"Ah, apologies, Sir Garnt. I wasn't expecting to run into one of the Workshop's Meistri on Fifth Rib… Still, that's one more tablet delivered, so less delays for you! Where, um, where was I?"

"No need for apologies. I believe you were saying something about Ke, Ke-sel-thay?"

"Oh, that's right! That tower at the platform's edge, that's Kysylltey! The Kysylltey Watering Tower, if you like being precise. It's the source of most of Bones' water, especially during the rainy parts of a cycle. There's a net at the top that catches impurities in the rain and lets the clean water drop down into these huge barrels. I've had to clean that net a few times actually, and let me tell you, it gets very gross up there. Still, it's a really interesting design! Made up by… a skyborn from a few hundred cycles ago, sorry, I can't remember their name. Sorry."

"It only provides water during the rainy seasons?"

"Kind of, but actually, the net at the top can be fully closed up! So if we go a while without rain, the Swamp-Walkers take some people along and go out with a lot of buckets, I always try to go along but they haven't picked me yet, and then we use the tower as a site to boil the impurities from the water they bring back. Or, used to, but that's gotten a lot harder…"

"Why's that?"

"Well, don't tell anyone I told you, but fire-breathing's one of those traits that's been disappearing even among earthborn. It used to be super common, for people without scales too, but nowadays everybody needs a clicker. And clickers… they're nice, but, you can see the issue, right? Too small, even if you only wanted to boil a normal pot of water."

For somebody who'd been so deferential earlier, Garnt mused, Miss Aris was quite the chatterbox once she got going. All he had to do was make the odd noise of interest here and there.

Not to say he wasn't interested. Information was always useful.

The sorcerer could admit, when he had first seen Bones' inhabitants, he had grown defensive, withdrawn. Seeing a tall, muscular humanoid, clad in scales-

Cold steel, swinging for his neck. Black flames that burned his very self out.

-had him on guard, for just a moment, the thoughts of a trap illogically flashing through his mind. Even now, seeing Miss Aris wildly gesticulate at the monument before them, he couldn't help but pinpoint each and every plate of dark green across her bronzed arms. Dragon scales, dragon horns, dragon eyes.

There was something going on in this swamp, had been going on for a long time by now. Garnt had his suspicions before, but…

He needed to press his advantage. He had the element of surprise, in acquiring an ally in a place none of the Four Lords could reach into or contact. But returning to Yusi afterwards was a must.

"By the way, Sir Garnt, are you from South Paug? I hope you won't mind me asking, Lady Nanami didn't disclose your home but, I'm curious." Aris turned back towards him, her tone half-apologetic, half-eager.

"No, and I'd rather-" Garnt began, before her words caught up to him, "South Paug?"

"Yes!" Aris nodded enthusiastically, "Yusi's very own city of sorcerers! They're a nasty bunch of recluses, you look like you'd fit right in."

Garnt… chose to ignore that.

"No, I wasn't aware there was a South Paug to begin with," and that was another thing about these Lord-forsaken swamps he'd have to look into, Paug was supposed to be locked in time on the other side of the continent, "And I'd rather not share where I'm from, for now. No offense intended."

"Hm, you really are from outside Yusi then, beyond the cliff walls even. I'm glad… No, nevermind. Hey, Sir Garnt," Aris brightened, and began leading him away from the monument, "If you don't want to share where you're from, care to trade a few stories? You must have seen all kinds of places before coming here."

Garnt's first instinct was to refuse, but so long as he was careful with what he shared, what could it hurt? It was a good opportunity to fish for more information in an otherwise unfamiliar place, information that Miss Aris was all too pleased to hand out.

The journey across the giant dragon ribcage continued (Garnt was disturbed to find out that each rib's platform was numbered in a zig-zagging pattern), with Garnt participating in the conversation a little more actively. Miss Aris was oddly enthusiastic about tales of slumming it across Caerdiaeth's surface, narrowly avoiding detection by Galou's guard patrols before making a break across the border, or sneaking into the Floating Archive's outer libraries. Perhaps, having lived through all those things, Garnt was simply disillusioned to the process.

Maybe he was just getting old.

For his part, Garnt was happy to finally hear the story behind Bones' name. Once upon a time, the swamps of Yusi faced a dragon problem that dwarfed any of the ones he'd heard about, until the Lady of Blades ventured out and started dealing with them, carving large chunks of the landscape out in the process. The name itself was something of an inside joke - after a particularly large dragon carcass had been defleshed thoroughly, a skyborn with big ideas looked at the bones and decided leaving them there would be a waste, and wouldn't they make a perfect scaffolding for a hanging settlement?

'The city where nothing goes to waste', the Settlement of Bones.

