by Saless
Chapter 77

Sarah awoke to the smell of bacon frying. Opening her eyes she found that Erica was still asleep. She carefully extricated herself from their tangle of limbs and threw a robe on before going out to see what was going on. When she got to the kitchen she found Mike at the table with Vash and Jill working away at the stove. "Uh, hi guys." she said uncertainly. "Why are you guys here so early?"

"Good morning Sarah!" Mike greeted with a subdued smile that told Sarah she probably wasn't going to like the answer. Vash flew to her shoulder and rubbed his face against her neck and purred loudly, which only further confirmed that something was up.

"Good morning Sarah, we wanted to catch you before our guest arrives." Jill said.

"Guest?" Sarah replied quizzically.

Jill nodded, "I'll tell you about that once Erica's up. Breakfast's almost ready, maybe you should wake her?"

Sarah shrugged and went to get Erica. She was just waking up when she got there. "I don't suppose you're serving breakfast in bed?" Erica asked hopefully.

Sarah smiled, "Sorry, I just woke up myself."

Erica frowned and said, "But I smell bacon?"

"Yeah, Jill's cooking. She and Mike came over early. Apparently we're having a visitor. She said breakfast's almost ready." Sarah explained.

"Oh, I guess that explains why you have the furball on your shoulder." Erica mumbled as she drug herself out of bed. She threw a robe on and followed Sarah to the kitchen.

"Good morning Erica, have a seat!" Jill called out.

"Good morning Jill, mind explaining what you're doing here so early?" Erica inquired.

"We had a visitor last night, though they only talked to Vash." Mike replied.

"Oh, who?" Sarah asked curiously.

Tiffany. Vash said.

"Tiffany?! Why would Tiffany go to see you so late at night? For that matter, how does she even know you guys?" Sarah exclaimed.

"She doesn't know us, really, but she knows Vash." Jill replied.

Sarah sat down hard upon hearing that. "How does Tiffany know Vash?!" she asked in shock.

"Apparently she's the reason Vash is even with us. She's the one who killed his former master." Mike said.

"What?! How is that even possible?!" Sarah exclaimed.

Allow me to explain. Vash said, and proceeded to do so. Erica had to eavesdrop through their bond to hear what Vash was saying, as Sarah was too shocked to relay it herself.

"So Tiffany is the one who killed John?" Erica asked, having latched onto that part. Vash nodded from his perch on Sarah's shoulder. "Where is she?"

"I'm here." Tiffany said softly as the room suddenly brightened to reveal her standing behind the table up against the wall. Jill dropped the fork she was using to turn the bacon and Sarah and Mike nearly fell out of their chairs. Even Vash was surprised and almost fell off of Sarah's shoulder. Fortunately for Sarah his claws were blunted so he didn't penetrate her skin when he dug in.

"Wha…how…uh, how did you do that?" Sarah spluttered.

Tiffany's gaze sank to the floor as she said, "I'm Shadowkin, or so Vash says. I just know I can control shadows. It makes it easy to hide. I've been able to do that ever since following you through one of your portals the first time."

"Uh, Tiffany, I'm pretty sure I locked the door after we came in…" Mike said.

Tiffany blushed and stepped closer to the table. Dropping a key onto it she said, "I'm sorry Sarah, I stole your keys and made a copy. That used to be how I got in. Now I just use this ring." With that she held her right hand up so they could all see the obsidian ring.

"That ring opens locks?" Erica asked. Tiffany nodded. "You know, you could have just told us that without admitting to the copying of Sarah's key."

Tiffany shook her head, "No, I want to be honest with you. Sarah's my only friend; though I know she probably doesn't feel the same way anymore. I don't want to have any secrets or lies between us anymore."

Why don't you tell them your story. I've told them what I know, but I'm sure there's more to it than that. Vash said.

Tiffany sighed and nodded. "Okay. Well, when you first came to work as Sarah, I was shocked! You were so different, it didn't seem possible that you could change so much so quickly. I looked it up, and that only confirmed that it was impossible. And you couldn't change your height at all! So I followed you home the next chance I got and started following you everywhere. I didn't find out much at first, because I couldn't get into your apartment and I couldn't hear what you were saying from the window. But I did see you go through a portal and come back, and I saw Mike in his naga form." she said.

"So you've been shadowing us for quite a while." Jill said.

"Yes." Tiffany said. "Anyway, I managed to follow you guys through a portal not long after that. I also managed to get a hold of Sarah's keys and make that copy. From then on I followed you on every portal trip you took when I was there. I…killed that wizard. When we got back Vash noticed me and made a deal with me. I gave him that ring and he promised not to tell any of you about me. After that it wasn't long before even Vash couldn't tell I was there. I stole a gun and explosive bullets from those people that gave them to you, and then got some use out of it at the tomb. I picked up those wands from the other wizard along with various coins, gems, and other stuff from the rooms as we went. When you moved all the treasure up to the room above I went through it."

"Wait, you went through the treasure before we did?!" Jill exclaimed.

Tiffany nodded, "Yes. I was going to just grab stuff, but certain things just sort of…called to me. So I only took those. Then you guys came up and went through it. When you were done I went through the non-magical stuff and stuffed my pockets and the bag I took off of the mage."

The things that called to her were Shadowkin artifacts, I believe. Vash added.

Tiffany shrugged, "I guess. They do seem to fit in with my powers really well. Anyway, I kept following you on your trips. And I learned a lot about you and wanted to be friends, so I approached you at work. I know you won't want anything to do with me now. But then this man approached me as I was walking back to my car yesterday morning. He threatened to arrest me if I didn't spy on you, and threatened to arrest us all if I contacted you. That's why I waited until you were all in the kitchen to show myself, because he can't see us in here."

"What about John?" Sarah asked.

"Well, I saw you were acting strangely that day, and you left through the back door. I was worried about you, so I went looking for you. When I saw Vash lying on the ground with blood in his fur I knew you were in trouble. Then I saw John standing over you and pulling his pants down…" Tiffany trailed off, her hands clenched and two of her throwing knives appeared, one in each clenched fist.

"Whoa, where did those come from?!" Mike exclaimed, putting himself between her and the others.

"Huh?" Tiffany asked, puzzled, and then noticed the knives in her hands. "Oh, sorry." She put the knives away in her pockets. "They do that sometimes."

Would you put one of those on the table, here?" Vash asked, pawing the table. Tiffany shrugged and pulled one out of her pocket and put it on the table as he asked. Hmm, I see. Yes, this is a Shadowkin artifact, like I thought. Either those policemen were ill informed, or they were lying. John wasn't poisoned. Vash said thoughtfully.

"What?! Do you mean he's still alive?!" Sarah exclaimed fearfully.

No, sorry. I mean there's nothing left of him. These knives were designed as the perfect assassin's tool. Hit your target anywhere on their body and they will slowly disintegrate into a pile of an ash-like substance. That substance cannot be used to call their spirit from the dead, resurrect them, or clone them. They also guide the hand of their user and return to that hand at will. But they are only usable by Shadowkin. To anyone else they're simply throwing knives that are very tough. Vash explained.