The Argentum before him – although Loqi supposed they were technically all Besithias – had apparently been out of his tank a while, given the extremely short but still existent sprouts of blond hair atop his head. Loqi might have categorized him as looking very military-oriented. Might have. Had he not been clothes-less and crouched down on all fours with his head cocked in a screamingly non-human way.

Loqi lowered his bow a fraction. "Well. Hello."

The Argentum hissed at him.

Loqi blinked. Alright. So this one's intelligence compared to the others was questionable. Loqi wasn't ready to shoot him or leave him here due to that, though. If he really was a clone, he should have been just as capable of learning as the others. He just… had been learning by observing daemons instead of humans or something.

Six, it was a miracle he was even alive in these conditions. Not that he'd stay that way for long if he kept on like this – his ribs were entirely too visible. Whatever he'd been scrounging to eat, it wasn't enough. Not to mention the steady shivering of his shoulders.

Loqi slowly placed his arrow back in his quiver and put his bow away. If needed, he had his knife, and there was no way the skin and bones before him was going to best him in hand-to-hand combat.

"My name is Loqi. I'm here to help."

…Would he understand English? Loqi really wished he'd quizzed Evan more on his origins. Judging from Evan's rather awkward human interaction, though, Loqi was going to guess not. His human interaction was still too unrefined.

Well, what was a universal language?

Kindness, Loqi supposed. Even with a language barrier and undeveloped intelligence, one was more likely to stick with someone who treated them well rather than someone who didn't. Even animals did that.

Loqi very cautiously moved back to the desk, keeping his soft gaze locked with the boy. The Argentum's lips curled into a partial snarl, but other than that he made no move.

The chocolates were the only thing already accessible without a can opener of some kind, so Loqi gently opened the box and ate one.

The boy eyed the box.

Loqi took out another chocolate, setting it on the desk before taking the box and backing towards the door.

Hopefully the boy would be up for a little game of Follow the Leader.


This was by far the most awkward campout Loqi had ever been on, and he'd had to share a tent with Petra in the past.

At least they'd had a tent then. Now they just had a cold cave. A cave that Loqi was thankful for considering it had a haven, but a cold cave none the less.

On the bright side – pun not intended – they had a fire and plenty of blankets and coats.

They just had to endure the weather and the oddity of having two children and a couerl in the bodies of upper teenaged boys.

Loqi sat back against the cave wall, one leg folded close to him while the other was stretched towards the fire. With the couerl-like clone's head resting on his shin.

So strange. The boy would scamper back if approached, yet he didn't seem to mind being close to Loqi so long as he was the one closing the distance. And close the distance he had – curling himself up into a ball on the cave floor within a cocoon of blankets and using Loqi's leg as a pillow.

Despite their similar appearances, the Argentums were all easy to tell apart, and that wasn't just down to their differing hair lengths.

Evan was… Evan. The odd duck with the heart of gold that could apparently be quite lethal if he wanted. That was the impression Loqi had gotten during his time with him thus far.

The bald one from the tank didn't seem too far off from what Loqi suspected Evan was when he'd first been rescued – like a bleary-eyed new-born anak. He constantly looked sleepy and wobbled quite a bit while walking. He also seemed to have latched onto Callux, though appeared not to mind Evan or Loqi either. He'd elected to curl into Callux's side and nod off on his shoulder.

And then there was the one currently on his leg. The hissing daemon child who looked like he would have preferred to eat them all more than anything.

"I think he saw a daemon," Evan said out of the blue after both of their new companions had fallen asleep on their human pillows.

Loqi tilted his head, waiting for him to clarify.

Evan was sitting by Callux on his free side, not exactly cuddling like his brother, but still staying close enough that he and Callux could share a bit of warmth.

Lestallum had spoiled them in terms of keeping warm, but Loqi doubted he'd be doing much better if left to the Lestallum heat for long in the summer.

Evan looked uncertain, but he still continued. "Everyone said that I… imprinted on the first person I saw."

"Oh, you sure did." Callux chuckled. "Followed 'im around, copied 'is accent and everythin'…" His smiled dropped. "Wait… Did I just become a dad?"

Evan looked sheepish. "Sorry. I didn't think about it."

Callux blanched. "I'm not qualified for this!"

"Shh," Loqi shot at him. The Argentums would need to be well rested for the journey back to Lestallum and then to Crestholm. That said, he concurred. The clones imprinting would have been a very nice thing to know ahead of time. Had the predator child really imprinted on him, though? He'd already been roaming about. "So, you think this one saw a daemon before anything else living and that's why he's acting so animalistic?"

Evan shrugged. "Maybe?"

Helpful. Well, Loqi supposed only time would tell how both these new Argentums would mature.

For now he just needed to focus on getting everyone back to Lestallum without incident. The Immortal would be pissed off at him, no doubt, but he would definitely be more lenient if no one was hurt on the trip.

"Loqi, you wretched little bastard! I warned you!"

Loqi's heart skipped a beat as Highwind's voice suddenly shrieked out of the darkness and her footsteps crunched snow that was entirely too close already.

He'd faced many daemons that had nearly killed and eaten him in the past. Not a single one of them was as terrifying as Aranea Highwind stalking out of darkness – hair billowing around her face like an angry halo – with her lance in hand as she headed directly for him.

"You are sixteen different types of dead–"

A sudden snarling hiss cut her off as the clone scrambled into a crouched position to stare her down.

Highwind stopped short, blinking at him before doing a quick glance around the cave. Evan was already on his feet. The sleepy clone stared at her with his eyes half-lidded.

"Oh, uh, 'ey Lady A!" Callux said cheerfully.

"…Son of a bitch." The tip of Highwind's lance dropped a couple inches. "You found more of them."

"Yes," Loqi said calmly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a half-eaten fruit bar to offer to the predator clone. The clone snagged it, retreating to the other side of Loqi's leg to devour the food while he continued to stare down Highwind. "One of which was already free and on the brink of starvation."

Highwind rolled her eyes. "Don't try to play that righteous card with me, Loqi. Evan, you okay?"

Evan bobbed his head frantically.

"He chose to come with me." Loqi crossed his arms. "I forced him into nothing."

Highwind made a disgusted noise.

"It's true." Evan stood tall for change. "I wanted to help my brothers!"

Highwind sighed, her glare at Loqi turning to a withering one. "Bastard."

"So you've mentioned."

A second, heavier set of footsteps sounded from behind Highwind, and the Lucian King's Shield jogged into view looking very disgruntled. "Did you just ditch me to that daemon because you saw their campfire?"

"You had it handled," Highwind dismissed.

The Shield made an irritated noise. "Did I miss the slaughtering?"

"I'm refraining for the sake of the children," Highwind growled.

The Shield took stock of the cave. "…Oh, great."

"Ardyn didn't mess with them," Evan said quietly, staring at the floor and sinking back into himself again. "They won't be like me…"

"…The hell's with that one, then?" The Shield raised an eyebrow at the predator clone.

"Poor role model?" Loqi suggested.

"On that we can agree." Aranea jabbed her lance in his direction.

The clone hissed at her again.

…This was going to be a long night. And one he might not survive if he took his eyes off Highwind for long. He wouldn't put it past her to stab him in his sleep. If he got to sleep.

In all likelihood, this crew was going to be up bickering for a while.

Perhaps death via daemons shouldn't have been his primary concern about this whole thing.