A few more stories filled the gap as Miss Aris finished delivering messages on Ninth Rib (which was diagonally across from Eight Rib, but that didn't bother him, it bothered him, it bothered him a lot), though Garnt opted to once again take a less active role after Miss Aris asked him how he had crossed the great cliffwall that separated Yusi from the rest of Caerdiaeth. "I jumped down," was, perhaps, not the most appropriate answer, and seeing the look on her face, Garnt refrained from mentioning the long and uncomfortable process of waiting at the bottom until his body revived itself.

She was content enough to fill the silence with tales of the Fourth Sky-Hunter Squad mistaking some passing birds for a gathering of drakes and the panic they had caused, occasionally quieting as they passed another set of dragonkin on the bridge. That suited him fine - Garnt had a lot to work through, now.

"Well, I have a few tablets left to deliver but that's all the priority messages out of the way, Sir Garnt," Aris said, hunched down over her carrier sack, "So, um, now I'll take you to Lower Spine? We'll have to talk with the Supplier about what you want, and then in Upper Spine we can get you that map. Is there, did you need anything else?"

"That should be all, thank you." Garnt nodded, and then, because something else had been bothering him, "Did I do something to worry you, Miss Aris?"

"Ah, no, no, no, there's no problem, none-! I don't, um…" Aris flailed, looking up at him.

Garnt waited.

"I'm just worried," Aris sighed, looking back down, "You've been very patient so far, and I really appreciate that! But, the incident five years ago shook a lot of people. The Keeper's been on a click trigger since, and things haven't gotten unbearable or anything but life is, definitely stricter. And I… haven't seen An'uen in those five years."

She sat down on the platform's stone floor, hugging her knees.

"I don't want the first time I see her again to be when I get thrown into the same hole."

The sky sure looked interesting right now, with all the clouds and the faintly gray shade of blue… No, that was deeply unfair behaviour on his part, he had been the one to ask Miss Aris about her troubles. The answer being more than he knew what to do with was not her fault.

But Garnt's ability to comfort others was close to non-existent. Yet, he couldn't let the silence just hang, either. What could he possibly say?

"…I'll talk to her about it." Garnt stated, resolutely keeping his eyes on the overcast sky, "Nanami. I'll talk to her about it. She's influential in your society, isn't she? I'll try to convince her to do something about it."

After a pause, he heard a wet-sounding giggle at his side, and looked back down.

"Heh, 'influential'. I know you're an outsider," Aris spoke, in a wobbly yet amused tone, wiping a tear from her eye as she did, "But did you come here all this way without knowing that?"

"'Knowing that?' Knowing what?" Garnt asked, mildly confused by the sudden shift of the conversation.

"Our Lady of Blades isn't 'influential'. She's, um… She's the god we worship. Like how all those places beyond the cliffwall have their Lords, you know?"

Garnt's soul nearly shook loose from his body.

"Can… Can you please elaborate on that, Miss Aris?" Garnt said faintly.

—

"I just assumed she was, hm, nobility? In a position of high status, certainly. I didn't realise…"

"That… I can't say your assumption was bad, Sir Garnt, but Lady Nanami has been around for a long, long time. She's been protecting Yusi's people since the swamps formed, I think. Kind of reassuring, if you think about it."

"I'm surprised you're this, relaxed, about her leaving then. Surely that would be cause for worry?" Garnt noted as they walked across the rope-bridge. A noble choosing to gallivant off with whoever passed their trials was unremarkable in the grand scheme of things. A protector deity active enough to be viewed fondly by the populace, though?

"Well, it didn't occur to me to get worried until you said that, but I suppose I am a bit now! It's just always been this way, though," Aris looked away contemplatively, considering her words, "Growing up we all heard stories of Lady Nanami going off with this or that wielder to solve some problem the mainland was having. It's been a long time since the last one, but… well, you did complete the trials, right?"

Garnt started at her sidelong glance, but nodded. He had the hexagon and mental scars to prove it.

"Then Yusi should be fine for a while." Aris affirmed, and, noticing his curious look, elaborated, "There's a few hotspots of activity from beasts and dragons that go wild if they're left unchecked for too long. That's what Lady Nanami has usually done for us - but the trials are designed to kill that activity down to manageable levels, too."

"So, I did her job for her," Garnt replied, feeling a little miffed as he stepped onto Lower Spine's enormous platform. The trials had just been busywork?

"You did her duty for her, so now she can leave without us getting overrun." Aris corrected, "Oh, we're almost there!"

Lower Spine was truly massive, suspended between multiple ribs by a familiar silvery chain. The Rib platforms had all been of a decent size, fitting a few key buildings at the center and a circle of small huts to surround them, but seeing multiple large blocks of what could be residences, or workshops, Garnt was more reminded of a genuine hanging city.

