"You're concerned with them too, then." Ambrosia's smile grew. "I can't help but wonder how Rowan's handling things and where our journey would take us if they were here instead of me."

"No different, I'm pretty sure. Maybe one more pissy attitude and that's that." Bancho interfered. "Sorry, can't help but add my two coins now that you're speaking so loudly," he whispered, while Pollimer seemingly forced a chuckle.

"You can never be too sure." Ambrosia raised a finger and Jyuzou giggled. The Tributal quickly looked at the Morian, as if searching for his reassuring words.

"Okay, can Rowan cast spells?" Morio stepped in. "Hah, thought so!" he pointed. "But I can!"

"Here we go," Jyuzou muttered.

"DON'T YOU TRY AND SHOOT DOWN MY GLORIOUS WINGS YOU GLASSY IDIOT!" Morio yelled out.

"DO YOU TALK ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE OTHER THAN MAPS AND DEMONEARS?" Jyuzou raised his voice.

"NO, NOT NECESSARILY!"

Anna-Pom stuffed small stones into her ears once more, sighing out.

The troupe passed a rather skim and thin bridge above a pool of water.

"To answer your question, Rowan can cast spells, but they don't come to them as easily as one would imagine," Ambrosia replied.

"Why? Does... do they not believe in something well enough?" Morio asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I think they hope for something much greater than that." Ambrosia closed their eyes, and Atomu stood on his toes, eager to listen. "...I'm not sure if they'd like me telling anything. You understand, don't you?"

Morio shook his head, and Jyuzou nodded.

After a few more twists and turns through the corridors, the group decided to rest for the night above a crystalline ceiling, that shone dimly and made strange, but oddly calming noises. Now, the Mirillian was sure they followed the right path, having encountered this sight once beforehand. He described whatever stretched above them as lullaby stones, which were said to help ease into rest with the various echoes they emitted. The entire grotto was quickly titled Sleeper's Passage.

Everyone put their things down, ate a couple of snacks (Morio asked Jyuzou to lend him some of the food since all of his seemed to disappear much faster than he predicted), and eventually wound down, sleeping on comfy and stacked clothes.

Almost all of them. Chyuuichi sat on a rock, overlooking everyone else, unable to close an eye. He hadn't slept for days, and while at first glance he may have seemed fine, the fatigue of all that sleepless buildup was slowly getting to him. But what was it that kept him up through all of this? The stress of the information he's learned? No, even a tired body would battle that.

Each time he closed his eyes, he kept hearing an unknown, deep voice, almost teasing him, and telling him to do the things he'd never want to do.

One thought kept circling back, and sometimes he'd find his hands clenched not too far away from Morio's neck.

Over and over again. He fought a battle no one could learn about, and he doubted that even if he told the others, they wouldn't believe him.

***

Nights and days passed on the Discovery boat, and the vehicle finally set sail around the side of Morta, nearing the unreachable mountains that completely denied and actively fought against safe and habitable shores. Even the green and pink trees of the Uno Mountains were sparse, and the boat reached the height of the Harm Lands, which seemed to look a little different from the side.

Soon enough, though, the sight changed into monotony, seldom broken by open corridors leading into the misty terrains, yet, the Tributals knew of the heeded warnings, so there was nothing to look for or be excited about.

The card games the three played bored them after a few hours, and they struggled to pick them up again the next day. Despite Rowan's earlier smiles and giggles, nothing changed between the Tributals, and again, Rowan found themselves outside, staring into the vast unknown, thinking.

Damien stood on the boat's bow, opposing Rowan, and played around with the wheel for a bit, despite not being experienced. They made sure that their steering wouldn't lead them astray, but it was generally up to Ace to check if the boat stayed on course, following the currents naturally formed around the inaccessible shores.

The ship tilted to the right, and Damien jumped on one leg, trying to balance out the weight. Then, to the left, they did the same things, as though this simple activity amused them.

However, they quickly grew weary of the idea, breathing out and resting against the pole in the middle, while their rather mischievous smile refused to disappear.

They started tapping their big shoe against the wooden foundation of the ship, without much of a rhythm at first, but it quickly turned into a rather strange beat, which repeated itself after a few times. Damien started snapping their fingers as if it was another instrument in the song, and finally, their voice appeared as well.

"It's on days like these I'll walk too far..." Damien sang, as if atop the beat they created. "I'll pledge to another to make it spark..."

