Return of the Emblem Chapter Fifteen: Alliance

[Nanami Touko]

"No word yet... Alright." Eva hopped off of Sasha and let him sit down, offering Nena a hand to shake. "Name's Evangeline. You can just call me Eva like everyone else. Sorry you got caught up in all this, hope things get better than that mess of a battle." With that out of the way, Eva was wondering something else. "So, like... What's all in the wagon, anyway? Never really talked to you about what you do, Greta..."

[scorri]

Hoshi was relieved when they reached W.E. without any incidents. Seeing Anna there was a surprise, but not as big of a one for her as it seemed to be for Shadrack. Waking up to the two of them, Hoshi bowed slightly to Anna, having already fallen back into old ways.

"Anna, good to see you. Is everything going well back at main headquarters? I assume you have some reason for being here instead of there. Is there something you need us for or just coincidence?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lumi had been disappointed, but not surprised to hear that the ship wasn't going back to Ursium. The offer to drop her off in Port Sergio was more than she'd expected to be honest. Still, the deadline of a few days would hopefully be enough time to get her head sorted.

Lexi seemed to be interested in helping somewhat with that as she handed Lumi a mug of some drink just as the avians came back in. Giving them both a small wave, Lumi asked cautiously, "What is it?" She took a small sniff and then a sip before she could get a reply.

[Phoenix]

Here Fast

"Everything's fine," Anna assured Hoshi, "Raquel's group's made it to the capital already, but I'm not sure how the talks are going. I headed out as soon as the Paladin was finished."

"And why are you out here, again?" Shadrak repeated Hoshi's other question.

"I always visit other branches," Anna said, as if it were patently obvious, "though I guess the timing would give the impression I was here specifically for your group. That's not exactly the case, but I'm here if you need anything. No orders from Weyland, but if you want me a message delivered, I can handle that for you."

Unmanifest

"So far so good," Nena said during the handshake, "I just have to get that heavy chest into a room so I can check it over in private."

"Heh," Greta chuckled nervously, "yeah. Again, go find some Weyland workers to help ya ... and before ya offer, Eva, that thing's too heavy for one person." Too heavy for even two people, possibly. Not surprising given its contents .... It wasn't all that was in the wagon, of course. "This ain't my usual stock but right now the wagon's loaded up with the random stuff Lexi picked up durin' all her trips; trinkets, armor, a few weapons, and some fancy lookin' junk. She wants me to sell most of it off for her, but I can't even haul that much of it with just one wagon. We're gonna be here a while."

"Look at it this way," Nena chimed in, "even if individual pieces go for chicken feed, you'll have plenty of spending money if you can get rid of it all. We're sitting on unmanifest money, right now." That was one way to look at it, Greta supposed.

Rumfest

"Rum," Lexi smiled, "a bit watered down but still good. Should help ya loosen up a bit. Ya look like ya need it."

It took Joanna a moment to convince herself that she didn't need a drink. Deciding not to focus on that awful few minutes in the cargo hold, she approached the two. "Are you doing alright, Lumi?"

Edited September 7, 2017 by Phoenix

[Nanami Touko]

"Heavy chest? Look no further than--" apparently not. Too heavy for one person? "Oh, come on. It can't be that heavy. I'm really strong, y'know? At least let me help with it, if we do need some extra people." Now it was a matter of pride, but what could be so heavy? Ah, well... Probably not that important to her, if it was to be looked over in private. The rest of what Greta had sounded kinda normal, and so did the plan. Sometimes mundane was best. "Yeah, we really are, huh? I wonder if I'll pick up any Kigenese while I'm here. I doubt it, but it'd be interesting to learn a few words."

Alright, now it was just eating at her. "Man... I really can't let that go. What's too heavy even I can't lift it? Some crazy metal? A tonne of armor? What's goin' on?" She crossed her arm and cocked an eyebrow, too curious for her own good.

[Xinnidy]

Well, it was different to have Haruhi to hang so close to him during the whole walk. Especially without speaking out much. Kigen must have been much worse to her than Thales thought... but it wasn't something he knew enough to comfort her about. Would she even want words out of him at that moment? Hanging his head low and pensive, Thales followed Amon and Shadrak with the others, not knowing what best to say. Perhaps he'd have something worthy to do over there. Hanging around Haruhi like this would definitely make him concerned about her...

