Ephemer practically dragged Kamiko through the city. He seemed a little too excited to just be sneaking into a place he really shouldn't be. It seemed more like he was getting a chance to do the one thing he always wanted to do most. Then again, with Ephemer, it was hard to tell, he might have wanted this.

Ephemer led Kamiko to the area around the tower. It was a plaza with a few buildings on either side of a bridge crossing the water underneath the foreteller's tower. It was the obvious place to look for the entrance. Kamiko took note of the few wielders in the area. She didn't recognize most of them. She vaguely recalled a girl with white hair from a few weeks ago. Annora was her name if Kamiko remembered correctly.

It was a surprise when Ephemer took Kamiko straight to the white-haired girl.

"This is her!" Ephemer declared happily. Kamiko looked at Ephemer in shock but he didn't react. Kamiko once again looked to Annora. She was looking at Kamiko with equal shock, but like Ephemer wasn't saying anything.

"It's you. You're starting to show up often." Kamiko commented smiling softly at Annora. Annora narrowed her eyes as if trying to discern if that was a compliment or an insult. Annora chose to brush it off and address the lieutenant.

"You again," Annora said simply. She frowned as the thought occurred to her. Annora turned to Ephemer. "Isn't she one of the lieutenants?" She asked pointing towards Kamiko. Ephemer shrugged.

"So?" Ephemer asked. Annora blinked at his casual response. Ephemer really had no grasp on rules. Everything seemed to be his way, regardless of what others tried to tell him was normal. It was a quality Annora was beginning to like. "She causes as much trouble as I do. Anyway, her, her brother and the Leopardus lieutenant aren't that bad. I like them." Ephemer continued when Annora didn't respond. Kamiko gave Ephemer a sidelong glance.

"I'm noticing Espen wasn't on your list. And he's your lieutenant." Kamiko said. Ephemer shrugged again.

"I don't like him." He stated simply. Kamiko thought about this for a second before nodding in agreement.

"What about Adianna?" Annora asked. Soon after she asked the question she frowned. "Then again, I don't like her." Annora muttered. Kamiko laughed shortly.

"She's a stickler for rules." Kamiko said simply. Annora glanced at her and smiled, surprised by how relaxed she seemed about the whole ordeal. She really did seem to be cut from the same cloth as Ephemer. She had spited the union barriers frequently from what Annora could tell.

"That's why you're here." Annora decided, crossing her arms as she looked at Kamiko. Kamiko nodded simply.

"And Master Ava told her a secret way into the tower!" Ephemer added helpfully. Annora looked at Ephemer before returning her gaze to Kamiko who smiled nervously. She rubbed the back of her head nervously.

"It's just a rumor," Kamiko said, earning disappointed looks from the other two. Kamiko sighed heavily, dropping her hand. "Come on." She said, beginning to walk away from the tower. Annora and Ephemer exchanged a curious glance before following Kamiko.

Kamiko led them away from the tower entrance into the winding streets of Daybreak Town. It was surprising that Kamiko knew her way around this town so well. Annora found herself wondering how long Kamiko had lived around here. And how long she had been Master Ava's lieutenant. It wasn't something they had ever been told, how those particular wielders had been chosen for such an important job.

Annora was pulled out of her thoughts as Kamiko took them to one of the waterways that ran through the town at various occasions. This one Annora was familiar with surprisingly. It was the one that drained entirely occasionally. It was a weird thing in the town that happened and no one seemed to question.

Today was one of the days it was drained. At the far end of the channel was an open sewer hatch and a broke vent of some kind. Kamiko jumped down into the channel and walked to the open sewer hatch.

"Whoa! I never thought to look here for an entrance!" Ephemer said, jumping down into the channel himself. Annora followed him with a soft smile. She looked up trying to see the foreteller's tower from where they stood. She found it in the distance looking like a model.

"This is pretty far from the tower. I don't think anyone would look here." Annora said. Kamiko nodded.

"Yeah, aside from the front entrance this is the only way in. But we have to be careful, it's full of Heartless since wielders aren't allowed in." Kamiko explained.

"You'd think the Foretellers would handle it." Annora said with a frown. She crossed her arms and looked down at the hatch. She hoped that wasn't the entrance and it was the broken vent behind them.

"Aren't you lieutenants allowed in?" Ephemer asked. Kamiko shook her head.

"Nope, not often. This is meant to be a place only for foretellers. But they're too preoccupied to care much about how many Heartless get in." Kamiko said. She sounded a little sad about that last part. Maybe the foretellers used to be able to handle all the Heartless.

