"...I hate making Babus scared." Mewt breathed. He eyed the parchment before him as though he were signing a death warrant, but his grip on the quill remained resolute.

"Well, my Prince, he'll know you're alive, penning it yourself. " Ezel reassured, patting the hand the boy pressed over the scroll. "And your best handwriting will let him know you are calm."

"It's the quickest way, too." Ian added, "Probably see it as soon as he got out of Sphrom."

"...and this way, no one would be hurt." Mewt murmured, as if reminding himself. He began writing quickly, then, to finish before his nerves could catch up and stop him surely as his retainer's magic had.

Babus,

I'm all right. Please don't worry. I'm with Ian Jenkins.

That was a paradox, and he knew it, but he couldn't think of a better way to say it. Mewt bit his lip, mind already grasping for what to say next. How he came to be with Ian was not something the boy wanted Babus to know. He hesitated on that a moment more, then continued.

I'm not hurt, and I'm not going to be hurt. But there are some things you have to do before we can see each other again.

"And it starts..." Ian sighed softly, moving over to take a seat, wincing as he did. Oof, Demi hurts.

Tara flinched in sympathy. "Another potion?"

"No, thanks."

"So...what should we demand?" Mewt interrupted.

"For one thing, a full and complete pardon for me." Ian sat up, "Don't fancy having a "Dead or Alive" sign draped over me."

"A meeting...with no weapons, magic or otherwise." Ezel added, fingers curling over his grizzled chin. "Hm. Perhaps the Siena Gorge. And Laws in place to see it is observed."

"My clan's already in Siena." Ian stated, "Isn't there a way we can get them here? Or us there?"

"Of course, kiddo. Might be wiser to bring them here, though."

"Part of my clan." Ian corrected himself with a frown. "Pallanza and Marlette are still in prison..."

"Release the rest of my Clan from prison..." Mewt finished, scribbling the addition across the scroll. His "best handwriting" still looked like a mess.

"Do we really need anything else?" Ian shrugged, looking to Ezel, then Tara, receiving no ready answer from either.

Mewt attempted a shy smile. "Want any money for me?"

"Tempting." Ian chuckled, "...but I wouldn't be able to keep it, once we reveal ourselves."

The prince nodded and sat back, reading over the list.

"Okay... meeting at Siena Gorge, no weapons, no magic, release of prisoners, amnesty for all..." Ian reviewed.

Mewt paused. "And...forgive Ezel."

The cardmaker's brow raised.

Ian blinked. "There's... a difference between amnesty and personal forgiveness."

Ezel smiled faintly. "I appreciate the gesture, Prince. But I'm likely still going to be a troublemaker. This meeting is for Ian alone."

"He...if it weren't for me, Babus--"

"Maybe make certain the Judge who red-carded Swain is there." Tara interjected, the suggestion carrying an unspoken suggestion Mewt drop the subject, delivered with flashing eyes. She would not speak so in front of Master Berbier, but the doe had little doubt that Swain would use the cardmaker's feelings against him. "Teqian. He at least sees the Law is upheld, no matter who breaks it."

The prince shrank back as the Summoner's hard stare left him for Ezel, then Ian.

"If he's not been stripped of power, of course." she finished disdainfully.

Ezel bore the doe's protectiveness with an amused but grateful smile. "Aren't you worried he might feel the need to earn favor if he hasn't been?"

Ian pondered for a moment. True, it would have seemed that at least ONE Judge upheld the law as opposed to the wishes of the Royals. What harm could it do? But one thing trickled in his mind...

If I was really such a dangerous criminal as to threaten the Prince then supposedly kidnap him, why did he arrest Babus first...? He shrugged it off slightly, then spoke, "Don't see why not..."

Mewt shivered a nod, huddling back over the scroll. Calm.

"Hopefully, once we're all on the same side, something can be done." Ian offered gently, trying to soothe the sting of the Viera's bitter words.

"Indeed, kiddo." Ezel agreed, looking up meaningfully to the Summoner. The doe's ears bowed forward in apology, though her expression made the gesture more a formality.

"You mean Marche." Mewt said faintly.

"Well, yeah, him too." Ian replied.

"He just...won't stop..."

"He has to." Ian frowned. "I'll stop him."

