Central Library, Sacramento.

"Ah, how depressing! Friend, sit, there is nothing to fear. You look in need of good company. But let us get off this grim subject. How about you tell me about what happened with Muramasa."

Lucas was tired off these annoying little free spirts. Perhaps he would focus on the circus girl. See if she had any sisters or young females in the act. It was more fun if they knew each other and he made them do his... things.

But he had to remember the mission. Jack had given him a duty which he must fulfill.

"The name is Harley." Harley grinned over at Elata. However, the smile didn't reach her eyes. There were bitter undertones in her facial expression. This was probably because people were paying more attention to Elata than they were to Harley. God knew Harley disliked someone stealing her spotlight.

"He already talked about that." Harley said snappily at Lucas. "If you were paying attention to him as opposed to her I'm sure you'd have heard." She flashed a condescending smile in their general direction. The idea of possibly being more well informed then either of them was a power trip for her. Harley found power trips deligthtful. She then turned to Praetorious.

"You know, I think we should follow Red's lead." She smiled blinking a few times as she folded her hands in her lap. "It wouldn't be a good idea to stay in this library too long. Not to mention it's probably going to close soon."

That was enough for Argyle. Elata's and Lucas's comments pierced his brain from two different directions, and for a moment, he was dizzy. Before he knew it, his hand had reached into the back pocket of his slacks and firmly grasped the cold handle of a handgun, drawing it quickly out.

He cracked the barrel of the gun hard against Elata's jawbone, sending her to the floor. Then, before anyone nearby looked up and saw the gun, he quickly paced backward two steps into the bookshelves. Here, only the table before him, Lucas the closest, could see him. He raised the gun to point directly between the man's eyes.

"One more word."

He shut out anything that might pierce his ears now, turning and fleeing, gun at his side.

Elata made a grunt of pain as she fell and put her hand to her face. She sat back up in shock as the redhead threatened Lucas and then fled. She frowned and felt her jaw lightly. She was pretty sure it wasn't broken but it was certainly painful. She probably shouldn't have brought up his wife, surely his emotional pain was more than her physical pain. She sat back in her chair with a sad face. " I feel so bad, I hope he'll be alright. Odd that he has such a problem with you though, perhaps it was because of my comment." She smiled through her injury and wiggled a loose tooth with her tongue. Her mouth was bleeding. "Well it looks like i'll need to go to the dentist. I hope i see you all again. I'll be at the circus usually, if you want to find me." She waved goodbye and picked up the japanese book to check out for the night.

Lucas helped the girl as she got up and touched her shoulder as hse left. This time he had a differnet command in mind.

You love me. You wish you had black hair. You will introduce me to some of your female friends. You love me.

This was good. He wondered if she was an acrobat. They always got into the most interesting positions. Besides, they needed more assains.

But she was a preformer. Better in his Sect then Baurus'.

Elata was halfway to the front desk when she realized she had forgotten the book about the greek mythos. She turned around, her tooth could wait just a little longer while she found it. Once again she returned to roaming the bookshelves, humming quietly to herself. Hopefully Lucas would come and see her show. He made her heart flutter, it had been a very long time since she'd had any type of boyfriend.

Praetorious raised an eyebrow at Argyle's dramatic exit, intrigued. And bothered by his inability to figure out what was so deeply strange about him. The fact that he walked with a can was distinctive, but there was a certain oddity about him, in his demeanor, that Praetorious couldn't quite figure out. He dismissed the notion. There was no use in fretting about things unknown to him, for the time being-

Unknown.

The cane.

Praetorious' face remained perfectly placid as he came to the realization. Really, he should have seen it all along. It was in Argyle's step, his demeanor, his darting eyes. And, of course, the acute paranoia that caused him to produce the gun. It all made sense.

Argyle was a Seeker.

Now he was faced with a difficult dilemma: should he kill Argyle? The fact was that aside from being another that Muramasa had attacked, Argyle was among the first he'd had a civil conversation with in a long time. Killing him in such short order seemed so... rude. No, he would keep Argyle alive, at least for the time being. He seemed far more interesting than the average Seeker.

Ignoring the strange man's oddly worded and voiced request that he stay, Praetorious stood up, pushing in his chair.

"Well," he said, "I believe the library is closing soon. And it's about time to hit the trail anyway."

With that, he disengaged himself from Harley and the strange man, weaving his way through tables and chairs.

Argyle stood just outside the library, waiting for just a moment. He wasn't sure if he would be followed or not. He would like to converse more with the first two he had met there, but if the man with the strong words followed him, things would get out of hand. If the other hyper girl followed, he'd have to leave her dead in a gutter somewhere.

There were two people he thought would be most likely to follow him. After mulling over it for a moment, he started away, limping down the street on his cane. Pain was blossoming again in his thigh after the sudden exit, but he noted that the pain had subsided slightly from this morning.

