, breaking the silence between the two as she continued to lead Lily. "I almost feel like I know you..."

"I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but I'm just a little curious as to how you know Mani," Lily interrupted, trying her best to sound civil. "If you'll forgive me, this just seems a little... sudden..."

The elf giggled as she turned to face Lily. "I'm sorry milady, I've forgotten my manners." She held her free hand to her chest. "My name is Dulcinda Maris, I work at the inn your friend is staying in." She smiled. "He asked me to come and bring you to him, milady."

"Always the mysterious one," Lily remarked to herself, smiling. "You know, he did the same thing once back home, except he had my brother come and find me."

Dulcinda continued to lead the way, smiling all the while. "You know, he mentioned that to me earlier -he joked about having to keep up with the reputation of a ninja."

Lily laughed a little, but suddenly cut it short, immediately wishing at that moment that she had a weapon. "You know Dulcinda, it's funny he would say something like that," she remarked, a little laugh escaping her lips. The elven woman was suddenly jerked to a halt as Lily stopped moving. "It's funny how he would say something like that," she repeated. "Especially since I don't _have_ a brother..."

It was a tense silence between the two, but Lily immediately knew that several things had just taken place. First off, this elf was trying to set her up. Second, for her to know about Mani, he must also be in trouble. Third, she had to get away, and fast.

And fourth, there were three more individuals approaching from a nearby alley.

"What the hell's going on here?!," Lily shouted as she jerked the elf, failing to notice the dagger she was now holding in her free hand. That is, until it was brandished before her by the woman.

"You're a little too smart for your own good, girlie," the elf hissed, clenching her wrist even tighter. "I tried to make this easy on you, but you had to go and make it hard on both of us. Now listen, you little bitch..."

She didn't get a chance to finish her tirade, mainly because Lily quickly twisted her hand away from the elf's grip before quickly kicking her in the back of her shin. With a cry of pain the elf woman went down, but as if on cue, the three other individuals began to run towards her. Lily wasted no time as she took off running in the opposite direction.

The three strangers stopped running when they arrived in the proximity of the downed elf woman. A young blonde-haired man, the apparent leader of the trio, snickered loudly. "You OK, Lamiki?," he wondered between laughs.

Lamiki began cursing louder and more frequently than most people would say was becoming of a lady as she stood back to her feet, dusting sand from her tunic. "Save your smart-assed remarks Randal, our girl's getting away!," she snarled.

"Yeah, yeah..." Randal then motioned to his companions, a stocky dark-haired fellow in brown and a green skinned imp with blue vest and pants. "Dunne, go with Ms. Lamiki. Thadeus, you come with me."

Dunne, the human, nodded as Randal and Thadeus the imp bolted down the street that Lily had taken off down. Lamiki watched them for a moment before slapping Dunne on the arm. "C'mon, we'll go this way," she remarked as the two turned down a side alley.

* * * * * * *

<Why does everyone here want to hurt me?,> Lily found herself wondering as she ran at top speed through the streets, pausing to take the eventual side alley to vary her escape route. First it was those freaks at the Tailor's Guild, and now these weirdoes... it had quickly become one of those days where nothing was going right. Lily was in a very bad situation -her instincts told her to leave this city and to never return, but then there was another voice, her heart, that seemed to suggest that Mani... her pendant had not reacted any, but she knew that he had to be somewhere close... but at this moment, her top priority was to get away.

She rounded another corner at full speed, her sandals leaving deeps ruts in the sandy street as she continued running. By this point, her heart was pounding from adrenaline, fatigue, and fear... she felt like she could've died at any moment, but she knew that she couldn't stop. <I really need to get into better shape...>

As Lily turned down the next corner, she suddenly screamed as she found herself nearly colliding with a man. She immediately stopped running, stopping but a mere few inches away from the tall man.

"I'm sorry sir!," she hastily apologized before moving around him. The man smiled as he sidestepped.

"Most humble apologies, Ms. Lily," he answered, bowing slightly. Lily was about to continue running, but suddenly felt compelled to turn around.

"Wait a sec, how did you know my name...?"

She received no answer, because before she could react, the man's hand suddenly shot up and lightly struck Lily in the temple with two of his fingers. Lily suddenly felt a wave of dizziness sweep over her, and she passed out right into the arms of the strange man. It was perfect timing, for at that moment the other four came running up from the chase.

"I do believe that you were looking for her," the man made known, handing Lily's unconscious body to Randal.

Lamiki shook her head. "You know something Reuben, one of these day's I'm going to find out your secrets..."

Reuben smiled as he walked over to his student Randal, pausing to look at the girl in his arms. He stared at Lily for a moment, his hand reaching up and touching her brow. He then pointed to the small bruise on her temple. "She'll be out for a while, but I'd advise getting her back to The Guild ASAP."

"We're on it," Randal quickly responded, motioning for his associates to follow. The trio soon disappeared into the shadows with their catch, leaving Lamiki and Reuben standing alone in the street.

"One of these days I'm going to stop bailing you out," Reuben teased, leaning against a nearby building and grinning.

Lamiki snickered. "Yeah, like I've never saved your hide before." She looked about the area before her gaze fell back onto her associate. "Will you be back at The Guild tonight?," she wondered.

Reuben shrugged. "Eventually. I've got some preparations I need to make beforehand."

"Preparations for what?," Lamiki wondered. Reuben raised a brow as he rubbed his goatee thoughtfully.

"Repercussions."