Chris nodded in response.

"Of course." he replied.

"You go and return to your life." he told her.

"I... should probably go and talk to Agent Sharp." he then said. "Tell him this is something I am interested in." he continued.

"Although... one question." he then said.

"How did you get your significant other to agree to this?" he asked.

"If my memory serves me right, he's a Lantha, and they are... well... they're not very forgiving of people that mess with their families, friends, bloodline, clans, etc." he said.

Before Chris could say anything, Kalin left.

"...." he was silent, before shaking his head, his mouth nearly agape.

"...right then." he said.

"Whether this succeeds admirably, or fails spectacularly, one thing's for certain... this is going to be interesting." he muttered to himself, before getting up and making is way out of the door.

'Guess I should see Agent Sharp now.' he thought.

'If this is going to take a month, might as well get the ball rolling...' he told himself, walking down the hallway.

"I hope this works." he mumbled.

"Miss Kalin seems to have such faith in me. Please... don't let me screw this up." he muttered further, almost in prayer.

Sure enough, a little over a month later, Chris was living in Canada, with Kalin, Rene and Serenity... although only two of them knew about it at that point. At the moment, they were all in the kitchen, preparing something special.

For Rene.

"...you sure this will work?" Chris asked Kalin.

"I know the way to a man's heart is through his stomach and all that, but... this is a pretty tall order for him to accept." he commented.

"....." Chris was silent upon hearing that.

"I... cannot argue that." he said.

"That IS correct." he muttered, before handing her a spice that she asked for.

"It DOES smell really good." he commented.

"LIke... wow. I've never really smelled anything as good as this." he said further.

"Thank you once again for letting me stay here." he then told her.

"I know that, in the long run, this is temporary as well, but still. Thank you so much."

Chris was about to say something, when he heard the footsteps as well.

"Sounds like it." he said.

"..." he was silent, before sighing.

"It's... still strange." he said further.

"To know what Miss Syraene is in that doll." he clarified.

"It's just... such a change."

Chris shook his head.

"No." he said.

"I don't." he told her.

"You know him better than I do. You'd know more than I would." he reasoned.

"So I'll go along with what you feel is best." he said.

"Last thing we need is for this to go as bad as possible."

Chris just nodded.

Kalin looked back over towards the door for a moment, and then looked back at Chris.

Or, rather, where Chris was.

He was gone. Just gone. No sign of him ever being there remained.

Seemed like one thing he was good at was disappearing when the need arose.

"I'm home!" Rene called into the house as he opened the door and stepped inside.

"Hey now, something smells goooooood!" he then said, sniffing the air.

Rene sniffed the air once more.

"Mmmm, jambalaya." he said.

He then sniffed again, and his eyes widened.

"Heeey, are their Razor Shrimp in there?" he asked.

"Is that what you had Ashley's help for?" he asked further.

"Because DAMN, that smells good!" he exclaimed with a smile... before he paused.

"...right what's the catch?" he asked.

Rene quirked an eyebrow when he heard that.

"Ahhhh... ha." he said.

"Sounds a lot like hyperbole." he commented.

"Like, seriously." he said further.

"I won't like them, Anna will hate it even more, and Casey will hate it even more than HER?" he asked.

"That sounds... almost impossible." he said further.

"Seriously. How bad can a houseguest BE?" he asked her.

Chris gulped, and stepped out from the shadows.

"...h-hello." he said.

Rene froze when he heard the voice.

"......I'm going to turn around now." he told Kalin. "And when I do, who I'm thinking is there, better NOT be there." he said further.

With that, he turned around... and glared at Chris.

"...you..." he said, venom in his tone.

"How are you even-" he started to ask, before his eyes widened, and he looked at Kalin.

"No..." he whispered.

"Damn manipulation mana." he hissed.

Rene whirled back around to Chris.

"I swear... I didn't use my mana to do this." he told Rene.

"...not that my word means anything..." he mumbled.

"You're right. It doesn't." Rene agreed.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it." he then cursed to himself. "I thought we had seen the end of this when Vanessa died." he growled, before looking at Kalin again.

"Kalin... if you're in there, and can hear me, don't worry." he said to her.

"I'll save you. I'll make this right." he vowed, turning and narrowing his eyes at Chris again.