"<Ah... yes, like home, a little.>" Thales murmured back. It wasn't too different structurally to the port-side buildings. Considering how briefly they've been in Kigenese land, it still very much felt like he was still in Ursium. "<I think he knows her. Is surprised she got here first.>" He said, following loosely behind Shadrak, taking cautious glances towards Haruhi. "<Look like we will stay here...>" At least paying translator would prevent her confusion too much.

"Uh, hi." Thales intruded, not too comfortable about chiming up when he was so new to the group, but being more involved would slowly take that feeling away, hopefully. "So is it confirmed that we'll be staying here? Anything we need to make sure of first?" There was a lot he could've asked instead... but for now, Thales left it at that, he turned to the red-haired woman, giving a quick nod. "Good afternoon. Name's Thales."

[Phoenix]

I'm Anna

Amon nodded at Thales. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is where we'll be resting while we're in town." Anywhere else and they would have to actually pay, so it was really a no brainer.

"Good afternoon, and nice to meet you, Thales. I'm Anna." She sure seemed different right now, Amon and Shadrak both noted. Maybe this sort of impenetrable, friendly behavior was just a requirement for Weyland Enterprises' receptionists, Anna included.

A Big Chest

"I know I'm definitely gonna have to learn some," Greta said, figuring it'd be useful for making sales pitches or at least luring in customers if she had some passable Kigenese under her belt. Otherwise she'd be relying on others to do it for her from start to finish. Not ideal ...

"It's just junk," Nena said, almost flinching at her own words. Canaan was in that chest, and so referring to it that way was still bothering her. It didn't matter if he could hear her, either. It just felt wrong. The sooner she got him to a room where he could get out of that thing, the better. "Mostly metal. It's not a small chest, though. I had four of Nong's men helping me with it."

"If ya wanna help carry it, be my guest," Greta shrugged, "just don't try it by yourself."

[Nanami Touko]

"Just junk, huh..." Knowing the group's dealings, it being more than junk wouldn't surprise her, but if she said it was junk, it was junk until she learned otherwise. "Four? Well... I'm at good as at least two of them," it was definitely about pride, now, "so don't hesitate to ask me to move it when you need it moved! I'm not good for much else aside from riding the lizard and being strong, so I have to use those when I can." That said, Eva felt like she'd signed herself up to carrying a lot of boxes. Well! Nothing else to do, so might as well get some exercise before settling in.

---

"<He does, huh? Alright. This seems like a nice enough place... Definitely feels a lot like Ursium. More comfortable.>" Alright, a good step towards relaxing and thinking about other things. "<Do you still plan to drag me out shopping?>" The question popped into her head, as she was thinking about collapsing onto a bed. She didn't really... Want to go shopping. But... Sitting around doing absolutely nothing wouldn't be that great an idea. Would going out be a better one? Hhh...

[scorri]

Lumi grimaced slightly at the first taste of rum, but as the taste faded, the remaining flavor was actually quite nice. She inspected the mug carefully before taking a larger drink. Glancing up at Joanna, she gave a small shrug. "I... I mean, I'm ok. It's nice to know that I can get back to Ursium if I want. I still don't have a decision though if that's what you're asking." She took another drink, at least partially so she could stop answering questions. The rum was starting to make a nice warm pool in her stomach, a rather pleasant sensation really. This was nice. "I guess it's nice to have a few days to make the decision too. Though I'm worried that staying around for a little will just make people more upset with me..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well that is good to hear. They're in the capital already? Good. They've made more progress than us then." Hoshi was surprised but something must have happened to let them arrive that quickly. She would have to ask Anna about that later. For now the woman was more than busy enough. Glancing around, she spotted Haruhi with a boy she didn't recognize. Walking over to the two of them, she smiled at the two. <"Haruhi, how are you doing? Is your... friend around? I thought that once we got a bit settled here, I could give you a lesson if you wanted. There should be a room here where we can practice.">

[-Cynthia-]

The process of being 'examined' for Fallen traits was invasive, but Liam managed to compose himself and remain silent throughout the ordeal. I suppose under the circumstances wanting to protect themselves makes sense.... he admitted. He avoided the alcoholic beverage offered and decided to listen to Lumi, who still seemed to be distressed.

"Considering the opinion of others is important, but there would be no purpose in autonomy if we were not meant to use it. The decision that is best for everyone may not be the most popular," Liam advised.

