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The Brunhart Orphanarium was one of the largest estates of the surrounding area of Breekheim. A five-acre mansion with at least twenty rooms, it stood high upon a loamy hill where grass managed to stay consistently fresh and bouncy all year round, except of course when winter came and snow dappled across the hills. James and Roy stood waiting along with several of the town populace including Clan Koridai who were just arriving for the charity ball, men, women and their own children who apparently were good friends of the orphans within. No weapons obviously were upon them for this, the time now being 2:00pm. The white manor front was of four windows on either side of the central entrance hall which was shaped like a rotunda, allowing shade beneath it under rain or heat if need be. Noises came from within the double-doors of mahogany as a mixed affair of children squealing with laughter along with adults waffling on about various occurrences before it finally opened. The one who greeted them was Mr. Brunhart himself, a kindly older grey nu-mou with a long gorgeous grey beard that hung past his sternum, middle-aged but still hearty with a wrinkled grin. "AHH HELLO hello one and all please, come in thank you for coming!" His entire outfit was resplendently white even down to his tail covered in a smooth silken sleeve, but the shirt itself was polka-dotted with splattings of various comical colours resembling that of a clown, most of which resembled children's hands playfully slapped onto his belly. "Forgive me my little rogues became very wild with paintbrushes, hahaha, that's the price you pay for wearing white! Welcome, come in everyone! Madame Hortense, I have not seen you in a while please come in! Mister Roentgen, glad to see you are well, please welcome! Do you like the suit, the children made it for me it's very in vogue right now to use purple spackle on our handprints!" Greeting each and every one who came with a firm handshake, the adults laughed with radiant smiles and awe at the interior mansion as well as their host's look. The main hall was wide and pale with warm colours of summer yellow walls and salmon-pink floor, two doorways on either side with an oaken staircase on either side of the main hall leading up towards the upper floor, with another wider set of double doors directly underneath that lead towards a central courtyard garden. Longer hallways laid beneath the stairs on opposite sides in turn leading towards the back of the house as well as other rooms. The room to the left was the ballroom itself where most of the adults stood conversing with each other. The room to the right had the screaming gleeful sounds of children behind closed doors as Mr. Brunhart guided them. "All boring adults please make your way to the ballroom on your left, all roguish little tykes please make your way to the right and enjoy the games we've set up for you! Come now, make way please!" They did as they were asked, all the children heading off to the right just bursting with excitement, whilst the adults headed off towards the main event with James looking rather wistful at to where the children now went to. The ballroom, which was also the dining hall, had resplendent pink walls adorned with white frills across the window curtains where light shined on through. Four tables all set around in a square just simply full of food from local places. Pies, roasted meats, cakes piled up onto three-tiered settings as their mouths salivated already by the finely wholesome savoury scents. A piano was playing along with a set of violinists and a cello player upon central stage at the very back grandstanding across the very room itself.

A larger table in front of the orchestra was where donations went, via a large sturdily-enclosed box where people put down their donations in small bags and tied nametags of either persons or institutes donating. Two of the staff members guarded the box with utmost scrutiny at all times, a maid and a butler both humes making sure that all donations had been received. The maid wore a soft dress of light-blue with white petticoats underneath that made her look as if the sea had whitewashed within a still painting, whilst the butler was in elegant black with white collar and bristling shoes of beaming glint. All of them were in their finest formal wear, not even the disguises from Kruz's ship but their own actual attire. Dahlia had befitted herself in a traditional Rozarrian cloak of formal blue with purple patterns and diamonds streaked across the fabric. Navarro wore her old academy gowns of red-and-blue on either side that swept to the very coattails hanging back. Baldwin and Fayne had come in their most religious attire, long flowing robes of darkest blue and white adorned with the Rood of Iocus on their sleeves. James had to make do with a Rabanastran suit which made him more look like a wealthy tradesman than a formally-attired patron for the orphanage. A button-down shirt of orange sleeves with purple down his back, fitted with loose pantaloons of an aquamarine colour. Kruz had his most elegant cloak of green with dappled imperfections almost reminiscent of a viper's scaled coils. And lastly there was Roy, back in his smooth grey woollen suit that almost made him more like a Victorian gentleman than anything else, a white ruffled collar thinly pressed against his neck without splaying outwards. The gentry were a mixture of strange colours and finest down as many people of all classes came together, butchers and bakers alongside landowners and businessmen, most of whom all worked within the town itself or owned estates nearby in the open fields.James was somewhat surprised as he cautiously sipped some wine in a glass as he stuck close to Roy, seeing Mr. Brunhart move through the crowd like a polka-dotted Santa Claus before he stood at the top table where the donation box stood around 2:30pm. Plenty of time given to mingle with each other through the room before his announcement. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! Thank you, one and all for coming to our most dear institution. Wherever there may be strife or torment or misfortune, we will endeavour to do everything to make most certain, that our children shall be forever cared for. Many of our fledglings have gone on, some even of which have come back to us to great benefit for our next generation, preserving the future of Ivalice. No matter what race or origin, all are welcome in our dear embrace at the Brunhart Orphanarium and it is because of YOU, yes YOU who have come here that we shall help keep that dream alive for them, every new generation that shall come." Thunderous applause of a polite viscosity rippled across the room as Mr. Brunhart bowed humbly before he bade them silence. "Last year, your generous contributions have helped in adding a further expansion of our library, further improvement to our central court and increased medical care for our dear orphaned waifs. We may find them sweet or bitter or perhaps even mild, but the fact is that altogether they make one splendid culmination that will one day become a greater person for it. Scholars, warriors, dignitaries, clerics, business workers, tradesmen, revolutionaries, all of which are possible within those tender little minds. And no sooner do I know this...when thirty of them literally assaulted me thinking I was a zaghnal." Laughter went teeming through the room as he swept his arms open grinning underneath his beard. "I know I know, my beard does not help indeed but I have insistence from the littlest ones not to let a single hair of it get cut for they enjoy a good tickling everytime we hug." The sweeping sound of people going "Awwwwwwwww" was like an ocean of love that it was almost sickening. Almost, but even James found his heart melting a little from hearing this as they knew that Brunhart had them right by their wallets. "Now, everyone please enjoy yourselves and remember to donate what you can, for no matter how small or big a donation you can contribute, every little helps. Thank you."

Another round of applause was made as Brunhart made his way through the crowd thanking people whilst shaking hands grinning widely with pure admiration of the people around him. James was fascinated as he glanced around the main area of the dining hall feeling much more elegant than Hopkins' Archive was, saying beside Roy: "I've never seen a place like this, it's pretty great!" "Never?" replied Roy. "No...last time I saw a party like this was back on Illium, though it was a lot fancier." "Well bein' in space does tend to have that advantage, also a lot more purple." "Hehehe...that was a fun party, hopefully no assassins crash in on this one." "Don't jinx it man." "Heeheheh...maaaan I wish I grew up in this orphanage, it's fucking awesome!" "Yeah?" "Yeah! I mean did you hear they had a LIBRARY?! They have an actual library, there are BOOKS in this place! You know what we had?! The graffiti on the back wall, that was our library." "Damn...that sucks, man ah had no idea your life wuz that bad as a kid." "London was such a shithole." "So ah hear...sorry man." "Awww don't fret about it, that was years ago I'm way past that, I got better stuff to do with my life like, well, being a clan leader or something." "Heheheh..." James turned towards the utahraptor smiling as he finished his glass, whilst the utahraptor looked at his omni-tool's watch function showing it to be around 2:50pm local time. Thankfully they had managed to figure out a way to keep it a subtle low making everyone else think it was simply magicite dust. "Soooo, how long were you back home for?" "About a month or two," said Roy, "not too long, ah just needed to know whut thuh A.R.M.E were up to then ah left, nuthin' really back there for me anymore." "Was there...anything new going on, world-wise?" "Other than a new president, Ukraine conflict officially ended but hehehehyou know it hasn't...uhhhh Johannesburg is still thuh richest goddamn city in thuh world and uh...nuthin' much else, any reason?" "Just curious if London got any better, did they do anything about the riots that went on there?" "Man that shit wuz ages ago...though there wuz a headline ah read whilst ah wuz waitin' on stuff, they finally rounded up thuh extremists responsible for thuh Trafalgar Square Massacre." "Shit really?!" "Oh yeah, you remember that?" "I remember reading about the massacre back before I left, god that was like eleven years ago, they really caught them?!" "Thirteen." "Huh?" "It wuz thirteen years ago, not eleven." The raptor cocked his head at him double-checking his memory to confirm absolute. "Um...noooo it...was eleven years ago." "You sure about that? Cuz ah know it wuz thirteen years ago." "No it's not it was eleven, I'm not that bad with math come on Roy." The utahraptor looked at him with an odd crook of his blue eyerings raised upon his brow, before asking: "How old are you?" "...thirty...threeee now I think, why?" "An' how old were you when you left?" "Twenty-two, there see it was eleven years." "...that ain' right, you should be thirty-five." "Huh?!" Roy put down his glass after drinking all of it to straight-talk him. "Whut's your birthday?" "What?!" "Your birthday, tell me whut it is." "Jesus I keep telling you it's eleven years ago why are you so hung up on this?" "Cuz ah know you're wrong, it wuz thirteen years ago, not eleven." "Well, I was born on September 9th, 3490, you had it on the report you gave me Roy! Come on I thought YOU were the math expert!" "I am! You're thuh one that's getting it wrong!" "Well whatever, you read a clock wrong or something that's not my problem, you're getting hung up on a small detail like that I'm telling you it's been eleven years since I left. Anyways go on about these terrorists, what happened with them?" "...righ' sorry um, so one of their families basically called out an' said that they'd been livin' in a pretty abusive state, so they were lahk 'no more!' an' all thuh families just banded together an' turned 'em all in, put up a hashtag on all thuh networks sayin' 'WeCriedForTrafalgar', wuz a hell of a lotta bad blood goin' on 'til they got put into jail." "Wow...that takes a lot of guts, and they all got arrested?" "Yup...well, maybe three of 'em got killed in a shootout with cops, it wuz pretty bad but, glad at least one crime's gettin' justice out there." "Yeah...sooo how much are we donating?" "Fayne's handlin' your money he knows thuh place, ah got mah donation ready. It's only fair after whut we're about to do-" "PARDON ME!" A boastful man with a bleached pink face and wattled chin strode forth in the loudest blue suit possible, his hair offensively slapped together. "DO YOU KNOW WHERE MISTER BRUNHART IS?!" "Uhhh...no," said FG, "I don't know where he is, he shouldn't be hard to spot right Roy-......dammit Roy." Seeing the black raptor had snuck himself away just in time to avoid being lectured to, James was forced to talk to the loud man whose clothes jangled everytime he walked, golden clasps in his cufflinks and buckled belt. "IF YOU DO KNOW WHERE MISTER BRUNHART IS, COULD YOU INFORM HIM THAT ROBBIE BUCKLER HAS SOME BUSINESS TO CONDUCT WITH HIM?" "Um...okay, sure mister." "GOOD DAY."

