"Where do you think we should go first?" Miwah stood atop the steep road that led down to the lower section of Farrowport. Tamma stood by her side, one hand scratching the back of her head as her eyes drifted across the horizon.
"Didn't think this far ahead."
The seamstress shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe we should just begin from one end and work our way to the other side?"
"Might as well. Not like someone with Potential would even know they have it. Our best bet might be to just roam around until we find someone who could help us out."
"Speaking of which..." Miwah turned to the hunter and held onto the chain of her Beacon. She leaned in close to get a view of the swirling crystal. "Yalch!" she said. "Yalch! We could use you right about now!"
"Is that how you wake him up?" Tamma asked in confusion.
"I am not sure." After shrugging her shoulders, Miwah tapped the jewel with her pointer finger a few times. "But he needs to cut his little rest short!"
A small mist emerged from the necklace and slowly took a round shape in between the two women. Within a few seconds, the gaseous substance formed into their Mentor. Yalch hovered in place; both of his eyes were closed as he rubbed them with the palms of his hands.
"Everything... all right?" the drowsy ghost asked. "Something happen for you to wake me up early?"
"Yes," Miwah replied. "We have a lot of new information to share with you."
"Is it urgent?" he asked again, opening his eyes halfway as he faced the seamstress. "Maybe you could tell me about it in around... an hour or so?"
"If we don't get to be in bed then neither do you!" Tamma said. "Chaston told us about a legend from the other side of the world. If it's true, then these maggots and their queen are just the beginning of worse things to come!"
"That's terrible!" Yalch said, his eyes now open to their original size. "That means we have a lot of training to do if you two are going to be ready for whatever's coming!"
"That is why we are in this part of town again," Miwah said.
Yalch turned around and frantically looked down the paved hill. "Oh! This is where I met Narrita."
"Yeah." Tamma formed a pair of imaginary quotation marks with her fingers. "'Met.' We’re hoping to 'meet' someone else that we could give this last Beacon to."
"Oh! I can help with that!"
"That is why we woke you up, Yalch," Miwah said sternly. "Someone seeing you is the most efficient manner to test if whether or not they have Potential."
"Right, right. That makes sense. Did you just plan on talking to whoever you see freaking out in public?"
Miwah made an awkward smile. "Yes. That is the crux of our plan."
"But don't start telling them everything about being a Purifier, Yalch. We'd like to talk to them first. Get to know them better. We don't want to be handing off the last Beacon to another person like Narrita."
The ghost bobbed up and down while stroking the bottom and round part of his face in acknowledgement. "That makes sense. I'll keep to myself, but maybe still hover around closer to the general population. And once we see someone... acting appropriately, is that when you two come in?"
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Miwah and Tamma looked at each other looking for affirmation. "Yeah, I think that's about right," Tamma replied. "That sounds simple enough, right Miwah?"
The seamstress nodded. "Sounds simple. But that does not mean it will be simple. I for one have no idea how to even start the conversation." Miwah put on an exaggerated smile and then waved her hands high over her head to no one in particular. "Oh, hello! We could not help but notice that you were acting like that you saw a ghost. Perhaps you would like to assist us in saving the island from a ravenous swarm of insects?" she mocked in a phonily friendly tone.
Tamma chuckled at the impersonation with her hand covering her mouth. "You're not trying to be me, are you?"
"No. That was supposed to be me trying to act as hospitable as possible."
"Yeah. Looks like you were trying a bit too hard there."
"Miwah can be friendly!" Yalch said as he hovered between the two women. "She got along with you just fine!"
"I know! But with the way you treated Alson, I've got a feeling that you'll have a bit of difficulty persuading someone to trust their lives in our hands if they come from the lower part of town. You've seen the kind of people that hang out around here. They're not familiar with Xiwaoan standards of 'honor' and 'duty.'"
"Then it would not be best to trust such an important object in the hands of dishonorable individuals. Maybe we could go back to the Governor's section of Farrowport? I am sure there could be someone more refined to help us out."
"Those yuppies can't fight, even if they could access a Purifier form. They wouldn't be able to last more than a few minutes in the middle of the widows without crying for a trip to the bathhouse." Tamma then punched the palm of her hand and stared at Miwah with a serious gaze. "I'm telling ya, lass. There's no better place in Farrowport to look for a warrior. We need someone willing to fight. We need someone with passion. And we need someone we can trust."
"Ah, I see,” Miwah said calmly. “Two out of three is technically a majority. I believe that the people down here are eager to fight… anything. And they most certainly have a passion. For trouble."
"Exactly!" Tamma gave Miwah's shoulder a friendly jab. "That's the kind of thinking we need right now. But yes, that is the kind of logic that I had in mind. We're on a short time frame so we can't choose to be picky. Not like we've got plenty of people to interview. We'll need whoever we can get and just hope to The Deity that they're at least somewhat reasonable."
Miwah then looked up at the ghost with distress in her eyes. "What do you think of all this? You are the one that is supposed to handle finding Purifiers and making sure that they are ready to perform their destined duty. Surely you must have something to say about who gets a Beacon."
The ghost shrugged his shoulders. "I'm with Tamma on this one. When the number of people that have Potential is so low and evil is always around, there really isn't much room for pickiness. I have a knack for finding good candidates anyway. You two are turning out to be great Purifiers so far. If someone is a really bad choice, then I'll be sure to let you two know."
Tamma smiled again as she stepped towards Miwah. The hunter then extended one hand towards the steep slope below. "See Miwah? Told you that this isn't that bad of an idea."
"I still hold some reservations. But seeing as how two out of three in our group are fine with the plan, I suppose I have no other option."
"Besides, you'll get to meet new people. Even if we don't find someone else to work with, maybe find a new friend or two in this town. Wouldn't that be something?"
"Because that is what we need at the moment. More friends to worry about as barbarians, bandits, insects and depraved animals ravage this island. Keeps a Purifier motivated."
Tamma winked and pointed a finger at the seamstress. "Whatever keeps you swinging Liberator around."
Miwah took the first step down the steep and weaving path. She tucked her arms into the opposite sleeves of her robe as she slowly moved along the side path. Tamma caught up to her, walking by Miwah's side as she stared down at the array of buildings towards the bottom.
"Is there anything else I should know before we get there? I know Farrowport is full surprises. I would appreciate being informed ahead of time of anything that I need to be aware of."
Tamma looked up to the sky and tapped her finger to her chin. "There's nothing that I can think off the top of my head. You've been getting along just fine so far. Just keep doing what you're doing and I'm sure you'll make it through in one piece."
Yalch floated down and lingered in front of Miwah's face. "And in case things go awry, you always have a backup plan." He pointed to where Miwah's Beacon was.
"Right. Always nice to have a secret weapon on me in case things go wrong."
"If?" Tamma turned towards Miwah, giving her a raised eyebrow. "I think you meant to say 'when,' considering how crazy things are now."