Luco blinked at the sunlight reflecting off the waves. He glanced around the painfully familiar beach, only faintly surprised at being back here. He spotted the old van and headed over.

"Luco!" He swiveled towards the voice, already smiling from ear to ear.

"Mom!" Luco bounded over, lowering his head so she could pat it.

"You really need to stop getting taller," Lin Bo said teasingly. "Pania'll keep growing just to spite you and the two of you will eat through my savings soon enough."

As if on cue, Luco's stomach grumbled loudly. He let out a whine.

Lin Bo tilted her head back, laughing freely towards the sun. Luco's heart squeezed painfully at the sight.

"Alright, kiddo. Let's go get something to eat," she said. He nodded mutely and she glanced at him.

"What's wrong? You're awfully quiet today," Lin Bo ruffled his hair as they settled into the car.

"I'm fine, just hungry," Luco managed. Lin Bo nodded, turning onto the highway. Luco moved to turn on the radio. She promptly turned it off.

"Are you upset about something?" Lin Bo asked. Luco looked at her profile, taking in the sight he'd missed for so long.

"Mom, why won't you teach me?" He asked in a small voice. Lin Bo sighed deeply.

"Luco, you're my son. I don't need you to be great, I just want you to live well," she said. Luco swallowed his bitterness at the familiar words.

"That's not really an explanation, Mom," Luco said. Lin Bo let out another deep sigh.

"There's a lot about me that you and Pania don't know," Lin Bo said softly, "Especially about my youth. It also has to do with your father."

"It's the Order of the Flying Dragons, right? I don't understand, they're back now and it's not all that, just what was it that made you keep it from me until the end?" Luco demanded.

"That's not how things were when you were born," Lin Bo said after a long silence. "There's a reason they're building from scratch now, there simply aren't any members left."

"Like Spade?" Luco asked. Lin Bo glanced at him in surprise.

"Spade? I was actually going to talk to you about him," Lin Bo said.

"What does that mean?" Luco asked, a feeling of dread growing in his stomach. "Talk about what?"

Lin Bo stayed quiet until they pulled over into the clearing before their house. Luco squinted at the two children playing in the yard, their faces and forms blurry.

"Where's Pania?" he asked.

"She's playing right there, isn't she?" Lin Bo gave him a long look. "And so are you."

And suddenly Luco was short again, looking up at Lin Bo from a much lower perspective.

"Mom," he called in alarm, voice high and childish again.

"Come meet your father," Lin Bo said gently, taking his small hand in hers as she guided him towards the house. She smiled as the door opened, a tall man stepping out. Luco's jaw dropped as he gaped at the familiar face.

"There you are, Spade," Lin Bo said lovingly, "Come and greet your son." Spade turned towards Luco, kneeling down to look at Luco fondly.

"Luco, I am your father," Spade said. Luco backed away, shaking his head furiously.

"Nope, no way," Luco said firmly. "Hell no!"

"No!" Luco screamed as Spade reached towards him, stumbling backward. He slammed his arm into the wall as he flailed awake.

Luco shot up, gasping for air as he glanced around wildly. His apartment was silent and empty, the light of passing cars flickering in through the blinds. Luco was drenched in sweat, his t-shirt clinging uncomfortably to his body. He tried to still his pounding heart and reached for his phone.

After it rang a few times, Pania picked up.

"Bro, what is it?!" Pania demanded. "It's 3 am!"

"Pania," Luco choked out, "I'm scared."

----------------------------------------

Kiyoko slowed as she entered the harbor area. She stopped in front of a car, peering into its side mirrors. She carefully straightened her clothes, making sure her biker jacket was neat enough before she headed into the building.

The modest office building was completely unremarkable other than the banner of a golden dragon hanging from its roof, but Kiyoko still felt a thrill of excitement as she headed in.

A pretty receptionist at the front desk directed her to the fifth floor, where the Operational Director's office was. Kajio smiled and greeted Kiyoko as she entered, quickly waving off her ninety-degree bow.

"What did you want to see me for, Director?" Kiyoko tentatively asked.

