October 5th, First Year

Ingo had been carefully tending to the nicks and scars in Freight's exoskeleton when it happened. Footsteps- heavy and faltering- sounded on the creaky wooden floorboards of his home in the Pearl Settlement. Someone coughed.

Ingo scowled, even more so when Parlor floated past him to drop themself on a spare cushion by the fire. So they have completed their task, then. And that would mean that my expected passenger has arrived. Ingo sighed and turned, staring at the intruder within his abode. Staring at Jaku who had been dropped beside the front door who shrunk from his wrathful gaze like a Starly from a brooding Luxio.

"Miss Jaku," Ingo spoke lowly. He had half a mind to drop the remaining hospitality from his tone before hastily reminding himself that he was misdirecting his anger. What matters most is obtaining information; brakes exist for a reason.

The woman in question flinched at Ingo's droning tone, taking a hesitant step back upon sighting Ingo sitting only a few paces away, Freight draped over his body like a scaly blanket. "Ingo," Jaku breathed. "…Hey." She pointedly looked away, her fingers twitching as she took yet another step away from him toward the door. "Didn't mean to barge in- "

"Snivy sni, sni-sniiii! Snee!" A small, leaf-clad pokémon struggled to break out of Jaku's arms, immediately latching onto Ingo where the pokémon then used a handful of vines to keep themself attached firmly to Ingo's side. Ingo had flinched at first at the sudden contact but then, he remembered skimming the contents of Jaku's message. About the small detail that Emmet had been turned into a pokémon. The pokémon- Snivy, Ingo remembered in a shock- stared dolefully at him, their silver eyes glassy.

"Parlor was successful in bringing you both here, then. Very good."

"Right…" Jaku grimaced. "Well…" Pinching the bridge of her nose, Jaku readjusted the frayed rope belt of pokéballs tied haphazardly around her waist. "We have a lot to talk about now that I just got here. I'm sure that you have questions- mostly about how your brother got turned into a pokémon, no doubt."

"Indeed, I do. And I am assuming that this new passenger of yours is Emmet, is it not?"

"Yeah, that's… that's Emmet."

"Curious." Ingo did a quick once-over of his brother once Emmet ceased tightening his vice grip around Ingo's waist. There were a few spots of mud and water here and there and perhaps a tear on Emmet's tail leaf, but nothing that required immediate attention. "Emmet seems to be in fine working order." Ingo then turned his stare upon Jaku's own disheveled state, meeting the woman's gaze as he spoke again. "I must ask- "

"Don't." Jaku held up one hand for silence, readjusting their headscarf to better obscure their mud-streaked face. "Listen. I'm just here to deliver him to you and answer your questions. It was Emmet's idea to drag me here."

At Jaku's words, one of her pokémon- her Zoroark- emerged from their pokéball and began to angrily tug on their trainer's tunic sleeve, pointing one curled red claw directly at Ingo as it fussed and babbled, its black-and-red fur bristling.

Jaku in turn shook her head. "We're not doing that, you scoundrel."

"Doing what, exactly?"

Parlor chimed in with Telepathy. "That human is injured. Suffering from some kind of infection, it would seem."

"Snee. Snivy-snee-sni-sssni."

"Ah. It would appear that this human is also using some kind of poison. Both for ingestion and topical usage. That is all." Parlor then curled up in a ball on their cushion and nodded off to sleep.

Ingo blanched, the cloth in his hand falling to the floor. Of course, there would be something more to the situation. "Am I to believe that my pokémon and Emmet are telling me the truth? That you are ingesting some kind of poison? Or perhaps, that your messages to me informing me of your pre-existing conditions were false?"

Jaku met his gaze evenly, betraying nothing. "No idea what you're talking about. I'm fine." She waved off her Zoroark's furious gnawing at her sleeves. "Disregard what I wrote in the previous message. All is well with me."

"Very well." And after a moment of awkward silence, Ingo gestured to an empty cushion by the hearth a few paces away. "You may sit. As … dismayed as I am to find out about Emmet's condition, he is in an acceptable state and seeing as how we have much to discuss, I would rather you be somewhat comfortable while we converse."

"I'll pass," Jaku immediately drawled. She then looked pointedly away at the far wall, clasping her hands behind her back. "Not to be rude, but I'm covered in mud and muck from the mirelands. I'm already tracking all kinds of grime in here, so I'll just stand for the time being."

