Well, I'm sorry for the long hiatus. I worked on chapter 9 years ago, but when it got corrupted, my desire to work on it left as well…. Lately, there's been some renewed interest in this little story of mine. It's about time I finally get back to it.

So, for those of you that didn't skip past all of my rambling, thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts. And also, thanks for all of your wonderful comments. I'm trying so hard to make this story entertaining for everyone reading this.

The Golden Eyed Chef

"Well, my good friend, I must be off," Faust said. A.B.A and Faust were now standing outside of the rickety house, planning on going their own directions. Now that Faust had been re-energized by A.B.A's need of his services, he had decided to go on his own adventure to "find himself". He had already envisioned himself saving various people in different ways in almost a slide show fashion. He even somehow had taken a mental picture of himself in footie pajamas with the back flap hanging down. "Oops, how did that get in there?" he said after minutes of silence.

A.B.A didn't respond. She wouldn't have even if she knew how to. Nevertheless, Faust was her friend now, and it didn't matter what he did or said.

"And where will you go?" Faust asked. A.B.A shrugged her shoulders. She never knew where she was going, just as long as she wasn't going back. "Well," Faust continued, "I hear there's a marvelous restaurant over there." He pointed left. Then right. Then up. Finally, he decided on pointing right. He pulled out his umbrella.

A.B.A didn't know what a restaurant was, but if Faust told her it was a good place to be, then she would go.

"Ah, well, then I must be going. I've got a world to save, you know." He opened the umbrella in his hand and held it above his head. At first, nothing happened, but suddenly, he lifted up and away. "Toodle-loo~!" he shouted in falsetto.

A.B.A watched in amazement as he floated above the house, crashed into his weathervane and struggled to get untangled. A.B.A was convinced.

Faust could do anything.

"Hey you!" Sol was awakened by the feel of someone shaking his arm vigorously. Sol wasn't used to having anything wake him up, so needless to say, he was rather pissed.

"What?" Sol asked, irritated. He didn't even bother to open his eyes to the sight of a large man with hairy knuckles angrily trying to wake him. He was tired, and he would wake up when he was good and ready.

"You better get the hell up, or I'll make you!" The man's face turned red. This wasn't the first time someone had hitchhiked on his truck. Once, he caught some barely twenty year old back there. After the boy had hurled a few insults in his direction, the man saw it fit to deal with the situation. A swift punch to the face became a permanent reminder to the boy from then on.

Sol was no different. Sure, he was older, but just as annoying. How dare they think they could use up his gas and then walk off without even a thank you? What was he, a chauffeur service?

After a few more seconds of shaking him, the man couldn't contain his rage anymore. He pulled back his fist and pushed it forward at full force...

...Just as Sol rolled to the right. The man's hand hit the truck bed, creating an audible crunch sound. The man held his wrist in agony.

Sol sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Okay, okay, I'm going. Whatever." He walked off, leaving the man to his pain. As you could probably tell, this was all part of Sol's plan. No one wakes Sol before he's ready.

The first thing he noticed was that he wasn't in a town, but rather some sort of rest area for people.

"Good place for information…" Sol commented to the air around him. But he wasn't going to actually talk to anyone about her. He knew that by now if they weren't already talking about it, she hadn't showed up. Perhaps A.B.A was learning to stay out of the towns. Whatever the case was, his simple 'search and recover' mission was proving to be more of a challenge than he originally thought. Instead, Sol opted to ask about Dr. Baldhead. Unlike A.B.A, he wasn't a myth. At least, Sol hoped he wasn't.

"I heard he's over 11 feet tall! And he covers his face with a bag so no one knows what he looks like."

"He carries an overgrown scalpel, and he's got one mechanical eye. It probably has X-ray vision or something."

"Even though he's a doctor, he's actually an amazing fighter. Once, he fought some giant guy probably 3 times your size and he won!"

