To tell the truth, Dusk found it extremely difficult to stay upright. The last time he had set foot on land was a month or two ago, and the sudden steadiness of land took a lot to get used to, and that was without worrying about how wobbly his legs were. Or how much his throat was screaming for something to drink. Added on top of that, he could hardly see. There was only a little bit of light streaming into the room, weak light from a setting sun, and most of it was already blocked out by the form of someone else, short and scrawny. A child? He could see the vague shape of someone else in the room, standing by what he assumed was the entrance, someone only a couple inches shorter than him with a slender build. Both figures stood frozen, eyes on him. Probably didn't help that he wasn't wearing anything decent, but that was probably the smallest of his worries.

"C-Calm down." The figure by the window slowly lifted a hand in a gesture of peace. By the tone of his voice, he sounded young. "You're in a hermitage. You were injured and the hermit here is taking care of you."

Dusk darted a look at the wall beside the window, noticing the unmistakable sheen of blades as well as the glint of the sun on various jars filled with viscous liquid and things that Dusk wouldn't have cared to know. There was a strange stench in the air, not at all like the salty sea breeze or fresh air, but something staler and much more unpleasant. Almost like something had been dead for too long. He fixed eyes with the boy, at least, where he assumed the boy's eyes were. "Who the hell are you? Where the hell am I?" He let out a cough, scanning the darkness. "What the hell did you do to my clothes?"

"Like I said..." The boy glanced over at the other figure at the door. "You're in a hermitage. In the Vanathul Mountains." Dusk looked at the other figure, standing about as rigid as the boy, but in a stance that seemed ready to lunge at him should he make even the slightest move. From where the figure stood, he could tell that it was a female, a head of dark hair, slender, a few inches shorter than him... And a familiar glint of metal on her arm. The boy was still talking. "My name is Wilhelm. The hermit here found you injured and is taking care of you. She's in the other room right now so..."

"Victoria?" Dusk squinted against the dim light, attempting to make out the female's face. The girl flinched.

"Victoria?" The boy glanced over at the girl, but she shook her head fiercely.

"I'm not Victoria! The name's Mirrah, got that?"

Dusk made a face. Her voice had completed the metaphorical bell ringing, but what she was saying only confused him more. "Mirrah?"

"That's right."

"...I thought you said your name was Brindle?"

The girl growled, practically shouting now. "Obviously, I lied! I don't know what you and your crew would do with that kind of information."

The boy spoke again, sounding about as lost as Dusk felt. "Do you know him, Mirrah?"

"This is the jerk that kidnapped me!"

"What?"

"Wait, so you're really not Victoria?"

"No!"

"Hold on, hold on!" The boy raised both his hands, attempting to gain control of the situation. He turned to look at Dusk. "Are you saying this is one of the pirates?"

"Damn right!"

"Wait a minute..." Dusk glanced over at Mirrah and then at the boy, attempting to sort out all the information bombarding him. "You're saying you're not Victoria?"

"No, I'm not!"

Dusk waved his hand in a frustrated gesture. He didn't know whether she was lying or not. Part of him wanted to believe she was lying. "If you're not Victoria, what were you doing on that boat? Whoa..." He stumbled a bit, almost falling over the cot between him and Mirrah before catching himself on the bed stand. The girl took a step back, a fist raised.

"What else was I supposed to be doing on a boat?"

"What are you doing wearin' fancy clothes on a boat if you weren't Victoria?"

"Fancy clothes? This is what I always wear! It's you idiots who mistook me for someone else!"

Dusk didn't say anything, looking from the girl to the boy. "You're serious...?"

Mirrah put one hand to her face, letting out a sigh of frustration. "For crying out loud!"

The boy stepped forward, looking from Mirrah to Dusk. "Mirrah was escorting me and my client overseas as my bodyguard. I paid the captain for passage."

Dusk looked over at Wilhelm with a suspicious frown, then back at Mirrah. "You expect me to believe that?"

"Why would I lie to you?"

Dusk felt desperate now. The girl's word, he could question, but the boy's? They both had to have been in on it. What the heck was he supposed to do if the girl really wasn't Victoria? He let himself sink into the cot, weariness setting in. "I did not throw myself overboard for the wrong girl."

Mirrah waved her hand violently. "I can't believe how stupid you all are! I'd never been in this mess if it wasn't for you idiots!"

"Hey!" Dusk glared at her. "If you'da stayed in Ava's room, you wouldn't've fallen off the goddamn ship!"

"You fell overboard?"

"If you people had done your research, I wouldn't've been on your ship in the first place!"

"I should've just let you drown then!" Dusk let out a cough again, his voice finally giving out from the excessive shouting.

"That's enough."

Everyone in that room nearly leapt a foot in the air at the sound of the woman's voice, icy and commanding. Dusk leapt to his feet, startled. He stumbled on his legs, barely catching himself with the edge of his cot before falling embarassingly on the ground. Mirrah had let out a cry of surprise, scrambling several steps away from the entrance.

