[scikaiju]

The next morning, and feeling much warmer, Jules was out in the backyard of their home and looked at a tree that had become her target of choice since she married Carter and moved in. There was no real reason for her choice. Outside of that it was far enough away from the house that any misfire shouldn't harm things too much, it was just there, and Carter didn't seem to mind it. Mason, the servant she didn't know he had until right before they were married, even painted a crude target on it for her. But all of that was before she tried this. In one hand she held her Madou Brush, a grey slip of paper in the fingers of that same hand. She brought up that hand along with the other, which had some sort of device on her middle finger and thumb, and brought them together. She snapped the fingers on her free hand causing a spark. Quickly she drew the brush away causing a stream of flame to trail behind it. She spun as she usually did when preforming this spell, and the fire trail spiraled around her. As Jules held her hands above her head as the fire started to ball up above her brush, she grabbed the slip of paper with her free and. Instead of firing a fireball like she usually did Jules brought her brush down and rubbed the bristles like she did to fire off a metal spike.

As the paper flew off in the direction of the tree it did form the metal spike, although this one encased in a ball of fire. She held her breath as it quickly approached the tree. Then the spike exploded before it hit the tree. Jules tried to cover herself as best as she could mainly as a reflex from any flaming debris that might have come her way but any quickly burned up after they flew about a foot. Lowering her arm she looked at the tree, “Damn it.”

“There are,” she heard Xypher say, she looked back to see Carter come up the old stone path, “easier ways if you want that particular tree gone so badly.”

She blew out a frustrated breath as she looked back at that tree, “Not now Xypher.” she walked the path the spike flew on. “That almost worked this time,” she muttered to herself. “What am I not seeing that's causing it to blow up before it reaches the target?”

Behind her Carter was following her, at a respectable distance since he saw how annoyed she was at the moment, “That was a new attack spell,” he commented. “When did you come up with it?”

“Your mom gave me the idea,” she informed him. “When I went over there last week so she could help me tweak this.” She raised up the hand with the device. “We were talking about combining various magic spells when she brought it up.”

“I thought it was working fine,” Carter commented. She stopped and took it off her hand and looked at it.

“And I'm about as much of a inventor as Reks was a fighter.” she looked wistful;y at the device, remember her former partner who was trained along side her since they were children, “He would have had this working properly on his first try.” She looked up at Carter, “Yes it worked but the spark it made wasn't big enough to get the proper effect I needed.” she looked back at the tree, “Now I'm wonder if the spark is too big.”

“You'll figure it out,” Carter said confidently. “You're a better inventor than you think.”

“You're sweet to say that,” she said with a smile, “but Vincent realized my talents were more in the combat arts than creative and trained me accordingly. But I'll admit this is driving me a little nuts trying figure it out,” she placed the device and her brush inside her coat.

“If it's bothering you that much maybe you need to blow off a little steam,” he told her, “just to clear your head of course.”

She grinned a little more, “Of course.” She kissed him real quick before backing up a few feet. Taking up a fighting stance she asked, “The usual rules?”

He nodded once as he took up a stance of his own, a slight smile gracing his lips, “No weapons, no spells.” And a unspoken rule, don't intentionally hurt each other but don't hold back either. Both of them stood there waiting for the other to strike first. Granted this was Carter's usual way to clear one's mind, but it was fun in it's own way. Generally both of them would hold off as long as possible, just to see who would make the first move. But today she was frustrated as hell so she went in fast with a high kick aimed at his head. It also caught Carter completely off guard as just barely got out of the way. She kept up the attack, successfully keeping him off balanced enough that he couldn't get off a counter attack of his own. Then she tried a side kick that he caught easily enough. He flipped her by the leg and she went flying in the air. Jules had enough body control at the moment that she curled into a small ball and spun until she landed in a crouched position in front of him. Like she expected he came at her as soon as she landed.

Carter came at her with a knee strike that she quickly leaped up to avoid, then jumped off that knee into a back flip. When she landed he launched a flurry of punches that she blocked with a little effort. She kicked him hard enough to back him up a bit then came in low with a leg sweep that knocked him off his feet. She got on top of him but after a bit of a struggle Carter was able to flip her off of him. Both of them got to their feet and went at each other again. At this point both of them knew each other's fighting style well enough that they both blocked each other. Then Carter grabbed her arm and pulled her forward. She was close enough to a tree that she ran up and flipped off, twisting in the air and landed on his shoulders. Quickly she wrapped her legs around his neck and started squeezing. She knew Carter probably had a couple of way out of this hold come to mind but she held on for all she's worth, getting ready in case she felt him start to fall back.

But he didn't do that, he got a hold of her ankles and started pulling her legs from his neck, then he pushed her off. Falling backwards she flipped over to make sure she didn't land on her head. But before she could get her balance he grabbed her arm again and spun her around. Then he wrapped his arms around her trapping her arms against her side. Jules struggled to get free while she tried to figure out what this particular form of attack was. The she felt his mouth where her neck met her shoulders and stop struggling to free herself. Despite not having any sort of experience with women before he met her he quickly figured out where one of her turn ons were. Grinning she said, “This is the very definition of a dirty trick.”

“Mm-hmm”, he said as he kept at it. His grip loosened just enough that she could turn around and faced him and kissed him passionately.

She broke away long enough to say, “If you were in the mood you could have just said something. Like you had to something to show me upstairs.”

He shrugged, “This way was more fun.”

“I'm learning things about my husband all the time,” she said as she kissed him again, wrapping her arms around his neck. He backed her up until they were against the tree she flipped off of.

They only stopped when Xypher spoke up, “Could you put me in a pocket or something. I really don't want to learn how humans procreate today. Or ever for that matter” Carter was annoyed at the interruption but Jules just smirked as she lightly tapped the pin on the forehead.

A cough made them look over to see Mason standing there holding a tray trying not to look at them directly, “Pardon my intrusion but a message from the Watchdogs has just arrived

Carter just grunted as Jules went, “Have I mentioned they have lousy timing lately?” Both of them walked toward Mason, Jules in particular wondering what they were going to be sent after now. That was the problem with Horrors, sometimes there were lulls in their sighting, then there were spurts of activity. Nobody in the Order had figured it out the reason for it yet, and she doubted that they ever would. Then she and Carter stopped when they got a look at the contents of the tray.

“A white envelope?”, he said looking at Mason. Both of them were confused at this. The envelope was usually red.

“I know there's a black envelope for extra special assignments,” Jules said. “But what does a white one mean?” Carter stood there shaking his head. Xypher didn't even have an answer.

“I think I should have been more specific,” Mason told them. He moved the tray toward her, “The message is for Miss Jules.”

“For Jules?”, Carter said sounding a bit confused. So was she as she took the envelope from the tray. She never heard of the Watchdogs sending orders to Makai Priests, at least not lately. As she examined it she saw it wasn't sealed so there was no need to use the Madou fire to get the message. Inside she found a letter, written in regular handwriting. She started reading it over as Carter asked, “What does it say?”

“It's from Olivia,” she looked up at Carter, “she was the head of the Makai Priest side of the training ground I was at before Vincent took me and Reks under his wing.” Reading a little more she felt her confusion grow, “She's asking me to go to the Watchdogs for details of a request she wants to make of me.”