All comments he heard, none of which he believed. Maybe Dr. Baldhead was the new A.B.A. But when he asked where Mr. Baldhead lived, no one could really tell. Sol sighed and let it go. He was still tired, and it looked like he was going to have to head somewhere else for more information. Maybe he'd get lucky. Maybe she'd get herself turned around and she'd head in his direction.

"So you're looking for Dr. Baldhead, huh?"

Sol turned around to a scrawny boy probably in his early teens. The boy tried to look cool by leaning against a tree and chewing on a piece of long grass. He looked off at an imaginary object in the distance. It was actually a rather cliché pose, and Sol had to do everything in his power not to laugh at his attempts.

"So what do you know, boy?" Sol asked with a smirk. He decided to humor the kid, especially since this was his only lead so far.

"Well, up north, there's this run down house, way out in the clearing. I've seen him around there. And also, don't be so quick to dismiss what everyone's telling you. Every single word of it is true."

The boy lifted his leg to place his foot on the tree he was against, but he staggered as he did it. He managed to gain his composure, and he played it cool by crossing his arms.

Sol crossed his arms with him. Could this kid actually be trusted? Still, it was the best bit of information he had gotten in quite a while, so he went with it. "Thanks, kid," Sol said as he walked off.

"Wait!" The kid shouted, A. his pose for fear. "You better watch out, Dr. Baldhead is insane! You better be careful…"

Sol grinned. "You don't worry about me, kid," Sol said, resisting the urge to ruffle the boy's hair. Without another word, he headed off in the direction the boy told him.

The boy watched Sol as he walked off, and once he felt he was a good distance away, he sighed. He only hoped he could become half the brave and strong man Sol was. "That's it, I'm gonna do 50 push ups a day!" he told himself.

Over the next few days, A.B.A had continued her arbitrary path in the direction Faust had sent her in. She was still not quite in the habit of taking breaks, but she had learned how her body worked, and when she felt too tired to walk, instead of falling flat on her face like she would have, she would lie down on the grass below. The weather was rather mild considering the season, so A.B.A didn't feel too chilly. Paracelsus, on the other hand, was frozen to the touch, almost as if he had absorbed every bit of cold in the air. In A.B.A's mind, she could see him shivering, but there was nothing she could do. Every time she tried to embrace him, the bitter cold from the metal would hurt her skin. It pained her to see her Paracelsus so miserable. "I'll find a place for you soon, just wait," A.B.A said, staring worriedly into his eyes. It was unknown what his response was as he is an inanimate object, and we can't read A.B.A's mind, but whatever it was, it was enough to convince her to move a little faster. You would think that by dragging this large golden key around for so many months, you'd think she should be bulkier than she was, but she was as frail as the day she left the facility.

It was a few hours later before the familiar glow of street lights appeared before her. Directly in front of her just 20 yards away was a small building with a bunch of windows. No one was around, but A.B.A could smell food cooking. Her mouth salivated, and she lifted Paracelsus above her head and went into a sprint, this sudden burst of energy just enough to get her to the door. She stood before the fancy stained glass door which depicted the image of a girl rising up from a water lily. She looked up, then down, panting uncontrollably.

Then she passed out.

When A.B.A came to, she looked up to see the vision of a young woman staring back with her golden brown eyes.

"You are okay, aru!"

The girl, long hair looped around and dressed in a very short Chinese inspired dress, held up the peace sign and grinned before she helped A.B.A up from the bench she was lying on. A.B.A looked around in a daze. The scents of delicious food surrounded her, so of course the first words out of her mouth to this enthusiastic stranger was "Do you have something to eat?"

The Chinese girl jumped up and grinned again. "You are in luck, aru!" she proclaimed. "You are my first customer! I'm going to give you the house special!" She sprinted to the back for a moment, and returned with a large platter balanced precariously upon her delicate fingers. Swiftly and expertly, she placed each plate down without spilling a drop or ruining the presentation of each dish. Her grin never left her face as she outstretched her hand over the display of foods before A.B.A. "Enjoy, aru!"

