Holy fucking shit, is this late. This'll teach me not to get sidetracked by ages-old projects that have been put on hold indefinitely.

Yeah, sorry, but the reason I wasn't updating this was because of something else.

Don't worry though! Now that that's out of the way and dusted, I can concentrate on other, more current projects.

Like this. So sorry about the delay, guys. But I'll repay it back with another story chapter! With, less important developments, but still, you get my point.

Reality

Salsber had an awful lot on his mind. And thankfully, some of his questions had been answered.

He knew then that the tatoo was a mark given to him by Famfrit that he could use to call for aid in extremely dire times. This much he had found out in Aisenfield. He also knew that any others who defeated totemas were going to get the mark on at least one person.

But one thing that puzzled Salsber about the whole set-up was what determined who got each totema. He was certain his questions would be answered soon enough, but he could not help but feel puzzled by why he had gotten a mark the first time but Juris had gotten it the second time. Why would it skip over him?

To be honest, the whole thing confused the moogle to no end, even as his small group headed on a mission to stop thieves of magic wood. Marche was leading the pack, and Salsber was pondering atop the head of the newly recruited Oigen. Amelia was walking right by him, and the sight of the moogle twins Nero and Evor annoying the poor human with their antics was bothering Salsber more than it usually did.

The nu mou on which Salsber was thinking on looked up at the moogle that had taken residence on his head. Sighing, he crossed his arms in front of him as Amelia's glance found itself trained on the moogle.

"You've been awfully quiet lately," said Oigen. "Especially for a moogle. Something on your mind?"

Salsber sighed. "I've been thinking, kupo," he said contemplatively. "I don't do it all that much, kupo, but still..."

"Then what are you thinking about?" asked Amelia, trying to be friendly. "Normally you moogles are much cheerier than this..."

"That we are, kupo," confirmed Salsber softly. "But I've been thinking about strange things that have been happening..."

Oigen raised an eyebrow as he walked. "Is this in relation to that strange tatoo on your hand?" he asked.

The moogle nodded in reply. "The events around it have gotten me to thinking," he said. "What if this place doesn't... you know kupo?"

"I'm afraid I don't quite catch your meaning," replied Oigen. "Would you elaborate?"

Salsber nodded grimly. "It's kupopo," he began. "But what it leads to is that I'm not sure... if anything on Ivalice is real, kupo..."

At this, Amelia brought a hand up to her mouth, thinking about the implications this might have. "Well, that's rather heavy stuff," replied Amelia. "Makes me wonder how you got there, but I probably shouldn't ask..."

Oigen rubbed his chin in thought before looking to Salsber. "Some people say that reality is only an illusion," he said. "Of course, that only applies to certain religions, but I figured it might help to know that."

Salsber shook his head, sitting up on Oigen's head. "That doesn't help, kupo," he replied. "It..."

"Let me put it this way," said Amelia. "Does it really matter what's real or what's not right now? We're still alive, right?"

Salsber contemplated what the viera had said for a few seconds. Upon thinking about it a little more, he realized that Amelia did have a point about this. Whatever had changed with the reality they were given, it had not involved anything that presented a noticeable danger to anybody, if only to make life harder. But Salsber figured that in another time and another place, that would have been very different.

"I guess so..." he replied.

"Then what's there to worry about?" asked Amelia, shrugging. "You're alive, and that's all that really matters."

The moogle nodded uncertainly. "I guess, kupo," he replied.

Oigen smiled softly. "You're certainly more contemplative than you generally let on," he commented.

Salsber tilted his head to the side. "I don't do it much, kupo," he admitted. "But when I do... my head always hurts after, kupo..."

"Well, thinking about reality is certainly not something that would leave your head in good health," replied Oigen. "But still, it's nice to know you do think about things from time to time..."

Salsber nodded, feeling a little better about himself. "Thanks, kupo," he said. "For talking with me."

"Any time," said Amelia cheerfully.

And the group moved on in the forest.

Later, Salsber was still thinking about the state of the reality that he was in. However, as the group walked out of Koringwood with a few prisoners in tow, the moogle had come to some peace of mind.

Reality had been warped badly, of course. He knew that just as well as anybody that had faced off against the totemas. To Marche, this was a false reality. To all else, reality was now barely the same as it was before. Everything should have been intact, but their prince was behaving oddly for a reason nobody could truly figure out.

But somehow, nothing seemed all that changed about it. The people around him still had memories of their lives before Marche came into their lives. They still remembered the old Ivalice, before the prince was taken over by some person that only Marche knew. And everybody outside of the clan seemed to have those memories too.

And in a few ways, Salsber had realized after heavy thinking that it was good that reality had bended like this. He would never have met some of the people in Nutsy if Marche had not been around to help greatly with accepting people into the clan. He would possibly never have gotten powers that had saved his comrades in battle a few times. There were many things that probably never would have been if not for the fact that the book that Marche had mentioned had been opened.

And for that, the gadgeteer realized that he did have to be thankful for something.

He only hoped that in the end, nothing would erase the memories he had of this time spent between the two realities. If that came true, everything would be better.

Salsber did not say any of this out loud, but given the expression on his face as they were lugging the prisners away, Oigen and Amelia decided not to bother the moogle with those kinds of questions.

The moogle had come to terms with how things were. And he was thankful for it too.