Unfinished Business [Narrative; FINISHED]

[Sanada Tomo]

[This takes place after 'Run this Town'.]

Since Tomoyo was in the Nigenkai, there were a few things that needed to be taken care of. It had been quite a while since she had visited any contacts that she may have had in the Mortal Realm Most of them were probably dead, she realized with a start--and such was the case with some of the ones that she didn't manage to find. There were a few widows and widowers that cried at the door when asked about their spouses, but Tomoyo tried to calm them to the best of her ability--this was the kind of thing that her resonance was to be used for in her opinion.

Specifically, two were no longer in the business--they'd stopped keeping up with international dealings when Tomoyo feel out of contact. Hence the reason why she had a feeling that the Devils Saints were going to be needed to complete the task. And she found that she was somewhat right. Then again, she hadn't dealt in issues concerning the Mortals for nothing; it was very easy for them to become disinterested with events happening even in their own neighborhoods. Many of them were self-absorbed.

Her search spanned approximately three weeks (Mortal Time) as she made her way around the world, stopping in cities and countries that seemed like a dream to her--a tinge of familiarity but long forgotten. Along the way she managed to purchase a cell phone with a contact--the personnel had been shocked when she offered to pay the bill in full. The difficulty, really, had been in providing an address. In the end, however, she ended up listing the address of the Flowershop that the Devil Saints used as a cover; she was sure that they wouldn't be too bothered by it. She was going to have to find a place to live on her own as a base of operation; she'd changed her address when she found a place.

If anything, her excursion to the Mortal Realm reminded her of how beautiful the world was. From the vast snowy tundras of Alaska to the scorching sun over the Mediterranean, Tomoyo found herself amazed at the innovation not only of the Humans in the Realm, but in the elements as well. Natural landmarks had always been Tomoyo's favorites. The Celestial Realm could only copy the ingenuity and natural beauty here.

She decided that she would base herself in Ankara. A beautiful city, bountiful in resources with a thriving traders market. The older antiques that she had stored at her castle would actually have the opportunity to serve as a type of currency here. It was a delightful prospect. While walking around, she found a lute--wooden with carved symbols on the sides. She paid for it and had its strings replaced [see the image at the top--it's clickable!] The instrument reminded her of the blue skinned Djinni back in her castle, kindly taking care of her son. She missed them both and she picked up a trinket for Rakeru--a cute plastic ball with sparkles inside of it.

She was taying in a nice luxury house that was not too far from a small lake. There was a quota on how much water could be used per weeks because the lake's size, and that was apparently the reason why the property had been hard to sell. But Tomoyo was not planning to have a household full of beings there. It would be a personal working place and perhaps a meeting location.

She rested a spell in Ankara, decorating the room in lush blues and silvers. It was a surprisingly modern house, with metal and glass fixtures. It was themed in white, which Tomoyo had noticed the wealthy locals seemed to covet as a color to represent their status. Her name in these parts was Yara Mihailov, and it was the same alias that her new home-phone was under as well as her cellular phone. Doing research on the format of legal documents was not a problem for her, and once she knew what they looked like she took her time in forging them. It would take either a light user--someone who could use electricity to manipulate computers--or a mind user to manipulate those who ran the system to get her information through. She wanted to get things done as quickly as possible.

There was a bit of networking to do--finding other groups of magical creatures and being to work and ally with. It wasn't difficult; she knew that there were plenty of Jin and Youkai in these parts--particularly Tokage and Hebi Youkai, and perhaps some Tori. She would simply have to take the time to find them. Until then she would just have to avoid the authorities and use her personal resonance as influence. She didn't like to do business in that way in the Mortal Realm, but it couldn't be helped for now. She'd be on the straight and narrow in a month or two, anyway.

[Sanada Tomo]

Tomoyo didn't like being away from her family for too long--and her family had come to consist of Avalon, Migoto and her child, Rakeru. She worried constantly, and she was reminded of when Cielle had been young and just as vulnerable. But Cielle, when the girl had lived with Tomoyo, had been with her constantly. Cielle had even been in the castle on the evening that she (he, at the time) had proposed to Ren--

She took a deep breath as she walked through the streets of Ankara; today she was headed to the airport, to move further east. There were more contacts still to investigate. Luckily, there weren't any troubles with her alias there (after she'd gotten the paperwork) and her journey was unhindered. The streets were busy, and so her taxicab ride was rhythmically slow, but she got there in time. She did not carry a single bag on her, and her still-short hair caught the light and shined. The cab could only get so close to the airport, and she had to walk a little ways, but it wasn't bad. Not by a longshot, and Tomoyo--a bit nervous for a reason that she couldn't explain--double-checked her identification.

"Hello, Ms. Silver hair."

Tomoyo immediately whipped around to the voice, her senses tensing as she looked and extended her magic to feel around her for an attack. There was nothing in the vicinity that she could feel, but the woman who had called her name was leisurely sitting in the shrubbery near the airport.



Tomoyo said nothing; she didn't know anything about this woman, who she was or how much she knew. She wore a simple white dress and colored gym shoes, with her hand under her chin in a condescending way. She stood there, silent, waiting; alert.

"So, would you like to explain what it is that you're going to do?" The woman asked, her eyes keeping steady on Tomoyo. "It's not every day that a foreign woman with no ties whatsoever to the country visits and buys a several thousand dollar home on the lakefront. Nice silver hair, by the way; very noticeable."

The woman didn't move, and neither did Tomoyo. "No thank you," she said, "I would rather not miss my flight."

"I hope that you think I'm going to believe that. I'm sure you could reschedule another one. It shouldn't be difficult for someone like you."

Tomoyo laughed--this woman was human, no magic. "A person like me?"

The girl nodded. "We're watching," she said. "I don't know what it is about you, but it's strange. You will not go unnoticed. I'd advise you to come clean now before you make an enemy."

"...are you alone, then?"

The woman smiled and rose to begin walking away. "I'm sure I'll be around if you want to actually explain what it is that you're doing here. Don't waste my time otherwise." Tomoyo contemplated stopping her, but the Hellion King didn't want to to bother having to possibly use force. She couldn't tell if any of the other humans nearby were with her, and without any magic to detect she couldn't be accurate. There was nothing to do but wait to see if that woman--or whomever she worked with--would be investigating her anytime soon. She was trying to be surreptitious, and it wouldn't be difficult for anyone else to track her if she went about abducting anyone who found her suspicious.

Tomoyo proceeded warily into the airport, keeping alert for any signs of her being followed. She was aware of the cameras that covered the location, but she did want to cover her trail as much as possible. She checked her watch, wondering if there was a flight leaving sooner so that she could get out of Ankara as soon as possible. She was going to deal with this threat as soon as she returned, but other things were beginning to weigh on her mind.