The clean up was tough. The first thing anyone did was make sure that anyone who was injured, or poisoned as they came to find, got the attention they needed. Loiya was laying down on one side and the new hawk girl was moving and stretching Darius' wings as he groaned. He was cured a while ago, as Chibuike ran back to fetch the restore staff before the battle was over, but the poison seemed to have sapped a lot of his strength and the fact that he was hit with more than one arrow did him no good. Perhaps that was why the two hawks were so busy with his wings. While the woman was moving his wings, her hands stopping to feel them ever so often, Chifee was busy pulling and rearranging some of his feathers.

Misha was the one to help Zeke over to Peter, though her arm was slightly wounded and her lance wasn't looking so good. Mike was busying himself with his partner, Makken, making sure that the arrow heads were out and that those puncture wounds were covered. It was one of the tougher battles for Makken but the wyvern seemed alright and didn't appear to be in much pain. He sat calmly as his partner poked him and prodded him, only growling slightly when Mike had to pull out an arrowhead. Mike had to be a good trainer for a wyvern to be so well behaved, but it also made Kaetar want one of his own.

However, no one really wanted to talk about Duma and Rylar. Aletta was sitting on top of Makken, even as Mike was helping him, her eyes red from tears. Stefan mumbled while pacing and Kaetar swore that Syrin said something about "hating causalities" and something else about failure. No one really said anything until Arum returned to the battlefield with blood on his clothing, though he didn't seem injured aside from a couple of shallow cuts. He was suddenly embraced in a fierce hug as soon, making Arum smile a little as he returned Elli's hug. He straightened himself out and Elli let go but she didn't leave his side, much like how Soren often acted around Rykuu.

"What do you guys plan on doing with the body?" Arum asked.

"We cremate bodies in Grann. It's hard to bury bodies in sand and there's the risk of bodies making a second appearance. We also have scavengers that roam the desert," Stefan said with a sigh. "We'll cremate him when Rylar is feeling better. He should be there to see it."

"If Rylar has his way, he'll never be cremated," Chibuike mumbled. "Misha, didn't you just have a conversation with Duma before this battle? What did he say?"

Misha looked confused. "How did you know that? I just met you yesterday. We hardly said anything to each other."

"I hear and know many things. It's hard to keep a secret around me," Chibuike shrugged. "I actually already know what you and Duma discussed, I was just trying to be formal. If you don't want to say it, then I will because Ema should probably know."

Ema's ears flattened against her head. "What does it have to do with me?"

"You said your mother was named Kendra right? Duma said that was the name of his mate when he was in Taelug. He was talking to Rylar too so he knows. I told him that he needed to tell you but then... this happened and he never had the chance," Misha said, her voice cracking.

Ema was extremely still for a moment, her face completely neutral. However, her ears and and tail told a different story – her ears were pointed down and her tail was shivering and twitching in a way Kaetar never saw before. "I... never thought it would be him... and Crimea robbed me the chance of actually knowing him as a father."

"This is interesting. Ema, did you not show disdain of the brandeds when you went to talk to me back then?" Syrin muttered.

"I've gotten better!" Ema hissed. "Yes, that was true, but everything I knew of beorc and branded came from laguz. You know who trained me so I don't know what you were expecting. I didn't really know beorc until I came to Crimea with Darius to see what was going on and then we joined the rebellion. I won't let a past experience like that get in the way of me being a sister for Rylar!"

"That's if he lets you. Rylar hasn't shown interest with anyone besides Duma and himself. If anything, this grief will make him close up even more," Chibuike said with a chuckle. "But keep trying, it should be entertaining."

"Even if he doesn't want me around, the least I can do for Duma is to try and protect him because he loved him and be there if he ever needs me! I will be there even if he doesn't want me! I also want to hear what Duma had to say to him before he died."

Syrin rolled his eyes. He was obviously in pain and he was massaging his arm. "We need to move on. Kaetar, why are you even here? I thought we needed to backtrack to Toha in order to pick everyone up."

"Liam attacked us in Toha, then Saira came after us... everyone knew we were there," Kaetar answered. He was skimming over details but there was a lot that happened and those details weren't important at the moment. They could go back to it. "We knew where you planned on going so we decided to meet you there. Saira's probably close by too."

