"They're set to arrive in the third week of Nebulis!" Leahna continued. "I'm so excited; I haven't seen Cassie in years!"

Rylan and Artoran both stared at her.

"What?" Leahna asked after a moment, her smile finally dropping. "Is there something on my face?"

"The Crown Princess is coming to Cliffport..." Rylan repeated. "That's a big deal, right?"

"It is," Artoran replied, a smile growing on his face. "Traditionally, the city likes to display its loyalty to the crown by throwing a massive parade on any official visit. Last time that happened was almost five years ago."

"Oh yeah, I remember! Oh, you should've seen it, Ryles, it was amazing!" Leahna gushed. "They had a marching troupe, all kinds of jugglers and acrobats, and even a tamed cloudy leopard!"

"Yeah? How about security? Did they have a big security presence, too?" Rylan asked.

"I mean, I guess..." Leahna trailed off, her eyes widening. "Oh. Oh!"

"It's likely they'll pull all the Quinthar out of the field," Artoran mused. "Quite possibly most of the garrison as well; nobody wants to be working out in the cloudsea when there's a parade going on."

"My thoughts exactly," Rylan agreed. "It's perfect!"

Only Leahna looked torn. She sighed. "We'd have to miss the welcome parade... but I suppose that's a small price to pay. And they'll be in town for at least a few days, so I suppose there'll be opportunity to see Cassie later."

Rylan blinked at her. "We? You mean you want to come with me to the Stellar Temple?"

"Of course I do! Why wouldn't I?"

Rylan didn't really have an answer to that. "It just hadn't occurred to me."

Leahna placed her hands on her hips. "You may have been a Quinthar for a bit longer, but I'm still your older sister, you know? I should be the one looking out for you, not the other way around! And I didn't become a Quinthar so I could sit on the sidelines and wait for others to come back from adventures."

Artoran cleared his throat. "Do I get a say in this?"

"No," Leahna declared, glaring at him.

Their father laughed. "I figured. Look, I know I'm not in a position to stop anyone from doing anything... And I wasn't really planning to try. Frankly, I rather like the idea of the two of you looking out for each other, because I worry. About both of you."

He shot each of them a meaningful look.

Rylan scratched his neck, feeling oddly touched. Leahna's eyes softened.

"So all I want to say, is this," Artoran continued, more quietly. "If things look iffy, if there's trouble... please prioritise getting out of there safe and sound, together. I won't pretend I'm not hopeful that this crazy scheme of Rylan's will succeed, but at the end of the day, I can live without my legs. I can't live without the two of you."

"Oh, Dad," Leahna sighed, kneeling down next to him for a hug. "We'll be careful, I promise."

Rylan hovered for a moment, until Artoran held out his other arm for his son, and he crouched down to join the hug. "We'll be back before you know it." Rylan added. "In time to see you get up and walk out of that chair unaided."

"Hah!" Artoran barked out, letting them go. "I'm not sure that's feasible without some rehabilitation. Though I suppose my Strength Attribute might compensate for some of my lost muscle mass... I suppose we'll have to see."

And so they started planning. Leahna asked Miss Fogbank, their kind neighbour, to check in on Artoran a few times while they were gone. Though he could do a lot more by himself than he used to, she clearly still worried.

So did Rylan. At his insistence, Leahna spent the credits she'd earned for her Overcharge Augmentation on the second tier of her Mana Shell, just in case.

He considered tiering his own up as well, but in the end, he felt tier six should be plenty for now. The cloudsea around the city ought to be relatively safe, after all, and things would have to go pretty badly to end in a fight.

Either way, as the purchase brought Leahna's credits down to 0, he sent her an additional 20 in case she needed emergency healing.

Finally, about three weeks later, Rylan and Leahna set out under the rays of the evening sun, the day before the grand parade.

Since the Stellar Temple was so far away, anyone who wanted to actually be in the city for the Crown Princess's welcome should have already returned, so this was the perfect time to sneak in there under the cover of night.

As usual, Rylan wore his thick, wool-lined leather coat and his dark green cowl, which covered not just his head, but also the belt of throwing knives strapped across his chest. Meanwhile, his dagger and Arphin were on his hip, the spiritgear's ivory sheath wrapped in cloth to hide how fancy it was. Meanwhile, Leahna was dressed in riding pants and a leather tunic, with a heavy, midnight blue cloak wrapped around her to protect her from the biting cold. On her back were the quiver and bow Rylan had gifted her and the hood of her cloak was drawn.

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Rylan's breath fogged in front of him, the thin mist blown away by a light breeze as Izzy came flitting by, playful and curious as always. Once again, they had tried to explain to the little spirit what they were doing, and once again it wasn't entirely clear if she'd understood. Either way, she was enthusiastically tagging along.

As they walked the streets of Cliffport, it was hard to miss the unusual atmosphere. All across the city, there was a buzz of excitement in the air. Moreover, the streets looked cleaner than Rylan had ever seen them; there was hardly even any gull shit on the ground in South Harbour!

Rylan led his sister to a certain small plaza, where wares were being hawked despite the late hour. He was almost tempted to purchase one of the sizzling skewers of the very same street vendor that had once given him directions to the Knackered Hag, but he'd already eaten his fill, and they had more important matters to attend to.

They ducked into an alley and, after walking a bit further, came across two cloaked figures standing next to a stone manhole cover. Leahna stopped in her tracks, but Rylan kept moving towards them.

