Gyaaah, looong two weeks for me, and I just didn't have the heart to write anything. And the chapter I finally got out has more filler than I'd like. I'M SORRY!

Chapter title comes from a line from a song in a book I vaguely remember reading for school years ago. Just stuck in my head and seemed appropriate.

For anyone who didn't quite get why those skeletons last chapter had it in for Letha, here's the whole explanation including the stuff you have to read in between the lines to get:

As Nevi told Letha, the bones were being moved by weak "lesser beings" which we can shrug off as a low class of fairy or spirits. Being weak they 1. can only move things caught between boundaries 2. can only target victims that are weak, frightened, or isolated.

Yuri, Repede, and Judith are all strong people not easily frightened, and Estelle was reassured by their collective presence. So group one did not see any bones walking around. Group two, however, was full of people who were jumping at shadows and creaking floor boards, and not in an environment where they could fight to the best of their abilities. They were easy targets. And then Letha was freaking out and alone.

Unfortunately, Letha didn't know that Yuri's group didn't have to fight skeletons, so I couldn't have her make that connection in chapter.

Angelic:

You made me picture that. I then laughed my ass off. A katana does not suit the butterfly man, so imagining him trying to be all serious and heroic with one, to protect Letha of all people, its a hilarious mental image for me.

Look! It's so ridiculous the 'N' key came off my lap top again! *Grumbles and smashes the 'N' key back on.*

x x x

Chapter 33: My Heart's A Tall Ship

x x x

Kaufman gave us all a thorough scolding once we were safely back on the Fiertia. The whole "Anyone else would have left you guys behind," spiel. And Yuri gave his word that we wouldn't do it again, which nobody really believed he meant. Other than that I had pretty much ignored all the pointless talk about hypothetical reasons why the ceres blastia started working again and what ifs about the ship being cursed.

While that conversation ran its course, I slipped away back to my cabin to finally rest. I collapsed on my bunk and grit my teeth at the resulting wave of pain from my protesting muscles. It was better than being split open from skull to belly button, but it still sucked. Sprawled across my bed I threw an arm across my eyes.

The cabin door creaked and the floor creaked, indicating someone coming in with hesitant steps. "Letha?" It was Estelle.

"Hmm?" I said to indicate I was awake and heard her.

"I've finished healing everyone else, so..."

"My turn next?" I groaned a bit as I sat upright. In a flash, Estelle was by my side and using her healing artes. Normally, a healing session from Estelle brought warmth and relief, though I'd usually have a nagging sense of guilt. But this time it only finished fixing up the assorted scrapes, cuts, and bruises. The deep ache in most of my body barely lessened.

"Is that better?"

"Uh, yeah. Thanks," I tried to sit naturally, as if I wasn't feeling like a giant black and blue bruise. Estelle frowned at me, not fooled. I guess she'd started to get more of a feel for people trying to hide things from her. Or at least for when I was hiding something. Though I wasn't prepared at all when she suddenly reached out and pulled my shirt up to expose my stomach. "Estelle!"

Her face was actually pretty red from her own forward actions, but she wouldn't be deterred. "There isn't even a scar... You really weren't hurt before?"

"N-no, I'm fine," my voice was a little shaky. This was not a topic I felt comfortable discussing with anyone. "I'm just tired, I'll be fine once I've slept." The princess didn't look convinced, but was willing to let me have my way since I was planning on resting. Though she didn't leave until she'd seen me kick my boots off and pull the thin blankets over myself.

She blew out the only lit candle as she left. Alone again in the darkness, I sighed. I guess I have a new complication to figure out...

x x x

It was a calm and peaceful scene. Warm oranges and pink blended into a velvety purple that peeked through the cottony clouds. The water it all rested on was a harmony of those warm colors shining off cooler grays and black, capped by the occasional frothy white. Seagulls reeled through the sky.

A beautiful sight. Awe inspiring even.

But it only struck a cold fear through me.

Because nothing was moving.

