(Late chapter due to mandatory evacuations, but it's in before the storm hits! If you're in the path of the hurricane, please stay safe! As usual, I don't own anything, I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Do enjoy.)

Dwarven Vow 32:
Na cuir rach tarsainn air drochaid chloiche ás aonais deuchainn e.
Cross even a stone bridge after you've tested it.

37-

Professor Low started off their meeting in the conference room she had prepared, asking Emmett for information from the Treasury Council that might be useful in tracking down the assassin. He gave her what information he had- reluctantly, of course- and promised- with some persuasion from Zelos- to go back and search the archives for her. After that, Genis mentioned that he had some suspicions about tracking the assassin related to residual deposits in chlorophyll, and wanted to investigate some native plants in the greenhouse to act as controls before taking samples from the park. Low was skeptical that it would work, but she trusted Genis enough to try it anyway, and instructed one of the servants to bring their brunch to the greenhouse instead of the conference room.

The greenhouse was a large building in the center of the mansion's main courtyard. It was in the same position as the Wilder family's swimming pool, and Zelos commented that perhaps he should build a greenhouse-type structure around the pool so that he could use it during the colder months as well. That got Bianca talking about the pool at the Palmacosta University's recreational complex and Emmett bragging about the luxury pool at his father's hotel. Genis was surprised at how easily the conversation took off once it had begun, but he was glad it had. Not only was it a distraction from the fact that his chlorophyll project was total bullshit, but it was the first time he'd seen a genuine smile on Professor Low's face since the confrontation with Raine. Zelos had noticed it too, how adept Low was at putting on a fake smile when dealing with guests, but he and Genis were both experienced enough to see through it. If Low was sulking, she'd never be able to see the error in what she'd done. She had to step back and detach herself from the emotional impact of the situation to truly understand it.

By the time they had finished their conversation and begun searching for the samples Genis has requested, it was almost time to eat. The plan was to finish sampling and then eat together, but Bianca complained that she was hungry, so Professor Low sent word for the servants to bring the appetizers ahead of the main meal for Bianca to start on while they finished work.

"Here you are, ma'am." One of the bakers arrived with the food and placed it on the small table in the center of the greenhouse, taking the lid off the tray with a rehearsed flourish. "Fresh from the oven- an Altamiran-herb flatbread with a goat cheese and spinach topping."

Before anyone else could even say 'thank you,' Emmett pushed his way to the front and started examining the food. "Finally. I'll take whatever piece has the least amount of spinach on it."

"Me too!" Bianca chimed in. "No spinach on mine, please."

"Hey, I already called it. No stealing."

"Now, now," Professor Low broke in, waving dismissively in Emmett's direction. "There's no need to fight. Just pick off the bits you don't want, Bianca dear, and I'll be happy to eat them."

"Hooray! Thanks, Professor!"

Professor Low mirrored Bianca's smile, but her expression fell again when Genis nudged her shoulder.

"Don't spoil her, Professor. She needs to learn to eat her vegetables."

"Yeah, that's right!" Zelos knelt down beside Bianca, putting an arm around her shoulder. "Spinach is so good for you. It's got a ton of vitamins and minerals, like calcium and iron, which are super important for a growing kid like you!"

"Hmph." Emmett had already started eating, and he paused to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand before chiming in. "I never ate spinach and I turned out just fine."

"...see, Bianca? Even more reason to eat your spinach."

"Zelos, you ass-!"

"Ma'am," the baker spoke up reaching out in Professor Low's direction, "I was unaware of the group's dietary preferences. Should I prepare a version without spinach for your guests?"

"No, no, this is perfectly fine, thank you." Professor Low replied. "We'll be eating the main course soon anyway. You're welcome to get back to work."

"I will, ma'am." The baker offered a respectful bow, but turned to glance at the group before he left. "...is this everyone?"

"Pardon?"

"Are these four the only ones who are dining with you?"

"Yes, why?"

The baker shook his head. "My apologies, I don't mean to pry. I'm just curious. Did the women who were in the courtyard earlier find what you were looking for?"

There was a pause. Genis and Zelos heard the question and both froze where they were, waiting to hear what Professor Low's response would be. They couldn't decide how to intervene until they knew how seriously she was going to take the story.

"...what women?" Professor Low asked with a frown.

"There were three of them- a foreigner, a half-elf, and a blonde. When I saw them in the kitchen this morning, they said you'd sent them to find something in the courtyard and they'd gotten lost. Have they not made it back?"

"They have, they just couldn't stay for brunch," Zelos broke in. "But they asked me to thank you for your help."

"Well, I didn't do anything, but they're very welcome nonetheless." The baker nodded in response. "I will get back to work, then, and return with the rest of the meal shortly."

