Nia was still not comfortable with this. They were on a guild ship bound for Argentum with that Shellhead and his blade along for the ride. After Rex had finally walked downstairs with Pyra in tow, Nia demanded some answers.

She was somewhat surprised with just how easily he surrendered as well. He walked her through his plan to have Zeke distract them, though he failed to mention how he even knew he could trust him even though he was adamant that they could trust him. He apologized for going alone but said he did not want to risk them getting hurt.

Honestly, it was hard for her to stay mad in the face of his earnest answers. So, she just huffed and walked away saying they had better hurry up and meet up with Cole. That meeting led them to the ship they were currently on in their path to Indol.

Tora seemed more than happy to be along for the ride, but Nia was not so sure. Rex seemed like a good guy and all, but he was keeping secrets. A lot of them it seemed. Or at least big ones. It was hard not to wonder just what they were heading into. Whatever it was, it seemed clear that they were on a collision course with Torna, and she was not sure what she would do if faced with Jin. Did he really want her dead?

Nia was not sure of her place in the world as it was, now she was even more confused. Not that she could really blame Rex for keeping secrets. She supposed that as strange as he was, at least Tora was a mostly easy to read little nopon. He tried his best and worried if that was enough. Did not they all?

Argentum was as lively as ever when they got back. Unfortunately, haggling went as bad as it had before costing them a pretty penny for passage to Mor Ardain. Just like before, Rex could not manage a ship for that day. That meant…staying at the inn.

On his way back from making the arrangements, Rex wondered if he should tell Pyra to lock the door. Or at least lock his own. Might be a safe measure, but then he had no idea where Mythra might end up wandering off to. That was also assuming she would even sleepwalk again. She had not had an incident since her early appearance. Perhaps there was nothing to worry about.

All the same, Rex still made sure to lock the door to the guy's room that night when no one was looking. He would just have to live with the mystery as to whether she sleepwalked he supposed. He definitely was not about to ask either of them about it. He was not suicidal. Even he had some sense of self-preservation.

The following day started without a hitch much to Rex's relief. His mild prodding showed nothing seemed to be amiss. Rex eyed the edge of the flight deck as they got ready to board before remembering that they had not trashed the water tower so everything should have been fine with that village back in Gormott.

With a small smile, Rex boarded the ship. It did feel nice adding another positive change at least. Hopefully those kids could live long lives, and they would if he had anything to say about it.

It was a daunting task, but at least he had an idea of what to do next. He knew where to go and what they were doing. With any luck, they could lay a trap and serve a severe blow to Torna. If all went well, perhaps, they would even get a little down time while they waited for Fa–Haze.

Well, speaking of down time, that was what they had on their agenda after arriving in Mor Ardain. Surprising everyone but Rex, Pyra, and Mythra, the latter two Rex had given a much more detailed roadmap of their coming trials, there were no ships headed for Indol anytime soon.

Rex leaned against the wall of the hotel as some of their party went to enjoy the hot springs leaving him with plenty of time to think. However, that was interrupted by an approaching Zeke.

"Hoi there, chum! Nice night out, huh?"

"Yeah I guess."

"You seem down in the dumps," Zeke noted, "Busy planning your next move?"

"Something like that."

"Heh, you don't strike me as the tactical type."

"I…well, I guess I'm not. I'm pretty new to all this."

"But not as new as you'd like us to think, eh?"

"W-what's that supposed to mean?" Rex was suddenly a bit nervous.

"Tell it to me straight, are you from the future?"

"W-what makes you think that?"

"Well, you seem to already know what's going to happen, so either you're in the know which I kind of doubt, you've seen the future, or you've lived it. You just seem to know us too well to have simply seen what's coming. I think you lived it."

Rex's mouth was slightly agape. It was easy to forget just how smart Zeke really was sometimes. Though, he supposed the cat was out of the bag now. No point in denying it.

"Sort of. I don't understand the details, but it was my mind that was sent back. I have memories of times with all of you, but no one remembers."

"Must be rough," Zeke spoke in a rare moment of seriousness, "I take it you didn't come by accident?"

"No…"

"Well, I won't force it out of you, but whatever it was, it must have been pretty serious, but don't you worry, I'm sure we can handle it."

"Yeah," Rex grinned. It was hard to stay in a bad mood around Zeke, "We'll win this time."

"Glad to hear it, chum. Oh, and, by the way. The blondie…"

"Mythra. She's…keeping a low profile for now. Please, try to keep it quiet until she's ready."

"Sure thing. My lips are sealed. But, uh, what's next then?"

"For now, we let the girls enjoy their time off," Rex grinned, "They deserve it."

"And then?"

"We lay a trap."

A/N: Well, it's been a while. I did get into a game, but even outside that, my enthusiasm for this project has certainly waned. I'm not saying it's definitely over though. I may want to step back for a bit though. If I get enthusiastic about it and/or XC2 again, maybe I'll pick it up again, but as it stands, I'm not too keen on it.