“Why not just say so in the letter?”, Xypher asked. Jules wasn't sure what to tell the pin.

“She must think it was important enough to keep up this level of secrecy,” she ended up saying. “You don't think somebody trying to cause a rift in the Order again?”, she looked at Carter, who visibly tensed a bit. Jules couldn't blame him, not after Reks and Sigma before that. Not to mention that Vincent ended up using that as a cover for his own plans.

“I think the Watchdogs would have sent for me directly if that was the case,” he eventually said.

“You're right,” she said while she put the letter back in the envelope and placed it back on the tray. “Don't even know why my mind went there first. I guess because it be easier to get the idea in their heads when they're young or something like that. Well I didn't have any plans for this Morning,” well Carter apparently had some sort of plan in mind, but again lousy timing, “feel like taking a trip down my memory lane?”

“Lead the way Mrs. Greystone,” Carter said as he bowed a bit and gestured toward the stone path. She bowed in return.

Mason moved aside to let them pass. Before they got to far he called out, “I'll keep dinner warm until you return.” While Carter didn't react, like always, Jules at least waved a goodbye to the man. But her mind was still racing trying to figure out what this could be about.

***
After going into one of the hidden entrances that led to the Watchdogs, they walked the passage ways that led to the chamber the Watchdogs usually spoke to people in they emerged from the darkness that cloaked most of the chamber. As always there were in their balconies looking down as she and Carter stopped and stood side by side under the only apparent source of light in the room. The Watchdogs wore the usual bored expression they always had as they stood there. Both of them bowed as a sign of respect to their superiors and waited. The female of the two spoke first. “Makai Priest Jules.” Then she glanced over at Carter, “Rook, you we were not expected.”

“And yet,” the male said, “we are not surprised. They do travel together now, partners in the order as in life.” The female's expression didn't change but it did look like she sniffed a bit, almost as if she was rebuke. Ignoring this the male continued, “I'm sure you are curious at the level of secrecy regarding this particular summons.”

“It was piqued,” Jules admitted. “Orders from here are usually a little more straight forward. What's going on that Olivia wouldn't or couldn't tell me in her letter?”

“There has been an issue at the trainig ground she looks over,” the female answered. “Things have been stolen from the forbidden vault hidden there by the Order.” Beside her Carter was confused by this, but she knew exactly what the Watchdog was talking about. She only found out about it after she followed Olivia and Vincent one night after he decided to mentor her. “So you can see the need for secrecy in this situation.”

“I do,” she answered.

Carter spoke up, “Why would a training ground house a forbidden vault?” Everyone in the Order knew, or at least heard rumors of the forbidden vaults. They contained spells or items considered too dangerous to be left in the outside world. And their locations were a closely guarded secret, known only to those in the Senate and a select few assigned to guard those locations. “It's contents would be a danger to the students training there.”

“Because the vault was there before the training ground was built,” Jules told him, repeating the answer she was given when she asked the same question. Although it still baffled her that neither the vault or school wasn't moved by now. Granted it would be easier to move the school. “The location of this particular vault got lost over time, only to be rediscovered after the training ground was already running.”

“That would be correct,” the male Watchdog said. “And considering Makai Priest Olivia's diligence in guarding this particular vault it is surprising someone else discovered it's location.”

Seeing she only found out about it by accident Jules commented, “Nothing stays hidden forever and mistakes can happen, even to the best of us. Did Olivia say she had any suspects?”

“She has one,” the female answered, “She had already been detained and is currently being questioned.”

Brow furrowing at this bit of news Jules asked, “Then why am I being sent for? It sounds like Olivia has thing well in hand.”

“Because Olivia isn't completely sure they have the right person,” the female replied. “According to her the evidence pointing to this individual is, in her opinion, circumstantial at best. And she fears that since the suspect is the student of the Priest leading the investigation, his judgement might be a little impaired. She wants someone not currently connected to the training ground but familiar enough with it to look at things with fresh, unbiased eyes.”

“You are familiar with the Priest leading this particular investigation,” the male told her sensing her next question, if it's the student of the one investigating the situation shouldn't Olivia be worried this Priest would be trying too hard to clear this person. Jules tilted her head a bit, who would she know that would be at the training ground? Then the Watchdog supplied the answer, “Makai Priest Walter.” Jules stiffened at the names. He was one of the two Priest sent to fetch her after Vincent tried to expose their world in the worst way imaginable. And he didn't hide his opinion that she was just as guilty as he was before she was even questioned on the matter. “Based on your reaction you share Makai Priest Olivia concern in the matter.”

“Maybe not the same exact concerns as she has,” she said. “But I am afraid he's already judged this person guilty and letting that drive his decisions in this matter.”

“That was Makai Priest Olivia's primary concern as well,” he said. “While we do wish for this matter to be tidied up in a timely matter we do not want an innocent party to suffer the cosequences.”

”I'm sure nobody wants that,” Carter commented.

“You never dealt with Walter,” she informed him. She glanced up at the Watchdogs wondering exactly how much they knew when Walter and that other Priest came to retrieve her for questioning. She didn't want to accidentally get Carter into trouble by mention that he promised to hunt Walter down if he did anything to her along the way. “While he did take your... suggestion seriously. It didn't stop him from saying things like he couldn't wait to see me rot behind bars.”

“Kinda wish we were there when they cleared you,” Xypher quipped. Jules didn't respond out loud, but she did get a little bit of satisfaction when she walked past him a free Makai Priest. Okay a lot of satisfaction, the guy was just an ass in general.

“So you can see why I want to make sure the person they think did it gets a fair chance,” Jules went on. She spoke to the Watchdogs, “I'll leave for the training ground immediately.” Turning back to Carter she said, “Ready to see where I spent a good portion of my childhood?”

“We don't think some things were made clear,” the female spoke up getting their attention. “Makai Priest Olivia wanted it understood that you and just you were to come and no one else. She specifically requested that Rook was not to make an appearance at this time.”

“Me and Carter are partners,” Jules insisted. “Where I go he goes too and vice a versa.” Why would Olivia insist that only she come and not bring Carter? Her first instinct of someone trying to split the order started to crawl back into her head again. She quickly pushed it back down. No the Watchdogs and the Senate would had made certain of anything having to deal with a forbidden vault before sending her in on Olivia's request.

The male spoke, “We are aware of this, as is Makai Priest Olivia. But as one of the heads of the training ground, and guardian of this vault, we must honor her wishes on the matter.”

She didn't like this, but they were right, they had to honor her request. “Very well.”

“We will send word that you are on your way,” the male said. Both of them bowed again as the Watchdogs retreated to wherever they go when they leave those balconies.

“You can show me the training ground some other time,” Carter said as they turned to leave the room.

“I still don't like this, why not let me bring you along just in case?”

“Can I point out something,” Xypher said. “About how you had an issue with Carter not mentioning Mason when you were keeping a location of a forbidden vault from him.” Carter went to flick the pin but just this once she stopped him.

