Rendezvous with The Chevalier

Those Who Protect
[In the Koma Inu common area]

Delta stretched as he yawned in his chair. ''Today seems nice and peaceful finally. I hope Luna at least acknowledges me today.'' He sighed and picked up the book he had been reading from the library and opened it to the marked page. He began to read, lifting one foot up to cross over his knee. He winced out of habit of his pants rubbing it the wrong way. Damn it, I hope no one noticed that. Delta thought.

Luna sat at the opposite corner of the room, sketching away as she did almost everyday. She noticed that Delta had awaken from his nap. ''Wow. The lazy bum finally decided to wake up.'' She thought as she rolled her eyes and put her hair up in a bun, only to resume sketching.

At that moment Scorpius and Mirrana came into the common area. "Delta, can you come with me? Luna, you as well." he said as he walked into a private study room to the side.

Jeez what do they want. Delta thought as closed his book and stood up. "Alright, I'll be there in a second." He said as he set his book down in the chair. He looked over to Luna, watching her get up as well. ''This should be fun, being in a closed room with a girl who is mad at me. At least it isn't Mirrana who's mad.'' he thought. He walked over to the room and went in.

"Oh no. Why do they want to talk to me?" Luna became nervous as she closed her sketch book and took it with her to make sure no one would look in it. As she walked into the room she made no eye contact with Delta, yet she became anxious on why two people she never spoke to wanted to speak to her.

Mirrana was the first one to speak. "Hello again you two, it's been a while since I saw you two together." she said with a happy tone. "Still getting along I hope?" she looked at the two of them, noticing that something was off. "Maybe what we called you two into here for will help. Scorpius?" she said as she sat down in a chair.

"A few years ago, as is my understanding you Delta took a job from your family to protect Senator Riddle from a dark guild as you escorted him to the magic council." Scorpius stated. "I also know that you took Miss Luna here with you, as Mirrana has told me."

"Yeah... Who?"Delta asked confused.

"Oh yeah! He said that he asked you to call him 'Tom' at the time" Mirrana said in reply.

"Oh! Okay... but what of it? That was years ago." Delta said, unsure of what was going on. He looked over to Luna, seeing that she seemed anxious. He tried to get her attention for a moment, but gave up. I'll tell her later. he thought.

"Well, Senator Riddle got in contact with our family again, asking for you two to go on a job for him, and only you two." Mirrana said in a serious tone.

Luna kept her eyes down as she kept her nervous shaking hidden as the three spoke. It was years ago, Delta probably doesn't even remember. She thought to herself as she began feeling angry. But then, as Mirrana said they had to go on a job together Luna's eyes widen. She looked Mirrana and Scorpius in the eyes and in a nervous tone made out the words, "I'm not going anywhere with him." Although she knew she was being disrespectful there was no way she'd be able to be around him after what he had done to her.

Scorpius and Mirrana looked at each other with concern. Delta looked over at Luna, slightly angry at what she had said. "You don't have to go anywhere you don't want to. I can do whatever it is the job asks for alone." Delta said. He gave off a cocky vibe, but inside felt bitter. ''She still wants nothing to do with me. She won't even let me explain! Well then FINE. I've had enough.'' he thought. "What's Tom need me to do after all this time?" Delta asked.

"Unfortunately both of you would have to go. Senator Riddle requested you two out of trust. The job is for you two to protect another senator friend of his, Senator Jahha." Mirrana stated, with a sad look on her face at the two young mages reactions.

"Due to this being now being a job requested through the mercenaries for now Koma Inu mages, we must play by your family's rules Delta. Those asked to go must go. That means you would have to as well Luna,I'm sorry." Scorpius said.

Luna had already let her hair down, to cloak her face from the anger she showed. As she heard Delta's voice, she turned her head away from his direction in a swiftly manner, making part of her Spin tattoo visible. "If he thinks he can do the job alone, then be my guest." At this point her blood was boiling from anger. As Mirrana spoke of the job, Luna kept her head turned and her shaky hands placed gently over her knees. When Scorpius finally said that there was no way out of the job, Luna came to the understanding that there really was no way out. "I cant get out of it can I?" She asked disappointingly as she turned her head looking directly at Scorpius. "Great." She murmured under her breath as she looked down at her wrist tattoo and clinched her fists, which were still shaking.

