Kang grabbed thedder with both hands, clenching tighter and pulling himself up, speedily as though he was being chased. For a second, he had sensed something was about to happen. It was just a feeling... like he had to leave there before the ''tragedy or whatever it was'' would strike.


    He rushed up to the top of thedder, about to climb back up into the room. He nced back at Chaos, who was still hanging on his rope. His face was down and he was stiff again, as he had appeared when Kang first went down. "Are we going to meet soon?" "We will meet soon", Chaos replied. "It''ll be a different world then"


    There was no time to understand what that meant but they would meet soon. That was what Chaos said and that was what Kang would hold onto. Apart from the fact that there was a dark prophecy concerning his existence, he still had no progress concerning his Shin Zhu. He pulled himself up from the hole, rolling into the room weakly but quickly. He closed the door and got up. "Uh?", he muttered, staring at the wall clock. He couldn''t tell how long he had been down there but it was definitely over twenty-four hours. He pushed the curtains aside, dashing out into King''s main room. He drifted, as his eyes met with that of a soldier.


    "Stop!", the soldier howled, raising his gun barrel at Kang immediately.


    "That''s enough", King''s voice interrupted, as he stepped into the room. He waved two fingers at the soldier, gesturing for him to leave the room. The soldier did that immediately.


    Kang stared quietly at King, trying hard to hide his fear. He failed woefully. His sweaty forehead proved that. "You are back"


    "I am back", King replied, walking to the couch. "I hope the investigations are going... and we are getting closer to the answers we need"


    "We are", Kang said, slowly calming himself down, as he took a step forward. "I have interrogated many suspects and I believe we are already creating a chain to the current incidents" "Really?", King muttered, tiredly.


    Kang shuddered at the minute hint of doubt in King''s voice. "Uh-", he stuttered. "Turns out we may have enemies on the inside... and we may not actually be fighting Grimms"


    King looked up at him. "That wouldn''t mean they tried to deceive us", King replied. "Go ahead with the investigation and give me answers soon... but you should rest for the remaining hours of the night. Everyone needs rest" "Alright, sir", Kang said, nodding respectfully, as he walked towards the door.


    "Kang?", King called, as Kang pulled the door open. "Whatever you heard in that hole, it''s what he wants you hear. Remember he is insane. Don''t dwell on his words"


    ****


    Kang walked down the narrow path, slowly. He felt a weird emptiness in his stomach. He had been down in the hole with Chaos and he didn''t even realize how long he had spent, neither did he feel tired or hungry while he was down there.... But Chaos was insane. King had made that known. His words should not be leaned upon. Crane''s matured face sprung up in his head, as if trying to push out his ''sphemous'' thoughts against Chaos. Chaos had helped Crane find his Shin Zhu. That mustered a lot of faith in Crane.


    Kang stared at the passage ahead. The door to theb was on his left. He should probably say bye to Ana before going to bed. He pulled the door open and peeked in. Ana was seated, with her head on her desk. She had fallen asleep already. Kang brought his head further in and looked at Romeo, who had his chin parallel to his chest, deep asleep in his sitting position. That didn''t lookfortable in any way. ''I should get Hound in here. We''ll probably settle this quickly together'', he thought and nced at Ana again.


    She was now facing him. Her eyes werepletely shut and her head rested on her folded arms on the desk. That didn''t lookfortable, either. Kang walked closer to her. A strand of hair fell across her face. Kang picked the strand and pushed her hair from her face, exposing her bare cheek, like he would bend over and kiss her. He took a step back from her, still staring at her, as he shook his head slowly. He was losing his guard. Ana killed Kang and Dea. She could not be trusted... as far as he was concerned, she could even be the enemy.


    He turned and headed towards the door. He should get some sleep. After impulsively telling King that much, he needed to solve the problem or King would ask for a proof of his initial report.


    Fred yawned, as he dropped sleepily on the mattress. Hisptop stayed on, sitting on the table. He had essed the camera in Kang''s room just to watch Hound.


    The door opened gently. Fred jerked awake. Whoever was behind the door was being sneaky. Fred reached for a torch, as he got up slowly. He heard the door close, just as gently as it had been opened. He raised his head up and flicked on the torch.


    The intruder jerked back quickly, raising an arm to block the bright ray from hitting her face. It was a girl. "Hello?", Fred muttered, rolling on his gold strap.


    "Hello?", the girl replied, quietly. "Please, it''s really bright.... I just need to get some sleep"


    "Who are you?"


    "This ce is only essible to Larger Figures. That should answer your question", she said. "Will you put out the light now?.... Please?"


    "If I put out the light, how will I know you are not nning to attack me with an hidden weapon?"


