All right. So, last time we stepped into Montblanc's shoes for what I will admit is probably one of my weaker oneshots.

Ah, well. Not a whole lot we can do about that, eh? We'll have to see.

In the meantime, though, I think it's time that we got some exposition on what's going on with the book. So without further ado, this oneshot.

Library

Marche had been sitting silently in his room in the inn.

His mind mulled over the events of the previous mission. It was supposed to have been an exchange of information. Nothing overly harmful. Just two clans meeting together to talk about various things. That's all it should have been.

Instead, he had gotten the news that he had been placed on the palace's wanted list, and then they attacked him. It was fortunate he had brought some of the clan with him, for they helped the fighter ward off the opposing clan. But that was where he felt the good things ended. For now he knew he was hunted. And unfortunately for the rest of the clan, that meant they were being hunted as well. This thought troubled Marche, but the fact that he was on the list at all was startling to him.

True, he had expected himself to wind up on the palace's bounty list sooner or later what with having beat up Babus and all. But when he finally found out, there was something overly surreal about it. He could hardly believe it was so, and he had excused himself for almost an entire day in disbelief.

He shook his head, feeling a great tug at his conscience. The truth that he didn't want to admit to anyone was that he was not truly prepared to go home. He had come to form close bonds with his clanmembers, as they had all provided understandin that he was very sure Ritz would have denied him in his moment of need. It made him feel a lot less comfortable about leaving Ivalice, but he knew it had to be done if Mewt wanted to be truly happy.

The boy shook his head, not wanting to think too hard about it.

And then he heard the characteristic rapping on his door. Sighing, he looked to the door from where he sat on his bed.

"Come in," he said simply.

The door opened, and in strode Evor. The moogle was seeming as happy as ever, and he looked at Marche happily. The boy forced a smile out of himself, figuring that the moogle probably hadn't been informed about the fact that Clan Nutsy had a bounty on its head since he had been entertaining the royal Carlos.

"Hey, Nero," he said. "How'd that gig at the royalty go?"

"It went super awesome, kupo!" explained the juggler as he jumped onto Marche's desk. "But... I heard we've got a bounty on our heads, kupo... Are you okay?"

Marche shook his head. So the moogle had found out. His smile fell, and he shook his head.

"Not really," replied the boy truthfully. "Oh... I wish I could figure out what happened with that book..."

Evor's ears perked up, and then he jumped on Marche's shoulder.

"You won't have to worry about that, kupo!" said the moogle cheerfully. "One of our friends joined Nutsy, kupo!"

The boy glanced at the overly cheerful juggler. "What's that got to do with the book?"

"He's the oldest prince of the Inverness family, kupo!" exclaimed Evor. "He can get us into the royal library!"

At this, Marche shuddered violently. Quickly, he stood up, causing the juggler to lose his balance and fall to the floor.

"What?" he exclaimed, disbelief showing prominently in his features. "Prince Nikolai of the Inverness family? How the hell did you do that?"

Evor picked himself up off the ground, brushing the dust from his clothes gingerly. "He was a friend of me and Nero when we were at Cadoan, kupo!" exclaimed the moogle. "And he doesn't mind this at all, kupo! In fact, he'd be willing to take a few people to the royal library next week!"

Marche stood there dumbfounded, looking at the overly cheerful moogle. A short silence held dominion in the air, the boy quite unsure of what to make of it. Nero looked at him expectantly, hoping that the clan leader's reaction would be pleasant. Or excited. Or a combination of the two.

Either way, Marche was undoubtedly shocked at this development, and all that was left to do was to figure out whether he was happy about it or not.

Marche had been a little distrustful of Nikolai at first, but at the end of the week, the prince of the Inverness family was heading to the royal library. Tagging along with him were Cecille, Oigen, Evor, Nero, and Hopper.

