Kaetar was surprised to wake up with a black feather on the floor. He suspected that at some point, the breeze from the window at drawn it into his room. The only person that jumped out at him was Darius. It wasn't uncommon for him to loose some feathers, all three of the bird laguz did, but he was a little concerned when he opened the door and there were more of them. Curiously, Kaetar made his way to Darius' room, where Chifee answered. "Oh, Kaetar! Morning!" he greeted in a sing-song voice.

"Is... something wrong with Darius?"

"I'm fine," he heard Darius answer.

"He's moulting," Chifee said with a laugh. "He's embarrassed." The younger hawk opened the door fully to reveal Darius pouting on his bed. He was shirtless and holding a pillow in his hands like it was there to comfort him. Kaetar wasn't sure what he was expecting. He could see spots in his wings where there should have been feathers and there weren't and the empty spots seemed to be random but even on both sides of his wings. There were no bald spots, just an absent of feathers.

"It doesn't look too bad," Kaetar muttered.

"Yeah it doesn't look bad with just my wings. When I transform that's a whole different story," Darius said with sigh. "And you, Chifee, you keep laughing but you or Zara are next!"

"Nope! I did a full moult last year... are you even sure you're doing a full moult? Maybe you're just moulting your wing feathers. You got hurt a lot since I joined so maybe you're just replacing those feathers now 'cause they're all useless."

Kaetar was pleasantly surprised. Chifee knew a lot about how all of the bird stuff and it showed a level of maturity that Chifee usually didn't possess. "Why are there feathers out in the hall though?"

"I didn't realize that it was starting until after I came from back getting a late night drink," Darius answered with a shrug and he only seemed mildly annoyed when a few feathers fell from the action. He looked like he was done with entire situation.

"And... what does this mean for battling?" Kaetar asked. It didn't look like he could really fly with his wings the way they were.

"Well, I can't fly that well with so many missing feathers so I'll have to fight untransformed or just sit out," he said with a shrug. "It kind of sucks because I don't like leaving Chifee on his own to fight."

"But I'm not a nestling or even a fledgling!" the hawk huffed.

"Barely, kiddo. You're still a young kid and you shouldn't be fighting but no, I dragged you into it -"

"But-"

"But nothing! I should have fought harder to keep you in Serenes. You're strong but I'm worried that you'll have a harder time keeping your head straight."

"What does that mean?" Kaetar asked. Was Chifee unstable? He was young and very childish but that couldn't mean more than dealing with tantrums. Darius took a deep breath.

"Laguz in battle sometimes have a hard time stopping a battle. They can lose control of themselves and just continue to fight anything in sight. It was a concern in the previous war and I can see it being an issue here when laguz haven't fought in so long."

Chifee looked upset. He didn't meet Darius in the eye but Kaetar could see the frown. "But... that won't happen! You have my promise!" This time, he looked up but Darius shook his head.

"You're just too young. It's been fine up until now because I made an effort to make sure that you're still with me. That's why I always try to say something to you when we fight, even if I'm just cawing my lungs out. I need you to hear me and with stay here," Darius said, poking at his head.

Chifee didn't have anything to say about that but he answered it by storming out of the room. Darius didn't even try to go after him but instead, he laid down and rolled to one side so that his wings faced the wall. It was a little weird to see Darius look so casual, wearing only pants. Kaetar also noticed that he didn't have his hair tied up either and that was also something that Kaetar was not used to seeing. It was like Darius just woke up. "Was I too harsh?"

Kaetar didn't immediately know what to say at first. It was hard to say that Chifee was just overreacting because he so much idolized Darius and he was pretty sure that Chifee took everything he said as an insult. In the heat of the moment, he probably didn't understand that Darius spoke out of concern. When he explained everything, Kaetar could see where he was coming from and he was glad that the laguz he was around knew where to draw the line. "You're concerned and didn't understand it. The truth isn't always nice to hear though so I don't blame him for walking out."