"I see. Did you discover Liam's identity in Toha as well? You did well to turn one of the Crimean arrows at him," Syrin said simply. Kaetar nodded. He tried to keep the excitement out of his face though – but he was so excited that Syrin praised him. He wasn't generous with compliments, so when people got one from him, it was well deserved. He would be excited later.

"I was doing good with him!" the new hawk girl said. Kaetar wondered if all hawk girls dressed as she did but he doubted it. She was beaming with confidence. If she had nothing under her bandages and those bandages somehow fell off, Kaetar doubted she would care. She just didn't look like she would care. He could imagine her saying "so what?" if something like that happened. Aletta seemed to have taken an instant liking to her and immediately sat down beside her. Aletta always made friends with wings, it seemed.

"Syrin, are you sure you shouldn't be resting right now? You used Rexcalibur and that's no simple spell. Your arm must be hurting a lot right now," Stefan asked. Syrin did look like he was uncomfortable but he shook his head.

"There's too much to talk about. I don't even know where to start," he answered.

"How about from the beginning?" Chibuike offered. "I won't say what I joined you guys to say unless you tell everyone the truth about yourself. After all, I'm a man of transactions and this one happens to be one with no materialistic value. Doesn't everyone deserve to know who they're taking orders from anyway? If you don't tell them, then I will."

Syrin glared at him, but when Chibuike smirked in return, Syrin sighed. "Stefan, make sure everyone is here. I'm not going to repeat this."

Stefan hesitated for a moment, then left to make sure everyone was sitting in front of the fire. Nasir and Arum both worked to get Rylar to the fire pit. Nasir had to restrain his upper body while Arum kept his legs from moving too much. Rylar looked awful; his face was tear stained and in front of the fire, his complexion was quite ashen. Gus sat down beside him and Arum got up to sit by Elli instead. Between Nasir and Gus, Rylar wasn't going to get away, especially if he was still weak from the poison.

Chibuike had the look of a victor on his face. "Is everyone here?" Joel asked. No one answered in the contrary.

"I used to go by another name, if that wasn't obvious," Syrin muttered. "I used to go by Soren, and I'm the last original member of the Greil Mercenaries as everyone knew them. Nasir and Stefan can attest to this. However, since there is another Soren here, then everyone should continue to call me Syrin." For a moment, there was a silence, no surprised gasps or anything, just a serious silence. When it seemed to have sunk in, Ema gasped and shook her head and her conversation did come to Kaetar's mind. There was a reason why Syrin knew everyone she did and more. Soren's eyes were wide and Rykuu looked intrigued.

"So Soren was named after you," Rykuu mumbled. Soren looked tense beside him.

"Apparently. I was also somewhat surprised since I'm only really known to scholars. The common population only know of Ike and are unable to name anyone else. It was always just Ike and the Greil Mercenaries."

"So you actually took orders from Ike," Peter mumbled. "So that's why you are doing all of this, despite your arm. You did just know better."

"Ike was my best friend. I know how he would react if he knew any of this was going on and he wouldn't like it. We left Tellius to escape the fame and now Crimea is trying to pass him off as a god. He didn't even like being a lord for the brief time that he was," Syrin muttered, rolling his eyes at the thought.

"And what about the whole thing with the goddesses? Yune and Ashera?" Peter asked. "I was never able to get the full truth that some other members of the ministry know."

"It's one Tellius' deepest secrets, I suppose, in that no one really wants to talk about it. Any beorc who was there is long dead and everyone else is relatively silent. It starts with the Mad King Ashnard. He invaded Crimea for the purpose of starting a war big enough to release the goddess Yune from the medallion that she was trapped in. Even if he had no idea where the location of it was, a plan like that could succeed anyway, but the medallion was stolen from Ike's sister and given to Ashnard to try and speed up the process," Syrin stated. Kaetar did not miss the nasty stare he sent to Nasir and Nasir raised an eyebrow at him.

Was that what Nasir did? He gave Ashnard a medallion with a goddess in it? The fact that they were talking though, that Syrin did allow Nasir to speak to him and be around him on a level that most people couldn't get to made it look like they moved past it. At least, Syrin had something more important to worry about. It was all in the past though, wasn't it? Was Syrin still mad?

