A Dark World An SI/Mega X-over By Tomas Megerson Disclaimer: I disclaim everything that I don't own. E-Mail me at: NighthawkTM@Yahoo.com See my page at: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Quasar/6189/ Prologue Everyone moves toward the same destiny. Isn't that funny. No matter who we are, where we go, what we do, we can't escape our destiny. Sure many people say that they don't believe in destiny, but that doesn't really matter. We are all moving toward the same destiny. No, what is important is the journey to our destiny. The journey can take many paths. It can bend, twist, turn, fold, and loop around, but the destination is the same. We struggle to get the most out of our journey toward destiny. Some people do great things. Other people live out an ordinary life where there is no excitement. Then again, I suppose that excitement is based on everyone's own perception. I recall being excited for a birthday a long time ago. I was extremely sick, but my grandmother came to see me anyway. That's a memory etched into my heart. But its not very thrilling is it. A few hours ago (at least I think it was a few hours) my journey took a little turn. No make that a big drop. Or maybe a big climb. I'm not sure yet. I was out for a walk, it was a beautiful evening, and was crossing The Oval. The Oval is this really nice stretch of grass in front of the Main Library at Ohio State University. Its maybe ¼ mile long, maybe a bit longer. Anyway, I was out for a nice walk when I saw a shooting star. Not being suppositious, but wanting to grab a small piece of my childhood back, I made a wish. It was a silly wish, but then most wishes are. I wished for some true excitement in my life, like in the fanfics that I write. Well maybe some wandering Kami passed me as I made that wish and decided to grant it. Maybe I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, or the right place at the right time. I don't know yet. Or maybe I was walking over some giant nexus of lay-lines like I read in a fanfic awhile back and the small power of my wish activated it. Who knows. I sure don't. But I changed. I can feel it even if I can't see. New thoughts keep entering my head. Thoughts that I wouldn't have had before. Some of them are dark, as dark as the void I'm floating in. At least I assume I'm floating, I don't feel any pressure on my body besides my clothes. Anyway, as I was saying, some of these new thoughts are dark. They're talking of death and killing and of how to kill as easily as I breath. The other is also talking of death, but not how to cause it. It's telling me how many loved ones that it has lost, and how it doesn't want to lose anymore. It's begging me to protect all those I care for, and its telling me how. It's strange, you know. Both sets of thoughts want me to protect people, it's just that they both want me to use a different method. But then, neither is trying to discredit the other. They seem to accept each other, and want to work together so that I'm better than each of them individually. Say, what's that over there? A light. It's a light. I'm finally at the end of this void. I guess its time to see what this twist in my journey is going to bring me. Me? Who am I? I...I can't remember. I know my name at least. But my past, the places where my journey has already been is... it's gone. No, its mixed up. My name is Tomas, but who was I. Was I an assassin, or was a just a street fighter? A college student? I remember mentioning a college a while ago. Was I a student there, or just passing through. I can't recall. The light I'm almost to it. I guess my past can wait for now. I need to know where I am before I can figure out where I came from. I don't have to worry about where I'm going though. Everyone is always heading toward the same destiny. But what is that destiny again? Oh yes, now I remember, it's death. Author's Notes: A while back I threatened to write a true SI to show the difference between my other fics and what I feel an SI is. So here you go, the start of my True SI. Unless I get a big response to this, or really get in the mood, don't expect me to write more of this soon. Chapter 1 Author's notes: Ok, the series this story is using are Sailor Moon, Bubble Gum Crisis 2040, and Legend of Lemnear. I know some people will be thinking 'Why BGC 2040?' Well the answer is the hard suits. For those who have seen the series they know what's so special about them. To those who haven't seen the series, you'll find out later in the fic. Disclaimer: I don't own any series used in this. Please don't sue me. There was no one around to see the strange cloud formation that appeared about 10 feet off of the ground. Being that it was close to three in the morning that was no surprise. After a few moments a figure fell out of the cloud and promptly fell down. The young man blinked his eyes as he looked around. "This doesn't look like school." (Wait a minute, did I think school? Do I go to school? I thought I dropped out years ago and became an assassin. Wait, that doesn't sound right. I was an assassin and then dropped out of school? Damn it that's wrong too. What the hell was I doing?!!) Standing up, the young man looked around. "Hmm, nice neighborhood. Wonder when they'll tear it down?" That was a rather valid question. The majority of the buildings seemed to be condemned, and most likely scheduled for demolition. There were holes in the buildings, windows boarded up, and siding falling off. It