"Heh...my boy, I daresay Nutsy has more than Demi at their disposal."

"Yeah, except that if he knows I'm from his "real world", he'll LIKE it." Ian countered. "Besides, I'm not endangering anyone by my very presence."

Mewt gathered the scroll up, rolling it tight. "There. Where...do we put it?"

"Probably in the pub." Ian shrugged, "The news will spread like wildfire if it hasn't already."

Ezel nodded, passing the scroll to Tara. "Tara shall post it at the Frog."

"And duplicate it in pubs across Ivalice." she tucked it into her belt. "They won't have the first idea where it started."

Ian nodded, looking at the ceiling, then glanced to Ezel as a sudden realization struck. "Uh... where'd the Viera buck go? The REAL Saboteur?"

"Heh...doing his Job, my boy." the cardmaker smiled enigmatically.

"Sabotage?" Ian blinked, "Against who?"

He shook his long lop ears. "Best to mind the task at hand, my boy."

"Very well..." Ian shifted a bit. "...so, what do we do now, "genius"?"

"Likely wait, kiddo."

Great. He had already waited the entire day for his clan to show up, only to have two of them in prison.

"Well..." he stood, "While we wait, I have to go back to Siena Gorge. I've got to make sure Darios and Crozet are okay."

"You enjoy living dangerously, eh?" the old Nu Mou teased, peering up to him. Kiddo was his human twin, in his way. The cardmaker would have to wonder on how well the Grimoire matched wisher to wish, even when the wisher was vague as he had been. He knew he'd never figure out if there was a method to the madness, but it delighted the hermetic to no end. "Now I see why Tara and Jesan stare at me so."

"Give me a reason I should stop now." Ian grinned wryly in answer.

"Would you care to travel by cards, then?" Ezel bent to fiddle with the pouch at his low-slung hips, chuckling still. "I believe today's Law is only No Item. I do hate Moondays."

"One to get there and one to come back, if you'd please." Ian nodded slowly.

The Nu Mou produced two, reaching them up to his tall friend. "They can bear you all back, if you wish."

Gingerly, Ian took the cards. "Right-o... don't worry, I'll be back in a flash. Stay out of trouble, you two."

"Heh...so long as you do, my boy."

"...be careful, Ian..." Tara warned. She'd noticed the similarities herself.

Ian winked and disappeared as the first card spent its magic with a burst with light.

"K-kupo?"

In a flash, literally. Ian rubbed his eyes. He would never get used to this blinding teleport stuff. Eventually, it would cost him sight in both eyes and he would be left to beg on the side of a dirt road wearing a trenchcoat. And nothing else. But, that's a story for another day. While he still had his sight, he blinked furiously, so he could view the interior of the cave.

"Darios? Crozet?"

"Master Rook...!" Darios was behind him, and gripped at his arm immediately. "We have been worried sick about you!"

"I'm sorry." Ian said with a soft sigh, "It's been a rather... ...eventful evening. Are you two okay?"

Crozet wheeled past his head to plop on his shoulder, giving it a comradely slap. "Now we are, kupo! We thought you forgot about us."

"Hardly. I faced off with Babus again."

The Moogle blurted a squeak of dismay. Darios looked the human over with a healer's eye, now. "What happened?"

Ian grinned wryly. "Only one thing happens when I run into Babus Swain. Ezel's Summoner, Tara, managed to get me away before the Judge got me next...didja hear I'm wanted for kidnapping Prince Mewt, now?"The Moogle's eyes nearly bounced to the floor. "K-kupo?""Look, I'll tell you once we get to Ezel's place." He sighed, looking about. "...any word about Marlette and Pallanza?""None." the white mage said softly. "We do not expect there to be, Master."

"Every time we talk you're in deeper than before, kupoku." Crozet landed before his wings gave out. Shaky legs were safer, they were much closer to the ground. "Is Berbier going to help us, then?"

"Yeah. We've already got a plan working." Ian nodded, "A great, grand conspiracy that will shock and amaze you. So expect the unexpected."

Both gunner and healer blinked. "Oh...?" Darios said at last.

The human moved toward the opening of the cave. So great, so grand, so hard to explain. Best to start at the beginning. "There's a whole underlying rebellion forming against the Royal family..."