"He tried releasing the goddess in another way when the tides of war turned away from him, through the Galdr of Release and kidnapped a heron to do it, but that proved unsuccessful. He still used the medallion to try and save his own life but Ashnard ended up being killed by Ike, Nasir, and a lion named Giffca."

Loiya looked surprised. "So Nasir actually has a lot more to do with all this than it looks, huh?"

"I don't believe anyone mentioned him as one of the ones who helped defeat Ashnard. I think Ike got all the credit," Kaetar mumbled.

"And that's not atypical," Nasir stated. "Do you wish to continue, Syrin?"

"I will. Three years after Ashnard was defeated was when the war between the Laguz Alliance, which the Greil Mercenaries joined by contract with Gallia. During the course of that war, Begnion dragged Daein into the war while they should have been rebuidling, which in turn got Goldoa involved. The situation reached a climax between Daein and the Laguz Alliance where the safest choice was to release Yune internationally instead of through war. When that happened, Yune said Ashera had also woken and cast her judgement upon the world."

"Why was it any better to release the goddess intentionally? What's the difference?" It was Misha who asked that, her face quizzical. Kaetar wondered the same thing though. Wasn't releasing a goddesses releasing the goddess, no matter the method?

"Yune told us that if she woke up through war, then Ashera had the right to destroy Tellius and start over. It was something they agreed to. But because she was woken up by Micaiah, then they were suppose to have the opportunity to talk to each other and decide on the course of action. When she cast her judgement without Yune's input, it turned most of the population into stone – laguz and beorc. Anyone who had Yune's protection went to the Tower of Guidance to confront Ashera. Considering that none of us here are statues, the rest should be self-explanatory."

"It's funny, because I remember not turning into a statue," Chibuike said with a slight grin on his face. "And I sure as heck remember other people being statues."

"None in the desert were aware of it," Stefan said. "But I talked to Yune. She wasn't aware of our existence and neither was Ashera, so her judgement didn't affect us. People have said our existence was cursed and went against the will of the Goddess for centuries and the goddesses didn't even know we could exist, let alone that we did."

"But you would know something about that, wouldn't you, Nasir?" Syrin asked with yet another nasty glare.

"I take it you overheard us."

"It concerned me so as far as I was concerned, I had the right to listen in. Besides, didn't you have the conversation knowing that you knew someone might overhear?" Syrin asked. "You knew I was branded too," he said bitterly.

"Is your rexcalibur tome from the war?" Nicholas asked. "I haven't actually seen any of the high-level tomes for sale anywhere."

"It was a gift," he answered dryly. "But anyone who went into the tower had their best weapons blessed by Yune and this was the tome I had blessed. I've been using it for a century and a half and it has not worn out. If it wore out due to age or use, I would not have it right now."

"And why did Daein join the war?" Kaetar asked suddenly, trying to keep the subject from going back to the original, though he had a feeling that Nasir and Syrin would continue it on their own time. He didn't want the conversation to turn into argument that he could hear.

"I don't know much, except that it was Lehran who was pushing for Ashera's judgement, believing that we were Ashunera's biggest mistake and that Ashera should just start over-"

"Lehran? But why would he tell our church the truth if he was seeking our destruction?"

"Peter, don't interrupt me. I don't know what he's doing with his time, nor do I really care. He did end up joining us against Ashera, but doesn't change the fact that he pushed the Begnion senate to do something that would start a war, and even pushed Ashnard to do the same thing. He wanted to plunge the world in war so that Ashera would get rid of us. That's unforgivable." He sounded bitter, but then he turned to Kaetar. "If you want more details about the political side of things, you'll have to ask Micaiah about it. Last I checked, she was still living in Nevassa."

Joel scrunched his brow. "In Nevassa? She's been that close the entire time?"

"Do you think that she would be anywhere else? She was annoyingly stubborn when it came to Daein... it was dangerous even," Syrin said with a shrug. "Chibuike, have I said enough?"

