Act 2: Upheaval VI - Celebration and Departure

"We'll treat you to breakfast in the morning."

"..."

Steve also stifles a yawn. "Sounds good to me. I'll make us some tea." He boards the ship and walks with the others to the galley when they are ready.

As usual, Femke eats her meal very slowly, taking the time to savor each mouthful of food she puts into her mouth. She doesn't say anything about it, but it's obvious that she's enjoying it a lot.

Judging by the almost complete silence from the lower deck, the crew appears to be asleep by now. Knowing Segel however, a few fairies are probably standing guard in the crow's nest at this very moment.

"Well, you were there. Nadzieja Zerva is now the First of Myr--the youngest in history. We learned that Wanda was a clone of Edward. She's dead now, and we'll likely see another clone return in a different body, someone else's mind totally erased to make room for him to cheat death." He frowns.

"Before she died, she revealed that Edward and his people 'have' Lorinth." He thinks. "When we woke up for the final fight, the ISA agent in Steve's head, May, was in control for a while. She seemed confused, like being inside our bodies, or anyone else's bodies, was a part of the plan she was never privy to. After calming her down and getting Steve back in control, we had to let Zenoniusz and Zenon in on the greater conspiracy - the Enemy, that is. They have a vague idea that there are other factions plotting against the Enemy. They also did learn about Wanda's true identity, before we went out to fight her."

"Oh, you know that Nadzieja is helping us look for Breeze and Fedler, right?"

He also tells her what they saw in their dream - his dream, anyway. The others may fill in the bits that he wasn't there for.

Konrad wrote:

She seemed confused, like being inside our bodies, or anyone else's bodies, was a part of the plan she was never privy to.

"That May only had her memory up to her time on the boat on the way to Emerald. That's why."

Steve purses his lips and says, "We spoke for a little bit, before I had control of my body again. It was definitely as Mihai says. I could feel it, if that makes any sense?"

Amber, Fluffle and Florolf listen to the three adventurers' story while drinking the tea Steve prepared for them. Amber and Fluffle are fascinated by what they hear, unlike Florolf who acts as disinterested as ever. Femke asks many questions to make sure she has the full picture, and so by the time the party members have shared everything they know, she has finished eating her dinner and is now attacking a slice of strawberry pie.

She explains that she'll need some time to process all of this, and for the next few minutes, she's completely silent. Only once she's eaten all of her desert does she talk again.

"This is merely speculation," she begins, "but it sounds like Edward is attempting to assume control of all five nations."

"In order to unify the Archipelago and repel the Enemy, that seems like the most efficient course of action. No matter who gets trampled along the way - he probably sees it as a worthwhile sacrifice."

"Oh, that makes sense. Is that why they wanted our bodies then? So they could get access to Prime Councilor Knight? I mean, we have met him and he considers us heroes. I bet he'd make time for us if we insisted it was important."

"It is possible. We've also promised to make contact with you once the time was right. Maybe this played a role in Edward's plan."

Amber and Fluffle blink at this revelation.

Steve shrugs apologetically. "Sorry guys, we were sworn to secrecy on that one. Otherwise we would have told you."

"Oh, it's... okay," Amber replies, a little overwhelmed by everything that she's learned.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Fluffle says.

Mihai blinks, only now realizing - "I hadn't thought about it. If Edward's feelers reach that far, it's possible he does know about you already. But..." - he thinks for a second - "Wouldn't you be an unknown quantity to him? That guy doesn't seem to trust anything he can't control. He'd likely sooner keep his distance."

That's when something finally clicks in Mihai's head, making his eyes widen slightly with a twitch. He looks at Femke, but waits for her to respond.

She continues with the same dispassionate tone and says, "He might have sent trained ISA agents in his stead."

"Well, now we know why they did this to us." Konrad frowns. Edward doesn't need them now. To get at the Tykes, all he has to do is wait for the countdown in their brains to tick down.

"Femke, could an orb even affect your physiology? Would your people know if it did?"

For an instant, Femke hesitates to answer. But she then quickly replies with, "I do not know how an orb would react with Tyke physiology."

"How would he even find your people? You guys do a good job blending in when you want to. Well, mostly. You aren't good at the little details you get by growing up in a culture."

The adventurers think Femke might be blushing a little at Steve's comment.

"We promised to make contact with you again," she repeats. "He wouldn't need to find us."

"So... he'd be setting a trap for you?" Amber asks.

"Maybe if he thought we were a threat to him."

"Femke..." - Mihai hesitates, trying to be tactful - "...are you from the Empire?"

The Tyke gazes at Mihai and says, "...The Empire? No. We have no masters. We're here because we chose to."

"I never implied otherwise, but you came from som--" - he stops himself - "Nevermind, i won't pry."

Steve looks at her in wonder after that question. He can't resist. "Are you from space?"

Femke shakes her head. "No, we're not."

When the look of disappointment spreads on Steve's face, Fluffle immediately goes to comfort him.

Konrad laughs, then smiles mischievously. "That's fine, Mihai. We'll pry for you. Is that alright, Femke?"

"Yes. But I might not answer your questions."

"I think she really means ‘no’..." Amber says with a chuckle.