#cs interim

Ezwell looked up at the building for a while before looking back to Strisci. 'What are we doing here again?' he signed at her.

'Your search for a cure to your aunt's disease is literally just... walking around and asking the first person about it. That's a waste of everyone's time.' Strisci pointed to the large building. 'Have you ever been to a library like this?'

Ezwell bristled slightly at the mention of him wasting everyone's time, and he was about to ask if she had a better idea when Strisci pointed to the building. He frowned, gazing up at the library. 'No point. Can't read.'

'Exactly.' Strisci seemed rather pleased with herself. 'You're going to learn how to read. Today.'

Ezwell stared at Strisci uncertainly. 'Are you going to teach me?'

Strisci smiled slightly, but she also rolled her eyes. 'Did you think I'd just lock you in there with books until you magically learned how to read?'

Ezwell scowled. 'Of course not. If we're gonna do this, let's go,' He strode towards the building, Strisci following after him.

At the same time, Bahku, on leave from his ambassador work with the Veriol Alliance, was in Ojadoera on a personal "pilgrimage" of sorts in search of "enlightenment" -- perhaps more accurately defined as "researching any local worships or beliefs he comes across and believing them to be true". Ojadoera had several shrines to doeron deities, making it an interesting place to stop along the way to Dralvarus' other religious sites, such as Queetco. Some of the locals suggested that he look into the local library if he wanted to know more about Dralvarus' religions.

Bahku's "internship" was over as far as he was concerned, so there was no reason to feel any sort of pressure during this mission of his. As he looked around for someone to ask for directions, he saw an elderly doeron peacefully snoring on the front lawn of his small house. A much smaller doeron, presumably his grandchild, was climbing all over his back and proclaiming how he had conquered the “evil monster”.

Bahku approached the two, albeit slowly, as he remembered a certain doeron from Mioura. "Ah, excuse me? I do believe the evil monster has been vanquished, but a traveler with a new mission has come for the hero."

"A new mission?!" the young doeron repeated. He scrambled off the older doeron's back and stared up at Bahku, being only four feet tall. His tail whipped back and forth excitedly. "What? What is it?! Tell me! Tellmetellmetellmetellme!"

"Ah, well, I am a lost traveler. You see, I must return immediately to the land of books and knowledge, some might call it a library. Perhaps you know the way, and could tell the lost traveler where to go? Then you may return to your diligent battle to slay evil!" Bahku quickly flashed a bright gold coin to the child, flashing him a big grin. "Of course, no mission goes without a reward!"

The doeron's eyes opened wide at Bahku's story. "I know! IknowIknowIknow! Gram always takes me there!" He pointed with his wing down the road, nearly falling off balance. "It's down there! It's a huuuuuuuuge red and yellow and white and black building with a statue out front!"

Bahku continued to grin, flipping the gold coin in the direction of the doeron before beginning to walk off. "Thank you, kind adventurer! Grow up and be strong, defeat that evil monster!" He waved behind him as he walked away, heading toward the direction of the building the child had said as he hurried along to make up for lost time.

The doeron child scrambled for the coin, plucking it up happily before returning to harassing his sleeping grandfather.

As Bahku hurried down the street, he saw a geralkki lut and an albino noctra enter into the building that matched the child's description of the library. Bahku raised a brow, not really sure what to take of the odd pair, but nonetheless continued inside without much thought. After all, he was simply going in for knowledge for himself, not looking for an adventurer like the child from before.

Inside the library was a center lobby area where a doeron librarian was placing books on a cart behind the desk. Beyond the lobby were shelves and shelves of books and a set of stairs leading up to another floor. Strisci turned to Ezwell, signing to him quickly.

'Ask the librarian where the kids' books are.'

Ezwell glanced around at all the books before nodding and turning to the doeron. "Where's the kids' books?"

The doeron seemed a little surprised at the question, or perhaps at the tone. Nonetheless, he gestured with his tail to the stairs. "Children's books are upstairs. The shelves are also labelled in Standard. They're next to the religion books."

Bahku, as he walked in, overheard the librarian's directions to Ezwell. Conveniently, that also answered his own question. Strisci cast a sidelong glance at the cainos and crossed her arms. For some reason, a fellow Nictan race made her feel more on edge than at ease, even if it was farfetched that he was from Fol Atzo and would recognize her.

Ezwell turned back to Strisci. 'Upstairs, next to the religion books,' he told her, following her glance to the cainos.

He narrowed his eyes slightly at Bahku, but turned to make his way upstairs, glancing back to make sure Strisci was following.

Bahku was about to walk up to the librarian, but luckily his question was already answered! However, instinctively, he noticed the Noctra staring a hole into his head, causing him to smirk in her direction. She wasn't someone he outright knew, and yet... he felt like he should. Regardless, now was neither the time nor the place, so he figured he might as well say a casual hello in Nicta-silo properly.

"Ah, never seen a cainos as heavy set as me? I've been working out, if it makes you feel any better." Bahku flexed his arm, as if trying to prove a point, as during his internship he had begun a workout in order to make himself stronger than before. Unfortunately, it mostly lead him to have faster reflexes, but at least he wasn't all fat and his boss made less fat jokes.

However, Bahku tried to rack his brain... where had he seen her before?

He suddenly realized that the geralkki lut had been signing to her; she was deaf. And her face matched that of the daughter of the notorious Fol Atzo mobster, Cadenzo Madrante. On top of that, how many deaf, albino noctras could there be who looked so much like her? But... Bahku wasn't sure how it could be her. He heard from some of his friends and family back home that the Madrantes had disbanded due to the sequence of deaths in their hierarchy: Cadenzo Madrante, Grellego Madrante... and Strisci Madrante herself.

Memories of Mioura came back to him. Someone who had come back from the dead... Now that was interesting.

Ezwell halted on his way up the stairs, noticing Bahku flexing and talking to Strisci in a language he couldn't understand. He made his way back down the stairs and stood beside his friend, glaring at the cainos and crossing his arms.

"Problem?" he asked, speaking to the cainos, as he knew Strisci couldn't hear him.

"Ah, no reason. I hadn't realized she wasn't able to hear me. I feel a bit foolish now." Bahku weakly laughed.

Strisci stared at Bahku with no effort made to hide her irritation, though part of it was also fear at being recognized. The way he was looking at her...

"Go away. You are annoying," she said to Bahku, her inexperience with speaking once again manifesting with how horribly she pronounced the words.

Bahku again apologized and went over to ask the librarian where the religion books were, even though he already knew the answer. While he did, Strisci and Ezwell left the lobby for their own destination. As they did, Strisci tapped Ezwell on the shoulder and quickly signed to him before continuing on ahead, as if nothing was wrong.

However, what she signed was, 'The way he looked at me -- he might be from my city.'

Ezwell glanced back down at Bahku before hurrying after Strisci. 'Shit. Knew he was a bad fuck. Flexing at you like that. Hopefully he stays away.' He looked around at the books, wondering which ones were for children.

Strisci noticed a shelf labeled as being for children. She gestured for Ezwell to follow her just as Bahku arrived upstairs. However, as she started leafing through the brightly colored books, she didn't seem to have noticed Bahku. Even though he couldn't read, Ezwell looked over Strisci's shoulder at the books she was taking out, also oblivious to their pursuer.

Bahku decided to take his time in approaching Strisci again, simply going to the bookshelf with the nearest books on religion. As he passed the two looking through the children's books, he raised a brow. Why the hell was the daughter of a giant crime syndicate, one that was apparently dead, leafing through kids' books? Nonetheless, he grabbed the nearest three books on doereon religions as he looked for a place to sit down.

Bahku had grabbed several books about the three main deities that doerons worship: Doera, from which their Standard Kylian name was derived; Aluvardi, a death god and also Doera's brother or husband depending on the myth; and Ranali, a borrowed deity from the iddun pantheon that many doerons as of late had taken to worshiping.

Strisci slid a few books out from the shelf, apparently having judged them to be of an appropriate level for Ezwell. She stepped out from the shelves and spied Bahku sitting down at a nearby table. Immediately slipping back in among the shelves, she let out a long sigh. That cainos wasn't going to make this easy. Going out the opposite way, she found a table on the other side and set the books down.

Ezwell followed her, noticing the cainos. He hurried after Strisci to the table on the other end, glancing back towards Bahku as he lingered near the side of the table. Bahku had glanced over at them.

'Want me to go kick his ass? 'Cause I can go do that.'

'Don't cause a scene,' Strisci signed back, avoiding Bahku's gaze. She took out her pen and notepad and started writing out the Standard Kylian alphabet. Once she was done, she started to sign to Ezwell again. 'I can't really teach you how to read whatever language you spoke back home, but I can teach you how to read Standard Kylian. So we'll start from there.'

She started to explain how Standard Kylian used certain characters to make up certain sounds, so words largely sounded as they are spelled; Standard Kylian was characterized by how easy it is in theory to read and speak, unlike many others in the galaxy.

Ezwell watched carefully as Strisci signed to him, frowning in concentration. 'Easy. Good. Let's hope so' he signs back, staring down at the alphabet. At the moment, it seemed far from easy.

Bahku, with his nose in his book about Doera, heard the sound of a chair being pulled out. An edath woman had sat across from him. She offered him a wry grin as she put a few books on the table.

"Don't mind if I sit here, do you?" Squinting, she read the title of the book he's holding. "Huh... Doera and Aluvardi. It's a nice read... for fiction."

"Fiction indeed. You can sit here if you want, though I can't say I'll be very interesting company." The Bahku's ears flicked again, somewhat annoyed that Strisci and Ezwell were using sign language to talk over there. Talk about inconvenient!

"Do you know anything about these gods?" Bahku asked, looking back to the edath.

"The doerons think that Doera made them promise to rule the land and keep portals from the underworld from leaking out spirits." The edath snickered. "A few weeks back, people were apparently saying that Aluvardi was displeased with the doerons forsaking their charge. So he sent spirits to attack the living. I came here to check it out, but all I've found are slavers and other small-time bandits." She held out a clawed hand across the table for Bahku to shake. "I'm Ewa Lavriskla."

Bahku smiles honestly, sticking his hand out. "Bahku Bugiardo, at your service. Interesting, I had heard about spirits and the like leaking out as well... unfortunately this didn't seem to be the case at all. Was rather... unfortunate, though I'm sure there's got to be some truth to it."

After all, someone from beyond the grave was reading at a table nearby.

Strisci nodded as Ezwell looks over the characters and tapped him to get his attention. 'So, when you combine characters... you get words.'

She wrote out Ezwell's name in Standard Kylian, recalling how Cameo had spelled it when he introduced Ezwell and Rokordi to her. 'Read that, and tell me what it says.'

Ezwell stared at the word. 'It says, 'Holy shit. What the fuck? I can't read yet. We just started'?'

