When Emil next woke up, he was lying in a bed in what seemed to be an inn room. Feeling relatively better after a good rest, he slowly got up and surveyed the room. The late morning light was shining through the window illuminating Emil's sword, which was leaning against the dresser. He gathered up his belongings, fighting an incoming headache, and made his way out of his room. Upon exiting said room, he was surprised to see that someone had brought him to the Hima Inn as it's out of the way from most towns.

There was no one else on the upper floor, so he made his way down the stairs and into the lobby. A rough-and-tumble looking woman at the reception desk greeted him.

"Ah, Mystery Boy! I'm surprised you're up and about, it's only been about a day since Roland dragged ya in with a high fever. You had him scared somethin' fierce, I don't think I've seen him run around like that since his horse got a chip in 'er hoof." The receptionist gave a soft chuckle.

"If you're looking for Roland, he's finishing up a trade at the weapon shop. Told me to send ya his way before you head off."

"O-oh, thank you. I need to stock up on supplies anyways, so I can kill two birds with one stone." The blond hesitated before sticking out his hand "I'm sorry for causing any trouble, my name's Emil."

"Nice to meetcha, Emil", the woman smiled, shaking his hand "The name's Lynda. Best be on your way".

The blond nodded, smiled at the newly named Lynda and stepped out the door as she waved him off. The sun was shining high in the sky, making Emil wince as the light aggravated his headache. He walked around the town for a bit while the fresh air made him feel better, but he began to notice something was… off. There wasn't anything wrong, per se, but little things had started to pile up on each other.

There were a lot more people than there should have been, considering that the town had recently been overrun by monsters. The buildings looked newer, sporting less weather and monster damage. The style of everyone's clothing was also different; They had less ornate details and a heavier focus on practicality than Emil was used to, something that had completely slipped past him before he had started looking for differences.

On that note, how had he ended up in the middle of a forest instead of the Otherworldly Gate in Tethe'alla? The trip had never been painful, nor had it dropped him in a different spot before. The thing that worried him the most, however, was the mana imbalance he had felt. Had that been caused by the disappearance of Ratatosk and the Centurions?

Emil's confusion grew as his observations continued. Finding no plausible explanation, he shook his head to free him of his reveries and nervously continued on his way towards the store. He smiled at the few townspeople he passed, as well as the occasional traveller, before arriving at the front door.

The sixteen-year-old hesitantly opened the door to a medium-sized rustic room. Glancing at the few patrons that were browsing the store's wares, all of whom seemed to be travellers, he realized he didn't even know what Roland looked like and he couldn't seem to locate the store clerk. He ignored the weapon and armour side of the shop, comfortable with what he already owned, and went straight over to the items area to stock up on gels, elixirs and the like.

His supplies were running low because he had never planned to leave the Ginnungagap when he and his friends had gone to stop Richter, plus Marta was the one that usually held the majority of their supplies. Emil heaved a sigh at the reminder of the fiasco concerning the gate while gazing at the assortment of gels.

Suddenly, a boisterous voice rang out through the store, breaking Emil out of his thoughts.

"There you are! I was wondering when you would get up"

Startled, he quickly whirled around with narrowed eyes while his hand made its way towards his sword. A man with neat-looking facial hair in his early-to-mid thirties was leaning against the back of the counter, having seemingly come from the back room of the store. Upon further inspection, another man who the blond deduced to be the store owner was standing a little ways behind him, looking at Emil with wide eyes.

"Whoa, there!" The stranger raised his hands in a sign of surrender even though he was nowhere near close enough to be in danger.

"I didn't mean to startle you, my name's Roland. I was the one who picked you up off of the side of the road and brought you to Hima", he said with a crooked grin.

Emil had the decency to look embarrassed by his reaction and shifted into a more relaxed stance.

"S-sorry about that, I'm a little jumpier than usual. I'm Emil, by the way" he said while rubbing the back of his head.

"No problem, Emil. Say, it's getting pretty close to Noon, mind if we chat over lunch? You wouldn't guess it, but Lynda makes a mean risotto"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'd like to hear how you got yourself into that situation."

Emil grimaced at the reminder of his arrival to Sylvarant.

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Roland backpedalled "I just want to see how you're faring, it'd give me peace of mind to know what your plan is from here on out"

"No, it's fine! I'll just pay for my supplies and we can go." Emil assured the older man.

He closed the distance to the counter and deposited everything for the cashier to ring up. Upon thinking about it, Emil asked the clerk for a map, yet another thing he had left with his friends. The man nodded and quickly grabbed one from behind the counter, before handing it to him. Emil quizzically stared at the map of Sylvarant for a second. He had asked for a world map, hadn't he?

"Do you happen to have any maps that include Tethe'alla?"

The man stared at him with an incredulous expression.

"...You want a map of the moon?" The worker asked dumbfounded.

The two stared at each other in shock as Roland watched from the sidelines, his boisterous smile slipping into something more confused.

"P-Pardon?"

Emil glanced at Roland for help, not knowing why anyone wouldn't know about Tethe'alla two years after the World Regeneration.

"Why don't you just buy what you already have and we'll go eat. I don't think he has any maps of… Tethe'alla on him." He said placatingly, his confused smile giving way to a more concerned expression.

Emil nodded, still slightly off-balance, and paid the cashier before following Roland out of the store. The two travellers made their way back towards the inn in relative silence with Roland giving Emil a few worried glances along the way. When they arrived, the inn had a couple patrons already eating in the small, cramped dining area. They seated themselves at one of the six wooden tables and gave Lynda, who seemed to be the only one currently working there, their orders. After a short silence had passed, Roland gave an awkward chuckle.