"That it isn't. I guess he'll come around though," Darius said with a sigh. "But... I don't know what to do. I'm scared that one day, I will have to knock him just to calm him down. I'm surprised it never really got to that point with the last two wars but from what I've heard, it was close."

"Are you able to keep yourself in check then if you're not sure about Chifee? That could happen to all laguz, right?"

"Some are at more of a disadvantage than others. I felt chaos at its peak and I was okay. I did grow up in Kilvas, back when we were all notorious pirates. Back then, when we weren't stealing, we were fighting in wars with the highest bidder, I suppose. Even afterwards, I sold my talents. I guess I've always been fighting. I can control myself way better than someone like Chifee and by all means, this isn't nearly as chaotic."

"Compared to what? The war involving the Laguz Alliance or the Mad King's War?" Kaetar wanted to keep asking questions. Darius, for someone who was capable of being so chatty, rarely talked about his past. Kaetar had the same sort of excitement form Darius as he did when he talked to Syrin. No one ever really talked about the laguz side of things. Darius had a unique perspective in that regard that was likely to be unmatched by the other laguz in the rebellion.

"The one with the Laguz Alliance. The one where the goddess was summoned because if it kept going, it would have meant our doom according to Syrin. You can't really beat chaos like that – there was at least one person from each country on Tellius that had their hand in that pot. It was total war," Darius said with a shrug.

"Didn't Syrin say that nearly everyone was turned into stone? And didn't you say something about feeling stiff after that war before we found Rykuu's house that one time?"

"I wasn't one of the ones who was spared from that like he was," Darius said with a little chuckle. "I wasn't even aware that it happened until after it was over... you're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I can't help but to be interested," Kaetar said with a smile. "You don't talk a lot about your past, really. I doubt Syrin would be super wiling to talk a lot more about his past either, considering how much he's already said to everyone else." Even though Kaetar did learn a lot thanks to the necklace, there were a lot of gaps since the necklace did not show everything in the order it happened. It left a lot of unanswered questions about what happened in between and due to the randomness of when the visions occurred, there was no guarantee that he would see everything on it.

Suddenly, Kaetar heard laughter. He turned around to find Zara at the door, holding her side. She wasn't wearing her outer coat, meaning that her only form of shirt were the bandages around her chest. Darius turned red and covered himself in the blankets. Apparently, moulting was the only thing that could embarrass Darius. Or maybe it was moulting in front of two future rulers. Rylar was beside her, holding a bunch of feathers in his hands. "We could make a duster out of these," he mumbled, keeping his face remarkably straight and it looked like he really did want to make a duster out of them. The comment only seemed to make Zara crack up more.

"If you two are going to tease me go do that somewhere else!"

"I'm sorry I just had to see if it was true," Zara answered when her laughter died out. She walked in, then pulled the sheets off of Darius. "You're being a big baby about it though. It happens to all birds, even the little ones, so it's time to grow up, get out of bed and train because you need it now more than ever."

"Is that why Rylar's here?" Kaetar asked.

"Yeah, I might as well train," Rylar said with a shrug. There was a sad look in his eyes and Kaetar could only guess it had something to do with his father. There was no doubt that he was still thinking about it, perhaps thinking about what it could have been and how it could have gone differently. Kaetar found himself thinking about it too but the difference between him and Rylar was that Kaetar still had a father. He still had someone he could go home and apologize to whereas Rylar had to make peace with everything. He went from being someone who couldn't care if they bothered somebody to withdrew himself a lot like he was scared of getting in someone's way.

Or maybe he was scared to let himself get close to anyone else.

"I guess I have no choice," Darius said, getting up from his bed.

"Nope. We can do it the easy way or the hard way," Zara said with a smirk. "Kaetar, you're welcomed to come too. Maybe you and Rylar can practice with the bow later." Kaetar nodded. It sounded good to him. He had a lot of room to improve when it came to using the bow and using his hands. Maybe he could convince Zeke or Chibuike to help him with daggers too. If he could become good enough to give Zara trouble, then he was in a good place.