With automatic nod he strode off straight back into the crowd again as James stood round waiting to meet his contact. Once the clock would hit around 3:30pm, he would have to take action and so move to position at a time for action. But until then for the entire half-hour he was hopeless without anything to do. In the meantime Roy managed to grab himself a bite to eat in the form of hot cakes and small sausage rolls. Despite the purpose of the mansion as an orphanage there was a surprising amount of staff in the form of chefs, maids of charming blue and an army of several butlers all in the most immaculate of black dapper coats. Roy wondered what jobs they would do around the orphanage but they were rather spry to move fleetfully around the entire ballroom almost always managing to find a way to refill someone's drink. Roy soon wandered over towards Kruz as he decided to follow up on something inbetween getting his drink refilled. The fine smooth claret felt slightly acidic to him until the taste of fermented fruit came through to his tongue. The kremling however was gulping it back with practiced diligence whilst clearly not letting it go to his head having a much higher tolerance for alcohol, as the raptor asked: "Hey uh, Kruz?" "OH! Whassup Roy?" "Ah just wanted to ask you sumthin' about FG, him an' me were just talkin'...did he ever tell you how old he wuz?" "Uhhhh...he said he wuz thirty-two when we first met back on Ivalice." "He said he wuz thirty-three." Kruz's left hand went to his face, the fake cast slapping onto his scaled lips with practiced memory of his musculature. "Ohhhhhh gods did I miss his birthday?! I'm sorry he never told me!" "Hahaha naw naw man it's not that, him an' me don't celebrate our birthdays with all thuh happenings through space, kinda not able to get a handle on any of thuh calendars." "Khhah...right, um...fair enough, I share the same. It's been a few months since we met up again so he's probably thirty-three." "Hmmm...whut age wuz he when you two first met back on your ol' pirate ship?" "Why do you want to know?" "Just curious, ah lahk to compare how old we were when we went travelling on our separate paths, makes me feel sorta balanced up on him." "Well...hhhhhmmmmm...he was twenty-six, I remember his age quite clearly, because we were all ribbing him about it when we uh had our fun with him down in the powder room...well..." The kremling grinned wickedly with a devilish smirk as Roy leaned slightly away. "Let's just say that poker night for us wuz uh mainly not the poker an' more the strippin', khhehehehe." "Uhhh TMI dude, just...you said he wuz twenty-six righ'?" "Mmhmm." "And how long ago wuz that?" "Seven years. That checks out right?" "Sure...does to me, sorry ah just, mah head's not turned on righ' todays ah think ah fucked up mah calculatin' a li'l." "It happens. Hey, have you seen Fayne at all, I wanna compliment him on his sweet clothes." "Uh yeah he's over bah thuh donation table." "Ah good, thanks, so uh-" "Crab puff sir?" Sidling from out of nowhere with practiced precision was a dearly young slightly portly pale hume in maid clothing with gorgeous medium-length red hair holding an immaculate plate of small treats in the form of crustaceous meat dumplings snack-sized for a little nibble. Roy gladly took one as did Kruz who grabbed three with eagerness munching on them with glinting excitement. "MMMmmmmm...love seafood, thank you madame." "Glad to be of assistance sir, are you enjoying the party?" "Oh yes, absolutely, my first time here but what a place!" "Thuh kids must love it huh?" added Roy. "Oh most definitely," said the maid, "they are all such wonderful little dears with...one or two exceptions." "Heheheh, there's always one ain't there?" "Yes, in fact...have you seen a young bangaa child in this room? I noticed an odd little scamp scurrying between tables." "Nope, ah haven't, should ah uh...send him to you?" "N-no, let him be, just be aware he might sneak a few cakes off the table he won't do any harm I-UGHK!" Suddenly she clasped her stomach with a fierce hot pain shivering through her as Kruz grabbed her tray to keep the crab puffs from falling, with Roy suddenly attending to her. "Woah you alrigh'?" "Y-y-y-yes...I...urk..." "Aw man that's not thuh crab puffs is it?" "N-NO NO those are p-p-perfectly fine I jus-...oh...o-o-oh gods no..." "You need someone to help?" asked Kruz. "N-n-no, no I just...I'm s-sorry could you take that tray for me I just...m-may have ate s-something I must be...a-allergic to, barley, th-that's it, th-there was barley in the-SORRY!" She hurried off desperately with her hand over her mouth as she ran for the nearest exit, which unfortunately meant her skirting around the side of the room feverishly to reach the entrance hall. Roy looked at her rather pitifully as she hiked up her dress managing to avoid the crowd asking to himself: "Damn, that's bad bein' allergic to barley." "Yeah," said Kruz eating the rest of the crab puffs, "Mmmnnn...damn these are good, hey uh I need to put this on a table somewhere before I eat the rest of them I'll catch you later." "Alrigh' ah need to make a call anyway, s'about..." A brief check of his omni-tool private. "3:10pm, ah need to see whut FG's up to." "Alright, I'll see you after...whatever it is you plan on doing. Later Roy." "Later Kruz." As Roy went off to a discreet corner to discuss the infiltration proper, Kruz headed off through the mitigating crowd of people from all walks of life, shaking hands with a gardener, a butcher and a salesman all from the same family oddly. The babbling of the crowd would resonate out through the hall amidst champagne glasses clinking, the odd sounds of children squealing from very far away across the entrance hall kept safely to their own to enjoy their little world. Fayne and Baldwin stood by the donation table along with Navarro asking her advice on financial offerings with the bishop mulling over his decisions of coin purses. "No lesszh than twenty-thousszhand," murmured Fayne, "I don't want to put our clan out of pocket." "Use James' ten percent," said Navarro, "he rarely ever uses it." "Wh-what?!" "Woah woah woah," urged Baldwin, "don't you think we sszhould asszhk him firsszht?" "I am clan deputy, kupo. Trust me, I know that this will be put to better use, plus he would never consider our donating it to charity unwarranted." "True but...Iiiii dunno." "Give me." She took one bag of gil and wrote a name down on the tag before sliding it into the box, the two brothers freaking out slightly. "Wh-what are you doing?!" "That wasszh Jamesszh' money!" "And now it's theirs, besides his penmanship is terrible kupo, no one will ever notice. A lot worse than yours even Baldwin." "Well he ISSZH illiterate," murmured Baldwin. "He'sszh not illiterate!" argued Fayne. "He can write perfectly well jusszht...not in our language particularly, you are sszhounding very bigoted Baldwin." "I'm jusszht sszhaying!" "Ello ello ello." Kruz popped up behind them with a tray now completely empty except for a few small crumbs he placed on the table. Slowly he brought out his own small sack of gil to pop into the box, writing his own name in with odd Ivalician font before plopping it right in as he smiled. "How goes the tithing Fayne?" "Ahh, v-very well thank you Kruzzh. Have you donated here before?" "No actually this is my first time. By the way I forgot to tell you, you dropped your notebook." The kremling handed it back from his pocket as the bishop grabbed it a little too fast for notice, blushing oddly. "OH, th-th-thank you! I-i thought I losszht it!" "I found it lying on the floor back at the inn, didn't have time to give it back to you this morning so I hope that's alright." "No no it'sszh no problem, thank you."