"Are you quite sure?" Ingo was hesitant even speaking to the woman. His entire history of his interactions with Jaku couldn't be trusted due to Jaku's admittance of warping his and Akari's memories without so much as a speck of remorse. The tone of Jaku's letters to him- one's detailing Emmet's status most importantly- were overwhelmingly curt and filled with an impatience that starkly overshadowed Ingo's first impression of the woman: when he had known Jaku to be amiable and a bit rash. Well-meaning. The woman that had once easily handed him Chandelure's pokéball with a relaxed smile now stared warily at him, scowling. "Do you… require a spare change of clothes?" Ingo tried instead. "The Pearl Clan has more than enough spares for you to use."

Jaku pinched the bridge of her nose, tapping her muddy boots against the floor. "No, thank you. Again, I'm only here to deliver Emmet to you and answer questions. Oh. But thank you for asking, I guess."

Ingo opened his mouth to speak, once again interrupted as Jaku's Zoroark let out a loud whine and began attempting to nudge their trainer forward toward the flames. "The state of your cab seems to be quite dire, to put it as an understatement," Ingo rasped aloud, deliberately not framing it as a question. "And not just from the grime of the mirelands. If I remember correctly, you were discharged from the Pearl Settlement with a chest wound. From your fall during our expedition."

Jaku blinked. "I… I got that covered. It's still here but it… hurts less."

You're lying to me, aren't you? Ingo knew that pokémon looked after their trainers just as well as trainers looked after their pokémon. Ingo didn't like Zoroarks but Jaku's Zoroark was behaving in a manner that reminded him all too much of how Boxcar would bully him into submission if Ingo was neglecting to refuel or rest his cab after a particularly grueling trek across the highlands. And Ingo debated holding his tongue. But then he remembered how Jaku had come to gain her chest wound in the first place: protecting him. I suppose I could give her the benefit of the doubt one last time. "I insist that you remain here with the Pearl Clan, then. Lady Irida was quite taken aback at the last message speaking about your encounter in the mirelands. It will be no trouble at all locating some replacement robes for you in the meantime." And before Jaku could rebuke him, Ingo sent Parlor off to Irida before focusing back on the woman before him. "Please, take a seat."

"Ingo- "

"Take a seat." Ingo left no room for arguing. If he was going to conduct a conversation with the headstrong woman, he would need to be just as curt and impatient as she. And when Jaku had reluctantly done as he asked, Ingo clasped his hands in his lap and nodded. "Well then. I do have a few questions of you, so I will read them off to you in order of importance. The Time Pendant. Is it still broken?"

"Yes." Jaku reached into her shirt and pulled out the pendant, the faint teal light glittering on her broken fingernails as she let it spin slowly in front of her face. "Still waiting on some kind of change from Azelf. Pretty much powerless right now. Next question."

"Emmet's condition. You mentioned previously that it was Azelf who transfigured my brother into his current state? How specifically is what I'd like to know." Ingo had been carefully holding Emmet the entire time, having wrapped the trembling Snivy in his frayed jacket as he sat hunched over in front of the fire. In the span of time Emmet had been away from him, not only had his brother gotten injured searching for Jaku but he had apparently been transfigured and had witnessed something of some effect that had surpassed his usual clinginess.

"Frankly, I don't have a clue how Azelf managed it," Jaku admitted, rubbing at her eyes. "In all instances that I've been turned into a pokémon, one was due to going into a mystery dungeon and the other was apparently being sent to Giratina. Neither of which happened to Emmet. One moment, he was a human. The next, he was just… gone. Azelf whisked him away into a remote part of the mirelands."

"So… you didn't turn Emmet into a pokémon on purpose via means of time distortions?"

"No," Jaku retorted dryly. "I don't… I can't do that, Ingo. Again, I don't know how Azelf even managed it in the first place or why they even did it to begin with." Jaku absently picked at her nails. "Listen… I've been thinking about how to change Emmet back into a human."

"I will take a guess and say that it will involve conversing with Azelf once again." Ingo took off his hat and grasped at his hair, shutting his eyes as he hummed. The last time he had spoken to one of the lake guardians had been unpleasant to say the least. Mesprit had shown themselves to be rather conniving and playfully malicious, but Ingo hadn't been able to get a good read on Azelf when the lake spirit had ridiculed both him and Emmet for withholding the Time Pendant ages ago. "But then, Azelf is rumored to live beneath one of the Hisuian lakes. More specifically, Lake Valor. And you created a rift over the lake quite some time ago. Can you even reenter the lake cavern there?"

