—

There were a lot of things to think about that were trying to draw his focus at the moment – what ever was the deal with the bathtub dweller had been mentioned? – but one thing was currently taking precedence above the everything else.

Hester. It had taken a few minutes for Loqi to remember why he knew that name, but then he recalled. He wished he hadn't.

Calligo had been a rash and harsh, but at the time Loqi had thought it necessary given the Empire's goals. Him torturing some old Lucian hadn't particularly struck Loqi as terrible as it was, but now that he was to be sharing a room with that old Lucian's grandson…

Life had a sick sense of humor.

Still. He hadn't been the one to torture the boy's grandfather. Best not to bring it up at all.

No, he could strike up a conversation about the bathroom dweller instead, if needed.

"This is the bed that's free," the Hester boy gestured.

"Thank you."

Rooming with a Lucian teenager… This wasn't going to be awkward at all. At least in Cestholm he could avoid the youth for the most part. And he honestly didn't know what to expect from his other roommate.

He supposed it didn't matter. He wouldn't be staying in here to do much more than sleep for a short while.

Assuming he could work things out, that was. Transportation was a true, very pressing complication. At this point, Loqi didn't even have a way back to his own city that wasn't walking, as he assumed him taking one of Lestallum's limited vehicles was out.

They needed chocobos. A flock of them or more. And manpower.

These were things that were not available in great supply. At all. Crestholm even would have been a fantastic place for chocobo raising… Protected long corridors that weren't in use…

Perhaps he could ask if Lestallum had any chocobos. I was unlikely. They were probably all but extinct now. But he could ask.

That still wouldn't solve their man shortage, though, but short of resurrecting Besithia and having him create an army of MTs, Loqi was about out of ideas. The numbers just… weren't there.

Unless… Unless they didn't need a huge amount. Trading would have to be discreet as to avoid daemon attention for journeys like that. If silence was what they were going for, perhaps what was needed was a small protective squad, not a large force.

Hm. They'd have to be rather elite if that were to be the case, and this was still assuming chocobos existed in a great enough force.

"Evan's not here right now, so you don't have to look out for him in the bathroom," the Hester boy said.

Okay. He was going to ask. "Is there a particular reason this Evan doesn't use this bed? A bathtub is better than nothing, but it seems less than ideal if an alternative is available."

Hester scathed the back of his head. "He was kind of… raised in an Imperial lab. The tub was similar to what he was used to."

Loqi winced. Right, he'd be avoiding that one as much as possible, then. He'd get nowhere with people with grudges against him for his previous station. He needed to focus on earning the trust of those that weren't as caught in the past sins of waring nations.

"Another query – does Lestallum happen to have any chocobos?"

"No, sir."

Blast. He'd suspected as much–

"But the outpost in Cape Caem has a lot."

…The outpost where?

Ravus made his steps hastily as he walked into the bar. He had much to do, but abandoning a woman amidst a first date and not returning in a timely manner for a reaffirmation of an apology didn't sit well with him. He wasn't certain if she'd be working, but he did know by now that she'd probably be here regardless.

And she was.

The bar was empty except for her. She was wiping down the seats.

"Hey," she greeted instantly, tossing her rag onto her shoulder. "I wasn't expecting you back so soon."

Oh. Perhaps he shouldn't have gotten his hopes back up that they would be continuing their date so soon. "Ah, I'm afraid I'm nowhere near complete with the matters that need my attentions. I merely wished to establish that I very much am interested in picking up where we left off at a later time."

"Not to worry." She smiled. "I am as well. I understand if you want to spend some time with your sister since you just found out she's, well, not dead."

Ravus chuckled. Yes… That was still so hard to believe. Lunafreya was back and healed. He'd been worried about her health for so long. This was strange. In a good way. He still felt as though he needed to check on her and worry over her.

Granted, he did still need to worry over her. If she was feeling better, she was going to take on even more work than before and be just as stubborn about that. But at least for the moment she wasn't about to pass out any second.

But Lunafreya was settled in for the night. She'd mentioned before they parted ways that she wanted a good night's rest so she could rise in a few hours and get straight to work with healing and catching up on what she'd missed. No, he was free from her need of him for the moment. There was just so much else to do.