--

So they entered Weyland Enterprises and...Anna was here? Well she either knows how to warp or Weyland's got some fancy device, Nadya reasoned. "So how is everyone in Raquel's group doin' anyway? Trouble seems to follow Raquel like a bee to honey so I bet somethin's happened," she asked Anna with an edge of concern in her voice.

[Phoenix]

Deliberate

"People are upset with you ..." Joanna was surprised by that. She supposed people leaving the group, while nothing new, probably stung more in instances like this. Still, Joanna didn't see anything offensive about what Lumi was doing. What this detachment had to face--and face alone if the Emperor wouldn't heed their warning--was a truly frightening prospect. Joanna still would have preferred it if Lumi stayed with them, of course, but she easily understood the girl's reasons for wanting to leave. There was nothing quite so distinctly uncomfortable as feeling like a burden, especially when others were harmed as a direct result.

"Heheh," Lexi smiled at Liam, "I know a thing or two about unpopular decisions."

Focus

"I'm not sure if they've gotten the Conclave to take them seriously," Anna admitted, frowning casually for a moment, "but things were looking good when I left ... at least as far as getting themselves situated. But yeah ... 'something' definitely happened." It was a long story, and shortening it would take some doing ... though Amon already knew what happened.

"She's a part of the emblem, now," the sancturan spoke up, "right? If that's what happened she should be able to do things she couldn't before, including huge warps."

Anna smiled, glad to have her job done for her in this one instance. "Yeah that's the gist of it. They're still trying to figure out the implications, but our top priority right now are those siege gates. Same goes for your team, so don't get distracted. Any local affairs can wait if they aren't related to the gate. If you need instructions, you've got them. Find that gate and dismantle it before it's swarming with more fallen and demons than you can possibly handle."

"Shouldn't we recruit the army to help us, first?" Shadrak asked.

"If you can do both, great," Anna conceded, "but it took us two weeks just to get here. We can't have that much time left. Put too much focus on getting the locals on our side, and you'll get caught up in a full blown war instead of one or two big battles. Be careful how you spend your time from now on," she warned.

Wait

"Wait here, then," Nena said, deciding it was better to look for three more helpers instead of four, "I'll go find your fellow mules." With that, Nena made her way into the vehicle area, looking for workers. There seemed to be plenty roaming about, just further back on the property.

Greta sighed after Nena left. "Ridin' a wyvern and bein' strong, huh?"

[Nanami Touko]

"Alright. You got it, Nena." There, something to do while she waited. No need to fall into boredom. Greta seemed confused by what Eva had said, though. "Well, you think I'm good for much else? I'm not all that smart, and my Neviskotian is kinda useless around here, heh. Not much else I can do but take hits, swing a sword around, and help with heavy stuff." Or at least, she didn't think there was.

---

Suddenly Hoshi was talking to her, so she stepped out a bit from behind Thales, face lighting up as she went along. "<Er, sh-she said she was gonna go around town for a bit, but, of course! I'd love to! Any practice you want to do, I've been waiting since we talked on the boat. Heheh, ahh, that's actually a real pick me up. I got so down from being back here I almost forgot I had a teacher for my magic.>"

[Xinnidy]

Well, that had gone well. They had a place to stay, and that woman seemed friendly enough. There was also more information about the other group, emblem talk, and the remider they were short on time. That's right.. What an unfortunate worry to seep in again. Thales certainly didn't want to fight the Fallen on his own, unless they could prepare a siege to the gate in that short a time. Better hope that wasn't hard to destroy, just well guarded.

Past an acknowledging nod to the conversation, he drifted away to acknowledge Haruhi again, her bringing shopping up did cheer him up, even if she didn't sound the most enthusiastic. "<Am not going alone. Will take you even if just hold bags.>" Even if he was only going to buy for himself, he sure wasn't comfortable getting carried away in Kigen on his own. The shopkeepers would catch on quickly that he was foreign and hadn't lived here, no doubt he'd be paying higher for clothes if they were any clever. A short Kigenese woman approached Haruhi with the prospect of a lesson --which quickly marked her as Hoshi--, and it seemed to raise Haruhi's mood near instantly. That really interested her, huh? "<Ah, hello. Are you Hoshi?>" Ignoring or assuming would be rude, after all.

[-Cynthia-]

"If this gate thing is so important then they're gonna have demons and whatever else guardin' it of course. Probably more than we can handle. A scout would be nice," Nadya remarked, though notably not volunteering herself.