With a nod and a small wink Kruz headed back towards the crowd hoping to mingle some more whilst Fayne put the notebook back into his folds neatly as Navarro wandered off from the table seeing somebody she thought she saw passing through the crowd. A familiar-looking moogle as her ears perked up before she rushed away. "Woah, where'sszh sszhe off to?!" asked Baldwin. "I don't know," replied Fayne. "You think Kruzzh isszh a molly Fayne?" "Wh-what'sszh that sszhupposszhed to mean!?" "I'm jusszht curiousszh...Jamesszh and him sszheem awfully closszhe." "I do not know, why don't you asszhk HIM insszhtead of me, pleasszhe do not make a sszhene here of all-" "I won't I won't, come on you know me." "Yesszh. I do, that isszh presszhisszhely what worriesszh me." "Hhhhhmmmmm...you sszheen Dahlia anywhere?" "No, I believe that sszhe went to the 'lavatory' further down the hall." "Ahhhhhh yyyyeaaaaah okay." They looked round briefly seeing no familiar nu-mou to them as Baldwin rubbed his neck nervously, feeling somewhat out of place more than usual. "I think I sszhcrewed mysszhelf Fayne, I don't think I'm ever gonna have her." "Why do you think that?" "Jusszht...I don't know, ever sszhinsszhe I had that argument with Jamesszh sszhe got all cold and won't talk to me asszh much asszh sszhe did back when we firsszht came into the clan." "Perhapsszh sszhe thought your treatment of him wasszh bigoted." "Wha-...I'm not bigoted! I jusszht worry! I don't HATE him, I jusszht think that he needsszh help for hisszh mental illnesszh, why won't anyone lisszhten?!" "Perhapsszh that wasszh what ssszhe took offensszhe to." "W-well...that'sszh her opinion, I'm sszhorry, I'm not going to endanger mysszhelf or you jusszht to impresszh a woman, I don't want to live a life like Jamesszh would with hisszh...mentality." "And why not?" Fayne towards him feeling a little more confident as he held his staff firmly in one hand, Baldwin stuttering as he tried to keep his head clear. "He appearsszh to live it perfectly well Baldwin." "Well...a-agh...do you know what the good dream of every well-blooded male isszh, Fayne? To have a wife, to have a good family and passzh on to another generasszhion. To be a good persszhon you want to have the dream of getting a family and further on presszherving the bloodline. Isszh that not what anyone would want?" "I believe sszho." "Then how the fuck are you going to do that if you wasszhte all your love and sszheed in another male?! Your bloodline would die out, your generasszhion would end, what kind of persszhon would willingly sszhubmit to that sszhort of exszhtincsszhion?!" "Baldwin...we are literally sszhtanding in an orphanarium." "Sszho?!" "Look around you." The bishop spread his hands out with disbelief sweeping towards the hall. "All the children that live here have been abandoned by war and neglect. There are many people, people who do desszhire the opposszhite gender but they sszho willingly gave their children away that they do not care about presszherving the bloodline! Your logic isszh flawed, plusszh there isszh no reasszhon that two sszhodomitesszh cannot adopt children and give them a NEW life to continue THEIR generasszhion." "I-i...that'sszh true I sszhupposszhe I jusszht...they are terrible people, the onesszho who abandon their children I mean but they are terrible becausszhe they are, they have every reasszhon to be blamed and they CHOSSZHE to be that terrible. Sszhodomitesszh don't, they do not choosszhe what they had to be for they have no choisszhe in the matter and I pity them Fayne. I cannot undersszhtand that sszhort of thinking and I alwaysszh hope one day that maybe they find a way to...cure it and live a good life." Fayne shook his head with deep shame, saying nothing as he turned away before asking his next question. "If you ever...were infected, asszh one would put it...do you know what I would do?" "What?" "...I would sszhtill call you my brother. No matter what happened to you Baldwin." "R-...r-really?" "Of coursszhe I would...you're my brother, you know I love you and even if you were afflicted with that I would not consszhider you any worsszhe or better off for it, for you are sszhtill my brother. I jusszht wanted to tell you that." "Th-...th-thank you Fayne." "But...now I wonder...what if I had been-" "That'sszh not gonna happen." "What?" Baldwin turned him around to face him again before grabbing his shoulders firmly with a piercing stare in his gaze. "I will never let anyone hurt you Fayne...nor infect you, I will not let ANYONE come near you and ruin your life with that." "But what if-" " No." He hugged him tightly to the point of squeezing Fayne fiercely as he whispered into his ear. "I will never let harm come to you my dear brother...no matter what form it takesszh, I promisszhe I will protect you...from everything." Fayne could do nothing but hug back tenderly as he sighed with an oft-deep remorse, seeing the crowd look at them oddly before a woman roved out of the group in a brimming red suit towards them. Her wide prominent hat resembled that of a red mage's covering her pure white complexion as she ordered: "Pardon." The two bangaas stood neatly out of the way slowly disentangling their arms from each other as she walked past to donate a small amount of gil in the form of a little sack towards the donation box, which Fayne kindly smiled at. "Thank you madame." "Do you work here?" asked the woman. "No, I am merely-" "Then please do not beat around the box like you are, people may make the wrong assumption about you, hmhmhmhm..."

She wandered off promptly back into the crowd as the two brothers stared at each other with shrug of indifference. Meanwhile Navarro roamed through the sea of legs that was the ballroom occasionally finding others close to her size to greet and shake with. But there was one person that she had never expected to see wearing a much similar form of clothing almost exactly like hers, except that this moogle had a red-and-green coat fully forming halves on either side of his swooping ceremonial coat. She did not tap him on the shoulder but she did call out his name a bit louder than most. "...Berniere?!" "Hmm?! Wha-...what are you doing here, kupo?!" Normally he would be quite happy to see Navarro but this time was different, his demeanour somewhat changed. His eyes appeared to be more ragged than they were before, his fur not so glossy as he walked straight up to her within two steps, stomping almost as if demanding an explanation with glass wrapped firmly in one hand unspilt by determination as Navarro replied: "I should ask you the very same kupo." "You-..." He gasped with exasperation angrier than usual with little spasms from his whiskered cheeks. "After all we have known each other, you forget why I'm here?!" She blinked for but a moment before realising with apologetic nod. "......ah, of course, my apologies I was not...thinking straight." "Thank you...see, this is exactly what I am talking about when I spoke to you back in Bhujerba, not taking enough interest in people." "You are right, my fault entirely. As for why I am here, we are escorting our friends Fayne and Baldwin to their usual pilgrimage every year, kupo." "Pilgrimage?" "Correct, to donate at the orphanage." "Oh, kupo! I see, well that is...very kind of you, thank you Navarro." He looked crestfallen for but a moment, letting his anger dissipate softly before returning a soft-spoken look. "I'm...sorry for the harsh welcome I have not been...feeling well of late kupo." "Are you still sleeping erratically?" "S-somewhat...I just want to do my duty here and then go, normally I would be happy to come here but I have more pressing issues to focus on." "Such as?" "It's private, kupo." "Ah, of course I see." "Anyways, thank you for coming I very much appreciate it." "Indeed kupo. Mr. Brunhart seems very gifted with children." "He is a most wonderful person, one of the greatest people of this land and a saint upon all of us. I am very thankful to him, speaking of which, do you know where he might have gone, kupo?" "I believe I saw him rushing towards the hall entrance exiting the dining hall area." "Thank you," said Berniere, "by the way, do you know that other person I saw, the black one that somewhat resembles James'...species?" "Oh, yes he is a friend of James, they are both the same species kupo." "Ahhhhh, I see, I did not want to presume I just wondered if they were related being a...very unusual type but then I admit I would presume the same about seeing viera." "He also wished to make a donation, he comes from a law firm down south in Rozarria." "Rozarria!? That...is quite a long way away kupo." "It is. I will leave you to find Mr. Brunhart, so be safe Berniere." "And you, Navarro." The male moogle walked off with his glass now finished as he searched for someplace to put it, as well as trying to make his way towards the entrance in order to find his host. But in the midst of looking all around he found a table with a rather unusual sound from his level height, a sound of someone sniggering underneath the covered tablecloth. He looked cautiously around him before ducking gently underneath the table and found a small bangaa child wolfing down some hot cakes. His face was practically white with sugar as he munched away to himself, legs wrapped around a small bag full of treats as he looked up suddenly in mid-chew. His clothes were rather plainly teal apart from a black tooth-shaped badge on his front as Berniere asked: "Hello?" "WHUH-...u-u-um...grownupsszh aren't allowed underneath tha tablesszh!" "And children are not to be in the adults' hall, kupo." "Ah-...a-a-ah wuz tasszhte-tesszhting, gotta make sszhure thisszh ain't poisszhon!" "Hmhmhm...that is an awful lot of food you have there for uh...taste-testing." "Whussszhit to you?! I'm sszhavin' livesszh here!" "You are not perhaps trying to gather a little food for your secret club now are you?" "N-no! Whut sszhekrit club, thesszhe are for my girl!" "The one you have on your front, kupo." He pointed towards the black tooth mark as the bangaa child flinched, grappling the bag of stolen cakes closer to his body like a plush teddy bear as Berniere added: "Am I correct in assuming you are one of the famous Blacktooth Clan?" "You...y-y-you know usszh?!" "Why yeeeees! You are all legendary I believe, master snatchers of all things sweet and candy, kupo." "Hehehyeah! We only work thisszh plasszhe though, wanna exszhpand our territory cuzzzh nobody elsszhe know about usszh yet! You got good earsszh misszhter!" "But you are legendary all across Breekheim, aren't you?" "Well...y-y-yeah but, that'sszh jusszht our local turf, the way we are, whut do you know about usszh huh?! You ain' gonna tell on usszh are you?" "Oh no, wouldn't dream of it. Besides..." Berniere leaned the edge of his mouth closer with surreptitious whispering. "I know the punishment for being a snitch in your group, what was it...the Sugar Baptism?" The boy gasped with shock as if he had spoken of He Who Must Not Be Named. "You...you know about that?" "Mmhmm." "I know better...I was one of the Blacktooth myself kupo." "Pfffft, YOU!? No waaaay, yer jusszht a dumb grown-up, you don' know whut we're all about!" "The quest for all things sweet and sugary? To find the greatest most sacrament of treats in Ivalice? To make certain that no boy or girl ever goes pleading for sweets ever again, kupo?!" "...woah...you know our motto...you really DO know usszh!" "Hahahaha...what's your name boy?" "J-josszhua." "My name is Berniere...what are you doing out here then?" Joshua offered a slice of hot cake as the moogle sat closer to him. "They told me, in the Blacktooth Clan, to get asszh much cake asszh I could...but...it'sszh never gonna be enough." "Why not kupo?" "Th-the leader in our group, he'sszh a real dumb bully, he only been our leader fer a year becausszhe the old leader got adopted, an' we all hate him! We can't tell or elsszhe we get the Sszhugar Baptisszhm, an' ah don' wanna go through that or sszhumthin' bad might happen!" "Nobody wants to do the Sugar Baptism, kupo. I remember one boy who went through it, we never saw him for a week kupo...had to pump all the sugar out of his stomach." "But he...he sszhaid, becausszhe I got a sszhisszhter, I gotta carry TWISSZHE asszh much cakesszh back or elsszhe we don't get anythin'!" "What?! That's not fair kupo!" "I know, mah sszhisszh isszh only four, it'sszh not her fault! I wan' everyone to sszhare the sszhame candy, but he sszhaysszh that cuzzzh he'sszh the biggesszht kid, he sszhould get like half of everything...we don' like him, we hate him, but we got no way of tellin' anybody or elsszhe!" "Well...hmmmm..." Berniere pondered on this idea as he reminisced back towards the old politics of youthful children. An idea then came to him facing against this small injustice. "If I recall correctly, there is a rule in the old Blacktooth Clanbook, kupo...have you ever heard of 'The Great Study' challenge?" "N-n-no..." The Clan Herne leader grinned with a fiendish look upon his face as his old ways came upon him. "Then I have a way for you to get rid of your loathsome little bully for a leader and crown YOU as the reigning hero of the clan." "R-really?!" "Why yes kupo! And this is the perfect party for it, now let me help you..."