“Are you seriously comparing keeping quiet about one man to a vault location?”, she asked the pin. Who, seeing while she stopped him from getting flicked Xypher also saw she didn't make Carter lower his hand, didn't answer right away.

Carter did for him, “It's a huge difference. Vaults locations are carefully guarded secrets. Keeping quiet about one man because I was embarrassed about the situation is no where close to the same thing.”

“I'm just saying,” the pin said a little sullen.

“Just be careful,' Carter told her as they exited the hidden portal and back onto the street. “If the person they have isn't the culprit then that person is still roaming free. And if they got into a vault”

“Who know what they took,” she finished the thought for him. It crossed her mind more than once while they were talking to the Watchdogs. Granted she didn't know the exact contents of this particular vault outside of a couple of things Vincent had her and Reks helped him research. And those were bad enough. “Don't worry, this one time I'll take the warning. But don't get used to me agreeing with it, is that understood? Were you at least going to be walking with me to the city limits?” Like he did earlier he motioned that she should take the lead and quickly followed after she passed him.

“I could open a path for you,” he offered as she turned and headed in the camp's general direction. “You'll get there quicker.”

“No,” she told him, although the offer was tempting, Besides he would need to be there to have Xypher open the other end, and she wasn't exactly sure how strict Olivia's request that she show up alone actually was. Besides it was only an hour or so walk out of the city “I'm going to need the time to figure out what exactly I'm going to do when I get involved.” He nodded as they walked the streets. “Hopefully this won't take too long and I'll be back by tonight. So you just make sure you stay out of trouble while I'm gone Mr. Greystone. ” He glanced sideways at her, but she caught the slight smirk on his face before he tried covering it up.

***
There was one thing about being part of the Order that she was currently grateful for, you got used to a lot of walking. Yes some Makai Priests and Knight had a type of vehicle to use, but certain places like the training grounds generally need to be reached by foot, although close to open areas like the one she was currently passing through. Mainly because they were far enough out of the way not to be spied upon by uninitiated eyes. But considering how fast the regular humans were expanding out she sometimes wondered how long that was going to last. Vincent would have gotten his wish eventually, he might not have lived to see it but it would have happened. More than likely the Order had already considered this and had things in place for when that happened, it was still a unsettling thought.

Jules slowed down slightly as she came across a sign you would have only paid attention to if you were part of the order. To any other random passer by it would have been an old wooden street sign that was used decades ago that was never taken down. They might have even mistaken the particular style of lettering as some sort of graffiti, maybe even took a picture of it. But she knew better, it was the Makai language and basically it said the training ground was near. More out of habit from living in a crowded city than anything else she looked around to make sure nobody was coming in either direction as she stepped off the road and onto a field, heading toward a wooded area that wasn't that far off and followed a path, one that was barely used and overgrown but noticeable to her eyes. And one deeply rooted in her memory.

Once in the wooded area the path became more clear as she looked around and quickly spotted the guards posted there, their wooden staffs pointed in her general direction. “I'm Jules, Olivia's expecting me,” she said. They nodded and stepped aside to let her through. “Thank you,” she said with a nod as she continued on. Her memory wasn't getting tampered with today, something she was always grateful for, although she saw the necessity considering what they did and what was hidden in this particular area. Going deeper she saw the first signs of the training ground and smiled as various memories flooded her mind. She looked to her left, if she remembered correctly... There they were, a group of children, boys and girls, practicing various moves and forms, the future generation of Makai Priests. Looking in the other direction it took a little longer but she spotted them a group of boys doing the same thing but with a weapon in their hands, the Makai Knights of tomorrow.

Vincent once told her that in the past the two groups had separate training grounds but civilization's advancement had created the need to combine them in some areas. She stopped when she came to a particular tree, remembering seeing Reks spy on the young Knight trainees. At the time she thought it was because she thought he wanted to be a Knight instead of a Priest. A far assumption on her part considering more than a few of the boys in her group had that desire. But considering Reks was willing to become the next Sigma now she wasn't so sure. Did he have that hatred of Knights all along? Or did he run into a group that bullied him into feeling that way. She'll never know now. Although she hoped it was the latter because she hate to think she missed how he really felt about the Knights after all the years she knew him. Or worse, ignored it as something not as bad as it turned out to be.

The sight of someone approaching in her direction snapped her out of her thoughts and a smile started to form as she saw who it was and waved. The ceremonial robes was her first clue at who it was. Her hair was whiter and the stick she was using as a cane was new to Jules but her green eyes still had the same sparkle they had the last time she saw her, after she left with Vincent. Jules hurried her pace to great her, “Olivia.”

“Jules,” she waved in return with a huge smile of her own. Once she was close enough the older woman ignored the offered hand and pulled her into a hug that Jules returned. “Welcome back,” she said before pulling away to get a better look at her, “Well you have defineitely gotten bigger since the last time I laid eyes on you.”

“You still look the same.”

“And you obviously learned to lie at some point,' she chuckled as she turned so they could walk to the training ground together. “I am glad you decided to help us with this. People are a little jumpy after things went down.”

Jules looked around after they past the gates, all the building looked just the same to her, maybe just a little smaller from her current perspective, but that was only natural. But she did noticed more than a few were trying not to look like they were looking at them or her. Which did raise a particular question that popped in her head while she traveled here. “So what exactly do the others know?”

“Only that some things of importance were stolen,” Olivia informed her. She motioned to one building in particular, where here office was located. Jules nodded in understanding, there was less of a chance of someone overhearing them so they could get into a little further detail. A couple of attendants banged their staff on the ground then parted to let them pass. Olivia went to one, Jules just heard her say, “Make sure we're not interrupted.”

“Yes ma'am,” the guard replied.

As they continued on Olivia commented, “Married life seems to be agreeing with you so far.” Jules looked at her strangely, that was not the topic she thought she was going to bring up once they were alone and Jules couldn't see any one else in sight. “Although I am just a tad disappointed you didn't ask me to perform the ceremony.”

“I figured you'd be too busy running things here,” Jules informed her, which was true. Asking Olivia did cross her mind in the wedding's planning stages. “Also I didn't think you be that comfortable leaving your post.” Again it was true, Jules couldn't remember a time when she was here that Olivia left the compound, unless the Senate called for her. “Speaking of married life, why didn't you want Carter coming along?”

“No real or great reason,” Olivia said as they reached her office. She opened the door and let Jules in and closed the door when she entered. “Take a seat,” Jules tried not to smirk at her choice of words. That was what she usually said when she had to deal with somebody. Not that she had any personal experience with the situation of course. When Jules sat down instead of sitting behind her desk Olivia sat in the chair next to her. “But a Makai Priest more than likely did this and a unknown Knight walking around would draw too much attention to the situation, more than there already is I mean.” Again Jules could only nod, seeing her reasoning “Granted people will be looking closer any way with your arrival, but hopefully not as much if a Knight had gotten involved.”

“Okay,” Jules went as she leaned forward a bit. “Do you know what was taken? Considering how much the person knew about what they took we could be in major trouble sooner rather than later.”

