"Did you have to leave me behind, mieu?" the cheagle said as Luke came back into the inn to pack up the few belongings he had collected over the course of their trip. Luke sighed and reached out to scratch Mieu's head between the ears.

"Sorry. It was kind of a long day yesterday. You should be glad you slept through most of it," he said, using his other hand to stuff some dried grass into his pack. The ferry had food for humans, but probably not for cheagles, and Luke was concerned that too much fruit would make Mieu too fat to move. Already he seemed to have gained a bit of fluff.

"Miiiiiieu," the cheagle whined, leaning a bit into the scratch. "Just don't leave me behind, okay?"

"I won't," Luke reassured him, reaching a hand below Mieu's belly to gently lift the cheagle to a travelling perch on his shoulder. That made everything he had. "But if we don't get going soon, the boat will leave us behind."

Mieu squeaked unhappily at the idea and held on tightly while Luke rushed down the stairs. The rest of the group slowly gathered up at the front of the inn, save Van who already had Arietta secure on the ship and had insisted on taking the first shift of guard duty himself.

Luke couldn't help but fidget the whole time he was waiting. At least no one commented on his impatience, probably (rightly) figuring that it would just be annoying. Though he wouldn't put it past Jade to comment for exactly that reason, come to think. They made hasty apologies to Count Almandine for leaving so abruptly and boarded the ship. Only at that point did Luke feel like the thread keeping him tense had been cut.

At last, he was truly on the way home.


The ocean waves got boring pretty quickly after they left the port, but Luke found himself staying on deck anyway, his arms propped up on the railing at the front of the ship. Mieu was asleep on his pack, lulled by the slow motion of the ship, and truthfully it made Luke a bit sleepy as well.

Awaken... Hurry... Heed my voice...

If it weren't for the headache, Luke would have thought he'd started falling asleep, and the words were a part of a dream. He'd never heard them that clearly before, and the headache was a little less, too. He turned and slid down with his back against the railing, one hand pressed to his forehead, but it passed quickly enough.

Not so quickly that he wasn't noticed, though. "Luke! Are you alright?" Tear's voice echoed across the deck as she sprinted towards him - Luke had to admit, she moved more quickly in her heels than he would have expected, given the way the floor was moving.

"I'm fine," he said, waving her off. "Just a headache."

"Are you certain?" she asked, kneeling down next to him. Luke tolerated her putting a hand to his forehead to check for a fever before gently pushing her hand back.

"Yes," he said stubbornly. The pain had mostly cleared. "They never last very long."

"This has happened before?" Her concern was apparently genuine, which made Luke a little uncomfortable. He'd been okay with Tear for most of their journey, but seeing the way she interacted with Van... It bothered him. There was no way he could trust her intentions entirely, when the tensions still existed so sharply between her and his mentor. "Shouldn't you see a doctor?"

"I'm afraid that doctors haven't yet been able to do anything for Luke's headaches," said a deep voice from behind her. Tear immediately put her hands to the knives still strapped to her legs. Luke, in contrast, barely reacted, aside from giving Van a small smile.

"It's true," Luke said, sitting up a little straighter. "It's been ongoing for years, but there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with me."

"Have you been having much trouble with them recently?" Van asked, ignoring the way Tear looked at him as she resecured the knife she had drawn.

Luke shook his head. "That's the first time I've had once since the manor."

"Good. It wouldn't do to have you passing out on the roadside."

Tear's attention flicked back to Luke, her expression concerned again. "They cause you to pass out?"

"Only once in a while," Luke said grumpily, growing more uncomfortable with this line of questioning by the moment. "One in eight or ten, at most."

Tear didn't look very comforted by this, and instead - with barely restrained aggression in her voice - turned her attention to her brother. "Weren't you keeping Arietta in her cell?"

"I felt it safe to leave it in the hands of the guard for a short break," Van answered easily. "I wanted to check on Luke, and perhaps get something to eat."

"I see..." Tear's voice trailed off, and she abruptly stood, brushing off her skirts. "Then if that's all, I'll leave you two to your discussion."