The moogle came close with a whisper to the boy's ear as they promptly prepared a plan whilst the engagement continued unaware of them. Meanwhile, Dahlia had been waiting on the outer fringes of the entrance hall for two reasons. Firstly, to try and keep out of the main congregation finding herself no use to be in it and secondly, by being a scout of sorts as she slowly made her way towards the bathroom. There was one on the ground floor that she had checked underneath the stairs inbetween but that proved fruitless. The time was now 3:00pm as she went fully into action. Her soft demeanour and gentle disposition made her perfectly unassuming, strolling from room to room with cautious admiration after slipping from the party. The children's room would most definitely not have anything valuable inside so she gave that a miss, neither would any of the children's bedrooms, the study halls or the kitchen so she gave them a miss too. It was times like this she wished dearly for one of Rzepka's maps, but with the town itself further beyond the Jagd this would be impossible. The first rooms she encountered were parlour rooms on the first floor, sticking to ground level for now. She navigated her way around the back of the house area, which for the most part were exactly the sort of rooms an artifact would not be kept in. Half the children's rooms as well as the lower staff that lived on the establishment. A personal nanny team of two were assigned to each room of children, which counted up to around four children per nanny to attend to on average. Almost all of the children were busy playing either outside in the central courtyard, or actually in the drawing room they had taken for themselves having a multitude of prints upon the doors marking their territory. There were one or two more quiet children tending to themselves with either books or such simply laying in bed. Seeing young bookworms gave a warmth in her heart fondly before she then remembered hearing about a library somewhere in the house as she snuck forth towards the west wing of the house. She skirted around the entire square length before finding it at the very back, dodging any maids or butlers that roamed within the halls on duty for the party but for the most part were very scarce in searching. Like Roy said, it was the children that made the best guards on duty. Wantonly running back and forth along the halls screaming with laughter, they announced very fast and without warning of their presence as Dahlia dived back into cover with a gleeful excitement. It was almost like playing hide and seek, knowing she was not really getting into trouble for anything as most of the rooms were not actually closed off. Just simply a lost little lady on her way to the bathroom, nothing more to think. The library had a large smooth yellow carpet like caramel with the books neatly stored up on shelves all around in an open space. The walls themselves had literally been covered up by bookcases with one central large table upon the middle where a glorious golden globe of Ivalice stood prominent, circling constellations all around it signifying its various months. Having one ladder on each wall allowing higher access, the white mage nu-mou found nothing of interest to her actual mission other than the fact she was positively squeeing at such wondrous stately lore.

Even if most of the stately lore was that of childhood books that she absolutely loved reading again but she bade herself to resist, cautiously putting any books away as she returned back to her objective. With no sign of the artifact or anything resembling it, she headed up towards the second floor but not before she saw someone running from the main dining hall gasping with tears. Two people in fact, a young maid of red hair rushing upstairs clutching both hand and stomach shivering with hot fear in her breaths, along with Mr. Brunhart himself who ran up behind her desperately panicked. He stopped only once to hang up his cloak of paint splatters before he rushed fearfully towards the other end of the hall towards the east wing, fading until she heard a door slam shut. "Poor thing," she murmured softly, "I wonder what's got him so fearful, must have gotten sick from something bad she must have ate." It took her a much more careful ten minutes more to make sure every room was available, going down the east wing first before the west until finding the right one where the artifact stood, seeing various large bedrooms and upstairs bathrooms, one of which had been converted into a medical centre down the far right end which was now locked firmly with muffled sounds behind it. Dahlia noted quite a lot of the rooms had been converted into making this place more of a school than anything else, with classrooms made from former parlour rooms to the medical centre itself. A surprising amount of refurbishment having gone into the place to appeal to children as both playful and educational. Soon she found her objective. The main study of Brunhart's financial operations was a very tranquil room, but inside there were secrets just waiting to be explored. Despite its straight-to-order in everything from the square window on the left wall, to the boring oak desk and sturdy chair with green felt top straight next to the door's entrance upon her left immediate when entering, to the green carpet and three bookcases lined up against the opposite wall it was still a rather pleasant room. She also spotted a large tropical plant hiding behind the door itself, briefly shaded from the light of the window until she closed the door once more discreetly. Then she saw her main objective. Sitting on the very top of the bookcases, locked within a glass case, was a rather ornate set of golden spectacles with two odd lengths that crossed over each other downwards before ending underneath the nose itself. If one had tried to wear it, they would find their nose being pinched from every cardinal point within a rigid diamond pattern beneath the bridge of the bifocals as well as find their upper lip being pierced at by the odd dual-length tips. Dahlia touched her own pushing them slightly with ponderment at the strange relic, glinting in the sunlight from the square window on the far left of the room. "What sort of person would wear such things, those look...uncomfortable to wear but...goodness is this what Roy wants, why would this be anywhere able to-...wait...wait I do feel something from them...something oddly ornate I cannot jus-...no, no you have to leave, you are just the main scout, it's James who does the taking, alright? Right." Hurriedly leaving the study before anyone else could see, she managed to make it back to the staircase without being witnessed before she bumped into another person trying to rush his way downstairs in the form of Mr. Brunhart. She blanched swiftly with a start as she almost fell down the stairs frightened by his presence, the odd middle-aged nu-mou wearing a mild green cloth shirt as he grabbed on to stop the mage from falling. "A-AAAAH!" "OH M-M-MY MY goodness I'm SO sorry my lady, I almost pushed you down!" "Th-th-that's fine, just, jus-I-i-i was looking for the bathroom and I got hopelessly lost!" "Oh...r-right, um, it's just downstairs actually I'll show you along the way." "Thank you!" Heading down towards the ladies' restroom on the ground floor, he walked in with her as Dahlia rushed in towards one of the three cubicles of the grey boring standard restroom. Brunhart almost left, but then he saw something outside and rushed back in to desperately grab a set of paper towels before leaving with apologies, bowing with irrefutable grievances as the only thing she saw was his tail waving agitated back and forth. "I-i-i know I'm not allowed in here but I simply must require these, one of the children's had a rather unfortunate accident and I need to assist!" "Y-y-yes that's fine thank you!" "S-sorry, my cloak seems to have-I can't seem to find my cloak I just need these paper towels for now!" Her heart went racing as she waited for him to leave, making sure there would be no one else as she sat on the lavatory taking in the gorgeously hygienic place and admiring the way it sparkled. If anything it helped to distract her from the panic in her chest briefly. Dahlia waited for a good three minutes of expecting anyone else before leaving, but not before noticing that a long silken sleeve that fit onto one's tail had been left behind on the bathroom floor. "OH, dear, mister Brunhart must have dropped this I best go find him after meeting with James to give this back to him." Stalking her way back to the entrance hall, she noticed that the paint-splattered cloak had now been taken since her return from the stairway as she waited for James to meet up with her.