He decided to visit Arum just after his session with Zara, so he was still sweaty and he was sporting a bruise on his arm thanks to Rylar. Rylar didn't even look like he really needed the training. He already the basics down and the training just seemed to refine him a bit more and give new ways to hurt people. He no idea where Rylar learned any sort combat but he was kind of good at it. Kaetar needed lessons because even though he watched people be amazing at combat his whole life, he never had a reason to try any of it on his own. He was somewhat fit thanks to the marching but combat felt different so he was exhausted. Overall, it was a good session. Kaetar felt more confident after every session and Rylar seemed to have fun – Kaetar saw him smiling more than once. It was a pleasant change.

When he got there, Arum was sitting up in his bed, looking rather sour. He noted that Zeke was with him but no one else was. "How are you feeling? And where's Peter?"

"Loiya has a bad migraine so Peter's with him," Zeke answered, then motioned in Arum's direction. "And he's being grumpy,." He shrugged.

"I hate being bed-ridden!" Arum shouted. "It sucks! I can barely move. I've been injured before but-" Arum stopped suddenly, grunting in pain as he put a hand over where the wound existed. "And why does it still hurt?"

"It was hard for even magic to close it," Zeke explained. "Now just relax. If you keep freaking out like that, you'll just prolong your recovery. I know it sucks but you'll have to trust us." He said it with a small smile, even when he was forcing Arum back to his pillows. Arum had grabbed one out from under his head and held it like he was ready to toss at it Zeke.

"You haven't been bed-ridden, have you?" Arum asked, looking at Zeke.

"I have actually. We don't have a staff user in the desert right now and we don't even have many tome users. Hopefully Aletta can learn how to use a staff while we're out here. But I didn't mind so much, it's a good excuse to just sleep all day. It is boring but..." he shrugged, "I don't find myself caring that I am bored. Weird, huh?"

"And that you don't care about you were abandoned by your parents," Kaetar added.

"Haha, nope, no anger there."

"You are kind of odd, aren't you?" Arum mumbled.

"Well, there's a couple ways I look at it. For one, it granted me my boring but well appreciated life. And second, why trouble yourself about things you can't change? It doesn't do us any favours, does it? It just keeps us trapped where we are when we can be off doing things that make us happy."

Arum sighed. "I suppose you have a point there."

"I know that your mother did terrible things and it's not easy to just get over it and pretend it has no effect on you. It would be really great for you if you healed one day though," Zeke said, his smile turning into a grin. "Start by healing physically though. Maybe if you're really bored, we could do some stretches on your bed. It shouldn't be that bad for you and you get to move a little bit to get that restlessness out."

"As long as no one tells Peter."

Zeke chuckled a little bit. "Haha, no promises it won't find him eventually but it won't be because of me."

"Maybe you can let Ema join you. She always starts the day with stretches," Kaetar said with a shrug. Or at least, she probably still did. He hadn't had a lot of contact with her as of late but he remembered her doing it all the time on the boat and he no reason to think she stopped. Arum's face flushed at that.

"It would be a nice start, huh, Arum?"

"You already told everyone why you avoid women but maybe this a good time to get you used to them now since you know, you're kind of stuck here," Kaetar said with a shrug. "And she's not scary if you're relatively well behaved."

Arum still didn't answer. He merely blinked, apparently surprised and hesitant about the whole proposal.

"If Elli was here, you would be willing to at least give it a try, right?" Zeke asked with his eve-present smile. He was being inviting and warm about the idea.

"Sure. Only if Elli is there."

