The events of Childe Morgan span a period of approximately two and a half years, from late December 1093 to late March 1096. In the Gwyneddan capital of Rhemuth, Sir Kenneth Morgan and his wife, Lady Alyce de Corwyn, bring their son, Alaric Morgan, to the court of King Donal Blaine Haldane. At Twelfth Night Court in January 1094, Kenneth is created Earl of Lendour and named primary regent for Alaric''s future inheritance of the Duchy of Corwyn. After court, the Camberian Council discusses the emerging danger posed by Zachris Pomeroy, a rogue Deryni who is encouraging the current Festillic Pretender to press his claim for the throne of Gwynedd. In the spring, the Morgan family travels through Lendour and Corwyn while Kenneth acquaints himself with his new lands and reviews the regency of his son in Corwyn. While returning to Rhemuth in late summer, they encounter the remains of a Deryni who was burned at the stake by the people of a small village. The incident is a sobering and disquieting reminder of the remaining antagonism that many people in Gwynedd still bear toward Deryni. As the next Twelfth Night Court approaches several months later, Donal receives word of the death of the Crown Prince of Torenth. Concerned about Zachris'' prior involvement with the dead prince, the Camberian Council investigates the matter, but is unable to discover any new or useful information. In June 1095, Alyce and Kenneth assist the king in a brief magical ritual. With Donal''s eldest son and heir, Prince Brion, attaining his legal majority on his fourteenth birthday, Donal takes the opportunity to prepare his son''s mind for the eventual assumption of the full Haldane potential. Afterwards, Alyce and Alaric travel to Culdi, where the pregnant Alyce plans to spend the summer in the company of her secret twin sister, Countess Vera McLain of Kierney. The day after Alaric''s fourth birthday, at the king''s request, Alyce and Vera conduct an ancient Deryni ritual to bestow magical names upon their children. The ritual is briefly interrupted by the clandestine arrival of the king himself, who takes an active part in Alaric''s ritual and further binds the boy to his plans. Alyce and Vera relocate to Kenneth''s familial estates in October, and their close proximity to Rhemuth allows Donal to make another surprise visit in November. Heart-broken by the accidental death of his youngest son, Prince Jathan, Donal sets a final set of mental triggers in young Alaric to enable the boy to activate Prince Brion''s full Haldane powers in the future. However, due to Alaric''s youth, Donal also gives similar power to Alyce, allowing her to activate his heir''s abilities if necessary. During the return to Rhemuth, Donal falls ill, and his condition quickly deteriorates despite the best efforts of the royal physicians. King Donal Blaine Haldane dies on November 14, 1095. Alyce delivers her second child, a daughter named Bronwyn, on December 12, but she fails to regain her strength afterwards. Nevertheless, she is determined to activate Brion''s powers as quickly as possible, and she orders Kenneth to bring the new king to her. Kenneth reluctantly complies, but Alyce, in her weakened state, is unable to fully activate Brion''s arcane abilities. The strain of the attempt is ultimately too much for her, and Lady Alyce de Corwyn de Morgan dies in the arms of her husband on December 29, 1095. After Alyce''s funeral, Kenneth and Alaric return to Rhemuth for Brion''s coronation, but the ceremony is delayed by the death of the Archbishop of Valoret. The remaining bishops travel to Valoret to elect their new leader, a process that is finally completed in early March. Brion decides to travel to Valoret to meet the new archbishop, despite concerns for his safety by several of his ministers. Additionally, the Camberian Council has become increasingly concerned that Zachris Pomeroy may attempt to kill the new king. After arriving at Valoret and witnessing the enthronement of the new archbishop, an assassination plot is discovered by Jamyl Arilan, a Deryni secretly working for the Camberian Council. Jamyl is forced to reveal himself to Kenneth, and the two successfully disrupt the plot before Brion can be harmed. During a battle in the cathedral itself, Kenneth is saved from Zachris'' magic by the timely intervention of Sir Sé Trelawney, a mysterious childhood friend of Alyce''s who kills the rogue Deryni with a single arrow. Afterwards, Kenneth tells nobody of Jamyl''s Deryni heritage or Sé''s presence in Valoret. Upon returning to Rhemuth, the final preparations for the coronation are made, and King Brion Haldane is crowned on March 24, 1096. Sé briefly appears to pledge his service to Brion, and Kenneth once again dedicates himself and his son to the protection of the Haldane line.