"I want you act as a bodyguard for the Chairman," Kajio said with a smile. Kiyoko gaped. Her? For the spirit-sent? Did they want her to fight spirits with an ashtray or something?

"Director, I'm really honored by the offer, but I'm not a shaman," she protested weakly. She didn't think lobbing a fire extinguisher at a ward would be that helpful.

"You do not need to be," Kajio replied immediately. He held up a hand to cut off further protests. "The Chairman is more than capable of handling any shaman or spirit-related threats. What I'm more worried about are physical threats. As you may have noticed, the Chairman is not experienced in physical combat."

Kiyoko nodded.

"We left the Chairman's safety to the Vice-Chair in the past, but that'll be changing now. In this organization, the Vice-Chair is the only one who may make decisions on behalf of the Chairman if she is not present. It won't be efficient, or even possible, for the Vice-Chair to always be at the Chairman's side as the organization grows. Which brings us to you," Kajio smiled at Kiyoko.

She gulped. "Me? I have street fighting experience, and I'll definitely do my best at this job, but shouldn't you at least assign a few other people? Is it really alright to leave it to me?"

Kajio paused, expression unchanging as he looked at her. "You were chosen by the Chairman," Kajio finally said, "So I'll entrust the Chairman to you. I'm sure you'll do fine."

Kiyoko tried to fix her poorly concealed expression of doubt and bowed. "Thank you Director! I am truly grateful for this opportunity."

Kajio nodded and clicked something on his tablet. Kiyoko's phone chimed with an incoming text.

"That's the Chairman's contact number and address. A lot of things happened last night, so she should still be at her apartment right now. Why don't you go report in there? I'm sure she'll be happy to see you," Kajio said.

"Understood, Director. I'll take my leave then," Kiyoko replied. She hurriedly left, thoughts blurring inside her head as she robotically input the address into the GPS and headed over.

The Chairman's bodyguard? Kiyoko hadn't expected anything better than a security guard position even if Joyce had shown some interest during the interview. And that whole thing about the Vice-Chair...she shook her head furiously and then lightly slapped her cheek. It didn't matter. Her job was her job, she'd just do it properly.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Despite her newfound determination, Kiyoko still ground to a halt outside the apartment. The door and window were missing.

There was a newspaper messily taped over the window and what looked like a bath towel with some knockoff version of a Pikachu pattern covering part of the door. What the hell happened here? Was she supposed to ward against whatever had caused...she squinted at the hinges.

The hinges were melted.

Kiyoko gulped, dragging her heels as her prospects of surviving began to look bleaker and bleaker. Just as she prepared to enter, the bath towel moved, the cute Pokemon ruthlessly swatted aside by a glowering man with a sword on his belt. Kiyoko's brain short-circuited and she nearly spat out a glob of saliva as greeted him.

"Good morning Vice-Chair!" she shouted, bowing sharply. "Sugiwara Kiyoko reporting in for duty!"

"Get up, you're acting like we're in the mafia," Spade snapped. Kiyoko hastily straightened. Spade stared at her, looking into her eyes with a fierce expression.

"Apologies, Vice-Chair," Kiyoko said sheepishly, frozen under the swordsman's piercing gaze.

"I'm leaving Joyce's safety to you. When I'm not around, protect her with all you've got," Spade said. Kiyoko forced herself to nod as Spade strode past her. She looked at the towel fearfully, silently praying for the cute character to give her strength.

Kiyoko gathered her courage and knocked on the doorframe, carefully lifting the towel to enter the apartment. She blinked in surprise at the piles of wood and glass on the floor.

"Oh, hey!" Joyce called out as she emerged from the kitchen. Joyce grinned broadly as Kiyoko promptly bowed.

"Good morning Chairman! Sugiwara Kiyoko reporting in for duty!" Kiyoko said, with a little less gusto this time. She straightened to Joyce's beaming face.

The Chairman really was young, at least two or three years younger than Kiyoko. Looking at Joyce up close, Kiyoko couldn't help but feel a little doubtful that this was the most powerful shaman alive.