Rowan blinked twice as if alerted. They slowly turned their head, towards Damien, whose entire body was entranced in the rhythm.

"Again and again, I'll bring what I sawn..." Damien moved around, foot still tapping the boat, and they turned, facing Rowan, who slowly reached their hand into the long jacket they wore, taking out the strutter hidden in a pocket and putting it near their mouth.

Damien waited as if encouraging them to join in, breaking the rhythm for a second there. Rowan slowly stood up, and Kukhi opened the door a little, letting the sounds inside.

A few noises echoed out of the strutter, combined with the additional shoe-tapping of Rowan.

"Haha!" Damien clapped their hands. "It's for travels as such that I'll find the One...!" Rowan followed their moves. Damien's voice went up a hill, then down a mountain.

"It's on days like these I'll walk too far!" Damien sang out, loudly, while a smile appeared on Rowan's face, as the song continued, echoing out and battling against the fog and the dullness of everything that surrounded them.

It seemed that, for a moment, everything grey appeared a thick, blooming red and pink, and it was only the Tributals who existed in this world, a room where the shining spotlight always gleamed only for them.

Their worries dulled, even if for a minute, and Rowan seemed to enjoy whatever was happening, despite their earlier, rather mean vows. The sun peeked its head out beside the thin clouds and carved the way the Tributals were to follow.

***

The caves grew exponentially larger, and grittier boulders seemed to block their way after a while. The ceiling was far away, but it created thick vines that turned into moss, tinting the formations a faint green, which bounced off the light from Ambrosia's Guardian Demon

Here and there, the massive corridors suddenly turned into thin, triangular entrances, sometimes as big as the entire cavern or barely fitting Pollimer through, and in random places, meaning they either had to climb up or risk and destroy some of the walls that separated such bends. You may have guessed what Anna resorted to after she got pissed off with an unreachable passage.

This grotto in particular already had a name to it, being the Green Walls, once explored by a group of Mirillians, hundreds of years ago. It's here where they discovered the shining flower clock and took it back home, in combined efforts.

Atomu and Elton stayed in the back like earlier, talking about various things, mostly Paladian, and Lignorian matters or recalling times in Prope Portam when they were younger. Sometimes they'd mention the members of the troupe or the people that they met along the way, and finally, the conversation came down to wondering what the hell was going on with Chyuuichi, but they had no way to ask him, since he stepped back, treading the sidelines.

Then, when they ran out of things to talk about, a strange pressure pinched both of their necks, as if they wanted to tell something to the other party but couldn't. Atomu's case was rather obvious. He kept doubting and overthinking if they could have the same conversations if Elton knew his secret. Frankly, he was tired of lying about many stories of his youth, since he had no way of recalling his teenage years.

And Elton's problem was quickly unearthed. He sighed, slowing down a little. "Man, am I completely useless to all of you?"

"Huh?" Atomu blinked thrice, in a sudden shock. The two stopped, and Elton stared at the ground, fidgeting his fingers with a frown.

"T-That's what I keep thinking about," he uttered, gritting his teeth. "I've seen you worry, so I'm telling you what's going on."

"Wait, what? You're not useless, Elton."

"I am, though. I kept trying to think of a situation where I somehow proved myself useful to the troupe but all I kept doing was screaming and backing out in fear, only to be saved by you." his eyes were sad as well, and Atomu stared at his face. "I'm just a burden to this whole ordeal, aren't I?"

"N-No?" Atomu shook his head.

"Bancho made a mistake." Elton put his hands behind his back. "I should've just stayed home instead, back in that safe bubble where I knew the things I made weren't bringing you down." he shook his head.

Atomu gritted his teeth, unsure what he should say. He wasn't good with speeches or motivational words unless he took his time to think everything through. But Elton's confession and thoughts were so sudden, that he was left speechless, and worried that the expression on his face might've suggested that he agreed with the Paladian's words, which couldn't be further from the truth.

"B-But I'm glad you're here, seeing all those things one way or another!" Atomu hesitantly put a hand on Elton's shoulder, his lips shaking with a small blush on one cheek. "I'm glad my dear Paladian f-friend is there to see the world for how it is, outside of that... b-bubble."