was what was left of a family area. Shrugging his shoulders, the young man took only one step before he stopped. "What was my name again? Oh yeah, Tomas. But what about my last name? Oh well, its not all that important I guess." Tomas, not having anything better to do, started to walk down the street in a directionless wander. (Heh, I'm pulling a Ryoga. Ryoga? Oh yeah, anime, Ranma ½, I remember now. Ranma was one hell of an assassin with me during the Silver Millennium. And that Flaming Hiryu Shoten Ha we created to kill Happosai was incredible. Wait a minute, what am I thinking? I thought Ranma was an anime, but I can clearly recall being with him.) "Hello, Earth to Brain, Earth to Brain, anyone there?" After a few moments of silence the young man shrugged his shoulders. "Nope guess not. Oh well, guess I'll just have to wing it. What am I saying? I can't just wing it! I'm missing my entire past here! Hmm... now that I think about it, I'm really not missing my entire past, I just got too many pasts to keep straight. Now what am I gonna do about that? And when am I going to stop talking to myself? This is getting really annoying. And for that matter, where the hell am I?" With a lack of answers to any of his questions Tomas had to stop and think about what was going on. "Hmm...well what do fanfics tell me to do in a situation like this. After all parts of me at least are fanfic characters. I think they are anyway. It seems a logical thing. Hmm...well according to Ranma ½ the proper way to deal with this situation is....WHERE THE HELL AM I NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!!!!!" Tomas was actually surprised when he got a response. It wasn't supposed to work that way. He was supposed to stand there and curse someone. Instead he got picked up and slammed into a house, which immediately collapsed on him. Tomas didn't move for the next few minutes. Outside he could here explosions and monster growl type things. He tried to come up with a way to deal with the fact that a house just fell on him and it didn't hurt. Much. "Well, okay, it hurts...a lot. But I'll survive. I hope. Hmm...I think I better get out from under this." Stopping with the talk, Tomas pushed and shove until he had finally dug himself out of the pile of rubble. What he saw was...bazaar to say the least. There were ugly looking robots fighting equally ugly looking monsters, fighting some rather cute girls in short dresses, fighting some people that seemed to be from the middle ages, fighting some definitely female looking robots. "Wow...cool! This is...really, really warped! I've never seen anything like this before. It's like...a multi-verse or something. Hmm...wonder what anime universes they're from? Lets see...?" Tomas didn't really have time to figure out who was fighting who and on what side as a pair of the monsters turned and charged toward him. He stepped aside right as the got to him without thinking and watched them crash into the pile of rubble that he just climbed out of. "You know, that wasn't very nice. Do I look like I'm involved in this battle? To me, this is like a football game. You go and fight them, leave me alone. Wish I had some chips or something." Tomas then turned back to the giant melee. In retrospect, he would realize that this was a bad move. But since this wasn't retrospect, it seemed like a good idea at the time. He got to watch a whole 5 seconds of the fight before he was grabbed from behind and thrown straight into the middle of it all. He might have even sworn at the event, except he crashed straight into the back of one of the robots and dropped like a lead weight. "Ite....that....hurts...a lot..." Being pretty upset at having been thrown into a robot after stating that he didn't want to be involved did nothing for Tomas' temper. Grabbing the robot by the ankles he yanked up, hard. The ugly machine crashed to the ground as Tomas summoned his sword and cut its head off. "What the...? Where the hell I get this sword? And why in the world is it gold? Gold is one of the softest metals out there. What kind of idiot would make a sword made of gold?" In retrospect once again, stopping to question where he got a weapon from would be added to Tomas' list of things not to do in the middle of a battle. He got punched in the back by something and flew forward into the back of yet another robot. About the only good thing was that he had had his sword held in front of him, so when he hit the robot, it was impaled. *** From the edge of the battle, Nene watched as the stranger was thrown into another Boomer. She had no idea where he had come from, or why exactly he was fighting with a sword, or even why he hadn't been killed yet. She maneuvered herself out of the battle and turned her scanners on him. What she got surprised her. He was human, totally and without a doubt. Some sort of strange energy also surrounded him. The energy at first appeared to be the same thing that those impossibly fast black creatures were made of. Then it shifted and was more like those idiotic girls were using. And then it had the gall to go back to the energy that it had started as. Nene stopped in surprise as the stranger moved again. Actually he just fell on his back, with the boomer falling on top of him. She winced as she thought of how much it must have hurt. *** Sailor Mercury was forced to stop and blink as the boomer that had fallen on the new person rolled over and the man sat up. This shocked her since personal