"Technically yes but also no. I've been mulling it over for some time now. You're not going to like either of these answers, Ingo."

"Regardless, I want to hear them. Emmet received your tablet detailing your condition and rushed to your aid. I would expect that you would do the same given the same circumstances."

Jaku blinked, her surprise clear in the way the woman nearly slipped off of her cushion. "I… I didn't know that. I just assumed that you sent him on some fetch quest for something or another. Or maybe that it was a coincidence. But… I'd have to ask Azelf or really, any of the lake guardians what can be done to get him back to normal. I don't think waiting until the Time Pendant is fixed will do anything."

"You mentioned checkpoints the last time we spoke about how your artifact works. That is, if the lake guardians were to repair the pendant, you would no longer be able to time travel back to before it was broken."

"Right. That's exactly right. And sending Emmet through a time distortion- a mystery dungeon- wouldn't work. Seeing as how Emmet somehow got locked into one of those before my pokémon found him, that little theory got thrown out completely."

"Then perhaps finding Azelf truly is the only answer."

"That or Mesprit. And both of them are bad news. Ingo, can you summon Mesprit? Do they talk to you? Regularly, I mean."

"No. Not with certainty and they contact me whenever the situation calls for it. But. Mesprit. You have run into them before at Lake Verity according to Emmet. There is also Uxie, who resides at Lake Acuity. You have not gone to visit them yet, have you?"

"No, I haven't. But then, even if I were to go there, I can't enter the dungeon. I'm forbidden so long as I'm a human and my pendant is cracked."

"That didn't stop Emmet from being pulled in at Lake Verity. If my own theory is correct, if we were to journey to one of the lakes- thus placing us within the wandering realms of the lake spirits- we may have a chance of reaching them or to that extent, finding a mystery dungeon so that I can enter- "

"Absolutely not." Jaku's tone had deepened, her eyes hardening to chips of flint as she glared at Ingo. "Emmet was in bad shape when my pokémon brought him to me. What makes you think you'll fare any better when you know next to nothing about how mystery dungeons work? And that's assuming that you can just find one. The only reason Emmet got sucked into the dungeon bordering Lake Verity was because I was actively exploring that dungeon and didn't position him far enough from the entrance. I don't know the details behind the other case in the mirelands, but it's probably because he was already a pokémon. Ingo, you wouldn't be able to enter without me unless you plan on pissing off the lake guardians," Jaku emphasized. "I'm not even gonna consider accidentally getting you changed into a pokémon as well."

"Then you believe we should wait for one of the lake guardians to contact us?"

Jaku grimaced and hung her head. "I'm sorry. The only reason Emmet got turned was because he came trying to help me. I should've kept my mouth shut and saved him the trouble."

"Miss Jaku- "

"Save it, Ingo," Jaku snapped. "It's relatively my fault that Emmet is stuck as a pokémon; well, my fault and Azelf's." Jaku then spared a glance at Emmet who had been sitting quietly, his body pressed up against Ingo's. "I want Emmet to stay with you. He'll just be in danger if he's stuck with me. Heaven knows, he's seen enough in the past two days for me to want him nowhere near me during the rest of my time here in Hisui. Any more questions?"

Ingo shook his head. "No. None that I can think of at this moment."

Jaku got to her feet. "Fine. I'll leave you and Emmet be. I need to work out some things on my own so it's time for me to get going."

"Then allow for me and my pokémon to guide you to Pellervo." Ingo got to his feet as well, wincing upon hearing his joints creak. "Lady Irida has specifically requested that should you arrive that you would be granted sanctuary by the Pearl Settlement; especially given the fact that you were attacked nigh instantaneously the moment you separated from myself and Emmet."

At Jaku's side, Zoroark did a tiny dance of sorts and quickly wrapped their lean body around their trainer's, stopping them in their tracks with a tight hug.

"That's ironic seeing as how my pokémon and I were forbidden from staying here the last time we were here. What's the occasion?"

"Lady Irida has made an exception," Ingo coughed. "And besides that matter of fact, you should take the state of your own cab into consideration; yourself and your passengers. From what it sounds like, you are in dire need of maintenance before you go off on any tracks alone. You can lie as much as you'd like; your pokémon say enough for me to understand what they want."

Jaku made a face but said nothing, instead shrinking into the baggy, wet shadow of their clothes.

A timid knock sounded on the door.

"The door?" Jaku grunted, involuntarily reaching for the handle.

"You may."