[Phoenix]

Help

"Well," Anna placed a finger near her lower lip, "you'll definitely need a scout or two if you do any searching further away from the settlements. One thing that could help narrow down the search for the gate and save you from a sudden swarm of demons is an incident map; a map of the country with areas of demon activity marked, basically. Demon sightings tend to happen in very specific areas in Kigen. Sightings elsewhere are extremely rare. That's why security in the north is so high, right now. Demons were practically a myth this far north."

"Wait, so it's not because of the Ursians and Neviskotians?" Shadrak asked, genuinely surprised. It was actually because of their mission in Kigen more than a month ago? The Kigenese certainly knew how to overreact, didn't they? Surely there was enough concern with the fighting in the region between the northern countries to have the military focused primarily on that.

"Nope," Anna shook her head. "A General Fukui has his whole army up in the north looking for signs of more demons, but things have been pretty quiet. If that changes, you should definitely look into it if demons are involved. Another thing you might want to try is going straight to the military. If convincing the Emperor isn't going well, or you don't even think you'll have enough time to get to the capital, you could go straight to one of the army's generals and ask for the help. Good luck convincing them, though. If you do convince them, and you have a general idea of where the gate is, you could surround it, and slowly close the net. It's still dangerous, but it's better than getting surrounded, yourselves."

Good For

"Just ... don't sell yourself short, Eva," Greta said, practically conceding the point. The merchant wasn't exactly an optimal group member for dealings in Kigen either, and she knew as much.

"Okay, I have some help," Nena called over. Sure enough, there were three locals following her back toward the wagon.

"That was fast," Greta noted.

[scorri]

Hoshi smiled as Haruhi excitedly agreed to a lesson. It seemed like Rin had left for a while which was honestly fine by Hoshi. She was surprised when the Ursium-looking boy who had been with Haruhi both addressed her in Kigenese, albeit with a strong accent, and knew her name. She nodded in response and asked in return, <"Yes, I am Hoshi. What is your name? I don't recognize you as part of our group. Are you a friend of Haruhi's too?"> The girl seemed to have a surprising number of friends for someone who had been fleeing a country. Still, if so, it was good. She needed friends that she could spend time with being a teenager and not a fighter or a mage. It would be good for her to see that she could have freedom beyond simply not having to answer to a husband.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lumi was starting to feel quite happy as she finished off the mug and set it down next to her. "It's just everyone has their own opinion, you know?" She replied easily to Liam. "It's like... Pete wants me to leave. Eva thinks it'd be good for me too. But then Haruhi gets all mad at me and Thales..." Her face fell, and she stared down at her lap. The look on Thales' face when he'd heard she was leaving... But he hadn't tried to get her to stay. Not really. She mumbled quietly in response to Joanna, "Yeah... upset... Didn't try and stop me though... Well... Haruhi may have. Dunno, couldn't understand her..." She sniffed, suddenly feeling not so happy again. She reached for the mug before remembering it was empty. "Unpopular decision... Seems to be popular with most people... That's the problem..."

[-Cynthia-]

"Bert would make a good scout," Nadya suggested, though she noted she hadn't seen him since the boat. Rizen probably needed some air. "Not that the Kigenese army and I were ever bosom buddies, but I'd rather go through them then get all the way to Kayoyama to try to get the emperor to speak with us. None of them have any reason to listen to us anyway so we might as well pin our hopes on whoever is closer," she said with a shrug.

--

"So stay and harm the feelings of some, leave and harm the feelings of others. It is an unfortunate predicament," Liam mused over Lumi's problem. "What happened when you made your unpopular decisions?" he asked Lexi. 

[Phoenix]

Little Things

Lumi seemed to be taking the lack of resistance from the group pretty hard, and Joanna could understand why. Even if leaving made sense, it could be seen as others wanting her to leave. Joanna didn't believe that was their intention, not for one second, but among humans, misunderstandings were inevitable. Even so, the avian didn't want to speak for the others, only offer another viewpoint in the hopes it would help balance out Lumi's perspective. "It could be that they respect your choice too much to try and force you to stay. That's how I feel, at least. I may not fully agree with your reasons, but they're still valid concerns, and it would be wrong for me to pressure you into staying."

Lexi finished her cup of rum just as Liam asked her about her captaining adventures, prompting a smile from the woman. "Mutiny, sometimes. Nothin' too bad. Just not sure how much ya have to pay a crew to make'em quiet and loyal. I just need'em to do their work and not whine about the little things." Joanna was positive Lexi's idea of a little thing was quite the major issue to her crew, but as the captain, and a deceptively clever captain, Lexi probably already knew that.