A.B.A didn't pay any mind to the presentation as she dug in to the plate before her. Noodles, and soup, and vegetables, and treats of all kind, A.B.A finished the whole lot as the Chinese girl stood before her, taken A. by how much this thin girl was taking in, but still keeping the smile plastered on her face.

Once A.B.A finished, the Chinese girl clasped her hands together. She couldn't wait to find out how much this would all come out to. She rushed to the back, bringing in another plate with a decadent chocolate cake with plenty of frosting, and a perfect looking cherry on top.

"It's complementary!" the Chinese girl said enthusiastically.

A.B.A didn't know what 'complementary' meant, but she ate it anyway. I don't think I have to tell you that she liked this 'complementary' a lot.

Satisfied that the red haired mummy woman had enjoyed her meal, the Chinese girl set her bill down beside her, then trotted off, inspired to keep cooking. A.B.A picked up the paper. She looked at the strange numbers and names, then sniffed it. It had the faint scent of garlic and mushrooms, probably because the Chinese girl had kept her checks on the table where she prepared her meals. She shrugged her shoulders and took a bite out of it. It had no taste, but somehow A.B.A still found it delicious.

The Chinese girl returned, then looked around.

"What happened to the check, aru?" she asked. She lifted up A.B.A's empty plate of chocolate crumbs, then under the table.

"Is that what that thin thing was called? It was delicious. May I have another?" A.B.A asked innocently. The Chinese girl stared at A.B.A. Did she really eat that piece of paper? Well, it would explain where it had gone, but how gross!

"That was your check! You do not eat checks, aru!" the Chinese girl proclaimed. Perhaps the woman hadn't enjoyed her meal at all. Maybe the woman was prone to eating anything. The thought of that deflated her ego a little. Maybe her food tasted just like that paper….

A.B.A looked quizzically. She didn't know what a check was or what it did. She just knew it tasted great. Where could she find more of these 'checks'?

"It tells you how much you owe for the meal, aru! You have to pay me for all of that food you ate!"

A.B.A stared at the Chinese girl. Paying? She didn't know how.

The Chinese girl gasped (almost too dramatically). "You don't mean to say, you have no money, right? Right, aru?" A.B.A's blank stare confirmed her fears. This woman was broke.

The Chinese girl fell back onto the bench at the table next to A.B.A's. All of that hard work, and she had just served about $150 worth of food to a poor woman with no taste in cuisine. She started to cry.

A.B.A watched the woman as she sobbed in her hands. With a blink, A.B.A stood up and went over to the Chinese woman and gave her a hug. The woman's head shot up in shock. This was completely unexpected.

"Why are you crying? Did I do something to make you sad? Don't cry anymore," A.B.A said.

After drying her eyes, the Chinese girl bounced back to her perky self.

"The name is Kuradoberi Jam!" (Here, she posed, as she tended to do when introducing herself) "I'm going to be a world famous chef!"

As usual, these were all just words to A.B.A, but she smiled all the same. "Then I think you will be a great chef!" A.B.A proclaimed.

Those words made Jam's heart soar. "Do you really mean it, aru?" Jam asked, though she didn't wait for an answer. She was already dancing around in reverie.

A.B.A already knew she liked this person.

Jam suddenly stopped. "Heeeey, wait a minute!" She abruptly turned to A.B.A. "You're just trying to butter me up! Well, it's not going to work, aru! You can't pay, you must work off your debts!"

A.B.A blinked at Jam.

"Don't you get it?" Jam stepped before A.B.A and placed her hands on her hips. "You must work for me to pay off the food you ate!"

A.B.A didn't really understand, but she nodded anyway. "A.B.A will work for Kuradoberi Jam!"

With a bright smile, Jam took a broom and handed it to A.B.A. "You can start by helping me clean, aru. Customers are bound to come pouring in soon!"

A.B.A looked at the broom. Sweeping. She had seen it a few times in her travels, but she didn't know what it was for. She took an arbitrary stab at it, sweeping the broom wildly.