The small Mog took to the air once more, looping a circle through the air to match the rolling of his eyes. "That's news, kupoho."

"Yeah, well, I don't think it's a good idea when Ezel, possibly one of the greatest rebel minds out there, would rather stop the rebellion rather than support it.""What was said, Master?" Darios asked, padding alongside him.

"A lot of engagements, now, deal in political ideals. Ezel fears that if it gets any worse, it will be civil war."

"There has been talk, indeed." the white mage agreed quietly. "I believe the Palace has become so extreme that most would love to see it gone...and there are those who would take advantage of that."

"Like who?"

"Clan Marble, kupoho!" the little gunner chirped readily. "They're nuttier than Nutsy."

"Pallanza left them, for that very reason." a sad smile curled the white mage's muzzle. "So you can imagine how radical they must be."

"Clan Marble..." Ian repeated the name, "...so Nutsy and Marble're working together, you think?"

"Hard to say, kupoku." Crozet shook his head. "I think both of them are have such hard skulls, they just butt them together, kupoho. If anything."

"I have never heard of alliances with either." Darios agreed. "They seem to prefer independence."

"...If that's the case, I'd worry more about Marble." Ian mused. "Marche is hardly a revolutionary."

"Kupo...well, apart from thinking he's destroying the world, kupoho."

"The crystals... Ezel and I don't think they'll destroy the world." Ian explained. "We're just not taking the chance that they won't."

"What do you and Master Berbier believe should be the next path, then?" Darios frowned slightly. "It seems you are in more danger now than ever."

"Ain't it the truth." he grinned weakly, "Well, our next idea is to get Mewt, Marche, Clan Ritz, and Marche's brother Doned all on the same side with us."

"Think big, kupoho!" Crozet chortled. "As only Ezel Berbier and our Rook can, kupoho!"

"They must find the Prince, first..." the Nu Mou's frowned deepened. "I am worried for the child."

"Oh, we have him." Ian reassured nonchalantly.

Darios nearly dropped his staff. "Wh-what?"

"Turns out that he left the castle, looking for me, the night you found me." Ian chuckled. "Babus went after me, thinking I had kidnapped him. After Babus got arrested, Mewt...met up with me in Ezel's shop."

Now I'M protecting Babus, he realized, chuckling a bit at himself.

Crozet whistled. "Kupoo..."

"The Prince...he was searching for you himself? Why?"

"He felt guilty for not stopping Babus from beating the ever-loving shit out of me, and came to apologize."

Darios blinked. "A pleasant surprise, that..."

"Kupoku. Where was he when the Laws got us beat, kupoho."

"The reason is a long story." Ian sighed. "Look, I think he wants to rescind the Laws anyway."

"WAIT." Crozet froze in midair, save for his swift wings. "Swain...got ARRESTED?"

"Oh... I... forgot to mention that..." Ian grinned weakly, "...He Demi'ed me, when the Law was NoDmg2: Humans."

"KUPOHOHO!" The Moogle tumbled from the air, holding his sides.

"It...IS ironic." Darios said with a slight smile himself.

"He was hellbent on making me confess that I stole Mewt." the human shook his head, "He's got to be mad with worry."

"Can't believe the kuponuts of the Judge who did it!"

"Well...the law IS for all of us." Darios observed. "At least we see it truly can be blind...however harsh."

"I heard his name..." he rubbed his head, "...Tech... tech... tech-ian."

The Nu Mou flinched.

"Kupoo...that's the one who got us in the Frog."

"Shit..." Ian muttered, "...guy's a hardass about the Law."

"To say the least, kupo." the small Mog grimaced. "At least he got Swain, huh?"

Darios hung his head with a breath of resignation. "True."

"...Okay..." he nodded slowly, "...one of the "demands" we have for Mewt's safe "return" is that Marlette and Pallanza be released, anyway. So no need to droop like your ears, "lopears"."

"Kupo...demands?"

"Yeah." Ian nodded, "Babus thinks that I kidnapped Mewt, so we're holding him for ransom. ...funny thing is that it was Mewt's idea."

Both Moogle and Nu Mou stared yet again.

"Funny i-indeed." Darios finally managed.

