Phew, the second chapter's done. I forgot to mention this earlier, but the story takes place just a few months after the end of the character quests. Sadly, this means Grune won't be making an appearance. Well, enjoy!

Tales of Legendia does not belong to me.

Gaet slowly but surely found herself growing used to her new feet as she and Poppo traveled. In fact, she gradually became comfortable enough to walk without concentrating too much, eventually falling into a repetitive, soldier-like march. Neither of the Oresoren seemed to think anything of it at the time, however.

"Hey, are we almost there yet?" Gaet was beginning to grow more and more suspicious of this otter every minute. I shouldn't be following him. Maybe it'd be smarter to go off on my own. It had been a while since they got out of the Great Hollow and she was starting to think this was all a trap.

Poppo remained oblivious as ever. "Almost, ors!"

"And why do you keep saying 'ors'? Is that some kind of—"

"We're here!" The Oresoren held out a paw in the entrance's direction. "Welcome to the Oresoren Village. Ors!"

Gaet narrowed her eyes and looked ahead, half-expecting an ambush or something to be waiting. Instead, there were small houses, merchant stands, and a community of otters scurrying about. She stared in fascination for a few moments at the society these creatures somehow built. I've never heard of something like this...

"Ors?"

"R-right. You lead the way," she quickly answered, snapping out of it. I've gotta focus on figuring this mess out.

"Of course!" Poppo made his way through the village, followed by Gaet. They managed to travel the whole way without receiving any strange looks from the Oresoren, so it seemed she fit right in.

Gaet looked down at her paws. I really do look just like them, don't I?

It wasn't long before they stopped at a slightly larger than average house(at least by Oresoren standards). "Jay, I've returned! And I've brought someone, ors!"

When the door opened, Gaet was expecting this Jay person to be a talking otter like the rest of the villagers. Instead, what she saw was a huge, scowling beast at least twice her height—a human in a mostly purple cloak. She reached up to shield her face with her paws. "Eeek! Giant!"

At this, the human boy's scowl softened; he seemed to take this as a compliment. However, a look of suspicion and hostility quickly returned to his face. Before he could say anything, however, Poppo interrupted. "It's alright, Gaet. Jay is actually very small compared to most humans, and he's very kind."

"Huh? Is that so?" She took another look at Jay, realizing that he did in fact look petite and girlish. If she was human, she was sure that he would've been even shorter than her.

"Never mind that! Poppo, who is this? She's not from the village." Jay turned to address Gaet, pulling out a knife. "What business do you have here, and why are you disguising yourself as an Oresoren? If you plan on harming them, I won't show any mercy."

"Whoa, hey! I'm not even armed!" This only seemed to earn a deeper glare from Jay. 'Very kind', my foot!

"Jay, Gaet's a friend! I think she lost her memory, and we were hoping you might know something." Poppo stepped in between them.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Jay stepped back and nodded, listening to Poppo with utmost respect. "Then come inside and explain yourselves."

"You know, I don't think I want to after you threatened me like that."

The boy turned to her with a deadly glare, one that Gaet swore could send a dragon running for its life. "No, I insist."

"Right, then! Sorry for delaying!" Gaet scurried inside, followed by Poppo and Jay.

"So you're saying you don't remember anything?" Jay asked. The three of them were now sitting in a circle on a very cozy carpet, a nice little plate of scallops resting in front of them.

"Not necessarily anything, but nothing important," Gaet answered while struggling to break open a scallop. After they all had a few moments to settle down, she had become much calmer.

"Alright, then. Poppo, how much do you know?"

"Ors~! I was looking through the Mighty Ones' graveyard to find parts for the Poppo Mk. V when I found Gaet unconscious."

"What's the Poppo Mk. V?" Gaet asked. Better yet, what happened to the first four?

"A submarine, now stop interrupting." Jay turned to her with a glare. Clearly the calm atmosphere did nothing to weaken his suspicion of her.

"When she woke up, she seemed surprised. Apparently she wasn't always an Oresoren, so I thought we should ask you about it," Poppo finished.

"I see. Thank you." With that, Jay turned to interrogate Gaet. "Tell me exactly what you remember. If I think you're lying..." He briefly revealed his knife to finish the sentence for him.

"Okay, okay! So I remember coming here to the Legacy from my homeland..." Gaet hesitated to say its name, unsure of whether or not her political affiliations would make things worse. The Crusand Empire wasn't exactly known for making friends with other nations. "And I know I was human back then, but from there I only remember waking up as an Oresoren. Gaet's not even my real name! It's just temporary because I can't even remember that much."

"Is that so?" Jay narrowed his eyes. "Is that all? You haven't left any details out?"

Does he know I didn't tell him everything? A bit of panic set in. "Y-you know, I shouldn't be expected to spill my life story to a stranger!"

"Oh? But you were the one who wanted help," the boy answered as he stood up. Suddenly his fingertips began to glow. "Unless that was just an excuse. Tell me what you're planning to do to the Oresoren and I may spare your life."

Gaet frantically searched through what little knowledge she still had about the physics of this world, trying to figure out what was going on. It wasn't long before she found her answer—this boy was about to use an eres spell on her, one that would most likely hurt quite a bit, if it didn't kill her. "Wait, wait! I never wanted anything to do with your talking otters! I just want to be human again and go back to Crusand...Why did I even leave?" By now she could feel a few tears forming.

"Crusand, you say?" Jay's glare never faltered aside from some slight surprise at the country's name, but the light on his fingertips faded away. "I'll believe you for now, but I doubt you came to the Legacy for sightseeing. Don't try anything while you're here." He turned away and began thinking to himself. Crusand. I thought we'd heard the last of them after that incident with Vaclav, but could they be planning something? Or is she a fugitive? I need to tell the others about this...

"Then...do you know anything?" Gaet asked quietly, still sniffling a little. Considering the situation, she was actually a little proud of having managed to hold her tears back up until now.

"Not yet. Poppo, keep an eye on her until tomorrow morning. When Quppo and Pippo return, you can take turns keeping watch."

"Ors~!" Poppo nodded enthusiastically. "Then you'll help her?"

"I'll see what I can do. Tomorrow I plan on taking her to Werites Beacon to ask the others what they think." Jay turned to Gaet once more. "No objections. Until you learn more, I'm going to treat your presence as a hostile action on the Crusand Empire's part. That being said, consider yourself a prisoner of war until we can prove you're a civilian." He began walking away. "It's getting late, so rest while you can."

"I'll show you to a room," Poppo helped Gaet up and waddled away.

Gaet glanced back before following after the Oresoren. Things weren't exactly peachy right now, but she was grateful be free of Jay's hostility until morning. At the very least, these otters were way more pleasant to be around. How did he manage to end up so vicious if he lives with these adorable fuzzy creatures?

She let out a sigh, her ears drooping. Tomorrow she would be stuck with Jay and her fate would be in the hands of whoever these friends of his were. At the very least, she hoped they were half as friendly as the Oresoren. Either way, it'll be a long day...