Ch. 6 – Coby and the Fox
The early afternoon found Coby still in the company of the queen and her suitors. He sat beneath a tree on the lawn, finally digging into those cookies Cassandra had thrown at him. After all, one shouldn't eat dessert until after the meal.
Speaking of: lunch had been fantastic. They had been served traditional fare from Helena's country: stuffed grape leaves, a layered dish called Moussaka, octopus served with pasta, tossed salads, honey and baklava. The Queen returned in time to hear her guests' compliments to the chef. No one had any complaints, but while the suitors obviously enjoyed their free meal, Coby heard Helena mutter under her breath about missing the old cook, Feta.
The game of croquet to follow proved entertaining, mostly because the Queen was so fantastically bad at it. She kept hitting the balls too hard in obvious impatience, though her eye-hand coordination was excellent. That meant she sent the other players balls flying every which way when she hit them, sometimes smacking bystanding princes in the process. – Coby was starting to wonder, by the trollish grin on her face, if she weren't playing badly on purpose.
Helmeppo had asked Coby more than once when they'd be leaving. He was still stinging (literally and metaphorically) over his failure in the throne room. Coby insisted on staying, however, because he wanted a word with the Queen. His opportunity arose when she broke a mallet in half. Declaring herself as having lost by default, she excused herself to the sidelines where a cushioned wicker throne (the grand lawn chair could be described as nothing less) sat against the trunk of an enormous, blooming laurel tree.
He had purposely planted himself in the shade of said tree hoping for an opportunity like this. Leaning against the trunk, he nonchalantly sat with his back to the throne and waited. - He waited for her to remove her swords and lay them within reach across the back of the throne, waited for the servant accompanying her to give her something cool to drink in a martini glass, waited for the servant to leave, waited for just the right moment, when they could be construed as relatively alone.
He waited too long. She spoke before he did.
"Well, Captain Coby," she said. He could hear the amusement like a soft smile in her voice. "Did you get the information you came for?"
He stiffened, no longer leaning back against the trunk that separated them.
"How did you…?"
"My Head of Palace Security is exceptionally good," she informed him. "He knew you marines were coming before you got here. –made sure to inform me early this morning. Let me guess – you're planning an assassination attempt during the festival tonight, when you think my guards and I will be too drunk to defend ourselves."
"That's…"
"Well, I can assure you, I do not get drunk," she went on darkly. "I have never been drunk in my life, and tonight doesn't seem like a good time to start."
Coby chuckled. She was good. Really good. He was kind of relieved. "If you knew about the assassination attempt, why did you let us in?"
"Simple. I'm not afraid of you," she replied, taking a sip of whatever it was she had in her martini glass. He didn't see it, but she took the olive from said glass, made a face, and flicked it onto the lawn. She chuckled. "Well, maybe if I'm honest with myself, I'm looking forward to the excitement. I haven't had a good rumble in a while. I hope your men are ready for a fight."
He glanced over his shoulder at her. While he couldn't see her directly with the chair in the way, he could see her sheathed swords. They gleamed almost cheerfully in the afternoon light, and her strong aura pulsed with a determined energy.
"But they aren't your men, are they Captain?" she went on after a pause. "Yours are safely on a ship in our harbor. These marines answer to someone else. You were sent here on another mission, and your superiors know they can't expect you to stick around for something as dark and underhanded as assassination."
Coby smirked. "How do you know that?"
"Remember that man who took your picture?"
"He's your Head of Palace Security, isn't he?" Coby surmised. "I was wondering why he kept asking me such pointed questions. So is he actually competing for your hand or…?"
"We ran your face through the Navy Database," she said, pointedly ignoring the last question.
"You have access to the Navy Database?"
"Like I said. I have an extremely capable Head of Security, even if he likes to abuse that Camera Snail we gave him," she chuckled, "Please tell me he didn't call them 'shell-fies' or whatever…"
"He did."
She groaned. "Well, as I was saying, we ran you and your buddy, Helmeppo Morgan. Interesting pair, you two. He's got Daddy issues, and you're on a mission to make the marines into what they're supposed to be. Did you really stand up to Akainu during the war of the best?"
"Scariest day of my life."
