The Silvana was crowded. Very crowded.

Every bed in every room was filled. Every room not strictly needed to run the ship had been converted into either a bedroom or a storage room. The newly made Captain Wina had made a point of addressing her passengers and crew over the loudspeakers, telling them in no uncertain terms that they were to cooperate. While those few people who owned a vanship had been allowed to take it with them, those were restricted to a tiny section of the garage; all other space was needed for the passengers. Luciola and Daphne shared a room with an old woman and her grown son.

It would be over three weeks to Exile. He made a point of being in his room as little as possible. On the second day of their journey—after unpacking and bickering over what should go where and making sure the old woman got one of the bottom bunks—he went down to the garage.

Unlike nearly every other space on the ship, it was possible to gain some privacy here. The crates, boxes, and barrels piled around the room turned it into a maze. For a few minutes, Luciola thought he was alone, until a thud and a series of curse words reached his ears. One of the mechanics—Godwin, he thought—limped into view. "Dammit, I think I broke my foot!"

Another voice came from above; a man Luciola vaguely recognized as Kostabi was sitting on a stack of crates, laughing. "You keep saying that like you've never had a duffel bag full of some geologist's rock collection fall on your foot before."

Godwin glared up at him. "I haven't. That was y..." He stopped and blinked, noticing Luciola standing nearby. "What are you doing here?"

Luciola took a small step backward. He was so nervous he almost felt queasy, but his voice was steady. Please let this work. "…You have a lot of vanships down here. I'm a mechanic myself, so I thought maybe I could help you with the maintenance work."

Godwin seemed to forget all about his aching foot. "Sorry; the Silvana's vanships can only be worked on by Silvana mechanics, and I don't think the other passengers would like you touching their vanships."

Kostabi slid down from the crate to get a better look at Luciola. "Hey, wait a sec. We need all the help we can get right now. What's your name, kid?"

Luciola thought quickly. I can't give them my real name. I doubt they'll recognize it, but it's best to be on the safe side. "Luce." Well, it's close to the truth, anyway.

Godwin adopted a mock-friendly tone. "Well, 'Luce', if you're gonna be joining us as a mechanic, allow me to welcome you as one of the gang."

Luciola knew what was coming. He had heard about the so-called "welcome" Mullin had received as a sort of ritual hazing when he had arrived. Accordingly, as Godwin moved to grab Luciola's shoulder, the boy seized his wrist and twisted hard.

He kept his tone neutral, calm. "I don't think the captain would appreciate it if you beat up someone who is technically a passenger on her ship. Of course, if you're determined to 'welcome' me, as you say, then why don't we go ahead?"

He released the man's wrist. Godwin rubbed it and grinned sheepishly. "You're tough, kid. Welcome to our crew."

&

Dio yawned and sat down on a convenient bench. While a trip to town was always interesting, Lavie and Dunya had insisted on leaving him outside, telling him not to move while they went to check out the fabric store that had recently opened for business. He tilted his head back, staring at the clouds.

Hey, that one on the left kind of looks like a bunny. Or—no, wait—maybe a turtle. Something bright caught his eye, and he focused his gaze on the street again. What he saw made his blood run cold.

After Exile was activated and the Guild was destroyed, those Guild members that had supported Delphine had mostly vanished. A good portion of the rest, seeking to change humans' perceptions of them, had gone to the blue planet at the first opportunity. While none of them wore their Guild uniforms anymore, the adults still bore their marks, and most of them could easily be distinguished by their near-universal penchants for odd, flashy clothes.

Two young Guilders, a girl and a boy, walked arm-in-arm down the main street. The girl's vest was bright orange and embroidered with blue and silver thread; this was what had caught Dio's eye. They looked to be around the same age as him, but the girl was younger—her mark had not yet appeared. A younger boy trailed behind them, ignored. He noticed Dio and went up to him.

"Hey, mister, what's the matter?"

Dio twitched. The girl charged up to them both, her boyfriend trailing behind. "Evander, what did I tell you about talking to strangers—oh." In the middle of lecturing her brother—for they had to be related; they shared the same pale reddish hair and gray eyes—she had spared a glance at the young man on the bench. Now she stared. Dio trembled and did not meet her gaze. Finally, she spoke.