Scouting

"I'm not so sure of that," Anna admitted, frowning slightly, "Unless you know the general area, just one person would have a lot of ground to cover. You're also at a scouting disadvantage in particular since the fallen manage very well, day or night. In fact, I'd advise being especially careful at night. That's not to say you shouldn't have scouts, but you need a way to make sure they make it back alive. I'm not sure how the siege gate's being guarded, but we agree on that much, it's definitely being guarded. They might have their own scouts patrolling half a dozen miles away. We just don't quite know what you're getting into, yet."

"It always comes down to this," Shadrak scowled, "...'How do we do this important thing without getting killed?' We might have all had spirit springs by now if our avian friends had cooperated with us more closely." The druid sighed, half angry and half regretting having reopened his own wound just to make a point.

"Spirit springs?" Anna cocked her head at the now slumping druid, "why are you trying to turn yourselves into vasili? Actions have consequences, you know."

[Snike]

Pete had been keeping an eye out, at least initially, for Daichi, Bert, the Ursians, or the Neviskotians, but so far none of them had shown up. He went inside to check and see if the Crusher had somehow arrived ahead of the group, when he caught the latter half of the conversation between Anna, Nadya, and Shadrak.

"The idea is to become vasili using the emblem and then destroy the siege gate, without risk or need for help," Pete said, chiming in after Anna asked about spirit springs. "I don't think it's a bad plan, but for this problem we might already have an answer. Is the ninja girl still around? Ayane or whatever her name is?"

[Phoenix]

Whereabouts Unknown

"Ayano?" She was the only 'ninja girl' Amon knew about. Unfortunately she was a little too good at staying hidden. "She's probably still around, but I don't know where. Now that we're mostly off the boat, she could be anywhere. Fizza isn't around, though, so they're probably still spending time together. Hopefully they didn't wander off somewhere."

"She's probably not in the lobby with us," Shadrak noted, "otherwise she would have said something, I think. Her or Fizza. Anyway," he backpedaled to the previous topic, "I'm pretty sure all actions have consequences, whether becoming vasili or not. What's your point, there?"

"Oh," Anna smiled, "just that you could be biting off more than you can chew. There aren't many vasili around these days, and that's very noteworthy. During the Legendary Rebellion there were thousands of them."

Not that he'd say as much in retort, but Shadrak didn't see a problem with a return to greater numbers, particularly if it solved the fallen issue. Particularly if he were among them. "We're always seemingly biting off more than we can chew," Shadrak said pointedly, "This siege gate problem is a prime example, I think."

[Nanami Touko]

"Huh? Sell myself short...?" Eva scratched at her hair, puzzling over what Greta had said for a second... "How can I sell myself short? I'm so tall...? I don't really get it. Oh, hey, sweet. Right. Okay!" Eva slapped her hands together, lowering her head some. "Nena! I know you said it would be too heavy, but please, for my own sake, let me try to move it on my own just once. If I can't, I'll give up and just help with the group... Please?"

[Xinnidy]

"<Ah, am Thales.>" So Haruhi probably never talked about him to Hoshi, hopefully that'd be enough introductions for the boy. "<Am with group, since gone from Urquium. Will try to help Amon.>" As far as he knew, that was the job description. Thales was never given many details, but was able to infer a lot from the meeting that day. It wasn't likely off the mark, anyways, and it'd be good to let Hoshi know he was indeed already affiliated. "<Friend... yes.>" For a minute, the joking prospect of introducing himself as Haruhi's 'boyfriend' was amusing, but pointless. Hoshi wasn't somebody Haruhi wanted to protect herself from. "<Haruhi is a bit bad mannered, but friend.>" Thales joked, smirking for a fraction of a moment.

Meanwhile, nearby conversation seemed to gravitate towards 'spirit springs' again, if the word being mentioned out loud was any indicator. Thales still couldn't put a finger on why he didn't like them that much. What an uneasy concept...

[Toogee]

On 9/13/2017 at 0:19 AM, Phoenix said:

Scouting

"I'm not so sure of that," Anna admitted, frowning slightly, "Unless you know the general area, just one person would have a lot of ground to cover. You're also at a scouting disadvantage in particular since the fallen manage very well, day or night. In fact, I'd advise being especially careful at night. That's not to say you shouldn't have scouts, but you need a way to make sure they make it back alive. I'm not sure how the siege gate's being guarded, but we agree on that much, it's definitely being guarded. They might have their own scouts patrolling half a dozen miles away. We just don't quite know what you're getting into, yet."