"Yeah, that was more than I thought you would ever say," he said with a laugh. "I'll first say that I'm not the most experienced with magic. You see, I was hired by someone named Eero for two things. One was to gather information about the rebellion and to stop it. The other job was to gather powerful magic users and convince them help his cause. You may already be familiar with part of the results of the work and that was the animated sand that was found in Daein. This whole thing, from what I've discovered, is a way to try make Ike walk across Tellius again."

"Why would anyone revive Ike?" It was Darius' hoarse voice that spoke up. He was leaning his head on Peter's shoulder at the time, probably too weak to keep his own head up. Everyone who was affected by the poison was in bad shape. Zeke was supporting his head on his hands with his elbows on his knees and his head occasionally sunk lower until he placed his hands back on his hands to try like he was trying to stay awake. Rylar had his head buried in his folded arms though he occasionally poked his head up, his eyes wide.

"Do you believe that beorc, laguz, and the branded could exist peacefully together with no past biases getting in the way... right at this moment?" he asked. Kaetar thought on it but he knew the answer as soon as Chibuike had asked it. There was a reason why there weren't very many laguz who lived in Daein and that was because there was one point in Daein's history where they more or less hunted for sport. Kaetar also knew that there were experiments that were done on them, as he came across some mentions of it by some memoirs he saw from soldiers, but he didn't know the details. Micaiah had apparently destroyed anything that could possibly help anyone repeat the experiments. However, the family that ruled Daein for the past century and a half was not the family that hunted and experimented on laguz but that hadn't attracted any laguz to Daein.

It was not true peace, what he saw and felt. No one really said anything about laguz and beorc, not to their face in the very least, but they weren't making the effort to go out there and be friends and have deep conversations. It was mutual agreement to stay quiet if they weren't going to say anything nice. It looked like peace but it wasn't peace.

"Eero feels as though Ike is the only person that can fix everything that's wrong in the world. Well, of course it's only the end goal, an impossible ideal so to say... he really only needs something that looks a lot like him and they're a lot closer to a doll that resembles a person. He just needs a puppet and he's the puppet master setting up the stage for his most precious puppet. Then he can hide behind it and tell himself he's changing the world for the better or whatever while he's just taking revenge."

"So his true goal is to have the Ike I knew... but for now he'll settle for something that looks like Ike?" Syrin growled. Kaetar knew he would be upset when he heard that. It would hurt Ike's memory, everything he stood up for. You can't force people to be kind to each other and expect it to work. Not even Ike could do something like that.

"I think the real Ike would take issue with what's he trying to pull. Someone like Ike would be much easier to boss around though," Chibuike said with a shrug.

"What was the purpose of that dark mage kidnapping all of those people then?" Zeke asked with a yawn. Kaetar was a little surprised that he was still paying attention since he looked like he could fall asleep at any moment. It was kind of unfair for the three of them who were poisoned to sit and listen everything when they probably weren't going to listen and absorb everything when they felt so terrible.

"Elymas probably. I think he's trying to see if spirits can be forcefully placed into someone's body and if using blood would somehow work at attracting spirits... not that he told me any of this, I just like to snoop around," Chibuike said with a shrug. "He doesn't like people so he makes it as painful as possible."

"Tell us everything you know about him," Syrin said darkly.

Chibuike grinned, scratching his beard like he was considering meeting Syrin's demands. "Well, I suppose I could. Elymas made the pact with a spirit when he was... maybe twelve? At the age of twelve, I heard he accidentally killed his best friend with dark magic and the manhunt for him... I suppose turned him into the lovely guy we know today," he said with a shrug.

"That doesn't make much sense. That might turn someone into him," Joel pointed at Syrin, who glared at him. "But it doesn't explain why he wants to do the sort of experiments that Chibuike describes. People that like to inflict pain on others are messed up and irredeemable."

"Maybe it's the spirit that does that. Maybe the spirit he made the pact with made him like that. Is it possible?" Nicholas asked. Syrin shrugged.

"I wouldn't know. I only met one and he seemed relatively normal but I suppose the possibility exists."

"You mean Pelleas?" Stefan asked.

"Yes, Pelleas. We talked for a brief time," Syrin mumbled. There was suddenly a calm that came over everyone until Misha spoke up.

"This rebellion isn't what I thought it would end up being," she said quietly.

