Ash just sighed.

"....hey, I WILL!" he insisted.

"All I need is a little luck." he said.

"...ok, a LOT of luck." he corrected himself.

".......and for you to be off your game and distracted...." he went on, trailing off at the end.

"Look, the chances of my beating you aren't 0%!" he then insisted in a new statement.

".............probably."

"All righty then!" Ash responded.

---

Jaden looked at the text that he had been sent, and smirked.

Awesome. he sent back.

Expect a call from your grandson soon. he then sent her.

After all, this is something he needs to learn.

Yup. was all she got in response.

About 20 minutes later, her phone rang... and the caller I.D. said it was Darrel.

"...uh... h-hey Grandma." Darrel said when she answered.

"I... uh... well, Dad said that you had information for me to give to Abby..." he went on.

"And... he said it needed to be ME to call and ask for it, but didn't say WHY..." he continued.

"Sorry if I'm bothering you." he then quickly apologized.

".....sorry." Darrel responded.

"I... I'll remember that." he said, before pausing.

"But I'll relay the info to her." he continued.

"And you mentioned there'd be more info closer to the actual day, so... that's good." he went on.

"How is she going to get there?" he then asked.

"Do you want me to use my portals?" he asked further.

"All right then." Darrel replied.

"I'll tell Abby about this right now." he told her.

"...thanks." he then said.

"I know this was probably a bit of a bother, and I know mana hunters have a stigma attached to them." he went on.

"So... I mean, even if this was no big deal, thanks." he told her.

"It means a lot to me. Abby's really cool, and she doesn't deserve to lose her livelihood." he reasoned.

"...oh, and I assume I'm not to reveal any real names or any info until she's actually a member, right?" he then asked, more just making sure he knew where the boundaries were here.

"I got it." Darrel replied.

"I'll let her know the bare minimum, essentially." he told her.

"But enough that she'll know this is good." he continued.

"Thanks again." he said.

"Are you going to contact me with more info, or do I need to contact you in a couple of days, or what?" he then asked.

"Well, at the very least, I should tell Abby to clear her schedule for the next few days." Darrel replied.

"You know, because a guild is interested in her." he said.

"Is THAT ok?" he asked.

"Just a hint of possible good news?" he asked further.

"If not, fine, but I would like to give her SOME hope."

"Ok then." Darrel replied.

"Bye." he said.

They then ended the call, and he hung up the phone... before sighing.

"....damn." he muttered.

"Oh well." he sighed, shaking his head.

All he could do was wait. Wait until further information was given. Wait until things were more definite.

He hated it, but it was all he could do.

And he did so for a couple of days, until Sydney got back to him with the info. He took it all down after their call, before sighing, and getting online to see if Abby was on one of her chat programs.

She was.

Hey, Abby, can we meet up ASAP? he sent her.

Yeah? Sounds good. Darrel sent.

When is a good time for me to show up? he then sent her.

"Hmmm." he muttered.

"Fajitas, eh?" he asked himself.

"Hmmmmmmm... yeah, I know what I'll bring." he chuckled, as he awaited a reply.

Darrel thought for a moment.

Two's plenty. he sent her.

Anyway, I'll show up in... about 2 hours or so. he then sent.

With that, they ended their conversation, and he logged off.

Time passed, and after a couple of hours, he was at the door to her place, holding a cloth grocery bag in one of his hands.

"Hey, Abby!" he called in, knocking on the door.

"It's me!"