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"This had better be good," Xironielle sulked.

"I need to get rid of this mark, you know that. I think taking care of the issue trumps shopping."

"I was enjoying myself."

"So watch Sosiqui thrash me for what happened last time I went to see her, I don't care. Just come along with me so I'm not entering the lioness' den alone, okay?"

"She can't be as bad as you say she is."

"All right, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but the fact remains that she and I very likely aren't on the best of terms right now."

"Very likely? What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I don't have a clue and I'm preparing for the worst. Now will you please just come with me?"

Xironielle reluctantly allowed Carda to drag her away from the marketplace.

Carda shook his head. Honestly, wasn't Xironielle supposed to be the more mature one here? "Besides, I think seventeen pairs of shoes and thirteen dresses is enough for today."

"It was only sixteen pairs of shoes," Xironielle pouted.

A small jump took them from a side alley to the country road near Sosiqui's house. It was such a smooth transition that Xironielle barely felt the change in location until she looked around.

"Hey, not bad. You're getting good at this."

"I've been working on suppressing my magical signature. I'm trying not to get discovered. That took more energy than you might think."

"So where are we?"

"We're here," Carda replied as he rang the doorbell.

Carda slapped his forehead with an open palm. "I TOLD her to stay out of sight." Sighing, he continued. "Actually, I know that this is probably not only a good time, but also that you're probably not too keen on talking to me. Fine. I can handle that. But the fact remains that I know more about what's going on now than I did last week. I'm sorry about skipping out on you like that, but I barely made it in time to rescue my teacher here as it was," he rambled, indicating the catgirl next to him with this last sentence.

"I know this isn't what you want to hear, but there's something bigger than both of us going on here and we're all stuck in the middle of it now. I want to help."

Xironielle blinked. She hadn't heard that degree of urgency from Carda in a long time, not even during that whole rescue last week...

Carda and Xironielle sat on the sofa. This was rapidly turning into a case of deja vu for Carda...

Well. Best to focus on the matter at hand.

"Okay, I'm trying to think of the best way to explain this. I guess I could go chronologically, as best as I can figure it all out..." Carda took a breath and dove into it.

"The Head of the Strider Council is a man by the name of Octavius. He's the one behind everything that's been going on lately. Sometime back before I became a Strider, he discovered an old oral legend that the Striders pass down. What was it called again, Xironielle?"

Xironielle chimed in. "The Stormbringer?"

"No, the other one."

"The Broken Girl?"

"Yeah, that one. Sound like something you might be familiar with?" Carda inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't mean it like that..." Carda buried his head in his hands for a moment. He was really getting frustrated with Sosiqui's attitude towards him in general and his attempts at explaining things specifically. It felt like she was merely humoring him, the way you'd treat someone you thought was a few fries short of a happy meal.

Well, fine. Two could play that game. If she wanted to play tough, so could he.

It was time the gloves came off.

"You know what?" Carda began, looking straight at Sosiqui. "I don't know what I was thinking, coming here to tell you all this. I really don't understand why I'm trying to help you at all. You're not the same Sosi I knew; we both know that. Maybe I'm just a little crazy for trying to honor the memory of someone I cared about by trying to help protect someone who obviously has no desire whatsoever to be helped!"

Carda abruptly stood up and started pacing. Xironielle started to worry; Carda never paced unless he was extremely agitated about something. "You know why I didn't run down here to tell you right away about everything I found out last week? Because I knew, somehow deep down I KNEW, that you'd be like this. The main reason I came down here now and didn't wait any longer is because a friend of yours said it'd be better to just bring all this out in the open now.

"But I guess that it just doesn't really matter to you that the Striders have a legend about a woman who tried to travel to another World and got split apart like a broken mirror's reflection when she didn't do it right. I guess it's not really important that an extremely dangerous man found out that I had a connection to a kairomancer, who oddly enough happens to be in a situation very, VERY similar to the nameless person in that legend. I guess you wouldn't really care that this same man has trapped my sister in another dimension from which she can't escape, nearly killed HER--" Carda jabbed a finger at Xironielle-- "by stripping her soul from her body, and nearly killed ME all in an attempt to get this." Carda grabbed the necklace from around his neck and yanked it off, holding it up as if on display.

"This little trinket. This gift from a late friend. Why? What's so important about a simple little necklace? I'll tell you why. It's because he wants you. Octavius is using me to get to YOU. He desires power so badly that he will step on anyone, even his own followers, to get to you. You know as well as I do what would happen if someone gained the power to control both time and space. Well, guess what? Octavius figures you're his ticket to phenomenal, cosmic power. You know why he wants this necklace? I think it's because once he has it he can find any Sosiqui he wants--" Carda paused as he felt a tug on the leather strap in his hand.

The broken wand tip hovered in mid-air, pointing directly at Sosiqui. It had pulled the leather strap taut in the process.