Ian stared back.

"Kupo...that the Prince is playing along, kupo." Crozet explained. "Then again...I never would have thought that snot-nose would look for you from a guilty conscience."

"Eh... well..." Ian rubbed the back of his neck.

"Ian?"

Darios cried out. Marlette stood at the mouth of the cave, her own mouth open in shock.

Ian looked back, eyes wide in, guess what? Right. Shock. "Marlette? How...?"

The Viera had already seized the human and Nu Mou both, grinning brilliantly. "Rook, sorry! I think they got sick of the lizard."

Pallanza slid into the cave on cue then, hissing irritably at the doe.

Ian released Marlette as both her arms wrapped tight around the white mage. The Nu Mou was speechless still, forehead pressed tightly against her shoulder. "Did you miss me?" she teased, gentling the jibe with a kiss. A nod and a kiss in return was all he could muster.

"Well, thank Gods... ...good, we're all here." Ian said at last.

"Sssurprisssed to sssee you, ssscalelesss. We heard you were busssy while we were locked up." the Bangaa hissed dryly.

"Just a bit." Ian replied. "Ezel can explain more, though."

"So you saw Berbier?" Marlette's eyes shone with delight as she continued to squeeze the air from Darios. The Nu Mou looked elated to be strangled so.

"He got Babus Swain arrested, kupoho!"

Now it was Pallanza's turn to look delighted. "How ssso?"

"The twit came after me again." Ian sighed. "Accused me of kidnapping Prince Mewt. Demi'ed me, and got arrested. NoDmg2: Human law."

Pallanza hissed long as Crozet had laughed, grin seeming to split his head in half. "Wisssh I had ssseen that."

"So stay sober, lizard." Marlette eyed him, long fingers finding lop ears at last.

"Look, it's brewing into more than what we thought." Ian interrupted, pulling out the second card.

"Ssspill it, then." Pallanza arched a brow at the human, then fixed a covetous amber eye on what the man held. "He gave you cardsss?"

"Sorta. He'd better tell you." Ian said, and then the card flared brightly to engulf the clanners.

Pallanza nearly collapsed on Ian as they reappeared in the cramped card shop. "The Hellsss?" he croaked. He looked like he was going to be violently ill.

"Easy, big guy." he nudged Pallanza, eyesight slowly getting back to normal.

"Heh...goodness, kiddo, I'm not sure if I have enough teacups."

"Worry about enough cards." Ian replied, rubbing his eyes as he moved a strategic distance away from the staggering Bangaa to stand before Ezel. "Mianjenku, Ezel Berbier."

"Charmed, indeed. Your reputation precedes you." The old Nu Mou nodded to each of them, lingering on Marlette and Pallanza. "...are these the clanners you were missing...?"

"Yes." he nodded, and blinked, looking to them, "...did they say WHY you got out?"

"Just someone...paid our bail." Marlette frowned.

"Ssskiver." the Bangaa hissed.

"Skiver?"

"He wasss in a clan with me onccce. Alwaysss liked being ssso upssstanding."

"At least one of you did." the Viera sniped.

"At least it paid off, eh?" Ian shrugged. Now was hardly the time for infighting, much as Pallanza asked for it.

"Literally." Darios agreed softly. "He helped us, as well...after the Judge took you."

"Kupo, paid off ALL the damage!"

"WHAT?"

The doe's aghast look made the white mage's ears twitch to curl for cover.

"Don't." Ian said sternly to her, waving a hand. "Just be glad that you're out and we can move on to the next part of our plan." He glanced over to Ezel. "Where is he? Asleep?"

Ezel gave a gentle nod. Mewt stood in the bedchamber doorway, eyes huge and uncertain.

"Kupoho! Thanks for saving Rook for us." Crozet wheeled over to the boy. "He keeps getting into trouble."

"Speak for yourself!" Ian chortled at the Moogle and took a seat.

Mewt smiled slightly, stepping into the parlor fully. "Not anymore, he won't..."

"So, kiddo...are you ready, then?" Ezel asked Ian with a smirk, settling heavily next to the tall human.

"Ready...?" Ian raised an eyebrow.

"To get into trouble one more time." the cardmaker chuckled. "At Siena Gorge."