“Why would he want to go?” Zurui asked disbelievingly. “He’d hate to travel, wouldn’t he?”

“He refuses to tell me where the sage is at right now. Not only that,” he darkly added, “Celsus has decided to block his mind from me so that I can’t read his mind and get the information myself.”

“Is he actually willing to get dirty on the road with such commoners like us?”

“He told me that he would be willing to do anything if it meant finally getting rid of Uragiri.”

Celsus then added, “I still stand by that as well. I shall do whatever I can to help defeat that no-good bastard.”

“You’re coming with us too?” a girl’s startled voice asked from the top of the staircase. Everyone glanced up to see the newly healed runaway enter the room at long last.

Zurui was right; the outfit he had made for her really did flatter her. The fabric in the shirt was comfortably snug to her body without looking too tight or too loose, and the skirt gently rippled its way down her legs to end a few inches below her knees. The emerald color of the pattern truly brought out her own green eyes, and the blue fabric looked very good next to her slightly tan complexion. Zurui shot her a big smile, and the other two men had to admit that she looked pretty in the ensemble.

She smiled shyly at the gentlemen on the bottom floor as she approached them with an air of self-consciousness around her. Once she reached the floor, she looked down at herself critically, unsure of what exactly to say about her new appearance. The younger brother, however literally swept the embarrassed runaway off her feet and pulled her into a huge bear-hug, whispering into her ear, “You look perfect, my dear.” When he set her back down on her feet, Zurui saw that the girl was blushing but smiling at the same time. Quietly, she thanked him before turning back to the other two Immortals in the room.

“Celsus is coming with us?” Tôbôsha questioned yet again.

“Yes, little girl, I shall accompany you on your journey to see the sage, seeing as I am the only one who knows of the sage’s whereabouts,” the pompous Immortal explained.

“Well, then I guess it’s ok,” the runaway replied doubtfully. Deep down, however, the girl was thinking, ~Why do we really need him? Couldn’t Kisai or Zurui use their magic to find the sage for themselves?~

As soon as she thought that, she caught something out of the corner of her eye. Turning quickly to see what it was, the girl noticed something glowing on the marble mantle in the next room. Cocking her head to the side a little, she walked over quietly towards the mantle. All the Immortals present watched her carefully as she looked on top of the mantle to see the source of the glowing light.

It was just a deck of cards. Strangely enough, not all of the cards were even giving off the eerie glow. Only one card was glowing. She removed the shimmering card from the deck to examine it better. The back of the card was black with a silver lined design decorating the side elegantly. In the middle of the design was a symbol that she had not yet learned to recognize. The card was still shining brightly, so she turned the card over to study the card’s face.

Kisai had stood up from his seat on the sofa to get a better look at what the girl was scrutinizing. Amazed, he looked at Celsus. “You still have that card set around?”

“Well, obviously I do still have it,” Celsus smugly pointed out. “Although I do not quite remember why I decided to keep those cards around.” All the Immortals looked back at the girl, who seemed to be a bit shocked at what she had just seen on the card’s face. “Tell us, what did the card tell you?” Celsus asked curiously.

Tôbôsha started hesitantly, not quite sure as to how to describe her bizarre experience. “There were words on the other side. They said, ‘Though the wealthy cat be more closely related to a donkey, he is necessary to seek the being you search for. Neither the wolf nor the weasel have the knowledge nor the strength to use such powers to seek for the ocean.’ Wait, now the words have disappeared again.” Looking to the group of men in bafflement, she asked, “What exactly are these cards? They‘re all blank on the face side now.”

Immediately, a different card started glowing in her hands. Eagerly, she turned it over and quickly scanned the words on the face side. “We are the Cards of Knowledge. We know everything there is to be known in all of Creation, be it either past, present, or future. Never before has our information been proven wrong, though many find they can not handle our honesty.” As quickly as the words had appeared, the words shimmered and disappeared, leaving the face of that card once again blank.

“Those cards have been around almost since the beginning of time,” Kisai explained further. “They can be very brutal when they give out information, as well as very insulting. Not only that, they do not always answer to every question asked of them. Indeed, they are one of the worst things around when it comes to giving advice or help to those who need it.” Disgusted, the Immortal admitted, “I can’t deny the fact that what little information they do give is always correct.”

“Celsus,” Zurui asked, swiftly changing the subject, “have you packed your things yet? We’d like to start traveling as soon as possible.”

“Oh, it should not take me too terribly long,” Celsus began, “but if you insist, I shall start packing immediately.”

“Bring only what you can carry yourself,” Kisai warned him, but the haughty Immortal left without showing any acknowledgement that Kisai had said anything.

“Can I bring these along?” Tôbôsha asked the tall Immortal, motioning to the cards. “I’m curious to see if maybe they’ll provide at least some help along the way.”

“As long as you take care of them, I don’t care what you do with them.”

Zurui sat down in a sofa close to the two. “Now all we gotta do is wait for Celsus to get ready.”

Kisai groaned. “This could take a long time.”

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