"Y-you're…I've seen pictures of you before. You're Principal Dio, aren't you? That woman's brother."

The boy by her side blinked, tilting his head for a better look. "Hey, Lysimache, I think you're right. He sure doesn't look like a noble, though."

Some part of Dio, the part that had been gibbering in fear and telling him to run away, relaxed. Oh. These people don't mean me any harm. They're just curious. "…I'm not."

Dunya came out of the store, carrying a bolt of white cloth. Lavie followed her. She saw Dio and frowned. "Dio, we have to go; come on."

He rose and left, leaving the Guilders standing there without sparing a single glance behind him. As he rejoined Lavie and Dunya, he smiled. This is where I belong.

&

For ten days, Luciola worked with the mechanics and sought to gain their trust. As the "new guy", he was lower in the pecking order than even Ethan, so he was mostly relegated to fetching tools and doing simple repairs. After some initial friction, he and Godwin got along fairly well together, although they spoke only when necessary. Dio did not appear.

One day, he put his plan into motion.

They were on break; the men working in the kitchen had passed out sandwiches and soda. Luciola lounged against the wall, careful to portray an image of utter relaxation. During a lull in the conversation, he spoke. "I can't have been the only non-mechanic to work down here. Have there been others?"

One of the mechanics—Gale, Luciola thought, the one who left the Guild as a child—grinned. "Oh, yeah, there were others. You said you were from Norkia, so you might have known them. Claus Valca and Lavie Head were the children of Hamilcar Valca and George Head, the first people to attempt crossing the Grand Stream in a vanship. They—the kids, that is—were also the first people to settle on Exile."

Luciola took a bit of his sandwich before replying. "Wow, that's nice. Say, I was at Horizon Cave a few months ago, and I think I saw a boy in white Guild clothes get off this ship. What was that? I thought you were instrumental in destroying the Guild."

A silence descended on them, and he knew he had struck a nerve. Godwin sighed. "Yeah, about that…the Maestro's brother came here as a hostage willingly, trying to get away from his sister. Kind of weird, and hyper as a squirrel on a caffeine high, but a good kid. There was this guy with him—his friend or bodyguard or something. That guy could fight! They were good with vanships, you know. Poor kids."

"What do you mean?"

"It didn't work. We had a birthday party for 'im, just before him and Claus left to face Exile. While he was gone, the Guild attacked and took us all prisoner. When it was all over, his bodyguard was dead, and the kid…Dio was his name…his sister had done something to him. Claus and Lavie took him to Norkia, but he came back."

Hope flared to life in Luciola's chest, but his voice betrayed no emotion. "What happened to him, then?"

Ethan shivered. "He came here. We were in the Grand Stream at the time…he fell out of his vanship. We caught him, but he was in really bad shape. When he learned his friend was dead, the scream…sometimes I think it's still echoing around the ship."

The hope vanished. Lord Dio…oh, Lord Dio. If I had only come here sooner, you could have been spared so much pain. "That must have been rough. It must have taken him a long time to recover."

Their break was over. As he went back to work, Gale remarked, "I wouldn't know about that. Claus and Lavie took him with them to the blue planet when they left."

No. Luciola slid to the ground. It's been…at least two months since I died. Two months…and he's been on the blue planet all this time? He swallowed past the lump in his throat. We're going to Exile anyway. I just have to be patient. Just a little longer, and then I'll see him again.

&

They were going into town again. This time, it was to stock up on supplies—Dunya had decided to make chicken for dinner that night. As they made ready to leave, Dio couldn't quite stop himself from fidgeting. Eventually, Lavie noticed. "Dio, are you alright?"

He nodded and went back to playing with his hair. At his insistence, Lavie had snipped off the longer section, so that all of his hair except his bangs was the same length. I'm fine. I'm fine. Those Guild kids…they were harmless. Completely harmless.