experience had told her how heavy the boomers were. She trained her Visor to get a power signature from him. When her Visor came up with power in the negatives she almost fainted. This new person should by all rights be dead. He had no life energy in him. Even youma and daimons had life energy. It was like the stranger was simply a void. Seeing Sailor Moon currently off to the side, she moved over to talk to the fearful leader. There was a very good chance that a new enemy had just showed up, and Mercury was afraid that one more enemy would be enough to kill them all. *** Lemnear ducked and slashed at yet another of the demons. Her sword bit through it as though it was a hot knife through butter. Spinning she barely avoided a plasma blast that a boomer spit out. "SHIT!!! THAT HURTS!!!!" Lemnear spun to the pain filled cry. Her eyes widened slightly as a figure got up from the ground, a huge hole burned in the back of his shirt. The gold sword in his hand came up to a guard position and his fire filled eyes seemed to burn through her. She took an involuntary step back as the tip of the blade was suddenly pointed at her throat. And then his head turned when his eyes caught movement at the edge of his field of vision. *** Tomas's head turned when something caught his vision. Boy did he want to make that robot pay...but this...it was something etched in his memory, something to be terrified of. As he watched the girl move, the memory unfogged. And then the panic swept in. "AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And then he ran away. Running away wasn't something Tomas liked to do. He was always one to face his problems head on, even if it meant getting hurt. Of course, he was also one to be as sneaky as possible to stay out of that trouble. But there were times that didn't work. When confronting the uncute tomboy of Akane Tendo, running away was the only option. The farther he was from her, the better for his health. Now he just had to keep it that way. Everything was going so well until she showed up. Sure he was being thrown, slammed into robots and blasted by weird energy blasts, but at least it was fun. Suffering he wrath of a flat-chested Tomboy...as Vash would say, "Scary!" Eventually Tomas slowed his panic run into an easy lope. He was far enough, at least in his mind, away from the Tomboy that he didn't need the panic. His eyes swept over the city as he ran. The buildings kept getting nicer then where he had started. There were a lot of skyscrapers in the background with lower buildings around him. The area he was in now kind of reminded him of Juuban. Of course, that thought caused him to stop and try to figure out whether or not it WAS him who remembered Juuban. In the end he decided it was him who remembered, and continued on his way. *** Usagi Tsukino sat against a tree in the park. With her were her fellow Senshi. All of the Sailor Senshi were exhausted from the previous night's battle. It'd been along time since they had run into all of their enemies at the same time. And now there was a chance that they might have another one. If it wasn't for the fact that he ran screaming off they might be worried. As it was they were simply being cautious. Well, all except Usagi. She was sleeping. Rei snorted at her leader as she leaned back on her elbows. The girl couldn't take anything serious. She had tried to do a fire reading on the new person the night before, but all she got were images of three people, none of which looked anything like the person she had seen. Rei just couldn't figure it out, and it was driving her mad. She hadn't been able to get any useful information out of the Sacred Fire since the old temple had be destroyed by rampaging boomers. The new temple just wasn't the same. Ami was playing around with her computer. She was going over the readings that she had gotten from the man the night before. It still baffled her at how he could have a negative power reading. After studying a bit more, she came to the conclusion that he had somehow managed to hide his power. She didn't know how, but that was the only thing she could think of. It was so frustrating not knowing the answers. Minako and Makoto were sitting together gazing out into the park. With it being spring the cherry blossoms were in bloom and the colors were breath taking. They were occasionally pointing out a cute guy, but all of them were taken. There conversation, however, was more focused on what to do if they ever ran into all their enemies at the same time again. They had taken quiet a pounding the night before, and even though their Senshi powers had healed them, they still felt sore. The two moon cats, Luna and Artemis, were busy trying to get Usagi to wake up. After all, it was hard to hold a meeting when your leader was sleeping and mumbling about all the good food she wanted to eat. As Usagi cried out for ice cream, the other's sweat dropped. *** Tomas whistled as he walked down the street. He had found a nice run down temple the night before and managed to get a solid night's sleep. The place had looked like a demilitarized zone, but it insured that he wasn't disturbed. Now, as he walked through the city in the daylight, he tried to come up with a way to get money. He didn't find a wallet on himself, and he couldn't recall having a bank account here, which meant for all intents and purposes, he was broke. [Something needs to be said about Tomas. He likes money. Of course, that's only because