"...just as easily as that," Carda finished, letting go of the strap. The necklace flew across the room and landed harmlessly in Sosiqui's lap.

"But you know what? Octavius doesn't need THAT necklace. Hell, all he has to do is find the rest of that broken wand and he'll have all the Sosi-compasses he needs. But he doesn't want just ANY Sosi, oh no. He wants the one with the power. He wants YOU. And dammit, I'm not about to let that happen."

Cardafirmly sat down on the sofa across from Sosiqui and locked eyes with the kairomancer. "Now, we can either agree to continue this discussion like reasonable people, or you can kick us out and you have my word that you'll never see us again. Either way, I want you to know here and now that I swear, on my honor as a decent human being, that I WILL do everything in my power to protect you whether you really feel like you want my help or not. Now, do we have an understanding on this?"

Carda sat there waiting for an answer. Xironielle sat there, wide-eyed, wondering what had gotten into Carda.

Carda sat there, more than a little stunned.

Everything was starting to make sense, in a very twisted sort of way. As he began putting the pieces together in his mind, his expression gradually softened. There was more going on here than his own conflicts. Much more. Stuff that made his issues seem like minor daily gripes in comparison.

"I'm sorry. I've gone and done it again, haven't I?" He sighed. "Dammit, why can't I ever do the right thing without blowing it?"

He looked up at Sosiqui. "I didn't ask for any of this to happen, it just DID. And whatever you may think of me or your other self, neither of us planned this, okay? Hell, as far as she knew she was a normal girl who went to school with me. I envy that kind of innocence anymore." Carda stood up, and Xironielle did so as well. "I've obviously well overstayed my welcome; I should just go. Better to just burn this bridge now."

Carda began walking towards the door. "Go ahead and keep the necklace. It's probably safer with you anyhow. Good luck with your life, with your son..."

Carda paused and turned. "Just do me a favor, would you? Watch your back. For Octavius and for Chaos, okay?"

((I checked. Sosi's never mentioned the name before.))

"I bumped into a couple friends of yours in town today. Sunny and Ghlyssa." Carda allowed himself a small lopsided grin. "Ghlyssa asked me if I was Chaos. And from what you just mentioned, I put two and two together."

Carda turned. "Seraphim? Come on, we're leaving..." He turned back. "Is there anything else I should know before you kick me out of your life forever?" he inquired seriously.

Carda turned again. "Seraphim, come ON. Where is she?"

"I'll go look for her," Xironielle offered, anxious for a reason to leave the room. She was gone before Carda could reply.

Carda looked back at Sosiqui. "Well? What about her?" he asked, trying not to sound impatient.

Carda felt like someone had just punched him in the gut.

He blinked rapidly, literally unable to believe what he had just heard. "No. No, that can't be right... It's not possible... She gave me that necklace... I gave her that ring I always wore... It CAN'T be..."

The room grew dark just as Xironielle and Seraphim came in from the back room. They could feel... SOMETHING emanating from Carda, and it wasn't pleasant.

"Uh oh," Xironielle intoned worriedly.

"It's getting worse," Seraphim whispered in agreement.

Carda's eyes were clamped shut in an attempt to hold back his tears. His voice was tight and oddly-pitched. "I cared about that girl more than my own life! She was REAL, do you hear me?" His eyes flew open. Xironielle gasped.

Carda's eyes were glowing a bright green color. Just like they had a week before.

He took a step towards Sosiqui, screaming, "I won't let you take her away from me!"

With one accord Xironielle and Seraphim moved to intervene. Xironielle placed herself directly between Carda and Sosiqui and held Carda at arm's length. "Carda! Carda, stop it! Hello? Is anybody home?" She got no response for her efforts.

Seraphim, meanwhile, had grabbed Carda's right arm in an attempt to get his attention when she flinched away as if she had been burned. She investigated the cause: that blasted scar.

Not one to let a stupid little mark get the better of her, Seraphim placed both hands on the scar, ignoring the pain that shot up her arms, and began channeling some of her energy into Carda's arm.

In the next instant several things happened. A flash of light surrounded Carda, Seraphim went sailing across the room with a cry, Xironielle was knocked back against Sosiqui, and Carda was thrown backwards to the floor, eyes no longer glowing. The darkness fled from the room as quickly as it had gathered.

Carda shook his head for a moment, then sat up. "What the...? Oh. Oh no. Oh God, Sosi, I'm sorry... I am SO SORRY. I don't know what came over me just now..."

He stood up with a very frightened look on his face. "I-- I can't stay here... I'm too dangerous; I don't know what's srong with me but I'm too dangerous to stay around you..." He turned suddenly and bolted out the front door.

"Carda, wait!" Xironielle called out after him, but she was too late. He was already too far away to even hear her.

She turned to Sosiqui with a puzzled look on her face. "What the hell was that all about?" she inquired quizzically.