The four of them had decided to come along with the prince of the Inverness family. Nero and Evor were of course ever eager to stand by their friend from the Cadoan academy, Cecille had taken a liking to the three of them, and Hopper because he had become rather good friends with Nikolai over the course of the week that they had met in Cyril. None of them were really that into books, but the human didn't seem to mind. He was surrounded by pretty friendly company after all, and so he took the four of them to Berevinia. Marche had gone to investigate something in the viera town of Muscadet a few days earlier, so he was not with them.

Of course, the group of them had made themselves as presentable as they possibly could. Hopper had traded his dragoon armor for an outfit that looked as formal as he could get on a clanmember's salary, although he thought now that he had gotten a dress shirt a size too small as his muscular body was well defined in the short-sleeved blue shirt. The viera had settled for a rather long dress that was simple yet as elegant as she could. But knowing the dangers inherent in walking into a place where at least one person could recognize her, she had gone to a magician who had made a special pair of contacts that would change her eye color and also cut her hair prior to entering the palace to the point that she was almost unrecognizeable to the rest of the clan. Evor sat on her head, the jester outfit off while still sporting his makeup. Nero had found that he did not really need to change all that much, however, as mog knight uniforms were relatively formal by themselves.

But that was far from their minds as Nikolai led them to the royal library. As expected, there were a couple of guards that eyed the four clan members suspiciously. They stopped the group at the library doors, their eyes glancing at the four strangers tepidly.

"What are commoners doing here?" asked the guard.

Nikolai shook his head. "Relax," he said. "These four people are my friends, and they'll be under my surveillance the entire time we're in here."

"Really, sir Nikolai?" asked the guard. "How do you know them?"

"Mostly through the Cadoan academy," replied the illusionist, knowing that it was at least a half-truth. "We won't be too long, fear not. We just need to look up one bit of information that we are curious about and we'll be out of here."

The guards looked at each other before scooting to the sides of the door.

"Our apologies, milord," said the guard. "You and your friends may enter. But if they cause any kind of chaos..."

"I know the consequences of that," replied the human. "Trust me; I'm not foolish enough to attempt something like that."

And with this, Nikolai gestured to the four clan members. The five of them entered the royal library, the group noting how grand the entire thing was. Gold lined the halls, tall shelves of mighty cedar lining the expansive room. The group looked around in awe except for Nikolai, the four of them following him as best they could. They all looked around the library, taking in the grand details of the numerous tapestries left around the walls.

Hopper was the first to speak. "Thisss isss where you go to read?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes," replied Nikolai. "I will admit, though, it is a bit large for my taste..."

The viera chuckled, brushing a strand of white hair behind her ear. "Well, it is the largest library in all of Ivalice," she said. "I wouldn't be surprised, really."

"It'sss jussst ssso... grand..." said Hopper, glancing around with wide eyes, the blue orbs shining. "I've never ssseen sssomething quite like thisss..."

Nikolai shrugged. "I am just used to it," he said, simply. "Perhaps why it has lost some of its splendor..."

The bangaa was quick to cast an incredulous glance at the prince of the Inverness family, but Evor jumped onto Cecille's head and gestured towards the shelves. "Uh, kupo, wasn't there something we were looking to find out?" he asked.

Nikolai nodded. "Ah, yes," he said. "Now, this was about a book that he saw, right?"

"Yep," replied Cecille. "He said it was gold and had jewels on its cover. Or something like that."

"Either way, it resssulted in thisss messs," said Hopper with a shrug.

"Hm..." The prince rubbed his chin in thought, looking at the space between each shelf as he pondered about what information would be valid in talking about the book. "I can imagine this appearing either in the magic section or the mythology section..."

"That'll entail splitting up, won't it?" asked Cecille, knowing what that would mean.

"I shouldn't hope so," replied Nikolai. "Each shelf is arranged by the letter of the topic," he said. "So if it's magic and mythology, we shouldn't be too far from each other's line of site. So technically, that would mean I'm still supervising you."

"Good, kupo," said Nero. "So, to the M shelves?"

Nikolai shrugged. "Why not?" he asked. "Remember, thumb through each edition of what you find, and we might get lucky."

