Dionysus continued to pace, already having noted the flourescent lights on the ceiling, the metal folding chair in the middle of the room, and the mirrored wall. Two-way mirror, he thought disgustedly. I shouldn't even be here. Stopping abruptly, Dionysus decided to play around to kill time. He stared at himself in the mirror, first adjusting his hair and clothes, brushing off invisible specks of dust from his clothes. Then, he flexed and posed in front of the mirror. Third, he decided to make weird faces at himself. Dionysus wasn't normally such an ass, but he was decidedly pissed off and not in the mood to be civil. Finally done with the mirror, Dionysus decided that the room was missing something to make it thoroughly oppressive, and so pulled a black permanent marker out of his pocket and started tracing height lines on the wall across from the mirror, like you would see on a police lineup. And still, no one had come to question him, so Dionysus started to tag the rest of the room.

Dionysus was just adding the finishing touches to his version of a life-sized guillotine (complete with a basket for the heads, and he had managed to find a bit of red crayon to add realistic blood-splatters on the blade and surrounding floor area), when a voice boomed over the loudspeaker: "That's quite enough, Dionysus!"

He didn't bother to turn around, and finding some blank space between his interpretation of the Last Supper and a life-size portrait of Elvis, started to sketch out an Iron Maiden as he answered. "Well, you got me in here. Are you going to start asking your questions, or are am I supposed to teach you how to do Mambo #5?"

"You know why you were called in then?"

"Christopher. Killed 'im."

"Yes. That's one of the reasons. Would you care to enlighten us to *why* exactly you decided to kill Christopher? He was not threatening your position as Tsukino Celeste's 'Guardian' in any way."

"Nah. It was a favor for someone." Dionysus smiled at his artistic efforts, grabbed the chair, set it against the mirrored wall, stood on it, and started drawing a hangman's noose on the mirror.

"A favor for who exactly?"

"I'm sorry, but there is strict confidentiality in the assassin-client relationship." Dionysus smiled into the mirror. "I wouldn't want to violate that trust, you know. Legal fees are so messy, and I can't rely on an out-of-court settlement."

"You're witticisms are becoming tiring, Dionysus."

"Really? Damn, and I thought that I was doing such a good job, too. Guess this means I'll have to scrap my plans for hitting it big in Vegas."

"Why did you kill Christopher? Who asked you to kill him?"

Dionysus capped his black marker and nimbly hopped off the chair. "Y'know, here's the deal. I've been through one too many of these things already. I know how you work. First, you make with the niceties, try to get your information as cleanly as possible." He grabbed the chair, faced it away from the mirror, and sat in it backwards so that he could talk straight at his reflection. "Then you get meaner. A few veiled threats here, a mention of demotion there, whatever it takes to get more out of the people. Last, you get downright nasty and bring out the big guns. That mental and emotional torture stuff. Nothing physical, unless the person does it to themselves, but more scarring and permanent."

"And what level are we on now, Dionysus?"

"Oh, I don't know. Probably between the struggling-to-stay-civil and threaten-his-livelihood stages. But, the only thing is: I'm not a member of the Guardian's Council anymore. So, you can't threaten to take away my job. I agreed to come here, I never agreed to answer your questions." Dionysus decided he liked the look of the rakish grin on his face. "For all you know, I could've turned into a compulsive liar."

"It's true that we can no longer threaten your job anymore, but what about your life? What if we decide not to let you leave?"

Dionysus continued to smile, but his voice dropped a tone in warmth. "Sure, you could try to keep me here, emphasis on *try*. We all know that won't work long. Hell, you could even try to kill me, but that's a narrow door leading to this room, and it'd be easy to pick off your best. 'Cuz that's what you would send after me, ne? And we know that I'd kill them all and only worry about having to clean my blade." Dionysus pulled out his marker again and started writing backwards on the mirror, which was, of course, normal writing for the people on the other side. Besides the ever popular "redrum," "veni vidi vici," and "sex at noon taxes," he started writing derogatory comments about his interrogator's sexual history. He smiled when he thought he caught sputtering on the other side of the loudspeaker.

"So... we can no longer threaten you job, nor your life. What about your loved ones, Dionysus?"

Dionysus thought that was funny. He wanted to laugh. So he did. After several minutes, and falling out of the chair, Dionysus finished laughing, composed himself and sat back down. "If you ever tried to threaten Ce-ko, she'd take your sorry asses down faster than I can. She's an Otaku, for kami-sama's sake! She could blow the whole place to kingdom come and not break a nail. I honestly didn't think you'd be that dumb."

"And Miss Tsukino is the only one you love, Dionysus?"

The smile dropped off of his face. "What do you mean? Of course I love her!"

"No, I asked whether she was the *only* one you loved. Passionate love is all well and good, but there are other forms of love as well."

"What are you talking about?"

"I suggest you check the answering machine, as soon as possible, Dionysus. If your girlfriend hasn't done it already. I absolutely *hate* to be the bearer of bad news, but duty is duty."

"Get to the point!"

"I'm afraid your brother was in a little accident--"

"Damn you!" Dionysus sprang from his chair and pounded on the mirror. "Leave Artemis out of this! He's a good Guardian and you have no right to take your aggressions out on him! If you want me, fine, but leave my brother out of it!"

"Oh dear, Dionysus. I think that we have just fallen into that 'veiled threats' stage. You want us to leave your brother alone... what about other loved ones? What about..."

The mirror in front of Dionysus suddenly shifted opaque and from somewhere a picture was projected onto the wall. Dionysus took a sharp indrawn breath. His hands curled into fists reflexively and he could feel blood start to trickle in his palms. A picture of...

"... this little girl here, Dionysus? She's such a sweet little thing, isn't she? How old is she? Five years? Children are so mischievous at that age. So curious. It's a dangerous time too. Little children have a nasty habit of swallowing things that aren't good for them... or sticking their precious little fingers in places they don't belong... or chasing after some butterfly and not noticing the busy street..."

"You leave Sorano alone, you cold-hearted assholes!" He rained blows upon the wall, though he knew the motions were futile. The voice on the loudspeaker continued on, despite his fit of rage.

"Sorano, is it? Such a pretty name..."

"Not even you could be cold enough to hurt a little girl who's done you no wrong!"

"Wouldn't we, Dionysus? Tell us who sent you after Christopher."

"If you touch her, I swear to God that you'll all live to regret it! And that's just until Ce-ko gets a hold of you! We'll enjoy making you scream."

"Are you going to answer our questions now, Dionysus?"

"Go to HELL!!!"

"But, Hell is such a *terrible* place for little children..."

"Bastards! I'm not telling you anything! And I'm not letting you touch my daughter!"

"Why... thank you very much, Dionysus. That went rather well. We weren't actually sure of *who* exactly Sorano was, who her parents were, or where her origins lie, but you've confirmed our suspicions quite nicely."

Dionysus' hands fell away from the now-mirrored wall, and he slumped into the chair, shocked. What the hell had he just done? And how much more would he give away without even realizing it?

"Are you ready for the next question now, Dionysus?"

TBC...