“Oh yes I know what was taken,” Olivia answered as she leaned back. “As guardian of a forbidden vault I had to know it's contents in case something like this happened. One of them was the Condemned.” Jules eyes widen a bit at hearing this name. That was one of the things she helped Vincent research years ago and it still gave her nightmares all these years later whenever she thought about it. Which wasn't often as she tried not to think about that item as much as possible. “Among other things I don't want to think about most of the time.

“This situation went from bad to worse,” Jules mumbled as she sat back. “How did they even get into the vault to begin with? It had seals on top of seals, or at least that's what I remember Vincent telling me when I asked him about it.”

“It does,” Olivia told her, “as do the the containers they're housed in. As for how,” she trailed off and looked across the room. Jules followed her gaze to see a table almost hidden in the corner. “I have no idea. Go check for yourself, maybe you'll see something we missed.” Jules doubted that but she got up and walked over. Feeling Olivia just watch her.as she approached the table. On that table was a simple open wooden box, with a seal attached to it side.She reached out to touch it, the air around it reacted as soon as she got close.

“What?”, she gasp as she pulled her hand back, more from the shock than anything. She pulled out her brush and waved it over the box in a certain motion, magically scanning it as the bristles glowed. She did this several times, there was no way she was reading this right. But she had to face the truth right in front of her. She looked back at Olivia, “The seal is still up?”

“Yes,” was all the older woman said as she joined her at the table. “Now it's possible whomever did this could have just put a new seal in place to confuse us, but look at the paper itself.” Jules did, it was the standard slip any Makai Priest would use for this type os spell but it was old, at least a couple of decades if she had to take a guess. “I replaced this seal since the old one was losing power, as a vault guardian it is something I have to do on occasion. And this is the same spell I cast back then.” Olivia walked away shaking her head slightly, “Which only means one thing.”

“The person was able to bypass the seal,” Jules said, mind reeling at the thought. Horrors couldn't even bypass a Makai seal. “How is this even possible? I studied a lot of old magic under Vincent and I never came across anything like this.”

“Neither have I,” Olivia told her, this time sitting behind her desk and starting to look older suddenly. “Which more than likely mean this is either something so old it was forgotten in the sands of time until recently or it's new. And if I had to guess I'd lean towards it being something new. I can't count the number of students that came through here over the years that tried to come up with something completely original.” She looked thoughtful for a moment, “I probably should have curtailed such things but I hated to stifle such creativity. I always felt you students learned better that way. Make your own mistakes, figure out what you did wrong.”

“Some of us are still doing that,” Jules said, thinking of her failure from earlier in the day, “If nothing else it gave me a great foundation for problem solving.” Finally she walked away from the table and stood by the desk. “I was told you had a suspect. Is she capable of pulling this off?”

“Her name is Shae,” Olivia informed her. “And honestly no, at least not according to the conversations I had with Walter about her before this.” Jules tried not to react at hearing his name. If she did Olivia didn't give any indication that she noticed as she went on, “He's always saying he doubted that she would graduate to full Makai Priest status. Which contradicts the young girl all the instructors here were praising to no end before hand.”

She was trying really hard to keep her previous interaction with Walter from coloring her judgement of the situation. “Maybe she hit a bump she can't figure out how to get past,” she ended up saying. “Or can properly explain to her mentor so he could help her. I know I've seen it a couple of times when I was here.”

“Or her mentor isn't capable enough to help her past that bump.” Jules was so glad Olivia said that and not her.

“Can I speak with her?”, Jules asked.

“I'm sure that can be arranged,” Olivia said. “I know you had a bit of a journey and might want to rest for a moment. But I want to get this settled one way or another as soon as possible.” Jules looked back at the box on the table. If something like the Condemned was out then the sooner they figured out what was actually going on the better it was going to be for everybody.

***
In a barren room somewhere underground the trainee known as Shae sat on a a plain wooden chair, the only piece of furniture in the room and looked at her hands. And the magical bonds keeping them locked together. It had been hours since her mentor Walter had locked her in this room. She thought it was hours, it felt like it at least. There were no other way to tell time in here, not even a window to track the light's movement. The only source of light was the small orb Olivia had created before they left her in the room. And the only the sounds of Walter on the other side of the door yelling at her to confess and others taunting her with threats was the only indication that they were other people occasoinally in the corridor.

She looked up through her dark hair as she thought she heard the door unlock. Briefly she wondered if those voices were going to follow through with those threats. And braced herself for the attack. Instead Olivia walked in, with another Makai Priest she'd never seen before right behind her. “Shae this is Jules,” Olivia said as she closed the door after they entered. Shae looked up at her briefly before looking back down. Another one who wants to blame her for this, perfect.

This Jules walked forward and knelt down to try and face her. Then she looked back at Olivia saying, “Can I talk to her alone?”

“Of course Jules,” Olivia said after a bit, “I'll be in my office when you're done.” Jules didn't react until after she was gone for a bit then she took out her Madou brush and aimed it at the orb, performing a quick spell. Shae looked up as the orb started to grow brighter.

“That's better,” she said as she looked at her. Then she frowned as she noticed how her wrist were bound. “Now that doesn't look comfortable at all, I'm surprised Olivia let this happened.” Again she performed another quick spell and her bindings faded away. “There you go, that's has to feel better.”

Rubbing her wrist Shae said a small, “Thank you.”

Still she kept her head down, until Jules put a hand under her chin and gently lifted her head up to look at her. She smiled as she studied her, “Don't worry I'm not Walter.”

“Why,” she said as she removed her hand “why are you here?”

“That's a fair question,” Jules told her. “Olivia asked me to look over the case, make sure things are how they seem.” Shae lowered her head again, she was right, another one who thought she was guilty. “I just looking for the truth,” Jules said apparently sensing her darkening thoughts. “If it turns out you're innocent of this, and considering how Walter tends to view things were guilt and innocence is concerned that might be likely.” Shae looked at her, was she telling the truth? Did she not automatically assumed she was guilty like Walter and everyone else? No, this had to be a trick. “I'll make sure you're set free, you have my word on that. But I do need you to be honest with me about what's going on. Can you do that for me?” Not sure what else to do Shae just nodded, and she was afraid to do that. “Okay I'm going to believe you. Do yourself a favor and don't break that trust, I can be your best friend but I can be you're worst enemy if it came down to it.” She looked around the room studying things, “Have they fed you yet? I haven't eaten since breakfast myself. How about I get us something to eat before we start.”

Okay,” she softly said.

Before Jules responded there was a new voice on the other side of the door, “It's going to be any time now. There going to look away at the wrong time and then you're going to get yours.” Shae could only watch as Jules got this look on her face as she stood and marched toward the door. Opening it she quickly pulled a very startled and frightened female trainee into the room. It was the first time she seen one of her tormentors since she'd been in here. The fact she knew this one, she was kind enough before this or so she thought that she was too shocked to feel anything at this particular reveal.

Forcing her against the wall Jules just stared her down, “Pretty tough behind that door aren't you?”, she said evenly. “I want you to get one thing straight, if anything happens to Shae here while I'm here, I'm not even going to care if it wasn't you, you're going to be the one I'll hold responsible, am I clear?” She quickly nodded her head. “Good. Now you tell that to any one else stupid enough to do what you just did and that's she's under my protection while the investigation is going on. Go on,”she said pushing her back toward the door, “start telling people.” She hurried out the room.”