"Alright then. You two need to head to Clover Town immediately. Good luck." Mirrana said with a smile. Mirrana and Scorpius left the room leaving Luna and Delta to speak alone.

Delta sat there looking down. "I know you are mad at me... I'm sorry that this is happening now. I'll make up for it to you. I promise." Delta said to her, before leaving the room.

"Promise! You made one once before, and you broke it. Remember the Pinky Promise?" Although her tone was firm and angry you could hear the hurt in her words. She waited till Delta had left the room and she began to pace in the room to calm herself. ''Just breath. Just breath.'' Luna though to herself as she began to calm down. After a couple minutes she walked out of the room, and went to where she was initially sitting to grab her sketch book.

He stopped just out of the doorway of the room, listening to her yell at him. "I know I did... I'm sorry." he said quietly to himself. His leg began to hurt as he remembered the past. He shook his head and went out to the common area and grabbed his book, and took it back to the library before getting ready to leave. A few minutes later Delta was at the doorway of the guild, leaning against the wall waiting for Luna.

Luna walked out of the common area after hiding her sketch book, only to see Delta standing at the door way. She gave him an evil glance and proceed to look away as to acknowledge his existence as minimal as possible. She planed on giving him the silent treatment for as long as she could hold out. It was around mid-noon now and the sun was as bright as any other day, with no traces of clouds to be seen in the sky.

Delta felt the cold shoulder as the two of them walked out of the guild. ''Should I try to explain what happened now that we are alone? No... she doesn't care. I don't blame her. ''Delta continued to mentally berate himself, causing his face to have a sour and bitter look. The two of them reached the train station without even a word spoken. It suddenly dawned on Delta, "This mission... it's similar to before." he said aloud. He reminininced a moment before remembering, "Motion-sickness. Luna!" he turned to her, realizing this is the first thing he said to her the whole walk there. "...will you be okay riding the train? It's the fastest way there..." Delta said, trying to look at her in the eyes, but couldn't out of guilt.

"Shit." Luna said as Delta reminded her of her Motion-sickness. She had been so much in her head about Delta she had completely forgotten about herself. I have no choice, we have to take the train. She though as she began to walk to the train cart still not speaking to Delta. " Oh god, This is going to suck." She whispered as she was walking.

"You'll be okay. I'll do anything I can to help." Delta said, his protective nature overpowering his guilty feeling. Shit, I shouldn't say anything, but oh well. He continued as well to the ticket booth. "Two tickets to Clover Town please." Delta said. The cashier handed them them the tickets, and the pair continued on to the train platform. "Well there it is." Delta gestured to a locomotive, steam coming out as it was heating up it's boiler. Attached to it were five passenger cars. "With this little amount of weight the engine can get us there relatively fast, so less time for you to get sick haha..." Delta said, trying to make Luna feel better. He continued over to their train car and held out his hand to help her up. "Ready?" he asked her.

Out of instinct Luna grabbed Delta's hand and hopped into the train car. As she got into the train she realized she was holding Delta's hand and quickly let go, making eye contact with him for a split second. He had guilt in his eyes, I wander if he's remembering. She said as the Train began to move. It started off slowly, but then began to move at a faster pace. Every small bump or movement the train did Luna felt. "I shouldn't have looked out the window." She said starting to feel nauseous.

Delta sat across from Luna, seeing her face change as the train accelerated. "You okay?" Delta asked concerned. Maybe talking can help... he thought. "I... It's been a while since we have actually talked, like back in the day, you know? I feel like a lot of things happened... to both of us." A phantom pain shot through Delta's leg when he said this, but he ignored it. "I want to apologize to you... I did something I shouldn't have done and it hurt you."