"I thought I heard you shouting that outside," Joyce said cheerfully. "Anyways, great to have you here. You're going to be my bodyguard, right? Are you alright with that job?"

"Yes, Chairman. I'm deeply honored by this opportunity," Kiyoko replied.

"You're really polite for someone who put street fighting on their resume. Do you really carry a fork around or were you just saying that? Anyway, I'm glad you're alright with it. I would've felt bad for requesting you otherwise," Joyce said.

Kiyoko froze. The Chairman had requested her? Did Kiyoko's resume leave such a deep impression? She didn't even remember telling Joyce that she'd used a fork before. Kiyoko realized she was staring without speaking a word and quickly snapped out of it.

"Thank you, Chairman," she replied, internally wincing at the stiff tone that came out.

"Relax, I don't really get into that much trouble," Joyce gave her a thumbs up. "It won't be too hard."

"I'll do my best," Kiyoko replied. "May I ask why Chairman chose me? I'm sure there are applicants with more experience."

"Instinct, I guess. Don't think too much about it, that's how I chose the Operational Director too," Joyce said casually. She glanced down at her rumpled clothes and put down her cup. "Hold on, I'll get changed so we can head over." Joyce promptly left before Kiyoko could say anything. Now that she thought about it, the Operational Director wasn't a shaman.

Kiyoko waited, awkwardly looking around the apartment as politely as she could. Joyce burst out from one of the doors, wearing a slightly wrinkled set of robes.

"You want to use the bathroom or drink some water before we leave?" Joyce asked, kicking on her sandals. Kiyoko decided not to comment on Joyce's missing sock and choice of footwear.

"I'm alright," Kiyoko said. She followed Joyce out of the house, glancing doubtfully back at the broken door and window. Then again, there were probably wards in place. Kiyoko decided not to comment.

"We've gone through a huge expansion recently, but things are only going to get more hectic from here," Joyce said as they stepped onto the subway car.

Kiyoko tried not to wince. What kind of Chairman took the subway? Even restaurant managers would drive or take a motorbike. Given the general rundown energy their leadership gave off, it would be a miracle if things weren't hectic.

They got off the subway, moving through the crowd with ease as people shied away. Joyce didn't seem to notice, waving cheerfully at an elderly snack vendor who returned the gesture.

"What do you think about blackmailing politicians?" Joyce asked suddenly. Kiyoko physically froze for a moment before snapping back to reality.

"Whatever the Chairman decides," Kiyoko replied, heart pounding in her chest as she tried to figure out if she'd failed some test. Joyce only flashed a grin.

"I'm glad," Joyce said cryptically, leaving Kiyoko to second-guess everything as the shaman walked ahead. Just what the hell had she gotten herself into?

----------------------------------------

Pania sighed deeply for the third time in ten minutes at the bad timing of Luco's plea. The six-foot-tall overgrown child behind her tugged on her sleeve with a pleading expression, and she sighed for the fourth time.

"You know you might get a sword through the chest? Given everything that went down last night I'd be shaking if they didn't do that," Pania snapped. Luco turned his puppy eyes towards her.

"It's really important to me! Also, you won't let me get stabbed, right?" Luco pleaded. She gave up.

"Fine, let's go then," Pania sighed, dragging Luco forward as she marched towards where Spade was organizing new recruits by the docks.

Taeyun had told them that Spade had been a spirit for a while now, but he hadn't given a specific time. If they got stabbed and the math didn't even match she'd toss Luco's anime collection into the harbor.

Before she could call out to him, the swordsman whirled towards her with a calm expression on his face that didn't match the rage rippling off him in waves.

Pania stopped for a second, quenching the fight-or-flight instinct crackling through her nervous system before nodding for him to come over. Spade shifted his grip on his sword to draw as he walked over.

"You've got guts to show your face before me," Spade said coldly. "I ought to run you through with my sword right here and now."

"I somehow doubt that's your best choice," Pania grit out, readying for a counter-attack. "Or that Joyce would approve."

"I'm allowed to make decisions on her behalf when she isn't present," Spade said, grip tightening on the sword's hilt.

Pania sighed. This wasn't going to get anywhere if they stuck to the typical script.