'Look at the characters I wrote out for you,' signed Strisci. 'Find the ones that match it.'

Ezwell looked at the characters, frowning. 'Why are there so many of them? Holy shit,' he signed, grumbling some more. 'These ones...'

Strisci let out a small sigh. This would be harder than she thought. Trying to help Ezwell along, she pointed to the character for 'E'.

"Bahku Bugiardo," Ewa repeated, trying out the name. "Hrm. I'm sure you'll find that a lot of the superstitious people around here... Well, they're just that. My guess is that one or two of them saw some slavers, got scared, and started spreadin' rumors that it was their gods pissed at them."

"Hmm, perhaps. Though, it feels a bit over the top for that kind of reaction to happen to something that isn't new to these people. Unfortunately, I don't really know much about doeron society, their nobility, and their religion, which is why I'm here, I suppose! For all I know, it could have been someone with a higher status trying to bring chaos to those beneath them."

Bahku wished he had a pencil to chew on as he attempted to glance at the two across from him without being noticed, though his concentration went back onto Ewa immediately. "What do you know about this death god?"

"Aluvardi? Said to be a huge doeron that stands completely upright and has wings separate from his body and a skull for a head. So... basically a rago wearing a shitty hat."

Bahku let out a small bark of laughter, putting a hand on his belly as he shook. "That's quite the image, thanks for that. What exactly does he do? Does he guard the souls of the dead, or does he bring them in? Does he do everything? Perhaps I should just read the book," Bahku said with a sheepish grin, his ears flattening against his head as his questioning nature got the better of him.

"Depends on the myth," says Ewa with a shrug. "Had an old coworker who would've said Aluvardi mostly guards. He liked that god. Said he made the afterlife as painless and gentle as possible."

"Don't see how, since dying in general has to suck." Bahku commented, deciding that the pair next to them wasn't going to move anytime soon. "Regardless, if this was the case, then wouldn't it mean he was forsaking his duty if he was guarding? Rather, if spirits came on to this land, that means he failed at his job. I doubt this is the case." Bahku, once again, wished he had a pencil as his eyes drifted back to Strisci and Ezwell signing at the other table.

'Okay, there's the first one. What's it sound like?' Ezwell signed, looking back to the character Strisci had pointed out to him.

Strisci, suddenly feeling rather self-conscious, half-mumbled the best approximation of an 'E' sound that she could manage.

'Okay, so that's... that thing. What's the next one?'

Strisci pointed to the character in the alphabet list. Again sheepishly, she muttered, "Zw". Pointing to the next, she indicated that it was an 'El' sound.

"Look, I don't know," said Ewa, getting Bahku's attention once more. She laughed and toyed with a golden hoop earring on her left ear. "I'm not a master of doeron mythology. I just know a bit from my coworker. Not really my thing. I prefer... real stuff. The kind of thing you can grasp and see. Not damn legends and myths."

Bahku tilted his head. "Like nobility and society? I'm also interested in those."

"Yeah... Yeah, that stuff can be pretty interesting." Ewa looked over her shoulder at Ezwell and Strisci. "Say, what's up with those two? You keep lookin' at them."

Bahku immediately waves at the Edath, hoping she looks back at him. "Ah, well... you said you don't believe in ghosts or none of that, right?"

Ewa stared at the two. Ezwell, having slowly repeated the word according to Strisci's pronunciations, had figured out that it was his name in Standard Kylian. Now he was copying the word as best he could, eyes narrowing in concentration. When he finished, he looked at Strisci proudly. It wasn't the best, but it looked enough like the word above it to be legible.

Strisci almost cringed at the awful penmanship. Then again, she probably shouldn't have expected anything better from someone who'd never read or written a word in his life before. Trying to be encouraging, Strisci forced a grin and an approving nod.

'That's how writing in Standard Kylian works. Here, I'll pronounce the rest of the characters for you...' Very slowly, and pointing at each character as she read it aloud, she started going down the list for Ezwell's benefit.

"Ghosts? Shit. That girl's just an albino. You never seen one before?" Ewa leaned back in her chair, idly drawing circles in the air with her finger as she thought. "It's... A lack of pigment in their skin, hair, and eyes. So they're pure white with pink eyes. The pink is because of the blood vessels or somethin'."

Bahku shook his head, deciding he'd be blunt. "Best to try and keep your voice down after this, but... she's dead. She should not be here. I should know, after all, since I saw her obituary on the news back home."

"Dead..?" Ewa repeated, her eyes opening wide. Her grin returned to her face. "Now, that's interestin'... Maybe I didn't come out here for nothing, after all."

Bahku put his hands together, nodding. "As you can see, this is why I am a bit... interested in the god of death. Perhaps there is truth in this, after all. However, I think we can both agree that a confrontation with them may prove to be unfortunate. Who knows what they've brought from beyond the grave? Knowledge or otherwise."

The two looked over at Ezwell and Strisci again. Slowly and painfully, Ezwell was reading through one of the books Strisci had picked out for him, Strisci helping him with some of the words. Fortunately, the book was accompanied by pictures to help Ezwell figure out the words on his own just based on the context.

Ewa nodded to Bahku, again playing with her earring as she thinks. "Maybe we could test if that's the real deal or not... How did the girl die? Did you read that?"

"Gunshots. She was shot several times in the back." Bahku said quietly.

Ewa tilted her head, then looked over to Strisci. "Give me a sec. We'll figure out if that's your ghost girl or not."

She stood up, leaving her books behind as she slunk over to a nearby shelf, pretending to be engrossed in reading the titles.

Strisci continued to nod at Ezwell repeating the sentences to her in sign language, starting to zone out. This was almost too easy. Getting him to understand what each character was had been hard, but now he was catching onto it as if he'd already known how to read. In fact, maybe--

An edath crashed into her. Strisci fell to the ground on her side, but she clutched her back in pain, as the fall had agitated the wounds in her back.

"Holy damn, dammit, dammit!" Ewa hurriedly tried to help Strisci to her feet, only for Strisci to swat her away and stand up on her own, hissing in pain at the searing in her back. "Shit, shit. I'm sorry. I tripped. Are you okay?"

Bahku kept a straight face as he looked onto the scene, returning his attention to his book shortly after.

Ezwell exploded out of his seat, instantly at Strisci's side. He stared at her in concern before glaring at the edath. "Fuck! Watch where you're going, faggot!" He looked back to Strisci. 'Are you okay? Did she hurt you?'

'I'm fine,' Strisci managed to sign back, shooting a glare at Ewa. Nonetheless, she signed to Ezwell, 'Don't make a scene. We're trying to keep low here. Not get thrown out.'

"It was an accident," Ewa insisted. "I'm really sorry. Look, I'll just... go back... I'm sorry."

Bowing her head, she returned to the shelf she was examining earlier. Once Ezwell and Strisci returned to their business, she went back to Bahku with a grin.

"Did you see how she clutched her back, even though she didn't hit it when she fell? Looks like she's got an old wound there."

Ezwell reluctantly returns to his seat, crossing his arms and glaring after the edath. 'Hey... she's sitting with that cainos,' he signed after a moment, frowning.

Strisci grimaced again in pain, following Ezwell's gaze. 'That wasn't an accident,' she signed. 'I think she knows about...'

Not wanting to sign it, Strisci's hands fell by her side.

Ezwell looked at Strisci in alarm. Could she have meant she knew about Strisci's coming back to life? 'Maybe we should get out of here,' he signed, glaring at the two across the library.

Strisci scowled at Ezwell and grabbed his arm, as if to hold him in place. Her intention made clear, she shook her head.

'That'll make it obvious we have something to hide. Finish reading the book, and then we will go.'

Back at Bahku and Ewa's table, Bahku had been satisfied that Ewa had proved his theory to be a lot more credible, but he expressed worry that now the two would run off. Ezwell had seemed suspicious of him earlier, and he wondered aloud if there had been a better way of getting the information Ewa just got.

"If you want results, you need to act. Sitting on your ass doesn't get a damn thing done." Ewa finally cracked open one of her books -- a large, musty tome titled, 'The Floating Island of Tumoria'. "Just stay seated and watch them. If they leave, we'll follow... and get the answers you want."

Bahku nodded. "If you say so." Bahku stared at the book for a moment. "Interesting book you've grabbed, though."

"I have a pick-up in Tumoria," said Ewa. "Figured I'd educate myself a bit before hopping onto a whole other planet with no clue what to expect."

"Oh? Do you mind a traveling companion? I wouldn't mind visiting such a natural wonder, myself. Who knows? Perhaps the gods are at work there as well."

Ezwell and Strisci stood up and left, perhaps seeming almost a little too casual as they walked past Bahku and Ewa.

"Naw, you don't want to be there. Not with me, anyway. I'm headed into the old city to find a certain woman who hasn't paid up a long-owed debt." Ewa stood up once Strisci and Ezwell had left the second floor. "The old city is, for the record, the ruins of a city from before the Godbomb. Crawling with looters. Not fun. Unless you like getting shot and shooting back."

Bahku shrugged. "I've got... experience with such situations. And who knows, maybe I'll learn a thing or two. However, perhaps we shall talk of this later. Right it, it seems as though our targets have left."

Once they were out the door, Strisci started to sign to Ezwell. She told him they were going back to the hotel and would continue Ezwell's reading lesson there. She could just write things down for him to practice reading with, and then they could go back to the library later to find something about scale rot.

Ewa pushed the door of the library open. Strisci flinched at the sight, glancing between her and Bahku.

"Hey, hold on," said Ewa jovially. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I just have some... questions."

Bahku nodded, deciding to do what he did best: talk. "Really, we're being honest. We've got no intentions of doing any harm."

Ezwell stepped in front of Strisci, glaring at the two of them. "Fuck off."

"Now, now, if you don't want us telling everyone about how your little friend is back from the dead..." Ewa tossed her head back and fixed Ezwell and Strisci with an almost bloodthirsty grin. "Well. You know. They've been talking a lot about the spirits of the dead coming into this world... They might not really be happy to hear about your little friend's plight."

Bahku frowned at them. "Come on. We don't have to do this."

Ezwell looks at Strisci in alarm, quickly signing to her, 'They know,' before turning to glare at the edath again.

"You're assuming you're gonna be able to talk when you leave here," he said threateningly.

Ewa whipped out her gun. Strisci backed off in alarm, her pink eyes wide as Ewa fixed her aim on Ezwell.

"You wanna go back to being dead? Then start talking to us... and be a bit more polite," she added.

Bahku sighed loudly. "A woman of action, I see. You'd get along well with that idiot..." Bahku recalled Isaak, and he looked back to Ezwell. "Please just cooperate. We're not alone, and we're not the only ones who know of your predicament."

A lie, of course, but what did they know?

Ezwell grunted and grimaced, glaring at her. "What do you want?" he demanded, while signing behind his back to Strisci, 'There are apparently others who know.'

