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But trying to suss out her secret could wait, he supposed. Right now, it sounded like she was just trying to be helpful however she could, and considering his own circumstances, he could probably use a little help. ‘Uh... okay, but I’m still not sure what sort of questions you want me to ask,’ he said.

‘Just. Anything that you think might be useful. About science. Or history. It could be almost any subject, I think.’

Hector wondered if Zeff would approve of this, but he also didn’t see any point in turning the offer down. And hell, maybe she would be able to find something that would help them get out of this place. Or... find the treasure?

Wouldn’t that be nice. And way too good to be true.

Regardless, he tried to think of a question that would be relevant to their most immediate problems.

‘...I don’t suppose you could tell me anything about worms, could you?’

‘Worms?’ said Emiliana.

Oh right, she probably thought he was talking about normal, tiny worms on the surface.

‘Do you mean worms from the Undercrust?’

Or maybe not. ‘You know about them?’ he said.

‘It just so happens that I recently heard quite a lot about them. From Ibai, actually.’

Hector blinked. Somehow, he’d forgotten about Ibai Blackburn. ‘So Ibai is with you, then.’

‘Ah. Yes, he is. There have been a few times when I thought Gohvis would kill him for sure, but they seem to be getting along now. Somewhat.’

Hector still wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about that guy, but after working together with him at Dunehall, he found it hard to think badly of him. If not for Ibai’s actions, Hector was sure that the Rainlords would have suffered far more casualties than they did--or simply been wiped out completely.

Which put a very difficult question in Hector’s mind. The few times that he’d managed to actually talk to Emiliana for any real length of time, that topic had yet to come up. The casualties at Dunehall.

Should he tell her, he wondered? She had a right to know, certainly. Ibai, as well. But would they be better off not knowing? They were in a precarious position, no doubt. Perhaps telling them about their murdered kin would only make things worse.

He rubbed his forehead again. Between this and trying to figure out what he was going to tell Zeff later, Hector felt like he was seeing a sudden spike in impossible decisions.

Emiliana wasn’t done talking, however, and Hector tried not to become so distracted that he stopped listening. ‘Ibai wouldn’t stop going on about worms and greatworms the other day. He spoke with such enthusiasm that I probably absorbed more of it than I intended to. Is there anything in particular that you would like to know about them?’

‘...Their weaknesses, if they have any.’

There came a pause. ‘Why do you want to know that, might I ask?’