Mordecai watched a little bit of Fuyuko and Li playing in the forest, which was mostly Li encouraging her to find the best lighting to make scary faces in while Li rolled on the floor laughing, as well as showing her the best ways to sneak around quietly. They were adorable, and it was nice to see the girl relax. She kept going through cycles of being tense and worried before being drawn out, only to tense up again at some thought or concern.

When they came back, Mordecai made sure to let her know that she needed to tell Gil thank you, as Li was probably taking Gil on an adventure soon. He was proven right the next day when their presence simply vanished. Neither he nor Kazue could pinpoint exactly when it happened, nor where they were when it did.

This left Fuyuko with mixed feelings. Part of her felt like she'd been abandoned, but she also knew better. Gil was a hero of sorts, and he'd seen her safely to her destination. Was he not supposed to go off and help others? And Li was, well, Li. All of the stories she knew about him started with him arriving someplace and ended when he left that place. This Li story had ended. It did leave her wondering what it would look like if someone wrote it down.

And the people she found herself with, well, she felt strangely at ease, and that somehow made her nervous. Gil had been a protector and a friend, maybe a brother, but Mordecai was the one who felt somehow fatherly to her. He'd already discussed with her his plans if she became their contractor, and she was going to need to spend at least a week experiencing the schedule he wanted her to follow. She didn't have to, she was allowed to do whatever she wanted, but if what she wanted was to become a contractor and truly call this place home, this was what he required of her. It was fair and firm without being demanding, and it was hard to trust the warm feeling that this evoked.

Bellona was already slipping into an older sister sort of role with her. She was there and ready to help or listen at any time.

As for Kazue, well, Fuyuko only really got to interact with the other core when her illusion was present, and she didn't always have one active. Fuyuko wasn't quite sure how she felt about the kitsune. It was sort of weird knowing that Kazue was potentially watching over her at any time. Sure, the same could be said of Mordecai, but at least he seemed to usually use his avatar. Maybe she should use the platform in her room to ask for Kazue's attention and just talk? But Fuyuko didn't want to bother her either.

Then there was Moriko. She didn't know the woman at all, but it seemed she had a strong influence on Betty. And Fuyuko liked Betty, so presumably, she'd like Moriko as well.

Really, everyone was nice to her. And she had the feeling if one of the dungeon's visitors was mean to her, there would be lots of people ready to protect her. Which was nice that they cared and all, but Fuyuko didn't want to have to be protected like that. There was just so much for her to think about now that she was actually here.

While Fuyuko was working through teenage worries and adapting to the schedule Mordecai set forth, Moriko and Kazue's avatar were continuing to make their way toward the Ekuilance, the capital of Kuiccihan.

The day after Li and Gil departed, Moriko found herself frowning up at a distant speck slightly above the horizon and growing larger as it approached along the road they were traveling. "Kazue, heads up, split." The red-headed kitsune took a moment to process what was going on, but they'd trained enough that she followed Moriko's directions and started heading to the opposite side of the road from Moriko before she could identify what had the monk on guard.

Both women had their staves at the ready by the time they could make out what was approaching them, but they relaxed as they recognized the person riding what turned out to be a small, sled-like aircraft, minus the beasts a snow sled would have drawing it. "Lord Paltira!" Moriko called out as the craft slowed and descended toward them, noting that he was wearing fancier garb than usual and that the craft had the royal crest on it. "I take it you are looking for us?"

"Indeed I am Lady Moriko, Lady Kazue," he said as the craft settled gently on the road, "Her Highness has noted that she'd like to have dinner with you and her family before we depart again. Also, she would like to speak to you about the conversation you had with her sisters. Something about spreading gossip?" Paltira looked amused as he hopped down from the front driver's seat and opened up a door on the side. "I have to admit, I wasn't paying a lot of attention to what she was saying, she's rather cute when she's ranting."

Moriko was confused for a moment before she recalled telling the other princesses about Orchid being caught off guard and punched in the back of the head by Enki. Oh. "I see." It seems she'd prickled the princess's pride by passing that around.

Kazue grinned as she collapsed her staff back into a disk and jumped into the seat. "Oh, this should be fun." Moriko followed a touch less enthusiastically than her wife had, and mentally updated what was going on for the dungeon.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Paltira said as he climbed back into the driver's seat, "it's mostly sibling rivalry stuff, she's not really angry. It's just part of the game."

"Hey," Kazue asked as the craft began to lift off of the ground, "Why don't you guys use this more often?"