The clouds weren't drifting by. The waves weren't rolling in towards the shore. The seagulls were stuck in place, circling in the sky. When I tried to turn my head, it refused to obey. I tried to lift my foot and take a step, to move my hand, to open my mouth and say something. I couldn't do any of it.

I could only stand and stare at the unchanging horizon.

x x x

When I woke I lay still, eyes unfocused as if I could see right through the thin mattress in the bunk above me. Slowly my dream came back to me, and I found myself irrationally afraid that if I tried to get up I'd discover I couldn't move. Don't be ridiculous. I rolled over onto my stomach, the relief that I actually could lifting away the paralyzing fear.

Rocking back so that I sat on my heels, I ground the palms of my hands against my eyes. Something is seriously wrong. It's not normal for me to get the same dream again. Yeah, they're not exactly the same, but they're way more similar than any others I've had. Pretty much the closest thing was the usual school related nightmares that any normal kid from home could be expected to have. If there was anything else...I couldn't remember it anymore. I couldn't imagine why I'd have recurring nightmares featuring sunsets though.

Am I starting to crack under all the stress? That wasn't good. It would make sense, but the last thing I needed was to start questioning my mental health. And the only solution I knew would be to share my problems with someone. That...is that really so bad? If I left out the part about the game and knowing future events, would that be so bad?

Well, how would everyone react?

Raven was first, because he was easiest. I couldn't tell him since at this point it was a guarantee that the information would find its way back to Alexei. Whether or not he believed I was from another world really didn't factor in, I just couldn't risk him finding out.

Rita wouldn't believe me. She'd start protesting how scientifically impossible it was. But if I could give her solid proof...though even if I should show her my (uncharged) phone or mp3 player she'd probably still deny it. For all she knew they could be made of weird, undiscovered blastia.

Karol...pass. He'd get so overexcited, I wasn't sure he'd even be able to decide if he believed me or not. It would definitely be too much on his shoulders, he was busy enough adjusting to his new responsibilities.

Estelle. Would maybe believe me. She'd already been learning about Earth without knowing it, every now and then I caught her practicing the familiar alphabet of my home world. Every time it sent a pang of nostalgia and homesickness through me. But she was too kind hearted, she'd start worrying about my problems even once she learned about the Children of the Full Moon. And, though I didn't mean anything bad by it, I wasn't sure the girl would be able to keep my secret from others.

With that in mind, Yuri or Judith became the most likely confidants, but...

Hell, if Yuri was still playing the observer and piecing things together, he was probably getting closer to the truth on his own. I doubted he'd make the final leap to, well, alien (though I hated to think of it that way). And, if I was honest with myself, I didn't want to tell him that I'd been lying yet again last time I'd told my 'story'. I just wasn't sure how far you could push him before losing the trust you earned, especially since I wasn't sure how I earned it in the first place.

Judith...I couldn't say. She'd...take it calmly and...keep on being Judith. Probably would want to know why I told her, of all people, when from where she was standing I didn't know her nearly as well as I knew the others.

But...

Tell any of them, and they'd be drawn in. Maybe the fairies would consider them fair game as pawns to use in their infighting. Maybe if Alexei really had heard enough babble from me when I was aersick and out of it, he'd try to use the people around me to get more information. Maybe the mysterious green haired woman who had me kidnapped would try something even worse.

Stop kidding yourself. You're a bookworm and a writer. One of the most basic concepts in any dimension hopping story like this is to keep your origins secret. I ran a hand through my hair, combing back the tangle (the trip on the ghost ship had not been kind). Given, that inevitably results in the truth getting dragged out into the open in less than ideal circumstances.

Shaking my head, I decided to go out and get some air.

We'd long since left the Atherum's fog behind. And I'd slept the night through, despite the bad dream. A clear morning greeted me, the dawning sun red and rising slowly. "Red sky at night, sailors delight...red sky at morning, sailors take warning..."

x x x

How Does it Work?

Karol: How did you do that anyway?

Letha: Do what?