Jam rushed over to her side. "No, no, you must do it elegantly, otherwise you'll only put the dust back into the air! Don't you know how to sweep?"

A.B.A shook her head. Actually, she didn't really understand much of what she had even said.

Jam put her hand on her hip. "Then what can you do?"

A.B.A thought for a second. "I can eat."

Jam smacked her hand against her forehead. "A lot of good that will do me! Where are you even from, that you don't know basic skills like sweeping?" A.B.A began to answer, but Jam cut her off anyway. "Well, no matter, then I will just have to teach you how to be the best cleaner ever! I can do it, aru!"

"If it's Kuradoberi Jam, it can be done!" A.B.A responded. Jam felt her energy (ego) rise again.

Jam was astounded by A.B.A's ability to learn. In a matter of mere hours, A.B.A had mastered not only sweeping, but mopping, dusting, and even dish washing. Jam started to believe that maybe this girl was a good luck charm of sorts.

"A.B.A, you have made me the happiest girl in the world!" Jam proclaimed and punctuated with a hug. Actually, Jam was a very physical girl. It seemed that she was quite the people person, and slowly, customers started appearing. Business was starting to pick up, bit by bit, and while it was all due to word of mouth based around both the food and the gorgeous chef herself, Jam chalked it up to A.B.A. In a mere two days, her shop had become the talk of town.

As a token of her thanks, Jam gave A.B.A a dress to wear during work. A.B.A looked at it in awe. It was as deep red as her hair, and practically made her skin glow against it. "In my country, it's called a cheongsam! I want to bring a bit of China to this country, so please wear it!" Without waiting for a response, Jam rushed A.B.A to the back room and forced it on her.

"A.B.A, you are so beautiful, aru!" Jam proclaimed as she guided A.B.A in front of the reflection in the window. The clothes were a new sensation to A.B.A's usually unprotected skin. It wasn't like the coat she had before…. It was prettier. Yes, though A.B.A's emotions had long ago been sealed away, something about seeing this dress made her confidence go up. Perhaps this was the secret to Jam's energy. She immediately ran to Paracelsus' side to show it off. "Do you like it, Paracelsus? Do I look pretty?"

Jam blinked at A.B.A. "You are always mumbling to that giant key. Is he your best friend?"

A.B.A thought for a moment. Friend? A.B.A had many friends in her time away from the facility, but Paracelsus was different. Was there a word for someone who meant more to a person than a friend? A.B.A shook her head. "Paracelsus is…. It's unsure what Paracelsus is to me. He is a friend, but he is different. He is special."

Jam thought for a second at her words. "Could it be that you love this key?"

"Love? Is that what this is?"

Jam grinned. "It must be love, aru."

A.B.A pondered those words, then began to smile herself. "Yes, I love Paracelsus. He is everything to me."

Jam hugged A.B.A. "I'm so happy for you!" To Jam, even if A.B.A was a strange, mummy objectophile, A.B.A was still her good luck charm. Really, as long as she didn't destroy her new restaurant, she didn't care what A.B.A did on her free time.

Anyway, it was obvious that A.B.A loved this place. The air always smelled delicious, and if the people couldn't finish their food, she was allowed to finish the rest for free. "Paracelsus! This is a good place! Can we live here?" Her golden friend just seemed to smile and say "I'm happy for you, A.B.A." Maybe he was just glad to be out of the cold air? No, of course not, Paracelsus is just a lifeless axe, silly.

As the evening was winding down and the people started to return to their homes, Jam prepared for lock up. "Such a full day today, huh A.B.A?" No matter how many meals she cooked, she was always full of energy. It was like nothing could ever get her down.

There was a knock on the door.

"I'm sorry, we are closed for today! You must come bright and early tomorrow!" Jam shouted through the door.

"Jam, it's me. Could you please open up for me?"

The voice behind the door made Jam become even more excited than she usually was. "Ohhh, you're here!" and she practically dove at the door.