Jules closed the door, held her head down a bit then looked at her, “Has that been going on the whole time?” she asked. When she nodded, Jules had this look of disgust on her face, “Have you told Walter about this?”

“He told me to stop lying to change the focus of people's attention,” she said, with a little stronger voice, finally starting to believe she actually might believe her.

“Of course he did,” again Jules looked disgusted. Then she finally started smiling again, “I have some experience being in his cross hairs as well. Look I'm going to talk to Olivia, and see if I can make that claim about you being under my protection actually true before grabbing us some food. I'm going to have to leave you in her for now, I'll try not to be gone long.”

“All right,” Shae said as he held her hands out to get them rebound.

Jules put a hand on hers to lower them, “That won't be necessary. Just try and relax and tell me if any one didn't get that message I just gave the other one.” She started to leave then quickly turned back around, “And if you hear Walter screaming and hollering then Olivia granted my request.” She smiled, despite herself Shae smiled too. “You should really smile more, you're much cuter when you smile.” Then she left her on her own again.

But this time as she looked up at the orb, she didn't dim it like Walter probably would have seeing how he complained about it when Olivia first cast it, she actually started to feel a little bit of hope in this situation.

***
“This is completely unacceptable!”, a voice bellowed from behind Olivia's door. If Jules had to take a wild guess Walter just found out about her getting involved. She paused a second before reaching for the doorknob. She knew she couldn't avoid him the entire time she was hear, and kind of figured he would be upset that Olivia had called her in. She had to to remind herself that she faced down Horrors alone that were worse than the angry man shouting from behind the door. Finally opening the door she heard him say, “I almost got her to...,” he stopped when she walked in. “Oh it's you traitor.”

“And you wonder why she brought me in,” Jules shot back. Ignoring the glare Walter was giving her Jules focused on Olivia. “You might want to have a discussion with the students here. They been threatening Shae.”

“You would believe her lies,” Walter cut in.

“One was making the threat while I was in the room with her.” She was proud of herself from stopping just shy of ending that sentence with you big moron. “I warned her off but considering the attitude of some people around here,' she looked directly at Walter before continuing, “I'm worried she might be harmed physically before this is over.”

“That is hard to believe,” Olivia said as she leaned back in her chair. “But like I told you earlier things have been a tad jumpy around here after Shae was taken into custody. So it doesn't surprise me.”

“Unbelievable,” Walter grumbled.

This time she couldn't help herself, Jules looked right at him as she said, “Somebody needs to think about her safety in all of this.” Looking at Olivia she said, “So I'm requesting that she be placed in my care while I'm investigating the situation.”

Olivia didn't respond right away, although she did glance at Walter every so often as she thought it over. So did she figuring he would have began protesting even before she was finished speaking. But she didn't try to egg him on either, she knew Olivia well enough to know that would go against her request. Eventually Olivia leaned forward a bit, she made her decision. “Walter, Shae is your trainee,” he started looking smug, and she resisted the urge to punch him in the face. “But even though she's currently the only suspect we have in the matter we need to make sure nothing befalls her before the triuh is discovered. Given the circumstances I'm authorizing Jules' request. Shae's all yours until this is over.”

Again she was proud of herself for not outwardly celebrating this little victory. But if anybody could've read her mind right then, well that would have been a different story. Walter on the other hand literally snarled right before storming out of there, Slamming the door behind him. “Well that went well,” She said, trying to lighten some of the tension that was still in the air. Olivia did smirk slightly before getting serious again.

“I hope you know what you're getting into,” she told her. So did she truth be told. And although she had been ignoring one particular question that had been floating around in her head, after what just happened Jules just had to ask it out loud.

“I just have one question though, why assign Shae to him?”, she said pointing at the door. “And yes my past experience with him is one of the reasons why I'm asking.” Olivia seemed to appreciate her sudden burst of honesty about the situation.

“It was because I thought they could help each other in a way,” was her answer. Confused Jules took a seat and waited for her to continue. “As long as she'd been here Shae was never the most out going child, Something you wouldn't know about of course,' she added making a joke of her own. Not being able to disagree with that particular statement Jules just smirked and kept silent. “And seeing how Walter has never been all that shy about his opinions I was hoping some of that would rub off on her, in a good way. With Walter I was hoping that he finally get past that attitude he had when he first came into the Order. I'm sure you've experienced it, I doubt he be this rough with her if Shae was a male student.”

A couple of things about her last statement caught her attention and she wanted to ask about both of them at the same time. But that was just going to confuse things in her mind so she started with the first one that caught her attention, “What do you mean 'came into the Order'?”

Olivia let out a tired sigh as she leaned back into the chair, obviously that was something she didn't want to get out. Looking past her toward the door it was a moment before she focused on her again. “His family wasn't part of the Order Jules. He came to us after his parents were eaten by Horrors by the Priest who helped fight it off. He was fifteen at the time,” she said staring off into space looking thoughtful.

“Well that explains a lot,” Jules said, although not meaning to say that thought out loud. Given his age he was already set in his ways by the time he started training. And given how everyone on the Makai Priest side of thing treated every one else as equals in her experience that attitude had to have been imprinted on him while he was still growing up. “And nobody thought to work with him to get past that attitude while he was training?”

“Because he was very good at hiding it,” Olivia told her. “Nobody noticed, he was always so respectful of the female staff while he was training. It wasn't until he left here that it came back out. After he was assigned her as an instructor, over a lot of the Priests' here objections, I was hoping that teaming him with someone like Shae would help him finally get him past that.” Offering a small smile she went on, “Obviously I made a not so small mistake.” If she was expecting her to say something she hide her surprise well as Jules held her tongue.

“God only knows what that did to Shae,” she did end up saying, which was just as bad as commenting on how big of a mistake Olivia's decision was. In fact it was pretty much was commenting exactly how much of a mistake she thought that was. Realizing this she quickly added, “I didn't mean any disrespect Olivia.”

Olivia held up a hand to stop her, “It's a thought I've had more than once after I realized Walter's attitude so I really can't call you on it, no matter how much I want to.” She looked thoughtful again as she stared past her. “Can I ask a not so small favor from you?” Jules nodded a yes and listened. “I'm not sure how much of a issue it's going to be but could you try and undo whatever damage Walter might have done while you're looking over the situation. If she is innocent I want to try and help get back to where she was before Walter became her mentor.”

Jules was taken back about the sudden request. And a little worried about what would happen after the investigation was over and she left to go back to her usual job and Carter. She had a no problem with helping Shae if she could but if she was just going to go back with Walter then what was the point. But she knew that she had to help the girl if she could, help her discover her backbone if nothing else. “I'll do what I can,” she told Olivia.

The older woman smiled and said, “That's all that I ask. Let me worry about Walter in the mean time.” Jules winced internally, was she that obvious? “If she improves under you, even if it's just a little then I'll have enough reason to separate the two of them.” Now she understood the request, Olivia mentioned that Shae had taken a bit of a down turn since being tutored by Walter, she was looking for any reason to justify her theory and still save some face.