Around 3:25pm, she saw her clan leader make his way up to her position as she murmured to his ear. "Head upstairs and go to the left, the door down at the very end of the hallway is a study where the artifact is. It's on top of the bookshelf in a glass casing." "Any kind of security?" asked FG. "Not that I know of, I did not see anything magical protecting it, just a glass casing you may have to climb up to get to it. Problem is you won't have anywhere to hide really." "I'll think of something, just get back to Navarro I'll be there shortly." "Alright...I wish you had done this instead." "You're a much nicer-looking person than me, nobody assumes anything about you." "I'm only doing this because of you," said Dahlia promptly, "we don't have time to start dithering around in odd places, I don't like doing this." "I know I know, we'll just get in, get out." "...he could have done this himself frankly." "Probably...I guess he just wants to be cautious when he has the chance to, listen we'll get out of this and never talk about this again, alright?" "Alright..." Smirking as he made a wink at her, the two parted ways as James slowly made his way up towards the end study as he kept his wits about him, carefully trying to keep himself near the other doors in case he had to duck into any. Thankfully almost all of them seemed to be quiet or spare rooms as he neared the end of the hallway. Once he was about three doors away he turned on his omni-tool. "I'm heading near the office now." "Any voices?" asked Roy through comms. "Not that I'm hearing...or seeing, any sign of Brunhart?" "Not that ahm seein', he just left back upstairs down thuh hall opposite from you, ah think you're alright." "I thought he was going to stay in the dining hall." "Ah thought so too, ah think one of thuh maids got real sick an' he's looking after her so that might buy you sum tahm." "Hey...why did you need me for this exactly cuz it seems kind of easy for one guy to pull." "If people saw me sneakin' around thuh office, an' ah get searched when leavin' with thuh artifact, that ain't gonna look good. But if YOU get seen sneakin' around or Dahlia does, an' you give ME thuh artifact before we leave an' they find nuthin' on you...well, ah wuz in thuh dinin' hall thuh whole tahm so they got no reason to suspect me." "Ohhhh right, the classic relay, I should have thought that. Heh, Dahlia wasn't impressed being made the scout." "Sorry but she real good at it, got real attentive eyes on her an' a pretty face that nobody gonna suspect. Now, remember whut ah told you, thuh artifact folds up lahk a pair of scissors so sneak that into your pockets." "It's not that big is it?" "Naaah just real shiny, so try not to show anybody accidentally-" "What the?" Suddenly he heard a thud from within the office. A very loud and heavy thud of something solid as Roy asked: "Whut wuz that?" "I dunno, I'm on it."

No response as he made his way forwards bracing for any confrontation but also realising where he was as he slowly looked through the keyhole. So far he saw nothing, just some grey walls, three bookcases, and a window on the far left as he gently opened the door. No sound from a person within as he moved the door straight open towards the right wall. Then he saw the body. "H-HOLY SHIT!" It was a boy, a young boy laid slumped against the front of the desk facing towards the bookcase with his back against the oak. A bangaa with his eyes closed, blood seeping from the back of his head as well as from the letter opener plunged through his upper chest. James could do nothing but almost fall to his knees in utter shock at being the first witness to a gruesome sight. All thoughts of his infiltration had gone straight from his mind in horror. "H-hoh god, shit jesus no who...who the fuck would do this I...wh-what...what just happened in here-GAAARH!" Suddenly he found himself being shoved from behind by an elbow slammed into his back, throwing him hard onto the carpet floor as he caught sight of someone briefly, a pale flash before his eyes as the door shut itself tight. "WHO'S THERE!? WHO THE FUCK WAS IN HERE?!" The door was bolted, ruthlessly jammed tight by some unknown force as he tried peering through the keyhole desperate for a look at the possible killer before the door swung wide open. Right across his face, the doorknob smashed into his skull throwing him down hard and falling backwards as his head stung fiercely enough to blind him from the pain, briefly as he heard someone run. Before he could even get back up, he found himself staring upon an open hallway with no one else but him, stumbling back onto his feet with staggering gait as he quickly regained his balance. "S-SOMEONE, SOMEONE HELP I NEED HELP!" The first person he saw upon running down the hall was Berniere standing at the top of the staircase, rushing through a bout of sheer instinct upon hearing someone in distress as he sprung into action. The raptor had a large bump on his forehead and was breathing heavily with wild eyes roving around searching. "Wh-what's...what's happened kupo?!" "SOMEONE'S BEEN MURDERED!" "WHAT!?" "G-GET...CALL THE GUARDS, WHOEVER'S OUT HERE, THE KILLER'S STILL AROUND IN THIS PLACE!" "Wh-where did this murder happen!?" "I-i-in the office, down the end of the hallway!" "......no." Berniere ran instantly towards the study as James ran down the staircase, or rather leaped to the stair bannister and slid his way down not giving a damn about being presentable as he scraped his claws off the wooden rail. Landing towards the very front of the entrance hall he screamed the place down towards the congregation. "SOMEONE HEEEELP!" The music stopped playing as people suddenly turned towards this outrage, curiously panicked as well as indignant at such a brash display towards the raptor shaking between fury and panic. "What in Ivalice is going on?!" "C-CALL THE GUARDS, SOMETHING'S HAPPENED WE NEED TO SHUT THIS PLACE DOWN NOW THE KIDS ARE IN DANGER!" "Wha-what in blazes are you ranting about?!" "Out with it man what's got into you?!" "THERE'S BEEN A MURDER! SOMEONE...SOMEONE JUST KILLED A LITTLE KID, AN-" " NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Berniere's scream echoed across the entire mansion, turning FG mute with shock at such a sound he had never heard. A howling shriek of pure agony rent through every person's heart, and in the soft silence of that mid-afternoon there came the sound of children crying faintly, from behind in the drawing room. It would be a portent for whatever prospect of fear that was yet to happen upon the Brunhart Orphanarium.

The investigation had soon come after the abrupt and tragic end. Nobody was allowed to leave as lawmen questioned every single person possible on what they had witnessed. Nothing could be said, the children were all kept within one room carefully under guard by members of the local law enforcement, a prodigious force of at least twenty officers and several investigators. James and Berniere sat in the middle of the dining hall quite visibly shaken, the moogle most of all as he shuddered breaking down into his small fingers. The rest of Clan Koridai looked with astonishment and disbelief, as well as everybody else including Mr. Brunhart just simply staring with lonesome pity upon the two witnesses as James tried to make sense of what he saw. The moogle had not stopped weeping slowly rocking back and forth with red rings around his eyes burning with intensity as his cheeks stung with hot tears. The lawmen had slowly tried to gather everything they could, with two of their main witnesses courteously escorted by the light-armoured policing force in resplendent steel blue chainmail. "Please come with me mister Lavant." "I-i-i...I-i-i could not have wanted this..." "I understand, please just take it slowly, we'll have all the information down at the station." "Y-y-y-you...you...wh-wh-what p-poor child d-deserved s-s-such a fate k-kupo...wh-why...why was I not warned about-" "Berniere calm down," murmured FG, "we'll get this all sorted, we'll find out who did it just please...you have to focus on what's important and help these people." "Y-y-yes...I...h-h-hoh g-gods h-he was...just a p-poor boy..." Sobbing bereavement made him more difficult to move, but it was nothing compared to what would happen next. Three of the lawful officers slowly came up from behind Mr. Brunhart himself, still wearing his grey undershirt and firmly tapped him on the shoulder amidst the group of people. "Mister Brunhart." "Wh-what the-" "Could you come with us please?" "Wha-I...I-i-i don't see how I can help, see the children-" "We have people to help take care of them now please, come with me." "What...what is this, I am not a witness, I have not even SEEN-" "Please mister Brunhart do not make this anymore difficult." "...are you...implying something to me? What in gods' name could you possibly THINK, what purpose do you need me?!" Courteousness came first as the lawman murmured into his ear as his expression changed paling. A horrid white shock run through him as he began to resist. "N-no...no no that, that's impossible! I WOULD NOT-" "Sir please-" "NO! NO I HAVE DONE NOTHING, I WILL NOT BE ACCUSED OF EVER HARMING MY YOUNG CHARGES!" "Sir if you just PLEASE-" "NO!" "THAT'S IT!" Cuffed against his sudden fit of outrage, the crowd gasped with sheer panic as mumblings of rumour flowed freely within their voices, the older nu-mou being forced with hands behind his back as they pulled him to the entrance. "Mister Brunhart, you're under arrest on suspicion of murder." "WHAT!?" "You do not have to say anything but anything you do say can and will be used as evidence against you if necessary." "I AM NOT A MURDERER! UNHAND ME, I HAVE TO KEEP THE CHILDREN SAFE!" "This can't be happening," murmured Kruz, "this...this just got really deep all of a sudden." "It can't..." whispered Dahlia, "it just...it can't be true can it? That sweet older gentleman couldn't possibly harm a dear child like that?"

