We arrived back at the warehouse to find a strange man examining the door. Roan immediately drew his sword. I cocked my rifle, preparing for the worst.

"Hey, you!" I addressed the elf, approaching him slowly and cautiously.

The tall, slender elf quickly turned around to face us. With a start Roan and I realized who it was. It was Tamotsu Lei.

But how? And why? Why was he in Tetsu of all places, standing at our front door? Had he come to spy on us? If so, he wasn't doing a very good job. We could clearly see him. And I'm sure the rest could on the security feed.

Was he here to take us down himself? But if that were the case, where were his weapons?

All these questions and more ran rampant through my mind as Roan and I stared at the man, who seemed strangely calm, despite the fact that he had a large sniper rifle and a razor sharp sword aimed directly at him.

"What are you doing here?" asked Roan testily.

Tamotsu bowed to us. "Greetings. I come from Republic, with wishes to speak privately with the rebel band that inhabits Tetsu. It is urgent and of great confidentiality."

Roan and I shared a look.

"I'm the leader of that band. Why do you seek us out? What's the matter that you speak of?" I replied evenly.

Tamotsu clasped his hands together. "I would tell you, but we are more likely to be overheard out here than inside." He gestured to the warehouse. "The thing I am here to discuss is an extremely sensitive matter."

"How can we trust you?" spat Roan.

Tamotsu grew thoughtful for a moment. Then, he spoke. "You're just going to have to believe me when I say that I have something to say that you will be VERY interested in," he replied, giving me a significant look, as if to tell me there was a hidden meaning behind his facade of fancy words.

Roan looked to me questioningly. He switched to sign language.

"What should we do?" he asked, making sure Tamotsu couldn't understand what we were saying.

Luckily, the signs we used had been created by ourselves, so it would be impossible for anyone outside of our group to know it.

"Let him inside. Once we get in there, we and the rest of the group can ambush him and tie him up."

Roan looked thoughtful. He was actually kind of hot when he did that.

STOP IT, BRAIN!!

Roan looked up at me. "He WOULD make a good bargaining chip..." He seemed to trail off. "Let's do it!" he finished eagerly.

I turned to Tamotsu. "You may come inside."

He bowed to us again in gratitude. Roan rolled his eyes when Tamotsu wasn't looking.

The scanner swept over us and opened the door. I think Tamotsu was impressed. When we entered the warehouse, everyone was in the main room, waiting tensely for us. I quickly filled them in on the details in sign language. Everyone seemed to understand the plan.

As soon as Tamotsu began talking, I gave the signal, and Teruo climbed up into the rafters of the first floor ceiling. Giin, Tressa, and Midori followed him.

I gave another signal when Tamotsu's back was turned. Giin covered one of Teruo's arrows with some sort of numbing substance, and Teruo notched the arrow. He aimed for Tamotsu's shoulder, pulled back, then let the arrow fly.

It was faithful to its course. But at the last second, the man grabbed the arrow by the shaft right out of the air. He examined the arrow curiously.

We all stared at him in amazement. Tamotsu looked up at the ceiling. "Alright, you four can come down. I see you in the rafters," he told Teruo, Giin, Midori, and Tressa.

They all slowly made their way back down to the floor, dumbstruck looks on all of their faces, except for Midori, who was never really surprised by anything or anyone.

Just when I thought things were going to get calm, Sin charged Tamotsu. The man rolled his eyes, side-stepped the teen, and slid his foot in between Sin's legs, causing him to go sprawling.

I could tell Teruo was fighting the urge to laugh. So far, I think it was a draw, seeing as he had to stuff his fist inside of his mouth to keep from being heard.

Tamotsu looked around. "Is there ANYONE else who would like to try to ambush me?" He turned to face me, a sad, disappointed look on his face. "I thought you were better than that, Victoria."

I started. "How– how do you know my full name?" I demanded.

"Yeah," Sin said still sitting on the floor. "How DO you know her full name?"

"Because," he said, "I'm her older brother.

My eyes grew wide. No. It couldn't be. My brother had died while on service in the Rumaen Guard. I remembered the day like it was yesterday: My mom crumpled on the floor, sobbing; my father breaking things and cursing the Empress, tears streaming down his face.

My older brother had been thirteen years old when I was born. I loved and adored him. He was my closest friend growing up. And when left to join the Guard at nineteen, he encouraged me to never give up, and to try to make some new friends while he was gone. He had never come back.

His name was Tsuban, and he had long, shoulder-length, tawny brown hair, not unlike Tamotsu. He also had the same green eyes as Tamotsu.

I couldn't believe how I hadn't recognized him before.

"Tsu?" I said, lowering my gun with tears in my eyes.

Tears quickly filled his own. "Yes, Vic. It's me, I'm here."

I quickly tackled him in a bear hug, tears streaming down my face.

"I'm home, Vic," he said, stroking my head. "I'm home."

×××××

Tamotsu, or Tsuban, rather, explained to me what had happened for him to go from Rumaen soldier to advisor and safety coordinator of Empress Maria Gabelle.

He had faked his death in the army and changed his name so that he he could get closer to the Empress. He had even gone so far as to grow a short beard that wove its way up the sides of his face in intricate designs.

There's no telling how much his barber shop bill was.

"So, what exactly were you wanting to talk to me about?" I asked Tsuban, now in the privacy of my "room". He sat cross-legged on the futon while I sat on the floor.

He grinned a devilish, lop-sided grin at me. I felt the corners of my mouth slowly turn up into a smile. I couldn't help it, his giddiness was contagious.

"I want to aid you in the Empress' expulsion."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "You mean..."

Tsuban nodded. "I want you to assassinate her."

A wave of pain shot through my arm, causing me to wince and tenderly grab my bicept.

Tsuban's brow furrowed with worry. "What's wrong?"

I removed my hand to reveal the bloody piece of Roan's shirt that was still wrapped around my arm. A cloud of concern passed over Tsu's face.

"What happened?"

I shrugged. "Roan and I were just ambushed earlier. It was actually right before we met you outside the warehouse."

He looked at me worriedly. "Am I putting too much pressure on you? This IS a big risk, after all."

I squared my shoulders resolutely. "Yes, but it's a risk I'm willing to take."

He nodded grimly. "Then I guess we'd better start planning, then."

×××××

Tsu and I informed everyone of what we were planning.

Sin's eyes lit up with mischievousness. He grinned. "So, this means we'll FINALLY be rid of that awful bi–" I cleared my throat and gave him a look. "... I mean, that horrid woman," he finished sheepishly.

Tsu nodded. "That's right. We can give the power back to the people and become a republic again, with the Fathers overseeing it."

"How do you propose we complete this mission, pray tell," interjected Tressa.

Tsuban nodded thoughtfully. "That's where my position becomes invaluable. Once you reach the capital, I can get you inside the palace without any questions. However," he glanced back at me, "I'm afraid you'll be more or less on your own until then."

Roan's eyebrows notched up a bit and he met my gaze with an uneasy look.

Tsu must have noticed, because he explained himself. "The reason for that being that all of my communications are very closely monitored, and I don't want to risk blowing our cover, therefore putting you all in jeopardy. I WILL try to check in on you every once in a while, though. It will be seldom, however."

I put a hand on my brother's shoulder and smiled at him reassuringly. "Don't worry. We understand. And I think I speak for everyone when I say that we're willing to do whatever it takes to get Maria Gabelle off of that throne."

I looked around at the group, and they were all nodding at my statement.

Sin raised his fists into the air. "Heck, yeah! Let's kick some Rumaen butt!"

Tsuban's laughter echoed throughout the entire warehouse.