“I just need to know what kind of restriction she's going to be under in the mean time,” Jules said. She still wasn't sure if Shae was truly innocent or not at this point. Given how she never suspected what Vincent was planning the previous year and never caught on she admittedly probably wasn't the best person to judge somebody's character on the first meeting. So she didn't want to accidentally give some one capable of bypassing a seal free range. “And I did sort of tell her that I'd get us something to eat after I was done talking with you.”

Nodding Olivia rose from her seat and started to walk her to the door, “Of course. We're not barbarians after all. If we had any other place to put her beside those lower cells then that's where she'd be right now. Go get the two of you some food. I'll get you those restriction after you're finished.”

***
Once Jules got to the dining area she immediately wanted to know when the food got better. When she was here in her younger days it was pretty much a gruel type slop, one that was supposedly highly nutritious but it was still a dark grey slop in her memory, not to mention borderline tasteless. And the taste you could get wasn't all that great. On special occasions it was a light brown, the taste didn't change one bit, but it made it seem a little more special. Walking with two plates of food that actually looked like food in her hands and her arm weaved around a spare chair she found, she was not going to sit on that floor and eat. It was an interesting balancing act, but she pulled it off. Even opening the door to the room Shae was confined to without spilling anything. So they sat there in the room and mainly talked while they ate, Jules was trying to get a better read on the young girl, who had to be fourteen at the most, she would have to remember to ask Olivia or somebody else who wasn't Walter about it.

But she did seem happier, not in the getting away with it way, more in the relieved that someone seemed to believe her claims of innocence sort of way. And having dealt with her mentor she couldn't exactly blame the girl. Jules made a mental note to ask the other instructors around here about what she was like before being paired up with Walter. “So you're from a family of Makai Priest too?”, she asked after swallowing a bit of her lunch.

“Yes ma'am,” She answered as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Father always said my grandfather worked for the Senate. But I can't find any proof of that in the family records.”

Tilting her head a bit Jules asked, “Why wouldn't you believe that he worked for the Senate? If any of my family worked for the Senate I'd be proud as hell.”

“He also claimed he lifted a Knights sword without any training what so ever,” Shae added.

“Ah,” Jules said in understanding. “He's the exaggerting type I see.” Shae just nodded. “There's one in every family I suppose. I have a cousin like that. Fortunately he lived really far away so I didn't have to deal with it all that often, because I would have gotten in trouble for beating him up to get him to shut up. You on the other hand,” she shook her head, but she was still studying her, particularly the way she kept pulling at the hem of her dress. Like she wasn't used to wearing one. Boy had she been there growing up “Was there something special going on that you needed to get dressed up for?” Shae looked like she started to shrink up a bit, that wasn't going to work for her, she just got Shae to open up a little Jules was not going to let her back track now. “Trying to impress one of the boys around here?”

“No, Shae said quickly, but Jules did catch the hint of a smile cross her face momentarily.

“Oh there's somebody around here that caught your eye all right.” Sitting her plate on the floor Jules watched her, “When I was here most of the girls your age had eyes on the young Knights training across the way.” She was definitely blushing right now. “Aha, I knew it, you got a crush,” Jules teased her with a grin. Seeing how embarrassed she was getting Jules decided to pull back on the teasing, for now any way. “Hey there's nothing wrong with it, I married a Knight after all, “And even though it's only been a few hours she was missing that particular Knight already. “But there wasn't much intermingling between the two camps when I was here.,” she said after she thought about it for a bit. “Somehow I doubt Olivia and her counterpart in the Knight's camp have gotten all that lenient since then, so why the dress?”

Shae was hesitant to answer, but Jules just waited until she was ready to answer. “Walter said this was how a young lady was supposed to dress.” Hearing that Jules immediately pinched the bridge of her nose, if true, she didn't fully realize how deep his idiocy went. “Are you okay?”, Shae asked.

She offered her a small smile, “Just trying to decide if the thoughts of hurting him in the ways I'm imaging is going to lead me to darkness or not. Not the first time I asked myself that, believe me. And not just about Walter either. I mean I just learned something about him that makes what you said make perfect sense but still.” Gathering her plate she stood and placed it on the plate on the chair.

“Where are you going?”, Shae asked.

“You're room,” Jules told her, “I'm going through your stuff to see I I can figure out who your crush is.” Shae immediately looked mortified. “I'm joking, I'm joking. But I am going through your closest and figure out what you usually wear. I'm going to need you to feel like yourself if we're going to get to the bottom of this.” Shae still didn't look happy with her privacy being violated but seemed happier with her actual goal.

“Okay,” she said.

“And I want you moving around a little,” she told her as Jules pulled her to her feet, “I mean it, I don't want to see you in either of these chairs when I get back. You're not bound to it.” She reached out for the door, “Oh and make sure no one touches my plate I'm not finished with it yet.”

“Yes ma'am,” she said again. This time Jules was sure it was a automatic response. She remembered saying it to the instructors around here when she was younger.

“And just stick to Jules if you'd please,” She told her. “I'm not old enough to be a 'ma'am' yet.” She didn't wait for a response as she left the room.

***
It took a little snooping but she found where Shae was living at while she was learning here. It was pretty much the same when she was there, a dorm like structure made out of wood with rooms that usually housed more than one trainee. So hopefully she had a room mate that could help identify her usual outfit. And if there were close maybe get someone else's take on Shae. See what she was like with out a proper adult around. Finding the room in question she knocked lightly, wanting to see if there was any one in there before walking in. “Who's there?', somebody called out. Hopefully she was a talker and wouldn't need much convincing that she was on Shae's side in all of this.

“My names is Jules,” she replied. Okay now where did she go from here? Well she might as well go with the first reason why she came here, “I'm getting some clothes for Shae to change into.” There was some quick footsteps right before the door flung open, fortunrtely inwards. Jules wasn't sure she could have gotten out of the way in time to avoid getting clocked in the head.

She looked at another trainee, maybe roughly around Shae's age with red hair. Jules couldn't help but noticed at how suspicious she was looking at her. “You're going to let her get out of that outfit her mentor is making her wear?”

“As fast as I can.” Jules told her. “And I'm hoping you have a better idea of her usual style, so that would be a huge help.” She did seem surprised at her request. But she still stood in the doorway blocking her entry. “Be a bigger help if I could come in.”

“Just because you didn't barge in like her current mentor does,” she said as she stepped aside to let her in.Jules took a quick glance around as she stepped through the door. The room itself looked like only one person lived in here. One side while not exactly sloppy did have that lived in look that her old dorm did. The other side was pretty much immaculate. The only thing that gave away that anyone was using it was the clothes in the closet and a couple of personal items carefully arranged on the desk. “I've never seen you around here before.”

Now came the tricky part. “That's because Olivia asked me to come look over the situation Shae got caught up in.” It looked like she was going to shut down on here, exactly what she didn't want to happen. “ Look I'm going to tell you what I told Shae. If she's innocent...”

“She is innocent,” she insisted. Okay they were definitely friendly at least.That could be a help in the long run.

