The Start of it All

[Kwokinator]

"Let's keep going without them," Kwok answered, blissfully unaware of Ace's overwhelmingly sarcastic tone. "Tomas is really only our problem anyway, not theirs."

[RyderHakubi]

Angela decided to be the voice of reason in this and added, "Wait guys... remember, we're alone in a foreign land, and we don't know what the hell we're going to face.  We need all the help we could get..."

[RyderHakubi]

Yamiko happily bounced on, ignoring Carthrat and Ryder... heading towards Angela, Kwok, and Ace...

"YAMIKO LOVES TO SERVE LORD KERIL PALAZZO-SAMA!  YAMIKO WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR KERIL PALAZZO!!!" she sung off key as she kept going.

[acetalon]

"They can take care of themself, as can we,"  Ace responded.  "However, if you wish to follow them, then by all means.  Go ahead.  Whether they will be much help in battle is, in my opinion, another matter..."

"Besides, Kwok's words ring true.  Finding our family is our problem."

[Kwokinator]

Kwok grinned a cocky grin.

"Besides, Angela," he said confidently. "Don't forget your boyfriend's the Aspect of Space, and his brother's the Aspect of Order.  There's not much that we CAN'T handle."

"Plus," he winked at Angela. "We have a beautiful goddess on our side.  How can we lose to anyone with a team like that?"

[acetalon]

Ace knew that right at that moment he should be puking and gasping for breath from the WAFF, but he wasn't.  It was, strangely, almost comforting to see this.  It reminded him of happier times, with someone sealed away in his memories.

He sighed, depressed.  Should he take off the bracelet?  The thought of doing it still scared the hell outta him.

He put his other hand over the bracelet to cover it from his sight in hopes of forgetting that it was there.

"Lets go then.  Nothing is gonna be done by standing around here."

[Carthrat]

"Kisama-!"

Carthrat dashed after Yamiko, cursing. He didn't really want to shoot her..

Managing to run a tad faster than her, he lunged for her arm..

[Shuten]

She observed the newcomers silently from the shadows, These people were certainly not natives. Their clothes made that abundantly clear.

One of them though, Ace from what she could ascertain, seemed oddly familiar. Sadness seemed to boil in her hear... She quickly clamped down on the emotion as best she could.

"I should go." The girl muttered to herself as she rose. Reaching into her cloak She pulled out three gold coins and placed them on the table. There value far exceeded the amount owed.

Not giving it a second thought she headed out into the open air. This town was simply another dead end. Still Sakura was sure of one thing.

She would find her past. Of that she was certain. Raising her right arm she gazed upon the mirror like surface of the *golden cylinder*. Certain that no one would follow her she lowered her arm so that it was hidden once again beneath her cloak.

With that she walked forward. Unknowingly heading in the direction that would inevitably cross the path of the one named Ace.


Shuten

[RyderHakubi]

Yamiko sharply turned around, and her bag accidently swung around and slammed Carthrat in the face.

She looked at Ryder and asked, "Umm... would you know where I could find these people?"  She then showed a hologram of the 4 Keril gave her.

[RyderHakubi]

Ryder looked at Yamiko and then at the hologram... showing himself and the guys.  With a hint of panic in his voice, he replied, "Nope... never seen those 4 in my life!"

He then began to move away towards Kwok, Angela, and Ace... grabbing 'Rat and slinging him over his shoulder.

[Shuten]

Sakura pressed onward doing her best to shut out the *noise* which seemed to permeate the area. As the town's entrance came ever closer her expression grew solemn.

In Spira there was no guarantee that any friends one made would be alive long. She had long since given up trying. Too many people she cared for had been killed by the one called Sin. Friends were a liability anyways.

Far too willing to sacrifice each other for a supposed peace that would fall to ruin inevitably. The fools!

In the end it did not matter to her... nothing mattered but her past...

Nothing.


Shuten

[acetalon]

"Why do I have funny feeling that someone is talking about us?"  He wondered out loud.  "Must be Ryder and his buddy, whatshisname."  Ace sneezed.

Ace was taking deep, steady breaths as he massaged is wrist, trying to relieve the pain from the bracelet.  The icy cold magic didn't numb his wrist, but instead intensify the feeling of being empty, like it was decreasing the temperature to freeze his resurfacing memories.  

Wouldn't it be so much easier just to rip the bracelet off and be done with the damn thing?  Or was what it kept him from remembering that terrible?

"Do you two know anything about this world?  I have a feeling we'll be here a long, long time."

[Kwokinator]

"Me?" Kwok asked rhetorically. "Nope.  I only know as much as you do.  You came the same time I did, remember?"

"What about you, Angela?" he asked, turning to the nearby goddess. "Know anything about this universe?"

[Carthrat]

"Ow."

Carthrat couldn't really say much else with a bag in his face. Then-

"Hey! Lemme go! This is a DESIGNER jacket!"

A short scuffle later, the two were in front of Ace, Kwok and Angela.

"There's some chick scoping for us over there," 'Rat said to Kwok. "And.. er, who are you?" he asked Angela, raising an eyebrow.

[Shuten]

Sakura leapt over the group that stood in her path and continued on her way. Asking them to move was simply a waste of time she could not afford.

Finally Sakura came to the entrance. Raising her right arm she peered once again into the mirrorlike surface. Certain that no one was intentionally following her she stepped out of the City and began walking with no destination in mind.


Shuten