Helena laughed pleasantly, stifling the sound so as not to draw attention to herself, or to him. "I can believe it," she said, then went on: "That day you unlocked something; a power called Observation Haki, in the which you are now extremely adept. I confess, we don't know much about it here in Ilium, but from the sounds of it, it would make you the ideal spy now, wouldn't it?"
"Her Majesty has remarkable intuition," Coby replied noncommittally.
"The one thing I can't figure out is what you've been sent here to discover," Helena informed him. "We have been no less than transparent with you people."
"I will answer that for you," Coby said quietly. "But first I really want to know: why does the World Government want you dead? Is it really just about the Sea Prism? I was told you're dangerous to the world at large, but I just can't fathom how one tiny Island can cause such a huge government so much concern."
"So they haven't told you about the God Powers," Helena murmured in reply. "Let me just put it to you this way: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades? You heard of them?"
"Sure, in myths," Coby said.
"Oh, they're real," Helena told him blandly. "This island is their homeland. Any member of the royal family has access to their powers. If we wanted to, we could wipe out the World Government simply by borrowing the mask of one of the gods."
"Then why haven't you?"
"The price is steep," Helena replied. "The powers aren't free, and an undertaking like that would require sacrifices we would never make. Of course, your people don't realize that. They desperately want to get one of their own into our family so they can use the powers for themselves. So much so that your so-called Akainu and his men killed my mother and tried to kidnap me from her womb. They tried to raze Ilium to the ground because Father and Mother refused to betroth me to one of your Celestial Dragons."
"They kidnapped you as a baby?" Coby spluttered. He wanted to tell himself that was outside the scope of what the World Government would ever do. But he had seen the corruption in the system up close and personal. And Akainu? – he would do anything in the name of justice. "They would have made you into a child bride?"
"Yes, from what we've heard, that was their intention," Helena told him. "I would have been a slave, and your Celestial Dragons would have had access to the God Powers."
"No," Coby gasped. "I've made a terrible mistake."
"What do you mean?" Helena asked, her voice suddenly tense.
"You asked me about my mission," Coby heaved. "I was sent here because I knew your husband. They wanted me to see if you were hiding him here in the palace."
"You knew him?" Helena breathed. "But if they sent you here to find him, that means they lied to me. They must believe he's…"
"Of course he's still alive," Coby exclaimed passionately. "He's Roronoa Zoro! The man destined to become the World's Greatest Swordsman! It'll take more than a fight with a measly Warlord to kill him!"
"You're lying," Helena spat, her anger taking him off guard. "He can't be alive! If he is, he died in vain!"
Coby couldn't even begin to fathom what she meant.
Overcome with emotion, her voice grew louder as she rambled on, angrier still. "It wasn't just a warlord! It was an Admiral too! Don't you dare try to give me false hope! Dammit, Zoro! Why couldn't you have died properly? You left everything so ambiguous that I don't know what to believe."
"That's not what matters right now," Coby tried to insist. "Your Majesty, I didn't find your husband here, I…"
"Of course you didn't, because he's dead," Helena snapped.
A wave of energy radiated from her and knocked him out of his hiding place behind the tree. For someone who didn't know what haki was, she sure possessed a lot of it. He should have realized it before: she did have a commanding presence.
Before he could regain his tongue, another voice spoke, sending a chill down Coby's spine:
"Good Afternoon, Majesty. Thought I'd stop by for a visit, like it's my job."
Bags!
"Nice day," he went on, "Though if you don't mind my observing, you don't seem to be enjoying the sunshine. Is that Prince over there bothering you?"
Coby looked up at him, knowing without a shadow of a doubt that he was in a heap of trouble. That didn't matter now: he had to communicate something to the Queen before it was too late!
"Shut up, Bags," Helena snarled, all royal decorum gone. "Take your spying Captain and leave."
"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," he said composedly, "But I'd be happy to escort this young man out for you. Prince Cobalt, was it?"
"Majesty, wait!" Coby cried, jumping to his feet. "You need to know…!"
"Can't you see you've done enough?" Bags cut him off, grabbing him roughly by the arm. "Come along then. Or should I get the guards like it's my job?"
It was then Coby caught sight of Helena's face. The anger and denial in her voice became all the more real now that he could see her haunted eyes. He didn't know what about Zoro angered her, but his supposed death had obviously wounded her to her core. –So much so in fact that the mere mention of him turned the usually cool and composed queen into this fierce and frightening, jaggedly broken woman.