A.B.A watched as she finished off another customer's plate. Jam was always fun to watch.

The man who entered was young, a gorgeous blonde-haired, blue eyed person, dressed in white with bits of blue. A.B.A tried to compare him to someone else she had known, but there was no other. He seemed eloquent, like he was a prince from some far off country.

Not that A.B.A knew any princes.

"A.B.A! This man here is my friend Ky Kiske! Ky, you must meet my good luck charm! Oh, and I'll make you something to eat! Sit down and relax, aru, you're always so stuffy!"

Ky immediately began to blush. "I-it's fine, J-Jam, I was only visit… ing…." But of course, his It wasn't like he had never experienced this from her before, but he still wasn't used to it. He was always working and hardly ever came into contact with females, so women in general made him nervous, especially bubbly girls like Jam. He knew he was defeated from the start.

A.B.A watched the man, though that was all she would do at the moment, with a full plate before her.

"I will make you a great meal! You get the special friend discount! Sit down and relax!" and without a second's delay, Jam was already halfway to the kitchen.

Ky sighed. Jam was like that back when he met her before as well, back when they made that deal so long before.

A few moments of knives chopping and water boiling, and Jam came back with a delicious platter of food. "Eat it up! Make me very happy, aru!"

Ky couldn't possibly tell her that there was too much for him to eat, or that he wasn't all that hungry, so reluctantly, he started in on his meal. After his first bite, he awkwardly smiled. This was enough for Jam.

"A.B.A! It is because of Ky that I have this very restaurant, aru!" she said, practically dancing. "Ky Kiske has made my dream come true."

"I didn't do much of anything, really…." Ky said, trailing off.

"Not much of anything! Those are all lies he speaks, A.B.A. He let me claim the reward money, even though he took Dizzy away."

"B-but you were the one who defeated her!"

"But you are from the Order, you could have taken the money away! You know, A.B.A, Ky seems really stuffy and serious, but he's a very nice person! He took Dizzy to a safe place, he trusts her you know, even though she's a gear." Jam nodded in agreement to her own comment.

A.B.A didn't know who this Dizzy person was, or why it was important that she be safe, but if Jam said Ky was nice, then Ky was definitely nice.

Sol's tip panned out, and after a couple days, he came across a dilapidated house (with the help of a woman whose heart he charmed his way into, otherwise she surely would have thought he was all kinds of crazy. Actually, this was the cause of a loss of a day, in fact). He knocked on the door, but on his third tap, the door came open. He shrugged and let himself in.

The place was empty, but there were many clues towards the fact that it hadn't been empty for too long. The dust in comparison, the melted candles, a medical tray in the middle of what looked like a living room, it was obvious, maybe they had been gone for a few days, but someone was still there quite recently.

Upstairs, he noticed more or less of the same thing. Nevertheless, it was empty now, and had been for a while, and there was still no proof that A.B.A herself had been there. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something flailing in the wind. At first, he brushed it off as the wind moving a curtain, but he decided to humor himself anyway. He noticed a shimmering syringe stuck in the wall, with a trail etched into the wall. He figured the liquid inside was a kind of acid, and it was confirmed as he looked at the burn marks on the floor. Being a former scientist had its perks sometimes.

Piled on the floor seemed to be some kind of heavy fabric. Normally, Sol wouldn't have paid any mind to it, but when he really thought about it, it didn't make any sense, as a doctor wouldn't really have much use for cloth like that, and there didn't seem to be any other clothes around. He picked it up. There were a lot of holes, but this was clearly a coat. Some kind of crazy fashion sense? No, these were cuts, and upon closer inspection, he noticed deep red strands of hair attached.

A.B.A was definitely here once, but once again, he had just missed her.

With a heavy sigh, he dropped the coat and proceeded to head outside. He could always contact Joanna to find out if they knew anything anyway, but he was a bit irked that all of this traveling had been for absolutely nothing….

I-No paced around the broken down building in disgust. "What sort of a weirdo doctor would ever want to live here anyway? Looks more than shady to me."