"The traitor?" Annora asked. Ephemer gave her a sort of shocked look like he hadn't expected her to know anything about that. Kamiko smiled sadly.

"I forgot Master Ira told his Union." Kamiko said.

"Everybody knows about it by now. Half the rumors I hear are theories about the traitor." Ephemer said. He was looking at Kamiko with something close to worry.

"Any good ones?" Annora asked. Ephemer shook his head.

"Nope, just nonsense so far." He said. He looked at Kamiko who was frowning slightly. " What do you think Kamiko? You have to hear more than we do." He asked. She looked up at him still frowning.

"No solid leads. But several really weak ones." Kamiko admitted. She dropped down into the sewer hatch, that probably didn't really lead into the sewer, and began going down the ladder on the side. Ephemer and Annora exchanged looks before following Kamiko down the ladder. Ephemer went first, followed by Annora.

"Like how many?" Ephemer asked as they descended the ladder. Kamiko hummed to herself considering her response. The sound echoed off the walls, sounding out loudly.

"Twenty. At least." Kamiko decided.

"That's more leads than there are Foretellers." Annora pointed out as she reached the bottom. She was surprised they were in an open hall at the top of a set of stairs that went even farther down. Kamiko was looking at Annora with another sad frown. Kamiko must really hate all of this trouble going on.

"That's how unsure they are. No one has a clue." Kamiko admitted. Without another word, she went down the stairs. Ephemer and Annora looked at each other again. Ephemer only shrugged before going down the stairs after Kamiko. Annora stood where she was for a moment before following.

At the bottom of the stairs was an extensive hallway with gears all around. Annora assumed they must have been for running the clock on the tower. But she had no way of knowing for sure. Kamiko and Ephemer and spread out looking around. Annora decided to wander farther down the hall. She had hardly taken a step when a Heartless attacked her. Annora summoned her keyblade, Starlight.

She stared down the exact same Heartless Ephemer had been fighting. Annora quickly launched herself at it, bringing her keyblade across the Invisible. She landed several blows before the Invisible brought down its blade and sent her flying back. At that point, Ephemer and Kamiko noticed Annora's fight and drew their own keyblades. Ephemer's looked a lot like Annora's, while Kamiko's was yellow and gold with the teeth shaped to resemble a sun.

Ephemer charged the Invisible and used a string of attacks. Kamiko went to check on Annora, muttering a healing spell as she knelt beside Annora. As Annora stood the Invisible vanished into a poof of smoke. Ephemer turned to Annora with a proud smirk.

"There, now we're even." Ephemer stated. Annora grinned a little and held back a laugh.

"Thanks," Annora said. She walked past Ephemer, looking to go deeper into the tower.

"Wait I think we should come back later," Ephemer said, taking hold of Annora's arm. Annora looked at him in question. Ephemer was the last person she expected to hear that from. "It's taken us this long to find a way in and get this far. Think of how much longer it will take us to find that room. It's going to look suspicious to our union leaders if we're missing for too long. We know how to get in now. Let's just leave the rest for another day." Ephemer explained. Annora frowned. He did have a good point.

"I guess," Annora agreed reluctantly. "I don't feel like listening to Adianna." She decided.

"Ava has probably already noticed I'm gone." Kamiko admitted. Annora was surprised to hear her address the foreteller without her title. Adianna always called Ira, Master Ira, Annora had just assumed all lieutenants treated their masters with that respect.

"We may all be in different unions, but we're friends right?" Ephemer asked, seeing they had agreed with his suggestion.

"Yeah," Annora said, as if the statement was unnecessary. Ephemer grinned sheepishly at her.

"Of course," Kamiko said.

"Let's meet tomorrow at fountain square about noon. If you can that is." Ephemer said. Annora nodded in agreement without much thought. Even if Chirithy objected she was going to meet up with him again.

"I can," Annora said.

"I won't be able to. Union stuff. Be sure to tell me what you guys find." Kamiko said. Ephemer and Annora nodded in agreement.

*<3*

Skuld frowned looking around the town. After talking to Ephemer a few days ago she hadn't seen him. But she guessed that wasn't unusual. She could go weeks at a time without seeing Ephemer. Sometimes even longer. But recent rumors she had heard drove her to try and find him. She needed to hear his opinion on the matter.