you can't buy anything without money. No money means no anime. No anime is a bad thing in his opinion. And now out of this pointless ramble.] Tomas walked down the street casually looking into shop windows. It was rare for him to see anything that he actually wanted, but there were a few items. As he reached a corner, he stopped and looked around. The streets weren't very crowed today, with most people staying indoors after the big battle the night before. He gazed up and down the street before his eyes caught something...an ATM. Something seemed to click in his mind. He walked up to the ATM and frowned. He then reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a small black device. "Now where have I seen this before? Oh well, no matter." He placed the device against the ATM and pressed the big button labeled HACK. About 15 seconds later it beep and an account popped up on the ATM's screen. Tomas quickly took a good 20,000 yen from the account and closed out. He watched the nice little black device turn off and he pocketed it. Now at least he had a source of income. With his newfound wealth, Tomas once again began to wander the city. He had a place to live that he wasn't paying for and money. He really didn't need anything else. At least, he didn't need anything right now. With a shrug he decided to head for a park he past earlier. It would be a good place to think. As he was wandering the city trying to find his way to the park, his eyes caught sight of something rather important...a bank. He had this money, but he didn't have anywhere to save it. And he sure didn't want to continue living in the run down shrine. Then a thought occurred to him. He had no identification. No I.D. meant he couldn't open an account. With a sigh, he turned away from the bank and continued on his way. As he walked down the street generally ignoring everything, he began to form a plan on what to do with his new home. Since it appeared that no one cared he was there (at least not one night) he figured he could rebuild it or something. All he needed to do was hack into enough accounts to get the money to afford it. Of course, people would probably object to that, but it didn't really bother him. *** Being a thief turned out to be a much better living than Tomas had anticipated. Whoever he had gotten that neat little black device from sure missed out on a good way to make a living. Stuffed into his pockets now was a cool 250,000 yen. Not to bad for 6 hours of work. All he had done all day was travel to various ATMs and hack into them for money. Some of the accounts had very little in them, so he left them alone. No reason to take money from those who could ill afford to loose it. Other accounts though had more money than he could have gotten from the machines. Those he took a nice amount out of. Currently, though, he was walking through the local mall. He was surprised at how crowded it was, not to mention how many shops it had. It seemed like everyone wanted to shop these days. With the chaos that ran through the city at night it was pretty surprising to see it all. Most of the people around, he noticed, were teens, most likely trying to forget about their classes or hunting for boys/girls depending on their gender. Tomas sighed as he recalled the times he went to the mall to relax. Not that that was very often. He'd had a couple of friends who'd worked in one for a while and he went mostly to chat with them. Right now though he was in the middle of some serious shopping. He shrugged the shoulder straps of his new book bag again, shifting the weight. Inside the bag was a metal box, which he could store his hard earned money in, as well as a few new changes of clothes. In the bags in his hands was camping gear. A tent some pots and pans, lighter fluid and the like. There were little things that he'd need to survive while he got his new home repaired as well. With a smile at a day finished well, Tomas headed out of the mall. Quietly his stomach rumbled informing him it was time for a meal. Given how much money he had on himself at the moment, he figured he could afford to eat out. *** "So anyway, Leon was staring over my shoulder looking at a screen full of static. I told him that all the transmissions at the battle had been scrambled. After he left I simply refocused the picture." Nene gave her friend and fellow Knight Saber a grin. Lina gave a small laugh and took another sip from her drink. "Has he always been this interested in the Knight Sabers? If he decides to go to someone else to try and get his information we could really be in trouble." Nene gave another grin and went back to eating the slice of chocolate cake in front of her. The two were in a small coffee shop snacking and gossiping. After such a strenuous fight as the one the night before it was good to relax a bit. The cake helped that out too. If there was one thing that made the day better it was chocolate. After swallowing another bite, "Leon will always come to me. What he's asking for is stuff I shouldn't give him. He could get in trouble for it. I'm the only..." Nene's eyes were tracking something that was behind Lina. Or rather someone. "Lina, that guy in the corner of the room. He's the one who was in the fight yesterday." Linna blinked and turned in her chair, her brown hair flowing around her head as she tried to catch a glimpse of the young man who had just walked in. She followed him for a few moments as he sat himself down at the counter