"I wasn't involved and didn't know what was going on until someone told me," Pania shot right back. Spade's lips curled back in a snarl.

"Somehow I find that hard to believe," he gave them a look of utter disdain. Luco actually physically shrank back a little.

"I'm known for being impulsive," Pania said. "They wouldn't tell me about this since I've worked with you guys. I don't know what they actually did. You think they'd have told me anything else?"

She watched as Spade's face shut down into a cold mask again, frustration balling in her stomach. It wasn't as though she could actually deny culpability. She'd even recommended this course of action before, though she didn't get exactly what Taeyun could've done to result in the energy readings last night that wrecked the recording equipment.

"He didn't even tell his protégé?" Spade scoffed. "What a careful man, he sure doesn't put his eggs in one basket." Pania carefully kept her expression neutral.

"I came because Luco wanted to ask you something," Pania said.

"I'm not interested in answering," Spade immediately replied. He made to turn away. Pania reached out to grab at his shoulder before Luco tugged her back.

"You knew my mother," Luco blurted out. Spade halted, turning back with a confused expression.

"What? Who's your mom?" Spade asked. Luco gulped.

"Lin Bo," Luco said. Spade reeled back, looking as though he'd been smacked in the face with a beer bottle and two consecutive sandals.

"Lin Bo's son?" Spade's voice shook a little. "How old are you this year?"

"Twenty-one," Luco replied, looking like a kicked puppy. "You...are you my father?"

Spade reeled back again, looking as though someone had shoveled half a pound of glitter into his hair.

"What?" Spade demanded. He glanced between himself and Luco. "Why would you think that?"

"There was a photo of you and her together," Luco said weakly, looking at his shoes.

Spade tilted his head to the side, squinting at Luco's face. "How much did she tell you?" he asked carefully.

"Absolutely nothing. She never even taught me," Luco said bitterly. "I learned from Helang."

Spade looked at Luco intently. "Luco, I am not your father," Spade said. "I've been a spirit for forty years now, there's no way it could've been me." Spade patted Luco's shoulder awkwardly.

"Oh," Luco looked mortified. "I guess, yeah. Um, sorry." He shot Pania a SOS expression, beginning for her to dig a hole he could jump into. She ignored him.

"That's alright, I guess." Spade fiddled with his sword awkwardly. "I didn't know Lin Bo had a son. I don't really have any idea who your dad could have been either."

Luco shrugged sheepishly. "Thanks for letting me confirm it," he said. "I don't know why but my mother never said anything about my dad. Or the Flying Dragons, but at least I can cross one thing off my questions list now."

A strange look flickered over Spade's face as he glanced between Luco and Pania.

"Both her student and her son are doing well, I'm sure she would have been pleased," Spade said softly. Pania nodded.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry things got to this point. I really wish things weren't like this," Luco said. Spade shook his head.

"You'll get a chance to choose how things go soon enough. I just hope you weren't involved in yesterday's incident. Pania too. The two of you are the last traces of that generation now, if I don't have to fight you two, I won't," Spade said. Pania nodded at him.

"Is Joyce alright?" Pania asked. It had bothered her to only see Spade, with Joyce nowhere in sight. As much as it irked her, Pania was more concerned about the teen than she should be.

Spade shot her a glare before sighing. "She's fine," Spade said, suddenly sounding very tired. Pania nodded slowly.

"I'm glad," she said, actually meaning it. Luco nodded in agreement.

Spade let out another sigh. "Alright, get on out of here. I have work to do," he said, promptly heading off towards the trainees. Pania watched him go, glancing at a visibly relieved Luco. Her phone rang with an incoming message.

She glanced at the text from the Intelligence Department.

'What are you doing there?'

'We had a question to ask Spade,' Pania sent back.

'Please make a full report upon return,' the reply said.

Pania raised an eyebrow. The Intelligence Department was really pulling out all the stops on the Flying Dragons. And probably her and Luco too, given their association with Lin Bo.

"We'll have to figure out an explanation on the way back," Pania said, showing Luco the message. "It won't do to be misunderstood."