"Hey, wait, Tear - " Luke's words were too slow, and she was already walking away across the deck, either not hearing him or choosing to ignore it. Luke sighed and leaned back against the deck wall. "So much for that."

"Don't concern yourself with our family troubles, Luke," Van said gently, also watching his sister's retreat until she vanished around the corner. "I'm afraid it's a schism only time will heal."

"Is it related to the situation in the Order?" Luke asked, unable to push down his curiosity entirely, even if it might normally seem a little rude. Van had never talked much about himself, come to think; Luke hadn't even known he'd had any family at all. The man seemed to have appeared out of the ground somehow, without mention of parents or other relatives even reaching the most gossip-hungry of Kimlasca's court.

"Somewhat," Van said. "But it's more complex than simply Tear being under the Grand Maestro's command, I'm afraid. But since she won't allow me to explain the misunderstanding, I have no choice but to wait for things to play out."

Luke nodded, not pushing for any further details. He remembered Tear's words during the confrontation at the manor - Prepare to die, traitor! - but chose to neglect the fact that those words indicated a bit more than a simple misunderstanding. If Van thought it was better to wait, he surely knew his sister better than Luke did. "I hope things play out well," he said instead.

"As do I. Come," Van said, standing up. "We can continue our discussion in the dining hall."

Luke went to rise himself, but as he stood, he immediately had to grasp hold of the railing again, as another headache assaulted him. I have reached you, said the voice, still too clear to be one of his normal headaches. Show me your power...

What power? Even as his body began to move on its own, taking a step back from the railing and raising its arms, Luke became impossibly aware of the Seventh Fonons around him. They began to gather to his raised hands.

"Luke! What are you doing?" Van, out of his line of sight now, demanded. Luke did see Mieu, who jerked awake at the harsh voice and dove deep into the pack with a fearful squeak.

"It's not me!" Luke managed to force through his uncooperative mouth. The fonons continued to gather at his hands, now humming with a golden glow that was slowly working its way up his arms. It shifted colors, a hazy rainbow, until it was purple at his elbows.

The same power as mine...

The light drifted from his hands, moving slowly outwards, the fonons all vibrating in on a single point. Luke could feel it, resonating with every fiber in his body, but he remained trapped by the power of whatever was controlling him. He started to panic, especially as the centerpoint of the gathered fonons moved into the railing, completely annihilating a half-circle about the size of his fist. "Make it stop!" Luke cried, helpless to do anything but watch the progress of the fonons through the railing.

Van's hands came to rest on his shoulders. "Luke. Calm down. Take a deep breath."

Luke tried, focusing on his breathing and the comforting touch. He was able to shut his eyes after a pair of shaky breaths, and that helped, though he could still feel the fonons dissolving the railing and moving out over the water beyond.

"That's it. Focus on the tips of your fingers..." Van's voice was helpfully soothing. The ache in Luke's skull began to abate. "Relax. Listen to my voice..."

Luke did his best, and just as he felt control of his body return to him, his consciousness slid away. For a moment, there was nothing in the world but the vibrating fonons, in the air, in him, in everything stretched across the horizon. The beat of his heart was the same as that in the core of the planet.

The fonons around his hands dissolved away into nothing, and Luke found himself blinking in the bright sunlight again, Van's hands still on his shoulders and supporting half of his weight or more.

"Are you alright, Luke?" Luke nodded and pulled his weight off Van's support. He leaned forward instead, carefully putting his hands on the railing again, on either side of the carved half-circle. Up close, it was a perfect, seamless cut, as though the part of the railing inside it had simply ceased to exist. Luke shivered.

"What was that?"

"I would presume it to be a hyperresonance," Van said, a little too mildly. It sounded like the presumption was only for Luke's benefit, that Van actually knew exactly what he was talking about. "More complete than the one that caused your transportation from the manor."

"I thought you needed two Seventh Fonists to cause a hyperresonance?" Luke said, still staring down at the gap in the railing.

"Normally, that's the case, but you are different. Your ability to cause a hyperresonance on your own is the reason you weren't allowed to train in healer's artes alongside Princess Natalia."