"Well, I should go check up on Loiya now," Kaetar said when a silence came over. Both of them nodded in understanding as Kaetar left to seek out Loiya's room. Loiya ended up right beside Kaetar's room so if something did happen, it seemed like Loiya could still jump into action. That was assuming the trouble didn't come from Saira. He knocked and let himself in and the sight he was greeted with was pitiful. Loiya was laying pretty well flat as he could be with his head in the crook his arm.

Peter was with him and by the looks of it, trying to encourage Loiya to drink something. "Ah, Kaetar, good thing you're here. Maybe you can convince him to have something to drink."

"I feel nauseated," Loiya mumbled quickly.

"It'll get worse though, wouldn't it?" Kaetar asked quietly. "Have just a little bit?"

Loiya moved his arm, letting Peter give hand him the cup. He drank more of it than Kaetar thought he would. "Now I don't suppose I can offer something soft for your stomach? You'll have to eat something." Loiya merely groaned. "I suppose that can wait. Has his headaches always been this bad?"

"No, that doesn't happen often. I think when he usually has headaches, they're only mild and you can't really tell if he has one," Kaetar muttered. It wasn't like Loiya was really inclined to say much about his headaches and that was probably due to his job. If it didn't look like he could do his job, then Loiya would obviously be afraid that he wouldn't have one.

"I wish I could help him more," Peter said with a sigh.

"It's fine," Loiya mumble. "Used to it. Want sleep."

Kaetar made sure the curtains were closed as he and Peter left. "I suppose we can't help him much," Peter said sadly. "Maybe should I get some sleep myself before Zeke shoves me into bed. He's turned the table on me."

"You both mean well," Kaetar said with a shrug.

"Thanks, Kaetar," Peter muttered as he walked to his own move.

Almost a week later, Mike came back with the weapons but aside from Makken, he was alone. However, he did come back with some letters and Kaetar was intrigued to see that two of them, one addressed to him and the other addressed to 'The Master Tactician' had his father's seal. Syrin had another letter but he took these away to read on his own. He didn't even demand the change from Mike.

"Where did you get these letters?" Kaetar asked, looking at Mike who was busy unloading the supplies from Makken's back.

"Weird story actually! I met your father outside of Nevassa at a merchant's building. Told my friend there that I was part of the rebellion and he was there and paid for everything and more," Mike said with a shrug. "He also let me stay at the palace until everything was sorted out. Makken ate like a king! He had a cow a day with Vaughn feeding him. I haven't been able to feed him like that for a long time."

"So you've met Vaughn," Kaetar mumbled. "I guess I better read this then."

Kaetar sighed. It was nerve wrecking to take it back to his room and break the seal. He was immediately presented with his father's neat handwriting and judged the length before he read any of the words. It was a long letter and that was either a good thing or a bad thing. It took him time to get through it, then he read it over a couple of times before Nasir came into his room to tell him that Syrin wanted him. He supposed that Syrin wanted to talk about what his letters said. He was surprised to find Mike in the room as well, going over the same story he told Kaetar.

"And what did you tell him about us?" Kaetar felt bad for Mike. He was getting a particularly nasty glare from Syrin.

"Nothing that would put us in big trouble, I swear!" Mike said, throwing his hands up. "He just wanted to know how Kaetar was doing mostly! Joel's father asked about him too but nothing that gave away our location but don't they already know it?"

"Relax, Syrin, he got all those weapons for free, didn't he?" Stefan mumbled.

"Why would the king of Daein invite him all the way to the castle?" Syrin asked.

"Like father like son, I would say. He yearns for knowledge and a new perspective about his son's condition," Nasir stated. "Take it from someone who has family and holds that family very dear."

"That sounds like my father," Kaetar said with a nod. His father needed knowledge to be a king, he needed to know everything that was happening. It was probably difficult for him to not know what what was going between Kaetar and the rebellion because Saira could only get so close and send so many reports. Judging by the letter Kaetar got from his father, not all of it came from the fact that a king needed a heir – he sounded like a father concerned for his son.

"So if one letter is from my father then what about the other letter?"

