"Are you sure no one will recognize me? I am royalty." Kaetar whispered as he took a sip of water. He and Loiya were sitting together in a popular restaurant, so Kaetar kept his voice low. Though they were now accustomed to a night schedule, both of them were up in broad daylight, unable to fall asleep. Loiya sat across from him, drinking some sort of juice from a wild berry. Whatever it was, it was deep purple in colour. It was dark out, so the restaurant was busier than he imagined it would be.

"No one aside Ramon and his advisers himself would recognize you. You've never left Nevassa before. Besides, if you would think someone would have noticed you if you were famous. It's been a week." Loiya mumbled just as quietly, then turned his attention to a table nearby. Kaetar immediately saw what it was that caught Loiya's attention, and he resisted the urge to point it out.

At said table were two laguz, a cat and a raven. Cat laguz were not all that uncommon in Crimea, Kaetar learned, but he was surprised to see the raven there. The raven's blue eyes wandered to meet Kaetar's eyes, making shy away. "Loiya! I think they heard everything!" he shouted in a whisper. The raven smirked while the cat rolled her eyes.

"We most certainly did, little princey!" the raven laughed, taking a sip out of his cup. "A little birdy did tell us that the Daein prince ran off, but you're lucky that not why we're here," the raven mumbled as he stood up and approached their table. His black hair was parted over his right eye, leaving one lock of hair to frame the right side of his face and another lock of hair whip over his left eye. It was long, and he tied into a high ponytail that curled at the bottom. He wore a dark blue jacket that resembled a ship captains, which could be button up (but the raven kept it open) and flared up slightly at the waist and travelled to his knees. It was trimmed with black. Underneath the jacket, he wore a relatively simple tunic that was lighter in colour, which the raven paired with a leather brown belt that had a silver bucket. He wore baggy white pants and leather brown boots. His wings were just as black as his hair, and were folded to give him room to walk around.

The female cat laguz didn't care for fashion nearly as much. Her skin was tanned, and her brown hair was also tied back into a ponytail that looked like it swirled into itself, and she had curly hair that framed her face. Her ears and tails were similar in colour She wore a sleeveless pink jumpsuit with a vertical white strip that ran down the middle with draw strings that went from the top to her waist. She wore a blue sash around her waist, and knee-high leather boots. She had brown markings that ran from her forehead to the bridge of her nose, and two more on her cheeks that faced each other. She muscular, Kaetar noted. Although she wasn't flat chested, she had no curves whatsoever.

"Darius, we're not here to speak to him. Your ears are not supposed to be tuned towards pointless gossip!" the female hissed.

"Let's hear him out first, Ema. I'm dying to know why you're here!" Darius laughed again. "But I bet you'd prefer somewhere more... private?"

"We have to get going, but we can tell you on the road," the prince answered.

"Kaetar! You just can let random laguz come along with us!" Loiya shouted, making everyone in the restaurant turn towards them. Kaetar shrunk back into his chair and motioned for Loiya to be quiet.

"Why not? We're going to Gallia aren't we? You would think that a cat laguz would know where she was going in Gallia," the prince answered as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He had to admit, he enjoyed the chance to do things that he wouldn't be able to get away with at home.

"Yeah, but-"

"We can make this nasty, human!" Darius answered. "If it makes you feel better, we'll take you to meet someone. He will explain what we're up to, and then you can tell us what you're up to. I think that's a good way of establishing mutual trust. I'm looking at you when I say this," the raven mumbled, jerking a finger towards Loiya. The bodyguard looked down at the table.

"I don't like it, but it's bothering me that there are two laguz in a restaurant listening to every conversation that everyone's having." Loiya cross his arms in front of his chest defiantly. He would have gone anyway, Kaetar knew, because he was going, but the bodyguard just needed to be assured and to make a point of disliking the two new laguz.

The laguz took the two teens on a two day journey to Melior, travelling only by night on Loiya's terms, but it was no problem for laguz with their heightened senses. As long as there was a sliver of light, day or night didn't seem to bother Ema, and she could fall asleep anywhere. At some point in the travel, Loiya warmed up to Ema and challenged her to a spar with their fists (after Loiya found out that he forgot to bring a weapon), but for whatever reason, refused to talk to Darius unless it was necessary. The raven never commented on the subject.