Coby didn't try to say any more. He knew by now she was not in the frame of mind to listen.
To Coby's surprise, Bags only escorted him as far as the palace steps before releasing him without malice. The captain hadn't tried to resist. –Nevermind that he was several decades younger and over a foot taller than the squat, mustachioed man. He could see the terrifyingly powerful opponent behind the portly façade.
"Aren't you taking me to Regent?" he asked, turning to face Bags with wide eyes. Up until that very moment he'd been almost positive he was headed toward demotion or death: considering the type of people he now knew he was working with, he had suspected the later. Though he fought to keep his voice steady, his knees still shook at the prospect.
Bags looked like he was about to respond, but his beady black eyes widened when he caught sight of something still clutched unwittingly in the captain's hand:
"Are those Cassandra's cookies?" the chubby man asked. "How'd you get her to give them to you? I've been trying for years like it's my job!"
"Oh, uh…" Coby looked down. "Do you want some?"
He said the latter out of polite habit, then realized how stupid it sounded given the circumstance.
"No, no, it's the principle of getting a snack from Cassandra that counts!" Bags exclaimed.
"Enough," Coby snapped, crumpling the bag shut in a shaking fist. "Why aren't you reporting me to Regent?"
"Why would I do that, Captain?" Bags asked, puffing a few bubbles from his pipe. "Do you know what that man would do to you if he found out what you almost did?"
Coby shuddered. Something told him he was better off not knowing.
"You're not the only one who uses Observation Haki, lad," Bags went on. "I may not be as adept as you are, but I know a trick or two like it's my job. I heard what you were about to tell the Queen. You'd best be keeping that tidbit to yourself, if you know what's good for you."
"What's going to happen to her?" Coby asked.
"That's really none of your business anymore, Captain," Bags said, turning away from him and swinging his signature black umbrella around his arm as he walked back up the steps.
Mustering his courage, Coby stomped after him and grabbed him by the arm:
"No, what's going to happen to her," Coby insisted, teeth bared. "You can't hurt her, she's…"
"No longer your concern," Bags replied coolly. He went on in an almost grandfatherly tone: "Think on this, boy. I stopped you from committing high treason in there, but you were close enough that I don't think Regent or any of his superiors will care."
That was certainly a chilling thought. Regent answered to the Admirals, yes, but also the Fleet Admiral himself, whom Helena had already mentioned was no friend to her country. Chances were pretty high that he'd approved all of this himself.
Bags went on calmly: "I'm willing to keep what I observed to myself because I was the fool who brought an honorable man like you onto this mission in the first place. But if you mention any of the classified information from your report to anyone…" His voice didn't change at all as he went on: "I will kill you and all of your men like it's my job."
Coby released him, shaking with anger now more than fear. It was one thing to threaten him; it was another entirely to threaten his crew. They were innocent in all this. He knew better than to try and argue that point, though, so he tried another tack:
"She knows about the assassination, Bags," he called to the fat man's retreating form. "She saw right through our disguises. Regent should pull all his men now; they'll only get killed if that woman draws her swords."
"Of course she saw through you," Bags replied, not turning back around. "Regent and I planned it that way."
"What…?!"
"You're dismissed, Captain," Bags called, still not slowing or turning. "Return to your other assignment like it's your job."
He swaggered the rest of the way up the palace steps, casually swinging that umbrella of his as though he hadn't a care in the world. – as if people's lives didn't hang in the balance.
With clenched teeth and fists, Coby watched Bags disappear behind the palace doors. Anger shot through him, making his shoulders shake. Like lightning looking for an outlet, the emotion finally released itself through the end of Coby's fist as he slammed it into a nearby pillar.
The heavy white marble shattered beneath years of training. Yet despite how strong the Captain had worked so hard to become, he still wasn't strong enough to stop the likes of Bags or Regent. More marines, not to mention Zoro's family, would be sacrificed for other people's corrupt ambitions. It sullied everything the Marines stood for.
"Whoa, I haven't seen you lose it like that since, like, ever."
Helmeppo had just emerged from the palace doors, lifting his sunglasses so he could get a clearer view of Coby's handiwork. The pillar crumbled in a cloud of smoke, drawing the eye of civilians walking through a nearby plaza.
"Come on, Vice-Captain," Coby growled. "We're leaving…" He turned and started to walk in the direction of the docks, despite the civilian stares.