Strisci remained silent and unmoving, staring at Ewa and Bahku.

"Answers. How is she back from the dead?" asked Ewa.

"Why do you care?"

Ewa smirked back. "Not your concern."

Bahku stared at Strisci, though he decided to give a small smile in her direction. They were rather rude to him before, so he wasn't too concerned about making much of an impression. Still, anything to help smooth things over.

"We made a deal with a few gods," grumbled Ezwell.

"Gods? How... interesting." Ewa idly played with her gun. "Anything you want to know, Bahku?"

Strisci cringed. She was certain that she could outrun them or slip away unnoticed, but Ezwelll...

Bahku glanced at Strisci once more before turning to the geralkki lut. "Ah, perhaps this god you made a deal with was Aluvardi? That's the only one that comes to mind who works with the dead... but, what could you have possibly given him?"

"Aluvardi? You mean Alvarus? Didn't give him shit."

"Then why'd he let you go? I can't imagine a god who guards the dead letting two dead people out so easily." Bahku made a mental note of the other name of the god.

"We may have... told him we killed someone he wanted dead," said Ezwell vaguely.

"A god sending mortals on bounties," Ewa mused with a grin. "A very wild tale."

Bahku blinked, uncomprehending. "You... killed someone who the god of death wanted dead? How does one kill someone who's already dead?"

"I just fucking told you, we told him we killed someone."

"Who was it?"

Ezwell glanced at Strisci for a moment before looking back to Bahku. "Another god."

Bahku glanced at Ewa. "Do you know how one kills a god?"

"Divisions in the pantheon? How intriguing." Ewa looked back to Bahku, shaking her head at his question. "You've never heard of the nine legendary godslaying weapons? They say that they are the only things capable of killing gods... and that they are the reason the Godbomb happened two hundred years ago."

Bahku's eyes flash with remembrance, hearing about such things when he was working with the Veriol Alliance. "Ah, yes. I suppose that would mean... these individuals somehow managed to obtain one? Well, if they truly killed another god." Bahku grinned.

"I dunno..." Strisci flattened her ears at Ewa's broadening grin. "Do you have anymore questions for them..? I've got a spaceship to catch in a few. Damn inconvenient, but I'd say this was worth the trouble."

Bahku shook his head. "Not really. This was rather informative. I dare say we now know that Strisci Madrante is not only alive, but may or may not have a godslayer with her. Perhaps with her companion, though I'm afraid we never did learn his name...."

"He can't be too important."

"I wouldn't say that. Why would she be traveling with him, otherwise? However... perhaps I'll find out another time." Bahku smiled a little.

Ewa snickered and holstered her gun. "Well, then... Lady, gentleman, and... you," she said with a glance at Ezwell, "I'm off to catch my flight to Tumoria. Enjoy your... renewed lease on living."

With that, she started to walk off. Bahku casually whistled as he walked after her, though he had no intentions of following her all the way. It was more he wasn't sure of Ezwell's strength and if he'd follow through on his threat, so he figured there'd be safety in numbers as he went on his way.

The dead coming back from the grave, godslaying weapons, and, of course, drama. It was like Mioura all over again... though that just made it more interesting, in a way.

Ezwell stared after them for a moment before turning to Strisci and quickly signing to her everything that had happened.

Strisci scowled at the two as they left. Dozens of thoughts ran through her head, and none of them were good.

'We're going to have to leave earlier than I thought. There's no telling if they'll tell anyone about me or not, or if they're going to try to kill us for a godslayer.' She let out a weary sigh and rubbed her left temple with her hand.

'Let them try,' Ezwell signed with a growl, eying the Chrono Ring where Oladani was stored.

He stood among the tall buildings and short shrubs of a small city called Stachtdruckelle. Stachtdruckelle was somewhat near the southern coast of Agaier, though that helped very little with its heat. It being high noon right now, not too many people were milling about. Of the people Cameo could see, he noted that they're almost evenly split between darkrunners and lightfoots, an oddity for Kyrol, considering how notorious the darkrunner and lightfoot race war was throughout the galaxy. There were also a few fellow reots and tumorians among the city, but the city overall did not seem terribly diverse.

His goal was simple: Gather any information pertaining to Aricrauer Velkt, a former Veriol Alliance member who was in possession of the godslaying weapon named Feivelkt. The only tip Cameo had to go by is that Aricrauer had three younger sisters who could know something about the eldest Velkt's whereabouts, and that they lived somewhere in the Agaier area of Kyrol.

Other than that, he was on his own.

Hoping to spot some sort of clue before he started questioning random strangers, Cameo saw an open bar that had a few people inside. Not much of a drinker himself, Cameo wandered into the bar regardless. If the Velkt girl was as important as Hretlakk implied, maybe he could find a drunkard that knew the name. After all, liquor loosened the tongue. Maybe that was why he never had a taste for it.

As he entered into the building, Cameo bumped into a lightfoot kid who seemed to be about fifteen years old at best. The kid sheepishly moved to the side after muttering a quick apology, his ears held low in shame.

The rest of the bar appeared to be rather dead. There was some music playing quietly from the speakers and a few darkrunners chatting with the bartender. A large, burly lightfoot was sitting in the corner, his nose buried deep in a book.

Cameo, much more interested in what a child was doing in a bar, turned from the darkrunners, to the lightfoot, and then back to the kid.

"You alright, kid? What're you doing in a bar?"

"Uh..." The kid fumbled with the hem of his shirt, not meeting Cameo's eyes. "I'm... waiting for my dad."

"Hey, don't stretch it," Cameo blurted out instinctively, referring to the lightfoot's shirt. "Uh, I mean, does your dad work here, or..?"

"No... He told me to meet him here..."

Cameo wasn't so sure he'd be getting anything out of this kid. Still, if Velkt's sisters were younger than her, maybe he would know who they are.

"I won't pry, but I do have a couple of questions for you. Do you know the Velkt family? There are four girls; the oldest one, her name is Aricrauer, I think?"

The kid still didn't meet Cameo's gaze, but shook his head. "I don't know who you're talking about... I've never met anyone named, uh, Aricrauer."

"What about anyone else with that last name? You don't know anyone named Velkt?"

The kid shook his head again, still fidgeting with his shirt.

"Ah, I'm sorry for being so rude. My name's Aejir." Cameo held out his hand for a shake, hoping he could bring the boy out of his shell a little. Even if he didn't know the Velkt girls, Cameo didn't feel comfortable with the poor kid just shuffling awkwardly around a bar.

"Finn..." The lightfoot's trembling hand shook Cameo's own. "Well, Finnaeus... But lots of people here can't pronounce that so easy..."

“Seems simple enough to me," Cameo smiled. "You don't look like you're very excited to be here, Finn. Why don't you come sit with me at the bar while you wait for your dad? I'll keep you company, buy you a drink." Cameo hoped he wasn't coming off as a little seedy; he genuinely had the kid's best interest in mind. Bars were shady places. "Nothing alcoholic, of course. Some water or a soda, maybe?"

"Uh..!" Finn shook his head more rapidly. "N-No, that's okay. My... dad should be here soon..."

"Alright. Well, you know where to find me if you need anything, alright?" Cameo glanced around the room and points over to the burly lightfoot reading the book, almost teasingly, and leaned in to whisper to Finn. "Some pretty big guys in here. If they give you any trouble I'll take care of 'em for you."

He gave the boy a polite nod and walked over to the bar, taking a seat at the center and waiting for the bartender to notice him.

"What'll it be, sir?" the bartender asked without looking up.

"Just a water for me, never been a big drinker. Gets in the way of the work, you know?" Cameo chuckled to himself, but quickly changed the subject. He was here for a reason, but he couldn't shake the kid from his mind. "Though while I have your attention, do you know that kid over there? He seems a little... shaken. Said he's waiting for his dad."

The darkrunner bartender leaned to look past Cameo. "Him..? From a little town south of here. I see 'im messing with lots of locals -- the wrong sort, that is. Probably a runner for some kind of drug operation. He's always been jumpy... jumpier than a lightfoot should be, anyways."

She filled a glass with water, plopped a few cubes of ice into it, and set it down on a coaster for Cameo.

"But... he's just a kid?" Cameo had seen a lot of things in his time, but he'd never met a drug dealer who trusted a child to do his work for him. Sounded like a recipe for disaster.

"Doesn't matter I guess..." He raised his glass and shook it lightly, letting the cubes hit the walls of the glass a few times before taking a sip. "Thanks. Oh, uh, one more thing..."

Cameo opened a notebook, which was virtually empty save for a few notes he had on the Velkt sisters, particularly Acirauer.

"You wouldn't happen to know the Velkt family, would you? I'm looking for them for an assignment I'm on. The eldest sister, Acirauer, went missing in the bombing scandal on Cabaria and I've been tasked with finding the younger ones for an interview. I'm a journalist."

The bartender peered at Cameo and the journal.

"Ah... The bombings in Cabaria... I heard about that. Rhyser City, thousands dead... It made the headlines even here... I didn't know Aricrauer Velkt was involved. Her younger sister... I think her name is Lexacht." The bartender pointed at Finn. "Huge scandal... she's a darkrunner from a prestigious family dating that lightfoot. Even if they're young, and even if this is Agaier, it's still a big deal. It's not natural."

The door creaked open again. A pair of lightfoots who couldn't be too much older than nineteen strolled inside. One of them grabbed Finn roughly by the arm and led him outside, the other following closely.

"Wait... Lexacht is dating Finn? Or... did you mean to point at him because he's a lightfoot, like, as an example?" Cameo started to panic a little when the lightfoots grabbed Finn to escort him out; he'd have to act quickly, but first he needed his question answered – for clarity.

"Him. Finnaeus DiRatio. Grew up in Nicta, I hear, before his family came back. The regulars chat about him and the Velkts a lot."

"That's more than helpful. Thank you!" Cameo chugged the water and slammed the glass down on the bar before running after Finn and the other lightfoots. He'd hoped to get out of here without any conflict, but it looks like that wasn't in the cards.

Cameo spied the two lightfoots talking to Finn a few meters away from the door, the one still keeping her hold on Finn's arm. He walked a little bit closer and leans against the wall inconspicuously, trying to listen in on the conversation.

"...This isn't very much," growled the lightfoot holding Finn. In her other hand, she held a small bag. "Nobody's gonna bother with a tiny bag like this." She forced it back into Finn's hands, leering at him dangerously. "You'd best go back and try again."

"But... But I just..," Finn stammered.

"You just what?"

Cameo leaned off of the wall and whistled to himself as he walks by, glancing at Finn from the corner of his eye. He stopped and observes the scene from a safe but still intimate distance.

"Something wrong?" he asked of the group innocently, "Did this boy trouble you? Steal your wallet maybe?"

He gave Finn a quick wink, hoping it would go unnoticed by the other two lightfoots. The lightfoot girl immediately dropped Finn's arm and backed away.