And Bones apparently had two of these, if the name 'Upper Spine' was anything to go by.

"Lower Spine looks like an amazing achievement, especially managing to construct it out here," Garnt complemented, "Is there a reason it's so… blocky?"

"Most of the things we build are made to be rebuilt," Aris replied amicably, "You saw the huts earlier, the space inside them isn't great, but they don't take much to put back together either. We're high up, so most of the wildlife can't get to us in the first place, but anything that can is… usually a cut above the rest. It can get pretty… scary, at times."

Garnt squinted. He was quite certain Miss Aris had some different words in mind, there.

Still, their journey continued uninterrupted, save for the occasional human or dragonkin rushing down the streets. Garnt found it strange such a large platform was so empty at this time, but apparently people were "probably just sun-basking", which was far more lizard-like behaviour than Garnt had ever expected.

And at the center of the platform was the grandest, squarest block of them all.

Perhaps an unfair description, but when Garnt first saw the titanic cube of stone that was Yusi's main warehouse, he couldn't help but feel some concern over its weight. Obviously the hanging platforms were holding up fine now, but what if somebody else stepped on from the ropebridge?

Most likely, it was the magic of that silver chain.

They continued their approach, with Aris moving ahead a few steps to get the doors - a set of stone gates twice as tall as Garnt, and thrice as wide. She struggled, and strained, and by the time Garnt got close enough to help they were open, just a smidge. Enough for her to slip in, and for Garnt to follow inside.

The warehouse was, unsurprisingly for a place with no windows, pitch-black. He stayed by the door for a moment while Aris confidently strolled inside, letting his eyes adjust.

The skittering of tiny feet on stone echoed from his left side, and he whirled around, staff pointed straight ahead.

"Gree-WAIT! Wait wait wait", a high-pitched, growly voice stammered out from where he was pointing.

"Oh, Lord Supplier, there you- Sir Garnt, don't, um, don't?" Aris' voice called out from further in the darkness.

Garnt cast Light, and as the warehouse was cast in blue-white, he caught his first glimpse of the Supplier.

A dark red dragon's head, about as long as Garnt's staff, with a smattering of ivory horns jutting out of random spots. Its eyes were wide, mouth half-open, and it had stumbled and fallen on where the neck would've been, if this dragon's head wasn't missing the rest of the dragon.

Instead, coming out of the head's sides and bottom, Garnt could see a pair of pale, white human arms, and an equally pale pair of legs.

Slowly, Garnt moved his staff to the side, and tilted his head.

…what?

"Yes, good, thank you, we're all friends here, right? Friends. No need to be pointing no blasting sticks at each other, friendssssss," The talking head babbled, hissing out in obvious agitation.

"Lord Supplier, I'm sorry! I didn't realise… This is Sir Garnt, a new arrival. He's not used to, um, things yet." Aris hurried over, kneeling down next to the Supplier, "Sir Garnt, this is the Lord Supplier, the venerable figure in charge of our main warehouse. I'm, er…"

"Apologies for the unannounced visit, Lord Supplier," Garnt interrupted, resting his staff on the ground, "I'm afraid I've been a bit on edge all day, but that still doesn't excuse my behaviour. Please, forgive my rudeness."

"Ah, yes, being on edge is understandable," The Supplier responded nervously, allowing Aris to place it back on its feet, "Miss Aris, did you perhaps come here for yet more incense? And where did you meet this… fine gentleman?"

"We met because," Aris started, trailing off and looking to Garnt for guidance. He simply nodded, and she continued, emboldened, "Lady Yasuri visited Bones today."

"She's WHAT?!", the Supplier screeched, "Oh no, I don't even have anything ready! Why did you tell me now? I'll have to take stock, see what food supplies can be spared for a celebration, oh no, oh dear-"

"I, don't think that'll be necessary?" Aris responded, looking at Garnt again, "She's here because… she's found a new wielder. That's Sir Garnt, by the way."

"Hello again," said Garnt, waving amicably, "Lady Yasuri gave me free reign to resupply using your warehouse, within reason. If that's not too much trouble?"

The Supplier's eyes narrowed.

"And the Lady of Blades' not here with you, is she? I didn't think you'd stoop to trying to fool the warehouse, Aris," The Supplier growled with a note of disgust, "Waltzing in here, do you think just because I'm the only one here right now that I wouldn't stop you?"

By way of a reply, Garnt pulled out the emblem he'd completed after the trials.

"Recognise this?" Garnt asked.

"Give me that," The Supplier snapped, reaching out with one stubby arm. Garnt obliged, letting the talking head turn the wooden hexagon this and that way, looking less irritated with each turn.

"This is the real thing alright," The Supplier spoke slowly, before turning to Garnt, looking as distinctly hopeful as a dragon's head could, "…Can I keep this?"