and waited to be served. Seeing him not doing anything more, she turned back to Nene. "Are you sure that's him? I didn't get a good look at him." Nene gave Linna a small serious nod. "Of course I'm sure! You think I would forget something important like that. It was definitely him." A worried frown came to her face. "What do you think we should do?" "Hmm...well...Sylia said she couldn't find any information about him. Why don't we follow him? We might at least know where he lives that way." Nene's mind turned it over a few times as her she occasionally glanced at the man. *** Tomas sighed as he waited for his bowl of rice to arrive. The biggest problem he had run into so far was a limited knowledge of Japanese. Sure he'd taken three and a half years of the language while in high school, but that didn't make him an expert. The funny thing was that he could write and read the language better than he could speak it. He didn't want to walk around with a pen and paper all the time so he could get his meaning across. It was hard knowing the language but unable to keep up with those who spoke it. The fact that he had to mentally translate it all didn't help one bit. It made him seem almost stupid. Someone had even said that on the street. Tomas had decked him. "Arigato," came from him when a large bowl of rice was placed in front of him. It wasn't much, but it was good enough for him. He'd stopped trying to figure out his life before he'd arrived in Japan. Sorting it all out gave him a massive headache, and that wasn't something he needed. Instead, he simply attacked his rice. The meal didn't last him long, perhaps ten minutes. He was good enough with chopsticks, but no speed eater. The rice was good, better than the instant stuff he thought he was use to. With that finished, he went and paid for the meal before leaving for what he had now termed home, never noticing he two young women following him. *** 2 Weeks later Tomas sat against a tree watching the construction crews at work on his new home. After some consideration he had decided to have the shrine simply rebuilt rather then torn down and a house or something placed there. Better to hide it from the government, he had hoped. A week of theft had brought in for him plenty of cash, enough that he had managed to get a fake idea that had some real background to it. One of the local Yakuza factions specialized in the stuff. It had been good enough for him to hire the construction crew at least. His eyes drifted to the metal box that used to be where he stored his money. He now had a real checking account that he was able to use, thanks again to being able to buy Yakuza influence. Of course they also hit him for 'protection' but he made a note of some of the names. He'd get the money back. Now he was busy trying to figure out what to do with his life. He had a vague idea that he had family somewhere, but he couldn't recall who. He didn't have any friends yet that he could hang out with, and while he could go out and get a job perhaps, it was far more profitable to be a thief, as long as he was smart about it. There'd been a report in a newspaper a few days ago about his thefts. Of course the paper didn't know he was the one responsible, but that didn't stop Tomas from deciding to become more cautious. He had more than enough money to live on for a few months at least, and it would be best if the thief just went away. That left him with a lot of spare time. After two days of doing nothing but watching the construction take place, Tomas was bored. He was very bored in fact. The only problem was that for the life of him, he couldn't think of anything to do. He'd read in the paper about some more of those monster attacks and robot things, which was interesting, and made Tomas decide to stay home at night. Getting into fights with things he didn't understand didn't seem like a good idea. Though it would be fun to watch again sometime. Mostly though, he read books. There had been a bookstore not too far from where he now lived, and he had raided its fantasy section. Stuffed into a box in his tent were over a dozen books by the various authors he enjoyed. Sure he had read most of the books three or four times already, but that didn't stop him from reading them again. He had already made plans that sometime in the next week or two he'd go back and see if they carried any Star Wars books. There were enough of those that Tomas was sure he could spend a week or two reading them. The tired yawn that came to his lips wasn't restricted at all. This was getting to be far to boring for his tastes. All this sitting and reading was starting to get to him. "My god..." he whispered, "it feels like I'm in high school again." Was his life really getting into such a horrid rut? It seemed like it. "Man...I need to get out and do something. I wonder if I can find a B-ball game or something to join. Hmmm..." Despite these thoughts of active fun, Tomas remained where he was, simply watching the construction. "Man, I wish they could hurry up or something. At least if this place was finished I could get a computer and a TV and relax that way." Getting the chance to surf the net was one of the major things he missed. Tomas knew that he spent most of his nights on the net talking to friends, and now here he was, all alone. It was a sardonic smirk that came to his lips at that thought. Alone, just like normal. Since he was eight, Tomas had been an outcast, refusing to bend or break