"Let's cut right to the chase: What was a kid like you doing in the middle of a forest? If you don't mind me asking."

"I… don't really know." Emil answered truthfully.

"You seemed pretty beat-up." At this, Roland lowered his voice as his eyes surveyed the room. "You-you're not on the run from the Desians are you?"

"What!?"

"Look, you seem like a nice kid, but with how high strung you were in the shop earlier and the state you were in when I found you, you must have been travelling under very stressful conditions." He answered, leaning in closer as if to check that he wasn't prying too much.

Emil stared at the older man in complete incomprehension. The Desians had been dissolved and the human ranches destroyed during the Journey of Regeneration. He had even gone through the ruins of one of their bases! There was no way anyone would be unaware of their defeat, much less someone who appears to be as well travelled as Roland. The chances of Emil meeting two people ignorant of the going ons of the world from the past three years were virtually impossible.

The realization of what was going on hit him like a brick. It would explain everything that was slightly off about Hima, the shopkeeper's reaction and what Roland was insinuating. Emil felt his jaw go slack, it was a good thing he was already sitting down, as a wave of vertigo overtook his body.

"Hey bud, you okay? You don't look too good" Roland asked worriedly.

"What's the date?" He heard himself ask quietly with a desperate but defeated sound to his voice.

Roland's eyes filled with concern as he answered.

"April 4th"

"What year?" Emil softly urged shrinking in on himself.

"4235 A.R." The older man's concern was slowly morphing into panic "Are you sure you're okay? Maybe you got up before you were ready. Let's get you back to your bed."

It was official. He had somehow managed to travel back in time.

The blonde quickly tried to shake himself out of his shock.

"N-No! It's fine the date just slipped my mind for a second-" He cut himself off as he was met with a reproachful look from the older man.

The conversation was cut short by Lynda arriving with their lunches. Setting the warm dishes in front of each of her patrons, she lightly placed a hand on Roland's shoulder.

"He says he's fine, Roland. Give him some time to relax before ya start grilling him." she admonished.

"But-" Roland protested but was cut off by the same look he had given seconds prior, courtesy of Lynda.

He regretfully acquiesced and she gave him a nod before turning to Emil with a smile.

"Enjoy your meal!"

As she happily walked off to return to her duties, both quietly began eating. Not a word was spoken between them for quite a few minutes before Roland felt the need to break the awkward tension between them.

"So… are you sure you're okay? Did you hit your head before you fainted? I knew I shoulda checked for a concussion." he muttered to himself.

"I don't think so, but I do have a pretty big headache." Emil considered.

"You should definitely be taking it easy then, but what got you so confused about the date?"

"I-" Emil hesitated.

He couldn't very well come out and say Oh, you know, just the fact that I've somehow ended up three years in the past to a time where the world is split in half and I basically didn't exist. On the other hand, he didn't really know how to explain why he passed out in the middle of nowhere either. The sixteen-year-old sighed to himself, he might as well go with an excuse that would allow him to put off finding a better one for a later date.

"Last I remember, I was… travelling with my parents in 4232?" he lied, wincing at how stilted he sounded.

"So you're telling me you've forgotten the last 3 years of your life, and you were thinking of shrugging it off and not letting me know" Roland stated incredulously, raising his eyebrows.

"When you put it like that, it does seem sort of silly" Emil shrugged, looking down at his lap.

"Do you have anyone to contact? Anywhere you can go?"

"Not that I know of, my parents and I were pretty much on our own. We didn't stay in one place for too long, so we didn't really get to know anyone"

The trader set his fork on his plate, seemingly deep in thought.

"Quite the situation you've gotten yourself into. I'll tell you what, I'm heading off to Triet tomorrow for business. If you want, you can tag along with me and see if you can remember anything on the way or meet someone that recognizes you."

At this, Emil's head shot up as he looked over at Roland in shock. It would be nice to travel with someone as he gathered his bearings, especially in this weakened state. Triet was also very close to Ignis' core 一 wait. Did he have to go around and wake up each Centurion again? He sighed. And he had just gotten them all too…

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, the blond hesitated to answer.

"That would be great, but, I have to ask, why are you helping me out so much? I mean, not to sound ungrateful, why not just leave as soon as I was safe in Hima?" he asked, a small amount of suspicion lacing his voice.

"To be honest, my nephew's around your age. I would like to hope that people would help him out if he found himself in a situation like yours. Martel's watching over us, sure, but I'd like to think that putting my neck out for others would encourage others to pay it forward." Roland's wistful smile turned into a lopsided grin. "Plus, it's not like I wouldn't be getting something out of it. It wouldn't hurt to have some extra protection on the road. That sword isn't just for decoration right?"

Emil gave a surprised laugh, feeling his mood lighten considerably.

"There's a smile." Roland chuckles. "I've still got some work to do around Hima, we'll head out tomorrow at dawn. Make sure to get some rest, you still look a bit pale"

"Okay, I think I'm gonna head up to my room and sort of just… process everything."

Both of them paid for their lunches, thanking Lynda for her hospitality and Emil headed up the stairs back to the room in which he woke up. Setting his gear aside, he flopped onto the single bed before rolling over on his back to stare up at the ceiling. Finally allowing himself to relax, he closed his eyes and once again attempted to connect with Ratatosk. Receiving no answer besides the sound of the day-to-day life going on outside his window, Emil groaned.

What had he gotten himself into?