"No."

The dragon's teeth clicked together, and it slowly turned the hexagonal emblem over in its hands a few more times.

Finally, the Supplier handed his emblem back, and bowed their head.

"It seems I am now the one who must apologise, Sir Garnt." The Supplier spoke in a quiet voice, "Forgive me for doubting you. And you as well, Miss Aris, for judging you."

"It's fine, I cannot blame you for jumping to conclusions when I did the same just moments ago. I hope that's enough verification?" Garnt asked, continuing after the dragon's head moved up and down in an approximation of a nod, "Then, if you wouldn't mind, there's a few things I need."

The Supplier pulled a tablet of stone and what looked like the bastard child of a feathered quill and a carving knife, and looked at him expectantly, getting to work as Garnt began his list.

"Oh, do you have saltpeter and sulfur?" Garnt asked, once they reached the end.

"We do," The Supplier answered warily, "But I have a different question - what're you making gunpowder for?"

"Oh you know- that makes things easier. I usually use bombs together with my spells in combat and out of it, but I ran out just yesterday, and there won't be many opportunities to acquire more once we leave." Garnt said.

"If you want firebombs, I can just give you firebombs, Sir Garnt," The Supplier responded, relaxing a bit, "How many do you want?"

By way of a response, Garnt pulled out his bottomless box from beneath the folds of his cloak.

"Internally, this box has roughly as much space as one of your huts, maybe a bit more," Garnt explained, opening up the box and pulling out a length of rope that could not possibly have fit inside, "So, my question would be, how many can you afford to give me?"

What? Why were the Supplier and Aris looking at him like that?

—

After a brief struggle with getting the bag full of food, travelling necessities and bombs into the box, Garnt and Aris bid the Supplier goodbye. Garnt had left the rope behind as a sort of trade, which the dragon head seemed to appreciate.

Their stay on Upper Spine was, comparatively, quite short, with Garnt taking charge of map acquisition-

"Maps of Yusi? Certainly, my friend, the collection is yours to take, if you can afford it. Keh heh heh…"

"Would you like to trade a firebomb for it? Perhaps two?"

"Would I?!"

-while Aris went to fetch snacks from an unmanned food stall, lightly singed octopus on a stick if Garnt wasn't mistaken. He didn't actually know, on account of being unable to taste his portion, but it was the thought that counted. Garnt was reasonably sure he had a handle on the separation between Upper and Lower Spine, now - one was the utilitarian district meant for storage and work, and one was where people went to actually trade and meet others.

It was a bit of a pity they couldn't stay longer, but Nanami was doubtless waiting for them by now.

Except, when they reached Skull's Head, she wasn't there. In fact, the platform was shockingly empty, save for a single dragonkin waiting at the entrance to the skull proper. He brightened a little at their approach, slitted eyes scouring their forms before he looked down at the stone tablet in his hands.

"Black cloak, aye, skyborn with light scaling, aye. Glad to see you two! " The dragonkin cheerily called out, pushing the stone gate behind him aside with one shove from his burly, scaled arms, "Got orders to let you on in."

Garnt shared a glance with Aris, and was relieved to see her look a little worried. A little odd of him, perhaps, but he was glad to not be the only one finding a situation strange for the first time today.

"Can I ask why we're expected? I don't remember setting up an appointment." Garnt ventured, still feeling cautious.

"Aye, I'd be surprised if you had!" The dragonkin said, "You were the one who arrived with the Lady of Blades, aren't ya? Was told to wait for you two, and open the door if you got here before the meetin' inside finished up."

No wonder she hadn't been waiting for them. Garnt grunted in acknowledgement and accepted the dragonkin's welcome, stepping through the gate and into the dragon's skull.

The skull's interior was yet another reminder that the people of Yusi did not believe in any lighting beyond what the sky deigned to provide. Light streaming in through the reptilian cranium's eye-holes allowed Garnt to see the grand hall for what it was, but only just.

And yet, Garnt couldn't help but be impressed - slotting a platform directly into the skull was a simple, yet effective way to design a truly gargantuan building, and whatever durability the skulls original owner had possessed clearly lasted well past their death. The walls were still a pristine, untouched ivory-white, in spite of being left out in the sun for what must have been hundreds of years.

Set in concentric half-circles that radiated out from the platform's centre, benches of solid, gray stone surrounded an elaborate setup of ten stone archways arranged in a circle, each arch covered in intricate patterns. Inside that circle were two basins, and what Garnt could only assume was the Keeper - a hunched over, wrinkled old woman in a white cloak, supporting herself with a gnarled wooden staff and a dragon's tail as long as she was tall.

