Kurt knew something was wrong when he came back, but no matter how much he asked her, she didn't say anything. Alannah just said she needed to rest, which stopped Kurt from pressing her. Kurt still did not look happy as he helped her back into bed.
"I wish you would tell me what is wrong, Alannah. Please don't lie to me and say "nothing". I know you far too well for that, " Kurt said as he pulled the covers over her.
"I am tired," Alannah murmured. She suddenly felt cold and exhausted.
"Fine, but this is not going away," Kurt said firmly, as Alannah closed her eyes. He watched her fall asleep before returning to work. "I wish she would trust me," Kurt muttered.
Meanwhile, Alannah found herself back in China in a park. The sun was shining, and she was lying on the grass with her head on a man's chest. Thinking it was Kurt, she sighed and said "I love you."
"I love you too, but we need to get on with our lessons." A male voice said, and Alannah looked up to see it was Akihiko.
"Lessons?" Alannah asked, surprised. For some reason, she was not frightened, maybe because it was a dream or a memory.
"Yes, you wanted to know about Japanese fairytales after that movie Adam made us watch. So we start with Yamata no Orochi, "Akihiko said.
"Yahata no Orochi? I have not heard of it before," Alannah said.
"No, but you have seen him," Akihiko said with a smirk.
"I have?"Alannah said, confused. Akihiko sat up and showed her his back. There was a large tattoo of an eight-headed dragon with eight tails.
"That is Yamata no Orochi?" Alannah asked.
"Yes, he is one of the oldest tatsu in our culture. He is known to like human flesh and alcohol," Akihiko said.
"A bit like you then! What is Tatsu? " Alannah said with a grin.
"Oh my little vixen, it means dragon in Japanese," Akihiko said.
"I see," Alannah said.
"Do you? I don't think you do, my little vixen, "Akihiko said. Suddenly, the tattoo started growing and moving. "Akihiko? What is happening? " Alannah shouted.
"I am showing you who I really am, the Yamata no Orochi!" Akihiko growled as he started to sprout tails and heads.
Suddenly, Alannah heard Kurt's voice, "Alannah! Alannah, wake up! "
"You are not going anywhere, little fox!" Yamata no Oroch growled. Alannah turned on her heels and ran.
Kurt was desperately trying not to kill the doctor who had come to check in on Alannah.
"She has a mild fever from a UTI, which is not surprising considering what she has been through," the doctor said.
"But she is not waking up!" Kurt shouted as Grace and Theo came into the room.
"Doctor, may I please look at her charts?" Grace said, and the doctor handed them over. After a few moments, Grace confirmed the doctor's diagnosis., "She is alright, but she has a mild infection."Alannah has been through a lot and is weakened, which is why this infection has hit her hard. With antibiotics, fluids and paracetamol, she would be fine!"
"When will she wake up?" Kurt demanded
"In the next couple of hours, the medication normally works pretty fast. This is pretty normal for a recovering coma patient, " Grace reassured.
"I can't go through this again!" Kurt said quietly,
"Seriously, she is fine!" Grace repeated softly.
"What is she saying?" Theo said
"It is Mandarin, she is saying, Run, Run, he is coming!" Grace said with a frown.
"Yamata no Orochi?" Theo asked, and Grace nodded.
"Any idea what Yamata no Orochi is? Kurt asked.
"No, it is not Chinese, and Alannah is well-read, especially in old texts. It could be something or nothing, " Grace said with a shrug.
"It does not sound nice, whatever it is," Theo said, looking at Alannah, starting to thrash around again.
"Oh, it is going to get worse as the drugs take effect. It is a sign her body is fighting back! " Grace said.
Alannah had run into the woods, but Yamata no Orochi was still following her. She had somehow turned into a nine-tailed fox along the way. "This is a freaking weird dream!" Alannah thought
"Come out, little fox! Let me introduce you to the rest of my family!" Yamata no Oroch growled.
"Hurry in here!" Alannah heard a voice, and she turned to see a lion down in a den. Alannah quickly went down the hole.
Alannah saw the lion was not alone. There was also a large black bear and a Phoenix.
"Yamata no Oroch has been searching for us too. He will eat you if he catches you! " The bear growled.
"But why?" Alannah asked. I'm not sure how she could speak as a fox!
"He wants to destroy our families and blood lines. Dragons, like foxes, can be good or evil. "Yata no Orochi is definitely evil," the Lion explained.
"Alannah! I want you to meet my friend, Drake. " Yamata no Orochi shouted.
"Drake?" Alannah said.
"Another bloody dragon!" The Phoenix moaned.
"Drake is dying to meet you! But I forgot you had met already. Isn't that right, Duncan? " Yamata no Orochi said.
"Come out, cuckoo! I want to play! " A loud voice that sounded strangely like Duncan's boomed.
"Drakes and Yamata no Orochi are both dragons, or Tatsu! Akihiko and Duncan are working together to bring down the Gang Syndicates! " Alannah suddenly realised
"Don't forget Hydras and Mizuchi! The bad dragons always stick together, whether they are fire, water, or air, " the Lion said wisely.
"Of course! They are both members of dragon gangs! The Drakes own Stoneboarder and are working with the Fire Dragons. The payments were from Akihiko to keep them afloat as they produced the spy wear! Duncan is not well known, so he could move around without detection. He planted the virus and attacked several of Kurt's allies, including the Lang family, to bring down the chair. The Drakes would then take over!
Unless you were familiar with Japanese mythology, you would have no idea who Yamata no Orochi was or how he related to Akihiko. Akihiko owns the company, with the Drakes heading it up! " Alannah rambled.
"Ahh, there you are!" Yamata no Orochi said as one of his eight heads went down the hole. Its powerful jaws snapped, but it could not quite reach them. Alannah growled and went for the eyes, causing the dragon to roar in anger.
