She opened her eye slowly. Sun shine streamed into the open window. The light seemed physically painful. She didn't recognize the surroundings; the only thing she was certain of was that it wasn't her room. Scattered around the room was pieces of the Shadow uniforms, lying as though carelessly tossed. She remembered vaguely dropping it on the floor. She tried to sit up, only to collapse on the pillows. Sifyi lifted his head, from where he was asleep on top of one of the black tunics. He blinked slowly with his mouth opening in a wide yawn. She groaned and rolled over...

...Smacking Destruction in the head as she turned. He grunted but kept his eyes firmly closed against the glare of the sun. Chaos thought about it and realized she couldn't remember when she had come to his room. Suddenly realizing she was wearing nothing but her skin, she realized there might be other things she had forgotten as well.

Chaos lay back against the soft pillow and thought briefly of the events that had led her here. Well, not in Destruction's bed, but in general. She had never imagined, when she was a girl called Kerianna, that this would be her future as she stood on the auction block. Looking over the crowd gathered to purchase slaves, she had no idea that she, a Nami Clansmen would become a spy called Chaos. But Fate had intervened on her behalf causing Nemesis to lose his temper and purchase her, merely to spite someone else. As punishment for his irrational moment, he had been forced to sponsor her through the grueling Shadow training by the Lord of the Shadows, a man called Thanatos. To give her a well-rounded education, she had also studied with the Courtesans.

Since his focus had been her native people, Destruction had been blackmailed by Nemesis to teach her the language. Over the course of working together, they had become friends. Destruction had also participated in her Courtesan Ritual, and had made it quite clear that he wanted more then friendship from her. Chaos didn't know how she felt about that.

"What did I do last night?" Kerianna...no, Chaos asked herself. She tried to keep her voice low to avoid irritating her surprisingly sensitive head. Destruction chuckled evilly in response to her question. Turning her head, she looked at him and debated smacking him in the head with pillow. After a moment of silent debate, she finally decided against that, but only because it required movement.

"Thank you." He said, eyes still shut. His mouth opened in an audible yawn.

"For what?" she asked.

"Not hitting me in the head with your pillow." He smiled. "And, what you did last night, was get roaring drunk to celebrate your graduation into the Shadows."

"I seem to have trouble remembering a lot of last night." She told the ceiling. It was Destruction that answered, "You and your year mates don't hold your beer well." He shrugged-which impressed Chaos because she had never seen anyone shrug while lying down. Turning her gaze back to the ceiling, she struggled through the hazy moments in a futile attempt at remembering what had happened.

"Did I really sing?" she whispered, feeling her stomach sink, as fragments of the night came back to her. She winced at the memory.

"You tried to." Destruction told her, wincing at his memory of it. She covered her head with the pillow and groaned. A knock on the door caused her to sit back up. She pulled the covers over her body when the person walked in. Mayhem chuckled to see a flash of skin as Chaos dove beneath the covers. Destruction yawned again and opened one of his eyes to look at his friend. With a slight grimace, he closed one eye and squinted the other.

"Good morning you two." Mayhem chirped, enjoying the pair's obvious discomfort. Chaos's head poked out from under the covers and she frowned at him. She eyed Mayhem cautiously, waiting for him to say something to make her angry. He seemed to be amused when he could make her lose her temper. For some odd reason, he was also capable of making her lose her temper quicker then anyone else she had encountered since arriving in Anganoc. He seemed content to stand there, not even giving her a strange look. With a frown, she waited for him to deliver his comments. When several seconds passed and he had yet to say anything, her frowned deepened.

"Why are you not suffering?" She demanded. He looked at her, almost surprised she asked.

"I suffered enough when you tried to sing." He told her. She groaned and put the covers back over her head. Destruction and Mayhem both chuckled at her pain. Chaos vowed silently never to leave the safety of the blankets.

"For some reason, Mayhem never seems to get sick the morning after drinking a lot." Destruction's voice came through the thin blanket.

"I guess I'm lucky." Chaos knew without looking that Mayhem was shrugging.

"I need new friends." She muttered to herself in Nami. She removed the covers over her head. She looked over at Mayhem, "When did we become friends?" Destruction finally opened his eyes to respond.

"Last night." He yawned, "The two of you had a real heart to heart."

"Look you two, I'd love to stay and fill in the gaps in your memory, but that could take all morning. Anyway, I'm hungry. And we should probably get Chaos some lunch." Mayhem watched the girl turn three shades whiter as she thought about food.

"Really, it will help you to eat something. I'll wait for you both in the hall." Mayhem closed the door behind him. Chaos crawled from the bed and pulled her uniform toward her. The odors that rose from it didn't help her stomach.

"I had a page bring a clean uniform in your size. It's on the table by the chair. Destruction told her. She looked over to see him watching her. She smiled at his thoughtfulness and pulled the clean smelling uniform on.

"I'd advise you to bathe before smelling your hair," he told her as he stretched. A faint odor rose to her nostrils confirming what Destruction had told her. She grabbed her dark red hair and quickly braided it, holding her breath. She finished dressing and looked back at him. After dressing, she looked over at Destruction to find him watching her.

"Why are you staring at me?" she looked down at herself to see if she had put her clothes on backwards. Finding nothing amiss, she looked back at him for an answer.

"Well, I've seen you undress-Hell, I've helped you undress-but I've never seen you put clothes on." He told her in Nami.

"Well, now I'm dressed, and you are not. Get up, and let's go eat." She answered, pouncing on the bed.