Jaku plodded over toward the door and opened it just a sliver. She then froze. "Clan Leader Irida? Here. Let me let you in." Jaku quickly opened the door to allow both Irida and a spindly Kirlia into the hut. Jaku had been about to leave the hut, her Zoroark close behind her, but both were stopped upon Irida directly addressing Jaku.

"Ah, Ranger Jaku, was it? You're here. That's good. I was just about to send a letter to Ingo asking if he had determined your whereabouts after the last letter you sent to him." Irida then gaped at the amount of old blood staining Jaku's tunic, not even bothering to look perturbed at the Zoroark holding onto its trainer's back. "And what in the name of Sinnoh happened to you? You look like you got into a fight with an Ursaring and lost."

Emmet squirmed in his position amidst Ingo's arms as if attempting to escape Ingo's grip. "Sniiiv-sni-sssnii-"

"I got hurt. End of story," Jaku spoke over Emmet's urgent squealing, sending a venomous glare at the plant pokémon. "No need for salad-boy over there to elaborate any further- "

Irida's gaze sharpened, cutting through Jaku's abrupt explanation like a hot knife through butter. "I am more inclined to listen to Emmet than I am to you, Ranger Jaku. As it stands, something has transpired in the mirelands. You are aware of the details." Irida then faced Ingo, her gaze and her tone both softening. "Has she spoken anything to you regarding happenings within the mirelands, Ingo?"

Ingo immediately nodded, catching Jaku's grateful glance. "Jaku has told me enough details to match what she has written in her messages to both myself and Emmet."

"Excellent." Irida smoothed out the creases in her kimono and moved to take a seat on a spare cushion by the hearth, gesturing for both Ingo and Jaku to follow her lead. "Ah. But I suppose there are other happenings taking place. Thus, the Kirlia with us."

Ingo turned to the newest pokémon in the room, his heart sinking upon recognizing the Kirlia and in turn, remembering the Kirlia's trainer. "Young Akari's Kirlia? Here to deliver another message?"

"Indeed." Irida's grimace was tight-lipped and strained, her pale eyes narrowing upon her own hands clasped in her lap. "More news from Akari, amended by Warden Palina."

Ingo immediately froze, his hands beginning to shake. "Not so soon, surely…?" He took hold of the letter that Irida had tossed his way, unfurling the scrap to read the contents within. Nausea and apprehension turned in his gut. Lord Basculegion had become frenzied.

October 8th, First Year

Rain and thunder tore at the grass and sands of the cliffs, nearly seizing Ingo and pulling him off of the steep ledge he trudged across. Coach was a heartbeat faster, sinking one hand into the cliff and another around Ingo's waist, saving him from a fatal drop many many meters to the valley floor below.

Ingo fought to keep his hat atop his head, inwardly cursing as more and more sand was tossed into the wind and back into his face. In his left hand, he held a lantern to better peer through the thick curtain of fog. His right hand was being held tightly by Jaku who followed him step-for-step, the two forced to hold hands to avoid losing each other on the sharp decline. Emmet's leafy head poked up from his position within Ingo's inner coat pocket, using one long vine to probe the way ahead like a makeshift walking stick.

The news of Basculegion going into a frenzy had immediately prompted Ingo into venturing to the Cobalt Coastlands but not before hastily ensuring that Jaku would come with him. Two pokémon wielders were better than one- especially given the fact that Ingo knew he would've been likely to have been attacked had he gone in by himself- and it was both Freight and Jaku's Yanmega that had been instrumental in finding their way down the mountains leading toward the sea where a horrible fog had obscured everything in their path.

Ingo paused, his gaze catching on a cluster of yellow lights swirling in the fog. "I do believe we have reached our intended destination!" he announced, having to shout to be heard efficiently. The thick salt in the air stung at his eyes and at the back of his throat. Never before had he ventured onto such a narrow, dangerous path. Lady Sneasler would be a great help during times like these, but she is not here and I suppose I must make do.

From behind him, Jaku coughed. "The Trail Encampment?" The woman procured a map from her side pack, adjusting the sleeves of her tunic as she kept her grip on Ingo's outstretched hand. "Hold on. Isn't that encampment due to be positioned closer to the coast? Closer to… Gingko Landing?"

"That would seem to be correct! May I see the map?"

"Sure! Here you go!"