Van's words made sense - Luke knew it was because of something special about his ability with the Seventh Fonon that he hadn't been allowed to learn. If it was because his family was afraid of having something like this happen... Luke felt suddenly ashamed of his attempts to learn anyway. He had been putting everyone around him at risk, and he hadn't even known it.

"It is also, I suspect, the reason you were kidnapped as a child." At that, Luke's head jerked up, twisting over his shoulder so that he could see Van's expression. It was solemn, almost sad. "As I'm sure you can imagine, it would make for a potent weapon of war. Hyperresonance between two Seventh Fonists is too hard to predict, much less control, but yours..."

Luke looked at the railing and nodded, shuddering again. That much power to destroy... In a way he was glad that it was in his hands and no one else's, because Luke didn't think he could trust anyone else with that kind of power. At the same time, it terrified him.

"I wish that someone had told me," he said quietly, stepping away from the railing and kneeling down next to his pack. He reached into it until he felt Mieu's ears, and began scratching the cheagle gently, as much to comfort himself as the small monster.

"Your family believed that ignorance of your power was your best protection," Van said. "However, that is clearly no longer the case."

"Mmm," Luke agreed. "Can I learn to control it?" No amount of petting, it seemed, would coerce Mieu back out of the pack, so Luke removed his hand and let the flap fall closed.

"Most likely, given the time," Van answered, "But I don't think it would be wise to give it your exclusive focus for the time being. Perhaps when things have settled down a bit, I'll be able to help you learn to use it."

"I would be grateful," Luke said. He reached down and lifted his pack over his shoulder, cheagle still tucked inside. "Let's go to the dining hall; I think I'm starting to get seasick."

Van was polite enough to not call Luke out on the polite bluff, instead just smiling slightly and inclining his head as the two headed for the inside of the ship.


The climate when they stepped off the ship, two days later, wasn't too much different from when they got on it. But the arid heat was about the only thing Chesedonia had in common with Kaitzur; where the military outpost was barren and empty, Chesedonia was loud and lively, filled with colorful market stalls and equally colorful people. Though - Luke noticed as they departed the ship - the Malkuth side of the city was a bit empty, no doubt due to the broken bridge that formed the usual overland trade route.

Van had taken Arietta immediately to the late-evening ship for Daath, the girl asleep in his arms under the spell of the fonic hymn. The rest of them would have to wait for the late-morning ferry to Baticul the next day, and so that left them the afternoon to explore the city while Jade and Ion arranged to meet Astor, the city's merchant ruler, for an evening meal regarding the data they had taken from Choral Castle.

If the data wasn't probably about him, Luke would have been tempted to skip out. He wanted nothing more to do with it than he absolutely had to.

Instead, he headed out into the city, looking for something to bring back for Natalia. Guy and Tear followed after him; he was used to Guy's company for this kind of thing in Baticul, though, and Tear was reserved as usual, so Luke wasn't especially bothered by them. The three of them were clustered around a jewelry stall, Luke and Guy debating on if a stone was actually a ruby (as the stall owner claimed) or a garnet.

"Okay, fine, third opinion," Luke said, gently lifting the pendant from the table and presenting it to Tear. "Ruby or garnet?"

She blinked at him in confusion. "I don't know," she said quietly. "I don't have a lot of experience with gemstones. It's beautiful either way, though, isn't it?" Her eyes didn't leave the teardrop gem hanging at the bottom, beneath the sculpted silver vine holding it to the chain.

Luke sighed and set it back down. "It has to be a garnet, Guy. A ruby of that size and quality would have set someone bragging."

"Whatever you say, Luke," Guy answered with a shrug. "Natalia doesn't look much good in red anyway."

That, unfortunately, was true enough. Luke let the stall keeper put the pendant back under the glass (where Tear still watched it for a moment before looking away from the finer gems). "Well, the only option here is that peridot choker..."

"It matches her eyes," Guy pointed out.

