[Snowy]

The waitress looks at the man with a stare that gives away nothing. Then, rather hesitantly, she speaks, "I think you had better talk to Sissy. Would you like me to show you her room?"

[Darkness]

".. 'Kay."

[Snowy]

The waitress took the dark cloaked man's hand and headed for the beaded doorway on the otherside of the pole. As the entered, there was a very pungent odor of exotic oils and scented perfumes. There was a large four poster bed in the middle, and surrounding it was a u-shaped counter. On the surface of the counter there is a large variety of bottles, the smalles no large than a tear drop, the largest dominating one corner of the room.

One the bed, there laid a woman. She had beautiful blond hair, a full chest, and red pouty lips. The dark cloaked man was surprised to see that she was blind. When the waitress announced their presence, the woman's happy demanour turned sour. The waitress seemed nervous, and she slipped silently back through the curtain of beads, eager to leave.

"Well, what do you want? If you came here looking for some cheap pleasure, you're talking to the wrong girl and I suggest, in that case, that you leave. Before you become seprated from your gonads."

[Darkness]

As the waitress took the dark cloaked man's gloved hand, he allowed himself to be lead across the tent and into one of the beaded-doorway rooms. His eyes first saw the counter with the numerous strange bottles. He wondered what they were, but due to the nature of this entire place... he could think of a few things they could be. But he did not dwell on the matter; it was not important.

His eyes next turned to the bed, and the woman upon it. The dark cloaked man allowed himself only but a moment to admire her scantily clad body. He was not here for that sort of thing. And even if he was the sort of man who often came to such places for that sort of thing, which he was not, the task he came here for far outweighed any yearning he could possibly feel in his body.

The dark cloaked man listened as the waitress announced their presence, and took note of her nervous demeanour. As the woman spoke, he raised one eyebrow. This woman was in a place designed for desperate men, lying with hardly a stitch of clothing in a bed, and she was acting as if she were some dignified noblewoman, accustomed to telling people what to do. Strange indeed.

"I am looking for Nikolaos Nero."

[Snowy]

The blind woman's face was overcome with fear. She whispered so quietly that the dark cloaked man could barely hear her. "Where did you hear that name?" But this was apparently unimportant, because before he had a chance to answer, she rose up off of the bed. She walked over to the man, and when she got there she moved her face close enough to feel his breath on her bare skin. She brought her hands up, and the man noticed that they were scarred. Love lines, life lines, all had been cut. Brutally, and from the looks of it, more than once. The woman felt his face, and after she had a picture in her mind of what he looked like, she gasped. Then a smile rose to his face.

"I wouldn't have guessed that you, of all people, would be looking for him. I know exactly why too, even if you may not. I may be blind to the colors of the world, but I can still see. Do you still desire to find this man?"

[Darkness]

Fear. What was it about that name that caused fear? Who was this Nero, that he had been sent to find? And as she asked her question, he wondered if he could even tell her why he sought the man. A quest from the King, it was, but could he tell her that? He did not know this woman, and therefore she could not be trusted. He opened his mouth to tell her some lie, though as he did he still did not know what he was going to say, and he hoped whatever came out was semi-plausible. But he stopped himself as she rose from the bed.

She moved towards him, and the dark cloaked man was forced to bend his neck down. She was only a few inches shorter than him, but at this minuscule distance even that short difference made it so he had to look down at her to look her in the eyes -- or at least, where the eyes would be, had she not been wearing a strip of cloth to cover them. It still seemed the most natural part of her to look at, however.

Some men would feel uncomfortable at having a strange, barely clothed woman so close to them, but it did not phase the dark cloaked man. As she reached up and began feeling his face, however, he almost took a step back. Yet his mind registered what she was trying to do, and he stopped.

How did she know who he was? Even if she had managed to create a decent image in her mind of what he looked like, how could she know? The dark cloaked man was sure he had never seen her before. Yet as strange as this was, he still had to find Nero...

"I still seek Nikolaos Nero."

[Snowy]

"Very well Hero." She seemed to say this mockingly. She stepped away from him, and turned her back. "If you wish to find Nero you must go to Aderon. He answers to the man in charge there, and him only. Chances are, he is somewhere around the castle. But be warned, this man is dangerous. If you see him he has most likely seen you first. Stay in the shadows, and don't under any circumstances confront him when he is alone." With that she went to her bed and lay down again.

[Darkness]

Aderon... Nikolaos Nero was in Aderon? Surely the dark cloaked man should have heard of Nero, then, if he was so high up. He had been quite familiar with the "man in charge", six years ago, before he was King. Perhaps Nero was a recent addition to the King's close servants. Nevertheless, the dark cloaked man would find him.

Having no more to learn from the blind woman, he turned on his heel and headed for the beaded entryway.

[Snowy]

The woman said nothing as he left the room.

[Darkness]

The dark cloaked man headed for the entrance of the tent, and once he was outside, he apprehended the fat man and demanded his jewels.

[Snowy]

"What jewels?!" Carla yelled at the top of his lungs.

[Darkness]

"..."

In one smooth motion, the dark cloaked man drew the white steel dagger from his cloak, slashed the man across the throat, and then grabbed the falling man's body for a moment to wipe the blood off the blade. Then allowing the corpse to fall to the ground, he searched the pockets of the fat man's clothes, took his jewels, and disappeared before anyone could stop him. He was headed for Aderon!