As the crowd began to churn with turmoil upon suspicions of intrigue and supposition Berniere came near towards Brunhart as he ranted his way against the strong arm of the law. But nothing would pull him free, even when Berniere tried to reach out for him pleafully offering some hope through his tear-streaked eyes. But the moment he touched his hand upon the nu-mou's wrist and grabbed him, his demeanour turned violently. The lone moogle saw something, with intense horror rising through his being as he suddenly began screeching with a burning fury. "NO! NO HE'S NOT HIM! HE'S NOT THE ONE WHO DID IT, KUPO!" "MISTER LAVANT PLEASE!" cried the lawman in charge of him. "You must contain yourself, we will take this down to the station-" "NO! YOU DIDN'T KILL HIM! YOU DIDN'T KILL HIM I KNOW YOU DIDN'T PLEASE, HE'S INNOCENT! HE'S INNOCEEEENT!" "MISTER LAVANT STOP THIS RIGHT NOW OR ELSE WE WILL HAVE TO SUBDUE YOU!" "NO! NO YOU CAN'T KILL HIM, YOU'LL SENTENCE HIM TO DEATH! YOU'RE SENTENCING HIM TO DEATH!" "SOMEONE BRING ME A SLEEP SPELL, NOW!" "PAPA! PAPAAAAAAAA! _" Shrieks of howling rage tore through him as he cried towards Brunhart who was slowly dragged away shamefully before they were forced to subdue Berniere. Pressing him down upon the floor, they demanded one of their people to come near with a tome of red magic, slowly casting upon him with a formulent spell of Sleep to bring about his slumber. But then the screaming knight saw somebody in the crowd standing taller than most. Roy, the black raptor stared upon him as he cried: "_STOP, STOP KUPO! I DEMAND A LAWYER! I WANT HIM!" "WH-WHUT?!" cried Roy. "_YOU! I NEED YOU, I NEED SOMEONE TO DEFEND MY PAPA, HE'S INNOCENT! HE WOULDN'T DO THIS, PLEASE H-HELP ME! PLEAAAAASE! _" His voice had turned hoarse as he finally sobbed into sleep with the spell taking its effect on him, slowly drifting into a forced state as they gladly took him and James off towards the town in police wagons. Roy was in shock at having being called out to, his heart having sunk with sudden guilt turning towards Navarro, his only logical source amidst all this. "Whuh...wh-wh-whut wuz all that about?" "I...I don't know," softly spoke the moogle female. "Whut do you mean?!" "I...I don't...I have never seen Berniere like this, kupo. Never in all my life." "But...he called on me specifically, he wanted a lawyer, sumbody to defend this dude!" "I told him...that you were a lawyer from Rozarria, that is true isn't it?" "W-well...y-y-yes, but-" "Then...I know not what we can do." "I do not believe it," murmured Fayne from within earshot, "Brunhart isszh a wondrousszh man, nothing on earth would make him turn vile enough to commit murder upon hisszh own charge." "But we have no evidence, besides this is legal ground and not for us to deal in, we are mercenaries not lawyers!" "You guys ain't," said Roy, "but ah am." "...you are not serious, kupo." "Whut, do ah say no?!" "You have the right to refuse if you cannot take a case, you are busy with your own project, you are not here as a lawyer!" "Who says ah ain't?" The utahraptor said this with a cold stare upon her as he leant down to murmur: "Ah wanted to get in, get out, NOT let sum old man get sent down for execution." "That is not our problem, the law will handle it, if he is innocent then-" "No." "...what?" "Ah said no, it IS mah problem, ah will not let sumbody go down if there is a chance that they're innocent." "Are you seriously contemplating getting into this case, kupo?!" "Ahm not contemplatin', ah've already decided, you not thuh boss of me! Ah ain't with your clan so ahll do whut ah want!" "What abou-" "SCUSE ME, OFFICER!" He ran towards one of the lawmen in armoured blue turning towards the entrance of the mansion. "Yes can I help you?" asked the lawmaker. "Mah name is Roy MacGregor, ahm an attorney from Barnham and Associates way down in Rozarria." "Oh? Do you have something to tell us sir?" "Yes. That witness, mister Lavant, he asked for me specifically to represent mister Brunhart as his defence attorney, ahm sure we all heard that." "Indeed...normally we have a state-approved attorney but-" "Then ah will get mahself approved, just show me where thuh legal office is an' ahll get through to satisfactory." "...alright, since Berniere Lavant asked for you even whilst in his state, please come with me." "Thank you." He looked back towards the clan shocked with confusion at him suddenly taking part of this whole case, seeing he had already made his decision and there was no stopping him for it. With paddy wagons racing off back towards the town, he felt the slow gentle rumbling underneath the wheels as he found himself at the law precinct perhaps twenty minutes later. The precinct was surprisingly modern-looking for Ivalician standards, one very reminiscent of a police station complete with interview rooms and a downstairs jail which covered a good capacity of eighty people.

The entrance hall was rather intimidating, the building from outside resembling an old tower that had been once part of a castle, but now reconstructed to provide larger extensive purposes. The central building was most definitely that of a tower and still in use judging by the watchman from the highest floor glancing his view across the town itself for any activity of criminal feed. The inside was like entering a chapel, arched hallways with reception at the end and a row of seats on either side, two doors branching off on either side of reception. Roy found himself sitting in an interview room towards Berniere on the opposite side protected by a powerful see-through barrier of magicite gleaming with soft sepia hue. His eyes burned red with tears still as the moogle calmly composed himself giving a deep sigh with his hands together, his cloak still upon him. "I...am sorry, kupo." "S'alrigh'," said Roy, "you been through a lot thuh past hour or so, tell me whut happened." "I...I-i-i found the boy...he was dead, bleeding from the back of his h-head...plunged through his feeble heart by a l-letter opener...someone had gone into that room and murdered him...James was the one who found him first, your...friend, kupo." "Ah see...you don't believe mister Brunhart wuz thuh killer then." "OF COURSE NOT!" he roared standing up. "I WOULD NOT ACCUSE HIM OF ANYTHING LIKE THAT!" "Alrigh' calm down, shit they gonna put you to sleep again." "...you're right...I'm sorry." Berniere sat back down again heaving with dry tears as he cupped his face. "I cannot explain it to you...but I KNOW that he is innocent, he could not have done any of this...he has no motive, i-i-it just cannot be, why could he...I will not believe him as a murderer, kupo." "An' you said you wanted me to help represent him? Wuz that righ'?" "I'm sorry, I just, I do not know who to turn to! I know that I do not know you, but you know Navarro and James you are with good people!" "Navarro's rather worried about you," said Roy formally, "she said you never acted lahk that before." "Is that a compliment? Pfft...barely even remembers why I'm here." "But you trust me enough because ah made friends with Navarro, that righ'?" "She...she is not a warm person but...if she is willing enough to stand by a person then surely that person is good, kupo. I know that you are from very far away, you have no reason to be in this...but...please...help mister Brunhart gain his innocence." He planted his furred fists towards Roy pleading with raw bitter cheeks. "I'm...I'm begging you...p-please...h-h-help my papa...he does not deserve this, whatever rancid FILTH would dare to pin this on him must not live to see another day, please..." "Whut are you willin' to offer me?" "E-everything, every penny I have, no limit, just whatever your services cost I do not care, just...please help him." Roy made his final decision leaning back as he scratched his chin. He contemplated heavily after hearing what he had said, seeing the fear in Lavant's eyes all culminating into one conclusion. He left after confirming his decision to Berniere and headed down towards the reception area asking to see Mr. Brunhart. It was only half an hour later that he had an interview room set up to face the one accused, a rather portly nu-mou reaching around 4'6'' with beard as long as his arm. He now wore a numbered shirt signifying his prisoner number of 6423 as he sat on one side of the barriered magicite between two rooms, tail dragging darkly out behind him. "Mister Brunhart?" "...yes?" "Mah name is Roy MacGregor, ahm a member of Barnham and Associates an' ah wish to talk to you." "I....I-i-i don't know what I can tell you I have not already told the lawmen..."