"Finally!" Helmeppo exclaimed, falling in step with him. "But before we go, I think you should hear what some of the other Marine-Prince guys in there were saying. You're not going to like it…"
"Just what I need. More bad news," Coby grumbled, but he let Helmeppo say his piece. By the time he had finished, Coby had stopped in his tracks and swore under his breath.
"Captain Coby-San…?"
"This is bigger than I ever realized," he replied. "Are we really just supposed to sail away as though none of this is happening? We need to tell someone, but who…?"
His eyes widened as he picked up a familiar aura on his peripheral. Though he hadn't seen this person in years, not since before his haki had awakened, he recognized him almost immediately.
"Zoro…?"
"Huh?"
"Come on!" Coby cried, taking off running. "I think I've found someone who can help!"
"I can't believe you got yourself turned into a fox!"
Of all the strange things that had happened in Zoro's life, being chewed out by his Father-in-Law in the form of a goose definitely ranked pretty high. Cygnus honked, and Zoro could tell he was honking, but he heard the words within the sound. This must be what Chopper felt like.
"Of all the idiotic…!"
"You know, you're really one to talk," Zoro reminded him. The words came out in a yip. So that's what the fox says, he thought.
Cygnus stopped, his beak hanging open unattractively with a swallowed retort. Clearly he couldn't really say anything to defend himself. After all, he'd been goosified long before Zoro had been foxified.
The King regained his regal composure. Well, as regal as any goose could compose oneself anyway.
"I see you finally understand what I'm saying," Cygnus went on demurely. "Well, I suppose that's one good thing to come from all this."
"Your Majesties, if I may, bickering isn't going to solve anything," Hector put in with a cute little high-pitched sigh. The rabbit had escaped Circe along with Zoro. "We need to come up with a plan."
"Uh, keep that singular, Hector," Zoro told him. He wasn't any Majesty. "But you're right. I'm not staying like this any longer than I have to…"
"At least you get to be a carnivore," Hector put in with a twitch of his adorable bunny whiskers.
"WILL YOU GUYS QUIT CUTTING ME OUT OF THE CONVERSATION?!" Perona squealed, drawing their gaze up to her looming form. "I'm here too you know! Ugh! Zoro! You're such a moron! Why did you have to go get turned into a cute cuddly fox just when I need you to be a big scary jerk! Now how am I going to get my yacht with servants who will bring me bagel sandwiches and hot cocoa?"
"I am not cute…!" Zoro growled, right as Cygnus put in:
"I don't recall promising a yacht."
"…or cuddly! Right, Hector?!"
"Are you trying to rub it in, Roronoa? Because…"
"Hold up," Zoro raised a paw to silence everyone, one of his ears twitching. "Someone's coming."
He could not only hear the voices (his animal sense certainly helped pick up on that), he sensed a pretty powerful presence coming their way. Well, they were hidden just off of a path that ran by the city walls. Anyone could be walking this way. But someone this strong might just be the female marine captain who had gotten them into this mess in the first place.
Zoro crept cautiously toward the path, trying not to trip. He still wasn't quite used to walking on four legs, or even having forelegs, for that matter. As he neared the path, he picked up on the voices more clearly and realized he recognized them.
"Captain, slow down! Who have you found?"
"Wait and see! You're not going to believe it!"
Coby cleared a bend in the path, bounding into sight with an excited look on his face. Zoro smirked to himself. Hadn't that blond dude (what was his name again?) just called Coby 'Captain'? It looked like the kid was moving up in the world.
What was he wearing though? He was still a marine, wasn't he? Why the fancy get-up? The blond guy looked even more ridiculous, almost like a…like a…
Like a prince.
Zoro growled involuntarily. These two weren't making moves on his wife, were they?
Coby reached Zoro's hiding place well before his companion did. Zoro had kept himself low to the ground beneath a bush, hoping his green fur would make him hard to spot. To his dismay, Coby looked right at him.
The Marine's brow furrowed in confusion. He took his glasses off of his forehead and put them over his eyes, crouching down to Zoro's level and squinting at him in surprise.
"Zoro-San…?" he asked in a quiet voice. "Zoro-San, is that really you?"
Zoro shook his head in denial, then realized he'd given himself away by responding at all. Coby chuckled, replacing his glasses on the floral bandana surrounding his messy pink hair.