"No -- no, sir. He just broke a promise. Nothing big. Heat must've gone to my head. Shouldn't have grabbed him."

She flashed Cameo an artificial smile. Her companion did the same. Finn, however, seemed noticeably relieved at Cameo's intervention.

Cameo nodded.

"Yes, of course..." He looked between the two older lightfoots, then to Finn. "He looks a little young to be hanging around the two of you; you related or something?"

"Family friends, actually. May as well be my brother for how long I've known him," she answered.

Cameo pressed her, confused. "When I bumped into him inside, he said he was looking for his dad. Not... well, you. You sure you're so close with this kid?"

“Your dad?" The lightfoot girl glanced at Finn quizzically. "Oh, wait, were you scared of getting thrown out?"

Finn looked to the girl and then to Cameo, nodding slowly.

"Huh. I offered to stay with him until his dad showed up, didn't look that scared of getting thrown out to me." He paused for a moment, then gave Finn a sly grin. "Then again, I asked him a few other things that I took him for lying about in there too, so I don't know why I'm so surprised."

Cameo held his hand out to the lightfoot girl, still grinning, though her own fake smile started to diminish the more the reot talked.

"I'm Aejir. Didn't mean to intrude, I was just worried about Finn after he told me he was waiting for his father and then you two, um, 'escorted' him out." He glanced back to Finn, suspicious of the situation. "I'm here on business; I'm looking for the Velkt girls. Finding even one of them would help me out tremendously. Bartender in there pointed me, interestingly, in Finn's direction."

The two older lightfoots exchanged anxious glances. The girl looked at her wrist. "Oh, you know, look at the time. Would love to catch up, but he can tell you aaaaall you need to know about the Velkts."

She started to walk away, then turned around and swiped the bag out of Finn's hand. She and her friend hopped off immediately after.

Finn stared at Cameo with wide, green eyes.

"Don't know how I managed that one, but how about we go someplace else to have a little chat? It's a bit hot out." Cameo turned to leave, but then realized that he has no idea where he's going. He looked back to Finn expectantly. "I'm not mad at you. Quite the opposite, actually, I'd like to be friends. Anyone who can lie to me and get away with it is a good man in my book."

Finn gulped. "Um... Uh... I like... the library near here..."

"Fine by me. We can be quiet there; quiet's a nice change of pace for me." Cameo's own green eyes met Finn's, and he smiled. "Plus it's in public. I can't imagine you're very thrilled about hanging out with a stranger all day, so public is good."

Finn cringed at the mention of 'all day,' but nonetheless led Cameo to a small, secluded library down the road. The library wan't terribly crowded, and they quickly located an empty table. Finn sat across from Cameo, his feet restlessly tapping the ground.

"Hey, calm down, I'm not gonna hurt you and I'm going to make sure nobody else does, either." He set both of his hands, face down, on the table. "Look, hands are where you can see them."

Cameo cleared his throat and grinned. When Finn didn't say anything in response, he took it on himself to get the conversation going.

"So about Lexacht..," he started.

Finn cringed.

"Lexa," he muttered, his ears flat against his head. "She prefers to be called Lexa."

"Lexa's good for me! I'm pretty fond of nicknames. I've got one myself, like most reots do."

Cameo was trying to be as friendly and relatable as possible; in all honesty he had no idea how to deal with this kid. He wasn't disgruntled and obnoxious like Thorn, he wasn't genuine and sincere like the kid at the electronics shop in Fol Atzo. Finn was just... shaky and unreliable. But he had what Cameo needed, information, and he was probably ten times more vulnerable than any adult who could point him toward the Velkt's.

"Why'd you lie to me? I'm clearly not from here, I had nothing to gain from judging your relationship with her, and I've got some pretty important information to deliver to her."

Finn looked away, casting his eyes around the library. "Because... if the wrong people know who they are and where they are... They might have to leave again..."

"Finn, I hate to be honest with you since we seem to have started off on the right foot, the kind of foot I usually like to start off on, the kind of foot that lies, but if you don't tell me where they are then they will be in even greater danger. I don't think you understand the full extent of what's going on out there in the galaxy..." He stopped and leaned back in his chair, hands still on the table. "That's not important right now, though. How much do you know about Aricauer?"

"She hates me."

"Because you're a lightfoot?"

Finn nodded. "I know Lexa and her sisters miss Aricrauer a lot when she's gone... but... she's always... glaring at me. Hovering around when I'm with Lexa or Brook..."

Cameo was relieved to know that Finn apparently trusts him enough to disclose a little bit more than he would at the bar. Then again, he probably caught on to the fact that Cameo wasn't just some ordinary guy or a journalist. He seemed pretty smart, if not a little strange.

"Do you know anything about her job, about what she did for a living?"

"Military work... She was a spy... Specialized in Cabaria-related affairs." Finn stared at his hands in his lap, twiddling his thumbs. "That's why Lexa's family had to move so much. But I don't want them to leave again..."

"Even if it means they'll be safe? ... Never mind. Don't worry about that right now..." Cameo was getting distracted again. "You know about the sword, right? Aricrauer's sword?"

Finn sullenly looked up at Cameo. "Feivelkt. She'd get mad if we touched it. Said it wasn't a toy."

"Do you know anything about it other than that it's, well, a sword?"

"Her dad had it... and her dad's mom had it before him... There's something weird about it." Finn looked Cameo in the eye. "I heard her talking to it once... She was saying things to it in Scheli-dren."

Cameo nodded, completely unsurprised, and then looked around the library to be sure that he couldn't spot anyone or anything suspicious. Finn also looked around, as if to see what Cameo is looking for.

Cameo leaned over the table and, in hushed tones, began to explain. "I trust you, Finn. I don't know why, since you lied to me, but then again maybe that's exactly why I trust you." He placed one hand over his Chrono Ring and moved about in his inventory until he came up on Eiorozziore. "I have a sword just like Aricrauer's. They're special weapons, very powerful, and only certain people can use them. With Aricrauer's help I can ensure that you, Lexa, and everyone else in the galaxy stays safe. But I need to meet Aricrauer's sisters, her family, before I can be so sure that what I'm doing is right, and if it is, how I can go about doing it in the first place."

Finn's eyes narrowed as he looks at Eiorozziore. Hesitantly, he reached out and touched its blade, very gently.

He didn't retract his hand.

"It's like Feivelkt, but it speaks Nicta-slio instead," Finn muttered in a mix of awe and confusion. "Who... Who are you, really..? Who sent you here..?"

"If I tell you, you have to promise me that you'll help me. I mean it, Finn, you have to decide right now if you can trust me. If you can, I can make sure that you, Lexa, and her sisters are safe. But I can't make you trust me."

Cameo studied Finn curiously; Eiorozziore didn't burn him. He mentioned touching Feivelkt before, as well, or at least coming close enough that Aricrauer must have noticed it, too. He wasn't just some normal kid. The blade spoke to him, too.

Finn glanced up at Cameo. "Okay... I'll tell you... We can trade... and then I'll bring you to them..."

He moved his hand away and tapped on the table's surface with his fingers. "The Velkts... Their parents died a long time ago. Aricrauer raised her three younger sisters alone. Lexa told me... at first Aricrauer didn't want to work for the Veriols like their dad did, but she had to take the job since it paid so well."

Cameo nodded; he figured Finn isn't done, but he decided to make good on his end of the deal as well. "My name is Aejir Nightclaw. You may know me by Cameo if you know me at all, though." He rested his hands on Eiorozziore and looked Finn in the eyes. "Like Aricrauer, I'm a spy, though I prefer the term 'information specialist.' I don't work for the Veriol Alliance, though. My boss? Hretlakk Flametail, of the Alamo Empire."

He took a moment to reflect on Cabaria, then offered his hands in surrender.

"I wasn't there when Cabaria was bombed, and I'll be honest with you in saying that I am staunchly against the actions taken there. I just need to find Aricrauer, and her sisters are the quickest way to get to her as far as I know. And you, my friend, are the quickest way to get to them. In exchange for taking me to them, I can make sure that the four of you are housed and guarded at all times. We'll find Aricrauer and reunite her with her sisters, and if what I just saw with you is any indication, Hretlakk will be very pleased to meet you, as well. She might be able to afford you an opportunity that will provide you with a better life, that can provide the Velkts a better life."

"Can you also promise one of my other friends to be guarded..?"

"That depends on who the friend is, but if Aricrauer and your potential to wield godslayers is as important to the Empire as I think it is then I don't see why Captain Flametail wouldn't be willing to cooperate."

Finn nodded slowly. "His name is Tahked... He, um... He and Brook are really close, so... he might also know something about Aricrauer..."

"If he knows anything about Aricrauer, then he's already a valuable asset."

Finn nodded again in understanding.

"Lexa... She told me once that there was one thing Aricrauer hated above everything else. It was that sword... Feivelkt. She said that because of it, they could never have normal lives..." He eyed Eiorozziore. "...But I... I wanted to help them know what it's like to live normally. To have friends, to just... you know, do normal things. So I don't really ask them about it unless they talk about it first. If you show up with that sword, they might be angry, but... they're not really like that. Okay?"

"The sword... Aricrauer is right to hate it, and her sisters are right for hating it as well. I can't say I blame them for hostility against godslayers; they are nothing but trouble, but people who can wield them are few and far between."

He stood and put Eiorozziore back into his Chrono Ring; he assumed it wasn't good for his disguise to be carrying such a weapon around in the open.

"Godsblood is both a blessing and a curse." Cameo sighed. "I don't know how normal life will be for the five of you over the course of the coming conflict, but if you survive the fight I can promise a life of normality after it's over. A life where hiding from your gift isn't the only solution."

"That 'gift' is why I got in trouble with those two, you know," Finn said darkly. "I... I've always been good with plants. Better than even a human or a lareph with magic. So when they found out... they wanted me to grow drugs for them."

Cameo smiled. "Well now you won't have to do that ever again. Alright? And if they have a problem with that, well, I've got friends in high places who can solve that problem for them."

Finn looked over Cameo again, then stood up. "Okay... I think I should call them to come here. I don't think they'd... want me to bring you to their house."

"I understand. Do whatever you feel is right, you know them better than I do." Cameo started to walk away, to give Finn his privacy while he got in contact with Lexa, but made sure to keep a close eye on him. Knowing what Finn knows now was dangerous, and there was no telling who could have overheard their conversation. Compromising the mission was not an option.

Finn took out his cellphone, keeping his voice low as he spoke.

"Hi... Sorry, Gwyna, are Brook and Lexa there..?" He sighed and fiddled with one of his ears. "What..? I said Brook and Lexa... No... That's not..." There was another sigh. "Please, can you just tell them to come to the Stahlt Library..? Thanks... Bye."

He hung up. Quietly but quickly, Finn moved over to where Cameo is and tapped him on the shoulder.