In front of the shrine (at least, Garnt assumed it was a shrine), a number of Bones' other inhabitants were seated. Garnt recognised a few as the people who had been with Aris, before Nanami had commandeered her into serving as a guide, but the other faces were unfamiliar, especially the dragonkin seated at the congregation's outskirts who were bearing weapons.

Those would be the Hunters, if Aris' stories were anything to go by.

Each and every one of them was looking at the lightless hole embedded into the floor behind the shrine, joined together in silent observation.

And that… that would be the containment.

Aside from a brief glance by the Hunter contingent, their arrival was paid no mind. Nanami was nowhere to be seen either, and an indignant part of Garnt's brain wanted to ask what was happening, demand answers, and maybe even shout a little, just to let off some steam.

But the hall was so silent… Breaking that silence wouldn't go over well, Garnt surmised. Instead, he and Aris found themselves a seat on the outer edge of the circle to the side of the shrine, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And Garnt really was about to lose his patience now, but at that moment a malformed, shadowy shape burst out of the hole, into the air and then, soaring in an arc, landed in front of the centre archway without a sound. He heard Aris startle, and his hand went straight to his staff.

But, no. That wasn't just one shape.

A dragonkin with a shorn, damaged head of feathers crawled out of the pile in a panic, desperately wiping the shadowed liquid from their body, and firing the starting crossbow on the heap's other inhabitants. More people, some with scales, some without, emerged from what Garnt could only now describe as gunk. Finally, a massive four-legged lizard slid out, rolling across the ground to try cleanse itself - six people in the gunk pile in total, by Garnt's count.

They had exited just in time, as another pile launched itself out, landing in the same spot as soundlessly as before. Garnt was getting concerned, now. Aris had only mentioned one person inside containment.

The process repeated itself, with what could only be Bones' people removing the abyssal hole's dregs in clear desperation and, Garnt noticed, some of the seated standing up and moving towards them, leading them away and back to a seat. The clear signs of comforting, the casualness of physical contact - he could only assume everybody invited here, was close with somebody who had been dumped in that hole.

Finally, a third shape leaped out of the hole, less shapeless than those previous, and Nanami Yasuri landed, carrying four others. Two dragonkin were seated on her shoulders, in a position that couldn't possibly be stable or comfortable, and one of the scaleless was carried under her arm like a log, while a second lizard, this time with small, deformed wings, was held by the scruff of its neck.

She set the lizard down on the ground gently, righted the scaleless man and placed him on his feet, and leaned down, allowing the dragonkin on her shoulders to jump off. They did so, stumbling unsteadily onto their feet. Aris, Garnt noted, had leapt up, racing towards the dragonkin clad in red scales, followed shortly by that bulky scale-covered man from her group.

"You've overstepped," Nanami said quietly, facing the shrine. Despite that, in the dead silence of the hall, her voice carried all the way to the building's edges.

"Everything I do, I do for you, my Lady," the Keeper replied, a weathered growl colouring her tone.

"Containment is for things you cannot kill. I don't set rules often for you, or any other settlement, but I think I made that very clear." Nanami stated, still as a statue.

The Keeper closed her eyes, clearly expecting a violent rebuke.

But Nanami just kept talking.

"I came here today only to inform you that I will be absent for some time - a new wielder has found their way to Yusi, you see. That is still true," Nanami continued, speaking a little louder than before, "But now I must add something to that."

She clapped her hands once, the sound echoing off the walls. It was unnecessary, Garnt thought, for all the attention was already on her.

"When I return, this will once again be the first place I visit. You won't know when that is. When I do, I'll be checking this hole again. I'll also, I suppose, have to ask around… On my return, anybody who thinks our dear Keeper here has overstepped again, please, tell me. I'll judge whether she has or not, but you need not fear retaliation from her, because if she has," Nanami spoke, her tone brightening a little, before she disappeared in a blur of movement.

"When I find out, I'll simply kill her." She finished. She was over by the hole now, along with the Keeper. The old woman's eyes were wide.

Garnt's eyes narrowed. Was she going to…?

"You- Lady Yasuri, please don't be so hasty, I simply-" The old woman choked out, her voice trembling.

"Oh, don't worry, I won't be doing it just yet." Nanami said casually, letting the crowd hear every word, "Bones does still need somebody to call the shots. And think about what would happen if the news somehow spread! Other Keepers would panic, if I just popped in and killed one of you without warning. That'd be no good, so I really can't kill you just yet."

The old woman relaxed.

Nanami gave her a little kick, and she tumbled down into the pitch black hole, her staff clattering uselessly onto the ground.

"I did warn you, though," Nanami finished cheerily.

There was immediate uproar, as roars of dragonkin mixed with people's voices and the hall's inhabitants rose to their feet, clearly torn between rushing to Nanami, out the door or simply to each other.