Jules continued, “Then I will do everything I can to get her out of this mess and get the person who actually did it. Both of you have my word on that. And I need you to be truthful with me too. Any lie, even if you think it's going to help Shae, might make her situation worse. What's she being accused of, well it's more serious than you might think. So please work with me. I'm sorry I never got a name.”

“Nadia,” she said after a moment. Then she added, “You're not going to treat her like that creep does?”

That question about certain thoughts leading her to darkness popped in her head again. And she didn't even want to ask for clarification on what she meant by that. “I wouldn't even treat my worst enemy like that. And considering that's the same guy you're talking about should say something.” Nadia smiled slightly as she headed for the closest on the immaculate side of the room and started going it. “I'm just guessing this is Shae's side of the room? And she always keeps it this tidy?”

“That it would, and yes she does.,” Nadia told her as she started pulling various bits of clothes from the closet and putting them on the bed. Jules looked at that side of the room, that was what she was afraid of. If Shae was this meticulous about her belongings then she could be capable of coming up with what ever spell was used to get past a barrier. Because something like that took the type of dedication she was seeing right now. Okay it was more than likely Shae wasn't the only person here who was this much of a neat freak. It was time to test something out. “Let's say I moved something, just a little, Do you think she'd notice?”

Stopping going through Shae's closet Nadia looked at her, like she was trying to decide if she was looking for things to pin the thefts on her roommate. Quickly thinking Jules told her, “Because every time I see a desk this organized I just want to mess with it and see how annoyed the person gets.” It was true enough to a certain extent, She did want to mess the person who was this neat. Nadia still stared at her intently.

“It depends on how much you moved it,” she ended up saying apparently believing her reason for the moment as she returned the the closet.”Actually I was playing a little game for a while after we were roomed together those first couple of weeks, just to see what she would notice. And if she got annoyed she kept it to herself.”

“Seriously, she didn't look annoyed at all?”

“Well,” she started then hesitated. Jules silently willed her to be honest but didn't push it wanting the information to come out freely. It still took Nadia a couple of seconds to finish what ever thought she started. “Well those times she did notice she'd look at me, although I made sure my head was always busy looking at something, a book, a scroll my group was assigned to study and try and decipher.”

“They still do that?” she scrunched up her nose a bit. “I hated that exercise. You had to figure out everything out from scratch and if you missed one little mean nothing thing the instructor would look at you like you insulted his mother.” Apparently sensing a bit of a kindred spirit where that particular assignment lay Nadia stepped a little closer as she began laying out the clothes she finally settled on, a dark dress shirt. Some knee length pant, then she started looking for some accessories..

“As I was saying Shae would let out this breath,” she did an imitation of said breath, “Kind of like that. But she wouldn't readjust anything, just leave it like it was.” Okay she wasn't that much of a neat freak then. “It stopped being fun after the first couple of times since she wasn't reacting any more, honestly I think she was surprised when she noticed I stopped. Jules you got to believe me, Shae isn't capable of doing whatever it is they're saying she did. She doesn't have an evil bone in her body.”

Jules wanted to believe that, it went with the image she painted of the girl in her head after she first talked to her. Unfortunately she knew first hand that no matter how well you thought you know a person they could act in a way you never imagined they were capable of. Then the door burst open with a slam. Jules already had her madou brush in her hand and pointed at the intruder. She just looked at Walter as he stood there looking so smug and superior. In the back of her mind she realized she should lower her brush considering he was a quote unquote friendly, but her arm wasn't moving. “Finally going to prove me right traitor.” he sneered.

Nadia got her wits back first as she walked around Jules and tried to get in his face. “You have no right to barge in here whenever you want...”

Walter pushed her out of the way only to be stopped by Jules pointing her brush at his chest. He looked surprised at first, then annoyed as she started to move him back. “She's right, this is a private room and off limits to the likes of you. So kindly turn around and leave before I make you leave. What if she was getting dressed?”

“It would serve her right walking around like a slut. And you better be careful before I start digging into any involvement you might have had in this.” Finally moving her brush Jules kicked him in the gut to force him closer to the door. “This is my crime scene!:, he snapped at her Jules who was less than impressed with the display. “I have every right to be in here!”

Eyes narrowing she coolly told him, “Not any more it's not. Now leave before before I make Olivia cross with me.”

“You're Knight's not here to protect you this time,” he tried to tower over her, to seem more imposing. She faced Horrors with sharper teeth then this idiot. Why was she so worried about running into him earlier?

He didn't even hide his shock as not only didn't she not back down, she was imposing her will on the situation, backing him either further away from Nadia. “Let's get one thing perfectly clear. That day you guys took me to be questioned,” she smiled a predator smile, unnerving him even more, “I wasn't the one he was protecting. Now get out of here.”

“Did you even see where I found the evidence that pointed toward that little tramp?”, he looked down as she cracked the knuckles on her right hand.

“Her name is Shae,” she said sternly. “I suggest you remember that for the future.” She finally stepped back and looked around the room, “Okay where was this oh so damning evidence that pointed toward her?”

He started looking smug again as he pointed right at the desk on her side of the room. Jules immediately walked over and started opening drawers trying to see if there was any indication oh a secret panel or something. “No,” he bellowed right there sd he pointed at the desk, no he was pointing at the top. Jules started pushing on various spots trying to trigger a hidden panel “No you dumb,” a sharp look from her quieted him for the moment. Then he reached past her and started tapping a particular section over, “Right here.”

Jules was dumbfounded, and couldn't hide it making Walter look superior again. She looked over at Nadia, “It was out in the open?”

“Right there,” although she looked sick to admit it out loud. Jules looked around the room, again taking a look at how immaculate Shae kept her side of things

“Tell me Walter,” she said addressing him, obviously confused she wasn't immediately apologizing for being proven wrong or something, “was that door locked when you discovered whatever it was you found.

“What does that have anything to do with it?”, he demanded.

She pushed past him and and opened the door, making sure to show him the doorknob , “There's no locks. They never had any. And of course it never occurred to you that just any one could have placed what ever it was you found there, probably expecting for you to act just like this.”

“It was her desk!” he kept on insisting. Now Jules was starting to wonder how Olivia let him get away with how he was treating her on something so flimsy. They were going to have to talk about that, later.

Right now she had something more important to take care of. Turning to Nadia Jules told her, “Gather up those clothes and take them to Shae. I'm going to speak with Olivia.”

“About what traitor?”, he demanded as he stood in her way. Right now Jules didn't care about playing nice for Olivia's sake. She dropped him with a well placed knee to the crotch. Once he was down in pain she stepped over him not even pretending she didn't enjoy every bit of that and stalked to Olivia's office trying to remain calm. Which was going to be hard to do considering how Shae was being treated.

***
Getting into her own clothes never felt so good. Shae was surprised when Nadia knocked on the door with a set of clothes in hand. And on Jules' say so. She wasn't sure what to make of this but anything to get out of the dress Walter was making her wear. Adjusting the headband to keep her hair out of her eyes she stretched out she looked over at Nadia who was keeping an eye on the door. So far nobody had come by to make another threat, and while Shae was sure Jules would have believed her, it was good to have somebody hear them if they did. “You messed up my closest didn't you?”