Childe Morgan

Typical of many stories that deal with themes of psychological trauma, Going After Cacciato contains distinct ambiguities concerning the nature and order of events that occur, which often requires readers to look beyond superficial appearances conveyed by the narrator''s language. Its chronology is nonlinear, for most of the book. The main idea of the story is, by O''Brien''s estimation, that being a soldier in Vietnam for the standard tour of duty entails constant walking; if one were to put all the walking in a straight line, one would end up in Paris, where Cacciato is going. It is important to note that Cacciato is always portrayed as self-sufficient and happy. It is Cacciato who is pursued throughout the imagined story of the book. The final pages feature the juxtaposition of two statements, by Sarkin Aung Wan and Paul Berlin, which contrast the early American view (think Emerson and Thoreau) of independence and happiness against the modern view of obligations placed on the individual to conform to society. The obligations lead to complicity in atrocities. Cacciato marches to the beat of a different drum, and is freer and happier in a cavalier, ignorant kind of way. His actions are sometimes portrayed as those of a man who is not particularly bright or gifted, but who is sunnily untroubled by the larger questions of the war itself. Paul Berlin, the main character, is a frustrated soldier who during the entire novel focuses on every minor detail he encounters, whether in the past or in the would-be chase. In the chapter "Tunneling Toward Paris", the characters escape the endless tunnels by "falling out" just as they fell in; this allusion to Alice In Wonderland helps to reveal the story as surrealistic fiction. This surrealism in the novel also appears earlier in the novel when Cacciato flies off a mountain.