The young Guilders were not there when they reached town. The butcher's store was easily recognizable by the smell of blood and the flies buzzing around the door. Dio followed Lavie and Dunya inside without really paying attention to where he was going. Accordingly, when Dunya stopped suddenly, he walked into her back with a yelp.

She was staring at the butcher behind the counter—or, more accurately, at his Guild mark. Dio shivered and tried to make himself look as small as possible. The butcher didn't appear to notice and offered her a friendly smile. "What'll it be today, miss?"

Lavie nudged Dunya in the side and spoke. "A chicken—that fat one you've got on your left."

He grinned expansively. "As you wish, miss. Want me to take the head and feet off for you?"

Dunya found her voice again. "You don't have to. We have to walk back to our house, and I don't want to leave a trail of chicken blood behind me."

"Well, that's certainly sensible of you." The man's eyes strayed to Dio, who was shivering slightly. "Hey, my niece was right! You are the Maestro's family. Are you alright?"

He couldn't find words to speak. Lavie put a protective arm around his shoulders. "He's fine. We'll be going now."

"That'll be three Claudia—a discount for a fellow Guild member."

As they walked home, Dunya remarked, "That was strange. I never thought Guilders did jobs like that."

Dio's voice barely rose above a whisper. "The Guild…is self-sufficient. Not everyone can be a noble, and there are plenty of people with more mundane jobs."

"So, why were you so scared?" Lavie had not removed her arm from his shoulder, and he was glad of the contact. He smiled at her.

"They know me. Everyone who supported her is dead…those who came here have no reason to like me." Dio shivered. "Everyone…everyone suffered under…under my sister." He began to sob quietly, choking back tears.

The rest of the walk home was silent.

&

When he had been with Dio on the Silvana, he had walked the path down to the engine room until it was ingrained in his muscles. Now, Luciola found that he had to keep one hand on the wall to be sure of which direction to move.

Lescius was sitting down, surveying a chess board sadly. He looked up as Luciola entered. "What can I do for you? Are you lost?"

For a single, horrible second, Luciola was about to tell him the truth—It's me Luciola I have to know what happened to Lord Dio—and then, just as quickly, he recovered. It was almost disturbing, how easy it was to lie—he'd never had much practice, after all. But then again, he had rehearsed this over and over in his head.

"No, I'm not lost. My roommate's writing a book about the fall of the Guild, but he's too sick to leave his room, so he sent me to gather information. I heard that you knew the Maestro's brother?"

Lescius sighed heavily. "Yes, I knew him, and I daresay I knew him well. That poor boy. He was so full of life; he wanted nothing more than to be rid of his sister's influence. But in the end, he couldn't escape."

"Others have told me that, yes. I need to know details. What—what happened to him afterwards?"

"…He went mad. For weeks, he had to be strapped to his bunk to prevent him hurting himself or others. He was incoherent and raving most of the time, crying out for his friend…What was his name? He rarely ever spoke, but it was obvious he was devoted to his master…"

Lescius studied him closely. He was standing, seemingly relaxed, but poised to move at any moment. Although they were green instead of his former blue, Luciola's eyes were as alert as ever. He did not meet the old man's gaze.

"Ah, yes…Luciola. That was his friend's name. Speaking of names, you have yet to give me yours, young man."

He knows. He recognizes me. Luciola had to fight to keep his voice calm. "Just call me Luce. I heard L—the Maestro's brother was taken to the blue planet to recuperate. Is that right?"

"Yes. Now, if you don't mind, may I give you some advice?"

He paled, but signaled for the old man to go ahead. If there was any doubt as to whether or not Lescius recognized him, what he said next dissolved it. "When you find him again…please be careful with him. He's been through a great deal, and I can't tell you how he'll react to you."

Luciola sagged against the door frame. Half under his breath, he murmured, "He was calling for me. He was calling out for me and I could do nothing. All I can do for my lord now…is to tell him I'm alive."

Lescius shook his head as though ridding himself of bad memories. "I know it's difficult, but we are heading to the blue planet. When you find Claus and Lavie, you will find him."

"…Thank you." Luciola left, beginning the long, slow trek back to his room. Wait. Wait. That's the only thing I can do for now. Lord Dio, please wait for me too.