"Dam you Nine Tails, always getting in the way!" Yamata no Orochi growled as he started to dig.
"It is not going to be that long before he reaches us. The lion growled.
"No," Alannah agreed.
"Oh stop worrying, none of this is real!" The Bear said, "Practically." As another dragon's head came down the hole, snapping.
"Alannah! Alannah! It is time to wake up! " The Phoenix suddenly said, in a voice that sounded very much like Grace's.
"Wake up, lazybones!" The Lion said in Theo's voice. Suddenly, the dragon's head caught one of her tails, dragging her out of the hole. The head then threw her up into the air and was about to catch her in its powerful jaws.
"Noooo!" Alannah shouted as she woke up. It took her a few moments to realise where she was and to focus her eyes. Theo and Grace were sleeping in hospital chairs. Kurt was nowhere to be seen. Alannah got up and walked to the desk, taking the drip with her. She quickly wrote down what she remembered and checked if Yamata no Orochi was who she thought she was. She also quickly checked the gang records to find out about the Drakes.
"Alannah, you are up! What are you doing? Theo said, getting up and walking over.
"I figured it out, Dad," Alannah said.
"Figured what out?" Grace said, coming to Theo's side.
"stonborderer It is Akihiko! " Alannah said.
Akihiko? Alannah, I know that he has put you through a lot, but... " Theo started to say.
Dad, just listen, OK? "I looked at their accounts and Yamata no Orochi was the name of a customer who gave a substantial amount of money to Stone Border, "Alannah said.
"So what? They have Asian clients, "Theo said with a shrug.
"Yamata no Orochi is not a person, Dad, he is an eight-headed dragon in Japanese mythology," Alannah said, showing them the webpage.
"That does not prove anything," Theo said.
"Akihiko is a fire dragon leader and has a massive Yamata no Orochi tattoo. It is the old Fire Dragon Gang's symbol, but they decided to simplify it for the modern world. Something Akihiko bitterly moaned about, " Alannah said, remembering Akihiko saying it was an insult to the gang.
"OK," Theo said, suddenly getting interested.
"I bet if you track the actual account the money comes out of, it will be under a Dragon Alias," Alannah said confidently.
"Well, that is easily done," Theo said, as he got his phone out. He quickly typed in a number and someone picked up.
"Yeah Frank, I need you to do a payment trace," Theo said, and then described the details. After a few minutes, Theo said, "No, that is fine, Frank. Just following a lead " Theo hung up and said, "Sorry darling, it is a dead end."
"Oh, what was the name?" Alannah said, feeling disappointed.
"Dray H Mizuchi," Theo said.
"Dray H Mizuchi?" Alannah said suddenly.
"What is it, Alannah?" Grace said encouragingly.
"Dray H. Mizuchi is an anagram of Hydra Mizuchi. Both are benevolent water dragons, "Alannah said.
"It could just be coincidental," Theo said.
"There does seem to be a lot of coincidences," Grace said.
"There is more. The person who heads up the company is a Drake. Aren't the Drakes giving Kurt a lot of trouble at the moment? " Alannah asked.
"Isn't a Drake a male duck?" Grace said
"Yes, but it is also a type of dragon," Alannah said.
"The Drakes don't have anyone that skilled to programme spy wear to this standard," Theo argued.
"They do, a new member of the family-Duncan Drake," Alannah said.
"Duncan Drake? Julian only has daughters, " Theo said.
"But his sister Elizabeth had a son, who has recently taken the gang's name," Alannah said, bringing up the staff files and the Gang records.
"How did you figure that out?" Grace said
"Because Duncan Drake was known as Duncan Seaswell," Alannah said softly.
"Seaswell? Oh, Alannah, he is your brother! " Grace said sadly.
"No, he is not," Theo growled angrily.
"Whatever, the point is another connection to the dragons. "Lastly, the virus was called Tatsu, right? Well, that is the old Japanese word for dragon, " Alannah said.
"But that does not explain why they would work together, "Theo said."
"Wait, before the founding members put together the syndicate system, weren't there old alliances based on gang names? For example, all the animals had alliances. The Drakes were merged into the Skylarks not that long ago," Grace said.
"Well, yes. But most of them have been broken as gangs are supposed to be loyal to their syndicates. Its purpose is to keep things from getting out of hand across borders." Theo said.
"Weren't one of those gang alliances the dragons? What if they just used old alliances to try and upset the syndicate system? "Grace said.
"But why use Dragon names? Isn't it obvious people would pick them up?" Theo said
"Well, we didn't, did we? Only a person who knows Japanese mythology would have spotted that Yamata no Orochi was not a real name. The people who are most likely to know, aren't going to snitch on their chairman," Grace said.
"Akihiko is also arrogant. He would want to rub everyone's nose in how clever he is," Alannah said, suddenly tired.
"Alannah! What are you doing out of bed? " Kurt shouted as he arrived back from a meeting with James and Xan.
"I was just.." Alannah started to explain.
"I don't care what you were just doing. I thought I could trust you two! " Kurt snapped as he marched over and pulled Alannah to her feet.
"Oww Kurt, that hurts," Alannah snapped, and Kurt suddenly stopped, his face full of concern. He suddenly gave her a bear hug and hurried his face into her shoulder.
"So sorry, Alannah. I would never mean to hurt you," Kurt whispered.
I know..I'm really tired. Can I go back to bed?" Alannah asked, and Kurt carried her over, gently putting her in bed.
"Your future wife is a genius!" Grace said
"Oh?" James asked, interested.
"Yes, she has just gone and figured out the whole Stone Border situation," Theo said proudly.
Alannah did not hear any of it, as she was consumed by a dreamless sleep.