Melior was awe-inspiring. It was bustling with beorc and laguz alike, and tall but well mannered buildings towered over the four, and desperate merchants line the streets. Kaetar heard Loiya contemplating the idea of buying himself a lance if the price was right. The brick road looked to be stained from the sunlight, and the sunlight made the prince feel a little giddy. Ema grabbed his wrist and began dragging to him to one of the many buildings. They passed an impressively tall white chapel, where stained glass portrayed a tale of blue haired man make his way through an adventure while swinging a golden sword. One window showed the figure standing over a mass of men in black armour, while another window showed him leading a group of laguz, and finally, the last window he could see the man with his arms stretched out, almost as if he was blessing the town. They made Kaetar feel uncomfortable in the least. Judging by the look of disgust on Loiya's face after the first window, the prince could tell that the dark-haired teen was feeling more or the less the same.

Once passed the chapel, they took a turn into a dark alley, where the buildings were more dilapidated and ominous looking then building on the main streets. Ema rapped her fist on one of these door three times in an unfamiliar tune, and the door opened to show a figure dressed in a black tunic (or the might have been robes, but he must have cut them short) with long sleeves, white leggings, and leather boots. He had a green, tattered headband around his head, and long dark hair that was tied into a loose ponytail. The way his left arm hung limp at his side seemed vaguely familiar, but Kaetar just couldn't put his finger on it. "Ema," the man mumbled.

"Syrin, this Kaetar, the prince of Daein. He's interested in learning about your - our operation."

"So? Just because he's here doesn't mean that I have to tell him anything."

"Have we met before?" Kaetar asked. The question was totally random, that Kaetar knew. Syrin was hesitant. Suddenly, he moved away from the door, allowing the four to enter the building. It was dark; only the fireplace provided a source of light. There was a bedroll, a table, and a couple of chairs. It was obvious that Syrin lived here, but to everyone else, it looked to be just a meeting place. That had to mean he was the leader.

Ema and Darius sat down, and Loiya and Kaetar followed suit. Syrin sat on his bedroll.

"I take it you've noticed the chapel," Syrin started, his back turned towards them. "King Ramon II, or perhaps other members of the court, have decided to take their own interpretations of history and distorted it. By doing so, they've not only replaced the goddess in their minds, but they decided to force this pitiful belief down the throats of the public."

"So Ike's a person right?" Kaetar asked as he dug for his notebook from his bag.

There was a light growl coming from Syrin's direction. He turned his head to face them for a moment before turning away from them. "He was truly one of a kind. No one could replace a man who earned the trust and respect of laguz so easily. The simple truth, however, is that he was a beorc. He was born a beorc, and died a beorc. He isn't a god, and never will be."

"So why does it matter what people believe in?" Loiya asked, tipping his chair back into the wall. "People will believe what they want to believe, even if it's wrong! It's not harming anyone."

"But it is. That's why there are rebels, because there are people who don't agree with how the religion is taking over their lives. People who disagree disappear. You haven't been in Crimea long enough to see it, but people are getting hurt," Ema cut in.

"Syrin has personal reasons though. He could honestly care less about who gets hurt in the end," the raven continued with a shrug. The leader didn't comment; nothing to defend himself or nothing to confirm the accusations.

"That means you're the rebels that forced King Ramon to go home," Kaetar mumbled to himself. The laguz gave a weird look.

"You mean that the king returned home?" Darius asked.

"Yes, he left the day before I left. We've been travelling for more than a week, so he should be home now." Kaetar blinked. It was not necessarily the public's business to know why he returned or when, but they would probably see him sometime on his way back, especially in Melior.

"We would have known if he returned. As far as we know, he's still in Daein." Darius shook his head.

"I was at the meeting. He went home!"

"We're not accusing you of lying! There's no need to get defensive," the cat hissed back. Kaetar bit his lips and looked towards Syrin.

"The King would be back at the throne by now if he did leave the meeting early. If he hasn't returned yet, it could mean that he was intercepted and captured, but we would have heard something about that as well. It is a strange situation," Syrin answered. "If his return isn't obvious in the next coming week, it would be safe to assume that the religion here is not entirely his fault. King Ramon might have taken a longer route to avoid the public eye until he's returned safely."

"You think so, Syrin? I don't think any of the rebels would have gone for him." Darius stretched his wings and yawned. "There's something about your hideout that makes me tired."

"You can't entertain yourself, that's why. You should just leave anyhow. I wish to speak to Kaetar alone."