His head went into his hands as he sighed with confused remorse, shaking his head with bitterness. "I am...not who you think I am, I am not the one who did this. That poor boy, Joshua he...he had been going through a rough time the past few weeks he did not deserve this...I cannot imagine why he would ever become a victim like this, I-i-i cannot...hohhh goodness what is this world coming to when not even my home is safe?" "Tell me about yourself...whut exactly is it you do?" "I...I am the owner of the orphanarium, proudly have done for at least thirty years when I converted it from my old home...added some new additions to it, slowly took children in, wanted to...help the world plus I was...feeling all this space in my house thinking that possibly someone else could benefit from it. I am only ninety-seven I have a long life ahead of me but I just can't...bear the idea of children living much less longer than I have. The very notion just tears at me." "You provide everythin' in thuh place, housin', food costs, warmth?" "Oh yes, absolutely, I have...I had inheritance at one point but slowly that began to run out and of course there's new additions all the time which require further need hence the donations of charity." "Have you ever hurt a child on your premises?" He went into full authority mode as Brunhart took offence, sneering with an outrage of disbelief. "Wha-...what question is that to ask me, I would NEVER harm them even the worst of them!" "Worst of them?" "Children are people, there are bad and there are good but I believe that we can work around those without such abuse. They have that plenty enough outside the orphanarium, those unlucky enough to not be in my home and I will not bring that anywhere near me." "Ah see...thuh reason ah ask...is because a very close friend of yours, one mister Berniere Lavant, has asked me, practically pleaded, for me to defend you." "I-i-i see...wait...wh-what?!" "Ah made a decision, after he pleaded because he absolutely one-hundred-percent believed you did not do it...but that's not his decision so ah ask you instead." The utahraptor leaned forwards firmly with his hands placed together. "Do you require a representative for this case?" "You...wh-who are you?" "Mah name is Roy MacGregor. And ah will be your attorney if you want me to, they'll have to give you one off state-sanction but ah want to help. If there is a chance that someone innocent might get hurt then ah will not let that slip if ah can help it. Will you have me as your attorney?" It barely took him a moment to say yes but something stopped him. A stranger from out of nowhere offering such faith seemed as if it were a fable but he had nothing else. His fear and desolation for one of his own being killed firmly made him nod. "Alright. I will...please, help me. Help me find justice for that poor little Joshua, I do not care what happens to me. All I want...is for you to find who killed that sweet boy." "Alrigh'. Ahll do mah best mister Brunhart." "It's...please, call me Matthias. I believe we are on first-name terms as you've so chosen to defend me. Thank you, my dear Roy." "Heh, thank Berniere, if it wuzn't for him screechin' thuh place ah wouldn't have thought it as quick to do this." "But you uh...you DO realise that things work differently in Breekheim than elsewhere in Ivalice, am I correct?" "No, ah don't know quite how things work in this region." "In that case you best ask the legal adviser of the precinct, she will help you get started. I accept your term as my defender, mister MacGregor." "Please..call me Roy."

With their clan leader confined temporarily, the group known as Koridai began making tracks back towards the town after everyone had been cleared to leave the mansion crime scene. The staff were on hand to keep diligent watch over the children, most of whom were now bereft without their patron to look after them as they did everything they could to calm them down. The sounds of children sobbing with frightful unknown gave them all heavy hearts, as rumours spread through towards the town itself within the span of a single hour. Navarro walked in with a flinching fury across her face, disbelief coursing through her as they made their beds and did everything to relax by either reading or conversation. The inn had a lovely dinner service around 7:30pm, as well as a lovelier seating for them all to eat around a perfect square table covered in white tender silk with two seats on every side. Navarro sat with Dahlia with their backs against the window, whilst Fayne and Baldwin sat opposite as Kruz sat upon the brothers' right, which in turn was the girls' left as they busied themselves with their meal. A courgette salad mingling with its meaty steak compliment, whilst sitting in a semi-full room of people as they babbled constantly to themselves with the tinkling of cutlery inbetween. "Un...believeable kupo." "I know," replied Kruz, "this salad is so fresh." "Not THAT," fumed the moogle, "our entire day run through into a week or worse! Until our leader is out of this case we have no opportunity of leaving this place!" "We did not ask for this, you know that. Gods, that poor kid." "What an awful thing to happen," said gentle Dahlia, "who could do such a thing?!" "I bet it wasszh an Archadian," growled Baldwin, "who elsszhe would want to hurt a bangaa kid?" "You don't know that," said Kruz sternly. "Why not?! That'sszh what Archadiansszh are all about aren't they?" "What makes you think this was even racially motivated Baldwin?" "Becausszhe what OTHER reasszhon would there be to ever DO sszhuch a thing?!" "If anyone knew believe me, we would not be here longer than a day." "There isszh no point in debating," added Fayne, "we have no knowledge of any particular bearing on the crime and the only thing we can do isszh but wait and hope that the true killer isszh brought to light and the casszhe to be resszholved." "You're right." The group settled down once again as they ate up slowly, making sure to pass time as much as possible by chewing the minutes into their throats. Baldwin couldn't help but stare at Kruz's right hand holding the fork with his other limb being a literal knife-hook, aided by the two sets of wired copper on either side of his arm as the monk asked lightly: "Doesszhn't that hurt?" "Baldwin!" cried Fayne. "It's fine," said Kruz, "the steel end has a screw-section inside where my wrist used to be so I can fit in anything I want." "I sszhaw you had a hand at the party." "Upper class people don't like when you're not symmetrical." "Heh...I bet they don't, sszho you jusszht unsszhcrew yer hook out an' everything?" "Yep." "Ever put a sszhword in that thing?" "Khheheh, I tried once but the hilt got too weak in designing it, always just got chipped too easily, instead I have a smaller length used for stabbing people with." "Can we not talk about stabbing please?" said Navarro bluntly. "It is inappropriate, kupo." "Not as inappropriate as his jokes."

The one who said this was a deep bass voice from around the corner entrance of the room. Their heads turned towards it to see Roy smiling calmly as he approached across the floor inbetween others served at the same inn with Dahlia adding stiffly: "We did not save you a plate. Sorry." "S'alrigh' ahll get sumthin'...ah see that uh, Luke's not roused himself up from previous days." "You checked on him?" asked Fayne. "Before ah came in yeah on mah way back from thuh courthouse...we should definitely keep an eye on him whilst we're here, ah know you said he wuz better Fayne but ah don't think he's really recovered that well." "I only meant better in the fact that he wasszh no longer committing grievousszh harm upon himsszhelf, I do not believe he hasszh fully recovered either, jusszht that he hasszh become more sszhtable rather than anything." "I almosszht losszht you bro," said Baldwin, "I don't care how sszhtable you think he isszh, he didn't care one thing about taking you with him, that sszhtupid mongrel-" "Enough." Navarro said this firmly with a plunging stab of her fork into her meal. "I don't want you acting like this around him, kupo. He has enough to bear with." "He almosszht killed Fayne!" "Almost? Didn't. We know now how bereaved his state is and we must do our best to help him recover, like anyone else in our group who had lost someone, if one of you had not survived in the course of our journey we would give you or Fayne the respect and treatment you deserve to mourn and bereave in order to cope and keep on with your life. I only ask that you give Luke the very same respect, kupo." "Oh come on he'sszh jusszht a fucking chocobo!" " What...did you say?" She slammed her fork down bluntly with the stare of a thousand deaths. Her look of intensity was terrifying as if she would bleed suddenly from her eyes at any moment, as Baldwin balked shivering slightly when she leaned forwards gripping the tablecloth so tightly that it began to rip between her fingers. "Don't... ever...fucking say that, Baldwin Smithee. If you ever disrespect our beloved flock again I will break your legs and see you never survive without one of our 'mongrels' ever again. Is that clear?" "...y-y-yesszh." "Good." Sitting back down once more she returned back to her neutral demeanour eating up her food, the dead silence making the rest of them feel as if they were forced to eat platefuls of ash as Navarro spoke again to Roy: "How did it go at the courthouse, kupo?" "OH," began Roy, "well uh actually, ah think you wanna know about sum new developments with thuh case." "Oh?" "...ah have decided to be thuh defence attorney for mister Brunhart." "Wh-what!?" They all leaned back slightly as they spoke simultaneously with surprise looking at him as if a worm had sprouted from his face. Navarro asked fr: "Did Berniere put you up to this kupo?!" "Sumthin' lahk that." "Gods...damn, you imbecile." "Hey, ah made mah choice, he just begged me to!" "As if this whole week could not be anymore complicated firstly our leader is now a witness then YOU waste everybody's time by being on the defence!" "Whose tahm ahm ah wastin', yours?! Look James is already costin' you, don' take it out on me baby bird!" "I was not eager for this plan from the very beginning but YOU-" "Iiiiindoor voiiiiice," said Kruz singsonging. Navarro firmly repostured herself on her seat before she could compose her voice, calming down to not raise it again as a few heads turned amidst the clink of cutlery. "Roy...we are here purely because of you, I do not want to be part of this case kupo." "Too bad," said MacGregor, "ah need sum help, an' thuh sooner we have this case all solved thuh sooner we can leave. In fact, we got only three days until we do." "Wh-what?!" cried Kruz. "What do you mean three days?!" "Ahhhh yesszh," said Fayne nodding sagely, "the Archadian Judgesszh. Do you not know how the law isszh employed in Archadia, Kruzzh?" "No...not exactly one who spends time within the lawful boundaries of it you might say, and Tennyson did not speak very much on it." "They are the law and order of Archadia having been made by the Housszhe of Sszholidor fifty yearsszh ago when Archadia began to exszhpand acrossszh the region of Valendia. In order to make sszhertain their rule would be made absszholute, the Housszhe Sszholidor created the Archadian Judgesszh who wield a great rule over all in legality." "Sounds kinda totalitarian," said Roy nervously, "does it work?" "Well asszh you might think believe it or not, but they are sszhtill mortal and remember the old adage. Absszholute power-" "-corrupts absolutely, ah know but...they gave me a briefin' on all this an' we gotta do this bah thuh book, but ah need help. In order to make a counsel of legal defence, ah need-" "A member of the clergy and a member of the military, am I correct?" Roy blinked slightly at Fayne's knowledge catching him on the back foot as he smiled. "You know how this all works up here?" "I am sszhtaggered that you don't, being you are a lawyer." "W-well...ah never done anythin' up in Archadia, this whole law with the Judges system's nuthin ah ever seen in Ivalice. Ah got sum study guides they gave me down at thuh precinct to prepare mah case an' ah need to get through them." "True, we are not in an ancient presszhedent, if you sszho believe that misszhter Brunhart isszh not guilty, then I would gladly offer you my merit asszh your clergyman." "I'm sorry?!" cried Navarro. "Now YOU are joining him?!" "Like we have sszhaid, the sszhooner we are done with thisszh casszhe the sszhooner we are gone from Breekheim, don't you agree?" "We are not trained to be lawmen kupo." "You may not be, but I am." Fayne stood up with his intellectual pride glowing from his teeth. "I am well-read in canon law consszherning our world, making me jusszht asszh worthy of being an attorney asszh you, Roy." "Really?" asked the raptor. "You studied law too?!" "Oh indeed, part of my clerical training after all, I have every capasszhity to work in legal power like that of you." "You sure abou' that? Jus' sayin', ahm not forcin' you to be-" "I avouch my claim, let me help you. I know misszhter Brunhart well and I do not want to be anything but imparsszhial, but I cannot think of him ever becoming a murderer for any reasszhon." "Alrigh'...thank you, ah really appreciate it." "That only leavesszh you with the military counsszhellor...and there be only one known here with that authority asszh a knight."