Ingo slowly let his finger wander over the map, looking back-and-forth between where he sighted the lights and where they were supposed to be standing. He frowned. "This map is up to date, of that I'm certain! So then, the lights we're seeing should be much farther east!" Ingo slowly and carefully uncoupled his hand from Jaku's, reaching for Freight's pokéball. He released his partner and with a quick use of Defog, Ingo quickly figured out what was going on. It wasn't that the lights were the Trail Encampment. He could see what looked to be a cluster of stone roofs lower in the valley. But the cluster of lights belonged to a massive village; a village that was surrounded by massive, frothing waves, tall enough to cast shadows on the sands of the beach.

"Isn't Basculegion a fish?" Jaku's tone was hushed with reverence and fear as the woman instead placed one steadying hand on Ingo's back. Her hand was shaking, intensifying when the thick fog began to roll back in. "C'mon! Let's hustle to the encampment before the trail gets even more slippery!"

"Agreed!"

Ingo led the way further until the stone roofs became stone houses, wooden shutters banging against cobbled stone walls in the treacherous winds. And when at last Ingo sighted a cluster of people peering anxiously at the storm from the shelter of an overhanging stone awning, Ingo immediately brightened. People! And people meant that shelter was presumably nearby. Ingo was due to refuel and given how skittish Jaku had become, Ingo figured that a rest stop was very much needed.

From within the group hanging around under the storm, Ingo could see Akari hanging back, pressed into the long curly chest fur of her evolved Purugly. The young girl stared out at the torrential downpour, her eyebrows knitted together as she listened to another man beside her speaking in urgent tones. That was before Akari turned in Ingo's direction, herself brightening in turn.

"Warden Ingo!"

"Young Akari!" Ingo rushed to be underneath the awning, pulling Jaku behind him as he shook off the excess rainwater from his coat. He was caught off guard when the young teenager ran to meet him, throwing her arms around him in a crushing hug. "It is good that you are safe!"

"Same to you!" Akari grinned, taking a step back. "You came to help out?"

"Indeed! Miss Jaku is here as well to lend aid to the cause!" Ingo moved just an inch to the side to reveal a very wet and very confused Jaku who was too busy staring at the surging waves miles away. "We are both here to assist you!"

Akari beamed, her cheery disposition almost dispelling the gloom from the air. "Perfect! That's great! I'll need all the help I can get! But first, let's get out of this rain before we all get sick!" Akari waved them both into the stone building they had been huddling outside of, leading them toward a booth in the back. "Okay! No more rain! At least not for the time being." Akari then reached up and squeezed the excess rainwater from her hair. "Consider the Trail Encampment your guys' home until the paths to Gingko Landing and Suncrest are all cleared up. That's what Captain Cyllene wanted me to pass along to you in case either of you showed up. We're working on getting those trails nice and safe for usage again."

"Good to know." Ingo ducked his head, extinguishing his lantern as he just barely missed knocking his head against a hanging one in the building. He paused so that Emmet could climb out of his coat pocket, finding a sitting spot directly on Ingo's shoulder. "Are the paths heading away from this station as perilous as the cliff trail Jaku and myself were forced to venture across?"

A new voice instead answered his question, one that Ingo knew he had heard before. "Not necessarily unless you prefer trekking through knee-high mud."

Ingo paused upon hearing Akari choke briefly, his gaze landing on a man sitting hunched over in a booth only a pace away from where Ingo stood. A blonde man. A man holding a squirming Togetic in his lap. "I… believe we have met before, have we not? You seem rather familiar."

The man- a Gingko Guild Merchant- simply nodded, not bothering to look over at Ingo as the merchant poured over a waterlogged map. "We have. Sorry. I'm a little occupied at the moment."

"Volo," Jaku droned, her eyes narrowing with dislike; even more so when Akari unexpectedly took a seat beside the man. Ingo didn't miss the way Jaku balled her fists at her sides, dislike clear in both her tone and her gaze as she leaned up against the border of the booth. "Haven't seen you in a long time. What's new?"

Ingo knew Jaku's false tone well enough to know that the woman wasn't actually all too interested in what Volo had truly been up to as of recent. He spared a questioning glance to Jaku. That was before Akari interrupted the both of them by gesturing for them to take their seats.

"Apart from trade with Gingko Landing being cut off? Not much," Volo replied softly, still not looking up from his papers.

"What he means to say- " Akari cut in, leaning fully on the table- "is that with Basculegion's frenzy, a good chunk of the usual coastlands is u-underwater," Akari stammered. Though she sat beside the much older man, she leaned away from him. "The sea level around here rose pretty high i-in the last few days."

