Cindy woke up. How long had it been, she wondered. Hours? Days? Just what exactly happened, she thought as her eyes slowly opened, her vision clearing up. Her head was still aching, but other than that, no major harm had come to her.

Maybe I just drank too much? Cindy thought. Yeah, that's gotta be it, right?

As the half-elf's eyes fully opened, she realized something was amiss. The scenery had changed from what she last remembered. It was not a well-kept bar she was in. Nor was it her home. It was just an empty room. A room with three people in it: herself, Keith, and Elie. Cindy sat on one end of the room, strapped up to a chair with ropes. Elie sat on the other end. She was not bound or restrained, but she did have something attached to her chest, as Keith towered over her.

"W-what's happening?" Cindy asked in a frightened tone. "Where are we? Why am I tied up? What the hell are you doing?!" she yelled.

"Calm down, calm down," Keith said with a straight face. "Haven't you asked enough questions for one day? I believe it's about time I get to ask a few myself. Right, miss assassin?"

"Who... who are you?" Cindy asked, her voice shaking.

"Didn't I say that it was my turn to ask questions?" Keith said, keeping a calm demeanor.

Cindy had heard enough. She still did not know exactly what was happening, but she did know the man before her was not a friend. She also thought that the man made a grave miscalculation by not incapacitating her further, as she poured aura throughout her body. Moments later, Cindy easily freed herself from the ropes, and rushed toward Keith with a fist full of aura.

"Cindy, stop!" Elie screamed. "Sorry... but I don't want to die quite yet," she continued, mustering up a nervous smile while pointing at the heart shaped object attached to her chest.

Cindy stopped herself instantly at her friend's request. "W-what is that thing?" she asked with a panicked look on her face.

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"It's a bomb," Keith said as he kept an ice-cold composure. "You see, my friend is watching from a remote area," he continued, pointing at a camera above them. "If any harm comes to me, Elie goes boom. Understand now, miss assassin?"

"T-this is a joke, right? Please tell me this is just a stupid joke!" Cindy pleaded, her voice becoming increasingly panicked. "I don't even know you! What do you want from me? And how do you even know that I'm an assassin?" she asked.

"All very great questions, miss Cindy," Keith said. "Let me just start off by saying, this really is nothing personal. I'm simply doing my job."

"Job? What kind of fucking job is this?"

"A job... for my boss. The Don, leader of the Red Dragons Mafia, would like to know the secret behind your organization's power."

T-that's... Kai's father, right? The mob boss Aria was looking for!

"What does any of that have to do with m-," Cindy said, before being cut off.

"Don't play fucking dumb, girl," Keith said angrily. "I've been watching your organization for quite some time, searching for the weakest link. I couldn't find one. Hell, I was about to give up until you and that idiot Kai showed up! Of course, we tried getting to Kai first. That traitorous bastard'll get what's coming to him eventually. But you, miss Cindy, I just knew you had to be the one. Your friendship with miss Elie, here, was such a beautiful thing. Even I had some reservations about doing this. But alas, nothing could be done. I thought it would take longer, getting close to Elie, biding my time until we met. But, the dumb bitch brought you right to me in no time!," he laughed, patting Elie on the head.

Cindy wore the most vicious scowl she ever had on her face directed at the man before her. She balled her fist up so tight, blood started leaking from her hand.

"You spied on me... tricked and manipulated my best friend... just to get to me," Cindy said in a ghoulish tone.

"Now you're catching on, sweetheart! You shouldn't feel too bad, really. Miss Elie here made everything so easy... in more than one w-"

"Just shut the fuck up and tell me what you want!" Cindy screamed, on the verge of losing her mind.

"Sorry, I got a bit carried away. How unbecoming of me," Keith said as he pulled a cigarette out of his pocket. He lit it up, then inhaled a few times before continuing, causing Cindy's blood to boil even higher. "If you want your friend back in one piece, you should remember that you're on my time, girl," he said, returning a scowl.

"Just, what do you want?" Cindy asked again.

"I already told you that," Keith said, taking another puff of his cigarette. "I want to know the secret behind your organization's power. I saw it first hand myself... when those little bastards nearly killed every single one of us. Now tell me, or say goodbye to Elie."