An especially jaunty pep came about Lyric as they descended the stairs. She ran her fingers along rails beside them as though her life depended on it, such a focus completely out of place for just walking down steps.

"What is it, now?" Kyoya prodded.

She huffed and stood at the foot of the stairs, tapping her foot while waiting for him to descend.

"That's that outta the way... But we really have to just sit tight? I thought this whole thing would be loads more exciting than that."

"We already put a Demon in the dirt, and Solitaire said herself things would probably pick up once they settled on a lead."

He juggled his next statement, ultimately landing on more of a taunt than reassurance. Maybe she was beginning to rub off on him.

"I think you'd do good with some downtime."

"Credit for compassion," she sighed, "I'll give you that, Blue. But don't tell me your plan is to hunker down in the room for the rest of today."

Finally making it to the foot of the stairs, Kyoya shrugged.

"I just feel like it'd be a little tough to keep a low profile, since we just lit the arena up, and everything. Downtime is downtime, no cutting corners; besides, something about you just screams, 'I could really use a nice evening off.'"

They made it out the main doors, greeted once again by a cozy early-afternoon wind. The Seraph, though, fancied herself a bit too antsy to let comfort sink in.

"Under one condition. Meet it, and I'll consider your offer."

"And what's that?"

Even doing her best to feign innocence, it was impossible for Lyric to completely hide whatever devious thought she'd dreamt up.

"Just follow me for a bit, that's all. I can at least guarantee that we won't be out long."

Kyoya was well aware of the danger that accompanied this plan, but if this would be her condition, he didn't favor the idea of risking their only term of agreement. The Miscreant sighed and loosened his stance.

"I guess you're leading, then. Let's not get cooked just standing out here."

Just before turning to walk, Lyric paused.

"...Get cooked? It's the beginning of August-"

"Look, I just burn a little easy, alright?"

Judging by her biting back another round of laughter, it seemed she'd found humor in yet another of his flaws. "What?"

"First you're a raging thallassophobe, and now you're a contender for the toughest Fire Reclaimer around who just happens to be prone to sunburns? Is there anything else I should know?"

The boy's eyes narrowed.

"Right, my bad, I'm so sorry for having a totally normal fear and sensitive skin. Aren't we supposed to be taking a walk?"

"Yeah, yeah, c'mon. It's not much of a trip, we're just going around the edge of the bay."

She took a bit of a lead at first, quickly slowing down after taking notice of his more moderate stride. "Didn't you not want to take long?"

"I never said I didn't want to enjoy it. You probably wanna do this for a reason, so I'll at least savor whatever we're doin'."

O-Oh! Right, that makes sense..."

The Seraph didn't add anything further, instead falling in line next to him and matching a leisurely pace.

From what he could see, they'd only be on stone and wood walkways for another few minutes before approaching the harbor's end. A gate similar to Altaire's main entrance's stood just at the edge of his vision, and past that, all that awaited were dirt pathways, accompanied by trees among whatever else laid beyond.

As they pressed on, each step seemed paid in full by the coastal breeze that followed rolling waves. Even if so much as glancing at the blue expanse to their right inspired a serious sinking feeling, he at least found comfort in the knowledge that they wouldn't be paying it any visits.

"Once we're out the gate, there's a special path I use to make sure it's not easy to find. We'll have to do a bit of adventuring, though."

"Works for me. Lead the way."

As expected, they passed through yet another of Altaire's many connections to untamed wilderness. This was the first time he'd stepped on grass and dirt in his greaves, with the first few steps making him wonder just which he preferred between armor and running shoes.

While it wasn't quite as much of a surprise to consider in that moment, Kyoya found a speck of confusion in why the climate within the Shrine's grounds was further along in the year than out here. Of course, while he didn't rule out the possibility of Guran's less-than-practical applications of magic, part of him arrived at the idea that it may have been to help make Reika feel at home. In that, he rested with the thought, as he and Lyric soon continued deeper into the grove.

It wasn't long before shade's embrace extended from intertwined branches and leaves above them. They walked along a dirt road, inscribed with wheel tracks and divots that each told a unique tale of passage. While the trail wasn't exactly massive, it still offered enough room for carriages and whatnot, this idea given truth in the animal footprints jumbled among the aforementioned tracks.

Even with that, though, something about Altaire's wilderness felt vastly different than that of, say, Teleo's.

From what he could remember, the solitary Kingdom's wilds were always foreboding, silently threatening to offer hostile intervention even on the most tranquil of days.

Altaire's, however, spoke to him in warm greetings of joyous birds and the lulling hymn left behind by winds embarking on their own journeys through the canopy. It happily welcomed him, a stranger, to the same sanctuary that his own treasured home tried its damnedest to deny.

He'd never known anywhere but Teleo, its harshened barrens, and the Shrine grounds up until now; he'd wondered for years if everywhere was just as unforgiving as his old home, just as spiteful to those that forsook it.

But, to his unending gratitude, his years spent outside the loathsome grasp of a Kingdom sustained by wrath had taught him well of the opposite.