{-Casrane-}

“Oh, really? That sounds amazing!” As Vureta said it, she was digging through a sack of things she’d found while patrolling. They’d just finished telling her why they were here and she was more than willing to help. “Sorry, I know you guys are probably in a rush to get this done. If I’d realized you would need it, I would’ve put it somewhere different! When I found it, I just thought it was some cool old piece of something—which, I mean, I guess it was, but it’s an important old piece of something.”

“It’s okay,” Myr assured her. “While we are kinda in a hurry, it’s not really that big of one…”

“I know, but I want to help!”

“Looking at all of that, I’m almost beginning to wonder if you’re the one that might need some help…” Llewel remarked. From where the three of them stood, it was obvious how varied the things in that sack; it didn’t seem to be even the least bit organized, either, and Casrane wondered how Vureta even hoped of finding a small part of a key amidst it.

“No need for that!” Vureta excitedly announced, digging in the bag for a moment longer before she pulled out what matched the two pieces of keys so far. She quickly got up and allowed the three of them to have a closer look. “This is what you’re looking for, right?”

Casrane looked it over, even if she already knew the answer. “Yep, it looks like it’s the right thing.” She took it, put it in her Inventory, and dismissed the notice announcing that she’d gotten another piece.

“I guess that’s probably all you’re here for, then, huh?” Vureta walked around them in order to open the door. “I wish you guys the best of luck on finding the rest of them! I know you will, and I bet you’ll do even better at ending all of this. And come visit the forest once it’s all over, alright? I want to hear how it all ends!”

The three of them nodded in unison, and then they left.

…

They were especially careful when they walked through Kehnore. Fortunately, though, they didn’t seem to stumble across anyone who recognized them… at least, not any unfriendly people who recognized them. Kaerio was talking to a group of people just outside the city’s border and, once he saw them, he motioned them over and showed them to a small building.

“This’ll be a little safer to talk,” he’d told them. “Now, are you here for a good or a bad reason..?”

Then they shared their story. Once they were done, he looked to someone to his side, and they nodded and gave him a small bag. Kaerio didn’t even look at it before giving it to Llewel.

Llewel opened it up and nodded. “This is just what we need. Did you find it?”

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“They did, actually.” Kaerio gestured to the person who’d handed him the bag. “I’ve been a little too busy working on things here to go too far.”

“What have you been doing?” Myr asked.

“As you can see, I’ve gathered a couple of others who are willing to stand with me. We… don’t have that much influence, so most of what we can do is limited, but… it helps in little ways, and that’s all it needs to do.” He let out a bit of nervous laughter. “I don’t think we’ll be able to keep this up forever, though. It’s getting harder and harder to even try to do anything. So while we may have things here under control for a little bit, I still hope you’ll get this done quickly…”

“We will,” Casrane assured him with a nod. “Good luck here, too—hopefully the next time we see each other, it’ll be a celebration for a job well done.”

…

Ilataesi was by far the worst of the areas, though it already had some problems with runes. While it always looked to be on the verge of a storm, one never came, which they were undoubtedly all grateful for. Myr was actually the one to lead the way through the caves to where Esaphi would be—Llewel was “supposed” to, but she was quicker, so it at least gave off the impression of leading.

Esaphi was writing something when they got to her, and she looked panicked before Myr explained what they were there for. Esaphi was comparatively much calmer after she was told; or, at least, she was as calm as she could be in the situation.

“So, do you have anything like this?” Myr took out one of the other pieces of the key they collected and showed it to Esaphi. “I really hope you do…”

“I… y-yes, I think I do,” Esaphi confirmed with a nod. She turned to a spot beside her to pull out something that definitely looked like something they could use. “Is it like this..?”

Myr took one look at it, then nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, that’s it! Thank you.” She looked back at the others. “So, Bezyu’s the last one we have to go to, right? Then we’ll head back to Anseshara?”

Casrane let out a small mhm though, seeing that Esaphi wanted to say something else, didn’t mention anything more about it.

“Please stay safe,” Esaphi said in a near-whisper. “I—I get that you have to do it, but it all sounds pretty dangerous, and I don’t want you to get hurt…”

Myr turned back to her and offered her a kind smile. “Don’t worry! I’m sure that, whatever ends up happening, we’ll be able to handle it. I promise.”

…

They checked Bezyu’s house first, by Llewel’s instruction, but couldn’t find her there. So they traveled to the temple assuming that, at the very least, they might be able to run into her while she was making her way back. When they got to the temple, they asked where she might’ve been, and one of them was kind enough to lead them to where she was.

She didn’t notice them, at first; she was too busy discussing something with another coworker. But once she saw them, she quietly dismissed herself, walked over, and offered them a small smile.

“Do you need something..?” she prompted gently.

And, for the last time, they shared everything up to this point.

As soon as they finished, she let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank goodness you’re working towards the end of this… I don’t know if it’s something any of us will be able to fight against for much longer…” She excused herself for a moment, walked over to a bag. She pulled something out of it—which they all knew by now to be her piece of the key—and then walked back over to them. “Is this what you need?”

Casrane barely looked at it before gratefully accepting it. “Yeah, that’s got to be the last piece.”

“So, it’s your time to end things now..?”

“Mhm. We’ll be heading back to Anseshara soon to put an end to this, once and for all.”

“Please, stay safe, and be quick. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt by this.”