Just outside the door to the dressing room, Ara’s left ear suddenly twitches ever so slightly when it picks up a faint voice a few rooms over. Raiden raises his eyebrows questioningly. Ara furrows his brow in focus, but the noise is too quiet from here to make out what’s being said. He nods his head in the direction of the sound, and Raiden quietly walks over. Two people are having a tense discussion about money inside one of the other dressing rooms. ‘… may be the case, but you still have a debt to pay. And if I don’t see that money soon, you can say goodbye to your little theater.’ ‘Please, sir,’ begs the other voice. ‘A few more days is all we ask. We’re still recovering from the incident.’ The first voice grunts. ‘Very well. Two more days. That coin better be on my desk by then, I don’t care how many more arcane accidents you get yourself into.’ ‘Yes sir,’ says the second voice. ‘Thank you, sir.’ Heavy footsteps approach, and Raiden turns and takes a step back into Ara’s direction. ‘You,’ the voice calls out in his direction. ‘What are you doing here?’ Looking back expecting a tall, large man to accompany this voice, Raiden is surprised to lock eyes with a dwarf instead. He is dressed in expensive fabrics and has a threatening look on his bearded face. ‘Were you eavesdropping, you little twig?’ As he turns around to face the dwarf, Raiden subtly shifts his posture and runs a hand through his hair, so that a couple strands peak out at awkward angles. ‘Who, me? Just trying to find the room my friend is in, sir,’ he replies, with a slightly annoying sing-songy tone. The dwarf looks him up and down and quickly decides this fool is not worth his time. ‘Out of my way!’ he huffs, as he pushes past Raiden. Encountering Ara a few doors over, he demands: ‘Are you his friend?’ ‘I am no one’s friend,’ retorts Ara flatly. The dwarf ignores him and briskly walks towards the exit A tabaxi gentleman steps out of the dressing room, looking quite defeated. ‘Are you alright?’ asks Raiden, tucking his hair back into place. ‘I’m…’ The tabaxi sighs. ‘Never go into business, kid.’

Annori invites Ara and Raiden in to meet Leyna, and she tells her all about their shared adventures. When she mentions Raiden is looking for his mother, too, Leyna inquires further. ‘If there is anything we can do to help, just say the word,’ she offers. ‘You brought my little girl back to me, I owe you everything.’ ‘That’s very kind of you,’ says Raiden, still adjusting to talking about his mother so openly. ‘Though to be fair, Annori did most of the work herself. She saved my butt out there more times than I can count. She’s an incredibly skilled druid, you know?’ ‘She is?’ Leyna looks at Annori radiating love and admiration. ‘That’s wonderful! Gosh, you have grown.’ She then turns to Ara. ‘What about you, young man? What is it you need?’ Ara shakes his head. ‘I guess it would be nice to just… solve this whole thing. Go back home. We’ve been knee-deep in disappearances and dead gods for a while now, and I still feel like we haven’t actually solved anything.’ Leyna’s eyebrow almost imperceptibly twitches, but then she simply nods. ‘Can we go see dad?’ asks Annori. ‘Of course!’ says Leyna. ‘Give me a minute to get changed, and we’ll head over to pick him up from work.’