The group nodded, and then Nikolai led them between two of the grand shelves, the prince nodding as he indicated where the mythology section would be to Hopper and Cecille.

A short time later, the group had reconvened within the shelves, and the five of them had gone to find a table in the library to go through what they had found on the subject. There was a pile of books, and Nikolai, Cecille, and Hopper were all sitting at the table, looking through the books. Nero and Evor were content to sit on the table, reading through the books as well. They were mostly silent as they looked through, sometimes discarding a book when it proved to have no real information.

This had been almost every book they had checked out. Now, there was a rather large discard pile, such that Nero and Evor were having trouble trying to sit on the table they had picked out. A frown had taken up on the features of almost everybody involved, and as they began to set books aside, their frustration began to grow.

Finally, Cecille tapped the table lightly, getting the group's attention.

"Hey guys, I finally got something," she said, turning a book so its pages faced everybody else.

Everybody else stopped reading where they were, and looked at the open book in front of them. "What is it?" asked Nikolai.

"It's a folk tale, but it's the only thing we've got so far..." she said, gesturing to the pages. "What it says was that there's a hero to the common folk that stole from the rich and gave to the poor since the rich were so corrupt. But then, he found a book, and it transported him out of Ivalice never to be seen again. And then, the nobles seemed to completely change, and everyone was happy..."

Hopper rubbed his chin as Nero and Evor stood over the book. "Well, when you think about it, it matchesss what Marche hasss been sssaying about what'sss going on," he whispered. "He and two othersss get transssported here, and Prinssse Mewt gets taken over by sssomeone from Marche'sss world..."

Nero shook his head. "It doesn't add up, kupo," he replied. "It's going away from here, kupo. What's that gonna do for coming in?"

Nikolai frowned down at the book he was looking at, and quickly leafed a few pages back. "Well, here it talks about what I think might allude to this multiple worlds theory that this would hold true for," he said. "And it says here that there must be a key to another world, and that once it's used it will change hands..."

Hopper blinked, looking at the pile of books that had yet to be read. Looking at it, there was something written on one of the spines that had gotten his attention. "What wasss the hero'sss name?" he asked.

"It says something like Arthur," replied Nikolai, reading something. "Why?"

The bangaa then reached into the pile, pulling out the book that he had been keeping an eye on and gesturing to the words on the spine. Seeming to get his meaning, Nikolai nodded, and then the bangaa set the book down, thumbing through the table of contents.

"Okay," he said. "Thisss 'Arthur' perssson isss taken down asss a real hero."

"But that doesn't validate this story, kupo," replied Evor. "They just say he disappeared, right, kupo?"

The bangaa had already leafed to the end of the tale in question, and he nodded. "Yesss," he said. "But maybe we have an anssswer asss to why he would do that..."

"Hold on..." said Cecille. "Marche told me of a legend from his own world. It was the tale of a man with exactly the same name. King Arthur, ruler of Camelot, wielder of Excalibur..."

"Like that one sword here, kupo!" pointed out Evor.

"But what does that say?" asked Nikolai.

Cecille shrugged. "Maybe it's the same person," suggested the viera. "It's crazy, but then again, so is this whole situation that's going on."

"Ssso you're sssaying thisss 'Arthur' read a book with a bright red jewel and got transported to another world?" he asked.

"Something like that," replied the viera, nodding.

Nikolai shrugged. "It is highly improbable," he stated simply. "But about that, there is not a whole lot we can do if we want to be perfectly honest with ourselves. Let us keep this situation in mind, and be aware of any books fitting that description that might be left around Ivalice..."

Hopper nodded. "That sssoundsss like the only plan left," he said. "Or... hang on..."

"What is it?" asked the prince of the Inverness family.

"Maybe..." he suggested. "Maybe the one who opened the book hasss it?"

Cecille scrunched her face up slightly, thinking. "It's possible," she said simply. "But... Mewt was the one who opened it... so how would we check it?"

Nikolai shrugged. "These days, he is not letting anybody into his quarters," he said.