Bayle...

He gritted his teeth and focused his eyes on the street ahead, shutting out what Elata had forced him to remember. Whoever followed him, so would it be. He would extend to them accordingly, either civil words, or the barrel of his gun.

Apparently both Lucas and Elata had made Argyle snap. Which wasn't all that surprising. Lucas didn't make Harley feel all that safe either. And Elata. . . Well, she was just. . .She was something alright.

When Argyle attacked the two of them it filled Harley with a glee she usually only got when she pierced a man's genitals in his sleep. She repressed a delighted laugh as the man ran off. From the other end of the room the librarian began to hastily dial away at the phone in an attempt to call nine one one. That was inconveniencing. Why did the cops seem to follow Harley? Especially when she wasn't doing anything wrong.

The white haired woman's happiness was short lived as Praetorious stood up. He began to walk away. He hadn't even invited her along. Harley's white and black eyes widened and her brow furrowed. She'd even pouted out her lower lip. She stood from her seat.

"Wait!" She called over, distressed that her ride was leaving. "Where are you going?" What Harley meant when she said "Where are you going." was more or less "Are you going to take me with you?" She was hoping Praetorious would realize that.

Lucas was mildly upset by this turn of events. He was left with this bilgerent woman and had made no head way with this Muramasa. But the night was not totally fruitless.

Elana was his.

Another word, maybe two, and she would have submitted herself to anything he said. Tommorrow night, she would be lost. The next day he'd see if her friends were as maliable as her.

Tonight, however, he was done.

"Goodnight, Miss Harley. I hope you find yourself a warm bed."

His arm brushed against her and he decided to give it a finnal push.

Tommorrow you will have found nothing odd about my presence.

And with that he loped after the locked-out man.

Praetorious walked toward the exit, contemplating. He wasn't interested in killing Argyle. Not for the moment, at least. He was far too interesting. The red-headed girl and the strange man, on the other hand... he wondered how they would look with holes in their chests.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

Harley's voice chimed behind him. He could almost hear her pouting. And he knew too well what her question really meant. Wearily, he resigned himself to chauffeuring the pale, emaciated woman to wherever it was she needed to go. At least he would have some peace at the steel mill tonight. He needed badly to kill again. With Argyle out of his sights, at least for now, he needed to find another Seeker to slice a hole in. His shadow-self was getting hungry.

Praetorious held up his hand in a beckoning gesture.

"Come on," he said over his shoulder, "police are the last thing we need at the moment." He gestured to the librarian fumbling nervously at the phone, "hurry up."

Harley skittered over to Praetorious, happy to have a ride. Immediately she seized hold of his sleeve, her fingers almost tearing into the fabric. The group had scattered suddenly, and the premise of being alone at that moment was none too appealing to her. She'd probably wind up having to call Lafayette. Once again the idea of telling Lafayette about the Ferrari sent a shiver down Harley's spine.

"Listen." She began, practically dragging Prae to the door. She bit her lip and thought of a way to word what she wanted to say. "Listen." She repeated, leaning closer to Preatorious and glaring in the direction that Lucas had walked off in. "That Lucas man. . . He's an odd one. The flattery was wonderful. I liked that about him." She chuckled a bit. "But he makes me uneasy. Do you feel that way around him too?"

She then made sure to add.

"I say we follow him."

And after that she made sure to add.

"And once we find him and make sure he isn't moving rent a hotel room and get me some new clothes because, really, I look like I just crawled out of the river. Oh wait. I did."

Praetorious couldn't say that he appreciated being grabbed by the sleeve and almost dragged out of the library, but as long as they were getting away from the irritating man, he could hardly complain. Harley was surprisingly strong, managing to pull him along as she walked. He pulled back, sending a signal for her to stop.

He listened to her stream of questions and demands before responding himself, not enjoying the prospect of being overheard by whoever the man was that seemed so intent upon hearing about Muramasa. "I can't say I know what you're talking about. He seemed to word everything strangely, but he's hardly intimidating." He sighed.

"If you want to follow him, then I suppose I have nothing better to do. We can rent you a hotel afterward. Okay?" The promise of a night of peace was looming more and more over him, and he was ready to do just about anything for some time to himself.

He found his motorcycle, walking up to it and swinging his leg over the seat. He revved the motor.

Argyle watched from several blocks away as one after another left the bar behind. The day was finally ending. He watched as Praetorius and Harley climbed aboard their motorcycle, and watched as Lucas stalked down the street.

He gripped the cane a little tighter. There was still so much he didn't understand. What the monster was, what the others were, what those compelling words meant for him. And...

He limped away, trying to filter away the thoughts. The hotel wasn't far from here. After a night's rest, maybe things would look up from here on out. Well, he wouldn't stay too optimistic. The world wasn't as simple as that. Either way, after a night's rest, he would at least get a clearer view of things.