There, standing at the entrance of the room, was another, older woman. Dusk had almost thought she were a floating head, a spectre even, upon first glance, but realized that the mass of darkness underneath her was actually a black dress. Dusk straightened, studying the woman against the dim light, before breaking into a series of coughs, as if his lungs were still caked with salt.

The woman turned a critical eye onto Mirrah, earning a squeak in response, before looking to Wilhelm and the cleared table behind him. "I thought I had told you not to touch anything, Haleth."

The boy grinned, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry. You don't mind, do you?"

The woman gave him a long glare before speaking, this time, to Dusk, which startled him just as much as her appearance. "I suggest you dress yourself. The night air is cold in the mountains and I would not want you to catch a cold."

Dusk felt his face redden in the darkness and glanced around the room. It was then that he took notice of the wall of shadow directly behind him. Rather, he had noticed it all along, but now realized that it were actually something that stood behind him, a chill emanating from its form that he had, until now, attributed to the brisk air. Dusk let out a yelp, leaping away from the thing. "Holy god, what in all--"

"Enough with your shouting." The woman looked to Mirrah as Dusk watched the black shadow quietly lay his clothes out on the cot. "You, keep your voice down. I will not have you exciting him when he needs his rest. You as well," she said, turning her glare toward Wilhelm. "I shall fetch dinner shortly, so please come outside when you are ready." The woman turned around, disappearing from the doorway.

Dusk kept his eyes locked on the shadow, a black shape against the darkness. It stared back at him, at least, he thought it did, he couldn't really see its eyes. It was unnerving at the very least, he wasn't even sure if he wanted to get close to it.

"Don't worry." Dusk turned around. The boy was standing at the doorway, looking at him. Mirrah had gone into the other room, leaving Dusk and the boy in the darkness. "It's Phsara's servant. It won't hurt you unless you threaten her."

Dusk turned his gaze back toward the shadow, still standing awkwardly at the side of the cot. "Oh..." he muttered, clearing his throat. "That's...comfortin' to know."

"Wilhelm, c'mon!" Mirrah appeared at the entrance, seizing the boy's wrist. She shot a death glare in Dusk's direction before pulling him outside and leaving him alone in the room.

Dusk stared after the boy for a second, letting out a sigh. Man, they had really screwed up, hadn't they? He didn't know what the heck he was supposed to do now, if they were telling the truth. He had no idea what happened to Gerald and the rest of his crew, and the thought made him writhe with anxiety. Dusk let out another cough and shivered, rising to his feet to fetch his clothes from the shadowy creature. Regardless of what he was going to do, he needed to get something down his throat or hack up his lungs instead.

As Dusk began to dress himself, he realized that there was another conversation going on in the adjoining room. Four voices, three belonging to the first three people he had met, the fourth belonging to another woman. What, had he ended up inside some sort of clinic or something? He didn't expect a hermitage to have so many people in it. Well, he supposed it was better than being stranded on a beach, probably fodder for the vultures. Dusk shivered at the thought as he slipped his boots onto his feet, swiping off a salty crust with his fingers. He pushed himself up, grasping onto the wall to steady himself before glancing around the room for his weapons.

"Leaving already, Miss Setha'elle?"

"Yes. I'd best be heading back now."

"It's already dark out. Are you sure you do not wish to stay until morning?"

Dusk emerged from the doorway and froze in his steps, his voice choking on surprise as his eyes fell onto the silver haired woman standing at the front of the crowded space. Though the space was dark, all the windows covered with bookshelves, there was a lantern sitting on the round wooden table, illuminating everything within that room, namely, the woman whose face Dusk could not forget. "Y-YOU!" He cut himself off from finishing his thought, becoming aware that all the eyes within that living room had turned toward him. "Aah... Uh..." He glanced at Wilhelm, then Mirrah's face, suddenly wishing he hadn't said anything at all, then forced himself to look back up at the silver haired woman. "S-Sorry. Wrong person... I guess." His voice sounded like it was barely above a whisper.

The woman stared at him for a moment, a slight frown on her face, long enough for Dusk to almost fear that she would recognize him. But it wasn't possible was it? The last time he had seen her must have been a decade ago. And yet... The woman looked away, her glance nothing more than one cast towards someone who was attracting too much attention to himself. She turned toward the first, dark-clothed woman, speaking as if Dusk hadn't said anything at all.

"Yes. I have finished with my business here. I don't wish to impose upon you any longer than needed."

The dark clothed woman shrugged. "If you do not wish to stay, I will not hold you. Be careful on your way back, the path is narrow."

The woman smiled, an expression that sent chills up and down Dusk's spine. "Yes, of course. It was a pleasure doing business with you. And you as well, Wilhelm."

The boy nodded with a grin. "Of course. Don't hesitate to contact me should you need some of my merchandise again."

The silver-haired woman gave him a swift bow and a wave, then closed the door behind her as she left.