"We'll have to play it by ear, then, kupo," said Nero with a shrug.

Cecille smiled. "All right," she said. "So we're talking about a book that constantly changes hands between two worlds that has been doing this before we came along. I think we have what we came here for."

Hopper nodded, standing up. "Right," he said. "Now let'sss put thessse booksss away and get out of here."

And the group did exactly that, picking up the books they had checked out and slowly walking back to the relevant shelves to put them away again.

When the group left the library, no sooner had they walked away from the entry to the library than they suddenly noticed a rather regal man walking around in armor, still strapping some of it on as he moved down the corridor. Seeing this, Nikolai's brow perked up in confusion. Sensing this confusion, Hopper looked down at the human.

"Judgemaster Cid?" he asked, looking at the judgemaster oddly. "Is something the matter?"

The judgemaster turned, looking at the group and raising his eyebrow. "Prince Nikolai?" he asked. "What are you doing here? I thought you were busy?"

"I found some time to come back," replied the prince. "It also helped that I needed to check something with my friends here..."

The judgemaster nodded, regarding the other four in the group with a smile and a nod. "Ah, I see," he said. "A pleasure, friends of the Inverness family."

Ivalice's highest judge bowed down to the group politely. Surprised out of their minds, the group bowed back in a polite gesture.

"A pleasssure, Judgemassster," said Hopper with a smile.

"What's with the armor, kupo?" asked Nero, pointing at it.

The judgemaster looked down at himself. "Oh, I have to head to Sprohm soon," he said. "They finally captured the leader of Clan Nutsy in Muscadet."

A shiver went down Nikolai's spine, and the group nearly paled at the thought. The only thing keeping their composure together was that they knew they would be in very bad hands should their cover be blown. The prince simply raised an eyebrow, looking at the judgemaster curiously. "Did they?" he asked.

"They did," he said. "I'll have to be in Sprohm soon. I will have to interrogate this boy and see what happens..."

Nikolai nodded, feeling terrible for some of the things he was about to say. "Well, good luck with proving he is insane..." said the illusionist.

Cid shook his head before fixing the straps on some of his armor. "We're not trying to prove he's insane," he said. "Whatever is happening, it is affecting the prince. There is no need to prove he is insane when we know his presence is hurting the prince. I'm merely going to ask him to stop what he is doing and why he would do such a thing in the first place."

"I dunno..." said Cecille, playing along since she knew she would be suspect if anybody in the palace knew who she was. "I hear that he's raving about certain things..."

The judgemaster shrugged. "Until then, we'll be finding the clan's hideout," he said. "We'll just be bringing in the rest of the clan for questioning in case the boy puts up a fight. And for now, we have troops positioned around the inn they call their headquarters, and we shall invade it at a moment's notice so we can make our interrogations go smoothly."

At this, the group nearly lost their cover. They all knew about the brutality that occurred in Sprohm when people were brought in for questioning, and so knew that they and the rest of the clan was in very palpable danger. They were thankful they had gotten out of Cyril beforehand, but they still knew they were in trouble. And so, Nikolai nervously shifted his hat slightly, looking at the judgemaster.

"Do be careful with them, then," pleaded the prince nervously. "I don't believe the clan did anything wrong."

The judgemaster nodded. "I don't believe so either," he said. "But the prince insisted. Don't worry, Nikolai: I'll try to make sure they're made to be as comfortable as possible during questioning."

This assurance did not make the clan members feel any better, but they decided it was better than nothing. And so, they nodded, the group nearly having blanched in shock.

"Be careful, kupo," said Evor with a nod.

"I will," said the judgemaster.

And with this, Cid walked off, disappearing down the hall, his walk giving off an air of grandeur as he moved down the hallway.

And as soon as the judgemaster had walked off, the group turned to itself, and then everybody's faces paled considerably.

"Shit..." whispered Cecille, being mindful of the reverberation in the halls. "They've got the clan surrounded at the inn..."