Ingo realized the horrible extent of Akari's words, remembering that the lights he had seen in the distance- the ones that had been too far west according to Ingo's map- had been the lights of what was supposed to be Gingko Landing, the main hub and origin place of all Gingko Guild merchants located in Hisui. And if the sea level has risen… "Gingko Landing was built upon docks, wasn't it?" he asked aloud. Ingo knew the answer. "Are the people stationed there… are they quite alright?"

Ingo listened as Akari tentatively explained the happenings within the coastlands. Basculegion's frenzy had caused the sea level to rise and most importantly, the noble had also caused the malevolent storms that had- in Akari's words- been continuing non-stop for days. Akari alongside the Galaxy Exploration Team had been documenting numerous cases of people going missing in the land along with more and more hostile pokémon. Most worringly was Akari's note that Lord Arcanine, Warden Palina, and Warden Iscan hadn't been seen for quite some time and that their outposts had been rendered inaccessible.

Ingo had been about to rise from the table, ready to find some lodging in order to get dry before Jaku had caught him by the scruff of his jacket.

"Ingo. A word with you." Jaku's hardened gaze followed Akari until the oblivious young girl and her blonde escort had departed. And once it was just the two of them alone, the woman continued to keep her eyes on the door, slumping down into her seat. "Listen. That guy Akari was with? Volo? Don't trust him."

Ingo sat back down, allowing Emmet to fully scramble onto the table. "May I ask why?" Ingo pressed. "Does this suspicion have something to do with events that conspired in the mirelands? Perhaps, the same events that you neglected to inform me about when we coupled together at the Pearl Settlement?"

Jaku shook her head. "Nah. That's… something else entirely. No. It's because Volo was in on Akari poisoning Rei." Jaku removed her hand from Ingo's coat, crossing her arms on the table as she peered out through the windows. "He was sending messages to Akari. I think he pressured her into harming Rei and what's more, I don't like the way the two of them operate. Not in the slightest."

Ingo hummed. He had mixed opinions on Volo. Gingko Guild merchants were neutral forces according to the Pearl Clan. But Ingo remembered his previous conversation with Irida back when Emmet was a human. About Irida's quiet idea about their attacker possibly being a merchant in disguise. Ingo's blood froze in his veins, realizing that Jaku's own worm of intuition could be realizing Volo as an actual suspect. But Ingo swallowed his voice. "I cannot say that I disagree. I briefly remember speaking with Volo sometime after Lord Kleavor had been quelled. He seemed quite interested in learning about the lore behind the Old Verses if I am to recall our interaction clearly."

"That's just it," Jaku continued, scowling. "He seems a bit too interested. For a merchant that's supposed to be selling things all over Hisui, Volo seems to have a lot of free time at his disposal." At Ingo's curious glance, Jaku began to backtrack, relating her experience with the merchant during her brief stunt acting as Akari and Volo's bodyguard. "He's friendly enough with Akari but there's just something… "

"Strange about him?" Ingo offered. "Hmm. While it is good to know of Volo's involvements with Young Akari's plights, I cannot work on that suspicion alone."

"I don't expect you to. I just thought that I would share my suspicions with you." In a lower tone, Jaku added, "You wanted me to be a bit more forthcoming, right? Well, I trust my intuition and I don't trust Volo. I wouldn't be surprised if something was up again with Akari."

Ingo stared at the window, clasping his hands in front of his face. "And perhaps, Young Akari doesn't trust him either. She did seem rather perturbed by his presence here as if having not expecting him to be here in the first place." One knowing glance at Jaku affirmed Ingo's suspicion that something wasn't all that right with the merchant. "Very well. I will take your suspicions into consideration and relay what we know to Lady Irida as well." Ingo stood, pausing. "Can I rely on you for assistance with quelling Lord Basculegion?" It was a question that came from uncertainty. Ingo was pleased that Jaku was finally opening up to him but just as the woman's hair of suspicion arose from Volo, so too did Ingo's own hair of suspicion toward Jaku rise.

"It's not like I have anything better to do. Just…" Jaku grumbled under her breath. "Hmm. There's far too many moving pieces for me to be sure of anything. My main mission right now is locating the time gears and getting Emmet back to normal. I'm trying to remember how I got… turned… back." Jaku's eyes widened and immediately, she was back on her feet. "I have another theory to turn Emmet back. Maybe. Possibly. But! But…" Jaku sent a pointed look at Emmet. "Nevermind. It's too risky to go alone and tracking her down isn't guaranteed."

"Who?"

"Cogita."