Going After Cacciato

Prof. Terry Scott went to River Heights to ask the help of Carson Drew to help him to find Dr. Joshua Pitt. Mr. Drew thought that the case was more of a mystery, so he referred him to Nancy Drew, his daughter who loves detective work. Terry Scott and Dr. Joshua Pitt, together with their teammates, Dr. Anderson and Dr. Graham, found the clue to the treasure during their expedition in Mexico, a cipher carved in a stone tablet and three black keys. Before the professors had time to translate the cipher, the tablet disappeared together with Dr. Pitt, leaving only the bottom half of one of the keys. Terry suspected the Tinos because they vanished when the cipher stone and Dr. Pitt disappeared. Someone tried to steal the half-key. Sergeant Malloy helped them identify the thief, Juarez Tino, but not until after he fled for Florida. Terry gave the half-key to Nancy and that night a burglar broke into the Drews'' house. A thief stole Terry''s things and documents from the hotel room. Nancy asked her father''s advice, and he suggests finding the other expedition members. Nancy and George meet with Dr. Graham, and he says the four expedition members trust one another. Ned Nickerson asks Nancy to drive his fraternity brother in Emerson College, Prof. Terence Scott, to his lecture. Bess and George trail Mr. Porterly, and overhear his telephone conversation planning harm to Nancy. Dr. Anderson tells Nancy that Mr. Juarez Tino telephoned to say that he''d reveal where the cipher and Doctor Pitt are for a price. After Terry Scott''s lecture, Mrs. Lillian Wagnell asked him to decipher her sea captain grandfather''s old diary. Nancy doubts Mrs. Wagnell''s intent, and Mrs. Prescott mentions that Mrs. Wagnell doesn''t have a sea captain grandfather. Mrs. Wagnell doesn’t want Terry to borrow the diary so Nancy suggests he take the important pages. Carson Drew received a letter from Caswell P. Breed in Baltimore, a relative of Dr. Pitt. The Drews went to Baltimore but Mr. Breed sent no letter. They guess that someone has lured them out of River Heights for some nefarious purpose.When Nancy came home she can’t contact Terry so she went to the Wagnells'' house, only to find Terry imprisoned at their house. Terry discovered that the Wagnells and Porters were related to the stuepeds. After those things happened, Terry went to Mexico and Nancy decided to join the educational trip of Dr. Anderson in the Florida Keys. A day before Nancy went to Florida, Juarez searched their house for the half-key, but couldn''t find it. When Nancy got to Florida she asked Dr. Anderson to work on a special assignment with Fran Oakes: to look for the Black Keys amongst the Florida Keys. Fran Oakes introduces Nancy to Jack Walker, her cousin. They went to Two Line Parker who knows about the Florida Keys history. The fisherman told her about the Black Falcon. During their rest, Nancy found the burned letters in Porterlys’ place. There was an unburned part of letter that talked about her, and she concluded that the Porterlys had an evil plan for her. Nancy and Dr. Anderson saw Juarez Tino in a speedboat while they were searching the Florida Keys looking for where the Black Falcon sunk. They tried to follow him but he lost them. Nancy decides to return there the next day. Dr. Anderson won’t allow her to go alone, but Terry joins her. Nancy, Terry, Fran and Jack go to find the Black Falcon. They studied the Florida Keys and were found a hidden island where they found a hidden hut, where Dr Pitt was imprisoned. Jack and Fran called the police. Nancy and Terry stayed with Dr. Pitt until Mr. and Mrs. Juarez Tino, together with the Wagnells and Porterlys, arrived. They were able to get the half-key from Nancy. They asked Dr. Pitt to reveal the remaining clue and tell him that if he doesn''t tell, something might happen to Nancy. He said that they can find the treasure in Mexico, in a little-known jungle region. They bring Dr. Pitt to Mexico and leave Nancy to their wives. The police arrived in time to free Nancy and Terry. They told Dr. Anderson that they must go to Mexico to follow the villain and rescue Dr. Pitt. They went to Mexico and captured the thieves. Dr. Pitt thought that they wouldn''t be able to see the treasure, but Nancy helped them find it. The treasure belongs to Mexico and not to any of them.

