Six and a half years passed.

They were long and painful years, for all involved. A lot happened, to be sure: most noticeably the partial erection of Valua's Grand Fortress. Though hardly even half complete, the structure was impressive, its bare bones a sure sign of what was soon to appear there. The ambassadors of Nasr had taken the news of its conception uneasily – it seemed a sure sign of coming war – and their lack of enthusiasm over the project grew with every week. Thousands of tiny labours swarmed over the massive edifice on a regular basis, all culled from the lower stratums of Valua (though it must be admitted that a few aristocrats attended to the construction here and there, but only as foremen and 'professional contractors'). The upper class of Valua had seen the Grand Fortress as a sign of their growing power and prestige: the poor, as yet another way to keep them ground down.

There had been a great deal of unrest amongst the residents of Lower Valua over the use of forced labour when it became evident that Admiral DeLoco was simply picking people up off of the street. Dissent was quickly disposed of, however, as those who raised a voice themselves were picked up and made to work on the emerald doors of Valua.

DeLoco had a son by a woman that was not his wife. In fact, most people never even had a chance to see the woman, eliciting rumours that DeLoco may simply have chosen a random female to bear a child for him. The rumours surprised nobody.

A surprisingly young and rather bold pirate by the name of Dyne managed to steal into Valua with a small crew and liberate a shipment of Valuan war equipment and red moonstones. The Valuan military immediately set out an order for his arrest, but nothing ever came of it.

Admiral Corlus passed away after a severe stroke. His position would not be filled for several years.

Gregorio was given command of his first ship, a small picket cruiser with minimal firepower. Military brass predicted that it wouldn't be long before the young captain distinguished himself sufficiently to be given a newer, better command, and he did not disappoint them.

Young Teodora started blossoming into a fine young woman, and attended the best schools Valua had to offer. Despite being much wiser, however, she still bore a rather twisted personality, and simply engaged in more cultured temper tantrums. Her father had a heart attack but managed to recover to an extent, his health frail from then on.

Odin and Burger, still working hard in the marketplace with all the other peddling merchants, did not change one bit. Odin attempted rather unsuccessfully to get into the drug trade, and was quickly dissuaded from doing so by local dealers who threatened his wellbeing.

Tricks and Marlo worked on the wall the entire time. Through some miracle, they managed to remain together, and had grown extremely close over the years (though they could not be said, as of yet, to be lovers – it was more an innocent puppy love between the two). Marlo had managed to grow out of his quietude and become a robust young man, though he still lapsed into silence in moments of peace. He thought often of Galley, never once considering that his friend had abandoned him. Tricks suspected as much but said nothing of the matter.

Squim was a scavenger, now, decrepit and foul. He had a reputation for cruelty coupled with surprising strength. None of the soldiers ever managed to capture him, however.

All this leaves but two figures left to look in on, two very familiar characters: in all honesty, however, excepting Burger and Odin, they changed the least in how they lived their lives. Mama, the cruel governess, kept Galley on as her personal thief, now and then supplementing his skills with her own. His blossoming abilities as a pickpocket had kept them from hard times after the loss of the rest of the Sewer Rats, and Mama thanked whatever gods lay in the heavens for supplying her with such a useful boy.

Galley had grown bitter and vengeful, his caustic temperament evoking itself often through his sarcastic tongue. He was as much a forced labourer as Tricks or Marlo, differing simply in the duties he performed. The brilliant young boy with shining eyes was replaced by a powerful youth, his face governed by blazing irises. Simply put, he took crap from no one, Mama included; and she knew all too well, now, that he was growing beyond her control. He had never feared her, not as the others had, and for the longest time had come to think of himself as her equal. His thieving skills, at least, delivered on this belief.

Why did he remain? Not even Mama could figure that one out. Despite the restrictions she placed on his movement, Mama was fully aware that he could have snuck away dozens of times every day. Yet he always wandered back into their hole, bringing with him his perpetually surly demeanour. The typical teenager, really, except in this case, she feared his unrest. So why did he remain? Why?

He wasn't sure himself. He couldn't bring himself to leave, despite the fact that he despised Mama with every fibre of his being. His loathing for her idle disposition was more than enough to spur action. Moreover, she had, over time, come to be rather physical with Galley, waking him in the night by stroking his hair almost intimately. He suspected that she was losing her mind, bit by bit, and part of that process was an attraction towards his growing body. It revolted him. Whenever she looped an arm around his neck, he would always recall that day in the city, when the only difference between life and a raped death was the moonstone he kept hidden in his pocket. Hatred for physicality was a defining aspect in his life, and Mama always seemed to capitalise on it by gently caressing him.

So why? Why stay?

The fact of the matter is, some small part of him was still attached to Mama. She was, indeed, the caretaker: had he left, Galley would've been obligated to provide sustenance for himself. That was a step he was not quite willing to make. The biological aspect, too, kept him in place, as Mama had not lost one inch of her beauty over the years, and his burgeoning maleness kept him firmly in place, even while his mind screamed for departure. She may have been an absolute snake, but Mama was one attractive serpent, a fact that even Galley could not deny.

She had never learned of the moonstone. Galley kept it hidden all too well. His control over it was growing by leaps and bounds: he'd mastered not only many of its recovery functions, but that fateful spell of death which had rained down his fury upon the lecherous hobos all those years ago. The compulsion to go out and buy another one, of a different colour, was constantly upon him: but Mama's demands upon him for bringing in as many spoils as possible made it difficult to raise much capital for himself.

Galley had grown increasingly bold. His skills as a thief were top notch, and gave him access to robbing the houses of nobles with little difficulty. He pulled in a fair amount of money on his own. He'd garnered a reputation for himself of being the best around, and many warrants were put out for his head. Like Dyne, nothing ever came of it, and Galley's wanted poster (bearing no picture upon it, of course, thus making the job doubly difficult) yellowed rapidly on the walls of the city.

It was far from an idyllic life. But it was a life.

And then, it all went to hell the day Mama disappeared.