A page with intercepted them on their search for food. He presented Chaos with her first summons. She took the small cardboard square from the page. He bowed slightly, then turned and silently disappeared down the hallway. She looked at the card, and then turned to the other two. Mayhem was chuckling at her, and she longed to smack him in the nose.

"Go! Thanatos comes before food. We'll meet up with you later!" Destruction told her. She trotted off toward the direction of Thanatos office.

Nervously, she presented the card to Fury. His face was completely blank, but Chaos knew that he didn't approve of a Nami slave rising into the Shadows. She sighed to herself as he disappeared into Thanatos office to announce her. It occurred to her that it would probably take awhile for her to gain acceptance from the majority of the current Shadows, if she ever could gain it from all of them.

"Lord Thanatos is expecting you. Go through that door there." Fury told her. Smiling, she thanked him. Not waiting to hear his response, she entered Thanatos office.

She drew a deep breath as she entered Thanatos office. Although she had heard about Thanatos, this was her first meeting with him. She couldn't help but feel a little nervous to meet a man who was practically a legend among the Shadows. Wide-eyes she looked around the room. She didn't know what she expected of the Lord of the Shadows office, but it wasn't what lay behind the door. The room was amazingly barren, giving no sign of the man who practically ruled the kingdom from it. Any bit of information, news and even gossip passed through this office with no permanent marks on its interior. She stood on the expensive carpet before the massive desk. The desk seemed to make Thanatos seem smaller then he really was. Thanatos himself was a disappointment. He had the dark hair and eyes that were so common among the Anganoc's. Although he was taller then her, he was still shorter then most of the men she had seen. He didn't seem like the powerful spy and assassin who had risen through the ranks. He seemed, well...forgettable.

While Chaos studied Thanatos, he studied her. He noticed that she was holding her breath, and he smiled inwardly. She had grown taller and gained self-confidence, that he could tell by the way she held herself. Even though she had celebrated with her year mates the night before, it had left hardly a mark on her. She had grown prettier in the past year, and her braided hair hung down to the middle of her back. Her green eyes were large, although temporarily dwarfed by the bags under them.

"Chaos, congratulations on achieving the rank of D-rank Shadow." he told her, allowing faint smile to touch his lips. She smiled weakly at him, obviously nervous. His smile fell away from his lips and his features settled back into their usual serious manner.

"A job has come up that you can do. Good way to get your feet wet. Up North of Krynica are High Lord Ditorian's lands."

"High Lord Ditorian, the High Duke of Hynit-is that right?" Chaos asked, racking her brains for the information. Thanatos nodded, and then continued, "Ditorian has invited several high ranking people to his home. They are being a bit too secretive for my taste. I want you to run up there and tell me what is going on. I want details, as much information as you can give me. I need to know everything. What he is up to, who is there, what they say, what they eat. Everything. Do you understand?" He asked.

"Yes, sir. I understand." She told him. He listened closely to her, looking for any fault in her language. Destruction had succeeded better then he had hoped, she had the slightest accent-only those who looked for it would hear it. He allowed himself to smile slightly at the girl.

"The meeting is in two weeks. Do you think you can get in there?" He waited while she thought about it. After a moment, she nodded. He waved her off, not even waiting to watch her salute sharply, and gave his attention back to the paper on his desk.

Chaos returned to her room after the meeting with Thanatos. Nemesis wasn't in his room, so Chaos went to get a bath before anything else. After bathing, she returned to her room. Nemesis had returned while she was in the tub, and after hearing Chaos moving around her room, he poked his head in.

"Did you have fun last night?" he asked. Chaos looked up from where she sat near her window brushing her hair.

"I thought I saw you there last night." She said. He smiled at her and crossed over to sit at the foot of her bed. She lowered her brush, and looked at her sponsor. He was still the tall, lean hawk-faced man she remembered, although his hair had a bit more gray in it then when he had purchased her two years ago. "I left before you and your year mates were too drunk." He laughed at the girl's wince. "Don't worry about it. I don't think anyone remembers their graduation night."

"Even you?" she asked, in mock surprise.

"Even me. Thanatos was very excited on that night, and kept filling my mug when I wasn't looking." Nemesis smiled at the memory, "Thanatos knew he wasn't going to remember too much, and decided if he wasn't going to remember, then neither was I."

"Thanatos was one of your year mates?" Chaos asked. Nemesis nodded. She shook her head, "I can't imagine him being anyone's year mate."

"Well, he was. And probably more of a trouble maker then Destruction and Mayhem ever were." Nemesis told her. Snorting in disbelief, she gave him a skeptical look.

"Not to change the subject, I received my first summons today." She told him.

"So soon? Usually you get a short rest before a job." Nemesis frowned. Although they never discussed it, she knew that at first he had resented being forced to sponsor her. He saw her as a replacement for his first trainee, Scandal. That had been Scandal, who was also his son. Scandal, who had been his son, had died on his first mission after graduating into the Shadows. The death had affected him deeply, and Chaos doubted he'd ever really get over the loss. She knew he was a bit nervous about her first job.

"I think something really easy came up. Thanatos said it would be a good chance to get my feet wet. I am running up to Hynit to snoop on some nobles." She said it lightly, trying to calm his unease.

"Snoop?" Nemesis asked, looking a little injured.

"What did I say wrong?" she frowned as she thought about what she had said. Although she was almost fluent, she still made mistakes.

"Snoop is such a childish word." Nemesis protested.

"Isn't that what we do? Snoop on people?"

"Well, yes. But, snooping is what amateurs do. We're professionals Chaos. Use the correct words." He told her firmly. She just grinned at him. He rolled his eyes and sighed.