Karol: That thing before, when the sword went through you? How did you get it to do that?

Letha: I...I don't really know. I wasn't really thinking anything at the time, so I guess it might have been on instinct. Reflexive reaction to danger or something.

*Rita punches Letha*

Letha: Ow! What was that for?

Rita: I wanted to see if you'd do it again.

Letha: I already said I don't know how!

x x x

"-and Bilbo had finished packing the dwarves into their barrels just in the nick of time. The last lid had just been put into place when the elf butler and the guard came in.

One by one they kicked the 'wine' barrels into the water, and just as the last barrel was about to go in Bilbo caught hold of it. His plan had unfortunately neglected that there'd be no one left to pack him into a barrel, so he was obligated to ride one and hope his magic ring would keep the elves from noticing him. He rolled over and over and got dunked in the river several times before he managed to arrange himself comfortably."

"Can't be any worse than what we're goin' through," Raven quipped wryly.

A storm had hit late in the morning, starting with a strong wind that kicked up suddenly and carried in torrential rain. The ocean practically boiled with violent waves that constantly kept washing across the deck. Tokunaga sent everyone but Biggs and Wedge into the cabins to keep out of their way as they staggered across the deck trying to keep everything in order.

The ship rocked again as another massive wave hit. Karol groaned and dropped his head between his knees in an effort to keep from being sick. Rita was clutching a bucket to her chest, which no one considered taking from her upon seeing the green tinge to her face. I wasn't sure if they were getting any of the story, but when I tried to stop they protested. They insisted I keep talking to help take their minds off of the storm. Without anything else to do (that wouldn't get them soaked to the skin) the others had joined us.

I wasn't feeling so hot myself. Boats weren't anything new to me, but I'd never been on the water during rough weather before. I had wedged myself into a corner of the room where I didn't get tossed around quite as badly and occasionally took a sip of water to fight down a sour taste that threatened to climb up my throat.

While I continued with Bilbo's adventure I idly stroked my right thumb over my tattoo (my gloves had been ripped up too much to be of any use, so I wasn't bothering to wear them anymore). It was a riddle never too far from my mind. Just what exactly did Nevi do? And what did I do that made me all, I dunno what to call it, permeable? The sword had gone right through me without leaving a mark. I hurt like hell but I suspected that was a side effect either from whatever the fairy man did or what I did as opposed to pain caused by an injury. The pain had mostly receded overnight, to my relief.

After some consideration I'd decided I needed to experiment and figure out how to get the permeable thing to work again, sooner rather than later. But I wanted to try it in private so it would have to wait for better conditions. Until then...

"Bobbing along in barrels wasn't exactly the number one choice of travel, but it did cut back on the trip so that it only took a few days to get to Lake Town. The lake men gathered the barrels and pulled them up onto the docks, and during the night Bilbo started knocking on each one until he found the ones that were packed with dwarves. All of them were weak from captivity and hunger, several sick, and very few had any strength left to help the hobbit free their fellows.

"Once all thirteen dwarves were found, Thorin led the group to the largest, brightest lit inn where many of the human men had gathered to drink at the end of the day. Throwing open the door, Thorin looked at the men as they all stared at the strangers. 'I am Thorin, son of Thalin,' he announced, 'King Under the Mountain. I have returned!'"

Gotta love how he manages a dramatic entrance even when he probably looked like a half drowned rat.

x x x

We got free of the storm in the afternoon. Karol and Rita practically rocketed out of the cabin to hang over the railing. I happily took the chance to get some fresh air and feel the sun again. My legs felt awfully cramped from the hours I'd spent holed up in my corner.

"Well, look who the cat dragged in." Kaufman's familiar confident tone met me as I limped over to the railing. "Bet you regret talking me into letting you shirk your bodyguard duty to explore that ship now, huh?"