As he left, Professor Low turned on her heels and stared down Zelos. He'd been expecting that response, and took a deep breath as he braced himself for her questions.

"Alright, Mister Wilder, you need to explain yourself. I don't know a foreigner, a half-elf, and a blonde, and I certainly don't recall inviting them into my house."

"You didn't invite them," Zelos replied with a sigh, "we did."

"You what?!" Low's voice was half-screech by this point, and she had to take a moment to gather her composure enough to speak properly. "I know I've said that any friends of yours are friends of mine, but you should at least let me know before you start inviting them to my house and letting them roam about without my supervision. It's common courtesy."

Zelos bowed. "I'm sorry. It's a long story, but I take full responsibility for this."

"Hey, I was in on this too!" Genis broke in, stepping up by Zelos' side. "I knew that Colette, Sheena, and Raine were here, and I didn't say anything about it either-"

"Wait, Raine?" Low interrupted him before he could finish. "The half-elf he mentioned was… I mean, Raine was here? Did she leave like you said, or is she still here? Can I speak with her?"

"Th-that's…" Genis stammered. "I don't know if she's still here. I don't know if she found what she was looking for yet."

"...looking for?"

"Professor," Zelos broke in, "did you receive a letter this morning?"

There was a pause. Emmett and Bianca had been listening in, both staring at the others. Bianca had opened her mouth to say something when Genis mentioned Raine, but Emmett put his hand out to quiet her, and she grabbed another piece of flatbread to munch on instead.

"...how… how did you know? Do you know who sent it?" Low asked. "And if you knew, why didn't you say something earlier?"

"We didn't know, we just assumed." Genis shook his head. "It was a threat, right? Someone inviting you to the Great Tree tomorrow to prevent a potential catastrophe?"

Professor Low crossed her arms. "Are you going to tell me how you know all these details, or are you going to leave me to fill in the blanks with undesirable assumptions?"

"We have a mole in the Church of Mana," Zelos spoke up. "A friend of ours helped some fugitives and they've been giving us information to repay the debt. We know what the Church is planning, and we know that they have members in service both to my family and to yours."

"I already told you, it's impossible that any of my servants could be-!" Low's voice cracked as she yelled, and she stopped to compose herself. "...so, what? Were Raine and your friends here just to sneak around and obtain proof of my servants' wrongdoing? Is that what they're looking for?"

"We have the statement from the Church of Mana. That's proof enough for us," Zelos responded. "You're the one who won't accept it without something tangible. So they went to find that for you."

"I didn't ask them to! I didn't want them to!"

Genis approached Professor Low, nudging Zelos out of the way. "If you're so sure that your servants haven't done anything wrong, then why are you so upset? Don't you want to have the chance to say 'I-told-you-so?' To make Raine apologize to you?"

Professor Low froze and stepped back. "Well, yes, but…"

"Then why are you upset about this? What are you afraid Raine is going to find?"

The greenhouse went quiet, the soft chirping of birds around the ceiling panes the only thing breaking the silence. Professor Low frowned and turned away from Genis and Zelos, her fist clenching and her mouth opening and closing a couple times as though she wanted to say something, but lost her nerve. Bianca ran over, approaching the Professor and tugging at her dress.

"...you trust Genis, don't you?"

"I-It's not that I don't trust him," Professor Low stammered. "It's just… well… I trust my servants too. I want to trust my servants. The way that they act is a reflection on me, and…"

"You can't control what others do. The only person you can control is yourself." Zelos took a step back, reaching for the coat that he'd slung over the back of one of the chairs. "I'll go check the servants' quarters and see if our friends are still there. They deserve to know they've been discovered, at least- if Sheena thinks she pulled some great heist, she's never gonna let us hear the end of it!" He laughed at that last part, waiting for some sort of laugh in response, but there was none. With a sigh and a wave, he turned his back to them and continued out the door.

"W-wait! I'm going too!" Genis scrambled after him, stopping only briefly to speak back in Professor Low's direction. "Professor, stay here and keep an eye on Bianca. We'll be back soon, I promise."

Professor Low reached toward the door with a stifled "Genis-!" but he was already gone. She closed her eyes, sighed, and turned back to face Emmett.

"Will you watch Bianca? Friends or not, I'm not letting them run around my house unsupervised."

"What? No. Absolutely not. I'm no babysitter-"

Bianca interrupted him. "We'll be fine! I'll make sure Mister Emmett doesn't get into any trouble."

"That's Marquess Wilbur to you-"

"Thank you," Professor Low replied with a nod, already halfway to the door.