"I didn't... ask Gwyna to come because she's only twelve. It's better if she stays out of this. I don't think she can really... handle these things," he said.

"That's fine, but..." Cameo turned to Finn and leaned against the wall, "She's going to have to learn to handle these things soon if things go like we discussed. I hope her sisters are prepared to help her get through it. At least until we find Aricrauer you guys will probably be living either on a ship in the fleet or on a military base somewhere, possibly even both."

"I know... But Gwyna doesn't really like me, either... It's probably better if Brook or Lexa tell her."

"I understand." Cameo sighed; things were going almost too smoothly. He had been through so much lately that he was expecting some tiartzard ninja to come flying through a window, armed to the teeth and ready to decapitate him. Or maybe Doji would stumble through the door and shout "DOKANI CASTLE!" and reawaken history's worst menstrual cramp. As if anyone needed a reminder of that.

"It's not like how Aricrauer doesn't like me," Finn clarified, misunderstanding Cameo's statement. "Gwyna thinks... um, just because Brook and Lexa are twins, I'm going to... make a move on Brook..."

Cameo studied Finn curiously. Was this even a real issue? "Sounds like she's being an irrational pre-teen to me. Nothing unusual."

He cocked a brow, still unsure of why this was significant enough to bring to his attention.

"Uh, yeah, I guess..." Finn scratched the back of his head.

"How long 'til you think they get here? I could make good on that offer to buy you a drink if we've got time."

"It shouldn't be long... Gwyna said--" For the first time since Cameo had been in Finn's company, Finn's face broke out into a smile. Two darkrunners who'd look nearly identical -- if it weren't for their different clothes and how one had a yellow crest -- approached them.

Finn moved towards the one with the yellow crest, but then seemed to remember where he is.

"Um... Aejir, this is Lexa and Brook," he said, indicating the darkrunner with the yellow crest and then the one with the red.

Lexa broadly grinned at Cameo and offered him a quick but flippant salute in greeting. Brook, on the other hand, hung back, her red eyes staring at Cameo with a mix of curiosity and fear.

"The pleasure is all mine, ladies," Cameo offered, and he bowed to them. "I don't suppose Finn had any time to explain, so why don't we take a seat and I'll start from the top again..?"

With Cameo, the three of them sat down at a table -- one different from where Cameo and Finn were earlier, just in case.

"So, who're you?" Lexa chirped amicably. "Don't tell me Finn owes you money or something -- he already owes me about twenty zahlunschts."

"Finn doesn't owe me any money, no." Cameo hesitated; bringing Eiorozziore back out now was probably a bad idea.

"I used to be a traveling merchant by trade, but now I work for the Alamo Empire. I'm here to talk to you girls about your sister, Aricrauer." Cameo paused again, sure that this was a sensitive subject. "I've reason to believe that you... might know where she is, or can offer us some sort of clue as to where she could possibly be. I'm sure the reason why we're looking for her would be of no surprise to you; having someone on the side of the Empire who can wield a godslayer would be a huge boon to our campaign... but we don't just want her for her blade. She is, reportedly, quite talented with it, and we've reason to believe that she'd make a fine soldier."

He looked from one sister to the next, and then to Finn, and back to Lexa. Already the two Velkt sisters had cringed at Cameo's story.

"I know you girls just want a normal life, but what kind of normalcy is it to lie about who you are all because of a sword? With Aricrauer's help we could provide you with a genuinely normal life. A place to live, a peaceful existence free of interferance from people who are only after your family for the sword. Finn could stop planting and selling drugs and you could be reunited with your sister again. You could be... happy."

"Damn it," Lexa muttered. "It's always about Aricrauer and that sword. Well," she said louder, "I'm really sorry, Aejir, but we aren't going to throw ourselves at the Empire's feet for empty promises."

She stood up to leave, but Brook grabbed her by the arm.

"...What do you need to know?" Brook asked, no small amount of suspicion in her voice.

Lexa sputtered, "Brook, we can't--!"

"At least listen to him, Lexie... We won't know until we try." At this, Lexa growled, but sat down all the same, waiting for Cameo.

Cameo shifted in his seat, bothered by Lexa's sudden shift in mood. "Aricrauer disappeared after the bombing on Cabaria. Her body was not found, and there's no indication that she's dead. She is very likely still out there, somewhere, and if you have any idea where she could be, even the smallest hint, would give us a tremendous advantage." He shifted his eyes between the two sisters. "Was she in contact with you at all in the days leading up to the bombing?"

Lexa shifted uncomfortably at the mention of Cabaria. "No..."

"She wasn't," Brook said. "She said she was ordered to keep a low profile."

Cameo watched Lexa shift in her seat and sighs, feeling the need to reaffirm that Aricrauer wasn't dead. "The sword is nowhere to be found. Godsblood is not so common that, if your sister died on Cabaria, any average person could pick it up. We are almost certain that she is still alive. But..."

He looked back to Brook and his brow furrowed.

"She never sent you a letter, an e-mail, anything?" The situation was more severe than he thought. They really had no idea. "Even under an alias?"

"Aric has been acting... different," Brook said after a pause. "Ever since that human in a mask showed up and started talking to her, she... changed. She became obsessed with being a hero."

Lexa's fists clenched at the mention of the human and couldn't resist the urge to add, "That human only came by because she somehow knew about Feivelkt."

Finn glanced at Cameo; his confused expression indicated that a lot of this is new information to him, as well.

Cameo cocked his head in confusion. Human in a mask? It couldn't have possibly been what he thought it was.

"What did the mask look like?"

"A human skull with no lower jaw," said Brook. She pulled a receipt out of her pocket and also a pen, scribbling out a drawing. "Like this."

Cameo sighed with relief; it wasn't a protogod's mask. At least, he didn't think so. Maybe Mioura provided him with more post traumatic stress than he was aware of. He could feel his heart beating intensely at the mere possibility that a protogod could be responsible.

"How long ago did this... human... visit your sister?"

Brook and Lexa exchanged glances. Lexa started counting back on her clawed fingers.

"It was around two years ago, I think," she said.

Brook nodded. "She said her name was Varthenral. She apparently writes it using traditional Alamin characters instead of the Morish writing system to mean 'defiant second chance'."

Cameo froze again. Second chance?

"Did she tell you the significance of writing her name to change its meaning?"

"She claimed that in the future," said Brook, "the whole galaxy would be swept up in a war to end all wars... the Fourth Galactic War. And she represented a 'second chance' to avert that catastrophe."

Cameo had a theory behind the identity of the "human" woman, but he let it go for now. "Do you know where the human woman came from? Did she tell you where she was going?"

"She's from Streeg... and she said she was returning there to stop someone from discovering something," Lexa finished lamely.

"She didn't like us listening in on her conversations with Aricrauer. But..." Brook sighed and shook her head. Lowering her voice even more, she said, "She said that Rhyser City would be bombed, and that would lead the galaxy towards the Fourth Galactic War... That it would break the current stalemate between the Veriols and the Empire..."

"Sounds like she had abilities beyond those capable of some normal human woman," Cameo scoffed, unconvinced that she was merely human. "But if what you're saying is true, your sister already knew about the bombing on Rhyser City. Now I'm positive that she's still alive." He looked to Finn, concerned. "Did she tell Aricrauer anything else? Any other... 'predictions'?"

Finn shook his head. "I didn't know about this Varthenral..."

"We never told anyone," affirmed Brook.

"Sorry," Lexa muttered to Finn, who shrugged in turn.

Brook spoke up again. "But... Varthenral did say some other things... I don't remember all of them, but she also said that someone in Streeg discovers something else that leads to the Fourth Galactic War, which is why she was going there... and that something else in Kyrol..."

She trailed off.

"...Something else in Kyrol..?" Cameo suddenly got the feeling that this mission was about more than just finding out information about Aricrauer.

Cameo was rushing through the details in his mind. The only possible lead he got from the girls was that Varthenral was from Streeg, and that someone in Streeg makes an important discovery that sealed the deal on the Fourth Galactic War. If that was a clue at all, Aricrauer was heading for Streeg right now. But how, and with who? Was that even accurate information, or horribly misleading? Maybe Aricrauer was avoiding Streeg?

It was the only clue he had for now, though. Still, what Brook said was still bothering him. Cameo waited for her to return to her thoughts, part of him debating about whether or not he actually wanted the answer.

"Someone in Kyrol kills Estvoled's gods," said Brook bluntly. "And somewhere along that line, they come after... me, Lexie, Finn, and our friend Tahked. And I die. Varthenral didn't specify if the others do, but..."

Finn and Lexa both flinched at the bluntness of Brook's words.

Lexa murmured, "Don't say things like that," but it was so quiet that Cameo could barely hear.

Cameo's lips pursed; already, he didn't like how this was playing out.

"But you said 'something.' Something in Kyrol. Not 'someone.'" He looked between the three teenagers again. "Which... means that this is something else entirely that we're dealing with?" He closed his eyes and shook his head. "We need to find your sister for the answers. I think she's headed for Streeg. Do you have reason to believe she'd be elsewhere? Any other conversations you overheard or maybe a letter she sent before she arrived on Cabaria? Anything could be significant."

"Varthenral said that something about the god-killer leads to the Fourth Galactic War. She wasn't sure what, or she just didn't want to tell us." Brook stared at Cameo with an expression he couldn't quite place, somewhere between being cold and being scared.

"And... Aric said she'd come back here after she returned from Cabaria," said Lexa. "But we haven't... heard anything from her."

Cameo sighed again. This was getting more and more complicated by the second. "Cabaria ended with special circumstances. She probably got wrapped up in something she never intended to be involved with. Right now, though, all you've given me is that Streeg is of some importance to her. It's all I've got right now."

"Aric wouldn't break her promise," growled Lexa. "She'd come back before going to Streeg, if that's where she was going, or at least send a letter or something."

"And what if she couldn't?" Cameo pressed. "What if the whole reason the Alliance sent her to Cabaria in the first place was because they knew she wouldn't survive there? Or didn't think she would, anyway? What if your sister's on the run?"

"You don't know her -- she'd find a way." Lexa's fists bunched up even tighter; her crest stood up on end. "She wouldn't leave us like that."

"Lexie, um..."

Tiny pulsed of flame start to flick off of Lexa's hands. Brook grabbed them with her own, hiding them from Cameo's sight.

Cameo, having had enough of the charade, stood up. "I know her better than you think." Withdrawing Eiorozziore and holding it out, he said, "Life isn't so simple when you carry one of these."

"Is that--?" Brook's question caught in her throat as Lexa shook off her hands and stood up as well.

"Get. That. Away. From. Us," Lexa hissed through clenched teeth.

"H-Hey, don't..." Finn placed his hand on Lexa's shoulder. "He wants to help us."

Fire continued to pulse from Lexa's hands.

Cameo stared, unfazed.