"A bit," I conceded. It would be pointless to argue considering my clothes looked like they'd just lost a fight with a paper shredder. "And that reminds me..." I loosened the burgundy silk still wrapped around my neck. I'd forgotten it was there, but its absence left me feeling cold and vulnerable. I handed over the long swatch of silk, smooth as water and warm in my hand. "I promised to bring you something, didn't I?"

"This is..." her eyes widened as she took the silk and rubbed it between her fingers. "Kogorh Silk! This stuff is really valuable, it was really on that ship?"

"Yeah, but what's so special about it?" I mean, yeah, it's pretty nice but is it really any better than other silk?

"Because it's really hard to find now," she told me. "Apparently it used to be in pretty high demand and worth a lot since not much of it was made. No one remembers who made it except that it was some city in the desert. So it's called Kogorh Silk and fetches a pretty price on the market." The president was practically drooling at the find.

Ah, I guess that makes some sense. The desert city must have been Yormgen. Yormgen Silk. They never got the apatheia needed to make a barrier blastia, so their city died and no one made the silk anymore. The facts fit.

"So...that mean you want it?" I asked her teasingly. Giving the silk away seemed a shame, but I wouldn't be able to sell it for half its worth myself, and I had promised to give her something worth it.

Kaufman looked up from examining the silk and planted a hand on her hip. "I can't just take it like this. I have my professional reputation to think of. Considering nothing happened while you all were away, and the trouble you went through getting this..." She eyed the conspicuously empty scabbard that my dao used to be kept in. "I suppose it's only fair to replace some of your equipment in exchange."

That took me by surprise. It was already established that I'd give it to her, right? Wouldn't she make more of a profit if she'd just taken it?

"I don't have anything for you now, but once we get to Nordopolica I can get you outfitted. Then we'll call it even, alright?"

"Um, yeah, sure." This is...a good thing?

x x x

The storm had blown us off course a bit, adding an extra day or so to our voyage. All told it took nearly eight more days to reach Nordopolica. It was a week spent by all of us desperately trying to find something to do to pass the time.

It only took a few days of nothing to do to wrap up my recounting of The Hobbit. Once I finished Estelle and Karol were left with little in the way of diversions. After a day of being very bored they came back begging for another story. I actually felt bad turning them down, but my throat had actually gotten sore from the combined salty air and all that talking. I hoarsely promised to think of another long story to tell them if they gave me a few days of peace. Estelle took to doodling random words in my Earth alphabet and Karol flipped through the pages of his monster book.

Rita was busy throwing things at me at the most unexpected times. Apparently the lack of explanation for my surviving a fatal sword stroke really bothered her scientific mind. Several times she'd march right up to me and demand to look at my tattoo, and after staring at it and poking the weirdly shifting colors she'd growl exasperatedly and walk away muttering.

Yuri is not the type to just sit around. After a few days he was even more restless than the rest of us, and started asking Tokunaga, Biggs, and Wedge all sorts of questions about what they were doing. Which led to them teaching him a bit about sailing, perfectly happy to have a fourth pair of helping hands on board. A few times the swordsman managed to get Karol involved in helping out. Not a hard feat considering how the boy looked up to him.

Raven was most comfortable with all the free time, using it to nap. I was amazed by his almost catlike ability to sleep anywhere. I developed a hypothesis that maybe the man's sloth was due to his blastia heart. Maybe all the extra sleep was a way to compensate for that thing feeding off his life energy? Which I never really got in the first place, it sounded more like a neat explanation designers would toss out there without believing anyone would question it. And if the characters who explained it didn't question it, normally the players wouldn't either.

I wasn't exactly the average player anymore though.

And what was I doing? Scribbling in my notebook when no one was around to look over my shoulder. To my dismay most of what I was writing were half remembered anecdotes that trailed off into no conclusions. Even worse was when I went back to read some of the first stuff I'd written. There were whole sections I didn't remember. Meaning I could remember writing them, but I couldn't remember what I had written at those times, and the life story those words told me came as a surprise too many times. An autobiography should NOT read like a mystery novel...