Nazyr's milky-white eye and bald head gleamed in the light of the rising moons, a stark contrast to his black cloak. It was hard to tell, but Rylan had the distinct impression the man was carrying a club on his hip.

Yuel, on the other hand, carried his harpooncaster openly over his stylish-yet-functional cloak, which was made of some kind of coarse fur that seemed to have been cut from a single piece.

"Yuel, Naz, meet my sister: Leahna Hawktalon," Rylan spoke softly, indicating her.

Nazyr just nodded, shooting her a crooked smile.

Yuel, of course, bowed with an exaggerated flourish. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, milady."

Leahna came closer, smiling as well. "Likewise. So these are the pirates I've heard Rylan tell so much about. I have to admit, I didn't believe him at first."

"Former pirates," Yuel corrected her, wagging a finger. "And whatever he told you about me, don't disbelieve a word of it; it's all true, and none of it exaggerated."

Nazyr barked out a laugh, before quickly covering his mouth with a rough, calloused hand.

"Let's head in, shall we?" Rylan suggested, glancing at the nearby mouth of the alley, where the occasional passerby appeared. "Before we attract attention."

"As you say, milord," Yuel replied, gesturing at the stone cover. "I would help, but I just had my nails done."

Rolling his eyes, Rylan bent down and reached into the recess on the side of the stone cover. Nazyr crouched down on the other side, and together they lifted it without too much trouble.

"Wait, we're heading into a sewer?" Leahna asked, scrunching up her nose.

"Just for a bit; the entrance to the caves is down there," Rylan said, grunting as he shoved the cover to the side. "You're the one who wanted to come, remember?"

"Maybe I should take the gate after all..." Leahna muttered.

"Too suspicious," Rylan told her mercilessly. "We can't have your name listed in the registry as leaving the city in the evening and returning only in the morning. That's why Yuel and Nazyr are joining us here as well. It's this or back home."

"Just try not ta think too hard about what's beneath yer fancy boots," Nazyr suggested with a grin, as he headed in first.

"It's really not that bad," Yuel added reassuringly. "I wouldn't have brought my new boar-hide cloak if it was!"

"Wait, did you make this from the ramtusk Malequint I killed?" Rylan asked in surprise.

Yuel spun around, struck a pose with his hands on his hips and his chest forward... and then started to climb down into the sewer.

Leahna hid a smile, sharing a glance with Rylan before she sighed and followed Yuel inside. Entering last, Rylan pulled the cover closed behind him.

Under the light of Yuel's pocket lantern and Rylan's glowband, they made their way to the secret passage.

Rylan couldn't quite remember where it was, but Yuel strode there with sure steps, before knocking on the brickwork.

It ground open, revealing Kher's weathered face, squinting into the light. "Turn that off and let's go," the man grunted. "We've got a lot of ground to cover, and I don't want to be out here any longer than we need to."

True to his word, Kher set a fast pace, which his clients struggled to keep up with before their eyes adjusted and they could follow his footprints in the gloamstep moss.

Thanks to Arphin and his spiritvision, Rylan managed to cope quite well. He walked in front of Leahna, holding her hand behind him to guide her.

This time, there was a lot of sliding down rather than climbing, which was scarier, but also faster. Especially for those among the party who had Mana Shells to protect their butts from a rough landing.

At this point, Rylan didn't care if Kher realised he was a Quinthar. The old codger probably already suspected as much anyway.

He did seem rather twitchy, but it didn't appear to be directed at Rylan or his companions.

At some point during the trip down through the limestone caves, they entered the fog. It wasn't hard to tell, as sliding down became a lot more comfortable from that point.

Rylan took a deep breath, his lungs tingling pleasantly. Was it odd that he'd somehow missed the floaty mist?

Leahna clearly hadn't spent much time out in the fog yet, as she had some trouble walking at first, but she quickly adapted.

After an hour or two of walking and sliding, they reached Kher's private tunnel, where they had to crawl through. It wasn't pleasant, but at least Rylan didn't have a backpack to shove in front of him this time.

He'd been a little worried about whether Leahna could cope with the tight space, but she didn't utter a peep about it as she crawled through after him.

Nazyr was actually the one who seemed to be having the most trouble, with his slightly pudgy belly, but with a lot of grunting and swearing, he made it through even the tightest spots.

Down in Kher's shack, Rylan handed the man another sixteen silver florins for his services—four per person, which was already the discounted rate, apparently. The man accepted it with a grin, finally seeming relaxed again. "Good luck out there, kid. With whatever it is you're doing."

"Thank you. See you in the morning."

They stepped out into the fog, chains rattling behind them as Kher locked his door up again.

Rylan had expected it to be rather cold down here, but he was surprised to find it wasn't actually that bad out here.

Still colder than in the sheltered cave system, but warmer than up in Cliffport. Perhaps the fog formed a kind of buffer, holding onto the warmth of past seasons.

Leahna looked around in wonder at her foggy surroundings, for the first time properly lit by Yuel's lantern. Then she crouched down a little. For a moment, Rylan wondered what she was up to.

She proceeded to make a big jump, ending up windmilling her arms mid-air to stay balanced. "I've always wanted to do that," she admitted sheepishly. "I've been in a walk-in nebularium once or twice, but never one big enough to jump in!"

Rylan shook his head, smiling fondly, then turned to the two former pirates. "So, where to now?"

"Now, we go to see another friend of ours," Yuel answered mysteriously.

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