Syrin looked down with a scowl on his face. "I'll be enchanting the weapons alone. She's too busy with something else."

"Micaiah, right? That's who the king summoned," Mike muttered. Syrin merely nodded.

"I was sure she would help, to make me be 'more social and not as cold-hearted' if nothing else."

"You're sure this is the only way." Stefan mumbled. It came more as a statement than a question.

"What other choice is there? If Nasir fought, I'm not even sure if it would make much of a difference when it comes to actually destroying those things. He would only provide time, which helps but it's not much further than we're currently at. The only other options would be have more mages or more long distance tomes and since they have a larger range but those tomes have limited uses. If we can turn the people who can't do anything into people that can, then we are at a better advantage because we don't have to depend on three mages, especially if something ends up happening to one of them. I'm not comfortable with betting everything on three people."

"What about that thing you did though? You commanded them to go away right?" Kaetar asked. Surely it wouldn't be hard to tough on his arm to just keep doing that.

"Not a dependable way to get rid of them. I believe it only works because I've studied wind magic in particular for so long that the spirits would listen to me despite any other previous demands. I only made the ones controlled by wind spirits go away, for the most part. Other spirits would continue to listen to who previously gave them their instructions because they must be better at those elements than I, especially since my arm robbed me the chance of being able to use lightning and fire better than anybody else on Tellius," he said, his good arm massaging his bad arm. It was like a simple memory was enough to cause discomfort. It really made Kaetar wonder how long he's been coping with his arm and wondered why nothing could make it even a little better for him. Then a small smirk appeared on his lips.

Mike fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat. He realized that Mike probably never saw that side of Syrin since he was always just receiving orders.

"Have you ever thought about why a mage can't just pick up any tome even if their comprehension of the language is enough for them to understand all the tomes? What stops a mage who can cast a wind spell from casting something like Rexcalibur? Nicholas probably could use any thunder tome and be incapable of using Rexcalibur. What stops me from using light magic or even dark magic?"

Kaetar shook his head. Honestly, he didn't think about that. He just assumed that they couldn't perform it or something, like how soldiers were just starting out couldn't effectively use weapons until they became more skilled at it. It was just like when Kaetar tried out a lance. He couldn't hold for long let alone use it but Loiya could probably pick up any lance and use it because he could immediately figure out the perfect balance.

"Magic is based on interactions with spirits, so instead of magic being a question of ability, I believe it's a question of respect. A spirit won't respond if that spirit doesn't think you're worthy of listening to. Some spirits don't have high standards, such as the spirits that respond to basic tomes. The stronger the spell gets, the more respect you need from the spirits. In addition, you have to be a certain type of person. Wielding anima magic seems to make one incapable of wielding light or dark magic, even though dark magic magic users can practice anima magic. It's the only thing that can explain why something like that would occur, yet that also means that spirits have more sentience than what we first thought."

"That sounds super complicated. It sounds a lot easier to just whack something with an axe or the closest pointy thing there is," Mike said quietly.

"And how do you know all this?" Kaetar asked. It was a lot to take in but it also sounded like it was possible. He saw no reason that it wouldn't work. It just seemed too complicated to make up on your own, though Syrin was the type to do that. There had to be a reason why he was so confident that he could enchant weapons. Come to think of it, from what Kaetar heard from the others when they were separated, there were other magical feats that Syrin performed without Kaetar being there to witness it. If his arm didn't hold him back, there was no telling how far Syrin could go with magic simply because he did understand the theory so well. If he knew how to make a bow, he could probably use it better because he would know how the bow worked inside and out.

Syrin sighed. "I've had a lot of time to just think about trivial matters like that," he said with a strange, one shoulder shrug as his bad arm still seemed to bother him.

Nasir smirked a little, "Such studies would go a long way. Only you would think it to be trivial. Remind me why you don't put everything you have into magical theory? Isn't that what Ike would have wanted?"