The Clue of the Black Keys

The Son of Neptune begins with the amnesiac Percy Jackson being chased by the two remaining Gorgon sisters, who want to kill him to avenge the death of their sister Medusa. Percy, who has no memories of his past life except of his girlfriend, Annabeth Chase, manages to outdistance them and stumbles upon Juno, disguised as an old lady, who gives him two options: to carry her to the Caldecott Tunnel, into the Roman Camp and across the Little Tiber river—though she warns him that by crossing through the river he''ll lose his Achilles-like invulnerability—or to retreat to the safety of the sea and live a long, happy life. Percy chooses to carry Juno in hopes of seeing Annabeth again. At the Caldecott Tunnel he meets two other demigods: Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang. When they cross the river, Percy sees Frank get caught by the pursuing Gorgons and controls the river to destroy them. Juno then reveals herself to the people there, who are inhabitants of Camp Jupiter, the Roman camp for demigods. Percy is accepted by the camp''s praetor, a girl named Reyna, and is made part of the Fifth Cohort when Hazel sponsors him. He and Hazel and Frank then prepare for the night''s war games. During the games, the trio is responsible for the cohort''s victory, and after the games Mars appears. He claims Frank as his son and sends Percy, Hazel, and Frank on a quest to free Thanatos, the god of Death, who is imprisoned in Alaska. On the quest, they bump into an old man named Phineas, who is all-knowing and all-seeing. He tells them that he will reveal the location of Thanatos if they capture a harpy named Ella and bring her to him. Before capturing Ella, they learn that she can memorize anything she reads and decide to gamble with Phineas instead. Phineas and Percy will each drink a vial of Gorgon blood, one of which kills while the other heals. Phineas ends up dying and the trio discover the location in Phineas''s pocket: Hubbard Glacier in Alaska. On the way to Alaska, Hazel reveals that she was actually supposed to be dead but was rescued from the Fields of Asphodel by Nico di Angelo and that seventy years prior to the story she was originally started to wake up the giant Alcyoneus but stopped him from rising the day he was due to escape. At that point, Frank reveals to Hazel that his life depends on a piece of firewood that he always keeps. When it burns out, he dies. When they finally reach the glacier, they find the Roman Camp''s eagle standard and most importantly, Thanatos in chains. His chains cannot be broken unless melted by the "fire of life", a.k.a Frank''s firewood, so Frank starts melting the chains as Hazel attacks Alcyoneus, while Percy attacks Alcyoneus''s ghost legion. Frank manages to free Thanatos with just a bit of his firewood left. Frank then goes to help Hazel and learns how to use his family power, which is shape shifting into any animal. He attacks Alcyoneus and dazes him, while Percy slams his sword at the edge of the iceberg where he was fighting, collapsing the iceberg and drowning the ghost legion. Frank and Hazel then drag Alcyoneus across the border into Canada, where Hazel kills him. Frank and Hazel meet back up with Percy in Alaska and then the trio rush back to Camp Jupiter, where, with the help of Tyson, Mrs. O''Leary, and the Roman Legion they fend off the Giant Polybotes''s army. After seeing the eagle standard, the legion regains their hope and fights with renewed energy. Percy then challenges the giant Polybotes (born to oppose Poseidon) to a duel, as the rest of the camp fights the rest of the monsters. Percy calls to Terminus to help him defeat the giant, as giants can only be defeated by both a god and demigod. Percy eventually beats Polybotes after a battle using the head of Terminus'' statue as a weapon. After the battle the legion names Percy as praetor, one of the two leaders of the Roman camp. Nearing the end, the groups of Greek camp demigods inform Percy of their arrival through a video scroll. He persuades the senate to trust him and let them in without a fight since the future of the world depends on both groups. Percy then resolves to introduce Hazel and Frank to his other family.

The Son of Neptune

The narrator of the novel is Hodgins "Hodge" McCormick Backmaker, who writes a diary of his life in our timeline in the year 1877. Hodge was born in 1921 in the alternate timeline of his story, in the town of Wappinger Falls. At age 17 he travels to New York City, the largest city of the United States (and yet a backwater compared to some Confederate cities), in a desperate attempt to gain admittance to a college or university. After being robbed of his few possessions, he comes into contact with the "Grand Army," a nationalistic organization working to restore the United States to its former glory through acts of sabotage and terrorism. One of the Grand Army''s operations involves counterfeiting Spanish currency, with the goal of provoking war between the Confederacy and the German Union in Spanish territories, sparing the U.S. from becoming the two superpowers'' battlefield. Despite remaining critical of the organization''s activities, Hodge accepts work and lodging with a Grand Army member working from a bookshop. Content to work for food and the opportunity to read at every waking hour, Hodge stays in the bookshop for six years before leaving New York for Pennsylvania. Hodge''s aspirations of becoming a historian researching the war between North and South become reality when he joins a self-sufficient collective of scholars and intellectuals called Haggershaven. Here he meets a research scientist on the verge of developing time travel. In 1952, Hodge takes the opportunity to finally see the Battle of Gettysburg in person. Wearing a special watch to keep track of the differences in time, he travels back in time to 1863, where he then inadvertently causes the death of the Confederate officer who occupied Little Round Top during the battle. In Hodge''s timeline, the Confederates hold the hill and win the Battle of Gettysburg, paving the way for their victory over the Union in Philadelphia a year later; in this timeline, however, Colonel Strong Vincent''s brigade and the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment commanded by Joshua Chamberlain occupy the hill early on and successfully repel Confederate advances. In the novel, Hodge asserts that Little Round Top is the key to the battle, and thus the war. Hodge''s actions effectively give the hill to the Union, where events play out as they did in this timeline and the South loses the battle. With history changed, Hodge discovers he is unable to return to the future and is stranded in this timeline. The story concludes as Hodge explains why he felt his story had to be written down, and wonders if by destroying the future he was born in, he destroyed the only dimension where time travel was possible. An "editorial note" following the story relates how one Frederick Winter Thammis had found Hodge''s diary while remodeling his house in 1953. Thammis'' father had known Hodge as a child, and had grown up on his stories of an alternate world, but had not thought him fully sane. Thammis notes that he had found a watch of unique design with the manuscript, and quotes a contemporary history book which states that the Confederates'' failure to occupy Little Round Top was "an error with momentous consequences."