"I need to know where your sister is. You can tell me and we can find her, or you can keep this up and she could die, you could die, millions more people could die who don't have to die." Cameo looked down to Eiorozziore, then back to Lexa. "This sword is a curse, I know. I've heard the spiel from plenty of people. You hate it. But these weapons can help us turn the tides of, or even prevent, the fourth galactic war. Do you want to be responsible for that missed opportunity?"

Lexa snarled, baring her teeth. "And what? We're supposed to just take your word for it? The last time Alamos came looking for one of us, he didn't come back. Ever."

Finn flinched at Lexa's words, giving Cameo a sidelong glance with his green eyes.

"You talk a lot like her. That Varthenral. Just because you have that sword doesn't mean you can change anything," continued Lexa. "Even those weapons have limits... like if you get stabbed in the back. They won't help you then."

"So you're just going to leave your sister out there to die then?" Cameo shrugged and sheathed Eiorozziore. "That's your decision. But when bombs are dropping in Kyrol and civilians are getting caught in the crossfire between the Alliance and the Empire, don't say that nobody offered you an out."

He started to turn and walk away, but couldn't stand the idea of leaving Kyrol with an unresolved mission. He had known it wouldn't be easy, but he had no idea Aricrauer's sisters would give him this much trouble.

"If you want a chance to see her before you die, you'll tell me everything you know about where she is. I can't make you believe me, but I've seen stranger things than Varthenral predicting the future in the last six months alone. With everything that's happened to me lately, I'm betting on whatever she's saying being true if we don't do anything to prevent it." Cameo scanned the entire group opposite of him at the table and nodded. "If you're fine with sitting back and letting someone else tell you what this life has in store for you, then you can lie down and act like a dog all you want. I'm not going to become a character in someone else's script."

Before he could react, Lexa lunged across the table, wrenching free of Brook and Lexa. The books that had been left on the table are knocked over as she grabbed Cameo's arm with her burning hands. Some fur was singed off his arm before Brook and Finn forcibly dragged her back. Nearby library patrons stared at the sudden commotion.

Panting for breath not out of exertion but raw fury, Lexa stared at Cameo with pure hatred.

"Don't put words into my mouth," she hissed. "Aric can take care of herself. We don't need the Alamo Empire, and we don't need you. She isn't going to die. You're going entirely off what that goddamned Varthenral said. Just why would you believe her? You've never even met her. For all you know, she's playing you along just like she's tricking Aric. I know -- I know how you people are. You prey on people's emotions, getting them upset or scared so they'll listen to whatever you have to say."

Her red eyes narrowed, but talking seemed to be dissipating the flames in her hands somewhat, almost as if indicating that she's calming down.

Brook glanced around at the other people in the library. Most of them had gone back to their business, but a few of them still were staring at them.

"I'd never even heard of Varthenral until you told me about her." Cameo just stared at Lexa, unwilling to let her win. "And the fact that you're getting so upset about it tells me that you believe it too. You don't know what to do and you're angry that the only people who want to help you are the same people who you hate so much."

He shrugged and brushed off his arm. Still unaffected, he also adjusted his clothes for good measure.

"I don't have to prey on your emotions, Lexa. You're already scared."

Lexa's fists clenched again, only to fall loosely by her sides. After a few moments of shaking, she looked to Brook and nodsdedalmost imperceptibly.

"Zatek. She said that... there was a problem with the spaceship she got on and ended up in Zatek. It's a city near Vzástrov Se... the floating island in Tumoria," said Brook. "Even if Aric can't do what Lexa just did, take that as a warning. She won't trust you if she knows you're from the Alamo Empire... no matter what we say."

Cameo nodded, appreciative. "I don't expect this to be easy. Just knowing where she is helps me far more than you could ever imagine."

He inched closer to Lexa and opened his mouth to speak, but realized that she was too angry to care what he had to say. He shifted back to Brook and Finn instead.

"I know it took a lot to tell me that. You probably don't trust me, and that's okay. But I promise you that if the Empire goes against the guarantee that I made to you that I will do anything in my own power to make sure that you're taken care of."

Finn nodded, but Brook only stared back at Cameo.

"Don't mention seeing us beforehand... Aric won't trust you. I can't exactly tell you how to get on her good side, but... at least I can warn you how to stay off her bad side," she said.

"Probably a little late for this, I guess, but do you have any questions for me before I leave? Is there anything that you want me to make sure that your sister knows?"

Finn shook his head, as did Brook.

Lexa, however, spoke up. "What's in it for you? Why're you doing this?"

Cameo sighed; he had honestly tired of waving around this old relic, retelling the tale every time he landed on a new planet, but there were some things that would follow him for the rest of his life. This was unfortunately one of them.

He pulled Thorn's mask out of his Chrono Ring and held it out to Lexa. "This is why I'm doing this."

Cameo had never allowed anyone to touch it; he wasn't so sure that giving it to a girl who was willing to burn him alive mere minutes ago was a good idea, honestly, but she would never trust him if he didn't learn to trust her.

"This mask belonged to a boy who I tried very desperately to save. Before I met this kid, I was just a common thief, a nobody just out to scam people and get ahead through deception. Then I met him, and I learned about his familym and I cut him and his cousin down to keep them from becoming monsters. And suddenly nothing else mattered to me except fixing all of the horrible mistakes I'd made. This sword was one of those mistakes. I have to bear the burden that comes along with it because I saw it as an opportunity to fix everything that I hated about the galaxy. You have to be the change you expect other people to make or they won't make the effort to do shit for you.

"I didn't like joining the Alamo Empire to do it, but sometimes you can't do things by yourself. Sometimes you need help. And sometimes you need to help other people." He glanced down at the mask again and forced a smile. "That's what I'm getting out of this."

Lexa was silent, but then looked over the mask as she held it in her hands. She seemed pensive, and then she handed the mask back to Cameo – completely intact and unharmed.

"If you're a liar... you're a really damn good one. I almost believe you."

"Good to hear." Cameo flashed her a grin as he took the mask back and returned it to his Chrono Ring. "I don't know what I said that made you trust me with your sister's whereabouts, but you've just potentially saved billions of lives. Thank you."

Lexa flinched. "I don't trust you. But I think I can believe your story."

At this, Brook almost smiled a bit knowingly, though she hid it behind a clawed hand.

"Well, that's good enough for me." Cameo offered his hand to anyone willing to shake it, though he felt like Finn would be the only one to take him up on the offer. "I'll make arrangements with Captain Flametail to have you all put under surveillance and moved to a safezone like I promised. Do you want to stay here on Kyrol, or would you like to be relocated?"

Finn reached out and shakes Cameo's hand. Lexa begrudgingly did so as well, but Brook stayed back.

"I... I'd like to stay here, if we can," said Finn with uncertainty.

"We've moved before. I get that it's not always so easy," said Lexa with a small degree of irritation at the prospect. "...But... whatever. Not like we have much say in it."

Cameo nodded to each of them again, unsure of how to say goodbye. It felt a little... forced. He didn't want to give them the impression that he was using them. They'd done too much for him to just leave it like this.

"I can arrange for you to stay here. If you need anything, anything at all, please let me know. I'll see to it that you're accommodated as quickly as possible, no matter where in the galaxy I am."

Finn nodded at Cameo's promise.

"Good luck," said Brook finally. "I hope... you don't get as many enemies as Aric did... with that sword."

"Thank you," Cameo offered in reply. "I'll do what I can to make sure Aricrauer is safe, too. You have my word; be safe."

He gave them all one final nod of appreciation and turned to walk away, back toward the loading dock. He wasn't entirely positive, but if what Varthenral told them was true, then he would definitely be seeing these three again. For Aricrauer's sake, he would challenge the mysterious woman's premonitions and see to it that she could be reunited with all three of her sisters. They deserved a happy, peaceful life.

They all did.

As Cameo departed from the library, he heard a voice.

"Wait! Wait, Aejir!"

Finn ran up to him, panting for breath. He wiped sweat off his brow. In his hands, he held a small seed.

"I... I know the Alamo Empire's territories are mostly cold," he said a bit sheepishly. "But... um... these seeds grow into trees with really vibrant colors. And they don't require much upkeep..." He held the Stradaum seed out to Cameo. "So... take it. So you don't forget your promise."

Cameo took the seed and studied it for a few seconds, then placed it in his Chrono Ring. "Thanks, Finn. Try not to be so hard on yourself, okay? I can tell you're a bright kid. You'll go far if you just have a little more faith in yourself."

He smiled at the lightfoot, then had an idea. He removed the camera he purchased in Fol Atzo from his Chrono Ring and handed it to Finn.

"Record a video diary every now and then and let me know how you're doing. If you go too long without contacting me, I'll come back and make sure things are okay."

After a moment of looking over the camera now in his hands, Finn seemed to remember himself. "O-oh, thanks! Um... Thank you." He bowed slightly. "Maybe Tahked or Lexa or Brook'll be interested, too... I guess I could ask them when they've cooled down a bit... And, um, I hope you find Aricrauer.”

Finn offered Cameo a small but genuine smile.

"Finding her won't be the trouble..."

Cameo laughed a little, but he knew that convincing Aricrauer that the Alamo Empire can be trusted after the bombings would be one of the hardest things he'd have to do in the coming days. He wasn't not entirely sure he can do it alone. For once, he was praying for the company of literally anyone he'd had to endure for the last couple of months.

Tumoria... Cameo had never been there before. He hoped that getting Aricrauer on his side was the most of his troubles; it seemed impossible for him to land on a new planet without some awful tragedy following him lately.

Cameo had his own room in the military housing of Edlarkkenn. Early in the morning, he heard a knock on the door.

Still awake, Cameo glanced over from his journal to the door. He paused, wondering who would be visiting him this early, but shrugged it off. Whoever it was, they had to have had a special reason for being here at this hour.

"It's open."

The door creaked open, and in stepped Hretlakk Flametail herself. She offered Cameo a small grin.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you're awake at this hour."

"I don't sleep much. You should know that by now." He offered her a grin in return, and then a nodded to a chair in the corner opposite of the door. "Have a seat; it's not much, but you clearly need to talk to me, and our chats are anything but short."

Hretlakk remained standing; instead, she tossed Cameo a rolled-up newspaper. It landed in front of him, unrolling itself without Hretlakk to hold it in place.

It seemed to be a local newspaper for Fol Atzo, specifically dated around when Cameo was last in the city.

The headline was, 'HEIR TO MADRANTE GANG KILLED IN WEST BLOCK PRISON'.

Cameo studied the headline, barely even concerned with the article itself. He knew whatever was in it was probably full of half-truths or myths about Strisci. The headline was all he needed to see.

He looked from the paper to Eiorozziore, which was propped against the wall by the aforementioned chair in the corner, and wondered if the sword was really worth it.

