Thracian Empire

"Oh... I see." Emmett had figured that Sascha and Meilyr had some sort of history; it definitely wasn't normal for someone to violently and consistently attack a stranger on first sight. It was a bit surprising to hear that they had been friends after what Emmett had seen, though. Sascha's inability to get up on time the next morning also made more sense. "I guess he couldn't have really hated you that much, then, if he went drinking with you and everything."

Isadore was definitely not impressed that Sascha had gone drinking with the enemy. While he was drunk, he could have given away important information.

Sascha shrugged, frowning a bit. "Well, it wasn't that he hated me as a person. Like I said, we were friends; he took me under his wing when I was younger. He was just really, really bitter toward me as a result of our falling out I mentioned. I probably deserved it, I don't know." He sighed. "Whatever, that's all said and done. He seems fine with me now. He's not angry anymore, at least... we talked quite a bit."

Emmett nodded. "Well, it's good that you two were able to get along again. It seems like you must have been pretty good friends." Hearing that Sascha had been taken in by someone was a bit relieving, after leaving the boy alone and homeless like that. He probably really needed someone to depend on, since Sascha had never seemed to be the type capable of living a rogue lifestyle. Knowing that Meilyr had taken him in made a lot more sense.

Isadore really didn't care about the rogue's problems or friends, but then he began to wonder of the link between Sascha and one of the Massalians could be useful. He knew he had to exploit whatever possible.

Sascha couldn't help but give a shadow of a smile. He wasn't feeling well and it was messing with his emotions a bit; getting this out felt good. "Yeah, we were. We spent every day together for years, just trying to survive." He sighed. "I'm sorry, I don't even know why I'm telling you all this." He couldn't imagine the butler caring about a couple of rogues.

Emmett gave Sascha a small smile. "No, don't worry about it. Sounds like it must have been rough... but at least you weren't alone." He stopped himself there. If he got saying too much, it could seem a bit odd. Emmett wasn't supposed to be aware of Sascha's situation, after all.

The more Isadore listened, the more he could tell that there was a pretty strong bond between the rogue and that Massalian. He had been able to use Ronan's strong bond with Mihael before to get what he wanted last time, but now his brother was off-limits if Isadore wanted to continue the missions. Perhaps Sascha could actually be useful for a change.

Sascha shrugged. "It was what it was," he said, a note of bitterness in his voice. "I was lucky I met him, though. It was a hell of a winter and I had no idea what to do with myself." Just thinking about it was enough to make him want to crawl under the blankets. He took a sip of water instead, but it did nothing to stave off the coughing fit that overtook him.

"Oh... is that so?" Emmett said. He had wondered years ago how Sascha had survived the harsh conditions, but after a while he had decided there was no point in thinking about it. However, now he had to. Emmett regretted that he couldn't apologize to Sascha outright; he had never wanted to subject him to something like that, it was just a consequence of something he had to do. "I guess you really were lucky... winter can be harsh. Things must have gotten better after that, though."

Isadore had made his decision. He headed off to Theodore's office and knocked on the door. "Father, I must speak with you."

"I guess you could say that," Sascha replied. "I was able to take care of myself, at least." There was nothing ideal about his situation, but there wasn't anything Sascha could really do beyond try to make it work.

Theodore stood and let Isadore inside. "Yes, of course. Come sit down. What is it?"

"Oh, well that's good..." Emmett really hoped he wouldn't bring up the subject of why he was in such a situation in the first place. Sascha thinking about that while looking at Emmett could make it come together in his head. "So Meilyr was the only one to reach out to you?"

Isadore walked into the office and took a seat. "I wish to talk to you about that rogue, Sascha. I know we initially decided not to include him in any future missions. However, I have decided that perhaps I could give him one more chance."

Sascha nodded. "Yeah, he pretty much was. This was when Basilei was having a civil war and all that noise. Everyone was out for themselves, for the most part. I guess you can't really blame them." He smiled humourlessly. "Apparently Meilyr couldn't stand seeing how hopeless I was at stealing back then."

Theodore looked incredibly surprised. Of all the things he'd expected Isadore to say, this was not one of them. "Really? What prompted this?"

"Oh... yeah. I heard about that war..." Emmett had more than heard about it. He decided to focus more on the next thing Sascha said. "You know, I never would have thought Meilyr was the type to help out some kid." He hadn't been thinking while he was talking, and only realized afterwards that he was calling him a kid without being given much indication of Sascha's age. Emmett supposed it would seem like a safe assumption.