Bring the Jubilee

Over Sea, Under Stone features the Drew children Simon, Jane, and Barney on holiday with their parents and their great uncle Merriman Lyon, in the fictional fishing village of Trewissick on the southern coast of Cornwall. In the attic of the big Grey House they are renting, owned by Merriman''s friend Uncle Toms, the children find an old manuscript. They recognize a drawing of the local coastline that may be a kind of map, with almost illegible text, but Barney realises the map refers to King Arthur and his knights. The children decide to keep the discovery to themselves. The family are visited at the Grey House by a very friendly Mr. Withers and his sister Polly, who invite them to go fishing on their yacht. The boys are thrilled, but Jane feels suspicious and declines to join them. While Jane is alone in the Grey House, she finds a guidebook to Trewissick in an old trunk, written by the local vicar. She realises that the map in the guidebook is similar to the secret map, but also different somehow, so she decides to visit the vicar. The man at the vicarage is not the writer of the guidebook, but he offers to help Jane. He asks some probing questions which arouse Jane''s suspicions again, and she decides to return home. Soon the house is robbed with attention only to the bookshelves and wall hangings, and the children guess someone else knows of and seeks the manuscript. The children decide it is time to confide in Great-Uncle Merry. Up on the headland they show him the map and he tells them that it is a copy of an even older map which shows the way to a hidden treasure and that the children are now in great danger. He explains that some British artefact may have been stashed here long ago, and to confirm that they will have dangerous grown-up rivals in its pursuit. And so begins their quest for the Grail on behalf of the Light, which they have to achieve while being harried by Mr Withers and his sister, who are agents of the Dark, desperate to stop them at any cost. Mother usually paints outdoors, and father goes boating, or both travel out of town. Meanwhile the children investigate the meaning of the "map", encouraged, yet warned and sometimes "guarded" by Great Uncle Merry. They learn to read the diagram, and work out the clues on the map but they must work out of doors, where each child has a nasty encounter with the Dark, and their progress is easy to observe. While looking for the first clue Simon is chased by Mr. Hastings and Bill Hoover Jr.. After the second clue leads them to the headland at night, Simon, Jane, and Great Uncle Merry are ambushed and almost caught by Dark followers. Merriman is misdirected out of town, but the children anxiously follow their ancient guide "over sea and under stone" without him. Barney is kidnapped by Mr. Withers and his sister Polly, and must be rescued. The children eventually follow the clues to a cave off the headland and discover the grail. Unfortunately they lose an important metal case that was lodged inside the Grail, which contained a coded manuscript that is the key to deciphering the markings on the outside of the grail. The children present the grail to the British Museum and are given a check for it. The grail is an object of hot debate among the scholars there because of the unknown markings.

Over Sea, Under Stone

The Duke of Parma, Foscari, has been plying his marriage suit to the Duchess of Mantua &mdash; but he suddenly disappears from her court. The Duchess announces that she intends to select a husband from her own courtiers. Egged on by her new favorite Giotto and her lady in waiting Laura, each lord flatters himself that he is the favored candidate. Depazzi practices his eloquence with rehearsed speeches, while Volterre prides himself on his command of foreign languages. Contarini, a married man, actually tries to convince his wife to kill herself to leave him single again; when she naturally declines, he attempts to bribe Giotto into committing adultery with her so that a divorce can result. The misogynistic Orseolo portrays himself as a great lover; the elderly Comachio joins his compatriots in making a fool of himself. In the end, the Duchess gently mocks and reproves her eccentric courtiers, and announces that she will marry Giotto &mdash; who turns out to be the Duke of Parma in disguise.