They walk the winding streets of Osta Asari together in the late afternoon sun. The further they climb, the larger and more imposing the buildings become. Eventually they leave the residential areas behind and enter the district where the government buildings are. ‘Damn, Annori,’ says Raiden. ‘I thought your dad was an actor.’ ‘He is,’ confirms Leyna. ‘But, like I said, Aiden has been spending a lot of his time improving the legal rights of traveling troupes like us. He acts as a representative for several smaller groups, and advises politicians and lawmakers on their behalf. Our behalf.’ Raiden turns to Annori, bewildered, and quietly mouths: ‘Aiden?’ Annori snorts. ‘The similarity never occurred to me before.’ ‘You should’ve picked a proper name, I told you,’ says Ara. When they arrive, Leyna knocks on the door of one of the offices. ‘Hi love. Guess who I brought today?’ A blue-skinned tiefling with curled ram’s horns looks up from the papers he’s been sorting and drops them on the floor when he sees his long lost daughter. Annori runs straight into his arms. ‘I can’t believe it,’ Aiden stammers, eyes welling up with tears. ‘Annori, you’re alive! How did you…?’ ‘I found you!’ Annori cries. ‘I found you both!’ Aiden holds her. ‘By the gods, so you did. I’m… We’re never letting you go again, moonpie.’ ‘Yeah.’ Annori looks up from their embrace. ‘Figuratively, right?’ ‘Right,’ laughs Aiden, releasing his grip and taking hold of her hands instead. Leyna joins them while Ara and Raiden wait in the hallway once more. ‘You’re saying a mysterious witch told you we would be here?’ asks Aiden. ‘Only mom,’ Annori corrects him. ‘I wasn’t sure you’d be here, too. And even so, I couldn’t travel here straight away. We had important business to attend to for the investigation, first, and I was so afraid you’d have moved on by the time we arrived here.’ ‘So you’re a detective?’ ‘I guess you could say that,’ she says. ‘Lady Hartwind in Coldvale asked us to find out what happened to her late father, which led us to a whole list of disappearances around the area that all seem to be connected somehow.’ Leyna and Aiden exchange a look, but Annori is focused on the shape of her father’s hand and how much it looks like hers. ‘You know what,’ says Aiden, ‘this stuffy office is no suitable backdrop for this miraculous reunion. Let’s go have some dinner, just the three of us.’ ‘Five of us,’ says Leyna. ‘I’m sure Annori’s friends would like a meal, too.’ ‘Ohh, you have friends?’ asks Aiden, delighted. ‘Come, come, I know just the place.’

A beautifully painted hydra graces the wooden sign outside the door of the pub. Aiden holds the door open for them, and sees Raiden hesitate. ‘What’s the matter? Not a fan of this place?’ ‘It’s excellent,’ says Raiden. ‘I just, uh… haven’t been here in a while.’ ‘Not to worry, friend.’ Aiden gives him a pat on the back. ‘It’s my treat.’ Raiden takes a deep breath and steps inside the Hydra’s Heads Pub. It’s a tall chamber, tastefully decorated, with well maintained hardwood floors and furniture, intricate tapestries and oil paintings on the walls, and a visibly well-off clientele. ‘Well, well, if it isn’t Miles O’Connor.’ A short middle-aged woman with dark curls wearing an apron approaches Raiden with her arms crossed. She gives him a stern head-to-toe look. ‘You’re late.’ Raiden flashes an uncomfortable smile. ‘Bryony, I’m…’ She holds up a hand to interrupt him, and turns to the rest of the group. ‘Welcome in, please make yourself at home. Here for a meal I presume? I’ll make you the special. Pick any table you like and I’ll be right with you.’ She stares daggers at Raiden and then exits through a door behind the bar. ‘Bad day to be Miles,’ remarks Ara drily. ‘I thought he was Raiden,’ says Leyna, confused. ‘Yeah, uh… middle name,’ mumbles Raiden. ‘Please excuse me for one moment.’

He finds Bryony Marimon in the small kitchen chopping carrots with a little more fervor than may be strictly necessary. ‘Employees only,’ she says. Raiden sits on an empty bit of countertop and clears his throat. ‘How are the kids?’ Chop. Chop. Chop. He sighs. ‘I’m sorry, Bryony. I should have left a note, at least. You deserved more from me and I was a coward.’ ‘Darn right,’ she mumbles, sweeping the carrots into a bowl. ‘Would you believe I’m a changed man?’ he says, smiling awkwardly. She looks up. ‘Would you?’ ‘I don’t know,’ he exhales. ‘I’m trying, at least. I swear I am.’ Bryony places the bowl next to the stove and returns with a slip of paper she thrusts into Raidens hands. ‘Your last paycheck. Didn’t get a chance to give it to you.’ He sits quietly for a minute, feeling simultaneously so at home and so thoroughly out of place, while Bryony continues dicing vegetables. The discomfort of this moment pulling at his bones, urging him to leave. He gets up and starts peeling onions, to give his restless hands something to do. ‘So? What did you choose?’ demands Bryony after a while. ‘I’m no longer involved with the Syndicate,’ admits Raiden. ‘In fact, I may be working against them now.’ ‘That does not at all sound safer,’ she scoffs. ‘Safer than this conversation – I know how sharp you keep those knives,’ he quips. Bryony doesn’t laugh but holds his gaze for a moment. Then she flips the knife around in her hand and offers him the handle. He takes it and starts dicing the onions. ‘You came in with mister Zain,’ she says. ‘Tell me, how do you know him?’ ‘He is my new friend’s long lost father,’ he replies, making a mental note of the last name Zain. Doesn’t seem to suit Annori at all. ‘What can you tell me about him? Is he a good guy?’ ‘Mm, lovely man. Gentle,’ she says, tending to the stove fire. ‘Clearly moving in circles that weren’t meant for him, with those councilmen he usually dines with, but he holds his own.’ Raiden hands her a bowl of diced onions. ‘Uneven,’ she says. ‘You’re getting rusty.’ ‘Listen, I’ve mostly been cooking Valgharan toast lately,’ he explains. ‘Alright, now go sit down with your new friends, you’ve been sauntering around back here long enough.’ She snaps a towel in his direction. ‘Good seeing you, Bryony,’ he smiles. ‘Would you give mister Zains daughter some extra cream with her dessert? She’s had a big day.’