"I will need everyone to decide if they are staying or not," Syrin muttered. The calm returned but Kaetar spent the moment thinking of would may decide to go. There were some people who weren't here for Ike so they needed to reassess why they were fighting with the rebellion.

"Is no one going to introduce Zara?" Chifee asked suddenly, his wings fluttering lightly. Syrin glared at him but oddly enough, it broke the tension.

"I was going to introduce myself!" Zara said, waving him off. "I'm taking over for Tibarn when the rebellion ends so I'll be the first queen Serenes ever has... though that's not saying much since I'm just the second person to rule."

Chifee's eyes were wide and filled with admiration. "But that's still cool! You won that tournament, right? Won against Tibarn?" This too seemed to have gotten some of Syrin's attention. Perhaps Syrin just liked having something familiar to him in Tellius. Maybe that's why Nasir and Stefan were allowed to be so close to him. Any beorc he knew would be long dead by now, especially Ike.

"Against Tibarn? Nah, almost. You know kid, I was chosen 'cause I can kick butt without needing to transform. Plus, I got something different in mind which should help with this whole divide thing that Eero thinks that only Ike can fix and if it wasn't for him, I would be doing those changes now," Zara said with a growl.

Joel lifted an eyebrow. "How do you plan on accomplishing it?"

"By encouraging the laguz to take an interest in being more like a beorc and I think that was partially accomplished when I took part in the tournament and only transformed half way through my fight with Tibarn at the end. There are things laguz can learn from beorc and things beorc can learn from laguz. When it's seen that weren't not so different, then maybe they will take more of an interest in each other. I'm here kicking ass with only my hands and feet. It's not a war time weapon for beorc, but I can still take care of myself without using my other form."

"Can you teach me?" Chifee asked suddenly.

"I also see the benefits if you do not mind sparring with me," Rykuu said.

"It's not a bad idea. How about all laguz and all archers do this? The archers can't fight up close and probably don't how to," Joel said with a shrug.

"If Rykuu is doing it then I will also do it," Soren said quietly. Rylar lifted his head when he said that, like he was surprised when Soren spoke. It was rare for him to speak and it occurred to Kaetar that it was the first time that Soren actually spoke in front of everyone. He said a thing or two to people occasionally but never in front of the rebellion as whole. It was surprising.

"Then we start tomorrow. Everyone will be practicing tomorrow," Syrin stated, before his gaze landed on Rylar. "For now, I want everyone to rest up. It's been a long day."

With the, the meeting as done. Zeke was the first to slip into a tent, followed closely by Darius. Peter had taken his outer robes off, revealing a sleeveless white shirt underneath, along with white trousers. He used the robes to cover Duma's body, though Kaetar was more or less only watching because he was just as built as Loiya was. Whenever he thought of priests, he always imagined them to be pale and while Peter was pale he was far from frail.

Kaetar, despite the long day and the fact that Joel offered him to be trained by Zara, wasn't feeling tired so he let his mind wander as soon as he stepped outside of their campsite. He needed time to process everything he heard.

When Nasir suggested if it was possible to revive someone before they split, the idea was dismissed as being almost impossible and that was still true. The chances of their project working seemed so slim but hearing it from Chibuike made it seem more possible because someone out there was trying. If they kept trying, then they would get somewhere with it and even if they didn't reach their goal, they could still do something dangerous. The sandman were dangerous and it wouldn't end there. And to bring back Ike of all people... He was surprised that Syrin kept himself calm and collected, at least in appearance, since Ike did mean so much to Syrin. He didn't see it all but Kaetar did see a glimpse of it and he knew they were close. Would Ike even agree to be in the position tat he was though? If he wanted to be in a position of power, he would have done something after he defeated the goddess. He had himself made but he chose to live something simpler.

It was Zara who found Kaetar at the edge of the camp. "So you're Adrien's kiddo?"

Kaetar was too startled to answer properly, giving her a slow nod and nothing else. She reminded Kaetar of Saira. If Saira was a laguz, she would be a lot like Zara, he decided.

"Great. I wanted to talk to you alone. I was at a meeting with Eero and your father just before we knew those things were crawling on Daein soil."

"So you know what happened and how my father is?" Kaetar exclaimed.