The Humorous Courtier

Joe Leland, a private detective, begins investigating a case for the recently widowed Norma MacIver. Norma requests that Leland find out everything he can about her deceased husband. Norma requests Leland personally because her husband had mentioned knowing him in the past. It turns out that Leland and Colin MacIver served in the same military unit during World War II, but at different times. Leland interviews Colin''s first wife, his mother and the security guards at the track where Colin supposedly killed himself. Norma introduces Leland to her neighbor and former therapist, Dr. Wendell Roberts. During their conversation Wendell reveals that he knew Leland''s wife. It turns out Wendell was friends with the man with whom Karen Leland had had an affair. As Leland''s investigation deepens he uncovers evidence of corruption and murder. Eventually, Leland discovers that Colin was connected to a homicide during Leland''s earlier life with the police department as a detective. During the investigation of Teddy Leikman''s death a confession was obtained from Felix Tesla, Leikman''s roommate. Tesla was subsequently executed by electric chair. It turned out that Colin MacIver was the true murderer. Joe''s partner, Mike Petrakis, managed to decipher Colin''s coded notes and reveal a paper trail of corruption.

The Detective

The novel revolves around the mishaps of its narrator, Fred Trumper, a floundering late-twenty-something graduate student with serious commitment and honesty issues that earn him the nickname "Bogus." The novel shows Irving beginning to develop a blend of comedy and pathos, as well as a penchant for fashioning quirky characters. It follows a non-linear narrative in the form of a sort of ''confession'' authored by Trumper, who humorously recounts his various failures in life and love, from his New England childhood through his experiences on foreign study in Vienna, Austria, and as a graduate student in Iowa, leading up to the present-action setting, early-1970s New York, where Trumper is attempting to sever himself from his adolescent past. ''I want to change,'' Trumper says at the end of Chapter one. The phrase seems to be the novel''s central theme. The title refers to a method prescribed to Trumper for the treatment of non-specific urological disorders relating to his abnormally narrow urinary tract. Trumper''s urologist, Dr. Jean Claude Vigneron, offers him three options for the treatment of his disorder: abstinence from sex and alcohol, a painful operation to widen the urinary canal, or the Water Method, which consists simply of consuming abnormal quantities of water before and after sex to flush bacteria out of the urinary tract. Trumper opts for the Water Method, suggesting both his generally comical cowardice and lack of self-discipline. Trumper''s narration meanders through flashbacks revolving around his relationships with the novel''s two primary female characters: Sue ''Biggie'' Kunft, a former championship downhill skier whom Trumper courts, impregnates, and marries in Vienna while still a student, and Tulpen, Trumper''s present day live-in girlfriend, a documentary film editor in New York, where he lands after losing Biggie. Though the two relationships function chiefly as a means of demonstrating Bogus Trumper''s tendency to repeat his mistakes, Irving is often regarded for his strong, independent female characters, and Tulpen and Biggie can be seen as markers in the development of the strong women in his more popularly successful novels, particularly The World According to Garp (1979). Other characters include Trumper''s best childhood friend Couth, a still-photographer; Merrill Overturf, an alcoholic and diabetic loon Trumper befriends in Vienna; Ralph Packer, a pretentious documentary filmmaker who employs Trumper as a sound editor; and Colm, Trumper''s young son from his first marriage to Biggie. Trumper is a graduate student at the University of Iowa in comparative literature whose dissertation is to be a translation of an ancient, ''Old Low Norse'' epic called ''Akthelt and Gunnel''. Irving employs the ''Akthelt and Gunnel'' poem as a means for allowing Trumper to poke merciless fun at himself through analogously inventing the story of the poem according to his own life''s mishaps. de:Die wilde Geschichte vom Wassertrinker fr:L''Épopée du buveur d''eau lt:Vandens metodas pl:Metoda wodna