I also tried to experiment with passing through things. Nothing big, I'd just try to push my hand through the ship's railing or something, things that shouldn't draw the others attentions even if they succeeded. But I had no more luck than Rita with her Projectiles of Randomness.

When I got tired of my failure streak I'd pull out my notebook again and start sketching random things around the Fiertia. My drawing skills might have taken a back seat to painting, but with so much time to kill and no distractions, I could work on polishing those skills again. Though at the end of the day I would just stop and stare at the setting sun. My grip on notebook and pencil would loosen, all but dropping them, and I would just stare blankly into space thinking to myself until the sun was gone and the stars were out. If the others thought this was strange, they never brought it up.

So eight days of that. And late on the eighth day we finally sighted land and Nordopolica, the Coliseum City.

x x x

"My, how pretty," Judith breathed appreciatively as everyone admired the fireworks being launched from somewhere in the city. Of course, they barely held a candle to some of the Fourth of July displays I could remember (my town blows way too much money on those, nearly a solid hour of fireworks every year), but my jaded response went unnoticed as everyone else was staring up at the sky.

"So, a party in the streets everyday, huh? This is gonna be great!" The flares of lights from the fireworks lit up Raven's crooked grin.

His enthusiasm was quickly dampened by Yuri. "Since when are you on vacation?"

"Oh yeah, right... A minion's work is never done."

"You're the Don's messenger, so don't be rude to Belius!" Karol reminded him.

"Young man, you are looking at a veritable paragon of manners and good breeding. Nya hah hah hah." Raven's weeeird laugh had me giggling into my hand. He sounded like such a creeper sometimes, no wonder no one (without the unique perspective of a gamer) ever associated him with the composed Schwann.

Kaufman thanked us for our work, and the others began discussing the best method for traveling to the Sand of Kogorh. Sadly despite having a 'new' ship we couldn't use it to get any closer. Leaving only the option of walking for miles and miles like before. Ah, good times...

"Are you seriously going through with this?" Rita gave us all her disbelieving glare again, even though she'd had plenty of time to realize she wasn't going to talk Estelle out of looking for Phaeroh. "I told you, the desert is really dangerous."

"Pretty much anywhere you go is dangerous nowadays," I pointed out.

"That's different!" She snapped at me. I shrugged, because she wasn't really wrong. People who weren't prepared for a harsh new terrain rarely survived. But since there'd be no changing the princess' mind I'd just deal with that when we were there. Rita, meanwhile, had gone back to talking to Estelle. "I can't just let you go to a place like that all by your... I-I mean...!"

I smiled at her stammering as the genius failed to think of a way to cover for her protective concern. As if we can't all see through you already. You have a heart, and we all know it~ Estelle was also smiling at the younger girl, though a bit sadly.

The moment and that particular conversation ended when Tokunaga announced that we were dropping anchor. Disembarking time!

And who's that there meeting us on the docks? Why it's Yea-I mean Regaey! Silly me! Now there was an even bigger gap in identities than with Raven and Schwann. Gone was the blue suit, flippy dark hair, and confident bordering arrogant smirk. Instead we had a timid, graying man in khakis. Like the stereotyped image of an archaeologist that I had picked up from cartoons.

"Oh, M-Madam P-President. It's an honor t-to have you here." He even loses his pseudo German accent, nice...

"Excavating more ruins?" Kaufman asked drily but with a friendly smile for her fellow guild boss. "I'm always impressed that the guild boss himself supervises the excavations."

"Th-the excavation of r-ruins is wh-what I l-live for."

"Who's that..?" Rita didn't bother whispering. What did she care if she offended someone with her bluntness?

Raven answered, not bothered by it at all. "That's Regaey, the head of Ruins' Gate."

"Ruins' Gate? That sounds familiar..." she trailed off into thought.

"They're the guild that's helping the imperial mages excavate ruins," the archer supplied helpfully.

"Oh, that's why I've heard of them."