Emmett watched her go until she turned the corner around the side of the building and was out of sight. He groaned and sank into one of the chairs, staring up at the sky through the glass in the ceiling. "Man, first I had to do treasury work, and now I've gotta babysit some brat? Stella warned me that today's horoscope was bad luck for Leos…"

"You're a Leo?" Bianca leaned against the side of the chair, trying to catch his eye. "Me too! That's so cool! I don't have any friends who share that- my sister's the closest, but she's a Virgo. Say, when's your birthday? Mine's the fifth of August, but we always celebrate it on the closest Sunday 'cause my sister has to work-"

Emmett groaned and sank further down in the chair until he wasn't even sitting on the seat anymore, and was halfway to the ground. Bianca paused as she watched him, a concerned frown passing across her face.

"Mister Emmett? What's wrong?"

"Oh man… where to begin?"

Genis followed Zelos out of the greenhouse, stumbling after him as he sprinted along the uneven stepping stones. "W-wait! Zelos! Don't leave me behind!"

Zelos paused long enough to let him catch up and then slowed his pace to match Genis' as they approached the building. "Sorry, buddy. I just had to get out of there. Emmett and Low and… ugh, I have too much to think about right now."

"Yeah, I get it." Genis shook his head. "It's not our fault that Raine and the others were careless."

"Well, we expected that to happen."

"Did you?" Genis frowned and crossed his arms. "I at least had some faith in them!"

"Come on, bud- let's be realistic. Sheena is a total mess when it comes to these things, Colette is… Colette, and your sister is emotionally impaired right now. Expecting them to do this in total secrecy was a stretch to begin with."

"Y-yeah, but…"

"Genis! Zelos!"

Professor Low dashed down the hallway after them, catching up and pausing to catch her breath. Zelos and Genis glanced at one another, but neither moved, and it allowed her the chance to speak again.

"Please… I know Raine probably doesn't want to speak to me, but I at least want to see her. This is absurd. She has to realize that."

"P-Professor…" Genis stammered, "I don't think that's what-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence before he was interrupted by the sound of a high-pitched yelp and a huge crash from down the hallway. The voice had been too muffled for them to recognize it just from that, but the combination was enough for Genis and Zelos. "Colette?" they stammered practically in unison. By the time they had gotten her name out, Low had already taken off down the hallway, making a beeline for the room where the crash had sounded. She grabbed the door handle and threw it open, her voice echoing through the room and back into the hallway.

"What is going on in here?!"

Colette, Sheena, and Raine were frozen in place, staring at the doorway. Sheena was the first to speak, stammering "P-Professor…" though her voice trailed off before her statement could go anywhere. Genis and Zelos pushed their way past Professor Low and through the door, Zelos vaulting over the overturned dresser to get to Colette.

"What happened, hunny? Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine! Just a little startled, is all." Colette offered a smile in reply. Zelos had his arms out, reaching for her shoulders, but she handed him the lamp instead. "I fell and knocked over the dresser, but I managed to get out of the way, no problem."

Genis sighed. "I was afraid Colette was going to get hurt..."

"We'd have been lost without her!" Sheena defended. "She knew exactly where to look, and there's no way we could've gotten that chest open without her angel strength-"

"That would've been preferable," Professor Low interrupted. "You had no right to come into my house unannounced and go through my servants' belongings."

Raine stepped forward, her expression stern. "You're correct. We didn't have any right to do that."

"I'm-" Low began without thinking, and suddenly paused as she processed Raine's statement. "-th-that's right. I am right."

"But we had reason to do it," Raine continued, holding out the small mechanical device that she had in her arms. "Recognize this?"

"Th… the… the converter…" Professor Low stammered. "It looks awful-"

"It does, doesn't it? Sloppy craftsmanship, a clear lack of the safety features that we outlined in our paper-" As Raine spoke, she began tossing the machine back and forth between her hands. "-and no sense of style either. It's an awful excuse for magitechnology."

"R-Raine! Be careful, that's dangerous!" Professor Low lunged to grab the machine, but Raine snatched it out of the air before she could.

"Oh? Are you afraid that it's active?"

"I-I… I mean…" Low's face turned red and she looked away. "Of course not. It's just- I'm sure it's heavy, and you might hurt yourself if it hit you in the face or head. There's no way that some uneducated servants could build that without a lab or the correct equipment and actually make it work."

Raine frowned and held the machine up again. "How sure are you of that?"

"V-very sure! A 99.9 percent confidence interval!"

"And that 0.01 percent? Are you willing to risk it?"

"Raine, stop it!"

That came from Colette, her voice cracking like she was going to cry. She had been watching along with Zelos, Sheena, and Genis, all of them transfixed in silence by the conversation going on between the two professors. Zelos had his arms around her, and she didn't move from his grip, but the expression on her face was enough to make both Raine and Low pause. They looked back at her for a moment, and finally Raine's expression softened.