to be like those around him. The name- calling, the insults, the slights, the fights, all of that had hurt, but it hadn't broken him. And that fact made him far more proud of himself then anything else he had done. And so again he was alone, and it didn't hurt at all. It felt...natural. And it made him strong. Not strong against all the supernatural and technological nightmares running around the city, but strong against any emotional pain that could attack him. His real armor, the armor around his heart was as strong as ever. And that...that was disgusting. He didn't want to be alone, guarding his feelings every waking and sleeping second. He sure the hell didn't want to protect himself from them. That would eat him up eventually, hell it might have already eaten him up. It was kind of hard to figure out. Maybe at night, with nothing going on, then maybe he would be able to figure it out. It seemed as likely a course as anything. "Damnit, I can't take this anymore!" Tomas knew he was practically snarling now. This life was too boring, too inactive for him to last much longer. He needed something to do; something with some sort of action. A determination grew within him. He needed something fun to do, and if there was a god in heaven, he was going to find that fun! A course set in his mind Tomas stood up and walked with a purposeful gate toward the long set of stars leading down the hill. Maybe he'd find a pick-up game of basketball. Maybe he'd find an arcade. This was Japan, they had to have one somewhere. Hell, maybe he'd just find a gang and get the crap beaten out of him. But at least he wouldn't be bored. Before he even reached the steps, however, something fun reached him. Stepping to the top of the steps a young woman let her gaze take everything in. Tomas did what any healthy male would do and took in her looks. The long black hair was quite pretty, and her eyes held a questioning shine to them that was appealing. Her face was definitely easy on the eyes, and she had a figure that would gain her at least a second glance. Had Tomas been working with his old high school personality, looking the woman over would have been all he'd done before moving on. That Tomas had always been too shy to ask any beautiful girl out and he always managed to keep his attraction hidden under a protective barrier. However, the short time out of high school had seriously loosened him up, and given him a lot more confidence in himself. And so Tomas didn't walk away, wondering what could have been like so often before. "Hey there beautiful. How are you this fine day?" The girl looked at him for a moment and blinked. "Ah, damn." Tomas had finally come to realize that he was speaking in English, and that he had been most of the day. He made a note to go out and buy something to help him with the language problem later and switched to Japanese. "Good Afternoon. How are you today?" Mentally Tomas swore again. Almost all of the Japanese he knew was formal. Being overly formal was no way to flirt with a girl. If he ever got home, and remembered who taught him, Tomas was going to have a lot of words about this problem with his teacher. "Umm...good afternoon. I'm...uh...fine I guess." The girl looked around the temple grounds in a bit of wonder. "What's going on here?" Tomas ignored her frown as he began to work out the sentence structure in his mind. This was even worse then when he had gone to the government officials to buy the chunk of land. They at least spoke English passingly well. "Government said land for sale. I bought the land. I am rebuilding the temple that was here." The girl before him frowned and seemed to take what he said in. Tomas simply waited quietly for the girl to respond. Finally, after what Tomas thought was a good half-hour but was no more then a couple of minutes, she did. "Why are you rebuilding the shrine?" Tomas simply shrugged. "It seemed like the right thing to do. Besides, the government does not tax religious places." Tomas smirked at that. In Tomas' opinion, if he didn't have to pay property tax, so much the better. The girl before him seemed to take that in again before speaking. "What will you do then?" "Move in. Maybe find the priest who used to work here and ask him to come back." Tomas hadn't planned that far ahead yet, but it seemed like a good idea. "My grandfather is dead." The girl's voice was haunted as she spoke, and her eyes held a lot of pain in them. Tomas winced as he looked at her. That was not something he had expected to here. He had thought that perhaps the priest had moved out or something. He had never thought to hear that the man was dead. "I'm sorry. I did not know. Is there anything I can do." The girl's eyes held a distant look to them for awhile as she seemed to consider what to say. Tomas could almost see the war going on in her eyes. Finally, the indecision seemed to leave her. "I want to work here again, to honor my grandfather." Tomas nodded his head with a solemn air. "Of course. That seems fitting. I am Tomas Shinkyou." At the look she gave him, Tomas shrugged, repeating the information he had placed in the ID he had bought. "My grandfather is Japanese." "I see." The girl seemed to steel herself before she continued. "I am Rei Hino. Pleased to meet you." Author's notes: So, I finally finished chapter one. Good for me. Now I got no clue where the hell this is going. ^^; If anyone wants to make a suggestion or two on where I could take it, email me, please.