"I know more than anyone else here," Zara answered, sitting down beside him. "I think your dad thought that something was strange 'cause he showed up three days after everyone else did. I don't think he wanted to come and he did anyway. Eero talked about the rebellion basically, how he knew that every country in Tellius participated in it somehow and that sounded ridiculous... kind of funny actually. Anyway, your father tried attacked Eero when he threatened Daein but the bastard in green attacked him instead. When he left Crimea to go back to Daein, he was already wounded."

"You mean Liam attacked him?"

"Liam... bastard in green. Green Bastard. Same thing."

"But he was wounded more, wasn't he?"

"Tibarn said he had his legs wrapped when he got there. It was something that could have only happened on the field, so the fact that he was fighting alongside his men... it's admirable. You gotta appreciate someone who is also willing to get their hands dirty – good leaders will show those underneath them that they're not above doing the same thing they do. He's a good king. You'll learn a lot from him, and together we help make the world a place Ike would be happy with."

"Stefan said he joined the rebellion just so he could make contact with me before I take my father's place. He's the leader of Grann so we should talk to him too," Kaetar said simply. "He said he intends to start meeting with the other leaders but he wasn't sure if he was welcomed. That's why he wanted to talk to me so badly. He thinks I would be the one person who would want him around, but I don't think my father would judge him and I don't think you would either."

"No, if Stefan is willing then it will work a lot faster," Zara said quickly.

"What else happened with the meeting?"

"Well, Eero mentioned Ema, who I found out is the cat laguz. He also mentioned Nasir and he knew of someone from the bird tribe. I guess that was Darius. I know I will need to tell Syrin this but I feel as though not everyone needed to know with everything that happened today. Speak of which, shouldn't you be getting some rest?"

"I will soon."

Suddenly, Zara picked him up, hoisting him over her shoulder. His face was close to her wing, though thankfully he still had some breathing room. He could remember the one time he woke up to a mouth full of feathers, courtesy of Darius and he did not wish to taste feathers again. He kept himself still as Zara practically dumped him beside Nicholas, who was sitting outside of their tent.

"You usually don't go wandering off on your own," the mage muttered. "Did you get enough thinking done?" He grinned this time.

"Apparently Zara thinks so," Kaetar answered. Perhaps he did need some sleep. "Did I miss anything?"

"Well apparently Rylar has never slept alone, so Mike's actually going to share a tent with him since he's always just slept with Makken. Makken's staying close to that tent now," Nicholas said pointing to Makken. He was actually curled around the tent his wings tucked in close. His head was laying down on the grass on one side of the tent, and his tail ended up wrapping around the other side. Apparently, Makken hasn't slept alone either. It was odd though. Kaetar would have thought that maybe he would share a tent with Nasir if he had to, Joel could sleep on his own, but he thought Rylar would have wanted to be alone that night. Was it just easier to get Mike to do it since he didn't have a tent mate or even a tent? At least Mike was nice and easy going. If Rylar had said anything to him, he didn't think Mike would be offended by it, at least not for long. Perhaps that was part of the reason why it was Mike.

"So how are you feeling about Duma?" Nicholas asked suddenly.

Kaetar felt bad. He thought of his own father when he thought of Duma. He wasn't in tears and he wasn't sure if he could really cry, at least not in front of anyone. He didn't have the time to grieve by himself, where he was sure he would cry. "I'll be alright," he said after some thought. Life didn't stop because one person died. He had to keep moving forward for countless people he never met.

"It was always easy to think about my own parents when I saw him." Kaetar nodded in agreement. He was guilty of that too. "And never really had the chance to look for them in Begnion. I guess I'll have all the time in the world to look for them when this all done."

"What happened to your parents?" Elli asked. She and Arum looked to be headed to their tent sent beside Kaetar's tent.

"I lost them. We got separated after a fire and I never saw them again, but I don't think anyone died in that fire... I'm pretty sure they went to Begnion since that was where they lived before. Where you guys born in Begnion?"

"Yes," Arum said simply. "And if I had it my way, I wouldn't go back."

Elli gave him a look and he looked away. "Arum and I met a lot of people in our time. We sometimes stayed with people for a week or two for some favours, so we might have seen them."

"My mother's name is Cassandra and my father is Jason, I don't remember much else except we had strangers in our home all the time. They might have been healers now that I think about it."

