Emma wiped the drool off her lip and crawled out of bed. Feet firmly planted onto the floor and carried her bleary eyed, bed haired self to the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror, hair tufts coming out of her head as cartoonish waves and attempted to comb them out before washing her teeth.

With a toothbrush in mouth, she walked out of the bathroom to the living room, powering up the record player to play some more Sirena. She was transfixed by the melancholic and haunting vocals of the enigmatic singer since Emma had started reading through Ylva’s adventure in the Kingdom of Seafoam Tears, Lacrumi. The depictions of teal colored marble stone and festive nights above the glow of the Onesea had her transfixed with the culture and its history.

It was a place they could see in the distance when Ileah was anchored on the Stardust beaches and a place she’d visited once when Jose had mustered the courage to face a piece of his own history. From up close, the Kingdom had a defiant air to it, persevering despite the gloomy atmosphere that nibbled at the edges, that rested underneath the black waters.

She washed her teeth while humming along to the song, Ojalla Me Pierdo en Anhalar, and got dressed in casual adventuring attire. Emma went into her closet and pulled out a knife, picked up her copy of La Reina in Lamento en Lacrumi and walked out of their home into the fresh and welcoming air. She looked at her journal for the name of the Archivist Jose had fought against and made her trek into town towards the Annals.

The walk was pleasant for her as she occasionally glanced up at the crystalline sky and watched the mangrove branches and clouds slowly pass her by. She walked past the vine-covered brick stores lying in the outskirts of town towards the more populated town square, enjoying the gentle splash of water from the large fountain that sat in the square's center.

Emma finally arrived at the Annals and waited at the door. She tapped her foot and then started to pace back and forth before a cold gust of air blew onto her and her contacts emerged.

Radolfo and Laura were both wearing their Archivists attire, Laura’s decorated with metal bobs and ends from their workshop and Radolfo’s being entirely unbuttoned to expose a long, tight V-neck.

“I’m glad you could join me for an early lunch. I didn’t know who else to ask these questions on short notice.” Emma said.

Laura shook her head, “No, don’t worry. Jose’s done a lot for us and we’re glad to help you however we can.”

Radolfo was disinterested, “So long as you pay for lunch I’ll do my best to sit pretty.” Radolfo walked ahead of the both of them, “I know a nice place to grab a bite but it’s gonna be a little steep on your sack so get ready, darling.”

Some things never changed.

“No problem, Dolfy. Just make sure they have some sweets.” Emma smiled devilishly. Laura stared at her as Radolfo did a heel turn, his mustached face flush red.

“Don’t call me that.” Radolfo pointed his finger at Emma’s face before turning his ire to Laura, “And don’t you dare start calling me that either.”

“Que paso, Dolfy? Just walk ahead, we’ll follow along to this place you like.” Emma egged him on.

“We’re past our school years, Emma,” It looked like he was going to pop a blood vessel before he took a deep breath and plastered on the most insincere smile he could, “I would really appreciate it if you didn’t bring up my old names in front of my coworker, especially when we’re planning to help you out with whatever you’re gonna ask us.”

Emma exaggerated a shrug and a pout, “I’m so sorry Radolfo. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?” She waited a moment before sticking out her tongue and cackling, Radolfo performing another heel turn and grumbling about ‘putting up with’ something or another.

Emma and Laura trailed behind the incensed man, two women leisurely taking a stroll through the town's cobblestone paths.

“I didn’t know that you and Radolfo knew each other from school.” Laura looked down at the ground like a child out of the loop.

Had Jose never mentioned the connection?

“How new are you to the cabal?” Emma asked.

“I joined recently as a transfer from the Green Mouth.” Laura replied.

Emma widened her eyes a bit and whistled, “That's on the other side of the route. You planning to settle down here or are you a transient?”

“I don’t know yet. I like Ileah but my dream is to live in Odalla where all the adventurers are.” Laura turned her body to look at the massive crystal spire in the ground, its many branches spreading up and out towards the sky.

“I can see the appeal.” Emma considered her next words carefully. “I can also see why Jose never mentioned his connection to Radolfo and Lysa in front of you. He can be a bit closed off.” So closed off she wanted to hit him upside the head multiple times just to get the funk out of him.

“Oh, that's his relationship with Lysa. I just thought they were really good coworkers since they've worked there the longest.”

“No, those two are like this.” Emma crossed her fingers together. “The four of us went to school together. Jose was in and out of schooling but once he was firmly stuck with our school, Lysa took a liking to him immediately and I was the tagalong.” The memories of their time together bubbled at the surface.

Complicated times then and now.

“And Radolfo was part of your friend group?”

“Nah, Radolfo was part of the cool kids,” Emma said loudly enough for him to hear, “But I knew him well enough because we both went through the art program.” She could see Laura brightening up with each morsel of information she received about her coworkers.

Jose’s assessment of her was on point.

“Emma was always gracious enough to hang out with me after our classes before abandoning me for that gloomy child.” Radolfo twisted his head back to shout at the both of them before turning his eyes back to the path. Laura looked to Emma for confirmation and she just shrugged.