"Thisss isss bad..." whispered Hopper, worry showing as his eyes constricted. "And I don't think we can go anywhere without anyone sssaying who we are..."

"What're we gonna do, kupo?" asked Evor. "I don't wanna go to the mean place, kupo!"

"Especially not when there are nasty people there, kupo!" said Nero.

Nikolai glanced behind him to make sure none of the guards were evesdropping before nodding to his friends.

"We can try staying at my family's house just outside of the palace," he suggested.

Hopper shot an incredulous glance at Nikolai. "What'll that do?" he asked.

"It'll likely keep us safe," replied the lutanist. "You may not trust me, but I trust my family. I told them my darkest secret, and so far they have not said a word about it."

Cecille rose an eyebrow at this. "Darkest secret?" she asked. "What would you need to hide?"

"If they told, there would be a major scandal," replied Nikolai vaguely. "But that's not important. What is important is that I know they will be willing to hide you four in their home until all this ends. And better yet, they have enough influence to keep the populace quiet. So it's perfect."

The others glanced at the illusionist. "Ssso let me get thisss ssstraight," he said. "We're going to hide, right neckssst to the palassse?"

Nikolai shook his head. "It is the only option I can see if we want to keep the public off of our back," he replied. "Please. I know my family won't betray me."

"He's right, kupo," added Nero in the prince's defense. "His family is really, really, really nice, kupo. And they were fine with me there, too, kupo. We'll be fine, kupo!"

The others looked at the prince, desperation in everybody's eyes. It was a tough decision, and a silence hung over the group as they contemplated how to reply. It was very risky, but they knew that it was the only option they had. Finally, Cecille nodded.

"Okay," she said. "I'll take your word for it, Nikolai."

"I'm not to sssure thisss'll work..." said Hopper. "But if it isss the only option we have..."

"All right," said Nikolai, nodding to Evor and Nero. "Now, follow me, and do not say a word until I tell you it is all right."

With silent nods, the group followed the noble as they left the palace, taking a second to regain their composure before the guards could see the blatantly shocked expressions on their faces.

Quite some time later, Nikolai had arrived at the gates of the Inverness house. He had just spoken to the guards to get his mother and father out of the house to greet them. The hat had gone off, and now his bright red hair fell behind him. Hopper found it difficult to tear is eyes away from the sight of his hair, and he was doing his best to look forward. But every so often, he had to catch a glance of the illusionist's hair. It was something the bangaa was not used to, as he had never seen hair that was quite so attractive in his life. If anybody else had noticed this, they hadn't said anything about it then, so he assumed he was doing okay in trying to keep his gaze trained away from Nikolai's hair.

And fortunately for him, his musings were cut off when the gates of the Inverness house opened. Out came two older people, a woman rushing towards Nikolai. Behind her trailed an older man and a teenage girl that looked at the group. The teenage girl sported shorter red hair that was tied back, with the parents both exhibiting aged shades of the bright crimson color. Their royal robes flowed behind them as they approached the group, with relieved expressions on their faces.

"Mother!" exclaimed the illusionist as he slowly approached the older woman.

"Oh, Nikolai..." sighed the woman as she caught the illusionist in a hug. "I thought you were still with the people..."

"So did I," said the teenage girl. "I thought you were with them?"

"I am," replied the illusionist. "But something happened, and I'll have to stay here for a few days."

"It'sss our clan, madam..." added Hopper, feeling a little brave as he, Cecille, and the two moogles came forward. "We're part of that boy Marche'sss clan..."

The older man came forward slowly, looking at Nikolai. A frown took over his features as he heard Hopper's defense, and he crossed his arms, his gaze turning in the direction of the very visible palace as he shook his head.

"Bloody hell," he swore under his breath. "Always with the brutality... It makes me sick to hear of what the prince is doing to the clans of Ivalice just to get one person..."

Cecille heard this, and she rose an eyebrow at the older man. "So you're not trying to sell us out?" she asked.

