>>"Celly!" she called. "I know you're there, come out!"<<

"Gomen ne. Wrong half of the relationship."

Susanne stared as Dionysus came around the corner of the building. He leaned against the brick wall, crossing his arms, and just... looked at Susanne. Her face flushed for no apparent reason, and she vaguely wondered why none of the other students were noticing the impossibly handsome man wearing all white. "Dionysus?" she finally managed to say, remembering the name of Celly's Guardian.

"In the flesh."

Susanne took a wary step forward. "What are you doing here?" Vague thoughts of a trap filtered through her mind.

"I'm here because the Moderator called me to stand in her place. Do you know how hard it is to track you Otakus down?"

"Why do you want to track us down in the first place? Going to give our locations to that wacky charge of yours?"

Dionysus' jaw tightened. "No. I'm not going to give you away to Ce-ko. I'm here to do the job that the Moderator can't. To tell the Otakus the Truth."

"The ‘Truth'?!? As in, ‘You can't handle the truth' Truth?"

Dionysus sighed. "The Truth about the Otakus existence. Why you are forced into conflict with each other."

"Oh, you mean that line of bull that Celly was trying to feed me before? That crap about me not being real? Well, look around!" Susanne spread her arms wide, gesturing to the campus around them. "This is real! My friends and family are real, and I sure as hell can feel it when I pinch myself. It's Celly who's the nutcase, not me."

"Can't you open your mind for a change?" Dionysus struck back. "I'm trying to help you out here. Once you realize your importance in the Game, can you truly play effectively. Why do you think that Ce-ko has so much firepower against you?"

"Because she's a looney!!!"

Dionysus didn't have time to respond, because Roger came belting around the corner. "Susanne!" he called.

Susanne turned. "Roger?"

"Thank god I found you! I told you to--" He saw the other Guardian. "Dionysus?!?"

"Roger."

Hell broke loose. A familiar fuku-clad figure walked around the corner as well.

"How do I always manage to get lost... Dion?" Celly asked in shock. What was he doing in London?

"Ce-ko!?" the silver-haired man yelped. How did she manage to follow him?

"Celly?" Roger asked. Didn't we ditch her already?

"Roger?" Celly questioned, bewildered. Where did he come from?

"Celly!" Susanne spat, almost in challenge as she saw the girl.

"Susanne!" Celly snapped back, tensing herself for a fight.

TBC...