    "Why would I want to attack you? Are you not a-?", she stopped halfway and moved her head, trying to see the face of the man who held the torch. "Who are you?"


    Fred stood up and put the torch aside. "I am a Larger Figure. My name is Fred", he walked to her and held out his hand. "You are from the Other Side. Am I right?" "Yes. I''m Le", she shook his hand and sat down. "I guess everyone''s asleep already"


    "Yes. I was about to do the same", Fred replied. "Why are you here? I mean we are under attack at the moment. I didn''t think we would be having visitors that are not soldiers"


    "I was already condemned so Bane had no problem with meing here. If I die, it''s no loss", she said, wearing a weird smile. "King won''t let me sleep in his chamber"


    "This is not a very good time for him to be alone in his chamber"


    "He''s with Queen, though. She refused to stay on the Other Side", Le replied and adjusted on her seat. ''Tell me about the present situation. I can probably help"


    "Well, we''ve had series of attacks. All of it came in the style of the Grimms. They go further to leave their mark on each spot. These attacks are not from the outside. Someone is helping them from the inside and that is what the investigation is about. Once we take out the insider, we can take down the Grimm Arena"


    "Let me guess; you don''t know who the intruder is yet"


    "If we did, the atmosphere would be better and King wouldn''t want Queen to stay back on the Other Side", Fred replied, staring at her. He needed to admit she was beautiful. He had never acknowledged beauty in any other woman since the death of his mother.... Not even in his niece. "Let''s talk about something else, should we?"


    "You don''t want to sleep anymore?"


    She already stole away his sleep. "Well, I feel a lot sleepy but there might be a lot of work through the day. This is all the time we have"


    "That''s alright", she smiled. "You are alone here"


    "Yea. I''m actually working secretly so I had to choose this ce. I needed thepany so I''m d you came around"


    "It didn''t look like you were d to see me. You seemed ready to shoot me or something"


    "Yea. I was ready to shoot if you were an enemy", Fred smiled back. "I was hesitant, though. We rarely see cute viins.... If I may ask, why would a beauty like you be condemned?"


    "My father was a thief. Bane had him publicly executed", she said. "Bane''s wife prevented him from killing me and she adopted me.... When she died, I was left alone to Bane''s cruelty. Whenever I looked at him, all I saw was hate.... Then, one day, he tried to have his way with me"


    Fred snorted. "I guess that runs in the family then"


    "Uh?"


    "It''s nothing. King tried the same with my niece", he replied. "What happened next?"


    "He seeded, the first time... I hated myself for not fighting well enough but there was nothing I could do. I couldn''t even run... He tried to do it again, then I fought back and kicked him in the groin. He ordered his soldiers to seize me and I was thrown in a cage. He was going to execute me, along with other criminals, and his wife wasn''t alive to stop him anymore.... Then the medium told him I should not be executed... They say it was Bane''s dead wife who spoke through the medium.... Since then, I only saw anger whenever he looked at me. When I asked toe here with King, he was more than willing to let me go? "I''m sorry about that"


    "Who''s fault is it?", she asked, jokingly, wearing a wide smile


    "It''s definitely not my fault. How are you able to keep smiling, after going through all of that?".


    "There is no time to be sad, is there? I believe how I feel is determined by myself", she smiled again and pressed her cheeks gently. "Also, a frown on my stupid face won''t look good. The smile makes people think I''m cute" "Oh. That''s why I couldn''t stop staring", Fred teased. "I knew it! That beauty didn''t look smooth"


    "Stop it", she cried, covering her face andughing at herself. "I''m not that bad!"


    "I was kidding. You are beautiful", he replied. "With that face, I''m sure you will get every man begging for a night with you.... Looks like I''m getting it for free"


    "What?", she raised an eyebrow, like she''d dash out if he stepped closer. "I''m going to leave, right now"


    "You mmed the door. It can only be opened from the outside", Fred said and smiled, seductively. "You are stuck with me"


    She got up quickly and advanced to the doors pulling it open. She exhaled and smiled. "That was a joke, wasn''t it?"


    "I didn''t think you would try to open it", Fred said and walked to his mattress. "But who would want to force his way on a pretty chick like you?"


    "It really sounded like you were flirting"


    "Flirting is meant to be enjoyed, though... From your story, I doubt if you''ve ever experienced it..... but it''s really nice. You should try it with me, sometime", Fred raised his nket. "Will you be returning to the Other Side after this investigation?"


    "I''m not sure. I wish I don''t have to"


    "Me too. Come on, let''s go to bed"


    "With you? On the same bed?", Le asked, naively. "Doesn''t sound safe to me"


    "You won''t sleep on the hard ground, will you?", Fred asked and fell on his mattress. "I have my back turned. You have nothing to fear"