Regaey was excusing himself from his talk with Kaufman. As he left I wondered why he'd been on the docks in the first place. In game, it was a chance to introduce him in preparation for the twist with the coliseum and big identity reveal later on. But it was too much of a coincidence for real life, so it probably wasn't a coincidence at all. Either he was meeting someone here, or he somehow heard we were coming and was waiting for us.

Ah, this world was doing wonders for my paranoia.

"He seems like a nice person," Estelle said aloud as the others were also watching the 'timid old man' leave. I wondered how they'd react if I told them this 'nice person' had tried to kill us two weeks earlier. Probably ask me if I was feeling alright.

"Hey," Rita got Kaufman's attention, "you were talking before about a guild that's selling hoplon blastia."

Yuri caught on, "You mean Leviathan's Claw?"

Rita nodded, "Do you think they might be getting their blastia under the table from those ruin guys?"

Kaufman frowned slightly at the accusation. "Ruin's Gate is completely innocent," she asserted firmly.

"How can you be so sure?" asked Yuri, needing more proof than just word of mouth. It was Raven that answered though.

"They're upstanding, serious, diligent... That's what they're known for."

"And, of course, for digging holes in the ground," I said quietly. Lame joke. Hopefully none of them heard it. Oh dear, Judith and Repede were looking at me...ah well.

"Well, I'm off. Take good care of the Fiertia. Say hi to Tokunaga for me, too." Kaufman said by way of goodbye. Though as she was turning to leave, she looked back over her shoulder at me. "I'll need you to come along with me a little longer though."

"What? Oh yeah, right."

"Huh? What do you need Letha for?" Karol asked, bewildered as to why the President of a major guild would suddenly whisk of away one of his own guild members.

"Just a bit of business," she told him.

"I'll meet you guys later at the inn," I called back as I fell into step behind Kaufman, her own crony just a little ahead of me.

Kaufman, being president of a merchant's guild, knew exactly where she wanted to go. Before I knew it we were already in a shop that catered to adventurer types over the typical civilians. It was run by a rather rough looking older couple with old scars and calloused hands. Presumably former adventurers who'd settled down and lived vicariously through their customers.

Half the store looked like a weapons shop, and was evidently the man's domain. His counter and the wall behind it were bristling with weapons, from ice pick like daggers to massive morning stars and maces. I'm positive I caught glimpses of some more exotic weapons in the mix, like shurikens, blow darts, chain swords, and something that I could only relate to a tea kettle...

The other half of the store belonged to the woman (his wife?). It was filled with very practical clothing and assorted armor. I curiously fingered a roll of durable looking fabric and was pleased to discover that while it was sturdy as it looked, it didn't feel rough at all. And looking closer at some of the other completed clothing I guessed that a practiced eye could put together something serviceable without sacrificing style. Adventurers want to look good too.

Practically before the words, "This one needs new equipment," were completely out of Kaufman's mouth the man snatched the belts with my sheathed daggers and empty dao scabbard right off my hips, so fast I never even felt him undo the belt buckles. I blinked and suddenly his wife had me in a curtained off fitting area. From the other side of the curtain I heard Kaufman say, "I'm off then, I already have a buyer for the silk in mind but he probably won't be in town long. Just tell them what you need and they'll send the bill to me later."

"Wh-what?" I spluttered, rather dazed as the woman had stripped me down to my leggings, shirt, and only the socks on my feet. She was impatiently taking my measurements with a worn yellow tape. "Aren't you worried I'll buy more than the silk was worth?"

"Do you think you can walk off with half the store?" she sounded amused. "If you somehow did manage to buy enough to bankrupt me, I'd know where to find you. But I'm sure you won't risk your guild's reputation just for some clothes and some swords."

"R-right." The reminder that she had the power to swat a little guild like ours if it got to be a nuisance actually put me back on solid ground. Kaufman was doing this because she was a businesswoman. Not because she'd had a sudden Judith or Estelle like urge to dress me up.

