Ethan wished he could give Cecil all the answers, that he'd know what to say to help calm his nerves. What he actually knew of the Machina though was minimal at best and even then there was no telling if it were true; there was no reason to doubt Cecil, but without solid proof there would always be that little voice asking "What if?". Lucky for the Machina then he was rather adept at putting aside those doubts and giving people the benefit of the doubt, otherwise this escapade of theirs would be much more challenging. "Maybe you have something of theirs? Or... Maybe you know something and just forgot? They seem to be the bad guys, and bad guys don't chase bad guys, they chase good guys." That was an extremely simplistic view of things but it made sense, and Ethan hoped it would make sense with Cecil. None of them knew the reason for any of it of course and likely never would they find out, though if they did it doubtfully would change how they viewed their friend.

Nymira was right in they should keep a move on, sitting around too much longer risked their being attacked again. There was no way of knowing if any Machina had followed them down, keeping going was their best bet of staying safe. Before they got a move on Ethan tried to outline their plan of action to make sure everyone was in agreement: up until he mentioned Zander it seemed fine, but Amuné had something to say on the matter. Yes Zander was a little difficult, and sure he may not be the nicest person in the world, but was that any reason to leave him behind? Arguing he might be a killer too wasn't fair, Cecil had taken lives and they weren't abandoning him, so why should they leave the healer? Extending a hand for Amuné to take Ethan smiled amused as she grumbled her discontent again, starting to walk with a chuckle. "He's mean now but that will change if we give him a chance, just you watch. People can't change if they're never given an opportunity to." 

Getting the cart back along with their horses was surprisingly easy, easing Ethan's fears that the town might be thrown into a bit of chaos with the attacks. From the looks of things on the outside word had yet to slip past the walls, which made sense; everyone within the manor was dead save for Bernadette, and Ethan assumed she had gone to alert the rest of the guards. While Amuné wasn't wrong in saying speaking to the guard personally might absolve them of suspicion there was also the chance they could be held for some time while an investigation took place. Yes running incriminated them, but they all had something they were traveling for and sitting in a holding cell for potentially days on end wasn't something they could afford. Their only hope was that this was resolved even if they left and they found the real culprits, otherwise it was going to be one sticky situation on their hands. 

What was not easy, curiously enough, was getting Wyth and Cecil into the cart for the ride out. Before they had even begun moving there was a fuss in the back, causing Ethan to come over and see what was the issue. For some odd reason the moorcat wasn't getting in with the Machina now despite being fine with it earlier, he could only guess due to what happened on the boat. Making Cecil walk while he was so worn down was out of the question as was making Amuné walk, though the latter had a solution to their problem; Ethan and Amuné mounted their horse while Wyth walked alongside the cart, and with that they could be off. Their goal was to track down Zander and was not going to be remotely an easy task as they knew nothing of the town. There was their inn, the mayor's office and the docks, where else had they been though? Between Ethan's poor sense of direction and Nymira's plain unfamiliarity with the region they hadn't much hope to navigate the town. Another reason to get Zander back, he might actually know where to go.

For a short while they seemed to simply wander, asking the occasional passerby who could provide them with no direction. A breathless, bloodied boy running through the streets ought to stick out like a sore thumb yet no one questioned could provide any answers. There was always the possibility he had left town albeit that seemed unlikely; running away earlier Zander had shouted something concerning other people, Geoffrey and another if Nymira recalled correctly. It stood to reason he was wherever they would be found, and while having some names was useful it did them little good if they didn't know where those two were either. As Ethan was the one most vested in finding the healer again she was more than prepared to give up at this point, infuriated that they were wasting time chasing ghosts. Sighing as yet another resident couldn't give them so much as a direction she rolled her eyes at the closing door, shooting Ethan a glare. 

"Play another song Geoffrey, please? We want to hear another!"

Hm... Geoffrey? Nymira's brow knit together as she turned her head in the direction of the voice, seeing a group of children gathered before some building. They all seemed to be fixated on something up above, and with a glance upward she saw a Muran boy sat on a balcony, something in his hands he was using to produce music. It wasn't abundantly clear if this was the selfsame Geoffrey that the moron was shouting about earlier yet it was the first time hearing a similar name, and she'd be damned if they didn't at least look into it. Slipping off of her horse Nymira walked over to the crowd of children and parents, pushing through some to get to the front of the pack. "You there! I need to speak with you!" she shouted up, ignoring the complaints of children as she interrupted their entertainment, "Your name is Geoffrey, yes? Do you know a man named Zander? We're looking for him, perhaps you can help?"