Skuld couldn't find Ephemer anywhere. She sighed heavily leaning against a building. She was about to just give up and try again another day when she saw Takiko and Jax talking together. The two lieutenants weren't the most social, so the two of them together must have meant something. Skuld pulled away from the wall and approached the two.

"Hey Takiko," Skuld said as she approached them. Both turned their attention towards her, ceasing whatever their conversation had been. "Have you seen Ephemer?" Skuld asked. Takiko immediately frowned.

"What did he do now?" Takiko asked. Skuld laughed at his suspicion.

"Nothing, I was just looking for him." She said, brushing her hair back behind her ear. Takiko nodded, clearly thinking. He was hopefully trying to remember the last place he had seen Ephemer.

"Last I saw he was with Kamiko and a girl from Unicornis," Jax said calmly. Skuld sighed heavily and shook her head with a grin. Of course, he was up to something like that.

"I take back him not doing anything," Skuld said with a slight laugh. Takiko chuckled and nodded in agreement.

"Him and Kami together definitely spells trouble." He said. Skuld nodded looking between the lieutenants. She might not be able to find Ephemer, but these were probably the best sources for rumors. They heard almost everything that happened in the town.

"I heard a rumor I was wondering if you guys could confirm it," Skuld said suddenly. Takiko looked at her curiously, glancing at Jax to see his reaction. Jax looked at Skuld with his normal neutral expression.

"Depends on what it is." Takiko decided, turning his full attention back to Skuld.

"I heard there's a dark Chirithy running around town. Is it true?" She asked. Takiko and Jax looked at each other. Skuld could see a faint bit of panic in Takiko's eyes. That was all she needed to see to know it was true, but she pretended she didn't notice.

"I've heard that rumor too. But I've never seen it for myself." Takiko said. Skuld didn't know if he was lying or not but she decided not to ask.

"Nor have I." Jax agreed. Skuld nodded.

"I just thought I'd ask. I don't want to start panicking over a rumor." She said casually. She put a hand on her hip while motioning with her other hand.

"Was there any more to the rumor?" Takiko asked curiously.

"Yeah, that it belonged to one of the Foretellers," Skuld replied. Takiko looked at her in shock. Skuld continued explaining, furthering the shock on Takiko's face. "And that foreteller is stealing the light from other unions." She said.

"That's ridiculous," Jax said simply. Takiko nodded in agreement.

"I thought so too." Skuld agreed. " Well, I'd better go. I have missions I have to finish." She said.

"Good luck," Takiko said. Skuld nodded.

"Thanks." She said before leaving. She turned a corner and leaned against a wall, listening for Takiko and Jax to continue their conversation. There was a pause that was probably the two waiting to be sure she was out of earshot.

"That rumor was almost too accurate," Takiko said softly. Skuld tightened her lips into a frown. She wasn't surprised to hear that.

"The dark Chirithy might not be a Foretellers," Jax said. Skuld heard Takiko give a half chuckle as if he was amused by Jax's optimism.

"Maybe. But a dark Chirithy is what started this entire mess." Takiko said simply. There was no more sound after that, making it seem the conversation had ended. Skuld quietly pulled away from the wall and continued on her way. It was concerning to know there really was a dark Chirithy. She was rather fond of her own Chirithy, and the idea of one turning evil was sad.

Skuld sighed. Now she really wanted to find Ephemer.

*<3*

Annora sat on her bed, skimming over a book with a smile. Her Chirithy sat on the window sill watching her. The cat-like dream eater noticed her bright smile and gave a soft laugh.

"Someone looks happy. Tell me, tell me!" Chirithy said. Annora looked up at the Chirithy still grinning. She closed her book and set it off to the side.

"I met this boy named Ephemer, and we went around the town together trying to find a wa- a Heartless." Annora said. She covered up what they had really been doing, as Chirithy would probably scold her for. Chirithy's didn't like rule breaking.

"You made a new friend? That's great! No wonder you're smiling. I hear having friends is nice, but I wouldn't know because I don't have any." Chirithy said. Annora looked at the Chirithy in disbelief.

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Annora asked. Chirithy looked at her with its head tilted to the side.

"Huh? You? You're my friend?" Chirithy asked. Annora chuckled and nodded as if it were obvious. Which to her it was.

"Of course! You've helped me out a ton! That's what friends do." Annora said simply. Chirithy laughed it's pleasant laugh again.

"Thanks,"Chirithy said. Annora nodded before laying down and closing her eyes, hoping for peaceful sleep.