Luna took a deep breath as she tried to keep herself from throwing up, She looked up at Delta for a moment and there was pain in his eyes as well as in hers. "We haven't spoken because there is nothing to speak of. Apologizing will get you no where." She dropped her head and placed her hands around her head as to keep it from shaking with the motion of the train. Her face now turning shades of green like her hair. Then a split second of anger took over her body and she looked at Delta once again. "You know what it is to have told someone so much, and have them completely forget you like you did! you know how it is that you never kept in touch. You forgot about me. To you it was just another person you helped to make yourself think you're a good person after inflicting pain on others. Selfish, remember." As she began to calm down she noticed what she had said, was out of quick temper and cut throat. Although he had hurt her, he didn't deserve her words.

Delta was shocked. "You think I forgot about you...?" he said quietly. He leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees and then his head in his hands. "I couldn't forget about you, never. I... tried to find you again but I never..." he instinctively grabbed his leg. ''I don't want her to know what happened. She would be devastated. ''He raised his head. "I just was watched too much to get away. I couldn't even send messages... I'm sorry." he explained. That's almost the whole story, all she needs to know at least. Delta's face showed that he was still hiding something, so he dropped his face again to hide it.

"look I didn't mean to sound so rude. Things went south for both of us after that." She said as she put her hand over her wrist tattoo. "I'm not stupid, something is up with your leg. I do the same thing with my back." she said looking at him suspiciously. ''He's keeping something. I wont forgive him, but it doesn't mean I don't care about him.'' she though noticing that he was shutting down.

They Who Destroy
The streets in Crocus were quiet in the early morning hours as the sun had just begun to rise when Akemi burst into Lind's Shop. "Li~nd Dar~ling!" Akemi sang loudly, closing the door behind her. She covered her nose and mouth as the smell of alcohol hit her nose. It took everything in her not to gag, she looked around to make sure they were alone before speaking. " We've got a job dear, assassination pure and simple. Shouldn't take more than a day or two. Politician in Clover town whose getting a little too much support for his plan to eradicate a large group of dark guilds, says he has a plan to change everything. The poor bastard, if he's lying he's dying because he couldn't keep his mouth shut but that's not really our concern now is it?" Akemi said placing a folder on the table before tapping it with her index finger, "This is all the information we need to make sure the job goes smoothly. The asshole likes to stay in the public eyes which makes our jobs a bit harder though it doesn't really matter. If we can get him alone for even ten seconds, he's done and his final public appearance will be his funeral." She said with a chuckle.

Maybe he deserved this, maybe it was punishment for him for drinking, but Lindsay's head felt ready to split as the female's voice cut through the air. He sat up, smacked his head on the counter he had been lying under and groaned. About half of what Akemi said actually made it through the fuzz in his head so he gave a dismissing hand wave, mumbled something about 'never call me darling again', and stumbled into the bathroom to run cool water over his face. A line of pinkish water ran back into the sink of his forearms, having been cut by the broken glass of alcohol bottles. Memories of the night before were nonexistent, but he was most likely in a bad mood at that point. He grumbled out,"I guess that stuck."

"Oh come now, It's not my fault you decided to stay up drinking all night again. I've actually suggested against the idea multiple times." She said as her smug smile appeared on her face behind her hand that still lied over her mouth and nose." Anyways, until those cuts heal they're distinguishing features. Your tattoos are bad enough in that regard so would you like me to heal those wounds for you? They're quite unsightly."

"I swear to God woman, if you keep talking shit about my art, i will kick you out of my shop," he threatened but they both knew the chances of that were slim. Lind flipped a chair around and sat so his chest leaned against the back while placing his glass littered arms on the table. "And haven't i suggested you stop busting into my shop so early? Couldn't this have waited until later for those of us who wake up at reasonable times?"

Akemi raised an eyebrow, amused by his empty threat as she adjusted her glasses. She shrugged as he continued speaking, "Perhaps it wouldn't be so easy for me to simply burst in through the door were you smart enough to lock them before you pass out drunk." She said, holding her arm out over his. Her hand caught fire with vibrant red flames which quickly spread over to Lind's arm, the glass was slowly pushed from the wounds as they began to close. When the process was complete the flames faded, leaving the wounds completely healed. She pulled her arm away from his as she pushed the folder towards him. "As the saying goes, 'The early bird gets the worm'. This is an incredibly reasonable time for business owners such as ourselves to be rising and preparing for the day ahead."