"Even this runner is rather expensive, and it has a relatively short range before it needs to be recharged. I was only allowed to use it because I am officially arranging transportation for foreign dignitaries, and only after we confirmed that you had left the forest. It can't quite make that as a round trip. Also, you can collect more information by meeting more people, and this is usually an important aspect for Orchid." He smiled wrily, "When it comes to this sort of thing, I am mostly the muscle I admit."

Well, there was a reason not everyone flew about in these things. Moriko remembered Kazue's father commenting on the expense of airships too. "Hey loves," she sent to the cores, "what would it take for us to produce reliable flying craft?"

There was a moment of silence before she got a response, which told her they were having to do some work to figure it out. "We'd probably need to double our zones. Something smaller and less comfortable with an even shorter range could be done soon enough, and right now we could create one that would hover and could be pulled by the right sort of flying creatures. But that would require generating them outside of the acknowledged territory, otherwise there is no way to get them out of the underground levels. We have more flexibility for things that would only work inside our territory, but for actual prizes, it will be quite a while before we can reward with anything worth the effort."

"It doesn't look like we can change that expense any time soon, that's too bad. I'm sure Kazue's father would be happy to break that market open and make a tidy profit," she reported to the others.

"Huh, well, maybe we can make him a proper gift of something fancy in a few years. Mmm, but they'd need to run the dungeon with some friends, wouldn't they? Well, it would still be nice to offer," Kazue mused.

"I wonder if that is part of the economic strength of the Allied Nations," Paltira added. "They never seem to run out of interesting things to trade. I imagine that their dungeon helps with that, along with their fleet."

Moriko leaned back and looked up thoughtfully. "What about the southern dungeon? I don't hear about as much trade with the tribes."

Paltira considered her question for a few moments. "I am not sure. At a guess, I think they may keep special luxuries for themselves; the nomads we met during our travels did seem to have a rather comfortable lifestyle. Most of the goods we saw in their trade city could be gathered from the plains or crafted from the same materials."

That seemed to tap out Paltira's knowledge of the other dungeons, and the rest of the conversation shifted to more casual topics. It seemed that once they landed, Paltira was to escort them straight to Mistress Ula's shop. A new dress had already been put together for Moriko, and two new dresses were waiting for final alterations for Kazue and were based on the rough measurements that Princess Orchid had given the woman.

Moriko watched her wife squirm happily, half expecting to have to keep her from falling out of the craft in her excitement.

"Oh, this is going to be great! I love Moriko's dress! And I get two? Oh, I guess that makes sense, so that we have the same number of dresses from them. I can't wait to see them, do you know what colors they are in? What styles are they in?"

Kazue was talking almost as fast as Li did, and the thought made Moriko laugh. Though, unlike the Shattered One, Kazue would eventually wind down and simply vibrate in anticipation.

The reality mostly met with her expectations, but Kazue did have one small complaint. "I think I am going to drown," she muttered as she glanced down. This particular shimmering, emerald green silken dress was gorgeous, and the corseting was designed to amplify assets that hardly needed help. Moriko allowed herself a more lingering look at the decolletage in question and rather approved of the view.

"I think it's perfect for you, love," Moriko purred.

Their eyes met and Moriko slowly smiled, enjoying the blush that spread across Kazue's cheeks. "I, ah, guess I don't mind very much then. If you like it that much," Kazue managed to get out.

"I do," Moriko said before leaning in to whisper, "And I will greatly enjoy helping you out of it later."

Part of her said that it was bad to flirt with and tease her easily-flustered wife so much, but it was an absolute delight to see Kazue respond. The kitsune could be assertive when she'd plotted and planned, but tended to be much more responsive to Moriko making the advances.

The half-elf suspected that Kazue wouldn't always be so easily caught off guard, and she would miss this reaction when that time came, but for now, she was going to enjoy watching the redhead become tongue-tied and unable to respond.

Mistress Ula coughed to get their attention. "If you are done making eyes at each other, can we wrap up? If you are satisfied, I can get the second dress started while you two head off. I'll get it sent to you. Do you know where you are staying yet?"

"No," Moriko replied, "We've been rushed here actually." The sun was still up even, if not by a lot.

"Well, knowing that lot, I'll get word soon enough. Off with you then, I imagine your escort is bored waiting for you."

Lord Paltira was out front while the two women were getting fitted and dressed, and when Kazue emerged he managed to only let his eyes start to dip before he caught himself and focused his gaze higher. Moriko collected that little bit of ammunition to tease the man with in the future, probably by using it to deflect Orchid when convenient.

For the moment, Moriko said nothing and simply smiled when he complimented their dresses and led them to the carriage waiting outside.