The Water-Method Man

Ai no Kusabi takes place on the world of Amoi, which is ruled by a computer named Jupiter. Jupiter has introduced a number of strict social rules to society. Among them, social status is determined by hair color, blonde being the highest, down to black or dark brown as the lowest. The Blondies, genetically engineered by Jupiter, are the highest social class and occupy the capital city of Tanagura. They travel to the satellite pleasure city of Midas, which has an independent slum area called Ceres. Under Jupiter''s restrictions, the Blondies are sterile and forbidden from indulging in sexual activities. They keep "pets" (adolescents in their late teens) for about a year, for purely voyeuristic purposes, before discarding them. Further emasculation is seen in the "Furniture", adolescent boys who serve the Blondies. Contrary to popular belief, the hair-color caste system only applies to those working in Tanagura and not in Ceres. The true separation is between those genetically created in a lab (those in Tanagura) and the "mongrels" formed the natural way (those in Ceres). However it was written in the novel that Tanagura manipulated even the natural births of Ceres, ensuring that its population did not grow by restricting the number of female births to 1 in 10. Riki the Dark, a slum mongrel without an ID number, leader of the gang Bison and therefore considered the lowest of the low, one day meets Iason Mink, a Tanagura elite Blondie, the most powerful man in the city and Jupiter''s favorite. Iason saves him from being killed by a gang and Riki tries to pay his debt by offering his body to Iason. Instead, Iason makes him his pet and takes him from the slums to live with him. Riki leaves his gang behind without an explanation. Iason keeps Riki, who is bound to Iason with a penis ring, as his pet for three years. This causes a lot of rumors and commotion amongst the other Blondies. Not only is Riki considered too old to be a pet but he is a human mongrel, which is frowned upon. The other Blondies question Iason and his motives, yet Iason refuses to give up Riki whom he has grown very attached to. Iason''s friend, Raoul, warns him that Jupiter does not approve of this relationship but Iason refuses to listen. Riki hates his new position, having formerly been a proud leader, and begs Iason for his freedom. Iason grants him a year of freedom and allows him to go back to Ceres, the slums. Riki is welcomed back into Bison and returns to a normal life. He has changed, however, and is unable to forget the time he spent as Iason''s pet. When the year passes, Iason decides he wants Riki back. Through his former furniture Katze, who is now a black marketeer, Iason arranges for Kirie, a young member of Bison, to set a trap and catch the gang. This ends with Bison being arrested. Riki is freed and told to return to his master. After Riki returns to Iason, he learns of the taboos Iason has broken to keep him and of how Iason has protected him from the fate of former pets which end up being sold to brothels. Iason even decides to grant Riki a bit of further freedom by allowing him to work with Katze in the black market. Guy, Riki''s best friend and former pairing partner from Bison, finds out about Riki''s position as Iason''s pet and becomes enraged. As a result, Guy decides to get Riki back from Iason. He kidnaps Riki to Dana Bahn. Riki tells Guy that he will never be free of Iason as long as he wears Iason''s pet ring. Guy therefore removes Riki''s pet ring by giving him a penectomy. Guy contacts Iason and arranges to meet him in Dana Bahn. Iason, thinking Riki is in Dana Bahn because of the tracer in the pet ring, meets Guy there. Iason tries to get Riki back but finds out what Guy has done. After attacking him, Guy sets off bombs that he had planted in Dana Bahn with the intention of killing Iason to set Riki free. Riki appears to stop Iason from killing Guy and get them all out of Dana Bahn. Reluctantly Iason helps Guy and they head towards the exit. As they approach the front gate, an explosion wrecks Dana Bahn. The gates collapse and slice Iason''s legs off just above the knee. Riki is forced to leave him there while he takes Guy out of Dana Bahn. Riki sees Katze, who has been waiting outside after Riki contacted him, and tells him to help Guy while he returns to Iason. Iason is surprised to see Riki come back, despite what he had done to him as a pet. Riki sits down next to Iason and offers him a poisonous Black Moon cigarette that Katze had given to him, and they both perish in Dana Bahn together, much to everyone''s grief.