"I spent so much time and worked so hard trying to keep her alive and fix the problems in Fol Atzo without spilling any blood." He swiveled his chair around to Hretlakk and sighs. "I suppose I should give up the notion that I can fix everything without there being a consequence. Cause and effect, right?"

Hretlakk ran her fingers along the door's frame, then looked back to Cameo. "The problems in Fol Atzo run very, very deep. According to some sources I have... she was murdered shortly after releasing Fiore Vacaddi from that very same prison. Killed by an unhinged shape-shifter with a gun who'd been imprisoned in the Madrantes' own prison and sought revenge. He then almost killed several others and was almost killed himself before a prison guard intervened. No charges were pressed."

Cameo sat in silence for a moment; a shape-shifter with a gun could have been anyone. "Any names on the people involved? I don't suppose the Geralkki Lut I was with when you found me happened to be there?"

"Oscare Iono and Ezwelle... something or other were the near-victims." Hretlakk paused, her tail swishing behind her. She stepped forward and closes the door with her wing. "The shape-shifter's name wasn't publicly released, likely to keep any Madrante sympathizers from going after him."

"Couldn't have been anyone I know, then. I've met a lot of shape-shifters in my time, and any one that could use a gun wouldn't have gotten himself locked up in that place." Cameo briefly considered Isaak, but tossed the notion aside. He was a skilled marksman who knew better than to get himself into a situation that deep, and if he'd been in the Madrante Prison then surely they would have crossed paths again.

"Good to hear that Oscare survived. Can't say I'm as elated about Ezwell." He added the paper to the stack he has building underneath his desk. Though he'd never been one for current events, Cameo felt like keeping up with things through sources other than Hretlakk was necessary. She couldn't dote on him forever.

"I can't dwell too much on Nicta, though. I did everything I could to help Strisci and Fiore without them murdering one another. If Boss Vicaddi didn't kill her, I can't say it was a total failure," said Cameo.

"It's very interesting how she died setting that woman free. It is no small feat to break into a prison." Hretlakk tapped her claws against the wall. "However, that is not the only news I'm here to bring to you. I thought it would be best that you heard it from me rather than a secondhand source." Without any hesitation, she asked, "How familiar are you with the history of the cabarus alphas of Rackina?"

Cameo hummed quietly; he didn't know much about their history, necessarily, but he'd sold plenty of his wares in Rackina. He was pretty familiar with their market and the kinds of weapons they had lying around, at any rate.

"Not too much. The only history I'm brushed up on is ancient history, I'm afraid, and not entirely by choice." He pursed his lips at the mention of Mioura and gave Thorn's mask, hanging on the wall opposite his desk, a quick glance, but then returned to Hretlakk. "Why do you ask?"

"Rackina was founded during the Second Galactic War. The reots of Beyne, allies with the Veriol Alliance, created them with the intention of them being a superweapon to use against the Alamo Empire. However, the Chrono in their robotic forms gave them sentience, or so it's said. The cabarus alphas escapped, crash-landed on an island off the coast of Cabaria, and they eventually allied with the cabarians and, by extension, the Alamo Empire. This has been an alliance that has persisted for a little over a thousand years. Even after the old Alamo Empire was disbanded, Rackina quickly swore fealty to the new one. Or so we thought.

"It was recently discovered that the cabarus alphas had betrayed the Alamo Empire to the Veriol Alliance. Apparently the Veriol Alliance was funding the Rhyser Project -- a project designed to make the cabarus alphas immortal. As machines, they fear death above all else, for they know intellectually that once their processors cease, they will die. They prized immortality above loyalty.

"Not only that, but around the time of this discovery, our sources found a second godslaying weapon in Rackina: a darkrunner named Aricrauer Velkt was investigating the area. She holds Feivelkt, the Blazing Phoenix, and is a Veriol spy. Consequently, the Alamo Empire had to act quickly..."

Hretlakk paused, letting that sink in.

"Funny how often these godslayers are turning up all over the place in the hands of people who we probably shouldn't trust them with." Cameo remembered the feeling of unease at seeing Eiorozziore lying in the waters of the Fol Altzo underground and the obligation he made to return it to a mob boss, of all people. All for the coin.

"Those weapons seem to have minds of their own, appearing when least wanted and when they have the greatest potential for destruction," remarked Hretlakk. She idly fiddled with her Chrono Ring, no doubt thinking of her own godslayer, Ji Lhan. "High Commander Regja Sigvarkk issued an order to bomb Rackina -- specifically Rhyser City, where Velkt and the Rhyser Project were situated. Immediately after, he was murdered by an iddun who, according to a soldier that fled the scene, forced him to consume a... strange flask that made him undead. The iddun set fire to the building where his body was and then apparently fled to the ruins of Rhyser City with another iddun."

"I trust that the bomb actually... made contact?"

Cameo was a man of the Empire now, but he couldn't help but feel pride for the Iddun, no doubt Ddremmu if the description of the potion she had was accurate, for doing her best to end the assault. He didn't necessarily agree with this clear intimidation. You kill your enemies in this sort of attack, but at the cost of how many innocent civilians?

"Yes. It was a Chrono Bomb, specifically," said Hretlakk with all the indifference of discussing the weather. "The fallout was quite something. It may have killed more than the impact itself. Breathing in too much Chrono will kill anyone. The entire city was blood-red due to the Chrono's density."

"That's awful..," Cameo mumbled, staring blankly into the aether between Hretlakk and himself. "How many casualties?"

"Approximately fifty --" She shook her head, cutting herself off. "Oh, you asked for the casualties, not the survivors. Rhyser City's population, I believe, numbered a little over 450,000."

"450,000 people..." Only fifty survivors? He wondered to himself if, had he been on Cabaria instead of Nicta, if he'd be in this room right now. Would Hretlakk be his enemy instead of his mentor? "Captain, I'm not a weak man for feeling discouraged by this am I? I'm no traitor, right?"

"Ah..." Hretlakk shrugged. "I suppose not. It is a lot of death."

Her tone was more pensive and distant than anything else. There was a long pause.

"I may be more desensitized to it than you, I'm afraid," she finally admitted. "I've been in the business of war for almost three decades now."

"It's... what are we really fighting for if we're dropping bombs on cities full of innocent people? That's a blatant and unnecessary show of power as a means of intimidation. That isn't any way to earn the favor of people who already doubt our cause." Cameo sighed; maybe he'd made a mistake siding with the Alamo Empire. Perhaps he should have just handed Eiorozziore over. Maybe Strisci would still be alive if he had.

"... Feivelkt. Is it safe?" he asked.

"No reports of Feivelkt have been found. A mere bomb wouldn't destroy it, however. Even gods couldn't break those weapons. As for Rhyser City..." Hretlakk scratched the side of her face. "The Veriol Alliance abandoned Rackina as well. They have been searching for Aricrauer Velkt, who mysteriously vanished in the aftermath of the bombing. Sigvarkk was hasty in his judgment, but he had his own reasons... that he died for, I suppose.

"Some of my diplomats intend to have me make a speech condemning Sigvarkk's actions and help rebuild Rackina. However, Cabaria is not so keen on this, as Rackina's people also released mutants in Cabaria intended to cause panic and confusion. The casualties in Cabaria from these mutants exceed Rhyser City's. At least half a million are dead. Entire cities are blocked off and barricaded to prevent the epidemic from reaching them.

"The Veriol Alliance struck first, using Rackina as a scapegoat."

"Not to undermine your wisdom or authority, Captain, but that sounds like something you might hear a child say after being chastised by his teacher."

Cameo's face sunk into his hands and he shook his head, slightly defeated by this news. He took a deep breath and looked back up to Hretlakk.

"I'm not going anywhere, though. Just because I'm an Alamo soldier doesn't mean that I have to agree with everything the Empire does. This is one of those things, but what's done is done."

"A child being chastized by a teacher... That is a very accurate summary of me as a leader," said Hretlakk. "Past leaders of the Empire -- and of the Veriol Alliance and Gerualdi Union -- were orators and diplomats, charismatic men and women who could convince you that the universe is finite and that you are not a reot.

"I speak with an axe that could likely rip a hole in the ground if dropped."

She smiled wryly at her self-deprecation.

"But I thought you ought to know the truth, before the Alamo Empire gives you the filtered propaganda," Hretlakk concluded.

"I appreciate your honesty," Cameo offered, perhaps in apology for essentially calling her a child. "Thank you, Captain. If nothing else, you remind me that there are good people in the empire in moments of weakness."

Hretlakk tilted her head, her tattered ears perking up. "Good isn't what most would call me. But then, those people are usually the ones who've seen my collection of ears." She chuckled. "That's all I have to tell you, but if you have any questions... Perhaps about Feivelkt?"

Cameo recalled that every godslayer had its own unique properties and wondered out loud what it did. "What separates it from the others?"

"It was said to be steeped in the blood of an Estvoled fire goddess, thus its name and ability to unleash flames at the wielder's command. Aricrauer Velkt, the current owner... It is said her family was directly descended from that fire goddess. Her surname, appropriately enough, means "phoenix" in Scheli-dren."

"I'm assuming, then, that getting that weapon from her would be pretty difficult." Cameo paused. "Well, unless she was killed or something, but if the sword is passed down through the family then I don't think securing it would be an easy task."

"I would hope her family would not keep the sword, should she die. Apparently, her only surviving family are three sisters in hiding somewhere in Kyrol. The oldest are a pair of twins who are fourteen."

"Hah." Cameo rolled his eyes at the idea of a pair of teenagers bickering over a legendary, all-powerful weapon. "Still, you said she was a Veriol spy. Sounds like she's not going to be an easy recruit regardless, assuming she's still alive."

"That's the interesting thing..." Hretlakk pointed to Eiorozziore. "Say that I did not have Ji Lhan and you had that. Do you think it would be easy to trust you?"

Cameo looked over to Eiorozziore as Hretlakk pointed. "I don't know... I've never known anyone with one of these until I had one. I didn't even know they existed until I met Strisci, and the only reason I didn't trust her with it was because, well, she was in the mafia."

"For most people," said Hretlakk, "in my limited experience, at least, it would a relationship rife with worry. What would stop Aricrauer Velkt, a mere spy, from turning that weapon against the Veriol Alliance and seizing leadership over it herself? According to our informants in the area, the Veriol Alliance sent Velkt there so she could be murdered and the Feivelkt taken from her."

Cameo, still looking at Eiorozziore, suddenly felt very uneasy about owning it at all.

"Her own people turned against her?" He sat momentarily in silence. "I'm suddenly not so enthusiastic about all of this."

"That is the enemy we are facing. They would turn against their own because of Feivelkt. Ironically, I'm sure that they ensured her betraying them by doing this." Hretlakk shrugged. "That is where you come in. If the Veriol Alliance has abandoned Velkt, then the Alamo Empire could welcome her with open arms. Should that happen, we could keep an eye on Feivelkt. A third of the godslaying weapons would be accounted for."