‘So you go around to neighboring villages and you talk to people about what they need?’ asks Annori. ‘Among other things,’ confirms Aiden. ‘I also assist council member Truehandle with various tasks.’ ‘That doesn’t sound very exciting,’ says Annori, who remembers her father being quite an exciting person. Aiden shrugs. ‘Look, sometimes you do jobs not because you like them, but because they need doing.’ ‘That seems inefficient,’ says Ara. ‘Best to have each job be done by the person who’s best suited for it.’ Aiden looks a little taken aback but Leyna chuckles. Annori nervously pulls apart a bit of bread. ‘Typical Ara,’ she says. ‘You should’ve heard the speech he gave our ship captain about keys and the correct amount of them.’ Ara huffs. ‘It’s not about the amount, it’s about management. Keys are useless if nobody remembers who has them.’ ‘Oh gods, not the key thing again,’ laughs Raiden, rejoining the table. ‘I wasn’t even there for it and I’m sick of hearing about it.’ ‘Is everything alright?’ asks Leyna. ‘Yes, sorry about that,’ says Raiden. ‘Just catching up. I, uh, used to work here.’ ‘Did you?’ says Aiden, surprised. ‘Why didn’t you say so before?’ ‘Today’s not about me,’ says Raiden, glancing at Annori who flashes a quick smile. The food arrives and they share a good meal and some more conversation together. Annori tells her parents about her time in the swamp and how she learned her magic. They update her on the other members of the troupe, and the shows they’ve done over the past few years. Raiden makes it a point to highlight Annori’s skills and bravery as they recount some of their adventures. Ara makes sure to correct any misremembered details. As they talk, Ara is astonished to witness the normalcy of this homecoming. He tries to picture what his own return to the swamp and his family might look like, but can’t imagine it being anything as calm and pleasant as this. It’s almost a relief, then, to find that small sense of unease in Annori’s parents, underneath the surface. Something in their posture, the glances they exchange. Something just off enough to balance out the properness of it all. When the meal is finished, Annori proposes they meet again at the theater tomorrow. ‘Oh,’ says Leyna, her expression betraying some disappointment in the realization that Annori won’t be staying with them for the night. She quickly recovers. ‘Yes, of course, let’s do that.’ ‘We could all do with some sleep after the day we’ve had,’ says Aiden, taking Leyna’s hand in comfort. ‘Right,’ says Annori, a little flustered. ‘Exactly.’ ‘Do you have a place to stay?’ ‘We’re staying at a friends house,’ says Annori. ‘He’s delightful,’ says Raiden.

‘So,’ says Raiden, as they meander back to Remingtons house. ‘How do you feel?’ Annori makes an unidentifiable noise. ‘Happy? But also awkward. I don’t know. It’s weird how they’re my family, and yet they’re also sort of… strangers.’ She hesitates, then exhales. ‘I think my mom may have mentioned Amoth?’ ‘What?’ says Ara. ‘Mentioned how?’ asks Raiden sharply. ‘I don’t know, maybe I misheard her! But it sounded like she said Thank Amoth.’ ‘That could be why she flinched a little when Ara mentioned a dead god,’ says Raiden. ‘And why they were exchanging glances while you told them about the investigation,’ adds Ara. He abruptly stops walking. ‘We have to be very careful here. We were lucky to escape our earlier ambush from the Syndicate. They will surely have eyes on us here too.’ The three of them share a worried look before walking the rest of the way in silence.

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