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[h1][color=slateblue]The Kraken[/color][/h1][/center]
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[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkeYzyxL6X4[/youtube]
[h3]Hours Earlier[/h3][/center]
	While the students of Ersand'Enise completed their own preparations to meet with the Doridax family, the skull-masked lady in red met with another cloaked figure in a dimly lit warehouse, not too dissimilar from the one in which they'd be requested to drop off the ransom. Dust motes danced in the ambient sunlight streaming in from the single unwashed window that wasn't broken and boarded up, while the two figures verbally engaged in a dance of their own.

	[color=olivedrab]"This is quite unlike... well, any favors you've requested in recent memory. Make it make sense,"[/color] remarked the Revidian man in the brown cloak.

	It could have meant a great many things. It might have been a simple observation, or a show of reluctance, or an attempt to barter for a higher payout. It could even have been interpreted as an almost fatherly warning to the masked youth—but if a fly on the wall had been present to witness the negotiation, it might have noticed that the younger of the two was sitting comfortably at the [i]head[/i] of the table.

	[color=orangered]"Both our enemies and our closest associates lay out their plans, unaware that our plans are already laid out beneath them. It's not your place to make sense of it, and it isn't mine to give it all away,"[/color] she replied. Unlike his response, the meaning of hers was clear: keep your nose out. [color=orangered]"I'm offering you the privilege of operating freely during a time when leashes will be the most tight. Being gifted that level of trust in the Family is no small thing."[/color]

	[color=olivedrab]"All the more reason why I have to wonder why you'd risk so much for some kidnapped kid, or a criminal or two... It's certainly not about making off with that ransom money,"[/color] he preempted. [color=olivedrab]"Or your fight for 'yasoi equality' or whatever it is you're up to on the side."[/color]

	[color=orangered]"Ohhh~? Is it not? Tell me more,"[/color] she replied, perching her cheek on her hand, appearing genuinely invested. This caught the man off guard, and, as he sat there, struggling to form a follow-up question, the life of the Doridax family's son hanging in the balance of every uneasy, awkward second that passed, he finally understood: behind the perception-compelling power of that mask, she was mocking him. Her eyes narrowed, the youth with the skeletal face watched in playful amusement as this grown man struggled to put the pieces together, to find the grander scheme lurking beneath the veneer of a simple plan that read like some kind of childish prank. [color=olivedrab]"Well, it's as if you want the Company to fail."[/color]

	Her eyes narrowed in further glee. [color=orangered]"Heehee! The Family has its tendrils in everything that touches the Ensollian. Every gulf, every port, every river—if a puddle can be used to transport goods by boat, it's been touched by Company ink. They're too big to fail—and why would I want them to?"[/color]

	[color=olivedrab]"What about the [i]Forte Impresa?[/i]"[/color] he replied—as if that were a mark against their record.

	[color=orangered]"What about it?"[/color] she shot back flippantly.

	[color=olivedrab]"She hasn't been seen near any port since she went missing. We still don't know who's made off with her, and worse still, we know they aren't lone actors. Someone is supplying her; the shareholders that have already left can certainly see that much. At this rate, I'd say the pyrates have as much control over the Ensollian, if not more—unless you mean to sit there and tell me you know all the answers?"[/color] he challenged.

	The girl's face didn't change, but the energy that could be felt from it did. That skeletal smile didn't move, yet it somehow morphed from something like a child's unbridled mischievous glee to something altogether much more sinister. The single bead of sweat on the man's face suddenly felt ice cold as she considered her response. [color=orangered]"Yeah,"[/color] she replied coolly.

	It could have meant a great many things. It might have been a simple acknowledgement that she was aware of the situation, or a show of confidence that it was being handled, or an attempt to suggest that she did, in fact, have all the answers. It could have even been interpreted as an eerie warning that, yes, the pyrates controlled as much or more of the Ensollian now, and that this was being accepted as the new normal. This was [i]policy[/i].

	If there had been a fly on the wall, it would have flown away in fear. Again, her meaning was clear.

	The negotiations had concluded.