Kaetar took a quick glance at Mike. Kaetar was used to Nasir and Stefan making conversation like that in front of him, but it was the really the first time one of them made conversation like that in front of someone who had little investment in history like Mike. He looked confused and a little uncomfortable and Kaetar wondered if he wondered when he was going to be dismissed to get away from it. It wasn't like anyone forgot he was there since Syrin answered him. Syrin shot a glare.

"Frankly, I only think about it because I have little to occupy my time with. I don't care how helpful others would find it. There's no reason why no one else can think of it."

"I better go check on Makken," Mike said suddenly, quickly leaving the room. Syrin said nothing.

Stefan sighed. "We scared him. I guess Syrin has that effect on people."

"How is it my fault? I confused him at best," Syrin countered with a glare. "Anyway, I need to talk to Kaetar alone so I need you two to leave."

Neither of them said anything. When they were alone, Syrin turned the letter towards him so Kaetar read through it quickly. Not only did his father refer to Syrin was Soren the entire time but he also placed a high price for Kaetar's well being. A hundred thousand pieces of gold. It was hard to turn down.

"Are you going to do it?" Kaetar asked. He knew he shouldn't be worried but at the same time, he couldn't help to be because it was a lot of gold. He figured he was more than a coin purse to Syrin but Syrin didn't talk about himself much so it was hard to know what he was thinking.

"No. A long time ago, I would have but not now," Syrin answered.

"What changed?"

"... A couple of things I suppose," Syrin answered simply. He seemed to ponder on that for a moment but he shook his head so Kaetar assumed he wasn't going to say anymore about it. "However, you're the one people really listen to. I might be the one with the orders but you're the easy to talk to one and you're the one to listens to what everyone says. You have the social aspect of a leader and you can cover everything I lack in social skills."

"So that's why you want me around so bad? It would be so much easier for everyone else if you handed me to Saira."

"Don't start with the self-pity. It's annoying," Syrin growled. "It's easier with you here than with you gone, even if we have Daein to occasionally consider. We got this far with you here, which is a lot further than I would have gotten on my own. I'm not afraid of Saira and don't plan much when it comes to avoiding her, despite what she or your father think may think. Basic plans to keep us safe seem to keep her out as well, not to mention that Zeke and Chibuike can keep her in their sights the entire night."

"So you're not worried about her at all?" Kaetar was surprised. He thought that he was actively fighting both fronts when all Syrin was concerned about was Crimea. He didn't consider Saira too much of a problem. Where did Loiya fall into all of it then?

"She's powerful. I can tell by her posture that she's experienced and she's confident in her abilities. However, she's limited by what she can do. It would look bad if a rider was harassing Crimean citizens and if she decided to help either us or Crimea, then she would effectively choose a side for Daein to participate in because she's the king's representative here. She has to stay neutral until your father makes up his mind. Even if she does get a hold of you, Chibuike's just as good of a tracker she is." Something changed in his eyes. "Which, I suppose, brings us to the other thing I wanted to talk about."

Kaetar said nothing. He just waited for Syrin to continue.

"If what Chibuike says is true, and I know you know what we're talking about, then Loiya won't be allowed to stay."

"He's not hurting anybody though!" Kaetar argued.

"Kaetar, this is no longer a small rebellion. This is practically a war – if Loiya isn't with us then he's against us. Did I not just explain why I want you to stay? If he's going to eventually endanger your presence with us then he has to go. Simple as that."

"But then you have to fight against Loiya!"

"That's something I'm prepared to do. I already have a counter measure. He's one of the best we have but he's not the best. Besides, even if someone looks like they're not going to hurt your goals, you can't trust that they won't. I made a mistake a long time ago with Nasir and I will not make the same mistake now. Loiya can go join Saira but he's getting no where close to you."