At this, both father and mother jerked violently, looking at the viera. "Sell out a friend of our son?" asked the mother. "Absolutely preposterous! I think the way that the prince has been handling your clan is ridiculous, as well."

"I'll sssay..." said Hopper, sighing softly. "It'sss kind of sssad, really..."

The teenage girl shrugged. "Well, if I do say so myself, sometimes these people can be really odd," she said. "But especially the prince! I keep telling mother that Remedi should really stop spoiling him the way she does..."

"We can tell the effects of that," replied Cecille. "I can't believe this is all happening."

"Neither can I," replied the woman with a hint of levity in her voice. "I finally get to meet the common people! Shame that it's under these circumstances."

Nikolai rolled his eyes, smiling softly. "Anastasia, you really couldn't resist, could you?" he asked.

The younger girl looked to the illusionist, her own red hair bobbing slightly. "What?" she asked. "It's interesting to say the least."

Evor seemed to look hopeful from where he sat perched on Cecille's head. "So we can stay, kupo?" he asked.

"Of course," replied the older man slowly.

Nodding, Cecille and Hopper bowed, the moogles nodding their heads in thanks. Nikolai simply looked to his mother, a smile coming to his face as he hugged her slightly.

"Thank you mother," he said.

"Please, Nikolai, it is no problem at all," she said. "Now let us go inside. We can begin the introductions there."

And with this, the Inverness family led Nikolai's companions into their house.

The five clan members ended up staying at the Inverness household for a week. The hospitality was great there, and as they were thankful to find out the Inverness family was as nice as anybody could possibly have been. Nikolai's parents were warm and supportive to everyone, and the entire group had quickly gained the friendship of Nikolai's younger sister Anastasia as well. Quite a few things had happened, their friendships got stronger, and the Inverness house ended up having to deal with one of Evor and Nero's pranks in the middle of the week. Overall, it was a pleasant week, even if the thought of their clan was pervading their minds throughout their stay.

The thought of their clan being held captive was something of a guilty thought when the gropu thought about it. They knew that Marche was in great danger, and yet they were living amongst the rich. Anastasia had gone to great lengths to point out that if Marche were to be thinking right, he would at least be thankful for the fact that they were safe, but that thought held very little assurance for the group. It made a few things a little awkward for the rest of the group whenever they thought about it, but they tried to keep their spirits up nonetheless.

And so, it came as a great relief to the group (and the Inverness family, to a certain extent) when at the end of the week, a messenger had come to the family with news that had to be heard by Nikolai and the clan.

And so, the Inverness family and Nikolai's friends were all seated around in a rather small conference room, with a messenger standing at the foot of a rather long oak table at which were seated everybody that was relevant.

The messenger looked at the Inverness family, the mark of the royal family proudly displayed on his chest as he nodded to everybody present.

"I bring a message from Cid of the Randell house," claimed the messenger. "He says it is of utmost importance that the Inverness family hear about this, as he wants them to be the first of the royal houses of Ivalice to know about a sudden turn of events."

At this, the head of the Inverness household rose an eyebrow. "What happened?" he asked. "Out with it, this must be important if it is taking up affairs of the state."

The messenger nodded. "It is very important," he said. "Cid has asked me to tell the entire Inverness family that as of yesterday, Cid of the Randell house has resigned his position as Judgemaster. Furthermore, the judges now operate seperately from the palace, as per his orders."

At this, the entire room balked, all eyes widening at the news. "He has done what?" asked Anastasia in disbelief.

"Impossible..." added Nikolai's father. "Judgemasters are to defend their prince for life! What could have caused the split?"

"Well, uh..." replied the messenger. "It seems he's had a change of heart concerning that one Marche Raidiju, and has finally had enough of all of these laws. Honestly, madam, I know not why this is either, as it was a very sudden decision..."

Cecille nodded, a little desperately as Nikolai leaned forward in his chair. "What of the status of Marche Raidiju?" he asked. "And what of his clan?"