The shop woman (who I suppose will be forever nameless to me...) ducked out from the curtained area. She shouted something at her husband about muscle mass and seemingly unimportant numbers. Less than a minute later she bustled back in with an armload of clothes. I spent the next half hour trying on an assortment of pants, shirts, jackets, and light leather body armor of varying levels of protective cover.

In the end I was wearing fitted dark cream turtleneck, its long sleeves going past my wrists to cover my hands slightly (I was a bit relieved by that detail, I'd hate to try telling her I wanted something else). Over it was a lightweight leather vest. Not like the denim one I'd been wearing when I first showed up in Terca Lumireis, this one fit more snuggly and covered my shoulders with short sleeves. The leather provided a bit more protection than my coat had, but didn't hamper my movements at all. There were also a few pockets here and there, the only obvious ones being on the chest. And surprisingly it zipped up the front. I did not know there were zippers here!

My leggings were replaced by loose brown pants made of durable canvas like material with a softer lining and held up by a braided leather belt. They seemed like they should be heavy and make me overheat, but I guess the fabric was made specially so it was light and comfortable. There were large pockets, two on each hip, perfect to keep some handy gels in for emergencies. The bottoms were tucked into a new pair of boots, which fit a little better than my last pair.

The woman studied me with a critical eye before giving a nod and grunt of approval. Then I was spun around and pushed out, her calloused hands on my shoulders steering me across the room to where her husband was waiting. He gave me another critical look (these people were seriously starting to make me feel like a piece of meat they were going to buy and dice up for stew) before pulling out something from under his counter.

It was a pair of daggers on a belt. I stared blankly at them before realizing they were my daggers and they were not on my belt. He'd apparently picked out a new one for me, though I didn't know what the problem with the old one had been. At his grunt (do you ever speak with words, man?) I drew one of the daggers. It had been polished and sharpened, so that all the nicks and chips from fighting were gone. When I checked the other it proved to be the same.

"I's a temp'ry fix, though," he growled, "They'll last ye longer, but they're aw'ready old." Ah yes, this pair had come from the Shaikos Ruins, as had my sword. I suppose it really had been a matter of time until it broke. "Ye can get new 'nes now, 'r ye can hold onto those 'nes." He smacked my empty scabbard onto the counter. "But ye'll be needin' sumthin' to replace this 'ne either way."

"Er, yeah, I use a dao..." I trailed off, my eyes drawn to the weapons on display. I nearly jumped when there was another smack. My attention back on the counter, it was captured by a new scabbard that actually had a sword in it. I drew this one before his prompting grunt.

Another dao, much like my first one. Appearance wise, it wasn't much, but it was better balanced than my last and held a better edge, cutting my thumb easily when I tested it. Like the daggers it held a bright polish, and if that was anything to judge by it was probably very well maintained. Gotta admire a man who was serious about his work.

"This is perfect..." I breathed. The man and woman beamed at me, the warmest expressions I'd seen from them yet. I sheated the dao again and belted it around my waist, grateful for the return of a weight at my hip. Looking thoughtfully at my daggers, I considered if I should replace those. "How...how much would this all cost, anyway?" Sure Kaufman was footing the bill, but still...

The man smiled wolfishly and said a number. That number had me stumbling out of the shop a few minutes later with my old daggers back around my waist. Just how much was that freaking silk worth?

x x x

I went to the inn to arrange for our rooms and wait for the others. Sure, they'd have gone to Belius for an audience, but the big old full moon in the sky told me they'd be turned away like in the game. It would be another two weeks before we'd get to see her.

That suits me just fine. I don't want to see her die... Hey, waitaminute. Isn't there something I can do about that? Little good was going to come out of that whole fiasco down the road. The coliseum would be in chaos, Estelle would try to help Belius with only good intentions but would instead cause her death, and that death in turn would lead to Whitehorse committing ritual suicide to make amends to Palestrale. That left two major cities without their leaders. One hell of a power vacuum.

But even further down the line, Belius' apatheia becomes instrumental to stopping the Adephagos. She's even reborn, more or less, as Undine.

But what if...