Kaetar knew it. He knew Syrin would throw Loiya out when became aware of it all. He also knew it was useless to argue with someone like Syrin. He seemed so dead set on protecting him even if that meant Loiya was no longer allowed to be with them. For some reason, he wasn't as sad or as upset as he thought he would be. Maybe it was the sudden weight being lifted off of his shoulders, the burden he carried from knowing.

He also knew, that despite his inevitable leave of the rebellion by Syrin's hands, they weren't separated permanently. It wasn't like Loiya was dead. It wasn't a final goodbye. It just meant they would have an awkward reunion when Syrin finally achieved his goals. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all. He would just miss him for a while.

"How are you going to fight against Loiya?"

"Surely you've noticed that Stefan has done little to carry his own weight. I believe he was just holding out until I needed his skills and I would have to make yet another deal with him because it's not enough that I'm moving into his country after the rebellion," Syrin said, rolling his eyes. "He wants me to be his adviser and I hate to say it but I think I may have to play his rules."

"That's really sneaky," Kaetar mumbled. "That seems so like him though." It was like being sneaky was Stefan's entire life. It was the way he suddenly popped up on people and clearly, he also knew how to play the same games Syrin played. Neither of them did things out of the kindness of their own hearts very often – they had something they wanted and knew how to get out of each other.

"I'll need you and Joel to talk to Loiya but I'm sure you told him nothing, like you failed to tell me anything about it." Syrin muttered. Kaetar looked away quickly. He knew Syrin was going to give him a particularly nasty glare for that. He just felt that he didn't need to bother Syrin with it, especially since he didn't even put it all together until recently. He supposed that Syrin, if given everything, could have put it together easily but that didn't occur to Kaetar when he was still puzzling it out himself.

Though Kaetar probably wouldn't have figured it out had Chibuike not said anything. If he didn't, it probably would have been too late for him to anything about it.

"So when do you want us to go?" Kaetar asked. He no choice but do as Syrin asked. If he didn't do it, someone else would so Loiya was getting kicked out whether Kaetar agreed to it or not. However, Loiya was his bodyguard and was his responsibility.

"Tomorrow. I'll need to figure out some finer details, so I'll send Nasir or Stefan to get you when I have everything sort out so you two know what we're going to do tomorrow. Meanwhile, you should take the opportunity to explain everything to Joel," Syrin answered. Kaetar got up to leave, but one more question popped into his head, so he turned to look at him from the door.

"Why do you trust Chibuike more than Loiya? What if he's lying?"

"You had your suspicions that something was out of place the entire time, right?" Syrin asked, a small smirk playing on his lips. "Besides, it reminds me of another shady person we used to work with, yet it ended up being Nasir who lied to everybody. Not even gold could keep Chibuike interested in any side but our own anyway. Are you satisfied with that?"

"I won't be satisfied with any of this. Not until it's over and we've won. I'm... just so exhausted with everything sometimes. I want to see this through to the end and be helpful but..."

"You've never been pushed so far," Syrin answered. "You'll return as a prince capable of leading ruling a country. Your father gave you the practical lessons, I gave you the life lessons. That was originally how I was going to do something with my life, like Ike wanted me to. I was going to make you a great king and lose myself in pointless studies again but I suppose there's more to meaning to my life now."

Kaetar blinked in surprise. He knew he was experiencing more and learning more as he went along but Syrin wanted that for him too? He knew Syrin cared for him at least a little bit as the keeper of his necklace, as someone who had passion for history, but Syrin also cared about what he was going to do and who he became? Why did he care so much? In the end, when stripped of his title, he wasn't much.

"You'll do fine, you constantly fret the trivial things and your mind makes it more complicated than it has to be. You have the tools with you, you're beyond what sort of king Pelleas was."

"I overheard that conversation you had with Stefan and Nasir, about your parents. That makes you the true heir, right? Why am I better than you?"