"That sounds familiar," Arum mumbled, his voice trailing off. He looked to be in thought.

"Well, yeah! We stayed with them for six months because you almost got yourself killed before we truly even met!" Elli shook his arm.

"So you know where they are?" Kaetar never saw Nicholas so excited before. He was grinning ear to ear, despite their previous conversation, and he looked ready to jump up and hug either one of them.

"I remember where their house is... assuming they haven't moved. I guess I'm going back to Begnion after all," Arum sighed. Nicholas then jumped up, and he did exactly what Kaetar thought he would. He wrapped his arms around Arum, who looked rather uncomfortable but he didn't fight Nicholas off. Nicholas muttered a quick apology but he didn't really appear to be sorry.

"Why did you stay for six months though?" Kaetar asked suddenly. Arum eyed him down for a minute before he yanked at his shirt and pulled it up. From his right shoulder down to his left side, hitting his waist, was a long and jagged scar. In the light of the campfire, he could see that it was a different colour than the rest of his chest. After a moment, he pulled his shirt back over the scar.

"I got struck with a sword when I was thirteen," he said simply. "I was rather ill thirteen-year-old, so that 's why I stayed for so long. I was bedridden for most of the time. Even if he let me out of the bed, he didn't let me outside or do anything around the house to return the favour."

"I guess he's like Peter. I never realized it," Nicholas shrugged.

"I think Peter might more over-bearing..." Arum shook his head. Without saying a word, he crawled into his tent, obviously done with the conversation.

"Goodnight," Elli whispered before following him in.

"How about it?" Nicholas asked, pointing towards their tent. Kaetar nodded and entered after Nicholas. Loiya was already asleep and looked to be quiet deep in his sleep. He was wounded today and was often tired after a wound. Despite Loiya's restful appearance, Kaetar wasn't comfortable enough to sleep until Nicholas was settled into his bedroll. He felt better knowing Nicholas was with him, as he didn't want to be asleep and alone with Loiya just in case anything else happened. He really needed a guard outside of his tent, though wasn't he supposed to have one ever since Saira kidnapped him out of his tent? He would ask Joel about it.

When Kaetar woke up, Loiya and Nicholas were still asleep but it was early in the day. The sky was still somewhat dark when he left the tent and he could see Peter outside exercising. It was true what he said, he did do that early in the morning. Kaetar watched from for a brief moment when suddenly, he heard an angry whisper coming from Syrin's tent. Kaetar approached it quietly, though with two brandeds and a laguz, he wasn't sure how far he could go with it. However, no one left the tent to say anything to him so he continued until he could hear what was being said. He knew it was wrong but he was just so curious.

"Why are you so surprised and angry? You must have known. Kurthnaga said she spoke to you, called out randomly. Did you think there was no reason for that?" Nasir said.

"I gave it no thought because it was none of my concern! Why should I worry about her and how could she positively identify me? She was wrong the first time," Syrin growled.

"I doubt you realize how much look like her. I didn't realize until I saw you two side by side speaking to each other. I don't believe she's wrong this time."

"Then why didn't she say anything?"

"I don't think she wanted to intrude on your life, as odd as it may sound. I'm not saying that you have to suddenly be her son, but she did ask that I protect you so that she can talk to you and Kurthnaga. You should at least hear her out."

"How did they become separated anyway?" Stefan asked.

"It was Ashnard's fault," Nasir said with a sigh.

"I will listen to her if that provides any closure for her," Syrin said suddenly.

"It must be a dragon trait, to know so much and to hide everything," Stefan chuckled. "What was that conversation you had in the tower, Nasir?"

"I'll tell you once we get back to Grann, assuming you actually make yourself useful," Syrin muttered.

"That's mean."

"I don't do handouts. I told some of the truth to get what information we could out of Chibuike, who works in a similar way. We got information crucial to our mission."

"For everyone to know that you're the last member of the Greil Mercenaries? That doesn't feel like a fair trade," Stefan mumbled.

"It was going to come out sooner or later. I'm surprised that Kaetar managed to stay quiet for so long."

