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‘You should give Lynn a call,’ said Garovel, still privately.

Hector pressed his lips together flatly.

‘Don’t you want to know how things went in Kuros? And how she’s doing? And what she’s wearing?’

Hector just sighed and rubbed his brow with one hand.

‘Seriously, though, you should call her. She might be able to give us an idea of what’s going on with the Sandlords.’

‘She might’ve already returned to Atreya,’ said Hector.

‘Yup.’

Hector paused. ‘Uh... how are WE gonna get back to Atreya, by the way?’

Garovel shrugged. ‘Asad seems pretty rich. Maybe he has a jet we can borrow.’

‘Who the fuck would let anyone “borrow” a jet?’

‘Well, maybe a motorcycle, then.’

‘Agh...’

‘Come to think of it, you should probably call Amelia, too. Seems like we might not return to Warrenhold for a little while.’

That brought up a question that had been lingering in the back of Hector’s mind. ‘Ah... how long are we going to stay with these people, do you think?’

‘Not sure.’

‘It’s just... after we get to this Moaban place, uh--I mean, then what? We can’t just stay with the Rainlords indefinitely...’

Garovel made no response.

‘Er--I’m not saying I wanna abandon them or anything,’ Hector added. ‘It’s just, uh... ah--’

‘I know,’ said Garovel.

‘Do you have a plan?’ Hector asked, fishing into his pocket for his phone.

‘Well, I’d like Chergoa to return with us,’ the reaper said. He threw a look toward his sister, who was busy hovering around Emiliana. ‘But that seems unlikely, at the moment. I’m hoping I can find a way to convince her.’

‘...What if you can’t?’

Garovel gave an echoing sigh. ‘Then I guess we’ll just have to go our separate ways again. But at least she’ll know where to find me, if she needs to. I suppose that would be enough.’

Hector frowned. He hated feeling so helpless, but he didn’t see much point in pressing the issue. He found Lynn’s number and called her.

She answered after a few rings. <“Hector?”>

Predictably, he had trouble responding.

<“...Are you doing that thing you always do, or did the call actually drop?”>

“N-no, I’m here.”

<“Okay, good. What’s up?”>

Again, no words came out.

<“...Good goddess, Hector. Come on.”>

“Ah--sorry. I was just... uh, wondering, um... ah... I, er...”

<“...You were just wondering what?! Don’t say something like that and then leave out the important part!”>