Syrin only seemed mildly surprised. "Because your people would never take me. I would be a usurper and a bitter reminder of what Daein was. I would be a step back. You? You'll keep Daein moving forward. The throne was never meant for me and had I been offered it a century and a half ago, I wouldn't have bothered with it," Syrin answered.

Kaetar merely nodded and left to go find Joel. Joel was in their now shared bedroom and he found Chibuike in the window, who jumped out of the window when Kaetar saw him. He supposed that the man was now telling everyone who mattered. That was fine. It spared Kaetar the responsibility because he was in a strange mood after talking to Syrin and suddenly didn't want to talk anymore. Part of him was so full of self-doubt that it felt like it was just eating him alive. Syrin trusted him to do a good job and he was suddenly unsure that he could be a good king. What the self-doubt missed, the anxiety ate next. What if tomorrow went badly? Somewhere in that was sadness about the whole thing, about the fact that Loiya won't be with them and for some reason, he felt sad for Syrin too and he didn't know why. Maybe it was because Syrin looked so vulnerable when he was trying to support him. He looked vulnerable because he looked like a normal person for just a moment, a person who was looking forward for the first time since the death of their best friend. Why was that a sad thing? Was he comparing it to his own life somehow?

When Chibuike left, he felt tears rolling down his face and he was shocked that they were there. Why was this so sudden? Why was he suddenly in such a strange mood? He had no tears for Duma, for Rylar's plight as he stumbled around the world alone for the first time, but why was it so much more emotionally when it was his world that crumbled a little bit? None of it was a big deal, was it? It wasn't Loiya's death sentence! Rylar and Ema suffered more than he ever did so why was such a big deal?

Joel said nothing as he pulled Kaetar into a strange embrace. He had never been hugged by one of his friends before so it felt foreign but comforting. "What's going on? Besides the obvious?"

"I... don't know. I don't know what's going on, why I feel so weird and why I'm even crying!" he whispered.

"You're stressed and you have a big burden on your shoulders. It's okay to cry."

"But I don't now why!"

"Emotions don't always have a reason," Joel mumbled sadly. Next Kaetar knew, he was sobbing into Joel's chest and he couldn't remember the last time he cried, let alone the last time he cried in an embrace. Nonetheless, Joel held onto him, patting and rubbing small circles into his back until his sobbing quieted down. It was Kaetar to let go first, feeling physically exhausted but suddenly relaxed. Joel wordlessly helped Kaetar settle into bed.

"I'll wake you up for dinner," Joel said.

"Hey, Joel, thanks for everything," Kaetar muttered.

Joel smiled a little. "It's nothing. That's what a friend, does, right? I'll kick Loiya's ass if he doesn't do the same for you one day. Sleep tight," he mumbled as he left the room.

Despite everything, Kaetar managed a dreamless nap.

Sorry if there are a lot of errors, I wanted to get it up before I started work again. At least finals are over for another four months.

I might think about the theory behind these games way too much and rolling that basic definition of magic really far. I even try to think about the biology of it all, especially about Darius moulting. I may have only thought of it because I was taking a class about birds though. However, I am in biology so it certainly doesn't help.

Anyway, since there's been a couple of reviews about Ike's descendant, I'll lay it down here. First, I actually have a hard time seeing Ike being romantic, so I never really considered the idea. However, I'm not entirely opposed to the idea, especially since some of you think it's a cool idea. That being said though, this character won't have a main role. I think at this point, it would be a bit distasteful to introduce big and new characters that have a huge impact on the story when this story is so far along. I have a hard time making sure people have enough screen time as it is. I have a need for some minor characters that will be around be a couple of chapters though, so that's where Ike's descendant will be and they will fit well.

But also, because I think it may be fun, I want to make it into a puzzle so it wouldn't be obvious who they would be. I'll give hints when they do appear. Ike's descendant also won't be the only one there. We'll be seeing more descendants as we go.

If you go this far, good job! I also want to thank the reviewers and the silent reviewers - the people that fav and follow this story. Thanks for taking a look!