It wasn't long after the search began when Vandal found the keys. The sound of them jingling was like music. With a hardy laugh, Simon stumbled over to his acrobat. "There's a good lad". "Way to go, bro!" Vi chimed in. Simon grabbed the keys and stuffed them away into his pocket. That's when Vandal asked about dinner. "Hmm, that's a good question" he began to ponder. Vi, on the other hand, seemed to be digging through her pockets. What started off as her casual stance quickly turned more tense as she began digging through her pockets more intensely. "What do you kids think about some grilled chicken?" Simon asked them. His eyes trailed over to the panicked girl, his eyebrow raising slightly. "Vi? What's the matter?" "M-My lucky charm! It's gone!"

Vandal initially stared at Simon as the man’s mustache jumped up and down to express his thoughts on the matter of food; after Vi started to more furiously fumble around with her clothes, Vandal turned to see what she was doing. He thought to joke and ask if she had found a mouse in her pants, but decided against it after seeing her eyes. Simon apparently noted his change in gaze after mentioning chicken, although Vandal never answered the question. Meanwhile, Vandal started to rush over to Vi, hopping over chairs to get over to her quicker. By the time he got close, she said something about her charm, and Vandal frowned. “Great, find one thing and lose another…well, better get searching.” His voice changed from insincere annoyance to slight bemusement as he spoke, then started to look along the aisles once again. “Which one’d you lose, Vi?” Then, after a moment of searching, it dawned on him and he quickly shot a look to Vi, part disbelief, and part shock. “Wait…..you don’t think…” he started, but he didn’t dare finish his sentence before standing up. He quickly wiped the look off his face, mostly to hide it from Simon, then made a comment, indicating a hidden meaning behind his tone, “I’m sure it fell out of your pocket at school or something….we can look for it tomorrow, it’s getting dark…”

"Oh goodie, something else to look for" Simon said as he began to look around for a moment. "Well, let's find this quickly so that we can get to..." He stopped for a moment when he saw Vandal standing still, saying something aloud.

"Bro? I don't think what?" Vi questioned. She thought it was weird that he didn't answer her right away, especially when he shook the puzzled look off of his face. That's when he told her that she might have lost it somewhere at or along the way to school. However...something was off about the way he said it.

"Your brother's right, Vi" said Simon. "I'm sure your charm will be fine tomorrow morning. In the meantime, let's get dinner settled".

"A-Alright, I suppose".

~~~~~~

A lot later that night, after everyone had gone to bed, Vi was lying face up on her sleep spread in the dressing room. She had been unable to sleep for the night, and not just because they were sleeping in a dirty, dusty building. She was thinking about what her brother said...or rather, how he said it. "What did he mean by that?" The alarm clock sitting by the electrical socket read 4:09 am. Not a single wink of slept came to her, but she didn't even feel tired. The little magician decided that she should take a moment to look for her charm. If it really did get lost between the school and here, she might still be able to find it.

Slowly raising herself up to her feet as to not wake anyone else up, Vi crept along the hardwood floor to the door, grabbing her coat along the way, and left the dressing room. Everyone else should be dead asleep, but it wouldn't surprise her if Vandal were awake at this hour. It wasn't like she was making an effort to stay quiet now that she's out of the backstage area. After climbing off of the stage, she continued moving through the auditorium and closer to the exit.

Vandal was at least partially reassured that Simon agreed with him. Still, the issue of that day's events hung over his head like a heavy rain-cloud. That man...what was he doing?... The more he tried to remember the man's face, the more strained his expression became. By the time Vi had responded to Simon's next suggestion, Vandal had taken a deep breath and regained his composure. "Heck yeah, it's time for dinner! I'm starved!"

...

Vandal was busy flipping through a few pages of his favorite "Compendium of Martial Arts Stances" book when he started to hear the sound of movement in his new home. Well, it is the city, it could just be another cat... he proposed to himself, looking up from his book to eye the door. Unlike the sound of a cat, however, this sound had a steady pace, like human footsteps. Who could be up at this hour? he asked, the figurative spark of curiosity flashing through his brain.

Vandal casually put aside his beloved book on the floor next to his new bed and started to sneakily make his way up to the door of his room. Once the sound had passed by, Vandal carefully opened the door and peeked out, trying to make the least amount of noise possible. Vi? He frowned, trying to think up a reason for her to be wandering around at this time. He decided that she might lie or change her mind if he asked her about it, so he decided to follow her as quietly as possible. Besides, I'm Vandal the Brave, eh? He nearly chuckled out of pride, but caught himself before forfeiting his plan.

As Vi started to make her way closer and closer to the exit of their new theater building, Vandal started to get an idea of her possible intention. Now I really have to follow her...I hope I'm wrong. He waited backstage until Vi got all the way through the auditorium before peeking out from behind the curtains. The shadow which she cast against the streetlights was good enough for him to estimate her location from where he stood. Seeing her approach the exit, he darted over to the first row of chairs, hiding to ensure she didn't see him, then continuing to get nearer to the door by darting between rows once he suspected that she wasn't looking. He stopped mid-way through the auditorium and peeked out from between two chairs to wait for her to leave.