“Hey,” Nadia protested, “I picked out that outfit very carefully, thank you very much”. Looking away she added, “Now the pile on your bed however”, she trailed off. Shae let out a breath, that Nadia smiled at for some reason.

“But thank you though,” Shae told her, “I couldn't get out of that enough.” she looked at the dress that was thrown on the ground.

“I've noticed,” Nadia said, “You usually fold it up neatly when you'd take it off at night.”

“Is it wrong I want to burn it?”, she asked as she stepped closer to her friend.

“I'm surprised you haven't done it already,” she said.

Both of them looked at the door as it opened. Shae was worried that it was going to be Walter and went to retrieve the dress from the ground and try to straighten it out. Nadia knew her well enough that she grabbed her wrist and held her in place. Then Jules walked through the door much to her relief. She looked her up and down, nodded and said. “I don't even have to ask about how much better you have to feel. I can see it already.”

“Did you already talk with Olivia?” Shae asked.

“Yes,” Jules said as moved the plate that she put on the chair she brought in and took a seat. “And I have some good news, and some not so good news.”

Shae and Nadia just looked at each other before Nadia went, “Isn't that suppose to be good news and bad news?”

“Well that's going to depend on how you feel about me,” she said. Shae was still confused at what she was talking about. “Let's start with the good news, You can get out of here.” Shae immediately hugged Nadia who returned it.

“What's the not so good news?”, she asked Jules.

“Well, unfortunately you can't leave my side while I'm here investigating things. For the most part, I still have to figure out what's going on, and my usual sidekick was asked not to come. So you'll be supervised by somebody who's not Walter. I made sure of that.” .

What?!”, Shae protested.

“That's not fair,” Nadia quickly agreed. Jules put up a hand to get them to calm down a bit. Shae wanted to argue but she'd listen to Jules first.

“Look I understand but Olivia insisted that be restriction on letting you free from this room. And it's for the same reason why you were put in here to begin with.”

“Walter wanted me in here,” Shae quickly said.

“No it's not,” Jules said as she protested again. She waited until Shae got it out of her system. “I was giving Olivia an earful about it when she told me why. Walter's the only one who automatically thought you did it. But Olivia was afraid the person who did do it might try to incriminate you even more or do something to you personally. So she put you in here for your own good, it stinks I know but I couldn't really disagree with her reasoning after hearing it.”

“She could have told me,” Shar muttered. Jules reached out and rubbed her arm.

“Do you hear me disagreeing,” she said. “But according to her Walter was always hovering around so she couldn't get a chance to explain. I think she meant he wouldn't shut up long enough but I could be wrong.” Jules said it with a smile, Despite how unfair the situation was Shae snickered a little.

Nadia on the other hand. “ But you cleared her.”

“She's not cleared yet,” Jules told them. “I just proved Olivia's theory that it could have been planted at best. In fact I pretty much increased the suspect pool to any one who could get access to her desk.”

“Wait?”, Nadia went, “I'm a suspect now?”

“Nadia wouldn't do that to me,” Shae started to say.

“Nobody's a suspect,” Jules told them as she stood up. “At least not officially. Like I said, anybody who could get access to Shae's desk needs to be looked at, so at least everybody in that dorm. Walter, and I wish I could be there when he finds that out, all the mentors and instructors.. No, I just made Olivia's headache that much worse.”

“But Shae can leave this room now right? Nadia asked.

“As soon as she's ready,” Jules answered. “Actually I'm surprised she's still here. I thought she'd be gone the moment I said she could leave. But before I forget there's something else. I was able to convince Olivia to to let you practice again.”

“And the not so good news?”, Shae asked cautiously.

“You catch on quick,” Jules told her with a grin.. Shae noticed she wasn't saying she was wrong either. “Until things are straightened out you can't be in your regular practice group, and considering you've been threatened, I really couldn't come up with a good argument against it.” Shae sighed, deep down she knew Jules was probably right, still didn't mean she had to like it. “So I'm suppose to work with you when I can. And I'm also supposed to be mindful of this,” reaching into a pocket Shae's eye widen a little as she pulled out her brush. It took a second but Shae did realize she wasn't exactly handing it back to her. “The catch is you can use it for your practice sessions, but I have to hold on to it when you're not.”

“That's not fair,” Shae protested. That was her property, nobody had the right to keep it from her.

Jules just softly said, “No it's not. But I promise you, as soon as we prove to the others that you didn't do this I'll give this back to you, until then I'll keep it safe for you.”

She looked at the older woman as she pocketed her brush. She wanted to believe that she'd be true to her word and hand the brush back to her, but she wanted to believe Walter would believe her too. Look at how that turned out. Jules seemed to understand what was going through her head, “It sucks, I know. My mentor once explained to me that while the Knights have their swords, we have the brush and it's pretty much an extension of who we are. So if I want to give this back to you I better get on the case and find out who actually did it and tried to frame you, badly I might add.”

“So you think I didn't do it now?”, Shae asked. Probably not sounding as hopeful as she should have that somebody finally seemed to believe her.

“I saw your room,” was all she said. “No one as neat as you would leave any sort of evidence out in the open like Walter claimed. What you were keeping it in, maybe but not the item itself.” Reaching down Jules grabbed the last bit of a sandwich that was on her plate and popped it in her mouth. “Now come on, the person responsible is not going to catch themselves.” She opened the door and let Shae go out first. She was unsure, looking to see if there was going to be anybody right outside the door that would push her back in. But the only push came from Nadia and Jules, out the door.

“What about the dress?”, Shae asked suddenly. Why did she ask about that stupid thing? She just wanted to burn it and never see it again. Instead of answering Jules looked at the dress and pulled out her brush. Making a quick motion she sent out a blast the set the dress on fire.

“Wow,” Nadia said in disbelief that she just saw that. Shae joined her in that amazement, The two of them watch the dress burn as Jules put her brush back in it's place inside her coat. That was the last thing she thought was going to happen, even if she just wished for it.

Jules looked at them and with a grin and a wink said, “If anybody asks a Horror did it.” Then she closed the door behind her, leaving the burning garment and guided her and Nadia to the outside.

***
This could be both good and bad. That girl was the perfect patsy to try and place the blame on, she kept mainly to herself, hardly had any friends to speak of outside of her roommate, and had an idiot for a mentor. When Olivia listened to Walter and placed her in the underground holding rooms things were in the clear. While everybody was focused on her then no body would be looking as those pieces from that vault were taken out of the training ground. There were already several buyers lined up, the pieces just needed to get there then the money would be rolling in.

Then word got out the Olivia had sent for a former student to take over the investigation. One according to rumors actually hunted down Horrors like a Knight. That meant she had a better eye for detail than Walter would have. Considering her and the girl and another one were walking out into the open she probably already figured that she was a patsy in all of this.

But while that patsy was apparently off the board, things weren't going to get planted on or around her while that Priest was around, all wasn't lost just yet. The pieces could still be moved, just a little more carefully. Some of the students were easily riled up enough to make threats against the girl earlier. It shouldn't take that much to get them to go after her again. And while the outsider was dealing with that then she wouldn't be looking for the pieces, or the person who took them.