“Kind of? One of our teachers asked me to check up on him every day to make sure he wouldn’t blow up Ileah or something and I was friends with Lysa then too so I tagged along. He was grouchy and sad but the moments he had fun and smiled and laughed were the moments he was... radiant.”

“Oye, chismosas, we’re here.” Radolfo nonchalantly swept his hand in front of an out of the way breakfast bakery named ‘Slow Your Roll’. Emma breathed in the fresh oven baked bread smell emanating from the restaurant's chimney and walked inside to hear the sounds of crackling bread and sizzling pans.

“You took us to a fresh place?” Laura looked at the logo out front before walking inside. “Emma, are you sure you don’t mind us paying for our share?”

“Between what Jose and Emma make, I’m sure they can splurge on a meal or two,” Radolfo grabbed the nearest waiter, “Table for three please.”

Laura, again, looked to Emma for confirmation and she nodded in agreement, “I’m mining you two dry for information. I don’t mind spending that time on a fresh meal while I’m at it.

The three sat down at the table and waited for their placed orders to arrive.

“So, what does your husband want from us that he couldn’t tell us himself?” Radolfo pointedly inquired.

Emma brushed the attitude off, “My husband didn’t ask me to do anything. I am asking the both of you about something that’s bothered me about the event.” There was plausible deniability in her statement and the way she phrased it for them. She was sure they wouldn’t be investigated but it never hurt to avoid implicating them and getting them hurt.

“Is this a follow up to what Lysa had Radolfo and I do for the third event? Or what Lysa showed me for their expedition?” Laura whispered, uncertain if she should be saying any of this in a normal tone.

“I think so? I haven’t talked to Lysa about any of this really. Just working off of a gut feeling.” Emma lied. “I couldn’t find anything on the two blondes but the Archivist works at the Annals so I thought you two knew him or knew people that knew of him.”

Radolfo snorted derisively, “He was a fucking pig. The girls in the preservation wing couldn’t stand him and the guys there found him awkward to be around.” Emma pulled out her journal and started jotting down the general descriptors. “Everyone that worked on that side of the Annals knew to keep away from ‘Grabby’ Gabe or hold their nose when ‘Greaseball’ Gabe walked by.”

“If he was so bad, why didn’t the Overseer fire him?” Laura asked innocently.

“Probably because he was good at his job. Or maybe the Overseer never knew.” Most likely it was that the Overseer didn’t care. That guy was so far up his own ass it was a punishment to have soldiers scheduled for ‘Anal’ duty. She didn’t have a doubt in her mind that he wouldn’t care to do anything about the harassment if he was even privy to it.

Radolfo waved his hand to Emma and nodded in agreement, causing Laura to recede in her seat slightly.

“They’ve been pretty happy recently. They think he quit work.” Radolfo leaned in, reveling in the gossip. Emma leaned in as well waiting for him to continue. “He was supposed to come in after the event to unload a shipment and he wasn’t there. Someone in his cabal had to cover for him. He didn’t appear today either.”

That’s suspiciously sudden. “Anyone know where he lives? Or seen him at all?” Emma asked.

Radolfo shrugged, “No. And no one wants to see or hear about him either.”

Emma turned to Laura, “Do you have a list of the volunteers that entered into the event?”

Laura immediately brightened up, rummaging through her pockets to pull out her journal. She sifted through the pages before ending up on a color coded list of names and affiliations.

“They had asked me to make a list of all of the volunteers and their overt affiliations. I think they wanted to know what kinds of baggage or conflict of interest a team member would have but it was all vague.” Laura explained as she handed the journal to Emma.

“What’s the circled two and circled three mean next to their names?” Emma asked.

“Ah, yeah, anyone with a two next to their name got eliminated in the second event. Anyone with a three next to their name got eliminated in the third.” Emma noted that some names were highlighted by Laura from the third event volunteers.

Were they planning to recruit the Cienmiedos boy? She logged it into the back of her mind and hoped she wouldn’t forget to bring it up with Jose later tonight.

“Okay, so Gabe got eliminated in the second event and…” Emma trailed off, jotting down a couple of names. The list was quite large, a total of thirty volunteers eliminated in the second event. Which thread would she need to tug on to get ahead in this situation? “Has there been any recent developments in Ileah?”

The two Archivists thought about an answer.

“Aside from the volunteering event and the fire down in the docks, there’s nothing I can think of.” Laura replied.

“Oh fuck, the dock fire... that was a hell of a time.” Radolfo smiled wistfully, recalling a recent memory.

“There was a dock fire in the Bay?” Emma pressed forward.

“Happened at the height of the parties. Everyone was so sauced and looped up that some of us thought it was a bonfire. Then it started to catch other buildings in the surrounding area on fire and the folk had to come together and control the burn.” Radolfo’s face lit up when their food arrived. He made no reservations to dig in without them.

“Did anyone see what caused the fire?” Emma asked.

“I dunno.” Radolfo replied in sudden disinterest, taking full helpings of eggs and toast into his mouth. Emma turned to look at Laura and the girl shrugged, unable to add anything that Radolfo didn’t.

It wasn’t a total pile of croc shit though. She had a lead now.