-A/N- Sorry about this being a short chapter, they'll be longer from now on. I kind of hit a block when I was writing this chapter, so it seemed a bit uneventful to me. Will get better, I promise.

Daiki was the last one to awaken the next morning. He was awakened by Ryuu, telling him to get his stuff for Rai together. Rai was already finished with Rokuru's weapon, and he told Ryuu to summon Daiki.

"What time is it?" Daiki asked groggily.

"About 9," Ryuu told him.

Daiki got up, and scratched his head during a long, satisfying yawn. He looked around, and noticed something missing.

"Hey, where's Katsu?" he asked through another yawn.

"Eh? Oh, he got up early to—"

"What? He got up early? Why the fu—"

"—the Selkies, Asuka and Kiyoko, remember?" Ryuu cut him off.

"Oh yeah…does he actually think he has a chance with them?" Daiki asked as he dressed himself.

"Maybe. They're coming to Marr's Pass with us tomorrow, remember?"

"So…is he hoping to bunk with them?"

"Maybe we should stick you with them, Daiki! Just to piss him off," Ryuu laughed. "Or Roki," he said as Rokuru walked in.

"Huh? What?" he asked.

"HA!" Daiki said. "You answered to Roki!"

"Shut up!" Rokuru said. "Now what did you say about me sleeping with Selkies? What did Ryuu tell you now?"

"Nothing, it was about Katsu," Ryuu said. "Anyway, Daiki needs to get his stuff from the cart and go to Rai. While he's doing that, Rokuru, you and me should go and see if we can find a new canvas for our wagon…and maybe repair it a bit."

"Um…okay," Rokuru said. "We should unload everything right now into this room, so all of Daiki's and Katsu's materials should be here."

Rokuru and Ryuu returned at about 12:00, with a new canvas and a few wooden planks needed to repair the cart. They also were carrying a couple of loaves of bannock, and some meat, fish and berries to eat that day. They met up with Daiki in the inn's room.

"What weapons did ya get?" Rokuru asked.

"He made us all Ultima Weapons," Daiki said. "I went to thank him after he finished Katsu's weapon and he was gone…strange."

"Yeah, last night he holed himself up in his office and didn't come out for…a long time."

"What does he do in there?" Daiki asked.

"I don't know…he's only a blacksmith, and I can't understand why that would take up so much paperwork…."

"Asuka and Kiyoko said he was an archeologist…and he studies miasma."

"Asuka and…who? What?" Rokuru looked puzzled.

"The Selkies you're sleeping with!" Ryuu exclaimed.

"Shut up or I'm gonna stick my spear in someplace that will prevent you from walking OR sitting for weeks!" Rokuru snapped back.

"Well, you'll meet them soon enough," Ryuu said. "They're coming with us to Alfitaria. And I think it would be wise to ask Rai about his findings; they could help us. But—wait, where is Katsu?"

"Katsu?" Daiki asked. "Oh, he's out with the Selkies. He said he was gonna come back after he helped them with something."

"And back I am." Katsu walked in with Asuka and Kiyoko.

"We were out in the town getting food…and stuff for the road," Asuka said. "That, and strapping our canoe to the rear of your cart."

"I think we could leave now if you guys wanted to," Asuka said.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Eh? What's that?" Daiki asked. He walked over to the door and slowly, cautiously opened it. He opened quickly after a few seconds, Ultima Sword in hand.

There was nobody there. He stepped out and looked; he saw nobody but tripped over something. He looked down to see a small, brown leather bag. Rai's bag, he realized. He picked it up cautiously, as if he were expecting to find a fuse sticking out of it, lit and moving fast. "Guys," he said. "Something isn't right."

They opened the bag and found—

"Papers. Lots and lots of papers," Rokuru said.

"They're all about Miasma," Ryuu said.

"Hey, I told you he was an archaeologist," Asuka said.

"Guys…look," Daiki said, pointing outside.

On first look, it seemed normal on the streets, with busy people going out and about, the loud noises of kids screaming as they played their games. A slightly closer look revealed the horror unleashed in Alfitaria:

People were not going out and about in their daily lives, running errands or doing chores. Kids did not scream in their games because their games were not being played. A large smokestack arose from one of the houses. Not from the chimney, but from the house itself. The people were busy trying to rush water to it, to get it out.

"Uncle Rai…" Rokuru started off. "Yuke, use blizzaga or something to put that thing the frig out!"

"That may be the best idea you've ever had, Lilty," he replied.

After a few hours of blizzaga being cast all over and water being dumped everywhere, the fire was finally out. Ryuu had lowered the temperature of the town by about 56°. The sun began to set, and people were clearing out everything in Rai's house. One thing was missing: Rai.

As the sun set, snow began to fall. Everyone in town was silent. The snow blanketed the town and everything around. The silence wasn't ever broken because everyone knew what the truth was: this was no accident.

"Katsu?" Asuka asked when the last of the glow from the sunset was gone. "Please…lets leave…right now…tonight. We aren't safe." There were tears in her eyes. He knew she was right. They needed to leave.

20 minutes later they were in the caravan cart, leaving.