"What happened to you, Zoro?" he asked, "You sure look, uh, different…"
"Coby?" that was that blond guy again. He was still several yards away. "Why have you stopped?"
"Hey, I sense there are other people with you," Coby murmured urgently to Zoro. "Can they be trusted?"
Zoro blinked at him in confusion, but nodded.
"COBY!"
Coby chuckled again. "Stay out of sight," he whispered to Zoro. "If Helmeppo-San sees you like this, he'll never let you live it down you know. Anyway, this might be for the best."
Seating himself in the grass by the road, Coby effectively blocked Zoro and the bush he had taken cover in as Helmeppo arrived, panting:
"What, are we taking a break?" he wheezed, leaning down on his knees to try and catch his breath. "Don't stop on my account. I could run like this for hours! Just tell me who we're trying to find!"
"We'll get to that, Helmeppo-San," Coby said dismissively. "Before we do, I wanted to go over what you told me again. You know. That thing you heard from the other marines while we were undercover today in Queen Helena's court."
Undercover marines, huh? This should be interesting, Zoro thought.
"There are marines undercover with the suitors?" Hector whispered beside him. "That's a new development. When I left, Paris had vetted all of the Princes in there a long time ago."
"Maybe they just showed up," Zoro pointed out.
"You've already forgotten?" Helmeppo asked Coby. "Geez, Captain. What were we running off in a panic for if you can't even remember what I told you? So Queen Helena's supposed to be assassinated tonight, right?"
"Right, her and her family…" Coby said with a nod. "Supposedly her father has already been captured.
Hector and Zoro exchanged glances. They'd known Cygnus was in danger, but Helena? – speaking of the goose, he'd followed Hector. He was too big to fit under the bush, but he could hide behind it. He had stuck his long gangly neck through the leaves beside Zoro and Hector so he could hear better. A few feet beyond him, Perona listened from behind a tree.
"So they briefed us on that, but they never told us how they intended to kill her," Helmeppo went on. "Like, we assumed our guys were just going to gang up on her…"
Zoro snorted. "Helena could take them." Hector and Cygnus nodded beside him in agreement.
"But it turns out our guys are just the distraction. While she and her people are busy fighting the disguised marines, the actual Princes are going to seal off the throne room and set off these gas canister things. Deadly stuff. One whiff and you're done for," Helmeppo shuddered. "Imagine if we'd stuck around, huh? The guys were asking why I didn't have a mask. All of them have been prepped to survive the fight."
"From what I understand they never intended for the two of us to stay," Coby informed him. "I wouldn't take it personally. Maybe we should take it as a compliment that they wouldn't expect us to, well, murder an innocent woman like that."
"Innocent?" Helmeppo asked, facing him. "Regent said she was dangerous and unstable…"
"Regent?" Cygnus hissed. "Not that Regent…"
"It must be someone else," Hector put in. "If memory serves, Your Majesty blew his head off."
"Wait, that guy?" Zoro asked, but before he could confirm his suspicion Coby went on:
"But it doesn't stop there, does it?" he prodded. "This isn't just a government takeover. They're going to try to annihilate the capital, civilians included."
"Yeah, even I draw the line there," Helmeppo said, brow furrowed.
"Remind me how they were going to do it?"
"You feeling ok, Coby? Usually your memory is better than this," Helmeppo asked, rapping on Coby's head with his knuckles as though testing it for ripeness.
"Humor me," Coby insisted, pushing his arm away.
"Well, it's a festival tonight. Some City of Dionysus thing. – supposed to be lots of booze and people in masks and stuff. The palace gives out this special free wine; it'll be on practically every street corner. But it's already been laced with poison. Some of our guys snuck out of the throne room and did it earlier today."
"Not the same stuff they're using to kill the Queen, something a little less strong," Coby clarified.
"Yeah, might kill anybody with a weak constitution," Helmeppo said. "But they don't want to risk killing the sea prism miners along with everyone else. They're too valuable. Something about trade secrets." Helmeppo shrugged. "It'll leave everyone weak and easy to subjugate, though. Apparently they expect the people to revolt once they kill the queen."
"Her people are strong," Coby observed. "An uprising could easily turn into an out and out battle."