Garnt, for his part, was concerned. Aris' stories made Nanami sound like a protector, but here she was more like a judge. On the other hand, he couldn't exactly disagree with her actions just now. He'd been on the verge of acting himself, and that was when he'd thought only one person had been left in that hole of raw darkness and forgotten about! It wasn't the method he would have chosen, but that would be splitting hairs.

It was just… If she could do that to her own followers, what would she do if she ever decided Garnt had overstepped? And what could he do?

…No, this was making a snap judgement because of an exceptional circumstance. Sixteen of her own followers had been imprisoned in deplorable conditions, at least one of which had been for an utterly ridiculous reason. He could understand.

But it was still best to be cautious.

Garnt stood up, congratulating himself on his choice of seating. Slipping out now would be easy, and he could spot Nanami had started to very, very slowly leave as well.

Amidst the uproar, one voice rang out loud and clear once more.

"What do you mean, you're leaving?!" A massive dragonkin covered in a thick layer of silver scales roared out, pointing an accusatory finger at the black-haired woman.

Nanami paused, before pointing at herself, as though to confirm she was indeed the one being called out.

"Were my words unclear?" Nanami asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"You come in here, you throw our Keeper in a hole, swamp-beasts are reaching critical convergence left and right, and you say you're going to leave?" The silver-scaled dragonkin roared, quickly approaching Nanami. The roar of the crowd had dimmed, and all eyes were on him as he reached a hand out, "We make our offerings, we give our prayers, you can't-! You think I'm just going to let you-!"

It happened so fast that Garnt barely registered any movement at all. One moment, the dragonkin was in front of Nanami. Another, and Nanami had spun around on her heel, the silvered dragonkin on the ground behind her, flat on his back, as the cracking of stone and snapping of bone rang out through the hall.

The arm that reached out was now at the completely wrong angle, Garnt noted, and the crowd had gone fully silent.

Nanami leaned down and whispered a few words into the dragonkin's ear, and the silver-clad man groaned in pain.

She pointed at a random scale-clad woman in the crowd.

"You'll act as a Keeper for the next, hm, twenty-eight days? That sounds fine. Fish the Keeper out of containment after seven days, then reinstate her after twenty-one. That should be enough time to recover." Nanami mused, before pointing at the muscular scale-clad man from Aris' group, "You. This man was a Hunter, yes? Take his position until he's healed. That should settle things, I think. If you're going to be such big babies about this, give me a list of the convergence points before I leave. I'll take care of them on my way out. Honestly…"

She spotted Garnt, who had now made his way to the door, and approached at a pace as languid as before.

"How did you like the Settlement of Bones, Garnt?" she asked as they stepped out.

"It was… enlightening, I will say," he replied, eyeing her from the corner of his vision.

His concern had returned, twice as strong as before. Once was happenstance, twice was coincidence.

But thrice was a pattern, and he'd been in Bones for barely a day, and in that hall for perhaps an hour or two. Who was to say how long this pattern could be?

They reached the edge of the platform, and Nanami contented herself with leaning against its stone fencing to gaze at the swamps below. Waiting for the documents she'd requested, he supposed. This gave him plenty of time to figure out a way to broach the topic of Nanami's violent tendencies.

Unfortunately, he was no closer to breaking that particular puzzle by the time they were approached again.

"Um, Lady Yasuri, Sir Garnt, thank you for waiting. I, um, come bearing the list you requested earlier, and a tablet of gratitude and well-wishes," a familiar voice said, and Garnt smiled despite his troubles. Miss Aris had come to say goodbye - that was something.

"Hello again, Miss Aris." Nanami turned her head halfway, but otherwise didn't change her position.

The two tablets Miss Aris carried looked quite heavy. Garnt fished out his bottomless box for the second time today, and opened it up, allowing Aris to slot the stone squares into its incomprehensible space.

"If that's all, then… It was truly lovely meeting you, Miss Aris. I suspect we won't be seeing each other for some time, so allow me to just say, the scenic tour of Bones made for quite the sight." Garnt said as warmly as his voice could manage, offering a respectful nod. Aris shakily nodded back, her eyes flicking between him and Nanami.

"Yes, thank you for serving as his guide today. Shall we set off, then?" Nanami asked, glancing his way.

Garnt hesitated, but she was right. It was time to go.

But before he could voice his agreement-

"Please, please take me with you!"

Garnt paused.

Nanami started to speak, stopped, looked towards him, and inclined her head, her expression flattening. The floor was his, it seemed.

"Why?" Garnt eventually managed to say. He'd realised Miss Aris held a certain enthusiasm for tales of the outside world, but where had this come from?

"I don't… this is my only chance, I think. I don't want to stay here forever, but there's nowhere to leave to even if I managed to sneak out. But if its with Sir Garnt, things are different, he knows his way across the whole continent, and, and," Aris pushed on despite her clear uncertainty, "I can be useful! I can carry things, and mend them, and I know a bit about setting camps and. Just, please."