"So you want me to find her and keep tabs on her until the time is right?" Cameo was a man of many things, and information was certainly his strong suit, but he still wasn't even properly trained with Eiorozziore. "Do we have an idea of where she might be? With a job as important as this, time is a matter of extreme sensitivity and it's something we don't have a lot of."

"Last seen in Rackina. I -- well, rather, some more well-informed people... think she may return to Kyrol to check on her sisters. They believe that because she was betrayed by the Veriol Alliance, she would be concerned with ensuring her sisters weren't caught in the crossfire," said Hretlakk.

"I suppose my first destination after I've been trained is Kyrol, then? Or did you have a different idea?" Cameo leaned back in his chair and swiveled back to Hretlakk from Eiorozziore. "... Is there even an idea at all yet of just what I'll be doing, specifically?"

"Well, I personally thought, yes, you'd head to Kyrol and locate the Velkt sisters. From there, you could find out if Aricrauer Velkt has been there. If not... we could always have you keep an eye on them, just in case she has been in contact with them at all. It wouldn't be too hard to find out how often she visits or sends letters." Hretlakk paused, then added, "If you'd rather some other spy work, there are... other pressing issues at hand."

"That depends on how pressing these issues are..." Cameo stared at Hretlakk for a moment. "Is securing a godslayer more important than whatever else you'd have me do, or is that simply a matter of perspective?"

"Perspective. We can always have someone else monitor Feivelkt. I just thought, should Aricrauer Velkt be... violent, it may behoove us to have another godslayer ready to match Feivelkt."

"I'll go wherever you think it's best for me to go, Captain. I answer to you. We don't have much time, but we have enough to worry about these details later I presume? After all, I'm barely acquainted with the blade as it currently stands," said Cameo.

"Kyrol it is, then... and speaking of Eiorozziore, have you... heard anything from the sword? Voices, anything..?"

"To be honest, I haven't touched the blade when we haven't trained with it. It sits there, propped against the wall. I'm... still a little afraid of it. I'm not used to the idea of having something quite so powerful under my care yet," he admitted.

Hretlakk nodded. "I can't say I blame you. Later today, we can train more. For now... I have business to attend to. The council is still undecided on the Cabaria and Rackina matter, and for some godsforsaken reason, they need me there."

"I understand. Best of luck to you, Captain. Try not to cleave them in half." Cameo gave Hretlakk a sly grin.

"If their dull speeches don't kill me first," Hretlakk said.

Fol Adessi was a city similar to Fol Atzo, but less industrial and intimidating. More of a medical-focused city, its buildings were old, many of them dating from before the Godbomb. Rolls of thunder punctuated the din of traffic in the streets and the steady pitter-patter of rainfall on the sidewalks.

A car roared through a puddle, splashing the already drenched sidewalk and a man with a hood pulled over his head. He shrugged off the water and looked up at the sky, squinting at the dark clouds with his orange eyes. Lowering his head and pulling his hood farther over his scaly face, he started singing a song to himself in a low baritone.

"I searched far, an' I searched wide, wonderin' where in th' world I'd hide... Ev'ry time I thought I'd found my place, someone was bound t' recognize my face...

Bound t' recognize my face..."

His song trailed off into a drawling hum.

As Ezwell stepped off the river boat onto the dock, he gazed up into the sky, feeling a mixture of anger and sorrow bubbling in him. The death of Strisci was still fresh on his mind, but now that he was healed and no longer in debt to her, he had a job to do. He had to find a way to help his aunt.

Spotting a hooded man walking nearby, Ezwell growled low in his throat. The last hooded man he had met had murdered his friend. The odds were slim that it was Isaak, but that didn't stop him from wanting to check, just in case. After all, Isaak couldn't have gotten much farther than him...

Ezwell approached the hooded figure, stopping in front of him. "Excuse me," he said. "Would you happen to know where the nearest hospital is?"

Even if it wasn't Isaak, he needed to know where the hospital was to ask if they knew about scale rot. He could kill two birds with one stone.

The man turned, and Ezwell saw that he seemed a bit... odd-looking at best. Though he was tall, he had the more rounded snout of a lizafos as well as a thin, lithe tail like one. His clawed feet peek out from the hem of his cloak -- four toes. And yet when he raised his hand to stroke his chin, he had five fingers.

"A fellow geralkki lut, eh?" The man grinned, his orange eyes gleaming in the dim light. "Hospital's down this here street an' then t' the left. Can't miss it."

He pointed in the indicated direction, still smiling.

As Ezwell got a good look at the man, he immediately sees that it is not Isaak. At first he is disappointed, but as he looks closer, his disappointment turned to amazement.

"You're one too?" he said, dumbfounded. "I've never seen another Kylian like me before." Ezwell stared at the other geralkki lut for a moment. "But, wait, are you from Lyzots? You must know about scale rot," he continued. "Do you know if they've found a cure here?"

The man shook his head. "'Fraid not, friend. Scale rot ain't too high of a concern in Fol Adessi... not too many scalies 'round these parts."

Ezwell growls in frustration. "So then all of it... was for nothing. I should never have come here." Ignoring the other geralkki lut now, Ezwell grabs a locket that had been hidden in his neck fur. He gazes at it for a moment before storming past the geralkki lut, not headed anywhere in particular.

“Wait."

Ezwell stopped, glancing over his shoulder at the other.

"Someone close t'ya... died." He stuck his hands into his cloak's pockets.

Ezwell almost started walking again, but something stopped him. The way the other geralkki lut said it... it wasn't a question. It was like he knew.

"Yeah, so? What's it to you?" he shot back suspiciously.

"Y'asked if I'm from Lyzots. I ain't." He rolled his shoulders. "Ever been t' Dralvarus..? 'Spifically 'round Queetco 'r Jaconis?"

"No... Is that where you're from?" Ezwell asked.

The man smirked. "More 'r less. Lemme tell ya somethin' interestin'. Queetco is said t' be where y'can reach another part o' the universe... a part only fer gods and th' dead... the underworld."

Ezwell made a noise that's halfway between a laugh and a snort. "Yeah, right."

But a tiny part of him wished it were true, and because of that part, he did not walk away just yet.

"Strisci Madrante." The man's eyes gleamed with an otherworldly glint. "That's her name."

Immediately Ezwell turned, attempting to grab the other geralkki lut by the collar of his cloak and drag him closer.

"How the fuck do you know that?" he hissed. Could it be that this was Isaak, shape-shifted into another form? Could shape-shifters take the form of other Kylians? He wasn't sure...

When Ezwell's hand made contact with the man's collar, he abruptly felt an aching sensation in his hand. When he looked down, his skin was aging rapidly, the color fading away and his hand becoming closer and closer to raw bone.

"What the fuck?!" Ezwell yelped, dropping the other geralkki lut as soon as he saw what was happening to his hands. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

Ezwell's hands returned to normal once he lets go of the man.

"I am a speaker for the dead," said the man, dropping the backwater Lyzots drawl. "And the god who rules over them. To touch me is to touch death itself." He raised his head a little, regarding Ezwell arrogantly. "I have seen the spirit of Strisci Madrante wandering the wastes of Queetco. She, like many other spirits, cry out for a savior to bring them back to where they belong. They are lost in the world of the living, forever damned to wander endlessly..."

He snapped his fingers. A transparent, illusionary image of Strisci's face appeared before them.

"I am not merely guessing. I know her. I have seen her. As I said, I am the speaker for the dead."

Ezwell continued to stare at his hands after they have returned to normal.

"A... speaker for the dead? A god..." Then it registered with him what the other had said. "Wait, Strisci's here? In this world?" Ezwell gazed at the illusion of Strisci's face. She told him not to come after her... but if what this Kylian -- no, this god -- said was true, her spirit needed help.

"How can I get to Queetco?" he demanded, still looking at the image of Strisci's face.

"First, I need you to do something for me." The man reached into his cloak and pulls out an oddly long object wrapped in thick cloth. He unbound some of it, revealing the hilt of a spear. "Touch this for me, if you would."

Ezwell eyed the hilt nervously. "It's not gonna... kill my hands again, is it?"

“No."

Ezwell reached out and touches the hilt of the spear, but nothing happened. However, that seemed to be sufficient for the man, for he rewrapped the spear and returned it to his cloak.

"Now... Ishkkeuwekki," he began, pronouncing Ezwell's surname flawlessly, "you will find that the way to Queetco has already been prepared for you. In fact, should you venture to the spaceport of this city tomorrow evening, you will find a ship waiting for you. But there are some things you must do in Dralvarus before you find Strisci Madrante.

"You will seek out companions in Dralvarus... people who can help you on this perilous journey to the land of the dead. Seek out magic-users in particular. Ensure that they do not know of your connection to me, or you will make more enemies than allies.

"After you accomplish this task, you will go to Queetco. I will find you. After I have revealed myself to you and your allies, I will give you further instruction in how to reunite with your friend and how to solve her plight."

The man crossed his arms, having finished his instructions. Ezwell was not quite sure what to say, overwhelmed with his new knowledge and task. He felt like he should ask questions, but at the same time, he did not want to risk this mysterious god changing his mind and finding someone else for the task.

"Right... spaceport, tomorrow evening. Magic users. How will I know it's you?"

"I will be singing a song. It goes like this." He dropped back into the Lyzots drawl.

"I searched far, an' I searched wide, wonderin' where in th' world I'd hide... Ev'ry time I thought I'd found my place, someone was bound t' recognize my face...

Bound t' recognize my face..."

Should be easy enough to remember," Ezwell muttered. "Anything else?"

"Remember you will die, but that day can be postponed should you listen to what I say."

"Postponed. Fuck, I hope you don't mean I'm gonna die on this mission." He grimaced and looked back to the image of Strisci's face, only briefly doubting his resolve. Saving her spirit was worth it.

"You could die. Do you fear death?" asked the man.

"I'm not afraid of dying!" Ezwell said immediately, then frowned. "I guess.. I'm afraid of dying without..." Without saving them, he thought. And without making Isaak pay. "I'm afraid of what I'd leave unfinished behind."

The man, for the first time in their entire meeting, frowned. "If you fear death, death will crush you. That is how it works. Follow me, and I will make sure that your unfinished business, should you die, will be completed in your stead."

If there was any doubt left in him, the man's next words banished it. If this man really was what he claimed to be -- and what else could he be, with those powers? -- then siding with this man meant his aunt would be cured, Strisci would be saved, and avenged. No matter what.

"You've got a deal," said Ezwell with finality.

The man smirked. "I would shake your hand, but I think we have already established that is a poor idea. I will settle for a mere farewell."

There was another glimmer in his orange eyes, and he turned around, leaving Ezwell alone on the rain-slick sidewalk.

Ezwell watched the man go. When he had disappeared, Ezwell grabbed the locket again, gazing at it with determination.