"It always comes down to this," Shadrak scowled, "...'How do we do this important thing without getting killed?' We might have all had spirit springs by now if our avian friends had cooperated with us more closely." The druid sighed, half angry and half regretting having reopened his own wound just to make a point.

"Spirit springs?" Anna cocked her head at the now slumping druid, "why are you trying to turn yourselves into vasili? Actions have consequences, you know."

At first, Jam intended to stay outside with Greta while the others arranged to get a plan together. It was nice to finally be in the city and see what Kigen was all about. Just as she was admiring the new scenery, a few of the male citizens were glancing at her. It seemed she wasn't the only one with an admiration of the exotic. If she wasn't so drained from the boat ride, Jam would have started a dance routine. Customs be damned, she could be making good coin just standing out here.

However, what she wanted most was to get her own room and sleep for the rest of the day. This place reminded her of the last Weyland estate she stayed at. If this place was half as good as that, it would be a welcome change from the hammock back on the ship. She slipped inside to see what the hold up was. What she found was the others talking about scouting, demons in the north, spirit springs, and of course, that siege gate they've come to destroy. Considering that was there whole purpose of being here, Jam decided to butt into the conversation. The sooner they could take care of the gate, the sooner they could get things to a relative normal.

"If it's scouts you want, count me in," Jam declared. "I've scouted with Bert before. In and out of that bandit camp and no one was the wiser! But it'd be nice to rest up first. We get rooms here, right?"

[-Cynthia-]

"I don't know much about this spirit spring business, but it could be worth a shot. We ain't in a good spot here, to put it plain. The Kigenese have barely been able to hold back for the Fallen for gods know how long and now they have a siege gate and an emblem piece and whatever else. Hard to imagine how the twenty or so of us are gonna be the difference makers without some divine intervention," Nadya weighed in.

[Phoenix]

Get A Room

"There are some 'guest rooms,'" Anna nodded, "but not many ..." The property wasn't meant to accommodate a lot of people, but it didn't seem to be an entire caravan or anything unmanageable. "Well, if we can't find anymore spare rooms, you could check with a nearby inn. There are more of those than most people can count, and I know a couple of good ones. As for scouting, I'll just leave that to you to figure out, but it won't be as simple as having someone nimble running around a few hours ahead of the others."

Shadrak was refreshed to hear his approach receive any treatment other than cautious rejection. It had happened before, but not often enough by his own estimate. "It's definitely worth a shot, but I won't push the issue, right now."

"Thank you," Amon scowled. Turning to Pete the sancturan asked, "How can Ayano help?" As if answering his own question, the term 'scout' immediately sprang to mind, again. "Should we have her go and look for the gate?"

Get A Clue

Greta tried her best not to react outwardly to Eva's complete mishandling of her advice, but still wound up, burying her face in one hand. "That ain't ... that ain't even close to what I meant, there." She was saved from having to go back and explain that by Nena's return, and Eva's insistence that she get a chance to strongman the thing for pride's sake. Good gods ... "Eva c'mere for a second," Greta said, trying to pull Eva down to her level, hoping to pass along some crucial information. The workers Nena had gathered were already filing into the wagon and getting themselves in position to carry the thing back out and into the building.

"Listen," Greta whispered sharply through cupped hands, "ya can't mess around with that chest! If they find out what's in there, we are all gonna die, and no I ain't tellin' ya what's inside, just act like it's junk and help those guys carry it inside! Ask Nena after the job's done if you're curious! Now go! Go go go!"

Nena squinted at Greta, unable to hear what was being said, yet having her suspicions. It really wouldn't help matters for the merchant to bring up Canaan specifically, right now.

Edited September 20, 2017 by Phoenix

[Snike]

Pete had made his opinion clear on the spirit springs, but couldn't help but clarify what he meant by asking about Ayano -not Ayane- in the first place.

"If she wants to now, yep. But we should try and get our hands on the incident map, first, so we can narrow down the search area," the man said, nodding at Amon. "She'd be our best bet at scouting the area and coming back without alerting the Fallen."

Having said his piece about that, he then moved on to the reason he was inside in the first place. "By the way, is there any chance Bert's checked in ahead of us?"