{-Myr-}

Zetai’s confusion was hard to hide. “Wait, Mair? Like the developer of the game Mair..?”

Tinath nodded.

“Don’t you know she—”

“I’ve heard that name before,” Myr mumbled, largely ignoring the others. She was more caught up in trying to figure out why it sounded so familiar than to pay attention to what they were questioning.

“Wait, so do you guys think that you’ve met her?” Reynneak asked.

It seemed that Llewel felt the same as her and just as clueless as to when they might’ve encountered each other. “I… think so.”

Perhaps picking up that the name didn’t make them any more willing to help her, Tinath prompted, “You’re looking for someone named Casrane, aren’t you? I have a feeling they’re going to be close to each other, so if we’re looking for one, we’ll probably end up finding the other. You don’t even have to consider this as helping me—just an added member of your team while you look for your old friend.”

“How do you know all that?” Zetai didn’t buy it; there was something in Tinath’s tone that said that she knew more than she let on and it wasn’t that hard to catch.

“I’ve heard a lot of things in my search for her,” was Tinath’s simple response.

Zetai motioned for the four of them to get together, gave a wary glance at Tinath, then whispered, “What do you guys think?”

“I don’t think she knows much more than we do,” Reynneak remarked. “It feels like she’s saying most of that to get a reaction out of us.”

“Still, it’s not like we have any other ideas on where Casrane might be,” Llewel pointed out. “Sure, it’s kind of convenient and a little suspicious… but it’s the best thing we have right now. Maybe we’ll at least be able to figure out a couple of things while we’re with her.”

Myr held back what she really wanted to say and let her brain talk for her for once. “We’ll all still be with her. She can’t really do something bad if there’s always someone there to watch her, right?”

With nothing decided, Zetai turned her attention back to Tinath. “We barely know anything about you. I think we’re going to need a better reason to trust you than just ‘the people we’re looking for are close to each other.’”

Tinath gestured towards Cahacu. “I’m sure she has some stories she can tell you. I’ve done my fair share of helping out around here.”

Cahacu nodded. “She has done a lot. She’s one of the few players that I’ve come across that go out of their way to do those unmarked quests outside of the cities. With the five of you, you’re bound to find something useful.”

Another glance between the four of them showed that none of them had no more immediate objections; it seemed like their best option for getting any sort of information.

“Alright,” Zetai decided with a sigh, “just one more question. Where are you headed?”

“Kyirius,” Tinath replied. “That’s where you’re all going next, right? It’s the next place that I haven’t seriously looked around for.”

Zetai motioned them all to follow her and took the lead in leaving the inn. “We’re sticking together for now, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to always be staying together. We’ve got a goal to do and so do you. I’m not going to hesitate in keeping you out of it if you do anything suspicious.”

…

The admiration Myr felt for Tinath quickly left once they’d spent more time together. There was something odd that replaced it; not quite the feeling that they’d made a mistake, but not something that suggested that they were doing something right, either. It was like she’d seen the same kinds of things in Tinath in someone else before. Yet trying to put a memory to the feeling didn’t work, but Myr couldn’t quite shake the feeling that something was off.

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Llewel must’ve noticed something too, because he had a pensive look that proved he wasn’t paying attention to everything else around him. While he was still the quieter of the four of them, he hadn’t participated in any of the conversations they’d started since leaving Anthalas City.

Myr couldn’t help the feeling that Zetai and Reynneak had other things on their minds, too, though it was different than the twins’.

“So, why are you looking for Cassidy?” Zetai prompted, looking over her shoulder at Tinath.

“She’s a friend of mine,” Tinath responded simply.

“It must’ve been a while since you last saw her.”

“Two years.”

“What makes you so interested in finding her now?”

“This is nothing new. I’ve tried looking for her all those two years, but I haven’t been able to find a lead on where she might be until just now.”

“What made you find out where she might be?”

“I was able to see Casrane.”

That took Llewel out of his thoughts. “You’ve seen Casrane? How recently?”

“A couple of weeks ago. She’d disappeared again before I was able to talk to her, though.”

Zetai wasn’t done with all of her questions. “How do you know that Cassidy and Casrane are connected to each other?”

“I have my ways—spend as much time here as I do and you start to make some connections.” Tinath still held a calm tone despite the fact she was obviously being pressured into showing a crack in her story. She knew just what to get the attention off of her, however. “It sounds like you’re not so clueless about this whole thing yourself. How do you know the connection between the two of them?”

Myr had to give it some consideration as well. “What..?”

Reynneak was the one to step in on this one. “When Zetai researched Casrane for you, she also came across the name Cassidy Mair. Casrane, at least as far as the official things are concerned, is a background NPC modeled after Cassidy as the daughter of the game’s lead developer.”

“You realize we both remember Casrane as a player now, right?” Llewel pointed out. “Are we supposed to believe that?”

“I’d appreciate it if you would until I can think of a better way to explain what’s actually going on,” Zetai remarked. She sighed. “Look, I don’t want to hide it from you and I hope you realize that. I just want to make sure of what I found out before I say it.”

They didn’t say anything more to each other for the rest of the trip. Zetai, Reynneak, and Tinath all left for the night once they reached a campsite. They both knew what they should be doing, but neither of them could go to sleep just yet.

“What do you think they’re trying to keep from us?” Llewel was blankly staring at the fire. “Why does everyone keep dodging questions instead of making it easier for all of us and giving an actual answer..?”

“Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt,” Myr mumbled. “They’re just trying to do what’s best for us. They always have…”

“I wish we could be together long enough to talk to her, or we remembered enough to not need someone else to tell us.”

“Well, maybe it’s a good thing that we’re remembering the good stuff first. There’s got to be plenty of bad stuff too, if things are like they are now… I guess it’s only a matter of time before we get to those, too.”

“The sooner we can stop feeling like everyone’s keeping secrets, the better.”

Then even the two of them fell into silence. Myr still must’ve been the first of the two to go to sleep, though thankfully and despite her fears, what she was greeted with was something much brighter.

The context of the situation was still unknown to her. All that she could remember was her excitement as Casrane handed them both a ticket.

“This one goes further than just the city,” she said, gesturing for them to follow her. “That way, we’ll actually be able to see the plains.”

Myr remembered being surprised that there were actually other people there. Most of the other places the three of them had gone together, it was just them or the bare minimum; she hadn’t considered the reasoning too much then but, now, she knew it to be a sign that Casrane’s plans were working.

Still, it seemed everyone there was willing to make sure they had the seats they wanted.

“You two take a seat by the window,” Casrane instructed, “and I’ll sit next to one of you. It’s the best place to take in the scenery.”

“What about you, though?” Llewel asked. “You won’t be able to see.”

She smiled. “I’ll be able to see fine from where I am. You don’t have to worry about me—this is for the two of you, after all.”

Myr, still, immediately took a seat near a window. She watched the rest of the people board, then as it all calmed down the train finally started moving.

The awe she had as she saw the scenery move past her was one she regretted forgetting.