They'd been tailing Solitaire for well over a half hour before there was any sign of their intended destination.

That sign, of course, was a knee-jerk reaction from Lyric when they began to approach a part of the city that transitioned into more of a cape-town setting.

"Wait, wait, don't tell me you're taking us to..."

She began to frantically look about, and once the girl had finally noticed their guide struggling to hold in laughter, she may as well have burst from joy alone. "ACE! HOW'D YOU KNOW!?"

Solitaire offered no more than a shrug, though her expression suggested there was more to it.

"I try to pay attention to my acquaintances'—" She shook her head. "...friends'. My friends' habits. It's certainly an acquired taste, but, still one I'll need to develop if my studies as an Heir are of any importance to me."

Kyoya mulled over how such a hardened individual could have been swayed by such a thing as friendships. He ran blanks at her consistently flustered state from something even he found so natural.

Her mention of being a Heir flew clean over his head, though. If the silence hadn't continued, he could've even totally missed it, but that statement brought a slew of new questions with it. Without any worthwhile additions, the trio continued on the loading docks of a bustling port.

Lyric leaned toward him, covering one hand over the outside of her face and beginning to whisper.

"It probably doesn't take much to tell, but she's a little new to the whole 'socializing' bit. Ace's been tryin' to work on it ever since she got in the spotlight after some publicity stuff... so, try to cut her some slack when you can."

"I don't have any room to talk, either. No sweat."

Sensations previously unknown soon moved weightlessly through them; the caress of a cool, friendly sea breeze flowed about the group before moving on to greet the incoming waves of visitors. Smells similar to those of Teleo's seafood markets gave rise to memories—ones of strolling through the aisles and picking out the perfect catch for his father to set and serve the following evening, ending the day in a feast like no other.

He couldn't even try to stop himself from standing straighter, breathing deeper, and smiling wider, just to accommodate such a revitalizing feeling.

The ocean's great waves rolled in just past several lines of buildings and bridges, nestled up against the horizon. However, upon further inspection, he caught sight of more land just barely within the scope of his vision. The mass curved back around from the opposite end of this water body, ultimately resulting in this leg of the kingdom being shaped like a crescent around the lagoon, which then fed out into the open sea.

Even still, it was the monstrous speartip snout hailing from some kind of massive swordfish that seemed to steal the show from everything around it.

To their immediate front-left, which Solitaire was ever-so-gleefully leading them, stood a building that may as well have had a peg leg and hooked hand.

It was an establishment of similar overall size to any uptown restaurant, built almost exclusively of wood, stone, and metal. Additional precious metals and jewels captured a pirate theme, decorating its wayfaring structure with treasure galore. Furthermore, several decorative flags flew banners of fish skeletons alongside skull-and-crossbones designs.

It was square at the bottom, connected to a part of the port that was entirely wooden. On what appeared to be the second level, it was more cylindrical, and eventually thinned at the top to reach that swordfish steeple. Resting just below the tip of that snout were two massive golden letters, reading GG.

Soon enough, the main entrance was right before their eyes, with Lyric's in particular absolutely gleaming.

She leaned in to whisper once again.

"See, there's plenty of good eats in Altaire, obviously... but nobody does it quite like Goldbeard's Galleon. Seafood fanatics from all over Takera make it a divine dining duty to stop by here whenever the chance crops up—myself included. Just a guilty pleasure."

Stolen novel; please report.

"I think I've actually heard of this place before! My sister used to—" Kyoya's excitement dulled quicker than he could keep up with. The only attempted save he had was to pretend that the thought slipped his mind so to keep Lyric from getting antsy.

"Your sister used to...?" she echoed.

"I... I think I forgot?" Kyoya lied. "But, whatever I was gonna say, it was probably gonna end up at me being a fan of fish."

Apparently convinced by his ploy, Lyric continued on.

"Right? And swimming, and boat rides, and—"

"...Well, not so much on those parts, actually."

"Whaddya' mean, 'not so much?' If you like fish, you've gotta love—"

"No, no, I love both just fine!" Kyoya shook his hands to clear up that end. He heaved a sigh as a bit of humility began to peek through his usual top-of-the-line front. "I just-... I'm not much for water."

Lyric raised an exceptionally suspicious brow.

"...Not much for water."

"Yep."

"Not much for water?"

"I just said yes—!" Kyoya shuddered with flaring insecurity again, but Lyric beginning to laugh like a maniac stole his attention.

"So you mean to tell me that mister OVERKILL OUTBURST', evaporates Seventh Sea and loves seafood, is actually just afraid of getting his feet wet?"

"Is that so wrong!? Everybody's got their fears, and mine just happens to be water!"

Lyric scoffed, crossing her arms.

"No, no, no! This isn't gonna cut it. No partner of mine is gonna be a poor little thalassophobe, Blue. We'll see to it that we stomp that out before we even find the next member of the D-Team."

She flashed a thumbs up and accompanying smirk, only giving more reason for him to grimace at the thought of even having to stand at the edge of the dock. "For starters, we'll take baby steps. So, how about I give you a nickname that'll make you think of water whenever I say it, like exposure therapy?"

"Listen, I don't think that's exactly how exposure therapy works. And, two, isn't Blue good enough? Water's blue, that should be fine—"

He was cut short in an instant.

"Wrong answer! Water can be green, blue, brown, hell, I can even make it look like a rainbow tossed its lunch! Just Blue's too basic! So, how about..." She paused and thought.

And thought.

And thought...

Then, that devilish grin crept its way onto her face.

"Lay it on me, already," Kyoya sighed.

"...Muskrat."

He gagged.

"THAT'S A LOW BLOW, EVEN FOR YOU!"

"Tough luck! And think of what else I could do! Miskrit just has so many perfect line-ups! Let's see... We've got Muskrat, maybe... Miskito! And Mozzie in case I'm feeling generous! Gosh, there's just so much!"

In spite of it all, by now, everything she'd said had lost the negative afterthought. The idea he'd considered before, of this teasing being almost endearing, began to fill the blanks left by her remarks. It was clear that, behind all of it, she was having fun.

If nothing else, seeing her like that made the doom and gloom of the real world just a little bit less of a problem.

"Y'know, I'm half-surprised you didn't say Miscreant," the boy added.

Lyric reeled herself in and thought that over.

"Not a bad point, but I guess I missed it for a reason. I'm sure somebody else might think long and hard to give you a nickname like that..."

Kyoya sent blank blinks her way. Though, in that same vein, he figured that with the value she found in such a gesture as a secret-handshake, there were surely things he'd yet to iron out with her. "...I dunno. Just wouldn't sit right with me, no biggie."

The clearing of a throat prompted them to both look forward.

Solitaire stood with a humored stare their way.

"I wouldn't suppose you two still have plans to come in? If not, I'd be happy to acquaint the both of you at something more fit for two—"

The duo matched each other in a combined recoil, with Lyric's far outclassing her partner's.

"Hard pass, Ace!"

"Oh, of course—I must just be getting ahead of myself. Why don't we eat?"

Both Legends fell in line behind the Adventurer-Princess, who in turn led them into the restaurant's doors.

Lyric let one last whisper slip.

"...And, I'd be willing to bet that she's got more than one personality floatin' around in there."

Kyoya couldn't have said it better.

"We might butt heads, but I'll believe that."