"There are other…" Garnt began, before stopping himself.

It was a deeply unpleasant, dishonest reason to accept what seemed like a heartfelt plea.

But, if it was just questioning, with even just one other person there, Nanami might hesitate. Might feel pressured to answer, even.

"...Fine, we'll take you along. We'll discuss other terms later, but-" Garnt started to reply, only for Aris to interrupt him by prostrating herself on the ground.

"Thank you very much!" She called out, her forehead so low as to make contact with the stone tiles.

Guilt was an unfamiliar feeling for Garnt, and yet he recognised its weight settling in his gut almost immediately.

Not helping was that he could feel Nanami's eyes burning a hole straight through the back of his head, and he wasn't sure how metaphorical that was for her capabilities anymore. Not if she was worshipped as a god.

"Don't… There's nothing to thank me for, Miss Aris." Garnt forced out, "Let's, let's just go."

"If you insist, Sir Garnt," Nanami sighed, before picking him up like an unruly child and setting him on her shoulder, a motion she repeated almost immediately for Aris as well. The feeling of weightlessness that her footwork produced was as odd as ever.

"Wait what are youuuuuuuuu-" Aris started to speak, just in time for Nanami to leap over the railing and begin their descent.

Garnt suspected he was never quite going to get used to Nanami's particular methods of travel.

But their journey together would continue nonetheless, for at least a little longer.

—

By the time they were far enough from Bones for Garnt to pose the question, the sky had grown red and the sun had begun its journey beneath the horizon. And yet, uncertainty still gripped him.

The fear of the unknown was a terrible thing. How did Nanami react to being questioned? He couldn't know, really. He'd taken Aris along as a snap decision, a buffer, but now it was only making him hesitate more. If he repaid her help with catching her in the crossfire, he would have no choice but to live with that decision. And yet…

If this partnership was going to work, he had to know. Was it random? Could he even trust his own safety around this self-proclaimed sword?

"Why break that man's arm, Nanami? I've seen firsthand how strong you are, I know you could have subdued him without going that far if you wanted to."

That was the crux of the matter, Garnt supposed. He couldn't blame somebody for defending themselves, but a person defends themselves from threats.

The silvery dragonkin hadn't been, not really. Not to her.

Nanami paused her stride, and the swamp's waters stilled. Aris stared at him, slitted yellow eyes widened by just a hint of shock. Seeing somebody question their land's nominal deity must've been a rare sight, Garnt supposed.

"The more a person steeps themselves in violence, the more it becomes their only resort. That is to say, I gave him a warning in the only language remaining in his head. Why? Did you feel bad for him?" Nanami half-turned to face him, her voice taking on a slightly mocking lilt as she finished speaking.

But Garnt had spotted something important - the hint of dishonesty. Or, no, not dishonesty, but self-justification. Garnt knew that beast well, and for the first time he realized just why Nanami saw through his words, both yesterday and today, so easily.

"Those aren't your reasons at all," Garnt echoed, "Hypocrisy isn't a good look for you, Lady Nanami."

"Are you sure you want to be saying something like that, this close?" Nanami returned, tilting her head.

Aris' eyes darted between them as the implied threat hung in the air, looking like she might just bring herself to speak, before losing her courage - or perhaps she didn't know what to say in the first place.

But no, in the first place, hadn't Nanami said it herself? 'A sword cannot choose who to kill, but it can at least choose its wielder'. If he could trust neither his safety nor her words, then working with her was doomed to fail from the start. If that was the case, at this juncture…

Death would be preferable.

"Yes," Garnt simply replied, staring her in the eyes, "Find yourself a better reason, if you would."

It was the first time he'd properly seen her eyes - a small circle of white at the center fading into an iris of dark purple. They were strange, like she could see just a little too much.

But however much they could see, the Empty Blade still blinked first.

"I… don't have a reason," Nanami said as she turned away, the hem of her cassock disturbing the water's surface, "Or, rather, it was just a reflex. My body reacts to hostile intent, of any kind - I had to pull myself back from simply removing his arms. And, it wasn't entirely a lie, what I said just now."

A splash of water brought Garnt's attention back to Aris. The dragonkin had balled her hands into fists, having finally found whatever reservoir of bravery would allow her to speak.

It was unfortunate, but Garnt carved a line through the swamp to draw her notice, and then shook his head. That put her out just like water did a flame.

It truly was unfortunate, but speaking now would stop Nanami in her tracks, and he couldn't allow that.

All they could do, was watch.