He turned towards the moogle beaming with the sort of grin that she hated with passion, simply sighing as she turned away with her hand to her face. "I have no need for this-" "Berniere offered me money," said Roy, "if you win, ahll split thuh fee with you an' Fayne." She turned her eye towards him condescendingly, leering through her fingers. "Do you really think that I am so self-absorbed that I would instantly jump to a cause simply for a sack of gil?" "If you will not be a knight for money, whut else would you do it for? Chivalry? Honour? You've got those ah know you do, you won't turn down a friend lahk Berniere after he went down on his feet sobbin' lahk a widow beggin' for you to help." "He asked YOU for it, not me kupo." "But ah need you. Ah need you to help me find this man innocent." "And if he is not?" "How DARE you!" cried Fayne. "Matthiasszh Brunhart isszh nothing sszhort of magnanimousszh, and a great deal more charitable than YOU ever will be, Navarro!" "I am not unkind, but I am also not stupid." She stood up finally with stern attitude. "Are you willing to put your dignity and your reputation on the line for him, knowing that if he is proven guilty you will find yourself completely tarnished of all respect?! If you lose any of it in a catastrophic case on a sheer whim of heartfelt guilt without looking at the facts, then you will be ridiculed and so shall this clan!" "No. I am not going to losszhe that dignity or any repute, if we sszhomehow found him guilty of murder then the only thing I losszhe will be that of my resszhpect for him. You, frankly, have none to begin with." "What did you say to me?" "I sszhaid you have NONE to begin with, you heartlesszh vermin." "FAYNE!" cried Dahlia as she bolted on her feet. "H-how could you say that?!" "A child hasszh been murdered and all sszhe caresszh about isszh DIGNITY?! No, no I think my wordsszh were TOO kind for at leasszht vermin have a pack mentality to care about each other." "SHUT UP!" Her face was bristling with outrage as she pierced thin pupils of dagger-length sharpness from her eyes into his, tensing him up with a single stare as the light catched her gleaming dark stone piercing from the ear just perfectly. Navarro looked up towards her a little surprised at such an outburst but she refused to sit back down. Silence reigned briefly as everyone turned to see the furious nu-mou but she did not let that stop her. "Don't...you EVER call her that again! She is a wonderful kind and caring person who has kept us going by being intelligent with our money and cautious with our hearts! Do you really think, after all we have gone through over Luke and Asch that she has no heart, she would BLEED for them if she could!" "Dahlia," warned Navarro. "No, I am sick of you being treated like this, you deserve better Navarro!" "Why don' we take this upstairs?" added Roy. "YOU brought us here!" said Dahlia pointing her finger venomously. "YOU are not even with us and you have no right to be with us, this is YOUR fault!" "Woah woah woah woah thuh fuck did that come from!?" "Dahlia enough!" The moogle grabbed her arm and pulled her down fiercely before breathing into her ear. "Stop...arguing, kupo. You are disrupting the dinner service and I do not want our laundry being hung out to dry and sully amidst these people, now sit...down."

Her quivering lip did nothing to assuage Navarro of her piercing glare as Dahlia sat back down feeling shameful all of a sudden. But she did not apologise as she sat firmly in a huff, shrinking back into her seat bitterly chewing on the last bit of steak before they all sat back down again. With conscious apology to the inn staff that came over, the people resumed their conversation as the babbling rose up once more before Fayne resumed his point. "A child died not more than four hoursszh ago, and there lived not a sszhingle look of pity on your fasszhe, Navarro." "There is being compassionate," replied the moogle, "and then there is being a heart-bleeding fool, kupo. It is tragic what happened yes, that is something we all agree on, and I hope that this Brunhart is most certainly not guilty. But I have no right, nor any need to put my whole integrity onto this whole affair as it is, I feel it is not my place to intervene in legal matters." "You are a blinding hypocrite. Your own friend Berniere wasszh pleading for that man'sszh help and you did NOTHING. If thisszh had been a chocobo murdered up in that offisszhe, you would insszhtantly be at our sszhide helping to track down the killer!" "That is not fair," snarled Dahlia, "she is not uncaring, she is being frugal about her right to speak." "You have every right and authority to help usszh at our casszhe knowing that we can do naught but wait until the casszhe isszh over, at the very LEASSZHT you could do with a hand in honoured virtue rather than pretend for it to be not your problem! You are a knight, not a mersszhenary, why would you ever care about your dignity if it meant to sszhave the life of a man who may well be innosszhent? That isszh not why we are here, that isszh not what Jamesszh would do." "James did not ASK to be a witness for this!" "But he isszh our leader, and while Navarro may well be our deputy in all manner of finansszhe, it wasszh Jamesszh who alwaysszh ran firsszht into danger knowing sszhomeone would need our help. Whether it be me or you back at the monasszhtery, that family drowning in the sszhwamp or that townsszhip under attack bargaining for the mayor'sszh daughter!" "He'sszh got a point," said Baldwin trying to chip in, "we don't do all thisszh for money or dignity or fame, we did it for two reasszhonszh. To help people an' to travel the world helpin' people, that'sszh what thisszh clan isszh all about right from the beginning." "You are right." "Sszho you-...wait, what?" "You are right," said Navarro. "You...are absolutely right, kupo." She leaned back with her head in frustration palming her face with gentle rub against the brow. The conversation finally started to peter out amongst them as she sighed heavily. "I am...simply frustrated, my apologies. I do not want to be cruel and uncaring about this, you are right, we are not a group of mercenaries, we are a clan. Of warriors, healers and good people that want to do better for this world upon us, kupo. I admit I have become rather...dissonant after recent events and I have been...too focused on myself as well as our charges." "It's alright," said Kruz, "we understand, we all went through a lot of things together, even you and me. And I've only known you all for about five months." "I did not want this to drag out any further, I simply want to return back to familiar soil and deal with missions of a more simple requirement. I have hated this mission from the very start and only to see it carried out further without our true objective being simply made it worse. The sooner we solve this case the better, thanks to our friend Roy having put the yoke on himself, kupo." "Better that than choco-yolk," said Roy chuckling, "ah mean ah'd hate to smell lahk a chocobo egg on mah first day in court." "They will not mistake you for that trust me." "You sure? Cuz ah seen Cadbury, ah bet if him an' me got put together, nobody would know thuh difference." "You are a much more cheerisome person than Cadbury, kupo." "Ah smell better than him too, he smell lahk a bull stud in thuh desert except he got no excuse." "KHHFFF!" She almost broke into a chortle but managed to stifle herself in the nick of time by biting on a handkerchief. Dahlia looked agape at him as he shrugged blinking before the moogle said giggling:: "F-fine...k-kuhuhu...f-fine, v-very well you have made your point!" "Cool, awesome let's get to it, come on up to mah room both of you when you ready to cover on things, ahll let thuh precinct know ah got mah team." As Roy headed back to the precinct to make his confirmation, the clan split from the dinner table to head off to various rooms with Fayne heading upstairs first to meet in Roy's room. Seeing the two books collectively of law in Archadian statutes ready and open, he put himself down on James' bed and began to read through the particulates of this area's charter, the crisp sunset light beaming down from the windows to offer a smooth orange tone that simply relaxed him from the tense debate previously. He almost lost himself gleaming from the legal codex before Kruz walked in waving at him, whilst neatly snatching a towel from his personal belongings. "Hey uh, hope you don't mind I'm just going to get myself a shower whilst you get down to work." "Oh...o-of coursszhe, I forget that you sszhare the room withal." "Right...oh and, by the way I hope you don't mind but...I answered one of your questions in the notebook." "What?" "Call it curiosity but, I noticed one question that you never asked me and I thought was interesting soooo uh...you may like my answer I hope, enjoy your reading Fayne." Closing the door the kremling left as Fayne gingerly pulled out his notebook peering through the pages. He found one question he had written noticing the paper was slightly damp from two spots where someone had written his answer underneath. The answer caught his breath. His heart began to sink as he could not stop himself, slowly he raised a hand to his mouth as realisation began to hit him. A choke gasping from his throat, as two new damp spots dripped down onto the notepage from his cheeks.

_If your "love" prevents you from ever finding a wife and fatherhood...would that mean also the end of your family too? Love did not kill my friends and family. It was hatred and fear that took them away from me. _