Kaetar blinked, then nodded. He knew what Syrin wanted to talk about. The prince knew that he recognized the man from somewhere, and his suspicions were confirmed when he began talking. Syrin was the man who gave the necklace all of those years ago. He never thought he would see him again, but there he was! Loiya, Ema and Darius left the building without question, though Loiya did ask for some gold for a lance. At least shopping gave the man something to do while he was here with Syrin.

"Do you still have it?" Syrin asked, cutting straight to the point. There was no beating around the bush with him.

"Yes." Kaetar dug his necklace out for Syrin to see. The man didn't investigate.

"You have a tool. I doubt you've come to appreciate its full value; not many would." For a moment, Kaetar could see the leader's face relax as he stared at the necklace. Was he attached to it? The prince bit his lips, but nodded. He could understand where Syrin was coming from, but he didn't understand what tool he had. What exactly did the necklace do?

"I'm sorry, I don't understand. What does it do?" Kaetar asked, moving the tear drop in his hands.

"It allows you to see the memories of the original owner. History becomes distorted every time someone tells their children in their own 'special' way. The true meaning of the events and the reasons why they occurred will all but become lost to Crimea if everybody decided to cope and simply follow the 'teachings of Ike'. The original owner probably only predicted that history would be distorted. It's sickening either way," Syrin hissed.

Kaetar missed the relaxed face, but he had a feeling that a grumpy face just suited the other man more. "It's not fair to the real Ike. That's why I'm organizing a group of rebels that will actually do what it is that I tell them to do. I honestly don't care about people disappearing; it's no problem of mine. But when they began changing who Ike was, it became very personal."

Kaetar listened, but he was too occupied to reply back. That solved one mystery. What he was seeing weren't actually visions, but rather memories. They were Soren's memories, and that's why he could never see why Soren actually looked like. At least not yet. He briefly hoped that Soren spent some time in front of a river.

"Why did you give it me then? You could use the information to help Ike's image." Kaetar tucked the necklace back into his shirt, giving Syrin his undivided attention.

"The original owner wanted the necklace to go to a young child. He wanted it to go someone who cared enough, and that would be someone who grew up in the troubled world. If you're truly the prince of Daein though, your life is probably just peachy." Kaetar huffed. Yes he was a prince and didn't have to worry about money, but that was all that was carefree. "I thought you fit the requirements, and I knew that as long as you had the necklace, you would get curious enough to seek out the answers. It's rather predictable." Syrin's head fell a little.

"Can you tell me why I only get to see the vis-memories now? I've had this necklace for ten years!"

"You weren't listening to me, were you?"

"I was! I just have a lot of questions, and I never thought I'd meet the person who gave it to me again!" Kaetar looked down at the ground again. Syrin didn't seem to react.

"Hm. I could help you, but only if you do whatever I say in return." The leader jerked his head to the side, revealing a small smirk on his lips. Kaetar growled.

"You did that on purpose! You gave just enough information to lure me in, then you drop the giant boulder!" the prince exclaimed angrily. He had never been played like that before. In fact, it seemed that royalty did most of the playing. He knew Syrin wasn't royalty, but he was very intelligent, and that was evident after a couple of minutes of conversation. Syrin took his seat in one of the chairs and put his feet up. Kaetar couldn't tell if he was enjoying it, but he did seem more relaxed.

"Didn't you expect it, prince? We are here to succeed, and to do that, we must be better than someone else. We don't care who we hurt in the end, just as long as we're satisfied with our placement in the world. I don't believe in doing something for no reason, Kaetar. I'm just as vile as everyone else here, and because that, I'll only help you if I get something out of it; otherwise, it's not worth my time and energy," Syrin muttered, a little too causally for his Kaetar's taste.

Kaetar had to think about it. His father wouldn't approve of meddling in the affairs of other countries, but at the same time, he wanted the answers that Syrin could offer. He would say he wanted to help, but he didn't see anyone in danger as of yet, so rebelling would make him look like a criminal. If he turned Syrin down, there was no guarantee that he could find him again, or if all the answers he wanted could be found. He was planning on going to Gallia to find Ranulf, but going to a country to find one cat laguz was beginning to sound to tricky.

Something in his gut just screamed to say yes. If there was anything he knew, it was going with his gut.

"What do you want me to do?"

That's all for now! I honestly don't like "then you drop the giant boulder" so if anyone has suggestions, I'm up for it. Just not "bombshell" because I doubt that would make sense for the time period.

As always, please review! I may not respond all the time, but I do read them and take them into consideration. They're not a waste of time!