"That man is a Hunter. He'll fight, and die, for Bones someday. Has fought, already. But," Nanami slowly continued, testing each and every word as though they were wholly unfamiliar, "Those who survive grow heedless of death, and race towards an ending without a cause. Picking a fight you can't win for a reason, dying for a reason, is fine. But picking a fight just to pick it… I wanted to impress that fear of pointlessness on him. By the time he recovers, he'll know better. Are you satisfied now, Sir Garnt?"

…was it a habit of hers, to make everything she did sound much worse until forced to act otherwise? Garnt would have to re-evaluate everything she'd said, now. Her actions were still suspect, of course - but 'automatic defense' at her level of physicality made sense.

"If somebody tries to hurt any of us three, don't pull back, even a little. And, yes," Garnt nodded good-naturedly, "Quite satisfied. If nothing else, I appreciate you being genuine for the first time since we've met."

"Somebody's grown quite uppity in less than a day," Nanami replied, turning back to face him, wearing a strange little half-smile.

"I sought you out to help me slay the gods, need I remind you. Of course I'm 'uppity'," Garnt shot back.

They stood and stared at each other again. Garnt couldn't quite suppress his own urge to chuckle, muffled as it was by his cloak's facemask, and he saw Nanami raise a sleeve to cover her own mouth and stifle a giggle. What a ridiculous pair they made.

"Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt to respect Sir Garnt's request, but, 'slay the gods'? Could somebody, please, explain?" A quiet voice broke through their verbal joust, knocking the proverbial riders right off their saddles.

Ah, that was right, wasn't it? Aris still knew essentially nothing, about any of his goals.

Nanami had been… remarkably understanding, about his plans involving the snuffing out of the First Flame. He couldn't be sure how attached any of Yusi's people were to the Flame of Creation, admittedly, but for some reason the words 'Age of Dark' tended to make people wary… Perhaps best to leave it out until later.

Much, much, much later.

"Cutting down to the heart of the matter," Garnt began, "I need to claim the Lord's Blades, for a certain task of mine. The Lords won't surrender them willingly, naturally, and more than that, they, well, they know that I am after them. Seeking out your Lady of Blades was my last resort. Fortunate enough that I passed her trials, eh?"

Aris squinted at him.

"I beg of you, Sir Garnt, please tell me your task isn't something ridiculous and grandiose like taking over Caerdiaeth."

"Of course not," Garnt replied. His task wasn't ridiculous in the slightest, and also far more grandiose than some vapid notions of building his own kingdom.

"It isn't too late to back out," Nanami called out, "If you wish, Miss Aris, I can simply bring you back to Bones here and now, or anywhere else in Yusi if that suits you better."

Garnt nodded. He'd accepted Aris' request because it seemed sincere, and, he reminded himself guiltily, for his own protection, but there was no particular reason to force her to stay now.

But it seemed Aris' mind was already made up.

"No, if Lady Nanami has agreed to help you in your journey, I have no reason to take issue with your attempts at godslaying. And, if you want to fight the Four Lords," Aris continued, eyes shining, "You'll have to go to every corner of Caerdiaeth, won't you? I want to be there."

Her pupils contracted, a barely visible thread in a sea of gold.

"I want to see it all."

Garnt loosed a breath.

It seemed there was a little more to Miss Aris than he'd anticipated.

"No time like the present to get moving, then. I already have our first destination in mind, you might know about it yourself, Nanami, but," Garnt nodded at her, "Bashiokan, the Labyrinth City, has one of its Pillar Forts embedded right into the cliffside that separates Yusi from the rest of Caerdiaeth. We're going to break in and steal some of their communications - all the Forts have to stay in constant contact with the center for security, I believe."

"Which means…?" Aris prompted.

"That, with some work put into deciphering those communications, we'll find where the Six Gravelords are, and where they will be. Then we find a way in, Nanami and I ambush them, and get the first of our four." It wasn't a perfect plan, but he still didn't know Nanami's full capabilities, or how she compared to one of the Four Lords. The element of surprise was still his best bet, for the moment.

And the deck was a little more stacked in his favour than he was making it seem, now.

"More and more uppity by the second, Garnt. Throwing me a test already? Ah, but," Nanami smiled.

No, calling it a smile was wrong. It was simply — a crescent of malice.

"I hope you don't mind, if I show off a bit."

—

Paug Ruinstone

The remnants of a city of magic, and tiny monuments to its hubris.

Found all over Caerdiaeth and beyond, they emit a strange, multi-colored light. Travelers often use them to light their way.

A/N: And that's all for today! Once again, I hope it was worth the wait, or at least that you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing these two chapters. I've gotten a good flow going and a better handle on my ability to do deadlines now, so hopefully there will be no more unannounced absences.

Next Chapter: Daffodils L•1, on the 1st of February.

As per usual, any and all comments are welcome.

Toodles~