"Yeah, okay." He snorted. He picked up the folder and began looking it over as he went to make coffee. Pretty soon the rich smell began to drift through the room, the headache Lind felt beginning to recede at the scent. "So I take it this means we're stuck in the public eye as well, hmm? Lovely. Being your wonderful, organized self, I take it you already have some sort of plan unfolding and it'll most likely involve me looking like 'a decent human being'. Coffee?"

He had poured his own cup and held up the pot as he offered Akemi some. It was more of a tactic to distract her from harassing him than anything, his patience was already being tested.

Akemi shook her head, "We do not exist, we'll stay out of the public eye for as long as possible. We'll follow him around for abit, see if if he has any routine or other pattern in his behavior we can exploit. Maybe he goes for a morning or evening walk? Perhaps he has a study he locks himself in for an hour or two everyday? We'll also need to see if he has any guards, if they patrol his property then what are their patterns? At what times in the day does the changing of the guard take place? Having guards who follow him around will be a bit trickier as piling up the bodies isn't really an option in this. I want to make it look like an accident because if we don't, there would be an investigation and while I know neither of us would leave anything that lead back to us it would still be bothersome." She explained, nodding when he offered her coffee.

"Black please." She said as the smell of coffee overpowered that of alcohol, allowing her to breath without having to resist the urge to gag. When he hands it to her she takes in a deep breath letting the aroma fill her nostrils, putting her at ease. She sips the drink lightly before gently sitting it down on the table. " So what do you think? I'm open to opinions if you believe there is a better way to go about this."

"I guess my only thoughts are we'll have to get up close and personal in his territory so we're going to have to blend in. As you pointed out before, drinking might not have been the best idea, but you're the brains of this team. I, on the other hand, am the brawn. So m'lady, tell me what's going on in that big brain of yours." He teased. His coffee became a light brown as he added in sugar and cream and he drank a third of it in one go. As he listened for Akemi's plan as he switched his ripped black tank for a thin pastel sweater, not bothering to leave the room figuring it was his shop anyway.

Akemi reaches up her sleeve, carefully pulling out one of her many throwing knives. "I think we should poison him. As you know, one of the poisons that coats my knives causes cardiac arrest within the victim. Who's to say that poor Senator's body just couldn't handle to constant stress that being a well known Politician must place on someone and he just ended up kicking the bucket from a heart attack? Even if they somehow find out he was poisoned, who's to say it wasn't his wife? Perhaps she felt bitter that he spent so much time working that he didn't have any for her? Love and Lust are powerful emotions that can drive people to do things they wouldn't normally do. Of course if that second thing happens his wife will mostly likely be placed in jail, but that's not really our problem now is it? An extra casualty here and there never hurt anyone."

"My my, for the goddess of love you don't have much of a heart, Venus," he laughed darkly. Lind had a deep chuckle that rumbled from his chest and added to his already creepy appearances. "I guess my clients will have to reschedule, though I doubt I would have opened today anyways. If you're finished I can close up my shop and we can head out. I hope the kill is clean enough that we don't have to worry about that poor woman going to jail. It's sad when someone is hurt due to a partner's choice."

With an almost sad smile Lind shook his head and ushered Akemi out the door. When he said close up shop he meant it as the entire thing disappeared when he pulled a skeleton key out, locked it, and pulled the key away. The key had a special inscription that worked as the summoning seal so to lock it normally, Lind used his metal magic. But he never left his home and store unguarded when on a mission for the Knights.

"Who knew sobering up and putting on a sweater could cause such a change in personality?" Akemi deadpanned, "I embody my title in my own way." She adds as the two begin walking toward the train station. "Levina is watching the shop so I doubt I have anything to worry about. I'm sure the four hundred year old dragon slayer can handle a bunch of children and the occasional sweet-toothed adult." Akemi explained as they walked. When the two arrived Akemi bought their tickets before handing one to Lind and setting down on one of the empty benches. "Our train will get here soon, why didn't you pack anything? If you're planning on asking to borrow some of my clothes, I can assure you that they will not fit." She says jokingly, kicking the air as her feet did not reach the ground when she sat with her back against the benches.