"I didn't ask you for your commentary," said the voice through her headset. Why of course, the owner of that room would be keeping in touch with our favorite red witch. "Where is Frederick?"

"Yeah, yeah…." I-No waved her hand nonchalantly. "He's inside, probably investigating. It doesn't look like that doctor is around here anymore either. There's no way we're going to get the two to meet again, so we'll probably have to interfere again. So where's A.B.A anyway?"

"Looks like she headed west. She's staying at some restaurant. She'll probably stay there for a while."

"Oh, why can't I be surveying her? I could go for a nice meal myself…."

"Are you complaining?"

I-No shrugged and grinned. "No, it was just a casual mention. Anyway, I'm guessing if no one is here, Sol's probably headed out as well. I'm coming back." She took off her headset and prepared her guitar Marlene for flight.

That's how it would have normally gone.

Calling upon the power of flame, he knocked I-No down flat, and before she had a chance to regain her senses from the surprise attack, Sol stood over her, his sword hovering above her chest. Marlene had tumbled a distance away from the impact. "Why are you here?" He asked, though it was clearly more of a demand for an answer than a simple inquiry.

"Why Sol, is that you? I hadn't even noticed!" I-No said with a grin. She tried not to show her fear of the man, though she didn't do quite as good a job as she had wanted.

Sol, not wanting to play her game, bent over her and lifted her up by the ring holding her top together. "Why are you here, I-No?" He asked a little more calmly than before, but still as dangerous sounding as ever.

"Just coincidence, really," I-No stated. She had now managed to maintain her nonchalant demeanor, though she didn't know why it was so important not to show Sol she was very much intimidated by his tall, menacing stature.

Sol let his anger slip. With great force, he pushed her forward, sending her flying into the side of some stone wall, probably a fence of some sort. Tears instinctively welled up in her eyes. Her head hurt from the impact. She had seen Sol angry before. This was pure rage.

"I don't think you want me to ask again, I-No," he said coolly.

I-No couldn't see clearly past her tears. She had seen Sol angry many times before, but never had he managed to get his hands on her. Now she was genuinely scared for her life. Would he kill her? She had to answer quickly, but she wasn't so scared that she would reveal the truth about her boss and A.B.A. Sol would just kill her. That Man, however, would opt to torture her until she sought out ways to kill herself if he ever found out that she told him.

'Think fast, I-No' she told herself as she gasped for air. It hurt to breathe. Had he broken her rib?

Sol wasn't far away. In mere moments he would be right in front of her, and then... I-No didn't even want to think about those possibilities. The dust settled around her, creating a haze about Sol. If only she could get her hands on her guitar... She rolled over and tried to crawl in the direction of where it flew. She was lucky that the moon was mostly full that night, otherwise she would surely be dead.

Sol remained silent and took his time approaching her. A.B.A had managed to prove herself as no longer a threat to the world. She could wait.

I-No coughed. Blood streamed from the corner of her mouth, looking even more vivid against her pale peach skin. Perhaps a punctured lung? She now had no doubt of how much Sol hated her, and as her tears mixed with the blood, she only had one thing on her mind: could she get out of this intact?

"I told you that you didn't want me to ask again, but I guess you just don't get it. So I-No, why are you here?" His tone was cruel and cold. He cracked his knuckles and readied his sword.

Jam and Ky today. I figured I'd throw him in, kind of a way to explain how they'd know each other. And apologies if you're annoyed by the random 'aru's in there. I read that Jam tends to add it to her sentences, because that's the stereotype that Japanese people have of Chinese people trying to speak their language. I wanted to keep it, because it's kind of a cute quirk. Apparently while I was away, a lot of their stories gained some details, making it a bit easier to fit people together. But I think outside of casual mentions, there might be only one other character making an appearance. If you know Jam's story, you'll know who's on his way.

A great big thank you to all of the fans of this story, I'm so happy that even now, people are interested in how it goes.