What if we had another apatheia? Then we wouldn't need hers, and it wouldn't hurt things in the long run to save her now! But where could I find another apatheia?

I practically smacked myself in the head when the answer came to me. There was the clear ciel crystal in that red box Estelle and Rita were carrying around. I hadn't thought of it as important since it would be destroyed the moment we showed it to Duke. But what if I could keep him from using Dein Nomos on it?

"Hardly recognized ya at first, Letha honey."

I looked up in surprise, not having heard anyone come in. "Oh, hey Raven." Then it occurred to me I should try and act like I hadn't expected them back so soon. "Did you already finish your business with the Duce?"

"Nah, turns out she won't meet anyone except durin' the new moon." Raven sat down in an armchair and kicked his feet up onto a low coffee table. "The others wanted to look around some more, but this old man is beat!"

"Mmhmm, I'm sure you are." I was distracted from his plight by a cat that had just entered the inn common room. I was leaning over the armrest of my chair, trying to coax the gray tabby into coming closer. It considered me with narrow yellow eyes, tail twitching.

"How cold!" he griped, noticing my lack of attention. I ignored him, as the cat was taking a few tentative steps in my direction. It was finally close enough that I could almost brush the tips of my fingers against its fur if I stretched just a bit. I held out my hand for it to sniff.

It was when the tabby began butting its head against my leather gloved hand that Raven finally spoke up again, and I realized he'd been quiet for longer than would fit his affected persona. "So ya also got another pair of gloves."

Inside I froze up, though to all appearances I was just fully absorbed in scratching the tabby behind the ears. He continued as if he didn't notice anything unusual, but that didn't mean he hadn't. "There some reason ya cover that thing up?" He didn't need to explain what 'thing' he meant.

I shrugged a shoulder as if it weren't that important. "Just don't like to stand out like I did back on the Atherum," and he didn't need anymore than that to understand I meant the portable glowing light show. "It doesn't happen often, but it's not very predictable. So I just got in the habit of wearing gloves." The couple at the store Kaufman had taken me to didn't throw in a pair, and I was honestly a bit too intimidated to ask for them. But I'd found another pair of fingerless gloves at a stall on the way to the inn.

"Uh huh. And where'd ya get somethin' like that anyway?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "What, you didn't hear yet? I was expecting you to ask about it days ago." I really had. And when he hadn't asked me, I'd assumed someone else must have explained my supposed mishap with my 'aunt's' research materials.

"Must've slipped my mind." The cat lost interest in me and went to investigate the purple stranger on the other seat. Raven reached down and ruffled the fur on its head. I told my 'personal history' once again, the summary coming easily. I hoped the obvious familiarity made it sound authentic, and not rehearsed or scripted. When I was done there was silence between us. Until the tabby nipped at Raven's fingers and made him yelp.

He pushed the cat away reflexively, and the offended feline jumped across the room before turning back to stare indignantly at him. I giggled a bit. "Aw, how mean! That was just a love bite!" I held out my hand and waved my fingers enticingly at the cat, trying to coax it back to my willing pampering. It considered my fingers for a moment before leaving in the direction of the kitchen.

"I'd prefer love bites from somethin' without the sharp teeth," he declared.

"How about a fish? They don't have any teeth."

"Didn't ya get a look at the chompers those mermen had?"

"You're awful picky." I relaxed again at the banter. I was safe, the truth wrapped up neatly under layers of lies once again. For the time being.

x x x

Sooo muuuch filler! I'm really not as happy with this chapter as most of my others. And I skipped some things I'd considered putting in since I wanted to get this done and finally move on to a more interesting part!

To make up for (hopefully) the lateness of this chapter (the first half was seriously sitting on my computer for two weeks without going anywhere) and the fillerishness, I have a bunch of extras to add. First, there is another popularity poll for my original characters, as some of you have noticed. I also got really bored at some point and made Letha a formspring since I wasn't getting anywhere writing. AND there is some new art on my deviantart account. Yay. Links are in my profile.