"She's actually turned in for the day, but I have other obligations." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Such as the press and what I need to tell them." He didn't even try to hide the absolute distain in his voice.

Sikozu laughed, pushing a chair closer to the table. "Is it so difficult to say 'hey, the Oracle wasn't as dead as we assumed?' Or is it the finer details you're debating on?"

"The details. She brought back more than herself, and I'm not certain the city needs to hear about the mere possibilities Tummelt has proposed given that we don't even have a way to–"

"Tummelt?" Sikozu looked at him sharply, hand drifting up to touch her arrowhead necklace. "Loqi Tummelt? Is that who Lady Lunafreya brought back with her?"

Ravus frowned. "You're acquainted?" That was unexpected. Why hadn't she reacted back when he'd first shown up? There hadn't seemed to be any recognition then.

"No… I… We've never met, but…" Sikozu shook her head before meeting Ravus' gaze unblinkingly. "I need to see him."

"…Very well. If you wish."

She seemed rather serious about this. Her brow was furrowed the whole time they walked to the Leville.

Ravus had no idea what this was about, but he supposed he'd find out soon. Especially given Sikozu's power walking speed. He was grateful for his longer legs at the moment.

Despite him knowing where they were going, she kept striding ahead, even taking the stairs in the Leville two at a time.

She paused at the end of the stairs, looking downright twitchy. "Which room?"

"This way." He gestured. He didn't particularly have time for this. He needed to get back to assisting Cor with everything that they needed to be doing. But he was hardly going to leave now.

Ravus wrapped the knuckles of his real hand on the wood of the door as they reached the proper one.

Talcott opened the door almost instantly. "Oh, Your Highness. Did you forget something…?"

"I assume Tummelt is still here?" Ravus questioned, noting how Sikozu was standing on her toes behind him and craning her neck to see into the room.

"You only just left." Tummelt called from within the room, moving into sight. "I haven't run off already."

Sikozu maneuvered around Ravus and past Talcott, all but shoving her way into the room. "Loqi Tummelt?"

Loqi frowned at her. "Do I know you?"

Suddenly, after all of her rushing, she stopped. Now she was hesitant. "…No." She sighed, looking down and reaching behind her neck. Ravus could see her hands under the mane that was her hair, he assumed she was undoing her necklace. She held the necklace out to Loqi a few seconds later. "But I know of you."

The recognition in Loqi's eyes was chased away by immediate fear, his face paling by the time his next words left his mouth. "…Where did you get that?"

Sikozu swallowed audibly. "Kyle, he… We were part of a group for a while, out in the wild. He knew there wasn't much chance of survival, but a few months ago he told me the story behind this and asked me to hold onto it. He said… If you were still out there, then there was a better chance of one of the two of us running into you than only him. He thought it might… improve your chances of meeting up again, but…"

Oh. Sikozu had said she'd lost someone recently…

Loqi reached out clasping the arrowhead tightly and taking it from her grip. He closed his eyes. "How long ago did it happen?"

"Um." She rubbed her eye. "A little over a month."

Loqi's eyes scrunched tighter, his lips parting to reveal gritted teeth. "A month? That's all? He was out there alive for that long and I…" He sucked in a shaky breath.

"I'm sorry…" Sikozu whispered.

Loqi opened his watery gaze. "Thank you for… delivering this. I… Excuse me."

Ravus twisted to get out of the way in time as Loqi blew past him. Sikozu looked miserable, moving over to the nearby chair and dropping into it.

Ravus hovered close by. "I take it that this Kyle was important to him?"

Sikozu smiled joylessly, clasping her hands together in her lap. "You aren't the only one to lose a sibling lately… But I don't think he's going to be as fortunate as you were in getting his back." Her gaze drifted off to the side.

Ravus wasn't certain what to say.

Talcott was awkwardly standing in the kitchen area.

…Perhaps they needed to go and give him is room back.

Sikozu flinched suddenly, eyes narrowing on something. She pushed off the chair, walking over to the nightstand to snag the picture frame there.

Ravus tilted his head. What interest did she have in a picture of Evan, Talcott, and Scientia?

"Who is this?" she asked sharply, turning the picture to face him as she pointed at it.