"I'm sorry," Raine spoke with a sigh, "I got a little carried away. You were right, Professor Low, this isn't functional. I came with the intention of disabling it if it were actually active, but they've used the wrong type of transistor and the soldering is full of dry joints."

Professor Low let out a satisfied 'hmph.' "I told you. 99.9 percent."

"That's not the point, Todd! The point is, 99.9 is not one-hundred. You weren't sure. For a moment, you were genuinely scared. And you can't brush that off."

"But the confidence interval-"

"Didn't you take basic statistics? Do you even understand what a confidence interval represents?"

By this point, Raine's voice was growing hoarse. Colette stepped away from Zelos' grip as though she were going to get between them, but Genis put his hand out to stop her. It wasn't that he thought there was any danger, but something about the conversation felt like something that Raine and Professor Low should finish on their own.

"I… I taught statistics!" Low stammered. "A confidence interval is defined as a range of values determined by observations to represent the probability that the parameter will fall between the given values-"

"Probability," Raine interrupted. "And anything dealing with probability is never certain. A 95% confidence interval represents a roughly one-in-twenty chance that the true value lies outside the given parameters. 99 is one-in-a hundred. 99.9 is one-in-a thousand. Those aren't big numbers. The confidence interval isn't calculated so that a researcher can pat herself on the back and tell herself she's right. It's so that she can address the fact that she might be wrong. Does that make sense?"

There was a pause. Professor Low glanced around at the others as she thought it over before finally turning back to Raine.

"But… I was right."

"Unbelievable!" Raine turned and shoved the machine into Sheena's hands before pushing Professor Low out of the way and storming out into the hall.

"R-Raine!" Genis stammered, following her out the door and down the hallway. Professor Low moved to run after them, but Sheena grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Hey, I think she's had enough for right now. Can you help us clean up this room, Professor? If the people who made this find out we were messing with it, there could be violence here in Meltokio, and that's exactly what we want to avoid."

Professor Low turned back toward her. "What, you think moving the conflict to the Great Tree like these church idiots want is a better idea?"

"It's a better idea in the sense that it moves the conflict away from a major population center. We want to keep people safe. If the church gets into conflict with the authorities here in Meltokio, it's only a matter of time before more people end up like Lloyd."

"So you're all willing to let a fight break out around the Great Tree just because of what happened to your pet idiot?"

Zelos stepped forward, the corners of his mouth turning down into a scowl. "What did you just call him?"

The question seemed to make Low realize what she'd said, and her face turned pale. "I-I-I… I didn't mean it like… like…" She looked down at the floor, avoiding eye contact with any of the others.

Colette inched forward, tugging at Zelos' coat. "Professor, is that really how you feel about Lloyd? About all of Raine's friends? Zelos? Sheena? Me?"

"N-n-no, of course not!" Low's head jerked up. "Zelos is a highly educated and accomplished individual, and you're a teacher who has dedicated your time to educating the next generation of scientists and researchers!"

There was a pause, and once Zelos was sure that she was finished, he spoke up again. "Nothing on Sheena?"

"W-well, I don't know her, so I don't know her academic qualifications…"

"And you ascribe value to people based only on their academic qualifications? Heh, I guess that explains a lot about how you could justify what you did as Dr. Watson-"

"What are you saying?!" Professor Low stiffened. "Are you saying that there's something wrong with respecting those who prioritize the advancement of themselves through education?"

"No. It's the disrespect of those who aren't so lucky or have other talents that's wrong."

"I'm not-"

"STOP."

Colette stepped in between Zelos and Low, holding out her arms to keep them apart. They both jumped back, both in surprise that she'd stepped forward and startled by the volume of her voice.

"You two can keep arguing if you need to, but don't do it here. I'm going to clean this place up, and I expect you to either help or get out of my way."

"C-Colette…" Sheena murmured. "I'll help. Zelos, you and the professor figure out what you're going to-"

"I'm helping too!" Zelos interrupted. "Professor, I don't expect to change your mindset through a heated argument. This is something you need to figure out yourself. But I think, if you're trying to figure out where you went wrong with Raine, the way you view and treat other people is a good place to start." He paused, his eyes widening, "Wait… where's Bianca? Did you leave her with-"

"You don't need to worry. I left her in the care of Marquess Wilbur."

"That's absolutely a reason to worry!" Zelos stumbled forward, nearly running into the door in his hurry. "I'm sorry Colette, Sheena. You guys clean up here. I've gotta go make sure Bianca's alright."

The hallway was empty, but even so, Zelos kept his curses silent. His mind raced with them- he cursed his cousin, cursed Professor Low, cursed the Church of Mana and everyone who was trying to pick a fight…

He knew it wasn't the sole fault of any of them, but gods, couldn't he catch a break?