With that, Kaetar was done listening. He went back to this tent before the three inside knew he was eavesdropping, or at least call him out on it. Peter lifted an eyebrow at him but he said nothing as he let out a deep breath, apparently tired from his exercise. The nice thing about Peter was that he didn't really judge anyone and he would probably keep everything he saw to himself. He looked to Peter, who nodded before taking out a light tome that Kaetar doubted he read and put it on the ground. He placed both hands on it, with only his toes on the ground, and pushed himself up from the book and then lowering himself down, keeping his back straight as he did so. He was doing pushups against the tomes.

"You're never going to figure out how to use light magic, are you?"

"I will one day, but at the moment, the tome has many other uses... I can some exercises without getting my hands dirty or putting most of my weight on small stones. It's great." Peter grinned. "At this point, it's kind of wasting it to use it just for spells. As long as the pages don't get damaged, then it's still useable!"

Kaetar couldn't help but to smile a little. He found it amusing that he seemed intent on using his tome for any other purpose than its intended purpose. Everything was so gloomy with Duma's death and everything felt heavy with what their mission actually entailed that Peter doing something that was only slightly odd or strange was somehow very amusing. Perhaps he just needed something to smile at.

"You should come join me if you're already up," Peter said, patting the ground beside him with one hand, while supporting his entire weight with one arm. It was hard to believe just how strong he was and how much muscle he did have when his priest robes covered everything. There was no hint of his build when he had everything on. Kaetar only nodded and tried to assume the same position that Peter was and he soon became even more amazed with Peter when Kaetar lowered himself. His arms shook and it took everything he had to keep his back straight as he tried to straighten his arms.

"This is tough," Kaetar said with a deep breath, letting his stomach settle on the ground.

"It takes time. The more you do it the easier it becomes, though your body gets used to it so you have to do more to get the same effect."

"How long have you been doing this for?" Kaetar asked. Peter grinned and continued with his exercises, even though Kaetar had more or less given up.

"Well... sometime before I decided to dedicate my life to Ashunera, so for almost half my life I would say," he answered. "I like to exercise and push my body. It helps me clear my mind so I stay focused on what Ashunera needs me to do, and that's making sure that this nonsense with Ike doesn't stick. It wasn't something I could wait for someone else to do."

"Yes, I do remember you telling me this back in Begnion. I'm surprised that your ministry hasn't done anything here in the beginning though. Is part of keeping the peace?"

"I suppose. I made the decision for myself when I asked to tag along. We have been trying to get more branches out again, to renovate old churches dedicated to Ashera in Tellius but we haven't really ventured out past Begnion, or even much in Begnionn. Chibuike has tried to convince the head minister to go to Daein, to go to Crimea, and see if the laguz would be interested. He did find suitable spots for our churches but I guess we've been trying to stay out of the affairs of other countries."

And that got no one anywhere. Kaetar wondered how it would have played different if all the leaders talked more, even if that meant offending someone every once in a while. His father didn't want Kaetar to speak much during his sit in because he didn't want Kaetar accidentally saying the wrong thing that could have upset any of them there. His father seemed careful about his words... too careful in fact. How could it have played out if there had been churches to Ashunera the entire time?

Kaetar shook his head. Think of how it could have been wouldn't help him or anyone else. He had to move forward and think about what it could be in the future. It was the only thing he could change.

Hey guys! This is the last chapter before school starts again. I intended to update twice at some point in my summer but I guess I didn't get around it. I'll continue to update at the regular pace unless I'm super stressed - then you might get more updates than normal.

This is feels super lengthy, and it's been a while since I've hit 7000 words. However, I felt it was important to find the real plot and catch the characters up everything, so sorry about the POR/RD summaries. I could have skimmed over it and I can more or less take it out if you guys don't like it. Speaking of which... I think it was McHearth who more or less guessed the plot some chapters back. You can have a gold star, I guess!

And fun fact, Duma was never meant to survive the story. I more or less made him for the purpose of him dying. However, he ended up surviving a lot longer than I originally intended because there's hardly any impact when you kill someone the audience barely knew.

And do review with small things you guys might like to see because I might be able to squeeze it in. I might also do a half-chapter with Eero and his bunch because Fire Emblem villains do get their own cutscenes away from the lord. I mean, endgame was not the first time we've seen Ashnard.