Elton glanced at Atomu and scratched his nose a little. "Screw seeing the world if I'd die on my first encounter-"

"We're all here to protect you for a reason, Elton!" Atomu raised his voice. "Simple things, you were the one that made lots of our Guardian Demons, and we're using them to protect the forger. Or, I don't know.... w-we still have a lot to get through! There might be a time when you'll stop doubting yourself." he breathed in, stopping for a moment.

"Might." Elton looked down.

"Even if not." he closed his eyes, gritting his teeth. "To me, it doesn't matter. You'll a-always..." he stuttered. "I'll-"

Elton opened his mouth a little.

"I don't make mistakes when it comes to people," Bancho said, walking around the two Paladians. "Sure, I may do reckless things and end up in places one should never see, but I never judge anyone's abilities or personality in a way that would purposefully drag them down."

Bancho jumped off his horse and waddled over to Elton, looking up and pressing his fingers against his beard. "Just one look into your eyes, toolsmith. Amongst a sea of sand, you're the boat. You're honest about your feelings to people, and quick to spill the truth." Bancho smirked. "That's where this Paladian-" he tapped his chest. "Shows his sparkle." he grinned. "Sometimes words hit harder than the strikes of a Guardian Demon."

Elton slowly nodded, unsurely, and Atomu breathed out, putting his hand on his face.

"Oi!" Pollimer yelled out, and every member who seemed to have wandered around in boredom was quickly alerted, running towards his voice.

There it was, at the end of the darkened hallway, three uneven entrances to gloomy corridors, leading up and down through bends, twists and turns.

"These were the efforts of my journey, Bancho," Pollimer informed, taking off his helmet. "The road from there on is a blur."

"Hmm." the old Morian stepped in the front, thinking carefully and running his hand through his thin beard. "So you're not sure which one of these leads us to the Star Sun Cave?"

"No, but it's the closest we'll g-get." Pollimer shook his head. "I'm sorry again, there's nothing-"

"Stop with all that apologetic nonsense." Bancho scuffed, turning to the others. "The answer is simple, we don't have to decide upon anything." he breathed out, gathering his thoughts.

"Who here has experience in destroying a temple? Raise your hands!" he instructed.

Anna, Jyuzou and Bancho raised theirs, while the others looked at each other awkwardly, except for Chyuuichi who stayed further behind.

Bancho signalled the two to put them down and squinted his eyes, notions going in and out. Whispers sounded and Anna rolled her eyes.

"Okay, got it." Bancho straightened up. "We'll split into threes."

"What?" Jyuzou's face went pale.

"S-Split?" Elton grew fearful, then gulped, glancing at Atomu.

"Oh, my, I'm not sure if this is a good idea..." Atomu shook his head, and Elton nodded.

"Bless us with your knowledge then." Anna crossed her arms. "What other plan comes to mind?"

"We could flip a coin!" Ambrosia raised a finger, and everyone except for Chyuuichi looked at them in disappointment. The Tributal backed out, embarrassed.

"Elton, Jyuzou, Chyuuichi." Bancho pointed, the first two straightened up while the latter finally glanced up. "You'll be taking the corridor to the right."

"Y-Yes!" Jyuzou yelled, forcing a smile.

"Pff, look at him." Morio pointed to Jyuzou, bumping Atomu's side.

"Pollimer, Atomu," Bancho said. "...and me. We'll be taking the entrance right behind me."

"Yes!" Atomu did the same thing Jyuzou did, and Morio stepped away as if offended.

Pollimer gulped, before nodding, forcing another smile.

Bancho stared at him for a second longer, before turning to the others.

"The rest of you." Bancho signalled. "Anna, Ambrosia and Morio. Take the left." he smirked, and Morio jumped, kind of excited, not willing to admit some of the fear that entered his body.

"What do we do if the roads don't lead us anywhere? Are we to go back?" Elton asked.

"Keep going." Bancho nodded.

"Corridors always lead to something, be it an exit, perhaps," Ambrosia instructed, putting their hands on Morio and Jyuzou's backs. The two Morians looked up, and Ambrosia fixed their hoods.

When their hands reached Jyuzou's neck, a sparkle gleamed, shining into their eyes. Their soft fingers dug around the thin material of the clothes and found themselves wrapped around the silver Lina necklace that Jyuzou wore.

Ambrosia's expression shifted, for the first time in quite a long while.

Jyuzou put his hand where his hood was, fidgeting around, and Ambrosia moved back, still keeping an eye on the Morian.

***

"Advance, my dear troupe. Let's find the Star Sun Cave." Bancho informed.