"Which is why they've also stationed a bunch of marines in disguise around the city," Helmeppo went on. "The masks and costumes and things make it kind of convenient. If anyone tries to rebel or fight back, civilian or soldier alike, it'll be easy to take them down."
"The festival starts at sundown, which is when they'll start distributing the wine I imagine," Coby said.
"Yeah; around that time, one of the Princes is supposed to signal everyone in the throne room by tossing his fan in the air. Some guy named Popinjay."
"We really should warn the Queen," Coby said, glancing briefly back at the bush behind him. "But Bags has us over a barrel…"
"He does?" This was news to Helmeppo apparently. "Is that why we came all the way out here to talk to…whoever it is you've said you've found."
"He's threatened the lives of my crew, who are not part of this takeover," Coby entreated Zoro quietly, though he turned his gaze back toward Helmeppo and the road. "I want to do more, I really do. If it were just about me, I'd go to the Queen myself in a heartbeat." He paused, the sighed. "Then again, I did kind of make her mad. I doubt she'd listen to me anyway."
"Captain Coby-San…?"
Coby got to his feet. "No need to be so formal, Vice-Captain. Let's get back to the ship. I think it's best that we get as far away from Ilium as soon as possible."
"But what about…?"
"When the takeover doesn't go according to plan, I suspect we will be the first to be blamed," Coby pointed out.
"But why won't it go according to plan? We haven't told anyone!"
Coby shot Helmeppo a mysterious smile:
"Exactly, Vice-Captain. We haven't told anyone. We just had a conversation here, privately, outside the walls where we couldn't possibly have been overheard."
"Tch," Helmeppo glanced into the woods, lifting his sunglasses and squinting for a moment. When he saw no one, he turned and started walking back up the path. "Sometimes I wonder about you Coby." He said, shrugging. "Like, did Garp hit you one too many times in the head or something? You do really weird stuff sometimes. – like nearly get yourself fried by an Admiral…"
Coby had turned up the path, but didn't yet follow his companion. "One more thing, Zoro," he said under his breath. "I was sent here to find you. I didn't report you because I didn't discover you until now. Knowing what I do now, I don't plan to report you." He heaved a heavy sigh, "But there is something I did report. I didn't realize it was such a big deal at the time, but I told Regent that you have…"
He stopped short, turning to look sharply behind him. Zoro sensed it too.
"Get back," he growled to the others. "It's her."
Hector swore. "If she starts yodeling…" he'd already tied his ears under his chin.
"Negative hollow," Perona whispered, hitting all three of them with ghosts. Right in time too:
"Yodelayskreeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Zoro was too depressed to care that the nails-on-a-chalkboard sound made his sensitive fox ears want to bleed. Or that he heard a familiar drawl address Coby a moment later.
"Well, howdy, yer royal highness," the alto twanged. "Name's Circe. You seen a green fox 'round here? I think that varmint done made off with my goose. I gotta teach 'im a lesson."
"I'm sorry, ma'am, I haven't seen anything like that," Coby lied, stiffening nervously.
The kid's sincere personality made him a terrible liar. Zoro might have groaned, but then he sighed quietly instead. He probably deserved to get caught anyway.
"Huh. Well, I'm sure he'll come to me eventually. Yodelulu-boo-hoo!"
Zoro also figured he deserved to hear such terrible yodeling. If only Circe had turned him into a more fitting form, like a toad, or a worm.
Coby stood there awkwardly a moment longer, apparently not sure what to do. Zoro couldn't see them from where he lay in a sad little heap in the underbrush, but from the sound of the yodeling, Circe hadn't moved.
"Uh, can I help you?" the woman twanged after a moment.
"I, uh…" Coby started. "N-No, uh, no, I was just leaving."
"Alrighty then, see ya around," Circe said non-chalantly. "Yodel-ah-ahchoo!"
"Gesundheit," Coby said politely, and by the sound of his voice Zoro could tell the Captain had already started to walk away.
Wait, Coby had needed to tell him something important, hadn't he? Zoro started to straighten up onto his four paws to follow, only to have another ghost knock him to the ground, wallowing in negativity.
"Stay down for now, Foxy-woxy," Perona whispered to him, stroking his velvety ears. Had he been in a normal frame of mind he might have nipped at her hand. "We have to wait for her to move on."
It was a while before Circe moved her search elsewhere. By then Coby was long gone.