"Well..." Isadore knew that telling Theodore the truth was out of the question. "You said before about making rash decisions. I realize that I was very frustrated after last mission, so naturally I would have less patience for the rogue. However, now that I think about it, I believe my anger with him may have been somewhat misplaced."

Sascha looked a bit puzzled; he hadn't mentioned his age, nor his circumstances by which Emmett could infer that he was a kid when he met Meilyr. However, he supposed his cluelessness may have given it away. He shrugged. "I know, but there you have it. He's actually not a bad guy at all; he's crude and hotheaded, but under that he's a decent person. He's the most loving drunk, too." It was strange to be talking about all of this, but Sascha was glad to be letting it out to someone. He was sure the butler couldn't care less, which meant he'd probably forget about it sooner than later.

Theodore considered what Isadore said. He supposed it didn't sound like Sascha had done anything too awful in the grand scheme of things. "I see," he said. "Well, if you believe he will be an asset to you, I can certainly send him on the next mission." Theodore still hoped the man could be rehabilitated; he was too young to be a hardened criminal.

"Haha, is that so? I've only ever seen him trying to kill you, so I guess I wouldn't know." Emmett had noticed Sascha's reaction to what he said, but thankfully the man didn't question it. "Well, I hope you get the chance to talk to him again."

Isadore nodded. "I intend to have a talk with him regarding his behaviour and what I expect of him. He could potentially be an asset." That part was true, at least. "I will see if his behaviour improves at all next mission."

"Yeah, he's less nice when he's trying to kill me." Sascha coughed before half smiling at the next thing Emmett said. "Well, it's always a possibility."

Theodore nodded. "With any luck, he will prove himself to be an asset this time."

Within a couple of weeks, Theodore had assembled everyone in his office to inform them that the Massalians had been spotted en route to Caudium in Basilei. Caudium housed an artificial magic facility like the one they had been interested in on the island and it seemed that the Massalians were interested in retrieving documents as well, although the specifics of those documents were still unknown. What was known were the men they were in the possession of; they were not easy individuals to access.

Before long, they were packed into the carriage once again, on their way to Basilei. Sascha had been surprised that he was permitted to go with him and he wasn't necessarily looking forward to it, but he had to do what the governor told him. However, learning they'd be going to Basilei added an interesting dimension to the whole thing. He idly wondered if he'd be able to escape.

Cheyenne eyed Sascha before quietly asking Isadore why he had opted to bring the man along.

Emmett smiled back at Sascha. The conversation was soon over and he breathed a sigh of relief. The man had certainly given him a lot to think about, not that it was something he had wanted to think over much.

"Indeed," Isadore agreed. He believed that he could get some use out of the rogue.

Once again, Emmett was sitting at the front of a carriage carrying the usual crowd. He was a bit nervous about going to Basilei again, but when he thought about it, there really wasn't much chance of someone recognizing him. It had been ten years, after all, so there probably wasn't any sense in worrying.

Isadore turned toward Cheyenne as she asked her question. He supposed it would seem very strange to her, since they had discussed how the rogue was nothing but a burden. "Well, he may not have been so helpful before, but I have given it some thought. He could still be an asset to us in certain situations," he explained. "So I am allowing him another chance."

Cheyenne mulled it over in her head. She couldn't think of many situations where the rogue could be useful, but it seemed like Isadore had something specific in mind. "I see," she said. "Well, it is entirely possible that there are circumstances under which he could be useful, particularly as the situation becomes more dire."

Mihael was just hoping that the ride would be smooth and that Isadore and Sascha would ignore each other for once. He glanced at Cerys. "You know what's interesting? Well, kind of, at least... we went to Basilei on our first mission and on what we hope is going to be our last mission, we're going to Basilei again. Maybe it's a good sign."

Isadore nodded. "Yes, I believe so as well." He wished he could just tell Cheyenne what he had in mind; she would probably approve. "It is unwise to eliminate teammates without first considering everything they have to offer."

Cerys had been looking out the window, thinking about the mission ahead of them when Mihael spoke to her. "Oh, I never thought of that. Yeah, I bet it is a good sign." She smiled at the boy. "Maybe we'll get to stop those Massalians for good and wrap everything up! We were pretty close last time."