Ai no Kusabi

One of Patricia Holm''s friends sends an invitation for Patricia and her friend, Simon Templar to visit Miami. Upon arrival, however, The Saint, Patricia and sidekick Hoppy Uniatz discover Pat''s friend and her husband are nowhere to be found. The trio take up residence in the friend''s house. A few days later, a tanker explodes off the Florida coast, and soon after, Simon discovers the dead body of a sailor washed up on shore; attached to the wrist of the body is a lifebelt from the British submarine H.M.S. Triton. Simon suspects a link between the disappearance of Patricia''s friends, the explosion, and a millionaire yachtsman named Randolph March. March''s yacht is moored not far from the explosion, and Templar and Hoppy launch the investigation by climibing aboard the yacht, leaving the sailor''s corpse in a stateroom for the police to find, and challenging March to give up his secrets. Afterwards, Templar finds himself targeted not only by March, but by an eager local sheriff who proves to be almost as fast-witted as the Saint, himself. Soon, the Saint uncovers a Nazi ring operating out of Florida.

The Saint in Miami

Mym, an Indian prince, defies his father''s plans for an arranged marriage, instead joining a traveling circus. He meets Orb, who teaches him to overcome his own handicap of a terrible stutter through song. He is soon discovered, and his father arranges for him to marry a princess by the name of Rapture. After fighting against this for days on end, he finally realizes that Rapture is worth loving, and so concedes to the marriage. However, a plot to separate him from her results in his decision to become the Incarnation of War. Through the course of living as Mars, Rapture takes up a life of her own and decides that she does not need him anymore. Satan arranges, subtly, a demoness for his new companion, hoping to get Mars in his debt that way. In the end, this backfires and he ends up with two loves in his life. His ultimate goal was to use his position to ameliorate some of the suffering being caused by war on Earth, and is surprised by Satan''s encouragement. Soon he realizes the subtle importances of human war and conflict: under certain circumstances, human suffering is increased, not decreased, by abstinence from armed response. Satan''s plan is to have an inexperienced office-holder in the position of the Incarnation of War, such that he can manipulate the course of armed conflicts on Earth, allowing some wars through and blocking the progression of others, such that the overall balance of evil in the world is increased. He accomplished the replacement of the previous Mars by facilitating the cessation of all conflict in the world—not only war, but bar brawls and even minor squabbles between children counts as conflict—every time this happens in history, the Incarnation of War retires and passes on into the afterlife. Mym stepped into the office at a time when global violence was just being recommenced, and thus became an opportunity for Satan to manipulate a naïve Mars. Part of this process was a plot by which Satan managed to trap Mym in Hell. Mym eventually led a revolution of the lost souls and secured an escape route, employing lessons from Miyamoto Musashi''s famous treatise, The Book of Five Rings, to defeat Satan in a one-on-one battle. However, during his absence, Satan has manipulated the geopolitical situation such that international tensions everywhere are at an all-time high, and the world is on the brink of apocalypse. This results in virtually every government everywhere adopting martial law, as normal democratic process is eminently non-viable. A result of this, and an important objective for Satan, is that Luna Kaftan has become sidelined, unable to fulfill the prophecy that she would rise into political office and stand as a bulwark against Satan. Mym realizes Satan''s underlying objective, and forces a confrontation on terms unfavourable to Satan—he travels to the Doomsday Clock, a signifier of how close the world is at any given time to Armageddon, and there employs the powers specific to his office to escalate world violence and bring War to ultimate fruition—Judgement Day. The crux is this: that Satan is not yet ready for the Final Judgment to happen, as the current balance of souls on Earth is favourable to God—i.e. God would get a greater proportion of the souls, signifying (in this fictional universe) the ultimate victory of Good. At the very last minute, Satan is forced to concede and withdraw. Mym lowers his Sword and returns the world to a state of relative peace. Mym learns that his responsibility as War is not to promote war and violence, but to make sure that conflicts are handled fairly.

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