"Clan Nutsy?" asked the messenger. "Cleared of all charges, of course. They have all been allowed to return to Cyril, and their accomodations have been returned to them. And the bounty on the head of Marche Raidiju has been lifted."

At this, the rest of the clanmembers lit up in jubilation, their gazes now considerably better off. They all knew what this meant, of course. They would return to the clan, and everything would be all right with them. As well, they no longer had to worry too much about the judges attempting to capture them. This much came as excellent news to them.

Nikolai would have jumped up and hugged the messenger, but he showed much more restraint. "Good," he said, smiling. "Is this all you wanted to tell us?"

"Yes, my liege," replied the messenger. "I shall take my leave of you now, if you don't mind."

"Not at all," replied the head of the Inverness house. "Go inform the other royal houses. I am sure they will want to hear this."

"As you suggest, my lord," replied the messenger. And before anybody could say much else, he had left the room.

Anastasia turned to Nikolai with a smile on her face. "So it seems you can return to being with the common people now," she said.

"Are you kidding me?" asked Cecille. "This is great news!"

"It meansss we can go back now..." said Hopper. "Man, I'm going to feel right at home in that room again..."

"I can imagine," replied the head of the Inverness family. "Will you be leaving immediately?"

Nikolai shrugged. "Maybe for one more night," he said. "And then we'll depart for Cyril tomorrow."

"It was nice being here, kupo!" said Nero.

"Yeah, kupo!" added Evor. "This place is pretty sweet, kupo!"

Nikolai's mother chuckled good-naturedly as everybody in the room stood up. "Do know that as long as Nikolai is safe with you, your clan is always welcome in the Inverness house," she said. "It was certainly a pleasure having you here... even with your prank..."

At this, Anastasia could not hold back a chuckle. "You do have to admit, though," she said. "Seeing father covered in dirt was pretty amusing..."

Both parents shot a glare at Nikolai's younger sister. The clan members simply started laughing good-naturedly as they all thought back to the elaborate prank that Nero and Evor had pulled on the head of the Inverness household a few days prior.

Marche was sitting in his room in the inn, quietly reflecting on what had happened.

It so happened that one of the totemas was right there in the Sprohm prison. He had seen the tree's seeds get sprouted, and he had fought against Babus while destroying every last seed there was in the void. Eventually, he succeeded, and then the aparition that appeared seemed to speak directly to the judgemaster himself, and then he came upon an epiphany that left Babus to be absolutely confused beyond all belief. It was that which had fueled the judges' separation from the palace.

It had also meant freedom for his clan. When he had returned, he had found Amelia had gotten the tatoo on her hand that Ocon, Salsber, and Ingg all shared. It was thus that the human figured the totema had sought her out from beyond its reach, although it was still confusing. But that did not matter all that much, for his clan was safe, and that was all that really mattered.

But there was still the matter of Nikolai and the ones he had taken to the royal library the day he had gotten captured in Muscadet. He worried about them, knowing they had gone onto palace territory and risking a very high chance of capture. He hoped that the Inverness family was kind enough to their son to release them, but the boy could not help but worry about them.

It was such that when he got a knock on his door, he jumped in surprise.

"Come in," he said.

The door opened, and much to his disbelief Nikolai was standing at the door with the four clan members he had taken along with him.

"Nikolai, you're all right!" said the boy, jumping up upon seeing them.

The small group of five entered. "We ended up staying in the Inverness house for the week you guys were in Sprohm," said Cecille as they filed in. "We had heard from the Judgemaster himself before he went to Sprohm..."

Marche gave them a curious glance. "You saw the judgemaster?" he asked.

"Jussst asss we were leaving, too..." said Hopper. "We were ssshocked, but Nikolai wasss able to do sssomething about it."

Nikolai nodded. "Speaking of which, I think we might have our answer as to what this book is."

"Really?" asked the blonde boy, raising his eyebrow tentatively. "What is it?"

Looking to each other, the group settled somewhere in the room. Making sure the door was closed, the clanmembers proceeded to tell Marche what they had found.