"This is a very good point," Cheyenne replied. "And we really have not had an opportunity to see everything he has to offer, since he rarely ends up participating." That still irritated her. The subject of her frustration didn't even hear her, as he was starting to doze off.

"Yeah, we were really close," Mihael agreed. "The only information we're missing is what they're doing... well, I guess that's pretty important information, actually, isn't it? Oh well, we'll get it this time."

"Ugh, yes..." Isadore glanced at Sascha and saw that he was falling asleep. He let out an exasperated sigh. At least with him so unaware, he could try to get some of his message across to Cheyenne. Isadore leaned closer to her. "One of the Massalians has a strong connection to him, which I will use. He has no idea I am aware," he whispered.

"Um, yeah, I think so..." Cerys agreed. Thankfully Isadore was preoccupied, so he couldn't hear their discussion. She doubted he wanted to be reminded at all of the failed ambush from the last mission. "This time we know exactly what they're after, so that should help. We'll find them and question them up good... and hopefully not blow up anything too important."

"Oh?" Cheyenne looked intrigued. She leaned in and whispered, "I assume it is the one who always tries to attack him? They certainly have a connection of some type..." She didn't necessarily think it was the type that benefitted anyone, though.

Mihael couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah... we should probably avoid doing that... especially because that stuff probably won't be abandoned. I wish I would have remembered to ask my brother about their goals when I talked to him before but I always forget because we're usually talking about other things--he's really great to talk to--and I don't realize I could have asked until he's already left."

Isadore nodded and then glanced at Sascha to make sure he hadn't woken up at all. "Yes, that one. However, I overheard something. The rogue said that the two were once companions and are on good terms again as of last mission," he explained quietly. "That connection can be exploited."

Cerys supposed Mihael was right about the places not being abandoned this time. The last place was on an island with a small population, but this time the destination was very different. "Brother? Oh right, that guy. Don't worry about it. He's your long lost brother, so it makes sense that you have a lot of other things to talk about." Cerys' lack of concern came mostly from the fact that Valin had already told her everything. However, she had tried to approach Isadore about it a couple of times over the last few weeks, but he didn't want to hear any of it. He considered any information from Valin to be worthless. "The guy I talked to told me about their main goal, anyway."

Cheyenne raised an eyebrow. "Oh? That will certainly change things. It is definitely worth keeping in mind if we have to deal with that man on this mission. If nothing else, that man not chasing him off will give us another number if we must engage them in combat."

Mihael was glad that Cerys understood why he hadn't gotten any information out of Ronan. His eyes went wide at what she said next. "Whoa, wait, he did? What did he say? Why did he do that? Was he telling the truth?" He couldn't believe one of them had just spilled the beans like that.

"Indeed," Isadore whispered. "Though I cannot guarantee that the rogue will even cooperate enough to fight, he can still be useful for controlling that Massalian. That man would not have important information, but it would still be an advantage for us."

Cerys was a bit surprised by Mihael's reaction to what she had said, but she supposed it was pretty significant. "Hey, calm down, okay? Valin's my friend, so I'm pretty sure he wasn't lying to me. He doesn't seem as dedicated to their goals as the others, anyway," she explained. "He said that Silas, their leader, is good at doing those artificial magic procedures. However, in Massalia, they don't have the equipment for it. So they're all trying to get what they need to get artificial magic going in Massalia too."

"Indeed." Cheyenne nodded in agreement. "We must take any advantage we can get. And there is always a possibility that he does have important information, of course."

Mihael listened to what Cerys had to say, trying to process it. He was aware of the artificial magic experiments, though he wasn't certain regarding the specifics as Carystos didn't practice them anymore. "Ohhh... that doesn't sound good for us, because they could make armies of magic users and attack us or something. They seem really hostile... or at least these ones do." He frowned, anxiously fiddling with his hair as he turned to look at his brother. "Hey, Isa...?"

Isadore didn't look so sure about that. "Well, he is obviously not in charge. I doubt they would bother to waste time informing him."

Cerys nodded. She had also realized that possibility, as the Massalians had never seemed to be on good terms with the empire. "Yeah... that's definitely something to consider," she said. Before Cerys could stop him, Mihael turned to Isadore. She knew it wouldn't go well.

Isadore was visibly annoyed by Mihael addressing him. He looked at the boy. "Can you not tell when someone is busy?" he snapped, folding his arms. "What do you want?"