"Let's look around a bit more," Luke said. He reached into the wallet at his waist and flipped the stall owner a coin for the trouble before turning away. Guy would follow, of course, and if Tear wanted to stay and look at jewelry for a while longer, that was totally fine. Luke found it a little hard to believe that she didn't know much about gemstones, based on the pendant she'd used to pay their way before. She might not have had formal knowledge, but she had a good eye.

A woman in a cloak, looking over her shoulder at someone down the road, bumped into Luke's side as he exited the immediate area of the stall. She caught herself on his shoulder as she tripped. "Oh, excuse me!" she said, somehow putting a flirtation into the words.

As she moved away from him, her cloak shifted just enough for Luke to see the revealing outfit she had on underneath it, a nearly circus level of bright pink that matched her short hair. Luke resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He wouldn't blame the woman for trying to make a living however she could - and she certainly had the figure for it - but the only worse target on this street that she could have picked was Guy.

"Don't worry about it," Luke said, gently pushing her hand off his shoulder, frantically trying to figure out how he could indicate his disinterest without giving the streetwife away.

"Are you sure? You don't look like you're from around here," she said, with a far-too-practiced smile. "I could give you a tour of the city, if you want..."

A tour of the city, right. An excellent view of the scenery between her legs, Luke couldn't help but think as he stepped away. "I'm sure we'll be fine," he said, pointedly looking at Guy to include him in the statement. Tear was still too far back, watching the three of them from just on the edge of the jewelry stall.

The woman glanced back and forth between them, and her smile slipped just a hair. "Oh, I see," she said, not quite disappointed. "My mistake."

Well, that wasn't the impression Luke had intended to give her, but it would do. "Have a good evening," Luke said politely, and she nodded, turning to go.

"Wait!" Tear's voice echoed across the street, stopping the woman in her tracks. Or maybe that was the knife, flung through the crowd with enough accuracy and speed that Luke didn't see it until it was planted in front of the streetwife's foot. "Return what you stole," Tear continued angrily, coming up next to Luke.

Luke looked down at his belt - sure enough, the pouch he'd stored a few coins in was gone. The woman had no doubt watched for when he'd flipped a coin to the jewelry merchant... He was a little angry, true, but mostly, Luke found himself respecting the woman's skill at deception.

"Hmph. I see you're not all chumps," she said, lifting the wallet and jangling it. "I'm afraid I'll still be taking this, however - York! Urushi!"

From seemingly nowhere in the crowd, two men appeared at her sides, one squat, the other gangly. Both wore distinctive hats and clothing at least somewhat less revealing than their companion's. The woman tossed the wallet to the gangly one.

"You're the chumps here," Luke said, unable to keep the smirk off his face as the man looked into the wallet and discovered its contents - nothing more than a five-gald piece, and mostly pennies and other metal odds-and-ends that sounded like coins when shaken. "That's a decoy."

Even Tear looked at him with some surprise at that - only Guy knew about Luke's usual habit for such busy shopping centers. The taller man dumped the few coins into his hand and flung the rest back in their direction. "You've got some guts making enemies of the Dark Wings," he said. "You haven't seen the last of us!"

Luke caught the wallet as the three thieves scattered. Tear moved to go after one of them, but Luke put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's not worth it, Tear," Guy said. "They'd be lucky to get fifty gald out of that deal, and everyone on this street will recognize them now." Sure enough, something of a crowd had gathered at the commotion, and was even now dispersing and talking about what they'd seen.

"And that's assuming someone else here doesn't seek them out," Luke said. "It was the Dark Wings responsible for blowing up the bridge, remember?"

"That's right," Tear said, walking over to retrieve her knife from the sand. "I'm sure there are plenty of merchants still angry about that."

"Exactly," Luke said. "They're probably on their way out of town right now."

"Well, if their trick works as well on other people as it did on you," Guy added, "They probably have full pockets anyway." Luke frowned at him, but didn't argue the point. It was pretty rare for anyone to trick him - he tended to just be too suspicious of strangers for it to work.

"Come on," he said instead. "Let's just finish shopping so we can meet the others at Astor's manor." He chose to ignore the exasperated-but-amused looks Guy and Tear gave each other behind him as he walked off, too.